DRM+ successfully trialled in Paris

Filed under: by: yc0nho

Paris, 12th June 2009:

The Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) technology for broadcast at higher frequencies was successfully trialled in Paris on Thursday. The DRM+ signal was broadcast on 64.5 MHz from Tour Pleyel, North of Paris, and was received at the office of Conseil Supérieur de l'Audiovisuel (CSA) which regulates the various electronic media in France. The CSA is located 10 km away from the transmitter but the signal strength was good with only 400 watts of radiating power.

This positions DRM+ as a perfect solution for stations not able to join multiplexes, even in places where the FM band is full.

DRM+ extends the DRM standard which is the open, universal, digital radio standard for broadcast bands, to frequencies up to 174MHz including the FM spectrum from 87.5MHz to 108 MHz. DRM+ offers a range of features and benefits for radio stations’ around the world and can lead to a cost-effective migration to digital. It was first successfully tested on the FM Band in Kaiserslautern, Germany last year, but this is the first time DRM+ has been used in Band 1.

DRM+ has distinct advantages over conventional FM, it needs lower transmission power for same coverage, opens up new audio possibilities like 5.1 surround sound, increases spectrum efficiency and offers electronic data services such as programme guide and supporting information.

David Blanc, SNRL (Syndicat National des Radios Libres) says: “Professor Dr Andreas Steil and his team (Mr. Schad and Mr. Köhler) from the University of Applied Sciences, Kaiserslautern, was able to put together a complete DRM+ broadcast system on Band 1 and agreed to test it in Paris. SNRL, which gathers over 300 local stations in France, has been trying to find a technical solution for the many stations which cannot join multiplexes for various reasons, including coverage area, cost and desire to remain in control of their broadcast operations. “

“DRM+ seems to be an excellent choice, offering over 100 kbps of usable bit rate, enabling CD audio quality, slideshow and other data to be broadcast from a simple privately-owned transmitter. We now recommend integrating DRM+ in all digital radio receivers, from 60 to 108 Mhz.”, he added.

This test was performed by the help of University of Applied Sciences, Kaiserslautern and Fraunhofer IIS, Erlangen.

Ruxandra Obreja, Chairman, DRM Consortium says: “Through this trial in France, we have yet another proof that the DRM standard can offer a most versatile, economical range of options for big and small operators for the benefit of audiences that want good quality radio. We hope that the trial in France will be positively noted and actioned by the French radio authorities. It is an excellent extra step that will preface the expected all- band extension of the DRM global standard.”(drm.org)

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ARRL Field Day, June 27-28 2009

Filed under: by: yc0nho


ARRL Field Day - Always The Fourth Full Weekend In June

Where the spirit of “Amateur Radio Past” joins forces with the Next Generation of Innovations, Interests and Individuals!!!

As we know, the most popular on-the-air operating event in amateur radio is ARRL Field Day. It takes place bn the fourth full weekend in June. About Tens of thousands of amateur radio operators gather for a public demonstration of ARRL service. Field Day is ALL About FUN. It's part of educational event, operating event, and part of public relations event.

Amateur radio is not just about knowledge but also about growth. It is a hobby and service that truly offers “something for everyone.” Amateur Radio embraces both of the old and new. While CW may no longer be a testing element, it is still a strong and favorite operating mode for many. Tens of thousands of operators are embracing digital technologies, from RTTY to newer digital modes like PSK31 and Olivia. Phone operation, probably the largest segment of the hobby, also has new frontiers to be explored with digitized voice, VOIP, and IRLP. And this is why Field Day – the largest annual on-the-air operating event – is so exciting. It gives all – the old timer and the newcomer, the brass-pounder and the computer assisted operator – the chance to share and teach the broad range of modes and technologies we find in our hobby.

Field Day is truly the time in which we bring amateur radio to Main Street USA. By setting up in parking lots, malls, Emergency Operations Centers, parks and even at home, amateur operators learn skills that will allow them to better serve their communities. Setting up in these public venues gives added public relations value – their friends and neighbors can see and experience the fun and public service capability that their “ham radio” neighbors bring to the community.

Whana have some full week end FUN? Join in the fun! For further information on amateur radio and the ARRL – the national organization for Amateur Radio – visit us.

So, see u there or see u on air...
73,

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-Low bander Antenna for City Lot -

Filed under: by: yc0nho


Within these months, dxing in high band is not quite interesting. All we have found is noise, without any signal. All noise come due to this lower sun spot cycle.

For some people, this could be something boring. We feel hard to conduct a dx qso. But frankly this time is the best time for low bander dxer.. Within this low sun spot, qso in low band are quite easy enough and interesting.

Building station -especially antenna- for low band is something not easy enough for many amateur radio. Due to properti limitation, installing a full sized dipole is quite out of topic. Even their lot is enough for inverted V shape, we also have to hang it at about a half of one wavelength that gonna be out ot topic again. So, with many those limitation, how can I enjoy this low sun spot time? Installing loading coil antenna at lower height is better for NVIS communication only. No!!! I need a dx qso, not a local qso.

