21 February 2012

Back Again

It's been awhile since I wrote in my blog but today I finally got round to obtaining a NOV for 5 MHz. I have opened the ft1000mp mark 5 for general transmit and it works very well, a bonus is that the internal ATU will actually tune the trap dipole, although it struggles with the 2 lower channels. Looking forward to getting on the new band this afternoon.


Linda G0YLM

14 April 2011

Long Time No Post

Just to prove that I am still alive.. Been a busy year with lots going on in my life but not much related to radio. I am now a lady of leisure after giving up my job of nearly 30 years after much soul searching but no regrets.
Radio is still a big part of my life and Sands Contest Group goes from strength to strength with more people joining us all the time. Many events already planned for this year.





This is a picture of me operating GB4HCM at Heron Corn Mill for Science week. We now have a permanent callsign for the mill.

This year is going to be challenging in many ways and I will try to update my blog a little more often from now on :)

14 December 2009

A Big Thank You!

As some of you might know GB7MBC has been running from our home for the last 13 years. Last month we suffered a failure of our router and then, even worse, the DXcluster PC decided to stop working as well. Thanks to Simon Brown HB9DRV for giving us a substantial donation which will enable us to get things up and running again. Thanks also to other friends and fellow Amateurs that have also contributed in their own way to keep the DXCluster running. It is nice to know the spirit of Amateur Radio is still alive!

07 October 2009

Has It Been That Long?

Thought I better let you all know I am still here, its been ages since I posted. It's been a busy summer and have not had much time for anything really but, as winter is just round the corner, I may get more time for radio!
Noise on the HF bands continues to bother me, although the PLT networking devices next door have been removed! Now there is something else local that OFCOM are trying to track down ( plasma tv, Skybox?) that is very noisy on 80 metres! The battle to save the HF bands is quite dear to my heart at the moment and I worry that Amateurs seem more interested in things like Echolink, IRLP and DStar rather than fighting over the increasing noise on HF!
Conditions on the bands are still poor, compared to when I first gained my HF licence, and there seems to be no sign of improvement. Also need to get the spreaders on my Force12 beam repaired as the sea air has made them brittle, my neighbour may well be able to make some for me instead of paying 80 dollars to have them shipped over from the States.

20 May 2009

Shack Move


I decided a few weeks ago that I wasn't really using the big Yaesu as it was stuck in a cold north facing room. In a moment of madness I decided to locate the entire shack into our conservatory. This took several hours as it is a big radio for a small person to shift. All went well apart from it leading into a total redecoration of the Dining room once the radios were out of the way ( sorry Ian ) I now find that I am using the FT1000MP totally for HF and now just have the TS2000 hooked up to 6M and above. All in all it is much better apart from when it rains heavily as the noise forces me into wearing headphones, it also may get a wee bit hot in here in summer but then the garden will beckon anyway. So there we are, new shack and a newly decorated dining room!

20 March 2009

A New Transceiver


A new addition to the station is an Icom IC703. I have had my eye on one of these radios since they were first released in this country. I have now managed to get one in pristine condition for a reasonable price. This is a HF plus 6M (depending on the model) QRP transceiver with 10 watts maximum output. It can be run off a battery with a maximum 5 watts available.
First impressions are very good indeed, the receiver is excellent and very sensitive, I would like to add a narrow SSB or CW filter in the future, depending on which mode I use most. Very easy to use and very uncomplicated, unlike the IC7000 which was a real pain to get to grips with. Audio reports on SSB have been excellent and with a YL voice it can be difficult to get the audio right. Display is large, uncluttered and easy on the eye. The ATU is very good and tunes topband on the trap dipole ( my FT1000 ATU cannot do this). I have yet to plug a key in and try all the keyer features but will have a go over the next few days. I seem to be leaning more and more to QRP and it will be interesting to try this radio mobile! Let you know how I get on....

02 January 2009

New Logbook


Thought I would give you a sneak preview of the new Ham Radio Deluxe logbook which will be released very soon. Plenty of exciting new features and very easy to use! Simon HB9DRV has spent the last few weeks working very hard on this project and it is, by no means, the finished item yet but, it really will be a great piece of logging software. I will let you all know when it is released for download.

19 December 2008

Of Dots and Dashes

Just realised I have not updated this blog for a bit. Things have been a bit busy but not on the radio side of things. However we have a new arrival in the shack, a Begali Simplex morse key. G0VGS has been threatening to get back to CW for a while and has never liked his Elecraft Hex key, which is a Bencher in disguise, this has now gone to a new home. The Begali was ordered direct from the manufacturers in Italy and customer service was excellent. Its a lovely key and is in daily use by my other half but it has made me want to get back to using the mode myself....watch this space!

04 August 2008

Jura Island EU-008 22-29th September 2008

Our Contest Group is going on a DXpedition....

Jura

Members of Sands Contest Group and Workington Amateur Radio Society will be joining together for a DXPedition to the Isle of Jura between September 22nd and 29th 2008. Several awards list this island and all the information is below.

