Can't say enough about this stand

 The AX1 stand by TUFTELN, that is.

If you have an Elecraft AX1 antenna, and you are using the "adjustable bipod stand" that Elecraft supplies, you are going to love this stand.  This stand is way more robust, sturdy and just overall better! Use this once, and you will forget you ever used the Elecraft bipod stand.

The only caveat is you have to make sure you don't overtighten it. Because if you overtighten it, it can be very hard to unscrew the two pieces from each other without damaging it. Take it from me - wink, wink

The beauty of this stand is that it gives you a choice. Since it cradles the AX1 so nicely, you can either connect the AX1 to the radio directly, OR  if you so desire, you can use coax jumpers and connect to your radio with the antenna physically removed - as shown in the photo above (as well as my header photo). If the radio you're using doesn't have a built in autotuner, such as the QMX, this is an absolute necessity. The reason that I don't like the Elecraft bipod is that IMHO, it puts too much stress on the radio's BNC connector. I know that on the KX3, the BNC connector is held in place to the chassis by a nut and not just by solder joints, but even so, I feel that bipod is an awkward arrangement at best.

Again, not an agent for TUFTELN - no kickbacks here! Just a satisfied customer.

AND ..... an announcement from Paul NA5N - mark your calendars !

QRP Zombies,

The 27th annual (1998-2024) ZOMBIE SHUFFLE will be held FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2024.

Pretty much the same silly rules as always.

The QRP Contest that's actually fun. Pick some strange, ghoulish name to use on the air.

Full RULES ARE HERE:

http://www.zianet.com/qrp/ZOMBIE/pg.html

72 and BOO, Paul NA5N

and from me:

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Some new stuff

 from QRPbuilder.com.

An Iambic SOTA / POTA paddle, much like the ones made popular by Steve WG0AT. I like the look fo these - I just wonder if I could ever get used to using these!

QX1 Antenna - a very reasonably priced AX1 type of antenna for portable ops.

A MAGNETIC single lever paddle which can be used on the KX radios and if you house your (tr)uSDX radio in the QRPGuys housing.

'

Official Disclaimer - I am in NO WAY involved, associated with, or benefit from anything sold by QRPbuilder.com. Just bringing attention to some really nicely priced and useful items that might be right and fill a need for you readers out there. At the very least, you owe it to yourselves to check this stuff out.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

A Prequel

In yesterday's video we saw Alan W2AEW activate Washington Rock State Park with the CFT1 QRP Transceiver. Dummy me! I didn't realize that this is the newest offering from KM4CFT, who also sells the 9:1 UNUN kit that I recently built and put through a test run on Sunday.

Alan also has a YouTube video on the actual build of the kit. I am posting it here as a companion video - a prequel, if you will. It's a little long - close to 40 minutes, but is very interesting.

By the way, if you haven't subscribed to Alan's YouTube channel, you're missing out on a lot of great stuff.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

POTAing on!

Good friend, Alan W2AEW does a POTA activation with a new QRP rig. 

Boy howdy! These new QRP rigs are popping up so fast, it's hard to keep up with them - what's new, what's what ....... WOW! Going to sound like an oldster, but I can remember when you could count available QRP rigs with the fingers on both hands. Pickin's were slim ...... no more!

Alan was at my favorite spot - Washington Rock State Park, in Greenbrook, NJ.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Modest?

 On Facebook, ON7RF provided a picture of his "modest" station.

Modest? Maybe in terms of $$$$$, but there's plenty enough there to work the world! Rene definitely has the right idea here - "Do more with less." You don't need an uber station or a kilowatt to work the world, and this is much more fun, IMHO.

Only thing I would change here is to use a paddle.  My wrist gets tired from using a straight key after a while.  Undoubtedly, it's probably just poor technique on my part, but I blame arthritis! LOL!

I saw this on a POTA FB page and saved the image for a closer look. Then I went to the webpage.

