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Some time ago I created a battery pack that used a 7.2Ah Sealed Lead Acid battery as its base. All is well with that power pack except its colossal weight. Weighing in at nearly 2.5Kg it’s a hell of a thing to but in your backpack. So I have invested in a Li-Po battery pack.

I have filmed a quick tour of the power pack ( link to the power pack is in the description of the clip) have a look. So far the pack has performed flawlessly and I cannot recommend it enough.

It’s a constant theme on this blog – the frequent updates of my QRP go Pack. Well I’ve reached a point where I think I’m happy with the current configuration. My pack differs to many I’ve seen on YouTube. I include more than just the radio equipment. I also include some basic tools and items that make for a comfortable set up when I’m out portable.  The ability to make a wind break, or even a shelter and also to be able to have a warm drink means that in actual fact I can stay out portable for quite some considerable time.

Have a look at my latest configuration of my pack. This I have decided is the autumn winter configuration. I have already started thinking about what I would remove and add for a summertime set up.

Its finally arrived. My Lionel J-38 Morse key from the world war 2 era.

I found the key on Ebay at a fairly reasonable price but because the auction ended in the middle of the night I decided to set a stupidly high bidding amount so I cold hopefully win the auction.

In the end I really didn’t need to bother the price never increased at the end of the auction so I won the key for $61 and $42 for shipping. So not cheap, but the condition of the key really did warrant the price.

It had been stuck in customs for 3 weeks in the UK until I got the bill from UK Customs asking for yet more money due to a calculation error on the VAT oh and this letter will cost you £8. So another £20.41 was spent unlocking the key from the customs.

Anyway. Its here now.  After a very long and quite awful day of work I decided to break out the Brasso and have a go at cleaning the key. I did learn 1 thing about stripping these things down, and that is to keep the left / right parts of the key separate. That proved really useful advice and everything went back exactly in the same place with no fuss.

These keys are lovely to use. Thus far I haven’t plugged it into a radio (that happens this weekend) but just getting the gap spacing, feel and tension right really makes this key a true pleasure to get your hands on.

The first portable outing with this key will be with my newly constructed FOXX3 transceiver. I’m really looking forward to sitting outside and using the key to talk to the world. Albeit slowly and quite quietly. But that’s some of the joy or going out portable.

I did make a small video of the before and after the cleaning processes, I think you will agree the key looks a lot better.

How about making your last 200 contacts in your logbook look a bit special, or even your most memorable contacts look like a piece of artwork?

Well I did just that. After seeing a Facebook post by John (KK4EQF) he showed how he logged over 400 call signs on a map of the US (Click here to view) I decided to take my last 200 QSO’s and overlay them on a map of the UK.

After a little fiddling I settled on this configuration. I’m really quite pleased with it and I might even print a copy & frame it. It’s a lovely way to show off your QSO’s – Even the wife agreed its quite pretty !

I love twitter. Some years ago I thought it was a load of rubbish, and had no purpose. But actually there is a fantastic community on the social media network, and more importantly a group of like minded Radio Hams are also on their sharing ideas, knowledge and experiences.

Take Dec 23rd for example. A simple thread was started about how we are progressing learning Morse and how we are attempting to up our speed. The conversation naturally came around to what’s best – paddle or straight key, and which particular keys do you own. For some crazy reason I mentioned I would complete a YouTube video of my keys, and share with the other participants of the conversation. Well I’m delighted to see that others have gotten on the band wagon and are sharing their keys and their experiences with them. Have a look at the following. I’ve ordered them in chronological order :

Another year passes by. And while sat at home I asked myself had I actually played any radio this year? Well in actual fact it’s been quite a memorable year.

Here are some of the highlighst

Back in January we held our annual Buildathon – held in Bath. This time around we built the GQRP Sudden Regen receiver. A successful day as all participants left with working Receivers for the 40m band. It was a long day, but very successful, with many of the students having the final part of their intermediate practical’s being signed off.

That month saw our intermediate students take their exam, and all but 2 students passed with very high scores. The retakes later in February allowed the students who couldn’t quite pass to shine through and achieve their 2E0 callsigns.

Lastly January saw the start of the first Advanced of 2013. The results in July proved to be our best pass rates ever.

February & March proved quiet as we (Wessex) decided and nominated ourselves to host the G100RSGB in April. Planning and logistics were our main focus for those 8 weeks. Although I did manage to spoil myself and purchase a KX3. A radio that I am still utterly head over heals with.

April came around very quickly and before we knew what was happening, it was our turn to run G100RSGB. I’m still staggered and quite humbled on how many people came and helped and how many contacts we made in 24 hours with such an average set up.

Not stopping we carried our RSGB centenary theme and created a centenary buildathon event that took place on July 5th at Bletchley Park. Building a PSK receiver for 20m was a great circuit and we managed to get 22 School children building the simple receiver that would plug into the sound card of any mac, PC or Raspberry Pi. All but 4 were working. The 4 non working were later fixed and posted back to their respective owners.

August saw us start the planning for our annual radio holiday. And The Wessex boys all decided that Isle of Man was a suitably good location, so research and planning started in full through out August. We planned for May 2014 as a good time to be on the isle.

September was the first joint contest that Wessex Contest Group actually entered. Ok we were not going to set the world alight with out 1st entry but we learnt loads, had a blast doing it and got more of a hunger for competitive QSO’s. In Bath we started another Morse class. Teaching students with various levels of knowledge the code and getting them to at least pass the 5 WPM test.

October and we all attended the RSGB convention. Again another great set of lectures and I thoroughly enjoyed my time, making new friends, rekindling old friendships and learning loads.

Finally as we approach the end of the year in November I built a Foxx 3 Transceiver and have had a great time with it oDecember we sat another 3 exams in Bath. 2 Foundation, 1 intermediate and 2 advanced students. I also upgraded my QRP go pack to a case that has more compartments and pockets. It makes it far easier to carry I can assure you.
n air. In

So to answer the original question. Have I played much radio this year ? No. I’ve been too bloody busy !

Happy Christmas & new year to you all.