W3gms

My Week in Radio

• I moved the tape-measure yagi to the top of a 25-foot flagpole in the backyard.
  • 10 W, but not quite doing it.
  • There’s still too much of a hill.
• I upgraded the X6100 baseband, stock firmware, and 3rd-party firmware.
• Some CW
  • barely got 2 CW contacts hunting POTA, but I got into their logs
  • heard AF3Z on 40m out on his trip
  • morsle app to practice copying CW words and call signs
• I redesigned and printed a new antenna winder.
• I heard some AM and some RTTY during contests.
• I cleaned up and organized all the radio stuff from the move instead of contesting.
• I’m going to try for my extra ticket at the next Ham Fest.

Others’ News

• KB3RFG, Jim: all the bands open today in lots of directions
• NA3CW, Chuck: lot’s of AM fun
• AF3Z, Jim
  • spectated some RTTY contesting
  • 10m CW conversations
• WA3VEE, Ron: LMR400 (KMR400) coax is lowest loss practical

Questions

• KN3I, John: How does one make an AM rig sound good? Carrier power, modulation, etc.

My Week in Radio

• Tried some new firmware for X6100, but no good
• Moved Houses
  • installed some antennas
    • 71ft random wire
    • 1/4 wave ground plane
• POTA weekend
  • Michaux State Forest
  • Caledonia State Park
  • King’s Gap Environmental Education Center
  • Pine Grove Furnace
  • Used an EFHW for everything
  • Ran out of battery on Pine Grove Furnace on the second day, so did the whole thing with 1W FT8.
  • Tried calling CQ on CW to see if RBN would pick me up.

Questions

• Charles, KC3SWC: What books about operating do you recommand?
  • Ron, WA3VEE
    • ARRL Operating Guide
    • ARRL: Basic Electronics for Radio
    • Electronics for Hobbyists
  • John, KC3WWC
    • Spend lots of time listening to others
    • Youtube
  • Chuck, NA3CW
    • Lots of people are listening
    • Keep it civil
    • Keep it technical
    • Don’t bore people with aches and pains
    • ARRL Operating Manualy
    • ARRL Handbook
    • ARRL Antenna Book
    • Be helpful
    • Be interesting
• Wayne, KC3SQI: How do you tone squelch for receiving and filtering away QRM from another repeater on the same frequency?
  • Ron, WA3VEE: tone squelch or “split tone”
  • CR, W8CRW: T-SQL = tone squelch
  • Chuck, NA3CW: would be useful when the band opened and a distant DMR is overtaking 985.
• Ron, WA3VEE: Yaesu HTs can only do one of the other, not both.

My Week in Radio

• The photos looked great from Bill’s, KC3OOK, antenna party
• https://ft8.live/ for a more responsive visualization of pskreporter data.
• POTA at Susquehannock
  • No digital, only sideband
  • QSO parties for Hawaii, Kansas, and Ohio
  • Bothered someone with a bit of CW badly
• Morse Machine app on Android for practicing
• I finally confirmed 50 states on QRZ.com with Hawaii
  • generally 5-10W
  • mostly digital, some sideband
• I started playing with a couple Meshtastic nodes
  • Impressive range for low power, ~125mW

Questions

• W8CRW, CR: Is there any device that would log a date-time every time you key your VHF/UHF transmitter?
  • W3DIB: string together an arduino, some AI, and voice recognition
  • WA3VEE: pull it from broadcastify
  • K3VIL: newer ICOM has a recording feature
  • NA3CW: security system that can log contacts opening/closing
  • W8CRW: looking for something radio agnostic
• KC3OOK, Bill: Balanced-L vs T-Match network tuner for open wire feed. Is one better than the other?
  • Balanced L = L-C-L and it’s fed on the low-impedance side.
  • T-Match has a wider range, but maybe less efficient.

My Week in Radio

• Iambic Keying
  • Tap, instead of squeeze, since I’m having trouble releasing the paddles in time.
  • Squeeze Keying at Ham Radio QRP
• I started patching and compiling my own firmware for my Quansheng radios
  • building and flashing works
  • my minor change had no effect
• New R1CBU 0.22.0 firmware for x6100
  • whole firmware is like a new radio
  • minor fixes and conveniences
    • peak marger on S-meter
    • nicer scrolling on waterfall
• POTA by the Susquehanna River in Marietta
  • I heard some lighthouse events
  • I spoke to someone on a nuclear ship in Baltimore
  • I ran into a fellow ham and ex-professor from 25 years ago, Paul Ross, W3FIS.
  • It’s so quiet away from my normal desk of computers, I thought noise reduction was stuck ON
• 10m looking pretty open today to California
• I’ve been keeping the blog up-to-date, and I use this net to document my week.

