Monthly Archives: January 2014

DX Code of Conduct

Posted on by February 4, 2014

As I listen to some of the high profile Dx-peditions I amazed by the bad behavior that I hear in the pile-ups.  I know that all of us have probably called on a DX frequency once or twice because we hit the wrong button on our transceiver or did not know the station was working split but what I’ve heard in the past two to three years goes well beyond the common errors of inexperienced DXers.  Some of the things I’ve heard include:

  1. Deliberate jamming of the DX stations frequency
  2. Calling CQ on the DX stations frequency
  3. Sending their call sign continuously in the pile-up
  4. Continuing to send their call sign while the DX station is working another station, and of course our favorite
  5. The policemen sending UP, UP, LID, LID and sometimes even answering the caller as if they are the DX station all while the DX station is trying work stations.

I’m sure most of you could add to this list.

I know in every large group their are probably going to be a few bad apples which even a code of conduct will not cure.  However, for the rest of us the DX Code of Conduct provides a list of “good” operating practices which will not only improve our DXing success but will make it much more enjoyable working DX.

73,

Fred, KC9QQ

DX Code Of Conduct

DXCode_Logo_small

  • I will listen, and listen, and then listen again before calling.
  • I will only call if I can copy the DX station properly.
  • I will not trust the DX cluster and will be sure of the DX station’s call sign before calling.
  • I will not interfere with the DX station nor anyone calling and will never tune up on the DX frequency or in the QSX slot.
  • I will wait for the DX station to end a contact before I call.
  • I will always send my full call sign.
  • I will call and then listen for a reasonable interval. I will not call continuously.
  • I will not transmit when the DX operator calls another call sign, not mine.
  • I will not transmit when the DX operator queries a call sign not like mine.
  • I will not transmit when the DX station requests geographic areas other than mine.
  • When the DX operator calls me, I will not repeat my call sign unless I think he has copied it incorrectly.
  • I will be thankful if and when I do make a contact.
  • I will respect my fellow hams and conduct myself so as to earn their respect.

FT5ZM On the Air

Posted on by February 4, 2014
FT5ZM Amsterdam Island

FT5ZM Amsterdam Island

Well one of the most wanted DXCC entities is finally on the air.  After over a week of travel the team started operations today and the pile-ups were astounding.  I tried for nearly an hour to work them on 20 meters with no success.  The pile-up was nearly 15kHz wide.  One interesting thing I did was to hook up the I/Q output of the KX3 and feed it into CW Skimmer.  Within less than 5 minutes CW Skimmer had captured over 160 call signs.  Even with CW Skimmer running it was still difficult to pick the right spot to call.  I finally decided to try another time.

This evening I saw they were operating on 17m.  I went up to the shack and heard them loud and clear.  There was still a significant pile-up, but it was only about 5 kHz wide.  After about 20 minutes of tuning the pile-up I found a pattern in their operation.  After about 5 tries I finally heard my call sign and a signal report.  It was pretty exciting to work another All Time New One.

Hopefully over the next several days I will be able to work them on some other bands.  Their website is:  http://www.amsterdamdx.org/

DXCode_Logo_small

Feel free to join the pile-up.  Just be sure to follow the DX Code of Conduct and the pile-up will be fun for all.

 

 

73,

Fred, KC9QQ

The Spectrum Monitor

Posted on by January 25, 2014
Front Cover of The Spectrum Monitor

Front Cover of The Spectrum Monitor

 

Like many hams, I have also been interested in other aspects of radio and communication since I was a kid.  Some of my other interests include shortwave listening, scanning police and fire communications and vintage radios.  One of the best magazines which covered these topics was Monitoring Times, published by Grove Communications.  It was a big surprise last summer when Bob Grove announced that he was retiring at the end of 2013 and would be closing Grove Communications and ending the publication of Monitoring Times.

Just by luck I had just renewed my subscription for three years.  Of course Grove Communications gave all subscribers a refund for the remaining issues of their subscription.  The real loss was not being able to look forward to receiving each new issue because each issue always contained a wealth of information on scanning, ham radio, radio restoration and numerous other topics.

Fortunately, many of the writers from Monitoring Times have moved on to a new venture and are publishing an electronic magazine called The Spectrum Monitor.  The magazine contains  much of the same content that was in Monitoring Times, but with significant additions.  Since they do not have to worry about printing costs, the magazine is published as a full color pdf file which contains features not possible with a printed magazine–such as sound and video clips.  The sound clips are a nice feature well suited to those of us interested in communication.  Want to hear what that restored boat anchor sounds like?  Click on the link provided in the pdf file and you can actually hear it!

