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Weekly Propagation Summary – 2018 Apr 02 16:10 UTC

2 April 2018 | by Tomas NW7US | Leave a Comment (0)

Here is this week’s space weather and geophysical report, issued 2018 Apr 02 0443 UTC.

Highlights of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 26 March – 01 April 2018

Solar activity was mostly at very low levels with the exception of 30 Mar when an isolated C4/Sf flare was observed at 30/0804 UTC from Region 2703 (S08, L=193, class/area Axx/010 on 31 Mar). Associated with the flare was a Type II radio sweep (805 km/s) and a coronal mass ejection (CME) off the east limb first observed at 30/0840 UTC in SOHO/LASCO C2 imagery. No Earth-directed CMEs were observed during the period.

No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit reached high levels throughout the period with a maximum flux of 43,750 pfu observed at 28/2045 UTC.

Geomagnetic field activity began the period under continued effects from a negative polarity coronal hole high speed stream (CH HSS). Solar wind speed ranged from approximately 450-550 km/s on 26-27 Mar with total field between 2-8 nT. By 28-29 Mar, solar wind speeds slowly returned to nominal levels while a solar sector boundary crossing was observed around 29/0710 UTC into a positive sector. Solar wind speed showed a slight increase in speed to 380-480 km/s from 30 Mar-01 Apr with total field variable between 2-9 nT suggesting possible intermittent connections with a northern polar extension positive polarity CH HSS. The geomagnetic field was mostly quiet with periods of unsettled activity observed on 26-27 Mar and again on 31 Mar.

Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 02 April – 28 April 2018

Solar activity is expected to be at very low levels with a slight chance for a C-class flare from 02-10 Apr due to potential further activity from Region 2703. Very low levels are expected through the rest of the period.

No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at moderate to high levels on 02-04 and 12-28 Apr due to CH HSS influence.

Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be at unsettled to active levels on 05-07, 10-16, 18-23 Apr with G1 (Minor) storm levels likely on 12 Apr due to recurrent CH HSS activity.

Don’t forget to visit our live space weather and radio propagation web site, at: http://SunSpotWatch.com/

Live Aurora mapping is at http://aurora.sunspotwatch.com/

If you are on Twitter, please follow these two users: 1. https://Twitter.com/NW7US 2. https://Twitter.com/hfradiospacewx

Check out the stunning view of our Sun in action, as seen during the last five years with the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXN-MdoGM9g

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The Spectrum Monitor — April, 2018

2 April 2018 | by Ken KS4ZR | Leave a Comment (0)

Stories you’ll find in our April, 2018 issue:

TSM Reviews: Icom IC-7610
By Mark Haverstock K8MSH

At Hamvention 2017, we got our first official peek at the IC-7610. It was billed as the next big thing in amateur radio transceivers, containing a more advanced set of features than the IC-7300. And, it’s loaded: An Ethernet port to run the radio remotely; an onboard RS-BA1 server means no PC or software is required; left and right speaker outputs; USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports; built-in RTTY/PSK on-screen decoder and encoder; TX memory means you can do basic QSO or contest operations without using an external device or software. And that’s just to start! Mark puts this rig through its paces.

‘De-Frankensteining’ Electricity: Life and Work of Michael Faraday and Joseph Henry
By Georg Wiessala

There are significant parallels between the lives and careers of Michael Faraday and Joseph Henry: They lived in times when gases and electricity fascinated people and were among the first to work by scientific method, through controlled experiments and experimental science. More generally, both researchers were born in poverty and seriously troubling family backgrounds. Both were apprenticed at a young age, both became eminent scientists and outstanding science communicators, educators and lecturers. Georg examines the lives of these two giants of electricity.

Facing the Challenge of Making Ends Meet at Nonprofit Radio Stations
By Richard Fisher KI6SN

The world of Low Power FM (LPFM) radio is a far cry from the well-heeled world of their distant cousins—powerful noncommercial radio stations in big cities. Instead of feasting on highly organized quarterly fundraisers that can bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars, LPFMs can often be heard pleading for day-to-day funds to fix air conditioners, CD players, even transmitters. Richard looks into this seldom reported part of American radio.

