March 04, 2024

Amateur Radio Exam Date Set

On Wednesday 17th March 2024(St. Patricks Day and no doubt I shall have a few Guinness'), I will be taking my Foundation Amateur Radio license exam. I am sure I will pass.

Nowadays you can choose the last 3 letters of the callsign if available but will start M3. I was thinking that some of the following would be possible good selections:-
• GAD (As in Gadget17)
• GIB (From Surname)
• PDG (Initials)
• JCP or DWP (from Work not great selections)
• NOK (As in Nokia)
• AAS (As in All About Symbian)

I am sure others will be thought of in the time until the exam, but I can't think of anymore right now. On Saturday 20th March 2024, I shall be flying off to Nice France (with EasyJet to visit my Uncle briefly to collect an Amateur Radio HF transceiver. It's a Kenwood TS-50

Here is what Kenwood say about the Radio:- TS-50S: Mount it in a vehicle, take it on a DX-pedition or use it as a permanent base station transceiver and you'll see that the compact TS-50S packs a hefty punch. The easy to use menu system adds flexibility and the powerful cooling fan with heat sink ensures stable operation in any situation. Features: 160M TO 10M Amateur band operation with 500kHz to 30MHz general coverage receiver, DDS (Direct Digital Synthesizer) with fuzzy control, 100 Memory channels, Switchable AGC circuit (SLOW/FAST), IF shift, Noise blanker (pulse), Dual VFOs (A & B), and Outstanding performance


Specifications


General


Antenna Impedance 50 ohms
Dimensions (W x H x D) 7-1/16 x 2-3/8 x 9-3/16 in (179 x 60 x 233 mm)
Frequency Stability less than ±10x10-6, less than ±0.5x10-6 with SO-2
Memory Channels 100
Mode A1A (CW), J3E (SSB), A3E (AM), F3E (FM)
Operating Temperature Range -20° - 60°C
Power Consumption Receive 1.45A
Power Consumption Transmit 20.5A
Power Requirement 13.8V DC ±15%
Weight (approx.) 6.4lbs (2.9kg)

Transmitter


Carrier Suppression more than 40dB
Frequency Range 10m band 28.0 - 29.7MHz
Frequency Range 12m band 24.89 - 24.99MHz
Frequency Range 15m band 21.0 - 21.45MHz
Frequency Range 17m band 18.068 - 18.168MHz
Frequency Range 20m band 14.0 - 14.35MHz
Frequency Range 30m band 10.1 - 10.15MHz
Frequency Range 40m band 7.0 - 7.3MHz
Frequency Range 80m band 3.5 - 4.0MHz
Frequency Range 160m band 1.8 - 2.0MHz
Frequency response 400 - 2600Hz (less than -10dB)
Maximum Frequency Deviation ± 5kHz
Microphone Impedance 600 ohms
Modulation AM Low Level modulation
Modulation FM Reactance modulation
Modulation SSB Balanced modulation
Output Power AM 25W
Output Power SSB, CW, FSK, FM 100W
Spurious Radiation less than -50dB
Unwanted Sideband Suppression more than 40dB
Posted by Gadget17 at March 4, 2024 06:39 AM | Radio | TrackBack
Comments
Best of luck for the exam gadget. Rafe Posted by: Rafe at March 4, 2024 02:48 PM
Thanks Rafe. If I am evil, I may wait until the Pub Meet to let AAS members know if I have passed! :) Posted by: Gadget17 at March 5, 2024 05:56 AM
I contacted the Radio License Centre earlier this week and all the M3 call-signs up to FUB had gone, so a couple of choices were out. The next call-sign after FUB will be FUD as apparently rude call-signs are not available for issue. I have chosen one I like from available list (Not one of the ones I posted), but I am not saying what it is as don't want someone else to choose it, and I cannot reserve it. Posted by: Gadget17 at March 7, 2024 04:00 PM
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