KM4ICI – a Virginia Tech Student I worked today on 20 meters

You never seem to know these days how the bands are going to treat you!  After working just 4 stations in the SKCC WES this weekend – mostly due to only being able to operate for 2 hours – but the bands stunk for me, I was hoping today would be better.

I tuned around on 20 and heard a few signals so I dove right in and started calling CQ with my 5 watt signal from the KX3 into my vertical portable antenna.

I immediately starting working stations….

WJ2L – Bill was near Nashville, TN and was very weak – I couldn’t copy all the QSO, so I don’t know if he was QRP or not, but I think he was.  He also would sign WJ2L/4, which adds to my suspicion he was QRP.

KM4ICI – This was a quick contact, Xiaoyu was working the club station of K4KDS. He is from China but studying Electrical Engineering at Virginia Tech.  K4KDS is the club station of Virginia Tech Amateur Radio Association. He is a really new General, and it was fun to work him!

N9ZXL (7114T) – A new SKCC contact for me – Dave was in Illinois and has a couple of Elecraft rigs as well.

W9AKS – Bobby was in Wisconsin and had a booming signal here to Kansas.  He was sending a bit fast for me, but I got the important info!

KE5AL (12776S) – Another new SKCC number for me, Jim answered my QRZ after wrapping up with W9AKS and had a great 599 signal to Kansas today from Texas.  He was running 90 watts, and I asked him to slow down for me as I was only copying about everyother character – and he graciously did!  He said QSB was heavy on his end, but it was not happening on my end.

NT9L (7328S) – Also a new SKCC number for me, John was in Colorado and was running QRO, but after I told him I was QRP he switched over and we completed the QSO both using low power!  He was 599 here, even QRP – his signal sounded a bit different, but still 599.  Thanks John!

So it was a fun time on the radio today from the park.  I have just 10 more unique SKCC numbers to collect and I will finally be a Centurion!  I am having a blast working these guys, and with the sun spots diminishing, keeps things very interesting and fun.

Burke Jones, NØHYD, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Kansas, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Amateur Radio operators from around Colorado will be climbing many of Colorado’s 14,000-foot mountains and Summits On The Air (SOTA) peaks to set up amateur radio stations in an effort to communicate with other radio amateurs across the state and around the world. Join in on the fun during the 25^th annual event and see how many of the mountaintop stations you can contact. This year the event is expanded to include the entire weekend. However, many mountaintop activators will hit the trail early with the goal of being off the summits by noon due to lightning safety concerns.

See the very cool 25 Year Anniversary t-shirts available at http://www.cafepress.com/wg0at

The 14er event includes Summits On the Air (SOTA) peaks, which add over 1700 potential summits! If you aren’t up to climbing a 14er, there are many other summits to choose from (with a wide range of difficulty). See the W0C SOTA web page at w0c-sota.org

Radio operators who plan to activate a summit should post their intent on the ham14er Yahoo Group. To subscribe to the “ham14er” email list, visit the Yahoo groups site at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ham14er/ . Also, be sure to check out the event information at http://www.ham14er.org  It is also a great idea to post an ALERT on the SOTAwatch.org website.

Frequencies used during the event
Activity can occur on any amateur band including HF and VHF. The 2m fm band plan uses a “primary frequency and move up” approach. The 2m fm primary frequency is 147.42 MHz.  At the beginning of the event, operators should try calling on 147.42 MHz. As activity increases on that frequency, move on up the band using the 30 kHz steps. Don’t just hang out on 147.42 MHz…move up! The next standard simplex frequency up from 147.42 MHz is 147.45 MHz, followed by 147.48 and 147.51 MHz.

Frequency (MHz)	Comments	Frequency (MHz)	Comments
147.42	Primary 2m FM Frequency, then up in 30 kHz steps	14.060	20m CW Frequency
147.45, 147.48, 147.51	Alternate 2m FM frequencies	14.345	20m SSB Frequency
446.000	Primary 70 cm FM frequency	18.092	17m CW Frequency
446.025	Alternate 70 cm FM frequency	18.158	17m SSB Frequency
144.200	2m SSB calling frequency	21.060	15m CW Frequency
50.125	6m SSB calling frequency	21.330	15m SSB Frequency
Other Bands/Modes	Standard calling frequencies and/or band plans apply.	28.060	10m CW Frequency
		28.350	10m SSB Frequency

Warning: Climbing mountains is inherently a dangerous activity.
Do not attempt this without proper training, equipment and preparation.

Sponsored by The Colorado 14er Event Task Force

Here’s the event flyer in pdf format: Colorado 14er Event Flyer 2016

The post Announcing: 25th Annual Colorado 14er Event appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.

Bob Witte, KØNR, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Colorado, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Here is this week’s space weather and geophysical report, issued 2016 May 09 0436 UTC.

Highlights of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 02 – 08 May 2016

Solar activity was low and only C-class flare activity was observed. Region 2540 (N21, L=068, class/area=Hrx/20 on 01 May) produced a C3 flare at 02/0842 UTC which was the largest event of the period. Region 2535 (N05, L=124, class/area=Hax/60 on 24 Apr) produced a C1 flare at 04/1531 UTC that had an associated Type II radio sweep (est. shock speed 560 km/s) and coronal mass ejection (CME). This CME was first observed in LASCO/C2 coronagraph imagery beginning 04/1412 UTC and likely arrived at Earth early on 08 May (see geomag section below for additional information). A pair of filament eruptions centered near N22E39 and N31E42 were observed in GONG imagery beginning at around 07/1515 UTC. The associated CME was first observed in LASCO/C2 imagery at 07/1648 UTC but analysis indicated that this CME was not Earth-directed.

