I now have both antennas that I ordered, however the Thunderpole Boomerang antenna was to be delivered by Parcelforce (or Parcelfarce as I call them because they are incredibly useless) and they failed to deliver it to a neighbour as instructed, ignored the fact I rescheduled and left it at Catterick Garrison Post Office meaning after filming the video for the Sirio Hi-Power 4000 (and subjecting it to 70MPH due to a trip to nearby Darlington to do a bank run) I had to call at the Post Office to collect it, with that done editing work was finished for the Sirio antenna and the Boomerang unboxing video was filmed.
A big surprise with the Sirio was that I did not need to adjust it, SWR under 1.5:1 across all 80 channels, for the most part, the top end of 27/81 was about 1.4 which is acceptable, I was to compare between my K-Po and Zetagi SWR meters however this did not happen because another vehicle parked next to my car before I could do that, and the driver did not seem happy that I was even up there, probably because I don't own a dog, unfortunately public land means I have a right to go up there, it is ideal for radio given height and forms part of my mobile standardised test route, now I have the antenna I will be doing a dry run on video before actually doing anything on the air to show you the route from the car.
The only part to do from the perspective of the new antennas is the on-air test of the Boomerang, once it is up and tuned, given the fine adjustments that may be needed I won't bore you and give a final SWR reading as per the K-Po meter, the Zetagi meter, and the one built in to the President Grant II.
I will be working from 4pm tonight and as ever will be monitoring UK 19, which is usually full of the burner brigade running illegal power to speak to their pals which the 4 watts can do fine for them but they generally don't have a good understanding of this fact, that and they have the squelch turned all the way up which is a bit ridiculous really, maybe even with them I may notice a difference on this antenna on receive, the one thing that will be noticed is the fact I have a bigger antenna on the car.
73 de M0WNU/26CT730
Ban PLT
Showing posts with label Grant 2. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Grant 2. Show all posts
Saturday, 29 February 2020
Wednesday, 26 February 2020
A couple of antennas on their way
I have placed an order for two antennas, a Sirio Hi-power 4000 for the car and a Thunderpole Boomerang for the home QTH, these antennas should, hopefully, work to set my base line for CB testing in a mobile environment, the base line is to be set as the Thunderpole T3000, the mobile antenna being as long as realistically possible, the boomerang coming in close to the 'spider antenna' for size.
Of course these antennas get a video on YouTube, the first one will be the Sirio Hi-power 4000 as that is the most straight forward to install, installation will be done at my new radio test ground above Richmond at the Hurgill Road end of the old racecourse.
The other reason I chose the Sirio Hi-Power 4000 is due to the similarity between it and the antenna loaned to me (see a previous video on my YouTube channel) which I since had to return as the amateur that loaned me it needed the magmount, the Orbitor/Springer antennna on the car was always going to be temporary, and the Hi-Power 4000 will work with 10-meters though I would need to shorten it and I was never comfortable doing this with a loaned antenna so it is my intent to buy a second Hi-Power 4000 to be tuned to 10-meters so I just swap the antennas over depending on if I choose to use 10-meters or 11-meters.
For CB, tuning will be done on my Thunderpole T-3000 with the car engine running to ensure the radio is running at it's maximum power output, SWR will be checked across the entire 80 channels using 2 SWR meters, my K-Po meter and my Zetagi meter, these meters will both be used with the boomerang when it goes up and tuning will be done on the Grant II, once this is done my base line can be set, all my radios will go through it, even my handhelds with car kits will be subject to this to see how they perform once a suitable speaker-mic can be obtained that won't jam them on transmit.
I will set up a scoring system for the standardised tests, also with a temporary base antenna I'll be able to retest the handhelds in the local area for a follow up video to "Handheld CBs, are they any good?".
Keep watching this space
73 de M0WNU/26CT730
Of course these antennas get a video on YouTube, the first one will be the Sirio Hi-power 4000 as that is the most straight forward to install, installation will be done at my new radio test ground above Richmond at the Hurgill Road end of the old racecourse.
The other reason I chose the Sirio Hi-Power 4000 is due to the similarity between it and the antenna loaned to me (see a previous video on my YouTube channel) which I since had to return as the amateur that loaned me it needed the magmount, the Orbitor/Springer antennna on the car was always going to be temporary, and the Hi-Power 4000 will work with 10-meters though I would need to shorten it and I was never comfortable doing this with a loaned antenna so it is my intent to buy a second Hi-Power 4000 to be tuned to 10-meters so I just swap the antennas over depending on if I choose to use 10-meters or 11-meters.
For CB, tuning will be done on my Thunderpole T-3000 with the car engine running to ensure the radio is running at it's maximum power output, SWR will be checked across the entire 80 channels using 2 SWR meters, my K-Po meter and my Zetagi meter, these meters will both be used with the boomerang when it goes up and tuning will be done on the Grant II, once this is done my base line can be set, all my radios will go through it, even my handhelds with car kits will be subject to this to see how they perform once a suitable speaker-mic can be obtained that won't jam them on transmit.
I will set up a scoring system for the standardised tests, also with a temporary base antenna I'll be able to retest the handhelds in the local area for a follow up video to "Handheld CBs, are they any good?".
