Summer's gone already

 Summertime is not a big operating time for me these days but as the weather gets cooler I start to think of antennas and what I need to do before the snow flies.  I had put up the doublet in the spring and it ran just touching the weeping willow tree because that was the path between my 2 supports.  The antenna got tangled up with the tree and I was not pleased with using the tuner each time I moved on the band or changed bands.  Some bands worked well and others not so much.  I decided to rethink my options.  I had put up an end fed wire for 40 and that was fine with the little tuner I built but I decided to drop it and put up a tuned dipole instead.  The end fed is a compromise and I wanted to do a fan dipole using the window line.  I made one with 40 on top and 17 underneath.  This antenna doesn't interfere with any trees and I reused my center support from the doublet making this antenna slightly inverted V-ish.  Now I have the 2 fan dipoles (20/30) and (17/40) and my EFHW for 80 which I am still not completely pleased with but I have it and will use it this winter.  It works and I make QSOs and that is what counts.

I plan on taking part in more NAQCC monthly sprints this winter and they use 20/40/80 which I now have covered.  I am not a contester but these are low pressure and I really enjoy having 2x QRP QSOs.  The days are getting cooler and my operating position (a lawn chair and card table in the barn next to the window) is ready for me.  The raccoons will soon be coming home to find winter homes and I hope to seal up their access to the barn but it is a challenge as they can be pretty crafty.  They stay on the second floor and don't bother my stuff but I'd rather not have them but that's what you get when you live rurally...that and the red squirrels.

I have  had a couple of QSOs this past weekend but I am still busy with other jobs and not had a lot of time to operate.  Soon enough, I hope.

Cheers es 72/73 -- Scott  

Doublet Up and more to come

On Saturday I installed my doublet and the center hangs down to about 23' above the ground.  It's heavy over a long run so it does sag some.  I have decided to prepare my center support to take some of the load off and also to provide me with another use.  More on that later.

I tested my doublet with my tuner and found a very good match on 40, 17 and 15 and a reasonable match on 30, 12 and 10.  I could not match on 20M.  I made some contacts and was pleased with the flexibility I now have across the bands...except 20M.  I thought the issue was the length of my feedline so I trimmed 8' from it and still it behaved about the same.  Someone suggested that the length of the antenna may need some trimming.    I lowered the antenna and trimmed 2' off each end and raised it back up again.  The bands that were reasonable improved slightly in the SWR department but 20M stayed unacceptable.  Rather than fart around with this doublet to get something "reasonable" at the expense of the other bands I decided that I would prefer a tuned antenna for 20M so that I can get back to doing some QRPp work eventually.  I have decided to make a single 20M dipole and support it from the antenna support I plan to install.

In the QRP tradition I want this support to do the job with low expense and also with what I have on hand which is challenging.  I have wood.  I have a patio umbrella stand that anchors with patio stones in the NPM (non-penetrating mount) fashion since I'm not quite ready to dig and bury a 6"x6" or 4"x4" post as a base anchor point just yet.  I have a pulley and I have a 20' fiberglass Wonderpole with the tip broken off.  Originally I was going to use just the top section of this rod as I explained I was going to do in my post Still a Bit Chilly but I have changed my plan a bit to use the whole thing.  The only thing I am missing to get this support up are some hose clamps and some paracord.  I used up all the cord I had on the weekend so I will place an order at the local hardware store for a curbside pickup.

I am using two eight foot 2x2s end to end for the support and then I will strap the Wonderpole to it at the top.  This will give me close to 30' of support.  I may be able to get away with no guys at all, since the Wonderpole is light.   Just below the doublet I will attach a pulley and install a dipole for 20M.  The paracord attached to the legs will give me some added support.  Joining the 2 wood 2x2s end to end is a challenge and here is what I have come up with.

I ripped some 1x8 down to about 2" wide which is the same width as the main support pieces. the pieces are about 2' long.  I sandwich the support pieces at the joints and secured with some screws, wire and hose clamps.  The photos show wire I used but this won't be strong enough.  I don't have any fencing wire or I would use that and hose clamps are easily removed and adjusted.