Portableflagpoles.com - they sell their drive on mast holder with two diameters. The larger one will accept masts up to 2.25" (about 6 cm) wide. The bottom cap of the Jackite is just a smidge over 2", so it will fit in there nicely. The mast holder is only $39 - the question is ...... do I really need it? I have to decide whether or not my homebrew mockup is worth keeping. It does the job all right, but it's nowhere as elegant a solution as this one. The other thing is that this one is metal, while mine is wooden. In the long run, I have to believe that this one would undoubtedly hold up better to being driven upon. And whatever I decide, I have to do it sooner, rather than later. Marianne and I are heading back up to Alexandria Bay soon and there are two parks up there that I'd like to activate.

When I worked at Sinar Bron, my boss who was a Swiss engineer, would always want the "most elegant" solution to a problem. Not necessarily the most elegant in appearance, but the best solution in terms of functionality, ability, dependability and sleek design (if possible, but not as necessary). I guess that's where that got ingrained in me.

He had a knack for bringing me down to Earth. When I would solve a problem that seemed to elude everyone else (even the factories who manufactured the equipment that we sold) he would say (in his thick Swiss accent), "Doo, Larry, even the blind pig finds an acorn every once in a while." Real confidence booster, right? Even so, I sorely miss those days. Working at Sinar Bron was probably the best 22 years I've ever spent at a job.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

It is alive!

The little QMX is alive!

I hooked it up to the W3EDP yesterday (I did not switch out antennas like I planned - kinda long story that I won't go into here) through both my Emtech ZM-2 Z-match tuner and my 4 States QRP Tuner and I worked five POTA activations.

K9DXA - Harry, who hasn't competed in the Skeeter Hunt in a few years, he used to be a regular.

WT2P

N3T

K9RDO

WG8X - a two-fer!

It was pretty easy to get into the habit of using a manual tuner again. The only thing I had to look up was the "In/Out" switch on the 4 States tuner. Last time I used it was with my HW-8 and I forgot that "In" meant tune and "Out" meant operate. Common sense, really, but at the moment I wanted to be sure. I didn't want to kill a brand new rig over my forgetfulness/stupidity.

In any case, I had no trouble being heard and I worked all but one station without any repeats. Even there I got a decent RST, there just must have been a pileup on his end.

It's going to be neat having this little guy. I have a couple ideas for putting together a dedicated go-bag and keeping this bad boy in the car for possible spur-of-the-moment operating sessions. I may even start parking in the outside parking lot at work again!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Clueless

 So Yaesu introduced a new radio at the Tokyo Ham Fair:

It is the FTX-1, an all mode HF, 6M, 2M, 70cm radio - with an output of 10 Watts. Just what fans of the Yaesu  FT-817 have been anxiously waiting for ....... right? It will be available for purchasing early in 2025. It is probably Yaesu's hope to knock ICOM's IC-705 off the top seller pedestal. I'll not go into the details on the specs of the radio as certainly you'll be able to not help but see them in the coming days and weeks.

But to my post title ..... "Clueless".  Is Yaesu clueless? Certainly not! But as a QRP'er, I have to belly laugh at some of the reactions from Hams who either don't know any better, or worse ....... lack any skill, patience or determination. Those are who I am referring to as "clueless". For example, some reactions from Facebook (no names or call signs will be posted here).

"Joke 10 watts 😩, Unreal"

"QRP. Zzzz. Make an FT-857D replacement Yaesu!"

"I can't imagine putting out that much money for something that weak. Two screens. Cool, I guess. But just okay otherwise."

"On top of that with only 6 Watts on battery power it's not going to be very useful for people chasing DX let alone Dxpeditions.. breaking a pile up with 100 w and a wire antenna is hard enough as it is.."

"But then again that's not what this radio appears to be designed for, it seems like they're targeting the Doomsday Preppers ( aka bunker diggers ) and qrp guys."

I guess these guys just don't understand QRP, or never tried it, or tried it and didn't have what it takes to make it work. Yeah, sometimes breaking through the pileups for DXpeditions can be tough, but I've done it and I know tons of you out there have done it too. And DXCC via QRP isn't all that difficult. Heck, I've heard of guys doing it in one weekend when the ARRL DX or CQWW DX contests are on.

I guess it's kind of like FT-8 in a certain way. I've never tried it, and I don't quite understand how to make it work, or even have the desire to, but I'm certainly not going to knock the people who do. Although, in all honesty, I have chuckled at a few good natured jokes I've seen about it - but no disrespect is intended for anyone who loves the digital modes. It's just not my cup of tea - so why disparage the people who love it?

