Changes bring results…

The last week for me (Radio Wise) has just been fantastic.  If you follow this blog you know that I have sold off some old toys (FT847 and FT857) and gotten some new toys (FT450at) and lost an antenna (W3EDP) and recently gained a new antenna (S9 43foot vertical).

Above Yaesu FT847

Above Yaesu FT450

Well in the last week I have managed to bring the new toys (radio and antenna) together and to be honest they are working fantastic (for me at least)  In the years I have been living here although I have always been on the air I have had problems with electrical noise and the fact that my antennas had to be stealthy which normally means a compromise.  My signals were always good enough for talking within 500 miles of home on 40m and 80m and my idea of DX was working North America and parts of Europe.  I’m not complaining (much) and I was having fun…

Now the combination of the FT450 and the S9 Vertical comes into play and it has changed the game completely.  The advanced filtering of the FT450 as compared to my FT847 or my FT897 for that matter is the difference between night and day at my home QTH.  Before it was easy to brag that “If I can hear them I can work them” as I only could hear strong stations…  The difference between the Vertical and hidden wires seem to make signal find my transciever much easier as well.

Above FT897

Now I find myself hearing distant stations that I could not hear before and strangely now I can work them as well.  In the last week more DX has found its way into my log than in the last year.  Honest signal reports like 5 x5 and 5 x 7 are now replacing the 5 x 9 (and what was your call again?) .  I am finding it a lot harder to work them after I hear them now as I finally have to compete with pileups…  If I’m getting the station at 5 x 5 then I have to assume that my signal will be close if not lower than that so I have to work to make the contacts but with the help of the S9 they seem to be hearing me…

Part of my new found success has to be given to the improving band conditions as I am hear and working more when I take my QRP Rig out to the local parks ( see previous posts) but…  I am hearing more…  I can filter out my local noise… and I am making more contacts on all bands…

What I did at my station might not work for you but it sure is working for me…

73bob

 

Top 10 Search engine results

One of the best features of WordPress in my opinion is the way it collects stats for the blog operator.  It gives me the most popular posts, the least popular posts, along with what you entered in the search engine (Google/Yahoo etc) that caused you to come here…

You might remember me mentioning this when I said that the recent RAC problems were not a big draw…  Not a popular topic by a long shot…

Here are the top 10 Search engine terms used to find my blog …

YAESU FT 5000	13481
YAESU FT 847	4818
VA3QV	2562
CANADA DAY	2552
YAESU FT 350	2333
YAESU VX8- ANY MODEL	2296
YAESU FT 817	1827
TAK TENNA	997
W3EDP	803
YAESU FT 450	555

Isn’t technology wonderful???

FIRST PLACE

——

2nd Place and my personal favourite

—————–

3rd place- but my wifes Personal Favourite

————–

Now to be fair the top 10 list is about what I talk about.  You won’t see any other radios making it into the top 10 here as I operate Yaesu Radios…  As you know I have the FT 847, FT 897 with a FC40, FT817, FT 2400,  VX8GR and the FT 60.  I tend for the most part to talk about things I know about… (some of you may not agree) so as I operate Yaesu I talk about Yaesu…

I have mentioned other brands such as the Kenwoods APRS Line (700s and 710s) and I really like the DSTAR idea but have not bought one yet…

Its not that Yaesu is the best radio…  It is in my opinion but I do respect your opinions…  its that I operate Yaesu…

I’ll continue working on the stats and one day will give you a list of the top 10 all time posts and lets see if you agree with the masses…

73bob

The weekend updates

Something about the best laid plans of mice and men … but this last weekend we should include “hams” as well but it still was a great weekend… It started off on Friday afternoon when I slipped coming down the stairs avoiding the *&%^$%%^&^&*^!!! (gosh darn) cat… It was one of those things that I was able to stop myself from falling but probally would of done less damage if I had let myself fall those last couple of steps…

The bottom (of the stairs) line that I “twisted” my left knee and it was more than a bit tender… To be honest I aggrivated an old football injury ( I fell off a bar stool watching the Superbowl back in 1985) and no real harm was done but limping was the order of the day…

The real downside to this was that I had NO intentions of lugging any portable VHF Gear from the parking lot to the operating location at the Champlain Lookout so I had to “bail” on Patrick VA3CMD on our plans to operate on Saturday for the VHF Contest. 

Instead I hobbled down to the shack and managed to give out some rare contacts (FN25) and had a lot of fun as the 6m band was open so contacts were made into W4 Land with no problems using my rotatable dipole aimed south west with the 100w of the FT 847. 

