W3gms

My Week in Radio

• Reconfigured fldigi with some more modular macros and used them for a short time for CQ WPX RTTY contest
• Replaced my 71-foot EFRW with 107-foot wire
  • ATU works a bit harder than the previous, but stretching the counterpoise in a different direction helped.
• 5W into the wire got me a contact to Japan on FT8

Others

• KC3SCY, Luke:
  • building out his radio desk
  • new Drake TR-4A and matching transmitter
• W8CRW, CR:
  • Nets
• WA3VEE, Ron:
  • checking out and testing equipment
  • interviewed on podcast: “operation freedom. ham radio in public service.”
  • KB3SVC presented on senior scams at another meeting
• W3QP, Tim:
  • 11 summits in Virginia!
• KC3TYX, Vic:
  • VHF nets, No HF.
  • hiking and geocaching.
• NA3CW, Chuck:
  • 985 activities
  • tower work at Joe’s when weather permits.
  • acquired merantz professional CD recorder
  • PM/AM net pre-net host. much better at 3:30pm for pre-net.
• KC3OOK, Bill:
  • 985 nets
  • South control for Simplex Net
    • 37 check-ins with only 2 controls
  • Passed along some gear to others via Joe
• KD3AIS, Tim:
  • drove to Parkesburg, and remembered to bring mobile glass-mount antenna and HT, so could contact to the repeater via RF.
• AF3Z, Jim:
  • working on Omni 6, which is broken
    • getting worse as he diagnoses
  • visited old shack in basement and rearranged it
    • finally returned to MB102 heathkit rig with power supply
    • replaced some capacitors
    • now working!
• KC3SQI, Wayne:
  • email reminder was appreciated to host the workbench
• WA3KFT, John:
  • playing with some heathkit lunch boxes.
    • 2m, 6m, 11m
    • doesn’t have the 10m
    • they’re regenerative receivers
    • not very efficient transmitters
  • vibrator power supply for radios that run off 120V AC
  • was convenient back in the day to be able to hang equipment from the old dashboard in cars.

Questions

• KD3AIS, Tim:
  • Given his recent foray into mobile radio and a glass-mounted antenna, he’s looking at mobile rigs. He’s seeming some that are higher-power single band, and some lower-power dual band. Also seeing single-band and dual-band antennas. But no 70cm single-band antennas. Recommendations and considerations?
    • WA3VEE, Ron:
      • Ron just runs high-power dual-band.
      • there are lots of 70cm repeaters around the area.
      • magmount antennas on top.
      • don’t worry about 65W vs 50W. close enough.
    • W3CRW, CR:
      • found a 70cm-only antenna on amazon.
      • still recommend dual band
    • WA3KFT, John:
      • dual band antenna is nicer for 70cm.
      • he dedicates a 70cm antenna and a 2m
    • KC3NZT, Harvey:
      • don’t worry much about power on dual-band radios
      • watch for nicer features
        • full-duplex
        • digital control
        • dual-watch
    • K3YVQ, Jack:
      • has Larson NMO 270 antenna to give away
    • KC3OOK, Bill:
      • recommended a couple radios with those features
    • NA3CW, Chuck:
      • dual-band rigs run less power because they’re a compromise.
      • single-band rig is no compromise, but more limited in features.
      • there are 470MHz antennas for commercial bands
      • feature: wishes his rig had split tones.
    • W8CRW, CR:
      • crossband repeat
      • split tones
    • WA3VEE, Ron:
      • Yaesus generally don’t support split tone
      • ICOMs generally do
    • W3GMS, Joe:
      • ICOM IC-2730A is great
        • split tone
        • good cooling
        • power makes a huge difference when you’re trying to open squelch on a repeater
        • nmo mount is nice, because you can swap specialized antennas.
    • KC3SQI, Wayne:
      • run IC-4730 for split tone and crossband
• KC3WWC, John:
  • Adding another dual-band antenna outside, probably dedicated to APRS. How close can they be or how should they be arranged?
  • WA3KFT, John:
    • 5 vertical antennas: 10, 6, 2m, 220, 440.
      • 2m and 440 are harmonically related, so separated
      • all mounted on a bar.
      • 440 and 2m are separated 7.5 ft, so they don’t interact.
      • 35 ft off the ground.
      • can’t separate them that much on a car.
  • KC3SQI, Wayne:
    • if the antennas are harmonically related, attempt to separate at least 2 wavelengths
    • dual band antennas are
    • DX Engineering has an antenna bar already setup with multiples
  • WA3VEE, Ron
    • Diamond dualband is good. mounted on front.
    • 220 in the middle
    • something else on the far back of the vehicle.