For those who have a limited lot but wanna try how fun noise is come within low band, G7FEK antenna could be the one nominated antenna you should try to install. It takes only about 14m space, and have a capability to work on both 40 and 80m. How comes? Please see picture above.
Yes, you're right. It takes only 14.2 meter length and 7.4 meter high. It's small enough, isn't it?

The wise word for most antenna says higher is better. Yup... It'll be much more better if you can install it as high as you can. Far from any objects is right. It'll help the antenna to throw the signal away from your qth.

How about the performance? May be you have an word to say, "I don't wanna do an experiments at this time...I don't have enough time to try and have an error time. I need something easy to install and say cq..cq.." Most of user say It's often better than full sized dipole for a dx qso, comparable for medium skip contact within the same height. Several users have reported excellent dx results on 80m band, even during present sunspot minimum, with just 100 W barefoot.

How about the noise he pick it up? It has a lower noise floor on 80m with very little interference from man made noises. It has lower noise than a doublet.

How does it work? This antenna is design specifically for phone section of 80m. It's working as a full sized quater wave Marconi in inverted-L shape. There is some high angle radiation for local (shor skip contacts) but the radiation is predominantly low angle and ideal for dx working. With a reasonable earth, this will outperform a full sized dipole at the same height on 80m for dx, yet only needs 14m of space (less than a 1/2 size G5RV huh..?).

Mike, G7FEK is grateful to scott VE3SCP for providing details of many tranatlantic contacts he is making with just 100 W on 80m phone section.

Why don't you give a try?
See u soon on 80m band phone...

Best 72,




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- What SWR meter are For -

Filed under: by: yc0nho


Mostly of us, amateur radio, always want to make their hamshack in an optimum condition. Yah, it's a word to say almost perfect which usually hard to achieve. Most of us too, build our hamshack on a fully watched budget. So, it willl be good for all of us to make our gear complete step by step without dig our pocket deeply.

One of the most important gear we must have is a SWR meter. It's a really simple thing that without his presense our shack can gonna be screwed up by. So, what is that gear?

SWR meter or VSWR (voltage standing wave ratio) meter measures the standing wave ratio in a radio transmission line. This is an item of radio equipment that used to check the quality of the match between the transmission line and antenna.

The gear should be connected in the line as close as possible to the antenna, because all practical transmission lines have a certain amount of loss, causing the reflected power to be attenuated as it travels back along the cable, and producing an artificially low VSWR reading on the meter. If the meter is installed near to the antenna, then this problem is set down.

Note that an SWR meter does not measure the actual impedance of a load (ie the resistance and reactance), but only the mismatch ratio. To measure the actual impedance, an antenna analyzer or other similar RF measuring device is required. Note also that for accurate readings, the SWR meter must be matched to the line impedance, ie 50 or 75 ohms as applicable. To accommodate both impedances, some SWR meters have switches on the rear, to select the appropriate load resistance for the sense lines.

If there is a mismatch between the transmission line and load, the line will act as an impedance transformer. At this time, the impedance seen at the input to the line will depend on its electrical length, eventhough (for a lossless line) the VSWR will be the same at any point within the line. Mismatched transmission lines are usually used for impedance transformation, especially at UHF and microwave frequencies where their dimensions can be so short.

In simple words, what swr meter are for? Swr meter are used to measure how many reflected power within the transmission line going back through the line? Bigger is worse. Lower is better. So, watch your meter every time you do a QSO? My elmer said, eventhough you're in a very-very happy big pile up, if your meter show 1.5 number, Please stop it away or your gear will blown away.... Wannya see your gear blown away, keep watching on your meter, and let it fly far-far away from 1.5 scale...

Best 73,





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- An amateur radio goal, mini dxpedition -

Filed under: by: yc0nho


We're home from our trip to Mt. Telomoyo. It's located in the middle of YB2 land. A mountain with about 1800m asl. I thought I'd capture some of the more important lessons found out from this trip while these details were fresh in my brain. Here they go in no particular order.

I've always been low on setting and making goals for a 100 Pound DXpedition or something called private dxpedition. For one thing, this provides focus during the packing effort as you ask yourself on each decision, "Is this helping me reach my goals?" My goals for this trip "didn't" make sense. My state goal were to add my dxcc country in 80m band. How poor I am..

Be creative with your goals!!! For example, we can have a goal to participate in the CQ WW DX SSB contest on this trip. We know, there are twelve different categories we could have competed: low-power all-band, LP 10m, LP 15m, LP 20m, LP 40m, LP 80m, QRP all-band, QRP 10m, QRP 15m, QRP 20m, QRP 40m, or QRP 80m. For me all of categories is a dream at least due to my license now. But, at the time while went to Mt. telomoyo, there is no event I could take participate.

