20 Nov 2023
By Jeff, KE9V
0 Comments

Monday Morning

Ham Radio, , , , , ,

39F with windy, rainy conditions this morning put the kibosh on my walking and any hope for gathering more leaves.

Walking into the shack with the first cup of Joe I hit 40 CW where I copied a couple of stations calling CQ (a rarity!), but couldn’t raise either of them. Signals were weak and then I read today’s propagation report from W3LPL that began, “Propagation crossing low, mid and high latitudes is likely to be mildly degraded through Tuesday November 21st“. I concurred and moved to FT8 on 30 meters where things weren’t quite abysmal, but I copied no DX there unless you count a few VEs. Afterwards, I refilled the coffee and spun the dial up to 7.153 to ride along with the Treasure Coasters for a bit. Signals were down there too, but where propagation was lacking copious amounts of power permitted me to hear most everyone on the net.

A note in today’s Daily DX newsletter informed that OQRS on Club Log is now open for the TX7L operation. I worked them on 10 CW one day last week and could use that confirmation so I made the necessary arrangements.

I received a short-stack of printed cards from the bureau over the weekend: P44X, JA6BDB, IZ2FOS, DA0HQ, DA23WARD, DL2ARD, and SM7PEV.

Confirmations received via LoTW over the last few days included: A25R, YV5JLO, PY5EJ, CO2RQ, G6GLP, LU2BA, GI5RPG, 5W1SA, and P41E.

19 Nov 2023
By Jeff, KE9V
2 Comments

Discovery Dish Redux

Space, , ,

I was fairly certain this crowd funded project would be a slam dunk. Now, many days into the campaign, it seems to be struggling to gain the traction required to make it a success. There are still 25 days remaining in the effort, but with only 33% funding at this point, I have concerns about its viability. And that’s too bad because I’d really like for this to succeed. If you haven’t taken a look, please do and if you have interest you should get onboard before it’s too late.

19 Nov 2023
By Jeff, KE9V
2 Comments

Contrition

Ham Radio, , ,

For most of the last few months my CW activity has centered on hunting POTA and a few SOTA stations and steadily adding them to my log. Though I wasn’t on a mission from God like Jake and Elwood, I found it pretty easy to work three or four of them while the coffee was brewing. Six a day seemed a nice clip. And then there were the regular CW practice sessions. You know, the weekly SST and CWT events. It was easy to snag another 20-30 contacts for the log with each of these. Add to these a few monthly sprints and the occasional big contest and working a lot of CW isn’t particularly difficult.

If you think about it for even a moment you begin to realize this is spending my life, time I can never get back, exchanging ten seconds of data with masses doing the same thing. I made a public comment recently about POTA being like a “contest” and immediately drew friendly fire from all around. Some folks want to believe that contesting is an unclean activity while hunting POTA is more noble, but that notion is built on a shaky ladder of facts. Speaking as a ‘hunter’ I visit a Web page to see who is operating and where, then I spin the VFO and call them. We exchange signal reports and SPC and more infrequently, a quick 72 or 73 and it’s over. Tell me how the hell that’s the least bit different than a typical contest exchange? In a few cases it may be even shorter than a contest exchange. And the POTA pile-ups have grown to insane levels — just to work some guy sitting on a park bench in Alabama. I’ll sit in a pile to try and work a guy on Bouvet, but Alabama? Look, I enjoy POTA, it has revitalized outdoor radio activity in America, but if you truly believe it’s more than just another contest you probably also believe Field Day is something more than a contest — but you still keep score.

Actually, I think I do have a mission in piling up CW contacts: Contrition. I’ve been working a lot of FT modes while chasing DX lately. My station is modest, but my goals are oversized and it’s been easier to use digital than CW in this quest. Even with these currently good band conditions. Especially with these good conditions. A hundred watts and a vertical is considerably more potent using FT4 or FT8 and I have been taking full advantage. So while the digital side of the ledger grows I think I have been attempting to balance the CW side with piles of trite CW contacts. I tell myself it’s still good practice, a CW man can never have too much practice, right?

My feeling of guilt about all this having been exacerbated by recent diary comments from K3WWP.

