There is loads of noise about the IC-7300 at the moment in Radcom, QST and other magazines. So I felt we should do our bit too! Here are a couple of video reviews of the radio.
The first is by AmateurLogic and chaired by George Thomas of Ham Nation and Ray Novak from Icom America.
Should the club get one of these? Let me know 😉
The second video is by Bob McCreadie (G0FGX) of TX Factor fame as he talks with Icom UK to give an overview of the radio.
Andrew
G0RVM
The 2nd of July was the date of the Thornbury Carnival and what a glorious day it was. Hot and sunny. Thanks to those who helped with the organisation, who provided equipment, who got equipment to/from the site and to those that manned our tent through the long day.
We where allocated a prominent position slightly down the hill from the entrance/exit so there were lots of people passing and quite a few stopped by to see us. Although the pitch was in a good position for passing traffic, it was in a very noisy position, not far from a music stage and had a children’s inflatable play ‘thing’ next door. The latter had an acoustically noisy generator running the whole day which, at times, made hearing the radio’s hard.
All-in tho, it was a good day. We handed-out many flyer’s advertising the club and had at least one person promise to come to the club. Jane and Sue did an excellent job at arresting our local Police, telling them about Amateur radio and getting a promise of a lecture….
The real test of success will be how many potential members come and see us over the next few weeks. But even if its none, I believe it a worthwhile exercise as it helped communicate Amateur radio to the general public, raise our profile within the community and has most likely secured us a talk.
Lashing a pole to an in-situ climbing frame and another to my truck we managed to get a dipole for 20m operational and made several contacts across Europe. We also had a short ‘white stick’ antenna for 2m and 70cms which allowed us to communicate with members not attending the site during the day. Peter assembled 10 x SDR radio kits to sell to interested visitors and sold 5, including 1 to Mark ;-).
Thanks again folks,
Andrew
G0RVM
Below is ongoing detail. I will add more to this post as the trip unfolds.
Click any of the photos in this post for bigger versions.
Day 1 – 22nd June 2016
Graham and myself are on a European adventure to Friedrichshafen (link). We embarked on our journey at 11am UK time on Wednesday 22nd. An easy journey to Dover was followed by an earlier than planned crossing (at 3:15pm) to Calais via DFDS.
The ferry couild have been named the Marie Celeste as we were 2 of 4 people using the aft lounge.
On investigation we realised that the majority of the travellers were truckers, filling their lounge to capacity. We arrived in Calais at 5:50pm local time and proceeded through Calais passing the Bleriot memorial on our way to the Formule 1 motel. Following check in an evening meal was had at Flunch a short walk away and a browse through the Auchen Hypermarket. The night was pucntuated with Thunder, Lightning and HEAVY Rains.
Day 2
We awoke at 7am and were on the road by 9am proceeding to Dunkerque followed by Steenvoorde where an uneventful crossing into Belgium was undertaken. Then on to Epres, Kortrijk, Tournai, Mons, Charleroi and Namur with a stop just after Liege for Lunch and the first part of this post. On the way we drove through many storms some with the biggest hailstones ever, passing out into glorious skies and 30+ degrees Centigrade.
Continuing after lunch saw us past Aachen to Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler on the river Ahr. after settling in at a spenldid, clean, tidy and welcoming youth hostel (Below) we joined approximately 150 schoolchildren and their handlers for an evening meal.
After dinner of three courses we took a stroll into Ahrweiler along the river. The town of Ahrweiler has a restored wall and cobbled streets as below where a pleasant evening was enjoyed.
Day 3
started as day 2 at 7am for ablutions and a continental breakfast, once again with the cast of Oliver Twist. It is to be remembered however that we were in their territory as neither of us could be considered to be youths!
Travelling saw Koblenz with stunning views at a stop of the Moselle Valley (below) then Stuttgart followed by loads of scenery.
Lake Constance then came into stunning view followed by a drive down the eastern side arriving at Friedrichshafen YHA at approximately 4pm. We have found that we are 2 of 212 people staying here. Everyone of which appears to be an amateur or XYL.
