News
- Details
- Written by: Chris G4ZCS
- Category: News
- Hits: 396
After the feast of DX in the first few months of the year, April has been relatively quiet.
Another bout of Chemo laid me low for a few days, then on recovery, all went wrong. The loop antenna feeder finally gave up the ghost and had to be renewed with the last of my stock of new 450 ohm.
Then, the computer threw its toys out of the pram! Now I’m no expert, but after nearly 20 years, why would my logging program suddenly decide to crash on boot-up? I tried everything in the book to get it working with no luck. I won’t go into all the details as I expect everyone has a different set up. I finally gave up & accepted that I had to ask for help.
I put a call out on a user group and received a barrage of good ideas (from New Zealand) most of which I had already tried. I gave an update on my lack of progress and then another ideas guy from France suggested a possible fix buried in Windoze. I went through this, step by painful step, and hey presto it works again. After a few more adjustments all is now OK. What surprised me was that as a result of our messages, many more sufferers came out of the shadows complaining of the same fault. Perhaps I was the only one to be brave (daft) enough to admit defeat. The fix has now been published in the help files for others to see.
Now back to radio - what radio? It seems we were hit by a massive coronal discharge that not only gave us pretty Aurora to look at but virtually killed all propagation.
While waiting for conditions to improve, I did an analysis of my log to see which of the “most wanted” I had worked using only my delta loop. Not surprisingly all the top ones are still on my wanted list, but once I get to No 14 (ZS8) then they appear thick & fast, 17 (PY0T), 18 (KP5), and 23 (EZ). Both 14 and 23 were a result of a chat on a quiet band not just a “59 next” in a pileup.
Now we are getting toward the middle of the year fresh pickings are becoming fewer, however those of us who have beams are able to pick off the ones I can only just hear in the noise. Now I really wish I had my tri-bander on the top of the tower rather than keeping dry in the garage! Unfortunately, I am now unable to do anything about it, as the XYL has banned me from ladders with more than 3 steps.
So to round off the month, conditions remain poor but another half dozen in the bag for the year and 8 new islands to add to the total.
73s till next month
Chris
- Details
- Written by: Maintenance Guy
- Category: News
- Hits: 467
Please don't forget to join our new Facebook Group page @
https://www.facebook.com/groups/midsussexars
or do it the QR code way
- Details
- Written by: Maintenance Guy
- Category: News
- Hits: 542
From the RSGB...
hi-impact, based on the Wirral, is planning another high-altitude balloon launch.
This one will feature on the team’s live-stream platform and be viewed by a number of schools across the UK and beyond.
The team is planning to launch two high-altitude balloons. One will be running with a HABDuino and the other with some help from AmbaSat, using LoRA. The HABDuino side will be running on the standard setup - 434.650MHz USB, 50 Baud RTTY, 450Hz Shift, 7N1 data format and with the callsign ‘hi-impact’.
If you’re planning to upload telemetry to SondeHub, you’ll need Dave Akerman’s HABBase software and Fldigi. The launch, from Cilcewydd in Wales, will be between 11 and 11.15am on Wednesday 3 May.
More information can be found on hi-impact’s Facebook page and on Twitter via @hiimpactconsult
- Details
- Written by: Maintenance Guy
- Category: News
- Hits: 552
Chris Coward has kindly sent me the following message, so if you fancy a day out at the seaside, you know where to go!
I will be at the West Beach Promenade Car Park for the International Marconi Day (IMD) Special Event with the Callsign GB2NH from about 10:30 onwards. The weather forecast looks like rain during the middle part of the day so I will be operating from inside the car although if it is sunny later on I may setup the table and chair outside. I will be on 20m only with the mobile whip antenna.
Stuart Little M0ABT and other amateurs from the Newhaven area will be running the callsign GB2MCW (Modulated Carrier Wave) from the same location although we will probably be at opposite ends of the car park to get some separation between stations.
Best regards, Chris G3YTU
- Details
- Written by: Maintenance Guy
- Category: News
- Hits: 648
This just in...
Ofcom has strongly hinted at changes to Amateur Radio licencing in its latest 'Plan of work 2023-24'.
The intro-blub says:
"Over the next year and beyond, our remit will continue to expand to deliver positive outcomes for consumers and the broader economy while minimising potential harms. Already, we have taken on new duties for video-sharing platforms and telecoms security, and the forthcoming Online Safety Bill will give us an important new task and tools for creating a safer life online."
Yeah, whatever, but the interesting bits are, as always, deep in the detail:
“WTA (Wireless Telegraphy Act) licence simplification. Alongside our move to a new licensing platform, we will review our licensing processes and documentation to ensure we have an efficient approach, reducing the burden on our licensees as far as possible and simplifying their engagement with us. A key part of this program will be our review of Amateur licensing”
and
“Amateur radio licences review. We will consult on proposals to simplify our licensing framework for amateur radio licensing and incorporate new areas of amateur radio activity. Our aim is to provide clear updated rules which afford radio amateurs greater freedom to operate, drawing on feedback provided by the sector”.
Well that certainly seems encouraging if extremely vague at the moment. 'New areas of amateur radio activity' suggests that Ofcom have finally woken up to the fact that amateur radio has moved on leaps and bounds in the last few years, and so much of the modern amateur's playground simply doesn't fit onto the 'map' that Ofcom and the RSGB currently have stuck up on their office walls.
And thank goodness for that. I was beginning to think I was stuck in a terrible recurring sepia-tinged nightmare!
There is an interesting and ongoing discussion as to exactly what this could mean over at Essex Ham. What do you think it will entail?
I guess we'll have to wait and see what the 'consultation' throws up. It's due out imminently, and will run until June this year.
More as we have it...
Berni M0XYF
