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Alaska from Eagle Pond with 5 Watts

4 October 2014 | by Jim W1PID | Leave a Comment (0)

Judy and I rode our bikes from Andover to Wilmot on the old Northern Rail route. I worked Germany, Alaska, Grand Turk Island, and New Mexico. It was a gorgeous day.

We rode our bikes for about half an hour and settled down on the little beach at Eagle Pond. I tossed a line into an oak tree on the shore, pulled up a 33 foot wire, and set up the KX3. Judy lay down for some sun. I tuned up on 15 meters and found Frank DL1REM in Germany calling CQ. He was very strong and gave me a 579. “CONGRATS FOR UR QRP SIG,” he sent. “REAL FB SIG.” Then I switched to 12 meters and worked W1AW/KL7 in Alaska! Imagine working Alaska with 5 watts and a wire from the middle of nowhere. What a thrill. I gave a listen to 10 meters and there was Paul KW7D in New Mexico calling CQ. Paul also gave me a 579 and we had a quick chat. To finish up, I went to 17 meters and worked VP5/G3SWH on Grand Turk Island.

We rode back through woods and fields turning gold with fall colors. We couldn’t have had a nicer outing.

Jim Cluett, W1PID, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Hampshire, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

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This Spewed Out of the Internet #29

4 October 2014 | by Bob KØNR | Leave a Comment (0)

More important ~~information~~ ~~insight~~ stuff spewing forth from the interwebz:

The actor Tim Allen, who’s character on the TV show Last Man Standing is a ham radio operator, recently received his Technician License. According to Wikipedia, Allen holds the callsign KK6OTD under the name Tim Dick.

The FCC says that Marriott has been interfering with their customers’ use of WiFi hotspots at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee. It seems that they wanted to “encourage” customers to pay for WiFi service.

ICOM has made available some cool amateur radio guides on their web site, including a World Map, USA Band Plan Chart and a USA VHF Grid Map. Oh, ICOM, please note that those grid locators are not actually “squares.”

Those Ham Hijinks guys must have bought a new ribbon for their typewriter since they’ve cranked our these articles: Obama Signs Ham Radio Executive Order and Man Creates Multi-Purpose Rotator.

Over at HamRadioSchool.com, I added another Shack Talk article, this one about ham radio awards: Operating Awards: Chasing Wallpaper.

73, Bob K0NR

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

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2014 SET

3 October 2014 | by Larry W2LJ | Leave a Comment (1)

This is the weekend for the 2014 SET - Simulated Emergency Test. Are you and/or your club participating?

The South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club - SPARC, will be!

We are going to meet tomorrow at 10:00 AM at out EOC. Once there, I will hand out scripts to the "players" who will be dispatched at various sites around town. Basically, without giving away too much (some SPARC members actually read this blog - can you believe it?) we will be providing backup communications for the town as the result of a major natural disaster, including but not limited to, the manning of the regional shelter that is located in our town.

Each ARES/RACES member will receive an individualized script and will be directed, at specific times during the drill, to call the NCS and report a "situation". What is NOT scripted is the follow up actions and communications that will flow as a result of the reporting of the "situation". NCS has no idea of what he will be called about - the following communications will be dealt with as the circumstances dictate.

Right now, the script is still evolving and won't be finalized until tonight. This is when I should have a very good idea as to how many SPARC members will be participating in the drill tomorrow. Since tomorrow is Yom Kippur, some of our members will be unable to attend. I don't want this to be a boring, tedious drill. I want our members to actually do some communicating, and we will see where we go from there.

My part in all of this? I will sit in the EOC and will play the role of ICS, throwing some curveballs to the NCS as well. This should be interesting.

In addition, I will be looking for a volunteer to send a report of or activity to our Section Manager, our Section Emergency Coordinator, and our County ARES and RACES chiefs via NTS. (I would do it myself, but I'm taking the XYL out for dinner tomorrow night - today is our wedding anniversary!) This should be a good learning experience for some of our members who haven't has much experience with NTS. Instead of sending it as book traffic, maybe I can get four volunteers to send one message each.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

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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Building For The ‘BK’

3 October 2014 | by Steve VE7SL | Leave a Comment (1)

It's almost that time of the year when, once again, the '29ers start preparing for the winter Bruce Kelley Party. In case you're not familiar with the 'BK', it's a winter event celebrating the transmitters of 1929 and earlier. Transmitters used for the event must be self-excited only...no crystals allowed...and the tube(s) used must be those that were available in 1929 or earlier. It's an eye-opener to hear how the band must have sounded in the early days of amateur radio CW...even better if you're making those sounds yourself. The 'BK' usually spawns a flurry of construction, so if you think it is something that might interest you, you have until early December to get ready! Unfortunately many aspiring 29ers always leave it too late and inevitably run out of time before all of the building challenges can be overcome.

Over the next few weeks I'll have more to say about the 'BK' and '29 style in general, since this year, I hope to add an amplifier to my self excited Hull Hartley, shown above.

For now, I'll tease you with the basic information regarding the QSO Party as published by the 'BK' sponsor...the "Antique Wireless Association"......just in case you want to start planning an entry (hopefully!).

