RobL's world of wonder

Back to normal..., briefly

Well as we wave off the last of our visitors for a few weeks its time to take stock and get back to normality for a while. Work is about as mad as ever (QA audit time too!!) but thats to be expected and hopefully will be helped by the arrival back in January of the new boss who is already making his presence felt and in a good way, long may it continue! J is doing her normal thing and exceeding the targets she gets set at work and despite muttering about the stock, the deliveries, the pricing strategy and the limited numbers of customers has really turned her department around over the last twelve months and is one of the companies best performers!!! Ooh she is a clever girl :-)

Meanwhile I've had the unexpected thrust upon me (once again!) and am now the club secretary (designate) for the radio club here in Jersey as well as now being their website administrator with a new club website on www.radioclubs.net/gj3dvc which is worth a look (not that I am at all biased of course ;-) As part of the fun down there we are currently in the process of refurbishing the radio shack which has to be complete by the end of May (regular updates and pics on the website above).

Posted by Rob Luscombe on 29/04/2008.
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Long overdue for an update!

Its not that I've got fed up 'blogging' just don't seem to have had the time!!

Been doing plenty of photography too but since Christmas I've taken the plunge into using the digital for 'RAW' imaging as opposed to letting the camera do all the processing. JJ gave me the Photoshop Elements 6 software for Christmas which is absolutely fantastic for manipulating images and doing all the fixes you need to get the best results and lends itself to using the un-compressed RAW format straight from the camera. Only problem is very big files and the time needed to do all the necessary fixes and post processing and then to convert the photos into JPEG format to upload to the internet. Hence no new photos since Christmas!! The format isn't terribly user friendly as it slows the camera down too so I'm going to go back to using JPEG for most things and just do certain images in RAW when I want the best possible results. At least thats the theory!! I am intending processing a batch for upload here soon though so watch this space as they say!

Not been terribly 'radio-active' (!!) of late either, HF conditions have been poor though the antique FT101ZD has been put to good use once or twice on 20 and 40 metres but VHF beyond the island has been a dead duck for a couple of months now though I did get an honourable mention in the RSGB magazine RadCom last month for my 2.5w SSB contact into Northamptonshire (465km) back in January (Big hello and thank you to Bryn G4DEZ!).

The kids came over for a week last week and had a super time with mostly good weather and are looking to coming back again in August. Dropped them back over the weekend and then hitched a lift with Ma&Pa to come back on the ferry and they are staying for a week too. The ferry trip was a bit of an adventure too!! The ferry got in about one and a half hours late, I kid you not!!! We left Mum and Dad's in Cornwall at about 9.45am and drove up to Poole where we joined the hideously long queue for the boat which took an extra half hour to board as it was so busy then they couldn't close one of the rear doors as a chain had jammed making us an hour late, that meant we then arrived late at Guernsey, another delay as the Condor Clipper was in ahead of us rather than after us and we actually arrived at Jersey just in front of it but then had to wait for an HD ferry coming out of the harbour, Mum and Dad went off to their car and I went to get off as a foot passenger as I had to go and get my car but the scissor lift had broken down so none of the foot passengers could get off until the cars had gone!!!!!!! Good old Condor eh?!?! What is it they say about travelling hopefully??!

Anyway the Jersey weather is at last showing signs of improvement and the influx of visitors has now started by the look of things. And who knows there may even be some more photos to look at soon!!

Posted by Rob Luscombe on 24/04/2008.
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New gadget

The last 12 months in Jersey has seen something of a reduction in my annual mileage from, at the peak over 36k a year in the old E clas to less than 10k a year here in the new A class. Seems not the best timing to have replaced the VHF rig with a hands free unit but it is undoubtedly better than negotiating some of Jerseys back doubles with a microphone in your hand!

So the upshot has been some shopping around, initially looking at small Yaesu 2m rig and hands free microphone and ultimately has resulted in getting a really good deal on a new FTM-10e with full hands free bluetooth adaptor and headset. As a radio it is absolutely superb, 2m and 70cms FM and broadband VHF/UHF receive in a unit where you can mount the rig under the seat and the faceplate (which is not much bigger than a cigarette packet) on the dashboard, in this case using the supplied powerful magnet to a screw fixed metal plate.

