Category Archives: Guest Posts

Guest Posts, News, QRP, QRP Radios, Vintage

Joshua acquires an Argonaut 509

13 Comments

Many thanks to Joshua (KO4AWH) who shares the following guest post:

Ten-Tec Argonaut 509 Acquisition

by Joshua (KO4AWH)

My club president sent me a text on Sunday before our Monday club meeting. He wanted to know if I was interested in a Vintage 80s QRP Radio. He knows I have an affinity for QRP. Honestly, I think he is still amazed at how I managed to get through piles ups on his hexbeam during summer field day with my TX-500. Boy was that fun.

The deal was a Ten-Tec 509 with the microphone and CW filter, the matching 251 power supply with meter, and the 504 matching 50W amplifier. He sent me a photo, I had to look it up. I have heard of Ten-Tec, thanks to Thomas K4SWL, but certainly was not familiar with their Argonaut 509. I was intrigued. I don’t have a single vintage piece of equipment. I have only been a Ham for less than 3 years.

We had some equipment from a club member SK donated for auction to raise funds for some club repeater upgrades. This was a good excuse to purchase an old piece of equipment that I likely would not have purchased otherwise. After looking over the 509 and accessories, all of which were in great condition, I brought them home. Of course I couldn’t help but hook everything up and turn on power. Everything powered up but no movement of the frequency indicator, not a great sign, and no audible hint of changing reception frequency. After further inspection it seemed the dial tuning mechanism was seized up. Looks like another project.

The next morning, as I had a few minutes to spare I started taking things apart. I have never pulled apart an old transmitter before so I took my time as I studied all the components and marveled at the simplistic yet complex circuitry found under the covers. Once I was down to the tuning mechanism, a few desoldered wires later, it was removed and ready for cleaning. I don’t know if the grease was original, but it sure was hard. After carefully cleaning, greasing, and reassembling all the components, soldering a couple wires back, and reassembling the housing, I was ready to power it back up. I don’t want to understate the work involved, it can be quite tricky, but I really enjoy this type of thing.

After tuning around a bit and working with the controls on the Radio, I found a POTA operator to zero beat. I needed something to reference in order to adjust my knob indicator so I would know what frequency the radio is on. I actually received the manual for the radio and each of the components. Reading through a few key points the night before really helped out when I was ready to start tuning in and transmitting.

I had the amplifier on, I set the DRIVE to about half way guessing that was okay and called back to the Activator. First call, he called me back with a 59! WOW, I was excited. I let him know I was on an old Ten-Tec that I had just repaired and he came back and said the audio and signal were great. How exciting! So, naturally, I hunted a few more stations and then listened to a few rag chews as I got familiar with the Radio.

Not only was I excited to have repaired my first radio, I am also amazed at the capability of this Radio originally released in 1973. I am not a long time SWL or radio operator but there is certainly something very appealing to me about the audio this Rig produces. I wasn’t certain what I was getting into with this rig, but I sure am happy how it worked out! I may just be on the hunt for another Ten-Tec. I even plan to take this to my local park and do at least one activation with it.

Here is a quick excerpt from the introduction in the operating manual.

“The Argonaut opens a whole new world of excitement and fun in Amateur Radio. We think you will find QRP a welcome change. Five watts are only 2-1/2 S-units below 150 watts for the same conditions. When skip is favorable and QRM light, you will not be conscious of using low power.”

73

Joshua

KO4AWH

Antennas, Articles, Guest Posts, How To, News

Steve’s Homebrew Vertical Antenna for POTA

15 Comments

Many thanks to Steve (KM4FLF/VA3FLF) for sharing the following guest post:

A Great Homebrew Vertical Antenna

by Steve (KM4FLF/VA3FLF)

Last spring, I was going through my many boxes of ham “stuff” looking for items to sell at our club tail gate sale. I came across a couple of Hustler SM Series Resonators (20 /40 Meters) that I had acquired. I am not sure where I obtained them, but I decided they were keepers.  That decision turned out to be the first step in a year long process that has given me an awesome homebrew vertical antenna.

