Vibroplex "Blue Racer"

Ever since earning my ticket as a teenager back in '63, almost all of my on-air activity has been focused on CW ... I've always loved it.




For my first year on-the-air, I used a nice brass hand key purchased locally for just a few dollars but once I had mastered that and I was just unable to send any faster with it, I purchased a Vibroplex 'Original', for, if memory serves me correct, around $40. I used it exclusively until building a homebrew memory keyer in the mid-70's and the Vibroplex saw little service for several years.

The Vibroplex 'Original'

Back when I first got on the air there were very few amateurs using keyers. Most used bugs and the remainder used the brass hand pumps. It was very easy to tune across the band and identify any of the locals just by the sound of their fist ... like snowflakes, no two were the same. The same went for most stations that were very active. DX or otherwise, one could usually tell who it was long before the callsigns were heard.
So much has changed now with the almost exclusive use of electronic keyers and everyone pretty much sounds the same, which is rather a pity I think.

Once my interest in building vintage-style vacuum-tube transmitters evolved, my interest in bugs was reactivated and over the years I have purchased a few more.

I'll do anything I can to promote and encourage the use of CW and especially hand-generated CW. That's why I was excited to read a recent e-mail from W6SFM, posted to several lists that I read, announcing the Bug Roundup!
 
It looks like a fun event and might make another good reason to fire-up your old boatanchors on CW once again. It looks like you can keep track of activity and possibly set up skeds via their chat-window page during the BR.
In any event, my biggest decision will be to choose which bug to use as I have five at last count. I think I'll be brave and try the Blue Racer but will probably have to dampen it down a bit as they are really quite fast.
Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

In this episode, Martin M1MRB / W9ICQ is joined by Leslie Butterfield G0CIB, Edmund Spicer M0MNG and Matthew Nassau M0NJX to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin M6BOY rounds up the news in brief, and this episode’s feature is Dummy Loads

• 50 MHz Band Experimentation
• 5 GHz - RSGB Respond to Ofcom
• Israeli Students Build CubeSat
• UKQRM Launches New Campaign for UK Election
• Amateur Radio Duo Honoured
• Hungarian 5MHz Beacon HG7BHB Closed Down
• D-STAR Gateway Version 3 ('G3') Software Available to UK Repeater Keepers
• FCC Proposes $400,000 Jammer Fine

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

In this episode, Martin M1MRB / W9ICQ is joined by Leslie Butterfield G0CIB, Edmund Spicer M0MNG and Matthew Nassau M0NJX to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin M6BOY rounds up the news in brief, and this episode’s feature is Dummy Loads

• 50 MHz Band Experimentation
• 5 GHz - RSGB Respond to Ofcom
• Israeli Students Build CubeSat
• UKQRM Launches New Campaign for UK Election
• Amateur Radio Duo Honoured
• Hungarian 5MHz Beacon HG7BHB Closed Down
• D-STAR Gateway Version 3 ('G3') Software Available to UK Repeater Keepers
• FCC Proposes $400,000 Jammer Fine

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

Today was a busy day with a lot of commitments and a lot of chores and not much time for Amateur Radio. So what does an intrepid Amateur Radio op do?  Put his tail between his legs and slink off into the distance?  No, he does the next best thing  - he engages in related activities.

I had a class this morning that meets one Saturday a month. It started last September and ends next month, and it runs from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM. You can see that that's a good chunk of the day. So it was SOTABEAMS WSPRLite to the rescue!  It's kind of like a Ronco counter top oven - "set it and forget it". So I hooked up my WSPRLite to my W3EDP, set it up for 200 milliWatts on 20 Meters and let it go to town!


I figured that I'd let it run, see how the W3EDP gets out and still do the things I had to do today.

This WSPRLite is so cool!  It's a software defined WSPR beacon in a package about half the size of an Altoids tin.  It's powered by the USB port of your computer.  You pick the band and power output and hook it up to your antenna.  You wait until 2 seconds past any even minute and you press the little black button on the right to kick things off.  The beacon transmits for 110 seconds and then waits for the next opportunity when the frequency is clear.  I set it so that it would randomly transmit about 20% of the time; and you can let it run for up to three days if you want.

In the meantime, yesterday, while checking my e-mail, I saw that Joe Everhart N2CX co-founder of the NJQRP Club was going to be activating Edison State Park for Parks on the Air.  It's designator is KFF-1615 and it's all of about 15 minutes from my house. So I e-mailed Joe back with my cell phone number and told him to text me when he got there; and I would come out and meet him.

After class I came home and broke out the lawnmower and got the front yard done. As I was walking to the backyard, I felt my pocket buzz. I whipped out my phone and read a text that Joe was on site and setting up. I dropped the lawnmower like a hot potato and high tailed it to the park. After all, what QRPer in his right mind would miss the opportunity to talk with a QRP Legend, right? When I got there, I saw Joe had finished setting up and was operating from his car.


It was getting out all right!  Into the midwest USA and into Europe on 200 milliWatts!  The W3EDP seems to be doing OK!


It turned out to be a good day, after all.  I got to attend my class, got my chores done and got to hob-nob with a QRP giant - while giving my wire antenna a check out at the same time!

And here I thought the day would be a bust, Amateur Radio-wise!

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!



Larry Makoski, W2LJ, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Jersey, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Today was a busy day with a lot of commitments and a lot of chores and not much time for Amateur Radio. So what does an intrepid Amateur Radio op do?  Put his tail between his legs and slink off into the distance?  No, he does the next best thing  - he engages in related activities.

I had a class this morning that meets one Saturday a month. It started last September and ends next month, and it runs from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM. You can see that that's a good chunk of the day. So it was SOTABEAMS WSPRLite to the rescue!  It's kind of like a Ronco counter top oven - "set it and forget it". So I hooked up my WSPRLite to my W3EDP, set it up for 200 milliWatts on 20 Meters and let it go to town!


