Antenna Manufacture Ceases Production

Polar Electronic Industries of Australia, who have designed and manufactured antennas for 41 years have ceased trading, ending the supply of antenna to amatauers in 51 countries. The company specialised in producing none standard antennas outside the usual commercial frequency range. 

Among the Polar products covering 2 MHz to 2.9 GHz were communications antennas, multicouplers, duplexers and accessories. Retirement of its two engineers and owners is given for the closure. Based at Moorabbin in Melbourne’s south, it had extensive engineering and test facilities, including computer-aided radiation measuring equipment. Through research and development it remained an industry leader. 

The directors Ben Czerniewicz and Neville Sleep, were always ready to provide special product for mountain top repeaters, using the heavy duty methods of standard commercial frequency antennas. WIA Repeater & Beacon Coordinator, Peter Mill VK3APO said he had found nothing matches the ruggedness and longevity of Polar antennas, and loss of that source with its excellent customer service has come as a surprise and shock. The decision affects lots of repeater owners throughout Australia and beyond. 

ICOM IC-7610 HF/50MHz SDR Transceiver User Manual Available

Icom has announced availability for download a draft user manual for their upcoming release, IC-7610.

ICOM's soon to be annouced IC-7610

ICOM's soon to be annouced IC-7610

Icom has released the manual early to enable interested customers to provide an introduction to the features, operation and specifications in advance of the device's launch.

However there is no announcement as to the availability of the radio to purchase,

ICOM IC-7610 Manual (16mb) - http://www.icomuk.co.uk/files/icom/PDF/newsFile/IC-7610_ENG_Basic_0.pdf