Tag Archives: HF

Antennas, Digital, DX, Education and Training, Featured, General, Newsletter, On The Air, Station Equipment

Virtual Contest University

The 2020 Dayton Hamvention has been canceled, but you still have the opportunity to attend Contest University from the comfort of your QTH!   The organizers of Contest University will be holding a free Virtual Contest University via Zoom on May 14th.

Contest University is a full day of educational presentations.  The world’s most skilled contesters share their knowledge.  You will learn not just how to operate in a contest but skills that are useful for all ham radio operators:

  • How to improve your station
  • All about propagation and when to operate to get the most and most distant contacts
  • Information on setting up your digital station and operating digital modes,
  • What are the best performing transceivers based on testing by Rob Sherwood, NC0B
  • And much more!

Fred, AB1OC, and I have been attending Contest University for many years and we learn something new every time.  Contest University is highly recommended for our Student/Teacher Contesters as well as all of our members.

Here is an outline of the speakers and presentation topics: https://www.contestuniversity.com/course-outline/

You can register online for the Virtual Contest University at the above link to get the Zoom link.  Contest University starts at 8:30 am on May 14th.

Featured, General, Newsletter, Station Equipment

Remote Operation

While isolated in our homes I am finding amateur radio a very therapeutic distraction from all the chaos in the world. I look forward to Contest Weekends and like a lot of you, I am looking for new projects and adventures in amateur radio. One recently came my way – Remote Operation over the Internet.

Last weekend I got the opportunity to set up my computer to work Fred and Anita’s (AB1OC/AB1QB) station remotely. Fred and Anita have an amazing station at their QTH and you can find more information on it here. Of course, I was game to test Remote Operation out! Fred and Anita would like to open their station up remotely for the Nashua Area Radio Society’s Student/Teacher Contest Series as some of the Youth and Teachers in the contest do not have access to a station at their homes and of course, no one is getting together in groups right now.

Software and Networking

The first thing we had to do was to load the software on my computer and make sure we could communicate properly. Luckily, last week Connor (KC1GGX) and I ran CAT 5e cable from our router through the ceiling in the basement to the computer in our shack. See what I mean about looking for projects! This gave us a good internet connection to work with.

We used the program SmartSDR for Windows to control Fred’s station. The download is pretty straight forward and Fred handled the process of connecting my computer to his station via the web. The SmartSDR has three modules. SmartSDR is the panadapter and “virtual” control face of the transceiver, SmartCAT which controls the interface between your logger and the radio and SmartDAX which is for controlling digital operations.

Remote Operation

Once Fred got it all configured and talking to my logging software – I am using DX Lab Suite – it was time to test it out and see what it could do.

Operating Using An SDR

The signals were very clear and strong and using an SDR really gives you great control of being able to adjust your filters and bandwidth. I was able to move frequencies, change bands, and pretty much anything else I would have been able to do from the AB1OC/AB1QB shack… except rotating the antennas.  We didn’t quite use the “arm-strong” method (moving and antenna manually as we’ve done for Winter Field Day on our VHF antennas), but I would call Fred on the phone and ask to have the antennas pointed in another direction.

Remote Operation

Remote Operation

Pointing Rotating Antennas

A couple of days later, Fred found a solution for rotating the antennas as well with a program called PstRotatorAz.  This gives complete control of moving the antennas while working remotely.

Remote Operation

Abby, AB1BY, and I operated from AB1OC/AB1QB’s station remotely over the weekend and had a great time. The only drawback we found is when switching between the SDR window and the logging window you would lose the ability to use the space bar as your PTT, which meant a lot of moving the mouse around and clicking.

Getting Ready To Contest

Mark, KC1IML, and Keith, KC1IMK have also set up their station to work remotely with Fred and Anita’s station and have come up with a solution to the PTT problem as well. They used an old USB to serial adapter and soldered the leads from a footswitch to a few pins on the serial adapter and they have the footswitch working.

This has been a lot of fun to try out and big thanks out to Fred for putting in all the time to get Remote Operation up and working!

Jamey, AC1DC

DX, Featured, General, Newsletter, On The Air

CQ World Wide WPX from my Home Station

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This past weekend was the CQ World Wide WPX SSB contest. I haven’t worked a lot of contests from my home station, but I have some free time on my hands with this COVID-19 pandemic going on, so I decided I’d give it a shot.

AC1DC Station

I have been very lucky and probably a little spoiled to have been able to use AB1OC/AB1QB’s station, which is an amazing station, for past contests. So, let me start by telling you a little about my home station. I’m running an Icom IC-7300 with an Elecraft KPA500 500 watt amplifier. I’m using the Buckmaster 4-band OCF Dipole for an antenna on a push-up mast from Max-Gain Systems at about 35 feet high. Definitely not a bad set up, but it’s not a big-gun station either.

My main goal for jumping into the contest was to have fun and try to finish off my DXCC. I have over a hundred countries and do have my DXCC through QRZ, but I’ve been stuck at 97 confirmed for quite a while on LOTW.  I figured this would be a good contest to knock off a few more countries and hopefully get them confirmed.

The CQ WW WPX is a 48-hour contest in which amateur radio operators worldwide try to contact as many other operators as possible in that time. The exchange is a simple signal report and a progressive serial number. What is really fun about this contest is that each different prefix is a multiplier. As you make more contacts with unique prefixes your score really shoots up! It is fun to watch your score after each new contact.

My station seemed to be getting out pretty well as I searched the bands. I never called CQ and only searched and pounced, but looking back may have been able to try running on 40 meters – especially as the contest moved into Sunday. I didn’t operate the whole time but spent a fair amount of time on and off throughout the weekend.

In the end, I wound up with 222 contacts. 163 of those contacts were unique prefixes for a total claimed score of 72,698 points. I contacted 32 different countries and of those only two were countries that I did not already have.

By the end of the weekend, I accomplished my first goal. I had a blast! Even if I did fall short on getting three more confirmed countries for my DXCC this past weekend has shown me that you don’t have to have a super-station to join in on the fun of contesting.

Jamey, AC1DC

Radio Amateurs Developing Skills Worldwide