Mobile Expedition

Here is write-up for my short expedtion on HF 14.315kc.
The following "image" inspired me to make my own experiments, which I was post-poning for sometimes.

vu2mau_7388_Small_Emergency Mobile

After hearing from the GJ1-CD-7388 mobile of VU2MAU. I was inspired. Why I also don't put the receiver on my bike.

As I did not want to be big eye-catcher and explain to the public and police what and why I have put antenna on my bike ??? he he. But, first time I took my original license with me to make them understood in case I find some idiots.....

So I took a 1 meter telescoping antenna, put it onto the small direct conversion receiver. See my blog for xtal controlled ra3aae poliakov 20 meter receiver. I used three 4.4 volt battery to arrive at 12 volt. So receiver was ready,concealed into a cloths carry bag I checked signal upto 6 km. It clearly gives me the beep beep on 14.315kc. Wow ! tx was pumping 20 watts, antenna was dipole, I did not care for SWR. It should be around 2.7 to 3.0 a very high but okey for me. It was a very nice experience. Almost at all places the signal report I gave was 55 to increasing into 59 at one heigh place and near my qth... So, good experience. I will make proper quarter wave antenna and another direct conversion receiver with good gain.... will see how far my ground wave goes. This auto-beep for testing is the penalty for being lonely and only hams....

If I make the 40 meter transmitter 7059kc and test them, its possible that I might reach my friend at 100km with 20 watts.. Waiting to hear from other friends what is their experience with vertical antennas for mobile use.....

10 December 2015
I find this article very useful... have a look for portable antenna.... http://www.zerobeat.net/g3ycc/yccwhip.htm 

HFI2015_part2

My QSL card
for the eye-ball QSO. I will be just making a stamp.... EYE-BALL QSO, HFI2015 @ Rajkot, VU3INJ  and that's it.

FOR SALE
I will be selling few damaged gears please ask me about it.

1. Marine receiver ---5500/- (call up in advance as its a big and heavy item)
2. DR139 VHF bases station 50watt ----5500/-
3. LRR-40   receiver---- 2350/-
4. Few miscelenious items.

All items as it is. Working / Non working, inspect then buy.

GIFT
For gift one is pending at HFI2015, one ham needs to be given cw tx i.e 7.159/14.318 MHz 5watt CW linear... Making it hope to finish it soon.

ON AIR
If my 20 meter transceiver after repair comes I will be on air with it soon. Otherwize, it will be xtal controlled only.

I have been cheated. My original exciter board is given to others and inferior board is given me back. It lacks quality. Linear does not produce enough power. So, finally end of being on air dream.

OFF AIR & CLUB
Sayonara

Facebook
I will be closing the facebook account after HFI2015. So, if you want to download any pictures etc from my facebook profile please copy/download.

 

HFI2015_part1

You will amazed to know that I have never visited the Hamfest. I am happy that Hamfest India 2015 has came to me at Rajkot. This Rajkot city is just 100km from me.

 

 

Till ,1999 I did not know about HFI. I received the millennium HFI2000 invitation from the Hyderabad. I don't know those hams but defenately they were very nice and proficient peoples. That team reached to me and all hams. The HFI2014- Hyderabad was also good one. They have put a bench mark so high, most of future HFI will be not able to reach it.

For me to visit the Indian Hamfest was the impossible dream. There was no company. One time I decided to go but, could not find the company. In my parts the Local hams  do not reach out to other SWL or New hams.

 

Personally  I had  visited most of the Gujarat hams. In Gujarat hams are in a big cities. i.e Rajkot, Ahmedabad + Gandhinagar, Bhavanagar, Baroda, Surat, The navsari, etc places near to Mumbai have fewer hams but they are very active on air. HOSHI,2MOJ etc  but in Rajkot I tried to reach out hams but could only find path to VU2JF (SK),VU2FQ,VU3MJD, VU3-Rajubhai (present VU2JF).VU3EXP and yes that's all. Somehow I could not meet other Rajkot hams. After 2004 I moved out from Gujarat to MP. Stayed there earned lots of money. Was planning to get ham radio there and suddenly I returned to home-town in 2011. So, once again I lost touch. I never participated in disaster management y2k or Nepal earth-quack, as I don't have any equipments. I will not participate in future also. why ? read on.

Till, AU2LOL at Lothal there was no big public gathering where all saurashtra hams can come and enjoy. The leadership by  VU2ZNN, VU2BGH & other veteran hams made a lot of change around 2011. In the Rajkot there was club station of NIAR, but I was never able to find it, its equipment or the keeper of it. If the NIAR had given me the rig I might have enticed more SWL into this hobby.

