Tabla de contenidos para January 2025 en Practical Wireless

ERC-DUO USB Interface for Yaesu Rotators is a compact interface designed in Germany for connecting compatible Yaesu rotator controllers to a computer via USB. ERC-DUO can connect to all Yaesu rotator controllers that have an ‘Ext. Control’ connector. ERC-DUO includes a 6-pin mini-DIN cable for the Yaesu DXA series controllers. A suitable 8-pin DIN (not mini-DIN) cable must be purchased separately for use with Yaesu Azimuth-Elevation models G-5500DC or previous G-5500. The ERC-DUO offers connection options for up to two rotors simultaneously to support satellite antenna systems with azimuth and elevation motors. The ERC-DUO interface uses the Yaesu rotor control protocol, just like the Yaesu GS-232A/GS-232B interface. This makes this interface compatible with almost all rotor control and logging software programs on the market. A key difference and advantage compared…

The best one-line description I can come up with for this project is that it is an ‘Audio Swiss Army Knife’. It offers ‘brick wall’ audio filtering with independently adjustable corner frequencies, an effective auto-notch capable of reducing a CW pile up to a faint rattle of key clicks, an adjustable Denoiser for reducing background mush and Binaural outputs for presenting CW signals as spatially separated signals. In addition, up to eight filter settings may be saved and recalled as presets. Finally, it ‘talks’ to you in Morse code, not with a harsh rasping keyed square or triangular wave but with a pure, smooth, raised cosine modulated sine wave. All this from a project with just 35 parts (less optional sockets and headers) and a build cost of less than…

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It seems to be a characteristic of most radio amateurs to accumulate gear. We persuade ourselves that it’s good to have two or three ‘spare’ transceivers in case the main rig packs in; we probably have a few ancient transmitters and receivers, which we retain for nostalgic reasons; and we accumulate various bits of equipment we couldn’t resist acquiring at the last rally or club meeting. But this month we visit a station which in equipment terms is just the opposite: a fairly minimalist shack with just two transceivers, associated linears and control systems, dedicated to the specific interests of contesting and organising DXpeditions to exotic locations around the world. But, as we shall see, outside the shack is a truly extensive antenna farm that helps to explain the contesting…

Happy New Year to all readers and welcome to the first HF Highlights of 2025. Immediately after the deadline for last month’s column had passed I went to the RSGB Convention, held in Milton Keynes from 11 to 13 October. The presentations I attended were enlightening but it was also a great social event and I was able to meet many readers of this column who I didn’t know before. I am grateful to those regular contributors who send reports in to the column either every month or from time to time, but I know there are very many HF operators who read HF Highlights but who we never hear from. If you are an active amateur or listener what were your ‘HF highlights’ during the last month? Did Santa…

KW DAYS 2025: KW Days is now an annual event and will be with us once again in the New Year Many young amateurs cut their radio teeth on the KW-160 AM Topbander in the late 1950’s and early 60’s. The KW-Atlanta boasting 500W PEP SSB input transceiver was the last of the line in the late 1970’s, following on the heels of the famous of all ‘must-have’ KW2000 series transceivers. Kent-made equipment will be on the air across the UK and overseas on the founders weekend of 5/6 January 2025. The GB8KW multi-operator station will again be very active from Cray Valley radio club’s HQ in Eltham, showcasing a whole range of equipment and accessories for visitor inspection 10am-4pm. More GB-KW (0-9) calls will be active across the UK…

Arduino Nano Projects for amateur radio are fun and simple to build. They can make ideal ‘Take 20’ projects as the modules cost less than £20 and there are only a few components. While looking around for another project I came across an easy to build Morse Code Beacon to use with a transceiver. My idea was to use it with a Pixie 40m QRP transceiver and Reverse Beacon to see how far my signals were going. This could also be a nice project to use when operating on the microwave bands to help peak up beam headings during contests or calling CQ on HF. Circuit The circuit is an Arduino Nano along with a simple switching circuit to control the key on the transceiver, Fig. 1. I built this…

Time to get out portable or use QRP in the shack with this high efficiency AM transmitter for the 80m band. It is VFO controlled and with the one described in this project is tuneable from 3.600MHz to 3.700MHz to cover the two main UK AM frequencies, 3.615MHz and 3.625MHz. The VFO is very stable and accurate as it uses a DDS module (AD9850), albeit now getting expensive, and an 8-pin PIC (12F675) to control it. Any other stable 80m VFO can be used. The full peak modulated power is 10W when using 13.8V and the total current peaks to 2A but the average is much lower making it ideal for portable use. VFO The block diagram of the VFO is shown in Fig.1. This is a PIC (12F675) controlling…