Bicycles have now been rented for tomorrows short ride into the Messe for the 2nd day of the rally.
Our evening meal was taken at a restaurant over the road and co-located with a campsite on the shore of Lake Constance. Some discussion of the menu contents was discussed until an English menu was provided. A brief walk along the shoreline was completed before bed.
Day 4
Day 4 started at the usual time with the usual routine. We then took a short ride on the bikes (missing the queues and parking) to the Messe. Shown is Hall A1 and A2 in the distance.
The rally is split into four halls/hangers as follows;
Full details of the halls and traders can be obtained at the link above.
We then spent the whole day having our first look around and trying to ensure we walked every gangway. It did take us all day to view A1, A3, A4, and A5 just once. Halls A1 (where we signed in with the RSGB) and A3 were completed before lunch with A4 and A5 after lunch. Many purchases were made with some return to stalls previously dismissed.
We then returned via bicycle to the YHA to rest and recuperate after a day on the hoof.
Our evening meal was taken at a local Italian fish restaurant along the river from the YHA. We then returned to the YHA for coffee and discussion with other HAMS (the place being full of them) and then to bed.
Day 5
Day 5 started at the usual time with the usual routine.
Travel to the Messe was by car today to allow for antenna purchase. Parking was a mere 4€ (£3.20) and then into the halls for another walk through to see everything missed yesterday. Those who have been to rallies with me will know that I’m not fast, except for when in the car. More purchases were made with some bargaining as it is the last day.
Major manufacturers were there including;
There was a wide range of items to be purchased including;
Our evening meal is planned for the local Italian fish restaurant (Fischerstuble €20-25 per head) along the river.
Day 6
Day 6 started as usual at 7am. We then began travelling towards Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler however we had agreed an initial detour to avoid some of the 5 Autobahn and then agreed an additional detour through the Rhine valley with some stunning scenery.
Day 7
Day 7 will see a return to Dunkirk for the ferry crossing with arrival home late on Tuesday night.
Other Items
Some prices at the rally were more than you would normally pay. For example a PL259 was 80 pence (£1:€1.25) compared to the best rally bargin in the UK of 65 pence. But you don’t go to Friedrichshafen for the prices.
Many photos and videos are available from me in addition to those within this post.
The youth hostel nights cost on average €35 and included a breakfast with optional packed lunch. An evening meal can also be purchased where it is available. Breakfasts consisted of cereals, fruit, yogurt, meats and cheeses with breads. Accommodation was either on or off-suite depending upon the hostel and availability.
The route taken was fairly painless with good continental roads and knowledge of where the hold-ups may be.
Entry into the Rally was either €9 per day or €18 for all three days in advance.
The third day did however see some stalls leaving early including the RSGB packing up at 9am!
Paul
M0ZMB
The TSGARC has, unfortunately, had to withdraw from attending the Yate Heritage Centre this weekend as part of Museums on the Air due to difficulties agreeing terms for our use of the lawn next to the centre.
Thank you to everyone who has put effort into making this, so nearly, happen.
Andrew
G0RVM
A little news hot off the Dayton press… Yaesu have a new mobile HF & 6m, 100w transceiver.
Looks a little like the latest series of Icom radio’s with its black on white display. Its also similar to the FT-857 with function buttons surrounding the its display. The head is detachable and it claims to have a 32-bit IF DSP capability.
With the IC-7000 now firmly retired and the IC-7100 head more suited to desktop operation than mobile, I just wonder if Yaesu have seen a gap in the market…. What will Icom do next?
But why omit V/UHF? Seems a little odd. Of course this could be the first of several re-designs and there may be other models yet to be released.
Perhaps it will be launched into Europe at Friedrichshafen.
Andrew
G0RVM
Friday 29th April saw the start of the TSGARC big Field Weekend. OK, not quite the same as its BBC Radio 1 namesake but just as much fun 🙂 Setup took place on the Friday and was finished by late afternoon – much quicker and more smoothly than last year. The event ran over the following Saturday, Sunday and everything was dismantled and removed by mid-Monday afternoon.
