AmateurRadio.com

MakerShed announced a new product that will probably appeal to radio artisans who like to build little rigs.  It’s the Menta, a smaller version of the Arduino which fits nicely in the venerable Altoids tin.

Get a few 2N2222s, some toroids, resistors, and a crystal soldered on the prototyping area, then burn some CW keyer software on the Arduino and voila, you got a nice little QRP rig.

Work has been conspiring to eliminate my spare time but I was able to spend a few hours over the Easter holiday to clean up the shack and make space to put the Heathkit AT-1 on the desk again. I have been able to spend a little time going over parts that need to be replaced and making a list.

The Heathkit AT-1 chassis with case and VFO-1 behind.

There doesn’t seem to be any show stoppers although the wafer of the meter switch has broken in two and will need to be repaired. If I’m not able to repair it then thankfully it is fairly simple and replacement rotary switch can be substituted.

This isn’t going to be a museum quality restoration but the changes that were made to this transmitter in the past were sensible and if left in place are representative of period modifications. The original meter for example was not the highest quality and a Western or Simpson replacement would be an improvement. The original slide switches have been replaced with period snap-toggle switches which are also an improvement over the original.

The Heathkit VFO-1 however has been modified for grid-block keying which is a significant departure from the original and I plan to revert it back to cathode keying. Although a technical improvement it is not in keeping with the original design and needs to be undone. Everyone will have their own opinion but I think if I wanted modern circuits I’d get a more modern rig, so the VFO-1 will be returned to stock.

Hopefully I can carve out a bit of time here and there to work on this and slowly return it to working condition.

Owen Morgan, KF5CZO, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Texas, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

QRPometer complete

Well the QRPometer has made it from a pile of parts to a very useful tool for the shack and portable op's. It's no wonder this kit sold out in record time and now the 4 state QRP group will have to round up more parts and move out some more kits as the demand is out there. I began this project the same way I have with all my projects.... by doing a parts inventory. That went by without a hitch all the parts and pieces were present and accounted for. It was then off to the "puttin" the parts where they belong. The instructions are very easy to

Solder blob mod done

follow and very well laid out. If you are not sure about things and need a picture you will find it on the 4 State QRP groups website. During the resistor install there is a note to hold off on two resistors until after the calibration stage. I did get an email from the 4 State group letting me know that there is also a third resistor that should not be installed as well. Now that is great support each person that ordered a kit receive an email with updated info! There is a very small mod that has

Ribbon cable soldered to LCD

 to be done to the LED meter a solder blob has to be removed from a pair of pads. A new blob has to short a pair of center pads it went very smooth and allowed me to use my Hakko 808 to remove the solder blob. With all the parts installed it was now time for calibration and I wish all kits could be this easy to calibrate!!! All that is needed is a voltmeter (my Fluke meter) for the first step and then an RF input between .5W to 5 watts (my trusty K3) for this second step.


The kit pro's
1. Very easy to build and calibrate
2. No toroid or SMD for those kit builders who shy away from them.
3. Instructions are well written and very easy to understand.
4. Meter has a built in dummy load when measuring power.
5. When meter is turned off it can still be left in series with antenna and transmitter the meter is in bypass.
6. Professional silk screen front panel.
7. Parts layout on the the circuit board are...may I say "Elecraft quality"!

Con's

Calibration complete

1. The TX and ANT connectors are RCA and not BNC. I had to buy RCA to BNC adapters.
2. There is no cover for the back of the circuit board.

So lets put 2 and 2 together.......7 pro's to 2 con's = home run!!
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

As mentioned in the activation alert from last week, I attended a local amateur radio club meeting on Saturday morning and presented Summits On The Air (SOTA) to the club membership.  My presentation covers all aspects of both chasing as well as activating and I had available all my normal activation gear on hand.  There were approx. 25 members on-hand for the presentation and I would estimate by the amount of questions, that at least half (perhaps more) will become active chasers.

After the meeting and a brief lunch, six of the members accompanied me on the activation of Genesee Mountain.  Genesee Mountain is part of the Denver Parks and Recreational System.  It is a well maintained area with a paved road providing an easy walk about 90% of the way.   

The six other amateurs accompanying me wanted a nice leisurely first SOTA experience and that is exactly what I wanted to provide them.  The original plan was to drive all the way to the top, park and then hike down 100 vertical feet, then back up.  However, Genesee Mountain park road wasn’t open all the way the highest parking area.  The main parking area is less than 1 mile (0.8 to be exact) from the summit with an elevation gain of about 200 feet.   Everyone in the group felt comfortable with this hike and we took a nice easy stroll to the top.  I handled packing the communications equipment needed for the activation.

We reached the summit just before 2100 UTC (3 PM local) and quickly began setting up the Buddipole Versatee Vertical for 20m. I briefly explained the setup and began calling CQ at 2115 UTC.  Within just  a few minutes I had the first QSO in the log and we took turns working each station until everyone had their four (or more) QSO’s in the book. 

I (we) worked a total of 10 stations including N1EU, K7ASQ, K7ATN (S2S), WA2USA, ND9Q, KK1W, AD5A, WB9WHQ, K6ILM and W5DLD. 