Amateur Radio is a big tent. Everyone should be welcome.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

I've never played with one of these before

Last Saturday, as I was taking a few minute break from pounding brass, Dave W2OIL from the K2ETS club came by and sat down next to me. He handed me a plastic bag and inside was a You Kits HB-1B radio with a bunch of other stuff. Besides the radio was a Bulldog Clip paddle (like the one I have and use) a wall wart, a lithium battery, what appears to be a wire antenna and a printed out QST review of the radio. Dave told me the radio was bequeathed to him from the estate of our late Hudson Associate Division Director, Bill Hudzik W2UDT. Dave wanted me to make sure all was well and in working order.

I got my first chance to play with it Tuesday night and I have to say, i was quite pleased with the opportunity. It appears this one covers 80 through 20 Meters. It took some getting used to. Some of the functions are quite intuitive ,such as changing modes, tuning speeds, etc. Some are not. Luckily I had my phone with me and I was able to Google how to change keyer speeds and how to program in your call sign to get the "auto-calling CQ" function to work.

I had it hooked up to the the Alex Loop at the backyard patio table and did not work anyone. There weren't many POTA stations on at the time and for the one or two that I was able to hear, I was not able to break through the ravenous pile ups before it got dark and I had to go inside for the evening. Before that, however,  I had called CQ manually on 40, 30 and 20 Meters, just so I could see where I was being spotted by the Reverse Beacon Network. Not too shabby!

The Gray Line is a bit deceptive in the screen shot below as I did the look up the day after. For some reason the RBN wasn't working properly on my cell phone when I was actually calling CQ. It wasn't showing any spots. In reality, the Gray Line was much closer to my QTH at the time, and undoubtedly helped with the propagation to Europe.

I promised Dave that I'd bring all this back to him at the club meeting this Friday night. I'm kind of disappointed that I won't get to play with it for too much longer. I was going to take it down to the shack tonight after work, and hook it up to the W3EDP and the Butternut and really give it a whirl, but we're forecasted for thunderstorms this evening.

I had an extra little IBM pouch from a USB CD Drive that I rescued from the recycle pile at work. The drive got recycled, but I kept the pouch as it was only going to be trashed anyway. That will provide ample cushioning and protection for this little radio. It deserves better than a plastic baggie. I'm thinking of stopping off at the grocery store and picking up a plastic kitchen storage box that is big enough to store everything that was in the baggie, and I'll hand it all back to Dave in a nice neat package, along with the printed out manual. Every radio deserves a nice home!

Bottom line? I guess I'm spoiled by my KX3, but this little guy seems to be fun to use, and would probably hold its own at a POTA activation or during a QRP Sprint. I wouldn't mind having one., and it makes me wish my QMX would get here faster!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Radioddity

Is stating that the new Xeigu X6200 will start shipping next week - Radio Shipping Out Date - Before June 17th.

And here's the sales pitch:

Precision RF Direct Sampling: Transform your communication with our advanced RF Direct Sampling System. Enjoy crystal-clear signal quality across HF/50MHz bands, including WFM/Airband reception, ensuring seamless transmission and reception.

Versatile Radio Operation: The X6200 supports a wide range of communication modes, including SSB, CW, AM, NFM, DIGI, and WFM. It's perfect for both enthusiasts and professionals to meet all your communication needs.

Portable Design: The Xiegu X6200 features a compact frame, a built-in replaceable 3200mAh battery, and substantial interference shielding. It's your one-stop solution for both desktop and field POTA activities, offering 4-5 hours of operation time on a single charge.

Advanced User Interface: Featuring a 4-inch high-resolution color screen paired with a sensitive receiver for fine signal analysis, the X6200 ensures a superior user experience. From spectrum displays with waterfalls to wide bandwidth spectral views, every detail is at your fingertips.

Automatic Antenna Tuner: The built-in automatic antenna tuner ensures optimal signal reception and transmission, facilitating smooth and efficient communication in any environment.

