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Vintage Amateur and Military Radio Amateur/military receivers and transmitters, morse, and any other related vintage comms equipment. |
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7th Nov 2022, 9:25 pm | #1 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Wiltshire, UK.
Posts: 14,007
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The Joy of 5MHz.
Winter draws inexorably onwards. But I do not despair. Just now I worked the first VO1 station of the season. Kinda fun to be crossing the pond with only 25 Watts of SSB to an end fed wire, all powered by a 1970s era Clansman portable radio.
For those of you who are licensed but have become inactive, I say, get back on the lower end of the HF spectrum where a few Watts can span continents!!
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I'm the Operator of my Pocket Calculator. -Kraftwerk. |
7th Nov 2022, 10:59 pm | #2 |
Heptode
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Preston, Lancashire, UK.
Posts: 632
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Re: The Joy of 5MHz.
Nice one, I do like the band
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8th Nov 2022, 12:52 am | #3 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Oxfordshire, UK.
Posts: 4,935
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Re: The Joy of 5MHz.
Some of us have been so inactive we had to look up where VO is.
Sadly, I just don't enjoy using my IC-718 . B
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Saturn V had 6 million pounds of fuel. It would take thirty thousand strong men to lift it an inch. |
8th Nov 2022, 12:55 am | #4 |
Octode
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Penrith, Cumbria, UK
Posts: 1,993
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Re: The Joy of 5MHz.
I must get off my backside and take the full licence exam, 60m is a popular band with my friends in the local radio group, and of course I can't access it on a 2*0xxx licence.
That's more of an incentive than the enticement of 400W against 50W power. I've already proved to myself that a bit of effort and luck gets me halfway around the world, sometimes on 20W or less working portable. 73 Andy 2E0AND |
8th Nov 2022, 1:18 am | #5 |
Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Fife, Scotland, UK.
Posts: 22,902
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Re: The Joy of 5MHz.
Understood. Some of these small sets work almost well enough but are let down by poky displays and multifunction buttons that breach every aspect of ergonomics. I'm skirting around the word 'Toy'
Fear not, vintage technology has the answer and can restore your satisfaction. Why not seek out a good old IC765? and add a good you-facing speaker. If you don't need memories and place emphasis on CW, Maybe a Corsair II? David
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Can't afford the volcanic island yet, but the plans for my monorail and the goons' uniforms are done |
8th Nov 2022, 2:49 pm | #6 |
Hexode
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Helston, Cornwall, UK.
Posts: 304
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Re: The Joy of 5MHz.
5MHz has been good for the last few weeks, ZL seems to be workable most mornings and they, I think have a 25W limit. My near coastal QTH might be helping of course. 10MHz seems to be capable of DX 24/7, lots of CW activity .
I’m just running a ZS6BKW antenna which I recently built, quite impressed for what is in effect an optimised G5RV |
8th Nov 2022, 3:46 pm | #7 | |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Oxfordshire, UK.
Posts: 4,935
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Re: The Joy of 5MHz.
Quote:
B
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Saturn V had 6 million pounds of fuel. It would take thirty thousand strong men to lift it an inch. |
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20th Nov 2022, 9:57 am | #8 |
Octode
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, UK.
Posts: 1,654
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Re: The Joy of 5MHz.
I recall the joy of 5MHz being able to *reliably* work UK stations whose range was well beyond standard VHF ranges. Say Brighton to Yorkshire, which is what I did most days when I was 15, and on the CCF network on 5330kHz.
Sometimes using a standard WS19 back then, but more typically the C12, which was like a WS19, with a miniature 807 in its PA, high-level modulated by two more miniature 807s. |
20th Nov 2022, 11:23 am | #9 | |
Tetrode
Join Date: Nov 2022
Location: Near Worcestershire/Gloucestershire border (in WR), UK.
Posts: 70
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Re: The Joy of 5MHz.
Nice report, have to say VDSL makes the higher bands here unworkable - even when I've turned off my mains the local houses and phone lines are emitting QRM/noise like mad.
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20th Nov 2022, 1:19 pm | #10 | ||
Heptode
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Newmarket, Suffolk, UK.
Posts: 613
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Re: The Joy of 5MHz.
There are plenty of contact numbers here
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/contact-us Fred G4BWP Quote:
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20th Nov 2022, 2:26 pm | #11 |
Tetrode
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, UK.
