UK Radio Ham since 1982: Getting back into Amateur radio.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Wire In the Blood
Wire..
Its not that hard to get, but these days it is expensive, I bought two 100 mtr reels of single core cable,with the idea of using it for radials/antenna wire,and its gone,vanished, taken by the copper fairies.
So I went down to my Local Electrical
trade counter.
100 Mtrs about £28.00, this one had better not go missing :(
Its not that hard to get, but these days it is expensive, I bought two 100 mtr reels of single core cable,with the idea of using it for radials/antenna wire,and its gone,vanished, taken by the copper fairies.
So I went down to my Local Electrical
trade counter.
100 Mtrs about £28.00, this one had better not go missing :(
Marconi's Radio Shack Details
Here are some details of my trip to Cornwall.
Ill be active on air ssb, from ( GMT ) 26 February to 2nd March 2012 ,1900 onwards , there may be some other outings portable.
For GB2LD
Tentative frequencies :7,175 and up and 14,310 and up, if a pile up develops ill be working split, if possible.
Location for evenings will be Lizard Cornwall UK.
G6KQS/A and /P may be also be used
Hope to work you ,QRP Ops ( under 10w) will get priority.
Qsl Cards will be sent to stations worked ,via the qsl bureau
If you wish to qsl direct,unfortunately two IRCs and an addressed envelope will be required.
all the best
G6KQS
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Learning Morse code
Its funny how attitude changes as time goes by, I thought Id never learn The code, but now it seems appealing. Click here, to listen to the sound files from the above
Maybe I can make it fun learning too
These videos are Making Morse Code fun.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
How old is this callsign?
Im How old ?
Ive been operating since 1981 on and off,
and Id like to think that I can speak fairly well.
But, its amazing how many times people don't hear my callsign correctly.
Golf Six Kilo Quebec Sierra
That's the way Im supposed to say it
George Six King Queen Spain
Sometimes i try this as well
Its the last letter they dont get.
Apart from the fact that G6xx calls were last issued in 1939, that makes it just possible at the
age of 73, I suppose that they still might be active.
Dont we all think that its more likely that there will be three letters after the G6
Maybe its the way I say it, it probably is, but some days it makes me frustrated.
We dont have vanity callsigns in the uk, or I would have changed it years ago.
Any ideas on how to make this easier to copy
Golden Sixer Kelvin Quinsy Sibilance :)
Microphone back to you
G6KQS
Ive been operating since 1981 on and off,
and Id like to think that I can speak fairly well.
But, its amazing how many times people don't hear my callsign correctly.
Golf Six Kilo Quebec Sierra
That's the way Im supposed to say it
George Six King Queen Spain
Sometimes i try this as well
Its the last letter they dont get.
Apart from the fact that G6xx calls were last issued in 1939, that makes it just possible at the
age of 73, I suppose that they still might be active.
Dont we all think that its more likely that there will be three letters after the G6
Maybe its the way I say it, it probably is, but some days it makes me frustrated.
We dont have vanity callsigns in the uk, or I would have changed it years ago.
Any ideas on how to make this easier to copy
Golden Sixer Kelvin Quinsy Sibilance :)
Microphone back to you
G6KQS
Monday, February 13, 2012
Marconi's radio shack
Its been horrible weather the last few weeks,the UK has been -15c to 0c in some places.However things may well improve, very soon.
I have made some arrangements in the week starting 26th Of February, to spend time operating from the Land Ends/Lizard Area Cornwall here in the UK.
Im sure most know the History of radio, and You will no doubt be pleased to hear that I will not be using his Spark Generator. But will be using the actual shack location.
The exact times and dates of transmissions are yet to be decided.
I will be using my own call G6KQS/A and The call GB2LD.
Im also hoping to get portable in the area, subject to available locations and weather.
Ill post a few more details next week
All the best
John G6KQS
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Winter Sets in for a while
Its snowy here at the moment and Im rather disappointed, There really is nothing like , driving to a nice view point and setting up some radio gear, while my Wife, goes walking.
There are some nice hills around this area and I cant wait to go and look at them, I dont know if it will be possible to set up at any of them, but Im going to try as soon as it gets a fraction warmer
Surrey Hills
Lots of places to explore, see the weather bar on the side of this blog for what the weather is doing,Hopefully the sunspots will improve at the same time the weather does.
Sunspots here
There are some nice hills around this area and I cant wait to go and look at them, I dont know if it will be possible to set up at any of them, but Im going to try as soon as it gets a fraction warmer
Surrey Hills
Lots of places to explore, see the weather bar on the side of this blog for what the weather is doing,Hopefully the sunspots will improve at the same time the weather does.
Sunspots here
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Mydel 30SW III
Switched Mode Power supply.