After the AU2LOL there was AU2GIR. At sasan just around 80 Km in the forest. I tried to go this time by bike and even brought one SWL. It was a very nice experience. See my write-up somewhere in this blog. We enjoyed. Great food, Good sight seeing. Excellent on air reports. Separate stations for 40 and 20 meter. Full 100 watt power. Freedom to operate. The fact is that VU2ZNN made sure all the participant put their hand on mike and made contacts. In this our very knowledgable veteran ham VU2DSI. First time the family members were with us. So, it was a very synergic expedition. Many YL were hams VU2RTE. Few hams I knew from prior visits. Many I heard on air or they heard about me. VU2BGH, VU2DSI,VU3SPF, VU3HML wow the team was very strong....

Meanwhile in new Tenure of ham radio after hijarat from MP in 2011, three bad thing happned to me. I found out that the 50 watt VHF base sold by bala VU2MBU was not working properly.(6500/-) It did not produce enough audio level or RF power. Second thing , on last day of au2gir my mobile fone was stolen or I lost it at the camp. After that, Third , VU3KDG sold me a marine receiver.(5500/-) That receiver did not last for the 6 month and gone burst.  I absorbed my loss.

Then I had bad experience with BITX-20,LRR-40 & JOTA-40 transceivers. (2300+2350+4000= 8650) All three are good hams, excellent peoples but they could not deliver me the fucking working transceivers/ receiver. The way peoples/friends were telling me the words 3joj,2atn,paddy, shinosh etc etc I said what the heck we are talking  ? I have paid all the hams, money in hard-cash and they could not deliver me a working air-worthy rig ? So, the quality control ( homebrew ) is a very inferior.

Of course I have problem with Murphy but are you not an elmer ? are you not a Professional ? are you not a careful person ? are you not a Proficient ? are you not a Good homebrewers ?

And there were few things I could not make.I tried even bought equipments for it. Still not able to make a coil. RFC. RF filters. Somehow my source of toroids & alladin core the tpsbhopal is not responding to my request despite paying up the money. I introduced them to ham operators and they not honouring me ? My dds vfo did not worked. VU3ELR could not programme a single arduino chip ? Regimon is selling the DDS-VFO at exorbitant rate. Only thing worked for me was VU2PTR instruments & linear, GR-40 receiver by 2DEV and one Equipment by VU2KD. And yes one receiver by 2FQ.

All these small events, lack of support in terms of equipments, un-worthy- equipments dumped by many hams, I feel there is end of ham radio dream.

There are many homebrew rigs, receivers getting rusted in many hams, they are not using it. even NIAR club rig is also un-used.

I don't want your commercial rigs ! but, atleast give me a time loan say for 3-4 months, so with this I can re juvinate my stations as well  finish up my own homebrew rigs. I might not beg you if the JOTA-40 or the BITX-20 had worked. I paid for both this rigs but un-fortunately they both had same problem. Their linears did not work. So fellas, you give me a working , air-worthy QRP/QRO the VFO controlled, homebrew transceiver and in this exchange I will give you atleast 10 hams in and around my area....  But, there is no takers....

India's best ELMER the Dev sir also find's it very very hard to remove my murphy problem despite his all kind-efforts and help. Even my guiding angel MAU is avestruck with my problem and not able to find solutions.

I don't have money for getting the new rig. I invested my money around 25k in very inferior homebrews.

The homebrewing sucks. I don't have 50k to buy a rig, so I did homebrew, As my brew did not perfectly work so tried some other professional homebrew. Paid them. But, did not work. As all the budged expired. So back to square one.

2BGH, 2ZNN/ Rajkot team wants to create new hams. That's HFI2015'S target. My offer to HFI team, find me a rig, which works and I will make 10 hams in saurashtra. I have enough expertize, know-how, teaching time but I don't have something to put on air. Out of all Rajkot hams, only I have spare time as my works is very seasonal, and can spare more time. I can teach. I can move. But, they don't know me ?  Anyway..

I renewed my license for the life-time paid 2k + late fee (2K5)= total 4,500/- but due to some murphy mistake got renewal for only 2 years ! They counted 20 years from the date of issuing licence ! he he . It happens. I am thankful I got license after two years wait. Its okey. 

