2011 CQ WW CW Results

I participated in the 2011 CQ WW CW contest in 2011 as single op running QRP on 20m. I really enjoyed the contest and submitted my hand-tallied scores, not really thinking much about where I might place in the final results.

I was astounded to receive in the mail last week a beautiful color certificate from CQ Magazine naming me with the the highest point total for Area 7 in the single op QRP category on 20m.

That has really motivated me to improve my effort for this year's CQ WW CW contest.

The CQ Manchester Mineira DX Contest (CQMM DX Contest)

Got on 20m last evening to see what kind of activity there was and discovered the 2012 CQ Manchester Mineira DX Contest (CQMM DX Contest) was going strong. This was my first experience with this contest and it was great to hear strong north-south propagation for the first time. I heard contesters from Colombia, Brasil, Cuba, Alaska, and the Dominican Republic all night.

Although I was on 0300Z - 0600Z operating QRP I only managed to work XE2S (Sonora, Mexico) and AL9A (Anchorage, Alaska). My tuner is out of action so I was running my OHR-100A 20 QRP rig straight off my 40 meter dipole up about 20 feet. I suspect I was putting out about 1 watt. So, considering the very low power out and marginal operating conditions of my equipment, I was happy with the result. I hope to work the contest some more this afternoon and evening.

Plan to participate in 2013 CQMM DX contest now that I know about it.

2012 World Jet Boat Races in Idaho

Volunteered for 3 days on the Communications Team in support of the 2012 World Jet Boat Races that took place across multiple venues in April. Communication conditions were very challenging as the races were run on rivers in steep canyons. Many times, at my station aboard a small river craft with a boat captain, EMT, and crew member, my 2-meter mono-bander could only receive. We used J-pole antennas for the most part. Even with extra repeaters installed around the river, communications were marginal at best. That said, no other form of communication was very effective. There was zero cell phone coverage. CB and 6 meters signals would have also been similarly ineffective in this geography. It was great seeing these speedy boats zooming around. Their top speed can be around 150 MPH. Despite the challenges all went well. The safety boat I was on was actually called into action when one of the jet boat drivers was injured and had to be taken off the course. I heard the call for assistance, informed the safety boat captain and away we went. Ham radio: when all else fails.

The NS-40 kit and custom enclosure

This was my first experience building a kit that came with a circuit board but no enclosure. I learned first-hand how challenging and time-consuming it can be to precisely machine an aluminum enclosure for a kit. In this case the kit provider only suggested a possible enclosure for use with the kit. Fine, except that the builder is left to his own devices when it comes to placement and drilling of holes to accommodate an antenna port as well as connections for power and a key.

I was stumped for a while on how best to implement antenna, power and code key connections until I remembered a Ten-Tec 1340 QRP CW kit I had built in 2010 that resulted in failure (I mistakenly applied power with the polarity reversed and fried unspecified components). Now that failure was about to help solve my challenge of how to set up connections to the circuit board.

From the Ten-Tec kit I removed the strip used to connect power and a key. I also removed the SO-238 antenna connection and at the same time realized the mini RG-174 coax was just what I needed for my antenna hook-up. However, that still left me with the challenge of how to mark the holes I needed to drill in order to mount the power and key connection strip. I decided to simply lay the Ten-Tec enclosure with its pre-drilled holes against my case, then use a marker to indicate where my holes needed to be drilled. Simple!

Once I had the markings in place for the holes I needed to drill I realized I did not have a 5/8 bit to make the hole for the chassis-mounted SO-238 connector. I decided to simply use the largest bit I had (a 1/2" bit) then use a half-round file to enlarge the hole to the dimension I needed. Buying the 5/8 bit would have cost $15-$20 bucks anyway.)

It worked pretty well. Drilling the holes accurately for the multi-port strip proved more challenging, not because my marking were imprecise but because I did not have a good jig to hold the case steady on the drill press pedestal. For a first effort it came out pretty well, although it won't win any beauty contest. One other very important thing I learned in machining this case is that this kind of work cannot be done without a good drill press. Using a simple hand drill is simply too hard because it is very difficult to hold the drill bit steady on the marking for each hold. (Hat tip to my brother-in-law, Tom, for the use of his drill press!) That said, I later learned that I should probably have been using a step drill bit.

Now for the acid test. Would the NS-40 work? To this point I had not even fired it up as I had no connections in place for power, antenna or key. So I really had no idea whether it was even going to work or whether the xtals I purchased would work based on the modification I implemented which allows me to switch xtals as needed vs. having a single xtal soldered to the board.

I hooked my 8 AA power supply up to the NS-40, connect my straight key to the rig, fired up my trusty Hallicrafters SX-130 receiver and voila! The NS-40 came through loud and clear.

Completing this project gave me a new appreciation for the skills needed to machine an enclosure for a kit. This may give me the courage to try future projects where part of the challenge is preparing an enclosure for the kit.

Exterior view of the NS-40.

Interior view of NS-40 as seen from the front of the unit.

Side interior view of NS-40.

4-State QRP Group "MagicBox" solid state Transmit/Receive System

This turned out to be a very satisfying weekend project. Although I must admit I put in several hours inventorying and organizing all components which made for a very smooth process of "stuffing" the circuit board.

There are images of the finished board
below.

Probably the more challenging part of this kit will be machining the housing for it. The template provided with the kit is not drawn to scale. So I'll need to make some careful measurements before going to the drill press.

I'm really excited about this unit because it will give me the chance to explore running a separate transmitter and receiver for the first time since my novice days back in the 1960s. Only now, instead of a manual ceramic and copper knife switch to switch between receive and transmit modes, I've got this slick solid state device that will make it appear almost as if I am running a transceiver.

Beginning work on digital T/R switch

Today I've started work on the Four State QRP "Magic Box" digital transmit/receive switch.

First photo below shows bagged components and construction manual.

Second photo shows component tracking sheet used to ensure correct picking & placing of each component.

NS-40 is completed

This was a very simple build, having just a handful of components. This is a Four State QRP transmitter designed by N0SM.

The view below shows the completed board mounted in an aluminum case which still needs some customization to give access for power and antenna connections.

NS-40 QRP transmitter status

Worked this weekend to complete the NS-40. I decided to do a modification that allows me to swap crystals instead of being limited to the one provided in the kit. The idea came from Jay - W5JAY. Now all I need to do is find a supplier with a reasonable cost.

NS-40 QRP transmitter status

Worked this weekend to complete the NS-40. I decided to do a modification that allows me to swap crystals instead of being limited to the one provided in the kit. The idea came from Jay - W5JAY. Now all I need to do is find a supplier with a reasonable cost.