Time of the Year

I've not had much "Ham Radio" type of posts lately. This is the time of the Year when I don't spend much time in the basement. I work Full-time Monday thru Friday so that only leaves Me evenings to do everything else. Lately that means walking the dog, playing sports with My girls, doing many "chicken" chores ( We have 10 hens!) and generally getting ready for spring !
This means I am back in the house around 8 pm, giving time to make tomorrows lunch, discuss assorted subjects with My Wife,eventually watch the news and sleeptime. Yeah, you get the picture-- leaves Me about an hour in the shack. If I write My blog,check email, cruise the bands-- times up!!
I'm really not complaining, My life is great! Never enough time but why should I be any different than most people? Wintertime in Minnesota is My shack time during the week.
I have slowly been working towards a working tri-bander on My short tower attached to the pole building. I will finish that before the snow flies and hopefully give a work detail of that project.Oh , I also need to experiment with a better HD antenna so all the local channels receive good and aren't breaking up.
Enough for now-- I could discuss the state of our Country or religion, but I need to keep this blogs topics Ham Radio only! No controversy here-
73-- Tim

Lurking

Lurking! Have You heard this term before? Up in these parts it is a Licensed amateur listening in on fellow amateurs chatting on frequency. Can be on Vhf,UHF or even good 'ol HF. I actually do this when I'm working on projects in the shack,typing emails or just like lately when I'm in a quiet, retrospective mood....or when I have nothing to say!!
Most Hams do this at one time or another or on a repeater-should! How many times have You been monitoring a repeater, ready to jump into the conversation, not actually finding a clear pause in the conversation. Sometimes the flow of conversation is such that a person shouldn't interrupt! Then some bozo jumps in-basically to hear themselves talk! Rant,rant-LOL!!
Anyway- just thinking.... Gentleman on 40m now-- He bought himself a brand new Yaesu Ft-5000! Sounds like He likes it alot! Good for Him. I'm still happy with My Ft-950,probably should talk some more---maybe later.
73--Tim

This and That

Last Saturday in April and We have been enjoying an early Spring. This time last Year We still had snow on the ground so I feel like I'm weeks ahead of yard cleanup. This is also Garage Sale time for Us so I took Vacation yesterday to assist My Wife ,put out signs, help with all aspects of running the sale. Today My Girls helped Us alot and now finally done. Very successful and now inside warming up this old body-- in the 40 degree farenheit temperature today so not fun sitting outside. Lucky for Me My Wife and girls did most of the selling!
Also busy at work , retirement party I attended and other Family ,work obligations. What does this have to do with Amateur Radio?? Nothing besides keeping Me from playing in the shack! Still do not have alot of time with the New FT-950, but I definately like the many features I have used. Briefly checked into a Saturday Morning HF Net and a heterodyning noise was present. Very difficult to elimainate, so far about the only interference the new Yaesu has not eliminated entirely. Narrowing receive bandwidth does almost completely remove it but then the voice sounds unnatural.
Oh well,enough for now-- local swapfest next weekend I hope to attend. Maybe I'll find a few treasures. 73- have a good weekend---Tim

An unexpected New One!

After Supper last Night, decided to check email and listen to 20m before heading outside. Happened to scan across the bands and at 14.190 was HH2JEA/N8JEA operating from an Orphanage in Haiti. Haiti is a new one ,so I stopped to listen. He was calling out by the numbers and went from 9 land to Zero land. I was the second "0" to be answered--cool. His signal was an actual 5/9 and He returned the same to Me-- don't know if it was but... gave Him added info about weather and location. Not necessary but I wanted it to be more than wham-bang got the DX again! From the little chatter I heard, Richard N8JEA is from Chicago and in Haiti assisting with medical. A Ham and a good samariton- don't get better than that!
73--Tim

CK8G - 2nd Day

Went to bed last Night not hearing or seeing any indication of CK8G on the Clusters or the bands. When I had a chance at work today checked Ve8ex's blog and some info there indicated His arrival was quite late last night. Eventually it showed him as QRV at about 1400z this morning and checking the DX Cluster verified this. I also found out He was on Twitter as CK8G. I have followed several Dxepditions on Twitter and most of the time its a timely resource.
First chance for a contact would be after work , about 2130z or later. I did quickly look at the Dx cluster before leaving work and seen He was back on 14.260, the IOTA unofficial calling Frequency. After I was Home for a while, wandered down and turned on the radio, tuned it to 14.260 and there He was! He was also calling north America ,so I tuned up, turned on the processor for that little extra kick and after the next Complete QSO I threw out My call.
Now I'm not a big gun station, 100w into either a 260' open wire feed dipole or Buternut HF6V ground mounted vertical and hope for the best. The best is usually many attempts, catching the ebb and flow just right before success. This time was different! I said " November zero United Japan Japan" and right back was "november zero united japan japan 59". Wow! First try! I returned with a thank-you John 59 Minnesota and sat back with a smile! He was in the log without much fuss!
Later as I was writing this I listened to the West coast contacting CK8G,. I was hearing the West coast very well,but not a peep from CK8G. He was there,I just couldn't hear Him. Timing, luck and band conditions were with Me earlier!
73-- Happy Dxing, Tim

Chasing Greens Island

Greens Island is located in the southwest corner of Amundsen Gulf, 15 miles east of Paulatuk Northwest Territories,Canada. Its "Islands on the Air "designation is NA-182. John VE8EV will be operating from there as CK8G from about April 14th 2200z thru April 17th. I have followed John before thru His Blog when He has operated other IOTA's and Contests.
I was fortunate to make contact on 20m during his IOTA activation of Ellice Island ( VX8X ) and I tryed for Banks Island ( VC8B) but conditions and timing did not cooperate. He has also participated in many contests giving the much needed NWT contact.
Tonight while writing this I've been pausing to check the DX cluster He is usually spotted on and also His website ( Blog) which did indicate He had landed in Paulatuk,but did not specify the time.So far no" spots" but I'll watch and listen for a time on 20m.
73 for now- will update --Tim

Insomnia.

