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Sunday October 21st, 2007 - Echolink, antennas in the attic and 60 meters - It has been several months since I added anything to my site and a lot has happened since I last wrote. The biggest change in life in general is after many, many years of working the night shift I have changed to a day timer. It has been quite a change in my life and one that took a couple of months to get used to. I still can't go to bed real early (like I should) and my radio fun hours have shifted from late night to early to mid evening. Funny thing to that never happened on the night shift, I'm tired when I get home. The 60 Meter Band Sometimes, when I can get home before sunset or just about sunset I immediately turn on the radio set and get on the 60 meter band. At these hours there is a lot of activity on the band, heard here usually on channels 2 and 4, (what the heck is that digital stuff on channel 3 and where is it coming from) and lately the band is hot. There is a lot of mobile activity. I am talking to many really nice fellas pretty regularly from out as far as Arizona and Missouri down to Florida and up to West Virginia and all points in between. I've even made some Caribbean contacts and one HAM in the UK I've talked to twice in the middle of the night. This is really a fun band and one I consider a "gentlemen's" band (not that bad behavior is a real problem these days, it seems to me). Everyone is on equal footing and that foothold is within reach of every HAM at a modest investment. Since maximum ERP is 50 watts no one is trying to blow the other guy away with more power and massive beam antennas. QRP is common. Everyone is courteous and abides by the rules, as far as I have observed. Since this band is shared with government users and essentially on loan to Amateurs, and everyone using it knows it, we're setting an example so perhaps we can be granted more spectrum in the band at some time in the future. There is an official push going on right now to do that. Sometimes this band is real quite. Good microphones, audio processing and antennas are the focus of the people using and experimenting in this band. Wire antennas seem to be most common but I have encountered few users of verticals. Sidebar - I am very interested in building a vertical antenna for this band so if anyone has some ideas please send them to me. Since I am located on the bank of a salt water river and have the room for a ground field I think I am in the perfect location for doing that. But for now I'm just tuning up my 102 foot inverted "V" and it seems to do just fine. This is a channelized band unlike all the other HF bands and most older radios, although you can receive on your general coverage receiver, they can't transmit on it. The process for making my FT-857 operate on this band was not intuitive at all. I had to get the book out to use it the first time. Tuning up is challenge without and auto tuner. But it has been a lot of fun. I've sent and received a lot of QSL cards with folks and send cards to most people I make contact with on this band. So now after a little over a year of settling back into the hobby after many years off I'm finding 60 meters as a nitch I like. Of course I'm still operating on the other bands but this is my favorite. ECHOLINK I recently discovered Echolink. A few months ago I downloaded the software but was never able to make it work. Router/DSL modem problems became a time consuming brick wall and I wasn't able to lick 'em. So I forgot about it for a some time. My curiosity was peaked a bit by my friend Mark, KA4CID because he had been doing mobile Echolink using a Verizon Air Card, and having big fun. Then one of the guys I was talking to on 60 meters told me to download the newest version of the software and try the proxy servers. I did that and it worked great!! I spent almost the entire weekend on the computer talking to over 50 fellow HAMs. I couldn't quit. It was one of those amazing days of discovery. I worked countries I have never even heard on the air before. With a little more problem solving and some help from the nice tech support folks at Coastal Communications, my local phone company and DSL provider, we got ports 5198 and 5199 on my DSL modem opened and it worked direct !! Now I find myself using Echolink more and more. The communications are crystal clear and there are so many ways of talking to people, through links, conferences and the one thing I enjoy most, Echolink-ed repeaters. I have regular QSO's with HAMs in Israel, Long Island and Staten Island NY, Alaska, Australia and some fellas out in New Mexico. This past weekend for the Boy Scouts JOTA event I worked Echolink for 10 hours on Saturday and talked to kids and adult group leaders in Switzerland, Oman, the UK, Thailand, India, Japan and a bunch of stations all over the USA. I made over 50 JOTA contacts in all and many of those stations had 10-15 kids I talked to. I was a thrill. So now a regular part of playing on the radios is making sure my computer is signed on to Echolink. Look for me there anytime you are playing radio too. The next step is an Echolink Link Node here on Cape Hardwicke. Mark, KA4CID and I have been taking through all the logistics. Equipment is being collected now and my goal is to have a UHF link operational here soon. I am looking to get a coverage area of about 4-5 miles radius of my house, which is located very near Fort McAllister. Thought I would use the UHF band since everyone has it and there isn't one single repeater in the area to talk on. Antennas in the attic The final thing a wanted to mention was I took down
