WWW.HTTP://HAMRADIO-G0VPH.BLOGSPOT.COM

Experimental Radio Station--Call Sign G0VPH--listening to the world with a screwdriver in my hand

Wednesday 3 November 2010

Starting a Ham Radio Blogspot

I have come to the opinion that many Radio Hams must be able to fill a Blog with stuff such as I.
We must all have a tale to tell and interests/pictures that would fill a decent size book. The hardest part I find is remembering what I have done in the past and also where did I put that piece of kit. Digital cameras are fun and I can almost not leave my seat and find item's around the shack which I can photograph and publish them on here. They way I look at it  "if you have time for Amateur Radio you have time to do a Blog.  I enjoy just listening to the bands when I am working on this site. Publishing a Blog also makes you put your thinking cap on or the very least look things up.  I have found a few things that I had forgot I had and I have remembered stuff that I had learnt and forgotten about. The old photographs that I found were scanned and turned into JPEG format and up-loaded on to here.
There is plenty of Amateur Radio sites out there and some are stuffed with all the data and expertise that will last you ten lifetimes, I have posted links to some of my favourites on here. I know that I will never be able to equal them with technical expertise so I am not going to try.  I could re-write some of the paragraphs that are out there and say it was mine, but I won't.

On reflection most things I know about Amateur Radio I have gleaned from reading books or looking on web-sites apart from the experiences of 25 years licensed in the hobby so I would like to give credit to all the authors in the world that I have read in that time and a good few years before. I must not forget the fellow Hams that have also helped me, be it verbal on the air or having the honour of meeting them. THANKS

I suppose I could be labelled "a reactive reader or question asker"

An example could be..... "I am thinking about purchasing a G5RV aerial"
I would look up all information that I good find on the G5RV and probably get side tracked and end up exploring some alternative aerials and looking at balun's, transmission lines, tuners, chokes (reactive and resistive) etc. etc. etc. I may give up the idea or decide to purchase the G5RV, what ever I do, three months down the line, I have practically forgotten all that I have learnt and read. Very frustrating "but that's me" I can always refresh if the information is needed in the future.

Another example would be.....In the 1990's I had (I threw it so far it's now on the moon) a 13.8 volt power supply which as we say in South London "went pair shaped" and delivered 22 volts to my Yaesu FT290R 2M multimode rig. This actually happened and a 290R fix was needed. Out come the manual and what ever else was needed, a few questions on my local net, some semi conductors and capacitors ordered and the rig back on air within two weeks. The rig is still working now. I did take notes so no information lost on the repair. I could not tell you right now what I had done without referring to the notes "but that's me"


Total Reactive type of bloke...But skill is needed to know where to look things up and what things you should be looking up. I suppose the answer is you need to know the basics.


I am waffling on,  getting back to starting a Ham Radio Blogspot, I think they can be more chatty and less technical but I believe they should be interesting. I am giving it my best shot.


Great Fun

You have just got to do it.

OZ
8/11/2010