AREN -

Updates on the Chile Earthquake are available here. Note that, there is much less focus on Emergency Communications than the reports for Haiti.  Most likely because the Chile government has been more involved in the needs assesment on the ground and defining their own requirements.

WSPRnet -

Good morning!
I completed the phase 5 of my G3020 kit. Hopefully I find so much time to build the next days as I did last week to get on the air with the G3020 soon. I would be interested to get some information fromt he ones of you that use G3020 og G40 which soundcard you use and which SDR software you prefer.
Thanks for your comments.
73 de DM1RG Gregor

SolderSmoke News - In London, Billy and I visited Faraday's workshop in the Royal Institution. Poor Michael set up shop in the servants' quarters in the basement. The shop is still down there (behind glass and well-preserved now). The painting above depicts Faraday at work in his shack.

On display was the very first electrical transformer. And guess what guys: It was a toroid! Here is a picture of it:

I found one of Faraday's drawings of the toroidal transformer and its windings. It looks a lot like the drawings of Doug DeMaw! I'll scan it and post it tomorrow. Off to work now.

N4EMG - We can thank our lucky stars, K1ASS made another appearance recently. This time he appeared on 20 meters and proceeded to block out VE2JCW for about 15 minutes. You can read about his previous exploits in an earlier entry I made here. It seems that the identity of K1ASS "might" be gleaned from the DX spotting information, although one should note that it certainly could be someone masquerading as that person.



I guess.
On the other hand, it might be safe to assume that there is some sort of link given the actions of some people and past history. Considering that this spot appeared and then K1ASS began his tirade on the air, then perhaps there's more than meets the eye. Not that the comment isn't enough.
It seems unbelievable that as many hams as there are in the US that there's a very small handful of clowns who constantly create such a ruckus. Since then, I've heard him (K1ASS) on twice, but both stays were either brief or maybe I only caught the "tailend" of his antics (bad pun). If it all boiled down to a couple of youngsters pulling a poorly conceived prank then it might be easier to understand. But since it's probably adults, it's hard to look the other way.
I wonder, what causes someone to get this far out of whack? Surely something awful must have happened in this guy's past to have caused him to act out so childishly. But if there's one thing that I've learned, there's no reasoning with people like this. Confrontation is pointless and simply fuels their fires. These guys are pros at what they do and whenever I've heard someone try and call them to task on the air, they eat them alive. They live for those moments.
Still, it's easy to understand how some people can lose their cool, despite their best efforts to let it go. If you listen too long you get drawn up into it, I guess. Clearly the best recommendation is to avoid it, tune away. But sometimes it's impossible because the station you really want to work is the one they're harassing and blocking.
Do you think we'd recognize these guys as "odd" if we were to see them out in public? Or would they just fit in with everyone else and they just turn into lunatics when they're on the air? I know this, I'd hate to have one as a neighbor.

W2LJ - Call it envy, call it wonder, call it what you will. I was listening to the local VHF repeater on the way home and was listening to a few guys discuss their latest plans to purchase new HF gear. And these guys weren't buying to replace boat anchors. These guys are replacing state-of-the-art radios they just bought a couple of years ago.

My question is ..... how do they do that?

I must truly be poor or overly frugal or something (cheap!); but in my 30+ year Ham career, I have never changed rigs like I change my socks, shirt or underwear. My K2 is going on six years old this year. I had my Icom IC-751A for a decade before I parted with it. Before that, I had my Heath SB-104A and an Icom IC-730 for over ten years. I will admit that I had my Novice gear for only a few years before I built the SB-104A.

I guess for some, a fun part of this hobby is to horse trade equipment. I guess that's just not my style. But I sure wouldn't mind if a K3 happened to fall off a UPS truck and landed in my lap! I'd never get rid of the K2, though. I made THAT mistake by selling the SB-104A and my HW-8. If I had to do that all over again, I wouldn't. In my experience, there's something regrettable about parting with a piece of equipment that you built with your own two hands. You have a history together.

Maybe I'm just corny and overly sentimental.

I sure wish I had the financial resources to even consider doing it, though!

72 de Larry W2LJ

KE9V -

Spring is coming and despite the promise of improving weather, I doubt too many of us will be celebrating the loss of an hour of sleep this weekend when we spring our clocks ahead. The charade that time can be changed twice each year by governmental decree has yet to be rejected by silly humans who seem to like this sort of time travel.

