Right, we’re all off to eat our own body weight – and possibly someone else’s – in cheese, turkey and purple Quality Streets.
Thank you all for your support, comments, clicks and heated debates here on EI5IX.net in 2011. It’s been another fine year, and you’ve all played your part.
Christmas is the time of year to spread the message of love, harmony and peace. Of course it is a time to get showered with gifts and wishes, but in the midst of all the commercialism, we should not forget the real spirit of the Christmas. Here's a message from known man that reminds us that Christmas is not only about fun and gifts, but of love and generosity.
"What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace."
Agnes M. Pharo
So one last thing before I go: A festive message to everyone from EI5IX, EI9JA and the rest of my family.
The year-end brings no greater pleasure than the opportunity to express to you season's greetings and good wishes so with that I would like to take this opportunity to wish you health, comfort, and prosperity this holiday season an may all your wishes come true!
Merry Christmas to one and all. Best 73's
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone - 73's DE EI5IX
25 Dec 2011
22 Dec 2011
Ofcom - 3400 MHz licence exemption
The UK regulator Ofcom has published regulations that permit the use of a range of new devices on a licence-exempt basis.
These include the use of personal locator beacons on land; wireless road safety systems; wireless access terminals in the 3400 to 3800 MHz band; mobile satellite services operating in the 2 GHz band; and mobile terminals connecting to the 2012 London Games Tetra Network.
Read the statement at
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/
licence-exemption-candidates-11/statement
PDF at
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/consultations/
licence-exemption/statement/statement.pdf
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These include the use of personal locator beacons on land; wireless road safety systems; wireless access terminals in the 3400 to 3800 MHz band; mobile satellite services operating in the 2 GHz band; and mobile terminals connecting to the 2012 London Games Tetra Network.
Read the statement at
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/
licence-exemption-candidates-11/statement
PDF at
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/consultations/
licence-exemption/statement/statement.pdf
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone - 73's DE EI5IX
18 Dec 2011
"A Desperate Situation" All you need is Propagation!
Wow... What a morning for DX!! 40M and 20M alive with DX... I can't believe how good propagation was. I have just set up over here in North West London under my Call M/EI5IX and here in my apartment I use a simple setup with a very simple antenna thrown off the Balcony using 50 watts from an Icom IC-706MK2G and I had the pleasure working into USA, (N5CYK) Canada (VE1LD) and Australia (VK3VCE) just to name a few from the log last night and this morning.
The first antenna I set up here to test if I could receive anything in my new QTH was a very simple antenna to construct, just mobile magnet base which was sitting on top of the Dust Bin with Pl plug connected to a 47ft long wire thrown off the balcony onto the ground. I had the pleasure of working many European and Middle Eastern stations on Friday evening going into Saturday morning. But this was not enough... ;) I knew that the propagation was getting better SO a desperate situation leads to desperate ideas...
As soon as I recognised that signals were getting a lot stronger on the bands on a simple receiving loop I decided to construct a Delta loop for 40M and 20M with an Ugly Balun which was 21ft of coax wrapped around a water bottle. The reason for a Loop as comparsion to a Inverted V or a Dipole was the Low Level of noise received on a Delta Loop. Living in a City has its horrible limitations so with that I got to say to every fellow amateur out there...
"EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE OR OWN SOME SORT OF A DELTA LOOP"
I have some photos of the structure of this simple antenna home-made of course with just items you would normally find in any amateur radio enthusiast box/home "wire, open feeder, sweeping brush handles, a scarf and coax / 2 PL plugs" simple setup and were on air.
I have had so much fun working DX on this antenna with fantastic reports ( 58 into Australia at 09:10UTC) Even for such limited space and resources I am now looking of ways to get this antenna a permanent structure here at my London QTH.
Here are some of the photos of the Crazy Delta loop I constructed.
You get the Idea... I will say it's not a permanent fixture at the moment but this "Mess" as my flat mate likes to call it has got me back on air.
I hope to work you soon on the bands under M/EI5IX... Best 73's
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone - 73's DE EI5IX
The first antenna I set up here to test if I could receive anything in my new QTH was a very simple antenna to construct, just mobile magnet base which was sitting on top of the Dust Bin with Pl plug connected to a 47ft long wire thrown off the balcony onto the ground. I had the pleasure of working many European and Middle Eastern stations on Friday evening going into Saturday morning. But this was not enough... ;) I knew that the propagation was getting better SO a desperate situation leads to desperate ideas...
