[Elecraft] Elecraft CW Net Report
Good Evening, I found that my antenna work has not been done in vain. I was surprised at the cutoff between antennas though. ND, MI, & IN were stronger on my lower antenna while IA and GA were much better on the higher one. I will adjust the second antenna and see how that works next week. The only snow I heard about was from Fargo where Ken got to use his snow blower five times last week. Other stations reported mild winter weather. Here it is snowing but it melts about a thousand feet above me. The break in the rain was nice, a little rare sunlight felt good. On 14050.5 kHz at 2200z: W0CZ - Ken - ND NO8V - John - MI K6XK - Roy - IA K4JPN - Steve - GA AB9V - Mike - IN On 7047.5 kHz at z: K6PJV - Dale - CA K0DTJ - Brian - CA KG7V - Marv - WA W0CZ - Ken - ND K0JFJ - Nick - AZ Next week's nets fall only a few days before Christmas so I expect some of you will be on the road. It is past time to wish you all well over these holidays. Don't eat too much, don't shovel too hard. 73, Kevin. KD5ONS - __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] Operating from a retirement home
Another option to consider with "retirement home" operating is what I've been doing: I use a KX3 feeding an AlexLoop (small magnetic loop) set up in our bedroom to check into a local 10 meter net. Works quite well.The same setup also had me working a DX station in Moldova... during a RTTY contest. I used the KX3's built in RTTY feature for that QSO. Oh... and I was running 3 watts on 40 meters. And that was with the AlexLoop set up in our sun room. So... it can be done. 73 de RayK2ULRKX3 #211 -Original Message- From: David Gilbert To: Bill Frantz ; elecraft Sent: Sun, Dec 15, 2019 7:17 pm Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Operating from a retirement home Bill, if you want to get in at least some ham radio action you might consider using TeamViewer (free for private use) to link up with a friend who trusts you and is willing to let you tap into his station to operate FT8 via the internet. QST had a recent article on it and it's pretty simple to set up. I have a friend who is stuck in a condo and he has used my station several times to make contacts all over the world that way. It's not the same as chatting with some interesting DX, but it's not a whole lot different than what passes for most DX contacts. You could even operate one of the FT8/4 contests that way without being at much of a disadvantage. 73, Dave AB7E On 12/15/2019 4:52 PM, Bill Frantz wrote: > > 73 Bill AE6JV, who hasn't been on the air since moving into a > retirement home. > __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to raysil...@verizon.net __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] Operating from a retirement home
Bill, if you want to get in at least some ham radio action you might consider using TeamViewer (free for private use) to link up with a friend who trusts you and is willing to let you tap into his station to operate FT8 via the internet. QST had a recent article on it and it's pretty simple to set up. I have a friend who is stuck in a condo and he has used my station several times to make contacts all over the world that way. It's not the same as chatting with some interesting DX, but it's not a whole lot different than what passes for most DX contacts. You could even operate one of the FT8/4 contests that way without being at much of a disadvantage. 73, Dave AB7E On 12/15/2019 4:52 PM, Bill Frantz wrote: 73 Bill AE6JV, who hasn't been on the air since moving into a retirement home. __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] Reaching across the chronological divide
My son has a general license. He uses it mostly as part of his search and rescue team. Really he doesn't have time to play radio with a high-tension job, a wife, and a 6 year old. Our club has some interesting new members: Two women in their early 40s, newly licensed at the extra level. They ran our digital operation at field day all night. We might see more of them, but they are trying to get a high-tech startup off the ground. A father/daughter combo. The daughter is barely a teenager if at all but has a license. So does the father. I see a lot of older people getting licenses as part of their interest in community service. The take home observation is that people today don't have much free time. There is tremendous contention for what free time there is. Getting on the air needs to pop to the top of the list before we have a new, active ham. Any radio designed to attract new people to ham radio should recognize that getting a higher level license is a challange which will only be met by someone already motivated. The tech level license doesn't help attract people to what most of us consider ham radio -- HF. Learning CW requires a lot of motivation, and the only non-CW available in HF is 10M SSB -- Not the best band a the bottom of a sunspot cycle. Some of the ARRL suggestions for opening some HF to tech digital operation would go a long way toward solving these problems. But in the current environment, to come out with a radio that supports 10M but only does FM, is something only a company not thinking about the US licensing structure could do. (And yes, I have a specific radio company in mind.) As a side note, I became interested in operating, as compared with building equipment, because I discovered that PSK31 was a lot like the computer chat systems I had used. They were already comfortable, so the only barriers were the radio problems, which I had a good background in solving. (I have since branched out into CW and voice, but digital is still my home territory.) 73 Bill AE6JV, who hasn't been on the air since moving into a retirement home. On 12/14/19 at 11:12 AM, w...@w0mu.com (W0MU Mike Fatchett) wrote: I am not sure how you sell Ham Radio to people today. I have two sons and a daughter. One son got licensed really young and did some contests and mobile activities with me but never got hooked like I did. People have less free time than ever and there are more options for entertainment than ever. --- Bill Frantz| Concurrency is hard. 12 out | Periwinkle (408)356-8506 | 10 programmers get it wrong. | 16345 Englewood Ave www.pwpconsult.com |- Jeff Frantz | Los Gatos, CA 95032 __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] KAT500 auto trainer
