Happiness is a warm tube

I had a nice time at the October 27th Headland, AL tailgate. My best find was a one tube code practice oscillator. I like having something that uses a tube for nostalgic reasons.. In addition, this CPO works great  and will come in handy teaching code at our club. It was designed by Dave Schamarder. His web site is Dave's Homemade Radios. The schematic can be seen at this link. I purchased the CPO from Glenn Addison K5WP. He scrounged the parts and built it himself. The tube is a Type 43. Glen got the tube from  www.tubesandmore.com.

I also set up portable at the tailgate which was on the town square. I used the KX3 and the Alexloop and made a few contacts. There were a number of visitors checking out the KX3. I was caught being under dressed for the cool weather in shorts and a T shirt. Harold KF4YDO bailed me out with a light jacket. In addition to Harold, Don KK4DWC and Phil KK4DWI attended from Panama City. All the Wiregrass Club member made us feel welcome.

Greg N4KGL

Alexloop gives solid QRP performance

On Sunday, I setup portable in my Brother-in-law's backyard in Columbus GA. The rig was the KX3 at 5 watts to the Alexloop Walkham antenna on a camera tripod. The ARCI Fall QSO Party and the SKCC Weekend Sprint provided a great opportunity to test this setup. Using the hunt and pounce method, I made eighteen contacts on 20 meters and eight on 15 meters. This included F6HKA in France and V31JP in Belize on 15 meters. This is my best outing with the Alexloop yet. Everyone I called replied. It is amazing that the most convenient antenna to deploy can work so well when conditions allow. I am enjoying the KX3 with the Alexloop. They make a great portable combination.

20 meters: CA, VA, CT, AR(2), TX, MO(3), MN, FL, WA, NY, MI, WI, IL, MA, MD
15 meters FRA, NH, CA, SD, MO, BIZ, AZ, WA

Alabama Lighthouse Ops October 2012

A sunny October day with a blue sky and a breeze sitting on the porch operating a KX3 with some good ham buddies is just about as good as it gets. Thanks to Craig NM4T and Huntsville team for letting me join in. This was the Alabama Lighthouse event which involved three lighthouses. The goal was to bring awareness of the Alabama lighthouses via the airwaves. So this allowed time to rag chew vice contest ops.We were at Fort Morgan which has the Mobile Point Lighthouse. The Sand Island Lighthouse was in sight from Fort Morgan. The Middle Bay Lighthouse was not in our sight but they had a team there also.

There were two operating positions at the lighthouse keepers house; first a travel trailer with the Icom 756 Pro and second a side building with an Elecraft K3. My KX3 was setup on the porch.  The team had a Alpha Delta multi-band inverted vee supported by a fiber glass pole and numerous end fed half wave antennas also supported by fiberglass poles. Jerry Brown N4EO showed me his tuners for the end feds. They were high power versions of what I have used. He has used them successfully from Hawaii and Iraq.

Craig and I setup my off center fed dipole off the truck mast with fiberglass poles on the ends. Craig and I had success withe the KX3 on 20 and 17 meters. Jerry made 23 contacts on 15 meters with the KX3 in the California QSO Party. He switched to an end fed halfwave to get a better signal into CA. Jerry had a good tip for me. The KX3 was getting clicks from the 100 watt K3 on 20 meters when he was on 15 meters. Switching the KX3 preamp off took care of the clicks. 

This was a long day trip for me from Panama City to Fort Morgan but definitely worth it. Everyone was very friendly. I have a few more Huntsville area friends now including Jerry N4EO, Jamie K4OEY and Ed N4EDT. I wound up the visit with dinner with the group. I am looking forward to a possible return next year and any portable opportunity that Craig NM4T might cook up!

See all photos here.

Sand Island Lighthouse

Lighthouse Keepers House

End fed half wave antennas

N4EO's end fed half wave tuner

Another one of N4EO's end fed half wave tuners

Craig NM4T operating KX3 from porch

K3 operator

Tom KG4CUY operating SSB

You Made My Day AK4LP

I was testing a 20 meter dipole with an Electronics USA MK-67 BNC center insulator and 25 feet of RG 174. The dipole was supported by crappie poles in the front yard. The rig is the KX3 at 5 watts. So does the new antenna work? Well good enough, as I had a short but sweet QSL with Bob AK4LP in Forest VA. The cool thing was he was on a Youkits HB-1B and an Alexloop. The only thing that could be better would be Alexloop on both ends. I have both a HB-1B and and Alexloop as well. That was a good QRP to QRP QSO! Then I was lucky to work SM7ZDI Vic in Sweden. He had the patience to pull me out.

