This is the end

I'm not going to publish any more posts. To all my faithfull readers, thank you. I gave it a try and decided that I need to concentrate on things at home and use my time in that way.

73 to all

DE W4MY SK

Begali Simplex

Pictured at the right is my Begali Simplex paddle (well, actually, that's the canned picture from the Begali site.) I have had it for almost 3 years now. Is it ever a nice paddle.

Begali is an Italian maker of CW paddles and keys. Mr. Piero Begali specializes in magnetic "spring less" keying devices, but this is a conventional design on the "low end" with no magnets.

You'd never know this is the "low end" version. At $133 plus shipping to the USA (about $20) it was a great value considering the superb quality of the unit. I think now it sells for $148 plus shipping, still a very good value.

I can honestly say I adjusted it once initially the way I liked it, and have not touched the adjustments since, nearly 3 years being carted around and used for Field Day, Mobile contesting (Winner NCQSO Party Mobile/2007) the little plastic cover is a bit tattered, but it has done its job as the sacrificial part to protect the key from dust, dirt and grime.

My next key will be (when I get some extra dough) the "Magnetic Traveler" which comes in at about $248. Have a look at it and you will see why it makes a great companion for mobiling or portable (Field Day) paddle.

I know for the purists the N2DAN Mercury original may be the best paddle ever, but I can't honestly say how, from a purely functional viewpoint, it could be better from even this simple low end paddle. I understand the Mercury's story so it may be worth $2500 to someone for its artistic and mystique value.

But speaking from a purely functional viewpoint, Begali is the last paddle you will ever need. And it is very nice looking to boot.

It will be making the CW from W4DCG Field Day Site this weekend! Be there of be square!

73 de Marty / W4MY

NU5DE

From the "Where in the heck did this come from" department:

"Special Events" column of July 2007 QST:

Jul 11 - Jul 15, 1800Z-2200Z, Austin, TX. Naturist Amateur Radio
Club, NU5DE. Nude Awareness Celebration - Nude Recreation Week.
21.365, 14.265, 7.256,. QSL, Naturist Amateur Radio Club, PO Box 200812,
Austin, TX 78720-0812. http://www.nu5de.org/

Reminds me of a Saturday night live skit. Who would have thought of combining these two hobbies? Good thing Amateur Radio is RADIO! I'm still laughing.

I don't know about you, but most clubs I've belonged to have 96% old men (of which I am included) and the thought of a similar demographic in this club send shivers up my spine! Here's something: Our Field day operation requests everyone have their own headset/boom mic and we standardised on Icom partly because of this. I'm guessing guys in this club bring their own chair? I could go on, but I'll quit while I'm ahead!

If you don't think I should have this on my blog, hey, I got this from QST magazine!

Preparing for Field Day

Lots of little things are coming together. I got the Red Cross generators today from Fred Winner. Fred will not be at field day this year as he has a prior obligation.

Ray, WA4WGA, is off in Ohio making preparations for his move in late summer up there. He has already gotten hooked up with a group up there running 4A and is already invited to operate.

Been keeping an eye on the "Kaz" group over in Franklin party as to their preparations. Wish them well in their effort, I know they will rack up a good score. I guess we can kiss NC Section first place in 2A good-bye! No worries, we are all in it for the fun anyway, right? Right!

In the house keeping department, there will be no blog entry from June 22-25. It will either be preparing for Field Day, Field Day, or recovering from Field Day.

See ya 73 Marty

DP in the Morning

Local FM commercial radio station WZAX (Zax '99.3) morning drive guy is "DP in the Morning" Dave Perkins. One of his features just after the morning prime time drive is "RBC Centura Spotlight on the Community" Each weekday at 8 a.m. he brings in a guest until about 9 a.m. All kinds of subjects are discussed of local interest in between the news, contests, commercials, music, etc. I'd say there probably is about 20 minutes of actual conversation that takes place during that hour.

Dave has invited the Tar River Amateur Radio Club to come and discuss Field Day on his show this coming Friday morning, June 22. What a treat! I was selected to represent our group and will have Daniel Joyner, KI4QXS, join me. Need to figure a way to "roll tape" and get a recording of this. Ray, WA4WGA, usually does this but he is away in Ohio right now on family business. I'll ask Dave about that.

Here are some things I'm going to suggest to Dave (DP) to ask us:

• What and where is Field Day and its purpose?






• How many hams participate in Field Day and why?