Seamless Connectivity: With an integrated sound card, FT8 decoder, and support for BT/WIFI operations, the Xiegu X6200 offers easy wireless control and connectivity, making setup and operation a breeze.

 

The price point is $799.00 - and no doubt about it, it's a very attractive radio.

Seems like a good deal, right? Not to be a Debbie-Downer, but a friend had a Xiegu G90 which failed. His only recourse is to send it back to China for an out-of-warranty repair. Just something to keep in mind - that as of yet, Xiegu has no US based repair facility of their own, nor have they established a service contract to any third party based in the US. $800 is a good chunk of change with no guaranteed repair service behind it. Just sayin'.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

QRP Labs has done it again!

The QMX+ 160 - 6 Meter QRP Transceiver. Even ordered pre-assembled, it comes to around a $200 dollar price point. Wow! A QRP CW rig with all bands for around two hundred bucks. Unbelievable!

All the technical details can be found here: - https://shop.qrp-labs.com/qmxp

Here are some photos:

I wonder what else will be unveiled at FDIM and Hamvention?

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Bad boys, bad boys .....watcha gonna do?

 

Abbot and Costello were a favorite of my childhood, right up there with Laurel and Hardy. I always get a chuckle when I hear Lou Costello tell Bud Abbot, "I've been a baaaaaad boy!".

So what did W2LJ do that's so bad? Depends on your point of view. If you're a brother or sister Ham - nothing! To the uninitiated ..... "What do you need another radio for?"

I buckled under last night and ordered a QMX transceiver from QRP Labs. Not the kit, but a fully assembled-in-the-enclosure-80-to-20 Meter version. I've got too many kits in the pipeline that are waiting to be built. I don't need another. For that matter, I don't need another radio, either! But it's so tiny and can do so much and I've been wanting to get one for so long. I just couldn't sit on the fence any longer and last night I took the plunge. I figured I might as well order one while I'm still working full time. With retirement looming in the not too distant future, purchases like these might not be as easy to justify. I have no idea how long it will take to get here, but I'll wait. Oh, I know that it will be worth the wait!  (Just looked at the waiting list - if I'm lucky maybe September or October).

So in that way, some would say that "I've been a baaaaaad boy!' To which I might reply, "It's a Ham Radio thing ....... you wouldn't understand!"

By the way ....... Happy Marcon's birthday! The ol' boy would be 150 years old today. Better than lifting a glass - get on the air in his honor today! 

And I just stepped out of my office for a second or two to see that today is "Bring Your Kid to Work Day". It was exactly for this "day" back in 2005 that a bunch of us put on a presentation about Amateur Radio at the IEEE in Piscataway, NJ. Talking about "day" was my impetus for starting this blog - going on it's 20th year this year! 

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

New piece of gear

I know there are a lot of Baofeng haters out there, but ......... for the limited time I spend on VHF/UHF, I'd rather put the big bucks into HF gear or accessories.

I purchased this Baofeng K5 Plus after hearing glowing reports on the nightly Middlesex County Chat Group Net from two local Hams for whom I have deep respect, Marv K2VHW and Dave K2ULF.  $29.00 from Amazon - how could you go wrong? I was ordering a new cordless phone for the house (yes, we still maintain a landline) on Sunday and decided "Why not?" and added it to My Cart. I was surprised as all get out when both the phone and the HT arrived the next afternoon, and I did not pay for expedited shipping!

The main reason I purchased it is because it is a tri-band radio including the 1.25 Meter band - 220 MHz. I do own a dedicated 220 HT, but it's so much more convenient to have all three bands in one radio - no juggling required.  Last night I successfully programmed in the NJ2EM repeater, which is owned and operated by the NJ State Police and is one of our main ways of communicating with them via Amateur Radio on behalf of Middlesex County AUXCOMM. The repeater is down the road a ways - pretty close to Trenton. Even so, I was able to raise the repeater and the S-Meter on the radio was almost full scale as it identified. That's not hard to believe as their antenna is near the top of the old UHF TV Channel 52 tower, which has to be one of the tallest in the state. It truly has statewide coverage, as during  monthly "test nets" I have heard every county in New Jersey check in without difficulty.

