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The “George Batterson 1935 CW QSO Party” – Summary
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The first George Batterson CW QSO Party has concluded and the results are in! The "GB" was introduced to honor George Batterson (W2GB), who along with Bruce Kelley and Linc Cundall formed the Antique Wireless Association (AWA) in 1952.
For those familiar with the AWA's popular '29 Bruce Kelley QSO Party (BK), the GB differs only by the style of transmitters permitted. Transmitter designs as well as the tubes used must have been available in 1935 or earlier and, unlike the BK, the use of crystal-controlled transmitters is not only permitted but encouraged! There are no restrictions on the type of receiver used.
It is anticipated that activity in the GB will continue to grow as more amateurs become aware of it. In spite of terribly poor propagation, the initial GB found 20 participants from both Canada and the USA, making trans-continental contacts on 20m and below. Some of the results and participant's comments are shown below.
One of the most enthusiastic operators was Jake, KC7WXD, near Reno, Nevada. Jake did not let having an output power of just 3 watts spoil his fun!
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Jake, KC7WXD |
A new convert to vintage radio activity, Jake constructed a beautiful Tri-Tet oscillator using an 802 and homebrew plug-in coil forms made on his 3D printer.
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Transmitter details here |
"I had a great time with the inaugural George Batterson 1935 QSO Party! One of the most enjoyable parts of these events is getting to research, plan, and build a vintage transmitter. It's a great opportunity to learn and connect with history. For the GB 1935 event I chose to build a 59 tube powered Tri-Tet transmitter from the 1935 ARRL Handbook. I later switched to the 802 tube (after some minor rewiring) as it was easier on my crystals. For the event, I made QSOs on 80, 40, and 20m. Despite the poor band condx, I had a great time with the new event this year! I got a total of 6 contacts:
80m: WB2AWQ
40m: VE7SL and WB2AWQ
20m: VE7SL, VA7MM, and VE7CNF
I am definitely looking forward to the next event!"
Have a listen to how Jake's 3W on 20m sounded here in VE7 land (the frequency changes are by me tuning the receiver).
Also down near Jake, was Howie, WB2AWQ in Reno, making 5 contacts on 80 / 40 with a MOPA, Hartley and a TNT GB combo. As much as I hunted for Howie, I never managed to catch him on either weekend.
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211B '29 Hartley at 25W - 40m |
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Original 1921 Hartley (80m) with 10s at 25W |
Back in eastern Canada, Lou, VE3AWA held down the fort on 80 and 40, making 11 QSOs with his widely-admired TPTG P-P 210 transmitter as well as a TNT at 10W.
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VE3AWA P-P 210s TPTG |
Although the GB is not presently a 'contest', if it were, W8PU would have to be the top-dog when it came to QSO totals. Gary in Ohio made an impressive 18 contacts, working 90% of the active participants, in spite of the terrible propagation. Gary managed all 3 VE7s on 20m as well as snagging a rare 20m QSO with NE1S!
W8PU's GB arsenal consisted of a MOPA (20W), Hartley (6W), Tri-Tet (10W) and a P-P 59 Jones Oscillator (12W).
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W8PU's P-P 59 Jones |
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W8PU's 20m Hartley uses a 27. It sounds like a Collins! |
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NE1S 160-20m Tri-Tet |
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Larry's beautiful 'Old Buzzard' operating bench |
Tom, WA9CW in WI, had great success with his 80m 6a6 P-P Jones crystal oscillator at 5W out. Working Ohio, Rhode Island, and North Carolina shows that nothing too elaborate is needed to have fun. It seems like the P-P Jones circuit was as popular in the GB as it was back in the 30s!
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WA9CW - 6A6 Jones P-P 80m xtal control |
I think it is time to "create" another TX, one for 20m. It would be great to get some east coast action for the west coast ops."
