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We’ve come full circle

15 January 2014 | by Larry W2LJ | Leave a Comment (3)

Back in the day, we Hams used to get blamed for everything!

Now, it’s come full circle and all these new fangled electronic devices seem to be polluting our bands with all kinds of RF noise.

It used to be that we had to prove that we weren’t the “interferers”, and now we have to prove that they are! Who would have thought that one day, the tables would be turned?

I remember when I lived in East Brunswick, I lived a couple of houses away from the only guy in New Jersey that didn’t have cable TV. He used to gnaw on my ear all the time that I was interfering with his TV. I even had him over to the shack to show him that my station wasn’t interfering with a small portable TV that I had set up there. That the TV picture didn’t so much as flicker when I transmitted didn’t convince him in the least.

But the funniest time (and you really just had to shake your head and laugh) was once when he confronted me as I pulled into my driveway. He was standing at the fence and was literally yelling at me how he couldn’t even use his TV the past couple of days because I was “screwing it up so bad”.

“Really, Bob?” I asked, “The past few days have been really bad?”

“You’re darn (he didn’t use “darn”, but this is a family friendly blog) right. I haven’t been able to watch TV the past four nights because of you and that Ham Radio of yours”.

I smiled (which made him angrier, but I couldn’t help myself) and answered, “Then that’s a pretty good trick, Bob, because I’ve been out of the country for the past two weeks. I just got back from the airport.” I had been in Switzerland on a training session for my old job.

Of course, the facts made no difference. I was still to blame as far as he was concerned. I can chuckle about it now, but back then it was annoying and upsetting to always be harped on for something that wasn’t my fault. It got to be that I hated walking out my own back door, dreading the next needless confrontation. I think that experience is one of the factors that drove me to go QRP full time, as I never want to go through that again.

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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AmateurLogic.TV 62: It’s Alive!

14 January 2014 | by George W5JDX | Leave a Comment (0)

AmateurLogic.TV Episode 62 is now available for download.

George gets the Raspberry Pi Echolink node on-the-air. Solving the GPIO problem, building a relay interface for the Pi, and using a Circuit Writer pen to create a PC board.

Tommy reviews the new DHAP. A Hardened case, computer, power supply and more for your D-Star DVAP access point.

Peter does some time lapse photography with the Raspberry Pi camera module. Plus the usual tech talk and witty banter you can always count on.

1:05:06 of AmateurLogic to start the new year right.

Download

View in web browser: YouTube

George Thomas, W5JDX, is co-host of AmateurLogic.TV, an original amateur radio video program hosted by George Thomas (W5JDX), Tommy Martin (N5ZNO), Peter Berrett (VK3PB), and Emile Diodene (KE5QKR). Contact him at [email protected].

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Now something else

14 January 2014 | by Paul PC4T | Leave a Comment (0)

Oh man! Wonder if he'll ever know

He's in the best-selling show

Is there life on Mars? (David Bowie)

I will keep this blog running. You can follow me wherever I am. When the propagation is good, and the time is right, you can hear me on air.

Paul Stam, PC4T, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from the Netherlands. Contact him at [email protected].

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The trend is clear

14 January 2014 | by Paul PC4T | Leave a Comment (12)

The trend is clear. The number of posts decreases. I think blogging has come to an end. Jeff Davis KE9V stopped blogging as well and uses Google+ for news updates.

I use Twitter @PC4T Facebook and Google+ All my internet activities are shown in Google + so there is no need for blogging. I'm considering stopping blogging, again. A lot of my fellow bloggers are on Google+ as well. Why should I spend time with making blog posts? I had to get used to google+, it took some time, but now I get it. I am a slow follower of trends. Maybe you recognize it; any change at my age takes time. So my blog will soon close. Make the switch to google+ if you want. I'll hope to see you there.

I'm more than just a radio amateur.

Paul Stam, PC4T, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from the Netherlands. Contact him at [email protected].

