Quality?

When I installed the HF gear in my car last year, it soon became clear that even though the antenna mount was installed on the bootlid (trunk) of my Volvo saloon car with an HF antenna installed it was long enough to hit overhanging tree branches etc. To avoid too much strain on the antenna and mount I purchased a spring on Ebay and installed that. The spring fits between the UNF mount on the boot and the antenna and absorbs a lot of the strain.
Last year I mentioned the disappointing quality of the Sirio antenna mount I had purchased although it still works it is rusting away quite quickly and will need to be replaced soon-not impressive after just around 6 months. That mount by the way is being used for the VHF whip, the 10 year old Diamond mount is being used for HF and still looks as good as new. I can't say the same for the Ebay spring though which had a shiny chrome finish but now looks like this:

Now I didn't pay a great deal for this little item, but it was the only one I could get. It still functions of course but looks awful again after 6 months. Yes it has been outside in all weathers but surely that it what it was designed for! I  don't want a rusty thing like this attached to my car! I have now painted it silver with some Hammerite paint so that it looks a little better. I wonder is it possible to get quality antenna items anymore or should be just accept that things are only going to last six months or so?

Little and often

I am on leave from work for a few weeks while the YL recovers from an operation.This means a little extra (but not a lot!!) of time for radio in between the household chores and looking after the YL.Some of this time I am using for CW practice, a little time on the CW teaching software on the PC, a little time sending to myself on the paddle key and some time listening to and writing down CW off the air. Added to which when I am in the shack and not transmitting myself I am listening to CW. I am hoping that by doing this for a while I will be able to get back on the air with the key!
In the evenings I am still doing a little work on PSK31, as far as I can see HF conditions are still pretty poor though. I may download and give the JT65 mode a try sometime too.

Software Solution

A couple of weeks ago I posted a note on the Transmission 1 radio forum, commenting on the reports of low TX audio that I had received when using my Chinese made Luiton Handheld.
One of the contributors to the forum "Gladiator" was kind enough to post a link to some software to program the rig.
Now I already had some software but this is the Dealer programming software which has further adjustments available, including the changing of the frequency rang both for transmit and receive and more importantly some settings for the TX audio level.

Changing  some of these settings has resulted in much better audio reports which rather makes me wonder why the default settings were so poorly chosen. The software adjustments have made this little rig a much more useful piece of equipment.
Also through the post today came my second  Shortwave broadcast QSL from another station soon to leave the shortwave bands- Radio Slovakia International.

End of year

This is the QSL card and sticker I received from Radio Prague just before Christmas.As a young SWL I used to send reception reports to many broadcast stations (back in the 80's there were quite a few more of them) but its something I have not done for years. When I heard that Radio Prague is to leave the airwaves at the end of January 2011 I thought I would send a report for one of their last QSLs. I am also awaiting a card from Radio Slovakia, another broadcaster about to leave shortwave.

So for 2011 I will be trying to collect QSLs from some of the remaining broadcasters-who knows it may be the last year of major international broadcasting?

One of my radio ambitions for 2010 was to get back into using CW. Sadly, although I have been doing some practice and am able to receive reasonably well I have yet to pluck up the courage to get on the air with the key! So this will become my goal for 2011. I used to love CW and bitterly regret not keeping up my skills with it when I was younger. Now in my forties getting back into the mode seems much more of a struggle.

Anyway a happy and healthy 2011 to you all and I hope to hear and work some of you on the bands in 2011. Who knows it may even be on CW!

A Step Backward?

For quite a while now PSK31 has been my main operating mode. I use the "Digipan" software, its been around for some time now but I find it straightforward to use and it runs very nicely on my elederly Windows XP machine.
I was very interested therefore to see on the "MixW" website that there is now a new version of Digipan- Digipan32
Unfortunately the new version is nowhere near as good as the old. It appears to lack a number of functions, including the ability to decode multiple PSK QSOs at the same time, a function that works well in the original version. In fact I cannot see anything that is better than the previous version. Now I know I should not complain as this software is free. But presumably someone has gone to the trouble of releasing DIGIPAN32 its just I am not sure why. I for one will be sticking to the "old" version for now at least!

Radio Review

I have had a chance to look at my new Dual Band handheld Luiton. First impressions are that it is a quirky set, rather difficult to program. It is it seems an exact clone of the TYT UVF-1

If you would like to read more about it go here

It should be borne in mind that I am still getting used to this transceiver, but there is no doubt that it is not as easy to use or as logical to programme as your usual Kenwood, Yaesu or Icom gear.

Merry Christmas

This was the scene at the end of my street a few days ago. In fact it still looks pretty much the same so it seems that we will have a white Christmas!
I am looking forward to opening my dual band radio tomorrow (in addition to my other gifts of course) and will post my finding on the new rig in the next few days. I am hoping it will be superior to the earlier Chinese made gear like my KYD 2 metre handie pictured below which I have had for around 5 years. Although it is not an entirely bad little rig it does suffer with low audio (I have enlarged the microphone hole which helps), slow scan speeds and an s meter which either reads full scale or nothing at all.

Anyway I would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas and best wishes for 2011.