Broadcast - 25 Sept 2022
We will begin this week with an update on Wednesdays Tech Night session, the last for September! Stuart, VK7FEAT had Luke Sky Warmer stoked up with kindling and ablaze in double quick time. Not sure if the expertise came from the “Boy Scouts” or the “Bushman”, either way it soon took the chill of the room and made things comfortable. These nights usually start with at least one item for show and tell and tonight was no exception.
Ross VK7ALH brought in a recent-ish addition to his, I assume ever growing collection. This offering was a Yaesu FT200, from the early 70s. It is a hybrid of transistors and valves. It features a transistorised VFO, voltage regulator and calibrator with 12 diodes, 6 transistors and sea of 16 valves, including the two 6JS6A pentode finals. The expected 40Watt AM and 100Watt SSB/CW of that valve combination. Certainly not as heavy as the FT101 but still a serious 8 kilograms. This was the silver and grey case version.
I assumed it was yet another immaculate restoration job of his, but according to Ross it was virtually new ex-stock and that’s how it arrived. After fifty years it has finally made it to Ross’s Retirement Home for elderly radios.
Andre’ brought along his latest acquisition a Transmit or Receive switch unit from MFJ, model 1708B version SDR. It can be used on a pair of Boat Anchors as the receiver and transmitter switch, or with a transceiver and SDR sharing the same antenna.
It’s designed to fit inline between a transceiver and antenna while also providing a safe split of the antenna signal to a dedicated receiver or SDR. Andre’ tested it earlier and can confirm it was a true split and that the transceiver’s receive function worked with no noticeable drop in signal strength. The unit is designed to be controlled ideally from the PTT output of your transmitters. It also uses RF detection of the Transmit signal to control the switching, with the SDR input being further protected via a clamping diode array.
The enclosure was quickly pulled apart to reveal a well-made unit. Andre’ downloaded the user manual from the manufacturer’s site but could not find any technical data sheets. From the user manual a note says that the unit should not be used with transmitters over 200W and quote “has excellent isolation between Transceiver and SDR Receive ports” and “Good SWR characteristics up to 450MHz”. This was the only reference to the unit’s frequency range.
Andre’ was unable to obtain this unit or the SDRplay in Australia. Luckily HamRadio.co.uk from England carried them and amazingly they arrived in less than 10 days.
Note: The Model 1707 looks similar but is designed to switch a transceiver between separate TX and RX antennas. Andre’ thought it a good idea to try and protect his SDR, even a manual antenna switch has deadly leakage when transmitting.
Update on last week’s breaking news - Peter, VK7KPC has received a certificate from the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) in the IOTA Contest for 2022. He achieved 8th Place in Non-UK Station Single Operator Section for NON-DXPEDITION / MIXED MODE / QRP.
According to the IOTA web site the contest was: "Established in 1964, it promotes radio contacts with stations located on islands around the world to enrich the experience of all active on the amateur bands and, to do this, it draws on the widespread mystique surrounding islands." This description seems to encourage expeditions to IOTA islands to "Activate" a temporary Amateur Radio base camp for this contest.
The contest is administered by IOTA Ltd in partnership with the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) and is held the last full weekend in July over a 24 hour period.
Contest bands are 80m, 40m, 20m, 15m and 10m, with both SSB and CW used.
While we are congratulating Peter on his activities, his callsign also appeared in issue 5 of Amateur Radio under “2022 VK Shires Contest report”, Peter had taken out First Place for VK Single Operator, 10 Watt, All Band, All Mode category of the contest. For more details we have covered this success in a previous broadcast in July.
Now, you may have heard that things come in threes, in this case good things. Still in AR magazine Peter, yes the same Peter! was also mention in the article titled, ” Harry Angel Memorial 80m Sprint – Results 2022”. Peter was one of two VK7s that submitted logs to this 80m contest. This contest is in memory of Harry Angel, VK4HA and according to AR magazine, “at the time of his becoming a Silent Key, was the oldest licensed amateur in Australia”. That in itself is an achievement. I must admit this event surprised me as the contest only goes for 106 minutes! Yes not even 2 hours! I can now see why it was called a sprint. Evidently, there is one minute of contest time for each year of Harry’s life. That explains things and in that case he did indeed reach a good age and would have hopefully received his letter from the late Queen. Congratulations to Peter and the only other VK7 participant, Catherine VK7C, for waving the flag.
Thanks go to Rick VK7HBR, for stepping into the breach at short notice and very capably taking over the position of Net Controller for Wednesday night’s Tech Net Session. From the sound of the atmospheric noise intermittently emanating from the Club radio room, while Ross was participating, it may not have been an easy session and band to work with, especially going in cold. Either way well done and thank you Rick.
JOTA/JOTI for 2022 volunteers to assist are needed!
The Venue is the NTARC Club rooms, which is the Rocherlea Scout Hall, Archer St, Rocherlea.
The sessions will be on Saturday the 15th of October from noon to 6pm and Sunday the 16th October from 10am till 3pm. Groups are planned to arrive in two hour blocks, split up and rotate through four activities.
At the Club Rooms we will need volunteers to assist with:
The operation of each of the transceivers set up for voice chat by the participants.
Assembly of Morse code trainer kits, (no soldering required only a screwdriver).
Sending and receiving each other’s names by Morse code on the practice keys. (No, not live to air)
Plus external to the Club Rooms:
We need local contacts to chat with the kids in case we can’t link up to other Scout venues. If you are able to assist for any length of time over the two days please let Peter, VK7KPC or the club Secretary know of your availability by e-mailing secretary@ntarc.net
NTARC QSL Cards.
Thanks to Herman for his continued support regarding QSL deliveries. The following call signs are waiting at the NTARC club rooms for collection: VK7AU, CH, DON and IG.
73 from Andrew, VK7DW, QSL Manager
UPCOMING EVENTS
TestNet and TechNet – Wednesday 28th September. TestNet/CW course on 3.580MHz from 7pm till 7.30pm….and a TechNet on 3.567MHz from 7.30pm till about 8.30pm. Your host for the evening will be Nic VK7WW.
Club Technical night - Wednesday 5th October. Held at the NTARC Club rooms, 7.30pm until late.
SSTV Net - Held every Thursday night on the 70cm repeater, VK7RJG and linked to the South via repeater VK7RAF. Conducted from about 7.30pm. These SSTV images will be available on the NTARC website under ‘Blogs’.
Coffee Morning – held every Friday in the NTARC Club rooms. Get warm while you catch up, time is from 10am to noon and we look forward to seeing you all there. These coffee events represent a good opportunity to collect your QSL cards. We currently have cards awaiting collection, so why not pop in and check the QSL box and join us for a cuppa and chat.
The club is following the Covid 19 recommendation to continue wearing face masks when gathering.
FINALLY – A reminder to all members that if you have any items of news you would like added to our weekly roundup, no matter how trivial, then please email them to the Secretary at the following address news@ntarc.net all items to be received no later than 5pm on the Friday prior to the Broadcast.
That’s all folks,
73 from Stefan, VK7ZSB, Secretary NTARC.