I did not purchase a programming cable and had a little trepidation about that. I was relieved to discover that manually entering repeater information is quite intuitive and not complicated at all, and once you've programmed in a memory or two, it gets even easier. When you use CHIRP, it's so easy to fill up memories with repeaters you never frequent, or are perhaps almost dead for the amount of inactivity on them. Manually programming the radio may take a bit more time and effort, but it should eliminate needless frequencies

Another neat thing about the radio is that when you press the "0" key for about three seconds, the most local NOAA weather station will pop on. I used to program that into my hand helds, but it became a nuisance when you go into scan mode and the scanning stops whenever you come to that memory. Another thing that I really like about this HT is that charging can be accomplished via a USB-C port that is located on the battery. I can charge my phone AND my HT from the multi-device charger that we have in our kitchen. Of course, the radio comes with the standard drop-in charger for "conventional" charging as well. I'm sure there are other features that I will come to know and appreciate as I use it more and more. 

There is one thing about this radio that exacerbates my OCD. The "EXIT" button that you press to get out of the menus is actually screened on the key as "EIXT".  I noticed that pretty much right off the bat as my brain went into "What !?!?!: mode. 

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

The Black Sheep of the Family

If you go on Facebook at all, it quickly becomes apparent that Baofeng HTs get very little respect. They are the Rodney Dangerfields of the HT world. I understand, in a way, as they are not really comparable in any way to units produced by Kenwood, Yaesu or Icom. They may not be as technically excellent or as elegantly engineered as radios from the Big 3, but in my mind, they do have their place.  

I own a UV-3R and a UV-5R. The UV-3R is my carry around and listen to repeaters HT. It's small, about the size of a package of cigarettes and it does what I need it to do. My UV-5R with the larger battery pack is my CERT / Public Service Event radio. Again, it does what I need it to do. No frills, no bells and whistles.

Not glowing endorsements for sure, but if something were to happen to either of these, such as dropping them, losing them, or whatever - I'm not about to have a heart attack. They may not be the best available out there, but they're easily replaceable without breaking the bank. Keep this comparison in mind, Baofengs are the Red Cups of the handheld world, as compared to the fine crystal drinkware that are Icom, Kenwood, and Yaesu. And of course, you get what you pay for. If you're willing to accept Harbor Freight rather than Craftsman or Snap On - you get the drift, especially if you're not primarily a VHF/UHF Op.

Coming up this weekend:

Contests - to participate in or to be aware of:

CQ WW RTTY WPX Contest - https://www.cqwpxrtty.com/rules.htm

SKCC Weekend Sprintathon - https://www.skccgroup.com/operating_activities/weekend_sprintathon/

4 States QRP Group Second Sunday Sprint - http://www.4sqrp.com/SSS/sss_rules.pdf

CQC Winter QSO Party - http://www.coloradoqrpclub.org/contests/winter.htm

Special Events:

02/10/2024 | 75th Anniversary of Merci Train Boxcar

Feb 10-Feb 29, 0000Z-0000Z, NV7AL, Las Vegas, NV. American Legion Paradise Post 149 and 40&8 Voiture 306. 7.074 7.250 14.074 14.250. QSL. Robert Bencsko, 2548 Fort Lauderdale Dr, Las Vegas, NV 89156. This special event station is set up to raise awareness of the 75th Anniversary of 40&8 "MERCI Train Boxcar" Please check out the QRZ page. The 24th and 25th may be operating on location of the Nevada boxcar in Boulder City, NV Watch for us on DX Summit QSL with SASE to AD7J https://www.qrz.com/db/NV7AL

02/10/2024 | Commemorating the End of Operation Desert Storm (27FEB91)

Feb 10, 1700Z-2359Z, NI6IW, San Diego, CA. USS Midway Museum Ship. 7.250 14.320; 14.070 PSK31; DSTAR on PAPA System repeaters. QSL. USS Midway Museum COMEDTRA, 910 N Harbor Drive, San Diego, CA 92101. www.qrz.com/db/ni6iw

