As the sun slowly sinks in the west here in Luddite Junction, I have thoughts, and not being a very smart person, I often translate those thoughts into words and that’s usually where the trouble begins. For example, I have a very good friend who is also a radio enthusiast. We had a discussion recently about too much tech that led him to wonder, “would we be better off with 50K hams who knew what the hell they were doing and were active or 800K occasional appliance operators?”
Troublemaker that I am, I thought that a good question. Permit me to add a little more context to the noodling and thinking that led to this point.
Like the seasonal flu, new digital audio codecs and methods appear each year and I believe that sort of innovation to be a good thing. Especially since it’s almost always a voice thing and my radio interests are mostly non-voice things. But this latest iteration has got a lot of folks excited, talking, and even taking a test drive with the new technology. Good, right? Well, I thought so, but then I read this in a recent mail list thread from one excited evangelist of this new method encouraging its adoption:
“Do not be put off by the technical nature of the computing involved. Everything works correctly, the development team is very professional.”
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain is no way to approach the world of amateur radio, in my opinion. (See, how I added that “in my opinion”? My lawyer says that’s what we call weasel words and he wants me to use them liberally). Of course having one zealot mis-speak his enthusiasm is no reason to condemn the entire software project, but it might speak to the tech savvy of those expected to just double-click to install it, no worries, no need to understand it, just partake of the gooey goodness!
Pointless Anecdote: A pilot was transporting a full plane load of ham radio operators one day. As they were about to fly over one side of the Grand Canyon he announced, “if all the hams who honestly don’t understand the software that now runs their entire amateur radio station would move to the left side of the plane, the plane will tip over that way so don’t do that!”
I’m telling you, the hobby has evolved to the point where there is simply too much tech for most hams to grasp. These days it’s all software, hidden in codes that too few understand. And some of us here in Luddite Junction don’t see that as a good thing. Not at all. But change is coming…
New QRP Transceiver Kit
I recently inventoried my QRP transceivers, twenty-one of them. Most are CW-only transceivers, but a few, like the K2, the IC-705, and the TX-500 are all-mode. Sixteen of them were built from kits, but the point is, I have a lot of QRP transceivers and I recently ordered one more.
The Four State QRP Group (I’m member #127) continues to supply high-quality kits for low-powered enthusiasts. I’ve built several of them over the years. The latest is a variation on the Hilltopper, an earlier model.
They call it the HillTopper TallBoy.
Dave Benson K1SWL, founder of the renowned Small Wonder Labs, listened to you and has designed a version of his winning Hilltopper design than you can build for the band of your choice (40 through 15 Meters). Four State QRP Group is honored to have been selected to kit this transceiver, and has added some extra features, notably an LCD digital display and an XIT function. The Hilltopper is a high performance CW transceiver. It is the perfect solution to your portable operation needs - small, lightweight, wide full-band frequency coverage and low current drain, extending the life of your portable power source. The receiver is adapted from K1SWL’s SW+ Series with minor modifications.
I ordered a 30 meter version because I already HillToppers for have 20 and 40.
Group discounts are available, 5 kit minimum order required.
Remote Receivers
Fred: I heard you check into the Possum Trot Net on 40 meters this morning. Didn’t know you hung out there. Odd thing, I could copy you fine, you’re practically local. But I couldn’t hear anyone else on the net. Propagation must be pretty poor today? How many folks regularly show up?
Tom: We had about thirty check-ins this morning. But you won’t have much luck copying everyone directly. We’re spread out over about 2000 miles.
Fred: Really? 2000 miles is pretty impressive for 40 meters phone at 9am. What’s this about not being able to hear everyone directly?
Tom: We all use remote receivers. You log onto a Web page that lists a bunch of remote receivers that can be streamed over the internet. We all are connected via a net logger application that let’s us make a list of check-ins so everyone knows whose next. For instance, when it gets turned over to Sylvia in Chattanooga we all switch to a remote receiver in southern Tennessee to listen to her transmission. After her we might switch to Dale in Phoenix and listen via a receiver in Arizona, and so on. The system works really well so long as you have a solid net connection. Band conditions don’t really matter much for us.
