WB4IUY's Random Blog

Ham Radio Nation DX Spotting Tool

2011-12-12T17:27:00.003-04:00

Ham Rado Nation (HRN) has it's own DX Spotting window. You can log in and join for free, and it's loaded with ham radio related tools and even an awards program! Ham Radio Nation is kinda like Facebook for hams, by hams. You can check it out at hamradionation.com

Anyway, when you log in, you'll see the "DX Spots" link in the toolbar. This is a great way to see what other members are spotting, hearing, and working. It also might help members work other members by watching that link. If you haven't used it yet, pop over and paste in your spots, even if you also post it to DX Summit and such. Hope to see you on the HRN DX Spotting circuit!

Dave WB4IUY
www.WB4IUY.net

10m RTTY Contest this weekend!

2011-12-02T23:23:00.003-04:00

With 10 meters being very active recently, I expect the 10m RTTY contest to be a lot of fun this weekend. I work RTTY on 10m with an old Hal Telereader most of the time, just because it's old, vintage and one of the true "oldie-but-goodies". If you want a real stand-alone interface with it's own built-in display, this is one to watch out for at swap meets. It works CW as well, and does a great job at both without the use of a computer. You can see a pic of it here: http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/decoders/cwr6850.html

I also use my computer and Ham Radio Deluxe. While it does a great job at RTTY, it still does not copy a cleanly as the old Hal Telereader CWR-6850 manufactured around 1983.

No matter how you get on RTTY, it's an old school but FUN mode. Being 100% duty cycle, you have to be careful with your rig and amp so you don't damage anything. The contest is this weekend, and has a 100w limit. I'd recommend that you run your amp if you have one, turn the rig down to drive the amp to only 100w, and everything will be nice and cool for the contest.

Go HERE for more info on the contest, and I hope to see you on the air!

Dave WB4IUY
www.WB4IUY.net

Collecting Visitor Flags...

2011-11-20T11:22:00.001-04:00

I've been setting up a flag counter from flagcounters.com for visitors to my site. Kinda neat, shows country of origin. Check it out at:

http://s10.flagcounter.com/more/byj

Dave

Great Fan Dipole Diagram

2011-11-06T13:41:00.002-04:00

This is a nice fan dipole drawing from YC8PVU. I have built many of these over the years with different band combinations. You can add 160, WARC, & 6m using same concept. Nice to have muitiband antenna that doesn't require an antenna tuner and automatically bandswitches. These work great!

The 30mm (a little over 1") separation at the feed points is good, but I try to keep the distant ends about 6" apart per band. I've found this helps minimize coupling that causes your wire length measurements to be a little off. Cut your wire...s about 5% longer than the typical dipole formula, to give yourself some tuning range. Tune the lowest band wires first, and work your way up to the highest bands. Don't solder the wire wrap at the distant ends (where it comes through the insulator and wraps back around and twists onto itself to secure it) until you're finished. Just twist and pull back up for testing. You'll have to tune the whole antenna system about twice because there is a little interaction between bands, but when you're finished, it's a killer and simple setup. I've even put this in the attic of a friend's house by stabling it to the rafters nearest the roof, and 'zig-zagging' the low band wires (80 m) just to get is all up there. Tuned it up, and he was working DX with 100w like mad. Was a good answer for him, because he couldn't have any outside antennas!

Dave
www.WB4IUY.net

WB4IUY's Ham Shack - Dave Hockaday - My Ham Shack

2011-10-22T01:48:00.000-03:00

WB4IUY's Ham Shack on MyHamShack.com. See loads of ham radio stations from around the world, and add pics of your own.

ARRL September VHF QSO Party, 9/10/11-9/12/11

2011-09-11T00:36:00.006-03:00

Playing around on the ARRL VHF QSO Party this weekend, primarily on 2m & 6m SSB. It runs from 1800 UTC Saturday and ends 0300 UTC Monday (September 10-12, 2011). Not really making a serious effort, but it's neat to pick up a few new grids and help out with those that are making an effort to pack in a good score. Nice to see activity on 2m SSB! You can see more about it at: http://www.arrl.org/september-vhf-qso-party

It's about 11:30pm local time, Saturday night, and I'm still hearing a few signals on the band.

Updates:

- I just worked W8ZN on 144.195 & 50.220 at abt 11:02pm EST FM05 FM19
- Worked KO4YC on 50.220 & 144.230 , FM05 FM17
- Worked K3TUF on 50.150 & 144.210 FN10 <-> FM05 NC to PA on 2m at 11:50pm EST. Not bad for a dead band!
- Worked K4LY on 50.190 & 144.187 FM05 <-> EM85
- Worked KN4SM on 50.190 & 144.187 FM05 <-> FM16
- Worked W3SO on 144.2128 & 50.163 FM05 NC <-> FN00 PA, not bad!
- Worked W4IY on 50140.0 & 144.950 FM05 <-> FM08

Dave WB4IUY
www.WB4IUY.net

LX-DXpedition on the air until 9/6

2011-09-02T22:42:00.005-03:00

A group from the Low Land DXpedition Team are active in Luxembourg from Aug 30th through Sept 6th. I just worked LX/PA3EWP Ron on the LX-DXpedition, on 10.142.93 mhz 30m RTTY. It was an easy work with 50 watts into a non-resonant 40m sloper & tuner. They're on several bands and modes for the next few days, so it'll be fun trying to work them. They're using a new logging system powered by the CQFriends webserver.

