Satellites

From : Don
Reply-To : HamRadioHelpGroup@xx
Sent : Thursday, December 29, 2005 9:33 PM
Subject : [HamRadioHelpGroup] Re: Satellites (AO-51 mostly)

Bryan KE7EZE (really like the EZE call)

Hey…I use to live on working the Birds/SATS but still try to work them from time to time, so yes I have some suggestions and info. First, it is weaksignal work so no squelch and turn up the volume once your area of the world is in the ‘window’ of the SAT. Second, make sure your tracking software is on the correct time and it and your clocks are correct…you can’t work anyone if the pass you think is overhead was 30 minutes ago or before…also remember that you will only get a few passes so the first ones over the horizon will be shorter and just minutes and the max maybe 10 to 15 minutes so you don’t have much time…be at the ready…also note what type antenna you have and the angle it works best for SAT contacts, if it works best to the horizon like a directional yagi then work the SAT at the 0 to 20 deg range at the horizon is your best bet because if you don’t have a rotor to go overhead you will be out of luck when the SAT is higher overhead..if you use a vertical or eggbeater note the best areas or passes and the degree the SAT is at when best signals. Finally, make sure if you have a small station that you work the SAT on the ‘off’ pass cycles or the less busy times…you can bet that a 7pm pass will be very busy and have more Hams wanting to work the SAT than a 11pm or 12mid pass…your chances will be better on less busy time passes.

As far as some sites for SAT homebrew Jerry K5OE has one of the best sites for that…some PVC and wire and you might be surprised at what you can make for the SATS…give these a try:

http://www.g6lvb.com/HomebrewArrow.htm
http://members.aol.com/k5oejerry/handi-tenna.htm
http://webpages.charter.net/n4wyk/satants.htm
http://members.aol.com/k5oe/
http://members.aol.com/homebrewpics/
http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/satellite.html
http://xe1mex.gq.nu/antenas/yagi.html

For those new to SATS here is an old blog on SATS and it also is in our Ham Radio Help Group ‘files’ but here is a bit of info for those new to Ham SATS:

******** from our files section **************

Thanks for your interest in knowing more about working the Amatuer Satellites. They are fun to work and if you are in a dead area for 2 meter or 440 70/cm contacts this will give you another way to work stations using those bands! BTW AMSAT is the Sats number one oranizations with tons of information for the Sat user so keep this link handy:

http://www.amsat.org/

Ok..now for the Satellites……if you crave some DX and more activity on VHF/UHF then working the Sats will do just that for you.

First off ………how does a Satellite actually work?…… How the Sats work is quite simple really…they are like a floating repeater system……you will transmit up on one band (like the 2 meter band) and then it will then inturn take your signal and transmit it down on another band (like the 440 band). That is the simple way to explain it now there are other things involved like knowing when the Satellites are in “view” or in your “window” in order to work them….knowing some about the position (height, angle etc) of the Satellite and also the doppler effect (which is like a loud car driving by you … sounds and frequency will change as it is far to close etc). But really just think simple…this is not brain surgery and anyone can work the Sats!

First you will need to think about an antenna system to use for the Satellites. Like anything else in radio the better the antenna system the more stations (or Sats) you will work. I know many on just HT’s or mobilt antennas that work the Sats (possible but lots or trying! Also most have 2 meter FM rigs but maybe not a 440 rig but many of you DO have a scanner with 440 on it so try it with an outside 440 antenna)…..but most are on Eggbeater or smaller beams. You will need one for the each band the Satellite that you want to use uses…a nice 2 meter and 440 is good for starters (btw the Sats have different modes that are derived from the band you use going up and the band used coming back down to earth). Just to give you a look at some homebrew Sat antennas take a look at Jerry’s K5OE website…..he is a great guy and if you get into Sats then you will surely hear and work this guy…but look at all you can build for little of nothing…go here:

http://members.aol.com/k5oe/

Another good Sat Antenna site:
http://members.fortunecity.com/xe1bef/vhf-uhf-antennas.htm

So let you know I use a small 2 meter 5 element beam for the up band and a small 7 elelment 440 beam for the down band. You can also tilt your beam at an angle…I tilt my 440 beam at about 20 degrees or so up in the air at an angle to get better coverage of the Sats (I do not have an expensive rotor to do that so I just have them tilted up if that makes since to you….also use old Aliance U-100 tv rotors that are `through’ hole mast rotors around $30 to $40 used).

