Some one told me to update

So here it is…

We moved out of our home of 8 years on May 15th. The thin green wire was coiled up and was put into a bin along with all the other radio toys I had decided to keep (just in case) .

We moved into a nice 2 bedroom apartment and started to get settled in….

Fast forward to today and lets see how things turned out…

Well the place is no longer in shambles and I am starting to plan how to get back on the air from home… I should mention that our unit is on the ground floor so we don’t have a balcony but we do have a patio…

And after talking to the building management we came to a compromise about outdoor antennas. I can (and have) installed a dual band antenna for my Yaesu FTM-300d (C4FM/FM) .

At the mid power setting (25w) I can access the VE3FRG (C4FM) Repeater (146.805-) which has relocated to Verona Ontario area. It is also connected to the YSF world.

The antenna could not be attached to the building but using a tripod it has passed inspection. Its roughly 10 feet above ground and works better than I expected).

For HF I am using a simple 17.5 foot End fed in an inverted VEE configuration feeding it with my old homebrewed 9:1 unun. The vee is suspended approx 15 feet AGL at the apex by an old “Shakesphere Wonder Pole. This setup works with my QRP XEUGU X 5105 with tolerable results.

Worked into Kansas on 20m and a couple of POTA stations in Ontario on 40m. Damn that built in tuner will tune dry string in my opinion.

I collapse the “Wonder Pole” down when not using it to keep it simple. Once again the same not attached to building is the only real restriction but they also said the HF antenna should not restrict the view my neighbor on the 2nd floor so at 15 feet its below their field of vision when they are on their balcony.

I also kept my Yaesu FT2dr handheld (FM/C4FM) and I also acquired a RETEVIS RT3S (DMR/FM) handheld.

I was able to program the FM side of things but was having issues with the DMR side of things. One of these days….

I still have my OPEN SPOT 4 which lets me hook into various YSF nodes if I get the urge to link around the world.

If you have access to the YSF world I can be found monitoring the VE3FRG Repeater which is YSF 43567. We have a weekly net here every Wednesday at 1930 hrs local (eastern) and feel free to link in if you have the time.

So thats it for today. Once I start doing something worth talking about in our great hobby….. The updates will return….

73bob

QRT for a while

Just found out that we will be leaving our current QTH and will be relocating to an apartment location by the end of June. Due to an ongoing but worsening (but not critical) medical issue stairs are getting harder and we have lots of stairs here

Once the Weather settles a bit all the antennas will be taken down and packing of the gear will take place.

If you feel like driving to Kingston I will have lots of antennas (VHF/UHF/HF) and mastings/Portable telescopic poles etc) that will not be needed at the new location and will available.

My email is good on QRZ if you are interested in any gear.

73bob

More changes

Well I was kind of “off the grid” for the last little while… As I had mentioned earlier I had sold my 100w rigs and was going to be QRP for a while…

As it turns out some new gear came into the shack and none of it is HF .

So my amateur life is going on a bit of a sideways slide as I will be still active but not on HF. Between my 2 handhelds (C4FM and DMR) and my newly acquired Yaesu FTM 300dr I will still be warming up the airwaves. I will mostly be using my Xiegu X5105 for SWL work but can fire it up if needed…

I also acquired a couple of new fancy scanners (remember I got my first scanner a couple of months ago) so I will also be experiment that side of the SWL life…

If anything of interest comes up I will share it here but no rare DX will be happening that I can imagine.

73bob

10 days of operating QRP

Earlier in my previous post I had mentioned that some rigs have left the shack and for now I would be operating HF QRP with my Xiegu X5105 for a while.

Well so far I am pleased with what my 5w signal has done. My daily hour on the Trans Provincial Net is a bit more challenging….

Stations that in the past gave me S9 signal reports are now giving me a S5 to S7 report depending on the band conditions of the day… So as long as their noise floor is below S5 everything is fine.

So for the next couple of weeks I will stay at QRP levels. Early in Feb I will continue to look for the “shiny” new toy for the shack.

73bob

VA3QV/qrp

Why not do something different for the New Year?

Well in an unsupervised moment I managed to sell my FT991a and my FT891 meaning that my only HF Rig left (for now) is my Xiegu X5105.

Although it might be more than a bit of a challenge I will be attempting to keep my hour on the TPN even though I will be limited to 5w. If anyone wants to pick up my hour feel free but as no one wanted it before I guess its safe to say 5w will be fine.

I’ve also picked up a Shark RF Open Spot 4 which works fine with my Yaesu FT2DR (YSF) and once I get the DMR side of things figured out it should work fine with my RETEVIS Handheld as well.

The DMR side of things is a bit of a steep learning curve but hopefully I will be able to figure it out or someone will take pity on the Grey Haired fool who thought he could do it

Before you ask I’m not sure what will replace the gear I just sold but once I make up my mind I will let you know.

73bob

New Years present from “Mother Nature”

Turned on my FT991a in anticipation of starting my Net Control shift on the Trans Provincial Net at 1600utc (11am eastern) and am not hearing much.

After confirming my antenna was still attached I then went to the QRZ Widget and found the above.

Well it can only get better from here…

UPDATED:

I was wrong….

It could get worse.

Happy New Year

73bob

2024 RAC Canada Winter Contest

Well the contest is now over and it seems the “Propagation Ghods” were smiling on me (for the most part).

My only goal for this contest was to work across Canada from the East coast VO1 to the West Coast VE7. I was successful on this one.

In addition I had hoped to work the 3 Northern Territories VE8, VY0 and VY1, but I did not hear any of the 3. VY1 was seen on the cluster a couple of times but not when I was around it seems.

So at the end of it (at least till when I gave it up) I managed 66 contacts on 5 amateur bands across Canada. 10m, 15m and 20m were really good. 40m was good and 80m was as expected.

The Rig used was my Yaesu FT991a and the antenna used was my 40m End Fed Half Wave with the 64:1 unun and I was pleased with the results.

Remember that my EFHW is a “Stealth” antenna due to Condo antenna restrictions.

Thanks to RAC for running the contest and especially to those operating the RAC Bonus stations. I managed to get 12 of the RAC Stations on the air including VA3RHQ( RAC HQ station)

See you in 6 months for the RAC Canada Day Contest.

73bob

Again, Merry Christmas 2024

Sitting in the shack waiting for my Christmas Eve Shift on the TPN to start I thought I would just wish you all a Merry Christmas again.

Remember that if you have some spare time tomorrow key up and make a general call…. In some cases your voice might be the only cheerful voice some hams might hear. Not everyone has a family to be with…

Just thinking out loud…

73bob

RAC Canada Winter Contest

Coming soon…

Contest Period: 0000 UTC to 2359 UTC on Saturday, December 28, 2024.

Follow this Link to the RAC Website for the full infomation

It’s a fun very casual contest. A chance to work all of Canada and to catch old friends on the air.

As always I will be a casual operator and give out the rare “Ontario” multi to everyone I manage to contact.

73bob

The “state” of Canada

Every now and again we wonder how well we are actually doing here in the Great White North… Its only natural…

Yesterday we received confirmation from South of the Border that we are more than OK… President Elect Trump said we were doing “Great”.

Used in the context ” Great State of Canada “

See the New York Post article here

Now I certain that he did not actually say that in positive note, but for now I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. However we do agree on the fact that we must firm up our borders to keep undesirables from entering our country…

Again a second reference ….

I believe his above Social Media Post to be in error. The fact that “HE” thinks its a great idea…. “WE” (about 98% of the Canadian People) think not so much. The below graphic is closer to the truth.

I’m not sure this is what he wants… but this could work for this Canadian at least.

73bob

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