Lightship PORTSMOUTH

The U.S. Lightship Service was started in 1820. Like lighthouses and buoys, lightships were navigational aids. The lights atop their masts were similar to those in lighthouses, but their portability made them much more versatile.

The Lightship PORTSMOUTH was built in 1915. She served for 48 years off the coasts of Virginia, Delaware and Massachusetts helping mariners avoid dangerous shoals or enter safely into harbors at night. Typically, the ship would anchor at a strategic location at sea and remain there for months at a time. The maximum crew for the Lightship PORTSMOUTH during her half-century in service was 15 men.

In 1964, she was retired to Portsmouth and renamed according to the custom of naming lightships after the site where they are stationed. In 1989, the Lightship PORTSMOUTH was designated a National Historic Landmark. Now a museum, the ship’s quarters are fitted out realistically and filled with fascinating artifacts, uniforms, photographs, models, and more.

Phase 2 testing

I tested the initial freq range of the VFO circuit and found it was 4.114 to 4.034 MHz – which would equate to a final 40M range that was below 7 MHz. I moved the coils closer together and got 4.002 to 3.925. That range would put me at the bottom of the 40M band (7.000 – 7.070 MHz) and I was looking for something more in the Novice band. So one more adjustment of the coils and I got 3.923 to 3.847 MHz which should give me something like a final freq range of 7.085 to 7.145… putting me well within the Novice band.

Now I need to get a glue gun to secure the coils to the toroid so they don’t slip.

Then it is on to Phase 3.

Phase 2 Complete!!!!

Phase 2 was pretty complicated… but I got the VFO circuit working. I don’t have a frequency counter so I used my Icom IC-706 for testing and was super happy to hear tone around 4 MHz once I applied power.

CW Procedure by John Shannon, K3WWP

From http://home.alltel.net/johnshan/cw_ss_proc.html

I occasionally get questions about proper procedures for working CW. I also see comments about this aspect of ham radio in magazines and newsletters. As a result, I have decided to offer this page as sort of a tutorial on the subject.

Let me take you through a typical operating session or two.

We start off by listening to the band for a few minutes to get a feel of what is going on. In doing so, we hear a few very strong signals so we know the band is open. As we continue to tune we hear W5XYZ calling CQ and decide to answer him. In order for him to hear us, we must be transmitting as close to his frequency as possible so we do a procedure called zero-beating. This is accomplished in different ways with different rigs, so the best thing to do is to learn the procedure for your particular rig.

If you use a separate receiver and transmitter, you simply turn on the VFO portion of your transmitter with what is called a “spotting” switch, and tune it until the tone from your VFO matches the tone of the station you are calling. If you don’t have a spotting switch on your transmitter, then do your zero beating with your transmitter feeding a dummy load. Never, never do this with the transmitter output feeding your antenna. I’m sure we’ve all heard signals swishing across a ham band as someone tries to zero beat while transmitting, and know how bad it sounds.

If you’re using a transceiver, make sure the RIT, XIT, SPLIT, etc. function of the xcvr is turned off, then simply tune in the station you are going to call until the audio beat note is 800 Hz (or whatever your particular xcvr uses as an offset frequency). Once again remember various xcvrs may have other ways of zero beating a station, so learn the procedure from your manual. Here is a simple device to aid in zero-beating a signal.

Now that we are tuned to the exact frequency of the station calling CQ, we wait for him to end his CQ with a K. As soon as we hear that K we send the following assuming it is W5XYZ we are answering:

W5XYZ DE K3WWP K3WWP AR (The AR is sent as one character, i.e. didahdidahdit)

This is known as a 1 X 2 call, sending the other station’s call once and yours twice. I have found this to be the best way to answer someone. He knows his call so you don’t have to send it more than once, and sending your call twice lets the other station hear it once, then confirm he has it right.

If the station hears you, he will come back to you and the QSO is on. We’ll continue with that after some words about what to do when you call CQ yourself.

If no one is calling CQ, but the band is in good shape and you want to work someone, find a clear frequency and listen for several seconds to be sure it is clear. When you think it is clear, make sure by sending QRL? Listen on (and slightly up and down from) your transmitting frequency for any response. If someone responds with C, YES, QRL, or something else, simply move on to another frequency. Don’t say OK, SRI, TNX, or anything else in response. You’ve already (unintentionally) interrupted a QSO. Don’t make it any worse.

