20040118.qrp v03_n169.qrl.20040118 Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 19:03:11 EST From: qrp-l@Lehigh.EDU To: "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Subject: QRP-L digest 3169 QRP-L Digest 3169 Topics covered in this issue include: 1) [165615] RE: [qrp-l] diode protection.. by Peter Burbank 2) [165616] Re: [qrp-l] diode protection.. by Jim Larsen 3) [165617] Re: Fwd: R: Antenna Analyzer by Bob Nielsen 4) [165618] Re: $50 Permit per year by "Larry Cohen" 5) [165619] FS: K1-4 by "mike nelson" 6) [165620] RE: [fpqrp] Surplus Parts by "Ken Alexander" 7) [165621] Re: [qrp-l] ARRL rig reviews QSK test... by 8) [165622] HF Packer Power Pack by Richard Lim 9) [165623] HW-8 Questions - Looking for Stuff by John Kalotai 10) [165624] Re: How to QRP with CRV3s by Richard Lourette 11) [165625] Re: $50 permit (per year) REQUIRED to operate Radio in NY Park!! by "w0oow" 12) [165626] Re: Color Code "poem" by "Chris Trask" 13) [165627] Re: Color Code "poem" by Rob Matherly 14) [165628] Re: 30 meter beacon by Tom Sevart 15) [165629] RE: $50 permit (per year) REQUIRED to operate Radio in NY Park!! by Adam Farson 16) [165630] Re: stereo Phone plugs by Tom Sevart 17) [165631] Re: Color Code "poem" by Bob Nielsen 18) [165632] Where are you man?? by "Jerry Ford" 19) [165633] OzarkCon 2004 Speakers and Registration Info by "David Bixler" 20) [165634] Oops... OzarkCon 2004 Speakers and Registration Info by "David Bixler" 21) [165635] DX - 40M open to VK by Ed Tanton 22) [165636] stereo plugs by "carl seyersdahl" 23) [165637] NE612 Mixer LO by M0BST 24) [165638] Re: 30 meter beacon by "Jim Kjar" 25) [165639] Re: stereo plugs by Ed Tanton 26) [165640] Re: stereo Phone plugs by Lee Mairs 27) [165641] FS teflon 24AWG 500' by 28) [165642] Re: Antenna Analyzer by Paul Kiciak 29) [165643] ARRL January, 2004 Board meeting *is* history but has it *made* history... by 30) [165644] Re: To go with your ScQRPion paddles... by "Paul J Mackanos, Jr." 31) [165645] If you had the money for a new rig... by "Brad Hedges" 32) [165646] Re: NE612 Mixer LO by "Leon Heller" 33) [165647] ARRL Directors Meeting by Karl Larsen 34) [165648] Field end-fed length for 80 and up? by "Kevin Swesey" 35) [165649] Can you identify this interference? by Alex 36) [165650] Re: 30 meter beacon by "Brian Murrey" 37) [165651] Re: If you had the money for a new rig... by "sslyon" 38) [165652] Re: If you had the money for a new rig... by "Kevin Swesey" 39) [165653] Re: 30 meter beacon by Al Scanandoah 40) [165654] Re: Can you identify this interference? by "Leon Heller" 41) [165655] Re: If you had the money for a new rig... by Al Scanandoah 42) [165656] Re: Can you identify this interference? by 43) [165657] VDSL by "Leon Heller" 44) [165658] QSL 30 Meter Beacon by Chuck Carpenter 45) [165659] DSW II by "Brent Sutphin WB4X" 46) [165660] $50 Park Permit ( Please Remain Calm) by John Kalotai 47) [165661] Re: If you had the money for a new rig... by "Bruce Kizerian" 48) [165662] Re: Can you identify this interference? by "George, W5YR" 49) [165663] Re: Field end-fed length for 80 and up? by "George, W5YR" 50) [165664] Re: If you had the money for a new rig... by "George, W5YR" 51) [165665] Re: If you had the money for a new rig... by "Brad Hedges" 52) [165666] Re: [qrp-l] ARRL rig reviews QSK test... by w9ya 53) [165667] Re: Fw: [SOC] Ever tried CWCom? by w9ya 54) [165668] RE: NE612 Mixer LO by "Sverre Holm" 55) [165669] Re: NE612 Mixer LO by Lee Boulineau 56) [165670] Re: stereo Phone plugs by "Brian Murrey" 57) [165671] Re: DSW II by w9ya 58) [165672] Re: Field end-fed length for 80 and up by "James R. Duffey" 59) [165673] Re: GPS Interface Question by "laura halliday" 60) [165674] Need Help W/ MFJ 1275T and Kenwood TS-520 by Norman Young 61) [165675] Re: If you had the money for a new rig... by "Pat Whelton" 62) [165676] Re: Field end-fed length for 80 and up? by Bruce Muscolino 63) [165677] k1: back on the air.. by sergio 64) [165678] Mike Boatwright on DIY Channel! by =?ISO-8859-1?Q?John_Zaruba=A0Jr?= 65) [165679] Re: If you had the money for a new rig... by Hank Kohl K8DD 66) [165680] Re: If you had the money for a new rig... by "Damon S Raphael MD \(W7MD\)" 67) [165681] RE: 30 meter beacon by "rattray" 68) [165682] KX1 Battery Switch Mod by W0rw@aol.com 69) [165683] FS: SWL DSW-II 20 Meter transceiver - built by "Dave Redfearn" 70) [165684] If I had the money... by Steven Weber 71) [165685] End fed 80 meter wires by Karl Larsen 72) [165686] Re: To go with your ScQRPion paddles... by Dale Botkin 73) [165687] Re: Mike Boatwright on DIY Channel! by Dan Harriman 74) [165688] Re: To go with your ScQRPion paddles... by "Paul J Mackanos, Jr." 75) [165689] Re: If you had the money for a new rig... by Dale Botkin 76) [165690] If I had the money by "Ken Evans" 77) [165691] FS: Palm PDA + accessories by "Michael Bower N4NMR" 78) [165692] mtty/fsk question by Ken 79) [165693] Re: If I had the money... by "Thomas Kuehl" 80) [165694] FS: Ten-Tec Century 21 - fixer upper by "Dave Redfearn" 81) [165695] Some Battery charging circuits by ARDUJENSKI@aol.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2004 19:11:16 -0500 From: Peter Burbank To: "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Subject: [165615] RE: [qrp-l] diode protection.. Message-ID: <5.2.0.9.0.20040117185323.00a36340@mail.qx.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed At 04:21 PM 1/17/2004, Nick Kennedy wrote: >There are a couple of ways to use the protection diode. > >One is to put it in series with the positive line so it blocks reverse >polarity. The advantage is that no fuse has to blow or anything when >you hook it up backwards. The disadvantage is that you lose "one diode" >drop of voltage to the rig--meaning about 0.7 volts, in normal service. >This may not be critical if you use a 13.8 volt supply or an adjustable >one you can crank up. It is more critical if you use a battery and you >want to get all you can out of it. For the series diode method, many >folks use shottky diodes, because they drop less voltage in conduction. >Maybe 0.4 volts instead of 0.7. Nick and gang Awhile back someone mentioned a low fwd drop Shottky that was used series fashion in a kit.(Elecraft??) The anstat package here says 9A. The Digi-key P/N is 95sq015-nd. The joke among technicians regarding the parallel/ fuse method is that the transistors blow to protect the fuse. :-) 73 Pete NV4V ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2004 15:27:09 -0900 From: Jim Larsen To: Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion Subject: [165616] Re: [qrp-l] diode protection.. Message-ID: <4009D2DD.3070004@alaska.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit "Protection from Improper Power Supply Connections" http://www.njqrp.org/quickies/quickie2.html I always kinda liked Joe's Quickie #2 (Joe Everhart, N2CX) from the NJ QRP Website. 73, Jim Jim Larsen, AL7FS Anchorage, Alaska http://www.qsl.net/al7fs ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2004 16:27:02 -0800 From: Bob Nielsen To: Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion Subject: [165617] Re: Fwd: R: Antenna Analyzer Message-ID: <20040118002702.GA992@bob> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline On Sat, Jan 17, 2004 at 05:32:25PM -0500, n2go@arrl.net wrote: > Hi, > Is the Euro on par with the Dollar yet or did it pass it? > Ha! At the rate things are going, the Turkish lira might catch up to the dollar one of these days (yesterday's rate = 1,333,333 to 1). 73, Bob N7XY ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2004 15:40:13 -0900 From: "Larry Cohen" To: Subject: [165618] Re: $50 Permit per year Message-ID: <001101c3dd5b$a2cbbf10$6500a8c0@larryworld> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Well, in my honest opinion, I would be livid, I think NY has become more like England in attempting to control everything that you do. I would write to the state legislature, and governor, et al. Because once one state starts forcing hams to pay, the next thing will be other states attempting to make hams pay to operate in parks. I'd also bring this to the attention of the ARRL!!!!! Larry Cohen AL7RI Anchorage, Alaska ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2004 19:44:13 -0500 From: "mike nelson" To: Subject: [165619] FS: K1-4 Message-ID: <000001c3dd5c$32039090$2200a8c0@MIKE> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable FS: 4-band K1 with KBT1 battery adapter; KTS1 tilt stand; KNB1 noise blanker, and KAT1 antenna tuner. Built by an expert (not me); excellent physical and working condition, w/all manuals. $450 + shipping, CONUS = only. Mike, W8LPR. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2004 19:54:44 -0500 From: "Ken Alexander" To: hubby2k@hotmail.com, qrp-l@Lehigh.EDU Subject: [165620] RE: [fpqrp] Surplus Parts Message-ID: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed I found a coupla triple gate MOSFETs in a surplus store the other day. Maybe one of them would work. It's gotta be cheaper than three single gate units. Of course the next problem will be synchronizing the the output of the MOSFET with the triple phase bi-radial quatrature modulation from the linear phase-locked modulators. Then of course there's always the problem with power surges in the main power coupling...a problem that always plagued Scotty on Star Trek. Yes...well, strange isn't it? Cabin fever doesn't normally set in like this until will into February! Time to fire up the KX1 and talk to other humans. 73, Ken - VE3HLS Sharon, ON KX1 #112, FPqrp #716 >From: "Mike WA8BXN" >To: , >Subject: RE: [fpqrp] Surplus Parts >Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2004 13:30:07 -0500 (Eastern Standard Time) > > I think you might need a why or delta arrangement like they do for three >phase power. The next problem to solve is what to do with the third lead >you will have. Maybe if you were going to use a simple FET oscillator you >could use a dual gate MOSFET if you can find one. You will need a phase >shift network, best to adjust it with the antenna analyzer the NJQRP group >is working on when its done. > >Did I tell you that day after day of snow and cold can do strange things to >people? :) > >73/72 and Sunny wouldn't that be nice weather? >Mike, WA8BXN > >-------Original Message------- > >From: kpathai@hotmail.com >Date: 01/17/04 13:05:55 >To: Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion >Subject: RE: [fpqrp] Surplus Parts > >If I buy some of the 9.8304 MHz crystals would I have to wire three of them >in series or parallel to generate a signal on the 10 metre band (29.4912 >MHz)? > >8-) > >73, > >Ken - VE3HLS >Sharon, ON >KX1 #112, FPqrp #716 > > > > > > >From: "Brian Murrey" > >Reply-To: "Brian Murrey" > >To: "QRP-L" , "Flying Pigs" , > >"QRPp-l" > >Subject: [fpqrp] Surplus Parts > >Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2004 10:07:04 -0500 > > > >The list is getting thin...I haven't had much time to scrounge... > > > >Junkbox Surplus Parts for Sale Jan 17th 2004 > >================================== > >9.8304 Mhz Crystals, 1/4 in tall - 20 for $5.00 > >_________________________________________________________________ >The new MSN 8: smart spam protection and 2 months FREE* >http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail >http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/bcomm&pgmarket=en-ca&RU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn >com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca > _________________________________________________________________ Help STOP SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/bcomm&pgmarket=en-ca&RU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2004 20:03:02 -0500 From: To: Subject: [165621] Re: [qrp-l] ARRL rig reviews QSK test... Message-ID: <000b01c3dd5e$d37aa380$ac24ad80@f1n5n8> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit John, Thanks for your comments about the RF envelope rise and fall times remaining essentially unchanged as keying speed is varied. FWIW, I agree with you completely on this. Perhaps, it would be even 'better' if keying waveforms were shown...in separate shots...for differing keying speeds. First- and second-dit RF envelope rise and fall times are, indeed, easily measured at 60 WPM keying speed and 10 mS per division horizontal sweep speed. Ditto, RF envelope dit-widths and delay times between key down and start-of-RF envelope events etc. As Nick mentioned, if a rig's keying and RF envelope waveforms aren't perfect at 60 WPM, how does the rig perform at more realistic keying speeds... Compromise? How about 'graphing' a rig's keying performance at 15 WPM and at 60 WPM... 73. Bill, N4QA http://www.n4qa.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2004 19:48:36 -0600 From: Richard Lim To: Elecraft List , Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion Subject: [165622] HF Packer Power Pack Message-ID: <6E32F496-4958-11D8-BFD0-000A95B92C0E@yahoo.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v609) Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed Hi gang, just wanted to share with you a recent find. I just built the HF Packer Power Pack www.hfprojects.com . It is a neat little project which I'm sure will get alot of use in my portable ops. Basically, it is a self contained 7aHr SLA battery, smart charger and Anderson Powerpole based distribution center all in one. The unit is housed in a steel enclosure and has a handle on the front to carry the package. With the smart charger, you can leave the unit plugged in keeping your battery fully charged, furthermore, the AC Xformer and charging circuit does not put out any RF hash so you can use it as your QRP base station PS in the shack. Neat idea, wish I had thought of it. I have no affiliation with the manufacturer, but thought others on the list may want to check it out. BCNU. Rich ____________________________ 72/73 DE KQ9L K1 #1669, K2 #3232 KX1 #21, FIST 10193, FP 548, QRP ARCI 11129 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2004 18:05:38 -0800 (PST) From: John Kalotai To: qrp-l@Lehigh.EDU Subject: [165623] HW-8 Questions - Looking for Stuff Message-ID: <20040118020538.36251.qmail@web80007.mail.yahoo.