Group:Amateur Radio
The call sign of London Hackspace is M0HSL.
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.
RSGB 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 on the first Saturday, at 14:00.
The radio shack is available to members of the amateur radio club (and stewarded guests) 24 hours a day.
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 and self-study.
- We are currently planning our courses for 2015.
- Foundation Course 7-8 March 2015
- Intermediate Course 3 days across Jan-Feb-March 2015
- We will definitely be doing foundation and intermediate classes/exams and provide structure for self-study for the full licence as well.
- Full Licence exams are only possible on fixed dates. Please post to the list to request availability. More info on the RSGB website
One radio enthusiast's journey through all three licenses is here.
Contact
- Mailing list
- IRC, #lhs-radio on freenode (or via web browser).
- Twitter, @M0HSL
- Member's Callsigns – Hackspace members' callsigns
Projects and Goals for the Club
- Activities Master Spreadsheet via Google Docs - contact another member for edit access
- Hacktenna
- Morse Code
- Mast – 30M Mast Trailer
- Encourage more active licensing of atypical amateur radio enthusiasts (younger demographics, women, minorities)
- Build a complementary bridge between other group efforts
- 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
- More Intermediate (second-level) licensing activities
Informative
- Repeaters that everyone can get to (even if it's RX only).
- Amateur Radio/Getting started. So you've got your Foundation licence and callsign, what now?
Slightly out of date
Useful links
- Transmission1
- HamTests
- Ofcom WTR
- Ofcom Amateur Radio
- ukrepeaters
- RSGB
- Protective Multiple Earthing and the Radio Amateur
Rigs
- Useful resource for the Baofeng UV-5R
