AmateurRadio.com

Following a tip on the Elecraft reflector from Wayne N6KR I ordered a Think Tank Strobe Stuff Belt Pouch to use as a case for the KX3. As Wayne suggested, this could be the ultimate compact KX3 carrying case.

The ultimate KX3 carrying case?

The KX3 fits easily into the main compartment (after removing the KXPD3) while the secondary compartment has room for several accessories including the removed KXPD.)

Wayne managed to squeeze the KX3, the MH3 mic, a backup mini-mic, the KXPD3 paddle, ear buds, a spare set of 8 AA cells or a 4-cell, 14-V Li-Ion pack, two 25ft. lengths of Wireman #26 “silky” for antenna and ground wire, two 1in. stainless-steel hex nuts (for tossing wire into a tree) a 20-m two-piece telescoping whip (in case there isn’t a tree) a BNC elbow and a BNC-to-binding post adapter (to attach the two wires) into the case. I’m not quite sure how he managed it, but there’s no doubt that with a bit of practice you could get a fully functional portable station in there. CW diehards could dispense with the MH3 mic which takes up the most space next to the KX3 itself. If you use the AlexLoop WalkHam then you could omit the wire and a few other bits and pieces. The belt pouch looks smart alongside the AlexLoop carrying case.

Search for the Think Tank Strobe Stuff Belt Pouch by name and Google will find you the best local supplier.

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

This past weekend I spent Field Day with two long time friends.  It wasn’t the biggest, best, most-attended, highest-scoring Field Day I’ve participated in, but it was good to do this annual ritual.  I’ve always loved Field Day, and it’s perhaps my favorite event.  I think my initial attraction to it was combining camping and the outdoors with my love of radio.  Today I see it more as something that brings everyone in our diverse hobby together.  Field Day captures nearly all of the components or

facets of our hobby into one event: casual operating, contesting, learning, construction, emergency operations, construction, socializing, and of course, eating good food.  No matter what each of us does in amateur radio or what modes we like, there is a place for everyone at Field Day.

Setting up for Field Day is stressful, no doubt about it.  For those of us involved in organizing these events at one time or another, you question whether it’s worth it.  Then there’s the weather, often rainy, sweltering, or a combination of both.  There’s never enough time to setup and you never seem to have enough hands to help out.  But when everything gets underway, it’s all worth it.

Field Day recharges me for another year of operating.  Now that I’m back in the home QTH and off today, I’m thinking about the next Field Day… what can we do better and easier, and make more fun.

For 2012 ARRL Field Day, we operated from the cabin in portable style. Temporary wire antennas were tossed into the trees and  the trusty Honda EU1000 generator provided emergency power. The Spousal Unit, Joyce KØJJW got on the air and made some contacts, making this a multi-op effort.

We used a similar approach as last year, see my post, ARRL Field Day: Season to Taste. The main difference is that the sporadic-e on 50 MHz wasn’t as good this year, but we had a fun time working the event.

  Band  Mode  QSOs    
     7  SSB     15    
    14  USB     78  
    21  USB     73  
    50  USB     33  
   144  USB      3  
   420  FM       1  
 Total  Both   203  
        Score: 406

As usual for Field Day, most of the time the 20 Meter phone band was crammed with stations calling CQ Field Day. There were many times that I responded to one call and had another radio operator think I was working them. It occurs to me that we have this emphasis on exposing new people to ham radio during Field Day via the GOTA stations and public demonstrations. However, this is kind of like showing someone the joy of driving a car by having them experience a giant traffic jam.  Is this really the best way to introduce people to ham radio?

Field Day: Make it your own!

73, Bob K0NR

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

Field Day 2012 for W2LJ was not to be, so far.

I went down and helped my sister clean out my Mom’s apartment as scheduled.  That was planned and was no big deal – in fact, I enjoyed spending some “alone time” with my big sister.  As we both have our own families now, that just doesn’t happen often enough.

The plan to go down to the Sarnoff Radio Club Field Day site got “kiboshed”, however.  Actually, my sister drove me past the site at around 11:00 AM as we were driving to Princeton to donate some paperback books.  I didn’t see anyone setting up at that point and had planned to stop by later, on my way home.