Update: DX 10.104.04 LX/PA3EWP CW @ 2:02Z on 9/3/11. Nice sig into NC! Easy w/50w on 40m sloper & tuner

Update 2: DX 18083.04 LX/PA7FM . Worked on 80m Dipole w/tuner. Need to put up WARC antennas!

You can find out more about this DXpedition at www.CQFriends.com . See you on the bands!

Dave WB4IUY
www.WB4IUY.net

The CFARS FREE Hamfest was Saturday, 7/6/11

2011-08-04T20:41:00.004-03:00

The CFARS hamfest was Saturday, Aug 6th, in Fayetteville NC. There was no admission charge and no fee for tables. Tailgating is permitted, if you could take the heat. Their website is http://www.CFARSNC.org.

There was a test session on site, walk-in's were accepted, and you needed to be there at 9am (testing at 9:30). If you were selling, you could get in as early as 6:30 am to set up. General admission was from 8am until 12-noon.

The site was in the Reeves Auditorium on the campus of the Methodist University, Hwy 401 North (5400 Ramsey Street, Fayetteville). The test session was in the Science building (look for the building with the tall tower behind Reeves Auditorium).

My oldest son, Chris KF4DBX, and I got up at 4am, pulled out at 4:30am, and headed that way. It was only about 65 miles from my home location. The raind was coming down so hard I could barely see the lines on the hiway, and I was worried about unloading at the site. We stopped along the way for breakfast, and headed onward. By the time we arrived, and weather had cleard and all was well. The swapmeet area was air conditioned, as was the test session site. Chris upgraded his call to General class, we sold a bit of goodies, picked up some goodies, and had a great time. We're ooking forward to next year, already!

There are a few pics on my facebook page HERE .

Dave WB4IUY
www.WB4IUY.net

APRS Keyboard QSOs, where did they go?

2011-07-30T11:16:00.003-03:00

Many years ago (around 1995 or so), in a land not too far away (Zebulon NC), Jay KQ4MS and I put up the first APRS node east of Charlotte. At that time, we were cut off from the outside world, and used it for our own local keyboard chatting. From time to time, we would have band openings, and could work guys out in the western parts of NC and into Virginia. It was a lot of fun! Some of us had trackers and could see each other moving about, but for the most part we had daily communications via APRS.

The clock spun ahead, and other nodes began to appear on the map. It was awesome, we could easily work folks on the keyboard every night over a 3 state area. Friendships developed, and things improved in the network. Lots of folks were getting interested and wanted to participate in this network of mostly low altitude nodes.

We continued to revolve around the sun, and newer protocols arose that really helped with the unwanted ping-ponging, equipment got better, and lots more hams appeared on the scenes. Many of us had a blast every night, making keyboard contacts all around, even through the I-Gates that were beginning to pop up, and the many HF gateways that would allow us to work folks all over the US via RF APRS.

Sometime shortly after that, a new breed of APRS ops began to emerge that discouraged keyboarding due to the increased overhead on the network. Some of us got blacklisted on nodes and could no longer communicate with each other, and other were publicly chastised on the APRS forums. I closed my APRS station down and moved on to other modes of operation that were fun for me.

I recently got back on APRS, and discovered the crowds that were _all about_ APRS, telling the rest of us "how it should be done", are no longer there. There is a moderate amount of traffic, but a lot of the folks who used to operate APRS are now gone. What a shame, but that is the cycle we so often see on various modes of Ham Radio... AMTOR, SSTV, 2m repeaters, etc... Those of us who have been in the hobby many years have seen this over and over.

I've been sending out a CQ on APRS when I'm in the shack, and have been pleasantly surprised by making keyboard contacts with others who are interested in doing the same thing, once again. The maps aren't as crowded as they once were, but there are still lots of folks who enjoy actually communicating via APRS, even for just a short "hello" and to set up a schedule on a repeater or HF.

Dave WB4IUY
www.WB4IUY.net

Working Split, QSX, Up Up...please learn!!

2011-07-24T20:47:00.002-03:00

I spent a goodly amount of time today, trying to work ST0R, and realized that there is a huge problem... People either don't listen to the DX station when they say things like "up 5 to 10", "qsx +3", etc., maybe they don't hear the DX at all and are just calling from cluster spots, or truly don't understand how to work split.

Those of us who do understand, have all made mistakes, and that's not what I'm typing about.. I've been a ham and DX'er since 1974, and the ST0R pileup is among the worst of the worst. The ST0R ops are great, its the rest of us who are calling on top, QRMing, and just being plain stupid.

Please, please,please.... before you jump into a pileup, understand how to work split, LISTEN to the DX, and behave!!!. It makes things much easier on everyone involved.

P.S. To all Kilocycle Cops and Frequency Cops: Why do you feel you have to have to handle the situation? Your constant additional comments turned the ST0R zoo into an even bigger mess! Yesterday, there was MORE QRM from the "Radio Police" than from those who were too stupid to follow the instructions from ST0R. Whew!

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CQ WW VHF Contest - 7/16-17!

