AmateurRadio.com

Thanks to the latest blog post from John AE5X I have the web page for a new QRP kit open in another browser tab and the pointer keeps hovering over the Buy Now button. The kit in question is the TJ2A, a two-band handheld SSB/CW transceiver for the 20m and 40m bands that has just been produced by YouKits of China.

Regular readers of my blog will know of my fondness for handheld radios. I’m finding this one very hard to resist even though I have an FT-817 and so no need for another handheld 20m/40m radio. At this point in my life I’m not even sure if building it is still within my capabilities. If I did try, it would be the most difficult kit I have attempted since my Elecraft K2, and I built that 12 years ago when my eyes were a lot sharper and I was not suffering the after effects of a brain operation. Should I or shouldn’t I?

The TJ2A looks like an updated and improved version of the Mizuho HF handhelds that were produced during the late 1970s which still fetch a tidy sum whenever they change hands on eBay. Like the Mizuhos, the TJ2A is VXO controlled and covers a portion of each of the two bands, though you can install alternative crystals if you would prefer to have full coverage of one band in two ranges. You could also choose other bands by changing the VXO crystal and bandpass filters.

The building instructions are on the web and it looks as if the kit uses mostly through hole components but there are some SMD transistors. It isn’t perfect. There is mention of warm-up drift in the first 5 minutes after switching on or changing bands. There is also a mod already to stop BFO leakthrough into the IF stages. And there doesn’t appear to be any high SWR protection for the PA so using the rig with handheld antennas – or any type of antenna that presents a mismatch prior to tune-up – might be problematic.

But it looks really cute. And it’s a kit. There are few things in ham radio more rewarding than hearing the first signals, then making the first contact, on a radio you built yourself. Should I or shouldn’t I?

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

A few weeks ago I was at the local book store with Julie she was getting her supply of photography periodicals. While there I came across a magazine that has intrested me but I never had purchased..Monitoring Times.  Monitoring Times is a mix of Amateur radio, Short Wave and scanner information. As  I was looking the magazine over I noticed they offered it via email each month as a full color PDF. I did not end up purchasing the magazine but at home I looked  up the details of what Monitoring Times calls their MTXpress version. What I found out was it's cheaper than the paper version, it has click-able links which I find are a great
add on and if  you want it's printable. Finally and best of all as soon as the magazine is released it's  in your email box waiting for you to read. I let a subscription lapse on a bi-monthly magazine that seemed to consistently arrive during the second month of it's release. It would be great if CQ and QST could take advantage of this technology. I did end up paying for a year subscription of MTXpress and it's great. It has

KBPF3 board

rekindled my interest in Short wave listening. So it's back to the Elecraft K3...funny how a lot of my post's seem to sneak back to Elecraft. They offer and I just purchased a board you instal in the radio that gives you general coverage from 500khz to 30mhz and then from 48mhz to 54mhz. So in a few weeks my short wave adventure will begin once again.
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

Today, 14 August marks my 4th year as a licensed amateur radio operator.  I’ve done a lot in the hobby since getting my ticket and I look forward to each and every anniversary of not only having fun but also learning. 

As I have shared many times, amateur radio has always been in my life.  Yes, this is me as a young child (circa 1969-70) sitting down and pretending to talk on my Uncle’s ham station.  During the early 80’s I tried very hard to learn CW while fitting everything else in that a young teenage boy does in those years.  Simply put…I failed!  Between school, work, cars and girls….I failed to do what many have done.  Of course what I realize now (some 40 years after that photo was made) that the issues I experienced in trying to learn CW as a teenager is a lot of what I’m going through with earning my extra ticket.  I get serious about it (as I am now) and life throws me a curve and I have to shift priorities and by the time I get back around I’ve forgotten more of what I learned.  I’ve recently picked up the studies and my focus to finish this time is very strong.

Like I said, I’ve been licensed 4 years today and during this time, I’ve done a lot in the hobby and arguably perhaps too much at times, as I’ve often had to admit to myself that I was trying to catch up for lost time.  Regardless, I have very few regrets as I’ve always tried to follow the guidelines spelled out in the Radio Amateur’s Code and I have the most supportive wife who understands the importance of hobbies and the need to serve our communities. 

While one might not believe an adult can “grow and develop” any further just from a hobby, they probably don’t know anything about amateur radio.  Regardless if it is discovering a new mode, learning  something you didn’t know or working a new DX station, the hobby has given back to me in so many ways. 

I’ve met so many incredible people through this hobby, and many of you I consider very dear friends.  While some of you I’ve never met face to face, the help you’ve given me along with the knowledge we’ve shared and the friendship you’ve shown is perhaps my biggest accomplishment in the hobby.

My goals for the future are to strive to continue to learn, have fun and continue to build the friendships I have today and develop brand new ones along the way.  I know of no other hobby which opens the doors, knocks down the walls and creates friendships across nations like amateur radio.  I’m truly proud to be a part of this incredible fraternity of nation builders.

Thank you for allowing me to share my fourth year anniversary with all of you. 

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].

