My Week in Radio

• RTTY Round Up a week ago got me Oregon, the last state I needed for all 50 states for this current callsign
• Strung up the 80M EFHW, found a lower SWR with counterpoise removed.

Others

• W1RC, Mike:
  • looking for a 2M transverter for his Elecraft radio
  • getting Yaesu Fusion working to check-in to a net
    • doesn’t like the audio so much
• W8CRW, CR:
  • helping chuck and george at the field day site on thursday
• K3EMI, Randy:
  • putting up an OCF dipole on the roof in nice weather
  • coax is super-stiff
• KC3SCY, Luke:
  • setup the new riser for his desk
  • almost done building a power supply for a transmitter he built
  • some CW
  • excited for WFD
• K9CAN, Kris:
  • from Eugene OR
  • hosting a winter field day site on a mountain
  • working on a new antenna project
    • multiband
    • modular
    • 3d printing parts for it
    • doublet pieces
• NA3CW, Chuck:
  • Thursday work session at field day site
    • 9:30am-dark
    • got ropes and pulleys into trees
    • next up
      • launch the dipoles
      • service the beams
      • saturday
      • cold and dry
  • Joe’s tuner is coming alive
    • steppers working in one direction and chattering in the other
    • feedback POTs reading fine
• KC3OOK, Bill:
  • net control for Simplex Net and for Welfare Net
• W3KZG, Scott:
  • organizing shack
  • repairing and updating an old export 10M rig
  • preparing trailer for field day
• W3QP, Tim:
  • SOTA trips coming up in February
• AF3Z, Jim:
  • SKCC
    • scheduling operators
    • operated saturday and this afternoon
    • worked WA and CA
• KC3SQI, Wayne:
  • need to drop the new mast to fix 10M vertical dipole
  • TV pre-amp needs service too
• WA3VEE, Ron:
  • Welcome K9CAN, Kris.
  • Helped at Field Day site
    • watching George with the potato gun for shooting high lines into trees
    • Met a new ham, KD3CJH, Kiana.
    • worked 8 countries testing beams at FD site

Questions

• AF3Z, Jim:
  • For WFD, How do we expect winter weather to effect electronics and radio gear? Any likely failures?
  • KC3SQI, Wayne:
    • probably no worry here in PA.
    • in Rocky Mountains, CO, it did make a difference.
      • wire would kink but not unkink, breakage
  • NA3CW, Chuck:
    • crystals and oscillators will have a temperature coefficient
    • transistors won’t care
    • operators will be stiff
    • LCD screens will slow response, freeze and turn black
    • Li-ion batteries will degrade faster
    • starting generators can be difficult
  • W3KZG, Scott:
    • trailer runs solely on battery + solar
    • 300Ah 13V battery
    • Summer field day used 18% of the battery to run FTD-10 radio for 2 days
  • KD3EE, John:
    • batteries may need to be swapped to keep warm, like digital cameras
    • has seen LCD on radios stop updating in cold
  • W3QP, Tim:
    • some batteries, like LiFePO, don’t like to charge below freezing
  • AC2EG, Eric:
    • Commercial-rated (not industrial) laptops can have trouble below 25F. maybe won’t boot.
  • W8CRW, CR:
    • LiFePO with a good BMS will keep it from charging in damaging (too cold) conditions
  • AF3Z, Jim:
    • operating CW can be hard in the cold
• WA3VEE, Ron:
  • For those in HOA, what might be a successful, inside antenna? Maybe not in the attic?
  • AF3Z, Jim:
    • Do you really need to be horizontally polarized?
      • 10M dipole isn’t huge.
      • mobile ground plane verticals
  • WA3VEE, Ron:
    • horizontal will be best, but either way, I guess
    • wires taped to the ceiling?
  • AF3Z, Jim:
    • magnetic loops?
    • 16 feet for a dipole?
  • W3KZG, Scott:
    • 11M dipole hanging in a tree, 6ft from the ground: similar to hanging it from the ceiling.
      • split right off the coax, speaker wire
    • just try it
    • try a magmount vertical
    • try it on a balcony
    • near a window: magnetic loop
  • KC3SQI, Wayne:
    • use 11M whip antennas, and trim it
    • wire across the wall
    • work from the balcony
    • drop a piece of wire from a higher floor
    • outside will avoid inside RFI
    • inside can mess with other electronics :)
  • W3KZG, Scott:
    • may have an 11M whip to donate
  • W3QNZ, Joe:
    • recycled a pota antenna made of scrap wire and a cobra head
    • moved it into the attic
  • KD3EE, John:
    • may have a loop antenna to lend
    • run wires down the hallway or the loft
    • use lower power, digital modes, CW, weak signal for results

I updated rpt.conf on my node to enable the 813 DTMF code for making permanent link. The permanent link will try to re-establish itself after a disconnect.