After doing a little research I found the resonators and accessories at most of the online ham dealers. They are used primarily as mobile and marine antennas. I had seen where a ham had used these on a ground stake as a portable antenna as well. I ordered a Hustler MO1 mast which is 54 inches tall and thought I would attempt to make a portable POTA antenna.

Antenna base

I had a couple of small aluminum plates that I drilled out a few holes. I cut out a notch to put a SO-239 Stud Mount on the plate as my antenna base. I now had a ground plate, connector, and antenna with resonator. By putting a stake in the bottom of the plate, I was able to get the antenna to stand up. The Hustler resonators have a hex screw for tuning that can be loosened. The antenna can be adjusted for resonance by lengthening or shortening the radiator length. After adjusting the radiator my SWR was still horrible on the two bands.

Antenna base close-up

I had some 14-gauge wire laying around and attached it to the plate using carriage bolts and nuts for my ground radials. I didn’t think about the length of the wires at this point but went with three or four lines around 20 to 30 ft. I was able to use my vertical a few times with moderate success. My SWR on 20 and 40 Meters was around 2:0 to 1 at best. It was bulky and very delicate. Sometimes screwing in or unscrewing the MO1 the SO239 would slide off the edge of the aluminum plate. I put away my contraption for the winter and decided to move on to something else.

In April of this year, I wanted to revisit my project. Continue reading Steve’s Homebrew Vertical Antenna for POTA →

Articles, Guest Posts, News

Paul’s potentially explosive portable ops in St. Elmo, Colorado

3 Comments

Many thanks to Paul (W0RW) who shares the following guest post:

Operating in St. Elmo Ghost Town, Colorado

by Paul (W0RW)

I have operated in St Elmo (Ghost Town) several times with my PRC319 Pedestrian Mobile.  St. Elmo is at 11,000 feet in a deep canyon so it was hard to make contacts.

My PRC319 runs 50 Watts and I use a 10 foot whip so I had some success to the East on CW. I use a Whiterook MK-33 for a hand held single lever paddle.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Right after my last visit,  July 2015, members of St. Elmo and Chalk Creek Canyon Historical group  cleaned out the outhouse behind the Home Comfort Hotel in St. Elmo, they found a potentially explosive surprise. On the floor of the outhouse, they found what they believed to be dynamite. Later in the day the bomb squad found blasting caps rather than dynamite.

St Elmo Outhouse

[Per the Historical Society] there were only 6 Blasting Caps found at St Elmo’s. They called Ft. Carson US Army EOD and they blew them up right there in the center of town.

While the electric blasting caps are usually shorted and would not be effected by a QRP radio, my 50W radio was  at a dangerously high level to be transmitting near a box of blasting caps.

It would be a smart idea to avoid operating in any old mining areas where unexploded dynamite might exist.

Paul    W0RW

St Elmo, Colorado

Guest Posts, News

Importance of Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) Protection

5 Comments

Many thanks to Paul (W0RW) who shares the following guest post:

Sherlock Investigates: Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) Protection; Is It Still Needed?

Improper handling of electronic assemblies with microcircuits during testing, production, and repair can still cause catastrophic and latent damage. Designers have developed protection methods that reduce ESD susceptibility after the product is completely packaged, so you might not see any damage to final products, but those who build or repair electronic assemblies still have to take precautions not to damage items.

If you are familiar with and employ standard ESD handling procedures you will be safe. The ESD Association has training on their web site https://www.esda.org/esd-overview/

This is the most important ESD fact:

“Static is generated by the contact and separation of unlike materials”.

That means ‘you’ probably are the biggest ESD hazard around your workbench. When you get up out of your chair many thousands of volts can be generated. Grounded wrist straps prevent damage from this.

Humidity is a big factor in reducing ESD damage. If you live near the ocean you won’t have as much ESD susceptibility as someone working in Colorado.

It’s not only electronics that are affected by ESD. Perhaps you have seen the ESD warning signs on gas station pumps. People sliding out of a car that is being fueled has caused fires. Filling metal gas cans in pickup trucks with bed liners can be hazardous; The only safe way to fill a gas can is to place it on the ground.

The pictures shown here are from Sherlock’s Failure Analysis Laboratory. They show the physical damage to microcircuits that was caused by static electricity.

