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TX Factor – Episode 5 is Live
September 24th, 2014 | 
Author: 
Silcoates School ARC
In this episode Bob McCreadie reports from the recent AMSAT-UK Colloquium, and finds time to test out the SuperAntenna Superstick delux package. Nick Bennett travels north and discovers a rather remarkable radio club. And we reveal the winner of our first free-to-enter competition.
See the new episode at www.txfactor.co.uk
We hope you enjoy the show!
TX Factor Team
Hiking with the MFJ Cub – DX with 2 Watts
Today I took a step back 15 years and went for a hike with an old MFJ Cub and a plain dipole. I worked Wales and Wisconsin with only 2 watts.
I hiked up to the cabin at Knox Mountain and had a beautiful afternoon.
As I approached the pond I found a small patch of mountain gentians near the old dam. The pond was beautiful in the afternoon sunlight.
An old cabin overlooks the pond. I set up my gear just on the other side of the front porch under the wild cherry tree.
I tossed a line over a high branch and pulled up a half wave dipole fed with RG-174. I hung a water bottle from the low end. This way I could use the dipole as a vertical.
I plugged the dipole into the 20 meter MFJ Cub without a tuner. I searched around for a while and soon heard GW0FZY from Wales calling CQ. Justin had a strong signal and was kind enough to answer me. He gave me a 569. There was some QSB earlier on, but toward the end of the QSO he sent, “Solid Jim… FB on UR hike.” It was an absolute pleasure to work Justin all the way across the ocean!
The little Cub performed well… I think I built it nearly 15 years ago from a kit. I used to hike with it all the time.
Next I answered Ron W9UW in Wisconsin. Ron was very gracious and sent, “UR doing a great job there with 2W.” Ron also gave me a 569.
I packed up the gear for the downhill journey. I took one last photo of the pond.
As I left the blue jays sent 73 with their “Dee Dee Dee” calls. Along the trail, I treasured each moment. As I noticed the change in color, I realized our days are numbered before the woods turn gray.
It ended…..
…..the long spell without rain that is. We had over a 100 mm during the last 24 hours in Longtan, but the south of Taiwan was worse off with some serious flooding. The temperature has dropped to a cool 22 degrees Celsius, but the forecast tells us that it will be back up to 35 degrees in no time and it will stay that way for the next week.
Despite it being hot and muggy I did spend some time in the shack on Sunday. Tried to fix the fan in the radiation shield of my weather station, but then my digital multi-meter refused to cooperate. Put the fan aside and spend an hour searching for the problem, but without a second DMM it is kind of difficult. I’ve had this DMM for the last 20 years and it was a gift from my father. It gave me a lot of joy during that time, but there is an end to everything so I am not too sentimental about retiring it. Besides, 20 year old technology is rather dated.
But what to buy as a replacement? The market is flooded with Chinese equipment delivered directly to your door. I am not a professional and only use a DMM for basic measurements and one of those Chinese ones should be good enough for me. On the other hand a nice Fluke would make my future measurements look a bit more professional. So I turned to the internet and the EEVblog website for some advice. Dave has made a buyers guide special on digital multimeters and it is both fun and entertaining to watch. Funny to see my 20 year old instrument in a slightly updated version passing by, but Dave makes pretty convincing points to not buy a similar model again with safety (actually lack of) as the main point. So go for quality and higher specs, but do I really need accuracy better than 0.5% and true RMS measurements? Probably not. But maybe once I get more options or better readings I find that they are really handy and then why have I waited so long in getting them?
Usually I try to find the best value for money. By searching RS and our local eBay site I narrowed down my list to the Agilent U1232A and the Fluke 115, because they are brand names and come out great in tests without being shabby on features. I also looked at lesser known and Taiwanese brands but funnily enough Taiwanese brands like Brymen are hard to get here Taiwan. Chinese brands, on the other hand, are not and one brand stood out a bit, namely Uni-T. Martin Lorton had very indept review of the Uni-T 61E on YouTube and I guess I will go with one of those. They are not the latest greatest, not the fastest, but they seem well build, accurate, safe and only a third of the price of a Fluke 115. A Sunday afternoon well spent and another problem solved.
SKCC StraightKey Splendor
I was reminded this week of all the fun that the Straight Key Century Club (SKCC) guys are having when receiving a nice e-mail from Bill, W0EJ:
Steve,
Since 2006, this 12,000 strong group of CW diehards have been doing their best to promote the magnificence of the mechanical key in everyday operation. With monthly operating events, awards, Elmering and an online sked page, there are plenty of fun activities for both newcomers and old hands to enjoy what was once the only way to send CW.
I can well recall tuning the CW bands as a newly-licenced teen in the mid 60's. Electronic keyers were just beginning to show up but the vast majority of amateurs still "pounded brass" with a straight key or with some type of bug. I held out for about two years before I parked my straight key and spent my Saturday job money on a brand new Vibroplex original, which I still use from time to time.
Getting back to Bill's mail....I was more than happy to grant permission to use the photograph of my little 6L6 Tri-Tet-Ten that I have had so much fun with over the past few winters on 10m CW during the peak of Cycle 24. I think their new 1000 Miles-Per -Watt award looks just great.....
....and here is what you need to do to earn one for your wall:
SKCC Introduces 1000 MPW Award
The SKCC is rolling out a 1,000 Miles per Watt Award, established to recognize the achievement of contacting another SKCC member using QRP power limits over longer distances.
A QSO must meet the qualifications of (Distance of QSO) / (Power Output in Watts) = 1,000 miles or more. Only the station applying for the award must operate at QRP levels. QSOs made on or after Sept. 1, 2014, are eligible.
For full details, see the award's main page.
Please check out the SKCC's homepage and consider signing-up...or drop by the K3UK SKCC Sked Page and get in on the fun....but, be sure to leave your keyer unplugged and enjoy some straight-key splendor!
G3TFX visit
Just before lunch, Richard G3TFX called in on his bike. He was on the way to his granddaughter’s birthday party in the village.
This is a photo of us in my shack. Richard is on the left. He is a regular visitor.
It was Richard’s alertness that probably saved my life a year ago. I shall always owe him a debt of gratitude. Richard has recently returned to the hobby. He is usually on 40m SSB, but is fighting a very high noise level on RX. Already he has worked some impressive DX.
More low cost parts (via G1KQH)
Once again, I have no knowledge of this supplier or if the goods are genuine, or “ripped off”, but the prices are very good. My thanks to Steve G1KQH once again.
Other valuable finds which may prove useful to constructors or groups:5V 100mA regulators per 100 ( I had some of these).Mixed Zeners pack:1N4148sPrecision Ref board (ideal for checking Cal of your DMM) could be used for stable VXO supply:If you put the word “Transistor” in the search on Banggood quite a variety of well known general purpose come up at good prices..Orders seem to take about 7 to 10 days to the UK