"I would then question the electrical stability of the 160M antenna. In other words, why and what is changing?" I change it. Changes include the total length, feed point position, and the feed point matching L and C values. It's an experimental antenna. One would not expect to make many DX contacts on 160 m with an OCFD strung from a back yard block wall at 5 feet above ground. I enjoy the results that contradict that assumption. Those unexpected results include E5-N, VP6D, and UA0. Andy, k3wyc __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] OT: SIGNAL LINK & Windows 10 audio output
Thanks for the useful information. I was able to stop the windows sounds on the USB signallink device. Keith N6JPA On 12/15/2019 6:21 AM, K8TE wrote: While pertinent, the solutions offered disregarded the symptom: "Windows Sounds". In Windows 10, hit the Windows key, type "Windows Sounds". That should take offer to take you to the Sound Control Panel. Select the tab named "Sounds". Select the Sound Scheme "No Sounds" That stops the Windows Sounds, not selecting the sound device. 73, Bill, K8TE -- Sent from: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to n6jp...@gmail.com __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] K3: Relay noise?
Wes, Tnx very much. - 73 - Nolan Kienitz, KI5IO -- Sent from: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] [K2] N1MM Logger sending CW to K2
There is no need for an expensive interface just to do CW Mike. The following link explains the process along with a warning about not doing so if it doesn't make sense to you: https://elecraft.mailman.qth.narkive.com/OwSJDzZd/how-do-you-get-n1mm-to-send-cw-to-the-k2 I will use the link's method to key my K2, once I finish (and start) building it. Or, you could use another USB to RS-232 converter, transistor, and resistor, and plug for the K2 Key jack. I prefer fewer, not more, cables. 73, Bill, K8TE -- Sent from: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
[Elecraft] For the next generation
When I started reading radio control hobbyist magazines in the late '50s an amateur radio license was required to fly the planes or control the boats. We now live in a more digital age. RC transmitters and receivers have been commoditized and there are many wireless protocols. Hobbyists still want to tinker and control things. Why not link the amateur radio world with the modern digital world? Create a single board system with a 2m, 6m, or 10m transceiver on it. Add a medium horsepower microcontroller and a number of busses. Control and I/O busses: - Direct pin control with (replaceable) buffers. - WiFi access with plug in unit (license issue avoided) - Bluetooth access with plug in unit (licensing issue avoided) - other busses I don't recall (SPI, SCI, TWI, ?) 10 meters requires a longer antenna but simpler RF circuitry. 2m uses a shorter antenna but the RF unit is more complex and probably more expensive. 6m fits somewhere in between. So what you have is a single board amateur radio interface to direct, WiFi, and Bluetooth controller board. Use it as a single unit or create a web or mesh of them for data collection or broadcast. Being able to send text via amateur radio to WiFi is a bonus. But being able to control remote devices is cool too. If you design this as an open ended single board solution you can allow the community to define how to use it. Lots of add on units could be imagined. Many snippets of code could be accrued and filed for future reference. Kevin. KD5ONS - __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] KAT500 auto trainer
If adjustments are required several times a week for the 160M antenna, I would then question the electrical stability of the 160M antenna. In otherwords, why and what is changing? I see very little change in mine, wet, dry, ice, or snow. Usually I find it to be 1:3:1 or less across the band, any frequency and at any season. 73 Bob, K4TAX On 12/15/2019 9:31 AM, Andy Durbin wrote: "Extremely easy to do manually and stable." It is only because my 160 and 80 m OCFD is being modified frequently that I decided to develop the auto trainer. It takes multiple actions to tune a single bin and there are 20 bins for 160 m. If a multi-step task needs to be done infrequently the effort required to automate it is not justified. Do that task several times a week and the effort is easily justified. Actions to auto tune at current frequency: 1. Inhibit the key line and wait for confirmation of inhibit 2. Initiate KAT500 auto tune (FT;) 3. Set Kenwood to TX Tune and set auto tune power 4. Wait for KAT500 FT response which indicates tune is complete 5. Set Kenwood TX Tune power back to 5 w then command RX 6. Wait for confirmation that TX has stopped 7. Enable the key line Since that sequence had already been assigned to a single button push it was not too difficult to repeat it for each bin in the current band. Andy, k3wyc __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to rmcg...@blomand.net __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] K3: Relay noise?
