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I’ve been a ham radio operator for more than 20 years now and have never run more than 100 watts of power. I decided to venture into the world of amps. I worked a bit with a Dentron 2500 but decided to go with a more modern amp, one with much cheaper tubes. I purchased an Ameritron AL-811H and run it around 600-650 watts. I’ve tried to do various tests to see what it actually does for me in the practical world (not just X-Sunit gain) but have thus far failed and figuring out its real benefit. Not because I don’t think it has benefit, just my tests are less than scientific

I found some stations with mild-pile ups and tried to break through barefoot, then after 10-15 unanswered calls kicked on the amp. The first time I tried it, the very first time after I kicked the amp on I heard my callsign come back. Wow, I thought. Next time, with out the amp I gave a call and on the 3rd time (no amp) the station came back. Then another one 10-15 unanswered calls, kick on the amp and 10-15 unanswered calls later the station went QRT. So… still exploring the world of amps and amateur radio. Sometimes I’ll be on my Kenwood running 100 watts, other times on my Ten-Tec Argonaut. When there is a station I really want to talk to and barefoot doesn’t seem to be cutting it, I flip on the amp to see if it will… I suppose after some time under my belt I’ll learn when the amp will help and when I’ll still fail. No beam isn’t helping in some situations but, we all enjoy the hobby with what we have!

This is the second part of the post “ADIF Parser in Python – Extended” – therefore, if you have not read that post you should start there. This picks up and adds ADIX support to our parser and does so in a manner that requires no change (but we make a few for convenience) to the original parser. It also does not require any change to the actual ADIF validation or importing processes.

The code presented here could greatly benefit from being a class or using nested functions as it would eliminate the horrible use of globals but I wanted to keep with using a simple procedural style to be the greatest benefit to everyone. Those who use OO or understand nested functions can easily alter this code to use those paradigms. The complete source for the resulting parser will be provided as a link at the end of this post.

Our goals for this post are:

1. Add ADIX (XML-based ADIF) parsing to our existing parser
2. Change no code (or as little as possible) of our original parser
3. Share all validation and import processes between the two formats

» Read more…

Right now the ADIF group is making one of it’s most important decisions ever, to extend ADIF to include a XML-based format to include new features and possibly leave the existing ADIF format unchanged (new features added only to the new format). The feature that triggered this change was the addition of Unicode to the ADIF format. A working proposal exists to simply add new field names to the existing ADIF format. This blog post goes over a simple ADIF parser written in Python and how to extend it to handle Unicode data.

Python is not my primary language. I choose to use it because it’s readily available on most platforms and easily understood. This parser was written for this blog post. It was not written for the purpose of being copy and pasted into a production environment. It has no error checking and no real validation. These topics are not necessary to show how to extend the parser for Unicode data thus they would just add to the complexity and the real meaning would be lost. I will not be explaining python constructs or methods. I am assuming the ability to read and understand this code.

» Read more…

Since I’ve done some remodeling, I’ve also added a few accessories including a Ameritron AL-811H (my first ever amp) and a MFJ 869 Giant Watt Meter.

For some time my hamshack was in a spare bedroom on the 2nd floor (I know bad idea) of our house. About 3 years ago it moved downstairs into the living room area, however, one piece this month, another piece another month, the final piece 2 years later. What did that do? Created an adhoc hamshack that was a disorganized non-functional mess. So, with the recent antenna revamp I decided to revamp my hamshack as well.

So, I took things off my desk one piece at a time piling it up in the middle of the living room floor. When this was done I had to stand in amazement that the huge pile I created actually was on one desk! Wow! Some of it had to go. That was job number two, deciding what goes and what stays.

I then broke the equipment into logical types. I put all audio equipment on the left, essential equipment in the middle and equipment creating or dealing with RF on the right. This provided good separation of function and form. I tried my best to run all the cables in an orderly (and functional) fashion. RF cables are kept away from audio cables. Audio cables are kept away from AC cables, etc…

So in the end the following equipment remains (Left to Right in the above picture – which you can click on for a larger view):

1. ART Tube MP (Mic Preamp)
2. Heil GM-4 Mic
3. Nandy GEQ 131 (EQ for the mic)
4. Behringer MDX1600 (used as a Gate and Compressor/Limiter)
5. Dual 22″ AOC monitors
6. Main radio speaker (middle between monitors)
7. Kenwood TS-2000
8. Vibroplex Paddles
9. Generic straight key
10. Uniden BC 760XLT scanner
11. Yaesu FT-1800 2m mobile (used as my 2m FM base)
12. Swan Cygnet 270B (my novice rig I dug up to have fun using again)
13. Hy-gain rotor control
14. Generic TV type rotor control (VHF/UHF beams)
15. Dentron MT-3000A (Antenna tuner/switch)
16. Dentron MLA-2500 (legal limit amp – not pictured, normally sits atop of the antenna tuner but is being cleaned up internally right now)
17. Sec 1235M power supply
18. 2 KP-2 pre-amp controls (turn on/off mast mount pre-amps for satellite work)

Well, it’s finally all in place. I wound up doing more than anticipated but it’s a nicer install. I dug a trench to the corner of my garage and laid 2″ PVC pipe and surfaced there. From that point, I also ran 1″ PVC pipe over to the vertical. So, the corner of the garage is acting as a junction point. I will be installing a small VHF tower at the garage.