Keep watching this space
73 de M0WNU/26CT730
Tuesday, 3 July 2018
The President Grant II lives on!
A miracle? no, simply a blown fuse, I put a lower value fuse (safer than a higher value) than the one already fitted as it was all I had into the Grant II's power lead, hooked it up to my jump starter and off it went, but first I had to do some digging to find out if it was indeed a very expensive paperweight (note that this is an original Grant II and not a premium but it was still near enough £200 when new).
This of course meant breaking out a screwdriver and removing both covers to examine the board, particularly around the power input area, I spotted a diode that I thought may have protected the radio but this did not explain the fact it was not powering up, so the fuse was examined after I did some digging on the Internet and low and behold it was blown, this was a very lucky escape as I somehow managed to reverse the polarity of the cables as I saw red on one which I thought to be positive, turned out what I saw was actually where the red attached to the black and thus resulted in the situation I found myself in on Wednesday
The radio was then powered with the fuse replaced as noted above (a lower rated fuse is safer than a higher rated fuse because a higher rated fuse is less likely to blow under fault conditions, a lower rated fuse does become a pain because it would be prone to blowing when you don't need it do), the display lit up fine, the memory channels were intact, nothing out of the ordinary, the radio covers were refitted and the speaker reconnected (the Grant II is like the TTI TCB-550 in having a speaker that is plugged onto the board rather than the wires soldered directly, wise choice by both President and Uniden), then the transmitter tests, first of was transmitter power, all within 3 to 4 watts into my salt water dummy load, 12 watts for SSB into the same load, audio was tested on AM and FM only with the receiver being my Midland Alan 42 Multi handheld, all good, receive audio was also tested, not a problem, this radio has had an extremely lucky escape, this has further spurred me on to invest in Anderson Powerpole connectors because those would prevent mishaps like this as they cannot be reversed and also the Fuser 6 unit from SOTABeams to add that extra layer of protection.
I am relieved and hope to get the Grant II on air again as soon as possible.
Also here are the pictures of the Grant II during the testing as well as the fuse how I found it, these are also available to view on my Twitter account.
73 de 2E0EIJ/26CT730
This of course meant breaking out a screwdriver and removing both covers to examine the board, particularly around the power input area, I spotted a diode that I thought may have protected the radio but this did not explain the fact it was not powering up, so the fuse was examined after I did some digging on the Internet and low and behold it was blown, this was a very lucky escape as I somehow managed to reverse the polarity of the cables as I saw red on one which I thought to be positive, turned out what I saw was actually where the red attached to the black and thus resulted in the situation I found myself in on Wednesday
The radio was then powered with the fuse replaced as noted above (a lower rated fuse is safer than a higher rated fuse because a higher rated fuse is less likely to blow under fault conditions, a lower rated fuse does become a pain because it would be prone to blowing when you don't need it do), the display lit up fine, the memory channels were intact, nothing out of the ordinary, the radio covers were refitted and the speaker reconnected (the Grant II is like the TTI TCB-550 in having a speaker that is plugged onto the board rather than the wires soldered directly, wise choice by both President and Uniden), then the transmitter tests, first of was transmitter power, all within 3 to 4 watts into my salt water dummy load, 12 watts for SSB into the same load, audio was tested on AM and FM only with the receiver being my Midland Alan 42 Multi handheld, all good, receive audio was also tested, not a problem, this radio has had an extremely lucky escape, this has further spurred me on to invest in Anderson Powerpole connectors because those would prevent mishaps like this as they cannot be reversed and also the Fuser 6 unit from SOTABeams to add that extra layer of protection.
I am relieved and hope to get the Grant II on air again as soon as possible.
Also here are the pictures of the Grant II during the testing as well as the fuse how I found it, these are also available to view on my Twitter account.
Remember, red to red, black to black or it will be blew to bits or in my case a blown fuse, well done to President and Uniden for including the diode in this radio, if that was not there I'd have a very expensive paperweight.
Saturday, 16 June 2018
New telescopic mast ordered in time for The Big Multimode net and also for portable Amateur HF ops
I have ordered a new mast from SOTAbeams today, this one is a 7m mast as opposed to a 10m mast though this is not any real issue, with there being just under two weeks before the Big Multimode Net I needed to remedy the mast situation.
Though the news I posted yesterday is still fresh in my mind I understand that the hobby must go on and though the net on the 27th is for 11-meters (CB radio) it is still radio none the less, and I will operate that day as 26CT730/P from, I hope, Tan Hill, and hopefully achieve something I've wanted to do for many years, work Roy in Corsica if he is listening and the conditions are good on the day.
The radio I hope to use is my President Grant II, it has had very little airtime since I bought it, and it's legal for 11-meter SSB use.
Of course the mast I've bought will be grand for portable HF ops when I have some portable HF gear (I've been looking at Yaesu FT-817s as these are becoming available a little cheaper due to the 818 but still outside my price range), I will still, however, use type approved CB equipment for 11-meters even in portable ops so anything for Amateur HF will be for exactly that, I believe that the SOTABeams masts are good for long wires, though I suspect two spaced appropriately can support a full sized G5RV when I finally do get the portable HF on Amateur radio off the ground.