If you get no response to your QRL?, do it again after a few seconds. Some stations take time to respond, don’t hear the first QRL?, etc. When you get no response to this second QRL? after a few seconds, start calling your CQ. Don’t wait too long, or someone else may come along and grab the frequency, or someone may have heard your QRL? and is now waiting for your CQ so they can give you a call.

Call CQ using the following 3 X 2 format:

CQ CQ CQ DE K3WWP K3WWP K

Listen for about 4 or 5 seconds, tuning up and down a kHz or 2 in case someone didn’t zero beat your sigs correctly.

If no one answers, repeat the above sequence until you get an answer or get tired trying.

DON’T: Call endless CQ’s. Short calls with pauses to listen for answers are best. We’ve all heard hams call CQ 10, 15, even 20 times before signing their call. There is no need to do this, and it just turns people away as they get tired waiting to see who you are, and move on.

DON’T: End your CQ with anything but a K. If you end with AR, it simply means you are ending your transmission, and not inviting anyone to answer you. If you end with KN, technically you are inviting only the station you are working to answer you, but since you aren’t working anyone yet, it really means you don’t want anyone to answer your CQ. Perhaps an exception is when you’re calling CQ to a certain area, as in CQ Pacific, etc. Then a KN at the end can mean you only want responses from that area.

Now you’ve either answered someone’s CQ or had someone answer yours, and you’re ready to begin the QSO.

We’ll assume someone answered you. For the other situation simply reverse the roles below. Here is your first transmission:

W5XYZ DE K3WWP GM (GA, GE) TNX CALL UR 579 579 IN KITTANNING, PA KITTANNING, PA NAME JOHN JOHN HW? AR W5XYZ DE K3WWP K (KN)

Let’s break this down with some explanations:
W5XYX – Send his call once to let him know he is the one you are answering
DE – means ‘from’
K3WWP – identify yourself by sending your call
GM (GA, GE) – Good Morning (Good Afternoon, Good Evening)
TNX CALL – thanks for the call
UR 579 579 – your RST is 579 (see the RST link in this section for more info)
IN KITTANNING, PA KITTANNING, PA – you’re located in Kittanning, PA
NAME JOHN JOHN – of course, means your name is John
HW? – CW shorthand for “How are you copying?”
AR – the end of your transmission
W5XYZ DE K3WWP – identifies both stations to anyone who may be listening
K (KN) – you are now inviting W5XYZ to transmit or inviting anyone else to join in the QSO; if you only want W5XYZ to respond, send KN which means go ahead, specific station.

What we’ve done in this first transmission is given the station we’re working 3 important pieces of information, RST, QTH, and NAME. I like to send each item twice because it gives the station a chance to hear it, then confirm it. Also it gives him a chance to do his logkeeping while I’m sending it. He can write in the frequency, time, etc. while also logging the RST, QTH, and NAME.

Now the other station sends his info back to me.

K3WWP DE W5XYZ R GM JOHN NICE TO MEET U UR 569 569 IN ANYTOWN, TX ANYTOWN, TX NAME JOE JOE HW? AR K3WWP DE W5XYZ K

The R means he copied everything I sent. If he didn’t, he should not send R. Saying R, BUT I MISSED YOUR NAME is totally inaccurate.

Now you get into the meat of the QSO, exchanging info about your station, the weather, your job, age, whatever you want to talk about.

W5XYZ DE K3WWP R blah, blah, blah, more blah HW? AR W5XYZ DE K3WWP K

Generally I prefer the format where I give a couple minutes of info, then turn it over to the other station who does the same. Each exchange begins and ends with W5XYZ DE K3WWP. This allows anyone who tunes across our QSO to know who we are.

It’s not necessary to do this, however. You can simply turn it over to the other station with a BK without identifying either station. If you do this, be sure to legally identify your station at least once every 10 minutes.

When completing a QSO, I use something like the following:

W5XYZ DE K3WWP R blah, blah, blah, OK JOE TNX NICE QSO HPE CUL VY 73 GM SK W5XYZ DE K3WWP K

TNX NICE QSO (NICE CHAT, etc.) – is obvious
HPE CUL (CUAGN) – hope to see you later (again)
VY 73 – very best wishes (NEVER NEVER USE 73S which means best wisheses, 73 is already plural and the added S is redundant and sounds silly)
GM – good morning
SK – that’s all I have, my part of this QSO is finished. This should only be used at the very end of the QSO, not in the middle.
K – Joe still has to say his final xmsn, and I’m inviting him to do so now.