In a non radio item… Saturday evening was spent putting together an ” EASY TO ASSEMBLE” Propane BBQ that Liz brought home on Saturday afternoon.  This was a first for me…  It actually was easy to assemble, they included the one screwdriver and the two wrenches needed to build the darn thing and there were NO PARTS leftover when we finished.  Once completed it also passed the “smoke test” and it was put to the test on Sunday for lunch and supper.

Seeing that I was spending the afternoon in the backyard I finished up with the vhf contest early and brought out the FT 817 , disconnected the antenna feed line at the W3EDP balun and strung a 25 foot length of coax from the balun to the FT817 which was sitting on a side table and I listened to the bands and also made a few QRP Contacts as well.  I was able to check into the NY State Phone Net and the 2nd Region Net but was unable to check into the Ontario Phone Net at 1900.  The noise was just way too high to hear the NCS but I did try…

Around 2100 or so the family decided to come in so the gear was packed up and the new BBQ covered and we finished up the weekend watching a bit of television…and I managed to get a quick check in with VA3RDC who was NCS of the 3730 group..  Fresh air, Radio, BBQ and more Radio…  it was a great weekend…

Monday morning update…  The swelling on the knee has come down and you can barely notice the limp…  All is returning to normal…

Enjoy your week!

73bob

ARRL VHF Contest this weekend

Get the Icom 706 and the Yaesu FT 100 out of the closet.  Get the IC 7000 and the FT 857 out of the car…  Bring the FT 897 out of the RV…  and bring the FT 847 home from the cottage….

That along with dusting off your TS 2000 means that this is a VHF Contest Weekend.

(Its hard to believe but yes my blog is showing a Kenwood TS 2000.  I happen to like them and if I had to replace the FT847 well…)

And I know a few operators who are using the IC 7000 including a couple who thought they were upgrading when they sold their FT857s and bought an IC 7000.  I don’t know if I would call it an upgrade but the rig is nice…

Ya gotta remember I am a Yaesu Fan…

(above pictures courtesy Universal Radio and Rigpix)

Now if you are like me and dabble slightly in the world 50 mhz and above this will be one of your few chances to make some contacts as the guys who take this seriously will have the big amps tuned up with the big antenna arrays and looking for us who have small signals…

After all if the big guns were out there only talking to themselves then it would be a short contest.  This is one time that all the big guys will be out there looking for our little signals so its the least we can do to get out there and accomodate them.  Not only that it could be one of the only times you make a contact ssb or cw above 50 mhz.

From the ARRL website we get the following:

ARRL January VHF Sweepstakes–

Phone, CW, from Jan 23, 1900Z to Jan 25, 0400Z. Bands (MHz): 50+. Exchange: Grid square. Logs due: Feb 25.

And the rules are here and can also be found on the ARRL website.

You will have a blast in this contest… and if we happen to have a 6m opening you won’t stop smiling for the duration…

73bob

Back on the air in a Temporary way

Well as you knew my 4:1 balun had failed during an ice storm.  I orignally thought it was just a wire pulling loose.  After checking once the balun had been taken out of line and brought inside to thaw a crack was noticed in the case that had allowed moisture to enter and once we had that flash freeze the rest was history and so was the balun.

One of the hardest things to find is amateur radio equipment in the week between Christmas and New Year in a “timely” fashion.

I wasted a day trying to fix things myself on the cheap…(Just like a ham) and then figured out that it actually broken and I better order a part.  Well due to New Years I won’t be getting the balun till “Next Year”

I was down to two choices which was install my FC40 Auto Tuner which is more like a coupler which has the tuner at the antenna end… or install my vertical antenna for a few days…  Swapping out the FC40 for the balun was easier so it was first choice (Just like a ham)

(Above Yaesu FC 40)

Now unfortunately this would not load up the existing W3EDP antenna using my FT 847 as when the FT 847 was manufactured there was NO FC40 and so the radio thinks its a FC20 Tuner which has less tuning ability.

With my recent contact with the VP of Marketing for Yaesu I have asked him if there was a way to upgrade the firmware of the FT847 to see if it will accept a FC 40 at “Face Value”.  I was sent a CC of an email he sent to technical services asking that question and I am hoping for an answer early in the Near Year.

(Above Yaesu FT 847)

So I then took the FT 847 out of line and installed my Yaesu FT 897 in its place and it loaded up fine on 10m to 80m although it did not liked 160m but I don’t use the “Top Band” that much so all is acceptable for  the short time use.