2011-07-14T23:43:00.002-03:00

This weekend is the CQ WorldWide VHF contest. It runs from 18:00Z Saturday 7/16 through 21:00Z Sunday 7/17. The full rules for it can be found HERE . Dust off your 2m & 6m rigs and get on the air. You can work all modes, and even FM... The only prohibited FM frequency is 146.52, the USA National Simplex Frequency, but all other standard simplex frequencies are acceptable like 146.49, 146.55, and 146.58. The contest exchange is [Callsign & Grid Square], signal reports are not necessary. Hope to see you on the air!!

Dave Wb4IUY
www.WB4IUY.net

Huge UHF & 6m opening, 7/14/11

2011-07-14T20:17:00.003-03:00

Wow... I hate I missed the huge band opening on 440 this morning. Was driving to work and working KD4PBS on the 442.075 repeater, and the inverted repeater pair in New England was coming into NC so strong that it was covering us up locally. I don't understand the logic behind the northeast coordinating repeaters backward from the rest of the US, but there must be a reason...I guess...

Anyway, I also noticed loads of spots on the DX Cluster for Europe being worked from the US on 6m. Oh well, works gets in the way of fun, all the time ;-)

Dave WB4IUY
www.WB4IUY.net

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Reactivate Your 2m SSB Station!

2011-07-10T11:42:00.007-03:00

I got my first taste of 2m SSB back in 1991 when Dave Wood W4EJ (then WB4KPD) demonstrated his 2m SSB station to me and I saw all the contacts he made on that band/mode. I looked around for something to fit my tight budget and get me on the air, and finally did so on June 14, 1992. My wife and I lived in an apartment in Wilson NC, and we were allowed to install a small tower there. I was using an old Heathkit SB-500 2m Transverter with my Heathkit SB-301 rx & SB-401 tx. It cranked out about 100 watts, and the receiver was fair to "so-so". The antenna I used was a Cushcraft 17B3 up about 50 feet, fed with a chunk of 9913 coax. It worked well, and I was very surprised at how many people were on that band/mode combo. I made contacts all up and down the east coast, and half-way out across the midwest. I had a blast, and was fairly active on 2m SSB until around June of 1993, when we bought a new home and moved.

Time marched on...I put up a somewhat larger tower at my new QTH, but didn't get around to putting up my 2m SSB antenna and getting back on 2m SSB until January 19th, 2008. WOW... I didn't realize how long I had been off the air, until I thought about it a bit. Once back on, I heard almost no one. I thought perhaps I had a feedline or antenna problem, or some issue with my transverter due to having been off the air so long. I did feedline loss tests, checked my gear our for rx sensitivity in the workshop, etc..but all seem OK. My antenna was now at about 117', about 67 feet higher than before. My QTH was in a much better location...now at 375' above sea level, whereas the old QTH was only about 100' asl.

I continued to listen constantly, call CQ on a regular basis, work the contests, etc. I worked stations from time to time, and worked some good ones many states away. I finally came to realize that there simply aren't as many people on the air on 2m SSB as there were in the early 90's. I've worked many people on 6m and HF, and have asked about their 2m SSB capability. Many reported things like "I took down the antennas because there weren't enough people on to talk to", "I haven't turned the rig on in years", "I never hear anyone on", etc. I've established that there are many, many hams out there with the equipment and antennas that simply don't switch them on.

What prompted me to write this? It came to me this morning, after working the only person I've heard on today, and listening to him call CQW for the last hour with no other responses. 2 points I felt were important to remember were:

1- If no one turns on their rigs, there will be no one to make contact with.

2- The band is quiet in most cases...turn your rig on, set the squelch lightly (if your rig has an all-mode squelch, mine doesn't), or turn the volume down low. You'll be able to hear when those lonesome ops are calling, and start making contacts again on 2m SSB!

Lastly, try to get on a make a few contacts in the sprints and contests. It's a great time to find activity at it's highest, and the activity is much appreciated by all ops. Get back on 2m SSB and let's QSO!!

One note... It's not expensive. I "upgraded" from my 60's vintage Heathkit transverter to a late 70's vintage Icom IC-211 & Vocom amp that gives me about 50 watts output from an all solid-state station with a good receiver. I know, it's still old stuff, but I got the entire station for $100 and I work everything I hear anyone else work...maybe not as good, maybe I have to call a few more times due to my weaker signal, but it still gets the job done (on the cheap!)

73 es cu on 2m SSB!
Dave WB4IUY
www.WB4IUY.net

6m Open on July 4th Weekend!

2011-07-03T15:16:00.002-03:00

Wow, this has been an active weekend on 6 meters. Quite by accident, I worked into Italy from NC with my meager 100w station. So far, I've worked:

IK5MEJ JN53
W7RCS DM34
N5PT EM15
WX6ZZ CM88
K7XC DM09
KG4ZOI FM06
NN5OK EM14
KI0DG DM04
KB7Q DN45
N7TR DM09
HI3TEJ FK49
PJ6D FK87
NP4A FK68
N4QV EL96

The propogation is there...get your 6m rigs hooked up and on the air! Many of my contacts are automatically posted on my FaceBook page at facebook.com/wb4iuy. Hope to see you on the air and I hope you have a Happy Holiday Weekend!

