Siting the Set

If you are taking the traditional route to the hobby, the radio room - or shack, in Hamspeak - should be warm, dry and out of direct sunlight as the Manual advises. People also perform well under these conditions, the processors that operate a modern wireless objecting to cold and damp, just as much as we do.

A base station radio will usually mean an outside antenna, so site it where the downlead - a bit of wire or coax used to make the connection between set and aerial - is as short as possible. Not only will this keep the losses down, but that bit of wire is also acting as an antenna to any interference radiating from the house. We now have many clever ways to get a "clean" signal to your radio via low-loss cables, phase-cancellation networks and matching baluns, but more on this later.

PLAY SAFE: All receivers have the correct power connector for the destination country. If making any changes to power cables, seek qualified advice. When replacing the fuse in the plug, the UK standard 13A fuse will offer no protection. A 2-amp fuse brings safety and peace of mind. If the radio is part of a transmitting station, pay special attention to the fuse values suggested in the Book of Words. Radio manufacturers and engineers - especially this one - know what they are doing - this Guide upholds all that is written there on the subject of safety.

During the writers chequered career as an engineer with a once-respected radio engineering company in the Derbyshire Peaks, he would stand back in amazement at the state of the plugs fitted to sets requiring servicing. Loose cord grips, loose or badly oxidised fuses, loose pin screws and cracked casings lead to a rash of reported system "crashes", violent intermittent interference and a range of "it only does it once a month" faults that caused the guys in Service to age three years for every one spent in a normal environment. When we can get them out of therapy, they will lend a little reassurance that receivers and their Owners require the least attention compared to those who transmit.

"Our text today is it is better to receive than to send..."