News
- Details
- Written by: Maintenance Guy
- Category: News
- Hits: 367
This morning we heard the sad news that Sarah has had a nasty accident which required an urgent hospital visit, but that hopefully she is now over the worst bit and can concentrate on her recovery. MSARS wishes you all the best.
- Details
- Written by: Maintenance Guy
- Category: News
- Hits: 408
Thanks to Alan for helping me sort out the Ethernet cable to the shack, and going back in the 35 degree heat to tidy and route the cable into the 'network' cupboard.
Thanks to Ken for supporting my campaign to push the KiwiSDR project through (amongst others).
Thanks to Chris for refurbishing the Shack computer and giving it a life-saving memory and SSD transplant.
Thanks to Stella for getting me the paperwork required for the first grant application, and in record time. This really saved me a lot of stress.
Thanks to Phil for his support and advice on antennas, both for the shack and for my home-constructed test antennas, as well as actual hardware provision.
Thanks to Peter for being the administrative focal point for the grant application(s).
Thanks to Bob for helping me demonstrate the true power of remote-operation radio.
Thanks to Alex, who regularly supplies me with material for the website, when nobody else can be bothered.
Thanks to Chris and Merv who have consistently supported the clubs digital rebirth and who have volunteered to trial the SDRplay training programme.
Thanks to my wife, who, though often the butt of many of my quips and the undeserving victim of my acidic humour, always supports my obsessive and relentless approach to everything in life.
Sorry about the Nadine thing.
M0XYF
- Details
- Written by: Maintenance Guy
- Category: News
- Hits: 489
I just thought I'd provide an update on a number of things I've taken under my wing recently, so that all club members are kept informed.
Firstly, the big news is that the club has formally adopted the WebSDR project, and so it's no longer a 'trial'. Until it can be installed in the club shack, it will however continue to be supported out of my own QTH on a 'best-efforts' basis. It will be powered-on for as many hours of the day as possible, and I've made some changes to help facilitate that. It's now running from a permanent direct power supply for the antenna pre-amplifier, as opposed to a USB port on my computer, which means users will be able to receive signals properly 24/7 and not just the 23/7 when my PC is being used! The antenna will continue to be disconnected though, when I'm transmitting on the main antenna - for example during some lunchtime nets and evening FT8 sessions.
On the KiwiSDR, I've recently installed a cheap Chinese mag-loop which some of you may be familiar with and which is generally referred to as an MLA-30+. This is a 500kHz - 30MHz active receive loop, and is a great performer for the price tag of thirty-odd quid.
I've had this on test for a couple of weeks, and it's very good, but it's not in a favourable location right now. At the moment, it's easily outperformed by my 80/40/20/15/10m End Fed Half Wave, but that should be addressed when it goes up on a new 12m Spiderpole at the weekend. This recent German infrastructure upgrade has further destabilised my marriage, but life is all about antennas Ken tells me. I hope he's right, because the children will miss their mother.
The small MLA-30+ amplifier box is excellent, but the 70cm Ø wire loop is woefully flimsy, and will be replaced with a 1m Ø sturdy aluminium tube loop, courtesy of G4UDU before it gets lofted up out of its current location. It will be very interesting to see how it performs then, but I have high hopes.
Back at the shack, work is progressing with installing an Ethernet cable from the main router directly into the shack. This is required for both the WebSDR and any future remotely-accessible shack radio. More news on this shortly.
Beyond that, we clearly need to agree on and then progress the shack antenna situation. That's not something I'm going to directly involve myself with (you may be relieved to hear) because there are far better qualified members at the club, but I have made my personal recommendation which is a Wellbrook loop for the WebSDR and the installation of Phil's excellent EFHW in place of the broken G5RV. What we do need to do, is get a decision made on this, and get it done before the weather changes. Let's not get bogged-down in complexity here. A radio club with no HF antennas is simply not credible.
Fundraising activities are already underway, and I am progressing one or two applications which are time critical, and have therefore been prioritised. More on this when I have details that I can share with you, but you should know that this is definitely happening and being actively pursued. An application will be submitted before the end of the Month.
Meanwhile, on the Training Academy front, I've hit a problem with database backups on the current MSARS platform which I'm trying to resolve with our hosting provider. If this proves to be insurmountable, I'll rebuild the whole academy on a new hosting platform so that I can get the development back on track. I'm keen to have the first course ready for trialling with our beta-testers within a few weeks.
Finally, Stella tells me that a new handbook will soon be available for new members, and maybe there is something I can contribute to that to help get it finished and uploaded to the Website.
All these things are happening at the club right now. Your opinions, help and support will be requested and appreciated at various points, and I'm hoping we can celebrate a new outlook for the club before too long.
Keep up to date here on the website, on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and soon on Instagram too.
Berni M0XYF
- Details
- Written by: Maintenance Guy
- Category: News
- Hits: 504
Excellent fun. So happy that everything worked out today. Not got it yet?
So, I made arrangements with Bob N4XAT beforehand, and had him install a piece of software on his Windows computer. Then he plugged in a computer microphone. That's it.
At this end in Burgess Hill, I created a login for N4XAT on a dedicated Yaesu hardware box that lives in my shack - on top of my Yaesu FTDX10.
When Bob starts the software on his computer in New Jersey, it logs him into my radio in Burgess Hill. The software he sees looks very similar to the front of my actual radio, and directly operates all its functions. Bob changes frequency, my radio changes frequency. No discernible 'lag'.
It has an on-screen PTT button, which when pressed, does exactly what it says on the tin.
Bob G/N4XAT, live and direct on the MSARS lunchtime net, using my radio and my antenna. Real radio. No phone patch, no Facebook Messenger, no Zoom, no intermediaries.
And when I say that, I'm not knocking what Dick has done in the past, because that was excellent, I'm just once again trying to demonstrate what we can have as a club in the near future.
So to make this clear, this is nothing to do with the WebSDR or any other SDR. This is completely separate. In a perfect world, the WebSDR would be somewhere other than the shack. Somewhere far away from any transmitter, and preferably from all QRM, but that's another quest, and I'm all quested-out right now.
This is the Yaesu equivalent of a FlexRadio system. Icom have a similar offering, though in my opinion it's probably the poor relation. Neither really stack up to the Flex offerings, but they do work in a similar way. Today's demonstration shows exactly what we need to get done in the shack and why. This is what's behind my fundraising efforts and why I keep banging on about all this stuff so much.
Totally wonderful to hear the joy in old friend's voices.
Thanks Bob if you're reading this, and I hope you found it fun. We'll definitely do this again, when both Bob and I are around to set it up (which is only really about our availability, and not the effort). I think we're going to be doing some more testing tomorrow (Wednesday) so jump on the 15m net if you want to say hi.
Berni M0XYF
