There hasn't been any activity on the forum for 4 days, apparently we need a new topic, so..................
What have you been doing on the air lately? Between all the snow we've been getting which creates overtime for me and my anniversary last weekend, I haven't been doing much at all. In fact Wes and I haven't had a sked in 4 or 5 days. Hopefully you all have had better luck.
Discuss, and..................GO!
finally got time to install some coils another ham made for my 40/80 inverted v dipole. the cold and snow has kept me at bay though
I wasted some time hunting countries by CW. I had several 599/73 QSOs with DX countries. I had to get the manual and figure out how to operate the radio split since 2 of them were operating "up".
I was tuning around and heard a prefix I didn't recognize but after the QSO I found it was Cuba! I had no idea the iron curtain had lifted that much, but there he was on qrz.com just like a ham from a free country.
Quote from: cockpitbob on February 24, 2014, 10:31:09 PM
I wasted some time hunting countries by CW. I had several 599/73 QSOs with DX countries. I had to get the manual and figure out how to operate the radio split since 2 of them were operating "up".
I was tuning around and heard a prefix I didn't recognize but after the QSO I found it was Cuba! I had no idea the iron curtain had lifted that much, but there he was on qrz.com just like a ham from a free country.
Cuba is pretty common DX. Not to diminish your accomplishment though, it's still a pretty cool contact.
Speaking of Cuba, if any of you guys are ARRL members and are working the Centennial QSO Challenge, there is going to be a W1AW station operating on Gitmo starting Wednesday thru March 4th.
If you're on Goggle+ there is a community there called RaDAR (RApid Deployment Amateur Radio) that is having it's monthly on air link-up this Saturday from 10:00 - 12:00 CST.
Rich, thanks for the heads-up on Gitmo. I need Morse practice but my family life makes me unreliable for skeds so I've started chasing DX and the W1AW portable ops. Gitmo will be a nice one.
Yeah, I was cruising around Saturday on 15, 17 & 20m and caught W1AW/4 twice and /8 once purely by accident. I wanna bag the Gitmo one just to say I got it.
Not to hijack the topic or anything; but do you guys have like a favorite freq. you hover around and wait for people to roll up or you cruise the bands?
I fall back to what I did in the Army. I was in signal intel. I would be given a frequency range to told to listen in and report on what was heard. I'd start at one end of the band and just roll the dial to the other end. When I'd hit a signal I'd stop and listen to it. If it was something I needed to pay attention to I would. If it was the East German police talking about some commissar going to see his mistress I'd move on.
Just curious how you guys operate.
Hello,
I am sometimes late mornings on 14060 and evenings in 7030, but not every day...
Gil.
I'm normally only on the air on the weekends. Got too much going on in the evenings. I'm still exploring a lot too mostly in the 15 - 20m bands.
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When I'm hunting CW DX it seems that 10M & 15M are very popular during the day. That's where I've had most of my DX QSOs.
I am on 14.259 +- monday through fridays at 1530 Central time talking to some friends back in Pennsylvania. I listen to ALEX JONES (the wild man) on 12.160 Mhz daily. :)
Otherwise I listen to 3843 SSB and sometimes 1.945 Mhz at night and 3913 to some locals (tri state area stations). I tend to monitor 7030 for QRP stations. I listen for Wes and Chris on 3534 CW in the evenings. I used to get in often on 1.903 Mhz with some Minnesota guys on the top band, but they got boring. Maybe it is just me that got boring :)
I work Wes on 7179.5 LSSB often when he is Net Control for a daily net.
I hop all over the bands, RHI, but would be glad to setup something with you. Wes and Chris have been trying to get something going for months to QSO prep members. I like 18 Mhz for getting away from contesters on weekends. 18 Mhz has been very nice and low noise. Easy to work nice sigs from all over da world. I have not fixed freq on 18 Mhz. I monitor local repeaters and 52 simplex and monitor a CB channel for local neighbors.
When not otherwise occupied, I am outside with the dogs howling at the moon or plowing snow. :(
NN0AA
I checked the batteries, does that count.
With this drought we are in out here I've been busy planning the garden and getting with my neighbors on there gardens. We split up who grows what that way we all don't end up with tons of the same stuff. We trade back and forth. And can up some of the excess. Our well should be deep enough to get through this thing.
Quote from: Joe on February 25, 2014, 08:59:02 PM
I checked the batteries, does that count.
With this drought we are in out here I've been busy planning the garden and getting with my neighbors on there gardens. We split up who grows what that way we all don't end up with tons of the same stuff. We trade back and forth. And can up some of the excess. Our well should be deep enough to get through this thing.
great to hear. what a great practice
The Guantanamo station had to get off the air because they were caught using an illegal antenna.
(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRCq8S4i9HdG4MpGdzxdaMKllvlHbRClX_CNd1A1RxsQcotYbRG-g)
Random wire?! What's wrong with that?! ;)
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Quote from: cockpitbob on February 25, 2014, 08:42:31 AM
Rich, thanks for the heads-up on Gitmo. I need Morse practice but my family life makes me unreliable for skeds so I've started chasing DX and the W1AW portable ops. Gitmo will be a nice one.