Fred: Seems to me it might be easier with that large a crowd that you would all move to GoTo Meeting or something like that. You could even see each other using video that way!
Tom: Whoa! Hold on there Fred, that doesn’t sound like a suggestion fit for a “real ham”. We want to communicate using our radios, not the internet. You start doing that and next thing you know, ham radio is dead and everyone will be talking to each other online using computers. We’re real hams, we use our radios and the ionosphere to communicate!
Fred: Uhhh, yeah…but… Never mind. See you down the net logger…
Online Books Update
Chapter Six of Late Night Radio, the first book in the ‘Mac Hodges’ series is now available. I’ve also added the Zombie Apocalypse from 2024 to the collection. Thanks for reading and following along!
Be sure to visit the site index for a complete over view of all the content available as I continue building out the web site. A collection of short stories will begin to appear before the end of the year. These will initially include favorites from the more than one hundred stories I’ve written over the years.
Never Have I Ever
Never have I ever had a conversation about moving into a retirement home. When you are young there are plenty of future dreams and aspirations about all manner of things from starting a family to awesome vacations and even retirement, but never have I ever said to my wife, “someday we should move into an Old Folks Home”. But then you start getting older and realize you’ve lived your life and the best parts are over and it’s all downhill to the finish line.
For many folks of a certain age a decision like this is made for them. Health issues usually dictate such things. While my own health is something less than one-hundred percent it remains pretty darned good, so far as I know. I mean, had I known I was going to live this long I would have taken better care of myself, but at the moment, I have no issues. On the other hand, the trajectory of my wife’s health is not nearly as good and it’s become a consideration for the future.
Our life plan has always been to raise a family and then grow old together, extracting as much enjoyment out of life as possible. That implied we would fashion a home and then, after the kids were all gone, we would enjoy what we had built while slowly easing into old age. But along this journey I’ve noticed that life used to give us a lot, especially when we were younger. As we’ve grown older, life seems to be taking more from us than it gives.
Anyway, this all came up when I was visiting a friend who is the same age as me and we were commiserating about life and he simply asked if I had ever considered moving into some sort of retirement place some day where things like meals might be optional. Truthfully, I had never once considered that option. Though the idea of meals being prepared by someone other than me, the grocery shopping being done by someone other than me, the lawn being mowed by someone other than me, the snow being shoveled by someone other than me, appliances being repaired by someone other than me, the drains being unclogged by someone other than me all sounds pretty good.
But what would become of my lifelong addiction to amateur radio in such a confined environment? I spent some time thinking about that too. Remote operation doesn’t appeal to me and I suppose my radio activity would of necessity become all portable. Carry it in the car and drive to different places to operate. I could probably be happy with that though it would be restricted to fair weather. In other words, ham radio would consume a much smaller slice of my life than it does right now and I don’t care much for the thought of that.
From what I have observed, the older you get, the less input you have in many of these kinds of decisions so I guess I am open to thinking about it a little more.
Pay to Play
I guess I still don’t understand the DXCC pay to play rules. I worked the 9U1RU operation to Burundi on three bands when they were active. The operation has since concluded. I used OQRS to confirm and send funds to obtain LoTW confirmation for those three contacts. So I was a little surprised when only a single confirmation (12m) showed up four days ago. Where were the others? With more than a hundred thousand confirmations to process I thought perhaps the others would show up in the next day or so. But that never happened. So I went back to the OQRS listing for my contacts and it shows only a single QSL issued (12m) while the other two seem to still be waiting for another “donation”.
I sent more funds to cover these and I guess will just wait and see what actually results from it. I have been led to believe that a single donation would be sufficient for all contacts made, given that it’s only an LoTW record. Hell, I don’t even want the printed paper, but I order it to get the LoTW confirmation. Am I doing this wrong? Looking back, there are more than a handful of DXCC where I have only received a single confirmation despite having worked the DX on multiple bands…
Still, those pale in comparison with the guy on Reunion Island I worked who said to send dollars for an LoTW confirmation. I did and the only thing I ever got back was a digital QSL card. Worthless! I emailed him about it, he never replied.