Ok….now you know what you have to have for antennas so how about reading a very good article on “WORKING THE EASY SATS”…..after reading this article I worked my first Sat the next day…..make sure to note the Frequecy Charts on this great article…also bookmark it or print it or copy it and use it as a reference!! I would work the UO-14 Sat first (note: UO-14 is DEAD so please not this but other Sats are worked just the same…and a new Echo51 up and running )…it is by far the easiest but you will have to try lots as it is the hardest to get into also since it is the easiest……remember on these FM type repeater Satellites the STRONGEST signals win out on them!! So go here and read this please!!! here:

http://www.amsat.org/amsat/intro/faqs.html
(look about midpage down for the “WORKING THE EASY SATS”)

Also this is a good one:
http://www.qsl.net/vk3jed/1st_sat.html

Ok …now you got an idea of what you need for antennas….and you got an idea how these Sats work by reading that article but now you need to know when you can work them…or when the Satellites are over your area. There is a nice online real-time tracking from Nasa called JTrack and you can use that if you are online and know when a Sat is in your view. Also on the NASA page you can print out plots or predictions so you have them at the ready…I think you can even have them email the predictions to you weekly if you like! The other program for tracking I strongly suggest is SATSCAPE….so go here and download the best Satellite Predicting program out there called SATSCAPE….and it is FREE!!! Go here and download and install your free virsion (I can help you set it up if you need help):

http://www.satscape.co.uk/
http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/realtime/jtrack/Spacecraft.html (you can even print a plot of the Satellite path to take it out in the field/yard with you!…also you can set this site up to email you the path schedules of the Satellites you want to work!)

Ok..now you got all the tools you need to work the Sats…..that is it!!! Don’t make this complicated because it is not! It is lots of fun and although the windows for contact or short (like only 20 minutes per Sat passing) ..it is fun and worth it!!! You will get lots of QSL’s of people wanting to confirm your grid square and contact! So have those QSL cards ready! If you need a program to make your own QSLs then go here …get the FREE Qslmaker and make your own if you need too…that is what I use…go here:

http://www.hfradio.org/wb8rcr/

Ok…I went on way too long but I really like the Sats and Ham radio.
So do these steps:
1. Have a 2 meter and 440 meter antenna ready to go (make them or use whatever you have now and see if you can hear the Sats….the homebrew stuff are easy and cheap!)
2. Read “Working the Easy Sats”….it will make since one you read it!
3. Use the NASA Jtrack or download and install SATSCAPE for FREE…you have to have a tracking program to know when you can work them!
4. Have Fun and work some stations!
5. Get addicted to them and keep upgrading with better coverage/gain antennas feed with low loss feedline adding rxpreamps…it’s weak signal work that is a challenge.

GL on the Birds!
de kb9umt Don EN50
ps….There are many Hams that are Satellite only ops and don’t use anything but Sats to make contacts…many are Tech license folks that are so addicted may never want to go to HF and just be left to the action on the Satellite VHF/UHF bands!…….above was just a very short overview with only a small amount of information using FM Sats…once you get into them you will see the FM Sats are easy and you will want to work some SSB/voice/digital ones with more band space for long QSO’s and other Sats out further with larger coverage areas…….and more contacts! They are addicting!

Current Sat stats from http://www.AMSAT.org

Operational Summary
Here is a basic summary of satellite status. The table that follows this status is a summary of operational satellites that are or were recently popular. These tables lists only OSCAR satellites.
Operational AO-27, FO-29, GO-32, SO-50,AO-51, VO-52, ARISS, PCSAT2
Semi-Operational* AO-7, UO-11, RS-15, AO-16, LO-19, NO-44
Non-Operational OSCAR, OSCAR II, OSCAR III, OSCAR-IV, AO-5, AO-6, AO-8, RS-1, RS-2, AO-10, FO-12, RS-10/11, UO-14, UO-15, DO-17, WO-18, FO-20, AO-21 (RS-14), RS 12/13, UO-22, KO-23, AO-24, KO-25, IO-26, PO-28, MO-30, TM-31, RS-17, SO-33, PO-34, SO-35, UO-36, AO-37, OO-38, WO-39, AO-40, SO-41, SO-42, SO-43, NO-45, MO-46, BO-47, BO-48, AO-49, XO-53
Future Launch SSETI Express, P3-E Express

