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ARRL CW Contest done QRP style

23 February 2015 | by Mike VE9KK | Leave a Comment (8)

Oliver is asking……"Ahhhh dinner!!!

I took part in the ARRL CW contest this weekend in a part time way, I was not able to go full tilt as I had things around the house that needed to be done. I skipped the Friday evening as it's most of the big guns going at record setting CW speeds. I operated QRP, single band, non assisted, single transmuter and with my MFJ 1788 magnetic loop antenna. The bands were alive with CW and you would never think we were in the downswing of a solar cycle! Then conditions over all were great on 15m I was able to get on from early morning into the early evening. In the morning the bands were filled with

The rig setup

Europe and as the late afternoon rolled around the South Pacific started to boom in along with Central and south America. Some of the standout locations I heard were Bangladesh, Guam, Japan, New Zealand and South Sudan. None of which I was able to contact the pileups were HUGE!! Some of the highlights for me were contacting Hawaii, Cuba, and grabbing a new DXCC Dominican Republic.
Score rundown is as follows
Contacts DXCC's Points
81 39 9360

The equipment used was the Elecraft K3 with 500,400 and 250 inrad filters, the Elecraft P3, Begali Contour Key and the Flex control external VFO knob and last but not least the MFJ 1788 Magnetic loop antenna. The software used were N1MM+ contest software, N4PY rig control software and MRP40 CW code reader for the chain saw speed code. I never had Murphy pay me any visits during

The contest software

the contest which really is a first time. I found 15m to be a great band very low noise floor and lots of action. I did venture up to 20m for a listen and from my location it was very noisy and I was glad I decided to stick with 15m. Sunday seemed to be an easier day for making contacts I had far less repeats to do, Saturday I really had to work for each and every contact. Looking forward to the next CW contest!

Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

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Pixie (40m) progress

22 February 2015 | by Roger G3XBM | Leave a Comment (4)

40m Pixie kit

Pixie kit – being built

After carefully unpacking this kit today I checked all the parts were there and measured all values for correctness. The kit was very well packed and everything was there. Even at the price I paid ($10 with shipping by air included) it represents very good value.

The kit comes with a nice silk screened and well labelled PCB, crystal, all parts, schematic and a parts list. It would be hard to buy the bits for the price I paid. G1KQH paid even less!

I now realise that for close-up work I need better glasses! Fortunately I have a small assembly aid that includes a magnifying glass. I am taking the build slowly and it is quite exhausting for me. However, the actual assembly is going well. Last year, for me, this would have been impossible. I can still solder – big steps, HI.

Although the Pixie will be tested on the air, the important personal test is the building. It proves that, with some effort on my part, the world of experimental amateur radio is still there for me. You have no idea what this small step means to me.

Before too long I want to get out in the countryside and try again with my VLF and optical tests. It has been a long long long time.

Roger Lapthorn, G3XBM, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cambridge, England.

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70MHz cumulative – and more SSTV from the ISS

22 February 2015 | by Tim G4VXE | Leave a Comment (0)

Randomly, I was browsing through Facebook this morning and I noticed Paul G4RRA say that he was about to drive up to the site for the RSGB 70MHz cumulatives.

Although I only have the vertical available for 70MHz, I wondered what if anything I would be able to hear. Of course, having the Noble NR4SC readily available means that there is no fiddling around connecting up transverters. Which, on a sleepy Sunday morning might have been enough to to deter activity!

I didn’t have many expectations of working very far afield, with 10W to a vertical and the first few contacts were pretty local. However, I was very pleased to find G4TSW from Devon calling CQ on the key and we were able to complete a nice contact (although I had one of those moments of not being able to send my locator properly! The keyer on the NR4SC’s timing is just a little different to the others I have here and it takes a moment to adjust my sending to suit). What was particularly nice was that the operator at G4TSW was Paul, G4RRA!

Another nice contact was with Dave G4ASR in Herefordshire – this time on phone. The first time we’d worked on 70MHz in quite a while, I think.

So, enjoyable to find the 70MHz cumulative event – I must try and look out for them again. I remember years ago, Chris G8TFI and I won the series from Cleeve Hill in Gloucestershire.

More SSTV had been planned for the weekend from the International Space Station. Yesterday’s activity had to be cancelled, owing to the need for a spacewalk. The amateur radio transmitters are turned off whilst such activity takes place – and you can’t argue with that!

Once again, the vertical, FT8900 and MMSTV came up with some nice pictures. The high elevation passes are good, although I found a few bands of noise on the pictures as the spacecraft travelled through the null of the antenna. Some of the low angle passes worked surprisingly well, with good copy down to less that 1 degree.

The SSTV activity from the ISS generates a huge amount of interest. I noticed some of the RTL-SDR groups on Facebook having a lot of fun decoding the pictures. Good publicity for the hobby!

Tim Kirby, G4VXE, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Oxfordshire, England. Contact him at [email protected].

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