(Above Yaesu FT 897)

So I am back on the air and although its a bit noisier as the FT 897 does not as good a filtering system as the FT 847 and also the Timewave ANC4 does not seem to work as well with it.

(Above Timewave ANC 4)

To fix that I would need to change the phasing antenna for the timewave and for a few days I will try and put up with the extra noise.  But the good thing  is that I am on the air while waiting for the new 4:1 balun to arrive.

So noisy or not I am back on the air and things should (better) be back to normal early in the New Year.

73bob

And just incase I don’t get back into the shack before tomorrow…

HAMMY NEW YEAR

Changes to the shack and some updates

Today (this morning ) I thought I would tell you about some changes in the shack along with update a couple of items I have previously blogged about….

The first change was the return of APRS to the VA3QV shack.  I had loaned out my Yaesu FT 2400 which was the radio I used for packet/APRS out to a local amateur who needed a voice rig till he replaced one that was not functioning.  I got it back last week and finally got around to re installing it and getting it back on the air.  I use it at the 10w setting and the antenna is a larson 5/8w magmount antenna which is on my metal fence rail in the back yard.  After checking the path it gets into 3 different digis in the Ottawa Area so all is good.

The 2nd change is the addition of a new michrophone to my Yaesu FT 847.  I was given an audio mic on a desk stand and was told to have fun hooking it up.

Although not exactly as pictured its pretty close

A quick trip to a local electronics store got my PTT switch and a hunt through the junk box found a lenght of wire with the right connecter for the FT 847 on one end.  About one hour with a multi-meter and a low power soldering iron had me on the air and getting great audio reports.

Now the great thing about this endevour is that first off it worked and for those of you who know me well I was able to make all the connections without smoking my fingertips…  Bandaids and soldering usually go together in my shack and with this last project I was able to break the tradition.

The other change is that as I need the soundcard outputs of my dell laptop for the AGWPE Packet Engine Setup for my Packet /APRS installation I could no longer use my Dell Laptop for SKYPE.  Starting today I am using my ACER Netbook in the shack for ECHOLINK and SKYPE and normally will be active on one or the other  (SKYPE is first choice) whenever I am in the shack.  Nothing against ECHOLINK but my daughters are not amateurs and so they can SKYPE me when they need something when they are out at work.  On SKYPE I can be found as bob.sharp.VA3QV if I remember correctly.

On to the updates…

I did make it out yesterday to the Ottawa ARES meeting and was brought up to speed on the local happenings.  The Groups other name is the Emergency Measures Radio Group and both names share the same website address at www.emrg.ca.  I could tell you about all the things they are doing but if you visit the website you will be able to read it in more detail than I could of remembered to list here.  One thing I will mention is that they have an excellent relationship with the City of Ottawa Office of Emergency Management who support EMRG by providing repeaters and repeater sites.  EMRG currently has 4 VHF voice repeaters, 2 UHF Repeaters, one Portable Repeater on VHF along with a Packet Digi all set up at different Ottawa Fire Department locations across the City. Its nice to see the City supporting the ARES…

After the EMRG/ARES Meeting with the assistance of  Rob VE3SJN I headed over to a local electronics shop and picked up what was needed  to get the Desktop Mic connected up.

After droping off my briefcase after the meeting and the shopping trip Trisha and myself went over to a local high school for my H1N1 and Seasonal Flu Shot.  Despite what was mentioned previously in the media I was able to get in and out within one hour and that was getting stabbed in both arms.  One arm is kinda sore (the one that got the H1N1) but its not stopping me from moving  and the other arm is fine…

If you remember my previous posting of 14year old vs Industry Canada there is an article in todays Ottawa Sun that concerns the topic.  I’m not sure if this is old news (from the orignal item) or more of an update but I am very concerned that the father seems to be agreeing with the fact that his son is showing no respect for Canadian Law. Perhaps someone with a citation book and a badge should introduce them to the Radio Act.  He was asked nicely to shut down because he was breaking the law and then refuses…

BREAK OUT THE TICKET BOOK AND WRITE HIM UP…

But then again why do we need laws anyway???  Now thats just my opinion but once your warned and then refuse to comply I concider it to be fair game…

Today I have already checked into ONTARS, the North Bay Net and the OVMRC 80M Pothole Net and am going to try for an afternoon of radio if I can get some Christmas Shopping done first…

73bob

RFI issues- My Radio RFIs itself

Once you read the the title of  this post and stop laughing ….  Let me explain!

