22 March 2021

Inverclyde Net - TONIGHT

 

Covering large parts of South West Scotland is the Inverclyde Net which takes place tonight and every Monday night from 20:00 hours (UK time) on channel 34 UKFM, so if you are in the area make sure you pop in and say hello....

21 March 2021

CB RADIO - Homebrew Starduster Antenna

Video:YouTube/Mike-M0MSN

Making your own antennas can be fun and in this video you will see Mike making his own version of the good old Starduster 10/11m Antenna...




20 March 2021

Yaesu FTdx10 “MARS” MOD

Videos:YouTube/ZEB CLARK

A couple of videos explaining how to wideband your shiny new Yaesu FTdx10...




Of course you do so at your own risk!

14 March 2021

Sunday CB Radio Nets

 

CB radio nets to listen out for today...

Firstly the Delta Romeo DX Group have their net on 27.365 USB from 11:00 hours. They are located in the North West of England and have stations calling in from far and wide.

Secondly the South Coast & Southern Sunday Net takes place on 27.245 USB also from 11:00 hours, based in Kent but again with stations popping in from all over.

Finally we have the Glasgow District Net on channel 33 UKFM (27.92125) from 20:00 hours which covers large parts of Scotland.


13 March 2021

OFCOM EMF COMPLIANCE – HELP!!!!

Video:YouTube/Radio Rev - G5REV

There's been a lot of conversation recently about OFCOM's proposal for EMC compliance in relation to Amateur Radio operators, so here's an interesting video from Ben, G5REV, who tries to explain things....

12 March 2021

President Randy III CB radio (Handheld) - Overview & Servicing

Video:YouTube/UK FM CB radio servicing


A very interesting video as Richard takes a look inside the new President Randy III and makes adjustments to the 'hidden' engineering menu....


And here is the 'on-air' test...





11 March 2021

Tuesday AM NET - First Legal Net of 2021

Video:YouTube/AMC Dougie Fresh

Following the relaxation of Covid restrictions in the UK, the AM guys are back on the air with their net on 27.125Mhz, that's channel 14 mid-band in old money!

So sit back and enjoy the video, the President Grant 2 is sounding great....

9 March 2021

President Randy III - Hidden Engineering Menu

 


For those of you who want that little bit more from your £200 President Randy III you can find the 'hidden' engineering menu by pressing the ANL/NB and SCAN buttons whilst turning on the radio.

Inside the menu you'll find all sorts of goodies including AM Modulation/FM Modulation/AM and FM Power Settings etc.

As always you mess about AT YOUR OWN RISK - YOU COULD BREAK YOUR RADIO!!!!

If you do change any of the settings please make a note of the values BEFORE you change them in case you need to put them back.




4 March 2021

Thames Estuary DX Net

 


If you are in the South East of England you may wish to check out the Thames Estuary DX Net tomorrow night at 19:00 hours on 27.375 USB

3 March 2021

Proposed Changes To UK Amateur Radio Licenses

 


OFCOM have sent out an email to UK Amateur Radio operators in relation to proposed changes to the conditions of their license:


Dear Licence Holder,

We are writing to make you aware of some important changes that we are proposing to make to your Wireless Telegraphy Act licence(s) issued by Ofcom.

In February and October last year, we issued two public consultations on our proposal to formally require licensees to comply with the internationally agreed levels in the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) Guidelines for the protection of the general public from electromagnetic fields (EMF). We refer to these levels as the ICNIRP general public limits. In October, we also issued a Statement setting out our decision to formally require licensees to comply with the ICNIRP general public limits and we recently published an update on how we propose to implement that decision. 

We are now writing to you to inform you of our proposal to vary the terms and conditions of your licence(s) to require you to comply with the ICNIRP general public limits. In accordance with the Wireless Telegraphy Act and your licence(s), we are giving you notice of our proposal by publishing a General Notice on our website. 

We’ve put all the relevant information about our proposal including the General Notice on a dedicated EMF webpage ofcom.org.uk/emf. Here you will find details of the licence variation process alongside the background to the changes and lots of FAQs to help you understand what our proposal means for you. 

If, after reading the above information, you wish to make a representation to Ofcom in relation to our proposal to vary your licence(s), you have up until the 18 April 2021 to do so. However, if you do not wish to make a representation you do not need to take any action at this time. More information on the representation process can be found by visiting the Ofcom EMF webpage.

We will consider all representations before coming to a final decision on the variation of your licence(s). We will publish our final decision on the EMF page of our website by 18 May 2021. We will explain whether we have decided to vary your licence(s) to include the EMF condition. If your licence(s) has been varied we will send you an update of it or information on where a new version can be obtained from. 

In future we intend to make greater use of General Notices published on our website and may not individually contact you to inform you that we have published one. We would therefore urge all licensees to regularly check the Ofcom website or subscribe to email spectrum updates by going to the following page on our website ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/latest/email-updates.

If you have any questions about this change and what it means for you, further information can be found on the dedicated EMF webpage using the address provided above.

Yours faithfully, 

Ofcom


The up-shot of this proposal is that every Amateur Radio operator would be required to perform a 'risk assessment' of their station and keep a record of the assessment which can be displayed to the relevant authorities upon request. 

Further information can be obtained on the OFCOM website: CLICK HERE

EMF Calculator: CLICK HERE