So who's up for radio tonight?

[N8YX]

I'm going to slip out for a quick bite to eat but should be back in-shack around 9PM.

Jim...Charles...Ron...anyone?

I'll be loud this time around; planning on using the Cubic Astro station plus amp.

[KJ3N]

I'll be loud this time around; planning on using the Cubic Astro station plus amp.

Compensating for something, are we? :chin:

:lol:

[KG4CGC]

Let's give it a try and see what hell conditions hath wrought. The pattern of afternoon tunder bumers seems to be giving way to dryer conditions.
Send me a text as a reminder if I don't look active on the board.

[N8YX]

Compensating for something, are we? :chin:

:lol:
Why, yes...I am. You folks should have a relatively high QRN level on the low bands, what with all the storms in the area. As good as Wayne and crew are with the K3's DSP software, I doubt that it'll effectively scrub THAT garbage out of your passband... :whistle:

[N8YX]

Back in shack now. Though I'm currently tuned for ~3840 I can go elsewhere depending on who's playing.

Anyone else near a rig?

[KJ3N]

You people and your General frequencies.... :roll:

When the hell are you gonna upgrade, Charles? :stickpoke:

I'm gettin' tired of this. :-P

[N8YX]

You people and your General frequencies.... :roll:

When the hell are you gonna upgrade, Charles? :stickpoke:

I'm gettin' tired of this. :-P
Pick something in the Extree area and let's go.

[KJ3N]

Pick something in the Extree area and let's go.

I'm looking... 3681?

[KG4CGC]

Too ghetto?

[KG4CGC]

The noise is the same in the extra portion.

[N8YX]

I'm looking... 3681?
I'm headed there.

Charles:

I haz two VFOs on the rig I'm using. I can alternate between them.

[KJ3N]

The noise is the same in the extra portion.

Ah.... no, it isn't.... ;)

[KG4CGC]

Ah.... no, it isn't.... ;)
Ouch! You go drink your green apple blueberry vodka martinis, tough guy.

Fred, there is a group that started up on 3.840 out of Florida. I tried to sign off but they started talking.

[KJ3N]

Ouch! You go drink your green apple blueberry vodka martinis, tough guy.

Fred, there is a group that started up on 3.840 out of Florida. I tried to sign off but they started talking.

So, find us a shady spot and Fred and I will join you.

[N8YX]

Let us know.

I just put a low-pass filter between amp and tuner...still herringboning my downstairs (shack) TV but nothing on the upstairs unit. Since the TV is sitting 3 feet from the amp I'm guessing it's near-field overload, plain and simple.

[KG4CGC]

You guys have fun. I'll be on later.
I'm going to open up the 570 while this wild hair is still young.

[KJ3N]

:wtf: How the fsck go you General guys put up with this stuff? Maybe it's because my antenna is as high as it is, but it's a fscking nightmare finding a clear frequency up here. :wtf:

[N9FE]

3838 is clear right now. Don't how good i'll hear you guys though

[N8YX]

Tuned up there now.

[KJ3N]

I'm in the kitchen. Hold the fort until I get back.

[N9FE]

Lightning is not to terrible

[KJ3N]

I'm in the kitchen. Hold the fort until I get back.

OK... late nite pasta dish.. Coke and DiSarrono... back in front of the radio....

[KB3LAZ]

OK... late nite pasta dish.. Coke and DiSarrono... back in front of the radio....

Hum that sounds good. I almost forgot about DiSarrono, that is something I actually like to drink.

As for the radio..Im not at the shack nor the house that contains said shack but I have my new receiver with me..not that it will do me much good in this case.

[KG4CGC]

Wow Fred, you're really fading in and out. Barefoot?
BTW, on my last transmission, did I fade out or did you guys get tired of listening to me?:-D

[N9FE]

everyone is equal with the lightning except jim

[KG4CGC]

Yeah, Jim is pretty strong. Coke and DiSaronno do a radio good.

[N8YX]

There's a lot of fading going on...the tuner arcing over on high power didn't help.

Fix for that is to swap an MN2700 into the lineup tomorrow evening - it can accommodate a dummy load via a rear-panel connection and thus can be used for off-air tuneup of the amplifier.

[KG4CGC]

Sorry to hear about the arcing. Splains things since I thought I heard you talk about that. Conditions did seem like they were getting better but then the intensity of the crashes came back and you and N9FE started having fading problems. I was hopeful. I pushed every filter button on the speaker on and off and twisted every related knob to and fro. AGC fast, AGC slow, notch up notch down, it wasn't a go.

I'm a poet and I don't show it but my feet know it. They're broke off in Pauly Jr's ass.

[WØTKX]

The lightning is too nutty here. Tornado watch is over tho...