Yaesu FTM-3207DR
By Cory GB Sickles WA3UVV

While prototypes of the FTM-3207 were shown at the Dayton Hamvention in 2017, it was not until nearly the end of the year that the radios started shipping. This happened for several reasons – not the least of which was the reveal of System Fusion II – with new features, a new repeater and upgraded firmware for existing radios. Understandably, upgrading and enhancing the “System” part of System Fusion took precedence over the release of a new radio. The upside is that when the FTM-3207 was released, it had some unexpected and welcome new features making it fully System Fusion II- ready and then some. Cory takes a look at the Yaesu FTM-3207 and speculates on the future of Digital Voice on the VHF/UHF amateur bands.

Channel Master’s New Over-the-Air TV Tuner/DVR with Interactive On-Screen Guide
By Ken Reitz KS4ZR

The landscape has been ripe for a digital OTA-TV tuner with recording capabilities and interactive guide. Channel Master has previously released similar products, which we have reviewed in years past, but in order to compete with TiVo or an Over-the-Top (OTT) device such as Roku and deliver a more cable/satellite-type viewing experience, Internet connectivity would be required. That brought the company to launch its latest effort in March—the CM-7600 Stream+ Media Player, an OTA-TV/Internet set-top box. We take a look at how this new Channel Master product works today.

Scanning America
By Dan Veeneman
DeKalb County, Illinois and New Additions to P-25 Phase II

Federal Wavelengths
By Chris Parris
Software Defined Radio and Federal Monitoring

Milcom
By Larry Van Horn N5FPW
225-400 MHz Military Aircraft Band Overview

Utility Planet
By Hugh Stegman NV6H
Whew! (Busy Month on the Radio)

Shortwave Utility Logs
Compiled by Hugh Stegman and Mike Chace-Ortiz

VHF and Above
By Joe Lynch N6CL
The Lyrids Meteor Shower

Digitally Speaking
By Cory Sickles WA3UVV
Analog FM – Half Off

Amateur Radio Insights
By Kirk Kleinschmidt NT0Z
You Can’t Keep a Good Antenna Down

Radio 101
By Ken Reitz KS4ZR
Baseball on the Radio 2018

Radio Propagation
By Tomas Hood NW7US
How to Beat the Low Sunspot Numbers

The World of Shortwave Listening
By Rob Wagner VK3BVD
A Little Knowledge of Propagation Can Really Help!

The Shortwave Listener
By Fred Waterer
Blues on Shortwave; BBC Programming for April

Maritime Monitoring
By Ron Walsh VE3GO
Radio Active Spring

The Longwave Zone
By Kevin O’Hern Carey WB2QMY
PIM/272 is Back (Sort of)!

Adventures in Radio Restorations
By Rich Post KB8TAD
Hallicrafters S-85: Another Scarce Model

Antenna Connections
By Dan Farber AC0LW
Move Toward the Light: Antennas Above 144 MHz, Part One

The Spectrum Monitor is available in PDF format which can be read on any desktop, laptop, iPad®, Kindle® Fire, or other device capable of opening a PDF file. Annual subscription is $24. Individual monthly issues are available for $3 each.

Ken Reitz, KS4ZR, is publisher and managing editor of The Spectrum Monitor. Contact him at [email protected].

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SOTA tools

2 April 2018 | by Alex G7KSE | Leave a Comment (0)

You don’t have to look very hard to find a few threads telling you which piece of radio kit you ‘need’ to take on a SOTA activation. There are fewer that give you a bit of advice about planning your trip. This is one of those, a short look at the tools I use to take to the fells (for the uninitiated a fell is a hill in Cumbria or the Lake District).