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WK3A - Jones P-P using a 53 on 80 / 40m |
"I'm attaching my log for the recent George Batterson 1935 QSO Party - with all of one contact. I spent several hours on the air both weekends, and the only contact I managed was with Steve, VE7SL on 20 meters on 4/13. There were plenty of signals on both 20 and 40, but I heard only Steve working the GB.
Honestly, this seems like just one more AWA-style event where contestants are limited to such low power that their signals just don't make it out west to New Mexico and beyond. And limiting transmitters to 1935 or earlier and to 25 watts max of course cuts out rigs using slightly newer 6L6s and 807s which could easily generate at least 5 dB more output.
For me, AWA events generate so few contacts that they really aren't worth the effort. In this GB and the recent JR I made all of one contact each. By contrast, in the last Classic Exchange I logged 49 contacts."Please don't give up on the GB Jim. Conditions were particularly poor out west and hopefully there will be even more activity next time out.
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More details here |
KD8TUR, Dave in OH, made 3 QSOs with his Hartley.
• TX: 1929 TNT Transmitter, Type 10-Y triode, 10W input, 3W RF output, regulated power supply.
• RX: Modern, Yaesu FT-817 portable.
• Peripherals: Power/SWR meter, antenna tuner, band filters, T/R switch, keying interface, straight and electronic keying.
• Antenna: multi-band dipole at 100 feet above ground level.
It was exciting to start off the GB with a QSO on 20m with W8PU at the outset, thank you for the QSO.
Jake, KC7WXD, with his crystal controlled 1935 TriTet was an easy QSO on 20m. Near the end of the first weekend, I squeaked in a 40m QSO with Howie, WB2AWQ, during rapidly declining band conditions.
Locally, QSOs with VE7CNF and VE7SL added to my log on the 160, 80, 40 and 20m bands. VA7MM wrapped up the GB with a total of eleven QSOs of which ten were on the first weekend and one on the second weekend.
Thank you for organizing this first event in memory of George Batterson, W2GB."
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VA7MM's GB setup |
Toby, VE7CNF, also managed 11 contacts on 160 through 20m using his unique MOPA. It's a Colpitt's Oscillator with P-P 45s putting about 4W into a P-P 45s power amplifier. DC input to the amplifier is 25W. It really sounds wonderful on all bands!
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KB0ROB, Harold in MN had 3 QSOs on 80m using his Colpitss MOPA. Although he managed contacts with NC and MD, I never did hear Harold or anyone else on 80 other than locals as conditions here were truly awful.
VE7SL's GB efforts were split into a weekend of crystal control and a weekend of the Hull Hartley. A total of 14 QSOs were made, 9 being on crystal control.The highlight for me was working recent arrival KC7WXD in NV on both 20 and 40, with his newly minted Tri-Tet and working Bruce, WK3A in MD with his little 53 Push Pull Jones on 40m.
For the crystal controlled weekend I used a P-P Jones with 6F6s at about 8W out on 80 and 40m. On 20m I used a Tri-Tet, also with a 6F6, at about 4W out. On weekend two, the Hull Hartley was used on 160-20m.
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P-P Jones used 6F6s |
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Tri-Tet used a single 6F6 on 20m |
Hooked Early
Originally published in 2015, one of my favorite memories.
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courtesy: http://www.arrl.org/ |
I still have a vivid memory of the day I discovered (and bought) my first QST magazine. It was in February, 1959, and I had recently turned 11 years of age.
It seems I was doomed from a very tender age and, as it turned out, there was little hope of recovery.
It was a Friday night and I had gone with my parents, as we did every Friday night following dinner, to the Eaton's department store in downtown Vancouver.
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courtesy: http://www.thespec.com/ |
I recall debating to spend my small allowance on the costlier QST (55 cents) or the cheaper (40 cents) Popular Electronics. I found the technical-looking cover too overpowering, bit-the-bullet, and shelled-out for the QST ... that extra 15 cents forever sealing my fate.
