Tag Archives: HF

Activities, Featured, General, Newsletter, On The Air, Station Equipment

Choosing my next Rig: What’s the best one for me?

My old (2012) Yaesu FT-950 lost output! I was getting maybe 5 watts out on any one band! What to do? These days, I am the proverbial “store-bought” ham … not even kit building! So the choices were to sell as a parts rig on eBay and put the proceeds towards a new rig so shipping the rig all the way to California for factory repair since no repair facilities are on the East Coast. Time for a lot of research!

I have always been a very analytical person. I guess that’s why I was so successful at my occupation: Air Traffic Controller and Air Traffic Manager.

Fortunately, I have been tracking new transceivers and their prices for some time.  To this end, I created an Excel spreadsheet. I got all the manufacturer transceiver brochures from HRO and, using the specs from my FT-950 as a base, listed the comparative item and assigned it points, plus or minus, as that transceiver compared to my FT-950 specs. Admittedly, this “point-value” system is subjective. Did I say, I was analytical?

The results: If I were to buy a new radio today, it would the Icom IC-7300. I am happy to share this spreadsheet with all my friends worldwide:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0upfryjKmcqYnJGUkFrczZsYTg/view

Oh, yes! In the end, I decided to repair my FT-950 at the Yaesu factory … they did a good job; quite reasonably priced … see you on the air!

Layne, AE1N

Activities, Featured, General, Newsletter, On The Air

SOTA/POTA Activation on Mt. Pack Monadnock Coming Up

On Saturday, June 10th we’ll be activating Miller State Park (POTA KFF-2662) and Mt. Pack Monadnock (SOTA W1/HA-041) in Peterborough, NH. This is also the date of the ARRL’s June VHF contest!  Miller State Park does have an auto road up Pack Monadnock and there is a $4 fee per person.  There are picnic tables at the top if you would like to pack a lunch. I am thinking we should plan on arriving at 11:00 am and hopefully set up and ready to go by 12:00 pm.

This should be a great opportunity for a wide range of our members to get out and activate portable. With three activities going on we should have something to tickle your fancy. Below is a quick description of each activity with links for more in depth information.

SOTA is an amateur radio award scheme for people who want to get out and operate portable from mountain peaks. A couple of important rules for SOTA are that you can only activate a peak once in a calendar year – so if you’re using your own call sign you won’t be able to activate Pack Monadnock again until 2018 – and you must operate separately from your car (nothing attached – antenna, battery, etc) and you cannot use fossil fuels.  You must operate battery, solar, wind, hydro powered. You may work all modes (CW, digital or voice) on all bands.

POTA (Parks on the Air) is much more lenient, as far as operating possibilities. You, or your vehicle, must be totally within the park and you can operate using fossil fuels (generator or car). Parks can be activated more than once in a calendar year and QSOs are cumulative for the park if you return. Here is a link to a quick description for getting started with POTA. You may work all modes (CW, digital or voice) on all bands.

ARRL June VHF contest begins on Saturday at 2:00 pm and runs through Sunday at 11:00 pm.  I have never participated in a VHF contest, but being on top of a mountain can only help!

In order to keep some organization to the activation, I have created a Dropbox file for members to sign up and list any equipment they would be willing to bring.

Let me know if you have any questions, suggestions, etc.

73,

Jamey KC1ENX

Activities, Featured, General, Newsletter, Youth Activities

GOTA Event for Young People in Nashua, NH

We recently received a request from the Police Athletic League (PAL) in Nashua, NH to put on a Get On The Air (GOTA) demonstration of Amateur Radio for the kids there. The folks at PAL are trying to create activities that promote STEM and Amateur Radio interest among kids.

Ham Radio GOTA Station
GOTA Station

Jamey, KC1ENX and I went to PAL a little while back and set up our portable station using the screwdriver antenna on my truck.

Ham Radio GOTA - Kids on the Air at Nashua PAL
Kids on the Air at Nashua PAL

We had some of the worst propagation conditions that we have seen in a while on the day we were at PAL, Fortunately, Mike, K1WVO got on to try to give the kids a few contacts.

Ham Radio GOTA - QSL Cards
QSL Cards

We also brought some QSL cards and Jamey spent some time with the kids explaining QSLs and some of the places that were contacted.

Ham Radio GOTA - HAB and Foxes
HAB and Foxes

We also brought our High Altitude Balloon (HAB) and our 2m Fox Hunt transmitters for the kids to see. There was lots of interest in the HAB platform and what it would be like to see the video that it will record.

Due to the poor propagation conditions, the kids did not get to make many contacts. The folks at PAL invited us to come back another time when the conditions are better and we plan to do that later this summer. We also invited the PAL folks to visit us during our Field Day operation coming up and try out the GOTA station there.

Special thanks to Jamey, Matt, and Mike for helping us with our GOTA event at PAL.

Fred, AB1OC

Radio Amateurs Developing Skills Worldwide