I have strapped the support pole to the umbrella stand and will add the Wonderpole to it hopefully today,

More to come
Cheers de Scott ve3vvf

NAQCC April Sprint

So I'm not a contester at all.  That requires operating skill, dedication and time to commit to the contests.  The NAQCC monthly sprints, on the other hand, are low stress, fun, short and did I say fun?

I have wanted to take part many times over the years but either didn't have the right band antenna or a good setup...or so I thought.  With the COVID-19 lock down of sorts I have had more time on the radio which has given me more confidence on the radio.  As well, I listened to the Ditdit.fm Podcast on the NAQCC and their contest sprints.  I've had a member number (1967) for years but just never used it.  It was time.  I looked on the NAQCC site this morning to see when the next sprint was and it was tonight!  I have a 130' random wire and my little tuner that will put me on 40 and 20...just not 80.  Those are the 3 bands the sprint runs on.

The toughest part, once it got going at 20:30 Eastern time, was dealing with the congestion.  It took a bit to learn to find a signal and focus on it alone and ignore all the others around you/it.  It makes me wish I had the narrow CW filter in my FT-817.  Anyway, 20M wasn't very good but 40 was full.  My plan was to stay for an hour and take what I got and be happy.  I didn't really feel the need to call CQ NA because I could just dial around and find others calling.  The sprint runs generally between 7.030 - 7.045.  All in all I made 6 QSOs and didn't stumble too much through them.  I was pleased with my effort and results.  The total points score was 144 after multipliers for using a Straight Key and the SPC multipliers.  I know many get dozens of Qs in the log but this was about me getting more airtime.  I used one of the popular loggers called the NAQCC Sprint Logger which was created by Ron Bower, AC2C.  It worked well when I went to enter my contacts after the fact and I was able to do a report that I cut and paste into the log submission page of the NAQCC.  It was painless.  This was a great experience and I hope to take part again next month.

Cheers es 72 de Scott ve3vvf,

Tuner Covers the Bands

I took some time yesterday afternoon on the Good Friday "day off" to try out the QRPGuys Multi Z tuner some more.  I started on 40M, where I didn't have any luck finding a match the other day, and had better luck today.  There's a hi/Lo Z switch and when I switched it to Hi I was able to match 40M quite well.  I even had a QSO with Ron, W3SSF, in Baltimore, MD.  It was turning into a ragchew but had to cut it short because of QRM.  30M tunes alright but I can obtain a better match without the tuner. 20M tuned up nicely and I may have had a brief exchange with 4A60O but he was quick and there were a lot of other callers in the pileup.  I didn't hear my exact call but very similar to mine.  He may have misheard my call because of the QRP.  He did not go in the log.  17, 12, 15 and 10 meters also tuned up will enough but those bands were pretty dead so there were no QSOs to be had.  It was a bit chilly but mostly it was a cool damp very strong wind so I operated from inside the barn.  Even with that my fingers were starting to get a little cold so I packed it in for the afternoon but not before proving to myself that this little tuner will work well for me on this random wire through a LDG 9:1 unun until I can get the doublet in the air.

Little Tuner Helpful

When I built the QRPGuys Multi Z tuner it was so I could use it with the Doublet I plan to put up (once I get a launching method) but then I thought I'd give it a try with my random wire since the Doublet isn't quite there yet.  The random wire is about 125' long, I believe,  and works very well on 30M but that's about it.  I hooked the little unit up via a short run of Co-ax to my LDG 9:1 Unun and I was able to tune it quite well on 20M and on 17M.  40M was not so agreeable and I didn't try 12 or 15 but if I were going to use this antenna and tuner together regularly some adjustments to the wire length would likely be required.  I tuned around 20 for a while and there was a lot of activity and I was getting a little over-zealous trying to reach a Brazilian station and also a few other DX stations but I really should have known better and stuck with something more domestic.  As it was, my battery was down to 10-11v and I knew my FT-817 wasn't even putting out close to 5 watts into a non resonant antenna...during poor conditions.   All that being said I was happy with the tuner and how easy it was to operate by tuning to dim the tuning LED.  As the LED gets dimmer your match is better.  It was super handy and I think I am going to enjoy using it.  Tonight I'll charge my battery and test it again on more bands on the next nice day.