 

The Radio is my FT847 and it seems  to be having some minor problems on the higher part of the 20m band when the CAT cable is attached to the  back of the radio.

I recently was brought into the 21st century(kicking and screaming I might add)  and have started using that fantastic piece of software- Ham Radio Deluxe.   I am using it in conjuction with my old(but so am I) Dell Laptop and am using a Generic USB to serial adapter to the recommended “Null Modem Cable” which in turn is plugged into the CAT Port  on the FT 847.  I will happily say that everything seems to be working fine so please do not think this is a rant…

I have been using the above mentioned  setup for a couple of weeks now with no known problems till the other day.

I was trying to make a contact on 20m (HF Pack Calling Freq 14.342.5) and suddenly noticed an icon flashing on the display of the radio while I was transmitting.   A 2nd look at the display showed me it was not the HIGH SWR icon I was thinking it would be, but rather the CAT icon and it was flickering with my voice.

When I off keyed I had lost my rcv audio as if the  volume had been turned off.

I should mention at this point that I have used this program and equipment on all bands in the past with no noticed issues.  This appeared to be the first…

When I have operated my rigblaster using the same USB  adaper on PSK31 in the past there has been no issues but after checking my logs all my 20m operating in the past (since Ihooked up HRD) has been well below 14.300 so perhaps its more specific to the upper end of the band

A  couple of  days later  with the software not running the the same thing happened on the same frequency.  Lost receive audio and the CAT Icon was flashing.  I then disconnected the CAT cable at the computer end by  unplugging the USB interface with the same results.  RFI…

I then  removed the FT 847 from its operating position and removed the CAT Cable altogether and reinstalled the radio and resumed my transmitting on the upper end of 20m and all was good.

It seemed that the combination of the CAT cable and the USB to Serial interface  cable is lacking a bit of  shielding which allows my radio to RFI itself when on the upper end of 20m.

Now when I get some time I will re install the cable with some toroids on the cable  ends  and also take more care routing the CAT cable, but for now its easier just to operate without the Computer Control and just use the HRD Software as the fantastic logging  program and operating platform that it is.

Its not a complaint or a rant…  Just a source of  conversation on a Monday…

73bob

Testing out the W3EDP and bragging…

Well over the last few days I have been trying to get contacts on the various bands and try and get some sort of idea how things should work with the updated version of the W3EDP antenna.

This drawing best describes what I have set up and how its set up at the home QTH.  Nothing fancy just the 100w that Yaesu provides and the maximum height would be approx 25 feet above ground.

This antenna setup is also very stealthy as the only part of the antenna visiable is a length of light blue 14 gage wire that runs just above roof height from my back yard tree to my front yard tree.  No one has even commented on it yet…

No interference complaints as of yet either!!!

I also have the Timewave ANC4 Noise Cancelling Device in line before the tuner if needed.  On some bands I don’t need it so I take it out of line.

On 80m I normally need the filter and sometimes on 160m and 40m.  So far I have not needed the filter on 20m and above.

Due to poor band conditions(am I ever getting tired of saying that) I have only made groundwave contacts on 10m and 12m with a local amateur just to prove it works.

I have worked the Canary Islands on 15m, the Grand Cayman Islands on 17m and across Europe and North America on 20m with no problems.  Nothing west of VE7 yet but I am hoping…

On 40m I have worked the eastern parts of Canada and the United States (VE1, VE2, VE3, VE9. VY2, W2, W3, W4) with little effort and 80m has proven itself  just as good and you can add VE4, VE5 and VE6 to the list of areas contacted.

I am really impressed with the 160 meter band.  This is a very new band for me and I love it.  I never even thought of playing there before because everyone told me I could not operate there due to antenna size vs my operationial area and the lack of real estate I have at home.  Thats what I get for listening to the “so called  experts…”

The 160m band is easily filling the gap of short range communications (within 400 miles) that I lost when 80m started to go long as the fall arrives.  I am having a great time chatting with VE1, VE9, VE2, VE3, W2 and W3 amateurs so far and I’m sure I could get more areas in the log if I could spend more time in the shack.

Lets see now…  100 feet of wire is around $20.00 CDN at the local automotive store.  The 4:1 balun was already in stock as was the coax.  The local hardware store gave me the Paint Stir Sticks for free with the hope that next time I need a gallon of paint I will remember them… so…  On a cost per contact basis the $20.00 I spent on the wire is one heck of a bargain.

