Hello again Lynne, this time with the e.
I must hurry as I have work to do, but there is, in
fact, one other alternative for which you and Gordon are already
set to go.
I checked and the UK does allow for the operation of
remote amateur radio stations just like the US does. Basically,
the rules are similar to conventional amateur radio stations in
that they are not accessible to non-licensed people and that
they can be disabled in case of abuse.
Some radio clubs and individuals operate remote stations
and one would expect to help support such a station in return
for operating privileges. That, of course, is up to the station
owners, but the people and organizations who maintain such
resources are usually more than reasonable because they want to
provide a service.
Depending on what kind of throughput the iPhone has,
Gordon might even be able to operate portable from the facility
he is staying in now.
Of course it is not the same as having your own radios and
antennas right there in front of you, but it beats nothing and
definitely beats nothing to do.
Martin
"Mrs. Lynnette Annabel Smith" writes:
> There is one factor here which is an absolute and which is beyond our
> control. Over here in the UK, the majority of town-based homes have a
> front, and sometimes, a back garden. This is the case with our house. We
> don't live in an area where land is a premium; and the logistics of
> mounting an anywhere close to efficient antenna as I've seen them in both
> books and in practical situations without intruding on to our neighbour's
> land would simply not be workable.
>
> Beams are also out of the question Martin because of the physical
> dimensions and the space required to rotate them. So you can be as
> detailed as you wish, but there's no way that we would be prepared to
> invest the time and money required to do the job properly. It's simply
> not workable, end of story I'm afraid. Were it workable, I'd be more than
> happy to let Gordon loose on the HF bands again.
>
> Lynne, (spelled with a trailing letter "e", by the way. ;-)
>
>
> On 4 Apr 2012, at 20:20, Martin McCormick <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> I promise not to go in to tons of details, but radio
> antennas share something in common with musical instruments.
> While the physics of air don't seem to have a lot in common with
> electrons, they do create resonances which are based on the size
> of the paths that the electrons or air molecules follow so low
> frequencies such as a base pipe organ note or a bassoon require
> physically large pipes to make the low notes. piccolo and
> penny whistles are small because they make high notes and the
> airways must be very short.
>
> Radio antennas are governed by the same natural laws
> except that it is not air but electrons that bounce around in
> conductors which behave just like organ pipes only for
> electrons. That means antennas for low frequencies such as HF
> must be physically larger than antennas for VHF 2-meters and UHF
> 70-CM and above.
>
> There are tricks you can play, however, to make
> low-frequency antennas smaller than they normally would be but
> still resonate. Nothing comes for free, though, and the tradeoff
> is efficiency.
>
> The RSGB and ARRL have all kinds of books on how to make
> various types of antennas and there are sections on what are
> called "stealth antennas." These are antennas either disguised
> as something else like a flag pole or are made out of materials
> that are very hard to see such as fine wire.
>
> The fine wire antennas break more often, of course, but
> some are almost invisible.
>
> Stealthy antennas are designed for amateurs who either
> have fussy neighbors or who are forced to live in neighborhoods
> with bans on outdoor antennas.
>
> The books tell you how to build such antennas in a safe
> manner so that you don't expose yourself or your neighbors to
> high-level electromagnetic radiation which may or may not be
> harmful to the body and can sometimes disrupt consumer
> electronics such as music systems, computers, etc.
>
> The wave lengths such as 2-meters, 6-meters, 70
> centameters, etc, describe the distance between the waves as
> they fly out from the antenna like ripples on a pond. In this
> case, they fly at the speed of light.
>
> "Mrs. Lynnette Annabel Smith" writes:
> > Gordon is, like you, a radio amateur. I think he's talked about that
> > before; and it's something which we would like to bring back within his
> > reach but due to problems on the premises the only antenna he currently
> > can have is a 2 meter and 70CM vertical; I don't understand the
> technical
> > bits of that. But an HF antenna is out of the question now as we don't
> > have a great deal of space, and we no longer have cooperative
> neighbours.
>
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