My Week in Radio

• KC3TMZ, Matt:
  • 3d-printing and building antennas is great
• Trying to build a tactical delta loop
  • 4:1 balun
  • 2 17 ft whips
  • 25 ft wire for the top
  • 3d-printed base
  • not great so far
  • will be using the 4:1 with other antennas, like rybakov
• ISS pass with APRS
  • decoded relayed packets from Pittsburgh PA, Smyrna DE, Atlanta GA.
• Bluetooth control of a radio is pretty convenient, big phone screen

Others

• KC3TMZ, Matt:
  • ordered a bunch of ferrites, enameled wire,
  • 3d printing some antennas
• KC3NZT, Harvey:
  • met up with KD3AIS
• KC3RFG, Jim:
  • organizing the shack
• NA3CW, Chuck:
  • PMA AM Net on 75m
    • it’s moving later due to propagation: 5pm
  • working on Joe’s tower project
• KC3OOK, Bill:
  • drywalling the hamshack
  • working on Joe’s tower
    • almost all bolts installed an tightened
    • guided tower with rollers, aligning
• WA3KFT, John:
  • nets: Packrats, DelVa, Weather
  • spoke to David in Texas on 15M
  • Bob on 10M in Virgin Islands
  • nice band openings
• KC3TYX, Vic
  • VE accreditation.
  • helped with first VE session.
    • all computerized
    • worked with WA3VEE
• KC3SQI, Wayne:
  • chasing POTA
    • West coast, 20M
• K3YVQ, Jack:
  • working on go-box for crossband repeater
  • relay from HT on a hike to car with 50 watts
• KD3AIS, Tim:
  • visited KC3NZT
• W3QP, Tim:
  • preparing for some SOTA activations
• WA3VEE, Ron:
  • worked a VE session
  • organizing the shack
  • working on lesson plan for technician review to prep for general
    • short videos / presentations
    • can arrange to do some teaching up here instead of just in delaware
• N3CRE, Charlie:
  • trying to hook a headset to FTM-500
• W3EMF, Jerry:
  • originator of the Workbench Net
  • new 2M rig in vehicle to access 985 more