Dave Wb4IUY
www.WB4IUY.net

Field Day until 21:00z!

2011-06-26T16:09:00.000-03:00

Field Day isn't automatically over at 18:00z on Sun. Field Day runs until 21:00z for class A& B stations who didn't start setup untill 18:00z, and for all class C, D, E, & F stations. Keep on rolling!

Dave WB4IUY
www.WB4IUY.net

IC-756 Display fix and 60m added!

2011-06-11T19:12:00.008-03:00

I bought my IC-756 back around '95. It has been a great radio, except that the display began to fail a few years ago and Icom would not support it. They came out with the Pro-series 756's, and had no displays for the repair of the $2500+ radio I bought in '95.

I continued to put up with the problem, and it continued to get worse and worse...to the point where I could almost not read the display and had to rely on HRD and a CI-V interface to read some functions and frequency on the computer in the shack.

In recent years, a ham Richard Rosenberger PA7FA in the Netherlands designed a replacement display for it. You can see his display kit at http://www.pa7fa.nl

I was about to send the front of my rig to him to have his new display kit installed (I couldn't possibly handle all the SMD soldering and such), when I got a message from Bob wa8ulw stating that he had an old 756 that had been struck by lightning and that it had a good display. Wow...was I ever relieved to hear this!

Bob and I worked the deal, the faceplate assembly from his 756 arrived at my doorsteps this morning, and it's already on the rig and looking good as new. While I was doing the work, I modified the 756 to add the use of the 60m ham band to it's range of transmit frequencies.

Check out the before and after pics, including the little SMD jumper I had to remove to allow transmission on the 60m band...

Dave WB4IUY
www.WB4IUY.net

BAD storm & June VHF Contest

2011-06-11T02:36:00.003-03:00

Wow... while getting ready for the June VHF contest this weekend, we had one heck of an electrical storm tonight (Fri, June 10th). Multi-discharge lightning strikes all around us, some so close there was no delay between the flash of lightning, crack of the air, and the BOOM from the thunder. Thank goodness I had disconnected everything in the shack prior. The power was out for a while and we were running on our whole house generator.

It's now 1:30am June 11th. The storm has finally passed, leaving cooler temps and over 3" of rainfall behind. You can see my weather station online, along with the weather data archives from my location, at http://www.ipass.net/wb4iuy/radio/wb4iuy5b.htm .

Have all of my gear reconnected, all antennas tested, and ready for the contest! You can see the rules for the test at http://www.arrl.org/june-vhf-qso-party . Hope to see you on the air on 6m or 2m during the test!

Dave WB4IUY
www.WB4IUY.net

6m improving quickly!

2011-06-06T00:22:00.002-03:00

Nice to see such great activity on 6m these recent days. Along with working all around the USA, I've been making contacts all over the eastern half of Canada, and down into the islands such as Turks & Caicos, Cayman Is, etc. Get your rigs on 6m and keep the squelch open to hear the weak ones, it looks like we're going to have a great summer. Oh, BTW, don't forget the ARRL VHF contest this coming weekend!!

CQ SSB WPX Contest...

2011-03-27T19:56:00.002-03:00

Wow...the CQ WPX contest brought out loads of great contacts on the HF bands. I've been working 10m a bit this afternoon, and making contacts all over the South Pacific, and a few out into the Atlantic. Band conditions on 10 are great. Worked EB8AH, AH7NA, KH2L, ZL1AAO, VK3NW, ZL3IO, VK4KW, VK4WIP, VN4NM, VK4EMM, and VK1CC for examples. It's great to see these improved openings on 10m, and the contests really bring out the ops to make these contacts possible.

6m SSB Net - 50.200 from FM06

2011-03-12T09:09:00.001-04:00

Don't forget the NC 6m SSB net this and every Saturday morning on 50.200. Based in FM06, Eddie KD4CPV calls in all directions with his huge yagi antenna. In operation for many years, a nice size group of folks always check in for this net.

Dave WB4IUY
www.WB4IUY.net

ARRL Int'l DX Contest, SSB. 10 is open!

2011-03-05T10:23:00.004-04:00

Working the ARRL Inter. SSB DX Contest this morning, and 10m is WIDE OPEN! Just worked into Namibia, Africa on 28.417! Loads of stations active this morning (Saturday, 3/5). Check out more info on it at: http://www.arrl.org/arrl-dx . See you on the bands!

...adding a bit more after the contest finished on 3/6. I found Zambia, Canary Is, Madeira Is, Saudi Arabia, Sardinia, Nigeria, Namibia and more between 28.500-28.600!
The contest was a great way to spend the day inside, especially with the rain and such going on. Other than a bit of rain noise, the band conditions were nice. I worked 10m only, logged 156 contacts, 47 countries, and made 21996 points in the contest. I had a blast, and was my first long sit-down with a contest since 1994!

Dave WB4IUY
www.WB4IUY.net

AWA AM QSO Party, 2/19-20/11

2011-02-20T00:43:00.001-04:00

I'm working the AWA AM QSO Party tonight and tomorrow. It runs from 23:00z Saturday 2/19 through 23:00z Sunday 2/20. There's more info at http://www.antiquewireless.org/pdf/2011am_rules.pdf . Switch your rig to AM and join the fun!

