Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
F.Y.B.O., way beyond that
February 8th, 2015 | 
Author: 
My plans today were to get out to my Winter Survival shelter and operate in FYBO and the RaDAR event. But snow and a very low windchill changed my mind on the outdoor adventure, but with about 45 minutes in the RaDAR event left I decided to saddle up my PRC-104 with Chameleon whip and give 15 meters go. With luck I was able to work a few RaDAR stations. Even in -15c (-21c with blowing snow) a warming smile was brought upon my face.
Thanks to those who pulled me out and gave me the opportunity to play late in the game.
Other videos of my hobbies can be seen on my YouTube channel at :
https://www.youtube.com/user/VE3FAL1/videos
I could not feel my fingers when I got back into the house but it was a great experience none the less.
Fred
VE3FAL
40m Pixie from AliExpress
From my bank statement I see my 40m Pixie kit from China, that has shipped, cost a little over £7. This includes all parts including crystal and PCB. At this price it would be hard to buy the individual parts. I very much want to build this as it will be the first amateur radio construction here in a very long time. It is sufficiently simple and low cost that I should manage it, even if I am a little clumsy still with the soldering iron.
No doubt Andrew G6ALB (3km) will help with a first test.
UK National Grid status link
Again, from Steve G1KQH, a link that may well be of interest to UK readers:
Did I send you this one Roger?73 Steve
http://www.g1kqh.talktalk.net/
Many times we hear that closing old and polluting power stations is putting us at risk of power blackouts. Check the electricity capacity yourself.
In the left hand corner you can also check for France.
Radio Equipment Directive (RED)
See https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/radio-equipment-directive-proposal .
Quite soon this new directive will apply in Europe including the UK. Many low cost modules may cost a little more as receivers will need to be more carefully designed to meet RED requirements. It is likely that more stringent RX parameters will have to be met. I wonder if some of the very low module costs are as a result of the dumping of old stock? This could well impact super-regen receivers that are sensitive, but not very selective. Although fine in some markets this type of receiver is less than ideal in a very busy ISM band where they could easily be blocked. Listening around 433.92MHz recently, very many ISM devices could be copied. One of my old colleagues is involved in international committees working on RED.
The “internet of things” means very many devices will include radios in future, such as a basic internet terminal in washing machines or RFID tags.
Yet more transceiver modules!
A search on eBay has thrown up lots of useful RF transceiver modules, not as low cost as the AM ones found by G6ALB, but nonetheless very low cost and suitable for local communications, Some are 100mW and some 500mW or 1W. The ones I saw were data units, but these should be suitable for speech with simple mods. I am unclear how some of these are programmed to the correct frequency. There is usually a choice of either VHF or UHF and I think some are essentially FM.
Put “UHF transceiver module eBay” into Google to see what comes up. Or try “VHF” instead of UHF. I was amazed how low cost these were.
More useful modules
Yet again, I am indebted to Steve G1KQH for the following:
Low cost AM modules yesterday, now the Dorji today.. Its just never ending what next comes along, I can’t keep up any longer going to have a funny turn!73 Steve
http://www.g1kqh.talktalk.net/
Another G1KQH bargain
This came in from Steve, G1KQH, today. It is often cheaper to buy the completed, built modules from China than to buy the parts in the UK! What is the world coming to?
I bought 5 LM317s on PCB with heatsinks for a fiver:
Why bother building it any longer, that used to be half the fun! The heatsinks would of cost a Quid each over here, never mind the LM317 and the PCB with connectors..Happy days73 Steve G1KQH
