Review of Zastone MP 600 VHF base transceiver

Finally decided to purchase a VHF base station and my search ended when I saw Zastone MP 600 in Alibaba.com. Since this model has 10/25/65 Watts output and scrambler function , I decided to opt this. Above all the seller sending this through Singapore post , which is a very speedy service.

Here's the transceiver , connected to one ATX SMPS 500w.  Modified the SMPS to output only 12 volts ( Black and Yellow color wires).

The performance is awesome. Will post more photos and tips on manual programming the radio..

73's
Mukundan VU3KNB

VU2CHN Cochin Amateur Radio Repeater

Hello All,

VU2CHN Cochin repeater is an active repeater for HAM radio enthusiast in and around Ernakulam district. The repeater frequency is 145.600 , -ve shift with enabled digital squelch to avoid local QRM. The digital squelch code is D023N. Set this Transmit squelch and you can trigger the repeater.

Daily evening net (Cochin Metro Evening Net)  is conducted between 8.30 and 8.45 IST. One echo link node is also operational during this time (VU3IPL-L) , but with limited connections.

Do check in during the Net times and welcomes all for rag-chewing :-)

73's
DE VU3KNB

GSM Mobile booster

I had coverage problem after shifting to my new house.  Opted for MNP ( Mobile Number Portability) but no use. Was googling for few options to increase the signal strength and came to know about GSM signal boosters. 

Checked in flipkart , ebay etc. They have few sellers with GSM boosters , but the price is too much :-( 

Finally landed in Aliexpress.com , they have plenty of GSM boosters with somewhat nominal price range. After doing lot of analysis and research , ordered for one GSM booster on April 23 , 2014 paying $36.50

At last wait is over and postman delivered item on May 12th with a customs duty of Rs.260/-.   

The parcel consists of :

1) Repeater device
2) 5V 1 A  , AC to DC Power adapter
3) Internal rubber ducky antenna
4) External stock antenna
5) 10 meter high quality co-axial cable to connect external antenna to the repeater unit

External antenna should be placed outside where we have good coverage , and the co-axial cable should be connected to the repeater. This repeater should be placed in a good location inside the house so as all the mobile phones can catch signal from the internal rubber ducky antenna.


                                     Figure : Showing Indoor antenna and power supply point

                                     Figure : Showing outdoor antenna point                                                                  

                                                      Figure : The complete setup

Figure : External antenna and power supply

Did one round of testing with this temporary setup and the result was amazing. Before switching on the repeater , mobile was showing only 2 signal bars and after the device switched on , mobile started showing full signal bars. 

I will keep on testing this and update in this blog. 

Software Defined Radio ( SDR) Experiments with RTL2832U + R820T based DVB-T dongles.

Experiments so far....

• SDR Using sdrsharp
• ADS-B Reception using ADSB# + Virtual Radar server
• ADS-B reception using Raspberry PI + Virtual Radar Server
• TVSharp to receive analog TV
• & counting... :-)

TECSUN PL 660 - Review 2

Yesterday night tried FM Dxing :-)

Setup - Fully extented telescopic whip antenna , Antenna gain set at DX mode &  TECSUN PL 660 running in battery.

With the above setup , I heard the below FM stations :

1) Kannur - 101.5 Mhz
2) Manjeri - 102.7 Mhz
3) Club FM Thrissur - 104.8 Mhz
4) Best FM Thrissur - 95 Mhz ( Poor reception)
5) Devikulam FM - 101.4

tried Thiruvananthapuram FM 101.9 , but no luck :-(

Now I will try to tune Kodaikanal , Coimbatore etc..

TECSUN PL 660

Got my Tecsun PL  660 yesterday. The package contained 1 earphone , 1 extendable simple wire antenna , 4 rechargeable batteries , power adapter and manual. My disappointment is that the power adpater is not compatible with 220v AC, its with 120v AC. Need to see alternative for this :-(

Ok.. tested it.. awesome performance. Today morning listened to 7050 Khz Belgaum Net in Amateur frequency with nomal whip antenna , extened a sigle step. With this setup I was able to copy the entire Net with 57 to 59 report.  

Detailed review will follow..

My new TECSUN PL 660 Radio

Tecsun PL-660 is a Digital PLL AM/FM/SW/LW/SSB/Air Band Radio receiver. Bought through e-bay and shipped to one of my friend who was in US. He's coming back on next week and this tiny but powerful  Radio will arrive in my hands.

With this tiny monster , I hope that I would be able to scan all the SW band for my favourite Radio DXing and HAM radio listening.  Eagerly waiting ...

Will Update more on the performance side of this tiny radio soon...