National Hamfest 2017

Today I was in attendance at the National Hamfest, and Yaesu have answered my question, they informed me the new TX/RX ID function is similar to CTCSS, works with networked (not Internet linked but radio linked) repeaters and is called System Fusion II, something I had seen advertised, I had also seen the new System Fusion II repeater, I also looked at the new online exams being rolled out and a look at the equipment used for ATV courtesy of BATC.

I picked up the Advanced book from the RSGB book stand and had a look at a smart phone DMR and various other bits and pieces useful to Amateur radio operators, unfortunately I wasn't able to get the handsfree mic for the car as this was unavailable, and other items such as a base antenna due to financial constraints.

Needless to say, the car chose the journey to develop another fault, initially detected as a developing oxygen sensor malfunction (on the sensor post-cat), however when I had chance to look under the car at the exhaust this revealed a massive leak in the exhaust system as the centre pipe (which includes the post-cat O2 sensor) had parted company with the catalytic converter, so my car sounds very much like an old motorcycle or tractor, and I will keep the car off the road until I can fix it unless I have to use it, ruling out October's 2-metre FMAC.

Otherwise I have had a good time at this year's National Hamfest and hope to do it all again next year.

73 de 2E0EIJ

FTM-400XDE Firmware upgrade

In the time I have owned it I have never once updated the firmware on my Yaesu FTM-400XDE, until tonight that is, though this was a bigger job than anticipated given the location of the main unit within the car, however I was able to access the upgrade switch to do the firmware then subsequently update the DSP, I am not sure what changes have been made to the DSP, however the firmware has something called 'Digital Group ID' and 'Digital Personal ID', what purpose these serve I don't actually know, however now at the top of the radio screen there is an extra field with TX and RX ID, along with the repeater shift direction, CTCSS/DCS and clock (I have my 400 in the car therefore have this set to display the voltage instead which is handy if the engine is off).

I am trying to find out the purpose of this new feature, though I cannot seem to find information on it it however I am hoping to speak to the Yaesu representatives at the National Hamfest in 2 weeks time regarding what future improvements are heading towards System Fusion, they may even be able to shed some light on this interesting update.

All that remains for me to do is just keep using the radio.

73 de 2E0EIJ

Update 29/9/17

Less than 18 hours before I go to the National Hamfest as it so happens, I have a photograph of the display as I described

The radio is currently set to AMS as I prefer this, the selected repeater, GB3IR, is an FM-only repeater located about 2 miles away from my current home QTH, I may ask the Yaesu reps at the National Hamfest what the "ID:TXnn/RXnn" means as I have not found any information on it yet, otherwise the radio is working as it ought to ready for the drive to the Hamfest and hopefully also for participation in October's 2-metre FMAC.

Car now cleared for this year's trip to Newark

With the oil leak in the gearbox now repaired, my car is now ready for the drive to the National Hamfest for the 3rd time, the furthest I've really been this year is both coasts (Scarborough and Blackpool respectively) and to Gateshead, though this is not the final rally as I'll be attending the Bishop Auckland rally in Spennymoor in December (which reminds me that I really need to be getting up to the Bishop Auckland club again as soon as possible).

I was originally intending to camp at Newark and have a portable station however with the clutch failing on my car earlier in the year along with the QTH move the camping had to be put on hold however I intend to get all the camping gear I need during the off season and go next year, I still have my drive-on mast stand yet have not put that to any use at present, it was intended to get an outing at Newark this year but of course with all that has gone on this has had to wait.

Of course I do not plan to leave the National Hamfest empty handed, I am working some extra hours and hopefully will leave with another radio, a Diamond X50 antenna, and some more PL259s, particularly of the compression fit or crimp fit variety, as well as a right-angle connector for the antenna port of my Yaesu FTM-400XDE as there is very little room behind there for plugging in and disconnecting the antenna when I want to connect the SWR meter for tests, and maybe some freebies if possible, and also the Advanced book so I can get on and study for my full licence as soon as I can.

73 de 2E0EIJ

Car almost ready for the trip to Newark

Today as you are aware my car went in for its MOT (The UK roadworthiness examination) which it has passed with flying colours despite my own worries that the vehicle would fail, now this would have meant the all-clear to participate in the 2m FMAC on Tuesday night, however a new problem has arisen that needs to be rectified immediately.

While the car was in for the MOT, the mechanic found the gearbox to be leaking oil from a seal on the offside (driver's side, right in this case) driveshaft coming out of the gearbox, this requires urgent attention and the car is booked in for this repair on Wednesday, I will have to drop the car off on Tuesday night and this means I cannot take part in the 2m FMAC this month, much to my disappointment, however this gearbox issue cannot be ignored as if the gearbox loses a large quantity of oil it could potentially seize which could cost more than what the car is actually worth to fix, fortunately it is being repaired under the extended warranty.

Once this oil seal is repaired this will then give the car the all clear for the 2017 National Hamfest at the end of this month, as usual I will be in attendance.

I aim to take part in the October 2m FMAC as all my car troubles should then be resolved.

73 de 2E0EIJ

Amateur radio to the rescue

I discovered a couple of days ago that two Amateur radio operators were involved in saving the life of a youngster with Epilepsy, which to me shows that when all else fails then radio will prevail.

The story is that of a youngster camping on Exmoor with friends and family, one of whom holds the callsign G6ASK, the youngster had an epileptic seizure and thus needed immediate medical attention, with no phone signal on Exmoor this would have been impossible had it not been for G6ASK, who had his mobile setup in the car, putting an emergency call onto the closest repeater GB3WR, the call picked up by an operator in Bristol, M6MGE, who just happened to have the radio on and heard the call from G6ASK, and called 999 (the UK emergency service number) and subsequently relayed information between G6ASK and the 999 operator, thus getting an ambulance to Exmoor and saving the youngster's life, she has since made a full recovery.