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Three Summits in the Wichita Mountains

14 January 2014 | by Mike AD5A | Leave a Comment (0)

This trip to the Wichita Mountains in SW Oklahoma was not a firm plan. Unlike many of my SOTA expeditions, I only carried my radio gear in case I was able to use. Unfortunately, I was in Ft. Worth, Texas to attend the funeral of my Aunt and as always, at funerals and weddings, there are always lots of family and friends to catch up with. I figured that the reunion might last through the weekend. However, after the funeral on Friday most of my relatives dispersed back to their busy lives. I suggested to Cris, my XYL, that we sneak off to the Wichita Mountains for a SOTA date. She agreed, so we set out for Lawton, Oklahoma, which is a 2.5 hour drive from where we were. Upon arriving in Lawton around 10:00p.m., I opened up my iPad and put together a plan.

I had lived in Duncan, Oklahoma for eight years in the '80's and early '90's and had visited the Wichita Mountains multiple times with my family and our Boy Scout Troop, but never with summits in mind. So the must do summits in the Wichitas are Mt. Scott and Elk Mountain. Mt. Scott is a drive up and Elk Mountain is a nice 1.1 mile hike, one way. I knew if I started early, three summits were doable, maybe even four. But which one would be the third? I remembered KC5CW and KD5ZZK operating from a four point summit not far from Mt. Scott, so after a little research, Mount Cummins was added to the list. Below is a report on the trip.

For this trip I used an MTR 20/40, 500 mah Lipo battery, 21 foot collapsible carbon fiber pole and a LNR 10-20-40 "trail friendly" End Fed Half Wave antenna.

Mount Scott W5O/WI-002

This is an easy summit. The weather was on the chilly side with temps in the mid-30's when we started out. Upon arriving on the base of the mountain, there was a squad of army soldiers getting ready for a run up the mountain, something that would appeal to Fred, KT5X, but I was happy to drive up this one. At the summit, there was only one other car, so I had a pick of operating sites. I elected to get out of the wind and down a ways from the summit.

Operating Site on Mt. Scott

The views from Mt. Scott are fantastic, mainly because the mountain rises above the relative flat plain of grasslands. Lake Lawtonka is part of the backdrop. But it was a little chilly. The tree in the foreground of the picture is what I used to support the end of my antenna which I then brought to the operating position down my carbon fiber fishing pole.

Operating on Mt. Scott with MTR

Signals were good and I made 18 QSO's on 20 meters. When I QSY'ed to 40m I didn't get spotted by RBN so I self spotted. Nothing. I wrote it off to poor propagation. However, as I figured out on the next summit, changing bands on the MTR requires changing three switches, I had only switched two and wasn't putting out a signal, so my apologies to the 40m chasers.

View From Mt. Scott

While I was operating I heard some cadence based singing. I thought my wife was listening to something on her iPhone, but it was the army squad. Not looking as fresh as when we saw them at the bottom, but the worst was over.

Elk Mountain W5O/WI-007

Elk Mountain 8 or 9 miles west of Mt. Scott and it is a great SOTA summit. It has an easy to follow trail that isn't too long (1.1 miles one way) and great views at the top. This would be a great summit to practice on to get prepared for higher elevation, longer climbs. My wife and I made the climb in 30 minutes.

The trail head is at the Sunset Picnic Area and begins where the bridge crosses the creek. By the time we got on the trail the temps had warmed to the upper 40's and the sky was clear, a beautiful day. The climb is straight forward and the summit is large so you have a lot of room to set up. However there no substantial trees on the summit, so this necessitated a different set-up for the antenna. I set up a little below the summit and used an inverted L configuration, running the wire up the pole and then letting it slope down from the top of the pole.

Operating on Elk Mountain

Propagation was good and signals were strong. I received several reports greater than 559 and several 599, so everything was working. I made 22 QSO's on 20m and 4 QSO's on 40m. Included in the log was S58AL.

