WEEKLY BULLETIN 3 February 2017
THE PAST WEEK –
The CQWW 160m CW contest saw that band with wall-to-wall stations throughout the weekend. PhilUDU was our principal activist and he reported happy contacts from as far afield as Arizona. Phil has no more than the average domestic garden space so if he can “do” antennas on 160 then so can the rest of you; all it takes is a modicum of I N G E N U I T Y !
NOTE: The 160m SSB contest begins three weeks from now.
Sat. net via GB3WO was well supported
Sunday net on 80m scarcely at all. The stalwarts think it should move to 160m to, at least, encourage experimentation.
Apology. For the remainder of the week your reporter was either ‘out of town’ or wholly tied up with obligations towards visitors from VK land and is unable to report .
On the reflector….the valuable practice of members instantly reporting interesting stations being heard, is growing – but all-too-slowly. PhilUDU, KennNDZ and TedEUE are showing the way but we need more.
**************
Rallies this weekend.
32nd Canvey Radio & Electronics Rally
Sunday Feb 5th
The Paddocks Community Centre, Long Road, Canvey Island, SS8 0JA.
Open 10:30 (08:30-traders). Trade. SIGs. Free parking.
Refreshments, including Mark’s famous bacon baguettes.
Details: Vic Rogers, G6BHE, 07957-461694 or Dave Speechley, G4UVJ, 01268-697978, g4uvj@btinternet.com
Go there. !
*********************
THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO
Islands
WEST MALAYSIA, 9M2. A group of operators will be QRV as 9M4LI from Lalang-Lalang Island, IOTA AS-072, from February 3 to 5. Activity will be on various HF bands and modes. QSL direct to 9W2NDQ.
Contests this weekend
The North American CW Sprint,
10-10 International SSB Winter Contest,
Mexico RTTY International Contest,
YLRL YL-OM Contest,
Triathlon DX Contest,
Black Sea Cup International,
F9AA CW Cup,
Minnesota QSO Party,
FYBO Winter QRP Sprint,
AGCW 80-Meter Straight Key Party,
British Columbia QSO Party
FISTS Winter Slow Speed CW Sprint
.
The RSGB 80-Meter Club SSB Championship is scheduled for February 6.
The ARS Spartan CW Sprint is scheduled for February 7.
See ARRL and WA7BNM contest web sites for full info.
*******************
DX News
CYPRUS, 5B. Members of the Paphos Radio Club are QRV with special event station H2017PFO during all of 2017 for Europe’s Capital of Culture in 2017. Activity is on the HF bands using all modes. QSL direct to 5B4AIE.
BAHAMAS, C6A. Operators Tim, N4UM, Mike, K4RUM and Bob, N4BP will be QRV as C6ARU, C6AUM and C6AKQ, respectively, from Abaco Island, IOTA NA-080, from February 7 to 21. Activity will be on 160 to 6 meters using CW and some RTTY. This includes an entry in the upcoming ARRL DX CW contest. QSL via operators’ instructions.
NB certificate chasers…
If you are seeking contacts with these C6A stations for DXCC or some IOTA award, check to make sure they are actually on-shore. I once operated a great deal from Abaco only to have stations worked telling me it didn’t count for them because I was in a boat.! Even when tied to the quay it still didn’t count , it had to be with a station onshore. ! I even offered to stand on the dock and lean into the cockpit with an extra long mic. lead but no-one knew if that would pass some awards committee or other and at which stage the bar was due to open snd I rather lost patience and interest ….
URUGUAY, CX. Henry, LU4DXU will be QRV as CX/LU4DXU from Lobos and Goritti Islands, both IOTA SA-039, from February 4 to 11. QSL to home call
.
FERNANDO DE NORONHA, PY0F. Leo, PP1CZ is QRV as PY0F/PP1CZ until February 8. Activity is on 80 to 10 meters using CW, SB and RTTY.
QSL direct to home call.
**********
Programme of club events
|
*************
The Sun (remember it ?
|
||||||
**********
Propagation
VOACAP Online – professional-grade high-frequency (3-30 MHz) point-to-point propagation predictions
**************
Weekly Comment
BITX-40
Amateur radio gear takes up far too much beer-money.
(G3GVB says so) so it is interesting to learn of an Indian outfit which is producing a 7 – 20 watt 40m SSB transciever kit for less than 50 US dollars.
I have no knowledge except what I read; so caveat emptor.
Technical info
The BITX40 is a very clean, crisp and quite receiver. The front-end has a triple tuned circuit that cuts out-of-band signals from getting inside, a diode ring mixer front-end with a very low phase noise, all analog oscillator makes this a crisp receiver that doesn’t overload easily. The all analog signal path to your ear makes provides outstanding signal clarity that is to be heard to be believed.
7 to 20 watts of SSB provides you with enough juice to have thousands of contacts on 40 meters, daily rag chew and occasional DX chasing. Any common 2 ampere 12 linear volts supply will provide enough juice for this transceiver. Or you could simply run it from a battery!
Hackable
The BITX40 will inspire you to experiment. Modify it, mount it, tweak it, change it.
The PCB uses all analog large sized SMD components that are laid out on an easy to understand manner on a double sided board with broad tracks. This can be your main module around which you can start experimenting. There are jump-points from where you can add more modules like the DDS, more bands, better audio amplifier, etc. Imagination is your limit. You can separately increase the power amplifier’s supply voltage to 25 volts to be more than 20 watts of power : You will have to add a better heat sink. The mods are on the way!
The board can be installed inside any box that you like. Make your own station rigs, man-packs, trail radios or mount it in a cigar box and leave it on your bedside table. The tuning capacitor has been replaced by a varactor tuning so you can place the tuning knob anywhere as it only carries a DC voltage. Watch the instructions video.
Box Contents
We have tried to include connector/hardware you might possibly need to build a full radio. However, we also had to balance the shipping weight to keep the overall cost down. You will have to supply your own box, power supply and earphones/headphones/speaker.
- 4-1/2 inches by 5 inches tested SSB transceiver module, covering any 150 KHz segment of the 7 MHz band
- Small electret microphone
- High quality BNC connector for the antenna
- Two earphone style audio jacks for the mic and the earphones/speaker
- A set of DC power socket and plug
- Volume control with on/off switch
- 100k linear pot for tuning
- 4 Brass stand-offs with mounting nuts and bolts
- Connectors with wires for all connections on the board
* Note : A speaker is not included in the kit as earphones/headphones/speakers are easily available locally. No cabinet is included to save on the postage cost. Almost any box maybe used.
****************************************
The weekly message
160m antenna. , 160m ant., 160m ant.
BryanGVB
