SARTG RTTY Contest

Contacts, Contests

While away on vacation in North Carolina and using a 20m dipole up 25 ft between 2 trees, I participated in the SARTG RTTY Contest for two of the three 8 hour time slots for the contest. I couldn’t participate in the final slot because I was traveling back to NJ.

I was trying to get N1MM and MMTTY to work with my SignaLink USB but I couldn’t get things to jive in the time I had before the contest started so I used Ham Radio Deluxe and DM-780. It worked well enough even though it’s not a contest platform.I’ll have to work on getting MMTTY to work and I think N1MM will be fine once that is worked out.

So with my 100w TS-2000, my 20m dipole up 25 ft and my SignaLink USB connected to the Internet via my Verizon Blackberry EVDO phone, I made a total of 106 contacts. Besides many in the US and Canada I made contacts in the contest with operators in Algeria, Argentina, Asiatic Russia, Austria, Belgium, Bermuda, Bulgaria, Cape Verde, Cuba, Czech, Germany, France, Hawaii, Italy, Martinique, Mexico, Morocco, Portugal, Slovenia, Switzerland, and the Ukraine. But the highlight for me was New Zealand (ZL4A) which shows at 8,800 miles from where I was in NC. All that on 100w and a little wire strung between trees. Absolutely amazes me.

This is such fun stuff!!

73, K2DSL

QSLing part 2

Contacts, Misc

In my first post on QSLing I touched on the QSL card I had made and two electronic QSL services – eQSL and LOTW. Here’s some more QSL thoughts on bureaus.

Outgoing QSL Bureau
Besides spelling the word wrong every time I type it, there’s a bit to know about them. First off, at least for me, there’s 2 bureaus – an incoming QSL bureau and an outgoing QSL bureau. Since I’m an ARRL member, I can utilize the ARRL’s outgoing QSL bureau. Cost is fixed based on number or weight of cards. I haven’t done it yet (putting together the first batch now) but from what other local club members told me, out local club picks up that minimal cost for outgoing cards. So I just get the cards to one of my local club QSL managers and they take it from there. Only international cards can go through the bureau while US cards need to be sent direct (postal mail). So for me at least, the outgoing bureau is pretty straight forward and “free” as part of my annual club and ARRL memberships.

Incoming QSL Bureau
The other half of the process is the incoming QSL bureau. This is where cards from other contacts are sent, aggregated and delivered. The entire process is much like a private post office. Cards are aggregated, sorted and then sent to various locations throughout the world based on their destinations. For me, the local incoming QSL bureau is the NJ DX Association.  The NJ DX Assoc handles QSL cards for the 2nd call area – any US call sign with a 2 in the call.  From their site, they handle over half a million QSL cards a year. So cards destined for me go throught he QSL process and eventually make it to the NJ DX Assoc where they are then provided to my clubs QSL Manager and delivered to me.

The incoming bureau has a fee. It’s pretty straightforward and with PayPal pretty simple to get going. I pay for postal credits. They estimate about 5 to 7 QSL cards is the equivalent of 1 credit. So for each batch of 5 to 7 cards to be delivered to me, they deduct a credit. NJ DX Assoc allows you to bank $12 as a minimum initial purchase when using PayPal which they equate to 20 credits.  They meet once a month, so unless I’m getting in large batches of cards, that $12 will likely last about 2 years, if not longer. I think that’s pretty darn inexpensive for all the work that occurs.

Now I need to get off my rump and start writing out all the outgoing QSL cards (bureau and direct) and get the process going from my side. I’ve been told it can take 3 months to over 1 year for a card going through the bureau to get from point A to point B. Remember, I’ve made contacts last month I’m about to write out. Then I’ll bring them to my local QSL Manager in about 2 weeks at our next meeting. and then the process really starts.

