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Pat Tice, WA0TDA, is the manager of HANDI-HAM and a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com. Contact him at [email protected].

The Nagoya VHF/UHF antennas made in China and available from sellers like 409Shop are popular and cheap, but I think they leave a lot to be desired in the quality control department.

A couple of years ago I bought a Nagoya NA-666 with a regular male SMA connector for use with my Kenwood and Yaesu rigs. I was impressed with the performance of this antenna, and with the fact that it achieved a true 1:1 SWR at bang on 145MHz.

So when I ordered another antenna of the same model but with a BNC connector to work with all my HTs (which have now all been fitted, where needed, with SMA to BNC adapters) I was surprised to find that its performance was a disappointment.

I am well aware of the existence of fake antennas on eBay and have bought more than my fair share of them, but this looked to all intents and purposes to be a genuine Nagoya (silver on black label on the base and a serial numbered Nagoya hologram on the pack.) It had been purchased from 409Shop, a reputable seller. However, when tested on my RigExpert AA-200 antenna analyzer the nice sharp SWR curve dipped to a minimum at 135MHz – 10MHz too low. The SWR at 145MHz was off the scale. Ho hum.

As any ham knows, if an antenna tunes too low in frequency the solution is to cut bits off. After a bit of a struggle the rubber end cap came off and I gingerly pruned about a tenth of an inch . The antenna analyzer showed the minimum SWR point had moved up 1MHz. So I carried on with the cycle of cut, test, cut, test until I had achieved a much more reasonable SWR at 145MHz.

Final SWR curve of the shortened antenna

As I approached 145MHz the antenna was now quite noticeably shorter and I was concerned that I may have passed the point at which the improvement due to a better match was counteracted by the reduced size of the radiating element. I may have passed that point but it is very difficult to make reliable and repeatable field strength measurements. Therefore I didn’t make the final cut which would have brought the SWR (shown above) to 1.0:1 at exactly 145MHz.

Field strength measurements and on-air tests led me to the conclusion that the 7-inch shortened NA-666 performed 2-3dB better than my 8.5 inch long NA-701. It beat all the stock rubber ducks by another 2 or 3 dB. The only antennas that outperformed it were a quarter wave telescopic (19 in long) an even longer Nagoya NA-767, a nicely made but unbranded “RH-770” and a “Diamond” RH-205 5/8 wave telescopic, all of which are really too long and cumbersome to use with a small radio like the Baofeng.

Using the shortened NA-666 I have had solid simplex contacts with 5 and 9 reports over distances of several miles and can even access a repeater 50 miles away from inside the shack. So I’m pretty pleased with the result.

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

There are three excellent ham radio activities going on this coming weekend. Check these out and see if there is an activity that catches your interest. This is written for people in Colorado but items #1 and #3 are North American wide.

1. ARRL September VHF QSO Party – noon MDT on Saturday until 9 PM MDT on Sunday    http://www.arrl.org/september-vhf
2. Colorado FM Sprint – a mini version of the September VHF QSO Party,
   using FM only on these bands: 146 MHz, 222 MHz and 440 MHz
   Saturday from noon to 7 PM MDT
   http://www.qsl.net/k0yb/Colorado_FM_Sprint.html
   Suggested frequencies: 146.58, 146.55, 223.5, 446.000, 446.100 MHz FM simplex
3. North American Summits On The Air (SOTA) Weekend
   SOTA activations all over North America
   http://na-sota.org/NASOTA_Weekend.html
   Go here to see announced summit activations: http://www.sotawatch.org/
   VHF contacts are usually on 146.52 MHz
   (Note: this frequency is NOT allowed for contacts in the
   Sept VHF QSO Party and Colorado FM Sprint)
   HF contacts are on frequencies listed on sotawatch.org

Wow, lots of stuff to choose from!

At the very least, I’d suggest getting on the air Saturday afternoon to see if you can work some of the VHF contest stations. They are likely to be some mountaintop SOTA stations active at that time, too. Some of these folks may try to work the VHF contests AND do the SOTA thing on the same expedition.

73, Bob K0NR

Bob Witte, KØNR, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Colorado, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

I recently had the good fortune (Sarah and some Alaskan friends might question the use of the adjective “good”) to spend about 10 days on the Aleutian island of Adak for work.  In the midst of preparing for the trip, I learned that my fellow travelers Kevin, KJ4OAP, and Nathaniel, W2NAF, were planning to bring ham gear.  Of course, I was as well, so we ended up with quite the merry bunch of hams on Adak.  I don’t collect IOTAs, but I know it’s popular.  So, I checked out Adak Island in the IOTA directory—NA-039, Andreanof Group.  Fewer than 20% had claimed it, so it’s not super-rare, but not super-common, either.  I was assured by at least one friend that we would be very popular, especially in Europe.

