City Location

I've mentioned my poor location here near the "state capitol building" in Charleston, West Virginia many times on this blog. Several weeks ago (during a brief snow squall) I shot this picture from the upstairs window of our home. As you can tell, it's a wonder I get ANY signal out of this RF hole.

I've always joked about bouncing my signals off the "gold dome" of the capitol complex just up the street. It's as good an explanation as any and a good conversation item. I use my Isotron antennas because this is a "historic district" and there are more "rules and regulations" that you can ever imagine to keep everything looking "historic". Duh.........

My antennas do a fantastic job considering the circumstances here in this narrow valley. The Kanawha river is only two blocks over from here, and there are "hills" (400 ft) on both sides of me. The elevation here is only 600 ft. above sea level.

But, despite all the obstacles, I still have an enormous amount of fun with my "5 watts" of power. Most of my contacts are amazed that I operate QRP and send out good signals. It's a rare day when I can't make a contact on the bands.

Last week, I bought two "full dipoles" (with balums attached) for the 15 and 30 meter bands and am looking forward to "skipping across the pond" on the next good weather day. Fifteen meters seems to open up pretty regular the last few weeks and I've always thought thirty meters is the ideal band for QRP CW operators.

I'll keep you posted on the progress on the next "field operation". It's going to be especially nice to get away from all this electrical noise here in the middle of town.

A VERY LONG 1/2 WATT CONTACT

Every now and then, I have an exceptional QSO on 40 meters. I've always enjoyed 40 meters, above all other bands, because there always seems to be a good CW operator on this band.

The last several weeks I've had several GOOD contacts with great CW operators that went well beyond the usual name, location, signal reports etc. I love these conversations that go beyond the basics. Recently, I've talked about others living in similar towns in WV, music, even good books with CW on 40 meters. I had long QSO about "picking and grinning" while using CW. (Morse code actually seems like a form of music to me). I don't know if others have noticed it or not but I see the combination of CW ops and musicians very often.

This evening I worked N8GEY near Detroit Michigan. He was just above Lake Erie and between it and Lake Michigan. Not very far from me in a straight line (300 miles) and for reasons I can't explain, an area I get into VERY well with only 5 watts of power. I've always got into the Great Lakes area easily despite my location here in town.

It was a LONG conversation. We had 7 or 8 exchanges and each time, I continued to reduce my power because of his original 599 +10 over report. Near the bottom of the last exchanges, I made the comment that I "couldn't reduce my power any lower" since my 703 was at the "lowest possible setting" It was at 1/2 watt and he still gave me a good signal report. (559)

Sometimes another station is in JUST the right location for the perfect contact!

I've made several other contacts at 1/2 watt but this one lasted nearly an hour. It was a true joy to communicate at this level. I felt as much a sense of accomplishment with this QSO as a 5000 mile QSO at 5 watts. It gave me a sense of "camping" with a QRPp rig that is SO easy to take along in your shirt pocket with a little wire for an antenna.

Before we called it an end, we talked about his business, (I kidded him about have NO fear of heights), the weather, our rigs and antennas, our age and years as a ham, our Navy experiences (him on an aircraft carrier in the 70's and me on a destroyer around the same time) and our tenure as deck hands on smaller ships. He worked on ships on the Great Lakes and I worked on a "tug boat" hauling coal here in West Virginia. It seems we've both done a lot of different things in our lives.

It was truly a GREAT contact with a really "good" operator and chatting at 1/2 watt made it even better!

Pirates From Alaska

I've been a Ham for about 15 years, so when an "Alaskan Station" (KL7) answered my CQ on 40 meters this morning......., I was a bit skeptical. (Valdez is quite a ways from here)

Sure enough, when I ran the call, it became apparent this was a "pirate" call sign.

I've only worked three "pirates" in my radio career and they've all been on 40 meters. Two of them were using "Alaskan" calls and one was "French".

This particular "pirate" is using another Alaskan hams call "exclusively". (I'm not going to mention the exact call sign) and when I looked it up on the web, there's a disclaimer from the affected ham and a direct link to a FCC investigator.

