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Why the shack-in-a-box?
13 May 2010 | by There is speculation at the moment about whether Icom will release the new IC-9100 top band to 23cm transceiver at Dayton, and what the price will be.
I wish someone could tell me why there is this trend towards do-everything shack-in-a-box radios instead of separate VHF/UHF rigs like the now discontinued IC-910H which I just bought? One of the reasons I switched from using a transverter to having a separate rig for VHF is that I can’t use HF and VHF at the same time. An all-in-one radio would have just the same limitation.
Just because technology makes it possible to cram everything into one box doesn’t mean that there is no longer a reason to have separate radios. If you want a new multimode radio for 2m or 70cm you have to buy an FT-817, FT-857, FT-897 or TS-2000 – which are all compromise rigs with fairly poor performance – or wait for the IC-9100. No wonder good single VHF band multimode rigs like the IC-275H are now worth their weight in gold bullion.
Julian Moss, G4ILO, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cumbria, England. Contact him at [email protected].
Handiham World for 12 May 2010
Welcome to Handiham World!
Courage Center Development Officer Walt Seibert Passes Ham Radio Exam
Photo: Walt Seibert, left, gets congrats from Pat, WA0TDA.
Another New Ham
Congratulations to Walt Seibert, who passed his Technician licensing exam at the Handiham-affiliated Stillwater Amateur Radio Association VE session last Thursday. Walt works with me at Courage Center, and we have known each other for many years. As one of his duties in the Courage Center Development Department, Walt traveled with me one year to Dayton HAMVENTION and with the help of our colleague Tom Olson put on a “meet and greet” development event in support of the Handiham program.
So Walt is no stranger to ham radio, and when he decided to pursue his Technician Class amateur radio license, we were thrilled. There is nothing like being able to “walk the walk and talk the talk”, and if you are going to ask potential donors to support an amateur radio education program for people with disabilities, it certainly helps to have an amateur radio license yourself. I know that Walt was amazed at the size and scope of Dayton HAMVENTION. The amazing technology, the friendly folks who visited the Handiham booth, the fun and fellowship — I guess it isn’t surprising that amateur radio looked pretty good.
Of course Walt is always busy at work, helping Courage Center to earn the trust and support of those who believe in our mission to help people with disabilities. For a time he was interested in amateur radio but couldn’t take the time to pursue it because of his other professional development studies and the demands of work. However, the stars finally aligned for Walt, and he decided to earn his Technician. We helped with study materials and links to amateur radio practice exam websites. Soon Walt was reporting back to us that he was passing practice exams on a regular basis, and then every time he tried. We set up Walt with an upcoming VE session and crossed our fingers.
I am a member of the Stillwater Amateur Radio Association VE Team, so I was pleased to see that Walt showed up at our Thursday evening testing session, which meant that I would be able to personally give him the good news when he passed the test. As expected, Walt did a great job on the examination and I was able to perform one of my favorite duties as a volunteer examiner: giving a successful candidate the good news!
Congratulations to Walt, who is now waiting for his callsign to appear in the database.
Guide Dog Trawler passes away quietly
Folks, it is with much sadness that I report the passing of guide Trawler. He gave no indication of any health issues. He guided at church last Sunday, and we went to the Plymouth Senior Center yesterday, where he worked well as usual, steps and all. All was normal the rest of Monday. This morning, Tuesday, Pam found him on his sleeping mat next to our computer. He was in his normal sleep position, no sign of any trauma. Pam feels it was his heart. Trawler would have been ten years old July 4 of this year.
I would like to have my ham radio friends on the net and camp staff know of this, so could you forward the information?
Jerry Kloss, N0VOE
Editor’s note: Trawler guided Jerry, Handiham Volunteer & Student Coordinator, through years of Radio Camps and Handiham activities. A true team, they worked so well together that it was fun to watch them travel with confidence and poise. Our hearts go out to Jerry and his wife Pam in their time of loss, for losing a treasured animal and guide leaves a hole in your heart.
Pat Tice, WA0TDA, is the manager of HANDI-HAM and a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com. Contact him at [email protected].
No service
I phoned up Radioworld this afternoon to ask why I hadn’t received the 2m 5/8 vertical I ordered a week ago. After looking up the order the girl told me that the stock hadn’t come in yet. “We sent you an email yesterday” she said. That was presumably in response to my shirty enquiry yesterday. I checked through my Spam folder and I didn’t receive any email from Radioworld. I mentioned twice that I had received an email saying the item was despatched on the day I ordered it, but there wasn’t the slightest hint of an apology, just a repetition of the fact that the stock hadn’t come in yet. Radioworld goes on my list of dealers to avoid.
LAM Communications by contrast has been a pleasure to deal with. After failing to win any VHF multimodes on eBay I decided that rather than gamble my money on the stock markets or leave it in the back at an almost zero rate of interest I might as well buy any radio gear I want, so I treated myself to an Icom IC-901H. LAM had a used one for sale so I phoned up to ask about it. I was told it was in really nice condition but when I asked its age the salesman (Dave) didn’t know, so he promised to phone Icom UK to find out when the guarantee ran out and call me back.
This he did after a few hours. He was a bit apologetic, saying that it was made in 2003 so there was “a bit of age behind it” and in view of that he would knock an extra £50 off the price and throw in carriage for free. I decided to go for it and he then warned me that the FedEx courier had already called so it wouldn’t go out until the following day. Fine, so it would arrive today. It did, well-packed (the Icom box was bubble wrapped and inside a larger box) and was exactly as described. Better, in fact, I can’t see a single mark on it. I am well pleased, and would be more than happy to buy from LAM Communications again.
