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The German Marconi

Georg Wiessala profiles this
Getting to grips with Icom’s flagship transceiver little-known radio pioneer

FEATURE Jenny Bailey G0VQH FEATURE Modifying the

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exploits of this former Mayor of Cambridge an ex-commercial distribution amplifier

THE LATEST NEWS YOUR SAY

Radio products & news from around the world Letters from our readers Display until 8th May 2025
 Keylines
T
Incorporating he weather has finally turned a corner
(I hope!) and I feel sure many of you are
May 2025 Vol. 101 No. 5
On sale: 10th April 2025
getting out and about with your radio gear.
Next issue on sale: 8th May 2025 I keep telling myself I ought to turn out for some
ISSN 0141-0857 of the RSGB weekly VHF and UHF contests – it
wouldn’t be much use from my home QTH but
Practical Wireless
Warners Group Publications plc the Mendips, which I can see from my home
The Maltings, West Street office window, offer some nice locations. And
Bourne, Lincs PE10 9PH
www.warnersgroup.co.uk it’s not just the RSGB contests – as Tim GW4VXE
Tel 01778 391000 reports yet again, the 145 Alive and 433 Alive
Editor events really seem to have taken off, which is
Don Field G3XTT
[email protected] great news. And as Richard G6NFE describes in
Designer his Back to my Roots feature, the VHF and UHF
Mike Edwards
[email protected] bands have much to offer but have rather been
Advertisement Manager neglected since the Morse test was abolished
Kristina Green and those operators previously confined to the
01778 392096
[email protected] VHF bands and above have been allowed on to
Marketing Manager HF. We will have to wait a couple of months or so
Sophie Thornton for Richard’s next piece, but I know that his first
[email protected]
Marketing Assistant one generated quite a lot of interest and, indeed, I was delighted to hear about this – I well recall
Rebecca Abbott nostalgia as it brought back memories for a my own comms experience with the CCF at my
[email protected]
Production Manager number of readers. secondary school (an old-fashioned Grammar
Kay Cotterill Of course, there are few excuses for getting School). Mind you, times have apparently
01778 395065
[email protected] going on VHF nowadays. The 1975 converter changed. We used to rely on ex-WWII radio gear
Publisher design that we reproduce this month is a whereas, I am told, nowadays there are strict rules
Claire Ingram
[email protected] reminder of how VHF used to be, at least for about what equipment cadets can use, but there is
anything other than limited FM operation. state-of-the-art SDR gear, ruggedized (child proof!)
Photocopies & Back Issues
We can supply back issues, but we only keep them Transmit and receive converters working available to any CCF unit.
for three months. If you are looking for an article from your HF rig (which itself may have been Sadly, few state schools nowadays seem to
or review that you missed first time around, we can
still help. If we don’t have the actual issue we can ‘separates’). Nowadays most ‘HF’ rigs routinely have cadet forces but there are still ACF units
always supply a photocopy or PDF file of the article. include 6m and often, at least in their European throughout the country that youngsters can join.
Technical Help versions, 4m too, while some also cover 2m Anyway, it’s good to know that some young
We regret that due to Editorial timescales, replies and 70cm (as, indeed, did my FT-847 from many people, at least, are being exposed to the
to technical queries cannot be given over the
telephone. Any technical queries are unlikely to years ago but that was quite unique for its time, mysteries of radio. I know that the RSGB has a
receive immediate attention so, if you require also with satellite capability). And, of course, the number of Youth Champions working with schools
help with problems relating to topics covered in
PW, please either contact the author of the article
advantage of VHF and UHF operation is that it and other bodies. It would be interesting to know
directly or write or send an email to the Editor and really is easy to get out and about. Modern rigs what ‘buttons’ to press to engage young people
we’ll do our best to reply as soon as we can. work happily on 13.5V car batteries and antennas for the longer term, though, given that most have
ZI
NE
& BROCHURE
PR

This publication is printed are small enough to assemble easily in the field. grown up with cellphones, giving them worldwide
IN
GA

TE
MA

And although high power might be needed for, comms capabilities. What, if anything, is your own
by Warners Midlands PLC
WARNERS Telephone: 01778 391000

say, Moonbounce operation, 100W or less (as our club doing to attract young people? Sadly, some
 

2m QRP contest proves each year) is more than clubs have become a social space for the elderly
adequate to work quite long distances, especially (!) but I know that some are very active in their
if you procure a suitable hilltop site. community. And see, for example, our News item
Talking about which, look out next month for the about the Dover club (p.30) who are working with
announcement of that very same PW contest – PICs – exactly the sort of technology that appeals
we do hope you will take part. to the younger generation.

Working with young people Obituaries

My daughter-in-law, currently working as a From time to time, I get sent obituaries for
teacher at a local private school, was recently publication. Unfortunately, space simply doesn’t
the world Letters fr
news from around
9

Radio products &

Read on any device, anywhere, anytime

at www.bit.ly/pawi_subs24
asked to chaperone a visitor who was not a permit – there would be too many of them! My
member of staff. It turned out that the visitor was apologies but that’s the way it must be, unless it’s
Keep up to date on Facebook a signals training officer working at a national someone of massive significance in the hobby.
www.facebook.com/practicalwireless
level with ACF/CCF cadets and had come to
Follow us on Twitter/X help the school Combined Cadet Force with Don Field G3XTT
@PracWireless communications. Editor, Practical Wireless Magazine

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May 2025 PRACTICAL WIRELESS 3
 Contents

41

20 Vintage Television & Radio 20

Keith Hamer and Garry Smith continue the special
series looking back at the BBC’s coverage of
Coronations since 1937, this time highlighting how 41 Antennas
the 1953 Coronation was relayed to Europe. There Keith Rawlings G4MIU continues his look at the
is also a vintage Coronation advertisement from the subject of Vector Network Analysers (VNA’s).
archives for loudspeakers. The series highlight-
ing broadcasting events from exactly 100 years 44 A CW Demonstration Setup
ago looks at May 1925. The saga charting the rise Geoff Budden G3WZP describes the develop-
and fall of BBC 198kHz transmissions focuses on ment of a CW demonstrator for the Royal Signals
the facilities provided at Westerglen in Scotland. Museum, but which has applicability elsewhere.
Coverage detailing 60 years of BBC-2 includes the
disastrous power failure on the station’s opening 46 Two VHF Converters
night. They also continue their series about the We delve into the PW archives to bring you a
development of Swiss Radio and Television since design for a tunable VHF converter, a popular ap-
1922. proach at the time.

22 Going back to my roots with the 48 The World of VHF

12 two-metre band (Pt II) Tim Kirby GW4VXE has all the month’s VHF and
Richard White G6NFE embarks on a journey to above news, starting with a plug for the next 433
discover what is possible on the 2m band. Alive event.
6 News
PW’s monthly roundup of news from the UK and 25 Forty Years of the CEPT Licence 51 A Helical Longwire Antenna
internationally, including new products, club Steve Telenius-Lowe G4JVG delves into the 40 year Kevin Ryan describes a shortwave receiving
news and recent events. history of CEPT licensing. antenna that takes up minimal space.

8 Icom IC-7760: A closer look 28 Data Modes 53 Fault-finding Tektronix

Richard Constantine G3UGF gets to grips with Mike Richards G4WNC introduces SATSAGEN, of- Oscilloscopes 465/465B/475 (Pt I)
the new flagship radio from Icom. fering an affordable spectrum analyser. Michael Jones GW7BBY/GB2MOP discusses
these useful and affordable test instruments.
12 The Radio-Aristocracy: Count 34 HF Highlights
Georg von Arco (1869-1940) Steve Telenius-Lowe G4JVG has a packed column, 59 Readers’ Letters
Georg Wiessala profiles a man who could be with lots of HF-related news to report. This month’s Letters cover QSL cards, getting coax
thought of as the German Marconi. into the shack, CB and more.
38 The Face behind the Call
16 Modifying the Kramer Amplifier Roger Dowling G3NKH meets the former Right 61 Rallies
Samuel Ritchie EI9FZB repurposes an ex- Worshipful Mayor of the city of Cambridge, Jenny Locate a rally or event near you; we have our usual
commercial distribution amplifier for shack use Bailey G0VQH. comprehensive list.

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4 PRACTICAL WIRELESS May 2025
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News

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

Enhance your
To coincide with the recent firmware update
for the IC-7760 HF/50 MHz Transceiver, which
now lets you operate your HF station remotely

IC-7760 experience
over the internet or your home network, Icom
UK are pleased to announce details of the RC-
7760. The RC-7760 is an optional additional
controller for the IC-7760 HF/50MHz
Transceiver which expands the operational
possibilities of your IC-7760, allowing for for your setup. The RC-7760 itself offers • Remote Operation Capabilities - Explore
multi-location control of a single RF deck. the same intuitive control as the standard the possibilities of remotely controlling your
The optional RC-7760 controller is identical to IC-7760 controller and you can connect up to transceiver over the internet, expanding your
the one supplied with the IC-7760 and ensures five RC-7760 controllers to a single IC-7760 operating range.
seamless operation and a familiar user RF deck with the last controller powered • Enhanced Flexibility - Easily switch between
experience. It’s designed for amateur radio on taking control of the radio, simplifying control points as needed.
enthusiasts who desire convenient control operation. The RC-7760 will be available later in the
from multiple locations within their home or Benefits for the Operator: spring from Authorised Icom Amateur Radio
shack. • Multi-Location Convenience - Operate your Dealers. Its Recommended Retail Price is
Together with the IC-7760 firmware update, IC-7760 from different locations within your £1750.00 inc VAT.
the RC-7760 provides greater possibilities home or shack without moving the main unit. https://tinyurl.com/26f2h89s

MILLS ON THE AIR: The Society for the taken place and become a staple in many clubs’ ever, we will welcome any Tidal Mills, Treadle
Protection of Ancient Buildings (S.P.A.B) runs a radio events calendars. Mills or Horse Mills (with a wide variation of
Mills Celebration event every year, on or around This year’s event takes place on Saturday 10th types within those!). There is a wealth of historic
the second weekend in May. The Denby Dale & Sunday 11th May. The event itself is not run as sites that the UK has to offer. It would be lovely to
Amateur Radio Club (Formerly Denby Dale a contest. The aim is to bring together amateur see a wide variety this year!
Amateur Radio Society) have organised the Mills radio operators and clubs to promote the hobby, New home for Mills on the Air, details and
on the Air event since 1996. Without their hard whilst helping preserve some of the wonderful registration:
work over the years the event would not have heritage of our Windmills and Watermills. How- http://www.nharg.org.uk/mota

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6 PRACTICAL WIRELESS May 2025
 News

WORKED ALL BRITAIN AWARDS: A

reminder that the AGM will be held at Carleton
Community Centre, Pontefract. WF8 3RJ at
12.30pm on 1 June. Thanks to PDARS for
hosting. All are welcome but only WAB book-
holders can vote.
Awards of the Month
The WAB Committee has become aware that
sometimes people buy books at rallies, but do
not continue with the scheme because they are
overwhelmed with the choice and complexity
of the awards on offer.
To counter this, we are going to promote
two ‘Awards of the Month’ to try to highlight
individual awards, starting with the simplest.
Century Award
This is informally known as the Book Numbers
Award and is for working the holders of 100
books, with endorsements for further multiples
of 100. It is not for working individual members
as a member can hold more than one book.
There are different series of books, with new
series being introduced with major changes
in WAB, such as local government boundary New Feature: ITURHFProp Predictions Now on and the midpoint (MP) of your circuit
changes, physical changes in the book VOACAP Online! VOACAP Online User’s Manual –
package presentation, etc. The award can be I’m excited to announce a major addition to Always Up to Date
endorsed for individual series or mixed series. VOACAP Online for Ham Radio at: For those looking for more detailed guidance
On reaching 1000 books and multiples thereof, https://voacap.com/hf on using VOACAP, a comprehensive user’s
a new certificate is issued at the cost of an The ITURHFProp propagation prediction manual is available in PDF format and is regularly
endorsement. engine - developed by the International updated. You can download the latest version
Squares Award Telecommunication Union (ITU) - is now fully here:
This is for collecting the 10km x 10km grid integrated into the platform! https://tinyurl.com/2kn79d9m
squares of the UK and Crown Dependencies of ITURHFProp, also known as Recommendation Troubleshooting Page Loading Issues
the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey. ITU-R P.533-14, provides point-to-point HF With these upgrades, some users may
The requirements depend on the bands/modes propagation predictions across all amateur radio experience page-loading issues due to outdated
on which you chose to collect. The basic award bands. At VOACAP Online, its prediction graphs browser caches. If the site isn’t displaying
is based purely on working the squares, but include: correctly, clearing your browsing data and
as you progress through the endorsements, • Median Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR50) performing a forced refresh (Windows: CTRL +
other elements of WAB are introduced, such as • Basic Circuit Reliability (BCR) F5) should resolve the issue.
working other members, islands etc. • Operational MUF Stay Connected!
On achieving the Diamond level, a trophy is • Signal Strength (Signal Power) To keep up with the latest VOACAP updates and
awarded with further plaques and trophies With VOACAP and ITURHFProp using different developments, follow my new Bluesky channel:
available for higher stages. prediction methodologies, you can now compare https://bsky.app/profile/voacap.bsky.social
It is not a requirement to collect WAB on their results side by side and gain deeper insights Please note that I have discontinued updates on
the nets, but attaining the higher awards is into HF propagation. While services like Proppy Twitter/X for now.
very difficult without the aid of mobiles and (URL below) by James Watson have offered Thank you for your continued support!
portables who will specifically go out to ITURHFProp predictions for years, this marks 73 Jari OH6BG
activate WAB and call into the nets. the first time it is fully integrated into VOACAP
Online. SOLARHAM: Created and maintained by Kevin
VOACAP ONLINE: Some of you have reached https://soundbytes.asia/proppy Gibeau VE3EN, SolarHam.com was launched
out with questions about the future of VOACAP More Updates to VOACAP Online on 15 March 2006 with the purpose of providing
HF propagation predictions, especially Beyond this major feature, VOACAP Online has real time Space Weather news and data from
following news that the U.S. administration has undergone several improvements, including: various sources, all in one location for easy
cut off funding for the Voice of America (VOA). • A more mobile-friendly design for a smoother navigation. Now this popular resource is taking
I want to reassure you - this has no impact experience across devices ‘an extended break’, as “the current world events
on VOACAP Online. While VOA and VOACAP • A new menu structure for easier navigation and life in general has made me want to refocus
share a distinguished and proud history, they (Point-to-Point, Coverage Maps, and Help) my attention on what matters most, my daughter,
are completely independent. The VOACAP • ITURHFProp predictions available under Point- my family and my health”, Kevin says. “While I do
site has never received outside funding, I have to-Point > ITU Band-by-Band not know when I will be returning to day-to-day
personally maintained and funded this site, • ‘Sun of the Day’ visualization (under Point-to- operations”, he adds, “I have put some elements
ensuring it remains a free resource for the Point), a powerful tool for predicting low-band of the website that do not require any work on my
global ham radio community. openings by displaying solar phases at TX, RX, part back online”.

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May 2025 PRACTICAL WIRELESS 7
Review

Icom IC-7760:
Richard Constantine G3UGF
[email protected]

O a closer look
ver the years I’ve used, owned and
reviewed quite a few Icom radios. When
project X60 was announced, celebrating
the company’s 60th anniversary I couldn’t wait
to get my hands on it, whatever it was to be.
Always innovative, always a little different
and with their own house style Inoue Richard Constantine G3UGF gets to grips with the new
Communications later to become Icom for flagship radio from Icom.
short, has always stood out from the crowd.
Much loved in the past by SSB/VHF B Class is a favourite with contesters DX’ers and (SE) model.
licence holders. Remember their amazing serious listeners alike. At the outset I must Several months later a courier staggered up
little 2m IC-202 SSB portable? The FM IC-2E confess the IC-7610 has passed me by. I must my drive at Christmas with a huge 1m cube
handheld and IC22A mobile when repeaters immediately apologise to IC-7610 owners. From cardboard box weighing in at 29kg.
arrived… did you own one? here on I will undoubtedly be repeating some I simply wasn’t expecting the main unit to
The ubiquitous IC-7300 changed amateur functions that they already have. measure 424 x 165 x 512mm, including the feet
radio forever. A one box fully fledged SDR with a I’m coming to this with an open mind, fresh and space behind for rear cables and connectors,
great touchscreen menu system was a leap into eyes and ears and for the benefit of a wider or to weigh 16kg, plus 3kg for the control head…
a new era. One that’s certainly paid off big time. audience perhaps unfamiliar with flagship The extra weight, triple layer cardboard.
I overheard one amateur say to another that Icoms. Clearly unopened from Japan it took 20
he liked the sound of the other’s IC-7300. The minutes to carefully extract the contents. I
response was how did the operator know that The reveal couldn’t get out of the hallway without re-packing
he had one. “Doesn’t everyone?” came the reply. I knew that project X60 would be special as the box. Two flights of stairs plus reviving coffee
befits a significant milestone in Icom’s history. later I connected the additional UK type AC lead
An apology Unexpectedly the Tokyo Hamfest revealed a and the 3m high-grade CAT cable.
The IC-7610 SDR transceiver’s large colour remote head, AC only HF radio with a very large The control head has its own wall plug type
screen, excellent performance and sub-receiver black box first available as a ‘Special Edition’ 3.0A, 15V PSU. A nice amber LED indicates

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8 PRACTICAL WIRELESS May 2025
 Review

standby that turns blue when the control head

is operational. Finished in shiny black, colour
denoting ‘elegance’ in Japanese culture, there’s
a small practical issue. I wouldn’t put the main
box under a desk long term (dust in the four
fans) in a stack or other remote place without
access to the rear left-hand corner power
switch. By the way, it can get confused if you
turn the control head on first.

A new concept
It’s not long before you appreciate that you’re
not dealing with a conventional transceiver plus
sub-receiver for working splits etc. Consider
it as two completely independent receivers
sharing a common transmitter.
The receivers can be on different bands, in
different modes with the same antenna or any
one of four antennas all at the same time. It has
top mounted speakers on the control unit with
extension sockets at the rear. In Dual-Watch
mode you can get a sort of spacial effect in your
headphones…more later. Being independent
one receiver’s setting has no effect on the 2
other. They’re separate right up to the Field
Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and present Photo 1: A very tidy shack!
their outputs independently, two waterfalls and Photo 2: IC-7760 Controller/Transceiver + band
no compromise. Check two bands at once, keep screen. Photo 3: IC-7760 Rear facilities.
an eye on 6m or 10m looking for a lift.
The transverter output gives access to other The bandpass filters are followed by the pre-
bands from your armchair. Armchair copy for amps. The design can’t use both at the same
real! time. The IC-7760 has a clever trick to prevent
An optional RC-28-wheel will control either overflow that may otherwise hamper the high
VFO. Icom’s RS-BA1 software plus internet gives gain pre-amp stages and A/D converter. It’s
laptop control from just about anywhere – never achieved by moving the position of each of
miss a contest or your favourite net. the Digi-Sel modules from first in line at the 3
9MJNSYJWSFQ&9:WFSLJNXȹ\NYM antenna socket to that following the BPF’s and
option for an external remote tuner. preamp when it’s switched on. The filters do Sherwood publishes any technical research.
their job and Digi-Sel and pre-amp work together Checking two other leading makers’ higher
The Front End and Digi-Sel for best effect. You get improved sensitivity end radios alongside the IC-7760 weak signal
The first clever bit … SDR’s are notorious for out with significant reduction in Intermodulation results are very similar. Personally, the IC-7760
of band signals that can overload everything, Distortion (IMD) and better dynamic range. It’s just has the edge on weak station clarity once
known as overflow. To counter this, some very impressive. you learn to get the best out of its many options.
good front end filtering is required. The IC-7610
has nine separate bandpass filters, the IC-7760 Automatic gain control Second screen
employs 15. Filters work together seamlessly I’m used to radios having different pre-sets for Passband tuning for its three IF filters is fully
to prevent the overflow at the Analogue-to- different modes SSB, CW, RTTY etc. I’m also variable. With the second screen you see real
Digital (A/D) converter stage, an effect you can used to seeing options such as Slow, Medium time changes using manual and Auto Notch
commonly find in some lower spec’ devices. and Fast. I’m not used to seeing a menu with control.
Operationally you can’t detect any performance multiple options for each mode to suit the Each TX/RX mode has three filter
degradation when monitoring more than one operator’s personal setup (see Photo 4). characteristics ranging from soft to sharp –
band as the radio automatically has the right Menus and options are really comprehensive. a lot of choice. Two other choices are band
filter in place. Honestly, any review can only scratch the change tile or a simultaneous barcode of;
Two-pre-amp options provide 12dB and 20dB surface as there’s so much to explore and lots Power, ALC, Compression VSWR and Current,
gain respectively. and lots of play value! leaving the main screen uncluttered. – I like
Signal-to-noise ratio is key with pre-amps and As far as receiver performance goes I could that.
challenging stuff for SDR designers. Both the fill a page with data for modes, frequency, filter There’s a very effective Noise Blanker with
IC-7610 and IC-7760 use digital pre-selector performance and other settings but you might level, depth and width settings. Holding down
modules, Digi-Sel for short. They’re highly fall asleep. Spending any more of my time the manual Noise Reduction button for one
effective at rejecting out-of-band signals, such checking Icom’s figures isn’t the real world. second reduces incoming random noise without
as high-power broadcast and nearby QRM. Take it from me that it’s quoted HF sensitivity distorting the wanted signal, effective and
In the IC-7610 the Digi-Sel module comes first. of 0.16μV is as good as it gets, even before Mr variable in 15 steps via the Multi control. My LF

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May 2025 PRACTICAL WIRELESS 9
Review

4 5

band noise is typically S5-S7. I can confirm that Removing it, all you see is a massive heatsink. Photo 4: AGC Menu, more like this. (3138)
it really works. Nice to see each receiver’s RF The PA is bolted to its underside. You can run Photo 5: Dual band/mode + filter screen. (3144)
gain settings displayed by little sliding pointers 200 watts continuous duty for up to an hour and Photo 6: Monitor Scope + Bar code screen.
above the S-meter bar code readouts. 50W AM/FM. Digital fans recognise when you’re
You can specify the transmit bandwidth in running full power on FT8, but why would you? S-point plus edge in a pile up. With higher power
steps in each mode up to 3kHz on SSB. There’s RF output comes from a 65V, 450W class the internal and any external antenna matching
an audio scope screen for received signals LDMOS-FET in the power amplifier. LDMOS unit needs to be capable of handling it. The
and mic adjustments just like a conventional (laterally-diffused, metal-oxide semiconductor) IC-7760 has a beefy, fast acting toroid/ relay
oscilloscope. There’s excellent electronic keyer devices are high grade and used from audio to device that seamlessly memorises the last time
settings for the really serious and break-in is microwave. They really can cost! the frequency was used within its unbalanced
brilliant. Provision is available to record and The workshop manual is currently still a work range. First tune happens around 3 seconds or
send up to eight memory messages in all modes in progress in Japan, I can’t tell you exactly what less running up to 15 seconds before giving up
either on screen or keyboard. A front mount SD LDMOS-FET is in there. Intriguing. Presumably if it can’t agree with the antenna load.
card records such things as log, voice audio for its 200W is conservative to protect it from radio
the TX and RTTY/ PSK logs. Insert a rear mount amateurs. We’ve all heard stations that turn Best of both
flash drive to memorise transceiver settings everything up to 11+ spreading across the band Having the extra screen and pop-ups means
and screen captures. in search of bass rumble and hi-fi sound. Please that you have the best of both worlds. Without
don’t do that in a contest. temporarily masking the main screen you have
The transmitter Refinements in the receiver really help to additional information and can make changes
I’ve overheard comment that for the price you reject unwanted QRM. On the transmit side, You really can have your cake and eat it in many
could have two IC-7610’s. That’s roughly true. the radio employs Digital Pre-Distortion respects.
I’ve read disparaging comments from so-called (DPD) technology, delivering a clean output. There is so much flexibility and personal
aficionados before they’d even seen the radio… It prevents damaging non-linear distortion customisation available it’s been hard to know
Would Icom really have committed so much reaching the final amplifier. It works where to begin, what to include and what to
time, effort and cost to make a ‘damp squib’ for automatically using a feedback principle before leave out. Thus far I’ve given you a flavour of
their anniversary? I think not. the final stage, presumably no matter what you what to expect. Here’s a couple of my favourite
I’ve also heard it’s just an IC-7610 with a may try to do. I’m looking forward to finding out features.
bigger power amplifier…That’s not true by quite more on how this operates in conjunction with
some margin. the new IC-PW2 1kW amplifier very soon. Waterfalls and tracking
The main unit is larger and heavier than From what I’ve already seen of DPD on Two independent waterfall displays arranged
expected for many reasons. It houses a screen grabs it looks to be yet another really side by side below each meter or across the
substantial AC power supply that works great innovation. Doubtless a big benefit in width of the screen can be set as centred, fixed
automatically with inputs anywhere from multi-operator stations and certainly an aid to or scrolling. Displays can be on different bands
90V-264V. Four quiet fans and a very large cleaning up the bands now with increased UK or the same band. The active waterfall has an
heatsink provide a working temperature range power limits. amber edge
from 0-50°C. I intended to photograph inside For non-Icom linears, ALC and Send are On the same band the Span settings can be
the box to show you the PA. However, under the available. An external isolating relay is configured differently at the touch of a button.
cosmetic outer covers there’s another metal recommended. Display the whole band on one and maybe a
enclosure, secured by a plethora of screws. 200 watts output might just give you an section of interest shown in detail on the other.

