Biography

I first became interested in radio in the early 70′s as a child. I often visited my Aunt who would lend me a small short wave radio which I would take to bed. I was fascinated listening to am broadcast stations from around the world. Inquisitive as I was, I wonderd how this radio worked and soon had it apart which of course didn’t help me to understand at all! Eventually the little radio was given to me to keep so I visited the library to borrow some radio books. I went on to build my first crystal set and before I knew it the 27mhz explosion was upon us! I was totally caught up in 27mhz as a teenager but I also inherited an old valve shortwave receiver. The transition to SWL was pretty easy for me!

I stuck with 27mhz until its demise around 1985, by which time it had descended into chaos, not for me I thought. I decided to take the RAE. Then life happened, job, marriage, kids, mortgages etc etc. I had remained a SWL and even enrolled on a couple of RAE courses, but by the time I actually followed it through, 20 years had passed and the RAE had been replaced with the three tier system we know today in the UK.

I joined my local radio club, North Wales Radio Society where not only did I meet some wonderful people who have become great friends, but I was able to progress through my amateur exams and now hold the call, MW0RKB. Today I am secretary of NWRS which is a strong club of almost 30 years standing.

My radio interests are many and varied, I enjoy DX right through the spectrum and contesting at VHF and above. I am an avid user of Digimodes and having held an NOV for Echolink for some time, I moved on to digital and now host MB6MB, a 2 meter D-Star Gateway in my shack. In 2007 I added ‘HiFi SSB’ to my station, more detail of this on my Shack page. In 2010 I acquired an RF Systems PM-SDR software defined radio, this is my second SDR receiver and I am totally hooked! I have interfaced this SDR to my FT1000 Mk V Field and use it exclusively for receive at HF, again more information on my Shack page.

I am fascinated by tube technology, tuning through the bands using valve radios takes me back to my youth especially when I stumble across tube driven AM! Working in the motor industry most of my adult life, I learned my way around a paint spray gun at a young age which helps enormously when restoring old radios. VIVA la boat anchor !!

I enjoy the social side of radio both on and off air. I particularly enjoy field days and trips to rallies including our own Hamfest, Rosmalen in Holland, Friedrichshafen in Germany and of course the Llandudno Rally, the greatest of them all !!

Equipment

MW0RKB Station



Transceivers

Yaesu FT-1000MP MK-V Field Fully Filtered HF Transceiver (Main HF Transmit)
Yaesu FT-736R 6m/2m/70cm/23cm (ctcss & 600hz CW) Transceiver
Icom IC-756 PRO II HF Transceiver (Digimodes)
Heathkit SB102 HF Transceiver
Yaesu FT-101E HF Transceiver
Icom IC-2820H 2m/70cm/D-Star Transceiver
Philips FM-1200 4m Transceiver
Yaesu FT-2600M 2m Transceiver
Kelvin Hughes Husun Compact Marine Transceiver
Wouxun KG-UVD1P 2m/70cm Transceiver
Wouxun KG-699E 4m Transceiver
Tait 2020 2m D-Star Node

Receivers

RF Systems PM-SDR Interfaced to FT-1000 (Main HF Receive)
Yaesu VR-5000 Receiver
Sony ICF-SW77 World Band Receiver
RCA AR-88D Receiver
Comar SLR200N AIS Receiver

Audio Processing

Rode Procaster Dynamic Broadcast Mic
Rode PSA1 Mic Boom
Rode PSM1 Mic Shock Mount
Shure PS-6 Pop Filter
Behringer MIC2200 Microphone Preamp
Behringer DEQ2496 EQ/RTA Mastering Processor
Behringer FBQ3102 Ultragraph Equalizer
DBX 266XL Compressor / Gate
W2IHY iplus Multi-Transceiver Controller

