EI7GL....A diary of amateur radio activity

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EI1KNH schedule for the Lyrid Meteor Shower - 20th to 25th April 2022

Posted: 20 Apr 2022 01:31 PM PDT https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/2022/04/ei1knh-schedule-for-lyrid-meteor-shower.html


As an experiment, the EI1KNH beacon which is on 40.013 MHz will use the following sequence for the duration of the Lyrid meteor shower from the
20th to the 25th of April 2022.
EI1KNH MS 'LYRIDS' schedule (April 20-25 2022)3mins past the hour, 06-24hrs msk144 & cw
6mins past the hour, 06-24hrs ft8 & cw
6mins past the hour, 00-05hrs msk144 & cw
10mins past the hour, 06-24hrs ft8 & cw
13mins past the hour, 00-05hrs msk144 & cw
13mins past the hour, 06-24hrs carrier, 0db to 20db of attenuation in steps 14mins past the hour, 06-24hrs wspr
16mins past the hour, 06-24hrs msk144 & cw
20mins past the hour, 06-24hrs ft8 & cw
23mins past the hour, 06-24hrs msk144 & cw
26mins past the hour, 06-24hrs ft8 & cw
26mins past the hour, 00-05hrs msk144 & cw
30mins past the hour, 06-24hrs ft8 & cw
33mins past the hour, 00-05hrs msk144 & cw
33mins past the hour, 06-24hrs carrier, 0db to 20db of attenuation in steps 34mins past the hour, 06-24hrs wspr
36mins past the hour, 24hrs msk144 & cw
40mins past the hour, 06-24hrs ft8 & cw
43mins past the hour, 06-24hrs carrier, 0db to 20db of attenuation in steps 44mins past the hour, 06-24hrs wspr
46mins past the hour, 24hrs msk144 & cw
50mins past the hour, 06-24hrs ft8 & cw
53mins past the hour, 00-05hrs msk144 & cw
53mins past the hour, 06-24hrs carrier, 0db to 20db of attenuation in steps 54mins past the hour, 06-24hrs wspr
56mins past the hour, 06-24hrs sstv (M1) & cw
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Basically, WSPR is swapped for MSK at night, RTTY is gone, FT8 remains.On
the hour, 06-24hrs ft8 & cw


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ICOM SHF Microwave Project for the 2.4 GHz & 5.6 GHz bands

Posted: 20 Apr 2022 12:24 AM PDT https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/2022/04/icom-shf-microwave-project-for-24-ghz.html



In 2021, ICOM announced that they were developing a transceiver for the microwave bands. At the time, it seemed like a highly unusual but welcome development.
In April of 2022, they announced more details. They write... "Under the
theme of “ICOM SHF Project – Super High Frequency Band Challenge –”, we started to develop a new amateur radio available for use in the 2.4 GHz and
5.6 GHz bands.
Icom engineers are working hard to research and develop a number of never cleared challenges within the SHF band, such as large cable loss and higher frequency stability requirements. The ultimate goal is to bring it to the market as a new radio product. Icom is striving to bring to you a new era
in fun and possibilities of an SHF band amateur radio, which to date has
had high technical and equipment hurdles to overcome, and we hope to make
these bands more attractive and active so that anyone can easily operate on them. We are developing an epoch-making SHF band amateur radio that no one
has never imagined before."

The microwave radio is essentially a box that this designed to be fitted at
the top of a mast or roof of a house. This will keep any coax losses to an absolute minimum.
As can be seen from the image below, there are what look like two SMA connectors on the top of the unit for antennas for 2.4 GHz and 5.6 GHz.
The unit also has a GPS antenna. This will be used to achieve frequency stability which would be very difficult otherwise.

The control unit is a module based on the hugely popular IC-705 which sits
in the shack. ICOM write... "The controller is designed based on the
compact IC-705. The operation system is basically the same as the IC-705.
The Real-time spectrum scope can be adjusted for various band spans."
The controller connects to the remote transceiver by means of a LAN network cable. This Ethernet cable will also provide DC power to the remote transceiver.

ICOM write... "When installing the RF module directly under the antenna,
the issue of how to supply DC power arises. Therefore, we decided to adopt
PoE (Power over Ethernet) technology that supplies power over a LAN cable. Since Ethernet twisted pair wiring is limited to 100 meters, it is possible
to install the RF module at a location 100 meters away from your shack (the controller). By adopting PoE technology, the connection can be made with a single cable, and the RF module can be installed more freely.
Moreover, the PoE technology makes it possible to supply power with low
power loss. Normally, if the power cable is extended to 20 meters, the
voltage drop will be too large for a 10 watt transceiver, and it will not operate properly. With PoE technology, DC power loss can be reduced by
raising the voltage and reducing the current, so it is possible to supply stable power, even if the cable is long."
Notes & Comments...
1) Power?? They don't say. If ICOM are talking about overcoming DC power
losses then I think it suggests that the power is in the 'watts' range
rather than say 50 to 100 milliwatts. I suspect it may well be a few watts
and less than 10 watts.
2) Why 2.4 GHz and 5.6 GHz?? Why not the 1.2 GHz (23cms) band where the
losses are lower? I suspect it's because 2.4 GHz and 5.6 GHz are popular
bands for WiFi and drones. There is already a lot of commercial antennas
and equipment available for these bands and it makes sense to avail of it.
It's also not hard to imagine some demand in Europe for use of this unit as part of a transmission setup to the QO-100 geostationary satellite which
has an uplink on 2.4 GHz and downlink on 10 GHz.
The 1.2 GHz band is also under pressure from commercial interests and I'd
think companies would think twice before developing equipment for a band
where permission might be withdrawn in the future.
3) Controller... This is based on the IC-705 radio and it's likely to use a
lot of the same components and parts. This not only reduces costs in terms
of parts but a lot of the work in terms of software and user interface is already done.
4) Cost?? On the subject of cost, I suspect this unit is certainly going to
be expensive. ICOM gear isn't noted for being cheap anyway and I'd expect
this unit will cost about the same as an IC-705 i.e. €1500 / $1500. We'll have to wait and see.
No matter what the price is and what people think, this is very much a
niche product and certainly not a money spinner for ICOM.
5) Modes?? I'm sure the first thing people will think of are modes like FM,
SSB and CW. As an ICOM product, I'd be surprised if it didn't support
D-Star. But what about wide band data modes? Will this unit be used for
data links and not just for weak signal work? Could it be part of an
amateur radio microwave data network and not just a basic radio for basic
two way communications?Commercial WiFi antenna

In conclusion: This is a very welcome development by ICOM and it has the potential to introduce a lot of people to the microwave bands. It really is
a big deal to have one of the main amateur radio manufacturers making
equipment for these bands.
There is the potential that if ICOM sell enough of these units then they
might encourage others to make some accessories or other related equipment. These units act as a seed and might encourage a lot more activity on these microwave bands.
While it's likely that most interest is going to be in areas where there is
a high concentration of radio amateurs, it will be interesting to see how
this project develops.
Addendum... The prototype model will be displayed at the Dayton Hamvention
in Ohio, USA from 20th May 2022.Links...
1) ICOM SHF Project website

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