It doesn’t re-establish upon reboot, so a macro is still needed on startup. I updated the existing startup macro to *81353085 after *77 (report).

My Week in Radio

• 80M EFHW today for better receive to place 21.6M-long EFRW
  • realized it may be better listening as it’s resonant
  • Random wire may be “noisy”, because tuned other than what I want to hear
• worked some contests:
  • PSK Fest: 15 contacts
  • RTTY Roundup: 70 contacts

Others

• W8CRW, CR:
  • 985 nets
  • Bill’s for antenna building + computer fest
• AA3LH, Leon:
  • playing with 1:1 baluns on G5RV
  • seeing different antenna performance through the week
  • quicksilver balun is doing really well
• WA3VEE, Ron:
  • happy new year
  • field day work this week
    • wednesday meeting
    • thursday building
  • RPi 3B+ for an allstar node
  • 2 VE sessions:
    • Passed a local student for tech license: Kiana
    • Passed 8 more on Saturday
  • If you’re an extra, see about being a VE.
• KC3SCY, Luke:
  • building a 1929 transmitter and power supply on contract: basically done.
  • 75M AM recently
  • At Joe’s for winter break to build a desk riser, etc.
• KC3RFG, Jim:
  • built a clear, stackable case with a a fan for his ham clock.
• NA3CW, Chuck
  • final testing of Joe’s tuner project
    • building a wooden test stand for maintenance of the tuner
• W3KZG, Scott:
  • checked out field day site
• KC3MAI, Joe:
  • visited Bill’s for dipole build
• KD3AIS, Tim:
  • visited Bill’s for dipole build
• W3MFB, Mike:
  • 80M DX nets and contacts
  • using remote web-SDRs to see how far away he here’s his net contacts: many states away, maybe even Europe
• KC3NZT, Harvey:
  • played with computers at Bill’s
• KB3ILS, Keith:
  • WFD chairman
  • Winter Field Day
    • Jan 24-25
    • active planning, building, testing
    • 14 people at Bill’s
    • master class in soldering dipoles
    • Thursday will be installing antennas
  • Working straight key night, including AF3Z, Jim.
• WA3KFT, John:
  • stranded wire is nice, but solder joints of stranded can make a weak point
  • preferring copper-clad steel wire far antennas.
  • has stayed up for 20 years before needing replacement

