AmateurRadio.com

I haven’t been to the Ledges in Sanbornton for several years. The place is beautiful! Tim, W3ATB and I hiked up there today. We worked Macedonia, New Mexico, Germany and England.

We met at 2:00 pm and drove up Wadleigh Road. We went several miles passed the spot where the town stops maintaining the road. It’s essentially a logging road full of ruts and large rocks. Things changed since I was here last, and we took a wrong turn on a new logging road. Fortunately, a man was working with a chainsaw and a skidder, and we hiked in to talk with him. He set us straight and we backtracked, parked the car, and started hiking.

Twenty minutes later we made the final ascent through some huge boulders and tall pines. It was well worth the climb! I tossed a wire over a nearby maple tree, setup the KX3 on some rock, and started operating on 17 meters.

Vinco Z37M in Macedonia was calling CQ, and I answered him. He gave me a 559 and I was thrilled. Working half way around the world with a peanut whistle rig, while enjoying a view to die for… what could be better? I switched to 15M and answered Paul KW7D in New Mexico. Paul gave me a 579 and I promised to send him some photos of the hike. “Solid CPY 5W,” he sent. “I will look for those pics.”

Next I switched to 20 meters. DL1BUG was just finishing up a QSO and I called. Red gave me a 569 and we finished a nice exchange. I called over to Tim and told him to switch to Red’s frequency and give a call. Tim was running an HB-1B with a Par End Fedz. Tim got the QSO… and a 579 report! Better than mine… He was grinning from ear to ear.

With that Tim tuned around some more and quickly made another DX contact… this time with England. G4XRV near London gave Tim a good report and we both packed up.

I think it’s a good bet that we’ll be back when the leaves start changing color. It’s a glorious spot for ham radio.

…..the summer of 2014 that is. Boy it has been hot lately. Last Monday we had a record for September: over 38 degrees Celsius and my own weather station peaked at 39.0 degrees. And the end is still not in sight. Tropical storm Fung-Wong will bring some much needed rain this weekend and with it somewhat lower temperatures. But after that it is back to spending day after day with sweat soaked clothes stuck to your body. With the shack on the top floor and without airco it is now oozing heat, even at night. And I so long for heating up my iron and getting ready for winter DX fun on the lower bands. Patience is a virtue and I need lots of it. 73 and stay cool.

G1KQH has found some very low cost TDA2003 ICs.  I use one of these in my VLF beacon shown in my RSGB RadCom article and on my website. Best range is just short of 6km by “utilities assisted” earth-mode.  When fitter again (currently I am not allowed to drive and I am still too clumsy when on my feet and moving because of my brain bleed last year) I intend to continue my VLF experiments. I have used these ICs at 8.97kHz, twice, and sub-multiples of that frequency.  Beyond 20kHz would be outside their spec limits, but they may still work?

G3XBM 5W VLFearth-mode CW/QRSS beacon

Evening Roger,

Used in your LF PA 10p each nuts!

http://www.banggood.com/100pcs-TDA2003-10W-IC-Car-Radio-Audio-Amplifier-Integrated-Circuit-p-944202.html

Or you can buy in 10s @ 16p each inc delivery!

http://www.banggood.com/10pcs-TDA2003-10W-IC-Car-Radio-Audio-Amplifier-Integrated-Circuit-p-922620.html

Banggood sounds Chinese. I have no idea if these are genuine parts or not. They are advertised as 10W car radio audio parts.

Judy and I rode our bikes along the Pemigewasset River in Old Hill. I stopped on a knoll overlooking the river for 15 minutes and worked Belgium, Moldova, W1AW/4 in NC and Germany.

The day was fine, but a bit cool and breezy. It definitely feels like fall is approaching. Every now and then the scent of wild apples would fill our nostrils as we peddled along. Yellow leaves lay on the path. Wild asters dotted the lane way.

On the knoll I tossed my line over a pine branch and hooked up the KX3. I started out on 17 meters. Right away I worked Pat ON7PQ in Belgium. He was 599 and gave me a 569. Then… another quick contact with
Moldova… ER3MM, Victor. He gave me a 449.

Then I switched to 20 meters and heard W1AW/4 in North Carolina booming in. I made the contact easily.

I switched to 15 meters for one more QSO. Hans DL8MCG was calling CQ and I answered him. I wasn’t strong… barely 539, but we had a nice chat. “UR FB with 5W,” he sent when I told him I was QRP. Hans was running 500 watts to a vertical.

I packed up and joined Judy who was knitting in the sun farther down the lane.

The crickets are singing a new song now. It’s the song of cooler days and the coming of winter.

And the winner of 500 free full-color QSL cards is…

Peter VK6IS
Australia

Congratulations to Peter and thank you to everyone who entered. Keep a lookout for more great giveaways! As always, thank you to KB3IFH QSL Cards for generously sponsoring this contest. Don’t forget to check out Randy’s website the next time you need new QSL cards!

73 Matt W1MST

FEMA Director Craig Fugate, KK4INZ, debunks the argument that Amateur Radio is no longer relevant in our hyper-connected smartphone, tablet, satellite phone, networked radio system world:

“If you really want to short-circuit your local or state emergency manager who says that Amateur Radio isn’t really viable anymore… ask them this,” said Fugate. “Can you communicate across your jurisdiction or across your state without touching the public switched network?”