Buy HAM Radio equipments online tips & tricks

        Indian HAM’s always faced difficulty in getting commercial  radio equipment’s i.e. rig, antennas, antenna analyzers, few of us homebrew these equipment’s but it’s time consuming, require significant efforts and skills. Many HAM’s do want to import and use commercial radio equipment’s but are concerned about legal stuff, hindrance of bureaucratic paperwork without any confirmation, because there is no clear (no nonsense) guidelines from authorities.  

     Many especially young HAM’s buy equipment’s online thru Ebay, amazon Etc or sometimes they bring personally from abroad thru green channel, ignore legal stuff and (knowingly or unknowingly) take risk of confiscation to bring beloved radio equipment’s in shack. 

  

                I’ve purchased some of my equipment’s online by taking risk and I want to share my experience which will help other HAM's to get there equipment’s.

I purchased Yaesu ATAS120A antenna thru ebay online shop radiogearpro for 281$ they shipped it thru regular hongkong post and provided me tracking number. It arrived to my local post office in 15 days and I’d to pay custom duty of 3k to get it delivered. Other purchase was Nagoya MAG-77EL-WH which was purchased from Taiwanese seller palacemuseum he shipped it thru Taiwanese post but due to very low cost (25$)  it was held up by Mumbai customs at foreign post and asked me to produce WPC license for antenna import. I’ve to personally visit foreign post office, met customs commissioner and show him my HAM license and convince him that it’s not commercial import but for personal hobby use. Luckily he was young and helpful he arranged to release my shipment without penalty and I received it within weeks’ time. I’ve also ordered antenna analyzer for 269$ from Greece based ebay seller 2way-radioexpress. I was expecting this to be charged custom duty by customs but it was received without any charges.

 All online shopping was not that straight, Recently I ordered cheap (18$) Chinese uhf Tran receiver thru ebay but it was held up by customs at foreign post office for license, this time also I visited to foreign post office in Fort but unfortunately custom officer was unavailable this time and I’d to talk to post office guy who was unhelpful as informed me about recent notice to custom office from home department to restrict import of radio frequency devices without appropriate NOC  from WPC, I argued with him and showed my HAM license, but he didn’t buzz and insisted on getting WPC NOC. I was helpless as customs commissioner was unavailable for escalation and I’d to go back to my workplace for urgent issue. I gave up and never able to get that shipment due to lack of follow-up from my side (custom officer only available in weekdays with unpredictable time slots & availability) .  
         Update  27 March 2016 -  Last month i received reminder notice from customs for this same radio, so i decided to give another try this time fortunately helpful officer was there who listened to me gone thru my application for release of parcel, verified my HAM license and assured me of releasing my parcel. she was surprised that 1st time someone has responded to custom notice with valid License from WPC. After this visit i received my radio within week. i was required to pay 308 Rs towards import duty.

   International parcels send thru regular/express post can be tracked thru below link http://ipsweb.ptcmysore.gov.in/ipswebtracking/   (check status of my parcel no RF329957459SG  it took almost 10 months due to custom retention )

                Bottom line is its very convenient and mostly cheap to buy HAM equipment’s online from overseas sellers specially small less expensive items (usually costing below 10k INR , but there are some risks where you may have to spend extra time and efforts to get your item delivered but mostly you’ll get it without any issue. Below are few point while purchasing online.

1) I prefer purchase from eBay.com as they provide shipment guarantee (exclude custom retention)

2) when you buy from ebay always check rating of seller, always prefer seller with highest rating

3) In India gifts can be received upto 10k INR without custom or import duty, explore if you can use this facility (some can mark your item as gift)

4) buy from Asian buyer, item price may be expensive than US seller but delivery cost is always much more cheaper than US seller, so it’s always cheaper to by from Asian seller.

5) European delivery cost are also lesser than US

6) if you are buying multiple items and have option/facility to combine shipment DON’T USE IT,  always go for individual shipment, because if one shipment stuck at customs all your packages will get stuck. Strictly avoid

7) Insist on tracking no even if it cost more, you at least know where your item is and use tracking no for coordination with authorities, usually items below 10$ are sent without tracking no it’s frustrating if you don’t received item after wait of 1 month and then can’t figure out where it is     

8) national post services are cheap but slow, private courier services are very expensive but ship very fast and help in case of custom issues, custom authorities also usually pass private courier items quickly.

9) don’t just go in item price shipping cost can impact your final price, so always compare item + shipping price

10) postal shipping orders usually take upto 35 days for shipping so plan accordingly in advance.

