Delboy's Radio Blog: August 2016

31 August 2016

The North West Net (UK)

From the Charlie Tango Forum:

"The Northwest Net will be active this evening ( 31 Aug ) 27,125 USB . 1900-2130 hours.

26 Uk 873 Roy will be in the chair on the Beacon and myself portable in North Wales .

The net operates alongside the other Mid week nets but only on the first and last Wednesdays of the month due work commitments.

So, come make the trip!

Cheers

Rob

26 CT 2023"

28 August 2016

CB Radio: German Duplex Repeater

I've often heard a duplex repeater on channel 40 on the mid band (27.405) and wondered where it was located. With thanks to Reiner who spoke to me on-air via some amazing propagation, I find that this repeater is located 805m above sea level near Ochsenwang (QTH locator JN46RN) in Southern Germany.

Currently the repeater is using a fully legal Midland Alan 48 radio with 4 watts output. The transmitting antenna is a Sirio 827 with the receiving antenna being a Sirio Super 12.

Being a duplex repeater you need to transmit on an input frequency and listen on the output frequency.

The input frequency is 26.565Mhz with the output being on 27.405Mhz. Please note that the input frequency is not legal in the UK and many other parts of the world but is legal in Germany being on their channel 41.

So why not take a listen when the conditions are right?

If you do decide to use the repeater please make sure you operate in a responsible manner and remember that this repeater was set up to improve local comms in a mountainous area and priority should always be given to local stations.

The repeater group also has a Facebook page which you can see here: LINK (Closed group, you will have to ask for permission to join)

26 August 2016

Yaesu MH-31a Vs MH-67a (Clone)

Video:YouTube/fredintheshed1

In this video Fred takes a look at a cheap MH-67A clone microphone and compares it to the standard Yaesu MH-31A microphone.

25 August 2016

President Grant 2 - Bank Holiday Special @ Knights

Knights Electrocom have the President Grant 2 (Non-Premium) on offer over the Bank Holiday weekend at a special price of £169

Lick to website: CLICK HERE

4meter.se - VHF CB Website

Following the recent CB Radio allocation on 69MHz in Sweden a new website has launched for users of this band.

Featuring information and a forum this site is sure to prove popular with radio operators in Sweden and around the world. So if you are interested in 4 Meter/69Mhz operation please take a look. Registration is free and only takes a few minutes.

The 69MHz calling channel is on 69.1875 so if you have equipment capable of operating on this frequency take a listen as you may just hear someone calling when conditions are good.

Link: http://www.4meter.se/

English via Google Translation: CLICK HERE

69Mhz CB Information:

Carrier frequency in MHz:

69.0125
69.0375
69.0625
69.0875
69.1125
69.1375
69.1625
69.1875 CALLING CHANNEL

Maximum power: 25 W erp
Duty cycle: <10%

Channel Width: 25 KHz.
On the carrier frequency 69.0125 MHz may only mobile transmitters used
in Västra Götaland and Halland.

78 § 69, from 600 to 69.725 MHz Mobile
radio transmitter.
Maximum power: 5.0 W ERP
Duty cycle: <10%
Channel Width: 12.5 kHz

Carrier frequency in MHz
69.60625
69.63125
69.65625
69.68125
69.70625
69.61875
69.64375
69.66875
69.69375
69.71875

Yaesu FT-991 Firmware Update (August 2016)

It's always a nervous time for me when updating my FT-991 firmware due to the fact that when I first got the radio I performed an update only to brick the radio! Phone calls to the dealer and to Yaesu failed to help but fortunately after several hours of stressful attempts I managed to sort it out myself....

So it is with trepidation that I installed the latest update this morning....

The latest update adds the multi-coloured waterfall feature to the radio.

The update files and instructions (Please follow them VERY carefully) can be found on the Yaesu website: CLICK HERE

23 August 2016

Kenwood TH-D74 UK Price Revealed!

I think we can safely say that the new Kenwood TH-D74 is a bit if a premium product!

Nevada Radio are now taking orders for the handheld with a pricetag of £599!!!!

Imagine if you were to drop that on the pavement while out DX-Ing!

"Kenwood's TH-D74E introduces radio amateurs to a new world of technology. Equipped with APRS and Digital (D-STAR) capability on 2m and 70cm, this transceiver also provides features such as:

Built in high performance GPS
Transflective colour TFT Display
Weatherproof toughness meeting IP54/55 standards
Wide band and multi-mode receive (SSB/CW on HF, VHF, UHF with IF filtering / DSP)
Compliant with Bluetooth (allowing audio), microSD and Micro-USB connectivity"

Link to Nevada website: CLICK HERE

Kenwood TH-D74 APRS & DSTAR Radio

Video:YouTube/Don Arnold

A video showing some of the feature of the NEW Kenwood TH-D74 handheld.

21 August 2016

Yaesu FT991A - New Photos

(Click Photos To Enlarge)

Video: Yaesu FT-991A

Video:YouTube/hoya boya2015

A short video of the updated Yaesu FT-991A

Ham Fair Tokyo 2016 - YAESU

20 August 2016

NEW ICOM IC-7610

Seen at the Tokyo Ham Show, this is the new Icom IC-7610.

The IC-7610 is the successor to the IC-7600 and will be a dual-watch capable HF+50MHz 100W base station with built-in antenna tuner. The LCD will be touch screen and you will be able to connect an external display.

Price: TBC

Video:YouTube/IZ0KBA

19 August 2016

NEW Yaesu FT-991A - Coming Soon!

Expected in October is the NEW Yaesu FT-991A - Building on the success of the FT-991 the new updated model will feature a REAL TIME SPECTRUM SCOPE and MULTI-COLOUR WATERFALL DISPLAY. (All other specifications are expected to be the same as the original radio)

The original model muted the receive audio when the scope or waterfall display was in use due to the radio only having a single receiver, something that was criticised by many when the radio came out. This update fixes this issue.

Furthermore existing FT-991 users who wish to have the new features will be given the chance to upgrade their radios by means of a hardware update (Price to be announced).

The upgrade is likely just a plug-in board which adds a second receiver to the radio along with a firmware upgrade to make use of the new features.

The Recommended Retail Price for the new FT-991A is expected to be around £1189

Blast From The Past - 1996 Radio Rally!!!

Video:YouTube/ZolTan Derzsi

20 years old - A video from the Great Lumley Radio Rally in North East England. Amazing to see the old equipment.

18 August 2016

CB Radio: President Texas 1800 Power vs Sirio 4000 HP

Video:YouTube/Chris TheHulk

President Texas 1800 Power vs Sirio 4000 HP - Which is better? There's only one way to find out -FIGHT!!!!!

10 August 2016

CRT SS 9900/Anytone 6666 Un-Boxing + On-Air Test!

Video:YouTube/fredintheshed1

Fred takes a look at the CRT SS900...

9 August 2016

Is My CB Radio Off Frequency?

Video:YouTube/Ringway Manchester

Take a look at this video, does the Midland 78 Plus have a problem?

My thoughts are that the Midland is working fine and the problem is actually with the male trasmitting station who is probably overdriving the audio on his radio or maybe is using an older CB or some HAM radio equipment set on 'WIDE FM'. The female station sounds fine.

Modern 'legal' CB radios have very tightly controlled specifications and the receive on these radios is very narrow. Anyone using older CB radios or incorrectly set HAM radios would sound distorted as shown on the video. If someone is using a HAM radio they should of course have it set to NARROW FM, wide FM just splatters over several channels and sounds awful.

But what are your thoughts? Please add comments to the discusion on YouTube!