Equipment of the station

At the moment we are using a home made unit of Sergej, UU8JB, as the only one transceiver. This works on the classic radio amateur bands in CW and SSB with an output power of approx. 15 W. For the year 2003 the acquisition of one commercial amateur radio TRX is planned. However, it will be a second-hand device since our register unfortunately doesn't suffice for the acquisition of a new one. We sell CD-ROM with many pictures and informations about the ship at the financing of the station. Who would like to know more to this looks once on the side http://www.df2vd.de.

Link to DF2VD

This is a quite small performance 15 for W high frequency. Even if we have some advantages due to the good irradiation at sea, a power amplifier is quite meaningful anyway. Sergej wants to build such one over the winter 2002/2003 while the ship is in the shipyard for the repair. As a compromise we have attached the power amplifier of the sea radio station at the last sail season. A HF performance of 400 W or more with that was possible. 400 W have been enough because we would have used more power, stations would have heared us, we wouldn't have belonged to answer any more becaude they would be to weak. Space of too many isn't always good either.

To reach the aerials, 2 vertical spotlights, one must already climb a piece. One finds her at the mizzen mast, this is the back mast on the 2nd saling in approximately 25 / 26 m height. These aerials don't have any optimal length for the amateur radio. However, the location, the transmit power and the favourable radiation conditions of the sea surface compensate for this disadvantage adequately. It is not certain whether yet, that once later we can attach aerials of our own. The safety and serviceability of the ship always is at first place.

Furthermore we have a quite old personal computer with only 120 MHz of processor frequency and 1 GB of hard disk. For the use of the demo version of JV-Comm and CWGET, LuxLog as well as for some few further applications the good piece already suffices. Till the duration it is, however, too little. Unfortunately, there is also a lack of a printer. This means QSL cards must be filled out still by hand and the logbook also exists only on the hard disk. We will be able to take remedial action perhaps later but also here.

Meanwhile we have bought a transceiver IC 725 of enterprise Haro Electronics at favourable conditions. After all, a device which also ensures a higher frequency stability next to all 9 short wave ribbons than this was possible till now is with that at our disposal. Sergej has built in addition to these device a PA with an output power of 200 W as is stipulated legally in the Ukraine. Therefore we don't need to share the PA with the ship radio station any more. The newly acquired transceiver will go on board IN Warnemuende on May 17th, 2003 and do his job hopefully from there quite long.