Best wishes to you Anthony...
I still might move to your island some day  :)

Gil.

What are you guys thoughts about tube rigs for prepping?

I have a Gonset Communicator III 6m AM transceiver, and this thing is built like a tank. Still works just fine even though it was built in the 50s. I don't think it would be damaged by an EMP. It doesn't mind a high SWR too much either.. Of course it is a base only option. Within a group or family, for local communications, it would work just fine. More private then CB. There is nobody on the lower portion of 6m in AM! I am not worried about leaving out 24/7. Most of my other radios (tiny CW QRP rigs) live in a metal box when not in use. You only need a tech. license to use it..

And what can I say, it is fun and warms up the room nicely in the winter! (photo of the radio on the Nets forum).

Gil.

The Gonset is up and running! So, if by any chance anyone in Sarasota Florida reads this and has 6m AM capability, I am ready for a test on 50.400.

Gil.

I'm not there yet! Just one plateau passed and there will be others. So far I am up to about 100 QSOs in Morse, in 2-1/2 months of being on the air (only 3 in SSB I think..). It is motivational though, when progress so far has been extremely slow. It does go to show that sticking with it pays off...

When I can head copy 20wpm, I will have achieved my goal..

Gil.

It only took 4-1/2 months  :-[
Glad it finally paid off though.

Gil.

Something weird happened today while chatting with Ray on 17m. I found myself staring at the trees through the window as I was writing down; without seeing dots and dashes! For the most part... It was sort of an automatic writing. I had no idea what I had put down, but reading it later, it was perfect copy! Before I had to strain my brain to decode, and today, it just happened  ;D There is still the odd letter I miss and it messes me up, but there was definitely a difference in processing today. I hope it will still be there tomorrow!

It is still very different from head copy though, because I do not even know which letters I'm writing, much less words.. Though sometimes a commonly used short word does pop in my head, like "test" or "rst" or "the," usually common four letter words and less.

Something to be happy about today. It's taking long enough  ::) Ya'll have a good one  :)

Gil.

Tonight, Russia on 6W: 5900 miles!

Feeding:

Here it is with a size reference. I'm 6'2"  ;)

Thanks Jonas! I had missed the x.073 freqs. I have yet to hear anyone mentioning TAPRN... Sometimes I listen to 7242 at night, but so far nothing, and it is too close to some AM broadcast station for me, so there is always some interference...

Have a great week-end,

Gil.

Interesting. I have seen these before.. What I would like to see if antennas hidden in wooden furniture.. A friend of mine has a furniture manufacturing business, and I wonder if there would be a market...

Gil.

I could definitely put it on the deck outside, second floor, which runs North/South. Unfortunately, it does not tune on 20m  :( The capacitor I am using has a minimum capacitance of 9pf (9-110fp) and it might not be low enough. I get 5:1 SWR minimum. Fortunately, I have another toroid core and a 5-37pf air variable capacitor, so all I need now is two 5' lengths of tube and eight elbows  ;)

Gil.

Not yet, but it radiates at all angles from the horizon to vertical, so good for low angle DX AND NVIS! Without changing anything! We can test it anytime you'd like :-)

Some numbers (14W in):

14.06MHz:
Antenna efficiency: 94% (-0.3 dB below 100%)
Antenna bandwidth: 85.9 kHz
Tuning Capacitance: 24 pF
Capacitor voltage: 1,045 volts RMS
Resonant circulating current: 2.19 A

10.106MHz:
Antenna efficiency: 83% (-0.8 dB below 100%)
Antenna bandwidth: 26.0 kHz
Tuning Capacitance: 46 pF
Capacitor voltage: 1,367 volts RMS
Resonant circulating current: 3.99 A

7.03MHz:
Antenna efficiency: 58% (-2.4 dB below 100%)
Antenna bandwidth: 8.74 kHz
Tuning Capacitance: 95 pF
Capacitor voltage: 1,639 volts RMS
Resonant circulating current: 6.87 A

I still have one capacitor and a a FT-240-31 toroid... Hum... What should I do? A 3ft diameter 15/17/20m loop!

Gil.

The magnetic loop is up! I went to Home Depot today and bought four 5' lengths of 3.4" copper tubing, as well as eight 45deg elbows. It took me a few hours but it works! One thousand mile QSO with a RST of 559 tonight! The toroid core takes four turns of 14ga wire for best SWR, which varies between 1.2:1 to 2:1. the tunig is extremely touchy. I wish I could have afforded a multi-turn variable capacitor.. The loop has a 6ft. diameter. I put a coupling on the bottom, so it can be disassembled in two pieces. The capacitor comes off too. I can change polarization simply by putting it on it's side. It does seem less noisy than my verticals. I haven't tried it on 20m, only 40 and 30. The band isn't great tonight, but the first test is a success!

Gil.

Our last contact today: Using my $30 DC20B from http://qrpkits.com. 800+miles on 500mW on 14060. SSB with 12W was barely usable.

Gil.

Getting a Ham license is certainly a must. $15 for ten years, one would be unwise not to get it. The tech exam is EXTREMELY EASY. It gives you CW on 40 and 80m as well! $15 license + $60 radio + $50 paddles, and you're on the air transcontinental for $125! CB is great, and also something I have, but the band isn't open that often. A 2m handheld beats an FRS radio any day.

About Morse code... Imagine the SHTF, and you're on your HF radio trying to find anyone. You can't hear anybody because the band isn't quite open or few hams are still operating (EMP), but you hear a faint CW signal, quite readable. You have no idea what the guy is saying... Head-banging frustration... It would probably be me on the other end  :o

If I owned land and a house, I would also look into field telephones.. Wired from the house to the perimeter.. No point broadcasting when you don't have to.

The main thing a radio operator must learn, Ham or CB, is about antennas, radiation patterns, band characteristics and SWR. Not that much, but indeed, when TSHTF, if you haven't thought about it, you're toast. There won't be any Internet for you to Google it.

By the way, I am selling my Elecraft K2 to buy a KX3.. It is more portable, 160 to 6m, and includes a PSK31/RTTY coder/decoder. You send with the Morse paddle! There is a 2m module in the works too.

Have a great day,

Gil.