The unit was relatively easy to fix, not so easy to understand from the mildly 'pigeon English' instructions but with judicious fiddling and playing with the multitiude of menus and functions we got there in the end. I've been told the transmitted audio with the headset is BBC quality though there is a funny background 'beep beep' noise like a heart monitor sound when using the built in faceplate microphone but it seems to be a peculiarity of the rig. Yaesu UK themselves said they were mystified by that one!!!

Anyway it should be entertaining to not be worrying about fiddling with a microphone and with up to 50w output power should be fun next time there's a lift. Record so far in flat conditions is 57+ approx 50 miles into France but you can just tell it'll be capable of so much more! The good old FT480r is now in service indoors in the shack hooked up to the 30w linear and a switch to the crossed 7element ZL-special so that should find some use still.

Posted by Rob Luscombe on 17/03/2008.
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Radio days!

I was over to visit kids and family last October and was able to engineer things in such a way as to be able to get along to the Holsworthy amateur radio rally which made a nice change and was fortuitous!! I've been on the lookout for a 2m or VHF beam antenna for some time, was going to hazard building one but as is the way of these things its getting around to it!! Well at the rally I actually intercepted someone with a rather nice 2x 7 element crossed ZL-special for 2 metres who was asking directions for the bring and buy stall, so a deal was done there and then and I am now the proud owner of a beast which offers 13dbd gain for both FM and SSB at VHF!!! To give yet a further boost the lowly 2.5watts output of the FT290r is also now fed through a 30watt linear amplifier with pre-amp (ebay) for some VHF next summer, possibly sooner!! As a postscript the new set up has so far managed approx 465km from north Jersey into Lincolnshire, and that was QRP switching the linear out in a recent lift!

Its been quite nice to try a little QRP SSB DX'ing with the 290r out portable too, when the conditions are right its amazing just how many other amateurs crawl out of the woodwork on 2m SSB so its always worth a shout when the pressure is high, even during the winter when the sporadic E isn't about.

Had a bit of a mishap in early January though, it gets pretty windy up at Rozel sometimes and we got home one night with some shopping, I took a routine look up at the 10m antenna on the chimney and despite it being dark the initial thought was "wheres that gone???" It had blown down across the roof slope but fortunately (?!?) the Hustler which is ground mounted had broken its fall and no damage occurred to the roof slates..., phew!! The radials on the Hustler aren't looking too bright though but it doesn't seem to have affected the tune on the 5 bands and it still gets out ok on 20m and 80m, I tried!!

Meanwhile its been nice to try a little mobile HF work with the FT747 but on a recent stateside net I had 3 or 4 reports of distorted audio and 'sounds like RF interference'. Well some further mods to the /M may be needed but I think we've isolated it. The FT747 was known as the 'plastic fantastic' because of its metallized plastic casing which is all very well but doesn't serve to insulate the inner workings from RF the way the good old all metal radios (a la FT707) did. May end up wrapping the thing in Bacofoil..., I kid you not!!

Well followers of the doings of the "Randomly Zany Dude" may remember I was lucky enough to get an aged FT101ZD mark 2 for the princely sum of £25 but was receive only! Well a recent Saturday afternoon's tinkering courtesy of Phil GJ4CBQ has got the old campaigner up and running again, it'll still need some aligning and I've spent a few happy evenings with the switch cleaner, meth's and cotton buds but we seem to be getting there! It'll be fun to have the old thing working, I love my FT707 to bits but fancied a 'big rig' to play with. Was watching an FT102 on ebay recently (including AM/FM board, SSB and CW filters) and is the successor to the FT101ZD but ultimately it went for a stonking £475!!!! Thats silly money I reckon for a 25 year old, especially as the 101 cost £25, some switch cleaner and 2 bottles of wine!!!

Posted by Rob Luscombe on 03/02/2008.
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Weekend away!