02/10/2024 | Green Valley Amateur Radio Club Churches On The Air

Feb 10, 1700Z-2100Z, WE7GV, Green Valley, AZ. Green Valley Amateur Radio Club. 14.242 14.262 14.282. Certificate & QSL. Tom Lang, 1085 W. El Toro Rd, Sahuarita, AZ 85629. This Special Event includes three local churches on the air at the same time from the Green Valley area on the published frequencies + or -. www.gvarc.us

02/10/2024 | Lee Jackson Celebration

Feb 10, 1730Z-2200Z, N4SCV, Gainesville, FL. Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1424. 7.214 MHz 14.314 MHz. QSL. Ron Lewis, KN4ZUJ, 14714 NW 144th Street, Alachua, FL 32615. We look forward to talking with you. See you on the air on February 10th! VY 73, Madison Starke Perry Camp 1424 Sons of Confederate Veterans www.gatorscv.com

02/11/2024 | 10 Year Countdown to the 100th Anniversary of the Discovery of Pluto

Feb 11-Feb 19, 0000Z-2359Z, W7P and W7P/0, Flagstaff, AZ. Northern Arizona DX Association. 7.290 14.090 14.290 21.290. Certificate & QSL. W7P c/o NADXA, 6315 Townsend Winona Rd., Flagstaff, AZ 86004. www.nadxa.com

Personally, my VE Team has a session tomorrow morning.. Lots of last minute signups. We may have as many as eight candidates.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

New from Elecraft- from Steve WG0AT on Facebook

https://elecraft.com/products/kh1-f

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Caveat Emptor!

 Some guy on Facebook was complaining about the quality of this.

First quick glance, you'd think it was a QRPGuys product, eh?

1) The gent who made the post complained that he ordered a kit, but received it fully assembled. QRPGuys does not sell them fully assembled. He claims he knew this was a knock-off.

2) "No Tune Eed Half Wave" ? Seriously?  You know it's bad enough that you're selling counterfeit products, you've ripped off a design - you can't, at the very least, get the spelling right? And you can't sell them without taking the QRPGuys name off of them?

In this case, if you're the purchaser, you should have done a little more research, you got what you paid for - no refunds, no complaining.

All that said, I've purchased my fair share of Chinese manufactured Amateur Radio equipment. I knew what I was buying and didn't expect the sun, moon and stars. And I certainly wasn't buying anything with a counterfeit Kenwood, Yaesu or Icom label on it. There's a difference between knowingly buying something and being fooled into buying something.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

12V USB Boost Converter

I saw this on a post to the POTA Facebook page by Mike Kelly. It seems he forgot to take a 12V power cable with him on one of his activations. He was using a (tru) SDX transceiver which can run off its USB port, so his day wasn't ruined, but he was limited to 0.75 Watts output. That my friends, is QRPp, and he was still able to make his 10 contacts.

In turn, after hearing his story, a friend of his turned him on to this, available through Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09NSHWLV9/?fbclid=IwAR0uXr6js6_FkSnHPFb6yD2V7Iw-oa2h3RcVMgiVGRGCU1ao80ixSqXSm7I&th=1

This booster will allow you to power your 12V devices from the USB-A port on your laptop. It probably kills the battery fast, but for only $10, it's probably a good thing to have in your go kit. I don't take a laptop with me on portable ops outings, but I'm thinking it might be a handy thing to have in the event of a prolonged power failure at home; or maybe during some kind of CERT activation.

Looks like Summer is coming to an end and the seasons will be changing soon here in Central New Jersey (it's official now, BTW. There IS a Central New Jersey even though those of us who live here always knew that - but that's a story for another time). We've been having a lot of rain and thunderstorms lately. It seems like almost every day for the past week or two. On Monday evening in particular, there was quite the light show in the sky during the drive home from work. However, today is supposed to be the last day of it. The forecast for the coming week is for cooler daytime temps and overnight lows in the 50s. We'll be able to turn off the A/C and open the windows - AND I'll be able to leave my antennas connected for the foreseeable future.

On the flip side, the leaves will begin their annual suicidal jumps. Charles Schulz had the idea!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Wow!

It was a ghost town at work on Friday. Most employees that could work remotely from home, did so. It seemed besides the very few employees who actually did show up were IT (that included me), the kitchen staff and Security.

