Portable Doublet

I built a doublet experiment at a park today.

• split 6.25M of speaker wire to be a 12.5M-long, center-fed, non-resonant dipole, like my portable EFRW I usually carry.
• the rest is balanced feed line
• right to the radio
• tuned 20M and barely tuned 40M on my X6100
• 2W FT8 heard in africa and europe
• next try it with a 4:1 or 9:1 balun to match better

My Weeks in Radio

• feel lucky to be in this area with lots of repeaters and traffic
• flagpole with YAGI snapped in the wind a week or 2 ago.
• strung the slim jim in the tree a little higher
• playing with nicsure firmware on the RadTel RT-880G.
• saw a great youtube video on APRS bots:
  • MPAD being very versatile for: weather, callsign lookup, location report to email
  • ISS bot that tells you the next pass
• listened to a couple sweepstakes contacts: to lazy to try to communicate that much exchange QRP SSB

Others

• WB3LNY, George:
  • Tried La Grange repeater in KY, but no one answered.
  • Keep as active as we can.
  • Use it or lose it: they’ll take it away
  • linking repeaters may help generate more traffic
• VE3HOH, Pete:
  • working on some Yaesu FT-100’s
    • predecessor to FT-857.
• KA3TKW, Tom:
  • lunch Thursday this week
    • everyone share a radio gadget
    • lots of mini demonstrations
  • ISS scrubbed the SSTV after first couple days
  • ISS ham repeater is still good though
    • high pass monday, 4:45pm
  • Russian satellites doing SSTV
    • 435.890 ARCTICSAT-1: 2 good passes Monday morning
    • 5 minute cycle, so don’t be discouraged
• KK4KKW, Steve:
  • many times can’t make contacts while traveling: 2M or 10M
  • hearing people on HF, but not making contacts
• N7JMS, John:
  • digipi doing SSTV to get ARCTICSAT-1 images
• K3DMM, Denny:
  • doing some of the sweepstakes
    • got Hawaii
  • definitely trying morning pass of arcticsat-1
  • trying for ISS pass as well
• KD3BOV, John:
  • rain gutter antenna
  • getting started with the ICOM 2730

Swap and Shop

• WB3LNY, george:
  • new bird dummy loads
• VE3HOH, Pete:
  • rohn 25 tower sections:
  • guy wire and anti-sway section for the rohn 25
  • 432MHz yagis
  • 2M yagis for weak signal
  • 950ft of philly strand on a roll
• KA3TKW, Tom:
  • shortware receivers
  • moto 25W transceivers
  • 24ft camper for sale: $1500

Since the flagpole Yagi fell, and I’m not rushing to put it back up, I figured I’d see if I can get my 2-meter antennas in the tree higher.

I threw the line up over the tree to have it drop down the middle, and I now pull the slim-jim antenna up through the middle of the tree. It’s not the highest antenna, above the ground-plane antenna.

I also took a moment to untangle the halyards and feed lines. I looped the 2 feed lines through a spring clip on the roof line to keep them from slapping around so much.

I’m getting good APRS decodes off the lower antenna, and strong repeater signals on the high antenna, but it doesn’t quite receive the 985 repeater.

My Week in Radio

• upgraded my meshtastic nodes: faster bluetooth communication
• new 3rd party firmware on the Radtel RT-880G
  • nice scanning, HF receive, spectrum analyzer
  • APRS beacon
  • used the spectrum analyzer to observe which of my car remotes were working and which needed a battery
• flagpole with my yagi snapped in the wind
  • have a cool video of it whipping around in the wind and breaking
  • digital until I repair that
  • i have a military surplus mast I may try next
• Playing a little 1W FT8, turned it up to 4W to get to Chile

Others

• WA3VEE, Ron:
  • Computers in place for logging on Winter Field Day
• KC3SCY, Luke:
  • AWA Bruce Kelley QSO Party using 1929 and before gear
    • using a Type 10
    • made 21 contacts in this first weekend
  • using Drake R4A as receiver
  • building another 1929 transmitter
• NA3CW, Chuck:
  • antenna survey at the field day site
    • 2 80m antennas on the same axis
    • 2 40m antennas on the same axis
    • each for CW and phone.
    • no more patch panel needed
    • antennas will run up and down with halyards
• KC3OOK, Bill:
  • South control for Simplex Net on Saturday
    • learning to use a beam for the net
• AF3Z, Jim:
  • 10M CW at 1pm in the afternoon
    • chatted with Colorado and Marshall Islands
    • vertical dipole
• KA3GLI, David:
  • measured outside for a wire antenna and run of coax
  • setting up a listening station
  • need to build an unun for the new antenna
• KD3BWL, Frank:
  • using new rig to work repeaters in Chester County
• W3DIB, Greg:
  • Good to hear about computers for Field Day