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10 PRACTICAL WIRELESS May 2025
 Review

Polarisation and tracking

Horizontally or vertically polarised transmitted
signals bounce around in the ionosphere,
frequently arriving at the receiving station in the
opposite polarisation. Years ago, I experienced
this on a dipole on an otherwise dead 10m
band. I manually switched to a very much alive
10m band on a vertical, I was amazed. There’s a
benefit from using a separate receive antenna
particularly in a noisy environment. The IC-7760
offers a measure of diversity reception without
need for messy switching and guessing. I love
it.
Pressing the Function button below the
display reveals the typical Icom tiles, choose
Tracking and both VFO’s align and move
together. Antenna memory settings usually
default to any one of four possible antennas
Pressing the Ant selector button, you can 6
temporarily use any other of the alternatives
plus the rear Receive only antenna connector. UK batch of 20 SE models did not…They came battery for the clock, you must remove the
Use a dipole on one receiver and a vertical with a very nice watch. control unit rear case. Thankfully, the CR2023
on the other to combine the receivers in Dual UK only has access to part of the ITU WRC-15 isn’t soldered this time, just clipped.
watch mode. In short, whatever combination is agreed band on a secondary basis. Icom Japan Head units arrive with a fixed plinth that
producing best results. You’ll be very pleasantly played it safe but will revise this. Icom UK tell slots into a recess and secured by two screws.
surprised. me the modification isn’t a DIY job, requiring Either my desk is too low or my chair too high.
changes in both head and main unit. SE owners A 1cm additional tilt gave easier viewing and
Advanced manual can return theirs for a free modification. Based comfortable operating.
The radio has effective RTTY and PSK send/ on my struggles not easy. Despite being a precision fit the review model
receive capability. In common with CW mode plinth just fouled the underside tension wheel
you can pre-record eight standard message Remote operation for the VFO dial, requiring some adjustment.
formats and contest auto numbering. A wired I’ve spent my entire career in communications
keyboard and mouse connect to the two USB A hoping for more features in smaller packages. Final thoughts
sockets on the head unit. How ironic to be reviewing one of the largest At the dawn of SDR radios they worked with
Complete operating details are not in the 48- radios I’ve seen in many years. That said, it a PC’s sound cards. The days of the single
page basic manual. They’re in the Advanced certainly doesn’t have to take up all the bench box radio were said to be numbered. Not so,
Manual downloadable from the Icom website. space. Access to power and antennas is all amateurs have been loath to forsake traditional
Without it you’re missing out on a range of the main unit requires. Connection to a router buttons and dials. As SDR’s came of age the
must-know things, memories, voice recording, another option. Replacing the supplied 3m two technologies have merged. SDR’s using
scans, firmware upgrading, laptop and network cable with a 10m version, it was a pleasure computers and keyboards now embrace
connection for single or two controllers and to use it one floor down in my conservatory/ conventional displays, either virtual or as
more. I recommend anyone thinking of investing summer shack. physical options. Like cars, we’re now definitely
to download both books. in the hybrid era.
The IC-7760 is a serious commitment for a Just a few bits Pardon the pun; On its 60th anniversary
serious radio, a big decision. Nevertheless, Nothing is ever perfect so here are few minor Icom continues to think outside of the box. IC-
financially still on a par or less than many other things I’ve also discovered. 7760 has conventional appeal plus a high-end
pastimes I could name (and cheaper in real The Anniversary SE editions wall plug PSU computer back office.
terms than many radios of the past – see Steve for the control head arrived with a 2-pin Euro Here a star rating’s a problem. Currently
G4JVG’s CEPT article in this issue – ed.). AC connector requiring an adapter for the UK. I there’s no real mainstream comparison.
hope they’ll correct this. Words I’ve used are progressive, flexible,
CW decoder Perhaps a PSU with a slot/click-on plug face comprehensive and intriguing.
There’s no internal CW decoder. That’s left to would have been a better choice for use in all For now, let’s just say it does what it does well,
external software. I’ve not yet encountered a markets. Maybe, they’ll send a freebee to the SE very well. After my experiences with the IC-7760
100% effective decoder. Machine Morse is OK owners? would I buy one? As I’m already wearing the
around 80 - 90% but hand sent nowhere near. As said, you can already connect it to the anniversary watch now it’s a question of which
I’ll speculate that one day AI will crack the internet and use Icom software on a laptop. I other radios don’t I need any more.
problem… Remember I said I first. I guess Icom would love an upgrade/adapter permitting you
didn’t want a less than perfect decoder to spoil to take the control head with you. Try explaining My thanks to:
their anniversary. it to customs. • Icom UK for help and support.
The rear mounted AC switch on the main unit • Gregg M0WRE, IC-7610 and SE owner.
5MHz is just a little inconvenient. • ML & S for an early delivery.
The US models include 5MHz transmit. The first Puzzling… To replace the lithium back-up • IC-7760 at time of press. £5,700.00. PW

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May 2025 PRACTICAL WIRELESS 11
Feature

Georg Wiessala
[email protected]

T
his year and throughout 2024, many radio
clubs, individuals and organisations
in Germany celebrated 100 years of
broadcasting in the country (as well as, by the
way, the centenary of producing radio plays).
In the context of the many tributes, events
and special publications for this occasion,
the legacy of some of the historic German
transmitters, such as Königswusterhausen
and Nauen, for the history of radio has been
remembered.
The venerable Nauen transmitter in
Germany, for example (Fig. 1) put out a two-
hour live broadcast from its home location.
The transmission was specifically aimed at
short wave radio fans, DXers and listeners
across Europe, who were encouraged to
listen and participate. This broadcast was
timed to coincide with Open Monument Day.
It was broadcast live from the control room
at Nauen on 6045kHz, and a lot of DXers and
radio fans across Europe and beyond received
it successfully. Media Broadcast presented
the programme with the internet radio station
Radio60.
As it happens, the Nauen transmitter station
is located in the Graf-Arco-Straße in Nauen, in
the Havelland District of the East German state
of Brandenburg. Before German Unification
in 1989/90, the area was part of the territory
of the German Democratic Republic (East
Germany, German Democratic Republic, GDR).
For this reason, the site was once of great
interest to the CIA, as some now-declassified
documents show (Fig. 2).
Today, the evocative street name gives
me a splendid opportunity to remember one
of Germany’s favourite radio heroes, the
extensively named Count Georg Wilhelm 1

The Radio-Aristocracy:
Alexander Hans Graf von Arco (1869-1940).
Von Arco shares with me a Christian name and
a passion for radio, but not, alas, a title (the

Count Georg von Arco

German ‘von’ denotes aristocratic descent, and
‘Graf’ means count) Today, few may remember
von Arco.
But this was not always so: I found a great
vintage cover of him, in an issue of Radio Craft Georg Wiessala profiles a man who could be thought of
magazine from October 1930 (Fig. 3 and see as the German Marconi.
URL below). According to the writer, the Count
counts: he is among one of the ‘Men who have at Telefunken, is not a name that springs characteristics and achievements, it soon
made Radio’. Today, new German schools are readily to mind here in the UK when it comes becomes clear that he must have been
still being named after him, and his name lives to thinking about the early radio pioneers. possessed of a complex and contradictory
on, at least in education. However, I do feel a personal connection to him personality. He was a Catholic with several
https://tinyurl.com/3sndafrz – and not just because we share a Christian Jewish ancestors on his mother’s side.
name. Like me, Georg von Arco was the son of He was also a strongly committed pacifist
Invention,the wireless a man from Silesia with an insatiable curiosity and humanist, as well as an engineer in the
and élite politics about radio. But this is, I think, where the service of the German imperial war economy;
In general, though, Count Georg von Arco, similarities end. a dedicated physicist and innovative radio
as a radio hero and later senior manager When attempting to examine the Count’s pioneer; and a celebrated member of the

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12 PRACTICAL WIRELESS May 2025
 Feature

2 3a 3b

Society for Wireless Telegraphy, which, Fig. 1: The impressive buildings of the old
perhaps, you might know better today by its Nauen transmitter station still attract many
later incarnation of ‘Telefunken’ (see Sidebar). radio enthusiasts and tourists. Fig.2: A now de-
If you look closely at the German archives, classified document shows how von Arco’s Nauen
there are more than a few high-ranking army transmitter, in the former GDR, was on the radar
officers hidden within the Count’s wider of the CIA in the Cold War. Fig. 3: ‘Men Who Have
family, and this might go a long way towards Made Radio’ – according to Radio-Craft Magazine
explaining von Arco’s pacifist views. It seems of October 1930. Fig. 4: Biographer Margot Fuchs
that, like many military personnel of that time, has called her book on von Arco an ‘inventor’s
some of von Arco’s relatives nursed a profound biography’ (‘Erfinderbiografie’).
contempt for the fledgling democracy of the
Weimar Republic (1919-1933), the political radio engineer teams of all time. Adolf Slaby
system in Germany before Adolf Hitler (1889- was one of the first German pioneers of arc
1945) came to power. lighting and electrical railway operations. He
As a kind of ‘poster boy’ of the then ultra- was also very well-connected and had the ear
modern electrical engineering industry at the of Kaiser Wilhelm II (William II), the German
time, the Count has been said to embody like Emperor at the time (Fig. 5; Sidebar). More on
few others the ideological divisions amongst that later, as Fiona Bruce would say.
German society élites at the beginning of the Against this technical background, many
20th century; that is to say, the ‘hawks’ and believe that von Arco’s greatest success was
the ‘doves’. In the only (German-language) the establishment of the Nauen transmitter
biography I could find on Georg von Arco, station (see above). After all, this contributed
Margot Fuchs explains this kind of wider to Telefunken becoming a worldwide firm. 4
background very well, providing extensive However, despite their great teamwork and – at
detail on von Arco’s early education, ambitions, the time – global reputation, neither von Arco von Arco pooled resources and improved
important radio-related connections and nor Slaby are household names today. Von several aspects of Marconi’s telegraph system,
overall life achievements (Fig. 4 and URL Arco, whom I am focussing on here, was by all constructing the first German system of
below). accounts, an unusual man, exhibiting a unique wireless telegraphy that was to be patented.
https://tinyurl.com/58s77ah3 mix of character traits. Above all, he seems to Later, von Arco made his way into the industry
have been a committed humanist and pacifist, of his day based on these early achievements,
An unknown life engaged in the philosophies, and resulting developing his creative potential for, at first,
and a practical bent social and welfare-state policies, of his day. smaller companies and then Telefunken,
In terms of his achievements then, the ‘electric His path into electrical engineering under the firm that resulted from the commercial
count’ was a significant driving force behind Adolf Slaby has been described as based on marriage of Siemens and AEG (‘Allgemeine
German and international wireless technology his communicative abilities and the control ElektrizitätsGesellschaft’, see Sidebar).
and HF engineering. He became the assistant of his emotions. As his mentor, Slaby had As an engineer, von Arco appears to have
to another unknown German radio pioneer, been privileged to witness (in 1897) the first been less interested in the wider theoretical
Adolf Carl Heinrich Slaby (1849-1913), with practical demonstrations of Marconi wireless and scientific aspects of the new wireless
whom he formed, arguably, one of the greatest equipment in England. Later on, Slaby and technology than he was in the need to drive

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May 2025 PRACTICAL WIRELESS 13
Feature

From AEG to Telefunken:

A Short Lesson in German
Commercial History 6

The ‘Gesellschaft für Drahtlose

Telegraphie, System Telefunken’ Fig. 5: The German Kaiser Wilhelm II (1859-1941; r.: 1888-1918) had a significant influence on German
(Society for Wireless Telegraphy, System national business strategy of the period. Fig. 6: A Telefunken ‘Arcolette’, a much sought-after radio
Telefunken – or ‘Telefunken’ for short at one of today’s vintage wireless fairs. I wish I had one! Fig. 7: The banner of the ‘German Monist
– was established in Berlin in 1903 Federation’, of which von Arco was an active member.
as a joint venture of two predecessor
firms, Siemens & Halske (S&H) and the forward incremental, detailed and systematic telegraphs. This continued after the end of the
Allgemeine Elektrizitätsgesellschaft improvements for the benefit of both civilian First World War (1914-1918) during which time
(AEG, The General Electricity Company). and military engineering practice. Practical von Arco proved himself as a goal-oriented
‘AEG’ is also sometimes known by its method, it has been said, was more critical for manager, who, it has been said, valued
other permutations as ‘AEG Slaby-Arco’ him than ‘dry’ theory, or profit considerations. concrete results more than thinking ‘inside the
and Siemens and Halske as ‘Brown- He has also at times been described as a strict box’. Maybe this reflects different approaches
Siemens’. The German Kaiser, Wilhelm materialist and rationalist. to business in Germany and Britain at the time.
II (r.: 1888-1918) had all but forced the Some observers have stated that von Arco’s
merger. Count Georg von Arco served Tubes and telegraphs: ways of doing things – and getting results
as a corporate engineering manager at thinking outside the box – continued outside of work, for example,
Telefunken from 1903 into the 1920s. Against this background, his work as an in his involvement with the German Monist
Telefunken was the dominant driving employed ‘inventor-engineer’ in R&D for Federation (Deutscher Monistenbund) and
force behind the development of the radio Telefunken was counter-balanced by Hans similar associations. Monists adopted the
and TV industry in Germany in the 1920s Bredow (1879-1959), the first chairman of metaphysical position – and still do – that all
and 1930s. In 1941, Siemens transferred Weimar Germany’s National Broadcasting natural phenomena can be traced back to one
its shares in Telefunken to AEG, who Service. Bredow represented the kind of overall governing principle. As a committed
subsequently became sole proprietors; conservative values that von Arco lacked. pacifist, he must have faced insistent
Telefunken became a subsidiary, later However, von Arco’s orientation towards questions about why – given his peaceful
working as ‘Telefunken GmbH’ (a Limited practical solutions soon came to fruition convictions – he allowed himself to work in a
Liability Company, Ltd.) from 1955 and during his time as a business leader and top job benefiting both civilian and military ends
‘Telefunken AG’ (‘Aktiengesellschaft’, engineer at Telefunken. In the areas of vacuum – and this at a time of very high European
a Public Company) from 1963. The tubes, general HF engineering and generator tensions among the great powers of the day.
company amalgamated with AEG in 1967 technology, for example, the German inventor From what I have read about Georg von
and became ‘AEG-Telefunken’. Daimler and his colleagues both exploited non- Arco, he might have replied that it was more
acquired AEG in 1985, and ‘Telefunken patented technology and upgraded existing important for him to develop technology and
was dropped from the company’s name. patents to bring new products to market to help others succeed. In a time of excessive
From 1997, it had effectively stopped successfully and swiftly. nationalism, state brutality and war, von Arco
being an independent firm. However, the This was underpinned by the strong support remains as detached from an obsession with
Telefunken brand name is still current in of the senior management at Telefunken who too much scientific detail, as he does from the
Europe. Daimler is now marketing it, as far were keen to build an advanced workforce; war potential of the technology he was leading
as I can tell. a team that was educated in the leading on. One observer (URL below) noted that, in
technology of the day, such as tubes and Arco’s head, ‘the cool head of the experimenter

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14 PRACTICAL WIRELESS May 2025
 Feature

was not united with the hot heart of the patriot’.

This stood in stark contrast to his colleagues,
such as the more famous Hans Bredow (see
above). Von Arco even joined the ‘Federation
New Fatherland’ (Bund Neues Vaterland),
which – contrary to its ‘Nazi-ish’ sounding title
– worked tirelessly, and at times futilely, for
an enhanced international understanding and
global progress and reconciliation, amid the
chaos of a total war.
https://tinyurl.com/2j59xmsa

Independence and exploitation

It is clear that both political and personal
independence remained von Arco’s intellectual
leitmotiv after the War both in his personal
ambitions and in his technical work as an
inventor. This led him at times down some
rabbit holes, into areas such as ‘telepathy’
and ‘supernatural’ phenomena. However, 7
this can also be seen as a striving to be free
of prejudice, and it may explain the man’s Conclusion:
distinctive legacy, in electrical engineering, hero-inventor and brand name Further Reading
wireless communication, the philosophy of
science, and what we would call ‘sociology’ or
The life and work of Georg von Arco unfolded
in a dynamic field that was determined, on the
on Georg von Arco
‘welfare’ today. one hand, by the image of the ‘genius-inventor’ • Advances in Radio Science (ARS): 100 Years of
It seems that most of the technical aspects and artful, creative, engineer, and on the other Radio Telephony in Germany:
of von Arco’s work were mature and published hand, by the political and military realities https://tinyurl.com/5n8yb29h
• Bischi, M. (2017) ‘Who Was Karl Ferdinand
before World War I, whereas the majority of and agendas of his time, exemplified in his
Braun?’ Lettera Matematica, 5: 253-259
his social concerns matured only after the membership of the German Monist Federation
• Blumtritt, O. (2010) ‘On the History of an
war. What is clear is that in the context of his (Fig. 7). The tensions inherent in this made for
Experimental Set for Wireless Telephony’.
commitment to the ever-growing Telefunken an eventful and interesting life, and they are
Intern. Journal for History of Engineering and
company he produced innumerable patents, reflected in Georg von Arco’s personality, which Technology, 80 (2): 248-267
innovations and inventions for the benefit of combined organised pacifism and the striving • Caldwell, S. (2020) ‘Telefunken v. Marconi:
the company – if not always visibly for his towards European reconciliation with working Wireless-Diplomacy and the Voice of the Seas’
own scientific glory, as it were. Some have for an economy on a war footing. (RadioUser, February 2020: 50)
argued that, as time passed, Telefunken ‘over- In addition to this, von Arco’s image, and his • (2022) ‘The “German Marconi” & the British
instrumentalised’ and misused what was growing reputation as the great imaginative German Battle for Wireless Supremacy’
arguably their greatest personal asset. ‘hero-inventor’ of this era were, of course, (RadioUser, June 2022: 57)
Whatever the truth of this matter, from carefully constructed by others – his • CIA: https://tinyurl.com/bdw76htu
around 1925 onwards, von Arco grew into the employers, the wider public, his competitors, • DBPedia: Georg von Arco:
major pillar in the firm’s advertising at the the engineering and radio magazines of the https://dbpedia.org/page/Georg_von_Arco
time – a personal technical icon, as it were. time, and not least by himself. I know of few • The Monist (Magazine): Archive:
Therefore, linguistic adaptations of the name other radio pioneers who literally became a https://tinyurl.com/crdecft3
‘Arco’ (or its derivatives) on a radio receiver ‘walking billboard’ of the communications • DW (Deutsche Welle): ‘German Radio Turns 100:
(‘Arcofon’, ‘Arcolette’, or ‘Arco Jicky’) (Fig. 6) products of just one company – in this case, https://tinyurl.com/yck3v8sw
all but guaranteed sales and became a robust Telefunken. • Engineering and Technology History Wiki
and recognisable brand in Germany, and far However, let us not forget that there were (ETHW):
beyond. Telefunken was known (even to my wider currents. His employers and the https://ethw.org/Adolf_K._H._Slaby
• Fondazione Marconi (on Slaby):
parents, as I seem to remember) as the brilliant decision-makers of the time were themselves
https://tinyurl.com/yckt4k8s
German company of busy and successful radio enmeshed in broader technical, political,
• Friedewald, M. (2000) ‘The Beginnings of Radio
hero inventors. cultural and business trends of the era, like the
Communication in Germany, 1897-1918’ Journal
That sort of thing carried a lot of currency intense contemporary rivalry with Britain over
of Radio Studies, 7 (2): 441-463
in German minds – it still does. This is how, telecommunications and communications https://tinyurl.com/ycys3cmc
through some very clever corporate marketing monopolies and technical infrastructure of • Fuchs, M. (2004) Georg von Arco (1969 - 1940)
strategies, von Arco became almost idolised those respective nations’ ambitions for Empire - Ingenieur, Pazifist, Technischer, Direktor von
as ‘the great inventor and pioneer of radio’. I (cf. Caldwell, 2022: 57). This rivalry was to Telefunken: Eine Erfinderbiographie (GNT)
don’t think he minded this, to some degree. shape the future development of radio and • Georg Wilhelm Graf von Arco:
Throughout his later life, his ‘marketability’ as telecommunications in both nations for many https://tinyurl.com/msf9z5b2
a ‘genius of radio’ became arguably the main years to come and leave an imprint on the • Radio-Craft Magazine, October 1930:
raison d’être of his working life – maybe with personalities of the early radio pioneers on https://tinyurl.com/4r7erpv9
his general approval and connivance. both sides of the English Channel. PW

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May 2025 PRACTICAL WIRELESS 15
Feature

Dr Samuel Ritchie EI9FZB

[email protected]

I
n this article I look at modifying a
professional piece of equipment from the
audio-visual industry for use in distributing
signals around the radio shack. One of the
challenges in the audio-visual industry is the
requirement to distribute one or more signals,
simultaneously to monitors, recorders, editing
desks etc. The equipment used for this specific
task are called distribution amplifiers.
As in many areas, the audio-visual world
is moving from analogue to digital. To our
advantage, a lot of the analogue equipment
is appearing on the second-hand market. One
example is the Kramer Model VM-1411, which is
a dual-mode distribution amplifier. This unit has
promise as its specifications are:
• Maximum output 1.8V pk-pk 1

Modifying the Kramer

• Video Bandwidth (-3dB): 240MHz
• Video S/N ratio: 77dB
• Controls: Trimmers for video gain and EQ
• Coupling: DC or AC

VM-1411 amplifier
Ѭ.SUZYFSITZYUZYNRUJIFSHJȹ
Our interest, and the aim of this article, is to
modify the unit to make it suitable to distribute RF
signals around the shack.
These units cost $720 new and are very nicely
built with through-hole components except for Samuel Ritchie EI9FZB repurposes an ex-commercial
the op-amps. This type of equipment often ran distribution amplifier for shack use.
24 hours a day for decades, in less than ideal
environments, and needed to be rugged. I bought You remove the top PCB by disconnecting the these connectors does need a lot of heat and flux,
two of these from the same seller on eBay for £22 ribbon cable at Conn15 (which is on the bottom and a little bit of levering.
each. The unit I am working on here is shown in board), remove all 14 nuts on the BNC connectors,
Fig. 1. remove the back panel, and then lift the audio PCB Step four - Terminate the input in
out of the enclosure. Do not throw this PCB away ŢDQG$&FRXSOHWKHLQSXW
The circuit – high level view yet as we can use some components from it. You Fig. 5 expands on Fig. 4 with the LOOP connector
This model has two inputs, channel A and channel need to remove the RF board completely so you removed. The high input impedance is set by
B, as shown in Fig. 3. On each input is an ultra- can work on it, and this is done by removing 12 7FSINXPȹ>TZFHMNJ[JȹYJWRNSFYNTSG^
highspeed current feedback amplifier configured screws on the base plate. engaging SW2, which places R8 in parallel with
as a non-inverting amplifier (IC1 and IC3). The R7. The choice of AC or DC coupling is made by
AD8009 from Analog Devices is used here, and Step two – Remove unused power either having C1 and C2 in circuit for AC coupling,
has a fixed voltage gain of 2. supply components (Optional) or bypassing both capacitors by engaging SW1.
Each of these input amplifier feeds a second The audio circuitry requires +5V DC, +15V DC, and D1 and D2 provide some input protection.
AD8009 (IC2 and IC4), also configured as a -15V DC, while the RF circuitry only requires +5V R7 is of no use for our application and can be
non-inverting amplifier, with each providing five DC and -5V DC. I removed the two regulators IC7 removed, as can R23 which is used on channel B.
parallel outputs. If SW5 is depressed on the front (7815) and IC8 (7915) that supply the ±15V DC to I am not comfortable with having R8 DC-coupled
panel, then the relay (REL1) disconnects the the audio PCB. The two nice heatsinks are in my to the input. If there is an active antenna on the
channel B input (IC3) and instead also connects junk box to be used one day on another project. I input that is not AC coupled, then R8 is going to
channel A to IC4. These are the two modes, either did not remove the bridge rectifier diodes or the drop the voltage, heat up, or even burn out. Thus,
as a single 1:10 distribution amplifier or as two 1:5 electrolytic capacitors. I removed R8 and R24 which is the same position
distribution amplifiers. on channel B. SW2 now has no effect. As we are
Step three - Remove loop only going to AC-couple to this device, we disable
Step one - Open it up BNCs (Optional) SW1 and SW3 (on channel B) by cutting the track
Once open, and as shown in Fig. 2, you have two Input A and Input B are teamed up with a Loop joining SW1 to R14 and from SW3 to R22 on
PCBs mounted one on top of the other. The top A and a Loop B output. The circuit for Input A is channel B.
PCB is the distribution circuitry for the audio shown in Fig. 4. The input is directly connected 9TYJWRNSFYJYMJNSUZY\NYMȹ.WJUQFHJI7
signals, and I am going to strip this PCB out to the BNC marked LOOP. To avoid inadvertently TSHMFSSJQ&FSI7TSHMFSSJQ'\NYMFȹ
completely as we are only interested in the RF connecting to these and disturbing the impedance resistor. I got these resistors from the audio
distribution capabilities of the device, which takes matching, I removed the two BNC connectors GTFWI\MNHMZXJXȹ YTQJWFSHJWJXNXYTWX
place on the lower PCB. which are marked CON2 and CON8. Removing in numerous places. These are marked with five

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16 PRACTICAL WIRELESS May 2025
 Feature

Fig. 1: Front and top view of the Kramer VM-1411.

Fig. 2: Inside view of two PCBs. Fig. 3: High
level block diagram. Fig. 4: Input to loop and
termination. Fig. 5. Input circuitry – original.

bands of yellow, white, white, gold, and brown.

Now the input circuit has been modified as shown
in Fig. 6.

Step Five - Terminate 4

WKHRXWSXWVLQŢ
Fig. 7 shows the output circuit for channel A. IC2
drives five outputs with the impedance for each
TZYUZYXJYG^7ў79MJXJFWJFQQȹWJXNXYTWX
FSISJJIYTGJWJUQFHJI\NYMȹTWȹNK^TZ
can use those found on the audio board. Channel
B uses resistors R16 – R20, which also need to be
changed.
You may notice that R33, R34, R38 and R39 are
FQXTȹWJXNXYTWX9MJXJFWJNSYJWSFQFRUQNKNJW
termination resistors to manage long PCB tracks
between amplifiers, and have no effect on the
input or output impedance, so I have not changed
these.

