Category Archives: Uncategorized

Building a 20M mag loop antenna

(Source: Southgate ARC)

Antennas come in many shapes and sizes, with a variety of characteristics making them more or less suitable for various applications. The average hacker with only a middling exposure to RF may be familiar with trace antennas, yagis and dipoles, but there’s a whole load more out there. [Eric Sorensen] is going down the path less travelled, undertaking the build of a self-tuning magnetic loop antenna.

[Eric]’s build is designed to operate at 100W on the 20 meter band, and this influences the specifications of the antenna. Particularly critical in the magnetic loop design is the voltage across the tuning capacitor; in this design, it comes out at approximately 4 kilovolts. This necessitates the careful choice of parts that can handle these voltages. In this case, a vacuum variable capacitor is used, rated to a peak current of 57 amps and a peak voltage of 5 kilovolts.

The magnetic loop design leads to antenna which is tuned to a very narrow frequency range, giving good selectivity. However, it also requires retuning quite often in order to stay on-band. [Eric] is implementing a self-tuning system to solve this, with a controller using a motor to actuate the tuning capacitor to maintain the antenna at its proper operating point.

If you’re unfamiliar with magnetic loop builds, [Eric]’s project serves as a great introduction to both the electrical and mechanical considerations inherent in such a design. We’ve seen even more obscure designs though – like these antennas applied with advanced spray techniques.

Read the full article
https://hackaday.com/2019/03/17/building-a-magnetic-loop-antenna/

FT8 growing in popularity, fueled by poor propagation

(Source: Southgate ARC)

ARRL report on a survey by Club Log’s Michael Wells G7VJR that shows significant growth in the use of WSJT FT8 during 2018 

Wells reported that operators from some 270 DXCC entities were active on FT8 in 2018. “It’s quite a showing for FT8,” he allowed, pointing out that the figure is close to the computed 287 active DXCC entities.

Wells posits that FT8 may be the only way to stay in the hobby for operators living on small lots and confronting stringent zoning regulations.

Read the ARRL story at 
http://www.arrl.org/news/view/survey-ft8-growing-as-dx-mode-in-an-era-of-waning-propagation

Proportion of modes used on the air – 2018 update G7VJR
https://g7vjr.org/2019/03/proportion-of-modes-used-on-the-air-2018-update/

Upcoming QRP Field Event:
“Freeze Your B___ Off”, Saturday, February 6

The Arizona ScQRPions (link) annual winter QRP sprint, “Freeze Your B___ Off“, happens on Saturday, February 6 this year. FYBO is an event in which QRPers are encouraged to take their stations afield in the winter, and the colder it is “at the key”, the larger a score multiplier a participant gets.  Complete rules for FYBO can  be found here:

http://www.azscqrpions.org/FYBO2016_Rules.htm

My logbook tells me I first participated in FYBO in 1997 and that I had a blast, and I’ve participated in FYBO almost every year since then.

With this year’s strong El Niño and weird weather there’s no telling at this point whether a particular location will be unseasonably warm or bitterly cold, wet or dry, sunny or snowy but whatever the weather you find on February 6, take your station outdoors and have some wintertime radio fun!

Upcoming Summer QRP Field Events

With the arrival of summer weather, the outdoor ham radio season is upon us! Outdoor operating is an important part of my ham radio hobby and I plan to participate in the following field events in a big way.

Saturday-Sunday, June 27-28, 2015: ARRL Field Day

Field Day is the ARRL’s biggest operating event and, with a history going back to 1933, is one of the ARRL’s oldest operating events. Field Day is the “big daddy” of portable operating events and more than 40,000 hams are expected to participate this year. Operate QRP or QRO. Operate CW, SSB, or digital; operate with a local club, a group of friends, with a single friend, or alone. The important thing is to set up a station and operate!

Full rules and other materials can be found here:
http://www.arrl.org/field-day.

