Innehållsförteckning för October 2022 från Practical Wireless

Icom announced an industry first at the Tokyo Hamfair in late August. Based on its SHF project, the IC-905 VHF/UHF/SHF SDR transceiver will not only cover 144MHz, 430MHz, 1200MHz and 5600MHz but 10GHz* as well. (*Optional CX-10G transverter required). The transceiver uses a LAN cable between controller and RF module so that the latter can be located at the antenna. Power output is 10W on 144/432/1200MHz, 2W on 2400/5600MHz and 0.5W on 10GHz. And, being from Icom, it features full D-STAR functions (DV/DD mode). Also showcased at the Hamfair was the IC-PW2 HF/50 MHz 1kW linear amplifier. This includes single-operator, two-radio capability, interfaces for external bandpass filters, a LAN interface for PC control, six antenna sockets and more. As to the launch date and pricing, Icom UK don’t presently have…

practicalwireless@warnersgroup.co.uk In a previous review of Yaesu’s current range of mobile offerings I begged the question as to why this manufacturer would wish to introduce yet another model into the VHF/UHF Amateur Radio mix. My first impressions were that they could see some erosion of their traditional markets, from lower cost, lower spec, competitors and like any sustainable business that they needed a new strategy. Designing all new models around a common platform makes a lot of engineering and commercial sense. Readers familiar with my earlier reviews in this range will easily recognise that the new FTM-200D has the same footprint as its stable mates. It’s manufactured on the same, unique to Yaesu, cast alloy chassis that forms the entire heatsink for this 50W max radio. See March issue review…

teleniuslowe@gmail.com On 12 July, the day after this column was completed last month, the solar flux (SFI) leapt up to 165 and the sunspot number (SN) to 134. By 17 July the SFI was 176 and the following day the SN had risen to 166. Both measures then dropped for the remainder of the month but, as Table 1 shows, despite this the trend is still upwards compared with this time last year. Autumn DXpeditions In the July HF Highlights I previewed several DXpeditions that were scheduled to take place this autumn and winter. One was CY0S (Sable Island), scheduled for October. However, the team has been informed by Parks Canada, the authority that controls the island, that the DXpedition has to be rescheduled due to a major project that…

practicalwireless@warnersgroup.co.uk In May 2018, Paul Devlin G1SMP set up a permanent special event station for the National Health Service, Ofcom issued the call sign GB1NHS, Great Britain 1, National Health Service (see In Focus, August 2018 PW). The station was set up with the aim of using the amateur radio platform to promote initiatives that improve the health and wellbeing of communities globally. This includes life saving public health campaigns. Paul is employed by NHS Headquarters. The organisation leads and supports the NHS in England, to deliver improved care for patients. NHS England is the first Government level public sector organisation to adopt amateur radio as part of normal business processes. This came about due to Paul being asked to support the delivery of a global health summit on reducing…

practicalwireless@warnersgroup.co.uk This is a straightforward receiver which will provide speaker reception of the more powerful radiations on medium and short-wave bands. ‘Phones can be used for distant listening and practically any frequency can be tuned by inserting a suitable coil. A refinement is provided in the form of automatic bias, which simplifies battery connections considerably. The circuit is shown in Fig. 1. With reception on the higher wavebands in mind a .0005 mfd. tuning condenser is used, and this should be of the type fitted with a good slow-motion drive, or an exterior drive can be added to it. A pentode output stage is used, fed from the detector by means of a parafeed transformer to secure maximum gain with stability. A resistor is used instead of a reaction choke,…

/M STANDING STILL: Bernard Nock G4BXD tries operating portable – from home! THE FACE BEHIND THE CALL: This month features a well-known author, Alexander McCall Smith, recently licensed as MM7CMY. THE HEXBEAM REDUX: Steve Telenius-Lowe PJ4DX gives his Hexbeam a new lease of life. A FRESH START WITH AMATEUR RADIO: Richard White G6NFE continues with his quest to restart in the hobby from a new location. THE GERMAN QUAD: Mark Foreman G7LSZ/SA6BID has a design for a no-traps multiband HF antenna to make from wire and bits of plastic. There are all your other regular columns too, including HF Highlights, World of VHF, Valve & Vintage and Data Modes as well as your Letters, the latest News and more. The publishers reserve the right to change content according to circumstances.…

