What did you do in the shack today?

Dang, I tried out the power meter I bought and it's complete trash. First I tried it on the new 220 rig and it read between 1.4 and 1.8A on receive, no audio. Hmm, I could have sworn the spec was <0.6A. I looked it up, yup. Okay, maybe something is wrong with the radio. So after about an hour and a half it had "drawn" about 2Ah. I put the battery on the charger and measured how much charge it took: 0.87Ah. And it did accurately measure the 2A the charger is rated for, although it said the max current had been 11A.

This afternoon I tried it on my 857D and LDG tuner. As soon as I plugged in the tuner it jumped to 1.6A. That's more than double the rated current when it's in use; at that point it was only driving the led on the front. I turned on the radio and it read anywhere from 6.5 to 8.5A on receive, no audio. It should have been about 1A.

Don't tell Amazon but I opened it up to see if anything looked bad. The main board was soldered to the display board so I couldn't see much. But what I could see looked well soldered and professionally built.

Don't buy this trash.

 
I bought another cheap Chinese handheld. I now own four different brands/models.

While I would never consider replacing my Yaesu and Icom handhelds with one of these, they are fun to hack the firmware and mess with the features.

This little fellow, the TidRadio TD-H3, is the smallest form factor of any of them I have. It is 2-1/8" wide, 4" tall, and 1-3/8" deep with battery.

D8jE6mA.jpg



🐯
 
I have another Alinco DMR radio coming in tomorrow. Quite a few places ran a $50 off special during Dayton Hamvention, so I ordered one out of DX Engineering. This time, it is a mobile to go with my collection of Alinco DMR handhelds.
 
Tried to set up my inherited whistler 1060 on the cape-
Holy shit is that thing a pain in the ass to program, you need a f***in degree.

Had a scanner for years growing up, you just slipped the local frequencies in and called it a day, now it's rocket science- not even sure where to start programming the local police/fire department, canal, harbor, etc.
 
Drix said:
Tried to set up my inherited whistler 1060 on the cape-
Holy shit is that thing a pain in the ass to program, you need a f***in degree.

Had a scanner for years growing up, you just slipped the local frequencies in and called it a day, now it's rocket science- not even sure where to start programming the local police/fire department, canal, harbor, etc.
Click to expand...
RRDB | Massachusetts Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference You will likely have to subscribe and pay their fee.
 
Drix said:
Yeah, I found them, I'm just not certain what to do with them.
Half the problem is I don't have a programming cable- apparently it's all much easier to do from a computer.
Ordered one up and it should be here saturday.
Click to expand...

The modern memory architecture of current scanners almost demands programming from a computer in order to avoid pulling your hair out.
 
Built the 220, 432, 903 beams and ordered the 1296- hoping it arrives before the VHF 'test.

#notenoughtimeintheday

UJay
 
UJay said:
Built the 220, 432, 903 beams and ordered the 1296- hoping it arrives before the VHF 'test.

#notenoughtimeintheday

UJay
Click to expand...
You sound just like my buddy. He just bought a 5 band transverter and is racing to get everything setup in time. Next up is an array of 1296 for moon bounce.

He just designed and built a controller for the transverter. There's a unit that goes on the bench with a knob and a display. Turn the knob to change bands, then you get a handshake confirmation back from the remote unit at the transverter to tell you which band you selected. No more transmitting into the wrong antenna. It's a very slick design that I really want him to sell. Everyone who buys that particular transverter will need something to do what he did.
 
ToddDubya said:
You sound just like my buddy. He just bought a 5 band transverter and is racing to get everything setup in time. Next up is an array of 1296 for moon bounce.

He just designed and built a controller for the transverter. There's a unit that goes on the bench with a knob and a display. Turn the knob to change bands, then you get a handshake confirmation back from the remote unit at the transverter to tell you which band you selected. No more transmitting into the wrong antenna. It's a very slick design that I really want him to sell. Everyone who buys that particular transverter will need something to do what he did.
Click to expand...
Dude sounds like me..... I have the Q5 5b transverter auto controlled so I can run the shack completely remote. Actually controlled from the rig's aux band output.