I will be participating with the Athens County Amateur Radio Association’s Class 1A, solar-powered operation at the Athens County (Ohio) Fairgrounds.

Sunday, July 26, 2015: The Adventure Radio Society’s Flight of the Bumblebees

The Adventure Radio Society’s Flight of the Bumblebees hasn’t been around since 1933 but it has been an annual event since 1997, which is a long time these days. Flight of the Bumblees is a four-hour event held annually on the last Sunday of July. Both home-based and portable operations are allowed but those who operate from the field are the Bumblebees and are worth a 3x multiplier. Bumblebees are encouraged to reach their operating locations principally under their own power by walking, bicycling, kayaking, etc.; the distance traveled using human-power is up to the individual operator’s discretion.

Full rules and instructions for receiving a Bumblebee Number can be found here: http://www.arsqrp.blogspot.com/.

I have participated in Flight of the Bumblebees most years since 1997 and look forward to participating again in 2015. I plan to bicycle with my KX3 Travel Kit (info) from my home to my operating location somewhere in Athens County, Ohio.

Sunday, August 9, 2015: New Jersey QRP Club’s Skeeter Hunt

This year marks the 4th annual running of the Skeeter Hunt, a four-hour sprint-type event whose objective is to get QRPers out of their shacks for the day and into fresh air and sunshine. Those who operate outdoors qualify as “Skeeters”.

Full rules and instructions on receiving a Skeeter Number can be found here: http://w2lj.blogspot.com/p/njqrp-skeeter-hunt.html.

WD8RIF has participated in every Skeeter Hunt since the first one in 2012 and has enjoyed the event every year.

 

July & August QRP Field Operating Events

Over the next thirty days there are three QRP field operating events to take part in.

This coming Sunday, July 13,  is the second annual Scorch Your Butt Off event. This six-hour event is like the more familiar wintertime Freeze Your B___ Off event except for this event the score multiplier goes up the hotter the temperature recorded at the key or microphone. The rules for Scorch Your Butt Off can be found here:

http://www.qsl.net/sybo/Scorch_Your_Butt_Off/SYBO.html

Sunday, July 27, is the date of the Adventure Radio Society’s Flight of the Bumblebees, an event with a long and storied history. For this four-hour sprint, those who use human-power to get to their operating locations earn the right to a “bumblebee number”; each contact with a “bumblebee” counts as a score multiplier. The rules for Flight of the Bumblebees will be posted here Friday, July 11:

http://www.arsqrp.blogspot.com/

Sunday, August 10, is the date of the 3rd annual New Jersey QRP Club Skeeter Hunt. Those who operate in the field can request a “skeeter number” and are worth more points than “non-skeeters”. This year there’s a score multiplier for using homebrew or kit-built equipment. The announcement and rules for the Skeeter Hunt can be found here:

http://w2lj.blogspot.com/p/njqrp-skeeter-hunt.html (announcement)
http://www.qsl.net/w2lj/ (rules)

So—three good reasons to take a QRP rig and field-antenna outdoors and have some fun!

Once in while…

… one hears behavior on the air that reminds one that courtesy can still, occasionally, be heard on the HF bands.

I’ve made it a goal this year to earn a Worked All States (WAS) certificate working only the ARRL Centennial Celebration W1AW/portable stations using CW and QRP power levels. I’ve managed to work W1AW/portable stations in 27 states so far–I started a few weeks late and missed the first few states but will pick them up in the second half of the year–but I’ve heard some atrocious pile-up behavior while doing so.

This evening, while trying to work W1AW/1 (NH) or W1AW/2 (NJ)–I can’t remember which because I  eventually worked each on several bands before turning the rig off for the night–I neglected to put my KX3 back into split-mode after changing bands, so on my first call to the W1AW/portable station I was transmitting on his frequency, not up as I was supposed to be. Before I could even realize my mistake, I heard someone send a simple “IF UP”–the last two letters of my callsign and “UP”–just once, on the W1AW/portable station’s frequency. Not the “UP UP UP” we  hear far too frequently these days or even “UP UP UP LID“. Just one transmission of “IF UP” to tell me, WD8RIF, that I had made an error. One short, polite, courteous transmission.

