Group:Amateur Radio

Amateur Radio
When	First Saturday of the Month, from 14:00
Members
Filbert Futureshape Padski Paul Ridpojken Tgreer Wiggler Wyan

Inside our radio shack

Welcome to the London Hackspace Radio Club, established in 2013.

We're proud to be a part of the London Hackspace: the world's largest co-operative workshop (by membership).

Recently awarded Radio Society of Great Britain National Club of the Year

The call sign of London Hackspace is M0HSL.

The shack's Maidenhead locator is IO91XM.

What is Amateur Radio, Why Do it

It's the original 'nerd' hobby- building and playing with all sorts of communication over the airwaves! For those that are curious, more info available here.

Amateur radio complements many other interest groups in the space by providing a basis for the electronic and communications technologies that allow us to effectively explore and create cool stuff.

Radio Society of Great Britain Club Affiliation

London Hackspace are an RSGB affiliated club. This means we can enter RSGB contests, get news coverage in RadCom and GB2RS easily and probably get some general promotion for the space, generally good things.

Meetings, Events & Radio Shack Availability

Meetings are monthly and normally held on the first Saturday, at 14:00. Often there is a casual meeting is held at nearby Billy's Cafe at 13:00.

The radio shack is available to members of the amateur radio club (and stewarded guests) 24 hours a day. Use of transmission facilities is restricted to licensed UK/CEPT/HAREC amateurs only.

We have created some guidelines for shack operation - please study if you intend to transmit.

Study Courses & Exams

There are three levels of licensing in the United Kingdom: Foundation, Intermediate, and Full. The first licence content (classroom and practicals) is typically taught on a Saturday with the exam on the following Sunday. Intermediate courses usually take a bit longer as it includes more practical coursework (soldering, kit assembly, radio operation) and assessment. The final licence stage is often done through a combination of guided conversations and self-study.

One new radio enthusiast's testimonial of acquiring all three licenses at another club is here.

We have the following courses so far for 2015:

• Foundation Course 7-8 March 2015
• Intermediate Course 3 days across Jan-Feb-March 2015
• Full Licence Self-Study Guidance & Subject-Matter Catch-Ups

Our training team consists of:

• tgreer - examination secretary
• Kraptv - instructor, accredited assessor
• JJ - instructor, accredited assessor
• Wyan - instructor, accredited assessor
• MattP - instructor
• Paul - instructor
• Mentar - invigilator
• Mat Stace - invigilator, practicals assistant
• Ridpojken - practicals assistant, accredited assessor (foundation level)

...and anyone we've forgotten please add yourself or consider volunteering in the future!

Projects and Goals for the Club

• Activities Master Spreadsheet via Google Docs - contact another member for edit access
• Hacktenna
• Morse Code
• Clark Trailer Mast – 30M Clark Trailer Mast
• Clark SCAM-12 Mast – 12M Clark SCAM-12 Mast
• Encourage more active licensing of atypical amateur radio enthusiasts (younger demographics, women, minorities) - it's a multicultural world, after all.
• Build a complementary bridge between other group efforts - encourage other regional radio clubs to link up with other hackspaces
• Antennas - Mount and install a variety of antennas on the shack (Rebuild the Yagi, install the 2 m Diamond antenna, rearrange cables in shack)
• Participate as a club/team in some contests and possibly field activities like SOTA
• Explore more digital HF modes - digital data as well as newer digital modes like FreeDV/Codec2
• More Intermediate (second-level) licensing activities
• Club Wish List - an equipment wish-list for the club - please consider donating / loaning equipment to the space!
• BaofengUV5R-TRRS

Informative

• Repeaters that everyone can get to (even if it's RX only).
• Getting Started. So you've got your Foundation licence and callsign, what now?
• Heavens Above Amateur Radio Satellites passing above the Hackspace

Slightly out of date

• London Hackspace Radio Club

Useful links

There are many places on the web for news about amateur radio, but one of the risks is that a lot of the information is outdated and incorrect. Here are some recommended sites for various bits:

UK Specific Discussion Boards, Exam Prep, and Official Info

• Transmission1 Amateur Radio Web Forum
• HamTests - practice your knowledge with the various tests available
• Ofcom WTR Spectrum Info
• Ofcom Amateur Radio
• UKrepeaters - find UK repeaters in your neighbourhood and elsewhere
• Radio Society of Great Britain - our national association protecting the interests of radio enthusiasts
• RSGB Document Highlight: Protective Multiple Earthing and the Radio Amateur

General News, Info & Discussion

• Hackaday Amateur Radio Highlights
• Reddit /r/amateurradio forum

Rigs

• Useful resource for the Baofeng/Pofung UV-5R and Miklor UV-5R (and derivatives) Documentation

Other Hackspace Radio Clubs

• brmlab - OK1RBM Prague, Czech Republic
• Amateurfunk Clubstation muCCC - DL0MUC Munich Germany
• Vancouver Hackspace Radio Club - Vancouver British Columbia, Canada
• HacDC W3HAC - Washington DC USA
• Hack Manhattan - Manhattan, NY USA
• NYC Resistor - Brooklyn, NY USA
• Dallas Makerspace KD5MS- Dallas TX USA

Contact

Please get in contact with us! We have many forms of communication.

• Mailing list - general inquiries and radio related chatter.
• Internet Relay Chat (IRC), #lhs-radio on chat.freenode.net (or via web browser).
• Twitter, @M0HSL
• Member's Callsigns – Hackspace members' callsigns