AO51 info:
AMSAT-OSCAR 51 (Echo or AO-51)
Analog Uplink: 145.920 MHz FM (PL – 67Hz)145.880 MHz FM QRP (no PL)
1268.700 MHz FM (PL – 67Hz)
Analog Downlink: 435.300 MHz FM2401.200 MHz FM
PSK-31 Uplink 28.140 MHz USB
Digital Uplink: 145.860 MHz 9600 bps, AX.251268.700 MHz 9600 bps AX.25
Digital Downlink: 435.150 MHz 9600 bps, AX.252401.200 MHz
38,400 bps, AX.25
Broadcast Callsign: PECHO-11
BBS Callsign: PECHO-12
Launched June 29, 2004

Status: Operational
AMSAT-OSCAR 51 or Echo as it is more commonly known is a FM satellite carrying 4 VHF receivers, 2 UHF transmitters, a multimode receiver and a 2400MHz transmitter. It can handle voice and FSK data up to 76.8Kbps. Echo was launched into a low, sun-synchronous polar orbit approximately 850 km high. You must transmit a 67Hz PL tone in order to access the Echo voice repeater.
Please note the change in operational phone downlink frequency to 435.300 MHz.

— In HamRadioHelpGroup@yahoogroups.com, “Bryan Koschmann, KE7EZE”
wrote:
>
> Hello All,
>
> Hope everyone had a nice holiday! I ended up with the flu just before Christmas, but nice otherwise.
>
> Anyhow, I’ve been attempting to work AO-51. I’m using Predict (on a slackware box) for tracking. FT-8900 setup as a base to my antenna up on the roof (not sure what the technical name is for it, SO-239 with a vertical and 4 radials of copper).
>
> I can receive decently I guess, and didn’t get any responses to my call but on one occasion during a high pass (~85 degrees), but didn’t catch his call and lost him. Now I’m looking for a better solution (different antennas most likely).
>
> I guess I really have 2 choices, some better omnidirectional(s) for the roof, or yagi/quagis using handhelds in the backyard. I really prefer to build my own, but a lot of the sites that seem to have what I need are down.
>
> I’ve mostly been looking at some sort of Eggbeater style for the roof, or just building smaller, separate yagis for 2m and 70cm and rigging up a mount to use outside.
>
> Does anyone have any pointers, plans, tips, hints, etc etc? 🙂
>
> Thanks,
>
> Bryan, KE7EZE

Evolution and Respite… Announcing the 2006 ARRL Straight Key Night

From ARRL.org:
Recently I had the chance to talk with a group of amateurs at a local club. They ranged from old-old-timers to several still studying for their first license. As always seems to be the case, the topic of FCC’s NPRM eliminating the Morse Code requirement for amateur licenses came up. And true to form, the comments ranged from “it’s about time” to “how can they be so short-sighted?”

Regardless of your position, the important fact for CW enthusiasts is that the NPRM doesn’t mean you won’t be able to use the code if you choose. Radio communications have evolved a long way from the early spark-gap transmitters and their hand-created Morse code communications. Once in my life I would love to hear the electrical hissing of this unique ancestor of our current modern modes. It would be nice to see if you could really “smell” the signal in the air as “Old Betsy” (Hiram Percy Maxim’s name for his spark-gap radio, which is on display at W1AW) or its cousins literally lit up the ether. But alas, as this particular mode is no long permitted, it will have to remain a perception challenge for the imagination

At the beginning of each year many operators around the US, and world-wide, declare a respite from the technological evolution. They turn back the pages of modern operation and look towards our roots in this hobby — ARRL Straight Key Night. Some consider CW antiquated while others view it an outdated technology. But for many — old-timer and newcomer alike — it is a reliable friend. (And if you think it is a technology that has been replaced by Blackberry and text-messaging technology, did you see the “Old Timers” – Chip Margelli, K7JA and Ken Miller, K6CTW — smoke the world champion fastest text messenger on the NBC Tonight Show with Jay Leno back on May 13th 2005?)