The Big Multimode Net is a good way to get interest in the radio hobby, no licence and no special equipment, just a normal AM/FM CB radio and an antenna is all you need to get started, you can power a radio easily off the car cigar lighter socket if it's a normal CB.
There is a second "Activate all Counties" event on the same day as the Big Multimode Net at the same time to get all of the English Counties on the air, if you have a CB setup I urge you take part in this, also if you want to do more than what a set of 80 channels on 27MHz and 16 channels on 446MHz allows you to do then go get your foundation licence, it is worth it.
If you're a CB/11-meter operator I look forward to working you on the air on the 27th June
73 de 2E0EIJ/26CT730
Though the news I posted yesterday is still fresh in my mind I understand that the hobby must go on and though the net on the 27th is for 11-meters (CB radio) it is still radio none the less, and I will operate that day as 26CT730/P from, I hope, Tan Hill, and hopefully achieve something I've wanted to do for many years, work Roy in Corsica if he is listening and the conditions are good on the day.
The radio I hope to use is my President Grant II, it has had very little airtime since I bought it, and it's legal for 11-meter SSB use.
Of course the mast I've bought will be grand for portable HF ops when I have some portable HF gear (I've been looking at Yaesu FT-817s as these are becoming available a little cheaper due to the 818 but still outside my price range), I will still, however, use type approved CB equipment for 11-meters even in portable ops so anything for Amateur HF will be for exactly that, I believe that the SOTABeams masts are good for long wires, though I suspect two spaced appropriately can support a full sized G5RV when I finally do get the portable HF on Amateur radio off the ground.
The Big Multimode Net is a good way to get interest in the radio hobby, no licence and no special equipment, just a normal AM/FM CB radio and an antenna is all you need to get started, you can power a radio easily off the car cigar lighter socket if it's a normal CB.
There is a second "Activate all Counties" event on the same day as the Big Multimode Net at the same time to get all of the English Counties on the air, if you have a CB setup I urge you take part in this, also if you want to do more than what a set of 80 channels on 27MHz and 16 channels on 446MHz allows you to do then go get your foundation licence, it is worth it.
If you're a CB/11-meter operator I look forward to working you on the air on the 27th June
73 de 2E0EIJ/26CT730
Thursday, 3 May 2018
The Big Multimode Nets 2018
With 4 years since we got legal AM and SSB in the UK on 11-meters many stations will be celebrating this anniversary on Wednesday 27th June, this will include myself from a very particular place, Tan Hill, home of a very famous pub (remember the Waitrose adverts at Christmas anyone? It's that pub), and that location is perfect for radio, this is also WX dependent though in June snow is not expected, but high winds can pose an issue as they have before when I took a rental car up there and could not open the door.
I've always wanted to operate radio from Tan Hill, I've done a little on 2-meters up there but with little success, 11-meters has been a band I've wanted to do from there for some time as I know, even on an HT with the correct conditions (see my YouTube channel for my pre DX-pedition evaluation) a lot can be received, one thing that is true with radio no matter what the band is that height is might.
Of course I couldn't go without filming it and putting it onto YouTube for all to see, which of course I shall do.
On the day I should be operating between 6 and 11pm (respecting the locals of course though it is isolated up there so the locals are 95% sheep and 5% people) as 26CT730 of course, hopefully on legal SSB subject to tests of my President Grant II which are due to be done anyway, after all this is a celebration of the legal CB modes, of course the conditions on 11-meters on the day will also serve as how many QSOs I can log not just the height.
Although this is a UK big net what I would really be pleased to do is work Roy 104CT011 in Corsica, as he has been on the list of 11-meter operators overseas I want to work for a number of years (other callsigns used by him are 104ET001 and 104DA101), but again conditions need to be favourable and he also needs to be listening to the frequencies.
My contacts will be logged as well so I know how many I have worked on legal power, I will get a logging system arranged as soon as possible.
Operating conditions will be the Grant II, stock mic, and T2LT antenna on the fibreglass mast in the drive on mast stand.
Looking forward to making some great contacts in my first participation of the Big Multimode Nets
73 de 26CT730
I've always wanted to operate radio from Tan Hill, I've done a little on 2-meters up there but with little success, 11-meters has been a band I've wanted to do from there for some time as I know, even on an HT with the correct conditions (see my YouTube channel for my pre DX-pedition evaluation) a lot can be received, one thing that is true with radio no matter what the band is that height is might.
Of course I couldn't go without filming it and putting it onto YouTube for all to see, which of course I shall do.
On the day I should be operating between 6 and 11pm (respecting the locals of course though it is isolated up there so the locals are 95% sheep and 5% people) as 26CT730 of course, hopefully on legal SSB subject to tests of my President Grant II which are due to be done anyway, after all this is a celebration of the legal CB modes, of course the conditions on 11-meters on the day will also serve as how many QSOs I can log not just the height.
Although this is a UK big net what I would really be pleased to do is work Roy 104CT011 in Corsica, as he has been on the list of 11-meter operators overseas I want to work for a number of years (other callsigns used by him are 104ET001 and 104DA101), but again conditions need to be favourable and he also needs to be listening to the frequencies.