The lakes are a great place to SOTA, there are 55 summits to choose from and nearly all of them have well understood routes to the summit. Alfred Wainwrights 7 volume ‘Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells‘ gives you a great reference point for the SOTA’s as well as all the fells (214 in total). But they aren’t ‘proper maps’ they are guides. They do however have a few benefits they describe the routes brilliantly. So what else can you use.

In my mind there is only one map. The ordinance survey map used almost exclusively by everyone. There are a few exceptions to the rule as always but this is all about me right! These are great tools, but dsometimes you don’t need a full map. So another tool that uses just parts of these maps is an online tool called bikehike. It is an amalgamation of several map types one of which is Google maps and another is the OS map. Below is an example of a route I did the other day that took in Dub’s Hut bothy and High Stile.

Pretty handy really. Its a click and click again type mapping tool that gives you elevation data and distance. What it doesn’t tell you is how long it’s going to take. Bring in Naismiths rule. The rule that states ‘Allow one hour for every 3 miles (5 km) forward, plus an additional hour for every 2,000 feet (600 m) of ascent’. This is good to know. So for example this route had around 2850ft of climbing so fire up the calculator (or use an online tool such as Trails NH) and that tells me that it should take around 4hrs 45mins. So in this case how long did it really take? well it wasn’t too far off the mark. The last bit from High Stile to Gatesgarth was a bit of a slow slog because of the state of the path. This brings me onto the last point – Not all path are paths!

Just because its on the map doesn’t mean its on the fell. Even if it is there are endless sheep tracks to confuse you and tiring boulder fields that intersect the paths. If you’re not too fit then stick to the Wainwright guides otherwise feel free to follow the other routes some are very direct and very strenuous as well as good fun but know what you’re getting yourself into.

When I said last point I really meant it. But I can’t talk about getting outdoors without mentioning the GPS, I will breifly. Love them or hate them I always go out with one….my phone (complete with Back Country Navigator). Mainly because it has OS maps but also because it ‘does’ APRS via APRSDroid. A very handy spotting tool. Having said that the Mk 1 eyeball beats them all. If it doesn’t look sensible it probably isn’t.

Enjoy the fells and don’t forget to plan

Alex Hill, G7KSE, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cumbria, UK. Contact him at [email protected].

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Short Demonstration of Using Ham Radio Deluxe with WSJT-X and FT8 Digital Mode

1 April 2018 | by Tomas NW7US | Leave a Comment (0)

Ham Radio Deluxe can log your WSJT-X FT8, JT65A, and JT9 QSOs, via the JT-Alert software. This is a demonstration of my use of HRD and Logbook, during an FT8 QSO,today.

As some of you know, I have had some differences of opinion regarding the selection of frequencies chosen by the FT8 creators and advocates. Regardless, I do still use the mode. Here is proof:

Go ahead and share, if you would. And, please subscribe to my YouTube channel, as I will be creating many how-to videos in the near future.

Thanks and 73 … de NW7US

Visit, subscribe: NW7US Radio Communications and Propagation YouTube Channel

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Metering High Voltage on the cheap

1 April 2018 | by Richard AA4OO | Leave a Comment (0)

🗲 Heathkit VTM model IM-11 🗲

I recently got a taste for restoring and using vintage vacuum tube radio equipment. Using equipment that requires 800+ volts for making QRP transmissions is counter-intuitive to the spirit of QRP ham radio, but it's part of my journey as a ham, so I'm writing about it. Bear with me. Once I receive a near fatal shock I'm sure I'll move back to 12v powered equipment again.

Until then...

One of the first issues I ran into while testing the power supplies I restored for my vintage gear was how to measure voltages beyond the range of my digital multi-meter. Most consumer grade digital multi-meters (DMMs) can only measure up to 500 volts then display an error, or stop working altogether. Previously, I was able to measure voltages over 500V by making a voltage divider out of two 100k 1w resistors and taking my measurement from the middle of the two resistors, but it was precarious in use and added even more danger when working with this old equipment.