I do have one more task and that is to staple all the radials down. They are all laid out correctly and have a staple near their tips to keep them there but the radials are going to need more than 1 lawn staple!

So, the end result is 64 radials. 39 of which are 65 feet. The other 25 come close to a chain link fence. The smallest of the 25 is 33 feet in length which is roughly a quarter wave on 40m. The majority of the 25 are greater than 50 feet in length.

I’ll take a few pictures once everything is cleaned up.

When setting up my vertical antenna for the second time I wanted to do things as correct as possible. My original plan was to have 60 radials. At what angles should those come off the vertical antenna? How can I put them in with ease? What is the distance from radial tip to the next radial tip? What about the straight line distance?

Those are questions I had and math formulas I found the answer to. Therefore, I created a quick little web page that allows anyone to compute these values for their vertical antenna. You can access it at: KB8LFA – Radial Calculator.

Let me know what you think, if you have cool ideas for something it could/should do or (gulp) bug reports. viagra

My vertical antenna, Hustler 6BTV, has been installed in it’s current location for about 6 years now. It’s on the corner of our garden and lot about 50 feet from the house. What does this mean? Too close to the shack/house for my comfort, sub-optimal radials, yearly running over radials surrounding the garden with the rotor tiller! One quarter does not have any radials (garden direction), another 1/2 is 12′ away from an electric fence leaving the shortest radial in that 1/2 at 8′ long. There are a total of 24 radials.

Recently I got permission from my father-in-law (also our landlord) to move my vertical antenna out of our immediate yard and into the pasture directly behind our yard. This provides quite a few options and I will be doing a few things differently.

Location

The antenna will now be located about 200 feet from our house in the pasture immediately behind our “property line.” This pasture is fenced off from the larger pasture to create an area to seperate animals at different times through the year (sheep, horses and cattle). The farm is a smaller farm (5 horses, 30 head of sheep and 30 head of cattle). There are quite a few other pastures that are used. This one sees use about 1/4 of the year, mainly by the sheep.

This location will not allow 80m radials in all directions, but close to it.

Radial attachment

My current method of attaching the radials is a 12′ long stranded copper wire that has been wound into a round 12″ diameter loop that surrounds the base of the antenna. All radials have been soldered onto that loop. That loop has two 14 awg wires going to the ground side of the antenna.

My new setup utilizes a stainless steel radial plate from DX Engineering. I estimate it will be about the same work as my previous method as both methods require stripping the end of the radial wire and soldering. The old to the ground loop, the new to a slug that will be bolted to the radial plate.

Radials

With the increased space I am putting in full 65′ (roughly 80m) radials on 320 degrees of the antenna. The other 40 degrees will be reduced in length to it’s smallest radial heading directly north. It’s size will be that of a 40m radial, 32 feet. The total radial count will be 60. I purchased 4 radial kits from DX Engineering which each provides 1,000 feet of 14 awg UV resistant coper wire, 200 lawn stakes and solder lugs. I will be using nearly all 4,000 feet of wire on the radial system. This is by far the most expensive part of my entire antenna system!

Antenna Mount

My prior mount was a 4′ 2″ galvanized steel pipe pounded into the ground 3 feet as the manual suggested. After six years of the wind coming from the general same direction, my vertical antenna looks like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It was not that way when it was installed but it sure is now. I think an antenna done in good taste is an attractive item in your yard, however, with mine leaning like this it’s an eye sore shouting unmaintained garbage.

The new mount is not too much different except that I will be digging a 2′ hole with a post hole digger, inserting my post and then adding concrete. This does not take much concrete but should provide a much more robust mount, yet if I decide to take the antenna down, move or move the antenna again (Just Say No!) it’s totally manageable.

Expected Problems Along the Way

With the new radial system and it’s changed location, I imagine I’ll have to re-tune the antenna. This, however, is not all bad. I recently purchased the 12m and 17m trap packages from DX Engineering. The instructions for both state that they will affect the SWR on the other bands and retuning will be required. They did affect the other bands but not enough for me to be really concerned about. However… now that I am moving the antenna and trying to do everything as perfect as I know how I will look forward to retuning the antenna. This will also give me a chance to fix my previous tuning. Basically, I made the lowest SWR occur in the center of the CW frequencies on each band because I was doing a lot of QRP at the time. However, looking back on things I realized this is wasting a lot of bandwidth. For instance, 150khz on 40 meters centered on the CW band wastes a lot of band width < 7MHz. So, my new goal is to tune for the bottom end of the CW band to be within the acceptable limits and extend the usable bandwidth, as much as I can, across the given entire band.

When?

Today of course! Yesterday I picked up the necessary items at DX Engineering and mowed the area I will be putting the antenna. I was hoping to dig the post hole and pour the concrete but time just wasn’t on my side. So today’s tasks are:

1. Dig the post hole and pour the concrete.
2. Pin down the radial plate in the correct position (cannot attach to the drying post) and run the radials.
3. Dig a “mini” trench for the coax.
4. Install the coax.