My Jinx is small. Give me some air-worthy rig. I will make few contacts. And with help of this rig will finish-up my own homebrew transceivers. Once I am on air. That means its the jinx is broken.......

So, all this summed up ::: give it up.

I have no enmity with anyone. You were good brewers, you chose wisely, you planned well, you got good company. I don't envy your stations, I don't envy your luck. I don't envy you. It was your destiny. But, I do request, please don't mock others on your success. It was not my destiny to be on air (HF-Fone). I realized that. So, I don't blame you or anyone. ...

Yes, please do come to HFI2015 we will have selfies, shack hands, and if you want to gift me something i.e working homebrew transceiver for time loan please do so.... Its ok..... but do come for HFI-2015 @ Rajkot.

Atlast the great vu2upx asked me ? indrajit will you let go your hard earned license, this much work , time, efforts ? I sadly said, yes boss. I am.

JOTA 40 Transceiver

Sometimes back, I heard that there was closing down of the analogue receiver GR-40 due to various reasons. One was the non availability of the styroflex capacitor used in the receiver. On the facebook vu mjf, Prabeen informed me that. Through him I booked the GR-40. It arrived in time. Its a OK receiver.

I sought the receiver as it was analogue. VU3GEK did not care to repair his faulty LRR40 I went for the analogue receiver. Yep, GR40 worked but as the tuning was all analogue without any band spread of olden golden day. It was just a simple potentiometers.

Then one day there was the discussion on digital , computer and analogue transceiver. Many hams of india commented on VU2DEV post including vu2ese...

I have seen one JOTA transceiver with VU2SWG at IIT Mumbai where he had used the Arduino and ebay 9851 module as DDS VFO. Good. He also used the 50watt linear from 3gek. I really appreciate this linear. Its worth its money. 1k5/-

Then one day VU2DEV informed me that he will send one 40 transceiver. I agreed. I did not know about the power rating, prize. He just foned me to clear my bill of Rs1200/- for GR40. I paid up on next day. The delay was due to the non-appraisal of the accounts number. On his website we don't find the payment details. When I received JOTA40 next day I paid up 4000/-.

It is worthwhile to mention that VU2DEV has gifted me ARRL HANDBOOK 1968. He himself foned me and asked what types of book I will like. I said something with transistors. And  it arrived within a week. He gifted digital i.e ARRL1999 handbook to 3joj. Ok. Thank you dev.

Then one day on facebook everybody was informed about the JOTA40 which I will get. I was joyous. I had appraised 2dev about my 20 meter transceiver bitx problem, my marine receiver cheating, and 3gerk LRR40 problem. So, he wanted to heal this murphy problem....

His staff , most probably prabeen made this transceiver.  I received the box. I opned it. It was a big box. Containing two boxes one mic and one transceiver. I am told that I have been not charged for transportation and mic. Anyway....

I had one 40 meter antenna. I tested it. No response. No one responded to my break-in or cq call. Tried to measure the DC input to the linear. There was no power. Tried to find the solution. One single transistor pre driver helped a little. It produced some power but there was freq shift problem. Then tried to solved the freq shift on transmitter and receiver. It shifted around 20k to 50khz. The RF is coupling back to VFO stage.... Wow !

I confronted prabeen and he could not reply that he had tested the transceiver on air. If 2dev sir had seen this things himself he might had rejected that transceiver. At that time he had been out to some ham meet.

Meanwhile, I realized that my jinx is not broken due to not doing a simple test by manufacturer ---- that rig is airworthy or not ? I have bill. I paid tax to govt. I can sue the company. But, he is a nice gentle man. He will be wondering what wrong ? Only thing is that 2dev did not use that rig himself. He might have remedied it there and then....

He was kind enough to ask me to send it back for repair ? What is there to repair. I removed linear. put it on test  bench, it produce 13watt on my xtal oscillator. But, whith ssb modulator it does not produce any damn RF. The receiver is working fine. All stage individually works fine but as one product there is something missing. ........the care......One big mistake is  VFO is not shielded. The total cost of counter and VFO board is considered ,it should come out as AD9833 based one DDS VFO.

I tried to put the linear externally. As inside the box it was coupling to the vfo. But, no way there is no power. What a joke ! I had been taken for a ride as I am not a cunning person.

I request them not to give the vfo based rigs. Please please please.

There is no power in tx chain. I tried to find out and succeeded in finding the problems. But, there is no remedy...

I feel sad that even spending 4k the rig did not put me on air. This much carelessness on part of the employees of vu2dev ?