I'd looked at getting a DMM capable of measuring high voltage, but the recommended ones, like a Tenma 72-1055 Benchtop Digital Multimeter, start around $100. Used Fluke meters are even pricier. I'm sure buying a more professional DMM would be a wise investment. As I've evidenced many times; wisdom is omitted from my DNA.

So what did hams of yesteryear use?

Behold... Vacuum Tube Volt Meter

Vacuum Tube Volt Meter

This Heathkit VTVM model IM-11 was available at my local Hamfest (Rarsfest) for 5 dollars.

Debugging

Five dollars is not a princely sum, but as with most things purchased from a hamfest, it required some attention.

The 55 year old 16uFd@150V paper, electrolytic power filter capacitor was likely a ticking time bomb so I replaced it with a modern capacitor for safety concerns. The closest one I had was a 33uFd@160V radial electrolytic. I don't think double the capacitance will be a problem for a filter capacitor, it will just make the transformer work a little harder when it's first turned on. I calculated the initial charge time and it's 393ms vs 190ms for the original cap. I think the 10k resistor and transformer can handle the extra 200ms heavy load on power up.

A few wires inside the meter had come loose from some very sparse solder points and a one intermittent connection in the range switch was especially troublesome to track down.
The biggest mystery to solve was oversensitive resistance readings in the Ohms mode. I replaced the C-cell battery in the battery cup and while I had it out I glanced at the + connection for the battery in the cup. I appeared to have oxidized at some point in the past and was discolored. I scraped it off until I saw shiny bits and thought all was good. I spent more time tracing the circuit and thought I had a problem with the switch itself or the 9x resistors in the range circuit, as suggested in the troubleshooting section of the manual. The problem turned out to be that oxidized bolt head that formed the positive battery connection in the battery cup. Scraping it had not provided electrical contact. In fact, when I removed the bolt (after having to disassemble the circuit board from the meter for the 2nd time), I filed down the head of the bolt and could find no conductive metal left. I'm guessing that a former leaky battery had converted the entire head of the bolt to a very hard, yet non-conductive material. I've never seen anything like it before and it proved to be a useful lesson.
I had to find a replacement bolt and that lead to working on my lawn mower and then mowing the yard... not sure how that progression occurred... Eventually I got the new bolt in the cup, the circuit board re-installed. Ohms tested accurately, put it all back together and noticed the #50 pilot lamp had stopped working (sigh). I removed the innards from the case one more time and got the pilot bulb settled (I think it's required to balance the filament circuit). While I had it apart for the umpteenth time, I decided to reconnect the 1/4" plug that a former owner had disconnected while keeping their original modification allowing 1 mega-ohm to be switched in for the outermost probe when DC functions are selected but switched out when AC or Ohm functions are chosen. I wanted to allow use of an original VTVM probe used in the 1/4" plug with its built-in 1 mega-ohm resistor.

Whew!

All-in-all, I probably spent 8 hours getting all the functions on my $5.00 meter to work, replacing old parts, undoing mods and aligning it for proper DC and AC readings. It's a good thing I don't count my time in the cost of these projects, otherwise I could have purchased a couple Fluke meters for the cost of my time.

What's the fun in buying something that works right the first time when you get it home, huh? Are we hams, capable of solving problems, or appliance users? Actually, it would have been nice if it worked without new parts and repairs, but I digress.

Back to the story

This meter can measure up to 1500 Volts 🗲

The main reason I purchased this is to measure the high voltage in my tube equipment power supplies and 1500 VDC should just about cover it.

Although this meter uses a C-cell battery for measuring resistance, it runs off service mains to power the tubes which control the meter circuitry, so it must be plugged in to be used.

I love the look of its old "Gran Tran" power transformer inside the VTVM. They just don't make'em like they used to.

Wiring, lots of wiring

This model was made by Heathkit, from 1961 through 1968, and used typical point to point wiring of the time, making circuit tracing loads of fun.

