The Luxembourg Dipole

// September 1st, 2011 // No Comments » // Amateur Radio, Antennas, QRP, QSOs

Several months ago I bought a used (though in fantastic condition) Yaesu FT-817ND. My previous experience with HF was only with a borrowed Kenwood TS-50 that at its lowest setting, put out 10 watts. Restrictions at the QTH meant that I could only use an indoor antenna and rarely have the peace to use anything but BPSK-31.

The antenna of was the simplest design and construction: a 17 foot piece of 18 AWG stranded copper (pilfered from an SWL antenna) twisted to the center of some RG-58, configured as an inverted-L and with a short counter-poise. Combined with an old Ten-Tec tuner, I was able to reach The Azores on only 20 watts. The setup served me well enough to build up the log book, all without a drop of soldier. (I’m not sure if it’s coincidence or not, but even the PSK interface was on a breadboard next to the rig.)

Fast forward to present time; I’ve decided to go all QRP and my new QTH offers a big tree and a good sized yard.

For some time now I’ve wanted to build a simple 20-meter dipole and string it up into the tree. The only thing between me and an inverted-V was some low hanging branches in the tree out back, and initiative. Several weeks ago the branches were cut down so it was just a matter of getting off my butt and making the antenna.

Having toyed with the idea of using some more of the 18 AWG wire (though this was insulated), I finally decided to chop up some 14 AWG solid copper wire. Now in the perfect world, I’d have ‘done it right’, but I was impatient and wanted to get on the air before Europe went to bed.

My materials were: One center insulator, 2 banana connectors, 2 16-foot lengths of wire, and a length of RG-8. It was a simple matter to connect up and the banana connectors to the wire and put a string over a tall branch. I wound up with an inverted-V dipole with the center about 20 feet up and each leg ending about 8 feet up. This setup also allowed me to get the radiators above the cable and telephone lines going directly through the middle of my yard.

The 817 had finished charging earlier in the day (I have the stock battery with it) and was ready to help electrify the ether. I sat down in a chair directly beneath the feed point (the RG-8 length I had was just long enough to get near the ground) and set up the station.

This was the first time I was going to use the 817 on only its battery using sideband phone. I tuned the radio to 14.243, listened (always listen first!), then pushed the button on my LDG Z-817 tuner. It clicked away until it found its match and the static came alive with tons of European stations coming through loud and clear. I heard Estonia, Slovenia, Italy, and Luxembourg.

The Luxembourg station, LX/PA9JO, was just finished a QSO and I dropped my call as soon as they cleared. A feeling of suspense, terror, and anxiousness filled my blood. Since getting into QRP, this feeling has become much more present in my operating and it’s kind of a rush. All of a sudden I heard my prefix come back! After another sending of my callsign a couple of times, Jo was able to copy me and my QTH before the band started to drift out. We both 73′d and cleared.

I was already excited having just proved the antenna with a mere 3 watts, but then I finally did the calculation for miles per watt… 4062 miles from SE Michigan to Luxembourg! Not only had I broken the 1000 miles/watt, I exceeded it by 25%! Talk about a true testament to the power of low power!

I also discovered that PA9JO was one member of a team of hams who were on an LXpedition, a special trip to get Luxembourg on the air. You can find out more information about it here: 2011 Luxembourg DXpedition.

My QSO with The Azores was cool in its own right, but this QSO, by far, takes the cake. I’m really looking forward to getting the QSL card in the mail and putting it up on the wall. And, given the outcome from my first attempt at using my ‘lazy-man dipole’, I hereby dub my design, the Luxembourg Dipole. I’ll have pictures of its construction by this weekend.

I’m hoping to spend more time on the air this weekend with my new antenna, so perhaps I’ll catch you on the air!

73, 72, and good DX!
Andrew, W8FI

Review: JDC Antennas 20-meter Loaded Whip – Part 1

// May 26th, 2011 // 1 Comment » // Amateur Radio, Antennas

Just opened. Loading coil casing is spray painted and smells like it. Whip is dirty, non-polished. Appears to be cut from rough stock. The whip base is brass but was sunk too deep and plastic from the coil casing was cleared away to allow for the set screw (which was missing) and a screwdriver shaft. Overall not quite sure the material used to build this thing was worth the $30. Going to try it out on the air and see how it works. If it fails, I’ll crack it open. Hell, I might just do that anyway.

The gentleman (I apologize for forgetting his name and call) I gave my money to at the table, in the first Southern row (by XWARN), said it would tune just fine but had no display or printout of an SWR graph or analysis. I knew way ahead of time that this thing would not be very efficient but I’m anxious to take it to my father’s and put it through his arsenal of test equipment. I have a nice SWR meter to put inline and I’ll probably throw out some calls with my 817 to see just how far I can get. Of course, without the set screw the whip just keeps going into the coil so I’ll have to wait for that to get it on the air.