Dave WB4IUY
www.WB4IUY.net

AM Transmitter Rally, Feb 5-6!

2011-02-06T14:22:00.001-04:00

For those of you who enjoy working a bit of AM with whatever rig you have, there's a fun, low key event running this weekend called the AM Transmitter Rally. It's more of a huge ragchew event, and you can learn more about it here:

http://amfone.net/Amforum/index.php?topic=26348.0

I'm been having a blast, and working lots of stations on AM from all over. Folks are running everything from homebrew, military, conventional, and the new flex radio stuff. Check it out!

Dave WB4IUY
www.WB4IUY.net

Awards Tracker Updated!

2011-02-06T14:15:00.001-04:00

David W5DJT has updated the Awards Tracker program again. It can now export files in adif format. There are two types of adif files. One that is compliant with the adif 2.2.x standards and one that works if imported into ACLog. You can download the latest version of this cool tool at:

http://www2.w5djt.com/downloads/AwardTracker-1.3.2.zip

Dave WB4IUY
www.WB4IUY.net

ARRL adds VUCC to LOTW!

2011-01-15T11:39:00.004-04:00

The ARRL Logbook of the World has now added the ability to confirm, track, and obtain VUCC on all bands from 50mhz and up. This is a feature that has been a long time in coming, and should be a nice perk for those working VHF/UHF/SHF frequencies to help obtain the VUCC awards. Additionally, they included the coveted Fred Fish Award in the system as well.

Log into your LOTW account, select AWARDS, and click the 'Create New VUCC Award Account' button. You must set one rule for it to work, and it'll walk you through that. If you have been operating from the same location, or locations within the 200km requirement of the ARRL, simply choose "Call Sign" and it'll do the rest.

If you're not on LOTW, sign up at https://p1k.arrl.org/lotwuser/default . You can simply upload your files from your currentl logging program in ADIF format (most all logs export in that format), and you'll be in business. Another perk of doing this is it provides an online backup of your logs, in case you have a computer crash.

Enjoy!
Dave WB4IUY
www.WB4IUY.net

Webcam on Winter Snowstorm in NC, today...

2010-12-26T11:23:00.000-04:00

I've got a cheap webcam looking at the snowstorm in NC today. The birds are really hitting the feeders hard. Gonna go clean the snow off, then experiment with a better cam. http://www.ustream.tv/channel/audio-1-only

Dave WB4IUY
www.WB4IUY.net

160M QSO Party

2010-12-22T00:47:00.001-04:00

Working the 160m QSO Party that's running thru 12/26. Check it out at http://www.drcg.de/ See you on 160!

Dave WB4IUY
www.WB4IUY.net

ROLDX DXCluster Node, Rolesville NC

2010-11-26T17:55:00.001-04:00

I've made a couple of changes to the node, so it can now be reached via the W4RAL-7 packet node on 147.54, if you wish to connect to the DXCluster via packet radio.

Connect to W4RAL-7 on 147.54 in Zebulon. Type:

C W4RAL-7

Next, connect to W4RAL-5 by typing:

C W4RAL-5

That is a multiport node near Roleaville. Once connected, type:

C 4 ROLDX VIA WB4IUY-3

That will connect you to the ROLDX DXCluster node on my home tower. Give it a minute to send everything to you before you proceed. You should get a message back that looks like this:

ROLDX:WB4IUY} DX Connect Bye Info Nodes Routes Ports Users MHeard

You're there! Type DX and hit enter. If you've never connected, it'll ask you a few basic questions (your name, location, and such). Once completed, it'll always remember you and you'll see the DX Spots rolling through.

The DXCluster node ROLDX has been operating on my home tower about 4 years. Users within range of my station can connect directly to it by switching directly to 145.07 and connecting to ROLDX. Using the W4RAL-7 node in Zebulon will allow those who are somewhat farther away to connect.

Have fun!
Dave WB4IUY
www.WB4IUY.net
wb4iuy@teara.org
wb4iuy@wb4iuy.#RTP.NC.USA.NOAM

Motorcycle Related stuff...

2010-11-21T20:16:00.005-04:00

Those of you into motorcycles, too...

A few non-Ham Radio things I've done that might interest some of you...

A few of us put some bikes in a local show yesterday (11/20), and here's what happened...

1- My youngest son, Brandon, took 1st place in 'Best Custom' with his bike (Bones), He's 26 years old, works at my motorcycle company, and this was his first full build. He did it with help from me, Dave KR4TP, and another friend named Jon over about 1 year of nights and weekends.

2- Jon Earp, our custom painter, took 2nd place in 'Best Custom' and also took 'Amy's Choice' with his bike (Low Life)

3- Bryan Long (good friend) took 'Best Stock' (non-modified frame) with his bike (RawHide)

You can see all of these bikes' builds online at: http://www.scootworks.com/projectbikes.htm

Next - I just finished editing, resizing, culling, organizing, etc over 500 pics from Daytona beach Biketoberfest 2010. The pics were taken with 3 different devices used by some of us, so getting everything grouped more-or-less in the correct order and of similar size took a bit of work. At the end, you'll see some smaller pics I pulled from my facebook page's mobile posts, that's why there's such a size difference.

