So many rabbit holes, you’ll struggle to find ground
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Building a tiny mic 🎙️
In an effort to slim down my travel kit, I decided that a tiny mic was in order. I’ve seen several people on YouTube use small mics and I’ve seen some for sale on eBay but when I found this design, I knew I had to build one. The site has a list of what…
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First SOTA Activation
I’ve chased a few SOTA activators before, it’s quite a fun thing to do, you watch the spotting website and then see if you can get them. Once someone posts a spot it’s pretty quick for them to get a pile up. I’ve kept thinking about doing it, and I do live in an ideal…
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CQWW SSB Contest 2023
If ever there’s a time when the bands are busy, it’s the huge contest of CQWW. 12th in Scotland isn’t bad for 3.9 hours of operation. Least I don’t think so. Here’s my log summary ************************** Summary *************************** 94 Raw QSO before checking (does not include duplicates or missing exchanges) 93 Final QSO after checking…
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One year on
The 7th December 2022 I passed my foundation exam online. My invigilator, Bob G0OCB, would also become my full exam invigilator. I had done the Essex ham foundation course in August/September but then put off the exam for a while. I actually only just passed, and probably should’ve just read the manual instead of doing…
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Get a G in the UK
If you pass your full licence today, you can apply online to get a M0 callsign but you can also apply and get any previously issued prefix. Well, nearly every one. However, it’s not entirely obvious how to do this. In fact, when I spoke to ofcom about reserving a call or putting a hold…
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First attempts at LEO 🛰️
My previous attempt ended with just listening to the astronaut, and whilst fun, it wasn’t what I was actually meant to be doing. I’ve since read the manual and, mostly, figured out the D72. As the radio is quite old there is both lots of info online and also a lack of it, depending on…
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Listening to Astronauts 👨🚀
A while ago I managed to pick up a Kenwood D72 from a SK sale for a good price. This is one of the few handhelds that do full duplex, and is also packed with features, including APRS and GPS. This makes it ideal for FM satellites. I recently picked up an Arrow II handheld…
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A great day on 10
If you’ve been paying any attention you would know propagation on 10m has been exceptional this past week or so. Given my shack relocation, I’ve been missing out on it…until today! I had some time around lunchtime and when I looked at the maximum usable frequency on this site, I was amazed to see the…
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First on Five
For a little while, the Matrix Radio group have been talking about a HF net at some stage. I think I offered to do something, but have yet to do so! Steve, M0XVT, raised that he joins a 60m net and we all thought that sounded like a good idea to try. We’d agreed to…
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Live on Youtube
Was on the computer doing things and switched tabs to YouTube and I saw Callum, M0XXT, of DXCommander, doing a live stream on 40m. Thought I might as well give him a call. My antenna was unplugged, as it comes in through the window and now it’s getting chilly in the mornings, so I had…