In the above photo, KDØBIK (red shirt) helping NØHIO work his first SOTA activation.  I would like to thank NØHIO for providing the photo and video of the activation. 

Watch this video on YouTube.

I’m fairly certain those who participated in the activation will all perform their own activations in the near future.  I’m also hoping to get another SOTA activation planned in the next couple of weeks.  The KX3 should arrive (hopefully) in the next 2-3 weeks and of course I will need to test it out and the best way I know of doing that is Summits On The Air.

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].

Last Saturday I picked up Andrew (KCØYFY) and his wife Joleen (KDØDOT) at 8:00 A.M. and headed for the monthly meeting of the West Central Minnesota Amateur Radio Club. It’s a 45 minute drive from Granite Falls, so we had plenty of time to talk. But once we got to the location of the meeting, our conversation took an abrupt turn. We were the only ones there!

Andrew asked, “You don’t think the meeting got canceled because of Easter weekend?”

I groaned. No way! “Here,” I said, grabbing my cellphone, “let me give Dean a call.” Dean (NYØI), the fellow who first invited me to join the club, is the Energizer bunny rabbit of ham radio — especially when it comes to building and maintaining the VHF/UHF repeaters out our way. But we quickly discovered that none of us had his phone number.

“Wait a minute!” I said. “We’re HAMS! Let’s call somebody on the radio!” What a novel idea. To think of using a radio instead of a cell phone to call another ham! I put down my cellphone and grabbed my HT. “NØIP monitoring,” I called on the local repeater.

“NYØI,” came back Dean! “The meeting has been rescheduled to next Saturday,” he explained when I inquired. “We published it on our Facebook page and announced it on the net. Sorry!” Again, I groaned. Down in Granite Falls I can’t hear the repeater they use for their net, and I long ago suspended my infernal Facebook account. “But how about I meet you for breakfast?” Dean asked.

I looked at Andrew and Joleen, who nodded. “Sure!” I replied. “Where do you want to meet?”

After getting directions to a small-town diner just up the street, we headed there and found a table. Within minutes, Dean arrived. When the waitress came by, he asked, “What’s your birthday special?”

“It’s your birthday?!” I asked. Sure enough, it was his birthday, and he had dropped everything to meet us at a moment’s notice. What a guy!

After a great conversation that ranged from ham radio to church life, Dean invited us up to the repeater site on the edge of town. We piled into our cars and headed over to the tower of the local FM broadcast station, where Dean pointed out three verticals mounted partway up. These were the antennas for the two repeaters he had there, he explained. Two huts crouched at the foot of the tower; one was the FM broadcast station’s, and the other the local sheriff’s (for their own repeater which used an antenna at the very top of the tower). Dean took us into this second hut, which also contained his two repeaters — one on 2 meters, and the other on 75 cm.

I had never seen a repeater in my life. Dean explained how they worked, and he told us about past equipment and current plans to improve what they had. Having been an HF CW guy all my life, I felt like a tourist in a foreign country — and I enjoyed every minute of it! After thanking Dean, the three of us headed back to Granite Falls.

On the long drive home, we continued the conversation we’d begun on the way there. The local ARES® Emergency Coordinator position is open, and Andrew is wondering if I might consider taking it. I promised him I’d contact the DEC and learn more about what is involved. Lots to think about!

As far as attending the club meeting that never happened, I suppose it was a wasted trip. But thanks to Andrew, Joleen, and Dean it most definitely was not wasted! After all these years as a ham, I’m finally meeting fellow hams in person. I wish I’d done it sooner.

Todd Mitchell, NØIP, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Minnesota, USA. He can be contacted at [email protected].

You might want to read Part 1 and Part 2 of this series if you haven’t already done so.

Originally, my wife Sharon and I were going to spend the full day “playing tourist” together on our last day of the trip, and I hadn’t planned on doing any additional radio operations. However, things changed and since Sharon had plans with her Mom, I decided to head back to South Lido Beach for one more day of operating. I got a much earlier start than the previous days, and set up in the same place that I did before, operating from inside the car. I was on the air at just around noon local time, but I got off to a very slow start, with only three contacts in that first half-hour. However, thanks to the magic of the packet cluster network, once I got spotted (initially by N8ZI, thanks!) things got a lot busier, and with more spots there were a lot more stations calling, who in turn spotted me again which brought another wave of stations calling. For that afternoon, ignoring the initial “slow start”, I wound working a station about every 2 minutes over the next 2 1/2 hours. Considering that in a few cases (one of which I’ll mention specifically) I stopped and chatted for several minutes, I was extremely pleased with that rate.

Unlike the previous days, the final day of operation went very smoothly, with no hitches at all. I operated entirely on 15m, and aside from some fairly deep QSB (fading) that was problematic from time to time, propagation seemed to be very good into central Europe as well as both the northeast and western United States.

