So Christmas has left us again. this time I’ll be glad to see the back of it after being and bit part player in the events in George Square, Glasgow just before Christmas and spending most of the subsequent days either laid up in bed or coughing and spluttering my way round the place.

On a lighter note the days between Christmas and New Year led themselves nicely to The RSGB Christmas Cumulative VHF series. A Contest run between the 26th and 29th December that gets me out of the house and either into the wilds of Cumbria at this time of year, or as it happened yesterday one of the clearest, crispest days we’ve had in a long time.

The contest is only a couple of hours long and the choice of band(s) is up to you. I thought it would be a good opportunity to take my dual band 2m and 70cm antenna that I got from Nuxcom in the summer. The antenna is a tad fiddly to construct in the field as the elements wander with the slightest touch but the lack of wind helped there.

The rig was the usual FT-857 that I have had on loan from the club for a while now that gives me my choice of 10w out on the VHF bands.

The map above shows my results. ODX was 450 miles to G7RAU, which equals my best to date. Other bigger stations will have undoubtedly made more miles but it’s not all about the DX. Hopefully I will get the chance to get out and about on the UKAC evenings as well as the back end of the year was a bit of a non event for me. Here’s an obligatory view form the ‘shack’ and dual band antenna (Here’s a link to the original site for the antenna)

Alex Hill, G7KSE, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cumbria, UK. Contact him at [email protected].

Tim Kirby, G4VXE, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Oxfordshire, England. Contact him at [email protected].

Tim Kirby, G4VXE, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Oxfordshire, England. Contact him at [email protected].

I have always been a big fan of moving coil multimeters, don't get me wrong the digital DMM is great. But there is something about an old fashioned moving coil meter I have always liked, a bit like the boy or grew up to be a man and still loves steam engines I suppose?


Christmas brought me a couple of envelopes with some money and I was busy browsing late last night, temptation got the better of me:



The MF500B is a full sized bench multimeter (plenty of images available on the web):

 

Steve, G1KQH, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from England. Contact him at [email protected].

Some recent component finds I have on order for myself, which you may find useful for your own Amateur projects all prices seem very reasonable:


10 pieces of copper clad board useful for building your QRP projects on, size 10cm x 15cm:


http://www.banggood.com/10Pcs-1_5MM-CCL-1015-FR4-Glass-Fiber-Board-PCB-Circuit-Board-p-962233.html


2200 uF 16V electrolytic capacitor x 50 pieces:
Ideal for some decent smoothing on your project supply rails: 

http://www.banggood.com/16V-2200UF-Power-Supply-Board-High-Frequency-Electrolytic-Capacitor-p-962535.html

Steve, G1KQH, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from England. Contact him at [email protected].

Series Seven Episode Twenty-Six of the ICQ Amateur / Ham Radio Podcast has been released. In this episode, Martin M1MRB / W9ICQ is joined by Ed Durrant DD5LP, Martin Rothwell M0SGL and Matthew Nassau 2E0MTT to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin M6BOY rounds up the news in brief, and this episodes feature Martin Butler M1MRB / W9ICQ reviews Test Equipment from China.

 

• SSTV transmissions from the International Space Station
• Icom Launch IC-2730 Dual Band Radio with Optional Bluetooth Headset
• New Element 3 (General Class) Question Pool released
• SOTABEAMS BOXA-Test
• Turkish Special Event
• Dino Island No Longer Valid for IOTA
• Ireland’s RTÉ's longwave Service Extended until 2017

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

Series Seven Episode Twenty-Six of the ICQ Amateur / Ham Radio Podcast has been released. In this episode, Martin M1MRB / W9ICQ is joined by Ed Durrant DD5LP, Martin Rothwell M0SGL and Matthew Nassau 2E0MTT to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin M6BOY rounds up the news in brief, and this episodes feature Martin Butler M1MRB / W9ICQ reviews Test Equipment from China.

 

• SSTV transmissions from the International Space Station
• Icom Launch IC-2730 Dual Band Radio with Optional Bluetooth Headset
• New Element 3 (General Class) Question Pool released
• SOTABEAMS BOXA-Test
• Turkish Special Event
• Dino Island No Longer Valid for IOTA
• Ireland’s RTÉ's longwave Service Extended until 2017

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