Step six – Single or dual mode

The single pushbutton on the front band (SW5)
selects between the 1:10 mode and a 2×1:5 mode.
When SW5 is depressed, there is only one 5
input active and that is channel A. The signal on
that input is distributed to all ten outputs. When receivers in the 1:10 mode. The front and back view on this unit using a vector network analyser. All
not depressed, there are two inputs that each of this piece of equipment is shown in Fig. 11. unused inputs and outputs were terminated with
go to five outputs. I guess it depends on your You can see that I also removed the channel ȹKTWYMJXJYJXYXFig. 8 shows the transmission
application in which mode you want to use the B input connector (CON9) and the channel A coefficient, S21, which is telling me how much
unit. input connector (CON1) as this input is directly signal I lose or gain as the signal passed through
I mentioned that I bought two of these units connected, internally with coax, to the oscillator. In the device, and how this varies as the frequency
from eBay. The other unit, modified in a similar addition, I shorted out the front panel switch that changes.
way, was completely removed from the enclosure selects between modes to make sure it was always The distribution amplifier seems to be
and was mounted inside a 19in 2U enclosure in the 1:10 mode of operation. useful up to about 200MHz which matches the
which contained a GPS disciplined, oven- specification, which claims a 3dB bandwidth
controlled crystal oscillator. It is used to distribute Testing of 240MHz. Increasing the gain using the
the 10MHz signal to various test equipment and After reassembly I carried out three sets of tests potentiometer on the front panel only affects

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May 2025 PRACTICAL WIRELESS 17
Feature

6 7

10

Fig. 6. Modified input circuitry.

Fig. 7: Output circuitry.
Fig. 8: Transmission coefficient - S21.
Fig. 9: Isolation between outputs on the same channel.
Fig. 10: Isolation between outputs on different channels.
9 Fig. 11: Front and back view of GPS standard.

signals below about 100MHz.

The second test is the isolation between ports,
and this is shown in Fig. 9. For this measurement
I inputted a known signal into one output port
on channel A and measured what was coming
out of the adjacent receiver port on channel A.
For a design where the only isolation is parallel
resistors, it is okay.
Recall in Fig. 2 that there is a separate amplifier
for channel B outputs. So, for this measurement
I inputted a known signal into one output port on
channel A and measured what was coming out of
the output ports on channel B in the 1:10 mode –
this is shown in Fig. 10.
Here the isolation is greatly improved as there
is now a separate amplifier between the outputs 11
on the two channels. If isolation of outputs is
important, then consider using the device in the For £22 and a little bit of work this unit provides potentiometers R10 and R27 on the front panel,
1:10 mode and choose which outputs you use to adequate signal distribution for signals below only provides at most a power gain of 3dB per
take advantage of this additional isolation. 200MHz, can be used to distribute one or two output. Enough, I suppose, to overcome some
signals to multiple receivers, and if you have cable losses.
End note a 19in rack, it fits in a 1U slot. As mentioned, Have a look at my website (URL below) where
I noticed that there is a wide variety of Kramer and I successfully use it to distribute a 10MHz there are higher resolution pictures and a more
other brands available on eBay. Make sure it is frequency standard signal in my shack – detailed assembly and disassembly text. I also
an analogue video distribution amplifier, and not something the 1:10 mode seems ideal to do. have captured more of the circuit diagram of the
one made to distribute digital signals such as SDI As an amplifier it is limited, as the voltage unit. I have no financial interest in Kramer or eBay.
or HDMI. gain of the output amplifiers, adjusted through www.samuelritchie.com

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18 PRACTICAL WIRELESS May 2025
 All items shipped from our UK factory. Prices exclude p&p.

www.sotabeams.co.uk
[email protected] 01625 501643

2SMWI4VSFPIQW7SPZIH

2)71/ (YEP-R0MRI
6IQSZI
9R[ERXIH (74RSMWIGERGIPPMRKWTIEOIV[LMGL
IPMQMREXIWYR[ERXIHRSMWI8VERWJSVQ]SYV
VIGIMZIEYHMS[MXLYTXSH&SJRSMWI
%HZERGIH(74RSMWIGERGIPPEXMSRXLEX
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2SMWI GERGIPPEXMSR

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'SQTEGX-R0MRI ()7/8341/--

MRJS$FLMPXHGSQ 4SVXEFPI(74RSMWIGERGIPPMRKXLEXVIHYGIW (742SMWI'ERGIPPMRKFEWIWXEXMSRWTIEOIV

FLMPXHGSQ
 MRXIVJIVIRGIF]YTXSH&9WI[MXL JIEXYVMRKTS[IVJYP;WSYRH[MXLYTXS
LIEHTLSRIW H&SJEHETXMZIRSMWIVIHYGXMSR

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May 2025 PRACTICAL WIRELESS 19
Vintage Television & Radio

Keith Hamer
[email protected]
Garry Smith
[email protected]
Broadcasting history
Keith Hamer and Garry Smith continue the special series
BBC coronations: Part XXV looking back at the BBC’s coverage of Coronations since 1937,
As soon as the date for the Coronation of Her
this time highlighting how the 1953 Coronation was relayed to
Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was known, detailed
planning was undertaken by the BBC for radio and Europe. There is also a vintage Coronation advertisement from the
television coverage. The historic event on 2 June archives for loudspeakers. The series highlighting broadcasting
1953, was broadcast by the five existing high- events from exactly 100 years ago looks at May 1925. The saga
power television transmitters located at Kirk o’
Shotts, Holme Moss, Sutton Coldfield, Wenvoe
charting the rise and fall of BBC 198kHz transmissions focuses
and Alexandra Palace, together with three low- on the facilities provided at Westerglen in Scotland. Coverage
power outlets situated near Newcastle, Belfast, and detailing 60 years of BBC-2 includes the disastrous power failure
Brighton. on the station’s opening night. They also continue their series
Plans were also agreed with France, the
Netherlands and West Germany for relaying the about the development of Swiss Radio and Television since 1922.
programme in those countries. The vision signal
was taken in three centimetric-wave hops from line outlet. The broadcast was also sent to the London (Earl’s Court) and Castle Bromwich,
London to Swingate, near Dover, and from there it transmitter at Lille. near Birmingham. The 1953 event featured 113
was re-transmitted across the Channel and received exhibitors, including none other than George
at a point near Cap Blanc Nez. From here, another Vintage coronation loudspeakers Newnes Limited, publishers of Practical Wireless
centimetric-wave link conveyed the signal to Cassel This month’s trawl through vintage copies and Practical Television, both edited for many years
in Northern France. The circuit between London of desolate newspapers and magazines has by Frederick J Camm. Many readers affectionately
and Cassel was provided by Messrs. Standard uncovered an advertisement by Bakers ‘Selhurst’ referred to both publications by the soubriquet,
Telephones and Cables, Ltd. (ST&C), under contract Radio, Fig. 1. The advertisement dates from May Camm’s Comics (they probably couldn’t resist the
to the BBC, and Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française 1953. alliteration!), although every edition was, in fact,
(RTF). The text has been left in its original format to packed with highly technical information and
An essential feature was the use of diversity reflect the spelling, grammar and punctuation an occasional detailed constructional project.
reception on the cross-Channel link in order to of the time. This is the full text of the company’s The edition of Practical Wireless issued during
overcome ‘fading’, which was a well-known and advertisement offering ‘high-fidelity’ loudspeakers. Coronation month, June 1953, is shown in Fig. 3.
troublesome phenomenon in the Fifties on over- Despite extensive research, Bakers ‘Selhurst’
sea paths with frequencies of 4,000MHz, or higher. Radio was a rather elusive company. They 100 years ago: May 1925
From previous experiments, ST&C had established advertised themselves as “Pioneer manufacturers This series acknowledges some of the events,
the value of using two receivers with their parabolic of high-fidelity moving-coil loudspeakers, technical achievements and personalities
dish aerials mounted some fifteen feet apart in the amplifiers, receivers, radiograms, corner cabinets associated with the world of broadcasting from
vertical plane. and all associated equipment since 1923”. The exactly 100 years ago this month.
Experiments indicated that when the signal at company was owned by Electron Directors, Ltd. The Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft mbH (RRG)
one receiver was subject to fading, that of the other According to the Croydon Times newspaper, was established in Berlin on 15 May 1925. The
was steady. Therefore, with both signals available, dated Saturday 26 November 1932, the company network consisted of nine regional German radio
a fade-free signal could always be obtained. This allegedly had a brush with the law under the and television services, which operated between
method proved invaluable, both during the tests Factories Act, but, as David Jacobs used to say 1925 and 1945.
preceding the historic event and on Coronation Day on Juke Box Jury in the Sixties when there was an Georgia Radio, the first radio station in Tbilisi,
itself. unfavourable comment about a featured pop group opened on Saturday 23 May.
From Cassel, the signal, which was still the British and their latest record, let’s swiftly move on! Derek Macdonald Cooper, the well-known writer
405-line standard, was conveyed to Paris by RTF The stand at the BIF mentioned in the and broadcaster on food and other topics, was
and the French PTT. In Paris, the signal was sent advertisement referred to the British Industries born on 25 May. He also presented PM on Radio 4
to the French 441-line transmitter and also, via Fair, which was an annual trade show held between and provided voice-overs for Tomorrow’s World on
a 405-line/819-line converter, to the Paris 819- 1915 and 1957, usually at the twin venues of BBC-1.

1
Attention Music Lovers! Special “Coronation Year” News
BAKERS Selhurst RADIO
INTRODUCING
THE NEW DE-LUXE ‘TRIPLE’ CONE LOUDSPEAKER 12”-15 WATTS-18/17,000 cps.
A worthy successor to our world famous 1952 ‘TRIPLE’ Cone, its perfection of Tone and Performance will satisfy the
most critical music lover.
THE NEW SPECIAL SINGLE CONE LOUDSPEAKER -12”-20 WATTS-25/16,000 cps.
THE NEW HEAVY DUTY DUPLEX CONE LOUDSPEAKER 18”-30 WATTS-18/15,000 cps.
Of the same high standard in Quality and Performance as our De-Luxe model.
BRING THE ORCHESTRA INTO YOUR HOME WITH A BAKER SPEAKER
1953 BIF 27 APRIL – 8 MAY. CASTLE BROMWICH, BIRMINGHAM. SEE OUR EXHIBIT STAND B.9
BAKERS ‘Selhurst’ RADIO. Quitable House, Dingwall Road, Croydon. Telephone : CROydon 2271
PIONEER MANUFACTURERS OF HIGH FIDELITY LOUDSPEAKERS

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20 PRACTICAL WIRELESS May 2025
 Vintage Television & Radio

Fig. 1: An advertisement placed by Bakers Monday 20 April 1964, a massive fire at Battersea
‘Selhurst’ Radio in May 1953, for their range of Power Station plunged half of London into total
loudspeakers during Coronation year. darkness, including the BBC Television Centre, Fig.
Fig. 2: The Battersea Power Station, responsible 2. Consequently, the first programme on BBC-2 was
for delaying the official planned start of BBC-2 on 21 April. This was the scheduled programme,
on 20 April 1964. Playschool, which the BBC described as “providing
Fig. 3: The edition of Practical Wireless, issued a nursery school for the under-fives”. The 30-minute
during Coronation month, June 1953. programme, which began at 11.00am, was
introduced by Joy Whitby. Between 11.30am and
Education and entertainment were combined in 7.20pm on weekdays, there were no programmes.
a flying lesson broadcast by the pioneering aviator, Instead, there was the BBC-2 Test Card ‘E’,
Sir Alan John Cobham KBE AFC. The actress, Miss accompanied by some excellent music.
Heather Thatcher, was the pupil. Sir Alan’s words,
together with the associated airborne sounds, Service information,
were transmitted from the aircraft to a receiver Switzerland: Part XXVII
on the ground. This pioneering programme was From 29 February 2012, SRG-SSR began
transmitted from the BBC 2LO Station in London. broadcasting six of its standard-definition television
Also in May 1925, the auction of an art collection channels in HD.
owned by Almina Herbert, Countess of Carnarvon, In 2013, SRF and RTS launched their new
was broadcast by the BBC from Christie’s in 3 interactive TV services, SRF+ and RTS+. Meanwhile,
London. the English-language World Radio Switzerland (WRS)
to the Regional headquarters in Edinburgh. They was privatised and handed over to Anglo Media SA.
The rise & fall of 198kHz: Part XVIII also housed modulation gauges, wireless receivers In 2015, the Swiss Teletext service was replaced
The front portion of the long-wave and medium- to check transmission performance, line testing by the HbbTV system, operated by Swisscom, and
wave transmitting station at Westerglen in apparatus and other equipment necessary to broadcast via HD channels. The new multimedia
Scotland had two storeys. The ground floor housed monitor overall signal quality. successor to Teletext incorporated a host of useful
two Control Rooms, a Test Room, the Tuning Fork additional features.
apparatus, and various offices. The upper floor had 60 years of BBC-2: Part XIV Also in 2015, the Swiss electorate narrowly
a studio, a room for checking the output quality, On most evenings in April 1964, the BBC-2 approved a new Radio and Television Act, which
and domestic areas for the staff. schedule ended between 10.30pm and 11.00pm. meant that radio and television services would
The studio was used mainly for testing On weekdays, the last offering was usually an continue to be funded by a licence fee. Three years
purposes. It could also be used for emergency ambitious 25-minute news-based programme. It later, voters in a second referendum rejected a
announcements or ordinary transmissions, came from the old Studio ‘A’ at Alexandra Palace, proposal to totally abolish the broadcast receiving
including the broadcasting of gramophone which was completely modernised for this licence.
records. purpose. There were various technical problems
The Test Room contained apparatus for checking when using this particular studio, especially with Stay tuned!
the performance of the transmitters and included inserts from the Regions, which arrived in the 405- The photos are once again from Keith and Garry’s
a variable tone source, a special relaying receiver, line standard. Initially, optical, and then electronic, collection. Please send archive photographs,
and a cathode-ray oscillograph. conversion techniques were used to convert the information or suggestions for future topics via
The two Control Rooms contained the terminal incoming signals to 625 lines. the email addresses shown at the top of this
points of the landlines connecting the transmitter Although BBC-2 was officially planned to open on column. PW

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May 2025 PRACTICAL WIRELESS 21
Feature

Richard White G6NFE

[email protected]

B
efore I go any further with this description
of my endeavours with the 2m band, I think
I should point something out. As I touched
on in part one, I never really experimented with the
VHF and UHF bands as much as I could, or should,
have. The truth is, I played around at the edges, lost
interest, found other distractions in life or didn’t
have enough disposable cash, and then picked
things up again in 2015, albeit it was with HF.
What this means is, I am effectively starting from
scratch with the more esoteric aspects of VHF
operating, and doing things that some readers may
have done 40+ years ago. This will likely result
in some ‘wow - I didn’t realise that’ moments. So
now you know; I have a lot of catching up to do. If
nothing else, I hope some of my results might make
people re-appraise a ‘line-of-sight’ only band. It has
certainly surprised me.

Early experiments
My first experiment at my location in Shrewsbury
was to try out 2m SSB with nothing more than a
simple single-band Halo rigged at approximately 8m
AGL, Photo 1. I wasn’t convinced it would hear very
much at all, let alone be capable of pushing a signal
further than a few miles. Compared to my HF Mag 1
loops and long-wire antennas it just looked, well,

Going back to my
feeble. But size isn’t everything as the saying goes.
Because I was so cynical, I decided I wouldn’t
run before I could walk. That meant that the

roots with the

InnovAntennas VHF/UHF Log periodic and its
rotator, Photo 2, would stay in the garden shed until
I was convinced it was worth installing. Fortunately,
a meeting with Ken G8DIR, and a look at his shack

two-metre band (Pt II)

and logbooks, got me wondering and I kept thinking;
‘this is worth a try if nothing else’.
And so to today’s little experiment with a ‘line-of-
sight’ only band. You know the one, the band that is
only good for local contacts. Completely wrong, as I
soon discovered. Richard White G6NFE embarks on a journey to discover
Just to frame today’s events, a few weeks ago I what is possible on the 2m band.
was astonished to clearly hear GB3VHF, around 165
miles away in North West Kent. I took a moment to 144.461.5MHz? It turned out to be GB3SEV. Yes, you band at my home QTH.
think about this when I looked at the path profile guessed it, another obstructed path from GB3SEV to I waited and waited, all I could hear was the
using the ‘Surface Elevation Tool’ on the Solwise west Shrewsbury, Photo 5. The reception? Perfect, ‘snap, crackle and pop’ of noise on 144.300MHz.
website (URL below and see Photo 3). Most and fade free 99% of the time. I wondered if Marconi would have felt this same
definitely an obstructed path. Let me think about And now the big one. Could I reliably work Philip apprehension at Poldhu, Cornwall, on 12 December
this a moment, I am hearing GB3VHF on a Halo G4HOJ approximately 111 miles away in the city of 1901, waiting patiently to hear the letter ’S’
antenna, rigged at 8m AGL and without a masthead Lincoln? I had already looked at the Solwise path transiting the Atlantic Ocean?
preamplifier….. profile, Photo 6, and as usual, it hinted strongly that I watched the hands of the clock. Should I email
https://solwise.co.uk this path was completely unworkable. Philip? Should I wait patiently with a coffee and try
Then, an opportunity to work Ken G8DIR, who was, We had arranged the sked via email the previous to relax? Would it work? How much would it matter
‘just down the road’ at around 7 miles and once week although I had no confidence it would work. if it didn’t? I had, after all, promised in part one to
again, an obstructed path, Photo 4. Would it work? 111 Miles and a Halo at my end? Not likely. I describe the failures. But I really didn’t want to do
Yes, it worked perfectly. switched the FT-817 on at 09:00, then the preamp that. The minutes ticked past. At 10:15 I distinctly
A pattern was starting to develop here: VHF on the Microset SR-100 was switched on. And yes, heard CW. Was Philip using CW to call me on
it appeared, didn’t seem to recognise hills and I know, this is not the best place to use a preamp 144.300? He didn’t say he would. Damn, that could
obstructions as one might first expect. Then but remember, I wasn’t going ‘all in’ until I had much be him, and I am not a CW man.
another test, what was that tone I could hear on higher confidence in the capability of the 2m SSB I could wait no more, the coffee had done its worst

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22 PRACTICAL WIRELESS May 2025
 Feature

2 3

4 5

Photo 1: Halo at 8m AGL. until he faded and came back. No doubt the copy Lessons learned
Photo 2: Under construction and test. would have been much improved if I had fitted my So, what have I learned about the capabilities of
Photo 3: GB3VHF to Shrewsbury path profile. Log-Periodic, but the test proved something to me. the 2m band? Well, it appears that VHF propagation
Photo 4: Path profile to Ken G8DIR ‘just down the 42 years after I received my class B licence I was isn’t quite as easily put off by mountains and other
road’. Photo 5: Path profile to GB3SEV. finally, really, experimenting with the 2m band and obstructions as I had always thought. The seemingly
the results astonished me. ‘impossible’ can be quite possible after all. I recall
and a trip to the loo was urgently required. Then of Then, to cap this, the seemingly impossible back in the mid 80’s managing an FM contact using
course, just when I was indisposed, the email from happened on 19 December. Casually listening on my Trio 2200G on a Norfolk beach with a Dutch
Philip at 10:30. He said he had the beam pointing at 144.300 USB I could just make out a callsign in the amateur at the other end of the link. I guess my rig
225° facing me, and had just called. He assumed I noise. I was sure I heard Steve GW0GEI and I tried was only making a few watts into its telescopic whip
wasn’t hearing him. calling him back but without success. A quick email antenna but it worked. At the time I put this down to
Blast. I had the volume on the radio turned up, to Steve later and we arranged a sked on 144.300 summer VHF propagation over a short ocean path
I should have heard him from this room surely? I in the afternoon. Amazingly it worked. It was very and thought nothing else of it. It certainly never
quickly walked back to the radio room and to my noisy with a lot of fading, but most of the time we occurred to me that hills and mountains were not the
astonishment I could hear a CQ call on 144.300. were able to work each other. To put things into textbook obstructions I had been led to believe.
The audio was a bit thin and scratchy but perfectly context, Steve was running 1kW into 13-element So, what do I do next? At the very beginning I
readable. Wow. 111 miles and it worked. We chatted PowaBeam Yagis at his QTH. His home is 900ft ASL described how I felt that I had missed the boat with
for around 10 minutes; some fading was evident, so he had a distinct advantage over me. But just the 2m band. In 1982 when I received my callsign
but I think at least 95% of the audio both ways was look at the path profile, Photo 7. The path between loads of people were already playing with SSB,
able to be copied. Shrewsbury and Steve’s QTH at around 111km AX.25 packet radio, RTTY, CW and SSTV to name a
Philp could sometimes hear me at S6 to S7 and is, to a large extent, obstructed by the Cambrian few. I just got stuck in the FM only groove for some
with my preamp turned on I could copy him at S7 mountains. reason.

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May 2025 PRACTICAL WIRELESS 23
Feature

6 7

But now, in 2025? I thought about the various too much. I have heard the real life horror stories
modes and flavours that are available on the VHF about council enforcement notices and I don’t want
and up bands. Amateur radio is a very broad church to rock that particular boat. In essence it comes
and when placing one’s own money on the table, down to this: Remove the now unused TV mast and
which horse should you back? In no particular order TV antenna and replace with my 2/70 log periodic
I ran through the potential next steps and it looked and rotator, or install the Comet X-50 vertical just
like this: above the TV antenna on the same mast, then
1) Meteor Scatter: Looks really interesting. What hopefully listen for the bursts from GB7SOT.
does it need to achieve it? Well, to do this properly a And last but by no means least, the Direwolf TNC
beam antenna of some type is recommended along software package, a suitable computer, suitable
with some additional power. So far so good. But transceiver and sound card will all be required.
then it’s apparent that a very stable transmitter is I have a Yaesu FT-817ND, an SCU-17 computer 8
also a must if you want to do more than just listen sound card interface, and I am confident I can re-
and view occasional returns. Looking at my 40+ purpose an old windows PC lurking in the garage Photo 6. G4HOJ to G6NFE.
years old Icom IC-251, I don’t think it fits the very somewhere. Photo 7: Path profile to Steve GW0GEI in Wales.
high stability requirement. It would also prove tricky So, I have most of what I need. Without a doubt it Photo 8: Path to GB7SOT, Stoke on Trent.
to hook up to a computer. More money (lots) needs will be an interesting technical exercise to get the
to be spent to make MS work for me. new Packet Node working. The real questions are got a taste of what’s possible. Well, I’ve had a bite
2) AX.25 Packet Radio: Now, I have to be honest, ‘what will I really get out of this, will it be satisfying and I like the taste off it! My feeble Halo has, thanks
this really does intrigue me. I recall this being to invest time and money in expanding the Packet to the ‘heavy lifting’ of more superior stations,
discussed in the 80’s and 90’s but as I said, I didn’t Radio infrastructure in the UK and will I make use shown what’s possible. A quick review of the mental
go down this road. Some basic research indicates of it?’ At the back of my mind, I have that nagging checklist has almost all the equipment boxes
that as seen in other areas of amateur radio life, doubt that it may be largely pointless and no one already ticked. There is not much else to spend now
the internet appears to have put a massive dent in will use it. Isn’t this what killed it almost dead in the save for a few duplexers and coaxial switches, plus
it. It could be interesting though, couldn’t it? More first place? It’s an intriguing and thought-provoking the rigging of the antenna. My decision may already
home-grown research, some from the RSGB, points idea, but it’s up against other ideas right now. be made.
the way. Firstly, I’d need to apply for an additional 3) Vertical antenna for terrestrial and some extra So that’s it really. I have limited roof space, limited
callsign to support my new Packet Node. Then I’d terrestrial modes: Like many others I have placed patience from neighbours and definitely limited
need to carry out the required ERP calculations and calls through repeaters only to hear silence. CQ funds. The next move has to be the right one and it
ensure I stayed inside the law. But before any of calls on simplex FM also go unanswered (as do CQ will need to be the right one for quite a long time. I
this, shouldn’t I be checking to see if my proposed calls on SSB come to think of it). My X-50 antenna have really got to think this through carefully.
Packet Node was reachable via RF from at least one could work low angle signals from the ISS and some In Part 3 I’ll cover the route I’ve decided to go
other node? A quick path analysis seems to indicate satellites but with its classic doughnut radiation down, my reasoning, and the results I see.
that I might be within earshot of GB7SOT just north pattern these are likely to be short in duration. I
of Stoke-on-Trent, Photo 8. The question is, do I guess also that this same antenna could of course Acknowledgements
take a chance on the path profile tool without first be used for other modes such as SSTV, RTTY, CW Thanks to Solwise for permission to use their
proving the link is there? It could be a bit premature and more, including Packet Radio and APRS of Surface Elevation Tool in these articles.
to licence, register and install the node only to find course. www.solwise.co.uk
out it’s isolated RF wise, from other nodes. 4) SSB with a log-periodic antenna, linear amplifier Thanks to Radio Mobile for permission to use the
Which leaves me with a bit of a dilemma. Although and rotator: Subconsciously I think I’m already on Radio Mobile software for RF coverage planning, as
I have remarkably tolerant neighbours (so far), any this decision path. As I said at the start, I wasn’t used in these articles.
additional antennas might push my luck just a tad going to commit to this aspect of the hobby until I’d https://ve2dbe.com

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24 PRACTICAL WIRELESS May 2025
 Feature

