● Carrying on the Practical Way - A Yagi for the 17m Band ● What Next?

- Amateur TV
NOW IN
OUR 86th
YEAR!

RSGB Convention
HF Highlights Our report on another
GB1BOB successful event
commemorates WONDER WAND
the Battle The Wonderloop 750
of Britain & Widebander Mk 2
put to the test

The Yaesu
FT-70DE
We look at a new handheld NEWARK HAMFEST
OUR ANNUAL REPORT
designed for System Fusion December 2017
£3.99 ISSN 0141-0857

A FULL INDEX OF ALL THE 2017 FEATURES

Display until 14th December 2017

01-Front Cover.indd 1 24/10/2017 15:47

W&S PW Dec 17 3pg.qxp_Layout 1 20/10/2017 10:19 Page 1 W&S

This month I want to talk about the QRP challenge.

It’s like fishing with a rod and line rather than a 400W
net! Here at Waters and Stanton we have an exclusive trio
of top rigs. It’s a great way to focus your mind on a
different aspect of ham radio. It brings a skill and
excitement to ham radio. It also makes portable operation
a very easy option and a chance to get away from local
high noise levels. Peter Waters G3OJV

HAM RADIO WAREHOUSE

Portable Operation at its Best
KX3 160m - 6m 4m or 2m Option UK’s
LARGESTf
• Total portability SDR design & DSP
• Includes 5MHx band + receive 1.5-30MHz
• SSB CW AM and FM modes stock o io
Ham Rard
• Tx and decode RTTY and PSK32
• External 9-14v or (optional) 8 x AA cells
Microphone
• 8 band graphics in Tx and RX Gea
and key not • Digital Voice and CW Player
included • Direct keypad entry and A/B vfo
• Full QSK with variable selectivity
Kit £999.95 • Notch filter and AF filter
Built £1,079.95 • Speech Compression and VOX

KX2 80m - 10m • Pocket portable HF transceiver

• Built-in internal microphone At the Ham Radio Warehouse in
• SSB CW AM modes
New !
Portsmouth we are expanding with more
• Same SDR and DSP as KX3 and more products.
• Optional Li-ion battery or external 9-14V We also need more staff and are
• Variable selectivity and AF filter recruiting at the moment. It’s a huge
• Speech compressor and full QSK warehouse full of the latest gear and
• Includes the 5MHz band serving hams world wide.
Microphone and key • Receiver matches the best base stations!
not included Here in Portsmouth we are located just a mile from the A3(M) with ample FREE
Built £859.95 parking. We also have a retail shop with licensed hams who will be happy to assist
and advise you. Equally, we operate an efficient mail order system. Either way we
Elecraft Accessories XG3 Signal Generator offer a great deal!
KAT500 1kW Auto ATU A highly accurate
portable signal source
with spot frequencies Elecraft K3S 160m-6m 10W or 100W
on all bands 160m to Join the “Club” and Experience Real Performance
2m with levels of:
Ideal for use with the KPA500 amplifier, 107dBm (1 uV)
it matches coax systems to enable full -73 dBm (50 uV, S9) 100W Kit £2849.95
£
power output. -33 dBm (S9+40) 1
100W Built £
£2999,95
Kit £799.95 Built £839.95 0 dBm £199.95
T1A Portable Auto ATU 10W Kit £
£2999.95
PX3 Spectrum The T1A is a fully assembled
10W
1 Built £2449.95
£
Display auto ATU that covers 160m
to 6m up to 20W and
Plugs directly into the KX3 to give same matches whips, end fed • SSB CW AM FM The K3S is the “sports car” of ham radio
spectrum display as P3. Bandwidth wires and coax cable. Great • New low noise synthesizer transceivers! Its under the bonnet that
2kHz-200kHz for FT-817 etc. Totally self • USB Port & 12m-6m extra pre-amp counts. The K3S certainly can out perform
contained • Multiple Attenuator almost any other ham radio transceiver.
Kit £569.95 Built £629.95 £194.95 Its fun to own and fun to operate. It is the
• Improved AF output design
• Now includes rx 470kHz band most popular radio for DXpeditions for

SKY-ONE from Germany • Combines superhet and SDR

• 32 bit DSP design
• Built in RTTY and PSK send/decoding
both performance and reliability.
The Optional P3
Modes: LSB, USB, CW, AM, FM, DIGI Modes • Firmware update USB via web
Keyer: Iambic A, Iambic B; and straight key
Sensitivity: 0.2uV Elecraft Receive Ratings*
Filter: 1st Flex-6700 £7800
SSB: 250 Hz - to - 3.6 kHz, user adjustable 2nd K3S £2999
CW: 20 Hz - to - 1.2 kHz, user adjustable 3rd K3 no longer available
AM: 2.0 kHz - to - 9.6 kHz, user adjustable 4th IC-7851 £8,000
The optional P3 enable you to see any
FM: 2.0 kHz - to - 9.6 kHz, user adjustable 5th PT-8000 £12,000 part of the RF spectrum from 2kHz -
DIGI: 3.35 kHz 6th KX3 £1,000 200kHz wide. It has both spectrum and
Antenna: 50 Ohm, BNC The performance positions are based on
waterfall displays. Can also be use for Tx
VFOs: 2 (A, B) independent tests by Sherwood US monitoring with Tx monitor option.
5W 160m - 6m £699.95 Supplied as a very simple kit - you just need a screwdriver!
Check: www.sherweng.com Kit £819.95 Built £859.95

The sign that means a GREAT DEAL!

Three of the UKs leading Ham Radio Retailers distribution centre in the country housing a wider
(Waters and Stanton, Nevada and InnovAntennas) have selection of products than any other UK based company.
combined and operate from a combined distribution IHSG are hiring!
centre and showroom in Farlington, Portsmouth. The new If you believe you have value you can add to our
facility forms the largest ham radio warehouse and expanding team, mail us! justin@ihsg.co.uk

call: 01702 204965 email: sales@wsplc.com

Waters & Stanton Ltd • Unit 1 • Fitzherbert Spur • Farlington • Portsmouth • PO6 1TT
@wsplc bblog.hamradiostore.co.uk facebook.com/WatersandStanton Waters and Stanton
W

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W&S PW Dec 17 3pg.qxp_Layout 1 20/10/2017 10:19 Page 2

ONE
ANTENNAS for all Reasons AOR MONT H DIAMOND PSU
AOR SA-7000 Hustler HF Verticals
ON LY!
Offer
Wideband Receive Antenna The Answer for the Small Garden
Here’s a great antenna for Hustler Vertical HF antennas are
wideband listening from ideal for small gardens. They
shortwave right up to 2GHz. This work great when ground
passive design is intended for
either outside use or in the attic.
mounted. Just provide a few
buried radials and a ground post.
AR-8600 MkII
Mobile Base Station
£209.95 50 Ohm coax feed makes for • All mode: WFM, NFM, SFM,
Built-in Speaker
easy installation and they are • Switching mode:
resonant on the xdesign bands. WAM, AM, NAM, USB, LSB, CW
• Frequency range: 100kHz-3000MHz 25A (continuous, 8 hours)
That means that your internal
ATUI will easily take care of any £619.95 • Input voltage: AC230V
CX-SW2PL AR-6000.................................. £4699.95 • Output voltage: DC5 to 15V variable
Coax Switch small VSWR at the band edges.
AR-5001D............................... £2669.95 • Output current: 25A (continuous)
The smart way to switch DV-1........... One month only....£1274.95 • Built in speaker
your antennas on transmit 4BTV 10-15-20-40m 1kW 6.25m high AR-8200D..................................£664.95 • Dimensions: 210Wx110Hx220Dmm
or receive .......................................... £209.95 AR-8200MkIII...........................£459.95
£34.95 5BTV 10-15-20-40-80m 1kW 7.5m high £89.95
........................................ £269.95 LA-400
6BTV 10-15-20-30-40-80m 1kW 7.3m high 10kHz to 500MHz Desktop Perstel DR701C
........................................ £289.95 Magnetic Loop Receiving When the Bands are Dead!
Buddipole MFJ-1886x Loop Antenna Aerial £419.95
Portable Cuts Out HF Noise!
Here is a
HF Antennas
• 1 - 30MHz
• 1.25kg AR-8200 MkIII GREAT
• Low noise Interface This 100kHz-3GHz
• Supresses Noise scanning receiver covers OFFER
• Can also Null all the popular modes that is ideal
• Low Height OK including FM, AM and for shack or
Buddipole • Bias T kitchen.
40m - 6m dipole kit......................£234.95 • Power up Coax
SSB. It is regarded as the
Buddipole Deluxe • Inc AC adaptor industry standard by
Adds mast system........................ £470.95 many and is also
One of the big problems on the lower HF supplied for commercial • FM, DAB and DAB Plus
Buddistick Verticle kit .............. £164.95 bands is noise. This antenna reduces receiver • AC and Battery
noise in a big way. Configure your use. Includes a ferrite LF
Buddipole are nicely engineered antenna system for LW • Large LCD Colour Panel
antennas that are great for portable or transceiver so that you connect this antenna • Speaker or Headphones
on receive only. You will be amazed at how and MW and MW
temporary home use. reception • Alarm, Time and Presets
Full details: www.hamradiostore.co.uk
the noise is greatly reduced.
£206.95 £459.95 £49.95

We provide finance on all Ham equipment

Buy now pay later or regular finance deals can be arranged in store or over the phone, call for details
Buy now pay later or regular finance deals can be arranged in store or over the phone, call for details

New ! YAESU DEALS OFFICIAL RE-SELLER FREE UK SHIPPING

FT-891 FT-817 BHI-DSP FROM
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band HF - UHF transceiver which fits inside the
with AM,
includes Yaesu’s System Fusion as FT-817ND. A mini
USB, LSB and CW modes featuring
well as traditional modes. The
FT-991A packs the same features
triple conversion, noise blanker and FT-450D press button &
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Call for best price with state-of-the-art IF DSP
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FTM-3200DE Includes FM and FC-30
External ATU for FT-897 & FT-857 £259.95
Rugged yet compact System System Fusion modes.
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02-WatersStanton-3pages.indd 31 24/10/2017 15:53

W&S PW Dec 17 3pg.qxp_Layout 1 20/10/2017 10:19 Page 3

HEIL THE UK’S OFFICIAL DISTRIBUTOR ICOM DEALS

OFFICIAL RE-SELLER
Heil Headsets Make - - -
- - - - All The Difference! OFFICIAL RE-SELLER
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HF-6m-4m transceiver with
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Purchase a Pro-7 Headset and get a frequency automatic antenna
FREE adaptor lead for your radio tuner, ideal for field operation.
● Gel padded headset E
Operate with 100 Watts on
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● Excellent isolation IC-7300
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● Quick change mic element OFFER £1199.95
● Fitted new HC-7 element Add a separate receive only antenna
● Switch for spacial mode to your IC-7300. Ideal for noisy
locations where a receive loop
Exclusive to RadCom Readers antenna is used to combat
Pro-7 for Kenwood or Yaesu.....£258.95 noise levels. DIY Kit £49.95
FREE E Pro-7 for Icom..........................£274.95 FREE FITTING when you buy with IC-7300
G
CA R R IA
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Retail price will be £3598.00
Our Exclusive Orders taken for first batch now,
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FREE E
● Padded Headset Call to Pre-Order yours now
● Hi Quality Boom Mic G Here at Waters and Stanton we are getting ready for the new and
● Fully adjustable CA R R IA exciting ICOM IC-7610. The IC-7610 is the successor to the IC-7600 and
● Ready wired for IC-7300 will be a dual-watch capable HF+50MHz 100W base station with built-in
● Exclusive for Icom antenna tuner. The LCD will be touch screen and you will be able to
connect an external display. The radio will be based on SDR technology,
so well deployed in the very popular IC-7300. Another nice feature is the
Full Range of Heil from Stock ability to output the display to a large external screen.

UK’s Largest Ham Radio Warehouse

A3(M) Motorway less than 1 mile - Large FREE Car Park
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Remember. if you need more information you can download the
MFJ User Manuals from www.mfjenterprises.com

MFJ-223 MFJ-225
A compact handheld This wide range
MFJ off the s. antenna analyzer that analyser covers
st Price
She at Be that
lf covers 1 - 60MHz. It 1.5 - 180MHz. It has USB connection
features a high quality
With S ff the
ta and internal battery that can be
understands MFJ-969 colour screen. It not charged. The screen has large clear
Product HF+6m 300W only measures VSWR, characters. A graphic display provides
antenna tuner but reactance and resistance with response curves of VSWR and
graphic plots.
Tune up with MFJ with roller, £532.95 impedances etc. £472.95
antenna switch and XMTR. £249.95
MFJ-925.....200W auto ATU.................. £179.95
MFJ-926B.. 200W auto ATU.................. £330.95 MFJ-998 MFJ-259C MFJ-269C
MFJ-927.....200W remote ATU.............. £286.95
ATU with full This is the antenna Here’s one of our best
MFJ-928.....200W ATU...........................£229.95 selling analysers with a
MFJ-935B.. Loop tuner.......................... £231.95 1500 Watts analyser that started it
MFJ-936B.. Loop Tuner.......................... £286.95 SSB/CW Digital & Analog all. Covering 1530kHz - very wide coverage
MFJ-939A.. Auto ATU for Alinco............ £176.95 SWR/WattMeter. 1.8-30MHz. 230MHz. If you prefer from 530kHz - 470MHz.
MFJ-939I... Auto ATU foe Icom..............£176.95 analogues metering It is capable of handling
MFJ-939K.. Auto ATU for Kenwood....... £176.95 £729.95 then this meets the bill. But you can very complex
MFJ-939Y.. Auto ATU for Yaesu cable....£176.95
MFJ-941E.. Manual HF ATU...................£165.95 MFJ-16010 measure a lot more than resonance impedances and reactances. It’s a
MFJ-945E.. Mobile HF ATU....................£154.95 200W variable with all kinds of impedance and great investment that can save so
MFJ-948.....Manual ATU 300W..............£187.95 random wire antenna reactance figures to enable antenna much time with antenna design and
MFJ-949E.. Above + Dummy Load........ £209.95
tune capable of matching almost adjustemnts, coax measurements, matching. But there is much more
MFJ-962D.. Manual ATU 1.5kW.............£352.95
any length wire from 160-10m. lengths, short circuits etc. that it can also for for RF work.
MFJ-969.....Manual 160-6m ATU 300W..£253.95
MFJ-971.....Portable HF ATU..................£143.95 £79.95 £330.95 £439.95

call: 01702 204965 email: sales@wsplc.com

Waters & Stanton Ltd • Unit 1 • Fitzherbert Spur • Farlington • Portsmouth • PO6 1TT
@wsplc bblog.hamradiostore.co.uk facebook.com/WatersandStanton Waters and Stanton
W

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 Contents
On Sale
9th
Novembe
r
2017
Practical Wireless December 2017 l Volume 93 l Number 12 l Issue 1327

12

10 16

23 Rejuvenating the Yaesu 52 Buying Second-Hand

Chris Lorek G4HCL looks at a popular
FR-50B Receiver – Part 2 2m SSB transceiver that’s often found
Dr Samuel Ritchie EI9FZB continues his at a bargain price on the second-hand
restoration of an old Yaesu FR-50B. market.
6 Keylines 26 Antipodal Focusing
Don G3XTT focuses this time on 54 HF Highlights
Steve Telenius-Lowe PJ4DX explains Steve Telenius-Lowe PJ4DX has
antennas but also has news of the online
antipodal focusing of radio signals, another packed column, with lots of
version of PW.
an effect that helps to improve signal reader news and band reports.
7 News strengths to and from the opposite side
PW’s monthly roundup of news from the of the globe. 58 Rallies
UK and internationally, including new Locate a rally or event near you; we have
29 Carrying on the Practical Way our usual comprehensive list.
products, club news and recent events. Dave Cutts M0TAZ describes a club
9 Space Weather Workshop project to construct a 3-element HF Yagi 60 PW Annual Index 2017
for the 17m band.
PW Making Waves columnist Steve 62 Readers’ Letters
White G3ZVW reports on a workshop 34 What Next Aerials or antennas, Imperial or Metric
bringing together Space Weather Colin Redwood G6MXL returns to and an unusual QSO are just three of the
scientists and radio amateurs. amateur television, a topic he first wrote various topics covered this month.
about in PW in 1984.
10 The 2017 RSGB National
Hamfest 40 Valve & Vintage 65 Classified Adverts
PW was once again at the National Michael Marinaro WN1M continues 66 Bargain Basement
Hamfest at Newark. Editor Don G3XTT with the second part of the story of 67 Traders’ Table
has some impressions. transatlantic communications during the
68 PW Publishing Bookstore
First World War.
12 Review – The Yaesu FT-70DE 72 Subscriptions
Tim Kirby G4VXE has a review of a new 42 The World of VHF
dual-band handheld for Yaesu’s System Tim Kirby G4VXE brings all the usual
Fusion. news, which this month includes
some 6cm band developments and a
14 Review – Wonder-Wand repurposed satellite.
Antennas l P
 ractical
Carl Gorse 2E0HPI has been checking 46 Data Modes Wireless
out some more antennas suitable for Mike Richards G4WNC is looking at 1965-1969
portable operation. the APRS service and showing you Archive CDs
how to set up a simple tracker or igate are now
16 The 2017 RSGB Convention station. He starts, though, with a tip on a available.
Editor Don Field G3XTT reports on the Raspberry Pi wireless mouse.
RSGB’s annual Convention.
50 In the Shop
18 The Morse Mode Harry Leeming G3LLL relates a tale
Roger Cooke G3LDI returns to QSO from the early days of transistors, advises
procedures before bringing news caution where insurance is concerned
of GB2CW, another Boot Camp, a and has some more anecdotes from his
proficiency guide and some new paddles. retail days.

Copyright © Warners Group Publications Ltd. 2017. Copyright in all drawings, logos, photographs and articles published in Practical Wireless is fully protected
and reproduction in whole or part is expressly forbidden. All reasonable precautions are taken by Practical Wireless to ensure that the advice and data given to
our readers are reliable. We cannot however guarantee it and we cannot accept legal responsibility for it. Prices are those current as we go to press. Published
on the second Thursday of each month by Warners Group Publications Ltd. Printed in England by Holbrooks Printers Ltd., Portsmouth P03 5HX. Distributed by
Warners Distribution, West Street, Bourne, Lincs, PE10 9PH. Tel: 01778 391000, Web: www.warnersgroup.co.uk
Practical Wireless is sold subject to the following conditions, namely that it shall not, without written consent of the publishers first having been given, be lent,
re-sold, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade at more than the recommended selling price shown on the cover, and that it shall not be lent, re-sold,
hired out or otherwise disposed of in a mutilated condition or in any unauthorised cover by way of Trade, or affixed to or as part of any publication or advertising,
literary or pictorial matter whatsoever.

December 2017 Practical Wireless 5

05-Contents-december.indd 5 24/10/2017 15:46

 Keylines
Practical Wireless
Warners Group Publications
The Maltings
West Street
Bourne
Lincs PE10 9PH
www.warnersgroup.co.uk
Tel 01778 391000
Don G3XTT focuses this time on antennas but also has news of the online version of PW.
Editor (c/o Warners Group Publications)

I
Don Field G3XTT
practicalwireless@warnersgroup.co.uk
t’s been a busy month, at Goonhilly with a mere 65dB similar nearby.
with the Newark Hamfest of gain! And while you may not want or Designer
Mike Edwards
and the RSGB Convention, need an 18MHz Yagi, the general mike.edwards@warnersgroup.co.uk
both of which I report It’s All Down to the Antenna principles apply equally to other Advertisement Sales
on in the issue. I was also I can see one downside to HF Yagis and suitable designs are Claire Ingram
claire.ingram@warnersgroup.co.uk
privileged to attend the official using these weak signal modes readily available nowadays on the
Advertising Production and Design
opening of the reformed BBC Radio on the HF bands, which is internet. Dave Cutts M0TAZ, the Nicola Lock
Club. Among others I met at the that it could easily make us author, mentions the DK7ZB site nicola.lock@warnersgroup.co.uk

Convention was Mark M0UFC who lazy in relying on this excellent but I would also highly commend Publisher
Rob McDonnell
wrote our recent constructional software to obviate the need Justin Johnson G0KSC’s website robm@warnersgroup.co.uk
articles about a wideband for decent station engineer- (below). Although the design
transceiver system for the 6cm ing (feeders, antennas) and to force behind InnovAntennas and Subscriptions
Subscriptions are available at £44 per annum to
microwave band. He mentioned that shield us to some extent from other commercial designs, Justin UK addresses, £53 Europe Airmail and £63 RoW
response to the articles has been the vagaries and understand- generously makes a number of Airmail. See the subscription page for full details.

very positive and has led to new ing of propagation. Some years his designs available to home Subscription Administration
Webscribe,
band users and, sure enough, our ago Tom Schiller N6BT, who constructors and can supply some Practical Wireless Subscriptions,
VHF columnist Tim G4VXE has a later went on to found Force 12 of the piece parts if required. Unit 8, The Old Mill, Brook Street,
Tring, Hertfordshire HP23 5EF
report this month confirming exactly Antennas, wrote an article for www.g0ksc.co.uk pw@webscribe.co.uk
that. It’s great when radio amateurs QST magazine in the USA (and Tel: 01442 820580

PW Online
www.mysubcare.com
try out something new, whether a later expanded it into a self-
Components for PW projects
new band or mode or maybe some published book) about how any One of the early innovations that In general, all components used in constructing
new constructional technique. piece of conducting metal can our new owners, Warners Group, PW projects are available from a variety of
component suppliers. Where special, or difficult
be loaded up as an antenna. He have made is to offer an online to obtain, components are specified a supplier
FT8 described how he had made version of PW. This is identi- will be quoted in the article.
While the new FT8 data mode may contacts using a filament light cal to the paper version but the
Photocopies & Back Issues
not be to everyone’s taste, I was as- bulb but it could equally have internet links are fully clickable. We can supply back issues, but we only keep
tonished to see a report by Michael been an old-fashioned bed- The service is possible because them for one year. If you are looking for an article
or review that you missed first time around, we
G7VJR on Twitter that in September, stead or whatever. Warners already have a relation- can still help. If we don’t have the actual issue
the number of FT8 QSOs uploaded He then went on to show the ship with Pocketmags to host their we can always supply a photocopy or PDF file of
the article. See the Book Store pages for details.
to Club Log was the same as CW improvements that moving to digital magazine portfolio. Details,
and SSB QSOs combined. Wow! a resonant antenna (such as a including pricing, can be found at: Technical Help
half-wave dipole) would make https://pocketmags.com/ We regret that due to Editorial timescales,

EME
replies to technical queries cannot be given
to a signal. By the time you get practical-wireless-magazine over the telephone.
Those statistics about the popular- to multi-element Yagi antennas, The price is essentially the Any technical queries are unlikely to receive
ity of FT8 certainly generated some you start getting into the law of same as the paper version immediate attention so, if you require help
with problems relating to topics covered in
animated discussion at the RSGB diminishing returns although at because Warners have to pay PW, please either contact the author of the
Convention. Many amateurs of a VHF and UHF the mechanics Pocketmags for the hosting and article directly or write or send an email to
the Editor and we’ll do our best to reply as
‘certain age’ like to actually hear the and size are often still manage- electronic publications attract VAT soon as we can.
stations they are working rather than able and worth pursuing. whereas paper publications do
rely on their PC to tell them what’s not. However, this should certainly
going on. FT8 is, of course, closely Building Antennas be of immediate benefit to over-
Carry ing on
the Prac tical
Way - A Yagi
for the 17m
Band ● What Next ?
- Amat eur TV
NOW IN
OUR 86th
YEAR!

related to the other WSJT (Weak While on the subject of anten- seas readers because it will ensure
●

Signal by K1JT) modes that started nas, this month’s Carrying on instant availability and save them
life as a way for VHF and UHF DXers the Practical Way column fea- the additional postage costs.
to make contacts under marginal tures a 17m antenna that made To access PW online, you will
conditions. The extreme example for an interesting club construc- need to create a Pocketmags ac-
is moonbounce (EME), previously tion project. In years past it was count and then opt for a subscrip-
the province of those with space difficult if not impossible to buy tion or purchase a single copy. The
RSGB Conve ntion
for a big dish but now accessible to high-grade aluminium in retail great thing with the Pocketmags another
ts
HF HighlighBOB Our report on nt
successful eve
amateurs with much more limited quantities in the UK so building service is that you can access their GB1 ND
commemorates WONDER WA
means. Many years ago, though, on HF Yagis was a challenge (lower magazines across multiple devices the Battle
op 750
The Wonderlo Mk 2
& Widebander test
put to the
of Britain
one of our DXpeditions, I was im- grade material was usually fine and operating systems. Follow this
The Yaesu
pressed to hear Morse coming back for VHF antennas because the link for further details: https:// FT-70DEld NEWARK HAMFEST
RT
handhe OUR ANNUAL REPO
off the moon on the 70cm band so element lengths are much less). pocketmags.com/how-it-works We look at a new Fusion
designed for Sys
tem December 2017
£3.99 ISSN 0141-0857

URES
I was even more impressed on the Nowadays a number of excel- A FULL INDEX OF
ALL THE 2017 FEAT Display until 14th
December 2017

latest episode of TX Factor to hear lent suppliers exist. I have used

SSB coming back off the moon loud Blackburns Metals who have a Subscribe to
and clear on the 6cm band. Mind
you, it did help that the amateurs
warehouse near me in Reading
and others elsewhere. Most Don Field
Practical Wireless
concerned were using the big dish readers will have something G3XTT www.subscribe.co.uk/magazine/pw

6 Practical Wireless December 2017

06-Keylines.indd 6 24/10/2017 15:46

 Newsdesk
Send your information to:
Practical Wireless Letters, Warners Group Publications
West Street, Bourne, Lincs PE10 9PH
E-mail: practicalwireless@warnersgroup.co.uk

George M0UKK and Lauren M6HLR

Youngsters on the Air

In August the RSGB hosted YOTA 2017,
an international amateur radio youth week
that was one of the most successful events
organised by the RSGB Youth Committee and
RSGB HQ. The event gathered over 80 young
people from around 26 countries who took
part in a wide range of amateur radio activities
and cultural events.
December sees the annual YOTA month
that, this year, will be building on the success
of YOTA 2017 and the close working
relationship the RSGB has with the IARU R1 Lord Hall cuts the ribbon to open the new shack (Photo courtesy Graham White).
wider YOTA programme.
During YOTA month countries gather their
young members and licensed amateurs to put
on special event stations to get young people
on air and promote the message of amateur
BBC Director General Opens G8BBC
radio to young people. The UK has taken part On October 18th, Lord (Tony) Hall, Director congratulations to the reactivated BBC
in the event for three years and is delighted to General of the BBC officially opened the station.
be part of it for a fourth time. new amateur radio shack at the historic After the transmission, the DG was
The organisers (the RSGB Youth Broadcasting House in central London, presented with honorary membership of
Committee) have attracted applications from headquarters of the BBC. the London BBC Radio Group, bringing
all over the UK from clubs wanting to get After cutting the ribbon at the door to numbers up to 36.
young people on the air. In addition to hosting the new radio, Lord Hall passed a greetings The event was well attended, with
the GB17YOTA callsign, some are planning message over the air on the 40m band TX Factor and the ICQ podcast both
extra activities to draw in young people, such to another heritage station GB2RN at recording the opening for future broadcast.
as wireless technologies, kit building and even HMS Belfast (featured in PW’s recent In Representatives from PW (editor Don
ARDF. They would love to hear from you after Focus piece). Volunteer radio operator G3XTT and VHF columnist Tim G4VXE)
the event and see photos of what you’ve been Jorgen Faxholm M0AXP was on board to and the RSGB were also present.
doing. Please send reports to yota.month@ acknowledge the DG’s message, and sent
rsgb.org.uk so they can be shared in RadCom
and elsewhere.
One of this year’s participants has and JOTA are very well-established events
expressed a great passion about working known around the world. Since they are well-
alongside the RSGB to further his work with documented and supported it makes it easy
the RSGB and Scouts. James Preece M0JFP to approach the scouts or other youth groups
of Chertsey Radio Club (MX0MXO) said, with a purpose.”
“Being part of YOTA for the second year helps By the time you read this all the allocations
us as a club support the children in our area will have been made so the Youth Committee
get exposure to using ham radio. The callsign hope you will support the event by listening
GB17YOTA is well known and operators are out for GB17YOTA throughout December and
instantly going to know who they are talking to encouraging the youngsters on the air. Some
and what the event is. This makes it easy for may be trying amateur radio for the first time
us as a club because we don’t have to explain and making contacts will encourage their
what is happening or line up contacts. It is also interest. If you would like to find out more
great to tell the story of how youngsters from contact yota.month@rsgb.org.uk or take a
all around the world came to the UK this year look at the RSGB website:
to learn about and use amateur radio, hosted www.rsgb.org/yota-month
at the Scout Activity Centre at Gilwell Park. (Our thanks to Kieran Clarke, RSGB Youth
“We have run several special event stations Committee YOTA month co-ordinator for the
and really enjoyed doing so, but YOTA above News item) Martin M0YRM

Practical Wireless December 2017 7

07-Newsdesk.indd 7 24/10/2017 15:46

 Newsdesk

DX Covers
ML&S have just taken stock of the Prism
Embroidery DX Covers (mentioned in
our Hamfest report). Martin says, “You
probably saw them at Newark and I even
mentioned them in my walk-about blog on
Facebook”. These hand-made covers are
individually crafted for each radio and have
the manufacturer’s logo embroidered on the
front. Soft lined so they don’t mark your radio
or amplifier cabinet. For more information
click:
hamradio.co.uk/dxcovers
Nevada take on the Vibroplex range
Nevada Radio recently became distributors are viewed as pieces of high quality shack
for the well-known Vibroplex range of Morse furniture with their chrome and gold finishes,
keys, manufactured in the USA. The first while being beautifully engineered and a joy
Vibroplex key was released 112 years ago in to use.
1905. Pictured is the Vibroplex Iambic Chrome
Despite the advent of the new digital double paddle, which sells for £229.95.
modes, CW is still very much in use and so Nevada carry the full range in stock, with left-
is the popularity of the Vibroplex keys. They handed models also available to special order.

Essex Ham and

TX Factor
Air Ambulance The next episode of TX Factor is released
In support of International Air Ambulance on November 17th and is packed with
Week, Essex Ham operated for three days interesting features on all aspects of amateur
using the callsign GB4EAA from Earls Colne radio. For this show the team attended both
Airfield (near Colchester), the base of the days of the National Hamfest at Newark
Essex Air Ambulance. and bring you the inside track on the latest
Over 25 stations registered for this year’s products from the big manufacturers and illustrious past, including bringing the world
event, which was established in 2014 to the smaller independent companies. The the first news of the Argentinian invasion
use amateur radio to raise awareness for team looks at Yaesu’s new System Fusion 2 of the Falkland Islands. Bob McCreadie
the life-saving work undertaken by the air repeaters, the long-awaited Icom IC-7610 HF G0FGX talks to those behind the new club
ambulances around the world. transceiver and gets a sneak preview of an and looks at its history and exciting future.
Essex Ham was privileged to be situated exciting high-spec receiver, the IC-R8600. If As always there’s a chance to win a
very close to the MD 902 Explorer aircraft you weren’t able to attend Hamfest this year, great prize in a free-to-enter draw. Courtesy
adjacent to the active airfield, which is home episode 19 brings you the best of the UK’s of ML&S there is a VGC VR-P25D power
to a flight training centre. The air ambulance biggest amateur radio event. amplifier for handheld radios to be won. Not
crew were tasked to cover several incidents It’s a couple of years since TX Factor sure what it does? Then watch the show
during the three days of operation, resulting interviewed Don G3XTT the Editor of PW. and find out. You may even become a proud
in GB4EAA falling silent – partly due to the Pete Sipple M0PSX caught up with him at owner!
QRM from the twin-engine helicopter and Hamfest to find out more about Warners The latest TX Factor and all the previous
partly because it’s a show stopping sight. Group Publications’ acquisition of PW and shows are available at and can be watched
During this year’s activation, the pilot, RadioUser and brings you an exclusive first on all platforms and smart TVs. The TX
critical care paramedic and doctor found interview with Publisher Rob McDonnell on Factor team also provides a weekly podcast
time in their busy schedule to visit GB4EAA, future plans for these two magazines of the GB2RS news from the RSGB.
find out more about amateur radio, and The TX Factor Team was also there for the www.txfactor.co.uk
exchange some greetings messages. official opening of the new BBC Radio Group TX Factor is a project sponsored by
GB4EAA was active on several HF bands shack by Lord (Tony) Hall. G8BBC has an Martin Lynch & Sons and the RSGB.
(SSB and CW), as well as on 2m/70cm, and
was able to make contact with other air Practical Wireless 144MHz QRP Contest – Corrections
ambulance stations in the UK.
Essex Ham would like to thank the Essex Contest adjudicator Colin Redwood G6MXL reports that the callsign of Robert White’s
& Herts Air Ambulance Trust for allowing entry in the Overall results table on Page 17 of the November 2017 issue should read
them to support this year’s event, and to G0AGO and not G4AGO. The leading Scottish Station should be the Galashiels and
Anglian Flight Centres for their hospitality. District Amateur Radio Society GM4YEQ/P.

8 Practical Wireless December 2017

07-Newsdesk.indd 8 24/10/2017 15:46

 Report by Steve White G3ZVW
● E-Mail: practicalwireless@warnersgroup.co.uk

PHOTO COURTESY PROF CATHRYN MITCHELL.

others say about propagation or anten-
nas but to conduct scientific experiments
instead. An example of what he spoke
about was regarding Near Vertical Incidence
Skywave (NVIS) propagation. It is often said
that a really low antenna is ideal for this but
scientific experiments have determined that
the ideal height is about 0.2 wavelengths.
The early afternoon session started
with a presentation entitled Outstanding
Problems in Radio Propagation. It was given
by Carl Luetzelschwab K9LA and was
about propagation between the E and F
Layers of the ionosphere when the K Index
spikes up. Propagation predictions were
also mentioned. Monthly forecasts are rarely
accurate because they are smoothed, while
the Sun’s output varies quite a lot day-to-
day, so research is taking place into how to

Space Weather Knowledge

provide daily forecasts. This was followed
by a presentation by Steve Nichols G0KYA,
Chairman of the RSGB Propagation Studies
Committee. The subject was a new web

Exchange Workshop site, which may have come into being by the
time you read this (URL below). After Steve’s
presentation, Marcus Walden G0IJZ spoke
about the findings of the 5MHz Experi-
PW Making Waves columnist Steve White G3ZVW attends a workshop ment. The session ended with details of the
bringing together Space Weather scientists and radio amateurs. Practical Investigation of the Polarisation of
50MHz Signals, by Chris Deacon G4IFX.
He also spoke about VHF propagation via

O
aircraft reflection.
n the day immediately Topics www.propquest.co.uk
prior to the RSGB Conven- There were numerous speakers during the Just ahead of the final session there was
tion in October a Space day and it would unfair to single-out any in time for Ideas for Experiments, by Gary Bust
Weather workshop was particular for praise because the subjects and Jim Bacon G3YLA. The final session
held at the same venue in varied widely. What I will say is that I found was started by Dr Ruth Bamford of the
Milton Keynes. Entitled HAMSci-UK (Ham all the subjects interesting and all the speak- Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, who spoke
Radio Science Citizen Investigation), it was ers highly competent and engaging. This about the EISCAT radar and the forthcoming
an event for people working in, studying and was top-notch stuff, presented by highly EISCAT 3D, which will be able to monitor/
specifically interested in the science of radio qualified, knowledgeable people who are track space debris and map the ionosphere
propagation. I was there not only as the PW enthusiastic about the subject. Some of the in real-time. There was a presentation on
propagation columnist but because I work in presentations were given again in modified Magnetometers and Riometers by Farideh
this field. Other delegates were typically from form at the RSGB Convention, which fol- Honary of Lancaster University. Needless to
the RSGB Propagation Studies Committee, lowed (see report elsewhere in this issue). say she has a connection to the e-mails that
UK, Dutch and American universities, and The morning session started with Nath- subscribers to the university’s Auroral Alert
PhD students. aniel Frissell W2NAF, who spoke about the system receive when a CME comes Earth’s
The Workshop was opened by the 2017 Great American Total Solar Eclipse. way. Finally Phil Erickson W1PJE gave a
organiser, Prof Cathryn Mitchell M0IBG of He presented information on how the 2017 truly fascinating presentation on Anthropo-
the University of Bath. Since becoming a eclipse affected HF propagation, which was genic Space Weather, which means how
radio amateur a couple of years ago she has studied by encouraging radio amateurs to human activity can – and does – affect the
realised that amateur radio activity – espe- flood the bands with signals. After the event, near-Earth space environment.
cially organised activity associated with a analysis of how signal strengths varied
specific event – can lead to large amounts was undertaken by using Reverse Beacon Reflections
of data being produced. This, in turn, can be Network (RBN) records. It was followed by I have to say I found the whole day abso-
used by the scientific community in the field Collaborative use of Solar Eclipses to Study lutely fascinating. I’ve been in radio a long
of propagation research so the Workshop the Ionosphere, by William Liles NQ6Z. The time and I’ve met a lot of people but here I
was partly about forging links. By ‘organised final morning session was entitled What’s met new people and learned new things. It
activity’ I mean anything from a contest, The Difference? It was by Ben Witvliet PE5B was an experience that will live long in the
through activity associated with an unex- of the University of Twente, who spoke about memory and doubtless lead to topics to
pected aurora to a Solar Eclipse QSO Party. the importance of not taking as gospel what cover in my Making Waves column.

December 2017 Practical Wireless 9

09-News-2.indd 9 24/10/2017 15:46

 Hamfest 2017 by Don Field G3XTT
Don Field G3XTT E-mail: practicalwireless@warnersgroup.co.uk

The 2017 RSGB

from that of others. If, for example, you
are interested in buying and restoring
ex-military gear, you’ll focus on the stands
and clubs that support that activity. If

National Hamfest
you’re after the latest digital handheld,
you’ll be focusing on the principal traders.
So this is very much a collection of my
personal jottings – I apologise in advance
if it doesn’t include the stand or product
that stood out for any of you who were
PW was once again at the National Hamfest at there (and, yes, there were certainly plenty
of PW readers in attendance and I was
Newark. Editor Don G3XTT has some impressions. very happy to chat with a number of you).
There were the usual clubs, of course,
both local and national, as well as the
dealers you would expect to see, with
Martin Lynch & Sons, Moonraker, LAMCO
and RadioWorld probably having the
largest and most conspicuous stands. The
RSGB had their usual extensive presence,
with a bookstall and several committee
stands. The three major manufacturers
(Icom, Yaesu and Kenwood) all had a full
range of products on display. Ofcom were
represented. Outside, the Camb-Hams
once again had a working station (with
some impressive antennas) and there was
the usual extensive flea market along with
a bring-and-buy stand run by members of
the RAF Waddington Amateur Radio Club.
And, as usual, the event hosted the annual
RSGB Club of the Year awards, sponsored
once again by Waters & Stanton.

WQRadar
One friend I ran across was Jim Bacon
G3YLA. Some will recall Jim as a
weatherman on Anglia TV and he also
The W4OP loop antenna on the Kanga stand. used to do the forecasts on Radio 2

T
and elsewhere. Nowadays Jim runs his
he 2017 National Ham- Visitors to our own stand included own business, Weatherquest, providing
fest, organised by Na- regular contributor (and a reviewer in this specialist forecasts for niche activities.
tional Hamfest (Lincoln) issue) Carl Gorse 2E0HPI. Geoff Th- Given that he is paying a lot of money for
Ltd in conjunction with easby G8BMI was another reviewer (we the underlying data, he thought he might
the RSGB and the Lincoln have run a couple of his kit and module cover at least some of his overheads
Short Wave Club, once again drew reviews) who I was able to meet in person by marketing to the leisure sector so is
a big crowd. The weather started wet for the first time. Tom ZS1AFS/ZT1T/ now offering a service called WQRadar
but improved as the weekend went on. G0CAJ, an occasional letter writer and a aimed particularly at those who spend
As always, quite a number of folk make a regular contributor to our HF Highlights time outdoors, whether for amateur radio
weekend of it, with lots of caravans and column, was making his annual pilgrimage contesting and special events or some
motorhomes parked up in the Show- to the UK with his wife and daughter. And other sphere of activity.
ground. although I tend to run into him more often, The service can be accessed from your
This was PW’s first rally under its new it was good to catch up with Tony Jones mobile, PC, tablet or laptop, providing an
ownership. Your editor was there along G7ETW who has become a more than oc- up-to-the-minute view of weather in your
with Georg Wiessala, the new editor of casional contributor to our Carrying on the locality. You can also receive text alerts
RadioUser, Rob Mc Donnell, our new Practical Way slot. when there is nearby lightning (time to
publisher, and Mike Edwards, our new unplug the rig!) with distance and bearing
Designer. I was also pleased to catch Items of Interest from your location. Various payment plans
up with regular contributor Chris Lorek I’ve noticed in the past when attending are available or you can sign up for a
G4HCL who I hadn’t seen for something amateur radio exhibitions and events that seven-day free trial.
like 20 years. my experience is often quite different wqradar.co.uk

10 Practical Wireless December 2017

10-hamfest.indd 10 24/10/2017 15:46

 A large crowd showed up for the Club of the Year presentations. Lots of activity outdoors once the sun came out.

