Off The Random Wire (Week 28) | Primary Hard Drive Failure

What would happen if 2-years worth of labor is suddenly destroyed while technology pundit's warn neophytes like myself, "Back-up that hard drive!"

My hard drive (HD) after 7-years of service finally gave up the ghost yesterday afternoon. I sauntered into shackadelic after walking Radio Dawg to the sound of a skipping HD head. My monitor displayed the coroner's report, "Primary hard drive failure."

I had a feeling that hardware aging crept into shackadelic and 7-years of service is an excellent return on investment. However I failed to heed warnings, time and again, over and over, pundit's warn the best insurance against lost file despair is backing up personally important information.

I procrastinated. I did not set-up path name(s) to my flash drive when saving personally important information. My effort was, frankly, pitiful. HD failure is an eventual reality given its mechanical parts and I paid a handsome price yesterday afternoon for my failure to heed warnings.

Lesson's Learned.

1. Back up personally important information.
2. Perform periodic maintenance on desk top computer ie. clean dust, dirt, and grime inside the box.
   
3. Save personally important information to a flash drive and/or cloud storage.
4. Back up like RadioSport's motto, "Practice, practice, practice."

One cannot replace 2-years worth of labor and my heart sank for a few minutes while thinking through to a solution.

73 from the shackadelic on the beach.

This Weekend In RadioSport | Bill Windle QSO Party

RadioSport International | Bill Windle QSO Party.
This event is not complex instead its objective is straightforward for those who are First Class CW Operators or for those who are willing to obtain this distinction as a noteworthy, personal accomplishment.

The essentials of the First Class CW Operators Club (FOC) are 1.) Clean signal, 2.) A willingness to slow down to 3 words per minute for the struggling beginner, 3.) A helping hand for the aspirant down the street and, 4.) A feeling of one-ness who would like to see the level of Amateur Radio rise.

Perhaps, it is time for me to re-visit my Amateur Radio ideals, to set my sights on a noble pursuit. One must labor to the level of First Class CW Operator and, for me, this is the kind of stuff where leaders are forged while in the pursuit of excellence. One's ascent is a formalized process. It is not easy and requires determination and focus.

The purpose of the Bill Windle QSO Party is to encourage the use of and excellence in Morse code.

Download rules from WA7BNM's 8-Day Calendar (link). Additionally, note the exchange as a non-member and one must call CQ BW during the event.

73 from the shackadelic on the beach.

The Future Of RadioSport | ContestRank

Let the competition begin for those outside the Box or for those inside the Box.

ContestRank staked its Internet position with this statement, "This site was developed with the desire to acknowledge the participation and achievements of all contesters, worldwide, while providing a source for contest and contest-related information."

The goal at ContestRank is to present a contest ranking system that rewards participating operators actively involved in events other than the majors, effectively; the team deployed what was often spoken about, "The contest within a contest."

One begins to imagine the potential for RadioSport when this concept is widely adopted by worldwide operators. ContestRank adds value to my score moving competition against personal best to competition against an array of global competitors in addition to personal best.

Their model enhances RadioSport while providing an outlet for those outside of the Box or for those inside the Box as well. ContestRank takes RadioSport to the granular level and delivers a meaningful intrinsic product for those who want to compete.

I registered and discovered my open rank is 24,921 with a -8 position. Additionally, the website has an intuitive user interface and easy-to-navigate with multiple points of competitive interest.

Please be patient when registering. It takes the system a little bit of time to process and verify one's email account.

Thank you Kazik, DJ0MCZ for your lead email and your brother Leszek, SP9LJD for his exceptional, stand out website.

73 from the shackadelic on the beach.

3830 Claimed Scores | 2009 ARRL Sweepstakes v.CW | Low Power

Multiple Operator.

• W4WS (@W4NC) | 18 Qs | 17 Mults | 612 Points [PVRC].

Single Operator (S/O).

• N5AW | 1228 Qs | 80 Mults | 24hrs | 196,480 Points [CTDXCC].
  