Well it was our first anniversary, we've known each other much longer than that but actually got it together this time last year and the rest is history as they say!! Anyway we had a good time when we went to St. Malo earlier in the year for the office 'booze cruise' and decided we must go again for a proper explore so this was a prime opportunity.

We took the fast ferry early on Saturday morning, it was cold but delightfully sunny in France and stayed that way all day so good for exploring and for some photos (though guess who forgot to charge the battery for the camera!!). Food and drink was excellent and not too pricey and we had a thoroughly good time. The Hotel faced onto the old square in the walled city which was promising, the room though was an anti climax facing out over a roof and a wall!! Soon resolved that one though by going down, asking to change to a 'room with a view' (!) which we could but we'd have to pay extra for the upgrade..., a whole 4 euros (which in the event we didn't get charges anyway!!)

Unfortunately Sunday was cool, wet and really windy but still headed out for a little bit of an embibe before finally getting the late afternoon (and slightly choppy!) fast ferry back. We're looking forward to the next opportunity to 'get away from it all' now..., then again we already have up to a point by living where we do!! ;-)

Posted by Rob Luscombe on 20/11/2007.
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Jersey Rally 2007

Jersey does seem to take its motorsport seriously with oodles of hillclimbs, beach and road races and last weekend was the Jersey Rally through the lanes of our fair island. Plenty of good photo opportunities too!

Didn't have loads of time to devote to it unfortunately but Saturday morning was a good opportunity to wander up near Trinity for the Bonne Nuit stage and watch people old enough to know better having a rant around lanes in cars that are much too fast through roads that are much too narrow! Absolutely fantastic, the sights, smells and sounds are just great and hats off to the driver of the green mk2 Escort RS who spent most of his time going sideways, he may not have been the winner but certainly took the prize for being the most spirited and entertaining driver of the day.

After the rally everything is taken down and cleared away like clockwork the only clues being the skid marks at corners and the occasional dented hedge and car paint left on the whitewash (oops!). I took the opportunity to drive round the route after the road was re-opened and 'flipping heck!!' it scared me at 15mph let alone 50!!!! One corner it took me three attempts to get around in the A140 so in a four wheel drive Quattro its a major feat (and ample use of the handbrake!)

Best bits can be found in the relevant photo album.

Posted by Rob Luscombe on 15/10/2007.
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Good timing

Well whilst on the subject of ebay I've been on the lookout for some time for the E-10 vertical holding grip and heavy duty (professional!) battery pack, missed one or two, especially as they don't come cheap!! Also since the airshow I figured I could also do with a telephoto lens to pull in the more distant subjects!!

Well good timing as there on ebay was an as new E-10 with the grip, heavy duty battery but also the telephoto, wide angle and macro lens adaptors and all for a good price!!! Even better before I'd even won the bidding I had a buyer lined up for the soon to be 'spare' E-10! Sorted!!!! I love it when a plan comes together!

P.S. Hoped for sale fell through but no matter, the new one is an updated version so both are now in service!

Posted by Rob Luscombe on 24/09/2007.
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Mobile Radio

A few modifications means the A140 is very nearly a fully operable mobile radio station - I've had 2m FM/SSB and 10m SSB in the car for some time now but all based on magmounts. Thats fine at VHF and even 20m upwards but a permanent antenna mount for HF is definitely a must if you are at all serious about things!! So I have set to work with the tin snips, drill and a sheet of aluminium and constructed a mounting bracket which is secured in the lip to the boot/tailgate opening. Testing has only extended to 10m so far but more will soon follow.

When I bought the FT747 I almost got a mobile mount too but it was more than fifty quid so gave it a miss. Well good old ebay has come up trumps again and I have got a brand new one in its box for a tenner (not bad considering they are as rare as the proverbial hens teeth!). It will need a little tinkering and 'falsework' though - modern cars being full of curves, plastic panels and airbags cuts down the options a little but pretty soon JJ will be sharing the passenger footwell with a Yaesu (she can't wait!! ;-) All being well that should open up the world of 17m, 20m, 40m and 80m mobile once again (it will have been a long time!).

