AmateurRadio.com

The digital TV card arrived yesterday and of course, I couldn’t resist getting it going straight away. I followed Richard, G4WFR’s instructions and all went very well. There was a slight issue getting the USB driver installed with ZADIG.EXE. The problem wasn’t the program but no doubt my VISTA laptop! Anyway, after an initial failure to install the driver, I rebooted the laptop, tried again and it all worked well.

The first experiments have just been using an internal antenna. However, I’ve been able to receive a number of Band II FM stations, some in stereo, my own transmissions on 70, 144 and 432MHz on a variety of modes as well as some aircraft on AM around 120MHz and weather stations in the 433MHz band.

What I need to do is to pop into Maplins, hopefully tomorrow lunchtime and grab some plugs to make up an adapter, so I can plug the various external antennas into the receiver. I’m hoping we’ll see some good results.

Field Day 2012 with VY2CRS

As I mentioned in a previous post, I’ve been on vacation in Prince Edward Island Canada.

This year, our vacation coincided with my favorite annual event, Field Day.
Sadly, I missed an opportunity to experience Field Day QRP-style with the NC-based QRP club, the Knightlites, on the Blue Ridge Parkway, along with my buddy, Vlado (N3CZ).

Ron Morris, VY2RM, working 20 meters

Before I left my trip up north, I contacted the Charlottetown, PEI, Amateur Radio Club (VY2CRS) and was glad to learn that they had planned a Field Day event on the farm of their club President, Andy Speelman (VA2AS). Better yet, the location was just forty minutes from the cabin where we were staying on PEI.

Perhaps one of the benefits we enjoy as amateur radio operators is that we’re all part of one enormous event, an all-inclusive fraternity of like-minded individuals. When I arrived on site at the Charlottetown Field Day location, I was greeted as if I was expected. The large sign at the end of Andy’s driveway was a great advertisement for the FD location.

(Left to Right) Chris Vessey VY2CRV, Richard Burke VY2RB and Andy Speelman VY2AS

They instantly put me to work…eating a hamburger. After all, you can’t work a radio rig without a little something in your fuel tank, right?

“Islander” hospitality is legendary, and frankly, reminds me of the way it was when I was growing up in rural North Carolina where “no one’s a stranger,” and you’re free to accept invitations (and meals) without hesitation. This local club went a step further, and from the moment I arrived, included me in their jokes, making sure to laugh not just at but with me. I felt utterly at home.

The club had a wide array of antennas up by the time I arrived. All of them had been constructed just prior to the beginning of the contest, and all were field-deployable. Andy’s farm is a wide-open space and with no limitations to big antlers, thus they even fit a 160M “V” doublet out in front of the barn where we operated.

My view as I worked station after station on 20 meters

Though I had only a few hours to play radio before heading back to my family at the cabin, they put me on the 20M almost immediately. In perhaps an hour, I chalked up 100+ contacts on that band. The guys got a kick out of hearing me call “CQ Field Day, CQ Field Day, this is VY2CSR” and then offering up our “3 Alpha Maritime” in my North Carolina accent.

Though not great for identifying dupes, paper logs will work even if the power goes out

It was also fun to get a quick word in with those NC stations I worked from the island, many of whom were set up only a few miles from my home QTH.

I made sure I saved plenty of time for chatting with the club members, too. After all, this Field Day event– like many others I’ve attended–was more about comraderie and fun rather than about raking in the scores and multipliers (not that taking it to a contest level is objectionable, of course).

Darin Gay VY2GAY (left) and Andy Speelman VY2AS (right)

Fellows in Charlottetown: if you’re reading this post, I surely thank you for including me in FD 2012, Charlottetown-style.

Readers, if you happen to be on vacation during Field Day, search for a local event. There’s sure to be one and you’ll most likely make some new friends and create some notable radio memories.

A new rig is a thing of beauty. Whether it be Elecraft, Kenwood, Yaesu, Icom or kit built or homebrewed, once you get it on the air, it’s definitely fun! And before the novelty wears off, quite addictive.

After watching some TV with Cara and Joey, I headed down to the shack for about another 1/2 hour of operating time before heading off to the sack.  Most of that time was spent becoming familiar with knobs, functions and controls; but I also did manage to work OZ1HDF and RK3ER on 30 Meters.

Even though I now have microphones for the K3 and KX3, I doubt that I will be spending much of any time with any mode other than CW.  Sending and receiving Morse is still what Amateur Radio is all about for me.

July 15th is the Sussex Hamfest up in Sussex County, NJ – which is the extreme Northwest corner of the state. The Sussex Hamfest is one of the best in the state; and normally I can’t go as we’re usually in Lake George that weekend.  This year I can go and am planning on it.  Some things I will need – 1/4″ to mini jack stereo adapter so that I can use my earbuds on the K3.

With the K2, I had a single, amplified speaker.  I think I will have to get a set of amplified stereo speakers so that I can take advantage of the stereo sound the K3 can provide.  An inexpensive set of computer speakers should do the trick and those can usually be found quite easily (and cheaply!) at hamfests.

Off to bed now, tomorrow is a work day, and unfortunately,  I am anticipating tomorrow and Friday to be as bad as yesterday was.

By the way, it’s 11:30 PM and it’s still 84F (29C) – ugh!  In a few of the QSOs that I had today, the ops on the other end told me that it was well over 100F (38C) at their locations, so I guess I should be grateful it wasn’t that bad here!

