A small blog of various stories put together into a potpourri of information.
Saturday morning breakfast at Great Harvest Bread Co.
We meet the Saturday after the BARC membership meeting and have an egg, ham and cheese biscuit with good coffee. We talk about Ham radio topics and every thing else on the planet. Good conversations and ideas are exchanged. One of the “quiet” events that I try not to miss. Thank you Beth for setting it up.
Towers for Sale: Cost $0 and remove it from the property.
Dave Pulver sent me an email:
Peter,
I hope things are going well with you. I need your help with something.
As you know Tom Parsons passed away back in 2019. His wife, Bobbie, passed away this past May. We are going to put the house on the market in the coming year.
Tom had two outdoor towers that we would like to re-home at no cost to the new owner. I don’t know the specifics on either of them. I do know the larger one has a crank for raising/lowering the tower.
Pictures are attached. Interested parties can reach me at (252) 531-9053 (leave a message and I will call you back).
Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks.
Dave
Hex Beam Update
So, I finally got the feed line and the rotor control cable run around the house to the radio room. I had to drill two more holes through the mortar between the bricks. Now the rotor controller is next to the radio. There are still upgrades that can be done: Better feed lines, lightening arrestor for the control cable, a better RF switch in the ham shack (Alpha-Delta has low noise injection) and other upgrades. It does work well and better than the vertical that I have (5-BTV).
Christmas Party 2023
Once again, we had a great party at Immanuel Baptist Church in Greenville with all the important people showing up and having a good time. Awards and Certificates were handed out. Here are a few photos.
Well with the help of Larry K. we buried 3 ground screws in a triangle shape. Two of them had eyelets that were used as a hinge so that a bar going through the eyelets was clamped to the legs of the tower. The third one had a box like end so that the third leg of the tower would rest on it..
Next make a crank handle to be able to raise and lower the tower by my self. Went to AgriSupply and purchased a boat trailer crank that can lift 800 lbs. Had to do some carpentry to fit it at an angle on the 4″x6″ post of the patio cover. It works well but needs to be as high as possible to have leverage to pick up the tower.
The rotor that Susan picked up at the last hamfest was mounted on a steel plate however there was no hole for the control cables. Longer 2″ bolts with lock washers made a standoff for the cable. Advice: take a picture of the colored control cables so that you connect the right colors to the right positions on the rotor controller as if you forget which positions they are in, you will have to climb the tower to find out the answer later.
Using a tall ladder allowed me to hoist and mount the hex bean onto the rotator pipe. Using “C” clamps, it was firmly attached. I used a lighter pipe but I could see the pipe starting to flex and changed it to a galvanized iron pipe about 10′ long. It does not flex! Attached the coax and control cables to the legs of the tower. I also took two army tent pole “spreader” and cut the round ends off of them and screwed an eyelet to hold the two pieces together. I placed a small piece of wood in between the to parts making a “A” frame and a pulley on the eyelet. Now I have a flag pole or halyard to be able to raise another antenna etc.
Cranking the tower up was a study in physics. The more I put the hook of the belt further up the tower made cranking easier. Once the tower was vertical, I tied a safety line around one leg of the tower and the post. I put a pin in the third leg to lock it to the box end of the third ground screw. I had put two guy cables on the tower and need to fasten it to the deck posts using screw eyes that are adjustable. All this was while we had winds of 15-25 mph and the tower and antenna were fine. I also put two red reflectors on the two arms that are on the forward side of the beam (see night shot at the top).
Testing the beam on 6, 10, 12, 15, 17 and 20 meter bands gave SWR of 1.2 to 1.4 at 30 feet without a tuner. Hooking it up to the radio shows 3dB higher signal strength and the noise floor is about 3dB lower than a multiband vertical (Hustler 5BTV).
I also noted that the Carolina blue paint did seem to hide the beam from the road (a little!).
Now to test it on the CQ WW SSB contest this week end, good luck and see you on the bands. 73 N4PVH.
