Topband: VP9/N1SNB
Jeffrey Demers
jdemers at Wakefly.com
Wed Jan 21 10:08:33 EST 2009
I am heading to Bermuda for CQ 160 signing VP9/N1SNB. I'll be running
an inverted L with 100watts.
I'm a 160 novice. Any tips for low power, off shore operating from my
distinguished colleagues on the Top Band list?
73, jeff n1snb
-----Original Message-----
From: topband-bounces at contesting.com
[mailto:topband-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of
topband-request at contesting.com
Sent: Wednesday, January 21, 2009 7:03 AM
To: topband at contesting.com
Subject: Topband Digest, Vol 73, Issue 28
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Today's Topics:
1. Re: South Dakota (Ed Gray W0SD)
2. PSK & RTTY (wb0m at Flashdog.us)
3. Re: CQ 160 weird ideas (mstangelo at comcast.net)
4. Re: Coax (Paul Christensen)
5. Recycled ferrites for 160m (G4GED Dave)
6. Re: Coax (Stan Stockton)
7. Running an Inv L to top of tower (AD5VJ Bob)
8. QRQ vs QRS (Lars Harlin)
9. arizona sunshine (PACER99 at aol.com)
10. Re: QRQ vs QRS (Dan Zimmerman N3OX)
11. Re: Recycled ferrites for 160m (Dan Zimmerman N3OX)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2009 09:02:50 -0600
From: Ed Gray W0SD <w0sd at triotel.net>
Subject: Re: Topband: South Dakota
To: calle.jonsson at sverige.nu
Cc: topband at contesting.com
Message-ID: <4975E79A.1020400 at triotel.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
W0SD will be very active in the CQ 160 contest. QRV with 1/4 wave
vertical with 135 radials, drooping dipole at 195 feet and 4 beverages
and receiving loop, Alpha 99 @ 1500 watts and Elecraft K3
Ed W0SD
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2009 09:15:39 -0600
From: wb0m at Flashdog.us
Subject: Topband: PSK & RTTY
To: topband at contesting.com
Message-ID: <A7DB3FCE-69DA-40A3-BD79-1081BBD42EB8 at Flashdog.us>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes
Hello Everyone,
After a long, long time I'm finally using PSK-31 and RTTY. Is there
much activity on 160 and and is it below 1.810 or is there a
"preferred" frequency? What about the digital contests?
Tnx & 73, Jeff/wb0m/Nebraska
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2009 15:33:47 +0000 (UTC)
From: mstangelo at comcast.net
Subject: Re: Topband: CQ 160 weird ideas
To: LA5HE Ragnar Otterstad <la5he at otterstad.dk>
Cc: topband at contesting.com
Message-ID:
<1368723235.3125711232465627343.JavaMail.root at sz0121a.westchester.pa.mai
l.comcast.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
All,
We should add K to the signal report to indicate clicks - 599k. It would
add some meaning to a useless signal report since all exchanges are 599
anyway.
Mike N2MS
------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2009 10:40:56 -0500
From: "Paul Christensen" <w9ac at arrl.net>
Subject: Re: Topband: Coax
To: <topband at contesting.com>
Message-ID: <018c01c97b15$7c64cbc0$203ca8c0 at D2GPY9C1>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
reply-type=original
> "For receive I use RG-6/U quad shield from Home Depot. As I recall a
500
> foot roll costs between $50 and $100 (closer to $50). It works great."
Equally good for Rx is the flooded, direct-bury RG-6 QS. I'm a refugee
from
the CATV industry and have developed an appreciation for Snap-'N-Seal
"F"
connectors. DXE supplies high quality SNS hardware -- and Home Depot
supplies the Ideal Industries brand compression tools and SNS connectors
at
reasonable prices. SNS hardware can also be found under the Thomas &
Betts
and Augat brand names.
A reliable SNS fitting requires a coaxial cable prep tool designed for
the
SNS connector and equally important, a contour-blade cable cutter to
prevent
the RG-6 cable from being crushed as it's cut.from the spool.
Paul, W9AC
------------------------------
Message: 5
Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2009 22:52:59 -0000
From: "G4GED Dave" <radiodave.g4ged at tiscali.co.uk>
Subject: Topband: Recycled ferrites for 160m
To: <topband at contesting.com>
Message-ID: <2A65F1B531FA4679AB341599A2BEF88C at SN046981320192>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
reply-type=original
Hi Topbanders,
My query revolves around the suitability, for 160m applications, of
recycled
ferrite material extracted from redundant CRT TVs and PC Monitors ?
