Being a licensed Amateur and being in the radio hobby itself for a number of years, I have found it to be practical to keep a radio setup active to some degree, whether that be keeping HTs charged up or keeping an active CB station at home and in the car.
I bring this up in light of the scaremongering and fear that is going on because of the recent coronavirus outbreak from China, and the vast majority of people these days use mobile phones and there will probably come a point when the misinformation could lead to a mass panic and bring the mobile phone networks crashing down.
The alternative for the general public has always been CB radio, it's a one-off cost for radio and antenna and all connections, no licence or training is needed and will run off as little as a 12 volt battery, so even if the power goes out you're still in touch with the outside world.
Those of us in the Amateur radio community however have organisations like Raynet in the UK or similar in other countries where we can assist in times of emergency, having done this in the UK since the 1953 North Sea floods. Where the emergency services radio systems may fail, ours will still continue to work and quicky deployed and put on air to help the emergency services, part of the UK Amateur radio licence terms allows us to pass messages on behalf of emergency services.
So my recommendation to those not licensed is to pick up a CB radio, there's plenty out there and the investment is worth it so when the mobile phone networks stop working due to overload in an emergency or disaster then you will still be in touch with everyone else.
I planned to do a YouTube video on this subject today however my XYL sent me out to the shops despite the current situation of her not living here so it never got filmed, I plan to film it now on Saturday because I work day shift tomorrow.
I don't recommend PMR446 or similar services because they are limited to 500mW and an exceptionally inefficient fixed antenna in a handheld radio and also given the radio spectrum they use the signal doesn't travel far in a built up area.
73 de M0WNU/26CT730
Ban PLT
Thursday, 6 February 2020
Sunday, 2 February 2020
CB to Zello gateway
I have cobbled together using my TTI TCB-550, an old relay (which may have been used in the now-closed FRN gateway), and my existing interface that I rewired for the VV-898 a few years ago, with a very crude adaptor that converts the VV-898 connector to one that can plug into the TCB-550 into a Zello gateway, the Zello app runs on my shack computer reconfigured for gateway mode, it then listens either for activity on the CB channel the radio is tuned to, or from those in the channel logged into Zello on their phone, tablet or computer.
I didn't have a smooth sailing with it because the relay lost its common pin (it sheared off once wires were soldered onto it though I repaired it with a ball of solder) and working out which wire went to what on the VV-898 connection was a challenge, the audio out of my CMI8738 soundcard was unusable for this so the audio connections were all made to the onboard sound in the computer.
The CB transmits fine, and it receives fine (local testing from handhelds puts a buzz on the transmission but that's from operating them surrounded by electrical items), the CB in question was also used in the now-closed FRN CB Gateway, though I since removed the fan on it.
The CB is putting out the expected 4 watts, and an antenna is still required to go up to make it of any use, that's a work in progress given the antenna limitations I have here at this QTH.
Once the antenna connection is complete then I can transmit from my car's CB in the local area to any device running Zello in which the user of that device has access to the group the CB gateway operates from, and vice-versa, however I do not have a permanent computer to dedicate to such a task in the shack right now so it would only operate if I was out of the house.
And the best bit is, as Zello is used, any messages not picked up immediately can be replayed by the Zello users to catch up on, it would not work for radio side.
My plan with this is for the Zello side to only allow those I know to have access to it, the CB side I obviously have no control over as is the nature of CB, and neither the TCB-550 nor Thunderpole T-3000 (which I use in the car) have CTCSS, obviously the first person getting access is my XYL who can then contact me over the CB like she did when she was here.
73 de M0WNU/26CT730
I didn't have a smooth sailing with it because the relay lost its common pin (it sheared off once wires were soldered onto it though I repaired it with a ball of solder) and working out which wire went to what on the VV-898 connection was a challenge, the audio out of my CMI8738 soundcard was unusable for this so the audio connections were all made to the onboard sound in the computer.
The CB transmits fine, and it receives fine (local testing from handhelds puts a buzz on the transmission but that's from operating them surrounded by electrical items), the CB in question was also used in the now-closed FRN CB Gateway, though I since removed the fan on it.