This story got the attention of the BBC, including a segment on Radio 2 on The Jeremy Vine show, this was some good publicity of the hobby and has made me rethink my opinion on Jeremy Vine as I didn't really like him that much, I have listened to the segment in question which featured all parties involved.

Knowing what happened in the West Country I want to say that I am proud to be an Amateur radio operator, and also stress that I will equally respond to emergency calls if I hear them, I consider any emergency call priority one and do what I can to assist.

I keep an active mobile setup as you know, some people who I know who have no clue about the hobby may claim that my car looks like a dodgem but in fact that antenna and the radio attached to it could one day be what could save their life or even what could save my own life when the mobile networks simply cannot be relied upon.

I have since decided to keep a radio on at all times, you just never know when you may hear that call for help.

Below is a video filmed from M6MGE's side in Bristol as events unfolded, I cannot fault his professionalism and calm manner during all of this.

Again I cannot stress how this makes me proud to be an Amateur radio operator.

Maybe this could also encourage others to enter the world of Amateur radio, it works where phones do not, we also have RAYNET here in the UK, a part of Amateur radio that is specifically there to handle emergencies if they crop up, I may consider joining it myself if I can find time, so as you can see, Amateur radio is not just about chatting to other people, passing messages between someone in distress and the emergency services is part of it too, it's all about getting the message across clearly and concisely and that is what has happened here.

73 de 2E0EIJ

Shack desk shopping

I paid a visit to the nearest IKEA today, only to find the place was horrifyingly huge, in search for a new shack desk, and I found one that came with a whiteboard on a top section, part of a range of desks that also included a corner desk so it could be added to as time progressed, the desk and top section totalled less than £100, and had ample space for radios and the computer, with a hole at the back to drop all the wires down into.

Only trouble was that when I went to the self-service warehouse to look at the size of the desk parts flat-packed it appeared that the top bit may be a bit too big to fit in my car whereas the desk section was to fit just fine after I again checked the size first.

Although the current metal desk that I use was adequate for the old QTH (where a separate shack was never going to happen) I feel that now I have a larger space I should be able to have more room for radio operating

I did not leave IKEA empty handed, I left with a £6 clamp-on light that I plan to use as shack illumination, it is currently clamped to my current shack desk, I may get a couple more of these for the bedroom as they'd make good reading lights as well as a shack light when the dark nights get here.

While I was up there I called into the Metrocentre for lunch and on passing into PC World to look at a Gigabit Ethernet switch, they had one but it was a managed switch rather than an unmanaged one, making me think it best going to the big PC World at Teesside Park, as I want to get the shack computer back onto wired Ethernet as soon as possible.

73 de 2E0EIJ

Shack ready to go... or as ready as it can be right now

With the clutter cleared from the shack room at the new QTH, and the carpets vacuumed, the shack is now ready to go, still using the same desk as I used at the old QTH, so it is a bit cramped as to be expected until I can replace the desk with a bigger one.

The radios are still the QYT KT8900D for 2 and 70 (into the small magmount antenna on top of the radiator as this QTH has no windowsills, but I get no movement on the SWR meter at both 10 and 25 watts so it is matched well), the CRT SS9900 for 10 metres (into the orbitor/stinger antenna on top of some old computer chassis with a reasonably good match in the FM portion of 10 metres, have not tried the SSB portion to avoid interference with it being an indoor antenna) and, of course, the President Grant II for CB (though the orbitor refuses to match properly at 11-metres for some reason I haven't worked out yet).

The shelving unit has the chargers for my HTs with the exception of the dedicated PMR446 radios and the handheld CBs (I have the handheld CB chargers plugged into the shack main extension lead), as well as space for my copy of the radio communications handbook, radios I am not using at present (all the other CBs and my Midland BaseCamp446, not my MT-5050 though as that is for reasons unknown in my backpack down in the car at time of writing).

My shack desk has the addition of a pair of PC speakers manufactured by Philips (these are the speakers supplied with the machine used as the shack computer though I have never plugged them into it since it had the motherboard replaced a few years ago until now), these allow me to use Echolink without headphones if I choose, though I can use headphones if I require to do so, for example late at night or early mornings, the homebrew extension speaker, as it can no longer be fastened to the wall as this isn't allowed at the new QTH stands on top of the left speaker (though the cable still reaches the SS9900 no problem and that also has a headphone jack for private listening with the adaptor), the CB mic converter is cable tied to the side of the desk near the computer, and the programming cables for various radios are plugged into a USB hub, the USB to RS232 adaptor is directly connected to the computer though this doesn't usually get used.

Seating is another issue, as my only desk chair is in the living room and it would need moving to the shack if I want to use it in there, I do plan to get another chair for the shack as soon as I can do so.

There are still a couple of odds and ends relating to that room to address, there are some bags of random things, two storage boxes, and my old TV (which I did bring from the old QTH and did not scrap given that it has sort of failed) to still find a home for but that probably will not happen until next weekend when I sort out the cupboard opposite the shack, but apart from that I believe it is ready for some radio.

I hope to get back on air properly from home in the coming week, been mostly performing test transmissions since I moved in and connected things up and they seem to have gone well.

Also I can now get that video for the NooElec NESDR SMArt done, hopefully that too will be this week.

73 de 2E0EIJ