Steve Telenius-Lowe G4JVG

[email protected]
Forty Years of
I the CEPT Licence
n the April 2025 Practical Wireless HF
Highlights column, I reported that Ofcom
had issued a consultation document [1]
which, assuming it is implemented, would allow
amateurs from 20 countries to operate licence-
free while visiting the UK, in the same way that Steve Telenius-Lowe G4JVG delves into the 40 year history
amateurs operating under the CEPT [2] Licence of CEPT licensing.
already can. In section 9.3 of the consultation
document, Ofcom stated: “In 1985... the CEPT summer of 1988, the new licence – and therefore Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,
introduced CEPT Recommendation T/R 61-01 the CEPT Licence – only came into effect on 1 Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg,
(the ‘CEPT Recommendation’). This allows radio January 1989. Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal,
amateurs, with a licence from those countries that San Marino, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey,
are signatories to the CEPT Recommendation, Operating in Germany Vatican City, Yugoslavia and the UK.
to operate their equipment for a short period of Before that, though, there were moves to However, of the 25 other countries, only 11 had
time in another CEPT country without obtaining an implement an operating agreement between actually implemented T/R 61-01: Austria, Belgium,
individual licence in that second country.” the UK and Germany (i.e. West Germany and Denmark, France, Germany, Liechtenstein,
Reading Ofcom’s statement got me thinking. West Berlin, as the country was still divided until Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway and
In the 1980s I travelled frequently in Europe reunification in 1990). Switzerland. The UK became the twelfth country on
but I remember having to apply for reciprocal By 1986 the UK had come to a unilateral 1 January 1989. So even though Ireland and Italy,
licences in 1987 when I wished to operate from agreement with West Germany, which allowed UK for example, were existing CEPT members, you still
Sweden (Fig. 1) and Finland (Fig. 2), to name amateurs to operate in Germany without having needed to apply for a local licence if you wanted to
but two countries. So why was this? I decided to to apply for a reciprocal licence (although not vice operate from there.
investigate and dug out my old G4JVG licence versa). UK amateurs first had to obtain a letter of The countries where operation was allowed
documents and both PW and RadCom magazines authority from the DTI, the text of which had been under the CEPT recommendation were listed
from those days. agreed with the German licensing authority, which on the bottom of the UK licence, using country
then allowed them to operate in West Germany. codes similar (or identical?) to that used by the
The‘new licence’ Unfortunately German amateurs were not happy international vehicle registration system. My
Ofcom was, of course, perfectly correct. with the unilateral aspect of this agreement: G4JVG licence for 1989 (Fig. 3) listed A : B :
Recommendation T/R 61-01 was approved at a the RSGB reported receiving the following telex CH : D : E : F : FL : L : MC : N : NL : S : TR (Austria,
CEPT meeting in Nice, France, in 1985 and the from the DTI on 4 December: “...(We) regret that Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, France,
CEPT Licence then came into effect. However, we have just been informed by the West German Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Norway, the
Ofcom’s predecessor, the Department of Trade authorities that they are no longer prepared to Netherlands, Sweden and Turkey: by the time my
and Industry (DTI), had started to draft new UK continue with the informal arrangement which licence for that year was issued on 15 May, Spain,
amateur radio licence conditions and, while these they offered... You will recall that West Germany Sweden and Turkey had become signatories to T/R
were still being mulled over, the UK did not sign up has adopted the CEPT recommendation TR 61-01, though for some reason Denmark was not
to Recommendation T/R 61-01. 61/01 [sic] … and that as an interim measure they included).
So, although the CEPT Licence existed from were prepared to allow UK amateurs into their Turkey was an interesting one: there weren’t
1985, British amateurs weren’t able to take country on the basis of a UK licence and a letter very many Turkish amateurs in 1989 and so it
advantage of it. The UK was not alone in that of introduction from this administration. More was considered a moderately rare DXCC country.
respect: some CEPT member countries such as recently the German authorities have come under I believe that Drew Givens GM3YOR and I were
Malta, San Marino and the Vatican City State, pressure from German amateurs to withdraw this probably the first overseas amateurs to take
40 years on have still not implemented the concession because the UK authorities are unable advantage of the CEPT Licence in Turkey: in July
recommendation! to reciprocate the arrangement. The German 1989 we operated as TA3/G4JVG on SSB and
Fortunately for British amateurs, it didn’t take authorities are, therefore, unable to extend this TA3/GM3YOR on CW from near Bodrum, using a
that long here. In July 1988 the DTI released the informal arrangement, especially since the UK is Kenwood TS-430S at 100W to wire antennas on 10,
text of what was being called ‘the new amateur not intending to adopt CEPT TR 61/01 for some 15 and 20m and a Butternut HF2V vertical on 40
radio licence’ [3]. CEPT Recommendation T/R time yet [my emphasis added – G4JVG]...” [4] and 80m.
61-01 was adopted at the same time and this Some quiet diplomacy must have taken place When the UK first joined the CEPT Licence,
was written in to the new licence. Many other behind the scenes because in May 1987 the operators had to adhere to the ‘lowest common
changes to UK licensing were brought in at the German national society DARC announced that denominator’ of licence conditions. Not only must
same time, including the introduction of a single- the unilateral agreement was to be reintroduced, you conform to the regulations in the country
sheet annually-renewable licence document, despite the fact that German amateurs could still in which you were operating (which was fairly
accompanied by the BR68 booklet setting out not operate in the UK without first obtaining a UK obvious), but you must also adhere to the UK
terms and conditions. Other changes included licence. licence conditions if they were more restrictive. For
Maritime Mobile operation without the necessity example, before 1990 very few European countries
of a separate /MM licence and the /A suffix was CEPT Licence in 1989 had access to 50MHz so although all UK amateurs
abolished and replaced by /P, among many others When the DTI released the details of the new UK could operate in that band it was necessary to
changes. licence in July 1988 there were only 26 CEPT check whether or not it was available in the CEPT
Although the details were announced in the member countries: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, country concerned. However, if you were operating

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May 2025 PRACTICAL WIRELESS 25
Feature

1 2 3

Fig. 1: 1987 reciprocal licence document from the

Netherlands. Fig. 2: A Finnish reciprocal licence
also from 1987. This allowed me to operate from
both Åland and Market Reef (Märkets Fyr). Fig.
3: The author’s UK licence document in 1989: the
first year of the CEPT Licence for UK amateurs.
Fig. 4: The Icom IC-761: top of the range in 1989
– but over £6000 in today’s money!
Fig. 5: The current (March 2025) T/R 61-01
document.

from countries that allowed a higher output power

than the UK you nevertheless had to keep your 4
power below 400W, as that was the maximum
power allowed by the UK licence. in business, leading to a reduction in advertising
over the years. Of the January 1989 PW’s 80
As an aside... pages, 32 – no less than 40% – were taken up by
Going off at a tangent for a moment, my research commercial advertising, a situation that I am sure
for this article brought back to me just how many the present publishers would be delighted with if
amateur radio dealers were in business in the replicated today!
1980s, but also provided a stark reminder of how
expensive commercial amateur radio equipment More countries join
was in those days. Back to our story and, by 1990, Denmark had
A look at the ads in the January 1989 PW showed rejoined the club, while Greece and Finland became
that Reg Ward & Co, in Axminster were selling new members, though Turkey had withdrawn. Drew
Icom’s “new super HF transceiver”, the IC-761 (Fig. and I were lucky to have found a brief window of
4), for £2459 (£6378 in today’s money, according opportunity which allowed us to operate in 1989
to the Bank of England’s online inflation calculator because Turkey did not rejoin the CEPT Licence
[5]). Waters & Stanton were selling the Kenwood scheme until 1995.
TS-940S for £1995 (£5174 today), while the Yaesu Italy signed up in 1991 and, following the 5
FT-980 would have set you back £1795 (£4656) collapse of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw
at Bredhurst Electronics in West Sussex. The Pact that year, Central and Eastern European then able to become the first of several non-CEPT
Icom IC-781 was £4500 (£11,671) – and this was countries that had been behind the Iron Curtain countries to join the scheme.
apparently a discounted “Christmas Special” price! were able to participate. The first were Hungary
– from Photo Acoustics Ltd in Newport Pagnell. and Czechoslovakia who, along with Ireland, joined The CEPT Licence today
Needless to say, both the RF performance and in 1992. Today (March 2025), there are some 53
operating features of today’s transceivers are Some non-CEPT countries asked to join the CEPT independent countries that have signed up to
vastly superior to their equivalents at the end of the Licence scheme, but this required a revision of CEPT Recommendation T/R 61-01, including
1980s – and at a fraction of the price. the T/R 61-01 recommendation. That took place eight non-CEPT members: Australia, Canada,
Sadly, almost all the 1980s dealers are no longer at a CEPT meeting in 1992 and New Zealand was Israel, ‘Overseas countries within the Kingdom

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26 PRACTICAL WIRELESS May 2025
 Feature

of the Netherlands and overseas territories of the

Netherlands in the ITU Region 2’ (which is a long-
winded way of saying Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire, St
Eustatius, Saba and St Maarten), New Zealand,
Peru, South Africa and the USA.
There are very many more DXCC entities
associated with those 53 countries. For example,
Denmark also includes operating permission for
the Faroe Islands and Greenland, Finland includes
the Åland Islands, while both France and the
USA include many overseas territories that are
separate DXCC entities. I calculate that there are
now around 130 DXCC entities covered by the
CEPT Licence (38% of all the DXCC entities that
exist!). Unfortunately, though, you’re not allowed to
operate from all of these, because some rare DXCC
entities require a landing permit and/or separate
operating permission in addition to a valid licence
(and these are rarely issued!). Several French and
USA overseas territories such as Clipperton and
Navassa islands fall into this category, as does
Mount Athos in Greece.
And there are countries included in the CEPT
Licence that you probably wouldn’t want to visit
(at least for the present): anyone fancy a quick
operation from Belarus, the Russian Federation, or
even Ukraine?
Nevertheless, there are now numerous exotic
6
locations that you can operate from without
having to go through the rigmarole of applying for
a reciprocal licence: how about Tahiti in French
Polynesia, Lord Howe Island in Australia, Reunion
in the Indian Ocean, or St John in the US Virgin
Islands? (As a Brit I have always thought it odd
that I can operate as KP2/G4JVG from the US
Virgin Islands but if I took the $6 20-minute ferry
to Tortola I would have to apply for a licence if I
wanted to operate from the British Virgin Islands!)
Closer to home Rhodes in the Dodecanese Islands, 7 8
Crete, Corsica, Madeira and even Albania – once
Number 1 on the Most-Wanted Countries list! – are Fig. 6: Reciprocal licences from Bermuda, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Malaysia. Soon to be obsolete?
all just short flights away. Fig. 7: A youthful G4JVG operating as P29DX/P from a beach on Yule Island, Papua New Guinea, IOTA OC-
When operating under the CEPT Licence you 153, August 1991. On the left is Cessna pilot Colin Couston (SK), who later became 2E0TSM. Fig. 8: Operator
should take both your current UK licence and the licence, which only allows the holder to operate an existing station in Thailand.
most recent copy of the T/R 61-01 document, Fig.
5. This can be downloaded from [6]: note that operate from their country without having to apply
obsolete versions of the document are on some for a licence. I’ve operated from four of them (Figs References
internet sites, so be sure to download it from the 6 & 7) but although I had a Thai licence (Fig. 8) [1] Ofcom consultation document:
tinyurl.com/4rcbcxjj
official European Communications Office website while I was living in the Far East between 2005
[2] CEPT: Conférence Européenne des
(as of March 2025 the latest version is dated 23 and 2013, I never operated from Thailand. The
administrations des Postes et des
October 2020). reason? The Thai licence only allows the holder to Télécommunications, the European
operate an existing station, but to establish your Conference of Postal and Telecommunications
Going full circle own station you must also hold a separate station Administrations.
This article started with Ofcom’s plans to allow licence: fine for a resident, but very difficult to [3] ‘The new amateur radio licence’, pp581-583,
amateurs from 20 countries to operate licence-free organise for short-term visits. RadCom, August 1988.
in the UK. Those countries are Bermuda, Botswana, And although I have never been to Gibraltar it [4] The full text of the DTI telex to the RSGB can
Brazil, Dominican Republic, Gibraltar, India, Kenya, would be good to know whether a visiting Brit be read on p33 of RadCom, January 1987.
Malaysia, Namibia, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn could operate from there on HF. As of today, [5] Bank of England online inflation calculator:
tinyurl.com/5cwwcn7r
Island, Qatar, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Thailand, visitors to this British Overseas Territory (even
[6] The current CEPT Recommendation T/R 61-01
Trinidad & Tobago, Vanuatu and Zimbabwe. British amateurs) are only allowed to operate on
document (as of March 2025):
However, it’s unclear to me whether or not those VHF and not on the HF bands. tinyurl.com/2p9buw5c
countries would allow a visiting British amateur to We live in interesting times! PW

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May 2025 PRACTICAL WIRELESS 27
Data Modes

Mike Richards G4WNC

[email protected]

T
his month in the shack, I’ve been diving
deep into the versatile SATSAGEN
tracking spectrum analyser project. I
thought sharing my learning experiences with
you might be helpful.
For anyone attempting any form of RF home
construction, having access to a spectrum
analyser is a big help. SATSAGEN is a free
Windows application generously written
and made available by Alberto IU1KVL. The
software has been under constant development
over the past few years and has become a
powerful instrument. Running SATSAGEN with
the Analog Devices Pluto SDR works well.
However, the lowest supported frequency
is 70MHz, so it misses all the lower bands.
Thanks to more development work by Alberto,
SATSAGEN now supports several expansion
options that allow access to the HF bands and
below. 1

A Cheap Spectrum Analyser

The most helpful application within
SATSAGEN is probably the spectrum analyser
with tracking generator. This is great for
plotting the frequency responses of filters,
ATUs, Amplifiers, etc. To add this facility for
the HF bands, we need to find a receiver and Mike Richards G4WNC introduces SATSAGEN, offering
a signal source that covers the desired range an affordable spectrum analyser.
and is compatible with SATSAGEN. Thanks to
Alberto’s development work, this is a relatively 2. Select the Arduino IDE for your system guide to select the board and port:
simple task. On the receive side, SATSAGEN 3. On the next page, you can decide how much 1. Open Device Manager and expand the Ports
now supports several popular SDR receivers, or not to donate and start the download entry (COM & LPT). You will see a list of all the
including the RSP-1A, RTL-SDR V3 &V4, Airspy 4. Run the downloaded file to start the connected COM ports. Using one of the Nano
R2 and many more. This wide selection of installation and follow the prompts to complete clones will likely show as USB-SERIAL CH340
receivers makes extending coverage to the HF the installation (COMx). Make a note of the COM number.
bands a simple task. The solution for the signal After installation, you will find a new folder 2. In the Arduino IDE, go to Tools – Boards –
source is also straightforward, as the popular called Arduino in your documents folder. To Arduino AVR Boards and select Arduino Nano
Si5351 clock generator chip is supported. download and install the SATSAGEN interface 3. In the Arduino IDE, go to Tools—Ports and
While there are lots of Si5351 breakout boards sketch, follow these steps: select the COM port identified in step 1.
available, I had one of the Adafruit three output 1. Open your browser and navigate to: 4. At this point, you should see a message
clock generator boards in the drawer, so I used www.albfer.com/usbdaramp/#target-code confirming the connection in the bottom right of
that, Fig. 1. These are very well made and 2. You will see a box titled latest release. the IDE.
excellent value at around £8 plus postage from Download the zip file from there. 5. With the connection complete, the interface
suppliers such as PiHut. The Si5351 provides 3. Once downloaded, expand the zip file into code can be compiled and sent to the Arduino
coverage from 8kHz through to 160MHz, so it your new Arduino folder Nano by clicking the right arrow at the top left of
fits the bill nicely. Unfortunately, the SATSAGEN To open the downloaded sketch, open the the Arduino IDE (Fig. 2). You will see messages
software can’t directly control the Si5351, Arduino IDE and choose File – Open. This will in the black output panel of the IDE showing
so we need to use an Arduino Nano as the open the Arduino folder, where you can then progress. Once the code is transferred, it
interface to configure the Si5351 and handle navigate to the unzipped files and double-click remains in the non-volatile memory and runs as
the communications with the SATSAGEN on the usbdaalbefer4.9.ino file. You should soon as the Nano is powered up.
software. Alberto has made this a simple now have the USB Interface program open
task by developing a suitable Arduino sketch. in the Arduino IDE. Before going any further, Interface wiring
The sketch is downloaded as a zip file and, in connect a standard Arduino Nano to one of your The USBAlbefer interface is designed to support
addition to the Arduino sketch, it also contains computer’s USB ports. several signal source and detector boards,
all the required libraries, so is a complete but we’re only connecting the Si5351 board
package. Programming the interface for this example. Besides the 5V supply and
If you don’t already have the Arduino IDE Transferring the interface code to the Arduino ground, we only need the SDA and SCL data and
installed, here’s a guide to getting it installed. Nano is a simple process. The first step is to clock lines of the I2C signalling interface. The
1. Open a browser and navigate to: connect your board to your PC using a USB I2C sends frequency and configuration data
https://www.arduino.cc/en/software cable. Next, you need to follow this simple from SATSAGEN to the Si5351. I’ve shown the

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28 PRACTICAL WIRELESS May 2025
 Data Modes

Fig. 1: Adafruit Si5351 clock generator breakout.

Fig. 2: Arduino IDE upload button.
Fig. 3: Arduino interface schematic for Si5351.
Fig. 4: SATSAGEN interface configuration panel.

connection diagram in Fig. 3. As you can see, it’s

a straightforward circuit.

Using the RTL-SDR with SATSAGEN

To complete the tracking spectrum analyser,
we need a signal detection device. SATSAGEN
supports many receiver options, but I’ll start 2 3
with the popular RTL-SDR Blog V4 device. This
is probably the pick of the cheap RTL-SDR-
based receivers, and the V4 even includes a
separate mixer for the HF bands. This delivers
significantly improved performance on the lower
bands. At around £25 from their AliExpress
store, the V4 is very good value. Support for the
V4 (and V3) is built into SATSAGEN.

Configuring SATSAGEN
Before using SATSAGEN for measurements, we
need to configure it for our hardware. This is a
simple operation, as I will show you here:
1. Ensure that both the Arduino interface and the
RTL-SDR V4 are connected to your PC
2. Run SATSAGEN
3. Before pressing the SATSAGEN Power button,
go to the Settings menu and choose More
Settings …
4. Select the first tab (Devices) and click the
radio button for Two Devices
5. In the RX Device, scroll down the model list to
find RTL-SDR V4 and select it.
6. Once selected, SATSAGEN will scan your PC
to find the receiver. If all is well, the SDR box will
populate with the details, Fig. 4.
7. Move to the TX device section and use the 4
drop-down to find and select USBDAALBFER/
Si5351 accurate measurements to provide a finer be flat and close to the 0dB line. In Fig. 6,
8. The software should detect the SI5351 and resolution. Please remember that the sweep I’ve shown the 1MHz to 30MHz response of a
populate the Synthesizer Device box. speed slows in proportion to the number of relatively poor bias-tee design measured using
That completes the configuration, so you can steps. Therefore, a 512-step sweep will take the Si5351 & RTL-SDR V4 combination.
close that panel and press the Power button. twice as long as a 256-step sweep.
After SATSAGEN shows the main display, you Because the RF output from the Si5351 is Alternative detectors
should see details of the connected interfaces just below 0dBm, we can’t connect it directly SATSAGEN supports other popular SDR
printed just below the plotting area. to the antenna socket of the RTL-SDR V4 receivers but also includes support for the
receiver. Ideally, you must add around 40dB of Analog Devices logarithmic detectors, namely
First plot attenuation to prevent overload. In Fig. 5, I’ve the AD8317/8 models. These provide around
Before we can make meaningful measurements, shown the uncorrected frequency response of 55dB of linear dynamic range with a frequency
we must calibrate the analyser. This is similar to the Si5351 and RTL-SDR V4 combination. As range from 1MHz to around 8GHz or 10GHz. The
VNA calibration, where the aim is to eliminate or you can see, it’s not a pretty sight! To calibrate detectors are simple to use as no programming
cancel the shortcomings of the test equipment. that to a flat response, go to the Spectrum is required. The AD8317 & 8 produce a DC
The first step is to set the scan parameters, i.e. Analyser w/Tracking panel. Ensure the scan output voltage that is inversely proportional to
start and stop frequencies and the resolution. isn’t running and click on the Calib Req. 0dBm the signal level at the input. The voltage change
Rather than showing the resolution in bandwidth, button; it should turn red. Next, click the green is a linear 22mV/dB over a 55dB input signal
SATSAGEN displays the number of steps for start button on that panel. This will start the range.
each sweep. For the initial testing, start with scan, showing the badly distorted response in Using the Arduino interface, you can make
a resolution of 256 steps, as this will give a the first sweep. However, once the first sweep a tracking spectrum analyser with an Si5351
fast scan ideal for checking functionality. You completes, the sweep data is used to correct or similar clock generator and a cheap
can increase this number of steps when taking the display, and subsequent sweeps should AD8317/8 log detector module. To handle the

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May 2025 PRACTICAL WIRELESS 29
Data Modes

5 6

Fig. 5: Uncorrected frequency response of the

RTL-SDR V4 and Si5351 combination.
Fig. 6: Measured response of a poor Bias-Tee
unit. Fig. 7: Enhanced interface circuit to support
log detectors.

AD8317/8, the Arduino interface requires a few

more components, as shown in Fig. 7. The most
important addition is providing a 3V reference
NSUZYYTYMJ3FST9MJPȹYWNRUTYFSIPȹ
resistor supply this. However, a more reliable
alternative would be to use an LM4040 precision
XMZSY\NYMFȹXJWNJXWJXNXYTW

Log detector configuration

When using SATSAGEN with a log detector, the
configuration must be changed to match. To
do this, open the Settings menu and choose


More Settings. Select the button marked Two
devices, and in the RX device drop-down, choose
USBDALBFER/AD8318 (or 8317). This will cause
SATSAGEN to scan for devices, which should
populate the line below.

Summary
That’s enough for this month, but next month I’ll
show you how to add other clock modules to make
a tracking analyser that’s good to 10GHz. PW 7

Dover Radio Club’s innovative

PIC development board
Members of the Dover Radio Club are embarking to hobbyists. The development board will be
on an exciting project to build a PIC development showcased and demonstrated at the upcoming
board, designed by Pete M0PKH. This radio rally, providing an excellent opportunity for
innovative board boasts a plethora of features, enthusiasts to witness its capabilities firsthand.
including a temperature and humidity sensor, This initiative not only highlights the technical
an LDR, ultrasonic distance sensor, switches, prowess of the club members but also fosters
LEDs, seven-segment display and an LCD. a spirit of collaboration and innovation within
The decision to undertake this project was the community. The Dover Radio Club continues
influenced by the recent availability of Flowcode, to be a beacon of creativity and technical
an easy-to-use programming package, now free excellence in the world of amateur radio.

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30 PRACTICAL WIRELESS May 2025
HF Highlights

Steve Telenius-Lowe G4JVG

[email protected]

T
here’s a lot of HF news this month, so I’m
grateful to editor Don G3XTT for finding
an extra page for the column.
We start with news of the King’s Baton Relay,
a Commonwealth-wide event which started on
10 March. The 2026 Commonwealth Games will
take place in Glasgow from 23 July to 2 August
next year. The King’s Baton, with a message
from His Majesty King Charles III for the people
of the Commonwealth, started from Buckingham
Palace and will travel to all countries and
territories taking part in the Games. To celebrate
the King’s Baton Relay, special event station
GB1KBR was active from Scotland on HF using
CW, SSB and digital modes during March.
John Dundas GM0OPS, posting on the CDXC
members’ email reflector, said that “Glasgow
2026 and Commonwealth Sport are keen for the
message about the Commonwealth Games to be
shared as much as possible and have embraced 1
amateur radio as a medium for this and planning

A busy month!
will be going ahead for activities during 2026.”
Bronze, Silver and Gold certificates for making
contacts with GB1KBR are available for
download from HamAward.
https://hamaward.cloud Steve Telenius-Lowe G4JVG has a packed column, with
lots of HF-related news to report.
Carl GW0VSW,SK
Now some sad news: regular contributor and Special Event Stations” will now take place “by amateurs were also able to use the station’s
former PW columnist Carl Mason GW0VSW (Fig. September 2025”. high-gain antennas on the amateur bands before
1) became a Silent Key on 24 February after a https://tinyurl.com/5rrbby3w they were dismantled later that year, as Peter
long illness. He was 65. Carl was a committed de Graaf PJ4NX will tell anyone over a St-Omer
QRP operator, invariably using 5 watts or less to QSL from Yesteryear beer or two!
wire antennas, mainly on CW. He was a member In the February column I mentioned that my However, I did once get the opportunity of
of RSGB, RNARS, CDXC, UKSMG, G-QRP Club, interest in radio started in the late 1960s using a broadcast station antenna on the
FISTS and AMSAT-UK. Carl took over the PW listening to short-wave broadcast stations. amateur bands. While I was working in Papua
HF column in June 2000 and was a regular One of the most popular stations in those days New Guinea from 1991 to 1994 the National
contributor to HF Highlights after I succeeded was Radio Nederland, the main transmitter site Broadcasting Corporation commissioned
him as columnist 15 years later. I last heard from of which was then at Lopik in the province of a new medium-wave antenna in the capital,
Carl on 10 January, when he apologised for not Utrecht. In 1985 they inaugurated a new high- Port Moresby. It was a quarter-wave vertical
being able to send in a contribution that month, power site on land reclaimed from the sea in the on 585kHz, about 120m high, Fig. 4, and with
saying he was back in hospital again. province of Flevoland. Shortly before the facility around 14km of buried radials. As P29DX I
Formerly a submarine communications and went ‘live’, a group of Dutch amateurs were was able to use it overnight on two weekends
tactical systems specialist in the Royal Navy, able to use the 20 antenna systems, with up to when the AM transmitter was off the air and,
after his service Carl worked for over 30 years as 17dBd gain, on the amateur bands during a 36- apparently, I had a 59+ signal in Europe on
a BBC Wales TV cameraman. hour special event using the callsign PA6FLD. 3.8MHz SSB. Unfortunately, without a separate
A memorial website has been set up, which The event was covered live during Radio receive antenna, I could only receive a handful of
provided some biographical details and the Netherlands English-language programmes. My the strongest stations through the S9+ tropical
photo of Carl. We extend our condolences to QSL, Fig. 2, was received after a contact with static QRN, so it wasn’t an outstanding success!
Carl’s family. PA6FLD exactly 40 years ago today as I write
john-carl-mason.muchloved.com this, on 17 February 1985 at 1223UTC on 7MHz The British Indian Ocean Territory
SSB. Radio Netherlands closed their English- In December’s column I reported that the UK and
Ofcom update language service in June 2012 and now there Mauritian governments had announced a treaty
On 18 February Ofcom announced an update are no longer any short-wave broadcasts from in which the UK agreed to hand to Mauritius
to the timeline of their long-awaited amateur the station. sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, including
radio review, stating that: “Implementing Phases Radio Netherlands inaugurated a relay station Diego Garcia, Fig. 5, home to an important UK-
2 and 3 of our planned updates to the amateur on Bonaire in 1969, Fig. 3, but this also closed US military base. However, following a general
radio licensing framework, including changes down in 2012, shortly before I went to live on election in Mauritius the country’s new prime
to new intermediate call signs and rules for the island. Although I missed out, Bonaire’s minister was dissatisfied with the proposed

