Time Out

I'm sure most Radio Amateurs have had, at sometime in their radio lives, periods of, shall we say, inactivity. I mentioned it recently, back in July. What July has in common with October for me is contests; the IARU in July and the CQWW SSB in October.

This is October, and the CQWW (SSB goes without saying, as I barely touch the key) has been taking place over this weekend. My last foray into that contest appears to have been in 2007, and my best DX was Senegal. This year, with all the QRM you get when conditions are good, it's a miracle I got farther than Shettleston. I heard China on 10m, Qatar on a couple of bands, Cape Verde on 20m, a number of weak Japanese stations on 10 and 15 and a couple of stations in the Caribbean. Did I work any of them? No.

I ran the IC-707 on 20 and 40m (where I only worked 2 GMs, 2 Gs and a GW) with 30W, and the TS-590S on 15m, mostly with 30W, and 50W on Saturday morning. I started off with the FT-817 on 10m, but 5W wasn't enough to get through to anyone, it seemed, so I hooked the aerial up to the FT-857D and turned it up to a whopping 25W. What did that lot get me?

I started at 05:45GMT on Saturday morning, but didn't work anything for nearly half an hour. An hour later, and I'd barely got into double figures. It was a struggle throughout the entire weekend to make oneself heard by any station above the splatter, and there was plenty of QSB to deal with, too. Just under 4 hours later, I made a contact outside of Europe for the first time, and it turned out to be UP2L in Kazakhstan on 10m. I followed this by IG9Y, which is the Pelagic Islands, apprently (Lambedusa, etc). I only made another three contacts in the next hour, before I exchanged reports with TF3CW. It's been a long time since I've worked Iceland, so this was my favourite contact from Saturday. After this, it was Europe, North Africa and North America all the way.

Sunday wasn't much different, except that the bands appeared to be a bit more unstable than the day before. It took me most of the day to work not much more than 30 stations. The best was VY2TT on Prince Edward Island. I couldn't struggle on anymore, as most stations I tried to work started off around 59 but faded to almost unreadable. I doubt I was making an impression on their S-meters.

Anyway, I finished with 107 contacts and 39 DXCC Entities (countries). This is the most contacts I have made during a contest for around 25 years, but it doesn't beat that record of 139 QSOs. I didn't actually enter the contest. I'd be too embarrassed.

No, I haven't forgotten about Part 2 of the RSGB Convention blog. I promise I'll do it later in the week (and correct the mistakes in Part 1).

100 Not Out

Most of the posts in this excuse for a blog have as their theme a visit to an Amateur Radio Rally of some description, from the now defunct Magnum Rally in Irvine, Ayrshire, to the NARSA rally in Blackpool, Lancashire. If you want to see something, buy something or meet fellow Amateurs, a Rally is the place to go. It's been a long time since any radio-related event of note has taken place in Glasgow, so you have to go a long way from home. It's got to be worth it, got to be more than a travelling shop. The subtle difference between a Rally and a Convention is that, if you're lucky, you will get to hear a variety of top-class speakers present on a variety of topics, such is the wide range of interests within the hobby.

I had not attended an 'RSGB Convention' for over twenty years. Around the late 80s/early 90s, the Society held its annual Convention at the NEC in Birmingham, but eventually they stopped; partly for financial reasons, partly for reasons unknown. The RSGB is often portrayed as a London- or South East of England-centric body, so dispensing with its annual bash  was looked upon by some (in the provinces) as further evidence of this. It didn't matter to me, as I had, at varying times, no transport, no time, no money or a combination of two or more of those things. My last long-distance trip was when I went to Leicester (Donnington, actually) in 2003, and that event is also no longer on the calendar. By the look of it, the National Hamfest, which takes place in Newark, is the biggest Rally in the UK, and one of the few left.

I have been a member of the RSGB for twenty-eight years, joining after the Scottish Convention in Dundee in September of 1985. I attended the Society's 75th Anniversary Convention at the NEC in 1988, so it was only fitting that I put in an appearance for the Centenary, especially considering that the Convention proper, with lectures, had been reinstated some years ago. This followed the amalgamation of various other events, such as the HF Convention, which I had attended in 1986, the VHF Convention, and so on. I think that's correct. 

