![]() | NAQCC News |
July 11, 2009 | NAQCC Web Site | Issue #098 |
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In this issue: 1. July Sprint. 2. June Challenges Results 3. General Club News 4. Featured Award of the Month 5. The NAQCC Elmer Project 6. CW Cartoon of the Month 7. News Items and Articles by Our Members |
1. SPRINT: Our sprint is this Wednesday evening, July 15 8:30-10:30 PM EDT (Thursday 0030-0230Z). Our special award certificate for this sprint goes to the one making the highest score in each division and working stations from the most different USA call areas (max 12 incl. KL7 and KH6). Location determines the call area, not the number in a call. If you're are entering one of our sprints for the first time, we welcome you and hope you will be a regular participant from now on. Last month we welcomed W5YDM, W9WE, W8SH, K5ENA, W0EA, VE5DX, KH6OZ, W7GVE, KB8FE as first time participants and/or log submitters. Remember this is only a very brief overview of the coming sprint. Be sure to read and understand the full general sprint rules and any specific rules for this month's sprint here. ![]() 2. JUNE CHALLENGES RESULTS: The deadline for challenge submissions is just ending about the time of the posting of this newsletter. Barring a last minute entry, the winners of our regular call sign construction challenge were K3WWP with 671 points and N8XMS with 338 points. We had only 6 entries for this fascinating challenge which took a little bit more effort than most of our challenges, especially in the 'figuring out' stage. The winners of the FD challenge were, in the portable division, WY7N with a great total of 43 states worked, and in the home division, KD2MX with 14 states worked. We had 8 entrants in our FD challenge. As always, full challenge info and results can be found here. ![]() 3. GENERAL CLUB NEWS: - We continue to get kudos about our NAQCC newsletter, and since this is a newsletter produced for the entire club by the entire club, I feel these kudos apply to all of you. That is why I like to publish them here. Don WA3ZBJ emails briefly, "Just got my NAQCC Newsletter #97 and it is another great edition! Our newsletters are not only very interesting, but reflect the level of professionalism that we appreciate in the CW end of the bands. Well done!.......congrats on another excellent newsletter." ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() 4. FEATURED AWARD OF THE MONTH: - Our most popular award by far is our 1000MPW award in which you get a certificate for making a QRP QSO where the distance in miles divided by the power in watts gives a figure of 1000 or greater miles per watt. To date we've issued nearly 60 of these awards. Now in conjunction with that award, we have a new one which was suggested by Russ N9IV for making 100 or more such 1000MPW QSO's. It's not as hard as it seems if you are active using QRP power. I (K3WWP) in a rough check of my log show almost 400 such QSO's. That only includes QSO's I've made with countries that are entirely outside 5,000 miles distance ![]() As always, read and be familiar with the complete rules before embarking on earning this or any award. Full NAQCC Awards info here. ![]() 5. THE NAQCC ELMER PROJECT - FROM K5DUZ and N3IJR: - From K3WWP - I didn't receive any material from Ron or Karl for this newsletter, but I checked into the net last Sunday evening, and it was well attended with Karl as NCS. Check-ins while I listened numbered about 5. I can't remember all off-hand, but I remember N8ZYA, KB3SZZ, and a WA8 station. Karl will be including a monthly report listing all check-ins to each net in each of our end-of-month newsletters beginning with the July 25th issue. If you are interested in helping out or need help with any CW and/or QRP matters contact: K5DUZ - ![]() N3IJR - ![]() Also see Elmer Project on the web site. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() 7. NEWS ITEMS AND ARTICLES BY OUR MEMBERS: This section is a forum for you to tell other members what you've been up to on the ham bands or to submit an article dealing with some aspect of CW and QRP operation or equipment. Send your news items and articles to our news editor Paul KD2MX at ![]() (disclaimer) Any views expressed here are those of the member submitting them, and may not be in agreement with those of the NAQCC. ![]() We chose to use Lewis' K3 radio and his Buddy Pole. We met at about 0710 hours our time and started setting up. The Buddy Pole was going to be attached to the back of the caboose that is on display