I need to study up. The code requirements were always my excuse, now I'm just lazy.
The Ham Shack - B&B's Amateur Radio Club
- Thread starter jamesspo
- Start date
Hi,
Looks like Dayton is a Go for this year. May 20, 21 & 22. I have signed up for all the VE sessions on Friday and Saturday. I'm pumped! I'll do my Junk Shopping (all I do these days, looking for oddball stuff) on Sunday.
And our local large Spring hamfest is on as well. It didn't happen last year, although the local large Fall one did go on.
73 - Stan, w2ck
Looks like Dayton is a Go for this year. May 20, 21 & 22. I have signed up for all the VE sessions on Friday and Saturday. I'm pumped! I'll do my Junk Shopping (all I do these days, looking for oddball stuff) on Sunday.
And our local large Spring hamfest is on as well. It didn't happen last year, although the local large Fall one did go on.
73 - Stan, w2ck
WB4PNE
Just stumbled onto this thread and am saying hello. Licensed for 53 years but currently not active, like the sunspot cycle!
Just stumbled onto this thread and am saying hello. Licensed for 53 years but currently not active, like the sunspot cycle!
Hi,
Yep, HF antennas get rather large don't they? I spent most of my time in an apartment 2011-13 some 1000 miles away from the farm. Fortunately, the local club had a shack. Of course, the V/UHF FM repeaters were easy enough to use from the apartment. And, it wasn't much of a drive to get to the club shack.
But, I was glad to see the end of that job and get back home to where I can have all sorts of antennas. Especially the 160m full wave which was the one band that club shack didn't have.
73
Stan - w2ck
Yep, HF antennas get rather large don't they? I spent most of my time in an apartment 2011-13 some 1000 miles away from the farm. Fortunately, the local club had a shack. Of course, the V/UHF FM repeaters were easy enough to use from the apartment. And, it wasn't much of a drive to get to the club shack.
But, I was glad to see the end of that job and get back home to where I can have all sorts of antennas. Especially the 160m full wave which was the one band that club shack didn't have.
73
Stan - w2ck
OK I'll use this as an excuse to relate my favorite ham radio adventure ......
I was in a living situation that was not amenable to an outdoor antenna. I'm not a "serious" contester but have enjoyed getting into the ARRL DX contest a few times. So it was contest weekend and a magazine article inspired me to take some scrap wire and throw together a 15m dipole which I fed with twinlead. I hung the center off of a ceiling fan for kind of an inverted V configuration.
With my 5W TenTec Argonaut I worked Moscow, Russia! Sure was a thrill hearing him answer my call.
That's very cool, reminds me of working 10 meters QRP about 45 years ago as a young teenager. I was able to work a lot of stations in the U.S., but only a very few foreign stations.
My apartment now is like living inside a Faraday cage, new construction with mostly metal beams and supports all around the walls and ceiling. I'm unable to pick up very much, even AM radio stations on the radio, or use an indoor Television antenna. It's like living in radio prison.
One of these days I'm hoping to set up an outdoor portable HF rig and antenna to be able to get back on the air.
Hi,
Anybody else go to the Dayton Hamvention?
I went, but as a Volunteer Examiner and as such spent all day Friday and Saturday testing. It looked for a bit that we'd get packed up early enough on Saturday for me to head over to the flea market. We don't test on Sunday, since it is done at the church across the road. And besides, two days of over 100 folks per is enough anyway. I figured I'd save the indoor stuff for Sunday.
And, then the storm came. Washed that idea away. And, come Sunday, most of the flea market folks had gone. Oh well. I was only going to look at boat anchors I don't really need. I was able to pick up the few new items I wanted.
73
Stan - w2ck
Anybody else go to the Dayton Hamvention?
I went, but as a Volunteer Examiner and as such spent all day Friday and Saturday testing. It looked for a bit that we'd get packed up early enough on Saturday for me to head over to the flea market. We don't test on Sunday, since it is done at the church across the road. And besides, two days of over 100 folks per is enough anyway. I figured I'd save the indoor stuff for Sunday.
And, then the storm came. Washed that idea away. And, come Sunday, most of the flea market folks had gone. Oh well. I was only going to look at boat anchors I don't really need. I was able to pick up the few new items I wanted.
73
Stan - w2ck
Not me. Google says its a 12hr drive there so probably never will. But it would be something to see.
Not for me. But happy to see a little ham acctivity here.
BTW, K1ing
BTW, K1ing
Guess I ought to check in. Got my license in 1958 when I was 14, still hold the call K4YZG. I've been inactive for decades but ham radio had a big influence on my life and career.
When I met my wife I had a homebrew modem with an ASR-33 and an ASR-34 in my bedroom, both of which kept going most of the night with traffic. So she knew right away what she was getting into, poor woman.
When I met my wife I had a homebrew modem with an ASR-33 and an ASR-34 in my bedroom, both of which kept going most of the night with traffic. So she knew right away what she was getting into, poor woman.