The Convention has been held for the last few years in a hotel situated eleven miles from Milton Keynes. I presume this is designed to keep everyone a safe distance from the riff-raff. In that respect, it appears to succeed, but it's a challenge for those not travelling by car, wherever they are based. I went from Glasgow to London by train, then took another train to Milton Keynes, from where I took a taxi to the hotel at a cost of around £20, and did the same in reverse to go home. Being me, I couldn't resist turning it into a trip to London, so the whole weekend cost me a pretty penny. I would prefer to travel by car, in future, as the flexibility afforded by not having to adhere to someone else's timetable and route means that I will be able to visit not only the village of Little Horwood, which is not really adjacent to the hotel, and, of course, Bletchley Park.

Back in the day, film and developing cost money, so a lot of thought went into the subject, composition and amount of photographs one would take. This means that there are no photos from RSGB Conventions past. With the advent of digital cameras, the sky's the limit, so here's a quick run-though of a very enjoyable weekend.

Before I went to Buckinghamshire, I popped into the Science Museum.   

They have a copy of the February 1929 edition of the T&R Bulletin, the forerunner of RadCom. A closer look reveals some famous names on the Council like Clarricoats, Ostermyer and Alford.

They have a Yaesu FT-101ZD, a valve transceiver from around 1980. The Greenock and District Amateur Radio Club had one of these, and I got to use it a couple of times.

Finally, the President of the RSGB at the time this T & R Bulletin was published was Gerald Marcuse, G2NM, and the Science Museum has this famous photograph on display.

Enough of that, let's get to the Convention.

I arrived at the hotel around 4:30 on the Friday. The sponsors, Martin Lynch and Sons, provided a buffet to welcome delegates who were staying on the Friday night. I had some soup and a couple of rolls then went back to my room to watch the England v Poland game on the ancient CRT telly, which lacked BBC4. This was the only real complaint I had about the hotel itself. Well, that and the inability to find my way round.

It's 9am on Saturday. Some people are still having their breakfast, and some people are still arriving on site as Bob Whelan, G3PJT, welcomes a bleary-eyed bunch to the Centenary Convention. 

The keynote speaker was, as the slide shows, Joe Taylor, K1JT, the creator of a number of digital modes such as WSPR, WSJT and so on (no, I have no idea), who gave a very interesting and highly technical talk on many of these modes. He's also a former winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics!

Next up for me, a potentially depressing talk about Solar Cycle 24 and predictions for 25. However, it was all very light hearted, not least because no one has a clue.

First up, though, Carl gave a display of QSL cards from deleted or rare DXCC entities...

... then it was back to the bad news, or was it? Some data suggests that Cycle 24 could be headed for a second peak. Some data also suggests that sunspots will vanish. Oh NO!!!!!!

The rain stopped long enough around lunchtime for a quick photo of the outside of the hotel.

Just time for one more talk before lunch, and this was one of the most interesting topics of the weekend, presented by Liz Bruton of the University of Leeds.

I had originally been down for the Gala Dinner, and was on the laminated seating plan, but I managed to duck out and get the last ticket for the Technical Dinner. More later.

I got distracted by a documentary about Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers on the telly, then I got lost in the rabbit warren of a hotel, so I arrived late for the first talk after lunch. Elaine Richards, G4LFM, gave one of the most amusing presentations of the weekend. Many of the pictures used during this talk illustrated not only the vastness of some Amateurs' gardens at this time and also the total disregard for Health and Safety! The story of Bill Corsham, 2UV, drew chuckles from the audience when it was revealed that one singer who had gone to his house to be broadcast (its seems anything was allowed) had been dressed in a rather substantial outfit, unaware of the dimensions of an Amateur's shack. She had to remove some of her clothing to fit into the room, and Bill was worried that his mother would find the young lady in a state of undress and come to the wrong conclusion! Apart from this, Bill Corsham was the first known UK Amateur to use a QSL card.

One of the most, if not THE most popular presentations of the weekend was 'Another slice of Pi' by Peter Goodhall, 2E0SQL. This was a follow-up to last year's introduction to the Raspberry Pi computer.

The timings were a bit askew, and there was a particular talk I wanted to see at the end of the Saturday session, so I took a wander round the Exhibition.

I think this is a representative of a company building something to sell.

I didn't ask, so I don't know what was going on.

Not surprisingly, I was too scared to have a go. I wasn't so timid in 1988. Shameful.

The ubiquitous RSGB bookstall. Yes, I did buy some books. 

I didn't eat a sweetie, though.

Contrary to appearances, this isn't a member of the Martin Lynch and Sons team begging someone to buy something from their stand.

