AmateurRadio.com

A few days ago I dug out of the cupboard the Wonder Loop portable magnetic loop that I made a while ago. I had lost the pieces of uPVC electrical conduit that made a Heath Robinson support for the coaxial cable loop element. But I had always felt the saggy coaxial loop was a bit of an eyesore anyway. So I decided to make a new loop using microbore copper tubing. It turns out that you can buy this stuff on eBay – any diameter and length that you want shipped to your door next day by first class post. Three metres of 1cm dia tube cost just over £12.

The new loop looks a lot better and certainly hasn’t harmed the performance of the antenna which continues to amaze me. I tested it using WSPR at a 1W power level on all bands (40m – 15m) that my Wonder Loop covers. The best result was obtained yesterday afternoon on 20m, between 16:30 and 19:38z, when I received 15 reports from VK2XN of from -9 to -25dB SNR, at a distance of 16579km. This, I repeat, was using just 1 watt from the FT-817 with the Wonder Loop sat on my shack “workbench” almost exactly as in the picture. (The FT-817 was moved to the radio/computer desk during transmission.)

I also spotted 9 reports of VK2XN during the same period, which surprised me due to the extremely high noise level I have here on 20m. The SNRs weren’t so good, though, and he was running 10 watts. Still, that almost qualifies as a two-way contact.

I haven’t tried other modes yet, mainly because the shack is so small and these days I’m a bit wary about sitting inches from an antenna even if it is radiating no more than a watt or two. But the original Wonder Loop was very successful using PSK31 and I hope to try this one with JT65A shortly.

The one disadvantage of the new copper loop is that it isn’t exactly portable, which had been one of my original objectives when building the antenna. If you could get hold of some metal strip it might be possible to make the loop from six pieces that you can join together using bolts and wingnuts to form a hexagon. Possibly you could even do this using tubing, flattening the ends of each 60 degree segment and then drilling them so the loop could be bolted together. But as I’m not planning on taking the antenna anywhere at the moment I’ll keep the one-piece loop which I can stick behind the shack door for storage.

This is a really great antenna that should enable anybody to operate HF from anywhere.

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

Three large solar explosions will cause magnetic storms to hit earth over the next few days, according to Reuters.

More interesting is this quote from the article:

“The 1859 solar storm hit telegraph offices around the world and caused a giant aurora visible as far south as the Caribbean Islands. Some telegraph operators reported electric shocks. Papers caught fire. And many telegraph systems continued to send and receive signals even after operators disconnected batteries, NOAA said on its website.”

Whoa.

Matt Thomas, W1MST, is the managing editor of AmateurRadio.com. Contact him at [email protected].

  

I have been thinking about, reading and studying for my US amateur radio extra class license now since early 2008.  If you are new to my blog and do not know me through my podcast or the various social media locations I hang out on, then you might not know that I originally got my license in August of 2007 and upgraded to general in January of 2008.  For much the same reason it it best for a graduating high school senior to start his/her college studies the very next fall (after graduation) the same can be said for the amateur radio exam and study process.  Once you are in the mode of studying and testing, it is much easier to just to keep moving along the process.

 

Of course I didn’t take my own advice and I have on more than one, two and perhaps more than three occasions picked up the ARRL Extra Class license manual and said today is the day I start (or start over again).  Sadly, Yes…it has been “start over” since too much time had passed from the last time I seriously studied and read the material.

I recently heard about an amateur extra class starting up online.  The class is hosted by the South Coast Amateur Radio Service (SOUTHCARS) and is taught by extra class operators and all done on-line using Echolink or IRLP.  The time commitment is twice per week (Sunday and Tuesday evenings) and is scheduled to complete by middle of September. 

I’m really not going to pressure myself or make commitments to anyone that this time will be different.  I’m also not (at this moment) setting myself any hard and fast deadlines for when I would attempt an exam session after the middle of September.  I’ve made these mistakes before and honestly, it’s been one of the reasons I’ve put the book back on the shelf. 