Questions

• KD3EE, John: I want a 2-meter antenna to build that’s simple, sturdy, and I can pull up into a tree. I have the 1/4-wave ground plane and a slim jim already. Flowerpot antenna looks cool. Suggestions?
  • WA3KFT, John:
    • j-pole of copper pipe: tee, elbow, pipe
      • plans everywhere
      • sweat solder some joints
  • WA3VEE, Ron:
    • X50 that already has the ground plane radials
  • W3MFB, Mike:
    • use a bit of conduit as a counterweight
    • pull a 25-foot antenna up into a tree above the mount point on that conduit.
  • KC3NZT, Harvey:
    • see W6NBC’s website for home-made antennas
      • including slot design made of aluminum foil tape and pvc
      • delta loop for a bit of directional gain
  • KC3RFG, Jim:
    • second the j-pole: rugged
    • pipe is thick for better bandwidth
  • KD3EE, John:
    • Mike: i love the idea of hoisting above the mount point
    • Harvey: I have all those pieces here: i can have something by day break!
• KD3AIS, Tim:
  • Why can it be heard on the digital side?
  • W3DIB, Greg:
    • Yes, you are hearing the intermod on digital.
    • echolink/allstar is external to the repeater, not integrated, so that radio is hearing the intermod.
  • W3GMS, Joe:
    • You should not hear intermod for digital people.
    • 146.385 receive audio is sent to a simplex link, which is sent to Joe’s house, then into Allstar node to the internet.
    • People connecting via digital, goes to node at Joe’s, processed, then sent up the simplex link to the repeater.
    • People connecting through digital shouldn’t exhibit intermod.
  • NA3CW, Chuck:
    • Those people you thought were digital, may have been analog.
  • W3DIB, Greg:
    • technically, if a digital person is listening to another digital person, it’s just a VOIP call, no RF really needed.
• W3MFB, Mike:
  • What’s the history of an HF radio that’s been “MARS-modded”, and what’s its purpose?
  • WA3KFT, John:
    • MARS frequencies are near, but outside the HAM bands
    • In some radios, like IC-706, you remove a diode to allow it to transmit anywhere.
    • Make a ham radio able to transmit on any frequency.
  • WA3VEE, Ron:
    • MARS = Military Auxiliary Radio System
  • W3GMS, Joe:
    • commercial radios sold are not allowed to transmit outside amateur band for “type acceptance”
  • NA3CW, Chuck:
    • big manufacturers sell lots more gear beyond ham operators.
    • those radios can be used by other people
    • keep the average “appliance operator” from wandering out of band.
  • W3MFB, Mike:
    • Understand the motivation to make it difficult. It’s illegal to work outside band on a radio not type-accepted in those bands.
• KC3NZT, Harvey:
  • How do existing filters work when out of band?
  • NA3CW, Chuck:
    • Yes, they still pass through existing filters, so maybe not very clean.

My Week in Radio

• muted the APRS channel on my UV-PRO, so I don’t need to hear that squawking away
  • there is an option to mute digital, but it only works when it recognizes it’s digital
• been testing a doublet built from:
  • a split speaker wire,
  • 44ft end to end
  • a 4:1 balun
  • choke balun
  • 30 FT8 contacts on 20M at 1W for a park activation
• 80M EFHW today for better receive to place 21.6M-long EFRW
• worked contests:
  • PSK Fest: 15 contacts
  • RTTY Roundup: 70 contacts
• gave one of Tom’s cool little ATS radios to a friend’s kid, get him bitten by the bug

Others

• K3EA, Greg:
  • special event station
  • this past weekend:
    • rtty contest
    • psk31 contest
  • NA QSO party, CW next weekend
• WB3LNY, George:
  • working on some 12V power supplies
• VE3HOH, Pete:
  • ordered some radios
  • great tuner
• KA3TKW, Tom:
  • RS-40 pass at 8:40 tonight
  • 437.625
  • no special equipment needed
  • trivia net on wednesday
  • Saturday Hamfest in Harrisburg, W3UU
  • new commercial satellite:
    • AST bluebird 6
  • mod firmware for ATS v4 radio
    • waterfall
    • s17432
    • decodes CW and RTTY
  • DigiRig Mobile: $49
    • audio
    • PTT (no need for VOX), so better than just a USB sound card
    • connect lots of radios
  • lots of SSTV
  • ordered a UHF Moxon SSTV antennas
    • big in RC airplane world
    • range video LLC
• K3DMM, Denny:
  • not much luck with SSTV yet
• KC3VZU, Bob:
  • not getting to the ham fest
  • working on full-band radio in truck, replaced the mic
• W3MW, Don:
  • finishing wiring of antennas
  • getting shack back in order
• KC3ZBI, Ron:
  • doing paperwork to do a ham radio program for a local school
• KC3EWN, Curly:
  • new Arrow antenna
  • Icom W-32A, full-duplex, 5W
  • ready for satellite
• K3EA, Greg:
  • DigiRigs have wiring for old rigs
• VE3HOH, Pete:
  • watch 401MHZ and 401.025 for occasional satellites

My Week in Radio

• gifted a tiny HF radio receiver to a friend’s kid
  • whip, loop, + wire antenna I added.
  • listening is how I ended up licensed.