That’s all for now

Enjoy shopping

               

CQWPX Contest Experience 2014

                HAM radio Contests are fun and learn. Its great way to improve one’s technical operating skills. Newly licensed HAM who doesn’t have hands on experience on wireless can actively participate in contests and improve radio skills. After receiving my license I was eagerly waiting to actively participate in CQWPX SSB contest which is held on last weekend of March every year. Due to antenna restriction operating from home QTH was out of question. Fortunately my friend Rahul (VU2FXF) invited me to operate in contest from his farm house near pachgani. I left home in morning with my radio, battery & antennas. While on my way I also checked in morning Sahyadri net thru matheran repeater it was nice warm-up before operating on contest. I reached farmhouse @ 12.00 pm and immediately started to raise antenna to operate on 10 Mtr band.

                While participating in contest it’s better to plan out things to be done in right sequence. Especially CQWPX contest is wide open on various ham bands & different power levels unless you have good antenna setup it will be very difficult to make high score. Before operating one should consider space & components available for setting up antenna. In my case I decided from start that I’ll only operate on 10 Mtr band because it’s usually open full day and even at worst it always open for short distance communication in night time.  I’d plan to operate full Saturday till late night and resume Sunday morning.  

                Although farmhouse was in Panchgani a hill station, it was moderately hot day and when you don’t have practice of digging in the farm it’s become exhausting exercise. Still it was worth we were able to dig deep enough to erect long bamboo stick which will hold my copper wire based vertical antenna.  vertical antenna is comparatively easy to build and it can be setup in short time with some efforts   While setting up this simple copper wire based antenna couple of tiring iterations were done (cutting copper wire of antenna & radials) to match SWR to 1.3 it was good exercise for lazy ham like me J it’s difficult to explain that feeling of achievement when you see low SWR number on antenna analyzer after putting so much efforts. 

Snap of my 10 Mtr vertical bamboo antenna

          After successful antenna setup it was only matter of connecting radio to battery and antenna. Before jumping into contest I configured my laptop with N1MM logging software for CQWPX contest and immediately I was on air listening to populous 10 Mtr band.  I started responding to those CQ contest call and exchanging contest number with call-sign and signal report.  This continued till late night. Excitement was peaked after 8 pm when I started to communicate with HAMS from American continent. These long distance contacts from different continents are especially important as they are worth 3 points. After 12 AM band was almost silenced and I went to sleep.  When I started in morning stations from Far East were reachable it was very exciting to communicate with Chinese & Japanese HAM’s. This continued till evening. Finally my battery drained at night and I was forced to shut my radio. At end it was fantastic experience and good score for rookie (HAM with less than 2yr old license) participant with home-brew antenna.       
               Here is my certificate 

 

                I hope next year I’ll do better and hope my experience encourage other HAM’s to participate in contests.

CQWPX SSB 2015

I'm participating in CQWPX SSB 2015 and I'll share my experience here. right now i'm in preparation mode trying to ensure all equipments are in place and ready for contest, below is my checklist for preparation.

1) Place - I've decided to operate from my friends home/farm in village megal situated near palanpur Gujarat, contesting is very overwhelming activity and i need calm ham friendly environment and peace of mind to operate in contest. I've not yet visited this place but hope it will match my expectation.

2) Power Supply - Get my 70 Ah battery fully charged its my primary power supply  it weights 28 Kg and tests my muscle power, today I'm giving it to my battery dealer to get it fully charged, overnight charging required to get it fully charged. i also have 30A SMPS as backup i try to avoid using it due to noise from power line and i usually operate from fields where AC power is not always available.

3) Antenna - I've lots of copper wire which i will be using to make dipole and long-wire antennas using diamond bu50 balun, I'm planning to operate in 10 mtr and possibly 20 & 15 mtr bands in contest. i also have LDG YT100 antenna tuner just in case. apart from this I'll also carry yaesu ATAS-120A autotune antenna along with Chinese make JPC 7 vertical antenna.setting-up antennas can be very time consuming and i don't want to spend too much of my time on setting up of antennas.  I'm gonna use all of these, lets see which one performs better with yaesu FT-857D.

Lets see how all this works out,

PS:    Updated on 1 September 2015

           Dear readers I’ve operated in CQWPX 2015 contest from my friends village home in Gujrat but using simple wire antenna with LDG tuner. i couldnt use JPC because i operated from terrace and didnt found proper place to mount vertical, still i operated in 15 Mtr low power. my thin copper wire antenna was not in proper length it was makeshift arrangement just to be on air still I'm surprised with results here is my certificate. lesson learned use whatever you have to participate in contest you will surly make some contacts 

   

 

Why participate in Contest ?

