73,
K2DSL

I helped out very early in the morning as vendors and buyers arrived. While one fellow was pulling up to pay I noticed he had some beams in the back and asked him about them. One was a nice 2 meter beam and he said $25 so I said to hold it for me and I will be by in a few to pay for it and pick it up. It turned out to be a nice 4 element Cushcraft 2m beam that looks like it goes for $80-$100 new. This one, though used, is in magnificent shape and according to the seller was used inside someone’s attic.

I browsed a bit more before heading in to help with the VE test session that was taking place. There were 6 applicants which is a lot smaller then past hamfests. 5 passed their exams made up of a new Tech, 2 new Generals and 2 new Extras. Congrats to all of them.

I then picked up an 8 pole fiberglass mast kit that goes up 30 or 40 feet and comes with a base, guy rings and a duffle bag to carry it all. I thought this would be good for testing things at home or portable operations. The whole kit was $40.

I also picked up a $10 component which is a SO-239 connector in a plastic housing with a stiff wire coming out of each side to connect to 2 ends of a wire antenna. Might use it for a loop or moxon antenna. I saw them online and was hoping to find one here to try out. I also grabbed some misc connectors and adapters to have handy.

The last item other then a taylor ham, egg and cheese sandwich was 100 feet of low loss coax to have around for use with a 2m or 6m antenna. The cable is supposed to have a <2 db loss over 100 feet.

I was looking for another pair of the metal rope grip devices I use on my G5RV to hold the ropes in place but didn’t see anyone with those. I can get them online if I need them.

The next hamfest I will likely hit is a large one in western NJ in mid July unless I go to one in Central New Jersey in mid June, but that is only if I need something. There is also another local Northern NJ hamfest in mid August which I have been away for the past 2 years that I will try to attend if I am around.

73,
K2DSL

We tested things out and it looked like there might be an issue in the area where the coax connects to the ladder line. The way the G5RV was built, there’s a sharp bend in the coax as it goes loops back through the ladder line. Folks that was probably too sharp a bend of for some reason there was too much tension on it as it blew in the wind. As we were testing continuity, between the shield and one of the ends of the antenna, they manipulated that area where the connection is and we lost the connection momentarily. So we pulled it apart trimmed a bit off of the ladderline and the coax and put it back together by soldering the connections between the coax and ladderline, using heat shrink tubing on each leg of the new connection, wrapping it further in tape, shrink tubing the pair of wires, and then with some popsicle like sticks in that area, taping it further.

The folks also suggested using some nylon rope around that by looping through some of the ladder line and going below the connection on the coax to further eleviate stress on that part. It all tested out and I brought it home. Not sure when the weather will permit me to put it back up, but I’ll get it up as soon as I can. I still have the antenna analyzer to test things out when it goes up and see how it looks.

So thanks to Kerry who sold me the antenna for all his support and to my fellow BARA members for jumping in with suggestions and support with getting it [hopefully] repaired!

K2DSL

So I call a local club member that has an antenna analyzer and he calls me back later in the day and I run over and grab it. I connect the coax and 20m looks good with a low SWR and 50 ohm impedance. Well I disconnect the coax and connect it to the radio and it won’t tune. Hmmm – now it seems it’s the radio. I disconnect the coax, connect it to the analyzer and 20m is showing  a 3+ SWR and impedance of 15-20 ohms. What the heck? I wiggle the cable/coax but all looks tight and solid. I take some more readings and note them down and send off an email to the very helpful individual I got it from 6 months ago.

After dinner, I decide to take it down and throw up my basic 20m dipole I have and it is working fine. We’ll see how this all ends in the upcoming weeks.

For a very short time after dealing with the antenna this morning and it apparently working until I realized it wasn’t, I made a few contacts during the ARRL 10m contest. Only 21 contacts but before this contest, I only had 3 10m contacts logged. It’s interesting to see who I was able to hear/contact. The screen shot snippet below of the 21 contacts makes the “openings” pretty obvious.

