AmateurRadio.com

A reminder that the annual ARRL 10m contest is this coming weekend. Conditions are likely to be good on 10m, so this is a good chance to work some worldwide DX. Next year with the decline in sunspot numbers, this is not likely to be as good. Unfortunately my operating time will be very limited because of visitors.

Roger Lapthorn, G3XBM, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cambridge, England.

Congratulations to the ARRL Logbook of the World (LOTW) which just reached 100 million confirmed contacts. This is the same as an impressive 200 million QSL cards out of about 630 million uploaded contacts on LOTW.

LOTW was established way back in 2003. This was only 2 years after I got my license. Since I have never enjoyed much to fill in QSL cards I embraced LOTW very quickly. I have to say though that I will of course respond with a paper QSL for those who ask for one.

But LOTW has been my primary means of confirming contacts for a decade. My DXCC was confirmed with LOTW.

Now at the same time that LOTW is celebrating 100 millions confirmations, I am celebrating 8 bands with 100 or more contacts all confirmed via Logbook of the World. This is on all bands from 3.5 to 28 MHz. This has been my goal for many years. The last confirmation came from the TC0A contest station in Turkey on 80 m after last month’s CQ World Wide CW contest.

I consider myself lucky to have reached 100 confirmations even on the elusive 12 m band which we all know will shut down soon not reopen again until the next solar maximum in about 11 years time.

But as the saying goes “The journey is the reward“, so what to do next as a radio amateur?

Sverre Holm, LA3ZA, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Norway. Contact him at [email protected].

So this afternoon I was playing with the YouKits TJ5A Hf Transceiver running 5 watts and using my Chameleon Hy-Brid up on a 15′ pole feeding coax to my shack and running about 135′ of wire across the yard with far end up 20′ in the air. The base of the Hy-Brid and pole are grounded with a ground rod.
I called cq on 21.050 after watching the RBN to see where I was being heard, I was pleasantly surprised to hear Ted in Stockton,ME SKCC#1312 call me, he gave me a 579 with my 5 watts. QSB came in as we finished our exchange.
Then out of the blue I heard KZ5OM Jerry SKCC#10415S in California, Jerry was a 339 and he gave me a 569 and then QSB took us both down.
I then went to 20 meters and tuned the antenna and was called by Rich K4DJ in N.C., he is SKCC#11060S, he was a 569 and I was a 459 so not too bad at all..

The Hy-Brid tunes super for me and I use this set up on 160 meters as well.
Giving the new TJ5A a workout and I can say that the power stays solid and does not move and it receives very well without the filter, will be a great test when filter is installed.
Thanks to the 3 operators, Ted, Jerry and Rich for a great hour on the air.

Fred
VE3FAL
SKCC#50

 

Fred Lesnick, VE3FAL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Thunder Bay Ontario, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

NooElec and AmateurRadio.com have teamed up to give away
SDR (Software Defined Radio) receiver packages to TWENTY hams!
Over $1,200 in free prizes and they’ll pay the shipping worldwide!
The deadline to enter is 18 December 2014 20:00 UTC.

We’ve announced the winners!
Click Here
Read the rest of this post

Matt Thomas, W1MST, is the managing editor of AmateurRadio.com. Contact him at [email protected].

Drum Dial Rx Tuning Courtesy: http://www.arrl.org/

As the leader of the ARRL's Technical Development Program and its assault on 1929 preparedness, Hull continued his relentless pace of construction and publication in the November 1928 issue of QST...turning now to receivers. The detailed article analyzed three receivers of varying complexity to see how they might fare in the busy "international bands" of 1929...and where improvements might be gleaned.

In "High-Frequency Receivers for the Coming Year / Incorporating Thoroughly Practical and Satisfying Selectivity, Open Scales, and a New Ease in Handling", editors proudly announced that,

 "...practical selectivity for 1929 has been secured; it is within the reach of every amateur." [QST November, 1928]

QST Oct '28 Courtesy: http://www.arrl.org/

Another equally important issue was addressed in QST's October 1928 edition, once again by Ross Hull.

"In view of the present off-band operation, it is not surprising that amateurs have been wondering how it will be possible for them to stay within the relatively narrow confines of the 1929 bands and to know definitely and at all times that the frequency of their transmitters is legal." [QST October, 1928]





"The Frequency Measurement Problem / Applications of the Monitor in Transmitter Setting and Signal Checking" described, in exacting detail, the construction and calibration of a combined monitor and frequency meter that would fulfill the new rules regarding frequency allocations...but only if hams used them regularly.

QST Sept '28 Courtesy: http://www.arrl.org/

 
With the ARRL's reliance on QST's significant advertising revenue as a major source of income, the urgent 'need' to rebuild was not overlooked by the ad-men, as more building would mean that more parts had to be purchased. A skeptic might even suggest that the possibility of increased advertising revenue may have been just as much of a driving-force for the need of new construction than the new rules themselves!

QST  1929 Courtesy: http://www.arrl.org/

Advertisers in QST were not shy about reminding amateurs of the coming deadline as well as promising easy solutions to compliance.









In early 1928, QST published several of the Convention articles that would apply to amateurs. Chief amongst them were the frequency allocations. North American amateurs lost about 40% of the spectrum space that they had previously enjoyed but...the harmonically-related bands, although slimmed-down, were retained along with exclusive access to the new and largely unwanted territory of 28-30mc.

Many amateurs at the time complained about the loss of older frequencies and that the League representatives had dropped the ball. In light of the times, and in view of the commercial feeding-frenzy for new broadcasting allotments, they fared very well.