RF Design Ideal, I suppose, if your radio lives in one Ciro Mazzoni Midi Loop
RF Design have been going for several of the family rooms or is in the shack but While on the subject of loop antennas,
years but keep a relatively low profile, not in daily use. I was intrigued to see the Ciro Mazzoni
generating enough business to keep www.prismembroidery.co.uk magnetic loop antenna on the Martin
them occupied simply through word of Lynch stand. This is a serious piece
mouth. They do have some excellent TestReach of engineering (at a serious price!) but
products, though, all UK designed and I was interested to learn that the RSGB apparently generates a lot of interest
manufactured. The range includes low has been working with TestReach to offer from potential customers again, presum-
noise amplifiers, calibrated test gear, VHF/ online examinations for the Foundation, ably, because some radio amateurs are
UHF/Microwave transverters and more. Intermediate and Advanced amateur radio prepared to pay a premium to enjoy their
www.G8FEK.com examinations. These online examinations hobby from less than ideal locations. This
will replace the paper system, allowing the one is absolutely not a portable antenna
Total Mast Solutions 3,000+ examinations conducted each year – it is substantial and heavy and intended
Total Mast Solutions had a spot outside across a network of test venues (many for fixed station use.
the main hall, with a number of their of them radio clubs) to be handled much www.hamradio.co.uk
masts on display. Although much of their more easily, flexibly and securely than www.ciromazzoni.com/loop-midi
business is commercial, they take the under the paper system.
amateur radio market seriously and were www.testreach.com RSGB National Club of the Year
at both the Dayton and Friedrichshafen RSGB members will already have seen
amateur radio events this year. They are W4OP Remote Loop Antenna the outcome of the RSGB Club of the
currently launching two new products, Loop antennas appear to be popular Year Competition, sponsored by Waters
one being a stainless steel version of their among UK radio amateurs, probably & Stanton. However, we would like to add
Hiperpod that can carry a 20kg head load because many are working with limited our own congratulations to the winners
at 6m (an 8m version will also be available space. Kanga Products were displaying and runners up. The overall National Club
by the time this appears). The second the W4OP remote loop antenna to judge of the Year and also winner in the Small
innovation is a range of fully galvanised the likely level of customer interest. The Clubs category was Barry Amateur Radio
steel box section winch-up masts from 6 antenna is manufactured by LNR Precision Society while Telford and District ARS took
to 15m in height and able to carry head of the USA, who are also responsible for first place in the Large Club category.
loads of 50 to 100kg. the various QRP portable Mountain Topper
As in the past, the company offers transceivers sold by Kanga. More
a discount to bona fide amateur radio www.kanga-products.co.uk TX Factor and the ICQ Podcast (both
users and is particularly sympathetic to www.lnrprecision.com of which have featured in our In Focus
charitable users such as RAYNET. pieces in the past) were busy filming and
www.totalmastsolutions.com New QRP SDR from Moonraker interviewing during the Hamfest so I feel
I took away to try, courtesy of Chris Taylor sure there will be some great reports on
DX Covers of Moonraker, a Chinese-manufactured those media by the time this appears in
DX Covers is a product range from Prism QRP rig designed very much for portable print. 2017 was certainly another success-
Embroidery. The covers are tailored to the operations. It features a double-conver- ful year, with a great turnout and plenty of
more popular transceivers from the major sion superhet architecture, with lots of enthusiasm among exhibitors and attend-
manufacturers, with the manufacturer’s DSP processing available for cleaning up ees alike. If you didn’t make it this year, do
official logo. I’ve seen covers similar to the signals. It already has CE approval make a point of coming along in 2018.
these in the US but it’s nice to have a UK- and I feel sure we’ll be seeing more news www.txfilms.co.uk/txfactor
based company producing such products. about this one shortly. www.icqpodcast.com

December 2017 Practical Wireless 11

10-hamfest.indd 11 24/10/2017 15:46

 Review by Tim Kirby G4VXE
• Tim Kirby G4VXE, Willowside, Bow Bank, Longworth OX13 5ER • E-mail:tim@g4vxe.com • Twitter: @g4vxe

Review – The Yaesu FT-70DE

144/433MHz System Fusion
Handheld Transceiver
Tim Kirby G4VXE has a review of a new dual-band handheld for Yaesu’s System Fusion

R
egular PW readers Other included standard features and
may recall that last functions are; IP-54 Rating (Dust/Water
year we included a Protection) construction, wide band
series of articles about receive coverage of 108-579.99.5MHz,
Yaesu’s System Fusion, Versatile Scanning Capabilities such as
including a review of one of the mobile Programmable VFO Scan, Memory Scan,
transceivers, the FTM-400XDE and and Priority Channel Scan, External DC
the top of the range handheld, the Jack for DC supply operation and to
FT-2DE (which if I’m honest, I still miss Charge the battery, Mini USB port for
having around). Earlier this year, Yaesu convenient programming the software
announced the FT-70DE handheld, a updates, CTCSS/DCS Operation,
144/433MHz unit offering C4FM and Automatic Power Off (AFO) feature, RF
FM modes at a lower price. As soon as Squelch, Transmitter Time Out Timer (TOT)
it was announced, Martin Lynch kindly and Busy Channel Lock-Out (BCLO).
offered us a review model to try out. As
ever, it seemed a long time between the First Impressions
announcement of the rig and the day I’d been really looking forward to the
when it arrived on the doorstep! arrival of the FT-70DE and when it arrived I
eagerly opened up the package. In the box
What the Manufacturer Says was the rig, antenna, 1800mAh battery
The Yaesu description of the radio is pack, plug-in charger, belt clip, manual,
as follows. More detailed specifications USB cable and an instruction manual.
appear in the sidebar: The instruction manual is well produced
The new FT-70DE is a compact and and in contrast to some of the manuals
very attractively priced Yaesu System I’ve seen with some of the Chinese radios
Fusion transceiver providing both recently, is eminently readable and easy to
conventional analogue FM operation and The multi-coloured LED mode-indicator follow. If you enjoy having a manual rather
the advanced C4FM Digital mode. displayed on the front allows the operator than having to figure it out for yourself, you
The FT-70DE provides up to 5W of to easily see what mode the FT-70DE is in will like this one.
reliable RF power, and its large front at any given moment. Switching on the rig and tuning around
speaker delivers 700mW of audio One of the other distinguishing features was intuitive and I didn’t need to look
output. C4FM has better Bit Error of the FT-70DE is a Digital Group Monitor anything up. When I powered up the
Rate characteristics than other digital (GM) with DG-ID and DP-ID. DG-ID (Digital radio for the first time I had to enter my
modulations so the user can expect Group Identification) and DP-ID (Digital callsign, which is needed on the C4FM
exceptional audio quality. Personal Identification) are useful features digital mode. You can enter something like
The new digital FT-70DE includes now included in the FT-70DE, to simplify G4VXE_Tim (up to ten characters) so that
Yaesu’s unique Automatic Mode Select the GM operation. Simply put, transceivers people see your name and callsign on their
(AMS) function. AMS detects the selecting the same DG-ID or DP-ID can screen as you transmit.
operating mode of the received signal as communicate with each other. Between 00 Not having a System Fusion repeater
C4FM digital or analogue FM, and then and 99 DG-ID and DP-ID are selectable; near me, the first thing I did was to set
automatically and instantly switches the which provides loads of flexibility so that the rig on the frequency of my hotspot,
receiver to the appropriate node. Users do users can enjoy group communication with the SharkRF openSPOT – place the
not need to manually change between the friends in GM mode in accordance with openSPOT into C4FM mode and connect
nodes. their individual operational needs. to the FCS004/20 reflector, which in turn is

12 Practical Wireless December 2017

12-Review yaetsu 2 pages.indd 12 24/10/2017 15:45

 linked to the CQ-UK Wires-X room. operation, I couldn’t see that this would I noticed that scanning, which I did quite a
If that all seems like jargon, as it be of particular value – generally you want lot of, seemed to take a toll on the battery.
might well, a reflector is the same thing to hear more stations rather than fewer, in The FT-70DE definitely didn’t seem to fall
as a Wires-X ‘room’ and you might amateur radio applications! into the ‘charge and forget’ category and
think of them both in the same way as a Incidentally, in conjunction with the I found I needed to charge it up every
conference call. Any number of people SharkRF openSPOT, you can use the couple of days, which, in fairness, is quite
can join a conference call and speak FT-70DE to connect to the various DMR reasonable. Charge time with the supplied
to each other. Yaesu chose to call their networks. You use DN mode from your rig plug-in charger was several hours but I
reflectors ‘rooms’ but conceptually there’s to the openSPOT and that is converted to simply plugged it in overnight and it was
no difference. DMR in the openSPOT. If you don’t have a ready for me, fully charged, the next day.
The Wires-X system has many DMR rig, this could be a fun thing to try.
hundreds and perhaps even thousands of Conclusion
‘rooms’, only some of which are reachable The FT-70DE on FM You can no doubt tell that I enjoyed using
if you’ve got a hotspot like an openSPOT The FT-70DE is not just about digital the FT-70DE. It was a great little rig to
or DV4Mini. The others are only accessible modes but covers FM as well. I quickly have in a pocket. It was also a great way
if you’ve got access to a Wires-X node listened to some of my local repeaters: to get on System Fusion with the lowest
or repeater. The most popular rooms are GB3WH (Swindon) and GB3RD (Reading) costing transceiver. I did miss some of
generally linked to FCS reflectors, so on 145MHz FM and GB3TD (Swindon) the more advanced features of, say, the
people with digital hotspots can connect and GB3UK (Cheltenham) on 433MHz FM. FT-1XDE and FT-2DE transceivers, such
to rooms such as CQ-UK and America- I was able to hear them as expected on as GPS and APRS, so you would need
Link, which both carry plenty of traffic and the supplied rubber duck antenna and I to decide how much you wanted those
are a good place to listen. was pleased to receive good audio quality facilities and whether you wanted to pay
Listening on CQ-UK, I was quickly able reports on FM as well as digital modes. extra for them.
to tell that all was well and the callsigns It was also good to find that the FT- You will probably only get the best out
of the stations transmitting were coming 70DE would fit happily in my rucksack or of the FT-70DE if you are either close to
up on the FT-70DE’s screen. Of course, as the weather got cooler, my coat pocket a Fusion-enabled repeater or you already
it wasn’t long before I pressed the PTT and it felt like a nice ‘go anywhere’ radio. have or intend to get a digital hotspot
and was pleased to discover that the rig setup at home and want to try out System
was working well on transmit. By this Air and Marine Band Receive Fusion. Although activity on System Fu-
stage I had worked out how to reduce the I discovered that the FT-70DE worked very sion is probably not as high as on D-STAR
power of the rig to the minimum setting of well indeed as a scanner on the airband or DMR, it is substantial and you should
0.5W for use with my hotspot. Some nice (133.600MHz) and from the garden here have no problem finding a contact through
QSOs around the UK and North America in Oxfordshire I was able to hear aircraft the various reflector systems (simplex
resulted. on the transatlantic run over South Wales. activity locally will vary hugely though and
If you saw our previous articles on Receive quality on AM was very nice it will be worth doing your homework first,
System Fusion, you may remember that and, I felt, clearer than some of the other if you are relying on this rather than on a
it comprises three modes: Analogue FM, handheld transceivers I have here. On local hotspot). I find the audio quality of
Normal Audio and Data (DN) and Wide the Marine band, the rig worked well on C4FM quite pleasing and it seems to per-
Voice (VW). The openSPOT can only deal receive too, walking around London during form quite well, even with weak signals.
with DN. However, the DV4mini can also my lunch break I was able to hear the My thanks to Martin Lynch for the loan
deal with VW, which gives a richer quality Port of London activity (London VTS) on of the transceiver and to all the people on
of audio on account of the complete 156.700MHz. the CQ-UK Wires-X room, such as Stuart
bandwidth of the signal being dedicated M0SGS, for their activity and for helping
to audio, rather than a combination of Memory Operation and Battery Life me to evaluate the FT-70. The FT-70DE is
voice and data on DN, where information With all these different frequencies available from retailers for £189.95 plus
such as your name and callsign can be of interest, I wanted to add them as postage.
transmitted. The nice thing about System memories so that I could scan them easily.
Fusion rigs is their Automatic Mode Select What was nice was that unlike some of the
Specifications
(AMS) feature, which means that the rig Chinese handhelds, where the memory
will automatically detect the mode of the programming from the handheld is so Frequency Ranges: RX 108 - 137MHz (Air Band)
137 - 174 MHz (144 MHz HAM)
incoming signal and transmit FM, DN or complicated that you really need to load 174 - 222 MHz (VHF1)
VW mode in response. up the programming software on the PC 222 - 420 MHz (VHF2)
The publicity for the FT-70DE makes and save the memories that way, I found I 420 - 470 MHz (430 MHz HAM)
quite a deal about the Group Monitor could easily commit frequencies, modes, 470 - 579.995 MHz (UHF band)
functionality, which, in effect, means CTCSS tones and so on to memory TX 144 - 146, 430 - 440 MHz
Circuit Type: Double-Conversion Superheterodyne
selective calling for a group of stations. from the front panel. So much so that Modulation Type: F2D, F3E, F7W
I didn’t try this because I had no critical I only noticed towards the end of the RF Power Output: 5W/2W/0.5W (@7.4 V or EXT DC)
mass of C4FM equipped stations around review period that a USB cable had been AF Audio Output: 700mW (@16Ω 10% THD: Internal speaker)
me but I guess you might perhaps use that included with the rig for programming Case Size (WxHxD): 60 x 98 x 33mm w/o Knob and Antenna
Weight (Approx.): 255 g with SBR-24LI and Antenna
if you were working in a RAYNET exercise purposes!
among a group of stations. In everyday I found battery life to be good although

December 2017 Practical Wireless 13

12-Review yaetsu 2 pages.indd 13 24/10/2017 15:45

 Review by Carl Gorse 2E0HPI
• E-mail: m6hplcarl@gmail.com

Review –
ment and engineering changes over the years
resulted in the current Mk5. Throughout its
development, this antenna has been popular
with FT-817 users since late 2002.

Wonder-Wand
www.wonder-wand.co.uk/WonderWand/
WW_Homepage.html
A number of products have appeared from
the Wonder-Wand stable since then. Carl
Peake G0NZI has developed these excel-
lent antennas based on his vast experience
in broadcast engineering. I have been trying
out two of the most recent antennas and also
Carl Gorse 2E0HPI has been checking out some more have some thoughts on the TCS MkV Tunable
Counterpoise System. I should point out that
antennas suitable for portable operation. these are not big DX-oriented antennas to go
on the top of a big tower. They are small, com-
pact antennas that can be attached directly
to the antenna socket of an FT-817 or similar
portable rig.

The Wonder-Wand Wonderloop 750

The Wonderloop 750, Fig. 1, is a compact
loop antenna with a very small footprint yet
it covers bands from 7MHz to 50MHz with a
maximum power rating of 10W. The manufac-
turer’s description is as follows:
• 22in diameter self-supporting loop when
deployed
• 7 – 50MHz in two interlaced ranges utilising
HLT Hybrid Loop Technology
• Easy to use and store
• Rig-mounted for convenient operation
• Fits in your pocket when packed down
• Directional radiating pattern meaning you
can null out unwanted signals
• Amazing results when used indoors
• High quality construction, manufactured
solely in the UK
As can be seen from the photo, Fig. 3, the
loop attaches to the small tuning unit that nor-
mally attaches directly to the rig (though there
Fig. 1: The Wonderloop tuning unit. Fig. 2: The Widebander Mk2. is nothing to stop you using it remotely with a

I
length of coaxial feeder).
was first licensed in 2013 as M6H- Wonder-Wand The first frequency range is 7 – 18MHz.
PL and upgraded to 2E0HPI around In case you may not be familiar with Wonder- Then you simply turn the tuning control back
one year later having gained ex- Wand, here is an extract from their website and start again but this time starting at a sec-
perience on the bands and having (URL below). ondary 18MHz position. The remaining tuning
worked around the world with my Wonder-Wand began when it first became range then continues to 52MHz.
portable antennas, including some from noticeable that the FT-817 helical whip only The Wonder-Wand Wonderloop 750
Wonder-Wand Antennas UK. I am blessed really covered 50MHz and up. It was im- appears to be well made with good quality
to have an excellent location by the coast mediately apparent that there was a need for plastic for the tuning unit and solid copper
overlooking Europe but it can still be hard a compact portable antenna to cover the HF wire for the loop. A small but helpful change is
under the current sunspot cycle. My particular bands. This ruled out the convenience of full the use of spade rather than eyelet connec-
interests, especially because I have limited sized antennas at these frequencies. Hence tors – I don’t like to think of the time I have
space at home, are portable operations to began the quest for something in between! wasted in the past trying to find lost nuts on
activate trigpoints, summits, Worldwide Flora The first requirement was to obtain a tel- the previous model, having removed them
and Fauna sites and the like, usually with QRP. escopic antenna at least 1.3m long and work to make the connection. It also means that if
This review looks at some of the latest on a dedicated multiband matching section you accidentally catch your arm or leg in the
products that will get you on the air from to interface this to the transceiver. After many loop, hopefully it will separate from the tuner
within a small space or even from inside your trials, reproducible results were achieved and without taking the whole rig with you!
home. the Mk1 came into being. Continued develop- Setting up the Wonderloop 750 is very

14 Practical Wireless December 2017

14-wonder wand 2 pages.indd 14 24/10/2017 15:45

 make any noticeable difference. It makes for
less pleasing photographs, though! In reality,
depending on how you store the wire when
not in use, the trick is to smooth it out by pull-
ing it through your fingers several times until
it takes up a circular shape pretty much of its
own accord.
The Wonderloop 750 is available from
Martin Lynch & Sons for £109.95.

The Wonder-Wand Widebander Mark 2

Another excellent product from Wonder-Wand
is the Widebander Mk2, Figs. 2 and 4. It cov-
ers 1.8 – 450MHz, which neatly complements
Fig. 3: The Wonderloop in use at the beach. the coverage of the Yaesu FT-817 shack-in-
the-box in one antenna.
The Widebander is a 57in QRP whip an-
tenna (10W maximum) with its own tuner and
which again connects directly to the SO239
socket on the rig. The tuner can, alternatively,
be used with any random length of wire. To
achieve this, it is supplied with a BNC to 4mm
adaptor to allow a single wire or a doublet to Fig. 6: The TCS MkV.
be connected.
I have used the whip antenna while Conclusions
portable on St Mary’s Island with excellent Both these antennas, along with the Tunable
results, operating on the 80, 40, 20 and 17m Counterpoise, do what it says on the box.
bands. I did listen on 160m but failed to hear They are easy to set up and convenient for
anything – you really would need an extensive portable operations. Don’t expect them to
wire antenna I suspect to achieve meaningful work like a big Yagi but if you are out hilltop-
results on that band. ping or maybe travelling abroad on a family
Tuning the Widebander is also very holiday with limited luggage allowance, they
straightforward by adjusting the bandswitch, will help you to get on the air and enjoy some
which goes from A to L, for maximum noise contacts on whatever band(s) is/are open.
and then adjusting the tuning dial, calibrated Certainly, my experiences using these latest
from 1 to 10, to achieve the best VSWR. antennas from Wonder-Wand UK have been
The Widebander is available from Martin entirely positive. They have provided me with
Lynch & Sons for £129.95. some excellent contacts both from the garden
Fig. 4: Inside the Widebander Mk2 tuning box. and from the coast.
Wonder-Wand TCS Mk V If I had one small item on my wish list, it
straightforward. Extend the supplied copper The TCS MkV (Tunable Counterpoise System), would be for the antennas to come in some
loop wire, forming it into a circle, and attach Fig. 6, consists of a stepped inductor tuner, sort of carry bag, making them even easier to
each spade connector to the tuning box. I rated at 40W PEP, along with a 2.5m-long grab and go on portable operations. The good
tune for maximum band noise (on SSB) and counterpoise wire. It works as an artificial news is that Carl at Wonder-Wand UK tells me
then fine tune for best SWR as indicated on earth when used with Wonder-Wand and they will be introducing a suitable carryall in
my rig. I can usually get the SWR close to 1:1. other any other portable QRP antennas, the near future.
I have used this loop on the 40, 20, 17 and with the inductor being used along with the I would like to thank ML&S for loaning me
15m bands while out portable and have made counterpoise wire to achieve the best VSWR the WonderWand Loop 750 for review and
some excellent contacts out to the far reaches on any given band. The TCS MkV can be also Carl at Wonder-Wand UK for send-
of Europe, including several Russian stations. connected to any bare metal on your rig to ing me the Widebander Mk2 and TCS MkV
Previously I owned the two separate loops enable it to act as a counterpoise earth. As counterpoise. Over the coming months I plan
(the 4010 and 20-6 versions, covering, as their with the two antennas already described, more use of these antennas on short holidays
designation indicates, the 40 through 10 and tuning is easily accomplished by listening to around the country with the family.
20 through 6 metre bands). Being able now to the wideband noise from the radio. The TCS Incidentally, my previous review on the
cover all those bands with a single antenna is MkV can, though, also be used as an antenna, Super Antenna MP1DXMAX (PW September
a welcome improvement in terms of conveni- the counterpoise and inductor now acting as 2017) has generated a lot of interest, dem-
ence and flexibility when out portable. What a loaded wire antenna instead of being part of onstrating to me that there is a widespread
I have yet to master is getting the loop to be the earth system. need for small, portable antennas for both HF
circular in shape – it always seems to end The Tunable Counterpoise costs £59.95 and VHF use. I hope in a future issue to take a
up being somewhat ragged in appearance but if bought the Widebander Mk2, Martin look at the MFJ portable whips and multiband
but, of course, electrically that isn’t going to Lynch have a package price of £169.95. antennas.

December 2017 Practical Wireless 15

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 The 2017 RSGB Convention by Don Field G3XTT
• E-mail: practicalwireless@warnersgroup.co.uk

The 2017 RSGB Convention

Editor Don Field G3XTT reports on the RSGB’s annual Convention.

T
he Kents Hill Conference
Centre in Milton Keynes
was once again the venue
for the RSGB Convention.
Attendance was up again,
well over the 600 mark with visitors from
as far afield as Japan, South Africa and
the USA. For the first time, AMSAT-UK
held their Colloquium as part of the wider
Convention, which appears to have proved
successful, with many attendees dropping
in on one or more of the satellite lectures to
get perhaps their first taste of this aspect of
our hobby.
The event, as always, was sponsored
by Martin Lynch & Sons while Icom and
Kenwood had displays of their main prod-
ucts. The RSGB had their usual bookstall
and a number of national clubs such as
CDXC, AMSAT-UK, BATC, UKSMG, RAIBC,
the Radio Officers Association and the
UK Microwave Group had displays, along
with representation from the RSGB ARDF Steve G1YBB receives the PW QRP Contest Trophy from PW editor Don G3XTT.
(Direction Finding) and Contest Commit-
tees. Martin G3ZAY was running a Morse were rubbish”, most found them of a the Raspberry Pi and the many uses it can
pile-up competition. generally very high standard. Indeed, with have in our shacks. It certainly gave me
The Saturday evening dinner (with speakers that included folk like Profes- plenty to take away and, like me, quite a
post-dinner entertainment from Bob sor Monica Grady of the Open University few attendees admitted to having Rasp-
Beebe GU4YOX) was oversubscribed so (a regular on TV science programmes), berry Pis at home that were not doing
a number of weekend visitors found other Jim Bacon G3YLA (professional weather- anything so could be pressed into use for
local venues where they could have a meal man and expert on relationships between minimal effort and cost, not only for data
and a chat. I understand that the RSGB weather and radio propagation) or Dr Colin modes activities but for controlling various
consider the Convention venue excel- Forsyth of the Mullard Space Science devices in the shack, managing a webcam
lent for the daytime activities (which it is) Laboratory, the organisers could hardly for shack security and more. Which leads
but accept that these sort of numbers are have gone much higher in their quest to on nicely to:
probably too much for the evening catering find suitable expertise.
facilities on site and may, next year, plan As with my Newark Hamfest report in Remote Operation
several interest-specific dinners at other this issue, the following is very much a per- Interest in remote operation continues
hotels or restaurants in the locality. sonal view of the weekend, based on chats apace, either to operate your home station
With almost 60 presentations, forums with other attendees and those lectures when at work or elsewhere or to run a sta-
and other sessions across five streams that I attended, including a few I had the tion in a nice quiet rural environment from
(broadly covering HF, VHF, Satellite and privilege of chairing. Hopefully, though, it your electrically noisy home in an urban
Technical as well as trophy presentations, will give a flavour. environment.
workshops and the like), yet again it was John Regnault G4SWX covered some
impossible to get to everything you might Raspberry Pi of the technology choices while taking a
wish to but there is no obvious alternative PW’s Data Modes columnist Mike Rich- very firm stand on what is and isn’t legally
without running the Convention across ards G4WNC gave a very comprehensive acceptable at the present time (the main
more days. And while one attendee was talk (twice for those who had trouble concern being that a remote station must
understood to complain that “all the talks deciding which stream to attend!) about have an independent method of being

16 Practical Wireless December 2017

16-2018 RSGB.indd 16 24/10/2017 15:45

 category winners were:
• Judges Merit – Dean Brice G0UIL, from
RAIBC for the RAIBC Talking Shack
Manager
• Beginner – Peter Barns M0SWN, for the
Time Difference of Arrival Direction Finder
• Construction – Heather Lomond
M0HMO, for the Digital Power and VSWR
Meter
• Innovation and overall winner of the Pat
Hawker G3VA trophy – David Crump
G8GKQ, for the Portsdown Integrated
ATV Transceiver

Raffle
The raffle, to raise funds for the RSGB DX-
pedition Fund, had not one but four grand
prizes, two Yaesu FT-817s, plus a Kenwood
TS-480SAT and an Icom IC-7300. Thanks
There was a lot of interest in the new Icom IC-7610 SDR transceiver. are due to the ‘big three’ amateur radio
manufacturers for donating such generous
switched off should the transmitter lock One of the messages I took away from prizes.
up, the internet connection go down, or some of these sessions is that although we
whatever). Some of the methods of remote have known the basics of HF propagation PW QRP Contest Trophy
operation written up in the literature fail to for maybe 100 years or more, the ready One pleasant duty I was able to organise
address this properly. availability of online data nowadays, along for the Convention was to present our con-
Andy Webster G7UHN gave a talk with powerful home PCs, means that we test trophy to Steve Clements G1YBB on
about how he had tackled remote opera- can have a much better understanding, in behalf of the Hereford VHF Contest Group
tion on a shoestring, using a Raspberry more or less real time, of what propagation GW1YBB/P, overall winners of this year’s
Pi at the transmitter end to handle the is doing. Jim explained, for example, how PW 144MHz QRP Contest. Steve was there
transmitter control, audio (for SSB or data this can help us to plan the best times and to collect some RSGB contest trophies on
modes) and a webcam to watch an SWR frequencies for a local net at different times behalf of the group too. They are obviously
meter to ensure that everything was work- of the year or what to expect during the an enthusiastic and dedicated bunch.
ing correctly. The client software at his course of a contest.
operating desk runs on a laptop or, more Finale
recently, an ASUS Tinker board (which has Operating A number of the presentations were
a little more ‘horsepower’ than a Pi). Andy There were plenty of operating talks, of videoed and these will be posted on the
started by running the system over a local course, including the recent UK DXpedition RSGB website, along with many of the
area network so that he could hide his to Botswana (A25UK), last year’s (in which slide packs. I know that Mike G4WNC, and
radio gear in a cupboard but is now able to your editor participated) to Chatham Island no doubt other presenters too, has already
control everything over the internet itself, (ZL7G), an IOTA trip to Pukapuka Stoll made his material available on his personal
which means he can access it from almost (E51LYC, by Cezar VE3LYC) and several website. The best solution, though, for fu-
anywhere. Google Andy’s callsign, go to contest-related sessions. ture years, is to come along in person and
his blog and you can read much more. enjoy the camaraderie, while meeting in
Other person many of those whose exploits you
Propagation Other topics covered included amateur read about here in PW and elsewhere. Inci-
The day before the Convention, a number TV, antennas, digital voice, deep space dentally, although the lecture streams start
of propagation specialists had gathered reception, 23cm EME, the manufacture of on the Saturday, many attendees turn up
for a Space Weather Knowledge Exchange MOSFET power transistors and much more on the Friday and there is usually a Friday
workshop under the auspices of the but the foregoing should give an idea of the evening dinner programme. I should also
RSGB’s Propagation Studies Commit- wide spectrum of topics that were covered. mention that Under-21s have free entry to
tee. Several had stayed on to give talks Facilities were also available for taking the Convention and it was good to see a
at the Convention. Topics included HF licence examinations. number of youngsters there this year, sev-
Propagation at Sunspot Minimum (Steve eral of them fresh from the summer Youth
Nichols G0KYA), Space Weather (Dr Colin Construction on the Air (YOTA) activities that have been
Forsyth), Antipodal Propagation (Carl One of the weekend events was a Builda- reported elsewhere, including some excel-
Luetzelschwab K9LA), Ionosonde Data thon. Additionally, the RSGB Convention lent coverage in Episode 18 of TX Factor.
and HF Propagation (Jim Bacon G3YLA), Construction Competition 2017, sponsored Thanks are due to Graham Murchie
Combined Mode Propagation on 144MHz by Martin Lynch and Sons, was judged G4FSG (Convention Chairman) and his
(Tim Fern G4LOH) and NVIS (Near Vertical by Alwyn Seeds G8DOH, Bob Beebe team of volunteers, for putting together
Incidence Skywave, Bob Witvliet PE5B). GU4YOX and Ian White GM3SEK. The another most successful weekend.

December 2017 Practical Wireless 17

16-2018 RSGB.indd 17 24/10/2017 15:45

 Morse Mode with Roger Cooke G3LDI
l E-mail: roger@g3ldi.co.uk

Morse
used in amateur radio and nobody I know
uses them at all. I certainly was never
taught them or had it suggested to me
that I use them. Gerald and others have

Procedures
brought them to my attention but, again,
they are codes that are used in non-ama-
teur circles. The Z code can be seen here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z_code
Again, although we do use the Q code,
I see no reason to bring the Z code into
amateur circles. I would be interested in
Roger Cooke G3LDI returns to QSO procedures before your views on this.

bringing news of GB2CW, another Boot Camp, a GB2CW

Our GB2CW classes started again in
proficiency guide and some new paddles. October and will take the same format as
last year.

Tuesdays:
1900 – 2000 Raw Beginners with Roger
G3LDI
2000 – 2100 Intermediates with Jim
G3YLA
Thursdays:
1000 – 1100 Coffee Break Morse with
Chris G4CCX
1100 – 1200 Norfolk Coast ARC MX0ARC
2000 – 2100 Advanced Class with Mal-
colm G3PDH

Steve Appleyard G3PND runs the

GB2CW transmissions from MX0NCA in
West Runton. Steve runs a very active club
up on the coast and some of the members
taking part learning their Morse can be
seen in Fig. 1. Take a look at their website
Fig. 1: GB2CW in action at MX0CNA. where you will see the emphasis on Morse

O
code instruction.
n my visit to Newark somewhat under these circumstances, www.norfolkcoastamateurs.co.uk
this year, I met up with with a huge pile-up and only a very mea- Anybody can run classes on the air
several who obviously gre exchange in order to save time and using GB2CW so if you are keen to do
do read this column work as many as possible as far as the DX so, please e-mail me to increase the
avidly and are support- station is concerned. Normally, it must be number of volunteers. If you transmit to a
ers of ‘proper protocol’. One regular said, this is handled pretty well by most. group of students over the air, it is termed
that I speak with is Gerald G3MCK. He However, I have been approached by ‘broadcasting’ and that is not covered by
was pleased to see me cover this subject a few ex-marine/military operators who the normal amateur radio licence. Using
in the October column. seem to be trying to encourage amateurs GB2CW legalises it and also shows there
I don’t think anything will ever hap- to adopt certain prosigns, if we can call are more involved in teaching.
pen to cause amateurs to abandon the them that, into amateur radio. For example In an e-mail from Bill G0ENZ, he
slot-filling syndrome. It is addictive and the four dashes for CH. I asked Malcolm mentions using Morse when entering our
competitive, especially when conversation G3PDH if he was familiar with this and he senior years. As we grow older, our capa-
occurs at the local radio club. You know immediately said yes but that it was only bilities decrease, some become deaf and
the scene. “Hey Roger, I worked VK9XI on used in his job as a marine operator. He natural ageing impairs our ability to send
four bands. How many have you got so agreed with me that he had never come CW. How do we convey that to someone
far?” across it in amateur radio. Now, while it who continues regardless? I would hope
This talk can be provocative and en- might be great nostalgia for retired marine that if I became affected that way, some
courage me to get home to work them on operators to use these prosigns, I see no kind soul would tell me and not let me
five bands! Of course, this sort of operat- reason to bring them into amateur radio. carry on with impunity. I know several
ing is also encouraged by producing the The same applies to something that friends who have given up Morse due to
leaderboards that we all see. Gerald G3MCK asked me to mention and Parkinson’s. I have been lucky so far!
The usual procedural signals can suffer that is the Z code. These have never been However, I did have somebody write to

18 Practical Wireless December 2017

18-Morse Mode 2 pages.indd 18 24/10/2017 15:45

 ability of an actual brain and mind of an
operator.

Essex CW ARC Boot Camp

NARC held our usual Boot Camp earlier
this year and it was attended by Andy
G0IBN who was impressed with what
we do and decided to hold his own Boot
Camp. He asked for a mention but, unfor-
tunately, being only a bi-monthly column,
it will be over by the time you read this.
However, I hope to include a larger piece
in my next column together with pictures.
Last heard, he had hired a village hall and
had around 30 attending. Great news,
Morse is alive and well in Essex.

Fig. 2: Readout from the N4TL Arduino-based CW Trainer. Proficiency Guide

Gary ZL2IFB (G4IFB) has written a very
nice Morse Proficiency Guide and it
should be read by everyone. A covering
note by Gary says, “It is peppered with
personal comments and photos from FOC
members (most plucked from the reflec-
tor thread started by Pete W1RM, some
from direct e-mails or other sources – I
hope no one minds) but I take the blame
for the assembly including any errors and
omissions”.
www.g4ifb.com/A_Guide_to_Morse_
Code_Proficiency_v1.pdf
or tinyurl.com/CWguideV1

Palm Paddles
SOTAbeams market a series of small
paddles manufactured by Palm Radio.
They are very small and obviously suitable
for portable use. There are lots of models
Fig. 3: Palm Mini Paddles. to choose from and they work very well.
There is also a straight key version. They
me, a while back now, stating that he had some places. The full article is still avail- are made in Germany and have some
passed his written exam and that this en- able so take a look and see what you think very attractive attributes. For example,
titled him to use Morse on the air without of it. Learning to read the Morse and then the Palm Mini Paddle as shown in Fig. 3
resorting to any training. This chap might typing it back as you go does help with features the following:
just have been the one that Bob G3XNG head copy. Take a look at the video: Robust paddle mechanism, for direct
was referring to with his comments in my https://youtu.be/224zqiUv_pE?t=41 connection to all modern transceivers that
last column! http://qrznow.com/arduino-cw-trainer- have an already built-in electronic keyer.
There is no way that using CW on air n4tl-wins-september-qst-cover-plaque- The paddle can be retracted into the hous-
without some basic training can be con- award ing, and is thus optimally protected during
doned and it would be blatantly obvious It’s really another great way of self- transport. Rugged housing made from
anyway so please don’t even think about training but, of course, there is no short a powder-coated, extruded aluminium
it. Get the correct training and do your cut to proficiency so this will certainly not profile. Currently available in either grey
practice before going on the air. replace your practice. (MP-S, limited supply) or black (MP-817).
While on the subject of aids such as Case size only 25 x 25 x 79mm or 1 x 1
The Arduino CW Trainer a Morse ‘reader’ to help you work DX, x 3in (W x H x D): ideal for travel, back-
Tom Lewis N4TL has produced a very please don’t think that a reader will suffice. packers and outdoor-QRP enthusiasts.
novel CW training device using the Ardui- I may have mentioned this before but it is Fully adjustable for tension, gap and pad-
no Uno Development Board, Fig. 2. It was sometimes obvious on the air that some- dle feel and with gold-plated contacts.
in September 2016 QST and looks a great body is using a reader and cannot judge Please keep your comments and news
project for a club. The Arduino is available the nuances of actual operating. It’s not a coming. 73 and May the Morse be with
from RS for only £23 and even cheaper in good thing to do. Nothing can replace the you. Roger G3LDI.

December 2017 Practical Wireless 19

18-Morse Mode 2 pages.indd 19 24/10/2017 15:45

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GT-5 (right) 136-174/400-520MHz
uses Time-Division Multiple-Access (TDMA) digital radio bracket all in a
transceiver......................................... £39.95
technology to double the number of users on a compact size with
UV-5RC 136-174/400-480MHz transceiver ...................£29.95
single 12.5kHz channel. an a amazing
BF-888S 400-470MHz transceiver................................£14.95
The Audio on DMR is excellent in both transmit and compact price
of just £69.95!
receive ensuring dependable communications. Accessories
The HT-500D boasts 3000 channels, 10000 contacts, built-in Speaker microphone .................................................... £9.95
CTCSS/DCS (analogue mode only), single call, group call and Software cable.............................................................. £9.95
“NEW” Leixen VV-898SP Portable Dual Band Transceiver
all call, remote kill/stun/activate, transmit interrupt, VOX, and
Introducing the Leixen VV-898SP, the mobile backpack
lone worker function. It is compatible with MOTOTRBO™ Tier
transceiver you can take virtually anywhere you need it!
I and II.
Leixen combined their micro-compact, 25 watt Dual Band
Amazing value £199.99!
UHF/VHF Mobile Radio with a powerful 12A Li-ion
rechargeable battery and put it all in
Moonraker MT-270M a sturdy chassis you can fit in
Dual Band Mobile your pack or emergen- cy Now you can go digital on the road with the TYT MD-9600
Transceiver ... £79.95 bag for use anytime, DMR Digital Mobile Two-Way Radio! The MD-9600 gives you
A lovely small compact anywhere! crystal clear, noise-free audio of over-the-air digital com-
Dual Band Transceiver but still with a All for an amaz- munications in your vehicle, full analogue transceiver
25W punch at a remarkable price – see our reviews on ing £149.95! capabilities, and bundles it all together at a price you can af-
our website from some of the 1 thousand sold !!! ford!..........................................£279.95

Power Supplies
PS30SWIII 30A peak switching power
Amplifiers supply provides 13.8 VDC at 20 Amps
The BLA 600 is a wideband Antenna Tuners continuous, 30 Amps surge. The output
compact linear amplifier for the HF See our website for full details. voltage is adjustable from 9 to 15 VDC.
bands and 6m, from 1.8 to 54 MHz Automatic Tuners Red and black terminals on are the rear
Using Freescale MRFE6VP5600, MFJ-925 Super compact 1.8-30MHz 200W .......................................... £199.95 panel (30A)
Output 500W. Dual MCU Control, Fast MFJ-926B remote Mobile ATU 1.6-30MHz 200W.................................. £319.95 SPECIAL OFFER £79.95 £69.95
PIN Diode RX-TX TX-RX switching MFJ-927 Compact with Power Injector 1.8-30MHz 200W.............................£309.95
enables QSK operation, 2x16 LCD Display for Amplifier Status, Separate MFJ-928 Compact with Power Injector 1.8-30MHz 200W ...£249.95 MFJ-929 PS30SWIV switching power supply
LED displays for power and antenna VSWR, Input drive from 1W to maxi- Compact with Random Wire Option 1.8-30MHz 200W ........................... £259.95 provides 13.8 VDC at 20 Amps continu-
mum of 40W, 3 user configurable Antenna Output connectors, Dual large MFJ-991B 1.8-30MHz 150W SSB/100W CW ATU ................................. £279.95 ous, 30 Amps surge. The LCD digital
diameter MCU controlled, multispeed cooling fans for efficient cooling MFJ-993B 1.8-30MHz 300W SSB/150W CW ATU ................................. £309.95 panel meter simultaneously displays
.................................................................................................£1999.95 MFJ-994B 1.8-30MHz 600W SSB/300W CW ATU ................................. £409.95 voltage and current. There is a Noise
BLA350 1.5-30MHz 300w mains MFJ-998 1.8-30MHz 1.5kW ................................................................... £729.95 Off-Set control that can be adjusted to
powered solid state amplifier eliminate pulse noise from the power
.............................................£659.95
HLA305V 1.8-30MHz 250W
Manual Tuners supply.
MFJ-16010 1.8-30MHz 20W random wire tuner .....................................£79.95 SPECIAL OFFER £79.95 £69.95
professional amplifier with LCD..£599.95 £599.95
MFJ-902B 3.5-30MHz 150W mini travel tuner ...................................... £134.95
HLA300V+ 1.8-30MHz 300W all mode PS30SWII 25A continuous switch
MFJ-902H 3.5-30MHz 150W mini travel tuner with 4:1 balun.............. £149.95
amplifier with fans ................£429.95 mode PSU with variable output voltage
MFJ-904 3.5-30MHz 150W mini travel tuner with SWR/PWR ............... £149.95
HLA150V+ 1.8-30MHz 150W all mode and cigar socket also includes noise
MFJ-904H 3.5-30MHz 150W mini travel tuner with SWR/PWR 4:1 balun........£184.95
amplifier with fans ......................................................................£349.95 offset function
MFJ-901B 1.8-30MHz 200W Versa tuner .............................................. £119.95
LA250V 140-150MHz 200W professional amplifier with LCD .....£499.95 SPECIAL OFFER £99.95 £89.95
MFJ-971 1.8-30MHz 300W portable tuner ............................................ £139.95
ULA100 420-440MHz 100W compact linear for 70cms ..............£399.95
MFJ-945E 1.8-54MHz 300W tuner with meter...................................... £149.95
QJ1830SB 30 AMP Linear PSU,
MFJ-941E 1.8-30MHz 300W Versa tuner 2 ........................................... £164.95
no noise issues with the great old school
MFJ-948 1.8-30MHz 300W deluxe Versa tuner ..................................... £174.95
power supply unit, nice digital display and
MFJ-949E 1.8-30MHz 300W deluxe Versa tuner with DL ..................... £199.95
heavy as you like, so you feel like you
MFJ-934 1.8-30MHz 300W tuner complete with artificial GND ............ £229.95
bought something and on offer this month.
MFJ-974B 3.6-54MHz 300W tuner with X-needle SWR/WATT ............. £229.95
SPECIAL OFFER £129.95 £119.95
MFJ-969 1.8-54MHz 300W all band tuner............................................. £249.95
Tuners MFJ-962D 1.8-30MHz 1500W high power tuner................................... £339.95 QJE QJPS30II 30 AMP Switch Mode
LDG Z-817 1.8-54MHz ideal for the Yaesu FT-817 ...................... £129.95 MFJ-986 1.8-30MHz 300W high power differential tuner . £399.95 MFJ-989D
LDG Z-100 Plus 1.8-54MHz the most popular LDG tuner............ £169.95 Power Supply Unit
1.8-30MHz 1500W high power roller tuner ............................................. £439.95 Includes noise offset control to elimi-
LDG IT-100 1.8-54MHz ideal for IC-7000 .................................... £179.95
MFJ-976 1.8-30MHz 1500W balanced line tuner with nate the pulse noise of the switching
LDG Z-11 Pro 1.8-54MHz great portable tuner ........................... £179.95
LDG KT-100 1.8-54MHz ideal for most Kenwood radios .............. £209.95 X-Needle SWR/WATT ................................................................................ £589.95 circuit. This patent pending function is
LDG AT-100 Pro II 1.8-54MHz .................................................... £244.95 specially designed for communica-
LDG AT-200 Pro II 1.8-54MHz .................................................... £259.95 Analysers tion equipment use. Its effectiveness
LDG AT-1000 Pro II 1.8-54MHz continuously ............................. £519.95 MFJ-259C 530 KHz to 230MHz ....................... £299.95 may vary depending on the frequency
LDG AT-600 Pro II 1.8-54MHz with up to 600W SSB .................. £394.95 World’s most popular SWR analyser is super easy-to- and mode.
LDG YT-1200 1.8-54MHz 100W for FT-450D, FT-DX1200 & FT-DX3000.....£244.95 use. It gives you a complete picture of your antenna’s SPECIAL OFFER £79.95 £69.95
LDG YT-100 ideal for your Yaesu FT-857D .......................................................£199.95 performance. You can read your antenna’s SWR and
LDG AL-100 1.8-54MHz 100w designed for the Alinco range of transceiver ....£139.95 Complex Impedance 530 KHz to 230 MHz continuously QJE QJPS50II 50 AMP Switch Mode Power Supply Unit
with no gaps. Same as above but in a 50amp version

t some
SPECIAL OFFER £129.95 £119.95

Want a new radio and ge e? Part Exchange the easy way with 5 simple steps at Moonraker
on
money back for your old 1 Choose your desired rig, scanner or even accessory
Turn this 2 Call or email what you would like to part exchange
into this 3 We will be give you the best deal and agree the balance owed
Don’t want the hassle 4 Pack your equipment securely and wait for the door bell
of selling, queuing 5 Swap your old gear for shiny new with the delivery driver
at the post office or pa
ying online fees? and enjoy! ................................................................it’s that simple

