Everyone wants to improve their signal quality, work more DX stations, make more QSOs, and earn higher contest scores.

Should you buy an amplifier or beef up your antenna system?

Both are good ideas, but is amping up worth the additional investment?

What’s in Your Ham Station?

For starters, let’s assume that you have a typical shack. Your 100W transceiver connects to a coax-fed dipole (or several) through a built-in or external antenna tuner. Thanks to the tuner, your rig can put out full power regardless of actual antenna/feedline SWR on the various bands you work. You use the same basic setup as most of your ham friends and the guys in the local radio clubs. 

If everyone has been using this setup, it must be good, right?  Maybe, maybe not. You tune in some stations calling CQ, but for some reason they don’t always answer your reply. Maybe it’s band conditions, or a stronger station is overpowering your signal. Shouldn’t it be easier than this?

You pause for a moment and dream about adding an Acom 1000 HF+6 Meter Linear Amplifier to your station (see below). Certainly, 1kW will help you kick butt in a DX pileup and let you cut though all the noise and interference. Flip the switch, tune, and be heard!

Then reality sets in and you go back to making calls with your 100W radio.

Although you may not know it, you can likely get more signal for a lot less money. Rather than shelling out thousands for an amp up front, I’d suggest you try a three-step approach to getting your signal heard. Utilizing all three will get you the best results in the long run, but you may find improving your antenna system is enough.

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A 3-Step Approach for Improving Your Ham Radio Signal

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Step 1: Skill vs. Brute Force

Anyone can fire up a monster amplifier and generate a loud signal—and many do. It doesn’t take a whole lot of skill to muscle your way through a pileup with a legal-limit amp and snag that rare station.

But you can also practice your operating skills, which won’t cost you a thing.

Skill has tangled with brute force for a long time. Take the Marvel Universe, for instance. The Hulk relies on brute force, fueled by anger. His strength continues to increase until he’s strong enough to take out his enemy. In contrast, Captain America has skills like marksmanship and martial arts, and is an expert tactician and field commander.

Point is, although Captain America is an enhanced soldier, those skills are really his superpower—so develop your operator superpowers and make yourself heard!

One strategy I learned is to transmit on a frequency slightly above the main pileup or the last station worked. The DX station will often explore the upper edge of a pileup if he can’t pick out calls from the main section of the pile.

Another is to delay for a second or so sending your call so the last letter or two extend past the main buzz of the pileup. In my case, the station would then hear the “SH” and send “SH?” Then I send my call again and make the QSO. Timing is everything.

Also, CW and digital modes will give you significantly more mileage than SSB. Generally, they work well at power levels of 100W or less, but you should use 30W or less for digital to keep from damaging your finals.

Step 2: Budget-Friendly Renovations

Consider updating your antenna system as the next step to improving your signal. One way to improve your signal is to move antennas higher in the air. Build a taller mast, find a taller tree, or put up a tower.

If that dipole just isn’t cutting it, try a new secret weapon—a full-wave horizontal loop set as high as possible. Feed it with coax and use a tuner on bands above the fundamental frequency. That’s a quick and relatively easy way to snag an extra 2 to 10 dB, depending on frequency. 

Changing the feedline can mean more dBs. Disconnect the coax feedline from your dipole and replace it with 450-ohm ladder line. By using low-loss 450-ohm line you’ll likely experience a 6 to 20 dB increase.

If coax feed is your only option, upgrade to a lower-loss coax. For example, you’ll gain 0.7 dB by switching from RG-8X to 400Max and 1.3 dB by replacing RG-58 with RG-8X–based on 100 feet @30MHz. Minimize the number of connectors, switches, and adapters in your feedline system to prevent additional loss.

For less than the price of an entry-level amplifier, you can buy a Cushcraft A3S tri-band beam antenna and a medium-duty rotator. This pair, mounted reasonably high above ground, will offer a 5 to 7 dB steerable improvement to your signal. By rotating a directional antenna, you can often achieve a twofer—boosting the signal you’re trying to receive while attenuating unwanted signals.

On SSB, activate your rig’s speech processor with the proper settings. There’s another 3 dB (or more) improvement, this time in the modulation department—no purchase necessary.

Step 3: Power Trip

If you can hear people but they can’t hear you, it may be time to consider an amplifier. Most amateur radio operators find that when they use a reasonable antenna system, 500 to 800W of amplifier output is usually enough power. These midrange amplifiers also use readily available 120 VAC, so there’s no need to add a 240VAC line to your shack.

An amplifier that produces 750 to 800W of output power will have a 9 dB gain advantage over the 100W signal, which is about 1 1/2 S units. If you go from 750 to 1,500W, you will have a 3 dB advantage, which is only one half of an S unit. So why go to 1,500W? If you are in a DX pileup, that 3 dB may be enough for you to be heard over the other stations. 

If you operate on the lower bands—160 or 80m—there’s an added reason to get yourself an amp. Manmade and atmospheric noise can make communicating a challenge. The primary problem is thunderstorm activity. It creates radio noise that is reflected off the ionosphere just like regular radio signals. I’ve participated in nets on both 160 and 80m and recommend using an amp capable of 1 kW or more for reliable communications.

