Amateur (ham) radio, VHF/UHF, portable operating, backcountry adventure and technical stuff
The Summer 2006 issue of QRP Quarterly showed up in my mail box today with my VHF QRP column on page 36. It looks like a few Internet references got edited out of the article, so I will list those here.
Colorado 14er Event web site: http://www.14er.org
QST article on the Colorado 14er Event: http://www.14er.org/OCTQST.pdf
Ham14er Yahoo! Group (Colorado 14er Event): http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ham14er/
73, Bob K0NR
This past weekend was packed with family activities, so I wasn’t sure if I was going to participate in the CQ WW VHF Contest. Finally, on Sunday morning, I decided to pack up and head to Mt Evans (14,000 foot mountain with a road to the top). Actually, the agreement with my spousal unit was that we were going on a mountaintop picnic that also happened to include a 2M / 6M ham station. I operated in the Hilltopper category (QRP power, operating for 6 hours or less).
The station was an FT-847 running 10W to a 3-element 6M Yagi and an 2M9 Yagi on 2 Meters. The antennas were on a 15-foot mast mounted on the hitch of my SUV.
I started operating around 1930 UTC and found 6 meters open to the midwest. Of course, 2 meters gets neglected by the single ops when 6 meter is hot, so not many QSOs on 2 meters. The contest ended at 2100 UTC, so my operating time was limited.
About 1.5 hours of operating netted:
36 grids on 6M, 2 grids on 2M
76 total QSOs
Score: 3116
Now I am wishing I had gotten up there early in the morning….maybe next year.
The 2 band format is really nice for a simple portable or rover station. As long as 6 meter propagation is good, two bands is plenty of action. Also, the Hilltopper category works well if you can’t spend the whole weekend playing radio.
73, Bob K0NR
NASA successfully launched STS-121 Discovery today, July 4th.
From the ARRL web site:
Three hams will be among those taking the trip to the International Space Station aboard Discovery. They are Commander Steven Lindsey; Pilot Mark Kelly; mission specialists Stephanie Wilson, KD5DZE, Thomas Reiter, DF4TR, Lisa Nowak, KC5ZTB; Michael Fossum and Piers Sellers. Reiter, a European Space Agency astronaut from Germany, will join the Expedition 13 crew of Jeff Williams, KD5TVQ, and Pavel Vinogradov, RV3BS, and will remain for at least part of Expedition 14. NASA is pinning its hopes on a successful Discovery mission, since the space shuttle is the only vehicle capable of transporting the components remaining to complete the ISS, including the ESA’s Columbus module, which has been outfitted to accommodate Amateur Radio. More information on the STS-121 Discovery mission is on the NASA Web site.
I had previously posted some thoughts on STS-121.
73, Bob K0NR
It is well known that the standard “rubber duck” antenna that is supplied with a handheld VHF or UHF transceiver is not very efficient. It represents a compromise between size and efficiency, with size winning out. In other words, the antenna is small and doesn’t radiate very well.
I just came across an article by Dick Kiefer (KØDK) that explores this issue in detail, including a design for a 1/2-wave antenna for handhelds. I’ve been a big fan of telescoping 1/2-wave antennas. They are excellent performers while still being light in weight and compact for hiking and backpacking.
Brief highlights of the KØDK article:
For 2 Meters, a 1/2-wave antenna performs ~5 to 8 dB better than a rubber duck.
For 70 cm, a 1/2-wave antenna performs ~3 to 7 dB better than a rubber duck.
Not too surprisingly, the 70-cm (440 MHz) rubber ducks did a little better than their 2-Meter equivalents, since an antenna of a given physical length will be longer in terms of wavelength at the higher frequency.
Take a look at the article for more details.
73, Bob K0NR
The results for the 2006 ARRL January VHF Sweepstakes were published in the July 2006 issue of QST. I’ve listed the Single Operator Portable (AKA QRP) scores below. My totally wimply score of 544 gave me 10th place in the overall contest. Of course, I dominated the Colorado section, which is easy to do when you are the only contest entry. The important thing is that I had a good day playing radio in the mountains. See my previous posting about this QRP backpacking contest effort.
Take a look at my soapbox comments (and photos) at the ARRL web site.
