Sunday 24 October 2021
Yaesu FT818 or FT991A? The decision I have to make
Tuesday 7 September 2021
3D printer now here and a couple of other things
On my last payday I purchased a 3D printer, specifically an Ender 3 Pro which I ordered with a suitable amount of filament to get going, though it came with some filament anyway but only a small amount compared to what I ordered, in both Amateur and CB radio circles a 3D printer is very useful indeed as you can 3D print things like antenna parts and other useful things, one of my first designs was an adaptor to allow my 7-meter SOTApole to sit in my drive on mast stand, I also had a look on Thingiverse and found some SO239 cover caps which are ideal for my radios that are on the display shelves in the shack, though do consider that these radios do get put on air from time to time.
The prior payday I ordered in some Motorola T62 PMR446 handhelds, these seem to work ok and I did a video on the YouTube channel about these, they meet the newer spec of allowing 16 channels here in the UK however that needs activating as they are 8 channel by default.
I also ordered a TinySA which I have yet to finish the video on, and an antenna from Wish that is designed for CB handhelds and is telescopic, which I will be pitting against the Albrecht CL27, the stock antennas on both modern handhelds and the comparable antenna found on my 1980s Realistic TRC-1007, it also came with a magmount so I'll be putting it on the car roof and connecting it to a radio and an analyser to see how it fairs in that regard.
I also hope to look at the new Thunderpole T-600, which I have seen pictures of and know full well who makes it, I already own the PNI Escort HP7120, which is electronically the same radio, but the T-600 appears to use different firmware to allow AM/FM switching on the CEPT channels while in the UK mode, this will possibly be featured after my next payday.
I'll also try and update this more as like everything I have been doing it has been disrupted by a hectic work schedule
73 de M0WNU/26CT730
Friday 2 July 2021
After many years it may be I get a go in the 144MHz FMAC after all
So it has taken a few years now however luck has it that on Tuesday I will not be working and therefore can take part in the 2-meter FM activity contest after all, this is of course subject to a lot of things, but I will not be changing job, moving house, or suffering clutch failure on the car (the clutch was changed in November due to bearing failure).
I have logging software on my Hi10 Air tablet ready to go and just need to set up the log for the day, filming will be taking place for YouTube and will be on the channel afterwards so you can see how I got on.
Antenna wise I hope to use my tape measure Yagi, radio will be the FTM-400XDE unless for some reason that is not possible in which case I'll use the FT2D handheld which will make me a QRP station in that case however there is some gain on the antenna which may help should the FT2D be needed, I will also be putting a bulletin of my participation on the contest onto APRS earlier in the day.
As every other time I've wanted to do this contest something has gone wrong I have missed out a lot, this is my first go at a contest if it happens and even though I know full well I will never win it at least I can say I've done it.
looking forward to doing well.
73 de M0WNU
Friday 11 June 2021
There be pirates Cap'n transmitting SSTV on 27.700 MHz USB rendering UK CB channel 11 unusable
Yesterday before work I noticed the conditions down on 11-meters (and presumably 10) were good, tuning to UK channel 11, as you'll see in the attached video clip, I heard SSTV transmitted using USB, which is illegal to do outside of the normal CB frequency range and also on 27/81 which is strictly UK use and FM only (no laws state SSTV cannot be used on CB at all however that I know of), naturally pirate operators generally do not care until the authorities actually catch them, at which point the pirate operator is stripped of all equipment and prosecuted.
So while CB does have its uses, in the UK it is authorised as licence-exempt non-interference non-protected, in short you cannot cause interference to others and you cannot report interference as no action will be taken, so these European pirates sadly will stop channel 11 in the UK from working until they realise this channel is active using FM all the time in the UK.
73 de M0WNU/26CT730
Friday 28 May 2021
Beginner's guide to CB radio videos now live on YouTube
Wednesday 26 May 2021
5 years since I was betrayed
So here we are at 5 years since I went to Staines to go to Martin Lynch & Sons for my Yaesu FTM-400XDE, Diamond NR770RSP antenna and Sirio magmount which that antenna is screwed into, unfortunately this day 5 years ago I was stabbed in the back by a fellow ham as you know, Chance Callahan KD0MXN (or is that ex KD0MXN as his licence seemingly expired in November according to the FCC ULS), my belief now is he did it because he believed in his own little sick twisted mind that I was stalking another IRC user that lives in that area which is utter rubbish, why would a ham be in Staines? ML&S of course (unless they actually lived in Staines too).
As you know I feel this young man is unfit to hold any kind of radio transmitting licence (he also holds a GMRS licence which is not something that I am too bothered about because that is not a service used worldwide and cannot propagate worldwide), so why do I feel he is unfit to hold any kind of licence, Amateur or otherwise? here's the list again.
