For the past few nights I have been in skunkworks. I have been slowly crafting a 20 meter moxon beam. I hope to test it out very soon. I might have the beam completed and in the air this weekend. I intend to do side to side comparisons with the Delta loop. If you do not know how a moxon works, then check out this website. A Moxon is a two element beam with a parasitic interaction of the two folded elements. There should be a difference between my Delta Loop and the beam due to polarization differences. I would also like to determine huch much of a null is present in my delta loop. During an opening to Sud Africa(I can’t help German heritage and I spelt it with a S)I heard a ZS1E at RST of 58. I heard a 7land station call him at 57. I received a report of 52. The delta Loop is pointed east/west. Therefore, the delta loop is not quite orientated at ZS. The bearing for ZS should be approximately 105 degrees. I can not wait to see a comparison between the beam on a better heading! N1EY

The Day After Thanksgiving

I decided that I needed something different to do. I did not want to go shopping for all of the specials. I heard that some like K1NOK managed to get a good deal on printers by reviewing the websites. I was not keen on any of this business of purchasing equipment. Besides, I have a printer that I hardly ever use. I would like to know why everyone that I know besides K1NOK bought a printer on the Friday after Thanksgiving! If you know, then please write the answer on a $100 bill and forward it to me. I went over to Fort Revere. Many people are unaware of Fort Revere. In fact many people in Hull are barely cogniscant of the historic location. Fort Revere’s last major fortification was a World World I era installation. Fort Revere is located at the end of the pinesula, which the town of Hull, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, lays. The area used to be a large Military reservartion with lots of military structures. The Fort was located on a large hill to overlook the inward passage to Quincy habour and Boston harbour. There used to be a tower and a telegraph station for relaying news of approaching ships to Boston. After the Fort’s retirement at the end of World War II, much of the area’s military infrastructure was slowly transferred to other locations or retired in entirety. Now, the Fort is part of a small park at the top of the hill. The hill has retained the moniker of Telegraph Hill. I decided to follow in the footsteps of others such as W1DDO, N1DT, and K1VV and activate the Boston light house, which is only a stone’s throw away from the Fort. I rode over to the Fort, which only a thirty minute drive from my QTH. I talked with my good friend, K1LWI, on the Quincy Machine. I told him that I was at the Fort and to come on down. So we operated for a little bit!

The action

We managed to work a bunch of different stations. I got very strong reports from overseas and from local contacts. We made a a very strong ground wave connection on twenty meters with W1P on Cape Cod. I was able to work Africa without any problems. I did not manage to break the pile-up for 5A7A. Since then everyone else has told me how they have talked with 5A7A. I also happened to notice that they have Steppirs! I figure that once everyone gets a Steppirr that the playing field would be level, again. The highlight of the day besides some good fun with my buddy K1LWI and some good contacts such as Morrocco was seeing the Maple Express pull past Boston Light. I had a quick chat with VE7HII/6. He was using a large loop fed with 9913 coaxial cable. I found this most remarkable. I worked a very weak EB1IYC. I had a very strong signal from a QRP station. I also worked an IT9 station. We worked many contacts and I lost track. I kept everything in a paper log book. No computer nonsense as I am barely able to keep the antenna system, together! The station consisted of my mobile radio, the FT-857. I used a telescoping fibreglass mast to hold a vertical wire antenna in the air. I tied this to a SGC-237 coupler with lots and lots of ground radials lying on the grass. The oddity of sighting wires running through the grass was too much for some of the visitors to the Fort. Several women broke up in laughter upon seeing the radials. It was actually a good spot to introduce ham radio to the public. Many individuals bring their relatives to see the Fort or walk around the fort in a loop. We also talked with one fellow that K1LWI thinks that he might have provided a phone patch back in the 1980’s. The fellow was now living in Hull, but he was living in Antartica during 1980. I did check into the 14.247 DX net. I plan to try and check into the net more often. If you would like a QSL card, then please send your QSL card via direct or bureau. Follow the routing instructions on QRZ.Com. I will make a commertative card for the event. I am still exploring card designs and some of the specialized software for making limited edition QSL cards. This is an image of my hombrew antenna. I used metal coat hangers to make a tophat. I need to work on adjusting for resonance. This antenna will be subject to change over time. The current thoughts behind the radio were to based on the idea of developing a very portable and highly resilient antenna. Strong DX performance was also a consideration. I believed that having a vertical antenna would be be crucial since certain locations might not have sufficient structural support for other types of antennas. The vertical antenna is freestanding.

Progress report from K1USN

We are working on the tower. Progress has been slow due to the inclement weather and the holidays. We were working on some loose ends on the Saturday after thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving! N1EY

Today

Very little to report, today. I only worked one station. I tried over and over to reach S9SS. I could not break the pile-up. It was very frustrating when station after station said thanks for the many contacts or thanks for the QSL card hanging on the wall!! I still have not been able to reach him for one contact. I am worried that I will miss the opportunity!

The rest of the week

I received two issues of QST this week. I received the December issue and the November issue within three days. I was wondering if I was able to bend time and space like Hiro or the postmaster had garnished enough credits with the intergalatic bureau to obtain this talent. I mailed a lot of QSL cards outs. Has anyone received cards from the Deutsche Radio Gala this summer? I am slowly working on resolving computer issues for various people. Several people have enormous trouble in getting Echolink running. These individuals are utilizing Verizon DSL and other concoctions of highspeed internet access. Problems range from faulty router/modems to buearacratic control over access to specific internet content. Unforunately, I did not imagine the last portion. N1EY

Website of the Week

I recommend that everyone check out my friend’s website. W1QWT is an old school AM’er. He really loves radio. He also loves his Mustang. Goto his website at http://home.comcast.net/~w1qwt/. Check it out. Send him an email and tell him that I sent you.

