A New Blog about AM Broadcast Radio

 Adventures on AM Radio

Back in the Saddle Again

 

	de	date	band	mode	grid		Country	op
	CT9/UR9IDX	2023-09-23	3cm	CW			Madeira Island
	K1ESE	2023-09-23	20m	CW	FN44pe		United States	JOHN C HUFFMAN
	KA0PQW	2023-09-23	20m	CW	EN33iu		United States	Matthew D Arthur
	W1KX	2023-09-23	20m	CW	FN44xf		United States	WILLIAM C MANN
	NA9M	2023-09-23	20m	CW	EN53hd		United States	Paul D Kinas
	AF4OD	2023-09-23	20m	CW	EM72gn		United States	William B Capps
	VE2TH	2023-09-23	20m	CW	FN46hu		Canada	Michel Boissonnault
	K5KV	2023-09-22	20m	CW	EM01tm		United States	BENSON J OWENS
	V31XX	2023-09-20	15m	CW	EK58uk		Belize	Bill Kollenbaum

I'm having a blast making CW contacts in a variety of states and countries. Yes, I'm a bit rusty but I'm doing fine considering that I've been off the air around 4 years. I'm still reading my instruction manual of the Icom 703 to relearn the finer points of making DX contacts but I never seem to tire of the process.... 

Several of my contacts are Parks on the air (POTA) which are my favorites. I feel a special excitement working those QRP stations.  

My Rig Now- Still 100% QRP

                  I've made a change or two and looking forward to soon getting on the air. 

It's been so long that I need to read my instruction manual again and check all my wring. It's important to get everything grounded. Many years ago, a lightening bolt struck my neighbors home and destroyed about 100 ceramic roof tiles and it melted all the wring in the house and destroyed the transmit portion of my Icom 703.  

I've missed using Morse code the last 4 years with my iambic paddle. I know my speed has diminished greatly but it like riding a bicycle...you really never forget. 

 

Health Problems

 Since my last posting, I've had Titanium spacers placed in the lower left side of  my back. The surgery was a simple with a quick recovery time, and it relieved my intense agonizing pain.  I had scheduled another surgery on my lower right side, which would have placed a small slender cadaver bone in my right hip but there were other problems which I was unaware of at that time. 

Our home in Charleston has a small yard which I  have always cut with a "push mower" and cutting the grass has always made me feel great, although I was always dripping wet with sweat and very tired afterwards. Alarmingly, I developed a pain down my left arm one hot summer day. I knew what that meant....

I had triple by-pass open heart surgery soon afterwards with a hospital stay of 13 days and an extra 10 days in a rehab unit. I don't remember very much of the hospital other than several PTSD attacks. Apparently, that's not unusual considering the trauma of open heart surgery but I had not anticipated this in my wildest dreams. Needless to say, I should never have visited Vietnam recently because I saw little difference in the South Vietnam of 1968 and 2022. It was depressing to me. 

I had a bout with Covid a few weeks ago but thankfully, it was a mild case. 

I have a pacemaker scheduled to be installed on March 22 now. Hopefully, I should feel more normal afterwards. 

I Like This Picture

 

This afternoon I worked KP4YO in Cogas, Puerto Rico on 20 meters. I couldn't help but notice this picture on his QRZ page. It was a short QSO of 1676 miles in a straight line. 

I liked seeing this picture so much that I thought I would share it with everyone. In my humble opinion, being able to read Morse Code, with only the human ear is a very precious skill these days. I would encourage everyone to share this statement on their radio pages.  

I'm Back Into my Favorite Hobby

 

It's difficult to think that I've been inactive on the radio for the last four years but sometimes life moves much quicker than I care to think about. Although I haven't forgotten how to use most of the features on my Icom 703 rig, there have been a few moments when I really thought I might need to get the instruction manual out to go over a few fine points. 

The last several afternoons, I've realized electrical noises have become much worse over the last four years, especially on 40 meters. I blame a new telephone pole and transformer which was replaced after an especially windy week a few months ago. 

