Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2025 i Practical Wireless

So far in PW I have reviewed every model of Xiegu radio, and to date two have stood out for me – the X5105 and the G90, two rigs whose firmware updates and high quality ATU’s have made them very popular and capable rigs. The G90 particularly has a huge following. So, when the opportunity came to borrow the latest X6200 from Sinotel UK for review, I was keen to put this new rig through its paces. The X6200 is the most expensive Xiegu yet, retailing at £785 at Sinotel, and it is also available from the other usual outlets. At over twice the price of the G90 I was keen to see what you get for your extra cash. Additionally, I had seen and read reviews of the prototype…

Earlier this year I came across some comments that amounted to just this (see heading). I also do know several operators who are dyslexic but still get by pretty well. If you are dyslexic and think it impossible to learn CW, just read the experiences of Jon G4IVV who has overcome any ‘assumed’ problems with dyslexia. Other disabilities can be overcome to some extent too. It is worth reading this: https://tinyurl.com/mu3mrwfu Jon G4IVV is a member of the Norfolk ARC and operates in contests for us, always doing pretty well. I did not realise that he suffers from dyslexia, nor would I have suspected it, seeing some of his contest results. However, Jon is also involved in IT and has written some software to help him. Jon wrote to me…

When not playing radio, I’m a keen photographer; as such, I generate a lot of digital files. In addition to my photography, I provide computing support for my fellow photographers at the local camera club. I often get a plea for help when someone encounters a hard disk failure. That’s when they finally realise that all their precious photos are at risk. This is not exclusive to photographers; we all have valuable information stored on our computers. As I’ve built up a lot of experience with backups and data recovery, I thought I’d share some of my learning points here. All hard drives fail - it’s just a question of when! Uncomfortable as that may seem, it’s a simple fact that they all fail. That applies to solid-state as well…

When I was first licensed, I was fortunate that one of my local clubs ran a series of talks, each covered a different aspect of amateur radio. These, together with visits to a number of local amateurs to see various aspects of the hobby in action such as Fast Scan Television (70cm AM in those days) and RTTY, gave me the opportunity to get acquainted with many aspects of the hobby quite quickly. These days, I sense this opportunity to be exposed to many facets of our hobby is not as common as when I first started out. As time moves on, the hobby evolves, with several new modes appearing over the years such as a number of digital voice modes, data modes such as FT8 and FT4, and digital…

PLUG FOR POWER: Billy McFarland GM6DX creates an adapter that allows you to plug and power your transceiver without opening up the PSU unit and dealing with high voltage components. PAPER QSL CARDS IN MEMORIAM? Ray Howes G4OWY/G6AUW looks back at the history of QSL cards as they gradually go out of fashion. THE EARTH TUNER REVISITED: Colyn Baillie-Searle GD4EIP revisits the ‘earth tuner’ in the context of providing an effective RF earth. THE ATX: Tony Jones G7ETW looks at repurposing PC power supplies for use in the shack. THE BEACON BOX: Martin Waller G0PJO finds a way of displaying RBN spots on a world map. THE FORTRESS GIBRALTAR ANTENNA: Ken Ruiz ZB2MD has a portable one-element beam ideal for walled cities, castles etc. There are all your other regular…

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NEW WAB AWARDS: Starting in 2025, The Worked All Britain Awards Group (WAB) will be introducing three new long-term awards. Postcodes Award: The first part only of the postcode, (known as the outcode), is used for this award. Certificates are available for the stages Basic through to Sapphire, with a trophy for the Diamond Award. Historic Counties Award: Previously, WAB has run a Counties Award, the requirements for which were often having to be amended due to changes in local government. A decision was made to retire it. The new one is based on the unchanging Historic Counties Standard, plus the Crown Dependencies of Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man. The award is in four stages, Class III through to Premier, with a certificate available for each. The claimant…

In this month’s article I am going to take a look at how you can get on the air on HF, on multiple bands and using all modes, for under £100. Is that even possible? It certainly is, but in most cases there are some compromises to make. Readers will know that I am mostly a QRP operator, and although I spend the majority of my time operating CW, I do make forays on to SSB and FT modes from time to time. It has been a few years since this series examined budget transceivers, and the first time I have examined multi-mode multi-band transceivers at this price point. This is NOT a review of these models, and a number of the models listed I have not actually seen ‘in…

