Interesting QSO's with QRPp'er Alexey RT7O

ZA/AE5X

While making several activations of Alpet e Shqipërisë National Park (AL-0001) in northern Albania earlier this week, I had a total of three QSO's with Alexey RT7O. Each time, Alexey used a different QRPp rig.

A pleasant series of emails followed over the next couple of days as Alexey described and sent photos of the radios he used - all of which he homebrewed.

The receiver in each case was a Malamute transceiver and its antenna consisted of two 41-meter wires running down from a balcony (set at a 90-degree angle to each other) and sloping down toward a tree and a pole.

The transmitting antenna for the rigs described below was a 14 MHz sloper aimed westward.

In my case, the rig in use was a QRP Labs QMX putting 6 watts into a 1/4-wave whip attached to a magnet mount on the roof of my rental car. No ground radials.

I was surrounded by mountains on all sides and didn't know what to expect of my ability to make contacts from an area with no unobstructed horizon in any direction. To my surprise, contacts came fast and furious thanks to the ZA prefix. 

All QSO's were on 20m CW. 

For our first QSO, Alexey was using a  700 mW transmitter - built with two rod tubes - to mark the "First Earth Satellite" activity event:

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An audio recording of this QSO is here (I was using a QMX). 

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For our next QSO's Alexey used the absolutely beautiful 300mW designed around an old Soviet 6P15P tube. The schematic is shown here:

Why Albania?

Some readers know that my other hobbies are photography and videography with drones. The opportunity to go to Albania offered me a chance to participate in all of these hobbies plus do a heckuva lot of hiking. And just regular old walking.

My smartwatch says I walked 14km (9 miles) the first day in Tirana and 26km (16 miles) the second day. All of that was in the Blloku District of Tirana, previously off limits even to Albanians until 1991. Blloku was the upscale part of town, only open to political party officials.

I also have an interest in Cold War history and Albania offers an up-close chance to explore that interest. I may elaborate on that a bit in a future posting.

But really, I'm just a boy who likes his drone. 

The scenes below were shot with a DJI Avata 360 in an area about halfway between Bogë (pronounced Boga) and Theth in the northern part of the country.

This is the southern Alps, known in Albania as The Accursed Mountains. 

 

Or watch directly on YouTube 

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Activating AL-0001 with the QMX - and a bit of drone flying

Last year, Hans G0UPL rushed me a QMX at my request so that I could operate during an impromptu trip to Vietnam. As it turned out, it was impossible to get permission to operate and I've felt guilty ever since at having taken advantage of Hans' willingness to expedite the QMX.

But as of today the QMX has finally gone on a bit of a DXpedition.

I am currently near Theth Albania and have just returned from activating the unpronounceable-by-me Alpet e Shqipërisë National Park with the QMX.

The entire operation was on 20m CW. I was surrounded by mountains but was able to easily work a good number of Europeans and one US station (K2UPD) in New York. 

The QMX performed well.

I hope to activate the same park from another (better) location tomorrow.

Interesting contacts with QRPp'er Alexey RT7O - click here.

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TAT Video update: AR-OK-NM

Arkansas

Heavy rains made for muddy riding through a beautiful state. I managed a quick activation (US-4425) just before the rain started but the high winds preceding the rain made the audio from the activation's recording unsuitable for posting to YouTube.

Thanks all, for the contacts.

Lunch was at the cafe in Oark where I met a great group of people who invited me to join them at their table. Everyone was from somewhere else and the conversation was all about travel. 

I saw more wildlife in Arkansas than in the previous three states combined, mostly deer but also two coyote. 

Hermes Lite 2 - Compliant on 10 meters?

While waiting on an "Your Anan-10E is ready" email I thought I'd test a claim on Apache Lab's website regarding SDR radios that use the AD9866 processor - ie, the Hermes Lite 2.

Apache Lab's comparative chart claims that the HL2 is not compliant on 10 meters. News to me...let's have a look.

[UPDATE: Harmonic content is within spec on all bands. I'll check IMD later in the year.] 