http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/KPA500-clicking-td7596512.html Read carefully to avoid the "you don't know what you're talking about" comments. Wes N7WS On 12/15/2019 11:52 AM, Nolan Kienitz wrote: Talk about dredging up some history ... from 2009??!! I've read through this thread and a few others and have not found upon any solid answers that was posed by the OP. My K3 (S/N: 9013, Assembled: 05/10/15) started having the very faint key clicks late yesterday afternoon. As noted in the thread they seem to come from the top, right-rear of the K3. I've not yet taken the cover off and put a "tube" to my ear to narrow down source. When I first turned on my K3 today I did not hear the clicks, but after I was in the mist of a QSO they became 'hearable'. Still very faint. Rig is basic with 100w feeding a dipole. No sub-receiver. No receive antenna in use. If anyone has any thoughts about the very soft 'relay click' when operating CW I'd appreciate the input. BTW - same response with my single-lever paddle or straight key. Same response if I'm feeding my dipole or a dummy load on Ant-2. Do NOT hear the 'relay click' when it TEST mode. - 73 - Nolan Kienitz, KI5IO __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] Reaching across the chronological divide
By the way, and more directly related to Elecraft and Wayne's original post, not too long ago I proposed that Elecraft might consider building a smallish, portable, dedicated FT8/4 radio. Something with a screen and using the core engine of WSJT-X but with a much better user interface, a better logger, and the ability to actually say something (i.e., more than four message lines). It got almost zero traction here, and none from Elecraft, but I still think it wouldn't be a bad idea. Think of it as the HF equivalent of texting. 73, Dave AB7E __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] Wayne and his company...
Let me add that both Wayne and Eric are men of great integrity, and have developed a "corporate culture" that places honesty as a key component. I had a situation a few years ago that demonstrates this. I had a piece of Elecraft gear that was having serious problems but was out of warranty. It had a long track record of problems going back several years. This is a very convoluted and unusual history that I will refrain from going into. I wanted to send the unit back in and have it fixed and asked that it be treated as a warranty repair. I emailed Wayne and Eric directly (something you can't do at most other ham radio companies), and in a long email related the very long and sordid history of this piece of equipment, with proper documentation. They agreed to my request. I sent the equipment back to the mother ship. Now, comes the truly amazing part of the story, when the tech examined the equipment he noted not a bad part, but two "missing parts." This was a factory assembled unit! Now, how many companies would admit that they had shipped a unit with "missing parts." They might report that in an internal memo, but in a message to the customer? I was impressed! Once these missing parts were installed (two resistors, if I remember correctly), the unit has worked flawless since. Last year at Dayton I personally commended Wayne for how this was handled. He just kind of shrugged it off as "no big deal." Well, it was a big deal to me, and made me an Elecraft customer for life! 73, Carl N8VZ P.S. I should add that I'm sure that it's a very rare occurrence that Elecraft ships gear with "missing parts," but it's reassuring that when it happens, they'll admit to it, and make it right! -Original Message- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net On Behalf Of Paul Van Dyke Sent: Saturday, December 14, 2019 11:45 PM To: Elecraft Reflector Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Wayne and his company... As I sit on the road I watch the mail about Wayne... Then you have to think of the quiet one .. Eric - WA6HHQ, who also is the other intense one. Those lead the team to create the goodies ... Wait .. they are the CEO's, and they keep track of the list and the pulse of Amateur Radio. And have a personal life .. read the list ... and make sure they cover any issues.. And what was the last time any other leaders kept track of their company this close.. Paul- KB9AVO On Sat, Dec 14, 2019 at 9:59 PM Dean L wrote: > >>>snipped > hand in his case, I suspect he doesn't sleep. With his having to do > what he does for Elecraft, I wonder how he has the time to play with > the toys, test out his developments, etc. However, I am really glad > there is someone in the company like him.<<< > > > I often wonder how this man does all his duties, (including answering > emails) and have any time for sleep, family, non ham stuff A true > legend. > 73 > Dean K2WW > Show quoted text > __ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email > list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to > pvandyke1...@gmail.com > __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to n...@qth.com __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] Wayne and his company...