A large part of the reason I intend to end my chase for DXCC awards next year (after Bouvet) is due to the many extortion schemes employed to gain a QSL.
New Navigation
I’ve made a change that impacts site navigation. I added a Site Index page to serve as a single resource for all the content available here. Trying to nest too many menus along the top just wasn’t doing it for me so now there is a single page. Clicking the pull-down menu in the top right corner of this page now reveals only the new site index. From there you can discover additional content like online books, short stories, along with all the usual blog resources.
New Balloon Project
An interesting high-altitude balloon payload from enthusiasts at Iowa State University will be taking to the skies sometime after December 1st.
November 21st Launch Scrubbed: Weather, including the possibility of thick clouds and icing at elevated altitudes, forced the balloon launch to be cancelled. The next launch opportunity is after December 1st, so be on the lookout for an email regarding dates of the rescheduled launch.
The Campus Amateur Radio Club at Iowa State University will be launching a 10 kHz wide linear transponder on a high-altitude balloon from Ames, Iowa in coordination with HABET.
The linear transponder will be non-inverting (use USB or CW on both the uplink and downlink) and will have a 10m uplink and a 2m downlink. The antennas on the balloon will be vertically polarized. Please use the minimum amount of power necessary to get into the transponder (5 watts should be enough). If you are able to run full-duplex, please do so! A good setup would be to run a standard HF rig for the 10m uplink, along with a 2m all-mode transceiver or SDR dongle for the 2m downlink. Unlike traditional satellite operation, there will be no significant doppler shift.
Keep an eye on this one, it should be interesting and fun!
Operating Notes
A note from Bernie with an update from M0SDV says he’s on his way to Grenada where he expects to be QRV from November 23 to December 3. Checking the big chart, I do need J3 as that would be an ATNO for me. I’m not certain what else might fall from the DXCC tree before the year ends. I worked the Burundi (9U1RU) operation several times and am awaiting them to process the logs that would yield another ATNO. At any one time there are always a dozen contacts that, if they confirmed, would deliver even more joy, but I’ve lost hope those will ever confirm.
There remains the CQ WW CW contest over the last weekend of November and with decent band conditions and careful picking and choosing I could land a few more “all time new ones”, but that’s a dice roll with nothing guaranteed. I plan to participate in that one, and will see where that leads.
Beyond that, I still need just one lousy new grid on 6 meters to complete the VUCC award on that band. Been waiting a long time on this one and will be pleased to close it out. Same goes for chasing POTA. I have confirmed working activators in 978 unique state parks, and have been hoping to hit 1000 before ending that quest on December 31st.
Though time is running out on these few remaining 2025 goals, clearing the decks for next year remains critical. My singular focus for 2026 will be 20 meters. I’ll be employing the new KPA1500 to provide full legal-limit on CW in the continuing quest for DX as Cycle 25 begins it’s slow decline.
The Sun slowly sinking into the West is how I imagine next year playing out…
Sepia Tinged Days
Editor, QST:
Not knowing just how many years it takes to be classified as one the fraternity of “Old Timers,” I won’t make any claims, but at least I have been through several periods of wild forecastings and dark forebodings.
I was just perusing some of my old radio magazines and noting some of the sets and new (?) hook-ups of that time. What memories they recall! I can still picture myself poring over the latest hook-up, critically appraising it, noting a new way to connect a coil or a new place to squeeze in a resistor. It mattered not whether the results were anywhere near what was claimed for the set. So long as the hook-up presented a different way to connect the parts, it made little difference how rotten the set worked.
I used to build crystal sets until I had exhausted about every possible combination of parts. When the magazines offered nothing new, I invented my own connections. Such experimenting was comparatively harmless and inexpensive. A good crystal set could be built in those days for around $15. But the tube sets were different! A stage of r.f., detector, and two stages of audio delved into the pocket-book to the tune of about $150. I’ll always remember that sinking feeling when I blew nine WD-11’s at a cost of $6.50 each and dropped the tenth one.
