End of Southgate News?

My friend Steve G1KQH has passed me this sad news :

SILENT KEY: SOUTHGATE AMATEUR NEWS' RICHARD BRUNTON G4TUT/SK

PAUL/ANCHOR: If you follow amateur radio current events you are probably  aware of the Southgate Amateur Radio News website. We here at Newsline are sad to report that the colleague of ours in England, who ran that important website, has become a Silent Key. Jeremy Boot G4NJH has that report.

"JEREMY: We are sad to announce the passing of Richard Brunton, G4TUT.  Richard died at age 77 as the result of a fall on the 21st of October.  The callsign may not seem familiar to you, but for decades Richard was editor of the Southgate Amateur Radio News website which has a significant international following. Each and every day, Richard would search the world’s ham radio and technology resources seeking out stories of interest and publishing them. Beyond the straight news items and specialist sections of his site, Richard encouraged non-commercial podcasts and blogs to promote ham radio opinion and stimulate debate on the essential subjects of the day. He also compiled the ‘CQ Serenade’ weekly programme which was broadcast throughout Europe on  Shortwaveradio.de and other public-facing media. Richard himself was an  intensely private man who had no close family, but he reached thousands  of friends daily through his website. Amateur radio has lost a statesman and a stalwart whose dedication to amateur radio was valued and enjoyed by so many"

Southgate amateur radio news

One of the places I look at from time to time is the Southgate News. This often has amateur radio news of interest.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/ .

Southgate News

This is an online amateur radio news service that I regularly visit. I see they have an item about my free PDF G3XBM Project Scrapbook today.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/ .

Amplitude Modulation

Although I have not used AM recently, partly as a result of my poor voice, I can see the attraction of the mode. It lends itself to home brewing and in the past I have designed and made several AM rigs. At one time they were practically giving away ex PMR AM rigs.  

The Fredbox and Sixbox are examples of AM rigs I have designed and made in the past.

Southgate News has announced the formation of an AM Amateur Radio Society.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2021/april/announcing-the-formation-of-the-amplitude-modulation-amateur-radio-society.htm#.YIgZpGjYrrd .

My thanks to Steve G1KQH for pointing this out.

South African 8m beacon copied in Greece

Southgate News relays some information on the EI7GL blog that the South African 8m beacon has been copied in Greece. There is even a recording on John's blog. There was a earlier report of it being copied in Portugal. Both these look like TEP.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2021/april/south-african-40-mhz-beacon-heard-in-greece.htm#.YH_f8ijYrrc

DXCC entities

Long ago, I stopped chasing DX. If I work some rare country or QTH square then great, but I do not chase it as if my life depended on it. There is always tomorrow, but if it "gets away" does it really matter? This is just a hobby. Personally, I like to see where my QRP signals reach, but each to their own. There are many ways to enjoy our hobby.

To some working every entity matters. They enjoy the thrill of the chase. I see Southgate News has a link about this. Apparently there 209 DXCC entities active.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2021/april/dxcc-country-entity-report-19-04.htm#.YH0zZSjYrrc .

Mars helicopter - NOT amateur radio

Southgate News has a report about the helicopter on the latest NASA Mars lander.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2021/april/mars-helicopter-flight-delayed-to-no-earlier-than-april-14.htm#.YHQk6SjYrrc

See https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter .

/P and contests

 According to Southgate News, the RSGB is to accept /P entries in contests from March 29th. They state you have to obey local Covid rules, but the "stay at home" message is to be replaced (we hope) by "stay local" in England. This would mean /P operations would be legal if local.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2021/march/rsgb-contest-committee-agree-to-accept-portable-entries.htm#.YF3yKiuTLrc

EMF calculator (revised)

Southgate News reports that a new EMF calculator is now available from the RSGB.  If your EIRP is greater than 10W, you may have to use this.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2021/march/new-rsgb-emf-calculator-available.htm#.YFsX-yuTLrc .

1933 recordings - NOT amateur radio

Southgate News has some interesting links to some recording made in 1933 on aluminium disks of AM broadcasters.  Of great historic interest.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2021/march/dxing-in-england-1933.htm#.YE3QayuTLrc

Age of radio amateurs

Southgate News has some feedback on a Freedom of Information request made to OFCOM asking for data on the age of radio amateurs. As no age records need to be kept now, the released data is only partial. 

I think it is fair to say that many (most?) UK radio amateurs are old. It is also well known that most are men.

Recently, our local church has lost several members who have either died or moved away. What will amateur radio look like in 20 years' time?

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2021/march/ofcom-released-age-of-radio-amateurs-data.htm#.YEs0ZyuTLrc

SSB out-of-band?

There is an interesting piece on Southgate News about transmitting out of band. This is particularly important on 60m where the allocations are very small. The important thing is that the dial frequency may be in band but some of the modulation may not be! 

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2021/january/how-far-you-can-turn-the-dial-when-transmitting-ssb.htm#.YCEkAyuTLrc

Quantum RX

Southgate News has a piece on some army research into quantum receivers that can look at the entire 0-20GHz spectrum in one go.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2021/january/new-quantum-receiver.htm#.YB_2lyuTLrc .

Online distance learning

Southgate News has details of an online training course leading to the full UK licence organised by the Bath club.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2021/january/online-distance-learning-course-for-full-exam.htm#.YBmj_fGTLrc

IC-705, IC-7300 and IC-9700 firmware updates

Southgate News reports that a firmware update to these ICOM products is due at the end of January.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2021/january/new-fimware-updates.htm#.YAmcZ_GTLrc

New digital mode coming?

Southgate News reports that a new digital mode may be coming later this year called Q65 as part of WSJT-X suite.  I have just downloaded the latest release candidate for WSJT-X (2.3.0-rc3), but I have not checked if it is there. 

See https://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/Q65_Quick_Start.pdf

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2021/january/new-digital-protocol-q65.htm#.YAbrz_GTLrc

QO-100 Wiki

Southgate News reports that AMSAT-DL has created a wiki to help users of this geostationary satellite.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2020/december/qo-100-wiki-available.htm#.X9H21GiTLrc

Havanna Syndrome - NOT amateur radio

Some people in countries that are maybe considered "hostile" have come down with a mysterious illness. Southgate News relays some research on this. It could be directed microwaves.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2020/december/havanna-syndrome-could-be-directed-microwave-energy.htm#.X8_Q6GiTLrc

FT8/FT4 presentation

Southgate News has a link to a USA YouTube presentation on these modes. There are lots of presentations about these digital modes on YouTube. FT8 works with low power and simple antennas, but is not a mode for chatting. 

I have to admit, I have not yet tried FT4.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2020/november/ft8-and-ft4-lecture-video.htm#.X7ufE2iTLrc

Dual band FM VHF/UHF rig

According to Southgate News, Moonraker is selling a dual band amateur rig aimed at foundation licencees. It retails for £89.99 and comes preprogrammed with amateur frequencies like repeaters and simplex channels and set to 10W by default, although it can do 25W.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2020/november/new-dual-band-fm-mobile-radio.htm#.X7aFraiTLrc

See also https://www.moonraker.eu/amateur-radio/transceivers/anytone-at-779uv-dual-band-mini-mobile-radio