AmateurRadio.com

Courtesy: https://www.google.ca/maps/

Propagation to Alaska was much better than usual this morning. A two-minute Perseus recording at 1300z, about 45 minutes before my local dawn, revealed some excellent signals. Unlike many of the beacons in northern Canada, most of the Alaskan NDBs are not purposed for long-range use and run the standard 25 watts into 'T' or short loaded vertical antennas located right near the runway.

09/09/14 1300 529 SQM Level Island AK CO36

Highlighting the morning was my first "new catch" from Alaska in several years - 'SMA' at St. Mary's Lake on 230kHz. It has been on my morning check list for many many years but only today did it decide to reveal itself!

09/09/14 1300 230 SMA St. Mary's AK AP82 USB 231.085 no sign of a LSB

Reported to be running 70 watts, this particular beacon has never been reported to the RNA NDB list nor even heard by those listening in Alaska. I suspect either a very tough path or a system in need of a tune- up. A Google Map view appears to show a single vertical antenna but it may be one end of a 'T' support.

Courtesy: https://www.google.ca/maps/

Hopefully conditions will continue to improve as there are still a few up there that have yet to be logged!
Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at ve7sl@shaw.ca.

Drain (top) vs Gate (lower) on testbed Class-E GW3UEP TX

I've just completed the Muppet-styled printed circuit version of my previously breadboarded GW3UEP 630m transmitter. The earlier version was built "ugly style" in order to optimize part values and measure circuit parameters.

Testbed (Ugly-Style)

The "ugly version" performed well at 12V and during overnight beacon testing was aurally copied as far east as Kansas. Although the final version has yet to be mounted on its small 19" rack panel, along with a meter to monitor final amplifier drain current, all indications show that it too works well.

Final Version (Muppet-Style)

This version, based on the GW3UEP design, has a few small changes, the main one being the addition of a second parallel-connected FET ....described in an earlier blog.

Running the TX at 12.8VDC on the drain(s) at 2.3A produces an input power of 29W. The measured power out, after the LPF, is 23W into a 50 ohm load. This represents an efficiency of 80%. When run in the normal speed CW mode, the FETs run cool enough that they would probably not even need a heatsink but if run in any of the QRSS (long keydown periods) modes, would certainly benefit from  heatsinking.

Running the TX at a higher voltage of 22.6VDC (on the amplifier only) yields a current of 4A for an input of 90W. Measured output power is 71W for an efficiency of 79%.

Heatsinking would be required at this power level, even for normal speed CW but the finals seem to run just slightly warm. A larger heatsink or possibly a small fan as well would be required for any QRSS CW modes.

I suspect that the efficiency could be further improved yet with very fine tweaking of the output circuit L/C network but the extra few watts gained would not be significant.

At either power level, this easy-to-build transmitter would make a great "first 630m transmitter" for anyone wanting to get started on our new band.

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

Series Seven Episode Eighteen of the ICQ Amateur / Ham Radio Podcast has been released. The latest news, Martin (M1MRB & W9ICQ) and Colin (M6BOY) the history of Amateur Radio Exam passes and Martin (M1MRB & W9ICQ) interviews Bill Meara N2CQR.

• Sotabeam End Fed Tuner Kit
• Schedule for RSGB Convention released
• The first Greek microsatellite is a fact!
• Yaesu FT-991 KW/50/144/430 MHz Transceiver
• Southend & District Amateur Radio Special Event
• New Zealand's Prohibited Equipment Notice updated
• Western Australia gets Summits on the Air
• 90th Anniversary of first UK-NZ contact

Colin Butler, M6BOY, is the host of the ICQ Podcast, a weekly radio show about Amateur Radio. Contact him at info@icqpodcast.com.

Series Seven Episode Eighteen of the ICQ Amateur / Ham Radio Podcast has been released. The latest news, Martin (M1MRB & W9ICQ) and Colin (M6BOY) the history of Amateur Radio Exam passes and Martin (M1MRB & W9ICQ) interviews Bill Meara N2CQR.

• Sotabeam End Fed Tuner Kit
• Schedule for RSGB Convention released
• The first Greek microsatellite is a fact!
• Yaesu FT-991 KW/50/144/430 MHz Transceiver
• Southend & District Amateur Radio Special Event
• New Zealand's Prohibited Equipment Notice updated
• Western Australia gets Summits on the Air
• 90th Anniversary of first UK-NZ contact

Colin Butler, M6BOY, is the host of the ICQ Podcast, a weekly radio show about Amateur Radio. Contact him at info@icqpodcast.com.

This was designed to be printed on 4X6 Glossy stock and then laminated. You can jam in your portable ops bag, in case you're always forgetting the US QRP frequencies like I do.


Feel free to save the JPG as an image on your own computer and print it out, if you like. I also have it as a doc file if you'd like to edit to suit your needs. An e-mail request will get it sent to you.

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 w2lj@arrl.net.

How did I miss this?  I've had my September QST for over a week now (we Lifemembers seem to be the last to receive our QSTs!), and I must confess .... today was the first time I've given it a leaf through.  I was surprised and gladdened to read a really nice op-ed piece by good friend Jim W1PID on page 101.

Jim shared his thoughts on the changing face of Amateur Radio in celebration of the ARRL's 100th anniversary, but yet focused on the things that remain the same through the changes. The joy, the excitement, the satisfaction, the fun.

Good article, Jim and I'm glad the Newington Bunch had the good sense to publish it!

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 w2lj@arrl.net.

Has anyone any idea of the likely UK price of this new radio?

It would be excellent if they released one of the low powered versions (normally available in Japan) for UK and Europe too. I think the lower powers are for some Japanese licence classes? It is a lower powered version I quite fancy. 10W or 30W max.

My FT817 units have been excellent buys as have the VX1 and VX2 handhelds. You could call me a Yaesu fan.

I want to concentrate on operating for the next few years. My stroke currently gives me little choice as building and real field experimentation are out of the question, sadly, for a while.

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