VK TechNet No 28

 

VK3UA Mark

VK3DFL Jim

VK3HJV Paul

Just general chat about conditions, some dx worked, and antenna work needing done.

VK TechNet No 27

 Participants:

VK3UA - Mark

VK3DFL - Jim

VK3ZPG - Steve

VK3DJC - Dave

Steve was testing a Yaesu FT-101E he has been working on. The tx frequency was still slightly out of align with the rx freq, so a bit more to do. 

Dave worked China on 15m and Oman on 10m this week. Some good DX.

Jim's been working on the shack cabling. "it's a bit messy" . . 

VK Tech Net No "no idea"

 Well, it's October tomorrow. 

I see I haven't list a Tech Net since March. I guess I am not so much a blogger, as a radio buff. I spend most of my time playing radio, not blogging.

While there has pretty much been a Net every week, I think there may have been a couple missed, so there have been roughly 24 weeks - 2 or 3 missed ones, so lets call it 21 Nets since March. Add the 5 already blogged and round it out at 26 VK Tech Nets to date.

That's not bad considering I didn't think it would last more than a month or two.

There have been the net mainstays of course, most notably Jim - VK3DFL. Jim has only missed 1 VK Tech Net and has run the net for me a number of times that I have been unavailable. A Big Thanks, Jim.

Participants tonight:

VK3UA - Mark

VK3HEW - Peter

VK3HJV - Paul

Had a chat about the Artemis 1 moon mission and the payload from JAXA and also full wave loop antennas. SDR receivers were also mentioned.

VK Tech Net No 5

 This weeks net was about shack and tower  grounding, or earthing.

It was discussed about using house (metal) water pipe as your shack ground. It was general consensus that this is a bad idea. There can actually be leakage voltage on the pipes from the electric hot water system, if that's what you have. VK3DFL, who is a retired plumber, wasn't on the net, but discussing it with him later confirmed that it was definitely a bad idea to use metal water pipes as a ground.

It was agreed that a reasonable system is 2 ground rods, about 1.5 to 2 metres apart, connected by decent earth wire and fed to some sort of metal bus-bar in the shack, that the ground terminal on radios and equipment can be connected to.

A lot of towers are mounted ion concrete blocks and are thus not grounded. A heavy wire can be clamped to a leg of the mast and connected to a ground stake.

Ian, VK3DNQ, explained how his hazer type tower was grounded by 4 rods that are connected to the tower in the concrete base and protruding into the surrounding soil to spread any lightning strike out. 

Recording to come . . . 

 

Participants: 

1. VK3UA (NC) - Mark 
2. VK3DNQ - Ian
   
3. VK3HJV - Paul

Call-in:

1. VK3STV - Stephen (was going to participate but he is an SES volunteer and was called out just after the net started.) 

 

Thank-you to all who participated. 

73

Cambo

 

VK Tech Net No 4

We talked about random wire end fed antennas and matching, as well as open wire feed line.

L-Match's were agreed to be a good tuning option for  random wire end fed antennas and for half wave end fed it appeared to be a fixed wound toroid as the impedance match.

Open wire feed was a mix of commercial and home brew feeder. A few different methods of construction were used for the home brew feed. Spacing was variable depending on application.

Recording to come . . .

Participants: 

1. VK3UA (NC) - Mark 
2. VK3DFL - Jim
   
3. VK3UCD - David
4. VK3DJC - Dave
5. VK3ZPG - Steve
6. VK3KK - Shaun

Call-in:

1. VK3BRZ - Phillip 

 

Thank-you to all who participated. 

73

Cambo

VK Tech Net No 3

 

More information to come . . .

Participants: 

1. VK3UA (NC) - Mark 
2. VK3ZPG - Steve
3. VK3DJC - Dave
4. VK3DFL - Jim 
5. VK3UCD - David
6. VK3DNQ - Ian
   
7. VK3HJV - Paul
8. VK3HEW - Peter
9. VK3LTA - Trevor
10. VK3MCL - Scott
    

Thank-you to all who participated. 