Hi,
Clack, clack, clack! I once had such stuff before the switch to Video Display Terminals. I worked at IBM on such things as ANR (Alpha Numeric Replacement) and NDS (New Data System) to replace KSR (ASR with a keyboard). Man! That was a Way Back Machine post!
73
Stan - w2ck
Clack, clack, clack! I once had such stuff before the switch to Video Display Terminals. I worked at IBM on such things as ANR (Alpha Numeric Replacement) and NDS (New Data System) to replace KSR (ASR with a keyboard). Man! That was a Way Back Machine post!
73
Stan - w2ck
Hey there! KF7LJH here, why am I not surprised to find fellow hams here in the B&B fellowship!? Makes sense, I knew I recognized the friendly helpful vibe.
I occasionally contest but mostly participate with the local ARES unit. My K3 is starting to feel pretty old in this SDR world but she still is one of the best CW radios out there I think.
I think we need a radio plus razor thread! lol
73's!
I occasionally contest but mostly participate with the local ARES unit. My K3 is starting to feel pretty old in this SDR world but she still is one of the best CW radios out there I think.
I think we need a radio plus razor thread! lol
73's!
Hi,
Yes, the K3 is getting long in the tooth. And they do have the K4 out now.
I am patiently waiting for the K4 HD. The better way to fly is to have one section of SuperHet and so one set of IF filters. This, ahead of the A to D converter stage and then do the sampling for a narrower bandwidth of signal. Makes the DSP a whole lot more useful. A modern Hybrid as it were.
And so Elecraft has designed the K4 to be a full Direct Sampling radio into which one can add the SuperHet module to make it a K4 HD. And, on both the primary and secondary receiver.
I like the methodology but they are having production issues due to component shortages. I don't think they have produced many HD units at all. They did have one at Dayton and I did get to not only chat with an engineer about it, but got to work the HD receiver as well as a base K4 and it makes as much of a difference as I thought it would.
Being a radio design engineer myself, I have made many a SuperHet, many a Direct Sampling, and many a Hybrid receiver. Just not in the ham world.
Stan- W2CK
Yes, the K3 is getting long in the tooth. And they do have the K4 out now.
I am patiently waiting for the K4 HD. The better way to fly is to have one section of SuperHet and so one set of IF filters. This, ahead of the A to D converter stage and then do the sampling for a narrower bandwidth of signal. Makes the DSP a whole lot more useful. A modern Hybrid as it were.
And so Elecraft has designed the K4 to be a full Direct Sampling radio into which one can add the SuperHet module to make it a K4 HD. And, on both the primary and secondary receiver.
I like the methodology but they are having production issues due to component shortages. I don't think they have produced many HD units at all. They did have one at Dayton and I did get to not only chat with an engineer about it, but got to work the HD receiver as well as a base K4 and it makes as much of a difference as I thought it would.
Being a radio design engineer myself, I have made many a SuperHet, many a Direct Sampling, and many a Hybrid receiver. Just not in the ham world.
Stan- W2CK
K4 HD - Wow, I'd not heard about that yet. So I'm like three generations behind now. Sounds like you know better than I the leaps and bounds transceivers seem to have taken in the last decade. I can't wait to see the specs of the HD.
Hi,
There are a couple items the higher end units offer. One is a 10 MHz frequency reference input. There are many low cost (in the $200 range) GPS Disciplined Oscillators available these days. They operate via the highly accurate clocks of the GPS constellation. They offer an alternative to the high stability optional oscillators at a lower cost.
Another item is a secondary receiver. This can be used with a separate antenna to offer diversity receive. I have been doing this all along since my beginning Novice days. But I have always used a second box to pull this off. The main radio on a dipole and the secondary on a longwire is my usual method. What this offers is a way to hear a given station thru the fades. When the main antenna nulls out, the secondary one peaks. Handy.
So, to the K4, it has the dual receivers. So does the Yaesu FTdx-101 and 101MP. So that's covered. The Yaesu offers the Hybrid design for the stock price. The K4 has the Hybrid section as an option known as the HD. Either way, the handy part is you can slave the secondary to the primary tuning. Or, use them independently.
My Old School method, currently using a Kenwood TS430s as the secondary and a TS850s as the primary, means I have to manually tune all the time. It'd be cool to be able to slave them.
But, I get by with my 'ancient modern' stuff as I did in the beginning with an RME 4350a and a National 109 - both 1950s Hot Snot, but then lost to the likes of Collins and Drake (which came after the first two in the 1960s).
As I mentioned, I'd like to spring for a K4HD but the current worldwide parts issue has that on hold.
73
Stan - w2ck
There are a couple items the higher end units offer. One is a 10 MHz frequency reference input. There are many low cost (in the $200 range) GPS Disciplined Oscillators available these days. They operate via the highly accurate clocks of the GPS constellation. They offer an alternative to the high stability optional oscillators at a lower cost.