Unless you have been hiding under a table for 20 years ( Have you really ? ), nearly all amateur radio transceivers are powered by DC @12V~.
I used to have a linear Dc Supply, that weighed about 8Kg, but that went to Ebay years ago.
This little PSU is quite amazing, it weighs about the same as a big bar of chocolate ( A Very big one )
I can hold it in one hand no problem.
Using this I can see that , the voltage drops a bit 0.1-0.3 of a volt on current drain and the fan in the back is running all the time, however its very quiet. I bought this from proviation shop @ under £85.00. including Delivery
It was delivered by ML&S who have it on sale for just under £87.00 plus delivery.
This power supply also is sold under the name of Radiocom PS-30SWIII sold by Lam communications
It has a handy Voltage control and a switch to change between the set 13.8v up to 15v and a noise control Knob, so far, I cant hear any interference on any band, This looks and feels like a bargain.
73s John G6KQS
Watson PBX 100 MKII
I recently did some research into a portable antenna. Now throwing up a wire into some trees, seems like it may be a good idea, however, thinking back to the places, I have driven and the general surroundings.
I don't remember any/many trees and the ones that I have seen are on national trust property, so I cant think they will be happy for me to throw wires up in them.
So I have purchased:
The Instructions that came with it are less then helpful ,so, I spent an hour or so,messing about with it at home, when the temperature goes up a bit , Ill take it out and try it.
I think that in order to be comfortable when Im out Portable, we have to have a temperature of 7c/45f
or more.
The next few days are forecast to be 1c or less the next date we can expect 7c will be Monday, so, I'm planning to go out then.
Update: 7th February
I spent some more time assembling this antenna indoors as the temperature has not gone above 3c for some days.
Tools needed include: 13mm Spanner to tighten up the screw in parts, a spot of oil, to lubricate the threads,A cross head screwdriver, a wire stripper and more wire.
The tripod that came with this is fiddly to assemble, once I had worked out that, you have to slide things around quite a bit to get the different parts to fit and the base of the tripod need to be manipulated so it fits to the bottom of the mast.
Its made out of soft aluminium, so I cant see this lasting very long being taken out portable, there are score marks on the metal after a short time of adjusting it.
I found a scrappy bit of paper in it which says it was supplied by Sandpiper Antennas, however they have it for sale on their website For £150 plus postage, I bought it from WSPLC For £139.95 plus postage.
Time will tell how well this will work as I dont have space to roll out radials at home, neither do I have an earth to use, that wont flood my block with RF,.
The spikes that stick out of the mast, I thought might be radials, but they are the other coils that come with the antenna, a total of five one is for use as the the resonator on different bands, you swap around .
In any case these spikes apear to be electrically connected to the main mast, its going to be interesting to find out how this performs
In a way I wish Id stuck with my original idea of a fibreglass fishing rod and some wire :)
Watch this post for more updates, if it goes more than another week before I use it in anger, Ill make a new post
I don't remember any/many trees and the ones that I have seen are on national trust property, so I cant think they will be happy for me to throw wires up in them.
So I have purchased:
A Watson PBX-100-MKII.
It has arrived.
The Instructions that came with it are less then helpful ,so, I spent an hour or so,messing about with it at home, when the temperature goes up a bit , Ill take it out and try it.
I think that in order to be comfortable when Im out Portable, we have to have a temperature of 7c/45f
or more.
The next few days are forecast to be 1c or less the next date we can expect 7c will be Monday, so, I'm planning to go out then.
Update: 7th February
I spent some more time assembling this antenna indoors as the temperature has not gone above 3c for some days.
Tools needed include: 13mm Spanner to tighten up the screw in parts, a spot of oil, to lubricate the threads,A cross head screwdriver, a wire stripper and more wire.
The tripod that came with this is fiddly to assemble, once I had worked out that, you have to slide things around quite a bit to get the different parts to fit and the base of the tripod need to be manipulated so it fits to the bottom of the mast.
Its made out of soft aluminium, so I cant see this lasting very long being taken out portable, there are score marks on the metal after a short time of adjusting it.
I found a scrappy bit of paper in it which says it was supplied by Sandpiper Antennas, however they have it for sale on their website For £150 plus postage, I bought it from WSPLC For £139.95 plus postage.
Time will tell how well this will work as I dont have space to roll out radials at home, neither do I have an earth to use, that wont flood my block with RF,.
The spikes that stick out of the mast, I thought might be radials, but they are the other coils that come with the antenna, a total of five one is for use as the the resonator on different bands, you swap around .
In any case these spikes apear to be electrically connected to the main mast, its going to be interesting to find out how this performs
In a way I wish Id stuck with my original idea of a fibreglass fishing rod and some wire :)
Watch this post for more updates, if it goes more than another week before I use it in anger, Ill make a new post
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