Tech on John Flinchbaugh KD3EE

21 Tech Net: 2025-11-16

Sun, 16 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

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

setup

feed line to radio

dipole split

pskreporter

21 Tech Net: 2025-10-26

Sun, 26 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

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

21 Tech Net: 2025-02-23

Sun, 23 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

My Week in Radio

I like radios with open software
- F4HWN 4.0 alternate firmware released for Quansheng
  - includes fixes for the spectrum analyzer that I contributed
- R1CBU 0.29.2 just released for Xiegu X6100
  - includes fixes for bugs I found and submitted
I tried some APRS to the ISS from the Btech UV-PRO
Did a little RTTY for NAQP
Contacted N4T DXpedition on 20M yesterday
- My CW was pretty rough
- I could hear them with the EFHW for 40M in a park,
  - but not the upgraded 107ft EFRW at home
  - probably orientation

Others

K3EA, Greg:
- contests, space weather, DX
WB3LNY, George:
- debugging power problems: tighten your lugs in your panel
- “Pale Blue” is a company in Utah making rechargeable Li-Ion batteries with USB charging port.
VE3HOH, Pete:
- designing an NVIS for 40m, fan dipole
- maybe also a 10m vertical in it.
- nice presentation from KA3TKW, Tom, on working satellites
KA3TKW, Tom:
- new FM bird: Hades R, SO-124, no telemetry yet.
- ISS repeater and upcoming passes
- AO-123 is new, FM repeater: 435.400 FM.
- Ham Lunch this Thursday, noon.
  - presentation: Beginners Guide to FM Satellites
KK4KKW, Steve:
- some HF, but repeater started dropping
W3MW, Don:
- trying to purchase a spectrum analyzer, but UPS isn’t delivering it.
- starting up attic/roof work for antennas.
- testing 10GHz setup soon
KC3ZBI, Ron:
- working on antennas for some upcoming contests

21 Tech Net: 2025-01-05

Sun, 05 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

My Week in Radio

My favorite way to learn things: experiments
- diagnose and repair a bad coax cable
  - no continuity on center conductor
  - plugged it into the nano vna, switched to smith chart
    - saw a big spiral around the outside
    - no change in the graph on the other side
    - compared to a working cable
    - it should have spiraled
    - maybe alonger spiral for a longer cable
- 71 foot random wire with 5W is not needing the tuner
  - disconnected lots of different places and checked lots of SWR without those connections
Tossed a wire into a tree at Swatara State Park today for some POTA contacts
Operated the last 2 hours of the RTTY contest on 10m, 15m, and 20m.

21 Tech Net: 2024-12-08

Sun, 08 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

My Week in Radio

Contesting

I finished the FT Challenge. There was no special exchange this year. We could use other defined subbands in addition to the regular frequencies to alleviate crowding. We could work anyone, even if they’re not participating explicitly.

I operated QRP, so it was nice to find the quieter subbands and more FT4 activity. You earned multipliers for each 3000km, so I don’t really know on my score yet.

I found wsjtx-improved on the Debian Linux repository, so used that. I saw the color improvements, the better location labels with states, and it had filters.

AllStar

I learning some obvious things about AllStar: it can’t hear my DTMF if it’s currently transmitting, since it’s simplex, so it’s hard to control on a busy net.

Yagi in the Wind

Finally, I watched my home-built yagi flapping around on that windy day. I guess I can stop worrying about it, since it held up fine.

21 Tech Net: 2024-11-24

Sun, 24 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

My Weeks in Radio

QRP on a couple hawaiian islands
not much 2m activity
- added some repeaters and scanned
POTA
- Xiegu x6100 mostly turned up to 8W
- mostly 10m-30m and everything in between
- challenging to be on an island where you have to go thousands of miles or you reach no one.
- antennas:
  - 40M EFHW where I had room,
  - 41ft long EFRW with less room
  - vertical whip and coil attached to a fishing pole for a less conspicuous setup on some beaches
- 6 parks and 2 trails on 2 islands:
  - sandy beaches
  - rocky lava fields
  - inside diamondhead caldera
  - atop steaming kilauea
- reached:
  - west: Australia, New zealand, Fiji, Japan, Russia, China, South Cook Islands, Samoa
  - east: North Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, Dominican Republic, Argentina
- practiced some CW on the beach when I didn’t get out the computer
back to a home park yesterday, but the weather was not as nice.
took down my home-made 2m antennas and straightened them up.
trying F4HWN 3.7 firmware for Quansheng radios
- from a scanner-centered AUBSUK firmware that was skipping some channels
looking forward to that FT Challenge contest