As I sat in the back seat of the car (a '53 Chevy Sedan), waiting for my parents to finish their grocery shopping, I browsed through the QST. In truth, I understood very little but was particularly captivated with the station photographs in Rod Newkirk's "How's DX" column. One photograph in particular has remained in my memory through all these years, that of a young-looking "HS1JN" at the operating position from his exotic location in Thailand, along with Newkirk's equally enchanting description ... powerful stuff for a young mind eager to soak-up all of this new 'radio' stuff.
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courtesy: http://www.arrl.org/ |
A recent internet search turned up snippets of information about the young Naval Researcher, Jamnong Saowanna, now SK, who eventually rose to the rank of Captain in the Thai Navy and was later instrumental in legitimizing amateur radio in Thailand. Apparently, back then, ham radio in Thailand had been unsanctioned and not officially approved by the government. HS1JN's original QSL also shows up, in the collection of K8CX, shown below.
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courtesy: http://hamgallery.com/qsl/ |
Note that it's the same card shown taped to the front panel of HS1JN's homebrew transmitter in 1959. The K8CX card, for a 15m CW QSO with W6FMK in 1969, shows that OM Jamnong was by then running 500 watts along with a Collins KWM-2 ... quite a step up, but not nearly as alluring as his 'homespun 40-watt sender' and Hallicrafters S-40 receiver.
After absorbing as much as I could from my single copy of QST, I began making weekly visits to the downtown library via bus, every Saturday morning, as it was there that I discovered I could peruse their huge bound collection of QST magazines, and borrow the latest issues, just for the asking! As well, they had a stockpile of colorfully-covered Radio Amateur Handbooks that spanned the past two decades ... it couldn't get any better.
It was at this time that I changed my listening interests from the international shortwave broadcasters and began listening to hams on my old General Electric tombstone, particularly on 20m phone on weekend nights, as the band would be open all night long ... monster Cycle 19 had just peaked and propagation was nothing short of amazing.
Between the February QST and the old GE, I never really had a chance.
Catching Up With QSLs
It’s been sometime since I have posted some of my incoming QSLs as I've been waiting arrival of the last one of my 6m winter DX season cards to arrive, which it finally did yesterday!
Unfortunately the peak of Solar Cycle 25 arrived a little ahead of time, peaking in the early fall rather than later or in early winter which is much more favorable for higher F2 MUFs. Nevertheless, some interesting days were to be had if the propagation patterns were followed closely, particularly after a solar event. Hopefully we will see a second peak of the cycle later this fall as most cycles have a double peak … if it comes in this summer, it’s not going to be of much help for 6m fans.
I started the 2024 6m sporadic-E season with a confirmed DXCC total of 110 countries and hoped to add at least one or two new ones via chordal-hop E or via F2 in the fall. My hopes were indeed met but if the cycle had peaked a few weeks later, the fireworks would have been something much more exciting.
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JOHR 1287 kHz on Japan's northern Hokkaido Island |
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Akashvani (ex-All India Radio) 15050 kHz |
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Akashvani continues to be a reliable QSLer |
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NTSC, China's 'WWV', can often be heard with its CW ident around dawn on 5.000 MHz. |
Finding Your Best Crystal Radio ‘DX Diode’ (Part 2)
Readers may recall my summertime blog, "Finding Your Best Crystal Radio ‘DX Diode'". It described a theoretical method I tried in order to see which of several dozen diodes might emerge as the best of the show, or in crystal radio DX circles, the ‘Holy Grail Diode’!
The grading system revolved around the combination of several factors … the diode’s measured forward-voltage (Vf), the weakest signal level detectable from an RF oscillator (whose level could be varied) and the diode's current when detecting a fixed-level signal on 1220 kHz. These values were used to derive a numerical ranking that I called ‘Vdx’, which would hopefully rank the best overall performers!
It’s not unreasonable to think that diodes with a very low forward voltage (Vf) combined with the ability to detect the weakest signal from the signal generator, might likely be the best diodes in the bunch … or are they?