Apart from stabbing me in the back when I went to ML&S 5 years ago he also:
- was monitored over P25 radios while in Savannah, GA by the local Sheriff's department, which he became aware of after the decryption keys were leaked, he openly admitted to abuse of these radios on freenode's ##hamradio and the FCC did nothing
- Openly admitted to planning to attack vulnerable WiFi routers when a flaw in the encryption used on these was discovered and published
- gave a then newly licensed ham some very dangerous and irresponsible, as well as illegal, advice on reddit's /r/amateurradio
- made false accusations about the 'theft' of a clickbait image on reddit, which turned out to be during the rounds for quite some time before that
- and at one point in time was issued a network-wide ban from snoonet, an IRC network attached to reddit in some way, usually IRC channels of various subreddits, that ban lapsed in August 2019.
Sunday 16 May 2021
YouTube channel project, Beginner's guide to CB radio or at least my way of doing it
Saturday 15 May 2021
Moonraker Micro CB radio
My recent main YouTube video was on the Moonraker Micro CB radio, which is indeed a compact radio, based on an AnyTone chassis as it turned out so has the 10-meter mode and the naughtiness inside, though of course I have no issue putting this set on 10 it does not have SSB capability and being channelised may require a frequency counter to get an idea what channel is associated with which frequency if you want to use it on 10.
The radio came to me with bare ended wires so I fitted a cigarette lighter plug, rated 5A as this is ample for this radio, to be able to plug it in in the car to do tests, the radio seems to do well, and is good when put against a comparable set, which in my case was a PNI Escort HP7120.
When I did the original bench tests on the radio the power levels were reading lower than expected, however later testing showed it was in fact fine.
Both videos are below
Friday 30 April 2021
A wee bit of an update
Tuesday 16 February 2021
MB7UCG goes live on Thursday
I am pleased to announce that MB7UCG will be on air from Thursday, Ofcom confirmed today that they received my email so I can run it from that date.
I was of course planning to run a walkabout test with my FT2D however that cannot happen until the following week as I am doing overtime that day, however I can test it using my car, though this will not be filmed as it is on my journey to work and I have not set up a camera that exclusively looks at my FTM-400XDE's display
I look forward to hopefully running a successful igate.
73 de M0WNU
Saturday 13 February 2021
Catterick Garrison APRS igate ready to go
I have finalised everything for the new Catterick Garrison APRS igate to go live very soon including the NoV, the callsign for the unit is MB7UCG, the setup is located in my kitchen with the antenna outside on the window ledge on top of a Fray Bentos cheese & onion pie tin, once I have the ok from Ofcom I will be doing some tests however I've not heard anything from Spectrum licencing since they sent the NoV.
I have already put one object onto the igate already and previously placed this on the map using my own callsign and that is the location of the local club, however of course due to COVID-19 we cannot meet physically.
I have remote access to the power supply, as required by Ofcom, to shut the unit down in the event that it is required to do this, and the switch that controls the socket has been clearly labelled, the socket is under the counter with a WiFi controlled socket plugged into it and power to that is switched by a fused spur.
I am reworking the website to hopefully reflect the new igate and when Ofcom clear me to switch it on, I have emailed them but I don't know if they got my emails so I will give them a call Monday morning just to find that out, giving their staff levels will be low due to COVID-19 it might take a while to get a reply.
And there will be YouTube videos coming up on MB7UCG.
73 de M0WNU
Monday 18 January 2021
First post of 2021 (and in a while), some updates, sterile UV5R, and a livestream on Wednesday
I have not had the time to update this as my work went through its peak period so also that means little in the way of radio.
Firstly the radio camper project is on hold as my spouse has told me I am not to own any product of the Ford Motor Company possibly because of some fire incidents with the Pinto, a US model from around the 70s I believe, so I have to start again from scratch with a vehicle available in the UK that we both agree on, add to that a £300 garage bill for my car in October/November time for a clutch change.
Videos have been coming in short burst and I've started to try and fit in some livestreams where I can, though it's all a learning curve, including trying to keep RF out of the audio chain, I have one coming up on Wednesday.
My latest video has me sterilising a UV5R with a handheld UVC steriliser (which is indeed the real deal) and of course I was very copious with the warnings of the danger of UVC radiation, I am impressed that I managed to find that in a local shop but also worried that people will buy these things and harm themselves due to a lack of understanding of the dangers.
I am still in contract with my current employer for another month at least which is good as I'm putting £10 a week away in my savings (every pay day) to try and save for a 3D printer for both radio and non-radio related projects, watch for that one in the future.
Also hope to get my igate on air under test then unattended NoV in the next few weeks if I can.
That's all for now guys, have a good 2021, hopefully it will be better and rallies will once again be held.
73 de M0WNU