Addendum:
CQ WW SSB contest was active. I had an A/B antenna switch where I could compare the 5BTV vertical vs the 6 band Hex beam. No question, the Hex beam could hear more faint signals and could capture the stations of interest about 3 dB better than the vertical. It also had a noise floor about 3 dB down. The two factors made the signals “pop” and be much easier to copy. The directionality of the beam is less than a standard 3 element Yagi with a narrowly focus beam but that is also an advantage as the beam is wider on the Hex beam and more like a flood light than a spot light that cannot hear things just to the side of the beam. You do not need to constantly move the antenna to fine tune the signal.
Here is how I attached the cable to an eyelet screwed into a support beam of the deck. Some features to note on how to attach the cable. There are 3 “U” clamps holding the cable together making the “eye”. After the turnbuckle is tightened to the amount of tension desired, the excess loose end of the cable is threaded through the turnbuckle in a way that does not allow the turnbuckle to unscrew and loosen the cable. I then used a zip tie to hold the loose end. Some would use more “U” clamps for this purpose so that if the buckle fails, the cable is through the anchor point and will still hold. A professional rigger may have issues about this or more comments on this topic and should be consulted when setting up a tower. Hope this is helpful (things I learned from a professional, not me!), 73 Peter.
First, I’ll start with a little bit of history. My first Shelby Hamfest was in 1977 at an early site called Cedar Park. I probably have some snapshots of it in my box of photos. It was not all that big, but a lot of fun. There was a small outdoor flea market, a building with some dealers and the ARRL, and a picnic shelter. A barbecue lunch was available if you bought a ticket for that. We’d line up for food and sit under the shelter while the drawings were done.
In 1979, my first year at NC State, they moved to the current location, the Cleveland County Fairgrounds. That year, there was a building at the entrance that had dealers and organizations, a “street” along which hams camped out and the flea market was. Below that street there was parking for attendees. Over the years into the early 2000s, it grew. A new building was added for dealers and manufacturers. There is a row along the main street with RV hookups. What had been parking the first year was now prime flea market space. Along the street were outdoor vendors. There is also a barn at the opposite end that has some other dealers and flea market. The buildings would be elbow-to-elbow to ger around in. People lined up a week before to get camping spaces and the prime flea market spaces. The flea market spread outside the grounds. It turned from a 2 day Saturday and Sunday event to a week-long event (unofficially), but still Saturday and Sunday officially.
There was a change for 5 years in the early 2000s. The Cleveland County Fairgrounds were not available, so they moved to a park in Dallas, NC, near Gastonia. This was smaller, but still popular. Then came the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte with the time overlapping the Hamfest. Hotel rooms that had been 75-100 were over 500, so many people and vendors decided not to go. The week before the convention, the hotels in the area realized that they weren’t going to get the business and were priced reasonably. By then, the vendors and manufacturers had opted out and did not opt back in. The following years, they did not come back.
After 5 years at Dallas, they moved back to the Fairgrounds. It was now much smaller than it had been in it’s prime before that. This year, there were prime flea market spaces still available on Saturday, although the official first day is now Friday. There were camper spaces that were not taken. The buildings were not full as they had been before the move to Dallas or the DNC. However, looking back, it’s still much larger than it was in 1979 when they first moved to the fairground. The biggest difference is in the dealers and organizations. What had been the main building when they first opened had a few flea market tables, including Dave Wood, W4EJ. There was one dealer, the ARRL and some flea market in the main building. There were also two tables selling ham badges and hats. Other organizations, vendors, and manufacturers were absent. There used to also be vendors of after market battery packs for Hand-helds. I have not seen them in recent years.
The entrance is now in what used to be the back the back. Near the “back: entrance was a tent with Tower Electronics. They sell many parts, connectors, and some whip style antennas. In the cattle barn at that end of the Hamfest was also the Wireman. There was another vendor inside selling parts. Incidentally, they had stacks and stacks of Sunbeam Lamps for $10. These are the same lamps that have been sold at Dollar Tree for many years – now for $1.25. Nice lamps, but they’re making a pretty good profit.