[KG4CGC]

See now Jim is blowing my doors off and Fed is coming and going but mostly going.
The static crashes are getting sharper, almost off the chart, if I had a chart.

[KJ3N]

Yeah, Jim is pretty strong. Coke and DiSaronno do a radio good.

The drink has very little to do with the signal. :-P ;) :lol:

[WØTKX]

Band is getting longer, and you're hearing the storms out west...

2932

[kd8dey]

No HF Antenna Dangnabbit. guess I'll have to save up for a Dipole.

[KG4CGC]

No HF Antenna Dangnabbit. guess I'll have to save up for a Dipole.
Can you load up your rain gutters on one side and the plumbing on the other?

[KJ3N]

..... and Fred is coming and going but mostly going.

".... and always too soon..."


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-pmpgrYQgs

:rofl: :rofl:

[KG4CGC]

I do have a rather odd antenna. Works OK out of the valley I'm in ... but.
Always a but, gonna shoot for higher feedpoint and more wire. Always use more wire. LOL! Think I'll stick a 20m folded dipole on it too just to make sure.

[N9FE]

I did'nt even see those storms last night. No wonder you guys were getting knocked out to the east.. We'll try er again though.

[N8YX]

I did'nt even see those storms last night. No wonder you guys were getting knocked out to the east.. We'll try er again though.
Let me get the tuners switched around. It'll be easier to load the amp that way.

[KC2UGV]

No HF Antenna Dangnabbit. guess I'll have to save up for a Dipole.

Do you have coax and some wire? You can get yourself a dipole in about 30 minutes time + $20.

[N8YX]

Tuner replaced - and the Drake unit works a lot better than the Cubic did.

Saw about 700w PEP out of the amp a bit ago, and will leave it tuned for 3840 or thereabouts.

[N9FE]

The two ohio guys on right now are twenty over. Lightning seems nill right now.

[kd8dey]

Being a little more serious if you can imagine that....
I've got about 1/2 of a spool of #12 solid ground wire that I could use in a pinch along with an old RAIC Balun BUT I don't know if it is still good. while taking my antenna apart before the recent move, One of the terminals felt like it turned in the housing while loosening a wing nut and I don't know if the internal connection was damaged or not.

I also have a 4:1 balun but I believe that it is the voltage type instead of current along with a hand full of insulators.....

The thing I have to worry about is how to hang it. no convenient trees, single story house..... Will probably have to get around 4-5 10' mast pipes and dig a hole.......

[N8YX]

The thing I have to worry about is how to hang it. no convenient trees, single story house..... Will probably have to get around 4-5 10' mast pipes and dig a hole.......
That setup just screams "vertical". Another thing you might look into doing is to use 40' or so of sectional aluminum military mast as the center support for a "shorty" (loaded) 80-40M inverted vee. Choose your inner length wisely, add a pair of 16ft wires to each side and you'll get 80-40-20-15M operation. Then put a 102" CB whip and a few radials at the very top of the mast and you'll get 10...

[WØTKX]

An Antron 99 on the top? :lol:

[KG4CGC]

The guys in Florida are dowing my bloors off on 3.840:lol:

[kd8dey]

That setup just screams "vertical". Another thing you might look into doing is to use 40' or so of sectional aluminum military mast as the center support for a "shorty" (loaded) 80-40M inverted vee. Choose your inner length wisely, add a pair of 16ft wires to each side and you'll get 80-40-20-15M operation. Then put a 102" CB whip and a few radials at the very top of the mast and you'll get 10...

I've already been playing around with the K7MEM site on shorty antennas and have a pair of coils made (values verified with O-Scope/LCR circuit) for a 160m shorty @ 110 ft. I was planning to install at a friends QTH. need to do a little measuring and trig to figure out what kind of lengths I can get away with. (do the sides of a triangle thingy) :)
just a matter of stashing away a few bucks here and there till I've hidden away enough

[N8YX]

I've already been playing around with the K7MEM site on shorty antennas and have a pair of coils made (values verified with O-Scope/LCR circuit) for a 160m shorty @ 110 ft. I was planning to install at a friends QTH. need to do a little measuring and trig to figure out what kind of lengths I can get away with. (do the sides of a triangle thingy) :)
just a matter of stashing away a few bucks here and there till I've hidden away enough

2x 2" ID x 4" OD PVC pipe coil forms

70ft #14 enameled solid wire

-or-

2x 2" x 5" x 1/4" Lucite blocks

70ft #14 solid bare copper

1 3/32" drill bit

Follow Bob's coil-construction technique


Both of these approaches make the required loading inductors.


About 200ft #14 stranded copper wire

Three ceramic insulators

1/2" x 8ft PVC pipe

-or-

solid ABS rod for element spacers


Feedpoint choke consists of 10t of your feedline coiled in a 6" dia coil.

Git 'er done.

