Hello, my name is Iain and I mainly operate from Sidmouth and Exmouth in Devon, England.
At Sidmouth I operate from the Norman Lockyer Observatory 
360° PANORAMIC OPEN DAYS
SIDMOUTH IARU LOCATOR: IO80JQ**** WAB SY18**** LAT 50°41'16"N (50.69°N) ** LON 03°13'06"W (-3.22°W)
EXMOUTH IARU LOCATOR: IO80HO**** WAB SY08**** LAT 50°37'31"N (50.63°N) ** LON 03°24'16"W (-3.40°W)
I LIVE IN EXMOUTH, DEVON, ENGLAND. THE PO BOX LISTED ABOVE IS MY QSL ADDRESS.
E-MAIL: m1ooo@meteorscan.com ADDITIONAL STATION CALLSIGN M3OOO
INTERESTS: ASTRONOMY / RADIO AMATEUR / POWER BOAT RACING / BUSHWACKING (HILLWALKING) / MARINE SEARCH & RESCUE (Rtd).
My primary hobby is Astronomy and I am a Planetarium, Telescope and Night Sky Presenter at the Norman Lockyer Observatory, Sidmouth, Devon. Please note I have no connection with an amateur radio club which meets at the Observatory - I have different radio interests.
QSL
DIRECT ONLY + UK50p (or UK SAE), $1US, 1 Euro, or 1 International Reply Coupon (IRC). SWL REPORTS APPRECIATED. Your return QSL Card is personalised, individually printed and unique.
Select and request your personalised return QSL card
Combine a visit to the Observatory with three other fascinating local attractions: Beer Quarry Caves, the Donkey Sanctuary and Pecorama, all within 3 miles of the Observatory. Clickable links at bottom of page.
CASHOTA G-246 BELVEDERE CASTLE
QUEEN ELIZABETH II DIAMOND JUBILEE
CASHOTA G-311 WOODBURY HILL FORT
ADDITIONAL RADIO AMATEUR STUFF FURTHER DOWN PAGE
This following section relates to my Astronomy interests
TRANCE UNIVERSE
A newly discovered asteroid (Asteroid 2011 MD), estimated to be between 10 and 50 yards wide, narrowly missed Earth on Monday 27th June 2011 at 13:00 hrs UT – coming within 7.500 miles. The alert was was put out by the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center in Massachusetts after it was spotted on Wednesday 22nd by a robotic telescope in New Mexico that scans the skies for such hazards. Animation Further info
Noting variation in brightness due to tumbling and spinning, see Video of Close Approach
View International Space Station Transit of Sun 1st July 2011 and ISS / SHUTTLE ATLANTIS Transit Tue 19th July 2011
Airplane passing across Orion September 2011
SPACE NEWS
THE MOST IMPORTANT SPACE IMAGE EVER TAKEN
TRAVEL THE UNIVERSE
HOW BIG IS THE UNIVERSE?
17th JULY 2009 – APOLLO LANDING SITES PHOTOGRAPHED
METEOR DETECTION
One of our Radio Astronomy Projects at Norman Lockyer Observatory, Sidmouth is our Meteor Detection Facility where we detect meteor trails and re-entry of man-made Space Junk by reflected radio waves. A spin-off bonus is also the detection of the Moon (EME), International Space Station and other low orbit satellites, and detection of VHF extended propagation. Live Feed. Radar Sounds.
PLANET SPOTTING
JUPITER - seen in the South West from Sunset. Up to 4 of its many moons can be seen. Jupiter is a gorgeous sight through our large telescopes, with its layers of storm clouds and Great Red Spot. Decent 15x or greater binoculars will also give a good view of planet and moons, but without the finer detail. Jupiter is 370 million miles (620 million Km) from Earth and we see it by the reflected light from our Sun which left the Sun 42 minutes previously. It is partnered very close by by a very bright Venus, which you can't possibly miss.
LATEST STUNNING IMAGES FROM THE SOLAR DYNAMICS OBSERVATORY NASA SUN SITE
Latest on the Sun's activity here.
Earth had a last minute close shave on Monday 2nd March 2009 1340 UT when Asteroid 2009 DD45 zipped past just 72,000 km (43,000 miles) away. That's only twice the height of a geostationary communications satellite! The 35-metre-wide (120 ft) space rock is similar in size to the Russian Tunguska impactor of 1908. Details here See UTube Video See Orbit
We’ve all heard of Asteroid 99942 Apophis and its Earth near-miss (or collision) in 2029 or 2036, haven’t we? Follow the latest news on wikipedia and NASA
ISS AND SATELLITE TRACKING
BEAUTIFUL ISS MOVIE - SEE AURORA BOREALIS AND LIGHTNING STRIKES
DOES SPACE HAVE AN ODOUR?
Most people might think that since space is, essentially, a vacuum, it would not have an odour, but according to NASA and its astronauts it does! When the internal airlock door of the International Space Station (ISS) is opened, an odour best described as a “sweet metallic smell, similar to arc welding fumes” is detectable on the astronauts’ suits, helmets, gloves and tools. Similarly, Apollo astronauts reported their Lunar Module cabin smelling mildly of spent gunpowder after a moonwalk, almost certainly the scent of moondust.