There are also still Christmas LED lights all over the neighborhood. lol 

Yes, my CW speed has slacked off a bit, but I still can copy, and send CW at about 17 words per minute. I surprised even myself because I feared that I was around 11 wpm. Of course most of that depends on who is sending it and what key they are using. 

This afternoon I made a quick contact with VE2NGO in Montreal Canada.  I missed the call but realized the mistake. (it's been awhile) The 30 meter band has always been a staple band for CW operators. 

I'll have more to say as time moves slowly forward but for now 5 watts and an indoor random wire antenna is working well. 

It's a great feeling to be back on the air. 

Making Adjustments

This entry will have nothing to do with radio, but hopefully will be an explanation for my long absence of writing on this blog. In essence, I've been forced to make many adjustments with my free time.

Approximately 15 years ago my father had his right hip replaced. It worked flawlessly until  two years ago. In March of last year my father who is 97 years old and was still living independently suffered a series (4) of painful hip dislocations. He also suffered a stroke which has destroyed his reasoning abilities. He has been diagnosed with dementia. He is now in a skilled nursing home and continues to slowly deteriorate. He is legally blind and deaf.

More adjustments have been necessary with the birth of my three grand kids (triplets). At birth, all three babies were rushed into the neonatal ward and the mother was rushed to the intensive care unit of a different hospital. Jacob (the largest of the three at 3 pounds and 1 oz) had a brain bleed which needed immediate attention. Jaylee (at 2 lbs and 5 oz) and John (at 2 lbs and 3 oz) both struggled to breathe. It was miracle that the mother, and any of the children survived. The early birth (at 22 weeks) was due to the tremendous stress on the mother. She had developed a very bad case of the Flu, in all probability, caught from a patient at the doctors office where she was employed. 

That was the beginning of a two month stay in the neonatal unit of the hospital. Jacob (the boy with the brain bleed) had a device implanted in the top of his skull to relieve the pain caused by the bleeding. He seemed to stabilize but will need further surgery as he grows. He has been diagnosed now with Cerebral Palsy. John, the second child had two months of breathing issues, and after transferring to a different children's hospital, has stabilized.

At five months of age, Jaylee simply stopped breathing and died in the middle of the night. Crib death (SIDS) is an unexplained phenomenon. Needless to say, these last two years have been more than stressful. I've been simply overwhelmed with sadness.

I hope to get back on the air in the future but for now, I simply don't have the free time to enjoy radio.

VK3CWB QSL Card

I received my confirmation card in the mail yesterday afternoon . Many thanks to MOZ for a great contact on the 30 meter CW band. 

MOZ was using a 2 element Moxon beam at 75 ft. His power was 100 watts.  This was a "long path" contact at nearly 24,000 Kilometers. (10,000 miles straight line distance) 

My 115th DX Country - Australia

I worked my 115 th DX Country on March 4 th, 2017
My "straight line distance" to Australia is 10,0007 miles.

That's 2,000 MPW with 5 watts of power. 

I've been hearing VK3CWB in Mildura Australia for several evenings on the 30 meter band; and always at around 22:30 GMT. I rarely hear stations at this distance, and when I do, they're usually far too weak to work. Besides, the solar cycle is near the bottom of the current eleven year lull right now.

I've been a licensed HAM for more than 25 years and I had all but given up on ever putting this country in the log book. My operating locations, in all these years, have been, at the very best, marginal, with indoor stealth antennas. I use five watts of power (QRP) and a 50 ft. piece of Radio Shack speaker wire (indoors) for an antenna. This simple station does have it's limits, or so I thought....

Although I hold both DXCC and WAS awards from the NAQCC Club, previously I've made only three, of what I call "deer in the headlights contacts". I'm very happy to say this new contact makes number four.

Moz -VK3CWB - has an interesting philosophy about working QRP  stations. 