Questions

• KC3OOK, Bill:
  • He has new test equipment from Ron, but needs BNC cables for it. What cable/connectors should he get?
  • WA3VEE, Ron:
    • You want 50 ohm cables for radio work.
    • TV would be 75 ohms
    • 6ft BNC-BNC plus some adapters
  • NA3CW, Chuck:
    • Avoid cheap cables: poorly shielded/crimped
    • Only trusted the cables he made
    • RG58 is fine for anything 100W or below.
  • WA3KFT, John:
    • SO-239 with adapter to BNC works fine
    • stranded center conductor will be nice and flexible
  • KC3OOK, Bill:
    • will make some of his own cables
• AA3LH, Leon:
  • Likes dipoles, center-fed with ladder line. Should there be a couple twists in the ladder line?
  • NA3CW, Chuck:
    • twists are recommended to keep it from catching much RFI in receive. it exposes both conductors to the noise, so it balances.
    • good signals on balanced lines are differential
  • AF3Z, Jim:
    • twists also help with wind
    • he has a twist ever 2-3 feet.
  • NA3CW, Chuck:
    • be careful to not cause crossovers
  • AA3LH, Leon:
    • has 25 feet and about 4 twists.
    • it flops in the wind some
• AF3Z, Jim:
  • at field day site, each set of antennas are “coaxial”, so in a line, end-to-end, to give them the same direction, but minimal interaction.
  • W3GMS, Joe:
    • antennas will be orthogonal (perpendicular)
      • 80M will run east-west to transmit north/south
      • 40M will run north-south to transmit east-west

I’ve paid for the Nicsure Patreon to get access to his new firmware for the Radtel RT-880G, and I’ve used his Linux CPS to flash it and load channels.

Having a Linux CPS alone is an amazing enhancement. The UI is not necessarily intuitive compared to other radios, but I’m getting accustomed to it. Most the functions I want from the menu are found by long-pressing the green button, and it shows you the shortcut key you could use. There are also posts about an extended manual that helps a bit, but I still found mismatches.

I have it beaconing APRS and receiving, but it still struggles to get a good decode. The stock firmware shows garbage decodes, but his one just doesn’t show anything for those failures.

It seems to have nice scanning, HF receive, and the spectrum analyzer.

The flagpole mast broke in the wind about 9:05pm EST or so. I captured the destruction on the Wyze camera that watches it. It snapped right above the point it’s tied to the garage. Fortunately, it fell in an OK direction, so it didn’t damage anything around it.

I could try to put it back up with some spare pieces and guy it next time, or I could try the military surplus mast I picked up at a Ham Fest this past summer.

I’ll be contacting the 985 repeater digitally through Allstar for now.

My Week in Radio

• Other clubs
  • Learned about geochron:
    • old mechanical map with terminator lines
    • new digital one with all sorts of visualizations, including ham radio
  • Presentation on Antennas and feed line at a Ham Lunch in Harrisburg.
• US-1418, POTA:
  • FT8, 10M, mostly 1-2W, but 4W some times.
  • also 1 CW contact
• Built conveniences into software I use for my radio weblog
  • easily link park identifies to the POTA site and callsigns to QRZ profiles.

Others

• KD3BPI, Simon:
  • Listening while mobile
• WA3VEE, Ron:
  • setup and plan for WFD
• KC3SCY, Luke:
  • PM/AM net
  • working on CW
  • Bruce Kelley Memorial event coming up in a couple weeks:
    • will operate 1929 TNT and 1929 Hartley
• KC3OOK, Bill:
  • Hosted Welfare Net
  • At Joe’s to plan hardline from tower to building
  • worked on cable trays for his shack
• KC3KFT, John:
  • 10M has been open lately
  • Retired Net on 28435kHz or 28333kHz
• K3FF, Rene:
  • operated lots on CQ WW SSB. Lots on 10M.
  • working on Yaesu 991A that wouldn’t power on initially. (lightning?)
  • insure your good equipment
• KD3AIS, Tim:
  • 1st General Class
• KD3BWL, Frank:
  • Learned about EchoLink
    • contacted a repeater in VA
  • other repeaters
• KC3MAI, Joe:
  • purchased a CW keyer to start learning
• W3QP, Tim:
  • Headed to Illinois for work:
    • aiming to activate Summits in Illinois and neighboring states
• K3DBD, Bob:
  • First time checking in to this net in a long time, even though being a long-time user.
  • 68 years into ham radio
  • chairman of technical committee in Pottstown Club.
  • preparing for ARRL Frequency Measuring Event on 8 November
  • fixing a broken PC board for an old wurlitzer juke box
• KC3YSM, Steve:
  • DXing: Chile, Italy, Canada
  • Mobile listening
  • Excited to hear Ron’s plans for WFD