It was Friday morning in the lab and Natalie was already there when Jeff arrived. “Blimey, you’re early today”, said Jeff surprised to see Natalie in so early. “Yes”, she said, “I’m just looking through some of your books, I hope you don’t mind”. “Not at all”, said Jeff, “Anything in particular?” “Yes”, Natalie replied, “Inductors. After our discussion about electromagnetism yesterday, you said that we would talk about inductors and I was taking the opportunity to get a heads up”. “Fair enough”, Jeff said, “We can talk about inductors at lunchtime if you like, I’ve got nothing else on”. “OK, fine”, Natalie replied. Lunchtime arrived and as they ate their lunches, Natalie listened to music on her phone while Jeff caught up with the latest radio news in Practical…

Tecsun S-2200X Tecsun’s latest MW/LW/SW/SSB and Air Band Radio Receiver, the S-2200X, comes fully packed, with Squelch Control, RF Gain Control, Antenna Signal Attenuation, 5 AM bandwidth settings, Synchronous Detection and external antenna sockets. The S-2200x is the DSP successor of the successful dual-conversion S-2000 receiver. It can be used for listening to FM, longwave (LW), medium wave (MW/AM), shortwave (SW) and VHF airband, and it is single sideband (SSB) capable. FM: 64-108MHz / LW: 50-522kHz / MW (AM): 520-1710kHz / SW: 1621-29999kHz / Air: 118-137MHz. The S-2200x is equipped with an analogue high-IF circuit and DSP triple-conversion decoding technology. It has great performance in sensitivity, selectivity and combating interference of mirror stations. Features • Fitted with a 4in high-quality speaker with excellent sound quality• Independent treble and bass audio…

It is probably a good idea for any recently published build-it-yourself radio project, that the components are readily available. But there is a segment of the amateur radio community that likes to build older designs of equipment using second-hand or ‘new old stock’ parts, and of course the junk box. This statement is borne out by the crowds of enthusiasts that can be seen at radio rallies, buying junk. I include myself in this cohort and I have to confess that the radio rally is my second favourite amateur radio activity. But my favourite part of amateur radio is building the equipment. I started to collect and use radio and electronic junk in the 1950s and I have been at it, on and off, ever since. My first introduction was…

There’s a little less HF news around this month, so I’m introducing a new occasional feature, ‘QSL from yesteryear’, which will appear as and when there is sufficient space to include it. If you have an old QSL card with an interesting story behind it, I would be pleased to hear from you. Ofcom news On 6 December, Ofcom issued another update on the implementation date for their “Amateur Radio licensing framework Phases 2 & 3”. Originally planned for December 2024 and March 2025 respectively, the changes are now both expected to be delivered in the third quarter of this year (i.e. presumably before the end of September). Phases 2 and 3 include changes to new Intermediate licence callsigns (introducing M*8 and M*9 calls to replace the 2*0 and 2*1…

As mentioned last month AN-SOF have recently posted Part 2 of the EMF Compliance article into the knowledge base section of their website titled: Evaluating EMF Compliance – Part 2: Using Near-Field Calculations to Determine Exclusion Zones › AN-SOF Antenna Simulation Software. EMF compliance is becoming more important around the world and all users of the RF spectrum should be aware of the regulations that affect them. Radio amateurs in the UK can, in the main, follow the guidance given by the RSGB and use their online calculator to keep within the rules laid down by OFCOM. There may be cases where the RSGB calculator does not provide the solution for a particular layout and there will be situations in commercial radio where an installation may need assessment, and here an…

When it comes to club trips, more often than not you will find at least two transceivers being used. Multi-transceiver usage is great as it allows at least two bands to be used at one time. Not only doubling up QSO rates but it also gives more radio time for the members. One major problem when using multi stations is interference. Interference can be reduced dramatically in a few ways: 1. Is to have as much antenna separation as possible. 2. Is to use different polarisation antennas such as a vertical and a beam between stations (but can be band dependant). 3. Is to use bandpass filters. Choosing the correct bandpass filter can be tricky and expensive. First you need to decide what type of bandpass filter that you need.…