Category: BOB ON A RANT

Do your homework and save some $$$

Over the last weekend when the bands were rather crowded with the ARRL International DX Contest I was also checking the various HAM Swap on line sites as I am looking for a few accessories to compliment both my home station and my portable station.

It seems that (in my opinion) there are some operators out there selling equipment with the idea that its value has increased because they have used it…

Example 1- I noticed that a used non current radio (dual band mobile) sellling used for more than the new price of the current radio that replaced it….

Example 2– A used multi band mobile antenna listed for just under $200.00 with the new price of the same antenna being sold at HRD in the States for just under 70.00 cdn. Granted there would be shipping and perhaps duty on the item but can’t imagine that bringing the cost up to the $200 mark.

I personally believe that some of these hams are using EBAY style pricing instead of doing their due diligence and comparing their used gear to the new price.

Another example of this would be a fellow selling some gear (that I was interested in) and was selling it for “Best Offer”…. I sent him an email with my best offer and got flamed by him accusing me of low balling him… I replied by informing him that the gear was selling new at a retailer included the price and sent him the link. I also added that if he wanted to sell it my offer would stand for a week. I believe the ad is still up and… I never heard back from him.

Now perhaps…. Some of the hams selling the gear got screwed over by the person they bought it from…..but just because they got screwed it does not mean that you have to.

That my friends is the view from the “Cheap Seats”

73bob

Really??? Read your rules!

Now this might “Ruffle” a few feathers but here we go anyway….

This morning I noticed a Canadian Station spotted on POTA Spots operating on 7.291 lsb. I worked him the first time then he switched to a different park and I managed to get him again….

But after I made the 2nd contact…. a fellow jumped in and started complaining about SSB in the AM portion of the band.

The above graphic from the ARRL Website. If I read it correctly the Green Areas are for voice…. Not just AM.

He was politely informed that the frequency was open when the POTA Station started calling and that the POTA station was almost finished and would be moving on in about 5 minutes….

The upset fellow was also reminded that the POTA station was in Canada and operating within the Canadian Rules and Regulations (band plan)

The above graphic from the Radio Amateurs of Canada site (RAC) and makes no mention of the AM portion of the band.

Well that was 5 minutes of AM Carriers, Tuning up of the amps….. Test audio test…

It did not make a difference as the POTA station was able to continue on with the 10 parks he needed for a successful activation and then signed off and left.

Now I do realize that there are some “unofficial rules” and “gentlemans agreements” about certain (net) frequencies but…. at the end of the day…

The fact that “We’ve always done it that way” is not the way to do things.

No one person, net or group “owns” a portion of the amateur radio spectrum…. We just get to use it when its not already in use.

73bob

Clipperton Island in the Log

The Clipperton Island DXPedition that was operating as TX5S is now QRT…..

While I was away in Ottawa last week the DXPedition was really hot stuff. Most conversations on HF and on local VHF Repeaters and Nets was about how many times they had been worked and on what bands… So when I got back to Kingston you know I had to try.

Saturday evening around 19:45 UTC I saw they had been spotted on 12m SSB and so I went over to their frequency… They were working SPLIT and the operator was announcing “5 to 10 UP”. They were fairly strong into Kingston at least to my Coastal 20 home brewed vertical that I use on the higher bands…. I chose a split of 7.5 and every time he called QRZ?? I tossed out my call….

One time I heard “the VA3???” and I replied with Victor Alpha 3 Queen Victoria and I got a reply of VA3QV 59. At 19:51 UTC I logged the QSO.

Club Log had confirmed the QSO Sunday evening (UTC)

I also noted they had been spotted on 10m and although I could hear them I did give up (or my voice gave up) after about 1 hour of calling… I looked for them today (Sunday am) but could not hear them anywhere they were being spotted so….

At the end of the day I am pleased. Got them in the log once and considering my station and the way it has to be stealthy I am extremely pleased with the one contact.

As a parting comment a while back I made comments about how if a ham operator does not understand how to operate split them maybe they should go back to school… Well a couple years later they have not improved at all. 

