In this episode, Martin Butler M1MRB / W9ICQ is joined by Leslie Butterfield G0CIB, Edmund Spicer M0MNG and Matthew Nassau M0NJX to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin M6BOY rounds up the news in brief, and this episode’s feature by Ed Durrant DD5LP is Low-Cost Chinese Stocking Fillers.

• Hull UK City of Culture 2017
• UK Digital Radio Uptake
• UK Foundation Ham Radio Training Videos
• Youngsters on the Air 2016
• South Carolina School Number One
• WSPRLite First Impressions
• SDRplay launches RSP2 SDR
• Norfolk ARC Club of the Year 2016
• No Rebuke for Channel 5 TV Show

Colin Butler, M6BOY, is the host of the ICQ Podcast, a weekly radio show about Amateur Radio. Contact him at [email protected].

AmateurLogic.TV Episode 98 is now available for download.

Our 2016 Holiday Spectacular.
Peter has tips for taking tests. Emile makes a HF J-Pole antenna. Tommy revives a laptop with ShackBox. George has suggestions on Gifts for Ham Buddies. We sample New Orleans CheeWees. Our Canadian correspondent Mike, VE3MIC is back with some Kristmas Karaoke. Plus we give away prizes and more.

It’s an extra long 2:06:30 of seasonal fun.

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George Thomas, W5JDX, is co-host of AmateurLogic.TV, an original amateur radio video program hosted by George Thomas (W5JDX), Tommy Martin (N5ZNO), Peter Berrett (VK3PB), and Emile Diodene (KE5QKR). Contact him at [email protected].

I’ve always had a liking for the General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS). It’s a licensed radio service but does not require a technical exam so it works great for basic personal communications. When our kids were young we made good use of GMRS communications. This was back in the Pre-Cellphone Era, shortly after the dinosaurs left the earth. I still have my GMRS license: KAF1068

GMRS uses frequencies in the general vicinity of 462 and 467 MHz. When the FCC created the Family Radio Service, they intermingled the FRS and GMRS channels, creating a real mess. See this page for a good explanation of how FRS and GMRS frequencies are arranged. Many of the low cost walkie-talkie radios sold in stores are combination FRS/GMRS radios.

I recently came across this really sweet little GMRS rig, the Midland MXT-100 Micro Mobile GMRS Radio. This thing is nice and small with an external mag-mount antenna for the roof of the car. It only has 5W of output power, which is not much more than a typical FRS/GMRS handheld radio but the external antenna should help a lot. (I’ve heard there are newer models on the way so stay tuned for that.)

I’ve encountered 4WD / Jeep clubs that use FRS radios for on the trail communications. This Midland radio would be a good upgrade for that kind of use, providing additional radio range. Some of these 4WD enthusiasts have gotten their ham ticket via our Technician license class. Ham radio provides a lot more capability but not everyone in their club is likely to get their ham license. GMRS is a great alternative…the other UHF band. It will work for other outdoor, community and club activities that involve “non radio” people.

FCC recently reduced the cost of the GMRS license to $65 for 5 years. I suspect that most people don’t bother with getting a license…but they should. For more detail on GMRS, see the FCC GMRS Page or for some good bedtime reading see the FCC Part 95 Rules.

73, Bob KØNR

The post GMRS: The Other UHF Band appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.

Bob Witte, KØNR, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Colorado, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Amateur Radio Weekly is curated by Cale Mooth K4HCK. Sign up free to receive ham radio's most relevant news, projects, technology and events by e-mail each week at http://www.hamweekly.com.

As we get deeper into the Holiday Season it's easy to get caught up in all the activities that can run you ragged this time of year. There are parties, events, travel, family gatherings and the list goes on and on. We get so busy that we lose sight of the meaning and spirit of the Holiday Season, whatever your religion. It's Christmas time for me, but that has come to mean busy schedules and trying to get as much done in a short time as we can.

Today, I think I may have started a tradition, something that put the holiday season into a little clearer perspective, I contacted an old friend, a ham radio buddy that I haven't communicated with in at least a couple of decades. He was IOTA chasing buddy and fellow activator. I used to visit him on business trips to Calgary and we would meet up and share a Molson and talk the hours away. We did a couple of Canadian Islands together and genuinely enjoyed each others company. Then I changed jobs and don't get back to Calgary and eventually our friendship faded from a lack of use. Today I wondered how he was doing. He is 34 years older than me, I  thought I should check on him., he is about to turn 93 years old.

I sent him an email, not sure of a response, but let him know that I was thinking about him and those old memories were as fond now as they ever were. To my surprise, in a couple of hours he responded. He was clearly happy to be communicating with someone and to renew our friendship and hopefully to refresh a few good memories from the past. He still ties fishing flies and trout fishes, mainly with the sons of his fishing buddies. He still volunteers in his community and has been recognized for his volunteer work. He lost his wife of 69 years in 2013 and misses her dearly. He still gets on the radio and told me of his latest exploits on air. He wants to stay in touch and wished me a healthy 2017.

