New call sign - VK4ER

Well I was just about to start collecting some contacts for my advanced VK4ARA callsign (nothing in the logbook) when priorities changed and I am now the new holder of VK4ER. VK4ARA will be released back into the pool.

Previous holders of the VK4ER callsign have included Bob Lees, and Eric Reilly. Thank you gents.

Is 27MHz CB still active in Australia?

We had a bit of skip rolling in recently and judging from the amount of activity on 27MHz LSB there is definitely a solid number of people still on the band all around Australia. On my Uniden Grant I was able to hear NSW, Tasmania, Victoria, and of course Queensland, all from a Station Master vertical, the same antenna I use for 10m and 40m.

....and where have I been for the last 2 years?

....well I have not been studying to upgrade my licence, actually I have not been very active on the radio at all. Work, work, and work, makes VK4FLYN a not very active Ham but as usual I keep dusting off the radios and getting on the waves....eventually.

Once again I have a new set of wheels and will setup my trusty Yaesu VX7R in there. This time it's an Alfa Romeo (again) so the install will be pretty much as per the last with the ClipOn bracket and RAM mount RAM-304U. I've been following some of the Japanese radio hams on youtube and this style of install seems to be pretty popular and easily achieved over there with their personal radios (aka low power handheld cbs). https://www.youtube.com/user/hirohiroki0420 

The Alinco HF rig has been sold to pay down some debts but the QRP rig remains and I have made a couple of contacts on it recently.

Back studying again with the Radio and Electronics School

It's been a long time and after many false starts I'm hitting the books again to work towards my Standard licence.

I've purchased the new Radio Theory Handbook by Ron Bertrand VK2DQ. I chose the kindle version as it is easier to lug around and hopefully a bit easier to sneak some opportunistic study time during the day.

And I have also signed up for the Standard licence course run by the Radio and Electronics School. This is the second time I've had a crack at this course but chose the multimedia download in the hope of being able to sneak some time and watch it on my ipad.  Let's see if I can actually make it through this time and move up in class.

Back with a QSO into England

It's been a long time with work and other priorities taking up any spare time. I managed to get a QSO back into Stoke-on-Trent with Ian - G0UWK. Great to get back into Europe while still running 10 watts on 10m. Ian was pushing 400 watts into a 4 element Yagi and coming through to Brisbane very well with some QSB. Summer is coming around in Brisbane so time to get out and about. I also know that VK4 is on the map with respect to SOTA so I'm looking forward to some activations as the summer months drag on. I also need to get my butt in gear and sit the open call exam. Difficult to study at the moment but I'll get there in the end.

EU QSO on the Kenwood TS-120V

Stephan had the Kenwood TS-120V rig fixed in super quick time and after I found out he had to rebuild the VFO I was even more impressed with both his work and turnaround. Good Work Stephan!

After a quick chat with Pete - VK4BT and Barry - VK3NBW (Geelong) they both gave some positive feedback on the audio. Tuning around 10 metres there was a JA pileup but no chance of getting through that one and as the evening changed to night I tried again and came across Dobrisan Bogdan - YO4RIU calling CQ DX from Romania. He was working a few VK stations and after a couple of tries the contact was made just as his signal was beginning to fade in and out.

I'm pretty happy with the Kenwood as the receive is better than my Dragon 485 and the 10 watts made the grade in getting out some 13,111 kilometres to Romania.

Now to get an antenna setup for some of the other bands and see how that goes.

Scanner remote is working

I've had this Uniden UBCT9 for a long time and finally decided to get the remote access working on the weekend. Long story short, I could have gotten this working years ago if I had enabled remote working on the unit itself. Doh!!!! I spent ages mucking around with serial cables and USB adaptors.

Now to get the trunking working.......

EFHWV

Thinking about the next antenna and I'm liking this end fed half wave vertical in the video below. I already have the squid pole (need to check the length) and just need the 9:1 transformer dooby and some wire...and some coax. Looks great for portable work or on the side of the car when stationary.

Paying it forward

Thanks to Peter VK4BT I now have a Kenwood TS120V 10 watt HF rig to work on. It is in need of a tune and has an issue with no audio or power on transmit but looking forward to getting it going again and on the air. Cheers Peter!