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34 PRACTICAL WIRELESS May 2025
 HF Highlights

Fig. 1: Carl GW0VSW (SK) operating QRP CW (photo

courtesy of john-carl-mason.muchloved.com).
Fig. 2: PA6FLD QSL dating from 1985. Fig. 3: Radio
Nederland Bonaire relay station 1969 QSL card. Fig.
4: The 120m-high MW vertical used by P29DX on
80m SSB. The smaller towers on the left support a
4.9MHz NVIS antenna. Fig. 5: Diego Garcia in the
British Indian Ocean Territory, home to an important
3 5 UK-US military base (photo: US Navy).

deal and is negotiating for more money. Reports 75 and 100 contacts with the special event activity from the Austral Islands as TX9A from
suggest that President Trump is ambivalent stations; each station can be worked once per 25 April to 7 May. Two stations will be active
about the agreement and it has also become band and mode. More details can be found at: 24/7 using beams and verticals and they will
clear that the Chagossian people are opposed to www.qrz.com/db/TM100REF concentrate on CW and SSB, with some FT8.
the handover to Mauritius. The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) austral2025.com
The implication from an amateur radio point of was also founded in Paris 100 years ago, on Harald DF2WO (who was active from Rwanda
view is that if the islands are handed to Mauritius 18 April 1925. It is the representative body of as 9X2AW in January and February; see last
the Chagos Islands would probably be moved the international amateur radio movement and month’s HF Highlights) will be active from the
to the deleted countries list and a new DXCC now boasts around 170 member societies. To Cape Verde Islands as D44TWO, along with
entity (the ‘Mauritian Chagos Islands’, perhaps?) celebrate the centenary, RSGB members around Warren KN6ZZI who will sign D44ZZI, between
created. But with all the uncertainty could it be the country will be activating GB0IARU during 6 and 26 May. They will be using 100W to a
that the sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean the month of April. Hexbeam on HF and verticals on the low bands.
Territory remains unchanged after all? We The Spanish national society, Unión de
shall have to wait and see. Meanwhile, regular Radioaficionados Españoles (URE) will operate The month on the air
contributor to this column, Owen G0PHY, sent in 10 special event stations from 15 to 30 April: There were numerous DXpeditions and other
his QSL from VQ9LA, Fig. 6. AO1IARU to AO9IARU plus AO100IARU, located activations in the February to mid-March period.
in mainland Spain, the Balearic Islands, the Here are just some of them:
Centenary events Canary Islands and Ceuta & Melilla. Stephen G7BXU was active as 9L1BXU from
It’s the 100th anniversary of the founding of the https://iaru100.ure.es Sierra Leone between 9 and 21 February, using
French national society, Réseau des Emetteurs The anniversary of the founding of the IARU 100W to wire antennas.
Français (REF). From 1 April to 30 June special is commemorated as World Amateur Radio Day The V73WW Marshall Islands expedition by
event stations are operating from France and its on 18 April each year and this year the German DJ4MX, DK1YH, DK6SP, E77DX, HA8RT and
overseas territories, as follows: national society, Deutscher Amateur-Radio- M0SDV made 103,000 QSOs between 11 and 25
From mainland France, TM100REF is an ‘HQ’ Club, DARC, is operating special event station February.
station; from mainland France’s Départements DA25WARD between 8 March and 27 April. Ulmar DK1CE was active once again from
TM01REF to TM95REF; from Corsica TK2aREF Bamako, Mali as TZ1CE, Fig. 7, from 14 February
and TK2bREF; and from France’s overseas What to look for in April-May until 4 March. He was active on all bands from
Départements and territories TOxxxREF and ...in addition to the REF, IARU and WARD special 1.8 to 50MHz, mainly on FT8.
TXxxxREF (where xxx are three-digit numbers). event stations... 5N9DTG was an operation from Nigeria by
Certificates are available for making 25, 50, A mainly Croatian team of six operators plans the Rebel DX Group, mainly active on FT8/FT4,

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May 2025 PRACTICAL WIRELESS 35
HF Highlights

7 8

Fig. 6: G0PHY’s QSL from VQ9LA on Diego Garcia.

Fig. 7: DK1CE was very active as TZ1CE from Mali
in February. Fig. 8: The Comoros, from where Elvira
IV3FSG has been active as D68Z.
Fig. 9: Carl 2E0HPI/P, operating al fresco from
Durham Coast for POTA.

between 17 February and 1 March.

A German-Australian team operated from
Christmas Island as VK9XU from 18 February
until 4 March, making over 58,000 contacts.
The team then moved on to the Cocos (Keeling)
Islands, from where they operated as VK9CU
until 11 March, making an additional 35,000
QSOs.
Four Polish operators were active from Sri
Lanka as 4S7SPG from 16 February to 1 March.
Activity was mainly on FT8 and FT4, but also
included CW, SSB and RTTY.
Dave G4BUO was active ‘holiday style’ as 9
5W0UO from Samoa between 24 February and 3
March, mainly on CW. for DX, although with one exception nothing made 80 QSOs around the UK and Europe, but
Elvira IV3FSG seems to spend almost as much spectacular, mostly [more] of the same. The with no DX due to poor conditions caused by a
time in Africa as she does in her native Italy! She exception was a QSO with Iran (EP4HR) on coronal mass ejection.
was off again, to the Comoros, Fig. 8, and active 10m FT8 on the 10th, my first contact with that This month Etienne Vrebos OS8D made
as D68Z on FT8/FT4, CW and SSB starting on 1 country. I had noticed this station occasionally 500 QSOs from home and more than 1000 out
March. She was expected to remain there until on the air in the past year but attempts to make portable. Using an Icom IC-7610, Acom 1500
31 March. contact were until now unsuccessful. Two other amplifier “and the fantastic Hexbeam” at only
Nigel G3TXF / OE5TXF and Ian G3WVG QSOs I feel worth mentioning are San Marino 7m high, Etienne worked the V73WW Marshall
were active on CW as VP8TXF and VP8CIW (T77C) and Andorra (C31KC)... and while I have Islands DXpedition for an All-Time New One.
respectively from the Falkland Islands between had occasional contacts with the countries in the However, many of his QSOs were with Parks
4 and 10 March. Their main activity was during past these two were new stations for me.” On The Air (POTA) activators who were mainly
the RSGB Commonwealth Contest on 8 – 9 On 8 March Carl Gorse 2E0HPI operated for using just 100W to verticals. “Amazing result
March. the Parks On The Air (POTA) programme from for the activators and myself, most told me ‘you
MP7DX was the unusual callsign used from Teesmouth National Nature Reserve, using make my day with DX from Belgium!’... I reached
Guernsey for an operation by Ron G4DIY and a Yaesu FT-891 at 95W to a T2LT antenna on finally the award for 2000 US Parks On The Air in
Jay M0UNN on CW and SSB between 7 and 12 28MHz SSB. He made 71 QSOs in just over an less than four months.
March. hour from his al fresco location, commenting “In my castle activations I reached finally
that “the weather is definitely improving now but, the 450 castles activated in two years, never
Readers’ news as you know, the British weather can change on happened in Belgium, and got my award (Fig. 10),
First in this month was Jim Bovill PA3FDR who a sixpence!” Earlier, Carl operated from another that’s a lot of miles driven here and a lot of QSOs
wrote that February was “Another good month POTA location, the Durham Coast, Fig. 9, and per castle...

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36 PRACTICAL WIRELESS May 2025
 HF Highlights

In South America, LU2DT 28193 was logged

every day, as expected. Turning our attention
to Australia, and VK8VF was heard on 10 days
while VK4RST 28266 and VK2RSY 28262 entered
the log on only 3 and 2 days respectively. In the
Far East, HS0ZEA 28260 was logged on 17 days,
although I am sure that with a much shorter
gap than the current five minutes between
identifications it would be heard more often,
11 particularly when time is at a premium. Now to
Europe, and with an absence of only very brief
Fig. 10: Etienne OS8D at the end of winter, with his openings via Sporadic E, the number of beacons
Belgian castles ‘Activator King’ award. heard was lower than normal although the Greek
Fig. 11: G0OOF’s ‘Calling Antarctica’ certificate. beacons SV5TEN 28188, SV2HNE 28201 and
SV6DBG 28268 made it into the log every day.
Islands DXpedition. “They were using Club Anybody requiring more information on
Log Livestream which gave me an indication beacons’ frequencies, plus more data on each
of what bands and modes were in use by them. beacon, should visit what in Neil’s opinion is the
Conditions were generally not too good. No most comprehensive beacon site at:
decoding on FT8 and barely hearing them on dl8wx.de/bake_kw.htm
SSB on rare occasions. Towards the end of their
time on the island their signal was decoded on Band highlights
18MHz FT8 at 1730UTC and it was not too long Key: Q = <20W, M = 20 – 100W, H = >100W, S =
before I was able to work them. The experience Single-element antenna, B = Beam (see January
was repeated a few days later on 10MHz FT8 HF Highlights for a more detailed explanation).
at 2010UTC.” Like Owen, Reg commented on Jim PA3FDR (MS): 14MHz FT4: CN8NS,
10 the poor operating procedures of stations VE3WP. 14MHz FT8: JY5IB, PT7PT, R0SAU.
calling V73WW, but “towards the latter part of 18MHz FT8: BG8KVC, JK1OUD, N8NH, PY5XT,
“Of course I [also] activate Belgian POTAs, the month was a more relaxed environment. It R9CD, T77C, TF5B, UK8UA, VE2OPR, VK1MA.
BOTAs (bunkers, and reached 150 bunkers was the Worldwide Antarctic Program (WAP) 21MHz FT4: C31KC, FG/F6HMQ, JF1SEP,
activated already, with 550 chased), and I have activity week... The aim is to work stations (not RN0JJ. 21MHz FT8: CX6TU, EK/RX3DPK,
some feeling for WWFF. [This is] a bit more Antarctic stations) who have been issued with HC5CG, HI3A, JF8CFI, LU8HF, PT2BW, RU0AX,
difficult as it’s nearly impossible from the car...” a special callsign and WAP reference number.” TA2AFA, UN7DT, W7MD, ZL1BQD. 24MHz FT4:
[see last month’s HFH – Ed]. Reg qualified for the Class 1 ‘Calling Antarctica’ 4L7T, A61DI, BI4JJO, JE5HTN, PV91L, TA4DX.
“There was more DX worked this month as a award, Fig. 11. He concluded saying “As far as 24MHz FT8: 9K9NLD, AP2TN, PY7XC, RW9QA,
result of the French and ARRL contests and with working Antarctic stations I have only worked UK8FF, VK6OZ. 28MHz FT4: CQ35MD, JA4FKX,
two new DXCCs getting into the log”, wrote Owen DP0GVN, a club station based at an Antarctic RA0SCA, UN3P. 28MHz FT8: BG4INY, EP4HR,
Williams G0PHY. “The month got off to a good research station which has been very active on JA7BEW, UA0SU.
start with DP1POL from the Neumayer III base in various modes and bands.” Carl 2E0HPI/P (MS): 28MHz SSB: CA3HXY,
Antarctica. I had low expectations regarding the Tim Kirby GW4VXE / GW4MM said that his CX4BAN, K7PRA, PY4LR, VE3DAG, XE1JST,
V73WW DXpedition to the Marshall Islands as I highlight of the month was Nigel G3TXF and ZF2RJ.
had hardly heard TX7N, the French DXpedition Ian G3WVG’s trip to the Falklands, operating Etienne OS8D (HB): 14MHz SSB: V73WW.
to the Marquesas in January. However, I was as VP8TXF and VP8CIW respectively. “They 18MHz SSB: SU9VB. 21MHz SSB: FP/F4HEC,
pleasantly surprised to find that V73WW were did a great job and were very easy to work. I PJ2/K4JC, PJ4SON. 24MHz SSB: 8P5KM, 9J2FI.
a good signal on 14MHz. There were the usual was pleased to work them on CW on all bands 28MHz SSB: C6ALF, HI2LD, HJ3ESF, HS0ZPX,
policemen QRM on his frequency (14245kHz) between 10 and 40m. One other surprising QSO J69Z, KP4YAT, VP9/KC1VFN, ZF2OO.
and at first I thought the operator was being less was KH0W worked on 18MHz CW one afternoon Owen G0PHY (HS): 7MHz SSB: FG4KH, FY5KE,
than helpful when he just said ‘listening up’; but last week – he was a huge signal here – I must K3LR. 14MHz SSB: FK8IK, FP/F4HEC, FR8TZK,
then he said ‘270’ twice so a quick re-tune of the have caught him just right and I worked him first V73WW, VE9CF, XL3A. 21MHz SSB: W3LPL.
split and he was soon in the log. Judging by the call. Oh that it was always that easy!” 28MHz SSB: FY5KE, N9RV.
cacophony on 14250 there were a lot of people Reg G0OOF (MS): 7MHz FT8: 5N9DTG,
who were not paying attention. The second new 28MHz beacons BD4STG, VE/K0YA. 10MHz FT8: V73WW. 18MHz
one was FK8IK worked on 14MHz in the French Neil Clarke G0CAS brings us his 28MHz beacon FT8: V73WW, VK2DLR. 24MHz FT8: JA4LXY.
contest. The ARRL DX contest provides an report for the month of February. Paths to 28MHz FT8: DP0GVN.
opportunity to try some low-power operating as North America were good, with W call areas 2,
the contest exchange is signal report plus power 3, 4 and 5 heard every day, while areas 8 and Signing off
used. The best DX using 20W on 14MHz was 9 were heard on 27 days and areas 1 and 0 on Thanks to all contributors. Please send all
K5TR in Austin, Texas, and VE5MX in Weyburn, 26 days. On the West Coast, area 6 was logged input for this column to teleniuslowe@gmail.
Saskatchewan and, on 28MHz, N9RV in Bonner, on 20 days whilst area 7 was only heard on 5 com by the 11th of each month. For the July
Montana.” days. Further north to Canada, the most heard issue the deadline is 11 May. Photos of your
Reg Williams G0OOF said his goal this beacons were VE1VDM 28174 which was logged station, antennas or you in the shack are always
month was to work the V73WW Marshall on 23 days and VA3XCD 28170 on 22 days. welcome. 73, Steve G4JVG. PW

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May 2025 PRACTICAL WIRELESS 37
The Face behind the Call

Roger Dowling G3NKH

[email protected]
Jenny Bailey G0VQH
T
here can’t be many radio amateurs who
cheerfully admit to starting life in prison Roger Dowling G3NKH meets the former Right
– but this is certainly true of Jenny Bailey Worshipful Mayor of the city of Cambridge.
G0VQH, Fig. 1, the subject of this month’s
feature. But it was clearly no handicap in life, as like an unwanted store cupboard!” Jenny recalls. 20 staff in 1945 to more than 2500 at its peak and it
in later years Jenny went on to become mayor of “But it had a Trio 9R59DS receiver and a lovely long became the largest and most profitable part of the
Cambridge, about which we will learn more later. wire stretched between two school buildings.” The Pye Group of companies. Pye Telecom specialised
club had only four or five members but with the in radio communications systems and eventually
Early days help of G8LII they successfully got through the RAE claimed some 85% of the UK communications
I should hastily add that Jenny did not in fact take and Matthew acquired a G8 call just before taking market.
to crime from a very early age: in fact, her father O-Levels in 1977.
was a prison officer at Doncaster gaol. “My mother Luckily there was a very active radio amateur Pye days
and my sister tell me that it was a very happy time community around Wellingborough, and Matthew With a growing interest in radio and
with a great community and lots of parties,” Jenny developed some very helpful contacts, including communications, Matthew was delighted to receive
told me. “The prisoners did a lot of the maintenance Mike Foster G8AMG, a pioneer in the use of a sponsorship from Pye Telecom to become a
and gardening.” repeaters in the UK, and John Trayhorn G4MHN student engineer, undertaking a sandwich course
Jenny had another unusual start in life in that who helped Matthew with his Morse test at of six months at Pye in Cambridge and six months
from an early age she was confused about her Cambridge Radio Club. at Lanchester Polytechnic in Coventry. “It was a
gender. She was brought up as a boy and for Another helpful contact was Alan Course G8KAR hugely enjoyable time,”ђ/JSS^YTQIRJ“but I do
the purposes of this article I will use the name (later G4HND). “Alan had a friend who apparently remember an early disaster. I was put onto the
‘Matthew’ (not her real name) for this early phase worked at a place called ‘Pye’ in Cambridge,” said flow soldering line, but I put the board in the wrong
of her life. Jenny with a smile. “He used to get the sweepings way round and poured solder over the top rather
In due course the family moved to from the engineers’ benches – transistors and other than underneath. The result: a brick of soldered
Wellingborough, north Northamptonshire, where random components – and dish them out to the rest components.”
Matthew attended Wellingborough Wrenn School of us.” But it was all part of the learning process.
and which led to a lifelong interest in electronics This was the first Matthew had heard of Pye Matthew ended up in the mobile engineering labs,
and radio. This was all because of ‘wonderful’ Telecom, who had the reputation at the time of working on the MX294 VHF FM dash-mount mobile
physics master Dr Jack Lee G8LII who ran the making the best radios in the world. In fact, it was a radiotelephone and later on the new FM1000 range.
school radio club. “It was a little room that looked hugely successful company, which had grown from This led to a growing expertise in the interface

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38 PRACTICAL WIRELESS May 2025
 The Face behind the Call

2 3

4 5

between hardware and software, which proved Fig. 1: Jenny’s main operating position makes extensive use of ICOM radios. Fig. 2: After several years’
invaluable in its application to amateur radio. service as a local councillor, Jenny was appointed mayor of Cambridge for the municipal year 2007-8.
These particularly involved repeaters and Matthew Fig. 3: Circumnavigating the UK aboard a Hunter Pilot 27 sailing yacht. Fig. 4: Narrowboat ‘Elysium’.
worked with Phil Mellor G4BIK on logic for the Fig. 5: An AllStar repeater on the bench in Jenny’s well-equipped workshop.
original GB3PT RTTY/data repeater. “PyeTelecom
were very supportive of amateur radio,” said working on the company’s Tetra radio systems. By worked perfectly and the project was a great
Jenny. “We could even, with permission, book out this time hormone replacement therapy was under success.”
equipment to amateur radio projects”. The company way, leading to sex reassignment surgery in 1993. In addition to the contract work, J-Squared
rightly saw amateur communications as very designed and produced an innovative remote
relevant to its own core business. Pye systems J-Squared telemetry device for a major supermarket that
installation department staff also played a key In 1994, Jenny embarked on a new venture: a could monitor the temperature of frozen food all
role in developing GB3PI, the UK’s first amateur software and systems development company the way through the supply-to-sale process as
voice repeater of 1971 and GB3PY, the first 70cm J-Squared Limited, which she set up with a close required by new EU regulations.
repeater licensed in the UK in 1975. friend, software engineer Jennifer Liddle with Another major J-Squared contract project was
Matthew stayed at Pye Telecom (which by then whom in later years she would enter into a civil to run a team for Ofcom that monitored the use
had become part of the Philips group) until 1990. partnership. “We did some really interesting of approved communications equipment at west
The last job there was particularly enjoyable, contract projects which included major installations London venues including Wimbledon, Earls Court
working with a regional crime squad for which the in Vienna and Lima, Peru,” Jenny told me. The and Wembley Stadium. This resulted in a major
company was developing encrypted radio systems. company was also involved in a major installation involvement in the London 2012 Summer Olympics.
“It was a fantastic experience, working partly in the in the Millennium Dome. “We spent months down “I saw it less as a sporting event than a fantastic
labs and partly with real customers,” said Jenny. there seeing the Dome being built. The equipment radio challenge,” said Jenny. And a huge challenge
From Pye/Philips, Matthew then moved to a we were installing was virtually straight out of it was: during the Olympics, Ofcom issued over
company called SMS for a few years before moving the lab and at first nothing seemed to be working 20,000 licences for activities such as mobile
back to Philips (now part of Simoco International), properly. But on the opening night everything television cameras, microphones, location, timing

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May 2025 PRACTICAL WIRELESS 39
The Face behind the Call

6 7

Fig. 6: A 2m/70cm circular polarised antenna on had thought that engineers like herself had a early IC-735, specially modified for use on 473kHz.
an Az-El rotator. The mast is by MM0CUJ. monopoly of working on projects morning, noon An adjacent area is Jenny’s workbench area,
Fig. 7: An 80m doublet, a Cobweb 20m-10m and night. To her surprise, she found her council Fig. 5, equipped with a range of test equipment,
antenna and 6m/2m/70cm ‘white stick’ Diamond officer colleagues were just as hard-working including a Schlumberger 4031 test set and a Rigol
2000 are in the foreground. On the distant right as they tackled Cambridge’s many housing and DSA815-TG 9kHz-1.5GHz spectrum analyser.
is an LZ1AQ active loop antenna LF receiving transportation problems. “They really loved their Outside, an impressive range of antennas is
antenna. city,” said Jenny. “It was an honour to be working testament to Jenny’s interests across the radio
alongside them.” spectrum. A MM0CUJ mast supports a 2m/70cm
and scoring technologies and communications In 2007 Jenny had the honour of being elected circular polarised Yagi on an Az-El rotator, Fig. 6.
systems for broadcasters, security personnel and ‘the Right Worshipful Mayor of Cambridge’. “By The principal antenna for 80m is a doublet
emergency services. this time I had spent several years as Executive about 30ft above ground. Also for HF Jenny uses
Councillor for Transportation, so it was good to have a Cobweb antenna on 20m to 10m. A Diamond
Ofcom slightly less contentious role!” said Jenny. “Being 2000 white stick vertical is mounted on a mast for
A further career adventure lay around the corner mayor is a representative rather than a political 6m/2m and 70cm, Fig. 7.
when Jenny took up a permanent position position and I attended over 500 functions in a Jenny is also very interested in LF, using a home-
as a senior engineer at Ofcom. Among her mayoral capacity during my term of office. It was a made copper active loop 30m in circumference for
responsibilities there were the regulations tremendous honour and privilege.” transmission and a smaller LZ1AQ receive active
associated with the use of drones and she became Jenny’s appointment as mayor resulted in loop antenna and amplifier.
particularly involved in their use by Ofcom for considerable press interest at the time, not least
antenna field strength measurements, a topic because she was the UK’s first transgender mayor Current activity
which led to a well-received presentation on Drone – but she was anxious that this should not detract Jenny’s special interest at the present time is the
&SYJSSF2JFXZWJRJSYXFYYMJ78,'ђ(TS[JSYNTS in any way from her role as Mayor. “I felt that the 10GHz band, which she finds to be full of surprises.
in 2018. best thing I could do for the transgender community “Very little work has been done so far on mobile
was to do a good job and then disappear.” operation on 10GHz, 24GHz and 47GHz, especially
Jenny becomes mayor And this is exactly what Jenny did. Once the with factors like Doppler shift, cloud scatter and
Around the time of the Iraq war in 2003, Jenny mayoralty was over she was out of reach of the tropospheric ducting to take into account,” said
developed an interest in politics and local press in the North Sea on her yacht Serenity, Fig. 3, Jenny. “We have a number of 10GHz beacons
government that was to lead in due course to her to embark on a three-month trip circumnavigating in our area and it’s fascinating to monitor the
appointment as Mayor of Cambridge in 2007, the UK. She operated on HF during the trip, unusual propagation you get when driving around.
Fig. 2. “I was increasingly concerned about the successfully using the rigging as an antenna. So, I’m currently building a 10GHz FM repeater to
prospects of the UK having to import very expensive From yachting, Jenny’s interest has turned in investigate this further.”
oil from abroad,” she told me. It was a time when recent years to narrow boating, having acquired the Jenny believes that amateur radio has a great
solar panels and wind power were starting to 40ft Elysium boat in 2020, Fig. 4. future. “I suppose I have a particular ‘Cambridge’
become economically viable so it seemed to Jenny view on this – we have a local group called the
that it made increasing sense that new houses G0VQH today Camb-Hams as well as various Cambridge radio
should make greater use of renewable energy. Jenny’s main radio room is equipped with five groups including CUWS (Cambridge University
She became a councillor for the suburb of East ICOM radios. The main one for regular HF Wireless Society), CDARC (Cambridge and District
Chesterton, a position she held from 2002 to QSOs on HF QSOs is an IC-7610 HF/50MHz Amateur Radio Club) and Cambridge RAYNET.
2007, one of around 20 councillors for the city of transceiver, and she also has the use of an IC- “It’s great to see the energy and enthusiasm of
Cambridge. 9700 VHF/UHF/1200MHz transceiver, an IC-7300 the younger Camb-Hams. It’s quite a thought that in
Jenny was impressed by the dedication of her HF/50/70MHz transceiver and an IC-8600 10kHz to the years ahead that they’ll be experimenting with
fellow council officers. As a field engineer, she 3GHz communications receiver. Jenny also has an technology that’s yet to be invented!” PW

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40 PRACTICAL WIRELESS May 2025
 Antennas

Keith Rawlings G4MIU

[email protected]

O
ne of the topics I cowered last month was
‘Port Extensions’. This is where the VNA
electrically moves the position of the
reference plane after it has been set by a user
calibration.
For an example, I explained that adding
an adaptor to the end of a cable that has
had a calibration made to it will move the
measurement/reference plane away from the
calibration point by the length of the adaptor.
This may just be a matter of a few millimetres
and on low frequency measurements this ‘error’
will most likely be negligible. However, as we
go higher in frequency these few millimetres
begin to affect the quality of the measurement.
Remember that, with respect to wavelength, the
shorter the wavelength, the more the error will 1