John has implied on several recent occasions that it’s getting much tougher to find anyone with which to have an actual CW QSO. He’s been using CW POTA contacts and practice sessions (SST) to help continue his long streak of making a QRP CW contact a day and I get the feeling this has been unsatisfying. He would obviously prefer a little more conversation than is gleaned from a hundred rapid fire RST/SPC exchanges that is all that can be found on CW these days. To test his theory, I just spent eight days without sprints, POTA, or SOTA and I gotta be honest, John isn’t wrong. CW has become a desolate land if you exclude those activities. But if you spout off about that in any of your social media spaces you too will draw rapid fire. Almost everyone will insist that CW is alive and well and growing and if by that they mean that more people have figured out how to send and decode “599 TU 73” they might be right.

Now ask the next guy you work via CW if he has had to rake many leaves this year and it’s likely you will draw a quick gotta go 73 because he has no clue what you just sent…

18 Nov 2023
By Jeff, KE9V
1 Comment

When Enough is Too Much

Ham Radio, , , , , ,

You’ve heard the expression, when it rains, it pours? Some of that seems to be going on here this week.

I ordered the new Elecraft KH1 on October 20th and am expecting to receive it any day now. Then yesterday I saw where a fellow was offering for sale an Elecraft K1. Four bands with the internal auto-tuner and backlit display option. The price was right and I jumped on it because I built a K1 about 20 years ago and have continuously kicked my own hind quarters (which isn’t easy to do!) for having sold it long ago. To be able to again own a fully tricked out K1 in great condition was too good to pass on, so I didn’t. Check is in the mail.

Then last night I was texting with a friend about our meeting at the Ft. Wayne hamfest today. He mentioned that he is thinking about selling his KX2. When I asked him what he would replace it with he said he was looking for another Icom IC-705 to add to his collection. Hmmm. I’ve always wanted a KX2 but was never patient enough to wait the 16 weeks it takes to get one fresh from the factory. And as it turns out, I have a 705 gathering dust in the closet. Now we’re kicking around the notion of an equipment exchange.

If we did that my shack would suddenly include a K2 I built in 1999, the K1, KX3, KX2, and the KH1. That’s a LOT of Elecraft wizardry right there and that makes me wonder when enough is too much?

17 Nov 2023
By Jeff, KE9V
1 Comment

Signs, Symbols, & Other Wonders

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55F with rain in the Heartland this morning. Knowing what was coming we worked outside all day yesterday. Raking leaves and power washing the pergola over the patio. Taking advantage of the warm temps and sunny skies while we could. I’m guessing yesterday might be the last really nice day of the year, though I never bet against warm weather. Most of our weather surprises these days tend to be spells of unusually warm weather when it’s supposed to be otherwise. The point being that we got a lot done yesterday and were exhausted by the end of the day. So much so that taking today “off” will be well deserved. Not that there aren’t always more chores requiring attention, but today’s leisure has been earned and we won’t feel at all bad about a little loafing on this Friday.

I spoke with a tech at ICOM’s service center in Michigan yesterday about the display problem with my IC-7610 and made plans to send it to them for repair, but not until after the CQ WW Contest (CW). Despite the fact that it’s a display issue and the serial number of my transceiver is in the group that ICOM agreed to replace all displays at no cost, mine might end up costing $500. The problem I’m experiencing (a single column of dead pixels) isn’t the same problem experienced by many owners (retention & washed out display) so they will have to inspect it first. If they determine it’s not covered under the free replacement policy then the new screen with labor and shipping will add up to about five-hundred bucks. I don’t have much choice, it needs to be fixed in case I ever want to sell or trade it.

