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THIS ITEM HAS NOW BEEN SOLD
Yaesu VX-6E Submersible with box, power adapter, operating manual and RT Systems programming software. The software also comes with the USB-57B programming cable.
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Well done and many thanks to Stella, Alan, Kim et al for getting the club active in the open air once again. Please come and support the organisers if you can, even if you just come for the socially-distanced beer! Here are the details:
All the Hounds will be starting from Cyprus Hall Car Park.
Normally everybody meets there from approx 7.15pm.
Sealed envelopes will be passed out to those teams that take on the Foxes, inside will be the location of the Pub for those who give up!
The first transmission will be sent from the Foxes location at 7.30pm, we will be using 145.375Mhz +/- QRM, this will be 2 mins long and we will then be transmitting for 1 min every 15 mins after that at 7.45, 8.00 & 8.15 etc.
If nobody has found us by this point some general clues will be slipped out during the 1 minute chat so listen carefully or your drinking time in the pub may be short!
For those that are new to this you will need, ideally 2m handheld & small beam antenna, map (OS 198), pencil, ruler & compass for plotting signal direction.
Regards
Stella M6ZRJ
Alan G8YKV
For beginners, you may like to check out a useful guide that Alan has put together here:
https://midsussexars.org.uk/feature-articles/78-a-beginners-guide-to-amateur-radio-foxhunting
and there are many helpful pages on the internet on cheap and easy to construct antennas and attenuators.
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This is a very different version of the guidelines than the previous one. Gone are the old flowchart/decision tree logic diagrams and in come simplified if/then/goto/return directions that many of us may be familiar with from the BASIC programming of yesteryear or from completing the recent online census. In this case that may be for the best, as simplicity and clarity are surely what are required right now. It's particularly important when you consider the potential damage the whole EMF compliance issue may have on inducting new amateurs into the hobby. It really shouldn't be very difficult at all for new licensees to demonstrate compliance.
I was very happy to locate this nugget in the 'Other Questions' section at the end of the document too. It's something that I was hoping for. A common sense acknowledgement that you can 'assess for the worst case' and that would automatically cover any subsequent minor changes you make to your station setup which are only likely produce lower levels of exposure.
"You will only need to reassess compliance if you make changes to your equipment which is likely to increase the EMF exposure levels in any area where a member of the general public is or can be expected to be present. This could happen if, for example, you change or adjust the antenna or make other permanent technical changes to the equipment."
I think it indicates a reasonable approach to producing your compliance documentation, but it doesn't excuse you from doing the initial hard yards. You'll still have to have an assessment for each band/antenna/mode combination you operate on at a minimum. Note also the use of the word 'permanent'. The 'Pre-Assessed Configuration' concept otherwise referred to as the 'Compliant by design' approach is also a useful quick-fix, but come on... it's taken the RSGB months and months to come up with the documentation for a half wave dipole for goodness sake. What is any of that going to do to encourage experimenting with antennas?
One final highlight I discovered is that I have now correctly re-classified my good lady wife as a 'Worker' and so no longer have to worry about irradiating her. It was easier than asking her to sit the Foundation exam.
Here is a copy of the guidelines in full:
and here is a link to the RSGB website page which looks like it's being kept up to date with all the other various links to helpful resources:
Berni M0XYF
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You have a two-day window (today and tomorrow) to try and receive Slow-Scan TV pictures transmitted from the International Space Station using the callsign RS0ISS. The frequency used will be 145.800MHz FM, and will probably employ SSTV PD120 format. The radio used will be a Kenwood TM-D710.
The transmissions will be made as part of the Moscow Aviation Institute's SSTV experiments (MAI-75), and are specifically intended to be made during orbits over Moscow, but many other amateurs underneath the track of these passes will have the opportunity to capture the images too, including those in Europe, Asia, South America and Oceania.
Transmission times are slated for:
Wednesday 9th June between 09:35 and 13:50
Thursday 10th June between 08:55 an 15:50
All times are UTC and are subject to change.
Predicted overflight times for the International Space Station can be viewed on the AMSAT website:
Update
Additional transmission dates have now been announced:
Transmissions will start at around 0940 UTC on the 21st of June and images will be transmitted continuously until approximately 1830 UTC on the 26th of June.
