AmateurRadio.com

we are celebrating Father’s Day tomorrow.  So from W2LJ to all my Ham friends around the world who are dads – Happy Father’s Day!

Being a dad has come a long way from what it was when I was a kid.  Not to say that my Dad wasn’t involved, he was.  But back in the day, Dad’s primary role was “The Provider”.  He put in his time at work and when he came home, Mom made sure we didn’t bug him too much!  He did his share of chores (yardwork and such) but Mom always made sure he got a chance to unwind and relax at the end of the day.

Today, I find myself way more involved with my kids, than my Dad was ever involved with me.  This IS NOT a complaint, as I wouldn’t have it any other way – but it can be exhausting, especially when a school project or a game or whatever comes up after a long, hard day at work.

But you know what? This is exactly what I signed up for when I said, “I do”.  My kids are the apples of my eye and I don’t ever want to go back to the life I had before they came.  Not to say that it was bad, as it wasn’t; but the two of them have made life so much better.

Getting back to radio, that double CME that was foretold by Spaceweather.com didn’t seem to really put any damper on the bands.  After a multitude of chores were completed, I got to relax at the end of the day down in the shack.  I worked David MI0VKO in Northern Ireland on 17 Meters and on 30 Meters,  had a very nice rag chew with Jeff, K8CQ who lives down on St. Simons Island, GA.  The KX3 continues to impress, especially its ability to really dig super weak signals out of the background.

I did something the other day with it that really surprised me.  And it was something very simple.  I plugged in ear buds instead of using the internal speaker.  Wow!  The difference was amazing.  I can only liken it to listening to a broadcast radio in the “old days” and switching from AM to FM. The change in fidelity and richness of the audio is remarkable.  I’ve never experienced this with any other rig, including my K1 and K2.  Eric and Wayne HAVE hit a home run here, and I’m tempted to say it was a Grand Slam.

Again, to all of you who are dads out there – Happy Father’s Day!  And of course, my prayers go out to all the Dads who have gone before us and can’t be with us tomorrow.

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

tonight, because according to Ron WB3AAL and a post he made to the Polar Bear reflector, band conditions might turn into a mess this weekend:

Space Weather News for June 14, 2012
 http://spaceweather.com 

DOUBLE CME: Active sunspot AR1504 is facing Earth and hurling coronal mass ejections (CMEs) in our direction. A fast-moving CME that left the sun on June 14th is expected to scoop up another CME already en route and deliver a double-blow to Earth’s magnetic field on June 16th. Weak-to-moderate geomagnetic storms are possible when the clouds arrive. Check http://spaceweather.com for images and updates.

Tonight, band conditions are nice and I am having a blast.  I had a very brief QSO with TJ W0EA and this ended up being my first KX3 to KX3 QSO.  I am also hearing a lot of European stations and am able to work quite a few.  But this just goes to show you ………..

My QSO with TJ was very brief because my signal to him was exceptionally crappy.  I looked down and realized that I was still on the EDZ for our QSO.  After signing with him, I switched over to the Butternut, called CQ again and got a 559 from OM7DX in the Slovak Republic.

The other night was a first for me.  I heard my very first VU station – ever!  For whatever reason, I have never even heard a station from India before.  Hearing one the other night was an exciting first for me.

Ah, yes …. it’s Friday night, the work week is done, the weather is nice and I get to go on the radio.  Great way to start Father’s Day weekend!

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

I kept the radio tuned to 20 Meters for the evening and had a variety of QSOs.

The first was with CO6RD, Reynaldo in Cuba.  This wasn’t a long QSO as Reynaldo was working “contest style” racking up the QSOs. But I did get him on the first shot, even though a lot of stations were calling.

Next up was a busted QSO with Mike AA6WQ, who was operating from TN.  We got through the QSO basics, only to have the band pull the rug out from under us.  One minute we were going at it, next minute we couldn’t hear each other anymore. I guess that’s the way the cookie crumbles, sometimes.

With two short QSOs under my belt, I was thinking that might be how the evening was going to go. But my fears turned to be for nothing as the next QSO was an almost hour long rag chew with Paul W4KLY in Stone Moutnain, GA.  This was an Elecraft to Elecraft QSO.  Paul was using his K1 and (of course) I was on the KX3.  QSB had a role to play; but in all honesty, when the band was not in fade mode,  our signals were 599 both ways.  We talked about rigs, portable ops and antennas and summer vacation plans.  It was very enjoyable and it is truly amazing to see how fast an hour can go by on you when you’re having fun.

