Net

This Week in Ham Radio

• I pulled my j-pole wire into a tree by string for tonight, so it’s outside the house.
• Started testing a longer 71-foot (21.65m) EFRW after months of using the shorter 41-foot EFRW.
  • seems mostly the same, so far.
• ARRL Internationl DX SSB Contest
  • First time using SSB on HF
    • Usually digital modes
    • Not a rag-chewer: here to discuss tech
  • 41-ft random wire
  • 10 watts
  • 42 valid contacts in 37 DXCCs
    • Did hit Russia, but then realized I had tuned too low for my privileges
    • Hit lots of other parts of Europe and South America
  • I was Surprised how well SSB worked
  • I might want a vanity url:
    • Shorter: less room for error
    • People don’t seem to expect “WW”
    • People misheard 2 -> 3
    • Might be easier to type
  • It was nice to chase, since I could pause, relisten until I got the call, etc.

Question about Tuning SSB

During the DX contest, people were tuned all over, not just on full khz. A woman with a higher voice confounded me for a moment as I tried to get her to sound right. I was tuning by 100hz, so some were boomy low, a bit high-pitched, and some were just right. Tuning people a little higher made them easier to read, but that probably makes me lower for them. I tried to keep them as low as I could understand. RIT/XIT might have been useful for longer conversations.

What’s the best practice tuning SSB to hear clearly and tx as clearly as possible?

My Week in Ham Radio CQ WPX RTTY contest Chased 41 contacts Called CQ with no responses Played in the front yard getting my existing random wire a little higher in the tree Running around 20 minutes before this meeting to try to get my 2m antenna in a place that makes sense. I failed, so I’m on EchoLink. Others’ Questions Number codes? 73, 72 best regards in QRP. Recapping equipment Check temperature ratings of capacitors 85C vs 105C Keeping voltage applied regularly keeps a capacitor in good function Try to operate capacitors nearer to their V rating to keep them “formed up” Is anything leaking from the bottom of the caps Signs of problems? [Read More]

My Week in Ham Radio

• Chuck’s repairs sound fascinating
  • enough basic electronics from childhood to get to general
• HF radio
  • QRP X6100 with 3rd party firmware - R1CBU
  • Maintainer is flaming out
    • ungrateful complaints
    • unhelpful bug reports
  • Source code is available, so some of us may pick it up
  • UI is an app running on a small embedded linux computer
• Flashed new firmware onto my Quansheng UV-K5 HT
• Restrung a random wire
  • From a steep sloper into a tree in front yard to flat horizontal to the shed in the backyard.
  • Patterns in FT8 contacts look a little different
• Learning CW
  • Morse machine
  • All 40 characters they quiz: Koch method
  • Try the feel with a 3d-printed iambic key
  • Next try a different character set: cwops
  • Next more traditional copying exercises

Question

• Often rebuilding and testing antennas
  • On HF, I can test with FT8 and pskreporter
  • See effect of my changes and maybe more propagation conditions
  • For VHF, how variable are the conditions?
  • On the fringe of accessing 985.
  • Slight repositions with unintuitive results
  • What conditions affect propagation to a repeater like this one?
  • What can I measure?
• Requirements for the Scout badge in radio?

My Week in Ham Radio FCC/ARRL meeting in Harrisburg Activated a state game land park after the meeting 10m near Middletown Lots of west coast Compared vertical whip with jumpered coil vs efrw Built more wire j-poles for more permanent mount NanoVNA is lots of fun, since I can now measure and tune any antennas Field day at Welsh Mountain with W3RRR club Repack bag yet again for portable op Learned about winlink Operated outside on 80m at 3pm, so slow Clipperton on 40m FT8 Back to learning CW on morse machine at LCWO. [Read More]

My week in ham radio:

• Discovered the 985 nerds podcast
• Watching Clipperton split operation
• Lunch in Harrisburg with ARRL & FCC
• ISS repeater broke squelch @ 2am
• Looking for a Winter Field Day
  • 985 is doing one
  • Will probably check out a more local one, like W3RRR’s event

• ARRL/FCC meeting
  • setup at 10:30
  • lunch at 11:00
  • meeting at 11:00
• ka3tkw - tom
  • ft8 on 10m on quansheng
• kc3wry
• kc3den
• kc3wwc
  • there for the meeting
  • rehabilitated project j-pole
    • 450 ohm ladder line
    • tuned it with the nanovna
    • resoldered it
    • west to harrisburg
    • east to parkesburg
    • Quansheng uvk5
  • had uvk5 randomly pick up ISS repeater at 2am or so
  • xlr mic cable, untested, available for ARRL meeting
  • always repacking and organizing my bags for optimal carry
• k3ea
  • DX opportunities
    • good propagation for 10m/12m
    • Clipperton / fox and hound
    • Saint Helena
• winter field day
  • Harrisburg people are hitting some parks
  • 97 repeater in York

I checked into the Welfare Net at 7:45pm ET. KC3MBB, Brett, just up the street at Donnerville and Stony Battery Rd contacted me afterward to welcome me.

I pass off to KC3SCY, Luke, or AF3Z, Jim.

We discussed baluns:

• 4:1 balun
• 1:1 balun will let a dipole tune wider on any band
• 9:1 <-> 1:9 can transform for long runs of transmission cable