Legality of 60 meter FT8 in US?

I've never been interested in the channelized nature of the 60m band and, until a few days ago, have never even tuned there.

What makes the band palatable is FT8.

FT8 is channelized in that we tune to a specified frequency and then leave the VFO alone for operation within a 3 kHz window. In effect, we channelize any band on which we operate FT8 or any of the other modes within WSJT-X.

No new antenna was necessary; just new settings on the antenna tuner to make the 80m dipole seem juuuussst right to the rig - not too capacitive; not too inductive. As if Goldilocks finally got her ham ticket.

Impress your non-ham guests

If you're an American, no doubt you will have visitors today as we celebrate Thanksgiving. In my case - and probably yours too - most or all of those visitors will be non-hams.

As non-hams they will be curious about those wires in your trees or that big honkin' telescoping tower in your back yard. How can they not notice and appreciate the care with which you've installed that K9AY receive antenna for 160m.

Or - best of all - that on the ground Beverage antenna for the new 630-meter band. Let them walk the entire length of it, staring down at the ground at a piece of wire. They'll be dazzled! And they'll really appreciate the history lesson when you explain that the Beverage is named for a person - "it does not refer to a drink". "Ahh" they'll say, thoughtfully and with all the gravity such a moment requires.

Of course this will all serve as the appetizer, warming them up for the main event: a Tour of the Ham Shack 2018. This is where you'll really rock their world as they wait 1m50s for a WSPR cycle to complete, then take turns hitting F5 on the keyboard to refresh the WSPR.net page to see where your signal has been heard.

If you've done your job correctly, they'll be referring to it as their signal.

"SOS to the Rescue"

A few weeks ago I was looking at an old radio magazine from the year of my father's birth - 1936. In it was an ad for a newly published book that caught my eye. Long out of print of course, I wondered if I could find a copy at a reasonable price. Amazon to the rescue! A $25 copy in very good condition was soon on the way.

I don't normally enjoy reading older books - the prose is more formal and can often seems less personal and somewhat stilted to modern readers. Those that I do read, usually first-person accounts of historical events, are read for their information, not for entertainment.

"SOS to the Rescue", written by Karl Baarslag, was published in 1935. It is an immensely enjoyable book, written, for all intents and purposes, in contemporary English. Baarslag was a maritime radio operator in the 1920's and '30's and this book is a collection of maritime disasters that occurred in the first thirty years of radio's infancy, all told from the onboard radio operator's point of view.

From the rumor mill (QRP transceiver gets a facelift)

Rumor confirmed - LNR will have the new-look MTR-3B for sale in about three weeks. In addition to the LCD display the new version of the radio will also have an adjustable sidetone.

.

LNR Precision sells a variety of QRP CW transceivers including three that were once sold in kit form by designer Steve Weber KD1JV.

One of those, the MTR-3B, will soon be available in a slightly different configuration. The ATS-3B is a tiny 20, 30 and 40m transceiver that weighs 4 ounces and put out 2.4 to 4 watts. It really is an amazing radio.

For now, the MTR-3B looks like this (and my original MTR-3B from a kit in the banner, above):

According to Steve, "the new MTR-3B with LCD should be available from LNR in the near future" and will look something like this (but in a professionally machine case):

The new version incorporates the LCD display that was used on Steve's later transceivers, the ATS-4 and ATS-5. The LCD display shows keyer speed, frequency, battery voltage and time.

No word yet on exactly when the new version will be available or what the price will be.
.
.

FA-VA5 antenna analyzer received, built

I received my FA-VA5 in the mail today after a week-long delay in Chicago. Customs? USPS? Interference from Putin? Who knows, but it arrived today and went together in just under an hour.

The FA-VA5 is almost identical to the FA-VA4 that it replaced. The main difference in construction are the new analyzer's USB jack and the use of a cardboard spacer used when installing/soldering header pins.

The USB jack's small circuit board is insulated from the main board by an almost-transparent mica insulator. The circuit board is then soldered to the main board by flowing solder across 16 pads to their corresponding pads on the main board. Be sure that each pad has a solder bridge to its corresponding pad and that no unintentional bridges exist between adjacent pads.