Steve Pearce of Omega Ingredients, Ipswich, England, has been commissioned by NASA to recreate the odour of Outer Space in order to add a whiff of realism to their astronaut training sessions. Steve says, “NASA wants to make their training sessions more realistic, so when astronauts are simulating a space walk by floating in a swimming pool, their air supply will smell of Outer Space!”
THE MOON, MOONDUST AND DUCT TAPE ***** As Radio Amateurs, we think of Duct Tape as being the best thing since sliced bread. See what NASA's Astronauts think of it here.
OTHER RADIO AMATEUR STUFF
HOME CLUBS: POLDHU (MARCONI CENTRE) **** WEYMOUTH **** WYKE REGIS
SPECIAL CALLSIGNS OPERATED: GB400IYA GB2MB GB0MBS GB0MPB
My Home Town is Exmouth, Devon, England – a tourist town located on the south coast (English Channel), between Plymouth and Southampton.
EXMOUTH WEBCAM **** AERIAL PHOTO **** GOOGLEVIEW
HF: KENWOOD 450S + ICOM 706MK11G **** Nested ½ wave dipoles **** HOME, /P and /M ARE ATU-FREE ZONES!! **** See article below for details of my favoured antenna.
VHF/UHF: YAESU FT8900 MOBILE + ICOM IC-E90 & KENWOOD TH-D7 HANDIE-TALKIES.
EXMOUTH: MB7IEX-L 145.2375MHz / 107.2Hz (Node 297014) - Connected to Ireland Conference Server (2605)
TORBAY: MB7ITB-L 145.2875MHz / 77Hz (Node 257017)
LOCAL IRLP VIA RF TORBAY: GB3TR (Repeater) 145.650MHz / 94.8Hz (Node 5582)
ANTENNAS Why do Radio Amateurs have radios that display frequency in MHz, talk about Frequency Bands in metres, yet make antenna calculations in feet and inches? To get you out of that habit, maybe I can show you how easy it is to construct an antenna NOT using feet and inches.
MY FAVOURITE HF ANTENNA IS THE HALF WAVE, centre-fed horizontal dipole. For low noise, RF efficiency and sheer simplicity, you can’t beat it! Especially as you can make it for a fiver (£5 / $8US) or less. Just use the following formulae to calculate the length of each dipole leg:
FOR HORIZONTAL: 71 ÷ frequency in MHz = length of each leg in metres.
FOR INVERTED V: 68 ÷ frequency in MHz = length of each leg in metres.
EXAMPLE FOR 3.5MHz (80 METRE) BAND (phone), centre of Band is 3.700MHz
HORIZONTAL: 71 ÷ 3.700MHz = 19.200 metres (rounded) for each leg.
INVERTED V: 68 ÷ 3.700MHz = 18.400 metres (rounded) for each leg.
Your final leg length will vary depending on location, type of ground, height above ground, proximity of buildings, etc., but you’ll be very close with these measurements. TIP: Start off with each leg at 20metres length and shorten to the desired length by simply doubling back and twisting excess wire onto the leg, leaving a small loop where you attach your nylon cord/rope or other non-conducting material for securing the legs to the wall/fence/ground. That way, if you move location, it’s easy to readjust the leg lengths to suit. ** Bish Bosh, Wham Bam Thank You Mam, Job Done. It’s as simple as that! ** AND ALL WITHOUT AN ATU. The centre of the dipole (feedpoint) will typically exhibit between 40 and 70 Ohms impedance, a nice match for your tranceiver’s 50 Ohm output, with a good 200kHz swr bandwidth of 1:1.6 or less.
RULE OF THUMB: The higher the dipole feed point and the higher you get the ends of the legs, the longer the leg length. Conversely, the lower the dipole feed point and the lower the legs (i.e. “inverted V”) means shorter legs. If the feed point (centre of dipole) is freely suspended in mid-air (i.e. no support at the centre), all well and good, but if you suspend the feed point using a metal mast, keep the feed point minimum 100mm (4") away from the mast. Better still, have the top 600mm (2ft) of the supporting mast in non-conductive material such as fibreglass or wood.
In practice, most Amateurs can usually only manage to get the feed point around 9metres (30ft) above ground level. This is fine and will give an average to high angle of radiation. Lower than this, the radiation angle increases, higher than this and the radiation angle is lower. It therefore follows that if you want to get out further, AND have a more efficient antenna, then height above ground is the answer.
I use ordinary electrician’s 7-strand insulated 1.5mm copper cable, which I purchase in a 100metre roll for about £12 ($17US). Don’t worry that the cable is insulated and that you will be doubling back the cable onto the leg to make any final adjustment – the insulation is transparent to the RF energy due to the “skin effect” of the RF, i.e. the electrons run along the surface of the cable, not within the cable, therefore the insulation is ignored by the electrons.
