Ham Radio

[Tommy T.]

3 minutes ago, GeoffH said:

Most of it is school based from what I can see.

Definitely correct. I will talk to L about it also since she is a high school teacher and has some connections to the scouts here.

By the way, I sent another message you may not have seen showing the radio "shack" on the yacht. You might get a kick out of that?

[GeoffH]

Yes I just saw the picture, very neat set up ( and I do like Icom radios ).

Thanks for checking with L, there is a family cousin who is a secondary teacher but she is in Ozamiz not CDO, not so easy to ask.

[Tommy T.]

17 minutes ago, GeoffH said:

Yes I just saw the picture, very neat set up ( and I do like Icom radios ).

 

The VHF came with the yacht (so is vintage 1985) so is huge by modern standards. But it still worked like a champ when I sold the yacht two years ago...

I never liked the SSB because it is not easy to dial in frequencies like on a ham rig. But it was great for digital and put out a solid 150 watts all day without fail. I had it modified to transmit on all frequencies, not just marine band. But it didn't have all the frequencies that the ham radio did. I kept burning up the finals on the small ham units at just 100 watts because they weren't built for virtually continuous digital duty, sometimes for an hour when propagation was slow.

Edited September 6, 2019 by Tommy T.
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[Tommy T.]

3 hours ago, GeoffH said:

The scouts would definitely be interested but the issue is HF propagation and limited antennas at the scout hall and radio club.  

 

I just used a long wire on the yacht and it worked great. It just needs to not be one of those odd lengths that can be difficult to tune. It just needs to be vertical or near vertical - 30 degrees off vertical is fine - and maybe up to 50 feet long or so? Also, a simple dipole might be possible to rig up. You are so lucky that you have Dick Smith electronics there for components!

I found that the ground (counterpoise) was almost more important than the antenna. Propagation can be figured out on the fly - there are lots of government and other sources to see what "should" work for various seasons, time of day, location and sun spot activity.

Edited September 6, 2019 by Tommy T.
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[RobH]

I started out when I bought a small crystal set when I was 13, My dad found a first world war booklet about making crystal sets. so I started making short wave versions, and used to listen at night in bed. Thats when I found amateur radio. The local hams used to chat every night on top band, it fascinated me I didn't know what they were talking about, technical discussions ,this went on for a long time, and I gradually learned more an more, there was a local government surplus shop where there was tons of components, military radios, which I would vist to buy parts and learn a bit more about radio.

When I started work as an apprentice instrument maker ( No they don't make instruments, as such. but electro/mechanical items. we made military radios) there was a scrap yard where PCB boards and components could be bought for pennies. I had progressed to ex government receivers and a proper aerial and an earth. hearing stations all around the globe. 

I joined the army and used motor bikes to get around. Old motor bikes have been my love for most of my life. I only stopped when I came here. When I got older I didn't ride so much, so it was not such a problem, but I do miss my machine shop and the availability of all that goes with making things. I took my amateur radio exam when I got out of the army and got married, but old bikes were still my main interest which grew and grew over the years.

I knew that I would need some sort of hobby when I came here, so when the wife came back here to find us a lot too build a house, she was told to find a lot with tall palms that was big, up a mountain. we got a ready built house, no palms and no mountain. but its nice here so I don't complain, but  its a big lot so any aerial can fit. I have a 2 wavelength horizontal loop on 160, balanced feed and  it tunes top band to 10.

The local club DX3OC does a lot with the scouts and has a yearly Jota thing with them, not so good for me as I don't speak Tagalog. This also applies to VHF/UHF which is nearly all Tagalog, nearly all the locals dont speak English well not as I know it, So it makes it really hard work to have a QSO. there is very little SSB, in Bagio there is some activity I am told. So HF for me. 

As far as women are concerned there are a lot more on air here than there are in the UK, the proliferation of the Bofeng seems to have affected this, the low cost has brought a lot more people into the hobby here. Unfortunately it has also brought the amount of bootleggers  up to a high amount, there are many more of them than there are of us, With little or no enforcement, it has now become unenforcible. Which makes VHF/UHF useless for meThere are a few rich (by Philippine standards) people on HF with modern rigs who do speak English. as far as repeaters go I can't access any from here. There are very few digital repeaters.. I can hear one but don't have any equipment to access it. And I am not prepared to spend on it.

 

 

[RobH]

I completely forgot to mention. Disaster relief communication is a big thing here, well there are more disasters so its to be expected. PARA does a lot with this. There are local nets on VHF weekly. I can't hear any here. And 7.095Mhz is the HF one. Its all announced on facebook page by PARA.

[bastonjock]

I have managed to get a qsl with the states on 10w  and ive tried and failed to talk to the international space station 

I like to do mobile stuff , i have a gel battery fir power a budipole fir antenna and a transceiver akso use an automatic tuner 

Perhaps ill do the exams , its three stages here in the UK , foundation, intermediate and full , you can do the first two at a club but need to go to college to do the full 

[Jollygoodfellow]

8 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

You are so lucky that you have Dick Smith electronics there for components!

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but sure they closed down about 3 years ago. 

[Tommy T.]

44 minutes ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but sure they closed down about 3 years ago. 

Really? I haven't been to OZ for many years - I had no idea...That's too bad.

[Jollygoodfellow]

4 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

Really? I haven't been to OZ for many years - I had no idea...That's too bad.

Quote

On 4 January 2016, with the value of shares in Dick Smith Holdings having fallen by more than 80% since they were listed on the ASX in December 2013, a halt in trading was requested.[25] The following day, Dick Smith Holdings Limited (and associated entities) was placed into administration by its major creditors National Australia Bank (NAB) and HSBC Bank Australia.[26] McGrathNicol were appointed as administrators by the company's board but receivers Ferrier Hodgson were appointed by the creditors.[27] CEO Nick Abboud stepped down on January 12.[28]

Having failed to secure a buyer for the stores, receivers Ferrier Hodgson announced, on 25 February 2016, that all 363 DSE stores in Australia and New Zealand would be closed, with the loss of 2,460 jobs.[29][30][31][32]

On 15 March 2016 it was revealed that Kogan.com, the online retailer founded by Ruslan Kogan, had acquired the Dick Smith brand, trademarks, intellectual property, and its online business in Australia and New Zealand for an undisclosed price.[33]

The last stores closed on 3 May 2016.[34]

On 25 July 2016 Dick Smith Electronics' creditors placed what was then left of the company in liquidation.[35][36] Creditors were expected to lose up to A$260 million.[37]

Though unconnected with the company for 34 years, its founder Dick Smith expressed dismay at the closure and put it down to the "utter greed of modern capitalism".[38]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Smith_(retailer)