I also wanted to test receiver sensitivity. I was asked about it in several emails after posting a video comparing receiver sensitivity of the QMX+, KX2 and FT-891.

 

I'll be the first to admit that receiver sensitivity is down the totem pole when it comes to receiver specs, topped by selectivity and dynamic range. Still, it's a useful test if only to verify the lack of a problem where one might be suspected.

Video: QMX+ receiver sensitivity comparison with KX2, FT-891

Receiver sensitivity of the QRP Labs QMX+ is currently being discussed on the QRP Labs forum with at least one member of the group is disappointed that the MDS value of the QMX+ isn't published.

With the QMX+ being a kit, any published value of MDS would have to be a range of fluid values since receiver characteristics will depend, not only on component tolerance deviations, but of builder's methods in soldering and the winding of toroids & transformers.

I decided to compare my QMX+ receiver sensitivity with the KX2 and FT-891, using a TinySA Ultra and appropriate attenuation.

As can be seen in the video below, the QMX+ does quite well.

After the video, I "measured" (by ear) the point at which a signal becomes too weak to copy on the other bands. The CP1 directional coupler does not cover 6 meters but I measured -113 dBm on that band, which is probably inaccurate. I will sweep the coupler on 6m with my VNA and post a corrected value soon.

Directly on YouTube

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Video: As much DX as domestic! POTA with the QMX+

The Crystal River area of west-central Florida contains several POTA sites within a small area. Crystal River Preserve State Park is my favorite for activations due to the covered picnic table and proximity to manatee-rich waterways.

Kayaks can be rented at the park but my purpose today was to exercise the QMX+ on the high bands and the bands did not disappoint. Contacts were made on all 5 bands 10-20 meters, including a good amount of EU DX and one station in Chile.

Several people have told me that previous videos that include text overlays of the callsigns being heard are helpful so I've included those in the video below. CW speed of myself and most callers is around 22 wpm.

 

Directly on YouTube

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Video: A test of M0JKS's aftermarket mic for KX2/KX3 radios

Tom M7MCQ recently posted some interesting info on an aftermarket mic for Elecraft KX-series radios.

The mic was initially offered by Dave M0JKS as a kit but they now are sold completely built.

I ordered one the next day.

Video: Iceland by drone and operating as TF/AE5X

I am amazed at the stunning scenery of Iceland - the trip was bucket-list incredible.

The video below is about 2/3 drone video (followed by 1/3 radio) of the places we saw as we drove around the country.

In all, we put 950 miles (1500km) on the car and I activated 4 parks. Each park was a first-activation for that park. I had no trouble making contacts but my time at each park was limited. The KX2 at ten watts into a roof-mounted vertical worked well and was portable enough to travel with easily.

DXing: KX2 masquerading as a KH1

A cheap 51" (130cm) telescoping CB walkie-talkie antenna and conditions on 10-15 meters gave me the idea to treat my KX2 like a KH1.

Tuesday mornings can offer slow POTA activity but I was pleased with the results anyway from a peaceful little park about half an hour from home.

The weather was perfect and this project served as the perfect excuse to be outside.

In the following video, I made 10 contacts in 20 minutes. Those 10 contacts included 7 DXCC entities - all with a short whip antenna and a single ground radial.

When the bands are hot, amazing things are possible. Earlier this week I was able to work 4W8X on 10m CW from home with the KX2.

This weekend I'll be building a short coil to supplement the CB whip's internal coil with the idea of using the whip on 17/20 meters.

Various online calculators say I'll need 30 turns on a 1-inch form.

YouTube

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POTA with FX-4CR - monitoring its temperature on a hot day

This video will probably be of limited use in determining the heat dissipation characteristics of the FX-4CR - but several people have commented on the radio's tendency to become very hot over the course of an operating session, even when operating CW at 5 watts.

In this video, I'm on CW at full output - 20 watts. In 30 minutes, the radio's case is 25F/14C above ambient. I cut the video short at that point since a mower started up. Florida must have the best-mowed parks in the US.