Yes, happens on occasion. Can't sleep, so wander down to the shack , hoping for that rare DX. Too bad but the bands are back into a funk! Noise low end,silence above. No local repeater chatter even to occupy the time. I do enjoy playing with the new radio, but with little to listen to, eventually attention turned to a QSL card I received today. Its from January 9,2010 from a Canadian Ham operating Portable 7 from Quartzite,Arizona. His time and Mine of Our QSO differ by seven hours, don't know whats up with that but I do remember the QSO. Vertical to vertical antenna ,He was camping, I heard him call CQ with no takers so I answered. My report was 5x5 and I honestly could give Him a good 5x7. Nice Gentleman, Chatted about the usual, Rigs,power,antennas ,camping and retirement. I sent eQSL and LOTW, He sends a QSL card- nice. I'll be sending a card back-- wonder how the rest of His vacation was?
Tired, good night
73--Tim

YI9PSE and split operation

I heard YI9PSE on 7065 tonight and they were listening up at 7175. They were very faint and lots of intentional? interference with CW ,tuner-uppers,etc. Lots of People showing their IQ!
Anyway-- not to complain,actually I was not chasing this DX expedition but it seemed like a good time to try split operation on the FT-950. Split on this radio is so easy! Didn't even check the manual, set Tx frequency on VFO-A and then transferred it to VFO-B by pressing the A>B button and bingo --TX frequency now set on VFO-B. Press VFO-B TX button,it lights up "red" and then set VFO-A Rx frequency. Done!! Could have just set VFO-B first and not transferred between VFO's but had set it to "A" first.
Want to know if TX frequency is correct without transmitting?? There is a button called "TXW" for doing just that-- checks,no transmitt. Again a real slick option! Gotta love this Radio!
I also hooked up My old trusty Kenwood TS-850 to the newly aquired Astron Power supply and threw a piece of RG-8 to another port of the antenna switch and compared between the rigs on a QSO on 40m. Gotta say even with the internal speaker the old Kenwood sure sounds fine. It also was showing s9+20 on the receive signal, needed to turn on 2nd RX amp on the Yaesu to get s9+20. Kenwood 850 has always been known for its great receiver!!
My new Yaesu still has so much more,but the 'ol Kenwood is like a comfortable old shoe! Wish money wasn't the issue--- but the Yaesu is very nice!! Get the picture?? Yup-- I'm a typical Ham,hate to let go!!
73--have a great weekend---Tim

Rough Bands!

Well I've been very busy lately, hardly any time to even listen to My new Radio. The bands don't seem to be very good when I have had a chance to tune around. I've played with the noise reduction and BW,IF shift of the FT-950 and I have to say I'm very impressed. They've come along way in 25 years! I will write a hands on description when I have more time.
I stopped by a fellow Ham's House tonight to see His shack and pick up a Astron RS20 supply I purchased from Him. The supply had not been used for a while so powered it up no load, then light load and finally about half load. Seems to be working fine , tomorrow will run it full to see how it does.
Been another tiring week, so I'll keep it short.
73--Tim

First Impressions of the Yaesu FT-950

Minor issues with delivery but all parties involved came thru-- last delivery of the day but its here! Packing by Yaesu is superb, its truly a lump in the throat moment when I first saw My radio. Wow! Hope I can sell some items to offset the cost!!
I did not redo My shack like I originally intended, but instead the new FT-950 is in the same spot as the Kenwood TS-850 was in. Antenna 2 is hooked to a dummy load so no mistakes by Yours truly! I also powered it with the Astron RS20 even though this radio is rated 2a more draw than the TS-850. CW and RTTY might have to turn power down a bit but I mostly use SSB so should be OK.
Checked all connections a last time and powered up the radio. Using the manual, I adjusted the Microphone gain from the factory set level of zero to about 23 or 10 oclock. Did this into antenna 2 hooked to a dummy load and had "moni" on so I could hear Myself. I followed the manual and kept the ALC level on voice peaks within the ALC range. I knew eventually I needed a QSO to really check this but good for now.
Next I went systematically to every band and tried the ATU to several different antennas. All My HF antenna's are thru External tuners and these have tuner in or "bypass" positions so I can adjust them close. My first thought with the ATU is-- gee its noisy!! My ATU in the Kenwood was much quieter, but if the Yaesu tunes, whatever! The procedure is slightly different than Kenwood but again using the manual, I was able to tune different antennas to satisfy the Radio.
My first on the air contact was on 3.925mhz during the "Piconet"and My signal and quality report was good and as luck would have it, another FT-950 owner who I know from the area suggested We go off frequency and make some adjustments.
He suggested a higher "mic Gain" of about 35 or 11 o'clock and We also adjusted menu items 91-99 which are the parametric equalization parameters. These really depend on Microphone type,users voice and received stations preference. I have no doubt some will not like the sound at their end but for now if I sound as good as the staion I was working with I'll be happy. The Speech Processor was left default, which is good ,because I'll use it for contests and Dx chasing and this will make it easier!
This radio has a C-S button which allows the user to add any menu item as a quick access button. I added the menu item 111 which is power out since I like quick access to this. Something I will miss from the Kenwoods front panel dial, easily allowing Me to turn power up or down.
Overall I'm such a newbie with this radio, every time I use it , I find another feature I like. It easily blanked out some pesky noise that has plagued My station for some time easlily beating My older Radio in both ease of use and the total noise reduction! That I really like!!
73--Tim