Subterranian Radio [069]
Greetings from the den…
HERE
Greetings new readers. My name is Christian, (G5DOC) I’m based in the UK and tend to chat about all things radio. Not on a technical level. There are lots of other places that do that way better than I ever will. I put the amateur in ham radio. I’m all about simple experiments, making mistakes and getting to know the people as curious about me in this massive nerdy hobby.
Right now I’m at home. My new home in the Scottish Borders. I have a room in the house filled with half built shelves and (after three months of ‘settling in’) many unopened boxes.
If I lean out of the window I can see an EFHW strung under the neighbours trees that I really should cut back. Nothing like my old station. But it’s a start. And I do have permission to trim them.
Like I say most of my gear is still in boxes and I still don’t have a permanent shack. There are some plans coming together though. In the meantime rather than dig out my old radio, I bought a new one. But more on that later. ;-)
THERE
I’ve had to swap my radio for time with the line trimmer, chainsaw and hedge cutter. All just for me to get the EFHW up. It does mean I got to buy some new tools. Plus if you read my other dispatch you’ll know I recently got qualified to wield a chainsaw and keep my limbs. (In fact my tree felling certificate came through today.) Most Hams will know the chainsaw to be handy tool for reducing attenuation and scattering while also keeping shacks warm in those colder months.
The antenna farm is still a work in progress. I had put up my Comet GP9 co-linear, but after I got to see how little there is on VHF/UHF round here, the wind rattled the coax out of it. That is now hanging in a shed roof and I have a 2m/70cm beam waiting to be connected. That might be more resilient and useful. I’m pretty sure I could hit GB3BT on a piece of wet string but a beam might get me into some repeaters a little further afield.
My radio activities used to be 85% VHF/UHF to 15% HF. I’ve a feeling that if I cannot attract some people onto GB3BT I’ll be on HF at least 95% of the time. Not a bad thing I suppose. But should you be in the repeater’s catchment area please put a shout out as i’ll soon be monitoring a lot more.
Meanwhile needing to test my location to see what HF is like, I cleared a few branches behind the house and strung up said wire between two trees. It’s still under a canopy and only about 3m from the back of the house, but the moment I attached my Icom ic705 I heard a throng of international voices. It seems my location has very little noise.
My 5 watts found it harder than normal to get through a pileup to Canada, but I chatted with Spain, Germany and Portugal with ease. I also managed my first local 4m simplex chat with a local ham called Kieth MM6KFE. I also chat with him on the local repeater.
While out doing chores in another town last week I spotted a house with at least 7 antennas in a small backyard. All home made I think. Including a spiral of wire on 160m. I figured this had to be Kieth’s house and knocked the door.
It was! We chatted for a bit but I’m looking forward to capturing some life/radio stories from Kieth. Like how the house he had before his current one didn’t even have running water. I’ll also be helping him fix a busted 70cm dipole. Of course seeing what he had done with his space means I have no excuse with a large garden. (If my station master allows.)
Other than that I have found a local hill to call CQ on 2m and made some radio friends at a club south of me. If you can guess the name of the club, drop it in the comments below with a like and I’ll give you a free month subscription which will unlock some old posts.
Yes even the club members who own this HQ can enter ;-)
In other news I was very excited to get to visit the site of my local repeater with the repeater keeper George MM0JNL. George wears many hats, one of them for the Radio Society of Great Britain (That involves a shirt and badge really).
George made me very welcome to the area when he popped up on the repeater. Everyone speaks highly of him and I can see why… He’s a really hard working radio operator championing the hobby wherever he goes.
We have a lot to thank the repeater keepers and clubs who set up and continue to manage our repeaters. From securing and maintaining a location, funding and sourcing high spec equipment, navigating licensing and approvals, installing the station, antennas and duplexers, providing power and backup systems, monitoring and troubleshooting faults, as well as keeping the landowner happy and the station compliant. Often on their own time and at their own expense.
It’s no mean feat and well worth our time chipping in physically or financially when we can. We’d miss them if they were to disappear.
In this audio George MM0JNL talks about the range of the repeater, particularly north into Scotland, the phenomenon of coastal ducting, clarification of Berwick-Upon-Tweed’s current relationship with Russia and the Scottish Borders Repeater Group.