              

           Dear SWL's and hams, now its just 2 days and 16 Hrs left for CQ WPX SSB 2015 Contest , I like HAM contests, they are fun and learn,  whether you want to Test & calibrate your Hardware (Radio, antennas etc), learn operating skills, make DX contacts, do various experiments, contests gives you excellent opportunity to do all of above,
   Especially CQ WPX contest is very helpful to learn about HF propagation 1st hand, all sort of operators and hams operate in contest, be it state of art expensive commercial transceiver with all whistle and bells or home-brew QRP single band transceiver, similarly 50 year Senior HAM operator with large antenna farm or rookie HAM who got license on contest day, they all operate on air communicate with each others share messages and be merry. for this same reason I urge all SWL's & HAM to participate in CQWPX contest and enjoy event to fullest,  CQ WPX SSB contest is scheduled on weekend's so maximum hams can participate in fun.

             I'm gonna participate in  CQ WPX SSB this year and share my experience on another post. stay tuned and enjoy the show. here are some snaps from my 2014 contest (location is near Panchgani, MH, IN  owned by OM Rahul VU2FXF) showing 20 copper wire dipole  antenna and excellent 10 mtr antenna made by GT communications, thane for OM Sai (VU2SGW).

        

My Amateur Station

           Every HAM has to have a station, in Indian context 'Amateur telegraph station'. there are many rules and regulation for maintaining 'station' which every amateur must abide Check Indian Telegraph Act Amateur Service (Annexure I  Condition for the conduct of amateur telegraph station) to comply . Amateur station is a place where most of hamming activity is usually performed,  At core stations have receiver & transmitter, nowadays transceivers are used having both as single unit, power supply and antenna system. all these and some additional components (Antenna Tuner, Amplifier, Computer Etc)  are usually placed in area which in HAM lingo called 'Shack'.
            Shack is like heaven for HAM a place where he spend his quality time and be merry with friends all over world & beyond :).   shack is weak point for any ham be it small/big, full of equipments or near empty, be it start of the art high end transceiver will all bells and whistles or cheap home brewed experimental device. a shack is 'Shack' its nothing less than 'Kingdom' where HAM is the king
            Today I'll be giving you information about the equipments i've in my 'Shack'

Here's the picture of my treasure

                    I also have Diamond BU-50 Balun and copper wire for home-brew dipole antenna not shown in picture, You can see all of my equipments are suitable for mobile/portable use,  this is required because i live in area hostile to HAM's where no antenna's allowed on terrace not even DTH, worst part is i stay on 1st floor in 7 story building surrounded with 14 building's. So when i use temporary wire antenna on terrace feed-line losses are high even with LMR 400 cable and SWR goes haywire that's reason you see Antenna tuner.

Let me give you walk-thru of my setup

 Radio -  Yaesu FT857D
          Reason for choosing 857 was obvious, i was looking for small, portable, robust, all-bander rig with limited budget which i can use for contests, expeditions, hilltops, mobile, field day Etc. this rig is excellent value for money, best part is its all-bander you don't need anything else for VHF/UHF. verious add-on are available based on your budget and future requirements and its backed by respected brand name Yaesu. if you are new ham with limited budget and want to operate on all bands/modes go for 857. its not just a rig but ecosystem. overall its worth buy.

Antennas -  JPC 7/ Yaesu ATAS-120A / Long wire / MFJ 1729
         Performance of JPC 7 antenna is OK I'll give it 3.5/5 It's easy to carry and take just minutes to setup. I also have ATAS 120A it's great auto tune antenna that needs solid grounding to work magic. if perfectly works with 857 with auto tune feature and drawing power directly from FT-857D.  it can also be used in mobile and temporary setup. it can be mounted on UHF trunk mount. On fields & contests i also use wire dipoles with diamond BU-50 balun. MFJ1729 is budget VHF/UHF antenna performance is good and its very light weight.  

Antenna Tuner - LDG YT-100
           It's worth buy if you want automatic antenna tuner 100% compatible with 857. unlike other auto-tuners it don't require external power supply it draws power from 857 thru control cable. performance is good after using it for more than 1 year i can safely say it wont let you down.

Antenna Analyser - RigExpert AA-30
           AA-30 is good antenna analyzer, before making antenna analyzer buying decision,  please read Antenna analyzer reviews and then make purchase.

Battery - Exide 70Ah
             this is very heavy car battery (28 Kg) but lasts long (used it continually for 24 hrs in contests) it has charge required indicator which show battery health,  i use it even at home QTH. use of battery eliminate noise and its easy to recharge. 


 Apart from above i also have 50ft of LMR 400 cable which is mostly used in field trips Hope all information given here helps you to make purchase decisions for your amateur station. if you think anything is missing pls comment.

