The forum has been updated and is now faster than before. There are now 2 ways to get back to the club website from the forum. Click the logo in the top left corner or in the link bar there is a link called “SDARC Website”
If you subscribe to our forum RSS feeds you will need to resubscribe as the URL has changed.
I noticed Kevin, G6FOP posted in the forum of a company he found called Aerial-Parts of Colchester. They can be found online at http://aerial-parts.co.uk.
The company is run by John, G4ZTR whose experience spans more than 30 years of VHF and UHF contesting, DXing and DXpeditions. This experience is now being applied to a selection of engineering solutions to ham radio aerial / mast construction and installation.
They sell a wide range of antenna related products. Some ready made, some for you to build your own.
They sell power splitters for 144, 432 and 1296. You can also find mast clamps, bearings, element clamps, boom clamps, and fasteners of all kinds. They also sell aluminium although that is collection only.
Future products are listed as:
John, G4BAO has a kit consisting of a PCB and all the components for the wideband amplifier project published in RadCom March 2010. These are still available although limited stock.
There is now a modification which can significantly reduce the noise flaw. Please see http://homepage.ntlworld.com/john.g4bao/Files/WBA2.pdf for more details.
Full kit prices are:
Paypal to [email protected]. or cheques payable to “bravo alpha oscar” QTHR
Tin boxes can be purchased from Alan, G3NYK http://www.alan.melia.btinternet.co.uk/componen.htm and are part numbers 1000101 and 1000102.
When Ofcom issued the ‘lifetime’ Amateur Radio Licence in December 2006, it said that all Amateurs had to revalidate their licence every 5 years at the latest.
This meant 2012, but since this year coincides with the London Olympics, they have now added another year of grace to make it 2013.
However, revalidating can be done at any time and it will give you another 5 years. So better to do it today than forget about it in 2012/13.
Should you discover that you’ve forgotten your Ofcom online licensing username/password/old email address then contact the Amateur Radio department at Ofcom on 0300 123 3333 or 020 7981 3040 Monday to Friday from 9.00am to 5.00pm, email [email protected]
Remember the hard working and dedicated staff in the Amateur Radio division at Ofcom didn’t create the current online licensing system so please be polite when raising queries with them.
You can login to the Ofcom online licence service at https://services.ofcom.org.uk/
The Kantronics KPC-3+ is engineered for dependable and versatile digital communications. This unit reflects many years of Kantronics experience and is built with an eye toward emerging applications. The KPC-3+ can fill a variety of roles. In use around the world, Kantronics Packet Communicators set the standard by which others are measured!
As a single-port radio modem/TNC compatible with the characteristics of UHF/VHF transmission bands, the KPC-3+ can be paired with a UHF/VHF radio to serve the following functions and applications:
You can carry a KPC-3+ into the field with a radio to form a mobile data terminal, or (with the addition of an external GPS receiver) a GPS mobile “tracker”. Its flexible power requirements (6 ~ 25 Vdc) allow for maximum versatility. You can achieve many hours of use by installing a 9 volt battery inside the KPC-3+. Battery life can be extended by disabling the LED displays through a simple keyboard command.
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THIS IS A TEST POST. PLEASE DON’T BUY THE PRODUCT!
On 1st March 2011, Justin Johnson, G0KSC launches InnovAntennas Limited to fill a niche in the global antenna market; high-quality design and construction in one package.
Justin has become well known globally for his LFA (Loop Fed Array) Yagi and the marked impact it has had upon specialist areas such as EME (Earth Moon Earth) communication. He also introduced the OWL (Optimised Wideband Array) Yagi to the world with its combination of high-performance and wide bandwidth to the ham community last year. Like the many other manufacturers that have already adopted the G0KSC designs (under license), InnovAntennas will produce a wide range of these antennas in addition to the unreleased OP-DES (Opposing Phase Driven Element System) Yagi which has been specifically designed to cover individual HF bands in their entirety without the need for an ATU or antenna matching device which can badly effect the efficiency and performance of Yagi antennas.
Mechanically, InnovAntennas will aim for the top-end of the market, complementing the quality electromagnetic designs which have been created with Advanced packages such as FEKO, a specialist electromagnetic design tool which uses Particle Swarm computer Optimisation techniques and has the ability to model all aspects of the antenna including insulators, booms, buildings and even the effects people around the antenna will have.
The InnovAntennas website provides in-depth information on each and every antenna in the range although the team are very happy to discuss any requirements individuals may have and will pay for the call too!
InnvoAntennas can be contacted on freephone 0800 0124 205 or via their website, www.innovantennas.com – [email protected]
Dennis, G3LLZ has generously offered a FREE service to calibrate your digital or analogue multimeter. If your meter doesn’t have any calibration facility he can still measure its accuracy.
This service is only available free to paid up members. If you aren’t a member, please discuss with Dennis and he will discuss the fee.
The committee has been working hard to bring our dated club constitution in line with the RSGB suggested version. Nothing major has really changed too much but we are asking that you review it now prior to a vote at the EGM which is to be held on February 17th 2011. Please ensure if you have any questions or concerns about any part that you direct them to Den, M0ACM as soon as possible.
You can download a PDF copy here.
Please remember that you have to be a member to vote. If you haven’t yet paid then I’m sure Mike will happily accept your subs on the night (or before.)
To see a list of current members click here.
We look forward to your support.
Here is some good news just released by the UK Space Agency about the UKube-1 project.
http://www.ukspaceagency.bis.gov.uk/21973.aspx
You will see that the FUNcube system is formally part of the project. Whilst the release does not mention the FUNcube linear U/V transponder function during evenings and weekend, this functionality will be included in the same way that it is planned for the actual FUNcube-1 cubesat itself!
The FUNcube development team is looking forward to the extra challenge of producing two sets of everything in the very short timescales required by both projects:,,)
It is also good to se that they are proposing to use 9k6 BPSK as the modulation of the other VHF downlink transmitter that will be sued on UKube-1. Of course the FUNcube dongle and all the usual software will be perfect for receiving such signals. (About 6kHz bandwidth with the receiver in SSB mode if I understand it correctly)
best 73
Graham
G3VZV
This guy needs to join our club!
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7kirdtdI1c