The Bruce Kelly 1929 QSO Party is a yearly AWA sponsored event where participants build their own transmitters using the designs, techniques, and tubes that were available in 1929 and earlier, and then put those classic transmitters on the air and try to contact as many other 1929 stations as possible. Since they use early designs, it is a cacophony of whooping, chirping, buzzing, clicking, drifting, swishing, swaying, warbling, and other interesting signals. This is what ham radio sounded like in 1929 and for two weekends in December its 1929 again on the ham bands.

This year for the first time we are activating Bruce Kelley’s W2ICE call sign as a 1929 SPECIAL EVENT STATION! W2ICE hasn’t been heard on the 1929 QSO Party since Bruce’s passing so this will be a real treat to hear and work the namesake station of this event! A special event QSL card will be available for valid contacts with W2ICE. QSL information will be posted on the AWA website. W2ICE is operating as a 1929 station and contacts count just like any other station. The 1929 QSO Party was started in the early 1990’s and championed for many years by Bruce Kelly W2ICE, an AWA co-founder. Prior to Bruce’s passing, he asked his close friend John Rollins W1FPZ to keep the 29 QSO Party going. John Rollins managed the QSO party for many years and renamed it the Bruce Kelly 1929 QSO Party in honor of Bruce. Ten years ago John Rollins asked me to manage the 29 QSO Party for him and Bruce, and to keep the event alive because it meant so much to both of them.

Dates: Sat. Dec. 6, 2014 @ 2300 GMT to Sun. Dec. 7, 2014 @ 2300 GMT and Sat. Dec. 13, 2014 @ 2300 GMT to Sun. Dec. 14, 2014 @ 2300 GMT

Objective: Contact as many 1929 stations as possible. Contact exchange consists of RST, Name, QTH (State such as ME or MN or NY), last two digits of the year of the transmitters design or publication (such as 29 or 27 or 23), type of transmitter (such as TNT or TGTP or MOPA or COLPITTS), and power input (such as 6W or 9W).

Rules: Transmitters must be 1929 or earlier types of self oscillators such as the Hartley, TNT, PP tuned grid tuned plate, MOPA, Colpitts, etc. No crystal oscillators. Tubes must have been available during or before 1929. Typical tubes often used are type 10, 45, 27, 211, 71A. Individual stations can be worked only once on each band over the course of two weekends. You can use any vintage or modern receiver that you wish. The event is open to all 1929 stations including non-AWA members and AWA members. You are encouraged to join the AWA and support 1929 radio!

Input Power: Transmitters are limited to a power INPUT of 10 watts or less. However, to help make East-West contacts, power may be increased to 20 watts INPUT between the hours of 0500Z (12 Midnight EST) and 1300Z (8 AM EST). Note this is INPUT power. Power input is calculated by multiplying PA plate voltage x total PA plate current. Example: my plate voltage is 300 volts dc, and plate current is 30 ma, so total input power is 300 x 0.030 = 9 watts input. Stations running more power than this are considered “modern” for this event and do not count.

Frequencies: The QSO Party typically operates between 1800 to 1810 Kcs, 3550 to 3580 Kcs , 7100 to 7125 Kcs, plus or minus depending on QRM. 40 meter activity is up significantly because it offers both night time AND daytime propagation! So when 80 shuts down Sunday morning, I hope to see you on 40m. (Courtesy AWA)

Presently, almost all of the activity is from Minnesota and points eastward....the west is poorly represented for some reason but activity out this way has been slowly increasing over the past two years.
You don't need much in the way of power....every year I work several eastern 'BK' stations that are running just 2 or 3 watts, usually using receiving tubes pressed into RF oscillator service....much like the real boys of '29 likely did.

If you want to try something really different and relive the days of early amateur radio then you've still got time to get started. I have some helpful building hints on my VE7SL Radio Notebook site.

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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FT991 multi-mode, 160m-70cm all mode transceiver

3 October 2014 | by Roger G3XBM | Leave a Comment (2)

The first UK price looks like around £999 from Nevada who expect stocks spring/summer 2015. This is more than I was expecting.

This image is the best I could find. The image is located on the Universal Radio site in Ohio and the link to the image will be removed if this is a problem.

http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hamhf/3991lrg.jpg

Click the image for a bigger, clearer picture.

I would consider investing in this transceiver, but would be looking for a better price. The FT450D is currently £699 in the UK (even less at MLS £619.95 according to G1KQH) I wonder if they will spin out an FT817 replacement based on the FT991 design? I am sure there would be a good market for a 5-10W version here in the UK.