A Beautiful Day

Saturday was one of the nicest days we have had in quite some time.  The wind was down and the temperatures were in the mid teens.  This was a perfect opportunity to spend some time outdoors.  As the yard dries up there will be a lot to do and being stuck at home will give me no excuse not to get stuff done.  After first doing some raking of twigs from the weeping willow (there are sooooooo many from this sort of tree...especially after a windy winter) I figured it was a perfect opportunity to do some outdoor operating.  I got my lawn chair and collapsible table out and brought out my portable kit.  Everything is still brown but it's better than being white.  I took this panoramic shot.  This summer my plan was to have that old storage shed taken down and removed but with COVID that has fallen down the list of what is important.

The sun was warm and I hooked up to the random wire.  Since 30M is the only band I can work without a tuner that's where I parked myself.  The DX stations I could hear were too weak for them to hear me so I had a couple of QSOs with domestic stations.  The band was fairly active.  I could hear at least one SOTA station and a couple of SKCC stations.  I was unsure of the SOTA exchange.  I was unsure if someone calling CQ SOTA is looking for a SOTA station or they are activating a SOTA station.  With my CW operating confidence (or lack there of) always hanging over my head I avoided the SOTA caller and instead my first call was a 2x QRP with AA9AA in Wisconsin and I always enjoy a 2xQRP...probably one of my favourite contact types.  I also called back to an SKCC station and had a brief QSO where we exchanged SKCC numbers names and Stare/Province.  I was just listening to some of the DitDit podcasts this week and one of them was all about the SKCC.  I've had a SKCC member number for over a decade now but I've never done much with it.  It's nice to be able to have a brief exchange with someone with a shared element.

I'm happy the snow is gone now and the yard is drying up.  I'm going to appreciate the increased radio operating time I'm going to have this spring.  Soon we will be planting the vegetable gardens and getting the flower patches cleaned up.  The perennials are already coming up.

With the warmer weather, as well, is the ability to start practising my bagpipes outdoors.  It's not an activity conducive to indoor practising when it comes to not annoying other people/cats in the house.  Soon, I hope.

*NOTE - I looked up the SOTA details and found that someone calling CQ SOTA is, in fact, activating a summit.  There's a whole community of chasers out there too.

Cheers for now es 72/37
de Scott

Spring is Here Today

With the lengthening days, warmer temperatures and the reality of being stuck at home due to work policies surrounding the COVID-19 "situation" has me thinking about radio a lot more often these days.  Last weekend I decided to do some outdoor operating using my random wire antenna.  The temperature was 4C so it was quite bearable and I also had a nicer view than I would have had I sat inside looking at the barn wall.  Basically I sat just outside the barn window and ran a short length of RG-174 out the window to a chair.  The other end was connected to my LDG 9:1 Unun.  I set up and in 30 minutes I had 3 nice contacts on 30M and two of them were 2xQRP which always makes me extra happy.

 I have my rig, battery, key, clock and ear buds in a small Pelican case which I lined with "Cubed Pick Foam" from the local Canadian Tire store.  This allows me to keep everything organized and works a lot better than the computer carrying case I used to use.  The battery is a 7mAh and is heavy and would crush the other things in my bag.  Now it's held snugly in place by the foam. 

I have a small collapsible camping table and it worked great for keeping things off my lap.   I enjoy being outside again and with the COVID crisis looking like it's not going to end any time in the near future it will give me a chance to operate more often that I otherwise would have time for.  I am also taking some of my spare time to brush up on my code rx speed.  I started out using the standard G4FON program I installed years ago but have been found two other resources that are extremely helpful at increasing character and word recognition which will help with head copying and get past the barrier that exists when you try and write everything down during a QSO.  One of these resources is Kurt Zoglmann's Morse Code Ninja site which is full of links to Youtube videos he's created with all sorts of words, prosigns, call signs, etc at various speeds for aural practice for word and character recognition.  He has learned Morse Code to the extreme where he has even had books converter to code and listens to them.  He's pretty hard core on code.