Sherlock (a.k.a. W0RW)  is a NARTE* ‘Electrostatic Discharge Control, Certified Engineer’ (ESD-00020-NE).

*National Association of Radio and Telecommunications
Engineers, Inc.

Articles, Guest Posts, QRO, QRP

Scott runs some QRO v QRP numbers!

8 Comments

Many thanks to Scott (KK4Z) who shares the following post from his blog KK4Z.com:

QRO SCHMURO

There is always a lot of talk about QRP vs QRO, 5 watts vs 10, ad nauseam. So today I thought I would run the numbers and see what the real deal is. First we need a few definitions. An S-unit in general terms is the minimum change in signal strength to be just noticeable (k3wwp.com). In more technical terms it equates to approximately 6 db in change. The decibel (dB) is a logarithmic number. Each 10 dB represents a factor of 10 difference. This may be a little out there for some so we will cut right to the shortcut. There are two types of logarithms. For calculating dB, use the common logarithm which is base 10. To see if your calculator uses the right one. Punch in 100 and then log. The answer should be 2 which equates to 10 to the second power which equals 100. This is not a technical paper but an entry way to see how changing the power levels affect the signal level of your transmitting signal. As you guessed, it is not linear.

Let me introduce an equation:

Where Power P1 is the power you wish to evaluate and reference power P2 is your starting power. Let’s take going from 5 watts to 10 watts. The equation would look like this:

We take 10 and divide it by 5 which give us 2. Then we hit the log function on our calculator which gives us 0.301. Multiply that by 10 and you have about 3 dB in gain or about one half of an S-unit (remember 1 S-unit is equal to 6 dB). Let’s do one more by hand and tackle the QRP/QRO debate. How many S-units will increasing power from 5 watts to 100 watts give you? The equation looks like this:

Take the 100 and divide by 5 to give you 20 and then hit the log function to give you 1.301. Multiply by 10 for 13.01 dB. Divide 13.01 by 6 dB and you have 2.17 S-units. Going back to our definition that one S-unit is the minimum change in signal strength to be just noticeable shows that going from 5 watts to 100 watts is not that great of a change.

Let’s let the other shoe drop. What about going from 5 watts to 1500 watt? That will give you 4.13 S-units of gain vs 1.96 S-units going from 100 watts to 1500 watts?

This gives you a fairly easy equation to help you evaluate your needs based upon empirical data. Running 20 watts over 5 gives you 1 S-Unit. Using less power means less drain on the battery for longer operation. This is only part of the equation. Propagation, antenna, mode used, and station efficiency all play a part. Have fun and maybe don’t toss the QRP radio yet. 🙂

Click here to read this post and more at KK4Z.com.

Guest Posts, News, SOTA

Paul’s SOTA excursions captured on live webcams

2 Comments

Many thanks to Paul (W0RW) who shares the following guest post:

Can you See Me Now? Portable Operation From a Web Cam.

by Paul (W0RW)

There are now thousands of web cams operating around the world and they make great portable operating locations.

By watching a webcam stream, the stations who works you can watch you live as you talk to and log them.

When I am activating a site with a live webcam, I post the web cam link on my QRZ.com page and then stations who contact me can then go to QRZ, click and watch. I usually have a big sign that shows up on the web cam with my call and my frequency. Even DX guys who can’t hear me can watch me operate.

Many web cams are now live streaming; they give you fast refresh rates and real time video. Other bandwidth limited cams refresh at slower rates and may give only 1 frame every minute.

I was at the ‘Teller 1 Web Cam’ on 8 June 2022 (see photos above) and made 10 Q’s on CW and 10’Q’s on SSB. It has an almost real time video but with a delay of about 10 seconds. It is at 10,000 feet.

The HD Pikes Peak Panoramic Cam that I frequently use (At 14,115 feet) has a revolving 1 minute refresh rate.

I am standing right above the ‘RW’ sign.

The remote Independence Pass, Colorado, Web Camera is a solar powered wireless camera with a 1 minute refresh rate. I am standing just to the left of the tree.

This camera is down now and won’t be back on line until July.