When I got to the Hamfest, I talked my way into being allowed to park inside. I parked next to Sasquatch! Across from my car was the Tower Electronics tent. I took several walks around the flea market. While there was less flea market in previous years, I also noted that there is less “junk”, you know, things that nobody was going to buy and need to go to recycling. There were a lot more rigs from the 60s through today. There were other interesting items there as well. There were folks selling antique radios, CB radios, and many other eclectic items.
When I got there, of course, I had to get a homemade ham biscuit from the food vendor. Afterall, it is a Hamfest. And the smell of the country ham, is irresistible.
Although it is spread out and outdoors, it’s very much accessible. There were golf carts for rent, and many people, older and otherwise, took advantage of that. I am not sure how much they charged, as I did not partake, but I did get a couple rides from others at different times. Nothing there slowed down Doug Ferris, K4ROK, either. (But what does?) Doug won a multi-band DMR rig on Saturday!
Golf Cart Rentals
Doug wins!
After walking around a couple times on Friday, I spent a good part of the day assisting the new SC Section Manager, NJ4Z, at the ARRL booth, as he was the only other ARRL officer present that day.
On Saturday, I did my shopping. I picked up some feedline that I need, and an end-fed zepp antenna for HF. Maybe I’ll get that antenna up more quickly than previous ones I’ve gotten. Hoping for soon after the leaves leave the trees. I also got a mag mount for my 2meter antenna. I had talked to N4PVH and gotten a shopping list for him. Looking for things made looking around more fun for sure!
Next year, maybe more of us can go. Perhaps one of our members with a camper can set up a gathering place? And set up a “club table” outside of it?
You see lots of “interesting cars” at a Hamfest!
Some flea market items
The Wireman setup
Hamfest HQ
Camper Row
The in person Hamfests are not to be missed, 73 Susan WA4AKB.
Just recently, I made a weekend trip to Asheville for a medical convention. Had to have a little bit of a break and decided to go to the Asheville Radio Museum. Being an amateur radio guy, it’s a must. So I put it into Google maps and it took me 10 miles out of town. There is a fire station called “A B Technical college” but it took me to the wrong place. Finally figured out that Google and sent me on a wild goose chase and drove back to the downtown where the A.B. technical college is located. The museum is on campus and usually there are signs to get there. Arriving a little bit late, I met Lee who was so kind to stay open a little bit longer past closing time. Usually they’re open on the Saturday between 1 to 3 o’clock. Lee promptly showed me the highlights of the collection. The museum is a small room in the college run by amateur radio enthusiasts that have refurbished these radios so that they work. They look brand new, all polished and fixed up as they came out of the factories.
Lee KD4QDQAtwater Kent RadioSpark Gap Radio
We started with a working mechanical “Victrola Record player”, no electronics at all. Crank it up and it had amazing fidelity for a 1920’s mechanical device.
Victrola Record Player Cylinder
We looked at the “Atwater Kent” radios of that era. Interesting that the active elements were mounted on the top of the board while the wires were under the board. My great grandfather worked at the Atwater Kent radio factory near Davenport, IA. When he got his Model T Ford, he mounted one of the radios into the car. He told the foreman about it and the forman brought Mr Atwater over to see it. Mr Atwater stated that this would never take off as it was too dangerous to drive and tune the radio. In the great depression that followed, Mr Atwater closed the factory and lost his money in the crash. At that time Motorola got it’s start with car radios! Too bad that he did not see the opportunity staring him in the face.
Other items included a “Gibson Girl” with was a 500kHz CW device that was hand cranked to be operated in a lifeboat for search and rescue purposes. A dear friend of mine (K4KBB – SK) gave me his Gibson Girl years ago as he was cleaning out his storage unit. He carried it on his boat just in case he needed it. Since then the technology has change. In 1976 a friend of my father’s was a NASA engineer and a sailor. He helped design the weather satellites and knew their capability. He designed a 2M tone control system to send codes from his boat to the passing satellites. The satellites would record the information and relay it to Goddard space center in Greenbelt, MD where his son was decoding the data. The doppler shift of the signal was used to calculate where the transmitter was located on earth. This was the first satellite based search and rescue experiment that showed the utility of this idea. Since then search and rescue has transitioned to satellite based systems and ultimately GPS based. Mr Jim Baker wanted to move his sailboat to the Bahamas to test it but his plans fell though. My father invited him along on our yearly Christmas Sail to the Bahamas and we were the first to run the tests. This was published in multiple magazines at the time in 1976. He also used a golf umbrella stripped of the cloth but then wired up with copper wire as a parabolic reflector and managed to make the longest single satellite bounce communication. It went from the Bahamas, up to the geosynchronous satellite (22K miles away) to Kashima ground station outside Tokyo Japan with a 5 watt HT. I was floored as Mr Baker could speak fluent Japanese!