The CB is putting out the expected 4 watts, and an antenna is still required to go up to make it of any use, that's a work in progress given the antenna limitations I have here at this QTH.
Once the antenna connection is complete then I can transmit from my car's CB in the local area to any device running Zello in which the user of that device has access to the group the CB gateway operates from, and vice-versa, however I do not have a permanent computer to dedicate to such a task in the shack right now so it would only operate if I was out of the house.
And the best bit is, as Zello is used, any messages not picked up immediately can be replayed by the Zello users to catch up on, it would not work for radio side.
My plan with this is for the Zello side to only allow those I know to have access to it, the CB side I obviously have no control over as is the nature of CB, and neither the TCB-550 nor Thunderpole T-3000 (which I use in the car) have CTCSS, obviously the first person getting access is my XYL who can then contact me over the CB like she did when she was here.
73 de M0WNU/26CT730
Saturday, 1 February 2020
Thunderpole T-3000
I took delivery of the Thunderpole T-3000 CB radio yesterday (I've not update the sidebar list for those of you that are viewing this on the desktop version of the blog), first impressions are good, it is nice and compact compared to most CB radios, it is a DIN space sized radio and certainly compared to my Team RoadCom FS is a small radio, it is my main in-car CB radio due to its nice compact size.
I did a video on the radio pretty much as soon as I got it and it is included in this blog post so I won't say too much on it on here as I've pretty much covered it all in the video.
Only thing I've yet to test on it is the Kenwood type speaker mic port, that's for later on but I can use it with the normal fist mic no problems.
I do monitor the 19 now pretty much all the time in the car so do give a shout out, I do call out as well, and as a licensed Amateur radio operator I still monitor 2-meters when mobile, usually repeaters.
And the video is here for you
Hope to catch you on the air, be it Amateur or CB, or even the Network Radio (I monitor Network Radios channel 00 most of the time) very soon
73 de M0WNU/26CT730 (or even just the red squirrel on the CB if you want to go proper old-school with handles on there)
I did a video on the radio pretty much as soon as I got it and it is included in this blog post so I won't say too much on it on here as I've pretty much covered it all in the video.
Only thing I've yet to test on it is the Kenwood type speaker mic port, that's for later on but I can use it with the normal fist mic no problems.
I do monitor the 19 now pretty much all the time in the car so do give a shout out, I do call out as well, and as a licensed Amateur radio operator I still monitor 2-meters when mobile, usually repeaters.
And the video is here for you
Hope to catch you on the air, be it Amateur or CB, or even the Network Radio (I monitor Network Radios channel 00 most of the time) very soon
73 de M0WNU/26CT730 (or even just the red squirrel on the CB if you want to go proper old-school with handles on there)
Wednesday, 29 January 2020
Thunderpole T-3000 is winging its way to my shack
Today was my payday, and factoring in that I have a bit of extra cash left over from my salary I placed an order for a Thunderpole T-3000 CB radio, which so far I have heard good reports about, this radio has already been looked at by RustySkull Productions on YouTube and Lewis M3HHY from channel "RingwayManchester" has looked at the radio this is a rebadge of, the Nanfone CB-689, and tested with another station radio to radio, the other station having the T-3000, was found to work well.
I plan to use this radio as my main mobile CB, even though it does not have SSB which I only really use parked up because adjusting the RIT (or clarifier as it's called on CBs) while mobile is a pain and with SSB you sometimes have to concentrate on the incoming audio which is certainly not ideal while driving, as this radio is so slimline it can fit any modern car with ease either into a DIN sized space or fixed to the dash with a bracket in the normal way.
The unit I ordered is an ex display unit, what that means is that Thunderpole have had it out of the box and had it on display, though they will have tested all accessories to ensure they function, particularly the microphone, which although has an LED in it, or at least a position for one, no LED lights up on transmit, this is because an optional Bluetooth mic is available for the Nanfone unit and would work with this as well, by virtue of the Kenwood HT type connector on the front (as I have a speaker mic and some headsets from Baofeng radios that fit I may test these too.
Naturally I will be doing a video with this radio, power tests (4 watts of course), how it looks and feels, ease of use and hopefully if there are any stations on that day a radio report.