In this era of digital communication, keyboarding, FM and electronic keys, once a year many excellent operators bring the past to the present and participate in the annual ARRL Straight Key Night. The object of this friendly event is to enjoy some good, old fashioned QSO fun, using straight keys. The emphasis is on rag-chewing rather than fast contest-type exchanges. SKN 2006 begins at 7:00 p.m. EST December 31 and runs for 24 hours through 7:00 p.m. EST January 1 (0000 –2400 UTC January 1, 2006).

In many circles SKN has been expanded to encompass vintage radio equipment as well. Reminiscing about their early days in our hobby, many operators use SKN as the “excuse” to refurbish their old Viking, Heathkit, or Scout. You will hear as many vintage radios on the air during SKN as you will variety of keys. And you will hear signals generated using old-fashioned bugs, a variation of the straight key. SKN is the time amateur radio recalls the past, transporting it to the present.

When participating in SKN 2006, instead of sending RST before sending the signal report send the letters SKN, to indicate your participation, and to clue in passers-by who may be listening that SKN is going strong. After SKN, send the Contest Branch a list of stations worked, plus your vote for the best fist you heard (it doesn’t have to be one you worked). Also, include your vote for the most interesting QSO you had or monitored.

Don’t forget to post your comments and interesting photographs from your SKN adventure to the ARRL Contest Online Soapbox at www.arrl.org/contests/soapbox Entries should be emailed to the Contest Branch at StraightKey@arrl.org or may be sent via regular mail to SKN, ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111. The Soapbox becomes an on-line album of stores and photographs to share with others.

Entries for SKN 2006 must be received by January 31, 2006. Votes for ‘Best Fist’ and “Most Interesting QSO” will be tabulated and included in the April 2006 issue of QST. If you have questions about SKN, please visit the Contest Branch Web Page at http://www.arrl.org/contests or contact contests@arrl.org

Last year we had 312 submissions for SKN — the most ever for Straight Key Night; from 45 states, 5 foreign countries, Puerto Rico, and 3 Canadian provinces. Why not dust off the key, clean the contacts and light up the ether with the beautiful melody of hand-created CW? Sweeter music is hard to find.

CW advice

From: Barton, Jim
Sent: Monday, December 19, 2005 2:54 PM
Subject: CW QSO’s

Scott,
If I offered any advice at all, it’d be to just jump in and get on the air. I’m usually on or around the FISTS frequencies on 20m & 40m (14058 & 7058) most evenings CST, (although this pre-Christmas week will be kinda busy). If you hear me banging away on a CQ, or finishing a QSO, give me a buzz and tell me to slow down. We can move up or down to clear the calling freq, and have some fun.

The CCN net is a cool way to break in too; I’m new to that, but do enjoy it when I can.

Getting interested in earning CW certificates from CCN or FISTS or anyone else can be a great motivator to get involved and work on your code speed. About every national club or organization has its ways of recognizing members for doing what they enjoy.

Again, jump on in, ask for a QRS if necessary and have a ball … I’m looking forward to working you both.

Vy 73,
Jim
KE5CXX

QSK

From: Art Burke
To: SolidCpyCW@
Sent: Saturday, July 09, 2005 12:08
Subject: [SolidCpyCW] Re: My most recent lessons

I’ve never really been able to get used to the QSK (full break-in). Years ago I had a Ten-Tec transceiver and they were/are big believers in QSK technology. I only had it about 6 months and bought a Kenwood TS-520S (this was in the real late 70s).

All the rigs I have today will handle semi-break-in and full break-in, but I tend to stay with the semi break-in. I use it pretty much the way you described.

One approach might work, depending on your radio. If there is any kind of input in one of the circuits available on your radio, you may be able to wire a foot switch. Press the foot switch and hang onto it while you’re sending. You will be able to remain in transmit mode as long as the foot switch is depressed. Look in the circuit for a PTT switch capability.

If your radio has SSB capability, a couple of the pins used for the microphone can be used for the PTT (Push To Talk). You can wire your switch to those pins. If your radio doesn’t have a mike input, you’ll either have to get creative, or learn to use QSK!

The theory behind QSK is that you can just about have a “true conversation,” or semi full-duplex. In semi-break-in, you’re sending and can’t hear anything until the VOX drops out and you go back into receive mode. In full QSK, if the other guy (or, in a round-table there could be several guys) jumps in, you’ll here him immediately and be able to stop, just like you would if you were having a chat over a cup of coffee.

