Archive for the ‘qrp’ Category
CWT Mini-Contest – QRP Style
June 19th, 2014 | 
Author: 
In my continuing effort to evaluate my attic dipole, several guys have given me advice to get on during a contest because the activity level is higher on the bands and I could better evaluate what I can hear.
Every Wednesday (local) evening from 0300-0400Z (Thursday) the CW Operators Club has a mini-contest the call CWT. The exchange is name and member number or name and state if a non-member.
These guys are serious CW operators, and I knew the pace would be fast. I downloaded N1MM for logging as they have a dedicated module for the contest. They also have a call history file that you can load which allows you to enter the call and it matches the name and member number up for you.
So I had everything setup and ready. I started on 20 meters and heard some activity. I made one contact there before heading to 40 meters.
On 40 meters the band was filled with signals – this warmed my heart after my recent worries with my antenna!
CW was being sent very fast – but after several listens I could usually get the call. I just looked at the scores here http://3830scores.com/currecscores.php?arg=JxfqcDz6ficvT – I ended up last in the QRP category, but NOT last in the contest!
I ended the night with 6 QSO’s during the hour long contest. Honestly, I am happy with those results. My goal was 10 contacts, but I learned some valuable lessons which will help me next time!
Here is the list of my contacts (all CW Ops Members):
K1BG Bruce 20M – MA
N1LN Bruce 40M – NC
KC4D Bill 40M – VA
N5ZO Marko 40M – CA
AD4EB Jim 40M – TN
N5AW Marv 40M – TX
So I worked 6 different states – MA, NC, VA, CA, TN, TX – coast to coast!
Thanks to those that pulled my QRP signal out! I will be back to this contest in the future!
Still struggling to hear….or am I?
I still think something is just not quite right with my setup. If you remember from a few posts back I installed a 66′ ladder fed dipole in the attic. I thought this would increase my reception ability, but now I am not to sure.
Maybe I am just spoiled by the low noise floor when operating portable in the park, but across multiple weekends and multiple evenings I am beginning to think I just don’t hear as well with the attic antenna.
Sure the noise floor is higher, about S5 – which can be helped with the NR and the ATT, but I just don’t hear signals like I think I should.
For example, typical weeknight on 40 meter CW about 11:00 pm local time. I hear maybe 2 or 3 QSO’s. During the weekend days, I have scanned 30 meters thru 10 meters – CW and SSB portions of the band, and hear nothing – may one or two QSO’s but that is it.
I read about others working DX and plenty of local stations with an attic mounted dipole.
I have worked people on PSK31 on 20 meters in the evenings – even some DX to South America – but overall the signals in general seem very weak.
It just seems like it is more than the higher noise floor that is impacting my operating.
The thing that has me most confused is that when I don’t hear anyone, and then decided to call CQ, I almost always make a contact.
I have not gotten on during a contest, even a QRP sprint, which might be a better way to gauge what I am hearing – I suppose I need to do this.
Am I just expecting more activity than there actually is?
144MHz Backpackers Contest
The Backpacker (3B) section and the concurrent Practical Wireless 144MHz QRP Contest are limited to just 3W. Normally the FT857 can only be lowered to 5W but by applying a negative voltage to the transceivers ALC line via the accessory socket the transmitters output can be lowered. This method is detailed here it is a simple circuit and I will make one up in due course, I didn't have the parts to make one in time.
Anyway I digress, firstly I had to find a suitable hill top that wasn't too far from home. I wanted somewhere quiet and minimised the risk of any confrontation with societies undesirables. A quick look on the local Ordnance Survey map and I spotted a viewpoint symbol.
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| 1:50,000 |
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| 1:25,000 |
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| The viewpoint |
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| The information plate on the viewpoint |
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| battery wedged behind drivers seat |
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| Parasol stand and painter's telescopic pole |
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| Operating from the passenger seat, FT857 on dashboard |
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| Antenna up |
I was initially quite nervous setting up as it turned out the road was actually quite busy and I was getting a lot of quizzical looks from passersby, but once I got going I just ignored them and enjoyed the contest a lot. A number of walkers asked what I was up to and it seemed the viewpoint was a stop off on a MG owner's outing this morning.
I made a reasonable amount of contacts, given most people were operating QRP with some decent distances. I did suffer one brain fade and missed another potential locator square when the other station repeated my report back and I blindly wrote it down and then lost them before I was able to correct it.
At one point I thought I would have to pack up as I was getting huge static crackles and pops which were due I think to some nearby high tension electricity pylons and what appeared to be a gathering storm, there was some brief rain but it quickly dissipated.
Next month I am looking forward to the VHF National Field Day and the 3rd Backpackers Contest as a number of members of the South Kestevan ARS are keen to have a serious attempt.
A brief overview of my MFJ 1788 loop antenna.
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| The antenna |
1. Very small foot print for an antenna that will give you 15m to 40m.
2. The antenna can be used mounted horizontally or vertically.
3. Once you get used to the tuning it's very fast and easy to tune.
4. I covered my antenna with as to keep it low profile and it works no problem with the cover.
5. The antenna remote control can operate either on AC or batteries.
6. Can be mounted on a simple tri-pod.
Some of the draw backs
1. The quality of the antenna is low, I had to make some adjustments to make it work as it should.
2. The band width is narrow and retuning has to be down often.
3. The SWR meter in the remote control unit is not very reliable.
4. Buzzer used to tell you the coarse tuning has finished is VERY hard to hear.
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| Repairing Cap spacing |
On air results with this antenna have been good, with regards to receiving I have been able to hear the Middle East, South Pacific, Europe, South America and of coarse North America. Now hearing a station and contacting the station is another ball of wax. With my power restrictions I have made some very satisfying contacts. My modest signal has made it into South America, all parts of Europe, Iceland and Africa so far. There are two Loop antennas that MFJ makes and if I was to make the choice again I would had gone with the MFJ 1786 as it covers 10m to 30m. I have found with this antenna there is no way to tune it below 15m. The characteristic of the tuning capacitor will not allow it. I have read the MFJ 1788 is like a wet noodle on 40m and it's true I have not been able to make it into the U.S. The MFJ 1786 would had been a better choice with more band opportunities.