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii As the proud owner of a HW-8 and not wanting to kill it, I wanted to find out what the proper tune-up procedure is. I see a "LOADING" knob on the front and I assume that is for XMIT. What is the procedure for setting it? Also, does some kind soul have a copy of the schematic they are willing to scan and e-mail me? Thanks all. John N1OLO ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2004 21:06:46 -0500 From: Richard Lourette To: qrp-l@Lehigh.EDU Subject: [165624] Re: How to QRP with CRV3s Message-ID: <5.1.1.6.0.20040117210607.02041a80@pop3.frontiernet.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Any thoughts as to how to convert the 3V to 12V? Rich -- Richard Lourette lourette@frontiernet.net ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2004 22:18:36 -0600 From: "w0oow" To: Subject: [165625] Re: $50 permit (per year) REQUIRED to operate Radio in NY Park!! Message-ID: <007a01c3dd7a$24fb3f60$6401a8c0@net.alltel.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit What the ....???? Does it proposed fee involved all radios? Does this only cover radios that transmit? What about cell phone use? What about those Family Radio Service walkie talkies? What about CB? OR... is this just ham radio? If so, how did the person requiring the permit decide what kind of radio it was? What are his qualifications to make that decision? Just thinking... wonder if they would charge for a LARGE meeting of Homeland Security types... amateur types... devoted to protecting this country. hhhmmmm Egads... 73.oow ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2004 21:54:07 -0700 From: "Chris Trask" To: , "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Subject: [165626] Re: Color Code "poem" Message-ID: <023e01c3dd7f$1c148dc0$e0024bab@default> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > Does anyone know of any ditties related to memorizing the color code > other than the traditional "bad boys..." version? I'm trying to help my > 11 year old son and don't want to him to learn something so... uhh... > colorful. > Bab beer rots our young guts but vodka goes well. Chris ,----------------------. High Performance Mixers and / What's all this \ Amplifiers for RF Communications / extinct stuff, anyhow? / \ _______,--------------' Chris Trask / N7ZWY _ |/ Principal Engineer oo\ Sonoran Radio Research (__)\ _ P.O. Box 25240 \ \ .' `. Tempe, Arizona 85285-5240 \ \ / \ \ '" \ IEEE Member #40274515 . ( ) \ '-| )__| :. \ Email: christrask@earthlink.net | | | | \ '. http://www.home.earthlink.net/~christrask c__; c__; '-..'>.__ Graphics by Loek Frederiks ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 00:08:26 -0600 From: Rob Matherly To: Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion Subject: [165627] Re: Color Code "poem" Message-ID: <400A22DA.6010605@jetnetinc.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Al Scanandoah wrote: > Thanks to all who responded. I now have a variety of options; my son > is on his own to discover the saltier version :-) ...and thanks to all who informed me of what the saltier version was, hi hi. Now I know why he wouldn't tell anyone in the class what it was :-) -- 72/73/oo - Rob, W0JRM - jimrob@jetnetinc.net - ARRL MEMBER FPQrp -330; QRPp-I #19; WATPK #1; SOC #442; ARS #1143 Are you a gun nut? http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gun_nut_hams http://www.robmatherly.com <--- Not ham related! ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2004 22:30:35 -0800 (PST) From: Tom Sevart To: hfbeacons@explore.plus.com, Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion Subject: [165628] Re: 30 meter beacon Message-ID: <20040118063035.83004.qmail@web9610.mail.yahoo.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii --- Tom Sevart wrote: > > Tomorrow (19 Jan 2004) I plan to operate it just > about > all day & into the night, starting around 1400 UTC > and > ending probably around 0300 UTC. The frequency will > be 10.146. Sorry, that should be 18 Jan 2004 (Sunday). That's what I get for trying to read a calendar from across the room. Tom __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Hotjobs: Enter the "Signing Bonus" Sweepstakes http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/signingbonus ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2004 22:26:22 -0800 From: Adam Farson To: Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion Subject: [165629] RE: $50 permit (per year) REQUIRED to operate Radio in NY Park!! Message-ID: MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Just curious... My understanding of the US Communications Act of 1934 is that it reserves to the FCC sole and total jurisdiction over all matters pertaining to the operation of radio apparatus, the NTIA-licensed governmental radio services being the only exception. Surely a state or other local authority presuming to "license" radio transmitting equipment is in breach of the Communications Act? My reading of this is that the State of New York is usurping a prerogative granted by Congress to the federal government. If so, I wonder why the FCC does not take New York State to task over this issue, just as in the mid-nineties it shut down an attempt by the State of New Jersey to "license" radio transmitters and levy fees on radio users. Cheers for now, 73, Adam VA7OJ/AB4OJ -----Original Message----- From: owner-qrp-l@Lehigh.EDU [mailto:owner-qrp-l@Lehigh.EDU]On Behalf Of w0oow Sent: Saturday, January 17, 2004 20:19 To: Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion Subject: Re: $50 permit (per year) REQUIRED to operate Radio in NY Park!! What the ....???? Does it proposed fee involved all radios? Does this only cover radios that transmit? What about cell phone use? What about those Family Radio Service walkie talkies? What about CB? OR... is this just ham radio? If so, how did the person requiring the permit decide what kind of radio it was? What are his qualifications to make that decision? Just thinking... wonder if they would charge for a LARGE meeting of Homeland Security types... amateur types... devoted to protecting this country. hhhmmmm Egads... 73.oow ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2004 22:37:39 -0800 (PST) From: Tom Sevart To: Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion Subject: [165630] Re: stereo Phone plugs Message-ID: <20040118063739.64403.qmail@web9604.mail.yahoo.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii I generally use 3.5mm phone plugs for headphones & paddle inputs. However, I use 1/4" mono plugs as key inputs on my rigs. I do this since my Kenwood uses a 1/4" jack, and I just used the same as a matter of convention so I wouldn't have to use different cables or use adaptors. I generally don't use 2.5mm plugs. There's nothing set in stone saying you have to use X plug for Y. You can use whatever suits your fancy. ===== Tom Sevart N2UHC http://www.geocities.com/n2uhc __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Hotjobs: Enter the "Signing Bonus" Sweepstakes http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/signingbonus ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2004 22:56:30 -0800 From: Bob Nielsen To: Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion Subject: [165631] Re: Color Code "poem" Message-ID: <20040118065630.GA603@bob> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline On Sun, Jan 18, 2004 at 12:08:26AM -0600, Rob Matherly wrote: > Al Scanandoah wrote: > > >Thanks to all who responded. I now have a variety of options; my son > >is on his own to discover the saltier version :-) > > > ...and thanks to all who informed me of what the saltier version was, hi > hi. Now I know why he wouldn't tell anyone in the class what it was :-) How much time did you spend looking for Violet? ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 01:28:07 -0600 From: "Jerry Ford" To: "qrp-l" Subject: [165632] Where are you man?? Message-ID: <000901c3dd94$9ea1ad80$4a78da0c@mchsi.com> Ron: ( WA9IRV ) I''ve sent several e-mails and got not response. Is everything OK with you?????? Talk to me man !! Whats cooken?????? 73 Jerry N0JRN FP # 546, 4SQRP, ARS # 923, ARCI # 11049, ARRL, Springfield, Mo. MP + #8 http://home.mchsi.com/~n0jrn ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 02:43:04 -0600 From: "David Bixler" To: "'Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion'" Cc: <4SQRP@mailman.qth.net> Subject: [165633] OzarkCon 2004 Speakers and Registration Info Message-ID: <000001c3dd9f$17d35410$0356f8d8@XPComputer> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hi Gang: The Four State QRP Group is pleased to announce the guest speakers for OzarkCon 2004 QRP Convention to be held on April 9 and 10 at Joplin, Missouri. We have some really great speakers lined up with some very interesting topics. First will be Dave Gauding, NF=D8R who will present "EZ Portable". Dave will share his experience with trailside QRP operating, equipment design and portable antennas. If you are interested in outdoor operating, you won't want to miss this presentation. He has developed many outstanding "St. Louis" antenna systems over the years and has a lot of practical knowledge about what works well. Next, Tommy Henderson, WD5AGO will discuss VHF and above QRPing with information about both equipment and propagation. VHF is often an area that many QRP'ers overlook and Tommy will explain what we have been missing. Tommy is a very experienced VHF operator with WAS worked on 2 meters and quite a few DXCC countries worked via moonbouce. Next is George Baker, W5YR who you should recognize from his QRP-L postings. George will present "Engineering the QRP Field Antenna System". George is an engineer with many years of professional and amateur experience and he will present a technical topic in non-technical terms that we all can understand. =20 Finally, Dan Tayloe, N7VE will explain Class E amplifiers, what they are and how we can use them to advantage in our home built rigs. He is going to show us some practical circuit designs that we can use in our next transceiver project. Dan is also an engineer and has designed many high performance circuits for amateur equipment. =20 We are honored to have Doug Hendricks, KI6DS as the OzarkCon master of ceremonies. Doug, as you all know, is one of the founding fathers of both NorCal and the American QRP Club and has probably done more to promote QRP than anybody in the whole world. He will bring us all the latest news from NorCal and AmQRP clubs and will keep OzarkCon on track. We have a full evening on tap for Friday, March 9th, starting with a no-host dinner at 6 PM. After dinner, back at the hotel we have the convention room set up for a QRP-only swap meet, vendor fair, show-and-tell, keyer operating contest and socializing for as long as we like.=20 Saturday, March 10th is the big day with our four speakers on the program. Also, the Joplin Hamfest is going on 3/4 of a mile away and there will be time to browse the hamfest for those bargains. In the evening, the fun continues with a builders contest and more socializing. There is a modest pre-registration fee of $10 for OzarkCon (youth operators 18 and under with a license are free), but for that you will receive a keyer kit (for Friday's contest), a custom-made souvenir OzarkCon badge, a compendium and four prize tickets. =20 The keyer kit that will be included with each pre-registration is the same one that was used at PacifiCon. Be sure to build it and bring to Joplin as we will be having a fun CW operating contest with it and also looking for unique and quality craftsmanship on the completed kit. And yes, there will be prizes! There are details available, including the hotel reservations, and we are now taking pre-registrations for OzarkCon via our on-line registration system at our web site: http://ozarkcon.com There will be more postings later with more information as we get closer to April. 72 and hope to see you in Joplin! =20 David Bixler W0CH Seneca, Missouri W0CH QRP Web Site: http://w0ch.com or http://w0ch.net Four State QRP Group: http://4sqrp.com and http://ozarkcon.com QRP: Little Radios, Big Fun!=20 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 02:50:00 -0600 From: "David Bixler" To: "'Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion'" Cc: <4SQRP@mailman.qth.net> Subject: [165634] Oops... OzarkCon 2004 Speakers and Registration Info Message-ID: <000001c3dda0$0f4d5ce0$0356f8d8@XPComputer> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hi again: Guess I stayed up too late. In the previous message about OzarkCon, I had the dates correct at the top of the message, but in the bottom, I had March instead of April. The correct dates for OzarkCon are April 9 and 10th. The corrected text is below. 72, Dave W0CH **************************************************** Hi Gang: The Four State QRP Group is pleased to announce the guest speakers for OzarkCon 2004 QRP Convention to be held on April 9 and 10 at Joplin, Missouri. We have some really great speakers lined up with some very interesting topics. First will be Dave Gauding, NF=D8R who will present "EZ Portable". Dave will share his experience with trailside QRP operating, equipment design and portable antennas. If you are interested in outdoor operating, you won't want to miss this presentation. He has developed many outstanding "St. Louis" antenna systems over the years and has a lot of practical knowledge about what works well. Next, Tommy Henderson, WD5AGO will discuss VHF and above QRPing with information about both equipment and propagation. VHF is often an area that many QRP'ers overlook and Tommy will explain what we have been missing. Tommy is a very experienced VHF operator with WAS worked on 2 meters and quite a few DXCC countries worked via moonbouce. Next is George Baker, W5YR who you should recognize from his QRP-L postings. George will present "Engineering the QRP Field Antenna System". George is an engineer with many years of professional and amateur experience and he will present a technical topic in non-technical terms that we all can understand. =20 Finally, Dan Tayloe, N7VE will explain Class E amplifiers, what they are and how we can use them to advantage in our home built rigs. He is going to show us some practical circuit designs that we can use in our next transceiver project. Dan is also an engineer and has designed many high performance circuits for amateur equipment. =20 We are honored to have Doug Hendricks, KI6DS as the OzarkCon master of ceremonies. Doug, as you all know, is one of the founding fathers of both NorCal and the American QRP Club and has probably done more to promote QRP than anybody in the whole world. He will bring us all the latest news from NorCal and AmQRP clubs and will keep OzarkCon on track. We have a full evening on tap for Friday, April 9th, starting with a no-host dinner at 6 PM. After dinner, back at the hotel we have the convention room set up for a QRP-only swap meet, vendor fair, show-and-tell, keyer operating contest and socializing for as long as we like.