practicalwireless@warnersgroup.co.uk The Medway Amateur Receiving and Transmitting Society continues to celebrate their centenary year and on 29July members past and present, along with partners, foregathered at the Cornwallis suite in Maidstone for the centenary dinner. Reminiscent of the heady days of the 1930s gatherings at the Sun Hotel in Chatham. As with the dinners of the 1930s, they were joined by representatives of the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB), Keith Bird G4JED, South East Regional Representative and Kent Representative Dave Lee G8ZZK. In the 1930s representation was by John Clarricoats G6CL the RSGB general manager and close friend of Bill Nutton G6NU. Post dinner, a letter from Her Majesty the Queen was read to members and guests wishing a most memorable dinner to all concerned and for a successful…

roger@g3ldi.co.uk Roger Cooke G3LDI has the latest bootcamp news, reflects on being inspired to learn Morse and showcases a reader’s Jubilee key. It really is about time we got some things back on course again, but this Covid pandemic has upset lots of arrangements, some of which may not ever be reinstated. Bootcamps, Fig. 1, have now become established throughout the UK and if you have any information or details about one you are starting, please email me at roger@g3ldi.co.uk and I will make sure it has publicity in my column. Please remember however that this is just a bi-monthly column, so plenty of notice is needed. We have given careful consideration to the start of Bootcamps here in Norfolk and it looks as though there are two starting in…

cgmm2@btinternet.com Replicating multiple copies of a wiring loom was a tedious task leading to inconsistent results. Eight wires had to be paired up and soldered together endwise, resulting in a four-way harness. This encouraged me to design a better way. I present my ideas that you could draw on, although dimensions and the precise arrangement can be varied to suit your needs and available materials. Basic woodwork is called for, you can see it’s far from artistic cabinet making. A groove with one side sloping towards the other holds the wires in line. The slope allows for a range of wire diameters. A light clamp, made from thin aluminium sheet, rests over the groove and holds the wires in position, ready for soldering. The soldering iron is admitted into a…

Charles.jones125@yahoo.co.uk From my time teaching, I know that every course has students who consider themselves ‘hopeless at maths.’ If this is you, I’d like to help by offering a little tuition aimed at refreshing your maths skills and boosting your confidence. If you are a tutor, I hope this may help you too, by showing ways in which maths can be made real using topics from amateur radio. Maths - or Arithmetic? Generically people refer to anything involving computation and numbers as ‘Maths’, but there is ‘Arithmetic’ as well. If I say, 3x + 13 = 55, that’s Mathematics (well, Algebra technically). Anyone with Maths skills sees that x must be 14 instantly. If I say 65 + 37, that’s Arithmetic. Most people instantly see the sum is 102. 65…

practicalwireless@warnersgroup.co.uk This small, compact receiver was kindly given to me by the then Chairman of the British Vintage Wireless & Television Museum, Dulwich. I am known there for my interest in such things, which makes me really the only one, though we now have a small collection of such radios, including several ‘iconic’ ones, to use an over-used expression. Overview The radio is intended for battery operation, using six D-cells, though a mains PSU was available, which will fit in the battery-box. There was also an external supply for 12 and 24V DC. I didn’t have it, and as I had no intention of buying one, built my own in the space, leaving a connector for an external DC input, also. The radio has distinct Eddystone features from times gone…

practicalwireless@warnersgroup.co.uk We have come a long way since the times when building a VFO for a receiver or transmitter required careful coil winding, variable capacitors, silver mica capacitors and frequency drift. I spent many happy hours aligning VFOs, trying to get them stable and to tune in a linear fashion for use with a mechanical drive. Nowadays accurate multiband VFOs can be built easily using an Arduino or similar microcontroller and programmable clock generator. Digital VFOs While searching for information about an Arduino Nano based VFO, I stumbled across a video by JF3HZB of a wonderful digital VFO with an analogue display. This display looks very much like a traditional mechanical VFO that would have been used in older transceivers. This whet my appetite to find out more and have…

practicalwireless@warnersgroup.co.uk I want this month to look at band plans, before reminding those taking any of the exams that the syllabus now includes questions related to the new EMF regulations, and concluding with the announcement of a new Direct to Full exam – an optional alternative to the current three-level exam route. Introduction The Licence Schedule defines what powers and frequency bands different licence categories are permitted to use by Ofcom, our regulator. Band plans are voluntary plans, albeit within the overall context of the Licence Schedule, agreed by and between national radio societies, describing good practice. They are not compulsory but help to ensure that our onair activity takes place in an orderly manner. What do I mean by this? Think of the Licence Schedule being a bit like…