Topics

• Jeff, W3JAM, is having trouble with an MFJ antenna analyzer that’s not being reliable compared to his other analyzers.
• Bill, KC3OOK, is preparing for the weekend’s antenna party.
• Jim, AF3Z, participated in the QRP Skeeter Hunt with his Penntech, 68ft of wire, and a tuner. 5W on 40M got him 25 CW contacts.
• Luke, KC3SCY, is building a transmitter from 1929.
• Tim, W3QP, is planning some hiking and SOTA in Virginia.
• Harvey, KC3NZT, was in PEI (I think) doing a little HF and listing to ship traffic.
• Question from Jeff, W3JAM: What is Supermon and how does one get started?
  • It’s a web-based interfacet to an Allstar node.
  • ClearNode app runs on Android.
• Question from Harvey, KC3NZT: In 120V wiring, does a voltage between 0V and 120V mean a broken or loose ground or common?
  • KC3RFG: Yes! The AC world is different from the DC world.

My Week in Radio

• Watching APRS
  • trying different radios/antennas w/ aprsdroid
  • slim-jim working better with any radio
  • watching logs and better-understanding the structure of the packets
• N3TWT repeater (South Mountain) looks good for “off grid” communication when camping in Cumberland county
  • heard lots of volunteer event activity
  • also heard N3FYI & N3KZ
• moving in September, so scheming new antennas
• maybe noticing a bug on AUBS firmware on Quansheng. I have copy of code to read and see about a fix.
• I tried another firmware, but missing the killer feature: scan on start

Notes from Others

• Everyone went to Kimberton Hamfest
• AF3Z, Jim: wait 30 years, and that shiny new radio will be affordable.

Questions

• W3JAM, Jeff:
  • using a generator, how important is ground?
    • KC3RFG, Jim:
      • already grounded if connected to home.
      • job site may require a ground rod, but doesn’t do much.
      • for field day, generator is the only “reference”, so no need for ground
      • modern generators have GFI built-in.
    • NA3CW, Chuck:
      • don’t let generator run down and stop under load, because it’ll degauss the residual magnetism
  • Heathkit SB102 w/ 6146B tubes. It wouldn’t tune up. is there concern with using 6146W tubes?
    • NA3CW, Chuck: 6146W is the ruggedized version. it should work. neutralize, and you’re good to go.
    • AF3Z, Jim: be sure to check the tubes with a tube-tester
• AF3Z, Jim:
  • cable management while being able to access and change. beat the rats’ nest. Are there good systems for cable management?
    • WA3VEE, Ron:
      • best if you can walk behind the desk
      • everything slides on felt feet, so must have some slack loosely coiled.
    • NA3CW, Chuck:
      • desk 90 degrees to the wall for easy access to the back.
      • garden velcro: can be snipped to any length you need.
    • KC3JAM, Jeff:
      • military systems require being able to get behind things.
• KC3OOK, Bill:
  • Has anyone used DragonOS / Linux?
    • NA3CW, Chuck: Mint, but not Dragon OS.

My Week in Radio

• Mobile APRS is proving to be really short-range
  • Couldn’t even spot myself outside at Sam Lewis up on the hill
  • Cycled with it, but no traffic
  • Needs a real antenna
• Some POTA
  • Sam Lewis, US-1418
    • found the leading park activator, kn3a, in my spot. :)
    • storms rolling in, so called it quits
    • watched 20m slam shut: decoding 30 signals to 4
  • Susquehanna River, US-4567
    • Columbia Riverfront Park that’s open after sunset
    • spanned into the next day…again, so had an incomplete and a complete activation.
• Got an FT8 contact to Israel with 5W from home: first Asia for me.
• Weekly RTTY Test and FT4 sprint
• Ham radio software may not be the most efficient
  • fldigi left running but disconnected from radio ran CPU at 95C doing nothing.
  • GridTracker likes to burn cpu too when left running.
• AB3AP, Mike, on EZ-Hang slingshot: I’ve given up the slingshot and just swing my throw line by hand.
• KB3ILS, Keith: there are scripts online for 3d-modeling any size knob you need.