I plan to mount this radio in the car, and ultimately keep my Grant II for portable work on 11-meters SSB, the antenna on the car at the moment for 11-meters is in fact my Orbitor/Tornado Stinger antenna that during the summer my XYL painted white and her and I converted into the antenna we dubbed the 'spider antenna', the magmount is an older version of the Sirio magmount I have in use for my 2/70 antenna, except this older one had near destroyed cable so I had to rewire it using coax from a snail mount I was not using, I will later on be replacing the rear antenna with something similar to the antenna I loaned, I'll have to see if GB Communications sell one of these because I then don't have to travel far and can swap the antennas over immediately, provided I remember an SWR meter because the T-3000 does not have one installed.
I certainly am eager to receive one of the most unique CB radios made today to fit into the most unique Toyota Aygo of them all, not because I've fitted radio equipment in it but because it did a journey from my home QTH to well into Bavaria and back and did not seem bothered, so a unique design of CB radio should complement it nicely.
There is a Sci-Fi connection with the naming scheme of the Thunderpole T-series CB radios, I've spotted it, can you spot it too?
I have started monitoring and calling out on 19 due to the appearance of a Ford Fiesta, a Volkswagen Bora and a pick up truck all equipped with Orbitor style antennas, so I know people are out there using the CB, and I'm pretty sure the drivers of these vehicles have seen the antennas on my car too, and I saw a video on YouTube where a CB operator drives to work on the motorway, gets passed by an HGV and the driver of the HGV calls out after seeing the antenna on the car of the operator that's filming, I suspect he's using a President Grant II in that video, no idea what the trucker was using though.
Hope to catch you on the CB and also don't forget as I'm a licenced Amateur radio operator I can be found on local repeaters in my area and sometimes the calling channel on 2-meters.
73 de M0WNU/26CT730 (or you can just call me the red squirrel on the CB if you like)
I plan to use this radio as my main mobile CB, even though it does not have SSB which I only really use parked up because adjusting the RIT (or clarifier as it's called on CBs) while mobile is a pain and with SSB you sometimes have to concentrate on the incoming audio which is certainly not ideal while driving, as this radio is so slimline it can fit any modern car with ease either into a DIN sized space or fixed to the dash with a bracket in the normal way.
The unit I ordered is an ex display unit, what that means is that Thunderpole have had it out of the box and had it on display, though they will have tested all accessories to ensure they function, particularly the microphone, which although has an LED in it, or at least a position for one, no LED lights up on transmit, this is because an optional Bluetooth mic is available for the Nanfone unit and would work with this as well, by virtue of the Kenwood HT type connector on the front (as I have a speaker mic and some headsets from Baofeng radios that fit I may test these too.
Naturally I will be doing a video with this radio, power tests (4 watts of course), how it looks and feels, ease of use and hopefully if there are any stations on that day a radio report.
I plan to mount this radio in the car, and ultimately keep my Grant II for portable work on 11-meters SSB, the antenna on the car at the moment for 11-meters is in fact my Orbitor/Tornado Stinger antenna that during the summer my XYL painted white and her and I converted into the antenna we dubbed the 'spider antenna', the magmount is an older version of the Sirio magmount I have in use for my 2/70 antenna, except this older one had near destroyed cable so I had to rewire it using coax from a snail mount I was not using, I will later on be replacing the rear antenna with something similar to the antenna I loaned, I'll have to see if GB Communications sell one of these because I then don't have to travel far and can swap the antennas over immediately, provided I remember an SWR meter because the T-3000 does not have one installed.
I certainly am eager to receive one of the most unique CB radios made today to fit into the most unique Toyota Aygo of them all, not because I've fitted radio equipment in it but because it did a journey from my home QTH to well into Bavaria and back and did not seem bothered, so a unique design of CB radio should complement it nicely.
There is a Sci-Fi connection with the naming scheme of the Thunderpole T-series CB radios, I've spotted it, can you spot it too?
I have started monitoring and calling out on 19 due to the appearance of a Ford Fiesta, a Volkswagen Bora and a pick up truck all equipped with Orbitor style antennas, so I know people are out there using the CB, and I'm pretty sure the drivers of these vehicles have seen the antennas on my car too, and I saw a video on YouTube where a CB operator drives to work on the motorway, gets passed by an HGV and the driver of the HGV calls out after seeing the antenna on the car of the operator that's filming, I suspect he's using a President Grant II in that video, no idea what the trucker was using though.
