Winter Decisions

Last winter, on the East Coast of the USA, was a doozy. We had tremendous amounts of snow and ice. While there is a lot of debate, in more learned circles, about how this winter is shaping up; but I choose to predict the weather by looking around outside. Here's what I'm noticing:

• The deer are doubled and tripled up on fawns and the Bucks have already lost their velvet
• Squirrels are going ape-crazy collecting acorns and nuts
• The leaves are already changing
• The air has "that" smell that proceeds fall

The animal signs are the most telling. It's going to be a long cold winter. Might as well get used to that. We're getting the house and yard ready. We have topped off the oil tanks and pellets for the pellet stoves. We are closing the pool tomorrow. So, pretty soon, we'll be all ready for the winter. The shack, however, needs a little TLC.

I've got a pretty flimsy pair of doublets up right now and I noticed today that the antenna ropes took a beating between last winter and all the early summer storms, so it's time for a change. This winter, I really want to get more active on 80M and 160M. Since I run barefoot (100W), I need a good solid aerial for the coming freeze.

This presents a bit of a challenge. For the low-bands, I think a full wave on 160M is the ticket. I have the wire and the space, but it's going to be a ton of work and it's going to take another ham. Hey W2PJM, are you listening? 

On the other hand, I decided earlier this year that I was going to layout a  serious ground plane for a 31' vertical so the wire disappears before next summer's Fourth of July party. I may have enough time to do both, but which one would I RATHER have? Chances are that either installation is going to present unforeseen issues and I don't want to get stuck with second best when the nights are too long and cold to changes things. 

Any suggestions, ideas, advice?  

Uh Oh, I've Got Some Flowers to Buy

Oh boy, I may be in trouble again. I was messing around on eBay and another QRP rig jumped into my cart. Seriously, I was just looking around innocently and then *BANG* PayPal receipt. It wasn't my fault. Honestly. The guy priced it way to low. How can I be held accountable for such insanity? Right?

Think my wife will buy it? I hope so, because a Norcal 40A seems to have followed me home. I know, I know; ANOTHER radio. I'll get rid of one I promise.

I have been eying the Norcal 40 for some time. The receiver performance and especially the RX current draw have always peaked my interest. At 15 mA, the 40A will run for days on a 4.5 AHr gel cell. Further more, it's small, I'm talking fanny pack small (not that I carry a fanny pack, but in case I decide to start). Best of all, it is solid state and has a tuning knob. I love my PFR-3, but that knob is really calling my name.

I should have the new rig in time for the weekend. So after a few honey-do chores, I'll be on the air looking for some QRP love. I've also ordered an Emtech ZM-2 tuner to accompany it...wait, no I didn't. What do you mean it says so right there?
Uh oh, better scoot. I've got some flowers to buy.

New Car New Mobile "Shack"

There are so many things to consider when buying a new car, but the whole time I was shopping for my new ride, I was envisioning my next mobile "shack." For the last 7 years, I have been driving a lifted Jeep Rubicon. It has been a great vehicle. I've put nearly 200k miles on it and never had a major issue. It was a radio-lover's dream. There were so many places to put gear, antennas, etc. that it now resembles an AWAC more than a passenger car. My new ride…not so much.

I ended up purchasing a 2013 Huyndai Elantra Coupe. My decision to buy a this particular car was a mix of priorities: fuel efficiency, warranty, and price. This car will run out of it's factory warranty just before my son gets his driver's license. When he does, it will still have a few years of warranty on the drivetrain, so… While those were major factors in the purchase, I would be lying if I didn't mention that it was the only small commuter type car I looked at that had a reasonable platform for mobile Ham communications.

I'm not sure how new your vehicle is, but flat surfaces to mount radios are scant on newer cars and trucks. Furthermore, flowing body lines and side curtain airbags make mounting antennas a challenge. So I began looking into ways to mount my radios, antennas, GPS, etc. that were wholly different from what I was used to. The Elantra has a largely flat dashboard. My GPS will live there, rather than semi-stuck to the windshield where it always decides to fall off during complex lane-changes at unfamiliar exits. My radio's go in the trunk.

This choice was different for me. While I've always had a VHF/UHF Dualbander with a removable faceplate, I've never needed to separate them. On this car, it just makes sense. By mounting the radio under the rear window, I will only need a few feet of feed line to the antenna (more on this in a moment) and I can ground the radio, mount, and antenna all together to the body and frame of the vehicle. I never had to worry about so much paint on my Jeep, so this will allow me to grind some away without alerting the XYL. 

I'll be performing the install in stages to avoid angry calls from creditors and allow me to perfect one or two bands at a time. This weekend, I'll be running power directly from the battery, fused on both positive and negative to the trunk. While I have all the panels pulled to do so, I will also run the seperation cable from my FT-7900 as well as a CAT5 cable for a future separation of either an FT-857 or Icom IC-7100. One last cable to make the run will be coax, to accommodate another external antenna for my BC-396XT, which goes just about everywhere with me. For this keeping track, I will not be running any cable for audio. Instead, I will be mounting an external speaker above the trunk in the passenger compartment, just like an old police cruiser. 

