Month: December 2005

Paddle and keyer recomendation

wn6bdb
Reply-To : SolidCpyCW@xx
Sent : Wednesday, December 7, 2005 2:59 PM
To : SolidCpyCW@xx
Subject : [SolidCpyCW] Re: Paddle and keyer recomendation

There have been a lot of recommendations for keyer paddles but not much discussion about the characteristics of different paddles.

The first characteristic to consider when selecting a keyer paddle is Iambic (sometimes called a squeeze key) vs non-Iambic. An Iambic keyer paddle is designed to allow both dot and dash contacts to be closed at the same time. When used with an Iambic keyer closing both contacts together sends an alternating sequence of dots and dashs. This can be useful in sending characters that have alternating patterns such as the letter “C”.
(It’s my personal opinion that most cw ops don’t really use the Iambic feature much.)

Next come the design characteristics that determine the feel of the paddle. They include:
Weight.
Paddle size, spacing, and height above the table.
Single vs dual lever design.
Pivot point.
Contact placement.
Spring placement and type (some use magnets, leaf springs, etc.)

All these things (and some others I’ve probably missed) will have an effect on the tactile feedback you get from the paddle. Some have a very solid click feeling when closed, others are softer. Often the design will result in different angles of travel for the paddle as it is closed resulting in a distinctively different feel, quite apart from the feeling of the contact closure.

Then you need to consider “access to”, ease and range of adjustment. You will have to change the adjustments as your proficiency improves.

My personal preference is a heavy key with very positive tactile “click” when a contact is closed. I also prefer somewhat wider paddle spacing about 1/4 inch or so. I find that there are several keys that meet my requirements and they all have things in common. They all have fairly long levers, pivot in the middle of the lever, have the contacts on the opposite side of the lever from the paddle, and use ordinary coil springs with simple knurled knob adjusters.

I think the first step would be the try and determine what characteristics you prefer then look for a keyer paddle that has those characteristics.

Steve AI7W

UX-4 Update

Mission Status Update (all information is approximate/interpolated):
LAUNCH: 1508 UTC from Knoxville, TN
BURST: 1642 UTC
MAXIMUM ALTITUDE: 60,000FT
LANDING: 1729 UTC 18 Miles east of Wytheville, VA 36.9623N 80.8104W 187 Miles at 67 degrees from launch point
The balloon has landed in the woods in southwestern Virginia. The 20M homebrew beacon is still functioning, powered by photo-style lithium batteries which may provide power for the transmitter for up to 36 hours. The antenna is a vertical wire dipole with the transmitter hanging in the middle. The initial hope was that the antenna would collapse onto the ground, disabling it’s ability to radiate, however it appears that it probably draped itself nicely on a tree as it parachuted down to the ground, as signals continue to be heard across the continent (though not here).

UX-4 2nd Attempt Scheduled for 12/10/05

Due to equipment problems and unpleasant weather conditions for testing, it was decided to postpone the launch of the University of Tennessee Amateur Radio Club (UTARC) balloon flight UX-4 until the following weekend.

This Saturday, December 10, 2005, the weather appears to be cooperating for this test run of the 20m beacon. All equipment was tested during pre-flight clearance and are ready to go.

Launchtime is slated for 10AM Eastern Time (1500 UTC).

This mission contains only a 20 meter CW beacon with battery voltage and transmission number being transmitted via the beacon. The power out is about 1 1/4 watt depending on antenna ERP. The frequency is 14.328 MHz CW but tune up or down as temperature changes during the flight may cause the transmitter to drift. The Balloon Callsign will be AA4UT/B.

Success of this mission is reliant on the signal reports we get back from listeners. The 20m CW transmitter is being tested for use on future missions that will relay telemetry readings as well as produce reception reports from earth stations on HF bands. Recovery operations are not planned for this flight as only the 20m beacon and battery are onboard. It will have a homemade parachute and ID tags on the payload in case it is recovered in a populated area.

This beacon, if successful, will be used on balloon flight UX-5, now scheduled for the weekend of December 17 (the following Saturday) to deliver expanded telemetry readings about the payload as we attempt a reception distance record. More information on that flight and its payload will be made available soon.

UTARC will spot the transmitter on DXclusters and there will be QSL info in the beacon ID. If you would like to email your report, please send an email to info@utarc.org with your Callsign, QTH, and signal report.

Lunchtime QSOs

Had two QSOs during lunch – the first with 6W8CK – a station in Senagal – my first African continent contact!

The second contact was with W7PAQ (Frank) in Montana.

From his QRZ.com entry:
I was a systems engineer with IBM for 30 yrs. I joined IBM in ’66 and worked on the very early IBM 360s. My first IBM computers were an IBM 7094II and IBM 7074 at the Univ. of Penna. Physics Dept where I was a scientific programmer for 3 years. After retiring from IBM I spent 10 yrs with InfoShare as the CTO (part of AtlantiCare Health System) in Egg Harbor Twp, NJ. Resident of Cherry Hill NJ for 31 years before the xyl and I retired and moved into the Lolo Mtns of western Montana.

I am active in the BSA and serve as Unit Commissioner and Eagle Board Chair for Mullan District.

