Friday, May 16, 2008

New gadget for my Hobby..

Recently i got myself a new handy talkie. It's a Yaesu Ft-60R. I at first i want to get a dual band moblie rig. I already got my budget but then need to use the $$ to pay my road tax. So i got myself the dual band handy. Hi..hi..hi... so i'm getting used to it.. so any comment n review will be post after i used to it. So anyone wanna make comment for this handy pls do so. We can share our xperiance n knowledge.

As for yesterday i did qso with 2-3 station on the UHF repeater that is 9M2RPP. Just using my handy i can trigger the repeater (i was in a jelopy driven by my fren). However i forgot to ask for the audio report. next time i got chance sure i'll ask for the RST.

So to me it is a good handy as for now. i've still need to exlpore more on handy. Setting up the handy is not so hard. Just read the manual u should be able to nput the frequencies or setup the handy for simplex use or repeater use. Ok thats all for now. More review coming after this...

73, de 9W2ACY


Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Coaxial Cabling Terms

While i was browsing for some info to do my work. I google somethings for my hobby too.. hi... hi... hi... this is somethings good for a beginner like me to understand more bout this hobby. Coaxial is important for this hobby so here a little info bout it. source from the link in at the bottom. There are more info at that site.

  • What is Coaxial Cabling?
    Coaxial cable is a two conductor electrical cable consisting of a center conductor and an outer conductor with an insulating spacer between the two.

  • How is Coaxial Cabling used?
    Primarily, coaxial cables are used for the transmission of Radio Frequency energy. The system offers tight control over electrical impedance. This yields excellent performance at high frequencies and superior EMI control/shielding.

  • Where is Coaxial Cabling used?
    A broad range of applications exist for coaxial cabling. The two primary impedance values of 50 and 75 Ohms determine specific applications with 50 Ohms primarily used in data signal applications and 75 Ohms used in video signal applications.

Terms regarding coaxial usage.

Attenuation (Insertion Loss): Loss of power. Attenuation is usually measured in dB loss per length of cable (ex. 31.0 dB/100Ft.). Attenuation increases as frequency increases.

BALUN: An acronym for BALanced/UNbalanced. A device commonly used to change one cabling media to another (ex. coaxial to twisted pair balun).

Center Conductor: The solid or stranded wire in the middle of the coaxial cable. The conductor diameter is measured by the American Wire Gauge (AWG).

Coaxial Adaptor: A device used to change one connector type to another or one gender to another (ex. BNC to SMA Adaptor).

Coaxial Cable: A two conductor cylindrical transmission line typically comprised of a center conductor, an insulating dielectric material and an outer conductor (shielding). Coaxial cable can be flexible (typical of L-com assemblies), semi-rigid or rigid in nature.

Coaxial Connector: The interconnection device found at each end of a coaxial cable assembly. There are many common types of coaxial connectors such as: BNC, SMA, SMB, F, etc.

Dielectric: The insulating material that separates the center conductor and the shielding.

Electromagnetic Interference (EMI): Electrical or electro-magnetic energy that disrupts electrical signals.

Frequency: The number of times a periodic action occurs in one second. Measured in Hertz.

Impedance: The opposition to the flow of alternating or varying current. Measured in Ohms. Two common impedance values are 50 Ohms used primarily for data and 75 Ohms used to transmit video signals.

Jack: The female connector usually containing a center socket.

Plug: The male connector usually containing a center pin.

RF (Radio Frequency): A frequency band from 3 MHz to 3 GHz. Primarily used for transmission of radio and television signals.

RG/U: Symbols used to represent coaxial cable that is built to U.S. government specifications (R=Radio Frequency, G=Government, U=Universal Specification)

Shielding: Conductive envelope made of wires or metal foil that covers the dielectric and the center conductor

Twinaxial: An offshoot from coaxial cabling. Two center conductors with one dielectric and braided shielding.

VSWR (Voltage Standing Wave Ratio): The ratio of the maximum effective voltage to the minimum effective voltage measured along a RF transmission line. This value generally increases with frequency and higher values are not desirable.

Source : http://www.l-com.com/content/Article.aspx?Type=L&ID=204

Saturday, May 10, 2008

MALAYSIAN AMATEUR RADIO CALLBOOK

To all Malaysian Amateur Radio operator.. pls check this info. link from 9W2YZU sourced from MARES yahoogroup.

9W2YZU BLOG CLICK HERE

9M2CIO CALLBOOK
The link broken

Friday, May 9, 2008

Callsign Check Widget

Its been awhile i have not blog anything. Been bz with work and life. However did spent some time to add some functionality to my blog. I've been playing with html coding with reference to few website. I've tried to use raw html coding but failed to function. Hi hi hi hi... then i stumble to the widget creator from www.widgetbox.com So i tried to create a widget wif some coding that i extracted. Just to get it function. so now succeded to biuld it. even though most of the coding i took from the oiginal page for the callsign check n i did some editing to make it functionality. now any HAM blogger from malaysia who want to add it to their blog just get it from widgetbox. Just click the Get Widget below the search button. Its free.

73, de 9W2ACY...

-Edited-
Pls Click the link below for the callsign search widget. By the way its not the same as the callsign search that im using now. It was the old version. Have got the chance to make a new 1. Will up date if there is a new 1.

http://www.widgetbox.com/widget/callsign-search

http://www.widgetbox.com


thanks, 73, de 9w2acy

Monday, May 5, 2008

New toys... hi hi hi

Recently i got myself a new toy to go with my Radio. Its a swr meter model SX200 from Diamond. Installed to my radio n been testing throughout the frequencies. However i found out my antenna giving a high SWR reading on frequencies range from 144.00 onwards. But as for 145.000 it have a very good reading at 1.1:1.

As i read from the user manual, a few factor can affect the SWR reading as location antenna being mounted, coax condition, coax terminating and etc. I dont know what wrong, but i might relocating may antenna to the rooftop of my apartment or make a new mount for it at the balcony. well i just need some times off from other thing :D n some colorfull paper with YDP Agong picture. hi hi hi.

Back to the SWR meter. To me as a new ham, at first i thought we only need to have radio n antenna to start to transmit. but now, everything has change. We need the rig, proper power supply which i dont have yet, soon getting 1. Currently using a modified computer PSU. SWR meter for monitoring the SWR. the swr that i'm using now also got power output meter. it is good that we know how much is exactly the power that we r transmitting. eventhough we know our rig spec n power output.

So i concluded that these gadget is not just somthing to be there. they are important so that we wont damages our equipment which later will make us spent more... ok that all for now. Pls do comment or give me guidance or point out to me the right path. i'm still learning to be a better person in life n a better HAM. Sharing is caring...

73, de 9W2ACY...



SX200 Pic Courtesy Diamond (http://www.rfparts.com)