Its still Wednesday…

And we are still on the go…  Its been a busy day…

The great Canadian KX3 vs FT 817 Shoot out was cancelled due to cold… 

The temps were supposed to be around 0 dec C and when we were getting ready to depart for the park the temps were -5 with a -8 deg C with the windchill and it was a damp cold…  Both VA3PCJ and myself decided we would hold off for another day to test the rigs in a heads up competition.

We will wait for another day to test out the rigs with the Par and the Alex Loop

Right now Trisha and myself are getting ready to leave for the OARC Meeting and we will be bringing my TAK TENNA out with us.  Chris VA3CME is going to give it a test on his balcony and see if it suits his needs… Should confuse the neighbors because it sure don’t look like an antenna…

Will let you know later how Trisha and I did on trivia nite at the OARC

Feedline it is….

Well I went outside and tarped up the electric Vespa in preparation for the snow and Freezing Rain that has been predicted for our area…

This….

… Is heading towards Ottawa

While I was out there I swapped out the 25 foot run of RG8 coax that was suspect with me for a slightly longer run of RG8X coax that I had used previously…

Findings so far:

10m- loads up using the built in tuner in my FT 450 and I have made contacts

12m- loads up and hearing stations but no contacts yet

15m- loads up and hearing stations but no contacts yet

17m- loads up and hearing stations but no contacts yet

20m- loads up and I have made contacts

40m- loads up and I have made contacts

80m- will not load up without the external tuner (no real change from before I started)

So far I would concider this to be a success.  I was able to return to the same good results before I started swapping the COAX in the first place.

But… I still need to replace my LDG z100 Autotuner (above) (the one I should not of sold)…

and after careful searching the WWW I have decided upon the LDG AT100 pro2 tuner…

Its good for up to 125w and my FT 450 has a maximum output of 100w so all is good there and the tuner also has 2 antenna inputs which is would be for the S9 Vertical and the W3EDP giving me a easily switched antenna system (horozontal or vertical) as needed.  Simple and it works for me…

However as I have “issues” with ordering on line from anywhere and although its not the fault of the Radio Retailers I tend to have bad luck with whoever they chose to deliver it…  No matter if its the Postal Service or any of the Large top notch courier companies it seems that whatever I have delivered seems to be well traveled before I get it….  I know its well travelled because their on line tracking system tells me where my parcel is…. Not at my place…

Last time it happened my FT 450 spent more time in Ottawa than it did in transit from London to Ottawa….  Overnight from London to Ottawa and then it got lost in Ottawa for a few days…  The same thing happened with a shipment of baluns from Toronto….  More time spent lost in Ottawa than in inter city transit….  The couriers are no any better with my first FT857 coming to Ottawa from the Dealer in Toronto ending up making 3 round trips between Toronto and Ottawa before it found its way to my door…  It was returned twice as refused when I was staying at home to wait for the courier because I wanted my new toy…

So now…. There is no way I am going to order anything on line and trust it to any shipping company just before Christmas which is the busiest time of the year…  I trust the Radio Dealers….  I don’t have any faith in the shipping companies….  mail or courier…  Delays are Delays…    Early in the New Year I’ll order one (perhaps some other stuff as well figuring that a big box is harder to lose)  and have it shipped once the rush has subsided…

In the meantime I’m still on the air so life is good…

73bob

Fix it now so you can use it later

There is an age old saying….

“If it ain’t broke don’t fix it….”

However when it come to radio work especially antennas there is nothing to stop you from checking everything over before the snow falls and the temps drop because its much easier to work on re soldering things and running new feed lines and cleaning connections now before you need to work with gloves on… 

Would you like to check the connections on this array at -20c?

So if you have antennas out doors and your areas are subject to freezing temps then really think about checking everything that can break…  BEFORE… it does break…  Thing about your support lines for dipoles….. are your coax connections outdoors still watertight????  How are your grounds????

An afternoon of checking stuff now can give you a winter of fun operating from the warmth of the shack…

Hope it works out for you

73bob

Words that come back to haunt you…

Every now and again we all say something we regret…  Sometimes not in a nasty way… or in a funny way…  but it seems like the right way at the time but afterwards it seems rather Ironic…

Heres an example…

On Saturday July 21st before I left for Dale Park for the CQ WW VHF Contest I said the following:

In addition to the portable radio gear I had to find a way to get the 3 element 2m beam and the 6m delta loop (with its 6 foot boom) safely attached to the Vespa for the trip.