I e-mailed them both immediately. (and got a response from the FCC almost immediately)

There's not much chance of "catching" a "HF" pirate that makes 60 second exchanges. He always follow the same format. He sends call, qth, rst and 73. But for the life of me, I can't understand the "reasoning" behind this stuff. If I took the time to learn CW and spent the money to put a transmitter on the air, I'd get my license and use my own call.

I'm proud to have my "ham ticket" and take it's responsibilities very seriously.

I was deliberately calling CQ on 7114 MHz because it's a "common" frequency for "new" operators just starting to get their feet wet. Perhaps the pirate thought it would be a good laugh (at someone else's expense). I also have a good sense of humor and will enjoy reading about his "capture" on the ARRL "news line".

Now.......on the serious side of radio.

This weekend I worked several stations in the "North Carolina QSO Party" to give out some "West Virginia" stations for their log books. One of them knew the exact town where my father was born and some local people in the area.

I even assembled a little 1/4 wave "whip" to listen to 15 meters. It's a "horrible" radiator but I was able to hear "several" new hams from the southern hemisphere. LU1FDU (in Argentina) was "booming" in here and I even worked a V3 station in Belize (again sending too fast so won't claim the catch). He DID repeat my call so I know he heard me.

The "Olympic Station" in Canada worked so many stations I couldn't get in a word edgewise and KL7LF in Fairbanks Alaska (for real) worked so many stations on the east coast it was embarrassing. (not me)

I'd like to get on the 15 meter band but chances of that happening are not very good. Perhaps I could run a random wire in the attic but I'm afraid of TVI and stereo problems with the apartment dwellers next door.

It looks like I'll have to settle for the G5RV when the weather warms up this spring.

The picture above is a "suspected" pirate photo from Wikipedia. It was taken by the US govt and is in the public domain. (Notice the "sandbags" on deck to protect from small arms fire).

Slovak Republic @ 4,679 Miles

It was amazingly easy to work OM3RM in the Slovak Republic this afternoon. He was sending blistering fast on 14.029 at 1847z. Because of his speed, it took me several times to make sure I had his call sign correct. I'm uncomfortable with speeds over 20 wpm and he was sending much faster than 20. He answered my call on the my FIRST try.

The band has been like a "tree full of squirrels" today. (There one minute and gone the next). I think I was the only one that worked him because he choose another frequency or another band after sending back my call sign and "QRP" to let me know he heard me correctly. Honestly...his speed was much too quick for me.

Tibor (OM3RM) is listed on the E-QSL site so I sent him my electronic QSL card.

At the end of Communist rule in Czechoslovakia in 1989, the Slovak Republic peacefully declared themselves a sovereign state. Although they still consider themselves a close partner with the Czech Republic, they're a NATO member and a member of the European Union and use the Euro as currency.

Their GDP comes mostly from automobile manufactures like Volkswagon, Peugeot, and Kia. They also have major electronic manufactures like Sony and Samsung.

The above picture came from Wikipedia and is a ski resort.

Appalachian Trail

In the mid 70's, I became an "outdoor person". At that time, I was working on heavy equipment and several of the guys I worked with ran a "Boy Scout" troop. They asked me to join them and I developed a "deep appreciation" of nature and became a believer in the "outdoor life".

There are two access points to the " Appalachian Trail " from West Virginia. The "major" one is in Harpers Ferry but "another" is near a little town called Linside on Peters Mountain. Its near the Southern border of the state. Several friends and I used to travel there and stay at an old "farm house" on the weekends. We'd work on the trail to the top of the mountain. It took us several years to blaze this connecting trail.

I still think of that when I work a station near the Appalachian Trail and this morning I worked a station near Atlanta Georgia. The "AT" runs about 2,100 miles from there to Maine. I can cover the entire trail on 40 meters.

It also makes me think again of why I originally became a "Ham Radio Operator".

I think every radio operator has their "specialty mode". I especially like "QRP" operations because it's a mode that can be used in remote area's with a light weight battery, a telegraph key, and a simple wire antenna. But you won't find many operators using more than a QRPp rigs when hiking long distances. The best radio for long distance hikers is a 2 meter HT. I occasionally work a station "right on the trail" even from here in Charleston.

