RadCom June 2015, Vol. 91, No. 6

| May 22, 2015

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Cover of June 2015 RadCom - Cover image: Soldering surface mount components using traditional techniques. Photo by Mike Richards, G4WNC.

News and Reports

6 RSGB Matters
Recognising and encouraging volunteers, new RadCom Plus online technical supplement launched for Members, New Joiners, 50 years of reciprocal licencing, Regional Manager and DRM changes, RSGB AGM awards, new RSGB Awards
Manager, Club of the Year result, QSL matters, RSGB Photo Archive, promoting amateur radio, new Twitter name, Nepal earthquake, Certificate of Appreciation, congratulations,joiners and rejoiners
14 News
All the amateur radio news
17 New Products
Exciting new products we’ve heard about this month
81 Around Your Region
Club news and planned events around the country

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Features

42 Coming back to amateur radio
Dr Gerard Bulger, G3WIP/VK0GB/VK4BGL describes how he got bitten by the amateur radio bug again, just in time for a working trip to Antarctica
60 RSGB Convention and Hamfest
A look forward to the biggest events of the year
72 Experiencing the total solar eclipse
How Michael Knowles, 2E0EVA sailed from Southampton in search of totality
80 GB2RN on HMS Belfast
A visit to the Royal Navy Amateur Radio Society (Affiliated) London (HMS Belfast) Group by Giles Read, G1MFG

Reviews

27 Book review
Getting Started in Amateur Radio and Oscilloscopes for Radio Amateurs examined by Giles Read, G1MFG
44 Heil Pro 7 communications headset
The received audio is superb and Tx audio reports were very complimentary indeed, writes Steve Nichols, G0KYA

Technical Features

18 Homebrew
More on the high quality single band 10m transceiver with Eamon Skelton, EI9GQ
22 Eclipse propagation
Steve Nichols, G0KYA explains the valuable propagation data yielded by the partial eclipse of March 2015
30 6m Sporadic-E
A look at some of the questions surrounding Sporadic-E by Steve Nichols, G0KYA and Jim Bacon, G3YLA
34 A stub loaded dipole covering 1.8-146MHz
In a companion article to one in RadCom Plus, Bob Burns, G3OOU describes his wire antenna system that covers Top Band to 2m
40 Design notes
Andy Talbot, G4JNT looks at A DIY SDR platform, fiddly but rewarding homebrew with a ball grid array ‘package’, LED multiplexing and old GPSs failing
46 EMC
Interference from LED lighting, PSUs and a cordless phone system described by Dr David Lauder, G0SNO
48 Moving On
John Welsh, G0NVZ looks at the thyristor
56 Metallurgy for the radio amateur
Knowing even just a little about the metals we use can be very useful, as Dave Malley, K1NYK explains
70 Data
Andy Talbot, G4JNT looks at how correlation techniques can dig signals out of the noise

Regulars

91 Advertisers’ index
54 Antennas, Peter Dodd, G3LDO
68 GHz, Sam Jewell, G4DDK
64 HF, Martin Atherton, G3ZAY
63 LF, Dave Pick, G3YXM
95 Propagation, Gwyn Williams, G4KFH
74 QRP, Rev. George Dobbs, G3RJV
92 Members’ Ads, Rallies and Events, Silent Keys, Special Event Stations
76 Sport Radio, Steve White, G3ZVW
96 The Last Word
66 VHF/UHF, Richard Staples, G4HGI

Category: Front Page News, RadCom