Gibson Girl SOS Transmitter
Many other radios were present that had varied histories like the “Folks Emphanger” from Nazi Germany in WW2 (The Peoples’ Receiver). This was commissioned by Goebbels to be able to send propaganda to the German people for the purpose of controlling them. It could not tune foreign broadcasts like signals from the BBC and VOA that would have a different view of the news. If the radio was tampered to allow this, the owners were beaten or killed. Now our politicians use the internet and purchase time on news outlets to do the same! Thank heavens that they do not beat us if we choose to change the channel or have different opinions. A testimonial to the value of freedom. The Voice Of America was started in World War 2 to send out truthful news stories to fight Hitler’s propaganda. It is still very valuable organization that is committed to telling the truth to the world as outlined in their charter. (See VOA project here)
Folks Emphanger
There are too many radios that they have worked on and refurbished to list here. My thanks to Lee for keeping the museum open for me past closing time and being an exemplary host showing the radios and how they work. If in Asheville, stop by the museum between 1-3 PM on a Saturday and take in the sights and sounds. As an amateur radio enthusiast, you will not be dissapointed. (Thanks Scott for making me aware of this gem.) 73 Peter.
Part2: The most time consuming part is painting the fiberglass poles as you paint 5 sets, let it dry. Attach the hose clamps and clips to the painted poles using the one unpainted set of poles that already has the clips attached as a guide. You then disassemble the last set and paint them.
Use gloves to handle the poles a there are fiberglass fibers that will stick into your skin.
Attach the clips to the poles with the clamps using the first set of poles as a guide. The first clamp is to stop the smaller pole inside the next larger pole at an overlap of 4″. I bent the clips to conform to the shape of the pole so that the clamp did not need to be opened very much in order to attach the clip to the pole. I also suggest that the opening of the clip is not flattened as this will hold the antenna wires. Each antenna wire is really two wires that are separated by a short section of rope. The rope has heat shrink tubing on it that is fatter than the wire and needs to go through the clips. There is a diagram in the manual indicating the distances to the clips, they are measuring to the narrow end of the clips, not the edge of the clamp. The only exception is the first clamp that limits the overlap of the poles (set at 4″ from the end of the pole to the bottom of the first clamp.)
Slide the center post into the plate and use the hardware to firmly attach then together. You now can start attaching the 6 largest diameter poles to the plate. Note: do not crush or flatten the fiberglass poles with the clamps.
Attach the support ropes at the end of the poles and attach a clamp to hold them. You can then stand in the middle and pull the opposite rope end together until they are hooked on the eyelet at the top of the center post. This will bow the opposite arms upward easily into the propper upside down umbrella shape.
There are 5 bands and 5 wires that need to be threaded through the clips and then attached to the center post. I attached one end to the post and then ran the wire all the way around the antenna. Start at the highest frequency (6M) as it is closest to the center. You then can work outwards from there. I started by attaching one of the eyes of the antenna wire to the ground and then running the wire through the clips. I then attached the other end at the center pole. Be careful to use needle nose pliers to hold the nut on the metal central pole while you tighten the top nut holding the end of the wire. Do not let it turn as it may disconnect the internal connection to the center conductor. The two arms that are on either side of the forward facing beam (number 1 & 6 on their diagram) can have the clips loosen to be able to slide the clips inward (loosen the wire) or outwards (to tighten the antenna wire). You also want to sight down the support rope at the top, seeing which arms are being pulled off center. Work any slack or too tight wire sections in a way to get the arms in alignment with their opposite arms.
