Just picked up a Radio Shack 10 HTX-10 HF Transceiver on EBay. No I just have to get a few things to hook it up... power supply, antenna, microphone, etc. Should be on 10 meters by New Years.

Checking In On The Net

No new bike rides until November.  But I did start checking in with the Central Carolina ARES net on Thursday.  Since I've had my preliminary FEMA courses done since February, I figured I'd better get in gear.  I've got a training session this weekend.

Long Day, Long Drive

This weekend is the Ride Without Limits bike tour.  Yesterday was the first day of the two day event, locally held up near Pittsboro.  I participated as a SAG, although truthfully, I spend most of the time as a pathfinder (checking the route to verify that signage was OK, and that rest stops were open).  The bike routes took the riders on courses from 35 to 112 miles.  Of course, this wasn't straight line... the courses circled around and doubled back quite a bit.  Unfortunately, I only had a turn sheet... maps were not provided, so to get from say... Start/Finish to Rest Stop 4, I had to drive ~40 miles... instead of about 8, which the shortest path would allow.  

Tried to find a map last night...  no luck.  Hopefully today will be better, as I get more familiar with the area.

One good thing about this event.  I drive somewhere close to 300 miles.  Of course I filled the tank afterwards.  My MPG was over 25.  Normally, I'm lucky get 22.  Love it!

Installed the new rig in the truck over the weekend.  Mounted the radio body on the back bulkhead of the truck cabin... centered, about 12" above the floor.  The control head is of course mounted on the dashboard below the AM/FM radio.  Its a little tight when you're shifting the truck into and out of park, but it works.  Still have to get my hands on a few zip ties to wrap up the extra control wire.

This weekend, I'll be volunteering in the Ride Without Limits as a SAG.  These rides will probably go 5 - 7 hours, since the longest routes are 100 miles or more.

Radio Installed, Sort Of

Sort of installed my new radio in the truck today...  I say sort of, because I've used it to talk to a few folks after we hooked it up.  But we didn't mount it behind the seat and on the dashbord as I was expecting because Jack forgot to bring his power tools.  He said we could do that pretty quick another time.

After hooking up the radio, I did take some time to manually program in a few channels.  Specifically the freqs for the RARS repeater (164.640), the JARS repeater (147.270), the S Wake repeater (145.210), the Hillsborough repeater (147.225), and the SIMPLEX channel (146.520).  I talked on RARS and SIMPLEX earlier today, and hope to join nets on some of the others this evening.

New Rig

Thursday morning is the time each week when a number of HAMs meet over at one of the local mall food courts.  For the last few months, I've been joining them for a little talk and BS, as I learn more about the Amateur Radio community.  Today, some of the talk was about Hurricane Isaac.  One of our members, Jack Foster (NCUYB), received a call near the end of our meeting warning him that he might be activated in support of Isaac activities.  Jack participates in the Emergency Responders part of HAM radio.  Jack is also one of the local gurus on HAM equipment (he installed my truck tri-band antenna and power connection).

This afternoon, UPS delivered my new truck rig...  a Yaesu FT-7900R.  I ordered it from HAM City last Friday, and knew it was coming (Happy Birthday Mike!).  I've already talked to Jack, and plan to meet him in the morning to install it.  Then, I'll be spending a good part of the weekend programming in the various frequencies that I expect to use in the near future.  Admittedly, there is no way I expect to use all of the features of this toy any time soon, but it was the least expensive unit that had all the features that I did want.

Yes yes, yell at me.  I haven't been posting on this blog with any regularity.  It's been a stressful 6 months while I was looking for work.  Well, that is coming to an end, since it look's like I'll be getting the contract with GeoMagic up in RTP/Durham.  Tentative start date is the day after labor day.

So... what is going on in my world of Ham Radio.  The big news is that, since I'll have an income source, I went ahead and ordered my 2M mobile rig...  the YAESU
FT-7900R.  I spent the extra $20 on 3-day shipping to make sure I got it before next Friday, so I can get Jack (N6UYB) to help me install it.  He did my tri-band antenna and power lead last month, and rigged it so installing the radio should be a snap.  

Upcoming events include the Ride Without Limits out of Moncure, NC, 9/15 - 9/16.

73's

Busy, and Moving Forward

Last week, I volunteered to participate in the Firecracker Bike Race as a communication link.  Spent four hours at Rest Stop #1 as a rest stop comm guy.

Going Live

Yes, I know.  It's been a shamefully long time since I've blogged here or in any of my other blog pages.  Chalk it up to laziness, and a massive amount of work related to Toastmasters.

What have I been doing?  I've participated in a number of bicycle tours as a SIG (Support and Gear) vehicle.  I've also installed a tri-band (144/220/440) mobile antenna on my truck.

Tomorrow I'll be presenting a speech to the Raleigh Preppers group on the subject of Amateur Radio as part of their monthly meetup.  Nice to be combining three different extracurricular activities in one go.

