My Week in Radio

• KC3WWC changed to KD3EE
  • nice for CW
  • start over with a whole new log book
  • days to find and update everywhere
• packet radio for Winlink and BBSes including KA3TKW
  • like my old modem BBS days
  • phone + btech HT as TNC
• POTA, FT8 + CW
  • new Gabil whip with the sliding coil is very convenient
  • learning value of chokes in the right places: computer interference from RF
  • chasing CW POTA from home
• working a little more 10M now as we near autumn
• have a google calendar feed from https://contestcalendar.com/ keeping my calendar very full should the mood to do some contesting strikes

Others

• KA3TKW, Tom:
  • trivia net has new format: 5 digital
  • digipeaters
    • 145.010
    • 28.105
• K3EA, Greg:
  • heard hamsci presentation:
    • study from eclipse
    • upcoming study on meteor scatter
  • training session on the local club station
  • contests:
    • AARL Sept VHF this past weekend
    • WAE SSB contest
    • next weekend: QSO parties
    • following weekend: CQ WW RTTY
    • https://contestcalendar.com/ for more details
  • solar flux index and sunspots down this past week
  • normal/average propagation
  • some disruptions coming up: increased K index
  • minor storms coming tomorrow.
  • check clusters for current DXpeditions
    • Palestine/West Bank on the air for about a week, FT8+CW
  • no QSL cards this week
• WB3LNY, George:
  • local hamfest in Indiana
    • sold some LMR-400 + other things
  • new tower in place
• VE3HOH, Pete:
  • recovering from back injury
  • cleaning up radios
  • working on some amplifiers
  • getting some HF wires up
• KA3TKW, Tom:
  • Owen Garriott, W5LFL, was the first person to operate ham radio from space in 1983
  • easy sats:
    • ISS
    • SO-50: tues + wed 7:30pm
    • SO-124: tues + friday 12:25pm
    • SO-125: tues 11:25, wed 12pm, thurs 10:30am
  • looking for a presentation for next luncheon
• K3DMM, Denny:
  • worked PO-101 earlier in the week
  • Route 66 on the air: 12 of 19 cities, and 2 of 5 rovers
    • request a cert with even 1 contact
  • met fellow ham at RV show, recognizing antenna
• KC3ZBI, Ron:
  • had someone try to cut his coax
  • wondering about periodically reprogramming the keps in his OpenGD77 HT
  • Tom: every 10 days or so
• W3MW, Don:
  • VHF contest, but not participating
  • antenna work in nice weather
  • looking forward to december contest
• KC3NWN, Jim:
  • new alinco rig, 60m monoband, beam pointed to repeater
  • watched recent ISS pass
  • SO-50 often works for him
  • east stroudsburg hamfest
  • there’s AM on 17m
  • lots of simplex 2m and other VHF
  • QSL card from oklahoma on 17m

Swap and Shop

• VE3HOH, Pete:
  • rohn tower with guy cable, 8 sections

My Week in Radio

• I tried to get in with RF, but couldn’t make it, so on AllStar
• packet radio for Winlink and BBSes
  • like my old modem BBS days
  • phone + btech HT
• POTA, FT8 + CW
• learning value of chokes in the right places: computer interference from RF
• chasing CW POTA from home
• saw more FT8 this afternoon on 10M after a summer of quiet
• not ready to consider Winter Field Day and cold temps

Others

• KC3SCY, Luke:
  • hamfests
  • check out Kutztown Hamfest coming up
  • 1929 hardware
  • practicing with CW on vinyl
• W1RC, Mike:
  • hamfest in the rain is good for deals
  • Nearfest is coming up in MA
• W8CRW, CR:
  • Mullica Hill Hamfest
• WA3VEE, Ron:
  • acquired some rare Dimac gear, which preceded HP
  • clearing out more stuff.
  • breakfast coming up
• KC3RFG, Jim:
  • antenna maintenance
• KB3ZIM, Bob:
  • talked to W3GMS mobile a bit
• KB3ILS, Keith:
  • Mullica Hill Hamfest in the rain
  • planning for Winter Field Day
  • got some parts for the parts box
    • power supply boards with heatsinks
    • some air variable capacitors
• AB3AP, Mike:
  • looking forward to Winter Field Day
  • traveling with army spouse: Orlando, Hawaii
• KC3SQI, Wayne:
  • antenna mast work, but not much
• KC3OOK, Bill:
  • net control for Simplex Net on Saturday and Welfare Net on Sunday
  • got an HP spectrum analyzer from Ron
  • tower work coming up at Joe’s

