AmateurRadio.com

Michel F6FEO sent me a link to his website. Many projects of QRP interest will be found there. The site is in French but Michel has provided Translate links for each of the articles. Definitely worth a visit.

I’ve written on the subject of fake HT antennas on eBay before. It’s a matter of concern whether an antenna is fake or genuine. Lately the antennas sold under the Nagoya brand name have come under suspicion. Recently purchased antennas have blue lettering printed directly on to the base, similar to some fake antennas purporting to be made by the reputable Diamond Antenna company.

Two identical fake hologram labels

These new Nagoyas come in an orange plastic sleeve rather than a yellow one. The sleeves carry a silver hologram label with two serial numbers on them. Presumably the idea is that if you want to check an antenna is genuine you can contact the manufacturer, give them the numbers and they will confirm or deny that the product is genuine.

Today I read in a Yahoo group that someone had obtained an antenna with an identical hologram sticker to another member. I have two such antennas but I had never thought to check the stickers. When I did, I found that the stickers that came with two different Nagoya antennas were identical!

You probably can’t read the numbers off the picture above (try clicking the picture to see the full-size version) but the top number is TWx00647488x where x is a Chinese character. The lower number is CNx3333081x. If you have recently purchased Nagoya antennas and got ones with the silver sticker, I bet they have the same serial numbers!

It seems that the only way to get an HT antenna that works is to buy a Diamond branded antenna from your reputable US, UK or EU dealer! Better still, take an antenna analyzer with you and test it before handing over any money.

10m WSPR spots @ G4ILO 17 October 2012

Wow! Looks like being another good day on 10 metres!

I noticed today that this blog has now got 150 followers not including those who read it on AmateurRadio.com. I’m amazed and humbled that so many people find what I write worth reading, especially as I am not all that active at the moment. While I wasn’t looking, my other blog One Foot in the Grave passed 50 followers as well. Thanks to all of you for your interest.

These numbers are not as great as the number of followers some of my blogging colleagues have got on Twitter. I’ve resisted joining Twitter, in part because I couldn’t see the point, but also because I don’t need yet another way for people to try stealing my identity. I seem to remember a couple of years back writing something on the lines of “if I start Twittering, send the men in white coats round.”

A few months ago I signed up to Google+ which is nowhere near as popular, but only because I use so many Google services already that one more won’t make a difference plus it uses the same login. But perhaps I should take the plunge and join Twitter.

If you’re a Twitter user, in what ways do you find it useful?

10m WSPR spots @ G4ILO 16 October 2012

Some good propagation today. A good opening across the Atlantic seems to have caught operators by surprise. One US station remarked that he wan’t hearing much on 10 metres.

I snatched the K3 away from WSPR duty long enough to work CO8LC in Cuba and Dave, N8DC in Michigan. Also heard several other US states as well as KP4 (Puerto Rico).

10m WSPR spots @ G4ILO 14 October 2012

Not very good propagation today. Several two-way spots with EA8FF and even more with UA6AAK, otherwise only ‘local’ stations.

This will be the last one of these I shall be posting for a while as I want to do some antenna comparisons on different bands.

BTW someone asked if the colours of the lines showing the signal paths mean anything. I have no idea. Do they?

10m WSPR spots @ G4ILO 13 October 2012

A day of poor propagation, enlivened in early afternoon by an opening to Argentina (LU8ENU). I was taking a walk at the time so could not take advantage of it.