My first outing with the TenTec R4020 was my own backyard Sunday AM. The humidity was down so it was very comfortable. I had eight Eneloop AAs installed in the battery holders internal to the case. Ten-Tech leaves it to you to wire up the two holders in series. The initial voltage was 11.5 volts and that gave me 3.5 watts into a dummy load. I setup a 20 foot mast and a 20 meter Inverted V. I had some beginners luck working Indiana, Hawaii and Georgia. The Georgia contact was an example of NVIS I believe. Even though I was making contacts I thought the band is a little dead. It turns out I had the attenuator option on the whole time. Things sounded a lot more lively with it off. This rig has a great receiver!
Then I added a 40 meter dipole by using a T connector to give me a fan dipole. I re-adjusted the lengths of both dipoles and came to a good SWR on both 40 and 20. On 40 I had no problem working Mobile AL and Jacksonville FL. I noticed the battery voltage had dropped to about 9.9 volts after about two hours and the output power was dropping also. But I still managed solid QSOs.
I can say it was a pleasure having a rig with big rig features in a small package. The digital display, settable IF filters, memories are all very nice. So I look forward to more experience and outings with this rig.
I enjoy Rapid Deployment Amateur Radio, Field Days, QRP, satellites, and CW. I have many friends in the hobby that make it fun. I will keep you posted on what I learn about amateur radio on this blog.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Huntsville Hamfest and Monte Sano QRP Contest
I enjoyed the trip to the 2011 Huntsville Hamfest.. It was the second Huntsville reunion with my buddy John K4KQZ from Columbia TN. We met on the air a while back and discovered we had worked together 30 years ago. It was also a pleasure having a new ham Marv KK4DKT along on the trip. He made a new HT purchase at the fest. The highlight of the trip was the Flying High QRP Contest on Monte Sono State park only a few miles from downtown. The contest was hosted by Craig Behren NM4T at a nice cabin in the park. I met a number of QRPers including Randy Moore KS4L from Huntsville. Craig had setup several antennas and Randy provided an Elecraft K3 to operate. We had BBQ and pie for eats. Then two teams formed with a pilot, co-pilot and navigator. The pilots did the operating supported by the co-pilot and navigator. I volunteered to be a pilot encouraged by Marv. The two teams had 45 minutes to operate. There were multipliers for states and DX and a bonus for getting an QRP ACRI numbers. The other team went for DX having the highest multiplier. They snagged three. My team went for anything we could find and worked 5 states. The math revealed that five states was 10 points ahead of three DX contacts. So I was very fortunate to win a Ten Tec R4020 two band QRP rig. This rig is one that fits my portable style of operating as it covers 40 and 20 with batteries inside the small case. The digital display and features are very nice. The receiver is excellent. I plan to try it out this weekend. I also won a drawing for pick of any RadioWavz antenna. I decided to pass this on to Marv and he can use an antenna for his HF rig he just received from a friend. We chose an 80 meter OCF which should cover 80, 40, 20 and 10. The QRP gathering was great and lots of prizes. Craig says there will be more QRP activities at the 2012 Huntsville Hamfest. I definitely plan to attend. Enjoy the photos below.
Greg N4KGL
Greg N4KGL
Monday, August 1, 2011
Flight of the Bumble Bees 2011
We had a good Bumble Bee flight to Solomon Park a two block walk from my parent's house in Dothan, AL. I was joined by Thomas WD4HDR and my Dad. The rig was the Icom 703 and the antenna was a 20 meter dipole about 20 feet high. We were able to snag AF4O in MS, W4MPS in NC, N1EU in NY, N5GW in MS, K3RLL in PA and KX0R in CO. The weather was a bit warm but we got a cold rain shower after a couple hours and went QRT. It was still a great event. We have the park scoped out for a return in the future.
Greg N4KGL
Greg N4KGL
Friday, July 22, 2011
Wakulla Springs and Portable Ops
It is hard to beat the gators, manatees, and birds you will see on the boat tour at Wakulla Springs in NorthWest Florida. I made a trip with Grand Kids and Daughter. I worked in some contacts with my IC 703 and the Buddistick. The noise level was S zero. I had zero luck on CW. However as it often works out, you change change your luck going SSB. I worked VA2PW in Quebec and WD9FOX in central IL. So that is 2 of the 5 of the contacts I'll need to activate the state park under Parks On The Air POTA. I had several folks observe me on CW and come by for a chat. One guy said that is better than texting and I said yes and no monthly charges either. I also had a long chat with one of the park rangers. He was very impressed. Grands Kids loved it. I hope I can go back to complete the POTA activation.
Greg N4KGL
Greg N4KGL
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Enjoyed the Magic Band
6 Meters Band That Is!
There was the CQ WW VHF Contest going this weekend. The band was open to go with it. This is the most I have ever done on 6 meters. I had QSOs with Costa Rica, Belize, Turks and Caicos Islands, Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Cuba and five in Mexico. Lots of fun!
I used the IC-703 at 10 watts. The first go I used my 80 meter doublet which tuned up fine on 6. Then this morning I tried out a rotatable dipole off the vehicle in the driveway. I used the arms and whips that came with the Buddistick deluxe kit.
There was my friend Jason N4JTC in Parker on as well and he worked most of the same stations. Likewise I heard AJ4SQ nearby.
There was the CQ WW VHF Contest going this weekend. The band was open to go with it. This is the most I have ever done on 6 meters. I had QSOs with Costa Rica, Belize, Turks and Caicos Islands, Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Cuba and five in Mexico. Lots of fun!
I used the IC-703 at 10 watts. The first go I used my 80 meter doublet which tuned up fine on 6. Then this morning I tried out a rotatable dipole off the vehicle in the driveway. I used the arms and whips that came with the Buddistick deluxe kit.
There was my friend Jason N4JTC in Parker on as well and he worked most of the same stations. Likewise I heard AJ4SQ nearby.
T Network Tuner
I came across a roller inductor and two large variable capacitors. No idea of what the values are. But certainly the makings of a tuner. So I cleaned them up and wired them up. The tuner seems to work. There are a jumpers on the caps to have the option of using half of each capacitor. I understand you need less capacitance for the higher bands.
The result is a little oversized for QRP portable. Also after some reading on the net, there is some discussion that a L network is preferable but this is my baseline experiment with the T network. I might employ this at my Dad's house where I hope to do some operating from his workshop.
The result is a little oversized for QRP portable. Also after some reading on the net, there is some discussion that a L network is preferable but this is my baseline experiment with the T network. I might employ this at my Dad's house where I hope to do some operating from his workshop.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
20 Meter Delta Loop Back Yard Portable
I always wanted to try a delta loop and I had my chance early on the 4th of July while visiting my Mother-In-Law in Conyers, GA. I got the idea from this link. I used a LDG 4 to 1 balun at the top and about 70 feet of wire. It tuned to resonance easily. The tip of the delta was about 20 feet and the bottom flat section was about 10 feet high. I setup with the 3 watt SST and worked ID, CT and OH. So I'll add this to the BYP Backyard Yard Portable playbook. Here are some pictures. The actual wires of the loop were pretty much invisible to the camera.
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