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

It was hot here again today with highs in the mid 90’s – I believe the high for the day was 95F (35C); so I stayed inside where it was cool.

That gave me the chance to play radio and get the K3 completed.  Between spurts of kit building, I managed to work my good friend Bob W3BBO on 40 Meters this afternoon.  We had a nice 30 minute rag chew and he was using the 44′ EDZ that he recently put up at his new house.  It worked well.  He started out at 559, but when the QSB kicked out, he was a solid 599 from Erie, PA to South Plainfield, NJ.  We had some QRM come in towards the end of our QSO; but the KX3’s silky smooth filtering knocked the interference right out.

I managed to get the front panel mounted and got to the stage of doing the smoke test.  No smoke!

Another hour or so and I was able to finish everything, do the calibrations and get the radio set in its place on the shack table.

The first QSO was Neal N4HAF on 40 Meters.  We had a nice little rag chew going and it was an enjoyable QSO. I worked John K4BAI on 20 Meters and started gabbing with him – only to realize that he was partaking of the MIQRP 4th of July Sprint. Doh!  I quickly apologized to John and let him get on with this business of making more QSOs.  I also worked AC8W in the same contest on 40 Meters and then switched back to 20 Meters for a short chat with Mike N0ZH, who will be Skeeter #55 in the Hunt in August, by the way.  It was good to hear Mike, it had been a while since we has last QSOed.

Anyway, after becoming acquainted with the KX3, it was nice to see the K3 is just about the same with a few minor differences.  It will still take a while before I feel “at home” behind it like I do with the K2; but that will come.  Some of the things that are a surprise are 1/4″ sockets for phones and paddles.  I am so used to the smaller miniature jacks that are used on the K1, K2 and KX3.  But it was nice to be able to hook both antennas up without having to use PL259 to BNC adapters.

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

236 years ago, a group of men from the 13 British Colonies of America gathered in Philadelphia.  It was an unusually hot and humid summer. These men were considered to be the “creme de la creme” of their colonies.  Some were lawyers, some were farmers, some were tradesmen such as cobblers, millers and carpenters.  One was even a minister. They were all held in esteem for their honesty and integrity.

They all had a vision and a dream.

They desired to break away from their Mother country, who they felt had grown to come unresponsive to their needs and wants.  Over time, the monarchy in England had become oppressive, contemptuous, and was on the verge of becoming tyrannical.

These men, 56 of them in all, signed a document known as The Declaration of Independence. It was a document that would become known as the finest expression of the American mind. It was a road map for the concept of “American Exceptional-ism”. By that term, it is not meant that the United States, as the new nation was to be called, was or is better than any other nation on the face of the Earth. What is meant by the term of “American Exceptional-ism” is the new form of government that was to eventually be embodied in the Constitution of the United States. You see, the Declaration and the Constitution are entwined. The seeds planted in the Declaration blossomed into the Constitution.

In those documents was the “exceptional” idea that men (and by that, we mean all people) were endowed by their Creator with certain “unalienable rights” including the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And that because of these rights, endowed by God, the power of the government was to rest entirely in the hands of the governed. This was a radical new idea! The people would never be threatened again by a despotic power who could give or take away rights as the result of a whim.

This IS a grand and noble vision that has withstood the test of time for 236 years. It is up to US, the descendants (in fact and in spirit) of those original Americans to keep the dream and vision alive and to never let it perish.

Have a Happy 4th of July!

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

Yesterday while Googling someone’s callsign I stumbled upon QRZCQ.com, a new amateur radio portal. You’re probably saying right now “Great, yet another website trying to be like the ‘Zed.”  Indeed, it is trying to be yet another QRZ.com, but unlike others who have tried, this one appears to have gotten it right.

At first glance, the site is very visually appealing.  Unlike other sites it looks like it was designed in this century, with nice colors and fonts, everything ties together visually, and there appears to be use of “Web 2.0″ technology.  QRZCQ features a callsign database, with user editable profiles.  There’s a DX cluster area that is very well designed with filtering capability.  The Forums page is a bit basic, but I like the threaded conversations.  It doesn’t appear that forums are the center of attention on this site like it is on other portals, another good move in my opinion.  QRZCQ’s Swapmeet area doesn’t have a lot of equipment for sale yet, but I like the layout of the ads.  Hopefully this design will scale well as the volume increases.

The site has other features one would expect such as chat, videos, a resources area, and a “Stream” page that shows user activity on the site.  The site is free, however they will be offering premium subscriptions, they just lack a payment system at this point.  Premium subscribers will have more DX cluster filtering functionality, be able to author articles and news stories, create and manage chatrooms, and have additional functionality in other areas.  There are currently no banner ads on the site.

One feature I really like is the DX cluster map.  It’s like the venerable VHFDX.info cluster maps, which have been having a lot of service problems recently and is down as I type this.  QRZCQ’s cluster map is based on Google maps, so you have your choice of maps and the familiar Google maps controls and navigation.  I may start using this more regularly if it refreshes well and is reliable.

QRZCQ.com launched earlier in the year (general free memberships opened in April), and the site seems to have a decent number of users as it doesn’t have that struggling new portal site feel.  The audience is very international as the Users Online feature shows.  All in all, this looks like a wonderful resource for amateur radio that is well thought out and will be useful in day to day operation.  I plan to use it extensively and I would recommend all radio artisans to check it out.

‘Twas one of those days at work where I felt like I was beaten with a pool cue, run over by a bus and then dragged in by the cat.