New Stealth Antenna Book

A new book by Steve G0KYA on amateur radio 'Stealth Antennas', which was launched at the Newark Hamfest in the UK, is now available to buy from the RSGB. It will also be available from the ARRL in due course.

It looks at a host of stealth antennas, including indoor dipoles, magnetic loops, stealth verticals, flagpoles, birdhouses and others.

It also looks at more esoteric designs like the EH, Microverts, microloops, Isotrons, plus lots of case studies from around the world.

There are details on safety, minimising RFI, ununs, baluns, EFHW matching, the Rybakov – even a zig-zag portable dipole that fits in a folder.

TRR Show Number 0021 - DX QSO's Maps

TRR Show Number 0020 - MFJ HF/VHF SWR Analyzer

Five new Amateur Radio Satellites in Orbit

FASTRAC-1, FASTRAC-2, NanoSail-D2, O/OREOS and RAX were launched at 01:24 UT on Saturday Nov 20, reports of the signals are needed.
So far signals have been reported from FASTRAC-2 (Emma), O/ORES and RAX.
Nominal Frequencies:
- FASTRAC-1 "Sara Lily" 437.345 MHz FM AX.25 1200bps
- FASTRAC-2 "Emma" 145.825 MHz FM AX.25 1200bps
- RAX-1 437.505 MHz
- O/OREOS 437.305 MHz
- Nanosail D2 0.5 sec beacon every 5 sec on 437.275 MHz.

Understanding LF and HF Propagation Free Ebook

Steve G0KYA and Alan G3NYK, of the Radio Society of Great Britain's (RSGB) Propagation Studies Committee, have released a free ebook called 'Understanding LF and HF Propagation'

In 2008/2009 Steve and Alan wrote a series of features on LF and HF propagation for the RSGB's "RadCom" magazine.

The features consisted of a month-by-month look at each HF band in turn, showing the reader the propagation modes behind each band and explaining some of the technicalities of ionospheric propagation.

Check out their very informative webpage at http://www.g0kya.blogspot.com/

TRR Show Number 0019 - Collins 75A-4 Receiver

NanoSail-D launches this month.

NanoSail-D, carrying an Amateur Radio beacon on 437.305 MHz, is planned to launch November 20 on a Minotaur-4 HAPS rocket.

NanoSail-D will be in a low earth orbit at 9 degrees inclination. It will carry a 437.305 MHz 1200 bps AX25 beacon with one 1/2 second burst every 5 seconds.

The orbit will be elliptical, 685 km apogee and 340 km perigee, degrading to 200 km at which time it will de-orbit.

December launch for Eagle-1 ham radio satellite

The Eagle-1 Pocket Qub form factor Amateur Radio satellite is slated for launch on December 16, 2010.

The satellite is just 178x56x56mm and is planned to deploy from the satellite Edusat along with other Pocket Qubs.

The mission is to test a deorbiting mechanism and verify space qualification of the radio and solar cells. Proposing a simplex UHF operation with 9k6 bps AX25 packet downlinks.

Planned launch is from Yansy in Russia on a DNEPR launcher on Dec 16, 2010.

TRR Show Number 0018 - ICOM IC-2SRA Radio

TRR Show Number 0017 - Finding info on Old Radios

New Scanner - GRE PSR-700 EZ Scan-SD

The GRE PSR-700 EZ Scan-SD is a new approach to scanner listening. This radio solves the problem of increasingly complicated scanner programming. The PSR-700 combines the simplicity and a familiarity of a portable media player with the power and sophistication of a state-of-the-art scanning receiver. It provides unprecedented ease of use, especially for the beginner. The PSR-700 includes a 2GB SD card with a special on-board library containing the entire USA database for all known analog trunking systems and many conventional frequencies. So no matter where you are in the USA, you can easily and instantly access the analog trunking systems and conventional frequencies of interest. Frequency coverage includes:  25-54, 108-136.99, 137-174, 216-512, 764-781.99, 791-796.99, 806-960 (excluding cellular bands), 1240-1300 MHz. Frequency step: 3.125, 5, 6.25, 7.5, 8.33, 10, 12.5 and 25 kHz. Operates from two AA cells (not included) or USB 5 VDC. 2.3 x 5 x 1 inches 6.7 oz. Requires a PC with Windows 2000, XP, Vista or Windows7. Includes a PC USB data cable. If you are using rechargeable AA cells (not included), you can charge them internally via the supplied USB cable.
Use the Amazon link on the left to check out the going price.

2nd Amateur Radio Station to be Activated on ISS

The original VHF and UHF Ericsson handheld radios in the Russian segment of the ISS, originally used for ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station), have been approved by NASA for use in the US segment of the space station.

When the Ericsson radios are installed in the Columbus module it will become the second Amateur Radio station aboard the ISS. A new power cable for the Ericsson radios is being delivered to the ISS.