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

Change of plan

My plan a few days ago was to build a maypole-style antenna supported in the center with inverted vee antennas coming down around it.  I was worried about the wires coming down all over the place and I also realized that there must be another cheaper and more easily implemented solution.  I have done some reading in the ARRL antenna book and also done some youtubing and now have a new plan.  Now my plan is to install a single wire, centre-fed, with balanced window line.  As long as I am at least 1/2 wavelength long from end to end, on the lowest frequency I plan to operate on,  I can feed it to a simple tuner for multi band use.  My tuner of choice will be the QRPguys Multi Z tuner for 10-40M.  I like the way this tuner has an LED that dims as a match is obtained eliminating the need for an SWR meter which is a huge benefit if I take this tuner to the field.  I have watched a great Youtube video on the building and testing of this tuner and I really like what I see.  For $40 US plus shipping I don't think it can be beat.

My existing long wire can be used for an end fed half wave (EFHW) antenna on 80 meters.  My first option is to adjust the length and try and use my 9:1 Unun to make it resonant on 80.  Failing that I can feed this into a QRPguys EFHW mini-tuner for 80M.  I may need to add some length to the existing wire since the recommended length for 80M use is 135'.

If I cannot get it working well enough on 80 with the LDG Unun I will likely order both kits at the same time so I can save on shipping costs.  

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.

A Lot of Time has Passed...

 Well, it's been quite some time since I've posted as I have been busy with other things in my world.  I am happy to say that I am getting back in the saddle on both HF and VHF.  For VHF I had a nice Alinco for local repeater work however my local HAM pals are now using (and have been for some time) a closed digital repeater system they have set up on many bands so the only way for me to chat with them is on a newer digital rig.  I haven't had a rig in the car for a number of years but I have decided to take that plunge again.  When ever I am in the market for something I watch for used items on the Kitchener-Waterloo Amateur Radio Club's Online Swap Shop.  I have been looking now and again for a used digital rig and this week I got lucky and found a HAM selling a Yaesu FTM-7250D which was priced nicely and in great condition.  I should be receiving it in the mail today and I will install it this weekend so I can use it during my commute next week.

In the HF department I had always used a fan dipole for multi-band operation.  I live in a very windy area surrounded by farmer's fields and my antennas often got tangled or worse.  As well, my office/shack has been re-purposed and is not the best spot for operating anymore.  My plan now is to set up a new long wire antenna for multi-band use from a small barn I have near the house.  I have always wanted to experiment with one of these compromise antennas and this way I can give 80 meters a go as well.  I will post my experimentation/installation results when I get them.  I have an LDG Electronics 9:1 Un-un on order from Radio World in Toronto and if it arrives today and the weather isn't too wet I may get to this project this weekend as well.  I will use the Keysight N9913A Fieldfox to get a good idea of the VSWR and performance on all my beams of interest and also see how adding additional ground radials changes/improves my situation.

In other news I am still in a Bagpipe Band in my community and I don't see that changing any time soon as it is a lot of fun.

Cheers for now and I'll see you soon!
72 de Scott ve3vvf/qrp

My First Instinct...lower the power

I always have my FT-817 transmit power set to 1 watt.  When I hear a station calling CQ I always make my first attempts at 1W.  I am usually successful but if I am not I will reluctantly bump the power up to the next setting which is 2.5W.  I will do this usually with success but if all else fails I will grudgingly increase to 5W.  This doesn't happen very often which is why I am always so reluctant to increase my power.  Sometimes I even don't bother bumping the power up if it's a continental North American call sign as I know that with 5W I will not be at least 1000 Miles per watt and what's the point.  I know that's an illogical my way of thinking because isn't the whole purpose of ham radio to actually communicate with someone.  That's a flaw in my way of enjoying this hobby but I guess that's why there are so many different ways to enjoy this hobby.

Following the same "logic", as soon as I hear a signal that is fairly strong my first instinct is to drop the power to the 1/2W setting.  I get all excited when I hear the station come back to me knowing that I am using QRPp power.  It's my happiest place to be in.  The signal reports are generally 559 and I am fine with that.  I also do not want to minimize the appreciation I have for the other operators who are willing to work my weak signal.  Without them I would be sitting at my operating position destined to be frustrated.  I thank you all.

One other thing, I believe, that works in my favour is that I have low expectations and I am easily satisfied.  If I can sit down at the radio and make 1 or 2 QSOs I am perfectly happy.  I am not one to sit for hours making contacts which is probably why I am not a contest operator.  Perhaps my attention span is too short...either that or it's because I know I have other chores I know I should be doing.

Cheers,
Scott ve3vvf/qrp

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

Silent Too Long

Well I went the whole winter without even turning a radio on and I was worried that I had lost my interest.  A lot has been going on which has had my mind on other things but all it took was listening to a couple of episodes of one of my favourite podcasts the QSO Today Podcast to get my mojo back.  I can always count on Eric (4Z1UG) to kindle my interests...especially on the QRP front.  I also believe some of my issue was the havoc the wind has been playing on my inverted vee antennas (not to mention the grim propagation these days).  The tangling that occurs with the fan dipole style of antenna is disappointing.  I need a better solution and I believe I may have found it.  I read an article in the ARRL Wire Antenna book that I bought from Amazon last fall.  The antenna from the article I read has the radiating elements made from ladder line/window line.  I can have a 2-band dipole that will not get tangled because the wires are evenly spaced/separated by the windows.

What is done is the length of the longest leg (34' for 40M) and the length of the shortest leg (24' for 30M) are added together making a 58' piece of ladder line the requirement for a 40/30 fan dipole.  Then you lay the cable out and measure 34' from one end and cut the top conductor.  Measure 34' from the opposite end and cut the bottom conductor.  What you have now, if you cut along the red line as shown below, is 2 pieces that will act as each leg of the dipole.  The long top wire is one side and the long bottom wire flipped over and end for end is the other side.

Then you need to strip the conductors bare at the double wired end and solder them together and attach them to the coax to create the feed point.  One leg connects to the center conductor and the other side to the braid of the coax.

Once this is completed you will have to raise the antenna and tune it for your desired operating frequency as with any dipole antenna.  I plan to build two of these.  One for 40/20 and one for 30/17 and I will post the results including photos of the tuning and testing process.

Cheers and thanks,

Scott, ve3vvf/qrp