Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Foundation Candidates recomended book


If you are taking the Foundation Licence the following publication has been recomended by your tutor as a must have!

Foundation Licence - Now !

By Alan Betts, G0HIQ

If you want to obtain an Amateur Radio Foundation Licence this book is for you. This is the latest 2007 edition of the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) book that contains all that is required to obtain a Foundation licence. Even if you just want to know about Amateur Radio this book provides insight into the technical basics, receivers, transmitters and antennas. How and where to operate with your new licence are covered along with safety considerations and electromagnetic compatibility. Written in an easy to use and understand style this is the ideal book for young and old alike.
RSGB, paperback, 297 by 210mm, 36 pages, ISBN: 9781-8723-0980-4

Pricing
Non Member's Price £4.99
RSGB Member's Price £4.24

Foundation
Licence Book

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Foundation Candidates Letter (a copy will be posted to each candidate)

Dear candidate

The Isle of Man Amateur Radio Society will be holding training for the Foundation licence over the weekends 9-10 February and 16-17 February 2008, the examination will take place on Sunday 17 February @ 14:30hrs.

The Civil Defence training rooms at 88, Woodbourn Road, Douglas will be used for this event and the training sessions will commence @10:00hrs and finish around 16:00hrs. As lunch will not be provided it is advisable to bring your own food, warm drinks will be available throughout the day.

The Foundation Syllabus and the Amateur Radio Licence details will be provided.

On the 17 February it will be necessary to provide photographic identification before you take the examination.

Good luck with the examination.

John Butler
Secretary IOMARS

A new solar cycle starts.

SOHO: the new solar cycle starts with a ‘bang’

The European Space Agency (ESA) reports that the SOHO solar observation spacecraft witnessed the start of the new solar cycle.

The appearance of a very special solar spot on the sun surface a few days ago, signalled to scientists around the world that a new solar cycle had begun. This solar spot also produced two solar blasts.

Each solar cycle lasts an average of 11.1 years. The new solar cycle, called ‘Cycle 24’, started on 4 January this year, when SOHO observed an event scientists have been anticipating for about a year.

A fairly small and, at first sight, inconspicuous sunspot on the Sun’s northern hemisphere showed a reversed magnetic polarity compared to sunspots of previous years. A sunspot is an area of highly organised magnetic activity on the
surface of the Sun. This sunspot convinced scientists that a new solar cycle had begun. Later that day, this finding was made official when the sunspot was catalogued by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

SOHO was not only first in spotting this harbinger of the new solar cycle, it also observed two associated ‘EIT waves’, blast waves that spread out from active regions on the Sun like ripples from a pebble dropped into water. The new cycle started with a ‘bang’!

This is just the beginning, and scientists are now eagerly awaiting the activity to follow. Solar Cycle 24 is expected to build gradually, with the number of sunspots and solar storms reaching a maximum by 2011 or 2012, although intense solar activity can occur at any time.

The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) celebrated the twelfth anniversary of its launch on 2 December 2007. The satellite has witnessed the Sun change through almost a complete solar cycle, from quiet to stormy, and back.

SOHO is a project of international collaboration between ESA and NASA.

Information from QRZ Forums - Thanks Matty.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Foundation Training Course and Examination

We are pleased to announce that the next Foundation training course and examination will take place over the weekends 9-10 and 16-17 (Examination Day) February 2008.
The venue for this course will be the Civil Defence training rooms in Woodbourne Road, Douglas.
Candidates for the course have already completed their applications but if other people still wish to take the course extra places will be available. Please contact iomars@manx.net as soon as possible to obtain a course application form. There is a £20 RSGB fee to take the examination, tuition is free but all candidates must be members the IOMARS.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Free Electronics Calculator

This may be of interest to amateurs - a free downloadable Windows elecronic calculator.
Electronic Calculator

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Now's the time to use digital modes on 30 metres

The 30 Metre Digital Group is holding a digital weekend on the 10MHz band for the 48 hours of 19 and 20 January. It is not a contest but a way to help populate this band.
Activity focuses on 10.135 to 10.145MHz. All digital modes are welcome but the main mode is PSK31 on 10.140MHz plus or minus 1kHz.
The objective is for radio amateurs worldwide to have contacts with European stations to promote and increase digital mode activity on 30 metres.
As this is not a contest, logs are not required but participating operators are requested to send a mail to m5aav@30meterdigital.org with the number of stations worked.

For more information, visit www.30meterdigital.org.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Make your own valves

Here is a very interesting video which demonstrates how to make your own valves.
Enjoy!
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3wrzo_fabrication-dune-lampe-triode_tech

IOM Mines on the air - what do you think?

Just spotted on the latest RSGB News (Members Site) that DG2DCI is looking to put 'Mining Projects' on the air. The aim is to activate pits, shafts, mining museums, etc.
The Island has a lot of mines, see:
a number of which could described as 'tourist attractions' (QSL cards!).
How about a Special Event station? The email address of DG2DCI is given in the RSGB news item for those interested in seeking more information.
Incidentally, Peter Geddes (recently awarded an MBE for work to do with IOM mines research)
is a member of the Mines Research Group and is (or was) a licensed amateur (his name doesn't appear in recent RSGB Yearbooks so he may be 'details withheld' ). He can be contacted through the website mentioned above.
Perhaps the IOMARS Committee would consider at the next meeting putting on an appropriate Special Event station?

73 de Alan GD0MWL.

Morse Code

Can anyone recommend a good quality Iambic Keyer? Or if they have one going spare I would appreciate hearing from them with regards to mow much they would like for the item. Wanted initially for connection to an oscillator for practice, but will require it for actual transceiver operation at a later date. Any help greatly appreciated, please contact James on jamessawle@manxdesigns.im

All the best

James