Questions

• KC3TMZ, Matt:
  • Purchased a new antenna that may want ground radials. What’s the best way to connect temporary radials to an antenna?
  • KC3NZT, Harvey:
    • is removable a requirement?
  • KC3TMZ, Matt:
    • radials can stay, stapled to the ground
    • he wants to remove the vertical element, so dogs don’t tangle leashes
  • KC3NZT, Harvey:
    • terminate all radials to 1 ring terminal and screw that right to a ground rod
    • it’s a 20/15/10M trapped vertical (he sold it to him)
      • doesn’t need guyed
  • KC3TMZ, Matt:
    • liking the idea of a metal pipe into which he can just drop the antenna
  • WA3KFT, John:
    • worked in a AM broadcast
    • drive a pipe into the ground to slip antenna into or onto
  • NA3CW, Chuck:
    • drive a pipe into the ground, flush
    • has a PVC pipe that holds up an inverted-v
  • KC3NZT, Harvey:
    • copper braid with ring terminals, inexpensive on amazon
    • be careful to not short feed with ground in metal pipe socket
• KC3NZT, Harvey:
  • magmonut often comes with a length of coax. is there a magmount wiht an SO-239 so you can do use whatever coax you want?
  • W8CRW, CR:
    • make your own.
  • WA3VEE, Ron:
    • make your own.
  • KC3SQI, Wayne:
    • there is a bulkhead mount with SO-239 for the antenna that could be added to the magnet
  • K3YVQ, Jack:
    • there’s an empty magnet mount
• KC3WWC, John: I have a talent, how do we avoid doubling during checkin?
  • AF3Z, Jim:
    • don’t worry about it
  • NA3CW, Chuck:
    • silent “this is”. grab carrier, drop it, then give call.
  • KC3SQI, Wayne:
    • some nets use “this is” protocol. that lowers the chance
    • net host resolves it
  • KC3NZT, Harvey:
    • click method, and it doesn’t matter
  • AF3Z, Jim:
    • bigger issue is digital link people and leaving enough space
  • WA3VEE, Ron:
    • pulse/click method, silent “this is”
    • net control watches for doubles
    • net contral asks for checkins
• K3YVQ, Jack:
  • Can I combine 2 batteries of different capacities in paralllel on a bus to get larger capacity?
  • WA3KFT, John:
    • yes, it’ll work.
    • has a bus with power supply and battery on a bus of banana plugs
    • ok if they’re the same voltage
    • plug the batteries on the ends, and radios in the middle
  • KC3NZT, Harvey:
    • batteries are sometimes limited on max current
    • lithium batteries’ voltage drops very late in discharge
    • a deader battery could be a strong current draw
  • K3YVQ, Jack:
    • they have BCM, so they protect themselves.
    • may look into 12V cigarette lighter to power pole charger.
• N3CRE, Charlie:
  • Having trouble pairing a wireless BT headset with FTM-500.
  • K3YVQ, Jack:
    • check that the bluetooth protocols are compatible
    • maybe a firmware upgrade will fix it

After Party

• KC3NZT, Harvey:
  • when we lack questions, we should present little lectures on testing and equipment.
  • WA3VEE, Ron:
    • has demonstrated diagnosing feed line problems
  • NA3CW, Chuck:
    • some things can be explained verbally, others more visual
  • KC3NZT, Harvey:
    • a list of resourcse and videos could live on 985 website
  • WA3VEE, Ron:
    • lots of zoom practice with document camera, etc in his shack
  • KC3WWC, John:
    • I’ll bring my balun around for diagnosis on video
    • I have watched a video on using nano vna to test filters and baluns
    • I like to optimistically use it first, then dig in more if needed
    • I think that keeps me doing stuff that I might otherwise not realize to be possible
    • document my beginner experiences on a blog for my reference and others
  • W3EMF, Jerry:
    • echolink in the mobile
    • calling from Elizabethtown

My Week in Radio

• Really glad to get to field day with 985.
• Customized my AllStar node for better mobile use:
  • DTMF to shutdown
  • DTMF announce IP address
  • Announce ip with the start up macro
• Btech UV-PRO with KISS TNC support
  • It does APRS internally
  • KISS TNC for packet to connect apps on the phone via bluetooth
    • AprsDroid
    • WoAD for Winlink and serial terminal

Others

• W8CRW: field day
• WA3VEE: field day, photographs!
• KC3SCY, Luke:
  • Made 50 contacts on CW, goal was 10
  • Got a nice Drake 4x to help with CW and a new key
• W3FHA, John:
  • Working on a radio crammed with tubes
• W3JAM, Jeff:
  • Heard W3R on 80M CW, but didn’t really operate
  • Pelican case for Bird meter and slugs for it.
  • Checked into Simplex Net and Welfare Net
• KC3HQZ, Jean:
  • Fun on Sunday at 985 field day
• KB3ILS, Keith:
  • Winter Field Day
  • Logging contacts for Joe
  • Heard, “I’ve been waiting for you” from AF3Z under another club call
  • Tried Joe’s Begali straight key
  • Making room for a straight key
• AB3AP, Mike:
  • Bought a QSL card dated from 1949 that belonged to Dick, W3ORU, a recent SK from 985.
• WA3KFT, John:
  • Worked field day a bit
• KC3TYX, Vic:
  • Made a few field day contacts, but not much. He didn’t hear W3R.
• KC3YIG, Dave:
  • Fun at field day
• NA3CW, Chuck:
  • Setup for WFD on Friday
  • Didn’t operate the event
• KD3AIS, Tim:
  • Great time at 985 field day on Saturday
  • Met Harvey, KC3NZT
• KC3OOK, Bill:
  • South control for simplex net: 42 contacts
  • Welfare Net
• W3QP, Tim:
  • Fun at 985 field day
  • Had lots of RFI from electrical lines and other antennas
• N3CRE, Charlie:
  • Visited 985 WFD
• W3MFB, Mike:
  • Saw 985 field day on Sunday
  • Talked to KD3ACF, JT, a bunch
• K3YVQ, Jack:
  • 985 WFD
  • Learned about CW from Keith
• AA3LH, Leon:
  • Fun at field day, made some contacts
  • Looking forward to Summer Field Day
• KD3ACF, JT:
  • Got a cage for 705 and next POTA activation
  • Long chats with W3MFB
  • POTA hunting
  • New AllStar node
• AF3Z, Jim:
  • Operated Cornwall Ranger Station for WFD
  • Indoor station: 2I
  • Jim was their main CW op: 130 QSOs
  • Highlight: Saturday night, 80M, finally found W3R when Keith came to him.