These tests capacitively-coupled the oscillator signal directly into the crystal radio’s antenna tuner, which then coupled them into the detector stage. Using the methodology described in the earlier blog, the 48 diodes under review were narrowed to the ‘top 10’ likeliest best performers.
This time, actual ‘on-the-air’ signals would be used to compare diodes against each other in real time. A closer look at the top candidate diodes was made over several days and evenings as the days grew shorter and darkness arrived earlier.
My DX set has provisions for comparing a current good performing diode against two others.
In this arrangement, shown above, the current ‘best diode’ is mounted in the center switch position so that an immediate comparison can be made between it and the other two in real time.
A weak groundwave signal from Seattle, with a slow fade rate, was used initially but nighttime skywave signals were found to be most useful. Several hours were spent tuned to 2800 watt CKBI in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan on 900 kHz. Their C&W format meant that most of the time they were broadcasting music, which I've found is always much easier for the ear-brain to detect in the noise floor than are spoken voices.
So what did I eventually find out? My original ranking methodology concluded that the best overall diode of the many dozens was the Sylvania JHS 1N3655A, a 40-year old microwave mixer diode.
The observations of the CKBI signal strength were by ear-brain only and no actual levels were measured since signal levels were usually too weak to measure on my detector's micro-ammeter. Measurements may yet be undertaken using an oscilloscope or by using an audio amplified output to compare signal voltage levels.
So … would my diode-ranking order and testing methodology hold up when actually using the diodes in a hi-end, low-loss crystal radio system when connected to an actual antenna?
I started ‘A-B’ comparisons against what has always been a reliably good performer mounted in the center position, a fairly modern twenty-year old 1N34A.
As noted above, the #1 rated diode (with my Vdx rating of 66) was the 1N3655A microwave mixer diode. Although it did not produce the loudest signal (diode current) compared with others, it had an exceptionally low Vf of .18V and its weak-signal detection level was good although not the lowest. Like a few others, it detected the nearby UHF data stream ‘clicks’ from a nearby Wi-Fi modem, often a characteristic of a good performer.
I was somewhat aghast when my #1 ranked 1N3655A was immediately outperformed by the modern 1N34A, ranked 44 out of 49! The 1N3655A was not just poorer than the 1N34A, it was very poor by comparison ... hmm ...was my selection process really that far off?
Diode #2, also with a low Vf of .197V was also poorer than the 1N34A, whose Vf was an unimpressive .375V.
And so it went for the most part, with my top 10 choices! Most of them were equal to the 1N34A but nothing stood out while listening to real on-air signals until I got to the three ‘curiosity’ diodes, originally tested at the very end.
Surprisingly, the D18 produced a noticeably better signal than the 1N34A and was moved into the #1 position.
These last two were both made in the 50s … was there something different about the way they were made? Was the germanium different back then? How did they perform so well when their Vf was so high? It almost appears the opposite of what might be expected.
Seeing the above behaviour, I couldn’t pass up the chance of testing the 48th ranking diode, a beautiful black NOS Rogers 1N34A, probably another product of the 50s. Its Vf was truly discouraging, at .401V and the reason I had mostly ignored it in the past. It was put up against the D18.
I was astounded to find that not only was the vintage black beauty better than the D18, it was a LOT better! The ‘just barely’ detectable CKBI signal popped out of the noise to become one that was easy to hear! I had to rock the ‘A-B’ switch back and forth many times just to enjoy the big difference!
Out of curiosity, I tested the last-ranking diode (Vf of .444V) and it truly was deaf, with not even a sound emitting from the phones … so at least I got that one right!
What is obvious now is that the method I used to rank the diodes was flawed. These results have brought up several questions for me that I had never considered previously … far more questions than answers!