Point to point wiring makes for interesting circuit tracing

Shiver me timbers, it's got decks

Fun fact: When reading the schematic it will refer to "decks". A "deck" is a wafer section. When there are stacked sections as there are in the function and range controls the "front deck" is the one closest to the knob (front of the case) and the "rear deck" is the one furthest away, or in the case of working on it, the one closest to you. When there are more than two decks, as is the case with the range control, it will refer to the "second deck". As you'll likely guess by now, that is the second "deck" or wafer disc from the front of the instrument.

It also refers to "front half" and "rear half". The "half" is referring to a side of the deck, so in the case of "front half" it refers to the side of a particular deck facing the front of the instrument, while the "rear half" is the side of a deck facing back (or toward you).

Clever voltage divider circuitry, what could possibly go wrong in this triple stack of wafer switches?

The left knob controls on/off and meter functions while the right knob controls the rather elegant voltage divider.

A knob for every function and a function for every knob. NOTE: do not plug your headphones into the 1/4" jack on the front unless you want to experiment with personal electro-shock therapy. Better, yet, don't plug your headphones in there.

Not clearly shown in this photo, voltage divisions up to 1500 volts supported

"...Weighed in the scales and found wanting"

Ok, how many of you understand that completely unrelated biblical reference?

I haven't used a meter like this since I used to plan my VFR flights using an E6B. My modern, digital multi-meter is fairly idiot proof in terms of reading the results. My DMM auto-ranges and displays the correct unit of measure along with the reading on its display. It works well for a dummy like me.

A VTVM on the other hand, has a number of scales that must be interpreted based on whether you are reading DC, AC or Ohms. Additionally, you have to pay attention to the range chosen.

Choose a reading... any reading, just use the correct scale
Note: the needle isn't at zero in this photo because I had just plugged it in before taking the picture and the tubes hadn't warmed up. Ah, the joys of vacuum tube powered equipment

The voltage markings for the range switch refer to the full scale reading. Resistance is the top scale, but let's ignore that because we're talking about measuring voltage... The second scale from the top is Voltage. Even though it appears to refer to DC for the numbers on the top and AC for the numbers on the bottom of that second scale that's not what's going on. The second scale is for both DC and AC. The numbers on the top are when you are using a range that is a multiple of 15, such as 0-1.5V 0-15V 0-150V 0-1500V. The numbers on the bottom of that scale are for the ranges using a multiple of 5, such as 0-5V 0-50V 0-500V. Clever eh?

You have to do a bit of math. For example, if you if you're using the 1.5V range take your reading and move the decimal place one to the left. So, a reading of 8 would represent 0.8V in the 1.5V range, while it would actually represent 8V in the 0-15V range and 80V in the 0-150V range, etc. See, hams were smarter in the 1960s.

Always start with a range larger than what you expect the voltage to be and reduce the range for a more accurate reading if it occurs in the lower 3rd of the range. The voltage divider set by the range knob is protecting the circuits so if you have it in too low a range and apply high voltage, bad things will likely occur.

Old school needle gauge. There's a lot going on behind that needle. It operates very smoothly.

Sporting some temporary probe hookups

Making probes

This meter did not come with probes. I bought another older VTVM pretty cheap, for parts from a famous auction site because it was advertised as having a full compliment of probes, but alas, they were not usable. Even the 1/4" plug from those probes was a bust. However they did come with rebuildable probe "ends"

I used a RG-58 cable as the high voltage DC wire using only the center conductor and grounding the shield even though it is not used as the ground return. I also placed a 1/4 watt 1 mega-ohm resistor at the tip of the probe to limit any current through the probe cable. That cable terminates in the 1/4" plug and is wired such that it is out of the circuit in the Ohms position. I secured the cable into the probe body with some glue and used two layers of shrink wrap as a strain relief. I also put some shrink wrap near the probe tip as a bit of extra insurance.

I used a spare DMM cable for the outer positive banana plug feed used by the AC and OHMS circuit and made a heavily insulated cable with an alligator clip for the ground probe that goes to the other banana plug.