When Joe finishes he says SK K3WWP DE W5XYZ CL dit dit

I then send a single dit and another QSO is finished.

The CL that Joe sent means he is closing his station now and won’t listen for any calls. The dit dit and my single dit are throwbacks to the old days of Morse. There are many stories about this ending and the ‘shave and a haircut’ ‘two bits’ CW endings. I’m not going to go into that here. I’ll just say of all the ‘cute’ little CW endings (including the crowing rooster), I prefer the simple dit dit – dit one.

I know that all of this sounds very complicated to someone who has never made a CW QSO, but it will become second nature to you after just a few QSO’s. Perhaps for the first few QSO’s, you should copy down the info on paper or index cards and refer to them as you make the QSO, like using cue cards in the TV industry. Remember that everything you did for the first time was a bit (maybe very) complicated, but now you do it without even thinking. That will happen with making CW QSO’s also.

Advanced Topics

It was pointed out to me that there are a couple more situations that perhaps should be included – roundtables and tailending. Let’s do tailending first.

After you are on the CW bands for a while, you may hear a station engaged in a contact whom you would like to work for one reason or other. The proper way to do this is to wait till the QSO is entirely over and then immediately after the last bit of info in the QSO, send the call of the station you want to work once, DE, and your call once or twice and AR. NEVER call a station if he sent CL since that means he is closing down and doesn’t want (or have time) to work anyone else. If the station you call hears you, he will then start a QSO with you or ask you to QSY with him since the station he had been working initiated use of the frequency.

Now let’s discuss roundtables or QSO’s that involve more than two hams. When you’re walking down the street and see two people engaged in a conversation, you don’t break in unless you know both of them very well or it is imperative for one reason or other that you talk to one or both of them. It’s the same way on the ham bands. You don’t break into a QSO without a very good reason. If you must break in, there is really no proper procedure to do so, but the following method is perhaps the best way to go about it. Wait till one of the stations finishes his turn, then immediately after the K send BK. DON’T break in if the station sends KN since he is not interested in talking to anyone else at that time. If the station about to transmit hears you, he will acknowledge the break and ask for your call, then let you join in the QSO. Then you follow his lead and wait for your turn to transmit. Perhaps the other station will be the one to hear you and you’ll have to wait for his turn to transmit to be acknowledged. You’re a guest in the QSO so again follow the other stations’ lead as to when it’s your turn to transmit.

ARLHS LIGHTHOUSE SPRING LITES QSO PARTY

The ARLHS Presents Its Annual

ARLHS LIGHTHOUSE SPRING LITES QSO PARTY


  • Purposes:
  • To promote public awareness of ham radio and lighthouses; to contribute to the recognition that lighthouses, lightships, and their keepers deserve; to foster camaraderie within the ham fraternity; and to provide fellowship amongst the members of the Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society
  • Dates & Times:
  • 0001 hrs UTC on April 15, 2006, through 2359 hrs UTC on April 23, 2006.
  • Suggested Modes / Calling
    Frequencies:

  • Any and all modes : SSB, CW, RTTY, PSK, FM, SSTV, etc.
  • Suggested SSB freqs: 1950-1990, 3950-3990, 7250-7290,
    14.250-14.290, 21.350-21.390, 28.350-28.390
    (Calling on the centered
    0.70 kHz on each band — Example: 14.270.)

  • Suggested CW center freqs: 1830, 3530, 7030, 14.030, 21.030,
    28.030
    Note that these are center calling frequencies. Work 20 kHz
    each side of center.

  • To alleviate QRM, spread out and work SSB from 50 kHz to 90 kHz and on
    CW work from 10 kHz to 50 kHz (i.e., +/- 20 kHz of center.)

  • Scoring:
  • Each contact (member or nonmember) = 1 pt.
  • Add 2 points more if contact is an ARLHS member
  • Add 3 points more if contact is at a lighthouse or lightship
  • BONUS for activating a light: As an incentive for participants to activate a light beacon, we are instituting a multiplier. If you activate a lighthouse or lightship under the rules of the ARLHS, you qualify for an additional 2x multiplier of your total score (as determined above). If for example your base score is 600 points and these were all accumulated by your operation at one of the recognized ARLHS lights (see the ARLHS World List), multiply your 600 points x 2 = 1200 points final score. This will be indicated on the final scoring cover sheet, which MUST be attached for log to qualify — see section below under “Log Submissions.”
  • Example:
  • You work ARLHS member #155 who is at lighthouse ARLHS USA-701.
  • Your score for this contact is 1 pt for the contact, plus 2 points
  • for working a member, plus 3 points for working a lighthouse.
  • Total score for this QSO = 6 points.
  • Answers to some other common scoring questions can be found on the Scoring FAQ page at http://arlhs.com/scoring.html
  • Exchanges:
  • ARLHS members send call sign, member number, name, state/province/country
  • Non-members send call, contact number (sequential), name, state/province/country
  • Lighthouse/Lightship Stations send call, ARLHS lighthouse number, name, state/province/country
  • NOTE: A numbered list of ARLHS lighthouses is available from page 10 of the Society’s web page at http://arlhs.com
  • Polar Bear Hunt