Thanks to the Flat-screen revolution, there's now lots of this recycled
ferrite freely available from CRT - Flat upgrading. There's lots of
satisfaction to had saving all this good stuff from simply ending up
wasted
in another land fill project and it costs nothing !
There's the big chunky dougnut/bagel shaped ferrite core from the
scanning
coil yoke, two of which, as common mode chokes, have successfully killed
my
160m-ADSL RFI stone dead.
I have several doing service as chokes in RX antenna feeders. They seem
to
work but how well, I've no means of knowing?
Most PCs and monitor mains power leads incorporate an embedded chunky
tubular ferrite, easily removed with a hot air gun and craft knife.
There's often a variety of other small ferrite rings, tubes and beads
etc to
be had from within this redundant equipment.
Does anyone know what ferrite "mixes" all these are likely to be or how
they
could be simply tested at home for suitability as rf xfmrs, baluns,
chokes
etc on Topband ?
Thanks
Dave
------------------------------
Message: 6
Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2009 17:34:53 -0600
From: "Stan Stockton" <stan at aqity.org>
Subject: Re: Topband: Coax
To: "Paul Christensen" <w9ac at arrl.net>, <topband at contesting.com>
Message-ID: <6FB6CD570BC04B76B5631082A5E5DF81 at n42qnuurv8xdmc>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
reply-type=response
----- Original Message -----
From: "Stan Stockton" <k5go at cox.net>
To: "Paul Christensen" <w9ac at arrl.net>; <topband at contesting.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2009 5:32 PM
Subject: Re: Topband: Coax
>> Equally good for Rx is the flooded, direct-bury RG-6 QS. I'm a
>> refugee from
>> the CATV industry and have developed an appreciation for Snap-'N-Seal
>> "F"
>> connectors. DXE supplies high quality SNS hardware -- and Home Depot
>> supplies the Ideal Industries brand compression tools and SNS
>> connectors at
>> reasonable prices. SNS hardware can also be found under the Thomas &
>> Betts
>> and Augat brand names.
>
> DXE is 2.5 times the price of Technical Connections for the connectors
> and the selection is better for tools and connectors at the less
> expensive source.
>
> Stan, K5GO
------------------------------
Message: 7
Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2009 22:05:51 -0600
From: "AD5VJ Bob" <rtnmi at sbcglobal.net>
Subject: Topband: Running an Inv L to top of tower
To: <topband at contesting.com>
Message-ID: <029701c97b7d$8d171b40$6601a8c0 at RAD9FBHB71>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Since I am limited for tower height (30 feet) I am thinking of
installing a 20 meter mast at the top of my tower and then running a
wire from the bottom of the tower to the top of the mast out from the
tower about 10 feet (inverted L style) and then across from
the top of the mast about 50 feet to top of a 30 foot fiberglass
extendable pole on which I have mounted at the present time an 80
meter inverted V with the apex at the top of the pole.
I would mount the wire just below the apex of the 80 meter inv V.
My question is (I have seen this done on some web pages):
Can I mount my three element tribander (to make room for the L at the
top) to the side of the tower with the tower in between some
of the elements?
I have seen this done on some web pages where people have stacked beams
along the length of the tower and then rotated the tower
instead of using a standard rotor, just not sure if it can be done
without affecting the beam characteristics or the L's
characteristics.
73 fer nw es gud DX,
QSL VIA: LotW, BUR, e-QSL
Bob AD5VJ
http://www.ad5vj.com/
Old Calls WB5ZQU, WY5L/KH3, KE5CTY, N5IET
------------------------------
Message: 8
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2009 06:33:16 +0100
From: "Lars Harlin" <lars.harlin at one.se>
Subject: Topband: QRQ vs QRS
To: <topband at contesting.com>
Message-ID: <6C5E440AE70F4F17BFBDF03FFD8431F7 at larsdc0e265da7>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Hi folks!
Ever since I came on Topband, about 20 yers ago, is has been an
unwritten custom to use fairly low speed CW for DX'ing on TB.
My experience is that it's usually easier to copy using QRQ (i.e. 20 -30
WPM) as there are almost always QSB on DX signals. With slow speed it
can be a hard time to be able to copy all the letters in the call before
diving into a QSB valley...
Any other thoughts?