Others

• K3KB, Alan:
  • cleaning out old gear to maybe move
    • RC airplanes
    • test gear
    • kits
    • very old HTs
    • will bring to next breakfast
• NA3CW, Chuck:
  • working on Joe’s tuner: about to power up
• AF3Z, Jim:
  • 10M CW sked
  • very few signals otherwise
  • heard a solid CQ
    • on at 8000ft mountain in mexico
    • heard JM7OLW (Japan), and got it finally
    • 6pm on 10M
• KC3OOK, Bill:
  • ham shack is about finished
• KC3NZT, Harvey:
  • got a new wire up in the air
  • all bands were open for testing: 6M-40M
• KV3JGB, Matt:
  • working some HF
  • new CWOps academy class
• KD3AIS, Tim:
  • listening to HF while doing other work
• WA3KFT, John:
  • 28435khz 1pm-2pm retired net
    • contacted OK, TX

Questions

• K3OU, Manny:
  • building his shack from zero, looking at 2 transceivers:
    • Yaesu FT-DX10 (hybrid SDR)
    • ICOM 7300 Mk2 (SDR)
  • which performs best?
  • WA3KFT, John:
    • using 7300 for 5 years
    • lots of features he’s not used
    • has an ATU
    • uses an amplifier with it sometimes
    • likes it
  • K3KB, Alan:
    • had an IC-7300 for a while
    • doesn’t use the ATU, uses external instead
    • what do you mean by performance?
  • K3OU, Alan:
    • reception performance:
      • receiving weak signals
      • rejecting side signals
  • KC3NZT, Harvey:
    • both rigs are top-tier
    • IC-7300 is intuitive to Harvey, so never read the manual
    • play with both UIs to see what you like
    • ease of use may be more important than performance
    • HRO has them available for demo
  • KA3GLI, David:
    • download each manual and spec sheet for comparisons
  • WA8CRW, CR:
    • FTDX10 has better specs
  • NA3CW, Chuck:
    • Radios sound differently, so you want to hear it connected to an antenna
    • IC-710 sounded nice at field day to Chuck
    • Kenwoods sound nice to Chuck
    • some may be better for DX or general use
  • KC3OOK, Bill:
    • Will any of those be at WFD?
    • Be careful reading only specs, some specs can be misleading
  • WA3VEE, Ron:
    • looked at output of 7300. sending smugmug link
    • Ron has both radios and will bring them to WFD.
    • there should be more there
    • FTDX10 has an external display port
      • IC-7300 didn’t have it
      • IC-7300 Mk 2 may have it
    • FTDX10 has a wider spectrum display
    • IC-7300 is a well-featured “starter” rig
      • FTDX10 has more features
    • look up sherwood engineering for comparisons
  • W3GMS, Joe:
    • settling on a rig’s UI is a lot like picking a car.
      • drive it before buying it
    • .1uV difference will not be perceivable: it’s in the noise
    • all rigs are pretty good
    • visit someone and test drive their rigs
    • IC-7300 seems like great bang for the buck
    • don’t get hung up on specs
    • roofing filters are a great feature when operating multiple rigs
    • kenwoods have great audio
  • WA3KFT, John:
    • 5 years
    • spectrum scope is the #1 reason to buy it: expandable to analyze a signal
  • K3OU, Alan:
    • thanks for all the advice, especially test driving at field day
    • hasn’t been on an HF rig since 80s
  • KC3NZT, Harvey:
    • use different audio presets between rag chewing and contesting
  • K3OU, Alan:
    • not going to contest, just chat
• KD3AIS, Tim:
  • Looking at band plan, why and how do people use the really high microwave frequencies
  • W3MFB, Mike:
    • people will use a 10M radio to drive a transverter and parabolic antenna
    • higher frequencies may be useful for satellite
  • WA3VEE, Ron:
    • has seen 5GHz and 10GHz operations
    • very line-of-sight, maybe from summits
  • KC3OOK, Bill:
    • IC-905 does those bands
  • KC3NZT, Harvey:
    • for experimentation
    • there are local people active on 1.2GHz
    • much smaller antennas and dishes
• KD3EMS, Chris:
  • What would be more secure for the church than using FRS? DMR?
  • KC3NZT, Harvey:
    • look into MURS, it’ll at least not be as common
    • it may allow base stations
  • KD3EE, John:
    • you may want to contact a commercial radio dealer to get setup on a licensed business frequency
  • WA3VEE, Ron:
    • DMR would be more complicated to setup
  • W3GMS, Joe:
    • contact Metropolitan Communication for commercial setup and coordination
  • KD3EMS, Chris:
    • Triangle Communications in New Holland is nearby