On 15 October, NOAA and NASA made a joint announcement that the sun had reached the Solar Maximum Period in Cycle 25. You can read the press release at: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14683 or if you prefer to watch rather than read, there’s a YouTube link too: https://tinyurl.com/fxfac5hd Certainly, there’s no mistaking that conditions on the higher HF and lower VHF bands have been exceptional. Six metre enthusiasts, in particular, have had a great time. There was a period of around ten days in late October when it seemed that the band was open to Australia every day! Other openings out to the east have included Japan, China, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and Asiatic Russia. Of course, there have been the more ‘usual’ African and South American openings but it has been good to…

Rain, low cloud and mist greeted those who ventured out portable for the 16th Practical Wireless 70MHz Contest on Sunday 22 September 2024. Compared with 2023, entries increased by 60%, with the 37 entrants (23 in 2023) making a total of 716 (400) contacts with 115 (76) different stations in 20 (15) different squares, Fig. 2. Many entrants decided to operate from home and keep dry. Low Power Section Winner Wayne Dabrowski MW0LKX/P operated from IO82KL and won the low power section for the second time using a Yaesu FTdx10 transceiver and a 6-element PowAbeam antenna, Fig. 1. Open Section Winner Pauline and Chris Kirby G8HQW/P were the winners of the high-power section. They used a Yaesu FTdx10 transceiver with a Gemini 4 amplifier feeding a 7-element Yagi antenna. Full…

The recent stormy weather blew down my end-fed antenna and this led me to think about an alternative antenna, if possible, without the need to go outside until the weather improved. For indoor use this would mean some form of magnetic loop (‘small transmitting loop’) antenna. Hence this project. The antenna would: • be made from materials readily available and inexpensive• be simple to construct• cover the 20, 30 and 40m amateur bands• be able to handle 5 watts• fold up into a small pouch for portable use• be an effective replacement for my end-fed wire antenna With this in mind I scoured the internet for ideas and found that the most popular material for homemade HF loop antennas was copper pipe (30 to 50mm circumference) and the most popular…

Recently, well over the past few years to be exact, I have been talking with friends and asking why radio clubs are dying out. Not just local to myself here in the Midlands but all over the country. I am not just talking about new clubs either, but some of the old big clubs that used to always appear in the club pages of magazines or were in the top five scores of contests such as the RSGB UKAC, and Field days – not just VHF but also CW and SSB HF Field Days. Many of these clubs had a members’ roster into the 60 or 70’s, with some boasting over 100 paid up members. So, what has happened to them and why the decline? Days of Old Back in…

It is not often that one can trace an aerial’s design and use to over 100 years ago, but the Marconi ‘T’ Antenna is one such aerial. Probably one of the most famous ships of all time, RMS Titanic, used such an aerial. Much has been written about Titanic and of course a number of films have been made; probably the most ambitious being James Cameron’s film titled Titanic made in 1997. The Titanic struck an iceberg on her maiden voyage in April 1912 and sank with great loss of life. As most people will know, she was not carrying enough lifeboats for the number of passengers. However, if it had not been for the fact she was equipped with ‘Wireless’ (as it was commonly known in those days) even…

29 December SPARKFORD RADIO RALLY: Davis Hall, Howell Hill, West Camel, Nr Yeovil, BA22 7QX. Doors Open 9.30am (traders from 7.30am), Admission £2, Free Parking, Refreshments Tel: 07870 168197 Email: m3vhv@hotmail.co.uk 26 January LINCOLN SHORT WAVE CLUB, WINTER RADIO RALLY: The Festival Hall, Caistor Road, Market Rasen, LN8 3HT. Doors open at 10.00, Admission £3.00, Indoor event ample free car parking, Hot refreshments including our famous bacon butties. Tables £10. Email: m5zzz@outlook.com Tel: 07777699069 7-9 February ORLANDO HAMCATION: Central Florida Fairgrounds & Expo Park. www.hamcation.com 9 February MID CHESHIRE AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY RADIOACTIVE RALLY: Nantwich Civic Hall, Market Street, Nantwich, Cheshire, CW5 5DG. Doors Open 10am to 2pm Admission £5. Cash or card. Raffle prizes. Hot food and refreshments available. Free car parking behind the Civic Hall. Traders from 7.30am.…