• Why is ham radio "needed" when there are far more modern ways to communicate?






• What is the origin of the term "Ham"? Who are some famous hams?






• Can just anyone get a ham radio license? How do you get one?






• How far can one ham talk to another via amateur radio?






• Isn't ham radio out dated? What are the modern aspects of ham radio?

KE9V

On the left hand side of this is a link to KE9V's blog. I look at it often and think its the best I've seen so far on ham radio related blogs. Almost every entry is like reading a well researched magazine article. How does he do that?


In addition KE9V also has a podcast of which I subscribe and enjoy listening to those. I recommend you check out the series on WW2 as it related to ham radio activity of that time. It was a series that I enjoyed very much.

Currently he is doing a 2 part podcast on H. P. Maxim of the ARRL. Great stuff, I encourage everyone to check it out.

Have a great weekend, see you Monday. (Field Day next weekend, Yea!) ...Marty / W4MY

Rare Situation

Here's a rare situation....

DX station sending me a QSL request with an SASE and green stamp!

Thanks, Vi c, glad to QSL! Now if I only got about 50 of these a month I could defray my own QSL expenses!

How much is a first class stamp to England now? 90 cents? I'll have to look that up on the USPS site.

Field Day 1977

It was Summer 1977. I had my Novice ticket since May of 1976. This was my first Field Day.

It was on McMillian Island on Lake Osborne, just south of West Palm Beach, Florida. the call was W4HAW. "CQ Field Day from Double-you Four Hams Are Wonderful" was our mantra!

To get on the island, you had to take a boat. Lake Osborne was really just a body of water that was part of the inter coastal waterway in between the mainland and outer barrier islands to the Atlantic Ocean. Talk about fertile RF grounding!

Take a look at that picture on the right, that's me sitting down! I went into the Navy three months later.

Take a look at the number of hams participating, 50! What a group. If I remember, we were 5A, I think. I had a pup tent and camp stove, it was at least 100 degrees, mosquitoes that would carry you away. Back then, there was no GOTA, but a novice station that used the same call as the host group. Only Novice class operators could setup and run it, and of course, it was CW only.

What great memories. It was the same today as you could operate in the phone band as a novice with a control operator. What a thrill. If I remember correctly, the rig in front of me in the picture was a Kenwood TS-520, and I was being shown how to tune it up before transmitting! Tune up, what is that!?! Back then Kenwood was the top rig among the common ham population. There was Collins and Drake, of course, but that was the equivalent of having a IC-7800 or Yaesu FT-9000 today. The Kenwood TS520 was a workhorse. Much like the IC-746, FT-990, or TS-570 is today.

My most memorable Field Day was in 1980 the summer before I was to get out of the Navy. It was in the Santa Rosa Amateur Radio club in Milton, FL. I was FD chairman (at 22 years old) in charge of all these old timers! It was held at Blackwater State Park in Santa Rosa county, FL. I remember it because I designed and built a mono band 10 meter 3 element yagi that we put up for FD that year. I wasn't knowledgeable about sunspots back then, but it must have been the peak, because 10 meters opened up for Field Day and remained open THE ENTIRE TIME, including in the wee hours of the night and morning. The run never stopped, not even at 2 o'clock in the morning. What a rush!

Gosh, that was 30 years ago this year! boy has allot changed. By the way, I got that newspaper article from my mother. Who else but your mother would save something like this. I have another picture from that 1977 FD of a picture of me putting up an antenna in another newspaper. Funny thing in 2006, the local newspaper here published a picture of me doing THE SAME THING at age 48.

The more things change, the more they stay the same!

Till later W4MY

Why CW was Important to Ham Radio

We have all read the letters to QST, eHam articles, and group discussions with old timers about how eliminating CW has wrecked Ham Radio. Newcomers to this grand hobby see no relevance to this antiquated mode of communicating and view CW as an unnecessary roadblock. Just what is it about CW that has emotions and passions so exercised? Why is CW important to Ham Radio?

I look back into my own experience to try and explain this. I don't go back as far as most, but far enough I think. Having no recollection of ever not being fascinated by radio, my earliest memory is going to bed with a table top broadcast receiver in my bed under the sheets. This was a special radio with a shortwave section that my parents got for me. I don't actually remember the specific circumstances of how it came to be that I owned a shortwave receiver at age 9, but knowing my interest in radio, it doesn't surprise me. My parents were no help in encouraging me and even thought I would "outgrow" my strange interest!

