Kirisun S780 Digitally Encoded Messaging Over RF

Just a quick demonstration of the Kirisun S780 sending digitally encoded messages over RF. I've included a clip of one messaging the other and also what the messaging sounds like on an analogue radio.

Thanks for watching!

73's, Lewis M3HHY.

Manchester, UK.

Wouxun KG-UV8D Cross Band Repeat Demo

I posted a while back about getting a Wouxun KG-UV8D and I've not had much time to play around with it since Christmas. I've used it a few times with very pleasing results but I've not had a proper look at the cross band repeat function. So I've uploaded a video of myself testing this function between two Baofeng GT-3 radios.

I've included a diagram below to demonstrate how the function works between the three radios. I'm going to try and use cross band repeat at some point to check how it really performs in QSO.

Thanks for reading!

73's, Lewis M3HHY.

Manchester, UK.

SainSonic INF-641 Vs SainSonic INF-661

I came across a larger antenna for the Baofeng GT-3 series radios which is longer than the SainSonic INF-641 supplied with the radio. They're on eBay for about £4.99 and are styled in the same way as the INF-641.

The original antenna is 230mm long and performs really well. It out performs the stock Baofeng antennas previously supplied with their radios by miles on RX and TX. It has an SMA female type connector for the GT-3, GT3-MKII and GT3-TP MKIII series of radios.

The new INF-661 is 360mm in length, almost the same as the Nagoya NA-771. It performs a little bit better than the INF-641 but nothing to shout home about. I tested it briefly with receiving my local repeater and it is better. At £4.99 they're inexpensive and will surely come in handy at some point when out and about with the GT-3.

Thanks for reading!

73's, Lewis M3HHY.

Manchester, UK.

Antenna Spotting! Really!?

I must admit I'm a bit of an antenna/mast spotter. Purely due to the mystery some antennas are shrouded in. What are they connected to? How long have they been there? Are they still used? Some stand as a reminder of communication systems that are long gone and some are newer and still support systems that are busy today. Don't get me wrong I don't go looking for antennas but if I see something interesting I'll snap a quick photo.

Woodford Airfield

Woodford Aerodrome is local to me and closed for business in 2011 and when I went to take some photos the other day I noticed a few antennas dotted around the site. One was a folded dipole on the top of a small building situated on the southern perimeter of the airfield. The other is a large mast on top of the security hut at the main gate. I wondered what they were used for and how they integrated into the operation of the airfield.

Small folded dipoles? Seen on a mast at the entrance to the airfield. 

There were a few UHF frequencies in use at Woodford until its closure and these were likely used to transmit on these frequencies although only a guess:

455.575    460.875    Woodford Airfield Tower/Ground

455.475    460.775    Woodford Airfield Crash Ops "Red Base"
455.850    461.150    Woodford Airfield Hawker Aviation
455.725    461.025    Woodford Airfield Engineers

It is a shame I got into scanning after all the action at Woodford stopped. Although flying at the airfield was rare in later years, production was still very much alive with the last years of the RJ/RJX series and then the Nimrod MRA4. I bet it made interesting listening when Nimrod was test flying out of Woodford until 2012.

I assume they've long since fell into silence and will be torn down as the demolition of the airfield has started this month.


Point To Point Microwave Links

I find point to point microwave links interesting as they are more stealthy and covert. They are used for all sorts of things such as transmitting data from weather stations, CCTV images from cameras mounted on poles and lamp posts and numerous other uses.

I was recently delivering something to a block of flats in Manchester and as I glanced out at the view from the 16th floor I noticed a couple of microwave links on the corner of the building. One looking towards Manchester City Centre and the other pointing towards the Stockport area. I wonder what they're transmitting?

Well I hope you enjoyed that boring post. I'm sure many of you will agree that antennas are actually pretty interesting!

Thanks for reading!

73's, Lewis M3HHY.

Manchester, UK.

Game Changer Coming From Baofeng

Baofeng have announced a game changer that will according to them, change everything for amateurs, commercial users, preppers, and enthusiasts. This sounds interesting! I won't hold my breath until I see it though.

Thanks for reading!

73's, Lewis M3HHY.

Manchester, UK.

New Wouxun KG-UV9D Is Here

Wouxun has released a new radio this week, the KG-UV9D and it looks great! It features the usual VHF and UHF bands on transmit but a whopping 7 receive only bands:

76 – 108 Mhz (FM RX)
108 – 136 Mhz (AM)
136 – 174 Mhz (FM RX/TX)
230 – 250 Mhz (FM RX)
350 – 400 Mhz (FM RX)
400 – 512 Mhz (FM RX/TX)
700 – 985 (FM RX)

How effective the RX will be on those bands with the stock antenna is anybody's guess but it certainly looks nice and is one on my list for this year!

Thanks for reading!

73's, Lewis M3HHY.

Manchester, UK.

Chinese Radio Accessories - Speaker Microphones

One of the things I love about the Chinese handheld radios is that there is no shortage of accessories at incredible prices. Most of them seem to be of decent quality too. I've tried a few speaker microphones for my Baofeng and Wouxun radios and they all cost between £3 and £8. They're not amazing on audio quality but for making a decent radio contact they're great.

 

I picked up the two mics above first and the one on the left is ok but the click is very loud and the audio quality seems a bit muffled. It works though and it works well however it is almost as big as the Baofeng UV-5R. I paid around £3.50 for it on eBay so nothing lost there. The one on the right is a bit of an upgraded version which has a socket underneath for a speaker. It is a nicer design, slightly smaller and features a TX activated LED. That one cost around £4.50 on eBay.

The microphone on the above left I picked up for my Wouxun KG-UV8D and I think is identical inside to the newer Baofeng mic. Again audio quality is ok and it does the job. I think I paid around £8 for it. The one on the right is a relatively new microphone which features dual PTT for the UV-82 and GT-5. This one cost £5 on eBay and is decent quality. The unit is extremely small which is nice for using with a handheld radio.

All the microphones above are really good and I'd recommend them all for the price. Do you use any of them? Let me know your thoughts!

Thanks for reading!

73's, Lewis M3HHY.

Manchester, UK.