[kd8dey]

this is the antenna I was using before I moved (spi-ro as-2)

http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee58/bubbathegimp/flags-1.jpg

I'm slowly working on the replacement

http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee58/bubbathegimp/0608000006.jpg

42 turns #12awg solid insulated ground wire (over all turn spacing spacing .122" due to insulation) on 4" (4 1/2" dia PVC) 1/4 " hardware 138.6uh
according to the MEM site I need to add 33 feet #12 between the coils and balun and another 22 feet approx. from the outside end of the coils to the outer insulators (plan to make a little long then tune with mfj-259) tune for 3.6mhz should work on 160 though limited in bandwith.....

[N9FE]

Did you guys try last night. I yelled a few on 3838 at 9pm cnt.

[WØTKX]

NE and KS were too electrified, lame with lightning here again.

[N8YX]

I spent last evening swapping out the Cubic stuff for a TR-5 / R-7 / RV-75 combo. The Cubic amp is still inline and with 80w out from the Drake I'm getting around 700w single-tone from it. On SSB the setup just plays and plays - no exciter or amplifier instability and the amplifier tuning is very smooth.

I'm half-tempted to figure a QCD way to run 220 into the shack then drag one of my L75s out and place it in service.

Here's the interesting part:

Cubic's HF PA (ubiquitous across their entire solid-state product line) consists of a 2N3866 driving 2x MRF433 driving 2x MRF458s. Input band-pass filtering is used and the PA is capable of 100w out, though I've throttled mine back a tad.

The Drake TR-5 PA is almost identical with regards to semiconductors, biasing and input filtering, but their pre-driver transistor is a TO-220 device (which really doesn't affect the stability of the circuit). Of note is the output filtering circuit: It's a 5-pole band-pass design. Apparently it's enough to make a difference.

Cubic's mobile rigs - the 150A, 151 and 150C (commercial), as well as the Astro B and D series all feature output band-pass filtering and I've never had a lick of trouble from the PA assemblies in any of them.

For the moment, it looks lke the Drakes have found their way back onto the desk.

Wanna make a purist scream, cry and bawl? I'm planning to add an audio notch filter and an IF Gain control to each of my TR-5s and will use OEM Kurz-Kasch concentric knobs for that "stock" look. Might even add a preamp while I'm in there... :whistle:

[KG4CGC]

Did you guys try last night. I yelled a few on 3838 at 9pm cnt.
Should have posted here that you were!
We're getting ready to get hit by a strong concentrated line right now. A line of what you ask?

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c79/bebop5/RADAR_3.png

[N9FE]

A line of getting yo azz wet. We'll check back later. Quite here right now.

[N8YX]

A few sprinkles in the area.

I have to prep 'DSG's projectile launcher for a sight-in session tomorrow and will be occupied with that until 9ish or thereabouts. Afterward I'll be available...

[WØTKX]

Lightning is strong again, can't hear all the Possums on 3843... 40 is a little better noise wise.

The "clean" used MFJ989C showed up today. Working (slowly, one handed) on putting the Pegasus back on the air.

Gonna try to get it running with the mixer in the Tascam Portastudio.

[KG4CGC]

Lightning is strong again, can't hear all the Possums on 3843... 40 is a little better noise wise.

The "clean" used MFJ989C showed up today. Working (slowly, one handed) on putting the Pegasus back on the air.

Gonna try to get it running with the mixer in the Tascam Portastudio.
How clean is it?

[WØTKX]

Nothing rattles, only one case scratch. Roller inductor works smoothly end to end.

[KG4CGC]

Cool.
Looking at a Drake tuner. Still no WARC bands but you could tune a bucket with it.

[WØTKX]

Breakfast Club is a little hard to hear...

[N9FE]

There might be a chance tonight. I'll leave er on 3838 after 8pm cen

[KG4CGC]

Afternoon storms. Common pattern here.

[NA4BH]

It's the prostate net on 3838 tonight.

[KG4CGC]

The Florida guys? I spoke with one of them briefly last week. They meet on 3.838 but it isn't regular. Castor Oil Net? LOL!

[N9FE]

The bunch on 3840 were covering 38 pretty good. We'll have to kind of check around for a better freq.

[N8YX]

Speaking of that vicinity: Did anyone see where the Marconi Net ended up last evening? Someone was QRMing the snot outta them Tuesday night when the net was on 3843.

[WØTKX]

That's a popular freq for QRMers as the Possum Net/Group attracts negative attention from idiots resorting to stupidity instead of discussion.

[N8YX]

Pick a frequency, gang. I'm in the shack and wanting to radio....

[WØTKX]

I've been farting around on 10.

14.313? I'm there now.

CQ CQ CQ, The Island of Misfit Hams. W0TKX, Dave in Denver.

[WØTKX]

28.420 +/-

Ten is still rockin'