The number of operators who can not hear the DX operators instructions such as “Listening up 5-10” or “Listening UP” along with the operators who know how to use the DX Cluster to find the DX but can’t seem to read the spot well enough to understand they are working split or any other information that would make everyones attempt easier.

73bob

Know your limits and play within it!

The title of this post comes from an on line betting and casino app. But read on to see how it applies to Amateur Radio.

Above Graphic from the ARRL Website

Above is the FCC Band Plan for the 40m band as it applies to all Amateur Radio Operators who are operating from the United States of America.

According to how it reads to me… Amateurs operating40m in the USA do not have any voice privs below 7.125

Which brings us to the reason for this post….

I am the Net Control Station (NCS) for the Trans Provincial Net which runs Monday to Friday between the hours of 8am and 5pm (Eastern Time). 

My scheduled hours are Monday to Friday from 11am to 12noon.

The TPN is called on a frequency of 7.100 LSB. 

http://www.tpn7055.com/

About a couple time a week when I call for stations to check into the net I get someone operating from the USA trying to check in and I have to ask if they are operating ( /m or /p ) from Canada and when they reply that they are at home. 

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I then remind them that unfortunately they are transmitting out of band and some of replies are actually not very nice….

So please don’t argue/complain to the messenger…. I’m just trying to save you from a letter from the FCC….and I am sure that the bandplans are still part of the American Amateur Radio exams…..its not our fault….. Blame your Amateur Radio regulatory body.

73bob

After the CQ WW SSB Contest….

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WARNING: THIS BLOGPOST TAKE A GOOD HUMOURED JAB AT SOME CONTESTORS…(no not you….but the other ones)

Well according to the rules:

XI. LOG DEADLINE:

  1. All entries must be sent WITHIN FIVE (5) DAYS after the end of the contest: no later than 2359 UTC November 3, 2023 for SSB and 2359 UTC December 1, 2023 for CW. Resubmitting an entry after the deadline will result in it being considered as a late log.

This means that all the computer logs (and as CQ does not accept paper logs) have to had been submitted by now.

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Which has me wondering why more of the logs have not been uploaded to one (or more) of the popular E Log programs (LoTW, EQSL or QRZ.com)?

If you took the time to upload the logs to CQ then why not use a couple more extra keystrokes and submit your logs to the systems so the operators who were out their giving you the much needed contacts might see where their signals actually got to???

It seems so strange to me that a “Big Gun” station (and there are a few of them out there) refuse to use any of the Electronic means to confirm a QSL. Instead send them a card (that they don’t care about) along with a few green stamps ($$$$$) and they will have their QSL Manager send us a card sometime in the future….

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I can understand a DXPedition begging for donations as it costs big bucks setting up in the middle of nowhere for us to try and get a new one in the log but….

A contest is not a DXPedition and we are out there giving them the contacts for their benefit…. The only benefit I get is the confirmation so I can put a pin on the map saying ” that I’ve talked to a station there.“

Like I have said in the past…” Without the popguns…. The big guns would have no one to talk to”

I often wonder what would happen if I submitted my log as a check log after the due date with only the stations that confirmed in my log. Would a bunch of NILs make a difference? I believe they lose a couple of points for each NIL.

In my opinion that if a QSO is not confirmed…. It did not happen until it is confirmed and so…

“That my friends is the view from the Cheap seats!”

73bob

ps…. I’m NOT going to be uploading a check log... but thanks for listening to an old man rant for a few paragraphs…bob

Getting ready for the CQ WW SSB

Well there was no “Rare DX” in my log over the weekend. However I did manage to give out lots of “5/9 Ontario” to those participating in the New York QSO Party and the Illinois QSO Party along with the participants in the POTA Support your Park Weekend. In addition the POTA event also netted me 7 new(to me)unique parks.

