Check out the QSL card I received!
31 January 2012 | by 
I received this QSL card in the mail Saturday January 28th. It is autographed by actor Tim Allen. He used to be Tim “the toolman” Taylor on the TV sitcom “Home Improvement,” but now he is Mike Baxter on the new ABC sitcom “Last Man Standing” that airs Tuesdays at 8 PM on ABC. Tim isn’t really a ham, but on the TV show he is and the ARRL was instrumental in helping make it as realistic as possible. He chose the callsign KA0XTT to represent KA0 X Tim Taylor. You can read all about it on the ARRL’s web site at http://bit.ly/A3Aucb.
Last Man Standing also has a Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/KA0XTT If you would like to have one of Tim’s cards for your collection simply mail him one of your QSL cards (NO SASE required) to:
Last Man Standing
4024 Radford Ave.
Bungalow 17
Studio City, CA 91604
QST Going Digital
You’ve probably heard the news by now. Last week the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) announced what many of us hoped would eventually happen. In June 2012, QST will be available in an on-line, digital edition version. Now before anyone panics, QST will still be available in the same print version we all know and love. So in addition to receiving the print version, ARRL members will also have access to the digital version at no additional cost.
This news truly excites me. There are a few monthly publications which I subscribe to in digital only format. Some of these publications are only available this way. However, many other magazines (and some supporting our very own hobby) have recently introduced digital content. CQ Magazine is an example of this. However, even if you subscribe to the paper version you must still pay extra for the digital version.
Our hobby is unique (so are those individuals who participate in it) and as I stated, while some of the monthly publications I subscribe to are just fine in digital only versions, I must admit that for now I still want QST, CQ, RadCom and Practical Wireless delivered to my mailbox in paper form. However, if you think I won’t use the new QST digital version, you would be wrong.
The ARRL is going to do more with the digital version of QST than simply scan the magazine in and create a .PDF. There will be content available via the digital version (and methods of delivering that content) which won’t be available in the paper version of QST. Want a magazine article to jump out at you? With the additional features available in digital content delivery, readers will have access to click links from articles, watch video, listen to audio, print, share and search across the entire edition. All of this included in the regular cost of membership.
Again, while other magazine publishers charge (and charge full price as well) for both a print and digital version. I proudly take my hat off to the ARRL for doing this the right way and making both editions available. This is another example of why I’m proud to not only be an ARRL Member, but a Life Member.
Until next time…
73 de KDØBIK
Jerry Taylor, KD0BIK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Colorado, USA. He is the host of the Practical Amateur Radio Podcast. Contact him at [email protected].
Decisions, decisions …..
A little back story is in order to set the scene.
DX in the Neighborhood
About 3 days ago when I was stretching the legs of the new long doublet for the first time, I gave it a whirl on CW. After working several European stations on 30 meters, I changed band modules in the Scout to work on 20 meters. I was planning on calling CQ to see what I could turn up, but as I swept the dial on 20 meters I ran into a pile-up on HK0NA. After two failed sends of my call I had a Duh moment when I realized I hadn’t re-tuned the Matchbox for the new band. After a quick tune I got him on the next call with my 40 W from the 555. Nothing spectacular for sure. They are less than 500 miles from my QTH. But, satisfying just the same.
Today I spent a lot of time with the Scout setting it up for digital mode work by making a mic cable with an audio jack and lines for a PTT switch. I went old school and fabricated a foot pedal whose metal parts I wired directly. Works FB! I managed a few PSK31 QSOs, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia (a new one), etc. It was getting dark, so I headed back to the house.
Back to DXing. I’d been reading on others’ blogs about VP6T, Pitcairn Island, so I brought up DX Summit, saw that they were on 15 meters where I have two antennas, so I wanted to see if I could snag them, too. I haven’t seriously chased rare DX for a while, but I started to feel a familiar itch. Even though they are only about 4,000 miles from me, I thought I would even up things a bit by working them from the Ten Tec Argonaut V with 20W out.