Note to self:  Re engineer the delta loop boom to break down to a more workable length for travelling!!!

However a short couple of hours later when my Push up masting decided to collapse bringing the 6m delta loop down quickly and when the masting finished collasping the downward momentum suddenly stopping caused the bamboo boom to snap in two places (either side of where the boom was attached to the mast…

I wanted to re work the style of the boom and gravity takes care of that for me…  Hows that for Ironic????

I tried for a quick fix on Saturday night and Sunday AM so I could get back into the contest but had no luck….  The contest was over for me….

I’m thinking of using my hamstick dipole mount that I use on 80m at times and just adding a pair of 6m hamsticks and be done with it…  For the few times I need to make 6m contacts I think that will work just fine and if I can’t work them with a dipole than I guess I just can’t work them…

Now I should ask…  Has anyone got anything good or bad to say about the idea of a 6m hamstick dipole…  I could just make a dipole out of two 54 inch lengths of copper pipe (which I have in stock) but I’m just thinking out loud at this time so…  if you have any experience or ideas…  lets hear it…

73bob

 

Looking at a Loop

Just in case the bands ever cooperate and decide to work with us again ….

Surfing around the WWW (bands were not up for talking) I found this site.   And on the site was some easy to follow plans (and more importantly a parts list for a 15m-40m magnetic loop…

After doing a quick inventory of the “ Junk Box” I find that I have all the necessary parts )with the exception of the 250pF single gang variable capacitor with reduction drive) in stock.  I even have a plastic case that could work depending on the physical size of the capacitor that I find so…   Lets see…  low cost for parts… easy to assemble…  and it will give me coverage on 5 bands (15-17-20-30-40) in a portable environment…

Looks like a no brainer for me…  The hunt for the remaining parts will start shortly and I hope to get it on the air before the snow falls (mid November)…

There will be more on this as the project continues…  First of all I need the capacitor and the enclosure…

73bob

 

Testing of the 6m Delta Loop

First of all if your looking for Scientific Testing….  sorry keep on looking…

Today would be more operational testing using my Yaesu FT 897 with the home made 6m delta loop and comparing it with my FT450 and the S9 43 foot vertical.  Both Antennas are using the same tree in my back yard for support so its about as close as I can make it for this unscientific test…

The above picture is not my actual setup.  I just found a picture that best shows what my loop looks like.  I am using a bamboo boom and the loop is top center fed.  I normally support it with a 17 foot crappie pole.  The pole used to be 20 feet but at one time the antenna I was trying to raise was a bit heavier than I though so….

The above is more of what my loop looks like…  just imagine it suspended off the bamboo boom in a fashion alike the upper picture and you have it…  Its not pretty but its lightweight and it works…  I am using it at home this weekend for my VHF Station in the RAC Canada Day Contest but other than that the next time it sees RF will be when I take it to the great outdoors with some altitude and attitude.  This would mean a SOTA style activation with my FT 817…

Right now I am hear KZ4RR call CQ DX Europe on 50.170 (1308 utc) and he has a booming S2 signal but a fantastic  clear crisp audio.  I am hearing him on the Delta Loop which is aimed west and he is south of me…

I can’t hear him on the Vertical but I can hear bursts of static on the 450 when I hear him talking on the FT 897…

So IMHO the home brewed Delta loop is working better than the vertical… I have made some local contacts on 6m but yet have to make a contact outside of FN25 with it…  Perhaps if I am lucky this weekend in the RAC Canada Day Contest could be the time but I know its more than a dummy load and how much more is yet to be determined.

73bob

Lessons learned… and the weekend

Well I got home this am after spending the last couple of days doing antenna work up at Doug’s (VE3DLJ) Trailer at White Lake Ontario…  Things went really well and we managed to get his 2m JPole at the top of a 30 foot telescopic mast and no one fell off the ladder.  As I was at the top of the ladder this was a really good thing…  Not much else to say about this except its working…  He has his choice of a couple of Ottawa Area Repeaters,  a couple of repeaters up the Ottawa Valley and a few repeaters down towards the Kingston Area.  Without looking at exact distances going by the repeaters covereages as compared to White Lake he is looking at approx a 100 mile radius  from his trailer for reliable 2m communications…

Now on to the Lessons learned…

I learned that when packing my FT 817 back into its carry bag I really should remove the 12v barrel plug from the back of the radio before I put it in the bag.  I actually knew that before but I guess I forgot and so the  pressure on the barrel plug must of in turn put pressure on the plug receptiple on the radio which put pressure on the board and now my radio has to go visit the doctor to get the ground side of the plug re attached to the circuit board…  I might even take the cover off the radio and try it myself depending on how much room I have to work with once its opened up.  If its too tight lets leave it to the pros…

Now on to the weekend…

This Saturday I will be assisting with the operations of Special Event Station VX3W which will be operating from Fort Wellington in Prescott Ontario.  This Special Event Station will be celebrating the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812.  For more into on this please visit the Manotick Amateur Radio Group website.

