FT817 antenna pin: getting a DC voltage on the inner when on TX.

The FT817 does not have a DC voltage change between RX and TX on the antenna connector, unlike the old IC202. This voltage was very useful to switch PAs and transverters. I now know how to modify the FT817 to add this feature thanks to Chris GM4YLN who sent the link http://www.kolumbus.fi/oh5iy/HW/Yaesu.html showing one way to make the mod.. Note in this link the FT817 is wrongly called the FT718. An easier to implement link is shown at http://www.bergtag.de/download/ft817.pdf . Thanks again to Chris for this one too.

4m Chinese Multimode rig and a FT817 successor from China?

There are rumours, apparently with some substance, that a Chinese mulitmode transceiver for 4m may be being designed. This would not be too surprising, although expect some delay between "being designed" and being available in the shops.

Of course, with several Chinese FM handhelds and mobiles now available at competitive prices from 4m - 70cm it can only be a matter of time before a Chinese equivalent to the FT817's successor (yes we are still waiting, waiting, waiting Yaesu!) will hit the streets, and at a knock-out price. It would not surprise me one bit if such a rig appeared before the end of 2011. Once the Chinese realise they have a ready market for quality ham gear then look out Icom, Yaesu and Kenwood as your days may be numbered, seriously.

Poland soon on 4m

70.1 - 70.3 MHz will soon be available to the Polish radio amateur service on secondary basis. The maximum power will be 20W EIRP. Date of release still not known yet.

4m transverter

It is almost certain now that my next project will be a 5W transverter for 4m. This is a band I have never used under my own call and for which I have no gear yet. The design should be straightforward transverting to 10m with the FT817 as the driver. I have started a 4m QRP transverter page on my website to track progress of this build.

No luck with OE3GHB and G3XIZ on 8.97kHz today

Despite having my antenna and receiver system well optimised and running a Spectrum Lab configuration file allowing very sensitive detection (DFCW6000), nothing (so far) was identified from either Gerhard OE3GHB or Chris G3XIZ on 8.97kHz today. So far, the only station I have "seen" on VLF is DK7FC/P back in December. Since then I've improved the set-up. G3XIZ didn't have his "balloon extended" antenna in place, so he could be several dB stronger the next time he tries again.

Austrian VLF tests this weekend

Gerhard OE3GHB hopes to be transmitting on VLF this Saturday (Jan 22nd) on 8.96995kHz (+/- 0.03Hz) starting between 0800-0900z. Although the chances of copying him are low, I will be monitoring and uploading what I see (or do not see) to my VLF grabber which will be active as long as possible this Saturday.

Optical DXing at around 460THz

Until I read the webpage below I didn't know that the record for optical morse DX goes back to 1896 and was an astounding distance of 183 miles using a Heliograph between Colorado and Utah in the USA. This link about the heliograph makes fascinating reading. The heliograph is essentially a keyed mirror that reflects sunlight and uses it to send morse code over long distances.  Modern versions of heliograph mirrors are available on eBay for emergency communications. See for example eBay item 250681260168. A good article about heliographs is on Wikipedia, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heliograph.

Modern amateur optical DXing uses either lasers or high intensity LEDs. There is a piece about this on p51-52 of the Feb 2011 RSGB RadCom in Sam Jewell's "GHz Bands" column with further links including http://www.lasercomms.org.uk/index.htm which looks like a useful resource.  There was also a funny article in the RSGB Bulletin of April 1962 called "Getting Going on Bottom Band".  

Dreamer's Band activity around 8.97kHz

In the last few days OE3GHB and OE5ODL have been testing close to 8.97kHz with their signals (from home QTHs) being received at considerable distances across Western Europe. DK7FC was planning his 10th kite VLF test this weekend but has had to postpone this until Jan 29/30 because of the weather. My grabber is currently looking around 8.97kHz and seeing a strong signal, although I suspect this is a locally generated interferer. See http://dl.dropbox.com/u/15047843/xbm_grab.jpg for the grabber as it updates. This is not on all the time, just when I am testing or listening.

Corporate Greed

I don't usually get political on my blog, but something has incensed me this week. Goldman Sachs, the huge multi-national finance company, has declared huge bonuses for its staff. In the press yesterday it was reported that their staff now have an average salary+bonus package of $430000 a year!  At the same time I've read that they've slashed their corporate charity giving by a large amount. If these figures are correct, then I believe them to be obscene and a prime example of the corporate greed of some big financial institutions. I am not sure how to respond, but want to email their CEO, but haven't managed to find his email address on the swish corporate website!  In the end, such greed cannot be acceptable. This is the sort of behaviour that festered revolutions a century ago: the seeds are there for it to happen again within 10 years when the ordinary man says, "no more".

5mW on 80m - best DX 1310km

80m WSPR with 5mW output

This evening I ran 5mW output on 80m WSPR to see what sort of distance I could achieve. It was quite an eye-opener with lots of reports and some good DX, the best being LA2XPA at 1310km. The report from LA3JJ suggests that almost 1000km would have been possible with 500uW. And it is not as if the antenna here is anything: just 5m of coax to the 10m halo with inner and outer joined together as a vertical and tuned through a tiny T1 auto-ATU!