AmateurRadio.com

Have you ever seen “IP55” or something similar written on the specs of a mobile or handheld radio? Do you know what it means?

“IP” stands for “Ingress Protection” and is a standard promulgated by the International Electrotechnical Commission. It allows you to quantify somewhat nebulous marketing terms like “waterproof,” “water resistant,” “dust resistant,” etc.

The chart above shows how to easily read an IP rating code. The first number denotes the protection against solid objects (think a finger, paperclip through a ventilation hole, or even dust). The second number denotes the liquid protection which can include direct sprays under pressure or even total immersion.

One of the more common ratings we see in portable radios is “IP55” which means that it’s protected against “dust…” and “low pressure jets of water….” Some models like the Wouxun KG-UV3D, KG-UV6D, and KG-UV8D all claim this rating. Other models such as the new AnyTone Tech TERMN-8R claim an “IP53” rating which provides equal dust protection but slightly less water protection. For other radios it’s hard to find an IP rating at all. For example, the Baofeng UV-5R is listed as “IP54” on some Chinese websites but the reliability of that is unknown.

Some uses such as firefighting or military require higher standards because of more extreme environments. For example, Kenwood and Motorola both offer fully submersible models with a rating of “IP67” (dust-tight and immersion to 1m). Ed at Import Communications just announced an upcoming release of the Anytone AT-3140UV which also claims a rating of “IP67.”

Keep in mind that some manufacturers “self-certify” their products rather than submitting them to an outside testing firm. You’ll see specs like “meets IP55 rating” which doesn’t tell you anything about who really did the testing — or whether it actually meets the rating. Caveat emptor!

Matt Thomas, W1MST, is the managing editor of AmateurRadio.com. Contact him at [email protected].

The David Sarnoff Amateur Radio Club down in Princeton, NJ has been distributing the following announcement. They're a great bunch of guys who always put together a good QRP Field Day effort every year - so I am going to post this for them:

Pi Day Special event station – N2RE Princeton, New Jersey

Larry Makoski, W2LJ, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Jersey, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Most people know John K3NXU well as the busy bee who maintains Miklor.com. Starting today, John will be an author here too.

We have a long history of exchanging information behind the scenes, but in an informal way. No surprise here; our websites have a lot in common. We started to exchange more and more e-mails lately, talked to each other on the phone and concluded that a more official cooperation would be the next logical step.

So, there we are: Miklor.com and hamgear.wordpress.com are ‘tying the knot’. We hope (and expect) that this will benefit our readers. John’s first article, his take on the Anytone TERMN-8R, will be published later today.

Hans, PD0AC, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Almere, The Netherlands. Contact him at [email protected].

I was able to get outside Monday March 9th just after 1600z. I was on 18157.5 HFPack frequency using the PRC-104 with the PRC-74 antenna and a 10’7″ counterpoise. The PRc-104 runs 20 watts out on SSB. I also had the KY-116/U key on as well.

I called CQ a few times with no answers, then I heard Paul in CO. W0RW call me after seeing my posting on HFNow. He said my cw cq was a 559 and my SSB signal was a 3×3. We were able to work each other and complete a qso. Paul was a solid 5×9.

I then worked KBOSFP in MO. He was a 5×9 and I was a 5×5.

Then all the way over to Seattle Washington to Byron W7SWC also a 5×9 here in Thunder Bay and I was a 5×4, yet again another great qso.

One of the regulars from the Military Radio Net Paul WB4WCJ also was able to copy me and send me a report, Paul from South Carolina was a 5×5 and I was also a 5×5 but had some fading.

Then just before I was ready to pack things in on this 4c degree day with light snow falling I heard Greg N4KGL in Florida give me a call. Greg is a RaDAR member as well and was operating the AlexLoop with his KX3. He was a 5×5 and I was a 5×3 into Florida.

So it was a great Rapid Deployment Amateur Radio (RaDAR) session by far. I hope to work many more of you while I am portable. I am working on a few more backpack setups for my IC-703 and My KX3 as well.

Here is the link to the video of yesterdays outing.