Now its time to get ready for the CQWW SSB contest. Not that I am planning to make a serious effort with my Popgun Station but sitting at 99 DXCC confirmed on 15m ssb and 91 DXCC confirmed on 20m ssb I am hoping that with a bit of luck to complete both. (Finally)

I am planning to build a simple 15m vertical (using a Shakesphere Wonder Pole and my Princess auto Tripod) with 4 elevated radials as well as build a 20m ocf dipole (covers 10-15-10) which will be horizontally polarized.

The 15m vertical works fairly good for a “Disney” antenna (ITS A MICKEY MOUSE SETUP) .

The first contact was V31XX in Belize which is needed for my 15m DXCC and of course according to their QRZ.com page they are not on LOTW. But if I send him a paper QSL and a couple of green stamps he will send me one back.

If you look at his antenna setup (from his QRZ.com page) you can see why he heard the “Popgun”

I am expecting the 4:1 balun for the OCF to arrive on Wednesday or Thursday. Lots of time to get things ready for testing on Thursday and Friday with the contest starting at 0000 hrs UTC on Saturday.

More on how the Vertical is working along with the OCF later in the week

73bob

Doom and Gloom

The following is a Cut and Paste from the ARRL Bulletin Service…. My thoughts will follow after the bulletin:

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SB QST @ ARL $ARLB015 ARLB015 Commercial Interests Petition FCC for High Power Allocation on Shortwave Spectrum ZCZC AG15 QST de W1AW ARRL Bulletin 15 ARLB015 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT July 12, 2023 To all radio amateurs SB QST ARL ARLB015 ARLB015 Commercial Interests Petition FCC for High Power Allocation on Shortwave Spectrum The ad hoc group “Shortwave Modernization Coalition” petitioned the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to allow data communications on multiple bands within the HF 2 – 25 MHz range with up to 20 KW, including in bands immediately adjacent to spectrum allocated to the Amateur Radio Service. This group appears to represent high-speed stock trading interests. The FCC has assigned it RM-11953. Comments are due by July 31, 2023, and reply comments by August 15. While the petitioners exclude the amateur bands, high power operations on immediately adjacent bands are proposed. The ARRL is reviewing the petition. A copy of the petition can be found in PDF format at: https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/1042840187330/1 . NNNN /EX

On The Air >> W1AW >> Bulletins >> W1AW Bulletins Archive

First of all we are not going to lose any of our assigned HF freqs according to this….

But (and there’s always a but)…. From experience we know how bad someone running “Legal Power” on hf can overload receivers close to the stations frequency. Just imagine what 20kw might do as far as splattering goes to to the spectrum just below and above of the Amateur Bands…

If your are reading this and you live in the US I would ask you to read the proposal over and make your comments known to the FCC and the ARRL.

If you are reading this and you live in Canada you might want to contact your RAC leadership because sooner or later it will happen to us.

73bob

QRP… A reminder

Yesterday (December 27 2022) on a HF Net I heard an operator stating that he was operating QRP when he checked in with the NCS (and no it was not me)

The NCS asked what power level he was using and he proudly replied “10w”. The NCS commented that he thought QRP was 5W and a short gruff debate followed with the NCS saying it was not worth arguing over and he then continued the net.

You might remember that I covered this before in a blog post:

https://wordpress.com/post/va3qv.wordpress.com/23157

and I don’t believe things have changed since then.

If you feel like it check my previous post (above) and draw your own conclusions

Happy New Year to all

73bob

Disclaimer:

Over the years I have owned 3 QRP Rigs

FT817 (5w) Flex 1500 (5w) and XEIGU X5105 (5w)

Caught the 13 Colonies Stations

It started during the RAC Canada Day Contest on July 1st when I started answering CQ’s on 40m from a station with a call of K2D. During the contest K2B and K2L also made it into my log.

On July 2nd while I was hunting some POTA K2M also made it into my log for a total of 4 of the Special Event Stations in the bag

On July 3rd once again hunting POTA I also managed to get K2K, K2A, K2G and K2F for a total of 8 of the 13 now in my log.

