AmateurRadio.com

Some weeks, it’s all I can do to find something to talk about, some weeks things just seem to fall into my lap to talk about. This I think is going to be one of the latter. If you enjoy the outdoors and Ham Radio, this video shows you some HF work on a hill near the Bay Area.I don’t know the person’s callsign, as he didn’t share it in the video, but still, it’s a nice little video to watch. And it looks like a lot of fun too.

http://youtu.be/cV9iJIa5feo

73.

Rich also writes a Tech blog and posts stories every Tuesday and Thursday on Q103, The Rock of Albany’s website, as well as Amateur Radio stories every Monday thru Friday here on AmiZed Studios.

Rich Gattie, KB2MOB, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New York, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

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].