I've a plan to work on 40 and 80m band phone only. Of course, all were set up with simple full sized wire antenna. For 80m, I have full sized groundplane antenna with 4 radial, within my threes tower and dipole for my 40m fed by 450ohm ladder line. For my ease of installation, I also brought a Z-matcher antenna tuner. Hope it can help me much. All of wire were hung within threes.

Unfortunately, I had a problem with my 40m band transceiver so my only ready band is 80m. Standing by all nights long gave me some new countries. I got 14 new countries, so my right now I've had 16 countries on 80m band phone. Not bad huh..

This is a vacation ... not an assignment. I've to make my another vacation big, really, trying to push limits, capture audio, create a DVD. I do enjoy these trips as I enjoy playing with the radio. I also enjoy sharing what I've learned in and hope that someone else might happen upon these words and try it for themselves. But, too much of this sharing leads to a life lived in a fish bowl. I believe this will motivate my readers a head-start in their adventure. I believe I need to push myself a little hard on this one.

There were more lessons learned, of course, but these were the big ones. Now, I am home and resting comfortably in my own bed. I can reflect upon these and others. Soon it will be time to plan another 100 Pound DXpedition. Wanna join? Drop me a message..

73,

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Mulai Hari anda sekarang !!!!

Filed under: by: yc0nho

Tanpa terasa dan tidak terasa, pertengahan tahun 2009 sudah tiba. Perubahan apa yang anda inginakan dalam kurun waktu tahun 2009 ini? Apakah prioritas anda? Jika anda merasa belum menentukan, segera tentukan dan sebutkan sekarang. Ingin lebih sehat, panjang umur, menambah jumlah country dalam DXCC anda, menambah jumlah award yang dapat dipajang di hamshack anda, atau melengkapi peralatan di meja operator anda demi meningkatkan kinerja station anda?

Jika anda menjawab yes, ya, hai, yup, yo atau he em, langkah berikutnya adalah membuat semuanya menjadi kenyataan. Banyak orang macet dalam situasi seperti ini, dan seringkali mereka menginginkan perubahan tetapi semua itu hanya berkecamuk di dalam benak saja. Mereka mengalamai kesulitan untuk memulainya. Mereka tidak tahu harus mulai dari mana. Mereka ingin tahu seberapa besar usaha, energi, dan waktu yang dibutuhkan untuk memulainya. Kemudian jawaban terakhir adalah yap, nanti aku akan memulainya. Nah, pada titik ini biasanya meraka akan kembali ke putaran yang tidak berkesudahan. Apakah hal ini menjadi bagian dari diri anda?

Ketika perubahan terasa besar dan di luar kemampuan anda, cobalah untuk memulai langkah-langkah seperti ini. Supaya mudah diingat, kita singkat saja menjadi SMART. Ya, tentu saja ada kepanjangan dari kata tersebut.

1. Spesifik (Jelas). Tentukan tujuan atau keinginan anda secara sepesifik atau jelas.

2. Measurable (Terukur). Segala sesuatu yang kita tentukan sebagai tujuan harus bisa diukur. Jangan pernah tujuan anda menjadi sesuatu yang tidak terukur. Karena tidak bisa terukur akanmenjadikannya sebuah pemborosan waktu.

3. Action Oriented (Berorientasi pada tindakan). Banyak orang mempunyai tujuan dan rencana yang bagus termasuk batasannya. Namun sejujurnya banyak yang hanya berhenti sampa tahap rencana saja. Mereka jarang (tidak pernah) melakukan yang direncanakan. Jadi, mulailah untuk berorientasi pada tindakan. Atau dalam bahasa simple-nya "jangan ngemeng aja lo".

4. Realistic (Realistis). Seperti sebuah sampan yang tidak bisa dimuati 100 orang, kita juga harus menyadari kemampuan kita terkait dengan tujuan kita. Realistis bukan berarti takut memulai sesuatu tetapi lebih ke menjadi perencana yang berwawasan luas.

5. Timely (Waktu)… Dalam melakukan langkah-langkah di atas, kita harus memberikan tempo atau jangka waktu. Berikut batasan waktu untuk masing-masing tujuan sehingga kita tahu apa yang telah kita lakukan tercapai atau tidak. Tentu akan menjadi sebuah pencapaian yang kurang afdol jika target tahun 2009 tercapainya tahun 2019.

Jika anda bisa mencapai target atau tujuan anda, sekali-kali lakukanlah ucapan syukur. Rayakanlah keberhasilan tersebut dengan ungkapan syukur. Bisa makan-makan, seneng-seneng, pesta atau hal lain yang proporsional. Langkah-langkah di atas merupakan jalur cepat untuk sukses anda, dan membantu anda menuju keinginan anda.

Buatlah sisa tahun 2009 ini menjadi bagian terbaik yang pernah anda buat. Dan jangan lupa untuk memulai langkah anda...

0 area,

73


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