Wait…There’s More

Buying a new amp has a domino effect. You’ll need a beefier antenna tuner and wattmeter to handle the increased power, not to mention upgrading your antenna system to accommodate the extra power. A 240VAC line is mandatory for larger amps running at full power. Materials and an electrician to install them will likely run several hundred dollars more.

Keep in mind that once you have the power, you’ll want more—not less. You’ll also note that even a basic 500 to 800W amplifier will set you back $1,500 or more. Buy the best you can afford and use it responsibly. 

Here are some amplifier candidates to consider at DXEngineering.com, including the FlexRadio Power Genius XL below.

To Buy or Not to Buy a Ham Radio Amplifier

After looking at the facts, how much improvement does your station need? As always, the choice is yours. Amplifiers are the final option, especially after you’ve honed your skills and tweaked your antenna farm. Add a 10 dB amplifier to a 7 dB beam antenna and you’ve got a 17 dB improvement in signal strength.

When conditions are poor, an amp can make the difference between being heard and being lost in the noise.

The post Ham Radio 101: Do I Really Need an Amplifier? appeared first on OnAllBands.

First introduced in 2002, the 60 meter, or 5 MHz, band was originally only available in a few countries: United States, United Kingdom, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Ireland, and Iceland.

Over the years, an increasing number of countries’ telecommunications authorities have permitted amateur radio operations in the 5 MHz band. Allocations range from discrete channels to an entire frequency band.

Currently, radio amateurs in the U.S. have access to five discrete channels on a secondary basis.

Below is the U.S. 60M Band Plan from the ARRL:

Last year the ARRL asked hams to urge the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to continue the existing use of the 60-meter band. A public comment period open until late November 2023 allowed amateurs to express support for the current 100 W ERP power limit (instead of reducing the power limit to 15 W EIRP) and continuing secondary access to the current channels.

From Wikipedia regarding 60 meters:

“In the United States and its territories and possessions, channelized USB is mandatory. Where channelization is used, the USB suppressed carrier frequency (a.k.a. ‘dial’ frequency) is normally 1.5 kHz below the quoted channel frequency. For example, 5403.5 kHz is the ‘dial’ frequency for the channel centered on 5405 kHz. The ‘center’ of the channel is based on the assumption that the bandwidth of SSB transmissions is 3 kHz, at most. Transmitters that are capable of wider SSB bandwidths should be adjusted for 3 kHz bandwidth or less, so their emissions stay within the allocated channel.”

Modes permitted:

• USB Voice
• CW
• RTTY
• Data: This includes any digital mode modulated in a single sideband transmitter, with a bandwidth of 2.8 kHz or less whose technical characteristics have been documented publicly, per Part 97.309(4) of the FCC Rules. Such modes would include PACTOR I, II or III, 300-baud packet, MFSK, MT63, Contestia, Olivia, DominoEX, FT8, and others

Some 60M Ham Radio History

The ARRL explains why the FCC gave amateur operators channels instead of a band:

“The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which administers spectrum regulated by the federal government, raised eleventh-hour opposition to ARRL’s request and the FCC’s proposal that would have given amateurs a 150-kHz wide band at 5 MHz (5250 to 5400 kHz). The NTIA’s opposition, expressed after the period for comments already had expired, cited ongoing spectrum requirements of federal government licensees having homeland security responsibilities. Following some give and take between the FCC and the NTIA, the latter agency reviewed its assignments in the vicinity of 5 MHz and found five “lightly used” channels it felt could be shared. Contrary to speculation elsewhere, the channels are no harbinger of a new trend in Amateur Radio allocations in general. This is a special case.”

***

Questions? Share them in the comments below or email me at KE8FMJ@gmail.com.

The post Ham Radio 101: What is the 60 Meter Band? appeared first on OnAllBands.

Let’s start with the basics:

• WSPR stands for Weak Signal Propagation Reporter—a protocol implemented in a computer program used for weak-signal radio communication between hams.
• It lets users send and receive low-power transmissions for testing MF and HF propagation paths.
• Pronounced “whisper,” WSPR was designed and written initially by Nobel Prize winner and FT8 creator Joe Taylor, K1JT.
• The software code is now open source and updated by a small team.

If you’ve wondered if a band is open, WSPR can tell you.

As noted by Joe Taylor, K1JT, and Bruce Walker, W1BW, in their November 2010 QST article, “WSPRing Around the World,” WSPR transmits and receives but does not support normal types of on-the-air conversation. It sends and receives specially coded, beacon-like transmissions which establish whether particular propagation paths are open. Transmissions convey a callsign, station location, and power level using a compressed data format with strong forward error correction (FEC) and narrow-band, four-tone frequency-shift-keying (FSK).

K1JT notes that FEC greatly improves chances of copy and reduces errors to an extremely low rate. The signal bandwidth is only 6 Hz. Combined with randomized time-sharing, this assures that dozens of WSPR signals can fit into a 200 Hz segment of each amateur band. The WSPR protocol is effective at signal-to-noise ratios as low as -28 dB in a 2500 Hz bandwidth, about 10 to 15 dB below the threshold of audibility. On most bands, typical WSPR power levels are 5W or less (sometimes significantly less).

As the protocol has evolved, enhancements to WSPR have included upgrades in its decoder’s sensitivity, improved ability to handle larger numbers of signals in crowded sub-bands, and better detection of false decodes.

