AmateurRadio.com

Over the past few years and again recently I have heard a lot of chatter regarding PLT interference. Especially with Ham radio and shortwave bands. These devices plug into a power wall socket in your house and allow you to create a wired network via your mains wiring in the property. It’s a perfect solution for properties that cannot send a wireless signal from one end to another (Just like mine).  It does however have a draw back. In creating a wired network these PLT devices create a lot of mains born interference and this can effectively block out any amateur radio bands.

In recent stories I have heard audio samples and read stories of how these devices can create S9+20db of noise. Thus reducing the amateur bands unusable.

I wanted to see for myself the effect of using PLT devices in my property. So I visited PC World and purchased 2 devices from NetGear. The Powerline 500 promise 500Mbit/s and this would solve a huge problem I have in my home right now, but feared for what it would do to my beloved radio.

The results were interesting and nothing what I expected. You can see my full test in the video below – but for a spoiler alert keep reading....

Over the past few years and again recently I have heard a lot of chatter regarding PLT interference. Especially with Ham radio and shortwave bands. These devices plug into a power wall socket in your house and allow you to create a wired network via your mains wiring in the property. It’s a perfect solution for properties that cannot send a wireless signal from one end to another (Just like mine).  It does however have a draw back. In creating a wired network these PLT devices create a lot of mains born interference and this can effectively block out any amateur radio bands.

In recent stories I have heard audio samples and read stories of how these devices can create S9+20db of noise. Thus reducing the amateur bands unusable.

I wanted to see for myself the effect of using PLT devices in my property. So I visited PC World and purchased 2 devices from NetGear. The Powerline 500 promise 500Mbit/s and this would solve a huge problem I have in my home right now, but feared for what it would do to my beloved radio.

The results were interesting and nothing what I expected. You can see my full test in the video below – but for a spoiler alert keep reading....

How about making your last 200 contacts in your logbook look a bit special, or even your most memorable contacts look like a piece of artwork?

Well I did just that. After seeing a Facebook post by John (KK4EQF) he showed how he logged over 400 call signs on a map of the US (Click here to view) I decided to take my last 200 QSO’s and overlay them on a map of the UK.

After a little fiddling I settled on this configuration. I’m really quite pleased with it and I might even print a copy & frame it. It’s a lovely way to show off your QSO’s – Even the wife agreed its quite pretty !

I love twitter. Some years ago I thought it was a load of rubbish, and had no purpose. But actually there is a fantastic community on the social media network, and more importantly a group of like minded Radio Hams are also on their sharing ideas, knowledge and experiences.

Take Dec 23rd for example. A simple thread was started about how we are progressing learning Morse and how we are attempting to up our speed. The conversation naturally came around to what’s best – paddle or straight key, and which particular keys do you own. For some crazy reason I mentioned I would complete a YouTube video of my keys, and share with the other participants of the conversation. Well I’m delighted to see that others have gotten on the band wagon and are sharing their keys and their experiences with them. Have a look at the following. I’ve ordered them in chronological order :

I always thought “why don’t more people share their shacks” well when I was approached to create a tour of mine. Its clearly quite a nerve racking thing. Allowing people into your inner sanctum and allowing people to see how you operate and how your equipment is set up is strangely one of the more worrying things Ive done in recent weeks.

Well if you are interested you can see the video here. 1 comment from Sandy – has already requested a further video on the morse keys I have. So in the upcoming days / weeks I will be uploading a amendment video to show what I have.