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I was doing a little housekeeping in the shack this past week and ran across small piece of  anti-static foam with a transistor sticking out of it. It was the transistor from my Tuna Tin II final amplifier's stage ... the actual transistor that I had used to 'Work All States' on 7040KHz using my Tuna Tin back in 2000. Looking at it in my hand brought back a lot of wonderful memories from the fall of that year when I spent so much of my time looking for new states.

Like many others at the time, I was swept up in the second 'Tuna Tin revolution' when the NorCal QRP Club released a very inexpensive kit for the Tuna Tin II. It turned out to be the best $13 I had ever spent on ham radio bits as it brought me so much operating fun while making many new acquaintances in the process.


I recall the afternoon that I completed the kit ... attaching my antenna and calling 'CQ' on 7040 with a hand key plugged into the Tin. My afternoon call brought an immediate response from a station in Oregon who gave me a 579 report! Needless to say I was elated that it's ~360mw had done so well.

Over the next few days I worked a few more stations in the western states even stretching out to northern California and had pretty much decided that most of my QSO's with it would be fairly short range ... until the pre-dawn hours of August 6th when my hand-keyed 'CQ' was answered by NØTU (Steve), in Colorado! We had a nice solid ragchew until we ran out of darkness but the contact had given me re-newed optimism. If I could get a decent signal into Colorado, then perhaps I could actually work further afield ... maybe it was even possible to work all 50 states!

With that, I set myself a goal of trying to work them all. Although my 40m half-sloper was well matched and had proven to be a good performer in the 40m pileups, it only had four buried radials. The first thing I did was to bury another 30 radials around the base of the 48' tower, hoping to lower my ground losses as much as possible. With just one-third of a watt, there was no power to waste.


Back in those days, I was still working and could only get to the Mayne Island QTH on weekends. With the Friday night ferry arriving at around 8PM, by the time the woodstove had been fired-up and dinner taken care of, I very often didn't get to the Tuna Tin until around 11PM. As it turned out, the late hour operation worked out well and it didn't take long for my state total to climb. The toughest states were the New England '1's and as I neared the end, I still needed several. In late November, 40m revealed its magic-side and an early-evening 'CQ' brought replies from three W1's, all at once, each one a new state. Finally, in early December, I worked Wyoming for state number fifty!

The fifty QSL's were duly gathered and  sent to the ARRL for an official "WAS" award. Although there was no special endorsement for the Tuna Tin, other than for 'QRP', there was a nice note about it in the 'ARRL Letter' as well as in QST:


First Tuna Tin 2 WAS claimed: When the Tuna Tin 2 low-power transmitter article appeared in QST in 1976, its author Doug DeMaw, W1CER (later W1FB), envisioned it as a weekend project that could be used for short-range contacts.
Now, a quarter of a century later, a Canadian amateur has claimed the first Tuna Tin 2 Worked All States Award! Steve McDonald, VE7SL, got caught up in "Tuna Tin 2 Mania" and bought one of the popular TT2 kits. After working about 30 states with the little rig, WAS suddenly seemed plausible. McDonald realized his dream several months later when he turned in his cards for WAS. All contacts for the award had been completed while he was running about 400 mW from a Tuna Tin 2. As far as the ARRL awards folks know, this marked the first time WAS was achieved with a Tuna Tin 2--although there is no special endorsement for having done so. "Doug DeMaw knew in his heart that the rig would be useful and popular, but I don't think he ever envisioned that this little transmitter would still be working its QRP magic over 25 years after it first appeared in the pages of QST," said ARRL Lab Supervisor Ed Hare, W1RFI--himself a QRP and TT2 aficionado who has promoted the Tuna Tin 2 Revival and was McDonald's Connecticut contact for WAS. Congratulations to VE7SL on a tremendous operating accomplishment.--Ed Hare, W1RFI

Holding the battle-scarred 2N2222 in the palm of my hand reminded me of just how much excitement can be had with just a few simple parts and the magic of radio.

It seems that our medium-frequency NDB CLE's (Co-ordinated Listening Event) go hand-in-hand with solar disturbances and wacky geomagnetic conditions. If you want to know when the next big geomagnetic upset will be, just check the date of the next CLE!


