Solar powered operation

I've come to the conclusion that the Icom IC-706 MKIIG isn't a good radio for operation in the field unless you have a decent size solar panel.

I've just spent the last couple of weeks away from home in Armidale, about six hours drive south of here on the New England Tablelands. I was down there for a couple of residential schools at the University of New England where I'm doing a BSc in zoology and had about five days to kill in between chemistry and vertebrate zoology.

My brother Laurie, VK4VCC asked if I wanted to borrow his 706 to use down there. I had been thinking of taking my IC-730 down, but liked the idea of trying out the little 706.

The entire station fitted into a smallish cardboard box. There was the radio, an MP1 antenna, a VSWR meter, coax, an antenna analyser for tuning purposes and a 7.2AH battery.

So on one of my free days I set everything up in the cabin I was staying in and turned the radio on. That's my cabin at the far end.



Now the battery wasn't fully charged, but it hadn't been used much, but within about five minutes of tuning around and just listening the radio started to shut down as the battery voltage was getting too low.

I turned on my laptop and downloaded the manual for the radio and was amazed to find it pulls 1.5A on receive. I'm not sure what current my 730 draws, it doesn't say in the manual, but I'm going to find out.

I might start looking for an FT-817 for when I go away, that or a big solar panel.

IOTA

Although we had plans for Sunday morning, I was going to put in a bit of time in the afternoon (VK4 local time) on the IOTA contest.

I like the idea of IOTA, it tends toward more unusual activations in remote areas. That's something I believe that keeps amateur radio relevant in this day and age. The IOTA contest is also a good opportunity to pick up a few new ones.

As it turned out I never even got around to turning the radio on.

We had our annual general meeting in the morning for the wildlife rescue organisation my wife, Donna, and I are involved with. During the meeting one of the members who is involved with a pelican and seabird rescue organisation got a call to a sick pelican. Needless to say, when the opportunity came up for Donna and I to assist, they didn't have to ask us twice.

So we spent that afternoon catching and assessing, not one pelican, but three. Two of them were released after being treated and the third was taken to Australia Zoo's wildlife hospital for further treatment.



Well, after that I forgot all about the IOTA contest until just before closing time.

Maybe next year.

73 de VK4VSP

IARU contest

The IARU contest is on this coming weekend.

I was going to compete together with my brother Laurie, VK4VCC, at his new QTH. Unfortunately, his QTH isn't finished yet because the builders can't seem to get their act together.

I do have Laurie's FT-950 here that we used in the CQ WPX SSB contest back in March, but I'm doing a first aid course all weekend. If I do get on, it'll be in the evenings and I certainly won't be competing seriously.

Good luck to those of you that are competing this weekend.

73 de VK4VSP

It's official

Finally, something official from Icom.


The IC-7200 should be released in Japan sometime in early August and the price will be 104790 yen as reported recently by JI1ANI, Yukito. Sorry Yukito, I believe you now.

The Icom Japan article is here, with a translated version here.

IC-7200 price

According to JI1ANI, Yukito, on the Digital Ham Life blog, the price for the IC-7200 has been released.

It'll be 104790 yen according to Yukito, that's just under $1000 in the US and just over $1000 in Australia. Unfortunately, Yukito doesn't say where or when that price was announced, or who by. Without citing his source it's really a meaningless statement to make. I could just as easily make a similar claim and it would be all over the internet within a day.

I won't believe the price until I see it from Icom and there hasn't been a lot of news from them so far. One website was advertising it for US$9999.99, but I suspect that was just so they could get it on the website. Perhaps their software didn't allow TBA, who knows.

This advertisement from Icom in the UK has got me thinking. They say " The IC-7200 features military styling, which makes its suitable for all round use."

To me, military styling means it looks military, it doesn't necessarily mean it's rugged, just looks like it is. I could be reading too much into that though, as the brochure seems to suggest that it's built to take a few knocks as well as utilising technology used in marine radios. It's not waterproof, but it won't mind getting a bit damp.

I'm still looking forward to hearing more about the IC-7200, but since I'm going to have a lot more time on my hands soon, I'm starting to get tempted by a K2.

Oops

My previous blog entry about DXpeditions was the first since Ben added the Anorak Files to Planet Ham.

Unfortunately, it shows up under IW3SOX, Elio's name. That's not unfortunate for me, because it means there are two links to my blog instead of one, but it's unfortunate for Elio. So until Ben gets a chance to fix up the error, here's a link to Elio's blog that's been translated into English by Google and the original Italian version.

It's well worth a look as it has some great pictures on it. I was in Italy earlier this year and it's nice to see the Italian countryside again.

73 de VK4VSP

DXpeditions

Looking at NG3K's DXpedition website, it appears there are quite a few DXpeditions coming up in my region soon.

A couple of those are ZS8T, Marion Island and VK9X, Christmas Island, both of which I've blogged about previously. They both have start dates listed, but I'm not sure how accurate they are, since there are no start dates on their own websites. Still, I'll be keeping an eye out (or and ear).

There are also a couple coming up in Vietnam, 3W2BMK and Cambodia, XU7BMK. If you think those callsigns look familiar, that's because they're both the same person, JA8BMK, Toshi. Having visited Vietnam last year for a holiday, I'd love to get it in the log.

It looks like I'll have more time to get on the radio soon too. After twenty four years with my present employer, my job has been outsourced and I'm being made redundant. I finish up on the 2nd of July. I'll be looking hard for another job, but until I get one I'll be making the most of my time at home.

My first project will be to make up a battery pack so I can use the IC-730 in the field.

73 de VK4VSP