I was looking at the calendar today to find out when Easter weekend will be this year (April 4th). You have to do that because Easter is one of those moveable feast holidays and, excuse me, but the precise calculation is a little difficult to commit to memory.

According to the Wikipedia:

Easter is determined on the basis of lunisolar cycles. The lunar year consists of 30-day and 29-day lunar months, generally alternating, with anembolismic month added periodically to bring the lunar cycle into line with the solar cycle. In each solar year (January 1 to December 31), the lunar month beginning with an ecclesiastical new moon falling in the 29-day period from March 8 to April 5 inclusive is designated as the Paschal lunar month for that year. Easter is the 3rd Sunday in the Paschal lunar month, or, in other words, the Sunday after the Paschal lunar month’s 14th day. The 14th of the Paschal lunar month is designated by convention as the Paschal full moon, although the 14th of the lunar month may differ from the date of the astronomical full moon by up to two days. Since the ecclesiastical new moon falls on a date from March 8 to April 5 inclusive, the Paschal full moon (the 14th of that lunar month) must fall on a date from March 21 to April 18 inclusive.

Accordingly, Gregorian Easter can fall on 35 possible dates – between March 22 and April 25 inclusive. It last fell on March 22 in 1818, and will not do so again until 2285. It fell on March 23 in 2008, but will not do so again until 2160. Easter last fell on the latest possible date, April 25, in 1943 and will next fall on that date in 2038. However, it will fall on April 24, just one day before this latest possible date, in 2011. The cycle of Easter dates repeats after exactly 5,700,000 years, with April 19 being the most common date, happening 220,400 times or 3.9%, compared to the median for all dates of 189,525 times or 3.3%.

Yikes! And tough as that seems to deduce, just wait until one of your grandchildren ask you to explain how the Easter bunny and chocolate eggs are related to the crucifixion of Christ. I’d like to be a bug on the wall to hear you explain that one, but hey, I can at least share with you a little background…

The English word “Easter” and the German word, “Ostern”, come from the same root for “Eastre”.  The ancient word for spring was “eastre” and this was the name given to Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring. A festival was held in her honor every year at the vernal equinox.

The Easter Bunny and Egg myths begin with the Goddess Eastre feeling guilty about arriving late one spring and finding a poor bird whose wings had been frozen by the snow.

Eastre saved the life of bird and made him her pet. Filled with compassion for him since he could no longer fly, Eastre turned him into a snow hare, named him Lepus, and gave him the gift of being able to run with incredible speed so he could protect himself from hunters.

In remembrance of his earlier form as a bird, she also gave him the ability to lay eggs in all the colors of the rainbow, but only on one day out of each year.

But we all know that’s just a silly fable taken from a book written so long ago that those who penned it were completely clueless about the physical world and prone to just making stuff up in order to try and make some sense of it all.

Right?

DX World of Ham Radio - Three members of the SEDXC and K5D-Desecheo team…Bob, K4UEE, Gregg, W6IZT and George, N4GRN will be on the Island of Saba (NA-145) from March 11-15 operating PJ6/home call. The purpose is to finalize plans and begin building a station for the anticipated political realignment in the Netherlands Antilles later this year. QSL via H/C’s. Bob-K4UEE

W8TN - After I discovered last Friday that the vertical portion of the 160-M Inverted-L was broken off at the feed point, The Archer, Charlie, N8RR, volunteered to bring his trusty bow and weighted arrow to my QTH and fire a line over one of my trees to erect a NEW Top Band antenna. I then gathered up all the materials last night and this morning Charlie showed up followed by the DX Hunter, Tim, KC8UHE. The three of us managed to make it down the hill without incident and in less than 80 minutes, we were done! Charlie fired his arrow perfectly over the nearest tall tree at such an angle that it not only cleared that tree but one further along and the arrow then fell all the way to the ground. That meant the vertical portion of the Inverted-L would rise almost straight up and then be horizontal at the top - a near textbook installation.