One of the first things you notice about Adak when you get off the plane is the wind.  In fact, the locals call Adak “the Birthplace of the Wind.”  It’s actually quite poetic considering that the winds are so strong that you don’t leave furniture outside and that the houses shudder with typical gusts.  I experienced 75-mph gusts and 60-mph sustained winds during my short visit alone.

Adak is probably best known as the forward base from which the U.S. conducted its counteroffensive against the Japanese invasion of Attu and Siska during World War II.  It also played an important role during the Cold War and although the military left some 10 years ago, it retains much of the infrastructure including heavy machinery, a port, and a large airport.  The population shrank rapidly from a peak of just over 6000 in the 1990s to around 150 today.  Just before the military (principally Navy) pulled out, they were in the process of building new base housing.  The housing was completed nevertheless and so there are literally dozens if not a hundred homes that have never been occupied!  Some of the others have been converted into a small hotel (this is where we stayed).

The economy is heavily dependent on fishing and fish canning right now.  However, the locals are excited about the possibility of becoming a logistics hub for oil and gas work in the Bering Sea.  In fact, the aircraft I came out on (An Alaska Airlines 737-400) had an unprecedented 60+ passengers on it because executives from an oil company were coming to check the place out.
Alaska Airlines operates “regular” flights twice per week.

Due to a fiction of time zones, Adak is only one hour behind Anchorage, despite being some 27 degrees west.  So, sunrise and sunset are both very late in local time.  It is also very far south, about the same latitude as Vancouver.  Although I arrived at 6:30 pm, it was still light out for almost another four hours.  So, I quickly put up the vertical on 20 meters just before sunset.

While we were putting up the vertical, Nathaniel met Jeff, KL2HD, who happened to have flown in on the same flight as us and who also happened to have his office and station across the street from my apartment.  Neat.  He works for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and they have field sites throughout the Aleutians.  They use HF to communicate with their camps.  So, he just plugs into a well-installed folded dipole to do his hamming.  Have you ever seen a folded dipole installed between two (yes, two) Rohn 45 towers?  Intense.  Wind.

Due to our work schedule (8-10 hours per day plus meals), I often did not manage to get on until 0500 UT at the earliest, and sometimes even later.  But, when I did, I was greeted with a roaring pileup of the “deserving.”  This elicited a little bit of mail from my East Coast friends about getting on the air earlier.  It turns out, however, that for most of the trip, 20 and 17 meters were open to the entire U.S. until 0630 UT.  Both the skimmers and the QSOs bear this out.

Why yes, I did get a new radio to replace the FT-840.  More on this in the future.

It was pretty apparent that I had a lot of callers who couldn’t (for a variety of reasons) copy me.  European friends reported a total lidfest on their end the first night I was on the air, although I learned a lot about pileup control on this trip.  I have great respect for the “real” DXpeditioners who do this from the rarest locations.  This was tremendous fun, though, and I enjoyed working each and every one.  Thank you for calling!

There was one night on 17 meters that I CQed dead air for almost a half hour, making just two QSOs with stateside stations.  And like a switch, the Europeans came in over the pole.  It was incredible: I made 300 QSOs in 2.5 hours that night…mostly Europeans and Japanese.

Oh, one more photo…this is one of our rental vehicles on Adak.  No, your ARES group cannot buy it.  The siren and lights don’t work anyway.

So, I got home on Monday and Sarah is amused by the amount of fan mail (QSL cards) the trip generated.  Speaking of QSLing, the log has been uploaded to LoTW and has already generated about a 25% return rate.  If you worked KL7/K8GU, you can get a nice photo card by sending an SASE or SAE+green stamp to my callbook address.  I also use the bureau.  To this point, Kevin and Nathaniel and I have been planning to share a card.  They are still there for another week (so, if you missed me, you still have a chance for NA-039) and then we will figure out a card and order them.  So, it will be a few weeks until cards can go out.