Band Conditions

Band conditions have been difficult to describe. There is DX out there. There have been a lot of spots recently on 75 and 80. I do not have an effective anntena on 40 or 75. The sweepstakes have brought 40 meters alive with a lot of daytime activity, which I had not heard for awhile until this weekend. I made a few new countries during this weekend. I needed Azores. I am writing out cards right now. N1EY

Japan worked!

I reached the land of the Gods on 20 meters. Current solar and geomagentic conditions are not overall very favorable. K1RV told me at breakfast this morning that 80 and 160 meters would be significantly improved in terms of the possible signal to noise ratio versus the normal S/N. I did not have any opportunities to work anyone on 80 meters, today. I spent most of my time chasing DX stations on 20 meters. I was very happy after I went to take care of some other things and I came back to the radio shack. I just tuned the dial and it was starting to rapidly fade into darkness outside. I heard a station calling CQ. It was JH4UYB. I was not thinking much of the callsign. I figured this must be someone down in the Carribean. After I exchanged a signal report and CQ zone, I went to log the QSO. I started typing the qso into my logging program(from N3FJP) and I realized that I was putting a J into the logbook. So naturally, I became very excited at this point. I never had made a contact with Japan. I did this with my marginal 20 meter delta loop pointed on a east/west basis. I made a recording of some the contacts with JH4UYB and other stations. You can hear them through this link. The band came alive thanks to the JIDX Phone contest. I have never heard any JA stations on twenty meters until tonight. Check out the contest at http://www.jidx.org/.

Fruhstuck at the Hearth & Kettle

I saw many friends at breakfast, today. We had a good meal as tipping standards was high. The tip was approximately 28.5%, today. Everyone was in good prospects.

Other radio activity

I worked a station commerating the Hungarian revolution of 1956! Something very traumatic. I also heard the Five Sullivans Radio Club on the air. I heard the Curtis LeMay station and the USS Kid on the air. I have visited the USS Kid in Baton Rouge, previously. At the time it had one of the last remaining IC Steamers adjacent to it. I wonder if it is still there? I also checked out W1QWT’s webcame at http://home.comcast.net/~w1qwt/webcam.html. He is sporting a beautiful picture of ladder line on his website. N1EY

-.-. –.- -.. . -. .- . -.–

I did a few things today. I am always trying to do more because W1QWT sets a high standard for ham activity, which I have been failing. A couple of weeks ago he said that was not real ham activity. So I have been endeavoring to do better in order to please W1QWT. I do not know why I am trying to please W1QWT, but what the heck. Someone should be happy.

A) VE Session

We had a special VE session for the guys from Whitman ARC. WARC ran a class and a whole bunch of guys were supposed to show for it. Guess what? Few of ‘em did. We had eight applicants and I only think that two or three of them were from WARC. The rest were from the local area. So instead of operating the VE session on the 2nd sat, we should do it on the 1st sat. I am going to ask K1WN what he thinks about this. I was suprised by the turnout. The last few sessions only had 2-3 individuals. W1SF and W1PD ran the ve session. Out of the eight applicants almost everyone came out happy. We upgraded one fellow to general and another to Extra class. The new extra was very happy to do it. We got a bunch of new techs rolling too.

B) Railfan Three

I have been working on Railfan Three. One of my new thoughts was to get 6 meters installed in the car. I drilled and installed the nmo mount for the 6 meter antenna on Thursday.I ran the power line through a gromment and installed a permanent power terminal for radio operations inside of the automobile. It is slick and unnoticable if all of the radios are removed.

C) Vertical maddness at the QTH

The 20 m jpole was interesting but not really multiband. It could not do15m, and it seemed to play on 10 as it was the 2nd multiple? Anyways, I decided to try a vertical 20 meter doublet. I raised this guy and hooked it by ladder line to my sgc coupler. I can not get the thing to tune properly at all!!! 20 meters works, 17 meters has RFI, 40 has RFI(I had to try and see if I could get it)… 15 m does not fly. 10 does noy fly. It seems to tune 20 meters… I’m not sure if I should cut the doublet back or what.

D) Lighthouses

I worked WW8W. He was 59 when there was no QRM. Does anyone know his lighthouse # for today? I could not get it.

E) Breakfast at H&K

We all miss Christine!

F) What is everyone else doing? Are we having fun?

N1EY

What is value of a callsign? It is something to recognize you by. Have you ever considered if your callsign if right for you? I’ve noticed several callsigns are now available. W1IC is now available. Would you sound better as Whiskey One Integrated Circuit? Are you an electrical engineer?Ê Anyways, I need some nifty phonetics to impress the non-hams.Ê Does anyone have some suggestions?

Traffic lights with LED units are wonderful. They emit a great amount of light for far less power than old fashioned bulb units. However, the switching power supplies are horrendous in generating RF hash. All of Abington is becoming awash in RF hash on two meters. It is worse than cable noise. One traffic signal knocks down incoming RF on 146.670 to nothing. The noise floor is that high.

N1EY

I’m working on installing 6 meters in Railfan Three. The plan is enable 6 meter communications for simulatenous use while listening to 2/440 or RR frequencies. I have purchased a converted Midland commercial rig. My friend, WB1EVP, gave me the information on this interesting conversion. I have installed a new antenna in Railfan Three to serve exclusively for six meters. I am working on mounting the radio.

N1EY