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Another operation from Lido Key, NA-034
March 18th, 2010 | 
Author: I just wanted to put up a quick note to say that I expect to be active from IOTA NA-034, Lido Key from March 22-24, 2010. I’ll be down there visiting family but I expect to have a few hours each day (probably between about 15:00-20:00 GMT) to operate. Instead of using hamsticks as I have in the past, I’m going to be using my Buddistick which gives me a bit more flexibility as to the bands I’ll be using (and was a lot easier to ship; I didn’t want to have to deal with checking a 6-foot long hamstick for the flight). It should perform reasonably well since my normal operating position is from a parking lot that’s just a few dozen meters from the Gulf of Mexico, and the saltwater should help with propagation, particularly to the south and west.
Most likely I’ll only be on SSB for this short trip, and I’ll stay close to the standard IOTA frequencies, primarily on 20m (14.260) and 15m (21.260), though I may move around if the bands cooperate.
If anyone is in the area (Sarasota, FL) and wants to get together during one of those afternoons, please drop me line.
Imagine…
(post your 'imagine' thoughts in the comments below....)
DL8MBS Analysis Of Russian DX Contest
Chris, DL8MBS wrote an excellent article regarding RadioSport operating time, its relationship to power, and band conditions. His graphical analysis of the Russian DX Contest (RDXC) logs in addition to CQ World Wide DX logs suggested one’s power level correlates with hours of operating time.
Analysis.
His analysis of 2007 RDXC data revealed an average operating time of 9.7 hours (n = 984) out of (n = 1006) or 66.9 percent operated no more than 12 hours out of 24 available hours. Additionally, only 6.4 percent of the total, invested 23 or 24 hours in this event.
Furthermore, his 2009 analysis of available operating data, supported his 2007 conclusion that is, 69 percent operated less than 14 hours subsequently; due to band conditions, high power categories invested greater operating time.
The Long Tail.
I was struck by the distribution of operating hours for the CQ World Wide DX franchise. Chris, DL8MBS discovered Morse code operators remain in the chair longer than phone counterparts. His analysis suggested 90.47 percent of phone operators operated less than 24 hours while 80.5 percent operated less than 18 hours.
The average phone operation was 11.3 hours contrasted against 14.5 hours for Morse code operators.
Conclusion.
Perhaps, the competitive RadioSport reality is, as one begins investing financial and material resources toward the Box then operating time is proportional. It goes up. Likewise, one’s power level is an important factor when considering “how much” time to spend in the chair as well.
However, given Cycle 24 trends, low power operators may begin spending additional time in the chair?
My plan this weekend for the 2010 RDXC event will focus on high bands only. In effect, I want to spend about 12 hours in the operating chair, that’s average. The question I’m asking, “Is average good enough?”
73 from the shackadelic on the beach.
G4ILO’s noise
This afternoon I decided to tune around the HF bands to see how they compared with what I heard when I was out mobile yesterday and at the weekend. It was very depressing. I didn’t hear any DX at all. The high noise level obliterated anything interesting and made listening very tiring and unpleasant. From the mobile out in the countryside the only man-made noise was the occasional burst of ignition interference from a passing car and I could copy signals right down to atmospheric noise.
I thought I would use my Pentax digital camera to make a video that demonstrated just what the HF bands sound like from here. It’s a ham radio horror movie.
Character
First, let me make clear my position on sexual predators. I think they should be punished and attempts should be made to rehabilitate those who can be rehabilitated. However, there are those who are simply incorrigible who should spend the rest of their lives rotting in prison. (The worst should probably be executed but that is problematic on several levels.) I'm not going to make any judgement of the radio amateur involved in this case as the facts are in the decision text.
The FCC action in this case and other felony conviction cases just doesn't make much sense to me. The judge in the case makes a very lucid statement regarding the defendant and amateur radio. Quite simply, even if it was proven that he was still a sexual predator, amateur radio wouldn't be a tool he would use to commit crime. Frankly, unless someone was into white, balding, overweight, older men, they wouldn't find many potential victims in amateur radio. The odds of a sexual predator being a threat to radio amateurs is about nil. Revoking a license really isn't a deterrent to committing a felony, and I'm sure someone would argue that revoking a license is additional punishment for a crime that already had a conviction and punishment specified.
Thinking back to past character license revocations, I can think of one for a convicted murderer spending life in a federal pen, and a ham that was convicted of long distance fraud. The murderer spending life in prison isn't going to have access to an amateur radio and long distance fraud isn't very relevant to amateur radio. Call me overly pragmatic, but it just doesn't seem to make sense to spend the time and effort to revoke licenses in these situations.
I recently dealt with a radio amateur who clearly lacked character. I won't go into detail, but he got caught in his own online web of lies and when he was exposed he made more lies. But amateurs, unaware or in agreement with his deception, praise him for his work. No character, but people lacking character like this are likely more detrimental to amateur radio than most of the FCC license revocation amateurs, and we tend to look the other way.
If you have a felony conviction, you probably lack character, but if you lack character in amateur radio, you probably don't have a felony conviction. Character in amateur radio isn't the FCC's responsibility, it's our responsibility. Those lacking character who threaten amateur radio don't appear on any legal docket, but they are in our midst. When we ignore those lacking character, we condone and encourage them.