73, Bob K0NR
| # | Call | Score | Section |
| 1 | KA1LMR | 45,504 | NH |
| 2 | K6MI | 36,427 | SCV |
| 3 | W9SZ | 4,875 | IL |
| 4 | KI7JA | 3,040 | OR |
| 5 | W6DWI | 2,106 | ORG |
| 6 | WB2AMU | 1,577 | NLI |
| 7 | N8XA | 1,156 | OH |
| 8 | KG6TGI | 736 | ORG |
| 9 | KQ6EE | 728 | LAX |
| 10 | K0NR | 544 | CO |
| 11 | N7IR | 192 | AZ |
| 12 | N3TEP | 160 | WPA |
| 13 | KC2JRQ | 108 | NLI |
| 14 | N1ZGY | 45 | EMA |
| 15 | NU0C | 36 | NE |
| 16 | WA7VHF | 20 | AZ |
| 17 | VE7VIE | 18 | BC |
| 18 | WB0IWG | 16 | WPA |
| 19 | KC9FVW | 15 | WI |
| 20 | W6NCT | 6 | SB |
| 21 | KZ1AMY | 1 | VA |
I received this honor at Hamcon Colorado at Estes Park. Thanks to the Technical Specialist team in Colorado for all they have contributed. See http://www.k0nr.com/ts.html
– 73 Bob K0NR
From: ‘ARRL Web site’ To=memberlist@www.arrl.org>
Sent: Thu, 15 Jun 2006 15:54
Subject: Bob Witte, K0NR: 2006 Section Operator of the Year
Bob Witte, K0NR of Monument has been named the 2006 Colorado Section Amateur Radio Operator of the Year. The announcement came at the Saturday evening banquet during the HAMCON 2006 Convention in Estes Park on June 10th. Bob is currently the Colorado Section Technical Coordinator and has been instrumental in building the cadre of Technical Specialists to over 20 individuals who are available to assist League members resolve technical problems. Bob also leads the Colorado BPL Team which keeps an eye out for any mention of BPL depoyment throughout Colorado. A well-known VHF contester, he currently writes a columns for CQ VHF and QRP Quarterly.
Please join me in congratulating Bob on this well-deserved achievement.
73,
ARRL Colorado Section Section Manager: Jeff Ryan, K0RM k0rm@arrl.org
The handheld digital multimeter (DMM) is a basic tool for ham radio applications. Here is a list of 10 things you can do with a DMM.
1. Check the power supply voltage on the new power supply you just purchased.
2. See if your HT battery pack is fully charged.
3. Measure the current that your transceiver draws to estimate how long your emergency power system will last during a blackout.
4. Sort the bag of resistors you purchased at the swapfest.
5. Check a fuse to see if it is blown.
6. Troubleshoot your broken rig by checking the bias voltages against the service manual.
7. Figure out if the AA batteries the kids left for you are dead.
8. Verify that your coax is not shorted between the shield and center conductor.
9. Check the level of the power line voltage in the ham shack.
10. Check for good DC continuity between the ends of the TNC cable you just soldered.
Let me know your ideas to add to the list.
73, Bob K0NR
Hartford, CT (PRWEB) May 3, 2006 — The Midland Radio Corporation, REACT International, the DC Emergency Radio Network, and NationalSOS.com have jointly announced their support for the National SOS Radio Network — www.NationalSOS.com — a free communications network based on the estimated 100 million FRS-compatible radios already in the hands of the public… and growing by up to 12 million radios per year.
This idea first surfaced after hurricane Katrina. I wrote about it in October 2005, but I haven’t heard much additional news until I noticed this press release. Having REACT and Midland supporting this idea will certainly help, but it is still not clear where this will head, if anywhere.
73, Bob K0NR
Just in time for the Dayton Hamvention, ICOM has announced the IC-91AD 2M/70cm handheld transceiver with D-STAR capability. I’ve written some about the new digital voice standard, D-STAR. Universal Radio has this new rig priced at $525, a definite premium over equivalent FM radios. This is the first dualband handheld that supports D-STAR.
73, Bob K0NR
From the emcomm.org web site:
“The Wilderness Protocol” (ref. June 1996 QST, page 85), recommends that stations (both fixed, portable or mobile) monitor the primary (and secondary if possible) frequency(s) every three hours starting at 7 AM local time, for five minutes (7:00-7:05 AM, 10:00-10:05 AM, etc.) Additionally, stations that have sufficient power resources should monitor for five minutes starting at the top of every hour, or even continuously.” The primary frequency is the National Calling Freq…146.52 MHz. The secondary freqs. are 446.0, 223.5, 52.525 and 1294.5 MHz.
Here in Colorado, the summer months mean that many people head for the mountains. Mobile phone coverage has improved in many parts of the high country but is still not reliable in all areas. Ham VHF repeater coverage is extensive but also does not cover the entire state. This is where the Wilderness Protocol comes into play.
Let me take the liberty of modifying the Wilderness Protocol for use in Colorado:
Principle #1: Don’t ever rely on a radio or mobile phone to get you out of trouble in the backcountry. Your primary strategy must be self-sufficiency. Avoid trouble. Be prepared for the unexpected.
Principle #2: In remote areas, monitor 146.52 MHz as much as possible. This applies to backcountry travelers, mobile stations and fixed stations.
Principle #3: Know what repeaters are available in your area. The Colorado Connection is a linked repeater system that covers many (but not all) remote parts of the state.
Just my opinion.
73, Bob K0NR