W3gms

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

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