    Polar Bear Sprint / Hunt

    When: 14 January 2006
    Time: Look for the Polar Bear
    between at 20:00 UTC and 23:59 UTC
    Frequencies: Around the
    QRP Frequencies + or – a few kHz. due to QRM
    Mode: Mostly CW, some SSB
    CQ by Polar Bears: CQ PB CQ PB de WB3AAL WB3AAL
    PB k
    Exchange: RST, Name, QTH, Polar Bear #
    if you have one. If you are not a Polar Bear, send your power.
    QSL Exchange: QSL to the Polar Bear you
    have contacted. If you would like a Polar Bear certificate, please drop
    us N3EPA an e-mail with Polar Bear Certificate
    in the subject line and the Polar Bear contact information that you made
    in the body of the e-mail. Pleas allow 4 to 6 weeks for delivery for the
    certificate.

    Polar Bear Activators for January 2006

    Check back for updates before 14 January.

    Call Time in UTC QTH Rig Bands Mode
    WB3AAL 18:00 – 00:00 Route 309 on the
    Appalachian Trail in PA
    Elecraft K2 40, 30, 20, 17  & 15 m CW


    SSB

    NK8Q 18:00 – 00:00 Route 309 on the
    Appalachian Trail in PA
    Elecraft K2 80, 40, 30 & 20 m CW
    WA3WSJ
    See Web
    Mohican Outdoor Center on the
    Appalachian Trail in PA
    Elecraft K1 20 & 40 m CW
    K3YTR
    See Web
    Mohican Outdoor Center on the
    Appalachian Trail in PA
    SG 2020 75 & 6 m SSB
    N7UN/2
    See Web
    "Bearfort Fire Lookout"
    tower in northern NJ & Mohican Outdoor Center on the
    Appalachian Trail in PA
    FT-817 40 & 30 m CW
    NU3E
    See Web
    Mohican Outdoor Center on the
    Appalachian Trail in PA
         
    NK1N
    See Web
    Mohican Outdoor Center on the
    Appalachian Trail in PA
    Elecraft K1 40, 30, 20 & 17 m CW
    W9HZC Sprint times
    Neale Woods Nature
    Reserve in Omaha, NE
      40 & 20 m CW
    KM0Y Sprint times
    Neale Woods Nature
    Reserve in Omaha, NE
      30 m CW
    K0JL Sprint times
    Neale Woods Nature
    Reserve in Omaha, NE
      ? ?
    N5SEZ Sprint times
    Neale Woods Nature
    Reserve in Omaha, NE
    NC2030 20 m CW
    KI4DGH Sprint times Appalachian Trail between
    Mt. Collins and Clingmans Dome, NC
    KX1 40, 30 & 20 m CW
    VE3EUR 19:00 – 22:00 Gatineau Park, Quebec   40, 30, 20 & maybe 80 m CW
    VE3WMB 19:00 – 22:00 Gatineau Park, Quebec   40, 30, 20 & maybe 80 m CW
    VA3SIE 19:00 – 22:00 Gatineau Park, Quebec   40, 30, 20 & maybe 80 m CW
    KB3JNE 21:00 – 03:00 Shady Oaks Campgrounds in
    Newmanstown, PA
      6 & 2 m SSB


    FM

    KB3JND 21:00 – 03:00 Shady Oaks Campgrounds in
    Newmanstown, PA
      6 & 2 m SSB


    FM

    KC0SYS Sprint times Cover Bridge #16 57A,
    McPherson, KS
      14.320 then 7.230 SSB
    WA8REI Sprint times Saginaw Bay of Lake Huron,
    Bay County, MI
    FT-817 40, 30 & 20 m CW SSB

     

    3YØX DXpedition gets substantial grant

    The team are pleased to announce that the 3YØX DXpedition has been given a substantial grant by the ARRL/Colvin Award. This is a prestigious award and is important to our overall DXpedition financing. Our special thanks to the Awards Committee.