=20 Saturday, April 10th is the big day with our four speakers on the program. Also, the Joplin Hamfest is going on 3/4 of a mile away and there will be time to browse the hamfest for those bargains. In the evening, the fun continues with a builders contest and more socializing. There is a modest pre-registration fee of $10 for OzarkCon (youth operators 18 and under with a license are free), but for that you will receive a keyer kit (for Friday's contest), a custom-made souvenir OzarkCon badge, a compendium and four prize tickets. =20 The keyer kit that will be included with each pre-registration is the same one that was used at PacifiCon. Be sure to build it and bring to Joplin as we will be having a fun CW operating contest with it and also looking for unique and quality craftsmanship on the completed kit. And yes, there will be prizes! There are details available, including the hotel reservations, and we are now taking pre-registrations for OzarkCon via our on-line registration system at our web site: http://ozarkcon.com There will be more postings later with more information as we get closer to April. 72 and hope to see you in Joplin! =20 David Bixler W0CH Seneca, Missouri W0CH QRP Web Site: http://w0ch.com or http://w0ch.net Four State QRP Group: http://4sqrp.com and http://ozarkcon.com QRP: Little Radios, Big Fun!=20 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 06:40:52 -0500 From: Ed Tanton To: QRP-L , noga Subject: [165635] DX - 40M open to VK Message-ID: <6.0.1.1.2.20040118063855.01fe0140@pop.earthlink.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed 40M is open to VK... 6:30AM EST with VK3XU on 7.006.89 MHz (zero beat) and nicely loud. Go get 'im fellas!!! 72/73 Ed Tanton N4XY Ed Tanton N4XY 189 Pioneer Trail Marietta, GA 30068-3466 website: http://www.n4xy.com All emails & checked by Norton AntiVirus with AutoProtect LM: ARRL QCWA AMSAT & INDEXA; SEDXC NCDXA GACW QRP-ARCI OK-QRP QRP-L #758 K2 (FT) #00057 -------------------------------------------------- "He that gives up a little liberty to gain temporary security will lose both and deserve neither". --Benjamin Franklin "Suppose you were an idiot ... and suppose you were a member of Congress... but I repeat myself." --Mark Twain -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 07:16:08 -0500 From: "carl seyersdahl" To: "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Subject: [165636] stereo plugs Message-ID: <002f01c3ddbc$da65ca40$3c3fca44@tampabay.rr.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I have used the 3.5 mm plugs for many things ,but, the bigger problem seems to be the jacks .! all the 3.5 mm jacks I've found seem to be very poor mechanically. I've had no end of trouble in that respect. the 1/4 in. jacks have been around so long it's rare to find a bad one. the only reason to use the smaller ones is of course space and weight and also there are adapters for just about any configuration you might have. Where can one find high quality 3.5 mm stereo jacks.?? carl / kz5ca ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 14:21:14 -0800 From: M0BST To: qrp-l@lehigh.edu Subject: [165637] NE612 Mixer LO Message-ID: <400B06DA.7395@hotpop.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi all, I think I might (?) already know the answer to this query but I'd appreciate some advice anyway so I get it right. Anybody using simple rigs that use an NE612 for both TX and RX mixers? e-mail me off the list if you like. I have a home brew RX that uses a NE612 for the first mixer. The local oscillator is a VXO using the internal oscillator of the 612. I have two bands and the crystal LO frequencies are 11MHz and 15MHz. The VXO works fine. >From what I see there's two ways of extracting the local oscillator signal from the 612 to take it over to a second 612 for TX mixing. First is to put a very small secondary winding over the inductor of the VXO if one is using a torroid, and then feed both ends to the input, i.e. pins 1 & 2, of the second 612 TX mixer. But, I've had better VXO luck using RF chokes. So how do I do it this way. I presume I can tap off of pin 7 of the internal oscilator of the RX mixer and feed directly via a capacitor to the second. So if you are using this approach/have used, any advice would be much appreciated. TNX, 72 MIke M0BST ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 08:01:32 -0700 From: "Jim Kjar" To: , "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Subject: [165638] Re: 30 meter beacon Message-ID: <003c01c3ddd3$f60c8740$b3ea11d8@kjarp9ruqi3vjz> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Receiving beacon near Denver, Co. RST 549, on 3 el yagi--sending EM27pk and pwr.. W CML ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tom Sevart" To: "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Sent: Saturday, January 17, 2004 11:30 PM Subject: Re: 30 meter beacon > > --- Tom Sevart wrote: > > > > Tomorrow (19 Jan 2004) I plan to operate it just > > about > > all day & into the night, starting around 1400 UTC > > and > > ending probably around 0300 UTC. The frequency will > > be 10.146. > > Sorry, that should be 18 Jan 2004 (Sunday). That's > what I get for trying to read a calendar from across > the room. > > Tom > > __________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Hotjobs: Enter the "Signing Bonus" Sweepstakes > http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/signingbonus ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 10:07:33 -0500 From: Ed Tanton To: QRP-L Subject: [165639] Re: stereo plugs Message-ID: <6.0.1.1.2.20040118100330.01ff8290@pop.earthlink.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed For stereo 3.5mm jacks Carl, I use Switchcraft (available from Digikey and-I think-Mouser.) They seem to be pretty cheaply made too, but I haven't had any trouble with them-but... I DO use gold plugs at every opportunity. At 07:16 AM 1/18/2004, you wrote: >I have used the 3.5 mm plugs for many things, but, the bigger problem >seems to be the jacks! All the 3.5 mm jacks I've found seem to be very >poor mechanically. I've had no end of trouble in that respect. ///snip >Where can one find high quality 3.5 mm stereo jacks.?? > carl / kz5ca ///snip 72/73 Ed Tanton N4XY Ed Tanton N4XY 189 Pioneer Trail Marietta, GA 30068-3466 website: http://www.n4xy.com All emails & checked by Norton AntiVirus with AutoProtect LM: ARRL QCWA AMSAT & INDEXA; SEDXC NCDXA GACW QRP-ARCI OK-QRP QRP-L #758 K2 (FT) #00057 -------------------------------------------------- "He that gives up a little liberty to gain temporary security will lose both and deserve neither". --Benjamin Franklin "Suppose you were an idiot ... and suppose you were a member of Congress... but I repeat myself." --Mark Twain -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 10:13:10 -0500 From: Lee Mairs To: rjohnson390@comcast.net, Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion Subject: [165640] Re: stereo Phone plugs Message-ID: <006201c3ddd5$997c0440$0200a8c0@J4> MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT I've found the 1/8" jacks and plugs to be just about optimal in terms of both size and strength. The 3/32" plugs are just too fragile, while the 1/4" plugs are too QRO. 73 de Lee km4yy ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rich Johnson" To: "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Sent: Saturday, January 17, 2004 5:35 PM Subject: stereo Phone plugs > I'm home-brewing equipment and stereo phone jacks come in 1/8 in, 1/4 in, > 2.5 mm and 3.5 mm. > > What is each used used for in the amateur radio world 90% of the time? > > cheers, > rich > > > ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 10:15:26 -0500 (EST) From: To: Subject: [165641] FS teflon 24AWG 500' Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Time to unload some wire :) so I can finish some radio projects. MLK holiday special... This is a *really* good deal on some 24gauge teflon insulated, stranded, silver plated wire. You get five 100' rolls (total of 500') for $10 plus $5.50 for shipping. (If you want additional packs of 500'I'll pick up the shipping..... eg 5 packs (2500' total" $50 plus $5.50 shipping. I will try to get five different colors in each pack. Paypal only. jskalski@bellatlantic.net Please don't ask about special colors or other sizes in this offer. The email will drive me nuts :)) CONUS. 73, Jim n2go ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 15:26:57 +0000 From: Paul Kiciak To: Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion Subject: [165642] Re: Antenna Analyzer Message-ID: <400AA5C1.D7B7F798@adelphia.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit You might also check out my Vector Network Anayzer (VNA) at: http://www.qsl.net/n2pk/ or http://users.adelphia.net/~n2pk/index.html My VNA design does not use a broadband detector, such as the AD8302 used by IW3HEV. This can be important in antenna measurements where strong signals from near-by stations can adversely affect measurement accuracy, particularly with broadband detectors. My VNA detector RF bandwidth is only 5 Hz, so near-by signals have to be either within 5 Hz or so of the VNA generated test signal or strong enough to overload the detector front-end. Broadband detectors are also more vulnerable to the inevitable DDS spurious outputs. While not particularly important to antenna measurements, this vulnerability will limit the dynamic range in testing transmission through a bandpass filter. In this case, a filter with 100 dB attenuation in stop-band will appear to have maybe only 60 dB attenuation in stopband since the braidband detector will then be responding to the strongest DDS spurious outputs. My VNA typically has over 110 dB of dynamic range. My VNA also has complete vector capability. So it provides full 0 to +/-180 degree reflection coefficient angle measurements, as opposed to only 0 to +180 degrees for the IW3HEV design. There are many other possible comparisons, but the bottom line is that I think you'll find that my VNA offers much greater measurement accuracy & capability than any broadband detector alternative. But, there are other trade-offs, so it comes down to what measurement capability you'd like to have. I started with an Autek RF-1 several years ago and have also used an MFJ-259B, but no longer use either one. If you have an interest in building my VNA, you might also check out Greg's VNA kitting effort at: http://www.seed-solutions.com/gregordy/Amateur%20Radio/Experimentation/N2PKVNA/GroupBuild1.htm Greg may still have a VNA kit or two available. Todd is also working on a VNA group build and it may not be too late to hook into the Knightlights QRP group build. For more info on the Knightlight effort, see the thread starting at: http://www.applegate.org/pipermail/klqrp/2003-December/000025.html and also: http://www.applegate.org/pipermail/klqrp/2004-January/000067.html Contact Greg or Todd directly, if you're interested. -- 73, Paul N2PK ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 10:38:12 -0500 From: To: Subject: [165643] ARRL January, 2004 Board meeting *is* history but has it *made* history... Message-ID: <000701c3ddd9$16859200$c825ad80@f1n5n8> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit 18 January 2004 In the coming days, we'll be learning of this weekend's proceedings. Presumably, all concerned persons...especially ARRL members...provided input to the Board, via correspondence with ARRL Division Directors and others, relative to key issues facing Amateur Radio. We may...or may not...be embarking on a significant change of course. I have often been and will likely remain critical of ARRL and its policies. However, and before hearing the first word arising from this month's ARRL Board meeting, I hereby pledge to continue my ARRL membership for a period of at least three years...from this coming July. If I'm not an ARRL member, I cannot expect that my opinions will carry much weight. IF I am an ARRL member, I EXPECT that my opinions, though mixed with those of fellow ARRL members, will be considered. Let's keep those 'QRP Power' pages coming, fellows! 73. Bill, N4QA http://www.n4qa.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 16:10:41 -0000 From: "Paul J Mackanos, Jr." To: , Subject: [165644] Re: To go with your ScQRPion paddles... Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Dale, this sounds interesting, but I went to your web address and got a blank page. Anyone else have this problem ?? 72 de Paul Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2004 00:59:12 -0600 (CST) From: Dale Botkin To: QRP list Subject: [165546] To go with your ScQRPion paddles... Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII If you're looking for something neat to go with your W5JH/Az ScQRPions brass paddles, I have an answer. How about a directly attached, bolt-on memory keyer? I have built and will be selling the PicoKeyer ScQRPion Special, a 1.9" x 2" keyer designed specially for the ScQRPions paddle kit. The keyer attaches directly to your paddles using existing screws. Just unsolder your cable, remove three screws, attach the board and you're off to the races. This keyer uses the new Super PicoKeyer chip, which offers speed control using the menu and paddles method and/or a convenient pot for quick adjustments. You can set a speed via the menu, and any time the pot is set to its minimum position (below 5 WPM) the speed selected by the menu is used. Use the pot, the paddles or both. It's slick. Of course it's got all the other features you would expect - two memories with chaining and beacon mode, message pause, variable pitch sidetone that can be turned on or off, adjustable weight, A or B timing, dot & dash memories, tune / straight key mode, etc. The on board battery ought to last a good long time (I don't know exactly HOW long, since I haven't yet killed one). The kit includes all needed parts - PCB, chip, socket, battery and holder, jack, keying transistor, cap, resistor, pushbutton switch and even a rubber foot to help stabilize your paddle. My paddle (#72) no longer tends to scoot around as I use it. No permanent changes to your paddles are needed, and the keyer can be removed at any time. I wish I could say this will keep you busy with a soldering iron for a while, but I'm guessing the average builder will be done about the time the coffee starts getting cold. You could satisfy your remaining homebrewing urges by making a nice polished brass cover with your call sign engraved on it or something. I'm taking orders now. As soon as I get enough orders to make up a batch of PCBs I'll order the boards, which will take 2-3 weeks for delivery. I get 6 boards to a panel, and I'd like to order 4-5 panels at a time to save on shipping. I'll order extras, so any subsequent orders probably will not have to wait long. I just don't want to pre-order a bunch of boards without some way to gauge demand, since this is a pretty application-specific project. The easiest way to order yours is to point your browser at and order there. I'll also take checks or money orders by mail, or regular PayPal payments -- just make sure to tell me what you're ordering, who you are and where you want your kit shipped. Total cost with shipping in the US is $18.00; DX orders please email me for shipping costs. 72 & have a great weekend, Dale - n0xas -- It's a thankless job, but I've got a lot of Karma to burn off. NEW PicoKeyer version with pot AND paddle control is here! Check http://www.hamgadgets.com for news. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 11:20:49 -0500 From: "Brad Hedges" To: "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Subject: [165645] If you had the money for a new rig... Message-ID: <002401c3dddf$09703560$7d212118@nc.rr.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Let's pretend you were getting a large-ish tax refund and were going to buy a new radio. The XYL won't quite go for an Orion, but under $2,000 was doable... Your intended use was 90% CW and 10%SSB/Digital modes Casual contesting and as much DXing as reasonably available, including trying for all those DXpeditions. You had pretty much narrowed it down to a Yaesu FT-1000MP Mk V Field at $1720, or a TenTec Jupiter (w/integral LDG tuner) at $1600. I know the CW is better from the Jupiter, but there is "a mod" for improved keying from the Field, and the Yaesu has a much larger "sex appeal" factor. NOT the best reason to buy a rig, but it's there, none the less. I apologize for the bandwidth - I know it's not QRP, but *I* QRP, therefor.... Before you say "K2", I was leaning strongly that direction, especially given the recent ARRL test release, but just don't feel like building another rig right now, and I like the notch/PBT/misc other features available in the larger rigs, along with the warranty. Thanks in advance, Brad K0BHC ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 16:38:34 -0000 From: "Leon Heller" To: , "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Subject: [165646] Re: NE612 Mixer LO Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----- Original Message ----- From: "M0BST" To: "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2004 10:21 PM Subject: NE612 Mixer LO > Hi all, > > I think I might (?) already know the answer to this query but I'd > appreciate some advice anyway so I get it right. Anybody using simple > rigs that use an NE612 for both TX and RX mixers? e-mail me off the list > if you like. > > I have a home brew RX that uses a NE612 for the first mixer. The local > oscillator is a VXO using the internal oscillator of the 612. I have two > bands and the crystal LO frequencies are 11MHz and 15MHz. The VXO works > fine. > > >From what I see there's two ways of extracting the local oscillator > signal from the 612 to take it over to a second 612 for TX mixing. First > is to put a very small secondary winding over the inductor of the VXO if > one is using a torroid, and then feed both ends to the input, i.e. pins > 1 & 2, of the second 612 TX mixer. > > But, I've had better VXO luck using RF chokes. So how do I do it this > way. I presume I can tap off of pin 7 of the internal oscilator of the > RX mixer and feed directly via a capacitor to the second. So if you are > using this approach/have used, any advice would be much appreciated. Should work but it might be a good idea to buffer the signal for the Tx mixer. Check that you have the requisite 200 mV or so at the Tx mixer. 73, Leon -- Leon Heller, G1HSM Email: aqzf13@dsl.pipex.com My low-cost Philips LPC210x ARM development system: http://www.geocities.com/leon_heller/lpc2104.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 09:56:28 -0700 (MST) From: Karl Larsen To: qrp-l@lehigh.edu Subject: [165647] ARRL Directors Meeting Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII I and many others from QRP-L have told our Directors what we believe. Your Director should listen to your feelings and vote based on the majority, but he/she doesn't need to. They can, and often are, better informed than me, and my Director will vote the way he wants to. I will not drop the ARRL because my Director voted contrary to my feelings. The most dividing issue this time is the question of giving up Element 1 of the FCC Amateur Radio License, which is to demonstrate that you can copy (but not send) the Morse Code at 5 WPM. I think there are 3 views held by Hams about Element 1. The new view is that code is hard and is keeping thousands of people out of the hobby and now the International treaties allow the USA to drop code. The Old View is the present 5 WPM requirement, and another smaller group wants Element 1 to be 13, and 20 WPM. The last group is interesting because since I teach code to students who know zip about it, several times I have over a 3 week period had students who really studied 30 minutes every day, and they got to 15 WPM using the Koch software from G4FON. In fact one kid asked me to give him his code test at 15 WPM. He passed with flying colors. All of this is to show there are several ideas on what to do and what the Directors decide by vote may not be your position. And then the Directors will need to get FCC to go along. What ever happens please don't leave the ARRL. It's all we have now. -- - Karl Larsen k5di Las Cruces,NM Az ScQRPions - ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 09:49:15 -0700 From: "Kevin Swesey" To: Subject: [165648] Field end-fed length for 80 and up? Message-ID: <000201c3dde3$0507d560$6700a8c0@KEVIN> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I know I can count on this gang! What's a good length suggestion for an end-fed wire in the field for 80 and up? Kevin K6RXL _____ << ella for Spam Control >> has removed 1052 Spam messages and set aside 0 Newsletters for me You can use it too - and it's FREE! www.ellaforspam.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 11:51:55 -0500 From: Alex To: Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion Subject: [165649] Can you identify this interference? Message-ID: <400AB9AB.5FAE761C@amsat.org> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi there, About two weeks ago I started to receive this interference on the upper HF and VHF bands that I can't seem to identify, nor track down yet. The interference does not seem to be affected by the weather, but it does seem to intensify later at night (after 10pm). The interference is visible as 4 or 5 squiggly lines on channel 2 (antenna, no cable here) and is pulsing in nature. It seems to be most pronounced on the upper bands, and only on 10 meters I can hear actually two pulses. I've put a sound sample on my website at: http://www.kr1st.com/interf.wav (230 kb) and an image of the recording done with Audacity can be seen at: http://www.kr1st.com/interf.gif I thought that it may be an electric fence, but I don't find anyone keeping animals outside, except dogs, around here and I don't live in a rural area. There is major road construction going nearby for the past several years. Driving around with a VHF (AM) scanner has not resulted in anything, except locating a few possible problems with power lines. Any help with this or any suggestions are greatly appreciated! 73, --Alex KR1ST http://www.kr1st.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 11:58:31 -0500 From: "Brian Murrey" To: "Jim Kjar" , "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Subject: [165650] Re: 30 meter beacon Message-ID: <01b101c3dde4$4db2a0a0$02fea8c0@bjmw2k> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit On 10146 here in Indianapolis, all I hear is some digital stuff, at an ear splitting 59+ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim Kjar" To: "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2004 10:01 AM Subject: Re: 30 meter beacon > Receiving beacon near Denver, Co. RST 549, on 3 el yagi--sending EM27pk > and pwr.. W CML > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Tom Sevart" > To: "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" > Sent: Saturday, January 17, 2004 11:30 PM > Subject: Re: 30 meter beacon > > > > > > --- Tom Sevart wrote: > > > > > > Tomorrow (19 Jan 2004) I plan to operate it just > > > about > > > all day & into the night, starting around 1400 UTC > > > and > > > ending probably around 0300 UTC. The frequency will > > > be 10.146. > > > > Sorry, that should be 18 Jan 2004 (Sunday). That's > > what I get for trying to read a calendar from across > > the room. > > > > Tom > > > > __________________________________ > > Do you Yahoo!? > > Yahoo! Hotjobs: Enter the "Signing Bonus" Sweepstakes > > http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/signingbonus > > > ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 11:57:19 -0500 From: "sslyon" To: , "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Subject: [165651] Re: If you had the money for a new rig... Message-ID: <003601c3dde4$22d6f2a0$13c8e742@megalink.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In the following order: a.) equip/organize my building/operating location w/tools, lighting... b.) order all the kits I've slobbered over from Small Wonder, Norcal, KD1JV, etc, etc.... c.) get up a REALLY good antler, or two, preferably d.) then look for a good used portable QRO rig, for those "other occasions", like a 706 llG, etc. for general coverage, backup, etc. Seabury & Sharon Lyon 99 Sparrowhawk Mtn Rd Bethel ME, 04217 U.S.A. 207-836-2576 Virus Protection by Norton and ZoneAlarm ----- Original Message ----- From: "Brad Hedges" To: "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2004 11:20 AM Subject: If you had the money for a new rig... > Let's pretend you were getting a large-ish tax refund and were going to buy > a new radio. The XYL won't quite go for an Orion, but under $2,000 was > doable... > > Your intended use was 90% CW and 10%SSB/Digital modes > Casual contesting and as much DXing as reasonably available, including > trying for all those DXpeditions. > You had pretty much narrowed it down to a Yaesu FT-1000MP Mk V Field at > $1720, or a TenTec Jupiter (w/integral LDG tuner) at $1600. > > I know the CW is better from the Jupiter, but there is "a mod" for improved > keying from the Field, and the Yaesu has a much larger "sex appeal" factor. > NOT the best reason to buy a rig, but it's there, none the less. > > I apologize for the bandwidth - I know it's not QRP, but *I* QRP, > therefor.... > > Before you say "K2", I was leaning strongly that direction, especially given > the recent ARRL test release, but just don't feel like building another rig > right now, and I like the notch/PBT/misc other features available in the > larger rigs, along with the warranty. > > Thanks in advance, > > Brad > K0BHC > ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 10:05:43 -0700 From: "Kevin Swesey" To: Subject: [165652] Re: If you had the money for a new rig... Message-ID: <000001c3dde5$4f44bce0$6700a8c0@KEVIN> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit The "Field"! Hands DOWN! Kevin K6RXL _____ << ella for Spam Control >> has removed 1053 Spam messages and set aside 0 Newsletters for me You can use it too - and it's FREE! www.ellaforspam.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 12:10:14 -0500 From: Al Scanandoah To: Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion Subject: [165653] Re: 30 meter beacon Message-ID: <400ABDF6.9080104@rochester.rr.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Nothing but packet traffic heard in FN13ec. Al, K2ZN ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 17:09:05 -0000 From: "Leon Heller" To: , "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Subject: [165654] Re: Can you identify this interference? Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----- Original Message ----- From: "Alex" To: "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2004 4:51 PM Subject: Can you identify this interference? > Hi there, > > About two weeks ago I started to receive this interference on the upper > HF and VHF bands that I can't seem to identify, nor track down yet. The > interference does not seem to be affected by the weather, but it does > seem to intensify later at night (after 10pm). The interference is > visible as 4 or 5 squiggly lines on channel 2 (antenna, no cable here) > and is pulsing in nature. > > It seems to be most pronounced on the upper bands, and only on 10 meters > I can hear actually two pulses. I've put a sound sample on my website > at: > > http://www.kr1st.com/interf.wav (230 kb) > > and an image of the recording done with Audacity can be seen at: > > http://www.kr1st.com/interf.gif > > I thought that it may be an electric fence, but I don't find anyone > keeping animals outside, except dogs, around here and I don't live in a > rural area. There is major road construction going nearby for the past > several years. Driving around with a VHF (AM) scanner has not resulted > in anything, except locating a few possible problems with power lines. > > Any help with this or any suggestions are greatly appreciated! Some years ago RadCom had a very neat Rx design for locating local sources of interference. It was basically a high gain wide-band TRF AM Rx using a couple of Plessey SL612 RF amp chips, with a directional antenna, IIRC. It should be possible to make something like it with an MC1350, I would think. 73, Leon -- Leon Heller, G1HSM Email: aqzf13@dsl.pipex.com My low-cost Philips LPC210x ARM development system: http://www.geocities.com/leon_heller/lpc2104.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 12:16:44 -0500 From: Al Scanandoah To: Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion Subject: [165655] Re: If you had the money for a new rig... Message-ID: <400ABF7C.2090100@rochester.rr.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Actually, with a wall full of rigs, I don't have any immediate needs. However, a 50' free standing tower would certainly be nice, so I could have my Lightning Bolt quad on the air once again... Al, K2ZN ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 12:17:40 -0500 From: To: Subject: [165656] Re: Can you identify this interference? Message-ID: <000f01c3dde6$fb64a700$c825ad80@f1n5n8> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Alex, Sounds to me like an intermittent high-speed sweep oscillator or something. 73. Bill, N4QA http://www.n4qa.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 17:21:20 -0000 From: "Leon Heller" To: "Low Power" Subject: [165657] VDSL Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ADSL doesn't seem to cause too many problems for radio amateurs, but the forthcoming VDSL might, according to this article: http://www.analog.com/library/analogDialogue/archives/34-05/vdsl/ Where I live is going to be first place in the UK to get VDSL, apparently. 73, Leon -- Leon Heller, G1HSM Email: aqzf13@dsl.pipex.com My low-cost Philips LPC210x ARM development system: http://www.geocities.com/leon_heller/lpc2104.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 11:25:05 -0600 From: Chuck Carpenter To: qrp-l@lehigh.edu, N2UHC@yahoo.com Subject: [165658] QSL 30 Meter Beacon Message-ID: <3.0.2.32.20040118112505.008445e0@mail.9plus.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Tom, Good copy at this time. Time: 1715 UTC RST: 549 QSB Call: W5USJ Grid: EM22cv QTH: Point, TX Rcvr: FT-847 Antenna: Butternut HF9V and 88 ft EDZ The signal is stronger on the vertical than the 88ft EDZ. Your QTH is in the null off the end of the dipole. I had to listen to the message twice to get it all and it would have taken several tries to get it all with the dipole. Not bad for the signal level mentioned in the beacon message. Chuck Carpenter, W5USJ, Point, Rains Co., TX - EM22cv, NETXQRP #1 QRP-ARCI #5422, QRP-L #1306, QRPp-I #115, ARS #1280, SOC #57 Zombie #759, COG #11, 6 Club #201, FP #601 oo http://www.netxqrp.org ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 12:50:53 -0500 From: "Brent Sutphin WB4X" To: Subject: [165659] DSW II Message-ID: <003901c3ddeb$9e133da0$9e6d1f18@BandE> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I just completed my DSW II 20 meter transceiver. It works great with no problems. I read a post here about a "super chip" for the DSW II. I am aware of the DSWK chip from Jackson Harbor. Is the "super chip" something different? 72 Brent WB4X ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 09:55:55 -0800 (PST) From: John Kalotai To: qrp-l@Lehigh.EDU Subject: [165660] $50 Park Permit ( Please Remain Calm) Message-ID: <20040118175555.7322.qmail@web80006.mail.yahoo.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Looking at the form it seems this all may have resulted from a field day once upon a time. The form looks as though it is set up for large groups (field day again). Being the government drones they are they read Amateur Radio and see field day. We have a similar form in CT and its called a Special Use Permit. Its required by the CT Department of Environmental Protection (they run the CT State Parks) for use of the Parks by large groups. For most non-profit users the permit is fee free. It was put in place to get a handle on large groups using the parks. Again, looking at the form, it seems to be similar in pupose. I think that Tom is doing the correct thing involving the ARRL in this issue. In addition he should also carbon copy all his correspondence to the director of the parks service as well as his local state rep. Calls to go the attorney general, calling this a scam, playing guard house lawyer or calling for hangings (tongue firmly in cheek, folks) are a bit reactionary. It seems to be merely a case of misguided bureaucracy. John Kalotai N1OLO ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 11:02:20 -0700 From: "Bruce Kizerian" To: , "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Subject: [165661] Re: If you had the money for a new rig... Message-ID: <004901c3dded$3848f940$610d46a6@98seoem> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Buy something REAL cheap and spend all my money on parts tools and test equipment so I can spend so much time tinkering that I hardly ever have time to get on the air...Hey! Wait a minute...I already did that... Bruce kk7zz www.elmerdude.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 11:57:00 -0600 From: "George, W5YR" To: , "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Subject: [165662] Re: Can you identify this interference? Message-ID: <00b201c3dded$37ef1970$0401a8c0@PS> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Alex, it could be someone near you with a CAT5 Ethernet LAN. 73, George W5YR w5yr@att.net ----- Original Message ----- From: "Alex" To: "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2004 10:51 AM Subject: Can you identify this interference? > Hi there, > > About two weeks ago I started to receive this interference on the upper > HF and VHF bands that I can't seem to identify, nor track down yet. The > interference does not seem to be affected by the weather, but it does > seem to intensify later at night (after 10pm). The interference is > visible as 4 or 5 squiggly lines on channel 2 (antenna, no cable here) > and is pulsing in nature. > > It seems to be most pronounced on the upper bands, and only on 10 meters > I can hear actually two pulses. I've put a sound sample on my website > at: > > http://www.kr1st.com/interf.wav (230 kb) > > and an image of the recording done with Audacity can be seen at: > > http://www.kr1st.com/interf.gif > > I thought that it may be an electric fence, but I don't find anyone > keeping animals outside, except dogs, around here and I don't live in a > rural area. There is major road construction going nearby for the past > several years. Driving around with a VHF (AM) scanner has not resulted > in anything, except locating a few possible problems with power lines. > > Any help with this or any suggestions are greatly appreciated! > > 73, > --Alex KR1ST > http://www.kr1st.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 11:58:17 -0600 From: "George, W5YR" To: , "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Subject: [165663] Re: Field end-fed length for 80 and up? Message-ID: <00b301c3dded$386d7130$0401a8c0@PS> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit How would you feed it? 73, George W5YR w5yr@att.net ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kevin Swesey" To: "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2004 10:49 AM Subject: Field end-fed length for 80 and up? > > > I know I can count on this gang! What's a good length suggestion for an > end-fed wire in the field for 80 and up? > > > > Kevin > > K6RXL > > > > > _____ > > << ella for Spam Control >> has removed 1052 Spam messages and set aside 0 > Newsletters for me > You can use it too - and it's FREE! www.ellaforspam.com > > ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 12:00:05 -0600 From: "George, W5YR" To: , "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Subject: [165664] Re: If you had the money for a new rig... Message-ID: <00b401c3dded$38d3fb30$0401a8c0@PS> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Icom 746PRO at $1329 including power supply and free shipping. 73, George W5YR w5yr@att.net ----- Original Message ----- From: "Brad Hedges" To: "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2004 10:20 AM Subject: If you had the money for a new rig... > Let's pretend you were getting a large-ish tax refund and were going to buy > a new radio. The XYL won't quite go for an Orion, but under $2,000 was > doable... > > Your intended use was 90% CW and 10%SSB/Digital modes > Casual contesting and as much DXing as reasonably available, including > trying for all those DXpeditions. > You had pretty much narrowed it down to a Yaesu FT-1000MP Mk V Field at > $1720, or a TenTec Jupiter (w/integral LDG tuner) at $1600. > > I know the CW is better from the Jupiter, but there is "a mod" for improved > keying from the Field, and the Yaesu has a much larger "sex appeal" factor. > NOT the best reason to buy a rig, but it's there, none the less. > > I apologize for the bandwidth - I know it's not QRP, but *I* QRP, > therefor.... > > Before you say "K2", I was leaning strongly that direction, especially given > the recent ARRL test release, but just don't feel like building another rig > right now, and I like the notch/PBT/misc other features available in the > larger rigs, along with the warranty. > > Thanks in advance, > > Brad > K0BHC > ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 13:03:52 -0500 From: "Brad Hedges" To: "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Subject: [165665] Re: If you had the money for a new rig... Message-ID: <003e01c3dded$6e9a4ee0$7d212118@nc.rr.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Many thanks for the responses, and to answer the most prevalent comment about "other" things to get with the money, well, I've already got a 55 ft tower and two beams up - a Cushman A3S and a HyGaine Explorer 14 +40M. I've got another 50 ft tower in pieces in the back yard for when I find the time this spring. I do need a WARC band antenna, new coax, and a few miscellaneous articles, but they generally can come out of the monthly budget, a bit at a time. Thanks, and keep the comments coming! Brad K0BHC ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 13:06:11 -0500 From: w9ya To: "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Subject: [165666] Re: [qrp-l] ARRL rig reviews QSK test... Message-ID: <200401181306.11411.w9ya@arrl.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline On Saturday 17 January 2004 03:23 pm, Karl Larsen wrote: > On Sat, 17 Jan 2004, Nick Kennedy wrote: > > Now to the specific test of the K2 at 100 watts: The O'scope trace is > > pretty weird, alright. [New QST, page 79] You assume that the upper > > Guys have you never had a problem with sync when you have a lot > of RF in the "Shack"? It's clear to me that the dual trace scope lost > lock for the second and probably all the further cycles. Hey Karl; Well , I seriously doubt that lock was lost. It is just too gosh darn easy to trigger on the proper key down with a *decent* scope and to limit the sweep trigger to that one input. Now I suppose the scope could have been "mis-adjusted", but the guys in the lab are WAY too smart not too see that in the results. And it is standard procedure to at least check for proper operation of the testing set-up while in the process of doing the set-up. I also like the 60 wpm setting as it is intended to show/represent the worse case scenario, all "other things" being equal. 72; Bob w9ya > > The picture and the words saying what is happening make me think > the K2/100 is darn good on CW. I know the little 35 watt amp I built for > my FT-817 is a heck of a lot worse! I'm just going to stay QRP. > > > inflection of the keying waveform is 'key-down', but then how did the > > rig know that a second dit was coming, as you pointed out. So maybe the > > lower part of the trace means key down. The time between dits is a > > little less than the key-up time of 20 ms. I guess the rig stretches > > time a little to avoid shortening and it's overdone a little. Still, > > for 60 WPM, that trace looks pretty good to me. > > > > > > 72--Nick, WA5BDU > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: owner-qrp-l@Lehigh.EDU [mailto:owner-qrp-l@Lehigh.EDU] On Behalf > > Of bill@n4qa.com > > Sent: Saturday, January 17, 2004 9:30 AM > > To: Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion > > Subject: [qrp-l] ARRL rig reviews QSK test... > > > > > > Was reading my QST, February, 2004 last evening and took a gander at the > > K2/100 QSK test...so-so results...first dit RF envelope beginning AFTER > > first-dit key-UP... second-dit RF envelope beginning about 5 > > milliseconds BEFORE second-dit key-up... > > > > Anyway... > > I'd like to know what you guys think about the ARRL's conditions under > > which a rig-under-review is tested for "CW keying waveform", > > particularly regarding the "equivalent keying speed is 60 WPM" spec. > > > > What do y'all say? > > > > 73. > > Bill, N4QA > > http://www.n4qa.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 13:15:18 -0500 From: w9ya To: "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Subject: [165667] Re: Fw: [SOC] Ever tried CWCom? Message-ID: <200401181315.18094.w9ya@arrl.