73 de Lars, SM3BDZ
------------------------------
Message: 9
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2009 02:02:22 EST
From: PACER99 at aol.com
Subject: Topband: arizona sunshine
To: topband at contesting.com
Message-ID: <d22.352da387.36a8227e at aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
well, this was the night of the year! europe, europe and more europe. i
will
remember it for a long time.
good luck to all topbanders this weekend. see you in the contest!
73,
larry
n7dd
**************Inauguration '09: Get complete coverage from the nation's
capital.
(http://news.aol.com/main/politics/inauguration?ncid=emlcntusnews0000000
3)
------------------------------
Message: 10
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2009 09:03:36 -0500
From: Dan Zimmerman N3OX <n3ox at n3ox.net>
Subject: Re: Topband: QRQ vs QRS
To: topband at contesting.com
Message-ID:
<141cfb1e0901210603n1d3d641ge49fc0ade43ab98d at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
> My experience is that it's usually easier to copy using QRQ (i.e. 20
-30
> WPM) as there are almost always QSB on DX signals. With slow speed it
can be
> a hard time to be able to copy all the letters in the call before
diving
> into a QSB valley...
Lars,
If I have a needed station who CQs in my face whenever I call, I will
always
switch speeds a couple times before giving up.
I usually leave the keyer at 20WPM because that seems to be a good
compromise between QRS and having a hard time timing things out in
pileups.
But I'll try faster or slower if I have trouble getting through... and
will
QRQ if I find the station I'm trying to work has short, sharp fading. I
think it's important to consider that slow speed might be hurting you
depending on condx.
73
Dan
------------------------------
Message: 11
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2009 09:23:29 -0500
From: Dan Zimmerman N3OX <n3ox at n3ox.net>
Subject: Re: Topband: Recycled ferrites for 160m
To: topband at contesting.com
Message-ID:
<141cfb1e0901210623h4a8ab724wdbff269faa2ec119 at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> I have several doing service as chokes in RX antenna feeders. They
seem to
> work but how well, I've no means of knowing?
>
If you have an antenna analyzer you can get a decent idea of how the
thing
works by winding a few turns of wire onto the core and measuring the
impedance of that. Shooting for a total impedance around 50 ohms is
useful
for something like the MFJ-259B which is more accurate around 50 ohms
than
way out in high and low impedance land.
Once you know the impedance of the N turns you just wound on the core,
you
can guess that the impedance of the finished choke of M turns will be
(M/N)^2 .
As a final check, I sweep the finished choke across HF and look for the
first low impedance series resonance, just to make sure it's not in my
frequency range of interest or close to the top end. It's not useful
to
measure the impedance of the choke directly since the impedance range of
my
MFJ-259B is only up to 650 ohms, but it just lets me know that the
choke's
not diving to nothing in the range I'm measuring in.
If you had a signal generator and an oscilloscope you could build a
voltage
divider with a known resistor of 1k or so and the choke and measure the
voltage across the choke as a function of frequency with a known applied
voltage, and get a direct measure of the magnitude of the impedance of
the
choke that way (and if you've got a couple high impedance scope probes
instead of just one you could technically get the phase, and therefore
the
complete R+jX). You do have to be a bit careful about stray
capacitances,
etc, but since you're posting to Topband it's not so severe at 1.8MHz in
the
way it would be at 30MHz or higher.
> Does anyone know what ferrite "mixes" all these are likely to be or
how
> they
> could be simply tested at home for suitability as rf xfmrs, baluns,
chokes
> etc on Topband ?
I've never found one that is an often used ham mix since most of these
things are for ~100kHz applications, but I have found a few that are
reasonably useful chokes.
As far as baluns and other power handling applications go (and even
receiving transformers), you need to be a little more careful because of
potential problems with core loss (which depend on the balun design and
application).
If you build a simple 4:1 balun to go from 50 to 200 ohms and intend to
use
it that way, the easiest home test is to build TWO of them and connect
them
back to back into a dummy load to transform from 50 ohms to 200 ohms
back to
50 ohms. Then you run power through and measure power in and power out.
You can't figure out that there's 0.05735dB loss this way, but since 1dB
total loss will give you 79W out for 100W applied, you can easily
measure a
pair of random baluns/ununs and determine that they have <0.5dB loss
apiece. You can also measure the effects of core heating if there is
any
and you can do so at the power level you want to run.
Small receiving transformers could also be tested for loss the same way,
back to back, but a signal generator and oscilloscope would probably be
needed (though maybe you could use a signal generator, a step
attenuator,
and your receiver)
73
Dan
------------------------------
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