Questions

• KB3ILS, Keith:
  • When operating straight key,
    • Do you rest your forearm on the table?
    • How do you grip the straight key?
    • Operation tips?
  • WA3KFT, John:
    • 3 fingers on the knob, arm on the table, only wrist movement.
  • NA3CW, Chuck, concurs
  • AB3AP, Mike:
    • European style: float the arm
  • AF3Z, Jim:
    • In European style, key is often on the edge of the table.
    • Rests his arm on the table, grip thumb + next 2 fingers
    • Holds the key on his leg when camping
  • KB3ILS, Keith:
    • Luke is the operator he wants to emulate
• KC3YIG, Dave:
  • Electrovoice 719 mic needs a cartridge replacement. Tips, sources of parts, etc?
  • NA3CW, Chuck:
    • No experience changing mic cartridges
    • That mic seems similar to the D104 with a crystal cartridges
    • Specific cartridges can be hard to find
    • Some people seem to replace the cartridge with one from Heil
    • With age, cartridges don’t sound right
• KD3AIS, Tim:
  • Has a Diamond 510HDM antenna, 17ft tall, can the antenna be placed near trees to hide it?
  • WA3VEE, Ron:
    • You’re sounding good, so no hurry to put that up.
    • Ron’s antenna is next to a bunch of bushes
    • Foliage won’t attenuate much
    • It’s fine
  • WA3KFT, John:
    • Long antennas have nice gain
    • Tie a pipe hitch to the antenna 1/3rd down from the top
    • Hoist it to hang in the tree
  • NA3CW, Chuck: Feb 2018 QST, “Live Trees Affect Antenna Performance”
    • Did simulations with HF
  • WA3VEE, Ron:
    • His installation is 3-4 feet away from the tree and elevated on army mast
  • AF3Z, Jim:
    • Has a tree in path of beam, and it doesn’t seem to affect anything.
    • Hangs other antennas
  • KC3SQI, Wayne:
    • D300 stuck on a 2-inch piece of PVC attached to the deck railing
    • 10 ft from the ground
    • When he got above the roof, got an extra 2dB into repeater
    • Doesn’t make a lot of difference

The 985 group held their winter field day at Lines Self Storage. They had 5 stations in trailers and tents. They worked some satellites and mostly HF. There was hundreds of feet of coax feed line all over the place.

I aw KC3NZT, Harvey, operating a satellite station with special hardware. Harvey also called CQ on HF. He’s a machine, logging hundreds of QSOs.

I used a headphone splitter to listen to another operator, Bob. I copied some CW, but not a lot. I listened for some digital and found a bit of RTTY, but it was for the BARTG contest, not WFD. I made some SSB contacts on others’ radios that were setup for the weekend.

I hung my rolled slim-jim to call on 146.520MHz and beacon some APRS, but I heard nothing. I could also check winlink email through the N3MEL gateway in Downingtown. I had looked it up ahead of time. In the notes in WoAD, I list the frequency where the gateway listens for packets.