More on VNA’s
be.
To demonstrate this I have set up a sweep
from 500kHz to 1GHz and calibrated my VNA-3G
directly onto Port 1 using the supplied Cal kit. (I
have gone directly onto the port rather than use
a pigtail lead to make photography easier.) Keith Rawlings G4MIU continues his look at the subject
I have set both Trace 1 and 2 to S11 of Vector Network Analysers (VNA’s).
(reflection) with Trace 1 Phase and Trace 2
Smith. Minus values can be entered using - . Protecting your VNA
With a sweep made with Port 1 open circuit, I’ll cut to the chase and enter 140ps and it can You may have noticed in the pictures above that
that is with nothing connected to it, we can see be seen in Fig. 3 that Trace 1 is now nice and I have added a female/male SMA adaptor to
in Fig. 1 top that S11 Phase angle in light blue is, straight, both markers are reading less than 1° the Ports of the VNA-3G. SMA connectors have
effectively, 0% along the trace from 500kHz to of error and the Smith chart is reading an open a limited life span, generally accepted to be
1GHz as shown by markers 1 and 2. circuit again. around 500 mating cycles. Consequently, they
The Smith chart demonstrates at its extreme It can also be seen; just above the marker are not really the best suited connector for the
right both markers (on top of each other), captions, that an Edelay has appeared job in this case.
indicating a complete open circuit. indicating the applied delay. This demonstrates To try and add some extra life to the existing
In Fig. 2 it can be seen that I have added a the delay period added and also the physical connectors I have added these adaptors as
male/male SMA adaptor to Port 1. If we look dimensions of the delay in millimetres. In this sacrificial connectors. When they start to show
at the Phase trace, it is still effectively zero at case it is reading just over 25mm where my signs of wear, I will replace them. They make
500kHz but look at the top end of the trace at estimate is that it should be about 12mm so no difference to the VNA measurements as
1GHz, we are showing -50.7° of phase error. about double. I am guessing the VNA-3G is the measurement plane is always at the end of
The same goes for the Smith display. Marker displaying the reflected ‘round trip’ from the these adaptors or beyond.
1 can now been seen at the open circuit point calibration plane to the open and back again. To lessen strain on the VNA’s connectors I
but Marker 2 at 1GHz has now moved along the Fig. 4 shows the display with the adaptor usually use a short ‘SMA Pig Tail’ some 200mm
chart away from this point. So, at the start point removed and the delay still activated; here long, as supplied with the kit. This takes tension
the adaptor measures effectively nothing but as we can see the traces are now displaying the off the VNA’s connectors, especially if the
we go higher in frequency it starts to affect the opposite phase. Note that this image should be cable I am using is quite heavy, such as RG213.
measurement considerably. displaying a 140ps delay, not 120ps. Any adaptor to match a cable or DUT that I
To get around this we can use a Port While we are with this setup we can actually would use is instead connected to the pigtail,
Extension, or in the world of the NanoVNA an check to see if our calibration is accurate. although I admit to being lazy sometimes when
Electrical Delay. This will electronically shift the Disable the Delay Trace, just leaving the Smith using lighter cables and go directly to the port
calibration plane to the end of the adaptor. Trace. connector, but I am careful not to put too much
When using the device standalone (without By leaving Port 1 open the trace should be at strain on the VNA.
PC software) this has to be done by trial and the extreme right and exactly on the horizontal Another thing to consider is electrical damage
error. To add a Port Extension using the VNA- line. Doing the same with the Short added we to the unit. It is apparent that some Nano users
3G the main menu is displayed and then Config should see the trace at the extreme left of the have accidentally destroyed the inputs of
is selected. Next, we go to Sweep Setup and Smith Chart and exactly on the line. By adding their devices due to ESD or other high voltage
Electrical delay is selected. This brings up a the Load the trace should move to the centre mishap. I have read of users transmitting on
numerical ‘keypad’ where the delay can be of the chart and exactly on the line. Anything one antenna while forgetting their VNA was
entered by punching in a number then pressing above or below these positions indicates an connected to another, of static damage from a
either p for Pico seconds or n for Nano seconds. inaccuracy in the Calibration. ‘long wire’ and one unfortunate misconnected a

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May 2025 PRACTICAL WIRELESS 41
Antennas

Fig. 1: Port 0 Sweep Open. Fig. 2: Port 0 Sweep

with Adaptor Added. Note the Phase error
introduced at the higher frequencies.
Fig. 3: Port 0 Sweep with a Delay 140 ps delay
introduced, note ‘Edelay caption on screen’.
Fig. 4: Port 0 Sweep with adaptor removed but
delay still in operation, nor the opposite Phase
trace.

VNA to a 12V Bias Tee with disastrous results.

In addition, it is possible to damage a VNA
when characterising an amplifier if the output
level of the amplifier is too high.
In this latter case attenuators can be used
to either restrict the input to the amplifier,
where this may also have an advantage in not
saturating the amplifier, and/or place a suitable
rated attenuator on the output of the amplifier
to restrict the input to the VNA. Naturally these
attenuators will need to be included in the 3
2
Calibration scheme.
Static damage can hopefully be avoided by
grounding the antenna before connecting it
to the VNA and avoiding use when there are
storms around. Also remember that your body
may have built up a static charge so try to
ground yourself before using the VNA.
It may be possible to negate High RF levels
by having an attenuator on the input ports if
you think this may be an issue. This might be
the case on a Field Day or special event station
(SES) situation where a co-located station may
key up while the VNA is in use.
SMA attenuators can be found quite cheaply
from the Far East, bearing in mind high power
devices are not needed here, and the quality of
an attenuator can be easily characterised over
the range of interest by using the VNA itself.
Any variations in the attenuation can be plotted
and a calibration chart made for reference.
I have characterised all of my attenuators, 3
including my power ones, using my SDRKits
VNWA and saved the plots in both image format
and s2p files for retrieval. Had I used the VNA-
3G for this I could have saved the plots on
the device as s2p and then read them into the
VNWA software to do the same.
It is also possible to save plots from a
NanoVNA using NanoSaver software, which is
something I will cover in a future missive.
The inputs of the VNA can be protected from
Direct Current by using a suitable DC block.
These are components that prevent the flow
of DC signals into the VNA while allowing
RF to pass through. They are usually placed
within the system to stop DC from interfering
with or damaging RF components. They have
capacitors in series with the line and come in
three types:
Inner Only, where the capacitor is in line with
the inner of the coaxial connection, Outer Only,
where only the outer is blocked and Inner/Outer 4

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42 PRACTICAL WIRELESS May 2025
 Antennas

Fig. 5: Two SMA DC Blocks left and Two

attenuators to the right.
Fig. 6: An S21 LogMag sweep of one of the DC
Blocks.

which does exactly what it says on the tin.

The photo, Fig. 5 shows images of two SMA
DC Blocks on the left and a pair of attenuators
to the right. Like attenuators, good quality
blocks can have good quality prices, especially
for high frequency devices. However, just as
in the case of Calibration Kits and attenuators,
there are DC blocks to be found from the Far
East at very cheap prices and which are more
than adequate for our applications.
I took a chance and ordered a couple of SMA
0-6GHz blocks for just under £12 delivered
from AliExpress. The quality of them was
checked with the VNA itself with a sweep to 5
3GHz, the maximum range of the VNA-3G,
which demonstrated that they are perfectly
OK up to just under 1GHz.Up to 1.7GHz they
are still reasonable. Beyond that there is some
ripple on the plot but this is well under 1dB so
the devices are perfectly adequate for most
amateur purposes.
Fig. 6 demonstrates the VNA-3G sweeping
one of the Blocks. Calibration was made
directly onto the Port and then a cable was
added to perform a Through Calibration. The
DC Block was then added into the circuit
for test. In use I would place the DC Block
directly onto the Port and Calibration would be
performed at a point beyond this.
The Blocks were mainly obtained for use on
my Spectrum Analysers but they are there for
use on my VNA’s as well.
I guess that if you blow up a NanoVNA,
upsetting though it might be, they are
affordable enough to replace, unlike a basic 6
modern commercial unit whose cost would buy
you a luxury car in the UK and the new road tax antenna models. Whether you’re exploring • Advanced Data Output Options: New features
for a couple of years too! example designs, optimizing transmission like Export Currents, interactive Results table,
In saying this I appreciate that there are more lines, or visualizing complex radiation patterns, and Smith Chart displays provide deeper
expensive versions of the Nano which it would AN-SOF 10 offers intuitive tools and enhanced insights into your antenna’s performance.
be more noticeable on the pocket to replace. functionality to support your projects. Additionally, the ability to save plots as PNG
However, looking online there are quite a few Key highlights of this release include: images offers greater flexibility in sharing and
posts on forums that will help those capable of • Enhanced Workspace Interface: With the presenting your results.
repairing a damaged device. introduction of new wire selection tools and These updates reflect our commitment to
enhanced visualization options, navigating providing users with a robust and user-friendly
AN-SOF V10.0 Antenna and editing your antenna models has never tool for antenna design and analysis. Whether
Simulator release notes been more efficient. The new Models tab you’re a seasoned RF engineer, a passionate
Just as I was about to submit this month’s provides quick access to pre-computed ham radio operator, or a student learning the
column I received the full release notes for this example models, making it especially helpful intricacies of antenna theory, AN-SOF 10 is here
latest AN-SOF version. The notes are extensive for learning about antenna concepts and to support your journey.
so only the basics will be covered here, full exploring design ideas. We encourage you to explore the full details
details may be found with this link. • Tabular Input Window Enhancements: of this release in the notes below and take
https://tinyurl.com/yb23ue7p The new Trans. Lines tab and optimized advantage of the new features to enhance your
I will quote the news release: “This release simulation workflow ensure smoother data antenna simulations. As always, we value your
has been focused on improving both the data entry and faster simulations, while the Search feedback and look forward to hearing how AN-
input and output interfaces, making it easier and Replace feature simplifies large-scale SOF 10 helps you achieve your design goals.”
than ever to create, modify, and analyse wire edits, saving you time and effort. See you all next month! PW

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May 2025 PRACTICAL WIRELESS 43
Feature

Geoff Budden G3WZP

[email protected]
1k

T
he equipment currently in use for Morse
(CW) demonstrations and by museum at- Phone 100R Phone
tendees was originally used by the Royal 1 2
AF
Signals for training radio operators and consists of AF
two 19in racks (heavy! and mains powered) together
O O
with operator boxes connected by long 5-way cables
to each pair of operators. This enabled each pair of 12 V Relay
operators to send and receive Morse code to each Key 1 Key 2 12 V
other. However, the system suffered from a number 3 core Switched
of drawbacks: cable input
• No provision for instructor to monitor or send CW
to each pair of operators.
• Earphones were a mismatch of different types
some of which were ex language school with micro-
phones.
• Long leads were prone to pick up extraneous noise. RLA
In fact, when the museum outreach team used the
gear at Taunton School system users could hear the
local BBC radio station louder than the CW tones! 1

A CW
• Limited to five pairs of operators only
These limitations were becoming a problem with
the increasing number of Museum Outreach visits
to various venues and also limited the number of at-

demonstration setup
tendees that could use the Morse facilities in the re-
cently acquired classroom facilities adjacent to the
Royal Signals Museum.
It was time to look at a replacing this 1960s-era
equipment with a system that could meet the follow- Geoff Budden G3WZP describes the development of a
ing criteria:
• Mains & Battery powered.
CW demonstrator for the Royal Signals Museum, but which
• Separate user boxes that could be ‘daisy chained’ has applicability elsewhere.
to provide up to ten pairs of users.
• Only one 3-core cable to connect these boxes to- lead acid battery integrated with the power supply to Fig. 2 also shows the switching on the Control box
gether NOT individually back to control unit. provide 12V DC with or without mains power. to achieve the system operation, which allows three
• Provision for Instructor to disconnect users’ Morse The AF oscillator was built from a kit purchased modes of operation
keys and send Morse to all users from main control from a well-known auction website and the audio 1 Pupil to Pupil send/receive
unit. amplifier was a module in a sealed casing. Both 2 Instructor to all pupils (pupil Morse keys inop-
• Mains control box also had facility to accept an ex- units are available from a number of sources and I erative)
ternal input to allow non Morse instructors to send am happy to supply more detailed information to an- 3 External input to all pupils (pupil Morse keys in-
CW to all users. yone wanting to build a similar unit. operable)
• A USB 5V port was added so external items could The pupil box circuit is shown in Fig. 2 and con- In modes 2 & 3 a small monitoring speaker can be
be powered or phones recharged. sists of 1m 3-core lead with 3-pin AF type plug which utilised to monitor sent Morse code.
• Cost to be as low as possible as museum funds feeds audio to the unit, a common negative and a To complete the system 20 Morse keys were re-
are limited switched 12V supply. quired and these were obtained from a number of
• Units to use commercial housings robust enough The Morse keys are connected with 6.35mm sources – museum redundant stock, auction sites,
for normal usage. standard jack plugs and the earphones via standard donations from the amateur radio community and
3.5mm stereo jack plugs. Provision is made for a vol- in some case bartering for some old valve era com-
The solution ume control for each earphone for operator comfort. ponents from G3WZP’s extensive stock (ie the junk
A control box was designed together with a user in- In operation either key will produce an audio tone box).
terface box as proof of concept and this was proto- in both earphones so operators can pass messages To replace the earphones with more modern light-
typed in the shack workshop of museum volunteer to each other. On receipt of 12V from the control unit weight types the museum was pleased to receive a
Geoff G3WZP. This allowed the design to be final- both Morse keys are bypassed and inoperable and grant from RSARS (Royals Signals Amateur Radio
ised along with some tweaks that eliminated a few both operators can only receive Morse code sent Society) to cover the purchase of 20 pairs of ear-
problems from audio feedback. from the control unit. phones.
The manufacturing of the pupil boxes was under- The audio, common and 12V switched lines are The author was also pleased to receive a power
taken by Ian G3YUE, a colleague and former member connected to a 3-pin chassis socket so that another supply from Alfatronix Ltd, a local power supply and
of the Royal Corps of Signals. unit can be connected to this box. So far we have run voltage converter manufacturer, which included
The control box block diagram is shown in Fig. 1 ten boxes on the system ie. ten pairs of operators provision for a back-up battery to be connected and
and consists of a mains power supply with a sealed without any loss of signal. charged and a 12V/5V USB Converter.

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44 PRACTICAL WIRELESS May 2025
 Feature

12 V
12 V
3 AF
AF 2
osc I/P OP
RLA amp

1
O 0V

3 To
pupil
2 units
OV
P1

1
OV

12 V
battery
Ext I/P 3

12 V Mains
1 PSU
OV OV

OV

P2
RLA

Tutor key

OV
2

P3 P4 P5

In use The museum team has been encouraged by the Fig. 1: Configuration of the pupil unit.
Unlike CW boot camps and amateur radio club use enthusiasm of young people to take part in Morse Fig. 2: The tutor box and control system.
the museum only has groups attending for a rela- code activities and the speed at which they assimi- Photo 1: The original 19in rack-mounted Morse
tively short time either in the Museum’s dedicated late Morse code. demo unit with 1960’s cassette deck. Photo 2: Morse
classrooms or on a museum outreach visit so we To enable the system to be operated by non-Morse demo unit in museum radio room. Photo 3: Pupil box
have chosen to just concentrate on the seven most instructors Kanga Products kindly supplied a modi- showing headphone/ Morse key input sockets and
common (and therefore easiest codes): fied standard CW tutor preprogrammed with the 4 pupil volume controls. Photo 4: Tutor key and Kanga
E I S H TMO and 5 letter words which can be connected via the Products Morse generator for the 4 & 5 letter words
and from these a list 30 four letter words (no not external input to the control unit. This has variable (for use by tutors without Morse knowledge).
those ones!) and 15 five letter words have been gen- spacing and speed adjustable parameters. Photo 5: Tutor unit.
erated eg TIME MOTH MOTTO etc. The article is intended to provide a basis for a sys-
This enables the participants to actually decode tem that could be used in a club situation, CW boot ration with Ian G3YUE, and the generosity of RSARS,
Morse very quickly and establish a sense of achieve- camp or as part a hands-on activity for clubs running Alfatronix ltd and my local electrical wholesalers
ment. We usually stage a small competition among public events at Special Event Stations and the au- who proved susceptible to my persuasive powers to
participants to decode the fastest or most correct thor is happy to supply detailed parts list and other offer discounts on purchases!
words with such enormous prizes such as a Royal manufacturing information. More information from [email protected]
Signals Museum pencil! The author would like to acknowledge the collabo- or [email protected]

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May 2025 PRACTICAL WIRELESS 45
Practical

Don Field G3XTT

[email protected]

U
sed in conjunction with a communications
receiver, either of these converters will give
VHF reception, bringing in amateur and
other transmissions and in some cases TV sound
programmes, using only a simple dipole aerial.
The simpler converter is tunable and the more
complex converter is crystal controlled, so a few
notes on the advantages and limitations of each
method should prove helpful.

Tunable Converter
This is relatively simple, inexpensive and can be
used over a wide band by adjusting the pre-set
tuning. Though only two transistors are used, 1
little gain is expected from an RF stage at these

Two VHF converters

frequencies, so that sensitivity is quite good
without this stage. An important advantage
arises from the fact that the receiver can be tuned
to a frequency where breakthrough of unwanted
transmissions is minimal and tuning carried We delve into the PW archives to bring you a design for a tunable VHF
out on the converter. With the equipment used converter, a popular approach at the time.
in this way, the receiver acts as a fixed tuned IF
amplifier. present. Adjust the leads with a matchstick so turns of similar diameter, supported by taking one
that they come through the board as shown, and end to the co-axial aerial socket, and the other
Circuit solder them. The means of shortening the four to a stout wire which runs from VC1 to MC, as
This is shown in Fig. 1. The aerial feeder is leads can then be removed. Touching the leads of shown in Fig. 3.
connected to L1 while L2 is adjusted to the Tr1 with a metal or plastic tool, or the fingers, can L5 is 1¾ turns, directly from VC1 to C6. Quite
wanted band by trimmer TC1. As L2 tunes broadly be expected to damage this transistor, until R1, large changes in frequency can be obtained by
TC1 need not be adjusted except when setting R2 and R3 are connected, thereby protecting the TC1 and TC2, while for frequencies outside this
up for a different band. Tr2 is the local oscillator insulated gates against static charges. limit of adjustment, L2 and L5 would have to be
tuned by the 4.5pF variable capacitor VC1, altered. L3 consists of 21 turns, 24swg enamelled
operated by a cord drive. TC2 is a trimmer for the Panel Assembly wire, close wound, near the top of the former. The
oscillator coil L5, with injection via C4 to gate 2 of The panel is a 7 x 3in flanged universal chassis ends only can be secured with thread or adhesive,
the dual-gate mixer Tr1. (Gates 1 and 2 must not member with VC1 mounted centrally. Fit the on- noting that the whole winding should not be
be reversed.) Output from Tr1 goes to L3 which off switch and drive cord spindle at 2½in distance completely covered with adhesive. L4 is 4 turns of
is tuned to about 10MHz. The coupling winding each from VC1. Set VC1 back by extra washers insulated connecting wire, wound on L3 as shown
L4 provides a means of connecting a screened or an extra nut and the drive spindle forward by in Fig. 3.
co-axial lead to the receiver, while the frequency similar means. (If this is not done, insufficient
of L3 can be adjusted by tuning its core for best spindle may project for the tuning knob.) Solder Casework
signal strength at around the receiver frequency TC2 directly to VC1 fixed plates and solder a stout Complete screening is required to avoid
to be used. The latter, of course, should be free wire about 1in long to the moving plates tag of troublesome hand-capacity effects. The sides are
from unwanted short wave signals. VC1, letting it project backwards. Solder the MC each 4 x 3in flanged members; bottom and tops
tag of the board to this, as in Fig. 2 and make are 7 x 4in flat plates, the bottom being fixed with
Circuit Board good other connections. Note that the board is four 6BA bolts which also hold rubber feet. The
The components, with the exception of Tr1, are horizontal, behind VC1 (as in the photograph of top is secured with self-tapping screws. Note that
placed as shown in Fig. 2 and the board turned the rear of the converter). The shortest possible the flanged member forming the panel is set back
over so that their leads can be soldered. Two tags leads are used to TC1, C1, L2, C6, L5 and TC2. just sufficiently to give clearance for the drum
are bolted on at the point MC. All leads should be and drive. The flanges have to be cut to allow for
as short as reasonably practicable. When wiring Coils this. Give the cord one complete extra turn round
of this board is finished, with the exception of L2 consists of 5 turns of 22swg wire, formed by
Tr1, take Tr1 and check that the collar spring or winding round an object ¼in in diameter, with its Fig. 1: Two transistors are the basis of this circuit
binding of thin wire which shorts its four leads is ends soldered directly to TC1. L1 comprises 2 for the tuned converter.

This month we go back to the March 1975 issue of PW, which featured
the first of a two-part constructional article for building one of two VHF
converters.This first part deals with a tunable converter, the second part
was to build a crystal-controlled converter.The author was a G Severn.

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46 PRACTICAL WIRELESS May 2025
 Practical

2 3

Fig. 2: Layout of components and wiring on the

circuit board for Fig. 1. Fig: 3: Arrangement of
components in the case. For clarity the circuit
board is shown as being vertical. In fact, it is
mounted horizontally over the tuning capacitor,
as can be seen in the photograph.

Component list
Tunable Converter
Resistors
•7Pȹ
•7Pȹ
•7Pȹ
•7ȹ
•7Pȹ
•7Pȹ
•7Pȹ
• All 5 or 10% ¼ or ½W
the driving spindle, take it round the drum and Capacitors
draw it tight, tying it with the drum spring under • C1 22pF
tension. The spindle of VC1 projects through • C2 1000pF
a hole in a card, on which a scale is drawn. A • C3 39pF
pointer is fixed to VC1 by drilling a hole in the • C4 5pF
spindle and using a small self-tapping screw, • C5 0.02μF
although it could be fixed with adhesive. A piece • C6 1000pF
of Perspex, 7 x 3in, with holes to clear the switch • C7 5pF
and drive spindles, is bolted to the front flanges • C8 5000pF
• All disc or tubular ceramic preferred
of the side members. The bottom, back and top
• TC 1/2 30pF Philips type airspaced trimmer
of the case are not fitted until construction and
• VC1 4.5 pF variable (Jackson C804)
wiring are finished. used, fixed with their inner ends about ½in apart
Semiconductors
in an insulated electrical junction box. A length of
• Tr1 3N141
Adjustments ȹHTF]NFQHFGQJNXYFPJSKWTRYMJGT]\NYMYMJ • Tr2 BF200
TC2 is set to obtain the required band coverage inner conductor connected to one element and Miscellaneous
with VC1 and TC1 adjusted for best volume the outer braid to the other element. A plug is then • L3, former 7/16in. dia. with core. Drum drive, 2¼in.
with the receiver AGC switched off. L3 core is fitted to match the converter. Such an aerial can dia. with cord, spring and drive spindle (Home
aligned for maximum output at the frequency to be raised on a pole or mast, or otherwise fixed at Radio). Casework, 7 x 4 x 3in. universal chassis with
be used with the receiver. A co-axial lead with a reasonable height. It will have little directivity, extra plate 7 x 4in. (Home Radio). Perspex 7 x 4in,
the outer braid earthed is used from converter to while giving reception over quite a wide band of approx 3/16in. thick. Knobs. Co-axial sockets (2).
receiver and should be kept as short as possible. frequencies. Length is not too important but if 2m Veroboard 2 x ¾in. 0.15in. Matrix. On-off switch.
A suitable aerial can be made from ¼in. to ½in. reception is the primary aim, the aerial should be PP3 battery, terminal clips and holder.
diameter light alloy tubing. Two equal lengths are about 38in. to 39in. overall. PW

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May 2025 PRACTICAL WIRELESS 47
The World of VHF

Tim Kirby GW4VXE

[email protected]
433 Alive in May
D
ave Ackrill G0DJA has proposed that
the next of the increasingly popular ‘433 Tim Kirby GW4VXE has all the month’s VHF and above
Alive’ events will take place on Sunday 25 news, starting with a plug for the next 433 Alive event.
May between 1200 and 1500 local time. If you
are interested in reading more details about the Northern Ireland – an apology! Gibraltar, Malta, Madeira. It was a great fun!
event, you can find a Facebook group dedicated In last month’s piece from Peter G8BCG who But, although I think some people look back
to it – search for ‘433 Alive’. If you are active is administering the 50MHz firsts for the UK, to the 1980s and 1990s as the hey-day of VHF/
on 70cm FM, do have a tune around the FM we incorrectly referred to the ‘United Kingdom UHF operation, I know at the time, I would not
channels while the event is taking place and and Northern Ireland’. Dr Ashley Lazlo pointed have believed some of the things that we do
you may well be surprised what you can hear. out our error, stating that the United Kingdom regularly now and probably take for granted.
There should be a number of well-sited stations consists of England, Wales, Scotland and If like me, you enjoy a little nostalgia for how
active – and let’s hope that the weather will be Northern Ireland. I should have spotted that things used to be, it’s well worth looking at
conducive to portable operation – so hopefully when preparing the column and apologise the World Radio History website (URL below)
some exciting contacts will be possible. Photos unreservedly to any readers who may have been and looking up the Short Wave Magazine and
and reports of your activity will be very welcome offended by the mistake. Practical Wireless magazines for the 1980s (or
indeed. any period you choose!). The adverts can be
Of course, you don’t need to wait for the next Listen to M17 via your web browser particularly interesting – look at the prices of
‘433 Alive’ or any other event to be active on If you are interested in hearing what the new some of the equipment!
a particular band – it’s just that in the pre- M17 digital mode sounds like, perhaps you www.worldradiohistory.com/index.htm
arranged activity sessions, you stand a better would like to try this new web page created by It’s also interesting looking through eBay
chance of other people being around. Andreas OE3ANC: and Facebook Marketplace for some of the
https://stream.m17.app vintage VHF/UHF gear that comes up. I’ve
New site found Many thanks to Jef VanRaepenbusch ON8NT been particularly interested in some of the
for Irish beacon network for spotting this. equipment that comes up from the Japanese
John Desmond EI7GL reported a few weeks market – things like a Trio (Kenwood) TS-660
ago that the site which hosted the EI1KNH, Looking back Quad Bander covering 15, 12, 10 and 6m with
EI0SIX and EI4RF beacons was due to become I am enjoying Richard G6NFE’s column in PW 10W output. Looks a lovely rig, but I don’t think
unavailable because of a change of ownership, about the evolution of his VHF activity. Like we ever saw them in the UK. Beware, it’s easy
meaning that the beacons would have to move. Richard, I was licensed first with a ‘Class B’ to get sucked in to collecting some of these
Fortunately, a new site has been found, some licence, in 1983 as G6TTU. I very quickly became radios!
4km to the south. It’s a little lower in altitude interested in VHF and UHF. In fact, I remember
and John says not quite as good as the previous someone commenting, just after I got my G4 The 8m band
site, but at least the beacons will be on the air. callsign later that year, that it was unusual for Roger Lapthorn G3XBM (Cambridge) has
Some directions will be challenging for tropo, someone to go on 70cm after getting their been running 2W of FT8 to a dipole and
although the take off towards North Wales, Class A call! I found that I enjoyed VHF and has been spotted in Eire. It’s actually an
Northern England and Scotland looks quite UHF contesting which then morphed into intriguing distance for relatively low power – I
good. Work is now progressing on the move VHF expeditioning with the ‘Square Bashers wonder what mode of propagation would be
of the beacons and it’s hoped that they will be Expedition Group’, to various squares around the responsible?
up and running towards the middle to end of UK. The first for me was IN79, then XJ square Just as I was finishing off the column, I was
April, in time for the Es season. Because of – which we operated from as GB2XJ in 1985. delighted to hear from Paul Farley G7PUV
the change of location, EI1KNH on 40.013MHz Scottish squares, IO97 and IO88, followed in (Sussex) who operates on 8m as G9PUV.
and 60.013MHz will get a new callsign, but 1986 as GB2ZR and GB2YS. We were active on This morning, 16 March, Paul received three
EI0SIX will stay on 50.004MHz and EI4RF will VHF/UHF bands from 70MHz up to 2.3GHz – decodes of the 8m FT8 beacon, ZL28M in New
return on 70.013MHz. Thanks to John for all the no 50MHz to start with. As 50MHz came into Zealand, around 0828 UTC (Fig. 1). Paul also
information. the equation, we started to go further afield: writes, “In the coming weeks Mark ZL2WHO who

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48 PRACTICAL WIRELESS May 2025
 The World of VHF

Fig. 1: The ZL28M 8m beacon in New Zealand,

received by Paul G7PUV on 16 March.
Fig. 2: You can’t get 2m and 70cm CW much more
portable than this. GW4VXE used this setup to
work EI8KN over a distance of just over 160km.

operates the beacon will be adding a high power

WSPR transmission also aimed at Europe”.

