Month: April 2016

CLE 206 and an antenna upgrade

CLE 206 was an interesting time. I used the active antenna exclusively this time and was quite pleased with the reception.

I was not as pleased with the propagation on Friday night. For most of the night I was hearing my “big guns” (UAB, ZKI, PR and YD) but not much more. I was not convinced that this was an antenna problem because I could hear WT (Wrigley NT) as well. Later in the evening (morning?) I started to hear the weaker ones. I went to bed having logged all my previous signals between 190 KHz and 239.9 KHz and a new one for me, 206-EF (Castlegar, BC CAN).

Saturday night I stayed up later and picked up some new ones. I managed to hear most of the Alaska signals as they came up. The fun part of the night was spending time digging out two or more signals on the same frequency. I learned a lot about IC-7000 IF and audio filters … using tight bandwidths and the filter roll-off slope to remove one signal and hear the other.

It was raining on Sunday and so it was perfect for antenna work! I placed the active antenna in it’s permanent enclosure and raised it another 3 meters or so (10 feet).

 

Signals appear stronger but that could be wishful thinking.

EDIT: Great signals a few days after CLE 206 … hearing longer and fainter signals. A grand total of 32 new ones on April 27, 2016!

Kits in, projects out …

I received the LED SWR indicator (QRP only!) and the Digital Dial from QRP Kits today. Of course I had to assemble them!

The Digital Dial is a 4 digit frequency counter with some interesting features. It has a maximum frequency display of 45 MHz (just fine for LF/MF) and runs on a 9 volt battery.

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I’ll be creating a custom crystal checker / frequency counter / digital dial  combination with this kit. One portable box for my QRP transmitter projects. I can also take it to hamfests for checking any crystals I wish to purchase as it will fit in my coat pocket.

Of course I need more bits to finish this off but that’s part of the fun.

The LED SWR indicator is used to tune up QRP antenna systems.  A quick visual indication of 50 ohm match when the LED goes out (or dim). It’s very small and extremely light weight for backpacking adventures (SOTA anyone?). This one is destined for the 1Watter, 160meter xcvr enclosure. I left out the LED for now as I’ll be measuring to fit once the PCB enclosure is complete.

LED SWR indicator

This, of course, will force me to start construction of the PCB enclosure. I don’t have a shear so other measures will be needed to cut the PCB. I’ll let you know how that works out!

Active antenna testing

I finished my active antenna this afternoon and stuck it on top of a 3 meter pole to see if it would work (to start with) and be an improvement (a bonus).

 

Since it was still daylight, the only NDB I could hear was the strong local (YD Smithers, 78 km). It was the same signal strength on both my HF-2V and the active antenna at S7. It passed the first test … it works. No more testing this afternoon as I have to go to town.

…

04:00z

After returning from town just as dusk was falling I wanted to see if the more distant stations I had heard on my vertical on previous nights would be audible on the new active antenna. After much fumbling around with questionable adapters I could hear the louder NDB stations (300 km or so) but no distant ones were audible yet. Time to wait for full dark.

…

05:00z

An NDB station I had heard only once some weeks ago … briefly audible above the noise … was 8C, Fairview Alberta (585 km). I had no problem picking it up tonight as it was quite a bit above the noise floor. For comparison, I switched back to the HF-2V where I had heard it before and it was gone … the noise had completely swallowed the signal. Nothing I could do with IF or audio filters could dig it out. Back to the active antenna and 509 (no measurable signal but excellent readability and clarity of tone).

Unfortunately (fortunately?) my noise level with either antenna is quite a bit below S zero so I cannot give any comparative numbers. What I can say is that signals that were in the noise and barely readable before are clearly audible now. The noise level is significantly lower on the active antenna. I don’t need as narrow a filter to achieve the same results as before. Narrowing the filter will probably give me more distant stations.

The active antenna is currently in a pill bottle on the 5 meter test mast (60 degree tilt) leaning on my carport roof. This is not the final packaging, permanent location nor the final height.

I’ll be reporting on how this affects my NDB station count in the coming weeks even though the darkness is waning now. The active antenna will be my main LF/MF receive antenna until the new station numbers start to fall off again. By then I may be ready for a vertical loop … null out the loud ones … who knows?

Ham Radio Projects

I have a few things on my to-do list and need to sort the order out.

Two antenna projects are on the list, a full wavelength 160 meter loop and an active antenna. The active antenna parts have arrived and I’ll put it together in my spare moments. The loop antenna needs a few more bits and pieces so it will need to wait. The loop will also be set up for 630 meters, another antenna project.

I’m setting up for a CW only station and to that end have purchased a 1Watter for 160 meters [S/N 409]. It is at the final PA and tune up stage right now. The enclosure build is next on the menu.

After the 1Watter is complete, the 5 watt amp is next. This will take me from QRPp to QRP on 160.

Future projects include the Ultimate 3S so I can put a beacon on the air. This will give me a feel for the propagation to/from my location.

Project status page.

Amateur Radio … I’m changing gears!

Hmm … Yet another blog … does the world need this?

Probably not but I need a way to organize my thoughts and document my projects in the LF/MF world as well as my adventures in (re)learning CW.

Living at the end of the [repeater] network gives me fewer VHF options for QSOs. There are few hams in the general vicinity and mountains are blocking access to those that are closest.

Since the 1980’s I’ve:

  • played with the amateur satellites (ISS, MIR, OSCARs, etc) … timing is everything but being in the north does not help,
  • help maintain repeater networks on mountaintops (Yukon, Northern BC) … exciting, but that thrill is fading as I age,
  • managed communications on long distance (100+ mile) running races … learned a lot about logistics and being prepared,
  • participated in search and rescue exercises and real events … working in military operated searches was really helpful in making me a more professional operator
  • made HF contacts around the world … usually 80, 40 and 20 Meters
  • contested in my spare time … what spare time?

Some day I may be up for the challenge of EME.

For now I’m trying to step away from the usual world of VHF FM voice/data and move into more exciting territory.

Chasing NDBs and operating on the newer top bands for Canadian amateurs is interesting, technically challenging and less populated thus making contacts more valuable … that sounds like fun to me!