Hugh M1NTO Silent Key

We learned this weekend of the passing of Manchester radio amateur M1NTO, Hugh Morgan Jones. I've not spoken to him for around 8 or 9 years now but it's always a shame to lose somebody from the hobby, especially someone you've spoken to or listened to regularly.

I've been told he suffered with Alzheimer's disease. I can't confirm this although I know he had been ill for a while.

There's a clip on my YouTube of him talking on GB3MP about 11 years ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyOgzNJZkgo

73 Hugh. Rest In Peace.

Lewis, M3HHY

2m Lift Conditions

I went up to Winter Hill with a friend to do some portable work today and was surprised to see that there were some lift conditions on. We worked stations as far as Wexford in Ireland, Rochester, Lincolnshire, Bristol in Somerset and many more in between.

 

We spent 2 hours up there and worked 30 stations which was great! It made a welcome change to shouting away on 2m and getting one or two coming back.

The weather was cold and a bit breezy but dry. The transmitter on Winter Hill was shrouded in cloud which almost enveloped it completely as the afternoon went on.

Below is a list of contacts and a map with locations plotted on. Thanks to all stations who came back to the call!

GD6ICR/P	MIKE	PEEL	ISLE OF MAN
GW4ZPL/P	JOHN	BANGOR	GWYNEDD
2E0HHK	STEVE	STAFFORD	STAFFORDSHIRE
M6NKB	NOEL	HEALD GREEN	MANCHESTER
2E0UAC	MARTIN	COVENTRY	WEST MIDLANDS
G4WUX	PHIL	STOKE ON TRENT	STAFFORDSHIRE
M6JHB	JOHN	BURTON ON TRENT	STAFFORDSHIRE
M6YAS	PAUL	BRAUNSTON	NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
G0BUB	MICK	GRANTHAM	LINCOLNSHIRE
M3NCD	NEIL	WARRINGTON	CHESHIRE
G4ZMM	JOHN	STAFFORD	STAFFORDSHIRE
M3LDS	REG	BRISTOL	SOMERSET
G4DGM	GORDON	WOLVERHAMPTON	WEST MIDLANDS
M3IFG/M	FRANK	ASHTON UNDER LYNE	MANCHESTER
2W0SEY/P	JAKE	PENYMYNYDD	FLINTSHIRE
MW3UDA	GARETH	HOLYWELL	FLINTSHIRE
2E0EVD	CLIVE	WALNEY ISLAND	CUMBRIA
G0NAJ	JOHN	DUKINFIELD	MANCHESTER
EI9GLB	JIM	WEXFORD	COUNTY WEXFORD
M6HRE	SHAUN	CREWE	CHESHIRE
2W0YYY/P	MIKE	LLANDUDNO	GWYNEDD
G6DMG	STEVE	WORCESTER	WORCESTERSHIRE
M0DNW	SYD	CHORLEY	LANCASHIRE
M6TZU	STEVE	LEYLAND	LANCASHIRE
2E0JZC/P	JOHN	SANDBACH	CHESHIRE
G4KRF/M	RICK	BOOTLE	MERSEYSIDE
MW0RSV	GRAHAM	BUCKLEY	FLINTSHIRE
M0RCC/M	ROD	RAINHILL	MERSEYSIDE
2E0PPZ	LINDON	DUDLEY	WEST MIDLANDS
2E0PPR	PAUL	WOLVERHAMPTON	WEST MIDLANDS
G0FIL	PHIL	RUNCORN	CHESHIRE

Thanks for reading!

73's, Lewis M3HHY.

Manchester, UK. 

Baofeng R6

Dolphin TETRA Network

I've been doing a bit of readin about the Dolphin Telecom TETRA Network and thought I'd share. 

Dolphin TETRA was a mobile network operator using the TETRA radio access technology. Dolphin's initial network was in the United Kingdom but they also built networks in France, Germany and Belgium. The idea was to provide a 4-in-1 service with the ability to have telephone functionality along with UHF two way radio, SDS which was the TETRA equivalent of SMS, and packet data. 