To take advantage of WSPR on the amateur bands, you’ll need a radio (one with USB audio is preferred) and a computer with an Internet connection. As users have pointed out online, you don’t need to transmit. Your system can still report what it hears.

The standard message is <callsign> + <4 character locator> + <dBm transmit power>. For example, “KE8FMJ EM89 37” is a signal from station KE8FMJ in Maidenhead grid cell “EM89,” sending 37 dBm, or about 5.0W.

Questions? Share them in the comments below or email me at KE8FMJ@gmail.com.

The post Ham Radio 101: What is WSPR? appeared first on OnAllBands.

This weekend I was on SSB for a few activities. While scrolling through the frequencies, I heard this conversation after a CQ. I am going to call Ham 1 AB8XXX and Ham 2 AB8YYY to protect those who don’t know better.

            Ham 1: AB8XXX

            Ham 2: No copy. Please come again.

            Ham 1: AB8XXX. Alpha Bravo 8 X-Ray X-Ray X-Ray

            Ham 2: I think that was an “A.” Is someone starting with an “A?”

            Ham 1: Alpha Bravo 8 X-Ray X-Ray X-Ray (louder)

            Ham 2: I got Alpha Bravo 8. I still need the suffix. We’re almost there!

Ham 1: Alpha Bravo 8 X-Ray X-Ray X-Ray. That’s three X-Rays (even louder this time)

Ham 2: Ah! Got you that time, finally. Alpha Bravo 8 X-Ray X-Ray X-Ray, you’re 5 9 into [wherever he was]

Ladies and gentlemen, I can fully assure you that if it takes even more than one time to fully comprehend a call sign, you do NOT have a 5 9 signal.

So, in honor of Ham 1 and Ham 2, and with May finally here, I wish you all a…

HAPPY MAY 9!

The day that everyone is truly 5 9.

So what do these numbers REALLY mean?

The R-S-T system is used by amateur radio operators, shortwave listeners, and other radio hobbyists to exchange information about the quality of a radio signal being received. The three-digit number conveys an assessment of the signal’s readability, strength, and tone. The code was developed in 1934 by Arthur W. Braaten, W2BSR, and was similar to that codified in the ITU Radio Regulations, Cairo, 1938, as noted by online sources.

The R stands for “Readability,” which is a qualitative assessment of how easy or difficult it is to correctly copy the information being sent during the transmission. In a Morse code transmission, readability (measured on a scale from 1 to 5) refers to how easy or difficult it is to distinguish each of the characters in the text of the message being sent; in a voice transmission, this refers to how easy or difficult it is for each spoken word to be understood correctly.

1 = Unreadable
2 = Barely readable, occasional words distinguishable
3 = Readable with considerable difficulty
4 = Readable with practically no difficulty
5 = Perfectly readable

Measured on a scale of 1 to 9, “Strength” (S) is an assessment of how powerful the received signal is at the receiving location. Although an accurate signal strength meter can determine a quantitative value, in practice this portion of the RST code is a qualitative assessment, often made based on the S meter of the radio receiver at the location of signal reception.

1 = Faint, signals barely perceptible
2 = Very weak signals
3 = Weak signals
4 = Fair signals
5 = Fairly good signals
6 = Good signals
7 = Moderately strong signals
8 = Strong signals
9 = Extremely strong signals

Also measured from 1 to 9, “Tone” (T) only applies to Morse code and other digital transmission modes. With modern technology, imperfections in the quality of digital modulation able to be detected by human ears are rare and therefore not focused on in this article. Just be aware that the system exists.

Questions? Share them in the comments below or email me at KE8FMJ@gmail.com.

The post Signal Reporting | Ham Radio 101 appeared first on OnAllBands.

There’s an impressive history of amateur radio operators who have stood on the leading edge of space activities. Examples include the amateur radio moonbounce, or Earth-Moon-Earth (EME), by W4AO and W3GKP back in 1953; OSCAR 1 (Orbiting Satellites Carrying Amateur Radio) launched in 1961; talking with licensed astronauts in space, beginning with Owen Garriott, W5LFL, in 1983 (Space Shuttle mission STS-9 on 2M); and interplanetary communications since 2009 with the Earth-Venus-Earth bounce by German AMSAT-DL.

EME regularly takes place on all amateur bands from 50 MHz up to 47 GHz, with 144 MHz and 1296 MHz by far the most popular bands for activity. Some EME activity has even taken place on the 21 and 28 MHz amateur bands.

Amateur satellites operate primarily in the amateur bands from 21 MHz to 10 GHz. They can be used to provide communications using SSB, FM, or digital modes over long distances at VHF and UHF. Using the moon as a passive reflector for EME also exploits VHF/UHF and higher frequencies that can be transmitted through the ionosphere.

Since the earliest days of the Space Shuttle, many astronauts have become licensed radio amateurs to communicate with stations on Earth while traveling in space and onboard the International Space Station (ISS), which has equipment for amateur radio voice, data, and TV.

Not all licensed astronauts were part of missions that involved active participation in amateur radio activities. In some cases, unlicensed astronauts conducted amateur radio contacts under third-party supervision of licensed astronauts.