• K7BG | 1205 Qs | 80 Mults | 23hrs56mins| 192,800 Points [Northern Rockies DX].
• N4OGW | 1202 Qs | 80 Mults | 24hrs | 192,320 Points [ACG].

SO Unlimited.

• VE1OP | 786 Qs | 80 Mults | 12.5hrs | 125,760 Points [MCC].
• N9XX | 772 Qs | 80 Mults | 21hrs | 123,520 Points [SMC].
• KM6I | 624 Qs | 80 Mults | 22hrs | 99,840 Points [NCCC].

The difference, when operator's clean sweep the multiplier map, is logged contacts. The next step in the process is log adjudication and successful copy of the exchange drives the top slots with eventual appearance in the Box. My congratulations to each because operating low-power is not easy and requires above average station engineering.

I would like to thank both Gordon, KM6I and Walt, N6XG for recording our Qs on 80m early Sunday morning. I'm inspired to push my signal quality and assured that I'm properly zero beating in addition 45-watts can successfully accomplish the mission!

Pour on the CQ.

2009 Sweepstakes v.CW Raw Score

Murphy. Murphy. He is notorious like a gunslinger of Clint Eastwood lineage sipping wrought gut, corn whiskey from a shot glass. He knocked at shackadelic's door this weekend, "C'mon punk. Make my day."

I lost.

Unusual problems lead to unusual solutions. I had a first-time ever radio frequency interference (RFI) cross hatching problem into the television set on Saturday afternoon. One can quickly take down Murphy or the skirmish can drag on, and on, and on. I substituted my doublet on the high bands (15m and 20m) with my 3-band trap vertical on Sunday morning.

The south leg of the doublet was tucked away from the vertical and I coiled my 450 Ohm window line as well. Would the doublet distort the signal pattern of the vertical? I was satisfied with performance however competing with dense packed signals on 20m was problematic.

Raw Score.
80m | 16 Qs | 7 Multipliers.
40m | 9 Qs | 4 Multipliers.
20m | 23 Qs | 15 Multipliers.
15m | 1 Q | 1 Multiplier.

Total Q = 49
Total Mults = 27
Total Points = 2,646

73 from the shackadelic on the beach.

This Weekend In RadioSport | 2009 ARRL Sweepstakes v.CW

Sweepstakes is fun. I can compete against a set of goals. This year I want to concentrate on improving my operating skills. It is well within my reach and easily quantifiable. Results either at the kilowatt or low power level are measurable and difficult, achievable goals in the short-to-medium time frame keeps me in the game.

My goal(s) are:

1. Have a lot of ham radio fun this weekend.
2. Reduce my UBN error rate by 2-percent.
3. Concentrate on the exchange.
4. Best my 109 Q count from last year.
   
5. Defeat my overall score from last year.
6. Operate the first 12-hours of the event.

One of my problems while operating Morse code is the difference between an "S" and an "H" above 28 words per minute. I want to solve that dit difference. Additionally, Sweepstakes exchange is a real challenge and I'll have a cheat sheet in front of me. There is nothing more embarrassing than fumbling my function keys when queried for a repeat. Labeling is a straightforward solution.

My operating strategy includes using the advantage of my antenna system on the low bands when calling CQ and search/pounce on the higher bands. Let's face it, going signal-to-signal on 20m during the opening hours of the event, well, my logs suggest another tactic. Perhaps, with our sunspot count, 15m will produce plenty of activity from coast-to-coast this weekend.

I need to eat supper and continue making preparations for Sweepstakes. Best results to everyone. Good luck. Kick butt!

Pour on the CQ.

SFI = 71 | A-index = 0 | K-index = 0 | Sunspot count = 15 @ 0006UTC.

CQ Xtreme "The Innovative Big Bang" | Manny, NP2KW Low Power Entry

Ham radio's innovative big bang is here as a result of hard work and intellect. Manny -- I stopped everything this evening to publish this post because your accomplishment at the low power level while operating remote is a technological credit to our hobby.