As soon as I recognised that signals were getting a lot stronger on the bands on a simple receiving loop I decided to construct a Delta loop for 40M and 20M with an Ugly Balun which was 21ft of coax wrapped around a water bottle. The reason for a Loop as comparsion to a Inverted V or a Dipole was the Low Level of noise received on a Delta Loop. Living in a City has its horrible limitations so with that I got to say to every fellow amateur out there...
"EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE OR OWN SOME SORT OF A DELTA LOOP"
I have some photos of the structure of this simple antenna home-made of course with just items you would normally find in any amateur radio enthusiast box/home "wire, open feeder, sweeping brush handles, a scarf and coax / 2 PL plugs" simple setup and were on air.
I have had so much fun working DX on this antenna with fantastic reports ( 58 into Australia at 09:10UTC) Even for such limited space and resources I am now looking of ways to get this antenna a permanent structure here at my London QTH.
Here are some of the photos of the Crazy Delta loop I constructed.
The ugly Balun and the coax feeder.
One leg of the antenna.
The Right Leg of antenna held by a brush.
View of the coax feeder.
The Famous Ugly Balun.
And of course the famous Dust Bin now with a 2M / 70CM antenna on Top.
You get the Idea... I will say it's not a permanent fixture at the moment but this "Mess" as my flat mate likes to call it has got me back on air.
I hope to work you soon on the bands under M/EI5IX... Best 73's
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone - 73's DE EI5IX
12 Dec 2011
Radio Propagation : Space Weather : Sunspot Cycle Information
http://sunspotwatch.com/
Check this website out, It's a live reference resource site for solar and geomagnetic data and images. :-)
8 Dec 2011
Geo-engineering the Climate
I came across this article online and thought I should share it with our fellow Ham Radio enthusiasts! The Weather can play a massive part on our fantastic hobby, what happens when the world around us starts messing with the weather where do we stand?
This article is by Nick Prebble; On the back of news that revealed November 2011 was the second warmest November since records began, questions are being thrown up again about global warming; its impacts and what, if anything, can be done to mitigate its effects. An obvious answer is to cut emissions of greenhouse gases around the world, but this is easier said than done in today’s highly developed and industrial planet. As a result, there has been significant research into “Geo-engineering” to reduce, mitigate and adapt to climate change.
The two methods of this “Geo-engineering” are Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) and Solar Radiation Management (SRM). Whilst both methods have considerable strengths; their effectiveness, timescale of use, ease of implementation and level of control must be called into question before large sums of money are spent developing them.
CDR methods involve the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and directly combat the problem of global warming by reducing the “greenhouse” effect. Land-based methods include the use of artificial trees that remove more carbon dioxide than natural trees, the replanting of crops and vegetation and using a special “biochar” that creates a carbon sink on land. There are also ocean-based methods, such as fertilizing surface waters with chemicals to increase their intake of carbon dioxide.
SRM methods on the other hand involve directly reducing the incoming solar radiation from the sun. One such way is to make the earth more reflective (increasing the albedo) by painting roofs white, growing highly reflective crops and placing giant mirrors on the earth’s surface. Since more radiation is reflected back into space, less is trapped in the atmosphere thus reducing the warming effect. Another method is to divert incoming solar radiation by placing sunshades in space – directly cooling the planet.
From a general perspective, CDR methods of geo-engineering have the advantage over SRM methods in directly addressing the root cause of global warming: by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Therefore since SRM methods still allow the build-up of carbon in the atmosphere, there will be a real problem if they suddenly cease to work. On the other hand, SRM methods are far more effective due to being able to cool the atmosphere much more quickly after deployment, which is a major advantage when faced with an ever-warming planet.
Both SRM and CDR methods therefore could be undertaken adjacently to maximise the effectiveness of reducing the effects of global warming. Current research into geo-engineering is continually suggesting new and innovative ways to tackle the problem of climate change and in the near future we could see many of the methods being implemented.
