There are a lot of cool #hamradio discussions going on on Twitter lately. Instead of just copying and pasting Tweets like I usually do, though, I think I’ll discuss the topics.
IC-705 at Japan Ham Fair
ICOM leaked a short video of the folks setting up the booth at Ham Fair 2019, Japan’s answer to the Dayton Hamvention. The video shows a small, KX3-like radio with a built-in spectrum scope. In the video, the screen shows various features of the IC-705, including VHF and UHF bands as well as HF coverage, an output of 10W, and a Bluetooth interface. This looks like a very cool radio to me.
UPDATE: There’s more detailed information about the IC-705 on hamlife.jp.
NanoVNA
The Nano Vector Network Analyzer (VNA) has been getting a lot of attention lately. Rather, I should say that the Chines knockoffs of the NanoVNA have gotten a lot of attention lately. These devices are only $50, and by all accounts they seem to be more than adequate for amateur radio use. Here’s a a beginners guide to the Nano VNA:
2 m safe after all
Ham radio operators all over the world got their knickers in a twist a couple of months ago over a proposal by the French government to make the Aeronautical Mobile Service the primary users of the 144-146 MHz band and demote the Amateur Radio Service to secondary users. It actually sounded kind of serious, but I guess pundits like your truly jumped the gun on this.
As the Radio Amateurs of Canada report in the story, Update on Two Metres Sharing Proposal Countdown to World Radiocommunication Conference 2019,
At the meeting of the Conference Preparatory Group of the Conseil Europëen des Postes et Radiocommunication (CEPT) – which concluded on August 30 in Ankara, Turkey – France modified its proposal that the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) study several frequency segments for sharing with the Aeronautical Mobile Service and withdrew the 144 to 146 MHz segment from the proposal. This welcome development was the result of an energetic and professional representation by delegates from the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU).
The ARRL also reported on this story, but I wanted to work the word “metres” into this blog post.
Huh! Metre. Apparently that’s how the international body that’s concerned about weights and measures spells it according to Wikipedia. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metre
Who would have thunk.
Excelente
HC4Z
Milton
73
Calling the NanoVNA “more than adequate for amateur radio use” is pretty faint praise. It appears to be at least as accurate for antenna work as most ham radio-quality antenna analyzers, and has enough dynamic range for decent filter testing and tuning. NanoVNA is all this and open source, too, for under $70 delivered.
NanoVNA has drawbacks: lousy documentation, tiny on-screen text and odd harmonics in its output, at least in the HF range. It’s not built for rough handling. But I can see it being more than useful for the backyard antenna tinkerer.
Well, I wasn’t suggesting that it was a substitute for a Keysight or Rohde&Schwarz VNA. Most amateurs don’t need that level of instrumentation, though.