Questions

• KB3ILS, Keith:
  • Comment: POTA is great practice for CW, and KD3EE sounds easier to send than KB3ILS.
  • How do you clean up and make variable capacitors turn easily?
  • WA3VEE, Ron:
    • there’s an electronics-friendly lube from the same people who make deoxit
    • oxidation may not have any effect on capacitance.
• KD3AIS, Tim:
  • He has a new vehicle with blanks in the dash. Can he add switches to the dash to switch on the radio? Should he use a relay instead of plain switch? What’s the difference?
  • KB3ZIM, Bob:
    • some equipment demands more current than a switch (and wiring to it) will allow, so then you need a relay.
    • avoid heating of the switch, too.
  • W8CRW, CR:
    • relay for higher-current hardware.
    • maybe avoid connecting the radio to the vehicle power considering warranty.
  • KC3OOK, Bill:
    • check with Harvey
• KC3SQI, Wayne:
  • consider using a dedicated battery to avoid noise from the car electrical system
    • also keeps it from draining the car battery
• KC3YSM, Steve:
  • second the idea of a small dedicated battery
• WA3VEE, Ron:
  • 4 radios in the van, and none of them are connected to vehicle power system.
• KC3NZT, Harvey:
  • a relay is popular, because the connections on the back of a switch are often too small to handle the current without heat.
  • use low current to control high current
  • low current to the switch also makes it safe to pick anything handy as a ground, so you only need to run one wire.
• KC3YSM, Steve:
  • Dabbling in HF, and feeling like he may no longer be getting out like he had been. How should he evaluate his antenna? He doesn’t have an antenna analyzer yet.
  • Can we do an antenna day at the field day site?
  • WA3VEE, Ron:
    • excellent idea.
    • remember it could be the bands.
      • check solar weather
    • come to the Thursday roundtable to discuss.
    • dxmaps, dxheat, dxsummit
    • hf propagation maps on google
    • watch SWR on the 991.
    • analyzers: rigexpert, mfj, bird, etc
  • KD3EE, John:
    • let’s play at the next breakfast.
    • watch for solar storms
    • check that colorful chart on QRZ

I have the new Pixel 10 Pro XL, so I needed to setup Winlink again. I purchased WOAD this time from Play store, and signed up for access to the beta. Previously, I had installed the downloaded APK. One can export sessions from old WOAD, but there’s no way to import it into my new phone.

I’m having trouble getting a node that reliably does Winlink. K3IR seems to fail to connect and complete the transaction. I could use the BBS nodes at KA3TKW and W3CRS. Just watching packets on 145.010 shows some advertisements of services on nodes: Winlink, BBS, and mail

Uploading to http://pota.app/ from a phone can be difficult sometimes, but I found a way to do it.

• Export from POLO to Google Drive
• In the mobile browser, zoom out just a little and turn the phone sideways to get pota.app to allow you to upload.
  • make the zoom adjustment in chrome.
  • alternatively, switch to desktop mode, but then you need to adjust back
• Download the ADI file from Google Drive to local Downloads folder, then upload to pota.app. If you don’t download it, you’ll see a network error in pota.app.

US-9719 Susquehanna Riverlands.

• 40m mostly, 10m, 2W, FT8
• 40m CW, 5W
• KD3EE is very nice for CW
• Gabil whip with sliding coil is great
• CA, MX, VA, NC, OH, etc
• I was seeing interference on the touchpad, so reintroduced the choke at the feed point, and that fixed it.
• I had removed the choke, thinking I could use the coax as another counterpoise.