Here are the SWR readings sitting on saw horses 3 feet off of the ground, not at 35′ like it should be. The scope was set for the full width of each of the 20, 17, 15, 12, 10, 6 meter bands. The center frequency was set to the middle of the band. There are 5 ferrite beads on the feed line where it connects to the antenna.
Listening to the bands there is a >3 dB decrease in the noise level and about a 1-3 dB gain in signal strength. It is much easier to hear marginal stations as the noise floor is lower as compared to a Hustler 5BTV vertical. I made several european contacts on 20 at night with the antenna sitting on the saw horses. I cannot wait to figure out how to mount the antenna up at 30′. (Part 3).
In the middle of the workday, UPS truck rolls up to the front of the office and delivers two packages. The whole thing weighs about 30 pounds. From that moment on, I’ve become like a kid with a new bike. Can’t wait until I get out of school and be able to ride it. Of course, we take it home and open the packages. Very well organized and it doesn’t look difficult to do but there are a few steps to do. I read the instruction manual from start to finish to understand what are all the steps (amazing for me!). It’s actually pretty straightforward, but you do want to take your time and do it right. The part that’s probably going to take the most time is painting the fiberglass poles so the ultraviolet doesn’t degrade them. The paint will take a while to dry even though it is spray paint. They recommend Rustoleum brand that has both the primer and paint in it. Two cans of your favorite color will coat the fiberglass poles. Once they’re dry, then you can start assembly.
The BoxesThe PartsClipsClamps & BalunsCenter post and fiberglass spreader Center post w band taps
One of the 6 fiberglass spreader poles has the clamps already in place so paint 5 of them and use the last one to show you where to place the clamps after the paint is dry. Then you remove the clamps of the 6th pole and paint it. The 6th pole is your “measuring tape” for the placement of the clamps on the other poles. More on that as I do it…
I see that the mounting and rotor is up to you to determine as every Ham’s location is different. You could just put it up on a guyed 20-30′ pushup pole and turn it by hand when you want to change directions, as in a temporary situation like Field Day. The beam angle may be about 90 degrees so it is not as critical as other beam antennas. It reportedly has a 10 dB difference in the front to back ratio however. (I will check on these figures later to see how my installation performs).
Other installations are shown on the KIO Technology web page that include the rotor at the bottom or alternately a 3 section Rohn 25 tower with the rotor in the usual location. You have to think about your location and what you are trying to do with it. Ideally it should be up at 25-35′ or higher for the optimal performance. Leo Shoemaker (the designer and owner of the company) has had reports of amazing Dx contacts while the antenna was on the picnic table after being assembled, 3 feet off the ground. This tells me that to have the best performance, you need it up in the air but it will work amazingly well however you put it up. Do not forget that the SWR will be better when it is up in the air.
Tools that you might need are: needle nose pliers, channel lock pliers, nut drivers (1/4″, 3/8″, 7/16″), tape measure, two saw horses. Blue lock tight, Rustoleum spray cans x2 (Primer and paint). Think about the feed line size and length. Electrical tape and water seal for the PL259-239 connection.
Ok, this is a partial brag! For the first time I got all the stations and 2 out of the 3 special call sign stations of this event. The best personal performance I have achieved so far! This event is in the week of 4th of July, commemorating the 13 colonies that started the USA. There are three stations that are extra: GB12COL (in England), TF13COL (in France to commemorate LaFayette) and finally WM3PEN in Philadelphia PA (commemorating William Penn).
The special event was heavily supported by Paul Copeland (SK) in Fountain, NC, a long time member of BARC and a friend of mine. His efforts to promote and organize the event lead the group to organize and award the Top Operator award.
Top Operator Awards
SK – Paul W. Copeland, K4KCS, one of our 13 Colonies operators from North Carolina, has made his final QSO. (2011, Fountain, NC)
Starting with 2012’s special event, an award plaque was instituted, for Colony Operators only, in his memory.
Top Operator HF-High Power-over 250 watts to legal limit
Top Operator HF-Low Power-250 watts and below.
