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

Congrats, now while it’s all fresh in your mind, start looking at the full :)

I had a dreadful night sleep last night and so I switched the wireless on. 40m was buzzing on FT8 in the early hours. Signals were weak but there were plenty of them and I picked up some new band slots, most noticeably Bonaire and Peru.
 
Chris Wilson said:
Congratulations, what modes are you currently running? Being in London are you space limited for aerials, or can you get something fairly decent for HF up? 20 meters was open last night for a good while, spent some time chatting SSB to amateurs in Uruguay and Brazil. Worked Suriname with low power WSPR on 10 meters when it opened for a while. Looking to put up a vertical delta loop for 40 meters soon, to see how it compares with my dipole. Have fun.
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Thanks. :)

Been running SSB, FT8 and FT4. I am a little space limited in a residential area but I have two antennas, a multiband (20m/17m/15m/12m/10m/6m) cobweb and a Diamond HFV 40m mini dipole. Both on retractable masts with one at max height at a time. Using the cobweb at 30ft at present with great results. Having good neighbours on the sides and none at the back of the garden helps a lot.

Nomisf said:
Congrats!
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Thanks. :)

Feek said:
Congrats, now while it’s all fresh in your mind, start looking at the full :)

I had a dreadful night sleep last night and so I switched the wireless on. 40m was buzzing on FT8 in the early hours. Signals were weak but there were plenty of them and I picked up some new band slots, most noticeably Bonaire and Peru.
Click to expand...

Thanks. :)

Already looked at the full notes and will book an exam in the new year when they are available online. I've made contacts all over the world with FT8/FT4, Bonaire is one on my list for this month.
 
Cosimo said:
Already looked at the full notes and will book an exam in the new year when they are available online. I've made contacts all over the world with FT8/FT4, Bonaire is one on my list for this month.
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The slot on 40m means I've worked PJ4 on all bands from 40m through to 10m now but nothing lower. I need to sort out a half decent aerial on 80m so I can work on that band next though, thinking about a G7FEK as that'll fit nicely in the space I have available with the supports I already have.

Not sure if you've seen but it's possible to book the full online now, this were announced a few weeks ago.
 
Did anyone else play in CQ WW this weekend? Conditions were unusual with lots of short skip on the higher bands with my favourite band being open for a long time. I've not had so much fun in an SSB contest for years.

I had a break for the F1 qualifying and race and we were out most of Saturday evening but despite that, I'm very happy with my results.

Zz8U9Bt.png

I need to replace my Heil Pro Set Plus though, it's a superb headset but I just don't find it comfortable for hours at a time. I'm looking at the Radiosport RS60CF.
 
I was planning on making a weekend of it but the reality was I had a few hours on Saturday night and that was all - about 100 QSOs in total with not much interesting. Cayman Islands on 15m was the only thing noteworthy, the rest was USA and Eastern EU
 
I thought there must be a ham radio thread, so did a quick search...

Anyway just thought I'd uncloak :D

Just eying up the IC-705, looks nice, has anyone got one?

ODuffer (UK Full) / IO83
 
Not got one, but nice audio on the air, like that of the 7300 and 7610. To me they are a bit pricey, but I guess if you want a small "shack in a box" they are a good choice. If you could I might suggest waiting until a few barely used ones hit the marketplace. What are you currently running, if I may ask?
 
Hopefully, I won't get flamed for this, but this sort of thing has always interested me, but I have no idea how to get started in it. I'm a software programmer, so not that knowledgable about hardware in general, though I'm trying to teach myself electronics engineering as a hobby. Does anyone have any advice? I also don't have a lot of money, so I might not do it if it is costly to get a license.
 
Bands have been opening far quicker than I expected in cycle 25 - I worked ZL on 40m FT8 a couple of mornings ago and although he was weak, he wasn't far off being workable on CW so conditions are definitely improving.

@Cromulent
It's dead easy to get a Foundation licence now - Take a look here: https://rsgb.org/main/clubs-training/for-students/foundation/
I can thoroughly recommend the Essex Ham course which is free.
 
@Chris Wilson I have the IC-7300 for HF and the FT-857D, I use this for 2/70. The IC-705 would be great portable, a bit extravagant as I already have the FT817!
But you can't have too many radios, or can you :) @Cromulent As Feek has mentioned, it looks like ~£27 for the foundation licence, for a starter radio most people start with a hand held,
the Yaesu FT-4XE looks nice, it comes in at around £65 inc VAT. You can buy cheaper radios from China but I'm not going to recommend one in case I get flamed :D To be fair Yaesu
have dropped their prices, and it's normally quality gear.
 
