“What’s my number?”

How the hell do I know? Suffering from memory loss? Lost the Yellow Pages, too? Oh wait, yet another contest….

Fortunately there’s always someone available for a decent ragchew. Finding a frequency that’s not in use isn’t a problem, but that’s not enough. This weekend I found out the hard way that empty frequencies are claimed too. A certain (probably very rare) breed of contesters might be visiting the bathroom, or busy lubricating their throat in the kitchen. When they return after five minutes or so and find out that ‘their frequency’ is occupied, you’re in trouble.

OK, OK, I got the message! I’m outta here!

SWL antenna construction – how hard can it be?

Actually it is quite simple: just take a random length of wire (the longer the better, depending on the lowest frequency), add a 1:9 balun and you’re done. Right? Right. Or wrong, when you’re living in a rural area.

I want to separate my receivers from my transceivers, and gain a somewhat better reception on MW and LW in the process. I spent large part of the day on the roof, playing around with various pieces of wire, and different ways to mount the stuff. I tried to run various end fed wires across the roof, close to my dipoles. Bad idea. The new antenna had a negative influence on the RX/TX dipoles, which resulted in a horrible SWR on 40 meters. Reception wasn’t impressive either.

Next I tried a 20 meter long sloping wire, also end fed, from the top of the roof to the back of my garden. That worked out better, but the amount of (man made) noise was insane. Some of the interference went away after proper grounding, but it’s still far from ideal.

A simple dipole, 2 x 20 meters, proved to be the best system here. Hardly any interference, and a good reception. Tomorrow I will construct a test version of an open dipole, made from quality materials, and figure out the best place to run the wires. Still wondering about a folded one though.

Preview: Baofeng UV-5R

The new Baofeng-UV-5R

The first thing I thought when I saw this new version, was “Hey, I know that thing”. And indeed, the casing of this new handheld is identical to the TYT TF-F8. The difference: the TYT versions are single band, the UV-5R is dual band. Yet the price doesn’t reflect this; the UV-5R is about as expensive as a single band TYT. The current price hovers around the $55 mark.

Differences
When compared to the now (in)famous UV-3R and its varieties, there are some big differences to report. Power output is one of them – 5 Watts on VHF, about 4 Watts on UHF. The battery pack is rated 1800 mAH, and a decent desktop charger is part of the package. The UV-5R also supports DTMF. All of this promises the UV-5R to become the cheapest full-featured dual band ever.

Some questions remain, and answers will have to wait until I have finished testing mine. Harmonic suppression is one of them, and I’m also curious whether the receiver will be able to cope with the insane amounts of out-of-band signals I’m dealing with here. We’ll keep you posted, and a proper review will follow as soon as possible.

Technical specifications
Frequency Range: 136-174 / 400-480 MHz
Frequency Stability ±2.5ppm
Dual-Band Display, Dual Frequency Display, Dual-Standby
Output Power: 4-5 Watts (VHF), 4 Watts (UHF)or 1 Watt, selectable
Modulation Mode 16kΦF3E / 11kΦF3E
Maximum deviation ＜5kHz(Wide) / ＜2.5kHz(Narrow)
Spurious Radiation ＜7μW
Adjacent Ch. power  ≤-65dB(Wide) / ≤-60dB(Narrow)
Pre-emphasis characteristics 6dB
Current ≤1.6A(5W)
CTCSS/DCS deviation 0.5±0.1kHz(Wide) / 0.3±0.1kHz(Narrow)

Memory capacity: 128 channels
50 CTCSS and 104 CDCSS (includes tone searching)
Built-in VOX Function
1750Hz Burst Tone
FM Radio (65.0 MHz – 108.0 MHz, WFM)
LED Flashlight
Large LCD Display
25KHz/12.5KHz Switchable
Emergency Alert
Low Battery Alert
Battery Saver
Time-out Timer
Keypad Lock
Monitor Channel
Channel Step: 2.5/5/6.25/10/12.5/25KHz

Roger beep
Emergency Alarm
Tri-color background, selectable
PTT & ANI ID
FM radio and 25 stations storage
PC programmable
Transmitter time-out timer(TOT)
Busy channel lock-out(BCLO)
Modulation Mode 16kΦF3E / 11kΦF3E
Maximum deviation ＜5kHz(Wide) / ＜2.5kHz(Narrow)
Spurious Radiation ＜7μW
Adjacent Ch. power  ≤-65dB(Wide) / ≤-60dB(Narrow)
Pre-emphasis characteristics 6dB
Current ≤1.6A(5W)
CTCSS/DCS deviation 0.5±0.1kHz(Wide) / 0.3±0.1kHz(Narrow)
Intermediation sensitivity 8-12mv
Intermediation distortion ＜10%

Dimensions:（W x H x D）100 x 52 x 32 mm
Weight 250g （including battery, antenna）

Echolink: A love-hate relationship

I love VoIP as long as it is not related to HAM radio. For that very reason I don’t care about D-star much. Interesting technology, sure, but there’s something ugly about it – and it’s not only the puffed-up rig prices which make me dig my heels into the sand. All the wires I need end in the back of my garden and, old fashioned as I am, I think that’s the way it should be.

Yet I do use Echolink occasionally, mostly to keep in touch with people who are either out of range, or with old friends who can’t have antennas anymore. Contrary to newer systems like TeamSpeak, only licensed operators are allowed to use it. Here are a few cool places I found.

Coffee Shop?
If the Dutch hear the word ‘Coffee Shop’, there’s a good chance their first thought is something related to drugs. Not so in the USA, fortunately. I found the KB4SVP-L node aka ‘Our Coffee Shop’ while scanning all the available USA-based links and repeaters, and decided to check it out. This hangout is managed by Richard KB4SVP. Most regulars still have rigs and antennas, which make it possible to schedule a real QSO now and then. Come often enough and you become a member. Don’t show up for a while, and you will be decaffeinated. LOL! Website: http://www.our-coffee-shop.webs.com/

KQ2H via Echolink
We were spoiled lately with great conditions on 10 meters. Only 25 Watts or so proved to be enough to access KQ2H on 29.620 MHz, but the sun went into a quiet state lately. Too bad, as we all made a lot of friends there. Fortunately there’s W2FLA-R on Echolink, which is linked into the KQ2H repeater system. Great!

Reflecting vs Connecting
Should I be less negative about the Internet? Probably. Will I change my mind in the foreseeable future? Probably not. I like radio waves, not data packets. I love reflecting, not connecting. Sorry folks. Call me what you want, a dinosaur, a fossil – I’ll take it as a compliment!

Hamfest Rosmalen 2012

I didn’t go to any hamfest for years, but this year I made an exception. I wanted to hunt for parts, such as a bunch of 2N3055′s, heat sinks and a shopping list full of similar items. I wasn’t very successful in finding the parts I needed. Oh well, there’s always eBay.

And you thought ham radio operators were extinct...

What I did find though were ferrite clamps (you can’t have enough of those), solder flux and heat conducting paste. A bonus were two Sirtel / Sirio GPE 27′s for a price I couldn’t resist. This 5/8 wave CB antenna does great things on 10 meters and (after some more extensive mods) can be converted into a 1/4 wave for 20 meters. I saw some nice old Yaesu HF rigs too, but I didn’t take the bait. Too much stuff, too little space..

Nice, old school rigs. Text on the left: "Test your fingerprint". No idea what that was about.