I want to make sure everyone understands that so far the review is just on the packaging, construction, and materials. I’ll update this review further when I get it on the air. In the mean time, if you too have one of these and have comments, please leave them below! While we’d all love to think a two foot antenna can get us on HF, always remember…

Antennas have three attributes: size, efficiency, and bandwidth. Pick two.

Joining in on the QRP fun with the Yaesu FT-817ND

// April 27th, 2011 // 26 Comments » // Amateur Radio, QRP

This week I was excited to open up my new, slightly-used, Yaesu FT-817ND fully bringing me into the QRP community. I’ve been jonesing after this radio for a long time due to its portability and ease of use. Despite the threat of excommunication from my family (my father is a Kenwood man), I picked up the radio with all the accessories for an excellent price.

The first order of business was to go all the way and sign up for a QRP ARCI membership and join the FT-817 mailing list. The second order is to build up a cable to interface the radio to my computer for what is ultimately my main goal with the radio, PSK-31 work. I’d like to pick up a completed set of the cables as well, just to have for backup and guaranteed operation. My PSK interfaces are generally cobbled together and I enjoy tinkering with them on breadboard.

I’ve yet to make my first QSO with the radio, hopefully I’ll get to that tonight or this weekend, weather pending. I’m really excited to use the radio and take it places I only dreamed about a week ago!

See you on the air and 72!

Making my first trans-continental QSO

// April 1st, 2011 // No Comments » // Amateur Radio, QSOs

I never expect much when operating just 10 watts (sometimes 15) out of my indoor antenna but I’m always surprised, and boy was tonight was no exception.

With my XYL, son, and mother-in-law, out of the house for just one more night, I figured I’d fire up the rig and have a go. Not living in my own house imposes its own restrictions and I’m sure the MIL would not accept PRB-1 as an excuse for a real outdoor antenna. My hopes were not high as the Sun had already been set for about an hour and 20 meters has been dying off quick after the grayline pass.

However, always hearing of the surprise and delight so known in our hobby, and as the clock neared 8:30 local time (EDT), I saw CU3CP pop up on my waterfall. Without even looking up where the operator might be, I threw my call out, faintly hopeful but ready for my signal to be eaten by the aether. After a short pause Manuel came back with a quick QSO, giving his name and details. I’m not sure if he was just headed to bed after one last QSO (I would be at 4:00AM), but it was enough to lift me from my seat and grin ear to ear. It was most wonderful to get a response this late in my day, let alone from a foreign entity!

It wasn’t until after I logged the QSO that I looked him up on QRZ, and saw my small, 10 watt signal, had traveled over 2900 miles to the Azores. WOW! I had made contact in the past with Mexico with my set up, but this was my first trans-continental contact, and my third DX QSO.

It never ceases to amaze me just how far such a small signal can go, and how exciting this hobby can be in an world of ever increasing connectedness. I will no doubt talk about this QSO for the rest of my days, even in the future when we can simply blink and travel over 10,000 miles. If of course has lit a fire under me bum to order my QSL cards. However, that’s a post for another day.

Amateur Radio: Social before it was media.

Getting by with low power and indoor antennas

// March 21st, 2011 // No Comments » // Amateur Radio, Technology

With an empty house for the next couple of weeks I’ve taken to getting on the radio more. With my current situation I am restricted to indoor antennas and that itself creates a space restriction. The solution was to create a what amounts to an end-fed dipole using some RG-58 coax and stranded copper wire, both relatively random length.

The coax line is fed up the wall and taped up where the coax ends and stranded wire starts. From there the stranded wire is run along the length of the wall and taped up about 2 feet from the end. The end is then angled downward slightly, at say a 15 or 20 degree angle, and then taped again. This creates an inverted L configuration that’s oriented towards the South and while I can’t speak to why angling the end is effective, on 20 meters, I’m able to use a tuner to get about 1:1.3 to 1:1.7 on my SWR meter. Given that the antenna is indoors and fairly close to me I’m only putting out 10 watts, sometimes up to 15, on SSB with my Kenwood TS-50.

In order to get the most enjoyment out of my less than perfect solution I stick to PSK31 and seem to eek out 4 or 5 contacts a day. The furthest I’ve gone with this set up is Central Mexico but more typically I make it to the Southern states. Yesterday my waves landed in Georgia, Mississippi and Texas. I was also able to make a 59 QSO to North Dakota which I was quite pleased about.

I also have an end-fed Zepp that’s made of zip cord which I tested in a similar configuration and to my surprise, it was actually harder to get it to tune, only getting 1:2.0 SWR at best. I think the key here is that in the EF dipole, the coax provides some shielding against various QRM from indoor devices. I’m no expert on the radiation patterns of antennas so any insight would be appreciated.

