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Sometimes I think Pavlov would have done better using Hams rather than dogs.  There seems to be a lot of salivating going on in Elecraft land.

As we get so ever closer to the KX3 shipping date, the KX3 reflector is going wild.  You get a palpable sense that some of the guys are literally jumping out of their skin, waiting for their radios to ship.

For me, it was harder to wait for the ordering process to begin.  In addition to not really knowing when it was going to happen, I was conflicted for a while wondering whether or not I would have the funds needed when things actually started rolling.  Fortunately, that turned out not to be a problem when the Order Page finally opened up.

When the original forecast for shipment was stated to be mid-February, my mind immediately told me “March or April …… maybe”.  I remember reading the stories that accompanied shipping the K3 when it first came out.  I figured that while that experience might have helped with initially shipping the KX3, it would not entirely eliminate unforeseen shipping delays TO Elecraft of materials needed to manufacture the rigs.

So here we are at March 14th, Pi Day, and the official line on the Elecraft Website is that shipping will commence somewhere between March 16th and the 26th.  I’m thinking that if I am very lucky, I will see mine somewhere right around Easter time.

I’m just hoping that I get it in plenty of time to build it and have it for QRP To The Field., which is usually the last Saturday in April.

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

There is nothing like some new toys to cheer you up when things get a bit boring! The G4ILO shack received two new arrivals this morning. Actually there was a third, non-radio addition that came yesterday as well, but that will have to wait for another posting.

The arrivals are two new handies – one a Baofeng UV-3R+ VHF/UHF dual band transceiver (note the plus,) the other a Wouxun KG699E low band VHF transceiver for 4 metres. My original UV-3R has found a new home, whilst the Taiwanese “professional” radio I got for 4 metres is just a rubbish radio.

I haven’t had time to get to know the new radios. The Wouxun in particular is not intuitive and will require some intensive study of the manual. The Baofeng is functionally identical to the UV-3R Mark II but the build quality is much superior – on a par with the Wouxun and favourably comparable to the ham radio brands like Yaesu.

A major plus of the UV-3R+ is that you now get a professional grade drop-in charger. Besides a more rugged-feeling case it also has a metal belt clip – a big improvement over the flimsy plastic one that came with the earlier model. I believe that both radios use Kenwood specification accessories. This will be useful, if true, as I have two Kenwood radios as well. One of the first things I will have to do is find a wiring diagram for the programming cable because the one I made for the UV-3R Mk I has a 3.5mm 4-pole plug and is no longer useful.

I was really pleased to work Nigel, ZD7XF at the weekend for a new country.

You might be interested to see a few pictures of Nigel’s previous operation from St Helena here

Nigel is, of course, G3TXF at home and is a very well-known and respected contester and dxpeditioner. He’s also a fine man. Some years ago, I had the absolute pleasure of working with him and Roger, G3SXW on a project building a website and database reporting on the financial performance of Telecom companies. In fact, on Nigel’s amateur radio website, there’s still a bit of code that I wrote which shows all of Nigel’s DXpeditions that a particular callsign has worked, band by band!

So, whenever I work Nigel from a faraway place, it’s always a particular pleasure.

This post will probably get me thrown off QRP-L for all eternity.

The other morning, I was trying to send an e-mail and Thunderbird started acting flookey. I was getting error messages that said my ISP “Cannot send message due to possible abuse” and then I also got this: “The message could not be sent because the connection to SMTP server smtp.verizon.yahoo.com was lost in the middle of the transaction. Try again or contact your network administrator.”

The situation was like this all day Saturday, so when sending e-mails, I had to use the Web based client that Verizon Yahoo offers.

No big deal really, in the scheme of things.  But later on that day, I saw that Terry KQ5U was experiencing the EXACT same problem and he posted about it as an Off Topic on QRP-L.  Wishing to communicate with him about it, but not wishing to tie up the e-mail reflector, we shared a couple of direct e-mails.

Thunderbird started acting normally for me on Sunday morning; but then gave me the same error Sunday afternoon and evening.  For the record, it seems to be all right today.  And I would have to say that in all, there were less than a half dozen posts about this on QRP-L.

Then I saw this today, and quite frankly, it rubbed me the wrong way.

“QRP-L mailman list,

Just a reminder, we don’t use OT in the subject or have Off Topic posts on this list. Especially when it comes to computer operating systems. Please take that elsewhere please.

This list is to be use for QRP and ham radio related topics. Some think this is a fine line since many of us have computers attached to our rigs, it is not.

Antenna modeling, SDR’s, logging and control are OK to discuss on the list, but I draw the line on operating systems. Guys that want to continue pushing this will be moderated without warning.

If you have any questions on this contact me direct and NOT to the list.