"Its not the QRP which is important, it's the enthusiasm, endeavor, application and belief that things can be done simply which I really admire. And of course, if you run QRP there must be a persistence and a "never say die' attitude which is also most admirable".

This was a pre-arranged contact, the result of an e-mail which I sent him the previous day.

I heard him calling me the moment I tuned to the pre-arranged 30 meter frequency at the appointed time. He heard me the moment I tuned up the QRP rig. He returned my call on the first attempt. We had a short conversation about his 30 meter two element "Moxon" antenna. I expressed my gratitude for his patience and willingness to make a successful contact at this distance.

This was not a "599 and TU 72's QSO" --  Our conversation was a "solid "559" (both ways) 

I was thrilled to make such a nice contact but afterwards (e-mail) Moz explained to me that he was using the "long path". I've heard the term, but being a "simple wire antenna person", I didn't fully comprehend it's significance. Australians (and I might add, most of the rest of the world) use kilometers for their measurements. The truly remarkable thing about this contact was that he was pointing his "beam" the direct "opposite" (towards the west) in the direction of West Virginia.

Most operators would have taken the "shortest path".

His straight line distance (long path) was 24,000 kilometers, and if I understand correctly, he must have bounced his radio waves across the Indian Ocean, Saudi Arabia, France, and the North Atlantic before it reached me in West Virginia.

As I noted earlier, the contact with VK3CWB is what I consider my "fourth" eye awakening QRP contact.

My first was several years ago when I worked A45XR in Oman at 7,429 miles. He was using a double element "delta loop" for an antenna. I worked him on both 17 and 30 meters in 2013; and was my most distant contact until now.

My other two "deer in the headlight" stations are ZD8X on Ascension Island. The operator on this "very large pile up" took the time to send me a computer "print out" of his log book. He noted my call sign and drew me a congratulatory "seal of approval".

The other station was R0FA on Sakhalin Island. This operator actually stopped the "pile up" when I spotted him on a DX Cluster. It's amazing the effect "QRP at 3 Watts" can have in the "comments" section. Hi Hi  -  He made a special effort to congratulate me (on the air) and a moment of silence.

In a category "all it's own" was a "portable packet contact" with the Russian Space Station R0MIR. I dropped a letter in it's "mailbox" while sitting in a cow pasture near Charleston WV. I was using a handi-talkie (VHF) with a Hewlett Packard "palm top computer".  At sunset, I visually followed it across the sky with a small 3 element beam.

I have new hopes of working a New Zealand station now, or possibly the Russian Arctic station at the South Pole. I've heard them both but they're much too weak for me to work...  well maybe ?

I continue to be amazed at the kindness and courtesy that some DX operators extend to those of us in the QRP community. Working with 5 watts and simple wire antennas isn't easy. It's challenging but very rewarding. I love it !

My 114th DX Station

I worked this station on 20 meters this afternoon. Just when I think I've worked all the DX I can, another one surprises me. 

The ARRL DX Contest - DX Country # 113

I worked my 113th DX country with a contact to V26M in Antigua and Barbuda during the ARRL DX Contest a few days ago. I worked ten DX stations within the first hour.

Although I was running my usual 5 watts into my indoor random wire, one of our NAQCC club members (read the next newsletter) worked Australia on 40 meters with about 1/2 watt of power. I felt lucky to make a dozen QRP DX contact in "contest conditions". Working Australia with less than a watt (1/2 a watt) under "contest conditions" is an astounding accomplishment!

My 31st DX Contact in Slovenia

I worked Slovenia for the 31st time this evening. I've worked the specific station S57V four different times. The bands are in terrible shape. 

The Solar Flux Index is 75. The A Index is 4. The K Index is 2.

The last dozen DX stations I've worked have been in the Caribbean.  (with the exception of one in the Netherlands).

Slovenia is due East at 4,679 miles in a straight line. I love the surprise of something unexpected appearing in the log book. I've always said radio is a lot like fishing. You never know what you're going to catch until you throw the line in the water.

