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    <channel>
	<title>Gopher.ICU - Radio</title>
	<link>gopher://gopher.icu/0/phlog</link>
	<description></description>
	    
        <item>
	   <title>Ham-Radio</title>
	   <link>gopher://gopher.icu/0/phlog/Radio/Ham-Radio.md</link>
	   <description></description>
	   <media:description type="plain"><![CDATA[# Ham Radio

I started a new adventure into ham radio. The idea came to me during
the COVID lock-down but although I purchased the study material, for
some reason I got distracted and didn't follow up on it until just
before Xmas last year. To get things moving I bought myself a small
hand-held, Retevis RT85, so that I could at least listen and keep my
interest. Once I had been reviewing the study material again and
thought I was ready to take the exam I started to look for a local
examination centre.  Luckily there was a radio club fairly close that
was approved to sit the exam. I ended up joining the club and doing
the final few weeks of studying with their assistance before sitting
my exam.

I took the examination on the 9th of Feb and was informed by the
invigilator that I had passed the same evening. Monday this week I
received my certificate so that I could request my licence and
call-sign. This was all taken care of within a few minutes via an
online form.


## The myth of HT's

Having viewed a significant amount of videos online, I thought my HT
would have me easily connecting to local repeaters and having a great
old time talking with the locals. The reality sadly was much
different. We have 2 repeaters within the town and although I can
hear their transmissions, including a Hubnet connected repeater some
24 miles away, I can barely be heard on even the nearest. 5w and a
rubber duck antenna just won't cut it in an urban environment. I have
to admit I'm not helped by the terrain as I am basically in the
bottom of a valley, but I really thought things would be better than
they are. Obviously I was super keen to make contacts having put in
all the effort to gain my licence but I feel pretty disappointed
after 3 days of not being heard, or being barely heard.  Saying that
I have managed a few contacts, one of which gave me instruction
over-the-air, how to build myself a dipole antenna.


## The dipole

The instruction I received was to take a piece of coaxial cable,
strip off 19" of the outer jacket and separate the shielding and
center core and pull them in opposite directions to form the two
elements of the dipole. Through some fortune I had aquired some RG58
coaxial from the radio club last Friday evening, so I already had a
significant component for the build. I needed to keep the elements
separated and have some way of mounting it. The first thing that came
to my mind was a long straight piece of plumbing tube that I had
pulled out of the loft when we first moved in. I measured a length
about an inch longer than the total length of the dipole and cut the
tube. I then drilled a hole in the center of the tube to be able to
feed through the RG58 cable. I made a small hook on the end of the
cable so that I could try to poke it through the hole and then
proceeded to draw through the cable[1]. Once I got close to the
elements I fed in the wire section in its plastic jacket, put a cable
tie around the coaxial just below where the two wires separated[2],
and proceeded to pull it down the tube. This eventually resulted in
the braided half of the dipole being pulled in and both elements
being centered in the tube[3]. I have ordered an SMA male to BNC
female connector for the radio and a BNC male to RG58 compression
plug for the end of the coaxial along with a Diamond SRH701 antenna.
The 19cm Diamond should be an improvement over the standard rubber
duck for portable use and I will use the dipole, vertically mounted
in the loft, when at home.

There are a lot more knowledgeable people at the club than me with
regard to antenna so, I will see if we can test the SWR of the dipole
and make any adjustments on Friday evening, before I connect it to
the radio. Hopefully the connectors will be here by then...


[1](gopher://gopher.icu/I/phlog/Radio/images/dipole2.jpg)
[2](gopher://gopher.icu/I/phlog/Radio/images/dipole3.jpg)
[3](gopher://gopher.icu/I/phlog/Radio/images/dipole4.jpg)]]></media:description>
	   <pubDate>Thu, 22 Feb 2024 00:50:31 +0100</pubDate>
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        <item>
	   <title>What-a-difference-a-dipole-makes</title>
	   <link>gopher://gopher.icu/0/phlog/Radio/What-a-difference-a-dipole-makes.md</link>
	   <description></description>
	   <media:description type="plain"><![CDATA[#  What a difference a dipole makes

I simply cannot convey to you the importance of a good antenna
system. My first days as an amateur radio operator had been a huge
disappointment to me. My expectations of being able to connect to
local repeaters with ease and make contacts around the world using
Hubnet were shattered within the first 2 hours of getting my
call-sign.

From the ether in those frustrating hours a voice came and instructed
me how to build myself a basic dipole antenna[1]. I had to wait a
couple of days for some connectors to arrive but now that they have,
and the antenna is operable[2], things have changed significantly.

Today I made my first contact on simplex. I had set the frequency on
my HT to the 2m calling channel and had put a CQ call out but no
answer came. Then a strong voice came through calling CQ to which I
replied, half expecting not to be heard. To my surprise he asked me
to repeat my call-sign, which I proceeded to do in phonetics to make
it as clear as possible. Bob was his name, an 83 year old gentleman
that lives not far away. We had a great chat for about 30 minutes,
him explaining the gear he was using and how long he had been an
amateur and my doing likewise. He said there wasn't much traffic on
2m these days, which is what I have read pretty much everywhere, but
2m had seemed to work better for me. Maybe due to my terrain, or my
limited power, I'm not sure which but it has so far given me a better
experience. The local 2m repeater also seems to be more friendly to
my tinkering and connecting it to other systems, like Hubnet. I
managed to link the repeater into the Hubnet system and make a 
contact with another recently licensed amateur who's journey I had
been following from the sidelines by listening into Hubnet and his
contacts there. It was great to finally be a part of the
conversation, rather than just listening to it.

