Tuesday, January 31, 2023
Pacific Coast Electronics
The DX-Aku
Monday, January 30, 2023
Sunday, January 29, 2023
Sky Loop is Back
Wednesday, January 25, 2023
CQ 10 meter net
- Encourage and practice CW use.
- Attract stations from as far as 10 meter propagation takes us (and by extension LEARN if propagation is evolving over the onset of the Cycle-25 dynamics)
- Develop techniques to run a directed net via CW that can be extended for other bands and emergency situations where SSB / digital modes are not possible. (More tools in the toolbox)
They're Listening and Recording
Tuesday, January 24, 2023
Toroids and Power Transistors
Exploring a design for a linear amplifier, solid-state. In doing this research I'm pulling together some concepts, schematics and theory from a number of sources. I've been in email exchange with several knowledgeable people in this domain.
At the same time, while searching for parts for some experiments, I stumbled across this web site:
It is a useful database of information about typical toroid configurations.
The next database I'm looking for is one that compare and contrasts different kinds of power MOSFETs and other devices that are divergent from Helge Granberg's schematics (Motorola).
I will be striving to do my part to collect what I can find and relay it. I'll be relying further on the experience and advice I receive from domain experts.
More to this later.
Wednesday, January 18, 2023
Mmm, love the smell of new Coax
The box on my doorstep contained a new spool of LMR-400-BG. The Good Stuff.
LMR. Let Me Receive ?!
UPDATE: 21-Jan-2023 -- So, despite all positive thinking and effort put into the order, the fabricator at DX Engineering put the wrong connectors on the cable. I need to send it back and hope (?) they will remedy the situation by chopping off the wrong connector and re-attaching the correct one. You would think for $300 worth of coax, this might get checked before being sent. Apparently, not. Not the first time DXE has nerfed up an order. Strike 2. Anyway... Shall we continue where we left off?
I will be re-stringing it to my Zero Five (tm) 43 foot multiband, non resonant vertical.
The game plan is:
- Put up a tiny tower (20-25 feet) and mount the vertical on top of that, array the radials from the base plate of the antenna mount per documentation. But overall -- get that antenna higher off the ground.
- I'm having a heck of a time on 10m/12m/15m with my signal getting out. I'm avoiding the amplifier at the moment because I need to test it more carefully (homebrew 2KW Linear AB2, a monster).
- In the mean time, the LMR-400 is excellent stuff, a replacement of the Belden 9993 (?) that I used to run. A bit tricky with solid core, got to be careful to keep radius of bends large and smooth.
- After that, I need to build a 4:1 Current Balun. (Ferrite Toroid cores FT-140-77 ordered).. As well as some reading material on Balun/Unun/Feedlines:
QSL Catch Up
If it is more than that (thicker or heavier) then I need to take it to the P.O.
Tuesday, January 17, 2023
QSL for JA's
Postage for QSL
Friday, January 13, 2023
Thursday, January 12, 2023
UX5UO
I was out of cards (or else I just cannot find them). I wanted new cards anyway, so I had some designed.
I use a printer in Ukraine. UX5UO
Checking with him I got this response, from Gennedy Treus UX5UO
In spite of the war in Ukraine we can design / print / send any QSL cards.
You may call us now. Orders help me personally and for economics of Ukraine of course. Please spread this info in US, thanks.
So, I am letting you know.
Do not expect a rush service, for obvious reasons. But it will help a small amount.
FYI
Wednesday, January 11, 2023
Nice Valves
After the linear amplifier was cleaned up, I took some pictures. Thought I'd open up the baby book and share some.
The parasitic suppression is a newer design I picked up somewhere.
If I could do anything, it would be to refactor the layout of the tank.
Tuesday, January 10, 2023
Pound the Brass
Back to CW
I can send CW fairly well. 17-20 WPM. I can think the CW and send the CW that fast. But I cannot copy the CW that fast. If I hear it 17 WPM I get a bit bogged down. I can understand the letters but my brain needs a bit more time to organize things before the next letter arrives.
I have read and been told that is why it is important to not focus on the invididual letters but to recognie the groups of letters. The words. That's good and that works, especially during the QSO, for the most part. But there is still a need to copy the actual call sign. It's a dilemma. I do have a work-around though that will resolve the problem.
1. Just work CW. I found back in 2009-2011 when I forced myself to just work CW (as painful as it was when I was trying to copy), that I gained confidence to keep going. I remember even getting in a heated debate with another ham about this very topic and we were having the debate in CW. The irony police gave me a ticket.
2. Listen and perform the job that the ARRL has provided -- the CW Practice Test and Qualifying Run. Every day (mostly), the ARRL transmits practice text in different speeds. Then, once per month the ARRL will transmit a qualifying run of text in CW. If you can copy one minute worth, and vouch that you didn't cheat (use aids, etc..) then you can get another piece of paper for your shack wall.
So that is what I'm going to do.
Saturday, January 7, 2023
QRV
After a long hiatus from the radio, I've decided that the time away from the hobby was too long. I surely do miss working DX stations and tinkering with the station.
It is a huge regret that I stepped away from the radio for years, but I'm glad that most everything still works.
Just after the new year began I dusted off the equipment and took inventory of what I still had ready to work.
The base station is still comprised of an Elecraft K3 (an older model that is no longer in production) and a basic tuner (Palstar AT-AUTO, the version before the split-up of the Palstar company) and finally the home-brew linear amplifier that I re-designed from parts from a fellow I used to talk to regularly, Jim Fish (K7NCG).
The antenna situation is another matter.
I used to have a very long horizontal loop antenna that was about 100 feet up off the ground and had a circumference of about 500-550 feet. This made it ideal for the low bands, especially 40 meters. I used it primarily for 20m through 80m. It might have been a wee bit too short for 160m. But, on 40m it was ideal and I loved working DX and W's on that antenna for a long time.
Since the antenna was held up by guy lines looped over very tall tree branches, the antenna was eventually brought down in heavy storms that we get time to time. Some years, it was fine, and then all at once a very terrible winter storm would knock it all down. There's not much I can do to avoid it.
At present time Janurary 2023, I don't have the loop installed, so I am waiting for the weather to clear a bit before replacing it.
The other bits are still in the shack - the Bencher BY-1 paddle which I enjoy using. I also seem to have collected a fair number of smaller base-station radios and some mobile antennas that I should re-mount and re-install.
My original HF radio, the FT-897D (long since out of production) is still here too and I look forward to using it when I resume a full station operation.
The other part of the shack that I intend to deal with is the satellite operations. I used to have a IC-910H with the 1.2Ghz module, but I sold it to a friend. I've replaced the IC-910 with an older model, but it's still not the same. I have my eye on the new IC-9700. It has all the things I used to have in the IC-910H with the 1.2 Ghz module and includes some more useful features and display.
But, that needs to be put behind other tasks at the moment -- the big loop and also repairing the rotators that are part of the satellite antenna rig. The elevation rotator seems to be stuck in position.
Finally, a few more notes to relay -- to all of the hams that I used to regularly talk to on the HF bands, I regret leaving the hobby and missing out on the news and activities.
The other item to relay is that I'm intending to work a lot more CW than SSB than I did before. The strange thing is that I can send much faster than I can copy, so it will take some time getting up to speed again, literally.
Take care, good DX and I look forward to hearing your station. You can reach me via e-mail quite easily. jdw at my callsign dot com.
73's
Jeff, W7BRS
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