AmateurRadio.com

Series Eight Episode One of the ICQ Amateur / Ham Radio Podcast has been released. In this episode, Martin M1MRB / W9ICQ is joined by Leslie Buttersfield (G0CIB) and Chris Howard (M0TCH) to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin M6BOY rounds up the news in brief, and this episodes feature Martin Butler M1MRB / W9ICQ provides an Introduction to DMR/TDMA.

• Extremely young YL Intermediate passes
• Gerry Wells 1929-2014
• No change yet for UK Amateur Radio Exams
• ZS90SARL
• PZK and IARU Anniversaries
• CQ Hall of Fame Awards
• UK HF Propagation Prediction Maps

Colin Butler, M6BOY, is the host of the ICQ Podcast, a weekly radio show about Amateur Radio. Contact him at [email protected].

Julie and I are having what we call a "Lazy day" today. It's basically a time of rest and relaxation things around the house that need to be done can wait just one more day! Well to start off my lazy day I remembered I had a digi version of QST waiting for me. I wanted to download it on my laptop and do some reading and sipping of nice warm latte. I never did get to the digi QST as something on the ARRL site caught my eye! CQ magazine has announced it is combining the January/February issues and dropping the digi version of CQ plus. I am a CQ subscriber so this caught my attention! Last February CQ dropped Popular communications, VHF plus and World radio online, we were told a new CQ plus was added to the digi version of the magazine to cover off some content lost in dropping those magazines. It would be an additional 60 or so pages and I thought that was a great deal so I subscribed. I started to get the digital version of CQ sent to me each month, I did think this to be odd as I thought the paper version was to come as well. I did email them and did not receive an answer so I assumed it was just the digi version I ordered.
Having read CQ's announcement of dropping CQ plus and combining issues I was not thrilled and wanted to see how time I have on my subscription. I went to their site, logged in and could not find any info about my subscription. I did find other items I had ordered including a calendar so I clicked on that. It was then I found out where my hard copy of CQ was going…..THE WRONG ADDRESS! For some reason the bill to address and ship to address's were different. We had moved and I did change all the credit card address's and added a change of address with the post office just in case. On their site you can only change the bill to address and not the ship to address. I even changed the address with CQ  magazine to boot.

Not to thrilled with CQ at this time…….
1. Shipping address is wrong even after an email to them regarding not getting my hard copy which went unanswered.
2. Can't even find my subscription details on their site.
3. Even if I wanted to change the shipping address I can't on their site you can only change the billing address.
4. They do have a customer service link on their site but you have to cut and paste their email address into yours…..not even a link is given. Plus I don't have high hopes of hearing back anyway.
5. The subscription I paid for…..12 issues and CQ Plus is now being changed. This was the big selling point from CQ when I purchase my year's (well I think it is a year as I can't check) subscription.
6. If you go to their website today you are still be told that CQ plus is being offered as part of your digi offer when in fact it is being cancelled see the bottom paragraph once you click on the link.
Well my lazy day is going to start NOW after venting here on the blog and as my blood pressure drops.


Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

See http://www.gqrp.com/

Many times before I have said that SPRAT is the last magazine I would give up if I had to. GQRP Club membership is very reasonable indeed and I highly commend it to you. They now sell a DVD which has the first 160 copies of SPRAT on it.   If you join the club, the DVD is very inexpensive plus you get the next 4 SPRATs with the subscription. SPRAT is always filled with good stuff and always plenty of projects to build.

Go on, join!

Roger Lapthorn, G3XBM, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cambridge, England.

Why do I bother on 6m WSPR? Apart from G6AVK (78km) with whom I exchanged spots more than a week ago I have had no success at all on 6m WSPR out of the Es season.  I get plenty of success on 10m with less power.  I go on 6m WSPR because I can do so at the same time as being on 10m. I get far more success on 630m with an ERP of just 5mW. I think I am going to give up on the “magic band” until April or May. Maybe I really do need 100W and a big yagi up high in the sky to make the band “magic” at this time of the year. My 1W ERP from a V2000 vertical omni antenna just isn’t enough or maybe all the activity is on other modes?

Roger Lapthorn, G3XBM, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cambridge, England.

Courtesy: http://tomthompson.com/radio/projects.html

In response to an earlier blog about my recent neighbourhood noise problem, Matt (W1MST) , has passed along an interesting link to one ham's solution to a grow-op light source noise. Although I don't necessarily advise taking the same approach, W0IVJ's unique engineering skills may also provide an answer to some other amateur's noise problem, be it any type of ballasted noise-emitter. The rest of his website is well worth a close look as well.

Another type of noise problem was addressed in a posting to the topband reflector today by Don, WD8DSB.....the noise coming from a treadmill's, PWM speed-controlled DC motor.

" For many years my wife's treadmill caused strong interference on 160 meters when it was in use, and yesterday I was able to completely eliminate the RFI using a combination of two different filters (a commercial line filter that provides both common mode and differential mode filtering, and 14
turns of the power cord on a 2.4" OD Fair-Rite #31 mix toroid core based on
the K9YC hams guide to RFI document).

I created a simple website that documents my tests and the filters used,
and for those interested the website URL is:

http://sites.google.com/site/treadmillrfi/

The website contains a link to a video on youtube where you can actually
see the effectiveness of the filters. "
 
These two amateurs have developed slick solutions to their noise problems, but sadly, noise ingression is rising exponentially it seems and is becoming more and more challenging to mediate.
Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

When I got home from work last night, the temperature outside was 10F (-12C).  My basement shack was a relatively balmy 57F (14C). Just before it was time to go downstairs for the 80 Meter QRP Fox hunt, I changed from the "regular" sweatshirt that I was wearing to a "hoodie" type sweatshirt.

I plugged the earbuds into my ear holes, and pulled the hood up. I was able to remain comfortable, not quite toasty warm, but comfortable in the shack for my duration of the hunt.  I do have to admit that once I nabbed the second Fox of the night, Randy NC4RT at about 0244 UTC, I shut everything down and hightailed it upstairs. But as the tip was given freely to me last winter, I pass it on to those who may also need it.  If your shack is semi-unheated, as is mine, covering your head makes all the difference between shivering and operating comfortably.

It looks like the coldest weather of this round has left us. It actually warmed up overnight and was 20F (-7C) when I woke up this morning, but snowing. Until the next Vortex comes to visit (and I'm sure there will be more!) the basement should warm up to the low to mid 60F range (15-17C) and playing radio down there won't be so bad, at all.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Larry Makoski, W2LJ, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Jersey, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Shack – operating position Jan 8th 2015

As many of you know, I had a cerebellum brain bleed in Sept 2013 which was operated on. I am steadily recovering, but my voice is still poor so I much restrict operations using voice modes for now.  The picture shows the operating position in my shack. As shown, I am using 500mW on 10m WSPR (WSPR-AXE-CW beacon) and 5mW ERP on MF WSPR via a homebrew transverter (just below the clock) and the earth-electrodes in the garden.  MF uses the PC and FT817 whereas the 10m beacon is tiny and needs no PC. The loading coil (above the power meter) is not used with the earth-electrodes. It is used when on MF when loading up miscellaneous other antennas. It is not in use at all currently.

When fit again, I intend to resume field experiments.

Not shown are any of the optical, 136kHz or VLF kit or the bench used for building. The latter is currently awaiting better health again.

Roger Lapthorn, G3XBM, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cambridge, England.