Thats why I ordered the FM filter too (On the other 'got scammed' thread) since there is a buddy of ours rovering and only has an FM HT on the High UHF bands or something.....
The K3 needs a specific filter to use the FM mode.

Awesome though, I hope to be up and running and work your buddy, you, anyone wanting points.

Cool, this sure is some kind of hobby, eh?

UJay
 
Haha, I'm pretty sure that's the one he just bought, maybe the high power one. He wanted it so badly but couldn't (wouldn't) justify the money. I told him if he didn't buy it I was going to buy it for him, so he bought it. I don't think he thought I was serious, but I was.

Before that he had five separate transverters, each with its own quirks, and a farm of switches to change bands. Now it's a knob twist and maybe a button press to tell the radio to change bands. He's mounting his antennas across the yard on the shed roof so he can run at night and not make rotor noises while the XYL is sleeping. She puts up with enough.

I'm not into the VHF/UHF stuff, but the same guy gave me a big 2m yagi and a big 70cm yagi. I could see setting up on a clear spot somewhere and giving it a try. I know the 2m needs some work after it had a disagreement with a low hanging branch. I've had the 70cm on the air, so I know it works.
 
I fixed, then broke, then fixed again a 5 element 2m yagi my buddy had given me a couple years ago. It needed a director replaced, and that was easy enough. Then I got the smart idea to tidy up some soldering and I broke it. I got that fixed and it's working, but it all seems pretty shaky.

I'm really not sure how it's fed. It looks to be a paperclip shaped hairpin and a double gamma match. I'm not entirely sure what those blue things are. Some kind of capacitance? Either way they're both broken and it seems to still work. I thought maybe just supports for the gamma match, but I don't know. The one on the center pin was only on by habit so that's what I had to re-solder.

1717267088767.png
 
I got out the 432 antenna as well. I'm not sure what the deal was with that but my buddy and I were trying SSB and it was like one of us was off frequency. CW and FM were spot on, but SSB we couldn't make it work. Although I could hear him well enough to tune in, but then I was even worse. It's a nice antenna, not great SWR for 432, but sturdy and well built.

We switched to 144.2 and worked SSB no problem. That was the antenna I fixed earlier, so it was good to see that it worked well.

We're only about 6 miles apart, but with a hill between us, and I was pointing right into someone's house. I wasn't quite S9 at his house with my 6 watts, but close. Can't be mad at that. We did have a lot of yagi elements between the two of us.
 
Awesome! I worked on stuff today too. Reverse XMas tree....

1717293438063.png

Still need to build the 1296 ant and hang both the 902 and 1296 but we got time.

First QSO on 6m was Azores! I just hear KB1GMX calling intermittently on 2.
Started looking for beacons on 2m 222 and 432 without much luck- Turning, pausing, watching the panadapter.

ToddDubya said:
I told him if he didn't buy it I was going to buy it for him, so he bought it. I don't think he thought I was serious, but I was.
Click to expand...
Something wild was that the reason I procured this HP 5-band transverter == is because my buddy always wanted it. I have never really been a VHF+ guy at all.
I relate it to screaming in to a pillow... anyway-
We will be using his call from the station here... all of the antennas / feedline are his.


UJay
 
I can just make out a 2m beacon in NY. K2DLL in FN23xc.

If the weather cooperates I'll go sit on a high point nearby for a while. I'm gonna borrow a 6m halo so I might be able to get some 6m contacts. But otherwise I'll have 144 and 432 on a few sections of mil surp mast, with an armstrong rotor. I'm not planning on doing it the whole time, maybe a few hours unless it gets exciting. There are a bunch of guys in FN32, so I'm not exactly rare.

I'll have two FT-857s, so 100w on 6m, 50w on 2m, and 20w on 70cm. I'm not really a VHF+ guy either but maybe I'll like it.
 