The house sits up at 4700′ and is 1.5 miles up a forest service road with 7 major switch backs. We usually have our Jeeps in 4×4.

… and eham.net:
– Year born: 1941
– I am originally from… Philadelphia PA
– Previous calls: N2PAQ
– My marital status is… Married
– XYL/Kids/Grandkids: Jane/2/0
– I got interested in ham radio because… Ham in our Scout Troop taught me Morse code in ’54
– My favorite thing to do in ham radio is… Because? Chase DX..challenge
– My equipment consists of… Kenwood TS570 and 440. Yaesu FT897 Kenwood TH-D700G Yaesu FT5100 Yaesu VX=7R
– I am a member of the following ham radio clubs… Hellgate ARC
– I am most proud of the following accomplishments in ham radio… 313 DXCC, WAS< WAZ Alexander the Great Award Worked All Africa - The funniest thing that ever happened to me on the air was... Contacted XE1/NP2AQ (my old call was N2PAQ) and we both had problems with the calls - The biggest pileup I ever heard or busted was... YA and P5 - I would like to try the following new things in ham radio in the next 10 years... Satellite - When I'm not on the radio, you can normally find me... 4x4 in my Jeep with APRS. Deep space photography with my 11" Celestron telescope Unit Commissioner and Eagle Board Chair Boy Scouts of America

I checked with findu.com – and it looks like Frank has a weather station connected to his APRS. You can find his location here and weather readings here.

Frank mentioned he had a group of Scouts that he was working with this weekend to earn “Frost Points” – you earn a Frost Point for every degree below zero the tempature is when you are sleeping outside. I’m curious as to how many Frost Points will be collected this weekend!


I also asked Frank about his weather station – sounds like he has a nice setup:
I have a Peet Bros. wx station with a weather picture (displays 7 measurements plus wind direction). The Peet 2100 unit then feeds via a serial port Weather Display software running on one of my PCs… Every 15 minues (user controlled) Weather Display produces a text file that UI-View is looking for. UI-View32 then sends the wx report via rf and the internet. The internet address is one of 4 Tier 2 servers that I connect to.

Pretty simple setup.

Only issues I have are 80M seems to get into the wx unit (even with the filter) and I get 80mph wind gust readings. My Carolina windom is right above the coax from the outside wx station. Snow got here before I could move the antenna forward and away from the feed line from the wx station.

The Weather Display program crashes if my PC gets too busy and can’t service the serial port. It usually happens when I run a backup program or heavy graphics. I have run 24 days without rebooting or crashing…of course I was also away at the time.

I had the Peet Bros. heated wind speed and direction unit, but it would fail about every year because of the heated elements..so they recommended the non-heated version which so far even in all the snow and -5F seems ok.

I also send a wx report to about 5 of my neighbors with a daily summary and then a weekly summary…all from Weather Display.

If you need more info let me know and tnx for the contact

73 Frank

ISS active on casual contacts

International Space Station Commander, Astronaut Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, has been very active on the NA1SS amateur radio station aboard the ISS over the past several days.

Since November 23, NA1SS has made over 50 contacts during brief operating opportunities. This past week, reports from Turkey, South Africa, South America and North America indicated NA1SS was calling CQ and making contacts.

For those who are still trying for a contact with the ISS, keep it up. For those of you lucky enough to work him, congratulations, but please give the others a little more time before making another contact since you have your QSO for Expedition 12. Let’s see how many different stations he can work.

In addition, Bill has been doing 2 school contacts a week when his schedule allows. Not since Expedition 3 has a crew member done this on a regular basis. Please consider telling Bill, “Thank you” for all of us if you are fortunate enough to speak with NA1SS.

Worldwide packet uplink: 145.990 MHz FM
Region 1 voice uplink: 145.200 MHz FM
Region 2/3 voice uplink: 144.490 MHz FM
Worldwide downlink: 145.800 MHz FM

Repeater Uplink: 437.800 MHz FM
Repeater Downlink: 145.800 MHz FM
Doppler Shift is 10 KHz

Russian callsigns: RS0ISS, RZ3DZR
USA callsign: NA1SS
Packet station mailbox callsign: RS0ISS-11
Packet station keyboard callsign: RS0ISS-3
Digipeater callsign: ARISS

From the Southgate Amateur Radio Club

On the same wavelength

December 04,2005
BY JANNETTE PIPPIN View stories by reporter
DAILY NEWS STAFF

NEWPORT – When the National Weather Service opened its office in Newport 12 years ago, head meteorologist Tom Kriehn was quick to get to know the area’s amateur radio operators.

Kriehn knew they would be a valuable asset in providing severe weather information from the field.

“They have a long history around the country of working with the National Weather Service,” he said.

Not all storm spotters are hams but the combination of a spotter trained in communications is an ideal situation for forecasters, who count on real-time reports to help warn the public of severe weather such as tropical storms and tornadoes.

“The best spotters you can get are those who are also communicators; people in the field who can communicate back to us in a hurry,” Kriehn said.

That makes the ham radio community a big part of the Skywarn program, a network of people that report severe weather to local NWS offices.

