m3jfm.net
Amateur radio website of m3jfm
Search:
Radio Sports Welcome to the area of my website regarding my active interest in Amateur Radio Sports. It was not too many years ago when this ham radio activity was referred to as contesting over the year\'s members of the world wide Amateur radio community have been and continue to take part in contests. As a young lad at school the first amateur radio contest I took part in was National field day this contest is organized by the Radio Society of Great Britain. The Origins of National field day has its roots firmly planted in the first weekend in June 1933. Six years before the outbreak of the Second World War. NFD has taken place every year since 1933 apart from the war years and during the Foot and mouth out break in the However before the 1933 NFD contest we do have on record that Radio Amateurs also took part in other contest for example between 1931- 1933 the Radio society of Great Britain held the One watt week contest this was very popular. Like wise the Commonwealth contest take\'s place during the second weekend in March and has it roots founded way back in time. In 1930 during the convention a letter was read from the In times past it would be a fair observation that for many radio amateurs the local amateur radio club would on average own some excellent station equipment that might out perform many of its own local member\'s station set up. The opportunity to operate the club station would be a great incentive for many a local radio amateur to join their local club. At the end of the second world war their was a large influx on the second hand market of first rate receivers the HRO or the AR88D were both a very popular choice and sat pride of place in many a amateur radio shack beside the home made transmitter. For the radio amateur today this might no longer be the case the choice of commercially manufactured Amateur radio equipment is second to none the only limitations to the purchase of the modern day rigs is simply the personal choice of how much we are prepared to spend For example the top of the range transceivers are considered to be the ICOM IC 7800 at £6,400 or the Yaesu FT DX 9000 or the FT DX 9000 contest at £3,799.00 The FT DX 9000D at £7,299.00 or the FT DX 9000MP costing £8,299.00 or the FT-2,000 price unknown. Amateur radio does not have to be limited to the commercial black box rig however this is the main direction that most radio amateurs are following. Their is however the home brew opposition and the Elekraft K2 is very popular with home constructors it comes as a qrp 10 watt rig or you can build the 100 watt version the performance is surprisingly good, given its modest price. But if you plain on using it near a high RF field then the K2 stability is compromised by the magnetic field of a neighbouring linear amplifier due to the fact that the K2 in built into an aluminum case. But there is a modification that can be done to help over come this problem. The second hand rig market is very buoyant and the choice is very large for example starting with the commercial market the following transceivers were the leaders in there day for example in the 1980\'s the Kenwood TS-830 or Yaesu FT101ZD The 1990s the Kenwood TS-940S or the Yaesu FT-980 and in early 2,000 the Kenwood TS-870S or the Yasue FT-1000MP rigs were well sought after however today they are no longer in production the Kenwood TS-870S rig was a very reliable rig and the choice of many radio amateurs for home use but today is viewed as passed its sell by date and has not been in production since 2004 The following Yaesu transceivers FT-1000MP, or FT-1000MP Mark-V, and the FT-1000 Mark-V Field. During these transceivers production life time they were held in high regard by the amateur radio contesting community and in the advertising information was listed as the contesters or The DX Expedition operator\'s rig of choice. Today this series of Yaesu transceivers are no longer in production and at first sight might appear to be a good buy on the second hand market However this might not be a wise choice when you consider that the PA transistors are no longer being manufactured and of course you will need to consider the availability of spares. Unfortunately in modern day Contests attract flack from some sections of the amateur radio community. One of the reasons expressed is that contests have the habit of filling up the bands at weekends at just the time that many radio amateurs want to get on the bands to have a qso with friends. Unfortunately to counter balance this some contesters argue that they could operate instead on the WARC bands 30m, 17m, and 12m. Just because a contest is taking place this does not give any contester the right to run roughshod over other users on the band. It is not only good operating practice but just plain good manners to respect the amateur radio band plain and not to spoil the pleasure of other amateur radio operators. One of the main attractions for taking part in a contest is the simple fact that under normal circumstances activity on the amateur bands is often very limited and often whenever a contest is in full swing you hear stations from all over the globe. Many of these DX stations with there big elephant ears will not only hear my qrp signal but will come back to exchange 59001 or whatever is required for them to gain an extra point. What do I get out of it well at first the pleasure of working a new DXCC or IOTA. Often a new one worked in the log was the main reward. However this is also an excellent way of finding out how well your station is working and how well your antenna of choice is performing. As my experience and confidence grew my amateur radio station also changed like wise so did the antennas of choice. Until my station reached a level that in last year 2005 IOTA contest in the section as Page last updated 27th July 2006.