I=============Antennas Antennas Antennas==============I

“When Marconi suggested the possibility of wireless transmission of sound (the radio),he was committed to a mental institution. But people like Lincoln, Edison, and Marconi were strongly motivated. So they didn't give up. They somehow knew that the only real failure is the one from which we learn nothing. They seemed to go on the assumption that there is no failure greater than the failure of not trying, and so they continued to try in the face of repeated failures.”― John Powell, Will the Real Me Please Stand Up?: 25 Guidelines for Good Communication

There is nothing like a good antenna for getting your signal out to the waiting world of radio and Guglielmo Marconi had some whoppers look at the one he used in Poldhu thanks to the GB2GM website for the pic

Antenna's are VITAL if you are going to be transmitting and you have to match the impedance of your antenna with your radio.

You can do it in various ways and most hams  choose  a radio with a built in antenna tuner , though there are very good external automatic and manual ones out there . I am not  going to review any here , there are too many , just Google the one's  you are interested in.I am not going to say which ones I have or which one I like but if you visit my QRZ webpage you will see what I use . (that's a link by the way) 

Suffice it to say that for an antenna that is unbalanced you WILL need to tune it for the  frequencies you want to work on .t I have found there is nothing like a dipole for the frequency you are working on, (like say 20 mtrs this being one of my favourite bands )  tuned to be resonant (note RESONANT) on that band with a good SWR from the lower end to the upper  end of that frequency  , you will find you do not need an antenna tuner so that most of the power that you use will be effectively radiated, there will be losses due to coax and fixing etc but most are to small to be relevant. 

I have built a Rybakov antenna , and this required me to make a 4:1 un-un . This works fine for vertical use with the wire up a fibreglass fishing pole , but again I needed an antenna tuner to use it and the effective radiated power from the antenna would have been a lot less than what I was using. the point being that all the power was being taken up by the un-un and making the rf effectively heat up the box it was in ,sending the rest to the wire  for transmission  so 50 watts in and perhaps about 30 watts of radiated RF . I am probably wrong on this but it can make a difference.

So what am I trying to say ? Well its always better if you can get an antenna for the band you are working , and most hams who have towers or a nice large garden can use the likes of yagi antenna. One particular antenna I liked using on my rotator was the  cushcraft MA-5B mini beam .

I think that's enough for now,  just get out there and make or  buy a GOOD antenna and no  matter what the radio  you have ;if your antenna isn't up to the job you won't get out and you won't be heard. The  amount of power (wattage) doesn't matter. My good friend 2E0STZ has used 2 watts into his M0CVO antenna on JT65 and PSK31 and has been heard halfway around the world  and he doesn't need a tuner for that particular antenna on some bands which is why he can be heard , most of the power was EFFECTIVELY radiated  . 

Well that's all for now I hope you enjoy reading my blogs .

Phil de M1PAC (c) 2015 m1pac productions 

AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

AIRE VALLEY REPEATER GROUP 

We Need Your Help (Cash!) Urgently We are asking for donations urgently from regular users and supporters in the area to ensure we can keep our local amateur VHF & UHF radio repeaters operational. The cost of maintaining amateur radio repeaters is increasing every year and in common with many groups across the country, we are now struggling to keep our repeaters on the air. Background: As you would expect, the major costs are site rent and electricity. In addition, much of our equipment and infrastructure is becoming old and unreliable so we have a “shopping list” for future replacements running into several thousand pounds already. Apart from the generous donation of equipment and funds from Adam 2E0LXA, Karl G1YPQ, and the Keighley RAYNET group, all costs have been covered by the repeater keepers for several years now. This simply can not continue. Reluctantly, we will have no choice but to close down the repeaters in the district (GB3TP, GB3XL, GB7TP & MB7UL) by June 2015 if we fail to raise additional funds in time. Next Steps: If you feel you can help with a small cash donation, there are several ways you can give. PAYM: e-payment from your current a/c to mobile 07 454 316 603 PayPal: g8zmg.avrg@yahoo.com Cash: In person to Geoff Priestley G7JZM at the Keighley Amateur Radio Society, Parkside Social Club, Butt Lane, Haworth, BD22 8QJ, Thursday evenings from 20:00 We intend to publish a list of all donations received on the AVRG website and on the AVRG Facebook group page. If you wish to make a donation anonymously, please let us know and we will withhold your details from publication. Thanking you in advance for your continued support. Aire Valley Repeater Group Keepers: Phil Holmes M0IRK Steve Watson G8ZMG