If any of you are like me and miss Monitoring Times you might want to check out The Spectrum Monitor.  Here is a link to their website:  http://www.thespectrummonitor.com/

I think you will be pleased with what you see.

By the way, I do not have any financial other interest in The Spectrum Monitor. This information is only provided because I feel there might be other hams that were also part-time or regular readers of Monitoring Times that would be interested in a similar magazine.

73,

Fred, KC9QQ

KX3 QRP in NAQP

Posted on by February 4, 2014

Well I decided to run my KX3 in the QRP class of the SSB portion of the North
American QSO Party.  This was the first time I had ever done SSB contesting at QRP power levels.  During the 2 day warm spell we had last week, I was able to repair and re-install my 80 meter doublet which had come down during the last snow storm.

The next step was to get the KX3 ready for a SSB contest.  To setup the KX3 for the contest I had to figure out how to interface my Heil Pro head set to the KX3.  I use a headset and foot switch during SSB contests so that I can keep my hands  free to type on the keyboard.  Connecting the Heil head turned out to be straight forward because the 1/8″ headphone and mike connectors will plug directly into the KX3 mike and headphone inputs.  However,  a KX3 menu setting had to be changed to disable the mike PTT button because the 1/8″ mono phone plug on the Heil head set will enable the PTT since the KX3 mike jack is a 1/8″ female stereo jack.  Elecraft provides a menu setting to disable the PTT function for this reason.

The next thing I had to do was interface my foot switch to the KX3.  I determined that the foot switch can be connected to the KX3 through the ACC2 connector.  The only problem I had interfacing the foot switch was connecting the 1/4″ male mono phono plug from the foot switch to the 1/8″ ACC2 female jack.  Elecraft sells a nice cable for the ACC2 input which plugs into the KX3 and provides RCA female connector (to key an amplifier) and a 1/8″ female mono phone input which can be used to access the PTT function.  Once I had the Elecraft cable all I had to do was make a 1/4″ F phono to 1/8″ M phono adapter.  I happened to find an adapter cable in my Junk box so I was in business.  The only other thing I had to do was a simple menu change to tell the KX3 that the PTT should activate when the ACC2 center pin is pulled low.

I found that operating QRP in a SSB contest is a bit more of a challenge than running 100W, but I was still able to work nearly all of the stations I called.  Sometimes I had to wait in line behind the high power stations but I usually did not have to call more than two to three times.  In most cases I was answered on my first call.  The main exceptions were the rarer states such as WY and DE.  I even managed to work Alaska and Hawaii during the contest.

Here is a summary of my QRP part time Search and Pounce effort:

BAND QSO POINTS SEC
3.5 12 12 10
7 57 57 26
14 50 50 23
21 42 42 15
28 26 26 7
TOTAL 187 187 81

SCORE 15,895

KX3 Tryout in Contest Mode

Posted on by February 4, 2014

I used the KX3 in the North American QSO Party (CW) this weekend.  I was only able to put in a part-time Search and Pounce effort but the KX3 performed marvelously during the few hours I was on the air.

Before the Contest

Before the contest I had to interface the KX3 to N1MM.  I used the Elecraft USB cable to connect the KX3 to my computer.  The KX3 was immediately recognized by my computer which assigned it to COM 9.  I went to N1MM to setup the KX3 and discovered that N1MM can only interface to hardware on COM ports 1 to 8.  After a little investigation I discovered I could reassign the  KX3 to an un-used COM port in the range 1 to 8 using its properties dialog.  In my case I was able to  reassign the KX3 to COM port 2.  I was then was able to setup the KX3 with N1MM with no problems.

Next I had to setup the KX3.  First I connected an output from my USB Winkeyer to the external key input on the KX3.  I also had to go into the KX3 menus to tell the KX3 to treat the Key 2 input as a handkey since the external Winkey would be creating the dots and dashes.   Next I fired up the KX3 and used my external watt meter to set  the output power to 5 Watts since I was entering the QRP Single Operator, QRP category.

During the Contest

I started the contest on 15 meters because it seemed to have the highest concentration of activity early Saturday afternoon.  Once I had worked up and down the band a couple of times I switched to 20 meters and repeated the same process.  Finally, after I had finished on 20 meters I dropped down to 40 meters to try to work a few more stations before I had to quit.

The KX3 did a great job separating the strong signals under contest conditions.  Also the continuously variable passband and roofing filters did an exceptional job pulling weak stations out from between the major league contest stations.  I was also impressed by the performance of the KX3s internal antenna tuner.  The one thing I missed from my Icom 756 Pro III was the large color panadapter.  In the next few days I plan to use the I/Q outputs from the KX3 to create a panadapter display using HDSDR.  I’ll post my experiences once I get it working.