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

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Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1938 October 3 2014

2 October 2014 | by Amateur Radio Newsline | Leave a Comment (0)

ARRL again asks the FCC to make ham radio primary in at 2300 to 2305 MHz
WIA campaigns to save that nations 9 centimeter ham radio allocation
FCC Commissioner takes a close look at the 400 MHz and up spectrum
Good news for Brevard County Florida ham radio tower exemption
Hollywood Celebrates Ham Radio operation brings a big surprise
An interesting new rover design is being tested by NASA

THIS WEEKS NEWSCAST

Script

Audio

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CLE186 – Perils of Perseus

1 October 2014 | by Steve VE7SL | Leave a Comment (0)

ZVR - 368 Vancouver - Middle Marker Rnwy 08R - reported as far as California

Now that CLE186 has come and gone, worldwide results will soon be posted by e-mail (to all those submitting reports) as well as to the CLE website. CLE organizer and data-cruncher Brian Keyte (G3SIA), indicates that 50 logs (and over 2,000 reports) have been submitted, including two first-timers - Graham (VE3GTC) near Ottawa, ON and Hans (BX2ABT) in Taiwan. It's always great to see new activity, especially on LF!

As is usually the case with CLE's, propagation conditions begin to deteriorate shortly after the announcement of the upcoming event. By the weekend's arrival, conditions are usually much worse than earlier in the week and such was the case once again! In North America, lightning activity and mediocre propagation dominated the three-night event, with the consensus of opinion giving the nod to Saturday night and early Sunday morning as being the best period.

Courtesy: http://www.lightningmaps.org/

Here on Mayne Island, Friday night was pretty much a wash and only the stronger signals made it through the din and into the log. A twilight check on Saturday evening indicated improving propagation and less lightning, renewing optimism that the entire weekend would not be a wipeout.

Since purchasing the Perseus SDR earlier this year, I have been using it exclusively for the past few CLE's. I have been exploiting one of it's main features....the ability to record the entire band overnight and then tune through the band the next day, as in real time. I no longer had to prop my eyelids open until 0100 or later, or to leave a sound sleep to journey out to a cold shack to hunt the pre-sunrise band for anything new....yes, Perseus has made it possible to DX while I sleep!

Now the very concept of this horrifies many of the 'purists' and I myself held-out for several years before venturing over to the darkside...but...embracing new technology along with its associated new learning is what is important. If I get to sleep-in because of it, even better!

So....that's the way it is supposed to work, but due to operator error, Perseus failed to launch on Saturday night, and the best conditions of the CLE were missed altogether. Having seen the error in my ways, the perils of Perseus will, hopefully, not strike again!

Conditions on Sunday night were noisy once again, although not as bad as Friday, and the following log was gathered after parsing through my overnight recordings.

                                      09 27 0400 350 NY Enderby, BC
                            09 29 0900 350 OKT Yoakum, TX - new catch
                            09 29 0700 350 RG Oklahoma City, OK
                            09 27 0400 350 SWU Idaho Falls, ID
                            09 29 0900 350 VTR McGrath, AK
                            09 29 0800 351 YKQ Wasaganish, QC
                            09 27 1330 353 AL Walla Walla, WA
                            09 29 0800 353 CY Cheyenne, WY
                            09 29 0800 353 DI Dickinson, ND
                            09 29 0800 353 IN International Falls, MN
                            09 27 1330 353 LLD Lanai, HI
                            09 29 0800 353 PG Portage, MB
                            09 27 0400 353 RNT Renton, WA
                            09 27 1330 353 ZXY Whitehorse, YT
                            09 29 1100 355 AUB King Salmon, AK
                            09 29 0800 355 YWP Webequie, ON
                            09 27 0700 356 MEF Medford, OR
                            09 29 0700 356 ODX Ord, NE
                            09 27 0700 356 ON Penticton, BC
                            09 27 1330 356 PND Portland, OR
                            09 27 0700 356 ZF Yellowknife, NT
                            09 29 0800 356 ZXE Saskatoon, SK
                            09 27 0400 358 SIT Sitka, AK
                            09 27 1300 359 BO Boise, ID
                            09 27 0500 359 SDY Sidney, MT
                            09 27 1300 359 YAZ Tofino, BC
                            09 29 0800 359 YQZ Quesnel, BC
                            09 29 0800 360 SW Warroad, MN
                            09 29 0900 361 E3 Wabasca, AB
                            09 29 0800 361 HI Holman, NT
                            09 29 1000 362 6T Foremost, AB
                            09 27 1300 362 BF Seattle, WA
                            09 29 0800 362 CD Chadron, NE
                            09 29 0600 362 RPX Roundup, MT
                            09 29 0800 362 YZS Coral Harbour, NU
                            09 29 0800 364 4D Helmet, BC
                            09 27 1100 365 AA Fargo, MN
                            09 29 0800 365 DPY Deer Park, WA
                            09 29 0800 365 HQG Hugoton, KS
                            09 29 0800 365 MA Mayo, YT
                            09 29 0800 366 YMW Maniwaki, QC
                            09 29 0800 368 ZP Sandspit, BC
                            09 27 1330 368 ZVR Vancouver, BC

I have, over the years, logged all of these beacons before, except for one..."OKT" in Yoakum, Texas...new catches are always nice and are harder to find it seems. The Google Map's 'street view' shows what appears to be a nice top-loaded "T" antenna at OKT:

Courtesy: https://www.google.ca/maps/

My CLE186 beacons - Courtesy: https://www.google.ca/maps/

It was nice to salvage Sunday night but I'm still a little bummed about missing the best night of the weekend...at least I had a good night's sleep.

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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