Questions

• KC3MAI, Joe:
  • Has a keyer and paddles, how should he learn CW?
    • is it bad to start with paddles?
  • WA3KFT, John:
    • taught CW
    • with a staight key, you can practice spacing within a character as well as the timing of dit and dah (3*dit)
    • straight key is easier to control speed and start slower
  • WA3VEE, Ron:
    • Has gotten Rusty in CW
    • Used to be able to do 18WPM
    • Look at Koch Method and Farnsworth spacing
      • slow down by extending spacing between characters, not by slowing everything.
    • 10-15 minutes a day really helps.
  • W3GMS, Joe:
    • Call Joe and discuss at great length
    • CW instructor in the Military
    • Do not try any sending until you can copy 10 WPM
    • focus on recognizing the sound
    • don’t count dits and dahs
  • AF3Z, Jim:
    • use CW software to train
    • ensure you practice at higher speed to avoid counting
    • G4FON software
  • NA3CW, Chuck:
    • don’t ever look at a chart or page of dots and dashes
    • it’s about sound
    • learn to receive well first
  • KB3ZIM, Bob:
    • https://morsle.fun/ is effective practice and lets you stretch for speed

I ran out to Sam Lewis, US-1418, to activate when the rain stopped.

I took a few minutes to setup my normal EFHW running North-South to operate more to the East and West, though I did get a contact to Colombia.

I operated mostly low-power FT8, 1-4W, but mostly 2W. I chased and got 1 CW contact before it started getting cold and dark.

My Week in Radio

• great ham fest in Harrisburg
  • ARISS presentation was great with a good pass to hear astronauts answering questions at a museum in Indiana
  • bought a cheap power meter for HF and some connectors
• 5 hours of CQ WW DX SSB contest
  • 12 contacts
    • Canary Islands on 5W SSB.
    • heard lots more that could hear my 5W
  • logged in World Radio League website and phone app. It exported a perfect Cabrillo file for the contest.
  • POLO was not going to cut it for contest exchanges. (I later found global “Activities” settings that exposed a “simple contest” mode.)
• blog up-to-date after months being outdated

Others

• NA3CW, Chuck:
  • PM/AM net on 75 meters
• AF3Z, Jim:
  • trying echolink, noticed repeater keys instantaneously, but audio is significantly delayed allstar seems less delayed
  • 10M CW Sked: around 28.180MHz
  • found a DX pile-up a little lower in the band:
    • C5Y from Gambia
    • used RIT
    • managed to work the station
    • 70W
• KC3OOK, Bill:
  • net control for simplex net
  • building his station on the bench
  • ron dropped off an HP signal generator
• KD3AIS, Tim:
  • made his 1st 10 contacts on 10M
  • getting comfortable
• KC3NZT, Harvey:
  • also got on 10M while it’s open for the contest.
    • 50 countries in 10 minutes
    • also New Mexico on 10M for WAS
• WA3KFT, John:
  • fighting with a Bird Watt Meter 4410.
    • powered by 9V battery
    • has an amplifier that’s required
    • not working
    • may need repair
• KC3MAI, Joe:
  • upgraded to AE
  • signed the private land use bill
  • 4 contacts in contest, including C5Y
  • Father Murgas Reenactment
    • this is an important event
    • Hungarian priest came to wilkes barre
    • into wireless telegraphy
    • first person to do point-to-point over 20mi (Wilkes Barre to Scranton)
    • used a 2-tone system of his own invention instead of CW
    • Joe’s driving and buying lunch. email him.
• AC3NW, Manny:
  • identified a good location for his Hustler 5bpv vertical with radials
    • cleared with XYL