Let me add that both Wayne and Eric are men of great integrity, and have developed a "corporate culture" that places honesty as a key component. I had a situation a few years ago that demonstrates this. I had a piece of Elecraft gear that was having serious problems but was out of warranty. It had a long track record of problems going back several years. This is a very convoluted and unusual history that I will refrain from going into. I wanted to send the unit back in and have it fixed and asked that it be treated as a warranty repair. I emailed Wayne and Eric directly (something you can't do at most other ham radio companies), and in a long email related the very long and sordid history of this piece of equipment, with proper documentation. They agreed to my request. I sent the equipment back to the mother ship. Now, comes the truly amazing part of the story, when the tech examined the equipment he noted not a bad part, but two "missing parts." This was a factory assembled unit! Now, how many companies would admit that they had shipped a unit with "missing parts." They might report that in an internal memo, but in a message to the customer? I was impressed! Once these missing parts were installed (two resistors, if I remember correctly), the unit has worked flawless since. Last year at Dayton I personally commended Wayne for how this was handled. He just kind of shrugged it off as "no big deal." Well, it was a big deal to me, and made me an Elecraft customer for life! 73, Carl N8VZ P.S. I should add that I'm sure that it's a very rare occurrence that Elecraft ships gear with "missing parts," but it's reassuring that when it happens, they'll admit to it, and make it right! -Original Message- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net On Behalf Of Paul Van Dyke Sent: Saturday, December 14, 2019 11:45 PM To: Elecraft Reflector Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Wayne and his company... As I sit on the road I watch the mail about Wayne... Then you have to think of the quiet one .. Eric - WA6HHQ, who also is the other intense one. Those lead the team to create the goodies ... Wait .. they are the CEO's, and they keep track of the list and the pulse of Amateur Radio. And have a personal life .. read the list ... and make sure they cover any issues.. And what was the last time any other leaders kept track of their company this close.. Paul- KB9AVO On Sat, Dec 14, 2019 at 9:59 PM Dean L wrote: > >>>snipped > hand in his case, I suspect he doesn't sleep. With his having to do > what he does for Elecraft, I wonder how he has the time to play with > the toys, test out his developments, etc. However, I am really glad > there is someone in the company like him.<<< > > > I often wonder how this man does all his duties, (including answering > emails) and have any time for sleep, family, non ham stuff A true > legend. > 73 > Dean K2WW > Show quoted text > __ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email > list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to > pvandyke1...@gmail.com > __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to n...@qth.com __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] K3: Relay noise?
Talk about dredging up some history ... from 2009??!! I've read through this thread and a few others and have not found upon any solid answers that was posed by the OP. My K3 (S/N: 9013, Assembled: 05/10/15) started having the very faint key clicks late yesterday afternoon. As noted in the thread they seem to come from the top, right-rear of the K3. I've not yet taken the cover off and put a "tube" to my ear to narrow down source. When I first turned on my K3 today I did not hear the clicks, but after I was in the mist of a QSO they became 'hearable'. Still very faint. Rig is basic with 100w feeding a dipole. No sub-receiver. No receive antenna in use. If anyone has any thoughts about the very soft 'relay click' when operating CW I'd appreciate the input. BTW - same response with my single-lever paddle or straight key. Same response if I'm feeding my dipole or a dummy load on Ant-2. Do NOT hear the 'relay click' when it TEST mode. - 73 - Nolan Kienitz, KI5IO -- Sent from: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] Wayne and his company...