Charlie had fishing line attached to the arrow which he removed and attached to some light line. The fishing line was reeled in and the end of the light line was attached to a piece of Dacron antenna support rope. That was pulled up and over the trees and then it was used to pull up the end of the Inverted-L. Tim and I had cut a 135-foot length of No. 14 stranded copper cable for the antenna. I decided to cut it for 135-feet even though I thought it would end up at 130-feet after trimming the antenna to resonance. I just wanted to make sure I had enough wire in the air before tuning it. Charlie said he thought the antenna should be 130-feet (just what I thought!) and he suggested we go ahead and shorten it by wrapping the last 5-feet back on the end of the antenna. We did that.

I then attached the MFJ-259 antenna analyzer to the feed point and WOOF! - it was resonant at 1.809 MHz. Good enough for government work. Tim then used my chain saw to remove a couple of trees, one of which had fallen on the North set of guy wires. We then gathered up our tools and came topside to check out the antenna with the N8LP Digital Vector RF Wattmeter. You can see the result of that sweep on the Left (click on the photo for a larger image.) The antenna (as measured in the shack) is 1.34:1 at 1.800 MHz, 1.28:1 at 1.820 MHz, 1.57:1 at 1.840 MHz. and 2.0:1 at 1.862 MHz. If I recall correctly, this is even better than the previous Inverted-L.

As we were pulling up the wire, when the insulator on the end of the wire transitioned from vertical to horizontal at the top of the first tree, Tim and I estimated that we only had about 30-feet of wire left. That should mean that close to 100-feet of the antenna is vertical. Boy, oh boy! I can hardly wait for SV5 to show up tonight! He's MINE!

Thanks again to The Archer and the DX Hunter for their fabulous help. I'm really excited about being back on Top Band, if only for the very end of the season.

K6RJ -

This contest was a lot of fun.  I ran the whole time using the new Yaesu FT-450.  I must say it performed quite well.  The receiver is much quieter than the Alinco DX-70 it replaced and the IF DSP functions really helped separate out the weak signals.  All in all, I am quite impressed with it!   I was disappointed that I couldn’t keep my hands free by using my headset.   I had made an adapter for my Heil BM-10 headset but was disappointed to have some AC hum on the audio.  That sent me back to the hand mic thus slowing my logging and QSO rate.

The propagation was definitely better than recent years.  Lots of good activity into Europe on 40, 20 and 15 meters.  I made only a few Qs on 10m and 80m.  As usual, I only operated about 1/3 of the contest but still managed a couple hundred QSOs.  Below is the QSOMap plot of my QSOs.

Click for larger image

K9OZ - I had experimented with PowerSDR/IFStage software last year with the K3, but the old version didn't support a 64-bit computer, which I'm running. So I let it alone for a few months and checked the web site Sunday and there is a new version, 1.19.3.4, that supports the bigger computer, so I downloaded it. As with all software upgrades, it didn't work right at first, but that's half the fun of this stuff. I soon figured out I'd have up upgrade the LP Bridge software as well, and after I did that, it still didn't work. Then came an hour of trying different combinations, and looking carefully at all the setup fields, and suddenly, I saw the problem. I checked the right box, and it works great. The PowerSDR, combined with the LP-Pan Panadapter, gives me a nice panadapter and computer. Here's a short video of it in action.

DX World of Ham Radio - Following info is displayed on the MM0RAI website: While we were obtaining our Rockall expedition in May last year, time stood still and we did nothing. We had put a lot of energy in the previous expedition and we all had a busy life, so the expedition was losing intrest. If you thought that we had [...]

KA3DRR - How did the titans of RadioSport in the 70s score inside the Box or achieve a world record score without our modern version of spotting networks? How did they manage without the availability of today's technology such as software controlled radios, switching boxes for single operator 2 radios, or CW Skimmer capable computers?

Perhaps, hours and hours, of skill development in front of the radio, continually improving antenna systems, melting solder on the workbench, and listening to the airwaves for nearly the same amount of time.

Spotting Networks.
Brockman and Cox (1979) stated, "All of a sudden the adrenaline is flowing. The eyes are now bright and intense. In a flash our hero has his VFO zeroed in on the prize. There, on 40 CW, is zone 23! But who? Not to be denied, our hero plunges in with his call. As he comes up for air, he hears the prize once more. JT1AN." (p 43)

Today, the art of listening before taking on the flash swarm generated by spotting networks, is in need of serious re-purposing. The proliferation of junk data is reaching epic proportions as described in various RadioSport reflectors. The utility of the networks, at least in my estimation, is in slow decline. One that, if, left on its own in its present configuration, may harm Box scores and world record attempts.