practicalwireless@warnersgroup.co.uk It’s fair to say that SOTA or ‘Summits on The Air’ is gaining ever more popularity in the world of amateur radio. Its inclusive appeal covers not only those radio amateurs who relish the technical challenges of operating a radio outdoors combined with walking the hills and mountains, but also those who love the challenge of chasing summits. This was especially true on Saturday 18 June 2022, when the Welsh hills were truly alive with an event organised by Ben GW4BML. His idea was to host a GW SOTA party to promote Summits on the Air in Wales and it proved to be a roaring success! A Special Day This was to be a special day in a number of ways. For a start, it was to be the…

practicalwireless@warnersgroup.co.uk The GB1BB story has been told elsewhere [1], but a short analysis of the contacts made – notably looking at their geographic disposition – provides a good illustration of some basic antenna characteristics, which are entirely predictable but often misunderstood. Our ‘shack’ was a metal boat (see header photo, thanks to IoW Radio Society), which had been deliberately grounded on a sandbank some 3km outside the entrance to Cowes harbour. For a little less than an hour, three Foundation-class licensees operated on 70cm (through GB3IW), on 2m FM simplex, and on 40m LSB. Each was using a form of vertical antenna but, as can be seen from Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the spread of contacts was very different on each band. The reasons for this are simply explained…

practicalwireless@warnersgroup.co.uk 2022 saw 48 entrants submit logs in the 39th Practical Wireless 144MHz QRP contest held on Sunday 12 June. The entrants made a total of 1555 valid contacts with stations in 26 different squares, Fig. 2. 2022 Winners • The overall winner, leading single operator and leading Welsh station is the Hereford VHF Contest Group GW1YBB/P, operated by Steven Clements G1YBB from Pen-Y-Gadair (800m asl), the second highest peak in the Black Mountains in South Wales IO81KW, Fig. 4. He used a Yaesu FT-817 transceiver and a 9-element DK7ZB antenna. • Runner up, the leading multi-operator and leading English station is the SADGITS team G4RLF/P, Fig. 3, operating from IO80WX. • The leading fixed station is Dave Keston G8FMC from IO91NW. • The leading Scottish station is again the…

practicalwireless@warnersgroup.co.uk In this month’s On a Budget we are going to look at computers and software for the shack. I am sure very few of us these days operate without a computer in the shack, although it is by no means necessary, unless you are operating digital modes. However, computers can be a really great shack accessory. First, let us consider what use we may put the shack computer to, then consider what type of operating system we may choose, before looking at what our options are on a budget. We will also touch on portable computing with our radios, and finally we will take a look at budget/free software that will turn your computer into an invaluable operating aid. How Might we use a Computer in the Shack? If…

Longworthtim@gmail.com In the satellite section of this column, I often report on schools contacts being made from the International Space Station, where astronauts answer questions posted by schoolchildren. These are quite fun to listen to, but it is some time since an astronaut on the ISS has made ‘random’ contacts with individual amateurs. Commander Doug Wheelock made very many contacts back in 2010 and Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano made a few contacts in 2019, but since then, there has been little activity. Recently though, Kjell Lindgren, who holds the US callsign KO5MOS, has changed all of that and has been making contacts when the spacecraft is over land masses. He started off making contacts with North America but more recently has been active on passes over Europe. I was a…

practicalwireless@warnersgroup.co.uk I recently had the opportunity to play with a Xiegu X6100 transceiver, so thought I would see how it fared as a Data Modes rig. The Xiegu X6100 is a wonderfully compact SDR rig measuring just 200 x 80 x 65mm, complete with an integrated battery, Fig. 1. It has up to 5W of RF output and covers all the bands up to 50MHz. It looks like an ideal candidate for a portable, holiday or hill-topping rig. With the ever-increasing RF noise from household tech, I love going out to a remote location to operate with a QRP setup. I’m very fortunate in living close to the New Forest and my favourite spot is the old Stoney Cross airfield just off the A31. It’s a wonderful flat hilltop location…

Send your letters to: Practical Wireless Letters, Warners Group Publications plc West Street, Bourne, Lincs PE10 9PH E-mail: practicalwireless@warnersgroup.co.uk Congratulations and Your Letters Dear Don, First of all, congratulations to PW for reaching its 90th anniversary. Who’d have thought it 90 years ago, that PW would emerge into the 21st century still singing and dancing! It’s either a miracle, or fate. But of course, it’s the dedicated readership and its contributors that has kept PW continually current. Here’s to another 90 years of battling the strings and arrows of Mother Nature and battling those who would like to consign our beloved hobby into a footnote of history. Secondly, this issue truly was a romp through nostalgia. Some of the names of our peers were again resurrected. A look back at…