Click
here This radio is an excellent "middle of the road" radio with many
features including twin pass band tuning, auto ATU, scan function, general
coverage receive and many more functions too numerous to mention. Amateur Radio
Radio Amateur Station MM0BRG
My callsign is MM0BRG and the QTH (location) is on the West Coast of Scotland in a small town called Kilwinning in Ayrshire.
I'm an A-Licence holder with a fairly modest shack upstairs in a back bedroom (converted), which is usually bunged up with other electrical junk in for repair- another hobby I dabble in.
The following is a list of radio equipment in regular use at my QTH:
Main HF/VHF Radio: Icom IC-746
100 watt with D.S.P. Click
here This radio is an excellent "middle of the road" radio with many
features including twin pass band tuning, auto ATU, scan function, general
coverage receive and many more functions too numerous to mention.
Coupled with this I use a Heil Proset (click here for Bob's Website) headset giving near perfect audio for my requirements with a footswitch PTT which allows me to use a computer controlled logging program, which, by the way, is YPlog an excellent computer logger by Tony Field VE6YP. Check out his website for download!
My second HF radio is an Icom
IC-720A 
(Click here) which was a flagship
for Icom back in the 1980s and can still cut the mustard today, although mine is
in need of a good service, which I'll get around to sometime this year!
Mounted in my new Ford Focus 1.8
Zetec is an Icom IC-706 MkII G 
(Click
here) which covers 12 bands from Top Band to 70cm with 100 watt HF and 6m,
50 watt 2m, 20 watt 70cm.
I've also several handheld radios
including Icom IC-T22E , IC-02E 
(Click here), IC-A2 UK and a Kenwood TH-22E 
(Click
here) . All in daily use.
I've also just acquired a Linear
Amp UK Ranger 811H 
(Click
here) 800 watt Linear amplifier which should help me cut through the pileups!
Ok, that just about covers the radios I use on a daily basis, I have other radios, including a ship transmitter that can be used on 160 and 80 metres with an output of around 1500watt, but they get used only when necessary
Now onto antennas or aerials, if you prefer.
For HF, my main antenna is a Mosley TA33-M 3 element tri-bander for 20/15/10m rotated by a Yaesu G-450C rotor, (I'm in the process of repairing a Hy-Gain Ham IV rotor which is a bit more powerful) mounted on a 10m extendable Adaptamast by Tennamast, Scotland.
I've also a half size G5RV dipole and a multi-band V9 vertical by Sandpiper of South Wales which covers Top Band to 10m.
For VHF I use a Ringo Ranger Colinear on top of my mast and a 7/8 wave 2m vertical near the apex of my roof. I've also built a very simple Snyder Coax dipole which I've hung from the eaves of my house.
For my Mobile I've a selection of Pro-Am style whips for HF and an Archer On Glass half wave for VHF. (UHF is not used much in this area.)
Click here for Dalry Amateur Radio Group Homepage
Now onto the main subject.....
There are many facets to amateur radio. In fact, too many to list on this page, so I'm going to tell you about the subjects I'm interested in.
Dxing
DX is a term used by radio enthusiasts, meaning radio stations more distant or more difficult to contact.
This does not have to mean that the station needs to be thousands of miles away, although many are, it means that the country in contact is rarely heard. Examples are uninhabited islands, countries with few radio amateurs and countries that have only recently allowed amateur radio operation within their borders (we're hoping for North Korea this year).
The more contacts to new DX countries, the more points gained towards an award.
Also a particular bonus for me, is that I can practice my Spanish when talking to Latin American countries such as Chile where I have strong family ties. So most afternoons and evenings I point my antenna toward South America, calling "CQ DX".
Contesting
Contesting isn't everyone's cup of tea, but for me it's an intense, exhilarating experience.
The idea is to contact as many different countries or stations as possible in the time allotted by the contest organisers. It can be a very hectic time during larger contests but it is also rewarding, because there are often quite a few DX countries activated only for the contest which can bring your DX totals up considerably. Also, if you get lucky and are invited on a "DX-Pedition" for a contest you can have a holiday all in as well!
You don't need much to start contesting. A radio, antenna and time(!) are important things needed, but in this day and age, a computer logging program is also a necessity, if you want to gain a half decent score! (See YPlog above). Most important of all though, is to get acquainted with rules and learn how to operate during contests. It doesn't help your score (or others) if you haven't a clue what to do!
The way I went about it was to have a dummy run during another contest for a couple of hours, with some pointers from a friend who was already a keen contest operator.
Then I operated as a Single Operator Low Power Unassisted Station during the CQ Worldwide Contest 2000 for the first time, ending up with over 1000 contacts in the log.
I'll need to improve for 2001 though. I've now got computer operated voice keying connected to my radio to help me, so at least I can save the vocal chords a bit!
Slow Scan Television
You can send any picture you like (within reason!) across the world via amateur radio, so long as you have a radio, a computer, an SSTV program - available as a download on the net, and the ability to cobble together some leads to interface your radio with your computer.
Some good programs are Chromapix, EZSSTV, DL4SAW SSTV, and JVComm32.
SSTV uses different tones assigned to specific colours to produce an image that is synchronised at the start of the picture and each line.
Bob MM0BQM's Website has some good links for SSTV. Find him in the Amateur Radio Links Page.
Digital/Fuzzy Modes
There are many different modes available to the radio amateur ranging from packet radio through to one of the oldest, Hellschreiber invented by German engineers before the Second World War.
Most modes require only a simple interface between your computer sound card and your radio, and can be quite fun, keeping you on the air if you develop or have impaired hearing , speech etc.
Check out Murray ZL1BPU's website for details and downloads.
Home Astronomy Bike DARG Music Airport Fire Service General Links