So a big thanks to those that came and who helped setup and/or remove everything. An event like this was only possible thanks to some accommodating friends of John, M6EQQ who allowed us to use their field. As a thank you the club bought them a bouquet of flowers and some beer. I will let you work out who received what! Like preceding days, the Monday was a relaxed start and the dismantle job only started late morning. Unfortunately, as some people know only too well it started raining just after lunch which incentivised speedy work. But some of us got a little damp – Rex 😉
Over the whole weekend there where two radio tents, the first used the FT-897 loaned to the club by Derek. This allowed HF and VHF (6m) operation using a G3TXQ Hexbeam from MW0JZE (top image). VHF (2m) operation was possible using a 9-element Yagi from Tonna. The FT-897 PA provided 100w on HF and 50w on 2m. The highlight of the first day was a solid 17m contact into Japan by Derek using SSB. But there where also lots of other contacts across the European and American continents. The hexbeam was observed to have useful directivity mounted at 12m atop the trailer tower.
The second tent used a home-brew HF (20m) Bobtail – orientated to provide East/West lobes – and a 3-element Yagi for 2m, both courtesy of John M0HFH. This tent used the clubs FT-450 both for SSB and CW plus an FT-857 and FT-817 provided by John and Rex. The tent also showed rebellious tendencies, opting at times, to use some rather exotic batteries which no-one wanted to be anywhere near!! Thanks John!
There, was of course, another tent, a very important tent and one where people congregated. The ‘brew tent’ was where we had the stove, tea, coffee and what seemed like an endless supply of bacon – thanks Jane – plus copious amounts of biscuits 🙂 The weather was mostly dry but a little on the chilly side so this was indeed a popular tent.
In total we had two big (6m x 4m) tents, the rebellious tent (2.5m sq) plus a small day tent to keep the generator dry. These provided ample space and shelter for the weekend. The final accommodation to mention was the chemical toilet, arguably the most important item to making the field weekend possible.
Everyone who went had a good time and all the equipment worked well. Simultaneous operation of two HF stations was not really possible, or expected, due to the proximity of the antenna’s so perhaps a project for next time is to make band-pass filters. It was a surprise to find that even HF low power transmissions broke through on the other tents VHF (2m) activity.
With only two radio’s in operation at any time it was common to find people in the ‘Brew tent’ or contributing to activities in the field. In the above image John, M0HFH is being helped to connect an ATU to the feed point of the HF (20m) Bobtail.
There was also some genuine help. Many hands made light work of jobs including raising the tents and preparing the operating positions. Unpacking, assembling and raising the hex beam was made easy with great support. Thanks also to Ron, who stuck it out in the rain on Monday to methodically dismantle the hextbeam such that it can be easily reassembled next time.
Personally, I’m already looking forward to another event next year. But we may move the date back to the late May Bank holiday weekend as the weather should be a little warmer 🙂
Andrew
G0RVM
There will be an EGM on 25th May to discuss changes to club membership fees.
Garry
G7NVZ
Secretary
So, the TSGARC 2016 field weekend starts in glorious sunshine. John, Derek and Mark with a trailer full of tents, tables etc.
Andrew
G0RVM
Until recently our Programme has contained On-air nights. Before our radio room came into operation last year these where necessary as all activities shared the same room. However, now that we have a separate radio room we no longer need to reserve specific nights for operation of the radio’s as this is now possible on any evening by club members. As a result the committee has agreed to remove On-air nights from our event programme.
Members are encouraged to get our club on-air each Wednesday evening and/or on other days if they so wish.
If members would like to see new events in our programme, could they please communicate with a committee member to progress their suggestion.
Andrew
G0RVM
‘Young’ Steve took and passed his Foundation Exam this Friday evening.
Steve completed the test in 25 minutes with an indicative score of 23 out of 26. Steve now needs to start thinking of a suitable callsign. The test was invigilated by Peter G4OST and Rex G4RAE, who both kindly gave there evening. Steve received most of his training from Andy and Peter.
Thank you gents.
Well Done Steve.
Paul
M0ZMB