My Week in Radio

• I discovered UV-Pro can mute a channel, which I applied to my APRS channel.
  • had gotten distracted by a feature to “mute digital signals”, but that doesn’t work very well: taking a while to recognize and mute
• took the speaker-wire doublet out for another test:
  • POTA after 985 breakfast
  • inverted-v
  • with a 4:1 balun + 1:1 current choke
    • tuned easily
    • no USB disconnects
  • 30 contacts with 1W FT8.
• I’m having a terrible time terminating RG174 + SMA: shorts

Others

• WA3VEE, Ron:
  • WFD is last full weekend of January: W3R
  • checked 40M dipole at the field day site: contacted Indiana
  • January 3, there’s a testing session in northern delaware
• KC3RFG, Jim:
  • PI-4 running ham clock died, lost SD card
• AA3LH, Leon:
  • introduced a choke balun to his G5RV
• WA3KFT, John:
  • 10M open: Oklahoma and Texas
• AF3Z, Jim:
  • Pentec Trident 4 drifts as it warms up
• W3KZG, Scott:
  • delivered a tower to Bill
• KC3NZT, Harvey:
  • long wire came down, so building some new mono-filament linkages, for strain relief. those break instead of ripping stuff off the house.
• KC3OOK, Bill:
  • simplex net, got to plymouth meeting
• KV3JGB, Matt:
  • looking forward to WFD
  • starting CWOps fundamentals course

Questions

• W8CRW, CR:
  • Does anyone make a universal repeater for bluetooth to be able to use it 100 feet away? Specifically for battery data.
  • KV3JGB, Matt:
    • most extenders are for audio
  • KC3NZT, Harvey:
    • could instrument the battery to get and publish your own statistics
• AA3LH, Leon:
  • Would a 1:1 current choke benefit a vertical ham stick?
  • KD3EE, John:
    • may help. I use it to keep RFI out of the radio and the computer.
    • for verticals, I’ll often add that choke and radials.
  • NA3CW, Chuck:
    • like chicken soup, it may help, but it won’t hurt.
• AF3Z, Jim:
  • His Pentec Triton 4 drifts up and down as it warms. What causes a radio to drift?
  • WA3VEE, Ron:
    • could be a leaky capacitor
    • heat related some way
    • odd that it drifts both ways
  • NA3CW, Chuck:
    • test the tester, read-out
    • check with an online radio
  • WA3VEE, Ron:
    • google says it drifts
  • KC3NZT, Harvey:
    • eHam forum people say ignore the read-out and see what the receiving side is seeing.

I found an old training video about AM vs FM. It explain grid voltage in tubes along the way.

I found I can mute the dedicated APRS channel on my Btech UV-Pro to never make a sound, so I can listen to the 2 dual-watch channels without needing to hear digital squawks.

The UV-Pro already had a feature to mute what it recognizes as digital signals, but that always takes a moment to activate it. I don’t know how that’s useful at all.

The RT-880G has this feature, and it got me thinking and reading manuals.

I activated US-8751, State Game Land 52. I deployed the speaker-wire doublet again in an inverted-V to operate 1W on 20M. It ran NW-SE, and I used the 4:1 and a 1:1 current balun on the coax. It tuned well in 20m, and caused no USB disconnects! My 1W FT8 signal was heard in France and Spain.

The Evolve 3 keyboard had some dead keys: w t. It doesn’t seem I can fix that, so it may need to be replaced.

My Week in Radio

• playing with my speaker wire doublet portable
  • extended to 44ft end to end
  • 10M and 40M tuned with some work
  • 20M tuned easily, but killed the radio’s USB connection with every TX
  • adding a current balun for next test
• CQ WW CW 2025
  • 20 contacts on CW
  • estimated maybe 200 points
  • heard Hawaii on 40M
• participated in Simplex Net, and got a strong signal to west control