Along with a half dozen M-flares and auroral-producing 'K' indexes of 5-6, most of North America was blanketed with severe thunderstorm activity, always typical of this time of the year. In spite of the poor conditions, several signals did manage to find their way into my log. Sunday night provided the best conditions, with far less thunderstorm activity and a slight improvement in propagation. Saturday night's lightning map looked like this:

courtesy: http://thunderstorm.vaisala.com/explorer.html

courtesy: http://www.noaa.gov/

Loggings in RED where made on Friday night, GREEN on Saturday night and BLUE on Sunday night.

All stations were heard on the Perseus SDR while using my LF 'inverted-L' resonated at 300KHz.

 LOG:

DD UTC    kHz     Call       mi    Location

--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
22 06:00 240 BVS   48      Burlington, WA, USA
22 10:00 241 YLL   648    Lloydminster Municipal Apt, AB, CAN
22 12:30 242 ZT    223      Port Hardy, BC, CAN
22 10:00 242 XC   342     Cranbrook, BC, CAN
22 10:00 244 TH   1166     Thompson, MB, CAN
23 07:00 245 YZE 1890    Gore Bay, ON, CAN
22 12:00 245 HNS   865    Haines, ALS
24 09:00 245 FS   1311    ROKKY - Sioux Falls, SD, USA
22 10:00 245 CRR    821     Circle Town County Apt, MT, USA
24 05:00 245 CB   1528    Cambridge Bay, NU, CAN
23 12:00 245 AVQ    1298    Marana Regional Apt, AZ, USA
22 09:00 246 ZXJ   517   Y'Taylor' Fort St. John, BC, CAN
22 09:00 248 ZZP   486     Dead Tree - Queen Charlotte Is, BC, CAN
22 09:00 248 QL   471    Lethbridge, AB, CAN
22 09:00 248 QH    811   Watson Lake, YT, CAN
22 09:00 250 FO   1002    Flin Flon Municipal Apt, MB, CAN
22 12:30 250 2J   220    Grand Forks Municipal Apt, BC, CAN
22 09:00 251 YCD   32    Nanaimo, BC, CAN
22 09:00 251 PWD    850    Plentywood, MT, USA
22 12:30 251 OSE   1708    Oscarville - Bethel Apt, ALS
23 11:30 251 AM   1445     PANDE - Amarillo, TX, USA
24 08:00 253 GB    1324    'Garno' Marshall, MN, USA
22 09:00 254 ZYC   441    Calgary, AB, CAN
22 09:00 254 SM   891    Fort Smith, AB, CAN
24 11:30 256 TQK   1322    Scott City Municipal Apt, KS, USA
22 12:30 256 LSO    188    Kelso - Rocky Point - Kelso, WA, USA
22 12:00 256 EB   537    Namao - CFB Edmonton, AB, CAN
22 09:00 257 XE   757     Saskatoon, SK, CAN
24 09:00 257 SAZ    1329    Staples, MN, USA
22 09:00 257 LW    192    Kelowna - Wood Lake, BC, CAN
22 09:00 258 ZSJ   1324    Sandy Lake Apt, ON, CAN
23 08:00 420 FQ    1422   MONTZ - East Chain, MN, USA
24 09:00 428 POH   1433    Pocahontas Municipal Apt, IA, USA
22 12:00 429 BTS   1571    Wood River - Dillingham, ALS
24 09:00 434 SLB   1410    Storm Lake Municipal Apt, IA, USA
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thankfully, by this time next month and into October, quieter nights and better propagation will prevail ... fall often produces the best propagation of the year and has always been my favorite time of the year, outdoors and at the dials.

courtesy: http://qrp-labs.com/ and https://www.google.ca/maps/

Dave, VE3KCL launched his latest balloon, 'S-4', on Friday, August 21st. He timed the launching very well as it was immediately swept-up by high-speed winds and, unlike earlier attempts, shot up to the north and out over the North Atlantic very quickly.

Like earlier flights, 'S-4' also uses a special U3 firmware version on an Arduino Nano board, with a QRP Labs Synthesiser, along with two hydrogen-filled party balloons with HF antennas hung between them. You can read all about Dave's previous flights here and keep up on the balloon's track here.

