The HX Files 009

Hello and welcome to excerpt 009 of the HX files.

Last time.

Photo 1

In the last issue of Echo Ireland I showed you the 23cms Tx/Rx unit attached to an aerial. Photo 1, was taken of the near finished unit with cables and control box. The way the control box is made I can easily add some extra cable if I want to use it portable instead of mobile, at the moment the cable is long enough to reach from the roof rack to the inside of the car where the switching can be done safely, as you would not want the cables wrapping around the steering wheel and/or the gear lever.

Photo 2

I am sure some of the /mobile amateurs amongst us have had a scare or two with the microphone cable wrapping around them. I am sure you all have the “hands free” ones fitted now. I would be thinking of perhaps a bit more power for the portable use, I will have to wait and see what I get at the rallies. In photo 2, you can see the Tx/Rx switching unit sitting on top of the transceiver and in photo 3 below left, you can see some of the aerials I can use with the transceiver whether I go portable or mobile. The middle and bottom aerials are Slot aerials ,the middle one has some heat shrink covering the aerial, and the bottom one has no covering on it so that you can see the “Slot “. The Slot aerials come with just a high tech length of white waste pipe with a bung on top to keep the rain out. In photo 4, you can see some of the different brackets and fittings I can use to bolt the transceiver on the roof rack or a pole.

Portable.

With the weather getting better (it was when I was writing this) and the days getting longer it’s time to think of going portable. I will be getting out the portable 1.2.GHz gear and 10 GHz transceiver, dish and the tripod in photo 5, bottom left.

Photo 4

Photo 5

The first job to do was to knock the dust and cobwebs off the gear, and to try them out at home, even if they were working when you stored them you never know what might happen when they are left idle and trying them at home is better than setting up portable and finding out that you have a fault or two. Last year I used a small generator (1 kw) and I decided this year to experiment (amateur does not sound the same) and use a dc to dc converter as they are small and thus less weight and space. This dc to dc would only be powering an old analogue satellite receiver and bringing the generator would also mean bringing a petrol can, mains lead and the more you bring (the more you could forget ) and the time that can be lost setting up and having fun. I am trying to find a small platform stand like your local hardware may have but with no luck yet, as I could use it as a portable bench and storage case.

I did make one out of MDF but I found this heavy and the MDF would split even with little use and the right screws used, and also swelled in our slightly moist weather,
There is no photo of that prototype as I got a night of heat in the fire with it.
And finally.
Thanks yet again to the photo studio of Thos EI2JD.
I hope to see you all at the I.R.T.S. dinner and AGM in Dundalk on
the 24th & 25th of April,
Best 73 de Pat EI2HX