Questions

• W3JAM, Jeff:
  • Does anyone have experience using Drake TR4CW on AM?
  • Can you add a noise blanker to this radio?
    • Noise blanker would alleviate pulsing noise from electric fence.
    • Jeff will be getting the entire manual library on CD, which will have information.
• KC3OOK, Bill:
  • How do you connect a NanoVNA to an open wire feed line?
  • WA3VEE: Would you need a balun to start getting close to impedance to match the expected 50 ohm?
  • W3JAM: Doesn’t matter so much where it’s tuned, since you use it with a tuner anyway.
  • NA3CW:
    • You don’t want it to be resonant anyway, because being resonant will give you the largest extremes to tune when trying to move to other bands.
    • NanoVNA may be limited on the impedance it can read.
    • Dipole should be at least as long as half wave + a little
    • He extended a wire to get it to tune where it wouldn’t.
• WA3VEE, Ron:
  • SOCO connectors carry 208V. When rewiring those connectors, what’s a good caulk-like sealant that could be used for “potting” the inside of the plugs?
    • Plain bathroom caulk can be conductive.
    • Silicon may breakdown at lower voltage than needed too.

My Week in Radio

• Great to see everyone at the breakfast, especially Luke’s loose couplers.
• POTA after the breakfast at Marsh Creek with Vic, KC3TYX
  • 20m was the place to be, but 2 of us operating, so we had to take shifts with our own radios.
• Prime Day Shopping
  • microcord
  • TYT HT for 10w crossband repeater
    • I’m using it now as the repeater
    • Less tethered to the outside antenna
    • Top of the radio/sma is 50C after repeating for an hour on power
  • TinySA
  • Raspberry Pi Zero W kits
• APRSDroid: phone & radio
  • email gateway
  • POTA spotting

Notes from Others

• solarham.com
• Reading Ham Fest coming up
• VE session at Stateline Radio Club

Questions

• KC3WWC: What’s cool about APRS?
  • APRS weather station
  • PWS monitor app to find weather stations near me
  • Other gateway frequencies?
  • Check with CCAR/ARES/RACES nets for their uses.
• KC3WWC: In Galenium detector, how does one know when the cat whisker is right?
  • Joe, W3GMS
    • put on headphones
    • move spring arm with stiff wire (cat whisker)
    • touch it to the galenium
    • move around to find the hot spot where it’s louder
    • germanium diode conducts at very low voltages, so easy
    • loose couplers don’t work so well in a crystal set, since it’s lossy
    • spark era - 1913
    • before galenium, there was a tube with metal filings, a “coherer”.
      • activate a buzzer
      • tap that would fall and reset the coherer
    • after galenium, then audion tube
    • imperative to have a very big antenna to capture as much signal as possible.
    • drive diode into forward current
    • Heathkit made a collectible kit
      • tightly coupled
      • voltage increase in the second coil
      • higher Q, so could be made more selective
    • Luke, KC3SCY, counted 20 different stations one night
  • Chuck, NA3CW
    • fox-hole radio: rusty razor blade, lead pencil, coil, safety pin, oatmeal box, wire
    • galena: ore of lead sulfide
    • immerse the galena in base of lead solder
    • grope around quietly to find magic spot where it works best
    • same thing with foxhole radio
    • uses oxide for detecting, not stainless
    • galena has 0.4V drop, like germanium diode
  • Ron, WA3VEE
    • has a marconi cat whiskey receiver
    • 0.4V can be converted to dBm, and it’s a pretty large signal required
    • predates any amplification
• WA3VEE: What is the most important measure of solar activity we need to consider?
  • most profound affect on propagation?
  • KC3RFP: a-index (9 or lower) k-index (5 or lower)
  • Tamitha Skov website and youtube

985 Breakfast

It was good to chat radio with everyone, and Luke talked about restoring his antique loose coupler radio.

US-1380 Marsh Creek

After breakfast, Vic KC3TYX, and I made our way to US-1380 Marsh Creek for a park activation and to compare notes on how we operate.

The weather was pleasant, and Vic started on 20m with a vertical ham stick and faraday cloth for a ground plane.

I tossed a EFHW to slope from the picnic table up into a tree. I got it in a good spot with the first try. I was on 40m to give him some room, but the band was pretty dead in the middle of the day. I still had a little interference, since Vic was running 100W. I eventually switched to 20m when Vic had enough contacts, so I could finish my activation. Only 15m and 20m really worked for much. I did all digital + 1 phone to another park in Tennessee.