The second site is called Morse Camp and it is quite simply laid out and easy to use for word recognition.  It plays words for you at a predefined speed (default appears to be 30WPM) and keeps repeating them until you think you know what it is and hit the space bar.  This shows the word or letter/number combination and you indicate with a left or right arrow whether you were correct or not and it moves on.  You can select word length but as you progress it increments on its own.

I think this seclusion we are all experiencing can be a challenge for those who suffer from anxiety or depression, let alone the rest of us who are also feeling the stress of the unknown be it job security, financial security, or even toilet paper security, apparently.  They say the key is to make sure to get out of the house for a walk or a hike or some other stress relieving activity.  Radio is that for me and I plan to do it as much as I can fit it in.  I don't need to sit there for hours...30 minutes is plenty and even just 1 QSO makes me happy when operating QRP.

72/73 de Scott ve3vvf

Less than favourable results...sort of

So I installed my random wire antenna from my barn out to a very tall poplar.  I used #10 wire so that the strong winds at my QTH wouldn't break it and I have about 130' of wire up in the air sloping up towards the top of the tree with the last 50' or so being para cord over a branch and down to the ground where it's tied off.  At the shack end I am using a ceramic egg insulator to a rope tied through a pulley attached just above the barn window to a bucket of bricks so that strong winds won't break the wire.  I then have another wire soldered to the antenna wire which comes into the "shack" to my LDG 9:1 random wire unun.  From there I connect straight to the radio.

I used the Agilent Field Fox to look at the resonance points on the antenna and saw that it wasn't really well resonant on any band but it wasn't too bad on a couple.  I added some radials on the ground of varying lengths and according to the Field Fox this made things worse.  What I really need is a MFJ-16010 L-network tuner to finish things up for me.  As it stands now, when I hook up the FT-817, the only band that presents no SWR issue is the 30M band.  30 has always been one of my favourite bands (along with 17 and 12) so I'm not extremely upset by it.  We are in a dismal part of the propagation cycle and I was still able to have a few QSOs on Sunday (Jan 12th) including a QSO with Ron, K5WLT, at almost 1700 miles in Texas and a 2xQRP with Alan, KR4AE, in Cleveland Georgia which is almost 900 miles away.  It's certainly not as good a distance as I can get with far less power during better propagation periods but I like the fact that I can still make QRP contacts, albeit with 5 watts.

Of course, as with many hams, I'm thinking of other antenna ideas.  The one that interests me at the moment is the Maypole style antenna.  I am a proponent of the fan dipole antenna and this is a variation on that.  The problem I have at my QTH with wind can best be defended against with stronger wires but thicker wire is heavier making supporting the center more challenging.  What the Maypole antenna does is use a non-conductive centre support with the inverted-vee antennas equally spread out in all different directions around the circle (looking from above) acting as guy wires and also not interacting with each other as much as with the standard fan dipole.  This antenna can be fed with coaxial cable but you'll want to keep the run as short as possible to reduce losses.  You could use a 1:1 balun or choke at the feed point to reduce feed line radiation but I don't think it's really that necessary, especially at QRP power levels, based on my use of dipoles in the past and from what I've read on the topic.  The leg pairs will all be of different lengths making the "V" angle different on each band but this shouldn't change the feed impedance too much.  The legs should not touch the ground but can be attached to stakes or pegs with non-conductive guy ropes.  Since I am operating QRP power levels I am not worried about RF burns but at higher power levels you should keep the antenna elements out of reach of people.  The key now is to choose which bands I want to operate on and figure out the best type of centre support to use.  There's PVC piping but the strength is suspect if it gets too tall and there's also wood or fiberglass.  I'm not quite sure yet which is the best choice.  As it stands now, this antenna will take up a fair bit of real estate and cutting grass around it will be a pain but if it works well it will be worth the extra effort.