Takeaways? I've found that there's a lot about diodes that I don't know and need to learn about! I’ve learned that a diode’s Vf value is not an indicator of its weak-signal detection capability in crystal detectors (in spite of what some You Tube videos might try to convey). I've learned that when detecting a weak signal, the diode is operating below its Vf value which helps explain why a high Vf value does not mean a poor detector or a low Vf does not mean a good detector. Low Vf values were a well considered number when ranking my diodes … an apparent mistake.
Further to this, the diode is operating within its ‘square law region’ when detecting the weak signals we seek. When operating in this region, it means that increasing the input signal by 5 times (for example) will increase its output by 25 times. Similarly, decreasing the input level by 5 times will result in a 25 times drop in output. The importance of reducing as many losses as possible in the antenna tuning stage along with the detector stage itself can certainly pay fast dividends when it comes to weak signal detection. Conversely, ignoring system losses will very quickly reduce performance.
Also ignored in my system was diode capacitance, diode operating impedance, reverse leakage and no doubt some characteristics I'm not even aware of. Diodes with lower C will have fewer losses than those that are higher. I wonder how much of a factor was this in my overall unexpected results! The diode’s internal resistance when detecting a signal is a factor that I did not consider. The method of determining this value is complex but it may explain some of what I noticed.
There appears to be something different with older diodes that makes them great performers … larger junction? Germanium quality?
A final take away ... with enough knowledge, one can measure every tiny detail about a given diode without actually using it. No doubt a ranking list of diodes going through such rigorous scrutiny could zero-in on the top few. What's the BEST diode to use? It's probably the one that seems to work the best in your particular detector, until a better one comes along ... but it appears you can't go too far wrong with a very good 1N34A ... even in 2024!
The George Batterson 1935 QSO Party
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53 / 6A6 |
YADD – Maritime HF Activity Revisited
Before the HF maritime CW bands were closed back in the ‘90s, I spent many enjoyable hours listening to ships and maritime coastal stations all over the world while they exchanged CW messages or sent position and weather reports using the old AMVER system. It was a constant delight to hear various ship Radio Officers (ROs) using their keyers, bugs and good old hand keys to demonstrate their unique fists to the world, especially when using the latter two! Fists ranged from simply superb to downright awful, making one wonder if the ship’s oiler had been enlisted to send the nightly traffic! It was particularly interesting to plot their positions, as many of the vessels eventually showed up in the Port of Vancouver, an easy drive to where I was living at the time.
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At 41,000 tons and 225m, she's a big ship, earlier named the ICARUS |
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The AGIOS GEORGIOS S nears Kakinada, India, in the Bay of Bengal |
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MOL CHARISMA - 21,000 tons and 316m long |
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Registered in the Bahamas, the MOL CHARISMA was in the Aleutian Island chain near Dutch Harbor, Alaska, bound for Prince Rupert, BC. |
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The ORIENT CHALLENGE - 183m |
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The 'lakers' were very reliable QSLers |
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Laker STEWART J CORT |
One of the group members, GM4SLV, has set up a wonderful website called YaDDNet devoted to collecting and posting listener's decoded loggings in realtime. One of YADD's features is the ability to automatically upload decoded signals, similar to PSK Reporter. It's an easy 30-second job to configure YADD to upload your spots to the net. His site also contains the latest MMSI look-up file used by YADD which is updated in real time from the latest log postings ... presently at 72,626 vessels!
Clicking on any of the uploaded ship names displayed in the real time YaDDNet log, automatically takes you to an online vessel-tracking site which usually has a picture of the ship along with all of its information, including its present position.
If you set up YADD to do some listening, I'd strongly urge you to also set it up so that your decoded spots are uploaded to the YaDDNet page in real time. Your latest logs will also keep the MMSI database up-to-date for all YADD users worldwide.
Finding Your Best Crystal Radio ‘DX Diode’
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SMS7630 Schottky Vf = .147V Id = 9uA Vdx = 61 |
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'95481' Vf = .246V Id = 13uA Vdx = 53 |
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Vf = .252V Id = 12 Vdx = 48 |
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Vf = .335V Id = 13uA Vdx = 39 |