Broadcast - 26 Feb 2023
Wednesday night’s Technical night once again saw Peter VK7KPC arriving early at the club rooms and setting up in the radio room to join in with the 3.567MHz net hosted by Nic VK7WW.
Peter was using his newish Xiegu look alike transceiver, model CS108G. This is a small 20 Watt HF SSB CW transceiver, constructed in a robust aluminium extrusion complete with heavy duty protective carry handles. Seems to be an excellent candidate for portable use. It gave a good account of itself and had surprisingly good recovered audio. There was a Morse Code Key nearby, so one can only assume that he was part of the CW net prior to our arrival. After the net it was brought out onto the table for general perusal.
Peter VK7PD very recently ordered an external display accessory for his Yaesu FT-817 and it miraculously arrived in just on two weeks. This accessory connects via the CAT control connector and mimics the information displayed on the radio’s LCD screen. It is intended to be part of his portable digital setup for field days. This will be a major help as it takes the screen size from 35mm to 80mm diagonal, more suitable for our aging eyesight, and convenient as it can be located within 1.8 metres of the transceiver using the provided CAT interface cable. This will be very interesting to see how the portable set up pans out. I am sure Peter will keep us informed of his progress.
Colin VK7ZCF showed of his recently acquired 1296 MHz 2W Transverter from a well-known European supplier, SG Laboratories in Bulgaria. This unit was securely mounted onto and had its IF coupled to a Yaesu FT-290R multi-mode 2 metre portable transceiver. All patch leads were RG316 and terminated in SMA connectors, they were of a short length and kept things very neat and tidy.
All possible sockets and connectors were meticulously labelled, none of this “Sharpie” pen or relying on memory stuff for Colin. Even the two 12Volt power cables with “plug pack” type DC plugs were labelled for each unit, a very nice touch. That was until Colin mentioned that the FT-290 had positive on the outer sleeve of the power connector in contrast to most modern equipment with centre pin positive. Then it became apparent it was a necessity not a luxury. You even have to be careful not to let the two DC plugs brush together or there goes another fuse. HiHi. Not sure if the PCB antenna, although very neat, will make it back to Launceston from George Town for the after Sunday Broadcast 1296 QSO, but worth a try and a possible future linkup.
Peter VK7ZPE brought in his new acquisition, a Diamond SG-9500N tri-band antenna designed for the 2m / 70cm / 23cm bands and is also allegedly ground plane independent. The antenna connection is an “N” type and was paired with a pre-moulded interconnect cable, suitable for vehicle installation, also manufactured by Diamond, type S510NN. This cable provides an N-socket antenna base, a 1 metre section of “1.5D-Q.SUPER” thin coax to get it into the vehicle proper then a 4 metre section of “5DQ-II” normal low loss coax to the transceiver, terminated in a N-plug.
Stuart VK7FEAT has been busy and showed off some of his handy work in the form of hand wound toroids for a few long term projects that he is working on. Mainly units for filtering and HF antenna matching. It will be interesting to connect some of these devices up and conduct some “test and measurements” to see the results. Always good to see physical things being constructed and shown. Keep up the good work Stuart.
To round the evening off we all grabbed a coffee or tea and sat back to watch a YouTube video from one of the more popular amateur radio presenters, Hayden VK7HH. This timely interview came about because of some trigger happy happenings in America regarding high elevation balloons. Hayden was interviewing a fellow amateur, Mark VK5QI on the subject of amateur radio pico balloon flights. One outstanding fact was that in Australia we must lodge an application with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) for a permit to launch a balloon. This applies to all balloon launches even though most amateur payloads only weigh about 15 grams. They still come under the light balloon category which has a maximum of a 4 Kgm payload. However in air space over the United States, no approval is required for payloads under 2.5Kgms. The other aspect regarding amateur international ballooning is the fact that Geo Fencing is implemented, which inhibits transmissions over some touchy countries. This was a good conclusion to the night and is thoroughly recommended viewing. Check it out on Hayden’s YouTube HRDX channel.
Now back to reality.
Mug Order - yes, we are talking about the white mugs for drinking out of, those that have our club logo on one side, personalised with your name and call sign on the other. We are placing another order so if you would like one then please see André at the Friday coffee mornings or at the Wednesday bi-weekly club Technical Nights. Those members who have already requested a mug, please email secretary@ntarc.net to confirm order, and anyone else who wants one please specify what name is to be printed above the call sign. The final price will be about $12 depending on eventual quantity ordered.
UPCOMING EVENTS
The TestNet and TechNet session - Wednesday the 1st March. 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.
Coffee Morning - held every Friday in the NTARC Club rooms. Time is from 10am to noon and we look forward to seeing you all there. We currently have a couple of QSL cards awaiting collection, so why not pop in and check the box and join us for a cuppa and chat.
The Club Technical night - The next session will be on Wednesday 8th of March and will commence at the usual time of 7.30 pm, running through to about 10.30 pm, at the Club room Archer Street, Rocherlea. Pop in catch up with fellow amateurs, bring along something that you are currently building or just ask questions? You might also be able to answer some from other attendees. That is what the evenings are all about, anything of a technical or near-technical nature, however defined, is fair game. Endless tea and coffee along with biscuits is available for a small gold coin donation.
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.