Questions

• NA3CW, Chuck:
  • Helping a preschool with a computer update. Front of the laptop pushed apart and won’t push back together. Battery is 2x original thickness. Stowed in in the driveway. What do you do with a damaged lithium ion battery?
  • KD3EE, John:
    • drop it at Waste Management in Lancaster: House Hold Chemicals
  • KC3NZT, Harvey:
    • Home Depot took it as long as not actively warm
      • put it in a non-conductive bag
    • His local scrapper would take them too
  • W8CRW, CR:
    • Chester County Recycling said just throw it in the trash(!)
  • W1RC, Mike:
    • in Massachusetts, he’d take it to the Fire Dept.
  • W3KZG, Scott:
    • For NA3CW, Chuck: SECRA doesn’t accept that stuff, but they do pick up a couple times a year. SECRA recommends the retail store.
  • NA3CW, Chuck:
    • local trash collector forbid lithium or lead acid batteries
    • likes the idea of Home Depot
      • may only want tool batteries, though, hand-written sign.
    • not generating any heat
• KD3EE, John: Seeing a 20kHz-wide band of noise in the 30M band. In SSB it sounds like a flatulent tractor anywhere you tune in it. reminds me of maybe over-the-horizon radar. What might this be, and what other mysteries in signals have you seen and solved?
  • KC3NZT, Harvey:
    • 60M is shared with military, but 30M may also have military.
    • radar usually looks like a narrow sweep
  • NA3CW, Chuck:
    • not a broadcasting band, but
    • DRM signal on 70M: shortwave with very defined edges
  • Aberdeen Proving Ground tests lots of HF radio equipment
• AA3LH, Leon:
  • Does anyone have any model trains they’d like to donate for a church display at Christmas? Call 717-286-7216 to donate.
    • KD3AIS, Tim:
      • He has too much stuff in the attic, including trains from childhood.
      • Will donate.
  • AA3LH, Leon:
    • call the number, thanks.
  • W3KZG, Scott:
    • KB3ZIM, Bob, may have some trains to re-home.

• https://www.geochron.com/
• Owner: Patrick Bolan
  • rides motorcycle around and visits geochron users
• mechanical clock since 1964
  • automated map to show greyline
  • backlit
  • 6ft map that turns on gears
  • shades moved by motors
  • seen in movies: twister, clear and present danger, hunt for red october,
  • Ronald Reagan had them
    • gave Gorbechev one as a gift: American ingenuity
  • Geochron still has a mechanical shop to service them
    • refurbish 300 / yr
    • build 100 / yr new
    • $2500-$4000 for new mechanical
    • 25 hours to assemble
• Geochron Digital
  • renders 4K on the client
  • pulls maps and data from geochron
  • HDMI
  • used on carnival cruises, since light on internet
• his geochron shows:
  • pota
  • airplanes
  • weather / hurricane
  • naval carriers for US and others
  • aurora predictions
  • earthquakes
  • lighting strikes
  • noaa satellite images
  • fire hotspots in CA
  • pollution
  • remote controlled or by phone app
• ISS has a video feed you can show on Geochron, and you can see lightning
• Atlas 1 can’t render the newer animated overlays
• Atlas 2 and pro (new this week) show everything
• ham radio features
  • CQ zone maps
  • geocentric map
  • FT8
  • MUF
    • watch for “holes” on the way to a target where the signal would “escape”
  • filter by callsign prefixes (VK)
  • POTA / SOTA
  • ISS
  • satellites filtered by mode with footprint
  • QRZ logbook integration
  • where the moon is shining - moon terminator
• need to customize, since there’s so much data
  • opacity
• Atlas 2 - $425 -
  • 16 layers included with internet access
  • $2-11/month or more layers
  • email coupon@geochron.com for code
    • $425
    • free ham radio annual pass

My Week in Radio

CQ WW DX SSB Contest

• 12 contacts
  • including Canary Islands near Africa
  • heard lots of places that couldn’t hear me: Galapagos
• QRP (<5W)
• Logged in World Radio League website and phone
• exported a Cabrillo file in the right format to submit!
• POLO didn’t seem to collect the right fields

Great Ham Fest in Harrisburg

• Saw some faces from a couple different repeaters I frequent
• Tom’s satellite presentation was great, and we had a really good pass to hear the astronauts talking to the museum in Indiana.
• Bought a cheap power meter for HF and some connectors for it