I visited during daytime on both days, but did not stay overnight like some did.

My Week in Radio

• discovering some good old packet radio
  • 145.010
  • listen with multimon-ng
  • search for a terminal program for android and linux
• patched my favorite firmware (f4hwn) to better render the spectrum analyzer for wide or narrow scan ranges
  • built and tested on my own radio
  • patch was accepted to the open source project, so it’ll be in the next release
• POTA in the cold in prep for field day

Others

• W8CRW, CR:
  • new radio from HRO
• WA3VEE, Ron:
  • after 985 breakfast, at field day site, will be introducing radios for field day
• KC3RFG, Jim:
  • first Raspberry PI kit for a Ham Clock
• KC3YSM, Steve:
  • nets and POTA
    • all US: GA, AL, MI
• AB3AP, Mike:
  • hanging out on 30m
  • learning to touch-type instead of handwriting from CW
    • ARRL MP3s online
    • 15 WPM typing, 18 WPM is a challenge
    • jots keywords usually to be faster
• KC3OOK, Bill:
  • hosted last roundtable
  • net control for simplex net
  • working on ham shack
  • windy: gust of 39mph, antenna survived
• KC3SQI, Wayne:
  • couldn’t get to the repeater due to lots of QRN from powerlines, trains, etc.
• AF3Z, Jim:
  • SKCC had a weekend sprint-a-thon.
    • operated from Cornwall station as W3CRS
    • they were in 1st place until other clubs started uploading logs :)
• W3MFB, Mike:
  • experimenting using gutter and down spout and speaker wire as HF antenna
    • 10W and it worked.
    • recommending a similar setup to a friend

Questions

• WA3VEE, Ron:
  • We’re putting together some seminars/classes to share experience and knowledge.
  • What would you like to talk about? theory or operation?
  • NA3CW, Chuck:
    • get the scope and meters out and discuss impedance, etc.
  • KC3OOK, Bill:
    • Ron’s discussion on oscilloscopes
  • AF3Z, Jim:
    • general approach to trying to fix something
    • how to check equipment: bandpass filters, crystals
  • W3MFB, Mike:
    • understanding solar data
  • NA3CW, Chuck:
    • propagation
  • KB3ZIM, Bob:
    • revisit antennas and feedlines and their attributes
  • KC3WWC, John:
    • kit night to build something
    • favorite equipment on the bench that others should have
  • KC3OOK, Bill:
    • soldering technique
    • all basic test equipment
    • NA3CW, Chuck: validating readings from equipment
  • AF3Z, Jim:
    • surface mount soldering
    • NA3CW, Chuck: good tweasers
  • KC3RFG, Jim:
    • refresher on setup and use of NanoVNA
  • W3MFB, Mike:
    • soldering coax
  • KC3WWC, John:
    • digital modes old and new
  • AF3Z, Jim:
    • sorting out limitations of test equipment, signal levels
  • W3MFB, Mike:
    • tutorial for the young folks, how to build a repeater
  • KC3SQI, Wayne:
    • how do you find an interfering signal, fox hunting.
  • KC3OOK, Bill:
    • basic circuits
  • NA3CW, Chuck:
    • understanding antenna gain

My Week in Radio

• ARRL RTTY RoundUp
• Testing and repairing a piece of coax
  • no damage in the middle
  • NanoVNA, Smith chart, compared ends
    • one side showed a long spiral
    • other end showed no change upon being connected
    • so I knew I found something
  • compared to a working cable
  • cut off the end and replaced the SMA connector and it worked