In 1978, OH2BH piloted CT3BZ in the Madeira Islands, to a new single operator all band world record held only for a year by Dick Norton, N6AA who operated 9Y4AA. Additionally, according to Brockman and Cox, for the first time ever a single band entrant broke the one million point barrier (1979). Jorge, LU8DQ accomplished the impossible.

It was a tremendous year for those seeking world or continental records.

599 Never Dies.
Are we still having this conversation? Apparently, we are, because in 1978 many operators according to the article lobbied the committee asking them to jettison the report. It was suggested that the committee would look into the matter.

RadioSport Ethics.
Computerized logging begins its slow march toward dominating RadioSport. However, in its infancy, an alphabetized cross check reference list was required. Padded logging plagued log checkers then like the unsavory method of rubber clocking in the 21st Century.

On the other hand, one entrant miscopied JA callsigns to the tune of 20 percent of the log total, according to Brockman and Cox (1979); it was unacceptable. The voice of history suggested everyone concentrate on accuracy and not as much on speed.

Conclusion.
They managed to compete and win without the aid of flash swarms generated by spotting networks. Perhaps, back in the day, data traveled slowly weaving itself through VHF/UHF links while a team of spotters carefully listened on high frequency. One's reputation was on the line while waiting for an opportunity in the pilot's seat.

I'm convinced a new spotting platform is needed for the longevity of the sport. One that will correct errant oft times malicious data which may lead to irreparable damage when chasing a world or continental score.

My take away in a sport that cherishes speed is one can be accurate and speedy however accuracy trumps speed ever time.

Lastly, will we ever retire 599?

73 from the shackadelic on the beach.

Reference: Brockman, L. N6AR, Cox, B. K3EST (October, 1979). CQ Magazine: 1978 CQ World Wide DX Contest: C.W. Results. pp. 43 - 53.

G3XBM - Nick G4IKZ has just sent me this link to G0SXC's QRZ.com page showing his massive yagi for 28MHz. It has a boom length of 78 feet and a gain of 13.1dBd. Remember that each element is about 16 feet long, so you get an idea what a monster this is. I bet his neighbours must love him! This also explains why Kevin is such a consistent signal in East Anglia some 200 miles away.

NQ3X -

That is all.

G4ILO - I didn't plan to produce a schematic of the Nano-40, the tiny 40m CW transceiver I built based on Roger G3XBM's 80m XBM80-2 design as modified by Alan VK2ZAY as I don't claim any originality for the circuit. I provided the original sources and discussed the changes I made to the circuit and thought that other builders would follow the same path.

But it seems that if I don't provide a circuit diagram then I am going to keep on being asked for one. So I have patched a copy of the circuit diagram produced by Alan to show what I ended up with. I hope that will keep everyone happy.

G4ILO - A few weeks ago fellow blogger Dominic M1KTA wrote that he was selling off some unwanted projects from his shack, including some unbuilt or part-completed kits. A little while ago he wrote: "I have decided to stop selling off project builds now and I am keeping hold of everything until a rally when I can sell them in person as I have had a complete nightmare after selling one of the projects over the internet to someone I believed was capable of finishing it and has demanded I rebuild and re-align it after they hacked about with it themselves to the point where it no longer functions, they melted the pcb connectors and filed away part of the pcb and at least one track in the process to attempt to squeeze it into a box that was too small and demanded a paypal refund. I am never again selling a 'built' project over the internet it is too risky for me."

I have bought things before, either at rallies (hamfests) or from ads in RadCom, that were found not to work and sometimes revealed some astonishingly ham-fisted handiwork inside. The purpose of some modifications defied understanding. I either fixed them myself or wrote it off to experience.

The idea that someone could buy an unfinished kit and then try to make the seller liable for their inability to complete it just beggars belief. It seems some members of this hobby have no shame and no pride.

I told Dom he should publish the callsign of this so-called amateur as a warning to other sellers to steer clear. I know I would.