all my outside scanner, UHF and VHF antennas and put them in my
attic. Ken Griffin, W4JKG gave me the idea. He has a bunch
of antennas in his attic and performance is great. I was put
over the top after talking for some time to Bob Harmon, W4WTO when I
found out he has an antenna farm in his attic too. I read as
much as I could find on the subject and found this is very popular
particularly in antenna restricted areas, which, fortunately is not the case
here. I was only worried about attenuation from the roof
materials. I have a 4 story house with a full sized, walk up,
unfinished attic that made this a very easy project. A hell of a
lot easier than erecting and taking down push up poles outside that were
never as tall as my house. And getting up on the roof was just out
of the question. On a one story house when you are up on a roof
you can always rationalize you might just get hurt badly if you
fall. From the roof of a 4 story house with a steep pitch I believe
certain death is probably going to be outcome of any fall. So the
roof was not an attractive option. Ken loaned me his MFJ antenna analyzer
and I was able to decrease my db loss considerably with shorter feed
lines and I will also decrease my chances of lightning hits and
weathering of connections. Adjustments are as easy as walking up
the stairs. This was a great idea that has increased my
transmitting and receiving ability by several fold. I have also
increased antenna height by no less than 10 feet. The fact that
the antennas are in the attic seem to be transparent so far. I am hearing
things on my scanners I never heard before, and hitting repeaters 80-125
miles out solidly and regularly. If you've been thinking about
doing this don't delay, just do it. It's a great idea and a simple
solution. Be sure to stay as far away from wiring and if there are
walls or areas with foil backing this could present a problem. But
otherwise a far better idea than risking falling from a roof. Friday August 18th, 2007 - Devine intervention? I received another e-mail from Ed Bigbie (W4MMQ) about the 146.97 repeater that is good news for ARCS. See below. I was hoping for divine intervention and it looks like these prayers were answered. Thanks Ed, without your help none of this would be happening and the 97 repeater would more than likely go off the air. If you are a member of ARCS you owe thanks to Ed and should tell him. Not playing on 2 meters much these days but I am listening to the 97 and 70 repeaters from time to time. Too bad the 147.330 repeater doesn't seem to get any use. It's a nice machine and is never used. Most of my activity these days is on 60 meters in the mornings and evening just before sunset. 60 is quickly becoming my favorite band. Even worked some DX to the UK. By the way - QSL cards are going out and many are coming back. Thank you to everyone that has sent one. Shelby Hamfest coming up and I hope to go this year. Will post pictures when I return. 73 for now.
WELL: I won a big victory today and also
lost one.
I talked with Ed Yoman at the TV station
and after I talked with Ed, I called Curtis. The victory is: The
Club can stay on the tower. The
loss is: The Club will have to move back to 355ft.
Curtis is going to send out E-mail as to
what has got to be done for the club to stay on the tower. He is going
to draw up some type of legal document to be signed by an officer
of the club and the corporation .
I don't know everything that will be in the
document, but I know some of it.
The club will be required to furnish
them with a copy of a liability insurance policy.
The club will be required to remove the
550ft of 11/4 inch coax line from the tower.
The antenna must be relocated to the 355ft
level, if there is an old antenna at that level it will be replaced
with the antenna that is now at the 550ft level.
The work must be performed by professional
tower people with over one million dollars of liability insurance.
It will always be subject to removal in
the future if for some reason it is necessary to do so.
Of course Curtis will put it in legal
language.
He also said he would talk to his mother
(Nancy) and see if she would let me take all of his dad's equipment
and divide it between the two clubs. I told him that she had said to
me that she wanted to do that two years ago. I understand one of the
boys did not want her to do that. Curtis and his mother is in charge
of everything.
I am sorry that it can't stay where it is,
but there is more to this than you guys know.
The owners of the TV station has had
another study done on the tower since I last met with Ed Yoman, he
told me that today.
Because of what is going on the tower,
wind loading is very critical.
Ed Yoman and I are to work together to see
that everything works out ok.
Ed, W4MMQ
Here is an excerpt from a follow up on what was done at the ARCS 146.97 repeater site as a result of the e-mail above. Ed was instrumental in making happen. We all owe him thanks for keeping this asset to the amateur community on the air.