Another item is a secondary receiver. This can be used with a separate antenna to offer diversity receive. I have been doing this all along since my beginning Novice days. But I have always used a second box to pull this off. The main radio on a dipole and the secondary on a longwire is my usual method. What this offers is a way to hear a given station thru the fades. When the main antenna nulls out, the secondary one peaks. Handy.
So, to the K4, it has the dual receivers. So does the Yaesu FTdx-101 and 101MP. So that's covered. The Yaesu offers the Hybrid design for the stock price. The K4 has the Hybrid section as an option known as the HD. Either way, the handy part is you can slave the secondary to the primary tuning. Or, use them independently.
My Old School method, currently using a Kenwood TS430s as the secondary and a TS850s as the primary, means I have to manually tune all the time. It'd be cool to be able to slave them.
But, I get by with my 'ancient modern' stuff as I did in the beginning with an RME 4350a and a National 109 - both 1950s Hot Snot, but then lost to the likes of Collins and Drake (which came after the first two in the 1960s).As I mentioned, I'd like to spring for a K4HD but the current worldwide parts issue has that on hold.
73
Stan - w2ck
Hi,
Well, the time has come to buy a new HF rig. The old TS850s has succumbed to the dreaded Carrier Board ASIC failures. The word was that it was the power supply bypass electrolytic caps that did them in. So, I changed them long ago. But, now it starts having some distortion on receive on first one band then another as operating time goes on. Then the distortion affects the transmit signal. It gets worse as time passes.
There are no replacement ASICs out there. There is a 3rd party board with a different design but done such that it is a drop in replacement. But is it worthwhile to mess with any longer? I don't really think so as I see there are a few other minor issues to be corrected now that I have the rig on the test bench. The VCO is a bit drifty as it needs a new trimmer cap - I went to retune it and it went nuts. The ALC is varying in AM mode (which I don't use and so didn't see this on SSB or CW). I think that's from a DC-DC converter. There's a bit too much noise with the high gain RX path, but I usually use AIP and didn't notice how bad it is on the air with all those other noises.
All is fixable with a little bench time. So I might keep an eye out for a newer serial number unit at hamfests. One that would have the new ASICs one can't get these days. Otherwise, it can live on my Shelves of Obsolete Electronics until one day when it goes to recycle. That happens to a lot of things. Keep for a while and then either sell it off for parts or just recycle it.
So, what to do? I still want to have a new Hybrid design rig. The lowest cost of those is the Kenwood TS590SG. And KW has some B stock available right now. $1149 from Main Trading Company in Paris, TX. So that's what I ordered yesterday. Winter is always my low cash time of year yet also when I'm on the air the most often. In the meantime, my once again repaired TS430s is back on the air as the main radio. I do miss having my diversity receive though. The new rig will be here within a week, though.
73
Stan - w2ck
Well, the time has come to buy a new HF rig. The old TS850s has succumbed to the dreaded Carrier Board ASIC failures. The word was that it was the power supply bypass electrolytic caps that did them in. So, I changed them long ago. But, now it starts having some distortion on receive on first one band then another as operating time goes on. Then the distortion affects the transmit signal. It gets worse as time passes.
There are no replacement ASICs out there. There is a 3rd party board with a different design but done such that it is a drop in replacement. But is it worthwhile to mess with any longer? I don't really think so as I see there are a few other minor issues to be corrected now that I have the rig on the test bench. The VCO is a bit drifty as it needs a new trimmer cap - I went to retune it and it went nuts. The ALC is varying in AM mode (which I don't use and so didn't see this on SSB or CW). I think that's from a DC-DC converter. There's a bit too much noise with the high gain RX path, but I usually use AIP and didn't notice how bad it is on the air with all those other noises.
All is fixable with a little bench time. So I might keep an eye out for a newer serial number unit at hamfests. One that would have the new ASICs one can't get these days. Otherwise, it can live on my Shelves of Obsolete Electronics until one day when it goes to recycle. That happens to a lot of things. Keep for a while and then either sell it off for parts or just recycle it.
So, what to do? I still want to have a new Hybrid design rig. The lowest cost of those is the Kenwood TS590SG. And KW has some B stock available right now. $1149 from Main Trading Company in Paris, TX. So that's what I ordered yesterday. Winter is always my low cash time of year yet also when I'm on the air the most often. In the meantime, my once again repaired TS430s is back on the air as the main radio. I do miss having my diversity receive though. The new rig will be here within a week, though.
73
Stan - w2ck
I still have and love an Elecraft K2/10. I picked it up at a hamfest years ago. I added the atu and found a dsp module for it. Have made many qrp contacts on it that have surprised me. The K2 has always kinda stumped me as to how little they are referred to. Kinda like the nice girl that never gets asked to the prom.
I have just found myself moving away from the larger radios in favor of desk space. I also have a KX3 with a PX3.
Mark
NO5S
I have just found myself moving away from the larger radios in favor of desk space. I also have a KX3 with a PX3.
Mark
NO5S