My contacts will be logged as well so I know how many I have worked on legal power, I will get a logging system arranged as soon as possible.
Operating conditions will be the Grant II, stock mic, and T2LT antenna on the fibreglass mast in the drive on mast stand.
Looking forward to making some great contacts in my first participation of the Big Multimode Nets
73 de 26CT730
Thursday, 5 May 2016
T2LT revisited
I've been on an antenna theme recently, what with both a Slim Jim and a 2-meter dipole written about (the latter being made, the former an idea I can put to some use), and I continue with a favourite CB antenna of mine, the T2LT, the person who made the original video showing how to build this antenna, Gary 26CTX104, remade the video into a two-parter where he went into a little more detail and built another T2LT, it turns out the video was published well over a year ago and I'd not done a lot of CB at that point and was just starting out on Amateur radio, but CB is a bit of fun now and again but some good contacts can be made on 11 meters depending on the solar cycle amongst other things.
So, as you will know I already have a T2LT antenna built, and have tried it out but using only 4 watts into it (perhaps less on battery powered rigs as these radios are designed to run on 13.8V DC whereas my sealed battery is about 12 volts and a pack of AA batteries don't deliver much for long, handhelds are not counted here) though conditions were not favourable for me
So, the plan is this, get the antenna up on my fibreglass mast, inserted into a parasol base or attached to a secondary mast (no more than 1.5 meters) that will fit a parasol base (this avoids planning constraints as the antenna can be removed with relative ease), run a feeder to my "shack", plug the Grant II into it with my good SWR meter for CB in line (I have 3 CB meters and one VHF/UHF meter) and check to see how well it is tuned up, and try and make some CB QSOs (using my CT call if it is still valid which it should be), naturally I will be carrying out some other tests, I just need a volunteer to sit in the "shack" to transmit, as it's CB and anyone can use it without needing a license, for that test the CB magmount will go on my current car connected to the car adaptor of one of my handhelds, the Intek H-520 would be ideal for this as it has a large readable S-meter over the Midland Alan 42 Multi, though both have an S-meter.
So, I am keen to give this a go so Saturday will be a shopping day for some bits
73 de 26CT730
So, as you will know I already have a T2LT antenna built, and have tried it out but using only 4 watts into it (perhaps less on battery powered rigs as these radios are designed to run on 13.8V DC whereas my sealed battery is about 12 volts and a pack of AA batteries don't deliver much for long, handhelds are not counted here) though conditions were not favourable for me
So, the plan is this, get the antenna up on my fibreglass mast, inserted into a parasol base or attached to a secondary mast (no more than 1.5 meters) that will fit a parasol base (this avoids planning constraints as the antenna can be removed with relative ease), run a feeder to my "shack", plug the Grant II into it with my good SWR meter for CB in line (I have 3 CB meters and one VHF/UHF meter) and check to see how well it is tuned up, and try and make some CB QSOs (using my CT call if it is still valid which it should be), naturally I will be carrying out some other tests, I just need a volunteer to sit in the "shack" to transmit, as it's CB and anyone can use it without needing a license, for that test the CB magmount will go on my current car connected to the car adaptor of one of my handhelds, the Intek H-520 would be ideal for this as it has a large readable S-meter over the Midland Alan 42 Multi, though both have an S-meter.
So, I am keen to give this a go so Saturday will be a shopping day for some bits
73 de 26CT730
Thursday, 4 June 2015
A year of legal AM and SSB CB
The end of this month will be the first year of us having legal AM and SSB CB, and a "big net" is planned, so what I plan to do, depending on weather, is take a trip to a high point, Tan Hill or similar, and get on the CB for the first time in a while, the Grant 2 has been idle for a while and needs it's legs stretching, so a trip up to a high point will be good for it.
So, antenna wise, the T2LT antenna dropped through the car's sunroof (on it's fibreglass mast which I will have to somehow attach to the car for support) rather than the orbitor that is already on the car, power, initially I was thinking off the 7Ah battery, then onto the car's own battery later once the 7Ah can't deliver enough power, the car of course can be started and stopped as needed to keep the battery topped up, my Sony headphones will be used to provide a better means of monitoring weak signals as always, the station will be identified as "static mobile".
I may initially set up the station (just on the orbitor) on the 27th at Whashton Road car park just after midnight, though I'll drive there before, and see if I can get any QSOs in, and relocate to Tan Hill later in the day after having some sleep, I may return to Tan Hill on the 28th as well for this, and I hope to get a reasonably sized log of all contacts, I've not logged any CB contacts for a while so this will make for a good opportunity to get some CB contacts logged.
If you are on air across the weekend the net takes place, give me a shout on either channel 14 mids AM or channel 27 mids USB, I myself will be calling on these channels.
73 de 26CT730
So, antenna wise, the T2LT antenna dropped through the car's sunroof (on it's fibreglass mast which I will have to somehow attach to the car for support) rather than the orbitor that is already on the car, power, initially I was thinking off the 7Ah battery, then onto the car's own battery later once the 7Ah can't deliver enough power, the car of course can be started and stopped as needed to keep the battery topped up, my Sony headphones will be used to provide a better means of monitoring weak signals as always, the station will be identified as "static mobile".