The tower crew from
Ogeechee Wireless performed the Following work on the
WJCL-TV tower, Friday and Saturday October 12 & 13th,
2007. 1-Removed the old Civil
Defense 20ft antenna and tower mounting bracket from the 550ft level and 550 ft of 7/8”
coax cable. 2- Remove 350ft of old
7/8” coax that was not connected to anything. 3- Removed an old VHF
antenna from the platform. 4-Removed Amateur Radio
Club 550ft 1 ¼” coax cable from the tower. 5- Move the Amateur
Radio Club vhf antenna from the 550ft level to the platform
and connected it to an existing 300ft coax cable using a 25ft ½”
jumper. As you know I measured
the ground system on the TV building and the FM Building on Thursday. The readings were:
TV building measured 0.5 ohms. The readings on the FM
buildings measured 0.57 ohms This is a very good
ground, the two buildings are connected together through the tower
ground. Anything below 5.00 ohms is excellent. Getting the antennas
and coax lines off the tower should be a big help below 500 ft, plus it
helps clean up the tower. If I can be of any help
at anytime, please do not hesitate to call me. Ed Bigbie, PE W4MMQ
Thursday May 17th, 2007 - 146.97 - It's been a nice ride I received the e-mail below tonight. It sounds like barring divine intervention the ARCS 146.970 repeater is going silent. It's been a nice ride thanks to the generosity of Curtis Lewis (W4LHS) and the unconditional support and help of Ed Bigbie (W4MMQ) over the years. Guess we have to find another home, which won't be hard because the CARS club has a lot of nice repeaters on the air. Guess you'll be hearing me on 146.70 or 147.330 in the weeks to come. 73
RE:
Amateur Radio Club of Savannah 146.37/97 Repeater
Dear ARCS Members and Friends,
Last week, Kurt Hoffman, N4CVF and
myself, WD4AFY were contacted by the owners of the WJCL TV tower
for a meeting concerning the ARCS repeater equipment on the
tower.
The tower owners informed us
that WJCL must install a HDTV transmitter, a new huge
3" feedline and antenna to get ready for the required
new television format before next year. The owners state
that the tower "must" be stripped of all unnecessary and
unused hardware to make room for the new large feedline and heavy HDTV
broadcast antenna. There are windload parameters that have to be
met.
"The WJCL tower owners
state, due to being a strain on the tower," it was stated that
our antenna and feedline, both to the accessory antenna at the 325'
platform and also the 37/97 repeater at the apprx. 500 foot
level must go. There is other unused hardware (not ARCS's) that
also "must" go. We were told that if these items
are not removed from the tower, it would cost WJCL a considerable
amount of money to reinforce the current tower....That amount is alot more
money than ARCS can afford. $XXXXX.XX
The tower is a commercial
venture and the owners of the tower are in business to make money. It
is understandable that they have to do whatever is necessary to
compete with other broadcast stations.
ARCS has been on the tower
free of charge since the late 70's. (Such tower sites
rentals are expensive for commercial users....$500 plus monthly)
We greatly appreciate the generousity of J. C. Lewis, W4LHS (now
a Silent Key) and his family over the years.
ARCS members, the ham
community, CEMA, the National Weather Service, and numerous other
organizations and agencies appreciate all the public service
performed during all this time that 37/97 repeater and associated
hardware has been at this site. It will be a shame if our
community loses such a beneficial resource.
That's as much information
that is available at this time.
Let's hope and pray for a
miracle.
73,
Andy Blackburn, ARCS
Secretary
A few thoughts on a great product, and it's free - Ham Radio Deluxe Software
I want to brag on the amateur radio
software Ham Radio Deluxe by Simon Brown HB9DRV for a moment. It
has been a part of my radio room since day one. If you have a
modern radio and a computer in your radio shack you really owe it to
yourself to check out this great, free software. It is about the
best accessory that I can think of to add to your radio. It
interfaces with most modern radios and takes all the functions and
controls, some of which are buried behind multiple presses of the function
key and layers of menus, and puts them right there on the screen
along with all important operating parameters. HRD connects to
your radio through the CAT interface connection and then to your
computer. You can pay retail price and buy the CAT cable from
Yaesu or your radio maker or buy an aftermarket cable on ebay.
In my case, the Yaesu cable was an old style serial connection so in
part that dictated the computer I am using for radio control. On
ebay you can get a pre-made cable that connects to a USB port. I
didn't know this when I got mine. I have a computer dedicated to
operation of the radio but might also open an internet browser, but
that's about all I run on it.
