GB0SNB QRSS Grabber

We (G7UVW and I) are currently working on a new QRSS grabber installation to replace this less than optimal grabber. This is a long term project.

Click image for a larger version. Click here for image archive. This image updates every 16 minutes.

  

= Info = This QRSS Grabber is located at the The Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker. Located near Ongar in Essex, just outside the M25 motorway on the north-east side of London.



The antenna is a top-band 160 metre doublet on the side of a cellphone tower, configured as an inverted-V. One leg goes off to some trees, the other to an old air-raid siren. From here, home-made 4-inch ladder line runs down the tower to the compound wall where a 4:1 balun is attached. From the balun, heliax takes the feed into the bunker's radio rooms, around 45 metres underground.



The radio is an FT-817ND wrapped up to help stabilise the temperature, although the bunker stays around 7C all year around! A simple audio jack cable connects the FT-817 headphones to the line in on an old AMD Duron 1.4 GHz PC running Ubuntu Linux 10.04 LTS which also runs APRS from the site.



From this computer, rsync is used to synchronise the snapshots across the internet. Sometimes things loose sync and images are lost or corrupt.