"I'll be up in a minute Honey, I'm checking for Sporadic E"

I actually said that to my XYL yesterday on one of my numerous trips to the basement shack to see if there was any trace of activity on 6 meters (Oops, I’m Canadian, that would be 6 metres). BTW my better-half is used to having radio lingo thrown at her to qualify my need to descend to the depths where my little, but cosy, radio nook is located….although I don’t think I’ve used the Sporadic E excuse before. She may actually have thought I was looking for fungus growing on the basement floor, or some foot condition that might require treatment.

The frequent 6m checks were due to this weekend's CQ World-Wide VHF contest. If there was any type of propagation happening on either the 6 or 2 meter band this weekend, it would be very evident by the sheer number of people who would be on the air. Well this time the sun just wasn’t cooperating. At least in this particular Maidenhead (FN14) the activity was little to zilch. Parked on the SSB calling frequency 50.125 MHz, I heard the odd signal rise above the abyss, but very few that managed to register a notch on the S meter. Judging by the activity on a DX cluster I was monitoring, Europe had a decent go of it, but action in North America was pretty minimal. Undoubtedly there were a few openings here and there for some and I’m sure a few folks managed some good contacts. I see a few east-coast stations managed Trans-Atlantic QSOs. On CW I heard one US station trying to get the attention of an SP (Poland)…although I couldn’t hear the DX station.

Like the rest of my station, the antenna set-up for 6m is pretty modest. Although the tri-band vertical I now have up in the air for 6m, 2m and 70cm is a vast improvement over the little 2m whip I used to have perched on top of the garage that loaded up nicely on 6 (and I DID manage a fair number of QSO’s with that little antenna). The only contact I managed this time actually took place on Friday night, before the contest started, with a station about 100 miles (160 km) to the north-east, probably due to some Aurora judging by how fluttery the signal sounded.

Back to the sun…the whole ‘science’ of how propagation works, especially with bands like 6m and higher is quite fascinating, but rather confusing for the novice. Like many things there are some great on-line resources. One of my favourites is http://www.solarcycle24.com/, maintained by VE3EN. It’s a great quick reference to see if ole sol is sending some “radio sunshine” our way.

Here's a list of some other useful sites that explain, predict, or otherwise simplify the propagation phenomenom. This is is by no means complete, and if you know of a useful site, please let me know by posting a comment.

73 & Good DX!

http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/ A good place to get the propagation conditions and predictions for the upcoming week.
http://ecjones.org/propag.html Despote being written by a Professor of Physics (who is a ham) this explains propagation theory in a fairly easy-to-understand way.
http://www.anarc.org/wtfda/propagation.htm Although written more with the FM/TV DXer in mind, Glenn Hauser does an excellent job of explains the different types of propagation.
http://www.ac6v.com/propagation.htm A good portal to all sorts of sites about propagation.
http://www.hamradio-online.com/propagation.html Another good portal.
http://dx.qsl.net/propagation/ Some quick data on current conditions, including sular flux, A & K indexes, solar winds and a three-day forcast.
http://www.spaceweather.com/ Not specifically directed to the radio amateur, but tonnes of useful information about what the sun is up to.

Field Day 2009

Over the 21 years that I've been a ham, one of my favourite activities has always been Field Day. Nothing seems to speak to the spirit of amateur radio better than a group of hams cooperating together to set up temporary stations in simulated emergency conditions. Then spend 24 hours with friends doing a little operating, a little socializing and enjoying some fine Field Day cuisine. Years back, I was the Field Day Manager for a club I was involved with and thoroughly enjoyed seeing things come together. In recent years my level of involvement has been limited by family and sometimes work concerns. This year, Murphy's Law again kicked in as an out-of-town family gathering meant I wasn't able to take part except for a few hours on the Saturday evening. None-the-less it was a blast and I'm doing my best to keep the calendar clear for next year.

Following are some images of the Field Day set up for VE3RL. For the past several years, local Field Day activities have been a cooperative effort between the Quinte Amateur Radio Club and the Prince Edward Radio Club.

In the past, the Field Day sites have been in various locations including a cabin at a conservation area, an old school house and last year in very comfortable digs at the administration building for the local conservation authority. This year the guys thought...hey, let's have "Field Day" in an actual field...what a concept! The land is owned by Eric VA3EP and located in a quiet spot of Prince Edward County near Picton, Ontario.

Brian VA3BRW was manning the digital station, primarily on RTTY. He was comfy in his modern and cosy camper trailer.
A bit of a fuzzy shot, but a close up of the neatly arranged digital operating station.

The 40-80 position was in a tent. Mike VE3OX owns the nice Vibroplex and was planning on running CW through the night. He was taking a break after a swarm of mosquitos invaded the tent.

The 20-15-10 station was located in a trailer previously used to transport racing motorcycles.

Inside the 20m trailer. Al VE3FZ on the mic with Bob VA3ACE logging.

All the essentials for Field Day operating...a computer for logging, HF Rig (Kenwood TS-2000 in this case) and an electronic mosquito zapper....oh and a bowl for the cherry pits.

The youngest operator at Field Day was Alex VA3UGT. He made a few contacts on 6m SSB with Eric looking on and Elmering.