G3XBM - Been on 10m this morning using WSPR at 2W. During the last hour  the 5W signal of G3JKV near Dorking has been received several times at a distance of 123kms. Although there's some aircraft scatter visible on the signal, I think this is mainly tropo propagation.

KC2SPY -

This week’s tech tip is for those of us who are a little… absent-minded sometimes, like myself! How many times have you left your thumb drive plugged into the computer you were working on, walked away, and forgot about? A bunch? None? Well… I don’t care, you want this program anyways. PendriveReminder (click to download) is a little program that reminds you every once in a while to unplug your thumb drive, and you can set it to auto-run when you plug your thumb drive into the computer. Just download it, put it on your thumb drive, run it, and click the “Auto Run” button so that it starts when you plug in your thumb drive.

WA3FKG - I haven't watched the Oscar awards on television for several years now despite that fact that I have always been an avid movie fan. In recent years Hollywood has forgotten how to make good movies. I worked for a theater owner who used to tell me that if Hollywood made good movies people would come to the theater to see them. Long before "Field of Dreams" was produced Joe knew that "if you build it they will come".
I feel that Hollywood has lost touch with their audience especially when it comes to what is fit to put on the big screen. There have been some great movies come out of tinsel town in recent years and not all of them were rated G. We have however come a long way from the days when Clark Gable paid a hefty fine, actually the studio payed it for him, for saying the word "dam" at the end of "Gone With The Wind". It used to be that using a four letter word starting with F would get a film an R rating while now days it barley rates a PG-13. This despite in some cases it is used in every other sentence in the script.
I don't live in a fantasy world and I know those words are used everyday. I have even uttered a few of them myself on occasion. I do however try my best not to use them even when I'm angry and I really see no reason that they have to be incorporated in a part of our culture that is labeled "entertainment". It is just not necessary. Likewise it seems that whatever the cause celeb happens to be this year that Hollywood seems to have to make it the center piece of their efforts at Oscar time. Whatever the message is be it anti war, gay rights, perceived government corruption in foreign policy and the list goes on. Much like the crowd in Washington DC the makers of movies have come to believe that their little worlds in the inner circles of New York and Los Angeles are not only what real life is like but that it is the way the rest of the country views it.
I have been a big fan of movies since I was a teenager and have sat through some real stinkers when it comes to feature length films. I had never gotten up and walked out on a film though until I went to see "Natural Born Killers". I went to see it because it had an excellent cast and the "buzz" was that it was going to be an outstanding film. I had never in my life seen such a waist of time, talent and film in my life. This was in 1994 and I have to say that things have not improved a lot since then.
That is why I was surprised that "The Blind Side" got a nomination this year for best picture of the year even though it didn't win. It also brought a nomination for Sandra Bullock in the best actress category for which she did take home the statue. The reason I was surprised was that this film doesn't fit in with how I think Hollywood looks at our society. It also portrays religion in a favorable light something that is extremely rare these days. Linda and I went to see this movie several weeks ago and I wrote a review of it here on the blog. You can read it here THE BLIND SIDE if you like.
I'm not sure if the terrible economy has gotten the attention of those producing films to rethink their product or if the changing technology is making them think that if they don't amend their ways that they could find themselves in the position of the recording industry in a few years. What I do know is that movies like The Blind Side offer a glimmer of hope that they can produce movies that tell a story, entertain the public and while doing so and make them buckets full of money along the way.
I don't expect every movie to be one that you could take a ten year old too. There is a place for movies geared to an adult audience in the film industry. Even those however don't have to go out of their way to shock the senses of the audience to draw them into the theater. It is my sincere hope that the industry is waking up to this fact and will continue to make more movies like The Blind Side.

IW5EDI -

After a long research on antenna makers websites I’ve produced a quick reference chart to compare most popular HF multiband vertical antennas.

This table will help me on choosing my next vertical antenna.

Populatrity of antennas has been decided by visiting eham reviews, qrz.com forums, and other local ham radio communities.

Price comparison has been done by quering eruopean dealers, and asking for better quotations without considering delivery costs but including VAT where needed.

Attached to this post you will find a PDF file with the full technical comparison.

Links to official web sites:

• Cushcraft R8
• Hy-Gain AV640
• Butternut HF6V
• Gap Titan
• Eco 7+

Download my  Vertical Antenna Comparison Chart