20-Moonraker-3pages.indd 20 24/10/2017 15:52

 Mobile Antenna Mounts GRP Fibreglass Base Antennas
Yagi Antennas TRIMAG-S Triple magnetic mount with SO239 antenna fitting with 4m
Diamond quality –
All Yagis have high quality gamma match fittings RG58 and PL259 fitted – ideal for those larger antennas ........just £39.95
with stainless steel fixings! (excluding YG4-2C) TURBO-S single 170mm magnetic mount with SO239 antenna fitting with Moonraker pricing
4m RG58 and PL259 fitted – will suit most antennas upto 5ft. .......£19.95 Diamond quality – Moonraker prices ! These
YG27-35 Dual band 3/5 element 3.5/12.5 dBd gain with
HKITHD-SO Heavy duty hatch back mount with SO239 antenna fitting high gain antennas have been pre-tuned for your
one feed! .................................................................................... £79.95
with 4m RG58 and PL259 fitted .....................................................£32.95
YG4-2C 2 metre 4 Element (Boom 48”) (Gain 7dBd) ................... £29.95 convenience, easy to use, easy to install, and a
HKITM-S Mini hatch back mount with SO239 antenna fitting with 4m
YG5-2 2 metre 5 Element (Boom 63”) (Gain 10dBd) ................... £69.95 choice of connection … look no further
RG58 and PL259 fitted ...................................................................£32.95
YG8-2 2 metre 8 Element (Boom 125”) (Gain 12dBd) ................. £99.95 SQBM100P 2/70cm 3.00/6.00dBd, RX 25-2000MHz,
YG3-4 4 metre 3 Element (Boom 45”) (Gain 8dBd) ..................... £79.95 Length 100cm SO239 .........................................................
YG5-4 4 metre 5 Element (Boom 104”) (Gain 10dBd) ................. £99.95
£49.95 special offer £39.95
YG3-6 6 metre 3 Element (Boom 72”) (Gain 7.5dBd) .................. £99.95
YG5-6 6 metre 5 Element (Boom 142”) (Gain 9.5dBd) .............. £119.95 SQBM200P 2/70cm, Gain 4.5/7.5dBd, RX 25-2000MHz,
Length 155cm, SO239 .................................£54.95 special offer £44.95
SQBM500P 2/70cm, Gain 6.8/9.2dBd, RX 25-2000MHz,
ZL Special Yagi Antennas Length 250cm, SO239 .................................£74.95 special offer £69.95
The ZL special gives you a massive gain for the smallest boom SQBM800N 2/70cm, Gain 8.5/12.5dBd, RX 25-2000MHz,
length … no wonder they are our best selling Yagis! Length 520cm, N-Type ..............................£139.95 special offer £99.95
ZL5-2 2 Metre 5 Ele, Boom 95cm, Gain 9.5dBd ......................... £69.95 Multiband Mobile SQBM1000P 6/2/70cm, Gain 3.0/6.2/8.4dBd, RX 25-2000MHz,
ZL7-2 2 Metre 7 Ele, Boom 150cm, Gain 11.5dBd .................... £79.95 Why buy loads of different antennas when Moonraker
ZL7-70 70cm 7 Ele, Boom 70cm, Gain 11.5dBd ........................ £49.95 has one to cover all! SPX series has a unique fly lead and Length 250cm, SO239 ................................................................... £84.95
ZL12-70 70cm 12 Ele, Boom 120cm, Gain 14dBd .................... £59.95 socket for quick band changing SQBM223N 2/70/23cm, Gain 4.5/7.5/12.5dBd, RX 25-2000MHz,
SPX-100 9 Band plug n’ go portable, Length 155cm, N-Type .................................................................. £79.95
6/10/12/15/17/20/30/40/80m, Length 165cm retracted just SQBM4010P Quadband 10/4/2/70cm Gain 2.5/3.2/3.6/5.5dBi
HB9CV 0.5m, Power 50W complete with 38th PL259 or BNC fitting to Length 120cm...............................................................................£69.95
Brilliant 2 element beams … suit all applications, mobile portable or SQBM6010P Quadband 10/6/2/70cm Gain 2.5/3.0/3.6/5.5dBi
ideal for portable use base - brilliant! .....................................................£44.95
Length 120cm...............................................................................£69.95
HB9-2 ........................................................................................ £34.95 SPX-200S 6 Band plug n’ go mobile, 6/10/15/20/40/80m,
Length 130cm, Power 120W, PL259 fitting.................................... £44.95 SQBM4060P Quadband 6/4/2/70 Gain: 2.5/3.0/3.6/5.5dbi Length 120cm
HB9-4 ........................................................................................ £49.95 £69.95
HB9-6 ........................................................................................ £59.95 SPX-300S 9 Band plug n’ go mobile, 6/10/12/15/17/20/30/40/80m,
Length 165cm, High Power 200W,PL259 fitting ............................ £59.95

Halo Loops
Our most popular compact antennas, great
base, mobile, portable, or wherever!
HF Wire Antennas
HLP-4 4 mtr (size approx 600mm square ) .................................£44. 95 All our HF wire antennas are made
HLP-6 6 mtr (size approx 800mm square) ................................... £49.95 VHF/UHF Mobiles with complete waterproof potted
GF151 Glass Mount 2/70cm, Gain 2.9/4.3dBd, Length 78cm complete
baluns and high quality “original” flexweave antenna wire.
with 4m cable and PL259 .............................................................. £29.95
MDHF-80 3.5MHz balun matched mono dipole, length 40m ..........£59.95
MRM-100 MICRO MAG 2/70cm, Gain 0.5/3.0dBd, Length 55cm, 1”
MDHF-40 7.0MHz balun matched mono dipole, length 20m ..........£44.95
magnetic base with 4m coax and BNC .......................................... £19.95
MDHF-20 14MHz balun matched mono dipole, length 10m ...........£39.95
MR700 2/70cm, Gain 0/3.0dBd, Length 50cm, 3/8 fitting................ £9.95
OSHF-80 3.5-30MHz balun matched off set dipole, length 40m ....£59.95
MR777 2/70cm, Gain 2.8/4.8dBd, Length 150cm,
OSHF-40 7.0-30MHz balun matched off set dipole, length 22m ......£44.95
3/8 fitting....................................................................................... £19.95
QRP Antennas MRQ525 2/70cm, Gain 0.5/3.2dBd, Length 43cm, PL259 fitting
OSHF-20 14-30MHz balun matched off set dipole, length 11m .......£39.95
The Moonraker Whizz range are great for getting on HF in a neat LWHF-160 1.8-50MHz unun match end fed antenna, length 42m ...£49.95
(high quality) .................................................................................. £19.95 LWHF-80 3.5-50MHz unun match end fed antenna, length 20m ...£44.95
compact and totally portable way
MRQ500 2/70cm, Gain 3.2/5.8dBd, Length 95cm, PL259 fitting LWHF-40 7.0-50MHz unun match end fed antenna, length 10m ...£39.95
(high quality) .................................................................................. £26.95
Whizz Whip HF/VHF/UHF portable antenna with telescopic MRQ750 2/70cm, Gain 5.5/8.0dBd, Length 150cm, PL259 fitting
whip - ideal for any situation where a long wore or vertical (high quality) .................................................................................. £36.95
antenna is just not an option - get on air today for just £99.95 Get great results with the Moonraker
MRQ800 6/2/70cm Gain 3.0dBi/5.0/7.5dBdBd, Length 150cm, PL259
range of HF mobiles! … from as little as
fitting (high quality) ....................................................................... .£39.95
£22.95!
Whizz Loop 20-60m compact loop is
ideal for QRP Transceivers when space is
MRQ273 2/70/23cm Gain 3.5/5.5/7.5dBdBd, Length 85cm, PL259 fitting HF Mobiles
(high quality) .................................................................................. £49.95
limited or using portable with a Yaesu FT-
MRQ900 10/6/2/70cm Gain 10m (2.15dB) 6m(2.5dB) 2m (2.8dB) 70cm
817ND or similar. Can be used indoors with
(5.5dB) Length: 125cm PL259 fitting ............................................ £49.95 AMPRO-10 Slim line design 28MHz 2m approx. 3/8th fitting........£22.95
surprising results and handy for travelling
AMPRO-11 Slim line design 27MHz 2m approx. 3/8th fitting........£22.95
due to its “pocket” size antenna ideal for
AMPRO-12 Slim line design 24MHz 2m approx. 3/8th fitting........£22.95
indoor or out and can be packed away and
AMPRO-15 Slim line design 21MHz 2m approx. 3/8th fitting........£22.95
all for just £69.95
AMPRO-17 Slim line design 18MHz 2m approx. 3/8th fitting........£22.95
AMPRO-20 Slim line design 14MHz 2m approx. 3/8th fitting........£22.95
Whizz Loop V2 (right) same as above AMPRO-30 Slim line design 10MHz 2m approx. 3/8th fitting........£22.95
but with a frequency range from 40- Coax Switches AMPRO-40 Slim line design 7MHz 2m approx. 3/8th fitting..........£22.95
10m.............................£79.95 CS201 2 Way Switch 3 X SO239, 2500W 1-1000MHz . AMPRO-60 Slim line design 5MHz 2m approx. 3/8th fitting..........£24.95
........................................................................ £19.95 AMPRO-80 Slim line design 3.5MHz 2m approx. 3/8th fitting.......£27.95
CS201N 2 Way Switch 3 X N-Type, 2500W AMPRO-160 Slim line design 28MHz 2m approx. 3/8th fitting......£59.95
1-1000MHz ..................................................... £24.95
Other frequencies available. Call or see online for more details.

Base Antennas Lightning Arrestors

Simple plug and play HF antennas radial free and at ST-1 SO239 to PL259 adapter with earth wire
a great price connection ..........................................................£4.95
CDX-1 Lightning Arrestor 2 X SO239 sockets 400W ....
GP2500 All Band 80-6M Vertical TX 80-6M RX 2-90MHz, ........................................................................ £19.99 Baluns & Ununs
Power 250W Length 7.13M .............................. £199.95 High quality TX, RX baluns, and Ununs all fully potted and weather
GPA-80 budget version of GP2500 80-6M Dummy Loads protected with SO239 socket
Length 6.0M ...................................................... £99.95 DL-15 PL259 DC-800MHz 15W CW 20W 50 Ohms
........................................................................ £24.95 MB-1 1-30MHz 1:1 Current Balun 400W 50 Ohms ........................£29.95
DL-15N N-Type DC-800MHz 15W CW 20W 50 Ohms MB-4 1-30MHz 4:1 Current Balun 400W 50 Ohms ........................£29.95
........................................................................ £29.95 MB-6 1-30MHz 6:1 Current Balun 400W 50 Ohms ........................£29.95
MB-1X 1-30MHz 1:1 Current Balun 1000W 50 Ohms ....................£39.95
Portable HF Kits SWR Meters MB-4X 1-30MHz 4:1 Current Balun 1000W 50 Ohms ....................£39.95
SWR-100 Frequency 26-30MHz 100W 50 MB-6X 1-30MHz 6:1 Current Balun 1000W 50 Ohms ....................£39.95
Great dual band kits for portable use, MU-9 1-50MHz 9:1 Unun 500W 50 Ohms .....................................£29.95
two compact dipoles on an upto 14ft Ohms............................................................... £16.95
SWR-270 Frequency 120-500MHz 100W 50 Ohms LWB-1 0-40MHz Receive only 50 Ohms ........................................£24.95
mast just requires coax
........................................................................ £29.95
PK1217 HF Kit for 12/17M ..... £149.95
PK1520 HF Kit for 15/20M ..... £149.95 Ferrites
PK3060 HF Kit for 30/60M .... £154.95 High quality ferrites to suit all the popular cables
PK4080 HF Kit for 40/80M ..... £159.95 FCS-S to suit 6mm cable such as RG58 ............£1.95
(please note each kit requires two feeds) FCS-M to suit 7mm cable such as MINI8 ...........£2.95
FCS-L to suit 9mm cable such as RG213.......... £3.95

EN
COME AND VISIT US FOR A BROWSE, FRIENDLY IMPARTIAL ADVICE AND EXTRA INSTORE DISCOUNTS ONPOW
The largest stockist of Amateur,
Scanner, CB and Hobby Radio
products for 60 miles around.
Plenty of parking and easy
access from the M1 –
come for a visit soon.

20-Moonraker-3pages.indd 21 24/10/2017 15:52

 Moonraker UK Limited
Cranfield Road
Sales line 01908 281705
E-mail sales@moonraker.eu Web www.moonraker.eu
Woburn Sands
Bucks MK17 8UR Follow
Open Mon-Fri 9-5:30pm us on

Our website shows real-time stock

Radio Communications Manufacturer and Reseller so you can buy with confidence
Portable Telescopic Masts Mounting Hardware & Clamps
Cable LMA-S Length 17.6ft open 4ft closed 2-1” diameter ......... £79.95 We have all the mounting brackets you could
RG58 Standard, 5mm, 50 ohm, per metre .......................................... £0.35 LMA-M Length 26ft open 5.5ft closed 2-1” diameter......... £89.95 possibly want - for all options see our website
RG58-DRUM-50 Standard, 5mm, 50 ohm, 50m reel ........................ £19.95 LMA-L Length 33ft open 7.2ft closed 2-1” diameter .......... £99.95 TRIPOD-HDA Free standing, heavy duty, fold away tripod,
RG58-DRUM-100 Standard, 5mm, 50 ohm, 100m reel....................£29.95 CARPLATE-HDT brilliant drive on plate with tilt – ideal which adjusts from 50-65mm ................................. £149.95
RG58M Mil spec, 5mm, 50 ohm, per metre (best seller) ...................... £0.60 to be used in conjunction with the portable telescopic TRIPOD-25L Free standing heavy duty tripod to suit masts
RG58M-DRUM-50 new 50m reel of mil spec RG58 in a great handy size only... £24.95 masts and only ................................................ £44.95 65mm or less ......................................................................................................... £79.95
RG58M-DRUM-100 Mil spec, 5mm, 50 ohm, 100m reel.................. £44.95 CARPLATE-HD without tilt .............................. £24.95 TRIPOD-20L Free standing heavy duty tripod to suit masts 2 inch or less ..... £74.95
RGMINI8 Mil spec, 7mm, 50 ohm, per metre, (amateur favourite) ....... £0.75 TRIPOD-15L Free standing heavy duty tripod to suit masts 1.5 inch or less
RGMINI8-DRUM-50 mil spec, 7mm, 50 ohm, 50m reel ................£34.95 ................................................................................................................................. £69.95
RGMINI8-DRUM-100 Mil spec, 7mm, 50 ohm, 100m reel................... £64.95 20ft Swaged Mast Sets TK-24 Heavy duty galvanised pair of T & K brackets, 24 inches total length.... £29.95
RG213 Mil spec, 9mm, 50 ohm, per metre .......................................... £1.30 These heavy duty masts sets have lovely push fit TK-18 Heavy duty galvanised pair of T & K brackets, 18 inches total length .... £24.95
RG213-DRUM-50 Mil spec, 9mm, 50 ohm, 50m reel........................ £59.95 swaged sections to give a strong mast set. Ideal for TK-12 Heavy duty galvanised pair of T & K brackets, 12 inches total length .... £19.95
RG213-DRUM-100 Mil spec, 9mm, 50 ohm, 100m reel.................. £109.95 (5ft Sections) SO-9 Heavy duty galvanised single stand off bracket, 9 inches total length ....... £9.95
portable or permanent installations also available singly
300-20M Ladder Ribbon, best USA quality, 300 ohm, 20m pack ....... £17.95 MSP-125 4 section 1.25inch OD mast set ....................................£39.95 SO-6 Heavy duty galvanised single stand off bracket, 9 inches total length ........ £6.95
300-DRUM Ladder Ribbon, best USA quality, 300 ohm, 100m reel .... £69.95 MSP-150 4 section 1.50inch OD mast set ....................................£44.95 CHIM-D Heavy duty galvanised chimney lashing kit with all fixings,
450-20M Ladder Ribbon, best USA quality, 450 ohm, 20m pack ....... £19.95 MSPX-150 heavy duty 2.65mm 1.50 inch OD mast set.................£59.95 suitable for upto 2 inch ........................................................................................... £24.95
450-DRUM Ladder Ribbon, best USA quality, 450 ohm, 100m reel £79.95 MSP-175 4 section 1.75inch OD mast set ....................................£49.95 CAR-PLATE Drive on bracket with vertical up stand to suit 1.5 or 2” mounting pole
MSP-200 4 section 2.00inch OD mast set ....................................£59.95 ................................................................................................................................ £24.95
MSPX-200 heavy duty 2.65mm 2.00 inch OD mast set.................£79.95 CROSS-2 Heavy duty cross over plate to suit 1.5 to 2” vertical to horizontal pole
.................................................................................................................................. £14.95
Antenna Wire JOIN-200 Heavy duty 8 nut joining sleeve to connect 2 X 2” poles together
Perfect for making your own antennas, traps, long wire aerials etc. Telescopic Masts .................................................................................................................................. £19.95
PTM-S Pole mounting bracket with SO239 for mobile whips, suits upto 2” pole
SEW-50 Multi stranded PVC covered wire, 1.2mm .................... TMF-1 Fibreglass mast ★ 4 sections 160cm each ★ 50mm to
£19.95 30mm ★ Approx 20ft erect 6ft collapsed .................... £179.95 .................................................................................................................................. £19.95
SCW-50 Enamelled copper wire, 1.5mm ......................................... £24.95 TMF-1.5 Fibreglass mast ★ 5 sections 200cm each ★ 60mm to
HCW-50 Hard Drawn bare copper wire, 1.5mm............................... £29.95 30mm ★ Approx 30ft erect 8ft collapsed .................... £249.95
CCS-50 Genuine Copperweld copper clad steel, 1.6mm .................. £29.95 TMF-2 Fibreglass mast ★ 5 sections 240cm each ★ 60mm to
FW-50 Original Flexweave bare copper wire, 2mm ........................ £39.95 30mm ★ Approx 40ft erect 9ft collapsed .................... £299.95
FWPVC-50 Original clear PVC covered copper wire, 4mm ............... £44.95 TMF-3 Fiberglass mast * 6 sections 240cm each * 65-23mm *
FW-100 Original high quality flexweave antenna wire, 100m reel........................... £59.95 Approx 50ft erect 8ft collapsed ................................... £349.95
FWPVC-100 Original PVC coated flexweave antenna wire, 4mm, 100m reel ........................... £79.95 Connectors
Rigging Accessories PL259-6mm Standard plug for RG58........................................... £0.99p
Get rigged up, for full list of all options visit our website! Patch Leads PL259-9mm Standard plug for RG213......................................... £0.99p
PULLEY-2 Adjustable pulley for wire antennas, suits all types of rope ............................ £24.95 PL58-0.5 ½m Standard RG58 PL259 to PL259 lead ........................ £3.50 PL259-7mm Standard plug for Mini8 .......................................... £0.99p
GUYKIT-HD10 Complete HD adjustable guying kit for up to 40ft masts......................... £54.95 PL58-10 10m Standard RG58 PL259 to PL259 lead ........................ £8.95 PL259-6C Compression type for RG58 .......................................... £2.50
GUYKIT-P10 Complete LD/portable guying kit to suit up to 40ft masts......................... £39.95 PL58-30 30m Standard RG58 PL259 to PL259 lead ...................... £16.95 PL259-9C Compression type for RG213 ..........................................
..........................................£2.50
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20-Moonraker-3pages.indd 22 24/10/2017 15:52

 Rejuvenating the Yaesu FR-50B – Part 2 by Dr Samuel Ritchie EI9FZB
• Dr Samuel Ritchie EI9FZB • E-mail: practicalwireless@warnersgroup.co.uk

Rejuvenating the Yaesu

FR-50B Receiver – Part 2
This second article covers: why electrolytic capacitors age and how to go about
changing them in an FR-50B receiver; and the reported problem of the FR-50B drifting
in frequency and how to cure this instability.

Fig. 3: C103 installed.

Fig. 1: C103 looking rather worse for wear. Replacing Electrolytic Capacitors an electrolytic capacitor that is in a circuit
It has become common practice when where it has been correctly used and speci-
working on older equipment to change all fied, the following changes occur over time:
the electrolytic capacitors because these • the capacitance falls in value;
capacitors age and ultimately fail. Electro- • the tangent of the loss angle begins to
lytic capacitor failure can be catastrophic increase;
(explosion, fire, smoke, short circuit) or silent • when voltages are applied, the leakage
(electrolyte leakage, open, ESR increase, current begins to drop; and
capacitance decrease). The first circuit in • as the dielectric completely dries up, the
which electrolytic capacitors seem to fail is capacitor enters an open-circuit mode.
in power supplies. This is because elec- The FR-50B was first released in 1969
trolytic capacitor ageing is accelerated by and the production line was closed in 1973.
heat and power supplies are usually running This means the original electrolytic capaci-
warm if not hot. tors are at least 40 years old. My receiver,
However, it is not unusual to find faulty serial number 318289, as delivered was
capacitors in non-power supply circuits. generally working, deaf on some bands,
The aluminium electrolytic capacitor has better on others and still had all the original
a limited life span because the its electro- electrolytic capacitors installed.
Fig. 2: C102 and C56 installed. lyte eventually dissipates or dries out. For There are six physical electrolytic ca-

December 2017 Practical Wireless 23

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 Rejuvenating the Yaesu FR-50B – Part 2

burned C103 and the wiring in the general

area. It turns out that this resistor is also
the indirectly cause of the VFO drift and in
solving that problem this resistor is removed
from the circuit.

Curing the VFO Drift

This particular receiver model has had a rep-
utation for VFO drift. The man from whom
I bought my first second-hand FR-50B
receiver explained this as one of the reasons
for selling it. On the few occasions at the lo-
cal amateur radio club when I mentioned my
choice of receiver it was commented on that
the receiver had frequency drift problems.
There are conflicting statements on the
internet. On a recently deleted Wikipedia
page there is the statement, “It has a VFO
instability for which there is no solution”
Fig. 4: R68 (large all brown resistor) right above C103 (new cap installed on this photo) – the Zener and on a collectors website page is writ-
diode (D9) is circled for future referencing. ten, “However, as with most of Y-M’s early
products, it is a mix of quirky and excellent
10Vdc pacitors in the FR-50B although the circuit features. And one that is highly debatable:
diagram shows seven because C103 is two drift of the local oscillator. Many are the
22K capacitors in one can. A previous owner had users (and ex-users) who categorically state
10nF
Output to
added a 2m converter and while mechani- that the medium term drift is really bad. And
3K3 100pF 50pF C105
cally adept was not so good at soldering. that confuses me, since mine is exception-
10nF
X1 C102 as well as a number of wires around ally stable!”
L19
2SC372Y the 2m converter suffered what appear to My experience with my first FR-50B was
3K3
be soldering iron burns. Table 1 lists the that from a cold start the drift was particu-
10nF
80pF
560
original capacitor values and the condition I larly bad but after 15 minutes it settled down
found them in and Fig. 1 shows the condi- to being tolerable. I simply assumed that
tion of C103. was how it was meant to be – that stations
Fig. 5: Redrawn crystal oscillator schematic. Given that I had to replace C103, C59, would slowly drift out of the passband and
C50 and C102, I undertook to replace all would need to be chased up and down the
10Vdc the electrolytic capacitors. Table 2 shows band. My second receiver, the one worked
what capacitor values I used to replace the on for this article, was no better but at least
1K5 1K 240uH
20pF Band Unique
original capacitors with and where I sourced now I had the skills, experience and equip-
5n Components (80M)
3pF
them from. ment to examine the issue in detail.
2SC373 250pF
30pF 30pF

TC10 14pF
L11
VC2 VC3
C102 was originally axial. I only had a This receiver came out at the time where
Dial Zero
some receiver stages were becoming solid-
20pF
1K5
560
Set
radial on hand but it doesn’t matter because
its soldering points are very close together state and others remained valved. In this rig
1n5 470pF

Buffer and the capacitor fits without lead exten- only the VFO and the IF crystal oscillator are
3K3
sions, see Fig. 2. of solid-state design. The BFO is a valved
50pF
2SC372 C103 was fatter than the original capaci- LC oscillator (V7) and, interestingly, the cali-
3K3 560 1nF tor, Fig. 3, and fortunately I had ordered bration oscillator uses a valve (V2a), perhaps
the matching mounting bracket. While the because the designer had half a 12AT7 valve
Fig. 6: VFO schematic. capacitor terminals fit in the original chassis spare to use.
hole, the mounting bracket needed one
additional hole to be drilled to mount it Investigating the Crystal Oscillator
150Vdc
securely. I first investigated the crystal oscillator cir-
cuit to see whether there was an issue here.
R68 Why C103 was Burned The schematic is redrawn in Fig. 5 to make
4k7
Trying to understand why C103 was burned it easier to interpret and the circuit dissolves
10 Vdc led to solving the frequency instability in to a Pierce oscillator.
C102 D9
1000uF 1N4740 problem. On investigation, the vast majority To check the sensitivity of this circuit to
10V
of heat in the immediate area is due to R68, supply voltage fluctuations, I ran the oscil-
a 4.7kΩ 7W ceramic resistor. This resis- lator directly off my bench power supply
tor is mounted right underneath capacitor and found the frequency to be as stable as
C103, Fig. 4. It gets very hot and over time would be expected from a crystal oscilla-
Fig. 7: Schematic of low voltage generation. the excessive heat from this resistor has tor. In varying the power supply ±2V the

24 Practical Wireless December 2017

23-Rejuvenating the yaetsu 3 pages.indd 24 24/10/2017 15:45

 Capacitor Value Condition
C103a 47µF 160V radial Badly burned by heat source but not by a
C103b 47µF 160V radial soldering iron (measured only 15µF)
C59 10µF 16V axial Bulging on negative terminal (measured 10µF)
C50 10µF 16V axial Bulging on negative terminal (measured 10µF)
C58 10µF 160V axial Visually good (measured 10µF)
C102 1000µF 16V axial Burned by soldering iron (measured 850µF)
C56 22µF 160V axial Looked OK (measured 21µF)

Table 1: Original capacitor values and condition.

Capacitor Replacement Note

Fig. 8: Temperature coefficient vs. Zener voltage. C103a 50µF 250V radial Common cap for people building valve audio
C103b 50µF 250V radial amplifiers. www.justradios.com
circuit maintained the crystal frequency. In
C59 10µF 25V axial RS Components
measuring the frequency of the crystal oscil-
lator I noticed a discrepancy in its operating C50 10µF 25V axial RS Components
frequency of about 0.05% of the IF value. I C58 10µF 160Vaxial Common cap for people building valve audio
don’t know with what accuracy the crystal amplifiers. www.justradios.com
oscillator was set when manufactured and C102 1000µF 25V radial Own stock
nor do I know the type of crystal used or its
C56 22µF 160V axial Common cap for people building valve audio
ageing profile. It may well be that knowing
amplifiers. www.justradios.com
the user was relying on a scale with limited
resolution, some inaccuracy was deemed Table 2: Replacement capacitors.
adequate. Certainly, though, in the last four
decades the crystal will have aged and very sensitive to operating voltage variation. is specified on the datasheet at an ambi-
changed in frequency. To check this I ran the VFO directly off my ent temperature of 25°C but if the ambient
Examining the schematic shows no bench power supply and found that I could temperature varies, then so does the Zener
provision for adjusting the crystal oscilla- tune around the band by simply varying voltage as shown in the graph, Fig. 8.
tor frequency. The crystal oscillator itself is the VFO operating voltage. Clearly I had A typical 10V Zener diode has a
contained in a metal can similar to the other to check the stability of the 10V DC power temperature coefficient of about 7mV/°C.
inductor cans used in the receiver. The hole supply and I started by examining how this From a cold start at 15°C after one hour
at the top of the can doesn’t lead anywhere voltage is generated. R68 reached 65°C, an increase of 50°C in
and the screw under the can is not adjust- The mains transformer has one high volt- temperature or a change of 350mV of Zener
able and appears to hold the PCB used for age winding as well as a 6.3V AC winding voltage. I could also cause fluctuations
the crystal oscillator. I was not inclined to to run the valve heaters. But the designer in the Zener voltage by gently and not so
remove the crystal oscillator from the chas- needed 10V DC for the solid-state cir- gently wafting air over R68.
sis to see whether it could be disassem- cuitry and other than source a new power In order to remove the heat generated by
bled and the crystal brought onto the right transformer with an additional secondary R68 and to ensure a stable VFO operating
frequency. The second IF filter bandwidth winding, the only options were either to turn voltage, I disconnected R68 and D9 and
is so broad that this discrepancy makes no the 6.3V AC or 150V DC into 10V DC. The supplied the VFO from an external power
material difference. designer chose the latter and implemented supply. Physically, I unsoldered the one side
the circuit in Fig. 7. of R68, the leg that goes to C103/CH1, and
Investigating the VFO I measured the voltage across R68 and it one side of D9, the leg that goes to C102,
Next, I investigated the VFO circuit to see was 140.9V. Applying Ohm’s law will tell us and isolated each with heatshrink insulation.
whether there was an issue here. By the mid how much current is flowing through R68. I chose to run the VFO and the crystal oscil-
1960s building stable solid-state VFOs that I = V/R = 140.9/4700 = 30mA lator on 9V DC and attached the positive of
took temperature variations into account So the power that R68 needs to dissipate the external 9V power supply to the positive
was well understood so I doubted that there is: terminal of C102.
was a design issue with the VFO itself. P = I2 × R = (30mA)2 × 4700 = 4.2W While this type of VFO will never be
The VFO circuit, if redrawn, Fig. 6, Resistor R68 is for all intents and pur- stable enough for some of the data modes
becomes a little easier to interpret and is poses a 4.2W heater and as discovered or even working on a crowded band, I am
clearly a Colpitts oscillator followed by a earlier is the reason C103 was burned by satisfied that, after many hours of casual
common-emitter buffer. Each band has a long-term exposure to this resistor mounted monitoring of broadcast stations while work-
unique set of frequency setting compo- right beneath it. In addition, the Zener diode ing in my study, the main frequency instabil-
nents that are switched in as required – the (D9) is mounted right next to R68 (see Fig. 4 ity problem has been adequately resolved.
components for the 80m band are shown in again) and suffers from the heat generated In the final instalment I will look at the
the drawing. by R68. AGC system, adding a frequency counter
The Colpitts oscillator is known to be The Zener voltage, in this case 10V, and aligning the receiver.

December 2017 Practical Wireless 25

23-Rejuvenating the yaetsu 3 pages.indd 25 24/10/2017 15:45

 Feature by Steve Telenius-Lowe PJ4DX
● E-mail: teleniuslowe@gmail.com

Antipodal Focusing
Steve Telenius-Lowe PJ4DX explains antipodal focusing of radio signals, an effect
that helps to improve signal strengths to and from the opposite side of the globe.

I
n the UK the term “the
antipodes” is usually taken
to mean Australasia – a vast
area – but “antipode” (in the
singular) means the place that
is at the exact opposite side of the
world. Because almost three-quarters
of the Earth is covered by oceans it
follows that, wherever you are, it is most
likely that your exact antipode will be
somewhere in the sea. That is clear from
Fig. 1, where the antipodes of the land in
blue is superimposed in yellow or, where
land overlaps with its antipodes, in green. Fig. 1: World map showing land with the antipodes of the land superimposed. Areas where blue (standard projection)
The antipodes of almost the whole of and yellow (antipodes) overlap are coloured green. (Image: Cmglee, ‘Antipodes’ page, Wikipedia).
Europe and Africa, and also much of Asia,
lie in the vastness of the Pacific Ocean, ably obvious if you consider that, due to
whereas the antipodes of Australia are in D-layer absorption, long-distance contacts
the Atlantic. on 160, 80 and (to a somewhat lesser
In the case of the UK, its antipodes are extent) 40m only occur when the path be-
often thought of as being New Zealand but tween the two locations is in darkness, or
that isn’t really so. The precise antipodes nearly so. While there are lengthy periods
of the UK are in the sea several hundred of mutual darkness at certain times of year
kilometres south and east of the South to most places on Earth, that is never the
Island of New Zealand. The closest land case with places close to your antipodes.
is the Antipodes Islands (as the name In the case of New Zealand, whatever
suggests), which form part of the DXCC the time of year, when it is becoming light
Entity of New Zealand Subantarctic Islands in the UK, it is becoming dark in New Zea-
(ZL9). The Chatham Islands (ZL7) are land and vice versa. Any low band contact
also relatively close but it is in fact Spain Fig. 2: Azimuthal or great circle map based on North can therefore only take place close to
that is closest to being antipodal with the Island of New Zealand. That is Spain that completely dawn or dusk: any earlier or later and the
mainland of New Zealand. This can be encircles the outer perimeter of the map! (courtesy Tom D-layer will have formed at one or other lo-
seen in Fig. 2, which is an azimuthal or Epperly NS6T). cation and signals will be absorbed to such
great circle map based on a location in the an extent that a contact won’t be possible.
North Island of New Zealand. From here, Even so, low band greyline contacts
the azimuth of Spain is literally all 360º with New Zealand are really quite reliable
around the compass! You can generate an and many amateurs have noticed that –
azimuthal map centred on your location by perhaps counterintuitively – it is easier
using the excellent program developed by to make contacts with the most distant
Tom Epperly NS6T: stations than it is to contact stations that
http://ns6t.net/azimuth Fig. 3: Simplified diagram showing chordal hop are several thousand kilometres closer to
propagation. Instead of being refracted back to Earth them.
The Antipodes on the Low Bands the signal is refracted internally within the ionosphere,
As discussed in my article last month, The reducing attenuation caused by multiple ‘hops’. Antipodal Focusing
Low Bands at Solar Minimum, ‘greyline’ One explanation for this is ‘antipodal fo-
propagation can, depending on the season But contacts on the low bands to places cusing’. Between any two places on Earth
and time of day, be to places such as close to one’s antipode can only be made that are not antipodal there is only one
Japan or the west coast of North America. by means of the greyline. This is reason- great circle path. The two arcs between the

26 Practical Wireless December 2017

26-antiodal focussing 3 pages.indd 26 24/10/2017 15:44

 locations represent the short-path and the of France close to Nimes and Montpelier,
long-path beam headings. But between about 1,000km south of the English Mid-
any two antipodal points there is an infinite lands. If the antipodal enhancement from
number of great circle paths. Because the the Chatham Islands included stations in
two locations are exactly opposite one an- the UK as reported by G3SXW and the
other, the distance between them is always ZL7G team, then it must extend to around
20,000km (half the Earth’s circumference, 1,000km.
assuming a perfect sphere), whichever way
the signal travels. There is no short path or Antipodal Enhancement from Bonaire
long path because all paths are the same Fig. 4: QSL from last year’s ZL7G Chatham Islands While there is very little amateur radio
length. DXpedition. The operators found it particularly easy to activity from ZL7 and ZL9, the land areas
Not only that but your exact antipode is work stations close to their antipodes. closest to the UK’s antipodes, there are
not at any particular beam heading; rather, thousands of active radio amateurs within
it lies in all directions around the compass. are open simultaneously, signals coming a few hundred kilometres of my antipode.
This is clearly seen in Fig. 2 for the path from more than one direction may sum The exact antipode of Bonaire is a point at
between New Zealand and Spain. Although at the antipode, thus providing stronger sea close to the Indonesian islands of Java
not all paths in all directions will be open, a signals than might be expected. and Bali, both of which have large popula-
signal that is travelling along an open path tions of amateurs regularly active on HF.
will always end up at its antipode, making How Close? Antipodal enhancement or focusing
such contacts far more reliable than might The question is, just how close do you is therefore perhaps more noticeable to
otherwise be expected. In the case of a need to be to your exact antipode to get me than it is to most UK operators. I have
station not located at your antipode, their the benefit of these antipodal enhance- been active from Bonaire for four years
signals will end up at their antipode but this ments? This question was raised by Roger and in that time I have discovered that it
could be several thousand kilometres away Western G3SXW on the CDXC (Chiltern is really easy to contact some Indonesian
from you and so you may hear nothing. DX Club) e-mail reflector. He commented stations, yet very difficult to work several
Vertical antennas can be very effective that when he had operated as ZL7/G3SXW other countries close to Indonesia.
when working the antipodes. Because the from the Chatham Islands some years ago, I have contacted many YB0, 1, 2, 3 and
signal is being radiated at all azimuths, he had noticed that stations from the UK 9 stations from Java, Bali and Lombok
wherever there is an open path the vertical were much easier to work, and with much islands, Fig. 5, but looking through my
antenna will ‘find’ it and the signal will be stronger signals, than many other Euro- log of nearly 75,000 QSOs, Fig. 6, there
propagated along that path. That isn’t the pean stations. is not a single one with any YB7 station
case when using a beam antenna because Exactly the same effect was noticed from Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo).
it may not be obvious in which direction(s) by PW Editor Don Field G3XTT and the Certainly Java and Bali are more densely
the path or paths are open. other members of the ZL7G team, Fig. 4, populated than Kalimantan but I know from
In addition to the higher reliability of who operated from the Chatham Islands eight years operating as 9M6DXX from
paths to your antipodes, signals from in October – November 2016. Incidentally, the adjacent Malaysian state of Sabah on
close to the antipode are often consider- and for the reasons described above, the Borneo that there is also plenty of activity
ably stronger than anticipated. The usual ZL7G operators used vertical antennas on from YB7.
explanation for very long-distance signals all bands, pointing out that if they had used Furthermore, while some YB sta-
appearing to be stronger than suggested directional antennas when working Europe, tions are almost ridiculously strong here
by the expected number of reflections or they would not have known whether to (exchanged signal reports of S9+20dB
‘hops’ is that it’s due to chordal hop propa- beam just east of north for the UK, west for on 40m are not uncommon), it is very dif-
gation, Fig. 3. However, in the case of Italy, south-east for Spain or north-west for ficult indeed to even detect well-equipped
propagation between two nearly antipodal Germany! stations in Sabah (9M6), Sarawak (9M8)
locations, another possibility exists. If sev- The precise antipode of the Chatham Is- or Brunei (V8) – along with YB7 all on the
eral different paths between the locations lands is 44ºN 4ºE, in the Languedoc region island of Borneo – or those in the Philip-
pines (DU), on any band. Not a single ‘dit’
or a whisper was heard from two DXpedi-
tions to the Spratly Islands (9M0). It was as
if they were simply not there.
Why should it be that working YB7,
9M6, 9M8, 9M0, V8 or DU stations is fiend-
ishly difficult, whereas those only a few
hundred kilometres away in the YB1 call
district, for example, can often be S9+?
The only likely explanation for this discrep-
ancy between stations in Java ‘booming
in’ to Bonaire while stations on Borneo and
in the Philippines are normally inaudible
Fig. 5: Indonesian call districts. Why is it that YB0, 1, 2, 3 and 9, in particular, are very easy to work, whereas YB7 seems is signal enhancement due to antipodal
to be almost impossible for me? focusing.

December 2017 Practical Wireless 27

26-antiodal focussing 3 pages.indd 27 24/10/2017 15:44

 Antipodal Focusing

those that are several hundred or even a

few thousand kilometres closer to you.
The October 2017 VK9XI and VK9CI
DXpeditions provided perfect examples of
antipodal focusing. VK9XI on Christmas Is-
land, only about 670km from my antipode,
had excellent signals here and I worked
them with ease on 15, 17, 20 and 40m.
According to the statistics on Club Log no
other station in the whole of North or South
America worked them on four bands.
The VK9XI team moved on to the Cocos
(Keeling) Islands and was active as VK9CI.
Fig. 6: Extract from the PJ4DX log (in callsign alphabetical order). These are just a few of the YB1s I have worked – yet I Same team, same equipment, same anten-
have not made a single QSO with the YB7 call district. nas at an excellent ocean-front location,
yet their signals were barely audible here.
Thanks to the large amount of activ- Stations closer than about 15,000km once The two islands are only 980km apart but
ity by amateurs within a few thousand again become generally easier to work, Cocos (Keeling) is 1,600km from my anti-
kilometres of the antipode of Bonaire this although naturally this depends to a large pode: too far for antipodal focusing.
anecdotal evidence means it is possible extent on the precise path. Polar paths
to give at least a tentative answer to the (those that pass through the auroral ovals) More Anecdotal Evidence
question posed by Roger G3SXW. Table are always going to be tough due to the While working on this article I received an
1 gives the short-path distances from attenuation. e-mail from Tim Beaumont M0URX in
Bonaire and the distance from the exact Responding to G3SXW and my own which he recalled working ZL9A on Antipo-
antipode of Bonaire of locations that have observations, well-known propagation des Island in January 2016. “I remember
proved very easy to work, while Table 2 writer Carl Luetzelschwab K9LA noted, when Cezar VE3LYC went out to Antipo-
gives the same data for those that are “It could be that the enhancement versus des Island the bands were dead after a
very difficult to work. From Tables 1 and 2, distance from the antipode depends on solar storm. The K index had risen to 7 at
and the reports given by G3SXW and the frequency and where we are in a solar the time I made the QSO on 20m and yet
ZL7G team, it can be concluded that this cycle – and maybe even the location of the Cezar was quite easy to work from UK.”
‘sweet spot’ of antipodal focusing extends transmitter and antipode since the iono- Antipodes Island is only 300km from the
to 1,100 or 1,200km from the precise sphere isn’t homogeneous throughout the antipode of Tim’s location in Coventry.
antipode. Between about 1,500 and maybe world.” In other words, “your mileage may In the early 1990s I was working in Pap-
5,000km from the antipodes (i.e. stations vary”. Yet it is clear that assuming there is ua New Guinea and operated as P29DX.
that are 15,000 to 18,500km away) lies a some land within a distance of up to about Late one afternoon while I was preparing
region where contacts are always difficult, 1,200km from your antipode, you will find for the Papua New Guinea Amateur Radio
with unreliable paths and weak signals. it easier to work stations located there than Society net on 80m I was amazed to be
called by Julio D44BC (now Silent Key)
Location Prefix Short-path distance Distance from antipode from Mindelo in the Cape Verde Islands. It
was still daylight but shortly before sunset,
West Java YB1 19,261km 739km
and the band was devoid of stations, with
Central Java YB2 19,430km 570km nothing even from nearby Queensland
East Java YB3 19,549km 451km (VK4). Julio’s signal came out of the noise,
Bali, Lombok etc YB9 19,466km 534km peaked long enough to make a contact
and then faded back into the noise, all in
Jakarta Metropolitan Area YB0 19,159km 841km
under ten minutes. Mindelo is 1,180km
Christmas Island VK9X 19,329km 671km from the antipode of Port Moresby, at the
Table 1: Locations very easy to work from Bonaire: all are under 1,000km from my antipode. upper end of that ‘sweet spot’, possibly
explaining why the opening was so short.
Locations Prefix Short-path distance Distance from antipode One final story: in the CQ WPX SSB
Kalimantan YB7 18,441km 1,559km contest in March 2008 I was operating
as 9M8Z from Sarawak in East Malaysia.
Sarawak, East Malaysia 9M8 18,425km 1,575km
At 1830UTC – 2.30am local time – I was
Sabah, East Malaysia 9M6 17,998km 2,002km surprised to work a Brazilian station on
Spratly Islands 9M0 17,568km 2,432km 15m and half an hour later I heard (though
Brunei V8 18,126km 1,874km didn’t work) other Brazilians chatting
between themselves on 10m. Propagation
Cocos (Keeling) Islands VK9C 18,402km 1,598km
to the other side of the world, in the middle
Philippines DU 16,900-17,400km 2,600-3,100km of the night, at solar minimum, on 21 and
Table 2: Locations very difficult to work from Bonaire: starting from about 1,500km from my 28MHz? Guess what – Brazil is the exact
antipode. antipode of Sarawak.

28 Practical Wireless December 2017

26-antiodal focussing 3 pages.indd 28 24/10/2017 15:44

 Carrying on the Practical Way with Dave Cutts M0TAZ
● E-mail: dave.cutts@gmail.com

A 3-element
30mm outside diameter, the elements then
taper down to 25mm, 20mm and finally
16mm at the end. A total of 22 sections
of aluminium were required, seven for the

Yagi for the

reflector, seven for the director and eight
for the driven element, since the centre
is also cut. Because the elements are
tapered, an amount of overlap must be
allowed for. We settled on 250mm overlap

17m Band
for each stage of the taper to maintain the
mechanical strength and to help reduce the
likelihood that the elements would curve
under their own weight.

Construction
Some careful planning is required to ensure
Dave Cutts M0TAZ describes a club project to the inside diameter is sufficient to allow
the tapered construction. This can be
construct a 3-element monoband HF Yagi. especially tricky because some of the sizes
need to be imperial and others in metric
depending on what sizes are available.