The quiet one? Hi 73! Josh W6XU Sent from my mobile device > On Dec 14, 2019, at 8:44 PM, Paul Van Dyke wrote: > > the quiet one .. Eric - WA6HHQ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] THE FUTURE OF OUR HOBBY
Mentors for ham radio: Well, I had only one who was a young music teacher in a nearby town who taught a ham class in the evening. I got my father to drive to them and the teacher lent me one of the paper tape CW practise machines to study CW. He then gave me my Novice and Tech license exams. There was a ham club in that town. held at the local TV shop. Mostly 30-50 year olds that largely ignored me, making me feel unwanted in their "little club". I stopped going after 2-3 times. I did find a WWII surplus VHF AM radio for $15 which a ham at another TV shop (we moved 30 miles) modified to 2m for me. Owner of that shop sold me a 35-foot TV tower for $35 and I built two 8-element yagis for 2m to put on the tower. I hung out at that shop a lot and talked with them. Mostly, I was self-motivated and read books from ARRL that were in the local library. I only had a $2 allowance per month so it took me half a year to save up to buy my 3-tube receiver kit ($19.95). I never thought about needing a solder iron but my dad surprised me with a Wen solder gun for my birthday (about $5). Later, after passing my Novice, he surprised me again buying me a DX-35, which my teacher-mentor was selling (so he could buy a DX-100). I did get a job working as a bagger at a local grocery. Mostly, I worked on my dad's farm so had little time for a job in HS (for making any money). Many years later in CA, I joined a ham club specializing in mw and one of them became my new boss at Goldstone (and my prof. mentor). He is now sk. Most, if not all, are now sk. I figure (hope) to be around for two more sun-spot maxima. My first was in 1958. Mention was made of "Maker conventions". Obvious that there is interest in making stuff so there is an opportunity to introduce ham radio. A younger ham and I are embarking on holding training sessions (workshops) on ham radio topics this year. First one was about APRS, we will do digital modes, antenna building, and hold a antenna measurement session. Other topics are VHF propagation, meteor scatter, eme, and mw. Just a start. My hats off to you who mentor! 73, Ed - KL7UW http://www.kl7uw.com Dubus-NA Business mail: dubus...@gmail.com __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] KAT500 auto trainer
"Extremely easy to do manually and stable." It is only because my 160 and 80 m OCFD is being modified frequently that I decided to develop the auto trainer. It takes multiple actions to tune a single bin and there are 20 bins for 160 m. If a multi-step task needs to be done infrequently the effort required to automate it is not justified. Do that task several times a week and the effort is easily justified. Actions to auto tune at current frequency: 1. Inhibit the key line and wait for confirmation of inhibit 2. Initiate KAT500 auto tune (FT;) 3. Set Kenwood to TX Tune and set auto tune power 4. Wait for KAT500 FT response which indicates tune is complete 5. Set Kenwood TX Tune power back to 5 w then command RX 6. Wait for confirmation that TX has stopped 7. Enable the key line Since that sequence had already been assigned to a single button push it was not too difficult to repeat it for each bin in the current band. Andy, k3wyc __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] Reaching across the chronological divide
I agree with Wayne that we need to be empathetic to reach out to people to interest them in ham radio. Many of the posts here make points some very good points. In general, I think we are not doing as much as some of our old mentors did for us when we started in the hobby, and we are a little rigid about insisting newbies should follow the established and proper path. I've been working with a group of nine new hams and three old timers at our local club since September, teaching them Morse code. (One is my XYL, a university professor who started a program in user experience design -- but not a stem person -- who got interested in the crossover between the maker world, robotics in schools and ham radio at Dayton a couple of years ago.) Granted, this CW group are already all hams, so they are "bought in" to the hobby, but as a group they weren't getting on HF in the way we think of ham radio. One newbie was a life-long SWL, so he was predisposed to HF. One old timer was a VHF guy, and the other two do HF digital. Two are women, including my wife. I had a plan to get them interested in HF and specifically contesting. They got their licenses in late April and I gave a talk about contesting and being radio active in general. I set up two stations for them at Field Day and sat beside each of them, helping them make their first Qs on phone. Five of them got pretty serious sitting at my K3s. One of the others brought his microBitX arduino-based rig and had a frustrating time, but stayed positive. Right after FD, two of the