73, K2DSL

Ham Radio Outlet (HRO) – excellent service

Antennas, Misc

A diversion from my continuation of posts on QSLing.  I was heading to North Carolina from NJ for a vacation at my in-laws. I didn’t think I was going to bring my radio but I decided to at the last minute. But deciding at the last minute, and not having a shack full of stuff, I was antenna-less. So I figured I’d stop on the way to NC at one of the HRO stores along the way. I purchased by TS-2000 from HRO and it shipped from the Delaware store.

There are 2 HRO stores right off I-95. One is in Delaware just over the Delaware Memorial Bridge and the other is in northern VA.  Since we were leaving early in the morning, I’d be passing the Delaware store before they opened so I planned on hitting the VA store. It was a couple minutes off 95 so it’s very convenient. I parked and went in. I tried not to look around too much or I’d be there for an hour. Camden, N2CLB helped me. I told him what I wanted and was honest about the 20m Radiowavz dipole, saying it’s not the best. But I wanted something to throw up in my in-laws backyard. So I grabbed it and some coax, paid and Camden gave me his card in case I had any questions. Got out without looking at too much. It was tough!!!!

Got to my in-laws, screwed in a small screw with a closed loop into a solid golf ball and tied some string I used previously. Easily threw it over 2 trees in their back yard and used some other rope I had. Attached the coax to the balun and the ends of the ropes to the insulators on each end of the dipole. Hooked everything up and the TS-2000 wouldn’t tune which means it’s a bad SWR.  At home I have a G5RV and it tunes 10, 20, 40, 80 without issue so it shouldn’t be a problem on a 20m only dipole. I had a small piece of coax to swap out with to see if I could determine if it was the coax or the antenna. Same thing with a different piece of coax.  So I pull it down and see if there’s anything obvious that might be the cause, but without breaking it open I can’t, and if I’m going to return it, I don’t want it to be assumed the problem was because I did something to it.

So the next day I called HRO and Virginia and Camden answered. He remembered who I was and I told him what happened. I suggested I order another one to be delivered to NC and I’ll ship the defective one back when I get home. He put me on hold and when he came back he said they will ship me a replacement with a return label and I don’t need to give them any more payment. Really nice salespeople (if Camden is any indication) and terrific service. I have a local dealer at KJI Electronics, but for anything he can’t get or get quickly (and you know how impatient we can be), HRO Is my choice for terrific service and competitive pricing. I know when folks have an issue, they always post, but it’s nice when folks have a good experience that they post too.

I hope the replacement works. Even if it doesn’t, it’s not HROs fault. If there’s an issue I will write HRO and tell them they need to consider the quality of the Radiowavz product as something they’d want to stock and stand behind. But fingers crossed I’ll have a good one shipped.

73s K2DSL

Follow-up 8/13/2008: The replacement antenna arrived today via UPS. I installed it and it worked fine. Made a quick contact with Spain from NC before heading out to dinner. They also included a return label for getting the defective antenna back to them. Great job Camden and HRO!!

QSLing

Contacts

Being a newer ham, there’s so many things besides just pressing PTT that need to be considered. One area that is much larger then it appears is QSLing. Until I get farther along in the post, I’m not sure if this will be 1 post or multiple. The areas I’d like to post about are QSL Cards, eQSL, LOTW, bureaus, IRC, greenstamps, SASE, incoming, outgoing, etc. Yeah, I don’t think this will be 1 post.

To start, once I got on HF and started making contacts within the US and to DX locations, I figured I needed to get QSL cards. So I started looking. Cards ranged from generic without your call sign, plain with your call sign, and full blown customized. I considered all of them and decided to start with the full blown customized. It’s much more expensive then generic cards but I didn’t consider those for long. Then I considered the more plain QSL cards that had some customization such as call sign and a selection of canned images. I spent a couple days reviewing web sites and thinking about it. I figured if I was going to go through the effort of sending them, and in some cases the expense of sending them, then I might as well send something I felt really good about. So once again I hit the Internet looking for various QSL card companies. I ended up with a short list of 3 or 4 that I felt provided what I wanted at a cost I was willing to pay. I checked out their references on various sites and from posts in forums, etc where folks talked about dealing with the vendors.