I just found W1AW/KG4 on a spotter net at 18.113 USB (17m)...he is running split TX at 18.116 and RX at 18.113. If any of you guys are on the air and wanna bag 'em unleash the hounds!!
New to HF and in the last few days I got my vertical up and made contacts in Poland and France on 10m and W1AW/7 in Washington state. Can't remember off hand what band that was on.
Good job! I tried to get W1AW/7; but it's sleeting out here in north Texas and I'm not that dedicated! 70s yesterday...20s with sleet today! :(
I bought 3 old keys for $10 each at an antique shop: a Speed-X, a Western Union Tel Co. and a McElroy teardrop Stream Key. They were all pretty rough, but are cleaning up nicely. I started with the McElroy, tore it apart and used an old biker trick on the chrome: a stainless steel kitchen scrubber will take off heavy rust but not scratch or destroy the chrome. I had to go out to the shop and dig around through my saddlebags to find one, but it worked like a charm. I'll probably start the other keys this week sometime.
All 3. Not bad for $30 total
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/105252/keysrp1.jpg)
The base of the McElroy. Not looking so great
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/105252/keysrp2.jpg)
But, it cleaned up nicely!
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/105252/keysrp3.jpg)
What's everyone up to?
OK, I'll break the silence.
Some time ago I scored a KX1 with all the bells and whistles. It looks beautifully built but I'm a perfectionist and wanted to make sure it was 100% correct and up to the latest revision. So it came all apart. It had the wrong number of turns on an inductor, a miss-wire on the 80/30 module, inductor wires threatening to rub through on the 80/30 module, was way out of alighment and covered in a thick layer of flux. Just a few more things and it goes back together :-)
Next, building the MTR2 :-) :-) :-)
I haven't turned my radios on in a long time. Storms made me unplug my antennas and once the weather turned nice again, it was time to work. So I've been cutting wood, hauling lumber fur a cabin/shed and keeping the weeds under control on our land in the country. That'll be my life this summer & fall. Once colder weather comes I'll spend more time on the radio. Gotta make hay while the sun shines!
So long, and thanks for all the fish.
Quote from: cockpitbob on May 27, 2014, 08:27:09 AM
What's everyone up to?
OK, I'll break the silence.
Some time ago I scored a KX1 with all the bells and whistles. It looks beautifully built but I'm a perfectionist and wanted to make sure it was 100% correct and up to the latest revision. So it came all apart. It had the wrong number of turns on an inductor, a miss-wire on the 80/30 module, inductor wires threatening to rub through on the 80/30 module, was way out of alighment and covered in a thick layer of flux. Just a few more things and it goes back together :-)
Next, building the MTR2 :-) :-) :-)
That's why I've always been leery of buying someone else's kit, I know the quality of work I do, I have no idea if the other guy does quality work or not. Sounds like you're getting all back in good shape though.
As for me, other than Wes and mines nightly sked I haven't been doing much in the way of radio, most of my free time lately is taken up by flying lessons.
Quote from: KK0G on May 27, 2014, 11:18:38 AM
That's why I've always been leery of buying someone else's kit, I know the quality of work I do, I have no idea if the other guy does quality work or not. Sounds like you're getting all back in good shape though.
As for me, other than Wes and mines nightly sked I haven't been doing much in the way of radio, most of my free time lately is taken up by flying lessons.
Yeah, I knew I was taking a chance buying a used kit, but it was much cheaper than the kit and though I love building, I'm too short on time these days. I think I got lucky with this one. The general workmanship is very good. Just a few minor issues that didn't take much time to fix.
Mmmmm, flying lessons. I've been inactive for about 10 years now, but have 1,100hrs of VFR mostly in cloth and tailwheel planes, much of it camping under the wing at fly-ins or long trips. I really miss that.
Just remember, if it flys, floats or f***s, it's cheaper to rent.
Quote from: cockpitbob on May 27, 2014, 11:54:29 AM
Mmmmm, flying lessons. I've been inactive for about 10 years now, but have 1,100hrs of VFR mostly in cloth and tailwheel planes, much of it camping under the wing at fly-ins or long trips. I really miss that.
Just remember, if it flys, floats or f***s, it's cheaper to rent.
Fortunately I don't own the plane - at least not all of it - I joined a local flying club so I guess technically I do own a small share of a plane. I definitely can't afford to own a plane and at this point in my life don't have any great desire to own one, I did the math and the club route does save me money over renting although admittedly not a lot.
Hey Chris,
If you want to save a few bucks, there is this fixer-upper on Craig's List -
(http://www.captalrice.com/images/HurricaneWilma/Junk45.jpg)
I mean - it's an airplane. How hard could it be?
>Ray
That's a Piper Tomahawk, or as those that know them, it's a Traumahawk. The best thing to do with one of those is cannibalize it for parts for a home-built plane.