The balloon is transmitting data regularly on the following schedule:

0:00 CW ID, and 22wpm CW on 30m, 20m and 17m bands
0:01 JT9 on 10,140,450: "#CS#AT" (callsign, altitude)
0:02 JT9 on 10,140,450: "#LT#A0" (latitude, temperature on analogue A0)
0:03 JT9 on 10,140,450: "#LN#A3" (longitude, battery on analogue A3)
0:04 JT9 on 10,140,450: "#M6#GS" (6-char Maidenhead locator, groundspeed)
0:05 JT9 on 14,078,450: "#CS_#M6" (callsign, 6-char Maidenhead locator)
0:06 WSPR on 10,140,250 (standard WSPR transmission)
0:08 WSPR on 10,140,250 with special data telemetry encoding
0:10 22wpm CW on 15m, 10m and 6m bands
0:11 Calibration
0:12 Repeat...

Frequencies to listen on are:

Minute Mode Tag Frequency (Notes)
00:00 CWID. 10.140450 (GPS off)
00:12 CW 05 10.139150
00:27 CW 05 14.100550
00:42 CW 05 18.109150
01:00 JT9 00 10.140450
02:00 JT9 03 10.140450
03:00 JT9 04 10.140450
04:00 JT9 01 10.140450
05:00 JT9 02 14.078450
06:00 WSPR. 10.140250 (normal WSPR)
08:00 WSPR. 10.140250 (encoded WSPR)
09:50 CW 05 21.150150 (GPS on)
10:05 CW 05 28.205150
10:20 CW 05 50.070150
10:35 QRSS. 10.140450 (continuous 'space')
10:55 calibration
12:00 restart the sequence

Let's wish Dave luck and hope that this one makes a successful circumnavigation. It would be the first by a Canadian amateur I believe.

For those of you following this summer's regenerative receiver building adventure, I am pleased to say that all testing has now been completed. My earlier doubts about receiver-performance have now been totally resolved.

I've also published a new page on my website which contains more pictures and details of all phases of the project. The page also has a recording of the 40m CW band, made a few evenings ago, which really best demonstrates how the receiver is working.

In the meantime, much consideration has been given to the next project work ... it will be a return to my earlier lightwave experiments. During the recent visit here by Toby (VE7CNF) and Mark (VA7MM), both expressed interest in building some lightwave equipment (in fact ... 'parts' have been ordered!) to try some direct LOS work as well as to try some QRSS clear-air scatter / cloudbounce work. It's really exciting to see some new interest in this fascinating mode as the field for experimentation in both transmitting and receiving systems is quite vast.

My first task will be to build a 4" optical tube receiver or another boxed Fresnel-lens type for portable operation, here on Mayne Island, to see if I can scatter a signal to the other side of the island and detect it while operating in the field. There are a couple of nearly 600' peaks on Mayne which should provide a good shielding effect for testing ... maybe too good. Time will tell.

courtesy: http://en-ph.topographic-map.com/

'ZSJ-258' Sandy Lake, ON

Yes ... it's CLE time once again! For you low-frequency buffs, another challenge awaits. This month's frequency range covers two sections of the MF band, 240-259.9KHz and 420-439.9KHz. Both regions have plenty of targets for North American and European beacon-hunters.

A list of all of the North American  targets in this range can be found in the RNA database, while targets for European DXers will be found here... specify the frequency range wanted and check 'show all results'.

An excellent target for this CLE is 'ZSJ', the Sandy Lake, Ontario NDB (258KHz) shown here. Its 500W signal and big antenna get out very well ... it has been heard in Europe as well as in Hawaii.

From CLE coordinator Brian Keyte (G3SIA) comes the following reminder:

In spite of the recent high levels of geomagnetic disturbance (or maybe because of it), just as it did last year at this time, the path between North America and Australia has sprung to life once again. Last night saw the reception of  both WH2XND (NI7J), in Phoenix and WG2XXM (K5DNL), near Oklahoma City, by VK2XGJ in New South Wales, Australia. Not to be left out, VK2DDI, also in NSW, copied WG2XXM as well. Some of K5DNL's 630m gear can be seen here.

courtesy: John Langridge (WG2XIQ / KB5NJD)

The American beacons were operating in the WSPR mode, which has become very popular amongst 630m experimenters as well as those just interested in listening-in. WSPR is not a QSO mode but strictly a one-way 'beacon' mode. Although two stations may each spot each other, it is not considered to be a valid two-way QSO. A check of evening  WSPR activity will often reveal dozens of stations actively spotting what they are hearing.

