AmateurRadio.com

This is the first episode to be recorded since Hamvention back in mid-May. Russ gives his thoughts on the event and tells everyone about the contest that was held there, and also the new one that is being held for all of our listeners. Please get your entries in. You don't want to miss out on winning a Beaglebone Black! An interesting new Linux project that Russ heard about, called Bedrock Linux, came to his attention at Hamvention. The hosts interview the lead developer in the main segment of the program. On top of that, they discuss topics from milk shakes to retirement, announce the show's most famous listener to date and bring back The Badger. You don't want to miss any of this goodness.

73 de The LHS Guys

Russ Woodman, K5TUX, co-hosts the Linux in the Ham Shack podcast which is available for download in both MP3 and OGG audio format. Contact him at [email protected].

I worked a new DXCC entity via QRP tonight, and it was a workout.  The funny thing is, the actual distance? Not so much.  This one was a Caribbean Island. And from the East Coast, the islands of the Caribbean are usually not very hard at all.

But conditions on 17 Meters tonight were soupy.  The QSB was rolling in and out.  My quarry was 599 one second and about 569 the next.  But I finally got FJ/K5WE in the log, and worked Saint Barhtelemy for the first time, using QRP power to boot.

If you look at the map, your first reaction is probably the same as mine. No big deal, right? I mean I’ve worked just about every single island down that way, many of them lots of times over.  We’re talking just a couple of thousand miles – really no big deal even for QRP.  But the pileup was busy and the QSX frequency kept moving.  Once I was able to establish the pattern, it didn’t take long.  But because of the QSB, I couldn’t hear a lot of the stations that FJ/K5WE was working, so it made establishing that pattern just a little bit tougher.

Like I said before, once I was actually able to hear a few of the stations and was able to figure out where FJ/K5WE was listening, I just tweaked my transmit frequency a touch higher and just kept calling until he worked his way up and just kind of fell into my lap.

Conditions are probably just “meh” – definitely not the greatest.  The sunspot number is down to under 100 and the A index is up there.  Not as bad as it was a few days ago, but still not great.  The few Russian stations that I was able to hear were all warbly as if the signals were experiencing polar flutter.  CO8LY was louder than all get out as was H70ORO.  I was surprised that FJ/K5WE wasn’t stronger, considering that Eduardo CO8LY was so strong.  Could be an antenna situation, not sure what K5WE is using down there on his tropical get away.

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

Larry Makoski, W2LJ, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Jersey, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Moore Oklahoma has been “hit” twice in the last several years and there’s been catastrophic loss of both life and property on both occasions. Although this is only the very beginning of the summer season, the Oklahoma area seems to be a succession of raging storms. The quick QSO last night was just a “handshake”, in radio terms, but it certainly made me think of how fortunate I am to live in a sheltered valley here in West Virginia.

The beginning of the “tornado” season, along with the “hurricane season” in the Gulf Coast is just arriving now. I hope and pray this season is a mild one; but all indicators seem to point in the other direction.

On the DX log:

My “awakening hour” was around 1PM again last night and I continued my daily DX QSO’s with stations in  in the Ukraine, UR0VQ, the Netherlands PA4VHF, Poland SP6EIY and EA6NB in the Baleric Islands of Spain. 

John Smithson, Jr., N8ZYA, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from West Virginia, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

I have just added a review of the Nevada WH3080 Solar weather station to my G4ILO’s Shack website.

The website gets a lot more visitors than the blog so I will be adding new content over the coming months.

Julian Moss, G4ILO, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cumbria, England. Contact him at [email protected].

The bands continue to puzzle me. I thought yesterday might be the last of my string on daily DX contacts. I was hearing next to nothing on the 30 meter band, or any others for that matter. I worked a “local” station on 17 meters who was running 700 watts. I think it’s probably the ultimate “short band” contact, and then he disappeared into the noise within a couple of minutes.

I can’t explain it, but I’ve always had a good path into Bulgaria. I’ve worked this country 12 times now. This particular “special event station” (LZ1534GWS) marks my fourth contact in this special series. This station is honoring the Bulgarian Saint Martyr Georgi Sofiskski.

Last night was no different from the other 8 weeks of back pain I’ve been experiencing for the last two months. I hobbled into the radio room around 1:30 am this time, and as I waited for the pain to ease up in my leg, I worked IK2DAD in Italy. I’m nearly certain that surgery is going to be my only cure for this disruptive and depressive malady. My next doctor appointment is on June 28th, when I will have a test to determine if the nerve has been permanently damaged. I also have an appointment with a physical therapist on the same day. I’ve pretty well accepted the fact that my hiking days are over; but I would be overjoyed if I could get back on the bicycle.

The additional contact into Bulgaria last night marks my 132nd day of working at least one DX station every day. (those are days when I’m at home here in Charleston)

As always, I particularly enjoyed adding the QRP @ 3 W in the “remarks section” of the “spot”. I can’t help but “crow” about the advantages knowing and using the CW mode compared to the SSB mode.

Working the “marine stations” with the SSB mode, got me less than a thousand miles. I make contacts regularly at 5,000 miles with Morse code. The difference is like night and day.

John Smithson, Jr., N8ZYA, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from West Virginia, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Times R a changing with the way the sun is preforming these days. I know we have all wanted the sunspots to go up along with the flux numbers......BUT..........what is up with the solar flares!!! As a wise man once told me with the good comes the bad as well.  Sunday afternoon I fired up DXlabs and on the cluster was S573DX from Slovenia. He was booming in at around S7 to S9 and I had my K3 at around 5 watts and so began my effort to contact him. There was a pileup and as it goes with QRP you have to let the big guns get their turn and then you can fit your call in the cracks! I was waiting for my

Back to the K2 build

opportunity (mind you I still was throwing in my call along side the "big guns"...you never know) and then S573DX went from S7-S9 so S...NOTHING!! In the blink of an eye he was just above the noise level even the APF was not able to dig him out of the noise floor. So goes the conditions when the sun grumpy! There are other projects around the shack to keep me busy...such as my K2 build. There was not much time for radio this week as Julie has relivitves coming in from England next weekend. They will be staying with us for 3 weeks so it was time to get some rooms ready for them and do some needed house cleaning as well.
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

The new edition of Radcom arrived a little while ago and I had a chance to have a read through it yesterday and there was a review for the new Kenwood super rig. It certainly looked an impressive site, but what struck me the most was not the features it had but the sheer cost of the thing. It tips the scales at over £6k. The cost of my last car!

Radcom also features a section every now and again about how they are trying to attract new members and potential people into ham radio. Can I give them a little hint, start working on cheaper rigs. The evidence was even strong as I went through the pages and it showed individuals, who know doubt deservedly, won trophies and prizes for all manner of things. There wasn’t a single one in the 16-24 bracket, in fact I’m pretty sure there wasn’t a soul under 45 in there.

Can I make a suggestion?

Can we please take a look at providing cheaper gear that doesn’t need building, say a £100 rig that will get people on air. If we can produce a funcube dongle for a little more than that which seems like an amazing piece of kit, why can’t we produce a rig that is universal, cheap, useful and worth having rather than producing for the wealthy ‘person of a certain age’. That way we may be able to see talent in the younger age bracket collecting trophies.

If you’re looking for a volunteer to project manage it then just ask. If you’re looking for a technical whizzkid then you’d better look elsewhere

Alex Hill, G7KSE, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cumbria, UK. Contact him at [email protected].