Well, it's been another week of hardly any radio. I thought about working the TARA Grid Dip, but instead I spent a wonderful evening hanging out with my XYL Robin (AJ4IJ) in the back yard around a camp fire. The next day we all went to the Frank H. McClung Museum on the University of Tennessee campus. We had went to the museum so our harmonic could see a real life mummy. You see, she and the XYL are going to mummify a chicken as a school project. This will cover many subjects such as math, science, art, and history. After the museum, we had to run to the library to pick up a few books on Egyptian culture and burial practices to help with the project. (I guess I should add that Robin is homeschooling our daughter this year.) After the library we had to run to the store and then drop our cousin off at home (she wanted to see a dead person too). When we got home I had to mow the yard and weed-eat it as well especially since I hadn't been able to do that in about two weeks due to all the rain we've had.
By the time I got all that done, it was too late to work the Grid Dip. That's okay because I've had a wonderful week and weekend nonetheless. I did make a few PSK contacts earlier in the week, two with stations in Belgium (ON4AXU and ON3SB), a special event in Canada (thanks for the QSO Michael VE3FRED), and Joseph in 3 land (NE3H). So this morning, I turned on the radio and the 10-10 International Summer Contest was still going on. I worked a big whopping 3 stations before we decided it was time to figure out what to do today (Check out our outdoor blog for the adventure today).
So that's all the radioing I've done this week. Like the title says, Ho Hum Radio. That's okay, the International Light House/Lightship week is now. Get on the bands and make contact with all the Light Houses you can. They are great fun to work. I worked a handful last year and hope to do the same this year.
That's all I've got for this edition, until next time....
73, Good DX to you, and God Bless,
Tim - AJ4JD
Showing posts with label 10 meters HF. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 10 meters HF. Show all posts
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
10 Meters Booming.
Was there a possible Canadian French broadcast on my regular FM car stereo yesterday? That's right, yesterday in the late afternoon, I was returning home from dropping something off over at dad's(KU4ME) when I realized that Green Day had faded out and I was now listening to a woman speaking about Michael Jackson in French. I demonstrated this to my XYL Robin (AJ4IJ) with the shortwave in the house after telling her that propagation must be doing really well. I suppose this is what they call heavy Sporadic-E or E-Skip.
It was at that time she told me I'd better get in there and play with the HF. So, I just had to get in here this morning to mention that 10 Meters was booming in like crazy yesterday. I can only hope that it's booming like that again today. I wonder how much the huge sunspot, that's currently on the Sun, had to do with it? I'm sure that was a player in yesterday's conditions. Regardless, I got in there and called CQ for a few minutes and ended up with 4 contacts on 10 with stations in NJ, MD, MA, and IL. By the way, all contacts have been uploaded to LOTW and eQSL.
I would have played longer but the yard was getting closer to jungle status by the second considering all the rain we have had, so the lawn mower was calling my name. If conditions are that good again today, I will be sure to get in there and make more contacts. So if you happen to play radio this evening, look for me on 10 meters. I'll likely be in there.
Until then, 73 and good DX,
Tim - AJ4JD
It was at that time she told me I'd better get in there and play with the HF. So, I just had to get in here this morning to mention that 10 Meters was booming in like crazy yesterday. I can only hope that it's booming like that again today. I wonder how much the huge sunspot, that's currently on the Sun, had to do with it? I'm sure that was a player in yesterday's conditions. Regardless, I got in there and called CQ for a few minutes and ended up with 4 contacts on 10 with stations in NJ, MD, MA, and IL. By the way, all contacts have been uploaded to LOTW and eQSL.
I would have played longer but the yard was getting closer to jungle status by the second considering all the rain we have had, so the lawn mower was calling my name. If conditions are that good again today, I will be sure to get in there and make more contacts. So if you happen to play radio this evening, look for me on 10 meters. I'll likely be in there.
Until then, 73 and good DX,
Tim - AJ4JD
Saturday, March 21, 2009
5BWAS Update
I decided I would give an update on my 5 Band WAS status. I've added a couple more states for the WAS and added a couple more bands on a couple of states. I've still got a ways to go. Anyway here it is...
Catch ya on the bands. Now if only I had an antenna up for 15 meters.
73,
Tim
Catch ya on the bands. Now if only I had an antenna up for 15 meters.