Paul w0rw
Colorado

That makes for a fun dimension in playing SOTA, Paul! Thank you for sharing. So far, I haven’t activated a summit with a webcam, but it looks like there are numerous ones in Colorado. I’ll have to keep this in mind before heading out there!

Field Radio Kits, Guest Posts, Hacks and Hints, Hams, News, Portable, QRP

VO1DR’s Cheap and Bomb-Proof Field Package for the Icom IC-705

15 Comments

Many thanks to Scott (VO1DR) who shares the following guest post:

Cheap and Bomb-Proof Field Package for the IC-705

By Scott Schillereff (VO1DR)

St. John’s, NL, Canada     

Since getting my novice ticket in 1970 (WB9CXN) under the watchful direction of Charles “Rock”  Rockey, W9SCH (SK), I have been a dyed-in-the-cloth homebrewer and QRPer.  My one and only commercial rig before this year was a Ten Tec PM-3 I bought with paper-route money in 1971 (still have it).  Fast-forward to today.  I now live in Newfoundland, and Europe is as close as Georgia.  I continue to build my station components and antennas.  A recent sea-change though – I inherited some money and decided to splash out on a for-life rig that would serve well in the shack and on the road (RV or hiking).  After researching options, I settled on the ICOM IC-705.  A fantastic performer; a receiver like I’ve never heard before; more bells and whistles than I could dream of, and a form-factor like a….. delicate, expensive brick!

The 705 is not a sleek, trail-friendly radio.  It’s on the heavy side and, well…awkward to pick up!  But, man, what a radio!  So, my first step was to buy a Windcamp ARK-705 exoskeleton.  This protects the rig on all sides and gives you something to grab onto.  I don’t mind the weight and size; I want this rig to be working in 25 years.

My operating interests are home use, mobile in my 25 ft motor home, and portable on day hikes.  I’m new to POTA and SOTA but maybe that’s next, thanks to you, Thomas!

I’m genetically wired not to buy the luxury ICOM backpack; I prefer to build my own and integrate with my hiking gear.  With that in mind, I would like to share my field package system to move the 705 around safely with little risk of damage.  Also some other homebrew portable gear. Continue reading VO1DR’s Cheap and Bomb-Proof Field Package for the Icom IC-705 →

Articles, Field Radio Kits, Field Reports, Guest Posts, News, POTA, QRP, QRPers

John’s trip and POTA field reports from Nova Scotia

12 Comments

Many thanks to John (VE3IPS) who shares the following guest post:

Nova Scotia POTA After-Action Report

by John VE3IPS

We had planned a vacation trip out to Nova Scotia to get our lobster fix. As I always do, I prep my radio with local repeaters, look up local radio clubs, museums and check the POTA and SOTA map for locations to operate from.

I noticed that several park locations had not been activated. Thus I had an opportunity to be first activator and to get some much needed Nova Scotia parks in the Hunters logs. I printed the map and noted the park identifiers. I decided to just activate the parks that were never activated. I could have worked more parks but you have sights to see and can’t be behind the mic all the time. My antenna was prepped to be rapidly deployed in a few minutes and torn down accordingly.

I also was able to attend the Halifax ARC Hamfest on June 4, 2022.

So a vacation with ham radio elements to keep me excited with some objectives in mind.

We did visit Peggy’s Cove, Burnt Coat Head to watch the tides in the Bay of Fundy, local wineries, Lunenburg (a movie shoot was underway), the Halifax Citadel and of course eat lobster every day. I spent over $200 in gas as we did a lot of driving around (gas is just over $8 a gallon CAD), retail tax at 15% and prices for food and restaurants up by 30%. Nova Scotia is a bit more expensive than other cities.

I decided to bring my Icom 705 with a LifePO4 battery to offer 10 watts instead of the FT-891 or FT-818. Why? Because it offered a voice memory for calling CQ Parks, built in SWR meter and better IF filters over the FT-818. I wanted to cover the Marine and VHF/UHF repeaters as well and that ruled out the FT-891.

Due to the Kleenex box form factor I ended up using a Lowe Pro Omni Trekker camera bag to use as a carry on. This included a Nikon V1 camera and Binoculars.