73

Cambo

Sota Gear Bag

I recently bought an SW-3B 3 band CW transceiver for quick and easy SOTA activation's. 

I have an old laptop bag that I use to take my Yaesu ft-817 and associated gear portable, but it is too big for the sw-3b, so I decided to buy a smaller shoulder bag to carry it.

When I was in the Army we had some various canvas bags we used that would have been ideal, so I looked around for something similar.

I had a look on Amazon at this one - Jonon Vintage Military Men Canvas Messenger Bag but I felt it was a bit expensive for my needs. I also found this one - Neumora Retro Canvas Messenger Bag and while the price was OK, it is a bit fancy and would get wrecked

In the end I found this one - Retro Vintage Military Canvas Bag - on eBay that looked OK and was only about $28.00, so I bought the khaki coloured one to see if it was suitable. 

Honestly, at the price I wasn't expecting much, so I was quite surprised at the quality of it when I received it. The canvas is reasonable, and so far, the zips have held up well. It is just the right size for my SW-3B, mini atu, longwire antenna, cw paddle, and portable 9600mAh battery. Also a couple of pockets for bits and pieces. And I can still fit a couple of sandwiches and a can of drink in it.

 

Khaki canvas bag for SOTA portable with SW-3B CW Transceiver

Inside view of SOTA bag. Plenty of room.

 

If you wanted more room, the Jonon Vintage Military Men Canvas Messenger Bag on Amazon is bigger but more expensive.

Anyway, a few club members were interested in the bag, so I put the details here in the hope it helps some-one out.

73

Cambo

VK Tech Net No 2

 

 

More information to come . . .

Participants: 

1. VK3UA (NC) - Mark 
2. VK3DFL - Jim 
3. VK3ZPG - Steve
   
4. VK3HJV - Paul
5. VK3DJC - Dave
   

Call-ins: 

1. VK3KHT - Bill

Thank-you to all who participated. 

73

Cambo

VK Tech Net No. 1

VK Tech Net No. 1 occurred on 4th Feb, 2022. 

There were 4 participants, including Net Control, and 2 call-ins.

NC introduced the net and proceeded with the topic for the night, which was: managing transceiver temperature in a hot operating environment.

This came about from the experience of a local ham whose transceiver suddenly stopped transmitting mid over during a contest on a hot day. He estimated the temp in the shack to be over 40℃. Testing the transmitter later found there was now no output power on transmit, so it doesn't look good for the finals.

VK3UFO was the first to respond.

Summary: Jim's recommendation was to make sure there is nothing on or around the radio that is blocking airflow. If the radio is still running hot, an external fan can be employed to blow air across the radio's heatsink to provide further cooling. Need to note that when running digital modes the radio's amplifier is working much harder than when running SSB.

 Audio of VK3UFO - managing transceiver temperature in a hot operating environment

VK3ZPG then responded from the point of view of valve transmitters.

Summary: Steve said that the best practice with valve transmitters is to use a fan to suck heat out, rather than blow cooler air in as it tends to go to spots that can be damaged.

Audio of VK3ZPG - managing transceiver temperature in a hot operating environment

VK3DFL, Jim, mentioned it is possible to mount a computer muffin fan on the heatsink of your radio.

With no further input about the nights topic, NC then asked if there were any other questions, or information, that anyone would like to provide on any technical topic related to ham radio.

With no responses forthcoming, NC thanked the participants and closed the net.

Listen to complete VK Tech Net 1

From this small beginning, I hope that this net will continue to grow from here.

Participants: 

1. VK3UA (NC) - Mark 
2. VK3DFL - Jim 
3. VK3UFO - Jim 
4. VK3ZPG - Steve 

Call-ins: 

1. VK3LTA - Trevor 
2. VK3UCD - David 

Thank-you to all who participated. 