newbies bought Icom 7300s. At FD, I talked about a Morse course, with elements of getting started in ham radio thrown in, to start in the Fall. They all watched me make some Morse FD contacts, more easily than voice, and they all agreed to come to the course. To prepare, I became a Canadian examiner with Morse credentials, so I could administer Morse tests to endorse their licences at the end of the course if they wanted it. In the course, I've mostly followed the CWOps approach of introducing the letters and using 18 or 20 wpm Farnsworthed down to 3 wpm then 5 wpm and now about 10 wpm. I've made half-hour mp3s on my web site. I've sent in class. I told them they would teach themselves code, using some of the amazing tools now available on websites, such as RUFz, LCWO, Morse Runner, etc., and the class was there to help. One of the old timers, a software engineer, wrote a training program that introduces letters in our class order, and sends them to you and you type them. It keeps track of the ones you know, don't know, and know slowly, and it changes the probability of letters and spacing between them as a result. What I didn't expect is the sense of community among the students in the class. They are very much become friends, kind of a sub group of new people within the local club. They send emails about their progress to the group, for example when they work some DX on SSB. They're all putting up antennas, getting gear, etc. This friendliness has really paid off now that they're starting to send Morse to each other because they're so mutually positive about getting each other past shyness. Many of them are starting with paddles -- two of them made their own. I've given some of them old straight keys I've collected for this purpose, and they've put them on bases. The microBITx guy worked really hard on his CW practising, and I could tell he was getting frustrated with his rig, so I loaned him an old K2 I haven't been using "for a year or two, until he figures out what rig he wants". I steered him towards SKCC and he's made some SKCC QSOs and has an SKCC number. One of the women borrowed an old Henry Radio Tempo One from someone (and early Yaesu rig without keyer or sidetone), so I lent her one of those Bencher paddles with MFJ keyer attached so she can have a shot at CW with this rig. A few of us are probably going to build QRP Labs QCX 5 watt transceivers together. Two of the students now have KX3s they got used and are excited about portable operation. Two people have dropped out and will return for the next course, but they're staying on the email list and talking. Two others almost dropped out because they stopped practising for a couple of weeks, and the others cajoled them back!! I keep sending them encouraging emails and introducing new topics. They're all very interested in the history of ham radio, and a few of them see Morse as a connection to telegraph communications and early wireless telegraphy via radio. One has a grandfather who was a telegrapher. We've compared the sound of continental "railway" Morse to International CW Morse. Etc. etc. I'm so happy about all this. I expected to have about two students make it to where they made CW Qs on the air. It's going to be much higher than that, and I might even create a few new CW contesters. We'll see what happens with the Rookie Roundup. What have I learned? Let the group and
Re: [Elecraft] OT: SIGNAL LINK & Windows 10 audio output
That is the "scorched earth" solution. Most of us have more than 1 sound device on our systems and use them for different things. I prefer to leave the system sounds where they belong and keep the other sounds where they belong. And Win 10 makes it simple to do, but does sometimes rearrange things on upgrades. But if you know how to access those settings it only takes a few seconds to straighten them out. On Sun, Dec 15, 2019, 08:21 K8TE wrote: > While pertinent, the solutions offered disregarded the symptom: "Windows > Sounds". In Windows 10, hit the Windows key, type "Windows Sounds". That > should take offer to take you to the Sound Control Panel. Select the tab > named "Sounds". Select the Sound Scheme "No Sounds" That stops the > Windows > Sounds, not selecting the sound device. > > 73, Bill, K8TE > > > > -- > Sent from: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/ > __ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to jimk...@gmail.com > Jim Rhodes K0XU __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] THE FUTURE OF OUR HOBBY
“Today’s new hams will be the youth of several years back.” As am I! Started at 14, finally licensed at 60. My parents thought it was a bad idea, I got off track as life went on and finally came back to radio. Too many distractions for kids today that don’t require study. However long it took, glad to be here now. Keeping Watch - shu Joe Shuman, KE8KJZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] KAT500 auto trainer