Toward the end of the activation, a group of boy scouts gathered to watch. I gave them an impromptu lecture on ham radio in general and SOTA in particular. They were very attentive. I told them that the internet was hard wired, but ham radio was magic.

Cris captured my impromptu talk with the Scouts

View from Elk Mountain

Mount Cummins W5O/WI-031

Mount Cummins is also a relatively easy summit, however finding the way to the top was a little more of challenge than I expected. My GPS took me to the wrong side of the mountain. The cell phone tower is the landmark, so I kept driving until I found the road to the tower. The cell tower site is in the activation zone, however, I wanted to get up on the summit to get the antenna deployed, so I did a little bushwhacking.

On my way up Mount Cummins

There is a lot of scrub oak on the mountain that makes getting to the top a little more challenging than you would think. In the picture above, the cell tower fence can be seen in the right. The antenna above me in the picture must be a repeater antenna. The summit is relatively large, I set up on the summit ridge.

Operating Position on Cummins

You can see the beautiful day, with clear skies, temps now in the lower 60's. I made a total of 27 QSO's with all but four on 20 meters.

Running the Pile with the MTR

This was a fantastic day of SOTA fun. I earned 22 Activator points, enjoyed a beautiful day outdoors and enjoyed a SOTA date with my wife Cris. She loves photography, so this trip gave her some material and a good excuse to use her camera.

This is the first time I've done three summits in a day. My equipment performed well and I received better than average signal reports. I don't know if it was simply propagation or the inverted L/sloper configuration was better. At any rate, it was fun.

I had planned on maybe doing a fourth summit or maybe getting up early Sunday to do one more before driving home to San Antonio. However we received news that our daughter-in-law, who is six months pregnant, was having an emergency appendectomy, so we made the 7.5 hour drive home instead. Both mom and baby are fine.

Thanks to all the chasers. This SOTA stuff is fun.

Mike Crownover, AD5A, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Texas, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

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Just checking!

14 January 2014 | by Larry W2LJ | Leave a Comment (1)

I got curious and sent an e-mail to Elecraft asking them when I might expect my KXPA100 kit, that I ordered in October.

Good news! Only about another month or so!

To be honest with you, I wasn’t expecting such a quick response. I got my e-mail answer in less than 24 hours. Kudos to Dean and the Elecraft Sales Team.

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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QRP Kit News

14 January 2014 | by Larry W2LJ | Leave a Comment (2)

As announced by the Four States QRP Group today:

The Four State QRP Group is very pleased to announce that Dave Benson’s, Freq-Mite kit has been added to the lineup of Four State kits. Upon retirement, Dave, K1SWL, graciously offered the kit to us to continue production. Along with his SW+ transceiver series, the Freq-Mite is one of his signature designs. The Freq-Mite provides audio frequency annunciation, and is intended to be installed as a frequency counter inside a rig. Thus providing an inexpensive alternative to an LCD display. It is easily installed in new or existing rigs and easy to understand installation notes for many rigs are included on the web site.

The kit sells for only $22 US, which includes shipping, and may be ordered from it’s home page http://www.4sqrp.com/freq-mite.php All of the Four State kit offerings may be found on this page http://www.4sqrp.com/kitIndex.php Additional kits are in the pipeline and will be made available as soon as possible.

As always, thank you for supporting Four State. All proceeds go to funding OzarkCon, the largest and best QRP conference in the Central Time Zone. Hope to cu in Branson on April 4t and 5th.

de Terry WAØITP

Between the Four States Group and QRPMe, it’s good to see Dave Benson’s designs not being lost to oblivion. On a side note, K1SWL posted on QRP-L that he participated in the North American QSO Party this weekend – first time he’s been on the air in about 10 years. Good for him! Personally, I am glad to see Dave enjoying Amateur Radio and QRPing again – he deserves as much for all his dedicated service to the QRP community over the years.

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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