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Practical Wireless - August 2021

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www.radioenthusiast.co.

AUGUST 2021 THE UK’S NUMBER ONE AMATEUR RADIO MAGAZINE SINCE 1932

DEMO Hilberling -coming

TIME! to the UK this year

High Frequency
Where to find current info
about DX activity on HF

SWITCH OVER Buying Boutique

The growth of the smaller
manufacturers now online
An easy-to-build dual antenna unit

HISTORY Exploring REVIEW Editor Tests

This Wartime Classic New Handy Multimeter
The R1155 receiver and why it GQ EMF-390 EMF Multi-Field/Multi-
is regarded as an iconic model Function Meter gets a once-over

Hamfest off! Top Contest Tips

Covid hits event for second year Using statistics to improve your chances Display until 12th August 2021
Contents

August 2021 Vol.97 No 8

On sale: 8th July 2021
Next issue on sale: 12th August 2021

ISSN 0141-0857

Practical Wireless
Warners Group Publications plc
The Maltings, West Street
Bourne, Lincs PE10 9PH
www.warnersgroup.co.uk
Tel 01778 391000

Editor
Don Field G3XTT
[email protected]
Designer
Mike Edwards
[email protected]
Advertisement Manager
Kristina Green
01778 392096
[email protected]
12
Production Manager
Nicola Glossop
[email protected] 3 Keylines
Production Assistant
Charlotte Bamford
Don has personal memories of the R1155 receiver and
[email protected] relates some EMC tales.
Marketing Manager
Katherine Brown
[email protected] 4 Subscriptions
Marketing Executive Your guide to taking out a regular subscription to PW
Luke Hider
[email protected] and/or RadioUser.
Publisher
Rob McDonnell
[email protected]
5 News
PW’s monthly roundup of news from the UK and
Photocopies & Back Issues
internationally, including new products, club news and
8
We can supply back issues, but we only keep
them for one year. If you are looking for an article recent events.
or review that you missed first time around, we
can still help. If we don’t have the actual issue 26 HF Highlights
we can always supply a photocopy or PDF file of
the article.
7 Radio Bookstore Steve Telenius-Lowe PJ4DX explains where to find
Your one-stop shop for hobby-related titles, biogra- current information about DX activity on HF.
Technical Help
We regret that due to Editorial timescales, replies phies, reference titles, historical accounts, technical
to technical queries cannot be given over the
telephone. Any technical queries are unlikely to
advice and successful building projects. 32 What Next
receive immediate attention so, if you require Colin Redwood G6MXL looks at some EMC issues he
help with problems relating to topics covered in
PW, please either contact the author of the article
8 Review: the GQ EMF-390 EMF has encountered over the years.
directly or write or send an email to the Editor and Multi-Field/Multi-Function Meter
we’ll do our best to reply as soon as we can. Don G3XTT takes a look at this handy meter but uses 38 Notes from a Small Station
This publication is
the opportunity for a wider discussion about the new Joe Chester M1MWD tries to draw some conclusions
printed by Warners
01778 395111
EMF regulations. about activity from contest statistics.

SUBSCRIBE TO PRACTICAL WIRELESS 12 Boutique Radios 42 The World of VHF

Steve Ireland VK6VZ/G3ZZD investigates the rise of With the Sporadic E season in full swing, Tim Kirby
www.radioenthusiast.co.uk

For the latest offer call

AUGUST 2021

DEMO Hilberling -coming

TIME! to the UK this year
THE UK’S NUMBER ONE AMATEUR RADIO MAGAZINE SINCE 1932

01778 395161 ‘boutique’ radio manufacturers selling online. GW4VXE has another packed column, starting with a
High Frequency
Where to find current info
about DX activity on HF

Pay just £3.92 an issue. mention of WFVIEW.

SWITCH OVER
An easy-to-build dual antenna unit

HISTORY Exploring
This Wartime Classic
The R1155 receiver and why it
is regarded as an iconic model
Buying Boutique
The growth of the smaller
manufacturers now online

REVIEW Editor Tests

New Handy Multimeter
GQ EMF-390 EMF Multi-Field/Multi-
Function Meter gets a once-over
See page four for details. 18 Valve & Vintage
46 From the Ground Up
Hamfest off! Top Contest Tips
Covid hits event for second year Using statistics to improve your chances Display until 12th August 2021

Buy a digital edition at Philip Moss M0PBM describes the classic R1155
www.pktmags.com/pw_magazine wartime receiver. Eric Edwards GW8LJJ completes his overview of
inductors.
Keep up to date on Facebook
www.facebook.com/radioenthusiasts
22 Carrying on the Practical Way
David McAlpin GM8UPI describes an easy-to-build 50 On a Budget
Follow us on Twitter Dual Antenna Switching Unit & has a ‘how to’ on Panel Daimon Tilley G4USI takes a canter around the various
@REnthusiasts Marking. HF transceivers available at budget prices.

Sign up to our FREE email newsletter at www.radioenthusiast.co.uk

2 PRACTICAL WIRELESS August 2021
Keylines
couple of this month’s arti-

A
R1155
cles brought back memories
for me, which I thought
I would share.

First, Philip Moss’s V&V article about the

R115, the receiver, as he says, that was
used on all the UK’s four-engined bomb-
ers during WW2. After the war many were
sold off. I have two memories of those
42 receivers. One is that we had one in my
school Combined Cadet Force (CCF) unit,
54 Rallies along with a matching R1154 transmitter.
Locate a rally or event near you; once again we have My other memory is, again with the
our comprehensive list. CCF, of going on an ‘air experience flight’ signal with us) because Sutton Coldfield
from RAF Gaydon on a Varsity aircraft was playing Coronation Street at a more
55 The Morse Mode that was being used for training RAF convenient time! Needless to say, I was
Roger Cooke G3LDI brings another miscellany of navigators (we just went along for the given the all clear!
Morse-related topics. ride, which was four and a half hours fly- In my 34 years living in South
ing a triangular course around the UK). Oxfordshire I had to deal with sever-
56 Data Modes Although this would have been in the al EMC problems, most of which came
Mike Richards G4WNC reminds us that the hobby pro- mid-60s, this aircraft was equipped with down to unsuitable domestic applianc-
vides opportunities for us to self-train, make friends, an R1155 and matching direction finding es, ranging from an Amstrad PC, through
share knowledge, help in disasters and more. (DF) gear for training purposes. a couple of ancient distribution amplifi-
ers (which were ‘wide open’ and seemed
59 An Arduino CR Meter EMC Problems to be amplifying everything from DC to
Tony Jones G7ETW offers a design for an Arduino- The other memories were brought back light), to an antiquated video recorder.
based CR meter that brings together hardware and by Colin Redwood’s What Next feature In all cases direct TV reception was fine
software in a useful piece of test equipment. where he talks about EMC cases he has but the complainants still held me re-
had to deal with. Over the years most ra- sponsible on the basis that when I wasn’t
62 My ATUBox dio amateurs have accumulated tales transmitting, their problems went away.
Martin Waller G0PJO returns, experimenting with of EMC problems they have had to face It’s hard to argue with that one, unfortu-
something new. although, sadly, nowadays the problems nately!
are often in reverse with the radio ama- The only complaint that led to a visit
66 AllStar teur suffering noise of various sorts from from the RA (nowadays Ofcom) inspector
Tom Morgan ZS1AFS describes a Mode with Nodes, the proliferation of household devices was one of those distribution amplifier
but is it Internet or Radio? that emit unfiltered RF. cases, where the complainant, instead of
Actually, my earliest EMC complaint following recommended procedure, com-
70 Readers’ Letters was not an EMC problem at all. A neigh- plained direct to our local MP and refused
More on 5G and thoughts about PW reviews. bour complained to my mother that I had to let the inspector into his house to try to
been interfering with her TV. My mother resolve the problem. It led to the only time
took great delight in telling her that I was I have legally run excess power. I had an
actually away at college so it couldn’t amplifier capable of about 1kW (always
have been me (it actually turned out to be a good idea, to avoid putting too much
a dodgy connector on her TV downlead). strain on the PA devices when, for exam-
But that case highlights one of the prob- ple, running a high duty cycle mode such
lems we have as radio amateurs – our as RTTY). The inspector insisted I run
presence is advertised by our antennas as much power as I was able, checked
and we then get targeted when any EMC the output with a spectrum analyser, de-
problems arise! clared my signals clean, and put a note
After a house move, I had a complaint through the complainant’s door to that ef-
about TV interference, only for the inspec- fect. That was last I heard of that particu-
tor to find that the family concerned were lar incident.
insisting on watching Sutton Coldfield (a
vast distance away) rather than the lo- Don Field
59 cal, Sandy Heath, TV transmitter (a huge Editor, Practical Wireless Magazine

sizes, depending on their capacity, working

voltage, type of insulation, temperature coef-
ficient and other factors and their capaci-
metal plates separated by a dielectric mate-
rial (such as paper (waxed), mica, ceramic,
air, gas and other insulating materials). These
comes equal to the voltage of the source (ap-
plied voltage). The two capacitor plates are
separated by a dielectric material, which is
Qualify for exclusive
an insulator, so no current can pass through
tance values can be fixed or variable. The

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separate the plates and allow them to hold
bookshop discounts
New Products at ML&
opposite electrical charges maintaining an it. The dielectric is also used to increase the
photo, Fig. 2, shows a selection of capacitors,
electrical field. Capacitors can be useful for capacitance of the capacitor. The thickness
while the symbols for capacitors are shown plays an important
storing charge and quickly discharging into a or amount of the dielectric
in Fig. 3. ting 5 year warran ty on the IC-705 espe- with the size of
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IRwww.radioenthusiast.co.uk/store
mRadi
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the voltages equalise. Thus, voltage across a

or go
Fto to view all subscription offers
a and prac tic

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Review Review

Did you know? I

Richard Constantine G3UGF

[email protected]

com Incorporated, Japan has come a

long way since Tokuzo Inoue founded
his small radio company in 1954.
With a thousand plus employees and
a worldwide presence in most sectors of mo-
bile communications, Icom’s global footprint
is massive. It’s always had a reputation for
innovation and in the Amateur Radio market,
for being just a little different.
Priding itself on attention to detail rather
than marketing hype, Covid 19, component
and shipping delays, have contributed to ex-
tra excitement for the long-awaited release
of the IC-705. Indeed, it’s now more than a
year since I first discussed reviewing this ra-
dio with PW’s Editor.
Chinese offerings aside, Yaesu and
Icom IC-705
next generation IC-705 portable transceiver.

sampling for 25MHz and above.

RF signals pass through dedicated
filters, to the Analogue-to-Digital Converter
(ADC) and are processed in the low-noise,
Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) −
excellent for weak signal recovery. While
there are some technical differences to big
brother IC-7300, the end result to the naked
ear is the same, as side by side comparisons
proved. It incorporates passband tuning
Practical Wireless Rating

Features and benefits wise, ease of use and

for its future potential, it’s got to be, 4.9.

We bring readers the first review of the exciting new

radio really is ‘next generation’.

The micro-SD slot accepts a 2GB card or
a 32GB SDHC card activating 13 additional
features. They include receive logging, voice
recording, RTTY decode log, screen captures,
picture sharing, GPS memory and more.

First Impressions and

Comparisons
Opening the package, Icom’s attention to
2

Fig. 1: The IC-705 Fig. 2: Some of the external

connections. Fig. 3: An IC-705 is one third the
size of an IC-7300. Fig. 4: In the car. Fig. 5: An
internal view. Fig. 6: The menu system will be
familiar to users of the IC-7300 or IC-9700.

weigh less than a Yaesu FT-817 at 1.280kg.

Incidentally, the IC-705 fits snugly into the
same padded KX3 bag by Windcamp, for
easy carrying and protection.

Power Consumption
Unlike the competition, its BP-272, 7.4V
1880mAh Li-ion battery is external to the ra-
dio. It simply clicks on the back and is easily
changed. RF output auto-limits to 5W, unless
external power is connected. Charging takes
around 2.5 hours, a little longer when 12V is
connected and the radio in use.
Excellent for QRPP or FT8 data, trans-
mit power is adjustable from 0.5-10W. An
external 5A DC supply is recommended.
Switching on, the radio displays battery volt-
age and has a permanent three block icon,
on-screen. The A grade battery cells are ex-
cellent operating down to around 6V, before
falling off a cliff and shutting down.
With everything on, receiver consumption
measured 288mA. Switching off the GPS,
wireless Lan and Bluetooth reduced it to
177mA. There’s an adjustable screen saver
but surprisingly the screen only consumes
around 40mA. When portable you can freeze
the GPS co-ordinates on the memory card
grammable buttons.
3

ry channel change, plus two additional pro-

All external connections are located on

either side of the unit and protected by rub-
ber covers. Having no front or rear connec-
tions creates space for the large colour dis-
play and the excellent sounding speaker. The
quality of received audio came as a pleasant
surprise, for such a small transducer.
FM reports indicated microphone qual-
ity to be acceptable but understandably
somewhat ‘toppy’ compared to a Bluetooth
headset, but likely to be an advantage on
SSB. Bluetooth works with a wide range of
devices. I was easily able to connect a Yaesu
SM-10 and use its PTT. Icom have their own
version.
A small quirky microphone hanger and
strain relief plate is provided. It attaches to
the earth screw point. There’s a DC cable and
spare 4A fuses, plus four adhesive rubber
pads (feet) that you fit yourself.

Handbooks
The manual labelled Transceptor de Modo
brought back happy memories of the iconic
Fast Show, until I realised it comes in five lan-
guages and I found the English version.
As a reviewer I’m a great believer in the
maxim, ‘if all else fails, read the handbook’.
However, I do want to experience how intui-
tive a piece of equipment is with no precon-
ceptions or knowledge.
I have to say the IC-705 scores very well in
that the IC-705 is not quite the same thing.
With several controls fewer, some options
and functions are accessed only by the dis-
play. Pressing either the menu or the func-
tion buttons reveals that each has two pages
to choose from. The buttons that remain are
all appropriate but some are double-purpose
according to the mode in use.
I particularly like the XFC button that al-
lows checking of your transmit frequency
when using a repeater or when working split
frequency, in a pile-up.
The short handbook is more user friendly
than most and has clearly labelled sections. I
couldn’t find clear information about setting
up for repeater use. Eventually I discovered
by trial and error that CTCSS tone and shift
settings were on separate pages of the func-
tion display, but it took some time to figure
it out.
The basic handbook devotes some 18
pages to set mode along with infrequently
changed functions that customise the radio,
for personal convenience.
I strongly recommend owners or potential
owners, to download the 212-page full man-
ual from the Icom website. It not only fills in
holes from the basic manual but provides
much more information and some surprises.
Detailed sections, with easy to follow screen-
shots, cover scanning, voice memories, au-
dio recording, advanced GPS use linking
with digital positioning data, Wireless Lan,
DV gateway function, basic and advanced
www.radioenthusiast.co.uk

DECEMBER 2020 THE UK’S NUMBER ONE AMATEUR RADIO MAGAZINE SINCE 1932

CONTEST The winners of our 2020

RESULTS 144MHz QRP competition

Practical Wireless is also available as a digital

Elecraft already have feature-rich QRP radios and there are no extra filters to buy. Indeed, detail raised a smile. Inside, a small slip of and switch off GPS to conserve energy. this area. It’s quite easy to navigate and most D--STAR operation − much needed by this re-
with excellent pedigrees so, what’s different the radio auto-selects the appropriate filter paper detailed exactly how to, and how not Owners of ID51 and ID52 portables will importantly for a complex device, remem- viewer. There’s a section on interfacing the
about the IC-705? bandwidth when switching modes. to, remove the radio from the box! welcome the 705’s battery compatibility. ber how to use. Icom has successfully mi- radio to a computer for RTTY and data trans-
Pack in GPS, digital voice gateway (DV), Though I suspect many 705s will happily There’s also a 3150mAh, BP307 battery avail- nimised the number of sub-menus, with fre- mission. I suspect that interface modules/
Multimode and More D-STAR, FM Radio, Wireless LAN, Bluetooth, spend much time at home, weight is able, but it’s not cheap. quent user choices spread across top levels cables will be available very shortly from
Firstly, it’s a full featured, multimode trans- Airband Rx, RTTY Tx/Rx, colour touchscreen, important for serious portable operations. of the on-screen display. third party providers, if not already.
portable radio, covering all bands, 1.8MHz to 500 memories, 2,500 repeater memories It weighs 1.185kg, with standard battery Microphone Choice Sub-menus are mostly limited to options
440MHz, including 5MHz and in the UK, re- and, of course, the real-time, point and jump attached. That’s 185g more than the steel- A compact speaker/microphone is provid- that, once set, need little or no further atten- Practicalities
ceive-only 70MHz. It’s a direct RF sampling, frequency waterfall/spectrum scope display cased, fully-loaded Elecraft KX3, of the same ed. While not a full keyboard it does have tion. Yes, it most certainly helps if you’ve Ergonomically the IC-705 is a bit of an odd-
SDR transceiver utilising down-conversion IF and you begin to get a sense of why this but shallower footprint. Surprisingly, both up/down controls for frequency or memo- experienced the IC-7300 but, you soon learn ity. It sits flat on a desk and you can’t see the

Sign up to our FREE email newsletter at www.radioenthusiast.co.uk Read more radio news and reviews at www.radioenthusiast.co.uk/news
www.radioenthusiast.co.uk/news
10 PRACTICAL WIRELESS December 2020 December 2020 PRACTICAL WIRELESS 11

edition! Download issues directly to your Going incognito www.radioenthusiast.co.uk

The Editor tests the new

Bantenna sleeve antenna

DECEMBER 2020 THE UK’S NUMBER ONE AMATEUR RADIO MAGAZINE SINCE 1932

CONTEST The winners of our 2020

RESULTS 144MHz QRP competition

ICOM-705
digital devices and read wherever you are. FIRST UK TEST
Read why we gave this long awaited
portable transceiver top marks

All about capacitors HOW-TO Building your

Cheap handheld
Playing with a good value,
and practical dual band
ICOM-705
FIRST UK TEST
Read why we gave this long awaited
Going incognito
The Editor tests the new
Bantenna sleeve antenna

Cheap handheld
Playing with a good value,

and capacitance 2m all mode transceiver portable transceiver top marks

and practical dual band

Getting to grips with the basics Why is there no replacement for the All about capacitors HOW-TO Building your
and capacitance 2m all mode transceiver
of this essential electrical device single-band VHF multimodes of old Getting to grips with the basics Why is there no replacement for the

Visit pktmags.com/pw-subscription21 to find out more!

of this essential electrical device single-band VHF multimodes of old

Get Started! Readers’ letters

Get Started! Readers’ letters Display until 10th December 2020
2020
Part five of our ‘how-to’ series You tell us what matters in your world
Display until 10th December 2020

Part five of our ‘how-to’ series You tell us what matters in your world

4 PRACTICAL WIRELESS August 2021

News

Newsdesk
Have you got something to tell our readers about? If so, then email [email protected]

Hilberling appoints ML&S as their

only Factory Appointed Dealer
During a visit to the Friedrichshafen Radio Show through the Hilberling stand I witnessed the the world directly appointed by Herr Hilberling
in Germany back in 2006 Martin Lynch came newly introduced Hilberling PT-8000A HF-6-4m for the sale of the PT-8000A transceiver and HPA-
across a new manufacturer that he’d never heard transceiver and was literally taken aback. The 8000B 1kW HF-70MHz linear amplifier”.
of. The company designs and manufactures big three, Yaesu, Icom & Kenwood, produce some Martin will have a demonstrator set up in the
products at the extreme end of the spectrum, magnificent base stations but in my opinion, store that was due to be available towards the
not just for amateur radio but commercial Hilberling is in a one-horse race all by itself. end of June.
applications too. After almost 16 years of talking and negotiating For more information on these two remarkable
By extreme, Martin is referring to build quality with the factory in Germany I am very proud to top-end pieces of equipment see:
and performance. He says, “Wandering announce my company is the very first dealer in www.HamRadio.co.uk/Hilberling

RSGB NATIONAL RADIO CENTRE REOPENS: EMF UPDATE: The RSGB’s specialist EMF group tive playing field between the Big Guns and the
The NRC was due to reopen on 28 May and be has helped Ofcom customise its guidance for radio Little Pistols who operate a portable station.
open each day, other than Wednesdays, until amateurs. This updated guide is much simplified Unlike many contests,the POC has a formal
further notice. The RSGB is delighted to support from the earlier version and now comprises just theory guiding the way competition is scored.
Bletchley Park as it welcomes visitors again. four steps: Bill Lippert AC0W, who revised this year’s Rules
Visitor and volunteer safety is the priority. While Step 1: Do I need to comply? document added: “We are using kilometres-
the radio room will be open for the demonstra- Step 2: Carrying out a compliance check per-watt as the basic score for a contact. But to
tion of amateur radio, visitors won’t be allowed Step 3: Managing compliance additionally level things, we based multipliers
inside the radio room and only NRC volunteers Step 4: Keeping an appropriate compliance record on the difficulty of transmission mode such as
will be permitted to operate the GB3RS station. The revised guidance document What you need to phone get a higher weight than those using the
The RSGB also reserves the right to close the know as an Amateur Radio user has been released less difficult modes of CW and digital. Being
NRC at short notice should the Covid situation and the Ofcom EMF calculator updated. Links to all a portable station will receive an additional
change so do check its website before travelling. of the documents and calculators can be found on: multiplier, especially when contacting another
Visitors to Bletchley Park need to pre-book and www.rsgb.org/emf portable station.” The scoring system is based
pay via their website so the Society is unable to upon the golf metaphor of the handicap index
offer its free entry voucher to RSGB members PORTABLE OPERATORS CHALLENGE: The used to equalise the opportunity for all players
while that system is in place. The RSGB looks second year of the Fox Mike Hotel Portable to win when they have unequal ability and play on
forward to welcoming visitors to the National Operations Challenge, which pits Fixed stations courses with varying levels of difficulty.
Radio Centre again. against Portable ones, will be 4/5 September. The rules etc are located at:
https://tinyurl.com/thr6u77y The Portable Ops Challenge levels the competi- foxmikehotel.com/challenge

WSJT-X VERSION 2.4.0 NOW AVAILABLE:

WSJT-X version 2.4.0 is now available in general
release. According to co-developer Joe Taylor
K1JT, WSJT-X version 2.4.0 includes the new
digital mode Q65. This protocol is designed
for two-way contacts over especially difficult
propagation paths, including ionospheric scat-
ter, troposcatter, rain scatter, TEP, EME and other
types of fast-fading signals.
WSJT-X version 2.5.0-rc1 (beta) has also been
released. According to the Release Notes, in ver-
sion 2.5.0, “the Q65 decoder has been enhanced
to measure and compensate for linear frequency
drift in Q65 signals”. National Hamfest Cancelled
Q65 uses 65-tone frequency-shift keying This announcement appeared in June: “It is successfully and safely holding an event which
and builds on the demonstrated weak-signal with much regret that the organisers of the takes upwards of three months continuous
strengths of QRA64, a mode introduced to National Hamfest have decided to postpone the effort to organise. The organisers not only wish
WSJT-X in 2016. Q65 offers user message and event planned for 24/25 September 2021 until to act in a responsible way towards our large
sequencing identical to that in FST4, FT4, FT8 September 2022. team of volunteers who staff the event and make
and MSK144. It includes a unique tone for time “A number of factors have made the organisation it possible every year, but also the visitors and
and frequency synchronisation. As with JT65, of the event impossible to predict in 2021. At our partner organisations, all of whom make the
this ‘sync tone’ is readily visible on the waterfall this point we cannot therefore reliably commit to event such a success each year.
spectral display. In addition, Q65 provides a
sensitive ‘sync curve’ near the bottom of the
waterfall window. hosting a small gathering for those who would With this grant, DARC becomes the first non-US
Testing showed that Q65 will enable stations like to meet up but decided to leave it until 2022. organisation to be given an ARDC grant.
with a modest Yagi and 100W or more to work So, the G-QRP Club Convention 2021 will be a vir- ARDC president Phil Karn KA9Q issued a state-
one another on 6m at distances up to around tual event over the weekend of 5/6 September. ment saying that ARDC’s goal has long been
2,000km on most days of the year, in dead band The Committee are now working on matching up to give grants like this to qualifying non-profit
conditions. the wish lists of topics and suggested speak- organisations outside the US. DARC president
For the complete announcement, see the WSJT-X ers to bring you another great QRP (remote) Christian Entsfellner DL3MBG issued a state-
website: gathering. ment adding: “We are highly excited that with this
https://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt The plan is to join up with the Telford Hamfest grant we can give the European HAMNET project
once again next year and have a physical Con- a huge boost.”
NEW ON 60M: Kyrgyzstan is the latest DXCC vention that can be enjoyed remotely by those
entity to arrive on 60m. The Union of Radio Ama- unable to attend in person. WN1M SK: ARRL Volunteer Curator of ARRL’s
teurs of Kyrgyz Republic (ARUKR) announced historical collection, Michael Marinaro WN1M,
that the Kyrgyzstan Telecommunications Regu- FOUNDATION GRANT FOR EUROPEAN of South Glastonbury, Connecticut, died on 17
lator made a new amateur secondary allocation HAMNET: Amateur Radio Digital Communica- May. An ARRL member, he was 84. “Michael
of 5351.5 to 5366.5kHz available to Kyrgyz hams tions, a private foundation based in California, loved the history of radio and had volunteered at
at a maximum power of 100W. has provided its first international grant to ARRL for the past 15 years”, said recently retired
assist in expansion of the European HAMNET, a ARRL Product Review Engineer Bob Allison WB-
G-QRP CONVENTION 2021: In April the G-QRP high-speed amateur radio multimedia network. 1GCM. He authored historical articles for QST,
Club ran a survey to gauge support for a physical The funding, which will go through the Deutscher RadCom, and The AWA Journal, where he was a
Convention this year. The results showed that the Amateur Radio Club in Germany, will provide contributing editor. And, of course, contributed
vast majority are not yet willing to meet in person sponsored hardware for radio links to make use a number of times to the Valve & Vintage column
and would prefer another virtual Convention. of the Amateur Packet Radio Network IP space here in PW. Licensed since 1951, Michael was
The Committee thought long and hard about in Europe. active on HF.

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6 PRACTICAL WIRELESS August 2021
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August 2021 PRACTICAL WIRELESS 7
Review

Don Field G3XTT

[email protected]

A
lot of attention has been focused
recently on matters EMF, with the
changes to the licence result-
ing from Ofcom’s desire to apply
ICNIRP guidelines to all radio transmitters
in the UK. While the RSGB/Ofcom spread-
sheet is based on simple calculations using
transmit power, antenna type and distance
from people, it is understandable that some
radio amateurs would want to know more
about the levels of radiation not only from
their amateur radio equipment, but from
other local sources. This is where the GQ
EMF-390 comes in. Indeed, this semi-pro-
fessional meter has already been selling
well since Moonraker included it in their
product portfolio. Practical Wireless Rating

Overview
So, what is an EMF-390 and what does it do?
Here is the explanation from the download- A Useful Tool to have in the Shack
able manual (which, incidentally, is a ‘must’ 1
– the leaflet that comes packaged with the
device does no more than give an overview):
The GQ EMF-360V2/EMF-360+V2/EMF-
380V2/EMF-390 advanced multi-function
The GQ EMF-390
EMF Multi-Field/
digital EMF meter is designed and devel-
oped by GQ Electronics, Seattle, USA. It is
designed to be a portable and convenient
device. It can be used as regular EMF, EF and
RF radiation detection. This high sensitivity
meter lets you check EMF/RF radiation eas-
ily. Examples: computer mouse, car remote
Multi-Function
key, cell phone, cell tower, cordless phone,
static, electric field, WiFi, computer laptop,
microwave, electric heater, hair dryer, vehicle
Meter
engine, light, outdoor power line, monitor the
WiFi signal, smart meter signal, spy wireless Don G3XTT takes a look at this handy meter but
video camera signal, even track radio signal
in air.
uses the opportunity for a wider discussion about
The meter features multiple sensors to en- the new EMF regulations.
sure maximum scale/range measurement
and highest accuracy:
• Three axis Electromagnetic Fields other similar environments. The device also and convert it into a standard .csv file for
• Electric Field features a high contrast black/white LCD further analysis.
• Radio Frequency module and one front LED indicator. The Specifications
Additionally, the testing features include: unique GQ RF Browser feature allows to vi- • EMF (Electromagnetic Field)
• Radio Spectrum Power Analyzer (EMF- sualize the RF radiation precisely with an Triple axis (X, Y, Z)
360+V2/380/390 only) on-screen graph. With the RF Browser, the Range: 0.00~500mG, 0.00 to 50µT
• Real-time (every second) data logging user is able to see the Digital RF equivalent Resolution: 0.1/1 mG or 0.01/0.1µT
(EMF-390 only). in bytes as well as an RF power spectral his- • EF (Electric Field)
The meter is able to identify the com- togram. Range: 0V/m to 1000V/m
mon source from EMF/RF measured, such When the device is connected to a PC, in Resolution: 1V/m
as Power Line, WiFi/Cellphone, Cell Tower, addition to charging, the free companion PC Frequency independent
Microwave etc. It also comes with built-in software can be used to: • RF Field (Radio Frequency Field)
audible and visual alarm. The device can be • Monitor the measurements on the com- Range: 0.02µW/m² ~ 9999mW/m²
used for EMF, EF and RF detection and moni- puter screen Resolution: 0.01μW/m², 0.1μA/m, 0.1mV/m,
toring, both indoors and outdoors (the unit • Download the history data recorded 0.001μW/cm², 1dB
must be protected from rain), as well as in through the EMF-390’s data logging feature up to 10 GHz

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8 PRACTICAL WIRELESS August 2021
Review

The RF field can be measured up to

10GHz although as a spectrum analyser,
measuring power, its use is limited to five
bands as below. It is clear that these are by
no means focused on the amateur radio
bands but intended to cover the main VHF
broadcast bands along with cellphones,
WiFi, Bluetooth and other devices likely
to be encountered in the home and else-
where.
• Frequency band 1: 50 MHz -65MHz (FM
Radio)
• Frequency band 2: 65 MHz -76MHz (FM
Radio)
• Frequency band 3: 76MHz – 108MHz (FM
Radio)
• Frequency band 4: 240MHz – 1040MHz
(Cell phone, Wireless phone Smart meter,
etc.)
• Frequency band 5: 2.4Ghz – 2.5GHz
(WIFI, Bluetooth, Microwave oven, Smart
meter, etc.)
Why not more? Well, the manual says
that the unit includes specific hardware
sensors for these bands, and by limiting 2
its use to these frequencies, it contains the
cost of the unit. to cellphones!). Next to my WiFi router the Fig. 1: Background EMF reading at the author’s
The unit also includes a real-time clock reading went to over 200 and the green QTH. Fig. 2: Some of the display options with the
for accurate data logging. warning light started flashing! EMF-390.
As for the microwave oven, the read-
In Use ing went to 500+ closed by and dropped to tenna shown in the RSGB diagram.
I started with the all-in-one display mode about 20 four or five feet away. I won’t go into all in the ins and outs of
to get an idea of what the device could tell I was actually quite surprised by the the EMF-390 here because it is a well-fea-
me. This shows electric field, RF field and power reading below my 6m Yagi. Draw a tured and versatile instrument. I show in
overall EMF, both average and peak. Any sphere round the antenna and at 9m away, Fig. 2, for example, just some of the display
one of these can be selected as the main the surface area of the sphere is about modes it supports. And, as I mention later,
(right-hand) measurement. The device 1000m2, so if the radiator was isotropic, I you can also download the data to a PC for
quickly showed the background level in would have expected, with, say 200W at later analysis.
my home and identified it as WiFi/Phone, the antenna (I have a run of about 70m of
Fig. 1. This certainly made sense and the coax!), anything up to 200mW/m2. But, of Ofcom EMF Regulations
reading increased substantially when I put course, we are talking here about a 6-ele- To put the discission of the GQ EMF-390
the unit next to my WiFi router. ment Yagi with the majority of the radiation into context, I need to say more about the
Some may be confused between the going off towards the horizon rather than new requirements from Ofcom as they ap-
function of RF Browser and RF Spectrum emanating from below the antenna. ply to radio amateurs.
Analyzer of GQ EMF-390. A quick answer Time to try it on my 80m dipole. Running Ofcom have published their final
would be the RF Browser is to detect the 400W at 50% duty cycle (i.e. sending a decision on changes to the Wireless
total amount of RF radiation, from all string of dots from my keyer), the reading Telegraphy Act licences requiring all
sources that have the frequency bands was around 30mW/m2 with the meter al- spectrum users (including all radio
between 0.01GHz to 10GHz. The Spectrum most touching the end of the antenna, but amateurs) to comply with the ICNIRP
Analyzer feature focuses on what the this fell to below 2 when less than 6ft away. general public limits on EMF exposure.
manufacturer considers to be the main Given that the ends of my antenna are Compliance is required after November
bands of interest. about 6ft above ground (albeit it in the mid- 18th 2021 for frequencies above 110MHz,
I took the meter outside and stood below dle of my garden), I guess I need to ensure after 18 May 2022 for frequencies above
my 6m Yagi (see also the discission later). no one is likely to be standing immediate- 10MHz but below 110MHz, after 18
I measured 0.2mW/m2 when transmitting, ly below them when I am transmitting (the November 2022 for frequencies below
though this was on FT8, so the duty cycle Ofcom rules accept that there is no case 10MHz. More information can be found on
across 6 minutes would be less than half to answer if no one is in the vicinity). Look their web page:
that. In contrast, close to my cellphone, on the RSGB website or at the article in the ofcom.org.uk/emf
the measurement was about 1.7mW/m2 May issue of RadCom (page 26) and you’ll But without going to the Ofcom pages,
– somewhat more concerning given that see a diagram that illustrates this nicely – the RSGB have collected together all the
we use these devices close to our heads the measurements I made support the ‘red’ relevant documentation on their web-
(but, naturally, Ofcom give a dispensation exclusion zone below either end of the an- site, accessible to all. Included is a down-

loadable calculator, based on the Ofcom

spreadsheet, but with a ‘front end’ specifi-
cally for amateur radio users. There is also
a video on how to use the calculator.
https://tinyurl.com/353e6948