My credit card is heating up. The other day I ordered some stuff for the shack plus a couple speakers and a couple brackets to mount yagis for the VHF/UHF contest this weekend. Today I decided 12' was not enough coax (why the hell did I ever buy 12' lengths of coax for anything?) so I ordered a couple 30' lengths of 400 UF from ABR Industries. Those aren't cheap, but I got 10% off with a coupon code, which almost covered shipping.

For a contest I'm not really participating in and may not participate in again, I've got a lot invested in it. The weather looks rainy, which means I may be sitting in the car the whole time. I've got an EZ-Up that I've never setup before and am pretty sure is not a one man job anyway. And come to think of it I have a screen tent that may go up easier I could use. The screen would help with any lightly blowing rain and bugs. I'd have to test drive that beforehand to make sure I can do it solo.
 
Sweet, I just got my shipping notice and my coax will be here on Monday. Just in time to miss the whole thing. Looks like my antennas are going to be pretty low to the ground. At least it's supposed to rain this weekend, so I've got that going for me too.
 
Well that was disappointing. After weeks of preparations, fixing, building, buying, testing, etc. I headed up to the spot for the VHF contest.

Strike 1, I forgot my jacket and it was going to be cool and windy at best, possibly rain. Drive back home to get that. Back up to the spot.

Strike 2, trying to set up my screen tent is borderline futile because of the wind. It kept collapsing so I added some guy lines and it collapsed less, but then the wind would pull the stakes right out of the ground. I got it good enough, setup my chair and table inside and started pulling out antennas to get setup.

Strike 3, no guy ring or guylines for the mast. I probably could have rigged something, but with all that wind I didn't want something jury rigged.

I had an aspiring ham coming to check it all out. I pulled the plug, told him I was bailing, broke everything down, packed everything back up and headed home. What a complete waste.

Strike 4, when I left, my f***ing super strong coffee spilled on the cream colored passenger seat because Yeti makes a travel mug that doesn't fit in cup holders and I took my hand off it for 5 seconds while I pulled out of the parking lot.

Strike -1 and Strike 0 were the cables I ordered and paid extra for faster shipping still didn't make it on time so my friend lent me some cables, but they were all N-connectors, so then he came back again with an adapter because of course I can adapt every kind of connector to every other kind of connector except male N connector to anything. Fun fact, my cables made it to the local UPS overnight, but of course they won't deliver until Monday because f*** you.

And I'm pretty sure I've got a sticking brake on the car.
 
ToddDubya said:
Well that was disappointing. After weeks of preparations, fixing, building, buying, testing, etc. I headed up to the spot for the VHF contest.

Strike 1, I forgot my jacket and it was going to be cool and windy at best, possibly rain. Drive back home to get that. Back up to the spot.

Strike 2, trying to set up my screen tent is borderline futile because of the wind. It kept collapsing so I added some guy lines and it collapsed less, but then the wind would pull the stakes right out of the ground. I got it good enough, setup my chair and table inside and started pulling out antennas to get setup.

Strike 3, no guy ring or guylines for the mast. I probably could have rigged something, but with all that wind I didn't want something jury rigged.

I had an aspiring ham coming to check it all out. I pulled the plug, told him I was bailing, broke everything down, packed everything back up and headed home. What a complete waste.

Strike 4, when I left, my f***ing super strong coffee spilled on the cream colored passenger seat because Yeti makes a travel mug that doesn't fit in cup holders and I took my hand off it for 5 seconds while I pulled out of the parking lot.

Strike -1 and Strike 0 were the cables I ordered and paid extra for faster shipping still didn't make it on time so my friend lent me some cables, but they were all N-connectors, so then he came back again with an adapter because of course I can adapt every kind of connector to every other kind of connector except male N connector to anything. Fun fact, my cables made it to the local UPS overnight, but of course they won't deliver until Monday because f*** you.

And I'm pretty sure I've got a sticking brake on the car.
Click to expand...


