Riverside portable with KX1

The weather has been great during the month of July....well for those of you like me who think 85 degrees along with humidity is great then it has been a great month. I wanted to try my new Elecraft AF1 filter in a contest/portable situation. This morning the IOTA and U.S counties QSO party was up and running. I always find that doing portable op's when big contests are on makes things very exciting. The only problem I had in the past was the Elecraft KX1 was not good at filtering out the busy bands. Thus brings me to the Elecraft AF1 filter!! The day began with me making

sure all was packed (Murphy decided to participate in those plans). It was off to Starbuck to have a coffee and get the laptop out (Starbucks has free wifi) and look up the contests that are on and get the exchange's they are using. I was going to be a "point giver" in as many contests as I could. So once at Starbucks Murphy kicked in.....I had all I needed for my portable operation but forgot my laptop!!!! Well the Iphone came to the rescue and I was able to get the contest info from there. So it was off to the park and I did find the perfect spot to setup at around 10 am. It was still cool but just to make sure this spot was under a large tree with

Elecraft AF1

Mini project the Elecraft AF1

The Elecraft AF1 kit

When operating out and about I use my Elecraft KX1. There were only two areas I wanted to improve the radio. The first being the paddle that Elecraft offers, I purchased their paddle but was never happy with it I solved that with the Palm paddle. This paddle is very smooth, compact and easy to adjust. The final issue I wanted to resolve was  the filtering. I found the KX1's filtering to be just "OK" and I had a hard time getting it just right. After doing some internet searching I decided to purchase Elecrafts AF1. From the YouTube videos and different reviews I knew I found my solution. Last week the kit came in and over the coarse of the past week I put the kit together. This kit went together very smoothly and fast the instructions were very clear.

Attic antenna ghost busters!!!

The SEP ARC plug

In an earlier post I described how I was having SWR issues (Attic antenna ghosts)with my Alpha Delta DX-EE antenna in the attic. When I put the ohm meter across the antenna feed (LMR-400 coax) I was getting 12 mega ohms.  I sent a post out on the Yahoo group ham-antenna   over time there seemed to be a consensus coming in that it may be the SEP Arc plug   causing the troubles. This device is across both legs of the antenna and is meant to look after any static troubles that may come upon the antenna. The problem I may be having is due to a high SWR on some bands and the SEP may be breaking down and giving me a high resistance short across the legs of the dipole. This made sense, so it was off to the attic

Planning for the fall.....kit building time I need ideas........

There is still one kit on the self that has been calling my name for some time to build. I purchased the KAT100 auto antenna tuner from Elecraft for my K2 radio. When purchased  I had all good intentions of building it but other things in the shack kept taking priority. For the rest of the summer it will most likely will sit on the self but the the kit building itch is there and in the fall the soldering iron will be heating up. For those of you that follow my blog on a regular basis you know I am an Elecraft fan and I really enjoy their kits.  I know there are other very reputable "kit" companies out there. I don't want to be closed minded as to the other great opportunities out there so please send me your comments on the kits you have done and information on the other great ham radio related kit companies out there.

New Elecraft KX3 Youtube video's......

Here are two more NEWLY RELEASED YouTube video's showing off the Elecraft KX3....enjoy and not too much drooling!!!!

Is it time for a new contest catagory????

For those of you who are into contesting or occasionally dip your toes into the waters of radio spot it can be a great way to sharpen your skills, make lots of contacts or work on an award. This evening I just finished reading PA1B's blog  posting about his IARU contest adventure this past weekend. Using his FT-817 and an inverted V antenna Bert was on his way to making contacts and that he did a 125 in total. So what is so special about that you ask??....Well the max power Bert used was 2.7 watts. BUT out of Berts 125 contacts 64 were made with with 800mW or less!!!! These QSO's were not just around the corner either 71 QSO's netted him the 1000 mile per watt status. So this got me to thinking.....why not have a QRPp (less than 1 watt) category in contesting?? Im just thinking out loud with this one!
But drop by Bert's blog and read how much so little can do!!

2011 IARU Contest

This is one of my favorite contests  and for me this year the warm sunny day was calling my name just as loud as the contest was calling me, so I made a comprise. I operated in the contest during the morning and early afternoon then Julie and I went for a walk to a local festival that happens in town each year at this time. We came home to have dinner and watch a movie together. Then it was to the radio room to see how 40 meters was doing and it was doing great! I entered the contest in the QRP low power CW category (as always) so how were the

Julie caught me getting ready for the contest

conditions up this way.......I was very surprised to find 10 meters open and in full swing. For the first time in a long time I was making contacts on 10 meters. There was not only openings down into the U.S but Europe as well.  Not sure how propagation was doing at the time of the contest but I did  have to do lots of repeats which even with QRP I didn't have to do in the past. I have made it a practice not to check the propagation conditions before a contest. I do this because in the past I have found if the

Attic antenna ghost's

Strange behavior.

Earlier this week I was getting the K3 and computer software ready for the IARU contest this weekend. The rig was on 20m (14.030) were I was able to get an SWR  around 1.4 and in that ball park from 14.000 to 14.060. This time when I did a software transmit check with N1MM contest software at 14.030 the SWR is now 2.18 Hmmmm. The other bands are up just a little bit but not as bad as 20m, we have had some very hot weather and I thought it was due to the hot weather maybe. I posted this question to Ham radio help at Yahoo groups. The consensus  seemed to be that with this type of antenna the heat should not affect it. In the past the other antennas were not affected by the heat. I did go up and have a peak at the Alpha Delta DX-EE to make sure nothing had happened to any supports or the antenna itself and all is well. The resonant frequency seems to be a lot higher than it was. For example 20m's was resonate at 14.200 and it is now 14.350 and it is similar on all other bands as well. Seems on Friday after work I may have to go up in the attic and play with the length as well as sweat and loose some weight in the attic.

July 4th + backyard + KX1 !!!!

I want to begin by wishing all my American friends south of the border and up here in Canada HAPPY INDEPENDENCE day!! In Canada July 4th is not a holiday like in the United States....BUT........I had some vacation time and took today off. I was able to get some stuff done around the house but also in the late afternoon get some ham radioing in as well. I took my KX1 and ventured into the backyard from 19:00-20:00 UTC. I was not able to fit the Miracle whip antenna under the awning that was blocking me from the sun so it was the long wire to the rescue. It matched up to 1.1 with the internal tuner in the KX1 and I was running on internal batteries so the output was an earth

Going wireless.......joining the 21st century

The HIRO WLAN USB Adapter 

The other day Julie was in the market for a black and white laser printer she came across a very nice Brother model that was also wireless. She has a  fancy schmancy desktop Mac that has wireless compatibility as for me.......NOT. This would be the second wireless printer in the house both of which I can't use!!! So I checked out some cards that gave me wireless functionality but they were pricey. I then came across the Hiro 802.11B USB wireless adapter that was only 19.00 here in Canada. It works with Win7, Vista, XP, ME,2K and 98SE. I found the instal just went wayyyyyy to smooth but in the end it worked fantastic!!! If you want to make your non wireless desktop wireless this seems to be the way to go. I am now on the verge of the 21st century!!!

Canada Day............

In Canada July 1st is Canada day 

Formerly known as "Dominion Day," Canada Day marks the anniversary of the Constitution Act of 1867, joining Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Canada province (now Ontario and Quebec) into a single country.