I selected http://www.qslworks.com because of all the good reviews/comments I read about them but more so because of the interaction I had with them. Specifically, I dealt with Tami at QSLWorks and it couldn’t have been a better experience. I had an idea of what I wanted and did my own mock up. I sent them the image I wanted to use and Tami sent back an amazing card. After a little back and forth to tweak the back of it, it was all set to go.  Assuming it stays up, the card is visible at http://www.qslworks.com/K2DSL/. Top not service and quality at QSLWorks!

I use Ham Radio Deluxe (HRD) for logging and it automagically updates eQSL, an online QSL site. There’s no charge to sign up and it seems a lot of folks use it, but it’s not an official way if you’re looking at specific awards such as Worked All States (WAS). Regardless, there’s no harm in uploading your contacts to it (HRD does it for you) and seeing contacts confirmed by others. As of 8/7/2008 I am seeing just under 20% of the contacts I made confirmed in eQSL.

Another online QSL site is LOTW (Logbook of the World) which is hosted by the ARRL. Like eQSL, it’s web based and you upload your logs (ADIF files). LOTW, since it’s hosted by ARRL, takes confirmed contacts as the equivalent of physical QSL cards received for use in awards such WAS, DXCC, etc. It’s more cumbersome to use and does require setup time in that postal mailing is involved, but it’s worth it as it’s a recognized QSL platform.

I think that’s it for this post and I’ll finish up some other QSL items in a subsequent post.

73, K2DSL

PSK31 & Oak Island Lighthouse

Contacts, Equipment

My Tigertronics SignaLink USB came in this week from DX Engineering. Easy to set up with a couple of jumpers to get going based on the rig and then pretty much plug and play. It works extremely well with HRD’s DM780 and PSK31 Deluxe programs. As an aside, I’d buy from DX Engineering again in a heart beat. They were fantastic to deal with and had great communications through the 6 week delivery (Tigertronics is back ordered and that was known putting in the order). I couldn’t ask for better service!

The only piece I haven’t yet figured out, and I’ve made some posts looking for assistance, is how to get it to send CW. Supposedly the TS-2000 doesn’t support sending CW through the ACC2 port which is what the SignaLink connects to. There are some posts hinting at ways to make that feature work (which might involve not using the SignaLink) but I don’t have clarity yet on specifically what to do. Hopefully someone will give me something more to go on.

Tonight I fired up PSK31 Deluxe and made my first PSK31 contacts. 2 in the US, 1 in Canada and 1 in Costa Rica, all on 20m. Looked like there was a little PSK31 contest going on at the time.  I also used the SignaLink earlier in the week to grab some SSTV pictures also on 20m. Pretty neat stuff and a bunch of new modes to try out.

N4C is a special event station running now to celebrate 50 years of the Oak Island, NC lighthouse. At 50, it’s still the newest lighthouse in the US according to the operator. I’ve been to Oak Island before as my in-laws live not too far away in Wilmington, NC. Real nice op and I was glad to catch them on the air.

73s, K2DSL

IOTA Contest

Contacts, Contests

This weekend was a 1 day IOTA (Islands On The Air) contest. It lasted from 8am (1200 UTC) Sat morning through 8am Sun morning. I made a total of 43 contacts all on 20m, many outside of the US including the Ukraine, Canada, Belgium, Madeira Islands off Portugal, Scotland, Germany, France, Honduras, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Columbia, Bahamas and a couple to Hawaii. I looked on 40 and 80 and there was no one there that I could hear.

As the bands were opening to Europe around 7pm ET (2300 UTC) I had to leave to go to a party with my wife. Crummy timing! When we got home around midnight, I made a few easy contacts before heading off to bed as the band was empty and only a few were calling CQ. I woke up in the morning around 7am ET with 1 hour left in the contest but 20m was quiet and I didn’t find anyone on 40 or 80.

