RobL's world of wonder

Goodbye old friend!

 Well the old car has finally gone, was a good car and never ACTUALLY let me down though did have a few tantrums and was getting more expensive to run as a result. But the good news, she has gone to a good home, back to Wembury actually which is where she came from and is now owned by someone who I know will take good care of her and treat her well with the respect she deserves, Aah!! Sounds like putting an old horse out to grass but I suppose in a way I have. USV was 'MY' car for two and a half years, saw some huge changes in my life, saw the laughter and the tears, if an inanimate object can be a friend I suppose she was. Its like I said though, the time has come for a new start in lots of ways and parting with USV has been one of those changes. Poor old bus, she's gone but she won't be forgotten.

For those lucky enough to know me...!

Please let me introduce you to JJ, a very special lady who makes me smile and the future look bright again!!!!!

New gadget

If you go to pictures you will see a new directory for the new toy - an absolutely cracking Olympus E-10 digital SLR camera - the results have been brilliant and though its not new or the latest technology I am well pleased - more will follow no doubt.

Work in progress

Well after a bit of tinkering and to-ing and fro-ing I have at long last been able to get the 'slightly' outdated Plymouth Radio Club website on www.parc.org.uk updated and modified and looking thouroughly 21st century.  The original link still leads to it but its own identity (courtesy of the good old RSGB) will work too on www.radioclubs.net/g3prc so if you are reading this and like radio give it a look.  It'll mean it can be kept more up to date to as it works a little more intuitively than the old one. 

 Also I know I've been a little remiss with keeping the blog updated lately, work internet is now in its infinite wisdom blocking my access to it so I'm having to 'hot desk' with Mum's PC until I get my own internet..., one day!  :-)

I was always taught to listen!

(Names changed to protect the ‘less than’ innocent)

"Golf three x-ray yankee zulu this is two echo zero romeo zulu delta please advise your location…,… golf three x-ray yankee zulu go ahead please…,… hello?...? Am I getting out???" This was the way an admittedly rather one sided conversation went very recently. The station in question ultimately turned out to be within 100 yards of me but was concealed by a copse of trees and I’d been looking for him for 10 minutes or so and had called him several times, so despite the fact I knew he was on frequency G3 wasn’t listening was he?!

As if that was not enough I was holding an enjoyable conversation with a new acquaintance on a local repeater just the other night. Admittedly we had almost finished but I was rather dismayed when an experienced amateur cut in calling another, equally experienced individual who answered him and proceeded to block the repeater by continuing to transmit whilst looking up some information for the caller. The calling station was admittedly mortified apologising profusely stating he had not realised his volume control was set low when I (politely) called in and dare I say admonished him for cutting in. But the question that formed itself in my mind is they couldn’t both have had their volume down or the second station would not have heard the first calling through…, now would he?!? Right, rant over!

As I got out of the car one night after a repeater conversation a car pulled up and the driver asked ‘are you Rob?’ Yeeees!? He had just bought a scanner and had been listening in on 2 metres, was intrigued by the new world he had discovered and was keen to know some more. Lets hope we see him at the club soon. He has got off to a good start after all, as the training team always tell us, ‘listen listen listen’!

73 de Rob 2E0RZD

I love HF!

A recent conversation with a (very) learned amateur chum indicated that there seems to be a need for a basic and straightforward guide to the HF bands, not on the frequencies, we have the band plans for that but rather to give some sort of guidance as to the nature of the bands. This is a subject which has been written about extensively over many years and this is at best a brief introduction so is intended as nothing more. Deliberate omission is 136kHz which can be classified as an LF band.