Flex 6300 Vs. Apache Labs Anan-10e on FT8

Since buying the Anan 10E a few weeks ago I've been comparing it with the Flex. The KH1/KH7Z DXpedition provided a great test for each rig's software regarding noise mitigation, especially on the low bands with summertime QRN.

For a description of the test set-up, click here.

As might be expected, each radio/software has advantages over the other. I like SmartSDR's (Flex) presentation and ability to zoom in on a signal (or pile-up) and see detail with great resolution. openHPSDR (Anan) can zoom in as well but visual resolution seems to become a bit grainy at some point, at least compared to SmartSDR. This may seem like a small detail but it is important in how I go about working a rare DX station on CW. I like to see the pile-up in as much detail as possible in order to determine exactly where to place my TX VFO.

Comparing SDRPlay's spectrum analyzer function with calibrated HP8563A

With identical attenuators on each analyzer's input - and with the KX2 set for a 5-watt output, I re-ran the test comparing SDRplay's spectrum analyzer program with an HP 8563A. That program, intended for SDRplay' sline of receivers, can be downloaded here.

A previous comparison was made using the KX2's minimal output of 100 mW and with the rig being incorrectly keyed (misinterpretation of the XMIT/TUNE button) to produce a steady carrier.

The results below are an accurate portrayal of how each device responds to the KX2 on 3.5 MHz. The HP is calibrated annually and was last calibrated in Feb 2018 (four months ago) and it, of course, is displaying accurate results.

(For those interested, I also looked at the KX2's other bands and posted those plots here. Given the 10 MHz span of the SDRplay's Spectrum analyzer program, it is not possible to look at bands higher than 40 meters).
.

.

HP8563A spectrum analyzer, 80m: second harmonic is 52.63 dB below carrier

.

SDRplay's spec-an function, 80m: second harmonic is indicated (falsely) as being 41.9 dB below carrier

.

.

Video: Flex 6300 vs. RSPduo

In this corner...weighing in at $265 - the (insert dramatic reverb) RSPduo from SDR Play (end reverb!).

With all the ingredients on hand I couldn't resist pitting David against Goliath. For the few weeks I've had the RSPduo, I've used it mostly to copy FT8 on various HF bands and 6 meters.

I had more in mind for it when I bought it but its performance is such that it's just too cool to let it run overnight or while I'm at work as it scoops signals from the ether. I look online periodically at the relevant websites - or the next morning - and am amazed anew.

At some point I started wondering how the Big Rig would have done in a similar time period on a given band.

Elecraft's K2 in a KX2's world

With next week's temperatures predicted to be 100+ (40's C) for several days, and summer only beginning, I've been trying to justify the purchase and build of an Elecraft K2 that will keep me indoors in my near-fanatical appreciation of the magic of freon.

The problem is, I already have a KX2; therefore, the justification requires a careful comparison. Both rigs have so many of the same functions that are important to me: dual VFO's, configurable AGC settings, built-in keyer, CW memories, etc.

Unfortunately, only a general comparison is possible when basing it on the reviews in QST. This is due to the fact that the ARRL reviews for each transceiver are 17 years apart and during that time, some of the characteristics that are measured and how they're measured, has changed.

Panoramic displays, waterfalls - and a sea story

Submarine sonar room

SDR technology and panoramic displays are relatively new to the hobby and their benefits are immediately obvious to anyone who's operated a radio so equipped.

An entire band - or several bands - can be seen at once. CW activity, digital, SSB - it's all there. Click on any signal and you hear it in the headphones or can zoom in on it. Zooming in, its sidebands and their characteristics can be discerned.

When such radios came to market (and became affordable!) I knew I had to have one. Even before

BQQ-5 sonar display

brand new companies like Flex explained it to me in their marketing descriptions, I knew what these displays and the unique way of tuning the band would allow. I'd known for over 20 years.

Configuring the FT-891, Easy-Digi and WSJT-X

In an effort to become more familiar with my FT-891 I've decided to use it as the main station rig for the time being. I have no love for this radio but keep thinking that I just need to "give it a chance" and it'll eventually prove its worth to me. Yeah, okay...more on that topic in a future post.

I spent more time this morning than I'm willing to admit in getting all the menu items and WSJT options selected in just the right way as to make everything talk nicely together courtesy of an Easy-Digi interface from KF5INZ. After that unspicified amount of time, VA3TO went into the log as my first FT8 QSO with the FT-891.