73,
Tim
Saturday, February 7, 2009
The Antenna is Finally in the Air
Well today we finally got the antenna in the air. Last week we put it all together and made a valiant effort to try and get it in the air but failed miserably. The odds were against us as the wind was blowing something fierce, and we ended up losing one arrow in the tree and the other lost its notch.
So today, we tried again. This time we had a different plan. Instead of bow and arrow, we opted for a sling shot and a 3oz. fishing weight. Our first few attempts were for naught. The weight was too big and kept getting caught on the sling once it was release. So we decided to cut the thing in half. Once we did that we started having better results. Unfortunately, where we originally wanted to put it on one side was too tall for us to achieve. So we opted for a bit shorter beech tree. By doing this we no longer has a need to run a support rope or pulley system as before this we were going to run it up in a tall pine tree.
Well after a couple of attempts we finally had the short side up in the tree and it was time to trek to the other side. This one was more than we bargained for. Getting the rope up in the old oak tree up the ridge wasn't the problem. The problem came when we tried to raise the antenna. We found that as we raised it the long side was going to get hung up on a branch of a dogwood tree and there was no way to guide the wire out from under it. With this in mind we only had one option... Chop It Down. I trekked back down the ridge to get the ax and the saw. 2 blisters and a bruised thumb later, we had the dogwood hewed and the antenna up in the air. The battle was won with the exception of running the coax into the house and connect it to the radio.
With daylight, strength, and energy waning rapidly, we decided it was time for some dinner before finishing our small war. So we ran out to Cap'n D's for some fish and brought it back to the house. We filled ourselves on fries, fish, and hush puppies and decided it was time to put a hole in the floor. We had originally planned to connect the coax running from the antenna to the house into a lightning arrestor, and take a second run of coax on into the house. This would have required us to put another hole in the house and to find screws to mount the arrestor to the house as well. So instead we ran the one run in through the garage door in th basement, into the crawl space under the shack and up through the floor until such time comes when we have screws for the arrestor and enough motivation to put a new hole in the house.
It wasn't long before we had our Windom connected to the radio and were ready to see how it performed. On 80 meters, the SWR is pretty good up to about the DX Window. after that the tuner needs to be used and past 3.900 MHz we have to cut the power back a bit. On 40 meters the antenna is mostly flat. On 20 it is completely flat without a tuner. same on 10. The only band it won't even tune on is 15 meters. Other than that, it does quite well for a multi bander that's supposed to work 80 - 2. So far I've made about 5 contacts with it and one of those were to the Bahamas. All reports have been 5-9 except the Bahamas reported 5-7. So I can't complain considering we can only run 100 watts at this time.
So we accomplished what we set out to do, with a few exceptions of course. In the end the result was good. We are finally on the air and that's all that matters. Stay tuned and I will get some pictures posted in the next couple of days or so. Anyway, many thanks go out to dad (KU4ME) for helping us out tremendously in this project and to the XYL Robin (AJ4IJ) for all her hard work too.
Till next time, 73 and Good DX.
AJ4JD Tim
So today, we tried again. This time we had a different plan. Instead of bow and arrow, we opted for a sling shot and a 3oz. fishing weight. Our first few attempts were for naught. The weight was too big and kept getting caught on the sling once it was release. So we decided to cut the thing in half. Once we did that we started having better results. Unfortunately, where we originally wanted to put it on one side was too tall for us to achieve. So we opted for a bit shorter beech tree. By doing this we no longer has a need to run a support rope or pulley system as before this we were going to run it up in a tall pine tree.
Well after a couple of attempts we finally had the short side up in the tree and it was time to trek to the other side. This one was more than we bargained for. Getting the rope up in the old oak tree up the ridge wasn't the problem. The problem came when we tried to raise the antenna. We found that as we raised it the long side was going to get hung up on a branch of a dogwood tree and there was no way to guide the wire out from under it. With this in mind we only had one option... Chop It Down. I trekked back down the ridge to get the ax and the saw. 2 blisters and a bruised thumb later, we had the dogwood hewed and the antenna up in the air. The battle was won with the exception of running the coax into the house and connect it to the radio.