Other News

contests
- CQ WW CW this weekend
- no contests for the Thanksgiving weekend
- following weekend
  - 160m CW arrl contest
  - FT challenge contest
KA3TKW: R&L electronics: TYT MD-9600, GD-77 open firmware
digipeat through the ISS
high pass of ISS tonight at 9:10pm.
224.220 repeater is up and running, but not linked yet.
KC3NNO: mini dxpedition to canada

21 Tech Net: 2024-10-20

Sun, 20 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000

My Week in Radio

I received a couple images from ISS, but it ended quicker than I realized.
JARTS RTTY contest coming this weekend
I did a little CW for POTA.
Trying to reach a little further over a hill and to the East
- building a yagi on a flag pole from a calculator using ARRL spacing
- 50W TYT radio
This Week in Ham Radio Podcast Ham Radio History:
- 1916, amateurs exploring propagation
- 1917 first, faster trans-continental relays with ARRL

Others

K3EA
- Upcoming ARRL Sweepstakes for CW
- Munsters had a Ham Radio episode
KA3TKW
- W3UU Harrisburg Ham Fest this Saturday
- ARRIS mission on 24 Oct, 11:15AM, 145.800MHz
- Tri-repeater is up: 224.210 PL 123.0, 449.925, 53.21
KK4KKW
- Sudden SWR reading on 40M antenna

21 Tech Net: 2024-08-25

Sun, 25 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

My Week in Radio

I Wish I had paid attention to the contest calendar for WW digital contest.
I’m awaiting a confirmation on QRZ for my last of 50 states: Hawaii.
Lots of new open updates for the Xiegu X6100.
Started compiling firmware for Quansheng.
Playing with a couple heltec v3 meshtastic nodes
- marveling at the range, better than APRS?
I did my first POTA activation by only voice, no digital.
- lots of qso parties
- heard Hawaii really easily
- Wasted someone’s time trying CW

21 Tech Net - 2024-04-07

Sun, 07 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

My Week in Amateur Radio

Overload on UV-K5 with better antennas
- UV-K5 & UV-K6 for comparison - not broken
- Balance antenna location good enough but not too good
- FM bandstop filter helps a whole lot
Modifying params database on Xiegu X6100
- Now shows me accurate bands and privileges, so I won’t accidentally wander beyond my privileges.
Picked up an Evolve 3 laptop that runs on 12v
- Linux is being challenging: wifi and sound.
Packing camera and radio gear or eclipse trip tomorrow

21 Tech Net - 2024-03-24

Sun, 24 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000

I think I was having antenna trouble, so I couldn’t check in. I only listened.

KA3TKW has digipeaters
- 145.010 FM digipeater
- 28.105 USB digipeater
- packet radio is free
FM satellites that are easy to use
- ISS
  - packet digipeater
  - voice
  - 10:35pm good pass
- SO-50
Look into digi-pi

21 Tech Net - 2024-03-17

Sun, 17 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This Week in Ham Radio

Tried a couple RTTY sprints
- tough to get configured in 30 minutes
- had to fix up logs
BARTG (British Amateur) RTTY Contest
- I’m getting more advanced on my fldigi setup
- 27 contacts
- 5W to qualify QRP class
The Quansheng charging on its base causes a mess of interference for 40m on my X6100
I chatted with Tom (KA3TKW) the other day and added a few satellites to scan on my Quansheng for random repeater traffic
egzumer firmware scans very fast
I’m looking forward to some POTA now that weather’s getting better.
I’ve been using the same antenna for too long.