Questions

• KC3OOK, Bill:
  • For lifepo4 batteries, what’s the proper way to charge and discharge?
  • W3QP, Tim:
    • depends how often you use the battery.
    • for storage, 50% capacity is good
    • otherwise charge it up full.
    • don’t keep it full all of the time.
    • not much of an issue, though
  • W3MOW, MIKE:
    • researching electric vehicles.
    • whatever you do to treat it better will just prolong battery life a bit
    • there will be better replacements in a couple years.
• KC3WWC, John:
  • I’m using my 71-foot random wire with a 9:1 unun.
    • I can give it 5W on many bands without the tuner.
    • It’s working, so not all loss.
    • Checked it at with the NanoVNA at different points and it stayed pretty low.
    • Disconnecting the wire definitely ruined SWR, proving to me that power is getting out into the wire, besides it otherwise working.
    • What am i seeing?
  • W3QP, Tim:
    • SWR is great for a rough indicator for reflected energy
    • reactance is more important for efficiency
    • losses can mislead you with SWR
    • any piece of wire will resonate at different harmonnics
    • had a shorter wire was resonant at some harmonics that happened to work
  • KC3SQI, Wayne:
    • with a random wire, the balun takes SWR of the antenna and reduces it by a factor of 10.
    • Tuner can offer extra protection for the radio
    • a random wire antenna is to be a bit off and close enough for most radios
    • he uses his random wire 71-foot random wire he uses for POTA, but barely needs the tuner.
  • NA3CW, Chuck:
    • every SWR meter is measuring voltage, current, and time.
    • ratio of voltage and current = resistance
    • a resonant antenna can have a high SWR because it’s feed impedence is not matched.
    • measuring voltage, current, reactance.
    • meters can be calibrated for other impedences, not just 50ohm.
    • SWR compares voltage, current, phase (time) with internal 50ohm reference.
    • watch amplitude of voltage and current on scope, and see it out of phase.
    • can have a low SWR on non-resonant antenna
    • can have high SWR on resonant antenna
    • longer pieces of wire can have more resonances
    • resonances may or may not fall in useful places.
    • low SWR does not mean efficient. could be losses.
    • all lengths of wire will have certain resonances.
    • everyone went with 50ohms as a standard.
    • TV coax is 75 ohms.
    • transformers get it close to what the radio wants.
• KV3JGB, Matt:
  • He has a Vibroplex, single lever, usually thumb is dit, finger is dah, but he’s reversed the dits and dahs for comfort.
  • Does it matter if he works reversed?
  • AF3Z, Jim:
    • probably doesn’t matter
    • he learned left handed first then right
  • WA3KFT, John:
    • read about telegraph keys and bugs (semi-automatic keys)
    • Vibroplex made a mechanical key that’s left-handed
  • AB3AP, Mike:
    • left-handed bugs are more expensive
  • KC3WWC, John:
    • I key left-handed, and I’ll have to reconfigure anyone else’s radio, or flip the key.
    • I just flipped the key to reverse it, and was able to adjust with a moment of practice.
• KD3AIS, Tim:
  • Who would you suggest to help install an antenna on the chimney?
  • KV3JGB, Matt:
    • lots of people are willing to help
    • antenna launch parties
    • Matt would help
  • KC3WWC, John:
    • try compromised installations for some more independent capabilities
  • NA3CW, Chuck:
    • come to a breakfast
    • let’s talk about your intentions, site, etc.

My Week in Radio

• ISS on scan, so I caught part of an image
  • passes are a bit early right now, and low
• Nice weather
  • local POTA including a couple solid CW
  • some maintenance of the VHF antennas
• Noticed today I can disable the tuner on my random wire antenna and still get OK SWR
  • sounds like loss to me
  • but putting 5W into the wire is still getting identifiable weak signals to Europe, Alaska, etc.
• Reading the AllStar manuals
• Adding 4:1 balun to my list of things to build
  • delta loop
  • Rybakov vertical

Others

• KC3SCY, Luke:
  • crystal receiver
• W8CRW, CR:
  • working on a 10m antenna
• W1RC, Mike:
  • likes SWR tools, since antennas are the final frontier
• AF3Z, Jim:
  • took the Kenwood mobile out of the car to replace the memory battery
  • how’s my audio?
• NA3CW, Chuck:
  • Jim is low
  • arcing in a band switch, so disconnected 10m taps to avoid problems
    • added some feed line and changed antennas, so maybe time to try fixing it to do 10 again.
    • works now
  • finding some bad solder joints in some coax.
  • been in repair mode
• KC3OOK, Bill:
  • working on Joe’s tower again soon
• WA3VEE, Ron:
  • presenting in Pottstown on Friday on antenna analyzers
  • May be visiting the field day site
• KC3YIG, Dave:
  • picked up Alaska
• W3QP, Tim:
  • 2 SOTAs in Western PA
  • new Retevis 25W radio
• KV3JGB, Matt:
  • fixing some lines to get an antenna up in some trees
    • it’s working
    • first contact on 10M
    • also 15M for a rag chew
  • starting CWOps on Friday
• KB3ZIM, Bob:
  • published in latest QST, page 20
• KC3NZT,
  • testing coax with NanoVNA