1000 MPW ...Even with Poor Band Conditions

So I turned the radio on this morning for the first time since last September.  My wire dipoles are in a bit of a tangle from a winter of strong blowing winds but the SWR readings are still low so I ventured onto the bands.  I heard a fair bit of activity on 40 but I prefer the WARC bands so I moved to 17M.  The SWR was too high so I moved to 30M.  With the exception of someone already in a ragchew QSO I dialed around and found nothing.  I had my FT-817 set to 1W as usual and called CQ a time or two.  Then I heard a weak response from Roger, W4RFT.  I have him in my log on 20M but not 30.  It was a very brief QSO where we exchanged 559s and then it dropped off.  Roger shows as being 1100+ miles away in Florida so I was very happy that my first QSO in months was over 1000 Miles Per Watt.  I really love this hobby.

I can't wait to work on replacing these 2 fan dipoles (2 bands each) with the same but made from ladder line (see previous post).  I already ordered it from MacFarlane Electronics near Kingston, ON.  To save on the shipping (which is almost half as much as the wire due to the weight) I will be picking it up at the Iroquois Amateur Radio Club's annual Flea Market on the 7th of April in Iroquois, Ontario.

With snow still on the ground and below freezing temperatures I have no rush to start any antenna work just yet anyway.  I can wait a few weeks for the wire and I will never pass up the opportunity to stroll through a flea market...ham radio or otherwise.

Cheers for now,
Scott ve3vvf/qrp

Battle of The Beams

No, I am not talking about Amateur Radio HF Beams but a more clever system used by the German Luftwaffe during WWII.  Let me step back for a moment.  About 10 years ago I listened to a fantastic presentation at the Kemptville Amateur Radio Group from Al Penney (VO1NO) on this topic and it intrigued me immensely.  I got some references from him and got a couple of books from the library.  I read them from cover to cover as it was so interesting.  I wanted to touch on the Battle of The Beams and more specifically the Knickebein here in case anyone else would be interested.

Back in the 1930s the Germans were using something called the Lorenz beam as a Navigational Aid at landing strips.  Simplified, this consisted of 2 antennas on either side of the runway with one transmitting "dits" and the other transmitting "dahs".  Each aircraft had a receiver for these transmissions.  An approaching aircraft would line up on the runway and he drifted too far left or right he would only hear the dits or only the dahs.  If he were centered on the runway he would hear both dits and dahs.  This worked well.  Here is an image from the Wikipedia Lorenz Beam page.

Jump ahead to WWII.  Bombers were slow large aircraft and were easy targets for anti-aircraft weapons so bombing raids were generally held under the cover of darkness.  The problem with this is that it made it very difficult for the bomber pilots to see their targets below.  The British had blackouts in place so that the town showed no light should bombers be overhead.  The bombing raids tended to take place during the full moon so there would be a lot better vision however this made the raids more predictable.  Nighttime flying was generally difficult with minimal navigational aids at their disposal.

What the Germans did was use the technology of the Lorenz beam and beef it up.  Very large directional antennas were built and high power was used to provide the German pilots with a secret navigational aid.  The antennas were aimed at a specific target and the pilots would fly so that they were on course by listening for the dits and the dahs.  The receivers had to be hidden very cleverly in the aircraft so that if a bomber were shot down their secret would not be discovered.  This method of flying at night and finding their targets was extremely clever and quite successful.  There were different versions and names of this system as well as different antennas as the system was improved.

Wartime generates a lot of technological advancements and the German/English air battle really spurred on the development of Radio and RADAR technologies including countermeasures such as jamming.  If this interests you as much as it did me you should look up the history of the Knickebein, Freya, and the Battle of the Beams.

Here are some links of interest on the subject:

http://worldwar2headquarters.com/HTML/museums/national-electronics/s27-knickenbein-jones.html
Radar Recollections
PA0PZD's page

Cheers for now,
Scott ve3vvf

Guess Who's Turning 150?

In Canada this year and even more so, it seems, in the nation's capitol, Ottawa, we are celebrating 150 years as a nation.  Everything taking place in the city this year seems to be bigger and better because of this celebration but that's not what this post is about.  I had a brief QSO this evening on 30M with station W0N.  Apparently Nebraska is celebrating 150 years as a state this year...March 1st to be exact.

