ARRL 160 CW / ’29 QSO Party

'29 MOPA




I spent about five hours last night in the ARRL 160 CW contest, working 321 stations in 74 sections. Conditions were excellent, with my 150W sustaining long runs and big pileups. It reminded me very much of the old F2 days on 6m, running huge pileups of JA's. Unfortunately I'll not be able to continue tonight because of the conflict with the '29 QSO Party.






In reality, I may not be in that one either, as right on schedule the winds have picked up once again, with gusts to 83 km/h predicted throughout the day ... I'll be lucky if the power stays on for the QSO Party tonight. As well as doing their best to blow my antennas around and make my already shaky '29 signal sound even worse, these high winds all too often result in long power outages here in the Southern Gulf Islands ... my fingers are crossed, as they are every year at this time.


courtesy: http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/canada/british-columbia/mayne-island-6

If I'm lucky enough to still have power, this will be the inauguration of my newly-constructed MOPA '29 rig ... a two-tube, Master Oscillator Power Amplifier. This rig will be much more 'wind-proof' than my previous mainstays, a single-tube TNT or the Hull Hartley. Both of these self-excited oscillators sound overly 'melodic' when directly coupled to an antenna swinging, or more often, blowing like crazy, in the wind.

If you ever wondered what the ham bands may have sounded like back in 1929, have a listen this Saturday as well as next Saturday night. You will hear some amazingly good signals being generated by these '29 state-of-the-art transmitters as well as some pretty awful sounding ones. It was the pretty awful-sounding ones that led to the crackdown for amateur radio in 1929 as hams were forced to clean up their act or suffer the consequences.

Activity will gather around 3550-3580 kHz and 7100-7125 kHz ... the second weekend will see some meet on the very low end of 160m for an hour, probably around 0400z. I hope some of you will be joining the fun as well, with your newly-constructed 'old' rig!

Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at ve7sl@shaw.ca.

Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 88

2015 SKYWARN Recognition Day
SKYWARN operators visit NWS offices and contact other radio operators across the world.
NOAA

Ten-Tec sold to mystery owner
I had a discussion with the new owner last night, and I wanted to relay some information.
amateurradio.com

Santa Claus Arctic Circle Team active during December
OH9SCL has been on the air each holiday season for the past 30 years.
ARRL

See the invisible wireless signals around you
The app offers an augmented-reality experience: spin your iPhone or iPad around you, and your device will act like a window into a previously invisible world.
The Verge

Operating from downtown San Francisco: A compromise
Living on the eighth floor of an apartment building in downtown San Francisco isn’t an ideal environment for an amateur radio station.
Fine.Business

Now online: A new WebSDR in Iran
Ham Radio club EP2C has just put a WebSDR online in Iran–perhaps the first in this part of the world.
The SWLing Post

Rock ‘N Radio — QRP style
Operating QRP can mean operating from a “Quiet Restful Place.”
N4PBQ

Video

ISO-TIP 7700 Cordless Solder Iron review
This is my video review of the ISO-TIP #7700 rechargeable battery soldering iron.
ToddFun.com

Sneak peak: VK9WA Willis Island DXpedition 2015
A short video of beautiful Middle Cay, Willis Islets, Coral Sea, Australia – the home of the VK9WA amateur radio DXpedition.
YouTube

and finally…

Antenna cannon
The easy (dangerous) way to string an antenna through a tree.
YouTube


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.

My New Paddle

I recently received Serial # 20 of the commemorative paddle built for the ARRL by Pietro Begali. As you can see below it is the Begali Sculpture paddle with both the ARRL Logo and the Begali logo. The Serial # is on the bottom.

The key is wonderful and it looks good on the desk. It is still available on the ARRL website.






Mike Crownover, AD5A, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Texas, USA. Contact him at ad5a@gvtc.com.

My New Paddle

I recently received Serial # 20 of the commemorative paddle built for the ARRL by Pietro Begali. As you can see below it is the Begali Sculpture paddle with both the ARRL Logo and the Begali logo. The Serial # is on the bottom.

The key is wonderful and it looks good on the desk. It is still available on the ARRL website.






Mike Crownover, AD5A, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Texas, USA. Contact him at ad5a@gvtc.com.

I found a fox!

I found a fox! No, not a real fox…a QRP fox! I took a break from watching the Packers get whooped by the Lions, and ran up to the shack for a bit of relaxing. I turned on the KX3, and it was still tuned to 3.550 CW. Right away came N0UR calling CQ FOX. I haven’t participated in the fox hunts before, but hey, this had to be destiny! Jim in MN picked me up right away…first call! He did have to ask for my power (5W) as in the excitement I forgot to send it!

Thanks Jim for the hunt! If you’re interested in giving QRP a try, and you like a bit of a challenge, check out the QRP Fox Hunt page.


Michael Brown, KG9DW, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Illinois, USA. Contact him at michael@thefarmonline.com.

I found a fox!

I found a fox! No, not a real fox…a QRP fox! I took a break from watching the Packers get whooped by the Lions, and ran up to the shack for a bit of relaxing. I turned on the KX3, and it was still tuned to 3.550 CW. Right away came N0UR calling CQ FOX. I haven’t participated in the fox hunts before, but hey, this had to be destiny! Jim in MN picked me up right away…first call! He did have to ask for my power (5W) as in the excitement I forgot to send it!

Thanks Jim for the hunt! If you’re interested in giving QRP a try, and you like a bit of a challenge, check out the QRP Fox Hunt page.


Michael Brown, KG9DW, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Illinois, USA. Contact him at michael@thefarmonline.com.

FT991 issues?

It looks like Yaesu have had some quality control issues with some FT991 transceivers, although I am unsure what percentage of units sold are effected. It does not look good though. It is always wise to wait a while so these initial issues are ironed out. In Yaesu’s defence, I have had an FT817 (original version with the old PA) for about 15 years and it still works as well as ever. I love it.

See http://forums.qrz.com/index.php?threads/new-yaesu-ft-991-beware.502666/&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=QRZ&utm_term=forum,+site,+RSS&utm_content=HAMRADIO&utm_source=twitterfeed


Roger Lapthorn, G3XBM, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cambridge, England.
Sign up for our free
Amateur Radio Newsletter

Enter your e-mail address: