Monday 20/02/2012

We took delivery of our new Kenwood TS-2000 on Monday night. After connecting the power supply and antenna a number of contacts were made.

Steve showed us his new toy.  It’s an XG3 which is a powerful programmable signal source that fits in the palm of your hand.

Spec fro the web site:

1.5-200 MHz with calibrated output levels: -107, -73, -33 and 0 dBm. Rich in harmonics to 1400 MHz.Frequencies programmed into memories above 200 MHz fundamental will automatically calculate the fundamental needed to generate the desired harmonic. 12 frequency memories, computer controllable. 

Dimensions:  4.3 x 2.5 x 0.8"    Includes serial cable.

We also managed to tune Alex’s now 70cm for the next balloon project.

Once again, another enjoyable evening.

Monday 13/02/2012

Not a bad turn out tonight in Banstead. Denis (M0NDJ) was showing us his foxhole receiver which was built on the same lines as the ones during the Second World War. This is basically a crystal set using a razor blade as a detector diode.

As expected we were able to here Christian Radio on this crystal set due to us only being a mile or so from the transmitter.

On Monday 21^st will take delivery of our new club transceiver which is a Kenwood TS-2000. This is for use by club members and to be used for club and training events. This is going to be a great asset for Monday practical group and we are planning to be on the air most Monday nights.

Monday 06/02/2012

Not as many of us as normal this Monday, probably due to the bad weather. Banstead still had a lot of snow from the weekend and most of us parked in the main car park and walked down to the hall.

I took my Icom ID-E880 Dstar radio again and managed a few contacts before asking Paul (M6PCK) if he wanted to operate.  This was Paul’s first time on the air with his new call sign.  

I was going to show Paul how to program the radio but I forgot my USB to serial lead.

Never mind the tea and biscuits were good.

Monday 30/01/2012

I took my Icom ID-E880 Dstar radio to the Banstead Scout Hall, Set up the antenna and we had a station on the air. We worked a couple of stations via the Bromley Dstar Hotspot MB6IOK. This worked very well and the Bromley Repeater Group posted the following on Facebook.

Bromley Repeater Group

Surprise to hear Martin Butler, M1MRB working through MB6IOK in Orpington from Sutton and Cheam radio club this evening talking to K4GSU in USA and then shortly after Cliff, 2E0RCW in London using a dongle connected to reflector 1c.

Not and many members as normal but we still did some HF operating as well as discussing various radio topics.

On our way home four of us were on GB3NS foe about 30 minutes  before signing.

All in all another good night out.