Posts: 88
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Re: The Joy of 5MHz.
An email to spectrum.licensing@ofcom.org.uk should see you on your way. I did this about 5 years ago and it was totally painless.
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20th Nov 2022, 2:38 pm | #12 | |
Tetrode
Join Date: Nov 2022
Location: Near Worcestershire/Gloucestershire border (in WR), UK.
Posts: 70
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Re: The Joy of 5MHz.
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20th Nov 2022, 2:40 pm | #13 | |
Tetrode
Join Date: Nov 2022
Location: Near Worcestershire/Gloucestershire border (in WR), UK.
Posts: 70
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Re: The Joy of 5MHz.
Ah well, the last time I tried evey number and was passed from one to another with no one seeming able to help (was early Covid)
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20th Nov 2022, 4:14 pm | #14 |
Octode
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: West Midlands, UK.
Posts: 1,571
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Re: The Joy of 5MHz.
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20th Nov 2022, 4:52 pm | #15 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Wiltshire, UK.
Posts: 14,007
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Re: The Joy of 5MHz.
Yes, the OFCOM licensing people seem both responsive and approachable; during Peak COVID I realised that my 5-year licensing-revalidation period was coming up, but since I'd sold my business I no longer had access to the email address which I'd used to register/revalidate last time round.
OK, so you can create a new profile on the OFCOM licensing site, with a new email address, but it wouldn't let me associate it with the old profile. Seems they had made certain changes in the last five years so the old profile was 'locked'. Sent them an email on a Sunday evening around 8PM explaining the problem, giving the details of my old profile and the new one, along with my license details and addressd/phone-number. Was delighted to get an email the following day apologising for the inconvenience and telling me that my new profile was now properly linked to my license. Which, when I logged back in, it was! Remember that there's now no need for a 'Notice of Variation' for full license-holders to operate on 5MHz. I like to think of it as 'the friendly band', no contests, power restrictions, and it takes a bit of effort to get working - you can't easily buy an entire 5MHz shack off the shelf. It's also full of surprises: a while back I was having a 3-way QSO with stations in Nottinghamshire and Cornwall; when we signed-off I was called by a station in Austria; turned out I was his first ever 5MHz QSO. Listen around 5395-5405KHz in late afternoon/into the evening and you can hear/work some good SSB DX. Larry, VO1FFG often comes on, and the Canucks/Greenlanders are always good for a natter, rather than the "599 73 QRZ QRZ!" contest-type QSOs you get on some of the other bands.
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I'm the Operator of my Pocket Calculator. -Kraftwerk. |
20th Nov 2022, 5:02 pm | #16 | |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Wiltshire, UK.
Posts: 14,007
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Re: The Joy of 5MHz.
Quote:
Someday I intend to get a C12 and restore it. I have fond memories of the thing, in particular the way the 24V-powered one running into a dipole at about 40 feet would break-through into the intercom system that ran between the school office, the Headmaster's study and the staff-room!
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I'm the Operator of my Pocket Calculator. -Kraftwerk. |
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20th Nov 2022, 5:04 pm | #17 | |
Octode
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: West Midlands, UK.
Posts: 1,571
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Re: The Joy of 5MHz.
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(I will have an SWL log book somewhere...) Listening on the regular bands, with the exception of the ragchews on 80m, QSOs seem ridiculously short and impersonal. Must give 5MHz a run out on the FRG-7. |
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20th Nov 2022, 5:57 pm | #18 | |
Tetrode
Join Date: Nov 2022
Location: Near Worcestershire/Gloucestershire border (in WR), UK.
Posts: 70
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Re: The Joy of 5MHz.
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You've inspired me to have another go - I was rather put off by the previous attempt, but must have been bad timing or unlucky I guess. Still now I know it should be possible that helps with being more confident about the process. |
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20th Nov 2022, 6:23 pm | #19 | |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Wiltshire, UK.
Posts: 14,007
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Re: The Joy of 5MHz.
Quote:
Get your license sorted out, get a 5MHz radio, put up an antenna and - if you want - PM me to schedule a contact to break your 5MHz virginity!
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I'm the Operator of my Pocket Calculator. -Kraftwerk. |
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21st Nov 2022, 10:35 am | #20 | ||
Tetrode
Join Date: Nov 2022
Location: Near Worcestershire/Gloucestershire border (in WR), UK.
Posts: 70
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Re: The Joy of 5MHz.
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