Over 25 years of poorly built and installed antennas, i have finally achieved #DXCC with 100 confirmed countries on Ham Radio. In the last couple of months with Covid19 Lockdown in Australia, i repaired my poorly built HF wire antenna and have started playing FT8 when time permits. This mode divides opinion, is it real…
The trusty SARK-110 was dragged out to check an antenna the other day, and as usual, a cross check of the website to verify and update the firmware Released in March 2020. V0.10.19(b) is the latest, and this was installed with ease on the sark. If you still have/use a SARK110, upgrade our firmware!
I wrote a post in august 2017 lamenting the power output woes of my IC9100 radio, problems with the Blade fuses getting VERY warm and causing voltage drop. I thought I had solved he issue with cleaning the fuse contacts and replacing the fuses with new ones to ensure the contacts were good. Time moved…
Over the past couple of months, I had noticed some strange power output issues with my IC9100. I don’t use the radio a great deal, but at times, i would see the output power indicator drop over time, or fail to reach peak power, most noticeable on 70 cm FM, but also on HF. I…
Ive been pre-occupied with other things and not gotten around to updating the firmware on my Sark110 for a long time (>12 months at least). I seem have missed V0.9.xx completely still being on V.0.8.7.xx. But i just found a few seconds of “free time” and went about installing the latest firmware upgrade, this V0.10.xx…
Icom has Released a new firmware update for the IC9100 radio. IC-9100 Firmware Rev. E3 is now downloadable form the Icom Japan website. It is a stand alone .exe file that will install the E3 firmware update. IC9100 E3 Firmware link The new firmware corrects one item on the radio The firmware update modifies the IC-9100’s…
The other week, a friend of mine Rob VK2GOM shared a photo of a 1:1 current balun he had built to try and reduce some local noise issues he had at his home. His device had improved his experience. He chose 17 turns and the FT240-43 core based on info from this website Have a read of…
One of the features my codan offers is GPS logging. The 4WD HF land mobile club HFRC I use will take those GPS positions and plot them on a map, on their system to show where you are and where you have been. This commercial service is great, but it doesn’t interconnect with the…
I was cleaning up the other day and found my old Icom IC-706Mk2G radio. It had been in a box since semi retirement a while ago when I upgraded the radio in the car! It still gets used from time to time, camping and portable (non sota) and for vhf/uhf field days and contests, but…
The trouble with operating from a car is, modern cars with electronic systems can be RF noisy! The diesel D4D engine in my Prado 150 series is no exception. With many sources of noise on the HF bands. From throttle noise to electronic injector noise, and base car background noise. Operating on some parts of…