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Hey Lee; I am not sure how this stuff you have is intended to operate, but there is already a cw-bot for use on standard IRC style resources, i.e. a standard IRC (internet relay chat) "channel". Standard IRC client programs like X-chat allow for bot "plugins", so this is kinda a natural outgrowth. It's been around for a little while, and seems to have some popularity. The big advantage is that no special servers need to be set-up, all the existing IRC infrastructure can be used, as well as your existing chat client program. Anyways; thanxs for bringing this up. Vy 72; Bob w9ya On Saturday 17 January 2004 02:56 pm, Lee Hopper wrote: > Ham friends who enjoy CW - > > I have just gotten set up for this and it sounds like fun so I'm passing it > on. And it's FREE ! > > If anyone needs help setting up the key interface to your computer, please > let me know. I'm not an expert but now that I'm set up, maybe I can help. > > 73 - > > Lee Hopper, NB7F > Portland, OR > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Chris Redding" > To: > Sent: Saturday, January 17, 2004 5:37 AM > Subject: [SOC] Ever tried CWCom? > > > If you like CW, have you tried the morse version of Echolink (CWCom)? > > It works in a similar way, and you can easily wire your key/keyer up to > > the > > computer and away you go. > > > > Download it from www.mrx.com.au > > > > It's not radio, but it is definitely morse, and good fun. New faces are > > appearing nightly, but new users are desperately needed to get the ball > > really rolling....You don't even need to hold a ham licence. > > > > You can send morse with a hand key or bug, also text each other via the > > keyboard - but not speak. > > > > The morse is real...not artificially generated. You can still tell the > > different 'fist' styles that people send in. > > > > Hook-up an old spare key to a serial plug (see the color photo in > > 'help'), and maybe see a few of you on Morsenet1 (on channel 100) later. > > (after about 22:00 UTC) > > > > Maybe if enough come on, we can arrange an SOC 'Channel' (there are > > thousands to choose from) to meet up or use 'morsemail' to heckle each > > other > > in morse :-). > > > > All the best, > > Chris G4PDJ > > > > > > > > --- > > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > > Version: 6.0.561 / Virus Database: 353 - Release Date: 13/01/04 > > > > _______________________________________________ > > SOC mailing list > > SOC@mailman.qth.net > > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/soc ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 19:23:41 +0100 From: "Sverre Holm" To: , "'Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion'" Subject: [165668] RE: NE612 Mixer LO Message-ID: <001a01c3ddf0$332c32d0$8e00a8c0@Master> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > I presume I can tap off of pin 7 of the internal > oscilator of the RX mixer and feed directly via a capacitor > to the second. This is the approach used in the DF4ZS RF speech clippers, see http://www.qsl.net/df4zs/ and look at clippers A, B etc. -- 73, Sverre ------------------ Sverre Holm, LA3ZA www.qsl.net/la3za ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 10:22:41 -0800 (PST) From: Lee Boulineau To: Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion Subject: [165669] Re: NE612 Mixer LO Message-ID: <20040118182241.92159.qmail@web21207.mail.yahoo.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Mike, Look at the simple SSB rig on Steve Weber's web page (www.qsl.net/kd1jv) for this - also, I beleive the .38 special from NorCal has the same arrangement!! 72/73 de Lee N4MVL --- M0BST wrote: > Hi all, > > I think I might (?) already know the answer to this > query but I'd > appreciate some advice anyway so I get it right. > Anybody using simple > rigs that use an NE612 for both TX and RX mixers? > e-mail me off the list > if you like. > > I have a home brew RX that uses a NE612 for the > first mixer. The local > oscillator is a VXO using the internal oscillator of > the 612. I have two > bands and the crystal LO frequencies are 11MHz and > 15MHz. The VXO works > fine. > > >From what I see there's two ways of extracting the > local oscillator > signal from the 612 to take it over to a second 612 > for TX mixing. First > is to put a very small secondary winding over the > inductor of the VXO if > one is using a torroid, and then feed both ends to > the input, i.e. pins > 1 & 2, of the second 612 TX mixer. > > But, I've had better VXO luck using RF chokes. So > how do I do it this > way. I presume I can tap off of pin 7 of the > internal oscilator of the > RX mixer and feed directly via a capacitor to the > second. So if you are > using this approach/have used, any advice would be > much appreciated. > > TNX, 72 > MIke M0BST > > __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Hotjobs: Enter the "Signing Bonus" Sweepstakes http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/signingbonus ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 13:47:03 -0500 From: "Brian Murrey" To: , "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Subject: [165670] Re: stereo Phone plugs Message-ID: <01fd01c3ddf3$7762a210$02fea8c0@bjmw2k> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lee, We're in the same boat. 72 de KB9BVN ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lee Mairs" To: "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2004 10:13 AM Subject: Re: stereo Phone plugs > I've found the 1/8" jacks and plugs to be just about optimal in terms of > both size and strength. The 3/32" plugs are just too fragile, while the > 1/4" plugs are too QRO. > 73 de Lee > km4yy > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Rich Johnson" > To: "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" > Sent: Saturday, January 17, 2004 5:35 PM > Subject: stereo Phone plugs > > > > I'm home-brewing equipment and stereo phone jacks come in 1/8 in, 1/4 in, > > 2.5 mm and 3.5 mm. > > > > What is each used used for in the amateur radio world 90% of the time? > > > > cheers, > > rich > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 13:48:27 -0500 From: w9ya To: "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Subject: [165671] Re: DSW II Message-ID: <200401181348.27757.w9ya@arrl.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline On Sunday 18 January 2004 12:50 pm, Brent Sutphin WB4X wrote: > I just completed my DSW II 20 meter transceiver. It works great with no > problems. I read a post here about a "super chip" for the DSW II. I am > aware of the DSWK chip from Jackson Harbor. Is the "super chip" something > different? > > 72 > Brent WB4X Hey Brent and the gang; Well that email was probably from me. I thought Chuck had released the super chip, but alas he is still beta testing it, and I guess I am one of the beta testers. So....... my suggestion is to get the normal DSWK chip , which at Chuck's current price is a STEAL. In a few months when Chuck releases the "super" chip, then upgrade to that. I would NOT wait for the "super" chip to be released as the additional functionality of the DSWK chip over the stock chip is way too important to pass up on in the mean time. (IMHO) Vy 72's and sorry for the confusion. Bob w9ya ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 11:00:56 -0700 From: "James R. Duffey" To: Cc: QRP-L Subject: [165672] Re: Field end-fed length for 80 and up Message-ID: Mime-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit One hundred thirty five (135) feet is a good length. It is close to a multiple of half wave on all ham bands 80 M and up. It will have a fairly impedance and match readily on all bands with a simple L network. A good ground should be used. If there are problems with RF on the rig, use a "choke" or current balun between the L match and the long wire and use 1/4 wave "radials" to define a RF ground at the tuner. There is considerable difference of opinion as to what the "best" length for an end fed wire is. Many favor a quarter weave or odd multiples of a quarter wave. That length is a bit easier to feed, and usually avoids the RF on the rig problem. However, a good ground system is required, and if the radials used are above ground, there can be considerable radiation from them. Also, if you use a quarter wave length on 80 M, then it will be a half wave on the even harmonics, 40M, 20 M, and so on, so that a very different tuning arrangement is required on these bands than on those on which it is a multiple of a half wave. The matching system will be more complex. Some suggest a 3/8 wave at the fundamental, but that has the same problem as does the 1/4 wave. Another pragmatic suggestion is to use the length that fits readily between the rig and the tallest support available. You will have to figure out the tuner arrangement for this. - Dr. Megacycle KK6MC/5 ______________________ James R. Duffey KK6MC/5 Cedar Crest NM 87008 DM65 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 11:11:46 -0800 From: "laura halliday" To: qrp-l@lehigh.edu Subject: [165673] Re: GPS Interface Question Message-ID: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Jim n6jf wrote: >Has anyone had any strange problems interfacing a GPS to a laptop? With the >GPS connected to the laptop (using a serial to USB converter) the >cursor jumped all around opening up different windows and sometimes >resetting the computer... This sounds like what happened when I first connected my GPS (Magellan GPS 310) to my then-new Compaq laptop. It came with some hideous brain-damaged user-interface shell thing called Windows XP which concluded that the stream of data coming in over the serial port was a mouse, loaded what it thought was the correct driver (without asking me), and the system proceeded to go berserk. All I wanted to do was capture the NMEA data to a file for later analysis... I loaded Linux (Slackware 9, since upgraded to kernel 2.6.0) the next day and all has been well ever since. Laura Halliday VE7LDH "Que les nuages soient notre Grid: CN89mg pied a terre..." ICBM: 49 16.05 N 122 56.92 W - Hospital/Shafte _________________________________________________________________ Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8. http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/bcomm&pgmarket=en-ca&RU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 14:24:29 -0500 (GMT-05:00) From: Norman Young To: Subject: [165674] Need Help W/ MFJ 1275T and Kenwood TS-520 Message-ID: <1806693.1074453870266.JavaMail.root@wamui10.slb.atl.earthlink.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit OK, I start by admitting that I am not the brightest bulb in the chandelier, but I have a problem that has me stumped! I have a TS-520 that I am trying to interface with an MFJ 1275T Sound Card Interface. This is the 4 pin model mic connector model. I have been able to get the receive to function FB, but I am having a problem with the transmit. There are a set of seven jumper connections inside the MFJ unit that have to be set to match the mic pin configuration of the particular radio. From the factory, the interface is set to match several different radios including the TS-520S, but not the TS-520. I cannot get it to key the transmitter using that configuration, and I don't know whether it is because (1) my mic configuration is wrong, or (2) my com port is not talking to the unit. The manual has a procedure for determining the proper pin configuration for radios not listed, but I have not been able to figure it out. According to the manual, my mic configuration is as follows: Pin 1 - Mic element center. Pin 2 - PTT. Pin 3 - PTT ground. Pin 4 - Mic element ground. So, here are my questions: 1. Is the mic configuration of the TS-520 different from the TS-520S? 2. If so, and if you are running the MFJ 1275T, what are the jumper connections for each header? I pride myself in being able to figure these things out on my own, but to my mind, at least, the MFJ manual on how to do this is clear as mud! Obviously, if the mic configuration is OK, then I need to start looking at the com port on the computer to see whether it is talking to the interface, but I want to make sure I've set up the interface right first. Any help will be greatly appreciated! Also, if you can help. please cc me directly as I get the digest only, and if someone knows the answer, I can finish setting this thing up and play a little radio since I have tomorrow off. Hope this is not deemed to be off topic. I have been using this rig for several years with an attenuator to do QRP CW. I want to try QRP with PSK, but I gotta get this thing working first! Thanks in advance. 72, Norman KA4PUV ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 13:28:17 -0600 From: "Pat Whelton" To: "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Subject: [165675] Re: If you had the money for a new rig... Message-ID: <049101c3ddf9$39988d40$8901a8c0@Earthlink.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I'd buy a new set of clubs, some new woods, get some lessons and still have plenty left over to try some new courses I've been wanting to play. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 14:40:26 -0500 From: Bruce Muscolino To: kdswesey@cox.net Cc: Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion Subject: [165676] Re: Field end-fed length for 80 and up? Message-ID: <400AE12A.D218F236@erols.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Using an end-fed wire makes good sense, in fact I think it makes the best sense in almost every application. Personally, I have had good luck using wires of almost any length. I have used a wire as short as 40 feet on 80. Admittedly I was only trying to see if it would work, but it did. I would stick to wires in the 75 to 100 foot range. This way you will not run into resonance issues if you want all band applications. You can use any type of tuner from the very simple MFJ units to very complex. You must use a tuned ground for best effect. I use an MFJ Artificial Ground with a short wire connected to it at home. This unit allows me to rapidly tune the antenna over all bands. I would not count on a ground rod. They usually are no better than the length of wire connecting them to the rig. This usually does not provide a good "other half" for your antenna. My 40 foot long wire appears in June 195 QST. My current long wire appears in June, I think, 2003's QST. 73 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 14:48:45 -0500 From: sergio To: qrp-l@Lehigh.EDU Subject: [165677] k1: back on the air.. Message-ID: <6.0.1.1.2.20040118144708.01d8dd00@mail.neobright.