New “shack”

Yesterday I relocated my “shack” from the corner of the room it was in to the side of the room closest to the window, this allows me more flexibility and also helpful for when I install a CB antenna, which I aim to do soon.
This also assists me in diagnosing any issues with the Free Radio Network gateway, of which the radio was recently modified to include a fan just to help with the cooling. A CB counterpart for that is also due later in the year.

I enclose photos of the “shack” as it currently is
These were taken not long after my girlfriend and I had finished moving everything into place and I had reconnected all the equipment, the room is more efficiently organised as a result and everything is together in the “shack” as it should be.
That is all for now, hope to catch you on the air soon

73

Happy first birthday FRN gateway

Today the Richmond FRN gateway celebrates it’s 1st year on air, here’s to another year of the gateway operating on 446.06875MHz (PMR446 channel 6) with a CTCSS of 131.8Hz (CTCSS 20 on most PMR446 radios, there are some exceptions). I am listening to the gateway at this time, for further details see yesterday’s post or go to http://richmond-frn-gateway.atspace.co.uk

Hope to hear you on the gateway soon

 

73

One day until the Richmond Free Radio Network Gateway’s first birthday and some upcoming DX events I’ll be taking part in

Tomorrow the Richmond FRN gateway celebrates one year of operation, I am not sure how to celebrate this occasion, the Gateway runs 24/7 and is connected to the 446Muppets server on the Free Radio Network in room “English”, I also have a PC-only client in there, though as I listen to the gateway over the radio for the most part I tend to keep it set to absent.

I’ll also be taking part in another Charlie Tango PMR446 DX event, two actually, one on the 7th May and another on the 3rd June, there is also a CB DX as well on the 7th May and 4th June, but due to me only having a battery powered CB radio (handheld) I am unsure as yet whether I’ll give it a go, but we’ll see how it progresses.

I am debating on whether I go to the racecourse again or find a higher spot, but I’ll look at that one in the next week or so.  Hopefully I will make contact with someone on both attempts, and maybe also on CB as well if I decide to take part in that.

And finally, my gateway is on channel 6 using CTCSS 20, if you’re in range, give it a go, you never know who you may hear on there, it might even be me.

For more information on the Richmond gateway, please go to http://richmond-frn-gateway.atspace.co.uk, the site is updated periodically

73

Today’s DX event…

Today was the day of the Charlie Tango Easter DX event on PMR446, where many took to high points and attempted to get a long distance contact or contacts.  Unfortunately I was unable to make any contact on the day but it was still a good day out, which took me to the old racecourse here in Richmond, where there was a nice high spot just behind the old grandstand.
Although today didn’t get the desired results there will be other opportunities to give it a try again, and I’m not one to give up
I enclose some photos

My laptop for taking logs, sadly it never got to

My Intek MT-5050 on Channel 8, all ready to go

Me with the MT-5050 (and windswept hair, the wind was very high up there today)
Maybe the next time I do this I may hear someone on the air and hopefully get some QSOs logged.  If you do something like this and you don’t get a response don’t let it put you off doing it again.
73

PMR446 DX event on Easter Sunday

I haven’t updated this as I didn’t get round to getting the CB station going due to some unforeseen circumstances.  I logged into Charlie Tango today and discovered that they have a 446 event planned for Easter Sunday that is open to all, and I intend to give it a go.  I plan to use my Intek MT-5050 but will take another PMR as backup, as well as a spare set of batteries, the JVC camcorder I use for my videos, and my laptop for logging purposes.

Charlie Tango have specified channel 8 with no CTCSS for this event, anyone who owns a PMR446 radio can join in, though to be effective you should take to the hills.  If you do decide to take part and head up to the hills, ensure you have plenty of spare batteries for your radio, and also a backup radio just in case.

This event takes place between 12pm and 2pm on the Sunday, though I will be on air from about 11:30am.  Time to make some contacts over a distance on PMR446 without the need for a gateway.

I have installed a copy of yaLOG to my laptop to log the event and will copy it over to the comms computer after the event is done and I go off air, the laptop can run for about 4 hours on it’s battery, which is more than what I need, but will keep a pen and notebook of sorts handy just in case the computer runs out of power.

I hope for a good day and also some good contacts, I’ll keep you posted

73