This was work. The pile-up was big and spread over 3-4 KHz. Try as I might I couldn’t figure out where he was listening. I tried various offsets for VFO B and switched between the vertical and the quad. I must have been dozing off after sending my call for the umpteenth time because it startled me a bit to hear the last few characters of my call jump out at me, followed by ‘?’. Somehow I didn’t flub it and keyed out my call again, 599, etc. and that was that. They are in the log on that band. I need to do this more often! By the way, it was the quad that they worked.
Who broke it this time?
I have just finished the heavy dose of chemo for my fourth cycle so for the last week and for several more days it will be more than usually difficult to concentrate or even get motivated to do anything. Mostly over the last week I have just been tinkering with the Parallax Propeller WSPR and Opera beacon code and running the beacon barefoot on the air.
Stupidity seems to dog my programming efforts as much as my attempts at electronics construction. I wasted a couple of hours trying to understand why the Propeller was not doing what I wanted before eventually realizing that it was doing exactly what I had told it. I was nearly at the point of splashing out on ViewPort, an interactive debugger for Spin code that would allow me to step through my programs a line at a time. That would quickly have revealed the error, but it would have been a high price to pay to show me what was staring me in the face.
I had been pleasantly surprised at the reach of my barefoot 20mW Propeller beacon, receiving a number of reports of both Opera and WSPR signals. Today I modified my beacon program to transmit both a WSPR and then an Opera beacon, but frustratingly I have not received a single report of either of them on 30 metres. Have I broken the program again or did someone break the ionosphere? I really need to get motivated enough to build a small PA and boost the signal to at least the hundred milliwatt level.
Keeping the streak going,
I got two quick QSOs in the books tonight as January 29th turned to January 30th UTC time. Both were on 30 Meters. The local QRN was non-existant and since today is the layoff weekend between AFC and NFC Championship football and the Super Bowl, I am not all that surprised. This is why I’m leaning towards the culprit being a Plasma TV.
Anyway, the QSOs were with PJ2/AA9A and KI9E. I used the Butternut HF9V in both cases. In any event, I wanted to get this out of the way quickly tonight, not because I don’t like being on the radio (you all know THAT’s not true!). My son Joey asked me to watch a movie with him that starts in a half hour.
I can’t deny a request like that!
Hey, if you get a chance, hop on over to John AE5X’s blog. He has a link up to pictures from the HK0NA DXpedition. Wow! This is definitely not a “lap of luxury” DXpedtion!
‘Nite all, I’m headed upstairs for a little Phineas and Ferb!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!
A good day on the radio
‘Twas a fine day on the radio. Lots of activity and lots of stations to be worked. I added a few new ones, new ones as far as working for Diamond DXCC goes, that is.
C6AKQ – Bob N4BP in the Bahamas
UT7UJ – Dmitry in the Ukraine
OE5PGL – Peter in Austria
CT8/HB9CQL – Rudolf in the Azores
and ………
HK0NA on 17 Meters this afternoon.
Yay! Finally managed to break through the pile up. The team has been there a few weeks now and the pileups don’t seem to be diminishing at all, they’re still in great demand. Today was the loudest I have ever heard them to date and was lucky enough to get them in my log.
I also spent a few minutes this afternoon working on the antenna setup that I hope to use next Saturday for FYBO. I hooked up the Buddistick to the magmount and stuck it on top of the Jeep. Using an antenna analyzer, I found the settings that I need to be at for SWRs of 1.2:1 on both 20 and 40 Meters. I didn’t make any QSOs but did do some listening. I heard Ken WA8REI in QSO and his signal was so loud, I thought my ear drums were going to burst. One of the few times that I actually had to turn the volume control on the PFR3A almost all the way down.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!
- Life’s Too Short by Anthony K3NG
- The One by Jeff KE9V
- A QSL card that was almost a quarter century in coming!! by Mike VE3WDM
- Not quite what I suspected by Larry W2LJ
- 200′ Doublet – The Hook Up by Casey NA7U
- Stupidity and inspiration by Larry W2LJ
- This is a good thing by Larry W2LJ
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