Amateur Radio/Guidelines

One of the most excellent parts of our club is the shared 24 hour access to the shack - it offers good infrastructure and a variety of opportunities to improve as well.

Anyone that wishes to utilise the shack and the equipment independently must:

• Be a current member of the London Hackspace
• Have had an introduction and training on the equipment and infrastructure by another member of the radio club as well as being familiar with these guidelines
• If transmitting, must be a licensed radio amateur recognised by Ofcom (via direct UK amateur radio licence or reciprocal agreement such as a CEPT-recognised licence)

Operating in the Shack

Before operating in the shack, be confident that:

• Radios, antennas, and appropriate feeders are connected and functioning properly (No horrible SWR, no disconnected antenna components, etc.)
• Make sure that you start of on the lowest power setting to check SWR and to subsequently tune, not doing this can easily break the equipment
• Radio is set to appropriate power outputs (e.g. Foundation up to 10w, Intermediate up to 50w, Full up to 400w)
• You have ensured that your station is not in any danger from dangling cords

While operating:

• Use your own callsign unless explicitly under the physical presence of a full licensee who is also authorised to operate by the licence keeper (currently wyan, M0GXD)
• Enter all your QSOs in the (traditionally paper) logbook with the callsign you're using
• Food/drink is fine, as long as you can ensure that you won't spill it into equipment and dispose of it properly
• Follow general good practice for amateur radio operation (causing un-necessary QRM, swearing on air etc.)

After operating:

• Consider how we might make the shack / infrastructure better - Running low on connectors/cables/etc?
• Tidy up - don't wait for someone else to clean up the disaster zone

Modifying the Shack & Antennas

• Talk over your proposed changes with others via email or IRC - don't act in isolation, often times others can make your idea even better.
• Test and make sure your changes have been an improvement - no shame in reverting back your original change!
• Document your changes - at least tell a couple of other members that you've made changes, even if something breaks - a known bad state is better than an unknown one!

These guidelines all boil down to the fact that we’re working on combined projects and activities together. It’s not a ‘be perfect or die’ stance, it’s ‘be excellent to each other’ - let's keep at it!