Series Four Episode Seventeen of the ICQ Podcast has been released. News Stories include :-

• ISS to be deorbited after 2020
• QSL display on TV
• Limerick 2M Repeater QRV again
• UK Propagation charts for August 2011
• Solar flare bound for Earth
• Midland Amateur Radio Society 80 years old
• Prosecution for illegal radio jamming
• New digital EME record on 2 metres
• Youth don't know about Amateur Radio 

Your feedback, Steve Nicholls (G0KYA) Propogation Report, Chris Matthieu (N7ICE) provides a North American Hambrief and Chris Howard (2E0CTH) and Colin Butler (M6BOY) review the UV-3R Dual Band Handheld Anateur / Ham Radio.

Colin Butler, M6BOY, is the host of the ICQ Podcast, a weekly radio show about Amateur Radio. Contact him at [email protected].

Series Four Episode Seventeen of the ICQ Podcast has been released. News Stories include :-

• ISS to be deorbited after 2020
• QSL display on TV
• Limerick 2M Repeater QRV again
• UK Propagation charts for August 2011
• Solar flare bound for Earth
• Midland Amateur Radio Society 80 years old
• Prosecution for illegal radio jamming
• New digital EME record on 2 metres
• Youth don't know about Amateur Radio 

Your feedback, Steve Nicholls (G0KYA) Propogation Report, Chris Matthieu (N7ICE) provides a North American Hambrief and Chris Howard (2E0CTH) and Colin Butler (M6BOY) review the UV-3R Dual Band Handheld Anateur / Ham Radio.

Colin Butler, M6BOY, is the host of the ICQ Podcast, a weekly radio show about Amateur Radio. Contact him at [email protected].

Testing out a new project or piece of gear on the air is fun, sometimes!

I get on the air to test a new gizmo and get a reply. Ah, this is great!

The other station sends my call back to me, then QSB strikes and bamo! Down in the dumps it goes. I hear only a dit here and there. Growl!

AGN AGN PSE QSB BK,

Now this is where it gets frustrating. The other guy send me my own call back 3, 4, maybe even 5 times. Like I don’t already know what my own call sign is, right!

I hear that clear as a bell, then, as if from a distant galaxy, I hear his call W~~~~~ , boomba— down in the mud again! OK, OK, I send back to him now; UR CALL ONLY UR CALL ONLY QSB QSB BK

Once more he send my call back to me again only this time 7 times in a row, using up all the possible propagation between us! Oy vey!

I send SRI QSB 73, de AA1IK SK

Does this happen to you too?

If anyone reads this and is just getting into QRP. Please, please Please, DON’T SEND ME MY OWN CALL BACK A BUNCH OF TIMES, I ALREADY KNOW WHAT IT IS, ITS YOUR CALL SIGN THAT I WANT!!!!

 

73 all,

de AA1IK

Ernest Gregoire

Geezer on the porch

 

 

Ernest Gregoire, AA1IK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Florida, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

The VCXO-AXE WSPR transmitter has now been put into a plastic project box and lettered with Dymo tape. I think it looks rather smart even if I say so myself.

It did think about building it into a box that contained the batteries as well but that would have made it larger and prevent the batteries being used for something else. Plus I already had a box that fit the transmitter by itself. So what I now have is a pocket WSPR handy. Imagine going to the park or the beach or a hilltop and sending a signal that could be received half way round the world using a battery powered radio you can hold in your hand. How cool would that be?

Unfortunately the charger that charged my 10 AA cell NiMH QRP battery pack decided to fail and I’d exhausted the batteries during my initial tests so I couldn’t try portable operation unless I first spent a day charging the cells up 4 at a time. So I decided to see how far my 30m WSPR signals would get using a selection of hand held QRP antennas with the rig running off the bench power supply in the shack. As most of the antennas are equipped with right-angle PL-259 connectors for attachment to the back of an FT-817 I attached them to the back of my SWR/power meter with a short patch lead connecting it to the VCXO-AXE. For an RF ground I used the nearby central heating radiator.

The Wonder Wand L-Whip produced several spots from as far afield as Italy during the morning.

The Miracle Ducker with 1.4m telescopic whip was somewhat less successful, though as I tested it at a different time of day it would perhaps be wrong to draw any conclusion from that. I used the MD with the radiator counterpoise. Although it would give a reasonable SWR with no counterpoise at all the current drawn by the VCXO-AXE TX increased from around 300mA to 400mA which made me think the PA might not be happy so I decided not to test it like that.

The most surprising result came from the ATX Walkabout antenna. For those unfamiliar with it, this is a small QRP antenna with a 1.4m telescopic whip and a base loading coil that is tapped for the 80m, 40m, 20m, 15m, 10m and 6m bands. To use the WARC bands with this antenna you have to use the tap for the next lower band and then obtain resonance by shortening the whip. On 30m the whip length is only about 40cm! The length of coil that is in use (not shorted out) is about 15cm.

So this antenna when used on the 30m band is effectively less than 2 feet long! Despite that it produced several spots at quite respectable SNR levels. The SWR using the radiator ground was a rather poor 3:1. I suspect that this, and overall efficiency, would have been improved if I had used a quarter wave counterpoise, but I didn’t have 7.5m of wire handy and it would not have been practical to deploy it inside the shack in any case.

Obviously with a good antenna you will get stronger reports, be heard further afield and get more spots. But from the results of these tests it appears that even with a compromise hand held antenna (and a counterpoise for grounding) some interesting results could be possible using this little WSPR transmitter. Great fun!

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