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed i pulled L1 out, and cleaned it all up... i think all is well again.. i have one rig back on the air.. no drifting.. no monkey business.. and alot of: OK ON ALL BUT PWR PSE RPT 5 WATTS? 5 WTS? pretty good, eh? ____ peace, ...sergio photographer, journalist, visionary www.village-buzz.com <- read my blog www.coffee-black.com <- my photography ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 15:25:01 -0500 From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?John_Zaruba=A0Jr?= To: Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion Subject: [165678] Mike Boatwright on DIY Channel! Message-ID: <644D90EC-49F4-11D8-8302-003065C74F1A@comcast.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v609) Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed Hey Gangue, I just saw our own Mike Boatwright on the DIY channel's program DIY Net Door. He was describing Ham Radio, CW, QRP and home brewing. Close ups of a Tuna Tin II, NOGAWatt, and some other neat stuff in Altoids boxes. Excellent Job Mike! 73, John AA2BN ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 15:31:45 -0500 From: Hank Kohl K8DD To: bhedges@nc.rr.com, "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Subject: [165679] Re: If you had the money for a new rig... Message-ID: <6.0.1.1.2.20040118151629.07b1dde0@mail.arenet.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed At 1/18/2004 11:20 AM, Brad Hedges wrote: > 90% CW and 10%SSB/Digital modes >Casual contesting and as much DXing as reasonably available, including >trying for all those DXpeditions. >You had pretty much narrowed it down to a Yaesu FT-1000MP Mk V Field at >$1720, or a TenTec Jupiter (w/integral LDG tuner) at $1600. I've got to agree with George W5YR. IC 746 PRO is actually my second choice. My IC 746 (not PRO) has gone to FP, C6A and V4 in a shipping case and has preformed great. It went along with a SEC power supply, a Kent paddle and a Heil Pro Set. At V4 it probably had 2000 Q's in a little over a week plus 3300 in the ARRL DX CW contest. My first choice would be an Elecraft K2/100 (mine went to V47 and was better than the IC 746 (not PRO) by a small margin. I would put the K2/100 as my first choice and if I didn't have the time or inclination to build one, I would go to the list of builders on the Elecraft web site. The K2 had about 1500 Q's in a little over a week at V4 and a couple hundred in ARRL DX contest. I have used FT 1000D's and MP's and IMHO the K2 is very comparable - you may want the internal DSP or a Timewave (or equivilent). I would never put the Jupiter in the same class with the 1000 - I don't think it would measure up to the K2 or the FT 1000. I did take my IC 706MKIIG to FP on one trip and will never do that again - the 706 is a fine mobile radio, but that's it. Again my opinion! 73 Hank K8DD ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 13:50:50 -0700 From: "Damon S Raphael MD \(W7MD\)" To: , "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Subject: [165680] Re: If you had the money for a new rig... Message-ID: <003101c3de04$c7045050$6401a8c0@virgo> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I would take the "2 knob radio". That is why most contest type DXers use FT1000 and MPs. My main radio is an MP. I also have a Icom706 Mark2G which I don't like on CW. I have a TS-850SAT which I use mainly for CW. It is a superb CW radio when equipped the the proper filters. You can do digital modes with it but I have had some problems with accessing the full features of of Writelog and the W5XD keyer with the TS-850. A have my K2 which is a superb CW radio. I have not added the RS232 mod so mine is not set up for digital modes. I havn't played with the 100 watt K2 so I can't comment on it. For sure, the K2 is superb in CW. I would go for the 1000MP Field given the choice between that and the Jupiter. That is not to criticize the Jupiter which is said to be an excellent radio. The key click issues with FT1000 type radios can be cured by modification; but that would be an added expense. Frankly, I would not buy a NEW radio at this juncture. The Orion appears to be addressing some of the problems that amateur receivers have; but it is still a work in progress. It will probably force the other companies to pay attention to clickless keying and explore the use of roofing filters. Hopefully, 2 to 3 years down the line, we will see all the manufacturers jumping on the bandwagon. 73 Damon, W7MD ----- Original Message ----- From: "Brad Hedges" To: "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2004 9:20 AM Subject: If you had the money for a new rig... > Let's pretend you were getting a large-ish tax refund and were going to buy > a new radio. The XYL won't quite go for an Orion, but under $2,000 was > doable... > > Your intended use was 90% CW and 10%SSB/Digital modes > Casual contesting and as much DXing as reasonably available, including > trying for all those DXpeditions. > You had pretty much narrowed it down to a Yaesu FT-1000MP Mk V Field at > $1720, or a TenTec Jupiter (w/integral LDG tuner) at $1600. > > I know the CW is better from the Jupiter, but there is "a mod" for improved > keying from the Field, and the Yaesu has a much larger "sex appeal" factor. > NOT the best reason to buy a rig, but it's there, none the less. > > I apologize for the bandwidth - I know it's not QRP, but *I* QRP, > therefor.... > > Before you say "K2", I was leaning strongly that direction, especially given > the recent ARRL test release, but just don't feel like building another rig > right now, and I like the notch/PBT/misc other features available in the > larger rigs, along with the warranty. > > Thanks in advance, > > Brad > K0BHC > > ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 15:07:57 -0600 From: "rattray" To: "'Jim Kjar'" , "'Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion'" Subject: [165681] RE: 30 meter beacon Message-ID: <000001c3de07$28e9e3a0$7900a8c0@Bonnie> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Been monitoring for a few hours and nothing at DO70, Regina, SK ...once in awhile I hear a weak carrier for a few seconds and sometimes a weak digital mode just below 10.146 - 72 - Bruce ve5rc/ve5qrp ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 16:41:10 EST From: W0rw@aol.com To: hfpack@yahoogroups.com, qrp-l@lehigh.edu Subject: [165682] KX1 Battery Switch Mod Message-ID: <75.20cdd8a7.2d3c5776@aol.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Here is a completely unauthorized KX1 battery modification. The current design "and's" the internal battery and external battery source together using 2 diodes. Whenever your external battery voltage goes below the internal battery voltage, the internal batteries will start draining. i left my KX1 on for a few days and after i ran down the external battery the internal batteries took over and became slightly discharged. These were the expensive Lithium "AA" Primary batteries (L91's). i wanted to save the use of these Li batteries for special uses (like Pedestrian Mobiling). Here is the Mod: The DC Power connector has an unused (normally closed) switch. This modification will use that switch so that when an external power source is used the internal batteries will be disconnected, and conversely when the DC power plug is removed the internal batteries will be reconnected. Open the unit on an ESD grounded work station. Separate the battery compartment by pulling the battery connector (J1) out. Cut the 2 traces that ground P1-2 "-" (getting scary now)...Top Side.. Now add an insulated jumper wire from P1-2 "-" to the side contact of J1 (J1 is the power connector), The unused switch contact is soldered to an isolated pad just the left of the marking 'Z2'... Thats it.... Now you can protect those internal batteries. One other thing that you can do is to set the LED Display Control to "INF" then the LED will act as a pilot light. 72 de w0rw Paul ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 15:48:12 -0600 From: "Dave Redfearn" To: "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion \(E-mail\)" Subject: [165683] FS: SWL DSW-II 20 Meter transceiver - built Message-ID: <000e01c3de0c$c5a45180$016fa8c0@Pavillion> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit For Sale: Small Wonders Labs DSW-II 20 Meter transceiver. built from the kit, everything works fine, in excellent condition, ready to hook-up and operate. includes a copy of the manual. $175.00 shipped to the lower 48, USA or swap for a 40 meter version...... 73 - Dave =================================================== Dave Redfearn, ARS N4ELM, McKinney, TX Email: n4elm@NOJUNKcomcast.net (to reply, remove NOJUNK) QRL? de N4ELM/qrp ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 17:15:27 -0500 From: Steven Weber To: qrp-l@lehigh.edu Subject: [165684] If I had the money... Message-ID: <3.0.6.32.20040118171527.007bc590@mailhost.ncia.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" I've never owned, nor even operated a "high end" rig. Is it really worth spending the big bucks for a high end rig, or do you just end up with a whole lot of bells and whisles and more knobs and buttons than you can possibly remeber what they all do? And are these rigs really any good on CW, a mode which often seems to be added as an after thought? 72, Steve, KD1JV "Melt Solder" White Mountains of New Hampshire http://www.qsl.net/kd1jv/ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 15:20:29 -0700 (MST) From: Karl Larsen To: qrp-l@lehigh.edu Subject: [165685] End fed 80 meter wires Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII I'm afraid that end feeding anything winds up with an old L antenna. I tried to introduce a tuned 450 ohm feeder to an end fed antenna and failed. When I checked for feedline radiation I discovered the FEEDLINE was part of the RADIATOR! When you bring the radiator to your tuner you get RF in the hamshack problems. And the radiating feedline causes odd problems with your pattern. That's why about 1925 Hams experimented with "feedlines". This device gets power from your transmitter to your antenna with a minimum of loss and no radiation. Experiance has shown that feeding a 1/2 wave dipole can be done best at the center of it. A high impedance balanced feedline can sustain a very high SWR and remain a low loss feedline. That is why so many wire antenna's are fed with 450 ohm ribbon, and a single dipole can be used on many bands. And there is never any problem of RF in the Hamshack. -- - Karl Larsen k5di Las Cruces,NM Az ScQRPions - ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 16:20:47 -0600 (CST) From: Dale Botkin To: "Paul J Mackanos, Jr." Cc: QRP list Subject: [165686] Re: To go with your ScQRPion paddles... Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII On Sun, 18 Jan 2004, Paul J Mackanos, Jr. wrote: > Dale, this sounds interesting, but I went to your web address and got > a blank page. > Anyone else have this problem ?? > 72 de Paul Whatever it was must have been transient. I see you did find the site -- and thanks, by the way. *** WARNING: Lenghty ramble follows. *** And Paul didn't ask, but I figure this might be a good time for a word of clarification. I know I'm not someone you have all been hearing about for years, like some of the very distinguished QRP-L members. I admire those guys, because some of them are a lot smarter than me. I don't think I've ever actually met anyone on the list in person, which is one of the tradeoffs for the rich blessings of living in Omaha, where everyone would live if they only could. 8-) I'm not running a big business or anything; this is just my more or less self-supporting hobby. I *have* run a businss in the past, and don't have any intention of doing that full time again. The web site may look a little like a commercial site, but it's (almost) accidental. A couple of years ago my ISP started blocking all incoming Web traffic, meaning I couldn't run my personal web server any more. I had to find another place to park my web pages, as well as my kids' and I didn't want to give up the domain I'd had for years (botkin.org). I happened to stumble across Page Zone as the cheapest web hosting provider. They just happen to be really, really good in addition to being cheap. The OSCommerce shopping cart software that you see at www.hamgadgets.com is free software, as is the bulletin board software at www.hamgadgets.com/forum. I registered the domain almost on a whim, since domain registrations are now down to about $15 a year AND my hosting plan allowed me to have two domains for the same price. I'm not doing this to get rich; if I were, I'd be hawking cell phones or some such nonsense. I don't need to; I make a pretty good living at my regular job (if you care, I manage the UNIX server group for a large online stock brokerage). I've been hacking away at electronics and radio since junior high, used to drag a tool kit and scope around fixing mainframe computers. No EE (or any other) degree, pretty much everything I know is self-taught and I still manage to put food on the table without having to shoot it myself. I just have what I think are some cool projects, and others seem to like them too. I sell them to fund my hobbies, and because I have put a LOT of time and effort into fixing and adding things that I personally might not really care about, but other people do. I do belive in being up front and honest with people, making sure they get what they pay for (and more, if possible), doing the best job I can, and having fun doing it. Anyway, that's who I am, for anyone who was wondering. I hope to meet some of you on the air. I don't operate as much as I hack, partly because of the deafening QRN that comes with using an indoor antenna in this neighborhood. We had a power outage yesterday; I could actually hear SIGNALS on 10.106. So rare. I fired up the 30M Rock-Mite and worked NZ0Tin MO before calling the power company. I wish they'd left the power off for a few more hours, but we did get in a really nice game of Scrabble with the kids by the light and gentle hiss of a seldom-used Coleman camp lantern. 