Questions

• KC3SWC, Charles:
  • How do 12V batteries apply to Winter Field Day? li-ion, lead acid, deep cycle lead acid, AGM, gold cart batteries, lifepo4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each.
    • WA3VEE, Ron:
      • at field day, we won’t be charging any batteries inside
      • uses AGM and lifepo4 for radios, no trouble in cold weather
      • AGM vents, so ensure it has ventilation
    • W3QP, Tim:
      • lifepo4 is a good choice for amateur radio
        • lighter
        • output amperage is usually only 2x capacity
    • W3MFB, Mike:
      • used marine cells lots
• W3FES, Fred:
  • Troubleshooting a switching power supply.
  • Rated for 15 amps.
  • Running a radio, 15W output
  • Voltage drops to 8V.
  • What can he do to diagnose the problem in the power supply?
  • WA3VEE, Ron:
    • need to look at the manual to see ratings
  • NA3CW, Chuck:
    • switching power supplies are usually working or dead

My Week in Radio

• Walked down the 35-foot flagpole to do some antenna maintenance in the cold
• Hunting a handful of CW POTA contacts
• Waiting for a good snow day to curl up with the AllStar manual and ARRL antenna book
• Thinking about my path through ham radio and focus on digital modes and CW, not spending much time with SSB
• ISS will be transmitting SSTV on 145.800MHz, 25 December - 5 Januaary

Others

• KC3SCY, Luke:
  • On 10m, not so busy this past week
  • Working crystal set
• K3FHA, John:
  • Fixing up and using an antique radio
• KC3TYX, Vic:
  • Diagnosing/repairing a fan problem in a power supply
• NA3CW, Chuck:
  • 2M rig in car would shutoff during TX
    • PL259 connector was loose
• AF3Z, Jim:
  • Working 10m
  • Working a couple CW contacts: Europe, etc.
  • Organizing the shack: radio, photography, etc
• KV3JGB, Matt:
  • Fighting with a tree to get an antenna mounted
• KC3SQI, Wayne:
  • Talking to Los Angeles then Greenland
  • Propagation shifts
• W3DIB, Greg:
  • Reverse-engineering the serial protocol of a Yaesu radio

Questions

• W8CRW, CR: From the news, how would one use WSPR to find a downed airplane?
  • WA3VEE, Ron: they could be searching for the weak beacon on 121MHz
  • KC3SQI, Wayne: May have been looking at WSPR logs to look at reflected signals between stations. reddit
• AF3Z, Jim:
  • What is it about WSPR that makes people think they can use it to search for anomolies?
    • KC3WWC, John:
      • WSPR is used to test propagation and reach. you send signals for a few minutes, and others report back through a central database without needing to have a conversation or to be even able to get a signal back the other way.
      • There’s a huge volume of data that was collected centrally as the plane traveled.
• AF3Z, Jim:
  • Recounted his understanding of fuses and how they fail according to voltage rating.
  • NA3CW, Chuck: Failure means they can explode.
  • KC3SQI, Wayne:
    • Father saw huge 4-foot-long industrial fuses explode after lightning strike.