Regardless of the ability of the mode to theoretically stimulate more normal conversation, I’ve never really liked it. I too find the noise between the dits and dahs to be distracting.

Art – K4IRS
Leesburg, FL

From : Art Burke
Reply-To : SolidCpyCW
Sent : Tuesday, January 3, 2006 6:26 AM
Subject : [SolidCpyCW] Re: Question of the week – QSK?

Let me try again with a different approach.

Full Break-In – Let’s assume you’re sending at 10 wpm. In between the dits and dahs, your receiver (transceiver) keeps shifting from transmit back to receive. If you’re in contact with someone else and he wants to interrupt, you’ll hear him between your dits and dahs and can stop sending and start listening. It isn’t full duplex (like a telephone, but it’s pretty close. Every time you tap your key (or paddles), your radio transmits, then goes immediately back to receive until the next dit or dah.

Semi Break-In – Most amateur transceivers use VOX functions to control the delay between transmitting/receiving. Again, let’s say your transmitting at 10 wpm. While you’re sending, your transceiver tends to stay in transmit mode until you’ve stopped sending. (Obviously, this is also a “joint” function between how fast you’re sending and the delay you’ve set on your VOX.) It’s pretty much the same as if you pushed the transmit button while you’re sending and then don’t push it again until you’ve stopped sending. The “semi break-in” mode permits operation without having to continually pushing the transmit button on your radio.

Does that make better sense?

Also keep in mind, if you’re using a linear amplifier you need to make sure the linear will handle QSK (full break-in). Many of them will not do so without some additional hardware.

Art – K4IRS
Leesburg, FL

From : Hugh Mac Donald AC7XF
Reply-To : SolidCpyCW
Sent : Tuesday, January 3, 2006 12:47 AM
Subject : Re: [SolidCpyCW] Question of the week – QSK?

In a rig that has VOX you can increase your VOX Delay and that will increase the time your audio section is cut out. You will technically be in TX but no output. This will cut down on the noise everytime you unkey. Beginners in particular find the burst distracting. As you become more proficient you will find you want to use more and more break in since you will find yourself listening while you are sending.- Makes it nice if the other operator needs to tell you they have to QRT or go QPP !
73
Hugh AC7XF

From : Art Burke
Reply-To : SolidCpyCW
Sent : Tuesday, January 3, 2006 6:29 AM
Subject : [SolidCpyCW] Re: Question of the week – QSK?

After almost 30 years of operating (mostly CW) I guess I must still be in beginner mode! I too find the “burst” distracting.

Not too long ago, I heard a guy sending CQ. He was sending over and over and over, and never seemed to be pausing to listen. It finally dawned on me that he might be operating QSK (full break-in for those who don’t recognize the “Q” signal). Sure enough, I responded and he quit sending and we started a QSO.

Art – K4IRS
Leesburg, FL

From : Robert Ower
Sent : Tuesday, January 3, 2006 10:47 AM
To : SolidCpyCW@yahoogroups.com
Subject : Re: [SolidCpyCW] Re: Question of the week – QSK?

Gary Commer wrote:

>Hi Art
>I am not a beginner at CW but at the same time I am not exactly what you
>would call an old timer at CW. (7 or 8 yrs) You just solved a mystery that
>at times had me very puzzled. I would every once in a while here someone
>continuously calling CQ and wonder how the heck he / she expected anyone to
>answer. It seemed that they would not pause long enough for anyone to get a
>dit or a dah in. They must have been operating in full break in mode. I
>myself usually operate with the rig set for semi-break in.
>
I never thought about that either. I used to hear people sending CQ that way 30 years ago. Thought maybe they were just practicing sending CQ. 😉 My Kenwood wil do full break-in, but I am not sure how it is set. Might be full break-in, because on SKN it was going back to receive between characters. I’ll have to check.
73
—
————————————————————————

Bob Ower
Prescott, AZ

From : Dave Oldridge
Sent : Tuesday, January 3, 2006 2:54 PM
To : SolidCpyCW@yahoogroups.com
Subject : Re: [SolidCpyCW] Question of the week – QSK?

