VK Logger Ham Radio Forum Archive

A couple of weeks ago, a friend (of retirement age) received a letter from ACMA stating that his licence had expired. He rang ACMA and explained that he had not received a renewal notice and would like to pay it. The person he spoke to sounded rather officious and told him it was too late to renew ...

Wayne, I use a Gap Titan at my current QTH. As a multiband antenna it certainly performs well on most bands (as noted, 80m is the least effective however). Obviously it is way under what a monoband yagi will provide although the difference in signal strength does vary quite a bit - sometimes as much...

Just a thought on two letter calls, it would have been nice to have them available for hams that have acheived something special in the hobby such as long time service to their club or notching 200 countries.It may be a Z call that has dedicated years to their hobby or someone that has been an acti...

The people who dont like CW dont do CW. The do JT65 instead. :mrgreen: Well put Trash - I always laugh at how the CW diehards try and pull the wool over peoples eyes by saying that only CW will get through when the conditions are bad/signals are particularly low. Now that is the case when compared ...

Hi Matt although they should sign as being portable in the call area if different to their callsign area number. Your comment made me check and it seems there's nothing in the current Amateur LCD that says you have to announce that fact that you're portable (or mobile). I'm sure it used to be there...

Hi None of the VK0 callsigns has an address in Antarctica (which is quite understandable). However, that should mean that, when used in Antarctica, they should be used as VK0xx portable and only for a maximum of 4 months at a time. It should also means they can be used from the address on the licen...

One problem we have here in Australia is the callsign prefix itself is the limiting factor. By assigning VK2 to NSW, for instance, we only then have the letters available AAA to ZZZ as we are stuck with the number 2 in the prefix. I won't bother doing the maths to work out how many combinations tha...

Was the intent of the OP just to stir things up or what was the purpose of the post? CW is one of many modes that we have available and deserves no special recognition purely because it was the initial mode for amateur operation. If we go down that path of lunacy, we may as well have a typing test -...

Hi Matt, Where did you mount the 2nd battery in the 80 series? I'm thinking of doing that in my old beast. Cheers, Richard VK2AAH Hi Richard, second battery goes on the opposite side of the engine bay from the main battery (still at the front). From memory the Toyota battery bracket was quite cheap...

Yaesu are now pushing their C4FM FDMA digital mode. Will this overtake DStar? What are your thoughts? (And don't forget to vote!) 73 - Rob VK2GOM / GW0MOH I have had a couple of DSTAR radios for a bit over 5 years now (was in Darwin when the first DSTAR repeater in Australia was installed) and woul...

Hi Justin, concur with Ken's comments about a DC to DC charger. I have unfortunately moved on from my trusty old 80 series cruiser to a new Prado which has necessitated a rethink on the battery situation. In the 80 series I was running two big batteries in parallel when the engine was running with a...

A couple of thoughts on cable entry to the shack. Not being a house owner and therefore renting with frequent interstate moves as a result of my job, I have had to give thought to ensuring that my hobby doesn't result in my eviction with resultant negative real estate reports for the next rental pro...

I have passed this to the Canberra and Region Amateur Radio Club committee so if there is anyone who meets those criteria, hopefully Bob will hear back with a willing volunteer or two.



Matt
VK1MA

My plans are coming together so this is how they stand ATM: The QTH is a SOTA summit - VK3/VN-001, worth 10 SOTA points. I plan to operate HF for an hour or two late Friday night, or very early Saturday morning before going to sleep. The HF antenna is a vertical, but it will be pulled down before c...

Thanks to all for the help fellas , I can mount a 130ft wire lifting from a 35ft Palm into a tree around 50 ft well clear and above the house corner , simple to do and the basics are now up there . I have about 200 square metres of bonded chicken mesh buried in the back lawn and have now run a reso...

Perhaps I am slow to catch on, but last night I registered with eQSL.cc and was very surprised to find around 100 eQSL cards in my inbox going back to 2007. Nice surprise and it made we wonder how many others like me have eQSL cards waiting for them? Certainly worth a look if you are curious. It ta...

I brought a 200mt for $400.00 from link below is good cable like LMR400 http://store.freenet-antennas.com.au/product_info.php?cPath=22_31_32&products_id=411&osCsid=330daefa9457fb36169bd515e059cf95 Whilst I rarely buy brand name just because "it must be better because it is brand name&q...

Matt, the advice from Peter (VK3YE) is very good - my recomendation would also be a mix of magnetic loop and the squid pole - the magnetic loop is truly an incredible performer for its size. Noting that you live on the top floor, do you have access to the roof? If so, this opens up the possibilities...

I have found a 40mm variety with quite a thick wall that I will try as it is. The same store sells hickory rake handles that I can use as a stiffener. I have just brought an SGC Smartuner and want to have a play with short verticals. I am not very keen on using "squid poles" I want someth...

I will be working nights that weekend - just my luck (same as the Spring field day - oh when will my time off correlate with radio fun days!).



Matt
VK1MA