Assessment Options
In May 21 RadCom, John Rogers M0JAV
and colleagues set out the assessment
options open to radio amateurs and that
are acceptable to Ofcom.
The first is to transmit at power levels
below 10W EIRP (effective isotropic
radiated power). Easy one but most 3
amateurs will want to run more power than
this. of ‘respondents’, I see a direct parallel with 1. That, in use, amateur radio transmissions
Second is manufacturer’s instructions. the required changes to meet the new do produce ‘EMF’ and it can be seen as a
This applies mostly to handheld radios Amateur Licence regulations from OFCOM. ‘real’ variable and quantifiable product of
where the manufacturer has provided My experience tells me that to help ensure our activity − not imagined from otherwise a
guidelines on how to meet ICNIRP criteria. adoption, it has to be simple, meaningful series of complex calculations
The third is to use the RSGB EMF and ideally, seen as a useful exercise − not 2. That it can be measured in real time, in
Calculator. There was some resistance to just box ticking or remote from reality. This situ and is very useful data for subsequent
this in the early days, probably because to my mind is the huge benefit of direct analysis
the RSGB spreadsheet was still under measurements with this meter. I purchased 3. The measurements may well enlighten
development. So, others came up with the above meter and cannot overstate its users to take precautionary measures or
solutions of their own. But, having used useful broad-based functionality not only conversely conviction that compliance is
the RSGB spreadsheet myself to assess to produce real/live assessments inside being achieved − some conviction that what
my own station (more below), I can say the ‘shack’ but of course in the vicinity of we are being asked to do is not just a paper
that it is very straightforward. What’s antennas. Together with the accompanying exercise
more, the front-end overlies Ofcom’s own PC/Windows software and facility to both 4. Almost like the Grid Dip meter of old
spreadsheet and, as a result, if you are read and log/download RF data and ‘see’ it (now replaced by the increasingly common
deemed by the RSGB spreadsheet to be graphically etc, the process of assessment VNA), it is a very useful addition to the test
compliant, then that will satisfy Ofcom. becomes both interesting and meaningful, equipment in the radio shack.
Fourth is to use other EMF calculations, especially to radio amateurs who have an Having now had the opportunity to use
for example by way of a recognised embedded interest in where the RF is going! the GQ EMF-390, I very much concur with
antenna modelling program. This, though, I have a fairly typical ‘shack’ and selection Roger’s view. Nowadays we are surrounded
is probably beyond the abilities of many of HF/VHF transceivers and a number of by RF but have no ‘feel’ for how much of
amateurs, at least in terms of doing the vertical and horizontal antennas. My live it there is around the place, which are the
calculations to a level at which Ofcom assessments using up to 200W maximum devices that are most culpable in creating
might be satisfied. output in the HF bands have revealed no RF fields around the house and garden,
Finally, the RSGB is developing a library adverse levels of RF radiation both in the and the extent to which our own amateur
of ‘pre-assessed station configurations. shack and at distances as small as 25cm radio equipment generates fields on
In other words, they effectively do the from the radiating elements of antennas different bands and in different locations
calculations for you if your station matches outside the shack. As a bonus to owning around the antenna. And in this respect,
(near enough) one of the configurations such a device it is possible to locate and it’s worth noting that there is a significant
they have modelled. measure the ‘noise’ being generated by a difference between ‘near field’ and ‘far field’
You will have noticed that nowhere host of devices in and around the home − effects. Most antenna modelling programs
is it satisfactory to make your a very useful detector for helping the fight are (for obvious reasons) designed to
own measurements of electric or against electrical QRM. My assessments model ‘far field’ – you want to know how
electromagnetic field. This is because to date confirm that I need not worry about effective the antenna is at communicating
doing so with anything other than any undue ‘warming effects’ to visitors as a with distant stations. But the ‘near field’
laboratory calibrated specialist equipment result of my transmissions, however I would (which actually extends only a very short
is considered not to be satisfactory. So, perhaps urge them to keep a respectful distance from your antenna) behaves very
where does that leave the GQ EMF-390? distance from the kitchen microwave if I am differently and this is where we need to turn
And at this point I can do no better than making them really welcome! to other sources to measure, model and
quote reader Roger Dixon G3SNT, who Assessments suitably annotated and understand.
writes: Delighted to see that you intend to available for scrutiny would not substitute
review the above instrument. Coming from for an RSGB/OFCOM calculator, or using ICNIRP
a background of Science Education (now ‘Pre-assessed station configurations’. One of the documents cited on the RSGB
retired) and overseeing the implementation However, I think you will find when you use, website is ICNIRP Guidelines for Limiting
of COSHH Assessments/regulations in the test and review this meter it undoubtedly Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields
90s to a less than enthusiastic large number reinforces: (100kHz to 300GHz). I don’t recommend

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10 PRACTICAL WIRELESS August 2021
Review

Fig. 3: Reference levels taken from ICNIRP.

Fig. 4: The display when using the GQ_EMF PRO
software.

it for bedtime reading but it’s worth taking

a look, if only to understand where Ofcom
are coming from with their latest regula-
tions. Ofcom are not, nowadays, a tech-
nical body, so they consult Public Health
England who, in turn, go to ICNIRP for the
necessary requirements.
I have, though, extracted Table 6 from
that document (Fig. 3 here), because it sets
out the reference levels for local exposure,
averaged over six minutes (which is the ba-
sis of the Ofcom regulations). These are
measurements that can be made with the
GQ EMF-390, if only to satisfy yourself that
that your station is ‘safe’ (and bear in mind
that ‘safe’ in this context means well within
any possible level at which dangerous ef-
fects might occur – the ICNIRP guidelines
are intended to be ultra-conservative).
The numbers will be too hard to read – I
recommend you look at the document it-
self if you want to follow up.

My Station
I thought, therefore, I would take a look at
my own station, at two very different fre-
quencies, to determine where I stand with
respect to the requirements. First, I took
the 6m (50MHz) band, 400W and FT8 (a
relatively high duty cycle mode) into my 4
6-element Yagi antenna. This, I thought,
might turn out to be a problem, but the PC Connection some time in the future), the ‘compliance
‘compliance distance’ turned out to be I downloaded the software and USB driver distances’ are far from onerous. For exam-
7.4m. In practice, this means that unless from the net to see what it could do. As can ple, for my elevated 20m quarter-wave an-
someone climbed part-way up my mast be seen from the screenshot, Fig. 4, this tenna that I sometimes put up, the compli-
(and stayed there for six minutes), I am displays what is on the EMF-390’s screen ance distance, even at 400W, is just 3.4m.
comfortably within the requirement. As at the time. But you can download the his- Given that the antenna is in the middle of
suggested, I saved the result as a PDF file, tory into a .CSV file for further analysis. The my garden, the only people likely to get
ready to show any Ofcom inspector who high reading in this case is because the within that distance are my family, and as
happens to come by! EMF-390 was close to the WiFi router on I can actually see the antenna from the
And as I said earlier, using the GQ EMF- my operating desk! shack, I would know immediately if any of
390, the fields I actually measured at them got too close.
ground level were very low indeed. Summary But where the EMF-390 helps is in giving
The only other antenna I have up at the There has been a lot of hot air generated as reassurance, both to you as the radio ama-
moment is an inverted-vee for 80m and we a result of Ofcom’s introduction of regula- teur, but perhaps also to friends and family,
have until November 2022 to deal with that tions related to ICNIRP. Some have felt that that the levels around your antenna(s) are
one. I did try the RSGB spreadsheet but it amateur radio is being unfairly targeted. well within what is deemed safe.
actually doesn’t work below 10MHz for the Some have felt that the RSGB should have The GQ EMF-390 retails for £115 and is
simple reason that the underlying Ofcom knocked this one on the head. In reality, available from Moonraker, to whom I am
spreadsheet doesn’t do so. But, again, I Ofcom have felt the need to apply the re- indebted for the loan of the unit for this re-
took the opportunity to measure around quirements to all radio users (something view. The manual, which is worth a read if
the antenna with the GQ EMF-390 and similar is happening in the USA) and, thank- you are contemplating a purchase, is at:
found, as I said, that I will need to be wary fully, have worked with the RSGB to facili- https://tinyurl.com/36ep4d4w
of anyone standing directly below the ends tate self-assessment by radio amateurs, And, of course, there are a number of
of the antenna for an extended period or, whether technically-minded or not. And YouTube videos to take you through the
perhaps, simply need to reengineer the di- having worked through the RSGB spread- setting up and use of the meter, albeit not
pole to be less of an inverted-vee, by raising sheet (I tried other bands in anticipation specifically targeted at amateur radio.
the ends to a ‘safe’ height. of putting up antennas for them again at https://moonrakeronline.com

Steve Ireland VK6VZ/G3ZZD

[email protected]

G
o back 25 years or so and
there were a handful of
manufacturers of ready-
made radios. We used to joke
about most of us having ones made by
‘YaeCOMWood’, better known as the big
three Japanese manufacturers Yaesu,
ICOM and Kenwood (originally Trio).
The former ‘big two’ USA manufacturers
of Collins Radio Company (Cedar Rapids,
IA) and RL Drake (Miamisburg OH) had
slipped away into history, along with their
brother Heath (Benton Harbour, MI) and UK
cousin, KW Electronics (Dartford, Kent).
But the USA was still represented by Ten- 1
Tec (Sevierville, TN), whose compact solid-

Buying a
state transceivers had a loyal following,
particularly in their home country.
These companies built transceivers

Boutique
in relatively high volumes in traditional
factories, usually which belonged to them.

The Arrival of Elecraft

In 1998, a new competitor came into the
market. Eric Swartz WA6HHQ and Wayne
Burdick N6KR formed Elecraft and marketed
Radio
the K2 HF transceiver, named after the
approaching ‘2K’ millennium. They created a Did you realise these days you can buy more
fresh amateur radio business model based
on (initially) producing low volumes of high- flavours of radio transceiver than ever before?
quality products in a similar manner to the Steve Ireland VK6VZ/G3ZZD investigates the
famous 1960s boutique clothing shops. This
business model has had a huge influence on
rise of ‘boutique’ radio manufacturers selling online.
today’s ‘boutique’ transceiver makers.
The boutique transceivers include on a K2 as soon as possible. Word spread the initial production run of the radio and
the mcHF (designed by Krassi ‘Chris’ quickly and US QRPers and kit-makers meant your place in the lengthy queue to
Atanassov M0NKA, Birmingham UK) to queued to be involved in the K2’s final buy the radio was assured.
Lab599’s Discovery-500 (out of Rubtsovsk, development and testing. This approach Now this approach only worked because
Altai Region of Russia) to XieGu Tech’s was something new and exciting and, the K2 was such a good performer, a
G90 (designed by BG8HT in Huan Province, as Wayne N6KR has written, “has paid great radio to build and (last but not least)
China) to Mission’s RGO One (Boris off time and again as we’ve released new Elecraft’s support and interaction with
Sapundzhiev LZ2JR, Gabrovo, Bulgaria). products”. builders and users was superb.
Let’s first look at how Elecraft developed The way it worked was if you were an Some radio amateurs were initially sur-
its business − please bear in mind this is Elecraft field tester, you got the thrill of prised about Elecraft’s decision to sell the
primarily my personal interpretation of the building and using the K2 and providing K3 as either a modular level kit (i.e. com-
company’s history. feedback to the manufacturer about its plete and tested boards) or ready-built − a
Rather than initially spending lots of performance, knowing this was shaping major move away from the K2, which was a
money on manufacturing facilities, the the radio’s production version. component level kit. But all of a sudden you
Elecraft founders opted to sell their K2 When Elecraft announced the K3 in could buy a cool Elecraft radio and have the
radio as a kit. Soon after launching the 2008, radio amateurs across the globe company do all the hard work for you!
company at the Pacificon Hamfest in (including me!) clamoured to be field This refinement of Elecraft’s original
October 1998 by showing a mock-up of testers, owing to the K2’s excellent approach certainly worked with me and a
a K2, Elecraft sold the first 100 K2 kits as performance and the superb specification lot of contesting and DXing acquaintances.
‘Field Test’ units [1]. announced for its successor. Right from the start K3 sales boomed
Having seen the mock-up, read the When the K3 was ready for production, and kept on booming, with over 10,000
excellent specifications and, with N6KR’s the way to make sure you got one as soon of the K3 and its K3S successor being
reputation as a designer of world-class as possible was to make a deposit on the sold. Like the K2 you were able to add
QRP radios (NorCal 40A, Sierra, etc), those radio. This helped Elecraft to buy in the new or upgraded modules to the K3,
who attended wanted to get their hands component inventory necessary to build as your ambitions and budget allowed.

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12 PRACTICAL WIRELESS August 2021
Feature

When the K3S was introduced in 2015

you could upgrade your original K3 to this
specification/function level by buying new
modules.
Fast forward to 2021 and Elecraft has
been considered a mainstream radio
manufacturer for at least a decade. These
days you could even say ‘YaeCOMwood’
has become ‘YaeCOMelewood’. What
has also changed is radio enthusiasts
the world over have studied how Elecraft
established itself as a major power and
set up companies to hopefully follow in its
footsteps.

The Successors
Let’s look at the radios some of these
companies are currently marketing. I’ll
make a general comparison of the radio’s
specifications without going into too much
detail − you can have fun doing that yourself 2
after reading this article!
to about 4W on 10m [4]. Power consump-
mcHF makes its Mark tion at 12V is 360mA on receive, rising to
One of the first of the new breed of bou- 3A on transmit. The mcHF has two VFOs,
tique radios was the mcHF [2] open-source enabling split operation, with DSP provid-
Software Designed Radio (SDR) transceiver, ing 300/500Hz CW and 1.8/2.3kHz SSB fil-
introduced by Chris M0NKA in 2013, Fig. 1. ters with adjustable passbands. Other nice
This uses classic direct conversion tech- features include a built-in spectrum scope
niques on both receive and transmit, with (with waterfall display), computer control,
Inphase/Quadrature signals (I/Q) being fed a CW keyer, voice-operated switching and
into a WM7381 audio codec followed by a audio peak/notch filtering. And Alexey
32-bit STM32F407 digital signal process- UT0UM is now offering a companion inter-
ing (DSP) unit, providing most of the radio’s nal ATU: 3
functionality. www.mchf.at
The mcHF has apparently had about Originally the mcHF was sold as a kit but Discovery TX-500 [5], Fig. 2, which shows the
eight software/firmware versions (current- in the last year or two, ready-built versions relative size and appearance the Discovery
ly Version 0.8) and is so well thought of it have been available in the USA. In October TX-500 and an ICOM IC-705.
has reportedly been cloned − and then the 2020, this service was reported as being Both radios − along with the mcHF and
clone has been cloned [3]! As Oscar Wilde expanded to include other countries, but the Xiegu G90 (to be discussed later) −
once said, “imitation is the sincerest form since the second wave of Covid-19 has share what I would call a ‘Swiss Army
of flattery that mediocrity can pay to great- been affected by delays in securing some Knife’ identity. They have a huge amount of
ness.” components and a backlog of orders. functionality in a very small package and
Having an SDR product that is ‘open Contact mcHF via its website for the latest are designed to be, if required, operated
source’ − where its design is publicly ac- ordering status/information. outdoors. That being said, to me all have
cessible − is a noble idea but does mean As of February 2021, an mcHF kit costs distinct identities to match the various
copying can occur. In a similar manner I between £297.30 and £314.30, including a modern breeds of radio amateur.
recall some female fashion college friends metal case. Alternatively, you can buy a kit The mcHF has a flat-on-its-back military-
being horrified after discovering their de- (partly assembled boards) without a case type utilitarian profile, which is shared by
signs illegally on sale at some London bou- for just over £244. If/when available, a fully- the Discovery TX-500. However, whereas
tiques and market stalls only days after built radio can be purchased in Europe for the very British mcHF softens this with its
they were shown at a college exhibition. around £390. There is an excellent mcHF@ cosy, colour LCD, the Discovery TX-500 is
The mcHF covers the 80 to 10m amateur groups.io builder/users support group with all ‘mil-spec’, sharp edges, splash-proof
bands, with general coverage receive from almost 800 members − a good place to and monochromatic display. I can see the
2 to 30MHz. Measuring 190 x 69 x 45mm, check out what its owners think about the mcHF finding a home in Tony Robinson’s
the compact radio provides SSB, CW, AM radio’s assembly and performance. backpack as he walks Offa’s Dike in a
and FM modes and is reportedly capable of gentle drizzle, whereas the Discovery TX-
decoding PSK, RTTY and PSK on its colour From Russia with Love: 599 would be buttoned down tightly inside
LCD display. Lab599’s Discovery TX-500 a camouflage trouser pocket while its
Its transmit RF power has been report- While I haven’t been fortunate enough to owner (Daniel Craig or Vlad Putin?) battles
ed to be adjustable up to 10+ watts on the get up close and personal with an mcHF, my their way to the top of Scafell Pike in a
lower HF amateur bands, but decreasing friend Lee VK6TY has purchased a Lab599 rainstorm.

Fig. 1: USA ready-built version of original mcHF.

(Photo: m0nka.co.uk) Fig. 2: ICOM IC-705 and
TX-500 at VK6TY. Fig. 3: Xiegu G90. (Photo:
Tecsun Australia) Fig. 4: Boris LZ2JR displaying
the Mission RGO One. (Photo: lz2jr.com)
Fig. 5: Close-up of RGO One. (Photo: lz2jr.com)

As we shall see, the technical

specifications of the mcHF and the
Discovery TX-500 have some general
similarities but the latter offers more in
terms of functionality, only comes ready-
built and in terms of build, judging from
photographs, could be said to be a bit like a
4WD to the mcHF’s SUV.
However, you pay for this stronger build
− the price of the Discovery TX-500 (from
PileupDX.com) is 890 Euro (about £785),
making it almost twice the price of a ready-
built mcHF (providing one is available).
That being said, the ICOM IC-705 (160m
to 70cm) costs around £1,300 and the 4
Elecraft KX2 (80 to 10m) is about £950.
The Discovery TX-500 also has broader
coverage than the mcHF, offering you
the 160m and 6m amateur bands in
addition to 80 to 10m, while its general
coverage receive runs from 0.5 to 56MHz.
Modes offered are SSB, CW, digital, AM
and FM, with the advertised receive
power consumption (100mA) less than
a third of the mcHF, but on transmit the
consumption of the two radio is similar, in
the range of 1 to 3A. The TX-500 also uses
a 32-bit processor for the DSP and has
a high contrast and relatively low-power
consumption monochrome 258 x 128
pixels LCD, providing a 48kHz-wide ‘real
time’ bandscope.
Like the mcHF the TX-500 also has the
well-established QSD (sampling detector) 5
SDR architecture − as incidentally do
the Xiegu G90 and the KX2. On receive metal. But the former weighs in at around transceivers over the last five years or so.
the Discovery TX-500 uses a switchable 0.55kg, which appears to be lighter than As Phil Salas AD5X noted in his ARRL
low noise preamplifier, giving the radio a the mcHF, and has folding stands so it QST review [7], the G90 looks rather like a
claimed sensitivity (minimum detectable can be stood at an angle on an operator’s miniature version of an ICOM IC 706MKIIG,
sensitivity) of −136dBm, plus an attenuator table. measuring 120 x 45x 210mm. But the radio
for very strong signals. Four adjustable The controls and sockets on the − like the others discussed so far − uses
bandwidth digital filters are available, along Discovery-500 are tightly fitted into the a direct-conversion QSD SDR architecture
with I/Q output, automatic notch filtering, case. While the radio isn’t waterproof in with a 32-bit DSP/central processing unit.
adjustable noise reduction and noise the complete sense, it seems very much The G90 appears aimed at those of us
blanking. splash-proof and weatherproof in a way who prefer to use a bike or a car rather than
On transmit, the TX-500 power output none of the other boutique radios dis- a small backpack for their portable opera-
specified is variable from one to 10W cussed here appear to attempt. tion and lack the dogged Tony Robinson or
PEP. The radio comes with adjustable There is an active user group for the TX- adventurous James Bond gene. Weighing
CW sidetone/transmit offset, a speaker- 500 at [email protected]. in at 1.7kg (including microphone), the G90
microphone, three-band transmit audio puts out from one to 20W RF and includes
equaliser; two adjustable digital filters and An Original from China: a built-in antenna tuner and speaker. The
a DSP RF speech processor. the XieGu G90 G90 also has a detachable front panel,
The low profile (90 x 207 x 21mm) case Next up is the G90 [6] from XieGu, a com- which can connect to the radio’s body us-
of the Discovery TX-500 is moulded alu- pany that has built a good reputation for ing an included one-metre long DB9 cable,
minium, whereas the mcHF case is sheet cheap and well-performing low-power so is suitable for mobile operation.

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14 PRACTICAL WIRELESS August 2021
Feature

As you can see from Fig. 3, the G90 has The RGO One, Figs. 4 and 5 − as its Note that some boutique radios offered
a generally similar number of front-panel name phonetically suggests − takes its are more of a ‘work in progress’ than
controls to the mcHF and TX-500 − in this inspiration from the famous Argonaut others. Carefully consider before making
case, three knobs and 13 push buttons. series of radios produced over several a purchase whether the radio actually has
The features the radio comes with are decades by Ten-Tec. In terms of all the facilities you require now, rather than
broadly similar to its two predecessors, architecture, the front-end is unashamedly them being promised for the future. Also,
apart from the aforesaid increased power, analogue and superheterodyne (9MHz what do the existing users say about it?
antenna tuner and speaker. Intermediate Frequency with down All radio manufacturers make promises
The G90 transceives from 160m to conversion to 134kHz for its AGC circuitry), about new additions. My view is it is easier
10m on SSB, CW and AM as standard but the back end has dual CPUs for front for a company to deliver them if it is a
(you need to buy the £30 Xiegu CE-19 panel and motherboard control, both relatively large-scale organisation because
Expansion Interface [8] to connect the field programmable by USB, and USB CAT of the sheer size of their workforce and
radio to your PC to operate the digital control. facilities. On the other hand, this delivery
modes) and has general coverage receive No built-in bandscope but crystal filter- can be true of boutique manufacturers
of 0.5 to 30MHz. It is also capable of split based selectivity that can slice-and-dice too. You never know − one of these
frequency operation and has a 4.57cm weak CW and SSB signals from heavy QRM manufacturers could be the new Elecraft!
colour LCD screen, panadaptor providing (thanks to a 4-pole variable bandwidth These radios are relatively low-cost but
both band and waterfall displays, receive Jones filter, which follows the 9MHz 8-pole keep in mind that sometimes a company’s
preamp/attenuator, noise blanker, variable roofing filter and first IF amplifier), plus bubble may burst, particularly in these
bandpass filters, speech processor audio that has been said to sound classic rather uncertain times. One of the keys
and SWR bridge. When it comes to CW Kenwood. Yes, I have just gone misty-eyed. to assessing this risk is to look at the
operation, the G90 has a built-in keyer and One particularly nice touch − in addition company’s record, or have actually bought
a decoder. to the Jones-type filtering, which I love something from it before.
In terms of power, the G90 needs an on my old TT Argonaut V − is an H-mode This is one reason why I’m looking
external supply of 10.5V to 16.5V. Although mixer, originally designed by Colin forward to the boutique QRP Labs QSX
Xiegu states this needs to be capable Horrabin G3SBI, with the reputation of transceiver kit being sold. Its designer
of 8A for 20W RF, tests by the ARRL Lab being the most large-signal-proof mixer Hans Summers G0UPL announced the
show that at 13.8V DC input only some 4 designed. original concept over two years ago and
to 4.5A is necessary for this RF output. The The RGO One is 200 x 80 x 194mm and having watched his company online and
standby/receive current is around 750mA. weighs 2.67kg. It has a colour-selectable built one of its QCX transceivers during this
One important point to consider here if back-lit LCD display. Buttons (15) and period, I am pretty excited. That being said,
you plan to use a radio for SSB operation, knobs (5), including one concentric RF/ part of me also really wants to try an mcHF,
having 20W rather than the (potential) 10W AF gain control, are heavily in evidence, so a Discovery-500, a G90 and an RGO One
output of the mcHF and Tx-500 is a serious those of us who hate menus will be happy. right now!
bonus. Don’t forget, this means an extra Although a kit is planned, Mission
3dB of signal − which is like going from a has opted for initially selling a factory-
dipole to a 2-element Yagi. To me, 20W is built and aligned radio for just over £690 References
a more practical power level for portable (790 euros), which covers 80 to 10m. If
operation than 10W or, even worse, the 5W you want to work 160m, then a receive • [1] The Elecraft History by Wayne N6KR is
used by most QRP operators. In these days bandpass filter costs you a further £43 and a fascinating read. See:
of low sunspots. With small but powerful an internal ATU adds a further £123. https://tinyurl.com/5bhzmt5j
LiPo batteries readily available, why Like all the three previous radios, the • [2] For more details about the mcHF, see:
sacrifice 3 or 6dB of transmit power, which RGO One has an excellent online user www.m0nka.co.uk/?page_id=2
is likely to mean fewer contacts. group at [email protected] • [3] https://tinyurl.com/yb99x8fy
Note the G90 has a user group: where the radio’s chief designer or one of • [4] See N8NN review at:
[email protected] the company’s chosen field testers will https://tinyurl.com/3ctua2a9
with over 100 members. quickly answer any queries. This approach, • [5] For the Discovery TX-500’s
pioneered so successfully by Elecraft, has specification, see:
Back to the Future: now been not only adopted by the boutique https://lab599.com
the Mission RGO One radio makers, but to some extent by • [6] For the Xiegu G90’s specification, see:
So far the boutique radios we've looked at YaeCOMwood. https://tinyurl.com/yp3n965w
have used SDR architecture and are solidly • [7] You can download a copy of the QST
aimed at the amateur with contemporary Conclusion review by AD5X at:
tastes who likes to have a small radio This article should give you a taste of the https://tinyurl.com/2ews3kxj
capable of many communication modes, large number of boutique radio transceivers • [8] https://tinyurl.com/4ys7hae7
with a panadaptor/bandscope and high currently being made in relatively small • [9] For specifications of the Mission RGO
interconnectivity to a laptop/tablet. numbers and sold over the internet by One, see:
Mission’s RGO One comes from a rather quite small companies. As you can see, https://lz2jr.com/blog
different standpoint. Here you need to think some are highly innovative. If you buy one • [10] For information about the QRP Lab’s
old school Sean Connery in an Aston Martin and join their online user group, there is a QSX, see:
DB5 but powered by a high-performance genuine opportunity to influence the radio’s www.qrp-labs.com/qsx.html
Tesla electric engine. development and have a lot of fun.

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Valve & Vintage

Receiver R1155
Philip Moss M0PBM describes this classic wartime receiver.

Philip Moss M0PBM that service for although that was what it changers was a KTW61 − valves transposed.
[email protected] was mainly used for and designed for, it was With them in the right place, it worked, after
used elsewhere. Indeed, there were two I noted an all-black resistor with one end

T
his receiver is one that was essentially different types. The air-borne cut, which I just soldered back. Note some
donated to the British Vintage was in aluminium, but there was a ground- sets will work with a pentode rather than
Wireless and Television Museum, use version with cheaper but heavier steel a triode-hexode. If they have a separate
Dulwich. Unlike most, it was construction. oscillator, as in my CR100, a pentode works
unmodified, and little touched, and that This set was not by any means the best fine. Here the triode is used as intended,
not irretrievably so. A piece of red plastic GB radio of the Second World War in terms but this is not the best for good stability.
wire to the lamps was the only immediately of specification. However, it has a most A problem immediately encountered was
visible change, and later it was noted some important distinguishing feature. It was the Jones plugs to connect it. As is usually
of the coils in the RF/oscillator pack had not simply a normal set, but specifically the case, it did not come with them, and
been adjusted. As so many of these sets are designed for direction-finding, hence the very while a temporary solution was to solder
butchered, it was a great relief when I found unusual circuit. Until I had the circuit, and wires to the back of the plugs, that was not
it in this condition. indeed the manual, I could not understand going to do in terms of having the radio
There are certain sets that get the title it nor indeed how to initially power it up, displayed. Also, how to power it? It would
‘iconic’ and this is one of them. This set is beyond getting the heaters on, which does run off a dynamotor/rotary transformer in
almost always described as being the radio not attract many marks! I initially connected the aircraft, itself from the 28V DC supply. I
on the Lancaster bomber, the most well- HT negative to chassis, logical but wrong. built a mains PSU, from available parts from
known and successful of our four-engined The chassis actually floats about 20V up my collection, which also powered another
bombers. While this statement is true, it is when correctly connected. This difference of the Museum’s sets, the HRO Senior/R106
truer to say it was the radio on all our four- forms the bias rail for many valves. It still (therein being another article). As a matter
engined bombers. It was not restricted to didn’t work until I found one of the frequency of interest, I decided to see how low an HT

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18 PRACTICAL WIRELESS August 2021
Valve & Vintage

it would work at − about 30V! At that point on it, and went into the balanced input on the Photo 1: The front panel.
the local oscillator stopped. Not that I am 4-pin Jones plug. The others went in on the Photo 2: Top view.
suggesting you run it at this, but if you have multi-pin connector along with all the other Photo 3: Bottom view.
a convenient supply well under the 250V connections. Photo 4: The PSU.
intended, it will be fine. www.vmars.org.uk
one grid on the top cap, rather like 6C8G,
Description Valve Types but is CV1102 and a BL63. I will be referring
I am hampered in describing the circuit by Before I go through the circuit, a note about to valves by their common nomenclature
the fact that as with my Murphy CR150/ valve types. They are all listed as Air Force hereafter.
Navy B40D receiver article, the circuit, even types, therefore starting with V. I am not
the simplified one, would take up far too going to go over the strange world of military The Signal Paths
many pages. As with that set, the manual nomenclature. If this is new to you, you The set has two different signal paths, the
is available online at the excellent VMARS may wish to refer to my Murphy CR150/ first being the straightforward radio receiver.
website (below) for those with the interest B40D article of May 2021. I have, however, As military sets go, it isn’t the best by any
in the detail, or who come by one of these translated the valves used into their normal means, with limited facilities, and without
and need service data. As is usual for types, all Marconi/MOV. To do this I first had the switched bandwidth options. It’s a lively
military sets, there were several versions, to translate them to CV types, then look up enough set, and brings in many stations. It
and the frequency coverage I quote here is their equivalents. One, V10 the V.I.103, didn’t is for the reception of AM/RT voice, and CW,
not the same for all. There are five bands: have a VR number, but is a tuning indicator, so it has a BFO, without the facility to choose
75/200kc/s, 200/500kc/s, 600/1600kc/s, or as more commonly known, Magic Eye, a your tone, but there is a pre-set accessible
3/7.5Mc/s and 7.5/18Mc/s. This is not Y63. V1 and 2 are VR99A, equals CV1581 or through the front panel.
ideal for shortwave listeners, nor does it E1341, described as an unmetallised ECH35. On this path there is a tuned RF amplifier,
cover the full LW and MW, and it misses Have you ever seen one of them (excluding V3, KTW61 followed by the frequency-
out several amateur allocations, but then ones where with time/damp it’s fallen off)? changer V4, X66. This is run in ‘normal’ mode
it wasn’t designed for us. The set in use No, neither have I. The valves fitted are very with the triode as the local oscillator, noting
required three aerials: a rotatable loop, for much the shape of ordinary X65s. V3, 5 and so many military sets where it is used but
the direction finding, a wire from the radio 6 are VR100 CV1100 or KTW61, much like with an external oscillator. There are then
operator’s position to the tail, and a longwire 6K7G without the internal screening. V7 & two IF amplifiers, which are common to both
on a reel for the LF end of the spectrum, used 8 are VR101, CV1101 or MHLD6, or double- functions of the set, V5 and 6. Note that their
for both normal and direction-finding. The diode medium impedance triode, rather like screen grids are fed from potential dividers,
loop was in a drum, had a number of turns 6Q7G. V9 is a rather fat double triode with and that there are no cathode resistors −

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20 PRACTICAL WIRELESS August 2021
Valve & Vintage

This as with the circuit is to be found on the

VMARS website.