Of course, shortly thereafter, while packing items in the apartment, my cell phone went off – work. They were looking for a Cisco 9513 switch and line cards for an emergency switch replacement and “could I stick around close, on standby” just in case they needed me to come in and help them locate components?

So after our cleaning session ended, I hurried home just to be available, if needed.  Luckily, I wasn’t needed; but it did put a damper on my plans.

But in the evening, during my weekly Echolink session with my good friend Bob W3BBO, he mentioned his visits to some Field Day sites today and that he might visit a few more tomorrow.  Then it hit me!  Tomorrow!  Maybe tomorrow, when I am back down there, I can hit the Sarnoff site for a half hour or so. And that is assuming they’re still set up.  I know Field Day runs until 2:00 PM; but I know some clubs like to call it quits early.

So for a bit, I lived Field Day vicariously through Matt W1MST’s AmateurRadio.com, where he’s running some UStream of a couple of Field Day sites.  I was watching KC2RA for a couple of minutes when one of the guys mentioned setting up his tent so that he could sleep tonight.

Sleep on Field Day?  What is that, he asked, smiling knowingly?

When I was an officer with the Piscataway club (and was still single, BTW), I did my best to be there for set up, the whole event, and a good part of tear down.  I remember quite a few years where sleep on Field Day was nothing more than a few minutes of cat napping in Rich W2PQ’s pop up camber or Bill W2WK’s trailer. C’mon, man!  We’re there to operate, not sleep!  Who can hit the sack when there’s CW contacts to be made on 80 and 40!

Of course, the end result was being rather bleary eyed and dysfunctional for work come Monday morning.  The other side effect was hearing Morse Code in your head for about 3 – 5 days later until that faded away.  But those were fun days and I wouldn’t trade those experiences for all the tea in China! (Ooops!  Am I still allowed to say that; or is that something the PC police are going to shut me down for?)

Hope you all are having a wonderful Field Day!

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].

Field Day 2012 is upon us and many of you are out enjoying the day.  For those who are working or can’t make their local Field Day event, there is always the option of living vicariously through those who are able.

Here is a live feed from Kings County Repeater Association (KC2RA) in Brooklyn, New York:



Or you can follow the Northwest Arkansas team of K5PO, WB0RUR, K5KVN, and K5OY here:

How is your Field Day 2012 going?

Matt Thomas, W1MST, is the managing editor of AmateurRadio.com. Contact him at [email protected].

Whenever I have taken a rig to operate in the Great Outdoors using a wire antenna I have often been disappointed. This is probably due to my use of inadequate antennas – Miracle Whips and the like. When I have tried wire I usually fail to get it up high enough. Usually when hurling a rock attached to a string into the trees, the rock rebounds off a branch and narrowly avoids hitting me on the head. If I do manage to get it up high the rock irremovably entwines itself with a branch just out of reach. There has to be a better way!

AlexLoop WalkHam carrying case

I have long been an enthusiast for magnetic loop antennas and have often wished I could use one as a portable antenna. My Wonder Loop was an attempt to make such an antenna, but it was less portable than transportable (by car) and has seen more use as a spare antenna from inside the shack.

I looked longingly at the WalkHam made by Alex PY1AHD and wished I could make a portable loop as neat and compact as that. If I had to make it myself it might never get done so I decided to bite the bullet and buy one of Alex’s ready-made loops.

There are two versions of the AlexLoop. One is a kit using copper tube  for the radiating element and costs $199 US. The other version, called the WalkHam, uses stout coaxial cable for the main loop and comes ready built in its own custom made carrying case similar to a laptop case. The price of the AlexLoop WalkHam is $299 US. Shipping to the UK by express courier to the UK is a further $82 US. The total cost to me using PayPal was just over £250 at the present exchange rate.

AlexLoop WalkHam in its case

 The WalkHam is well made with gold plated connectors for the loop element. It is easy to assemble, though not so easy to pack away unless you have a photo to show how the parts go back! The mast is made of black plastic tubing and is in three push-together sections. Once assembled the antenna may be used whilst held aloft – hence the name. Most users will probably prefer some sort of mast.