The outer probes are used for measuring resistance, AC and low volage DC. The center probe is used only for high voltage DC positive. Both positive probes would not be connected at the same time (as they are in the image below), and would present a shock risk if they were both connected when measuring voltage.

Summary

If you need a way to measure high voltage or are looking for a really eccentric meter to make common measurements harder than they should be get one of these VTVMs. They seem to be commonly available at hamfests and on famous auction sites for under $10.

Dazzle your friends next time they ask you to measure something for them, by whipping this not-so-little-puppy out of your back pocket and powering it up. As you're making your measurements quietly repeat "Mmmm, yes. Mmmm yes, I see now". They'll have no idea what you're referring to and be quite impressed.

That's all for now...

So lower your power and measure it with the low-range on your snazzy Vacuum Tube Volt Meter

72/73

Richard AA4OO

Richard Carpenter, AA4OO, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from North Carolina, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

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ICQ Podcast Episode 263 – Operating GB80GGCN

1 April 2018 | by Colin M6BOY | Leave a Comment (0)

In this episode, Martin (M1MRB) is joined by Leslie (G0CIB), Bill (N3JIX), Edmund (M0MNG) and Matthew (M0NJX) to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin M6BOY rounds up the news in brief, and this episode’s feature is - Operating GB80GGCN

GatesAir Suspends Sale of AM Transmitters
China's DSLWP-A1/A2 Moon Data Transmission
E-licensing for Ham Radio in Indonesia
Young Radio Hams to Attend YOTA Event in South Africa
FM Switch-Off Plan Shelved
Young Amateurs Radio Club Launched
Rare U.S. Counties Activated
CQ-Wires
FT-817/81 Powerpole Adapter

Colin Butler, M6BOY, is the host of the ICQ Podcast, a weekly radio show about Amateur Radio. Contact him at [email protected].

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Spring tuneup on the MFJ 1788 Loop antenna

31 March 2018 | by Mike VE9KK | Leave a Comment (8)

Oliver was going to watch over the operation

Each year around this time I bring the MFJ 1788 Mag loop in to take the covers off and have a look around to see how it has faired over the past year. This antenna has been great for me with my very restricted condo situation. I have been able to get all around the world on CW with most of the time 5 watts QRP. I am about 60 feet in the air, it's on the balcony and we do have other condo's all around us but having said that I have been very pleased with the performance of the loop. At first tuning the

Cleaned covers

loop took some time but now I really have the hang of things and am able to tune it in no time. Most of the time the SWR is flat or very close to flat on all bands it's designed for. Now as for band width on 15m it's very nice but as you move closer to 40m it gets very narrow but it is what it is. When reading the reviews of this antenna on Eham many have mentioned how the antenna when new from MFJ had an issue or two. My antenna also out of the box had an issue with the tuning box with a switch that had to be replaced. I purchased the antenna through DX engineering and they were very fast to have MFJ send me a replacement switch.

Now back to my yearly maintenance, the antenna is covered with a patio table cover to help it look like balcony furniture and funny thing is it does not affect the SWR at all so the cover is kept on all the time. This year I picked up a new cover as the old one was 4 years old no longer water proof and showing it's age. I removed the plastic covers and cleaned the inside out which were really not all that dirty. I found as I do each year some loose nuts and bolts that require

Keep track of parts

snugging up but this year I noticed one of the nut/bolt combination seemed to have some burning on it. This was one of two nut/ bolts that help secure the loop to the tuning cap. All other nut/bolt combinations were fine it was just this one that I ended up replacing with close substitution from my nut/bolt collection. I have posted a picture of the nut/bolt that was removed, any suggestions as to what may had happened? The nut/bolt was not at all loose and it was only this nut/bolt that had an issue. One other thing I like to do is run the tuning cap full turn in both directions looking for smooth operation, spacing moving fins against the stationary fins and the function of the micro switches that stop the tuning cap at the end of each end. Overall the antenna was in great shape and just to make sure once it was all back together and covered with new cover I tuned it through each band to make double sure all was well.