Amplifiers & Tuners

MFJ-989D Versa Tuner V ATU
Linear Amp UK Hunter 1000 HF Linear Valve Amplifier
BNOS L144-25-180 2m S/State Linear Amplifier
BNOS LPM432-1-50 70cm S/State Linear Amplifier
Electronic Developments 70cm Linear Valve Amplifier

Aerials

Butternut HF9V Ground Mounted HF Vertical
Butternut TBR-160S Top Band Resonator
Extensive Buried Copper Radial System
Diamond X510-N Vertical Dual Band Collinear
2 x Diamond X50 Vertical Dual Band Collinears
Sirio CX-4-68 4m Vertical
ZL Special 7el 2m Yagi
Jaybeam 8 over 8 70cm Slot Fed Yagi
Tonna 20623 23el 23cm Yagi
Half Size G5RV
2m Ringo Helical
Metz Manta-6 Marine VHF Vertical
Royal Discone
Diamond NR-770R 2m / 70cm HT Aerial
Moonraker WO/4MCL 4m HT Aerial
7/8 wave 2m Whip
6" Mag Mount
Various Mobile Whips
Watson RH-770 2m / 70cm Aerial

Aerial Hardware

Yaesu G-600 Antenna Rotator
Kenpro GS-065 Thrust Bearing
Barenco BE465Y Rotator / Bearing Brackets
LDG DTS-6 6 Way Antenna Selector
Diamond MX-72N Duplexer
Westflex W103 Used Exclusively

Speakers

Icom SP21 Speaker
Heathkit SB 600 Speaker
Yaesu SP-8 Speaker
RCA MI-8303D Speaker
2 x Mission 731i Loudspeakers

Microphones

Icom SM20 Desk Mic
Yaesu MD-1/C8 Desk MIc
Yaesu UD-844 Desk Mic



Filters

MFJ 784B DSP Filter
Telco XLP-500 Low Pass Filter
MFJ 616 Speech Intelligibility Enhancer

Meters

Diamond SX-600 SWR Meter
Daiwa CN-101L SWR Meter
Daiwa CN-103L SWR Meter
Toyo T-435 Thruline Watt Meter

PSU's

Manson EP-925 30A PSU
Manson EP-907 10A PSU
Zurich DPS-2512M 30A PSU
2 X Maplin XM21X 5A PSUs
Watson W-10AM 10A PSU
Heathkit HP-23B 23A PSU

Test Equipment

Tektronix 2235A 100 Mhz Oscilloscope
MFJ 259B Antenna Analyser
Marconi TF-2950 Radio Test Set
Marconi TF 2700 Universal Bridge
Racal - Dana 9008 Modulation Meter
Fluke 8010A Bench DMM
Thandar TF-200 Frequency Meter
RS 7216A Frequency Counter

PC's

Homebrew AMD Phenom X4 Main Shack PC
2 x iiyama E2202WS 22" LCD Monitors
Homebrew HDSDR Core Duo PC
2 x Dell 1908FP 19" Monitors
Homebrew Linux DM-780 PC
Dell E196FP 19" Monitor
Pegatron Cape7 Nettop (DStar Node) PC
Packard Bell SlimView 517 15" Monitor
IBM Thinkpad T43 Laptop PC

Software & OS's

Windows 7 Ultimate
Windows Vista Ultimate
Windows XP Professional SP3
Ubuntu 12.04
HRD Version 5.11 Beta
DM780 Version 5.11 Beta
HDSDR Version 2.1
PMSDR Version 3.6 rev 2
VSPE Version 0.938 4.846
Omnirig Version 1.13
D-VAP V2.57
D-PRS V3.14b04
NAWinCFG V1.0.13

Misc

XGG Comms Digimode Interface
Sony MDR-V500 Headphones
Trimm Dependable Headphones
2 x Daiwa CS201 Switches
1 x Watson CX-SW3PL Switch
Olympus VN-2000 Digital Voice Recorder
ERA Microreader
PC Interfaces Echolink MKIII Interface
Heathkit HN-31 1KW Dummy Load