I was planning to take my FT817 but now I think I am looking at the FT897 for the trip. (see my above comments on my FT 817)  I will be taking a homebrewed clone of the popular S9 31′ vertical which will give me coverage on 6m to 40m.  I have had exceptional results with my 43 foot version at home so I am hoping for the same good stuff with the 31 foot homebrewed version.  I guess the logs will let me know if it worked or not.  More on this Saturday evening when we get back….

For those of you who are looking to work a special event station…  We will be operating between 10m and 40m SSB and maybe digital from around 9am EDST and 4pm EDST with frequencies to be dependant on band conditions…  If you hear us please spot us on the clusters… and I hope to get lots of you in the log…

The rest of this Canadian Long Weekend will be spent close to home wondering what toys the Ottawa Group will be bringing back from Dayton…

73bob

 

Wednesday in Ottawa brings…

If you can believe the Weather Prediction Types at the Weather Network  it looks like this afternoon could be the only decent time to play in a park between now and the weekend…  The people at TWN seen to do a good job of reading the data they get from Environment Canada and letting us know…  And when I pack up a bunch of radio gear and head out to play radio I hate to do it in the rain or even worse a Thunderstorm so I do appreciate what they do and their percentage of accuracy is also appreciated…

So like I said…  with today looking like the only good day I’m gonna get between now and Saturday…  (and on Sunday I am helping out with communications on a public service event)  … this afternoon is looking really good…

The current plan is to take out the FT817/LDG QRP Autotuner combo along with the Par End Fed QRP Multi Band antenna to one of the local parks and flood the atmosphere with RF…  Not really looking for rare dx but more enjoy the fresh air…  Check into a couple of HF nets, call CQ for a while and also answer a few cqs…  This means that I will be active somewhere between 10m and 40m.

The Par is good without a tuner on 10m, 20m and 40m as the manufacturer claims (and they are right) but with my LDG QRP auto tuner I can also manage a flat SWR on 12m, 15m and 17m (and I have made contacts on those bands) so if you bother with a tuner you have an excellent 10 to 40m antenna that is easily deployed…

As I will be heading to a location (not sure which one yet) that I have operated before the Par will be the only HF antenna I will be taking today…  If I was going out to a new location I would also take my Buddistick Deluxe antenna system with me so if the trees were not cooperating then I could get a signal out with the vertical.  The two antennas really are a good combo for any radio pack and they are not that heavy but very versatile…

Remember that I always want to spend more time on the air than what I spend trying to get on the air… 

And after all these years I think my gear choices show it…  In most cases I can be set up and on the air within 5 minutes of arriving at whatever location I wish to operate from and that is the goal…  Less time setting up equals more time on the air.

So where can you find me on the air today???  Normally I will follow the following pattern…  After setting up I will try checking into a couple of 20m nets…  Listening to who is checking and where they are along with where the NCS is lets me know how tha band is looking today…  The Maritime Mobile Service Network on 14,300 has proven that they have great Net Controlers who have the gear and the capabilities to hear a QRP signal.  Nothing more frustrating than not being able to be heard but coming from a noisy environment I totally understand why some people can’t hear a QRP’er…

After the MMSN I will normally jump over to 40m and try for the ECARS Net or the MIDCARS Net.  ECARS is on 7.255 and MIDCARS is on 7.258 and in most cases are within my range of communications with the FT817 at 5W.  Some days its harder than others depending on the pile ups to check in…  Both nets have a great bunch of amateurs participating and also providing a service to the amateur community.

