Makers eXperimenters and Operators

Friday, 21 July 2017

Chertsey Radio Club Summer Raffle

Chertsey Radio Club is holding its summer raffle and has some great prizes to give away.

RETEVIS have kindly donated an RT82 DMR dual band radio and programming cable.

and there is even more... Kanga Products (UK) approached us wanting to help too and very generously offered TWO MORE prizes... the MOTGN Morse Tutor kit & DX40rx kit

We also have a years membership to AMSAT-UK up for grabs which the Chertsey Radio Club has added to the prize pot ourselves. Because we have had so much fun on the satellites recently we thought you should investigate them too (if you haven't already?)!

The money raised will help purchase a simple UK Business License (radio) For use with Autistic and vulnerable children and young adults Project "Thomas Watch" We hope that after obtaining the licence it will make Project Thomas UK wide project and thus help support people on the autistic spectrum, by allowing them to use radios as a form of communication, monitoring and helping them gain some independence.

All other monies remaining generated by this raffle will be donated to Cancer Research UK for the fantastic work they do and the help and support several members of the club and our friends have had in the last few years.

GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL!! 73SORRY - TICKET SALES HAVE NOW CEASED!

The draw will be held on August 31st 2017 @ 21:00

THE DRAW WILL BE BROADCAST LIVE THROUGH PERISCOPE AND WINNERS WILL BE INFORMED BY E-MAIL TOO

73 de MX0MXO - Chertsey Radio Club

Thursday, 20 July 2017

ISS SSTV 00:58 UK celebrating 20 years of ARISS

Live from the shack of James Preece M0JFP
Second UK pass of ISS SSTV

Tim Peake **Hooray**

Iss sstv 2nd pass UK 🇬🇧 00:59 https://t.co/7R7tLglNqQ
— Chertsey Radio Club (@chertseyRC) July 20, 2017

Iss https://t.co/KRg5pGtbne
— Chertsey Radio Club (@chertseyRC) July 21, 2017

ISS SSTV (23:23 UK) 20th anniversary ARISS

Happy to report live from the shack of James Preece M0JFP, we have SSTV images decoded from the International space station again...

Sstv iss https://t.co/Bsjk5g6Hm1
— Chertsey Radio Club (@chertseyRC) July 20, 2017

https://t.co/nEZxXdaLi9
— Chertsey Radio Club (@chertseyRC) July 20, 2017

https://t.co/SnYdnPdQTK
— Chertsey Radio Club (@chertseyRC) July 20, 2017

Wednesday, 19 July 2017

Virtual buildathon is back

Chertsey Radio Club Buildathon 2017

Diplexer for 144 & 430 Mhz

Welcome to the Chertsey Radio Club second buildathon. This project, though simple, does present some constructional challenges. The kit contains mainly surface mount components (known as SMD's), which are extremely small and easily lost or incorrectly identified. Below is a list of essential items you will need to build the kit.

A clear well lit work area

18-25w soldering iron with fine or needle tip.

60/40 Resin cored electronics solder for SMA connectors

Surface Mount Device Solder (Available Online)

Blue Tac or White Tac to fix the PCB in place when soldering

A pair of fine tweezers to hold SMD's

A good magnifying glass or jewellers loop

Set of Helping Hands or small clamp (when soldering SMA connector)

Multimeter to check continuity

Surface mount solder is essential. It will be extremely difficult to build this kit without it. It is a grey paste, usually supplied in a syringe and contains a mix of powdered 60/40 lead solder mixed with a sticky flux. The advantage of this will quickly become apparent as the SMD contact pads on the PCB are not big enough to work with solder wire. This way the solder can be applied in advance, and will only require a touch from the iron for the component to take.

The diplexer is rated with a peak power handling of 10w. It is ideal for use for use with small yagi type antennas and for satellite work.