Dolphin TETRA never really took off because the sound quality of the telephone service was poor and that the technology never delivered a working packet data service on any of their networks.

On 1 August 2001, the company went into administration and the majority of their people were made redundant. Another set of redundancies were made later that year and the network ran on a skeleton staff. In June 2002 the network was bought by Inquam for £25m. The service was still marketed under the Dolphin Telecom brand name although Inquam struggled to operate the network profitably. On 31 July 2004 the network was finally switched off.

The UK Police service bought up much of the infastructure implemented by Dolphin when they switched their communications from analogue to TETRA in the mid 2000's. 
 
The new all digital civil Tetra (Trans European Trunked Radio) system operates on:

• 410-415 MHz portable transmit
• 420-425 MHz base transmit
• Band ranges from 410 to 430 MHz subject to future expansion.

I found it interesting that after all this time the website is still online albeit useless.

Thanks for reading!

73's, Lewis M3HHY.

Manchester, UK. 

Werneth Low

Werneth Low really is my favourite local spot for radio and those local to it will agree. It's not far from my home QTH so is handy for a quick spot of 2m DX or for playing about on other bands. At 250m / 820ft ASL it's not the highest point in the area but the fact that it's local and easy to get to by car makes it my favourite spot.

I often throw some radio gear into the car and spend an hour or so up there calling on 2m and manage to get quite far from the top. This is mainly due to the line of sight into the Cheshire Plains, North Wales, Merseyside, Lancashire and West Yorkshire. I've managed Shropshire and Staffordshire on 5 watts from my Baofeng up here but my preferred radio of choice for up here is my Icom 207 dual bander.

The only downside it there is sometimes slight noise on 2m from the old Home Office towers that are up there but it rarely causes me any problems.

The view from Werneth Low is fantastic and on a clear day you can make out Liverpool Airport control tower, Runcorn Bridge, Daresbury Laboratory (home of GB7WC) and the hills in North Wales. 

There's a nice pub up there called The Hare & Hounds which is good for a drink on a summer's day whilst playing radio too. There used to be a pub about 1/4 of a mile down the road called Windy Harbour which was closed in 1998 and demolished in the early 2000's after vandals started a fire. 

All that remains is the customer car park, the steps and disable ramp leading to the entrance of the pub itself and the gateposts at the front of the site. Such a shame really. The site has long since sat empty, I'll post some photo's next time I'm up there.

If you live in Manchester and need a nice little spot to play some radio then go to Werneth Low.

Thanks for reading!

73's, Lewis M3HHY.

Manchester, UK. 

New Baofengs

Some really nice reincarnations of the popular Baofeng BF-888S appearing on eBay lately in the form of the BF-R5, BF-R6, BF-R7 and BF-A8. They feature the usual 16 channels, CTCSS, DCS, repeater shift etc but I think they look really nice. I'm tempted to try the BF-R7.

Thanks for reading!

73's, Lewis M3HHY.

Manchester, UK. 

Red Rose Rally Find - Kenwood TM-411E

I found a bargain at the Red Rose Rally a couple of weeks back here in Manchester in the form of a Kenwood TM-411E 70cm FM transceiver. The seller let me have it for a reduced price of £30 so I snapped his hand off.

It works exactly as it should and is in great overall cosmetic condition. Produced from 1984, this is a classic little 80's looking radio in silver/grey with blue accents. It came with the original mic in great condition and also a mounting bracket although it won't be being mounted anywhere. Designed as a mobile rig it is nice and compact and features a swivel front which goes up and down for ease of use. 

It doesn't have CTCSS, just the 1750hz tone but I only got it for a bit of simplex testing and not for repeaters anyway so this isn't really an issue. It doesn't have a speaker but has an audio output on the back for a speaker.

Frequency range is 430-440MHz, 5 watts on low power and 10 watts on high. I gave it a quick test with 3 stations. The first being 8 miles away, the second 6 miles away and the third 2 miles away. Great reports from all of them too!

Thanks for reading!

73's, Lewis M3HHY.

Manchester, UK.