2010 Russian DX Contest “The Contender”
What counts in the realm of RadioSport when a contender enters the ionospheric arena to compete against established heavyweights like CQ World Wide and/or ARRL International DX?
Competition Is Healthy.
The ultimate measure is fun across all RadioSport levels and, at the end of the day, the number of logs submitted.
I imagine sponsors and contest committees are noting the rise of the Russian DX Contest from upstart to serious contender. The event scheduled for this weekend will certainly benefit from the sometimes staggering Cycle 24 trend. Likewise, one must read the rules and discover a fresh perspective in a sport that embraces technology to limited degrees.
Practice, Practice, Practice.
I decided this year because of the Russian DX Contest point structure, a modest station like mine can have a lot of fun;
- 10 points for logged Russian -Qs.
- 5 points for different continent.
- 3 points for different country on same continent.
- 2 points for one’s country.
I attempted this event at the low edge of Cycle 24 and the numbers suggest different results this year. Let’s have ham radio fun beneath the ionospheric arena, practice good sportsmanship, and test our station configurations while the contender takes on the heavyweights.
Contest on!
Mobile DX
It occurred to me recently that the reason why I can rarely bring myself to work anything other than digital modes is because the noise level on the HF bands at home is so high that listening to the radio is too unpleasant. Tune across the band and you hear dozens of carriers against a background of hash and buzz, with odd patches of warbly noises. Although the noise falls off on the higher bands the carriers if anything get worse. Forget about listening for beacons on VHF! I don’t think the problem is solvable, as I believe I am hearing the combined output of all the houses in the neighbourhood, not the product of a single rogue device that could (theoretically) be tracked down and eliminated. So my instinct is just to work digital modes with the volume turned off.
People have often asked me why I don’t operate portable or mobile from the car to get away from all this QRN. My usual answer is that I often operate for an hour or so here and there and it isn’t practical for such a short time as that. Operating from the car on a cold dark winter night isn’t as attractive a prospect as doing it from a warm shack, and my wife would probably take a dim view my going off for three or four hours at a time just to talk on the radio in any case. But Olga is away at the moment and I’m getting fed up with digital modes, so I thought I would give it a go.
I already had a Superantennas MP-1 which I bought for portable use, but haven’t made much use of it for that due to the British weather rarely being warm enough to tempt me out. (Yes, I know SOTA types operate from hilltops in sub-zero temperatures and howling gales, but I like my comforts and they’re masochists.) A quick trip to Maplin in Carlisle resulted in the purchase of a Moonraker 7 inch Turbo mag mount with the requisite 3/8 fitting. Then I drove out to a quiet spot to try it out. The spot I chose isn’t an ideal radio location as it is surrounded by hills, but I haven’t yet found somewhere with a good take-off that isn’t a “viewpoint” and packed with tourists, or anywhere that I can drive on to the beach.
I took the antenna analyzer along which made tuning the antenna a lot easier. I started off on 15m, where I got an SWR of 1.5:1. For the radio I took along my Elecraft K2, which has been little-used since the K3 came along. I set the power to 12W and searched for someone to work.
My first mobile contact was with John 9H5JW, a British expat living in Malta. He gave me a 58 report to my 59 (he was running 100W). We had a good chat for ten minutes and I felt the MP-1 was doing a really good job.
Next I heard KD4FNI from Ozark, Alabama. He didn’t hear me, unfortunately. My next contact was with Nick RV3EFR near Orel for 59 both ways. Then I tried to call Harry 7Q7HB in Malawi. He was working another mobile in Finland, but unfortunately when he finished there was a bit of a pile-up and he didn’t hear my call. He was strong enough that I’m sure we could have made a contact, as was KP4BD in Puerto Rico whom I also called without success.
My third contact was VU2DSI from near Mumbai in India. He gave me a 56 to his 59. I’m pretty sure I haven’t worked India before, even from home, so I was very happy with this. The /M suffix is really worth about 10dB of gain. “Will the mobile please call again.”
My final contact on 15m was with Mauro I5HOR near Florence. He gave me a 55.
I was pretty happy with those contacts, but I wanted to see how the MP-1 performed on a mag mount on the other bands. On 10m I got a 1.2:1 SWR, though there was nothing to be heard on that band. I went up to 40m and the SWR dip was pretty sharp and would only come down to 3:1. On 20m I got around 2:1, and managed a quick QSO with Franco IZ4NPE for a 58 report on that band, so it was not too bad.
Clearly the poor ground through the mag mount affects the SWR of the MP-1 on the lower bands. The K2 ATU can take care of this quite happily, but possibly performance is compromised as well. A permanent mount on the car isn’t an option, nor would it be worth the trouble for the amount of use it is likely to get. I will have to see if I can drill the mag mount and fit a terminal that would allow me to attach a temporary ground wire to the car body, or even a resonant counterpoise, if that would make a difference.
All in all it was a worthwhile exercise that I’ll probably try again. To make a contact with India from a parked car using 12W to a whip antenna is quite an achievement!