NP2KW Single Operator All Band | 2009 CQWW v.SSB Xtreme Low Power Category.
2128 Qs | 74 Zones | 191 Countries | 33hrs | 1,218,205 Points.

Manny remarked, "Most QSOs by any low power station in any category (so far) in 33-hours."

There is more to this story, a lot more, and I want NP2KW's website to tell that story.

NP2KW HF Remote Base (link).

Manny, thank you for sharing your stellar accomplishment with all who are striving to improve their low-power, low-profile stations around the globe. You are an inspiration.

73 from the shackadelic on the beach.

The KJ5VW 20 Meter Mini Yagi

Following up from this morning regarding credit for inspiring imagination along the central coast of California. Fred, KI6QDH passed the link and we are buzzing about the type of projects that will follow from the KJ5VW antenna model. However one must read the entire story.

The KJ5VW 20 Meter Mini Yagi.

I have committed to building my first in December. See also KC2TAU's experience with this antenna and listen to his refinement remarks such as installing a balun into the system and problem obtaining quality SO239 connectors. I'm including an additional link; build an air wound 1:1 choke balun otherwise known as the "ugly balun."

73 from the shackadelic on the beach.

Off The Random Wire (Week 27) | Portable Shell Beach CM95

Waiting my turn at logging a station in Japan along the coastline in Shell Beach. An amazing day with temperatures peaking in the high 60s domed by blue sky. I wore my Lost Island DX Society tee-shirt on purpose as we chatted with the general public about ham radio.

What if organizations both private and public funded the next step like other companies in California that is, Ham Radio Road Show, and aggressively rather than passively pursue a threefold marketing strategy; 1.) Education, 2.) Science and, 3.) Wireless amateur communications. We enjoyed an amazing response as individuals and couples queried our operation.

Just imagine for example following up with social media tools such as blogging, YouTube video, and/or Twitter. Additionally, each organization funding such a project would have commercial rights to the material for promotional purposes. My thought is ham radio needs to aggressively reach the public not the public reach ham radio.

We are lucky to have Fred, KI6QDH as a center of gravity. His passion for ham radio is an example of can-do leadership. He called the wireless phone yesterday afternoon and quickly organized our portable operation.

Fred, KI6QDH operating portable using a stalwart Kenwood TS440S powered by his truck battery and an AC inverter delivering 13.8 volts to the radio. John, KG6RWF has the passion for home crafting and inspired the budget construction of a 2-element shortened 20m beam.

I love ham radio and this is the reason. My mentor from the days as a novice in Sharon, Pennsylvania was passionate about antennas. His example of leadership planted a dormant spark that is beginning to fire-up in Shell Beach. Odd, isn't it, nearly 30-years later, life seems to work like that sometimes.

John, KG6RWF and Fred, KI6QDH built this antenna system from cobbled bits and pieces with an overall $30 investment. They home crafted and deployed a 2-element shortened 20m beam within a few hours. Fred and John liked the project for its simplicity which leads to more complex antenna projects in the future. We're talking SpiderBeam in the future?

I'm committing to the construction of three for 20, 15, and 10m as a teaching tool. Additionally, we are bouncing the idea of 'how-to' stack and refine this design. I will follow-up with further detail through the year.

One does not want to just stare at the Box. One wants to get in the Box. Antenna systems are at least one pathway to RadioSport success and building rudiment wire beams is a first good step. I think Rick, K6VVA a.k.a. The Locust suggested I get into portable RadioSport operations. I have a gut level feeling that this will happen with a little help from my friends.

Fred, KI6QDH and John, KG6RWF enjoying the Shell Beach vibe while the antenna points toward Japan. We logged Canada and Japan yesterday afternoon running 100-watts peak envelope power whereas effective radiated power is unknown in addition to simple experimentation (eg. listen for S-meter nulls) using KA3DRR Armstrong rotor.

73 from the shackadelic on the beach.