Innehållsförteckning för August 2023 från Practical Wireless

I’m writing this a day after my return from the Friedrichshafen Ham Radio event (see my report in this issue). It was great fun although yet again I suffered at the hands of an airline, this time Lufthansa! Thanks to delays I missed my onward connections in both directions, including, on the return leg, having to stay the night in an airport hotel at Frankfurt. The things I do for amateur radio! But, as I say, it was an enjoyable event and great to catch up with lots of old friends as well as some of the latest products and ideas. At home I’ve been continuing to operate on the 6m band and have also been active again on 4m, as you’ll see from my brief report in Tim GW4VXE’s…

The Radio Society of Great Britain is delighted to announce that Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan has chosen to donate the UK amateur radio equipment of His late Majesty, King Hussein of Jordan to the Society. His Majesty was a great ambassador for amateur radio and, whenever his official duties allowed him, his radio callsign JY1 could be heard on the amateur bands. In the UK he operated with a G5 callsign. His Majesty always operated modestly, never announcing himself as King Hussein, always just ‘Hussein from Jordan’.…

gm6dx@outlook.com The advancement of modern transceivers such as the Icom IC-7300 or Yaesu FT-710 has resulted in many features now offered that were previously unthinkable. That being said, one issue which still troubles even the modern transceiver is the ability to safely connect and use your external RF power amplifier without the risk of damage to both pieces of equipment. The switching voltages in amplifiers, more so in older amplifiers such as the Kenwood TL-992, are high and can be too much for the rig to handle. In order to address this we need to create a buffer circuit between the transceiver and amplifier. This will allow the rig to key the amplifier and protect it from high switching voltages. My friend John GI7SBF had this particular issue with an…

keith.g4miu@gmail.com Hello again! In last month’s column I described my TinySA-Ultra purchased from UK authorised dealer Mirfield Electronics. I discussed how it could be used to trace sources of unwanted noise and described a shielded loop antenna for use in hunting down these noise sources using any suitable receiving device, including the TinySA, which can be most useful for this being portable and having a generous internal battery life. The TinySA itself is also entirely suitable for use in individually pinpointing offending devices once the location of the source has been found. Then, where appropriate, it is also possible to trace the actual point on a circuit board where the noise is radiating from by using suitable probes. Therefore, it may be feasible to use the device to take action…

THE FACE BEHIND THE CALL: Roger Dowling G3NKH takes an enjoyable trip down memory lane to meet Lynda Jopson, the second G6QA. THE 2023 PW 70MHz CONTEST: Colin Redwood G6MXL has the rules and advice on taking part. PREPPERS: Joe Chester M1MWD goes digital in the second part of this series, sorting out various software issues. TELEVISION & RADIO: Keith Hamer and Garry Smith continue the special series looking back at the BBC’s coverage of Coronations since 1937. There is also a Coronation vintage wireless advertisement from the archives, including a profile of Murphy Radio. And lots more. BUILD BUILD YOUR OWN GEAR: Tim Walford G3PCJ discusses the pros and cons of building from scratch and from kits. There are all your other regular columns too, including HF Highlights, World…

With the much-anticipated UK release of Icom’s all-new IC-905 SHF/VHF/UHF All Mode Transceiver around the corner, Icom UK got hold of two of them and asked TX Films whether they would like to be the first to do a review. In the resulting YouTube video Bob McCreadie G0FGX of TX Films, along with Dave Crump G8GKQ and Noel Matthews G8GTZ from the British Amateur Television Club, put the IC-905 through its paces, producing a video that demonstrates the IC-905’s impressive features and capabilities. In the video, Bob McCreadie takes us through various aspects of the IC-905 including: • Introduction to the IC-905 SHF/VHF/UHF All-Mode Transceiver.• Connectivity…an overview of the sockets and connections on this radio.• Menu navigation on the IC-905.• Overview of the RF Unit and Transverter.• Field Test onDorset’s…

practicalwireless@warnersgroup.co.uk QRP is my thing, and QRP CW at that. A couple of years ago I went back to basics and started to build simple, crystal-controlled transmitters for the HF bands, before moving on to add Arduino-controlled VFOs. In this month’s instalment I am going to share with you two very simple and cheap, easy build CW transmitters capable of good results on HF. In case you have not done this before I am offering two options. The first is a kit with all you need included, except for a CW key, and which is capable of operating on just about any HF band, but with best power output between 80-20m inclusive. The second is a scratch-build, where you source the parts yourself but this is designed really for 80m.…

gw4vxe@icloud.com Jef Van Raepenbusch ON8NT has been experimenting with FT8CN, an FT8 program that runs on Android. He writes, “FT8CN was developed by BG7YOZ and hosted by N0BOY: https://github.com/N0BOY/FT8CN “Keith GM4JKZ, one of our DDARS members, drew my attention to this app during our weekly digital net on Thursday evening on XLX305D. This app works perfectly, both on my Samsung tablet and (cheap) Nokia smartphone with the IC-9700 and IC-7300. Configuring the app is very simple and you can choose your transceiver in the settings. Your transceiver can connect via USB (+OTG cable), WiFi/LAN and Bluetooth, or even audio coupling. You can also adjust the time delta in the settings of the app, very handy for field operation. The app contains a map where you can see where the contacts are…