Fixed my Hexbeam again today - One side of one of the 17m elements broke in a storm we had back in November and because of all the rain we've had, it's just not been possible to do anything in the garden because it's just been waterlogged. The hanging part of the element had wrapped around the centre of the aerial making it difficult to turn so I've been stuck with a fixed heading Hexbeam and no 17m since then.

Today I lowered it, re-terminated the element and installed a fix that should stop this happening again. The whole process took a couple of hours and then I spent a happy afternoon on 17m, I didn't work any new slots or anything like that but it was good to get Colombia, Kuwait and Indonesia in the log. Yesterday I worked VK on 20m with the aerial pointing due west so it was bang off one of the sides!

A few weeks ago I picked up a Yaesu FTM-300 and I've got it in the office on a Nifty stand so I can natter on a local YSFReflector.

8bxF6or.jpeg
 
Feek said:
Fixed my Hexbeam again today - One side of one of the 17m elements broke in a storm we had back in November and because of all the rain we've had, it's just not been possible to do anything in the garden because it's just been waterlogged. The hanging part of the element had wrapped around the centre of the aerial making it difficult to turn so I've been stuck with a fixed heading Hexbeam and no 17m since then.

Today I lowered it, re-terminated the element and installed a fix that should stop this happening again. The whole process took a couple of hours and then I spent a happy afternoon on 17m, I didn't work any new slots or anything like that but it was good to get Colombia, Kuwait and Indonesia in the log. Yesterday I worked VK on 20m with the aerial pointing due west so it was bang off one of the sides!

A few weeks ago I picked up a Yaesu FTM-300 and I've got it in the office on a Nifty stand so I can natter on a local YSFReflector.
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17m is my favourite, it is good to hear a lot of the usual suspects from the Caribbean coming though last few evenings so hopefully things will pick up a bit. I've not done a lot recently, Seychelles and Suriname yesterday on 20m, Guadeloupe Friday then the Vatican on 6th March and that's all I've done this month. Heard a bit of decent stuff coming through over the last few days, I ppent 2 hours calling Namibia on Friday without success, similarly heard Japan and East Malaysia for the first time in ages too but I had no chance in the EU zoo.

Glad to hear you got your Hex sorted, VK on the side of the antenna great stuff, I've been looking on the cluster and people down south always seem to get the good prop :)

I've never heard of the Nifty stand before but the look great! I need a stand for my 891 but can't bring myself to buy the Yaesu separation kit, I bought the RJ12/RJ45 extender wires for a fraction of the price.

Talking of new bits and bobs, I've just recently picked up a (second hand) SDRplay RSP1a and so far I think it's a great bit of kit for the money - I'm really impressed.
 
Aye, I like 17m and at this point in the cycle, it's my preferred band of choice. Once conditions pick up a bit more, I'll be back on 15m properly which is my favourite band. You've done well, I've only worked the Vatican once and that was back in 2012!

My path to JA is pretty good, I've worked there a fair bit this year already on 30m and now I can use the hex on 17m again, I've had a nice little run this morning on FT8. It's nice to call CQ and have half a dozen JAs reply at the same time. It's all about the aerial, the hex is still a bit of a compromise but it's a lot better than many people can manage in a suburban area. Putting up a full size dipole for 30m, even at only 20ft above the ground has transformed the band for me.

stigggeh said:
can't bring myself to buy the Yaesu separation kit
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Some of the prices for these kits are ridiculous and as you've said you can knock up the cables yourself for just a few quid. The nifty stand is expensive for what it is, it's not that sturdy really but it does the job. I doubt I'd buy another one as I misread the advert and thought it was made of metal.

I wonder what you're using the SDRPlay for?
 
Those hex beams are a great reasonably sized aerial for a multi frequency one with gain. I love my mono band cubical quad, they are visually a little bit more obtrusive but it's given excellent transmit and receive results. Any time I have trouble with an antenna demanding I bring it down I remember my German acquaintance Peter's antennas, I have not come across any amateur radio buff in Europe that crams as many aerials on one mast as he does! Must be a constant source of maintenance demands, but he "gets out" well.... :)

https://www.youtube.com/embed/I88s9dcwSNo?rel=0&autoplay=1
 
Cosimo said:
The start of a new journey for me today as I sat and passed my online remotely invigilated Full Licence exam this morning! :D
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Congrats :) I’m going to get my intermediate license done soon, just working through the book at the moment. The full license looks a lot more full on though!

Had anyone come across a half decent and cheap SDR receiver?
 
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