I’m where the cross hairs are in NJ. That line of contacts across FL looks fake, but those pins are shown based on the grid location of the operator from QRZ. Here’s a close up of just FL.

Hopefully we can get my G5RV antenna straightened out soon.

73,
K2DSL

Back in August I went to my in-laws and operated as K2DSL/4 from North Carolina for the SARTG RTTY contest. The final results are posted and I placed 55th in the Single Op Single Band 20m category. Looking back at that contest, I could only operate 2/3rds of it because I was travelling back home for one of the time slots. I also wasn’t comfortable using MMTTY yet which would help me now compared to using DM780 during a contest.  Comparing my submitted score to the final results, I submitted 106 QSOs and they show 103. I submitted 39 mults and the final results show 38.  So comparing the final score that I submitted, I went from 45,825 down to 43,320.  Still, it was my real first contest on my own and it was a lot of fun.

73,
K2DSL

I ended up over the 2 days with 158 contacts. Almost all except 8 were on 20 meters with the 8 being on 40 meters. I ended up, combined with the bands, 84 countries and 25 zones with a combined score of 46,523 points. There were 11 new DXCC entities in my logbook at the end of the contest.

I was able to make my first voice contact with Alaska after a few previous RTTY contacts so that was neat. Other then Japan and countries like China and others in that area along with Austrailia, I think I was able to make a contact with all the countries I saw spotted on the band. I could actually hear Japan fairly strong but they couldn’t hear me. It wasn’t because of a pileup either as 2 strong stations were calling CQ over and over and just not able to hear me. Oh well, maybe next time.

I used my Heil Proset 5 for the first time and it worked extremely well. Even though it is light, it does make your neck a bit tired and your ears a bit sore, but taking just a min break every once in a while helps. So it was a good purchase to add to my equipment. I didn’t use the new voice keyer I purchased yet. I’ll save that for a rainy day.

There seemed to be a fair amount of activity on 15 meters but I couldn’t tune up the G5RV antenna with the Kenwood TS-2000 to put out a full 100 watts. I’d guess an external antenna tuner might do better then the internal tuner or of course a more appropriate 15m antenna would work. I’ll ponder what to do about that one.

When a new entity popped up on the band, if you weren’t quick enough, a big pileup started. For me, the most effective way is to either wait until there’s a pause after most stations put out their call and before the CQing op came back, or to just come back later. I think in almost all cases, I was able to make the contact.

I also noticed there’s a much less percentage of SSB folks which are using LOTW then RTTY folks. Within a day or two of a RTTY contest, a significant number of operators have uploaded their logs. Comparing that to this SSB contest almost a week later only 19 of the 158 contacts are confirmed on LOTW. I really wish folks used that more. I know I’d have DXCC confirmed since I have around 112 DXCC entities contacted in my log book.

So that’s my summary of my first CQ WW SSB contest. All fun!

73,
K2DSL

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

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

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

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

73s K2DSL

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

In May, from a generous friend I borrowed an older ICOM 706 HF radio, LDG antenna tuner, Astron power supply and G5RV Junior type dipole. This was my first dip into HF and pretty exciting to hear all those far away stations. Based on how I had the G5RV Jr installed, I was never able to make contact. I subsequently purchased a True-Talk G5RV antenna and have it strung across my propery. Once that was up I was able to make contact with DX stations. Field Day was coming and I needed to return the loaner IC-706 so I placed an order (from HRO) for a Kenwood TS-2000.

Besides the TS-2000 I purchased my own an Ashtron power supply for the radio and a Diamond duplexer to split my dual band VHF/UHF vertical into the distinct VHF and UHF connections needed on the TS-2000. The TS-2000 arrived just before Field Day and I’ve been on the air with it ever since. It’s a tremendously powerful and sophisticated radio which I’m learning how to make it do what I want. I look forward to years of enjoyment and learning with the TS-2000. I have the TS-2000 connected to my notebook via a RS-232 cable and run HRD (Ham Radio Deluxe) to control it and for logging. I also use N1MM for some light contesting.