Some Field Day Photos

Yesterday and last night, I took a few photos with my phone at Field Day.  I just copied them to my computer this morning.

Here is the big directional antenna at the 20M CW station being assembled on Friday afternoon.





 
Mike Murphy (WA4BPJ) uses a king sized slingshot to launch a line into the trees to set up one of the 40M voice antennas.  I worked with Mike during one of my shifts on Saturday night.

Here is the completed 20M CW station.  You can't see the, but there is an operator and logger in the screened tent.

And here is the 40M phone station in operation.  This station is right across the road (driveway) from the 20M CW station.  Here you CAN see the operator and logger.  No, I'm not in this picture.  I pulled my shifts in the middle of the night.

This antenna supports another band...  20M phone, I think.  The 40M phone station was about 100 feet behind me at this point.  Off in the distance at the bottom of the hill you can see two tents... that's the GOTA station.  I made that walk several times.

Field Night

"I just flew in from Field Day, and boy are my arms tired..."

OK, its a stale joke, but as I sit here at the keyboard with a cup of coffee, I really am tired.   I was up until 4a.m. last night/this morning after spending about 1/2 an hour at the RARS Field Day GOTA station, and 4 hours at the 40M phone transmitter... 2 hours logging, and 2 as the operator.

Admittedly, I came well provisioned for my stay at field day.  I had a small ice chest full of caffeine filled soda, and a thermos filled with hot coffee.  I had also stopped by the Donut shop to get two dozen assorted donuts to share with the folks at Field Day.  OK, I think I may have gobbled down as many as a quarter of these, before, during, and after my stay, but its the thought, right?


I arrived back at the Carrol farm at about 9:45p.m., and quickly made my way down to the GOTA station.  Surprisingly, it was still busy at 10 at night.  It took a while before I could sit down as a logger, but I stayed in that position through two operators, about 30 minutes total.  Then it was time to walk back up the hill to the  40M phone station and pour a cup of coffee.


For those of you who haven't participated in a Field Day event, especially those who haven't worked with SSB radio of any kind, signals heard on amateur radio are not like those on your car radio.  There is generally lots of background noise, and sometimes the voices you here are difficult to make out.  It. took me a couple of hours (between the GOTA station and logging at 40M station) before I was picking things up as well as the operator I was working with.  This doesn't mean that I always copied everything... but I was getting most of the stuff he got, and some he didn't.  Of course, when we missed things, the operator would have to ask for a repeat until we had it all.   As I got this information, I would enter it into the computer. 

At 1a.m. it was time for me to pour another cup of coffee and switch over to the operator station.  By this time, I was fairly comfortable logging, but let me tell you...  being the operator is a whole lot more complicated.  Not only do you have to try catching the call sign and report of the contacts as the logger does, but you also have to:  (1) record the contact on paper, (2) send out your station's report (using foot pedal to key the mike), (3) request repeats on information you and your logger may have missed, (4) repeat any of your information that your contact may have missed.  Doesn't seem like that much as I type it now, but when it's all happening at once its easy to get confused.  I didn't start getting comfortable operating until about 2:30a.m., and I only managed that by ditching writing the contact info on paper.

Will I do it again next year?  Oh yeah.  But next year, I'll be better prepared, and a little more experienced.

Man am I tired...

Field Day 2012

Spent a few hours today at the RARS Field Day location, helping set up a few antennas (20M CW & 40M Phone).  I'll be back tomorrow night to help man the 40M Phone for a couple of hours.  Looking forward to my first HF experience.

Coming Up: Field Day

Last night, I attended the monthly RARS general meeting.  Topic covered was Field Day, which is coming up later this month.  I had already planned to attend, filling a slot on the 40M radio (probably at night), but after the presentation, I'm hoping to show up for the setup on Friday, hit the GOTA station (and BBQ Dinner) on Saturday, and at early morning session at the microphone on Sunday.  Guess we'll have to see.

Got the License in the Mail

I received the license in the mail on Saturday.  So did my wife.  Too bad I don't have an HF radio.  :-(

Yes, I passed the Amateur Extra

Sorry that it's taken so long to post this fact here... The test was on Saturday before last, and I got 44 of 50 correct (90%)... better than the practice tests.  Now its time to work on getting a radio. (Also, started studying Morse Code, although its not a big hurry.)

Onward!

I received my MFJ-201 Dip Meter via UPS yesterday, so I'm soon to be back on track building my attic antenna system.  Hopefully I can figure out how to test these coils over the weekend, and get it done prior to RARSfest, although it isn't as big a rush any more, since until I have a steady source of income (read: job) again, I'm kind of restricted on buying toys (like Antenna Analyzers).

60 Done... but on hold

It's been a while since I've posted... yes, I did finish my 60M traps, after getting the new coax.  I'm still waiting for the dip meter, so I haven't tuned anything yet.  Unfortunately, I've also lost my job, so it may take a little while before I can afford to buy an antenna tuner.  But I'll get there eventually.  The RARSfest is coming up though... and I'll be attending even if I can't afford to buy any toys.