All I can do is make an attempt to attend each of the twice weekly sessions and follow the guidance of the instructor(s).  I think the one key difference I see in this plan is the training class only lasts a little over one month.  It’s not something that is going to string out for half the year.  Fingers crossed, my work schedule will comfortably allow this and I can get through the class and on the other side be better prepared (both knowledge wise and confidence) to take the exam.  I won’t lie about this….my biggest fear is sitting for the extra class exam and failing.  I know failing is not the end of the world, but just a hard thing for me to deal with. 

Well….while I wasn’t going to post a blog post today, I did want to get this out there.  Wish me luck.

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].

Well it's hard to believe that it's been one full year of blogging for me. Seems just a short time ago I was discovering blogging never thinking I would have an active blog. So what has happend over the last 12 months of blogging. I sure have expanded my horizons with ham radio! Areas such as WSPR, QRPp, types of portable antennas, fellow ham's taking ham radio outdoors and the list goes on. Im just amazed that folks want to read the stuff I post. I was not sure what to exspect with blogging and were my blog would end up heading but over this past year I have been having a blast. For someone who really does not say much this past year I was able to squeeze out 110 post's. Well here's to another year of blogging.........CHEERS.....
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

I always look forward to receiving my QST and CQ magazines each month, and I dutifully run to the CQ web site every month when the latest PDF of Worldradio News is made available for download. I really do enjoy reading about our hobby and appreciate the authors who contribute to these publications (for very little money in return). Shoot, I even study the ads, including those that have not changed in decades. (Why do some vendors insist on showing the faces of every radio by every manufacturer, as if we make our purchasing decisions based on those tiny thumbnails? And will MFJ ever change the full-page Hy-Gain rotator ad?)

However, as I opened the current edition of CQ, I could not help but notice that the lead article is about all the new gear unveiled at Dayton this year. Dayton. As in May! And it’s August. We once took such delay in a story’s content as the norm. It is, after all, the nature of the magazine publishing biz that there must be considerable lead time.

But as I read the short writeup on the Elecraft KX3, I recalled that there was a YouTube video posted way back on May 20 featuring Wayne Burdick K6XR giving a very enlightening ten-minute demo of this interesting bit of kit. In color. With sound. Old news in CQ? I’m afraid so.

ARRL recently did a major update on their web site, but it is still clunky and hard to navigate. It does offer some video (welcome to the 21st century) and plenty of archived articles and reviews, all of which is much more current, colorful, and searchable than the magazine could ever be. CQ is also trying, buying World Radio News and offering it as a free download.

But I have to worry that the day will come when it is no longer economically feasible to mail me a magazine every month. I still prefer taking that paper-and-stapled pub out on the deck to read, or to Subway at lunch to peruse while I enjoy my Black Forest ham sandwich.

Won’t happen, you say? The traditional magazine will never go away. Okay, can I see your latest copy of Look or Life? Mind if I borrow your Saturday Evening Post?

I rest my case. Truth is, media consumers want their content in a wide variety of ways, and will choose such media on three primary criteria: 1) How easy it is to consume in all those myriad ways, 2) How compelling the content is, and 3) How cheap it is to access.

I’m afraid that does not bode well for QAT and CQ.

73,

Don Keith N4KC
www.donkeith.com
www.n4kc.com
http://n4kc.blogspot.com

 

Don Keith, N4KC, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Alabama, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Like many hams, I started trying to simply receive ARISSat-1.  My first opportunity was today around 7 AM MT (1300z).  ARISSat-1 was successfully launched (really tossed) from the ISS on Wednesday, 3 August.  I blogged about these events which you can read here.  While I have the Arrow satellite antenna from Arrow antennas, due to work commitments beginning also at 7 AM, I would be unable to go outside and receive the transmission properly.  This meant my only real chance of hearing anything would be via my Diamond 2m/70cm vertical I have attached to the side of my house.  While this solution is less than ideal, I should be able to copy some of the transmitted signals as the satellite passed overhead.