Work
The first job after getting it to do something,
was to find the Jones plugs. The Museum
has some odd plugs, and I did succeed
in putting a suitable plug together with a
shell, so it could be wired properly. As the
direction-finding wouldn’t be in operation, I
didn’t need the 4-pin plug. Initially, I used my
Solartron variable HT power supply to run it,
which also has a heater supply.
At this stage I had four of five bands going,
with lots of signals. Band five though was
dead, that being 7.5 to 18Mc/s. Suspecting
oxidation of the switch contacts, I tried turn-
ing it back and forth but that didn’t work.
New repair method − leave it on that band.
When next tried, it worked.

Modification
As this is a Museum set, and also as few
remain unmodified, I did as little as pos-
sible. However, there was a need to drive a 4
speaker, and although the output stage was
intended for headphones only, I was aware portion of the running total, but that was fine aged slot. Strangely, when correctly set for
that a signal triode is quite capable of giving because the set has several divider chains zero-beat, the frequency was only 282kc/s
adequate level. The existing output trans- across the HT. I noted missing caps to the so it looks as though they used the second
former was the wrong ratio and had a very screening cans on the valves, though they harmonic. Strange.
high resistance primary, which wasn’t going are adequately screened not to go unstable. I realigned the front-end. I had great dif-
to do. What I did was the minimum. Using a The top-cap connections to the two X66s ficulty with the 3/7.5Mc/s range. Again, a
small output transformer of the type we had in the direction-finding circuit were missing damaged slug, which I replaced. I needed to
a lot of, used in many AC/DC mains sets, in- (cut off). Replaced wires and top cap con- add 20pF across the trimmer before it would
cluding the much-sought-after Bush DAC 90 nectors, not that this part of the circuit is ever align. I had to use the soldering iron trick
(though not by me), I drilled two 6BA holes likely to be used. Found those valves were again to free the cores. I did the alignment
in the runner under the chassis on one side, missing HT in most of the master switch po- with the cover off to allow access so when
and connected the output triode to this, leav- sitions, as a wire had been cut at switch (re- it was put on it pulled the tuning a bit but
ing the original in place, but with the primary stored). it was good enough. The reason I couldn’t
disconnected one end, and the wire instead Something that went badly was trying to align with the cover on was because a spe-
connected to the new transformer. The out- get the tuning to feel smooth. I relubricated it cial very slim 4BA tube spanner was needed.
put was taken via the large Jones plug to a and it was no better. There didn’t seem to be Unusually, I didn’t do SNR (signal-to-noise)
jack socket. This modification is reversible, much to go wrong, so I have left it in a frankly measurements. The front-end tuned circuits
except for the two holes. unsatisfactory state. I consulted two people are all in the box that can be seen under the
Under the chassis I found a new capacitor at the Museum who have had these sets, but chassis.
hanging, and a cut wire to a slim can hous- neither could remember what they felt like.
ing three capacitors. These are threaded As it happens, we have since received anoth- Conclusions
and mounted through the chassis. Another er donated set and its tuning does not feel An unusual set and therefore more interest-
was missing, and capacitors added un- much better. Absolutely lamentably this set ing than a standard receiver even though
der the chassis. These were all ‘Liquorice demonstrates the butchery I have referred to, it won’t give the same facilities as one. For
Allsorts’ type Mullard C280, the colour-cod- with the DF circuits unwired from valve sock- general listening it is fine, and with a little
ed ones. They were not well installed with ets. Quite stupid. ingenuity a slim output valve could be fit-
their leads not cut as short as possible so I The BFO didn’t seem to work well. I mea- ted without removing any of the origi-
rewired them. Another tube got hot so obvi- sured its frequency as 271kc/s. It should be nal components. I did contemplate doing
ously another leaky capacitor. Cut lead and close to the IF of 560kc/s. The coil had been that. That would allow full speaker volume.
add another more appropriate axial-leaded got at. I knew this as the slug had one side Alternatively, a power stage could be add-
type in its place. I had been getting multiple broken. The slug was jammed, so carefully ed in the external PSU. Not a large set, and
whistles, so clearly instability, but this went heated with soldering iron, which melted the most of us have too little space for all the
when the new capacitors were connected. I wax, and allowed me to adjust it. As I did a sets we would like to acquire, and not need-
then ran the set with 300V HT and no heat- whistle was heard, so it had been ludicrous- ing much in the way of a PSU. It is also said
ers to see what if anything got hot. Nothing ly mis-adjusted. Took slug out, cleaned, and to have the most attractive tuning scale of
did. The set drew 25mA, a substantial pro- put in upside down, so able to use undam- any British set of the Second World War.

David Mcalpin GM8UPI

[email protected]

L
ike many amateurs, I have, or shall
have, more than one antenna to
use on the HF bands. Perhaps
a mix of dipoles, doublets, end-
feds and Windoms, etc. To enable fast
performance comparisons between
antennas, both for transmit and receive, I
was keen to use my Icom IC-7300 for this
purpose. However, no provision is made with
this transceiver, or many others, for the use
of a second antenna, direct into the radio.
An external switching means was therefore
required. A mechanical/manual coax switch
would fulfil part of my requirement to some
extent but would not enable the use of
separate antennas for transmit and receive, 1
switching automatically. By using the radio
PTT (shorting contact) signal, I designed this
simple unit to fulfil my requirements.

The Circuit
Homebrewing
The diagram, Fig. 1, shows the final circuit.
I did consider using a switching transistor
for the relay, so minimising the current
by GM8UPI
required to be taken through the PTT
radio connection, but decided this was David McAlpin GM8UPI describes an easy-to-
not necessary in my case, for use with
the IC-7300. The current taken by the unit build Dual Antenna Switching Unit & has a ‘how to’
is approximately 50mA, well within the on Panel Marking.
capability of the radio and, I am sure, most
other modern transceivers. On testing I
found the unit worked as expected. (I did 1.0MHz to 500MHz for both states of the ing on the job, and with care, this method
however insert 56kΩ resistors in the LEDs, relay operation. The results are shown in can produce very acceptable results. From
to reduce the brightness to an acceptable Table 1. experimenting and numerous failures, I have
level). N.B. The results above will have been in- learned that to obtain the best results with
fluenced, particularly above 150MHz, by the decals, a number of vitally important steps
Construction performance of the dummy loads I used (as require to be adhered to.
I used a small piece of Veroboard, 40 x required) on the SO239 connectors of the
40mm to mount the relay to the base of the unit. Design
case, which made wiring reasonable easy, All components were sourced from within Start your panel design on your laptop/PC
if not very neat! (see photographs, Figs. 2 the UK with the exception of the case. This before marking/drilling your panel. I use
and 3) The only other component mounted nice, extruded aluminium item came from Microsoft PowerPoint to draw out my panel
on this ‘lower’ side, was the relay ‘back EMF’ China, costing £20 inc. P&P. Total material layouts. This app gives you lots of choice in
protection diode D1. costs were in the region of £40, excluding regard to font type, sizes and colours. As a
Wiring to the relay pins was made with the decal material for panel marking. measurement aid to the next stage, draw the
RG316 coax and leads kept as short as pos- outline of your panel on to a sheet of plain A4
sible. Panel Marking printing paper, in pencil.
The finished unit was tested with 100W (I suggest you read fully before commencing You can mark any fixing holes on to this
PEP and CW, on all bands from 160m to your project!) sheet and, if reusing a previously used panel,
10m, with no problems. (I suspect the power So many ‘home built’ projects we make any holes/cut-outs that you want to use, or
limiting will be all due to the capability of the these days, while functioning to our require- not to use.
relay.) No ‘on air’ testing was done at higher ments, end up looking, well, ‘home built’ to If holes exist that are not required, these
frequencies, but at a pinch, it may be suitable put it crudely. Marking up front panels with should be drawn on the sheet and will be
up to and beyond 2m. lettering for switches, connectors etc, can be covered up with your decal, and carefully
done by various methods, but getting a pro- filled from the rear of the panel with plastic
NanoVNA Testing fessional looking finish takes time and a bit cement or car panel body filler. This of
Using this marvellous little unit, measure- of, not too difficult to learn, skill. course would be carried out after the final
ment of VSWR, loss and antenna cross-cou- I use readily available Waterslide Decal A4 stage of making your decaled panel, when
pling was made over the frequency range inkjet paper, either ‘clear’ or ‘white’ depend- everything has been set, varnished and

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22 PRACTICAL WIRELESS August 2021
Carrying On The Practical Way

Fig. 1: The circuit.

Fig. 2: Seen from below.
Fig. 3: View of the circuit board.
Fig. 4: Decal for front panel.
Fig. 5: Decal for rear panel.
Fig. 6: Front panel of finished unit.
Fig. 7: Rear panel of finished unit.

hardened (see later).

Now, using your PC and PowerPoint, draw
the basic outline shape of your panel using
the rectangle shape, with around 3-5mm
inside the outer edge. Then do a quick,
plain paper printout and check that the
dimensions of your outline match your panel
with a small inside margin all round. Adjust
for any scaling errors and check again. Now 2
you can start to get creative. I find that using
font sizes 9pt or larger are fine and I always
use Bold and fairly broad outline fonts such
as Arial Black or Calibri Bold. I also like to
add an outline ‘line’ on my panels, as can be
seen in the various photographs.
Your choice. I also like to match the
background colour to the finish of the panel/
case, whether that be black (as I prefer)
or any other colour. By using ‘white’ decal
paper, and ‘colour fill’ to your outer panel
size marker, choose the shade that gives
best match. I normally use ‘white’ decal
sheets, rather than clear, which allows me
to highlight the print as ‘white’, so giving me
white lettering on the black, or whatever
background colour you choose.
When lettering for switch or connector
holes etc, take care to allow for adequate
space for fixing nuts, washers or bezels, etc.
Too close and you may damage the decal 3
printing when assembling components
Freq MHz VSWR Thru Loss Cross Coupling
on the finished panel. When satisfied with
your design, I suggest you make a print on 1 to 30 ≤ 1.05:1 ≤ 0.1dB ≥ −40dB
plain paper, and use this to mark out (centre 30 to 75 ≤ 1.05:1 ≤ 0.1dB ≥ −30dB
punching, drilling, etc) your panel. 75 to 150 ≤ 1.20:1 ≤ 0.15dB ≥ −25dB
Shown in Figs. 4 and 5 are the decal prints
150 to 300 ≤ 1.20:1 ≤1.0dB ≥− 20dB
for the project described earlier. Note that I
have extended the black background area 300 to 500 ≤ 1.40:1 ≤1.5 dB ≥ −20dB
to well beyond the actual panel dimensions, Table 1: Measured characteristics of switch box.
to allow for trimming the decal close to the
white outline. This ensures that no white Preparing the clear gloss but matt gloss is fine. Another
edge from the decal paper shows on the Metal Panel and Decal overnight drying period is required.
final result. Once the panel has been drilled, cut-outs The decal sheet should now be given the
Set the printer for standard ‘Photo Paper made, etc, care should be taken to deburr same varnish treatment as the panel, and
Gloss’ and ‘Best Quality’. Note that large any holes and ensure the face to take the again allowed to dry for a minimum 12 hours
panels, requiring a coloured background, decal is clean with no edges that will cause in a warm, dust free environment. I cannot
will take a fair amount of your ink! Once the delicate decal to tear. If not already emphasis enough how important this dust
printed and checked as OK, the sheet must painted, then this should be done with care, free precaution is, in ensuring a perfect
be allowed to dry thoroughly in a warm, dust in a dust free area. (My preferred paints, finished result.
free area. varnish, etc. are given at the end.) Again, left
I have found from bitter experience that to dry thoroughly overnight. The panel should Applying the Decal
this will take a minimum of 12 hours at now be given two very, very light coats of While still on the backing sheet, trim the de-
between +25°C and +35°C. I usually use our varnish, 30 mins between coats. Spray cal carefully with a craft knife or as I prefer,
household drying/airing cupboard overnight! from a distance of about 200mm. I prefer good very sharp scissors. The final size of

the decal should be a few millimetres small-

er than the panel edge, or just outside your 6
edging line, if you have one. Take care not to
touch the decal print itself, to avoid finger-
prints. Using a suitable sized dish, with 2 –
3cm of room temperature clean water, im-
merse your decal completely, using a cotton
bud if necessary. Do not use warm/hot wa-
ter. Time of immersion will be from around ½
min to perhaps 2 mins.
With your panel on a towel, use a small
soft artist-type brush (½in flat) to moisten
the panel surface with water. Test the decal
very carefully in the water, to see if it will slide
easily from the backing. Remove backing
and decal from water, allow to drain slightly,
and by using the wet brush you should be
able to carefully slide the decal on to the
damp panel. This should require virtually no
pressure from the brush. If you find the de-
cal turning at the edges, delicate use of a
wooden toothpick will usually allow you to 7
unfurl the offending edge. The decal should
virtually float on the panel, allowing final po- of coats of gloss varnish to totally seal the of my project. The unit, described earlier,
sition adjustment, again very carefully using decal, again requiring overnight drying prior measures 100 x 100 x 40mm. The front
the soft brush. Once in the desired position, to assembly of any components on the panel, three-position switch, allows for
use the brush to gently remove water from panel. Prior to mounting components, you automatic changeover to be enabled or
under the decal, with very light strokes from will need to carefully cut out the decal film any one of the two antennas to be used for
centre to edge. Use of a small piece of fine covering the mounting holes/cut-outs, etc. I non-switching, conventional transmit and
sponge, tissue towel, or cotton bud, to re- use a very sharp scalpel blade for this. Care receive.
move excess water is helpful. Ensure all air needs to be taken when assembling, such
bubbles and moisture are removed from un- as front nut fixing items, to the panel. Using Suggested/Required
der the decal and no creases have formed. plain washers is helpful, and if possible, Materials for Decals
Final strokes of the moistened brush should tighten fixing from the panel rear, without 1. PC with PowerPoint app and inkjet
remove any blemishes. turning the front mounting nut. A touch of printer.
If the results are not to your liking, then super-glue at rear of panel fixing can be 2. Waterslide, clear & white Decal paper.
moisten the decal to remove and start again useful. (mrdecalpaper.com) @ £15/10 A4 Sheets.
with a new decal! Perhaps some practice de- Warning: do not be tempted to skip/ 3. ‘Plastikote Clear Super’ Gloss & Clear
cal mounting is in order. shorten any of my suggested drying times. varnish. (various online suppliers) @
Inkjet inks are notorious for leaching. You £5/400ml Spray can.
Finishing Off could end up with some very strange and 4. ‘Plastikote’ paints. Undercoats &
The decaled panel now needs to dry unwanted colours! Also do not use an oven colours. (various online suppliers) @
thoroughly and again overnight is best. I of any sort to hasten drying. £8/400ml Spray can. (If required.)
always finish my panels off with a couple Figs. 6 and 7 are a couple of photographs 73 & happy homebrewing.

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24 PRACTICAL WIRELESS August 2021
HF Highlights

Steve Telenius-Lowe PJ4DX

[email protected] DX Information
A
t the time of writing (mid-June)
we are well into the northern
Steve Telenius-Lowe PJ4DX explains where to
hemisphere summer Sporadic E find current information about DX activity on HF.
(Es) season. As a keen HF DXer I
have to admit that I have actually spent more
of my operating time during the last month
on VHF (50MHz), in order to take advantage
of the Es propagation. And I haven’t been
disappointed, with contacts all over Europe
as far north as the Arctic Circle in Sweden, as
far east as the Ukraine and Cyprus and as far
south as Gibraltar (regular PW contributor
Kevin ZB2GI) and Ceuta (EA9). To the west
I worked several stations in Oregon and
Washington states in the USA and, even
farther north, VE6 in Canada. Even stations
in the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, 1
Israel and Qatar) were decoded on FT8
although unfortunately no QSOs resulted. 1
However, this is the HF column and not
Tim’s World of VHF, so it should be pointed The Italian 425 DX News, Fig. 1, is a free of
out that although Es is often thought of as a charge weekly DX bulletin (written in English) 2
VHF phenomenon it can also provide some and distributed by email. Edited by husband
excellent contacts on the higher HF bands, and wife team Mauro I1JQJ and Valeria
particularly 28MHz. This is reflected in this IK1ADH, edition number 1571 was published
month’s reports in the ‘Around the Bands’ on the deadline day of this column which, by
section. my reckoning, means the service has been
The majority of the Es openings to Europe running for more than 30 years now. To sub-
experienced here have been during the late scribe go to:
evening UK time, well after the hour when www.425dxn.org
one might expect the band to have closed Another great source of up-to-date DX in-
for the day if one is more used to ‘normal’ formation is the DX World website, Fig. 2, run
(F-layer) propagation. The Solar Flux Index by Col McGowan MM0NDX. Updated daily
(SFI) and Sunspot Number (SN) have still or whenever there is new DX information, DX
been too low to allow for much in the way of World features photos of the DX locations 3
long-distance F2 propagation on 28MHz, so mentioned, often submitted by those taking
the E-layer propagation, albeit sporadic, has part in DXpeditions. Even when the pandem- sounds in my headphones had that distinc-
been most welcome. The SN was as high as ic has meant there has been little DXpedition tive ‘open’ quality that speaks of good DX
36 on 26 May and the SFI peaked at 86 on 27 news to report, there has still been plenty conditions. As if to prove the point, the Royal
May although both then decreased, Table 1. of interest on the website, with some fiend- Australian Air Force was celebrating its cen-
ishly difficult DX quizzes and rare or old QSL tenary with special event calls VI100AF and
DX Information cards pictured in the ‘QSL of the Day’ feature. VK100AF,” Fig. 4. On 13 May, Allan VK2GR in
At the time this is being written it looks as dx-world.net New South Wales was working on 17m CW,
though Covid restrictions might be start- For real-time DX information, arguably the when he thought he glimpsed a UK call. He
ing to be lifted in the UK as well as other best option is to keep an eye on the ‘spots’ sent ‘G3?’ and ‘Listen only G3?’ until he had
places around the world. The lifting of travel being reported on the DX Summit website, silence. Then, he was able to copy G3JNB
restrictions will inevitably lead to the re- Fig. 3. This site allows you to filter the spots who went through with 14 watts at the feed-
turn of the DXpedition. The lead time of any according to your own interests, including or point of his vertical. “I had to keep repeat-
printed publication such as PW means that excluding particular bands and/or modes as ing my suffix but we made it − eventually! My
many operations that are announced close desired. grateful thanks to the other callers.
to their start date will inevitably be missed. dxsummit.fi “On the 2nd, K1ZZ was back with a good
Similarly, operations that are announced far signal on 40m and he responded to my first
enough ahead to appear in a magazine such Readers’News call. On the 3rd, I just sat listening to Rob
as this may have been postponed or even May Day opened up the DX bands for Victor ZS1OPB booming in from Cape Town on 20m
cancelled altogether by the time the maga- Brand G3JNB with some sparkling CW re- SSB, the first signals from ZS heard for ages,
zine is published. Where, then, can you get ceived from distant parts. K1ZZ, the ARRL’s and soon realised that I was actually receiv-
up-to-date information on what is expected ex-CEO Dave Sumner with his big 20m an- ing both sides of his QSOs with EU. Similar
on the bands tomorrow, or during the com- tenna out there in Connecticut, heard 10 conditions presented, among others, CX5FK
ing week? watts of CW from Victor for a ‘quickie’. “The on 30m and L21RCA on 20m. Powerful call-

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26 PRACTICAL WIRELESS August 2021
HF Highlights

4 5

Fig. 1: Extract from a recent 425 DX News

bulletin, sent by email to subscribers.
Fig. 2: The DX-World.net website is updated daily
and provides up to date DX information.
Fig. 3: The DX Summit website with real-time
‘spots’ of DX activity. In this case the website is
filtered to show only HF spots, but on all modes.
Fig. 4: The four-sided VK100AF/VI100AF QSL
card commemorating the 100th anniversary of
the Royal Australian Air Force (Image courtesy of
QSL Manager Tim Beaumont M0URX).
Fig. 5: New WWFF award issued to Carl 2E0HPI/P.
Fig. 6: The 2E0HPI/P location at GFF-0336 north
of Sunderland. Fig. 7: What a location! The
28MHz 2-element Yagi used by ZB2GI/P and
ZB2JK/P from the top of the Rock.

ers, all thirsting for ‘real’ DX, persuaded me

not to try join in but to just enjoy the longed
awaited ‘lift’.
“I logged QRP CW QSOs on 17m with
9K2HS Kuwait, OX3XR Greenland on 20m and
OY1CT Faroe Islands on 10m. But, the most
impressive operator I’ve heard in years was
during YOTA [‘Youth On The Air’ – Ed] when
I worked DL7PIA on 40m SSB. The ‘Young
Lady’ Pia was fluent in German, Italian and
faultless English as she ran her pile-up with all
the aplomb of the very experienced DXer. She
said “I’ve been licensed for two years and I
think that this is a beautiful hobby”.
Pia is aged 13!”
Owen Williams G0PHY reported that
“The 20m band seemed livelier this month
with some good DX to be had, especially in
the evenings. My best DX was VK2CR who
was calling CQ Europe via the long path last
Saturday at 2148UTC. I managed to get him
and although he only gave me 42, he was 55
with me. I also managed to work 5Z4VJ who
was a very strong signal. There have been
strong signals from South America in the
late evenings with stations from CX, PY, HK 6
and CE being audible. I was also surprised to
hear ZS6CCY calling CQ Europe on 40m at
1841 one evening. He was strong but a pile- June ‘21 May ‘21 Apr ‘21 Mar ‘21 Feb ‘21 Jan ‘21 Difference
up soon developed and I was unable to break SFI: 77 78 73 75 72 73 (-1)
it. Although not DX by some definitions I also SN: 29 36 0 11 0 0 (-7)
worked 3A/IW1RBI on 20m.”
Tony Usher G4HZW is one who has been Table 1: Rolling six-month Solar Flux Index and Sunspot Numbers as of 11th of each month. The final
enjoying the Sporadic E propagation on column shows the difference between the June and May figures.

28MHz: “Ten has been good for the period in

question and I’ve not felt inclined to move to
the standby of 40m. There has been Sporadic
E every day and on 14 May there was much
very short skip with stations in the south of
Scotland 59+ and I worked two mobile sta-
tions who were both running just 5 watts (I
was using the TS-830 at 100W). On 7 May
stations from North America were coming
through at 0800UTC, as far as I can remem-
ber I’ve never heard them so early before.
West coast stations were heard in the eve-
ning and, on 23 May, KL4NE in Alaska was
heard, though not worked. 4 June provided
the most interesting conditions with the band
open to North America at midnight our time
followed by a short path opening to Japan as
it approached 1.00am!”
Etienne Vrebos OS8D is another who took
advantage of the Es, saying: “I have been 7
very active on 6m and 10m, wide open last
weeks and made in total 350 QSOs this May... hopefully [I’m] on the mend now”. Carl is very KA5SYP, KP2B, LU1ASP, LU8ENU, N8LRG,
Again, I was delighted to work a huge amount involved with the amateur radio Flora and P43RR, PJ2MAN, PJ4EVA, PP2FRS, PU5AOA,
of newer [operators], with low power, many Fauna organisation (see Fig. 5) and went PV8ABC, PY4WL, R9CA, RZ8U, TF1OL,
UK stations, beginners and had good chats out portable on 31 May to activate Souter UN7FGZ, VA3DAZ, VE1WAN, VE2JI, VO1CH,
with most of them, in order that they feel Lighthouse ENG-127 and WWFF GFF 0336, YB2HAF, YW200BC/1, ZD7JC.
great with their first SSB QSOs. A lot of sta- Fig. 6. Using 20W from a Xiegu G90 trans- Etienne OS8D: 7MHz SSB: 3A/IW1RBI.
tions were /P or /M, even one /AM: a German ceiver to a home-made dipole, Carl made 92 14MHz SSB: BD7MHZ, JA2DXD, JE1RXJ,
plane above Saudi Arabia at 40,000ft working QSOs on 7MHz SSB. He reports that there JE1RZR, JR7TKG, JS1KSU, JW4GUA,
with his Collins and 400W output. A long chat is a new award, the GxFF Home Nations UN7MBH, UP2L, UP55L, VU2DSI, VU3ESV,
and the pilot mentioned a lot of squares they Award and there are plans for a September VU3TPW, VU3WEW, YB1DNF. 18MHz SSB:
crossed: that’s interesting to fill up a map for ‘Autumn Event’ for GxFF activities. See: AP2SD. 28MHz SSB: ZD7FT.
square chasers, much more quickly than with www.wwff.co Carl 2E0HPI/P: 7MHz SSB: DF7GK (DLFF
/MM transmissions.” Kevin Hewitt ZB2GI reports that he 0124), F5NLX/P (FFF 2689), G1OCN/P
Tim Kirby GW4VXE says that “with the “painted the GARS club house this month, (GFF 0376), GI0AZA/M (GIFF 0028), ON/
distractions of 6m, I am afraid HF opera- the walls and ceilings have been given a PD0WRL/P (ONFF 0252).
tion has been rather minimal apart from the fresh coat of white paint and the concrete Kevin ZB2GI: 7MHz FT8: W1EL. 14MHz
Wednesday CWOps sessions. I did spend floor has been repainted green. My May log FT8: 7Z1WW, AC9QR, K1ADV, K4RHS, K8SIX,
a few minutes, literally that, on 10m during included 550+ FT8 contacts operating from KB3LAN, N0FW, NX2O, VA7DXX, W7AV,
the CQ WPX CW contest and was pleased to my home station and 150+ SSB QSOs oper- WB6EWM. 18MHz FT8: CE1LEW, CO6DS,
work D4Z. 20m has been open later and there ating from the club station and portable. I HI8MDQ, K4MQM, W7VA, YV1SW, ZS4JAN.
have been a few nice chats on CW. Bob W6PU operated portable from the upper galleries 21MHz FT8: 4Z1TL, 5B4AJG, 9K2RT, HP1RY,
on a 6000ft mountain in New Mexico was a twice with John King ZB2JK earlier in the K7PT, N4CC, NR5T, OD5TX, PJ2CF, PU2PPP,
nice one at the end of May. During RSGB CW month, but we found band conditions poor PY2SGL, TA4SO, W4HWD, YV1HGS. 24MHz
NFD I was pleased to give some points away on both occasions. John did make a few FT8: HK3CFM, K4IJQ, PU4MMZ, PY2WC,
on 80m as GW4MM/P – it was nice to hear 10m QSOs into Italy and France operating VE3PJ, W8HW. 28MHz SSB: EA8CWA,
some familiar calls from ‘years ago’. Looking Pedestrian Mobile. The crazy 10m condi- GB0SOS, PY2TDY, PY2KY, PZ1EL. 28MHz
forward to next year – with Covid hopefully tions enjoyed across the UK and Europe did FT8: 9K2HN, 9Y4DG, AB1NS, CA3OPJ,
behind us, perhaps there will be more por- not reach this far south until last weekend. FG4ST, HC6IM, HI8JSG, HK3X, KI4FSI,
tables out again. Having discovered (while Operating portable up the Rock, Fig. 7, on the PY6TH, W3FOX, W5BN.
reviewing an antenna analyser) that my 80m 23rd with John, we found 10m and 6m SSB GARS club station ZB2GI: 14MHz SSB:
dipole matches very respectably on 17m, I’ve open.” 5B4AAB, RP76BA, RP76KPA, TC568FA,
been listening on the band from time to time. VE2CSI.
ZD7FT was one of the first stations I heard Around the Bands
on SSB – and there was some other DX heard Owen G0PHY: 14MHz SSB: 3A/IW1RBI, Signing Off
shortly afterwards – quite impressive! I have 5Z4VJ, CN8LAH, KP3DZC, TC568FA, Thanks to all contributors. Please send all in-
been using a 1980s vintage FT-757GX as a re- VK2CR. put for this column to teleniuslowe@gmail.
ceiver – I don’t have a microphone for the rig. Tony G4HZW: 28MHz FT8: 4J3DJ, com by 11th of each month. Photographs of
I will have to bodge up an adapter cable.” 7X3WPL, 7Z1AL, 9J2BS, 9K2OF, AB1II, your shack, antennas, or other activity would
We welcome back Carl Gorse 2E0HPI who AG9S, AI3Q, CE1PTT, CN8DN, D4Z, be particularly welcome. For the October
unfortunately has not been too well of late FS4WBS, HC6IM, HD1ECU, J69BB, JH0RNN, issue the deadline is 11 August. 73, Steve
“so the radio has been put to one side... but JH1FSF, JY4CI, K0TT, K2AL, K4MY, K7OP, PJ4DX.

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28 PRACTICAL WIRELESS August 2021
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A E N type connector (part: 7392).....................................£5.25
P 144-432-19-3-2C. 7 el / 12 el................£219.95
PA WY108-3N... 3 el 108-137MHz Air Band.... £89.95 High Quality Japanese manufacture Aircell 5
P 144-432-21-3B...7 el / 14 el................£199.95
PA WY140-6N... 6 el 2m (wideband) 10.5dBi.. £99.95 Using a worm gear for higher To
T rque per metre........£2.75 price per 102m drum...........£259
P 144-432-13-1.5A. 5 el/9 el 1.5m boom. £139.95 WY400-6N... 6 el 70cms (wideband) 11.0dBi.£79.95
PA
WY400-10N. 10 el 70cms (w/band) 14.0dBi. £119.00
RC5-B3 Heavy Duty Other 100M Coax Drums
P 144-432-34-6-2CBG..11 /23 el 2 conn..£249.95
PA • Rotating torque 22 kg/m Westflex 103.. Semi Air-
r spaced low loss................£179.95
P 144-432-38-6BG..11 / 28 element.......£234.95
PA 26-28MHz Verticals RG-213 (Cabnex).....Low loss good quality...............£99.95
Gain-Master..1/2 wave 5.5m 500W..........£119.95 • Brake torque 250 kg/m
2M Ya
Y gis • Mast dia. 48-63mm RG-Mini 8.......Super XX........................................... £69.95
P 144-5-1.5............5 el 1.5m boom.......... £99.95
PA Gain-Master..Full size 7.3m 500W............£139.95 RG58/CU........Mil spec.............................................£39.95
Vector 4000..3/4 wave 8.4m 1kW.............. £99.95 • Vertical load 700 kg
P 144-6-2............... 6 el 2m boom........... £119.95
PA • Horizontal load 1,000 kg TTwin Feeders
P 144-8-3............... 8 el 3m boom........... £169.95
PA Sirio 2008....5/8 wave 6.1m 1kW............£109.95 450 Ohm........Tw
T in feeder........................................£89.00
• Controller w/preset
P 144-9-5A............ 9 el 4.67m.boom...... £199.95
PA 300 Ohm........Tw
T in feeder........................................£76.50
P 144-11-6BG........11 el 5.72m boom.... £249.95
PA SPIDERBEAM £1289.95 Nevada Antenna Wire
P 144-12-7BGP......12 element............... £289.95
PA Coated flex weave Antenna wire..............................£59.95
70cms YaY gis Telescopic Masts and Poles Nevada KEVLAR – green ultra-strong wire!
P 432-8-1.2R......... 8 el 1.2m boom........ £109.95
PA RC5-A3 Nevada 28......2.8mm 2kW per metre.................. £0.99
P 432-14-3.............14 el 3m boom......... £169.95
PA Fibreglass Telescopic Poles Heavy Duty Nevada 32......3.2mm 5kW per metre.................. £1.20
P 432-23-6.............23 el 6m boom......... £259.95
PA 10m – NEW! Mini pole...................................... £69.95 with pre-set
P 432-30-8BG........30 el 8m boom......... £269.95
PA 12mtr Heavy Duty............................................... £99.95 • Rotating torque 16 kg/m HUSTLER HF VERTICALS
23cms YaY gis 18mtr Standard.................................................£199.95
• Brake torque 200 kg/m
P 1296-13-1R........ 13 el 1m rear mnt.....£109.95
PA 22m ‘Long John’ NEW...................................... £399.95
26mtr Standard.................................................£499.95 • Mast dia. 48-63 mm,
P 1296-18-1.5AR...18 el 1.5m rear mnt..£139.95
PA
P 1296-36-3BRG... 36 el RG Balun......... £169.95
PA
• Vertical load 700 kg
Aluminium Telescopic masts Germ
r an engineered! • Horizontal load 1000 kg
P 1296-36-3BUT....36 el Teflon Balun..... £189.95
PA 10 metre Standard (1.35m retracted).................£339.95 £899.95
P 1296-70-6RG......70 el RG Balun......... £239.95
PA • Variable speed 75-110 4 BTV..............40 10m 6.25m high............... £199.95
10 metre Heavy Duty (1.7m retracted)............... £359.95
Accessories Medium Duty models 5 BTV..............80 - 10m (5 bands) 7.46m.........£249.95
12.5 metre (1.65m retracted)............................ £399.95
PD1024......... 2m 2-way splitter 1.5kW....... £89.95 14.5 metre Heavy Duty (2m retracted)............... £499.95 RC5-3...........Medium/HD w/pre-set...............£679.95 6 BTV..............80 - 10m (6 bands) 7.3m...........£289.95
BPF2.............. 2m passband filter 1kW...... £225.00 15 metre Standard (2m retracted)......................£459.95 RC5-1...........Medium duty............................ £569.95 Mobiles for HF and CB radio in stock too!