I have setup a shade for the KX3 as you can see below. I can handle sunburn but I am uncomfortable about the sun heating the black case of the KX3. The 20 meter dipole is a light weight option to pack and I guess the loss is not too bad with RG174. I checked with an online calculator and the loss is about .8 watt at 14 MHz and 1.5 SWR.

Here are some Reverse Beacon Spots for 20 meter dipole at about 18 feet high at 5 watts and 25 ft of RG174 feedline.

de	dx	freq	cq/dx	snr	speed	time
KQ8M	N4KGL	14057.5	CQ	3 dB	13 wpm	2213z 23 Sep
KM3T	N4KGL	14057.5	CQ	16 dB	13 wpm	2213z 23 Sep
DL1EMY	N4KGL	14057.5	CQ	11 dB	13 wpm	2212z 23 Sep
AA4VV	N4KGL	14057.5	CQ	34 dB	13 wpm	2212z 23 Sep
K8ND	N4KGL	14057.5	CQ	11 dB	13 wpm	2212z 23 Sep
W3OA	N4KGL	14057.5	CQ	30 dB	13 wpm	2212z 23 Sep
K1TTT	N4KGL	14057.6	CQ	15 dB	13 wpm	2212z 23 Sep
VE2WU	N4KGL	14057.5	CQ	23 dB	13 wpm	2212z 23 Sep
WZ7I	N4KGL	14057.5	CQ	20 dB	13 wpm	2212z 23 Sep
WA7LNW	N4KGL	14057.5	CQ	7 dB	13 wpm	2212z 23 Sep
W3LPL	N4KGL	14057.5	CQ	5 dB	13 wpm	2212z 23 Sep
K3MM	N4KGL	14057.5	CQ	22 dB	13 wpm	2212z 23 Sep
DL1EMY	N4KGL	14057.0	CQ	8 dB	14 wpm	2112z 23 Sep

Like antennas? You will love this!

Watch "AT&T Archives: Similiarities of Wave Behavior (Bonus Edition)" on YouTube

KX3 Portable with 9 to 1 Balun

I had previously discovered that the Balun Designs 9 to 1 balun seemed to tune just about any end fed wire using the Icom 703 and its internal tuner. So today I tried it with the KX-3 from the front yard. I used a 24 foot wire sloping up to the tip of a 20 foot crappie pole and a 16 foot counterpoise wire laid on the ground.. Using the KX3 internal tuner, I got SWR under 2 to 1 on 80 thru 6 meters except 60 meters was 2.1 to1. I exchanged the 16 foot counterpoise with a wire on camping clothes line reel and played out maybe 40 feet as the counterpoise. Then 60 meters tuned below 2 to 1. Of course, low SWR does not necessarily mean it radiates. However, I am encouraged with the QSO I had with KG9HV on 20 meters and the Reverse Beacon results for 5 watts below.