Thank you and 73 qrp-l moderator.”

Now, first off …… this is a private list that is run by someone.  Who that someone is, I am not sure and really, do not even want to know.  That said person sets rules and that we are expected to follow them is also fine.  I have no qualms with any of that.  That this notice was posted didn’t even bother me.

Here’s what bothered me, this one single, line:  “Guys that want to continue pushing this will be moderated without warning.”

There were a grand total of less than 1/2 dozen posts regarding this; and the originator, Terry KQ5U was looking for assistance.  And he came looking for that assistance to  a group of guys that are very knowledgeable on a wide variety of topics.  The fact that there were so few posts about it didn’t warrant the reaction, in my book.  And the “challenge” to anyone who might have offered some valuable information or tips seemed to be way off base in my most humble opinion.

In the past years, I have seen some really mundane topics that had NOTHING to do with QRP, just beaten to death on QRP-L, without one iota of comment from anyone.  This one, where someone was looking for some help with regards to an e-mail client (and NOT an operating system as was erroneously pointed out) so that he could continue posting to the list, just seems rather arbitrary and heavy handed to me.

Like I said, if this gets me banned from QRP-L in a snit of retaliation – so be it, but what’s right is right. The list owner’s announcement was correct and reasonable – the implied threat wasn’t.

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

Even with losing one hour this weekend due to the daylight saving time change, I’m pleased to report that after three weekends and an estimated 20-24 hours of labor, the walls are complete.   As I reported last week, I only had about 5 sheets of drywall to hang this weekend.  Unfortunately, these 5 sheets were in the laundry area of the basement and included a lot more intricate and fiddly work.  I also decided to replace the laundry dryer vent which took about an hour and two trips to the hardware store.   The old vent pipe was crushed and had been taped and spliced together before we purchased the QTH in 2004.   While we all know duct tape and bailing wire are near permanent repairs, I went ahead and erred on the side of better judgment and replaced it all. 

I also had to accommodate a small design plan my wife had suggested.  This included a short divider wall next to the washer and dryer.  The laundry area of the basement was one area my wife and I had changed our minds on the overall design.  Initially we had planned to completely enclose the washer and dryer behind doors.   Today our washer and dryer are a basic set of Sears Kenmore models.  We are planning to upgrade to some nice front load models.  I figure if we’re going to spend the extra money for these upgraded models, we don’t want them hiding behind a door. 

Here are a few pictures from the work this weekend.  Please excuse the mess, the area is under construction. 

Here’s the short wall which was a last minute addition. 

Looking from my ham shack down the short hall to the laundry area.  The door on the left is access into the utility closet where the furnaces, hot water heater etc. are located.

The next few pictures (a few I’ve shown in older blog postings) are in my ham shack area and show the progression over the past few weekends.

The stud walls

Just two more panels to close in the corner.

Corner done. 

The above corner had to be framed in this way due to a basement support post.  While it takes up a little extra space, it should be fine.  Above desk cabinets, below desk cabinets and a nice wide work surface and all will be fine.   I’ve also been getting the electrical outlets wired in.  Once electrical is done I’ll wire in the CATV and network (voice/data) jacks. 

So what’s next on the agenda?  After three weekends of hanging drywall, my wife and I need a break.  Plus I need to reposition one AC/Heating vent in preparation for the ceiling drywall work.  This will also be a good time to move some of the scrap drywall pieces from the basement upstairs to the garage and just tidy the construction zone up a bit. 

The weather forecast for this upcoming weekend is supposed to be warm and I think we’ll tackle a few quick outdoor projects.  While snow is still very much likely in the mile high city, signs of Spring are popping up right and left.   It’s time to get the flowerbeds cleaned, rake up the winter kill grass and drag the water hoses out. 

If all goes as planned, I’ll be ready to rent the drywall lift and start on the ceiling the weekend of 24/25 March.  Once all the drywall is installed, then we’ll start the messy phase of taping, mudding and sanding.  This phase could begin as early as the last weekend in March.  But I don’t want to jinx myself, so I’ll just say it will get done when it gets done.

In closing, you’ll likely not hear from me on this particular subject again until the ceiling is complete.  I won’t bore you with an update next weekend on my progress of sheet metal duct work. 

Until next time…

73 de KDØBIK

I ran into this online circuit design program, called CircuitLab, on a few blogs and forums, and have been playing around with it myself. There are many who are more technically-minded than myself (Fred W0FMS comes to mind), but I’ve had some initial luck playing around with it. It’s very visual and easy to use (on Firefox, at least). I’m curious if others have tried it and what your reactions are? I know that this isn’t the first circuit simulation program out there, but it seems ridiculously easy to use.