The First 100 Years Are The Hardest

On June 8th I was able to combine a grand opening of the newest  CUTX branch in East Texas with a park activation.     Paris is a neat town with its own version of the Eiffel Tower.  Paris is also home to the Main Trading Company (MTC). US-6600 Sam Bell Maxey House State Historic Site in Paris Texas.  Nice place to visit but noise floor was s9 so thank you to the operators were able to break thru the noise. I used  Ham2K PoLo for the first time and old man am I impressed!   Very easy and intuitive to use on my phone.  Lots of neat features designed with the activator in mind.    13 QSOs in 56 minutes.   Yeasu FT-857D.  ATAs-120a antenna at 100w.   73, Chris de WX7V Chris de WX7V

 I was in Las Vegas for a convention during the first week of May.  Knowing I had some spare time, I planned to head out into the mountains and get Nevada added to my slowly but surely growing list of states activated.  I choose three parks that were nearby and looked suitable enough to activate based on my work schedule. I took an early Monday morning flight and planned my first activation on the way to check-in at the hotel.  Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Park - US-4443 looked great on paper, just a few miles from my hotel but being in the middle of Las Vegas I knew the noise floor would be a challenge.  What I didn't expect was to find the gates to be locked, and the sign posted that the park was closed on Monday.  Ha!  I had two more parks planned on Thursday morning- the last day of  the  conference. Thursday came soon enough and I got up early to hit the road. All my gear was properly packed: KX3.  Batteries.  Mic.  Key...

Node-Red is a flow-based programming environment created by IBM to control devices using APIs for machine-machine communications.  Node-Red provides a browser based development environment and JSON (javascript object notation) programming structure to create low code applications like dashboards.   There are a bunch of templates developed by Flexradio users that can be imported and customized to create your own dashboards and control panels.   Just about anything with a serial port or ethernet connection can be monitored and controlled using Node-Red. There are many online resources that teach how to use node red.  Some knowledge of computer programing is essential - especially when you need to convert objects to JSON formats,  access attributes withing that object, to parse (listen) for responses from the radio, and create flows that can be used to control the radios, amplifiers, rotors etc that are in your shack. N1SH Stephen Houser maintains the...

Network quality is the biggest issue I’ve had when accessing the Flexradio remotely - via hotel WiFi or the LTE connection on my tablet hotspot.  I see a lot of dropped packets, especially in the RX audio, which causes the audio to become scrambled from the radio,  and generates a lot of snap-crackle-pop in the audio on the tablet.  Performance can be improved by reducing bufferbloat in the router (latency and jitter) and by eliminating network packet fragmentation because of the MTU. I've gotten rid of bufferbloat on my remote network by enabling the Smart Queue Management function in my Ubiquiti Networks EdgeRouter X, 4-Port Gigabit Router.  The ER-X runs EdgeOS and is easy to enable with the basic functions, but with some testing and tweaking of  the additional parameters I've found these settings work best for my network.   Nextlink is my Wireless ISP, and I have a static IP set up. Per the waveforms website, with SQM enabled an EdgeRouter 4 can su...

 I completed the build for the CTR2-MIDI kit from KU7Q Lynn Hansen.   Lynn is a very prolific product designer and software developer.  The CTR2 line of controllers provide simple button and knobs for the FlexRadio / SmartSDR at a very reasonable cost ($40 with shipping).    The CTR2-MIDI is very easy to build, and all the components fit nicely in the Hammond enclosure once the soldered components leads trimmed flush  against the PCB.   I had previously built and tested the wifi-based CTR2-MICRO but wanted the simplicity of USB support on my iPad when travelling.  If you have the Micro but want USB highly suggest getting the MIDI.   I've run the kit thru as many tests as I can think of and found no issues with the v1.01.01.   -Connected to PC via USB to calibrate controls for initial set up using Tera-Term terminal.   -Connected to iPAD running Marcus' Smart-SDR-IOS and recognized the USB device with no is...

I've been wanting to get an analog multi-meter to help test the Drake TR4-cw.   A few weeks ago I saw Bob Heil (SK) K9EID using a Simpson 260 in one of his Ham Nation vides hosted on You tube and knew I wanted one.  I found plenty of high priced Simpsons online, but after a few low bids I lost each of the online auctions to collectors who outbid me the last minute.  I decided to wait and hoped to find something locally at one of the upcoming Hamfests. It didn't take long -- I actually saw two at the Belton Hamfest a few weeks ago.  After some quick haggling with the seller I got one that needed from TLC for $25.  The only catch was that the he said "It should work, but its got a lot of battery corrosion that needs to be cleaned up before you use it."   Not knowing exactly what to expect, I knew the price was right and paid the guy- worst case I figured this would be a fun repair project. I got it home and opened it up,  sure enough there was ...