Top Operator-CW
Club Unlimited
QRP (.05W to 10W)
In Paul’s memory, I hope that all members of BARC would try their hand at this event every 4th of July week. It is fun and easy and memorializes two great ideals, namely the 13 colonies and also the ongoing efforts of Americans like Paul to keep these ideals alive.
Well, Field Day 2023 for BARC is now past! What a blast! Many thanks are in order for all the individuals that helped make it a success. Too many to name but you know who you are. Without these individuals, we could not have this good of a field day and have the fun and challenges of FD. The best moment for me was getting a very young man on the air and having him make his first contact. A great thanks to the wonderful ham operator in Connecticut that was so patient and helping out the young man next to me make his first contact. We were all whooping it up in celebration after it was made. That was just the start.
Time line
The Start: Friday night: I had moved the BARC trailer to Oakwood school and set it up for Bernie (WA4MOK) to be able to erect the tower the next day.
Saturday: 6am: Having done emergency surgery Friday night, I needed to see the post op patients first at 7:30am at the office. They were doing well! Ran home, changed and grabbed the equipment, computers, radios, network cables and all other items needed and threw them into the ARES trailer. Moved the trailer to Oakwood and set it up. Un-installed the radios out of the trailer and set up three stations in the room with all the “trimmings” of radios: power supplies, ground straps, ethernet cables and routers, computers with the special software, and RF cables with band pass filters to cut the cross talk or RFI. Outside, a group was working on setting up the 10/15/20 meter beam on the tower with a rotator, 40 & 80 meter dipole. Also a 20 meter vertical was placed near by. It was warm and sunny as the rains had passed. Others were setting up the dining tables and chairs for dinner in the hallway. A great buffet was being assembled there slowly throughout the day. An information table was assembled by Mark (KG4GVJ) as well as a sign in form for visitors.
Information table.
Visitors included Mr Price (ARRL), and many people new to the hobby and old ones returning to see the activity. A retired VOA employee and his family stopped by and had a good time talking about the technology and the issues of the day. TV station WNCT’s Abigail Velez came to interview BARC President Beth (KN4FZB) as well as myself. She took many pictures and videos to be included in their 2.5 minute long report at 6 & 11 o’clock news. Link to the video at WNCT.com here.
Saturday 2:00pm: The start of the FD communications, we still had issues with feed lines, high SWR and software changes that users wanted to make. Finally all that got straightened out and we started to talk. The three modes were digital using FT8, CW and of course phone mode. All stations were on different bands and had band pass filters on their output. This meant that each radio was on a separate band and mode and the band pass filters would help keep out cross talk between radios.
PhoneDigital FT8CW
Saturday 6:00pm: Dinner time! Our master griller Jorge started the flames and got down to grilling hot dogs and hamburgers. Others brought baked beans, chicken salad and other great dishes. Desserts consisted of blueberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream, key lime pie and many other dishes. No one left the table hungry. Ran home to feed the dog and record the 6pm news. Came back and restarted the generator with a full tank of fuel. By 9pm I was tired and went home to rest, shower and get set for the next day.
The Grill Meister!Dinner in the hallway.
Sunday 4:30am: Woke up and fed the dog. Came to the FD site and found Doug (K4ROK) working the frequencies with Terry (K4ZYD). Others had worked the quiet hours and made contacts. Microwaved an egg casserole “Strada” to feed the troops and keep them going. The CW station on 40 meters was not busy so I sat down and set up the computer to use FlDigi to decode CW. You could click on the decoded call sign and it would enter it into the entry window of the logging software N1MM. If you then clicked on the class and section that the other station sent, it was entered in the right fields in the logger. Once you confirmed the QSO, hitting “enter” would record the QSO in the log. The radio was set up with multiple macros that would send perfect CW out as a response to the other stations responses. I did not need to use the keyer at all. I recorded about 40 CW QSOs in about an hour and a half when I can barely copy 10 words a minute. The speeds operators were sending was in the range of 15-31 wpm, way above my capability but with the right tools I could communicate. Some would say these tools are “crutches” and should not be used, I would say by the end of an hour and a half, I was starting to recognize phrases and other bits and pieces of the code by ear at high speed. I am still learning and have to crawl first.