I will not be able to work on the antenna at all on Sunday as there are plenty of family activities going on. However, on Monday I will complete the job by:

1. Permanently installing the radial plate.
2. Installing the antenna.
3. Tuning the antenna.

I am going to try to rip up the old ground radials but I’m not to sure that can be done. Time will tell.

I do not rag chew all the time, in fact less than more. However, I’m not a “macro chatter” either. Here is one example I just had. Bear in mind, this happens more than not. The callsign has been changed to QQ8QQQ and the name to John as I do not want pick on any one individual since it’s a global pandemic. Bold is me. Italic is the other station.

CQ CQ CQ de QQ8QQQ QQ8QQQ QQ8QQQ
pse K

QQ8QQQ de KB8LFA KB8LFA KB8LFA K

KB8LFA KB8LFA de QQ8QQQ QQ8QQQ
Hi OM JEREMY N
Report : 599 599 599
Name : John John John
QTH : Sometown, Somewhere
Locator : EL83TC IOTA NA015
BTU OM JEREMY N
KB8LFA de QQ8QQQ
pse K

QQ8QQQ de KB8LFA
Nice to work you again on a different mode John. We worked Jun 11th via JT65. That’s an interesting mode.
Name is Jeremy as you know, QTH is Norton, OH which is 10 miles west of rubber capital of the world, Akron, Ohio.
My grid square is EN91da. Your RST this time around is 599 599 599.
BTU John, QQ8QQQ de KB8LFA KN

KB8LFA KB8LFA de QQ8QQQ QQ8QQQ
Very nice copy OM JEREMY N,here is me Setup
Radio : SEG15 QRP 5 Watts
20,30,40,80 and 160mts,very old radio from RFT Germany
Antenna : Dipole V 7Mhz @ Dipole / 14Mhz
PC : Intel i865GM , Pentium D 3.2Ghz , 1GB DDR
Windows XP SP3
Software : MixW 2.19
Interface : Made Home Break
BTU OM JEREMY N
KB8LFA de QQ8QQQ
pse K

QQ8QQQ de KB8LFA
Thanks for the QSO John. I wish you the best of luck
and good DX. Have fun with the hobby! QQ8QQQ de KB8LFA SK

KB8LFA KB8LFA de QQ8QQQ QQ8QQQ
OK OM JEREMY N TNX for nice QSO in BPSK31
For QSL 100% Vía Bureau or www.QRZ.com
73 DX,Good Luck OM JEREMY N
KB8LFA de QQ8QQQ
SK SK

Notice the use even of “JEREMY N” as my name. Where did that come from? Straight out of the call book with a program that doesn’t even try to parse out the first name from my middle initial.

Interestingly enough, I’ve asked specific questions of people such as “Before I continue further, can you give me a general signal report and IMD report as I just setup my brand new TS-2000 and I do not want to plaster anyone else, here is silence for an accurate IMD report. PAUSE PAUSE PAUSE… Thanks, QQ8QQQ de KB8LFA KN”

What was the response? You got it! The station setup. Any mention of a report? Nope. I’ve asked questions about their setup, about their home town, about the program they use, etc… What was the response? Nothing. It seems people hit F1, F2 and F3 your done, NEXT! If it doesn’t fit into an F key, it doesn’t get said or answered

Maybe it’s not fair to post this as “PSK31″ because I am seeing it more and more on other digital modes as well, even RTTY :-/ but it seems to be new people using the macros, thus I call them macro chatters.

If I just wanted to make a contact and move on, I’d probably vote for a QSO like this:

CQ CQ CQ de QQ8QQQ QQ8QQQ QQ8QQQ pse K

QQ8QQQ de KB8LFA KB8LFA KB8LFA K

KB8LFA de QQ8QQQ

Thanks for the call, name is John, John, UR RST is 599 599. QTH is Sometown, Somewhere, EE12xx EE12xx
QSL? KN

RRR Name is Jeremy Jeremy. UR RST is 599 599. QTH is Norton, OH Norton, OH EN91da EN91da. 73 and Good Luck, QQ8QQQ de KB8LFA SK

73 KB8LFA… QRZ? de QQ8QQQ QQ8QQQ QQ8QQQ K

I purchased two days ago the 12m and 17m trap additions from DX Engineering for my Hustler 6BTV antenna. It now handles (without any tuner) 80m (50khz), 40m, 30m, 20m, 17m, 15m, 12m and 10m.

The installation of these was very easy and the parts seem to be high quality (like most DX Engineering products). It did affect some of my other bands SWR (which the manual says it will do) but not enough to make me immediately re-tune the antenna. That will be a project for another day.

So, the result? I went from 17m SWR being > 3:1 to being < 1.5:1 through the whole band just as advertised. The 12m prior to the trap was about 8:1 and it also came into line. Last week I used my antenna tuner to “load up” my vertical on 17m for a sked or two. No luck. After making the addition I’ve had 14 QSOs w/o any difficulty.

So, the end result? A bit to early to say but in the mean time, I can say it seems to be a pretty good addition!