Snippets

KST2Me is an application written by Bo OZ1M, and makes using the ON4KST chat pages much simpler.  It uses the Telnet connection to the ON4KST server so it’s also much quicker on slower connections. One aspect which always bugged me with KST2Me, and sometimes the ON4KST web interface, was that spotting DX to a cluster

Read more →

The Eltek SMPS 1800 SI 48v switch mode power supply is capable of supplying 37.5A (1800w) so is great for powering 48v amplifiers. The only issue, which is common to most rack mounted SMPSs is they have proprietary connectors on the rear meaning a datasheet or manual is required to know which pin does which.

Read more →

I bought the TMate v1.0 “VFO Tuning Knob” a few years back at Friedrichshafen for use with my Flex-1500 as the TMate was much cheaper than Flex’s own “FlexControl”. When I bought it I was probably still using Windows XP, but I certainly used it with Windows 7 without an issue, but on Windows 10

Read more →

I’d like to share with you all my passion for working stations on VHF (6m, 4m and 2m) using Meteor Scatter (MS) as the propagation mode.  I wrote this during the peak of the Perseid meteor shower in 2015 as it’s much more likely that a newcomer, even with a modest VHF station, inspired by the article

Read more →

For Easter 2015 Bex and me decided to visit my parents in Dumbarton.  While there I took the time to catch up with Stevie MM6ZFG a couple of times to play radio. Kilcreggan – IO75OX – 3rd April 2015 The first location we operated at was at Kilcreggan where Stevie knows the son of a

Read more →

The Problem As a member of the G3PYE contest minions, I bought two 25m runs of Ecoflex-15 back in 2011. A year later we started to notice less power at the antenna end of the runs, we initially put this down to a poor cable batch or damage from use/storage and after some basic analysis

Read more →

My mod was based on this article here http://www.rtl-sdr.com/improving-hf-reception-disconnecting-switching-power-supply-rtl-sdr/ I had no success using diodes myself so instead I used an LD1117A 1.2v regulator, which I think is a better solution too. This is the RTL-SDR (R802T) after fitting the LD1117D during tests, note I just turned the inductor round and reused it to feed

Read more →

The brake in my G-400 rotator bell fell off and got jammed in the gears, this is not the first time this has happened and previously nothing was damaged, other than the brake disk, and I managed to get new parts from Yaesu UK.  The new brake disk, part number S8000136, was only £0.66 the

Read more →

As with my other radios (IC-756pro3 IF Tap page, IC-910H IF Tap page & IC-706mk2G IF Tap page) I wanted to tap the IF (Intermediate Frequency 68.33MHz) out of my Yaesu FT-817 to allow monitoring on an SDR radio and associated software,  I mainly use my FT-817 as a piece of test equipment and having

Read more →

As with my other radios (IC-756pro3, IC-910H & FT-817) I wanted to tap the IF (Intermediate Frequency) out of my Icom IC-706Mk2G to allow monitoring on an SDR radio and associated software. The IC-706Mk2G has two IF frequencies, I tapped the 1st IF at 69.0115MHz (the 2nd IF is around 9.0115MHz) and used a PAT

Read more →

To save a bit of desk space and to save me getting annoyed at solder getting tangled in my projects I decided to make a couple of solder holders / dispensers.

In my car I use an Icom IC-2820 which is a dual band (dual receive) mobile radio, but only ever monitor one side at a time (the other side has the volume down) and in the previous car I used that side for APRS.  Until recently I was not able to find a way to

Read more →

In the car I use an Icom IC-2820 as my VHF/UHF radio.  This has a packet port on it and previously I used to use an APRS tracker on it which would be switched on and off with the car ignition via a voltage sense relay.  Since getting a new car I have been unable

Read more →

The Icom IC-756pro3 has 2 options for tapping the IF, one is at 64.455MHz and the other is at 13.345MHz taken from the bands scope circuit.  This article covers tapping the IF at 64.455MHz which I found more useful for using with an original FunCube dongle and an RTLSDR dongle, both of which work from

Read more →

In reflection (which is a good thing to do) and in regards to my ham radio activities, my attitude is changing. I find myself questioning my skills and abilities and on DX’Peditions I get the feeling I irritate people more. This cumulates in me not finding the same satisfaction in hobby like I used to.

Read more →

From Monday 2nd – Friday 6th December 2013, G3VFC, G3ZAY, M0BLF, M0VFC and M1BXF will be operating as ZD8UW from Green Mountain, Ascension Island. We’ll be active on 40m-10m, mainly SSB and CW. (Being equatorial, there’s little point in taking the extra weight for 80m, I’m afraid.) There may also be some WSPR operation overnight.

Read more →

As bunch of us from the CUWS (Cambridge University Wireless Society) headed to the Faroe Islands for a weeks DX’Peditioning between Monday 17th June 2013 and Monday 24th June 2013.  We are currently staying in a hostel in Torshaven. I’ll be operating as my home call in Faroe’s so that is OY/M1BXF; QSO and QSL

Read more →

What is Polymorph? Polymorph’s full name is Polycaprolactone which is basically a mouldable plastic when heated, normally in warm water. The problem I had, which seems to be a common one, is the threads for the thumb-screw which holds the driven element to the boom on the 2m 17 element Tonna used by G3PYE/P had

Read more →

So I recently changed cars from a Volvo S60 to a Nissan 350z Roadster.  The 350z came with the GT pack which includes a Bose sound systems however surprisingly the standard double DIN head unit had a tape deck!  It also had a 6 disk changer but no support of MP3 playback, something I needed

Read more →

I had a question about how to ‘remove’ the “Out Of Band” message you see in PowerSDR when using it with a transverter on 4m.  Natively Flex do not have the 4m allocation in their .XML config file so PowerSDR reports any frequency in 70.xMHz as “Out Of Band”.   The fix is easy and requires

Read more →

So I had noticed a while back, when developing my Icom (CI-V or band Data) to Yaesu BCD Band Data Converter that occasionally I could get 70MHz to show up as the band. I always had it in mind to investigate this further.  Today I set about finding the BCD which selected 4m (70MHz) and

Read more →

So I was convinced for my new mast I would use a SCAM12 after seeing G4ERO’s installation (picture on his QRZ page).  I had done some antenna work round at Colins QTH and seeing how simple it was to erect (BINGO!) and take down.  The mast is approx 3m when down (with antennas on) and

Read more →

So the antenna farm at M1BXF QTH just got larger with the addition of a 40m 1/4 vertical.  I’d been thinking about this antenna for while as verticals are good for DX, more in this in a moment, and require little space to erect, but does need space for radials. The antenna is based on

Read more →

So I build loads of project which in the end require labelling, but how to do it so it seems professional?  In the past I used to just make lines of text which was more or less the project name and my callsign, printed it and stuck it to the box, not very professional! Well

Read more →

I looked about on the net for how to modify my Icom IC-910H to bring the main band IF out on a connector at the rear of the radio but couldn’t find anything so I dug out my service manual and went at it myself. This modification was done so I could monitor the IF

Read more →