The AlexLoop WalkHam ready for use.

The loop is 1 metre in diameter and tuned using an air spaced variable capacitor with a 3:1 reduction drive giving a 4 : 1 tuning range: 10m – 40m. Most magnetic loops including home-made ones only manage a tuning range of 3:1: 10m – 30m or 15m – 40m. My MFJ magnetic loop is the 40m – 15m version as it was bought during the last solar minimum when 12m and 10m were not much use!

The coupling loop has a diameter of about 20cm. The maximum power handling is 20 watts PEP, 10 watts continuous wave, making the WalkHam perfect for use with QRP radios like the FT-817 or Elecraft’s new KX3!

Tuning as expected of a magnetic loop is extremely sharp but I noticed little or no hand-capacitance effect. With a little practice the loop can be tuned by peaking for maximum noise in the receiver. If the SWR isn’t low enough then the tuning may be touched up using transmit and the rig’s built-in SWR meter if it has one (both the FT-817 and KX3 do!) If not, a simple SWR indicator as I used in my Wonder Loop would be a big help.

Subjectively the AlexLoop seems to work as well as my MFJ magnetic loop in the attic, which itself is comparable to a full-size dipole. There are not many portable antennas that would beat the AlexLoop WalkHam for performance, unless you are able to erect a couple of 40-foot masts!

One thing that would improve the package would be a way of erecting the antenna so that it will stand on its own. I think my arm would soon get tired holding the WalkHam aloft! Possibly a short guyed mast made of sections of electrical conduit would do the job: magnetic loops don’t need to be far above ground in order to work. Some users are reportedly using photographic tripods so I’ll probably investigate that in due course.

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

The past few days, “The Heat Is On” by Glenn Frey from the movie “Beverly Hills Cop” had been constantly running through my head.  It’s been a scorcher and was best described by my friend Kevin, who looked at me Wednesday night and just said one word – “Oppressive”.

Now, truth be told …. I love the Summer.  Just love, love, love it!  The heat and humidity normally don’t bother me too much, but (pardon the pun) there was no “warm up” to this.  One day – beautiful Spring weather. Next day – WHAM! – the height of Summer.  While we had the benefit of an accurate forecast, no one was ready for this, there was no ramp up of heat.

But today, the “Heat is Gone”.  Actually, it was still pretty bad all day; but at around 5:30 PM, while it was still around 90F(32C), dark thunderheads appeared in the western sky. By 6:00 PM it was lightning, thundering and pouring buckets of rain – and ….. it was also 72F (22C). A drop of almost 20 Farenheit degrees.  The balance of the forecast for the weekend looks good – sunny each day and highs in the mid 80s (29C).  That should mean excellent conditions for Field Day.

Tomorrow (and possibly Sunday) I have to continue to help my sister with emptying my Mom’s apartment. However, she just texted me that the David Sarnoff Radio Club will be having their Field Day just down the street (literally) from my Mom’s place.  The NJQRPers sometimes join in on Field Day with the Sarnoff group, so maybe on the way home, I can stop off for a few minutes and mosey a bit.

Another good friend, Rem K6BBQ posted another of his entertaining and informative portable ops videos.  The one shows his efforts during the 7th Call District QSO Party back on May 5th.

Since it was May 5th, Rem was also sure to celebrate Cinco de Mayo by partaking of a burrito for lunch.  It sure looked good and I’ll bet it tasted as good as it looked.  Rem is not only a superb QRP op, (and a superb PORTABLE QRP op) but is also a Ham in the finest tradition of the hobby, making sure that good food is also included as an important part of all these events.

Hope all of you have fun this weekend with Field Day.  You know, even if you’re not affiliated with a club, as long as you have time and no conflicting commitments, there’s always the backyard picnic table or patio table, or local park or whatever.  AND ….. even if you’re not into contesting (and we all know that FD is NOT a contest – Hi!) – Field Day is a good opportunity to try out that new portable antenna you just built. Or that new radio you just built, or that new antenna tuner you just built and need to try.  You get my drift – practical field environment!

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].