Sunday 2pm: The take down started a little earlier as the crew was tired. Took apart the three stations and re-installed them into the ARES trailer and dragged it home. Returned and helped take down the tower and pack the second trailer and dragged it home. Ok now I am tired and took a 3 hour nap in the AC!
Clean up Crew.
Many thanks to all the volunteer crew that helped make the 2023 Field Day a roaring success! too many to mention but here are a few that stood out: our President Beth KN4FZB and her husband (Grill Meister) and kids (clean up crew), our VP Judy W3JUU, Mark KG4GVJ (Ham Chatter Editor), Bernie WA4MOK for the coordination and antenna work, Phillip KQ4IGY who climbed the tower and put the beam on top, Terry K4ZYD who climbed the tower and took it down, Gary KN4JKM who was the man everywhere helping out where needed and finally all the XYL’s and others that brought a wonderful dinner with the trimmings. I am sorry If I did not mention your name as I was in the communication room with my head buried into boxes setting up the stations. Your valuable help is much appreciated and vital to the success of the Field Day. Remember, this is a volunteer organization and it will only flourish if we all pitch in. THANK YOU!!!
After all this is ARRL’s Year of the Volunteer!
Thank You, Peter N4PVH
More photos of FD, I will post more as I get them:
Saturday after our regular BARC membership meeting, we have an informal breakfast meeting at 9am at the Great Harvest Bread Co. We had 13 members show up and break bread and talk about all kinds of issues. We had a fun time and finally left 2 hours later. In the parking lot, the fun continued… Judy (W3JUU) was showing her motorbike and “Mr. Rogers” (AI4J) was remembering when he used to ride. The stories grew taller and taller!
After the fun in the parking lot, 4 members went to the BARC trailer and cleaned it out trying to organize it for Field Day. Bernie (WA4MOK), Beth (KN4FZB), Gary (KN4JKM) and Peter (N45PVH) worked for three hours removing extra Rohn25 tower legs, getting the rotor mounted, and securing the other antennas. Went through the bins of equipment finding the parts and pieces that would make up the equipment on field day. Later, Peter secured the high test gasoline (without gasahol) and put Stabil in the gas cans to preserve the gas for a long time. Ran the generators and checked the oil.
On Sunday, Peter pulled his computers and installed the latest updates and software on them. Getting the software to talk to the radios and each other to fully integrate the radio control with the digital, morse or phone modes that would be used. N1MM logging software was the key and where we start. Once that is started, it makes the connection between the computer and the radio. All other software goes through N1MM to issue the radio commands needed for the mode that the radio operator is using (Morse, Digital FT8, Phone). The other two software packages are WSJT-x (for FT8) and Fldigi (Morse code reader). They are launched in the “Windows” menu in N1MM but not by the normal windows operating system. This way N1MM has flow of information control and runs the radio. This also allows N1MM to get the frequency, the call sign of the contact and the mode information automatically for logging purposes.
For the morse code operators, K1EL’s CW keyboard and reader was installed on two of the radios so that you can type on a keyboard and it will send out the morse code. This was also integrated into N1MM software so that the N1MM macro buttons also work for sending CW responses. For us novices to CW, this may be a game changer allowing beginner CW operators function at a higher level and actually make contacts! Do not be afraid to try it!
Rather slick integration. N1MM also pools the contacts from the three computers to a master computer so that there is only one log we need to submit at the end of field day. This is the “Holy Grail” of software engineers trying to get full integration of the information sources. We will see how robust this is at Field Day as FD is an emergency readiness exercise. Hope to see you at FD!
BARC’s field day preparation to be hosted at Oakwood school.
Meeting video
Get ready as it looks like the 2023 Hurricane season has started with a vengeance! We have two named tropical storms developing in the Atlantic now. The rains are starting to come our way reminding us of past storms, so get ready! Field day is a readiness exercise and we need to be there for our community should the bad things happen. Get your HT’s out and re-learn how to program them. Get them charged and find the extra batteries. How about HF readiness? How about a “to go bag?” How about food, water, clothes, first aid kit etc… Come out and join the fun at FD and brush up on your communication skills or learn something new.
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