A fun contest and it was nice to get some new countries in my log.  I used N1MM for logging in the contest and when I was done, imported them into Ham Radio Deluxe. I’m also testing out a utility by WD5EAE which is working well in automating tasks when importing into HRD and automating the processing of logs into ARRL’s Logbook Of The World (LOTW).

73, K2DSL

Ham Radio Deluxe

Equipment

As a computer geek, I’m always investigating things online that I’m already interested in or thinking about ahead of when I need it. Before I even had a HF rig (loaner Icom from a friend), I was looking at computer controlled software and logging programs. I downloaded and installed a few just to see what they provided and the user interface of the application.

What I decided on, and have used since I’ve had a HF radio (a whopping 2 months), is Ham Radio Deluxe (HRD) by Simon rown HB9DRV. The decision was not made on price, though FREE is a really nice perk. The decision was made on the user interface and functionality provided in 1 integrated (or what feels to be integrated) solution. There’s also 2 online forums for the software – traditional site hosted forum and a Yahoo Group, both of which are active and receive responses from the developer.

I use HRD for controlling the radio for tuning the frequency, switching bands, initiating an antenna tuning, etc. What I typically touch the radio directly for, though I could use the program too, is for the volume and RF Gain knobs. Maybe I’ll get used to adjusting them in the program via sliders too.  The darn program does pretty much everything you’d want to control on my TS-2000.

The TS-2000 is mindless simple to connect to using a standard RS-232 cable. When I was borrowing a friends Icom, I got a cable for that unit on eBay for $10. If you can hook a radio to a computer, I’m guessing HRD will control it.

What I really liked about the program when I checked a bunch out is the logging functionality and integration with the radio control. I’m sure there are stronger programs to do just logging but if you’re not contesting it’s more then adequate. It’s also the area where I have the most ideas for more full featured integration with the rest of the program and with outside programs, many of which are already on the feature request list for the developer.  My main requests are about integration of creating new log entries and querying existing log entries based on the DX cluster window which is also integrated in the program. With these added it would save some clicks and make it more user friendly. There’s plans for additional integration in this area.

When logging, it automatically sends the log entries, in real time, to eQSL and supports exporting for signing/loading into LOTW. I’ve used N1MM in 2 contests and imported those contacts into HRD. There’s some manual work to do after importing (or I don’t know how to automate it) but it’s all possible if not a bit tedious.

What I did over the weekend is launch the Digital Master 780 (DM-780) program that is also installed/integrated and used it to have it read CW and show me what was sent, display RTTY data that it captured, and also capture SSTV pics just by hooking up the audio out (split my headphone jack) to the microphone connection on the PC. I was amazed at the accuracy of the CW and RTTY captures and even though 20m SSTV was noisy, I could still make out the still pictures that were sent. I’ve ordered a SignaLink USB which should be coming in the next 2 weeks and that will allow me to more easily send/receive CW/RTTY, etc. I’m really looking forward to checking those out. Maybe even make my first CW contact without really knowing CW.

So check out Ham Radio Deluxe to see the wealth of features it has. It really lets you become more productive on the radio.

Ham radio items from eBay

Misc

I don’t mind using eBay to find a good deal. I’m amazed at how folks will bid on items on eBay and pay as much or even more then they could get them from a brick and mortor or other online e-tailer. But I don’t get caught up in the bidding frenzy and know what I’m willing to pay. And of course, you need to factor in the shipping and handling which is typically inflated in the total cost.

I’ve bought a bunch of ham equipment on eBay for my Kenwood TH-D7A HT and now for my TS-2000. For my HT I’ve purchased additional batteries, a mic, a Mirage BD-35 dual band amp and a decent car cup holder stand for the radio. I also purchased the True Talk G5RV I use as my HF antenna from the individual that makes them and uses eBay to sell them.