To kill some time, I went to a talk by Mike Gloisten, GM0HCQ, which was imaginatively entitled 'From Morse Code to the World Wide Web'. You'd never know it was about the changes in communications equipment on the British Antarctic Survey ships and on the onshore bases!

Last lecture of the day, and a very interesting presentation on Voluntary Intercepters, and how a great many of them were Radio Amateurs. Needless to say, I can't talk about it.

What happened next? Tune in for the next exciting episode of the RSGB Centenary Convention.

Why bother?

One night last week, I set up my new FT-857D (yes, that's what I said). When I got the radio, I also bought one of those dual band whips with the mini mag-mount just to try it out, and now it's clinging to a shelf bracket. I've not rustled up anything for 6m, yet, but as this rig replaces the FT-690R, I'd better do something about it. I played around with the menus to get the correct channel spacing on VHF, and to turn the power down to 5 Watts on all bands. I'll tell you about that next time, as I'll need to set up repeater shifts, too, though I have no idea why I would want to. That evening, I heard two stations through a local repeater. Not noteworthy, you might think, but their conversation was a good example of the worst operating you are likely to hear. Not content to break licence conditions with a lack of frequent station identification, the short snippet I had the misfortune to hear encompassed a discussion on the criminal activity of someone known to them, the benefits system, politics and the troubles of a local (named) personality. One of them was then drowned out by someone shouting abuse. I blame the education system.

I didn't have a lot of time last weekend, so I missed most of the SSB Field Day contest. Whilst eating breakfast on Sunday, I had a tune round 15m. I didn't hear many Field Day stations, but I was amazed to hear a number of JAs. I don't recall ever hearing any since I moved to this QTH over twenty years ago. There was a lot of QRM and, as I've said before, this room is rather 'hot', so I couldn't work any of them with my TS-590S running 30W to an indoor dipole. I did, however, manage to make my first contact using it, a Russian station. Conditions deteriorated rapidly after that.

I got the 857 in Glenrothes during the Jaycee Open Day. It wasn't the most exciting of events, but it will surely have brought a lot of business to the shop. There were a few talks, but they appeared to be sales pitches by Waters and Stanton. I only attended one, a (fairly poor) presentation on Software Defined Radio. Oh, if only. I wasn't too impressed with the presenter (Jeff Stanton?), who either didn't know, or didn't care, that some of those attending the event, or his talk, were women  with Amateur Radio licences (I've also experienced that from Mark Francis, too, in the past). He also didn't convince me that SDR is necessarily a good thing, or that spending ludicrous amounts of money on something designed and made by an unknown Indian company would be the best use of one's hard-earned cash. It's still in its infancy, so I'll think about it when I retire. I'll be attending the RSGB Convention next month, an event from which W&S are banned (no idea why). Their rivals, Martin Lynch & Sons, sponsor the convention, so it will be interesting to see what they are like. No, I didn't take any photos.

Latest news

It goes without saying that not much has happened in the last month.

1. I've had one attempt so far at setting up the UV-5R, but it really can't be done efficiently without the software, a program called CHIRP. This software appears to be updated on a daily basis, so I will have to download the current version at the time I intend to programme the rig. By the looks of it, I have to take an image of the (default?) setup (Radio --> Download From Radio), then edit the data, which looks like it is displayed in a spreadsheet format. What could possibly go wrong? 

2. I am famous for doing one thing when I'm supposed to be doing another. Instead of working on programming the UV-5R, I decided to set up memories on the FT-60. It's not that difficult to do:

• You select the frequency you want by direct entry on the keypad or by using the tuning dial. 
• Once the frequency is displayed, you press the F/W key (bottom right-hand corner of the keypad) and hold until a row of dots appears on the display, and a number flashes in the top left of the display. 
• This is the next available memory channel, and you can change this to the one you want by using the tuning dial. Press and hold F/W again, and MEM-IN will be displayed. 
• The leftmost dot flashes, so now turn the dial to display the desired character of the name. 
• Use the Up arrow key to advance to the next title character to be entered. 
• Pressing F/W for the final time stores the title.
• If you want to check that it has been stored, press the V/M key (bottom left-hand corner) to go from VFO to Memory, and use the tuning dial to scroll through the memory channels until you reach the one you seek.
• You can also scan by pressing and holding either the Up or Down arrow keys. Guess which key makes it scan up or down.
• Repeat until funny all your desired frequencies have been stored.

Next time, I may mention repeaters. May.