As reported by the ARRL in October 2010, the image above shows ISS Expedition 25 Commander Doug Wheelock, KF5BOC, speaking to Earth via ham radio from NA1SS. The transceiver control head is just visible on the cluttered bulkhead, with operating instructions posted conveniently adjacent. All gear is secured so it doesn’t float around the cabin.

From nasa.gov:

As of November 2023, students have been talking to astronauts in space for 40 years. Crew members on the space shuttle Columbia first used an amateur radio to communicate with people on Earth in 1983. That program, the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX), ended in 1999.

In October 2000, amateur radio equipment was launched to the space station along with its first crew members, who deployed it on November 13, 2000. ISS Ham Radio, also known as Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS), has operated continuously since then. Each year, the program hosts about a hundred contacts. It has now directly connected over 100 crew members with more than one million student participants from 49 U.S. states, 63 countries, and every continent. These experiences encourage interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and help inspire the next generation.

Before a scheduled contact, students study related topics. They have about nine minutes to ask questions, often discussing career choices and scientific activities aboard the orbiting laboratory. Read this OnAllBands article about young hams contacting the ISS last December.

According to amsat-dl.org, on March 25, 2009 at 10:38 UTC, the team of the German space agency AMSAT-DL reached a milestone on the way to Mars with its own probe. The ground and control station at the observatory in Bochum, Germany, sent radio signals to Venus. After traveling almost 100 million kilometers and a runtime of about five minutes, they were received back in Bochum as an echo from the surface of Venus. For the first time in Germany and Western Europe, it was possible to receive echoes from other planets. At the same time, this is the greatest distance ever bridged in amateur radio, over one hundred times farther than EME reflections.

FFT technique with an integration time of five minutes was used in receiving the EVE reflections. After an integration time of two minutes the reflected signals were clearly visible. Despite showery weather, the signals from Venus could be received continuously with the 20M antenna from 10:38 UTC until its setting in the evening.

Questions? Share them in the comments below or email me at KE8FMJ@gmail.com

The post A Brief Look at Amateur Radio in Space | Ham Radio 101 appeared first on OnAllBands.

Have you thought about changing your current call sign? Maybe you’ve upgraded your license, moved to a new call area, decided you want a shorter call, or have a real tongue twister that’s hard to decipher on the air. It could be you want a call that’s easier for your friends to remember or one the net control station won’t keep asking you to repeat.

A vanity call sign is one that a ham or amateur radio club wants in place of an existing call sign. Vanity call signs often include alphabetical characters that are important to the licensee—initials, parts of names, hobbies, nicknames, or amateur radio terms. For example, a person who hunts rare stations might request a call including the letters DX. As mentioned above, making the change might just be a matter of brevity.

The Process

With approximately 700,000 licensed hams in the United States, a lot of call sign combinations have already been assigned. Anyone can change their existing call sign at any time. The format of the call sign you qualify for is determined by your license class. The higher your license class, the shorter the call sign you can obtain. If you have a recent technician license, you have a 2×3 call similar to this one:

• Group A: Amateur Extra Class, 1×2, 2×1, and 2×2 (includes AA-AL prefixes exclusively)—Examples: K3AB, WB4J, AA6WW
• Group B: Advanced Class, 2×2—Examples: NC4RX, KB2DX
• Group C: General and Technician, 1×3 (or 2×2 in special locations such as Alaska)—Example: N8BBQ
• Group D: Technician and Novice, 2×3—Example: KE9OOP 

The first step is to choose a few call signs that you’d be happy with and list them in order of preference—first choice, first on list. You may not get your first choice for a number of reasons (others may have applied for it, for example). In order to increase your chances of finding something that matches, do not forget to check all combinations, not just suffixes. Some name examples: KB3OB, KJ3ILL, A4LAN, etc.

Another thing to consider is letter clarity—how clear will the sound of the letters be on voice contacts. The letters B, C, D, E, G, P, T, V, Z, and other sound-alikes can be tough to distinguish. Letters R, X, O, etc. have their own unique sounds and are easier to differentiate. For CW, total dits and dahs determine how long it will take to send a call sign, which is important in contesting. A8EN could be sent significantly faster than K4GP.

Then there are the clever combinations—initials like W6NBC or N2FBI, acronyms such as K2OCD, and ones that spell words or ham radio abbreviations like K8BOX or W7OM. Often the numbers 1 and 0, which have a visual similarity to I and O, are used to spell combinations like K1ND or W0RM.

Call Sign Research

Applicants wanting a specific vanity call sign will need to independently research the FCC Universal Licensing System (ULS) database before deciding to file an application. You can perform an Amateur License Search to research call sign availability and Vanity Call Sign Application Search to ensure that your desired callsign(s) do not already have a pending vanity application on file. The FCC Licensing and Support staff cannot provide assistance or guidance in determining the availability of amateur call signs.

The following additional sites all get their information from the FCC site, but may be more helpful:

The ARRL site at www.arrl.org/vanity-call-signs gives you most of the things you need to know concerning rules, procedures, and FCC information.

Radioqth (https://www.radioqth.net/vanity) provides listings of the ham call signs from the FCC’s database that will be coming available tomorrow for submission on a vanity license request, links to call signs that will be coming available in the future, and a listing of the ham vanity applications that have been recently granted by the FCC. There’s also a call search.

