AmateurRadio.com

courtesy: Chuck Roblin

For U.S. amateurs, the 2200 and 630m bands will soon be a reality and I have no doubt that there will be an accompanying surge in interest among large numbers of homebrewers and low band diehards.



It should be an exciting time as new stations gradually start to populate the band from coast to coast.

High on the 'to do' list will be the planning and building (or modifying) of a suitable antenna system for the band(s) of choice. For most, this will be new territory, but the reality is that there has been a long tradition of operation in the LF and MF bands in the U.S. for many years ... all under the Part 15 'Lowfer' and 'Medfer' service.

Although activity in this category has fallen off over the years due to the availability of the much less-restrictive Part 5 experimental licences, there is still a great legacy of literature and information left behind that is every bit as useful today as it was back in the golden years of Lowfer operations.

Here is one such document from Stephen McGreevy's Natural ELF-VLF Radio website that many newcomers to these bands may find very helpful as it covers a wide variety of LF antenna-related basics in a down-to-earth manner.

An even more detailed treatise on virtually all aspects of LF and MF antenna topics is that found on Rik, ON7YD's website. His antenna pages can be found here. Although originally developed for the 2200m band, the principles are equally applicable to 630m as well.

Hopefully both of these sources will help you decide how to get a working antenna system up and running on the new bands. And as always, much help is available via the Internet on the Lowfer Reflector, the RSGB LF reflector or on the 600MRG Reflector.
Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

courtesy: Chuck Roblin

For U.S. amateurs, the 2200 and 630m bands will soon be a reality and I have no doubt that there will be an accompanying surge in interest among large numbers of homebrewers and low band diehards.



It should be an exciting time as new stations gradually start to populate the band from coast to coast.

High on the 'to do' list will be the planning and building (or modifying) of a suitable antenna system for the band(s) of choice. For most, this will be new territory, but the reality is that there has been a long tradition of operation in the LF and MF bands in the U.S. for many years ... all under the Part 15 'Lowfer' and 'Medfer' service.

Although activity in this category has fallen off over the years due to the availability of the much less-restrictive Part 5 experimental licences, there is still a great legacy of literature and information left behind that is every bit as useful today as it was back in the golden years of Lowfer operations.

Here is one such document from Stephen McGreevy's Natural ELF-VLF Radio website that many newcomers to these bands may find very helpful as it covers a wide variety of LF antenna-related basics in a down-to-earth manner.

An even more detailed treatise on virtually all aspects of LF and MF antenna topics is that found on Rik, ON7YD's website. His antenna pages can be found here. Although originally developed for the 2200m band, the principles are equally applicable to 630m as well.

Hopefully both of these sources will help you decide how to get a working antenna system up and running on the new bands. And as always, much help is available via the Internet on the Lowfer Reflector, the RSGB LF reflector or on the 600MRG Reflector.
Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

I'm sure all of us have dealt with great and poor customer service even in the ham world. I have heard it time and time again that it's customer service that will make or break your business. Now having said that I understand there are those out there that no matter what you do for them it's never good enough, that being said I'm the person who wants to inform a business when they fall short but at the same time I want to make sure I inform a business when they have given great customer service. This post has to do with both an Amateur radio business that went above and beyond and another that in my humble opinion fell short. From my last post you all are well aware that I purchased a Chameleon CHA P Loop antenna. The loop was purchased from DX Engineering and it's now time for me to toot my horn regarding above and beyond customer service!

1. I emailed DX Engineering regarding some questions I had about the loop and I was promptly emailed back with an answer. 
2. They did offer free shipping on orders over 99.00 but it was CLEARLY indicated that for orders outside the U.S this did not apply (I'm in Canada). I hate very small print or no print regarding this but DX Engineering had it plainly stated. 
3. I ordered the antenna on a Monday evening and it was shipped Tuesday. 
4. The antenna arrived Wednesday, over the boarder, through customs and to my door. 
5. The price I was given for the antenna and shipping (FedEx) was the TOTAL cost. In the past I have dealt with Amateur radio dealers in the U.S. I pay for the item, it gets shipped and then I get a call from a carriers "broker" who tells me to clear the item it's going to cost "X" amount. Then I'm asked for my credit card number or it goes back. Let me tell you it has never been cheap.

The antenna came with a carry bag which was a big plus but I noticed the zipper on the bag was defective. I attempted to open the bag for the first time to place the antenna in. Here is what happened:

Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

I'm sure all of us have dealt with great and poor customer service even in the ham world. I have heard it time and time again that it's customer service that will make or break your business. Now having said that I understand there are those out there that no matter what you do for them it's never good enough, that being said I'm the person who wants to inform a business when they fall short but at the same time I want to make sure I inform a business when they have given great customer service. This post has to do with both an Amateur radio business that went above and beyond and another that in my humble opinion fell short. From my last post you all are well aware that I purchased a Chameleon CHA P Loop antenna. The loop was purchased from DX Engineering and it's now time for me to toot my horn regarding above and beyond customer service!

1. I emailed DX Engineering regarding some questions I had about the loop and I was promptly emailed back with an answer. 
2. They did offer free shipping on orders over 99.00 but it was CLEARLY indicated that for orders outside the U.S this did not apply (I'm in Canada). I hate very small print or no print regarding this but DX Engineering had it plainly stated. 
3. I ordered the antenna on a Monday evening and it was shipped Tuesday. 
4. The antenna arrived Wednesday, over the boarder, through customs and to my door. 
5. The price I was given for the antenna and shipping (FedEx) was the TOTAL cost. In the past I have dealt with Amateur radio dealers in the U.S. I pay for the item, it gets shipped and then I get a call from a carriers "broker" who tells me to clear the item it's going to cost "X" amount. Then I'm asked for my credit card number or it goes back. Let me tell you it has never been cheap.

