Rocking the QRP World

Posted on May 6, 2012 by robert

So after a busy weekend I had 4 hours to mess with the KX3.  It is simply amazing.  Of course this is still very early in the product release cycle and parts of the firmware have yet to be completed, plus there are some rough edges to be smoothed out, but no doubt Elecraft will have things polished nicely very soon.

I’ve completed dozens of QSOs including several DX contacts at 5 watts output.  During the New England QSO Party, I had no trouble with large numbers of S9++ signals — if it wasn’t in the passband it didn’t bother the rig (no sign of AGC action or modulated noise, unlike my IC-9100).

I have had two issues pop up with mine.  The first is somewhat serious —  in the presence of very strong signals (20 meter pileups and contests today), when you tune the rig with more than a 250 Hz bandwidth setting you will hear artifacts of other signals when tuning past clear sections of the band.  It is especially pronounced with 10Hz tuning (and better at 1 HZ).  Elecraft is aware of that and working on the issue.  Once you quit changing frequency these phantom signals go away.

The second was a one time occurrence after the rig had been on for several hours.  I turned it off, and the rig appeared to power down, but I noticed that it was still drawing 0.13 amps from my external battery.  Sensing something wasn’t right, I tried to turn it on and it wouldn’t — I had to remove the internal batteries, which totally removed power to get it to recover.  It hasn’t done that since.  Sounds like a firmware issue to me.

In rough numbers, after a large number of CW contacts and pretty high volume level on the internal speaker (preamp on but no backlight), I’m averaging about 0.3 AH per hour (sum of both xmit and rcv).  So a 7AH external battery could probably run the rig for 24 solid hours.  Pretty sweet!

Elecraft KX3

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QRP Nirvana – the KX3 has landed!

Posted on May 4, 2012 by robert

After finishing work today, I was surprised to see a FedEx package from Elecraft — My KX3 had arrived.  I spent an hour getting used to things, checking out the sensitivity and filtering, determining the current consumption,  and figuring out the subtle difference between it and its big brother, the K3.

I had just hooked the KX3 up to my antenna and tuned it with the internal tuner, when 4X4PP (Israel) started calling CQ right where I happened to be listening.  He was coming in S6.  I grabbed the paddle out of the box and managed to get it screwed into the front of the KX3 just in time to return his call.  At 3.0 watts output, I snagged my first contact.  What a great way to break in a new QRP rig!!!

Anyway, I am in QRP heaven — this is lightyears ahead of my FT817.  I look forward to some serious fun this summer.

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One of the many reasons I admire Elecraft

Posted on May 4, 2012 by robert

So how many CEOs do you know that send out an email like this one:

Hi Bob,I see that your KX3 should be arriving at any time. I’m keeping close tabs on these early production units. Feel free to email me with any questions or issues that may come up.

73,
Wayne
N6KR

Sure the KX3 is new, fewer than 100 units in the field so far, and there have been some hiccups along the way, but Wayne gets personally involved, and when a new product “gottya” happens he is on the phone getting things right.

Unbelievable in this day and age!

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Diamond DXCC Challenge

Posted on April 6, 2012 by robert

Last week I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I have qualified for the 2012 Diamond DXCC Challenge, marking the 75th anniversary of the DXCC.  The objective is to contact as many modern day equivalents from the original 1937 DXCC country list.  It is a bit harder than you might suspect because many of today’s countries have split away from larger ones (think of the breakup of the USSR, for example).

Of course the real challenge would have been doing this back in 1937 when the radios were primitive, and the operators were few.  Today, people go on DXpeditions for fun — that must have been rare in 1937.

No confirmations are required, nor are the certificates numbered, so there is no rush to get things completed as soon as possible.  You simply contact a minimum of 100 of the countries on the list starting January 1, 2012.

For more info see the ARRL’s description of the Diamond DXCC Challenge

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Some new sparkle…

Posted on March 31, 2012 by robert

A while back I had found  a 50+ year old Eimac 4-65A transmitting tube made back in 1960.  I figured it would make an interesting conversation piece, especially if I could mount it like a paperweight for my desk. — and  if it glowed, it would be outstanding.

I sat the tube aside for awhile, but stumbled across a company called “Jim’s Engraving” that had some nice looking illuminated name plates, one of which featured a small clock.  I thought the clock was just about the same size as my tube, so I contacted Jim and asked if he could mount a tube.  He took it on as a personal challenge.  He located a power supply to power the filament but scrapped that idea when it became apparent that the tube would get too hot (20 watts of filament power).  Eventually he decided to use more of the multicolor LED strips that were already illuminating the name plate, and placed them under the tube base (one of the nice things about the 4-65A is that the base is entirely glass).  The results were outstanding, and are shown here:

The LEDs are multicolor and it shipped with a IR Handheld Remote that allows you to pick the color and intensity, or setup several different color changing effects.

Jim plans on being at the 2012 Boxboro Hamfest this August — I plan on going up to shake his hand and thank him for his wonderful work.  You meet so many nice folks in Ham Radio — Jim is one of them.

Posted in From the OM | 2 Comments

DXCC Arrives

Posted on March 27, 2012 by robert
DXCC Certificate Number 46,128 issued to Robert M. Beatty, WB4SON, on March 19, 2012

DXCC #48,128

The postman was nice to me yesterday.  Not only did he bring my new QSL cards, but he also brought my DXCC certificate, and pin.