The 6m band
Keith Watkins G8IXN (Redruth) spotted TZ1CE
coming through on the 3 March. Keith managed
to miss making a QSO owing to having to go
out to get the car MOTed, although Keith was
pleased to note, via the PSK Reporter website
that TZ1CE had heard him. Like Keith, here at
GW4VXE (Goodwick), I spotted TZ1CE a couple
of times, but didn’t make a QSO. Andy Adams
GW0KZG (Pembrokeshire) also reports great
signals from TZ1CE.
Ian Dowse G0DYW (Leighton Buzzard) writes
regarding an FT8 contact on 6m with XV9T
(OK33) at 1111UTC on 19 February. Ian was
using an IC-7610 and 100 watts to a 3-element
beam. Ian says that XV9T was also worked by
a number of European stations and remained
on frequency for some time calling CQ without
success. Ian enjoys the summer sporadic E
season but found the F2 contact inspiring.
Roger G3XBM has been running QRP FT8 on
the band and has been spotted in Europe but
says he hasn’t worked any real DX this month
Roger Greengrass EI8KN (Co Waterford)
worked TZ1CE on FT8 on 3 March at 1438UTC
and says that although he didn’t work TZ1CE last
year, back in 2023, he had a QSO almost on the
same day – it was 6 March. It seems that the 6m
path to Mali is very reliable.
Dave Edwards G7RAU (The Lizard) says that
6m has been getting started, having worked
VK6 and JA as well as hearing DU, XV9, 3B8 and
ZS on 19 February. On the evening of 13 March,
Dave worked CE2 as well as hearing LU and PY,
with signals strong at times. Dave says that
he suspects the band has been open on other
evenings, but he hasn’t been available.
2
The 2m band
Jef ON8NT (Aalter) worked GW4HDF (IO81) on can read more about the EuCW ‘Snakes and duck aerial on the rig. Sending good CW is a bit
FT8 on 5 February over a distance of 466km. Ladders’ activity at: of a challenge on the tiny paddle on the side
Roger G3XBM runs QRP SSB during the UK https://eucw.org/sl.html of the rig! Inspired by the successful QSOs, I
Activity Contests. Phil Oakley G0BVD (Great Torrington) found wondered if I might be able to work across the
Dave G0DJA (Bolsover) has been plagued the RSGB 144/432MHz contest on 1/2 March Irish Sea from my home QTH on the west coast
with more noise on the band at home, especially a rather quiet affair, only working GW4CC and of Wales. Once I was home, operating once
when his aerials are low. During one of the 2E0VCC/P. again as GW4VXE, I emailed Roger EI8KN to
2m CW Tuesday sessions, Dave was able to During a recent visit to Cheltenham, operating ask if he might be willing to try a QSO. Roger
work Craig G0KVL who was portable on Blakey as G4VXE I took my Quansheng UV-5K(8) quickly replied, although he said that CW wasn’t
Ridge, North York Moors at a distance of around running CEC firmware and an iambic paddle his favourite mode, but very gamely, he kindly
131km. Dave says that he has been taking part which plugs directly into the rig and was offered to have a go! I was very excited that
in the EuCW ‘Snakes and Ladders’ activity and delighted to work Steve G4ALG (Lydney) on we were able to make a QSO on both 2m and
that his 2m CW contacts count for this (as long both 2m and 70cm. It was an easy QSO on 70cm (Fig. 2). Signals weren’t huge, but I am
as the QSOs last a minimum of 5 minutes). You both bands using nothing more than the rubber pretty sure if I used a better aerial than the stock

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May 2025 PRACTICAL WIRELESS 49
The World of VHF

Fig. 3: A map of the stations received on 70cm

by G3XBM in Cambridge using his 2m ‘big wheel’
aerial.

rubber duck, it would have been much better.

Of course, Roger’s station was doing all the
hard work, but it was very exciting to me to be
able to make a QSO over a distance of around
160km with such a simple setup (the radio and
the paddle cost less than £20 in total!). Thank
you, Roger for the fun QSOs. Not much else to
report on 2m, although I did recently copy M1IOS
(IN69) on 2m FT8. It would be very good to see
IN69 regularly active on 2m FT8 – so I’m keeping
a careful look out. 3

The 70cm band Students at Public Primary School, La Laupie, D-STAR digital voice – similar to other satellites in
Bill Ward GM0ICF (Ayrshire) writes, “After the France and astronaut Don Pettit KD5MDT. the past like the original TEVEL satellites, UVSQ-
chaos of Storm Jocelyn in 2024, I got around The downlink frequency for this contact was SAT, INSPIRE-Sat7, and back to AO-27. HADES-R
to fixing up my little 4 x 9 ele antenna array. 145.800MHz. The amateur radio ground station is not a proper D-STAR repeater, but it retransmits
Fortunately there was no real damage but the for this contact was in La Laupie, France. the D-STAR traffic just like it retransmits FM.
array was twisted in the various clamps. I had Amateur radio operators using call sign F5KLF, As with the previous satellites that supported
to do a bit of dismantling and re-assembly but operated the ground station to establish and D-STAR, D-STAR audio from HADES-R is pretty
nothing more, a lucky escape given all the other maintain the ISS connection”. good.
damage around this part of the world... Jef worked EA2BW (IN93) using the APRS “Endaf N6UTC has been giving his UK amateur
“To test all was well I put out a call on the KST digipeater on the ISS on 11 February. He had a license a workout in the past week, operating as
reflector but no takers. Then I had a look at the good month using the RS-44 satellite with plenty ME1BQO from England and MW1BQO from Wales.
HB9Q site. To my surprise I managed to work of nice contacts, using FT4. Stations worked He was only working the FM satellites, but made
Carsten OZ9AAR on JT65B off the moon at -22/- include OZ3AEV (O55), SV1ABB KM18), G4XNA some operators across Europe happy with his
28. Carsten runs a 4 x pol Yagi array according to (IO90), SV1CEV (KM17), F5LMG (IN88), F6HRO appearances.
his website. I was very pleased with that result. (IN88), HB9FVL (JN36), N1NAZ (FN42), W2GDJ “I have been busy operating from different
I’ve got 2 x 19 ele long Yagis built for further (FN32), N2YZH (FN22), W9SV (EN52), IW7DOL locations around Arizona and California in the
meteor scatter tests on 432MHz, maybe I’ll make (JN90), EB4ADC (IN80), EA3BD (JN01), PD5CVK past few weeks. A couple of demonstrations
another two and try some more EME!” (JO32), ON2ACO (JO11), LY1R (KO14), OZ3AEV at the Yuma Hamfest in southwestern Arizona,
Roger G3XBM using 10W SSB to his 144MHz (JO55), EB3FWC (JN11) and LB2WG (JO59). followed by a few hours on the DM12/DM22
big wheel and is always surprised how well it It seems FT4 is getting very popular on the grid line in California’s Imperial Valley (about
gets out. Likewise, on receive, especially on satellites. halfway between the Pacific Ocean and Colorado
FT8, Roger is really surprised about some of the Patrick Stoddard WD9EWK (Phoenix) writes, River, near the Mexico/USA border). Then up the
stations he can see, again using his 144MHz ‘big “New satellites are in orbit. After a SpaceX flight Colorado River to the DM23/DM24 line in western
wheel’, Fig. 3. late on Friday 14 March, AMSAT-EA’s HADES-ICM Arizona a week later. And in the past week, a trip
Phil G0BVD is wondering whether he has a satellite and eight TEVEL2 satellites from Israel to southern Arizona operating from grid DM41
receive problem with his IC-9700 – during the are in orbit. AMSAT-EA has reported it may be a north of the Mexico/USA border. It has been nice
recent RSGB 144/432MHz contest he only while before HADES-ICM’s FM repeater will be to get out and ‘play radio’, working satellites from
worked GW4CC and 2E0VCC/P. As I said to Phil, activated for amateur use. No news yet on the different places.”
it might just be activity. He’s planning to get the TEVEL2 satellites, other than they are similar to
receiver checked out. the original TEVEL satellites – all eight are using FM and DAB DX
the same uplink and downlink frequencies as the Ray Bokor reports that the FM band has been
The 23cm band previous TEVEL satellites. This probably means it very flat up in the North East recently and is
Dave G7RAU worked eight stations in the recent will be a while before multiple TEVEL2 satellites hoping that the next month will bring better
23cm contest. The best DX was G4ZTR (JO01) are simultaneously activated. Patience... conditions.
at a distance of 480km, Dave was running “HADES-R, now also known as SO-124, has Simon Evans (Twyning, Gloucestershire) writes,
50W to a 35-element Tonna. Dave says that all been opened up for amateur use over the past “There has been very little DX to report except
was working well, apart from the lights on the few weeks. Its FM repeater has been getting a on 5 March when I had a decent opening for DAB
amplifier, which he suspects got zapped during workout. AMSAT-EA announced that Wednesdays into France. My best DX that day came from
his recent lightning strike. (UTC time) would be dedicated to digital modes. the LeMans ET ensemble 502km away”. Simon
For the four Wednesdays in March, for example, also says that with the support for Windows 10
Satellites the following digital modes would be used: FT4, coming to an end in October, he has bought a
Jef ON8NT reports a new Spanish satellite FSK441, RTTY, and APRS (I think this means new desktop PC and has been getting the various
active on FM, known as HADES-R or SO-124. The normal 1200bps AX.25 packet). The plans for programs installed onto the new machine.
uplink is on 145.925MHz and the Downlink on Wednesdays in each month will be announced That’s it for this month. Thanks to everyone
436.888MHz. More on this satellite in a moment. by AMSAT-EA. One more thing about HADES-R... who contributed to the column – it’s much
Jef also writes, “I heard a ARISS Contact with when the FM repeater is active, it also passes appreciated. See you next month. PW

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50 PRACTICAL WIRELESS May 2025
 Feature

Kevin Ryan
[email protected]

I
’ve usually located my radio antennas,
DAB and shortwave, in the loft with the
shortwave antenna at the roof apex. The
shortwave antenna picks up noise carried on the
mains wiring and probably from the computer
network cables, one of which runs through the
loft space. The antenna also picks up noise
from our neighbour’s property but this seems
like white noise and not obviously PLT type
interference.
For the last decade or so I’ve used a
commercial wideband dipole that I bought
from Nevada and that replaced a homebrew
cage dipole. The cage dipole design came from
Shortwave Antenna Course created by Jim
Vastenhoud who held various roles at Radio
Nederland back in the 1970s.
I tried using an external ‘stealth’ longwire 1

A helical
antenna hidden behind some garden trellis.
I called it a Sawtooth Antenna because it ran
vertically on the fence posts and then diagonally
across the fence panels. I bought this wire

longwire antenna
antenna online and installed it in this pattern so
that I didn’t have to shorten the antenna wire.
I wrote about it in Radio User (May – July
2017). The antenna produced a decent signal at
its output when measured on a portable radio
but after a long run from the end of the garden Kevin Ryan describes a shortwave receiving antenna that
through the house the signal-to-noise ratio was takes up minimal space.
not much different to that from the loft antenna.
constructed using readily available materials. patterns for a straight wire with the same length
Thoughts on the design The books featured a balcony mounted one that of wire. I generated 3D plots from MMANA-Gal
I briefly considered building another version of extends at a 45° angle away from a building to at 6.1MHz and 13.75MHz that looked almost
the caged dipole using 3D printed spacers but several vertical antennas all using wastewater identical to the predicted patterns for the helical
then changed to working on a design for a folded pipes of various diameters. I decided to build a antenna.
long wire antenna. My loft isn’t big enough for horizontal version of this antenna.
any of the usual wire antennas and I wanted to Materials
create a compact equivalent of a 25 to 30m long Antenna modelling I decided to use 32mm polypropylene
wire antenna. The antenna would run on a north-south axis wastewater pipes that I purchased in standard
I used MMANA-GAL Basic to generate with the feedpoint at the northern end. As a 3m lengths from a DIY chain store cut down to a
radiation patterns using four and six 8m lengths variant of the single wire antenna known as a more manageable size of 2m. I sealed the ends
of wire. However, I could see that it just wouldn’t non-resonant antenna it seemed from various using socket plugs that usually fit into a straight
be a practical or particularly safe solution for a articles that the antenna would be most pipe coupler. I fixed them to the end of pipe
loft frequently accessed for storage because it sensitive to signals arriving broadside on from using self-tapping screws and then sealed the
would likely become a curtain of wire in the main an east-west direction. However, I still wanted an gap with decorator’s caulk to prevent any insects
walkway. idea of the antenna pattern. making a home in the pipe. I also needed pipe
I looked for inspiration in two books from I found a helical Beverage antenna in the clips to fix the pipes to the rafters.
Babani published some 40 years ago. I had a library of antennas provided with the MMANA- I purchased a 100m reel of yellow hi-viz
copy of 25 Simple Indoor and Windows Aerials Gal Basic software. I removed the termination lightweight antenna wire from SOTAbeams.
(BP136) by E M Noll that covered helical resistor to create a helical long wire. This This wire has a 0.22mm² total conductor cross
antennas, including a long wire type. The antenna is 30m long but it would give me an sectional area - approx. 24AWG, resistance
same type of antenna with more information idea of the radiation pattern. The modelling TKRȹ[JQTHNY^KFHYTWTKFSI\JNLMX
on construction also appeared in 25 Simple showed an omnidirectional pattern below 3.3g per metre. I include these details for
Shortwave Broadcast Antennas (BP132) by the 7MHz with directional lobes appearing at completeness because you could use whatever
same author that I found online. higher frequencies. Directional lobes become wire you have available.
https://tinyurl.com/44k286ps prominent at 12MHz (Fig. 1) with a multi-lobe
pattern at 25 MHz (Fig. 2). Wire length
Helix or helical antennas I was curious to know if my helical design I estimated the length of wire needed for each
The books have several helical antennas varied significantly from the predicted radiation segment by cutting a 240mm length of pipe

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May 2025 PRACTICAL WIRELESS 51
Feature

Fig. 1: Side lobes appear in the radiation pattern

above 7MHz. This is a 3D Plot calculated for
12MHz. Fig. 2: The change in the radiation
pattern at 25MHz is dramatic.
Fig. 3: The antenna wire is looped around the
screw head. Also shown is how the antenna wire
is secured at the end of a segment.

and winding on a 40mm spacing between fixing

points and then measuring how much wire I
used. I found that I needed 720mm of wire and
scaling that up meant 6m of wire on each 2m
length of pipe. For the four lengths I planned
to use that meant an antenna length of 24m
and possibly a bit longer when I added in the
connecting tails.
There is a precise formula to work this out
which is:
-JQN]1JSLYM1"Ծ 72 + C2)
Where R = Rise over one revolution and C =
Circumference of the spiral
In my design C is the outer diameter of the pipe
4)TKFUUWT]NRFYJQ^RRRZQYNUQNJIG^Ʌ 2
that equates to 108.43mm and R is the spacing
between the fixing screws of 40mm. The helical Winding the antenna
wire length is 23.11m and the installed length I worked out a technique for winding the wire on
is about 24m once the tails are factored in. This the antenna to avoid getting the wire in a tangle.
is in close agreement with my rule-of-thumb My suggestion is to put the pipe on its end and
calculation. then turn the pipe while winding the wire on. The
I found that it was easy to make a mistake in wire then dangles down from the top of the pipe.
measuring out the wire and settled on cutting off I held the wire in place every 10-12 screws with
about eight metres of wire per two metre pipe to some white insulation tape to keep the wire taut.
allow for the wire loops and to leave at least a Finally, I added two sections of a 5A connecting
0.5m tail at each end. block to one end. One section holds the still
www.vcalc.com/wiki/helix-length insulated wire in place and second section is for
the connection between each segment (Fig. 3).
Modifications Then I put the end caps on and held them in
E M Noll recommended using screw eyes to hold place with two screws. The first section has the
the wire but I opted for the more readily available longwire balun held in place with another screw
and cheaper self-tapping screws. I started by (Fig. 4). Just to note that I prefer to use an F-type 3
tightening the screw heads to hold the wire but connector and I convert between each connector
then decided to loop the wire around the screws type using adapters. The balun board comes As installed
(Fig. 3). with a BNC termination that I converted to F-type The final design is an antenna made up of four
Working over a full two metre length is very using an adapter. segments each 2m long so that the overall
different to creating a small test piece of length of wire is approximately 24 to 25m. I
120mm. Trying to mark a precise line on a pipe On the ground testing thought that there would be an overlap of 0.5m
with 40mm is difficult but then the screws don’t I carried out some basic testing of the antenna on the final two segments but I didn’t need to
have to be exactly in line. I clamped the pipe in using a portable shortwave radio. I used a do this after all. The pipes are very light and I
the jaws of a portable workbench and used a 3.5mm phone to F-type adapter on the receiver. secured each one in place using two pipe clips
30cm steel ruler to work along the pipe. The jaws My test location was in my garage/workshop although one needed an extra clip to prevent
should be tightened just enough to hold the pipe, starting with a single length of the helix with a sagging (Fig. 5).
too tight and the pipe gets distorted. Allowance total wire length of about 6m. The shortwave I decided to leave the wideband dipole in place
needs to be made for the end caps resulting in bands are fairly quiet in the afternoons and and install the new antenna on the other leg of
48 marks for screws along the pipe. I relied on signals from CRI on 15590 and the roof apex timbers. Testing using an SDR
I have a pillar drill and used it to make the pilot 13710kHz. RSP1A as a spectrum analyser didn’t show any
screw holes. I used an awl on the test piece but Using 15590kHz this one length of antenna noticeable changes in how the dipole performed.
that tends to leave a plastic collar around the lit about half the signal segments on the The RG58 feeder is about 12m in length
screw thread. It would be possible to use a hand display bar. I’m not sure what signal strength because I routed the cable away as far away
drill provided the pipe is tightly clamped. this indicated. I added two more segments from the many 5A/13A cables attached to the
The next stage is putting in the self-tapping increasing the aerial length to about 18m, and ceiling joists. I didn’t add the feeder into
screws leaving enough space between the screw that lit up all the bars on the signal strength
head and the pipe to loop the wire around it. display. Continued on page 57

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52 PRACTICAL WIRELESS May 2025
 Feature

Michael Jones GW7BBY/GB2MOP

[email protected]

T
ektronix released their 465 oscilloscope,
Fig. 1, in November 1972. The 465 is
a dual-beam, 100MHz oscilloscope
with twin timebases. The 475 was introduced
at the same time, the only difference being its
200MHz bandwidth. Many tens of thousands
were produced for commercial and military users
before production of both models ceased in 1983.
The 465 was superseded by the 465B in 1980 with
updated circuit boards and minor control changes.
The military spec ‘scope has an ‘M’ suffix. The
performance and appearance is very similar to
the non ‘M’ models, but internally they are very
different. The vertical and horizontal amplifiers
are plug-in modules making for easier servicing in
the field. While the commercial versions have plug-
in transistors and other components, the ‘M’ had
soldered components, presumably for reliability.
The 465M is much rarer than the other versions
and from reports I have seen their performance is
no better. There is a credible suggestion that they
are based on the earlier 455 Oscilloscope.
After 40 – 50 years components age and faults
develop. I have examples of the 465, 465B and 475.
Each of these ‘scopes had different faults. I will
describe the fault-finding process and point out
sources of other known faults.

Health and safety

Before proceeding further there is the usual
caveat that mains voltages are lethal and special
care is needed at all times: take care where you
rest your free hand. The usual rule is to keep one
hand behind your back, but in practical terms one
frequently needs two hands, one for each meter
probe or one to hold the probe while operating a
control. Think before turning the equipment over
or rotating it, turn it off first and unplug it. You
might have turned it off, but if you curl your fingers
round the chassis and contact the mains switch
terminals that are live: bad move! Just because
something is battery operated, it doesn’t mean that
high voltages are not generated by inverters, or
voltage multipliers. Think of test equipment such
1 as a battery-operated oscilloscope where >1000V
DC may well be required for the Cathode Ray

Fault-finding
Tube (CRT). You are dealing with a faulty piece of
equipment: be vigilant and if in doubt – don’t!

Tektronix Oscilloscopes
Understand the symptoms
Whatever equipment you are working on make a
written note of the perceived faults such as, “OK

465/465B/475 (Pt I)
on band 2; hum at all times; all valve heaters light
up,” so that you can tick off faults as you proceed.
I also find it useful to write down a strategy to
deal with the faults so that they are dealt with in a
methodical manner. I know that if I don’t do this, I
Michael Jones GW7BBY/GB2MOP discusses these useful am likely to go off at a tangent and end up wasting
and affordable test instruments. time and possibly confusing the issue. In the case

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May 2025 PRACTICAL WIRELESS 53
Feature

Fig. 1: From top to bottom, 465, 465B, 475.

Fig. 2: Block diagram. Fig. 3: Mains voltage
selector. Fig. 4: Stand ‘scope face down.
Fig. 5: Remove 6 screws circled.
Fig. 6: Remove frame.

of the above note you might quite rightly suspect

that there is an issue with the band switch and
a smoothing capacitor or choke in the PSU. I
would also bear in mind that hum may be caused
by a faulty coupling or decoupling capacitor or a 3
poor earth connection. Examination of the circuit
should guide you around the band switching
elements and identify the smoothing components.
Switch cleaner may sort out the bandswitch, but
take care some switch wafers can be damaged by
using the wrong substance such as WD40. A good
quality cleaner such as Servisol is generally OK in
most cases, but as noted later Tektronix specify 4
that only Isopropyl Alchohol (IPA) can be used for
cleaning certain switch contacts, including the 5
attenuators. Anything else is likely to seriously
damage the PCB substrate. output amplifier by about 120 nanoseconds.
Many of us are used to the signal flow through This enables the sweep to be initiated before the
receiver and transmitter circuitry: Antenna to vertical signal reaches the deflection plates of the
1st RF, 2nd RF, Local Oscillator and Mixer to 1st CRT and thus allows the oscilloscope to display
IF etc. Test equipment such as oscilloscopes the leading edge of the trigger event.
have a quite different set of modules and the Spend some time with the manual for your
inside of something like the Tektronix 465 can oscilloscope, have a good look at the block
look quite daunting, but don’t be put off. A basic diagram to understand the signal flow. This should
oscilloscope block diagram is shown at Fig. give you some idea where your fault might lie, 6
2. Only one channel is shown for simplicity – then study the circuit description for the suspect
all the channel 1 blocks would be repeated for blocks. The Tektronix manuals in particular, www.tek.com/en/support/product-support
channel 2. It is mostly quite straightforward, are very detailed giving expected voltages and If the ‘scope is new to you, check that the mains
but I’ll just mention the delay line and the signal waveforms at critical points in the circuit. They voltage selector on the back panel, Fig. 3, is
pick-off amplifier. The pick-off amplifier sends a also include a very useful troubleshooting flow correctly set. A point to bear in mind is that on the
sample of the input signal directly to the trigger chart. The manuals are still available online 465 and 475 the indicator above the pull-on power
generating circuits with no delay. The delay line is from Tektronix (URL below). Beware that the switch indicates low line voltage, not power on,
a length of semi-rigid coax with carefully selected 465 and 465B despite their similarity have many so under correct operating conditions will not be
characteristics, I believe about 6m long. The idea differences and using the wrong manual can lead illuminated. The 465B has a conventional ‘Power
is to delay the signal from reaching the vertical you astray. On’ indicator.