NEVADA VIBROPLEX SDRplay SSB

PS-40M VIBROPLEX END FED WIRES NEW RSPdx SDR in metal case
Linear 1kW power rated Covers: 1 kHz - 2GHz SSB
• 40A (max) with meter - no external tuner required! Now with Improved: Masthead
• 1.5-15V DC • Performance below 2MHz
• Cigar adaptor output NEW • Plus more! Preamplifiers
New Space £194.95
£129.95 Saver Model! RSP 1A Wideband Budget SDR
• Covers: 1 kHz - 2GHz Super-low-noise, large-signal handling,
Quality Power Supplies 2 YEAR WARRANTY! EF-80-10-JR-KW • Software upgradable protective circuit. High quality Helix filters,
PS-08........... Linear 8A (max) 13.8V DC................. £34.95 • Good dynamic range
PS-30M........Linear 30A (max) 3-15V DC...............£99.95 • Covers: Vox control, remote & T bias DC feed.
PSW-50........Switch mode 50A (max) 9-15V DC..£129.95 80/40/30/20/17/15/12/10m £99.95 MHP-200R..... 1.5kW 2m (T- T Bias).................... £599.95
PSW-30........Switch mode 30A (max) 9-15V DC....£79.95 • Only 75ft long £169.95 RSP DUO Dual Tuner SDR SP200.............750W 2m (T-
T Bias)..................... £349.95
PSW-30H.....Switch mode 30A (max) 9-15V DC....£69.95 • Covers: 1 kHz - 2GHz SP70...............500W 70cm (T-
T Bias)..................£349.95
PS23-SW1... Switch mode 23A (max) 13.8V DC.... £59.95 K ........ 80-10m, 75ft
EF-80-10-JR-KW f long.............£169.95 • Software upgradable SP400.............750W 4m (T-
T Bias)..................... £389.95
PSW-07........Switch mode 7A (max) 13.8V DC...... £29.95 HF-ALLBAND-KWK ...... 80-10m, 130ft f long...........£169.95 SP13B............ 50W 2.4 GHz (T-
T Bias)................£499.95
PSW-04........Switch mode 5A (max) 13.8V DC...... £24.95 K ..............80-10m, 66ft
EF-40-10-KW f long.............£159.95 £239.95 DCW-2004B...Sequencer 6/2/70cm................. £279.95

MUCH MORE ON OUR WEBSITE 24/7 - BACKED BY FRIENDLY, KNOWLEDGEABLE STAFF

023 9231 3090

OPEN: Mon to Fri 9.00am - 5.00pm
Unit 1 Fitzherbert Spur Farlington
Portsmouth Hampshire PO6 1TT
We always aim to be competitive
Nevada Price Pledge If you have seen it cheaper - LET US KNOW!
MORSE KEYS InnovAntennas MFJ COMET
MFJ-969 CA-52HB4
Antenna Tuner 50MHz 4 element
• Freq: 160 - 6m HB9CV Wideband
• 8 way Ant Switch Beam
• X needle meter
BENCHER £299.95
Y 1....... Iambic Black................................. £189.95
BY- • Lightweight - ideal Portable Antenna
Y 1B..... Iambic Black Chrome NEW!.......£229.95
BY- XR7C ANALY
L SERS • Gain 10.4 dBi, boom 3.2m
226..........(1-230)MHz Graphic analyser ....£439.95 £129.95
Y 2....... Iambic Chrome............................. £239.95
BY- 7 band compact ‘Full size performance’
RJ-1........Hand Key Deluxe Black................. £169.95 269C....... HF/VHF Digital Analyser............. £499.95 VHF/UHF FIBREGLASS BASE ANTENNAS
• Includes 6m/4m bands! 202B....... Noise Bridge 1 - 100MHz.............£89.95
RJ-2........Hand Key Deluxe Chrome............. £199.95
• Freq: 20m/17m/15m/12m/10m/6m/4m GP-15N....... 50/144/430MHz, 2.4m.......... £109.95
EZ-1....... Universal Key hook up wire.............£16.95 MORSE GP-1M........ 144/430MHz 1.2m................. £59.95
• Boom: 3.5m, Turning radius 4.84m 461..........Morse Reader-pocket sized........£135.95
VIBROPLEX KEYS • Gain: averages 11.24 dBi GP-3M........ 144/430MHz, 1.78m................£69.95
492-X......CW Memory Keyer..................... £139.95
Original Deluxe.........Bug Key Chrome...... £299.95 • Wind survival: 105 mph £1296 550..........Popular Morse code practice key.. £24.95 GP-6M........ 144/430MHz, 3.07m................£99.95
Iambic Deluxe...........Single lever Chrome. £249.95 557..........Morse code key with oscillator..... £59.95 GP-93N....... 144/430/1200MHz, 1.78m.... £129.99
Iambic Standard.......Paddle Black.............£199.95 XR SERIES BEAMS 561..........Iambic CW Travel Paddle.............. £44.95 GP-9M........ 144/430MHz 5.15m............. .£149.95
Iambic Code Warrior Junior......Satin.......£189.95 XR-3.......6 el Standard 20/15/10m........... £795.00 GP285.........VHF 5/8 (135-175)MHz......... £89.955
Vibrokeyer Deluxe ...Single lever Chrome. £249.95
BALUNS
XR-3C.... 6 el Compact 20/15/10m............£795.00 911H....... 1:1 or 4:1 Switchable Balun......... £59.95 VHF/UHF BEAMS
Hand Key Standard...Black....................... £199.95 XR-4C.... 8 el Compact 20/15/10/6m.........£859.00 912..........4:1 Remote Balun box................. £84.95 CA-52HB.....2 element HB9CV for 50MHz... £79.95
Hand Key Deluxe.......Chrome................... £249.95 XR-6.......11 el Stand. 20/17/15/12/10/6m..£1195.00 CA-52HB4...4 element HB9CV for 50MHz.£129.95
Hand Key ‘Camelback’ miniature travel... £109.95 TUNERS
XR-6C.... 11 el Compact version of XR6...£1296.00 921..........2m Antenna Tuner......................£129.95 Y -1216E. 6 element. 1200MHz............... £99.95
CYA
HI MOUND XR-7.......14 el 20/17/15/12/10/6/4m........£1195.00 923..........2m/70cms Tuner & SWR/Power.. £299.95 Y -2414... 2.4GHz 14 El.15.5dBi.............. £99.95
CYA
HK-705.. Hand Key Affordable....................... £44.95 XR-7C.... 14 el Compact XR7..................£1296.00 931..........Artificial ground unit..................£159.95
HK-708.. Hand Key improved action............. £69.95
ANTENNA TUNER
LOG PERIODIC BEAM 934..........300W Tuner + artificial ground.. £289.95 AT-10........ 10W (3.5-50)MHz..................£129.95
CAT
HK-709.. Deluxe Hand key with heavy base... £79.95 BOLPA P ....10 el Compact XR7..................£1295.00 941E........300 Watts Versa Tuner II............ £195.95
TC-701...Budget hand key.............................£49.95 945E........1.8-60MHz 300W manual tuner..£179.95 HF PORTA
T BLE ANTENNA SYSTEM
MK-701..Paddle key...................................... £64.95 MOXON 2 ELEMENT RECTA T NGULAR BEAMS 948..........300W PEP reading ant tuner......£214.95
M-20......20m..6.13 dB. 2.8m Boom............£339.95 949E........300W tuner + Dummy load....... £259.95 BOX SET HF-350M
M-17......17m..6.13 dB 2.2m Boom............ £299.95 959C....... Receive ant tuner + pre-amp..... £174.95 Multi Band Vertical
HEIL HEADPHONES M-15......15m..6.13 dB 1.87m Boom.......... £269.95 969..........300W tuner 160-6m..................£299.95 • Covers: 160m to 6m
50MHz ANTENNAS 971..........200W 1.8-30MHz Portable AT A U . £179.95 • Complete Portable system
F -8..... 8 el LFA2 13.57 dBi......................£599.95
LFA 974HB.....300W Balanced Tuner................ £299.95 • With Carrying pouch
F -7..... 7 el LFA2-HD..12.8 dBi................. £385.95
LFA 986..........1.5kW HF differential ATA U..........£539.95
F -7..... 7 el G3WOS 12.9 dBi................... £399.95
LFA 989D....... 1.5kW HF Roller Inductor AT A U....£549.95 HFJ-350M... 1.8-50MHz Box Set w/case....£149.95
Heil BM-17 991B....... 150W HF Auto Tuner..................£309.95
Heil BM-17 Dual F -6..... 6 el LFA3 11.9 dBi F/B 30.21dB....£309.95
LFA HFJ-350M... 3.5-50MHz 9 Bands...............£129.95
Single 993B ...... 150W/300W Auto Tuner............ £359.95 CCB-HFJ...... Pouch for HFJ-350M................ £28.95
Headphone F -6..... 6 el LFA2 11.22dbi F.
LFA F B 32.21dB.. £269.95 993BRT... 150/300W Auto Remote Tuner... £429.95
Headphone F -6.....6 el LFA2 11.22dbi F/B 38.21dB..£290.95
LFA CGW-560....Radial set................................ £16.95
994B....... 600W Auto Tuner.......................£399.95
F -5..... 5 el. LFA3 10.7dBi F/B 31.79db... £219.95
LFA 994BRT... 600W remote Auto Tuner........... £549.95 HF BASE ANTENNA
F -4..... 4 el LFA 9.4dBi F/B 31.87 dB.... £189.95
LFA 998..........5kW 1.8-30MHz Auto Tuner.......£849.95 CHV-5A..5 band rotary loaded Dipole 4m long..£369.95
Both DYNAMIC MIC or ICOM MIC Options 50MHz/70MHz DUAL BAND 904H....... 150W Travel AT A U with 4:1 Balun.. £219.95
BM-17-DUAL-IC........For Icom inc lead.......£134.95 DB664....6-3 el 6.83dBi 4-3 el 7.05dBi...... £149.95 BALUNS
POWER OUTLETS CBL-1000....1.7-30MHz 1kW/CW................£34.95
BM-17-DUAL.............Dynamic....................£129.95 1104....... 3 way 30A DC Power Pole outlet... £62.95
BM-17-SINGLE-IC.....For Icom Radios........ £114.95 70MHz ANTENNAS CBL-2500....1.8-56MHz 2.5kW/CW.............£39.95
F -70-6. 6 element LFA 11.83dBi............... £189.95 1112....... 6 way 15A DC multi power outlet...£59.95
BM-17-SINGLE DYNAMIC........................ £119.95 LFA 1117....... 4 way 35A DC multi power outlet...£89.95 LOW PA
P SS FILT
L ERS
F -70-4. 4 element LFA 9.8dBi................... £149.95
LFA CF-30MR.....1.8-32MHz 1kW/CW................£59.95
HEADSETS for ICOM RADIOS F -Q.....2 element Quad 6.8dBi.................£114.95
LFA 1118....... 8 way 30A DC multi powr outlet.. £129.95
Pro-Set 7 IC.for Icom (Black or Red) colour £259.95 1129....... 10 way 40A DC power outlet.....£159.95 CF-50MR.....1.8-57MHz 1kW/CW................£59.95
Pro-Set 6 IC.........Icom element................. £169.95 144MHz ANTENNAS ANTENNAS DUPLEXER
F -3 RM......3 el rear mount 8.67dBi..... £95.95
Pro-Set Elite IC...for Icom radios............... £189.95 44-LFA 1020C..... Tuneable indoor active antenna... £129.95 CF-360A....1.3-30/49-470MHz 2xPL259 SO239.....£49.95
PMS-IC...Single Lightweight Headset.............£98.95 144-OWL-3.........3 el 6.94dBi wideband.......£39.95 1026....... QRM eliminator+active antenna.£279.95 CF-360B..1.3-30/49-470MHz 2xSO239 PL259.....£59.95
PMD-IC.. Double Lightweight Headset......... £116.95 144-OWL-4.........4 el 8.58dBi wideband.......£49.95 1763....... 3 element 2m beam.....................£79.95 CF-4160B.. 1.3-170/350-540MHz SO239 N PL259 £39.95
F -8-Xpol..8 el Crossed 9.49dBi....... £139.95
144-LFA 1799X..... 9 Band vertical.......................... £379.95 CF-416A....1.3-170/350-540MHz SO239 2xPL259.£39.95
HEADSETS (HC6 or HC7 elements) 1982LP... End fed half wave 80-10m 30W...£64.95
Pro-Set 7...... HC7 (Black, red or Pink)........ £239.95 We carry the full range of INNOV HF & VHF CF-416B.... 1.3-170/350-540MHz SO239 PL259 N £39.95
1982MP..End fed half wave 80-10m 300W.£95.25 CF-503C.... 1.3-90/125-470MHz PL259 2xSO239..£89.95
Pro-Set 6...... HC6 element......................... £159.95 Antennas. Full details on our web site. 1982HP...End fed half wave 80-10m 800W. £129.95
Pro-Set Elite 6......HC6 element.................£174.95 CF-530...... 1.3-90/125-470MHz SO239 2xPL259. £49.95
TELESCOPIC MASTS CF-530C.... 1.3-90/125-470MHz 2xSO239 PL259. £49.95
PMS-6 Pro Micro..Single headset HC6.........£84.95 ANTENNAS 1902H.....10ft Strong Fibreglass mast £149.95
PMS-6 Pro Micro..Double headset HC6....... £99.95 CF-706PL.. 1.3-57/75-550MHz SO239 2xPL259. £49.95
1904H.....25ft Strong Telescopic mast........£199.95
HTH-Dual......Lightweight Dual for H/helds... £49.95 SPIDERBEAM YA Y GI KITS 1904HD.. 25ft Super Strong Fibreglass...... £219.95 CF-706N....1.3-57/75-550MHz SO239 N PL259. £49.95
HTH-Single... Lightweight Single for H/helds. £29.95 • No compromise design 1906....... 33ft Strong Fibreglass mast........£209.95 TRIPLEXERS
HEADPHONES & SPEAKER SYSTEMS • Handle 2kW power! 1908H.....43ft Strong Fibreglass mast........£299.95 CFX431A... 145/433/1296MHz PL259 2 x N sock £89.95
Pro-Set 3...... Comfortable Studio/Amateur. £109.95 • Lightweight, Portable SWITCHES CFX-514N..50/144/430 MHz 2 x PL259, N sock.. £69.95
HPS-5............ Amplified Speaker................. £199.95 • For home or Dxpeditions 1700C..... 6 Way coax switch.2kW............. £169.95 CROSS NEEDLE SWR/POWER METERS
PRASEQ........ Audio Processing unit............£269.95 1701....... 6 Way coax switch 2kW (SO239).. £119.95 CMX-200.... 1.8-200MHz 30/300/3k........... £79.95
SPIDERBEAM YA
Y GI KITS 1702CN.. 2 Way coax switch 2kW (N Ty T pe)..£59.95
MICROPHONES Spider 3........... 10/15/20m Standard...................£389.95 CMX-400.... 140-525MHz 30/60/300W.......£89.95
ICM.......Quality Hand mic for Icom radios....£123.95 Spider 3HD......10/15/20m Heavy Duty............... £489.95 1704 (P)..4 way coax switch 2.5kW (SO239)£139.95
1704 (N). 4 way coax switch 2.5kW (N type) £139.95 CIVIL/MILITA
T RY
R AIRBAND
GM-ELITE......Dual element.........................£162.95 Spider 5........... 10/12/15/17/20m Standard.........£429.95
1705H.....RF By-pass switch 60MHz 1.5kW...£39.95 AB1230H.... H/Held Airband receive.............£29.95
HM-PRO........Open enclosure Hand mic........ £99.95 Spider 5HD......10/12/15/17/20m HD..................£499.95
1708B..... RF Sensing T/R Ant Switch 200W.£119.95 AB1230M... Mobile Airband receive.............£39.95
PR-781G....... Gold Studio Microphone........£209.95 1708B SD.......RF sensing SDR switch........£149.95
HY-
Y GAIN AB380.........Base Airband receive................£89.95
ACCESSORIES LJ-203BA......20m 3 element Yagi............... £449.95 SWR/WAT
A TMETERS
HS-2.............. Hand PTT control.....................£36.95 LFA DUAL BAND MOBILE ANTENNAS
F -2M9EL...2m 9 el 14.04dBi 4.46m........£239.95 813..........QRP SWR/Wattmeter....................£59.95 CSB7500..2m/3.6dBi, 70cms/6.1dBi............ £59.95
FS-2...............Footswitch dual channel.......... £54.95 LFA F -2M12EL.2m 12el 15.82dBi 7.07m.......£239.95 826B....... Digital SWR/Wattmeter.............. £249.95
FS-3...............Footswitch single channel........ £29.95 LFA CSB7700..2m/4.4dBi, 70cms/6.9dBi............£69.95
F -2M.........16 el 2m 16 el 17.3dBi 10.9m. £349.95 DUMMY LOADS CSB7900..2m/5.1dBi, 70cms/7.7dBi............ £79.95
PL2-T.......Balanced Boom for Studio mics....£139.95 260C....... 300W DC-650MHz SO-239........£59.95
CB-1PTT........ Heavy duty Mic base................£76.95
CUSHCRAFT SBB-2.......2m/2.15dBi 70cms/3.8dBi 0.46m. £29.95
A3-S................. 20/15/10MHz 3 element Yagi......£789.95 260N.......300W DC-650MHz N type......... £62.95 SBB-4.......2m/3.0dBi, 70cms/5.5dBi 0.92m. £39.95
Full range of leads and mounts in stock! MA5-VA V ........... 20/17/15/12/10 MHz Yagi........... £369.95 261N.......100W DC-500MHz N type......... £44.95 CA-285.... 2m/3.5dBi, 50MHz/0dBi 1.32m... £25.95
MA6-VA V ........... 20/17/15/12/10/6m Yagi............. £499.95 ACCESSORIES
MASTRANT A50-6S............. 6m 6 element 11.6dBi................ £299.95 1025....... Noise canceller/signal enhancer...£269.95 TRI-BAND MOBILE
A719B.............. 70cms 19 element 5dBi 4.1m......£249.95 1234B..... Rig Pi Station server...................£399.95 SB15........ 6/2/70cms 1.53m 120W............. £59.95
Quality Guy Ropes & Accessories AR-450.............70cms Ringo Vertical 3dBi............. £79.95 We carry a HUGE range
g of MFJ Products – HF MOBILE
Full range in stock! AR-270B...........70cms/ 2m Vertical......................£199.95 check our web site for full listing UHV-4...... Quad Band 28/50/145/433MHz.. £89.95
P type Ideal for general guying A-148-20T..........2m 10 element Crossed.............. £199.95 ACCESSORIES
P2..........2mm 100kg B/s............. £16.95 A-148-3S..........2m 3 element 7.8dBi.....................£74.40 DAIWA METERS MCB3.Drive on Base for mobile mast support. £79.95
P3..........3mm 200kg B/s............. £24.95 AR-X2B.............144MHz Vertical 7dBi..................£139.95 MG-4M.... Magnetic Mount c/w 4m cable.... £34.95
P4..........4mm 400kg B/s............. £39.95 R-8....................40-6m Vertical 1.5kW 8.7m........ £669.95
NEW CN-901G CTC-50M...Thru window cable/SO-239 assembly £45.95
P5..........5mm 500kg B/s ............£49.95 R-9....................80-6m Vertical B grade................£599.00 UHF SWR/Power Meter 3D4-M..... SO239 socket/Cable assembly 4m.£19.95
P6..........6mm 850kg B/s............. £79.95 HARI TRAPS 900 MHz-1.3GHz 3K-054M...SO239 w/ 4m miniature cable/PL259 £29.95
P8..........8mm 1,300kg B/s........£109.95 CSP-400...Lightning arrestor DX -500MHz...£29.95
£249.95
M type Thinner higher performance
M2.........2mm 240kg B/s.............£31.95 CN-103LN.. 140-525MHz 20/200W N type. £99.95 AMPRO HF MOBILE ANTENNAS
M3.........3mm 100m 390kg........ £49.95 80m.................. 1kW price per pair.........................£89.95 CN-501H.... 1.8-150MHz 15/150/1.5kW......£99.95
M4.........4mm 900kg B/s...........£119.95 17m.................. 1kW price per pair.........................£74.95 CN-501H2..1.8-150MHz 20/200/2kW........ £99.95 250W Power - 3/8th thread mount
M5.........5mm 1150kg B/s.........£179.95 15m.................. 1 kW price per pair....................... £74.95 CN-501VN. 140-525MHz 20/200W N type. £99.95 AMPRO-160m...160m 2m long.................. £59.95
M6.........6mm 1850kg B/s.........£237.95 12m.................. 1kW price per pair.........................£74.95 CN-901HP..1.8-200MHz 20/200/2kW.......£139.95 AMPRO-80m..... 80m 2m long.................... £25.95
M8.........8mm 2600kg B/s.........£336.95 30m.................. 200W price per pair...................... £59.95 CN-901HP3..140-525MHz 20/200/3kW N type£179.95 AMPRO-40m..... 40m 2m long.................... £22.95
Full range of fittings in stock See web for full range of HARI Baluns/Traps CN-901VN. 140-525MHz, 20/200W N type.£129.95 FULL RANGE ON OUR WEB

PART EXCHANGE - WE OFFER THE BEST RATES FOR YOUR OLD GEAR, CALL US NOW FOR A QUOTE!

www.nevadaradio.co.uk
What Next

Colin Redwood G6MXL

[email protected]

O
ver the years that I have been
licensed I’ve encountered
a few Electro-Magnetic
Compatibility (EMC) issues
at the two main locations that I have
operated from. These were all associated
with my transmissions. So far, I’ve been
lucky enough not to suffer significant
interference to amateur band reception
from nearby electronic equipment, etc.

Managing Neighbours
There is no doubt in my mind that in the
case of an EMC issue the way relationships
with neighbours is managed is of vital
importance, not just in the case of the EMC 1
issue itself, but ongoing. If neighbours are
upset, word will spread, giving the hobby a
bad name locally. In the future you may want
your neighbours’ support for a planning
application for a new antenna mast. While
EMC
EMC issues are not grounds for refusing Colin Redwood G6MXL looks at some EMC
planning consent, neighbours left upset
following EMC issues will no doubt seek
issues he has encountered over the years.
every reason to object to your proposed
antenna mast. preamplifier (preamp). I figured that most which I tended to point my beams. As the
likely my 70cm signals were overloading problem occurred on more than one band,
Is ItYou? her preamp resulting in the TVI. I thought a notch filter for a single band was not the
Without doubt, the first step is to establish that a tuned notch filter might help. It would answer. Instead, I gave them a hi-pass filter
whether the EMC issues reported by allow broadcast television signals to pass to install, Fig. 1. I heard nothing more from
neighbours are really associated with the but reduce the level of my 70cm signals them, so assume it resolved the problem.
operation of your station. Keeping a detailed getting to her preamp. Once my neighbour
log of your transmissions will greatly confirmed the installation of the 70cm New QTH
assist. If you haven’t kept a log up to this tuned notch filter at the input to her preamp, Some years passed and I moved house. The
point, I would certainly start to keep one I resumed operation with no further reports main focus of my on-air activity from home
at least until the EMC issue is resolved to of TVI. switched from VHF/UHF to HF. I operated
the satisfaction of both yourself and your for over 15 years at the new house with no
neighbour. Ask the neighbour to keep a log Landline Telephone EMC issues, so I thought all was well. The
of when the ‘interference’ is present. I once My second EMC complaint was a rather arrival of a new neighbour coincided with a
had a complaint from a neighbour regarding different case. My immediate neighbour period where I had lowered my HF antenna
their TV picture breaking up. I hadn’t been reported hearing my signals on her landline for maintenance. I had spoken to them a
on the air for several weeks, so I was able telephone. Her concern was not so much few weeks previously and mentioned that I
to emphatically deny that my station could that she could hear my signals, but that I am an active radio amateur and that I would
have been the cause. When comparing might be able to listen-in to her phone calls. shortly be putting my antenna back up and
logs, don’t forget to take into account I suggested she contact her telephone operating. There was certainly no adverse
local time differences (BST and UTC in UK supplier, who visited and fitted a suitable reaction, on the contrary they seemed
summertime). filter and assured her that I would not be totally supportive.
able to listen into her phone calls. While talking to the neighbours I said
70cm TVI that there shouldn’t be any problems,
My first case of television interference (TVI) TVI but in the unlikely event of any issues,
occurred when I was running 30W SSB on The third problem occurred several years to please let me know. I knew that the
70cm. A near neighbour a few houses along later and was a variation on the first TVI previous occupant had used a cable TV
the road complained of TVI. We compared problem. In this case it was a neighbour supplier and had never reported any EMC
the time she experienced problems with further away with an outside TV antenna. problems. The new neighbour said that
my log and quickly confirmed a link to my The TVI appeared to be occurring when they would be using an existing terrestrial
operating when pointing the beam from I operated on a variety of VHF amateur antenna with an existing preamp they
my directional antenna in the direction of bands using up to 100W into Yagi antennas had acquired with the property, which
her house. The complainant was using with gains of up to around 10dBd. The they had already called an engineer out to
a TV antenna in her loft together with a neighbour’s house was in the direction in reactivate.

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32 PRACTICAL WIRELESS August 2021
What Next

2 3

TVI (again)
Well within 15 minutes of my return to
the air, I had the dreaded knock at the
door. Not only was their television being
affected, some touch-sensitive lights were
coming on and off. I said that I would stop
transmitting immediately and would get
back to them. I felt that it would be relatively
easy to resolve the TVI (Freeview – digital)
problem. We’re fortunate to live line-of-sight
to a local TV relay station about 5km away
that runs 50W ERP. Alternatively, there is
a high-power TV transmitter further away
running 200kW ERP. Both transmitters are
on almost the same bearing and are both
vertically polarised. The main Rowridge TV
transmitter is almost unique in using both
vertical and horizontal polarisation.
To get things underway, I ordered a high-
pass filter with a view to fitting it on the
input to my neighbour’s preamp. I hoped
that this would prevent the preamp from
being overloaded by my HF signals. The
high-pass filter attenuates signals below
200MHz by 60dB, while having minimal
effect on UHF television signals, so it
would reduce any of my HF, 6m, 4m and
2m band signals. I gave my neighbours
the filter to install on the input of their
preamplifier, which is located in the loft
space. I left my neighbours with this for a 4
few days without transmitting as I wanted
to give them a chance to be happy that the Fig. 1: A high-pass filter – allows UHF TV signals to pass, while attenuating HF and VHF signals.
filter wasn’t adversely impacting their TV Fig. 2: The original broadcast UHF television and VHF FM installation.
reception. When I returned to the air, it was Fig. 3: Fitting filters on both inputs to the loft-mounted preamplifier stopped it being overloaded with
agreed that even when transmitting 100W signals from the amateur bands. Fig. 4: The base of the touch-sensitive lamp. The black logic box is
on any HF band, there was no TVI. at the top. The 10mH inductor can be seen just to the right of the centre. Fig. 5: The principle of a
lowpass filter used to attenuate HF amateur band signals while allowing an LF oscillator to still operate.
Home-Front
In parallel, I decided that I needed to make problems with the old analogue (pre-digital) matters but didn’t completely resolve
sure my own house was in order. I was television reception. The switch to Freeview them. Fig. 2 shows the arrangement for
aware that my signals sometimes caused digital and a new television improved Freeview television and Band II broadcast

radio reception at my QTH that I acquired could to radiate a clean signal.

when we moved in. I fitted a high-pass filter I ran controlled tests with my wife sat
to the TV antenna input of the amplifier, with the neighbour recording the results
which stopped LF to VHF signals getting ‘blind’ using mobile phones for talk-back.
into the amplifier via the UHF input. While My tests covered powers from 5W to
this improved matters, it didn’t resolve the 100W on the 30m, 17m and 12m bands
TVI problem completely. I therefore fitted running FT8. Some of the tests included
a bandpass filter on the Band II broadcast no transmission as a control.
radio antenna input to the amplifier. This The initial tests were absolutely clear.
totally resolved the problem by attenuating The lights operated exactly as expected
strong amateur band signals from getting no matter what power I ran on the three
into the amplifier through either input bands. I returned to the air. It was only a 5
and thus stopped overload, Fig. 3. I now couple of days later, that I had another
had clean Freeview TV and Band II FM knock on the door. Even running 70W RF inductors (they look almost identical
reception, which I could demonstrate to any rather than the 100W maximum in the to resistors) from CPC/Farnell. As I
complainant and Ofcom. tests, the lights were again flashing on and experimented with various values, I
off. It transpired that my neighbours had found that as I increased the inductance,
Touch-Sensitive Lights moved their lights. the immunity of the lamp improved,
I was more worried about my neighbour’s I gladly accepted an offer from my enabling me to run higher power at lower
touch-sensitive lights. I know that some neighbour to borrow one of the lights frequencies with the lamp operating
amateurs take the view that an EMC issue and ran further controlled tests. It was correctly. I tried including a resistor in
like this is for the complainant to resolve. clear that the light was more susceptible series with the inductor, and although it
I take a completely different approach. I’ll to lower frequency transmissions than seemed to improve the immunity, it also
do anything I can to keep on the air while higher frequencies. affected the operation of the lamp. In the
keeping good relations with my neighbours, I could run 60W on 12m with no end I found that a value of 10mH (which
and that means doing what I can to problems, but even 5W of 30m would looks like a 10kΩ resistor) by itself − no
resolve EMC problems that my neighbours affect it. resistor − provided sufficient immunity to
experience from my activities. I did some research and found a couple my 100W 10MHz and higher frequency
Research showed that inside each of references on the ARRL website and transmissions, while still providing
touch-sensitive light was a low radio in an old RadCom. These provided a absolutely normal operation of the touch-
frequency oscillator that runs all the time possible solution, which involved fitting sensitive lamp. Before re-gluing the
it is plugged into the mains. a small inductor and resistor in between base, I put sleaving over the inductor and
The oscillator is clearly audible on a the sensor (the metal base of these lights) exposed solder joint. I re-glued the base
medium wave portable radio if placed and the control logic box. with a hot-glue gun.
within a metre of the lamp. When the I had several concerns with this The next challenge was to persuade my
metal base of the lamp is touched, this approach. First, would it work? Second, neighbours to allow modifications to the
slightly alters the frequency of the tuned if it worked, it would no doubt invalidate lamps. I was happy to have a professional
circuit of the oscillator, which in turn the supplier’s guarantee, so my neighbour portable appliance test (PAT) to certify
triggers the electronics to either switch might not agree to this approach? And the safety of the modification, and then
on (if the lamp is off) or switch off (if the third, would my neighbour be concerned subject to my neighbour’s agreement to fit
lamp is on). My neighbour also had some about the electrical safety of a modified RF chokes in his lamps and have each of
similar lights, which had three levels of light? them PAT conducted to certify the safety
brightness. All were being affected. I bought another identical lamp, of the modified lamps. In the end I didn’t
I firstly checked all aspects of my removed the cover from the base and need to do this as my neighbour decided
station. Besides checking the entire tried fitting radio frequency chokes of to replace their lights.
antenna system, I carefully checked that various values between the metal base
my transmitter was producing a clean of the lamp and the plastic box with the Conclusions
signal. I wasn’t using any processing and oscillator and control logic in it, Fig. 4. I In each of these EMC cases, by adopting
I turned the drive down so there was no needed to make a lowpass filter, allowing a friendly and proactive approach to EMC
ALC. I was using the built-in auto ATU in low frequency oscillator frequencies to issues reported by neighbours, I have been
my transceiver, which I felt should help pass, but attenuating HF amateur signals, able to return to the air and operate on a
supress any harmonics. In short, I reckon Fig. 5. variety of bands at reasonable power in a
that I had done everything I reasonably I obtained a selection of axial-leaded domestic environment.

HAVE YOU TRIED THE DIGITAL EDITION?

34 PRACTICAL WIRELESS August 2021

ML&S Trusted by the World’s Most Famous Brands
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MARTIN LYNCH www.HamRadio.co.uk

& SONS LTD
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MARTIN LYNCH www.HamRadio.co.uk

& SONS LTD
THE WORLD FMOUS HAM RDIO STORE
0345 2300 599
International Tel: +44 1932 567 333
Wessex House, Drake Avenue, Staines, Middlesex TW18 2AP. E-mail: [email protected]. Opening Hours: Mon - Fri: 8.30am to 5pm. Sat: 9am to 4.30pm.
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Notes from a Small Station

How to Win a Contest!

Joe Chester M1MWD Joe Chester M1MWD tries to draw some conclusions
[email protected]
about activity from contest statistics.