Some people get deeply saddened by their restrictions, always wishing they could be a ‘top dog’ and blast out 1kW of power. Me too. However, given the circumstances, and as hams often do, I make the best of the situation and do what I can. I’d even hazard to say I get a little more enjoyment making a QSO since they don’t come so easy for me. When the weather turns other cheek finally and offers a few nice days in a row I’ll set up on the deck outside and enjoy the free air and open space.

Until then, you can catch me on 20 meters in the evening, scouring the waterfall for your PSK31 signal.

Wayne County, MI Skywarn Classes

// February 24th, 2011 // No Comments » // Amateur Radio, Skywarn, Weather

This year Wayne County will have 4 Skywarn training sessions, the first two in Garden City, the third in Livonia, and the last training in Trenton. Please see below for all the information. If you have any questions, please feel free to get a hold of me. If you live outside of Wayne County, please see the list at the NWS Outreach Website to locate a training session near you.

02/26/11 Saturday 10:00AM

Sponsored by Wayne County RACES and Garden City Emergency Management
The Maplewood Community Center
31735 Maplewood
Garden City, Michigan 48135
Located West of Merrimen Road.  (Maplewood is mid way between Ford & Warren roads)

03/26/11 Saturday 10:00AM

Sponsored by Wayne County RACES and Garden City Emergency Management
The Maplewood Community Center
31735 Maplewood
Garden City, Michigan 48135
Located West of Merrimen Road. (Maplewood is mid way between Ford & Warren roads)

04/11/11 Monday 7:00PM

Sponsored by Wayne County RACES and The Livonia Amateur Radio Club
Livonia Civic Center Library
32777 Five Mile Road, Livonia 48154
Located East of Farmington Road.

05/06/11 Friday 7:00PM

Sponsored by Wayne County RACES and The Motor City Amateur Radio Club
Westfield Center
2700 Westfield Rd.
Trenton, Michigan, 48183
Located north of West Rd. (Westfield road is between Allen Road and Fort Street, behind the Trenton Library)

Thanks to the National Weather Service, Wayne County RACES, Garden City Emergency Management, the Livonia Amateur Radio Club, and the Motor City Amateur Radio Club for helping to get our spotters trained!

KWiXS Skywarn Reporter

// January 23rd, 2011 // 1 Comment » // Amateur Radio, KWiXS, Skywarn, Weather

For some time now I’ve thought about and spoken of a new way for Skywarn nets to gather and report their information. Most NCOs (Net Control Operators) simply use a pencil and paper to take check-ins, reports and locations changes. When it comes down to it, there’s nothing more reliable than a piece of lead, some paper, and a battery powered radio. After all, when all else fails… amateur radio!

Reliability is the strongest foundation a service to the public can have and the Skywarn program is top of the class in that respect. However, when building a house, you do not build a strong foundation and then precede to spend your days in the basement, unless of course that’s where your shack is! As such, I think it’s important that we try to augment our foundation with as many effective tools as possible so we can do what we’ve volunteered to do, save property and lives.

This new tool, what I’m calling the KWiXS Skywarn Reporter, will allow NCOs to log check-ins, reports, and location changes into an online interface that is capable of relaying that information to anyone else logged into the system. This could be emergency managers, NWS employees, other Skywarn members, or any other authorized person. The goal of the software is to create paths along which information can flow freely with high availability. Communities that are downwind of a storm system can get even more lead time by getting alerts of reports that have been entered into the system. There will not however be a method for real-time chatting, there’s NWSChat for that, or you can always use RF if it’s urgent.

One of the key features is integration of the data into a Google Maps interface. With GMaps a user will be able to quickly see reports, county conditions (green, yellow, or red), and the location of the storm using NEXRAD radar data. There’s also the possibility of integrating APRS data so spotter’s out in the field can have their location tracked. There are many other potential features, but that’s where I put the call out to all hams, skywarn spotters, emergency managers, and NWS employees. I want to know what else could be implemented to provide the most effective tool. It’s not likely everyone will be appeased, and there will most certainly be those who want to stick to the RF way of doing things, and that’s OK. This system will never be meant to replace what trained Skywarn spotters do, nor what ham radio does for Skywarn, it’s merely there to augment the system and improve upon our mission, saving property and lives.

I have this wonderful piece of software envisioned in my mind, but I wanted to share that vision, to allow it be modified and grown into something used not just by our Skywarn program (in Wayne County), but across the country. I welcome any suggestions or comments and will most certainly welcome any programming support. It has only taken a few paragraphs to describe how the system will work from a high level, but it’s actually quite complicated to make sure all the moving parts play nice together. The more help, the better the software!

You can post your comments, ideas, suggestions, complaints or any other thoughts to this blog post, or email me directly at w8fi [at] kritikal [dot] com.

