AmateurRadio.com

And so it begins

At the end of 2020, I decided it was time to update my PC as it has never been done for over 10 years. The choice I had was to purchase a new PC or rebuild what I have, I decided to rebuild the existing PC I have. I choose this as it gives me what I want, I do the upgrades, order the parts that I want and I can leave room for further upgrades in the future. The items I kept were my ATX tower, 750-watt power supply (as it was very new)  GeForce GT 740 video card,1TB Western Digital Black and a 1TB Seagate hard drive for backup purposes. 

One new 2 old hard drives

The replacement parts were the following: 

MSI MPG Z490   This is a very nice motherboard with room for expansion. 

Intel i5 10600K Comet Lake 4.1 GHz

32GB G.Skill DDR4 3200 RAM

Cool Master Hyper 212 CPU cooling fan

Win10 pro 64 bit

Crucial MX500 1TB SSD Hard drive 

The new PC build works great and I finally made the jump to Win10 as my OS. The SSD hard drive is a very nice change and the speed is great. My not so old Western Digital 1 TB hard drive now holds my SSD image files and my Seagate 1 TB drive hold my SSD hard drive clones. By the way, the backup software that I use is Macruim Reflect. It is easy to use and has worked for me without any issues and while using Windows 7 I had to use it twice. If you are a home user the software is free to download and use. 

RAM and CPU fan installed

While I was doing the build I did had a comment on my blog where a reader made me aware of a site called Ask woody. This site is a great resource for PC users and to have full access a donation is asked for. I made my donation and got full access as it's a great place to learn and get feedback. Did I have any issues with the build......yes I did. For starters the Cool Master CPU fan instructions were TERRIBLE and thank goodness I found a YouTube video on how to install the fan on my i5 chip. EVEN with a video I messed up a bit and installed the fan on the CPU facing the wrong direction and I only knew this once I tried to install the RAM and it did not fit. The fan and assembly had to be rotated 180 degrees and then all was good for the RAM installation. When I initialized and formatted the SSD hard drive I'm not sure what I did but it had to be done again as when the OS was in the process of the install  I was getting error messages about the SSD hard drive. 

Next, it was time to install all radio programs and the software that runs alongside them. I am happy to say that all software installed without issue and I am up and running and very happy with the upgrade. 

Already there are moans from buyers, "they have charged me VAT!"

ebay have now rolled into the mix now implementing the 1st January 21 VAT rules for UK buyers and EU. As  I mentioned at the start of writing this thread, they will nail it at source at the time of purchase:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/listings/default/vat-obligations-eu?id=4650

 Where this leaves the likes of Aliexpress, Banggood and individual traders from China and the rest of the world not registered, I guess HMRC rules in Notice 143 will click into place?

A big trend in ham radio activity is the use of internet-connected transceivers commonly referred to as hotspots. These devices often use one (or more) of the popular VHF/UHF digital formats (DMR, D-STAR, Fusion) but analog FM is also used. They allow a radio amateur to have a local RF connection into one of the extensive radio networks (e.g., Brandmeister).

Unfortunately, there have been situations where radio amateurs arbitrarily chose hotspot frequencies that caused interference with existing radio activity. For example, a hotspot showed up on the 70 cm SSB calling frequency, 432.100 MHz. One of the worst examples of interference was a hotspot sitting on the input frequency of a satellite transponder. Not good.

The Colorado Council of Amateur Radio Clubs (CCARC) is the VHF/UHF frequency coordination body for the state of Colorado. Included in its spectrum management role, the CCARC maintains a detailed set of band plans (called Frequency Use Plans) for the 144 MHz, 222 MHz, 420 MHz, 902 MHz and 1200 MHz bands.

The CCARC recently decided to provide some guidance on what frequencies should be used for hotspot operation. Previously, the operator of a hotspot had to scan through the Frequency Use Plan and figure out where hotspots fit in. It wasn’t very obvious, so the CCARC now recommends 10 specific frequencies on the 70 cm band for hotspot use.

These frequencies are available for simplex hotspot use. However, for each of these simplex frequencies, there is also a corresponding frequency 5 MHz lower that can be used for hotspots that operate duplex.

Unlike repeaters, hotspots are not coordinated by the CCARC. With 10 frequencies available, it should be easy to find one that doesn’t have any co-channel interference from other users. See the complete CCARC hotspot guidance here.

These guidelines won’t solve every problem but it will help people find a hotspot frequency that plays well with others. These frequencies are valid for Colorado only. Check your local VHF/UHF band plans for more information.

73 Bob K0NR

Disclosure: I contributed to these CCARC guidelines but I don’t speak for the CCARC.

The post Recommended Colorado Hotspot Frequencies appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.

 More news on the upcoming QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo March 13-14 2021

LCSC has been in my Far East component suppliers list for sometime now.. I was short of a few obscure components so I thought I would give them a whirl.

Website was easy to use, ordering was very quick, straight forward and simple. A small handling charge was added if the order was below a certain value . So I just ordered more components to the list to overcome the charge, the ease of paying by Paypal gave the order some security.

Based in Shenzhen, China, the consignment took no longer than anything else you would order from the far East, and was provided with live tracking as you can see from the package dates and path below:

• delivered - no signature----Inward MC

  14

  2021/01/04 14:29:48
• inward mc - handheld acceptance----Inward MC

  13

  2021/01/03 10:31:49
• outward rdc - handheld acceptance----Outward RDC

  12

  2020/12/31 12:07:54
• delivery to local courier

  11

  2020/12/28 06:00:00
• Departed from Facility

  10

  2020/12/28 06:00:00
• Arrived at Sort Facility

  9

  2020/12/27 14:00:00
• Custom clearance completed

  8

  2020/12/27 08:52:00
• Arrived at AIRPORT of Destination，clearance in process

  7

  2020/12/26 13:08:00
• Departed from AIRPORT of Origin

  6

  2020/12/26 09:09:00
• Arrive at international airport to abroad----QD

  5

  2020/12/24 23:23:07
• Departed Facility In processing center----Qingdao

  4

  2020/12/23 16:05:51
• Departed Facility in YT-BT-SZ ----YT-BT-SZ

  3

  2020/12/22 01:29:08
• Arrived at Sort Facility YT-BT-SZ ----YT-BT-SZ

  2

  2020/12/21 22:46:40
• Shipment information received

  1

  202

I will certainly be using them again in the future!

"Yes it got in with no added VAT or PO charges Hi! :-)"
 

 Even companies exporting to the UK are now caught up in the confusing VAT debacle ..

The BBC are now picking up on the story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55530721

Why wasn't a transition period put in place for all this, allowing a smooth change over?

Your confused, I am confused. Standby for the next exciting episode...