73

Cambo

VK Tech Net - Protocol

 The VK Tech Net is run a bit differently to the usual net operation of ham radio operators calling in and going onto a list, to then be called in order to have a say.

Read about the ideas behind the VK Tech Net

This net is run in segments.

Generally like this:

Net Control (NC) will open the net. There will not be a call in.

NC will announce the topic of the Learning Section, and then continue with it.

Learning Section - about some aspect of radio operation or setup. Possibly in response to questions on previous nets. These Learning Sections will also be posted on this website for later reference. Where possible they may be interactive. This section may be run by NC, or there may be another operator that will be announced to run it.

Q+A Section - Technical. Anyone with a technical question they would like answered  (eg. my radio doesn't work. What's wrong?) can call in to ask for help. Others on the net will then be asked if they can offer assistance. NC may also make a suggestion to help resolve the issue. At times, for longer responses, the involved parties will be asked to QSY to continue their "thread". They can then return to the net when finished if they like.

Q+A Section - Antennas. As above.

Info Section. This is the more general section of the net and will work more like a normal net. NC will ask if anyone wants to contribute information about something they are working on, involved in, or planning, about radio that will be useful to other participants. 

The net will be closed when NC decides they have had enough. At this time, NC will conduct a call in, ala WIA broadcast style, of anyone who would like to announce their involvement, whether it be active, or just listening in. There will be no judgement of SWLing. I am sick of snide comments on other nets about those who just want to listen in. 

Let me be clear about the running of this net:

NC WILL decide what is RELEVANT to the ideals of the net, and will MANAGE the nets content. That may mean informing you that your topic is not relevant to the current activity on the net. 

If you don't agree with the NC's decision, remember, you are not obliged to participate in the net.

73 

Cambo

VK Tech Net - beginnings

I had been thinking about starting a net on 80 Metres for a long time. 

Not that there aren't enough nets around, but on the whole they are pretty bland. Just "g'day, nice weather, my sciatica is playing up, 73". 

While I am not against chat or welfare nets, they just don't get my interest. 

I want to talk about Ham Radio. You know, electronics, transmitters, receivers, components, accessories, mobile set-ups, portable operating gear and "go bags", field day how to, modes of operation, and of course, antennas. 

Basically anything and everything technical about ham radio, in the broader sense of the word.

I believe there is just not enough of this information being disseminated (look it up) on the air regularly.

Anyway, a conversation with local ham Steve, VK3ZPG, and subsequent conversations with some recently licensed hams at the club, prompted me to make a decision and kick things off. The net is not a club activity. This is open to all licensed hams that can hear us and want to participate.

I have had a lot of thoughts about the format and how to run it, but ultimately, it's going to be suck it and see. The net will evolve in it's own way.

Will it work? Is the interest there?

My hope is that it will be useful.

Time will tell.

73

Cambo

Radio Blog Marker - kind of like a test point on a circuit board.

Nothing of interest here. I am calling this a Marker post. It's just for me to remember that this is the very next post from the one about the HB9CV 2m antenna in 2015.

Jan 2022. Whew! Almost 7 years. It is amazing how days roll into weeks into months into years. 

I kinda have the work/life excuse, but not really. I have been doing all sorts of ham radio stuff over that period, I just didn't get around to adding it to the blog. 

I think I must have done something of interest to some-one in that time, so I am going to add posts that I will date before this post to match at about the time they happened, but I will be adding them from now on.

Also, the reason I started this blog was really to be "My Diary" of my ham radio pursuits just for me to look back on, so I want to get stuff down while I can remember it. 

Makes a great place to bookmark ham radio sites and blogs I like as well.

Oh yeah. And link to my other websites.

73

Cambo

Neumora Retro Canvas Messenger Bag Small Shoulder Crossbody Bag Travel Sling Bag Shopping Purse for men women (Black small)

Jonon Vintage Military Men Canvas Messenger Bag for 13.3-17" Laptop (Size 17.3", Green)