I've hiked a few hundred miles on the "AT" section along the Blue Ridge Parkway near the Skyline Drive and some in the Smoky Mountains in North Carolina and even parts of it in New York. That 2 meter HT can be a life saver in an emergency.

Today, I'm hardly hearing "anything" on two meters. It's a shame it isn't used much now.

My little HT, and extra battery pack to get 2 watts output power, and a pocket "roll up J-pole" can connect me with stations over a hundred miles away. It weighs hardly anything and I never know I'm carrying it along on a day hike.

MTR Mining in the Back Yard

S300609 VS KANAWHA STATE FOREST from Mike Youngren on Vimeo.

West Virginia is one of the leaders in coal production for the entire world. Most of the coal used in the northern "big cities" comes from my home state. I hope all you guys "up north" (and the world) appreciate that fact during these especially cold winter days right now.

In West Virginia, we're "coal people" and it provides the tax base for our economy. We don't mind a little "dust" settling on our homes and our cars. We eat and breathe coal dust everyday. Despite the damage it does to our "quality of life", we tolerate it because it's an important national product. As the world exists now, coal is the lifeblood of our energy demands.

But where do you draw the "line in the sand" when it comes to your "quality of life"?

One of the sanctuaries near my home city is Kanawha State Forest. I go there to "re-charge my batteries" so to speak. But for the last several years (many times) I've heard "thunder" on a "bright sunny day" as I hike it's woods. The "thunder" is either the reverberation of giant boulders plummeting into the beds of gigantic "off highway trucks" or the "explosions" from "Mountain Top Removal" operations. The last time I found myself on the border of the forest, I could almost "feel" an explosion from nearly three miles away.

It's going to get much worse now.

I draw the "line in the sand" when mining operations destroy my "personal space" and this new "MTR" site is right in my back yard. As the crow flies, this site is just over the next hill. The sounds of machinery and dynamite blasts will destroy this forest and damage our small streams if it is allowed to proceed. It's that simple.......

Many of you will wonder what this entry has to do with radio. My hiking days here (and a good radio spot for a QRP operator) will cease if this new mine is allowed to open 300 feet from the forest boundary. I could use headphones to drown out the noise from this proposed new mine but it just wouldn't be the same place. I go there because it's a "quiet place" near the busy city.

As I mentioned before, we're coal people. I support "deep mining". But I don't think I'd call these people "coal miners". I consider MTR people as nothing more than "overpaid heavy equipment operators". They're incredibly destructive to the environment as they "push the excess fill into the valleys and streams". A dozen men can operate a mine like this one. They employ very few people.

I hope you take a few moments to view the video at the top of this page. It's done professionally and I know most of the people in the film. I consider them "good friends" whom I'll join in the defense of our beloved small preserve near home.

If you're inclined to be part of the solution to this problem, instead of being part of the problem, please contact our representatives listed at the end of the film. I'll be writing them myself very soon.

Dave's Homemade Crystal Radios

This months issue of Monitoring Times Magazine has the best article I've ever seen on crystal radio's. It's written by Dave Schmarder (N2DS) and includes pictures of the nearly 100 radio's he's built over the last several years.

He builds most of his sets as "crystal" radios but also adapts some of them to "tube" radios. He also builds "loop" antennas. This one I find particularly nice because he's adapted it to cover the 31-41-and 49 meter "shortwave" bands. Even the 12v tube version is "reasonable" to work with as the voltage is manageable. The biggest danger is handling the "hot" tube before its had time to "cool off".

The "crystal" version uses a "cat whisker", the next uses a tube.

I'm fascinated with these radios because I consider them "works of art" as much as "electronic" listening devices. They're beautiful to view and (I'm sure) a joy to listen to with a good set of earphones. Most are for the AM radio band.

These aren't toys. He uses advanced materials and techniques in his craft. You can view all his radios from the link on the right hand side on my blog. I've spent several hours exploring the site and find it VERY informative and inspiring.

Dave was gracious enough to allow me to use the above graphics in this post and to add a link to his "Dave's Homemade Radio" site.

Daves sez "The sweetest music comes from a radio you made!".

You can also view his page from here: N2DS-Daves Homemade Crystal Radio's