The V/UHF station was housed in an old camper that Eric bought from a junk yard. It's now a nice little shack on wheels! Every ham needs one of these. The antennas included a square-shaped omni-directional 6-meter antenna, a small yagi for 2m and an omni vertical for 2 & 440. Looks there was also a dipole or windom for HF.

Yours truly on 6 meters, with Lee VA3LHM doing some manual logging. We had a good little run going for awhile as the band opened up nice towards the American west coast. Earlier in the day, Puerto Rico was worked on 6.

Eric had a pretty elaborate power supply system worked out for this station. If the generator quit, there would be no interruption of power.

The VHF station itself consisted of a Yaesu FT-857 for 6 & 2 meters SSB, while an FT-90 was standing by for any 2m FM activity.

The tri-bander raduating radio magic into the night.

So many menus, so little time

Modern pieces of amateur radio equipment really are marvels aren’t they? I’ve just acquired a previously enjoyed Yaesu VX6R HT. While it’s a major upgrade from my 2 meter only FT-23R, it does take some serious time with the manual to start to understand some of the many features. The depth of complexity is similar to my FT-897, which was my first experience with menu driven radios. These transceivers have more menus than a Denny’s during a Shriners convention. There is no possible way you could memorize all the various settings, or the order of keystrokes to get some of the whiz-bang doo-dads operating. Sure, the functions you use day-to-day will soon come second nature, but suddenly have to change a CTCSS tone or create a new bank of memories and it’s back to the manual.

This isn’t a complaint (I know it sounds like one) as I realize in order to fit the amount of features into such a small package, menus are the only option. If these radios had a dedicated knob or button for every feature, your HT would be the size of a filing cabinet. Mind you it does annoy me a tad that the previously simple action of adjusting the squelch is no longer a simple twist of a dial, at least on the VX6R (I’d have to look up the process).

These are pretty darn cool radios, but I do kind of miss dials and switches. I still have my first HF rig, which isn’t quite a dinosaur as it is solid state, but it was manufactured back in 1982. Every function has either a dial or a switch, not a single menu to be found. Now, it’s a lot larger and heavier too but, frankly its size and array of knobs and switches, I think, makes it look more impressive.

I see one of the 73 menu options is to have the green/red Receive/TX LED glow a bright white to act as a small flashlight. Now THAT will be handy on those late-night walks with the dog when I need a light to find where the dog, errr….you know. Mind you it takes three key strokes and the twist of a dial to turn it on. Simplicity, thy name is not ham radio. Now…back to the manual.

What a modern HT would look like if someone hadn't figured out how to compact all those features into menus.

CW on the cranium

I spent some quality time with my radio and CW keyer this weekend, casually taking part in the CQ WPX CW contest. I say “casually” participated because I usually only have a few hours, here and there, over the course of a typical weekend to devote to such endeavours. In all, I managed 125 contacts. Pretty good for me…but keep in mind the serious contesters finish with contacts in the thousands. In fact I was number 2000 for the Hungarian station I contacted just before 8pm local tonight (and I worked a few with serial numbers in the 3000’s).

I’d be interested to hear from other CW operators…to see if you, perhaps have shared this rather strange experience I’ve had. I think I hear Morse code mixed in with the white noise that certain household appliances make. No…my transceiver wasn’t on autopilot and sending RFI into the toaster-oven. And, before you call the nice men in white suits to take me away to the butterscotch hotel with the padded walls….realize that I know there isn’t really CW emanating from the vacuum cleaner, hair dryer or air cleaner. But…my brain seems to pick up what sounds like high speed CW buried within that hum or whir of the particular household gadget. Luckily I can’t decipher anything…or I’d be checking myself into the loony bin (then again I’m not good at copying the high speed stuff anyway!). This phenomenon only seems to occur (thankfully) shortly after I’ve been doing some CW work. It reminds me of a time a few years ago when I was having fun working the FM satellites. I’d be intently listening to the downlink frequency with headphones a few minutes before the scheduled pass…and I’d swear I could hear the hint of voices buried in the static. But, it would be a few more minutes before the real voices started to fade up.

Yup, the brain can do funny thins to us hams. Now…if only the vacuum would QSL.

Signs of life at 28 MHz

I’ve been hearing some activity on 10 meters over the past week or so. None of the signals were bombing in, but anywhere from an S 3-7, and with next to no noise on the band, they were near-perfect copy. I was able to make a few quick contacts, which was very refreshing and gives me hope the band may be bouncing back as the latest solar cycle, slowly, slowly churns forward imparting its magic on the higher bands.

I’ve always had a soft spot for 10 meters. When the band was really hot back in the early part of this century (uh, that would be 2000, 01 & 02) I managed to work some of my best DX…with 100 watts into a wire…on that band, including my first JA’s.