This past week I bid on and won a copy of CQ Magazine from February 2001 where they have the first article on the Kenwood TS-2000 I just purchased. Thought it would be nice to have that one issue.  You can view the CQ Magazine cover a picture of the ad for when it was released but the full pages require a subscription to view.  I also bid on and won the Nifty Mini Manual for the TS-2000 for less then 2/3 the price I could get it anywhere else including the least I found it for from a vendor at local hamfests.

Im trying to decide if I should get the Super Antenna MP-1 portable screwdriver for when I travel. It has mixed reviews, as does almost every portable antenna. On eBay, it’s about $10 less then through the manufactor or Ham Radio Outlet. I’m also keeping an eye on MFJ Voice Keyers and Heil Pro Set headsets auctions that are coming up. The voice keyers seem to be going for list price and I haven’t found an abundance of Heil headsets yet. I’m interested in the Heil Pro Set with the HC-5 element. But I can be patient.

Happy bidding!

Collins Special Event Stations

Contacts

Following up on a recent post – Special Event Stations – the Collins Radio Club is currently running a special event to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of Collins Radio and the 50th Anniversary of the S-Line. There are 6 stations participating in the event, 5 of which are in the US and the other in France. Making contact with 4 of the stations qualifies you for a special certificate. Last weekend I was able to make contact with W0CXX on 20m and 40m and W5ROK on 20m. Since last weekend, the other US stations weren’t online when I was and if the DX cluster spotting would have shown them online even if I wasn’t, they showed nothing during the week for those stations.

Well last night, after dinner, I got on and N0CXX, W4CRC and W6CXX were on the air. I was able to quikcly make contact with W4CRC in Florida. The operator said I was busting through the pileup on my simple 100w G5RV. Always amazes me when they say that. It took a while longer to track down N0CXX as they were moving around on 20m. It was frustrating for a while because the op and some other contacts were rag chewing while there was a large pile up waiting to make contacts. But finally, I got in and was able to make contact with N0CXX which is located in Cedar Rapids along with W0CXX. I found W6CXX which is located in California but there was too much splatter from other stations on nearby frequencies to get a good copy on them even if I could make contact.

So I have the 4 I was looking for, but I’d like to still make contact with W6CXX if I can before the special event ends on the 20th. No one, including the other Collins ops that have mentioned it, have heard the France station online so I don’t think there’s much hope to make contact with K6FNZ for a clean sweep.

Busy weekend – contest and hamfest

Contacts, Contests, Misc

This was a busy weekend. Starting Saturday at 8am ET, the IARU HF contest started. Bands were very noisy but during the day/evening on Sat and for 30 mins on Sun morning I made 111 contacts. Countries outside of the US (though I got Hawaii again) were: Brazil, Cayman Islands, Canada, Argentina, Netherlands, Italy, Slovenia, Serbia, Ecuador, Brazil, Costa Rica, Austria, Czech Republic, Madeira Islands, Cape Verde, Canary Islands, Trinidad & Tobago, St Pierre & Miquelon, Aruba & Columbia. There were some very large pileups to cut through and my 100 watts, it was persistence vs pure power that paid off.

After making a couple contacts on Sunday morning I set off for the Sussex County hamfest. It is the largest hamfest I’ve been to so far. Took a while to just walk around. It had the usual assortment of crap that I can’t believe people would even look at let alone buy, but there was a lot of really interesting stuff to check out. One fellow had a Kenwood MC-60 desk mic I’ve been looking at picking up which he said was used twice but it looked a bit more used then that though it had the original box and instructions. He wanted $100 for it which is the same as or a bit more then you’d pay on eBay so I walked away.

I also saw the Midland 13-898B CB base station I had when I turned 13 yrs old and another vendor had the Turner Plus Three microphone I used with it. The vendor with the CB said I could take it for $5 but I wasn’t interested in bringing home something I didn’t need even it it was $5.

Saw lots of BARA club members and some other folks I also know.  Spent about 2.5 hours there and took off to head home and process the log from the contest.