Drake TR-4Cw   I've always been fascinated by electronics, building kits, understanding the principles of basic circuit analysis and design.  I've pretty good with a digital volt meter but its been a while since I've had a project that could benefit from a good oscilloscope. With the Drake I will bring on these skills together.   Also known as a "boat anchor" these tube type radios require a lot of knowledge and maintenance if you want to be a fine business operator.   This lesson was reinforced when I first opened the box.   I fired up the rig but couldn't even get the bias voltage set (per the manual).  Having never worked on tube operated electronics I was hesitant to do any troubleshooting.   I ordered a hardcopy Drake TR-4Cw manual and waited for its arrival. First came the friendly advice from Joe KI5O (a ham buddy and fellow member of RWK) to join the DRAKE-RADIO groups.io which is full of drake experts who are willing t...

I was able to get my 100th country confirmed on LotW last month, qualifying me for the DXCC / CW Mode Certificate.  My first CW contact was confirmed with K4KCG from the Kentucky Contest Group back in June 2021 when I first learning CW and relying completely on CW macros.  I focused on completing the WAS Triple play award in January 2022 before focusing on DXCC. I continued to improve my CW skills, practiced my sending, but it wasn't until April 2022 that I joined the Straight Key Century Club SKCC and made the personal commitment  to completely avoid electronic keyers and macros when possible.  The majority of my contacts from that point on were made with either a traditional straight key, or a sideswiper, which is like a paddle but is a fully manual version of the straight key with horizontal action.   Along the way I got the pleasure of working many countries during contests - the ARRL International DX contest is a good way to pick up many new countries ...

I'm impressed with the performance of the WO9B Spark Plug EFHW antenna today on 15M. The band was in good condition and not nearly as crowded as 20M. Plus I got to revisit Tyler State Park - a place I haven't visited since the late 90s when I used to spend "bachelor thanksgiving" camping here with the guys. Nice spring weather made the day even better! 73 Chris de WX7V  

I put in some seat time - maybe 5-6 hours Friday night to Sunday morning for the 2024 ARRL-DX International CW Contest.     I worked 81 countries total, 350 contacts.   25 unique countries on 80M, but 50 unique countries each on 40, 20, 15 and 10 meters.   Raw Score: 1041 Qpts x 226 Mults = 235,266 - Note: The raw score, QSO points and mult totals are estimates based solely on the individual log contents and are not used during subsequent log checking. Rig was Flexradio 6600, with Carolina Windom Dipole for 80/40M, and Hexbeam for 20/15/10M.   Antennas are up about 35 feet.   Chris de WX7V

The DXCC is Amateur Radio's premier award that hams can earn by confirming on the air contacts with 100 countries. You can begin with the basic DXCC award and work your way up to the DXCC Honor Roll.    I was able to get H44WA - SOLOMON ISLANDS - 10M confirmed on Friday for  my 100th country confirmed via LoTW for CW. QSL K4KCG - UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - 20M CW (CW) QSL TG9ADM - GUATEMALA - 30M CW (CW) QSL C6AZM - BAHAMAS - 40M CW (CW) QSL PG4I - NETHERLANDS - 40M CW (CW) QSL DL1DGS - FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY - 40M CW (CW) QSL OA4DX - PERU - 40M CW (CW) QSL KP4JRS - PUERTO RICO - 20M CW (CW) QSL AH6KO - HAWAII - 20M CW (CW) QSL JM7OLW - JAPAN - 40M CW (CW) QSL F6HKA - FRANCE - 40M CW (CW) QSL CO7FR - CUBA - 40M CW (CW) QSL SN2B - POLAND - 40M CW (CW) QSL HK1MW - COLOMBIA - 40M CW (CW) QSL PJ2ND - CURACAO - 40M CW (CW) QSL VE3TM - CANADA - 20M CW (CW) QSL XE1RE - MEXICO - 15M CW (CW) QSL HQ9X - HONDURAS - 15M CW (CW) QSL HD8R - GALAPAGOS ISLANDS - 40M CW (CW...