Everything I knew about radio, propagation, magnetism, gravity, was a result of self motivation, curiosity, and ingenuity. It was a thirst for more knowledge. When I saw the ham radio station of my soon to be elmer, Bill Asbury, WA4GYZ, there was no doubt that instant I was to be a Ham. There was no obstacle too difficult, no mountain too high, ocean too deep, no code too difficult to stop me from my dream of being a radio operator. If the requirement had been walk over broken glass in your bare feet for 50 feet, I would have done it. I'm glad all I had to do was learn CW... no problem!

Having gone through all these "obstacles" and gotten my ticket, I was in the fold. I didn't realize it then, but I met and was involved with others who felt the same about radio as me. We had a shared experience of getting over difficult tasks (i.e., CW) and overcoming them. We "understood" each other in a way that others outside our hobby didn't. It was "safe" to talk about radio without fearing condescending remarks from most "regular" people. We could relate to each other at a higher level. CW was as much a test of your interest as it was a viable communications mode. If you were willing to put up with learning CW, it was thought, you really had the ham radio bug. It was a litmus test of your interest.

The world is a different place than it was in the 1960's and 70's when I was coming up. These old school ways of doing things have taken a back seat to more streamlined and practical matters. We old time hams are around enough folks that think we are strange for our interest in an antiquated hobby, ham radio. We don't want the same thing from fellow hams!

But, alas, it is what it is. So I welcome the new hams with open arms. I will endeavour to pass along my passion for this hobby that has given me so much pleasure over the years. Hopefully now, after having read this, the new hams understand a little better why we old timers feel the way we do. This might help all of us do what Reily Hollingsworth has been saying, "can't we all just get along?"

Cushcraft XM-240 "Big Thunder"

This is my Cushcraft XM-240 "Big Thunder" yagi I use for 40 meters here at W4MY. It is up at 73 feet on a Rohn 25 tower fed with Beldon 9913-F7 coaxial cable. I turn it with a Ham IV rotor nested in the tower on a chrome-molly pole 2-1/16" in diameter.

This is certainly not a "beginner's" antenna. It takes allot of work to get it in the air, but worth every minute of it. Even at this point in the sunspot cycle (dead low) I hear DX on 40 just about whenever I turn the radio on.

As you can see in the picture, it is a two element design with a driven element in the front, and a reflector at the rear. It has an inductor 3/4 the distance away from the center to help reduce the length and a capacitance hat near the end of each of the elements. I don't know much about the use of capacity hats except that they help increase the radiation resistance of an electrically short antenna thus increasing the efficiency. I can actually say they got it right, its performance is outstanding!

I did make a couple of structural changes to the original design to make it better able to withstand the elements long term. I beefed up the truss system by replacing the truss bracket with a steel one I fabricated. The aluminum one just didn't have the look of "long term" to it. I also put a stainless steel eye bolt at the two ends of the boom to hold the truss guy, again, Cushcraft's design was a little wimpy.

In the one year it has been up (or just shy of a year) it has performed magnificently. I'm glad I got it.

73 to all Marty / W4MY

Tour 'de Cure Trip Report

I wish I had some pictures, but alas, no camera was available.


Overview of TDC (Tour 'de Cure): A fund raiser put on by the American Diabetes Association where bicycle riders take a 150 mile trip over two days and are "sponsored" by donors. These bikers are supported by numerous individuals and groups to aid and support them on the trip. It takes a predetermined course which is marked and organized rest stops are provided along the way.


Part Ham Radio plays: Radio operators are assigned to "shadow" event officials, man fixed posts at rest stops, and patrol the route in mobiles picking up stranded bikers, and providing efficient communications between all these parts as well as getting medical attention where needed quickly and efficiently.



My part was to SAG (Support and Gear) which is a slang term for the rover who travels along the course to "support" the bikers and help where needed with rides, supplies, and eyes/ears for emergencies. I had lots of fun and met a bunch of cool folks.



Part of being a "SAG" is providing a means by which net control can know of your location. Of course, a query on the radio will accomplish that and is done frequently, but APRS is also used extensively. (See the article in this blog on the APRS tracker I built a few years ago)


The event June 9-10 went well. It went from Cary, NC to Oxford, NC, and back the second day. We had about 10 hams involved and covered it well. The number of bikers was down from previous years, so it was a little more laid back than usual. The weather was great, and the rain we got was during the overnight hours. Perfect timing!