Setup and connection was super easy and
the first time I used my radio I had it connected to the computer
using HRD software. I cannot imagine using this tiny (but great)
radio any other way. About the only controls I ever touch on the
radio are the on/off button, the button to activate the 60 meter band
and the tuning knob. I still like to spin the knob, which
instantly reads out on the screen via Ham Radio Deluxe. Every
other control; band changes, recalling from memory, or any operating
control other than the few I mentioned I control from the interface
screen. HRD allows customization of the GUI so you can really
make it look any way you want. I change mine constantly, making
little tweaks here and there now that I have settled on a basic layout.
HRD contains the best logging software I have ever seen. It opens as a tab on the operating screen. It interfaces with QRZ to fill in information and it records time, frequency, virtually everything from the radio as you log to call. It contains extensive data handling capabilities such as tracking status of QSL's etc. There is a satellite tracking program as part of the program that works great and it handles all the digital modes, but I have yet to use them. Oh, and I forgot to mention you can run your radio from a remote location, like in another room on a laptop or desktop computer. This is a really great feature I seldom take advantage of but it is there and works great. I have not tried it over the internet outside my home network but I understand it works that way too. And best of all, it's free !! You've got to check it out. Go to http://hrd.ham-radio.ch/ Wednesday May 16th, 2007 - After several months of operating on HF and
listening around a lot I have found several areas that I am interested
in and having fun playing with. For one thing, my interest in weak
signal work on 2 meter SSB and 6 meters has been renewed by making
several new radio friends and quite a few new contacts. Band
openings on 2 and 6 happen much more often than I thought, but the small
number of people operating on these bands and the fact that most of
those people do not keep the same schedule as me gives the perception/reality
that the bands are dead. So late night band openings and middle of
the day opportunities go largely unused. I can hear beacons on
both bands, but there is no one there when I am calling to answer my
CQ’s. Fortunately some of these band openings have happened on
the weekends, and that is when I have made almost all my new contacts.
But I am still listening and calling CQ late at
night. If you are interested in giving any of the modes/bands I am
able to operate on a try and if you are a night owl, whether you are
near or far, maybe we can catch a band opening in the middle of the
night and make contact. I am having a lot of fun with the 60 meter band.
I have made a lot of new friends on 60 in the region and even made
contacts from as far away at the 10 meters has opened up recently on a pretty
regular basis and I have done my best to take advantage of it. My
buddy Lyndy (ND4XE) and I have been hitting some 10 meter FM repeaters
up in I am getting on the air each Saturday morning now
and checking into the Georgia Crackers net on 80 meters. I’m
also spending at least a little time most nights listening around and
talking when I can around 3800, listening for European DX and on 40
meters when it is active. If I can get on the air mid-afternoon I
like to try 20, 17 and 15 meters and I’ll always give a quick check of
6 meters, 2 meters and 70 centimeters. More updates for follow as time and conditions
allow. Sunday March 1st, 2007 - I've been on the air for a little over a week and just last night my upgrade appeared on the FCC website, so I can drop the stroke AG. And what a great week of getting my feet wet on HF. I've made numerous contact on just about every band except 160 meters. I've talked to folks in European and South American countries as well as the Caribbean and already quite a few states in the USA. The work I put into planning and building my antennas using the advice of many of my HAM friends paid off. Everything works great and very little tweaking has been necessary. I'm making a lot of new friends on the amateur bands. If I talked to you and you're reading my website know that I enjoyed making your contact and if we haven't talked yet, I hope we cross paths on the future. Sunday Feb. 18th, 2007 - With only a week to go before new rules take effect and I can have my ticket for HF punched, I am looking forward to getting on the air. I have been working on my antenna systems and look forward to trying them out and tweaking them. I have been trying to work 6 meters with a new antenna I built as well and a little 2 meter and 70cm SSB. At least for now I have decided they are a wasteland. Aside from 5 contacts total on 2 meters and 70cm those bands have been hours of wasted calling and listening. Although I have only heard a lot of guys with kilowatt amplifiers and multi-element beams there also seem to be plenty of operators only running 100 watts into wire antennas like me from Canada to the Caribbean and out to California. Recent remodeling of my shop space has given me a lot more room for my radio hobby. The area that has doubled as a wood shop for about 3 years needed to change to handle a larger collection of radio and computer stuff. So the wood shop has grown wheels and will move outside in nicer weather when needed. January 20th, 2006 - UPDATE - I took the General test, element 3, Saturday January 20th in Brunswick and Passed. It's a happy day !! New no-code Amateur rules to take effect February 23rd, 2007 SB QST ARL ARLB004 ARLB004 Codeless Amateur Radio testing tentatively begins February 23 Tuesday Jan. 16th, 2007 - First entry - The code had always been a showstopper for me. Like sleeping through a French class, it was always that exciting. I know, some people love it and many of my HAM buddies think it is a right of passage for any serious Amateur Operator. (and dammit they had to learn it) But it kept me back in the hobby for a long time and I'm glad to see it go from the test. Good riddance to it as a filter to keep out the undesirable from HAM radio. My initial interest in radio dates back to 1962.