A
s I’ve said often enough, I’m not
into contests. Never entered one,
no intention either. But one day
last week, my Elecraft system
started to misbehave during a morning
80m net. Every time I pushed the PTT the
frequency shifted 0.5kHz. And the SWR
went through the roof. So, I switched off,
intending to check out the system later.
Suddenly it was 1900UTC, so I switched
on, found a quiet spot and tuned up the rig.
Everything looked fine, so I decided to give
away a few points in the RSGB 80m Club
Contest that evening.
I was surprised to be able to work ten
stations, more or less in quick succession,
in less than 15 minutes of operation. So
clearly, there is nothing obvious wrong
with my setup. A couple of days later I
tried the net again, but conditions were
very poor, and though I was heard on
various web SDRs, I switched off to await
better conditions. What was wrong on that
Monday morning net? Where did the high
SWR come from? Why was the KX3 jumping 1
frequency? To be honest, I have no idea, but
it’s all working now. colleague at the same time, although that Fig. 1: The author’s attempt to fit a trend line to
does sound a bit of an exaggeration to me. the reported contest data.
QSO Rate But clearly a 10WPM operator is going to
Stray thought? Have you done any have a lower QSO per hour than a 40WPM serial, required in most contests. I think
contesting? If so, how well did you do? No, operator. five to six seconds might be enough. Giving
I’m not asking if you won the thing, or won But this factor, CW speed, drops out of us a maximum achievable QSO rate of
anything. But I am curious about something consideration if we focus solely on SSB. something like 600 contacts an hour. Now
that appeared briefly in these notes several There is not much difference between fast remember I specified perfect conditions for
months ago. I am interested in what I will and slow talkers saying just 59 73! Which this experiment.
describe as the QSO rate of contesters, i.e. brings me to the interesting point here. In actual fact, I think this idea would make
how many QSOs are you making in an hour, What is the absolute maximum number of for a very nice ‘contest’ for a club evening.
say? SSB QSOs an operator could make in an Bit of a laugh anyway. And you don’t need to
Now there is a website, with numbers, but hour of operation? Let’s make this easier. keep it up for an hour, a ten-minute window
bear with me for now. My ‘score’ was 10 in Assume the contacts are there waiting for per participant should be enough. I will
15 minutes, or 40 an hour (if I had stayed the QSO, and that conditions are very good, leave you to design the experimental setup,
on for that long). I think QSO rate is a really so no significant QSB, or QRN or QRM either. which shouldn’t be too difficult. Other club
interesting measure of system performance If I, a rank amateur in the world of contesting members could throw their callsigns at the
− that is antenna, feeder, matching unit, (and in much else besides!), can do a QSO volunteer and see how many ‘QSOs’ he can
transceiver, plus of course the operator, and every minute and a half, what can the avid make in ten minutes. You mightn’t even
conditions. Clearly if propagation is poor, contesters do? And what is the absolute need to go on air! But back to reality.
then the QSO rate should suffer accordingly. maximum that could be achieved? If CW I mentioned a website, it’s:
This statement may not be quite what it people can imagine 80WPM, then could an www.cqww.com/rates
appears, as you will see later. Let me further SSB operator do one every second? 3600 Here are listed the best hourly QSO
state that I’m interested in SSB contacts QSOs in an hour? Wow! Maybe this is too rates of the participants in the CQ WW
only. For CW operators the QSO rate is a much to contemplate. So, what about one Contest, from 2004 to 2020. These are
variable feast, depending on how fast they every five seconds − go on, time it yourself. listed separately for the various contest
can send. And I have heard of operators How long does it take to say “QRZ”, listen categories, e.g. single operator, QRP, and
doing 80WPM, while reading a newspaper, to a callsign, then repeat that callsign and various classes of multi-operator stations.
and having a cup of tea and a chat with a add “59 73 136”. That last number is the Some numbers to consider. In the single

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38 PRACTICAL WIRELESS August 2021
Notes from a Small Station

operator category, the highest achieved rate Further Analysis From which I immediately generalise. To
in all of these years was 8P5A, operated by I did some further analysis on this data have fun on air, you don’t need the very best
Tom W2SC, with 407 contacts an hour in as I’m curious about how the QSO rate transceiver. Furthermore, and I am guilty
2015. Now you can look at this in various varies year on year. Surely there must be of saying this both in this magazine and
ways. That rate means a completed contact some effect from the variable propagation elsewhere, you don’t need the very best of
every 8.5 seconds. I don’t think this is conditions, and also from improvements in propagation conditions either.
averaged over the 48 hours of the contest, the technology in the various transceivers Even when propagation is poor, there are
but his best hour during the contest. Now in use? still lots of stations out there waiting for
don’t ask me how the guy could keep this The data here is less than convincing. your CQ call. Let’s see if I can give you a few
level of operating for up for 48 hours. But Over the 17 years for which there is data in key sentences to chew on. The first is that
the result for the hour in question is there this table, the winners averaged around the once again, QRP operators do very well in
in that table. For your information, the hour 372 mark, the lowest winner being CU2X comparison to their high-powered cousins.
in question was actually the first hour of in 2008 with 333 QSOs per hour. I thought I know nothing about the exact conditions
the contest that year, 24 October 2015, there would be a wider variation. You when these results were achieved but
and it’s also interesting that he sat on one might think that transceiver performance managing to make close to 300 contacts
frequency, 14.328MHz for the whole hour, would have improved over this length of an hour is quite a statement. Secondly,
no search and pounce work. For those time, or that propagation effects would 8P5A’s extraordinary rate is only two thirds
interested in how contesters get high be noticeable. But it’s not that clear, to me of my estimate above of the theoretical
scores in contests these two points may be anyway. In fact, if anything it is saying that maximum achievable for a single operator.
of interest. these two factors have had relatively little Of course, the team of twelve easily
Another interesting piece of data comes impact on these performances. exceeded this, almost twice over.
from the QRP participants. John P40A, in The last solar maximum was about However, I think I would be tempted to
Aruba, or KK9A, his US callsign, achieved 2004, where this table starts. And the data revise my theoretical performance figure
289 contacts per hour in 2004, over 70% runs right through to the solar minima, the downwards. Which probably means that
of that of the full power station. How minima of 2009 and 2020. A trend is just these operators are reaching the maximum
absolutely fabulous was that score, then? discernible, matching the solar cycle (see rate achievable practically. But still a long
Who says life’s too short for QRP? And at my attempt at graphing these in the hand- way from my exceedingly modest 40!
the other extreme, if I look up the multi- drawn graph). But these operators are still And finally, overall propagation
multi people, I see that CN2AA did 1012 managing an average of 370 or so contacts conditions have only very little impact on
an hour, also in 2015, just short of two and an hour every year. And how then to explain the QSO rates being achieved. So why
a half times the single operator rate. But 2011 and 2012? So, I suspect that, overall, exactly are people saying day after day
there were twelve operators with several it must come down to the skill of these that there is no one on the air because
transceivers at this station. operators. conditions are poor?

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J
ef Van Raepenbusch ON8NT mentions
WFVIEW, Fig. 1, software for controlling
modern Icom receivers and transceiv-
ers either using USB or network con-
nections. Jef says, “wfview provides the user
with data from the radio’s spectrum display.
The main tab contains all the basic features
most users will need for a QSO or casual lis-
tening. Other tabs contain convenient buttons
for jumping to various bands or adjusting
more detailed parameters of the radio, includ-
ing the calibration control adjustment on the
IC-9700, which can be used in tandem with
the waterfall display.
“wfview goes beyond simply allowing the
user to adjust the radio. wfview enhances
the user’s experience, with easy-to-use
keystrokes for most tasks and accessibility
labels for screen readers. The software
even includes a built-in rig server, primarily
designed for the IC-7300, which allows other
instances of wfview on remote computers
to connect in and enjoy fast real-time control
and low-latency audio. 1
“wfview supports Linux, Windows, and
macOS, and is fully open-source”. You can
read about it more at:
http://wfview.org
WFVIEW
The 6m Band With the Sporadic E season in full swing, Tim
Andy Adams GW0KZG (Letterston) reports
over the period from May and June. Andy put Kirby GW4VXE has another packed column,
up a 6-element Powabeam for the 6m band. starting with a mention of WFVIEW.
He has struggled somewhat with noise
issues in some directions but nevertheless
has made some nice contacts, the highlights During May, Kevin Hewitt ZB2GI and includes an impressive log, all on SSB,
being TF3VG (HP94), KP4EIT (FK68), VO1HP (Gibraltar) made over 550 QSOs on FT8 considering the low power: 9A9R (JN85),
(GN37) and CU2JX (HM77). using his IC-7300 and an Outback Multiband EA3AYO (JN11), EA7JM (IM76), F1RAF
Roger Greengrass EI8KN (Co Waterford) whip with counterpoise wire attached to (JN18), F4GBD (JN05), F4GET (IN87), F4HEC
has been using both FT8 and FT4 modes a broom handle stuck out of the window. (JN07), F4IIQ (JN06), F5JRX (JN26), G4ELJ
and worked HZ1BW (LL34) on 7 May, Highlights of Kev’s log include 5B4AAB (IO91), HB9AID (JN36), HB9FAP (JN46),
VO1HP (GN37) on 14 May and W4AS (EL95) (KM64), 9A9Z (JN75), 9H1TX (JM75), HB9ZCF (JN47), I0OOZ (JN61), I5IIL (JN54),
on 15 May. Roger caught an opening on 3 CN8DN (IM53), CT1EEB (IN50), CU6NS I5XFW (JN53), IK1PMR (JN45), IK2EAE
June working N5DG (EM20), HI3T (FK49), (HM58), DC8GT (JN38), EA1P (IN70), EA6T (JN45), IK2OHG (JN45), IK2XRL (JN45),
PV8DX (FJ92), VE9XX (FN77), HI8GSP (JM19), EA8C (IL18), EI8JK (IO51), F2JD IK5EKL (JN53), IT9BNX (JM68), IU0DUM
(FK58), HI8RD (FK58), HC1HC (FI09), KP2/ (JN25), G0CER (IO82), GW4VXE (IO71), (JN61), IU0JIW (JN61), IU5ICR (JN53),
K0BZ (FK77) and K1TOL (FN44). Next day, GX1RAF (IO91), HB9HIT (JN36), IK2QPR IV3QBT (JN65), IW3GJF (JN55), IW6NXR
Roger worked VA1WV (FN75), K5XI (FN64), (JN55), IT9BCC (JM67), K1DJ (FN42), K2QL (JN72), IW7DHC (JN61), IZ0HPX (JN61),
VE1JBC (FN73) and N1NK (FN41). (FN22), K9MU (EN44), LA3DV (JO49), LX1JX IZ0TTE (JN62), IZ1MLQ (JN35), IZ4AQT
It was good to catch up with John (JO30), M1AMY (JO01), M7GZZ (IO93), (JN54), IZ5CML (JN53), IZ5HQB (JN53),
Sluymer VE3EJ (Ontario) on the band on 4 MM0GOR (IO85), N8JX (EN64), NP3DM IZ5ZRC (JN53), IZ8FXZ (JN61), S57L (JN75),
June and in an email after the opening, John (FK68), NP4G (FK78), OE3WHC (JN88), SP1FJZ (JO84), SP3OOC (JO92), SV3DCX
said he’d worked 110 European stations. OH5KW (KP30), ON7EQ (JO21), OZ1ZD (KM08) and TK1CX (JN42).
Next day, John worked Z37CXY for a new (JO46), PA4VHF (JO32), S51AT (JN75), Tony Collett G4NBS (Cambridge) sends
country. John says that he never ceases to S56Y (JN65), S57ZM (JN76), SM2SUM an excellent and comprehensive report.
be amazed in how selective the band can be (KP03), SP4K (KO03), UT8IO (KN87), On 12 May, Tony caught his first aurora
– sometimes he will hear Glenn VA3DX just VO1CH (GN37) and W5BN (FN33). Kev also in a long time, working MD0CCE (IO74),
a few miles away, working stations that John operated from the top of the Rock using GM4UYE (IO86) and GM3POI (IO88) on CW
just can’t hear and then, the reverse occurs. an FT690 II and a 3-element Yagi, Fig. 2, and MM5DWW (IO89) on SSB. On 13 May

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42 PRACTICAL WIRELESS August 2021
The World of VHF

Fig. 1: A screenshot of the wfview software for

remotely controlling Icom transceivers.
Fig. 2: Kevin ZB2GI’s 3 element 6m beam used for
his portable operation at the top of the Rock.
Fig. 3: Portable satellite operation COVID style:
Patrick WD9EWK operating from the Navajo
Nation reservation in DM46, which was subject to
COVID restrictions.

before the UK Activity Contest Tony worked

SV6KRW (KM09) and 5B4AIF (KM64) on
FT8 as well as several CW QSOs with ES,
HA, OH, SM, SP and YL. During the contest
on SSB, Tony worked IT9BDM (JM77) and
TF8KY (HP83). The evening of 18 May
saw a nice opening to the Caribbean with
VP2EIH (FK88), KP4DGW (FK68), KP4JRS
(FK68), PJ2BR, PJ4EVA (FK52), KW4SP
(EM64) and C37AC (JN02) all worked on
FT8. There was a big opening to the US on
19 May when Tony made 46 QSOs in 31
squares, the best DX being W7CD (CN87) at
2058z. Europeans were strong nearly all day
on 20 May but at around 2215UTC on what
seemed a dead band, Tony worked VE1PZ
(FN85), W4FZ (FM18), N1UK (FM05) and
WA2MJP (FN32).
During the afternoon of 23 May, Tony
found the band good into Scotland with
eight worked as well as OY1DZ (IP62), all
on FT8. The evening of the same day saw
plenty of Europeans followed at 2040UTC
by 9Y4D (FK90), FG5GH (FK96) and 8P2K
(GK03). On 25 May, Tony made 90 QSOs in
74 squares between 1230 and 2200UTC
with the highlights being A92AA (LL56),
9K2YM (LL48) and Z61DX (KN02). On 28 2
May, Tony caught RA4DX (LO21) with EI7IX
(IO53) and EI4KF (IO54) coming through (KN11) on CW and IZ8FFA/P (JM87) and Es ‘season’. What a difference it has made!
on what he thinks was backscatter. Out of finally IS0BSR (JN40) back on SSB. Tony During the last month we have both worked
nowhere on 1 June, Tony worked S01WS worked IG9CGH (JM65) for a new square literally hundreds of European and North
(IL46) calling CQ on SSB at 1650 and N4QS and 9H1GP (JM75) for the best DX of the American stations, plus many more in the
(EM56) on FT8 just afterwards. afternoon on 6 June. Finally on 7 June, Caribbean and South America.
3 June was a big day with the highlights Tony worked ZB2IF (IM76), 4Z1UF (KM71), “Best DX during the month was 5B4ALJ
being A71AM (LL55), TR8CA (JJ40), A92GE HZ1SK (KL91) and SV2DGH. Thank you, at about 10,250km on 6 June, and other
(LL56), A65BR (LL75), 4X1YS (KM71), Tony for a great report which captures, very notable DX worked included (in no particular
HI3T (FK49), HI8DL (FK58), HI8RD (FK58), nicely, what’s been happening on the band. order): CT1IUA, EA8JF, EA7KI, SV2DSD,
PV8AZ (FJ92), 7Z1SJ (LL25), WP4JCF Jef ON8NT uses 10W from his IC-7300 F4BKV, CT3MD, CS8ABF, ON4IQ, PA2J, EI5EV,
(FK68), 5T5PA (IL10), HI3T (FK49), D4VHF to a V-2000 vertical and lists his highlights; IS0ZOD, LX1JX, DK8NE, ZB2GI, OZ1SKY,
(HK76) and NP2J (FK77) on CW, WP4ROQ SV9CVY (KM25), ZB2GI (IM76), EA8DBM SP6TRX, IW5DHW, EA6Y, S57RR, 9H1TX,
(FK68) and PJ4DX (FK52) on SSB, KP2/ (IL18), EA8W (IL38), EA8JK (IL18), CN8LI 9A3K, HB9Q, OK1FAV, OE3KLU, HG2DX,
K0BZ (FK77) and HI8RD on FT4 and finally (IM63), 7X2RF (JM16) and EA9QD (IM75). OG3G, OM3EY, UR5WA, Z37CXY, SM4KYN,
HC2FG (FI07), HC1HC (FI09), HC1BI Steve and Eva Telenius-Lowe, PJ4DX ES5PC, GU8FBO, GM3SEK, MD0CCE, GI4SNA,
(FI09) and finally PV8DX (FJ92) back on and PJ4EVA (Bonaire) have both been LA9DAA, YL3HA, OH0Z, D4VHF, YU1EL,
FT8. 4 June saw a few QSOs through the very active on 6m FT8 this month. Steve EA9ACD, 4O4A, E72U and LZ2BU.
day, including TT8SN (JK72) on CW at writes: “Despite normally being mainly an “Both Eva and I were also particularly
1638UTC. At 2000UTC the band opened HF operator the Sporadic E (Es) propagation pleased to make QSOs with Tim GW4VXE and
across the Atlantic, allowing Tony to make on 6m has been so good I actually spent far PW Editor Don G3XTT!
44 QSOs in 19 squares. During the UK more time on 6m this month than on HF! “I have now worked 79 DXCC entities on
6m Group Contest on 5/6 June things “Eva and I both started to use FT8 only 6m, with 67 of them so far confirmed on
were pretty quiet although Tony managed in November last year, so this was our first Logbook of The World (LoTW). Around 30 of
to work 5B4AAB (KM64) on SSB, Z36W experience of using FT8 on 6m during the those were ‘new ones’ in the last month. Eva,

having only started on 6m in May, already

has 49 DXCC worked and 43 confirmed on
LoTW”.
Phil Oakley G0BVD (Great Torrington)
has had some PC problems, which have
curtailed FT8 operating somewhat this
month, but nevertheless has worked some
nice ones, including D4VHF (HK76), TA9J
(LN10), 3A2MW (JN33), W4SO (EL98),
K3VN (EL98), W4AS (EL95), W4TAA (EL87)
and VO1LM (GN37).
Dave Thorpe G4FKI (Ampthill) was
amazed to be heard in Taiwan by BX6ABV
on FT8. Dave was using a simple wire
dipole at around 10ft above the ground. On
19 May, Dave says that he copied literally
dozens of US stations, using the same
setup.

The 4m Band
Both Simon Evans G6AHX (Twyning) and
Ken Eastty G3LVP (Cheltenham) worked
LX1FX/MM (JN23) on 19 May – the first
time both of them have worked a maritime
mobile on 4m. Simon also lists HA5LV, 3
SQ8PEH, SP6A, OH0Z and EA5Z all worked
on SSB. (IO91), G4DKB (JO01), G4EZP (JO01), IK0FTA (JN61), IC8TEM (JN70), IU8MHG
Gordon Smith GW6TEO (Castlemartin) G4FUF (JO01), G4HGI (IO83), G4PLZ (JO02), (JM78) and IT9GSF (JM67).
sent an interesting report covering May G4YTL (IO92), G6OUA (IO91), G8BXC (JO01), Tony G4NBS found time to be active on
and says that his first Es opening was on G8HGN (JO01), GI4SNA (IO64), GW4ZHI 2m as well as 6m and made a few contacts
14 May with the band open, on and off for (IO82), GW6TEO (IO71), GW8ASA (IO81), towards the end of the contest on 16 May,
about three hours, allowing Gordon to work GW8ASD (IO83), HA1WA ((JN87), LX1ER working GM3S and GM3HAM/P (IO74)
into EA, HA, E7, OK, DL, S5, 9A, SP, OM, OZ, (JN29), M0CKM (IO90), M1DNJ (JO01), as well as GI4SNA, all on SSB. On 31 May
LX and ON. On 16 May there was a very brief ON4AOI (JO21), ON4GG (JO20), ON5SA around sunset, some Scandinavian stations
opening into 9A, DL and EA. On 24 May he (JN29), OS4PS (JO20), PA2CHR (JO32), appeared on FT8 as things cooled down.
worked nine EA stations and one ZB2, with PA2J (JO21), PA2M (JO21), PA3GHQ (JO21), Tony worked OZ1KWJ (JO45), OZ1JMN
EA7AAF (IM77) being a new square. PA3GHQ (JO21), PA4VHF (JO32), PE1ITR (JO46), OZ9GA (JO46), LA3BO (JO59) and
The best opening of the month for (JO21), PE1IWT (JO32), S52OR ((JN76), LA9DM (JO59), LA9NKA (JP20), SK6QA
Gordon was on 25 May with 25 stations S57D (JN76), S57TW (JN75), S59F (JN65), (JO58), SF6F (JO67), SM6YNO (JO67) and
worked with several new squares; EA4FT SP2CHY (JO94), and YL3HA (KO26). With SM4GGC (JO69).
(IN70), SQ8AQX (KO00), YO9HP (KN35), the same setup, Kev was also able to make During the UK Activity Contest on 1 June
HA3PV (JN96), LZ2JA (KN22) SV1QT a few SSB QSOs: G3MXH (JO02), G0ORG Tony made 105 QSOs in 24 squares and was
(KM17), SP8WW (KN19) and perhaps best (JO02), M0GHZ (IN81) and G4FKK (IO91). particularly pleased to work M0AFJ/P (IO70)
of all, 9K2YM (LL48) for a new square and and GW0RHC (IO71) as well as the more
a new DXCC. Gordon wonders whether the The 2m Band ‘usual’ stations. On FM, Tony worked three
contact with 9K2YM is a first from Wales to Roger EI8KN caught a 2m Es opening on 14 stations, including M7ALE/P (IO93) and
Kuwait on the band. May, working EB5GC (IM97) and EA5IEA GW8ASD. During the FT8 Activity session on
Using his IC-7300, mobile whip, (IM97). On 19 May, he caught another 2 June, Tony found lots of activity with the
counterpoise wire and the magic broom opening to Italy, Germany, Malta and highlights being OZ1BEF (JO46), DL1DBR
handle stuck out the window, Kevin ZB2GI Switzerland working about 20 stations with (JO41), GM1MYF (IO87) and EI8KN (IO62).
sends an impressive log of stations worked the best DX being 9H1CG (JM75). Roger Roger Daniel G4RUW (Newbury) caught
on the band using FT8: DB5KN (JO31), also caught the opening on 25 May working the Es opening on 25 May and worked
DG0CAW (JN49), DJ2QV (JN58), DK2EA 12 stations from Italy in the I6, 7, 8 and 0 call YO6OBK (KN26) for a new square, followed
(JO50), DK5EW (JN48), DL1AE (JO31), areas. by IZ8DSK (JN71) and IZ8DVD (JM88).
DL3MBG (JN67), DL3YEE (JO42), DL5EBS Simon G6AHX caught an Es opening on Roger says that he’s heard 14 countries so
(JO31), DL6BF (JO32), DL8GP (JN39), 25 May, working IH9YMC (JM56) on SSB far this year by Es.
EA7HCL (IM76), EI2FG (IO61), EI4DQ (IO51), and was delighted to learn that IH9 counts
F5DQK (JN18), G0CHE (IO90), G0KSC as Africa. The 70cm Band
(JO01), G0LFF (IO90), G1CWP (IO90), Gordon GW6TEO was just out of the Tony G4NBS caught some DX on the 70cm
G1OUA (IO91), G3SED (IO90), G3WCS main focus of the opening on 25 May, but band during the evening of 31 May, working
(IO83), G3WKW (IO91), G3XDV (IO92), managed catch four minutes of it just as OZ1SKY (JO56), LA9AKA (JP20), OZ1DLD
G3YHM (IO90), G3ZQH (IO92), G4CCZ the opening was coming to an end, working (JO45) and OV3T (JO46). At 2303 local time,

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44 PRACTICAL WIRELESS August 2021
The World of VHF

Tony saw very strong signals from OZ2ND Patrick Stoddard WD9EWK (Phoenix) had to wear a mask while standing next to
(JO46) on FT8, so suggested a move to writes, “A busy few weeks here... after trips my car and working satellites − the COVID
SSB, which resulted in a nice 30-minute QSO to Hawaii by Dima N6DNM and Ian K5ZM, requirements were still in effect up there at
only to be tail-ended by OZ4VW (JO45) who several North American satellite operators that time [Fig. 3].
Tony had last worked in 1987. During the FM have claimed the satellite version of the On my way home, I parked east of Grand
Activity Contest Tony made four QSOs. Two Worked All States award. N6DNM also Canyon National Park and worked a western
of them were in IO80: G0UHY and M0BAO/P. travelled to the Channel Islands − not those AO-27 pass, making a D-STAR contact with
During the UK Activity Contest, Tony made off the coast of France, but the islands near Endaf N6UTC from grid DM45 as the last bit
116 QSOs in 25 squares. M0AFJ/P (IO70) Santa Barbara and Los Angeles in southern of daylight disappeared.
was an enormous signal but there was little California − to help some operators get their “On 5 June, I set out for eastern Arizona,
activity from the south-west. Tony worked a AMSAT Gridmaster award for working all 488 looking for the DM54/DM55 grid boundary
number of GM, GI and GD stations without continental USA grids. John KG4AKV made along the I-40 freeway. I spent most of the
the need for aircraft scatter this month. a detour on his trip along the US east coast day out there, putting two rarely-heard grids
During the FT8 Activity period on 9 June, to help long-time satellite operator Christy on the satellites for operators around North
Tony thought there was good activity and KB6LTY work grid FM25 in North Carolina, the America, and driving a few hundred more
made 60 QSOs with 21 squares. Tony saw last of the 488 she needed for the Gridmaster miles for some radio fun. At the end of my
a few decodes from GM0HBK (IO77) but award. The Gridmaster award is the satellite day at DM54/DM55, I worked N6UTC through
unfortunately, he faded before he could call. operator’s equivalent to the ARRL Fred Fish AO-27using D-STAR. This followed contacts
OV3T (JO46) was also seen but not worked. Memorial Award offered to operators on the I made with N6UTC earlier in the day in FM,
The best DX was OZ2AE, OZ1KWJ, DJ6TA 6m band. SSB and packet through the NO-84 digipeater.
and DL6KAI (JO30) as well as EI8KN, GI6ATZ “In the past month, I have made two D-STAR seemed like a great way to wrap up
and MM0CEZ. significant road trips. In mid-May, I made the day”.
Jef ON8NT reports SSB QSOs with F8KGU a long drive starting from south of the Here at GW4VXE I’ve caught the
(JN19) and M1CRO/P (JO01) and G3XDY Phoenix area ending up on the Navajo occasional westerly AO-91 pass and have
(JO02) on CW. Nation reservation in northern Arizona. In been able to make a few QSOs through the
the process of making that drive, I operated crossband repeater on the ISS.
Satellites from six different grids − DM32, DM33, DM34, Thanks to everyone who’s written in this
Jef ON8NT enjoyed listening to an ARISS DM44, DM45 and DM46. When I was on the month – please keep your news and photos
contact from the ISS on 25 May at 1833UTC. Navajo Nation reservation for grid DM46, I coming! See you next time.

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All items shipped from our UK factory. Prices exclude p&p.

August 2021 PRACTICAL WIRELESS 45

From The Ground Up

Eric Edwards GW8LJJ

[email protected] Inductors &
Inductance (Part III)
L
ast time we looked at a notch filter,
which is used to remove unwanted
frequencies or bands of frequencies.
In this, the final part of Inductance
and Inductors, we will look at the other types Eric Edwards GW8LJJ completes his overview of
of filters used for RF (Radio Frequencies). inductors.
These are BPF (Band Pass Filter), LPF (Low
Pass filter) and HPF (High Pass Filter). In the
diagram, Fig. 1, showing the four different
types of filters the vertical axis represents the
amplitude of the signal and the top is usually
labelled as 0dB, which means no attenuation.
The amplitude level drops as the line drops to
the bottom and this is marked in negative dB
(−dB) to show the amount of attenuation (sig-
nal level drop). The horizontal axis shows the
frequency increase from left to right. The filter
‘cut-off’ (reduced output at unwanted frequen- 1
cies) amplitudes are measured at the −3dB
points, in other words, it is when the signal
drops to half, so it is better to have the −3dB
point before the first harmonic.
The LPF shows it passing signals at the top
(start) of the vertical axis, which will be 0dB 3
and as the frequency increases (travels along
the horizontal axis) the signal starts to drop in
amplitude. Where this is at the −3dB point, it is
considered end of the wanted frequency. The
HPF does the opposite so it has no output un-
til it reaches the wanted frequency, so remov-
ing any unwanted frequencies below it. The
BPF is a combination of HPF (at the start) and 2
LPF at the end so only allowing a band of fre-
quencies to pass. The Band Stop (notch filter) in frequency. Because the inductor has a re-
is the exact opposite in operation to the BPF. It sistance to AC (RF) current, the current lags
stops any signals within a given bandwidth to behind the alternating voltage. The capacitor
pass. It notches them out. does the opposite, so that the current leads
In all radio circuit designs there are filters. the voltage. The inductor and capacitor are
It could be said that radio receivers and trans- opposite each other in that respect. The com-
mitters are collections of filters and amplifi- bined effect of inductive and capacitive reac-
ers. The simplest of receivers, the ‘crystal’ set, tances is known as impedance and, at reso- 4
uses a filter to tune in the wanted stations and nance, the impedance is (close to) zero at the
normally uses a ‘rejector’ tuned circuit that re- resonant frequency.
moves, or attenuates other signals.
This type of receiver has no amplifiers, of Rejector Tuned Circuits
course, and relies on a good rejector filter for The rejector tuned circuit is a capacitor in par-
its selectivity. It is all to do with ‘resonance’. allel with a coil. The values of both are set to
allow all signals except the wanted signal to
Resonance pass through. Fig. 2 shows a rejector circuit 5
A tuned circuit is said to be resonant when it used in a basic crystal set. L1 is the inductor
is sensitive to a particular frequency, and in- and C1 the capacitor, which is variable to se- when the inductive reactance and the capaci-
sensitive to all others. To explain further, in lect the required stations. This ‘tuned circuit’ tive reactance are the same and this provides
earlier parts of this series we learned that a works by allowing all unwanted signals to high impedance (resistance) to the wanted
coil (inductance) has opposition to changes pass through to the ground (earth) connec- frequency so it does not flow through the coil
of current, which is called inductive reaction and allowing the wanted signals to reach to ground. The tuned circuit is a rejector cir-
tance. As the frequency increases so does the the diode (detector). The wanted frequen- cuit as it rejects all unwanted frequencies get-
inductive reactance whereas a capacitor has cies are allowed to bypass the tuned circuit ting to the diode.
a resistance to voltage, called capacitive re- because it is at high impedance when at reso- The rejector, or parallel, circuit has current
actance, which gets smaller with an increase nance. In this case, resonance is achieved flowing in the inductor and capacitor but they

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46 PRACTICAL WIRELESS August 2021
From The Ground Up

are out of phase with each other because the

current in the inductor lags behind the current
into the capacitor. The current (RF signal) will
flow into the capacitor plates and charge it.
When it is fully charged and cannot receive
any more voltage, it discharges through the
inductor and will now charge the capacitor by
the current flowing into the other plate of the
capacitor, which will be in the opposite direc-
tion.
This charging and discharging will be at the 6 7
rate of the incoming frequency and will con-
tinually charge and discharge in this resonant
circuit building up a high oscillating voltage.
This creates very high impedance at the reso-
nant frequency.