10, 15, 20, 30, and 40 done.

As I mentioned in a previous post, a week or two ago I spent a frustrating weekend puzzling out how to build the 10 meter antenna traps.  This weekend I knocked out four additional pairs... 15, 20, 30, and 40 Meters.  These are all based on the design described in this article.

After having made all sorts of mistakes on the first pair, the next eight went fairly quickly.  I ran out of coax and 12ga wire to do the 60 Meter traps... it's on order, but it will be week or so before I get it.
 
Next up on the great antenna build is the tuning... which I should be able to do after I get my dip meter.  I ordered it from Universal Radio, the same place I'm buying my coax, but its on back order, so it may be a while before I get it.

Good Deed For The Day

This morning, I participated in my son's Boy Scout Troop's Merit Badge University event, where I taught the Radio Merit Badge to a group of four boys, my son included.  I am happy to report that two of the bvoys were very enthusiastic about the idea of Amateur Radio, and intended to pursue their Technician license at the earliest opportunity, which will be the RARSfest in April.  Unfortunately, my son wasn't one of the two boys... although perhaps that is for the good, since I have him handy to keep pestering him to study.

I'm hoping to create a vibrant Amateur Radio presence in the scout troop, and eventually may be interested in spreading it to other troops in the area.

This evening, I started messing around with one of the Traps for the attic antenna I'm trying to build.  I found that LMR-200 is a real pain to cut and trim...  and winding the coils is tedious.  I'm going to have to order more cable if I plan to build 60M traps too... the initial lengths I cut where just a smidgeon too short, so each set of cables gets demoted one Trap size.  In the morning I'll see if I can get the first one wound nice and tight, and then I'll solder it.  With in luck, when I get the Dip Meter in a week or two, I'll be able to tune the thing and it will be right on per my calcs.

Fitting In

Amateur Radio has a lot of facets, and part of my job as a new HAM is to figure out exactly how I'm going to fit in.  I've already decided that I want to max out my license...  hopefully passing my Extra this April.  I also want to get my VE certificate, with the intent that I can help administer license exams to others in the future.  But there's more... I intend to become involved with ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service), and have started studying the required FEMA training needed to qualify. 

You might say that I've got big plans... but they're only about half formed.  I know I want to do something radio oriented with the Boy Scouts (I'll be teaching the Radio Merit Badge this weekend), and I think I'd like to organize a neighborhood emergency response program, but that's still kind of nebulous.  Regardless, there's plenty of things to keep me busy.

Speaking of keeping busy, over the weekend I started working on my HF antenna.  Specifically, I finally set up my new drill press and used it to drill holes in the PVC couplings used to make my traps for 10, 15, 20, and 40 meter bands.  I also cut the coax and bridle wires, and am ready to assemble and solder them together over the coming weeks.  While doing so, I realized that the coax I'd picked up was the low loss equivalent to the RG-58 specified in the article I was following.  Fortunately, I had been reading up some of the reference material, and had the equations used to develop the plans.  I was able to work the formulas myself based on the actual numbers for the LMR-200 cable that I actually purchased, and I think I can adjust the lengths enough to make it work without re-cutting (I hope...  new cable would cost another $10)..  I'm thinking of also adding a trap for the 60 meter band.  Ordered more coax and a dip-meter to tune it all.

Not that I'm in a rush to finish.... Buying an HF rig is going to cost upwards of $500 (used).  I would like to finish before summer.

CARC

Last night was the monthly meeting of the Cary Amateur Radio Club.  We got to view a video about antennas and their electrical properties. Kind of neat to see some of the technical information I've read about physically manifested.  Assuming that I ever get around to putting up this antenna I'm planning to put together, it should be useful information.

Join In The Fun

I put in my name to volunteer for the RARSfest ham fest in early April.  I'm planning on helping with the set up and tear-down, as well as with the kids lounge.  Also plan on taking (and passing?!?) the Extra license test. 

Best of all, Pam finally cracked open the book on the Technician license last night, so there is hope.  Now if I can just get the kid to "help her out", we'll be doing great.

New Year ahead

Christmas is over.   Not that it was a present or anything, but over the holidays I bought the makings for not one but two antennas. 

The first is a j-pole to go with my HT.  Tuned for 2M and 70cm bands.  Some assembly required.  I've bought the PVC tubing and inserted the wires.  Need to mount it on the roof (probably get to that this weekend sometime).  Still need to buy COAX and all the proper fittings to make a connection inside the house.  It will get done eventually.

Second project is more long range.  It will be a multi-band dipole in the attic covering from 10M up to 40M (don't know if I can sneak the 80M band into the space available).  Purchase all the material (wire, etc.) I need to build the thing, but I still need to buy some test equipment to tune it up (antenna anyliser and maybe a grid dip meter).  Then of course, the's always an HF rig to hang off of it...