T
The initial stage of construction involved
his year’s beam project at checking the internal diameter of each tube
the Secret Nuclear Bunker and making sure that the various sections
Contest Group was an fitted inside each other. Thankfully they did,
18MHz 3-element monoband although some sections were a little looser
Yagi antenna. The 17m band than we had hoped for.
often provides very good propagation Chris G8OCV cut all the sections to
into the USA and South America. The length using a chop saw, Fig. 2, which
design was taken from Martin DK7ZB’s allowed each section to be cut to size
website, where he has construction quickly and accurately. A band saw was
details for a large selection of HF and then used to cut slots into the ends of
VHF beams. The drawing, Fig. 1, shows Fig. 1: The configuration and element lengths. the element sections, Fig. 3. With the
the layout and element lengths. ends feathered, a single jubilee clamp
www.qsl.net/dk7zb/start1.htm could hold the element sections together.
The configuration selected for this build Although the length of each section is
was a 28Ω version (see sidebar) on a 5m important and needs to be cut accurately,
boom, offering 5.7dBd (dB relative to a a level of adjustment is afforded at each
dipole) of forward gain, thus giving around section because the overlap allows for any
1.5kW ERP (effective radiated power) for necessary fine-tuning.
400W input. We preferred this design since After all the metal was cut, the antenna
the beam would be transported to our was initially assembled without fixing
operating site in a car so it needed to be Fig. 2: The aluminium for the elements, cut and each element to the boom. Looking at the
easily assembled and transportable. The ready to go. picture, Fig. 4, you could be mistaken for
5m boom length is ideal because box- thinking the antenna isn’t that large. The
section aluminium is often supplied in 5m boom is 38mm box section tube and the
lengths. reflector is around 8.5m long (Dave M0TAZ
We ordered the aluminium from for scale).
Aluminium Warehouse who stock a wide The elements were to be mounted
range of sizes, both metric and imperial, on the boom using some plastic mounts
and offer lengths up to 5m. I opted to have purchased online, which were available
the metal delivered but collection is also to fit 32 or 40mm box section. The 40mm
possible from their Hatfield warehouse. would have sufficed but would require
Another useful service offered is that they some packing to take up the slack space.
will cut metal to size, if requested. This On this occasion, I opted to purchase
company is local to us but, as the editor the 32mm mounts and Chris G8OCV
mentions in his Keylines, similar suppliers milled them out to 38mm using a milling
exist throughout the UK. machine to provide a snug fit on the boom.
The aluminium elements are tapered to Chris also machined a centrepiece for
save weight while maintaining strength in Fig. 3: Cutting the slots into the ends of the the driven element on the lathe from a
the centre where it is needed. Starting with element sections. section of Nylon stock he had lying around

December 2017 Practical Wireless 29

29-Practical Way 3 pages.indd 29 24/10/2017 15:44

 Carrying on the Practical Way

in his shack. Suitable antenna parts can

sometimes be hard to track down. The links
below may help.
http://shop.nuxcom.de/index.
php?cPath=113_15
http://aerial-parts.co.uk
http://urbasket.eu
John M0UKD had the idea of mounting
the driven element on something a little
more substantial than the element supports
I had used for the director and reflector.
This should help to avoid element sag
since the driven element is cut in half
at the centre (feedpoint). Dave G7UVW
mentioned that he had some Paxolin board
that was 8mm thick – this would make an
ideal insulated and sturdy support for the
driven element, Fig. 5.
The addition of four exhaust clamps
Fig. 4: The elements laid on the boom before being attached. to lock the elements in place provided a
very neat and droop-free solution. The
other elements were mounted on the
boom and the coaxial matching system
was constructed. The antenna has a
28Ω feedpoint impedance so needs to
be matched to 50Ω. We achieved this
using two lengths of 75Ω coaxial cable to
construct a frequency-specific 2:1 balun.
The next stage was to measure out all
the elements and fit the jubilee clips. We
found that sturdy branded jubilee clips were
a worthwhile investment because cheaper
budget ones stripped their threads.
The boom is split into 2 x 2.5m to allow
easy storage and transport in the car. It
is then braced and joined by a further
1m section of 38mm box linking the two
sections together and bolted with 4 x M8
x100mm bolts. An aluminium plate with
two larger clamps will hold the beam to any
stub mast we use.

Checking it Out
With the elements measured and the boom
joined, it was now time to raise the antenna
and measure the VSWR. We mounted it
on a 10m pump-up Clark mast, Fig. 6, and
with some trepidation we measured the
VSWR. It was comforting and encouraging
to see the antenna resonant on 18.120MHz,
Fig. 7. Team SNBCG had successfully
converted a pile of aluminium into a beam
for the 17m band!
Over the course of the weekend we
worked 100 stations on SSB, mostly in
Europe, and Fred G3SVK worked 50 on
CW, including some DX to the USA and
Japan. The beam worked very well and
the measurements as given on Martin
DK7ZB’s website provided near perfect
Fig. 5: The feedpoint. VSWR without the need for any further

30 Practical Wireless December 2017

29-Practical Way 3 pages.indd 30 24/10/2017 15:44

 λ/
4
Zin Z0 Transmission line ZL

Fig. A: Using a quarter wavelength of coaxial line as an

impedance transformer.

Two parallel (λ/4)*V

75Ω coaxial lines

Radiator Radiator
28Ω

50Ω

Coaxial socket
grounded to the boom

Fig. 6: In the air at 10m height.

Fig. B: The practical realisation for a 28Ω feedpoint, using
two lengths of 75Ω cable in parallel.

Why a 28Ω Yagi?

DK7ZB is well known for his Yagi designs based around a 28Ω
feedpoint. There is nothing magic about this figure but it is con-
venient. Here’s why.
A half-wave dipole in free space has a feedpoint impedance
around 75Ω, hence the early popularity of 75Ω coaxial cable.
This is still used in your TV installation and is fine for receiving
purposes.
However, experiments conducted by researchers at Bell
Labs in the USA in the late 1920s determined that the best power
handling capability could be achieved by using 30Ω coaxial cable,
whereas the lowest signal attenuation (loss) could be achieved
by using 77Ω cable. However, there are few dielectric materials
suitable for use in a coaxial cable to support 30Ω impedance.
Thus, 50Ω coaxial cable was selected as the ideal compromise,
offering high power handling and low attenuation characteristics.
This is explained further in the article to be found at:
http://tinyurl.com/ydhcurft
Where Yagi antennas are concerned, adding parasitic ele-
ments (reflector and directors) reduces the feedpoint impedance
from that of a dipole at around 75Ω to a much lower figure.
The impedance may be well below 50Ω in the case of a multi-
Fig. 7: A near perfect VSWR! element antenna, depending on the configuration. Therefore a
means must be found to match to the 50Ω cables that we nor-
mally use in amateur radio. Various methods of matching are
employed – for example, the hairpin match, the gamma match
(which obviates the need to split the driven element but leads
to a slightly skewed radiation pattern) or a balun (balanced to
unbalanced transformer that may be designed to transform the
impedance too). Sometimes a folded driven element is used, pre-
senting a feedpoint impedance around 300Ω. However, at HF at
least, a folded dipole is quite a challenge, mechanically. There
are a few other methods available to match the transmission line
to the antenna too, as described in all the usual antenna books.
In the present case, we know that a quarter wave of trans-
mission line can, of itself, act as a transformer. The relationship
between the characteristic impedance of the transmission line,
Z0, a source impedance, Zin and load impedance, ZL (see Fig. A) is:
Zin/Z0 = Z0/ZL
If, then, our main feeder to the antenna is 50Ω coaxial cable
and our antenna has been designed for a 28Ω feedpoint, we need
a quarter-wave matching section with a characteristic imped-
ance of Z0 = √(28 x 75) = 37.4Ω, which just happens to be almost
exactly half of 75Ω. So we can run two quarter-wavelengths of
75Ω cable in parallel, Fig. B, and, hey presto, we have a match.
There are just two issues to consider. The first is that this
will only work for a single frequency (or, at least, a single band
provided that the band isn’t too wide). So it isn’t suitable for a
multiband antenna. That’s not a problem for the 18MHz antenna
Fig. 8: Team SNBCG with the completed beam (left to right) John M0UKD, Fred G3SVK, Dave M0YOL, described in this article. The other is that we are talking about
two electrical quarter waves of 75Ω cable so when calculating
Dave M0TAZ, George M1GEO, Chris G8OCV and Peter G0IAP. the length needed, we need to take the velocity factor of the
cable into account. Fortunately this can be found in the cable
adjustment (once again). Without their time, effort, encouragement specification (provided you are using a reputable make of cable),
which should be near enough although, ideally, you should cut
Thanks to Chris G8OCV, George and technical input (and bits from their junk the matching sections slightly over-long and trim after checking
M1GEO, Peter G0IAP and John M0UKD box) it would not have been successful, with an analyser.

for their assistance with the project. Fig. 8.

December 2017 Practical Wireless 31

29-Practical Way 3 pages.indd 31 24/10/2017 15:44

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CHA-250BX11....3.5 - 57MHz (RX: 2.0 - 90MHz).....349.00 Cobweb Antenna
CF-530....1.3-90/125-470MHz 2x SO239,PL259 lead... 49.95 • Voltage: 1.5-15V DC
CWA-1000..Multi Band dipole 3.5/7/14/21/28MHz... 124.95 CF-530C..1.3-90/125-470MHz, SO239 2 x PL259 lead.. 49.95
VHF/UHF FIBREGLASS BASE ANTENNAS CF-706....1.3-57/75-550MHz,SO239, 2 x PL259 leads...49.95 £239.95 • Cigar adaptor output
GP-15N....50/144/430MHz, length 2.4m N Type......... 99.95
GP-1M..... 144/430MHz length 1.2m (SO239).............49.95
CF-706N..1.3-57/75-550MHz, SO239 N type, PL259 leads.49.95
225..............1-180MHz graphic analyser.............. £429.95 £129.95
HANDHELD ANTENNAS 226..............Graphic analyser (1-230) MHz.......... £359.95
GP-3M..... 144/430MHz, SO-239 Lgth 1.78m (SO239)...59.95 CH-99...... BNC Telescopic 144/430, 70-1000MHz RX....24.95 259C........... HF/VHF portable antenna analyser.... £299.95
GP-6M..... 144/430MHz, SO-239 Lgth 3.07m (SO239)...99.95
GP-93N....144/430/1200MHz, Length 1.78m N Type... 99.99
SMA-3..... SMA for 144/430/900MHz......................... 29.95 266..............New style HF/VHF/UHF analyser........£349.95 PS-30M Linear
SMA-501..SMA for 144/430/900MHz......................... 22.95 269C........... HF/VHF Digital Analyser.................... £369.95
GP-9M..... 144/430MHz SO-239 Lgth 5.15m (SO239). 149.95 SMA-701..SMA for 144/430/1200MHz....................... 19.95 • 30A (max) with meter
385B........... Deluxe Comms. Speaker......................£54.95 • Voltage: 3.0-15V DC
VHF/UHF BEAMS SMA-99... SMA Telescopic 144/430 70-1000MHz RX.. 22.95 407D........... Deluxe CW Keyer................................£99.95
CYA-1216E...6 Element 1200MHz, N Type...................99.95 SCANNER ANTENNAS 461..............Morse Reader-pocket sized................. £99.95 • Cigar adaptor output
CA-52HB......2 Element HB9CV for 50MHz................. 79.95 AB-380.... Base Ant for 108-140/220-400MHz............79.95 492-X..........CW Memory Keyer............................£164.95
CA-52HB4....4 Element HB9CV for 50MHz............... 129.95 AB-1230H ..Rubber Duck 108-140/220-400MHz......... 29.95 550..............Popular Morse code practice key.........£19.95 £99.95
HF MOBILE ANTENNAS AB-1230M..Mobile 108-140/220-400MHz..................34.95 557..............Morse code key with oscillator............£46.95
UHV-4...... Whip 28-29/52/145/430MHz......................89.95 CROSS NEEDLE SWR/POWER METERS 826B........... Digital SWR/Wattmeter.....................£209.95 PS-08........ Linear 8A (max) 13.8V DC.................. £34.95
UHV-6...... Whip 7/21/28/50/144/430MHz...................99.95 CMX-200..1.8-200MHz, 30/300/3k.............................79.95 901B........... Versa Tuner 200W HF....................... £119.95 PSW-50.....Switch mode 50A (max) 9-15V DC...£129.95
L-18......... 18MHz Coil for CA-UHV/UHV-6.................. 25.95 CMX-400..140-525MHz, 30/60/300W........................ 89.95 912..............Remote 4:1 balun box........................ £84.95 PSW-30.....Switch mode 30A (max) 9-15V DC.....£79.95
VHF MOBILE ANTENNAS 921..............2m Antenna Tuner............................ £114.95 PSW-30H...Switch mode 30A (max) 9-15V DC.....£69.95
ACCESSORIES 923..............2m Tuner & SWR/Power....................£249.95 PS23-SW1. Switch mode 23A (max) 13.8V DC..... £59.95
CA-285.... 50/144 MHz, 1.32m 300W.........................25.95 CS-400P...Coax lightning Protector for DC-500MHz.... 29.95
CSB7900.. 144/430MHz 5.1/7.7dBi 1.56m 150W.... 69.95 931..............Artificial ground unit.........................£114.95 PSW-07.....Switch mode 7A (max) 13.8V DC....... £29.95
CSW-201G...2 Way Coax switch DC-600MHz.............. 29.95 934..............300W Tuner + artificial ground......... £219.95 PSW-04.....Switch mode 5A (max) 13.8V DC....... £24.95
SB-15....... 50/144/430MHz 2.15/4.5/7.2dBi 1.53m 120W..49.95 D-21M..... Dummy Load 100w DC - 600MHz.............. 39.95
SBB-2.......144/430MHz, 2,15 / 3.8dBi 0.46m 60W. 29.95 941E............300 Watts max Versa Tuner II............£164.95
SBB-4.......144/430MHz, 3.0 / 5.5dBi 0.92m Black.....39.95 CABLE ASSEMBLIES 945E............1.8-60MHz 300W manual tuner....... £149.95
M-24M.... 144/430MHz Magnetic Mount c/w Coax... 36.95 3D4MB.... 4m Jap. 3DQEFV Coax with SO239 socket.. 19.95 948..............300W PEP reading antenna tuner.....£174.95 TYT Digital Radio
3K054M...4m RG188A Coax with SO239 socket.........26.95 949E............300W tuner + Dummy load..............£199.95
ANTENNA TUNERS
CAT-10.....Mobile 3.5-50 MHz, 10W (CW).................. 99.00
HM10 BNC..1m of Jap. 1.5DQEV Coax with BNC socket..12.95 959C........... Receive antenna tuner + pre-amp.....£145.95
969..............300W tuner 160-6m........................ £229.95 NEW TYT MD-2017
CAT-273...144/430MHz, 250W (PEP)........................169.95 ANTENNA MOUNTS
971..............Portable Ant. tuner 1.8-30MHz......... £139.95 Dual Band Digital
CAT-300...1.8-56MHz, 300W (PEP)...........................199.95 CM-5M.... Mag. Mount + 5m of RG-58, & PL259 plug....24.00
CMB-GH.. Pole mounting bracket................................ 25.95 986..............1.5kW HF tuner................................£369.95 • DMR digital & Analogue
BALUNS 989D........... 1.5kW HF tuner................................£399.95
CBL-1000.1.7-30MHz, 1kW/CW................................. 34.95 CTC-50M. Thru Window cable mount SO239-PL259....39.95 • Dual time slot
LD-5M......Trunk/Hatch back Mount w/ 5m of cable.....36.95 993B........... Auto Tuner 150W/300W...................£309.95 • Colour screen
CBL-2500.1.8-56MHz, 2.5kW/CW.............................. 39.95 994BRT....... 600W remote Auto Tuner..................£409.95
MCB-III.... Drive on Mast Support & Stand...................69.95 • Large frequency display
LOW PASS FILTERS MG-4M.... Mag. Mount 4m 3.5DQEFV COAX SO239... 29.95 998..............1.5kW Auto Tuner 1.8-30MHz.......... £719.95
CF-30MR..1.8 - 32MHz, 1kW/CW............................... 59.95 RS6.......... Roof Rack mount (adjustable).....................23.95 998RT......... 1.5kW remote Auto ATU...................£779.95 • Commercial grade
CF-50MR..1.8 - 57MHz, 1kW/CW............................... 59.95 RS-660U.. Roof Rack mount (adjustable).....................24.95 1020C......... Tunable Active Antenna.................... £129.95 • IP67 waterproof rating
DUPLEXERS RS-020B...Trunk/Hatch back mount.............................21.50 1025........... Noise canceller/signal enhancer........ £209.95
CF-360A...1.3-30/49-470MHz 2xleads SO239 socket.. 49.95 RS-020S... Trunk/Hatch back mount.............................21.50 1026........... QRM eliminator + active antenna..... £214.95 FREE DELIVERY £199.95
CF-4160B.1.3-170/350-540MHz SO239 N Type, SO239....39.95 RS-730..... Trunk/Hatch back mount.............................21.95 1118........... High Current DC Multi outlet.............. £94.95
CF-416A.1.3-170/350-540MHz SO239 + 2 x PL259 leads.. 39.95 RS-840..... Trunk/Hatch back mount.............................24.95 1700C......... 6 Way coax switch............................£144.95
1701........... 6 Way coax switch 2kW (SO239)........ £89.95
1704 (P)......4 way coax switch 2.5kW (SO239)..... £84.95
1kW End Fed Antennas
1704 (N)..... 4 way coax switch 2.5kW (N type)......£95.00
INRAD SPIDERBEAM 1705H.........RF By-pass switch...............................£38.95 MyAnt EFW 80-10
1707........... Auto RF sensing Ant switch.............. £109.95 Resonant on 80/40/
New range of MICROPHONES 1708........... RF Sensing T/R Switch.........................£94.95 30/20/17/15/10m
1763........... 3 Element 2m beam........................... £74.95 NO ANTENNA TUNER
M629 Adaptor 26mtr Standard 1786X......... Loop (10-30)MHz 3ft dia.................. £479.95
Lead 1788X......... Loop (7-21)MHz 3ft dia.................... £529.95 REQUIRED! Length: 130ft
Antennas, Telescopic Poles, Aluminium Masts 1779B......... 80/40m Dipole................................... £64.95
M665
UL-404L Ultra-lite Dxpedition antenna
1799X......... 9 Band vertical................................. £479.95 MyAnt EFW 40-10 £159.95
M629.....Full sounding SSB audio........................ £89.95 1868........... Discone antenna with cable................£94.95 Resonant on 40/20/15/10 +
Dipole covers: 40, 20, 17, 15, 12, 10.6m.........£109.00 2980........... Wire vertical (40m-6m).......................£99.95
M650.....High End Punch for Dxing..................... £89.95
Fibreglass Telescopic Poles 4416B......... Super battery booster....................... £174.95 WARC with tuner Length: 63ft £149.95
M686.....Full sound - internal Breath shield......... £79.95
M665.....Classic Chrome – high end punch......... £79.95 12mtr Heavy Duty............................................ £89.95
18mtr Standard...............................................£199.95
M689.....Clean clear flat response....................... £69.95
All mics supplied with Cannon XLR lead
22m ‘Long John’ NEW....................................£399.95
26mtr Standard...............................................£499.95
nevada Telescopic Masts Morse Keys
Adaptor leads available for all makes of radio..£22.95 each Base Plate for Fibreglass Poles.......................... £28.95 Bencher BY-1........................ £189.95
Aluminium Telescopic masts 33 ft... Aluminium 7 ft. retracted................. £99.95 Bencher BY-2........................ £239.95
Full range of INRAD 10.metre Standard.......................................... £299.95 26 ft... Aluminium 5.5 ft. retracted.............. £89.95 Vibroplex Keys
filters for Elecraft and 10 metre Heavy Duty..................................... .£325.00 20 ft... HD Fibreglass 5.5ft retracted.......... £179.95 Iambic Deluxe Paddle....... Chrome.............. £239.95
Yaesu - NOW IN STOCK 12.5 metre......................................................£329.95 30 ft... HD Fibreglass 7.5ft retracted.......... £249.95 Iambic Standard Paddle....Black.................. £169.95
LOTS MORE on our WEBSITE! 14.5 metre Heavy Duty................................... £425.00 50 ft... HD Fibreglass ...8ft retracted.......... £349.95 Code Warrior Jr........................................... £169.95

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www.nevadaradio.co.uk
33-Nevada DPS2.indd 1 24/10/2017 15:51
 What Next? with Colin Redwood G6MXL
● E-Mail: practicalwireless@warnersgroup.co.uk

Amateur
sion Association has an excellent website at:
www.nbtv.org

70cm FSTV

Television
For many years, analogue FSTV using am-
plitude modulation (AM) was a very popular
mode. Because of the bandwidth involved,
the lowest frequency band that could be used
was 70cm. While in theory it could support a
colour television signal, the increasing use of
the band for other amateur activities meant
This month, Colin Redwood G6MXL returns to a topic that this became harder to achieve without
causing interference to other amateur activities
he first wrote about in PW in 1984. in the band. Even black-and-white pictures
need to be filtered to ensure that they don’t
cause problems with other band users such

I
as repeater inputs and satellites. There is still
t occurred to me recently that over used by astronauts on the International Space some activity on 70cm during ATV contests, in
the last ten years of What Next col- Station. I looked at analogue SSTV in the May many cases using narrow bandwidths.
umns, there was one aspect of the 2014 issue of PW.
hobby that I had never looked at. 23cm FSTV
Apart from Slow Scan Television (SSTV), Digital SSTV As a result of the limitations of the 70cm band,
I’ve never looked at amateur television (ATV) in Digital SSTV is a relative newcomer to the many amateur TV enthusiasts moved their ac-
this column. SSTV scene but is now well established. Un- tivity to the 23cm band. In most cases, the op-
Readers with very long memories may like analogue SSTV where the picture slowly portunity was also taken to move to frequency
recall that I did report on the British Amateur appears line by line, with digital SSTV you modulation (FM) because this made it easier to
Television Club’s 1984 Convention in the have to wait to the very end to get either a pic- achieve higher power without requiring linear
August 1984 issue of PW so I am returning to ture or nothing. Digital picture quality, Fig. 1, is output stages in the transmitters.
a topic that was the subject of my first ever generally far superior to analogue SSTV, Fig. Many ATV repeaters appeared around
article for PW! It is interesting how things have 2, and might be considered the High Definition the country, mostly using FM in the 23cm
developed over the years. The concept of digi- (HD) of SSTV. band. Because of the much larger amount of
tal television was new in 1984 and warranted Since I looked at digital SSTV in the August spectrum available, it was possible to separate
a lecture at the Convention to explain the 2014 issue of PW, Erik Sundstrup VK4AES, input and output frequencies by 10MHz or
principles as applied to SSTV and envisioned the author of EasyPal, has passed away. more. One of the difficulties facing repeater
the possibilities of eventually extending this to EasyPal remains the most popular program for builders is to find antennas that have gain and
Fast Scan Television (FSTV)! digital SSTV. It can still be downloaded from a are omnidirectional. The other main difficulty is
ATV has numerous facets and modes of number of internet sites, including Paul Young getting repeaters licensed because they tend
operation. Essentially, though, there are two G0HWC’s excellent website at: to share frequencies used by air traffic control
main types of operation, SSTV and FSTV. www.g0hwc.com radar. In many cases, getting approval for an
ATV repeater can take several years. There are
Slow Scan Television Fast Scan Television also challenges to keep the high ERP (effective
SSTV enables a single still image (black-and- FSTV enables moving pictures to be sent. radiated power) radar signals away from the
white or colour) to be transmitted and received Over the years, FSTV has largely kept pace sensitive input frequencies of the repeater.
on just about any amateur band using audio with broadcast television systems, sometimes
tones. There are two main types of SSTV, ana- ahead of the standards, sometimes behind. It Transmitters & Receivers
logue and digital. These days they both use does mean that you’ll occasionally see FSTV There are a number of low power transmitter
computer sound card technology. equipment for sale at rallies that is borderline and receiver modules for analogue FSTV on
obsolete. the 23cm and 13cm bands. DTECH list a small
Analogue SSTV range on their website. The 23cm transmit
With Analogue SSTV, the still picture appears Narrow Bandwidth Television module produces +17dBm (50mW), while the
line by line down the screen over a period of The oldest of the FSTV techniques is Narrow 13cm version produces just +9dBm (8mW).
typically one to two minutes. There are numer- Bandwidth Television (NBTV). It is based on Even if you have a good antenna with 10 to
ous analogue SSTV standards/modes, each the techniques used by John Logie Baird, 20dB gain, you’re not going to make contacts
giving a different number of lines and taking following on from Baird’s original demonstra- over any significant distance. DTECH also list
a different amount of time to transmit (and tion in January 1926, which used only 30 lines. a couple of power amplifiers that will help to
therefore receive). While the techniques can be emulated using increase your signal. These modules are also
There are many programs available that computer programs, many enthusiasts of this known as Comtech modules, Fig. 5. Another
support analogue SSTV. Probably the most mode continue to use rotating Nipkow discs, source of low power transmit and receive
popular for Windows computers is MMSSTV. Fig. 3. Still pictures captured off-screen don’t equipment is that used by flying drones.
This program supports all the popular ana- really do justice to the quality of NBTV 30 line www.13cm.co.uk
logue SSTV standards/modes, including those pictures, Fig. 4. The Narrow-Bandwidth Televi- I should remind readers holding a Foun-

34 Practical Wireless December 2017

34-What Next.indd 34 24/10/2017 15:44

 Fig. 1: A digital SSTV picture received on 20m
from DD8GW in Germany.

Fig. 3: A Nipkow disc used for narrow bandwidth 32-line television. Photo courtesy of Jeremy Jago of
the Narrow Bandwidth Television Association.

P Analogue Digital
P0 No picture perceived No picture perceived
P1 Synchronisation with very little Only occasional blocks visible
Fig. 2: An analogue SSTV image received on 20m
picture contents
from OZ4JRH in Denmark.
P2 Only large images (callsign etc.) Sufficient blocks to read callsigns
dation Licence that your schedule does not perceivable
include any of the 23cm, 13cm, 9cm and P3 Picture noisy but some detail Some blocking
6cm bands. These bands are only available resolved
in the UK to Intermediate and Full (Advanced) P4 Picture slightly noisy but with Occasional blocking
Licence holders. good detail and resolution
P5 Noise-free picture Solid picture
Antennas for FSTV
Many of the antennas that are used for nar- Table 1: The ‘P’ signal reporting convention for analogue and digital FSTV.
rowband modes (voice, Morse, data modes)
on the 70cm and 23cm bands will not be ideal FSTV contests, in addition to exchanging a P
choices for FSTV. Narrowband mode operation signal report, a serial number, locator and a
tends to be around 432MHz and 1296MHz unique four-digit number must be exchanged.
respectively. FSTV on 70cm tends to operate The four-digit number must be exchanged in
higher in the band around 436 to 438MHz. On video only.
the 23cm band, a wide bandwidth antenna will
be needed, particularly for use with repeaters Talk-Back
with a large frequency split. Some FTSV is transmitted without sound.
For 70cm, Tonna have a version of their Many use 2m for talk-back on 144.725MHz
popular 21-element antenna optimised for 434 using vertically-polarised FM, not only for
to 440MHz. FSTV without sound but also to set up con-
Tonna also have versions of their popular tacts with other local amateurs interested in Fig. 4: A narrow bandwidth television 32-Line
23-element, 34-element and 55-element Yagis FSTV. This could be a good way of making test card. Photo courtesy of Jeremy Jago of the
for 1240 to 1260MHz, which will appeal to initial contact with local ATVers and your local Narrow Bandwidth Television Association.
FSTV operators operating simplex. However, repeater group.
they are not really ideal for working with a have made the move to digital television, some
repeater where the input or output is above Feeder using domestic satellite receiving equipment
1300MHz. Tonna also have a couple of anten- Feeder loses at 70cm, 23/24cm and above (not Sky) covering 23/24cm and modified to
nas for the 13cm band. can be quite high. Using the lowest loss feeder meet the relevant data rates used by other
you can afford will usually pay dividends. amateurs in their area.
Reports UR67/RG213 should be the very lowest grade
The usual RST type reports are not appropriate of feeder you consider for 70cm. Reduced Bandwidth Digital Amateur Tele-
for FSTV. Instead a P number is used with val- vision
ues between P0 and P5, where P5 is a picture Digital Amateur Television Using digital techniques it is possible to get
of essentially broadcast quality, Table 1. In As with broadcast television, many amateurs acceptable quality FSTV signals into a band-

December 2017 Practical Wireless 35

34-What Next.indd 35 24/10/2017 15:44

 What Next?

Callsign Area
GB3EY Aldborough
GB3TM Amlwch Anglesey
GB3UT Bath
GB3SQ Bournemouth
GB3VR Brighton
GB3ZZ Bristol
GB3PV Cambridge
GB3TV Dunstable
GB3VX Eastbourne
GB3TN Fakenham
GB3JT Hastings
Fig. 5: A Comtech analogue receiver module. The blue DIP switches are used to set the receive
GB3VL Lincoln
GB3GV Markfield and so on. Remember that ATV repeaters are
GB3YT Mirfield limited to 25W ERP, so you will need to be
GB3EN North London well located so see a solid picture. Domestic
digital equipment will generally require some
GB3MV Northampton
modification.
GB3KM Spennymoor I would also suggest having a look at the
GB3NQ St Austell BATC website, which streams a number of
GB3UD Stoke on Trent UK-based amateur television repeaters along
with a few from other countries. It will give
Table 2: FSTV repeaters operational in early you an idea of the level of activity on your
October 2017 with at least one input or output in local repeater. There were certainly plenty of
the 23cm band. testcards, Fig. 6, visible when I looked one Fig. 6: A testcard seen on the BATC Streaming
Thursday evening in late September 2017. service.
width of less than 500kHz. As a result there http://batc.tv
is some digital FSTV activity on the 2m band FSTV activity tends to take place in the
between 146 and 147MHz. Note that use of evenings, Fig. 7. Because of this and to
this sub-band is subject to an individual Notice keep electricity bills manageable, some ATV
of Variation (NOV) to your Full (Advanced) repeaters are switched off during the night and
Licence. The British Amateur Television Club mornings. While most FSTV these days can be
(BATC) published a special issue of its in- found on 23cm, some digital FSTV can also be
house magazine CQ-TV devoted to reduced found on 70cm with some ATV repeaters hav-
bandwidth television, which includes a number ing an additional input in the 70cm band.
of practical suggestions for suitable equip- If you are in the coverage area of a local
ment. It can be downloaded from: ATV repeater, then joining the local repeater
www.batc.org.uk/club_stuff/rbtv.pdf group is strongly recommended. Besides Fig. 7: Typical FSTV pictures through the GB3KM
being a source of local advice and signals, repeater in Spennymoor, County Durham.
FSTV Repeaters some local repeater groups sell equipment to
There are a number of FSTV repeaters around members to help them get on the air. Discounts are available for joining for more
the country. They tend to be located in areas than one year.
of high population and in areas with groups BATC The BATC publishes a wide-ranging Wiki,
of amateur TV enthusiasts. They gener- For anyone interested in FSTV, joining the which contains a vast range of information to
ally have output frequencies between 1304 BATC is a must. They publish CQ-TV, a full- help newcomers get started. It also has a club
and 1322MHz in the 23cm band, with input colour quarterly magazine that contains a shop that sells a number of items that will be
frequencies between 1244 and 1280MHz, al- wealth of useful information. Over the years, of use to ATVers.
though some also have inputs on other bands. BATC has moved from being rather focused
Those that transmit on 23cm are listed in Table on the video aspects of broadcast televi- Correction
2. There are also some ATV repeaters on the sion to a much more rounded club that fully Finally, I am indebted to David Bennett
10GHz band. encompasses modern television transmitting G0WQQ for spotting that I had accidentally
Before purchasing or building any FSTV and receiving techniques for the radio amateur omitted the G0 and G1 series of callsigns from
equipment, I would recommend contacting as well. The BATC also organises a number of Table 2 in my What Next column on callsigns
your local ATV repeater group to check the ATV contests throughout the year. in the November issue of PW. Upon further
operational status of your local repeater and UK membership of BATC currently costs checking, I also found several other entries
its coverage and also to establish the techni- £20 per annum including the print-version of didn’t make it into the version published.
cal parameters such as the input and output CQ-TV. Alternatively, membership with CQ-TV Space permitting, I’ll include a corrected ver-
frequencies, modes and digital parameters available to download only is available for £8. sion next month.

36 Practical Wireless December 2017

34-What Next.indd 36 24/10/2017 15:44

 Valve & Vintage with Michael Marinaro WN1M
l E-mail: wn1m@msn.com

Prelude to Peace –
a radio training school at Ellington Airfield
near Houston, Texas.
Our narrative concerns Alessandro

Amateurs at War
Fabbri 1AJ and the reservist sailors who
served under him at the Otter Cliffs naval
radio facility, Fig. 1, many of whom were
radio amateurs who had heeded the call
to arms.
As the receiving equipment and
Michael Marinaro WN1M continues with the second antennas began to be used, the
significance of the station’s role began to
part of the story of transatlantic communications become apparent. The US had formally
entered the war on April 6th 1917, a
during the First World War. war like no other previously with two
principal theatres – on land and at sea.
The European land conflict required the
infusion of US troops and their equipment

A
to break the stalemate and tip the scales
s the year 1917 dawns in favour of the Allies. The Navy was
the US still struggles to responsible for transporting the more
stay out of the war in than one million man US Expeditionary
Europe. The international Force safely to the battlefields of France
cable and wireless news and to protect the shipping supply lines.
services bring unfamiliar names to the To accomplish this the Navy had to
fore. Liege, Lorraine, Ardennes, Ypres, traverse the second war theatre – the
Somme and too many other successive Atlantic. Since 1914 the German U-boat
sites of battles that dominate the press. fleet had ravaged shipping. From 1914
U-boat activity, the sinking of the through 1916 the predators had sunk over
Lusitania and the German resumption of Fig. 1: Commissioning of station, August 28th 3,950,000 tons of shipping with torpedoes
unrestricted submarine warfare antagonise 1917 – in Whites, Chief Raymond Cole, Ensign and mines. In just the first year of the
the US pacifists. On April 6th, the US Alessandro Fabbri and unknown officer. US entry into the war the Germans sank
declares war on Germany and begins 6,235,900 tons of shipping, some in US
to go to the aid of their entrenched and coastal waters, and threatened to mine
exhausted British and French friends. US harbours. In the month of the US entry,
This action overwhelms the already the approximately 140 strong U-boat force
overburdened cable capacity and puts sank a record 881,000 tons of vessels. The
priority on improving transatlantic wireless British Navy was sorely pressed, having
reliability, which has been plagued by poor lost over 140 warships of all classes up to
reception. the time of the US entry.
As the fighting had intensified and The Naval Station at Otter Cliffs, Maine
German resolve firmed, many in the US became a powerful weapon in these
had recognised the inevitability of the battles. NBD could with exceptional
US entering the engagement on a limited clarity hear the ALLO radio calls sent
or unlimited basis. Among these were by vessels in the Atlantic when other
the leaders of the American Radio Relay Navy east coast reception centres could
League (ARRL), which encouraged its not. ALLO, followed by the name of the
3,000 members to be prepared. Once vessel and its position, was the distress
the declaration took effect, editorials in Fig. 2: Fabbri and peacetime crew March 1919. call used by vessels under submarine
the newly founded League journal QST attack or reporting a U-boat sighting.
urged qualified amateurs to volunteer send and receive Morse code at a rate These calls were numerous and the
their desperately needed skilled services of 10WPM. Active duty was compulsory information was wired to Washington
to the military. Enlistees were particularly during time of war. Most volunteering from where necessary alerts and orders
directed to the Navy, the nation’s amateurs chose to join this service as did were dispatched from the Navy operated
principal service user of wireless. A the ARRL’s first Communications Manager commandeered commercial wireless
specific programme was evolved to Fred Schnell 1MO who went to sea as a station. NBD was also capable of
induct volunteer amateurs into the Naval Chief Radioman. However, not all joined monitoring coded German U-boat signals.
Reserve for the duration. Appealing to the Navy Reserve. Some enlisted in the The German naval code was known to the
the amateurs, the Navy created the Class Army as did ARRL co-founder Clarence British early in the war and was likely used
4, Naval Reserve. The requirements for Tuska who opted to apply for and by the Washington receptors to decipher
enrolment were citizenship, passing of received a commission as a Lieutenant in the messages relayed by NBD.
a physical examination and the ability to the US Army Signal Corps. He established The daily station routine was perfected

40 Practical Wireless December 2017

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 transport. Fred Schnell 1MO, future ARRL
Traffic Manager, served as Chief Radioman
aboard the George Washington during
these transits.
As post war operations continued at
Otter Cliffs the reservists were gradually
deactivated and replaced by regular Navy
enlisted personnel. Activity continued at a
great pace as successive east coast major
Naval stations were secured in favour of
Fig 4: The Fabbri memorial plaque. the unique capabilities of NBD.
On Armistice Day, November 11th
Halifax, Nova Scotia. The city had been 1920 the President Wilson awarded
devastated by an enormous munitions Lieutenant Fabbri, now 1VX, the Navy
explosion in the harbour and was badly in Cross, Fig. 3. The commendation reads
need of assistance. NBD in turn contacted in part, “…in recognition of exceptionally
at the Boston Navy Yard from where the meritorious service in a duty of great
hospital ship US Colony sailed to the relief responsibility in the development of the
of the city. radio receiving station at Otter Cliffs,
Fig. 3: Navy Cross – the US Navy’s second Significantly, on October 6th Maine. Under Lt. Fabbri’s direction the
highest award for valour. 1918, NBD copied an announcement station was developed from a small
transmitted in English, in the open, by amateur experimental station, until at the
to the extent that virtually uninterrupted radio POZ, the principal German station end of the War, it was the most important
reception of the traffic from MUU in near Berlin. President Woodrow Wilson and the most efficient station in the world”.
Caernarvon, Wales, IDO in Rome and was requested to participate in peace It was signed for President Wilson by
YN in Lyons, France, was achieved. negotiations to lead to a general armistice Josephus Daniels, Secretary of the Navy.
These European stations were copied on land, sea and in the air. The armistice Fabbri, who had returned to private
consistently when no other US east talks were soon engaged and the life at the end of 1919, shared the award
coast station could do so reliably. These armistice became effective at the eleventh with his crew. He became a Silent Key
exceptional results were achieved by hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh prematurely at age 44 on February 6th
expert, disciplined monitors at dedicated month of 1918. 1922.
desks using leading edge receivers fed But the role of NBD was far from Having outlived their usefulness, the
with signals from the sensitive antenna concluded. With deactivation and troops Otter Cliffs and Seawall installations were
systems tuned to the particular station transports returning from Europe, the disassembled and demolished in 1935.
assigned. travels of the President and the meetings The only surviving structure is the lookout
This traffic was all coded and sent at Versailles, the station was busier than tower, which housed the Radio Direction
only once. The volume was so heavy that ever with the complement reaching 180 Finder (RDF) facility. This lighthouse
there was no time for repeats or fills. The men, Fig. 2. shaped building was relocated to nearby
messages had to be copied correctly the And the station was given a loud Moose Island.
first time, attesting to the ability of the voice. A five-kilowatt selectable arc or The original NBD sites continue to be
operators. Lieutenant Fabbri reported spark gap transmitter arrangement was enveloped in the Acadia National Park.
receiving as many as 28,000 words in located remotely at Seawall, Maine, This rocky, woodland park created in
one day and a record 54,000 words in six miles south-west of the Otter Cliffs 1916 is 47,000 acres in size and located
48 hours, including 1,003 messages. As facility and connected by a submarine mainly on Mount Desert Island. The main
the war operations unfolded, Radio YN cable. Antenna science had advanced NBD site is encircled by a park road
at Lyons became the principal message somewhat and the station was enhanced that intersects the Fabbri Monument
traffic terminal for the Allied Expeditionary by a 123m (400ft) flat top antenna Road, leading to the Fabbri Memorial
Force in France. Eventually NBD was supported between two 68m (220ft) inset in a large red granite boulder. The
receiving their traffic 24 hours a day guyed wooden towers with a extensive Memorial was created by the Bar Harbor
continuously with 100% reception. The ground system partially under the ocean, townspeople in 1939 to commemorate the
messages were relayed to Washington by producing remarkable signals to the North extraordinary accomplishments of their
landline. Washington traffic and responses Atlantic and Europe. The transmitting/ neighbour.
were transmitted to Europe by the former receiving combination became operational This is not the end but the continuance
Marconi station, now Navy NFF, at New immediately following the armistice in time of the devotion that amateur radio
Brunswick, New Jersey and the Naval to be commended for providing reliable operators worldwide have extended to
Radio station NAA at Arlington, Virginia. two-way communications for President their countries in times of peril. Keys at
The one-kilowatt transmitter at NBD Wilson and staff who journeyed twice, the ready, radio amateurs have continued
was rarely used, to avoid interfering with back and forth, to Europe for peace to volunteer their skills in those conflicts
the receiving operations. An exception talks. The party travelled aboard the that succeeded the inaptly termed ‘war to
was December 7th 1917 when the USS George Washington, an interned end all wars’. Some fell as heroes and all
station was in contact with radio VCS German steamship that served as a troop should never, ever, be forgotten.

December 2017 Practical Wireless 41

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 World of VHF incorporating VHF DXer with Tim Kirby G4VXE
Willowside, Bow Bank, Longworth, Oxfordshire OX13 5ER
● E-mail: tim@g4vxe.com ● Twitter: g4vxe

Six Centimetre FM
Tim Kirby G4VXE brings all the usual news, which this month includes some 6cm
band developments and a repurposed satellite.

