RAC Winter Contest 2007

I had fun this afternoon during the RAC Winter Contest. Twenty meters opened to the East for most of the afternoon and three VE3s logged beginning at 1848Z. I was pleased. Then I searched and pounced instead of calling CQ because of television interference. The antenna feedline is a little more than 10-feet from the television and a mass of cabling i.e. cable, cable junction box, dual DVD/VHS player, and stereo. Basically an entertainment center acting like an RFI sponge. Even at 30-watts the interference was pronounced.

Worked five countries, three continents, and three Canadian provinces on 18 AWG copper wire and 450-ohm balanced line. Furtherest contact was Japan and best multiplier was Quebec. Even worked Alaska and Hawaii this afternoon.

I noticed because of the orientation of the inverted-V that WWV's signal did not move the S-meter unlike the doublet. The doublet faces north/south in contrast to the east/west direction of the inverted-v. Perhaps a null or band condition?

Results.

Call: KA3DRR
Operator(s):KA3DRR
Station: KA3DRR
Class: SOSB/20 LP
QTH: Ca
Operating Time (hrs): 5.0

Band CW Qs CW Mults

20: 22 0 3

Total: 22 0 3

Total Score = 372
Club: Northern California Contest Club

Contest on.

Inverted-V Sunrise Coffee

Everyone is sleeping and I'm listening on 20-Meters just as Helios cracks our eastern horizon. My favorite coffee cup with a few scratches keeps me company. The cup is not oil tanker size or thimble size. Those humungo sized cups crack me up. Who can drink all that liquid? A thimble cup is too much of a teaser. My favorite is my dark blue with the silver U.S. Air Force emblem. The cup depth is just enough for hunting DX at sunrise.

Helios in the east and the Pacific ocean is flat. I'm looking at partly cloudy skies and not a peep of signal on 20-Meters at the moment.

Last night I completed the final step and hoisted my inverted-v into the air just before sunset. The antenna system is comprised of number 18 AWG wire cut at 15.5-feet and feed with 450-Ohm balanced line. It is supported by a 12-foot wooden pole secured to our flag pole holder. The legs are east to west and it is located on the 2nd floor terrace at 30-feet.

Here's an inside folly from last night. The antenna system is up and I'm excited by its construction simplicity. I connect the balance line to the feed point on the tuner. Yeah! Next step is standing wave ratio (SWR) checks and I set the FT100 at 1-watt. No reading off the antenna tuner. I laugh and re-check my cable connections. Test again and no reading. What? Again re-connect my RG58 cable between FT100 and tuner.

What does Coax 1 mean? What is the meaning of TRANSMITTER on the tuner? You guessed it. My RG58 cable connected to Coax 1 delivered zero. Disconnect and reconnect this time to the TRANSMITTER. The life and fun of ham radio!

The antenna system checked out and easily tuned on 20-Meters. My forward power suggests little loss in the feedline. That's good news.

I'm starting to hear the sweet sound of Morse code, cheers!

Contest on.

Extra Class Practice Examinations (2 of 2)

There is time this evening for a practice examination before dinner.

I scored 40% on test number seven. Sometimes I feel like I'm over thinking my answer. Others I simply did not know the answer. Study, study, and study more. But I'm having fun in the process and gaining a new appreciation for our wonderful hobby called Ham Radio.

Missed Questions.

• What special document is required before a Canadian citizen holding a Canadian amateur service license may reciprocal operate in the US?
• Which amateur service HF bands have frequencies authorized to space stations?
• What is an accredited Volunteer Examiner?
• What are the receiving and retransmitting frequency bands used for Mode L/U in amateur satellite operations?
• What is the standard video level, in percent PEV, for blanking in amateur fast scan television?
• Which of the following digital protocols does APRS use?
• What is the typical bandwidth of a properly modulated MFSK16 signal?
• What frequency range would you normally tune to find EME stations in the 2-meter band?
• What is the typical reason for hearing an echo on the received signal of a station in Europe while directing your HF antenna toward the station?
• What is an advantage of using a spectrum analyzer to observe the output from a VHF transmitter?
• What is a loop antenna?
• What is the time constant of a circuit having two 220-microfarad capacitors and two 1-megohm resistors all in parallel?
• On the Smith chart shown in Figure E5-1, what is the only straight line shown?
• What is the relationship between the current through an inductor and the voltage across an inductor?
• What unit measures electrical energy stored in an electrostatic field?
• What is the effective radiated power of a repeater station with 120 watts transmitter power output, 5-dB feed line loss, 3-dB duplexer loss, 1-dB circulator loss and 6-dBd antenna gain?
• What term indicates the frequency at which a transistor grounded base current gain has decreased to 0.7 of the gain obtainable at 1 kHz?
• What limits the maximum forward current rating in a junction diode?
• What is the characteristic impedance of circuits in which MMICs are designed to work?
• What logical operation does an AND gate perform?
• How can a vacuum-tube power amplifier be neutralized?
• What are the distinguishing features of an elliptical filter?
• Why is very stable reference oscillator normally used as part of a phase-locked loop (PLL) frequency synthesizer?
• What type of wave is made up of sine waves of a fundamental frequency and all harmonics?
• If the second symbol of an ITU emission designator is 1, representing a single channel containing quantized, or digital information, what information about the emission is described?
• What is the necessary bandwidth of a 13-WPM international Morse code emission A1A transmission?
• Which of the following is the best description of a resonant rhombic antenna?
• Why does a satellite communications antenna system for earth operation need to have rotators for both azimuth and elevation control?