72, Dale - n0xas -- It's a thankless job, but I've got a lot of Karma to burn off. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 21:22:20 -0600 From: Dan Harriman To: qrp-l@Lehigh.EDU Subject: [165687] Re: Mike Boatwright on DIY Channel! Message-ID: <6.0.1.1.1.20040118212047.02a7beb0@pop.sbcglobal.yahoo.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Yessir; I saw that too! I saw it the other day but only part of it. Then I was surprized to see it again today. Neat looking radios! 72, Dan Harriman Orange, Texas At 14:25 01/18/2004, you wrote: >Hey Gangue, > >I just saw our own Mike Boatwright on the DIY channel's program DIY Net >Door. He was describing Ham Radio, CW, QRP and home brewing. Close ups of >a Tuna Tin II, NOGAWatt, and some other neat stuff in Altoids boxes. > >Excellent Job Mike! > >73, > >John AA2BN ====================================================================== Proud member of QRP-ARCI # 9126; QRP-L # 431; ARS # 25; FISTS # 1572; QRPp-l # 702; 1010 Int.; FP # 555; SOC # 569; NETXQRP # 45; ARRL; ARRL-VE; AMQRP; RU-QRP # 43; MQFD # 5; grid EM30cc - If at first you don't succeed, maybe you shouldn't try sky-diving! dit dit ====================================================================== ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 22:25:44 -0000 From: "Paul J Mackanos, Jr." To: Subject: [165688] Re: To go with your ScQRPion paddles... Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Well, I sort of found the problem, seems my Zone Alarm blocks the page as a pop-up. (I do not like pop-ups).I went into the url as www.hamgadgets.com/stores and got the info I needed and ordered the keyer. Still haven't seen the main page contents, anyone know what to do to see it ? Am I missing anything ?? 72 de Paul K2DB ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 16:27:28 -0600 (CST) From: Dale Botkin To: Brad Hedges Cc: Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion Subject: [165689] Re: If you had the money for a new rig... Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII On Sun, 18 Jan 2004, Brad Hedges wrote: > Your intended use was 90% CW and 10%SSB/Digital modes Casual > contesting and as much DXing as reasonably available, including trying > for all those DXpeditions. You had pretty much narrowed it down to a > Yaesu FT-1000MP Mk V Field at $1720, or a TenTec Jupiter (w/integral > LDG tuner) at $1600. Personally, I'd probably end up with a really nice TS-930SAT or TS-940SAT, some filters, a good DSP, a PIEXX replacement CPU board, and put the other $1200 into feedline and antennas. But that's just me; I might change my mind if I got the chance to play with either of those two rigs. Which is one reason I don't play with new rigs much! 8-) 72, Dale - n0xas -- It's a thankless job, but I've got a lot of Karma to burn off. NEW PicoKeyer version with pot AND paddle control is here! Check http://www.hamgadgets.com for news. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 17:44:51 -0500 From: "Ken Evans" To: "QRP-l" Subject: [165690] If I had the money Message-ID: <001d01c3de14$af2781e0$6501a8c0@pawpaw> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi Steve, Well, my story is more around luck than money. At Dayton last year, I won the Grand Prize. An FT-1000 MP Mark IVField, FTV six meter transverter, and the matching solid state amp. The value is over $8000.00. The stuff was shipped to me in early June and I immediately put it on the air. It is a great piece of engineering. The performance on CW was very good, and the bells and whistles did a good job on both CW and SSB. Your point about remembering what everything does is valid. Too many options and too many memories challenge the brain!! I operated the prize side - by - side with my K2 and Multi Pig Plus. The options aside, all three performed on a par with each other. All of this was empirically done by ear, with no lab measurements made. I operated Field Day from home using all three. The real issue for me was that I enjoyed using the stuff I had built more than the $8000 rig. George Dobbs gave a talk at Dayton one year where he said the factory rigs "have no soul". That was my issue. As good as the FT 1000 is, it lacked soul. I just didn't get any pleasure in using it. One of my friends said, "It's like kissing your sister. She may be a knock out, but she is still your sister"!! So I have sold the prize and am back to kits and home brew. That's my experience. As they say, your mileage may vary. Ken W4DU Vice President - QRP ARCI QRPARCI #696, GQRP#5918, FP#295, ARRL - Life ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 17:47:34 -0500 From: "Michael Bower N4NMR" To: "Qrp-L" , "NoVaQRP" , "Elecraft" Subject: [165691] FS: Palm PDA + accessories Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Through my lovely wife I now have a new Palm PDA (Tungsten E). Because of this, my older PDA is available for sale. I prefer check or MO but can also take PayPal. Contact me for details. All prices include normal shipping. If you want USPS Priority mail, just add $3.00 I have the following: 1) Handspring Visor Prism PDA 2) Targus "Stowaway" Collapsible keyboard for the Handspring Visor Prism 3) Fellowes Pocket Keyboard for the Handsping Visor Prism 4) MemPlug Handspring Springboard Memory Module with 8 meg SM memory If you are interested, here are more details: 1) Handspring Visor Prism PDA This is the color screen, 8 MEG version of the Palm type PDA. Still in good working order. Comes with at least two docking cradles but might have three. Software included is the Palm OS Version 3.5. Palm includes a Personal Information Manager (address book, enhanced datebook, to-do list, memo pad, advanced calculator, world clock. But there are literally THOUSANDS of additional program available from the various websites. This PDA runs most (if not all) Palm Logger programs. (However, as configured, it will not run the control programs for the radio (I don't think). With some additional (homebrewed) hardware (connector), I think it will run some of those.) This PDA also has sound output (no mic input) and runs the Morse Code Trainer programs fb. That is, the Palm programs. The Handspring line of PDAs was developed by the same people who developed the Palm originally. But Handspring added the Springboard modules. These are add-on boards that enhance the PDA. You can add phones, MP3 players, GPS units, even medical units. Image at: www.bowerbunch.org/pda/prism.jpg Note: this is an older picture of the Prism PDA. On mine, the round buttons across the bottom are more worn. Still somewhat readable and they function just fine. (I was considering putting tiny labels on them and if the buyer wants that, I can do that.) Case is also slightly more worn than this older pictures shows. (Hey, I used this PDA everyday until I got my new one. That's how I know it so well. Served me faithfully.) Asking $80 shipped CONUS (see combo offer below) 2) Targus "Stowaway" Collapsible keyboard for the Handspring Visor Prism. This is the keyboard that opens to almost full width but folds to not much bigger than a larger PDA. Image at: www.bowermbunch.org/pda/targus.jpg Asking $15 shipped CONUS (see combo offer below) 3) Fellowes Pocket Keyboard for the Handsping Visor Prism. This is a tiny keyboard smaller than the Prism. Great for taking to a meeting or backpacking where you don't want the bulk of the Targus but think you might want a keyboard. Image at: www.bowerbunch.org/pda/fellowes.jpg (note spelling of fellowes) Asking $10 shipped CONUS (see combo offer below) 4) MemPlug Handspring Springboard Memory Module with 8 meg SM memory. This Handspring Springboard module allows you to add memory to your Prism for storing LOTS more data. I used it to store e-books that I wanted to read when I got bored in meetings. Takes a memory module up to 64 meg (that is LOTS of books and images). I'm including an 8 mem card. Image at: www.bowerbunch.org/pda/memplug.jpg Asking $20 shipped CONUS (see combo offer below) Combo offer. This equipment all works together. I've been using and it works fb. If you are interested in a package deal, I'll sell combined package for $90 shipped CONUS. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 15:53:45 -0700 From: Ken To: qrp-l@lehigh.edu Subject: [165692] mtty/fsk question Message-ID: <5.2.1.1.2.20040118154840.00ad5960@mail.commspeed.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Does anyone here use mtty with fsk, I built the circuit described in the help file and the fsk is reversed from normal with my particular transceiver, a Yaesu FT-301D. Was wondering how to add another transistor to get it correct. FSK on Tx is not affected by the reverse botton on the menu, only AFSK, so it's gonna take someway to invert the switching. Thanks in advance.. Ken - WA4MNT ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 16:16:35 -0700 From: "Thomas Kuehl" To: , "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Subject: [165693] Re: If I had the money... Message-ID: <002801c3de19$1e0a8360$120110ac@texas6oef4glwm> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Steve, As a teenage ham I didn't have the money for any decent equipment; at least what most people would consider decent. I made do and it surprises me I stuck with radio considering how miserable the stuff was. Now that I can afford equipment that is state-of-the-art, I am careful selecting it and making sure it satisfies my needs and expectations. Equipment with just enough, carefully thought out and well functioning bells and whistles can make the difference between drudgery and a pleasant operating experience. If the equipment doesn't suit your exacting needs than it needs to go to someone whom it will satisfy. I think that the equipment needs to match the task. Using transceivers with poor dynamic and filter characteristics becomes fatiguing in big time contest and DX situations, and can become down right not fun to use. But such transceivers are probably okay for casual operation, where the dynamic performance needs are not as stringent. Many of our N602 based QRP transceivers fall into this category and a very adequate for such use. This is something I haven't made public before: I bought a Ten-Tec Orion and had it delivered right after Christmas. It is the new, "cat's meow" for many operators. However, in my case, I found my K2 closely matched the Orion in both small and large signal performance. And, the K2 is a whole lot easier to use and much quicker to adjust than the Orion (my opinion). A week after owning the Orion it went up for sale on eHam. Fortunately for me, it was quickly snapped up. I am replacing it with an Omni VI+ which has a whole lot less bells and whistles, but is a great CW rig with robust dynamic performance. I've used them in the past and found it to be just right for me. Many have found a high performance radio that is really just right for them, and most will argue it is worth the bucks for many reasons. If you have the opportunity to use some high-end equipment, it can prove to be an enlightening experience. You may not be compelled to go out and buy one right off, but it may help you push the design of your next homebrew QRP transceiver to the next level. Best Regards, Thomas - AC7A (Tucson) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Steven Weber" To: "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2004 3:15 PM Subject: If I had the money... > I've never owned, nor even operated a "high end" rig. Is it really worth > spending the big bucks for a high end rig, or do you just end up with a > whole lot of bells and whisles and more knobs and buttons than you can > possibly remeber what they all do? And are these rigs really any good on > CW, a mode which often seems to be added as an after thought? > > > 72, > Steve, KD1JV > "Melt Solder" > White Mountains of New Hampshire > http://www.qsl.net/kd1jv/ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 17:15:59 -0600 From: "Dave Redfearn" To: "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion \(E-mail\)" Subject: [165694] FS: Ten-Tec Century 21 - fixer upper Message-ID: <001101c3de19$0987f6c0$016fa8c0@Pavillion> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit For Sale: Ten-Tec Century 21 HF rig. Covers 80, 40, 20, & 15 Meters CW transmit & receive Has direct conversion receiver - can receive CW, SSB, & AM. With RIT and CW audio filters, QSK on transmit. Built-in AC power supply. Good cosmetic condition, looks all original except for 4 screws on the bottom case. Some scratches on the case covers. The PTO is a little stiff but no slippage across the tuning range. Photocopy of manual included. The radio was sold to me as having a problem of "going into transmit whenever powered on". However, that problem has not appeared, instead it appears that there is a problem in the final amplifier module. By-passing the final amp module, the low level driver module supplies about 1/2 watt on all bands. With the final amp module inline, the output is less than 1/4 watt on all bands. The AC supply's DC voltage looks good and the receiver works fine. I am scheduled for a lot of business travel and will not be able to work on this in the immediate future. This may be a good restoration or project rig for someone with time to work on it.. Asking $125.00 + shipping from 75070 73 - Dave =================================================== Dave Redfearn, ARS N4ELM, McKinney, TX Email: n4elm@NOJUNKcomcast.net (to reply, remove NOJUNK) QRL? de N4ELM/qrp ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 18:20:37 EST From: ARDUJENSKI@aol.com To: qrp-l@lehigh.edu Subject: [165695] Some Battery charging circuits Message-ID: <7e.45481315.2d3c6ec5@aol.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit While still looking for THE book covering battering charging (lots of RV books) I stumbled upon this site: http://www.discovercircuits.com/B/batt-chrg.htm Alan KB7MBI in Woodinville, WA FISTS 5702 / ARS / Proud member of ARRL ___ ___ . . . . . . ___ ___ DIT DIT ------------------------------ End of QRP-L Digest 3169 ************************ --------------------------------