AmateurRadio.com

Sometimes I wonder if that’s truly my problem, or if I just have too many irons in the fire.  I don’t LIKE to put things off – it’s just that sometimes I am forced to because something else comes up that has to be dealt with NOW. Then I lose my place and that’s how things go by the wayside for me. Maybe I need to take courses in multi-tasking – do they offer those?  😉

Another thing that I did today (besides finish printing the Skeeter certificates) was to finally do something with my Christmas present.  That’s right – I haven’t written about my Christmas present, have I?

Marianne had no idea what to get me, so I made it simple for her. I made it super simple for her!  I ordered a set of SideKX cover plates for my “portable” KX3, the one I take to work with me everyday, and I had them sent here to the house to her attention. I installed them today (super easy!) and instead of sticking my KX3 inside a ziploc bag inside my LowePro bag, it is now protected by the SideKX.

The KX3 before surgery:

And the KX3 after surgery – now fully protected:

The silkscreening on the SideKX plates is virtually identical to the silkscreening on the original Elecraft side plates.  It would take an expert with a lot keener eye than mine to be able to see any differences.  The price was very reasonale for the extra protection that you get. Of course, I had to put the radio on the air after its operation, just to make sure I didn’t screw anything up.  A couple of quick NAQP contacts on 20 Meters confirmed that I hadn’t!

Oh, one other thing that I got to see today.  At this morning’s VE session that I attended and helped at, fellow Volunteer Examiner Bob KB2VMG brought along his KXPA100 that had just arrived yesterday.  He ordered his as a pre-built unit in June.  I ordered mine as a kit in October.  I was hoping to have mine by the end of January, but if Bob just got his, which he ordered four months earlier than I did, I am now hoping to see mine by Easter.  Anyway, I got to see one live and up close and personal and got to drool for a little while!

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].

I received a gentle nudge from one of the 2013 Skeeter Hunt participants this week via an e-mail, “Did you ever get the certificates out?”.

Larry Makoski, W2LJ, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Jersey, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

The Chemical Spill  yesterday still continues to plaque us here in Kanawha Valley. Some fresh water has arrived but there’s still not enough for everyone. A few of our neighbors have simply “left” their homes and will stay with friends or relatives until city water is again deemed safe for human use. We were not able to find water today although we went to three different places which were broadcast on the local radio station.

The remaining quantity of the 30,000 gallon leaking tank has been moved to a safe location and the soil around the tank is being trucked to another location. Best estimates of the quantity of the leakage have been placed at around 5,000 gallons.

“Up to 300,000 West Virginia residents were told not to drink tap water on Friday after a chemical spill called its safety into question, and health officials said water in the affected area should only be used for flushing toilets and fighting fires.”

The N8ZYA households biggest concern is water for our pets and our personal hygiene. The concentrations of the chemical in the water supply is still much to high to risk drinking, bathing, or even washing dishes. This chemical has been erroneously picked up and pumped into nine different counties. All schools and day care centers are closed and all restaurants are closed. The economic consequences of this disaster will be enormous.

I’ve not heard any calls for communications from the Ham radio community but I have everything prepared should the call go out.

My neighbor invited us, and about a dozen friends, to dinner this evening. We had soup, which was made before the chemical leak, along with a salad, and lots of wine. We gave an elderly lady on our street a couple bottles of our water.

