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Veteran’s Day – 2014
10 November 2014 | by 
Larry Makoski, W2LJ, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Jersey, USA. Contact him at [email protected].
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NW Digital Radio
I keep waiting on the mythical Universal Digital Radio…
Despite the long wait, development seems to be ongoing and very interesting things are in the pipeline from NW Digital Radio. This interview with John Hays, K7VE begins at 48:50.
Filed under: Ham Radio Tagged: digital, udrx, video 
Jeff Davis, KE9V, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Indiana, USA.
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Hardened Power Systems Launches Crowdfunded Campaign to Rebuild
Bill Harrison, KK4JPT, has announced that Hardened Power Systems has launched an online campaign to fund the rebuilding of their business.
On Halloween, the company suffered a devastating fire resulting in the loss of their manufacturing facility.
Hardened Power Systems manufactures several popular ham radio products including the D-HAP and JuiceBox.
Here is where you come in, we need your financial commitment to begin the process of rebuilding this business. We are determined to remain faithful to our commitment of quality, durability, and cost effectiveness. The process of rebuilding will take time and we are prepared for the journey ahead, but to expedite this process we need your support. In return we will make a promise to compensate you for your gift with limited editions of some of our gear to commemorate this event.
Matt Thomas, W1MST, is the managing editor of AmateurRadio.com. Contact him at [email protected].
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Launching Antennas With Right Guard
Dedicated LFer, K2ORS (Warren), posted a short video yesterday of his friend's attempted 'pre-antenna launch' test flight: "Attempted to use an 8 rotor U.A.V, to lift a string over the trees with
which an antenna wire could be pulled up. However, there were some
control issues..." I'm not sure exactly what went wrong but I hope that beautiful machine was not damaged too heavily.
I've seen a few others using inexpensive quadcopters to get light strings up and over trees and it seems that they would be ideal for such tasks. As these devices flood the hobby-market, their prices seem to be dropping quickly and more and more amateurs are looking at these with antennas in mind.
Over the years I have tried numerous methods of getting a string up and over...slingshots, fishing rods... but nothing seemed to get me past the 35'- 40' mark, if that high. Maybe it was just poor technique on my part as others claim to have good success with these methods. Eventually I decided to try a homebrew 'spud gun' as I needed to get wires up to the top of my 70' Balsam.
I used Schedule 40 ABS pipe, the thick-walled stuff. This is becoming harder to find in the typical hardware outlets as most of it seems to be the lighter foam-core material which should not be used for this.
When I first fired it, I wrapped the breech in several layers of towelling, just in case it blew apart but felt confident enough to remove it after a few test shots.
There are several websites describing spud gun construction and a quick Google-search will bring up some interesting plans. My system pretty much follows this design, found here at spudgunner.com.
When I first fired it, I wrapped the breech in several layers of towelling, just in case it blew apart but felt confident enough to remove it after a few test shots.
There are several websites describing spud gun construction and a quick Google-search will bring up some interesting plans. My system pretty much follows this design, found here at spudgunner.com.
The first propellant that I used was hair spray but found that it quickly built-up a layer of sticky-goo on the inside of the cleanout cap and threads, making it very hard to unscrew the cap. I cleaned it thoroughly and changed to Right Guard spray deodorant which worked extremely well, was very clean burning and left no residue.
The first few times I fired the gun I was shocked to hear how loud it was, with a loud 'BOOM' reverberating around the neighbourhood. After a few shots, I fully expected to see the local RCMP arriving but when enquiring a few doors away, I was told that they had not heard anything! Perhaps it is because the thing is right beside you at the time that makes it sound so loud but I have never had any enquiries about it.
I have mounted an inexpensive (Walmart) spinning reel at the very top which has been loaded with a light (10lb) mono filament fishing line. This is attached to a homebrew lathe-turned wooden bullet, about 8" long, as shown below.
The first few times I fired the gun I was shocked to hear how loud it was, with a loud 'BOOM' reverberating around the neighbourhood. After a few shots, I fully expected to see the local RCMP arriving but when enquiring a few doors away, I was told that they had not heard anything! Perhaps it is because the thing is right beside you at the time that makes it sound so loud but I have never had any enquiries about it.
I have mounted an inexpensive (Walmart) spinning reel at the very top which has been loaded with a light (10lb) mono filament fishing line. This is attached to a homebrew lathe-turned wooden bullet, about 8" long, as shown below.
The bullet is lowered down the barrel to a peg mounted just above the firing-chamber. Once fired, it pulls line off of the spinning reel, hopefully to land on the ground on the other side of the tree. The initial attempt at launching the line over my 70' Balsam resulted in a perfect shot, but about 100' above the tree! The bullet pulled all of the line from the reel and snapped off. I eventually found it on the beach in a small bay about four properties to my south...oops.
I then backed-off on the amount of propellant and found that just a short one-second squirt was enough for a more controlled launch. It took me a few shots to get the feel of the launcher and compensating for the light wind. It is best to do this when there is no wind at all is it doesn't take much to blow the line and bullet slightly off course.
I have since used the gun many times, both here and at other ham's locations, to fire lines very high. It has always worked very well.
Should you choose to build something similar, be sure to build with caution and follow any safety instructions noted on the various websites. Most importantly, be sure to use the proper material.
Editor's Note: Using a combustion gun is inherently dangerous and can result in serious injury or death. Using the wrong materials, especially, can put the operator at risk. We cannot be responsible for personal injury or property damage resulting from use (or misuse).
I have since used the gun many times, both here and at other ham's locations, to fire lines very high. It has always worked very well.
Should you choose to build something similar, be sure to build with caution and follow any safety instructions noted on the various websites. Most importantly, be sure to use the proper material.