The worst offenders in my experience for service have been Waters and Stanton. I forget the details of all the times I had to hassle them to send things I ordered, such as when I bought a rig advertised as with a free desk mic in RadCom and they didn’t send the free desk mic. A classic example of dealing with W&S was when I ordered the MFJ magnetic loop a few years ago. I didn’t receive any email or acknowledgement and no money was taken from my account so I decided that the online order hadn’t gone through. I started to have second thoughts about needing the antenna so I decided to forget about it, which I did until one day, more than three months later, without any prior warning, a courier knocked at the door with a very large box…
Julian Moss, G4ILO, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cumbria, England. Contact him at [email protected].
Things I Wish I Knew When I Was A Young Radio Artisan
Don't worry about the orientation of a dipole when it's less than a half wavelength above ground.
In multi-multi contesting and big gun DXing it's often more a battle of bank accounts than operator skill.
You're going to go through several phases in your radio artisan career. Don't spend too much money until you're sure you like the phase you're in.
Don't gauge your success by the number of awards you have on the wall.
Don't get your start on 2 meter repeaters.
Don't be nervous.
Your money is better spent in antennas than amplifiers.
There are good CBers and bad CBers. More amateurs than you think got started on CB.
There are jackasses in amateur radio. You cannot identify them by license class, age, years licensed, call area, operating mode, education, or income.
When the bands are open any goofy antenna will make contacts. People will think this makes a goofy little antenna a good antenna. Not so.
The perception of amateur radio that the general public holds is much different from the perception within amateur radio. We're in a strange, esoteric and sometimes archaic hobby that most of the world doesn't understand. Welcome to our secret society.
It's not that extra one or two dB that makes the difference, it's the first 50 dB that really matters.
Girls actually dig letters written in Morse code while you're dating.
Save your money and buy a crank up or tilt-down tower.
Six meters.
You can operate anywhere you live, no matter what the restrictions. About any piece of metal can be loaded up with a tuner.
You buy an HF quad only once.
Low SWR doesn't mean it's a good antenna.
Ladder line.
Homebrew it, even if you're not some master electronics designer. When building equipment, don't worry about not being a EE or building the perfect circuit. Don't bother making printed circuit boards, you can build just about anything you want Manhattan style. Experiment. You will learn more from your building failures than your successes.
Don't fall in love with one brand of radio.
Don't limit yourself to one mode.
Join a club. Do what is fun and what you want to do in the club. As soon as others tell you what you should be doing, it's time to leave. When being involved in a club feels more like a chore, get out. If the club is on life support and you can't revive it in three years, pull the plug. Move on. Don't look back.
QRP isn't difficult. It requires persistence and patience....and knowing when to go QRO or when to QSY.
If you are in a club you don't like and you want to leave that club to create a new or rival club, list on a piece of paper why you don't like that club. This list is why you shouldn't start a new club.
Don't do CW because you want to impress others.
Get a ARRL life membership as soon as you can afford it. Don't worry, you will get angry at ARRL at some point, but you'll save money on the magazine subscription. And ARRL is about the only reason amateur radio is still around.
It's never what you don't know that bites you, it's what you don't know you don't know that gets you into trouble.
Walk away when you need to.
In amateur radio do what you like, like what you do.
You're in a great hobby for life.
Anthony Good, K3NG, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Pennsylvania, USA. Contact him at [email protected].
Poor show, Radioworld
How’s this for poor service? I ordered a 2m 5/8 vertical online from Radioworld on Wednesday May 5th. That afternoon I received an email updating the order status to “Despatched.” I paid £10.00 for next day courier. We have ensured that someone has been in all the time every day since then and no-one has tried to deliver an antenna.
I sent an email at lunchtime asking why I hadn’t received it yet. As of now, I have had no reply. Why is buying ham radio equipment always such a hassle?
Julian Moss, G4ILO, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cumbria, England. Contact him at [email protected].
Sporadic-E action
The screengrab below, from WSPR at 0815 this morning, shows just how selective Sporadic-E propagation can be. For a change, G4ILO is hearing and being heard by all the European stations while those in the south of England aren’t getting anything.
Look, too, at all those lines going off the top of the map to OY1OF. I wish I could understand the propagation. It appears that if you like the 10m band, the best place to live is the Faroe Islands!
Julian Moss, G4ILO, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cumbria, England. Contact him at [email protected].
Ash scatter?
For the last week or so I have been using the K3 for WSPR on 10m to detect the signs of any Sporadic-E openings. Since the opening of May 3rd there has been nothing very exciting to report, though it has been interesting to see spots of stations previously never heard suddenly appear, often at good strength, as a patch of ionization materializes in just the right place.
What has been intriguing over the last few days is the consistent appearance of spots involving OY1OF throughout the day, often with stations in the UK but also with those in Holland, France or Germany.
The distance is too far, obviously, for the ground wave propagation that is often the only propagation reported between closely located stations. The spots are too frequent and too widespread to be Sporadic-E. And they surely cannot be regular F2 layer reflections, as the MUF in this part of the world at this point in the solar cycle is still far too low (the F2 critical frequency is around 4MHz according to the IPS Radiowave Propagation Center.)
Could it be scatter from the ash of the Icelandic volcano?
Julian Moss, G4ILO, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cumbria, England. Contact him at [email protected].
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