AmateurRadio.com

All Photos by W3ATB

Tim W3ATB and I rode our bikes to Eagle Pond along the old rail route. We worked Hungary, Israel, Ukraine, Indiana, and Virginia.

We traveled along the old Northern Rail route about four miles. It’s 60F and a perfect spring day. We skirted back and forth across the Black River starting out in Andover.

We stopped at the covered bridge to enjoy the scenery and rest a bit. About a mile and a half from Andover is Potter Place. The local historical society has turned the old station into a museum.

The route is a perfect bike path. Railroad grades are very slight so there are no hills at all. We come to Eagle Pond after riding 40 minutes or so. It’s glorious. Blue sky, sparkling water and some good DX. I’m running the KX3 with a 33 foot wire. I operate mostly on 15M and 17M.

Here’s my log:

25 Apr-14 1855 21.010 HA9RT CW 599 599 Hungary
25 Apr-14 1900 18.076 EM90WF CW 599 599 Ukraine
25 Apr-14 1910 21.018 HA8FK CW 559 599 Hungary
25 Apr-14 1915 18.091 KA4RRU CW 559 599 VA
25 Apr-14 1922 18.078 4Z5IW CW 559 599 Israel

Tim is sitting about 60 feet away running an HB-1B and the Par End fed wire. He’s operating on 20M. He has a nice QSO with an Indiana station. Amazingly, we don’t interfere with each other even though we have parallel vertical wires in close proximity.

We pack up our gear for the return trip and stop several times along the trail. Our butts are sore and our muscles feel the exercise. We’ll be in better shape next time. We pass a few spots with telltale signs of winter. They’ll probably be gone next time too. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow.

Courtesy of N8NQH

Thanks to Tim, N8NQH for sharing a possible 60-cent fix for the loss of memory problems plaguing some Wouxun radios. He’s created a great little resource page for those looking to tackle this repair. According to him, the problem is a little 8-pin DIP surface mounted 24C64 serial memory IC.

Please note, however, that he makes it very clear that this repair is made at your own risk! Your mileage may vary, but at least it’s a possible starting place.

http://tim-yvonne.com/ham/wouxun-memory/index.htm

Got an answer from Terry G4POP regarding my Log4OM issue regarding the distances being shown in kilometers, rather than miles (even though I chose the miles option):

 “Distance in miles is only for display, when the record is saved to your log it has to conform with the ADIF (Amateur Data Interchange Format) format which requires Km.”

Since I’m not the software or ADIF expert, I’ll accept that answer, although HRD and other logging programs I have played with seem to work around it.  In light of how good the program seems to me so far, it’s a minor inconvenience, and in the scheme of things I can live with that.  What’s more important to me is that the CAT (Computer Aided Tuning) works well.  The KX3 seems to obey whenever I point and click on a frequency.

The DX Cluster and the loading and downloading to and from eQSL and LotW work especially well. Callsign lookup is lightning fast. In short, Log4OM is easy to use (it has a very short learning curve), it makes sense, works well and is aesthetically pleasing too. It’s easy on the eyes and to many, that may be superfluous, but to me it is important. 

Another big plus is that the Website offers for download a comprehensive User Manual that is complete, but is still a manageably sized document that I can keep on my tablet for easy reference.

The evaluation of logging software is very subjective. What works for one person is useless to another. Log4OM works very well for me, and if you’re looking for something new, or a nice package, be sure to check it out.  It might not be your cup of tea; but then again it might.

Here’s a VERY COOL special event that is going on tomorrow. I want to help spread the word:

“A Special Event honoring 20 years of the AZ ScQRPions QRP Club will be held April 26, 1400-2330 UTC at the unique relic of the cold war nuclear deterrent: the TITAN MISSILE MUSEUM in Green Valley AZ dedicated by Ronald Reagan to creating an ongoing awareness of the Armagedon that would result from a nuclear exchange. Everyone should be guided through the silo andcontrol rooms to get a sense of the reality of it all.

The CLUB will use the site’s primary antenna — a broadband 90′ DISCONE with a fairly flat SWR from 1.8-30 Mhz, with low nodes in most of the ham bands. We will operate with QRP rigs such as the KX3, K3, QRP+, ICOM-703, ATS-4, Wilderness Sierra and who knows what else. QRP frequencies will be used to the extent they produce steady contacts. Otherwise take note of the following operating Fregs: SSB — 14270Mhz, 18130Mhz, 21280Mhz, & 28370Mhz, +/-20Khz; c.w. –14020, 18072, 21030, 28015, +/-10Khz. We will call ” CQ TITAN de K7T”.

Details and photos of the DISCONE monster can be viewed at the following links:

http://www.wa0itp.com/titandiscone.html
http://www.wa0itp.com/ttm%202010.htm

http://www.gvarc.us

Special QSL on receipt of your QSL to:

Ade Weiss W0RSP, 810 N. Placita la Canoa, Green Valley, AZ 85614

QRO stations certainly invited to let us know we’re getting out — and to practice copying weak DX signals and local QRP signals! Win-win!