I may initially set up the station (just on the orbitor) on the 27th at Whashton Road car park just after midnight, though I'll drive there before, and see if I can get any QSOs in, and relocate to Tan Hill later in the day after having some sleep, I may return to Tan Hill on the 28th as well for this, and I hope to get a reasonably sized log of all contacts, I've not logged any CB contacts for a while so this will make for a good opportunity to get some CB contacts logged.
If you are on air across the weekend the net takes place, give me a shout on either channel 14 mids AM or channel 27 mids USB, I myself will be calling on these channels.
73 de 26CT730
Tuesday, 6 January 2015
Midweek nets
I've been aware for some time of some midweek nets running up and down the UK, until now I've not been able to participate in them.
These midweek nets normally take place for a couple of hours on a Wednesday evening, however I do not intend to use the Midland for this, instead I will be using the President Grant 2 running off my sealed lead-acid battery rather than risk discharching the car battery, for simplicity I will be using the antenna on the car rather than the T2LT.
I should be on air from around 6:30pm tomorrow night, static mobile, more than likely at Whashton Road, in the summer months I probably will make the drive up to Tan Hill again for a DX net and maybe the odd midweek net as that would be the best time.
The battery I use for portable operations is now charging, I have programmed specific channels into the memory storage of the Grant 2, though I do not know if it will retain the memory channels or not, I will take along the dummy load and SWR meter just to be safe and make sure everything is working as it should be when I connect the Grant 2 to the car's antenna.
Hope to hear you and talk to you on air tomorrow night
73 de 26CT730
These midweek nets normally take place for a couple of hours on a Wednesday evening, however I do not intend to use the Midland for this, instead I will be using the President Grant 2 running off my sealed lead-acid battery rather than risk discharching the car battery, for simplicity I will be using the antenna on the car rather than the T2LT.
I should be on air from around 6:30pm tomorrow night, static mobile, more than likely at Whashton Road, in the summer months I probably will make the drive up to Tan Hill again for a DX net and maybe the odd midweek net as that would be the best time.
The battery I use for portable operations is now charging, I have programmed specific channels into the memory storage of the Grant 2, though I do not know if it will retain the memory channels or not, I will take along the dummy load and SWR meter just to be safe and make sure everything is working as it should be when I connect the Grant 2 to the car's antenna.
Hope to hear you and talk to you on air tomorrow night
73 de 26CT730
Thursday, 23 October 2014
Possible DXpedition this weekend
I am renting a car on Saturday afternoon for a few days (until Tuesday afternoon), this is primarily for me to get somewhere I need to be on Monday afternoon without taking the train, however it has another plus point, getting to a nice high point for a spot of DXing.
My initial plan in August was to go to Tan Hill and do some DXing there, this fell through as I could not find any time to get up there and I was late finishing the T2LT and finding a suitable pole for it, this is now remedied, and I could go to Tan Hill or Emley Moor, the latter being home to a famous broadcast transmitting station, but I'll see which would be best, Sutton Bank on the A170 is another option but the only car park is owned by the North Yorkshire Moors National Park Authority so only useable with a magmount and tank whip, and I don't have the latter and cannot put a magmount onto a rental car as it may damage it, Tan Hill is closer however.
The radio (the President Grant 2) will be powered by my sealed lead-acid battery and not from the car's cigarette lighter to avoid damage and running the car's battery flat, the only antenna I have available is the T2LT, this will happen assuming the weather is better than it has been of late.
If I can do this I will be on air most of the day, and I hope to catch you on air that day if conditions permit.
73 de 26CT730
Saturday, 20 September 2014
Evening SSB net
Tonight I made an attempt to take part in an SSB net for a couple of hours on EU 28 USB, though I could hear a station in Corsica I was not able to get back to him, nor another Charlie Tango station on channel I heard in the back of the box, presumably Northumberland, there was a lot of QRM from the US as well as some QSOs going on, but unable to reach them either.
The T2LT had tuned down fine so perhaps conditions were not favourable for me this time, if the weather is good I might give it another go next weekend, and perhaps work out a shelter that's somewhat better than my scooter's cover.
73 de 26CT730
The T2LT had tuned down fine so perhaps conditions were not favourable for me this time, if the weather is good I might give it another go next weekend, and perhaps work out a shelter that's somewhat better than my scooter's cover.
73 de 26CT730
Tuesday, 16 September 2014
T2LT update
With the new pole having arrived I strapped it to my scooter, packed up my Grant 2, my most decent SWR meter, my multimeter should I need to investigate any shorts, the dummy load in case I needed to check for any issues with the radio, which I did not need.
The pole was not 100% straight (it was propped up), the T2LT was slightly adrift at the top but otherwise fine, a small loop was also provided for tuning. but no tuning was needed as the SWR was below 1.5 at all times, reception was good across both UK and midband, the tuning loop was positioned slightly above the top of the pole with the main part of the antenna running the length of the pole, the choke also worked perfectly.
Should the weather be good on Saturday I shall be heading back up to the car park where I did the tests and will be going on air properly for the first time in a long time.
