AmateurRadio.com

Ionization is a beautiful thing

OA2 VR tube glowing beautifully in back corner

Tbis 6EA8 should not be glowing violet

Lots of flatulent tubes

My audio was occasionally scratchy with a bit of popping.  Sometimes when working CW the other stations signal would jump around slightly in frequency, like 20Hz - 50Hz. 

I'd already re-seated most of the tubes, re-tightened screws, DeOxit'd switches, etc.  

Then I noticed that V1's tube shield was not bonded to the tube socket finger thingy (sorry don't know what it's called).  The other tube shields were soldered and I hadn't noticed that this tube shield was new and looking at the socket spring thing appears it had never been soldered.  After pulling that tube and its shield I scraped the paint from the shield where the socket spring presses onto it and cleaned the socket spring as well.  Apparently those tubes leak RF and the tube shields catch the stray signals and send them to ground.  Without proper bonding the tube is spraying RF around.

That turned out the be the problem, now all is good. Received signals are rock steady and the audio is very clean.  

Tube shield needed to be grounded to the socket spring

This problem had been periodic and was driving me a little nuts.  I'd read that grounding the tube shields was important but somehow I'd missed that this shield was not properly bonded to the finger thingy.

On the positive side, I am growing a tube collection by purchasing replacements that are not needed :)

Here is video footage of the journey to Antarctic Bouvet Island, made by the 3Y0Z amateur ham radio team. This footage caught a few moments on the deck of M/V Betanzos.

As you can see in the last moments of this footage, the weather conditions contributed to the decision to abort the DXpedition, as it was far too dangerous to continue this expedition.

As reported by ARRL:

“Our captain has decided that it is in the best interest of safety and expediency to proceed directly to Capetown, South Africa, rather than Punta Arenas, Chile. We are now heading north to avoid the possibility of encountering ice. Currently, there is no ice in sight or on radar. In due time, we will head easterly toward Capetown. Our entire team is safe. Most are resting in their bunks and in good spirits. We will keep the amateur radio community and our families informed, as we continue our journey.”

In a huge disappointment for the DX community and the members of the 3Y0Z Bouvet Island team, the DXpedition’s leaders announced at 2000 UTC today (February 3) that a decision had been made to abort the DXpedition and head back to Chile.

“During the last 72 hours, we continued to experience the high winds, low clouds, fog and rough seas that have prevented helicopter operations since our arrival at Bouvet,” said an announcement on the 3Y0Z Bouvet Island website. “No improvement was predicted in the weather forecast for the next 4 days. Then, last night, an issue developed in one of the ship’s engines. This morning, the captain of the vessel declared it unsafe to continue with our project and aborted the DXpedition. We are now on our long voyage back to Punta Arenas. As you might imagine, the team is deeply disappointed, but safe. There is already talk about rescheduling the DXpedition.”

Bouvet Island currently is the third most-wanted DXCC entity, behind Kosovo and North Korea. The 3Y0Z DXpedition, comprised of top operators with considerable DXpedition experience, has been in the planning stages for 2 years and had attracted contributions from clubs and individuals around the world.

A dependency of Norway, Bouvet is a subantarctic island in the South Atlantic. The last Bouvet activation was 3Y0E, during a scientific expedition over the winter of 2007-2008.

Video Author: Nodir Tursun Zade, EY8MM

This copy is used BY PERMISSION from EY8MM, given in writing on 23 February 2018

Enclosure

Here is this week’s space weather and geophysical report, issued 2018 Feb 26 0308 UTC.

Highlights of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 19 – 25 February 2018

Solar activity was very low throughout the summary period. No active regions were observed on the visible disk. No Earth-directed CMEs were observed in available coronagraph imagery.

No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit reached high levels from 19-26 Feb. A peak flux of 13,500 pfu was observed on 19/2030 UTC.

Geomagnetic field activity ranged from quiet to G1 (Minor) storm levels due to multiple negative coronal hole onsets. Quiet to G1 (Minor) storm levels on 19 Feb were associated with peak wind speeds of just about 550 km/s from a negative polarity CH HSS. The geomagnetic response declined along with solar wind speeds with quiet to unsettled conditions observed on 20 Feb and quiet levels on 21 Feb . A subsequent enhancement in solar wind speeds from another negative polarity CH HSS increased geomagnetic field activity to quiet to active levels on 22 Feb, and further to quiet to G1 (minor) storm levels on 23 Feb, which were also associated with peak wind speeds around 550 km/s. Activity dropped to quiet to unsettled on 24 Feb and completely quiet by 25 Feb as effects from the CH HSS waned.

Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 26 February – 24 March 2018

Solar activity is expected to be very low throughout the forecast period.

No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at high levels on 26-28 Feb and 18-24 Mar due to elevated wind speeds from multiple coronal holes. Moderate levels are anticipated on 15 Mar and the remainder of the forecast period is expected to be at normal levels.

Geomagnetic field activity is expected to reach G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storm levels on 26 Feb and 18 Mar. Active levels are expected on 14 Mar, 16-17 Mar, 21 Mar and 22 Mar. Unsettled levels are expected on 27 Feb, 15 Mar, and 23-24 Mar. Quiet conditions are expected for the remainder of the forecast period. All elevations in geomagnetic activity are anticipated due to multiple, recurrent CH HSSs.

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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In Episode #212 of Linux in the Ham Shack, the hosts take an in-depth look at the origins and operation of Slow-Scan Television (SSTV) and the Linux-native application QSSTV which allows radio amateurs to enjoy the wonder of sending and receiving still images via radio waves. Thank you for listening and stay tuned for a special episode on the use of the QSSTV picture editor which aids in the generation of SSTV images.

73 de The LHS Crew

Ham College episode 38 is now available for download.

General Amateur Radio Exam questions part 9. Digital Modes pt 1, Grounding.
54:03

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