1929 Band Plan - QST Jan '28 Courtesy: http://www.arrl.org/

With the steady growth of Solar Cycle 17 over the next decade, the exploration of 10m would lead to significant progress in the field of transmitters, receivers, antennas and propagation, driving experimenters to push the "state of technical development" in all four areas. It was, in hindsight, possibly the greatest gift of 1929.

But it wasn't just frequency assignments that were changing...1929 operators would need to change their crummy old operating habits as well! ....(cont'd)


Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

W6BAM - 1929 Compliant. Courtesy : N7RK

The men and women of the 1927 Washington Conference had produced a huge volume of new rules for radio broadcasting, signed by delegates from 72 countries. Each country was left to implement the new rules as they desired. Most of the rules were to take effect as of January 1st 1929. There was no turning back now.

It wasn't long before the ARRL shifted its focus to the new days ahead and seemingly, every issue of QST leading up to the 1929 implementation date, addressed the topic. It is of interest to see how the ARRL interpreted the new rules and developed a strategy to meet the requirements. Many of the rules were broad enough to allow for varied interpretations, all of which could be compliant. In hindsight it seems they made a very good choice on the best way to tackle the present mess on the ham bands...to inform every ham possible of his or her responsibilities for meeting the coming challenge and to show them how.

As far as amateur 'experimental' radio was concerned, the delegates addressed several critical points...in fact, the very recognition of amateur radio itself was a significant step forward for hams worldwide:

"Article 1, {16} the term "private experimental station" means -- (2) a station used by an "amateur," that is, by a duly authorised person interested in radio technique solely with a personal aim and without pecuniary interest."

Although not as big an issue in North America, where governments had long-supported ham radio, for many countries it would mean operational status would now be recognized. The ARRL's campaign to convince hams that their stations must be 'DX-ready' was now given some teeth. Thus began the campaign to convince hams that their 1928 junk must go:

"...for the great average of American amateur stations...it is not a reassuring spectacle in view of next year's requirements. We seriously doubt if as many as one-half of one percent of the active stations to-day are good enough to offer their operators any reasonable chance of success in international work next year. The rest, we think, will have to be rebuilt....floppy waves, bum notes, crawling frequencies, too-big condensers, sloppy practices, haywire assembly, and lack of precision measurements...These must go.. " [QST Editorial,  May, 1928]

It sounds alarmingly descriptive of our annual BK Party...but proclaiming that 99.5% of U.S. amateurs would need to rebuild was surely a bold statement and one, as time went on, was gradually toned-down in QST editorials. 

Addressing the 'haywire assembly' issue, articles soon appeared showing better construction practices for earlier familiar designs, the self-excited favorites.

Courtesy: WØVLZ

One landmark article by Ross Hull in August, 1928, set the tone for what was coming. In his "Overhauling the Transmitter for 1929" Hull proved that the favored Hartley, or any other self-excited oscillator, could be built to 1929 standards with a series of elaborate tests and measurements. The article highlights construction of what has become a favorite project to this day, the "Hull Hartley Oscillator". The genius of  Hull's design is shown here in an exacting reproduction by Niel, WØVLZ who posts an equally fascinating description of the project here.

Read with caution as you will likely be tempted to begin the parts-search for you own version soon after. It was Niel's superb series of videos that inspired my interest in 1929 construction.
 

Hull's 1929 MOPA. Courtesy: http://www.arrl.org/

The apparently never-resting Hull continued the following month with two more construction articles, the first one being "The Oscillator-Amplifier Transmitter / A Practical Study of Its Suitability for 1929 Operation". Once again, in exacting detail, he shows the masses how to construct a suitable MOPA design, calling it "a real 1929 transmitter".

Hull's High-Powered 1929 Self-Excited Transmitter. Courtesy: http://www.arrl.org/

The second article in the issue, "Adapting Medium and High-Powered Self-Excited Transmitters for 1929 Service / Some Design, Constructional and Tuning Considerations Involved", was described by Hull... 


"For a week or more, the Laboratory was filled with odors of burning bakelite, hard rubber and wood, and at times whiffs of smoke drifted lazily across the tables -- but in the end our pulse had returned to normal, for we had found that even 250-watt self-excited transmitters can be made to behave in a 1929 manner with just the same treatment we had given the low-powered set".

As noted earlier, it was of interest to see how the men at ARRL interpreted the new rules to such an extent as to call for a complete overhaul of transmitter construction. The Washington delegation had only provided a broad hint as to what must be done regarding stability and spectral purity, while still craftily ensuring that transmitters would always be required to remain "state of the art":


"Article 5, {18} (3) ..the frequency of the waves emitted must be as constant and as free from harmonics as the state of technical development permits"


The ARRL took this opportunity to push the "state of technical development" as it concerned amateur radio. Hull defined the requirements for a 1929 signal as:

"...must be entirely within the limits of the band....its frequency 'flutter' due to irregularities of plate supply must not exceed about 1/30 of 1% (approximately 250 cycles at 40 meters). In addition, the frequency of the signal must be relatively constant. The signal must not 'shimmy' as the antenna vibrates, it should not 'chirp' as it is keyed, nor can it "creep" appreciably as...the tube heats. In short, the frequency of the first dot transmitted should be within 1/10 of 1% (about 750 cycles at 40 meters) of the hundredth dot, even if the plate has reddened...or the voltage drifted. At the end of a few hours of operation the frequency should not have strayed much further." [QST August, 1928]


By today's standards, not a tall order, but in 1928, there was much to be done.

With the deadline fast-approaching, the vigorous campaign to drag hams out of the cesspool of clicks, harmonics, wide signals, raw AC and into the promised land had begun....lead mainly by the hands of George Grammer, Ross Hull, James Lamb, Robert Kruse and Beverly Dudley, nirvana was just over the horizon and surely could be reached .....but only if they rebuilt their 1928 'heaps'.  (cont'd)


Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].