Can I tell you a secret? Sometimes I think about selling the 7610, the 9700, and even the 705 and using those funds to buy a new K4D transceiver. I have a much loved K2 that I built (#524) in 1999, a factory assembled KX3, and a new KH1 ordered on October 20th that could show up on the doorstep any day now. The K4D would be a welcome addition to my shack and put me back on a path that I assumed I’d always traverse many years ago. There would still be that closet full of QRP transceivers of questionable lineage, but ignoring those, I would be an Elecraft guy again. It’s just a notion I kick around in my head during the still of the night and will likely never come to pass…

I’m a contrarian by nature so it should come as no surprise that I’m one of the few who has reservations about the FCC action to remove symbol rate restrictions on our HF bands. Everywhere I look all I see are joyful expressions of how this will fix so much of what has been holding the amateur radio service back from achieving its full potential. Good grief, just typing those words feels like a boatload of malarkey. I understand the issue, and can smell what its proponents are shoveling, but I have doubts. In fact, I predict that no stunning new technology will emerge from this action, but that a large increase in interference complaints from HF enthusiasts will be noted. And of course hams will blame ARRL for all this, even though they begged for it, because that’s how hams roll. Blaming Newington for everything that goes wrong – or right – is our standard operating procedure. Mark these words…

I’m off podcasts again. These once were a staple during my drive time, but they were slowly edged out by audio books. Being retired I no longer commute to and from work, but I still spend almost an hour a day walking with air pods stuck in my head. I’m always listening to choice selections from Audible. The latest few books in my library have been the Bernie Taupin biography, Scattershot, the post-World War II scientist expose, Operation Paperclip, and at the moment I’m halfway though the latest Grey Man novel, Burner. Queued up next is the just released UFO: The Inside Story of the US Government’s Search for Alien Life Here—and Out There. Who’s got time to listen to podcasts?

The Worked All States Triple Play Award plaque arrived yesterday and is already on the wall. Working and confirming all 50 states, each using CW, Phone, and Digital was an accomplishment I wouldn’t have thought possible when I was a Novice. A more seasoned operator wouldn’t see it as a difficult achievement, but I found obtaining 150 confirmations via LoTW was no easy task. I was “stuck” at 149 for nearly two years needing a single Phone confirmation from anyone worked in Utah. I decided if and when that ever showed up I would order the plaque, not just the paper certificate, as I felt that was deserved.

15 Nov 2023
By Jeff, KE9V
5 Comments

Going to California

Ham Radio, , , , ,

Made up my mind to make a new start
Going to California with an aching in my heart
Someone told me there’s a girl out there
With love in her eyes and flowers in her hair

Not long after I was born one of my Dad’s brothers moved from Muncie, Indiana to Southern California. This would have been around 1961. He got a better job making more money and told all his brothers and sisters he could get them all jobs too. Over the next few years all of them moved out there. Except for my Dad. We stayed put. That set us on a course for making that long annual trek in a station wagon without air-conditioning and only an AM radio to spend our vacations with our now west coast relatives. The first few trips were made on the Mother Road, Route 66. Three long days on the road out there, three long days back home.

I’m not sure how we survived it. I remember on one trip we overheated on the two-hundred mile stretch from Needles to San Bernardino. A truck driver stopped, gave us water for the radiator, and told us to go back to Needles get a hotel for the day and wait to make the final run after it was dark, and cooler. We did. I spent the day in the hotel pool while Mom and Dad slept. We always stayed with Dad’s relatives when we were there. Hotel money was saved for the journey itself, not the destination. My aunts and uncles (and so many cousins) had all settled around Riverside and Orange. We visited Knotts Berry Farm and Disneyland in Anaheim before there was a ‘World’ in Orlando. These were especially good times for me and I remember making that trip four times. My parents repeated that journey without me a couple more times as I had started to work in my teen years and didn’t want to go with them.

I’m telling you all that because I always saw California as a special place. A land of beauty and adventure. A place where my Uncle could pull fresh lemons off the trees in his backyard. Given all the magic that place conjured in my head it’s surprising I never moved there. Years later, in the 1990’s I worked in the San Francisco Bay Area for six months and got my fill of traffic jams and overpopulation. Fortunately, my client footed the bill for everything so I never had to complain about the high cost of living there. Perhaps because of my frequent musings about my time spent in a charming land, my youngest son and his wife decided to vacation in Northern California a few years ago and they came back with nightmare stories of panhandlers, drug addicts, and mounds of discarded needles in the streets of San Francisco. They won’t ever go back, I probably won’t either.

Like smoke escaping a blown capacitor the magic fled California decades ago.

But when I got my Novice license (1977) it was still a beguiling location to me and the occasional CW contact with any 6-call would give me more joy than working rare DX. That my radio signal was traversing thousands of miles at the touch of the key was special in a way that’s difficult to dissect. It took us three long days of driving to get to California and here my HW-16 was doing it almost instantly. I’d touch the key and imagine my RF speeding down Route 66.

How could I not see that as magic?

These days a 6-call doesn’t mean what it once did, but I still give deference to them. Like an indelible stamp on my soul, working a station in California is still special for me to this very day. If I see a pile of strong signals from all around the world while working the FT modes I tend to always call those in California first. I know things have changed. A lot. But somewhere deep in my long ago California will always be that enchanted place where we once traveled as a family and it’s where my radio signals follow a similar path on almost a daily basis.

It’s still magic, to me…

14 Nov 2023
By Jeff, KE9V
0 Comments

On Injured List

Ham Radio, , , , , ,

The main display on my IC-7610 has developed a problem. A single column of dead pixels running from the top to the bottom about in the center of the display has appeared. It has no impact on the operation of the equipment, but it’s an annoying distraction and, given ICOM’s problems with this particular display, has me concerned it could worsen. Right now I’m trying to get in touch with someone to have them tell me where it needs to be shipped for repair. While the unit is long out of warranty, ICOM has been providing no-cost replacements for displays on 7610’s with certain serial numbers and mine falls in that group.

I guess we will see if the company lives up to that promise.

Because it still functions, I wouldn’t ship it back to the factory until after the upcoming CQ WWDX CW contest. That’s going to be my last best chance of the year to closeout my DX Marathon entry for 2023. Last year I managed to work 123 entities and went into 2023 with high hopes of working at least 150. I never came close as the summer episodes took me off the air for months and now here I sit, a week before Thanksgiving, with only 96 entities worked this year.

At this point I’d be happy with a hundred and look to 2024 for better results.

That cause was helped a little yesterday when I worked TX7L on 10 CW. I was beginning to think I might miss them too, but I got lucky. I understand they are just past the halfway point in their operation so there should be a few more opportunities to get them on other bands and modes though that won’t help me in the 2023 Marathon. I’m going to need a handful of “new” entities in the CQ WW DX contest just to get to a hundred, with maybe a few extra “just in case” entries and then the 7610 will be headed somewhere for repair.

With the main transceiver on the injured list for a month or two, I’ll have to move the IC-705 up in the rotation. I’m a grizzled enough QRPer that I look forward to that low-power challenge and the transceiver is a delight to use, especially with a decent antenna. I used to have an IC-7300 as a backup, but I got rid of it a year or so ago and haven’t looked back.

This temporary juggling of equipment has me thinking that I need to get busy selling off a lot of excess gear that has been idle in the garage for far too long. I hate selling equipment…

13 Nov 2023
By Jeff, KE9V
0 Comments

Assorted Candies

Ham Radio, Space, , , , , , ,

The SKCC Weekend Sprint (WES) was this weekend. I joined the fun at the opening bell and quickly made 13 contacts. I started to think a 50 or even a 100 Q sprint might be in the offing, but I went for a second cup of coffee at that point and never came back. It was what it was and I need to remember to submit my paltry results.

I did manage to work the Botswana operation (A25R) on 12, 15, and 17 meters using FT8 in F/H mode this weekend. I was hearing them well on 20 meters too, but they weren’t having anything to do with my RF there. That’s an ATNO for me so happy dance all around as those are becoming tougher to find, work, and confirm.

Having been an enthusiastic user of Twitter, back in the before time, and who abandoned it earlier this year, I admit to some curiosity about the new-ish Bluesky social service. So when an invitation code arrived this weekend I signed up and took it for a spin. It looks exactly like the old Twitter. That may be one of its charms? I haven’t found many hams there just yet, and may never. There are so many social media options these days that the herd has been split into many smaller chunks. If you have an account look for me @ke9v.bsky.social

+ Will Saturn’s rings really ‘disappear’ by 2025? An astronomer explains

Lara Parker Dies: ‘Dark Shadows’ Scene-Stealing, Spell-Casting Witch Angelique Was 84 – RIP. Notable passing for me since we rewatched the entire original Dark Shadows series a year ago. I had watched much of it during its original run when I was still a kid in grade school, rushing home daily to catch up with the assorted creepiness. Watching it again as an adult I admit it was definitely campy, but an original masterpiece in its own way. ‘Angelique’ was the witch who turned Barnabas Collins into a vampire during an alternate timeline so her place in DS history is forever secure.

I have concluded my hunt for POTA. Whether forever or just for the season has yet to be determined.

At 1849 UTC Nov 11 SpaceX launched the Transporter-9 mission carrying over 100 satellites from many different companies and countries to orbit. Details at planet4589.org/latest.html – via Jonathan McDowell

Imagine a high school student whose passion for science is ignited during a summer program and goes on to become a groundbreaking scientist. That’s the kind of transformational journey that the Summer Science Program (SSP) has been fostering for decades. To support this important work, 1969 program alumnus and a founder of Qualcomm — Franklin Antonio — donated $200 million in his will, Antonio passed away in May of 2022.

$200+ Million Bequest Will Support Science Research For High Schoolers
12 Nov 2023
By Jeff, KE9V
3 Comments

DIY Laptop

Ham Radio, , , , , ,

In preparation for retirement (has it been nearly two years already?) I purchased a new MacBook Air and a new Mac mini. Both with the (then) new M1 silicon. I had put off purchasing new computers for about as long as I could and I figured I might as well do it while still gainfully employed. At the same time, I also purchased a new ThinkPad from Lenovo on the somewhat dubious notion that I needed a Windows machine. If for no other reason than to upgrade firmware on my ham radio equipment, but also with consideration for Windows apps like N1MM+ and VarAC and a few other platform dependent applications. I chose a ThinkPad because I had been impressed with my work related laptop and thought that hardware would hold up nicely. It has, but I haven’t found nearly as much use for it as expected.

With plans to make a deep dive into the world of GNU Radio, I’ve been kicking around the idea of installing Linux on the ThinkPad and co-opting it for new development work. Having been a Linux user since the pre-1.0 kernel days, I was somewhat keen to make that move. Not that I had abandoned Linux, I have a dozen machines here still running some variant of the operating system, though no longer as my daily driver, and the thought of a return to the OS of my youth on a full-time basis has me buzzing a bit. Having survived that awkward period when I was a red hot Linux evangelist expecting total world domination like a born-again believer expects imminent rapture, I eventually grew out of that embarrassing period and came to peace with other operating systems, mostly on the Mac. Along that journey I used various distributions of Linux beginning with Slackware and then SUSE, RedHat, Debian, Fedora, Gentoo, and eventually Ubuntu where I have happily remained for many years.

After noodling around with all this for a bit I came up with an alternate crazy notion – yet another computer?

Let’s say I keep the ThinkPad for its intended purpose, the seldom used Windows option. I buy another machine that becomes my new Linux box and daily work machine. But what hardware and what distribution? While kicking that around a bit I became enamored with the Framework 16 – a do it yourself, upgradeable laptop. Check this out:

While not yet a fully baked plan, I am considering pre-ordering this laptop and making it my new Linux machine to use for exploration and development of various SDR components and software in 2024. Oh, I’ve similarly kicked around which distribution I might pair it with and have been focused on Arch Linux, a lightweight distribution that has my interest right now. It’s modern, minimal, and updated frequently enough to be useful for the kind of work I intend for it.

This comes with a small risk. The Framework folks have already tested the hardware for compatibility with Fedora and Ubuntu. Still, that risk is minimal and at worst I have to re-install a different distribution. If this all seems fairly crazy it just might be. I admit to having come up with this quickly and more research is definitely required before I pull the trigger and place an order.

You’re bound to have a few thoughts on this idea — let me know with a comment. Thanks!

11 Nov 2023
By Jeff, KE9V
0 Comments

Veterans Day

Holiday,

World War I – known at the time as “The Great War” – officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles, France. However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars.”

Veterans Day continues to be observed on November 11, regardless of what day of the week on which it falls. The restoration of the observance of Veterans Day to November 11 not only preserves the historical significance of the date, but helps focus attention on the important purpose of Veterans Day: A celebration to honor America’s veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good.

US Department of Veterans Affairs