Frankly, I wasn’t expecting something quite so large.  I had trouble scanning it because of the size.  All the other ARRL certificates (WAS, WAC, etc.) were printed on 8.5×11 paper.  This thing is about 10×14 and on thick parchment paper.  Framing it will be a challenge — But that will be a good problem to have!

As I understand it, 2012 is the 75th anniversary of the DXCC award.  Today there are over 739,000 hams in the US and it is estimated that there are about 3 million hams world wide. A total of 46,128 DXCC awards have been issued globally in the past 75 years.

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My BuddiPole Configuration

Posted on March 22, 2012 by robert

Many folks are fans of the BuddiPole, and I’ve written about it before.  Buying one of their kits gives you an “erector set” of parts that you can mix and match in various combinations.  I’ve acquired so many parts it takes three bags (two long and one regular) to hold them all.  But one variation keeps working better than all the other combinations I’ve tried.  So here is my preferred BuddiPole combination.

First, antenna modeling and theory tells us that any loaded antenna is a compromise — we are trading physical length (and weight) for a coil which badly impacts radiation efficiency.  So I have stopped using them entirely (at least for 20 meter and higher).  Second, to perform well, any dipole configuration has to be 1/2 wave above ground.  On 20 meters that would be 10 meters, or about 33 feet — pretty darned high for a “portable” antenna.  So I have pretty much given up on dipoles.

What DOES work fantastically well, is a full size 1/4 wave length long vertical element with a 1/4 wave length long counterpoise.  In essence a vertical dipole.  These have low take-off angles which allows them to perform well for DX.  The counterpoise is nothing more than a wire that can also be used as a guy line if you insulate the ground side — it is the “other half” of the dipole.

So let’s see — no coils, only half a dipole worth of arms and whips — sure sounds like a lot less stuff than a BuddiPole Deluxe kit with long mast option (which costs $474)

Here is the list of parts you need for full size (no coil) 20-2 meter vertical operation:

  • BuddiPole Long Mast With Guying Kit $124
  • 32-inch Accessory Arm x 3 $75 total (these don’t show on the website but are available)
  • 9.5-foot Long Whip $18
  • Vertical Antenna Clamp (with mounting kit) $49.50
  • BuddiStick to Mast Adapter $8
  • Coax Cable (50′ with 2 PL259 Adapters) $18
  • Wire Assembly (counterpoise) $15
  • Antenna Mast Bag (Long) $45

Total cost of the above:  $352.50

Two nice-to-have options are:

  • BuddiPole Tripod $85  (You can live without this, but even with it you still need to guy it)
  • Triple Ratio Switched Balun $79 (reduces RF on coax, and can help match your antenna)

You could buy the BuddiPole Deluxe Kit with long mast for $474 (which includes the base), then add a 22-inch and a 32-inch arm for $45, and you would have enough parts to use it in a full size 20 meter and up vertical configuration.  If you added the $49.50 vertical clamp,  you would be able to mount the vertical to a balcony rail or table.

Posted in From the OM, Gear | 18 Comments

And so it ends…

Posted on March 18, 2012 by robert

The quest for my initial DXCC ended tonight with the 100th conformation coming in from VP2EC on the Leeward Island of Anguilla.

WB4SON   VP2EC   2012-03-03 01:46:44   40M   SSB   7.072   ANGUILLA

I began my quest for DXCC in ernest three months ago, after having accumulated 47 confirmations in LotW (most of them on JT65-HF).  Being half way there made it seem possible.  And so it completes on March 18th.

Today was a fun day despite fairly poor band conditions.  I spent some time working on the 17 and 30 meter bands, which I have been neglecting lately.  Oddly enough, one contact was with Svalbard, in the Norwegian Arctic archipelago.  What made it odd, was that tonight was the premier of the Discovery Channel “Frozen Planet”, which began on Svalbard.  Proving yet again, it is a small (and sometime frozen) world.

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Arrrgh…..it is SO 2012!!!

Posted on March 16, 2012 by robert

Yesterday, I added to my good feeling about getting DXCC completed when I added KG4SS to my log.  A quick check showed he last updated his log on March 14.  Yeah!  And Babs, V21ZG, updated her log on March 8.  Double yeah!  I was perhaps only a day or two away from that all important #100.

Then bitter reality struck like the wet kiss of a hot fist (dime store detective book lingo — sorry)…both stations had last updated their logs in 2011, NOT 2012.  I was so focused on the month and day I had totally missed the year.

Ah well.  Maybe this year’s LotW update will happen soon.

My stalking continues.

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Stalking DXCC #100

Posted on March 14, 2012 by robert

I spent some time during lunch going through my log.  While there are several DXpeditions that seem likely to upload to LotW eventually, the only active LotW user that I ran across is Babs, DL7AFS, who was at the keyboard of V21ZG (Antigua) during our March 12 PSK31 QSO on 14.071 MHz at 23:49UTC.

I can see she last updated her LotW logs on March 8th, just a few days before our QSO.  And from her online log, I see she has our QSO recorded.

Oh this is SO CLOSE — Perhaps Babs, V21ZG will be #100?

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