Editor's Note: Using a combustion gun is inherently dangerous and can result in serious injury or death. Using the wrong materials, especially, can put the operator at risk. We cannot be responsible for personal injury or property damage resulting from use (or misuse).
Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].
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Zombie Shuffle Recap – 2014
Tough work week and last night, I felt like a Zombie!
Larry Makoski, W2LJ, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Jersey, USA. Contact him at [email protected].
I joined the Zombie Shuffle, already in progress at about 0020 UTC (7:20 PM Local Time). I got on 20 Meters and worked four fellow Zombie Hunters in pretty rapid succession. I thought it was going to be a great night.
I was a tad mistaken.
From there, it got slow - real slow - shuffle slow - slower than shuffle slow. This Zombie ended up doing a moon dance - looking like he was walking backwards. The perceived lack of participation or lack of good band conditions was a bit of a disappointment.
I stayed on for two hours and worked 13 stations - which somehow seemed appropriate. At that point, while the KX3 was merrily calling "CQ BOO" for me, I actually started to nod off for a few seconds. Being the conscientious, law abiding Amateur Radio operator that I am, I decided it was not a good thing for the Control Operator to fall asleep behind the key. So I accessed the local control point, pulled the big switch and made my way upstairs to get some much needed ZZZZZZZs.
Thanks to fellow Zombies WA5TCZ, KG9DW, KA5T, N5GW, N8RVE, W3KC, W1PID, W3ATB, AB9CA, N1ABS, VE3CBK, WA8REI and WB8WTU for the contacts - lotta good friends there, It was a pleasure to work you all! Five on 20 Meters, six on 40 Meters and two on 80 Meters (which was beautifully quiet without hardly any background QRN - oh if there had only been more Zombies there!).
By the way, I was one of the Elvis stations again this year - so if you worked me, I was worth extra pointage. And as always - special thanks to Paul NA5N and Jan N0QT for running another spectacularly fun event, my own tiredness notwithstanding!
Larry Makoski, W2LJ, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Jersey, USA. Contact him at [email protected].
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Sourcing the semiconductors (1)
When you build small QRP projects, one is always hungry for Transistors at the right price! I found a kit that has the most useful general purpose types, this will certainly build most stages of a QRP Transceiver and other projects.
600 Pieces, 15 Different PNP & NPN, 40 of each. You can't really go wrong for £8.66 ($13 US) including shipping and the case too.
Values:
Down to Banggood again for the full details:
http://www.banggood.com/600-Pcs-15-Value-x-40-Pcs-Transistor-TO-92-Assortment-Box-Kit-With-Box-p-911338.html
Steve, G1KQH, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from England. Contact him at [email protected].
600 Pieces, 15 Different PNP & NPN, 40 of each. You can't really go wrong for £8.66 ($13 US) including shipping and the case too.
Values:
Down to Banggood again for the full details:
http://www.banggood.com/600-Pcs-15-Value-x-40-Pcs-Transistor-TO-92-Assortment-Box-Kit-With-Box-p-911338.html
Steve, G1KQH, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from England. Contact him at [email protected].
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More Resistors From China
I suspect that, overall, very few hams actually take the time to read ham radio blogs. Of those that do, there is probably only a small percentage that take the time to read any post-blog 'comments' that might be made by others....so...if you missed the comments regarding my recent e-Bay resistor purchase, the following information may be of interest.Steve, G1KQH, commented that he had found an even better deal on resistors from China at Banggood, in Guangzhou. I have heard good things about this company, which sells a large variety of items from electronic parts to the latest quadcopters. Steve reported a good buy on 1%, 1/4W resistors...50 different values and 50 of each....2500 resistors in total. The offering may be found here.
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| Courtesy: Banggood.com |
Steve adds: "The values of resistor are: 10M ,4,7M, 2M, 1M, 390K, 330K, 300K, 220K, 200K, 180K, 150K, 100K, 82K, 68K, 47K, 33K, 37K, 20K, 18K, 15K, 10K, 9K1, 8K2, 6K8, 5K6, 4K3, 3K9, 3K3, 3K, 2K7, 2K4, 2K, 1K5, 1K2, 1K, 680R, 470R, 300R, 270R, 180R, 91R, 68R, 56R, 47R, 20R, 10R, 6,6R, 1,8R, 1,2R , 1R.
They are five banded resistors inc one for the tolerance.
Arrived quick and you can use Paypal on Banggood, so no problem getting your money back if things go wrong."
With the free shipping, this is a super price and could be very difficult to beat! In addition, they offer smaller 1/4W resistor kits, a nice kit of 1/2W resistors, SMD kits and capacitor kits.
G1KQH maintains an interesting amateur radio blog, well worth a read. Thanks for the info Steve.
Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].
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Also, a very Happy 239th Birthday to the Marines! Semper Fi, Marines!
Lastly, a Happy Veteran’s Day to my Dad. I was rummaging through some papers in my desk when I came across the Certificate of Condolence that the White House sent upon his passing in 2001. My Dad was a WWII Army Vet who loved to talk about some of the European “sites” he saw during his tour in Europe (including the Passion Play at Oberammergau). He never spoke about combat, though – not uncommon for his generation, it seems. I also came across his wallet sized copy of his Discharge Papers. He was not an Amateur Radio operator, but he was a graduate of the Signal Corps RADAR and Repeater School (which probably explains in some way, my love for Amateur Radio). I also noticed for the first time that he was a recipient of medals for Combat in the European Theater, as well as a Good Conduct medal and one other. He NEVER spoke about those.
For all the Vets who have passed – Eternal rest, grant unto them Oh Lord, and may Perpetual Light shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the Faithful Departed, rest in peace. Amen.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!