de dx freq cq/dx snr speed time
K3MM N4KGL 10112.0 CQ 23 dB 16 wpm 2144z 16 Sep
KQ8M N4KGL 10112.0 CQ 22 dB 16 wpm 2144z 16 Sep
N4ZR N4KGL 10112.0 CQ 9 dB 16 wpm 2144z 16 Sep
WZ7I N4KGL 7057.0 CQ 10 dB 16 wpm 2142z 16 Sep
K3MM N4KGL 7057.0 CQ 8 dB 16 wpm 2142z 16 Sep
W4KAZ N4KGL 7057.0 CQ 10 dB 16 wpm 2142z 16 Sep
AA4VV N4KGL 7057.0 CQ 17 dB 16 wpm 2142z 16 Sep
WA7LNW N4KGL 28046.0 CQ 11 dB 15 wpm 2128z 16 Sep
PJ2T N4KGL 28046.0 CQ 8 dB 15 wpm 2128z 16 Sep
N0TA N4KGL 24906.1 CQ 12 dB 15 wpm 2126z 16 Sep
WA7LNW N4KGL 21058.0 CQ 11 dB 23 wpm 2126z 16 Sep
PJ2T N4KGL 24906.0 CQ 14 dB 15 wpm 2126z 16 Sep
K1TTT N4KGL 21058.1 CQ 18 dB 15 wpm 2124z 16 Sep
KM3T N4KGL 21058.0 CQ 15 dB 15 wpm 2124z 16 Sep
DL1EMY N4KGL 18084.0 CQ 7 dB 15 wpm 2123z 16 Sep
N7TR N4KGL 18084.0 CQ 4 dB 15 wpm 2123z 16 Sep
KQ8M-98 N4KGL 18084.0 CQ 16 dB 15 wpm 2123z 16 Sep
WZ7I N4KGL 18084.0 CQ 24 dB 15 wpm 2122z 16 Sep
KQ8M N4KGL 18084.0 CQ 26 dB 15 wpm 2122z 16 Sep
KM3T N4KGL 18084.0 CQ 8 dB 15 wpm 2122z 16 Sep
KQ8M N4KGL 14065.0 CQ 9 dB 11 wpm 2121z 16 Sep
K8ND N4KGL 14065.0 CQ 6 dB 11 wpm 2121z 16 Sep
KM3T N4KGL 14065.0 CQ 12 dB 11 wpm 2121z 16 Sep
VE2WU N4KGL 14065.0 CQ 20 dB 11 wpm 2120z 16 Sep
N4ZR N4KGL 14065.0 CQ 13 dB 11 wpm 2120z 16 Sep
W4KAZ N4KGL 14065.0 CQ 23 dB 11 wpm 2120z 16 Sep
WZ7I N4KGL 14065.0 CQ 23 dB 11 wpm 2120z 16 Sep
K2DB N4KGL 14065.0 CQ 19 dB 11 wpm 2120z 16 Sep
K3MM N4KGL 14065.0 CQ 17 dB 11 wpm 2120z 16 Sep
K1TTT N4KGL 14065.1 CQ 14 dB 11 wpm 2120z 16 Sep

You will notice in the photos I am using two Gander Mountain camping chairs. The chair on the right is being used as a table for the KX3. I love the chairs and they were $9.99 with free shipping. I have decided to put a tent stake in the hole at the bottom of  the front leg and wedge two more stakes on the remaining legs. This is to avoid dumping the KX3 from wind or something catching the wires.

Camping chairs.

9 to 1 Balun and KX3

20 foot crappie pole

KX3

Tenergy Rechargeable LiFePO4 12V 10Ah Battery

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SKCC's September Weekend Sprintathon (WES)

The SKCC WES is a 24-hour sprint that occurs on the second Sunday of each month, starting at 0000 UTC. I was staying in the house this weekend as my wife is recovering from knee surgery. Of course this was a good opportunity to participate in the sprint. I would rate the conditions as pretty good and 15 meters was open. The highlight for me was working Bert F6HKA on 40, 20 and 15 during the sprint. I don't know if Bert got any sleep as he seemed to be on for the whole sprint. I was happy to recognize so many regulars from previous sprints and some new calls also. I did hunt and pounce at 5 watts for all but the 15 meter contact with F6HKA which was using 10 watts. My QSO total was 42 with 22 on 20m, 13 on 40m and 7 on 15m. Note, I worked F5JWH Phil on both 20 &15 meters and NP3CW Julio in Puerto Rico on 15. I had a nice nearby QSO on 40 meters with Jack AD4TK in Shalimar, FL. He was running a Johnson Viking 2 at 100 watts.

For me this confirms my new radio setup in the front bedroom is working. I am using the KX3 with a 100 foot run of coax up through the attic and down into a closet in the back of the house. Just outside the house is a SGC 237 remote coupler which has a run of 300 ohm feedline to my doublet having the peak about 35 feet. There is some debate about using 300 ohm line on the output of the remote coupler. For me I am satisfied that he doublet with 300 ohm feedline is a viable configuration. I also tried a 30 foot vertical wire from the hot side of the coupler and a elevated counterpoise about 60 feet long. This alternate configuration tunes well but I believe the doublet outperforms the vertical wire. 15 meters might be a toss up. Of course, the doublet is much higher. Note I did some Reverse Beacon testing to confim this. A loop directly connected to the remote coupler is an option, but it is hard to go for the loop option when the doublet is already in place.

I continue to enjoy the KX3 as a base rig. I am looking forward to some Fall weather to do some portable ops. I want to test out the KX3 internal tuner with portable antennas.

Greg N4KGL

SGC-237 Remote Coupler