The last QSO for the night was with Rumi LZ2RS in Bulgaria.  He was calling “CQ QRP” and I was lucky enough to be heard on my first call.  Rumi was at 5 Watts; but what really made the QSO was his Yagi at 12 meters up, pointed my way.  I was on the 88′ EDZ pumping out 5 Watts from my end also.  Signals were a legitimate 559.

The bands have been so good lately!  Not the best I’ve ever witnessed; but after the past few pitiful years, this is like Heaven (comparatively).  I sure hope it stays this way for a while and doesn’t take a fast dive off a cliff into oblivion.

On another note, this new 9 cell battery that I got for the Acer is fantastic!  I got it Monday and attached it to the netbook for charging.  I’ve used it Tuesday, Wednesday, and tonight – about two to three hours per night.  The indicator says it still has about another two hours left in it.  Of course, I have Windows set for “Max Battery Life” through the control panel, but even so, this is way outlasting the old battery.  That one gave me about two hours computer time, tops.  This battery should be able to get me through a four hour sprint (outdoors) without breaking a sweat.

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

has been very good the past few days.  I have worked a lot of European stations the past couple of days, and I have taken to listening for Special Event stations for the European Football Championships.

These stations are on the air from June 1st to July 5th.  So far, the few that I have contacted, from the Ukraine and Poland have been superb ops with great ears!  If you want to find out more about this program, you can visit:

http://sq2rh.idsl.pl/efc/index_en.php

The KX3 continues to impress.  Except for not being able to connect two antennas, like I can on my K2, it has all the features my K2 has (plus many more) in a much smaller footprint.  And the smaller footprint is not annoying, and I am a fudge fingered kind of guy.  The buttons have multi-functions, but not so many levels that it is frustrating.

I like having 6 Meter capability, which I have never had before.  I like the feature where the KX3 will auto zero beat the desired CW signal that you want to work.  The APF feature – Audio Peak Frequency really helps dig out the weak signals.  I can easily hear stations that cannot hear me, so I really, really have to get used to the fact that just because I can hear them, they might not be able to hear me, with me at only 5 Watts.

There’s more to be discovered, I am sure. I still have to come into the 21st century and hook up the radio to my computer and at least give computer control a try.  Up till now, I have been a “twirl the dial” kind if guy.  I don’t anticipate that changing really; but I’d like to give it a try, anyway.

One thing I am not too thrilled with is the weighting of the CW.  To my ear, the dits and dahs sound a little truncated, even with the weighting turned to the max.  Several folks have also mentioned this on the KX3 reflector and Wayne from Elecraft has agreed.  Once he gets back from a well deserved vacation later this month, he is going to incorporate a fix in an upcoming firmware update.

After watching W0EA’s video about the Lowepro Traveler 150, I went out to Wal-Mart and picked one up at a great price.  I am going to see how everything fits in, later this week, to start getting ready for our Lake George summer sojourn.  Maybe I’ll do my own video and post it here.

That’s it for now – going to head on down the shack and see who I might be able to work.

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

I’ve had in my possession my new Elecraft KX3 for over  a month.  I’ve watched and waited and watched some more.  I’ve seen many of our fellow hams post pictures and such on the various reflectors about things that worked and things that didn’t work.  Even I speculated on how an existing case would work using a short 2×4.  I later realized I hadn’t taken into account the knobs with my 2×4 prototype.  While the bag which works fine for my 817 does work, I wanted something a little more specific for the KX3. 

My primary selection criteria was maximum protection.  I really didn’t care how many other accessories I could cram into the case….I wanted something that was crush proof and water proof.  In most circumstances, the KX3 case would always be carried inside the backpack I use for SOTA activations.  I carry a smaller pouch which will hold the microphone, power cable etc. 

While I would have gladly spent the $$ for a Pelican case, the size wasn’t right for my application.  Again, I wanted something to protect the KX3…but I didn’t want the added bulk and weight.  I also found a few, what I’ll call Pelican like models, but in the end they simply didn’t make the cut.

What I finally decided to purchase was the SIGG Aluminum Survival Kit Box.  The large size measures 9.0” x 5.7” x 3.0”.  The SIGG Aluminum Box is both durable and leak proof, so my two basic requirements are fulfilled.  The lid locks in to place with two latches on each side and has a rubber gasket to keep moisture and dust out.  Thanks to both Steve, wGØAT and Guy, N7UN for the idea.

While the inside of the box is just simply aluminum (no padding), working in the IT field does have its privileges.  I receive weekly shipments of computers, servers and other computer hardware gadgets.  I have a variety of different foam bits and pieces which will work perfectly to provide a nice comfortable nest for my KX3 to sit in. 