AE7Q (https://www.ae7q.com/query/) can help you look up call sign histories and applications, available Amateur Extra call signs, vanity call sign predictions and more, using a copy of the FCC’s amateur license and application databases—automatically updated from FCC data several times a day.

Call Search WM7D.net and QRZ.com offer simple call sign searches to check your vanity wish list.

What is your ideal call sign? Everyone’s choice will be a personal one for them and only limited by the group of call signs available based on their license class, geographic location, previously issued call signs, etc.

Your first step should be to check for available and soon to be available call signs from the sites above. Radioqth and AE7Q offer current lists of calls now available or that will be available in the near future. Once you’ve compiled a list of valid, unused call signs, it’s time to make your application.

Here are a couple of important tips.

• You will not be considered for a call sign if you apply before the date it is available.
• It’s also a common misconception that call signs are granted to the first person to apply. The truth is that everyone who applies for a certain call on a particular day is thrown into a hat and a winner is randomly selected.
• You can apply for a call sign for another call district, provided it’s available. You’re not restricted to the one used where you live. For example, if you wanted K8DQ but it wasn’t available, and K7DQ was, you could ask for K7DQ.
• There is a special exception for calls previously held by a close relative who is deceased. You can request that call, provided you have the same or higher license class. Example: You must be an Amateur Extra Class operator to request a Group A call sign.

Applying for a Vanity Call

1. Find Your FCC Registration Number (FRN). If you have an FCC radio license, you have an FRN. To find your FRN, search for your call sign on the ULS page.

2. Log into the FCC ULS. Next you need to log into the ULS and select the Online Filing login option. You’ll need your FRN and your password for the site. If you don’t have a password assigned yet or forgot yours, follow the Forgot Your Password? instructions on this page.

3. Request a vanity call sign. Once you log into the ULS, it should show you a list of licenses assigned to your FRN. Click on your ham license to open the License Manager page. You should see a blue menu box near the right edge of the page titled Work on This License. This menu box includes a Request Vanity Call Sign selection. Continue past the “Applicant Questions” page (answer “no” to each) to the “Select Eligibility” page. Select your category, most commonly Primary station preference list, unless you are requesting a vanity call formerly held by you or a close relative. Continue to the next page to provide your vanity calls in order of preference.

4. Pay the FCC application fee. Follow the FCC instructions on how to pay the $35 application fee. After completing the vanity application, the system will automatically open a page asking how you want to pay and will walk you through the payment process.

Join the Vanity Insanity

I am glad the FCC has a system that allows hams to choose call letters based on their personal criteria and not just luck of the draw. It’s good to have choices, and here’s your chance.

Hams hold call signs almost as dear to them as their given names. There may be thousands of Maria Garcias or James Smiths in the world, but only one K8MSH. Given the current population of planet Earth, I can truly say I’m one in eight billion!

Will you miss the old call? Perhaps—I did for the first few months. There were times when I started to ID and said N before realizing I should have said K. And then there were the nearly 200 QSL cards I still had with my old call sign, not to mention my vehicle’s vanity plate.

The post What’s a Vanity Call Sign and How Do You Get One? appeared first on OnAllBands.

Whether you just got your license, or you have been in the hobby for a while, your interests may be leading you to explore the HF bands. For many of us, HF radio was the reason we got interested in the hobby in the first place.

There are a lot of things to think about when you are considering buying your first HF transceiver. With prices all over the place and so many features and options, it can be difficult to wrap your head around where to start. My goal with this article is not to compare each HF radio that is available today, but rather to create a foundation for you to decide what rig is the best choice for you. We will also look at some of the accessories that you will need to get started and help make your on-the-air adventure a success.

Budget—How much are you willing or able to spend on your new rig? You can spend hundreds or thousands of dollars. But remember, it’s not just the radio that you will be buying. You will need an antenna, a power supply, coax, and possibly other accessories such as a wattmeter, antenna tuner, antenna analyzer, lightning protection, and grounding. The list can almost seem endless. Many will start with an inexpensive rig and graduate to something else later, while others will want something with more features. Remember, more features equate to more money.

What rigs do your friends have?—One way to look for the right radio is to find out what your friends are using. This may give you the opportunity to sit down in front of the rig and put it through its paces. Ask questions like: What made you decide on this radio? Would you buy it again? What do you like or dislike about the rig?

Reviews—Reviews are a great way to find out information about radios you may be interested in. QST magazine, which is published by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), regularly has reviews of new rigs. Another resource is YouTube. Channels such as Ham Radio Crash Course, Ham Radio 2.0, and a host of others have reviews from time to time. Still another resource is the internet. Websites such as eHam.net as well as forums on sites like RadioReference.com, in addition to occasional reviews on OnAllBands and customer feedback at DXEngineering.com, can provide insight into what other hams have experienced with a particular rig.

Where will you use your new rig?—Where do you plan to operate from? Are you the outdoor type who wants to take your rig into the field for Parks on the Air (POTA) or Summits on the air (SOTA)? Maybe you spend most of your day in your car and would like to operate mobile. Or perhaps you prefer the comforts of home and would rather operate indoors. Answering these questions will help you determine the rig that’s right for you at the present time.