No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit reached high levels on 03-06 May and moderate levels on 02, 07-08 May.

Geomagnetic field activity was at unsettled to G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storm levels on 02 May with quiet to active levels on 03 May due to the influence of a negative polarity coronal hole high speed stream (CH HSS). Quiet levels were observed on 04 May and quiet to unsettled levels were observed on 05 May under a nominal solar wind regime. The onset of a positive polarity CH HSS caused quiet to G1 (Minor) storm levels on 06 May and quiet to active levels on 07 May. On 08 May G1-G3 (Minor-Strong) geomagnetic storms were observed and analysis suggested that a CME (likely from 04 May as mentioned in solar activity section) was embedded in a CIR preceding a negative polarity CH HSS.

Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 09 May – 04 June 2016

Solar activity is expected to be at very low (B-class flares) to low (C-class flares) levels throughout the outlook period.

No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to reach very high levels on 10-13 May and high levels on 09, 14, and 30 May-02 Jun. Moderate flux levels are expected for the remainder of the period.

Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be reach G3 (Strong) geomagnetic storm levels on 09 May and G1 (Minor) storm levels on 10 May due to the influence of a negative polarity coronal hole high speed stream (CH HSS). G1 (Minor) storm levels are likely on 20 May due to the influence of a positive polarity CH HSS as well as on 29 May and 04 Jun due to the influence of negative polarity CH HSSs.

Don’t forget to visit our live space weather and radio propagation web site, at: http://SunSpotWatch.com/

Live Aurora mapping is at http://aurora.sunspotwatch.com/

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Get the space weather and radio propagation self-study course, today. Visit http://nw7us.us/swc for the latest sale and for more information!

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It's a brand new episode of Linux in the Ham Shack! We know you're excited. We have a shiny new co-host in this episode and we talk about a whole bunch-a stuff: 100-year-old ham, high-power amplifiers, people who make more money than we do, SDR, broadcasting software, Ubuntu, DMR and so so so so much more. Thanks for listening. Qapla'!

73 de The LHS Crew

Russ Woodman, K5TUX, co-hosts the Linux in the Ham Shack podcast which is available for download in both MP3 and OGG audio format. Contact him at [email protected].

The batch of bureau cards last week included several cards from Europe and were probably the last I'll get for my Cycle 24 10m fun, using the homebrew Tri-Tet-Ten.


As mentioned previously, this rig was the culmination of wondering, for many many years, if I could get a single 6L6 to work well enough on 10m CW, using a 40m crystal ... quadrupling to 10m ... and still have enough useful output to work Europe! As well, the note would have to be 'acceptable' as I realized that any crystal chirping would be multiplied four times, during the quadrupling process.



The evolution of my eventual transmitter, is described in more detail here, where you can also hear what the tone sounds like. Suffice to say, the results were much more than I had ever hoped for and during the peak years of this past cycle, many enjoyable hours were spent on 10m CW with my one tube tri-tet crystal oscillator.

I guess I could always move down to 20m CW but, for me, this just doesn't have the same appeal or sense of satisfaction as using it on 10m or what I like to call, "the other magic band". Who knows what Cycle 25 will bring to 10m? I may get another chance yet, if the solar prognosticators are all wrong!
Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

Not much to report from me lately. The weather was not suitable for portable operations, otherwise too busy or too tired to do anything “radio”. We decided to spend our last money on a trip to Europe this summer (necessary family visits, long overdue) and I am one to prepare way in advance.

“What radio shall I bring along?” was of course the first question I asked myself. But being wise I quickly changed it into: “What antenna shall I use?” Since I never worked with end-fed antennas I thought it would be a good opportunity to learn about them and try them out.

Let’s start with buying stuff: a seven meter fishing rod that fit in my suitcase cost US$20. A length of 30 meter strong light Teflon coated copper wire was about the same. Cut in two lengths of 20 and 10 meter it would cover 20 and 40 meters, hence End Fed Half Wave. For the impedance coupler I turned to M0UKD’s excellent website . End fed antennas are no rocket science: the high impedance of a half wave length of wire has to be turned into a low impedance that matches the radio. A tank circuit is used to optimize the power transfer of the transformer used for this. So I build a tank circuit with a 1:8 air core transformer and a 9-50 pF variable capacitor.

After another hard days work at school I went to the parking lot to do some initial tests before going home. I shot this impromptu video with my phone to show you the result.

So I built myself a Full Wave End Fed! It’s not supposed to be like this! With the 10 meter wire I got the same result: on 20 meters I got a dip, but the SWR wouldn’t get below 2.2:1. I didn’t check the performance on 10 meters, but I guess I will get a near perfect SWR there, too. Of course, on my workbench, using a 3300 ohm resistor as dummy load, I had no problem matching 40 and 20 meters.

I’m a bit baffled and unsure what to do next. I already tried some transformers using ferrite cores from my junk box, but non were giving me a tuned tank circuit (inductance too high). I want coverage from 40-20 meters and my capacitor has a range of 9-50 pF. The inductor should be 11 uH then and with a 1:8 ratio the transformer should make 3300 ohm into 51 ohm. The only thing I can think of right now is that my wire is not suitable, but why? As I said in the video, any suggestions are welcome. In the mean time….I’ll keep studying about EFHW antennas.

Hans "Fong" van den Boogert, BX2ABT, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Taiwan. Contact him at [email protected].

Amateur Radio Weekly is curated by Cale Mooth K4HCK. Sign up free to receive ham radio's most relevant news, projects, technology and events by e-mail each week at http://www.hamweekly.com.