AmateurRadio.com

Welcome to Handiham World.

Last week I was thinking about mentioning something about “bad apples” – amateur radio operators who exhibit poor operating practices while on the air. There was plenty of other stuff to cover in the newsletter and podcast already, so I decided to let it go until this week. Anyway, as you know, the Amateur Radio Service is largely self-policed. That means that we observe what is going on on the bands and help other operators learn good operating practices, largely leading by example.  In fact, the last thing you want to be is “the band police”, which is someone who sticks their nose into every situation and scolds other operators for real or imagined infractions on the bands. No, it is better to lead by example and always use your call sign, be helpful rather than judgmental as much as possible, and convey your concerns off the air. Frequently the telephone is a better choice, as would be a note in the mail. You don’t want to embarrass someone who has made a mistake by pointing it out on the air. If the violation was willful, it is likely that confronting someone on the air about it will simply result in an on the air argument that will certainly be heard by others and show amateur radio in general in a bad light.
Thankfully there are volunteers who listen on the bands for situations that call for some kind of resolution. These are “Official Observers”, or “OO’s”. The Official Observer program is run by ARRL.  It is administered by the Section Manager, and the volunteers report to him or her.  An Official Observer is recommended for appointment by the ARRL Section Manager and completes a short training course by reading relevant information provided by ARRL. For a complete list of the requirements, visit the ARRL website and put “Official Observer” in the search box. You’ll find a complete description and everything you need to know about becoming eligible for this important volunteer appointment.
But anyone can hear a violation or instance of bad operating on the air and take some notes. You can always send your Section Manager an e-mail expressing your concern and asking that Official Observers listen for further violations. Some of the most annoying and difficult situations are those where the bad operating practices go on day after day, week after week, and month after month. These are not something for an individual to tackle; it takes a team to gather information and make a case against the perpetrator. You will definitely want to pass the information on through the right channels. In some cases, the bad operating may be originating outside the borders of your country. Again, going through the right channels to gain experienced assistance is key to solving such problems. That is why I like the Official Observer program.  It is backed by 85 years of collective experience at ARRL in dealing with virtually every kind of technical problem and bad operating practice.
Part of knowing when to report a violation is simply something that comes to you by gaining experience through years of operating and listening on the bands. You learn to get a sense of when something is a willful violation (done on purpose with a bad intent) or simply an innocent mistake that is unlikely to be repeated once the person finds out what they did wrong.  Frankly, all of us are human and will make mistakes. It is not necessary to jump on someone because they made one of these all too common errors. Who among us has not gotten Echolink stuck in transmit mode? Yes, it is an embarrassing mistake but it is not the end of the world. On the other hand, talking for a half-hour in a roundtable conversation without using your call sign even once is not only against the law but also rude and inconsiderate of other operators. As I said, figuring out what to report and what to simply set aside for the moment is one of those things one picks up by experience. Listening is really important in amateur radio. We all learn a lot more by listening than by talking no matter what the situation – and amateur radio is no different!
The ultimate goal is to make the amateur radio bands a better, safer, and more civil place for all users and to always “put our best foot forward” for any listeners out there who might be thinking about getting their amateur radio licenses.  
For Handiham World, I’m…
Patrick Tice, [email protected]
Handiham Manager

Understanding HF propagation

Along the lines of my previous comments about bad operating practices, I recently received an email about an interference problem on 160 meters.  The interference situation arises when a group of stations in the eastern United States run high power and operate close to another frequency several kilohertz away that is in use by a group of operators here in Minnesota. As you know, these groups of stations may not even hear each other during early evening hours when daytime conditions hold sway and absorption keeps long-distance sky wave propagation from taking place.  As the night falls and the ionospheric absorption decreases, the band starts to open up to longer distance skip, and soon the two groups of stations begin hearing each other.  
Both groups may be tempted to dig in their heels and say, “We were here first”, but the fact of the matter is that the propagation conditions simply changed and that is what causes the interference. Understanding that it is not the other guy’s fault is important in making a decision about what to do next.  
Remember what the FCC says about how we should only use the level of power necessary to carry on communications?  Well, Sec. 97.313 Transmitter power standards, (a) says, “An amateur station must use the minimum transmitter power necessary to carry out the desired communications.”
When propagation conditions change, there are three good choices to mitigate the interference problem:

1. All stations in both groups should lower their transmitting power levels, even though the temptation is to crank up the linear amplifier.  Lower power levels decrease the likelihood of interference.
2. Consider using a different frequency.  This is often the best solution.  Remember, no frequency has any single user’s name on it – I don’t care if your group has been on “their” frequency for 10 years.  Get out of the mindset that one can claim a frequency by squatter’s rights.  
3. Change the scheduled time of your on the air gathering to avoid the propagation conditions you find undesirable.  

Notice that these are all non-confrontational solutions that do not involve blaming “the other guy”.  Understanding HF propagation can be very helpful in solving interference problems and enjoying ham radio even more!

Troubleshooting 101

If you are like most amateur radio operators, you probably have several portable, battery-operated devices that take consumer-grade replaceable cells such as AA’s or 9 V square batteries often used in smoke detectors. In this scenario, you decide to use your dip oscillator to check on the approximate resonant point of an antenna that you are building. When you press the power button, nothing happens. Since the dip oscillator is a battery-operated portable device, the first thing you are probably going to think of doing is checking the battery or batteries. For some incomprehensible reason, many of these amateur radio test accessories require you to use a screwdriver and take the case apart to get at the batteries. This makes it inconvenient to take the batteries out if the device if it is not going to be used for a long period of time.
Okay, so you go ahead and get the screwdriver and take the case off the dip oscillator. What do you see? Of course the battery is dead; it has obviously died a rather messy death because there is a white residue around the contacts. The battery has leaked and corrosion may have set in, possibly damaging the dip meter. The first thing to do is dispose of the old battery safely. Usually alkaline batteries or the old carbon-zinc batteries can simply be thrown in the trash while  batteries with other chemistries such as rechargeables might have to be taken to a recycling center.  If you are unsure of the residue leaked by the battery, it is prudent to wear gloves. Anything leaked from a lead-acid battery should be considered dangerous and corrosive. Usually such batteries are not found in small accessories.
With the battery gone, you can now attend to the mess left behind inside your meter. Flaky or powdery residue can sometimes be removed effectively with a brush such as an old paintbrush that is dedicated to such projects on your workbench. Do your best to avoid inhaling anything and if necessary use a mask to protect your lungs. A damp Q-tip can also be effective without creating dust. I have used a Q-tip dipped in rubbing alcohol because the alcohol will evaporate from the circuit board and contacts quickly. You don’t need to use much! A pencil eraser like the kind on a number two lead pencil can do a pretty good job of polishing up a battery contact on the meter’s battery holder.  Try to make sure that the battery holder contacts are shiny and clean before putting in a new battery. I always try to avoid using abrasives on these battery contacts because they will remove any plating and open the road to further corrosion. If the battery contacts have been destroyed, it will be necessary to find a new battery holder, and this may mean making some slight modifications to accommodate it. Every case will be different, so this is a chance to be creative and figure out your own solution. Just be careful that nothing will short out when the meter is in use or when you put the case back on!
I have always wondered why manufacturers of these devices make it so doggone hard to get at the batteries in the first place. Something like a dip oscillator will only be used occasionally by most amateur radio operators, so it would be great to be able to put in and remove the battery easily and quickly so that the device could be stored for months or years without the battery in place.

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