Ethan Miller, K8GU, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Maryland, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

It's hard to believe that I have been blogging for 2 years now!! I have had a great time learning about the hobby from other bloggers. I have been able to expose myself to new areas of ham radio. It's because of blogging I have dipped my toes into QRPp very low power operations. I was able to make a 45,686 miles per watt contact earlier this year. I have somewhat moved away from Windows as my only OS and invited Linux into the mix. That has turned out very well although it's been learning curve but a refreshing challenge. Also with reading many posts about outdoor QRP operations I have also started to do the same, operating from parks in the area as well as my car when the weather is not so inviting. I have taken on the challenge of the ARRL Jubilee award and hoping to complete it (as you only have one year to complete it) and doing it with QRP power.

What they would like to see more (or less) in the blog?
How is the flow of the blog?
Are there topics you enjoy more than others in the blog?
How is the setup of the blog sit with you?
Finally any other input you would like to add don't hold back let me know!


Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

Herstal pendant lamp, type 06

Some years ago I had this annoying noise that made listening for weak signals on several of the shortwave radio bands virtually impossible. In the end I was finally able to track down the noise source: Our beautiful Danish Herstal designer lamps in the kitchen. Actually it wasn’t the lamps themselves, but the dimmable switch mode power supply that came with them.

After some years of always having to remember to turn them off, in the end I just replaced the original noisy dimmer with a fixed voltage, noiseless, electronic transformer and inserted lower wattage 12 V light bulbs in the two lamps.

The original dimmer came in its own nice conical designer housing and inside one finds a more ordinary plastic housing. And of course it is marked with the CE mark, thus indicating that it should be fine with respect to noise.

But as I kept opening it up, I finally found the printed circuit board. Interestingly, there are several components which have just been bypassed with wires. The most important one must be the one to the left of the center hole. Here two wires have replaced a component connected more or less directly to the 230 V AC input.

I believe this is a common mode filter. These filters hardly serve any purpose when it comes to the function of the dimmer. But they are vital for ensuring that the dimmer does not radiate noise on the power line, and probably also for achieving the CE mark.

Press for larger image

I think the manufacturer, Herstal, may have cut some corners here in order to save cost. They seem to have fallen for the temptation to remove this filter component after it initially had been designed in.

Who at Herstal who made that decision, I can only speculate about. But since the filter initially was there, I think that it was someone other than the design engineers.

Sverre Holm, LA3ZA, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Norway. Contact him at [email protected].

With all the excitement of moving into the new basement ham shack and operating in the Colorado QSO Party, I almost forgot to write this update blog posting on my 2012 Challenge to have at least one QSO per day.  I’m pleased to say that my QSO a Day challenge continues.

As I have stated in previous blog entries.  My own version of a QSO a Day challenge has helped me be more active on the bands and as a result has produced many positive results.

My DXCC count grew by three in the month of August with the addition of Puerto Rico, South Africa and Bolivia.  My DXCC count currently stands at 70 with approx. 65 confirmed.  Also, I’ve not missed a month in 2012 of adding at least one new DXCC to my count.  Hopefully this streak will continue throughout the rest of the year. 

The total QSO count for August is a bit low with only logging 81 Q’s.  But so much of my free time during the month was devoted to getting the new ham shack ready for equipment.  The balance of effort for this milestone versus the lack of Q’s in my opinion balances out.  One other way of looking at this stat.  During both the 2009 and 2010 calendar years, my total QSO count for each year was less than 81. But this isn’t about how many Q’s I can rack up in a month or a year.  It’s about quality over quantity. 

A few other noteworthy items for August 2012.  I operated the PSK63 mode for the very first time and worked the London 2012 Summer Olympics Special Event station 2O12L.  I also successfully worked W9IMS in August which was their third and final special event station in support of the Indy Motor Speedway events.  I’m looking forward to receiving the certificate for working all three race events in the same calendar year. 

Finally, I worked several 2m FM contacts in August in support of the annual Colorado 14’er event.  These contacts also increased my total SOTA chaser points to over 100.

I can’t remember if I shared the website I use to create the ADIF to Google map I display each month.  This web-tool is made possible by David Levine, K2DSL.  Thank you David!

The QSO breakdown for August is as follows:

Mode
Number QSO’s

JT65
68

SSB    
3

PSK31 
5

PSK63
1

2m FM 
4

Additional notes of interest:

DX Stations Worked in August – 13

New DX Entities in August – 3

Total QSO’s for 2012 – 937

Total consecutive QSO days – 244

Days left in 2012 – 122

Until next time…

73 de KD0BIK

Jerry Taylor, KD0BIK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Colorado, USA. He is the host of the Practical Amateur Radio Podcast. Contact him at [email protected].