I have no idea who this polite ham was. If I did, I would send him an email thanking him for his short, polite message to me.  Maybe he’ll stumble upon this posting on QRPer.com and learn how much I appreciated his simple transmission to me.

A New Field Event — “Peanut Power Sprint”

peanut-power-pete

The North GA QRP Club gang have added a new annual field event to the amateur radio contest calendar–a field event with an unusual twist. The Peanut Power Sprint is this Sunday, September 29, 2013, from 2000Z to 2200Z.

What’s unusual about this event is that it is open to those operators running QRP, those running more than QRP power, those operating at home, and those operating in the field. Participants will be competing against only those who are in the same class. In addition, both CW and SSB operation are allowed and encouraged.

Here are the full rules, in PDF format: http://www.nogaqrp.org/Peanut%20Power%20QRP%20Sprint.pdf

A couple of items to note in the rules:

  1. Operations are allowed only on 15, 20, and 40m. The recommended 40m CW frequency is 7.060MHz, not the usual QRP calling frequency.
  2. Those operators with a “Peanut Power Number” can work anyone; those without a number may work only those with numbers. It’s not too late to request a “Peanut Power Number”.

Personally, I’m looking forward to be operating as Peanut Power #105, “Salted” (5w, portable).

73, WD8RIF

ARRL 10 Meter Contest

When the band is open, 10 meters is the band for QRP DXing–great DX can be worked with very low power and very modest antennas.

The entire world congregates on 10 meters on the second full weekend of December for the ARRL 10 Meter Contest. This year this contest falls on the weekend of December 8-9, 2012. Complete rules can be found here: www.arrl.org/10-meter. It is worthwhile to note that this contest allows participation by both CW and phone operators.

We are approaching the peak of sunspot cycle 24 and conditions on 10 meters should be excellent for working DX. Even those not interested in the contest per se should take advantage of the propagation and the sheer numbers of DX stations on the band to work some “new ones”.

A Few Hours in the ARRL 160 Meter Contest

I was able to spend about three hours participating in the ARRL 160 Meter Contest this past weekend. I operated CW-only, using my Elecraft K2 running 5-watts, and my primary antenna was my low 195′ Inverted-L tuned with an LDG Z-11 QRP autotuner.

I concentrated on working new sections but even so managed to make 72 QSOs with stations in 30 sections; this translated into an hourly rate of about 24 QSOs per hour–not bad for QRP into a compromise antenna.  I worked stations in the states shown in the map below, plus Ontario. (My station is located in southeastern Ohio.)

Although my primary antenna was my Inverted-L, I also shorted the feedline of my windowline-fed 135′ doublet at the tuner and fed the antenna against ground; this antenna allowed me to make one QSO I couldn’t make with the Inverted-L.

I had been hoping to work a DX station or two and heard but wasn’t able to work just one non-US, non-Canadian station, a station in the Bahamas.

Upcoming “Top Band” Events

Winter is the time to operate on 160-meters. Within the next six weeks we find not one, not two, but three 160-meter contests.

November 29, 2012 (0000-0600 UTC ): QRP ARCI Top Band Sprint (rules) — note that this the evening of Wednesday, November 28 in North America!

November 30 – December 2, 2012 (2200 UTC Friday – 1600 UTC Sunday): ARRL 160 Meter Contest (rules); this contest includes a QRP class.

December 29 – 30 (1500 UTC Saturday – 1500 UTC Sunday):  Stew Perry Top Band Distance Challenge (rules); this contest includes a QRP class.

If you don’t have a dedicated 160-meter antenna but have a 40m or 80m dipole/doublet, try shorting the feedline at the radio and work it against ground through an antenna tuner; this will convert your dipole/doublet into a vertical with a really big “top hat”.