For transmission line I use RG58 coax, and tape 6 turns x 100mm diameter loops of the coax right at the feed point to act as a choke. Use a 1:1 balun if you want – I don’t. And don't be bamboozled into believing advice that using less lossy coax cables such as RG213 and Westflex 103 will significantly improve your signal - they are just not worth the extra expense or hassle. Running 100W at 3.7MHz, with a 25 metre (82ft) length of RG58 84% of your power will get through, compared to 93% with RG213.
If you think that 93 Watts will get you out better than 84 Watts then just listen how well efficient Foundation licensees get out with just 10 Watts! Or Intermediate licensees with 50 Watts. It isn't until your efficiency drops to around 65% that anyone will even HEAR or SEE the difference between your 100 Watts and 65 Watts! Don't even worry about coax until you go higher than 14MHz (that's 20 metre band to those still using pre-WW11 sets). It's all to do with dB and "S" points, but that's yet another can of worms. Don't even go there unless you are a dedicated Ham and really want to know what's going on!
To give them their dues, the Old Boys ARE correct with their formula of 468 ÷ frequency to obtain the length (in feet and inches) of a half wavelength of wire, BUT this is based on the premise that the antenna is horizontal at a minimum height of 30ft (9m). If, as is the case with most installations, the antenna is an inverted "V", the half wavelength length needs to be shortened by 4%. This is where the 468 formula falls down. Using the 468 formula for an inverted "V" on 3.7MHz (80m) Band will result in the half wavelength wire being approx 6ft (1.8m) too long (i.e. each leg 3ft longer than it should be).
WORSE STILL, this is compounded by the Old Timers' advice that "You need 132ft for 80m and 66ft for 40m, Old Man". This advice apertains to the CW portion of the bands centred on 3.550MHz and 7.025MHz, with the antenna horizontal at 30ft. In the majority of inverted "V" installations centred on 3.700MHz and 7.120MHz phone, the lengths should typically be 121ft and 63ft respectively; horrendously, that's 11ft too long for 80m and 3ft too long for 40m. It's no wonder Hams then go out and buy an ATU to compensate for the incorrect antenna length calculated via the 468 formula. And please don't get me going on ATUs - which really should be called an IMU - Impedance Matching Unit, because that's what it does - it matches your antenna's impedance to your rig's 50 ohm impedance; AN ATU DOES NOT TUNE YOUR ANTENNA! To give them credit, that's one of many things that CBers get right - they call an ATU an "Antenna Matcher"!
EXAMPLE FOR 7MHz (40 METRE BAND) (phone), centre of Band is 7.120MHz.
HORIZONTAL: 71 ÷ 7.120MHz = 10.000 metres (rounded) for each leg.
INVERTED V: 68 ÷ 7.120MHz = 9.600 metres (rounded) for each leg.
TIP: Start off each leg at 10.5metres length to give room to play with, doubling back any excess onto the leg.
A FURTHER TRICK: If you want more than one band, “nest” 2 or more dipoles from a single feed point, fanning each band away from the feed point like a "maypole", or by fanning out in the same plane by progressively dropping the legs of each band into a fan-shaped inverted “V”. A single feed of coax is all you'll need back to the shack, and NO ATU will be involved.
Only got a small garden? Read report on successful 1st Trans-Atlantic 3.7MHz (80m) /100W contact using the G7FEK Restricted Space Antenna both sides of the Big Pond.
SILLY THINGS THAT HAMS SAY: Why say CQ80, CQ80 / CQ40, CQ40 etc., when anyone listening KNOWS you are on 80/40 etc? STRANGE.
And why do some Hams refer to themselves as WE, when there is only one of them? Why do they say "the name would be" instead of "my name is"? (Which begs the question what would their name be if it wasn't). Worse still, what do they mean when they say, "My personal name is" - as if a name ISN'T personal. And can't complete an over without saying "QSL?" or giving their callsign, yet again.
So many are totally incapable of having a normal conversation without spoiling it with HI HI, QSL?, QTH, 73, Fine Business Old Man, back she comes to you, further down the log, etc., etc. and, the most irritating of all, non-NATO phonetics. In fact, I can't count the number of times I've felt embarrassed at a Ham station where the public have been present and totally confused (and bemused!) by all the gobbledegook and radioese they hear on air! It's no wonder they perceive (as do our XYLs) our hobby as silly (and outmoded) - especially when they can do exactly the same, using understandable language, via cellphone or on Skype or VOIP without all the hassle and WITHOUT a licence!
And why the continuing confusing habit of referring to the bands in metres - when 99+% of radios display in MHz - then go on to describe the length of their antenna in feet! Check your bandplan info and your BR68 replacement - both have been in MHz for years!
STOP PRESS: Was nastily told off by a G4 for saying "Ten Four" on a repeater today - and this from a man who is always saying "Fine Business, Old Man" !!! Is that pathetic, or what?!! Q.E.D.
PLACES TO VISIT: BEER QUARRY CAVES DONKEY SANCTUARY 
