The Short Wave Magazine December 1975 [antikvár]

COMMUNICATION and DX NEWS _.__E. P. Essery, G3KFE DOUBTLESS one of the high spots of the period for many was a visit to the Leicester Show—and, if nothing else, the arrays of commercial gear there displayed lots of interesting ideas—the latest gadget from Datong as a way of getting rid of those pestilential heterodynes from commercial stations, for example, and the way some of the more modern gear is packaged for convenience of service; or the delightful aerial and mast ideas, these must have set minds thinking. And, thanks to our pestilential politicians, it is all warranted to produce a new generation of homebrew—prices including allowances for inflation were bad enough (though amazingly low for the quality of the stuff), but the iniquitous VAT makes it just that more difficult. And, interestingly enough, one could enquire why the reasons which were considered valid for exemption from the old Purchase Tax are now considered «-valid enough to justify the walloping 25% level? Possibly muddled thinking? On another tack, and yet still with our lords and (so they think!) masters, how comes it that so many rumours are abroad as to the hardened attitude of the Home Office as compared with our old friends in the Post Office who cared for us so well for years? One thing is certain—there is no smoke without at least a semblance of fire. Perhaps the time is ripe for the Home Office to make a statement as to its attitude towards the radio amateur. But, for the writer, the show was made the more pleasant for meeting so many of the DX'ers, both those who contribute to these columns, and those who read; notably G4AYS of the crystal-controlled QRP, G3RJV who is the dynamo of the QRP Club, and others too many to name. The Bands For much of the period, the W4UMF forecasts of conditions which, by the way, are now printed regularly in Geoff Watts' admirable DX News Sheet) have been Normal or High-Normal, and, taking into consideration the low sunspot number, conditions in fact have reflected this situation. DX is there, provided one is prepared to define DX as countries containing a resident amateur population; but it would be a very brave man who would mount a major DX-pedition and expect really to cover the whole amateur world, at this time. Now, in three years time ! However, before we delve into the reporting, a call for help. Quite a few people will be aware that G3KGM (Sidcup) spends much of his time helping the invalids and the blind operators to get their tickets, and then tackling the tougher task of actually getting them on the air. Don wants to know how one nets on a KW-2000E and just what the CW position of the function switch actually does, on "transmit" and on "receive"; also whether the "offset" is the same on LF bands as it is on the HF Bands. Don wrote to your scribe because he recalled that at one time old 'KFE wrote up the '2000E model—but, alas, he only had the rig for a few weeks while his own was being "tickled-up" after it's European and Stateside trip, and the desired information is not retained in this one's memory. If anyone can help— please get in touch with G3KGM, QTHR, as fast as possible, so that he can get another disabled chap—who has already passed R.A.E. and Morse, though paralysed from the neck down—on the air with his own rig, rather than just listening when Don can be with him. News of DX Just too late for last time, the news of the VE DX-pedition to Sable Island and St. Paul Island—though both these have received the thumbs-up from the DXCC arbiters. The first is in the Atlantic, at about 60°W and 44°N, while St. Paul lies in the Cabot Strait, which is between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. The call for Sable Island was VX9A, and they seem to have knocked up well over 8000 QSO's from there, partly due to a considerable problem in getting off the place, which meant that each morning they packed (960 pounds of gear in 19 boxes!) ready to go, and then were unpacking and working some more of the faithful before packing again ready for the next morning. However, delays notwithstanding, they got to their second port of call and operated from there for several more days. They apparently operated on all bands from 160 metres right through to Fifteen, although we have no indication that they tried Ten.