AmateurRadio.com

KPA3 cover plate

Those who are regular readers of this blog know I have all Elecraft equipment and enjoy it very much. My Elecraft K3 was purchased with the 100 watt module (KPA3) and up to this point it has been sitting in the rig and just adding weight. The other week it was decided to unload some unused gear then put these funds together for the purchase of the Elecraft KX3. One of the items on the selling block was the KPA3 unit. When the KPA3 is removed from the radio there is a  hole in the rear of the radio were the cooling fans were located. Elecraft sells a plate (6 x 2 3/4 inch aluminum plate)  that covers the hole. I called up and placed an order, the cost of the plate was 20.37. A little expensive I thought but what are you going to do. Ten days later the plate
arrived looking at the bill  the plate cost 20.37 and the shipping was 10.00!!!

Opening when fans are removed

Plastic plugs

 This is half the cost of the plate. The package weighted ONE OUNCE  and was shipped parcel rate. To add insult to injury the plate has a hole labeled "ANT 3". I believe this is for the 2m  antenna out port .........if you have the 2m module!!!! Anyway I had to drive to the local electronics store to buy the plastic plug. They came in a package of 2 for forty nine cents. You know what Elecraft throw in the plastic plug and add one dollar to the cost. Back to the shipping rant........  my Elecraft KX3 according to Elecraft weights in at 1.4 LBS and lets knock that up to 1.6 pounds when you add in the shipping box, packing material,manual and bill. The cost for shipping me my KX3 is 48.00 dollars and that is more reasonable and understandable. TEN DOLLARS TO SHIP A 1 OUNCE PACKAGE.....COME ON ELECRAFT !!!!
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

If you are a UK amateur and you like Chinese radios you’d probably never think of buying them from anywhere other than direct from China or Hong Kong, most likely using eBay. Ham radio dealers in Britain are widely regarded (rightly or wrongly) as rip-off merchants who work out the price by replacing the dollar with a pound sign and then adding on a bit more for good measure. Their pleas that the UK price includes VAT and the cost of providing a warranty usually fall on deaf ears.

In one of the discussion groups someone mentioned buying a radio from a British firm called Sinotel UK. I went to their web site and saw that they carried several models of hand-helds from China, including a new one I hadn’t seen before: a TYT UVF9 (pictured right.) But what particularly caught my attention was their prices, which were little more than what I have been paying buying on eBay. Their cheapest model, the Vero Telecom UV-X4 (similar to the Baofeng UV-3R) was just £29.99 (yes, a brand new dual band radio for 30 quid.) A UV-5R eas £34.99. The radio that had caught my eye, the TYT UVF9, was £47.99. It would cost me $68.50 from 409shop and I’d have to wait a couple of weeks for it.

I am not associated with Sinotel UK and have not even bought anything from them but if I want yet another Chinese handy to add to my collection I probably will.

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

In amateur radio terms, Chirp is an ambigious term! In this context, we’re not talking about your CW transmitter warbling up and down the band and we’re not talking about a neat package for programming your handheld.

Two or three weeks ago, Rory Cellan Jones presented an item on the BBC about an application called Chirp that runs on smartphones. It provides the ability to transfer files between devices using audio.

Let’s say I’ve a picture or a URL on my phone that I want to send you. I start the Chirp application on my phone, as do you. I select the photo that I want to send you and press the button. First of all, the application quickly uploads the picture to the Chirp server. Once it’s done that, it sends a series of tones which your phone ‘hears’. The tones act as like an audio QR code and provide your phone with a URL with which it can access the picture that I uploaded.

Julie and I have been using Chirp to transmit photos between our iPhones and iPads – it’s easier than emailling photos back and forth.

The other evening I was talking to David M0TFY on GB3WH and we were talking about Chirp and we wondered whether it would work on the air. After all, how often do you want to send someone a URL or an email address over the air? If you’re like me, pretty frequently! Something like Chirp would work well.

Our experiment of using Chirp using our iPhones miked into the radio across GB3WH failed. However, I’ve a feeling that if we tried simplex we might be more successful – my suspicion was that some of the tones that Chirp uses were not being passed by the audio circuitry of the repeater.

Even if the Chirp application doesn’t work over the air (which I think it probably should) – it might be an interesting project for someone to write something that would use tones that would pass over the air readily and robustly to send URLs or eMails…

The Chirp application is free and runs on iPhones. You can read about it here or download it from the App Store.

Tim Kirby, G4VXE, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Oxfordshire, England. Contact him at [email protected].

Come join us on Saturday, September 15th, 2012 (9:00 AM to 2:00 PM) at the Tri-Lakes Monument Fire Administration Complex at 166 Second St. in beautiful Monument, CO for a half day workshop aimed primarily at the new Technician Licensees to help them get started in ham radio. While you’re here you’ll learn what it takes to be a ham radio operator, brush up on your DXing skills, test  your own ham radio equipment, check out some sweet mobile radio installations, and ask an Elmer “What’s so cool about 10 meters?”

Getting started in ham radio has never been so much fun!

Presentations

9:30 am – Youth DXpedition to Costa Rica
by Anna Veal WØANT

10:30 am – Mountaintop Operating
by Steve Galchutt WGØAT

11:30 am – Home Station Setup
by Anna Veal WØANT

12:30 pm – Getting On the Air
by Brandon Hippe KDØPWF

1:30 pm – Radio Equipment 101
by Shel KFØUR

* Each presentation is approximately 15 minutes with 5 minutes of Q&A at the end.  Events subject to change

Booths – Open 9AM to 2PM

Get Your Radio Programmed with Local Repeater Freqs by RT Systems
hosted by Kyle Hippe KYØHIP & Cole Turner WØCOL

Check Your Radio Performance
hosted by Bob Witte KØNR

See an HF Station
hosted by Dan Scott WØRO & Stu Turner WØSTU

Ask Any Question – The Elmer Booth
hosted by Paul Swanson AAØK & Shel KFØUR

Understand Mobile Installations
hosted by James Bucknall KDØMFO & Ethan Bucknall KDØMFP

Getting Your Ham Radio License
hosted by Brandon Hippe KDØPWF & Eric Hippe NØHIP

Ham Radio & Public Service
hosted by Randy Meadows KNØTPC

Sponsors

Tech Day 2012 is proudly sponsored by the WØTLM Amateur Radio Club and the  Pikes  Peak Radio Amateur Association.

Get the one page flyer in pdf format here.

Direct any questions to Bob KØNR

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

in the 20 Meter Fox hunt tonight.

I worked Dave AB9CA first.  His signal strength was a bit different tonight as he is not home in Alabama, but is vacationing in Wisconsin.  Completing Fox duty while on vacation – now THAT’S dedication!

Paul AA4XX was another matter.  I could barely hear him when I did finally find him.  The K3’s APF (Audio Peak Filter) made all the difference in the world.  At ESP levels when I first heard him, turning on the APF feature insured that when I finally worked him, I was able to hear him answer me back!  It took a barely audible signal and boosted it to a 449 to my poor old ears.

Thanks Elecraft, for a real neat (and usable) feature!

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].

Dr. Bob Heil, K9EID, is the founder of Heil Sound and host of TWiT.tv's Ham Nation which streams live each Tuesday at 6:00pm PT (9:00pm ET) at http://live.twit.tv. Contact him at [email protected].

Here’s an interesting piece of radio history.

Jonathan Hardy, KB1KIX, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Connecticut, USA. Contact him at [email protected].