985 Workbench: 2026-02-16

 Posted on 2026-02-16

My Week in Radio

  • CQ WW RTTY contest
    • 70 contacts in one afternoon
    • a little antenna maintenance in the middle
  • using pulleys in the tree for cleaner rope work in trees, learned from field day setup

Others

  • WA3VEE, Ron:
    • worked with Drexel club to get them back on the air next month
      • lapsed license
    • all the antennas off the garage to fit in parking garages
    • offering a tech class licensing course
    • offering tech class and VE session for Drexel as well
    • developing a General course
  • K3KB, Alan:
    • planning a move and getting rid of some things
      • not a builder/experimenter anymore
      • may bring some things to the breakfast
    • new retirement community location will have limitations
    • was a pretty active home brewer
  • KC3YSM, Steve:
    • 40M is hopping
  • AF3Z, Jim:
    • SKCC event this past weekend
      • used PennTech TR45L, QRP CW
      • 40M, 80M, 20M
  • W3KZG, Scott:
    • sorting and selling some radio gear
    • doing repairs again
    • printing some power-pole mounts to retrofit radios
  • KC3OOK, Bill:
    • Nets
    • 985 has been active
    • Thanks Chuck for teaching PL-259 plugs.
      • some factory connections were loose
  • KA3GLI, David:
    • bought the ARRL Grounding and Bonding Book
    • also got an 80M extension for his EFHW
    • picked up a heat gun for building teh efhw
    • purchased a replacement fan for another VHF/UHF rig
  • NA3CW, Chuck:
    • never had good luck with factory-installed connectors
    • always does his own
    • PMAM net
    • testing Joe’s tuner at 1KW.
  • KC3RFG, Jim:
    • check in on ECARS mobile
  • WA3KFT, John:
    • fighting coax, intermittent connections
    • maybe a broken coax switch
    • “Waters” manufacturer is long gone
    • need to find a worthy replacement
  • KC3SQI, Wayne:
    • need to reassemble 10M antenna when the weather improves
  • W3GMS, Joe:
    • Dylan is working on new broadcastify connection
      • it’s currently just humming and not working yet

Questions

  • K3KB, Alan:
    • Looking for recommendations for a single wire antenna for an HOA. He may be able to stretch a wire to another building about 80ft away.
    • KC3SQI, Wayne:
      • look at EFRW with a tuner
      • could do an inverted-L
    • AF3Z, Jim:
      • Random is not really random.
      • avoid resonant to be able to multiband.
    • KC3NZT, Harvey:
      • likes resonant EFHW
      • has a 78-ft that may fit
      • hit the tuner for the other bands
      • radiates from the center, so the height of the ends doesn’t matter so much.
    • KD3EE, John:
      • lots of fun to be had as a builder/experimenter
      • 80M EFHW is 133ft, 40M EFHW will be 66ft.
      • 73ft is a EFRW.
    • K3KB, Alan:
      • don’t give me too much credit as a builder
      • lots of it has faded away
  • NA3CW, Chuck:
    • Listening to CW on 40M late at night, there are 3 stations sending really fast, messy, swinging bug CW. It’s hard to copy. Does anyone know much about it?
    • W3DIB, Greg:
      • encryption by syncopation
    • AF3Z, Jim:
      • may have heard it
      • can’t copy it either
      • sloppy encryption?
    • K3KB, Alan:
      • brother used to listen to a station broadcasting scripture to go to sleep
      • is this broadcast or amateur communication?
    • NA3CW, Chuck:
      • has heard of “great lake swing”, but that is still copyable
  • K3EMI, Randy:
    • Bringing up a big power supply with a variac, the power supply has a meter on it that sticks in the winter probably due to static charge. touching it with a wet finger to discharge it releases it.
    • WA3KFT, John:
      • put a wire mesh over the front of the meter and ground it, hardware cloth with 1/4-inch squares.
    • NA3CW, Chuck:
      • seen it lots of times over the years.
      • wipe it with a dryer sheet
    • WA3KFT, Ron:
      • has a vis-meter that does it as well
      • tribo-electric effect in polystyrene
      • rubber band a grounding strap mesh to part of the face
    • KC3RFG, Jim:
      • laying a wet paper towel on LCD helps those displays when they’re stuck in cold winter
    • KC3SQI, Wayne:
      • mix water and soap to spray on it
    • W3KZG, Scott:
      • staticide spray
      • static guard (tm)
    • NA3CW, Chuck:
      • anything you try, be careful of solvents in a spray
      • test it in as spot
    • K3EMI, Randy:
      • thinking of staticide from digikey
      • likes the idea of wetting a dryer sheet
      • new problem in this house and shack
985  workbench  net  w3gms 

See also