A Rainy Day at the Lodge

It's been way too long since I've been "officially" on the air for a special event. Yesterday I spent a rainy day in an old lodge in the Kanawha State Forest. The lodge is about a 40 minute drive from home. I've hiked in this forest for many years. I'm still a member of the local hiking group. Membership in the hiking club gives me access to the lodge. 

I had planned this outing to avoid a rainy Tuesday the day before. The weather forecast this day was supposed to be cool (50 degrees Fahrenheit) but dry. It didn't turn out that way... I got wet setting up the antenna but was able to move inside the lodge to operate. 

Sending out an advanced notice to the NAQCC group is a sure way to work a lot of club stations. Of the 15 stations I worked yesterday, 13 were club members. 

I've made changes to my operating mode in the last few months. I purchased a YouKit HB1B because it's so very small, it has a great receiver, and a good variable filter. For those of us with bad backs, it's a great portable radio. 

I can now carry everything I need to operate in the woods in a day pack. I've changed my tuner to a smaller model and use a small external speaker which I bought from China. I'm using a set of "palm paddles" for my key.

I bought the paddles from a NAQCC member using our monthly "swap and shop" list. (hint) Lifetime membership in the NAQCC Club is free so why haven't you joined yet?

My first contact yesterday was with NAQCC West Virginia member Steve Ashcraft KC4URI. He had a 599 signal into WV. The Reverse Beacon Network showed that I was heard by stations in Arizona and California.

My actual contacts were pretty much up and down the east coast from New Hampshire to Florida.I worked two stations in Texas and Kansas. Both had good signals into West Virginia. I'm amazed at how well a radio signal can jump into the sky from this location.

This weekend the forecast is a good one for WV with temperature predicted to be near 70 degrees on Saturday. (21 degrees C). I assume this is a fluke and we still have some very cold weather coming again in February.

I hope to get a fire going and bring some music on my next trip to the lodge. Access is only by a small footbridge, over a creek, which is slippery when wet. (be forewarned)

The European CW Association

                                                            I'm member # 3315.

I love a well designed card and the subject matter couldn't be better. I've considered Morse Code to be a form of music for many years. I received this membership card from the European CW Association this afternoon.

Samuel Morse is buried in Brooklyn New York. A statues honoring him is located in Central Park in downtown New York City. I've visited it several times.

A Day at the Hospital

A "cut and paste" from an e-mail sent to a few of my best friends:  

This morning in the pouring rain, I headed to the doctor early in the morning to get the 13 staples in my lower back removed from my surgery two weeks ago. I drive a very old Hyundai and the drivers side window jumped out of the track. I barely could get it closed to keep out the rain. I arrived at the doctors office but he wasn't in the building today. (he took a long weekend). The nurse was afraid to remove the staples because she wasn't authorized to do so; and if the wound in my back should "open" back up, they wouldn't be able to close it again. 

I had to drive about 60 miles to the hospital, in the pouring rain, with the drivers side window still ajar. Traffic on the Interstate was terrible with big trucks speeding by and bad weather conditions. I decided to take the rural back-roads to the hospital. It was a good thing I did so because there was a terrible wreck on the Interstate. Traffic was backed up for 20 miles. 

As I drove about 40 miles into a small town, I stopped for a "red light" and my old 5 speed transmission would not go back into gear. It's still pouring the rain. I have the 4 way flashers blinking as the clutch pedal finally goes clear to the floor. I have a mechanical background and finally get the old car into first gear by matching the RPM's to the clutch gear and slowly ease my way off the road into the Veterans of Foreign Wars parking lot where I simply mash the break pedal to park the dang thing. It's till pouring the rain. 

The VFW isn't open. 

I walk to a "shoe store" in the immediate neighborhood. I get my "AAA card" out and call them with my "go phone". The battery is only about half charged in the go phone. There was a major "computer crash" all along the East Coast this morning due to some "hacker organization" having a little bit of fun with all of us. I barely get the basic information to AAA because the service person (help desk) had to write it all down on paper.....