Hope to catch you on the CB and also don't forget as I'm a licenced Amateur radio operator I can be found on local repeaters in my area and sometimes the calling channel on 2-meters.
73 de M0WNU/26CT730 (or you can just call me the red squirrel on the CB if you like)
Sunday, 19 January 2020
In car APRS map install almost complete
I have fitted the tablet mount in the car, unfortunately by using self-tapping screws into a piece of trim panel on the passenger side, and have tested to find the best position for the tablet so it does not interfere with the operation of the controls, it does block access to the stereo at the moment however this is a minor inconvenience.
The wiring has tested out in a temporary location and RF from the radio does not appear to interfere with the operation of the USB port thus allowing the mobile phone to remain tethered to the tablet over USB, the last job to do is tidy up the cabling by means of cable ties, keeping the radio cable away from anything else of course, the USB cable for the phone will run out loose from the hub as it will be reused in the charger as well for when the tablet is not in the car (for instance when I am at work and I require to charge the phone, the USB hub cannot deliver enough current for a fast charge), the hub was not powered externally during the mount install tests, the Bluetooth GPS unit, which got a lock relatively quickly, was though I suspect the connector does not quite fit the socket on the unit which results in poor to intermittent connection.
Otherwise everything is working, the tablet is displaying whatever the radio receives, the position from GPS and anything on the APRS-IS that is out of radio range, so all set for the off to Blackpool in April
73 de M0WNU
The wiring has tested out in a temporary location and RF from the radio does not appear to interfere with the operation of the USB port thus allowing the mobile phone to remain tethered to the tablet over USB, the last job to do is tidy up the cabling by means of cable ties, keeping the radio cable away from anything else of course, the USB cable for the phone will run out loose from the hub as it will be reused in the charger as well for when the tablet is not in the car (for instance when I am at work and I require to charge the phone, the USB hub cannot deliver enough current for a fast charge), the hub was not powered externally during the mount install tests, the Bluetooth GPS unit, which got a lock relatively quickly, was though I suspect the connector does not quite fit the socket on the unit which results in poor to intermittent connection.
Otherwise everything is working, the tablet is displaying whatever the radio receives, the position from GPS and anything on the APRS-IS that is out of radio range, so all set for the off to Blackpool in April
73 de M0WNU
Saturday, 18 January 2020
Addition to the in car APRS mapping setup planned
With me hoping to fit the mount for the tablet into the car on Sunday, attention has turned to how I would be able to type anything into the tablet while it is in the mount and off the keyboard dock, I decided a wireless keyboard with trackpad for this and as I've had good results with Logitech products in the past (I have a keyboard but lost the unifying receiver for it) I chose their K400, which we actually use at my work on one of the non-till computers (and it gets dropped on the floor sometimes), as this incorporates a trackpad it means I can still have the option of a mouse or a touchscreen, with APRSISCE/32 a mouse is needed due to the fact it is a desktop application not optimised for a touch screen.
The keyboard is of a decent size so it will fit in the glovebox or the space under the seat when not in use and the dongle can stay plugged into the USB hub which I plan to cable tie to the arm of the tablet holder, given how the setup is configured there would only be one spare USB port after this though this is not an issue as I'd only really use that for flash drives (the tablet does have a micro SD card slot onboard).
Unfortunately with pay day being some time away this will have to wait until then, however I hope to have the setup working ahead of the Blackpool rally so it can be used then not only filling in for where my FTM-400XDE cannot reach an igate or digipeater, but also gating others packets as well as the setup is able to do that.
Going onto the subject of igates, Coastal Chipworks, the company behind the TNC boards for the Raspberry Pi, have since ceased trading, which I discovered yesterday, so I am now having to look into an alternative method to get the Raspberry Pi to work as a two-way igate for this area, I shall keep you posted on my progress with that project.