M
att Porter G8XYJ wrote 2m Net in South-West Cumbria
with some interesting It’s always nice to be able to include details
details about his experi- of local VHF nets because they tend to
ences on 6cm using an provide a focus for people to listen for on
FPV (First Person View- the bands. Nick Gregory G0HIK was kind
ing) Wideband FM Audio/Video transmit- enough to write with details of a net in
ter/receiver specifically designed for the south-west Cumbria.
Drone market. Furness Amateur Radio Society in
He writes, “Mark M0UFC detailed the south-west Cumbria have been holding
Bolton Wireless Club system in a recent a 2m net every Friday at 20:00 local on
edition of PW. Mark M0RKX, Stewart 145.325MHz FM for the last 10 years or so.
G0LGS, Steve G4NZV, Marie M0BUX Its purpose is to keep members informed
and Matt 2E0MDJ had all developed their and to continue discussions on topics or
systems and I have wanted to join in and problems of interest. Most participants are
develop a similar system. Here is a link to on the Furness peninsula but they do get
the equipment that we all started on, for callers from further afield and they get a
an FPV 5.8GHz 600mW Wireless Video chance to introduce themselves. Usually
transmitter and receiver TS832+RC832 G3VUS is controller. For more information
plus 48CH at a cost of around £28. please visit:
http://tinyurl.com/ybto9ueq www.fars.org.uk
“We have started trials with the equip-
ment and have been pleasantly surprised The 6m Band
with the results. In August, I took part (for Josef Van Raepenbusch ON8NT (Aalter)
the first time) in the 5.7GHz SHF RSGB Fig. 1: The 6cm FM station described by Matt has logged some nice contacts on the
UKAC, where with my 0.8W transmitter Porter G8XYJ. 50MHz (6m) band, despite the declining
and flat panel antennas, Mark IO92DB conditions over the month. He found an
(Larkstoke), Stewart IO81XW (Cleeve Hill) and David G4JLG were also planning to opening on September 1st and made a
and I, IO82RJ (Titterstone Clee Hill, Fig. 1) be active that evening. So we arranged a good number of contacts including ES6QC
all established contacts with each other. sked using 70cm FM (as opposed to 2m (KO37), SA5A, (JP80), SM4KYN (JO69),
This beat Mark and Stewart’s best DX of FM). I could hear both Mark and David on SA3BIN (JP82) on SSB and OH3YP (KP20),
37km to 68km and 62km respectively by 70cm FM so with that I tried to speak to LZ1SG (KN22), OH1MLZ (KP23), SA5A
both working me! We arranged skeds via David first. He was operating from IO83RO (JP80), OH3RB (KP10), OH0Z (JP90),
2m FM and, of course, e-mail correspond- (Winter Hill, North of Bolton) and once I SQ5JUP (KO02), 9A2V (JN86), SM3NXS
ence prior to the event. My father Dave had the panels on him we exchanged a (JP82), LA9BM (JP40), OF5ZA (KP21),
G4OYX must be thanked for all the hard contest report! I think this is the record for LA7DFA (JP33) and EI5KG (IO62) on CW.
work he did in making the system opera- a Bolton member because their previous On JT65A, Jef worked UR5WA (KN29) and
tional. best was 80km. David and I managed a on PSK31, GM4ZMK (IO75). On Septem-
“I thought that there may be a chance to QSO of 118km. ber 5th, he worked OH5LK (KP30) on SSB
improve on these contacts so with the pur- “Alan G7RHF and Cheryl 2E0CHZ and then again on CW, F5CEL (JN29) and
chase of a bigger 2.5W 5.8GHz FPV trans- were up the hill with me during these OF3BCX (KP20) were both worked on CW.
mitter from eBay, my father and I upgraded contacts and Alan captured the QSOs on Peter Taylor G8BCG (Liskeard, Corn-
our system and I headed to IO82NN (Long his camera phone. These are on YouTube. wall) says that despite flight delays, Lance
Mynd) where in the September event, we Here are the links to the QSOs: W7GJ turned up like clockwork on Octo-
managed to speak to both Mark and Stew- http://tinyurl.com/y8bayakj ber 3rd as VK9XGJ from Christmas Island
art once more, improving the DX to 96 and http://tinyurl.com/ydxkhx9k and Peter worked him via moonbounce
90km respectively. “It’s well worth a look – the signal (EME) at 1744UTC for country number 242
“However, I had been in contact with strength is really impressive over the on 6m! With lots of stations on chasing
the Bolton Wireless Club and Mark M0UFC distance”. VK9XGJ, Peter has managed to catch

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 some nice new stations, including KL7HBK on 435.103MHz +/- but using 9600bps
in Anchor Point, Alaska as well as 3DA0MB AX.25 packet like the packet satellites of
(Swaziland). old. Some have been dusting off the old
Here at G4VXE I’ve made a handful of gear and using the orbiting mailbox, while
FT8 QSOs via Es, with some quite strong others are making use of the digipeater to
signals at times. I caught openings on make QSOs like we do with the ISS or NO-
September 27th and 29th and October 84 digipeaters. The satellite had a variety of
6th, although the openings were quite experiments and additional radios on 70cm
brief. This morning, October 15th, F4VPC and S-band, which are not available for
(IN87) has been a consistently good signal, amateur use.
perhaps benefiting from the good tropo “FalconSat-3’s orbit is not very high at
conditions on the higher bands. around 470km and not good for those far
Fig. 2: An Ascom SE-550 at the top of the Rock of from the Equator. Its orbit was meant to
The 4m Band Gibraltar, operated by Kev ZB2GI on 70MHz FM. provide multiple workable passes for the
Kev Hewitt ZB2GI writes, “I went up US Air Force Academy in Colorado and
the Rock with an Ascom SE550, Fig. 2, is very high in the city but drops a little at that means I get the same good passes
connected to an inverted-V dipole during weekends although it is far noisier than the here in Arizona. As with other satellites, the
the PW 4m contest and heard absolutely old open field! pass times move earlier over time and as
nothing. I also have a 70MHz mobile whip Peter G8BCG says that he is hoping I write this, I am about to have pass times
attached to a mag-mount and am look to catch 3DA0MB but with Peter’s single that fall in the middle of the night. This will
forward to making my first 4m contact”. 12-element, they are a bit weak and have a probably be a break for me, until the pass-
big pileup. Peter says that on the morning es appear in the evenings. The footprints
The 2m Band of October 14th, there was excellent tropo can cover most of the continental USA.
During the 144MHz (2m) contest week- to the south with many southern French “When I started to try the FalconSat-3
end on September 2nd/3rd, Jef ON8NT and Spanish stations very loud. digipeater, I used my Kenwood TH-D72 HT
made a good number of contacts with the and Elk log periodic. The TH-D72 is a good
highlights being G8W (IO90), G5B (JO03), The 70cm Band radio for this satellite, being able to operate
DR9A (JN48), DL0GTH (JO50), DR2X David Smith M0OSA operated on the crossband full-duplex for 9600bps packet.
(JO40) and DA2FF (JO40). During the UK 70cm band for about four hours during the FalconSat-3 uses a different packet path
Activity Contest on September 5th, the October UHF contest from a portable loca- (PFS3-1) compared to the digipeaters on
best DX was M0VXX/P (IO82) at a distance tion near Huddersfield, at around 450m the ISS or NO-84 but with a big differ-
of 445km. Jef runs 25W from an FT-736 to ASL. David found that there was a lot of ence: the onboard mailbox sends a lot of
a 5-element Yagi. fading on the Saturday and then conditions (non-APRS) packets on the 435.103MHz
Simon Evans G6AHX (Twyning, were fairly flat on the Sunday morning but downlink. When the satellite was opened
Gloucestershire) has made some inter- he was pleased to work three stations in up to general amateur use, stations started
esting tropo contacts. On October 11th, JO01 with the most distant being G3M to show up.
Simon worked F1MOZ (IN93) at a dis- at 355km as well as stations in IO80 and “My first FalconSat-3 QSO came on
tance of 925km. On October 14th, he IO91. David is running 20W from a Yaesu the afternoon of September 24th, with
worked F5ICN (JN03) at 992km, as well FT-857D to an Elk 5-element log periodic Adam K0FFY in the mid-western USA. We
as F4EGZ/P (JN15), F2CT (IN93), F4EZJ and says he’s keeping his fingers crossed missed a QSO on one pass and both of us
(JN05), F6HRL (JN06) and another QSO for some tropospheric ducting during the worked hard to make a QSO on the next
with F1MOZ (IN93). autumn. pass 90 minutes later. We were successful,
On October 1st, Simon worked Lyn exchanging APRS messages between our
GW8JLY initially on SSB, but they decided Satellites TH-D72s.
to try FM using horizontal polarisation. Jef ON8NT worked EB4AO (IN52) through “A few days later, on September 27th,
They were both able to reduce power to AO-85 on September 28th. there was another late afternoon Falcon-
less than 5W and still maintain contact. Patrick Stoddard WD9EWK (Phoenix) Sat-3 pass that I worked with my TH-D72/
The path between the two crosses the For- has recently moved house and is getting Elk station. This time, I logged a pair of
est of Dean and Simon says there was a used to the new operating conditions. He QSOs – Chris K7TAB and James N7NEV,
lot of fading – the S-meter was moving like writes, “The high point for the month was both not far from me in the Phoenix area.
a windscreen wiper! During the UKAC on the announcement that AMSAT was able Again, using APRS messages, we were
October 3rd, Simon took part in the 10W to open up the FalconSat-3 satellite for successful in making QSOs with our APRS-
section and was pleased to work GI6ATZ general amateur use in late September. ready radios.
(IO74) with nice 53 signals each way over FalconSat-3 was built for the US Air Force “Over the weekend of September 30th/
the mountains of North Wales. Academy and launched in 2007 and the October 1st, I wanted to try my SDRplay
Mark Marment CT1FJC (Algarve) has satellite was used for Air Force training for receiver on the FalconSat-3 downlink. I
built a new 5-element DK7ZB Yagi on a the past 10 years. Now at the end of its hadn’t set up the software so I could use a
1.8m boom and decided to try it out on useful life for the Air Force, it was turned program like UISS to work FalconSat-3 but
EME. The first station decoded, rather than over to AMSAT and reconfigured as an or- I was using that receiver with some soft-
worked, was RK3FG, which Mark thought biting digipeater and packet mailbox. It has ware for the downlink – HDSDR, UZ7HO’s
very promising. He says that the noise level an uplink on 145.840MHz and a downlink high-speed SoundModem program – to

December 2017 Practical Wireless 43

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 World of VHF

arrive but I have been very pleased with

results on passes as low as 12° or 13°.
I’ve managed to make a number of QSOs,
including YU7RD, IZ5ILX and M0KKA. At a
modest price of £17 or so, I’m delighted to
have a much more portable satellite APRS
system.
Kev ZB2GI writes, “I have been operat-
ing via the APRS digipeater on the ISS,
PSAT and FalconSat-3. My setup compris-
es of a Yaesu FT-817 or a Baofeng UV-5RE
with a 2m/70cm log periodic and a Win7
Notebook PC running UZ7HO SoundMo-
dem with the UISS program. The audio
is connected to the Notebook via a Data
interface that also operates the PTT. I use
the ISS pro Android app on my phone to
Fig. 3: A screenshot from Patrick WD9EWK showing recent operation on the ‘new’ FalconSat-3 satellite. provide pass information”.
Mark CT1FJC sends an excellent log
decode the 9600bps packet and UISS to WiSP program – just e-mail Martha at with many interesting QSOs, the highlights
see the packets and APRS traffic. HDS- the AMSAT office to request a key. WiSP, of which are HB0WR (JN47), NS3L (FN20),
DR’s AFC function is great for Falcon- along with versions of the PB/PG for Linux, 2W0SEU/P (IO73) and GM0NRT (IO87) all
Sat-3’s downlink because that means I has been posted on the AMSAT website through FO-29.
don’t have to manually adjust the downlink (below) along with a 3-page supplemental Graham Jones, G3VKV (Cheltenham)
frequency to compensate for Doppler. I chapter to AMSAT’s Getting Started with writes, “I managed to work the Russian
wasn’t ready to use UISS on the uplink so I Amateur Satellites book”. RI1F expedition to Viktoriya Island in the
used my TH-D74 HT for that. This made for www.amsat.org/falconsat-3 Arctic using the FO-29 satellite on October
some extra work, where I had to enter the Because of the orbital parameters of 7th. They were late starting due to difficul-
callsigns of any stations I wanted to work, FalconSat-3, it rarely gets much above ties landing and setting up camp and they
but at least I had a station. I referred to this the horizon in the UK but if you are in the had to leave earlier than planned due to the
setup as my ‘frankenstation’ since I had south, you may well be able to ‘see’ it. appearance of several polar bears”.
two very different radios at work for these Dave Boult G7HCE (Exeter) has spent
passes. The screenshot, Fig. 3, was taken quite a bit of time listening for it and has Digital
during these activities. been able to make a live QSO through it Simon G6AHX writes, “Much of my time
“By this point, more stations were us- as well as seeing many frames from it. is spent playing around with C4FM. As
ing FalconSat-3’s digipeater and mailbox. However, even in Dave’s southerly part of you may know, GB7PM on the Mendips
More callsigns are showing up on passes, the country, the satellite rarely goes above has started as a Fusion-only repeater and
familiar and new calls. Some of the ‘new’ 7° or 8° above the horizon. now has the Wires-X facility. I receive S9
calls were from long-time satellite op- If you are new to 9600 baud packet, signals from GB7PM, which is co-sited
erators, coming back to try the 9600bps like me, you may be expecting to hear a with GB3WR [now FM only]. When not in
packet satellites that we have not had for ‘braap’ noise like you do on 1200 baud. use, GB7PM reverts to being connected
some time. For me, I’m still trying to make You won’t! Just listen for something that to the CQ-UK room where you find users
QSOs. K7TAB-7 was on a pass, and we sounds like a rise in the noise level and if it from each of the digital modes. GB7PM
were able to exchange APRS messages exhibits Doppler shift down the band dur- has its own website (URL below). I’m using
to make a quick QSO. This time, I had the ing a pass, you’ve almost certainly heard a Yaesu FTM-400XD and a Comet GP3
APRS Messages window from UISS to FalconSat-3. This was my first experience vertical for 2m/70cm. As you may know,
show the messages I sent and received of hearing the satellite using no more than there’s been a software update for the Fu-
(copied from the downlink) so it was easy the Kenwood TH-D72 and an NA-771 an- sion system, which involved two updates
to see what we sent each other. With UISS, tenna from a high point in Gloucestershire. for my radio – the main software plus
I am able to read all of the APRS traffic, At G4VXE I enjoy the simple APRS con- the DSP software. This has produced a
where the Kenwood radios won’t show tacts that you can make through the ISS, marked improvement in the received audio
the text of APRS messages sent to other NO-84 and, potentially, FalconSat-3. It’s performance and low signal working. When
callsigns. pretty easy using an APRS handheld and not listening to GB7PM I often monitor
“Hams in Europe and Asia have been a small Yagi such as the Elk or Arrow port- 144.6125MHz, the DV calling frequency,
able to work the mailbox and make QSOs able Yagis but, of course, it’s not always where I was pleased to find Paul M0UTC
using FalconSat-3, and others around the convenient to have a Yagi with you. I’d had in Malvern”.
world are looking to take advantage of some success on overhead passes of NO- www.gb7pm.co.uk
either old TNCs or new (and mostly free) 84 and the ISS using a Nagoya NA-771 an- That’s it for now. Thanks to everyone for
software to try this form of amateur satellite tenna but Dave G7HCE had recommended their news on a wide variety of VHF/UHF
operating. AMSAT is giving away for free the MFJ Long Ranger telescopic half-wave topics. Please keep your input coming. I’d
the registration codes for the venerable for the 2m band. It took a little while to love to hear from you.

44 Practical Wireless December 2017

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December 2017 Practical Wireless 45

45-bhi.indd 45 24/10/2017 15:51

 Data Modes with Mike Richards G4WNC
● E-Mail: practicalwireless@warnersgroup.co.uk

APRS
This month Mike Richards G4WNC is looking at the APRS service and showing you how
to set up a simple tracker or igate station. He starts, though, with a tip on a Raspberry
Pi wireless mouse.

Fig. 1: Perixx Peridou-712 keyboard/mouse combo.

I
have been using a Perixx quick search of the internet revealed that Packet Radio and APRS
keyboard/mouse combo this is not an unusual problem and is easily Packet radio started back in the late
for several years and it has fixed. In case you hit the same problem, I 1970s and uses AX-25 protocol, which
survived all manner of abuse thought I’d share the solution here. is an adaptation of the commercial X-25
through being carried around The fix is to add a mousepoll command protocol. The basic principle behind packet
in a rucksack, dropped, trodden-on to the cmdline.txt file that runs during radio is to break the message into more
and more. However, it finally gave up on the boot process. Here is the step-by- manageable chunks that can be sent over
me this week so I bought a new Perixx step process to do that. Be aware that the network. Why bother, you may well
Duo-712 compact keyboard, Fig. 1, to use additional text must be added to the end ask. In conventional radio or landline links,
as the main keyboard for my Raspberry of the existing line of text, not on a new you need a continuously available channel
Pis and BRIX Linux box. Having two line. to convey your message. However, the link
keyboards on the desk has caused me no Open a terminal session and type: sudo is rarely used at full capacity because there
end of confusion in the past so this time I nano /boot/cmdline.txt will be natural gaps in the message. This
thought I’d get a white keyboard so that it This will open the cmdline.txt file. leads to poor utilisation of the link and the
was clearly different to the black keyboard Use the arrow keys to move the cursor bandwidth that it occupies. Packet radio
used for my main PC! The first task for this to the end of the long line of text. seeks to overcome that inefficiency by
keyboard was to set-up a new Raspbian Add a space and type: usbhid. breaking the message into chunks called
Stretch distribution to work with APRS. mousepoll=0 packets and sending them over a shared
This is when I noticed that the mouse Press Ctl x followed by y to save and link that’s used by other messages. For
had become hopelessly slow. As I moved close the file. this to work, each packet needs to include
the mouse, the pointer would follow very Reboot the Pi and the mouse will work some identification to show both the origin
slowly, which was extremely frustrating. A normally. and the destination. There is also potential

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 employs a simpler, broadcast based, mes-
Used to mark the Set to hex CRC used to saging system using what are known as
start and finish of 03 and F0 detect errors
UI (Unnumbered Information) frames, Fig.
a packet
2. These frames retain the error detection
features of conventional packets but don’t
Flag Address Control PID Information FCS Flag include acknowledgement code so don’t
ask for repeats or confirm delivery. This
is not a problem because the information
Hold the souce and Used to mark the carried by the APRS system is non-critical
destination plus start and finish of and usually repeated at regular periods. A
repeater identifications a packet good example would be a moving vehicle
that’s carrying an APRS tracker. This would
Fig. 2: UI packet construction. normally be set to broadcast its position
using GPS data every few minutes. How-
ever, it wouldn’t matter if the odd broad-
cast was missed because the vehicle’s
position would be updated on the next
transmission.
There is plenty of APRS activity in the
UK and many other parts of the world. In
the UK and Europe, activity is focused on
the 145MHz band because this provides a
very useful range. The short duration and
redundant nature of APRS packets make
it feasible to share a single frequency for
APRS operations. In the UK that frequency
is 144.800MHz.

Fig. 3: Hardware TNC. Packet Hardware or Software?

In the early days of packet radio, it was
common practice to use a TNC (Terminal
Node Controller), Fig. 3. This was a rela-
tively sophisticated hardware modem that
handled the AX-25 protocol and provided
a serial interface to the operator’s com-
puter. On the radio side, the modem could
send and receive tones directly from the
transceiver. Since then, computing power
has moved on significantly and it’s much
simpler to run the TNC functions inside
the PC with a simple USB soundcard to
handle the audio tones between the trans-
ceiver. It’s now perfectly feasible to build a
complete APRS station using the popular
Raspberry Pi 3 and I’ll show you how in the
next section.

Fig. 4: Ugreen USB soundcard. Raspberry Pi APRS Station

The Pi 3 is now powerful enough to run
for packets to arrive in a different order factors, the receiving station can initiate both the packet radio link and the top-level
so each packet needs an identifier such a request to retransmit a missing packet. software required to display the APRS data
that the message can be reassembled AX-25 continues to be used to support in a useful format. In addition to a Pi 3,
correctly. Finally, each packet needs some amateur packet radio operations but most you will also need a USB soundcard and
form of error detection code so that it commercial links have moved on to the a power supply. There are lots of cheap
can detect and reject damaged packets. TCP/IP protocol used extensively on the USB soundcards out there and those
To increase the network utilisation, the internet. supplied by Raspberry Pi main suppliers
switches in an AX-25 system will route such as Pimoroni, PiHut, ModMyPi, RS
message packets via whatever route is APRS Components and Farnell can be relied on.
available at the time of transmission. To Developed by Bob Bruninga WB4APR An alternative, that I have used, is the U-
cope with situations where a packet is in the late 1980s, APRS is an acronym for Green USB Audio Adapter, Fig. 4, that sells
lost due to interference or other external Amateur Position Reporting System. APRS for just under £6 on Amazon. This has the

December 2017 Practical Wireless 47

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 Data Modes

advantage of including a short USB tail so

it doesn’t block the remaining USB ports.
Although the Pi is a relatively low power
device (about 450mA in this applica-
tion), it’s worth getting a 2A power supply
because this will allow you to power more
USB devices as your system expands. To
run the Pi as an APRS station we need to
install two software packages. The first is
Dire Wolf that manages the packet proto-
col and provides the modem functionality.
The second is YAAC (Yet Another APRS
Client!), which provides the GUI (Graphic
User Interface) for the APRS messages
and plots the received messages on a
map. According to the author, the Dire Wolf
name is derived from: Decoded Informa-
tion from Radio Emissions for Windows Or
Linux Fans!

Dire Wolf Installation Fig. 5: Dire Wolf receiving APRS packets.

I suggest you start with a fresh installation
of Raspbian Stretch. At the time of writing
the latest version was dated Sept 7th 2017
and is available from the downloads sec-
tion of the main Raspberry Pi site. Once
you have a micro SD card with Stretch,
connect your monitor, keyboards/mouse
and network. Just to make sure you have
the very latest updates and fixes, run the
following commands:
sudo apt-get -y update && sudo apt-get
-y upgrade
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
sudo reboot
Most of the software dependencies for Dire
Wolf are already installed in Stretch but we
need to add one package using the follow-
ing command:
sudo apt-get install -y libasound2-dev
Now we can download Dire Wolf and start
the main installation. Here are the steps:
Open a terminal session and type the Fig. 6: APRS client YAAC working with Dire Wolf.
following commands:
cd~ keys untill you find the line that begins: double-clicking on the desktop icon. You
git clone https://github.com/wb2osz/ #ADEVICE – plughw:1,0 should see a new terminal session open
direwolf Remove the # from the start of this line. with the version number reported along
cd direwolf Skip through the sections for the 2nd with confirmation of the sound card and
make and 3rd audio device as we’re not using details of the available ports.
sudo make install them. The next step is to tune your rig to
make install-conf In CHANNEL 0 PROPERTIES scroll 144.8MHz NBFM and listen for APRS
make install-rpi down to the line MYCALL NOCALL and transmissions. If you can hear the bursts
That completes the installation but replace NOCALL with your call-1. So, for of APRS, connect the ‘audio out’ to your
we need to change some settings in the me, that would be MYCALL G4WNC-1. ‘soundcard in’ and you should start seeing
configuration file before we can run the Note that this must be upper case. APRS messages displayed in the Dire Wolf
program. Here are the instructions: Scroll down to MODEM 1200 and leave terminal session, Fig. 5.
Open a terminal session and enter: this untouched to run Dire Wolf on VHF. Next month I’ll show you how to add an
sudo nano direwolf.conf Press Ctl X followed by y to save and APRS client on the Pi or on your local net-
This will open the Dire Wolf configura- close the configuration file. work. In Fig. 6, I’ve shown the YAAC client
tion file. That completes the basic setup of the operating on my main PC but using data
Scroll through the file using the arrow Dire Wolf TNC and you can now run it by from Dire Wolf on a local Raspberry Pi.

48 Practical Wireless December 2017

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 In the Shop with Harry Leeming G3LLL
The Cedars, 3a Wilson Grove, Heysham, Morecambe, Lancashire LA3 2PQ
● E-mail: G3LLL@talktalk.net

Transistor Failures
This month Harry Leeming G3LLL relates a tale from the early days of transistors,
advises caution where insurance is concerned and has some more anecdotes from
his retail days.

Fig. 1: Circuit of the FT-707 PA stage.

W
hen I was study- ing, we had to revise or service procedures shorted, there was a very good chance that
ing for the City and because they were much easier to destroy. the output transistors would try too hard,
Guilds radio and TV At first transistors were only used in be overloaded and blow. A pair of output
servicing certificate low-level stages but in the mid-1960s Hi-Fi transistors for a Hi-Fi amplifier would only
in 1954, transistors manufacturers started making ‘All Solid- set the customer back a couple of pounds
were just a laboratory curiosity and State’ Hi-Fi amplifiers. They used class B plus fitting but when high power RF output
no domestic equipment include d or class A/B in the power output stage and transistors started appearing in amateur
them. Valves could be damaged it you with this configuration the maximum power radio gear, they were much more expensive.
overloaded them but at least you had a output depended very much on the imped- Fitting them, setting them up and hoping
few seconds grace and there was enough ance of the loudspeakers. The lower the that the new pair would not be blown by
time for you to switch off quickly if, say, a impedance, the more power the amplifier some fault you had failed to notice was a
PA valve started glowing red hot! When a ‘tried’ to develop. If, however, the imped- somewhat nerveracking experience at first.
few years later, transistors started appear- ance was too low, or the speaker leads I had fitted a few without any problems

December 2017 Practical Wireless 49

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 In the Shop

when a Yaesu FT-707 came in to the shop and should have got back dozens of refer-
for repair with hardly any power output. ences but the search engine couldn’t find
The PA transistors were blown so after any. After a lot of puzzling I noticed that
checking for any obvious fault in the bias while I usually type ‘FT290’, this is tran-
circuit, I soldered in a new pair of transis- scribed on the CD and in PW as ‘FT-290’. I
tors. Everything then seemed fine and the typed this in and then got loads of refer-
rig gave 100W output so I returned it to the ences. If you use the PW CDs and wish to
customer. search them with Adobe, don’t make my
A few months later the rig was brought mistake but remember to type any words or
back; the new transistors had blown. I knew model numbers exactly as they are normally
the customer well and he was not the type Fig. 2: The correct way to use an egg insulator printed in the magazine.
to transmit into a high SWR or a dead short (from ARRL Handbook).
so I wondered what to do. I certainly didn’t Breaking Eggs
wish to risk another set of new transistors of tapping would then cause a surge. I left Being a careful type, I made sure the shop
at around £50 a pair (in those days £50 was the rig running for a couple of days before insurance covered me if anyone claimed
a fair portion of a week’s wage) and have removing the 5Ω resistor, giving the rig a that they had suffered loss or injury result-
them blow but how could I protect them? final test and returning it to the customer, ing from a fault on something that I had sold
Transistors are not like valves, they can who reported no more problems. them. Cover like this is worthwhile because
fail instantly if overloaded, often much it means that if you have any problems, the
faster than a fuse can blow to protect them. Better Safe Than Sorry insurance company will either pay out or
Somehow I had to limit the possible current. Even after that experience, overconfidence fight any unreasonable claim for you. Some-
When the FT-707 is delivering 100W into once led me into the same trap again and times, however, your best defence might be
an antenna it should take about 15A from a since then I have always fitted a resistor a reference book.
13.8V PSU. Given that this rig didn’t have to limit the current during initial tests after Jack came in with a broken egg insulator
an internal PSU, I could have wired it to a replacing PA transistors. I would recom- that he said he had bought from me. He
current limiting PSU and set this at, say, 4A. mend this to any readers who do their own said that this was faulty and that, as a re-
Instead, to be on the safe side and to make repairs. sult, his antenna system had collapsed and
any instantaneous surge impossible, I wired Feeding the DC supply via a series done hundreds of pounds’ worth of damage
a large wattage 5Ω wirewound resistor in resistor can always be a good idea when to his and his neighbours conservatories.
series with the 13.8V feed to the PA stage, you wire up an experimental circuit. If, for He didn’t want to listen to me but luckily I
as per Fig. 1, and once again switched on. instance, you knock together a speech pro- had a copy of an old ARRL Handbook on
According to my interpretation of Mr Ohm’s cessor taking 50mA at 12V, a 20Ω resistor in my shelf. I opened it and showed him a very
law, the maximum current that could be series with the HT feed will have no notice- clear drawing of how he should have fitted
drawn from the 13.8V line would now be able effect on performance because it will the egg insulators, Fig. 2.
13.8/5 = 2.76A – not enough to instantly only drop a volt. If, however, you accidently Egg insulators are not strain insulators
blow the new transistors – so I felt fairly short circuit your creation, the current will but rely for their strength on compression
safe. be limited to 600mA and, hopefully, this will and, when fitted correctly, even in the ex-
I fired the rig up. Once again the PA prevent any damage occurring. On top of tremely unlikely case that one should frac-
stage fired up nicely and I set the bias to this, the resistor will act as an RF stopper ture, the antenna will still not collapse. Egg
give an idling current of 200mA. At this cur- and help to prevent RF feedback getting insulators can be fitted so that the loops do
rent only 1V was lost in the 5Ω resistor I had into the audio circuits. not intertwine, to achieve a longer leakage
added so with no drive, everything seemed path, but should never be used under load
normal. Of course, when I gave a quick PW CDs and Adobe Acrobat Reader in ‘mission critical’ situations when fitted
whistle into the microphone, the increase As I get older, Brenda has to occasionally this way. Jack went away to consult his
of current caused most of the voltage to point out that I am repeating myself and own insurance company.
disappear across the safety resistor and the telling a story twice to the same person.
PA stage saturated. The rig then gave only a Now while this may be amusing to friends, A Few More Memories
few watts out into my dummy load and the purchasers of PW will not wish to pay for a One day a barrister rang me up with a prob-
5Ω safety resistor quickly overheated. magazine in which a writer too frequently lem. He had a client who ran a private hire
repeats the same information. To try to car service (a taxi-type business but where
Next to Try and Find the Fault avoid this happening, I have a copy of the you have to pre-book your journeys) and he
I poked, prodded and tapped all around the In The Shop CD, which I have installed on had run into trouble. Because his car did
PA board and suddenly, smoke rose from my computer’s ‘desktop’, along with Adobe not take bookings via radio, when he had
the added safety resistor. I quickly switched Acrobat Reader (the reader is free – just be taken out his comprehensive insurance he
off and carefully inspected the PCB. Yes, sure to remove any ticks for extra programs had opted for a policy that stated, “This
there must be to be an intermittent connec- or toolbars that you don’t want). car is not fitted with two-way radio”. Some
tion in the bias circuit but I couldn’t spot Adobe reader has a wonderful search years later he had then managed to write
anything. I resoldered every joint I could box in which you can type, for example, off his car in an accident but the insurance
see in this area, cleaned the preset bias ‘switch cleaner’ and all references to this on company were refusing to pay out.
potentiometer and tried again. I didn’t know the CD will then pop up. As usual, however, The problem was that when the insur-
whether I had cured the fault but no amount there is a snag. I recently typed in ‘FT290’ ance assessors had examined the wreck,

50 Practical Wireless December 2017

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 they had found a CB set and they were mail arrived from the island. Joseph wanted who had invented and patented a very
claiming that this broke the insurance to know if we had a cooling fan for his FT- efficient means of making plastic mesh
agreement. What the barrister wanted to 101. With a smile on my face I popped one and had founded the internationally known
know was, “Is a CB set a two-way radio”. in my suitcase and soon we were knocking company Netlon. Dealing with multimillion-
Well, obviously, any CB set is a two-way on the door of a very surprised customer. aires can be problematic but I got on with
radio and I could only suggest that the him very well. I once pointed out to him that
wording on the policy, while it did not say An Amusing Purchase the ‘bargain price’ he had been quoted for
so, implied commercial two-way radio, as Neither of us of us could keep our faces a very expensive pair of loudspeakers by
when a taxi network is set up with multiple straight when a customer walked in, a London retailer was considerably more
cars getting their instructions via a base dressed in his work attire, and asked for a than the recommended retail price. I then
station, and not a CB set purely for hobby 6m halo. “What’s so funny about that?” you advised him to wear his gardening clothes if
use. How he got on I never found out but it might ask. Well, he was a Catholic Priest! he ever went in the same shop again.
is a warning that we should all take note of, On HF he was a keen QRP enthusiast While I was on the trolley waiting to
and read, the small print and think about its but as he pointed out, “Who needs high be wheeled in for the operation for my
implications on any insurance. For instance, power when you have a job with access repair, I was seen first by the anaesthetist
are there any restrictions regarding two- to a 200ft tower thrown in?” Well, very oc- and then the surgeon came to have a final
way radio on your car insurance, that your casionally I have filled in and done a little look. He poked around and then said in a
amateur radio equipment might invalidate, speaking at mid-week church meetings worried voice, “It’s a very busy area”. I was
and is your expensive amateur radio gear myself. Perhaps I should have taken it up as so surprised that I burst out laughing and
covered by your house insurance, espe- a profession and got a free tower. said, “Well you will have to be very careful
cially if it is located in a garden shed? How then”, which seemed to take him aback
about your antenna? Are you covered if it My Turn for Repairs somewhat because he obviously thought
fell on your neighbours’ new greenhouse or Last year I suffered from a hernia. I had I was unconscious. He then reassured me
conservatory? to go into hospital and have the hernia that any damage would be repaired. He
repaired by having a piece of plastic mesh must have indeed ‘been careful’ because
A Pleasantly Surprised Customer inserted. This made me think of Doctor his repair and the plastic mesh is holding
Twenty-odd years ago we were all ready for Brian Mercer OBE. up fine, although I will not push my luck by
a two-week holiday in Cyprus. A couple of 40 years ago I did some repairs and trying to lift anything like an FL-2100 linear
days before we were due to set off, an air- supplied Hi-Fi equipment to Doctor Mercer, amplifier.

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December 2017 Practical Wireless 51

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 Buying Second-Hand with Chris Lorek G4HCL
● E-mail: chris@lorek.co.uk

The Liner 2
around 20 years ago that there was a Liner
2, albeit with a slight damaged fascia,
offered for sale on the second-hand shelf
at a weekend open showroom day of a
well known amateur radio retailer in the
London area, who I visited that day along
Chris Lorek G4HCL looks at a popular 2m SSB with my friend and work colleague Andy
Sillence G4MYS. The transceiver had the
transceiver that’s often found at a bargain price on label of “Heap of junk, make an offer”. I
asked the proprietor how much he’d like
the second-hand market. and having known me for many years, he
said, “Take it away, it’s yours”. Service like
that is certainly remembered!
I was very fortunate in meeting the said
proprietor, who has now built a very well
established business in amateur radio
sales, last weekend at the National Ham-
fest where he immediately recognised me
after all those years. Watch out for some
new equipment reviews with equipment
from his organisation in the forthcoming
months here in PW. I was also fortunate to
meet many PW readers at the show, along
with, of course, PW Editor Don and RU
Editor Georg, both of whose magazine ti-
tles I write for (in addition to PW, I prepare
the monthly Software Spot for RU).

Fig. 1: Front view of the Liner 2. Crystal Mixing

Back to the Liner 2. It’s a Japanese made

T
and designed 2m crystal-mixed trans-
here are typically two The Liner 2 ceiver, offering 10kHz channel steps along
types of readers who look At around the same time as the 9R- with a TXCO (crystal ‘tweak’) rotary control
at this column with relish. 59DS came on sale in the 1970s, one of offering interpolation between the 10kHz
One type are those looking for the most popular transceivers for newly steps as well as a rotary RIT (Receiver
a bargain but a fairly recent licensed amateurs and for those coming Incremental Tuning) control, or ‘clarifier’ as
radio, whether this be a transceiver or onto 2m was the Belcom Liner 2, Fig. 1. It it’s often described.
receiver. However, the majority of positive was, and of course still is, a 2m (144MHz) My later work colleague and friend
feedback I’ve received in the past years SSB mobile or desktop transceiver with Roger Lapthorn G3XBM, who’s also an
has been from ‘archive collectors’, those a 10W PEP output. I first bought mine occasional writer for PW, obtained his
like myself who to be honest, would either second-hand in 1974 from my friend and Liner 2 in the mid-1970s and says that he
like to rekindle past memories of starting fellow amateur Ray Pearson G3XUH who was amazed at how far you could work
out in amateur radio or would simply like was a member of the Preston Amateur on 10W of SSB, especially as before he’d
to get a nostalgic radio. I try to actively Radio Society in Lancashire and I’ve never only used a few watts of FM or AM. He
respond to both interests. Regarding regretted it since. What I did regret was describes the Liner 2 as, “The rig that kick-
‘archive’ radios, I’m not talking about having to eventually sell it many years later started 2m SSB in Europe”. I’d certainly
wartime equipment or totally valved radios to help fund the purchase my first one- agree with Roger’s comments.
here, which are the subject of another bedroom house. Another friend and fellow
column in PW, but instead typically local amateur Greg Wimlett G8GLS also Modifications
amateur receivers and transceivers from had a Liner 2 and we had many happy The most popular modification to the Liner
around the 1970s onwards. My earlier days out together. These included hilltop 2 is the addition of an internal receiver
column on the Trio 9R-59DS receiver, a trips to Longridge Fell and even a visit to preamplifier, the most common being
hybrid (semiconductor and valved set), the highest viewing platform at the top of the popular PA3 preamp. I would say
for example, brought me a tremendous the Blackpool Tower armed with his Liner don’t worry at all if you find your second-
response with many requests for further 2, a 12V motorcycle battery for power and hand Liner 2 has had one of these fitted
information. I’m pleased to say that I still an eight-element 2m Yagi, which we had because to my mind it’s probably the best
have my 9R-59DS here, which I bought carefully concealed in a disassembled improvement it could get. It’s a small PCB,
second-hand some years ago and which state before we took the lift to the top. around 30mm square and drawing around
involved me in a 60 mile car journey and 5mA from the Liner 2’s 12V supply. I fitted
a one hour each-way ferry crossing to Second-hand a PA3 to my first Liner 2 and it made a
obtain. Nostalgia! Fortunately I found to my great pleasure great improvement to the receiver’s weak-

52 Practical Wireless December 2017

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 Fig. 2: Liner 2 microphone connections.

signal performance. The manufacturer’s technical specifica-

As well as ‘tweaking’, some amateurs tions state that any spurii are at least 60dB
have tried to internally increase the drive down on transmit power output, which is
level to achieve more output power. If perfectly adequate.
you’re buying second-hand, I’d strongly
advise that you check the peak power Faults
output level and if this is greater than 10W, The most common fault is that of intermit-
then you should turn the drive level down. tent transmit audio and PTT. This is usually
Increasing the drive level can produce un- due to the 6mm rotary microphone/PTT
wanted mixing effects (through non-linear connector. You can clean this with an
transistor limitations) and cause splatter to electronic switch cleaner (please don’t
nearby frequencies, which again can result use a lubricant such as WD40, which is
in spurious emissions. The ‘Test’ switch an insulant). Also the microphone cable
Fig. 3: The 6mm replacement microphone plug. on the front panel of the transceiver will, in at the junction of the plug can become
transmit mode, radiate a constant carrier, intermittent through use. Here you’ll need
which, is useful for antenna SWR meas- to crop off around 20-30mm of the cable
urements and the like. It’s also useful to at the plug end and re-wire to a new plug,
4
check the power output of the transceiver. Fig. 2. These are readily available, Fig. 3.
(I can’t help interjecting here Chris Also check the large main click-step rotary
– during one VHF Field Day with the North- channel control. If this feels loose or very
ampton Radio Club G3GWB, there was a rough and gritty rather than smooth, then
big opening to Scandinavia on 2m, with beware. This is probably the second most
many of the stations on CW. What to do? I common fault, again caused by much
wired a straight key across the Test switch previous use, especially when mobile and
of my Liner 2 and worked several of them used under high-vibration driving condi-
for plenty of points but I hate to think what tions.
sort of signal we were putting out! – ed.)
I eventually sold that first Liner 2, to
5
Ron Whitby G8MEI, a professional and More Information
very experienced work colleague in our If you’d like a PDF copy of the complete
two-way radio communications design user handbook along with full circuit dia-
and manufacturing facility in Cambridge. grams and further block diagrams of the
Prior to purchase he tested the Liner 2 Liner 2 and similar gear, I’d be happy to
one lunchtime on a factory spectrum oblige. Just drop me an e-mail at chris@
analyser and found it to be absolutely fine. lorek.co.uk In any case, Figs. 4 and 5
Unfortunately, the Liner 2 has reportedly from the handbook show the main adjust-
had an unwarranted bad reputation in the ment points but, as I have said, adjust with
past as a rig that emits spurii but this, to care!
the best of my knowledge, has been only I’ll see you next month with my Emerg-
Fig. 4: Adjustment points on top of the circuit due to owners who have gone inside the ing Technology column and the following
board. Fig. 5: Adjustment points below the rig and have ‘tweaked’ the transmitter month with a further Buying Second-hand.
circuit board. without using the correct test equipment. See you then.

December 2017 Practical Wireless 53

52-second hand 2 pages.indd 53 24/10/2017 15:43

 HF Highlights with Steve Telenius-Lowe PJ4DX
● E-mail: teleniuslowe@gmail.com ● Don’t forget – all reports to Steve by the 1st of each month please!

HF Highlights
bers decided to try something a little more
challenging. “It was decided to mount a
mini-DXpedition to Flat Holm Island in the
Bristol Channel in early September,” Ray
wrote. The project ticked a number of
boxes: “It would be an adventure, without
Steve Telenius-Lowe PJ4DX has another packed being too adventurous (or expensive), it
would be a popular activation with the
column, with lots of reader news and band reports. WAB and IOTA fraternity, it has historic
connections with Guglielmo Marconi’s
earliest radio experiments, it would be an
excellent low-QRM operating QTH and it
would take place on the RSGB HF SSB
Field Day weekend.”
Five 100W transceivers, dipoles and
vertical antennas, Fig. 3, put GB0FHD on
the air from September 1st to 3rd, using
SSB, CW and datamodes. “Operating
conditions were as good as we’d hoped,
with background noise down at S3 – 4
compared with S8 – 9 at our home QTHs,
and we had a steady stream of QSOs on
all modes... JT65 and PSK contacts in-
cluded the USA, Brazil and Japan, with 10,
17 and 20m being the bands of choice. At
the end of the weekend we had over 250
QSOs in the consolidated log, which was
uploaded to eQSL, LoTW and Club Log.”
Ray concluded, “In the event all agreed
it was a great success. The RIB ride to and
from the island from Penarth was exhilarat-
ing. The self-catering dormitory accom-
modation in the island’s farmhouse was
Fig. 1: Jonathan Kempster M5AEO brings some festive cheer to Limehouse, London E14. perfect for our needs, and the operating

J
QTH in the old Victorian Barracks provided
onathan Kempster M5AEO plenty of space for antenna erection and
sent in a photo of his for setting up our stations. We are already
Christmas 2016 antenna thinking about where we might go next
decorations, Fig. 1, but year!”
because it was too late for
the December issue last year I thought Readers’ News
I would save it for 2017! I would like to HFH’s keenest portable operator, Carl
join Jonathan in wishing all readers a Gorse 2E0HPI, regretted that he had not
very happy Christmas. been able to get out much this month
We were pleased to welcome Anthony due to decorating chores. “I did go out to
(‘Ant’) David MW0JZE, Fig. 2, and his Fig. 2: 80% of September’s amateur radio GFF-0226 RSPB Saltholme and Tees-
wife Laura MW6INK to Bonaire in Sep- population of Bonaire: Steve PJ4DX, Peter mouth to work in the RSGB Autumn 80m
tember. Ant is the man behind Hexbeam PJ4NX, Ant PJ4/MW0JZE and Bert PJ4KY (photo: SSB contest,” Carl said, “and made it to
UK and they brought a Hexbeam with Laura David MW6INK). the top of the QRP section” using 5W from
them to Bonaire, which I hope to review in his FT-817 – congratulations! “Conditions
PW soon. Ant was active as PJ4/MW0JZE, Flat Holm Island were excellent and I ended up operating
making several hundred contacts on the While mounting a DXpedition to Bouvet until gone 10.00pm in the dark with a head
new FT8 data mode (the first activity from Island or a remote Pacific atoll may be torch.” He added that he recently took
Bonaire on FT8), RTTY and SSB. beyond the scope of most, a more modest delivery of an MFJ-1899T pedestrian por-
We have received a bumper post-bag DXpedition can be a great club project table antenna and plans to review it soon.
from the regular contributors and two new as Ray Coles M0XDL, Chairman of the Owen Williams G0PHY said, “Here’s
correspondents this month, so I’m grateful South Dorset Radio Society, explained. Af- my report for September. It’s earlier than
to editor Don G3XTT for allocating a little ter special event stations for International usual because we’re off to the mid-Wales
extra space to HF Highlights. Despite this, Marconi Day, the International Lighthouse coast for two weeks. All activity was on
I’ve still had to edit the reports more than and Lightship Weekend and Museums On 20m with the bulk of contacts occurring
usual. The Air over the years, SDRS club mem- during the Worked All Europe DX con-

54 Practical Wireless December 2017

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 vourable but not for anything further afield.
So I decided to try a vertical and bought
a 10m fibreglass pole from www.m0mcx.
co.uk” Tony wound 10m of copper wire
in a loose helical around the mast and
connected it to an SO239 socket mounted
on the lid of a galvanised steel box, Fig.
4, adding 16 radials buried a few inches
under the lawn. The antenna had an SWR
of 1.2:1. “First contacts were made over
the weekend of September 2nd/3rd, plenty
of EU contacts plus RW9USA, R8TTT and
7Z1SJ in Saudi Arabia... It was around this
date that I discovered FT8 and it’s been
a real eye-opener! There’s an excellent
article about it in PW [FT8 Explained by
Mike Richards G4WNC, PW October
Fig. 3: The GB0FHD antennas on Flat Holm Island. 2017 – Ed]... I’m using my Yaesu FT-450
running 30W and spend most of the time
test...The best day in the contest was the calling CQ. On 10m there have been some
Saturday with contacts with Israel, Brazil good openings to South America over the
and the east coast of the USA and stations past two evenings (September 23rd/24th);
audible from Chile, Argentina and the stations worked include seven LU, 13 PY,
Arabian Gulf. Conditions were worse on CX9AU and ZP9CTS. 40m has been very
Sunday with contacts with Morocco and crowded at times but I managed JA4LKB,
Kuwait. As usual all contacts were on SSB W1, 2, 3, 4, 8, VE9DX, VE5PO, TF5B and
to dipoles with power between 100 and on September 17th ZL2AO came back to a
180W.” CQ – I was happy with that one as you can
Tony Usher G4HZW also sent in a imagine! So there we are, anyone can be a
report early, “because we’re off to the Holy big-time DXer now but is it ‘real’ radio you
Island of Lindisfarne in search of some ask? I’ll leave others to decide.”
ornithological DX,” Tony said. “I’ve had an Tom Morgan ZS1AFS has also
interesting month and it’s given me plenty been active on 40m. “I work 40m from
to consider in the weeks to come. I decid- 0500UTC. The last QSO was a four-way
ed to concentrate a little more on 40m. I’ve with 58 to 59 signals all round, with Stan
had a dipole for the band for many years, KE5EE in Florida, Dave W6NL and Bar-
it’s only low at about 20ft, fine for inter-G bara K6BL in California, Sonny KH6CB in
Fig. 4: The 40m vertical feedpoint at G4HZW. contacts when conditions were more fa- Hawaii and me near Cape Town. This was
over the South Pole. It was my first KH6
contact on 40m. Things are indeed looking
up!” This report from Tom ties in nicely
with my article The Low Bands at Solar
Minimum, published in PW last month,
where I noted that more DX is available on
‘the low bands’ – 40, 80 and 160m – as
propagation continues to deteriorate on
higher frequencies.
Steph Foster G4XKH told us about
the Riviera Amateur Radio Club’s special
event station GB1BOB, Fig. 5, which
commemorated national Battle of Britain
Day in September. The station comprised
a Kenwood TS-590S to an inverted-Vee at
about 11m (35ft). “Conditions were very
poor but despite the poor propagation, we
were lucky to have gloriously hot weather
for most of the day. Even though we got
relatively few contacts, the event allowed
newly-licensed members to get experience
Fig. 5: Steve G7AHP, Phil 2E0WZP, Debs M6IXR, Trevor M0XOL and Ian G6TEQ at GB1BOB (photo: Steph of what it is like to participate in a special
Foster G4XKH). event station. This is going to be an annual

December 2017 Practical Wireless 55

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 HF Highlights

Fig. 7: Kevin ZB2GI helped Gibraltar celebrate its

national day by operating as ZG2GI.