I heard the "CQ NE150" call from a member of the Lincoln Amateur Radio Club loud and clear on 10.129.  Since they were coming in 589 I made sure my power was down to 1 watt.  They came back to me right away with the standard 599.  I wonder what the real RST was.  I would have liked to drop to 1/2 watt just to see.  As it was, the contact was 1264 miles per watt from my inverted vee.  I was glad to work this special event station and I believe it was my first Nebraska QSO.  Even just 1 QSO in a sitting makes my day.

Cheers es 72/73 de Scott ve3vvf

A Great Read

I have to tell you about a book I have got to re-read.  If you like suspense, true crime and factual radio from the turn of the century (20th century, not 21st) you will really want to read Thunderstruck by Erik Larson.  This is the true story of Guglielmo Marconi and how he developed his version of the wireless.

The story follows him from his early years on through his trials and tribulations evolving wireless to a point where it was commercially practical.  It's extremely interesting to see the approach he took and the lessons he learned along the way.  Intertwined with the Marconi story is a true crime story from England of murderer Hawley Crippen and the two stories come together in an very exciting fashion.  The book is definitely worth the time as the story is captivating and extremely informative for we radio junkies.  The fact that it is true makes it all the more interesting.  You will not be disappointed with this read.  Here are the details:

Thunderstruck from Amazon.com

CW and its frustrations

I can only imagine what it must have been like back during the war when radio operators would sit for hours on end just receiving and recording Morse transmissions.  They would have had to be good at copying and also transcribing what they hear.   Fast code is something you will clearly get better at after hours of copying but writing the text, especially if it's encrypted and the characters do not form logical words.  I guess the OPs would have no choice but to get better hour after hour.  I do not know how fast code was transmitted back during then but no matter the speed the OPs would surely be capable of keeping up.

I would really like to start improving my copy speed to about 20 wpm or better.  I know with practice this will come but I do not operate often enough to just "get better".  Logically, plain language text is a lot easier to copy because your brain works to predict what word is being spelled and most common words come up more frequently.  The problem is that point where you cannot write fast enough to keep up with the transmission.  I can copy higher speed contest call signs after I hear them a time or two but I have difficulty in a standard QSO if anything "out of the ordinary" is causing me grief.  When I say "out of the ordinary" I really mean "ordinary" because QRM and QRN are there more often than not.  As well, an OP with strong swing or who runs his words all together with very little space between them is quite common and that messes me up every time.  Operators who do not slow down to my speed cause me grief and don't even get me started on all the abbreviations.  It seems there is always one to stump me.  All these things which occur regularly are the things I need to work on to improve.  Incidentally, here is a link to abbreviations and Q codes and more.

The real stumbling block, for me, is that transition from hearing the "letters" to hearing the "word".  I'm not sure at what point that "a-ha" moment will come but I'm pretty sure it is the key (no pun intended) to copying the faster OPs.  More on air time will help but practice with a code generator or listening to QOTD* podcasts at a higher speed is the thing that will put me over that line.

QOTD or Quote of the Day is a series of daily podcasts at various speeds of CW.  They are real language sayings converted into CW and last for a few minutes each.  You can subscribe to them with your Podcast player and they are delivered to you.  I really need to get back to those.  If you are interested in them you can search with your player or go here.

Cheers for now
es 72 de Scott ve3vvf

Podcasts

I know I am late to the game on this but I have just discovered Podcasts.  I was going on a trip and wanted something to listen to on the plane just in case my flight had no TV/movies available.  My iPhone has a podcast player so while I was at home on wifi I went in and started to do some searching for Ham Radio.  I found a few different sources on various topics so I downloaded a bunch to my phone as well as one that I knew was good that was not ham radio related.  The first leg of the trip was a very short (Ottawa to Toronto) 50 minutes so I just listened to a podcast.  I enjoyed it very much and proceeded to listen for the duration of my 7+ hours of travel.  I did the same on the return trip as I was totally hooked.  Not all podcasts are created equal, for sure, and some I listened to, although possibly full of interesting information, were difficult to listen to as the presenters were seemingly unprepared or simply just not very good at presenting.  

