Also in GB2RS this week…

| May 16, 2014

The International Radio Union has announced that Timothy S Ellam, VE6SH/G4HUA and Ole Garpestad, LA2RR have been re-elected as as IARU President and Vice President, respectively, for the five-year term beginning 9 May 2014. Rod Stafford, W6ROD, continues to serve as IARU Secretary; he is appointed by the American Radio Relay League in its capacity as the IARU International Secretariat.

The third episode of the only UK TV show dedicated to amateur radio is now available to view at www.txfactor.co.uk. This edition covers kite aerials, a visit to the Military Wireless Museum in Kidderminster and a report from the Exeter Radio and Electronics Rally to find out what people expect from a rally in the 21st century. The show is free to view, compatible with a wide variety of platforms and is available for clubs to download and show at their meetings.

Power Japan Plus has announced a new kind of rechargeable battery, the Ryden cell, based on what it calls dual carbon technology. Remarkable claims are being made for the 4 volt device, including a significant increase in capacity over lithium-ion, a recharge speed 20 times faster and a lifetime of 3,000 charge cycles. The patented technology is also said to be 100% recyclable. Although the main thrust of development seems to be towards batteries for electric vehicles, some of the cells in the company’s promotional videos appear ideally sized for amateur radio and other consumer applications.

Chris Stubbs, M6EDF plans to launch one of his Cheapo II 434MHz trackers on a 100g Pawan balloon from a school in Chelmsford at about 1.20pm on Tuesday. Listen out for it on 434.300MHz USB during its flight. It could have a radio range of up to about 300 miles. Full details of his high-altitude ballooning hardware and experiments are online at http://chris-stubbs.co.uk/
The free amateur radio software DXLab Suite has recently been upgraded with submission generators for several major awards programmes. It now provides comprehensive real-time award tracking and management for the DXCC, IOTA, Marathon, VUCC, WAS, WAZ, and WPX award families. The suite of software has many more features, details of which can be found at www.dxlabsuite.com

Lithuanian amateur radio satellite LituanicaSAT-1 is currently in Safe Mode, its control team reports, after suffering some power supply anomalies on the channel that supplies the FM beacon and onboard camera. More details on this and other amateur satellite news can be found at http://amsat-uk.org/

Next Sunday, 25 May sees the annual Open Day at Waters and Stanton at Hockley from 10am, in aid of British Wireless for the Blind Fund. There will be a number of trade exhibitors and a lecture stream that includes talk by Robert Snary, Murray Niman and Graham Somerville. The company suggests making it a family day out as there is nearby access to Hockley Woods and a number of local pubs and cafes.

The latest edition of the 5MHz Newsletter has had some problems with its online host and as a result has been obliged to change its download address. It can now be found at http://tinyurl.com/owbbggk

Category: GB2RS Headlines