******** The Official amateur radio thread ********

[stigggeh]

I will definitely make it my mission to have a go at FT8 this week on my week off.

I would love love love an Expert amp but they sooooo expensive. Was it an upgrade? why do I have in my head you had a Acom previously - have I made that one up? The headset looks real sturdy quality, unlike my Heil which literally fell to bits recently (awaiting parts from USA), they have been fab sending the bits for postage only, but i'm still a bit grumpy about it breaking so easily.

Have you got the 890 on order yet?

 

[Feek]

Yup, I had an Acom 1000 which is a superb amplifier but I decided I wanted something with instant on and no manual retuning so this was the logical thing to go for. Second hand Expert 1Ks do come on the market quite regularly but I borrowed one and the fan noise/temperature control isn't very good on the older ones. The newer models are a lot better so it really was a no-brainer for me.

I've not got the 890 yet - I could have picked one up last week but I'm holding off until everything else gets sorted first. I was quite surprised when I had another play with one and just lifted the front to see how much it weighs. At nearly 16Kg, it's heavier than the amplifier

 

[stigggeh]

Yup, I had an Acom 1000 which is a superb amplifier but I decided I wanted something with instant on and no manual retuning so this was the logical thing to go for. Second hand Expert 1Ks do come on the market quite regularly but I borrowed one and the fan noise/temperature control isn't very good on the older ones. The newer models are a lot better so it really was a no-brainer for me.

I've not got the 890 yet - I could have picked one up last week but I'm holding off until everything else gets sorted first. I was quite surprised when I had another play with one and just lifted the front to see how much it weighs. At nearly 16Kg, it's heavier than the amplifier

If you are wanting to donate your Acom 1000 to a worthy cause you know where I am .

You do tend to get decent quality with Kenwood gear, I used to be a Yaesu fan but they've clearly employed someone in the design department to make the fronts as cheap and nasty looking as possible, a shame really because the FTDX10 looks great value for money performance wise.

 

[Feek]

If you are wanting to donate your Acom 1000 to a worthy cause you know where I am .

I don't remember where you are actually - I'm sure you've told me your callsign before but I can't remember! I do remember that you bought a new SDR recently and that you've got a hexbeam though

The Acom has gone, sorry

I've never had any brand loyalty, I had an 847 before my original 590 and I'd have no problem buying a different brand wireless. I borrowed an Icom 7300 earlier this year for a few weeks and really didn't like the ergonomics very much, it was far too menu driven for my liking and switching between data and voice modes just seemed overly complicated. I had a long demo of a new 101 at Newark a couple of years ago and was stunned by how un-natural some of the controls were in that they worked in a way that one really wouldn't expect.

You're right, the FTDX10 does look a fantastic wireless on paper but if I were to consider one, I'd need to spend a couple of hours in front of one to see what I really think. Part of the reason I'm seriously considering the 890 is so that I can slave the 590 as a second receiver.

Did you get a chance to play FT8 this weekend?

Just today I worked Uruguay, Argentina, Curacao, Japan, China, Lebanon, Chile, Venezuela, Ecuador and Brazil on 17m FT8 without even trying very hard. Signals weren't up to SSB but they would have been workable on CW.

Talking of which, I just played for a few minutes at a time oner the weekend in CQ WPX CW and have put in a small entry on 15m (still my favourite band). 6m has been open as well but nothing more than single hop stuff.

 

[Uhtred]

You won't regret it, I've known Pete for years, since before he started playing with amateur radio and he's a great guy. Very knowledgable and very keen to pass that knowledge on.

Yeah thanks for the recommendation, I passed the exam last night

 

[Feek]

passed

Excellent news, congratulations!

Now, as I say to everyone - While it's all fresh in your head, grab the intermediate book

 

[Feek]

I will definitely make it my mission to have a go at FT8 this week on my week off.

I would love love love an Expert amp but they sooooo expensive. Was it an upgrade? why do I have in my head you had a Acom previously - have I made that one up? The headset looks real sturdy quality, unlike my Heil which literally fell to bits recently (awaiting parts from USA), they have been fab sending the bits for postage only, but i'm still a bit grumpy about it breaking so easily.

Have you got the 890 on order yet?

The Expert has gone back after popping the LDMOS. If you want to know more, have a read of my review on eham.

In its place, I took an 890 and have used the balance as a deposit for a new Acom 1500. The only problem is going to be space. Because the 890 is so much larger than the 590, I'm going to have to make some big changes in the shack to accommodate both items. I'll involve trimming one shelf down and fitting a new one.

I'm very impressed with the 890 so far although it's only been a few days.



I thought the filtering on the 590 was good but the 890 just seems to take it to the next level. This weekend was the DL-DX-RTTY contest and I put in a six hour entry split over the two days and spent the time getting to know the radio.

This was yesterday afternoon, just half an hour into the contest and you can see where I'm tuned in the bandscope. Despite being that close to other stations, I was easily making contacts without any breakthrough from either side. Each vertical marker on the bandscope is 5kc.



Just worked PY4BZ on 20m, genuine S9+20dB on the meter!

Shame conditions were poor over the weekend for the contest.

 

[Feek]

... and just two weeks later, the Acom came back into stock.

Had to strengthen the shelf in my shack.

 

[Uhtred]

Haha, and there's me trying to make my first CQ still with a £30 Baofeng

 

[Feek]

More stuff has arrived over the last couple of days.