There are two main types of Ham Radio podcasts I found.  One type has the presenter speak on a number of topics.  These were OK but lacked the breadth of knowledge and experiences that come with the second type of Amateur radio podcasts I found which is in the format of presenters interviewing guests.  This format, depending on the guest, is far more informative and captivating.  Listening to these podcasts made my travel time pass by quickly and painlessly.  The first podcast I got hooked onto is the QSO Radio Show.  This Podcast is not only a podcast but is also a short wave broadcast.  The program is hosted by Ted Randall (WB8PUM) and co-host David Klimkowski (KG4WXW).  Ted is a broadcaster/engineer by profession so the program is very professional and quite informative.  The guests interviewed ranged from manufacturers of Ham Radio equipment, ARRL Engineers, the CQ magazine Editor and many more.  There are advertisements at various points throughout the podcast from his show sponsors which is to be expected.  The podcasts are usually about 2 hours in length.  

Another enjoyable podcast I found was the QSO Today podcast hosted and prepared by Eric Guth (4Z1UG).  What he does is choose a notable amateur operator as a guest and then proceed to ask them a host of questions, generally the same from show to show.  The carefully chosen questions evoke great discussion and result in 90% of the talk being provided by the guest.  The topics discussed are quite varied and the guests come from far and wide.  The audio quality from the guests is sometimes not the best as Skype is used and the surroundings at the guest's location of the line cannot be controlled.  This is soon forgotten once the discussion begins and I am enveloped by the content.  This is by far my favourite ham radio podcast.

Another type of podcast is the deep technical "work bench" type discussions found in podcasts like Ham Radio 360.  Some of their podcasts are the "work bench" style while others are more guest discussion based.  Both are very informative and some are multiple hours long.  These are great for gaining insight into how various things work such as Oscilloscopes but at an in-depth level.

  

Another, less time involving but equally valuable, type of podcast is the short "Quote of the Day" or QOTD podcasts provided by The Morse Resource and Steve Conklin (AI4QR) that are sent in Morse code at various speeds,  The actual quotations are provided courtesy of The Quotations Page.   The podcasts last a few minutes and are great for working at improving your Morse receive skills. 

I am so glad to have found podcasts albeit years after they have become popular.  I also listen to some non-ham radio related podcasts and there are thousands out there to choose from.  You can subscribe to them as well which means that you always have the latest podcasts ready to download.  Make sure your player settings are such that you only download these shows when you are connected to wifi.  Do yourself a favour.  If you haven't checked out this medium, have a listen with your favourite podcast player or even just from your PC.  You won't be disappointed.

Cheers and thanks,

de Scott ve3vvf

Hallicrafters S-38

I was out combing some of the area's antique shops with my better half on Sunday looking for anything BUT ham radio related items when I stumbled upon a boat anchor.  As soon as I saw the name Hallicrafters I got all excited.  I didn't know what the S-38 was but I knew that at the price of $15 it was worth a gamble.

I have looked it up and found a lot of information on restoring that radio.  I'm excited to be working with tubes again.  I learned them when I was in Radio Technician training in the military but never actually used it in practice.  This will also be my first boat anchor if you don't count the HW-8 I started out on many years ago.  I am very excited to start this winter project...get that soldering iron going.

Thumbs Up for QRP

I was reading recently about some old military radios that only put 5w out but the radios were huge.  It got me thinking about QRP and its operators.  The great thing about this hobby is that even within a sub group such as QRP there are further subdivisions.  There are the backpack/outdoor operators operating Altoids tin radios from a 9v battery and boat anchor enthusiasts whose tubes keep the shack comfortably warm.  One is low power as in not a lot of power consumed and the other is low power out of a rather large army radio using quite a bit of power in the process.  Technology has come a long way from the invention of the tube to the invention of the transistor and then as the years passed there has been the packing of these transistors into chips.  Now we are at the point, with Software-Defined Radio, where micro processors do almost all of the work that hardware used to do.  Add to all this the digital modes that have been designed to use very low power and operate almost in the noise floor.  Whether it's old, newer or newest or somewhere in between, QRPers love a challenge.  We are always looking for the most efficient battery or best gain antenna or the most portable set up all in an effort to compensate for the low power being transmitted.  I think it really fosters the Marconi in all of us as we try this or that to get the best results in an effort to get the most out of the least.