3. I have a new HF/50MHz rig. I have switched it on three times since I brought it home two weeks ago. 

4. If I'm still here, I'll be going to the RSGB (Centenary) Convention in October. I have decided to go by train via London. How I'm going to get from Milton Keynes Central to Horwood House I don't know. How I'm going to get back to London for 5pm on the Sunday is anyone's guess.

Tune in next week/month/year (delete as applicable) for the next exciting episode. With photos.

p.s. I hate this layout. Bear with me.

Holidays in the sun

Ten years ago, I went on holiday to Llandudno in North Wales for the first time. I was so enthusiastic, I took my FT-817 and a number of mobile whips. It was the weekend of the RSGB IOTA contest, and I thought I'd make tons of contacts. Sadly, but not surprisingly, my little 5 Watt rig and whatever vertical I was using failed to get me much beyond the end of my nose. I made three contacts on 40m: EU-122 (Northern Irish coastal islands); EU-008 (Inner Hebrides) and EU-124 (Welsh coastal islands). I had two contacts on 15m, one of which was Anglesey, and the other Puffin Island, I think. West Shore in Llandudno wasn't great for VHF or UHF, and I made my only 70cm contact to date, with a station in Rhyl through the GB3LL repeater. The remainder (i.e., 2) of my contacts were on 80m, a band I am unable to work at the home QTH. That particular weekend also saw celebrations for the 90th Anniversary of the RSGB. I attended an event in Eirias Park in Colwyn Bay on the Saturday and worked their Special Event Station on the Sunday. I also had a proper QSO with a station in South Wales. I have never taken my radio on holiday since.

Yesterday was my last day in Llandudno for this year, and I took a trip up the Great Orme on the tram. When I got there, I spotted a car in the corner of the car park with a huge vertical on the roof. This was Robert GW6STK, who is the repeater keeper for Llandudno's 2m repeater, GB3GO. I had packed my FT-60 for the return journey, so wasn't able to have a QSO. I hadn't heard any activity on 2m or 70cm throughout my entire holiday, so I didn't expect there to be an Amateur at the top of the Orme. It pays to have a radio, and some QSL cards, to hand.

This morning, I had a listen round 40m, and heard a few UK stations in the IOTA contest. By the time I had returned from the supermarket, the band was all but dead, and 20m was going the same way. It has been raining heavily since last night, and the electricity cables outside are zinging. It's not a good day for radio.

Finally, I actually bought a Baofeng UV-5R, but have yet to attempt to programme it. I hope to have something to report soon.

Nothing heard

I looked at my Logbook recently and was shocked to find that I had last transmitted during the IARU HF Championship (hereafter referred to as the IARU Contest, for brevity, and because that's what I always call it) in.....2008! As you, my loyal followers, already know, this blog has been about my exploits, or the lack of them, over the last 6 years. That Logbook (number 2, as I like to call it) had been frozen in time on 07:46 GMT on Sunday 13 June 2008, when I swapped reports with TM0HQ, the French headquarters station. Where have I been? Erm...erm...it's complicated.

When your only antennae are dipoles pinned on the wall, you don't exactly pack a punch. You don't hear much either. A nearby pylon and an even closer cordless telephone base station/charger were my main sources of noise until later in 2008, when I had Sky+ installed. My decoder is a few feet away from my radio, and my aerials. The Buzzcocks were correct; noise annoys. Solar Cycle 24 isn't helping.

In the intervening years, the QRM has become oppressive. I have added, in no particular order, a BT Home Hub 2; a CD player on standby; a DAB radio/alarm on standby; a Freeview+ HD box (don't ask), and two mobile phones. Oh, and I suffer from chronic apathy. What's to be done?

1. Get on the Internet:

I set up a Twitter account, @GM0JHE. 10 tweets in how long? I sense a pattern here.

2. Go to a rally:

Yes, another one. The Central Scotland Mini Ham Radio Convention took place at the Crofthead Farm Community Education Centre on the outskirts of Livingston (isn't everything in Livingston on the outskirts?). My SatNav couldn't cope, and took me to the former mining village of Seafield, which was nowhere near the rally. It turned out that I wasn't the only one flummoxed by the '2nd turning at the roundabout', though that was nothing compared with the hilarious raffle which seemed to go on forever, when in reality it went on for half an hour!

The CSFMG AGM was taking place, so I rejoined after two years. My membership had lapsed due to my stupidity and the lack of a Magnum Rally. I also took the liberty of buying 'The Low Power Spratbook' to add to my collection of books I never read or from which I never build anything.

