Alan Smith

QTH :   Sri Racha, Chonburi, 20110, Thailand

e-mail g6hpo@qsl.net

G6HPO

My main call sign is G6HPO which is Full Licence (class B) call sign issued  back in 1981. Mainly due to inertia I have never taken the morse test to upgrade to class A..  Now events havel overtaken that, giving access to the HF bands to all without the requirement of a morse test.

ZR/G6HPO

I can also be heard as ZR/G6HPO from time to time in South Africa.  Periodically my work takes me to Cape Town and Johannesburg where I am able operate under the under the terms of the CEPT agreement.  I am a member of the Santon Radio Club located just north of Johannesburg and can be heard on the club repeaters at 145.700 MHz. FM, 438.800 MHz. FM.  There is a regular club bulletin on the repeaters at 08:45 on Sunday mornings and visitors are welcome to join in.

Visitors to South Africa may be interested to explore the extensive interlinking of the repeaters extending from TygerBerg, just north of Cape Town, right across the eastern cape to East London.  Here again visitors are welcome to use the network and there is a bulletin broadcast at 08:45 on Sunday mornings.

Details of all the South African radio amateurs can be found on the South African Radio League site.

HS0ZEM

For many years I have lived in Thailand, and now thanks to a reciprocal agreement between the UK and Thailand I am now licensed as HS0ZEM  When I first visited here some 20 years ago the government officials denied that there was anything like amateur radio.  In those days activity was limited to government officials, but gradually the regulations have been relaxed and there is quite an active amateur community.  Visitors wishing to operate in Thailand are strongly recommended to contact the Radio Amateur Society of Thailand before arriving, regarding operation here. Importation of equipment is closely controlled and you will not be able to use your own rig unless it has been approved by the Post and Telegraph Department.  However the RAST can issue guest licenses to short term visitors allowing operation on the club station.  The RAST will also assist longer term visitors in obtaining a license to operate in Thailand.  Please make it clear whether to you hold a full (A) licence or a VHF only (B) licence as this has to be clearly stated on the introductory letter from the society .

For more details of Thailand as a holiday destination visit www.amazing-thailand.com

Equipment

For general use I have an Alinco DJ-G5Y

It is a versatile VHF/UHF FM Dual Bander

Tx: 144.000-147.995/438.000- 449.995 MHz
Rx: 108.000-173.995 AM/FM +  400.000-511.987 & 800.00 - 999.5 MHz FM

Channel Scope
Full duplex between VHF & UHF
CTCSS Tone Squelch
Memory channels VHF 80 + UHF 80
DSQ selective call
20 auto-dialers
2W output or 5W with the optional EBP-36N battery
U x U/V x V
Compact 57 x 139 x 27.5 mm body
Sweep Scan
Cross-band repeater
Direct freq. entry through keypad

I also have a pair of Alinco DJ460 UHF handhelds.  Though of an older generation than the DJ-G5Y they are quite a useful compact transceivers.

TX/RX: 410 - 470Mhz
When modified for the extended band the receive side is adequate, but the power output tends to drop quite sharply outside the normal 430-440 Mhz band

Experimentation

In South Africa, it is permitted to operate a private repeater.  I set up the DJ-G5Y in the car, drawing  power from the car to get the full 5W output with a dual band antenna with a magnetic mount on the roof.  On one side it is tuned to a local amateur VHF repeater and on the other side set to a suitable UHF simplex frequency.  I can then walk some distance from the car carrying one of the DJ460s and still have contact with the VHF repeater via the cross band repeater function of the DJ-G5Y in the car.  In use, I have to allow for the additional time lapse for the two repeaters to switch over, and I use tone CTS to avoid accidental access to the DJ-G5Y from other band users.