The first net of the Net Year – thanks to all who joined on-air or in the chatroom.
The Essex Ham net for Monday the 6th of January 2014 started at 8:00pm on GB3DA, the 2m repeater located at Danbury, near Chelmsford.
Live Chat: The chatroom is running as usual. Go to www.essexham.co.uk/chat – Our chat software requires you to create a free Essex Ham account.
Here’s the attendance list for this week’s net:
- Pete M0PSX in Southend, in the chair
- Ian 2E0HPR
- Tony M6LLH – First time on the net… welcome!
- Ian 2E0EOM – half a watt from Hockley.
- Steven M6VKH in East Peckham, nr Tunbridge Wells
- Phil M0IMA
- Daniel M6DLE
- James 2E1GUA in Writtle
- Huw M6HTL in Basildon
- Charlie M0PZT in Chelmsford
- Nick M0NIB
- Rob M0KCP in Maldon
- Kevin M0KAO in Kent (first time caller)
Topics for the evening as follows:
- Those kiddie electronic kits with springs – burglar alarms, Morse key and an AM radio. Steven M6VKH stirred some memories
- How did you discover the hobby?
- CTEK battery chargers – Ricky asking for some comments. His message: “I’m a little confused on all the various models available from CTEK. Just curious if anyone who is using a CTEK charger, if so what type of battery are they using it on. I’m using a Lincoln Deep Cycle 110amp battery.”
- Hope everyone’s QRZ is up-to-date for the New Year
- A 10 watt question from Huw – Can a Foundation licence holder get 40 watts by using his 10 watts fed into an antenna with a 6dB gain? Consensus is “yes” – it’s the power out of the rig that is the 10 watt limit, UNLESS the Schedule states a different power, or states e.r.p. (as it does with 431-432MHz). See notes from Norman M0FZW below.
- Want to listen to the ISS? Next opportunity is a schools contact at 10:44UTC on Wednesday morning (8th January 2014) – Frequency to listen on 145.800MHz
- At least one other participant knows the urban myth about writing implements as used by the Russians and the US in the 1960’s space race
- Anyone got any good ideas on how we can promote the hobby to non-radio folk – Nice suggestion from M0NIB – Refer to it was “the secret club” or the “antique Internet” to get people wondering!
- Does the word “amateur” do justice to what we do and who we are?
- Does anyone think any of the Big Bang Theory leads are(or should be) radio amateurs?
- Groundplanes on the roof? What to do with the radials?
Any thoughts on tonight’s net? Add ’em below!
Foundation power
Thanks to Norman M0FZW from TARG for the following handy info:
To calculate antenna insertion (dBm) and antenna insertion loss (dBm) where dBm is measured levels, you need to convert watts to Decibels.
Watts to Decibels conversion: www.rapidtables.com/convert/power/Watt_to_dBm.htm then use a Coax Loss Calculator: www.saarsham.net/coax.html to work out how much loss on a given cable type, its length and the frequency used.
The accepted reference is 0dBm = 0.001 watt. Therefore 37dBm = 5w ; 40dBm = 10w ; 50dBm = 100w and 400w = 56dBm
We wrapped up just after 22:50 – thanks very much everyone!
Handy Links
Got a comment about this week’s Monday Night Net? Please add it below.