My dad got us a Hallicrafters S53-A receiver and strung a wire
antenna up between some trees. I listened to stations from around the world and covered the
walls of my room with QSL cards. I listened to the HAM bands a lot.
I also remember listening to police, taxis and some old radio telephones
back then but I have no idea what radio that was on. So
I became a listener, an SWL enthusiast, and was satisfied with that as a kid until I
discovered girls, photography, rock and roll music and then broadcasting. I earned my no code tech ticket at the first
testing session under the new rules I could find. My buddy Lyndy Brannen
(now ND4XE) and I went to the Charleston, SC Hamfest in 1991 and took and
passed the test. My given
call at that time was KC4YEC. I was very active for about 5 years on VHF and UHF
from my QTH on Tybee Island Georgia.
It was an ideal location for working stations up and down the
eastern seaboard.
I was off the air until October of 2006.
That’s when my friend Mark Eversoll (KQ4WT) gave me some old
radio gear of his and I set it up and got back on the air on the 146.970
repeater in Savannah.
Lyndy told me about the vanity call program that had come about while I was inactive so I checked that out. While I was exploring the database of unused calls I discovered that W4SGA was available. Everyone that is about my age or older that grew up around Savannah Georgia in the 60's - early 80's knew the "Rocking 140 WSGA". It was a 1000 watt day/250 watt night AM station on 1400 that was the local rocker and EVERYONE listened to it. It was also the first radio station were I was exposed to world of broadcasting. So I was simply stunned !! I couldn't believe
that call sign was up for grabs. So I paid for it and got
it. So in tribute to all the guys that were "Goodtimers" on WSGA AM in Savannah, I honor them by keeping their call alive and on the air. And I sure love saying it. OK, I had the bug again.
And I now have the ideal spot for transmitting here at my new
house on the Ogeechee River in South Bryan County, EM91, near Richmond
Hill, Georgia. I have ample
real estate for any kind of antenna I might want to put up and a large
area for a radio shack in my shop.
This is my QTH on the Ogeechee River in Bryan County Georgia. The wooded area on the right side of the house in this picture is where all my antennas are discreetly located. I just got a new Yaesu FT-857d radio that I am controlling using Ham Radio Deluxe software via a CAT interface. I highly recommend that as a compliment to this radio if you haven't tried it. It puts all the functions of the radio on your computer screen and I mean all of them. It is very intuitive to use and allows full customization of GUI. Not only will it operate this and many other Yaesu radios, it will operate most CAT controllable radios. It also has one of the best satellite tracking programs I've used. And I love the log book that allows QRZ lookups and easy transfer of information to the log file. I have a 35-foot push up pole with a vertical for 2 meters
FM as well as a rotatable Cushcraft A270-6S yagi for 2 meter and 70 cm
SSB. I have made a number
of contacts now on 2 meter SSB but only one on 70 cm.
I’m still trying.
I have set up a all-band doublet wire antenna also,
configured as an inverted V that I have been using to work 6 meters, but
so far with limited success, outside of local contacts. But I believe it is due more to poor band conditions.
It is running balanced line into an MFJ-969 Deluxe Versa Tuner 2. I am also spending a lot of time listening to HF
using this antenna and the Yaesu FT-857. The recent Report and Order from the FCC and its decision to drop the code requirement for all classes of licenses has rekindled my interest in the hobby and I plan to upgrade in the next couple of weeks to General. So I hope to talk to you all on HF very soon.
Until then I’ll be listening. I can frequently be contacted on the 146.970
repeater in Savannah and I am almost always monitoring 144.200 Mhz USB
when I am in my radio shack. My
most active times on the air are late nights as well as weekends. Drop me a note if you want to try a contact on any band I can work. 73 - Jerry Perlman - W4SGA
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Marconi
the HAM
KITTY calls the
shack home
When the Internet came along in the mid 1990’s
and computers starting to really become the tools of choice in my
business, broadcast television, my attention was diverted from HAM radio
to computers.
I am experimenting with some satellite work,
particularly AO-51 and building various antennas for 6 meters.