There's 4 little video's the Iron Horse on there. If they don't play for you when you click on the links, right-click the link and save it to your desktop, then play them from there.

You can see them at:

http://www.scootworks.com/events.htm

Dave WB4IUY
www.WB4IUY.net

Having a BLAST on Ham Radio Nation!

2010-11-19T23:25:00.006-04:00

Ham Radio Nation is a Social Networking Site, sorta like Facebook and such, but specifically for Ham Radio. It has loads of things to do, along with meeting lots of other hams, like blogging, forums, an awards program, classified ads, propogation info, an always current contest calendar, chat rooms, product reviews, and more.

I stumbled into it by accident, but have been logging in and doing something on it every day or so. Check it out! You can find it at: http://www.HamRadioNation.com

EQSLs in digital picture frame...

2010-10-29T08:20:00.001-03:00

Here's an idea for those of you who use eQSL... I keep copies of all my digital qsl cards from eQSL and load them into one of those little electronic picture frames that are so inexpensive these days. I then display them in my shack and enjoy watching them scroll by while operating. A neat way to display cards without taking up more wall space in the shack!

Dave Hockaday WB4IUY
AMA 119484
Live from my handheld...

This solar cycle is sick!

2010-10-25T08:35:00.002-03:00

After reading the piece on Sciencemag.org, I'm beginning to wonder if folks our age will ever see another cycle with wild propogation like we did in the 70's and 80's...and even the 90's. I recall making contacts into Turkey and China on a converted CB @ 10 watts output from my truck, and working my 10m WAS from an indoor apartment antenna. My 10 meter repeater would begin transmitting an hour or so before sunrise, and work hard all day until midnight or later. Read this piece in Sciencemag for a real 'eye-opener'. You can google "No Sunspots" for loads of additional info on the topic...

Icom's lack of support...

2010-10-08T23:23:00.002-03:00

Here's a $2800 IC-756 radio with a bad display. Icom recognized that it was an issue. Rather than support it, they recommend to BUY A NEW RIG from them to replace it. WTF??? There's lots of these out there, stuck with this problem. As much as I like this rig, i'll never spend another penny with Icom.

Dave Hockaday WB4IUY
AMA 119484
Live from my handheld...

Working AM on 80 Meters

2010-10-06T01:00:00.002-03:00

I've been doing a bit of work on 80m at night of late. There's a group of AM ops down in the area of 3.705 nightly. Lots of fun and not nearly as congested as the old AM freqs around 3.885. C'mon down and give it a try!

Dave Hockaday WB4IUY
AMA 119484
Live from my handheld...

Testing a portable blog post...

2010-10-04T23:17:00.002-03:00

Its pretty crazy these days to be able to post a blog from a phone, and be able to include a pic. I'm working AM tonite on 3.710 from studio A with my FT-901DE.

Dave Hockaday WB4IUY
AMA 119484
Live from my handheld...

September VHF QSO Party

2010-09-11T17:00:00.003-03:00

Get your VHF/UHF gear up and on the air this weekend! The cotest begins 1800 UTC Saturday and ends 0300 UTC Monday (September 11-13, 2010). I'm operating on 6m SSB, 2m SSB, 223.5 FM simplex, and 446.0 FM simplex.

Not lots of activity in my area at the moment, but I've worked out about 3 grid squares away (around NC & VA), and heard a station up in FN21 in NY a few minutes ago.

Check out http://www.arrl.org/september-vhf-qso-party for more details, and I hope to see you on the bands!

Dave WB4IUY
www.WB4IUY.net

2M SSB wide open this morning!

2010-09-02T09:01:00.003-03:00

Just a 'heads up'... With hurricane Earl coming up the coast, along with it comes serious VHF/UHF tropo propogation. I just worked EL98 (Apopka, FL) from FM 05 (Youngsville NC) with 50w on 2m SSB. 59 sigs, easy contact. I don't have 432 SSB, but N4TUT in EL98 reports 432 sigs from Charlotte NC booming into his area as well. Get on the air!!

Fly For Tots coming soon!!!

2010-08-05T20:52:00.002-03:00

Don't miss the largest 'Fly Anything' R/C event in the US, coming September 17-19 to the RDRC club site in Youngsville, NC. You can learn more about this, view streaming cams of the event, and see what a great charity event this is online at http://www.FlyForTots.com.

IARU Contest Running this weekend!

2010-07-10T09:27:00.002-03:00

The IARU Contest is running this weekend. DX will abound and is easily found... I just worked B4HQ in China on 14.195 from here in IARU zone 08 (Youngsville NC)! Fire up the rig and get on the air. See you on the bands!

6m Open for TransOceanic Contacts!!

2010-07-04T19:46:00.002-03:00

Wow, what a July 4th party this is!! 6m has been HOT all day, with openings into Europe, Africa, and lots of islands... With only 100 watts I've worked EA6SX on Balearic Is., J39BS in Grenada, 9Y4VU in Trinadad, CT1HZE in Portugal, EA8CK in the Canary Is, and more. Happy 4th to all!!

Please check out/vote for Brandon's bike!