Tenemos que mudarnos a Espana

Thanks to a typographical error by the FCC, the esposita and I will soon be moving to Spain.

Two months ago I attempted to renew my ham license and the new ticket came back quickly and efficiently - but incorrectly. My callsign is now listed as EA5X. Correspondence with the FCC has been less than helpful with them insisting that I initiate corrective procedures with Spanish authorities since the FCC has no jurisdiction with an EA prefix.

How *NOT* to build a battery pack for your KX2!

I've always enjoyed Gil F4WBY videos and have learned a lot from them. They are well-made, interesting and inspiring. However, Gil's latest video results in a battery pack that is blatantly unsafe and I hope he removes it from YouTube. No disrespect is intended.

Here is Gil's video:

The main problem is with the manner of heat shrinking used to encapsulate the 3-cell pack. Gil inserts his battery pack into the shrink wrap lengthwise - the finished result of this leaves the terminals of the cells exposed.

POTA activation of Devil's River State Natural Area (KFF-3498)

This trip was a trial run for a future camping trip to a true dark sky site and sufficed as "dark enough" to learn what needed learnin' when pointing camera skyward at night.

Also known as KFF-3498

The fact that it qualified as a POTA park gave the 8-hour drive extra justification and provided a way of occupying my time while the camera's intervalometer clicked away - a total of 400 raw still images over a period of four hours produced a short video of those hours compressed into a few seconds.

Activation of Davis Hill State Park (TX) KFF-3496

Although the infrastructure is not yet in place for public use, the property for Davis Hill State Park is currently owned by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. That qualifies it as a POTA candidate as it is listed as such on official POTA and WWFF websites.

Since the park property is not yet open to the public, WFF/POTA rules prohibit any contacts from there as being valid unless specific permission is obtained from official sources. That official source was Justin Rhodes, Director of Parks for southeast Texas.

We had an interesting phone conversation, discussing access, easements and other issues with opening this area to the public. That conversation ended with an official "I have no problem with you operating there".

HF Voyager: an ocean-going drone with a KX3

There is currently a chance to work some really rare grids. HF Voyager is an ocean-going drone currently making its way from Hawaii to California. Its current location can be seen here. Onboard in a waterproof container is an Elecraft KX3 and a Raspberry Pi computer enabling a variety of digital modes to be used.

Portable 3-band antenna and KFF-3056

Operating from KFF-3056 (TX)

My quest for a compact multi-band antenna that can be mounted anywhere has ended. The components in the photo below were used earlier today to activate KFF-3056 (Sheldon Lake SP just east of Houston TX) with results that were better than I'd hoped for.

On past outdoor QRP excursions, I've had to select operating positions that were convenient to suitable trees, then heave a line over a suitable branch, haul up the wire and try to keep any of it from getting tangled on anything.

But no more!

Video: The KX2 goes for a ride and activates KFF-4415

Yesterday was tailor made for outdoor QRP and motorcycling - partly sunny and 75F (23C). I had been wanting to try an antenna idea suggested to me by W0ZF in a previous comment and am happy to report that it worked quite well.

The antenna was simply a 29-foot wire (hurled into a tree thanks to the amazing powers of nylon-corded Gatorade) and a single 29-foot radial. The KX2 was able to tune it on all bands 10-40m though all contacts were made on 20m for this activation.

QRP: NA QSO Party with KX2, Norcal 40a

This was a fun little 12-hour contest with high activity levels, a 100-watt power limit and (surprisingly) good propagation. Excellent ingredients for QRP participation.

I started out on 20 meters with my KX2 in full contest regalia, or, less dramatically, hooked up to N3FJP's contest software and a Winkeyer - just like real contesters do with their Big Rigs. Ditto for the Norcal 40a. I think this Big Rig treatment gave these tiny boxes extra mojo & boosted their self-esteem. They, in turn, rewarded me with easily-made QSO points.

Improving Signal:Noise of CW signals by 3dB

There is a very interesting article in this month's CQ Magazine by Pete N8PR.

He notes (pun intended) that he is able to discern an improvement in copying weak signals on CW by listening to a station with both of his receiver's VFOs tuned to receive the station but with a separation between them of 65-80 Hz.