‘Top band’ – 160 metres (1.81-2.00MHz)

just above the medium wave broadcast band

in daylight hours best suited to local communications

after dark range achievable increases significantly and potentially intercontinental contacts are possible particularly in the winter

high levels of atmospheric noise especially during summertime

popular at the sunspot minimum with long ranges possible

80 metres (3.50-3.80MHz)

in daylight hours relatively easy communications up to 300km, very popular band for such local contacts

after dark range achievable increases greatly

round the world contacts possible at dusk and dawn, especially during the winter

60 metres (5.2585, 5.2785, 5288.5, 5.3985 & 5.4035MHz USB – channelised)

only available for full licensees who have applied for and hold an NOV to be able to use this temporary and experimental allocation

channelised as noted as only specific frequencies are available for use

interesting DX possible with the long distance qualities of 40 metres but without the shortwave broadcast QRM

40 metres (7.00-7.20MHz)

small band but good for DX (long distance) contacts

long distance contacts possible during the day but increases significantly after dark and during the winter

particularly popular around the sunspot minimum as long range contacts are still possible

dusk and dawn long distance (greyline propagation) stations can be heard

7.1 to 7.2MHz is a relatively recent addition to the band in the UK but on a secondary basis. This means the band is shared with other users, foreign broadcast stations who have precedence so DON’T INTERFERE!

30 metres (10.10-10.15MHz)

Narrow band modes such as CW (morse code) and digimodes only other than for emergency use

Again radio amateurs are secondary users of this band

20 metres (14.00-14.35MHz)

this is the main long distance band but is affected by the time of day, season and the sunspot cycle, the band can close late at night

dusk and dawn long distance stations can be heard

during the sunspot maximum the band can remain open during the night

there are few times when some form of DX stations are not contactable even using relatively low power and basic antennas

17 metres (18.068-18.168MHz)

relatively narrow band but capable of giving good results

quieter than 20metres as there is no contest activity

propagation conditions are similar to 20metres but being higher in frequency generally works better during the day and closes earlier at night as well as being more affected by the sunspot cycle

15 metres (21.00-21.45MHz)

very popular band though more affected by the state of the sun

during sunspot minimum no stations may be heard and will often close at night

signal strengths can be higher than on 20metres and at sunspot maximum the band will remain open well into the night

broadcast band immediately above this band can give a good indication as to whether the band is open

12 metres (24.89-24.99MHz)

narrow band (similar to 17metres) but similar in propagation to 10 metres a little higher in frequency

relatively high frequency means band is greatly affected by the sunspot cycle but when it is open the band can give good results

after dark signals fall away and in the morning it takes a time for long distance stations to emerge

10 metres (28.00-29.70MHz)

highest of the true short wave or HF bands and becomes available for foundation license holders from 1^{st December 2006}

a very good band when open but very dependant on the sunspot cycle

like 12metres mainly a daytime band but at sunspot maximum can stay open into the night and when open very long distance stations can be contacted

at sunspot minimum sporadic E can give rise to some long distance contacts

at the high end of the band FM operation takes place (FM calling frequency 29.600MHz) and there is even some repeater activity. There is currently only one FM repeater in the UK at Northampton (output 29.640MHz, input 29.540MHz) but various European and even American repeaters can be heard with the right conditions

Above this level we get into the VHF bands (50MHz, 70MHz and 144MHz) and the UHF bands (430MHz and above) which work completely differently and are perhaps a subject for another day!

I don’t profess to be an expert, no-one can and we never stop learning. I hope this is helpful to one and all but I’m sure you’ll forgive any omissions or errors (and I’m sure someone will point them out to me!!)

73 de Rob 2E0RZD

Harrowbeer Aerodrome

The patch of land bounded by the Yelverton roundabout and the A386 Plymouth to Tavistock road six miles from Plymouth known as Leg ’o’ Mutton corner was, I am sure a good many of you will know, a second world war airfield known as Harrowbeer Aerodrome.  Little evidence of the airfields previous use remains it having reverted to nature and is now mainly scrub and heathland grazed by sheep but is also enjoyed by families as a large flat area ideal for playing games, flying kites and dog exercising. 

Some 65 years ago the situation was a lot different.  Great Britain was at war with Germany, the Battle of Britain had been won but the end of the war was still some way off and as far as anyone in the UK was concerned the end was nowhere in sight.  The likelihood of invasion was ever present as well as the risk of attack from the air.  Plymouth and most particularly Devonport was a key target being an important naval base and to provide defence to this and other strategic south west targets the RAF built aerodromes at Harrowbeer and Roborough (now the site of Plymouth airport) specifically to defend the city.  Harrowbeer was built not only for this purpose but to act as a satellite airfield for Exeter aerodrome (now Exeter airport) and to cater for aerial patrols extending along the south coast of England and down to the coast of France.  Satellite airfields were intended to provide backup landing fields as main stations were coming under continual heavy attacks from the Luftwaffe.  Most satellite fields were simply grass landing strips with a minimum of facilities however Harrowbeer would be different. 

