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Series Six Episode Nine of the ICQ Podcast has been released. News Stories include :-

• The P5 Project
• RILGES East Sussex Repeater Group
• New Amateur Radio Club for Bath
• New QRSS/WSPR ham radio kit
• Free WARD certificate
• South African Hams to get 472 kHz license
• ZB2TEN beacon is now fully operational
• Ham Radio 50 MHz operation in New Zealand
• MB7IDA - Danbury Echolink frequency change
• Taxi drivers fined for using GPS Jammers
• Norfolk Island
• Isle of Skye activation
• Queen's Award for Wood & Douglas

Leslie Butterfields (G0CIB) joins us to discuss International Amateur / Ham Radio Beacon Project plus Austalian report from Ed Durrant (VK2JI) and our new north American correspondent Frank Howell (K4FMH)

Series Six Episode Nine of the ICQ Podcast has been released. News Stories include :-

• The P5 Project
• RILGES East Sussex Repeater Group
• New Amateur Radio Club for Bath
• New QRSS/WSPR ham radio kit
• Free WARD certificate
• South African Hams to get 472 kHz license
• ZB2TEN beacon is now fully operational
• Ham Radio 50 MHz operation in New Zealand
• MB7IDA - Danbury Echolink frequency change
• Taxi drivers fined for using GPS Jammers
• Norfolk Island
• Isle of Skye activation
• Queen's Award for Wood & Douglas

Leslie Butterfields (G0CIB) joins us to discuss International Amateur / Ham Radio Beacon Project plus Austalian report from Ed Durrant (VK2JI) and our new north American correspondent Frank Howell (K4FMH)

Series Six Episode Nine of the ICQ Amateur / Ham Radio Podcast has been released. The latest news, Leslie Butterfields (G0CIB) joins us to discuss International Amateur / Ham Radio Beacon Project plus Austalian report from Ed Durrant (VK2JI) and our new north American correspondent Frank Howell (K4FMH)

• The P5 Project
• RILGES East Sussex Repeater Group
• New Amateur Radio Club for Bath
• New QRSS/WSPR ham radio kit
• Free WARD certificate
• South African Hams to get 472 kHz license
• ZB2TEN beacon is now fully operational
• Ham Radio 50 MHz operation in New Zealand
• MB7IDA - Danbury Echolink frequency change
• Taxi drivers fined for using GPS Jammers
• Norfolk Island
• Isle of Skye activation
• Queen's Award for Wood & Douglas

Beautiful day again here in New Jersey – but extremely busy!  Lots of chores, lots of running around and I didn’t get everything accomplished that I wanted to.  But even at the end of a busy day, it’s nice to step back, take a breath and spend a few minutes engaged in “The World’s Greatest Hobby”.

This was nice as it ended up being an actual QSO.  As it turns out, it ended up being a K3 to K3 QSO!  I was at 5 Watts and Mario was at 100 Watts. We gave each other 579 reports. I was on the Butternut while Mario was on his Hy Gain vertical – so it was a K3/vertical to K3/vertical QSO.  We exchanged weather information as a matter of course; and again, I was surprised that New Jersey was just a bit warmer than Pesaro. Of course, I’m the typical American who assumes it’s always warmer on the Mediterranean than it is here!

Last weekend was a fun one for me. I had an open day following a morning commitment, and then I was free to operate in the QRP TTF event. I had originally planned to strike out to a nearby trailhead for the extra multiplier but a hastily planned meeting nixed that plan. So I operated from the park area by Lake Fredrica in our housing development. It is my favorite spot due to the nicely spaced tall pines and open area to a sandy beach on the lake. The lake is spring fed and one of the clearest natural lakes in the area despite being surrounded by civilization. It is also a nice quiet RF location free of most appliance generated noise that is so common these days.

Being a dedicated Contest Point Giver, I set out to give some points to the serious ops among us. What a treat to casually listen, and try to improve my cw copying speed by listening to all the exchanges going on during events like this one. I love the fact that the SOTA gang was included and there were a few Florida QSO Party ops on 20m where I spend most of my time. It was also Polar Bear QRP monthly outing time and I got to Grrrrrr to several of my fellow Polar Bear ops.  Thanks and an extra long Grrrr to Larry W2LJ, Perry N5PJ, Barry N1EU, and John N0EVH and hope I did not miss any other PB’s.