I could not ask for a better antenna.  I can operate 10m to 160m and its stealthy.

A 48 foot tower or a 64 foot tower in the backyard behind the house is just not going to happen here…  No beams just small verticals and one W3EDP that is working better than I could ever hope for.

It may or may not work in your situation but you would be hard pressed not to find a variation of this antenna that you could not use…

73bob

Timewave ANC 4- Testing continues

If you refer back to yesterdays post you know that I am now “playing” I mean testing out a very lightly used Timewave ANC 4 Noise Cancelling Device.

Timewave ANC-4 “RF Noise Canceller”

And so far I am pleased but puzzled with the results found…  Last night I tested it out using my FT847 and LDG Z100 Autotuner.  I was using  a 50 foot dipole (25 feet per side) as a non resonant recieving antenna to pick up the noise that the device is supposed to phase shift to lower my actual noise level.

It brought my noise on 80m which is the only band I really have troubles on from a S9 + down to around S5 which was excellent.  I should mention that I also find it lowers signals as well as noise but it lowers the noise more and its much easier to listen to a S5 signal with a low noise level than a S9 signal with a high noise level so I have to say it works.

Today (Sunday) as I am experimenting decided to see it the ANC 4 would work with my FT 897D which I use sometimes in the field and also as my backup HF rig here in the shack…

Now all I did was swap out the 847 and Deep Cycle RV Battery out for the FT897 and 30ah battery pack.  The tuner remained the same, the antenna and grounding system remained the same…  All I did was switch out the radio and change batteries…

The results were not promising….  What was a S9 +20 noise level before was now a S9 +30 noise level and the ANC 4 would not bring the noise level down below a S9 +20….

Now I am at a loss as to what the HECK is going on but I guess more testing is needed.  I do remember seeing something in the EHAM Reviews about having to put up a 2nd resonant dipole up to use to supple the signal to shift out of phase in extreme cases so I guess later this week I will put up my multi band vertical and try using that as the receiveing antenna….  If this above statement has really cofused you just head over to the Timewave website (the link is just below the picture of the device) and read the PDF Manual file as they explain it much better than I could…

So I still stand by my earlier comments that “IT WORKS” but now I will add the disclaimer that it work(ed) with my FT 847.  I will also say that much more testing is needed before I can say it works with all my HF rigs…

Just in case you have used one of these devices in the past and could share a secret on how to get it to function better please feel free to leave me a comment on this post… I wont have much time till later in the week due to a couple of other commitments along with a forcast of rain to try changing much so it look like this will get the time it deserves late this week…  The ARES Ontario SET exercise is this Saturday so it better be done by then….

More as I find the time to do the changes….

73bob

Antennas installed for CQ WW VHF contest

Well today (so far) it has not rained so I thought I would take advantage of this rare event and get the antennas up in the air for the CQ WW VHF Contest which runs this weekend.

CQ WW VHF Contest

Begins: 1800 UTC Saturday, July 18, 2009

Ends: 2100 UTC Sunday, July 19, 2009

Even though I am still concidering taking the FT 817 out and competing in the “Hilltopper” catagaory I am leaning towards just operating from home,  run my maximum power and just have fun, give out some contacts and see how many Grids I can get.

As I have said in the past… if us “Little Guns” don’t get on the air for these contests then who will the “Big Guns” have to talk to…

So in anticipation for a home station event (subject to change) today I brought down the FM Dual band J Pole and put up the 2m full wave VHF Loop in a Horizontal configuration.

The 6m dipole was brought down from its vertical polarisation and re installed in a horizontal configuration favouring South West  and North East.  Its not that I like those directions other than thats the easiest way to get things aimed given the accessability of my maple tree branches.

If I stay at home the rig will be my FT 847 (above) although right now I am doing the testing with my FT 897 (below).

I always like to try and sneak this in to see if my kids read the blog so…

Happy Birthday Trisha

From this blog a year ago today….

“Trisha is the daughter who has helped me out at more than a few “Talk to Santa” events at the local museum and has happily donned “a set of antlers” and “elf like costumes” to make a child’s eyes light up when they talk all the way from Ottawa to the North Pole ….  AH YES….The magic of radio!!!!!”

Now back to Amateur Radio for a bit…  Since the antennas are attached and the SW(EA)R is good I will be monitoring on 50.125 USB for a while just incase anyone wants to give me a signal report.  Right now the band seems not to be open but that can change at any time….

73bob