teleniuslowe@gmail.com Welcome to the August HF Highlights. The 28MHz beacon report was compiled by Neil Clarke G0CAS. During May, Sporadic E got off to a slow start. Small localised openings took place on most days to various areas within Europe, but it was not until the 26th when a widespread opening took place, and again on the 30th when 23 and 24 beacons were heard respectively. The most common beacons heard via Sporadic E during May were IW3FZQ 28228 on 12 days, ED4YBA 28263 on 17 days and DB0UM 28279 on 11 days. In the Middle East 4X6TU 28200 was heard on 28 days and in South Africa ZS6DN 28200 was logged on 13 days. As expected, South American beacons remained good all month: interestingly the farthest south, LU4AA 28200,…

cgmm2@btinternet.com Curvy. Sinuous. What are you thinking? Well, it reminds me of the curl of artificial smoke emanating from an OO-gauge model steam locomotive. The crane, Fig. 1, is far from curvy. To start with, the jib is at angle A degrees to the magenta horizontal line. In the next picture, the jib has been raised to angle B. This causes the hook to be brought nearer to the driving cab, but it also means that a greater height of cable is needed in order that the hook still touches the ground. The reach of the crane (horizontally, cab-to-hook) and the height to which the hook can travel (ground upwards) are fixed according to the selected angle. Changing the angle changes both reach and height, the driver has no choice.…

dj.daviator@btinternet.com The VHF Low Level (LL) Common Frequency, 130.490MHz, trialled from June 2021, has been permanently introduced in the UK. With an ever-increasing trend of military versus civil aviation AIRPROX (Air Proximity – near misses) below 2000ft above ground level, the aim of the LL Common Frequency is to reduce the chances of mid-air collisions in the UK Low Flying System (UKFLS). The desired effect is to improve situational awareness among civilian and military aircraft operating in the UKLFS when not in receipt of an air traffic service. Getting a Lower Airspace Radar Service or an ATC service should take priority over the use of LL Common Frequency. In areas where this cannot be achieved, then the LL Common Frequency should be used. The channel should be monitored whenever possible…

practicalwireless@warnersgroup.co.uk Ham Radio 2023 was the second such event following the Covid disruptions, so it was interesting to see whether attendance and trade support increased over 2022. It’s too early for actual numbers to be released but the consensus from those who were there both last year and this was that things were definitely on the up. That said, there were some notable absentees among the exhibitors, not least WiMo (the largest European amateur radio retailer) and Yaesu. Also notable by their absence were the RSGB, something remarked on by many of the attendees, who enjoy the RSGB’s usual extensive bookstore and the facility for dropping off QSL cards for the RSGB QSL Bureau. Exhibitors One of the biggest stands this year was that by Aaronia AG. No, I wasn’t…

michael@gb2mop.org Many of us, both short wave listeners and licensed amateurs, have a number of receivers to be connected to one receiving antenna. The solution might be a manual switch or a set of relays operated by a switch. The main advantage of these solutions is that the insertion loss is minimal at HF, but can become problematical and expensive as one ventures into the VHF and UHF regions and you have to remember to switch! In this article we will discuss passive splitters and distribution amplifiers. Splitters Splitters, or splitter/combiners to give them their full name, provide an answer that does not require switching but does carry the penalty of insertion loss. Splitter/Combiners are passive bi-directional devices. A three-port splitter/combiner takes an input typically from an antenna at one…

practicalwireless@warnersgroup.co.uk Would you like to add a professional looking front panel to your project? Good front panel graphics can really enhance a project. Would you like to use a system that has the following features? • Graphic design can be completed on any PC.• Ready to fit within minutes of design completion.• Wide choice of colours for legends and background.• Low cost. (10 to 20 pence per panel)• Repeatable, so ideal for school, club or STEM projects.• No messy or smelly glues, inks, varnishes or paints with long drying times.• Easy to modify if requirements change or different versions are needed.• Covers any existing panel markings or defects, allowing instrument cases to be re-used. The system to be described is really straightforward and the only additional item of hardware required…

practicalwireless@warnersgroup.co.uk “A fantastic trip – and the results exceeded all our expectations”. That was the verdict of inveterate DXpeditioner Nobby Styles G0VJG on his return from the long-planned Rockall 2023 expedition (The Face behind the Call, May PW). The twin objectives of the trip to the lonely 17 metre high outcrop of rock in the North Atlantic, Fig. 1, over 300 nautical miles from the Outer Hebrides, were to activate EU-189, one of the world’s most-wanted Islands on the Air (IOTAs), and to raise funds for Royal Navy and British Army charities. The adventure started from Inverkip Marina in the north of Scotland on Friday, 26 May as the 60ft racing yacht Taeping made its way up the Firth of Clyde towards the open sea. It had nine passengers: a crew…

roger@g3ldi.co.uk I had a major G3 thing this last month. I lost the Library machine to disk read errors and could not do anything with it. I could see the icons on the screen and in the taskbar but nothing worked. I tried to fix it by reinstalling W10, but that only made it worse. As I type this, on Monday I have to submit the article to Don on Wednesday. Phew, I don’t wish to see this problem again. I lost all emails, files saved and my address book, Skype included, so it’s a bit discombobulated this month. Sorry about that! Luckily, I had a very good friend sort it for me. I now have a new 1TB SSD drive, so hopefully it will be fine now. The CW…