Antenna Project

I often talk about operating in the field again.  I used to do it quite a bit.  I loved setting up in a park at a picnic table whether it be winter or summer.  It was a great way to spend an evening or afternoon.  I also used to go camping and set up an antenna for the weekend operating at will.  It was lots of fun.  Before we know it priorities change, hobbies change and we sometimes find that we can no longer "find" the time to do the fun things we used to do.  One needs to "make" time for these things and stop making excuses.  I spend a lot of time in the summer going to Highland Games or pipe band practice and I really enjoy it but as a result playing radio has taken a back seat.  This summer I vow to operate outdoors even if it's in my own back yard.  It's not like it takes a lot of time out of the day.  An hour on Sunday mornings or in the early evening shouldn't be hard to set aside.

I think what I will do as an operating position is to try the vertical buddipole style of antenna suspended from a rope in a tree.  Two Hamstick-style antennas and the appropriate bracket is all that's required and I can leave it up if I operate on the back patio.  Here is a good page showing the set up and some results achieved by W3ATT.  I will start with one band, say 20M, and perhaps 30M 17 or 12 as I like those very much...maybe 40M.  I can't decide but either way I look forward to trying it as soon as the snow starts to melt.

Cheers es 72 de Scott ve3vvf

Propagation...ugh!

With the approaching cooler weather so comes the antenna work that was procrastinated all summer long.  I installed a sloper for 20M and have been listening to it each evening for a few minutes calling CQ occasionally.  I have installed it semi-permanently and want to finish the job but the conditions have been so poor I am unsure how it will perform.  I also have some other work on a FAN dipole that I need to take care of soon.  These poor conditions are not favourable to the QRPer for sure.  I hope it isn't like this all winter or it's going to be a long one.  Here's an image for the dart board:

Antenna Analyzer Update / Syracuse Competition Result

I got a response from MFJ regarding the MFJ-207 and its "dead spot" on 20M and was basically told I could send it in for repair and that the repair shouldn't be more than about $35.  I'm okay with that.  I have only used the analyzer a handful of times in the past few years since I purchased it new but this is the first time I have tried using it on 20M.  It's too bad I didn't realize this when I first bought the unit as I could have sent it back under warranty.  C'est la vie.  $35 isn't too bad and I know they will find the fault quickly and hopefully get the unit back to me before too long.  Apparently the turn-around time at the moment is 4 weeks so it will probably be more than that.  All that being said, the antenna I was trying to measure when I detected the fault is reading about 1.5:1 on the SWR so I should be fine without it.

The Central New York Highland Games and Scottish Festival was a great time as usual.  The shopping was good, the weather was great, the crowd was appreciative and we had a good play.  There were 6 grade 5 bands competing and we tied for first place.  When this happens the "Ensemble" score is compared and because the Finger Lakes Pipe Band scored higher in Ensemble they got the first place and we took second.  Good for them as ensemble is where it's it...at least that's what I've been told.  I'm okay with second place.  It is a vast improvement over our crummy play in Maxville at the Glengarry Highland Games.  I feel a lot better knowing we can play well when we are focused.

Our band warming up.  Photo courtesy - Barbara Macdonnell

Antenna Analyser Frustration

I'm in the process of installing a sloper antenna for 20M.  Summer is clearly on the way out and I want to get this done sooner rather than later as we all know how easy it is to find ourselves doing antenna work in November.  I want to cut this sloper so its resonant on 14.06 for QRP use with my RockMite.  I have the MFJ-207 Antenna Analyser and, if you are unfamiliar with it, it has 5 range settings from A to E.  I use the analyser with a frequency counter so I know exactly what the frequency is when I am reading resonance.  The top end of range D, which is supposed to be 14, seems to end at around 13.5 MHz and the bottom end of range E, which is also supposed to be 14, comes in at around 14.5 MHz.  I am not able to tune the antenna where I want to.  I'm pretty sure this is not by design as the 20M band is pretty popular.  I don't know if this is just a bad unit I purchased but I am definitely not pleased.  I have contacted them via their web form and hopefully I will hear back before too long.  I haven't searched the internet to see if this is a common problem with these units.  I guess that's my next step.