(c) Phil Holmes M0IRK  & Steve Holmes G8ZMG 

blog produced by Phil Cole M1PAC

This blog (c) m1pac productions 2015

The Yaesu Musen FRG-7 An Oldie But a goodie

 Yaesu Musen FRG-7 Communications Receiver

My FRG-7  in the shack of 2E0STZ ,connected to a decent antenna a G5RV 

The Yaesu FRG-7 is an all mode receiver covering 200 kHz to 29.90 MHz in four bands .It is  capable of  AM, USB and LSB/CW. The display is linear analog providing up to ±5 kHz dial accuracy. Features include:  RF Attenuator, Preselector, Fine Tuning , Tone Control and ANL. There is a carry handle on the right side. The rear panel has high and low impedance antenna inputs. My FRG-7 operates from   250VAC, 13 VDC or 8 D cells that plug in the battery pack that is accessible via the rear panel and is an optional extra. Early production FRG-7's did not have a Fine Tuning knob.

What all the switches and knobs actually do

 View From the front, A stock Photo from Yaesu 

View from The rear of the FRG-7, the screws in that plate are the battery box

This is the battery box it holds  8 D Cells 1.5v x 8 =12v 

From the brochure by Yaesu  

 I was asked by my good friend Adam  from Ham Dmr if I could give him a hand attending the Red rose radio Rally over at the  The George H Carnall Leisure Centre,Kingsway Park, in Manchester . 

I am always happy to assist Adam in any way I can . So early one morning on the 18th of January we set off in the ice , snow and fog to attend the rally . Once there we unloaded and set up the equipment .

Yes  I was fixing dust guards on those radio's 

That's Me on the right

Adam Lowery

Adam doing what he does best

The Stall at the rally

Afterwards I went for a walk around to take some pictures and have a look to see if there was anything worth spending my hard earned pay on. I noticed this nice looking FRG-7 on one of the stalls , and asking for a bit of a discount  could I please purchase that nice looking  FRG-7  , there was  some haggling and I managed to get the said item for  the bargain price of £60 . The stall holder asked I I could leave it on the stall till the rally was over. I readily agreed , with the proviso that it had a SOLD sticker on it .

 It is an old communications receiver first manufactured in 1976 and production ceased in 1980 there are better ones out there, and I hope to one day  purchase  a yaesu VR-5000.

This is the VR-5000 in question.

OK , Update on the E-Bay FRG-7, most of the old electrolytic Caps  have been replaced, All seems Fine , the Tuner box that I got with it has had BNC sockets fitted, and I re-soldered a few loose connections and you know what ! IT WORKS . Now I am going to replace all those sub miniature bulbs with yellow led's  and later maybe fit a digital frequency readout . All in all 100% successful day.

Thank you for reading my blog, Please feel free to make any comments 

(c) 2015 M1PAC Productions, 

THE HYTERA DMR PD365 A WELCOME SURPRISE

HYTERA DMR PD365 

My Hytera PD365

My Hytera PD365 & My mobile/cell phone

I WON 2 OF THEM

When you enter a competition for something that you normally could not afford to purchase, in my opinion you are always in with a chance of winning after all there's the old adage that you've got to be in it to win it.
Imagine my surprise after waking up one morning and reading all the congratulations from some of the people I know on Facebook as radio hams and friends . There in front of me was  the post telling the lucky people they had won and to check our e-mail, so I checked my e-mail and sure enough there was the confirmation that I had won and could I please supply my shipping address. Part of the deal to winning a pair of these radio's was to write a review using more than 2 pictures of the actual radios with no less than an 800 word count.

 So to work then  

Now lets have a look  at  the main features of this wonder of modern technology. Starting with its elegant design .The radio is pocket sized and easy to carry so those with a cell phone wont notice the weight of only 160 grams and the measurements are only 106 X 54 X 23 mm and that it is it .

I think my cell phone is heavier.The big advantage is the belt clipThe clear display from the 3 lines single colour LCD display is adequate. This will mean that  with the 1 touch feature your text messages of no longer than 64 characters can easily be read,there is a capability of using the predefined short text messaging that can be set up in the CPS. Purchasing the programming lead  is essential and is £25 

On the front there is the big rocking button that will help you to select menu's so you can navigate through and read or select them , it can also be used for voice calls .

The radio features a micro usb port so it can be charged with the most micro usb power supplies .Plugging it  into your computer's USB port will also charge it with a standard usb  lead used by most mobile phones.
The  Standard internal battery is rated at 2000mAh @3.7v  and should help users keep in contact for a long time.

In digital mode the battery operates for up to 12 hours using  a 5-5-90 cycle and in analogue mode about 10.
There are 4 programmable buttons on the front that can be used 
The range of frequencies are : 400-440 MHz/430-470MHz/446 Mhz with a Variable Output Power of 3W/1.5W and it has a 256 Channel Capacity. 