73 de 26CT730
Thursday, 17 July 2014
Grant 2 first look video
As promised, albeit a little belated, here is my first look at the President Grant 2, the day after I took delivery of it.
It took a little longer to get uploaded to YouTube than I thought, it's not meant to be a serious review as the radio has been out for a while now and it has been reviewed by others, this video is mainly my views on it out of the box.
Another video will be done when I get the radio on air
It took a little longer to get uploaded to YouTube than I thought, it's not meant to be a serious review as the radio has been out for a while now and it has been reviewed by others, this video is mainly my views on it out of the box.
Another video will be done when I get the radio on air
Hope to get this on air very soon.
73 de 26CT730
Tuesday, 15 July 2014
Grant 2 in pictures
I have a picture of my President Grant 2 in situ on my desk, however I took the picture on my phone so it's not brilliant, there are better pictures of this rig out there and I'll try and get a better picture later
But for now, here is my Grant 2, connected to a dummy load and power meter on UK35 after I'd been having a look at the features the rig had.
Hope to get this on an antenna very soon and on the air and see how well it works.for myself
73 de 26CT730
Monday, 14 July 2014
G2 day
Well it's Monday and they're usually boring for most but today I took delivery of the President Grant 2, and even though I have not been on air with it yet I am liking it already.
Firstly, it is bigger than I initially thought it was, probably car stereo sized if anything, secondly it has a solid feel, like it's been well put together, which I would expect from a Uniden product (the Grant 2 is made by Uniden for President, some have said it looks a lot like a Uniden Bearcat rig from the US, however it appears the Uniden Bearcat rigs are made in China, the Grant 2 is made in Vietnam).
I received the radio in EU mode so I had to set it up to UK mode, in order to do this you have to turn off the radio, press "F", turn on the radio, and select the UK ("U" on the display), press "F" to save it, turn off, and back on, now if you press "AM/FM/USB/LSB" you get the UK40 along with the new modes on midband, on existing equipment if you want AM you have to set the rig to think it's in Spain, I did this with my Midland 42 over the weekend.
The power lead had, as predicted, bare wires on both leads so I plan to rectify that soon, the rig puts out the expected power on all modes, I tested this with my combo SWR and power meter, I also examined the audio quality of the radio's transmissions on my RTL-SDR while it was on the dummy load, AM and SSB sounded pretty good, though bear in mind that I have never had an SSB rig before, FM was a little quiet but that's ok
Now to test receive, get an antenna on it soon and I'll let you know.
73 de 26CT730
Firstly, it is bigger than I initially thought it was, probably car stereo sized if anything, secondly it has a solid feel, like it's been well put together, which I would expect from a Uniden product (the Grant 2 is made by Uniden for President, some have said it looks a lot like a Uniden Bearcat rig from the US, however it appears the Uniden Bearcat rigs are made in China, the Grant 2 is made in Vietnam).
I received the radio in EU mode so I had to set it up to UK mode, in order to do this you have to turn off the radio, press "F", turn on the radio, and select the UK ("U" on the display), press "F" to save it, turn off, and back on, now if you press "AM/FM/USB/LSB" you get the UK40 along with the new modes on midband, on existing equipment if you want AM you have to set the rig to think it's in Spain, I did this with my Midland 42 over the weekend.
The power lead had, as predicted, bare wires on both leads so I plan to rectify that soon, the rig puts out the expected power on all modes, I tested this with my combo SWR and power meter, I also examined the audio quality of the radio's transmissions on my RTL-SDR while it was on the dummy load, AM and SSB sounded pretty good, though bear in mind that I have never had an SSB rig before, FM was a little quiet but that's ok
Now to test receive, get an antenna on it soon and I'll let you know.
73 de 26CT730
Sunday, 13 July 2014
Another shack desk tidy up
With the imminent arrival of the President Grant 2 (this will be tomorrow all being well) the shack desk was in need of a little bit of a clear up, it wasn’t bad but there were things on there that really weren’t needed to be there as I was not using them such as tubes of solder, knife, veroboard track cutting tool, some screws, a hopeless coax stripper (I need a new one) and a roll of electrical tape, as well as my second of my two portable power leads, I decided to leave my Midland Alan 78 Plus Multi B on the desk just in case I may need it on for whatever reason.
I will be recording a “first look” video of the President Grant 2, like I mentioned in previous posts (though I didn’t mention this on the Tan Hill video, but it’s good my YouTube account is getting some use again), on-air tests will come later when I build a T2LT or get a car, whichever comes first(I of course I still cannot install my Sirio GPE 27 5/8 wave as I live in a rented flat and it isn’t a very portable antenna)
So hopefully about 7pm-ish tomorrow my President Grant 2 will be here, a review video should be on here and YouTube by about 9pm at the very latest.
73 de 26CT730
Friday, 11 July 2014
President Grant 2 arrival–an update
My new President Grant 2 is due to arrive on Monday, as I’ll be out most of that day I have made alternative arrangements for it’s delivery, it will be arriving with a couple of PL259 plugs and 100 meters of RG-58 coax, a lot of this will be used for the construction of a T2LT antenna.
As luck will have it, the courier company responsible for delivering the shack computer’s new motherboard, CPU and RAM will also be delivering the Grant 2, so they should not struggle to find my address.