On 2 Jan 2006 at 21:16, Scott Hedberg wrote:

>
> I am trying to get a better understanding of the difference
> between Full Break-In and Semi Break-In – I’ve read Art’s post
> below, but I’m hoping some of you can provide additional
> examples of when to use one over the other.

Full break-in or QSK means that you can hear signals between your dots and dashes. Back in the day when CW was heavily used for handling message traffic this was a necessity. We used to implement it on tube-type stations with electronic T/R switches. Today’s solid state radios do it with relays or PIN diodes. The relays chatter and are somewhat off-putting, but with a good set of noise-cancelling headphones, you won’t hear them much. Not sure how they handle all that physical movement, though.

Unless I’m actually handling message traffic and NEED QSK, I’m more apt to go with the semi, just as you have. It cuts down on the wear and tear on the rig and it’s less noise in the shack.

In commercial radio, we had the ideal way of doing it. We put the transmitter a couple of miles away on a separate antenna and keyed it remotely, receiving on a separate frequency. For example, if a ship called me at VCS on 8363khz, I’d send him to some working frequency, say 8388. He’d be listening to my 5kw Harris on 8440. As long as the Harris was being good and not splattering, I’d never even hear it, except for the rare instance when I’d send a ship to 8440 to get him away from a heavily-QRM infested working band (it’s amazing what 5KW with a marking beacon does to discourage QRM!).

—

Dave Oldridge
ICQ 1800667
VA7CZ

From : Frank N. Haas
Sent : Tuesday, January 3, 2006 2:01 PM
To : SolidCpyCW
Subject : [SolidCpyCW] Re: Question of the week – QSK?

I’m new to this group. I’ve been a ham for 40 years predominantly on CW and have used Full QSK in one form or another all that time.

I chose full break-in because it was (in my view) a requirement for my favorite ham activity: CW traffic handling.

In CW traffic handling the greatest efficiency (measured by the number of messages moved per minute) is achieved by minimizing the amount of time it takes to handle corrections when their needed. The beauty of full break-in comes in being able to IMMEDIATELY interrupt the sending station when an error in receiving has occurred. Without break-in, you might have to ask the sending station to resend the entire message….very inefficient.

I’m not as active in traffic handling anymore. Yet I still like full break-in for my casual QSOs. Even though I mention that I have QSK or Full Break-in few stations I work understand the full potential of it or take advantage of it. If both stations in a QSO have full break-in and understand its potential the QSO can be essentially the same as a face-to-face chat.

Those who are distracted by receiver “noise” between the dits and dahs should consider adjusting volume, RF Gain, filtering to achieve a comfortable audio level. Here’s how I do it: When I’m tuning the low end of the band listening for CW CQs I keep my filters fairly wide…typically 2.4 kHz. When I find a station with whom I’d like to chat I “zero beat” his signal (subject for another Question of the Week???) and make the call. If the called station responds to me I start narrowing up the filtering to 500 Hz or perhaps as narrow as 250 Hz. I set the RF gain for adequate signal strength and the AF gain for a comfortable level. As I key, I can easily hear the other station if he chooses to break me and we can engage in a more natural conversation.

I admit that over the years I have added a few accessories to my station that make it even easier for me to work full break-in comfortably. My favorite is the JPS NIR-12 Noise and Interference Reducer. The NIR-12 is an advanced Digital Signal Processing unit that connects to the speaker output of your rig and drives a normal speaker or headphones. JPS no longer supports the Amateur Radio market. Originally selling for $329.00, NIR-12’s can be found used for $125 to $175. The NIR-12’s Dynamic Peaking allows me with the press of ONE button to eliminate most of the static while enhancing the single note of the cw signal I’m trying to copy. It’s “no ringing” narrow bandwidth can really improve the performance of a receiver that doesn’t have good narrow CW filters.

The MFJ-616 Speech Intelligibility Enhancer is another accessory that I find useful. The 616 is primarily designed to customize speech audio to one’s hearing but I find it useful for CW as well. The 616 can attenuate the lowest frequencies in the receive audio as well as higher frequencies making for a more pleasing CW experience. The Logikit SCAF-1 from Idiom Press is another very useful audio path add-on that is useful though not as capable as the JPS or the MFJ products.

It will interest some of you to know that I use these add-ons with an Icom IC-756ProII. The ProII has incredibly effective selectivity especially for CW. Yet I find the audio path add-ons improve my CW experience significantly.