I have been convinced Indian homebrew is inferior. Its only hulla gulla, build the bitx bandwagon etc. There is no kind soul who could give me a fucking spare working transceiver which can put me on air. I don't have 50k to spare. I had spent more than 20k on various homebrew, marine things. Now, I don't have any money to spend.I had trusted VU2DEV, his kindness & mastery. He was my last hope to be on 40 meter. He had helped many many many hams all over the india. He even installed the antenna at his work place to communicate with me. Making ham rig is not their main business. It is the dev sir kindness to reach out to me. Atleast he tried. It is my fault that when I had money I should have bought the communications transceivers. Now, I don't have money.

There is pirtru-dosh in Northern & Western India. There will be few hams, as the Elmer's , senior hams are not kind towards their regions new hams / swl...They have many homebrew rigs, they were not ready to share it for a time period. I wanted to break the jinx and return their rigs ? But, they did not cared.  In southern india many elmers have helped so there is flourishing hams in south india.

Second thing hurt was. Hams are very reach guys, techy guys. Moral guys. They don't understand this neo-poor hams plight.  May be some of them commented so bad, I left their company. Fact they were never able to comprehend the situation. I removed few hams from my facebook. If anyone else don't want to be my facebook friends, be my guest and remove.  ((on 09th Oct 2015 I tried to make the liner work as an external amplifier. But, it is not producing enough power, Not even close to 1watt. Only on CW (xtal oscillator)  it produce full 13watt but this is ssb only rig. Sorry indrajit... day of being on air is till far ahead. For me I need atleast 5watt to be heard in Rajkot and atleast 20watt for other places ))

What to me ? I will be leaving this ham radio bandwagon. Will go to Mumbai and find a kind ham to allow me one two hours rig time on 20 meter. Will run a sked with few hams and will be a silent-ham.....

Anyway............VU2DEV.... You were very kind to me. Thank you.
73

Alien Message

I am interested in aliens communications also. Here the disc contains the message.  "The Chilbolton 'Arecibo message'  Just google ..

"Beware the bearers of false gifts and their broken promises.
Much pain, but still time. Believe there is good out there.
We oppose deception. Conduit closing. 0x07"

Remembering VU3GCM

My friend Subash Roy, a very senior and veteran ham expressed his feelings for VU3GCM, who is very ill (10 Oct 2015). I could not stop myself from admiring  VU3GCM  and his homebrew.  Please read on. If anything amiss, apologies in advance, as I never had eye-ball qso, on air qso.

Subhas Roy

September 6, 2010 · Edited ·

VU3GCM an excellent homebrewer.I have assembled his designGCM2KLand operating 40 meter almost regularly since my ticket(2002).Without him it was impossible for me to travel on the air .

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• You, Rajesh Kumar, Shanmugam Vadivel, Shubham Tiwari and 26 others like this.
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• Comments

• 

  Sunil Das Me too,I had learnt many homebrew things from GCM.I still remember how on 2m He used teach me Bifilar Trifilar coil making while I was making my first SSB transceiver.
  

  
  

  Like · Reply · 1 · October 2 at 12:29am

  
  
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  Indrajit Sinh Very true.
  

  
  

  Like · Reply · 1 · October 2 at 8:35am

  
  
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  Atanu Dasgupta You need not be poor to love homebrewing and come on air.
  

  
  

  Like · Reply · 2 · October 2 at 9:59am

  
  
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  Nizam Chowdhury Great! My Greetings!
  

  
  

  Like · Reply · 1 · October 2 at 11:03am

  
  
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  Swapno Nil great man
  

  
  

  Like · Reply · 1 · October 2 at 10:05pm

  
  
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  Dipak Chakraborty but this man has not a single memory about himself, three stent with pacemaker installed. His left side already started paralyzed, So we loss a lot.
  

  
  

  Unlike · Reply · 2 · 20 hrs

  
  
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  Swapno Nil feelinf sad to here that OKT
  

  
  

  Like · Reply · 1 · 20 hrs

  
  
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  Subhas Roy All gadgets in this photograph are home brewed. I am fearing tò go his QTH. .........After seeing me when he asked me who you are? ...........Then how l manage myself.
  

  
  

  Unlike · Reply · 1 · 1 hr

 

Here is the link to his works. http://www.geocities.ws/gopalmondal/    

On this website first thing you will hear will be india's the national anthem. Please do enjoy and download the ckt diagrams etc for your records.

ENJOY 73 De VU3INJ.