The video is only 10 minutes long since I edited out most of the parts where I'm answering stations or calling CQ.

If I'd continued operating at a POTA-type duty cycle, the temperature would have continued to rise. I know this from previous sessions on the air. The solution is to take breaks in the operation and to realize that this is a very small radio with a 20W output - a larger radio would run cooler; a smaller one would be even hotter.

Video: Checking (and comparing) receiver sensitivity with tinySA ULTRA

Soon after the original tinySA was offered, I made a video showing how to make an MDS measurement of a receiver by using the tinySA in 'Signal Generator' mode. But with the tinySA's minimum output being -76dBm (almost S9), a lot of external attenuation was required to get the signal within range of typical MDS values.

The new tinySA ULTRA has a minimum output of -123dBm, making it much easier and less expensive to make the same test. And with less clutter since less external attenuation is needed - actually, none, other than the step attenuator you'll need anyway.

You can see the original video here.

A former co-worker of mine verified the output level accuracy of my tinySA ULTRA with an HP power meter and found it to be within 1dB of its indicated value on HF down to -100dBm. After that, inaccuracy increases to 3dB at -123dBm.

So, with the output set to -100dBm, and a 0-62dB step attenuator, I did a quick by-ear comparison of my new Index Labs QRP+ to my IC-705.

POTA with the CW Flea/Belka twins

I chose the wrong day (a weekday morning) and the wrong time to make this activation and will return on a weekend soon.

If I worked you - thanks for your great receive capabilities in divining my Flea-ish signal from the ether. 17 contacts were made, all on 20m with a 200mW output.

The Belka DX performed well, as expected.

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Video: transmitter IMD of (tr)uSDX

Updated 14 Nov (see bottom of page)

 

Kevin KB9RLW has posted an interesting series of videos to YouTube recently, exploring the poor SSB performance of his (tr)uSDX transceiver (beginning with this one).

I'm primarily a CW operator and wasn't too concerned about my (tr)uSDX's SSB performance but Kevin's video's piqued my interest and I decided have a look with my SA and an Elecraft Two-Tone Generator feeding a 700 Hz and a 1900 Hz tone into the mic input of the (tr)uSDX.

The purpose of this test is to measure IMD due to non-linearities in the transmitter. In a perfect world, only those two tones would be transmitted.

Video: The Belka-DX micro-receiver on external antennas

Apologies for the lackluster editing. I chose content over form, hoping to provide a glimpse of what it's like to tune around the bands with this little radio hooked up to something other than the small whip antenna that comes with it.

The high bands, as we know, have been circling the drain for a while now - not much there that I could find - so this is an "AM broadcast band to 14 MHz" test on CW, SSB and AM.

The rest of the video's description is given in the opening 15 seconds. The lighting gets better (a relative term) 3 minutes in.

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Propane conversion of Honda EU2200i generator

With Field Day almost here I thought some participants might be interested in the ease of converting a popular Honda generator model for use with propane.

This particular conversion kit from Hutch Mountain is for the Honda EU2200i. They also have other kits for different models of Honda generators to allow them to operate on gasoline, propane or LP gas. The LP gas conversion requires the installation of an included jet into the carburetor, but for propane/gasoline use, only one part is installed and no disassembly of the carb is required.

Total time for the mod is about 30 minutes and requires a drill, a stepper bit (or a 9/16th" bit) two wrenches, a screwdriver and a 9mm socket. Instructions are clearly written on good quality paper with plenty of photos.

Eutectic or non-eutectic solder - does it matter?

The question should have occurred to me a long time ago:

Why are the tin/lead ratios of two common solder mixes so close? Surely there can't be that much of a difference in the melting point of 60/40 versus 63/37.

Answer: It's not about the melting temperature - and don't call me Shirley.

There are only 5C degrees of difference in the melting temperatures of these two ratios. But there is a very significant difference in how they melt and in how they re-solidify. I've been unaware of this until recently.