Contest on.

2008 Extra Class Question Pool Released

Wow. The timing is incredible. One can find the 2008 Extra Class question pool by clicking here.

Best of luck to all Ham Radio operators going after the BIG UPGRADE in 2008!

Extra Class Practice Examinations (1 of 1)

Thinking of goals for 2008? I'm going for my Extra Class ticket. General is cool but Extra is ultra cool.

The goal is difficult and I'm looking forward to the moment of success. In the meantime, I want to share the up and down of practicing for my Extra Class examination. I'll post my score and the questions missed. Let's have fun, a few laughs, talk about it, and learn from our fantastic hobby called Ham Radio.

I scored 44% on practice test number five from the previous evening.

Missed Questions.

• What are the frequencies authorized to an amateur station participating in RACES during a period when the President's War Emergency Powers are in force?
• What is a Volunteer-Examiner Coordinator?
• What are the receiving and retransmitting frequency bands used for Mode V/U in amateur satellite operations?
• What is the standard video level, in percent PEV, for black in amateur fast scan television?
• During a VHF/UHF contest, in which band section would you expect to find the highest level of contest activity?
• What is the most common data rate used for HF packet communications?
• What transmit and receive time sequencing is normally used on 432 MHz when attempting an EME contact?
• What amateur band consistently yields long-path enhancement using a modest antenna of relatively high gain?
• How does the bandwidth of a transmitted signal affect selective fading?
• What is the term for the blocking of one FM phone signal by another, stronger FM phone signal?
• How can noise from an electric motor be suppressed?
• What is the time constant of a circuit having two 100-microfarad capacitors and two 470-kilohm resistors all in series?
• What is the relationship between the current through and the voltage across a capacitor?
• In polar coordinates, what is the impedance of a network comprised of a 100-ohm-reactance capacitor in series with a 100-ohm resistor?
• Why is a resistor often included in a parallel resonant circuit?
• Why do CMOS digital integrated circuits have high immunity to noise on the input signal or power supply?
• What is the piezoelectric effect?
• Which filter type is described as having ripple in the passband and a sharp cutoff?
• What audio shaping network is added at a receiver to restore proportionally attenuated lower audio frequencies?
• If the first symbol of an ITU emission designator is J, representing a single-sideband, suppressed-carrier signal, what information about the emission is described?
• What is the radiation pattern for two 1/4-wavelength vertical antennas spaced 1/4-wavelength apart and fed in phase?

I scored 52% on practice test number six this evening and need to continue studying. Jeez, no problem.

QRZ.com maintains a pool of sample practice tests for Technician, General, and Extra. It is a great support resource when one is considering the BIG UPGRADE.

QSL Template

Two QSL cards are waiting for a reply and I worked on my QSL template during the holiday quiet time. I settled on this picture of the Yaesu FT100 using Microsoft Picture It! and an associated filter. My idea is to print my own cards as needed even though I advocate using eQSL and LoTW services. I just cannot let those two waiting-patiently-for-a-reply go without confirmation.

I have an HP Photosmart 130 inkjet printer for my QSL chores. The measurement of my card is 3.5 inches by 5.5 inches. I can print my QSO information on a label for the back of the QSL.

Next step is the paper for KA3DRR's QSL card then print.

RadioSport

RadioSport...CQ, CQ Contest

73 de KA3DRR

Merry Christmas

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas from the crew at KA3DRR Low-Power, Low-Profile RadioSport Contesting @ 45-Watts.

All the best to Santa and Mrs. Claus, his reindeer especially Blitzin, and all those busy elves. Many thanks for your hard work through the year.

Contest on.