73 de M0WNU
The keyboard is of a decent size so it will fit in the glovebox or the space under the seat when not in use and the dongle can stay plugged into the USB hub which I plan to cable tie to the arm of the tablet holder, given how the setup is configured there would only be one spare USB port after this though this is not an issue as I'd only really use that for flash drives (the tablet does have a micro SD card slot onboard).
Unfortunately with pay day being some time away this will have to wait until then, however I hope to have the setup working ahead of the Blackpool rally so it can be used then not only filling in for where my FTM-400XDE cannot reach an igate or digipeater, but also gating others packets as well as the setup is able to do that.
Going onto the subject of igates, Coastal Chipworks, the company behind the TNC boards for the Raspberry Pi, have since ceased trading, which I discovered yesterday, so I am now having to look into an alternative method to get the Raspberry Pi to work as a two-way igate for this area, I shall keep you posted on my progress with that project.
73 de M0WNU
Thursday, 16 January 2020
Testing the in-car APRS map display with USB hub on tablet
Today I had to do a run out to a local branch of discount supermarket Lidl, and thought it was a good opportunity to test out the map setup using a USB hub on the tablet, however some issues came to light during this before and after leaving the house.
The first issue was APRSISCE/32 causing the WiFi adaptor in the tablet to lock up under load, meaning my phone is tethered using a USB cable (Bluetooth was tested and found to be unacceptably slow, and RF from the radio, with the cables in a certain place, would cause the USB to drop and reconnect, which would cause the tethering to switch off in the phone, the USB cable feeding the hub itself was too long anyway and I've found a shorter one in which I have fitted a clip on ferrite to to see if that helps.
The other issue was the COM port allocation for the FTM-400XDE's supplied data cable, this conflicted with a Bluetooth serial port so the number was changed over to one that was not in use, this did involve disconnecting and reconnecting the plug, and to identify the USB port in which the data cable is to always be plugged in it was outlined with blue permanent marker, the phone used one of the other ports, this allows fitting of a wireless keyboard later on
The USB hub is powered from an in-car power lead with variable voltage set at 5 volts, though the computer and hub will only dictate a maximum of 500mA current per port (the data cable won't get close to that but the phone will).
The Bluetooth GPS box, though currently not fitted to the windscreen as it was previously, worked fine stuck to the top of the dash with the blu-tack already on it and unusually got sufficient satellites from cold start which certainly impressed me.
There is still a little bit of testing to do, using the cable that I put a ferrite bead onto, and then there will be the fitting of the mount in the car which has yet to be done though if the weather is not bad I can look into it on Sunday, but to be honest I'm not holding my breath, it is the UK and winter after all.
I hope to have this working ahead of the Blackpool rally in April.
73 de M0WNU
The first issue was APRSISCE/32 causing the WiFi adaptor in the tablet to lock up under load, meaning my phone is tethered using a USB cable (Bluetooth was tested and found to be unacceptably slow, and RF from the radio, with the cables in a certain place, would cause the USB to drop and reconnect, which would cause the tethering to switch off in the phone, the USB cable feeding the hub itself was too long anyway and I've found a shorter one in which I have fitted a clip on ferrite to to see if that helps.
The other issue was the COM port allocation for the FTM-400XDE's supplied data cable, this conflicted with a Bluetooth serial port so the number was changed over to one that was not in use, this did involve disconnecting and reconnecting the plug, and to identify the USB port in which the data cable is to always be plugged in it was outlined with blue permanent marker, the phone used one of the other ports, this allows fitting of a wireless keyboard later on
The USB hub is powered from an in-car power lead with variable voltage set at 5 volts, though the computer and hub will only dictate a maximum of 500mA current per port (the data cable won't get close to that but the phone will).
The Bluetooth GPS box, though currently not fitted to the windscreen as it was previously, worked fine stuck to the top of the dash with the blu-tack already on it and unusually got sufficient satellites from cold start which certainly impressed me.
There is still a little bit of testing to do, using the cable that I put a ferrite bead onto, and then there will be the fitting of the mount in the car which has yet to be done though if the weather is not bad I can look into it on Sunday, but to be honest I'm not holding my breath, it is the UK and winter after all.
I hope to have this working ahead of the Blackpool rally in April.
73 de M0WNU
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