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🐯
 
LOL! I consider my weekend a win. It is painfully slow and with just over 100 QSOs- We had QSOs on all bands. I was jonesing for 150+/Hour rates, but after getting the frustration out of it after Saturday- on Sunday, while perpetually telling myself we are not going for the win, and taking time and zeroing in the beams to stations I was trying to work and trying to push them up higher bands... it turned fun. Patience is something that I lack but is required for these VHF events, for sure.

Technically it all worked out. The Elecraft K3 and SDRPlay Panadapter for the high bands was a bit wonky, but very useful, the K4d on 6m was awesome since I left it mostly on FT8 and had the second receiver on the low part of 6m so if I saw a SSB or CW signal I could flip to check and work them.

Made at least 1 QSO on all bands to 1296! This was the biggest win. 2 on 1296 and 1 on 902.

Beat the living snot out of the Tailtwister rotor.

Borrowed 2 80' runs of 1/2" hardline to feed the 1296 and 902 loopers and installed it all Saturday morning.

good times.

Now, its all coming down.

UJay

Contest: ARRLVHFJUN
Band Mode QSOs Pts Grd Pt/Q
50 CW 16 16 9 1.0
50 FT4 22 22 12 1.0
50 FT8 30 30 16 1.0
50 USB 8 8 5 1.0
144 CW 2 2 2 1.0
144 FT8 24 24 13 1.0
144 USB 2 2 1 1.0
222 CW 1 2 1 2.0
222 FT8 2 4 1 2.0
222 USB 1 2 1 2.0
420 CW 1 2 1 2.0
420 FT8 2 4 2 2.0
902 CW 1 3 1 3.0
1240 CW 2 6 1 3.0
Total Both 114 127 66 1.1
Score: 8,382

1718020547765.png
 
I mean to ask before, but I always thought when you had multiple antennas on a single mast that the higher frequencies went higher on the mast. But you have that reversed. Was that for some reason, or just convenience?
 
ToddDubya said:
I mean to ask before, but I always thought when you had multiple antennas on a single mast that the higher frequencies went higher on the mast. But you have that reversed. Was that for some reason, or just convenience?
Click to expand...
Camera reversed? Lol... Pretty much convenience, The temp tower is so low I figured giving the most advantage to the money bands and didnt get/build the 1296 looper until the week of the June VHF test.

UJay
 
Finally opened a Yaesu FTDX-10 that I had purchased a month or so ago and connected it to an antenna. Played with it a bit on 20 meters. Installed the XF-130CN filter, and the MHG-1 carry handle. It was nice, but probably won't keep it. Going to give it to one of my brothers who is also a ham.
 
I've been working on a Cheap Yagi for 222 MHz FM. I misunderstood the directions when I started and thought the 4 element version would be about 4' long, so that's what I went with. But it's actually more like 2' plus room for a handle. Oh well.

I cut all of the elements out of some thick copper wire I had. #6 maybe? Last night and tonight I worked on soldering on a connector connector and it was not as simple as I thought, so I ended up with a couple short lengths of wire off the SO-239 to alligator clips. Then I clip that to the driven element. That was wise anyway because it took some adjustment to get the SWR dip where I wanted it. Holding it above my head in the living room I get about 1.33:1 at the calling frequency. But it's pretty sensitive to how I hold it.

At this hour I can really only try hitting the repeater that I already know I can easily hit. So I'll try it tomorrow, and see if I can get some pictures.

The real winner here was that one piece of wood I've had leaning against the wall in my shack for two years looking for a purpose.
 
I got that yagi as good as I can and now I'm trying to solder the wires on. I took the wires coming off the SO-239 and wrapped them partially around the driven element. I cannot for the life of me get that to take solder. I'm using a 100w heat gun and I don't think I can get it hot enough. I tried to tin it first to help, but it just pools up on the surface and pulls right off. I scuffed it up and everything in case it had a coating.
 
Finally got it to solder. I let the soldering gun heat up to a nice red glow before trying to solder so the element didn't just wick away the heat. I put the analyzer on it and suddenly I hear "click click click click click" in the other room. It was the radio picking up whatever the signal is that the analyzer puts into the antenna. So it at least transmits 15' into the other room.
 

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