A service kit, in those days, consisted of a pair of ‘phones and a B battery. A loud click on a transformer meant the primary was O.K. A soft click was ditto for the secondary. And so it went. Everything had to click. ‘Phones were tested by noting the loudness of the click when the tips were touched to the tongue (incidentally, a good way to test ‘phones).
Now, what do we find? Complicated, semi-automatic receivers that only the makers know how the wheels go around. With new types of tubes being incorporated every day, automatic bias, automatic volume control, automatic muters, no wonder so many of us throw up our hands and shy off touching up the neighbor’s sleep-killer. There are two types of radios I wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole. One is the old reflex and the other is the latest thing out. One was too tricky to do anything with, and the other is hidden behind tin-can shielding, metal boxes, and “hands off” signs.
Harsh as this letter seems, I hold no grudge against the makers of modern receivers. They are certainly doing some fine engineering as is reflected in the high quality receivers in present day use. But who can help sighing for the good old days when a tube wasn’t ashamed to show its face, and coils and condensers were above-board and handy?
Well, maybe I’m wrong, but that’s what comes from digging through old magazines. Yep, it’s a great life!
Letter to the Editor (‘Sigh With Me’) from W6EIJ of Los Angeles appeared in the November 1932 edition of the magazine…
Over the Rainbow
One is never afraid of the unknown; one is only afraid of the known coming to an end…
In the sleepy town of Saratoga Springs there’s an old amateur radio club that’s been around since 1931. Officially, 43 members are still on the books, but during the last Field Day operation, only six members showed up. A good time was had as usual, but the decline in active membership never passes without notice, comment, and considerable hand-wringing that one day it will all be over. Two of the more active members, Bob and Tom, have been friends for nearly 50 years. They continue to meet for breakfast every Saturday morning when there isn’t a nearby hamfest. Almost a dozen club members used to frequent the ‘By Hand and Fork’ restaurant weekly for breakfast, but that number dropped in recent times to just two.
Lois, the long-time waitress had already poured a cup of coffee and was headed in his direction as Tom walked through the front door. Taking the cup he said, “thanks Lois, you doing okay?” then took a seat across from Bob in their usual booth.
“Doing fine, just a couple more weeks until I’ll be moving to Ann Arbor to be closer to my grandchildren,” she said with a noticeable twinkle in her eye.
“We’re going to miss you around here when you go, what’s it been, thirty-years?”
“At least that,” she replied. “You guys want the usual this morning?”
They did. A full order of biscuits and gravy with a side of hash-browns and a pot of hot coffee. Being diner coffee it was a given it would be strong.
“You worked anything interesting since last week?”
“Just that TY5 in Benin on 30 CW, you already snagged him, right?”
“Yeah he’s worked, but not yet confirmed. Band conditions have been kinda wonky lately. It’s probably just the summer hangover, but the peak of Cycle 25 was so good maybe we got spoiled by the easy conditions?” Tom speculated.
These two enjoyed a long-running debate about the future of amateur radio. Both were convinced that it was a 20th century relic that would one day run out of steam, but then, the same could be said of them. Exactly how the end would come was the only debate. Tom believed the growing authoritarian government would rescind all personal licenses and reclaim all the radio spectrum for itself. Bob’s theory was that overall numbers would continue to decline, and without growth, or even maintenance of the status quo, ham radio would go the way of the dinosaurs.
Both men wished more members would attend these weekly brain storming sessions because frankly, both had become tired of each other’s talking points in this debate and they wished some new blood could be injected in this long running conversation. But having finished breakfast, and multiple coffee refills, it was obvious no one else would be joining them today.
“I’ve always said I like your prediction for the end better than mine,” Tom said as they were waiting for the check. “It would be an interesting twist if the numbers dropped so low that all the commercial vendors gave up on this market. Then the only hams still on the air would be those who could home-brew equipment from scratch or maintain the old gear forever. Either way, it would be a lot more like the pioneering days of the hobby and wouldn’t that be something to behold?”
“It’s certainly something to think about,” Bob said.
As they walked toward the parking lot both already knew they would indeed be thinking about it, and talking about it, for the rest of their lives…