It's World Amateur Radio Day! [055]

Greetings from the shack...

HERE

Happy World Amateur Radio Day!

In the shack with a shiny new antenna up above and a desk full of bits that I hope will become a solar powered meshtastic node.

Yes… I’m still playing with these little LoRa toys/tools on 868MHz. I have been doing some other radio as well, but when you get involved in this weird quest to connect the dots on a map in an attempt to build a nationwide mesh network, it becomes all encompassing. Fun though. And check out this kit box where I keep the parts needed to build these little devices.

I used to keep my lego in something very similar. Perhaps that is why this is so much fun.

Not all experiments work out though. I’ve repeatedly popped a node on the top of a 10m fishing pole only for it to not see anything new. So I strapped the pole on the side of the kids old play house adding an extra two meters.

It’s almost as high as my Comet GP9 but still nothing. It’s very much like fishing though, and if I leave it up long enough, I get a few bites from a nearby main road, the A1.

But as much fun as it is pinging the passing cars. I’m keen on building the mesh.

We are slowly getting there. But I’m really surprised at Cambridge. Home of the first UK amateur radio repeater and bristling with hams, but they seem slow on the uptake of LoRa 868. I was chatting on GB3PI this morning with a member of Raynet and he said there was a recent talk that got a lot of people interested. Fingers crossed.

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In other news… Newly licensed Paul Capewell M7YHF has become the latest supporter of ‘73 from G5DOC. (Congrats on the pass Paul!)

Due to it’s sporadic haphazard nature, this newsletter is free for all, but of course I will gratefully accept any support in the way of subscriptions. You would not believe how much it is appreciated. And all for the meagre price of a coffee a month. In fact off the back of Pauls generosity I was inspired to purchase a funky little QRP radio. No doubt there will be lots of words and pictures when that arrives.

One in every hundred of you that have subscribed to this email have been kind enough to support it. I know that is way below what is normal, and at first I thought it was because this email was a bit sh1t. But the lovely things that Paul said in his email have put my mind at rest. As does the fact that hundreds of you open this email when it hits in your inbox. Almost a thousand people checked out the Ham Radio Films post.

So I’m thinking you are all just too busy saving up for a new radios. ;-)

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THERE

I’ve done very little travelling since the last email but wherever I go I have 868Mhz plus 2m and 70cm in the car.

Have a guess what I was doing driving around like this. (Comment or reply if you like.)

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GEAR

So as mentioned above, I have finally sorted out my 4M antenna. Sid M0SRS sent me an email linking to an antenna i’d never heard of. The Moonraker SBQ470. I bought it because it was on offer and with some points it cost me about £32. I don’t think they have sold many. Probably because it’s a bit yellow.

Here is it being assembled.

I was impressed with the build quality an how easy it went together. It’s was a little shorter than my Sirio CX 4-68.

Incidentally, thanks to Clive 2E0OZX’s forensic disassembly, (I think he used a drill) we have solved the mystery of why the Sirio never seemed to tune in. It went the same way most Sirio’s do. Unstoppable water ingress combined with a mish-mash of metals corroding.

It appears that no matter how you attempt to seal up the antenna, with changes in temperature the drain hole quite possibly sucks water in through the bottom. Anyway. I’m glad to see the back of it as so far this new antenna is great.

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I must thank Richard M0OFF for soldering an SMA connector to my cutdown window mount. Great skills. And spares. It’s not something I have ever done. Yet.

My old window mount is now specifically for node hunting when out and about.

Today while heading out to buy a tent I spotted an antenna on the car in front. Pulling up alongside I spotted Mish G0JIW who just so happened to be heading to Moonraker. We chatted on GB3PI and she kindly offered to pick up a new window mount I’ve had my eye on. I pulled over, ordered it, and by the time I’d finished tent shopping she was passing back my way and I was able to collect. I don’t feel so bad about butchering my last one as the new one is very well made.

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My friend Gordon 2E0HVQ is on a perpetual quest to get his antennas higher. Especially his Meshtastic stuff. I told him to get it on the chimney but he doesn’t have one. I then had a thought… And a quick google.. and found FalseChimneys.co.uk. I kid you not. If I didn’t already have a chimney I’d get one of these. You could hide all kinds of cool antennas in it. And perhaps as a signal to other ham’s, have a robotic chimney sweep’s brush pop out every time conditions are good.

Gordon has also just had a couple of these Lora Yagis printed and I might get to play with one. If printing antennas does not get more nerds in to amateur radio I don’t know what will.

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Finally, in the this section… Due to the losses that happen at 868MHz I’ve decided to keep my feeders as short as possible and when batteries aren’t practical, extend the power leads. Here’s a 10m USB-C cable. ;-) [Amzn affiliate link]

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ONAIR

Outside of playing with the Meshtastic stuff I’ve been chatting on 80m and was surprised the other day when I put out a call on 70.450 and got an answer straight back. It could be a combination of more people on 4M and my new antenna performing better than expected.

In fact the Tuesday 4m net round my way has been busier than the 70cm repeater net. This week I was chatting on GB3OV and unusually there was not an official net control present. Thankfully it was picked up by someone else and as I was walking the dog I was happy to drop in and keep the numbers up. It is said for every person chatting there are 10 listening. I wonder if this is true.

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ELSEWHERE

• APRS SSID’s and what they mean.

• Ham Radio stories on Reddit.

• it’s the end of an era for so much MW radio in the UK.

• Anyone that supports this newsletter gets a shout out. Here is the blog of the latest supporter and brand new Ham. PaulCapewell.com

• Micky Dolenz has built radios but never quite for his licence. Not yet anyway…

• The art and design of Ham Radio

• This is my other more regular, slightly more eclectic email.

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FINALS

Thanks for reading and I hope subscribing.

Please share this wherever you think it might resonate. Especially to Facebook and Forums. That is a great way to support me if you are saving for a radio. ;-)

You are some of the more curious people in radio ;-) And I thank you.

Over

73 de Christian G5DOC

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