CAT17 - what do you want?

Announcements and Discussion about the BATC's Flagship Event for 2017
g8gtz
Posts: 1733
Joined: Wed Apr 07, 2010 6:26 pm

CAT17 - what do you want?

Post by g8gtz » Fri Jun 30, 2017 6:51 pm

We are starting to put the agenda together for CAT17 so interested in what you want to do / see / hear over the weekend.

Ideas we collected so far include the following - doesn't mean they will be included in the final plan and the starred items need input ideas / experiences from you, the members.

Hands on SMD workshop - bring that surface mount project along and Kevin will show you how to do it.
An overview of optical communications
Portsdown update / test area / clinic and construction competition
How to receive HamTV in your garden HAMTV
Eshailsat update
The importance of filters and what happens when you run your Power Amplifier at the "stated output" on DATV! **
Cheap but not so simple test equipment - what's available from China **
How to get going on 5.6 GHz ATV - the easiest and cheapest new band for ATV! **
How to get going on 10GHz DATV - bit more difficult than 5.6 but still great fun. **

There will be a demo area, so bring your latest project to show everyone plus a member's bring and buy area.

Comments?

73 Noel

g0mjw
Posts: 2330
Joined: Sat Sep 20, 2014 9:15 am

Re: CAT17 - what do you want?

Post by g0mjw » Fri Jun 30, 2017 7:03 pm

10m DATV? And why not?

g8gtz
Posts: 1733
Joined: Wed Apr 07, 2010 6:26 pm

Re: CAT17 - what do you want?

Post by g8gtz » Mon Jul 03, 2017 5:51 pm

Umm - could be a short meeting!

Some ideas on what you want to see would be really useful and if you are prepared to stand up and talk about something - let us know that as well.

73

Noel - G8GTZ

VK5YYY
Posts: 81
Joined: Sun Sep 27, 2015 1:47 am

Re: CAT17 - what do you want?

Post by VK5YYY » Sat Jul 08, 2017 9:10 am

Hi Noel,

I noticed in CQ-TV the mobile coverage is bad at your chosen site
Get or borrow a Cel-Fi unit and an external antenna, turns one bar into 5
They are used widely here in outback VK and underground parking etc.
I sell them to mining companies and farmers, it really cheers them up
The latest one on the market called Cel-Fi Go (which I happened to name) not sure you have it in UK yet
Remember they are carrier and band sensitive so select the most widely used carrier and correct band antenna
We had poor coverage at the WIA AGM field day at Hahndorf and it was a disaster
All the internet related displays were a disappointment ..... after all the internet is like oxygen
Then we can watch live, we want to see those TiouneMonitor widgets jumping

Cheers Roger VK5YYY

g0mjw
Posts: 2330
Joined: Sat Sep 20, 2014 9:15 am

Re: CAT17 - what do you want?

Post by g0mjw » Sat Jul 08, 2017 10:41 am

Thought that might be a good idea until I read the marketing around the devices available in the UK

Quote "Provides 100dB of signal gain, 1,000 times stronger than traditional analogue boosters, which provide 60-70 dB of gain"

So its certainly not a passive device but a fairly high power transmitter. Ofcom website indicates they are not legal in the UK https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecom ... -repeaters The seller claims they are legal through being part of mobile network operators. Indoor use only Not ideal for the portable contest site. But, even if it is allowed the 30 watt power consumption and £700 price might be difficult to justify. Even for Finningley.

So how do we solve this affordably? There are two reasons phones don't work on hills, one is lack of signal, the other is too many signals. You can't use a dish to boost the signal with antenna gain as it violates the licensing. However I don't see anything that stops you putting the dongle at the top of the mast, where its likely the signal will be much stronger. E.g. tape mobile phone to mast, use it as a WiFi hotspot. If the problem is too many signals, (Winter Hill is notorious for this) screening helps considerably.

Mike

VK5YYY
Posts: 81
Joined: Sun Sep 27, 2015 1:47 am

Re: CAT17 - what do you want?

Post by VK5YYY » Sat Jul 08, 2017 2:46 pm

Hi Mike

Yes, there are many illegal repeaters, they just amplify the whole spectrum and make a mess, yes 100db does sound scary :o
Nextivity or Cel-Fi is approved in conjunction with the carriers and is very clever, Telstra took 18 months to approve the latest unit in VK
Your UK Cel-Fi website says:
Nextivity offers legal mobile phone signal boosters for 3G, 4G and LTE voice and data for the largest UK mobile networks: O2, Vodafone and EE (this box also covers Three and BT).
I'm not saying you have to buy one, see if you can loan one or hire one, it certainly will cheer up all the people that like the internet ie. all of us
If your that worried Cel-Fi is the devils work, try a mobile net modem to WiFi, but that way it doesn't help phone calls and you have to stump up for everyone's data
Mike do some research on this you will find the cheap units are junk and the Cel-fi units are gold, email Ofcom, they are Ofcom approved
Did you know that the Cel-Fi unit actually have to log on to the mobile carriers network to work MMMM
Therefore the carrier has to approve the device, just like a cell phone, there isn't a SIM card in the unit but the log on to the network is similar

Cheers Roger VK5YYY

g0mjw
Posts: 2330
Joined: Sat Sep 20, 2014 9:15 am

Re: CAT17 - what do you want?

Post by g0mjw » Sat Jul 08, 2017 4:23 pm

Hello Roger,

I am not sure why you are urging me to do research into them as I don't have the problem they aim to solve. Just one point of correction though, we can now make phone calls and send texts through Wi-Fi in the UK. For my carrier its called ThreeInTouch and it certainly helps where coverage is bad but there is good Wi-Fi. I think its pretty standard now on some handsets though maybe not across all operators.

Personally I think its not always a good idea to have a good broadband service in a conference setting. It might cheer them up but then everyone gets on with their email and social media and doesn't pay attention to the speakers. The use case here is not to provide a service to the locals but to stream the lectures, so a 3G/4G dongle in a good location is the less expensive option.

Mike

VK5YYY
Posts: 81
Joined: Sun Sep 27, 2015 1:47 am

Re: CAT17 - what do you want?

Post by VK5YYY » Tue Jul 11, 2017 12:49 pm

Hi Noel

Sorry, about destroying your thread
Mike has streaming under control so I'll relax back in VK and enjoy the show

Getting back on track
Could you ask Charles to update us on Lime SDR progress, by the time CAT17 comes around I'd imagine there will be major progress
Bevan's DVBS2 broadcast to our local repeater last week using DATV Express software to Lime was very impressive, much more to come

Also is there any experts that could speak on Spectral Regrowth, Amplifying thoughtfully with digital signals and Predistortion

Cheers Roger VK5YYY

G4EWJ
Posts: 1359
Joined: Wed Feb 17, 2010 10:11 am

Re: CAT17 - what do you want?

Post by G4EWJ » Sun Aug 06, 2017 10:45 pm

Would it be possible to have an antenna testing range? My favourites would be 2.4GHz for ISS and Eshailsat2 antennas and also 10GHz.

Brian

2e0ehh
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2017 12:40 pm

Re: CAT17 - what do you want?

Post by 2e0ehh » Thu Aug 10, 2017 4:23 pm

Good afternoon. My Name is Nigel. I am new to the group. I have a question regarding CAT 17 I have read somewhere that the convention start at 09:30 hrs on saturday. but i read in the forum here that its starting at 13:00hrs. Please advise me on the correct starting time please. Regards

Nigel.73

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