The radio is programmable via the usb port and anyone familiar with the hytera CPS will find it a doddle to set up. There is also the ability to use CTCSS/CDCSS  on the analoug frequencies  this will  prevent unwanted conversations on the same frequency added to the fact you can enable it to scan continuously on the analogue and digital channels .

With the  Analogue and  digital dual modes, using it  ensures a smooth analogue to digital migration. I see this radio in use mostly for covert or security operations so the fact that the optional speaker mics can be worn discreetly with a secure 2.5 mm socket  to ensure you don't loose contact along with a high quality speaker for clear audio from the set .

Word of mouth is a wonderful thing and when someone tells you that a thing is good you just have to try one out for yourself . I can tell you I am not disappointed and have been telling all I can just what a great little radio it is . Here are my findings.

After Receiving the radios from the courier, I went over to my friend 2E0STZ's  shack and we loaded a code plug for our local DMR Marc repeater network then programmed the radio's .

There are  three DMR Marc networked repeaters in our area.

1 GB7TP  Aire valley repeater group         439.6875

2 GB7TD  Five towns Repeater group       439.1625

3 GB7HX  West Yorkshire repeater group 439.5750

Standing in the garden of  the location that we were in we were able to open and operate them from the rear garden  of 2E0STZ,s location  and  I was able to open GB7HX which is approximately 13.7 miles away GB7TD is 12.5 miles away and we could operate that also. I used my radio whilst I was on a rest period I was able to talk to my friend 2E0STZ.
The belt clip supplied with the radio is a joy to use , it is so simple to connect  and disconnect the radio from it . There is a top tab that clicks into place when you have secured it properly into the clip and it just needs the twist of a finger to detach it .the belt clip itself fastens securely onto most of the belts I have tried, including a tool-belt that I use for work.

Being local to one of the repeaters (GB7TP) I am able to use the low power setting on the handset . I live in a block of flats and have a twin lift shaft to the right of my shack, and on high power I can open and operate an analoug repeater called GB3XL .The little handset continues to astound me on it's capabilities  Even if I hadn't won a pair of these wonderful little devices I would have purchased one  to try it for myself .

So to anyone that reads this go out and buy one , you won't be disappointed .And should you want to purchase one of these wonderful little bits of kit then please visit the HAM DMR website site and order it from Adam .PS tell him I sent you ;)  

HAM DMR WEBSITE

(c) m1pac productions 2014 

RTL-SDR dongle's

Having fun with a dongle 

There are few things in this world that you can do on a budget. However the DVB Digital dongle is available on  amazon.co.uk  and on e-bay and most of them are capable of receiving from 24MHz to 1.4GHz . Now that PC 's and laptops have got good processing power,good sound cards and good graphics cards  it is now  possible to decode those invisible radio waves that are all around us , and to do that there are copious amounts of software out there to decode anything you can hear with a decent Arial, NOT I hasten to add  an antenna , with an Arial  you can receive on a wide band   like from say 28 to 30 MHz now that's a 2 meg band width  and is fine for listening, an antenna is tuned to transmit and receive on a very narrow band. Below is a screenshot of a program called HDSDR and it's quite an intuitive program easy  to use and easy to setup and gives you quite a nice display .

Tracking Aircraft

The fact that it can be used to  listen to  HF/VHF/UHF/SHF frequencies  is just icing on the cake.There are the ever popular RTL1090 that decodes the Mode -S from the aircraft, there is the very popular Plane Plotter, but you only have 21 days to use it  and this site here will help you to set it up.There is a program out there called adsbSCOPE and with it comes an alternative to RTL1090 ADSB# .I like that program  as its easy to set up and customize to your own liking  and below is a screen shot of mine. I don't recommend you take a laptop and dongle to the viewing gallery of any major airport as their security has a funny way of looking at it and could mean the confiscation of your equipment.

The location of my aerial and the receiver is in the town of Keighley and I am 8 floors up about 118 mtrs above sea level  the  I made the aerial with these plans here   and as you can see I was getting a lot of "hits".

Its not expensive and is quite interesting in an amateur radio kind of way ,and you don't need to be an amateur to understand how to set it up and operate it all. well I hope you like  this blog, please leave a comment .

(c) m1pac productions  2014 

e-qsl cards Update

Just a few E-QSL cards 

I have been a licensed radio ham since may 1998  and although I have been prevalent on the bands I haven't been to active on the HF bands. but her are all the e-qsl cards I have recieved, I plan to take pictures of those Paper one  I have received too and may post them here later.

but for now just have a look at the paltry few I have acquired .

Pride of place must go to the 2 I most contacted and sent e-qsl's to .

                                                                   

Well thats all for now 

73's from M1PAC 

 (c) 2014 m1pac productions