Author: pd5dj

This summer (2023). I am more active than ever portable. At the beginning of the season I started with my IC-705 to get out and work QRP. At the same time I have also been able to play a lot with various antenna systems to see what works well at which location, and what kind…

On July 26, 2023, I gave a demonstration at the NVRA on how to connect via one of the TEVEL satellites. We were lucky, because on this evening we had a nice pass with 60+ degrees elevation. The hardware used for this evening: Radio: Icom IC-705 with 5W controlled with PSTRotator for doppler correction. (this…

Now that I’m more portable, I wanted to do something with amateur satellites again. I mainly want to do this with the IC-705. Unfortunately, the IC-705 cannot work full duplex. So we depend on FM satellites. The IC-705 can work in Split mode. that is, Receive on Band A, and Transmit on Band B. I…

If you have some time on the weekend to work portable. then you don’t want to spend a lot of time setting up and connecting my equipment. especially if this is the same setup every time. I had several of the same fish carrying bags lying around. So I had to do something with that.…

I’ve always been interested in all kinds of loop antennas. This is because closed systems are generally less sensitive to QRM and therefore receive more quietly. What I’ve been wanting to try for a while is to make a Deltaloop for 40m. And fed in such a way that it does not radiate flat for…

I have always been a big fan of army dump camo net poles to use as a mast, both portable and fixed based. These were always widely available for a nice hobby price at an army dump. When I started again in early 2022 with the hobby I used NOS poles that I still had…

Recently I was invited to my old model flying club for a cup of coffee 🙂 Excellent opportunity to test my IC-705 in peace. Used antenna: an EFHW on a 13m portable mast. At home I had already prepared the 1:49 transformer and 34uH coil. On location, only tuning the EFHW remained. With the LiteVNA…

Recently I got my hands on a very good performing LNB for 10 ghz amateur television. Available on aliexpress under the name BT-180 with an LO of 9GHz. There was only a slight problem using it at my location. Here in the Netherlands there are 2 unofficial frequencies for ATV on 23cm. 1252 and 1280MHz.…

Some time ago, Hans PE1ICE developed a compact ATV Receiver that could demodulate FM audio and Nicam audio also. Link to project: https://nvra.net/index.php/nicam-decoder/pe1ice-nvra-mini-atv-ontvanger/ All that was needed was to install the receiver in a housing. In the first housing I had based on a supply voltage of 12v. I also had a video splitter built…

Reception at 10Ghz can be quite a challenge, especially if you can receive the station to be received on the edge. I really had the problem that the signal went up and down even with a little bit of wind. The problem was that the mast on which the dish is placed is in a…