I figured that I'd let it run, see how the W3EDP gets out and still do the things I had to do today.

This WSPRLite is so cool!  It's a software defined WSPR beacon in a package about half the size of an Altoids tin.  It's powered by the USB port of your computer.  You pick the band and power output and hook it up to your antenna.  You wait until 2 seconds past any even minute and you press the little black button on the right to kick things off.  The beacon transmits for 110 seconds and then waits for the next opportunity when the frequency is clear.  I set it so that it would randomly transmit about 20% of the time; and you can let it run for up to three days if you want.

In the meantime, yesterday, while checking my e-mail, I saw that Joe Everhart N2CX co-founder of the NJQRP Club was going to be activating Edison State Park for Parks on the Air.  It's designator is KFF-1615 and it's all of about 15 minutes from my house. So I e-mailed Joe back with my cell phone number and told him to text me when he got there; and I would come out and meet him.

After class I came home and broke out the lawnmower and got the front yard done. As I was walking to the backyard, I felt my pocket buzz. I whipped out my phone and read a text that Joe was on site and setting up. I dropped the lawnmower like a hot potato and high tailed it to the park. After all, what QRPer in his right mind would miss the opportunity to talk with a QRP Legend, right? When I got there, I saw Joe had finished setting up and was operating from his car.


It was getting out all right!  Into the midwest USA and into Europe on 200 milliWatts!  The W3EDP seems to be doing OK!


It turned out to be a good day, after all.  I got to attend my class, got my chores done and got to hob-nob with a QRP giant - while giving my wire antenna a check out at the same time!

And here I thought the day would be a bust, Amateur Radio-wise!

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!



Larry Makoski, W2LJ, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Jersey, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Amateur Radio Weekly is curated by Cale Mooth K4HCK. Sign up free to receive ham radio's most relevant news, projects, technology and events by e-mail each week at http://www.hamweekly.com.

Stories you’ll find in our May, 2017 issue:

TSM Reviews: QRP Labs Ultimate 3S Transmitter Kit
By Mark Haverstock K8MSH

It’s the old radio conundrum: Is the band dead or is it that no one is listening? This month Mark looks at a beacon transmitter kit that lets you see just how active the band really is. The QRP Labs Ultimate 3S transmitter uses Weak Signal Propagation Reporter (WSPR) Frequency Shift-Keying (FSK) transmissions in beacon mode that can be received by receivers around the world set up to send back reports on a central reporting site on the Web. Mark puts this kit through its paces.

Tuning Out? History and Legacy of Longwave Broadcasting in Europe
By Georg Wiessala
Longwave broadcasting seems to be a relic from radio’s infancy. While its future is uncertain, during an era of Internet streaming and satellite beaming, it continues to hang on. Georg examines the history of longwave and explains why countries “disinvesting in AM broadcast radio make a shortsighted decision—losing an important channel for media diplomacy and international communications abroad.”

TSM Reviews: DX Engineering HF Portable TW Antennas
By Joe Lynch N6CL
TSM VHF and Above columnist, Joe Lynch N6CL, lives in a very restrictive neighborhood but, as an active ham on HF, that’s not deterred him from enjoying the radio hobby to its fullest. Joe wanted to see how well DX Engineering’s DXE-TW-2010-P 20 through 10 meters portable antenna would work—given his QTH. Find out why he says these antennas are, “worth the cost, considering the practicality they provide.”
DRM—Digital Radio Mondiale Spectrum within a Spectrum
By John Piliounis SV1OCS
Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) has been around since 1998 and has slowly found acceptance on HF as well as the FM band. But, the lack of affordable, capable receivers has hampered its success. John Piliounis takes a look at the technical side of this open-sourced, international digital radio format that can coexist with analog signals broadcast from the same tower.

Results of FCC Incentive Auction and Repacking of US TV Spectrum
By Mike Kohl
The results are in from the FCC’s massive TV band incentive auction and now the 39-month process begins in which some stations will go off the air; others will go off the air but join another station in the market to show up on a sub-channel, while others will move from UHF to VHF TV band. Mike explains it all.

Scanning America
By Dan Veeneman
Charlotte County (FL) and Dallas County (IA)

Federal Wavelengths
By Chris Parris
Shifts in Federal Trunked Radio Systems

Utility Planet
By Hugh Stegman
New Insights into North Korean “Numbers”

Shortwave Utility Logs
By Hugh Stegman and Mike Chace-Ortiz

Digitally Speaking
By Cory GB Sickles WA3UVV
Feeling Like a Kid Again

VHF and Above
By Joe Lynch N6CL
Kenwood’s New TH-D74

Amateur Radio Insights
By Kirk Kleinschmidt NT0Z
The Truth about Lightning: Most of us are Unprepared!

Radio 101
By Ken Reitz KS4ZR
Cord-Cutting Update: Options for you FTA Satellite and OTA-TV Systems

Radio Propagation
By Tomas Hood NW7US
Setting it Straight…

World of Shortwave Listening
By Jeff White
The Shortwave Scene in the Middle East

The Shortwave Listener
By Fred Waterer
Korea (North and South) on SW; New BBC Programming

Amateur Radio Astronomy
By Stan Nelson KB5VL
1420 MHz Band Interference

The Longwave Zone
By Kevin O’Hern Carey WB2QMY
Introducing a New Band: 630 Meters!

Adventures in Radio Restoration
By Rich Post KB8TAD
Philco 48-360: Last of the “Woody” Portables

Antenna Connections
By Dan Farber AC0LW
Balanced Feedline: Ace in the Hole

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].