While looking through the wonderful archive of Short Wave Mags at https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Short-Wave-UK I had a look at some from the year I was first licenced, 1983. Here's a page from the May 1983 edition of SWM showing me listed as G4SLV .... And a 'phone number, too. That wouldn't happen these days (it's been 43 years since I lived at that QTH, so it's probably safe to put it on the internet now!)
Soldersmoke I've recently been revisiting the Soldersmoke Podcast. I remember listening to it in its early days, and on and off in the intervening years. I didn't realize that it's been running no for over 20 years! Before I started to listen to the more recent episodes I thought I'd go back and find the early ones, read more
Going All In With QRP? I've been mulling over my real interests in amateur radio (again) and it's still firmly in the realm of HF and CW. And I've always had more fun playing with simple stuff and QRP. Pros of QRP With QRP you don't need to worry about huge DC supply currents and suitable wiring sizes, and high current PSUs. you don't need to worry about the ratings of components as much - lower voltage capacitors, smaller toroidal cores. Everything is much easier (and cheaper). you don't need to worry about high RF levels in the shack - or adjacent to the antenna (thinking EMF safety etc.) it's much easier to build equipment. read more
A new TX is born This new TX is re-using PA strip I tried in the QRSS MEPT I've changed the Arduino code and added a rotary encoder and LCD. Basic Architecture read more
While surfing the interwebs looking for interesting radio content I came across a brilliant website that has scans of THOUSANDS of old radio-related material. https://www.worldradiohistory.com There are trade journals, catalogues, magazines from all parts of the world. It must be a massive undertaking to create and maintain, and to source the material and scan it. I found almost the complete set of Short Wave Magazine issues going back to the pre-war period! There are also lots and lots of other great magazines. Short Wave Magazine is of particular importance to me. When I was first getting interested in Short Wave Listening and Amateur Radio as a teenager in the early 1980s I read Short Wave Mag (SMW) and Practical Wireless. But the thing that cemented my whole outlook on what Amateur Radio is (or should be) was a big pile of SWMs from the 60s and 70s that I was given. My dad had a friend who turned out to be a long-time SWL and when I expressed an interest in radio my Dad took me on…