The end result for me as a CW ragchewer is the ability to enjoy the most natural conversation experience possible with the most pleasing CW audio and virtually no QRM.

Every CW operator has unique preferences and needs. Finding ways to make the mode work best for you will make working CW the most enjoyable experience possible. I invite your constructive comments.

Happy New Year & 73,

Frank N. Haas KB4T
Florida
See my bio on QRZ.com

From : DON PULLEN
Sent : Tuesday, January 3, 2006 10:45 AM
To :

“Tigertail” HT Counterpoise

by Chad Rudolph, W1CAR

The idea here was inspired by many other amateurs including Ed KE4SKY and Virginia RACES

These parts can all be found at Wal Mart or any hardware store. I found them in my garage.

Parts:
– about 20″ 14-18 gauge stranded copper wire, or equivalent (smaller gauge = easier portability)
– 5/8″ hose clamp (fits BNC well, although larger will work if cut or shortened)
– solder

Tools:
– wire strippers / cutters
– soldering iron
– straight screwdriver
– Dremel with grinding or sanding bit (optional)


Instructions:
(1) Cut the 18 gauge wire to 1/4 wavelength of the designated frequency, for this example I used 19.25 to 19.5″ for 2 meters (and this also works well on 440mhz). Strip 1/4″ of the insulation and twist the fine copper to keep it from spreading apart.
– For 220mhz, use 11.5″ and for 440mhz, use 6.5″
(2) Gauge how you want the hose clamp to seat on your BNC connector first, and tighten it to get an idea where you will solder the wire. Mark it with a pencil, then use a Dremel tool (optional) to sand a spot so the solder will hold to the clamp.
(3) Lay the wire on the clamp or even run the copper through one of the openings on the clamp, but not too much. Solder the wire to the clamp and let it cool. Pull slightly to make sure the wire is firmly attached.
(4) Attach the hose clamp to the BNC connector, and tighten it so that it doesn’t slip off accidentally, but don’t over-tighten and damage the BNC connector.

Theory: (KE4SKY’s explanation here)
– The idea is that an HT using a “rubber duck” has -5db gain compared to a quarter wave antenna that is held at shoulder height. Speaking in terms of effective radiated power, a 5 watt HT with rubber duck antenna held at shoulder height is actually only radiating 1.5 watts on key-down. The stock antenna is a horrible radiator, and it lacks a counterpoise or a ground plane to keep the RF from coupling to your body. Similar to using a 1/4 wave mobile mag-mount and not mounting it to a metal surface.

– By using a Tiger Tail counterpoise, you give your HT a missing lower quarter wave and along with a quality aftermarket antenna (flexible 1/4 wave or telescoping 1/2 wave) you succeed in creating a center-fed half-wave vertical dipole, giving the HT much much more effective radiated power. The Tiger Tail can be left to dangle, but is directional and the radiation pattern can pointed in the direction of the station you are attempting to contact for better results.

– I’ve seen these talked about many places on the internet, and most say to use a battery clip to connect the Tiger Tail to the BNC connector of the HT. I have yet to see a picture of one, however…and that left me with a bit of uncertainty about the construction itself and its inherent durability. So instead if using a battery clip, I decided to use the hose clamp because of availability, ease of use, and the ability to tighten it to the BNC to make sure one won’t loose it in the field. This is also a good idea if you have several different antennas for your rig, so you can temporarily or even permanently attach the Tiger Tail to each antenna.

– Try it out and see the difference for yourself.

UPDATE:
Another idea inspired by Ed Harris KE4SKY: For dual-band HTs, try using 2-wire zip cord…of a small gauge, like 18 or even 24. Speaker wire works fine. Cut the wire at the normal 2 meter 1/4 wavelength for the 2 meter side of the counterpoise. Follow the rest of the instructions to finish the single-band Tigertail listed below. Once finished, carefully mark 6.5″ down from the HT antenna connection point and unzip and cut the cord to that length, making a 1/4 wave counterpoise for the 440 band with the shorter of the two wires of the zip cord. Install heat shrink at the split point to keep the zip cord from coming further unzipped.