Fair weather walking!

 Well we seem to have 'cracked it' this time so to speak.  The CBW Plymouth office moor walk for August arranged by yours truly sounded promising, sunny August, good Pub with sensibly priced food and a very scenic route.  So there was a bit of concern getting up early on the Sunday morning when it was grey, cloudy and just starting to rain but driving up through Princetown and on to Dartmoor it soon became clear the poor weather was only low lying.  we had a good number for the walk and the weather was fantastic, bright and sunny but with a refreshingly cool breeze.

We set out from the Warren House Inn near Postbridge (O/S grid reference SX674809), which is certainly remote and is the third highest Pub in England at approximately 427 metres above sea level. 

From the pub we struckout across open moorland (higher moor than last time) an area know as Headland Warren with hut circles stone rows and disused mine workings across and around Hookney Tor and then down to the iron age village of Grimspound.  This brought us on to part of the route of the two moors way (which runs across Exmoor and Dartmoor) on Hamel Down.  From here we continued past the crash site of a WWII bomber as far as Two Burrows and then a detour back down into the valley past Challacombe Farm, and a cut up between the edge of Soussons Wood and Challacombe Down to the Warren House Inn for lunch.

The ultimate covert amateur radio station?

I was in two minds about publishing this one to the blog but it is a 'thumping good yarn' and with due deference to anyone from Argentina "ITS NOTHING PERSONAL" - this entry appeared in PRC's June newsletter, QUA.

25 years ago next year (2^nd April 1982 to be specific) Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands which despite being in the South Atlantic is a dependency of the UK.  Radio communications were vital to island life, in 1982 the manually operated telephone system extended only a short distance from Port Stanley and hundreds of islanders relied on a government administered radio-telephone communications system. 

Lighthouse keeper Reginald Silvey was a former British Antarctic Survey radio expert and enjoyed amateur radio as his hobby from a fairly remote cottage on the islands under the callsign VP8QE.  Two days after the invasion Reg started to transmit information on the invading Argentine forces to the UK.  Propagation was good at the time and Reg was able to transmit on 21MHz using up to 100 watts using an Atlas transceiver, mainly during evenings (UK time). 

Argentine forces had banned radios but Reg had handed in a spare radio smuggled to him by a friend and had taken down his landmark antenna.  Instead he adapted a simple substitute turning a steel cored washing line into a (fairly!) long wire across his garden and illegally acquired a notice signed by the Argentine military governor denying entry to Argentine soldiers and stating that his house had been cleared by the military police.  From this point on Reg started a series of clandestine transmissions which would continue for the remainder of the occupation. 

Photo a go go!

I have always loved picture taking and have been the (very) proud owner of a Canon T90 35mm SLR for fast approaching 15 years!  The T90 is generally acknowledged to be the ultimate incarnation of the manual focus 35mm film based SLR camera, some will even go as far as to say it is superior in operation and build quality to current professional and semi-professional digital SLR cameras.  Well I wouldn’t know – I have had neither the money or the compunction to find out.  What I do know though is that the T90 is still a tremendous package, very capable and produces brilliant results 20 years after its introduction and I wouldn’t be without mine.  That said however it is now becoming apparent that digital is the new God so to speak, not surprising given its convenience and effectiveness, I cheat by getting films printed and put onto CD at the same time!   

It has become increasingly apparent over the last 12 months that the choice of photographic film is becoming less as digital has really taken off.  Almost since I started using the T90 I have also used Kodak Gold Ultra 400asa print film, and use 36 exposure film (otherwise its gone before you know it!) but its getting rarer than the proverbial now!  Its still possible to get some good deals online but it really seems to be an indicator of the way things are going.  Is this going to mean a transition into digital proper?