With daylight, strength, and energy waning rapidly, we decided it was time for some dinner before finishing our small war. So we ran out to Cap'n D's for some fish and brought it back to the house. We filled ourselves on fries, fish, and hush puppies and decided it was time to put a hole in the floor. We had originally planned to connect the coax running from the antenna to the house into a lightning arrestor, and take a second run of coax on into the house. This would have required us to put another hole in the house and to find screws to mount the arrestor to the house as well. So instead we ran the one run in through the garage door in th basement, into the crawl space under the shack and up through the floor until such time comes when we have screws for the arrestor and enough motivation to put a new hole in the house.
It wasn't long before we had our Windom connected to the radio and were ready to see how it performed. On 80 meters, the SWR is pretty good up to about the DX Window. after that the tuner needs to be used and past 3.900 MHz we have to cut the power back a bit. On 40 meters the antenna is mostly flat. On 20 it is completely flat without a tuner. same on 10. The only band it won't even tune on is 15 meters. Other than that, it does quite well for a multi bander that's supposed to work 80 - 2. So far I've made about 5 contacts with it and one of those were to the Bahamas. All reports have been 5-9 except the Bahamas reported 5-7. So I can't complain considering we can only run 100 watts at this time.
So we accomplished what we set out to do, with a few exceptions of course. In the end the result was good. We are finally on the air and that's all that matters. Stay tuned and I will get some pictures posted in the next couple of days or so. Anyway, many thanks go out to dad (KU4ME) for helping us out tremendously in this project and to the XYL Robin (AJ4IJ) for all her hard work too.
Till next time, 73 and Good DX.
AJ4JD Tim
Saturday, December 13, 2008
PSK 31/63 To The Death ... Match
Well I had every intention of working the ARRL 10 meter contest this evening. Unfortunately, upon arriving at dad's (KU4ME) house, I quickly learned that 10 meters was pretty much deader than a door nail. I heard a couple of stations in there but no sooner than I would hear them, they'd fade right back out again. So after a few calls, I gave it up.
It was at this point that my lovely XYL Robin (AJ4IJ) suggested checking the digital modes. So I fired up Ham Radio Deluxe and launched DM 780. We tuned to 3.580 and found a nice strong waterfall coming in. Within seconds we picked up that there was a PSK Contest going on. CQ PSK31/63 DeathMatch ran across the screen. Of course Google is our friend and we rapidly found out that the Annual Michigan DX Association's PSK 31/63 Death Match contest was on tap for this weekend.
Happy that Robin found me a contest, I quickly set up some macros and dad walked me through tuning up the radio, setting my power on the USB Signal Link, and testing our power output. Within mere minutes I was calling CQ PSK31/63 DeathMatch de AJ4JD. I worked 80 meters for quite a while using PSK 31. After almost 20 contacts, I jumped over to 40 and worked a handful there. After a few of no one coming back to me, I decided to check 20 but it was completely dead so back to 80 I went.
On 80 for the second time of the evening, I switched modes to PSK 63 and continued calling CQ. I picked up a few more contacts and a couple of those were previous contact from earlier on PSK 31. It was around 2:30 a.m. when I wasn't getting any more takers and I decided that I was done for the night. I had been run through and gave in.
It was definitely a fun evening, and I look forward to working more of the contest throughout the weekend. That's right, the Death Match runs all weekend so I have more of a chance to push up the totals. If I remember correctly, I've made around 35 contacts in 17 different states and one Canadian province.
Well it's late now and I must go recuperate from the evening's battle. So with that I will say 73 to all, good DX, and happy contesting.
AJ4JD - Tim
It was at this point that my lovely XYL Robin (AJ4IJ) suggested checking the digital modes. So I fired up Ham Radio Deluxe and launched DM 780. We tuned to 3.580 and found a nice strong waterfall coming in. Within seconds we picked up that there was a PSK Contest going on. CQ PSK31/63 DeathMatch ran across the screen. Of course Google is our friend and we rapidly found out that the Annual Michigan DX Association's PSK 31/63 Death Match contest was on tap for this weekend.
Happy that Robin found me a contest, I quickly set up some macros and dad walked me through tuning up the radio, setting my power on the USB Signal Link, and testing our power output. Within mere minutes I was calling CQ PSK31/63 DeathMatch de AJ4JD. I worked 80 meters for quite a while using PSK 31. After almost 20 contacts, I jumped over to 40 and worked a handful there. After a few of no one coming back to me, I decided to check 20 but it was completely dead so back to 80 I went.