Olivia – Another Digital Mode

I was looking around for information concerning Olivia and found the following from http://homepage.sunrise.ch/mysunrise/jalocha/mfsk.html

The characteristics of the “Olivia” mode

I developed the “Olivia” mode for weak signal QSO. For this reason I have chosen the MFSK (Multi-Shift Frequency Keying) modulation, as it is a good FEC (Forward Error Correcting) code in itself and its waveform has an almost constant envelope, so that the radio transmitter can work at its maximum power. As well MFSK passes well through the ionosphere made distortions.

The disadvantage of MFSK is that it does not tolerate well coherent interferences and non-uniform frequency response of the transmission channel. Coherent noise is often present on HF and the amateur-grade receivers use low pass filters in the audio chain, thus the “Olivia” demodulator passes the audio first through a spectral preprocessor, which attempts to remove coherent signals and then equalizes the frequency response. This at least partially compensates for the MFSK deficiency in that matter.

The default settings for the “Olivia” mode are to send 32 tones spaced by 31.25 Hz at the rate of 31.25 baud. This results in 1000 Hz of total bandwidth. However, the user can chose to send 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128 or 256 tones and the total bandwidth can be set to 125, 250, 500, 1000 or 2000 Hz. The correct baud rate is calculated according to the number of tones and the bandwidth.

After the modulation I have chosen the FEC code on top of it: I decided to try the Walsh functions, which can be easily decoded with the Fast Hadamard Transform (FHT). I have chosen the size to be 64 points (like in the MT63 protocol) so that a 64-bit Walsh function can represent a 7-bit ASCII characters.

To spread the MFSK demodulator errors over several characters, the 64-bits of a Walsh function are placed each in a different MFSK symbol. This defines the block size of the FEC code to be 64 symbols and so one FEC block takes 2.048 seconds to transmit at 31.25 baud. This has the consequences for the tolerance of error bursts or fading.

The overall arrangement results in 5 characters being sent every 2 seconds, thus the typing speed is 2.5 characters per second for the default settings. This corresponds to about 15 words per minute (WPM). For the signal to noise performance, the simulation shows that the transmission can be still decoded when the signal is 10 dB below the noise, where the noise power is measured within the 1000 Hz bandwidth.

More QSL Cards


http://www.netcom.com/~ckuter/kb9rtm.htm

I was first licensed in December 1997. I am enjoying amateur radio more than I thought I would. I mainly worked as a mobile station (parked) due to severe power line noise at my home QTH. This changed in August 2001 when the electric utility finally resolved its problem.

My interests include HF, CW, RTTY and PSK31. I am also involved with QRP radio opertions and kit building. I am also a member of the Society of Midwest Contesters.

Check out my website for various pieces of information about amateur radio in the Chicago area. There is also information about building a portable mast and an inexpenseive QSL logging and printing program that uses MS Word.

Please QSL to above address, and I am good in the buro and Logbook of the World!

73 and hope to CUA.





See my previous entry about this QSO.


http://fmyers.com

Using Weather Monitor II with UI-View

From : Mullen
Sent : Thursday, December 22, 2005 10:16 AM
To : kd7pjq@xx
Subject : Re: Using Weather Monitor II with UI-View

Hi Scott

I am using the WX Monitor II to provide wx data thru the UI-View system. UI-View does not directly handle the data. I use Weather Display to generate the data file that UI-View sends out. You do have to have a connecting piece of software as UI-View does not generate the file. Weather Display is an awesome program and I have been really pleased with it. There are other programs that will work but this is the one that I am familiar with.

What ever software program you use to generate the file, install it in your Peak Systems folder so UI-View can find the file.

If you have other questions let me know.

Linda <>< AD4BL SEC ALASKA From : Joe Stepansky Sent : Thursday, December 22, 2005 5:05 PM To : kd7pjq@xx Subject : Re: UI View and Weather Monitor II Scott, Weatherlink is not the most APRS friendly software. I had to write a small Visual Basic program to get everything formatted properly. If you'd like it I can modify it so it'll run on your system. There's other software which will do APRS a lot better, such as Ambient Virtual Weather software. I’m thinking of purchasing it, but haven’t gotten around to it.

But let me know how you’re using Weatherlink (are you downloading weather observation packets?) and I’ll step you through from there. The UI-View part is easy, it’s the Weatherlink part that’s the pain.

73, Joe KQ3F