ARSI VHF Hilltop contest from Kharghar hills mumbai 2015

For ARSI VHF hilltop contest 2015 i was looking for place which has clear line of sight view towards Mumbai & Thane area where most of ham population is located.

       my first choice was tallest hill  in borivali national park because of its height and centre location, unfortunately it is already occupied by air force radar station and is restricted zone. 2nd choice was dronagiri fort at uran (mountain is visible from gateway of india) i found out from hiker/trekker friends  dronagiri also comes under sensitive area category because of close proximity to ONGC gas terminal and there is permanent 24*7 CRPF guard base on hill top and one needs prior permission to visit fort. finally i explored kharghar hills i never visited this place before and only source of information was internet

on paper its just 40-50 min drive away from my office in airoli  and there is motorable road to kharghar hill top  hill area is approx. 1000+ ft high and as seen from google earth has clear line of sight to Mumbai city, central suburbs, panvel, thane etc. voila life is set for contest what else you need?? i finalised on kharghar hills and sent my request to  contests@… 

but we know life it never that simple, over busy work week i was sparing some time to find out there’s no last minute surprises, there was lack of latest information on kharghar hills on  internet, most of information was about how great view is from kharghar hills in monsoon and how to reach pandavkada waterfalls.  there was some news about restricted road access to vehicles in monsoon due to landslides, drunk reckless driving by kids etc.  i asked about current status of kharghar hill road to panvel hams group on whatsapp but they also didn’t had latest information. i couldn’t do more on busy weekdays. i invited interested hams to join me in contest as i don’t have much experience in VHF contests, no one responded to invitation except Ruzbeh VU2KWI (even ruzbeh couldn’t make on Saturday.)

 Then comes contest day i already had NAGOYA NL-770H antenna and mobile trunk mount fixed to my maruti zen estilo car, i also had battery, Yaesu FT-857D for 10 watt operation.  contest is for 24 Hrs starting from 12 noon on 24th january to 12 noon 25th of january

      i left office post lunch and reached kharghar hill gate at 2.40 pm then come big surprise road has Checkpost with security guards. there is big board highlighting kharghar hill & road is CIDCO property and entry is restricted only to authorised persons. i talked to security guards and explained them my purpose of visit. they clarified they need written permission from CIDCO executive engineer to allow anyone entry to hill road they suggested me to go and visit kharghar CIDCO office and meet mr phadke for entry permission, i went to CIDCO office @ 3 pm Saturday is half day in CIDCO luckily mr phadke was available but he informed me kharghar hill  area charge is now transferred to Ms geeta and she already left for the day. even if she was available written application with valid reason for kharghar hill access usually take 2-3 days to get processed. heartbroken i come back to checkpost to talk back to security guards. after talking for sometime and explaining them situation in CIDCO office one of guard changed his mind and allowed me to go to hill top. surprised i thanked him and drive directly to hill top 5km away from checkpost, reached hilltop by 3.30 pm. parked car on lonely road, take out my rig connected antenna and start giving CQ calls on frequency allocated to me for contest 144.475 MHz i was operating alone on deserted road and worst deserted frequency. by ARSI dedicated frequency were assigned to each of hilltop contest station, all frequency were published on yahoo groups but catch was exact mapping was not revealed for excitement after 30 min operating on 144.475 MHz i lost my patience and switched to 145.500 MHz randomly i also giving CQ calls on matheran repeater which was easily accessible from my handy on 1 watt.  after lots of CQ calls on 144.475 MHz i copied just 1 faint response from VU2IVV (jayesh banatwala) who was operating from Lonavla his signal report was  57 but was unable to copy my signal report. after few more minutes in frustration i started doing what i wanted to avoid msg on whatsapp  i send msg to ruzbeh to let him know i’m on hilltop and whether he can copy my transmission from town side. he responded and went to terrace and was able to copy me clearly on handy using rubber duck antenna, VU2IVV transmitted but i could copy only noise, clock showing 6.15 pm by this time. i was also giving random CQ calls on on Matheran repeater from my 2nd handy  and also on 144.300 MHz for VU2TBV (Pralhad ji) he was expected on frequency after 5.30 pm unfortunately no one responded.  finally i called my mentor VU2NXM (Basappa ji) over phone and requested for signal report, he was out for evening walk and could QSO after 6.30 PM

it was total dark by 6.45 PM in lonely hilly area i got final response from VU2WAG (Shankar) and 59 signal report from his QTH in lodhivali near panvel. i was thirsty with empty water bottle after giving continue CQ calls for nearly 5 hours, i decided to pack up and by 7.15 pm left kharghar hill for way back to home in dahisar, mumbai 50km away .

  Although contest was till 12 pm on 25th January i decided to not operate on 25th due to challenges in entering kharghar hills without proper permission.

From this entire experience i could think of below points for contest

HF contest is comparatively easy to participate in India than VHF contest, this is due to scarcity of active hams,

Need to advertise your participation, place, date & time as much as possible before any indian contest.

Apart from licensing and other restrictions we have very limited options near Mumbai city for hilltop operations. must visit place personally and arrange to get necessary approval before operating.

Need to have excellent knowledge on antenna for any contest

And most importantly positive attitude

73s

de vu3one -shriraj

 

PS- received my contest participation certificate its worth the efforts