Following an antenna hoisting session on Sunday the 29th of January, Tom, EI2GP is now QRV on HF. A 150ft long wire was raised approximately 30ft above ground. Tom hopes to hoist a Windom antenna in a few months time but this wire should give him an opportunity to activate HF bands in the mean time. At the station end, the Nevada tuner matched the antenna to his Yaesu FT950. Initial settings for the bands were determined using the antenna analyser to save having to spend too long finding the resonance points using the rig. Tom is in the unique position of operating below road level but initial tests on 80 metres yeilded strong signals to Gerry in Oranmore on both 80 and 160 metres.
Blogs
Studying for the Amateur Radio Licence?
Steve, EI5DD, is offering tuition for those wishing to study for the Amateur Radio Licence examination. If there are enough takers a formal class will be set up. If there are insufficient numbers, it will be possible to arrange tuition on a one to one basis. The course material is not difficult but time does have to be spent in order to sit the multiple choice exam. There is also a comprehensive CD based study course available to assist with the tuition and revision.
Futher enquiries about the course should be made to Steve on 087 2451218 or ei5dd.steve@gmail.com
Craggy Island Dxpedition Group
Some members of the Galway VHF Group have joined together to form the "Craggy Island Dxpedition Group". This group will be active over the next year with operation from offshore islands and places of interest. Over the last year, equipment has been gathered to make the expeditions possible. Certain members of the group will have time on their hands from now onwards making it possible to indulge in more activity. The Group will be active mainly on HF but there will be occasional excursions to VHF and upwards should the need arise. If there is a need for two callsigns to be operated then the Galway VHF Group Callsign will be utilised as well. At present there is an application for an appropriate callsign with ComReg and once obtained the activity will begin.
EI8DRB Now QRV on HF
Following an antenna hoisting session, on Saturday the 21st of January, Gerry EI8DRB is now back on HF. The antenna is an off centre fed covering 80 - 6 metres up at approximately 50 ft above ground. Apart from intitial problems with the feeder the antenna showed a good match on all bands. Initial tests showed a wealth of lively activity on all bands. The antenna and balun were homebrewed and built to withstand the adverse weather conditions of Galway so it should remain in the air for sometime. We look forward to hearing more of Gerry on the air in the future months.
Galway VHF Group Demonstration and Practical Sessions
At recent meetings of the Galway VHF Group, the use of items of test equipment have been demonstrated in the context of PMR rig conversion. At the last meeting the Signal Generator and Sinadder were put through their paces and two ex PMR rigs were tuned to VHF Amateur bands. The Sinadder proved itself an invaluable tool when lining up the FM receivers. It was possible to peak the receivers to maximum sensitivity in minutes. Surprisinlgly good results were obtained by this method. The transmit side was then aligned and peaked into a dummy load and power meter. The sets have been in use for the last week or so and have shown improved performance during mobile operation. There are still a few requests to align individual PMR rigs so the next meeting will be a continuation of the last session.
Next month the build of the various stages of an AM/FM broadcast receiver will be studied in detail, measuring the parameters of each stage, before hooking them all together and aligning the set using standard test equipment. The use of an Oscilloscope and Sweep Generator will also be demonstrated as part of this project showing the selectivity curves of the IF stages in the AM and FM sections of the Receiver.
In the following few weeks some of the results of homebrewed projects will be demonstrated and put through their paces.
At a future meeting, the icing on the cake, a demonstration of the Signal Hound S44B and its matching Tracking Generator the TG44 which basically covers everything from DC to 4 GHz.
Check out our "Activities" page over the next few weeks for some pictures and more details will be found.