On 80 for the second time of the evening, I switched modes to PSK 63 and continued calling CQ. I picked up a few more contacts and a couple of those were previous contact from earlier on PSK 31. It was around 2:30 a.m. when I wasn't getting any more takers and I decided that I was done for the night. I had been run through and gave in.
It was definitely a fun evening, and I look forward to working more of the contest throughout the weekend. That's right, the Death Match runs all weekend so I have more of a chance to push up the totals. If I remember correctly, I've made around 35 contacts in 17 different states and one Canadian province.
Well it's late now and I must go recuperate from the evening's battle. So with that I will say 73 to all, good DX, and happy contesting.
AJ4JD - Tim
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
ARRL 10 Meter Contest
This coming weekend is ARRL's 10 meter contest. Ever since the November Sweepstakes I've been waiting for this one. There hasn't been any phone contests to speak of or at least that I've known about. Anyway, I've mentioned it to the XYL (AJ4IJ) and to Dad (KU4ME). I don't know if either one of them have any interest in working it but I sure do look forward to working it. I don't think I'll be any count but I will definitely have fun trying.
Anyway for those wandering, the contest runs from 0000 UTC Saturday; ends 2359 UTC Sunday (December 13 – 14, 2008). The only thing required for the exchange is ARRL/RAC Section (state or province) and signal report. For DX stations (including KH2, KP4, etc) transmit signal report and sequential serial number starting with 001. For Maritime Mobile stations send signal report and ITU Region (R1, R2 or R3).
To all the HAMs that will be working the contest good luck and catch ya on the band.
73 de AJ4JD
Tim
Anyway for those wandering, the contest runs from 0000 UTC Saturday; ends 2359 UTC Sunday (December 13 – 14, 2008). The only thing required for the exchange is ARRL/RAC Section (state or province) and signal report. For DX stations (including KH2, KP4, etc) transmit signal report and sequential serial number starting with 001. For Maritime Mobile stations send signal report and ITU Region (R1, R2 or R3).
To all the HAMs that will be working the contest good luck and catch ya on the band.
73 de AJ4JD
Tim
Sunday, September 14, 2008
5 Band Worked All States Update
Just thought I would give everyone an update on my WAS status. Below is an updated look at my progress as to the states I have confirmed and the bands they have been confirmed on.
On 20 meters I have the following states confirmed: Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia, Florida, North Carolina, Maryland, New Jersey, and Delaware.
On 40 meters I have the following states confirmed: Kansas.
I know what you are thinking, I've got a long way to go if I've only got 1 on 40 meters and nothing on any of the others. I've made some contacts on 80, a few on 40, maybe a couple on 10 if I remember correctly. I just haven't received QSL cards back from them and I don't use LOTW at this time. Anyway, Yes I've got a ways to go but things are looking good on 20 for now and I reckon I'll start on 40 and 80 with Winter approaching.
So that's all I've got for now. Until next time....
73 de AJ4JD
Tim
On 20 meters I have the following states confirmed: Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia, Florida, North Carolina, Maryland, New Jersey, and Delaware.
On 40 meters I have the following states confirmed: Kansas.
I know what you are thinking, I've got a long way to go if I've only got 1 on 40 meters and nothing on any of the others. I've made some contacts on 80, a few on 40, maybe a couple on 10 if I remember correctly. I just haven't received QSL cards back from them and I don't use LOTW at this time. Anyway, Yes I've got a ways to go but things are looking good on 20 for now and I reckon I'll start on 40 and 80 with Winter approaching.
So that's all I've got for now. Until next time....
73 de AJ4JD
Tim
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Stealing AJ4IJ's Idea and My New QSL Card
Robin's (AJ4IJ) most recent post was of her WAS progress. In it she included a nice visual map showing what states she has confirmed to date. I thought it was a nifty idea so I decided to do the same. However, I decided to take it a step further and show my 5 Band WAS progress. As you can see below I have no confirmation in any other bands except 20 Meters. I have worked some 10 Meters and just one 40 Meter contact, I just haven't received any confirmation yet.
AJ4JD's 5 Band WAS Progress
Click on the map for a larger version
AJ4JD's 5 Band WAS ProgressClick on the map for a larger version
I also thought I would let you all know that I now have a new QSL card. I have to thank Robin for it as she was the creative genius behind the design and creation. We had both thought of doing collage QSL cards in which we depicted the beauty of East Tennessee. I hope we have accomplished our goal. Let me know if we have. Look for us both on the air if you would like to receive our QSL cards. We both QSL 100% Direct and we do not expect SASE's. Unless it's a special event, we feel that no one HAM should have to pay all the postage for QSL exchanges.