Acceptor Tuned Circuit

An example of an acceptor tuned circuit can
be seen in Fig. 3. It is sometimes called a se-
ries resonator as the inductor and capacitor
are in series. As the impedance of the induc- 10
tor rises with frequency and the capacitor de- 8
creases with frequency there is a point where
the two are equal and cancel out each other.
The impedance at the resonant frequency is
therefore zero and the required frequency,
which is therefore allowed to pass through. It 11
will have high impedance at all other frequen-
cies. This is the opposite effect to the rejector Fig. 1: Characteristics of the main filter types.
tuned circuit. Fig. 2: Rejector circuit.Fig. 3: Acceptor circuit.
Fig. 4: Transformers with different turns ratios.
Mutual Inductance Fig. 5: Back-to-back transformers. Fig. 6: The
When two coils are in close proximity to each experimental setup.
other, an EMF (Electro Motive Force) in one 9
coil creates an EMF in another closely cou-
pled coil such as in a transformer. winding is used in a low voltage power sup- secondary winding. This is a step-up trans-
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia: ply. Similarly, if the secondary windings have former where a larger voltage is taken from
Electromagnetic or magnetic induction is the more turns than the primary windings, the the secondary compared to the voltage at the
production of an electromotive force across voltage across the secondary windings will primary. A typical type will be used where a
an electrical conductor in a changing mag- be greater and this can be used to step up the high voltage power supply is needed for valve
netic field. Michael Faraday is generally cred- voltage from say, 110V to 240V. Fig. 4 shows power amplifiers, with its output being many
ited with the discovery of induction in 1831, three transformers with different primary- hundreds or even thousands of volts.
and James Clerk Maxwell mathematically de- to-secondary winding ratios. One with equal
scribed it as Faraday’s law of induction. Lenz’s windings on both primary and secondary is a Radio Transformers
law describes the direction of the induced 1:1 ratio and will produce the same voltage at In Fig. 5 there are two transformers connect-
field. Faraday’s law was later generalised to the secondary windings as placed in the pri- ed ‘back-to-back’ − the secondary of each
become the Maxwell–Faraday equation, one mary windings. This type is usually called an transformer is connected to the other. The
of the four Maxwell equations in his theory of isolation transformer and is used, for exam- primary of the left-hand transformer has a sig-
electromagnetism. Electromagnetic induction ple, to isolate the household mains from the nal connected and the right-hand transform-
has found many applications, including electri- mains earth. The neutral power line coming er has the same frequency signal but much
cal components such as inductors and trans- into the building is linked to the earth so with- larger. This is taking advantage of the prin-
formers, and devices such as electric motors out isolation there is not only a high voltage ciples of mutual inductance and the rejector
and generators. potential across the live to neutral but also a tuned circuits. Fig. 6 is the actual setup used.
In a mains transformer the primary has the high voltage between live and the earth con- In this example, the transformers are 45µH
household mains connected to it and the sec- nection. The isolation transformer removes types and the capacitors are 39pF each. The
ondary produces a voltage appropriate to the (isolates) the earth connection. There is a input is taken from a signal generator with a
ratio of the two windings. In other words, if the high (mains) voltage across the secondary scope lead connected on channel two of a
secondary winding is smaller in the number winding but not from any of them to an earth scope and tuned to 1.5MHz. The output from
of turns relative to the primary winding, the point. There are two other transformers in Fig. the second transformer has a scope lead
output will be a smaller voltage than the input. 3 with one that has a smaller number of turns connected to channel one on the scope. The
A typical transformer with a lower secondary on the secondary and a third showing a larger transformer cores are adjusted (peaked) for

cover from 1MHz to 2.5MHz so will cover the

medium wave (MW) band as well as 160m.
Using smaller capacity gangs (VC1 and VC2
at 300pF) will reduce the total bandspread
and lower values (say 150pF each gang) will
reduce it even more, perhaps choosing val-
ues to tune only Topband or maybe just for
MW coverage. The diode (detector) can be
any Germanium type − an OA90 or OA81 work
very well.
12 14
Diode Conduction
You will have been taught (or told) that a
Germanium diode conducts when the ‘barrier’
voltage is greater than 200mV (0.2V). If that
were strictly correct, the crystal set would not
work. The diode conducts at much lower ap-
plied voltage with very low current but will not
pass higher levels of current until the barrier
voltage has been reached. What this means
is that if the diode is connected to a load so
that higher than very low off-air signal level
13 15 current can pass through, then the barrier
voltage theory applies. However, if the load
Fig. 7: Output waveform greater than input is very light (tens of kΩ) there will be very low
waveform. Fig. 8: Typical receiver front-end. current allowed to pass through (Ohms Law).
Fig. 9: Crystal set circuit. Fig. 10: Characteristic This is the reason for using high impedance
of LPF for the 20m band. Fig. 11: Circuit for 20m headphones at the output of diode. If lower re-
LPF. Fig. 12: A square wave at 3.55MHz. sistance headphones (3Ω, 16Ω, 30Ω etc) were
Fig. 13: The harmonics of the 3.55MHz square used, current will not flow so no signals will
wave. Fig. 14: The output after passing through be received. If high impedance headphones
the LPF – a single signal. Fig. 15: The output now are not available, the output of the diode can
becomes a clean sinewave. Fig. 16: homebrew be connected to an amplifier via a 100nF (not
16 multiband LPF. critical value) capacitor and signals can then
be heard.
maximum output from the right-hand trans- lar bands of frequencies. Usually, a pair is
former. Mutual inductance takes place as in used for each band, either with fixed tuning Lowpass Filter
normal transformer action and the transform- or variable tuning of the larger windings. The Lowpass Filters are used for stopping or
ers are rejector circuits so that the output is smaller windings for the receiver ‘front end’ greatly attenuating signals above a certain
greater in amplitude than the input for the are more suited for a 50Ω input and outputs, frequency. They allow low frequency signals
reasons explained in the rejector paragraph. Fig. 8. A pair of 45µH transformers (TOKO to pass but not higher frequencies. Low fre-
Fig. 7 shows the two waveforms. Both the ‘Y’ KANK 3333 equivalent) is used, with a parallel quency in this context can be RF frequencies
amplitudes are set at 5mV per division. The 150pF capacitor across each coil and a cou- and not just audio. It refers to ‘lower’ frequen-
input signal is 5mV and the output is almost pling capacitor 47pF between the coils for the cies to pass and limiting the flow of higher
20mV so a large difference in levels with no 160m band. It is broad-banded to fully cover frequencies. A typical example of an LPF is
amplifiers other than the ‘passive’ transform- the band. The parallel capacitors (150pF) can at the output of a transmitter to help prevent
er tuned circuits. Both ’Y’ inputs on the scope be replaced with a twin-gang variable capaci- out of band radiation. Fig. 10 is displaying a
are set to 1MΩ impedance. Normally when tor to enable peaking on any part of the band. 14MHz (20m band) LPF with a dB (decibel)
transformers are used as input from the an- This is particularly useful when using a BPF level scale on the left-hand side. At the top of
tenna to the receiver, the antenna is connect- as the input to 40m or a higher band, to make the graph it can be seen that the line is at 0dB
ed to the lower windings and the higher wind- the receiver more sensitive in any one part of and the line curves downwards to show the
ings are ‘tuned’ to the required frequency by the band and for attenuating interfering near attenuation in dBs. At 20MHz it is −3dB (be-
making the coil high resistance (impedance) signals. A 160m AM (Amplitude Modulation) tween 0dB and −6.599dB), so all frequencies
to the wanted signal to flow to ground. Two monitor ‘crystal set’ can be made easily us- above 14MHz are attenuated with 50MHz
transformers (or more) are used for what is ing a pair of 45µH transformers and a twin being at approximately −40dB. The circuit
referred to as a bandpass filter (BPF). variable capacitor. Fig. 9 shows a circuit us- for this filter is at Fig. 11 and is comprised of
ing two of the transformers and a ganged ca- ‘standard’ inductors and capacitors. The im-
Bandpass Filter pacitor. The receiver antenna is connected to pedance from the transmitter’s antenna out-
Bandpass filters are used in various places the higher winding via C1, 100nF capacitor. put is 50Ω, so a resistor of that value is repre-
in receivers and transmitters to reject un- The ganged capacitor can be any that is to sented in the design at the input to the filter
wanted frequencies. A typical place is at the hand. The larger the value, the wider the band along with a representing terminating resistor
antenna input of a receiver to select particu- coverage and a 500pF for VC1 and VC2 will at the output. In both cases the resistors are

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48 PRACTICAL WIRELESS August 2021
From The Ground Up

not there physically as they are the impedanc- harmonics and they are created by saturation cut off before the first harmonic, the result at
es of the antenna terminal of the transmitter of an oscillator circuit. The transistor or other the output can be seen at Fig. 14 (spectrum
and the antenna. The capacitors (100pF) at ‘active’ device is switched hard-on (saturated) analyser) and a clean sinewave can be seen
both ends are the same values along with the and fully-off (cut-off), which produces on-off on the scope at Fig. 15. A suitable multiband
inductors (620nH = 0.62µH), which means the pulses that are square in shape as seen on a LPF for the HF amateur bands is shown
filter can be used either way round. The filter scope. The transistor is turned on and after at Fig. 16 and is used at the output of a
was designed with ELSIE (see Ref) and it was a very short duration is switched off again transmitter. Commercially built transceivers
designed to use ‘standard’ capacitor and in- depending on the frequency of the oscillator, will have all the BPFs and LPFs built-in but
ductor values. Another typical use for an LPF and thus produces the square wave. home-brewed transmitters must have an
is to change square waves to sinewaves. LPF for each band used to avoid out of band
Square to Sine radiation.
Square Waves There will be a need to remove the harmonics
Square waves can be useful in RF circuits when a clean signal is required as in a signal Highpass Filter
for providing signals on amateur bands that generator or VFO (Variable Frequency Highpass filters are used where there is
are harmonically related, for example the Oscillator) because it can otherwise cause a need to remove frequencies below the
harmonics of 1.8MHz are 3.6MHz, 7.2MHz, spurious (emissions) signals that are not wanted one. In older ‘vinyl’ record players,
14.4MHz and 28.8MHz. These are called even wanted and undesirable. This is where the they were commonly used to remove low
harmonics as they are ‘even’ multiples of the LPF comes into use again as it can remove frequency ‘rumble’ usually picked up from the
fundamental signal. frequencies above the wanted one. The turntable.
Of course, each harmonic will be weak- square waves contain lots of frequencies The ‘scratch’ filter was an LPF to remove
er than the original but they are still use- above the fundamental as explained earlier, high frequency noises collected from the
ful for checking other bands on a receiv- so the LPF can be used to remove those not scratches on the records. Direct conversion
er. Harmonics are also used in frequency wanted. The LPF is designed to ‘cut off’ before receivers are susceptible to picking up local
multiplier circuits where the fundamental is the start of the first harmonic (even). Fig. 12 mains hum and other low frequency noises,
changed to a second, third or higher harmonic shows a square wave with its fundamental so one is placed at the front end (antenna in-
to produce a higher band. The others, includ- frequency as 3.550MHz but as it is square it put) of the receiver.
ing the fundamental frequency, are naturally will have multiple other frequencies. This can
filtered out by the ‘tuned’ multiplier circuit. be seen at Fig. 13 on a spectrum analyser, Reference
Third (odd) harmonics are three times the fun- where many harmonics can be clearly seen. ELSIE the filter design program. Tonne
damental and their multiples. There are many Putting this signal through a LPF designed to Software.

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August 2021 PRACTICAL WIRELESS 49

Feature

Daimon Tilley G4USI

[email protected]

I
n many senses I think this particular
instalment is going to be the hardest
to write and do justice. Why do I
say that? Well, because there is a
truly enormous range of new and used
equipment in this sector. So, in deciding
how best to construct this article I returned
to the notion of ‘on a budget.’ This term is
clearly very open to personal circumstance
− we all have varying budgets. What might
seem like an expensive purchase to one of
us, might actually be a frugal purchase from
the point of view of the purchaser.
I decided to deal with this dilemma by
setting myself a price limit for this article.
I intend to look at new and used options,
starting from as low as £40 up to £1,000, 1
and I will divide the article into new and
used rigs in those price ranges. I know
that for many people £1,000 is an awful
lot of money, so I have only included a
Amateur Radio
small selection near that budget point
(actually there is not much available) with
the majority of the options we will look at
coming in at, or below, £500.
on a Budget (Part IV)
Now, I am sure some of you are already
wondering how you can possibly get on HF
Daimon Tilley G4USI takes a canter around the
effectively at the lower end of this budget various HF transceivers available at budget prices.
but, believe me, it can be done, and done
well. Indeed, for £40 I will get you on the air
on a single band with a superb kit, and for retailer, then the excellent Icom IC-7100 is need to factor in at least another £500 for a
just over £100, I will get you on the air with available as a true shack-in-a box HF, VHF 100W amplifier.
a multi-mode rig that will cover 80 through and UHF transceiver. Moonraker currently Sticking with the QRP theme, the
to 10 metres, effectively, without lifting a seem to be the cheapest for this rig at excellent Elecraft KX2 portable transceiver
soldering iron! Interested? Read on. £999.95, although at the time of writing is available for £950, giving 10W out on the
The first thing I will say here is that if you they were out of stock. This is a lot of rig nine HF bands. Be aware, though, that this
ever needed a reason to learn CW, then for the money, and if I was looking to spend is for the basic rig and the cost of extras is
getting on HF on a budget is absolutely one £1,000 this would probably be my choice, high. It is an extra £80 for the microphone,
of the top reasons. The simplicity of design with the bonus of VHF and UHF into the £75 for the internal battery, £40 for the
and construction of CW rigs compared bargain. charger and £240 for the internal ATU. If
to SSB means that there are many kits Below that, there are a few options I have you wanted one with all these goodies you
available to build that are excellent researched. If you want a traditional rig are well over the £1k budget at more than
performers and will bring you hundreds of from one of the ‘big three’ manufacturers, £1,400.
contacts simply and cheaply. But, if your then the Kenwood TS-480SAT has to It is interesting to note that Yaesu does
fingers will never touch a key, don’t worry, be high on the list at a shade over £800. not currently have an offering in this price
there are still plenty of options. Covering the HF bands and 6 metres, with a range.
So, to quote Lewis Carroll, I will adopt the built in ATU, the rig is ideal as a base station
King’s advice from Alice in Wonderland: or mobile piece of equipment with its £500 - £800
“Begin at the beginning, and go on till you removable head unit. In this price band, only Yaesu from the ‘Big
come to the end: then stop.” Perhaps you might like to try SDR Three’ has a presence. Until very recently,
functionality. The Elad FDM-Duo is a quality the FT-450 fitted in here as a good base
New Equipment - not Kits SDR transceiver covering HF and 6 metres. station option, but this has recently been
Not everyone is willing to wield a soldering This is a QRP rig though, emitting just discontinued.
iron in anger. So, what is available as an off- 5W, but has the versatility of being able to Yaesu have two offerings in this price
the-shelf, brand new package? be used as a standalone rig, with its own point. First, the FT-891, a very compact HF
control panel, or being operated through and 50MHz offering that covers HF and
£800 - £1000 your computer to make best use of its SDR 6m at a full 100W. When I first returned
The choice here is a little limited. Right features. The current price is approximately to the hobby, this is the rig I purchased,
on the edge of £1,000, depending on the £974, but if you want more than 5W, you and I have to say it is a very good option at

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50 PRACTICAL WIRELESS August 2021
Feature

Photo 1: The Icom IC-7100.

Photo 2: The QRP Labs QCX+ CW transceiver.

this price. I used mine for about two years

before selling it on. I found its features to
be good, with very good DSP (digital signal
processing) functionality and I made a
great many contacts on it with SSB, CW and
digital modes. I confess that I did find it a
bit tricky to get all the menu settings right
to make digital modes work correctly, but
once this was done, no further adjustment
was required.
In my experience, if you don’t mind menu-
driven rigs, this would be an excellent
choice. My main reason for sale was that
I found the lack of knobs and buttons a bit
frustrating. I found that when I wanted to
change bands I mis-pressed the button and
changed modes instead, or vice versa, but 2
that was just a personal thing.
Also in this price range is the venerable very robust QRP rig that has just been CE communities have been excellent, with
Yaesu FT-818ND. This rig covers HF, VHF approved. Reviews from those parts of many finding that 20W is perfectly
and UHF in a tiny box, which even has the world who already have the rig are very adequate for plenty of good contacts and
space for internal batteries. The rig has impressive and this could be well worth makes life a little easier than with 5W. The
a huge following and has been around in a look if you want a robust portable QRP only issue to be aware of really is that for
various forms for many, many years. If you rig. The anticipated cost of £800, though, digital modes, many find that some extra
want a small and compact rig that can ‘do probably plus import duties, make this quite cooling is required. After-market stands
it all’, then this could be for you. Given its an expensive choice. with cooling are available, but a simple PC
size, you will need to have decent eyesight pileupdx.com fan is all that is required if wanting to use
to use it and be dextrous around the tiny digital modes at full power.
buttons. The main downside from my point Under £500 The final offering from Xiegu is the
of view was the lack of DSP and 500Hz CW There are still some good options for a G1M. A tiny all-mode SDR QRP transceiver
filtering. If you want narrow CW filtering, fully featured HF transceiver below £500, operating on the 80, 40, 20 and 15m bands
you have to pay about another £120 for a although they are typically QRP options. So, at 5W, but still boasting twin VFOs, built-in
Collins mechanical filter. I reviewed this rig what is available? keyer and general coverage receive and at a
in detail in the December 2019 edition if Well, in this portion of the market there tiny £240 price brand new!
you wish more information, and the current are some very good Chinese offerings, These Xiegu rigs are available from
price is about £600. particularly from Xiegu, who have three a number of places, including online
At £650, the Ailunce HS2 transceiver is great choices in the market. auction sites, etc. However, my personal
available. An SDR transceiver, this rig gives First is a rig I own myself. The Xiegu recommendation would be to buy from the
transceive from 160m to 70cm, and receive X5105, at just under £500, is a compact UK importer, Sinotel UK, as their customer
from 300kHz to 1.6GHz. Impressively it 5W portable transceiver with a lot going service is regarded as first-class by the
can operate from 5V to 32V DC and boasts for it. Covering HF and 6m, the rig boasts Xiegu community.
built-in Bluetooth, ATU and USB sound an internal battery and an internal ATU I am delighted to say that Sinotel recently
card. Power output is claimed at up to 20W that will literally tune just about anything. agreed to send me the G1M and G90 for
on HF and 6m, reducing to 5W at V/UHF. It also has a good SWR scanning feature, testing and review. They arrived just as I
However, one review on the Moonraker which you can use as a mini-VNA (antenna was concluding this article, but early results
website, claims power was below 9W on analyser.) With the latest firmware, this a are very encouraging and I will be writing a
HF. It sounds as though it has a lot going very robust and reliable rig, which I enjoy review of the Xiegu stable for this magazine
for it but, on looking at the manual and using as a portable station. It has travelled very soon.
pictures, the biggest potential downside is Europe with me and is very easy to use. I At this point it is worth mentioning the
the lack of a VFO knob! Frequency changes recommend it. Minion SDR transceiver. This ten-band QRP
seem to be either by direct frequency input Also from Xiegu is the G90. This is multi-mode SDR rig has quite good reviews
using the keypad, or by using a left or right amazing value at £390 and is an SDR and is available from www.qrpver.com in
arrow button to tune. This could be really transceiver giving 20W on all HF bands the Ukraine for £275 fully built and ready to
inconvenient unless you are controlling (no 6m coverage). With a bright but small use. The company also has some other HF
the rig from a computer. There is a mobile TFT screen the rig provides a spectrum offerings too.
phone app for remote control available. display and also has an excellent built- www.qrpver.com
The Lab599 Discovery TX-500 will be in ATU. The rig looks a little utilitarian but If you don’t mind being limited to 10m
available from pileupdx.com later this has a detachable front panel. Reports on HF (conditions are picking-up!) then
summer. It is a wonderful looking and from others in the various online Xiegu there are quite a few 10m multi-mode rigs

Photo 3: The Yaesu FT-891.

Photo 4: The Xiegu G90.

available for around £150 - £200. Offerings

from Anytone (AT-5555N) and Alinco (DX-
10) are just two. I have no experience of
these rigs, but I suspect they are derived
from CB transceivers, and the DX-10,
for example, also has a CB channelised
display.
My final offering in this category,
although there are some other options,
would be a fully assembled and tested
single-band QRP transceiver from the
excellent QRP-Labs.com. I have reviewed
both the QCX and the QCX Mini kits in this
magazine (Oct and November 2019, and 3
May 2021) but these rigs can be brought
fully assembled if you wish, for £70. You
really won’t find a better single band CW
transceiver at this price, in my view.
www.qrp-labs.com

New Equipment,
Kits, all under £150
A kit usually requires you to add and solder
some or all of the components to the board,
but there is one exception that I know of,
and that is the uBitx from HFSignals.com
in India. I reviewed version 3 of the uBitx
in my articles in August and September
2019, when I built it into a ‘go-box.’ The
rig is now at version 6 with a number of 4
improvements. The biggest selling point
here, is for those who don’t have the and worked 13 countries in 30 minutes qrpguys.com in the US provides an ‘AFP-
confidence to build a kit. No soldering is in a contest! In terms of construction, I FSK Digital Transceiver III kit’. This kit, for
required. You just plug the cables together recommend the QCX Plus for beginners $80, allows 5W of digital modes on any
onto the finished board and the only tool as it is mainly through-hole components band from 160m to 10m by means of plug-
you need to use is a screwdriver! and there is plenty of space on the board in modules (one per band). It is supplied
HFSignals.com to work. The QCX Mini, while having many with band module kits for 40, 30 and 20m
The basic kit is £112 but does not include SMD parts already fitted, is a much more as standard and you can buy PCBs for
the enclosure, speaker and a few other fiddly build and I managed to blow my another four bands for an additional $10.
bits that you probably already have lying second one up in smoke when fitting it into This kit is interesting in that it uses SSB,
around. The full kit is £148 and comes the tiny enclosure, as tolerances between whereas a number of other digital-only kits
with everything you need for the finished components and the boards and case are use DSB. QRPGuys have a good reputation
rig. Power output varies a little by band minimal. I don’t say that to put you off the for quality, but shipping can apparently be
but it provides up to 10W out on all HF Mini, just to be aware of it, if you are new to quite slow as it is very much a part-time
bands from 80 through 10m, with general construction. business.
coverage receive, dual VFOs, SSB and CW There are plenty of other CW-only qrpguys.com
modes with built in CW keyer, touchscreen, transceiver kits available and here are a few Other examples of this genre
and it is good on digital modes too. Being websites for you to consider to widen your are the Phaser, a US kit from
an open-source project, there is a large choice: midnightdesignsolutions.com, and the FT8
maker community and many mods to www.qrphamradiokits.com transceiver from www.qrvtronics.com at
improve an already good rig are available. are based in Spain and provide a number of just $45.
Revisiting the QCX Plus and QCX good quality single and multi-band kits both midnightdesignsolutions.com
Mini from QRP labs, these can both be for CW and SSB at good prices. www.qrvtronics.com
purchased as kits for £39 and you can www.qrpkits.com I should say at this point, that while there
add the optional enclosures for another are another US supplier of amateur radio are many excellent value kits in the US, you
£17 for the Plus and £14 for the Mini. I kits and accessories. need to be mindful of shipping costs and
promise you that you would be amazed by And finally in this section, there are any import duties, which can significantly
these rigs. In my first review of the original some single-band digital transceivers increase costs.
QCX rig for 40m, after build, I switched on available for FT8 and the like. The website

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52 PRACTICAL WIRELESS August 2021
Feature

The Used Equipment Market Nonetheless, you should consider that if it part of the article, some two months ago I
Well, there is a complete myriad of choice breaks, can you, or someone else, fix it? decided to keep a note of all HF rigs that I
here, from all of the ‘big three’ manufactur- saw for sale used at under £500 and to list
ers, depending on how far back in their line- Honesty and Integrity them by price here. I do not intend to go into
up you are prepared to go. First, let’s look at It is a sad fact that not all sellers are honest, any details about each of the rigs, as they
some of the issues you might want to con- and there are reports of a number of scams are too numerous, but instead I refer read-
sider when buying a used HF rig. where people have purported to be genu- ers to the resources I have already listed.
ine amateurs selling gear that does not ex- So, buckle up, here is a trip down memory
Reviews ist! Caveat emptor. A little due diligence lane!
The bonus of buying a used rig, apart from can help here, though, and there are simple
reduced cost, is that it is very likely that steps you can take to protect yourself. If
there will be a preponderance of reviews buying second-hand, I always try to engage Under £300
available to help you make your choice. the seller in a conversation, electronic or • Yaesu FT-101ZD
For this purpose I find the ‘reviews’ sec- otherwise, to help assess their bona fides, between £225 and £295
tion of the eHam.net website to be a com- ask for their callsign, etc. You also need to • Kenwood TS-440S
plete treasure trove of user information and be aware of the risk of sellers being a little between £270 and £295
views. I refer to it more often than many economical with the truth and not identi- • Yaesu FT-747GX £295
other sites if I am looking to consider a fying known faults. Ask lots of questions • Yaesu FT-757GX £250
used rig. There is hardly a model in exis- and see where the conversation leads you. • Kenwood TS-430S
tence that will not have at least some user On this issue, my advice is never to pay by between £255 and £285
reviews on this site. Users can rate their ex- PayPal Friends and Family. Using this ser- • Yaesu FT-817/818
periences up to 5 stars and write detailed vice is a popular request with sellers, to between £250 and £385
descriptions about their use of the rig. My prevent them having to pay a 2.5% service • Icom IC-737A £300
advice is don’t buy a used rig without first charge on the sale price. Whenever I see • Yaesu FT-301D £250
looking at the reviews on this site! this, I always offer to pay the asking price • Icom IC-706 £295
eHam.net (or price agreed) plus 2.5%. This way, the • Alinco DX-70 £295
seller is not out of pocket, and I can pay us- • Kenwood TS-520S £180 (my first rig!)
Facilities ing PayPal Goods and Services, which gives
The further back in time you go, the fewer me some consumer protection. Between £300 and £500
‘bells and whistles’ will be available. For • Kenwood TS-50
example, do you want DSP facilities, CW Where to Source between £325 and £485
keyers, twin VFOs, etc. Is an internal ATU the Equipment • Icom IC-718 £400
important? Do you want an internal PSU, The options are many and varied. • Yaesu FT-77 and PSU £350
digital display, and so on? Once again Obviously, there are the well-known auc- • Kenwood TS-530S £350
eHam reviews are your friend here, but also tion sites, the magazines, including PW, and • Kenwood TS-450S £425
a number of manufacturers do keep data sales by word of mouth, from other club • Yaesu FT-767GX £375
on discontinued models (at least recent members, etc. There are also some retail- • Kenwood TS-940S £425
ones) on their websites. Another useful refers who specialise in used equipment and • Kenwood TS-680S £350 to £375
erence when assessing a used rig is the rig- who usually have an online presence, as • Yaesu FT-920 £450
pix website (below). Here will find pictures well as the main retailers who often have • Yaesu FT-450
of the rig, some basic specifications and used equipment advertised. Buying from (recently discontinued) − £400 to £500
sometimes a link to the manual. these sources can give you a little more • Yaesu FT-900 £500
www.rigpix.com peace of mind, but ensure you are clear • Kenwood TS-850S £380
about warranties, service facilities and so • Kenwood TS-830S £395
Spare Parts/Reliability on. • Kenwood TS-570D £450
The older a rig gets, then the more likely it On the subject of warranties, just beware • Icom IC-7400 £500
is to need attention at some point in its life, adverts that say “...there are still ‘x’ months
but it does not necessarily follow that it will of manufacturer’s warranty remaining.” I
need it in your ownership, or indeed at all. know for sure, for example, that Yaesu war- To Conclude
Again, internet resources will give you a ranties only apply to the first owner and So, to conclude this instalment of the
sense for the longevity and servicing needs are not transferable. Other manufacturers series, I hope I have demonstrated that
of older rigs. A more recent issue has been will have their own policies and you should the HF bands are for everyone, regardless
the discontinuing of modern transceivers check that out. of budget. There really is something for
because the manufacturers themselves are I have had quite a lot of success buying everyone. The quality and capability of
no longer able to source the parts needed from Facebook groups. There are a number modern kits is excellent, but for those not
to build them – the Yaesu FT-450D is an ex- of Facebook UK amateur radio groups for confident in building, you can buy ready-
ample. This is a risk for you the purchaser buying and selling gear. Again, beware the assembled kits, or simply plug together the
of course. What if you have a part failure scammer, but I have made several success- uBitx, or buy used commercial gear. I hope
and cannot source a replacement? That is a ful purchases this way. you have found this article informative and
risk, of course, but you need to assess how So, having considered all of those issues, I hope to see you on the bands. In the next
likely it is, with many transceivers giving and having decided to go ahead and buy a instalment of the series we will be taking a
decades of service without a single issue. used HF rig, what is available? For this final look at budget HF antennas.

Rallies & Events

Due to the Coronavirus situation, the Rallies calendar remains dynamic at the moment, and there will be more
cancellations and postponements. All information published here reflects the situation up to and including 10th
Juneww 2021. Readers are advised to check carefully with the organisers of any rally or event, before setting out for
a visit. The Radio Enthusiast website will have updates, please check here regularly: www.radioenthusiast.co.uk
To get your rally or event onto this list, please, e-mail full details as early as possible, to: [email protected]

4 July 21-22 August

DARTMOOR RADIO RALLY (NEW BATC CONVENTION FOR AMATEUR
VENUE): The Yelverton War Memorial TV 2021: Midland Air Museum, Rowley
Hall, Meavy Lane, Yelverton, Devon PL20 Road, Coventry CV3 4FR. AGC is Sun-
6AL. Open 10 am. Admission: £2,50. (FP day afternoon. Test facilities available
| TS | BB | R) for 5.6GHz/Portsdown/Minitiouner/
Roger: Tel: 07854 088 882 Ryde/power ampliﬁers/preamps). (L
https://tinyurl.com/5hvrts7 [streamed] )
[email protected] http://www.midlandairmuseum.co.uk

11 July 22 August
EAST SUFFOLK WIRELESS REVIVAL GRAND FIELD DAY OUT: Willesbor-
(FDARS IPSWICH RALLY): Kirton Rec- ough Windmill, Ashford, just off junc-
reation Ground, Back Road, Kirton IP10 tion 10 of M20. Gates open from 10 am
0PW (just off the A14). Opens at 9.30 to 4 pm. Free event. Various bands in
am. Admission: £2. Trade tables from £ operation, portable working at its best.
10. GB4SWR HF Station. (BB | CBS | CR | Explore different modes and share tips
RSGB | SIG | TS) and ideas.
Kevin Ayriss, G8MXV Natter with friends you have not seen for
Tel: 07710 046846 a while or bring along things to sell from
www.eswr.org.uk your table or car boot. All interested par-
ties wishing to set up a station, please 12 September 3 October
11 July contact the e-mail below. Set-up is from CAISTER LIFEBOAT RALLY: Caister THE 48TH WELSH RADIO RALLY: Rou-
MCMICHAEL RADIO RALLY AND CAR 9 am, and clear-away from 4-5 pm. To Lifeboat Station, Tan Lane, Caister-on- gemont School, Llantarnam Hall, Mal-
BOOT SALE: Reading Rugby Football have free access, we need to ensure all Sea, Norfolk NR30 5DJ. 9.30 am (8 am pas, Newport NP20 6QB. Opens 10.30
Club, Sonning Lane, Sonning on Thames, food/ drink on site is purchased from the for sellers); easy parking; access via car am (D: 9.30); Admission: £3. (BB | CR | L |
Reading RG4 6ST. Trust’s Cafe/ BBQ. Thank you for your park in Beach Road. Raffle. The museum RSGB | TS | SIG)
https://mcmichaelrally.radarc.org cooperation. will be open. (CR | TI [22]) Tel: 01495 220 455
[email protected] Zane M1BFI Tel: 0771 121 4790) [email protected]
25 July
FINNINGLEY ARS CAR BOOT BRING- 29 August 12 September 16 October
AND-BUY: Outdoor only. Near J2, M18 TORBAY ANNUAL COMMUNICA- EXETER RADIO AND ELECTRONICS ESSEX CW BOOT CAMP: 3rd Witham
Doncaster; starts at 10:00 am. TIONS FAIR: Newton Abbot Race- RALLY: America Hall, De la Rue Way, Pin- Scout & Guide HQ, Spring Lodge Com-
www.g0ghk.com/cbr21 course, Devon TQ12 3AF. 10 am (9 am hoe, Exeter EX4 8PW. munity Centre, Powers Hall End, With-
[email protected] D). Admission: £2. (BB | CR | FP | RSGB) Pete G3ZVI Tel: 07714 198 374 am, Essex CM8 2HE. Open 8.30 am (reg-
[email protected] Pete: G4VTO Tel: 01803 864 528 [email protected] istration). 9 am (public). Finishes at 4.30
Mike: G1TUU Tel: 01803 557 941 pm. Admission £10, with free soup/
1 August [email protected] 19 September drinks/ cakes. (CR | FP)
WILTSHIRE RADIO AND CAR BOOT CAMBRIDGE REPEATER GROUP RAL- Andy G0IBN Tel: 0745 342 6087.
SALE: Kington Langley Village Hall and 30 August LY: Foxton Village Hall, Harman Road, [email protected]
Playing Field, Kington Langley, Wilt- HUNTINGDONSHIRE ARS (HARS) Foxton, Cambridge CB22 6RN. Open
shire SN15 5NJ. 9 am to 1 pm. Traders ANNUAL BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY 9.30 am (7.30 traders). Admission £3. 17 October
welcome. RALLY: Ernulf Academy, St Neots PE19 (BB | CR | RSGB) HORNSEA AMATEUR RADIO RALLY:
[email protected] 2SH. Open 7 am (traders), 9 am (public). Lawrence M0LCM Tel: 07994 197 2724 Driffield Show Ground, Driffield YO25
Stalls available. (FP | BB | CR ) [email protected] 3AE. Open 10 am. Admission: £2 (under
1 August Malcolm M0OLG: Tel: 01480 214 282 14s free). Raffle. (BB | CR | CBS | FP)
THE 31ST KLARC GREAT EASTERN www.hunts-hams.co.uk 26 September Les 2E0LBJ Tel: 01377 252 393
RADIO RALLY: Gaywood Community [email protected] WESTON SUPER MARE RADIO SO- [email protected]
Centre (off Gayton Rd.), King’s Lynn CIETY 6TH RADIO & ELECTRONICS
PE30 4EL (NGR – TF638 203). 9 am to 3 4-5 September RALLY : The Campus Community Cen- 17 October
pm. Admission £3. GQRP CONVENTION | TELFORD tre, Worle, Weston-super-Mare BS24 HACK GREEN RADIO SURPLUS
Ted G4OZG Tel: 01553 768 701 HAMFEST: Harper Adams University 7DX. Opens 10 am (visitors [D: 9.30]) HANGAR SALE : Hack Green Secret
(Mob: 0794 683 8656) Campus TF10 8NB and 7 am (traders). Nuclear Bunker, Nantwich, Cheshire
http://www.klarc.org.uk/Home.php Martyn G3UKV Tel: 01952 255 416 Dave G4CXQ Tel: 07871 034 206. CW5 8AL.
[email protected] www.telfordhamfest.org.uk [email protected] www.facebook.com/HGsecretbunker/

BB Bring & Buy CBS Card Boot Sale CR Catering /Refreshments D Disabled visitors FP Free Parking L Lectures RSGB (RSGB) Book Stall SIG Special-Interest Groups TI Talk-In (Channel) TS Trade Stalls

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54 PRACTICAL WIRELESS August 2021
The Morse Mode

Roger Cooke G3LDI

[email protected]
A Morse Miscellany
P
hillip Brooks G4NZQ passed away
on the morning of 26 May 2021. Roger Cooke G3LDI brings another miscellany of
Philip was a long-standing RSGB
volunteer in a wide variety of roles,
Morse-related topics.
up to and including the Board.
Phillip was not only an active member of
the Society but also of the Norfolk Amateur
Radio Club, extending his national society
work into being our regional representative
and GB2RS newsreader for many years as
well as being a keen supporter of club activi-
ties, particularly when it came to promoting
the hobby to the wider public.
Always a gentleman in all senses of the
word, he really will be sadly missed by many,
both on the airwaves and at the club.
Phillip was the Morse Proficiency Test Co-
ordinator and also my first line of contact in
getting the GB2CW pages updated on the
RSGB website. He is shown in the picture, 1
Fig. 1, at Barford Radio Active on the RSGB
Bookstall, a place he occupied most years.