My view of the lake K4UPG

In the end, I had a fun day. Seems the bands were not solid, but I’ve gotten used to that in this current solar cycle. I kept hearing the same stations over and over. Now and then a new call would appear but most of the time they disappeared before I could work them with my Sierra at 2.4 watts. Even with my jumper dipole up at 45 feet I suspect my signal isn’t always loud enough to attract much attention. So I search and pounce and enjoy reading the mail and waiting to pounce. I did collect 14 different states and give myself a bit of multiplier for that fortunate turn of events.

Nothing like spending time outdoors doing something that I love. I especially appreciate my fellow QRP ops and the fun we have making QSO’s with limited power and gear.

CU on the air!

72,
Kelly K4UPG

Earlier in the week, via the Southgate Amateur Radio feed, I saw details of a rig I’d heard rumoured for some time – a dual band 50 and 70MHz multimode. The manufacturer is a new name, Noble Radio.

Technical specs, provided by the Noble Radio website are as follows:


1. RECEIVER SPECIFICATIONS
Frequency Coverage: 4M: 69.9 MHz to 70.5 MHz
6M: 50.0 MHz to 52.0 MHz

Modes: SSB (USB & LSB) and CW

Circuit Type: 
Downconverting Design
Dual Converesion: 1st IF: 10.7 MHz 2nd IF: 25 kHz
Sideband elimination using phasing techniques with digitally generated Quadrature carriers and Image Reject Mixers preceeded by 15 kHz crystal roofing filters
Ultimate receiver bandwidth set by adjustable SCAF filters (two 8th order filters used. One for High Cut and one for Low cut) 

Sensitivity: MDS = -130 dbm

Dynamic Range Figures:
Blocking: 110 db
IMD (3rd Order) = 95 db

Selectivity:
500 Hz to 4 kHz adjustable with the SCAF filters
Ultimate attenuation of filters are 55db or better

2. TRANSMITTER SPECIFICATIONS

Frequency Coverage: 4M: 69.9 MHz to 70.5 MHz
6M: 50.0 MHz to 52.0 MHz

Modes: SSB (USB & LSB) and CW

OUTPUT POWER: 20 Watts CW or PEP SSB

SCAF Filters can be used to tailor SSB Transmit audio.

3. GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS

SYNTHESIZER: DDS/PLL synthesizer with 10 Hz minimum step size. Tuning rate is variable depending on the Tuning Knob speed (Variable Speed Tuning – VST)

MEMORIES: 10 Memories per band

ANTENNA IMPEDANCE: 50 ohms unbalanced

SUPPLY VOLTAGE: 11.5 to 14 Volts Regulated DC (Negative Ground) at approximately 3.6 Amps at full output power.

DIMENSIONS: 8 in (203 mm)W x 12 in (305 mm) D- including knob and heatsink x 3.75 in (95 mm) H – including feet

WEIGHT: Approximately 4 lbs (1.8 kg)

4. SPECIAL FEATURES

The NR-6N4 has the capability of being controlled by a standard PC type keyboard that plugs into a rear connector. Once a keyboard is interfaced to the radio, it can be used to directly enter a frequency, skip directly to various functions by a single press of a function key without having to navigate the menus from the front panel buttons as well as being used to send CW via the keyboard. There is also a built in keyer function that operates with a standard keyer paddle for CW operation with or without a keyboard connection.

The low level 10.7 MHz IF signal is also brought out to a rear connector so that it may be used for panadapter or SDR applications.

* All specifications in this document may be subject to change without notice or obligation


No details of availability are provided as yet – no doubt the CE approval hoops will have to be jumped through.

This is sure to be a popular rig. A commercial 70MHz multimode has been long awaited. The fact that it is a dual bander including 50MHz will no doubt add interest, although I guess the majority of people that want 50MHz radios probably have one. Is the power level right? 20W is certainly useful – though 50W would be better still for tropo contacts, I feel. Hopefully datamodes interfacing (JT65A/JT6M/JT9 etc) will be straightforward – I haven’t yet seen a photo of the back of the rig!

Exciting news for 50 and 70MHz enthusiasts!