Features—Selecting a new rig can feel overwhelming. Radios today offer a wide variety of features. Ask yourself: What features do you want in your new rig? Do you prefer a rig that covers HF and the VHF/UHF bands all in one box? Do you want a 100-watt radio or is the challenge of QRP (low power) more your speed? How about a panadapter or a rig with two receivers? Should your new rig have a built-in sound card? How about a built-in antenna tuner?

Antennas—Your antenna is the most important part of your radio. Some would say that it is literally 90 percent of your radio. A good antenna will give you hours of fun with your new rig while a poor antenna may leave you frustrated. 

There are plenty of antennas to choose from, but it will come down to how much property you have to work with, your budget, what your spouse will agree to, and whether or not you live in an HOA. If you do live in an HOA, check out the HOA Ham YouTube channel for ideas on what may work in your situation or contact the experienced hams at DX Engineering to discuss your options. If you live in a house, depending on how much space you have, you may have a number of choices such as a vertical, an end fed, or a dipole. Or you can go all in and put up a tower and a Yagi. As the saying goes, bigger is better. In the world of antennas, higher is often better as well.

If you live in an apartment, you will be much more limited in what you can do. If you have a porch or a balcony, you may be able to put up something temporary like a portable vertical or a small portable loop.

Find an Elmer—Ham radio is a global community. By joining a local club, you can connect with experienced hams who can give you advice, provide mentorship, and help you choose the best equipment for your station.

Borrow a Radio—You may be lucky enough to have a friend who has an extra radio that they are willing to lend to you or a local club that has a loaner radio. If so, this is a great way to get on the air and see what HF is all about. Borrowing a rig can help you learn more about how HF rigs work as well as what bands are open and when.

Remember, you are not just buying a radio—you are building a system. From the radio to the power supply to the coax and the antenna, all these things work together to transmit your signal across the country and the world.

If you still are not sure what you want, consider purchasing an inexpensive transceiver. Once you spend some time on the air, you will have a better idea if the rig you purchased is the right rig for you or if an upgrade is in your future. This is what you worked so hard for when you were studying for your license. As you make contacts with other hams, you will begin to develop a sense of what works and what doesn’t. Over time you will be able to learn what changes you may want to make to improve your station. Now get on the air and have fun!

The post So, You’re Ready to Buy Your First HF Transceiver. Now What? appeared first on OnAllBands.

As I’m writing at the end of March, antenna season is about to get underway in many parts of North America, including for the author. (Those of you in the southern regions have probably been working on antennas all winter!) While there are a lot of articles and books about safety and rigging gear for working on antennas and towers, there isn’t a lot about preparing the actual climber— you! That’s the focus of this article, to help you be ready.

Whether you are young or old, launching yourself off the couch or out of a desk chair and into a climbing harness is a great way to hurt yourself with muscle strains, back spasms, or a lot of soreness in general. It’s also a good idea to check your safety gear through the winter months so it can be replaced or repaired if needed. Getting prepared will save you unnecessary difficulties on and off a tower, and there’s no time like the present, so let’s get going.

Before Antenna Season

IMPORTANT—If you have any kind of chronic injury or weakness, get together with a physical therapist or personal trainer. Describe what you’ll be doing and ask them about an exercise and flexibility program for that kind of work. Occupational exercise for tower or construction work will work for hams on towers, too. Let your doctor know what you’ll be up to as well—no surprises, particularly if you are middle-aged or older!

Exercise is important throughout the year. The weekend before your first climb is a little late to start! If you expect to be climbing, moderate exercise throughout the year is just good practice. Emphasize exercises that work on your legs, back, and upper body.

• Walking is always good exercise. It builds stamina and is especially good for your feet and legs that do the most work in climbing. While walking, wear your climbing footwear to keep it flexible and adapted to your feet. If anything pinches or rubs, get it fixed now.
• Work on your legs by climbing stairs whenever you can. At the gym, use a stairstep machine. Supplement the stairs with lunges or squats. You won’t be able to do much tower work if your legs can’t lift you all the way up and hold you there.
• Shoes and feet are your foundation while aloft. While I know several hams who like to wear lightweight shoes, most wear some kind of light work boot. Choose a tread that won’t slip off a rung. Steel-toed boots protect your feet against falling or slipping metal. A steel or fiberglass shank supports your feet against that narrow rung, too. The following cross section is one of many at heddels.com/2017/11/the-cut-down-all-the-shoe-cross-sections-we-could-find/ to give you an idea of what to wear. Note that the tread on this boot has a gap that will fit around a round or angle rung.

• Your back will be bending and twisting while you’re at the top of a tower, so make sure your exercise program includes back health. This is a particularly good opportunity to involve a therapist or trainer in selecting torsion and bending exercises.
• Standing may not seem like exercise, but it is. Spend some time in a standing position to find out if your feet and ankles are ready for tower work where you may be standing on a tower rung for hours.
• Hand strength is necessary during the climb and while working on the antenna system. Use a pair of squeezable hand grips to work on both the muscles and toughen the skin on your palms to avoid blisters.

Head and Neck

You’ll be tipping your head back more than usual while looking up (and down) the tower or tree. As we age, the blood vessels in our neck and skull can become less tolerant of being compressed as our head moves around. Looking up to clean gutters, work with holiday lighting, get on the roof…or doing antenna work are common sources of visits to the ER. We look up, compress blood vessels, reduce blood flow to the brain, and pass out! The resulting fall can have serious consequences.