I spent the first part of the day catching up on chores that I have been putting off. We're in the opening stages of a big refresh project. Employees with older laptops are being upgraded to current models with more RAM, longer life batteries and faster processors. I have been so busy shipping laptops, that I have not been able to open the older ones that have been returned. I took care of the backlog in the morning.

In the afternoon, I tidied up my space and got as much done as I could in advance of next week, considering that it's a short week due to the Labor Day holiday, here in the US. I had to be there until 5:00 PM and I had nothing to do for the last 20 or so minutes of the day, I opened the latest version of QST and started perusing.

What struck me was the price of vertical antennas these day! If something ever happened to my HF9V, I doubt I could replace it. I would in most likelihood have to resort to wire antennas only. 

In order to duplicate the capabilities that I currently have, as per DX Engineering:

A new Butternut HF9V would cost $825 - I think I paid in the $400 to $500 range when I purchased mine.

A Hy-Gain AV-680 goes for $770.

A Cushcraft R9 is going for $800 and cannot be ground mounted - that would be a bugaboo for me.

A DX Commander Signature 9 is going for $500

A Diamond BB7V is going for $423 - not too terrible.

A Hustler 6BTV looks most promising, if it came to it - going for $298

MFJ makes several inexpensive options, but MFJ is MFJ. I love my MFJ-1982LP, but I had to correct some faulty soldering in the UNUN. That makes me slightly wary about other items in their inventory.

Bottom line is that I could never afford to replace my Butternut HF9V with another of the same, unless I started buying lottery tickets, It came as somewhat of a shock.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Regrets? I've had a few.

No one can be in this hobby for a long time without having a few regrets - usually about equipment bought and sold.

Regrets:

Getting rid of my Novice station. Even though I donated it to the Handi-Ham organization, I later regretted handing off my Novice Station, which comprised of a Drake 2NT transmitter, a Heathkit HR-1680 receiver and a Globe VFO.  The good news is that I have acquired like pieces and have my Novice station back (with the exception of the Globe VFO).

Selling my Icom IC-730 - I did the modification to get the low power setting all the way down to 100 milliWatts. I sold this in order to buy an Icom IC-751A.  This was back in the day when I got interested in AMTOR and PacTOR and the IC-730's T/R relay was just too slow to support these modes. My interest in them was fleeting, as it turned out. My interest in QRP has never faded.

Selling MY home built HW-8.  To this day, I consider this my biggest faux pas; and I still don't know what possessed me to do this. This had to have been the biggest Ham Radio brain cramp that I've experienced in 43 years of being a Ham.  Fortunately, Dave KD2FSI gifted me with a mint replacement that he found on eBay.

Not keeping my Heathkit SB-104A station, that again, I had built myself  After a while, I was blinded by newer and shinier equipment, I sold these (rig, power supply/speaker, remote VFO, station monitor) to afford newer stuff. Sometimes I think I was part crow, being attracted to new shiny objects.  This is a major regret.

Semi - regrets:

Selling my K1 and K2 - but alas, I would not have been able to acquire my KX3 without doing this. Unlike a lot Hams out there, I don't have deep pockets.

No - regrets:

Selling my IC-751A - great receiver for it's day, but selling it paved the way for buying Elecraft rigs.

Selling my amplifier - what the heck was I thinking ever buying one of those in the first place?  My fascination with QRO faded more quickly that you can say "Jack Robinson". In it's defense, it did keep the shack warm.

Selling my Kenwood Twins. The T599A and R599A made up my General station when I upgraded all the way back in 1979. I sold these to afford the SB-104A.

I still wish I had every piece of Heathkit gear that I ever assembled (and it was a lot). At the time, I guess I thought Heathkit, as we knew it back then, would never bite the dust. Hindsight is always 20/20.

These days, I am content with my station as it exists.  I have a KX3 along with the KXPA100 amplifier (which I have not turned on in years - in fact, I took it out of the line.) No aspersions to Elecraft, but I don't need or desire a K3s or a K4. After all this time, I guess I've learned to be content with what I have.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Crap!

 I was reading some stuff on the internet this morning when my phone chirped to let me know that my friend Bob W3BBO was on the air calling CQ. I saw that he was on 30 Meters, and I thought the band might be conducive to a Pittsburgh to Central Jersey QSO, so I ran downstairs to fire up the KX3. I flipped the switch on my Astron 20 Amp power supply and there was no hum and the rocker switch didn't light up.