    Our twenty-two-man team now includes Wayne, KU4V and Robert, SP5XVY. Their special expertise rounds out the team.

    Our sea container containing all of our equipment, and most of the team’s personal gear is aboard the vessel DAP Mares which is now in the S. Shetland Islands. Our foodstuffs are also aboard after being purchased in Punta Arenas, Chile. The team will be reunited with their equipment and gear on or about Feb, 2nd to begin the four-day voyage to Peter I. Remember these dates are target dates and weather- dependent.

    The team has been assigned the special Chilean Antarctic call sign of XR9A for use to/from Peter I. We hope to be QRV from Punta Arenas for a few days and then maritime mobile to and from Peter I. There is also a possibility that the team will also be QRV from the S. Shetlands for a few days after the Peter I DXpedition is complete.

    Our website, http://www.peterone.com, will be updated regularly and should be checked often. The website should be considered the best source of updated and correct DXpedition news direct from the DXpedition leaders.

    We are currently designing a special “souvenir ” QSL card to commemorate your QSOs. Please QSL via N2OO.

    Please visit our website often as we have worked hard to enable you to be a part of this incredible adventure. We are seeking financial support, so consider a donation please! Pay Pal is accepted!

    73,
    Ralph, KØIR and Bob, K4UEE
    Peter I DXpedition co-leaders

    OUR PLANNED OPERATING QRG

    BAND SSB CW Digital
    10 28475 28023 28092 (Listening up!)
    12 24987 24893 24928 (Listening down only!)
    15 21295 21023 21102 (Listening down!)
    17 18165 18073 18148 (listening down only!)
    20 14190 14023 14084 (Listening up!)
    30 n/a 10103 10135 (Listening up!)
    40 7093 7023
    80 3750 3523
    160 1842.5 1822.5

    Note: These frequencies have been selected to allow the Peter I Team to, on occasion, have three signals on a band at one time.  We have taken steps to minimize inter-station interference by separation of operating sites and different antenna polarizations.  Although these frequencies may vary some and may even be changed all together depending upon what we encounter on the island and on the air, they are a good place to start looking for us.  In that regard, remember we will be communicating regularly with the world-wide community through our pilot system.  Click HERE for directions on how to use that pilot system.

    We are well aware of the demand for a QSO with Peter I with the US General Class licensee.  It is our intent to spend considerable time operating split, and listening in the General Class bands.  Please listen for instructions from the 3YØX operator for listening frequencies.

    () Please note that we will be offering digital QSOs on several bands but have selected 30m and 20m as “primary” digital bands.  This is where you should look for us first.

    Ham Radio Kits

    I’m trying to build up my kit building skills and started with this Vectronics Comprehensive Soldering Course:

    This professional-grade soldering course was designed for schools and individuals. Includes theory, quizzes, PC board and components for soldering practice. Taking this course will result in professional soldering skills and fun blinking LED project. This course covers all of the latest tools, techniques and materials you’ll need for “through-hole” style PC board assembly and repair.

    When you complete this course you’ll be ready to tackle a wide range of jobs on the bench and in the field. Short, concise lessons cover topics like solders and fluxes, product safety, soldering irons, circuit boars, and much more.

    Skill Level: Simple – Calls for a few basic tools — a soldering iron, cutters, pliers, wire-strippers and a small screwdriver.

    Note: This is merely the kit. If you would like to purchase a case for your electronic kit as well, you will need to purchase it separately.

    …. it took me about three hours to put it together and now I feel a lot more confident with the soldering iron. I attached the battery and the lights started blinking, always a good sign. 🙂

    My next kit attempt will be Ten Tec’s 40M QRP CW transceiver kit:
    Ten-Tec began in 1968 with the release of very inexpensive “QRP” transceiver kits. We thought it would be fun to revisit those roots. We explored today’s RF technology and components to see just how inexpensive, compact, and simple a quality QRP kit rig could be. The low price and great receiver design make these QSK VFO-controlled transceivers a great choice. Get on the air from anywhere!

    The model 1340 40 meter QRP transceiver was reviewed by ARRL in the September 1998 issue of QST.

    Good site here for assembly tips: http://www.io.com/~n5fc/tt1340.html

    This kit will be much more complicated and take a lot longer. I’m going to take it slow – wish me luck.