Of great fun and amusement I recently found a G3's website with pictures of mobile amateur radio in the early 60's. Topband was popular mobile and its a real hoot to see old vehicles (most notably a Mini van, a Ford Popular, a Hillman Minx and even a Bedford Van) with big antennae for mobile operation, much of it putting to shame a lot of the stuff we use these days (apart from the Americans who take their 'mobiling' VERY seriously!!) I've always enjoyed mobile operation, going and parking somewhere scenic and chatting to people around the world always had a certain appeal!

73 de 2J0RZD

Posted by Rob Luscombe on 24/09/2007.
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Jersey Airshow 2007

Took the day off yesterday (13th September) to enjoy the Jersey airshow. Its a big'un, 4 hours of aircraft all shapes and sizes and era's - see new photo album - Jersey air show 2007. The show includes a static display of quite a few of the planes up at Jersey airport (though they don't let you get too close unfortunately, such are the times we live in!!

I reached my pre-determined photo location at about 11am and it was already getting busy for the 12.45 start! The choice spot appears to be on the concrete 'steps' to the sea side of 'le fregate' in St. Helier the display being planned around the West Park side of town. Was it a good location...? Well yes and no actually. Modern safety requirements are such that the hard deck for flying is at or about 100ft a.s.l. and the flight line was marked out at approximately a thumping quarter mile or so offshore!!!! Sum result is even using the good old T90 with a 300mm lens the photos are all a bit distant, certainly more distant than I would like. The vast majority of the 450 or so photos from the E10 digital with 140mm equivalent lens were a waste of time :-( - (results from the T90 will be posted here though once I've saved up nough to get them processed and digitised). Not only but also St. Aubins bay faces south so most of the time and especially after 4pm at this time of year the planes are backlit pretty much of the time. The answer is to be at Elizabeth Castle with a good lens or on a boat out in the bay!!

Anyway it was still a good show, popular highlights were of course the red arrows (marvellous) and the noisiest the Typhoon Eurofighter (awesome) especially with an 8g turn and stratosphere chasing vertical climb to about 8000 (?) feet to close his display - he basically went vertical in full re-heat until you couldn't see him anymore - even through a 300mm telephoto lens!!!! Personal favourites though (apart from those) had to be the B17, A26 Marauder, P-51 Mustang and the good old DC-3.

Most unusual were the Antonov AN-2 flying at walking pace without stalling (!!) and the Junkers JU-52 which with its three BMW radial engines just sounds..., weird!!!! Talking of sounds though who can beat a good old Rolls Royce Merlin (Spitfire, Hurricane and Mustang) at full chat and in a slight dive across the bay, sunlight glinting off the plexi-glass canopy. Oh why didn't I become a pilot when I could have had the chance?!

Breathtaking as well was the Blue Falcons army helicopter display. If you've ever watched and marvelled at a prop driven stunt plane climbing and hanging on the propellor before falling out into a vertical dive then the sight of someone doing that in Lynx army helicopter is something to behold!!! I'm probably more than a little pleased that I wasn't actually on board though!! ;-)

P.S. For both aviation and motor enthusiasts it was a bad weekend (15th and 16th September 2007) with the news of the death in a helicopter crash of the outstanding rally driver and former WRC world champion Colin McRae (and his young son and passengers) and also the fatal crash of one of the Hurricanes at last weeks Jersey air show at the Shoreham air day with the death of the pilot Brian Brown. Respect is due to both of them and condolences to their families.

Posted by Rob Luscombe on 15/09/2007.
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Fun in the sun!!

The other weekend was good fun, JJ's daughter Charlotte and two of her children (Imogen and Meg) came over for the weekend to visit and to see some of Jersey. The weather was kind and allowed some suitable children orientated outings (Durrell and the beach at Greve de Lecq) as well as a barbecue on the Saturday night.
One of the kids suddenly announced on Saturday morning that they reckoned I must be a spy having a Maglite torch, binoculars and all that radio equipment and aerials!!!!!