2010-06-30T22:03:00.001-03:00

My youngest son (Brandon) has been working on his bike for over a year at night and on weekends, along with a couple of his co-workers. He finished it about 3 months ago. He entered it in a contest on 96Rock and it is now in the top 10. This is no credit card bike...everything on it, except the frame, has been hand built or modified in some way. Being on a budget, many parts came from wrecks/salvage or are modified factory items. It's his first bike, and we're all very proud of it (especially Brandon!). Please go have a look at it and give him a vote. The voting link is:

http://www.96rockonline.com/article.asp?id=1857150

You can see the whole project online at:

http://www.scootworks.com/buildbones.htm

Dave

Fied Day bit in News & Observer 6/27

2010-06-27T11:04:00.002-03:00

I just finished reading the piece on field day in the N&O this Sunday morning. While it's probably accurate about it's aging fan base (no huge influx of youngsters), I think it was a slap in the face for what ham radio is and does for the rest of the world, and the fact that there are entire organizations...thousands of people... trained and ready in the event they're needed in an emergency. The support function that ham radio has provided recently, just over this past year, with various disasters around the world was also completely missed. The WHOLE PURPOSE of Field Day is that of a training excercise seemed to have been overlooked as well.

My take on the N&O piece was the portrayal of ham radio as an old, noisy hobby enjoyed by a dwindling bunch of us with grey hair and using 2-3 story antennas that aren't wanted as a result of suburbanization.

Oh well, that's just my opinion. You can read it for yourself at:

http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/06/27/553625/for-a-day-radio-reigns-again.html

Operating AM on Icom IC-756

2010-06-21T20:09:00.005-03:00

I've tried using my IC-756 on AM from time to time, as I enjoy this mode on 75, 40, 20, and 10 meters. Unlike my Yaesu 901 and Heathkit equipment, the output power of my 756 Icom would drop considerably when I would modulate the transmitter with voice. In order to get decent power out, I would have to run my amp harder than I care when operating AM.

When operating at 25 watts carrier from my 756, I was producing about 25 watts pep when modulated at 100% (because the power output would drop to about 8 watts!). My amp (AL-82) would run about 350 watts carrier, and would fall back to about 85 watts or so when I would speak (still about 350 watts pep).

I built the little curcuit from W8JI's page this afternoon. I now operate the rig at about 10 watts carrier, which drives the amp to about 150 watts. When modulated the amp produces about 600 watts pep, but runs very cool.

Listening to it on my Yaesu 901, it seems much cleaner, but I can't hear any difference on my Heathkit SB-301. I guess this is partly determined by the detector used in the receiver of the receiving station. The amp is much happier, though, and runs much cooler. I can run a much higher PEP with a lot less heat!

I've posted info about it on my AM Mode page at:

http://www.ipass.net/wb4iuy/radio/wb4iuy2l.htm

6m Conditions Great today!

2010-06-13T15:50:00.003-03:00

Great conditions are abundant today on 6m. This is perfect timing for the ARRL VHF QSO Party, underway this weekend. I've been working all over the US with my simple 6meter station. Gonna connect the 2m yagi and see what's up there next...

You can see the info on this weekend's VHF contest on the ARRL website at:

http://www.arrl.org/june-vhf-qso-party

10m PSK31 Active this evening!

2010-05-24T18:27:00.003-03:00

I made my first PSK31 contact on 10m today, on 28.120. Once I made the contact, I posted it on the DX Cluster and at www.HamSpots.net . Next thing I knew, there were loads of signals up on 10m PSK31. The band is in pretty condition, and perfect for a few digital QSOs. It sure is great to see 10m coming back alive in this sunspot cycle!

Lack of respect for "Windows" on different bands...

2010-05-22T08:46:00.005-03:00

There are gentleman's agreements and suggestions by the ARRL for various "windows" to be used by certain modes or activities. These include things like the "DX Window" found on many bands, call frequencies like 50.125 on 6m, and mode windows like the PSK31 window and the AM window. Many of these "windows" have been around for decades and are well documented in practically every amateur radio publication and all across the internet.

To preface this...I collect vintage Amateur Radio gear. There are lots of people like me, who collect older amateur radio equipment, restore it, and enjoy operating it on occassion. Many of these old rigs are crystal controlled and have been locked to these frequencies for decades, especially since these frequencies were widely known as the frequencies to operate AM on. Most of these rigs operate on AM.

The "AM Windows" have been around since before I became a ham in 1974. One such example of windows are the two frequencies 3.880 & 3.885 mhz in the 75 meter band. There are only a handful of such frequencies in the entire HF portion of our allotted amateur radio spectrum. AM has a typical bandwidth of at least 6 khz, and most of the older receivers were designed to accept this bandwidth for proper reception and reproduction of transmitted audio.

I'm always amazed at the number of people who tune either just outside of the window (or right smack in the middle of the window!) and operate SSB. Their arguements are often "I don't hear the AM'ers" or "I was here first and _they_ can move". I guess either they don't understand the design of their own receiver including it's more narrow passband and ability to null carriers from the oppsite sideband, don't understand that many of the AM Vintage rigs can't move to another frequency, or they simply just don't care where the window is.