Before setting foot on a ladder or tower, put on your climbing gear and hard-hat, then stand on a forgiving surface like grass and move your head all around, especially tipped back as far as it will go, then side to side and tipped forward. Repeat several times. If you feel dizzy or weak at any point, don’t climb and get yourself checked out.

On Climbing Day

OK, it’s game time, so make sure you are ready, just like an athlete before a game. Reserve some prep time for stretching and flexing your muscles and joints. Maybe have your whole ground crew participate.

• Legs and Feet—Hamstring muscles will do most of the work as you climb, so stretch them well. Work your ankles and calves, too.
• Back—Bend forward and backward, remembering that you will be essentially in one position while working at the top of a tower. Make sure your stretches include twisting and bending side-to-side as well.
• Upper Body—Trying to maneuver an unwieldy Yagi, long vertical array or mast will put a heavy strain on your upper body. Work your shoulders and arms to get loose.
• Head and Neck—Repeat the head rotation and tipping exercises mentioned above to be sure you won’t experience difficulties aloft.

If you aren’t familiar with stretching programs, here is a good set of simple exercises from the Mayo Clinic that everyone on your crew can do in a few minutes.

Finally, in case of trouble, be sure everyone in the crew knows to call 911 and have a plan to respond. If there is a climber in your crew, they should have their climbing harness on while you’re on the tower.  Use your phone or handheld ham or FRS/GMRS radios for communication with those on the ground.

Don’t forget the sunscreen and visit the bathroom before heading up the tower!

During the Climb

• Take It Slow—It’s not a race! That first climb of the season can be a challenge until you get your “tower legs.” Climb a couple of tower sections, rest, and repeat. Pay attention to your body if it is trying to tell you something is wrong. Your hands or arms might cramp up on a first climb. Stay attached to the tower with a lanyard at all times.
• Stay Balanced—Don’t climb with heavy tools or gear clipped to one side of your harness. Try to balance the load between both legs and arms so one or the other doesn’t get overly tired. An unbalanced load also stresses your back.

Lifting and Working Aloft

• Use Pulleys for Lifting—Once you’re at the work position, attach a work pulley and rope to the tower. Use the pulley instead of the “Armstrong” method of lifting everything by hand, which will wear you out quickly. Mount the pulley above your head so you don’t have to lift anything into final position. Make it easy to clip a tool bucket or other materials to the tower without having to lift or hold them in position.
• Avoid “Lift-And-Twist”—Trying to lift a heavy load while turning causes a lot of back injuries. If you can, rely on the ground crew to pull the lifting ropes so that all you have to do is guide the load into position. Using a block pulley at the bottom of the tower will keep the lift rope against the tower face and out of the way.
• Secure the Workpiece—Have a plan about what will happen when the antenna or other materials get to the top of the tower. Use slings and carabiners to position and stabilize a heavy load so you can work on it without having to support it at the same time—the aggravating “three hands” situation.
• Stay Hydrated—You’ll go through a lot of water doing all that work in the wind and sun. Take a bit of a sports drink every 30 minutes or so to replenish water and electrolytes.
• Avoid Cramps—Along with dehydration, cramps can also happen because you will be climbing and working with your hands and arms overhead or above your heart. Take time every so often to “shake down” your arms and hands to keep blood flowing. Loading a muscle without relaxing it can also lead to cramps, so keep your legs moving around with a shake or two as well.

Heading Down

• Remember, You’re Tired—After a long work session aloft, it can seem like a trivial thing to climb back down, but you’ve expended a lot of energy. Your body has gotten used to standing on the tower. Start by flexing and getting your muscles ready to go the “other way,” particularly your legs that you’ve been standing on without a break for quite a while! Work slowly and carefully, climb down slowly, and don’t let fatigue overcome good judgement. Accidents happen more frequently when tired.
• Slip Safety—Lowering tools and materials can be just as dangerous as lifting them. They can “get away” from you, leading to rope burns or worse. Take it slow and use friction to brake a rope so that descent doesn’t depend on raw muscle strength to control the speed. Remember, you’re tired!

Once down you will be tired, but you were careful and took your time, so it’s time for a break. Have someone help you out of that harness that seems heavier than when you started! After all the gear is stowed away and you’re relaxing, consider taking a couple of ibuprofen or other pain relievers to help reduce swelling and soreness, too. Welcome back to Earth! 

The post Stretching and Cautions About Lifting for Ham Radio Antenna Season appeared first on OnAllBands.

April 8 is a huge day for hams who will be participating in the Solar Eclipse QSO Party, an event sponsored by HamSCI (Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation). It’s a great opportunity to have a fun time on the air while playing a serious role in gathering data for important ionospheric research. Don’t miss it—the next total solar eclipse won’t be visible in North America until 2044.

For baseball fans in Northeast Ohio (many of them hams, we suspect), April 8 also marks the home opener for the Cleveland Guardians, who will battle the Chicago White Sox in a game that was moved to 5:10 p.m. to accommodate the total solar eclipse. The eclipse will be visible in totality above DX Engineering headquarters near Akron, Ohio—40 miles south of the ballgame—from 3:13 p.m. to 3:17 p.m.