Others

• W1RC, Mike:
  • sorted stuff in the garage decide its fate
• W3MFB, Mike:
  • hosted the roundtable last week and this week
  • heard all the controls of simplex net
  • 10M HF work mobile
• WA3VEE, Ron:
  • visited Bar Harbor area: Elsworth and Bar Harbor repeaters
• K3FF, Rene:
  • installed capacitor board into Clipperton:
    • full voltage and working!
    • 700-800W out: needs some new tubes
  • ATU-1000 kit
    • follow picture to assemble
• KB3MNA, Chris:
  • setting up home station
  • studying for General
• W3QP, Tim:
  • activated all the summits in iowa: 2 of them
  • South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin
  • Friday is Pottstown Club meeting: why you should be chasing SOTA
• KD3BPI, Simon:
  • shopping HF rigs on FB marketplace
  • studying for general
• NA3CW, Chuck:
  • PMAM Net: 16 checkins
    • good conditions
    • lots of DX 100 heathkits sounding good
• KC3OOK, Bill:
  • central control for simplex net
• W3KZG, Scott:
  • replaced truck radio with IC-7100
  • made a few HF contacts
• WA3KFT, John:
  • Antique Wireless 40M Net saw lots of New England
  • 10M is open
• KD3AIS, Tim:
  • 30-inch antenna on magmount didn’t work out on truck
  • playing with meshtastic: T-Beam supreme
• KV3JGB, Matt:
  • studying CWOps to refresh

Questions

• W8CRW, CR: Made a homebrew antenna for Simplex Net. How would one figure out the max power for a homebrew antenna?
  • NA3CW, Chuck:
    • “it depends”
    • size of conductor
    • contacts
    • insulation (voltage)
    • cores
    • cables
    • durability of all the components
    • a dipole and wire line with good insulators can take multiple kW
    • transformers and coils introduce weak points
  • W3KZG, Scott:
    • matching circuit of a commercial antenna introduces limitations
    • in simple dipole, the feed line may be the only limit
    • run some power and see if anything is getting hot
  • WA3VEE, Ron:
    • components and size of wire
    • capacitors have ratings
    • figure out the voltage on the antenna: it’s in the study manual
  • WA3KFT, John:
    • on a simple dipole, the feed point is low-voltage, but the ends are very high, so that’s where you need the insulation
  • W3MFB, Mike:
    • can cut insulators from PTFE scraps.
  • NA3CW, Chuck:
    • at very high power, the sharp ends will form corona discharges.
      • round ends or put balls on it
      • not a problem for our power
    • a shortwave station in the Andes years ago would burn off the ends of the antennas, so they went to egg-beater ends.
  • W8CRW, CR:
    • it’s actually a simple quarter-wave ground-plane
    • good to know 100W will be nothing for it
• AF3Z, Jim:
  • Hasn’t put specific insulator on his dipole, just tied to some paracord. Does a real insulator make a difference?
  • WA3KFT, John:
    • on a 40M or 80M dipole, the end will be high voltage.
    • nylon cord is probably fine at 100W.
    • if it absorbs and holds water, it can extend and detune the antenna.
    • insulators shed water
  • NA3CW, Chuck:
    • wet rope will drain energy and effect efficiency
    • 100W won’t matter much
    • some are a foot-long and heavy porcelain, etc
  • WA3VEE, Ron:
    • ice on the cord with no insulator will detune the antenna
• W3MFB, Mike:
  • can you co-phase 20M or 40M vertical antennas? is it then directional?
  • WA3VEE, Ron:
    • directional AM broadcast antennas are co-phased.
    • yes it can be done for ham frequencies
  • KA3KFT, John:
    • worked at an AM station
    • 3 towers tuned and phased for a 4-leaf pattern
    • between 1/4 and 1/2 wave apart
    • varying current would allow steering of the signal
    • at the base of each tower, there was a tuning network.
    • largest node pointed toward the licensed city.
    • null pointed toward a city with a conflicting station.
  • WA3VEE, Ron:
    • envision throwing rocks nearly at the same time into a pond and how the waves interact
  • KD3EE, John:
    • check out Coastal Waves and Wires for recent examples of vertical yagis and vertical phased arrays.
  • WA3VEE, Ron:
    • directional “protection” has been done for a long time
    • pay attention to the lengths and velocity factors of the coax
  • KC3SQI, Wayne:
    • besides AM steering, check out the WVUD FM transmitter at University of Delaware.
    • had to go to phased array to protect another station when they jumped to 5kW
  • W3GMS, Joe:
    • in large AM stations:
      • phaser is the equipment that changes phase for steering
      • “dog house” is the tuner the bottom of each tower
    • phasing for our-sized project is done by varying the length of coax