I think right now many of us just aren’t checking the band regularly, and just as importantly, making a transmission. Give a quick CQ, regardless of what you are or are not hearing. You may be surprised at the results. If you want to check for propagation…don’t go by the lack of SSB signals…dial down to the CW beacon portion of the band, between about 28180 and 28300 kHz. Slowly scan and if you hear any CW signals, there’s propagation happening from somewhere. Even if your ability to copy code is rough….these beacons usually send at slow speeds and a couple of listens should allow you to copy. Alternatively, you could use some CW software to decode it for you. Look up the call on QRZ.com or one of the on-line beacon lists and figure out where your signal may go if you transmit. Here’s another trick to see whether 10 meters may be open: Dig out that old CB rig (come on admit it, you have one hiding somewhere) or just dial down to the 27 MHz range….and flip the mode to AM. If there’s any propagation in that end of the spectrum, you’ll undoubtedly hear those overmodulated, heavily exaggerated accented guys (could anyone really sound like that?) whistling and yelling into their Golden Eagles. Logic dictates if there’s skip on the ole Citizens Band, the band 1 MHz up is probably open too.

Why is ham radio sometimes the most fun when there’s a challenge involved? Hope to hear you on 10m.

Memories of Dayton

My one and, so far, only journey to Dayton was back in 1991 (please don’t tell me that’s really eighteen years ago). I believe every ham in North America should make the pilgrimage at least once. Many, or course, go every year, or at least semi-regularly. I hope to return one year, once life’s circumstances permit. However, by the time that happens, I may be restricted to one of those nifty motorized scooters.

I tried to watch some of the live streaming one ham had on his website, but all I managed to catch was a view of a canopy over a table of stuff, with people walking by, or a static shot of some parking lot. So, my hopes of living vicariously through this guy didn’t work out too well. Guess I’ll have to rely on my own Dayton memories of many years ago.

I traveled with four other hams. Let’s face it…this is the only way to go. Unless your XYL is a ham, she just won’t get it, and the kids won’t be amused when they find out there isn’t a rollercoaster. Only fellow amateurs would appreciate three days of traversing the isles and isles of used gear and plain old (but wonderful) junk, or to see all the shiny new stuff most of us can’t afford.

We made the trip from Oshawa (just outside of Toronto) to Dayton in an aging motorhome. Unfortunately it broke down while at the campground and our comrade and chauffeur Norm spent much of his time tearing the engine to pieces and trying to find a part for the carburetor.

My purchases were restricted to a few accessories, a mobile antenna that sort of thing. The purpose of the trip was not to snag the deal of the century on that hot new rig, but rather to experience what I had heard so much about. In the end, it pretty much lived up to all the hype. I saw a lot of neat stuff, met a lot of great folks (especially at the camp ground which seemed to be 100% filled with hams) and got a few deals on some modest things on my wish list.

On the trip back, we were busy compiling a list of purchases and gather receipts for the fine folks at Canada Customs. When we hit the border at Detroit/Windsor and the customs guy asked if we had anything to declare, Norm casually and in a cool manner just said “no”, and we were waived through. This despite the motorhome having ham call sign licence plates with that border crossing being the main thoroughfare for the hundreds of other Canadian hams who make the trip. Either that border guard was new or at the end of his shift and just didn’t care. Now, none of us had made a major purchase, so the government didn’t miss out on too much tax. Anyway a fine ending to a good trip!

Ahhh, maybe next year, or the year after. Hmmm, are they taking reservations for 2021? Or I could make it back down there sooner if they would just install that rollercoaster.

The Lawn, RTTY & Auctions

Wow, where does the time go? Another weekend has wrapped up and we’re already almost in the middle of May. Not a lot of amateur activity for me this weekend, with Mother’s Day and some half-way decent weather Sunday to mow the grass. Yes the first cut of the season….only took 38 pulls of the cord to get the old beast puffing back to life for one more season. I keep threatening to replace it with an electric mower as I’m sure there are at least two or three holes in the ozone that can be attributed to the clouds of exhaust my old gas-powered job produces.

I did manage a little time Saturday afternoon to scan the HF dial. I was all set to check out the DX conditions on 20 meters CW when I heard an abundance of RTTY sounds. Turns out is was something called the Alessandro Volta RTTY Contest. I fired up the MMTTY software and away we went. European DX was abundant and the signals were solid. I love RTTY (and many of the other digital modes) because lower power (I was running about 75 watts) and a basic wire antenna can net decent DX without too much trouble. The best catch was T77NM from the teeny-tiny republic of San Marino. Actually not a new overall country for me as I’d worked it a few times on phone, but a new RTTY country.

The main amateur-related activity this past week was attending the annual auction held by one of the clubs in our area. I hadn’t been to it in a few years, so I took some cash and ventured out to see what could be had for a deal. Unlike a fleamarket, the auction approach means that everything in the room must go! For about 20 bucks I managed to snag a decent Yaesu SP-102 communications speaker with some built in audio filters. I was the lone bidder on an old piece of test equipment (cost me a buck). I’m not exactly sure what it does, but if nothing else it’ll make a good solid door stop. Actually I’ve been amassing test equipment from flea markets and auctions over the past several years, as I one day plan to start fixing up all those nice old broadcast radios I have gathering dust, and a couple of nice Hallicrafters boat anchors that work….but not very well. But with time always so tight, I’m afraid these may become retirement projects!

Waiting (and waiting) for refurbishment