I bought an old book for 40p from one of the junk stalls, 'Wireless Servicing Manual' by W. T. Cocking, in which there is the inscription 'William L. Cameron Feb 1938', so it really is old. It's in relatively good condition, but I still don't like handling old, dirty books. I may cover it in some way, or sell it in a junk sale.

Some nine and half years after the last one, I bought a Callbook, but my excitement at acquiring the RSGB Centenary edition was tempered somewhat by my details having been changed by someone. However, an e-mail to Ofcom later, and it was sorted. We'll see next year. I didn't buy any of these, though.

3. Buy a rig:

I've been thinking for a while that I need a new HF rig, one with a little more sophistication, but money has been tight for some time. So, what about VHF and UHF? I have a handheld, a Kenwood TH-F7E, a dinky little dual bander (for its time). I bought it at the beginning of 2002, but have barely used it, because 2m here isn't up to much. It's plagued by moron ex-CBers who appear to think that operating practices 'acceptable' on 27MHz are acceptable in Amateur Radio. For example, one morning a few weeks back, I heard someone bemoan the fact that the authorities had confiscated his guns! No one seems to call CQ on 2m anymore, and if there's any activity on 70cm, I have never heard it (apart from a repeater somewhere down the Clyde about 10 years ago). Unless you have a sked with someone, you don't make contact with anyone respectable, and I have no friends. OK, so I have a handheld, some of the natives are far from appealing and I have no friends: why did I buy another handheld? I have no idea.

The Yaesu FT-60E is, as we say round here, Clydebuilt. If I dropped it on my toes, I'd be hopping mad. It's heavy because of the big battery, but heavy means robust, in respect of the case, at least. I went for this over the Wouxun or Baofeng, as they have the reputation of being a little lightweight (and a swine to programme). I may acquire a Baofeng UV-5R for a laugh later on in the year, as they sell for around £30 on the Web. That's not too much money to throw away, as I must eat that much in chocolate every week. Back to the FT-60 and, no, I've not transmitted since I bought it four weeks ago. However, I'm taking it on holiday, so we'll see. Don't hold your breath. Look, here it is

and finally...

4. Erm, switch the radio on an actually go on the air?

That's a bit drastic, isn't it? Well, I did. For a couple of hours this morning, I took part in the IARU contest (nice bit of symmetry that). I worked 25 stations in quite difficult conditions on 10 and 15 metres (where the QSB was my enemy), 20 metres, and had one contact on 40, the RSGB headquarters station, GR2HQ. My other favourites were VY2ZM on Prince Edward Island on 20m; H2T in Cyprus and OH0X in the Aland Islands on 10m (with 5W); and MU0GSY in Guernsey on 15m. Now I'm halfway down the second page of Logbook 2. It's a start, isn't it?

p.s. Somewhere in there, I bought a Raspberry Pi. Let's see if it stays in its wrapping as long as the 70cm HB9CV!

and now for a genuine 'and finally':

My trusty Yaesu FT-690R, which I had bought secondhand in 1991, has decided to give up the ghost. With 2.5 Watts, and the built-in telescopic whip, I worked 16 countries (that's a lot for me), the farthest away being Ukraine on CW. I'm surprised that the much older, and much more used FT-290R is still going, but I have to accept the fact that I may have to put my hand in my pocket and buy something else. VHF multimodes are not the order of the day anymore. The closest is the FT-817, but that is now also old technology, and I read on the Internet that parts are hard to come by. Next nearest is, again, a Yaesu rig, the FT-857. That can't be much younger than the 817, and it doesn't get the best of reviews. Most other rigs are base station sets which only go up to 50Mhz, but the 2m and 70cm bands can be useful to have. Decisions, decisions.

Radio silence

GM0JHE is still inactive, and lacking in enthusiasm. What better way to stimulate interest than a trip to a rally? I decided to return to Blackpool, which gave me the chance to try out their new trams.

For the first time in my life I had a three-figure sum of money in my pocket. Did I buy anything? Well, apart from the almost compulsory book at the RSGB bookstall (from a  humourless RSGB representative), I bought absolutely nothing. I wanted to see the new Wouxun 2m/4m handie and the MyDel 4m FM mobile (spot the theme) but I didn't see either. There was plenty of 'junk' on show, but very little (affordable) new equipment. I may have imagined it, but I thought it was busier than my last visit in 2010 so, with any luck, the rally will survive for a while. However, there will be no Magnum Rally this year due to the lack of traders, which could be a sign of things to come for Scotland and the North of England.