The methods used are great training for tactical situations that occur during an emergency. If you are interested in that kind of thing, get involved in an event like this. Not only do you get to meet allot of good folks, you add some visibility to ham radio as well.



Keep on!

Tour de Cure

I've mentioned the Tour de Cure event coming up this weekend in Raleigh/Oxford. Its a two day bicycle ride of 150 miles (75 each day) to raise money for Diabetes research. Hams are needed to communicate and monitor the cyclists' safety and welfare. A perfect fit for ham radio. I've done it in the past and the service rendered has been superb. If you are interested in emergency communications requiring tactical calls and real life situations, this is the gig for you.



Now I am leaving Saturday morning early and will not be back until late Sunday, so there will not be any activity here until next Monday. I'm assuming that will be a summary of this weekend's activities.



Here is a link to the volunteer radio operator's page, if you are interested in seeing what goes on in something like this. Also, if you can hear the repeaters listed you may want to listen in on the activity. There will be plenty! Click here for the link.



Drive Safely!

GOTA Training

As you will soon tell, we are now officially in "Field Day" season. That usually starts after the last club meeting before the event (June meeting) through to the fourth full weekend. One of my duties that I took on was to give a briefing to the new hams who will be operating the GOTA station this year.

It will take place at my house at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday June 14. I have already posted this on the reflector. We will have three or four who I think will be attending. The agenda is:

• Using Writelog. I will have my laptop loaded up with the FD contest. I will go over data entry, and some of the basic functionality. It really is pretty easy.
• Listening and tuning. I'm going to go over the search and pounce protocol, and how to tune a SSB signal. Most of us take that for granted, but it does take a somewhat learned ear to do it.
• The IC-746. Since I own a '746 and that will be the GOTA rig this year (not mine) I will go over how to operate it. Mostly which knob is the volume control! HI!
• The QSO and FD exchange. What to listen for, when to transmit, what to say, and how to be flexible. Along with this will be a discussion of etiquette and manners.... uh, there are none, that was easy!
• I will put the 746 on the dummy load on 10 meters and I will go out to my mobile and call CQ and "run". I will get each of the students to work me to get as much of a real feel as possible.
• Hopefully, Chris will make some snacks and they will all be interested in my Field day "war stories" including my FD in 1976! [note to self: good subject for a blog post]

Anyway, that's what is happening here right now. Gota go. 73

TRARC June 2007 Meeting

As promised, here is my report from the Tar River Amateur Radio Club meeting on June 4, 2007. The primary subject was Field Day.

There were about ten members present with a new prospective ham, Mike, visiting for the first time. Welcome aboard Mike! (My apologies for not mentioning Mike's last name, it was one of those long names with lots of consonants)

It seems things are pretty much set. There wasn't much comment from the group, even when asked for contribution on things less settled, such as the Saturday afternoon meal. The consensus, from the leadership core (again), was to just make a run to Bojangles for a tailgate special. That's OK with me.

Fred Winner. KE4LXW, said he has prior obligations and will be unable to attend. This puts a wrinkle in getting the Red Cross ERV (That's stands for Emergency Response Vehicle) to house station #2. This will have to be Worked out off line.

I have to co ordinate with Fred on getting the generators, that seems a little dicey. We are rolling on. I was disappointed not to see Daniel, KI4QXS, at the meeting. Wanted to talk about his recent experience with HF. Hopefully he will be able to make FD.

That's it for this report. Its my story and I'm sticking to it! 73

My IC-W32A

I broke out my W32A handheld today. Got a couple of things coming up that will require it. Chris' new truck doesn't have a rig in it yet, and we will be going out tonight to the TRARC monthly meeting (tomorrow's post) as well as the Tour 'de Cure bicycle event this weekend.

Since I haven't had it out lately, I forgot how to program it. No problem, whipped out my Nifty Quick Reference . Its a "cheat sheet" laminated card (about the size of a credit card) that gives you the bottom line on how to do stuff with your rig. Five minutes later, its all programed. The Nifty card isn't a comprehensive manual, but a great memory jogger. Well worth $3.95 I spent at some long ago hamfest.

Anyway, I love my W32A handheld. Its the perfect size for me, has a little weight to it and is powerful. Choice of 1/2 watt or 5-1/2 watts. In the old days the main criticism of this rig was its short battery life. That was the early 90's. Battery technology has come a long way, and I now have the after market NiMH from W&W Manufacturing and that problem is solved.