What's the future of our Propagation one would ask?
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone - 73's DE EI5IX
This article is by Nick Prebble; On the back of news that revealed November 2011 was the second warmest November since records began, questions are being thrown up again about global warming; its impacts and what, if anything, can be done to mitigate its effects. An obvious answer is to cut emissions of greenhouse gases around the world, but this is easier said than done in today’s highly developed and industrial planet. As a result, there has been significant research into “Geo-engineering” to reduce, mitigate and adapt to climate change.
The two methods of this “Geo-engineering” are Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) and Solar Radiation Management (SRM). Whilst both methods have considerable strengths; their effectiveness, timescale of use, ease of implementation and level of control must be called into question before large sums of money are spent developing them.
CDR methods involve the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and directly combat the problem of global warming by reducing the “greenhouse” effect. Land-based methods include the use of artificial trees that remove more carbon dioxide than natural trees, the replanting of crops and vegetation and using a special “biochar” that creates a carbon sink on land. There are also ocean-based methods, such as fertilizing surface waters with chemicals to increase their intake of carbon dioxide.
SRM methods on the other hand involve directly reducing the incoming solar radiation from the sun. One such way is to make the earth more reflective (increasing the albedo) by painting roofs white, growing highly reflective crops and placing giant mirrors on the earth’s surface. Since more radiation is reflected back into space, less is trapped in the atmosphere thus reducing the warming effect. Another method is to divert incoming solar radiation by placing sunshades in space – directly cooling the planet.
From a general perspective, CDR methods of geo-engineering have the advantage over SRM methods in directly addressing the root cause of global warming: by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Therefore since SRM methods still allow the build-up of carbon in the atmosphere, there will be a real problem if they suddenly cease to work. On the other hand, SRM methods are far more effective due to being able to cool the atmosphere much more quickly after deployment, which is a major advantage when faced with an ever-warming planet.
Both SRM and CDR methods therefore could be undertaken adjacently to maximise the effectiveness of reducing the effects of global warming. Current research into geo-engineering is continually suggesting new and innovative ways to tackle the problem of climate change and in the near future we could see many of the methods being implemented.
What's the future of our Propagation one would ask?
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone - 73's DE EI5IX
5 Dec 2011
IRTS 80th Anniversary
IRTS will be celebrating its 80th anniversary next year. Details of a worldwide contest "CQIR" to take place on Saint Patrick's Day, Saturday 17th March 2012
have just been announced.
Full rules and information
are available at www.irts.ie/cqir or by email to cqir@irts.ie
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone - 73's DE EI5IX
have just been announced.
Full rules and information
are available at www.irts.ie/cqir or by email to cqir@irts.ie
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone - 73's DE EI5IX
Marconi Auction
A two day auction of Marconi memorabilia will take
place at the D4 Berkeley Hotel in Dublin Ireland on December 13th
and 14th 2011. Among the interesting items will be two
lengths of the original Marconi-code ticker tape, measuring 24inches and 19inches framed.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone - 73's DE EI5IX
place at the D4 Berkeley Hotel in Dublin Ireland on December 13th
and 14th 2011. Among the interesting items will be two
lengths of the original Marconi-code ticker tape, measuring 24inches and 19inches framed.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone - 73's DE EI5IX
Satellite AO-51
Satellite AO-51 has ceased transmission and is not
responding to commands. The last telemetry data indicated that the third of six batteries was
approaching failure to short, and observations indicate the voltage from three cells is insufficient to power the UHF transmitters. Initial tests with the S band
transmitter were also not positive, although more
attempts are in order. We have tried leaving the satellite in an expected state where if voltages climb high enough, the 435.150 transmitter may possibly be
heard, stated Drew KO4MA AMSAT-NA VP Operations.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone - 73's DE EI5IX
responding to commands. The last telemetry data indicated that the third of six batteries was
approaching failure to short, and observations indicate the voltage from three cells is insufficient to power the UHF transmitters. Initial tests with the S band
transmitter were also not positive, although more
attempts are in order. We have tried leaving the satellite in an expected state where if voltages climb high enough, the 435.150 transmitter may possibly be
heard, stated Drew KO4MA AMSAT-NA VP Operations.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone - 73's DE EI5IX
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