Check http://www.QRPSPOTS.com for most current frequency info.

Simultaneous operation of three stations on the Discone is planned using a triplexer and bandpass filters. An in-band SSB 20m – 10M experiment will be attempted with additional antennas separated from the Discone. Note that 12M, 17M CW/SSB and 30M may also be used as this is not a contest, but an outdoor operating event on a nice 90F+ spring day!

Drop by for a QSO! Make our day! CU de TITAN!

Also …… tomorrow, Saturday April 26th is International Marconi Day.  You may hear a lot of stations on the air around the world using an “IMD” suffix.  That’s what that is all about.  You can read more about it on the ARRL Letter, if you get that, or by going here:  http://g4usb.net/IMD/the-award/award-classes/

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

TX Factor, the UK’s first TV show dedicated entirely to amateur radio has launched TXtra, a regular supply of extra features with new and exciting content related to amateur radio and associated technology.

Every now and then, my lunch time QRP sessions are cut short by a work crisis. Such was the case today.  Not hearing many strong signals during my initial tune through, I decided to call CQ for a while and then go back to search and pounce.  I managed to call CQ alright, but never got to the search and pounce portion of the plan.  My cell phone buzzed in my pocket and demanded a quick return to my desk to handle “a situation”.

The bright side is that my CQs, although unanswered, were at least heard:

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

I’ve been doing some investigating with my computerized logbook.  In the over 11,000 entries that I have in it, I took the time to tally the numbers for CW QSOs vs. Non-CW (Digital, Phone) QSOs. CW makes up for 98.7% of my operating.

Speaking of computerized logbooks, I am playing around more and more with Log4OM and am taking a liking to it.  It may soon become my full time computer logging software.  I still have a few issues to work out – such as why the distances displayed are in kilometers even though I have the “display distances in miles” checkbox checked. Also, I have to get the program to hook up with LoTW and eQSL.  I think those are minor issues, especially after watching the YouTube videos on the subject by Terry G4POP.

Additionally, Ham Radio Deluxe has developed a glitch which has me puzzled.  When I have the Cluster display open, if I click on a DX station that is on a band other than what I am currently on, the KX3 will go to that station and then immediately back to where I am/was.

Let’s say I just worked W1AW/1 on 7.038 MHz, and I see on the Cluster that EM7XX is on 14.004 MHz.  If I use my mouse to click on EM7XX, the KX3 will go to 14.004 MHz, but then will immediately go back to 7.038 MHz.  It never used to do that.  In the past, it would have gone to 14.004 MHz and would have stayed there.  I have de-installed and re-installed HRD, but for whatever reason, it doesn’t want to behave properly anymore.  And while I’m trying to save up for the PX3, I really don’t want to pop a hundred bucks for the new version of HRD. Log4OM is not behaving that way, it’s acting like it should and it’s free, so …………… I think you can see where I’m headed.

I have played around with the DX Lab Suite and for some reason it would not import about a 1,000 of my QSOs via ADIF import.  The same thing happened with Logger32. Log4OM imported every single QSO that I had in HRD. I was looking at nGenLog and kind of liked it, but for some reason after the initial session, it hangs up and freezes my computer when trying start up the next session. It’s so bad that I have to hit CTRL-ALT-DELETE to access the Task Manager in order to stop the program and get the computer running again.

Maybe it’s also time for a new computing platform in the shack.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

I heard spring peepers for the first time this year. I hiked in an old field off Johnson Road and worked Russia, Panama and a couple of stations in the Michigan QSO Party.

I hiked about a quarter of a mile on a trail from the road and turned south skirting the edge of the field when I heard the peepers. I know where they are! There’s a vernal pool down a horse path through a large and prickly raspberry patch. I look through the woods and onto the small pond. Every time one of these tiny frogs sings, his body trembles enough to send circular ripples into the pond. They are, of course, calling CQ. It is a clear sign of spring and I am overjoyed.

I wandered through this overgrown field for a while. I was searching for a warm spot out of the wind. It’s only about 45F with a stiff breeze and a bit chilly. I pass the telltale signs of a long winter… tiny holes in the grass where mice and voles have sought cover while enduring the bitter cold.

I set up under a tall pine tree on a little hillside facing the sun.

I heave my wire over a branch and tune the KX3 on 20 meters. Stations are strong, but they don’t hear me well. I work UA2FL who is operating the Mineira DX Contest from Russia. Then I work two stations in the Michigan QSO party… N8KS and K8BZ. I switch to 12 meters. HO100CANAL is calling CQ and he answers right away. This is a special event station in Panama celebrating the opening of the canal 100 years ago.

With this I pack up and head back to the car. I check for ticks (usually out
by now) but thankfully, I don’t find any. Maybe the hard winter has reduced
their numbers.