Bob, My experience has been the same as yours. Extremely easy to do manually and stable. Jack - kd4iz -Original Message- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net On Behalf Of Bob McGraw K4TAX Sent: Saturday, December 14, 2019 19:40 To: Andy Durbin Cc: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] KAT500 auto trainer I didn’t find it a challenge at all. I started on 160M and finished on 6M all in about an hour. Those values are still good some 1 year later. It is really nice to operate 160M - 6M at 500W (except 60M & 30M) and only change the frequency on my K3S. Nothing tedious about that. Bob, K4TAX Sent from my iPhone > On Dec 14, 2019, at 5:40 PM, Andy Durbin wrote: > > Back on Dec 7th I posted "Popular wisdom is that KAT500 should be trained > for all frequencies in a band and then operated in manual mode. This is what > I do at my station but I find the training process to be a bit tedious and > I'm considering automating the training process." > > I now have a test version working. It currently has 2 functions: > > > 1. Sweep and Autotune - Set TX frequency and KAT frequency to center of > first bin of current band. When frequencies are verified then initiate > autotune and TX with autotune power. When tune complete advance to next bin > center frequency and repeat. > 2. Sweep and check SWR - Set TX frequency and KAT frequency to center of > first bin of current band. When frequencies are verified then TX with 5 W > for 2 seconds to allow a check of LP-100A indicated SWR or complex load. > Then advance to next bin center frequency and repeat. > > The tuning solution for first autotune pass seems to be rather poor > for some bins but it improves with a second or third pass. (I > understand the result depends on the power setting but there seems to > be more to it than that. Auto fine tune is enabled. ) > > My last autotune sweep of the entire 160 m band took 1 minute 10 seconds. > The check sweep took 1 minute 20 seconds. Check sweep time should be > constant but the time for the autotune sweep will be quite variable. > > A future refinement of the check sweep may be to set an SWR threshold and log > all frequencies that don't indicate better than that value. These would then > be presented in sequence for manual adjustment. > > So, still a work in progress, but appears to have potential. And yes, there > will be an option to CW ident after tuning each bin although my preference is > to minimize time on frequency. > > Andy, k3wyc > > > > __ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email > list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to > rmcg...@blomand.net > __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to kd...@frawg.org __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] OT: SIGNAL LINK & Windows 10 audio output
While pertinent, the solutions offered disregarded the symptom: "Windows Sounds". In Windows 10, hit the Windows key, type "Windows Sounds". That should take offer to take you to the Sound Control Panel. Select the tab named "Sounds". Select the Sound Scheme "No Sounds" That stops the Windows Sounds, not selecting the sound device. 73, Bill, K8TE -- Sent from: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] THE FUTURE OF OUR HOBBY
How about, I refuse to have a cell phone! Imagine that, I can get away without everybody trying to find me and the government can't track me down. If my YL, KB1TCG, really wants to find me when I'm out she can cruise 20 or 40m and find me... YL has a burner phone in case of emergencies w/daughters and grandson or else she wouldn't have one either. We refuse to play their games. I go to private schools and do hands on ham radio demos (voice & digi) to get youngsters interested as public schools only do as they are told. We had a Prep Fair in town last Oct and did live Winlink Peer 2 Peer on 20m, Electaft KX3 in our Hambulance in the car park and Kenwood TS-480 at the event. My youngest daughter, 31 and grandson, 7 are studying for their license. Ham Radio lives on! Merry Christmas everyone 73 de Jose Douglas KB1TCD, Bristol ME On 12/14/2019 10:50 PM, k8mn wrote: When I first became a radio amateur, there were something like 25,000 to 300,000 hams in the U.S. alone. There are more than 700,000 now. I'm optimistic. A cellular telephone isn't amateur radio.Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone. null __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to kb1...@gmail.com __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
[Elecraft] Voice net time and freq
Could someone please remind me days, time and freq for Elecraft voice nets? Thanks! Merry Christmas! 73 de Jose Douglas KB1TCD Bristol, ME Sent from my iPad __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
[Elecraft] OT: SIGNAL LINK & Windows 10 audio output
Try these too: https://ccm.net/faq/43906-turn-off-system-sounds-in-windows-10 https://www.simplehelp.net/2018/03/19/how-to-disable-the-windows-10-system-sounds/ I also have a Signal Link, a K3 and Win10 and that is what I did (turned off system sounds). de Doug KR2Q __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