The first thing I will be doing when I get the package is bringing the radio, in it’s box, into the shack, I will have to clear a few things off the desk first but that is no hard feat.
Now I have a whole weekend of something to look forward to :)
73 de 26CT730
President Grant 2 on it's way
In just a few days time the President Grant 2 will be the latest radio in my shack. The Grant 2 seems to be the most popular radio for the new legal modes, though in export it can only do frequencies ending 0 or 5.
So, watch this space, my own first look at what is my very first President radio, though not my first Uniden as that was an old Audioline 341 that I borrowed in the early 2000s (who's owner messed with all the adjustments inside in front of me, that same indvidual probably thinks SSB is still illegal), will be on here soon
73 de 26CT730
Sunday, 6 July 2014
DXpedition preparations, parts list and rough measurements for T2LT antenna, and a possible cheap and light power supply
As I am hoping to order a 100 meter drum of coax, specifically RG58, I have taken some measurements for the T2LT antenna, I may make a second antenna for home if the design proves itself in service, the measurements are those used by YouTube user UKCBTV, a fellow Charlie Tango station (though can't remember the callsign), with a working centre frequency of around 27.500MHz, should cover the legal 80 channels with little in the way of trouble.
Another thing I found while watching UKCBTV's videos was his excellent idea of a portable power supply, which uses 10 1.2v rechargeable batteries, which range in capacities up to 2500mAh, that would be roughly 25Ah at 12v DC, so something I may cobble together, as well as get hold of a decent battery charger plus some new batteries, he also fitted a volt meter, a good idea to ensure voltage is stable and a cigarette lighter line socket, the battery box and cigarette lighter line socket can be sourced from Maplin Electronics, the voltmeter appears to be an eBay purchase. This idea was compared to the Midland 77-805 Portapak CB radio, which had a battery box with it, handhelds are another option but the battery life in most is usually pretty dire and the rubber duck antenna is usually hopeless.
The current draw for my Midland Alan 78+ Multi B is around 1.1A on TX, presumably at full modulation, the 42 handheld (which includes a car adaptor) is slightly shy of 1A on TX, the President Grant 2 is 3A on TX with modulation. my Moonraker FA5000, which I now hardly use, I do not know the current draw for as I've lost the manual.
So if I can get the T2LT antenna built and tested in the next couple of weeks, I can focus on a suitable power supply, the battery pack idea above from UKCBTV sounds ideal and is cheaper and lighter than the car jump starter I was originally going to use and will get me started, a telescopic fibreglass mast, and, importantly, a shelter, a collapsible tent may suffice, and a means to carry it all on my back while riding my scooter (I don't have a car yet) then I'm all good to go, and can get on the air portable at Tan Hill hopefully come August time, if you're on air the day I am up there then we may hear each other on air that day, I'll be using the usual callsign
So, progress in the right direction, power lead, a possible electrical supply, and the measurements for the T2LT written down.
73 de 26CT730
Another thing I found while watching UKCBTV's videos was his excellent idea of a portable power supply, which uses 10 1.2v rechargeable batteries, which range in capacities up to 2500mAh, that would be roughly 25Ah at 12v DC, so something I may cobble together, as well as get hold of a decent battery charger plus some new batteries, he also fitted a volt meter, a good idea to ensure voltage is stable and a cigarette lighter line socket, the battery box and cigarette lighter line socket can be sourced from Maplin Electronics, the voltmeter appears to be an eBay purchase. This idea was compared to the Midland 77-805 Portapak CB radio, which had a battery box with it, handhelds are another option but the battery life in most is usually pretty dire and the rubber duck antenna is usually hopeless.
The current draw for my Midland Alan 78+ Multi B is around 1.1A on TX, presumably at full modulation, the 42 handheld (which includes a car adaptor) is slightly shy of 1A on TX, the President Grant 2 is 3A on TX with modulation. my Moonraker FA5000, which I now hardly use, I do not know the current draw for as I've lost the manual.
So if I can get the T2LT antenna built and tested in the next couple of weeks, I can focus on a suitable power supply, the battery pack idea above from UKCBTV sounds ideal and is cheaper and lighter than the car jump starter I was originally going to use and will get me started, a telescopic fibreglass mast, and, importantly, a shelter, a collapsible tent may suffice, and a means to carry it all on my back while riding my scooter (I don't have a car yet) then I'm all good to go, and can get on the air portable at Tan Hill hopefully come August time, if you're on air the day I am up there then we may hear each other on air that day, I'll be using the usual callsign
So, progress in the right direction, power lead, a possible electrical supply, and the measurements for the T2LT written down.
73 de 26CT730
Saturday, 5 July 2014
President Grant 2 to be ordered soon maybe? (also a shack computer update)
I may place an order for a President Grant 2 next week if my finances look good, this will allow me to operate on SSB, in particular on my DXpedition to Tan Hill, however I will see what's what.
The reason I chose the President Grant 2 is several reasons, it is the first legal rig that allows you to switch between the new modes in the UK band (this is a recent update to the firmware in the radio), the radio is fitted with a power socket on the rear that the power lead plugs in to, this is similar to my Moonraker FA5000, a rig I hardly use now.