VK2DDI runs the Berry Mountain Grabber, providing other VK and ZL experimenters a handy way of checking their system progress or propagation conditions but during good T-P nights, it can be a good place for U.S. stations to watch for their signals as well.

If you have been doing any WSPR work on HF, you might be surprised at what you can hear down on 630m, even without a dedicated antenna for that band. Surprisingly good results can often be had with a non-resonant antenna as the signal to noise ratio can often be better even though signals may sound weaker. Give it a try and spot what you hear!

If you are interested in learning how to receive WSPR, here is a nice tutorial by ZS6SGM. 

Should you be interested in knowing more about obtaining a Part 5 licence to transmit on 630m, John, KB5NJD / WG2XIQ, has a wonderful 630m resource page here, as well as more details about the recent down-under receptions. While there, be sure to check out his up-to-date 630m links page. He can be contacted via email or you can find him hanging-out most nights on the ON4KST kHz (2000-630m) chat page.

To keep on top of what is happening or who is on-the-air, most LF'ers rely on three sources:

• the RSGB LF Group reflector
• the Lowfer list
• the LWCA Message Board 

Radio amateurs in Canada have had 630m as an amateur band since May of last year but unfortunately are not allowed to contact any of the experimental stations. Hopefully the U.S. will also obtain 630m as a ham band some time soon. In the meantime, a Part 5 licence for any U.S. amateurs would be a good way to be all set when that day eventually comes!

courtesy: www.kcj-cw.com/

I am often brutally reminded of how much influence our Sun has on propagation, both good and bad!

Hoping to enjoy some further contest work and improve my ear-brain-keyboarding skills, I had prepared everything for this Saturday's 24-hour 'KCJ' Contest. The 'Keymen's Club of Japan' is an annual affair that seems to attract a lot of domestic JA activity, with bonus points when they work any DX stations. I checked my N1MM Logger software but it didn't seem to have the contest. I did find it in the program's UDC (User Defined Contests) section but had to download and install a unique 'Sections' file from a Japanese website, as the contest requires the Japanese to exchange their Prefecture abbreviations. I eventually had N1MM working perfectly for the KCJ contest and with the contest starting at 0500 locally, I tuned up everything for the normally excellent 40m path to Japan in the morning and went to bed.

courtesy: http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/

Rising just a few minutes before the contest start, a quick check of 40m indicated that something was not right ... not a JA to be heard, in fact almost no signals to be heard! Checking the web for more info, I quickly discovered a 'K' index of '7', indicative of very disturbed conditions. Along with a strong southerly pointed Bz, it seemed that we were in the middle of some strong auroral conditions ... back to bed with hopes of the afternoon 15 or 20m path to Japan being better.

The afternoon path never really materialized either. Normally, propagation between the west coast and Japan is very good, with lots of strong signals being the norm ... but not today. Over the course of several hours, only four JA stations found their way into my log, and they were all a struggle.

courtesy: http://wdc.kugi.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dstdir/index.html

The earth had been hit, rather unexpectedly, by another whopping 'coronal hole stream' and propagation was truly dismal. With only a smidgen of keyboarding practice, I had to admit defeat ... the Sun had messed things up once again, as it has been doing for the past year as Cycle 24 slowly slides downhill. Unfortunately there is always a lot more flaring and streaming on the way down than on the way up. Hopefully the Sun will soon get this out of its system and radio conditions will quiet down and stabilize for the upcoming fall and winter DX season.

There is one more chance left, this evening, to get in some more keyboarding practice. The 'Flying Pigs QRP Group' holds their monthly 'Run For The Bacon' CW QSO party, starting at 0100Z tonight. Non-members may also join in the fun by sending their 'power' level instead of a membership number ... so maybe I'll run into you tonight.


Now it's back to N1MM to reconfigure for the QRP Party and hope that old Sol will co-operate for the Sunday night crowd, but you know what they say about the 'best laid plans...'