Thanks Paula!

[1](gopher://gopher.icu/0/phlog/Radio/Ham-Radio.md)
![2](gopher://gopher.icu/I/phlog/Radio/images/ghetto-antenna.jpg)]]></media:description>
	   <pubDate>Sat, 24 Feb 2024 01:10:54 +0100</pubDate>
	</item>
        <item>
	   <title>VHF-and-UHF</title>
	   <link>gopher://gopher.icu/0/phlog/Radio/VHF-and-UHF.md</link>
	   <description></description>
	   <media:description type="plain"><![CDATA[# VHF and UHF

It was never really my intention to invest too much time, or money,
into UHF or VHF. Due to my location, in the bottom of a valley, I
didn't think it would work very well and I would be heavily reliant
on repeater infrastructure. For me, being reliant on infrastructure
defies the object of the exercise which was station to station
communications, should there be some event that would interrupt our
more common communications channels.

After nearly two weeks of operating, my opinion has changed a little.
On simplex, station to station, I have  spoken to a handful of locals
, a couple of contacts on higher ground further a field and also one
contact some 26 miles away who gave me a 5 & 9 report. I have
frequently used a Hubnet linked repeater some 20 miles away and made
a number of local contacts via the local repeaters. I have been
pleasantly surprised by my range in certain directions and confused
by it in others. There is a repeater practically on my door step some
4 miles away and I am unable to use it, but I can be heard clearly on
another some 20 miles away. RF is a strange beast indeed.


## Summary

I still don't intend to invest heavily in UHF or VHF but my attitude
towards it has certainly softened over the past week. I have some
better quality coaxial cable which I will install in the next week or
so.  Higher frequencies suffer greater losses of signal on poor
quality cable. Without changing the antenna or any other component
this should improve my signal due to reduced losses in the cable.  

Like with low powered computers, there is satisfaction to be gained
by operating low power and squeezing the most out of it. Bear in mind
that all the above was achieved with a Retevis RT85 5W hand held
radio that cost 23 GBP, a piece of RG58 coaxial cable and piece of
plastic waste pipe ...


## My station

* Retevis RT85
* Diamond SRH-701 19cm antenna (for portable use)
* Retevis RT85 extended battery pack
* SMA-M to BNC-F connector
* 10m of RG58 coaxial
* BNC-M to RG58 connector
* piece of plastic waste tube (outer of the dipole)
* Ring ferrite to choke the RF from the exit of the dipole.


## Future upgrades

* PSF 1/4m high grade UHF/VHF cable install
* Make a slim-jim antenna from 300ohm ladder line
* Hand microphone ?]]></media:description>
	   <pubDate>Sat, 02 Mar 2024 19:29:04 +0100</pubDate>
	</item>
        <item>
	   <title>Morse-Code</title>
	   <link>gopher://gopher.icu/0/phlog/Radio/Morse-Code.md</link>
	   <description></description>
	   <media:description type="plain"><![CDATA[# Morse Code

* The length of a dot is one unit.
* The length of a dash is three units.
* The space between parts of the same letter is one unit.
* The space between letters is three units.
* The space between words is seven units.


## Letters

A .-    B -...  C -.-.  D -..   E .     F ..-.  G --.   H ....

I ..    J .---  K -.-   L .-..  M --    N -.    O ---   P .--.

Q --.-  R .-.   S ...   T -     U ..-   V ...-  W .--   X -..-

Y -.--  Z --..


## Numbers

0 ----- 1 .---- 2 ..--- 3 ...-- 4 ....- 5 ..... 6 -.... 7 --...

8 ---.. 9 ----.


## Punctuation

. .-.-.- , --..-- ? ..--..  ' .----. ! -.-.-- / -..-.  ( -.--.  

) -.--.- & .-.... : ---...  ; -.-.-. = -...-  + .-.-.  - -....-

_ ..--.- " .-..-. $ ...-..- @ .--.-. 


## Alphabet Trees

Follow the branch left for a Dit and right for a Daa.


### Starts with Dit
                                 .
                                 E
                 ________________|________________ 
                ..                                .- 
                I                                 A  
         _______|_______                   _______|_______ 
       ...             ..-               .-.             .--
        S               U                 R               W 
     ___|___         ___|___           ___|___         ___|___ 
   ....    ...-    ..-.              .-..            .--.    .---
    H       V       F                 L               P       J    


### Starts with Daa

                                 -
                                 T
                 ________________|________________ 
                -.                                --	
                N                                 M
         _______|_______                   _______|_______ 
       -..             -.-               --.             ---
        D               K                 G               O 
     ___|___         ___|___           ___|___        
  -...     -..-    -.-.    -.--      --..    --.-    
   B        X       C       Y         Z       Q       ]]></media:description>
	   <pubDate>Tue, 04 Jun 2024 14:42:00 +0200</pubDate>
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