I get a call into my wife who needs to drive 40 miles to rescue me. The cell phone battery is down to it's last few electrons before it gives up the ghost. I wait, and wait, and wait. I gave AAA the "shoe store phone number" fortunately, The tow truck driver finally calls (30 minutes later). He only has to drive 30 miles to reach me. It will take him another hour to reach this little town. He says he heard about a bad wreck on the Interstate. It may take longer.... 

My original appointment at the hospital was at 1:30 pm. It's noon now. It's still raining. 

My wife calls the shoe store too. She is in the worst traffic jam she's ever seen, even in New York. I give her directions to the rural back road to get to me and the car. 

At 1 pm she arrives, I leave the keys to the car under the floor mat. There is an auto shop about 3 miles from me. No one can drive the dang thing anyway, and there's nothing in it worth stealing. (the salvage value of this thing is about $400 ) . As we approach the hospital, the tow truck driver makes a courtesy call to my wife's cell phone and says he's just loaded a small gray colored old Dodge on his truck, at a Baptist church in the town, and will get it to the garage for me at no charge. (AAA is a good deal if you drive an old car). I remind him I'm driving a green colored Hyundai with "radio stickers" and a Veterans license tag on the trunk. Well... that's not good he says, I'm glad I called, and oh yes, I see it on the VFW lot now. 

We get to the hospital almost at the appointed time. I rush in while my wife is parking the car. I see a nurse in just a few minutes. She removes the 13 staples quicker than a jack rabbit can jump. I get a flu shot while I'm there and we walk across the parking lot (it's still raining) to the car and look forward to the long drive home on the back roads again.  

Can things get any more stressful ? 

Almost as soon as we drive off the hospital parking lot, the "low tire pressure" light comes on. There's been a very slow leak on the right front drivers side tire for months now. It's a mystery because NO ONE can find the leak.  

This will be a piece of cake after all the stress today. (it's still raining cats and dogs) - I keep a little battery powered "air compressor " in the trunk of the car at all times. I pull off the road, air up the tire (it was down to about 20 lbs). Despite being wet, cold, and frustrated, this should be the last of it! I'm really looking forward to the "tire light" on the dashboard going off. (it normally takes a few revolutions ) I drive about the length of a football field and the light is still blaring into my eyes.  

I pull into a little elementary school parking lot a couple of miles down the road and angrily yank the air compress out of the trunk again. I "air up" all the tires this time.

Small school kids can be unbelievably cruel. School bus drivers also have very loud horns. It's a good thing all the kids were out of "ear shot" as they got on the bus. Everything you've ever heard about "cursing sailors" is true. My previous years of Navy military service came out of me whether I wanted it to or not. I asked God for forgiveness. My wife says maybe after dinner, you owe me one.  

The rain finally stopped....  

We're home now, and after buying dinner for the wife tonight, it's 9:40 pm. 

My old Hyundai Accent will be repaired about mid-week. The mechanic will pull the entire engine out of my old car to replace the clutch. (I'm glad I gave up that trade many years ago)  

I'm glad the staples in my back are finally out. I plan to get back into shape soon. It's going to feel good back in the YMCA swimming pool and working out in the gym again. 

Sincerely Yours, 

John N8ZYA  

A Lightning Bolt from Nowhere

I've never worried much about lightning because I use indoor antennas. My Isotrons and the random wire are NOT in the attic of our home. I have those antennas in the same room as my Icom 703. 

The following pictures are NOT of our home. The following pictures are of the house which is three doors down the street from us. The house is now missing about a hundred of its heavy roofing tiles. 

The pictures shown here were taken several days later. The lightening strike happened around 11 PM at night. 

To make a long story short; my neighbors cars are a real mess; they look like they've been through a "hail storm". Some of the roofing tiles were blown clear across the street. The big difference between hail and hard rocks is that they make holes and scratches on everything they touch. I can't imagine the repair bill to remove heavy dents and re-paint at least two vehicles.