 

Once again many thanks to all those who enjoy the hobby, HFNow and GORC for the groups to be able to post such outings. Those who listened but I was not able to work. Gurus and elmers like W0RW, WA3WSJ, wG0AT and others.

This is a great hobby and has so much to offer be it new or old technology, it all is fun and never gets boring.

72/73

Fred

VE3FAL

(The Ice Man)

Thunder Bay,ON EN58hh

Fred Lesnick, VE3FAL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Thunder Bay Ontario, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

I’m not a big gun DXer at all. My HF station consists of a KX3 and a windom up 40 feet in the trees. But when Craig, K9CT and Jerry, WB9Z from the K1N Navassa Island DXpedition came to town I made sure to clear my calendar. I was fortunate enough to work them on ssb from KE9UA’s house and then again on CW with 10W when my replacement KX3 arrived. Meeting them in person was a treat, and hearing about their adventure was inspiring.

Michael Brown, KG9DW, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Illinois, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

As I have blogged in past, I have a QTH in Santa Fe, NM. I have 5 acres, but according to the deed restrictions all I can do is look at it. No towers, no antennas, nothing. Since I spend most of my time here activating SOTA summits it's not that big of deal, however from time to time there is something I might miss because I have no HF capability, plus I like to chase SOTA peaks as well and I haven't been able to do that from here.

So with the help of Hector, XE2K, I am now able to work HF from here in a couple of ways. The first challenge was the antenna. While there is strict prohibitions against transmitting antennas, there is nothing prohibiting flagpoles. So I got permission to put up a flagpole. The flagpole I bought was from ZeroFive antennas. I bought the 20 ft. version. which is resonant on 20m with no tuning. I am using 16 43ft. radials However, I also put a SGC remote tuner at the base, which tunes all bands from 10m - 30m. Hector, who is very good at expanding the capabilities of any antenna, suggested we add a radiating wire to the mix. So we cut a 43 ft. piece of wire, attached it to the flag fastener and hoisted it to the top of the pole and tied off the end, in an inverted V configuration. the two antennas now are resonant, with the tuner, 10m - 80m. While it's not optimum, it is functional and now I'm on the air. In the photo below you can see the flagpole and the wire that makes 40m and 80m possible.


The next HF solution is to remote into my K3 at my home QTH in Texas. So I bought the K3/0 which is the remote radio device along with the RemoteRig interfaces. It is also now functional. So if I need a beam, I have access to that as well. So I am back in business on HF. Below is a look at the station. The K3/0 is on the left and an Icom 7200 on the right.


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

As I have blogged in past, I have a QTH in Santa Fe, NM. I have 5 acres, but according to the deed restrictions all I can do is look at it. No towers, no antennas, nothing. Since I spend most of my time here activating SOTA summits it's not that big of deal, however from time to time there is something I might miss because I have no HF capability, plus I like to chase SOTA peaks as well and I haven't been able to do that from here.

So with the help of Hector, XE2K, I am now able to work HF from here in a couple of ways. The first challenge was the antenna. While there is strict prohibitions against transmitting antennas, there is nothing prohibiting flagpoles. So I got permission to put up a flagpole. The flagpole I bought was from ZeroFive antennas. I bought the 20 ft. version. which is resonant on 20m with no tuning. I am using 16 43ft. radials However, I also put a SGC remote tuner at the base, which tunes all bands from 10m - 30m. Hector, who is very good at expanding the capabilities of any antenna, suggested we add a radiating wire to the mix. So we cut a 43 ft. piece of wire, attached it to the flag fastener and hoisted it to the top of the pole and tied off the end, in an inverted V configuration. the two antennas now are resonant, with the tuner, 10m - 80m. While it's not optimum, it is functional and now I'm on the air. In the photo below you can see the flagpole and the wire that makes 40m and 80m possible.


The next HF solution is to remote into my K3 at my home QTH in Texas. So I bought the K3/0 which is the remote radio device along with the RemoteRig interfaces. It is also now functional. So if I need a beam, I have access to that as well. So I am back in business on HF. Below is a look at the station. The K3/0 is on the left and an Icom 7200 on the right.


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