John Smithson, Jr., N8ZYA, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from West Virginia, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

A shot of the loop with the "T" fitting

I have been looking for a way to place the Alexloop  in the horizontal position as from my playing with the loop it seems to work better for me on the balcony in the omnidirectional horizontal position. Yesterday I was able to pick up a 1 inch "T" fitting mainly used for piecing together plastic pipe. I was able to feed the loops center support through the "T" fitting and place it nicely on the tripod. With just a little electrical tape to hold it in place it worked great. 
I finally set things up to get  WSPR up and going, so yesterday during the day and then into the evening I was WSPRing to see how my signal was getting out from the condo. Up to this point I have only used the Reverse Beacon Network or RBN which involved CW at 5 watts. I was not thrilled with the results and was really wanting to give WSPR a go. During the day I tried 10m and 20m I started out with 1 watt and in terms of WSPR that is some pretty high power. The antenna once again was the Alexloop in the horizontal position, at first attempt on both bands the Alexloop was indoors. It was not surprise that there were no spots at all it was time to move the loop out onto the balcony. Once setup I went back to 10m and it was about 2pm local time with no results again. I then jumped over to 20m and it was just U.S stations and very few I might add that received my signal. It was time to pack it in for the afternoon and some chores had to be done and I would get back on in the evening hours.
At 7 pm local time I was up and WSPRing on 40m and with great hopes as the band sounded good and I was decoding some WSPR DX such as EA3NEI. I once again was only heard in the U.S and this time I used up to 5 watts!! Maybe it was that conditions were poor out this way as they have been over the past week. Over the weekend if I get time I am going to give WSPR a go once again and see how it works out.
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

Back when I had an easier job I decided that I’d attempt to make a really simple, lightweight rotator that used off the shelf servos or stepper motor’s driven by an Arduino. Either interfaced with a PC or as a stand alone device.

Well, things move when you’re not looking and it seems like my bright idea was also several others, and whilst I’ve been busy not doing anything radio, others have.

I’d managed to buy a couple of servos off eBay and managed to drive them with the standard examples. Although the movement wasn’t as smooth as I’d have liked. Perhaps a couple of large capacitors would have helped but as I didn’t have anything suitable to hand I thought I would have a go anyway.

Well it didn’t work out like that. After spending over an hour installing the Windows 8 drivers (how to turn you off an operating system!) I hooked up the Arduino and wrestled with the servos. Either they are knackered or there’s something missing…..

Time to take a step back and reflect, or buy a few caps

Alex Hill, G7KSE, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cumbria, UK. Contact him at [email protected].

How about making your last 200 contacts in your logbook look a bit special, or even your most memorable contacts look like a piece of artwork?

Well I did just that. After seeing a Facebook post by John (KK4EQF) he showed how he logged over 400 call signs on a map of the US (Click here to view) I decided to take my last 200 QSO’s and overlay them on a map of the UK.

After a little fiddling I settled on this configuration. I’m really quite pleased with it and I might even print a copy & frame it. It’s a lovely way to show off your QSO’s – Even the wife agreed its quite pretty !

Dan Trudgian, MØTGN, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Wiltshire, England. He's a radio nut, IT guru, general good guy and an all round good egg. Contact him him here.

The N8ZYA family, and approximately 100,000 others in the immediate Charleston West Virginia area, can’t drink the water, wash dishes, bathe, do laundry, or use the city water supply for ANY reason due to a large chemical tank which is leaking dangerous chemicals into our water supply  tonight. The governor has declared a “state of emergency” until the concentration and amount of a liquid used in the coal mining cleaning process can be determined and evaluated for public safety.

In essence, our drinking water can only be used to flush the toilet, or for putting out a fire. It should not be touched with human hands.

“Through a news release, the Kanawha County Commission Emergency Management says a product leak of 4-Methylcyclohexane Methanol at Freedom Industries on Barlow Dr. is responsible for the contamination of the local water supply. Local health department officials are urging restaurants and bars to close immediately” 

 Which brings me to the caption of the post above. In this case, and above all other resources, water is at the top of the list, every time. It’s not a luxury, it’s essential for life.

I’ve always assumed clean drinking water is possible by filtering or boiling; but chemical contamination is an entirely different problem. There’s not much can be done except hope it moves downstream and eventually becomes harmless.

I hope clean water arrives by truck in the morning.

John Smithson, Jr., N8ZYA, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from West Virginia, USA. Contact him at [email protected].