“I took along a little MFJ 20m QRP rig and

‘hamstick’ on a magnetic mount, just to
have the odd listen. Found a great location
near St Agnes on the north coast, a cliff-
top car park with a great take off to NA.
Some massive 59+ signals on 20m around
1700UTC from a number of W2 and W7
stations.” Mike has been having trouble
with S7 electrical noise from a transformer
on a pole at the farm where he keeps
his trailer tower and where, up to a year
ago, there was zero local noise on 20m.
He “had a look on the internet and found
Fig. 6: PA/OS8D/M surrounded by the North Sea. mixed reviews on the MFJ-1025 noise
cancelling device. It’s taken me two differ-
event for the club from now on,” Steph Earlier he had operated as ZB2GI/P from ent sessions trying to get everything work-
said. O’Hara’s Battery, at 426m ASL the highest ing and eliminate the noise without de-
Etienne Vrebos OS8D has been on his point on the Rock, and says this was the grading the wanted signal. I finally cracked
travels again. “I went to Holland again this first operation from the very summit. A it this morning. It requires a change of set-
morning: very foggy, wet and cold. Found summary of the stations worked can be tings every 10° of beaming but only takes
a very interesting beach, surrounded on found in the band reports. seconds now I have listed each setting per
355° by saltwater, but I could reach it with David Smith M0OSA/M says he “made beam heading... It’s easy to give it up as
my new car... I was lucky I could reach it it back on to HF in September and man- bad idea but certainly worth the effort. This
at low tide but had to remove everything aged to make a few contacts. Spent a morning it was S7 to S1 at the push of a
within two hours before the North Sea couple of hours on air during the Worked button with no degradation in strength or
swallowed my antenna, my car and myself! All Europe contest but conditions weren’t quality of the wanted signal.”
The results were unbelievable with the great. Managed to work CR3W, WA1J, Victor Brand G3JNB was concerned
Super Antenna, Fig. 6.” Etienne received CG3AT, 4X6FR and PR7AA on 20m and on September 6th when he switched on
reports of 59+ on 40m from all over Eu- UA9BA on 15m, though. Good to get to find all bands from 80 – 15m abso-
rope and on 20m had “a real pile-up, as across the Atlantic again for the first time lutely dead. “Postings on the Cluster soon
most said there was only my signal coming in a few months. Worked three stations brought up similar reports from across
through, with no propagation at all on celebrating the 20th anniversary of the EU. A few 20m CW stations appeared
20m.” Etienne also operated from home Russian Contest Club, R20RCC, R20KRK mid-morning then disappeared again
and his highlights are in the band reports. and R20MSK on 20m... The highlight of amid further reports of a second solar
Kevin Hewitt ZB2GI lists his highlights the month was breaking the pile-up to storm.” However, “at 2140UTC, I heard
for the month as making the first sum- work V31VP on 15m on the final day of his and worked D2EB in Angola on 17m!
mit activation and operating as ZG2GI on trip. Although I’ve ‘made the trip’ to Belize Gabriel was good copy and, despite my
Gibraltar’s National Day. The National Day once before, the station at the other end poor signal, eventually copied my full
is celebrated, Fig. 7, on September 10th misheard my callsign, declared that we’d callsign. To have the band open at such
each year to commemorate Gibraltar’s worked before and called QRZ again. So a late hour now is unusual here. Next day
sovereignty referendum in 1967. Kevin technically V31VP was a new DXCC for the SFI had climbed still further from the
made 50 FT8 contacts, ten each on five me. Only managed to hear 5T5OK once, 80/90s to a new high of 133... The very
bands, to mark the 50th anniversary. just after I’d worked V31VP... Looking for- slick CW YL operator Elena, with the
He also operated with John ZB2JK as ward to the CQWW Phone Contest.” Russian team in Botswana, put her A25BE
ZG2BU from the GARS station, working Mike Clark M0ZDZ says that he spent call into my log... Remarkably, consider-
over 50 stations in Europe and America. two weeks touring Cornwall in September. ing recent conditions, a little later I could

56 Practical Wireless December 2017

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 several different locations during the
month. ZB2GI/P from the Rock’s summit
at 426m ASL: 17m SSB: KE9L, NY2PO,
ON4LAN/P, OZ6CM, SP5EAQ. Also as
ZB2GI/P but from the west side of the
Rock. 40m SSB: EG1ESA (European
Space Agency ground station). 20m
SSB: HP3AK, K2AYE and several other
USA stations, KL7KK (Alaska). 17m
SSB: EA8CSB, KD4EAQ, YV5KTM.
ZB2GI/P at ‘Top of the Rock’, 412m ASL
20m SSB: DL0IL/P (Kump Field day),
IZ1RDQ/1 (Italian Embassy LG-0549),
W1NVT (KFF3106 Button Bay State Park
Vermont). 17m SSB: K8NY. 15m SSB:
AE7KI, OH2BAD. 10m SSB: PY1SX. As
ZB2GI from home, 20m SSB: CG3AT,
G3UML, KD4D and several other USA
Fig. 8: The G3JNB station combines 1970s and 2000s technology: a Heathkit HW-8 and a Yaesu FT-2000. stations, ZR6GR. 17m SSB: MM0JVT/M,
ZR6GR. As ZG2GI, 40m FT8: AB1HL,
actually copy A25BI, her colleague’s weak Finally, it was great to hear from a EA8TR, VE3FGU. 30m FT8: AJ6T, CU2AP,
signal on160m!” Victor “indulged in a ‘QRP new reporter this month, Martin Evans ZP4KFX. 20m SSB: N0FW, N2MM,
Week’ for the final days of September”, GW4TPG, who wrote, “I have been an avid WA3EKL. 20m FT8: HF7A. 17m FT8:
using his 1970s Heathkit HW-8, Fig. 8. reader of PW and enjoy the HF Highlights K7BV, VA3LX. 15m FT8: LA7JO.
“A nice surprise was last night on 40m column every month and thought it was Victor G3JNB reported 40m CW:
with Asiatic Russia 3000+ miles on 1.5W high time to pick up the keyboard and S01WS, UE80OL, VK3CWB. 20m CW:
from the rig so probably 1W at the feed- send you a report... My favourite mode is 5A1AL, HI3Y, RI1ANO (South Shetlands).
point.” The best of Victor’s log is in the CW but I have all mode capability and if 17m CW: 5T5OK, A25BE, D2EB, RI1ANO,
band reports but Victor says his ‘QSO of there is DX on other modes, I will work it. UE80IR (Irkutsk). 15m CW: FP/G3ZAY.
the Month’ was with Kjell SM5CCE on I am a serious DXCC addict, I track IOTA The log from Terry M0CLH was mainly
20m while running 1.5W from the HW-8. but I don’t actively chase IOTAs because of contacts made on FT8. Most of the
“Never mind the DX, we had a lovely clear DXCC is my thing (worked here 283 mixed, European stations have been edited due
frequency, rock-solid signals, no QRM all time). Operating-wise I don’t like to to lack of space. 30m FT8: 9M6XRO. 20m
and a good old-fashioned ‘ragchew’, with work all and sundry but I do like to listen a FT8: N7QT, VK5PO, YB8EL. 20m PSK63:
Kjell reporting our last QSO was a mere 47 lot.” Martin wrote that he is constructing LZ100SK. 17m CW: LZ100SK. 17m
years ago!” a Battlecreek Special antenna for 40, 80 FT8: A45XR, AB4Z and many other USA
Terry Martin M0CLH sent in “a some- and 160m as per the recent PW article and stations, AH0U, CO8IH, EA8CYL, HI8CSS,
what shorter log than usual because we needs to get to 100 DXCC entities on 80m PY2THO. 15m FT8: 9G1SD, 9N1AA,
spent another week in Cornwall dodg- to complete his 9-band DXCC. Meanwhile, AC9GK, CU2AP, SU9JG, TA3MHA,
ing the rain.” He has been continuing to his reports for 30 – 12m can be found in YD0SDD, ZS6ZP. 15m RTTY: AB3CV,
experiment with the new FT8 data mode. the band reports. EA8CNR, LT0H, SV9FBG, ZF1A. 12m
“It’s still not perfect and in particular, oc- FT8: PY2CX. 10m SSB: OY1OF. 10m FT8:
casional failure to produce an audio tone Band Reports CT1AOZ.
has been noticed by myself and a number Carl 2E0HPI/P was on for the RSGB Our new contributor Martin GW4TPG
of colleagues. Overlapped signals also autumn contest on 80m SSB: DO8DL, reports: 30m FT8: YB6HAI. 20m CW:
cause problems. It should be recognised G1A, G2AA, G6XX, G8OO, GM4Z, GW9J, FR/F8FUA, 20m RTTY: 5T5OK, A44A,
that this is not a weak signal mode and its M4J, GI0AZB, MU0GSY, OF1MN (a new 7Q7WW, JT5DX. 20m FT8: HB0WR, MU/
efficiency appears to be similar to RTTY.” QRP DXCC on 80m). ON4ANN. 17m SSB: TZ4PR. 17m CW:
Terry was another to comment on propa- Etienne OS8D reports the following dur- E21EIC. 17m FT8: A45XR, OJ0/UA4WHX,
gation conditions: “The radio blackout due ing September. 40m SSB: MU/ON4ANN. PY2RJ, ZB2ER. 15m RTTY: YB9GWR.
to X-class flares on the Sun around the 20m SSB: 3V8TD (AF-083), 4L2M, 7V9A 12m FT8: CO8LY, CX8ABF, FR4PV,
middle of the month was quite dramatic. (AF094), 7Z1TT, 9V1YC, E2A, E21YDP, LU9DO, RI1ANO.
I was operating JT modes at our club sta- EP2LMA, FP/M0WUT, HZ1SM, HS8GLR,
tion G3ZEF at the Culham Science Centre JE6RPM, SU1IE, UK8OK, UP2017AK, Signing Off
and quite suddenly, the waterfall went V51WW, V85T, VK2GGC, YB8RBI. 17m Thanks to all contributors. Best wishes
completely blank leading me to examine SSB: 5T5OK, A25BE, TZ4PR, ZR6GR. to all readers for a very happy Christmas.
the equipment for failures! None found, it 15m SSB: 5T5OK, 6W1SU, HZ87ND, Please send all input for this column to
became clear from the DX Cluster what VU2IBI, YB0IBM, ZD7FT. 12m SSB: OJ0/ teleniuslowe@gmail.com by the first of
had happened. I wish now that I had had UA4WHX. 10m SSB: 5T5OK, FR4PV, OJ0/ the month (December 1st for the February
the presence of mind to take a screen- UA4WHX, ZD7FT, ZS4L. 2018 issue, January 1st for the March
shot!” Kevin ZB2GI has been active from magazine). 73, Steve PJ4DX.

December 2017 Practical Wireless 57

54-HF Highlights 4 pages.indd 57 24/10/2017 15:42

 Rallies
NEW CONTACT DETAILS. Send all your rally info to Georg Wiessala:
E-mail: wiessala@hotmail.com

Plan your rally visits with our comprehensive list of forthcoming events. Warners Group Publications Ltd. will be at shows marked* – come along to
our stand for great deals on subscriptions to Practical Wireless and RadioUser.
Club Secretaries and Event Organisers – please send us details of your event if you would like it to be mentioned here.

November 11th (Saturday) pitch and a table – please book your pitch is described ideal for both traders and number of pitches will be available and
The Fog on the Tyne Rally at least two weeks before the event. Traders disabled visitors, offering good parking and stallholders will have access to the venue
The Angel of the North Amateur Radio Club will have access to the venue from 8.00am easy access to the large ground floor hall. from 7.30am.
will be holding the eighth Fog on the Tyne (7.00am for RADARS members). The event John G4LRG (Rally Organiser) Jason G0IZR
Rally at Whitehall Road Methodist Church usually finishes at around 3.00pm. Tel: 01388 606396 Tel: 01942 735828 (Bookings)
Hall, Whitehall Road, Bensham, Gateshead Dave G3RIK Brian G7OCK (Deputy Rally Organiser) December 2nd (Saturday)
NE8 4LH. The doors will open at 10.30am E-mail: rally@radars.me.uk Tel: 01388 762678 The Reading DX Meeting
and admission will cost £2.00. There will be www.radars.me.uk barac.org.uk/rally The Reading International Radio Group will
car parking (entrance on Whitehall Road), November 19th November 19th be meeting in the Large Hall at Reading
trade stands, a Bring & Buy, an RSGB The Plymouth Radio Club Radio Rally The CATS Radio & Electronics Bazaar International Solidarity Centre (RISC), 35-
bookstall and catering will be available The Plymouth Radio Club Radio Rally will The 40th Coulsdon Amateur Transmitting 39 London Street, Reading RG1 4PS. The
(bacon butties and a cup of tea or coffee for be held at Harewood House, The Ridgeway, Society Radio & Electronics Bazaar will Meeting will take place between 3.00pm
£2.50). In addition, there will be enrolment Plympton, Plymouth PL7 2AS. The doors be held at the Oasis Academy Coulsdon, and 5.30pm and offer an opportunity for
for Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced will be open between 10.00am (9.50am for Homefield Road, Old Coulsdon, Coulsdon those interested in listening to broadcast-
Examination courses and Morse class. disabled visitors) and 2.30pm and admis- CR5 1ES. The doors will be open between ers from around the world on the short
Nancy Bone G7UUR sion will cost £2.00. There will be ample 10.00am and 1.00pm and admission will wave, medium wave and FM bands to get
Tel: 07990 760920 car parking, trade stands, a Bring & Buy, cost £1.50. There will be free parking, trade together.
E-mail: nancybone2001@yahoo.co.uk special interest group, an RSGB bookstall, stands, a Bring & Buy (10% commission), a Mike Barraclough
www.anarc.net a prize draw, on-site catering and facilities flea market, refreshments and facilities for Tel: 01462 643899
November 18th (Saturday) for the disabled. the disabled. E-mail: barraclough.mike@gmail.com
The RADARS Traditional Radio Rally David Beck 2E0DTC Andy Briers G0KZT December 7th (Thursday)
The Rochdale and District Amateur Radio Tel: 07777 664822 Tel: 07729 866600
The SBARC Winter Table Top Sale
Society Traditional Radio Rally will be held E-mail: d.beck123@outlook.com E-mail: bazaar@catsradio.org
The South Bristol Amateur Radio Club
in St Vincent de Paul’s Church Hall, Cal- www.radioclubs.net/g3prc www.catsradio.org
Winter Table Top Sale will be held at Novers
dershaw Road, off Edenfield Road (A680), November 26th DECEMBER Park Community Centre, which is at the rear
Norden, Rochdale OL12 7QR. The doors The Bishop Auckland Rally December 2nd (Saturday) of 124 Novers Park Road, Filwood, Bristol
will open at 10.30am (10.15am for disabled The Bishop Auckland Radio Amateur Club The South Lancs ARC Winter Rally BS4 1RN. It is described as, “A chance to
visitors) and admission will cost £2.50 (un- Rally 2017 will be held at Spennymoor Lei- The South Lancashire Amateur Radio Club clear some items from the shack and pick
der 12s free). There will be talk-in on S22 sure Centre, 32 High Street, Spennymoor, will be holding its Winter Rally at Bicker- up new items or fill that wish list. Please
(145.550MHz), ample parking, trade stands Co. Durham DL16 6DB. The doors will open shaw Village Community Club, Bickershaw bring equipment, cash and your bartering
(junk, commercial, amateur radio and oth- at 10.30am (10.15am for disabled visitors) Lane, Bickershaw, Wigan WN2 5TE. The skills.” The event is associated with a regu-
ers), a Bring & Buy and catering (coffee, tea, and admission will cost £2.00 (under 14s doors will open at 9.00am and admission lar club night, which starts at 7.30pm and
soft drinks, bacon/sausage butties, biscuits free with an adult). There will be talk-in on will cost £2.50. There will be car parking, is open to all, not just club members. The
and crisps) will be available. Tables can S22, car parking, trade stands, a Bring & trade stands, a Bring & Buy, displays, spe- sale will take place between 8.00pm and
be hired from RADARS (£5.00 per table). Buy, family attractions, catering, a licensed cial interest groups, a licensed bar, catering 9.00pm – no trading before 8.00pm.
Pitches cost £5.00 each or £10.00 for a bar and facilities for the disabled. The venue and facilities for the disabled. A limited www.sbarc.co.uk

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

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58 Practical Wireless December 2017

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 December 2017 Practical Wireless 59

59-LAM.indd 59 24/10/2017 15:50

 Practical Wireless Index 2017
● Making Waves - The Skip Zone ● Valve & Vintage - The Chakophone Story ● Christmas Quiz ● Emerging Technology NOW IN
OUR 85th
YEAR!

Britain's Best Selling Amateur Radio Magazine

Remote-Controlled Article Name and Author Month & Page

Homebrew
Screwdriver Trilogy 850
Antenna 70cm DMR
Reviewed
GB3UHF
A new dual-band
The Double
Sized
G5RV
Feature Articles
A QRP Contest Story, Paul Morrison G0VHT .............................................................................................................. Nov 18
propagation indicator Antenna
Reviewed

Antipodal Focusing, Steve Telenius-Lowe PJ4DX (G4JVG)......................................................................................... Dec 26

Practical
Way
Setting up a
work area

Christmas Quiz, Bob Glasgow GM4UYZ ................................................................................................................Jan 54, 64

January 2017 £3.99 ISSN 0141-0857

pwp
PW Cover January 2017.indd 1 22/11/2016 10:33

Buying Second-hand - VHF/UHF Amplifiers Build a Morse Key-board and Mouse What Next? LED Lighting
CQ Ardrossan, Michael Marinaro WN1M ..................................................................................................................... Mar 40
GB3UHF – a New Dual-Band Propagation Indicator, Chris Whitmarsh G0FDZ..........................................................Jan 34
● ● ●
NOW IN
OUR 85th
YEAR!

Getting Started on 5MHz, Pt 1, Richard Lamont G4DYA ............................................................................................May 10

Britain's Best Selling Amateur Radio Magazine
Getting Started on 5MHz, Pt 2, Richard Lamont G4DYA .............................................................................................Jun 10
Elecraft
KX2 Improving HF Band SNR, Gwyn Griffiths G3ZIL & Nigel Squibb G4HZX ....................................................................Oct 23
Improving Your SSB Audio Quality, Steve Telenius-Lowe PJ4DX (G4JVG) ................................................................May 14
Portable Transceiver Reviewed
The Eighth Practical
Wireless 70MHz Contest
Results In Focus – Burnham Beeches Radio Club ....................................................................................................................Jun 42
In Focus – GB2RN & HMS Belfast ............................................................................................................................... Nov 58
In Focus – ICQ Amateur Radio Podcast ...................................................................................................................... Sep 58
February 2017 £3.99 ISSN 0141-0857
In Focus – Interview with RSGB Director, Steve Hartley G0FUW .................................................................................Jul 60
Reflections on ZL7G pwp
PW Cover February 2017.indd 1 13/12/2016 17:16
RCF Sponsored Student Success ............................................................................................................................... Aug 23
● Working 6m from Rotuma the 'Island Brew' Way ● NEW 1970-1974 Archive CD in Stock Now! ● Build a Handy Dummy Load
Reflections on ZL7G, Don Field G3XTT ....................................................................................................................... Feb 34
Space Weather Workshop, Steve White G3ZVW .......................................................................................................... Dec 9
NOW IN
OUR 85th
YEAR!

The 2017 National Hamfest, Don Field G3XTT ............................................................................................................ Dec 10

Britain's Best Selling Amateur Radio Magazine

Yaesu The 2017 RSGB Convention, Don Field G3XTT........................................................................................................... Dec 16

FT-891 The Double Sized G5RV Antenna, Vince Lear G3TKN .................................................................................................Jan 12
The Low Bands at Solar Minimum, Steve Telenius-Lowe PJ4DX (G4JVG) ................................................................. Nov 40
The Latest Mobile/Portable
Working 6m from Rotuma the ‘Island Brew’ Way, Antoine De Ramon N’Yeurt 3D2AG ............................................. Mar 58
from Yaesu Reviewed
WIN WSPRlite and

Projects & Practical

the
WSPRlite DXplorer.net
Reviewed

A Remote-Controlled Homebrew Screwdriver Antenna, Pt 1, David Beard G8FMX ..................................................Jan 16

CQ Androssan Special
Event Operation
March 2017 £3.99 ISSN 0141-0857

pwp
PW Cover March 2017.indd 1 23/01/2017 12:37

A Remote-Controlled Homebrew Screwdriver Antenna, Pt 2, David Beard G8FMX ..................................................Feb 13

● Data Modes - DVB-T Dongles & JTDX ● Understanding Antennas ● Book Store - New Titles in Stock Now NOW IN
OUR 85th
YEAR!
Rejuvenating the Yaesu FR-50B Receiver, Pt 1, Dr Samuel Ritchie EI9FZB .............................................................. Nov 23
Rejuvenating the Yaesu FR-50B Receiver, Pt 2, Dr Samuel Ritchie EI9FZB .............................................................. Dec 23
Britain's Best Selling Amateur Radio Magazine
The Battle Creek Special, Pt 1, Steve Ireland VK6VZ .................................................................................................... Jul 14
The SharkRF openSPOT The Battle Creek Special, Pt 2, Steve Ireland VK6VZ .................................................................................................. Aug 14
The Gurney Slade, Pt 1, Tim Walford G3PCJ .............................................................................................................. Aug 10
70cm DMR/
The Gurney Slade, Pt 2, Tim Walford G3PCJ .............................................................................................................. Sep 10
D-STAR/Fusion

The Minifilter DSP Audio Processor

Hotspot Reviewed

A Return to AM
The KW2000A Transceiver, Ken Waters G8HOD ........................................................................................................May 60
The Siren 6cm WBFM Station, Pt 1, Mark Bryant M0UFC ............................................................................................Jul 26
by Cumbria Designs Reviewed
Buying Second Danish & Irish
Hand for
Newcomers Award Chasing

Using modern techniques

to improve efficiency and
stability
The Siren 6cm WBFM Station, Pt 2, Mark Bryant M0UFC.......................................................................................... Aug 26
April 2017 £3.99 ISSN 0141-0857

pwp Turning a Short-Wire into a Long-Wire, Steve Ireland VK6VZ .....................................................................................May 42

PW Cover April 2017.indd 1 16/02/2017 08:47

● Valve & Vintage - The KW Sets of Bygone Years ● Complete Your Multiband Multimode Receiver Project
NOW IN
OUR 85th
YEAR!
Reviewed
Acom 1500 Linear Amplifier, Steve Telenius-Lowe PJ4DX (G4JVG) ............................................................................Jun 13
Britain's Best Selling Amateur Radio Magazine
Getting Started
Elecraft KX2, Don Field G3XTT ...................................................................................................................................... Feb 9
Improving Your SSB Audio Quality on 5MHz
The ins and outs of operating
on 5MHz Frequency Counter & Crystal Tester Kit, Geoff Theasby G8BMI .................................................................................. Jul 17
Function Generator Kit & 500MHz Counter Module, Geoff Theasby G8BMI ............................................................. Nov 32
Raspberry Pi and JTDX

More good news from the

Raspberry Pi Foundation
Icom ID-4100E 144/432MHz Digital Mobile Transceiver, Tim Kirby G4VXE ................................................................Oct 14
Adding CTCSS to an
Old FM Transceiver
Making Waves Emerging
Kenwood TH-D74E, Don Field G3XTT ..........................................................................................................................Oct 10
Technology
The E layer of the ionosphere

Turning a
Short-Wire into
a Long-Wire
How to make an antenna seem
longer than it actually is!
LAMCO DU1500 ATUs, Vince Lear G3TKN ................................................................................................................. Sep 13
Emerging
Technology
Read it here first!
LDG RT/RC-100 Remote Auto ATU, Tex Swann G1TEX ................................................................................................ Jul 10
Minifilter DSP Audio Processor by Cumbria Designs, Dr Samuel Ritchie EI9FZB ...................................................... Apr 14
May 2017 £3.99 ISSN 0141-0857

pwp

QYT KT8900D 144/432MHz FM Mobile Transceiver, Tim Kirby G4VXE ..................................................................... Sep 18
PW Cover May 2017.indd 1 24/03/2017 10:37

Retevis RT22, Tony Jones G7ETW.................................................................................................................................Jul 42

● The 34th Annual Practical Wireless 144MHz QRP Contest is Announced ● Morse News from Down Under
NOW IN
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YEAR!

Retevis RT82 144/430MHz Dual-Band DMR Radio, Tim Kirby G4VXE ...................................................................... Nov 10
Britain's Best Selling Amateur Radio Magazine
SPE Expert Getting Started
on 5MHz
SharkRF openSPOT 70cm DMR/D-STAR/Fusion Hotspot, Tim Kirby G4VXE............................................................ Apr 10
SPE Expert 1.3K-FA, Tom Morgan ZS1AFS/ZT1T ........................................................................................................Jun 16
1.3kW Amplifier User Review Advice and Information about
operating on 5MHz

Practical Project

Super Antenna MP1DXMAX, Carl Gorse 2E0HPI ........................................................................................................ Sep 23

Build an SDR Spectrum
Analyser
Trilogy 850 70cm DMR Handheld Transceiver, Tim Kirby G4VXE ...............................................................................Jan 10
Burnham Beeches
Radio Club In Focus Data Modes
An Improved RF Power Meter
Wonder-Wand Antennas, Carl Gorse 2E0HPI.............................................................................................................. Dec 14
Acom 1500 Linear Amplifier User Review WSPRlite and DXplorer.net, Tim Kirby G4VXE............................................................................................................. Mar 10
Yaesu FT-70DE, Tim Kirby G4VXE ............................................................................................................................... Dec 12
Buying
Second-hand
Rally Season Advice
June 2017 £3.99 ISSN 0141-0857

PW Cover June 2017.indd 1

pwp
25/04/2017 11:32
Yaesu FT-891, Don Field G3XTT .................................................................................................................................. Mar 14

60 Practical Wireless December 2017

60-annual contents 2 PAGES.indd 60 24/10/2017 15:42

 Practical Wireless Index 2017
● Battle Creek Special Antenna - How to Build Your Own ● Frequency Counter & Crystal Tester Kit Reviewed
NOW IN
OUR 85th
YEAR!

Britain's Best Selling Amateur Radio Magazine

Retevis RT22
The Siren 6cm
WBFM Station
Proving its Worth in
Microwave Contesting

Article Name and Author Month & Page

Inexpensive UHF
Handheld Reviewed

Regulars
Buying Second-hand LDG RT/
RC-100
Chris Lorek G4HCL......................................................................................Feb 46, Apr 18, Jun 40, Aug 18, Oct 35, Dec 52 Remote
Auto ATU July 2017 £3.99 ISSN 0141-0857

Reviewed pwp
PW Cover July 2017.indd 1 17/05/2017 18:01

Carrying On The Practical Way ● Data Modes - RF Calibrator Update ● Buying Second-hand Digital Rigs ● Make a Transmit Lowpass Filter

Dave Cutts M0TAZ........................................................................................................................................................ Dec 29

NOW IN
OUR 85th
YEAR!

Eric Edwards GW8LJJ .........................................................................................................................Apr 26, Jun 26, Oct 30

Britain's Best Selling Amateur Radio Magazine

Hamish Storie MM0GWO ............................................................................................................................................. Mar 23 The Battle

Creek
Jamie Williams 2E0SDV ..................................................................................................................................................Jul 40 Special
Antenna The Gurney
John Adams G3ZSE ..................................................................................................................................................... Aug 40
Build your own version
Slade
AM transceiver for
The Siren 6m 80 or 160m

Matthew Nassau M0NJX .............................................................................................................................................. Feb 26 WBFM Station

Assembly and testing
Build an Effective
5/8-Wave Antenna
for the 4m Band
Student
Phil Ciotti G3XBZ ...........................................................................................................................................................Jan 48 Success
Radio Communications
Foundation news

Rob Dancy G3JRD ....................................................................................................................................................... Sep 46

Tony Jones G7ETW ........................................................................................................................................ May 26, Nov 46
August 2017 £3.99 ISSN 0141-0857

pwp
PW Cover August 2017.indd 1 21/06/2017 10:47

Wally Sawyer G7FHN.................................................................................................................................................... Sep 32 ● Carrying on the Practical Way - Two Projects This Month ● Emerging Technology - Read it Here First!
NOW IN
OUR 86th
YEAR!

Data Modes
Mike Richards G4WNC Jan 30, Feb 30, Mar 30, Apr 30, May 30, Jun 30, Jul 30, Aug 30, Sep 29, Oct 46, Nov 43, Dec 46 Britain's Best Selling Amateur Radio Magazine

The Super Antenna

Hands-on experience of using the MP1DXMAX

Doing it by Design The QYT

KT8900D
144/432MHz
FM Mobile
Tony Nailer G4CFY ..................................................................................................Jan 50, Mar 54, May 46, Jul 50, Sep 49 Transceiver
Reviewed
LAMCO DU1500 ATUs
Two high-power ATUs from LAM Communications

Emerging Technology
Chris Lorek G4HCL .................................................................................... Jan 46, Mar 46, May 18, Jul 23, Sep 56, Nov 56 The Ninth
Practical Wireless
70MHz Contest
Announcement

HF Highlights
September 2017 £3.99 ISSN 0141-0857

pwp
PW Cover September 2017.indd 1 20/07/2017 14:11

Steve Telenius-Lowe PJ4DX (G4JVG) Jan 36, Feb 52, Mar 34, Apr 58, May 50, Jun 52, Jul 47, Aug 47, Sep 26, Oct 27, Nov ● Carrying on the Practical Way - Developing a Polyphase Receiver ● What Next? - RSGB Awards

26, Dec 54
NOW IN
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In The Shop Britain's Best Selling Amateur Radio Magazine

Kenwood TH-D74E
Harry Leeming G3LLL ............................................................................... Feb 49, Apr 50, Jun 55, Aug 59, Oct 58, Dec 49 Dual-band Handheld Reviewed
Second-hand Antennas and Coax

A vital part of your VHF/UHF base station

Making Waves Improve

FT8 Explained
Your HF

Steve White G3ZVW ....................................................................................Jan 23, Mar 18, May 40, Jul 18, Sep 40, Nov 60 Band SNR
Using WSPR to
investigate noise
problems
Latest addition to the WSJT
software that is taking the
TWO REVIEWS INSIDE THIS ISSUE Amatuer Radio world by storm

Icom ID-4100E
Morse Mode New D-STAR Mobile Reviewed Understanding
Linear Integrated
Circuits

Roger Cooke G3LDI ...................................................................................Feb 40, Apr 40, Jun 60, Aug 24, Oct 18, Dec 18
Linear integrated circuits continue to
have many uses

October 2017 £3.99

ISSN 0141-0857

PW Cover October 2017.indd 1 28/08/2017 18:14

Technical For The Terrified ● Carrying on the Practical Way - An Arduino Morse Tutor ● What Next? - Callsigns

Tony Nailer G4CFY ...................................................................................................Feb 33, Apr 23, Jun 48, Aug 50, Oct 49
NOW IN
OUR 86th
YEAR!

Valve & Vintage

Retevis
Andrew Humphriss 2E0NDZ .........................................................................................................................................Jan 42 RT-82
Dual-band Handheld

Ben Nock G4BXD .....................................................................................................Feb 42, Apr 23, Jul 44, Sep 44, Nov 30 We take a look
at the new Retevis
RT-82 144/430MHz
Dual-Band DMR

Bill Kitchen G4GHB .......................................................................................................................................................Jun 23 HMS Belfast

and GB2RN
Michael Jones GW7BBY ...............................................................................................................................................Apr 46 The editor visits HMS
Belfast and its permanent
amateur radio station GB2RN
The Low Bands at

Michael Marinaro WN1M ................................................................................................................................. Oct 40, Dec 40 Solar Minimum

Getting the most out of the LF bands

Rejuvenating the
Yaesu FR-50B
Steve Telenius-Lowe PJ4DX (G4JVG) .............................................................................................................Mar 46, Aug 44 144MHz QRP Contest Results
Results of the 2017 PW 144MHz QRP Contest
Breathing new life into a classic receiver
November 2017
£3.99 ISSN 0141-0857

Display until 9th November 2017

01-Front Cover.indd 1 26/09/2017 16:18

What Next? ● Carrying on the Practical Way - A Yagi for the 17m Band ● What Next? - Amateur TV

Colin Redwood G6MXL .......... Jan 26, Feb 18, Mar 26, Apr 54, May 54, Jun 44, Aug 55, Sep 52, Oct 54, Nov 51, Dec 34
NOW IN
OUR 86th
YEAR!

Paul Warman G0ODP .....................................................................................................................................................Jul 54

World of VHF
Tim Kirby G4VXE ........ Jan 56, Feb 55, Mar 51, Apr 34, May 34, Jun 34, Jul 34, Aug 34, Sep 34, Oct 43, Nov 34, Dec 42
RSGB Convention
HF Highlights Our report on another

The 8th PW 70MHz Contest Results, Colin Redwood G6MXL ............................................................................... Feb 59 GB1BOB
commemorates
the Battle
successful event
WONDER WAND
The Wonderloop 750

The 9th Practical Wireless 70MHz Contest, Colin Redwood G6MXL ................................................................... Sep 42 of Britain & Widebander Mk 2
put to the test

The Yaesu
FT-70DE
The 34th Annual PW 144MHz QRP Contest, Colin Redwood G6MXL ....................................................................Jun 18 We look at a new handheld
designed for System Fusion December 2017
NEWARK HAMFEST
OUR ANNUAL REPORT

2017 PW 144MHz QRP Contest Results, Colin Redwood G6MXL ......................................................................... Nov 13
£3.99 ISSN 0141-0857

A FULL INDEX OF ALL THE 2017 FEATURES

Display until 14th December 2017

December 2017 Practical Wireless 61

60-annual contents 2 PAGES.indd 61 24/10/2017 15:42

 Letters Send your letters to:
Practical Wireless Letters, Warners Group Publishing
West Street, Bourne, Lincs PE10 9PH
E-mail: practicalwireless@warnersgroup.co.uk

radio amateurs, resistance medium-distance paths that is

to geomagnetic storming. both predictable and reliable – no
From my experiences, critical matter what the space weather
frequencies of the E layer conditions may be. Perhaps it’s
will not be perturbed by fast time for amateurs to remember
and/or dense solar particle the ‘Forgotten Layer.’
streams, although the quality Evan Duffield M0TJU
of the skip may diminish is Stockport
such circumstances. (This is
evidenced by the patchiness of
the E layer trace on ionograms
Lethal Fun?
during those periods.) The F Dear Don,
layer, however, may experience a I greatly enjoyed reading Ben
collapse in its critical frequency Nock G4BXD’s V&V article
(in addition to degraded skip) in about Heathkit receivers (PW
a highly unstable geomagnetic September 2017). As he rightly
Multiple Callsigns The first of these is the
substantial predictability of environment. says, building receivers of this
Critical frequencies of sort was an excellent source of
Dear Don, maximum usable frequencies
(MUFs) for given paths once the F layer may suffer such self-training in the construction
I notice that Dave Allsebrook
the level of high-energy solar heavy drops in the face of of radio equipment but the
G1VAC (Letters, October) cannot
radiation is known. The F layer, geomagnetic storming that proximity of mains voltages did
see why anyone would want
on the other hand, cannot be the E layer becomes a viable indeed carry with it risks, as I
multiple callsigns.
easily predicted, with variables alternative – and the E may learned on two occasions.
Here is why I have two
other than solar radiation – some even sustain greater MUFs In the early 1950s during my
callsigns. My own is G4DTD.
of which are not yet understood than its higher and more first encounter with AC mains,
My late father held the callsign
– influencing its behaviour. famous cousin. For example, while working on my own, I
G4SKS. After he died in
A quick glance at a world map at 1310UTC on September wired a light into an outlet via an
early 2006 I had his callsign
with superimposed lines of equal 15th, following overnight adapter that had a bayonet fitting
reallocated to me. Why two
critical frequency for the F layer geomagnetic storming (Kp exposed. As luck would have it,
callsigns? Each year (from 2007
(see website below) indicates peaking at 6), the ordinary and the finger of one hand touched
onwards) I operate with the
the chaos in that part of the extraordinary critical frequencies this bayonet fitting and I received
call G4SKS but only between
ionosphere. of the F layer (abbreviated as a mains voltage shock but very
February 1st and 11th in my
www.spacew.com/www/fof2. fOF2 and fXF2) at Dourbes, fortunately was able to drop the
father’s memory. And between
html Belgium, were at only 3.9 and offending fitting.
those dates I do not use G4DTD.
Contrast this with a similar 4.5MHz, respectively. This A few years later I built a mains-
Ross G4DTD/G4SKS
map for the E layer: www. would have facilitated an MUF powered TRF receiver on a
Roche, Cornwall
spacew.com/www/foe.html over a 1000km circuit (such broadcast receiver chassis that
This displays nice, concentric as Manchester-Berlin) of only was running, uncased, in a
The Forgotten ellipses around the subpoint 7.7MHz (using the extraordinary different room. Wishing to move
Layer? (the spot on the Earth where the
Sun is directly overhead). The
wave).
The E layer, on the other
the set, a friend picked it up with
both hands but having made
Dear Don, combination of the predictability hand, with a critical frequency contact with some exposed
You may have noticed that of critical frequencies of the of only 2.70MHz at the time, connections, was unable to put
plenty is written and spoken E layer with the consistent would facilitate a 1000km MUF it down. Very fortunately, another
about sporadic E propagation (daytime) height of the layer of….10.7MHz! So, Mancunians person in the room heard him
while little is reported about the make MUFs, too, highly paying attention only to F layer shout and turned off the mains,
characteristics of the ‘normal’ predictable. data would not know of the thus saving his life.
E layer. It remains very much Even with the onset of opening on the 30m band to I am now turned 79 and my friend
the ‘Forgotten Layer,’ which is substantial geomagnetic Berlin. is over 80. Each day I give thanks
unfortunate because this part of instability, E layer MUFs stick While the ‘normal E’ may not that these incidents didn’t claim
the ionosphere possesses traits doggedly to their predicted be of great value to most DXers, our lives. It is now almost 58
that can be very useful to the values. This reflects the second the layer is very useful for those years since I gained my amateur
radio amateur. useful trait of the E layer for needing HF propagation on licence and my enthusiasm for

Please note: The opinions expressed in any letter published in PW are those of the named correspondent whose letter has been published and they don’t necessarily reflect the opinions of the editorial staff or Warners Group. Editor

62 Practical Wireless December 2017

62-Letters 3 pages.indd 62 24/10/2017 15:42

 £20 ST R LETTER
‘Let he who has the wisdom
circumference to its diameter is
compute the number’. I wish
a ratio that exists irrespective
to thank and acknowledge my
of human existence. Thus Py
friend Norman who did a lot of
has a very special existence in
searching through the texts to
Nomenclature some validity. In fact, the origin
of the English language is quite
the universe. There was not a
single person with the name of
realise a lot of this information.
Andy Choraffa G3PKW
fascinating, coming through Pythagoras, which is an error
Dear Don, Liverpool
the ‘black letter’ script, which of some historical texts. It was
One thing that I must take
still has an artefact in German. the name of the brotherhood.
issue with you is the use of Editor’s comment: Thanks
The name Strasse (street) still The reference to the Bible is
Americanisms, which seem Andy, it’s amazing the nuggets
uses the Greek letter ‘beta’ that in the book of Revelation
to haunt our English language that come to the surface from
(more correctly pronounced as where there is a reference of
these days. I am referring to something as apparently simple
‘veeta’) for the double S. Have ‘he who has the wisdom can
the use of the word antenna, as querying the use of antenna
a look at any street sign in compute the number of the
which is a Latin word for those or aerial! Our editorial policy, for
Germany to verify. beast’. The beast is, in fact, the
whiskers that a moth has on its consistency, has always been to
The English language has written word and not human
head. The correct word is aerial, use the word antenna (unless, for
origins that stem from the as the ecclesiastical brethren
derived from the Greek word example, it’s a direct quote from
school of Athens in Alexandria would have us believe. That is
‘aero’, which literally translates an older publication that used the
before the time of Christ. why the word compute is used.
to ‘of air’ or atmosphere. word aerial). I wouldn’t dare to
English is an engineered The clue is in the original Bible
Thus aerial is a much more language, which is why it has question your obvious knowledge
script of the New Testament
accurate word to use for a no gender. My research and of the etymology of the two
written in Greek and the
structure that radiates our that of others suggests that words although my personal view
Katharevousa tongue of the
signal into space. In England the language was engineered is that aerial works better as a
day, which would be rather
we don’t use words like from a mathematical base verb (aerial view, aerial walkway)
involved to go into here. As a
‘diaper’, ‘sidewalk’ or ‘faucet’. as used by the Pythagorian than as a noun. And it’s certainly
taster, look at the original King
As we know, much of brotherhood and is mentioned true, like it or not, that much of
James 1st translation of the
the American printed and/ in the bible. The name Py-tha-
our terminology in radio and IT
work where the word ‘Six’ has
or internet matter is read gora literally translates to ‘Py
comes from the USA (although
a capital letter and the word
throughout the world and those shall be laid before you’. The
I refuse, for example, to use the
‘and’ is in italics. There are
countries have assumed that ancient Greeks were convinced
spelling ‘program’ for anything
very explainable reasons for
the word antenna is the correct that ‘Py’, or Pi as we usually
other than a piece of software).
this but too complex to go into
one. As someone who speaks write it, was a number given to
No doubt many our readers will
here. However, they are definite
both Greek and French, I can us by the Gods, the reasoning
have their own strong views on
clues, which are there to see.
assure you that my point has being that the ratio of the
the subject too.
I suspect that is why it says