Continue reading John’s trip and POTA field reports from Nova Scotia →

Field Reports, Guest Posts, Portable

W7L in the 7 Lakes Wilderness Area

5 Comments

Many thanks to Paul (W0RW) who shares the following field report:

Exploring the 7 Lakes Wilderness Area 

It was as a dark and drizzly morning as my XYL (Sharon) and I (Paul)  went up to Cripple Creek, Colorado, and then drove down the Gold Camp Road. The colorful Aspen trees were changing color and even in the drizzle had brilliant yellow and red colors. We proceeded up Fire Road 376 to 11,000 feet, The entrance gate to 7 Lakes. The  South Slope Ranger opened the gate for us and checked our registration. I got out the rain and snow gear and got my poncho on.

(My radio is waterproof).

I don’t normally operate in the rain and snow but this area is available only by pre-registration. The day I picked happened to be a Hurricane remnant day.

The area was just opened to the public this year and there are only 20 cars authorized per day. The area has been closed to the public since 1913–before wireless! This was opening day so I  picked the Special Call Sign, ‘W7L’, to operate with because it is the tri-graph of the name of the area, Wilderness 7 Lakes.

We set out on the trail for Mason Reservoir. As we arrived at the reservoir a snow cloud descended on us accompanied by thunder snow. There were 6 people there already fishing. They said fishing was great, mostly ‘catch and release’. One of the lady fishermen saw the big 10 foot whip on my back pack and asked me if I would like her spot on the lake to fish. I told her I was working ‘catch and release’ on 20 meter CW and I didn’t have a fishing license.

The radio I was using was my 30 pound PRC319 backpack radio which runs 50 watts.

The trail head has a new restroom and a covered picnic table area with one tree nearby for picnic table operations. This is a deep valley (That’s where most reservoirs are kept). So you might need more than 5 watts to get over the hills.

If you have ever taken the COG Railway out of Manitou Springs to the top of Pikes Peak, you have probably seen this area from the “Son of a Gun” Hill.

Warnings: These are high altitude  trails; you must be in good physical condition to hike. Elevations at 7 Lakes range start at 11,000 feet; if you are arriving from a low elevation consider acclimating at 6,000 feet for one or two days.

Bring plenty of water and pace yourself.  Altitude sickness is common. Symptoms can be shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness, headache, dyslexia. Also Loss of clear thought processes like: locking your keys in your car (This happened to one of the fishermen), leaving your log on a rock, forgetting how to program your radio, forgetting your operation time schedule or what the upper band limit of the 17 meter band is.

WG0AT, Steve, was with me on my second trip and he made this cool video:

Click here to view on YouTube.

Then he took a side trip from 7 Lakes and went up the adjoining 12,000 foot, Almagre mountain.  See the history at : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Lakes,_Colorado

You can reserve your place there by applying at  the Colorado Springs web site:

https://coloradosprings.gov/southslope?mlid=29236

Paul (W0RW)

Wow, Paul! That sounds absolutely brilliant! And taking a PRC-319–? Wow! What a way to add a little extra challenge to your high altitude radio adventure!

Thank you for sharing this, Paul! 

Field Reports, Guest Posts, Morse Code, News, QRP, SOTA, SSB

Leo’s first SOTA activation included impressive SSB QRP DX and a CW pile-up!

12 Comments

Many thanks to Leo (DL2COM) who writes:

Hey Thomas,

[…]I just wanted to give you a quick update on my 1st SOTA activation (May 18th). We spent a few days in the south of France with the extended family. From the garden of the house we rented we were constantly looking towards a beautiful mountain front and it turned out to be SOTA summit FR/CR-205 (726m, 2382ft). So I decided to try and activate it since we had enough people around who offered to watch out for our kids.

Next morning: 6am my dear XYL and I started our ascent.

What a wonderful scenery with morning mist covering most of the mountain landscape and the sun in perfect shape for an early hike.

At around 7:45am we arrived at the summit and I started throwing up my arborist weight into pretty much the only suitable tree available. Continue reading Leo’s first SOTA activation included impressive SSB QRP DX and a CW pile-up! →