Didn't get much time to play in the contest this weekend, there is just too much going on in my life
Ended up running PARTS of 3 different hours - probably a total on the air time of 90 minutes or so
38 QSOs - all on 20m, all while the band was dieing at night, but what the heck
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Thursday, October 19, 2006
The Beam
Last night, I got a call from Pete (W2IRT) - "XF4 is on the air and LOUD". I get on the air - just a whisper - below ESP level. Man I HAVE to get my beam up. I talked with my XYL - she has given me the OK as my Christmas Gift. Yea! I can start ordering parts before then.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Miscellaneous Musings
It's been a LONG time since I posted. My ham radio life has been very slow, as I've been VERY busy. Mom was in and out of the hospital and rehab (Lung Cancer) etc
Anyway, one major problem I had in my station at home was NASTY 'birdies' all up and down the band from my LAN. This is a fairly common problem. I decided to try and fix the problem. Now, as I already HAD shielded Cat-6 cables in place, I knew that was not going to fix the problem. What I did was make up Cat-5e cables that had a type 43 ferrite at BOTH ends. (small ones - 1/2 hole, about 3/4" long). I had to cut off the connectors and put on new ones. I did it scientifically - one cable at a time, one end at a time. Interestingly, at least on MY LAN, the end near the PC was MUCH more important than the end at the router! I'll guess that the LAN circuits in the PC are less balanced than they are in my router (a Linksys). I lowered the noise at the 'birdie' points from about s-6 to about s-1, so I'd say I made a huge improvement.
This last weekend, I replaced my temporary coax to my 80m/17m dipole with it's permanent coax. Now I don't have to open my rear door to use the antenna. Make me a tad more likely to actually USE the antenna
I've had a bunch of cards come in, and I'd like to thank all the stations who sent me cards.
I'm seriously thinking I'm going to order an NMO mount saw. I have a few friends (Hi Pete (w2irt) and John (KB3MTK)) who need antennas put on their trucks (both Ford Rangers...). My old truck was a Ranger, so I know the tricks with that one.
Sometime this winter (actually next 2 months or so) I should be putting up a beam. Going with a Glen Martin 4ft rooftop tower, probably a 6ft mast. I have a MA-33 that I got from the old Knickerbocker Yacht Club station (Thanks Guys). I eventually want to put a SteppIR up there, but that'll wait. Still debating WHICH coax to use. I keep waffling on that.
Unfortunately, I won't get much contesting done this fall. It's an election year, and my job is related to the elections, so I'll be working 7 days/week until after the election.
73 de KG2V - and Good DX (sunspots? What's a sunspot)
Anyway, one major problem I had in my station at home was NASTY 'birdies' all up and down the band from my LAN. This is a fairly common problem. I decided to try and fix the problem. Now, as I already HAD shielded Cat-6 cables in place, I knew that was not going to fix the problem. What I did was make up Cat-5e cables that had a type 43 ferrite at BOTH ends. (small ones - 1/2 hole, about 3/4" long). I had to cut off the connectors and put on new ones. I did it scientifically - one cable at a time, one end at a time. Interestingly, at least on MY LAN, the end near the PC was MUCH more important than the end at the router! I'll guess that the LAN circuits in the PC are less balanced than they are in my router (a Linksys). I lowered the noise at the 'birdie' points from about s-6 to about s-1, so I'd say I made a huge improvement.
This last weekend, I replaced my temporary coax to my 80m/17m dipole with it's permanent coax. Now I don't have to open my rear door to use the antenna. Make me a tad more likely to actually USE the antenna
I've had a bunch of cards come in, and I'd like to thank all the stations who sent me cards.
I'm seriously thinking I'm going to order an NMO mount saw. I have a few friends (Hi Pete (w2irt) and John (KB3MTK)) who need antennas put on their trucks (both Ford Rangers...). My old truck was a Ranger, so I know the tricks with that one.
Sometime this winter (actually next 2 months or so) I should be putting up a beam. Going with a Glen Martin 4ft rooftop tower, probably a 6ft mast. I have a MA-33 that I got from the old Knickerbocker Yacht Club station (Thanks Guys). I eventually want to put a SteppIR up there, but that'll wait. Still debating WHICH coax to use. I keep waffling on that.
Unfortunately, I won't get much contesting done this fall. It's an election year, and my job is related to the elections, so I'll be working 7 days/week until after the election.
73 de KG2V - and Good DX (sunspots? What's a sunspot)
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