The Star Letter will receive a voucher worth £20 to spend on items from our Book Store or other services offered by Practical Wireless.

the hobby has never waned but I be a true Brit and stick with I would describe an experience I him good luck and hoped he
would urge everyone working on Imperial. had many years ago. would soon be back home safely
mains-powered and high-voltage Ken Grover G3KIP I used to have a sked with and asked if he would send me a
equipment to be ever-vigilant Tunbridge Wells my dear friend Bruce VK2YU card or something to let me know
regarding safety and always to (now SK), which ran for many he had returned safe and sound.
remember the ‘one hand behind Editor’s comment: I’m feel sure years on 15 and 20m, depending About two years later I received
the back’ rule. you have your tongue firmly in on propagation. We had been his QSL among a pile from the
John Hogg G3NUA your cheek Ken and, of course, working short-path on 15m one bureau, telling me he was back
Hartlepool scientists and engineers have morning back in the early 1970s home in the USA unharmed
been using metric measurements and as we signed I heard a athanking me for the contact.
Metric vs. for many years. Like it or not,
though, we Brits are going to
weak station calling me. I gave a
“QRZ?” and asked for a location
You may remember that it was
not uncommon in those days
Imperial have to stay with a dual system so I could turn my beam to peak to hear Aeronautical Mobiles
Dear Don, for the foreseeable future, Brexit his signal. He said he just wanted operating from B-52s flying over
In response to the letter from or no Brexit! It’s the same to to know if he was being received North Vietnam during bombing
Marcus MM0ZIF (Letters, some extent in the USA even if in the UK and went on to tell me missions using the aircraft radio
October), if you look in a builders they did manage to crash land a he was in Vietnam in a trench on the amateur bands to pass the
merchants catalogue you will spacecraft on Mars some years using a Collins KWM-2 and time during the flight.
see that a sheet of plywood is ago, having mixed up the two the antenna was a long coil of Howarth Jones GW3TMP
2440mm by 1200mm. Likewise, systems! barbed wire lying on the ground. Mold, N. Wales
a double decker bus is a few He mentioned that he wasn’t
thousands of millimetres high.
The extension to the church will
An Unusual QSO supposed to be on the air but
had been listening to our QSO
Misdirection?
be 70,000mm long. A few years Dear Don, and wondered if he could load Dear Don,
ago if I had measured such Further to the interesting QSO up the wire and be heard over I bought the October 2017 PW and
things in twenty-fifths of an inch Harry Leeming G3LLL had here. He said that he had a US found to my horror this, when I
somebody would be ringing the with the Russian station (In the callsign but couldn’t tell me what started reading Tony Nailer
nearest funny farm. Shop, October) and your request it was. Just then he said, “we are G4CFY’s Technical for the Ter-
We are into Brexit now. So for anyone to share an unusual coming under fire, will have to go rified. In the opening paragraph
come on, square your shoulders, QSO with PW readers, I thought QRT”. I went back and wished is the phrase, “Remember that

December 2017 Practical Wireless 63

62-Letters 3 pages.indd 63 24/10/2017 15:42

 Letters

an SWL callsign and certificate is of amateur radio operators who

current flows from 0V or negative before the discovery of electrons
free and no examination needed. I much prefer to indulge in contest-
towards the positive line”. as charge carriers. That said, in
explained that it’s an introductory ing or mucking about with anten-
Since when has current ever some instances, such as in fluids
first step to becoming Foundation nas or embracing the popular
flowed from negative to positive? and gases, current can flow both
licensed. In addition to my G4PVB pastime of appliance operating
(Yes, I know electrons do but they ways simultaneously with posi-
callsign, mine also helps people exclusively. Maybe with the odd
are negatively charged so naturally tive charge carriers (positive ions)
find me on the internet because it diversion toward building kits and
travel backwards to form current moving one way and electrons the
is unique to the radio enthusiast. the like.
flow). other. I found an interesting article
When you have your SWL callsign The author of that letter, Phill
I seldom read PW so don’t on the internet on this very topic:
you can QSL via the internet here: G8YLX, will no doubt be aware
have a feel for what is clearly a http://amasci.com/amateur/
www.eqsl.cc/qslcard/Index.cfm of this particular phenomenon –
regular column in the magazine elecdir.html
After all, most of us started out ‘them and us’ – that has afflicted
but if that is the nature of his
as SWLs I muse. our hobby for many years. But,
material, I fear for the technical
competence of your readership. It
SWL Callsigns Bob Houlston G4PVB in passing, let’s not forget that
MA3053SWL for many radio amateurs (for one
is clearly not a simple typo. Dear Don,
St Albans reason or another), being able to
Andy Talbot G4JNT Thank you for the November
tackle the engineering aspects
RadCom columnist, Design 2017 PW with significant
Editor’s comment: This is an inter- that Phill is describing would be
Notes and Data information about callsigns
esting one Bob. When I first joined out of the question even though
(What Next). I have mentioned
the RSGB, I was issued an A number some of these amateurs possess
Editor’s comment: Thanks for it in RadioUser but maybe your
(A5885 in my case), while those over the technical knowledge to do
that Andy. I’m sure Tony was readers would also like to know
the age of 21 and with no licence exactly what Phill might take for
talking about electron flow but I about shortwave listener (SWL)
were given a BRS number. The granted.
accept your point that ‘conven- callsigns from:
RSGB QSL bureau recognised these I’m not a big fan of contests
tional’ current flow is positive to https://swarl.org
numbers and you could receive either. However, I used to know a
negative. Some readers may know Last year I taught some school-
cards resulting from your listener couple of avid contester’s (sadly
the background but I suspect children the basics of Morse code
reports to amateur stations. I was now SKs) whose knowledge of all
the convention came into being and they were keen to learn that
also at that time a member of the things electronic engineering wise
International Short Wave League could have been described as
(ISWL) and, again, had an identifica- bordering on genius. Both of them
Chosen by discerning Radio Amateurs
tion number (G-12821 in my case). took part in contests as a means
Universities and Professionals Worldwide!
This was not something other bodies of a short break from the day job.
Vector Network Analyzer recognised but at that time the ISWL So, not unlike those who choose
DG8SAQ VNWA 3EC/3 ran its own QSL bureau in parallel not to keep their digits in the in-
Covers 1 kHz - 1.3 GHz with the RSGB one. Many active nards of various electronic equip-
with a dynamic range of amateurs such as myself frequently ment, unfortunately, the idea still
90dB to 500 MHz and >50dB to 1.3 GHz
After-Sales Customer & Technical Support
receive SWL cards from overseas persists that amateur radio maga-
● S-parameter, S11, S12, S21, S22, VSWR, Smith Chart & Component values and it’s clear that the system varies zines should be full of articles that
● Time Domain - Distance to Fault Measurements - Network Matching tool
from country to country. Some use a only a small minority of people
● Easy Installation - Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista (64 and 32 bit), XP supported

● Free Software & Helpfile: http:/sdr-kits.net/DG8SAQ/VNWA-installer.exe

system based on the country prefix will wax lyrical about. Although, it
VNWA 3 with 3pcs Male Amphenol Calibration Kit followed by a number so SP1-12345 must be said, that sadly nowadays
GPS Disciplined
RG223 Coax Cable + USB Lead £422.40 + p&p would be an SWL in Poland. German many engineers emanate not from
Reference Oscillator
VNWA 3EC in Presentation Case +4pcs Calibration SWLs have a callsign that is very an amateur radio background.
Kit of Rosenberger parts £570.00 + p&p
£28.75 similar to a full amateur one but start- And yes, the younger genera-
Step-by-Step Guided Measurements Book + p&p
ing with a DE prefix (such as DE- tion do have a better affinity with
New! SDRplay RSP1A 1ABC) as I recall. I must admit that I coding than with soldering. And I
Precision Frequency
1kHz-2GHz Wideband SDR Rx hadn’t come across the organisation guess that G8YLX will appreciate
Clock for the VNW3E
and many other Shack you mention so it’s all something of the editor’s comments regarding
Applications
14 bits ● Programmable Freq
a minefield, presumably because, being berated for all those ‘old
450Hz-800MHz unlike actual amateur radio callsigns, fashioned articles’ that appear
SDR ● Stability 1 ppb 1E-9 there is no international body over- in PW now and again. Lastly, I
only <60 sec after GPS Lock
seeing the process. bought one of those fashionable
● Light & Portable

£89.95 Only £150 + p&p Raspberry things. A cheap object

+ p&p PAOKLT VFO Kit from £40 Tomorrow’s lesson on how to greet the fore-

Engineers seeable future of our hobby. And

● 1kHz to 2000MHz continuous coverage QRP 2000 Synth Kit from £25
● 14-bit ADC silicon technology R3500D ARDF Rx Kit £30.60
● 11 high-selectivity front-end preselection filters Silicon Labs Si570CAC £12.30 oh yes, I like the idea of ‘shorts’
● RF shielding layer inside case Mitsubishi RD16HHF1 £4.80 Dear Don, – those kits at give-away prices
RSP2: 3 switchable Antenna inputs £149.95 +p&p New! CS40 40m & 20m Well, yes, as most of us have and sometimes no soldering. Yip-
SSB Transceiver Kits
RSP2 Pro: Fitted in sturdy metal case for always known, tomorrow’s engi- pee. I say yippee because, unlike
improved RF Screening £174.95+p&p Only £155 incl SpeakerMike
Webshop Orders only – Paypal or Pro-Forma Invoice neers (Letters, November), gener- me, my partner hates the stench
www.SDR-Kits.net e-mail: info@sdr-kits.net Prices shown incl VAT - p&p extra
SDR-Kits Office 11, Hampton Park West, Melksham,SN12 6LH UK VAT reg GB979776427
ally speaking, are very unlikely to of solder!
VNWA 3E/3 - Synthesizer & VFO kits - Silicon Labs Si570 to 1.4 GHz - RF Transistors be populated by the vast majority Ray Howes G4OWY/G6AUW

64 Practical Wireless December 2017

62-Letters 3 pages.indd 64 24/10/2017 15:42

 Classified Adverts
DISCLAIMER Some of the products offered for sale in advertisements in this magazine may have been obtained from abroad or from unauthorised
sources. Practical Wireless advises readers contemplating mail order to enquire whether the products are suitable for use in the UK and have full after-
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of items offered for sale by advertisers in this magazine.

Antennas For Sale Valves

MICROPHONES & ACCESSORIES. VALVES AND ALLIED COMPONENTS IN
Replacement microphones for a wide STOCK Ring for free list. Valves/ books/
range of transceivers. Cables for Heil and magazines wanted. Geoff Davies (Radio).
studio microphones, headsets and mixers, Tel: 01788 574774.
 PC headset adapters, PTT switches and
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


replacement curly cords. DTMF microphones
for echolink. TOP PRICES PAID
for all your valves, tubes, semi-conductors and ICs.
For these and more great items go to


technofix.uk
Langrex
Repairs Unit 4, Daux Road, Billingshurst,
For Sale REPAIRS TO RECEIVERS,
W. Sussex RH14 9SJ
Tel: 01403 785600 Fax: 01403 785656
CTCSS ENCODER AND DECODER KITS. TRANSMITTERS ETC. New/old, valve/tran-
DTMF kits and modules. Pic development
kits. https://cstech.co.uk
sistor. Call 07903 023437 for details.
Web: www.kent-rigs.co.uk
www.langrex.co.uk

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December 2017 Practical Wireless 65

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 Bargain Basement
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Send your advert to Please write your advert clearly in BLOCK CAPITALS up to a maximum of 30 Advertisements from traders or for equipment that is illegal to possess, use
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FOR SALE

CR100. TRIPLETT 1623 signal ELAD FDM DUO SDR 5 to 8 watts ICOM R8500 two years old, excellent ZX80 COMPUTER, even better if
generator in wooden box. Regavolt output, 100KHz to 54 MHz. Stand condition, P.S.U., £675 AOR 8600 it works. Tel: Geoffrey G4GLM 020
42A. KW G-Zeg Match. Vintage test alone or PC control with FDIYSW2 16 MKII with P.S.U. £385 8958 5113 (Middlesex)
gear. Valves transistors, R/R tape bit software. Immaculate condition Both units with original packaging etc Email: cgmm2@btinternet.com
recorder, Heathkt valve voltmeter, with very little use. Tony Tel: 01949 21115 Notts
AV08 Multimeter. Call for more details. Located in Cardiff £699 + £15 P&P anthonyfryan8@gmail.com ALL MORSE CODE STUDENTS for
Offers Tel Tom G4FVN 0151 475 1353 GW3RIY GB2CW Verulam ARC lessons.
Liverpool (evenings) +34 607711727 EA7 RIY WANTED St Albans, Sundays 8pm.
alanchapman@gmail.com 145.250 MHz FM.
SPM15 SELECTIVE LEVEL METER PANASONIC DR.29 RX, EU Version. Resumes 03 December 2017.
and SPM19 SELECTIVE LEVEL YAE SU FT 7800 in box with 3 mics. Tel: Keith 07757 952703 (Kendal) Follow G4PVB.EU5.NET
METER Offers please P/meter, SWR meter. Ariel fitted with 73 Bob Houlston G4PVB
Tel: 0115 944 2827 pole. 2 amp, spare miscellaneous TIME WAVE 599 DSP Unit and
odds and sods. £300 OVNO manual, in good condition. Tel: David
LOWE SRX.30 RX £90 inc. postage. Tel: Michael 01623 652534 (Mansfield) 07806 629818 (Kent)
Sony ICF.5900 WRX (circa 1970) £150
inc. postage. Target HF3 RX £130 inc. ICOM ICR8500 Receiver in very good
postage. Grundig Satillit 700 (no fine condition, boxed with PSU and two Please Contact Claire Ingram
tune), hence price £150. manuals, one photocopied in plastic with all your advertising enquiries
All RX are in G.W.O. and come with sleeves. Recently services at Icom Telephone: 01778 391179
manuals. £760. Buyer to collect. or E-mail: Claire.ingram@warnersgroup.co.uk
Tel: Keith 07757 952703 (Kendal) Tel: John 01424 754927

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66 Practical Wireless December 2017

66-Bargain Basement.indd 66 24/10/2017 15:50

 Traders Table The equipment for sale on these pages
is second hand or ex-demonstration

Nevada 023-9231 3090 Short Wave Shop 01202 490099

Acom 2000 U Tube 2kW Auto Amplifier with manual .......................................£4250 TRANSCEIVERS
Yaesu FTDX-5000 U + XF-126N 300Hz roofing Filter ......................................£2595 ALAN HP450 2A RUGGED with desktop charger
Yaesu FT1000MP U + SP8 speaker & MD1-B8 Mic ......................................£999.95 And kit case........................................................................................................40
Yaesu FTM400DR/E U VHF/UHF Digital mobile transceiver .................................£349 ALINCO DJ-S11..................................................................................................75
ICOM IC-7000.................................................................................................. POA
Yaesu FT450AT U HF+6m 100W Transceiver .....................................................£469 ICOM IC-7700 WITH KEYBOARD AND MIC........................................................ POA
Yaesu VR5000 U Wideband Scanning receiver ...................................................£450 ICOM IC-756.....................................................................................................590
Icom SP-33 U Quality extension speaker .............................................................£99 KENWOOD TH-F7E............................................................................................190
Icom IC2200H U 65W 2m mobile Transceiver ....................................................£185 KENWOOD TMD700E........................................................................................230
KENWOOD TS 850S BOXED...............................................................................599
Icom ID-51E U D Star H/H +(£190 of accessories) ............................................£299 YAESU FT690R MK2 + FL-6020 LINEAR AMP....................................................420
Kenwood MC-90 U Desk Microphone ................................................................£145 YAESU FL-6020............................................................................................... POA
Alpha Delta U Heavy duty 4-way coax switch ......................................................£65
Alinco DX70 U HF+6m Transceiver + Adonis base mic. .................................. £399 RECEIVERS
Alinco DX-R8E U Communications Receiver ......................................................£379 AOR AR7030 WITH WHIP ANTENNA, PSU, REMORE AND MANUAL................... ..POA
ALINCO DJ-X2..................................................................................................110
Alinco DM30E-ED..NEW 20-30A power supply ....................................................£85 ALINCO DJ-X7..................................................................................................160
Alinco DR135 U 28 MHz multi-Mode transceiver ...............................................£129 COMMTEL 214 SPORTSCAN ..............................................................................50
Alinco DR138H-ED..high power 145MHz FM mobile .........................................£139 ICOM IC-R10.....................................................................................................165
Alinco DRB185-ED..85w 145MHz FM mobile transceiver ..................................£149 ICOM IC-R71E...................................................................................................349
ICOM IC-R75.....................................................................................................550
Alinco DR638H-ED..high power 145/433MHz mobile ........................................£235
JRC NRD-525...................................................................................................349
Alinco DR735E-ED..NEW MODEL twin band 145/433MHz .................................£269 ROBERTS R-871.................................................................................................75
Alinco DX-SR9E-ED..hybrid SDR/100w HF transceiver ......................................£579 SANGEAN ATS 909............................................................................................150
Alinco EDX2-ED..automatic HF antenna tuner ..............................................£269.95 SONY SW100....................................................................................................159
Antex 690D-ED pro-style digital soldering station .......................................... £175 UNIDEN UBC30...................................................................................................50
UNIDEN UBC360CLT........................................................................................... 85
Antex TCS-ED soldering iron with temp control ...................................................£59 UNIDEN BEARCAT UBC 120 XLT........................................................................120
Anytone AT588-U..145MHz FM mobile transceiver ..............................................£99 UNIDEN BEARCAT UBC 220 XLT..........................................................................79
Anytone QHM-02-CL..DTMF hand microphone AT5189 .......................................£19 UNIDEN SPORTCAT UBC 180 XLT......................................................................100
Butternut U HFV-6 Band Vertical – 26ft tall ...................................................£399.95 UNIDEN SPORTCAT UBC 280 XLT......................................................................110
YAESU FRG 7700..............................................................................................199
Collins MS6 U Mechanical Filter ..........................................................................£74
YAESU FT-990...................................................................................................799
Cable 100M Drum U 8D-FB Japanese Low loss ...........................................£199.95 YAESU VR500....................................................................................................165
Cable 50m length U 10D-FB Japanese Low Loss ...........................................£99.95 YUPITERU MVT-7100........................................................................................139
Cable 50m length U 8D-FB Japanese Low Loss .............................................£99.95
Cable 100m length U LDF450 U Low Loss ........................................................£299 ACCESSORIES
AV200 SWR....................................................................................................... 55
Comet TF-400 U 400W current Balun .................................................................£69 AV200................................................................................................................ 40
Daiwa PS-304 MK11 30A (peak) Linear power supply ....................................£79.95 BHI NEIM 1031 NOISE REDUCER WITH STAND AND SPEAKER............................135
DX Engineering U RR8 8-way remote antenna switch .......................................£375 ICOM AT-150 Tuner...........................................................................................125
Dunestar U set of 9 Band pass filters 160m – 10m ...........................................£445 ICOM PS-55........................................................................................................75
EZ Catapult wire launcher U for wires over trees .................................................£55 JRC MVA 319 SPEAKER....................................................................................145
MANSON EP-925 25AMP PSU.............................................................................75
Fody Tempus Pro-ED Bluetooth (BLE) weather station .........................................£69 MFJ-260C Dummy Load.....................................................................................45
Heil Proset U Headset with HC4 mic. (no box) ......................................................£59 MFJ 392B HEADPHONES....................................................................................15
Heil Proset U Headset + HC4 + Yaesu leads & foot switch ...................................£69 MFJ 956 ANTENNA TUNER................................................................................. 59
Heil FS-2 Footswitch ...........................................................................................£39 MFJ-969 ATU ........................................................................................ from 125
MFJ 993B.........................................................................................................199
MFJ 998 U 1.5kW Automatic HF Intelligent tuner .........................................£659.95 MICRONTA 22-220 MULTIMETER........................................................................15
MFJ 969 300W U 160m – 6m Antenna Tuner ....................................................£179 MORSE KEYS – Various Prices From....................................................................15
Midland Arctic-ED waterproof marine handheld radio .........................................£89 MRP2000 PRE AMP............................................................................................25
Midland D200-ED..digital/analogue PMR licence free radio ...............................£125 NAG 144XL AMPLIFIER......................................................................................385
Midland G7Pro-U latest style Pair PMR 446 handhelds ......................................£49 PS85 PSU.........................................................................................................145
PALSTAR MW550P PRE-SELECTOR & PSU ......................................................225
MyDel MP4128 U 25A switch mode Power supply ..............................................£39 RS NISSEI 502 SWR/POWER METER...................................................................65
Nevada PS30M-ED..30amp variable voltage power supply .................................£90 SCANMASTER SP-55..........................................................................................35
Nevada PS40M-ED..40A variable voltage linear PSU ...........................................£99 STAR-MASTERKEY II...........................................................................................55
Nevada PSW50-ED..50A switch mode supply .................................................£119 TRIO AT230 WITH STATION MONITOR SM220....................................................300
VARIOUS PADDLE KEYS – various prices ......................................................... POA
Palstar AT2KD -ED..2Kw manual antenna tuner .................................................£569 VARIOUS DIP METERS – Various prices from ......................................................35
Palstar AT500-ED..600w differential antenna tuner .........................................£499 YAESU SP-6 EXTERNAL SPEAKER......................................................................110
RadioShack U DX394 Communications receiver ................................................£129 YAESU MH-31 MIC............................................................................................. 20
Tecadi Poles U set of 11 Fibre poles ....................................................................£75 ZETAGI V3 3 WAY ANTENNA SWITCH.................................................................. 15
Watson CX-SW3N U Low loss 3-way N type switch .............................................£44
West Mountain U RigBlaster Plus (wired for Icom) ...............................................£79 PLEASE SEE OUR NEW WEB SITE:
CL - Clearance ED - Ex-Display U - Used http://www.shortwave.co.uk
Disclaimer Advertisements from traders for equipment that is illegal to possess, use or which cannot be licensed in the UK, will not be accepted. While the publishers will give
whatever assistance they can to readers or buyers having complaints, under no circumstances will the magazine accept liability for non-receipt of goods ordered, late delivery
or faults in manufacture.

December 2017 Practical Wireless 67

67-Traders Table.indd 67 24/10/2017 15:50

 Radio Book Store
Order form on page 71

Pages Price
SCANNING & FREQUENCY GUIDES
● LOW STOCK RADIO LISTENER’S GUIDE 2017 Edition..........160 £5.95
THE VINTAGE RIG GUIDE  
Amateur radio equipment saw great changes from the 1960s onwards with the arrival ● SCANNERS 7 B Robertson & P Rouse ....................................245 £9.95
of solid-state designs and there is much superb equipment from the latter decades
of the 20th century available in the second-hand market. This brand new publication
focuses on the amateur radio equipment from theses decades in the same format as ANTENNAS/PROPAGATION
the The Rig Guide, describing the basic information about the equipment, along with ● AN INTRODUCTION TO ANTENNA MODELLING
when it was first made and what it may be worth.
Price: £5.99 plus p&p. Steve Nichols G0KYA (RSGB)..........................................................80 £9.99
● NOVEL ANTENNAS Steve Telenius-Lowe PJ4DX (RSGB)..............192 £14.99
RADIO PROPAGATION EXPLAINED  
Understanding radio propagation is essential for anyone with an interest in radio ● ANTENNAS MASTERED Peter Dodd G3LDO (RSGB)..............288 £14.99
communications who wants to know how signals travel from A to B. Written by ● STEALTH ANTENNAS 2 (RSGB) ...............................................208 £14.99
acknowledged expert Steve Nichols G0KYA, Radio Propagation Explained provides
everything you need to know about this fascinating topic. ● RSGB ANTENNA FILE (RSGB)..................................................288 £14.99
Price: £12.99 plus p&p. ● HF ANTENNAS FOR EVERYONE (RSGB) ................................336 £14.99
HF SSB DX BASICS   ● BUILDING SUCCESSFUL HF ANTENNAS (RSGB) ............................ 224 £14.99
Contacting far flung parts of the world (DX) on the High Frequencies (HF) on single
● HF ANTENNA COLLECTION Edited by Erwin David G4LQI
side-band (SSB) is one of the enduring fascinations of amateur radio. HF SSB DX
Basics provides a practical guide to making the most of this endlessly fascinating area (RSGB) ........................................................................................233 £19.95
of operation. Price: £8.99 plus p&p.

LOW STOCK RSGB WORLD PREFIX MAP - BEGINNERS/LICENCE/MANUALS

RADIO AMATEUR’S MAP OF THE WORLD
● HF SSB DX BASICS Steve Telenius-Lowe, 9M6DXX (RSGB) ...........96 £8.99
This quality map is printed on top quality silk finished paper. Not only does it show the
location of worldwide prefixes, there is also an A-Z list of prefixes and expanded map ● RADIO PROPAGATION EXPLAINED Steve Nichols G0KYA ..........128 £12.99
sections covering the Caribbean and Europe, making them much easier to read. This
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● LOW STOCK SECRET OF LEARNING MORSE CODE
AN INTRODUCTION TO ANTENNA MODELLING
Mark Francis (Spa)........................................................................84 £6.95
For many years, the only way for most radio amateurs to work out how
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platforms as well as information about Internet radio and podcasts.
This year, we have looked at the latest developments with new ● SIX & FOUR Don Field G3XTT (RSGB) ............................................. 288 £13.99
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The Radio Listener’s Guide is your indispensable guide to UK radio. £5.95

68 Practical Wireless December 2017

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 WORLD RADIO TV HANDBOOK 2017
The Directory of Global Broadcasting
The best selling directory of global
broadcasting on LW, MW, SW & FM.
This is the 71st edition of World Radio TV
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to offer the most comprehensive guide to
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wave and FM broadcasts and broadcasters
available in any publication.
 • The Features section for this 71st edition contains articles
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St. John’s, and the International Radio for Disaster Relief
Pages Price Project as well as equipment reviews and other articles
of interest.
QRP • The remaining pages are, as usual, full of information on:
● QRP BASICS George Dobbs G3RJV (RSGB) ............................204 £14.99 • National and International broadcasts and broadcasters by
country with frequencies, powers, languages, contacts and
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VHF & HIGHER £35.00 • International SW broadcasts by frequency in English,
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● MICROWAVE KNOW HOW Andy Barter G8ATD (RSGB) .........192 £12.99 • International MW frequency lists by region; broadcasts in English, French, German, Portuguese and
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• Reference section with Transmitter locations, DX clubs, Internet Resources, and much more.
HISTORICAL • Articles on topics of great interest to professionals, listeners and DXers alike.
• Reviews of the latest receivers and equipment.
● THE VINTAGE RIG GUIDE Steve White G3ZVW............................80 £5.99 • Fully-updated maps showing global SW transmitter sites.
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● THE LONG SILENCE FALLS VOLUME II
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The Life & Times of a Merchant Radio Officer 1900-2000....................376 £25.00 • International Radio – Full broadcaster details and the winter SW frequencies as supplied by the
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CRYSTAL SETS
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GETTING STARTED IN AMATEUR RADIO

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BINDERS
THE LONG SILENCE FALLS VOLUME II
● PRACTICAL WIRELESS OR RADIOUSER. .........................................£10.00 The Life and Times of the Merchant Navy Radio Officer 1900-2000
The previous volume, which is now out of print, was extremely successful and
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ACRCHIVE CDS NOW AVAILABLE ships carried Radio Officers. However, with the onward march of technology this
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LOW STOCK RADIOUSER 2016 ARCHIVE ........................................... £14.99 sections covering many topics from a life at sea. This book is published by the
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PRACTICAL WIRELESS 1965-1969 ARCHIVE ................................... £24.99 the years. At over 376 pages, The Long Silence Falls Volume II is an extensive
PRACTICAL WIRELESS 1970-1974 ARCHIVE ................................... £24.99 book with an extraordinary glimpse into the practice and art of the Radio Officer.
If you are fascinated by this now past age and enjoyed the first volume, this book
PRACTICAL WIRELESS 2010-2014 ARCHIVE ................................... £24.99 is hugely interesting and thoroughly recommended. Available in soft back
RADIOUSER 2011-2015 ARCHIVE ....................................................... £24.99 only. £25.00

PRACTICAL WIRELESS 2015 ARCHIVE .............................................. £14.99 THE VOICE OF THE CRYSTAL
RADIOUSER 2015 ARCHIVE .................................................................. £14.99 185 pages of practical information on the fabrication of electronic components
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DATA MODES ............................................................................................ £14.99 experimenters and construction details for many instruments fabricated by the
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PRACTICAL WIRELESS 1975-1979 ARCHIVE ................................... £24.99 CARRYING ON THE PRACTICAL WAY
20 years of projects in practical wireless
PRACTICAL WIRELESS 1980-1984 ARCHIVE ................................... £24.99 Since 1996, there has been an ongoing series of small practical projects
PRACTICAL WIRELESS 2014 ARCHIVE .............................................. £14.99 in Practical Wireless magazine. The Rev. George Dobbs G3RJV has been
the mainstay of this series by far, having written around 95% of the
RADIOUSER 2014 ARCHIVE .................................................................. £14.99 articles that appeared up to date. Therefore, as a tribute to George’s
PRACTICAL WIRELESS 1985-1989 ARCHIVE ................................... £24.99 love of the hobby and to the other authors who take over the task of
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ANTENNA COLLECTION ARCHIVE ....................................................... £14.99 think, we’ve collated them into one electronic archive.
Because of the wide-ranging subjects it’s not easy to catalogue them
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transmitters, test equipment or just plain novelties to amuse. Nevertheless,
PRACTICAL WIRELESS 1995-1999 ARCHIVE ................................... £24.99 all are part of the self-training aspect of the hobby. £14.99
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HARRY LEEMING’S IN THE SHOP
RADIOUSER 2012 ARCHIVE .................................................................. £14.99 A collection of Harry’s long running In The Shop series in PW. Find hints,
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PRACTICAL WIRELESS 2011 ARCHIVE .............................................. £14.99 this is the CD-ROM for you with some 300 searchable pages. £14.99
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radio. They’re all here, but these are not the only computer related topics
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December 2017 Practical Wireless 69

68-Book Store form 4 pages.indd 69 24/10/2017 16:17

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 the new Short Wave Magazine
incorporating Radio Active

Introduction to Digital Radio Kevin Ryan provides a Airband News David Smith reports on radio technology to
comprehensive introduction to digital radio formats, enhance the electronic visibility of aircraft and weighs up
surveying some of the technology involved, listening the forthcoming, game-changing, new technologies to be
figures and reception modalities. implemented in air traffic control.
Scanning Scene Bill Robertson resolves a ‘siment carrier’ LM&S Broadcast Matters Chrissy Brand goes North after
mystery and looks at short wave reception on scanners. the 2017 European DX Council Conference in Finland
He evaluates the various features modern scanners can and finds a wealth of FM, short wave and medium wave
offer and closes with antenna tips. stations on the air, before offering her updated logs.

ON
Decode Mike Richards sheds light on the intricacies Radio Communications and the Kennedy Assassination
of the new FT-8 data mode and provides an in-depth Scott Caldwell looks at the day President John F Kennedy

SALE
was assassinated, entirely from the perspective of the
assessment of the technical and design dimensions of the
broadcasts and security services communications on
Pluto SDR receiver.
November 22nd, 1963.
Military Matters Pat Carty reports on Exercises Ample

NOW
The European DX Council Conference 2017 Ydun Ritz
Strike 17, Chameleon and Dragon 17 as well as on the
provides a report from the EDXC Conference in Finland in
Defence and Security Equipment International Exhibition in 2017, examining both the conference proceedings and
London’s Docklands. the broader condition of contemporary short wave Dxing. November
Sky High Godfrey Manning appraises the higher volume Comms from Europe Simon Parker looks at recent PMR 2017
of air traffic in the UK, showing the implications of transceivers and antennas, analyses the reasons for
‘frequency-hopping’ for radio communications and pilots’ slower innovation in CB technology and reports on a CB
Available from all good
workloads. Dxing event in the Czech Republic.
DXTV, FM & Satellite News Keith Hamer and Garry Smith Radio Websites Chrissy Brand investigates podcasting and
analyse DXTV and FMDX reception for August 2017, radio in the context of both short wave and FM stations,
investigating the effetc of the Perseid meteor shower and looking at the future of this format and at those who make
of more intense tropospheric conditions. use of it.
Maritime Matters Robert Connolly adapts a low-cost
marine transceiver for use as a handheld in VHF maritime
Software Spot This month, QSP73 Services offers another
unique collection of radio-related hobby software, www.pwpublishing.ltd.uk
communications, focusing on computer programming, including programs for digital speech decoding, SAR
licensing and comparative performance. monitoring and scanner operation. RadioUser is Published by:
Radio Book Store New titles and old favourites, frequency Warners Group Publications Ltd
Off the Record Oscar the Engineer muses on the rising
popular appeal of speech radio, assesses the technical guides, radio history and much more West Street, Bourne, Lincs. PE10 9PH
competency of free radio stations and recalls the heyday Trading Post A treasure trove of second-hand bargains and Tel: 01778 391000
of Wonderful Radio London. unique discoveries

Coming
Review – The Hexbeam
Steve Telenius-Lowe PJ4DX has been using
the Ultra Lightweight Hexbeam by MW0JZE and
reports his experiences.

next month
Valve & Vintage
We catch up with the latest developments
at Ben Nock G4BXD’s Military Wireless
Museum, which include the addition of a
Swedish Army transmitter and a TGY2
naval transmitter.

IN THE UK’S BEST AND ONLY INDEPENDENT Rejuvenating the Yaesu FR-50B Receiver
Dr Samuel Ritchie EI9FZB completes the
AMATEUR RADIO MAGAZINE restoration of this classic receiver.

Christmas Quiz
Once again Bob Glasgow GM4UYZ of the
Cockenzie and Port Seton Amateur Radio
Club has prepared a quiz to keep readers
busy over the holiday period.

Data Modes
Mike Richards G4WNC explains how to add
an APRS client on the Raspberry Pi on your
local network.

JANUARY 2018 ISSUE Short Reviews

ON SALE 14TH DECEMBER 2017 Geoff Theasby G8BMI has another short review, covering a
stereo tuner module and a stereo amplifier kit.
AT ALL GOOD NEWSAGENTS
A Morse Code Practice Oscillator
Wally Sawyer G7FHN describes a simple project based
around the ever-popular 555 timer IC.
Current issues are available direct for
There are all your other regular columns too, including HF
the cover price (post free). Please see Highlights, World of VHF, Emerging Technology, What
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The publishers reserve the right to change content
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December 2017 Practical Wireless 73

73-next month.indd 73 24/10/2017 15:41

 Specialist Dealers
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Practical Wireless
Advertisers index
Allport Communications...........................................74
A wonderful selection of radio Birkett, J...................................................................51
based books are available Bhi ...........................................................................45
Bowood Electronics .................................................51
We can also supply a copy of most individual reviews
that you may have read in past editions of Practical Wireless Lam Communications ..............................................59
and RadioUser Langrex....................................................................65
Lindars Radios.........................................................74
See the Book Store pages in this issue for ordering information
Martin Lynch & Sons .............................37, 38, 39, 75
Moonraker ...................................................20, 21, 22
Nevada .........................................................32,33, 67
Would you like to advertise Practical Wireless – coming next month..................73
RadioUser................................................................73
in Practical Wireless? Sandpiper Aerial Technology ...................................74
Short Wave UK ..................................................51, 67
Please Contact Claire Ingram Sotabeams ........................................................58, 64
for all your advertising enquiries Tennamast ...............................................................74
Waters & Stanton ..............................................2, 3, 4
Tel: 01778 391179 Worsley Communications.........................................74
E-mail: Claire.ingram@warnersgroup.co.uk Yaesu UK Ltd...........................................................76

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74-Specialist Dealers.indd 74 24/10/2017 15:50

76-Yaesu.indd 1 24/10/2017 15:49
LAUNCH TEST: KTM SUPER DUKE R

AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 77

 TESTING,TESTING

EARMOLD AUSTRALIA EAR PLUG RANGE

o, generic ear plugs. I’ve been Plugs for listening to music, and the more an impression made of my ear and sent off to

S using them for a long time now

and frankly, they drive me berserk.
I never seem to get a perfect seal,
they pull out when I’m puing on my helmet
and aer a few days on the road, irritate my
sophisticated I-Monitor Phone jobs in Lab-
Flex for the aforementioned podcasts while
on a long journey.
Basically, you are looking at plugs that are
custom-moulded in your ear. The basic set is
Earmold Australia HQ. Twin steel armature
drivers were moulded into special earplugs for
excellent sound quality, clear voice calls and
enhanced bass response. The I-Monitor Phone
set-up allows you to receive and end calls easily
ears. I have persisted because I like to block out done on the spot, manufactured from so, without touching your phone thanks to the
wind noise while riding and am acutely aware flexible Insta-Mold medical-grade silicone glove-friendly in-line push buon located on
of the long-term damage that can be done to material. I rode home in them a bit over an the cable with built-in microphone and slide
hearing by not using ear protection. hour aer the material was removed from my volume control. Of course your favourite music,
With this in mind, and the fact that I have lug ‘ole. Phone monitors added to newly made radio, GPS and any other listening material can
become thoroughly addicted to podcasts, I plugs allow for hands-free music and phone also be utilised in this way.
asked Andy Strapz, the Melbourne-based calls to go directly to my eardrum. They work In fact, that’s how I have been using mine
agent for Earmold Australia, to arrange just like the earbud set you get with most for music and podcasts, and the phone set-up
a couple of sets of Earmold earplugs for new phones. is handy too. I just hit the buon to receive
me: a basic set — the Insta-Mold Custom The more sophisticated set started with calls, then pull up and continue talking.

86 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER

 PRODUCT REVIEWS

You can do it on the go, but my preferred

arrangement is to stop and chat away. Helmet
on, no fuss. The sound quality is top-end, and
there seems to be no loss of quality. Clear and
as loud as I’d like with the use of the in-line
volume control.
I recently used them on a long-haul flight
to the States. I simply unplugged when I
wanted to sleep and re-plugged when I wanted
to listen to the inflight entertainment. Slept
like a baby, and that’s a huge plus for weary
travellers. Top marks there. They are nicely
snug in my lid and have not pulled out. A nice
change from what I’m used to.
Yep, I’m a fan. I don’t know how I’ve done
without them for so long. Check the website
for the huge range of options on offer from
Earmold Australia.
Greg Leech

THE GOOD OIL

The stuff: Insta-Mold Custom Plugs $75,
I-Monitor in Lab-Flex $289
(including earplugs, impressions required)
Get yours: www.mcleodaccessories.com.au

AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 87

 TOURING: US CANYONLANDS

THE PONGY BOOT SAGA

Most days on this ride were prey hot,
and the feet got plenty sweaty in the
r Nothing prepares you for the immense scale of The Grand Canyon.
boots. Even I was beginning to notice the
unpleasant odour emanating from them
The trip from Seligman up to the Grand various locations, hanging out for the sunset as other tourists began sidling away on
Canyon was relatively short — and “up” is the shots. Eerily, as soon as the sun did set, a cold my approach. I desperately needed to
operative word. You’re way up in altitude. Ever wind blew up. What had started as t-shirt deodorise them or risk imprisonment for
fancy stepping onto the tip of Mt Kosciusko weather now demanded a jacket and hat. Time transporting toxic waste without a license.
without doing the climb? The entire mountain, for geing back to my room in the lodge. I found the solution in one of my motel
sea-level to summit, would fit in the canyon rooms. Americans love their coffee even
and still wouldn’t poke its head over the rim. more than Aussies do. A coffee maker with
This is, of course, a heavily touristed place, real ground coffee is standard equipment
but brilliantly catered for. It’s best just to leave “On first sight of the in even the simplest rooms, rather than
the bike behind and hop on one of the park
shule buses. They run every 10 minutes, are
Canyon, you just stand the vile instant crap provided in Australian
hotel rooms.
air-conditioned (thank the Gods), and can take there, gobsmacked” I found that fresh coffee grounds (from
you into areas that are restricted to private the packet, not cooked) poured into the
vehicle traffic. And (ta-da) they’re free. To get to boots at night and emptied out the next
see the best spots you can walk, ride a bicycle, The next morning I was back on the bike morning did the trick. Now, instead of
or take the bus. I chose the bus. and heading east along the canyon’s rim. In smelling like an AFL locker room aer
On first sight of the canyon, you just stand terms of distance, this is not a long stretch. In the big game, my boots smelled faintly of
there, gobsmacked. It’s one of those “WOW” terms of time, it depends on how long your freshly brewed coffee — and who could
moments. I could have stood all day taking camera baeries hold up. The last canyon stop not love that?
photos and never get it all. I took the bus to for the day was the Desert View Watchtower,

AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 93

 IC NEARVIEW EYEWEAR
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Unit 1, 14-22 Farrall Road
Midvale WA 6056 Available online from
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www.facebook.com/overlanderae Maps, books
& DVDs
TOURING: US CANYONLANDS

r The Triumph Tiger set to tackle Potash Road in the Canyonlands National Park.