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54 PRACTICAL WIRELESS May 2025
 Feature

11

Fig. 7: Lift case clear. Fig. 8: Vertical amplifier

board with attenuators on the right.
Fig. 9: R3045 circled, input to vertical amplifiers.
Fig. 10: Remove vertical position extension
shafts. Fig. 11: Take care with delay line.
10 Fig. 12: Input capacitor C13012. 12

Removing the case two traces, channel 1 responded correctly to AC/GND/DC coupling switch vigorously back
The case is a wrap-around sleeve that slides off inputs, but channel 2 just remained a flat line. (I and forth and found that if I held the switch hard
the instrument. To remove it, stand the instrument didn’t realise until after channel 2 was fixed that over in the DC position, the correct waveform was
on its front panel. If you have the plastic transit channel 1 didn’t trigger correctly.) displayed but at a somewhat reduced amplitude.
protector, fit it. If not, use a couple of pieces of Power supplies are always the first suspect So, it seemed that the fault was within the
wood about 50mm (2in) thick on the long edge when investigating a malfunctioning ‘scope. The Attenuator and confined to the AC path, but I kept
of the panel as shown in Fig. 4 to protect the Extra High Tension (EHT) circuits develop 10kV, in mind the reduced amplitude.
control knobs. Remove the six screws shown in are under a metal shield and are best avoided Given the nature of the fault I suspected an
Fig. 5, together with the feet. Then remove the if possible. Now as the ‘scope was producing a issue with the channel 2 vertical amplifier. With
frame, Fig. 6, feeding the mains lead through the steady trace on both channels, focus and intensity the covers off and the unit on its side, vertical
aperture. The case can then be carefully lifted controls worked correctly, it was fair to assume amplifiers uppermost, the signal path is fairly
clear, Fig. 7. Take care to ensure that the case lifts that the EHT circuit was functioning correctly intuitive, Fig. 8: attenuators on the right, amplifier
off cleanly without snagging. If it does snag, lower and there was no need to poke around under the boards to the left.
the case a little and try again making sure that the shield. A useful feature is that the two channels are
case is lifted vertically and not at an angle to the Having eliminated the EHT supply, the low virtually identical so the behaviour of each
instrument. Refitting is a reversal of this process, voltage supplies should be checked. The voltages channel can be compared. Furthermore, many
remember to thread the mains lead through the and Test Points are: +55V DC (TP4338), +15V parts including the transistors are in sockets and
case first. DC (TP4339), +5V DC (TP4337) and – 8V DC can swapped from side to side.
It is possible to remove the case with the ‘scope (TP4439). I didn’t expect these to be out of I found that by touching a finger or screwdriver
laid flat on a bench or the floor, but the risk of specification, but checked just to make sure. blade to R3045, Fig. 9, on each channel a
snagging a component is increased. Knowing that the switch contacts on any piece significant deflection was produced on both
of equipment stored and not used for some channels (50Hz picked up by my body). R3045,
Tektronix 465B years can often be contaminated, I operated the FȹWJXNXYTWYFPJXYMJFYYJSZFYTWTZYUZY
The first one I tackled was the 465B, it produced attenuator control back and forth and then the to the input (Gate) of the first MOSFET of the

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May 2025 PRACTICAL WIRELESS 55
Feature

Fig. 13: Attenuator retaining nuts.

Fig. 14: Attenuator selection fingers.
Fig. 15: Clean fingers with paper soaked in IPA.

second oscilloscope to trace the signal, you can

use headphones, an earpiece or small amplifier
connected to a simple test probe made from stiff
wire to follow the signal.
The usual problem with these attenuators is
contamination of the gold-plated fingers and
contacts used to select the appropriate attenuator
block, Fig. 14. Don’t just go squirting them with
contact cleaner. The printed circuit boards (PCBs)
are gold plated and a special substrate is used
that is easily damaged by the wrong cleaner.
Tektronix recommend only Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA)
as the cleaning agent. I know people have used
other cleaning agents successfully, but you do so
at your peril!
The correct method is to soak a narrow strip
of paper in the IPA, raise a contact either by
the attenuator control or by carefully lifting the
13 contact, insert the paper between the contact and
the PCB and let it fall back to grip the paper strip.
Pull the paper out and repeat a few times until the
paper comes out clean, Fig. 15.
I did this although I was a bit sceptical as the
problem was more akin to a short than an open
contact. In fact, testing from output end of
C13012 to ground indicated a short.
Looking carefully at the PCB I noticed a dark
UFYHMZSIJWFȹWJXNXYTWFSIFYKNWXYYMTZLMYNY
to be a shadow. However, I decided to check the
resistor (there wasn’t much else to check) and
when I unsoldered one end of the resistor and
14 15 lifted it, then I saw that the shadow was actually
a carbon track burned into the PCB, also part of
vertical amplifier. This told me that the vertical on the floor. the coating on the resistor was absent, Fig. 16,
amplifiers were both working and that the fault You will have to remove the nylon shafts and possibly where it had been resting against a point
lay in the channel 2 attenuator. I connected a knobs for the vertical position controls, Fig. 10. on an adjacent solder pad. I imagine that someone
signal generator to channel 1 and followed the Once the Allen screws on the flexible coupling had put a reasonable amount of fairly high
signal path through the attenuator using a second are loosened the knob with shaft attached can be frequency RF from a transmitter and it flashed
oscilloscope and was able to see the progressive withdrawn from the front panel. across the resistor and adjacent tracks.
attenuation of the signal. Switching now to Take care when disconnecting the delay line, I removed the carbon track with a ball-ended
channel 2, the signal was not getting past the input Fig. 11. It has four pins and should pull vertically grinding tool in a small model making drill and
capacitor C13012. After lifting the output end of from the PCB. You will sometimes find that after replacing the resistor and re-fitting the
the capacitor from the board I could see my signal someone in the past has soldered the outer sleeve vertical amplifier and attenuator, channel 2
getting through the capacitor, but it was lost when to the board, this shouldn’t be necessary. performed perfectly.
the capacitor was re-connected, so something in With the vertical amplifier board out of the It then became apparent that channel 1 was not
the attenuator was pulling the signal down. way, de-solder and unplug C13012, Fig. 12. The triggering correctly. If the trigger selector was in
attenuator fixing nuts can now be accessed, Fig. ‘Normal’ and the trigger mode was either normal
Attenuators 13. You will need a 4BA socket, (1/4in AF) with a or auto the ‘scope would trigger on a channel
To investigate further the attenuators had to be flexible coupling. I used a 4BA nut driver. To make 1 signal. If the trigger selector was moved to
removed, together with the vertical amplifier access easier the attenuator modules can be channel 1 it would not trigger whereas on channel
board. It may appear daunting, one just needs to unplugged. Make a note of where each one goes, 2 it was absolutely solid. The fact that the ‘scope
be methodical and take lots of pictures as you go or copy the other channel. Once the two nuts are would trigger perfectly in all positions except
so that when re-assembling you can see which removed the attenuator board will slide out with channel 1 suggested that the main trigger circuits
coloured wires go where. All but two connections the input BNC connector attached. were functioning correctly, which left either the
are plug in, R3045 will have to be de-soldered, Fig. Once removed the attenuators can easily be trigger selector switch contacts being faulty or a
9. There are a lot of screws to remove so as parts tested on the bench as no power is required. fault on channel 1 vertical board. Vigorous flicking
are removed put them in a tray near the back of Apply an input signal, I used about 1kHz from of the trigger selector didn’t cause it to trigger. As
your bench so that they can’t be accidentally tipped an audio signal generator. If you don’t have a the switch contacts were well buried under the

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56 PRACTICAL WIRELESS May 2025
 Feature

4
5

16 Fig. 4: The long wire balun purchased from a

vendor on AliExpress. Similar devices are available
on eBay. Fig. 5: Two segments of the antenna
connected up in the loft. Fig. 6: The variation
between the noise received from a wideband
dipole and my helical antenna. Fig. 7: BBCWS
DRM on 5875kHz with near 100% decoding seems
unaffected by the slightly higher noise level on
6 that band.

17

+NL'ZWSJIYWFHPZSIJWȹWJXNXYTW
Fig. 17: What can happen if you’re not careful
removing the case. 7

horizontal/trigger PCB I went back to the block Continued from page 52 stronger signal from Channel 292 from Germany
diagram. on 9670kHz.
The block diagram showed that after the vertical MMANA-Gal design because I couldn’t find a A late evening scan of the 49m band showed
preamp there is a ‘Signal Pick-off Amplifier’ way to include the balun. it alive with signals and managed to decode
(Q1045, Q1145, Q1125 & Q1028), which feeds TDF’s DRM service on 6120kHz at 2000UTC and
into the horizontal/Trigger PCB. First move was Comparisons that was first for me. I also decoded the BBCWS
to locate these components physically on the Using the SDRPlay RSP1A Spectrum Analyser morning transmission to Europe of 5875kHz (Fig.
vertical PCB. I was astonished to find that Q1045 app I compared the signals received by the 7) using the SDRUno DRM plug-in. The regular
was actually missing from its socket! This part wideband dipole and my homebrew helical 0945UTC transmission from Kuwait on 15110
goes by the Tektronix part number 151-0271- antenna. Unable to draw any conclusions I then kHz remains a problem. I spent some time fine
00, which cross references to a 2GHz transistor: compared them using the SDRUno app and tuning the ATU controls attempting to improve
AST4261. As I didn’t have one of these to hand I noted values for noise floor in the broadcast the decode rate but I couldn’t even get one burst
‘borrowed’ one from my 465 scope. This was easy bands (Fig. 6). I must admit to being a bit of audio. I found Kuwait still transmitting on this
as all the transistors are in sockets. This then disappointed that the noise in the 49m band frequency one afternoon and that decoded easily.
restored the 465B to full functionality. I found that and 75m band appeared to have increased.
it would trigger, although out of calibration above I’m not sure why this is the case or even if Adaptable
100MHz, up to 200MHz. A good result. Following just measuring noise pickup is a meaningful In summary I’m pleased with the performance of
this work a Calibration check should be carried comparison. the helical long wire but I will probably experiment
out. This is a lengthy process and I will leave you a bit more with the configuration. The antenna
to follow this in the manual. Listening tests is adaptable in that I can comfortably add
When re-fitting the case I realised that the I wired my Global AT-2000 coupler to the helical another (fifth) 6m segment to make the overall
reason Q1045 was missing was most probably antenna and as expected it varies the signal and length about 32m. I could add a sixth segment
that it was snagged when carelessly refitting noise at the receiver input. The device is more by overlapping all the segments but it might be
the case and dragged out of its socket. See this effective at the higher shortwave frequencies counter-productive. I also have an idea of adding
example on the horizontal PCB, Fig. 17. and also on medium waves. In the mornings FX\NYHMFGQJȹWJXNXYTWYTHTS[JWYYMJFSYJSSF
In the second instalment I will look at the 465 the signal from Radio Europe on 6130 kHz is to a Beverage but the only earth point is a copper
and 475 models. PW still poor although I now consistently receive a water pipe. PW

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May 2025 PRACTICAL WIRELESS 57
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58 PRACTICAL WIRELESS May 2025

 Letters

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

Full circle and Sicily and so on. The rig was an FT-290.
Dear Don, Then, later on, a Trio TS-780. When I got a
I took the opportunity to find the March ham licence during the 80’s it was a frenetic
2021 edition of PW where I wrote in about time for ham radio. The CB craze appearing
Pop Blundell and my connection both to awaken the hobby of amateur radio from
geographical and professional to the hobby its seeming slumber? Like Richard, I wasn’t
that continues to give to myself as it does to that adventurous with 2m VHF or UHF either.
many others. I guess it was a stepping stone to HF, rather
I opened the edition and was pleasantly than a final destination to carry on exploring.
surprised. You see since writing in I have prayers had been answered. Trouble was, Many thanks to Chris GU3TUX for that pic
(slowly) matured from an HF listener, when I put Lindsay’s idea to my in-house of Bill Corsham’s QSL card - G2UV, Uncle
modding my now loft-bound Realistic DX 394 ‘commander-in-chief’, it fell upon very Vic. I was thrilled to see it. And yes, although
receiver, to an intermediate licence holder stony ground. Mucking about with window G2UV is often credited with creating the ‘first
with some home constructed kit and used glass and substituting it with an aluminium authentic QSL card in Europe’, it might be the
Yaesu radios. replacement sort of thing, was an anathema. case that someone else did the same thing at
Since that edition I have visited Bletchley A definite no-go. Back to the drawing board the same time? Time will tell.
Park (BP) and as a former Sigint operator then (like Lindsay, I’ve got millions of those Oh, I’ve enclosed a pic (not a QSL card, a
it was a joy. The lovely tour guide was polystyrene insulation balls inside a cavity First Day Cover) that might provoke a smile.
complimentary about my knowledge. wall which annoyingly, announce their Ray Howes G4OWY/G6AUW
The warm and welcoming (now) fellow presence frequently). Weymouth
hams at NRC BP were so encouraging that After the usual compliant negotiation, I
they really did play a big part in me going resorted to my usual tactic, the air-brick or (Editor’s comment: Thanks Ray for your
from ex-military radio guy to getting back to drilling a hole method. Yes, both methods always entertaining reminiscences.)
my radio hobby that started experimenting are or can be disruptive. However, my other
with CB radios and home-made antennas half, for whatever reason (in passing, I’ve
from coax. never risked asking why that is), prefers a QSL Cards
I recently took part in 145 alive with whole in the wall or a carpet being lifted. Dear Don,
great success. I’ve only recently started Make of that what you will. Great article on the QSL cards. I think I must
transmitting as I wanted to go on air and not G6NFE’s reminiscences with the two-metre be old school as I remember as a SWL in the
‘fluff it’. The antenna is made from coax! band had me digging about my 2m roots early 70s being told a QSL card is the perfect
I was informed by my first QSO that I am a too. Not that my nostalgia with the 2m band end to a QSO.
great operator. Very kind. is anything to really shout out loud about. I started out as an SWL in 1969/1970 using
I was contacted by the BP expert on the My first 2m rig was one of those converted an ex-music centre tuner on the broadcast
Radio Security Service to ask my advice. Pye FM transceiver things (bought from my SW bands hearing the far off stations. I then
This is where we go full circle as in the letter mate G4GSA). It did what he said it would. upgraded to a CR70A Rx and listened to
published in March 2021 I asked “were you And considering that the antenna was a cut 160/80 as the bandwidth was limited on the
expecting me?” - returning to my radio hobby. to shape coat-hanger, sometimes outside, higher bands
I can answer that now. My radio brothers and sometimes inside (yes, really), amazingly, I remember joining the RSGB and getting
sisters WERE expecting me. either by divine intervention or whatever, I a SWL ‘number’ A7887 and hearing a lot of
John Masterton 2E0IXA worked all over the place. Including France, AM signals on topband from Essex and Kent,
(Editor’s comment: Great story John, Belgium, Channel Islands etc (must have like the early morning G3KPJ shaving club.
welcome back to the wonderful hobby of been a ‘lift’ on?) and of course, many of There were a lot of early calls around on AM
amateur radio!) the then local ham radio hobbyists. One of with the infamous Codar T28 Rx and AT5
whom, I recall, did not like the nomenclature transmitter. This was before the Japanese
‘hobbyist’ being attributed to him. Noting radios came over, and many used ex-Military
Roots and Getting coax from the that amateur radio was an elite calling, and sets and the G2DAF separates.
outside into the inside. should not be confused with other ‘frivolous I wanted to send out reports so I looked for
Dear Don, hobbies’, many of which apparently, were a printer of QSL cards. I found a company
Strangely, at another property, I’d been ‘simply entertainments’. from the back of the then RadCom (actually,
seeking a cute way to get a couple of coax Then I discovered 2m SSB. Obviously, the RSGB Bulletin back then! – ed.) - A.B, Looe,
feedlines from the outside to the inside. coat hanger lash-up wasn’t much use there. Atkinson Brothers, Looe, Cornwall and got
So, when I saw GI3KME’s solution in the Enter my bamboo pole 3-element Yagi, with my first cards printed so I could send out my
April issue of PW, I’d thought that all my Armstrong rotator. Worked into Greece SWL reports then, when I was 18, I was issued

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May 2025 PRACTICAL WIRELESS 59
Letters

with my BRS33875 number and after sending

reports got cards from several topband
stations and the 80m WAB nets like GB2SM
the Science Museum, G3ABG the founder
of the WAB programme, G3VFA/G3CED the
maker of the Joystick aerial which I used!
The best card I got was from 1973. It was
a Sunday early summer afternoon and I
was tuning 15m on my Marconi CR150 and
found a signal well over 5 x 9 and it was Carl
VQ9R. I couldn’t believe how strong he was. I
logged his signal over 2-3 hours and created
a graph of how his signal was against fading
and QRM! So I sent my card with a couple of
IRCs, enclosing the graph and a list of other
stations I had heard during this period. A
few weeks later I got a handwritten card and
thank you note for my detailed report!!
Even now I enjoy sending out and receiving
QSLs.
Chris Baker G4LDS
Morecambe

(Editor’s comment: Thanks for the memories,

Chris. My own first batch of QSL cards –
early 1969? – was also printed by A.B. of
Looe. I have many thousands of QSL cards,
accumulated over 56+ years in the hobby,
often at considerable expense – sending
IRCs and dollars to overseas stations to cover
return postage. But I do value them and find it
a shame, in a way, that they are now largely a
thing of the past.)

Wireless Magazines
Dear Don,
Many thanks for the March issue of PW, a
good read as always.
The article on QSL cards set me searching
for some of mine from my SWL days. What
I found though were some magazines from
1926, 1928 and a couple from 1929. My
word how things have changed. I’ve attached
photographs of the front covers, let me know
if you spot any article you would like to see I had a TA33 at 15m in the clear and in the mentioned. There was also jamming from
in detail. evenings swung it to the South and West South American stations.
Tom Brady GW8HEB to hear SA, often hearing VP8LP, the voice During this time there was a very active
Welshpool of the Falklands, Bob daily working Les station from the British Antarctic Survey
GM3ITN. VP8ANT, which during this time changed call
(Editor’s comment: Thanks Tom. Old One of my locals had a super site on the to his UK call with the /A.
radio magazines, from the US, the UK and highest point of Essex and a 3-ele Quad I also knew some who were part of the
elsewhere, can of course be found on the at 20m so was able to work daily VK and taskforce so I did monitor the bands for
World Radio History website and always make evenings to VP8 as his nephew was based stations from the area as the events unfolded
fascinating reading!) on South Georgia as the officer in charge. on the news and came to a conclusion.
One evening I heard the nephew tell his As an aside, I was working at Marconi in the
uncle he had to go as he was not alone, Transmitter test (I called myself a Transmitter
Face Behind the Call which was when the island was taken and Technician rather than an Engineer, in my
Dear Don, he was taken prisoner. I later heard Bob tell mind I stood on the shoulders of those great
I was just reading the article on G3UML. I can Les he couldn’t stay on as they had visitors. ones!). About four days after the islands were
remember the Falklands conflict and here are I heard Bob talking to Les a few times during reclaimed, we received an order for a Band
my memories. the next few days but no callsigns were 2 10kW FM transmitter for BFBS Falklands.

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60 PRACTICAL WIRELESS May 2025
 Letters

The order came through on Thursday, luckily he called me into his office and told me he April edition:
we were able to pull one from a stock order, had just come out from a meeting of the Citizens Band Comes of Age
and tested all over the weekend before being board. They had been told that the MoD had Dear Don,
shipped out on Monday. Didn’t think about reported they were pleased with the Tx and it My April edition was late for some reason,
it until the following week on a Wednesday worked for the first time. My boss told them so I had been eagerly awaiting a nostalgic
evening I was on 20m and got called by a he had already been told. He said one of his version of CB radio history,,,only to be quite
VP8 from Stanley. It was a BFBS engineer engineers was a radio ham and had been told disappointed. I got a whiff of the ‘holier-
I had worked a few times when he was by the VP8 engineers! than-thou’ view prevalent in the early days
out in ZC4. He called me to tell me the Tx What a hobby!! between CBer’s and licensed amateurs. My
had arrived the day before, was wired up Chris Baker G4LDS experiences are quite different.
to the mains, they plugged in the dummy Morecambe Having struggled and obtained my full
load and it powered straight up so was put licence many years before CB and complied
on line for the garrison and was providing (Editor’s comment: Thanks Chris. Great with all the restrictions that brought, my first
entertainment to the troops and could I tell memories. Incidentally, Richard VP8ANT intro into CB was when I went to visit a much
my boss and give them a big thanks as it (G3CWI) was a good friend of mine – Martin younger 10 year old brother (no longer living
worked first time. G3ZAY and I kept twice weekly skeds with with me) to find him chatting away on a CB
Next day I found my big boss, told him him during his two-year tour in the Antarctic. radio. I must admit, I was quite miffed to find
the news and left it at that. The next day No satellite comms to VP8 in those days!) practically no restrictions (no logbook, no

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the British Vintage Wireless Society. Community Centre, Bowburn, Co Durham, DH6 5AT. 6 July
Nearly 200 stalls of dealers, clubs and private Doors open from 10.10am to 2.30pm with disabled visi- NEWBURY RADIO RALLY: Newbury Showground,
XJQQJWX7JYWTFSI[NSYFLJWFINTXYJQJ[NXNTSXMN‫ܪ‬ tors gaining access at 10am. next to junction 13 of M4 motorway in Berkshire, RG18
and audio, vinyl records (LPs, 45s, 78s), commu- Admittance is £3. There will be a bring-and-buy sale, 9QZ. There will be a display area with an amateur radio
nications and test equipment. Gramophones, tel- trade stands, special interest groups and an RSGB book- station, exhibits, special interest groups, clubs and so-
ephones, spares, early video games and comput- stall. Catering on site. cieties. The doors open to sellers at 8am and for visi-
ing. bring-and-buy stall. Everyone welcome. Details Michael Wright , G7TWX, 07826 924 192 tors at 9am. Ample free parking will be available.
from Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]

Buy back issues and archive CDs at www.mymagazinesub.co.uk/practical-wireless

May 2025 PRACTICAL WIRELESS 61
Letters

licence, blah blah). I had to laugh though as sure your Dad can fix it”… Turned out to be a set up with my preferences, I probably use
he had a magmount antenna mounted on a modified to 10m amateur band version! I had only the volume control, band and mode
tiny metal tray because he had been told by some great contacts on it…my son never got selection, filters and tuning control most of
others that this would ‘greatly increase his a look in. the time. Mind you, I started with a Codar AT5
range’! Then CB moved to the 945MHz band for a and, of course, with its valve output stage you
I then joined the enthusiastic crowd and while, total disaster, and now we have 446PMR needed to ‘load’ and ‘tune’ – not necessary
bought my own CB and had many happy with all its bells and whistles, handhelds only with modern solid-state rigs.)
years mobile operation, car to car with non- and none of the old nostalgia.
amateur relatives on holiday, although I did Ken May G4APB
make the same mistake as Richard G6NFE Dartford Northern Ireland
of leaving my gear in the car complete with Dear Sirs,
fixed CB antenna while I went in a Pub, only (Editor’s comment: Thanks Ken. CB proved a I am dismayed at your, and Tim Kirby’s, lack
to find it all gone when I returned, (as in my lot of fun for a lot of people in its heyday but, of policing the content in your magazine.
case too, the old banger of a Vauxhall Viva as you say, interest eventually declined and You repeatedly allowed Mr. Taylor to state
was worth less, hi hi.). standards dropped. But it certainly did a lot of ‘UK and Northern Ireland’ in The World of
I learnt quite a lot about linear amplifiers good for amateur radio, bringing a welcome VHF article. Whether this slur is the result
and high gain antennas (all illegal then, influx of new, enthusiastic operators into the of ignorance or intentional insult makes no
but so available), and I came across quite hobby.) difference, it is both factually incorrect and
a few enterprising and inventive persons offensive to the people of Northern Ireland
who could have obtained amateur licensing and other nations that make up The United
but chose to experiment…I once heard of Stand by for a hobby horse Kingdom.
a guy that claimed to run 1kW mobile, until Dear Don, The United Kingdom comprises FOUR
he was caught. I actually used my CB after “A Surprisingly sophisticated transceiver” ??? nations: England, Scotland, Wales and
the hurricane in 1987 when the phone lines What we sadly need is a simple transceiver, Northern Ireland.
were down to hear of all the local damage (I perhaps limited to top and eighty, something I must insist you clarify this and print an
had no internet then either). after the style of the old Codar AT5. apology in the next issue of Practical Wireless
Unfortunately, like the way most social Alan Gordon G3XOI and take steps to prevent recurrence.
platforms go where you can say what you Shoreham by Sea Dr Ashley Lazlo
like without fear of retribution, CB declined
into misuse and bad language. I never (Editor’s comment: Well, Alan, I can only (Editor’s comment: Thanks Ashley and I am
allowed my own kids to use CB. However, assume no manufacturer considers that happy to apologise for what was undoubtedly
once at a radio rally, without my knowledge, a profitable venture. I agree that modern an unintentional mistake. Both Tim and I
a trader sold my son (wanted a radio like transceivers offer facilities way beyond what should have picked up on this and failed to
his Dad!) a CB radio for £1 telling him, “I many of us need or use – on my IC-7610, once do so.)

Next Month
in the UK’s best & only independent amateur radio magazine...

GETTING STARTED WITH AMATEUR SATELLITES: Tim Kirby GW4VXE explains how starting with
amateur satellites need not be difficult.
FAULT-FINDING TEKTRONIX OSCILLOSCOPES 465/465B/475 (pt 2): Michael Jones GW7BBY/GB2MOP
completes his look at these useful oscilloscopes.
ONE ANTENNA AND MANY RECEIVERS: Dr Samuel Ritchie demonstrates how he rolled his own
distribution amplifier which is useful all the way to 500MHz.
PHASORS TUTORIAL: Jeff returns to explain to Natalie the ins and outs of phasors.
USING MMANA-GAL TO DESIGN AN END-FED CFR DIPOLE: John McDonald G8PJC discusses how to
design your own end-fed CFR dipole.
CHAOTIC OSCILLATORS: Mark Foreman G7LSZ / SA6BID has a novel look at some strange oscillators.
There are all your other regular columns too, including HF Highlights, World of VHF, Antennas, The Face
Behind the Call, Vintage TV & Radio and Data Modes as well as your Letters, Rallies, the latest News and
more.

62 PRACTICAL WIRELESS May 2025

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