Apart from a couple of planned aerial moves and changes, that's me done for the foreseeable future.

 

[Chris Wilson]

I can see why some amateur radio dealers have lumpy mattresses due to covid Many say it has had the direct result of record sales and profits.

My foray into amateur TV (not transvestism you will be pleased to know, television), has culminated in me finally getting video out to, and from the es hail satellite.

Needless to say more power is desirable, more money needed, and more power supplies to run the thing!

That's a nice setup you have there Feek, very nice indeed. I will take a gander at Eham to see what occured with the solid state amp. I have to say that at high power(ish) RF I think of semiconductors as expensive fuses

 

[Feek]

I can see why some amateur radio dealers have lumpy mattresses due to covid Many say it has had the direct result of record sales and profits.

I can believe that - With the huge number of new licences issued in the last eighteen months, people have got to get their wirelesses from somewhere. I was told some months ago by one of the members of staff that Martin Lynch has pretty much retired now and doesn't go into the shop very often. I can't complain about that, I've known Martin for well over thirty five years and he's worked hard to get to where he has.
Covid is of course indirectly behind all the new stuff I've bought recently.

That's a nice setup you have there Feek, very nice indeed. I will take a gander at Eham to see what occured with the solid state amp. I have to say that at high power(ish) RF I think of semiconductors as expensive fuses

Thanks.
That was my suspicion as well, a good friend of mine has replaced the output devices in his Expert 1K-FA but they're dirt cheap, not the £400 that a single LDMOS costs. It really shouldn't have failed but I'm grateful that it did it within the first thirty days.

 

[BusError]

I got a pair of BAOFENG radios, mostly to set them to what I understand are "ok to transmit" frequencies in 446mhz for doing walkie talky really. Being curious, I googled what was all the deal about HAM radio and what could I listen to with that pocket radio, and it seems than in the uk theres.... nothing at all to listen to? I tried a few "local" (well a few miles) repeaters and nitch. nada. I hear stuff (well a lot of it is clicky which seems to be digital noises) on some channels on 446 but that's all.
Am I wrong? I assumed there was a "community" talking about things and I would be dragged along getting a licence to be able to talk to... save that, err, nobody's home?

 

[Feek]

(well a few miles)

How many miles?

Baofengs aren't great, they're built cheaply and the receivers are wide open so any strong signals nearby will flatten the front end. I can't comment for anywhere other than my local area but our repeaters are fairly active.

 

[Uhtred]

I found a local ham radio club, checked their websites for the frequency and time they have 'nets' and tuned in to listen.

I joined in last week and was initially impressed at how well I could communicate with one of the participants on my baofeng. Turns out we live two roads apart with direct line of sight

 

[Chris Wilson]

Went over to near Silverstone yesterday, a radio buff was moving to Germany and the buyers of his nice house were, unsurprisingly, not overly keen on having a 40 foot lattice and tube mast on (in....) the drive and a 10 foot satellite dish on a huge and Heath Robinson mount in the back garden. He tried to sell them (a new Andrew dish like this, of the same 3 meter) size, without a mount is about seven grand Sterling), but no one wanted to tackle getting the mast down and the ground tube neatly out of the block paved drive, and removing the dish and 3/4 ton of steelwork holding the thing up. So I took my car trailer, a BIG angle grinder, tools and my best pal and it's now home, much to the wife's disgust, and trepidation of fellow road users. I sent for scrap most of the mount for the dish as I couldn't bring myself to reuse such a thing, but kept the 9 inch diameter, quarter inch wall main tube for the dish, as a new tube and fabricated rotator rings would be hefty wedge. I'll blast it and maybe send it for galvanising, and remake the rest of the mount in a prettier manner. It's a big `un when you stand next to it when it's upright but I don't think anyone will notice it if I paint it green.... ;

 

[Feek]

Nice one Chris, is that going to be pointing at the geostationary space repeater or will you have it steerable?

 

[Chris Wilson]

If I use the big rusty tubular support, it can be steerable, I won't be putting it up for a bit as I am too busy with work, but if I feel like fabricating some stuff I may make motorised. Otherwise I'll just point it at Oscar 100 and have a good signal with just a few Watts Right now I am clearing overhanging tree branches in the back wood to get it in there with the loader on the tractor and tie it upright to two suitable trunks. I have been firmly told, "That junk isn't staying there for more than a couple of days". The guy I got it froms wife is heavily into moon bounce and fast hand keyed Morse, and all things microwave. She was nearly crying seeing the dish go and took a load of photos... My bint's spitting feathers

 

[TonyLewis]

Hi Feek,

Moving this from the "Images of items I have purchased (except trainers) thread."

I am intrigued by all this, what would one have to purchase to dabble in the hobby and see if it is something they want to pursue? Maybe there is a handheld device that would give a taste of the hobby?

Thanks!

 

[Feek]

I am intrigued by all this, what would one have to purchase to dabble in the hobby and see if it is something they want to pursue? Maybe there is a handheld device that would give a taste of the hobby?

There is, there's a very cheap type of handheld but they'll only give you a very small facet of the hobby, ie just locals talking through a repeater.

http://www.websdr.org

Pick one of those and see what you can hear. Look for 20m during the day and 40m/80m in the evenings (that's a huge generalisation).

/edit for clarification
20m - 14,000.000 kHz to 14,350.000 kHz
40m - 7,000.000 kHz to 7,200.000 kHz
80m - 3,500.000 kHz to 3,800.000 kHz