I like the feature where I can simultaneously listen to a VHF and UHF frequency. It can actually be used a s cross band repeater. (I actually don't see much practical use for this feature, but that said, it is the absolute best hand held to use when in cross mode operation.) I believe its the only handheld now that you can transmit to the remote rig in cross band mode, and then listen to the remote rig's output and the source AT THE SAME TIME. This is difficult to describe, but once you've had this capability, it would be tough to give up. When you do communications for public service events, this is a very handy feature to have. Not absolutely necessary, but very nice.

I will be getting another one in the near future so that I can have a pair. The used street price is coming down, and having commonality is a nice feature.

Hope to see everyone at the TRARC meeting tonight, I'll give an update on that tomorrow.

73

APRSing

Followup on the APRS Tracker...with only 2.5 watts out, it seems to be producing allot of hits in Findu, that's good. One thing I don't like, and remember from the original setup, is that the cannibalized radio (Alinco DJ-120) doesn't remember the settings when it is turned off. Could possibly be because it doesn't have a built in battery anymore. Makes it necessary to keep 12 v to it all the time.

Will have to find a solution.

This is a quick entry, as my work schedule is very intense right now. I missed the VE session today as I was too tired to even think straight.

Tar River ARC meeting is this Monday (June 4). My next post will be about that. I am not going to make an entry tomorrow as it is Sunday. I think I'll establish that policy is that Sunday will be a post free zone! It will give me a chance to think about some stuff and maybe take some pictures!

See you in the pileups! 73

W4MY-9 (APRS Tracker)

This is not to be construed as a comprehensive and well researched article on APRS. There is so much to this aspect of the ham radio hobby all one has to do is Google "APRS" and thee will be a litany of information to peruse.

This is about my mobile tracker I built, or should I say I integrated together. In a nutshell, this group of components serves to "report" my position on the Earth to anyone who cares to know. This is done digitally and automatically, requiring no action from me other than to turn it on. It is not a full blown APRS. I can't receive and interpret other position information as in a normal APRS setup. Its one way -- outbound. Sorta like raising my hand and shouting, "here I am!"

You basically need three things for an APRS tracker. First, GPS receiver capable of outputting its current coordinates to a standard RS-232 serial interface. The Garmen Etrex is my instrument (yellow thingy on the right) No fancy mapping here. Just bare bones position info and "breadcrumb" navigating. Think of it as a very sophisticated compass plus.

Second, you need a digital controller/position encoder to receive the position information from the GPS RX, compose the packet of digital data for dissemination, generate the FSK tones, key the PTT, and then send to the VHF transmitter. I selected the Tinytrak3 by Bytronics. It was a simple single circuit board kit about the size of two postage stamps. It is located under the metal shield to the left of the box.

Third, is the RF transmitter. In my case I used a junked VHF (2 meter) hand held where the battery holder clip had broken. It is an Alinco DJ-120. They quit making these in about 1990.

The box its in is not a necessity, but I packaged them together like this for convenience. When activated, the unit transmits on 144.390 MHz my position which is received by a local APRS gateway link to the Internet. My data is added to the Findu database, and anyone with access to the database can locate me via the Internet. Wow, and its "real time" also.

I'd like to clarify here that you DO NOT need a laptop or computer of any type to use and run the tracker. All digital info and manipulation is done in the firmware of the digital controller/position encoder. You do, however, need a computer to SET UP the tracker so it knows the call sign (of course) and SSID, and all the reporting parameters you desire. You download this to the TinyTrak3, remove your connection and plug in the GPS RX, and off you go. Remember, there's no receiving of position information, hence no need for computer mapping or a computer at all. Just blinkidy blink with a couple of LEDs to let you know its doing its thing!

Here's what you do. Go here to my favorite Findu interface, In the upper left type in my call and SSID, which is "W4MY-9" (no quotes) then click the "Find" button. You will see a Google map come up with my last location received. If you do it again only this time select the radio button "Track(Breadcrumb)" you will see my coming and going in the last 10 days.

I am going to have it up and running this next week through the weekend of June 9th. I'm participating in the Diabetes Association "Tour de Cure" in and around Oxford as a radio op, and they need to keep track of where we are, so this is how they do it.

Neat, huh? I know there is allot more I haven't covered, so post any questions about my setup here in the comments and I'll try my best to answer them.