Once that is done, I get to the fun part. I'll be breaking out the Miller Passport and welding up a mount that will attach to the front passenger seat bolts. Yes, I know they are available commercially, but mine will be much cooler and manly; trust me. When finished, it will hold the face plate from my FT-7800 with room to mount a second (future) faceplate and give me a location to hang a mic and my BC-396XT. If I'l feeling extra saucy, I may also include an iPhone mount. 

The antenna mounting, will be a whole different game. For the moment, I will be using a Comet SBB-5 NMO 1/2 wave on a Diamond K400CNMO comet mount. Eventually, I will drill through the trunk lid, but I want to wait for a better idea of what HF antenna I'll need to mount before committing to something permanent. As I mentioned before, the mount will be bonded to the body and farm of the car, hopefully giving me a solid ground plane. 

So that's the plan. I'm curious to hear what other mobile installs Hams have done lately. I'm especially interested in how you have gone about grounding trunk lid antenna mounts. If you have anything to share, please do. Now, where did I put my welding helmet?

Shacked Up

I spent a bit of the long weekend getting the shack back together. It needed it. It came out--surprisingly enough--much like my sketch. I still have some space for a power meter. I’m seriously considering the Daiwa SX-200, but I’m open to suggestions. (hint hint, comments, hint hint). I’ve read that it does very well both at 100W and at QRP levels and since I do both, that appeals to me. 

With that project wrapping up, it’s time to get back to the list and focus my attention on the ARRL Field day coming up in June. I want to finish my Hendrics PFR-3 and get some air time with it before the 22nd. I think I’ve decided on using the LNR EFT 10/20/40 Trail Friendly antenna on a hex beam push up mast, that ended up on my doorstep via a fellow ham. The only thing I need to figure out, it how to best rig and guy it.

With the bands falling apart, at least at my location, I’ve had some time to really work on my CW. It’s time to get some real air-time QSOs going. I’m focusing on sending this week and plan on actually transmitting my first CW CQ sometime next weekend. Ah, butterflies. I have to say, it’s exciting to get this close to a goal I’ve had for so long. All I have to do now, is figure out where to tune for the best chance of meeting a patient CW Op to wade through a mirky first QSO with me. Luckily, I’ve learned at about 13 wpm, so it won’t be too drudgingly slow. 

Before I get to all that, however, I must get to work. Argh! This whole having a career thing can really get in the way of a guys hobbies.

Shack in Progress

I have mentioned before that I recently relocated to New Jersey. The move has been, for the most part, a good one. However, as a Ham, it's been a great one. Still, there is a lot of work ahead.

My "shack" in the last QTH, was a small desk crammed into the corner of the master bedroom. As you might imagine, late night contesting was out. Not only were my operating hours limited, so was the freedom to create a desirable operating position. The XYL is fairly supportive of my Ham passion, but not at the expense of aesthetics. So, when we moved to the new QTH, I was prepared to move the "shack" to the garage (a luxury we didn't have at the last place), but shortly after moving in, my wife mentioned that the hallway closet was, "...pretty big and should fit all your ham radio crap." SCORE! I had a room, with her blessing, in the house.

I painted the walls and stuffed a desk into the closet, set up my Icom IC-7410 and began listening. At first, I only had an attic mounted G5RV that gave me nothing but S9 +10db noise. A week or two later,  my Dad (W2PJM) arrived with a tennis ball gun under his arm and a smile on his face. "I've needed an excuse to try this thing out. What do you say?" He asked.

"Where's my antenna line?" I replied. Now I have an OCF up about 50' running NE to SW. It gets into Europe and across met of the US. I'm happy with it. That's not to say that more antennas aren't coming soon. In fact, better than the closet shack, I have a space less than 200' from the house to put a tower. And…the tower is sitting here waiting to be erected; ASAP. Since that project may take a bit, I decided to refocus my attention on the shack.

The more I have operated in that tiny little space, the more I like it. It's quiet, warm in the cool months and cool in the warm ones. The layout, however, sucks. So I've started to redesign it. I've been sketching up plans and making sure to leave some space for the K3 I'm asking Santa for. I've attached the sketch for no other reason than to archive my hair-brained idea of what it may look like.

I've had a few people ask what gear I'm using, so here is the current lineup:

Icom IC-7410 HF Tranciever
Yaesu FT-2800 2-Meter Tranciever
Uniden BC-396XT Scanner
Yaesu VX7R Tri-Band HT
Hendricks PFR-3: Build in progress
YouKits HB-1A
Bencher Paddles
American Morse Porta Paddle
Alinco DM-330MVT Power Supply
Heil Traveler (rewired for my Icom)
A decrepit Thinkpad that needs to be replaced ASAP!

So, that's my shack. Pics of the finished product should be up by this weekend.