Equipment

Hand Held

Baofeng UV-5R

This was my first hand held I purchased for marine use it is a low cost dual band 2m / 70cms FM hand held with an out put power of 1 or 4w.

I resisted the urge to go digital for a long time but eventually I got myself a TYT MD 380 a DMR radio. This is a very rugged analogue / digital 70 cms handheld although not water proof. I have also loaded the MD380Toolz firmware which gives greater functionality as well as being able to load the "user database". As I mainly use this with a Jumbo Spot hot spot I have reset the tx power output from 1 & 4w to 0.1 & 4w.

June 2024

I couldn't resist the temptation to buy another DMR after seeing the Boafeng DM1701 on one of the Chinese sales sites at a very low price. It was advertised as being GD77 compatible so my first task was to upgrade it to the OpenGD77 Firmware. For those that are worried about doing such an upgrade its got to be the simplest upgrade I've ever done. The OpenGD77 is a great piece of software written by Hams for Hams and they have done a great job.

The radio is larger than the TYT MD380 and feels as though it would take a fare amount of mishandling and being both 2m & 70cms offers greater flexibility. The GD77 firmware also gives a lot of additional functionality satellite tracking, variable tx output from 50mW to 5w and the ability to work as a hotspot when connected to a pc running Pi-Star. This is now my preffered radio when out working portable. Audio reports recieved have all been good "BBC quality". Comparing the DM1701 to the MD380 it seems to be more sensitive recieving in more places around my location. The MD380 easily reaches the mainland 46km over sea handheld to handheld and I have yet to test the DM1701 in the same way. The DM1701 certainly makes it into my neaest repeater GB7PC at Poldhu at around 78km using my home built 2m Yagi even at 2w.

In the Shack.

Kenwood TS 440s, this was my first HF set. It may be old but it still does a good job from 160m to 10m.

There are times when an external ATU can be handy so I have an LDG AT-11MP.

When I started doing my advanced I thought I would give myself a boost by upgrading my HF set to a nice new Kenwood TS 590sg again giving me 160 - 10m hf plus 6m.

Mobile, Portable & Miscellaneous.

My mobile rig is the TYT TH 9800 a quad band 10m, 6m, 2m & 70cms FM giving a max 50w on 10, 6 & 2m and 40w on 70cms.

Also from TYT is my TH 8000 a single band 70cms.

No shack should be without an FT 817. It's such a versatile rig giving full hf, 2m and 70cms even with only a max 5w output its surprising how far the signal will go. You do really need to use resonant aerials to make the most of your 5w.

I picked up this BHI NES 10-2 sound processing speaker at my club sale for £5.00. Really improves the audio from my FT 817.

I picked up an ICom IC260 a multi mode 2m rig with 10w output at my club bring and buy. A solidly built radio giving me SSB capability in the shack and easier to operate than the FT 817.

I thought I would give 4m a go so picked up an Anytone AT-588 at my local radio rally also picked up a vertical aerial which I mounted in the loft. Unfortunately there was not a lot of activity.

MX-P50m

Not wanting to run my FT 817 too hard while working digi modes I purchased a MX-P50m power amp switchable from 80 to 10m. This amp gives a maximum output of 45w from a 13.8 volts supply. It is supplied with a cable and plugs to connect to an FT 817 or other similar transceiver although you do have to solder the connector to the cable which is not that easy. For 1w input the amp gives 7w out and runs slightly above ambient temperature but at higher powers I felt it was a little too warm. Not wanting to run it at too high a temperature I have added an 80mm 12v fan but run it at 5v to keep the noise level as low as possible.

Z817 ATU

To finish off my FT 817 portable kit I have the Z 817 a small battery powered ATU although to be honest I always try and use a correctly tuned aerial so have not really used this ATU other than to test that it works. I am a strong believer in if you only have 5w don't use ATU to feed a non tuned aerial, it will not be as good as a resonant aerial. At least I have it available if ever I need it.

There has been a number of sola panels installed on the Isles of Scilly which has increased the QRM which is now causing issues. Following advice from a fellow Ham John, M1IOS I have invested in a QRM Eliminator X Phase from Amazon. I opted for a ready built unit as the kit unit uses surface mount components which I do not like using. The ready built unit come in a good quality aluminium case with very clear printed scales for each of the three potentiometers. The unit was supplied with a 60cm telescopic aerial, power & ptt cables and 3 UHF to SMA adaptors. The spec says it will handle 100w but I intend to use this primarily on my FT817 / MX- P50m setup so it will only ever have to handle a max of 5w.

The QRM on 20m is typically around S7 - S8 and with the X Phase turned on this reduces to S0 - S1so I think its well worth having.

QRM Eliminator XPhase - 1 to 30MHz.

Aerials

I have a range of aerials:

Hustler 6BTV for 10 - 80m although I have not been impressed with the results.

Cobwebb (5 band). 6, 10, 15, 17, & 20m.

Inverted L fed through a 9:1 UnUn, 6 - 80m or with an additional loading coil 160m although not the most efficient. This is my main aerial and I find it difficult to decide if it is any better or worse than the Cobweb.

X30 mounted in the loft space for 2m and 70 cms.

Flower Pot for 2m and 70 cms out door mounted or portable.

Home built 6 Element Yagi for 2m, great for Back Packers.

As well as a selection of different mobile aerials like the Maldol HMC - 6S multi band mobile HF, 2 & 70cms.

DX Commander Lite for portable use with the FT 817. This has proved very successful and is relatively quick to deploy.

As of February 2020 I have been using a home built inverted V fan dipole with 2 wires cut for 20 and 10m. I tuned it up using my NanoVNA and on testing over a wider frequency range is proved to be usable on 17, 12 and 6m also.

The move to a new home in Jan 21 meant I needed to consider where to position my aerials. Not having a large outdoor area meant putting my fan diploe in the loft. I also aquired a Magnetic Loop from 2E0ERO which also went in the roof. I have now managed to string up an EFHW giving me 40 - 10m which has made a hugh difference in my TX signal reports.

2m Home built Yagi

Miscellaneous

M0PWL_Fan_Inverted _V.docx

Technical data on Inverted V fan dipole turned for FT8 / 4 digi modes.

I found this hands free kit on every ones favourite auction site. It's designed for Yaesu but works well with my TYT TH 9800.

This is the Sark 100 a basic impedance meter. It does work but is rather power hungry. Good if using the pc software (see link) to display the data.

Link to SM6WHY's Analyser Program.

The NanoVNA has to be one of the best pieces of test kit that I have purchased. It may be basic but it works. I have made up a number of aerials using this device and they are working very well.

My FT 817 portable kit, Sakura (29.6Wh car battery booster and inline watt meter. The battery weighs in at around 300gms it also has 2 x 5v USB outputs plus a very bright flash light. The 5v outputs are not usable if running a radio as it creates a lot of QRM. As a light weight battery the Sakura works very well.

My first SDR was a NooLec dongle costing £5 delivered free from Canada. Considering its cost it was an amazing device. This device offers direct HF without needing a additional up-converter. It may be basic but its gives some surprising results. Normally running it with SDR Console v:3.

Power Supplies

My main source of power in the shack is a Maas SPS-250 a SMPS giving up to 30 Amps output at 13.8 volts. These supplies are available under several names but are all identical. Many older SMPS created electrical noise so there is a pot to reduce such noise although I have never experienced any noise from this supply.

After getting an MX-P50m power amplifier for use with the FT 817 I needed an additional supply so I purchased a low cost Chinese SMPS. This gives an adjustable output from 9 -15v up to 10 Amps. SMPS's are known to create electrical noise but this one has proved to be noise free on all HF bands.

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