The highlight of the contest was working both Alaska and Hawaii with only 5 watts.

Here is a summary of my contest results:

Band   QSOs   Pts   Sec   Mt2

7         19        19       7      0
14         45        45    14      0
21         52        52    14      1
Total   116     116    35       1

Score : 4,176

73,

Fred

NCJ NAQP CW This Weekend

Posted on by February 4, 2014

This weekend is the first of the three winter NCJ North American QSO Party events.  The three are:

  • CW 1800Z Jan 11 to 0600Z Jan 12, 2014
  • SSB  1800Z Jan 18 to 0600Z Jan 19, 2014
  • RTTY 1800Z Feb 22 to 0600Z Feb 23, 2014

I plan to put in a part-time effort this weekend using my new KX3 and operating QRP.  I’m anxious to see how well the KX3 performs in crowded band conditions.

I Hope to hear many of you on the bands this weekend.

73,

Fred, KC9QQ

Heat Wave (almost)

Posted on by January 7, 2014

WeatherThe temperature finally moved above zero (degF) this afternoon.  The temperature made it up all the way to 10 degF.  The temperature is supposed to make it all the way up to the low 30s over the next few days.  I still think it will probably be a week or more before the snow melts off enough to repair my broken 80m doublet but at least the trend is in the right direction.

73,

Fred, KC9QQ

Initial Experiences with KX3

Posted on by February 4, 2014
KX3 next to my 756 Pro III

KX3 next to my 756 Pro III

Now that the family Christmas celebrations are all done, I have finally been able to spend a little time with my new KX3.  I was very surprised that such a well performing transceiver could come  in such a small package.  After connecting an antenna and applying power I was surprised by how quiet the receiver was.  Initial A/B comparisons with my Icom 756 Pro III demonstrated that the KX3’s receiver was certainly on par with the 756 Pro III, but with a somewhat lower noise level.

My next step was to  make some contacts.  I connected a key and tuned across the 12m band and found PJ5/K6NAO (St. Eustatius) calling CQ.  I listened to him work a couple of stations before I gave him a call.  I was surprised when he returned my call on the first try.  I was  impressed that I had gotten through the pile-up  running only 8 watts (not true QRP, but still impressive).

Over the next couple of days I’ve worked Panama, the Virgin Islands, Antarctica, New Zealand, Alaska, Cuba, Bolivia, Finland and Belgium.  Two of the contacts were even SSB.  I also had a nice SSB QSO with a New Mexico station who gave me a 58 signal report.  This evening I even worked two stations in Japan.

My first few days with the KX3 have been very enjoyable.  I’m planning to use the KX3 in the NAQP CW Contest this weekend.  Hope to hear all of you.

73,

Fred, KC9QQ

Cube Sats Launch

Posted on by January 6, 2014
Cube Sats being Launched from ISS

Cube Sats being Launched from ISS

I don’t know how many of you saw this photo on the today’s Astronomy Photo of the day, so I am showing it hear in case you missed it.  The cube-sats are near and dear to we hams since they often carry Ham Radio beacons or repeaters.

This photo shows three cube-sats being released from the International Space Station last November.

73,

Fred, KC9QQ

In the Deep Freeze

Posted on by January 6, 2014
Heavy Snow and Frigid Weather at the QTH

Heavy Snow and Frigid Weather at the QTH

Well the snow has finally stopped, but the temperatures have been sitting -8 to -10 F  all day.  The temperatures are supposed to fall as low as -17 F tonight.  The storm that passed through yesterday and last night dumped a little over 12 inches of snow at my QTH.  The first 8 inches of snow was very wet and heavy.  The snow built up on the trees and brought a quite a few limbs down.

 

Limb that Brought Down Doublet (the broken wire can be seen to the left of the limb)

Limb that Brought Down Doublet (the broken wire can be seen to the left of the limb)

 

Unfortunately, one of the limbs brought down my 80M doublet.  This snow is going to have to melt off before I can make repairs to the doublet because I need to get up on my roof to retrieve the center insulator.  This is only the second time the doublet has come down in 5 years–both times it was hit by falling tree limbs!

 

 

During the worst part of the snow storm my log periodic accumulated close to an inch of very wet snow on the elements and boom.  The 55′ element tips were drooping almost 4 feet at the worst point.  Fortunately, as the wind picked up yesterday afternoon, most of the snow was blown off the elements.  The Orion rotor is not having any problem moving the 10-30LP8 and XM-240.  I have been trying to rotate that beam every few hours just to keep things from getting frozen.

I hope to work some of you during the NAQP CW contest this weekend.  Of course I won’t being working anyone on 80M this weekend!

73,

Fred, KC9QQ