It made my day, my week, my month. I need to do this sort of thing way more often and it made me think about how good it feels to be remembered. After you read this look up an old friend, someone you haven't seen or heard from in years and let them know that you remember and that you were thinking of them. It will do you a world of good.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
Mike Crownover, AD5A, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Texas, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

As we get deeper into the Holiday Season it's easy to get caught up in all the activities that can run you ragged this time of year. There are parties, events, travel, family gatherings and the list goes on and on. We get so busy that we lose sight of the meaning and spirit of the Holiday Season, whatever your religion. It's Christmas time for me, but that has come to mean busy schedules and trying to get as much done in a short time as we can.

Today, I think I may have started a tradition, something that put the holiday season into a little clearer perspective, I contacted an old friend, a ham radio buddy that I haven't communicated with in at least a couple of decades. He was IOTA chasing buddy and fellow activator. I used to visit him on business trips to Calgary and we would meet up and share a Molson and talk the hours away. We did a couple of Canadian Islands together and genuinely enjoyed each others company. Then I changed jobs and don't get back to Calgary and eventually our friendship faded from a lack of use. Today I wondered how he was doing. He is 34 years older than me, I  thought I should check on him., he is about to turn 93 years old.

I sent him an email, not sure of a response, but let him know that I was thinking about him and those old memories were as fond now as they ever were. To my surprise, in a couple of hours he responded. He was clearly happy to be communicating with someone and to renew our friendship and hopefully to refresh a few good memories from the past. He still ties fishing flies and trout fishes, mainly with the sons of his fishing buddies. He still volunteers in his community and has been recognized for his volunteer work. He lost his wife of 69 years in 2013 and misses her dearly. He still gets on the radio and told me of his latest exploits on air. He wants to stay in touch and wished me a healthy 2017.

It made my day, my week, my month. I need to do this sort of thing way more often and it made me think about how good it feels to be remembered. After you read this look up an old friend, someone you haven't seen or heard from in years and let them know that you remember and that you were thinking of them. It will do you a world of good.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
Mike Crownover, AD5A, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Texas, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

This Saturday as well as the next will be the annual Bruce Kelley 1929 QSO Party, otherwise known as the '1929 BK'.





It's the once a year opportunity to celebrate the sounds of early amateur radio ... only transmitters that are 'era-appropriate' are allowed to be used. More specifically, transmitters must employ tubes that were available in 1929 or earlier, and transmitters must be self-excited. No crystals allowed! Crystals were new and largely unaffordable for most hams back in the depression days.

1929 marked a real turning point in amateur radio as governments finally cracked-down on things such as frequency stability, out of band operations and re-alignment of call districts. In short, hams were henceforth required to behave themselves and to clean up their signals and methods of operation.

courtesy: http://www.arrl.org/

Although the new rules did a lot to improve things when it came to 'signal purity', there was still a long way to go ... but the wheels of improvement had been officially set in motion and the next decade would see monumental changes in both transmitter and receiver architecture, as engineers along with some particularly gifted amateurs, strove to unlock the challenges of this relatively new technology.

If you tune across the CW bands during the next two Saturday nights, you will have the rare opportunity to hear exactly what the bands must have sounded like back in the early '30s'.

For the most part you will hear single tube Hartley, Colpitts or TNT oscillators with a few two-tube MOPAs' thrown in. Many of them will suffer the same problems encountered by the boys of '29 ... chirp, drift, buzzy notes and frequency instability from antennas swaying in the wind. The MOPAs' will sound much better but some surprisingly nice-sounding signals can be heard coming from properly tuned and optimised single-tube oscillators. I recall being blown away by the lovely sounding signal I heard from such a rig when first tuning into the BK activity several years ago, only to learn that it was a self-excited Hartley using 1/4" copper tubing for the oscillator tank circuit!

The '29 watering-hole on 80m will be around 3550-3580 kilocycles (be careful not to confuse this with kilohertz!) while the early afternoon to sunset 40m activity will be found from 7100-7125 kc. There may even be a few on the very low end of 160m, later on the first Saturday night only. Although many of these transmitter styles were used on 20m and higher, BK rule-makers have wisely decided not to inflict these sounds on the present populace as it would likely keep the 'Official Observer' guys busy for several days writing pink-slips.

You can learn more about amateur radio happenings leading up to and following the 1929 crackdown in my earlier series of 'Why '29' blogs here:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Those wishing to put something together for next year's event can find everything needed here:

Introduction To Building ... '29-Style

Building '29-Style - Part 1

Building '29-Style - Part 2

Heck, there me even be time to throw something together for the following Saturday if you have a few parts and an older tube or two ... the '27 comes to mind and is readily found in many junk boxes. Maybe you know an old timer with 'lots of stuff' that could help out.

Unfortunately due to a number of coinciding events, I'll not be on-the-air for the event this year, the first one I've missed since getting in on the fun several years ago.
Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].