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

Chad and Easter Islands both in the log on 10m for all time new ones :) I missed Liberia but they just didn't seem that active, or was this me???

In relation to licence changes - I'm not sure I'd dare run anything close to 1kw from this QTH, although my antenna is down the garden 70-80ft away from nearest house, there's just so much cheap electronics about where I'd worry about EMC and neighbours kicking up a fuss when little Timmy next door hears me on his mega cheap import powered speakers.

@Retro6 - I bought a second hand FT847 over the winter specifically for /p. I enjoy 'moderate' walks out on the NY moors and there are some good high points which will be great to combine a bit of a walk with some portable work. If any OCUK members fancy a sked I'll make the effort to go out /p once the weather warms up. An unofficial sked activity day? :confused::eek::confused:
 
Last edited:
A sked sound like an great idea. I have the Yaesu FT-817 and a half wave dipole, EFT-10/20/40 for when I'm /p .
I head to Crosby or Formby for some peace and quiet, oh and radio :)
 
Last edited:
stigggeh said:
I bought a second hand FT847 over the winter specifically for /p.
Click to expand...
I used to have an 847, I know technically it can be used as a portable wireless but it's not the sort of thing I'd like to carry too far. I was really upset when a near lightning strike destroyed it but cheered up when I got a decent amount on the insurance. I claimed for an Icom 9100 as it was the only real alternative and instead bought a 590.

stigggeh said:
Chad and Easter Islands both in the log on 10m for all time new ones :) I missed Liberia but they just didn't seem that active, or was this me???
Click to expand...
Nicely done, I had them all already but picked up some new slots.
 
MFJ closing down. That's going to leave a huge hole.

A Heavy Sad Heart

mailchi.mp

I wonder if someone like DX Engineering will buy them because it's not just MFJ branded kit, they've made a lot of acquisitions over the years.
 
Just picked up some nice new slots on 40m. Fernando de Noronha, Chad and Qatar.
 
Any love for meshtastic here? It's LoRa based firmware which can increase range by using other nodes to hop to the destination. All text based and can be used licence free of course, but there are a lot of Hams on there. I made contact with an M0 a couple of miles away and he has invited me to a weekly 70cm net and generally reinvigorated my interest in radio. Maybe i'll get round to studying for my intermediate now:)
 
Just googled it, can't say it appeals.

/edit - Worked S21AF on 20m for entity #302

/edit 2 - Already confirmed on LoTW :)
 
Re Meshtastic. I've got the Heltec WiFi LoRa 32(V3) board. 863MHz, with a 433MHz board on the way. I only really had success with a AOA-868-5ACM the stock antenna is pretty poor. I guess it's pretty niche but fun to get it working.
 
Last edited:
Picked up three band slots on 12m at lunch time today. Kingdom of Eswatini, US Virgin Islands and the UAE. With 170 entities worked (and confirmed) on 12m already, I'm really surprised by the last two.
 
Sorry if I missed something in the previous posts but do any of you get the ARRL handbooks? I was doing some research into electronics and some YouTubers were saying that the first few chapters were good for general electronics. I mean I'm still interested in ham radio but I'd like to get the basics down as well.
 
I don't suppose anybody could solve this mystery...

I've got 4 Hytera PD785 handsets, they haven't been used in 2 years. All handsets were working just fine when last used and were programmed all ready to go.

Batteries are 100% good the batteries charge just fine but none of the handsets are turning on?

Battery contacts are fine and battery terminals on the handsets are clean. I have also tried to power them on while in the charger but still nothing. I tried to put them in firmware mode but still nothing. The fact that all 4 handsets have the exact same problem tells me that they can't be broken just from not having any use for 2 years?

Does anybody have any idea on why they aren't powering on?

Edit: I managed to get one to turn on, I'm thinking that maybe something might have perished around the battery terminals inside the handset like a piece of rubber or something preventing continuity I'll have to give each radio a blast of IPA. I don't want to take any of them apart because they are not cheap to replace if I end up breaking something.

I managed to get a second handset to turn on after some IPA so I think my theory might be correct about possible perished rubber inside the handsets becoming sticky and possibly running under the battery terminals between the terminals and circuit board inside the radio, it seems to be the most logical thing.
 
Last edited:
I've been following them around the bands but only heard them one other time, that was earlier today on 12m so I snaffled another slot.
 
12m is normally dead. I am slowly getting back into the hobby again although with not being able to have any outdoor antennas, all my operating will be from handhelds & QRP HF rigs built from kits.
 
Last edited:
12m and 10m haven't been dead recently, we are pretty much at the peak of cycle 25 which means you can almost work the world on a bit of wet string on 10m and 12m. Of course, solar flares and the summer doldrums are making things a little tricky right now but it's going to be a great winter!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom