Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
UK National Grid status link
February 6th, 2015 | 
Author: Again, from Steve G1KQH, a link that may well be of interest to UK readers:
Did I send you this one Roger?73 Steve
http://www.g1kqh.talktalk.net/
Many times we hear that closing old and polluting power stations is putting us at risk of power blackouts. Check the electricity capacity yourself.
In the left hand corner you can also check for France.
Radio Equipment Directive (RED)
See https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/radio-equipment-directive-proposal .
Quite soon this new directive will apply in Europe including the UK. Many low cost modules may cost a little more as receivers will need to be more carefully designed to meet RED requirements. It is likely that more stringent RX parameters will have to be met. I wonder if some of the very low module costs are as a result of the dumping of old stock? This could well impact super-regen receivers that are sensitive, but not very selective. Although fine in some markets this type of receiver is less than ideal in a very busy ISM band where they could easily be blocked. Listening around 433.92MHz recently, very many ISM devices could be copied. One of my old colleagues is involved in international committees working on RED.
The “internet of things” means very many devices will include radios in future, such as a basic internet terminal in washing machines or RFID tags.
Yet more transceiver modules!
A search on eBay has thrown up lots of useful RF transceiver modules, not as low cost as the AM ones found by G6ALB, but nonetheless very low cost and suitable for local communications, Some are 100mW and some 500mW or 1W. The ones I saw were data units, but these should be suitable for speech with simple mods. I am unclear how some of these are programmed to the correct frequency. There is usually a choice of either VHF or UHF and I think some are essentially FM.
Put “UHF transceiver module eBay” into Google to see what comes up. Or try “VHF” instead of UHF. I was amazed how low cost these were.
More useful modules
Yet again, I am indebted to Steve G1KQH for the following:
Low cost AM modules yesterday, now the Dorji today.. Its just never ending what next comes along, I can’t keep up any longer going to have a funny turn!73 Steve
http://www.g1kqh.talktalk.net/
Another G1KQH bargain
This came in from Steve, G1KQH, today. It is often cheaper to buy the completed, built modules from China than to buy the parts in the UK! What is the world coming to?
I bought 5 LM317s on PCB with heatsinks for a fiver:
Why bother building it any longer, that used to be half the fun! The heatsinks would of cost a Quid each over here, never mind the LM317 and the PCB with connectors..Happy days73 Steve G1KQH
The Spectrum Monitor — February, 2015
Stories you’ll find in our February, 2015 issue:
Monitoring the Russian Navy (Part 1)
By Tony Roper
In previous articles, military monitoring specialist, Tony Roper, took us inside NATO war games (TSM July 2014) and showed us how to monitor the Russian Air Force (TSM October 2014). In the first of a series, Tony turns his attention to the Russian navy and shows you how you can listen in CW and, amazingly, even track their positions.
The Amateur Radio Parity Act is Down, But Certainly Not Out!
By Richard Fisher KI6SN
The Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2014, proposed last June by U.S. Representative Adam Kinzinger (R-Illinois), never got out of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology. To paraphrase American author-humorist Mark Twain, the death of H.R. 4969, “is an exaggeration.” Proposed to protect radio amateurs and other communications hobbyists from private communities’ unreasonable antenna restrictions, it is expected to be back in play in the newly minted 114th Congress. Think of the legislation as merely hibernating.
Listening for WWII POWs
By Rich Post KB8TAD
It wasn’t the New Year’s Eve he had anticipated. Twenty-two year old Second Lieutenant George Klare was navigator on a B-17G bomber based in England. As part of the 418th squadron, he was at the navigator’s table reviewing the flight path of the bomber in the direction of Hamburg and its synthetic oil refineries, which were so vital to the German war machine during World War II. He had no idea that this might indeed be the last time he would see London during the war.
W9GRS: Middle School Amateur Radio Station Update
By Troy Simpson W9KVR
Teaching junior high science can never be accused of being boring, at least here in rural Illinois. Coming off what I would call a “rebuilding year,” in my last article, the 2014-2015 school year has seemed to hit its stride and halfway through we can say it has been a very eventful year! The school station W9GRS has settled into its new home in Room 115 with the sounds of PSK31 tones and voices often filling the air during the last class period of the day.
D-STAR – its History and its Future
By Cory GB Sickles WA3UVV
In 1999, about 10 years after the genesis of P25, the Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) began developing a new standard for digital voice and data operation. Predominately funded by the Japanese government, in a similar – but different – way we might find a project funded by a grant allocation, the JARL committee’s work was released in 2001 and the Digital Smart Technologies for Amateur Radio—D-STAR was created. But why has the second oldest and first digital voice methodology created specifically for amateur radio taken so long to take hold and what is its future?
The Spectrum Monitor is available in PDF format which can be read on any desktop, laptop, iPad®, Kindle® Fire, or other device capable of opening a PDF file. Annual subscription (12 issues, beginning with the January 2015 issue) is $24. Individual monthly issues are available for $3 each.
Hardly any young people are becoming hams anymore
This is what Ed Muns, W0YK, said in an interview the other day, and goes on with “because they see this as kind of old school stuff.“
A year ago the ARRL web site said: “Amateur Radio showing steady growth in the US“. AH0A’s website with statistics over the US ham population backs this up with the curve shown here. Even in my local club we are now seeing young people signing up for licence classes.
How different perspectives! How has an old radio amateur like W0YK come to believe in the myth of declining numbers of hams?