My Week in Radio

• I saw Ron’s photos from Sussex County Ham Fest
  • I only go looking for connectors and gadgets, not real gear.
• Enjoyed Luke’s talk at breakfast
  • cat whisker and spark gap
  • reminds me of the books I read as an elementary student
    • crystal radios
    • want to build one again and see about tuning it for medium and shortwave
• POTA: Caledonia
  • used the 12.5M EFRW instead of EFHW
  • afternoon, 40m was dead
  • 20m and 15m was very busy with SSB contesters
  • 15, 17, 20: all EU, and very little local, via FT8 and SSB, but they couldn’t hear me.
    • atmospheric diode?
  • only made 4 contacts in the hour I tried
• Tape Measure YAGI is amazing for hearing the workbench
  • I didn’t want to need to pick a direction, but seems OK for these longer sessions
• Purchased an inexpensive variac
  • so now I need an old radio with some questionable capacitors. :)
• I’ll be at the breakfast, then finding a park to activate afterward.
• Writing a bit for the blog in down times

Others’ News

• Ron, WA3VEE
  • Sussex County Ham Fest
  • photos
• Luke, KC3SCY
  • spark gap and cat whisker
    • receiver working
  • GOJO cleaner without abrasive is good for cleaning wood
• Keith, KB3ILS
  • Lots of extended propagation on 2m
• Jack, K3YVQ
  • listening to longer-distance simplex on 2m calling frequency
• Jim, AF3Z
  • some CW
  • contests upcoming
    • IARU HF contest
    • SKCC Sprintathon
    • Flight of the Bumblebees QRP

Question

• Perseids meteor storm coming this month, What’s involved in working meteor scatter?
  • Widen topic to: Any special propagation modes?
  • Jim: e-skip?
  • Row, WA3VEE:
    • Tropospheric ducting
      • temperature inversion
      • listen to FM broadcast in the morning
        • difficult to hear local
        • hearing much longer distances
        • it’s a mess of overlap
        • means there’s an opening in 2m
      • dxinfocentre.com for tropo forecasts
    • Meteor showers
      • listen to 6m.
  • Chuck, NA3CW
    • Signal around the world
      • 1-2 second delay to hear your own “hello”
      • Japan at 10w
      • 1-way propagation
        • atmosphere is turbulent
        • photons strike into ionized air molecules and electrons
        • the wave jiggles the electrons in the air, and they retransmit
          • this “reflection”
        • signals going the other direction may hit different conditions along the way.
  • KC3WWC: antenna orientation?
  • W1RC, Mike:
    • Digital modes for studying propagation, since it can be monitored
  • WA3VEE, Ron
    • EM energy is released when an electron drops into a lower orbital
    • RBN and pskreporter

My Week in Radio

• I had time off, so lots of Parks on the Air
  • The entire Susquehanna River is considered US-4567 as the Captain John Smith Chesapeake Trail
  • I scouted some spots along the river.
  • I’ve been trying SSB P2P contacts first, then digital modes.
• I found Ron, WA3VEE, and other familiar faces at Harrisburg Hamfest.
• I got 9 of the 13 colonies on SSB and FT8, usually at parks.
• That adjacent net on W3HZU was still a problem on my Quansheng HTs.
  • I’m trying the similarly cheap QRZ-1 Explorer tonight. It’s almost as bad.
  • I’m also trying the tape-measure yagi right now for some gain toward 985 and rejection toward 970.

Questions of the Night

• CR, W8CRW: What would an air compressor from UK (230V, 50Hz) do on 240V/60Hz?
  • Induction motor may run 20% faster, out of spec, wear out more quickly
  • Starting capacitor for the motor may not be compatible
  • May be able to introduce a phase change transformer
• Bill, KC3OOK: NVIS experiences for close contacts?
  • Jack, K3YVQ: good experience with “trapezoid-shaped” antenna wire: horizontal with ends dropped at an angle.
  • Harvey, KC3NZT:
    • half-wave above ground for better DX.
    • a second low antenna may not be worth the trouble of installing.
    • wait for a quiet time and get through to your target contact.
  • Jim, KC3RFG: Got 12mi to Philadelphia. Maybe that was ground-wave.
  • Jim, AF3Z: 10ft off the ground, a couple hundred miles
  • Chuck, NA3CW: “intentional NVIS” = 6ft off ground the whole way with counterpoise directly below, parallel to radiator.
  • Harvey, KC3NZT:
    • model verticals in EZNEC software
    • see lobes in radiation pattern
    • can be quite NVIS at some lengths
• Jack, K3YVQ: Mounting and grounding an antenna on a kayak.
  • Harvey, KC3NZT: tape on the underside as a ground plane
  • Leon, AA3LH: glue a plate to the bottom
  • John, KC3WWC: float a wire on something floaty to keep it on the surface, see Coastal Waves and Wires on Youtube.
  • Wayne, KC3SQI: install foil tape like transducer for a fish finder