Ruby ADIF to SQL

// November 9th, 2010 // No Comments » // Amateur Radio, Development, Ruby, Twitter

Saw someone on Twitter need this, so I whipped something up pretty quick. It’s not pretty, but it gets the job done.

You run it with:
ruby adif_to_sql.rb [ADIF_FILENAME] [MYSQL_TABLENAME]

You just specify the ADIF file and the name of the MySQL table name. The script creates an SQL file that can be imported directly into MySQL.

Get the script here: http://www.kritikal.com/ham/adif_to_sql.rb

Cheers!

Frying the bacon – A Q&A site for amateur radio

// July 1st, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Amateur Radio

So I’ve always loved the idea of StackOverflow and other Q&A site clones. They are simple, to the point, and makes it very easy to get an answer to a burning question. I know there are plenty of amateur radio themed forums, but those are really designed for discussion, not really a quick Q&A.

But now, there is a site where you can ask any and all amateur related questions and hopefully get a quick answer: BaconFrying.com.

It’s just getting off the ground so there aren’t too many questions there now, but the hope is that more people use it as another resource to get help quick when working on a project, or settings up an antenna, or even help with getting their license. While these kinds of sites live or die on the fact that people want to post their question there, instead of through another medium, such as Twitter or the various forums out there, they more importantly rely on the fact that people actually get their questions answered.

It can sometimes be a ‘catch 22′: if there are no questions, there’s nothing to answer, and if there are no answers, then people will not post questions. I’m hoping I can lean on the 21-century amateur radio community to help jump start the site and get it moving along.

If you have any questions please post them there, even if you know the answer! There’s no harm in answering your own question, and in fact, tends to be the case with most hams who seek out the community through different avenues. Did you come across a new bit of information that helped you become a better amateur? Just post up the question or problem that it can help solve and then provide the answer.

As is the case with any website that is wholly dependent on user-generated content: the more people that use it, the better it gets!

I’m always open to comments and suggestions about how to make the site better, so please don’t hold back!

Thanks and hope to see your questions on BaconFrying.com!

Here it comes again! Dayton Hamvention 2010

// May 12th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Amateur Radio, APRS, Dayton, Twitter

Another year has come and gone and mid-May is upon us once again, meaning only one thing: It’s time to give in to my EM addiction at the Dayton Hamvention.

The Crew Grows

This year will be the first time my brother Dave, KD8MZT, will be going and I’m pretty excited to see his face when we arrive. He’s been to several local swaps lately since getting his ticket but I don’t think he understands the sheer magnitude of Hamvention. Of course, this means the drive will be a little tight in the back but I don’t think either of us are going to mind much. As an added bonus, he will get his new vanity call, N8DAH, while we’re down there, so he’ll be due a new name badge.

Shenanigans on the Road

Every year I like to do something different while we trek along I-75 South for four and a half hours. This year will be no different and thanks to my father’s obsession with making his truck more connected than a EmComm command post, we’ll be rocking PSK31 on HF, along with several other digital modes and voice. Perhaps I’ll get my first mobile HF contact!

I suppose I’ll also be connected to the good ol’ Internet for chatting it up with others en route but I really do want to focus on the amateur radio aspect of this and stay away from the web, except of course when posting random tweets or pictures.

Hopefully the rest of the crew will not be too harsh as I try to get some video of the trip, starting bright and early at 4am.

Scavenger List

As with most years, I don’t have any ‘needs’ but certainly a lot of ‘well if I happen to see it for the right price’ items. Lots of magnets, perhaps a used mag-loop antenna, various memory cards, micro-drives, and maybe even a 6-meter radio that’s easy to use on digital. I never really go with anything in mind to get but always come back with a handful of things and a huge grin. I don’t think there’s a single ham who can say they don’t love digging through a box of ‘junk’ looking for great ‘stuff’.

Antenna-Helmet

Oh yeah, it’s back, and this time with twice the radiating power! Not only will I have my TH-F6A attached to the center antenna, but I’ll also have an antenna mounted on the helmet visor for APRS. Using my RadioShack HTX-420, an OpentTracker+ and Argent Data System GPS puck with power supplied by a 12 volt lead acid gel cell battery.

I’d like to see what it would take to trickle charge the battery using solar panels that will be mounted on the side of helmet. Just a little something to put together while I’m there winding down after each day. If I’m feeling very adventurous, I’ll set up my laptop with it so I can RX/TX messages too.

Tweetup!

Yep, I’m trying to get a bunch of people together, but that’s all I’m going to say since it’s a TWEETUP! If you want more info, follow my twitter @kritikal for more info. I suppose you could just watch the lifestream on the right hand side, but where’s the fun in that?

T-minus 4 hours!

I’ve compressed what I wanted to say but I should get some sleep before we venture out on the road.

73, safe travels, and see you there!
Andrew, K8DJK (soon to be W8FI)