We will be operational on all bands from 160m to 10m and hope to have 6m and 2m available as well, time and operators permitting.

We will be operational from Jura House which is on the southern tip of the island. More information regarding the island can be found here.

We will be using SSB, RTTY and PSK31 and possibly some CW. FM will be used if possible on 10m for example.

We should be operational from some time on Monday 22nd September right through to Sunday 28th September 2008.

We will be trying to work as many stations as possible and we will try to work QRP stations whenever we can. If we get the chance we will try to complete QRP to QRP if required.

The island is claimable for many awards. Thiese are listed below.

  • Scotia CS28
  • IOSA NH21
  • IOTA EU-008
  • WAB NR46 Argyle and Bute
  • World Lighthouses On The Air 3078

We hope to also activate some SOTA summits, weather permitting.

There should also be some portable operation while we are there, presenting more of a challenge to both operators and chasers alike :)

Callsigns used will be..

MS0SCG - main station

MS0SCG/P - portable station

Other callsigns may be used from summits.

During the activation, our adventures can be followed on our blog which will be updated daily. We will have no Internet access on the island but we hope to send back photographs and logs daily using WinDRM.

QSL is via the bureau please. Direct cards can only be sent if an addressed envelope and return postage (IRC) is included.

Visit the websites

http://www.m0scg.org.uk

http://m0scg.blogspot.com


21 July 2008

Log Periodic




Today we spent most of the day putting a log periodic yagi on top of the tennamast for the VHF/UHF bands. The antenna is made by the Japanese firm Create. It covers the bands we are going to use for VHF.....2/4/6 metres! Very lightweight and a joy to build and very good quality. Things took a little longer than we thought because we discovered whilst putting the new coax up the mast that the feeder to the Force 12 HF beam was completely goosed and needed renewing. Goodness knows how long it has been like that but it might have been the last few years! We just had enough feeder left to do 2 full runs back into the G0VGS shack via the loft. No time left to put connectors on at the shack end, that can wait for tomorrow! Will let you know what difference to the HF beam the new feeder makes and how Ian goes on with his foray onto VHF SSB ( no 4m abilities yet)

15 July 2008

Its been A While

Ages since I have posted on here. Radio life has been very quiet from home over the last few months. Most of this is due to my husband retiring last year and gradually taking over from me as far as the HF bands are concerned, not that it really matters as I have had many years to chase the DX. Most of my antennas are now rerouted to the G0VGS shack, including the Force 12 which we sorted this week. I have also let the Icom IC7000 go to a new home, not that it was not a good radio but that it was getting very little use! Mobile HF can now be done with the Elecraft K2 if we ever get out there.
So my shack is reduced to the Yaesu FT1000MP for any major HF use, anything else can be done on the TS2000, if I need to use the beam and linear I will have to hop upstairs and use the K3. So it has been a question os sorting priorities out, getting Ian's shack as good as we can whilst still leaving me free to enjoy the radio I am doing at the moment, mostly the 80m morning net and the odd bit of DX. Still very busy with our contest group though and looking forward to IOTA in just over a weeks time ( see their blog here!)
Thats all for now....

03 April 2008

Vista and Things

After using Vista for several months I have decided to go back to using Windows XP on my main PC. Vista was ok but very slow to boot up and use. It would have cost about £70 to upgrade the RAM in the machine as it is nearly 4 years old, so , for the time being, I have reverted to the older OS. Rumours have it that "Windows 7" will be released in 2 years time anyway, by then it will be cheap enough to buy a new machine.

24 March 2008

Beautiful Burmilla

Thought some of you might like a closer peek at my lovely cat Kai. He is just over 2 years old and is a wonderful companion, if a little naughty at times. This photo shows hime in one of his more serene moments!

23 February 2008

Elecraft K3 Arrives!


Yes it is finally here, perhaps now I can get some peace! It was shipped from California on the Tuesday and arrived less than 48 hours later here, I must say that UPS delivery was excellent. The entire assembly took about 6 hours and everything went without a hitch. I did get chance to use the radio yesterday and it was a joy to use, everything is to hand and I didn't need to consult the user manual once. The performance is excellent, certainly equal to my Yaesu FT1000 MKV and probably, even though I hate to admit it, even better! As you can see Kai, our cat, has soon found that the K3 gives a great, warm vantage point to the outside world and has immediately found the top of the radio to his liking. Ian has the Elecraft K2 transverter interface working with the new radio and, once the FM filter for 10M arrives, he should even be able to use it on 2M FM. Anyway check out his own blog at http://ian-g0vgs.blogspot.com/ I am sure he will be writing his own review in time and letting you know how he gets on with his latest addition!

18 February 2008

VP6DX

Managed to catch VP6DX on both 40M and 80M this morning with ease. It just shows it pays to wait until a DXpedition has been out there for a week or two before you try and work them with modest antennas. The VP6DX crew are also using Elecraft K3's which is a radio very close to our hearts at this location. They certainly were picking the callsigns out of the noise this morning!