On July 4th in between wishing any US station that was calling CQ or answered my CQ a happy 4th of July. I also managed to get K2J and K2E for a total of 8 logged with only 3 to go.

July 5th was a busy time with K2I, K2C and K2H along with the Bonus Stations WM3PEN and TM13COL logged,

And on July 7th the final Bonus Station GB13COL was captured for the Clean Sweep

So there you have it ….. 13 Colonies and 3 Bonus Stations in 7 days… And for the most part I did have fun…

For those who might be wondering about the operating conditions used….The HF RIG is a Yaesu FT 950 running at approx 95w on SSB. My antenna is a 50 foot long inverted L with approx 150 feet of radials that run along the edge of fence and small yard. I use the SGC 237 auto tuner to bring it all together and it gives me excellent results on 10-80m and tolerable results on 6m, 60m and 160m but it does work on all the above mentioned bands. This setup has to be stealthy as the CONDO Corporation or HOA group does not like antennas but I’m still on the air after 4 years here

However on the downside of things…. The just plain stupid operators who could not figure out the words “UP 5-10” or “He’s working split” while the bulk of operators were trying to get GB13COL and TM13COL in the logs…. Right behind them were the operators who could not figure out what “by the numbers” meant when the DX stations were calling for specific calling areas to try and ease the pile ups.

And as always the self proclaimed DX POLICE had to increase the frequency QRM by telling each individual several times of their mistakes

In some cases the behavior was so bad that the DX Stations were forced to shut down for a while…. People calling on top of other operators…. People calling on top of the DX Station??? (really guys if you can’t hear him then why are you even calling???) and of course the operators who insist on tuning up their AMPS and antennas on the DX Frequency…

The stations who benefit the most from the 13 Colonies event have to remember that to the DX Stations it means nothing(Ok to the British it means something but not what it does to the Americans) and the French are just being nice to try and help out. I tell you they had more patience than I would of had and I for one thank them for what they did for us.

Last night (July 7th around 0030utc) when I was getting frustrated by the lack of brains in the pile up …I Tweeted the following:

“Starting to believe that on the #hamRadio Exams for any class that includes #HF they should have to prove that they understand the words “SPLIT” and “Listening up” and know to use the function”

I feel the same today even before the joy of successfully completing the event wears off

Once again… Thanks to the various operators of the K2A to K2m stations and also the WM3PEN operators and of course the various operators of TM13COL and GB13COL.

73bob

Is it DX if….we can’t confirm?

Todays RANT (you don’t see that many of them) is about the multitude of station out there (any you know who you are) who will not “E”confirm their QSOs on the numerous QSL platforms…

These would be the stations that must have some sort of internet access as their QRZ page shows really nice new, shiny and expensive ham toys but still refuse to confirm without a QSL card sent with a few green stamps for return postage.

QRZ’s logbook is free and as your QRZ page is being used you must know about the log… EQSL is also free and if I can figure out how to use it then its easy to use. I mention these two first as these are normally the ones that the new operators use and getting some sort of confirmation for one of their first QSO’s could go a long way to keeping them in the hobby. Kind of a positive enforcement thing…. You make the contacts… They get confirmed… you get a warm fuzzy feeling and then make more contacts….

Now if you decide this DXing is for you then you might want to jump through the hoops and sign up for logbook of the world. If you are NOT an American Amateur it is free to use and it gives you an excellent record of your confirmed contacts… ( I believe its also free to use for American Hams but they can’t get the ARRL awards without paying… Don’t quote me on this one… its been a while since I looked into it)

Even as someone who has no desire to do it 21st century style in most cases you already have to use a computer to submit your logs to CQWW or ARRL and many more contest organizations so why not take the extra couple of minutes and at least (for the good of the hobby and the new hams) submit your logs to one of the Electronic QSL services named above.

For the record I (on a daily basis) upload my logs to LoTW, EQSL and QRZ.com with the later 2 for the benefit of other hams…. I do collect the ARRL awards such as DXCC, WAS and TRIPLE PLAY so the LoTW upload is for me…

73bob

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