The President Grant 2 is easy to open up to export mode, inside there's a white wire and a jumper block, simply snip the wire and move the jumper, at the loss of your warranty and and your own risk, you also would lose the UK setting but you can get this back by moving the jumper back to it's original position.
It support's President's Liberty wireless microphone, a great idea that no one really thought of in the past, means you are not tied to sitting in the shack or your /p station, you can take a wander if you like, up to 100 meters I think it is, much like a DECT phone or a bluetooth headset.
Another nice feature of the rig is a choice of two backlight colours, orange and green, which also includes a dimmer so you're not blinding youself with a bright backlight at night.
There are other features as well on the rig but I'll do a full write up when I actually get hold of one, hopefully in a couple of weeks all being well
My shack computer has had a new motherboard, RAM, and CPU ordered for it, this would help with performance with regards to SDR use, there are incompatibility issues with the hard disk, optical drive, and existing graphics card, the hard drive has had an adaptor ordered for it to allow it to continue to work, the optical drive will be rectified later as it's not important at this time, the power supply should be sufficient for the new board, the only card that will be fitted is to be the CMI8738 sound card that the machine already has and that is compatible with the board.
Performance with SDR# has been dire with the RTL-SDR operating, the FRN client does work... just, the shackcam feed isn't really reliable on the machine (it's controlled by it both hardware and software, though I intend to replace this with a network camera,, which will make it software and link), and with plans to do the Amateur radio foundation exam as well I want the machine to reliably handle the Echolink software. Another radio software installed on the machine is Zello, this runs reasonably OK but I tend not to use it as I use it on my phone more than I do on the computer.
Programming my Wouxun KG-UVD1P has proven unreliable with this machine, upgrading the internal hardware may be sufficient to remedy this (the official software, that is practically incomprehensible, works fine, the easier KG-UV commander doesn't read the radio properly, though it could be a bug with the software rather than the computer).
I should be taking delivery of the motherboard and it's ancillaries by Wednesday at the latest, for fitting that evening, which will take out the 446 gateway for a couple of hours but this is no real issue, the RAM on the existing board, if compatible, will be used in the 446 gateway computer to hopefully try and improve things, the GPU in that machine will also be swapped out with the one in the shack computer as I feel the one currently fitted to it is wasted in it and would be useful in another installation.
So, a better shack computer and maybe, just maybe, a President Grant 2 will be sitting on my shack desk soon, but we will see :)
73 de 26CT730
The reason I chose the President Grant 2 is several reasons, it is the first legal rig that allows you to switch between the new modes in the UK band (this is a recent update to the firmware in the radio), the radio is fitted with a power socket on the rear that the power lead plugs in to, this is similar to my Moonraker FA5000, a rig I hardly use now.
The President Grant 2 is easy to open up to export mode, inside there's a white wire and a jumper block, simply snip the wire and move the jumper, at the loss of your warranty and and your own risk, you also would lose the UK setting but you can get this back by moving the jumper back to it's original position.
It support's President's Liberty wireless microphone, a great idea that no one really thought of in the past, means you are not tied to sitting in the shack or your /p station, you can take a wander if you like, up to 100 meters I think it is, much like a DECT phone or a bluetooth headset.
Another nice feature of the rig is a choice of two backlight colours, orange and green, which also includes a dimmer so you're not blinding youself with a bright backlight at night.
There are other features as well on the rig but I'll do a full write up when I actually get hold of one, hopefully in a couple of weeks all being well
My shack computer has had a new motherboard, RAM, and CPU ordered for it, this would help with performance with regards to SDR use, there are incompatibility issues with the hard disk, optical drive, and existing graphics card, the hard drive has had an adaptor ordered for it to allow it to continue to work, the optical drive will be rectified later as it's not important at this time, the power supply should be sufficient for the new board, the only card that will be fitted is to be the CMI8738 sound card that the machine already has and that is compatible with the board.
Performance with SDR# has been dire with the RTL-SDR operating, the FRN client does work... just, the shackcam feed isn't really reliable on the machine (it's controlled by it both hardware and software, though I intend to replace this with a network camera,, which will make it software and link), and with plans to do the Amateur radio foundation exam as well I want the machine to reliably handle the Echolink software. Another radio software installed on the machine is Zello, this runs reasonably OK but I tend not to use it as I use it on my phone more than I do on the computer.
Programming my Wouxun KG-UVD1P has proven unreliable with this machine, upgrading the internal hardware may be sufficient to remedy this (the official software, that is practically incomprehensible, works fine, the easier KG-UV commander doesn't read the radio properly, though it could be a bug with the software rather than the computer).
I should be taking delivery of the motherboard and it's ancillaries by Wednesday at the latest, for fitting that evening, which will take out the 446 gateway for a couple of hours but this is no real issue, the RAM on the existing board, if compatible, will be used in the 446 gateway computer to hopefully try and improve things, the GPU in that machine will also be swapped out with the one in the shack computer as I feel the one currently fitted to it is wasted in it and would be useful in another installation.
So, a better shack computer and maybe, just maybe, a President Grant 2 will be sitting on my shack desk soon, but we will see :)
73 de 26CT730
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