Icom UK Blog

Icom UK at the RSGB Amateur Radio Centenary Convention 2013 October 3, 2013

Icom UK Ltd will again be attending the RSGB HF Convention and showcasing its very latest range of Amateur radio and D-STAR equipment.

Icom will be showcasing the recently launched IC-7100 multiband transceiver and the ID-51E D-STAR dualband handheld radio. The RSGB convention takes place at Horwood House near Milton Keynes for three days between 11th to the 13th October 2013 and will include many lectures on subjects such as HF, DX and contesting.

A full range of UK exams will be available over the weekend as well as the chance to get tickets to the world famous RSGB raffle with the chance to win an Icom IC-7200 HF/50MHz Transceiver.

Our team looks forward to meeting you there!

Icom UK Marketing: marketing@icomuk.co.uk

Icom UK Support Special Amateur Radio Station at the Auchengillan International Scouting Jamboree 2013 July 20, 2013

Icom are supplying the Auchengillan International Scouting Jamboree 2013 with an IC-7600 HF/50MHz Transceiver so that the team can operate a special event station between 26 July and 3 August to introduce the scouts to the hobby of Amateur Radio. The team running the Amateur Radio Station are made up from Scout personnel from Scotland and the Netherlands. All are licensed radio amateurs.

The team is building on its operational experiences at other very successful Scout International Amateur Radio events, including the Blair Atholl Jamborette in 2012 when the station GB0BAJ, was operated. The call sign GB1AJ has been secured for use by the radio station during this year’s Jamboree.

So what are the aims of AJ 2013 Radio Scouting? To encourage scouts to:

• Find out about Amateur Radio

• Talk to another Radio station based locally within the Jamboree

• Talk to other Amateur Radio operators around the world and potentially to other Scout Jamboree Amateur Radio stations.

• Learn about the phonetic alphabet and Morse code

• Take part in a Morse code treasure hunt around the Jamboree site

• Other radio related activities, which the team will keep as a surprise

A certificate will be issued to each participant confirming what activities have been achieved The GB1AJ team look forward to meeting Scouts and Guides from many different countries at the Jamboree and exchanging greetings with other Scouts and Guides around the world.

Everyone at Icom UK wishes the volunteers every success in what we feel is an important activity for the hobby of Amateur Radio.

For more details about the Auchengillan Jamboree 2013, please visit:http://www.clydescouts.org.uk/page-aj_2013.html

For new about the participants please visit:http://www.clydescouts.org.uk/sblog-aj_2013-news__amp__updates.html

Icom UK Marketing: marketing@icomuk.co.uk

K2BSA To Be On the Air from 2013 National Scout Jamboree July 17, 2013

Amateur Radio will be a part of the 2013 Boy Scouts of America National Jamboree, July 15-24, when some 40,000 Scouts and leaders are expected at the Summit Bechtel Reserve in Mount Hope, West Virginia. 

K2BSA will be on the air, primarily on SSB and PSK31, as a demonstration station and to offer radio merit badge training and other activities. The West Virginia reservation will become the permanent home of the Jamboree, held every 4 years, so any ham radio installations on the site can remain available for use during future Jamborees.  Icom America, through its sponsorship of Radio Scouting, is providing three repeaters at the Summit to serve the Jamboree and other programs held there, as well as the local community.

Icom also is providing all Amateur Radio transceivers for the Jamboree and is the exclusive Amateur Radio transceiver sponsor for the 2013 event. For additional details on National Scout Jamboree 2013 and Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) 2013, see “Jammin’ and Hammin’ with the Scouts,” by Jim Wilson, K5ND, in the June issue of QST.

Get more Jamboree 2013 information.

D-STAR Repeater Marks Opening of National Radio Centre on the RSGB Centenary Day. July 5, 2013

The National Radio Centre, based in Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire is now fully open to the public and providing a showcase for radio communications technology in the 21st century. The Centre is very much the focal point for the Radio Society of Great Britain’s centenary celebrations…and there is no finer time for the Society to show its commitment to the future of the hobby and the latest digital technologies by the installation of the new UHF GB7BP D-STAR repeater donated by Icom UK.

Graham Coomber, G0NBI, General Manager of the Radio Society of Great Britain said, ‘The National Radio Centre at Bletchley Park was built to showcase 21st century radio technology. D-STAR, being a relatively recent innovation in radio communications, is a very fitting addition and brings with it a new dynamic way of promoting amateur radio to the general public as well as providing a spectrum efficient service to local amateur radio operators’.

He added, ‘The GB7BP D-STAR repeater will 24 hour access to this technology to those amateurs who travel in the area, and will encourage those who have not already experienced D-STAR to have a taste of what Digital communication can achieve. Likewise non radio amateur visitors to the National Radio Centre will have the opportunity to have worldwide communications via the D-STAR UHF internet gateway link demonstrated to them and shown the benefits of long distance communications without ionospheric propagation’.

He went on to say, ‘The GB7BP repeater has been designed as a local community repeater serving the radio amateur population around Milton Keynes and Bletchley, as well as providing D-STAR operators worldwide the opportunity of communicating directly with the prestigious Bletchley Park site. Its secondary purpose is to increase local hand held coverage and giving a DX opportunity to those who find installing HF antennas impossible’.

The D-STAR UHF digital repeater that Icom UK have donated the RSGB comes with Icom ID-RP2C Controller, Procom Bandpass filter, Procom duplexer and case.

Ian Lockyer, Marketing Manager of Icom UK said, ‘we are really pleased to have donated this D-STAR repeater to such a historic and important venue. We wish the Society the very best wishes on their centenary and look forward to being a partner with it for the century to come.’

Icom America Sponsors New HamStudy.org Website to Support Amateur Radio Education in the US July 2, 2013

Icom America has announced a sponsorship for HamStudy.org, a new website that offers free learning tools for existing and potential amateur radio operators in the US. The website is accessible at http://www.hamstudy.org and was created by Richard Bateman (KD7BBC), Michael Stufflebeam (KV9G) and Rich Porter.

HamStudy.org users studying for an amateur radio license exam can choose from three online learning modules for each ham radio class: technician, general or extra.  FCC Commercial Element 1, 3, 5 and 6 study modules are also available. Educational materials include flash cards, question lists and practice tests.

Users who register for a free HamStudy.org account on the site can access personalized study history and submit explanations to amateur radio questions. Website registrants may also choose to log into their account using their Google or Facebook credentials. HamStudy.org is optimized for mobile phones and tablets; additional features will be integrated to the website soon. Facebook users can receive regular site updates and study tips by “liking” HamStudy.org at www.Facebook.com/HamStudy.

D-Star success for Jane Tomlinson Hull 10k May 21, 2013

On Sunday morning, approximately 3,500 runners took to the streets of Hull’s historic city centre for the Jane Tomlinson Hull 10k.

Logistical support to the event was provided by Yorkshire 4×4 Response, using D-Star communications provided by members of the East Yorkshire Emergency Communications Group.

The combination of Icom IC-E92D and GPS microphones allowed vehicles to be tracked during the several handovers, as the runners crossed major roads and took to the pedestrain only areas of the city.

From a communications viewpoint, the exercise proved the value of using UHF in an urban area; with the D-Star signal surviving the multiple reflections from tall buildings obscuring the line-of-sight path, with trouble-free communications throughout the course.