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Autumn walk
8 November 2010 | by Sunday was a fine but cold autumn day and Olga and I went for a walk near Loweswater. In my rucksack I took the Motorola GP300 and the FoxTrak APRS tracker. This is a somewhat more bulky arrangement than using the VX-8GR, however this hobby has for me always been more about providing a reason to build and tinker about with stuff than using the latest, most efficient technology and using this home-built tracker with a radio I bought for £1 at a rally is just somehow more fun than using Yaesu’s latest gadget.
I had obtained a cable for the Motorola with the correct two-pin plug to make up an interface. I cut the tip off the 3.5mm jack so that inserting the plug did not cut off the speaker and I programmed a channel on the radio with 144.800 as the transmit frequency and 145.500 as the receive frequency. This meant that I could hear anyone calling CQ during the periods between transmitting position beacons. The downside is that the FoxTrak cannot tell if the APRS frequency is clear before transmitting. But many dumb trackers do that already because they don’t have a receiver. In any case, the APRS activity level here is so low that the chances of a collision occurring are about the same as winning the lottery.
Although the path we walked along was quite high, this was not a very good location for radio. Only one position beacon was received by a gateway and I made just one voice contact – with Phil M0AYB/P activating the summit of Blencathra for WOTA. (Phil later went on to activate Mungrisdale Common which completed activations of all of Wainwright’s Northern Fells. I’m doubly sorry to have missed contacting him there, but congratulations Phil on the achievement.)
Our walk took us down through the woods to the lake shore and then back to the car. The autumn colours were wonderful – my pictures don’t really do justice to them. I expect most of the leaves have now gone. Last night there was a gale and this morning through the overcast we could see wet snow on the mountains down to quite a low altitude. I doubt that there will be many more opportunities for a walk like this before the end of the year.
Julian Moss, G4ILO, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cumbria, England. Contact him at [email protected].
CW Sweepstakes 2010
(Image credit: via contesting.com)
After missing the two contests that I hoped would kick off my contest season, ARRL Sweepstakes was next on the list. I managed a decent showing that would have won the MDC certificate for A-power last year, provided the log-checkers don’t take too much.
Highlights (“Wins,” as we like to say on #wwyc):
- 80 meters was awesome. Good conditions and the K9AY helped me keep the noise under control.
- Everything worked for the most part and everything still works after the contest is over.
- SO2R CW with TRLog.
- Working lots of old friends from my time in MRRC, MWA, and SMC.
- Working lots of new friends from PVRC.
- Getting my receiver crushed on all bands when I tuned across W4EE who lives less than a mile away.
Lowlights (Fails):
- RFI to the CO detector waking Sarah up in the middle of the night. KA9FOX and AA9DY have had this problem.
- Not spending enough time on 15 meters and missing VY0JA and VY1EI there. Missed the sweep by 1.
- Not being able to answer people responding to my main radio CQ while working someone on the second radio. This only happened about five times. But, one of these was my Bureau sorter! Sorry!
- Getting confused for K1GU a few times.
Here are the numbers…thanks to all for the QSOs. See you again in two weeks on phone with a different callsign.
ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, CW Call: K8GU Operator(s): K8GU Station: K8GU Class: Single Op LP QTH: MDC Operating Time (hrs): 17 Radios: SO2R Summary: Band QSOs ------------ 160: 80: 367 40: 243 20: 100 15: 0 10: ------------ Total: 710 Sections = 79 Total Score = 111,548 Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club
Ethan Miller, K8GU, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Maryland, USA. Contact him at [email protected].
ICQ Podcast Series Three Episode Twenty-Three – PMR Conversion (07 November 2010)
Series Three Episode Twenty-Three of the ICQ Amateur / Ham Radio Podcast. News Stories include:
Your feedback and Martin (M1MRB) reports on the PMR Conversions.
Colin Butler, M6BOY, is the host of the ICQ Podcast, a weekly radio show about Amateur Radio. Contact him at [email protected].
ICQ Podcast Series Three Episode Twenty-Three – PMR Conversion (07 November 2010)
Series Three Episode Twenty-Three of the ICQ Amateur / Ham Radio Podcast. News Stories include:
Your feedback and Martin (M1MRB) reports on the PMR Conversions.
Colin Butler, M6BOY, is the host of the ICQ Podcast, a weekly radio show about Amateur Radio. Contact him at [email protected].
What Kinda Radio Set You Workin’ On In That Basement?
By his description of who he talks to it must be an 80 meter phone rig. :-) If only neighbors took this much interest in radio today…
Good Customer Service is NOT Dead!
Recently I began a project for a wire vertical antenna and it called for a 20 ft fiberglass or non-conducting pole/mast of some sort. Not to worry as I have a trusty 20 ft Jackite pole in a nice green color. I put the antenna together but the vertical wire was too long and so there was considerable slack wire swinging in the breeze. After some head scratching, I measured my 20 ft Jackite and found it was only 18 ft long!!! YIKES! Did it shrink?
Did it shrink? Nope, it is all good to go!
Thanks to the internet, I was able to send an email to Jackite products and ask if that was normal. In a short time, I received a very nice response from the Jackite vp and an offer that was over the top and way more than I was expecting. It was more than I could accept as I’ve been quite happy with the product otherwise. Turns out that it was a small quality control issue that I can tweak and correct personally.
I get no monetary or other gain out of this, but did want to give credit where credit is due. This level of customer support is often lacking in today’s busy world. I am glad to give a shout out to this company and its products! They do the job and the company stands behind them with good service. Outstanding job Jackite!
72,
Kelly K4UPG PB #173
Kelly McClelland, K4UPG, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Florida, USA. Contact him at [email protected].
Ottawa Mini Maker Faire 2010
For readers local to my home area you may be interested in this exciting and free event in Ottawa this weekend. Full details can be found on the Artengine website. The essential details are:
Dates and times: Nov. 6th and Nov 7th, 12pm to 6pm.
Location: Arts Court 2 Daly Ave. Ottawa, ON K1N 6E2
If you are not sure what makers do or what goes on at a Maker Faire take a look at this video of the 2010 Kansas City Mini Maker Faire
Alan Steele, VA3STL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Ottawa, Ontario. Contact him at [email protected].
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