EI4FMG still on test, but not for much longer..

EI4FMG on test in my Shack.

I have not posted about the 4m Gateway EI4FMG in a while, that’s because I have been having a small issue with it and it took a while and a bit of head scratching to sort it out.

The gateway works perfectly when on test in my shack, but as soon as I bring it to site it plays up and picks up a steady noise level on the interface when everything is connected up.

I brought it up to a friend’s QTH recently with a view of leaving it there on test and see how it behaves but the issue was still there, after turning off his electricity in his house and connecting a portable generator the problem was still there.

So we disconnected everything and brought it home, set it up in my shack on a dummy load and it was fine!!!! 

I reckoned it was an grounding  problem and went through it all again, took it off my power supply and put it on a temporary power supply  and the problem returned, so all I done was connect a wire from the chassis of the radio to the chassis of the computer and the noise disappeared.

So now the plan is this week to locate the gateway to a secondary testing location, it will probably only be on beacon mode for a while to ensure that it keeps performing to proper parameters.

Tait TM8110, Altai 5-7amp Power supply, EI4JR interface.

On test.

When the gateway returns to service it will be operating from a new radio, a TAIT TM-8110, running 15 watts and an Altai 5-7 amp power supply, also updated is the computer, the old one became faulty; the sound card started to play up and did not want to accept any input audio…

The interface by EI4JR will still be used, the gateway node number is still the same: 57006.

Tony Fay EI6EQB picks up his prize.

I had the very great pleasure today of getting to meet the winner and  hand over the Cleartone CM-7200 4m radio to it's new owner.

Let me introduce Tony Fay EI6EQB (In his own words):

My Name is Tony,

I live in Artane, on the North side of Dublin City, Locator IO63VJ.

I have an interest in all things electronic.

My Father is Tom, EI6K, who was an RO in the 50's and did Radio and TV repairs from the family home, and it is to him I owe my interest in radio, electronics and computers from an early age. I have been working in Data Comms and the computer industry since 1979.

Since 1992 I have been a member of the North Dublin Radio Club EI0NDR.

I am mainly active on VHF/ UHF but I am now redeveloping my interest in HF now that I have erected a Dipole antenna for 40 Meters at my QTH.  The take-off for this antenna is NE and SW.

I am delighted Tony has won the radio and he promised me that he would make me his first contact on 4m!!!
Keep an ear for him on the band and I wish him lots of hours of enjoyment with the radio.

International Space Station Contact to be relayed live via EI4FMG.

ARISS contact planned with ESA Space Camp in Dublin, Ireland.

Sunday 22 July 2012, at approximately 17.25 UTC, which is 18.25 Dublin time and 19.25 CEST, an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact is planned for ESA Space Camp in Dublin, Ireland.

This will be relayed live through EI4FMG at the times above.

The European Space Agency has locations in several European countries. The annual summer space camp is an occasion when the children of staff employed at ESA get a chance to mix with each other in an environment which allows them to be immersed in space activities and cultural events.

This year the 160 ESA campers will land in a traditional "Harry Potter” style boarding school near Dublin, in a country full of mystical stories and a breath taking landscape, on 14 July 2012. St Columba’s College offers the amenities where children will learn about Space Ship Earth in more detail, with emphasis on hands on activities and having fun whilst learning.

As part of their 2 week stay at the camp, the children aged 8-17 years, will take part in sporting events, field trips where they will explore more about what earth is made of, look more closely at how we explore other planets and design their own launchers and space suits. They will be visited by an ESA astronaut who will join in the activities and explain about astronaut training and human spaceflight.

The space talk will be a telebridge contact operated by W6SRJ, located in Santa Rosa, California.

ARISS is an international educational outreach program partnering the participating space agencies, NASA, Russian Space Agency, ESA, CNES, JAXA, and CSA, with the AMSAT and IARU organizations from participating countries.

ARISS offers an opportunity for students to experience the excitement of Amateur Radio by talking directly with crewmembers on board the International Space Station. Teachers, parents and communities see, first hand, how Amateur Radio and crewmembers on ISS can energize youngsters' interest in science, technology and learning.