The antenna came with a carry bag which was a big plus but I noticed the zipper on the bag was defective. I attempted to open the bag for the first time to place the antenna in. Here is what happened:

Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

courtesy: https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/

This past weekend's CLE event was, as is so often the case, perfectly timed with the arrival of poor propagation in most parts of the world. This time around, it was particularly bad.

The 'Co-ordinated Listening Event' might more aptly be called the 'Cursed Listening Event' as once again the same large coronal hole (shown above) that has been present for several solar rotations seems to be more disruptive than ever. The subsequent higher than normal solar wind speeds causing widespread auroral conditions and elevated K indices have pretty much made a mess of MF and HF radio for the past several days.

courtesy: http://www.noaa.gov/

NDB-band recordings made with the Perseus SDR for the three-night event turned up very little activity other than a few strange hot-spots. Both 'OIN' in Kansas and 'CC' in California were strong on all three nights! Nothing from eastern Canada was heard and one of Alaska's strongest signals, 'ELF', was barely detected. Only the following few stations were logged:

23 08:00 341.0    ELF  Cold Bay, ALS
22 06:00 338.0    ZU   Whitecourt, AB, CAN
22 06:00 343.0    YZH  Slave Lake, AB, CAN
22 04:00 344.0    YC   Calgary, AB, CAN
22 12:00 338.0    RYN  Tucson, AZ, USA
22 04:00 344.0    XX   Abbotsford, BC, CAN
22 12:00 335.0    CC   Concord, CA, USA
22 10:00 344.0    FCH  Fresno, CA, USA
22 08:00 341.0    OIN  Oberlin, KS, USA
22 04:00 344.0    BKU  Baker, MT, USA
24 08:00 335.0    BK   Brookings, SD, USA
22 04:00 347.0    PA   Prince Albert, SK, CAN
22 08:00 338.0    K    Port Angeles, WA, USA
22 04:00 348.0    MNC  Shelton, WA, USA
22 05:00 341.0    DB   Burwash, YT, CAN

I suspect the this same coronal hole will be with us for several more rotations ... perhaps it's time fool Ol' Sol and stagger our CLE's 28-day cycle so it doesn't continue go sync-up with poor band conditions but somehow I think that Murphy might not be so easily duped!
Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

courtesy: https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/

This past weekend's CLE event was, as is so often the case, perfectly timed with the arrival of poor propagation in most parts of the world. This time around, it was particularly bad.

The 'Co-ordinated Listening Event' might more aptly be called the 'Cursed Listening Event' as once again the same large coronal hole (shown above) that has been present for several solar rotations seems to be more disruptive than ever. The subsequent higher than normal solar wind speeds causing widespread auroral conditions and elevated K indices have pretty much made a mess of MF and HF radio for the past several days.

courtesy: http://www.noaa.gov/

NDB-band recordings made with the Perseus SDR for the three-night event turned up very little activity other than a few strange hot-spots. Both 'OIN' in Kansas and 'CC' in California were strong on all three nights! Nothing from eastern Canada was heard and one of Alaska's strongest signals, 'ELF', was barely detected. Only the following few stations were logged:

23 08:00 341.0    ELF  Cold Bay, ALS
22 06:00 338.0    ZU   Whitecourt, AB, CAN
22 06:00 343.0    YZH  Slave Lake, AB, CAN
22 04:00 344.0    YC   Calgary, AB, CAN
22 12:00 338.0    RYN  Tucson, AZ, USA
22 04:00 344.0    XX   Abbotsford, BC, CAN
22 12:00 335.0    CC   Concord, CA, USA
22 10:00 344.0    FCH  Fresno, CA, USA
22 08:00 341.0    OIN  Oberlin, KS, USA
22 04:00 344.0    BKU  Baker, MT, USA
24 08:00 335.0    BK   Brookings, SD, USA
22 04:00 347.0    PA   Prince Albert, SK, CAN
22 08:00 338.0    K    Port Angeles, WA, USA
22 04:00 348.0    MNC  Shelton, WA, USA
22 05:00 341.0    DB   Burwash, YT, CAN

I suspect the this same coronal hole will be with us for several more rotations ... perhaps it's time fool Ol' Sol and stagger our CLE's 28-day cycle so it doesn't continue go sync-up with poor band conditions but somehow I think that Murphy might not be so easily duped!
Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

Starting out on my cool walk

CHA P-Loop antenna

I had the day off work today and it looked very nice outside, the sky was clear and the sun was out. I wanted to take this opportunity to test out my new portable antenna. I packed up my Elecraft KX3, batteries, key and my new Chameleon CHA P-Loop antenna. This post is not a review of the new antenna before I do that I want to try out the antenna several times. Before heading out I did not check the propagation reports, I find if I do this and they are poor it casts a shadow over the outing.As I was saying the day from inside the house looked nice but once out there was a cold wind off the lake, it felt like a cool fall day and not spring. Anyway.....because of the poor weather, my lack of warm clothing I quickly setup the antenna, checked out how it tuned on 10, 15, 20 and 30m and gave a few CW CQ's. With no answers and the wind picking up I was satisfied the antenna at least worked.

My setup

Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].