AM'ers, for the most part, stay in the windows to enjoy the company of other collectors, experimenters (many AM ops build and/or modify their own gear), and others with similar interests. There are lots of us...the numbers are quite large. There are publications, businesses, and even entire hamfests dedicated to this facet of the ham radio hobby. We don't _HAVE_ to stay in these tiny slivers of spectrum called the AM Windows, but we choose to do so out of respect for the other modes scattered across the bands (among other reasons). We can operate anywhere those of you who operate SSB can operate...but we don't. We keep to ourselves and try to minimize our interference to others by operating in these widely known and universally understood "AM Windows".

Imagine if all SSB operations were be herded into a few tiny slices of spectrum called "SSB Windows", while AM operations ran across the entire phone bands. Imagine if AM'ers decided to "take back" a fair amount of spectrum and began having AM contests, calling CQ, holding nets, etc on AM all across the phone bands with our wider signals. Now imagine if those of you who operate SSB actually behaved as most of us do and gave AM a little "elbow room" around the windows so your SSB signals (and many of them are quite wide as well!) didn't jam the few frequencies that we relegate our own selves to.

I started typing this on this Saturday morning while working (or rather, trying to) the AM Military net on 3.885. A group of hams in the southeast US constantly obliterates operations on 3.885 Am by operating on 3.888 LSB. Their lower sidebands splatter all the way down to below 3.880. One of the guys is regularly heard on a rants that he will jam AM anytime and anywhere he hears it, simply because _he_ doesn't like it. This happens all the time, and is a perfect example of what this blog is about: People who either don't know or don't care how their operations in and around the windows impacts a much larger group of people who are operating in a manner as to minimize their impact on everyone else.

Please folks...stay out of and away from (by few khz) the AM windows with your SSB signals, so AM'ers can also enjoy their favorite part this awesome hobby!

10m Roaring into NC!

2010-05-17T19:50:00.002-03:00

Wow... just onto 10m tonight after dinner, and found hams from all over South America on the air and blasting into NC. It's now 7pm, and with a full day of rain and cool temps, I really didn't expect to see quiet conditions and nice E-Skip openings.

Bands not too good today...

2010-05-16T21:52:00.002-03:00

I made several contacts on 10m & 20m today, though nothing that was very long haul. European Russia was booming in on 20m for a while this afternoon, and the bands went short and PR was dominating 10m. Oh well, it was still a lot of fun making contacts around the US and Europe!

10m conditions improving...

2010-05-10T23:44:00.001-03:00

10m open to Hawaii from NC at 10:45pm! Propogation is getting steadily better on the upper bands as the sunspot cycle improves. C'mon sunspots!

UPDATE... Just worked FO4BM in French Polynesia again on 10m at 28.4198 mc, which is 6000 miles from my location. Yep, things are looking up!

HV0A QRV 20m

2010-05-09T11:47:00.001-03:00

HV0A in the Vatican on 14.1794 qsx +5-10 kc, nice sigs into NC today. I worked him QSX +8.6kc .

RTTY Volta Underway...

2010-05-09T09:02:00.003-03:00

The RTTY sub-bands are filled with activity this weekend, with the RTTY Volta contest. It's a great time to make RTTY contacts and pick up some new countries, even if you're not a contester. The exchange is simple... RST-your contact#-your CQ zone...

Example: If I were working you and you were my 30th contact in the event, my exchange with you would be: 599-030-05 (I'm in CQ zone 5). You can find your CQ zone at: http://www.mapability.com/ei8ic/maps/cqzone.php . You can also learn more about this event at: http://www.contestvolta.com/

Have fun!

7x9 ??????

2010-05-05T22:09:00.002-03:00

Holy smokes.... I just heard a person on 28.400 giving out 7x9 reports. Hahahahahaha....This is too funny. When did signal reports move beyond 5 for readability? They must have been REALLY STRONG, c'mon.

10m open again tonight...

2010-05-04T22:22:00.003-03:00

Working a 10-10 net right now out of Tx. Lots of big sigs coming from TX tonight! 28.488 is the freq for this net.

UPDATE... WOW!!! Just worked Tazmania & Australia on 28.425 (VK7ZE & VK4LS) at 10pm local tonight. 10m is finally playing good!

FO4BM on 10m!

2010-05-03T22:03:00.001-03:00

FO4BM on MOOREA Island in French Polnesia was just worked on 28.470 from NC, almost 6000 miles! 10 meters is finally waking up!

10m Open on Monday night...

2010-05-03T21:31:00.001-03:00

Beautiful sigs coming from Mexico and most southern and central U.S. states.

Screaming band opening on 6m!

2010-05-03T19:35:00.001-03:00

Just worked into Daytona Beach Fla EL99 from FM05 at 6:30pm. Lots of sigs on 6, get on the air!

VHF Hot on East Coast!

2010-05-03T08:24:00.002-03:00

I don't know what's going on with these strong openings, but I'm glad to see them! 2m SSB is running strong again this morning from Va to Fla on the east coast. Get'm while you can!

10m Opening...

2010-05-02T22:07:00.000-03:00

10 meters is now open onSunday night around 9pm...weird!

2M WIDE Open on east coast!

2010-05-02T21:49:00.001-03:00

Holy smokes...look at the VHF propogation map at http://www.mountainlake.k12.mn.us/ham/aprs/path.cgi?map=na ...the whole east coast of the US is red hot for 2m ssb action!