Sending 2
Self-taught CW operating can be fraught with
problems. Again, I use my favourite analogy which these problems can be addressed.
of learning the piano. A self-taught pianist Chatting with Andy G0IBN from the Essex
usually has a selection of problems, rang- CW group about this, he told me they have
ing from the actual technique of addressing been conducting classes on Skype. So, this
the keyboard, sitting at middle C, keeping the autumn Norfolk ARC are going to start simi-
wrists up, fingering exercises, scales (arpeg- lar classes locally to supervise sending tech-
gios), reading music and so on. With CW, the niques. Details have to be finalised but these
correct technique is difficult to ‘assume’. It classes will commence in October.
really should be taught in the first instance. That brings me nicely to Bootcamps.
Looking at old films with a supposed CW op- Norfolk Bootcamps are traditionally held at 3
erator will show exactly what I mean. Some of my QTH, so I think it will be a while yet before
those shown in the films are terrible! we start them up again. Full Covid precau- Fig. 1: Phillip G4NZQ (SK). Fig. 2: The underside
Fluency is necessary, no matter what tions are not viable in a bungalow. However, of the YA1860 key. Fig. 3: Rob M0KCP.
speed is being sent. Spaces are as impor- Essex CW Group are starting up again. I re-
tant as the characters themselves. I received the following from Andy G0IBN: Sending Iambically. Or
member my first encounter with “NAG here More of the Big P Word!
is Sid”. I thought he must have a horse un- Essex CW ARC Having used a single lever paddle all my life,
til I sorted out the bad spacing between M Annual CW Boot Camp after 60+ years it is a bit late to change habits
and E. Other examples are SOG for SOME, Essex CW are pleased to announce their an- of a lifetime! I did consider it, but I felt that the
PLL for WELL and lots of others. Running nual CW Boot Camp will be held in Witham, time saved using squeeze keying and iambic
text together is also very bad, making copy- Essex, on Saturday, 16 October, 2021. sending was not really worth it. However, for
ing − especially head copy − an imposi- Come along to meet your CW friends face- somebody starting out with a dual lever pad-
tion for the person receiving. Imagine this: to-face and enjoy a friendly day of CW activi- dle, practising from the start would be good.
Iliveinaverypleasantvillagewithlotsofwildlife ties. Due to its popularity spaces are limited, Practice slowly, until your wrist and fin-
allaround. so if you would like to attend please send an gers get the habit and you don’t have to think
This is not uncommon to hear on the air, email to: about counting dits and dahs but feel the
perhaps not quite so exaggerated, but you [email protected] rhythm of each letter and number. Then you
get the idea! I even had a hard job typing that The Essex group hire a village hall for the can work for speed and don’t try to go faster
piece without inserting spaces automatically. event so it is easier to maintain the precau- than your fingers are comfortable. Expect
Try it yourself and you will see it is not easy. tions necessary. I don’t feel like flinging all progress to be up and down with good days
That, coupled with poor character formation my windows open in November! If any other and bad days. Don’t be discouraged if you pla-
as well, can lead to zero QSOs! Bootcamps are starting up again, please let teau for a while.
However, in our present Covid situation, it me know:
is difficult to have face-to-face meetings in [email protected] Continued on page 58

August 2021 PRACTICAL WIRELESS 55

Data Modes

1 2

Start Communicating!
Mike Richards G4WNC reminds us that the hobby provides opportunities for us to
self-train, make friends, share knowledge, help in disasters and more.

Mike Richards G4WNC

[email protected]

D
uring my recent club talks, there
have been several discussions
about FT8 and its role in ama-
teur radio. One experienced op-
erator summed it up rather well as “A great
way to fill up your logbook!” This is not a
criticism of Joe Taylor’s development team
or the performance of the mode, it is just a
reflection of the way it is used. FT8, like all
the WSJT-X modes, is primarily designed to
support weak signal operation. In addition,
FT8 and FT4 have been further extended
to provide improved performance for rare
DX stations and contest work. However,
when I tune around the HF bands, the FT8 3
signals are usually the strongest on the
band! While the popular FT8, FT4 and WSPR valuable role for amateur radio is to provide ways to hack into our networked systems.
modes provide an excellent indication of communications in times of emergency. In These hackers are extremely clever and do
the propagation from your station, there is the UK, emergency support is coordinated not advertise their presence in a system. A
no real communication or knowledge shar- by the Raynet organisation: good example can be found in what’s known
ing taking place. The net result is that op- www.raynet-uk-org as the Lazarus Heist. This was a state spon-
erators are mainly working in isolation. No While we don’t have the number of natu- sored hack of Sony Pictures that happened
new friendships are being formed to help ral disasters experienced in many countries, a few years ago. When triggered, that attack
us understand and integrate with other cul- we should still be ready. There is one huge launched unreleased films on the internet
tures or expand our technical knowledge. I vulnerability that could strike at any point, and exposed thousands of sensitive inter-
recently extracted some QSO data from PSK and that is the internet. Our lives are becom- nal emails. These had a damaging effect on
Reporter and discovered that, out of a sam- ing inextricably linked with the internet. Our both executives and employees.
ple of nearly 1.3 million contacts, 99.66% money is online, as are our health records, When infiltrating a large system like Sony,
were using minimum information systems our phone systems, TV and even our log- the hackers only need to find a route into
like FT8. That leaves just 0.34% using open books. So far, there have only been a few rel- one computer or device. Once in, they will si-
systems such as PSK31, RTTY, etc. I fear atively minor glitches in the internet, typical- lently probe around the network to find more
that many of those were also rubber-stamp ly where a bank system falls victim to a bug important computer systems to hack. As
QSOs. and goes down for a while. However, there they move from computer to computer, they
That brings me on to my next point. are industrial scale, state-sponsored, hack- often clean up behind, leaving little trace of
Although not often required in the UK, one ers out there who are constantly looking for the previous infection. The same group has

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56 PRACTICAL WIRELESS August 2021
Data Modes

Fig. 1: Main screen of the FLMSG messaging

application. Fig. 2: Winlink Express software Raspberry Pi-4
for global amateur email. Fig. 3: JS8CALL and
open message adaptation of FT8. Fig. 4: Block
Rx RadioBerry
diagram showing the RadioBerry and Raspberry
Pi. Fig. 5: Phone of the Chinese manufacturer
RadioBerry. Fig .6: The RadioBerry 5 watt PA with AD9866
RF in/out Cable FPGA
Tx/Rx switching.
modem
Tx
carried out other high-profile attacks, such
as the attempted theft of £1billion dollars
from the National Bank of Bangladesh. They
very nearly got clean away with that one. If 4
you want to learn more about these organ-
ised attacks, BBC Sounds have an excellent
podcast running called the Lazarus Heist.
While I’ve reported a couple of specific
examples here, you can be certain that all
developed countries have teams that are
finding ways to infiltrate each other’s sys-
tems. The point here is that the internet is
vulnerable, but we have yet to experience
how disruptive an attack could be. It may be
that our national defences are up to the job
and we don’t need to worry. However, ama-
teur radio could have a significant role by
providing an alternative digital network. We
won’t be able to match the capacity of the
current network, but we could still provide
useful capacity.
However, we need to be prepared. That
preparation could be experimenting with
microwave equipment to provide high
speed data links via hill tops. We could also 5
be looking at text messaging systems us-
ing adapted data modes like FLMSG. By
tackling these projects, you will extend
your technical knowledge while collaborat-
ing with others to provide a useful service.
Radio clubs are an ideal catalyst for this
type of development work and it would be
great if a few of the more active clubs could
get the ball rolling. As an individual, you can
help by giving FT8 a break and using more
free-form modes such as PSK31 and MFSK.
One thing is for sure, if we suffer an attack,
FT8 won’t be much use!

Practical Ideas
If you want to build a wide bandwidth digital
link, you need to be working with microwave
or optical links. The best place to start look-
ing for guidance is the UK Microwave Group
(URL below). The UKuG have all the knowl-
edge and contacts you will need to get 6
started with Microwave work. Membership
is just £6 a year and they even have loan system that works with FLDIGI and is used vice that can operate without the internet,
systems and hard-to-find components avail- by US amateurs to support their emergency Fig. 2. Full details can be found here:
able for members. communications systems. Also included in http://winlink.org
http://microwavers.org FLDIGI are a range of MFSK modes. Another Don’t forget about PSK-31, 63, etc. as the
For text messaging, try experimenting popular and versatile messaging system is PSK mode makes for an excellent free-form
with FLMSG, Fig. 1. This is a messaging WinLink as it provides a Global email ser- messaging system and is remarkably resil-

Continued from page 55

ient. JS8CALL is also worth a look as this that mounts on top of a standard Raspberry Incidentally, here is a list of all the words in
is an adaptation of FT8 that enables free Pi computer. Webster’s II international dictionary with at
mode messaging, Fig. 3. It’s a slow system The RadioBerry has a great pedigree least five iambic letters: blackberry, bricklay-
but can get through very poor conditions. because it’s derived from the HPSDR er, bricklaying, clarify, classificatory, electrify,
In my next column I’ll go into more detail project that was the foundation for the falconry, flycatcher, freckle, gyrfalcon, huckle-
and show you how to use some of the other Apache ANAN line of transceivers. The key berry, hydrofluoric, monkeyflower, olfactory,
data modes. difference between the Hermes and the quackery, quicksilver, Rockefeller
Hermes Lite is the repurposing of a cable
Club Talks Available network transceiver chip to replace the 16- The Old Morse Test
One of the great things to come out of the bit ADC (Analogue to Digital Converters) in This subject was being discussed on the
pandemic has been the widespread adop- the original design. The result has been an FISTS group:
tion of Zoom conferencing. Although origi- excellent, direct sampling, SDR transceiver [email protected]
nally started to help clubs keep running, (12-bit ADC) with continuous coverage from There are some nostalgic memories there
many have realised that Zoom opens the LF to 30MHz. of Morse tests, long long ago! Some obvi-
possibility to invite speakers from far and The Hermes Lite design is available as a ously had a similar experience to mine. I was
wide at little or no additional cost. Under fully assembled module from Makerfabs. accompanied by my Dad up to London and as
normal circumstances, the range of avail- There are three parts to the transceiver. The I remember it was nearly the top floor of this
able speakers is limited by travel distance first is the main Hermes Lite 2 module at building in St Martins Le Grand. It was 1956
but Zoom has cleared away that barrier. $225.70, then you need the Hermes Lite 2 and the examiner could see I was nervous.
Several clubs have asked me to give talks N2ADR filter board at £52.70. He gave me a ‘test’ piece to calm me down
over the past year, so I’ve created a range of There is also a sign-written case available and then followed by some numbers. He said
talks that are now available for other radio for just $16.90. When assembled and I had done quite well, so I sat waiting for the
clubs to call on. I make no charge for these connected to one of the popular SDR examination. Silence for a minute or so and
talks and you can contact me via mike@ software packages like SDR-Console, you I then asked when he would start. He just
g4wnc.com. Here’s a summary of my cur- have an all-band 5W SDR transceiver that said, “That was it! I don’t think you will have to
rent talks: can run two or more receivers anywhere come back again”.
Pictorial Introduction to Data Modes: in the LF-HF bands. The Hermes Lite 2 has Before we returned to Norwich we visited
This talk is designed for those who are ei- been used as my main transceiver for the St Paul’s Cathedral. We had a look round and
ther new to data modes or are considering past couple of years. also went through some stone passageways.
starting data modes. Topics include: What The RadioBerry is an adaptation of the As we turned a corner a woman’s voice said,
are data modes, Why bother, How they work, Hermes Lite 2 that uses a Raspberry Pi 4 “Is that you Henry?” We were alone and we re-
What do you need and Connections. The to provide the networking and processing traced our steps to try to find who it was but
talk concludes with some FT8 operating power, Fig. 4. Although the full design found nothing. Very strange!
techniques and a look at the future of data files and PCB layouts have been shared Have a read of some others’ experiences.
modes. via Github, home construction has been They are fascinating.
SDR Technology without Maths!: This is the only way to get a working transceiver.
a look under the bonnet of SDR transceiv- I have a hand-built version, but it was not Victor Brand G3JNB
ers where I show you why IQ signals are im- an easy task because most of the discrete Godfrey G4GLM sent the following regarding
portant and explain how they work. The talk components are 0603 size (1.6mm x the key featured last time from Victor G3JNB.
uses illustrations to show how SDR systems 0.8mm) and then there’s that large FPGA to The key displayed by Victor G3JNB is
operate and avoids maths where possible. I solder! a YA1860 as fitted to WWII British Field
cover a variety of SDR techniques and con- The construction problem is now solved Telephone D MkV that had telegraphy capa-
clude with a look into the next generation of because one of the Chinese manufacturers bility. The type number will be etched into the
SDRs. has started producing ready assembled underside of the ‘Paxolin’ base (illustrated,
Raspberry Pi in the Shack: A run through and tested RadioBerry boards. You can find Fig. 1) and hence obscured in Victor’s case.
the Raspberry Pi range, including the new them on AliExpress (URL below) and the
Pico microcontroller. I cover several ama- cost is around £72 with free postage. Essex CW ARC’s
teur radio orientated projects, including the http://bit.ly/radioberry New Chairman
RadioBerry direct sampling transceiver. I purchased one to check out the quality Rob M0KCP, Fig. 3, has been appointed
Introduction to Digital Mobile Radio: and It’s performing well. I’ve shown a photo Chairman of Essex CW ARC. He says, “It
Intended for those new to digital voice. This of the new board in Fig. 5. The designer of was a pleasure to be appointed Chairman of
talk explains the challenges of digitising the RadioBerry project and several people ECWARC. I must thank the outgoing chairman
speech and shows how the popular sys- on the user group have purchased the Dean G4WQI for his excellent work over the
tems work. I also provide some jargon-bust- assembled version and all have reported past three years. 2020 has been an unprec-
ing explanations to help you make sense of good results. The designer has also edented year for everyone and I hope that you
digital mobile radio operation. developed what he’s calling a pre-amplifier and your families remain safe and well. Many
module, which adds a 5W PA plus transmit/ radio events were cancelled including our own
Affordable RadioBerry receive switching and mounts on top of the field days, lectures and Boot Camp/CW con-
Regular readers will know that I’ve been RadioBerry, Fig. 6. This module is currently ference. Whatever 2021 brings, the ECWARC
a keen follower of the HermesLite 2 and only available for self-build from Github committee will continue to hold online train-
RadioBerry projects for some time. The files but, hopefully, it will go into production ing, nets and other activities to promote CW
RadioBerry is a small SDR transceiver board soon. on the bands.”

Tony Jones G7ETW

[email protected]
+5V +5V
A5 SCL

T
his article has been light relief for I2C LCD display
me. It’s January, and I’ve recently A4 SDA
written three theory-heavy pieces. 0V 0V
So, I offer you an Arduino project, a
practical mix of simple electronics and C pro-
gramming. (In the text I refer to two versions D9
of the code, but only one, V5.1, is printed and
D12 1M RCap
is on my website. That’s not a mistake; read-
ers can switch between versions by chang-
LED
+5V
ing one line of code.) 10k 1k RFixed

The Hardware
An Arduino Uno R3 is the smallest fully D8 A3 A2
‘pinned’ Arduino available, with the least
RTest RLimit CTest
memory. Because of that, this project will 0V (if needed)
work on any Arduino board.
The display is a 1602 I2C Serial LCD 4
(row) by 20 (character) type. This bigger 1
display makes for a richer user-interface

Arduino
than 16 by 2 models allow. I prefer I2C-
connectivity because it requires four pins
compared to seven for an SPI display.

CR Meter
Fig. 1 shows the breadboard circuitry.
Resistance and capacitance measurements
rely on a potential divider, where I measure
the voltage across an unknown component.
Please ignore points A and B for now. The
code is on my website, called ARDLCSV5.1. Tony Jones G7ETW offers a design for an Arduino-
Measuring Resistance based CR meter that brings together hardware and
An A-to-D divides a fixed, DC voltage software in a useful piece of test equipment.
between a fixed number of steps. On an
Arduino, 5V is divided into 1023 (two to
the power of 10, minus 1) steps. Ohm’s (220kΩ/221kΩ), which is 1018.
Law does the rest, making one resistance 1kΩ is small compared to hundreds of kil- A
‘quantum’ = (Rfixed + Rtest)/1023. ohms, so a wide range of Rtest values (204kΩ Relay 1
You see the problem. As Rfixed + Rtest to 255kΩ in fact) will give this same 1018 D5
Input NO NC
increases, one resistance step increases and read value. One fixed resistor is not good
the ability to tell two values apart decreases. enough. (I never thought it would be, really.) 10k
When Rtest is small compared to Rfixed, the Table 1 shows some results I got with
resolution is effectively set by Rfixed. But as V4.1. I based the calculations above on 5V
Rtest rises, the balance changes and by the but look at the voltages! For this method to
time Rtest is 10 times Rfixed the resolution has be accurate, I’d need the reference voltage Relay 2
dropped significantly. to be a lot more stable than this! D6
Input NO NC
Please start off with V4.1 – this is the Fig. 2 shows how to incorporate a relay
code, with gVersion = 4.1. Rfixed is 1kΩ. This board in the project. The relay contacts, con- 100k
value is a compromise. It can’t be too low nected together as shown, form an addition-
because of an Arduino’s 40mA maximum al variable resistor between points A and
B
current limit for a pin. B on Fig. 1. (The relay board also needs a
5V and ground connection, but these aren’t 2
ARDLCSV5.1: Software and shown.)
Hardware Improvements Please switch versions to V5.1 by chang- A second reading gives 1023 ×
The problem with V4.1 is that Rfixed is just ing gVersion to 5.1. This version man- (220k/231k) which is 974 – still over my
that − a fixed single resistor − and this is ages the relay. Now, for a 220kΩ resistor, trigger value, but better. An additional 100kΩ
rather a blunt instrument. Imagine I’m trying this (same) reading of 1018 based on the is switched in. Rfixed is now 111kΩ and a third
to measure an exactly 220kΩ resistor. Rfixed same 1kΩ resistor exceeds an ‘auto-range reading gives 1023 × (220k/331k), which
is 1kΩ. required’ trigger and the code, seeing this, is 679, nicely in the middle. Rtest can be
A to D integer reading (assuming down- switches in an additional 10kΩ, increasing (acceptably) accurately calculated.
ward quantisation) from pin A3 = 1023 × Rfixed to 11kΩ. These relay boards work differently to

Fig. 1: The breadboard circuitry.

Fig. 2: incorporating a relay board.
Fig. 3: View of the breadboard layout.
Fig. 4: Charging of a capacitor.
Fig. 5: Simplified diagram for one-relay board.

‘traditional’ stand-alone units. To make a

relay switch, its input must be grounded –
look at the high and low settings for relays 1
and 2. See Sidebar: ‘Relay Boards’ for more
information.
Fig. 3 shows the breadboard layout (for
V5.1, although it’s almost the same for
V4.1).
Table 2 also shows some results I got
with V5.1. This change makes quite a
difference with large values of Rtest.

Measuring Capacitance
Measuring capacitance depends on Rcap
(another fixed value) and a millisecond
timer. 1MΩ slows the charging of nano- and 3
micro-Farad capacitances sufficiently to
measure their time constant (tau) accu- Marked DMM ARDLCS V4.1 A-to-D value V across Rtest V across Rfixed
rately, but pico-Farad capacitors charge too
2.2 2.3 6.9 7 0.01 4.88
quickly to be timed.
This speed-governing cuts both ways. 22 21.9 27.11 27 0.1 4.81
What charges slowly, discharges slowly and 220 221 257 209 0.88 4.8
the first time I measured a 470µF capacitor
I realised what was happening and used the 2200 2170 2280 711 3.3 4.75
time to unload the dishwasher! I added the 22000 21700 19000 972 4.45 4.68
LED to indicate that discharging was in pro-
gress after that. 220000 214000 127000 1015 4.76 4.85
I don’t measure a whole time constant by Table 1: Resistance Test Measurements in Ohms (no autoranging)
the way. I did some maths – see Sidebar:
‘Capacitor Charging’ − and found a way to Marked DMM ARDLCS V4.1 A-to-D value V across Rtest V across Rfixed
speed things up. 2.2 2.3 38.6 38 0.01 4.86
See Table 3 for some test measurement 2
results. These were done with V4.1, but for 22 21.9 29.18 29 0.1 4.82
capacitors the two versions are identical. 220 221 234 194 0.87 4.83

Coding Aspects 2200 2170 2200 703 3.23 4.71

This is not a programming magazine, but I’d 22000 21700 21900 681 2.92 4.49
like to highlight some of the programming
tricks I used. 220000 214000 223960 682 2.92 4.42
Table 2: Resistance Test Measurements in Ohms (with autoranging)
String Functions
but no Strings each of these is substituted. The compiler Marked Atlas LCR meter ARDLCS V4.1
All the literals are character arrays. I didn’t does not see ‘LEDPIN’; it sees ‘12’ instead.
1nF 952pF Zero
use string objects because they are memo- This saves space for variables that do need
ry hungry. But I did use Arduino’s standard to change. 10nF 10.24nF 9.52nF
string manipulation functions, which ma-
Real Programmers 47nF 46.97nF 47.62nF
nipulate character arrays, because these im-
prove readability. do use GOTO 100nF 94.12nF 114.29nF
Sometimes − not often, I admit − a GOTO is
Compiler Substitutions 2.2µF 2.28µF 2.58µF
good coding. (I look forward to the Letters
An Arduino UNO R3 has 2kB for variables. page!) 10µF 10.1µF 11.54µF
That’s not a typo – I really do mean 2048 In this case I needed three analogRead
47µF 46.66µF 53.6µF
bytes. blocks. I could have used Rfixed to determine
Hence my use of define statements, the logic path, or even a Do-loop with an 470µF 423µF 505.5µF
which are labelled pieces of fixed text. When indexed array of resistor values, but it was
the sketch is ‘parsed’ (read for compiling), just simpler (and more fun!) to have a GOTO. Table 3: Capacitance Test Measurements

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60 PRACTICAL WIRELESS August 2021
Project

Capacitor Charges exponentially with time Capacitance Charging

0.700 When a capacitor charges from a DC supply the
Voltage across charging capacitor

formula is:
Vc = Vsupply (1 – et/cr)
0.525 Fig. 4 shows this. This is simpler than it looks if
you know e. Let me take it apart.
e is the ‘exponential constant’, a fundamental
constant of physics and engineering. Its value is
0.350
approximately 2.718.
t/CR is a ‘time constant’ and has no units. t is in
seconds, so Ohms times Farads must also come
0.175
out in seconds. I’d never thought about before,
but it does. (See Sidebar ‘Time constant dimen-
sional analysis’).
V

0.000 Look at t = 1 on the graph’s x-axis, where exactly

0.0000 0.3000 0.6000 0.9000 1.2000
Time in time-constants one time-constant has elapsed. Substituting 1 for
t/CR in the above formula gives
4 Vc = Vsupply (1 – e to the minus 1)
Anything raised to the power of minus 1 means
the reciprocal of it. This simplifies to
Flyback diode Vc = Vsupply (1 – 1/e)
Relay NC E = 2.718, so Vc = Vsupply(1 - 0.367).
This is familiar territory - after one time constant
Vcc Jumper NO a capacitor has charged to approximately 63% of
the supply voltage.
Com I could have measured C this way, but there is
nothing magical about one whole time period.
Vcc Look again at the graph – when t = 0.105, the volt-
age level is 0.1. It took a little work in Excel to dis-
R cover this but it’s straightforward-enough maths
NPN using ‘natural logarithms’.
This is why the code looks for an analogRead of
Input Optocoupler 102. To get there takes 10.5% of a time period,
and if we know that (and Rcap) C is easily cal-
5 culated.

The Empty Loop ductors too have a time constant, equal to Time Constant
A classic while loop is coded as While (con- L/R. Dimensional Analysis
dition) Do actions. The logic is: I did some more modelling. To measure We need to go back to fundamental SI units. 1
Perform the test L this way (measuring an exponentially- Volt is 1 Joule per Coulomb, 1 Amp is 1 Coulomb
If and ONLY if the test evaluates TRUE, fol- changing voltage in a potential divider) is per second and 1 Farad is 1 Coulomb per Volt. To
low a series of instructions possible, but it’s not easy. Rfixed would have avoid confusion with C for capacitance, I’ll use Q
Go round again to be tiny − a few Ohms perhaps − or the for Coulombs.
I needed analogReads to repeat while the time constant would be large. And Rfixed be- Ohms is V/I, which becomes J/Q divided by Q/S.
This reduces to JS/Q2.
capacitor discharged. I could have coded ing small brings me back to an Arduino pin’s
Farads is Q/V, which is Q divided by J/Q. This re-
this as: 40mA limit.
duces to Q2/J.
There are ways though, predicated on
Multiply Ohms by Farads and all the J and Q
int X = analogRead(A2); making oscillators (or at least tank circuits)
terms cancel out, leaving just S for Seconds.
While (X > CAPMIN) {X = analogRead(A2);} and measuring frequencies and/or reac-
tances. Such a design would work just as Relay boards
This would have worked, but it needed a vari- well for a capacitor of course, and I do plan
See Fig. 5. This is a simplified circuit diagram for
able and it’s bulky. While (analogRead(A2) to revisit this.
a one-relay board. There is a jumper on the board,
> CAPMIN) {} may look odd, it’s brutally ef- In the meantime, I hope this is of interest.
which separates the circuitry on both sides of an
ficient. As can be seen from the results, I don’t plan
opto-coupler. This allows the Arduino to be com-
to take my plans for the Arduinometer to the pletely isolated from the switching circuit.
Conclusion – and an Apology Dragons any time soon, but many (cheap) When the input line is grounded, a tiny current
When I started on this, I intended to make an DMMs don’t have capacitance ranges so flows, which operates a transistor switch, which
LCR meter. this is, in extremis, of some use. operates an ordinary relay. Very sensibly a ‘fly-
Just as Capacitance opposes the change This was an interesting project and dem- back’ diode is incorporated to protect the transis-
of voltage, storing energy in an electric field, onstrates why 10-bit A-to-Ds (and Arduinos) tor from the coil’s EMF generated as the magnetic
Inductance opposes the change of current, have their limitations. But if nothing else, it field collapses.
storing energy in a magnetic field. And in- was fun!

Martin Waller G0PJO

[email protected]

F
or the last few years, I have
been using a multi-band End-
Fed antenna fixed to the back
of the house and going down
the garden. It was home-made and based
on a design published by John PD7MAA
(URL below). For those of us with long,
thin back gardens the design is quite
convenient as the feed from the antenna
to the shack is generally short. I have been
pleased with it; it runs without the need
of an ATU, but is limited to the 80, 40, 20,
15 and 10m bands. Recently I have been
looking around for a replacement to give
me access to more bands.
https://tinyurl.com/zz5eyn45
I realised that a replacement would
need a new antenna feed from either
halfway down the garden (for a multiband
dipole or similar) or from the bottom of
the garden for an inverted-L. In these
configurations it also seemed better to
have a remote ATU as close as possible
to the antenna feedpoint. Remote ATU
devices are not cheap, and I was very
hesitant to make such an investment.
Early in May 2020 I was browsing eBay
and noticed a kit for an ATU designed by
David N7DDC, being sold for just shy of
£40. The price seemed right, I decided to
find out more. The design is documented
on GitHub:
https://tinyurl.com/279k46ta
The repository contains the circuit
diagram, latest software, and extensive
documentation. The documentation
suggested that it supported an 'Automatic 1
Mode'. In this mode, the tuning operation

My ATUBox
is triggered when the device detects a
poor SWR.
This sounded perfect as I would not
need to be near the device to push a 'tune'
button! My only apprehension was the
number of SMD components there were Martin Waller G0PJO returns, experimenting with
on the board. I have built a few projects
using SMD technology in the past, but they
something new.
only had a handful of components and
some failed spectacularly. I decided to buy Starting the Build The kit came with limited documenta-
one and see how I got on. Before starting the build, I collected my tion, but the PCB detailed all component val-
The kit arrived promptly and was very tools together. These included an old ues and the SMD components were all well
well packaged, Fig. 1. The PCB was Antex XS soldering iron with a standard labelled. The toroid winding details can be
surprisingly small, 60 x 120mm, and so 2.3mm bit, an old tin of flux that I had used found on the circuit diagram. I started the
were the pins on the main processor, in for plumbing jobs, glasses, and small pair build by soldering all the SMD capacitors
this case a PIC 16F1938. The enclosed of tweezers. I also built a simple tool to and resistors. For each one I added flux to
documents suggested the PIC had hold the components in place when being the pads using a cocktail stick, positioned
already been programmed with V3 of soldered − my ‘third hand’. It is made of the component with tweezers, and then held
the firmware. At that time this was the two lengths of dowel with a cocktail stick it in place using ‘my third hand’. Once happy
latest available software so no further mounted at one end with a band of lead to with the orientation and position I applied the
programming was required. add weight, Fig. 2. smallest amount of solder possible to the tip

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62 PRACTICAL WIRELESS August 2021
Constructional Feature

Fig. 1: The kit on arrival. Fig. 2: The author’s

home-made tool for holding components in
place. Fig. 3: The IC after soldering in place.
Fig. 4: The finished toroids in place.
Fig. 5: The assembly after 3D printing some
suitable supports. Fig. 6: 3D printed insulating
bar. Fig. 7: VSWR curve for the balun.
Fig. 8: The balun boxed up. Fig. 9: Inside the
finished ATUBox. Fig. 10: The ATUBox in situ.

of the iron and applied it to one end of the

component. I was then able to remove ‘my
third hand’ and repeat the process on the
other end of the component. Once complete
I used a tissue to remove all excess flux
keeping the PCB as clean as possible.
With boosted confidence I then tack-
led the PIC processor. These devices have
many legs that are remarkably close togeth-
er compared to the width of my soldering
iron tip. I would never have been able to sol-
der each leg individually, so I decided to go
for the flooding technique. I added flux to all
the pads, positioned the processor and held
it in place with 'my third hand’. Once happy
that the processor was the right way round
and all the legs aligned well with the pads, I
soldered two pins that were diagonally op- 2
posite each other across the processor.
Having checked again that the processor
was in the right place I flooded all the pins
on one side with solder. I then used some
solder wick to remove the excess. This
worked remarkably well, Fig. 3.
I repeated the process on the other side
and the processor was done. I was slightly
concerned about the health of the proces-
sor as the flood technique and the subse- 3 4
quent wicking required a lot of time and
heat!
The kit does not come with a display,
but the PCB and the code are configured to
drive one. The display is beneficial because
it provides details of the tuning operation,
including power output, SWR, inductance
and capacitance. I realised that, if I added a
few more components and a display, I could
power up the ATU and hopefully prove that I
had not damaged the processor. By default,
the software supports the classic 16x2 LCD
display with an I2C serial interface board
set to the default address. I added the extra
components, connected a display, powered
the board up from a PP3 battery, and all was
not well! The display lit up but displayed no
text. I knew the display worked because I
had just borrowed it from another project.
I checked the address being supported by
the I2C serial interface board and found
this did not match the one expected by the
software. Changing the address on the I2C
boards is easy and once changed it fired up 5

and displayed what I expected – the pro-

cessor seemed to have survived the heat!
The rest of the build was easy. The toroid
winding details were found in the circuit dia-
gram and I had no further issues, Fig. 4.
The PCB has a connector for the main
‘Tune’ button, but two further buttons can
be added to provide ‘Bypass’ and ‘Auto’
functionality. Sadly, the connections for
these buttons require connections soldered
to pads on the back of the PCB. When as-
sembled with the display and three buttons
there were wires everywhere. To help man-
age the situation before the final boxing up,
I designed and printed off some supports,
Fig. 5.

