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.

Re-housing a Motorola XTS3000

My new high-viz housing for the Motorola XTS3000 arrived today and I was straight into it.

Not a complicated task by any means but maybe a few tricks.....

You don't really need the special Motorola tool to get the housing off unless you are truly hamfisted. I used 2 flat blade precision screwdrivers and a circlips pliers with an angled attachment.

Just pop the two screwdrivers in between the radios metal body and the housing and gently angle them outwards till the tabs are visbile and free.

Using the circlips pliers in the other hand I gently prised the radio from the housing. Just be gentle and your case should not crack. Disconnect the radio from the controls connector that is inside the housing - just pulls off (but not by the ribbon cable).

Get the other housing ready, make sure the rubber gasket running around the radio is properly in place, you have reconnected the ribbon cable from the new housing to the radio, the keypad is in?

I forgot this one and had to pull it apart again. You can see the ribbon cable in the old housing above. Angle the radio in at the top and ensure it is seated up as far as it goes and then gently push the rest of the radio into the base. Watch out for the little switch board on the side of the radio foulding the radio chassis and also make sure the gasket doesn't sneak off as it goes in.

Check everything works.

....and this is the final product with the newer UHF/GPS antenna on board.

....and with the rest of the family to give a sense of scale (Alinco DJ-G5, Moto XTS3000, Moto Saber II)

There's a bit more detail on the disassembly from "Snarlingrabiddog5150" on Youtube who goes chasing an encryption board inside his XTS3000. Some of his other videos are also very informative if you check out his youtube channel.

Cherry Post

........2013 is here and I've picked up an old hobby - Radio. I started out in CB radio over 20 years ago and while I gave it away for a long time it is something that I've always liked. The excitement of talking to someone very far away using an age-old method of communications has always held a higher place for me than the telephone, mobile phone or internet. It really is a case of the journey not the destination.

A couple of years ago I sat and passed my amateur radio Foundation Certificate and received the VK4FLYN callsign. As always one thing led to another and after a spurt of enthusiasm I was focused on work and family. Still, with a young family I'd like to get back into the hobby, use my current certification and if possible upgrade to a standard or advanced licence. For me DX holds the most appeal although I'm not having much success so far. So settle back and let's see how far we can go in 2013 and if Amateur Radio is really all I remember it to be.