Practical Wireless

Keylines

As I write this I’m back from Uganda and busy with all the events leading up to Christmas. We also have an early deadline for PW so that the good folk at Warners can have a break over the Christmas period, so we are a bit light on News and Letters. I...

Keylines

Well, having said last month that I had done relatively little operating, I had a play in the CQWW Phone contest at the end of October and in a limited effort on the 10m band, made over 700 contacts in 123 DXCC entities. It was fun and probably the...

A VERY BRITISH FORECAST

Keylines

Other than attending an FOC (First Class CW Operators Club) AGM and dinner in Edinburgh and an SSB effort in the monthly 80m Club Championship, I really haven’t done much radio in September. Hopefully I can put that right during the coming month, with...

Keylines

t’s August and here I am preparing the October issue of PW and starting to think about what will feature in the November issue! Such is the life of a magazine editor – the year seems to fly by. My first issue as editor was October 2013, so that’s 12...

Keylines

Ididn’t operate a lot of radio this month, although I did make an effort to work GR2HQ (the RSGB HQ station) on as many bands as possible in the IARU Contest. Our lads have been trying very hard in recent years to beat the German HQ station, but the...

Keylines

We’ve enjoyed some very hot weather during June, so perhaps an opportunity to get out and about with your hobby. See my comments later in this piece. And by the time you read this, I will have been to the annual extravaganza that is Ham Radio in...

Keylines

We’ve been enjoying some excellent weather during May so I hope many of you have been out and about with your radios. HF and 6m conditions have left something to be desired at times but as I write this there are the first stirrings of the usual summer...

Keylines

I’m just back from California where I attended the so-called International DX Convention in Visalia (see my report in this issue). I say so-called because international participation seems to have dropped off significantly in recent years. The good...

Keylines

The weather has finally turned a corner (I hope!) and I feel sure many of you are getting out and about with your radio gear. I keep telling myself I ought to turn out for some of the RSGB weekly VHF and UHF contests – it wouldn’t be much use from my...

Keylines

Ihaven’t done a lot of amateur radio during February although I did make over 1000 CW contacts during the FOC Marathon event. But since then it’s been just one further contact, with the V7 (Marshall Islands) expedition on the 30m band. I keep an eye on...

BITS & PIECES

A guide to collecting and reusing old parts for construction projects

Keylines

I’m writing this having just played 10m singleband (Assisted) in the CQWW Phone Contest. It was a lot of fun. 10m was in great shape with activity well up beyond 29MHz. I worked 143 ‘countries’ over the weekend, including 103 before 1200UTC on the...

Hamfest 2024 pictures

Restoring the Heathkit

HANDY STUFF

The Icom ID-52 Plus launch, and AR-DV10 and IC R-15 reviews in our handheld special

We join RSGB volunteers as they explain the mysteries of radio