To show its appreciation to the amateur radio operators in its 15-county operation area, the National Weather Service office in Newport participated in the SKYWARN Recognition Day held Saturday around the country.

It was an informal opportunity for the radio operators to gather and for the meteorologists to say thanks.

“No matter how good the technology is, nothing beats a pair of human eyes to tell you what is going on,” said meteorologist Hal Austin, who is also a ham radio operator.

Austin said spotter reports provide information on everything from hail size and wind damage to flooding and tornados. It corroborates and details what is being seen on weather service radar.

“It helps us confirm what we think is going on and helps us get that information out to the public,” Austin said.

For the ham radio operators, it’s an opportunity to put the skills they know to use to help others.

“It’s an opportunity to be able to help out, to help our neighbors and everyone in the area,” said Eric Christensen of Greenville.

Christensen was presented with a certificate of appreciation for developing a Skywarn Web site for the Newport district. Bill Sanford, the Skywarn emergency coordinator for the Newport district, was recognized for providing the weather service office with technical assistance in updating its ham radio equipment.

Ken Ball of Morehead City accepted a certificate on behalf of the entire Skywarn network for the area.

Ball, who has had his ham radio license for 14 years, said there’s a public service aspect to amateur radio that extends beyond just storm spotting.

Ball said radio operators are a major part of emergency response and disaster recovery efforts as well because they are often the only communication available when phones and other conventional communications go down.

It was seen recently during the catastrophic Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and right here at home several years ago when Hurricane Isabel disabled communications in Carteret County’s down east communities.

Ball said ham radio operators provided communication between down east canteens operated by the Salvation Army and response workers in other parts of the county.

Bernard Nobles, section emergency coordinator for ham radio operators in North Carolina, said amateur radio is the back up communication for public service agencies such as emergency management offices in the state, the National Weather Service, and groups like the Salvation Army and Red Cross.

Contact staff writer Jannette Pippin at jpippin@freedomenc.com or by calling (252) 808-2275.

QSL card from Bob (WD4CNZ)



I’m enjoying the QSL card from Bob (WD4CNZ) I received in the mail today… what a neat design.
Here’s Bob’s info from QRZ.com:
Occupation: Teacher of Horticulture Ham Radio interests: DX’ing, ARES, island collecting, DX-peditions Awards sponsored by this station: DX DOZEN, GIANT STEP AWARD, SPECIAL TRIBUTE, MILESTONES AWARD (details via callbook address–OK since ’77) Age: Young at heart 10X#: 43270 Springbok#: 291 Fondest memory of ham radio: helping my Elmer’s daughter-in-law to get her ham license and pass the exam just before he died of cancer–he told me that I had repaid a debt of honor! Favorite bands: 10, 15, 20M (whatever is open and wherever the DX is!) ALWAYS WILLING TO STOP AND CHAT WITH ANYONE WHO CALLS ME AND AM ONE OF THE LAST STATIONS THAT STILL QSL’s 100 percent. 73 es DX de Bob WD4CNZ


NA1SS Active from Space

Saturday, December 03, 2005

There has been a marked increase in the level of ham radio activity from the International Space Station (ISS). Astronaut Bill McArthur KC5ACR has been active on the 145.80 MHz downlink, making quite a few random contacts with hams on earth. Many of the other astronauts with amateur radio licenses have focused on making the scheduled radio contacts with schools and didn’t take time to make random contacts. It is great to have Bill up there making contacts.

I have not made a contact with Bill yet, but have heard him several times now. Of course, quite a few hams can hear the ISS signal and lots of people are calling him. It is critical that hams on the ground use discipline in when they call on the uplink so that Bill doesn’t get totally overloaded by a pile up. More information on working the ISS is available at the ARISS web site.

General information on the ISS space station radio gear is available here. The ISS Fan Club web site is another great resource, as well as the AMSAT web page.

73, de Bob K0NR

Gainsville, FL


I had a nice QSO with Paul this evening – he’s a sheriff in Gainsville and is going to retire in the near future. His plan is to winter in Florida and spend the rest of the time in the Smokies Mountains… sounds like he’s going to have a mobile HF setup in his RV. Pretty cool.


I’m jealous of Paul’s Heathkit amplifier.


… another eQSL.



Had a QSO with Andy earlier today. I’m starting to like eQSL.

Here’s some info from his website:

My hobby is amateur radio. Having been licensed since the mid 60’s with most of my operating time spent on Morse code (CW) working contests and DXing although I do enjoy operating RTTY and occasionally SSB. I was first licensed as VE1ASJ.
Over the years I have operated from numerous spots around the world.
Some of the calls I have held are: VE1DX, VE1SPI, VE8CW, VO2AB, CY0SPI, HP9FC, VP9/VE1ASJ and ZD9BP.
Back in the Spring of 1970 I was lucky enough to arrive on the Island of Cape Verde just in time for the CQWW WPX SSB contest and operated as CR4BC.
I have also operated as CT3AS,PY7AKW,TF3EA and ZS1JD as a guest.
One of my enjoyments of the hobby was providing special prefixes when every available and of course I was always looking for new prefixes on CW.