My Week in Radio

• ARRL 10m contest:
  • 13 CW contacts logged on paper
  • iambic keyer set to 20 wpm somewhat confidently
  • still relying on radio to decode for me

News from Others

• KC3YSM, Steve: 10M contest - Spain, Colombia, Poland, France, Missisissippi, Florida
• K3FHA, John:
  • using a voltage reduce box to power an old piece of equipment
  • swapping meters with salvage equipment from ebay
• KC3NZT, Harvey: 10M contest
• AF3Z, Jim: weekend sprintathon with SKCC.
• KC3SCY, Luke: listening to DX (Ohio) AM MW on his crystal set.
• KV3JGB, Matt: starting a morse class

Questions

• W3JAM, Jeff:
  • Unsatisfied with antenna mount on chimney.
  • Glen Martin Engineering used to have roof towers.
  • Looking for some non-penetrating roof mounts: cinder blocks or sandbags.
  • Has anyone used any Martin or Carlson roof towers?
  • Trying to mount a 70ft tower.
  • WA3VEE, Ron: sending a link to an eham article.
• AF3Z, Jim: When is the voltage rating on a fuse important? 20A, 250V vs 20A, 35V?
  • KC3RFG, Jim:
    • the voltage rating is the max at which it’ll properly react when it opens. If voltage rating isn’t high enough, it might not melt far enough and still be able to arc at the higher voltage.
  • NA3CW, Chuck:
    • it may have more physical features like casing material, spring loading to break the connection more, or interrupting current quickly.
  • WA3VEE, Ron: Look for PDF called “Fuseology”.
• WA3VEE, Ron: What do we tell new HAMs?
  • WA3VEE, Ron: HT is pretty useless.
  • KC3RFG, Jim: Resist the urge to buy, but collect lots of info before making too many decisions.
  • KC3YIG, Dave:
    • Don’t by afraid to ask questions of a good group.
    • Let people know if you’re looking for equipment, so others can help you get started.
  • KC3YSM, Steve: Find yourself an elmer, and ask questions on 985.
  • NA3CW, Chuck:
    • The perfect is the enemy of getting on the air.
    • Good enough is good enough.
    • Get used equipment.
    • Borrow equipment.
    • Don’t make any big investments before you know what you want.
  • K3FHA, John: ARRL has an operating manual with advice.
  • WA3VEE, Ron: Even old operating manuals are useful.
  • KC3WWC, John: Don’t worry about what doesn’t work. Get some wire in the air.
  • KC3OOK, Bill: Hams are helpful, so ask questions.
  • WA3VEE, Ron: Listen to the radio, learn, get help.

My Week in Radio

• Monitoring some technical discussions
  • tips on satellite repeaters, including listening duplex
  • some radios have talk-around feature, which I’ve only done accidentally when misconfiguring the radio to talk on the repeater output
• FT Challenge over the weekend
  • lots of activity on FT4, FT8, and subbands outside the usual
  • found wsjtx-improved available on my Debian machine:
    • better colors, location labels, and filters
• Learning obvious things about AllStar last week:
  • my node is simplex, so while the net is transmitting, I can’t throw any DTMF at the node to control it
  • minor delay resulted in lots of missed prefixes

News From Others

• W8CRW, CR: setting up for 10m
• KC3SCY, Luke: doing some good work on 10m
• KC3SQI, Wayne: POTA and 10m
• AF3Z, Jim:
  • worked some of Europe on CW
  • cleaning up radio stuff, workbench, dealing with excess hunks of wire

Questions

• KC3TMZ, Matt: Looking to upgrade the coax run through a window. Should he get an MFJ passthrough or better recommendations?

  • a couple people have some homebrew panels like the MFJ
  • some have the MFJ panel
  • others suggest passing a barrel adapter through the wall
  • KC3WWC, John: there’s thin coax and flat coax for the purpose

• KC3SQI, Wayne: The battery for the radio’s memory only lasts a couple weeks, so he runs a 12V wall wart to keep it powered, but also has a 35-amp 13.8V supply he wants to use. He isolates them with relays, but is there a solar controller way to switch. Blocking diodes? Recommendations?

  • WA3KFT, John: his 7300 doesn’t have that problem. He uses a 12V bus on the desk. His 12V bus is powered by AC power supply on one side, and a 12V battery on the other side. so there’s always power. A blocking diode would need to be 30Amp.
  • KC3RFG, Jim: The manual says power it a couple hours at least monthly to maintain that battery which holds clock and settings. Memories are on the SD card.