Not good.

I checked to make sure the power strip that I have it plugged into was working and that showed to be fine. My Astron 7 Amp power supply is plugged into the same surge protector and it fired up just fine. I replaced the fuse and powered up again. This time, there was a hum and the rocker switch lit up - all for about a second. Then the new fuse blew.

I unplugged it, took off the cover and gave it a visual inspection. Nothing burnt, nothing charred, no funny smells. I then took a meter to all the major semiconductors - pass transistors, diodes and SCR and the readings were normal - no shorts. The filter caps look ok - from my experience with repairing studio strobes, those big electrolytics tend to bulge a bit before they have a "non passive failure" so I doubt they're the problem. That leaves the transformer itself or something on the voltage regulator board. I'm thinking the voltage regulator board as transformers in and of themselves really don't go bad without some evidence of getting overly hot or burning.

I don't have the time or resources to go into deep trouble shooting right now, so I'll rely on the 7 Amp supply for the time being - too many projects, too many things to do. Besides, running 5 Watts shouldn't even make it raise a sweat. While I was down there, after getting things transferred over and squared away, I made a couple contacts on 15 Meters with some Texas QSO Party stations. I also had a brief QSO with Lazlo HA3NA on 17 Meters (and I got a 579)!  It was really nice to see 15 and 17 Meters alive for a change. Maybe the sun spots ARE making a comeback.

When I do get the time, there are some wonderful resources on the web for fixing these babies. One in particular can be found here - http://www.repeater-builder.com/astron/pdf/astron-troubleshooting.pdf

It's a nice step by step resource and as it's been over 14 years since I repaired circuit boards down to the component level every day for a living, my trouble shooting skills are a bit rusty to put it mildly. I'll take whatever help I can get.

On another note, I downloaded Hamrs onto my cell phone after watching Tom K4SWL use it on his POTA videos. It's a super easy logging program to use, even easier than Ham Log NG. I like that you can create specific logbooks for individual POTA activations or other events. Each log can be converted to an ADIF so that I can import them into my master AC Log logbook on the laptop. I also downloaded it onto my Android tablet which should be a bit easier on my fat fingers in the field. This, of course, assumes that I will give up on paper and pencil. That may be easier said than done! LOL!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Being prepared

 A few months back, in April, I ended up trading in the Jeep Patriot for something newer. The Patriot was 167,000 miles old and needed a new catalytic converter (estimate close to 2K). My wife Marianne brought up the point that it wasn't worth spending any further money on the vehicle, as it had done well for us over the years, and we had gotten our money's worth out of it. The possibility existed that it was just going to become a repair money pit.

She went online and located a "pre-owned" 2018 Jeep Cherokee at a local Honda dealer that was turned in after a short term lease.

This is the nicest vehicle that I have ever owned and I was a bit hesitant to put holes in it and mar the interior by installing my VHF/UHF radio. I have been driving around without since. This past Wednesday and Ida changed my mind.  However, I still didn't want to permanently deface the interior by drilling screw holes, so I came up with another solution.

I took a piece of plywood, cut it to a size that I thought would work best and I painted it black. It slides in between the driver's seat and the center console and because of the almost non-existent gap, stays put. I attached the radio to the plywood and that's how it's mounted.

I put black duct tape over the edges of the plywood to make that look a more finished and I put some Velcro (the soft, fuzzy side) over the screw heads securing the mounting bracket so that they can't scratch the side of center console.

I'm waiting on a new antenna, a Compactenna 2M/70cm dual band antenna. 

When I first saw this compact antenna a few years ago, I was skeptical as to how good a performer it could possibly be. My friend Tim AB2ZK has one and he raves about it. I want a low profile antenna so I can park in the deck at work with no problems. The 5/8 wave antenna I had on the Patriot forced me to park outside, as it would bang into the low hanging pipes protruding from the deck ceiling. I was also afraid that I would one day damage one of the low hanging fire detectors that are there.

The antenna is due to arrive this week and I should be in business by next weekend.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!