next to the engine from the RJ Corman line. The Buddy Pole was a snap to put together and while Lewis located the parts and assembled them, I set up the table and chairs and made ready for the paperwork that was to be used for contact information. The sun was still low on the horizon with a slight breeze as I climbed the back of the caboose and attached the Buddy Pole to the top of the ladder. While I was setting up the antenna, Lewis connected the K3 to the other end, attached the power, and away we went. We had set up the Buddy Pole for 40 meters and the first thing I heard was a QSO between W9JK and another station. It was a rag chew so I rolled off and heard K4BKD calling CQ. The K3 did what it does so well and I was on K4BKD in a heartbeat. Pete was the op there and he had a good 559 signal. My signal was also a 559 until Pete changed antennas. Then my report went up to 579. Pete is located in Marietta GA and was taking the day off from work to get some things ready for Field Day. As soon as I signed with Pete I heard W9JK, Jim. This time I called him and he came right back. Who said you need more than 5 watts? His signal was 599 from Lafayette, IN. Jim said I had a little QSB but he had solid copy on me. I started to get things together to wrap up the station when I heard my call on the K3. It was AE4DT, Jim, calling from Cartersville GA. He gave me a 569 report and his report was the same. He was running 10 watts and was solid copy. As the QSO went on I realized it was time to break down the station and get somewhere that was a little cooler. So after signing with Jim, Lewis and I shut down and put away everything with great hopes for the upcoming Field Day 2009. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() I originally was going to use RG-174 for the cable and still might as it is extra light for backpacking and at 25 feet in length, the line loss is negligible while operating on 20 meters. The 1320 will put out about 5 watts if you cut your antenna accurately and tune it right, so for QRP ops the little bit of extra line loss is acceptable. With a 2 watt or under rig, I probably wouldn't try it. I'll be modifying the 1320 with a BNC antenna connector (instead of using an adapter) and a DC plug to replace the RCA power connector for the battery for field use. Why Ten-Tech uses an RCA jack for power I don't know. ![]() 20 Meter QRP Wire Antenna Calculations Center Frequency: 14.060 Mhz 41.586 Mhz 3rd Harmonic Quarter wave Vertical is: 16.64 feet 19.60 foot ground radials Five eights wave Vertical is: 43.39 feet 16.64 foot ground plane Three Quarter wave Vertical: 51.64 feet 8.32 foot eighth-wave Halfwave wire dipole is: 33.29 feet 16.64 one side. Low Mount Halfwave is: 32.57 feet 16.29 one side. Halfwave folded dipole is: 32.86 feet 16.43 one side. Halfwave inverted V is: 34.50 feet 17.25 one side. Parts List for Inverted "V" QRP Wire Dipole Antenna DISTRIBUTOR DESCRIPTION CATALOG QTY TEN-TEC Acro-Bat Antenna Hanger 3003 1 HAMCITY DogBone Antenna Insulator Q-DBI 2 HAMCITY Dacron Lanyard, 3/32" 815 64 HAMCITY Wireman Antenna Wire 14AWG SKU 36 HAMCITY Ground strap GS 3 ALL ELEC RG-58 25 ft BNC Cable CBL-25 1 WALMART Coghlan 10" Nail Tent Pegs N/A 4 Total spent for all the components was $41.49. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Just a couple of notes if you want to duplicate my efforts with a globe. If your ring is marked in degrees, you can easily find the 1000 mile points. One degree on Earth is very close to 69.2 miles, so 1000 miles would be 1000/69.2 or 14.45 degrees. Just mark off each increment of 14.45 degrees as I have done on my globe and you're all set with a quick check for 1000MPW QSO's. Of course if you run 2 watts, then any QSO with a country that is entirely more than 2,000 miles distant is such a QSO, and so forth for different powers. The trouble lies with those countries that are bisected by the 5,000 mile marker (if you run 5 watts) - for example Asiatic Russia as you can see on my globe. Then you have to either check the specific city in that country or if it is too close to the 5,000 mile mark or the city is not shown, then you have to use one of the Internet distance calculators to be sure. |
The publication of our next newsletter will be announced via email to all members for whom we have a valid email address unless they specifically have unsubscribed from the email. Unless otherwise credited, all items are written by K3WWP. If you came directly to this newsletter, we invite you now to browse the NAQCC Web Site. |