One of the more memorable contacts I made was with Budd, W3FF. Budd is the “Budd” in Buddipole, and while we’ve emailed back and forth on several occasions, this was the first time we’d ever had a contact on the radio. When he first called me I had some trouble hearing him due to the previously mentioned QSB. He’d tried to work me on the previous day while “pedestrian portable” (that’s walking around with an HF radio and antenna), but I wasn’t able to hear him. For this contact, he was working from his home station, and he had to turn on his amplifier so that I could hear him more clearly. It was fun getting to speak to Budd, and after a while we finished and I went on to work more stations.

After returning home, a little quick analysis of my log showed the I made 119 contacts with 116 different stations (I worked 3 stations twice each) located in 24 different countries. As of the time that I’m writing this, I had 33 of those contacts confirmed via Logbook of The World and another dozen who send me QSL cards directly through the mail, including 3 DX stations. (I won’t see any bureau cards for at least another 6 to 12 months). With the help of my son Brett who did the design work, I was able to print out the cards needed to confirm those contacts, making sure to include both the IOTA number and island name as part of the card. (This is a requirement of the IOTA programme and and I wanted to ensure that the folks who got a card for me were able to use it for confirmation of their contact with NA-034.)

All in all, I had a great time operating, and I look forward to doing it again.

Here’s the list of countries that I contacted:

Prefix	Country name
CT	Portugal
DL	Federal Republic of Germany
EA	Spain
EA6	Balearic Islands
EA8	Canary Islands
ER	Moldova
F	France
FG	Guadeloupe
G	England
HA	Hungary
HB	Switzerland
HC	Ecuador
HI	Dominican Republic
HR	Honduras
I	Italy
K	United States of America
KP4	Puerto Rico
OE	Austria
OK	Czech Republic
SM	Sweden
SV	Greece
UA	European Russia
VE	Canada
YU	Serbia (ex-Yugoslavia)

This is part 2 of this series. You might want to read Part 1 first if you haven’t already done so.

When I woke up for the second day of my operation, for some reason I had a feeling that I hadn’t remembered to pack up all my equipment the day before. I was sure that I had the radio, the antenna, and the mast, but I didn’t remember actually packing the tent stakes and guy lines. I was hoping that I’d forgotten and done that anyway, but I headed to the car to check the equipment, and found that I had indeed forgotten those small but important items. I did have some spare line with me, so the only thing I’d need to do is to figure out how to anchor that line, possibly with some rocks. I decided that I’d head to where I’d set up and figure out if maybe the missing items were still there. If not, I’d try to find a local store that sold what I needed.

When I arrived at the location where I’d set up the day before, I discovered the good news and the bad news: The good news was that the line and carabiners were lying on the ground. The bad news was that the bright-yellow tents stakes were gone. I took the line and carabiners and decided to have lunch while I mulled my options.

As I’ve done in the past, I headed to my favorite place for lunch, The Old Salty Dog, located just a few minutes away. As I was waiting for my blackened Grouper “Firecracker Wrap”, I used my iPhone to try to find a place that sold camping supplies. There was nothing at all nearby, with the closest place, a Wal-Mart, being over 10 miles away. I live in northern New Jersey and I’m used to traffic, but Sarasota County in the middle of the day during tourist season is awful. I figured that the amount of time that it would have taken to get the stakes and back just wasn’t worth the effort, so I tried to figure out an alternative. Thinking about how I’d set up on the first day, out in the direct sunlight, I realized that ideally I’d be able to set up where I could get a little shade. There was a section of the park where I’d set up on the previous trips that was shaded, but with the park being much busier than in the past, I couldn’t use that location. I then figured out that I could use a couple of bungee cords that I had with me to lash the mast to a fence that bordered the parking lot. I found a suitable location in the lot, with the only drawback being that there was no shade and no place to sit. (This second location is marked in green on the map in my first post of this series.)

Although not as nice as sitting outside, I figured that I could set up the radio and logging computer inside the car, and with the doors open to help get a little air circulating through the car, it was pretty warm, but tolerable. To stay out of the sun, I wound up sitting in the back seat which also let me stretch out a bit. There was room for the radio on the console between the front seats, and by setting up the iPad (used for logging) and the keyboard carefully, I was able to log relatively easily while operating.

With the logistics out of the way, I decided to concentrate on 15m since the propagation seemed to be cooperating and the antenna was tuning up nicely on that band. Things started off fairly slowly, but after about an hour of operating I got spotted on the packet cluster by a few stations in Europe, and that brought in a lot more callers. Most of the time, the stations were far enough in between that I had a chance to chat a little bit with folks, but occasionally, usually after getting spotted, I’d have 3 or 4 stations call in at once. While hardly a pileup by most standards, I really enjoy working hard to pull individual callsigns out to work the stations. What was particularly enjoyable for me was being able to help out stations who needed NA-034 either for an “all-time” new IOTA entity, or to increase their scores for the IOTA Marathon event sponsored by Radio Society of Great Britain.

Unfortunately, because of the time spent trying to figure out how to set things up, (and of course the all-important lunch), I only wound up being on the air for about 90 minutes that day. I made about 35 contacts during that time, so for a lightweight, low-power operation I was very happy.

Click here for Part 3.