 The 7 AM pass would be my most ideal opportunity with the setup I had available to hear anything.  As you can see from the image to the right, the ARISSat-1 would pass just to the north of Denver metro area.  By the way, the image is a screen capture of the iPhone app titled GoSatWatch.  This app is available in the iTunes store for iOS devices (there is even an iPad version).  The price is $9.99 and is well worth it if you enjoy working the satellites and don’t want to have to lug around a laptop everywhere you go.  In my situation, I can’t easily work satellites from my QTH.  I don’t have a large enough yard and trees and other houses are in the way.  I drive up to a parking lot which overlooks Cherry Creek reservoir.  From this position I can very easily operate the birds without trees and buildings getting in my way. 

Again, I would not have time to drive up to this parking area and would only be able to hear what my vertical antenna was capable of receiving.  My expectation level was set very low and just simply hearing a faint signal would have been considered major success.  I had no expectation of actually being able to copy any audio or data/video.  I had heard reports of other hams being able to hear via an HT and stock rubber duck antenna, so the wait began.

Around 1150z I turned on the digital recorder and just simply set it next to my Yaesu VX-6 hand-held transceiver connected to the outside Diamond antenna.  I’ve used the VX-6 to listen to other birds before and have setup frequencies for some of the common amateur radio satellites.  My interest in satellite operations has sort of come and gone over the last 3-4 years.  I’ll admit I’ve yet to have an actual QSO via satellite.  But have my process for receiving down fairly well.  I do plan to try for QSO’s on AO-51 this weekend. 

Anyway, around 1157z I began hearing faint noises in the static.  I had the squelch open and from 1157z through 1204z I managed to hear both audio (female and male voice transmission) as well as SSTV tones.  Thankfully the conference call just required me to listen and I sort of did this at about 50%.  Most meetings never start on time and this one was no exception.  By the time the satellite had traveled further south, the signals dropped and I shut off the recorder and turned down the squelch. 

Once my meeting was finished, I listened to the audio recording and managed to pull out the “secret word” and I plugged the recorder into my Rigblaster and used Ham Radio Deluxe and DM780 to decode the SSTV data.  The image to the left is what I managed to copy.  I’m impressed, especially considering I wasn’t actually pointing an antenna in the exact direction of the satellite pass.  Just about anyone with an external antenna can do the same thing.  You just need to know when to expect the satellite and listen for it. 

If you want to try your hand at listening for ARISSat-1 just set your 2m transceiver on 145.950 and at the very least setup an external antenna.  At present time, ARISSat-1 is just slightly ahead of the ISS which can be tracked here.  You might also want to check out Orbitron.  Orbitron is PC software available to track just about any type of satellite orbiting the earth.  I would expect ARISSat-1 to be added very soon.  But just track the ISS and you should be OK for now.

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].

It was with great sadness that I learned from the Elecraft reflector today that Tom Hammond, N0SS, passed away early this morning after losing the fight with cancer.

Like so many of the friends we make in this hobby, I never net Tom in person. I never even met him on the air. But it felt like I knew him. Tom was one of the first beta testers of the Elecraft K2 and one of the most active members of the Elecraft reflector in helping other kit builders with any problems. As an early K2 builder myself, many has been the occasion when I have posted a question to the reflector and received a helpful reply from Tom.

Tom’s dedication to helping others get the best from their Elecraft radios was exemplary. Apart from assistance freely provided via the reflector and email, he maintained a website packed full of useful Elecraft-related material which I hope someone will take steps to preserve. Tom also produced several small kits and PCBs for modifications and add-ons to Elecraft radios which he provided at no profit to himself.

Tom Hammond, N0SS, was one of the finest examples of the ham radio spirit and our hobby today has suffered an irreplaceable loss. My thoughts are with his XYL and family.

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