GB3LV Repeater off the Air

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GB3LV repeater is off air at the moment and for the foreseeable future.

It is located in Enfield (UK) Civic Centre and maintenance access would be very difficult owing to Covid-19 restrictions.

It may randomly restart but continuity cannot be guaranteed. The IRLP and EchoLink nodes have been disabled.

GB3NL, co-located with GB3LV, remains active at this time on 145.775 MHz.

Finnish Amateur Radio League Marks Centennial This Year

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2021 is the centennial of the Finnish Amateur Radio League (SRAL). The special anniversary call sign OH100SRAL is being used throughout the year. Working at least 100 OH stations during 2021 qualifies the operator for an award.

The SRAL’s OH0W call sign will be on the air from the Aland Islands, January 29 – February 3 for the CQ World Wide 160-Meter Contest (CW) and a few days afterward. Operators will include Niko Halminen, OH2GEK; Martti Laine, OH2BH, and Pertti Simovaara, OH2PM.

SRAL - https://www.sral.fi/english/

New ICom Firmware for IC-705, IC-7300 and IC-9700 Transceivers

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ICom updates are planned to improve the user experience and incorporate communication modes such as FT8.

The firmware is due to be released around the end of January 2021 starting with the IC-705 and followed shortly by versions for the IC-7300 and IC-9700.

Planned updates include

  • One-touch FT8 mode preset

  • Scroll mode automatically keeps the operating signal within the scope range

  • Multi-function dial items have been improved (New for IC-7300 and IC-9700)

  • Compatible with the AH-705 antenna tuner (for IC-705)

  • WLAN (Access point) function is added (for IC-705)

Icom also plans to update the RS-BA1 Ver2, CS-705 and the CS-9700 programming software.

The updates will be available as free downloads from the following web address - http://www.icomjapan.com/support/firmware_driver