My Week in Radio

• POTA over the weekend
  • in addition to digital, practiced some CW
  • enjoying new Gabil whip with sliding coil
    • got some other CW contacts from the camp site

Others

• N3CGA, Keith:
  • studying for extra
  • hiking around Pine Grove Furnace and Appalachian Trail
  • operating VHF repeaters
• WA3VEE, Ron:
  • installing radios in the new van
  • Mullica Hill Hamfest coming up
• NA3CW, Chuck:
  • usual 985 nets and PMAM net/pre-net
  • working at Joe’s on tower project
• KC3OOK, Bill:
  • working up the tower at Joe’s, aligning mechanical things
  • south control for Simplex Net
• KC3SQI, Wayne
  • working on his own tower
  • home-run coax cables are buried
  • moving 2M off the garage to get it to the tower.
• KD3APR, Paxton:
  • just broke 2 HTs by dropping
  • diagnosing some ribbon cables
  • learning about DMR
  • battery life is surprisingly good on these cheap HTs

Questions

• KC3SQI, Wayne:
  • Looking for an effective disconnect for some accessible powered fishing reels. He has anyone used barrel connectors for this application. It’s just a 3A motor. The 5525 plug is not waterproof.
  • NA3CW, Chuck:
    • should handle 3A, depending if it’s tight enough.
  • KC3NZT, Harvey:
    • assuming wire’s good gauge, it should be fine.
    • mismatches in the pin size could be a problem
    • they sometimes get weak.
    • GM-style blade connectors are common, waterproof, and cheap.
    • in marine, bullet connectors can be fine, but not waterproof. can be quick-release for safety.
  • KC3SQI, Wayne:
    • still early prototype, so this is good info.
• AF3Z, Jim:
  • He has an Astron linear VS-50M with an LM723 chip in it (regulator?), and an SCR and capacitors across output. When it’s been off for a while, upon powering on, the voltmeter needle will stay low then pop up. He uses an extra breaker/switch to turn on the radio after the voltage has stabilized. Initial load on the supply causes it to take very long to come up to ready. What’s its problem? https://www.ameradio.com/product/420223/description.html
  • WA3VEE, Ron:
    • sounds like a capacitor issue.
    • SCR can be there for over-voltage.
    • maybe a resistive connection on the capacitor itself?
    • make sure caps are connected well.
  • NA3CW, Chuck:
    • is it a soft-start mode that limits current?
    • seems like a problem, though.
  • AF3Z, Jim:
    • built-in ammeter barely registers anything
  • W3GMS, Joe:
    • separate supplies for 723 and the path transistors, since they want different voltages.
    • secondary winding on transformer vs “tertiary” windings.
    • it’s not a slow-start control.
    • SCR has current limit pins looking for 0.7V differential.
    • if you don’t see the right voltage, it’ll rob base current and cause output to go to 0V.
    • best to check it with a scope and float the ground during the test.
    • analog meter might be ok, but digital might have too latency.
    • look at CL and CS for voltage.
• KC3NZT, Harvey:
  • He has a receiver that shows a fault that the antenna is shorted to ground. It’s a bad module, but as a receiver, do receivers generally use discrete components, say in the matching network, that could fail?
  • KC3SQI, Wayne:
    • some will have a diode in the module to bleed off residual voltage from the antenna going through the wind
    • could use RC network to do the same thing
  • NA3CW, Chuck:
    • is the input of the receiver a built-in antenna or external?
    • it could have a bias voltage that it could monitor and know there’s a problem.
    • if there’s a coupling capacitor that’s failed, it may know that.
    • it could be monitoring and expecting a certain level of background noise
  • KC3NZT, Harvey:
    • it’s an external, passive antenna on 15ft of coax.

I went camping and operated there and in Michaux Forest, Pine Grove Furnace, and Caledonia. I ran the 40M EFHW in trees at the parks as a sloper and inverted-V for 40M, 10M, and 15M. I did FT8 and a little CW.

At the campground, I contacted NY and ME on CW on 40M in the morning using the Gabil slider coil and whip. I discoverd that the my older Gabil antenna with jumpers on the coil has different thread size for the whip, so not interchangeable.