I'm very surprised the neighbors home that took a direct hit wasn't set on fire or had major structural damage.

The lightning bolt came straight out of nowhere. It was NOT even raining at the time. We soon discovered the upstairs bathroom lights were not working. A quick trip to the basement breaker box revealed "one" switch needed re-set.

My radio room is in the adjoining room. All my gear appeared to be working normally. The bathroom is directly between my radio room and our small office. All the computers functioned normally, All the lights in both rooms were normal.

Much to my dismay, a few days afterwards when I turned on the Icom 703 to make a quick contact, it wouldn't transmit at all.

I'm fortunate to have only minor damage. 

I'm thinking the coils in the Isotrons had something to do with voltage and amperage getting into the radio. There wasn't damage to anything else in the house.

The Icom service center in Michigan did a wonderful repair job on the rig. Replacement parts were only about six bucks.

I'll be more careful now and always disconnect the antennas as soon as I year the first thunderbolt.

Dayton Hamvention 2016

My friend Eric AC8LJ and I made a quick trip to the Dayton Hamvention yesterday. Our trip (there and back again) on Friday was a good time for me to quickly survey the new gear on the market but to mainly talk with a few hams.

Rick Robinson W8ZT always occupies the same space every year at the Dayton Hamvention . I enjoyed my brief time at Dayton talking to the hams associated with the  WV DX Association . 

My specific interest in Ham radio has been, and always will be, small portable QRP CW radio. Yesterday the talk of the town was the spanking new Elecraft KX 2 . Sitting around the campfire (WV DX tent) I actually talked to the owner that bought # 43 of the  48 KX2's sold yesterday. I was also able to put my hands on it and spin the dial. Hi Hi

This is a very impressive 10 Watt radio! 

I got the distinct impression (right or wrong) that "software defined radio" is going to capture much of the upcoming ham radio market. I'm quite amazed at the number of rigs I saw with digital dials and visual readouts.

The effectiveness of small Morse code radios never cease to amaze me. All hams have their special niche in the hobby. To me, the greatest thrill of ham radio still continues to be HF QRP CW radio.

I can't think of another mode of radio that allows transmitting from a moving train, kayaking on a lake, sailing on the ocean, or simply sitting around a campfire or operating from a picnic table in the park.

My two purchases at the Hamvention this year were a new t-shirt and a coffee mug with the "ARRL National Parks on the Air " logo.

My thanks again to Rick W8ZT for the comfort he provided us with chairs and cold water when needed. Rick attended our WV Chapter breakfast last week and I hope he continues to do so. I've been watching the live feed from Dayton today. It looks like a great time for all.

My thanks also to Eric AC8LJ for the long drive there and back again.

Hurricane Wave Pool Park Outing

The West Virginia Chapter of the NAQCC club operated from the Hurricane Wave Pool Park on April 19th 2016. We had good weather and had a good time operating from shelter number two in the park. The operators were myself N8ZYA, Dave Higley WV8DH and Jim Stephens NX8Z.

Dave Higley WV8DH

Jim Stephens NX8Z 

Band conditions have been poor during the last few outings of other state chapters and our propagation was no different. Our contacts on 40 meters were all in the 300 mile range and the contacts on 20 meters were all around 700 miles. 

I've always said that radio is a lot like fishing. You never know what you're going to catch until you throw the line in the water. I was happy to work VE4AKI because he was the only Canadian station I've worked in the province of Manitoba. I now have all the contacts necessary for the NAQCC WAVE AWARD.   

Although no DX stations were worked on this outing, I was able to work club member KB5JO in Texas. Two stations were actually worked in that state but the remarkable thing about this contact was that he was using 800 mw to an eighty eight foot doublet. The RST was 599. 

Texas seemed to be popular as I also worked a special event station celebrating 180 years of Texas independence. 

Always a fun time regardless of working two dozen or only eight stations, it was a nice day and we enjoyed the sunshine and camaraderie of like minded hams. Lets all hope for improved band conditions on the next outing.