I try to check in to the Trans Provincal Net a couple of times during the afternoon as I sometimes take a hour slot in the NCS Chair.  They can be found down on 7.055 which is in the Voice portion of the Canadian 40m Band Plan.  The net runs daily from 7am to 5pm and with different a NCS every hours.  Some times there are gaps in the service so from around 10am to 5pm would be a better set of times to try as the bands are not usually short enough  before 10am but you never know…

So the rest of the time you will find me answering CQs or call CQ  depending on how the band conditions are that day…  Good or bad as long as the WX is cooperating its a great day in the park operating as a “Picnic Table Portable”…

—

73bob

Playing in Weston Park (Day 2)

It was a bit of late start this am….  The fog finally burned up at 0830 and I left the house at 0845 (EDST) and walked over to Weston Park.  Same radio gear as yesterday but the Par end Fed was left at home and my homebrewed W3EDP antenna came out for some fresh air…

Although there seem to be many diffierent variations of the W3EDP the main part is a 84 foot radiator and a 17 foot counterpoise joined by a 4:1 balun.  This configuration will work on 10m to 160m if you use a good tuner with it.  I have had exceptional luck with the LDG Brand of Auto tuners and I think they could load up wet string if they had to…  I have had very good luck with the following design of W3EDP.  I run the 17 foot counterpoise beside the 84 foot radiator as if it was ladder line.  This in effect gives you an 84 foot end fed long wire and this makes it very easy to set up and very veresatile to deploy in the field…

Ignore the timewave ANC4, LDG and FT847 and think of a FT817 with the LDG QRP Autotuner instead 

I have made this antenna with  84 feet of 300 ohm twin lead with a notch cut on one side after 17 feet,  I have used 17 feet of 450 ohm ladder line then added 67 feet of insulated automotive wire on one side and I have also just run the 17 foot counterpoise paraell to the radiator and kept them seperated with spreaders which gave it the effect of home brewed ladder feed line…  All three have worked well for me and I find using the 300 ohm twin lead model the easiest to build and deploy but thats just my choice…

I got the antenna set up in a sloper configuration  running from the south east at about 30 feet to the park bench I was sitting on at about 3 feet above ground.  The LDG 4:1 balun was being fed by a 5 foot long RG8X cable.

As I mentioned earlier it is versatile.  It has the same features of a dipole if you run it at hight.  If you keep it lower it acts like a NVIS antenna and if you run it as a sloper then it is slightly directional…  3 antenna all in one package…  Plus the ease to deploy as its an end fed…

At 0915 I got on the air and made my first contact (of a few) on 80m.  I started out on 3.768 and checked with Paul VA3PC who is the Net Control Station of the North Bay Net.  I got there just before the net closed but I did get some expected signal reports fro the net participants…  Signal a bit lower than usual (not at home with 100e) but the audio was good.  As any QRP operator will tell you if they can hear you …  That s the important thing…

At 0930 I slipped down to 3.755 and joined the ONTARS Net.  The NCS was VE3HA Gord who lives in Oro Ontario.  Without looking at Googlemaps let me remind you thats in the Barrie Ontario.  I had a couple of minute chat with Gord and then also with Cliff VA3CAF from Trenton Ontario who was one of the net participatnts…

There is a local net here in Ottawa on 80m on 3.760 and I wanted to check into that and say hi to the locals…  The net started at 10am and VE3EJJ Ernie was the NCS Station…  He was a solid S9 to my location and he gave me a good report as well.  Other Ottawa participants were VE3GX Ed, Glenn VE3XRA, VE3NPO and Norm VE3LC.  Good reports were exchanged with these stations with Ed and Glenn living within 3kms of the park I was operating from.  Other participant were Mike VA3TJP from Braeside Ontario and K2JAF Jim from Utica NY.  Jim was a little light with me and he never did give me a report so…Did he even hear me???

Anyway around 1045 things closed up and it was time to pack up and head home…  The park was starting to get other people in it and part of my sloper was in an area that could impede traffic as people were walking around…  It was not a problems at 930 but at 1030 it could start to be one…  Before I left I spun the dial and checked the other bands…  10m to 20m seemed fairly poor to me and I did hear some activity on 40m but there were not calling CQ or calling for check ins so I let them continue with their conversations and just packed up…

You might call todays event more of a COMMS exercise as I managed contacts all around North Eastern Ontario and it was all on 80m…  It was also fun…  If the WX guess for tomorrow is accurate then I’ll be back in the park with the PAR trying for some DX in the early afternoon

73bob

Antenna survives first storm

This morning I looked into my back yard and saw a few branches on the ground that should not of been there but I saw no signs of the top part of the s9 43 foot vertical which means that it survived the first freezing rain storm of the year… 

This is a good thing…

Yesterday was the first real “Weather Test”  for the antenna and it passed with no problems…. 

Everything about this antenna seems to please me…  especially its performance on the HF bands

73bob