My New QSL Card
Well that's all I've got for now. Good DX everyone. See you on the bands.
73 de AJ4JD
Tim
Well that's all I've got for now. Good DX everyone. See you on the bands.
73 de AJ4JD
Tim
Friday, June 6, 2008
Early Field Day Update
Well everyone, sorry I haven't updated in a few days. However, I promise to have something good this weekend. Right now we are just having our normal night owl QSO on the 145.470 repeater. It's about a nightly ritual now that lasts well until 2:30 am or more. If your ever in the area tune in a drop in.
Tomorrow we are going up to the field to have our early field day. We had to postpone last weekend due to weather and the fact that the field hadn't been cut. However, tomorrow we are going to take our home brewed ZS6BKV multi-band HF antenna. We will definitely be taking plenty of pictures so be sure to check back soon. We will be operating on Dad's (KU4ME) ICom 756 Pro HF Rig.
Well I don't have much more to say at the moment. I will let this rest for the moment and I will update after our adventures tomorrow.
73 de KJ4DLD
Tim
Tomorrow we are going up to the field to have our early field day. We had to postpone last weekend due to weather and the fact that the field hadn't been cut. However, tomorrow we are going to take our home brewed ZS6BKV multi-band HF antenna. We will definitely be taking plenty of pictures so be sure to check back soon. We will be operating on Dad's (KU4ME) ICom 756 Pro HF Rig.
Well I don't have much more to say at the moment. I will let this rest for the moment and I will update after our adventures tomorrow.
73 de KJ4DLD
Tim
Friday, May 30, 2008
Early Field Day Update
Well, we had planned on doing our field day this weekend however the threat of storms and the lack of preparation has led us to postpone until next weekend. With that being said, we started to make a pole to raise our dipole and will continue to make plans for next weekend. We just hope that the weather will hold up for us.
To further clarify, as I didn't mention it in the last post, the dipole we built is a ZS6BKV multi-band HF antenna. Of course as was mentioned in the last post we used an ugly choke on this to balance the twin lead to the coax.
Anyway, I don't have much more to add other than we've been keeping late hours on the local 145.470 repeater just outside of Knoxville, TN with various subjects of interesting conversation. Anyway, if your in the area, join us anytime.
73 de KJ4DLD
Tim
To further clarify, as I didn't mention it in the last post, the dipole we built is a ZS6BKV multi-band HF antenna. Of course as was mentioned in the last post we used an ugly choke on this to balance the twin lead to the coax.
Anyway, I don't have much more to add other than we've been keeping late hours on the local 145.470 repeater just outside of Knoxville, TN with various subjects of interesting conversation. Anyway, if your in the area, join us anytime.
73 de KJ4DLD
Tim
Monday, May 26, 2008
Field Day Antenna Building
So today we decided we would build a portable dipole to take to our Aunt Betty's field for an early field day next week since we were going to be on vacation during field day. We decided to build an Ugly Balun using two pieces of PVC fitting pipe in which we super glued together, then wound with our RG-8 coaxial cable which connects to the radio. The coax is connected to twin lead line that is 32 ft. in length. The dipole spans a total of 92'2". When we were completed with the antenna, we hooked it up to dad's HF rig, an ICOM IC-756 Pro. We were able to here some stations on a few bands which was a good thing as we built it to be a multi-band antenna. We made a couple test transmissions on 70, 20, and 10 meters without any issue.
Once we were done we wrapped everything up and stored it neatly so we can use come this next weekend. Anyway, that's all I have for now.
We will say 73.
Oh yeah, I forgot, I made my first HF contact on 10 meters this afternoon. I talked to K2WS, Alan in Long Island, NY. Anyway, Alan if you happen to read my blog, it was a pleasure talking to you this afternoon.
Tim
KJ4DLD
Once we were done we wrapped everything up and stored it neatly so we can use come this next weekend. Anyway, that's all I have for now.
We will say 73.
Oh yeah, I forgot, I made my first HF contact on 10 meters this afternoon. I talked to K2WS, Alan in Long Island, NY. Anyway, Alan if you happen to read my blog, it was a pleasure talking to you this afternoon.
Tim
KJ4DLD
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