If you would like to support the repeaters you can do so here.
GEAR
Last week I sold some professional 32bit float audio recording gear I wasn’t using and with the money burning a hole in my pocket, I succumb to purchasing the latest shack-in-a-box the Yaesu FTX-1 Optima.
I picked it up from Davey and Amanda, owners of Canny Components in Gateshead, the friendliest radio shop I’ve had the pleasure of dealing with.
Of course this will come as no surprise to all the radio operators in the North East of England.
Their shop is about an hour and a half from my QTH but a pleasant sunny drive. Once there, I got a cup of tea, the radio and after a little browse some wall bolts, connectors and a cover for the hole in a wall my coax is using. But I could have left with a lot more. The shop is an Aladdin’s cave of radio gear and I’m looking forward to heading back.
The FTX-1 Optima has only recently come out in the UK and most of the video’s out there are from the US where it’s had mixed reviews since an earlier release. On the one hand people love the receive quality and the fact the QRP base can pair with the 100W tuner/amp (Optima) to make a base station. But on the other, early adopters suffered some pre firmware update issues and do not like the price point. Though the more that update their firmware to the latest version, the more the reviews turn positive.
Personally, having only opened the box, my only gripes are lack of wireless connectivity and internal GPS. Although the Icom IC705 was crap at locking on to GPS indoors and really needed an external unit. So I’m willing to take a chance. There is also an add-on BT module should you not feel you have shovelled enough cash towards Yaesu.
The recent firmware seems to have fixed most issues and this radio not only has two receivers, you can now listen to 5 frequencies simultaneously using the PMG feature, operate on 4M and plug 3 antennas into the back of the Optima unit.
It’s not cheap but I’m keen to get years of use out of it and really hoping they’ll not bring out the FTX-1 Optima Pro in a few months. Like it feels like they did with the FTM510 after the FTM500.
I’ll need some time at the weekend to get it programmed but all going to plan as soon as I post this I can get a plug on some coax and at least put it through its paces on HF.
Although the internet is already packed with opinion on this radio… I’ll no doubt let you know how my continued experiments go.
‘Eliminate the hassle of multiple separate cables for programming, audio, and PTT functions. Simplify your communications and stay connected with ease. This small, powerful USB-C adapter enables programming and digital modes for many handheld radios.’ Link via M7UQT as is the video below.
ONAIR
As this newsletter covers many things radio, I thought i’d share a clip of one of my favourite podcasts that is sadly no more. Shortcuts by Josie Long has entertained educated and inspired me for a long while with their found sound and short audio documentaries. If you enjoy the weird, wonderful and esoteric you might like this clip I took from their final episode called midnight featuring the amazing Shortwave Collective. Here is the clip…
And did you know that if you are in the UK you can hear a live feed from Radio Caroline on 648 kHz AM (Medium Wave). Of course you can also listen through their website here. Thanks to Tilly Up North for the heads up.
It was transmitting from around 400miles from me.
ELSEWHERE
There appears to be an ex-policeman taking down cellphone towers.
His statement “..any level of electromagnetic radiation is harmful to biological material” means he might be going after ‘light’ next.
The title should read ‘Man with grinder causes cellular damage’. My understanding is that it’s only ionising radiation that has enough energy to remove the tightly bound electrons from atoms, potentially causing cellular damage. While these levels of non-ionising radiation lack the energy to do so and typically only make you warm.
Touching the feed point on a mismatched antenna running QRO is another matter :-)
Are you worried about AST SpaceMobile’s satellite plans?
The Forgotten Factor. A news piece about ham radio.
September 13th is Churches and Chapels on the Air in the UK
Have you had a QSO with Satan?
Looking for a ham radio related film to watch with the kids/grandkids?
This is my other more regular, slightly more eclectic newsletter.
FINALS
Thanks for reading and I hope subscribing.
I’m also on Bluesky.
Please share this wherever you think it might resonate, especially Facebook, Discord or Twitter. Places I tend not to hang out much.
At time of writing there are 995 subscribers to this email. Exciting. You are some of the more curious people in radio ;-) And I thank you.
Over
73 de Christian G5DOC
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