General Meeting News

• Harrisburg Packet Node
  • W3ND
  • 145.010
  • 145.030
  • BBS available
  • vara-fm and winlink available soon
• K3IR active for PA QSO party at site
• picnic coming up in a month
• Red Rose Hamfest is Oct 4
• September meeting may be search and resucue
• at the training center October-March

Presentation: Winlink w/ Harry N3FMO

• winlink net
• saturn net: emergency services and salvation army
• initially, saturn was only during the day for retired people
• first weekend Harry ran the net on winlink, 20M, he got 70 check-ins.
• winlink is good for emcomm
• winlink is familiar as email
• lots of templates to use
• can use telnet if internet is available
• HF can be slow for a large volumes
• using telnet can keep RF available
• https://winlink.org/
• for Harry’s net, email: satemail
  • Noon Thursday - Noon Saturday
  • stations can be placed on the map with “mymaps”
  • name, city, state, country
• K3IR-10 connects to winlink RMS

My Weeks in Radio

• new callsign a couple weeks ago: KC3WWC -> KD3EE
  • spent a day updating callsign everywhere
    • websites
    • local software
    • radio gear
    • still finding updates to make today
• all POTA activations
  • travel and local
  • mostly FT8/FT4, but also some CW and SSB
  • new callsign proved quick to key and understood right away
  • tried small magnetic loop and EFHW
  • usually 2W
  • almost ruined one activation
    • sweat on the laptop touchpad caused it to be flake out may want to bring a backup mouse or be more careful

Others

• WA3VEE, Ron:
  • troubleshooting his AllStar node with Joe’s help
  • suspecting the network beyond the hotspot
  • diagnosing which tower he’s using with software on iphone
  • replacing his van
• NA3CW, Chuck:
  • congrats KD3EE on new callsign
  • AMPM pre-net
  • working on trailer project
• W3FES, Fred:
  • building small antennas for scanner listening
• W3QP, Tim:
  • back from a week in VA
  • SOTA
  • lots of bugs
  • encountered a mother bear and cubs on one summit. they left on their own accord
  • when near sugar grove (government)
    • he thought his radio was malfunctioning
• WA3KFT, John:
  • net control and participant on various 6m and 2m nets
• KB3ILS, Keith:
  • 30M CW contact to
    • ZL (New Zealand)
    • Netherlands
    • both QRP EF wire
  • wire in a tree
    • smooth CW on a bug to operator in west virginia
• KC3OOK, Bill:
  • hosted the roundtable last thursday
  • hosted welfare net on sunday
  • Joe’s tower tomorrow
• W3JAM, Jeff:
  • adding desks to “studio a”
  • 45-degree antenna mounts to work both horizontal and vertical
• KC3SQI, Wayne:
  • working on antenna mast

Questions

• KC3SQI, Wayne:
  • What’s the best plug to seal up a 3/8-inch hole on the wrong side of a weatherized box?
  • WA3KFT, John:
    • 2 flat plates and a bolt through the middle
    • plus some caulk
  • WA3VEE, Ron:
    • there may be a rubber gasket plug, but those may be too big.
      • hubble wideman for plugs
  • KC3NZT, Harvey:
    • bulkhead blanking plugs
  • W8CRW, CR:
    • epoxy and a backer
• KV3JGB, Matt:
  • For an antenna running into the tree and a feed line are on the ground, how can he run it to be out of the way, so he doesn’t need to move it to mow?
  • WA3VEE, Ron:
    • could it be buried?
    • could you run a “messenger wire” to keep it overhead to the tree?
  • W3QP, Tim:
    • ran a bit of conduit underground
  • KC3NZT, Harvey:
    • temporary becomes permanent
    • shallow bury when ground was soft
  • NA3CW, Chuck:
    • if you do bury it, rope in the conduit, and exposed can wick moisture out.
    • conduit is never wide enough after a while
  • KC3SQI, Wayne:
    • has buried line for 6 years now, no trouble.
    • existing feed line can be used to pull the next line.
  • KV3JGB, Matt:
    • thanks for the suggestion underground and in the air

I played a little FT8 at US-8834, State Game Land 136, with only 2W on my 40M EFHW in an inverted-V. I made 26 contacts, and looked for some CW, but barely heard anything.