The Doublet 9
For the Doublet, I pulled apart a length of old
black and red, two core and earth mains ca- I designed and printed some 40mm The Acid Test
ble. I realised that the copper would proba- insulating bars. These were attached using All the parts were now in place, I could take
bly stretch but I thought that the ATU would short cable ties, Fig. 6. down the End-Fed and put up the Doublet.
correct for this and I did not want to spend With the Doublet having a balanced feed My initial tests did not go too well. I
too much on antenna wire until I was sure and the ATU supporting an unbalanced connected the ATU to my KX3 with a 25m
it was all going to work. The Doublet also feed, I also had to include a Balun. Many length of RG58. This length was chosen
required a balanced ladder-line feed. I had years ago, I built a 4:1 balun from two because it would be like that of the final
never used one of these before and was not BN43-202 binocular cores. The design is setup. I was hoping the ATU would start
quite sure where to start. I found that Rick called the ‘Backpacker Balun’ (URL below). tuning when I hit the TUNE button on the
DJ0IP has a published a document talking Testing it with a 200Ω resistor, the balun KX3. This button causes a CW carrier to be
about ladder-line design and I decided to try seemed to be performing well. It was transmitted at the selected power setting.
some 40mm insulating bars, with the docu- limited to low power, but I would be driving The ATU did start to tune but then froze.
ment suggesting this would result in an im- it with a KX3 with 10W output, Fig. 7. Again, To recover I was forced the cycle the ATU
pedance of approximately 400Ω. to solidify things, I boxed it up, Fig. 8. power. Repeating the process, I could see
https://tinyurl.com/9dyzbjju https://tinyurl.com/29apk8sx the ATU starting to tune but at the same

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64 PRACTICAL WIRELESS August 2021
Constructional Feature
Radio
Band (m) Freq (MHz) SWR at ATU PWR at ATU SWR at KX3
Round-up
GB0WYT AND GB2DWM: During the weekend
160 1.836 2.32 8.8 2.1
of 3/4 April Huntingdonshire Amateur Radio
80 3.560 1.13 8.1 1.2 Society (HARS) members ran their first special
event station of 2021 by using the callsign
60 5.262 1.95 7.6 1.4
GB0WYT for Royal Air Force Wyton in Cam-
40 7.030 1.17 7.4 1.1 bridgeshire, as part of RAFARS Airfields on the
30 10.106 1.01 5.9 1.1
Air.
For the weekend Cadet Adult Force Volun-
20 14.060 1.18 5.6 1.0 teers (CAFV) and HARS team members were
17 18.086 1.08 5 1.2 co-ordinated on a rota basis by David M0SKT
who under normal conditions would run the
15 21.060 1.1 4.2 1.1 event from ‘inside the wire’ at RAF Wyton and
12 24.906 1.19 4.5 1.3 would be operating using local RAF Air Cadets
who regularly attend the event. This year again
10 28.060 3.4 4.3 1.4 they worked from their home stations using
Table 1: Output power and VSWR HF Voice, CW and Data modes. 214 QSOs were
made.
time the KX3 was noticing a high SWR and New HARS operators who came on board this
reducing the power output. year were Dale G5DKT, Ian D G3NID and Ian T
The ATU and KX3 seemed to be working M0XCF who enjoyed the activity.
against each other. Something had to Thanks go to Steve G1KWF, Mervyn G4KLE,
change. The ATU documentation says Andy G8OHM and Clive G3NKQ for assigning
that, by default, the ATU will only work time and putting the effort into making the
with an input power of at least 5W. The 5W event a success while keeping the GB0WYT
requirement can be changed by tweaking callsign alive during the current situation.
a byte value – referred to as the 'minimum Then during the weekend of 8/9 May, HARS
power cell' - stored in the PIC processor activated the callsign GB2DWM for Duloe Mill in
EEPROM. Changing this value is not easy Eaton Socon, Cambridgeshire for the National
and requires a PIC programming device Mills on the Air event, which is celebrating its
and associated software. Fortunately, I twenty-fifth year. The callsign was operated
had access to a PICKit 3 (URL below) and, from homes due to current Government guide-
after a bit of trial and error, I managed to lines, by various local operators who live nearby
set the threshold to 1W. or have run the special event station at the Mill
https://tinyurl.com/2vfsp65k in previous years.
This change made all the difference 10
This year was the eighth year of the club operat-
and testing resumed. The ATU seemed ing the callsign and 100 QSOs were made over
happy to auto-tune the antenna across all quite rapidly at the higher frequencies so the weekend.
HF bands with the KX3 seeing an average there is more experimentation to be done. Thanks go club members Mervyn G4KLE, Steve
SWR of around 1.2:1. Feeling confident, I Replacing the RG58 with something better G1KWF, Clive G3NKQ who assisted organiser
started calling CQ on 12m − a new band will be my first followed by some balun David M0SKT during the weekend.
for me − and ended up in a 559 both ways changes.
QSO with a Scottish station. A few minutes Overall, I am quite pleased with the 30 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE AWARD: The
in to the QSO my power supply blew a fuse result. I have moved from being limited to Slovenian Amateur Radio Union will celebrate
and my nostrils were being offended by End-Fed antennas to a setup that easily the country’s 30 years of Independence by issu-
the smell of burning! Fortunately, the smell allows experimentation with centre-fed ing a special award. It will be eligible to amateur
radiated from the ATU and not the KX3! It antennas. As for the ATU, it seems to be radio enthusiasts all over the world.
turned out that an SMD capacitor across £40 well spent. The only downside that For this event only, starting 26 June 2021, 0000
the DC supply line had blown and most of I can see is that if you need to change UTC and until 31 December 2021, 2359UTC,
it had vanished. Not knowing the quality configuration values stored in the EEPROM, Slovenian amateur radio stations can use
of the supplied devices, I bought some and there are many, then you will need to special callsigns. Those will add the number
new capacitors from a reputable dealer, be familiar with, and have access to, PIC ‘30’ into the suffix. For example: S50ZZ will be
replaced the blown one, and I have had no development tools. If you do decide to S5030ZZ, S51A will be S5130A, S57XXX will be
further issues. build the ATU, be careful which kit you buy. S5730XXX etc.
The ATU is now housed in my ATUBox, a Searching for N7DDC on eBay produces In order to obtain the award a foreign amateur
wooden box halfway down the garden and many variations. Some just selling the radio station must have at least 30 contacts
powered from the shack, Figs. 9 and 10. PCB, some come with a small display, with S5 stations (regular and special callsigns
Running tests with the KX3 set to 10W some come already built and boxed. I apply), out of which 10 or more must be with
output, the SWR and power out reported by chose to buy one that originated in China special prefixes (‘30’). The use of any band/
the ATU and the SWR as seen by the KX3 but claimed to be shipped from the UK mode counts for the award. Send the log (list of
are given in Table 1. and clearly showed the PCB along with all contacts − date, time, call, band and mode) to
The power out does seem to reduce toroids, relays, and SMDs. [email protected].

Tom Morgan ZS1AFS/ZT1T

[email protected]

N
ot having a station in the UK
meant I was restricted to mo-
bile (not easy in a hire car) or
a handheld from one of our
daughter’s upper floors. I was staying
with her when I first visited Chippenham
Radio Club. So, I was very interested in the
‘MicroHUB’ demonstrated by Jon G0IUE.
This all-in-one-box looked quite attractive
− another means of communication with
other amateurs, across the internet, in poor
conditions. The system he was using was
AllStar.
G0IUE’s MicroHUB could be connected
through the internet to other ‘nodes’, some
of which could have other nodes connected
to them, called ‘hubs’. I liked the idea of con-
necting to the World but could not digest all
of the information in one hit. And subse-
quently, I made a several contacts on 70cm 0
1
with my handie through G0IUE’s node from

It’s radio, Jim.

our daughter’s house.
Many repeaters have AllStar access. But
there’s always a radio and a radio amateur

But not as
at both ends. Several operators such as
Matt KN4ZXV and Glade KD7BCR stateside,
and many in the UK, work mobile through

we know it
their local repeater that’s connected to a
hub. I spoke to amateurs in the UK during
the lockdown (from South Africa) just sit-
ting in their gardens with a handheld.
Various diagrams on the Net show the
system and network maps to explain the Tom Morgan ZS1AFS describes a Mode with
structure. Fig. 1 is a simple representation
of a contact between my daughter, who
Nodes, but is it Internet or Radio?
lives in the UK, and me.
the ‘system’ on it. Yes, my FT-8900 has a and password were both ‘admin’.
So, How Did I Get suitable socket. There was just one small While waiting, I read the likes of Chris
My Own Node? proviso. I had to supply my node number Hood WB4ULK, articles by WA3DSP, and
Having time on my hands while in the UK, I and the data for my own location, callsign, crompton.com. I purchased a pair of
read up on the Net and got totally lost! But I etc. before an SD card could be ‘flashed’. I Baofeng BF-888S radios (cheap) with bat-
did fathom out that for a node you need- agreed to send the information when I got tery eliminators, etc. also brought out from
ed a radio (preferably with a 6-pin mini-DIN back to South Africa. the UK. Was modifying a handheld the way
data socket), a sound fob and a computer. I So, I signed into the AllStar website (be- to go?
thought, this could turn out to be expensive! low) and registered my details. After ac- Later on I had a few problems checking
But the MicroHUB I saw had a Pi computer ceptance by email, I applied for a node. It’s the wiring of the fob to the radio with the sup-
(not expensive) and a stripped-down hand- important to keep a printed record of your plier. As he wrote, he goofed up! This was
held. The ‘bit’ between them was a sound AllStar Node Configuration. But little did after I suggested I’d cut off the mini-DIN plug
fob. Several people on the Net had modified I know, then, I was taking a leap into the to connect a stripped-down HT directly. In
commercial fobs, but I was not keen on that dark! the event I’m running the node and monitor-
route. www.allstarlink.org ing my local VHF repeater from the FT-8900.
On an outside stall at the last Hamfest in I bought a Pi 3 B+ Kit on the internet and It’s two radios in a box.
Lincoln, USB AllStar Sound Fob Interfaces was advised to get it with a pre-configured There’s a lot of information about Pi and
were being sold for £25. So, I bought one, SD card, a case and PSU. It even came with AllStar on the internet. I’m sure there’s scope
Fig. 2. The golden rule, learned when blue a USB card reader! After sending all of my and need for most of it. However, Scott
water sailing and subsequently in Africa, is information to the amateur from whom I Nimmo summed up my dilemma on allstar-
‘If you see it and think you will need it, get it’! bought the interface, he sent my SD card to setup.org. “No one seems to have put togeth-
Talking to one of the stallholders, he said I our daughter. She brought it out with the Pi er a simple, logical, easy to follow set of ABC
could buy an SD card for a Pi computer with from the UK. He emailed me that the login type instructions designed for those with zero

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66 PRACTICAL WIRELESS August 2021
Feature

Fig. 0: The node at ZT1T. Fig. 1: The Hub.

Fig. 2: The AllStar Sound Fob Interface.
Fig. 3: Admin menu. Fig. 4: Map of nodes from
the AllStar website.

previous knowledge and very limited con-

structional abilities”. This has led many peo-
ple to think it’s an internet-only mode.
Quite a few people who use a Pi com-
puter as the ‘brains of an operation’ prefer
to obtain pre-loaded SD cards from repu-
table sources. As an example, the ORARI
(Indonesian Amateur Radio Association)
document Setup Raspberry Pi for Ham-Radio
advises readers/enthusiasts if they don’t
want to install the amateur radio programs,
they can obtain pre-loaded SD cards, from
PW columnist Mike Richards G4WNC at:
https://photobyte.org 1
I was glad I didn’t have to do the download
stuff. I’m all for the easy option. So, the big
day arrived. Well, it didn’t! I had installed the
SD card, switched on the Pi and watched the
program lines scroll up the screen. It stopped
scrolling and cleared with the command line:
ZT1T login: So, I typed ‘admin’. Then I was
prompted, password: So, I typed ‘admin’. And
the ZT1T login: prompt came up again! There
were a few repeats!
What was the login name? I tried every-
thing I could think of, from my AllStar log-
ins and even my node password. Finally, I
emailed the amateur who had created the
card. And to my amazement, in the reply he
confirmed both had been set to a different
word! At least I got to another screen. See
Admin Menu List in Fig. 3.
Even though I checked out the AllStarlink.
org site I found that the Admin Menu List 2
screen was as far as I could go. What did
the listed functions do? Finally, I emailed the Surprisingly, this README file had been 12 Simpleusb-tune-menu menu options
amateur who had flashed the SD card, to find written quite a bit earlier, in January 2017. It Active simpleusb device stanza: [usb]
out how to go from there. But I got the im- explained that the stages to getting a node S) Select active USB device stanza
pression he did not understand my problem. running had been streamlined as from ver- V) View COS, CTCSS and PTT Telemetry
Then, my friend who is a Pi enthusiast had a sion 1.5. If only anyone of those I asked for using real-time display
look. He was stumped like me. help had told me where to look, it would have P) Print Current Parameter Values
Some months later during the lockdown, saved me hours of time and I would have 2) Set Rx Voice Level (using display)
I had an epiphany! What if I had got to the been up and running over a year sooner. If 3) Set Transmit A Level
point where I could log into the network, i.e. you have a pre-flashed SD with all your infor- 4) Set Transmit B Level
I could connect! But I was still no wiser. So, mation, you should come out with the menu B) Toggle RX Boost Mode (currently
I went back to the Net. And there I searched in Fig. 3 after logging on. Enabled)
and found: C) Toggle Echo Mode (currently Disabled)
https://tinyurl.com/3pwwbnuj Up & Running at Last D) Flash (Toggle PTT and Tone output
My questions were being answered. This I found it most helpful to consult both docu- several times)
step-by-step–from–the beginning documents I have mentioned while checking the E) Toggle Transmit Test Tone/Keying
ment, dated 4/12/2019, covered the whole Admin Menu List. I realised the two main (currently Disabled)
procedure. It was written well after I had ones are 11: Run Asterisk CLI client, and K) Manually key COS (currently Unkeyed)
been scouring the Net! It even covered the 12 Simpleusb-tune-menu options (below). F) Toggle PRE-emphasis Mode (currently
‘flashing part’ using WIN32 Disk Imager. And I thought their order could have been re- Disabled)
in Section E, Phase 4 Final Configuration, it versed because 12, ‘simpleusb-tune-menu G) Toggle DE-emphasis Mode (currently
directed the reader to: Application’ (below), is needed to check op- Disabled)
https://tinyurl.com/4c65a77r erational issues. H) Toggle PLfilter Mode (currently Enabled)

I) Toggle PTT Mode (currently active LOW)

J) Change COSFROM Mode (currently
“usbinvert”)
L) Change CTCSSFROM Mode (currently
“no”)
M) Change RXONDELAY value (currently
“0”)
N) Change RXAUDIODELAY value (currently 4
“0”)
W) Write (Save) Current Parameter Values also be used. Personal requests and Google searches
0) Exit Menu Then I tentatively connected to the UK had minimal effect on my progress.
Please enter your selection now: Hub. The automated message said I had For reference, my node is ZT1T South
done so, but the operator that I spoke to Africa and numbered 49559: I will be
It is not my intention to duplicate both told me my audio was too low. I discon- standing by on arranged weekday evenings
PDFs here. However, I did find it helpful to nected, exited, and went back to Item 12 of for fellow club members through MB7AKL.
have both open on my laptops for the final Fig. 3. I adjusted my audio as instructed in And I will be monitoring, or connected to,
stages. A command worth mentioning is the guide by KG8MM. I raised it from 500 the UK hub some of the time. My latest
‘W’. Whenever you change a parameter, to 700, using 2) Set Rx Voice Level (using contact of note was with 8P4JS.
you need to Write (Save) it before exiting. display) (above). Then I reconnected to the In conclusion, I should mention one
It caught me out a couple of times. My UK Hub and my audio was fine. I have since excellent facility that helped me to locate
problem with internet-based instructions is been told that I could have connected to a hubs and nodes. It is
that I need to see them when I am utilising Node that echoes my audio – the Parrot. allstarmap.org
them. Obvious? I tried to connect to nodes belonging to (see screenshot, Fig. 4) Obviously,
Chippenham Radio club members. It was very recently activated nodes may not
Problems en Route No Go! So, I messaged Brian G6HUI to tell be on the map. But this interactive map
My main problem when I first connected to him that I’d tried to connect. He alerted of the World shows the vast majority of
the system was distortion of the automated Peter Kendall G7RPG the hubs and nodes. Finding information
messages (time announcements, etc.) on ([email protected]) about a particular node, using the list on
my Baofeng UV-5R. Reducing the Transmit well known for his MicroHUBs. And for- the AllStar.org site, with the intention of
level in the software (3 above) to 75 cured tunately, Peter solved our problem. making a connect is another story …
this, before first attempting to monitor any Apparently, neither of us could receive calls
activity. In the menu Transmit is what the from each other, but we could connect to Reference
node transmits (you receive on the HT). RX a hub! The reason, as explained in the first [1] See Section E. Phase 4, sub. 12 in the
is what the node receives (you transmit from of the PDFs, is ‘You have not configured first PDF.
your HT). your router to forward UDP port 4569 to
Once Option 11 is open, another node can your AllStar node’ [1]! I’m still not sure what Supplementary Notes:
be connected. You will receive automated that means. Hence the question posed in On the FT-8900 (and most modern radios)
confirmation. If no connection is made, then the title. the 6-pin mini-DIN socket is called a data
you receive regular time checks. The following morning, I had a great port, but in reality it is only an audio port.
Commands you need are listed in the files catch-up chat with a couple of members. The audio might be from 100mV to 300mV.
but the basic format from the keyboard is: I will be finding a way to connect to any The volume control of most radios will be
‘rpt fun [your node] *(Command number) node, and receive. Apparently, ‘forward bypassed.
[other node]’ porting’ could compromise my internet se- So, using software commands to adjust
Note the single space between rpt, fun, curity. But I’m sure someone can tell me is preferable to inserting resistors. See
your node, and *. how to minimise the risk. I will try to let WA8LMF’s internet site and look for 6-Pin
There is no space between *(command readers know. Mini-DIN Packet/Data Connector.
number) and [other node] Most of my problems of ‘not knowing Modifying a handheld for an AllStar node
e.g. rpt fun 49559 *341288 how to proceed’ with AllStar would have is well documented on the Net.
(*3 for connect, *1 for disconnect and *2 been minor if I’d known to look for Web searches: RSGB Emerging
for monitor) https://hamvoip.org Technology Coordinating Committee.
The format is the same. instead of seeking for assistance at Google searches: AllStar repeaters + UK,
DTMF commands from the handheld can https://allstar.org UK AllStar Hub.

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68 PRACTICAL WIRELESS August 2021
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August 2021 PRACTICAL WIRELESS 69
Letters

Your Letters
Send your letters to: Practical Wireless Letters, Warners Group Publications plc West Street, Bourne, Lincs PE10 9PH
E-mail: [email protected]

5G sary paperwork exercise, at least the new RSGB Beyond that, it is also required of any hobby
Dear Don, Calculator makes it quick and easy to comply. magazine to go ahead and publish reason-
John Dunton G1RXC in his letter in July PW has Trevor Hawkins M5AKA able criticism of a product, and not censor
perhaps missed the main purpose of 5G, which Chelmsford any such criticism. It’s a challenge, I know. But
is to completely replace the old legacy 2G and standards and the appearance of standards
3G systems. Mobile phone companies are al- do count.
ready planning the switch-off of 2G and 3G and PW Reviews John Rowlands MW1CFN
the repurposing of the frequencies for 5G op- Dear Don, Anglesey
eration. I enjoyed the review of the Yaesu FTdx10 in
5G will provide the user with faster internet the July edition, as I did much of the rest of the (Editor’s comment: Thanks John. While I take
access, for web browsing and YouTube, and be magazine. your point, no reviewer is going to be totally
able to handle the ever-increasing bandwidth While I’m sure the review is entirely objective, exempt from the possible accusation of
demands as the traditional broadcast services it’s obviously rather open to criticism when we pandering to the magazine’s advertisers. And
(TV/Radio) continue the transition to deliver- allow those producing the magazine, reliant finding reviewers who are consistent in their
ing all of their content via the web instead of as they are on big-brand advertising, to review approach, can write well and understand the
‘on-air’. the products that manufacturers and their sell- requirements of potential users of equipment
Perhaps John is making a joke at the end of ers want to promote (and do) within that same is easier said than done. But I must also admit
his letter when he says he thinks a 10W power publication. a degree of self-indulgence here because I
limit will be introduced? There is, of course, no It’s important to all readers, contemplating enjoy HF operation and the opportunity to try
intention to do any such thing but his letter may an expensive purchase like a transceiver, that out new transceivers that come along – a perk
inadvertently heighten fears at a time when reviewers not only uphold strict objectivity and of the job, if you like. In the case of the FTdx10,
many amateurs are very concerned about the independence, but are seen to display those though, I was unable to get my hands on a loan
new EMF regulation. characteristics, too. That is best achieved, I transceiver from either of the UK importers
From what I’ve seen so far, the new regulation would suggest, by using a range of reviewers because units were selling as quickly as they
will have virtually no impact on current amateur who have no direct involvement in the maga- arrived. So, in this instance, I actually bought
operations at home or portable and while it in- zine’s production, other than as an occasional my own in order that PW could be first in the UK
troduces what I view as a completely unneces- contributor. with a review.)

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70 PRACTICAL WIRELESS August 2021

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001 front ME.indd 2 21/05/2020 21:13

THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN IN COLOUR BACKGROUND TO BATTLE

Left A Hurricane of 501 Squadron

starts-up for an operational sortie at
Betheniville, France, May 1940. Air Chief
Marshal Hugh Dowding argued successfully
against further wastage of the home-
based RAF fighter force by sending yet
more fighters to France to bolster a futile
defence.
Right As the unstoppable juggernaut of
German military might advanced across
Europe, the deadly Junkers 87 Stuka dive-
bomber came into its own. However, the
RAF quickly learned how to deal with the
aircraft, and this stood them in good stead
when facing the Stuka during the Battle of
Britain.
Below right Panzer IV tanks roll across THE RAF FIGHTER PILOT THE RAF FIGHTER PILOT
France in May 1940. The German advance
was rapid and overwhelming, and within six
weeks France had collapsed and the BEF
were evacuating from Dunkirk.

sand in an hour-glass’ and he predicted

catastrophe if Churchill continued to
help the failing ally. Thus, he sent a letter
to the Air Minister on 16 May 1940, which
may well have saved Fighter Command,
and ultimately Britain, in the nation’s
darkest hour. He wrote:
“I have the honour to refer to the very
serious calls which have recently been
made upon the Home Defence Fighter
Units in an attempt to stem the German
invasion on the Continent … I would
remind the Air Council that … my strength

The Battle Looms

has now been reduced to the equivalent of
36 Squadrons … I must therefore request
that as a matter of paramount urgency
the Air Ministry will consider and decide
what level of strength is to be left to the
Fighter Command for the defence of this
The Battle of Britain was one of the most iconic battles of the Second World War, country, and will assure me that when this Losses Mounted to be called into action, covering the
level has been reached, not one fighter At around the same time, another evacuation from Dunkirk and other
embedding itself indelibly into the nation’s consciousness. Earlier, the Battle of France will be sent across the Channel however momentous decision was undertaken French ports. Inevitably, their losses
could easily have spelled defeat before the air battles got underway in July 1940. insistent the appeals for help may be. by making Lord Beaverbrook Minister of mounted. Meanwhile, the battered and
“I believe that, if an adequate fighter Aircraft Production. Aircraft production depleted RAF units that had been based

A
force is kept in this country, if the fleet had in fact kept pace with fighter losses in France were withdrawn to Britain.
fter the outbreak of war in On 10 May 1940, German forces be made good from squadrons based remains in being, and if the Home Forces incurred during the Battle of France. Here, they were re-equipped where
September 1939, there followed launched their all-out assault on France in Britain. The Commander-in-Chief of are suitably organised to resist invasion, Soon, production would outstrip losses. necessary, and manpower shortages
eight months of what became and the Low Countries and what followed RAF Fighter Command, Air Chief Marshal we should be able to carry on the war Thus, the availability of fighters would made good so far as possible. Meanwhile,
known as the ‘Phoney War’. in Belgium, the Netherlands etc. was the Hugh Dowding, had already stated as single handed for some time, if not not become a limiting factor in the air RAF Fighter Command readied for what
However, it was clear that large-scale complete collapse of those countries early as September 1939, that if he was indefinitely. But, if the Home Defence defence of Britain. was to come. Certainly, the Battle of other pilots concentrated on what haring off suddenly, upwards or Facing page Although posed for a news
fighting would ultimately follow, and a under the overwhelming might of expected to defend Britain’s skies, then Force is drained away in desperate However, by 1 June 1940, the RAF had France was over. The Battle of Britain was was going on in their cockpits: oil downwards, the rest of the squadron cameraman, the squadron telephone
British Expeditionary Force was sent to German military power. Across France, he would need 52 fighter squadrons. attempts to remedy the situation in lost 436 fighter aircraft and almost all about to begin. temperatures and pressures, fuel state, watching in bemusement and puzzled orderly shouts instructions for a ‘scramble’
France before the end of that year. As German forces rolled inexorably onwards At that time, he had only 32 under his France, defeat in France will involve the its light bomber force of Fairey Battles, oxygen contents checked and selected because they received no transmission, as pilots lounge in the dispersal hut. The
part of that BEF, a large Air Component towards the English Channel and while command and was told it would be complete and irremediable defeat of this along with a considerable number of its Immensely Powerful to ‘On’, microphone not on ‘Transmit’ or else just couldn’t understand what had smartly dressed officer is Duty Pilot – the
was supplemented by an Advanced Air the French and British tried desperately impossible to produce the number he country.” were not afraid thatBlenheims.
Bristol they were However, By this time,
either liarsRAF Fighter the starter
Dowding button was the possibility
had mentioned Facing page Pilots of 19 Squadron are (this could effectively block all other been said. Meanwhile, constant juggling pilot rostered for ground admin tasks such
Striking Force. In total, these air forces to stem the advance, so the situation required. However, efforts would be It was a hard-hitting letter, but or foolish. However,
Command a strident
at homejangling pushed afterofa invasion
continued to operate thumbs-up fromas
as early the
the middle ofdelivered
May to their dispersal point at RAF transmissions), straps tight, gun-sight of the throttle setting with the left hand, as recording take-off and landing times
amounted to 25 squadrons, six of which became ever more hopeless. made to provide him with a further eight. Dowding’s words had their effect and of the telephone could mean several
over France as the situation worsened. fitter, who unplugged
1940, but bythethe
starter
end of trolley, Duxford ready for operations early one
that month the ‘On’ and illuminated, straps tight and and judicious adjustment of position etc.
were Hawker Hurricane-equipped During the fighting in France, while the French still asked for more things. Sometimes, to intense
In a matter of sixrelief,
weeks, it Franceensuring it was clear ofhad
possibility the been
aircraft.
turned into what morning during the summer of 1940. canopy firmly shut. A surprising number through the control column and rudder Above It was not unusual for aircraft to
fighter squadrons. The remainder of the Predicted Catastrophe increasing numbers of fighter squadrons fighter squadrons to be sent to France,could send acollapsed
messageentirely.
to ‘StandNow,
Down’ Unable to communicate
it .only remained appeared to be over the roar ofIf Hitler Above
probability. was Their relaxed look perhaps would carry out a little good luck routine pedal inputs, were all necessary just to return damaged after an engagement
RAF force in France comprised largely When the fighting had broken out in were sent across the Channel, urged on such appeals were rejected. However, Other times,forit called
Britishpilots toand
forces, some units the
readiness, Merlin engine,
of the the his
to impose pilot and
will onrigger concealing the tension, these Hurricane
the British people, like feeling for a lucky charm, or even keep station. It was incredibly hard work, and with pilots wounded. This brand-
light bombers and Army Co-Operation earnest on 10 May 1940, aircraft of the by desperate appeals from the French further squadrons of Hurricanes were and then to French
the heart-pounding order:
army, to evacuate exchanged thumbs
via Dunkirk up signals, the rigger
then he could apparently only do so pilots of 501 Squadron pose for the camera crossing themselves. and mentally and physically draining. new Spitfire had just been delivered to
squadrons. Eventually, however, the Air Component were in almost constant Prime Minister, Paul Reynaud. Dowding deployed over France, but they remained‘SCRAMBLE!’ in what was Operation ‘Dynamo’. RAF slapping hisby pilot on thethe
crossing shoulder
EnglishtoChannel andduring the summer of 1940. All of them Now, the workload was high, and still By now, the squadron was ‘on oxygen’, 602 Squadron at RAF Westhampnett
‘Sitzkrieg’ became the ‘Blitzkrieg’. combat, and losses had to continually saw his resources ‘slipping away like based in the UK. Years afterwards, veterans ofatthe
Fighter Command Battle
home convey reassurance
continued dictatingand
his good-luck
terms fromasWestminster.
he sawToaction. Several of them shot down they needed to concentrate on formation masks clamped securely to pilot’s faces when it was hit by cannon shells from a
of Britain told how they hated the sound leapt from the wing. As he jumped, the enemy aircraft and some of them were keeping while permanently keeping as cold began to permeate the cockpits. Messerschmitt 109 in a combat on 18

E OF B R
of a ringing telephone. aircraft was already rolling, and the rigger killed. a wary eye open for the enemy and Now, with all the hard work of take-off, August 1940. The aircraft was written off
6 On the order to scramble, there 7 was dodged out of the way of the tail-plane, quartering the sky in a relentless search. formation flying and getting to altitude, and Flight Lieutenant Dunlop Urie wounded

L
a mad rush by pilots to their allotted buffeted by the slipstream which was what it was they were intercepting. It A moment of relapse could litterally spell came further nervous tension with in his feet.

TT I
aircraft where the fitter and rigger were kicking up dust and grass. Getting out may have been an instruction along the death. The squadron ‘Weaver’, winding realisation that the enemy were near.
ready and waiting: the rigger on the wing of the way, he was hit by a blast of hot lines of: “MITOR Squadron, ANGELS from side to side, kept a rather more wary Then, a tight knot of fear returned as chance of a well-ordered textbook:
006-011 Background to Battle_AS_W ME.indd 6 22/05/2020 12:36 006-011 Background to Battle_AS_W ME.indd 7 ready to help in his pilot, and the fitter exhaust gasses. Now, the aircraft gathered 22/05/2020
18, Vector 12:36
Two-three-zero. Fifty Plus. eye open than the rest, as the squadron the gunsight was checked and the SAFE ‘Number One Attack’. Instead, it was
standing by with the starter plugged in on speed ahead, into wind, bouncing and BUSTER.” Listening in, the other pilots got closer by the second to their quarry. and FIRE ring on the gun button turned, every man for himself, but with ‘wing
the starboard side of the engine. Heaving rocking across the grass airfield. Others could interpret these coded instructions: Brief instructions might crackle through ready, to the FIRE position. Goggles men’ desperately trying to maintain
TA
BA

himself into the cockpit, the pilot went careered along around it, in the organised “41 Squadron to climb to 18,000 ft on a the headphones: ‘Close up Red 2’ or, on pulled down. And then the shout: station and protect their section leader.
through a number of tasks: helmet pulled chaos that was a squadron scramble. heading of 230 degrees. Fifty plus enemy receipt of further instructions from the ‘BANDITS! Ten o’clock, above. Coming Now, the pilots were climbing and
on, oxygen plugged in, radio jack-plug in Getting airborne, the pilots aircraft. Maximum cruising speed.” Fighter Controller: ‘Turning to Port. Go!’ down now! Break, break, break….’ hanging on their props, the sun glaring
its socket, magneto switches ‘on’, Ki-Gas concentrated on keeping station as Meanwhile, pilots fiddled with the and blinding as they turned, all the while
IN

cylinder priming pump given a couple they selected ‘Gear Up’, closing the Mentally and Physically Draining radio tuner, struggling to tune and re- Chatter Of Gunfire listening out and looking out. Now,
of brief strokes and thumb ready on cockpit canopy while listening out Settling into the climb, the pilots tune their wireless sets in a constant Suddenly, to avoid the ‘bounce’ of there were shouts: “Behind you Blue
the starter. Meanwhile, leaning into the for instructions from the CO or flight automatically slid into section order battle to receive and properly understand fighters coming out of the sun, the 3!”, permeated by chattering gunfire.
cockpit, the Fitter helped the pilot with commander who was talking to the and the preferred squadron formation. the messages. Sometimes, a squawk squadron had dispersed in a pre-ordered A cacophony of shouts and static
COM

his parachute harness straps, then his Sector Operations Room and garnering Meanwhile, the CO or flight commander of static drowned out everything, plan. Now, the enemy fighters were made communication unintelligible.
Sutton seat harness. instructions as to heading, altitude and concentrated on setting course as the sometimes resulting in one section among them. This time, there was no One pilot may be drawing a bead on a

19 21
UE

EM
M

016-029 Pilots Day_AS ME.indd 19 22/05/2020 07:46 016-029 Pilots Day_AS ME.indd 21 22/05/2020 07:46
SS

ORA IVE I
T

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