This rare collision of baseball and ham radio got us at OnAllBands thinking about some of the similarities between the two pursuits, as well as baseball’s greatest contribution to amateur radio—Oakland A’s all-star leftfielder Joe Rudi, NK7U, who brought the same passion to radiosport as he did to making shoestring catches for Charlie Finley’s kelly-green-and-gold-clad championship squads of the early 1970s.

Check out this video of Tim Duffy, K3LR, DX Engineering CEO, interviewing NK7U at DX Engineering about his days taking his radio gear on the road with the A’s and his post-baseball amateur radio activities.

Tom, KB8UUZ, DX Engineering technical writer, has had great success contacting NK7U over the years.

“Joe ran a contest station from his QTH in Oregon as well as just getting on the air,” Tom said. “I was lucky to contact him 28 times between 1997 and 2016. I worked his station on 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, and 6 meters.”

For those of you who are familiar with George Carlin’s hilarious monolog on the differences between baseball and football, here’s our take on the differences/similarities between baseball and ham radio:

• In baseball, you have RBIs; in amateur radio you have RFI
• In baseball, you scale the Green Monster; in amateur radio, you scale monster towers
• In baseball, you run the bases; in amateur radio, you run frequencies
• In baseball, you relay a signal; in amateur radio, you relay a signal (how about that!)
• In baseball, you reach home safely on a grounder; in amateur radio, you safely ground your home station
• In baseball, you have triples: in amateur radio, you have triplexers
• In baseball, you have rotator cuff injuries; in amateur radio, you have rotators and rotator controllers
• In baseball, there’s centerfield; in amateur radio, there’s center-fed
• In baseball, you may be batting third in the order; in amateur radio, you may be battling third order harmonics
• In baseball, you make double plays; at DX Engineering, we make double-shielded coaxial assemblies
• In baseball, you may be a fan of your hometown Brewers; in amateur radio, you may be a fan of homebrewing

Any more parallels between baseball and ham radio? We’d love to hear them. Now play ball…or get on the air!

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What do ham radio, piloting aircraft, and folk dances have in common? All three were hobbies acquired by amateur radio enthusiast Margaret (King) Iaquinto, VK3NQQ, SK, a New Haven, Connecticut native who became the first ham to communicate with an orbiting space station by packet radio.

During her lifetime (February 27, 1945 to July 21, 2014), VK3NQQ didn’t just collect hobbies—she collected quite a few degrees as well. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Russian from Boston University, studied Slavic linguistics at the University of Chicago, and obtained her master’s in education from Chicago’s Roosevelt University, using her skills to work as a reading specialist at local schools and later as an IT instructor. And in 1976, her skillset grew even further when she earned her Technician license and the callsign WN1ZFX.

However, WN1ZFX was quicky replaced when Iaquinto married, moving from her Connecticut hometown to Australia to join her new husband. She immediately applied for her Australian amateur radio license, earning the call VK3NQQ. And she would be no idle ham. Iaquinto worked stations across the globe primarily using Morse code, her favorite mode, and also joined the Ballarat Amateur Radio Group, a local club for amateur radio operators where she was one of only a few female members. 

But her most notable act was her communication with Russian cosmonauts. In 1990, VK3NQQ made contact with Musa Manarov, U2MIR, onboard Russian space station Mir. She chatted with Mir almost every day seated comfortably at her kitchen table, outside on her handheld while her two boys, Ben and Josh, played in the yard, or even using her handheld while stuck in traffic on long commutes.

VK3NQQ enjoyed putting her linguistic skills in Russian from her collegiate days to use, and U2MIR greatly enjoyed the company and hearing news from the western world that was censored in Russia due to Soviet rule and the Iron Curtain. They chatted about all sorts of things. Hear VK3NQQ’s son Ben discuss his mother’s hobby and her unlikely friendships with cosmonauts in space firsthand on this audio recording from The World. And VK3NQQ got everyone in on the fun, often inviting students from her high school to speak with the cosmonauts—not unlike the educational programs that ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) offers students today.

It was when VK3NQQ helped U2MIR set up a packet radio station on Mir, though, that she truly gained some acclaim. It was the first time that a computer-to-computer connection had been made between an amateur radio operator on Earth and a cosmonaut in space. U2MIR returned after 175 days, but VK3NQQ continued her cosmonaut chats, speaking daily to Sergei Krikalev, U5MIR, during the tense ten months that he was stranded in space during the collapse of the Soviet Union. He was on a mission that started in May 1991 when the Soviet Union was still intact. They discussed things of a personal nature and how politics were playing out in Russia and the western world so many miles below. Their friendship would even earn VK3NQQ an invite to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Texas in 1994 for a shuttle mission training session once U5MIR returned from his lengthy orbit.

Margaret Iaquinto, VK3NQQ, would go on to win the Ron Wilkinson Achievement Award from the Wireless Institute of Australia for her successful packet radio communication with the Mir Russian Space Station. She is the only female operator to win the award. In 2006, she was recognized as the IT Teacher of the Year from the Victorian Information Technology Association.

The post Hams You Should Know: Margaret Iaquinto, VK3NQQ, SK, the Amateur Who Talked to Russian Cosmonauts from Her Kitchen Table appeared first on OnAllBands.