Right now I’m still in basement construction mode.  I start painting this weekend and there just is no time for SOTA activations.  But I’m staying busy with conducting presentations to both local clubs and via remote connections to clubs outside the area.  I’ll update once I have all the foam padding work completed in the new KX3 case.

Until then…

73 de KDØBIK

Want to see a KX3 build from start to finish?  TJ, W0EA treated us to live video on USTREAM while he built his:

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/23127348

If you have a kit on order and have the time, I would really advise watching this (Hint: Start viewing at about the 8:00 minute mark).  Looking at stills (like I’ve posted) is one thing.  Watching the build being done before your very eyes (in real time) is just priceless.

Even though mine is built, I also learned a thing or two.  TJ mentioned that there was a Builder Advisory note that I hadn’t seen anywhere. It concerns the speaker grill and the distortion that can occur if it is installed.  I was experiencing that distortion; so as a result of listening to TJ, I took it out. The unit sounds much better now.

I still haven’t done the roofing filter alignment. maybe tomorrow night as I have been way busy.  But I have found some time to get in a QSO every day for the past few days.  I worked EM2012UA tonight, which is a special event station for the 2012 European Football Championships. Five watts to the Butternut vertical is still getting my signal heard worldwide.

By the way, conditions on 20 Meters were superb tonight.  The noise floor was about S1 and I heard so many European and Caribbean stations up and down the band – it was amazing (especially the fact that it was around 02:30 UTC – recently the band has been dead by then).  The fact that the sun spot number is 154 is a good thing.  Maybe Venus imparted some magic as she crossed the face of the sun yesterday?  Who knows?  If conditions like these keep up for a while, I think we’ll all be happy.

I am becoming more and more familiar with the radio and quite honestly, it isn’t as complicated as I initially thought it would be.  The controls are well labeled and are pretty intuitive and easy to get the hang of.

The bait’s been taken; but the hook hasn’t quite set yet, but this fishy really wants a K3 now.

I’ve been getting a lot of spam comments over the past week or so.  Been averaging about 20 a day since I took the Captcha code thingy off.  I apologize for keeping the comments on moderation; but if I didn’t I’d be overrun by spam.  So if you make a comment and don’t see it for a while, it’s nothing personal – just haven’t gotten to allowing them through.

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

It rained and thunder stormed here today, on and off, in fits and starts. That prevented me from doing the yard work that I was planning to accomplish – boo hoo!  🙂

So I spent some time on the air, getting used to the new radio.  Fate would have it that band conditions would be on the less than optimal (read that as: crappy) side today.  But I did manage some QSOs both foreign and domestic.  Hungary, Italy, and England were successfully worked.  The domestic QSOs were brief QSO Party contacts for the most part.  They let me know that I was getting out and being heard; but not very satisfying.

I did have another short QSO with Terry W9UX last night on 30 Meters.  I was calling CQ and he answered me and asked, “Larry, is that your new KX3?”.  Obviously, Terry is a regular reader of this blog.  I answered him that yes, it was and he was my first “real” QSO – something other than “UR 599 TNX QRZ?”

I’ll have to send him my QSL card – the funny thing is that my QSL cards have the image of my K1 on them.  I still have a bunch, so I am not going to discard these just because of that. It’s still QRP, which is what the idea behind the card is supposed to be about.

The KX3 is really cool and I’m getting used to it rather quickly. It has really great features like the APF or Audio Peaking Filter that will really help to dig a weak CW signal buried in the noise. I like being able to decode RTTY and watch it scroll at the bottom of the LCD display.  I also like the CW Tuning Aid, where you tap a button and the KX3 automatically zero beats the person you’re trying to work.

As the radio is configured now, as a strictly QRP radio, I cannot hook up two antennas like I can on the K2,  and I use that feature a lot to switch back and forth between the Butternut and the wire. I suppose I could always go back to using a mechanical manual coax switch; but by going that route, I would be incurring some signal loss, and I would rather not do that.

There is a button on the KX3 that will allow you to switch between two antennas, but that is enabled only when  the 100 Watt autotuner is used.  As of right now, I have no plans to make this a QRO radio, so the main shack radio will be the K2, unless a K3 should come waltzing into my life for some unforeseen reason.

The other thing that I am looking forward to in the near future is making some contacts on 6 Meters, which I have never done in the 34 years that I have been a Ham.  This is the first radio that I have ever owned that is 6 Meter capable.  The other thing I want to do is hook this netbook up the the KX3, just to see how Ham Radio Deluxe interfaces with it.  I never installed the RS232 option in the K2, so I was never able to have rig control until now, either.

Lots to look forward to!

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