JUST WHAT I WAS

“His bike was lying in the middle of the track. LOOKING FOR
This road needs to be approached with caution.
He’d come undone in a sandy bit (better than It’s narrow, with sheer drop-offs down vicious
over the edge, though)” metres into the canyon below, and sections of
deep, fine sand. Another rider on a Triumph
Tiger 1200 caught up with me. I followed him for
intricate black-on-white designs. Outside the idea. Here I met a fellow Aussie motorcycle a while and he seemed confident. He approached
museum are the partially restored ruins of traveller, from Phillip Island. Bike loaded the track a lile more aggressively than I was
an Anasazi community that you can wander to the hilt with his equipment, he was comfortable with, so I let him ride on ahead.
through. Around one corner, I came across a travelling around the US doing videos. I lost sight of him aer a bit, stopping as I
wooden ladder leading down into a black pit. Small world, huh? do to take photos. Riding on, I could see plenty
A sign warned: “Enter with Caution”. Good Back in Utah, the scenery still didn’t let of squiggly tracks in the sand. I half expected
idea. Descent into the darkness brings you me take a breath. I based myself in Moab for to see a set of tracks leading over the edge, but
into a fully restored Pueblo kiva, a spot where a couple of days for a chance to explore the instead I caught up with him 30 minutes later.
they would gather for social occasions and area. I could have stayed two weeks and still His bike was lying in the middle of the track —
warmth. Cool. only scratched the surface. On one ride, the he’d come undone in a sandy bit (beer than
Potash Road followed the Colorado River out over the edge, though). He was unhurt, but
AND JUST WHEN YOU of Moab directly into Canyonlands National unable to pick up the bike. He’d been geing
THOUGHT IT COULDN’T Park. Sealed at first but then turning into a worried that I might have turned back and
GET BETTER... reasonable dirt road, it wound past dinosaur there might not be anyone else around for a
If breathtaking was the only adjective tracks, petroglyphs (rock art) and strikingly very long time. Good guess.
available, I’d be asphyxiated by now. Turning beautiful potash evaporation ponds. It was The 1200 is heavy, but with a lot of
south-west into Colorado and into Mesa good to get off the pavement and deeper into straining and considerably eloquent cursing,
Verde National Park, it was 2000m high the canyons. The road eventually joined the we got it back onto its wheels. The only
and geing chilly. On the lookout for the Shafer Trail — and a breathtaking ascent damage seemed to be a badly bent gear shi
best photos le me caught in the aernoon from the canyon floor up to the mesa top lever. We rode on together to the top of the
storm, with lightning streaking the sky along a series of switchbacks that have been trail. (As I mentioned before, I choose to ride
before I got down to the park’s Information carved into the canyon wall — even more solo or with my wife as pillion on many tours.
Centre for shelter .Others had the same extreme than Moki Dugway. Breathtaking. I carry a Personal Location Beacon [PLB] in

96 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER

 Bike friendly accommodation
FACILITIES: FACILITIES:
The Bogong Moth Motel
offers clean, friendly • Clean, modern The Mallacoota Hotel
• Bistro
accommodation. Rooms accommodation Motel is conveniently
are serviced daily & have all • Ensuite in all rooms • TAB
you need for a comfortable situated in Mallacoota’s
relaxing stay. Keys are • TV/DVD in all rooms • Sky Channel
• Electric toaster, jug, main street close to
available for those who • Bottleshop
wish to secure their bikes AC/Heater, microwave shopping, playgrounds,
in the shed and we offer • Beer garden
a drop-off/pick-up service and electric blankets tourist information
to the local restaurants & • Free Wi-Fi • Air conditioned
and easy access to all
watering holes. We are • Serviced rooms rooms
opposite the iconic Flour that Mallacoota and
+ Water restaurant & close • Guest BBQ • Secure parking
to two other world class • 3 x 2 person, 2 x Croajingolong National
172 Kiewa Valley Highway • Saltwater pool
restaurants. The local 3 person, 2 x 4 person 51-55 Maurice Avenue, Park have to offer. Just
Tawonga South, wineries offer a great range
Mount Beauty, Victoria 3698 of good wine & food. We and 1 x 6 person Mallacoota VIC 3892 (PO Box 43) minutes to the fabulous
have a guest BBQ & a • Close to great restaurants, beaches and walking
P: (03) 5754 4644 great seating area, shady P: (03) 5158 0455
pub and local brewery
M: 0428 868 502 in summer & great views F: (02) 5158 0453 tracks of the Wilderness
in winter.. The motel has 8 • 30km to Falls Creek
E: info@bogongmoth.com.au rooms sleeping from 2 to 6 snowfields E: inncoota@bigpond.net.au Coast.
www.bogongmoth.com.au people. Best rates • 30km to Bright www.mallacootahotel.com.au
in the area.

FACILITIES:
FACILITIES:
Experience a real Cold beer, friendly • Restaurant open 7
Australian bush pub • Secure garage for bikes atmosphere, quality
circa 1880. Modern accommodation.
days lunch & dinner
• Group booking
accommodation with discounts Sleep Lagoon Hotel – • Bar
self-serve continental TAB facilities, hotel rooms.
• Clean, modern Exchange Hotel
• Bottleshop
breakfast included. Sleepy Lagoon Hotel
accommodation Toogoolawah – QHA • Accommodation
APSLEY ARMS Bistro and bar meals.
Reviewed and • Great food, cold beer!
12-16 Bream Street,
Tin Can Bay QLD 4580 finalists for Best Pub
• Secure parking
HOTEL recommended in
the Sydney Morning
• Dine in or takeaway
• Guest lounge room with
(Fraser Coast Region)
E: sleepylagoonhotel@bigpond.com
Style Accommodation,
Breakfast Sunday • Dinner/breakfast
mornings.
33 N Derby Street, Herald Good Pub TV & accommodation
Walcha NSW 2354 Exchange Hotel Toogoolawah
Food Guide. • Free Wi-Fi
Where the Oxley Hwy 11 Cressbrook Street, packages available
• Friendly bar and bistro Toogoolawah QLD 4313
meets Thunderbolt’s Way
(Brisbane Valley Region)
• Pokies
• Function room
E: sleepylagoonhotel@bigpond.com
P: (02) 6777 2502 • Bottleshop
www.exchangehoteltoogoolawah.com
www.apsleyarms.com.au

FACILITIES:
FACILITIES:
A great dining
Located at the roundabout • Function and • Dine in or takeaway
experience with
on Church St, the main catering facilties function room,
• Healthy & tasty menu
street of Gloucester, with • Function room
• Stunning seasonal licensed bar
off street parking via Queen
menu with both bistro and excellent • Licensed bar
Street. The Roundabout Inn
and a la carte available accommodation. • Excellent
has been newly renovated With a relaxed &
inside and out providing a • Comfortable accommodation
friendly environment
comfortable friendly accommodation with • Queen to single
we are the perfect
atmosphere with discounts for family spot for a quick bite rooms to semi self
accommodation, function rooms, trades and group or to celebrate a night contained cottage
& ACCOMMODATION
and catering facilities. The bookings out with a group. • Lock up sheds &
26 E Fitzroy Street, Walcha
friendly staff and patrons • Entertainment and live Come and see why drying room available
28 Church Street Gloucester Bookings: (02) 6778 0224 Royal Cafe is the place
are never short of a
NSW 2422 music Enquiries: (02) 6777 1117
welcoming smile, don’t that’s got it all ...
P: (02) 6558 1816 E: walchacafe@optusnet.com.au
forget to drop in and say
E: info@roundaboutinn.com.au
G’day! www.walcharoyalcafe.com.au
www.roundaboutinn.com.au

Bellbird Creek Cafe's FACILITIES:

Looking for somewhere to NEW LOCATION! Located in the • Dine in at The Shed
relax and unwind, whilst on 24km from Kenilworth: Mudgee region, Restaurant, open 7 days
your day or weekend ride? • Follow the Eumundi- along the Bylong
Bellbird Creek Cafe is the Kenilworth Rd for 13km. a week for lunch & dinner
perfect spot! Even with our Valley Way Circuit,
new location, it is still an • Turn left onto Skyring 3.5 hours drive • Discounted group bookings
easy ride from either the Creek Rd (for 10km). from Sydney. • 14 rooms with multiple
Sunshine Coast or Brisbane, • Turn left into Poulsen Rd. Rylstone’s oldest configurations to sleep up
and continues through some • Then it's the first left into pub is full of charm
of the most beautiful country
Jubilee Road. to 29 people
scenery the hinterland has and is renowned for
to offer! Bellbird's "central its good old country • Wheelchair accessible
location" is surrounded by a NEW OPENING HOURS
hospitality. The • Big open fires in Winter
8 Jubilee Road, vast network of back roads Mon, Wed & Thur 9am-4pm,
Globe Hotel and air-conditioning in
Carters Ridge QLD 4563 for you to choose from. Fri 9am-7.30pm, Sat & Sun
Choose your own adventure 46-50 Louee Street, provides gourmet
P: (07) 5447 9326 7am-7.30pm, CLOSED Tue. Summer
or ask us for the best route! Rylstone NSW 2849 food and wine
E: info@bellbirdcreek.com • Continental breakfast
For the long distance riders, whilst being situated
www.bellbirdcreek.com there's also a free overnight LIKE US ON FACEBOOK P: (02) 6379 1048
P.S. Our CAFFEINE INJECTION close to national included in room tarriff
camping or RV stopover E: info@theglobehotel.com.au
right across the road, at van also operates at Little Yabba parks. • Mulitple lock up sheds
Mary Fereday Park. Park on weekend mornings. www.theglobehotel.com.au
available for peace of mind
 CRUISER NEWS

THE ALL-NEW SECTION FOR THOSE WHO LOVE IT CRUISEY.

AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 101

 CRUISER NEWS
New bikes, new models and other news to keep you abreast of cruiser developments

r The consensus at the world launch was that the Fat Bob is the best handler of the new range.

r Minimal Street Bob gets ape-hangers and extra clearance.

102 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER

 CRUISER NEWS

HARLEY-DAVIDSON’S
100 NEW MODELS!
Harley-Davidson plans to develop 100 new
bikes over the next decade, with part of its
future range consisting of electric bikes. Bill
Davidson, great-grandson of Harley founder
William Davidson and vice president of
the Harley museum in Milwaukee, has
confirmed the ambitious target.
William spoke about the firm’s plan
for electric bikes and talked about the
Livewire project it demonstrated a few
years ago. “It is progressing and we will
eventually introduce it,” he said.
A range of electric motorcycles is part of
Harley’s way of reaching a wider customer
base outside of its usual demographic. Based
on what William has said, we can expect
electric Harleys to become a core part of the
manufacturer’s future strategy as it explores
ways of diversifying its range and appeal.
Meanhwile, Leechy has been in the USA
riding Harley’s eight new Soail models.
Yes, Harley-Davidson has completely
revamped its Big Twin cruiser model line-
up for 2018, combining Dyna and Soail
model lines into one all-new 2018 Harley-
Davidson Soail range. In fact, it is right
on target to meet that bold statement of
introducing 100 new models in 10 years.
And they really are “new” models,
not just paint and badge changes. Cop
these apples. The entire new 2018 Harley-
Davidson Soail cruiser line-up gets an
all-new chassis, new underseat “hidden”
single shock, and the new Milwaukee-
Eight V-twin engine in 107ci displacement
or, in select models, 114ci. The 45-degree,
four-valve-per-cylinder Milwaukee-Eight
V-twins now have dual counterbalancers.
This means Dyna models, which
previously had rubber-mounted Twin Cam
103ci and 110ci engines, will now have solid
engine mounts, just as previous Soails
r Fat Boy gets the Softail treatment for 2018. enjoyed since the introduction of the Twin
Cam 88B (B for balanced) in 1999 models.
All 2018 Harley-Davidson Soail cruiser
motorcycles use an all-new frame that, as
part of the larger redesign, reduces weight
by up to 16kg and improves handling and
ride quality.
The new frames offer three steering
head angles in 28-, 30-, and 34-degree rakes,
a “standard” and “high” ride height and
“wide” or “narrow” swingarm, depending
on model. With the parts common
among eight new models (12 if you count
the four 114ci variants), this will mean
unprecedented parts and component
interchangeability for a new level and ease
of customisation potential.
Look for Leechy’s full, in-depth test of
the all-new Soails, directly from the USA
in the next issue (#142) of ARR.
r Harley-Davidson has announced its determined commitment to electric technology.

AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 103

 SPACE
INVADER They say bigger is better, but does the Rocket III
Touring’s attitude live up to its magnitude?

104 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER

ROAD TEST: TRIUMPH ROCKET III TOURING

AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 105

 WHAT YOU GET OVER
AND ABOVE THE ROCKET
III ROADSTER
• ABS
• Back rest pad
• Engine protection bars
• Panniers
• Quick-release screen

r Big kilometre days are made easy with good high-speed ergonomics a feature.

STORY: GREG LEECH In 2008, the stakes were further raised the plan. There can be no doubt the Touring
PHOTOS: SPENCER LEECH with the launch of the Rocket III Touring. is beamingly proud to make its big statement.
eborn Triumph knew it had to get It represented the natural extension of that The longitudinal three-cylinder engine

R seriously involved in the cruiser

category. Yes, it had its America
and Speedmaster, but it wanted to
make a more individual statement rather than
doing what the Japanese majors had done
original platform, offering hard bags and more
flexibility for those longer trips. It was, and
remains, all about BIG. The bike is anything
but understated, exuding a meaty, momentous
presence. It still has the biggest engine
configuration is almost bespoke in this day
and age, and it really looks the business,
further demanding aention. In fact, from the
right-hand side of the bike, it looks for all the
world like a miniature factory building, with
to buy into the segment by building Harley- currently available in a production motorcycle the manifolds representing smokestacks and
Davidson clones. — that’s cred right there. Simple fact is, you all. Just me?
To muddy the waters even further, there was are not gonna have to be measured twice in The bike carries those old-school looks,
a size war brewing, with Yamaha launching the the “mine’s-bigger-than-yours” competition housed in a prey typical chassis for the
1670cc Road Star Warrior in 2002, and Honda at the Elephant and Scrotum monthly biker category and boasting cruiser-comfy geometry.
the VTX1800. To put the maer firmly at rest, meeting. If that’s important to you, well do Triumph saw fit to detune the bike via ECU and
Triumph decided to up the ante and go for a not pass go, do not collect $200 and head to exhaust alterations to come up with the stump-
displacement of 2294cc. Huge news indeed. your nearest Triumph dealer. If you’d like to pulling figures of 206Nm at a desperately low
In 2005 the Rocket III hit the market. It examine things a lile further, however, it’s 2500rpm, at the cost of top-end power. Truth
took a while to find its feet — aer all, it probably gonna pay you to hang in and keep is, peak horsepower is practically irrelevant
was remarkably different from just about reading just a lile longer. and it’s all about geing the torque peak
anything the bike world had seen, and buyers By now you will have the picture that where a touring rider is most likely to require
were cautious. subtle this thing ain’t, and that was always it. This makes for less stirring of the box, and

106 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER

 ROAD TEST: TRIUMPH ROCKET III TOURING

r Backrest and bags aid in two-up touring. Styling at the rear is dated now.

“Simple fact is, you are

not gonna have to be
measured twice in the
‘mine’s-bigger-than-
yours’ competition
at the Elephant and
Scrotum monthly
biker meeting”
easy, rhythmic corner blasting on country
roads a breeze. Just let all that grunt pull you
out. It works. Further, with that fiddling, fuel
consumption was improved.
So how does all that size equate when it
r Fat tank holds 22.3 litres, offering a good 300km range.
comes to road manners? Well, this is not a bike

AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 107

 THE ORIGINAL ROCKET 3
The BSA Rocket 3/Triumph Trident was
r Angles of lean possible are surprising and as good as any bike in the category. the last major motorcycle developed by
Triumph Engineering at Meriden, West
Midlands. It was a 750cc air-cooled unit
construction pushrod triple with four gears
“It needs a firm hand at low speed and there is and a conventional chassis and suspension.
The motorcycle was badge-engineered
simply no hiding the best part of 400kg” to be sold under both the Triumph and
BSA marques. The Rocket 3/Trident was
for the faint of heart. It needs a firm hand at heavier springs to avoid too much dive, which part of Triumph’s plan to extend the model
low speed and there is simply no hiding the would in turn affect front-end suppleness. It’s range beyond its 650cc parallel twins.
best part of 400kg. Once on the move though, all a bit of a compromise on these biggies and Created to meet the demands of the US
it is light at the controls, happy to toddle about this one hits the mark prey well. market, the smooth 750cc three-cylinder
just off idle and capable of a steady lean. Even Where the bike does shine is in the comfort engine had less vibration than the existing
at low speed. Just remember not to park it stakes; the dual-density seat is a bloody 360° twins. Although BSA experienced
downhill, nose-in. Asking for help to get your armchair to sit in and 1000km days are made serious financial difficulties, 27,480 Rocket
bike out of a parking space is a crook look. very possible from an ergonomic perspective. 3/Tridents were produced during its seven-
The simple Kayaba suspension set-up works While the full frontal width is just shy of year history.
well, absorbing bumps nicely. The bike is a metre, I surprised myself by carving across
very forgiving in long sweeps, with rock-solid Melbourne’s peak-hour traffic, spliing at will.
stability, and geing along at a decent clip is A touch of rear brake to steady the ship, held luggage, though. That is a rarity indeed and not
child’s play. The brakes are good, the standard against constant low revs, and hey presto. a drop entered in a torrential pizzling.
ABS representing a nice touch without being Commuter baleship! The narrow hard bags The tank looks like something out of Land
anything to write home about. With those rake never intrude, but the shape makes them a of the Giants and legs are splayed wide to
and trail numbers, any more bite would call for lile tricky to load. Points for full waterproof accommodate it. Nice in the winter is the

108 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER

 ROAD TEST: TRIUMPH ROCKET III TOURING

r The bike that started it all, the BSA Rocket 3.

AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 109

ROAD TEST: TRIUMPH ROCKET III TOURING

SPECIFICATIONS
TRIUMPH ROCKET III
TOURING
ENGINE
Type: Liquid-cooled, DOHC, in-line
three-cylinder
Capacity: 2294cc
Bore x stroke: 101.6mm x 94.3mm
Compression ratio: 8.7:1
Engine management: Electronic fuel
injection

PERFORMANCE
Claimed maximum power: 106hp (78kW)
at 6000rpm
Claimed maximum torque: 203Nm
at 2500rpm

TRANSMISSION
Type: Five-speed
r Old school looks and a donk with momentous torque. A happy combination.
Final drive: Sha
Clutch: Wet, multi-plate

CHASSIS AND RUNNING GEAR

Frame: Tubular steel twin cradle
Front suspension: KYB 43mm fork, 120mm
travel, fully shrouded uppers
Rear suspension: KYB chromed spring
twin shocks with five-position adjustable
preload, 105mm rear wheel travel
Front brakes: Dual 320mm floating discs,
Nissin four-piston fixed calipers,
ABS equipped
Rear brake: Single 316mm fixed disc,
Brembo two-piston floating caliper,
ABS equipped
Wheels: 25-spoke cast aluminium,
16 x 3.5 front, 15 x 5.0 rear
Tyres: Front 150/80R16, rear 160/70B17

DIMENSIONS AND CAPACITIES

Rake: 32 degrees
Trail: 184mm
r Big speedo and a subtle LED readout feedback info. Claimed dry weight: 358kg
Seat height: 730mm
radiant heat from that flippin’ big powerplant a lile. I aended the launch of the bike in Wheelbase: 1705mm
— less so in the summer. the early 2000s in San Antonio, Texas, and Fuel capacity: 22.3L
Clutch and brake levers are big and came away prey impressed. But time has
unfortunately non-adjustable. The heel-and- marched on and taken buyer expectations ETCETERA
toe shier works alright, but I’d be ripping the with it. It really should have cruise control Price: $28,490 ride away
rear off it as soon as I got it home. Whoever at standard and feels a lile out of its depth Colours: Phantom Black, Phantom
thought that was a good idea? Passengers get against the more modern that are available Black and Red
floorboards too and a big cushy pillion with in 2017 showrooms. It is a strong performer, Test bike supplied by: Harley-Davidson
a gel insert, and the backrest provides some especially when it comes to engine dynamics Australia
security. A grab rail please? — tough as nails and unlikely to let you Warranty: 24 months, unlimited
So… if you want a big one, look no further. I down in any way. kilometres, 24 months Harley Assist
have to say that time has le the bike behind And, well, did I mention it’s big? ARR

110 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER

 STUFF WE’RE TESTING
BELL QUALIFIER DLX
HELMET
From the first time I tried one of these
Transitions visors, I’ve been a convert. A
pulpit-thumping zealot, if you like. That was
an optional extra a few years ago with a Bell
RSI. This here Bell Qualifier DLX was the
first model released in Australia with the
Transitions visor as standard. Praise your own
chosen religious deity, effigy or the Flying
Spaghei Monster.
When I ride, I wear glasses with Transitions
lenses. Results vary with different visors but with
the Bell Transitions version, they work perfectly.
I’ve tried carrying clear and dark visors over
the years. No maer how carefully you pack, they
always seemed to end up with an annoying rub
mark in the centre of the field of vision. Now I
just carry a spare pair of glasses in a hard case.
Aaah yeah, the Qualifier DLX. That was the
point of this. It’s another fine helmet from the
Here’s a variety of stuff we’re testing. This is more than just American company. According to the digital
scales, this polycarbonate/ABS helmet weighs
re-hashed press releases; this is stuff we’re actually using 1580gm. What’s that mean in the grand scheme?
On my head — nothing.
Comfort is more than just the weight of
HARLEY-DAVIDSON FIVE GLOVES STUNT EVO the helmet. Questions such as how tight is it
FXRG PERFORMANCE Three years of daily wear and my favourite
summer gloves were showing their age. About
around the ears, or is it pushing my cheeks are
more important, but with the range of optional
RIDING JEANS a dozen stitches in one of the seams near the padding from Bell, you can make it fit your head
Classically styled jeans with traditional waist cuff had come away on my Five Gloves Stunts. like a well-fiing helmet should.
and straight legs with slight boot cut to fit Yeah, so what? The rest of the gloves were still If you are one for an intercom, rejoice. Bell
over riding boots. Does it get much more intact and doing the job they were made to has equipped the Qualifier with an integrated
basic than that? do. But they’ve been superseded by the Stunt communications port to match with a Sena
Well, there is more than that; they are Evo, the next step in the evolutionary process, Bluetooth unit. There are also recesses inside
CE2-approved, fully lined with ROOMOTO and Chris from Moto National wanted me to the shell for speakers. Someone from the design
protective lining from hip to waist, and come try a pair. team obviously spent time talking with riders and
with removable hip and knee armour. Now They’ve proven to be every bit as good as the pillions who like to communicate while they ride.
that they’ve clocked up two years of regular old gloves. They’re an all-new design but the Good job Bell.
wear, they’re still a very comfortable pair of only difference I’ve noticed while wearing them Fogged-up visors are the bane of my existence
riding jeans that look good. is the rubberised section on the leather palms — I have suffered and endured more than I am
In really hot weather they’re a bit warm and fingers. You can feel it grabbing clutch and willing to recall. The air ducts in the Qualifier’s
while you’re stopped, but get back on the road brake levers. chin piece actually work prey well for me. Your
and airflow fixes that. Like other Draggin- I have big hands and have struggled over the results could be different. Speaking of airflow, the
made jeans that have achieved the CE 2 years to find good-fiing gloves that last longer intake in the forehead and the two in the crown
approval, these HD FXRG jeans had to provide than a trip or two. Five Gloves size XXXL fit do a fine job of allowing a soothing flow across
more than 7.6 seconds of resistance against a my mis like a … err … page out of the Book of the scalp.
belt grinder. Cliches. They fit and they last. Available from Not the most expensive helmet on offer, the
More information is available from Harley- beer retailers of motorcycle stuff, or check price places it in an affordable range. For me, the
davidson-motorclothes.com.au or your local out motonational.com.au and follow the links. Transitions visor gains it many points.
HD dealer. Highly recommended. Highly recommended. Highly recommended.

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 0 0 2 3 + years

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P: 61 4 07511 454 | M: 0407 511 454
 WEEKEND
UPGRADE
ARR’s resident Suzuki SV650 gets some swish new bolt-ons

116 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER

 LONG TERM SV650

AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 117

LONG TERM SV650

RENTHAL STREET
FIGHTER HANDLEBARS
The stock handlebars, while comfortable,
give lile control when cornering hard.
They forced me to sit upright with my
back hunched, not something I want
from a sportsbike. I seled on a pair of 7/8
Renthal Street Fighter handlebars; they
are flaer, wider, and still comfortable
enough for day-to-day goings. To keep the
overall width of the bars to a minimum,
I installed some low-profile Barkbusters
Bar Ends.

STORY: SPENCER LEECH

PHOTOS: GREG LEECH

or those who’ve just joined us, this

F is one of our long-term test bikes.

It’s Suzuki’s middleweight LAMS
sportster and the newest iteration of
the long-lived SV650 platform.
I have been testing this bike for over six
months, with lots of interstate travel, urban
commuting and fast riding. I’ve come away
mostly impressed with its performance,
but aer 10,000km I found there were a few
ergonomic and aesthetic modifications that I
wanted to make to suit my style. ARR

118 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER

 LONG TERM SV650

IXIL L3X EXHAUST

Aer thoroughly investigating the exhaust
options for the 2017 SV650, I decided the
IXIL L3X slip-on muffler best suited the
bike. As with most new motorcycles, the
noise from the stock SV650 is conservative
to say the least. The new pipe has
unleashed that v-twin rumble you expect
from an SV650, and has a much neater look
compared to the stock set-up. The IXIL
muffler comes with two silencers that can
be removed for extra volume, but I found it
to be plenty loud enough with the silencers
intact. The muffler aaches via the stock
exhaust mount at the rear, and a hose
clamp connects it to the factory headers.

OGGY KNOBBS FRAME SLIDERS

For added protection, I installed a set of Oggy Knobbs. Not only do they
protect the bike’s vital components in a crash, but it turns out they make
for a solid second set of footpegs on the highway. The kit took only a few
minutes to install and required no other modifications to the bike. So what
damage will Oggy Knobbs prevent if you actually have to err ... use them?
Well they won’t make the world of difference, but for a small price they give
you a fighting chance against small drops and crashes.

PROMOTO FENDER
ELIMINATOR
I’m oen asked the hypothetical question:
if I could only do one modification to a
new bike, what would it be? Nine times out
of 10 my answer is a fender eliminator. As
the rules placed on manufacturers tighten,
the uglier motorcycle tail sections seem
to get. Luckily it’s usually an easy fix, with
fender eliminator/tail tidy options on the
market for just about every modern bike. I
installed a universal kit from Promoto and
I think it has made a huge difference to the
look of the bike. A bit of wiring is involved,
so if you plan to do this one yourself, it’s
worth following the instructions.

AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 119

 <RXUFKRLFHGRQDWHWKHELNHZHVXSSO\RUNHHSLW

'HVHUW  *XOI RI &DUSHQWDULD  5DLQIRUHVW

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$ WUXO\ XQLTXH IXQGUDLVLQJ DGYHQWXUH WKDW ZLOO KDYH \RX UHFRXQWLQJ VWRULHV WR \RXU IULHQGV 5LGH  NP RQ DQ
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*UHDW%DUULHU5HHILQ&DLUQV2XWRIWKHZD\URXWHDQGVWRSRYHUV0RXQWDLQWRSVXQVHWGLQQHUFDPSRXWXQGHUWKHVWDUV
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DFHOHEUDWLRQGLQQHUDQGDVRIWEHGDWD&DLUQVUHVRUW

Incl bike, accomm, meals, mechanics,spares, supportWUXFNDQG vehicles.

www.postiebikechallenge.org Ph. 
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TRAVEL STAR PRO GORE-TEX BOOTS

RUKKA
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OUTLAST UNDERWEAR
(SHIRT AND PANTS)
IMATRA GLOVES
 WHATZ NEW
ARIETE VINTAGE GOGGLES
Here we have a set of retro-style goggles. They’re
produced in Italy and made for the road. The Vintage
goggles combine modern technology in the frame and
lens, with highly specialised hand-finishing on the sewn
leather and metal components.
The frames are made of chromium-plated steel, with
side venting for comfort. The inner surface of the goggles
is made from hand-sewn natural leather for comfort,
while the suede outer surface has been specially treated
to provide enhanced weatherproofing.
The cylindrical lenses provide great visibility and
protection from UV rays and have had anti-fog treatment
on the inside surface. The headband has a double buckle
for easy adjustment, and a non-slip silicone band on the
inside to keep it in place on the rider’s helmet.
Colours: Black or Brown
Price: $179.95 RRP
Visit: linkint.com.au

ARAI CHASER-X
The Chaser-X is the third Arai helmet to make use
of the new VAS (Variable Axis System) technology
that offers a significantly larger and smoother shell
area, greatly improving the important glancing off
performance.
The Chaser-X also makes use of a completely new
ventilation system derived from the flagship RX-7V
helmet, which is instantly recognisable by the large,
single intake duct on top of the helmet. The replaceable
interior is lined with an anti-microbial fabric, and the
lid features Arai’s Formula One-developed visor lock
system.
The Chaser-X is available in many sizes and colour
schemes, and comes standard with a Max Vision visor.
Sizes: XS-2XL
Price: $650 RRP, or $750 RRP with graphics
Visit: araihelmets.net.au

122 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER

 NEW AND INTERESTING STUFF

RJAYS SWIFT II JACKET

As we head out of the cold winter months, we
can finally start wearing lighter gear. RJays
recently released a new jacket designed for
warm weather, and they call it the Swi II.
This summer jacket features super-
protective ballistic nylon with large air mesh
panels, CE-approved elbow shoulder, and
back armour and hi-visibility reflective zones.
The jacket also has a removable waterproof
breathable liner, two external pockets,
adjustable forearm and bicep fasteners and
Velcro wrist and waist cuffs.
Sizes: Ladies: XS-2XL, Men’s: XS-4XL
Price: $169.95
Visit: rjays.com.au

MOTOMUCK TOUGH WIPES

It goes without saying that motorcycle riding
is a messy business. Motomuck has created
these neutral detergent wipes, perfect for
cleaning everything from your goggles to
your helmets, tools, and even your grubby
face and hands. The wipes are non-tainting,
low-foaming, and have no fragrance or
alcohol. You get 50 in each pack and they are
small enough to carry in your bumbag or
hydration pack.
Price: $11.95 RRP
Visit: www.ficeda.com.au

AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 123

 MOTOPRESSOR JUMP STARTER
What happens when you get back to your bike, kit up, turn the key,
press the starter and … nothing! If you carry jumper leads you may be
alright, but a mini jump starter kit is a much smarter option.
This lile lithium jump starter is pocket-sized, light and packs a
real punch. It will easily tuck into a tank bag, top box or pannier. The
MotoPressor mini jump starter comes with a recharging plug suitable
for both BMW sockets and normal car-type accessory sockets.
Can this lile jump starter really start a motorcycle? The answer
is most definitely YES, and it will do it over and over again. The jump
starter carries a USB port and 1-into-4 5V/2.1A USB accessory cable
that can plug into many different devices, including Apple, Samsung,
HTC, Nokia, Motorola and Sony phones, iPads, GPSs etc. It also has an
LED flash light with three modes, illumination, strobe or SOS.
This mini jump starter has short-circuit protection, overcharge
protection and discharge protection.
Price: $98.95
Visit: rockycreekdesigns.com.au

IXON CROSSTOUR
The Ixon CrossTour is a technical and
modern-looking pant and jacket set,
connected via a full 360 zip, with a list of
features that even the most experienced
rider is sure to appreciate. The new BIKERS CLUB LADIES CRUISER
CrossTour has a redesigned fitment (IXFIT) JACKET
and is cut short in the front for ultimate Made exclusively from pure and genuine leather, this jacket
comfort on the bike. gives a sense of comfort and at the same time provides safety
Price: Jacket — $379.95 RRP, on the road. Its unique styling and great fit make it a must
pants — $299.95 RRP have for riders of all ages.
Colours: Black, Black/Grey Price: $229.96 RRP
Visit: ficeda.com.au Visit: ficeda.com.au

LUGGAGE | COVERS | RAINWEAR

It’s not just a BIKE, anymore...
Available in Australia now.
170135

124 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER

 NEW AND INTERESTING STUFF

OXFORD HELMET BUMPER

Avoid rider and pillion helmets coming together with an uncomfortable thwack by
using the innovative new Oxford Bumper helmet protector. These knocks are almost
unavoidable when riding pillion, but if you aach a bumper to the back of the rider’s
helmet, you can minimise the damage and discomfort.
Here’s the really clever bit; this unique product uses a carefully formulated blend of
special materials to be extremely grippy without using adhesives. This means you can
take it on and off any number of times either for re-positioning purposes or because
you only want to use it when riding with a pillion. Choose from one of seven quality
designs to protect your helmets and look good in the process.
Price: $24.95
Visit: ficeda.com.au

OXFORD HD MINI DISC LOCK LIQUID PERFORMANCE

Motorcycles are fundamentally more vulnerable STREET BIKE COOLANT &
to the than most other forms of transport, but ANTIFREEZE
they need not be. The use of a good lock will If your bike is running hot, you’re not geing
protect a motorcycle against most forms of aack peak performance and potentially causing
and reduce the the rate dramatically. Incredibly, longer-term damage. Reducing heat in the
motorcycle security experts still believe that closed loop cooling system helps to maintain
well over half of all motorcyclists use no form your bike’s optimum performance levels.
of physical security other than the steering LP High Performance Street Bike Coolant is
lock, which itself offers very lile resistance to a the solution. Tested and proven to be the finest
determined aack. coolant available, this ready-to-use product
This disc lock from Oxford is made from tough is propylene glycol based, phosphate-free,
hardened steel, features a 14mm shackle and virtually non-toxic and biodegradable. It offers
boasts an anti-pick key design for added security. boiling point protection up to 126.6°C, freezing
Price: $24.95 RRP protection down to -34°C.
Visit: ficeda.com.au Price: $64 RRP
Visit: silkolene.com.au

AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 125

 SCOTT 550 MX BOOTS
The 550 boot is the end result of combining
technical lab engineering with vigorous
on-track testing. Focusing on the demands
of riders, Sco says it has employed new
innovations to enhance the mobility, comfort
and overall responsiveness. The boots are
constructed in Italy and the light-weight design
incorporates important features that heighten
performance while warranting safety and
durability.
Price: $599.95 RRP
Colours: Black/Green, White/Orange, White
Visit: ficeda.com.au

MACNA LADIES ZIRCON GLOVES

The ladies Zircon gloves offer a great deal of comfort,
protection and functionality for the serious rider. They’re
fied with a genuine Raintex waterproof and breathable
liner ensuring dry hands and comfort, and a Thermolite /
Bemberg comfort liner to keep everything warm when the
going gets cold.
The Zircon features an all-leather palm with padding on
the impact areas, and knuckle and finger protection with
a screen cleaner on the index fingers. Each index finger is
fied with Touch Tip technology, enabling the use of your
smart phone or GPS without removing your gloves.
Price: $149.95 RRP
Visit: linkint.com.au

RAIN-OFF OVERGLOVES
Remember that cosy feeling of siing behind a window near a
heater with the rain pouring down outside? I reckon Rain-Off
overgloves give us a similar sensation. Cosy and dry while mother
nature does her worst. Chuck these over your riding gloves when it
starts to rain and keep your hands as dry as possible.
The Rain-Off overgloves come in one-finger and two-finger
variants to suit your preference.
Price: $70
Visit: andystrapz.com

O S G E S J A CKET ETYE
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126 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER

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PLATYPUS COUNTRY BOMBALA

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Ride our three mountains | Visitor information (02) 6458 4622
LETTERS
on’t forget to write! We mean it. We

D
READERS RITE
love to hear from you and everyone
else does too; these pages are among
the most popular in the magazine.
Preferably, keep leers under 300 words so we
can fit more in, though we will allow the odd
exception without taking to it with the editorial
knife. Yes, we will chop ’em when we have to.
Do include your real name and some contact
details just in case we need to clarify something.
Please write to gleech@universalmagazines.
com.au or send mail to Road Rider, Unit 5, 6–8
Byfield Street, North Ryde NSW 2113. — SNAG

WIN
THIS
LOOK HOT
Every issue we’re giving away this beaut pack of
Motul cleaning gear worth $49.95. All you have
to do to be in with a chance of winning is write
to us. We’ll pick what we think is the best letter
every month and the top blokes at Motul will fire
out this pack to whoever wrote it. Simple. Pack
includes some of the best washing and detailing
products on the market:
• Wash & Wax, a waterless cleaner
that leaves a wax coating
• Moto Wash, good for
all surfaces
CB TOURER TALE • Scratch Remover,
Dear ARR, a micro-abrasive cream for
I refer to your review of the Yamaha Tracer really is free in SA), it can get well over painted surfaces
• Helmet & Visor Clean, to keep your
700 in the August issue. In the box titled 400km from a tank.
lid and your view pristine.
“What Else is on offer for your LAMS dollar?” I previously owned an ST1300, but as I Email roadrider@universalmagazines.com.au or
you state that the Honda CB500X is not am now over 60 and only 170cm tall, I do mail to ARR at 5/6–8 Byfield St, North Ryde NSW
in the ballpark in terms of performance or appreciate the difference between 195kg and 2113. We’ll do the rest.
touring ability. 330kg. My wife also appreciates the longer
I am the proud owner of a 2015 Honda travel suspension, even aer the suspension
CB500X. Of course, 655cc has more power was lowered by an inch.
than 471cc. However, my bike has proved So there you go. The CB500X is a good
it has excellent touring ability. I live in the tourer!
Adelaide Hills (prey close to motorcycle Marcel
heaven) and have toured with my pillion Email
in a million on two Snowy Rides and a trip
to Alice Springs, including Uluru. I also Greg: Thanks Marcel. Well, there is a real-
rode to the Ulysses Club AGM in May at world opinion based on actual testing. I tips
Port Macquarie. I have equipped the bike me lid. I will say that your size probably
with a taller touring screen, so panniers, a aids you in geing the best from the bike,
Ventura rack and bag, a DriRider tank bag but I agree 130kmh running two-up is more
and a few other goodies. than competent. The fact is, you can tour
On our trip to the Alice, it had no problem on just about anything if you put your mind
siing on the 130kmh speed limit. Naturally, to it. The sensible additions you have made
it was thirstier at this speed than usual, to your bike also bring it well in as a small
but could still get more than 330km from sports tourer. So we take your testimony on
its 17.3-litre tank. Normally, when riding board. What do others think? What bikes do
through the hills and on the freeway (which you tour on? Let’s hear more on this subject.

128 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER

 WINNER

HE’S A HAPPY CHAPPY! product. Bikes have to evolve and change if you see me on my Moto Guzzi V-9 Roamer,
Dear ARR, to embrace technology. Remember, it was please give me a wave — I like to give a nod
I continue to be impressed by the ongoing not that long ago that ABS was introduced or a wave to other riders. Thanks again, Greg,
evolution of ARR — it’s very much for the and some people made silly comments for a great effort and the contributors to
beer! The 132 pages of interesting reads mean against it. Now we understand the ARR, well done.
great value for money. In fact, it’s the only importance of an ABS system to help us David M Cauchi
magazine I subscribe to and I have for many, stop in an emergency. Kilburn, SA
many years. Change is good. I enjoy reading I still think we riders are paying too much
about peoples’ experiences and their riding for parts, for tyres and servicing our pride Greg: David, very kind words there regarding
trips, especially those undertaken in Australia. and joy. Many times I have wrien to ARR the magazine. It’s a labour of love for Spencer
We can’t all afford to go off on overseas rides, to express my concerns about the retail and I and we recognise how lucky we are. You
so the local ones are great fun. price of bikes when compared to overseas have made quite a few points. Scooters. Yes,
The bike reviews are great, however can I markets, especially when the Australian indeed, we will look at scooters. They make
ask that you also do reviews of scooters? I am dollar achieved parity with the US. I raised heaps of sense; they are no longer the lile
referring to 125cc and above. It’s been a while. my concerns with the Federal government runabouts that can’t be taken on serious
On the subject of bike tests, over the years, and ACCC, which monitors what goes on, but rides over serious distances and we need to
a critical issue for me has centred around as usual it’s a political football. acknowledge that. Regarding bike pricing, Oz
the height of bike seats. There are only a few The more people we get to ride bikes and is actually one of the cheaper places to buy
manufacturers who have adjustable seats, scooters, the stronger our voice. I am also a bike. The price differences when compared
but I think it should be standard. The same very happy to see more women on bikes and to the US are all about freight, distance and
with adjustable brake and clutch levers — all they add so much to the community. Now volume. It costs a fair whack to get the bikes
bikes should have them. that I am into retirement, I am planning here in the first place and we just don’t have
Now I know manufacturers will claim some long rides, usually over two or three the ordering power when it comes to volume.
that costs need to be minimised, however nights. I normally rough it and stay in three- Still, I see why you would take this on board
when a bike is mass-produced the costs star motels — I do want to have a shower and congratulate you for your vigilance.
are minimal and the rider gets a beer and comfy bed aer a day in the saddle. So Great to have you with us David.

AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 129

LETTERS
BILL’S LONELIEST ROAD
Dear ARR,
Just a quick note to say thanks for Bill
McKinnon’s piece on the loneliest road in
America. Please give this bloke some more
space in your magazine — he’s one of the few
who writes about more than the names of the
highways and the meals he ate.
If you’re doing a long trip on a motorbike,
you are going to encounter the locals and the
interactions you have are as much the story
as the number of kilometres you ride or the
weather you encounter. McKinnon hit the
sweet spot between a ride report and Close
Encounters of the Third Kind. First time in a
while I’ve read some interesting observations
about touring in the US of A.
Particularly relevant is his insight into
covering big distances. Australian riders have
to do this and there’s a lot less infill between
gas stops, even on the coastal strip. It’s a
meditation to spend all day riding, and those
of us who practise it recognise the Aum of
the wheels on the road when another devotee
calls it.
Peter W-T
Email

Greg: Peter, thanks so much. We regard Bill

as one of the finest writers in the caper.
Makes sense. He’s an ex-editor of Two Wheels
(when it was in its absolute heyday), has
been riding bikes for eons and has gone on
to become a globally recognised motoring
journalist. Indeed, when we read his two-part
piece about the loneliest road, we knew we
were on a winner. If I had my way, Bill would
be in every issue. Best I chase him up hard on
that front.

KNOCKED OUT BY BOXERS

Dear ARR,
A response to the article on the BMW boxers.
In days of yore when I had my 750 Honda, a
mate had a 650 Beemer. I more or less sneered
at the sad-sounding twin that was 100cc
lower in capacity than mine, and the look was
ho-hum. On one trip we swapped bikes and
I gave it back saying that it was good, but I
preferred mine...
I was fibbing. I was now considering
those bikes in a new light and their look was
becoming appealing. I truly fell for the boxer
when I rode an R 90S from Sydney to Cooma
and back, and was so impressed that I knew
I would have one eventually. That didn’t
happen until 2004, when I bought a 2000
model R 1100 S with a great-sounding Remus
pipe. Great bike!
In my opinion, the new Wasser boxers are
great-looking machines and aer I finish with
my K16 I will be geing one. Greg: Harry, the amount of times I have heard the boom, that badge. I need no convincing.
Harry Stephens a yarn like that! People who bag boxers are I’ve never owned one though, but given time, I
Pi Town, NSW oen turned right around aer riding one. reckon I will. Boxers rule.
That low C of G, the way the power grunts off

130 | AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER

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49 Queen Street Berry NSW 2535
6 Ainslie Close, Somersby NSW 2250 Ph 02 4464 2081 • Fax 02 4464 3344
Phone: 02 4372 1100 Email: info@oztrikes.com.au info@goodwool.com.au

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 USED MOTORCYCLE PARTS ONLINE
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Click on: “Visit our eBay store” for 500+ listed parts.

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Parts available are updated frequently.
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Contact Frank Nieuwenhuis

Phone: 0437 369 642
Email: franknieuwenhuis@activ8.net.au
Located in North East Victoria

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Ride amazing New Zealand!

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and latest model rentals. +64 9 473 9404

W are NZs only BMW Motorrad

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 Pazzo Levers now available in
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Austalian Motorcycle Components

sales@amcmotorcycles.com
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P: 07 5451 8733 | F: 07 5451 8798
Great bike accommodation

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they come with our industry-leading 5-year warranty! from Classics to Sports/Tourers, Retro and Adventure.
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PRECISION SHIMS AUSTRALIA

A manufacture of shims for the adjustment of

inlet and exhaust valve clearances.
Range of sizes available from 7.0mm - 40.0mm diameter.
Priced from $5.50 each inc. GST.
Incremental steps of .02mm or .05mm available.
Kits available including .02 & .05 increments.
TO ADVERTISE
IN ROADRIDER
PLEASE CALL

PHONE OR FAX ORDERS TO: Precision Shims

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www.precisionshims.com.au
CHRISTIAN
ON

02 9887 0393
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THAT BIKE OF YOURS
Now that you’re all caught up with what we’ve been riding lately,
here are some of the awesome motorcycles owned by you guys

r Andy Simmo's Triumph Speed Triple r Jay Klippelt's Suzuki Hayabusa

r Tim Graham's Aprilia Tuono r Brian Gurney's Kawasaki ZX-14R r Peter Golding's Kawasaki Z1000

r Des Hehir's Triumph Thruxton

If you’d like to see your very own pride and joy

featured in the mag, send a photo to gleech@
universalmagazines.com.au or message us on Facebook.
r James Beckett's Suzuki GS500

AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 137

 15 graphics versions | Light Weight CAF (Carbon-Fibreglass) Shell |
4 Density EPS Structure | Compact Visor Mechanism for Maximum Peripheral Vision |
Integrated Aero Spoiler | Double DD closure | Moisture Wicking Soft Interiors |
Waterproof Neck Roll | IVS (Intergrated Vision System) with 5 Front Vents & 2 Rear Extractors
170335

Discover K-5S at your local AGV dealership or at linkint.com.au