Lincoln meal - NOT amateur radio

Last week, we had a few days in Lincoln, UK. 

On the second evening we ate at Wildwood. I had the burger as shown in the photo and a red wine.

On the first night we ate at the famous pie shop. We ate here some years ago.

Lincoln cathedral - NOT amateur radio

We have been back from Lincoln about a day. It was a good break. 

The photo shows the cathedral from Steep Hill. As Keith said in a comment to an earlier post, it is very steep, especially with shopping. If you want to visit the cathedral it is worth the climb.

Lincoln is an interesting place. We have been there several times. We could probably get there and back in day trip on the train.

Lincoln High Street - NOT amateur radio

To those unfamiliar with Lincoln, it is dominated by the cathedral on the hill that is approached by a very steep hill. By steep, I really mean steep. If you have weak heart, you will struggle. 

The photo shows Lincoln High Street before the steep climb starts. The cathedral can be seen and heard from a long way off.

FT817 - a great radio

Because of my poor voice still, I tend to severely restrict the time I spend on speech modes. I can manage about 1 hour or less on SSB or FM as long as don't say too much.  Modes like WSPR , JT65 and JT9-1 suit me better currently. As you know, I much prefer QRP (2-2.5W) and for this the FT817 is ideal. So much so that my Lincoln President Mk II (mint) has virtually been unused. It has not been used for a QSO for almost a year! I may pack the Lincoln away.

Nevada deal on new Lincoln 10m rig

From Steve G1KQH:

Tempting Black Friday:

http://www.nevadaradio.co.uk/amateur-radio/transceivers/mobile-transceivers/president-lincoln-ii

 

73 Steve

http://www.g1kqh.talktalk.net/

Good deal on 10m multi-mode rig

From Steve G1KQH (font or fount of all knowledge) comes news of a very good deal from Nevada:

http://www.nevadaradio.co.uk/amateur-radio/transceivers/mobile-transceivers/president-lincoln-ii

 

73 Steve
http://www.g1kqh.talktalk.net/

10m Lincoln multi-mode rig

My poor health has rather stopped me using my Lincoln President Mk2 rig. It seems to work fine, but I have stuck with my 500mW WSPR beacon as it requires no talking and less effort on my part.

I am pretty sure it will get well used in the coming months though. A few dB extra power will make some difference when using SSB on 10m as the sunspots come "off the boil".

10m SSB with the Lincoln Mk2

This afternoon, I have been trying out the President Lincoln Mk2 (V3) which arrived early today. I have only tried on SSB but it seems to work, with the first SSB QSO being with N8II in West Virginia at about 1430z. He was using 800W and a 5 element beam! It was hearing plenty from Asia, Europe and North/South America. Maximum claimed power from the Lincoln, controlled by a rotary control on the front panel, is 31W  PEP on SSB.

Lincoln Mk2 with the other rigs

I have still to fully get to grips with the menu but it seems pretty intuitive.  There is a choice of display backlight colours, but I find green easiest on the eyes. The other choices are blue and orange. You can alter display brightness and lots of other features - I shall have plenty of time to play.  Blue is not good for my eyes on either the Lincoln Mk2  or the FT817. To my eyes, blue is hard to see, whereas the green is very clear.

My biggest issue was getting the power leads attached to the PSU.  Before my stroke this would have been trivial.  Now it tires me out! I wanted several rigs attached to the PSU at the same time so soldering the plugs on was non-trivial. As you know, speaking too long exhausts me,so I am taking a break.

I am waiting for my 12V battery to charge to test the 40m Pixie. Visually the Pixie build looks fine.

At the moment I am not on WSPR on any band.

Sunspots and 10m

Sunspot number has fallen again to 44 and 10m propagation is "poor". For the first time since way back last year (summer?) I have NOT been on 10m today yet, as I needed the triband antenna for some 40m WSPR tests.

BTW, in the end I have ordered a 10m President Lincoln Mk2 (V3) from Nevada Radio here in the UK. The Pixie (40m) should be finished tomorrow as I had no opportunity yesterday and today. I also need to find my small rechargeable 12v battery and charge it. I suspect 50Hz hum would be a problem on the shack PSU.

President Lincoln Mk2 (V3) - 2 year warranty period

Not only has the price of this 10m transceiver dropped to £199, but John Gordon of Nevada has confirmed that the warranty period on these transceivers is 2 years. I am seriously tempted.

President Lincoln Mk 2 (V3)?

As the price has dropped to £199 (a drop of £50) from Nevada I am now very tempted to buy one of these as 10m is my favourite band of all.  It is just coming up to the Es season too. Power output is ideal (for me) and it does all modes. I owned the original Lincoln President transceiver and it served me well for many years.  It worked all over the place on SSB and even on 10m AM.

This is basically a CB radio with bells and whistles, although as delivered it is 10m amateur band only. It covers CB bands with a simple, illegal in UK, mod.

Anyone any views?

Lincoln President (MK11 v3) down in price

Steve G1KQH has seen thst Nevada has reduced its price for the latest Lincoln President rig for 10m (and CB illegally). It was £249 but now £199, a saving of £50.

See http://www.nevadaradio.co.uk/amateur-radio/transceivers/mobile-transceivers/president-lincoln-ii .

Back from Lincoln

For the last few days we have been on holiday in Lincoln, staying at the Old Palace Hotel (I an highly recommend this) just below the marvelous cathedral. Our room was high up and looked due south and had an excellent take-off.  Sadly I brought no radio gear with me though, so was unable to take advantage of the site.