Planning some more /P and /A
Apart from the UKAC on the Tuesday night I didn't do anything else with the radio, I did have the HF antenna up but the trapped nerve in my back meant I was in a lot of discomfort after being out and about during the day and so rested and zonked out on painkillers rather than struggling to set up the rig.
I must sort out a proper portable station that I can just open it up and start operating, I am impressed with Charlie's M0PZT porta-pack frame idea being an excellent solution especially for back packing.
In the past the wife and I used to be keen walkers, tackling many of the peaks in Cumbria, Snowdonia, the Peak District and elsewhere. We completed the Coast-To-Coast Walk back in 1991 and The Cleveland Way the following year.
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| Dipping my boots at Robin Hood's Bay in 1991 at end of the Coast-To-Coast |
Sadly I am too overweight now to be a serious Summits On The Air (SOTA) operator but I plan on getting back to a reasonable level of fitness. As it happens if I'd been more prepared our walk of Latrigg last week could have been my first Wainwright On The Air (WOTA) activation.
Next month we are off to the Isle of Skye. We are staying in a self-catering cottage with plenty of room so rather than being /P portable I can be /A alternative and will be able to set up the rig in the cottage so can use it as and when I want.
I've already mentioned the holiday coincides with the 50MHz/6 Meter UKAC and am currently toying with the antenna choice, one advantage of being so far North is I won't need to rotate it as pointing it South South East should cover most of the UK. From the photographs of seen the cottage is reasonably elevated with clear views across Loch Bay in that direction. There are mountains ranges to contend with but who knows with propagation? I'll be in the rare IO67 locator square so might even have to contend with a pile up!
I will almost certainly operate as 2E0NRD rather than M6GTG for that week as using just 10W might be a bit optimistic.
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| IO67 Locator Square |
Gobsmacked.. pic.twitter.com/sGDI4jDh1W
— Andrew Garratt M6GTG (@nerdsville) June 7, 2014
Perhaps I shouldn't have been quite as quick to brag as it appears I was the only Foundation Level entrant!
Still I managed 4 verified QSOs on what by all accounts was a very difficult contest, with low activity and poor conditions. In fact I almost missed the contest altogether and was only alerted to the contest by a tweet by Robert @G1ZJP and was late starting as I needed to get the antenna up. I actually made 5 QSOs but one was broken because I mistakenly put 59 in as the serial number.. Doh!
This weekend is the 2nd RSGB 144MHz Backpackers contest and the Practical Wireless 144MHz QRP Contest Unfortunately the FT857 is too powerful for the QRP contests as the limit is 3W but I could have a go at the Hill Toppers section in the RSGB contest which is limited to 10W and as luck would have it I am left to my own devices this weekend so might take a drive in the car..
Radio propagation and space weather course
As the propagation columnist for several amateur radio magazines, I hear from a diverse group of interested people that find space weather and the propagation of radio waves fascinating. I admit: I am a space weather and radio propagation nut, and it is always good to correspond or meet with other interested folks. This is an aspect of our hobby that never grows old, as there is so much that we don’t yet know–we communicators are in a perfect space to make discovery and to make improvements to our understanding of this science. Over the years, I’ve heard a lot from readers of my columns, expressing their fascination with the science of radio and solar phenomenon.
Are you interested in learning about the Sun and the Sun-Earth connection (space weather), including topics of sunspots, solar flares, coronal mass ejections, and so on? Do you want to delve deeper into topics including the ionosphere, the magnetosphere, and how radio waves propagate from transmitter to receiver?
The critical frequency (foF2) for mornings during June 2014.
You might consider a time-proven “course”–material that is very comprehensive–that you can self-study, to become well-versed in this information. The course (one that has been used in professional disciplines) is offered either stand-alone, or bundled with the ray-tracing PropLab PRO software.
Some may say, “But, I like the magic of just getting on the air and trying my luck! If I learn all this stuff, then it becomes science, and not a hobby.” It is true that there’s a joy at being dazzled with the magic of radio; buy a super cool transceiver, and a factory-made antenna with coax already fitted with connectors, adding the necessary accessories to make it come alive, then begin exploring the shortwave frequencies. Magical, indeed! But, there are many in the hobby that wish to learn how all of that works. Some even begin learning how to build antennas, radio kits, and discover the joy of the “science” of radio. A few eventually take the step with gained “scientific” knowledge of electronics, and they design and build equipment for their hobby. The course is part of that mix: learning how the Sun affects getting a radio signal from point A to point B, and how to leverage their time and efforts, is a joy, indeed.
Interested? Here’s the web page: http://hfradio.org/swp_course/
PropLab PRO creates ray-traced radio wave analysis
If any disclosure is necessary, here you go: The proceeds from a purchase of this course go to the funds I use to keep cw.HFRadio.org, swl.HFRadio.org, and other resources at HFRadio.org, plus http://SunSpotWatch.com up and running. There are monthly fees, yearly fees, and software licensing to cover, as well as the purchase of hardware from time to time. These operating and maintenance funds are mostly covered by me, Tomas, NW7US, out of my personal funds. Any donations and sales helps out. Haters and Hecklers can send their comments to the bit bucket.
73 de NW7US
KX3: Cool Go Box
Check out www.oe2atn.at/tom/gobox
If someone would commercialize this, I think it would be very popular.
