Question T3C07 in the Technician Class question pool reads:

What band is best suited for communicating via meteor scatter?

1. 33 centimeters
2. 6 meters
3. 2 meters
4. 70 centimeters

The answer, of course, is B. 6 meters.

I make a big deal out of this question when I teach my one-day Tech classes because I think meteor scatter is probably one of the coolest things that Techs can do. Have I ever done it? Well, no, at least not yet.

Two months ago, I came across this video:

I also had a bunch of 75Ω coax that was installed back in 1985 when the house was built to distribute cable TV to the living room, bedroom, etc. I’ve never had cable TV in the nearly 25 years I’ve lived here, so I just cut a length from one of the cable runs. So, not only did the antenna look easy to build, I wouldn’t have to spend a dime on it.

Today, I finally got around to putting it all together. As you can see from the photo below, I used the military surplus fiberglass mast to get it up off the ground.

The photo below shows how I connect the loop  to the matching stub using a terminal strip.

Troubleshooting the antenna

When I first connected my antenna analyzer to the antenna, I was a little dismayed that the SWR was 14:1! I hadn’t expected it to be perfect, but I did expect it to be a lot lower than that.

The first thing I did was make sure that the wires were connected to the terminal strips properly. When that proved not to be the problem, I thought that maybe it was too close to my other antennas, so I moved it to the other side of the yard. That didn’t change a thing, either.

My next guess was that perhaps the coax was bad somehow, so I disconnected the matching stub and measured the SWR again. At 50.1 MHz, the SWR was now a much better 1.76:1. Since the feed point impedance of just the loop is supposed to be about 100Ω, I knew the problem was the matching stub.

In another video, I’d seen the coax used for the matching stub coiled around a PVC pipe. The theory behind this is that not only the stub matching impedances, but also acting as a choke. I didn’t have any PVC pipe big enough, so I simply coiled the 75Ω coax and taped it together. WRONG! When I uncoiled the matching stub, the SWR came down dramatically, measuring about 1.1:1 at 52 MHz. Down at the bottom of the band, where I planned on playing, it was a bit higher, but it was still less than 1.5:1, and that is easily handled by my IC-7610’s antenna tuner.

Of course, now that I have the antenna, the band is just dead. I’ve been monitoring for the last hour or so, with nary a signal received. That’s just how it goes with 6 meters, I guess.

Meteor scatter here I come

I think that to be more successful on 6 meters, I’ll need to make some improvements to the antenna. For example, I’ll have to figure out a way to make the connections more robust and maybe add a little wire to the loop to bring the resonant frequency down a little. I probably should get the antenna up a little higher, too.

Building this antenna has been fun, and even though I still  haven’t made any contacts, I’m looking forward to operating 6 meters in the future. Maybe I’ll even get lucky and make some meteor scatter contacts. Then, when I cover that question in class, I can say that I’ve operated meteor scatter and it’s pretty cool.

New hams often wonder what they’ll do or say over the radio after they get their license. All that jargon that hams use can seem like a foreign language to those who’ve had little exposure to amateur radio. But there is no need to be self-conscious. After reading this, you’ll become fluent in repeater speak in no time.

Common Amateur Radio Repeater Terms

Chances are your first QSO (communication) will happen on a local VHF or UHF repeater using a handheld transceiver (HT). Repeaters have their own terminology, like courtesy beep, DTMF, and split. However, this split doesn’t involve bananas and courtesy beeps shouldn’t be confused with roger beeps used by CBers. You’ve probably used DTMF before, but in a different context—on your phone.

Here are some repeater terms you may encounter while you’re on the radio.

A Glossary of Ham Radio Repeater Terms

***

• Break: A word used to interrupt a conversation on a repeater to indicate there’s an emergency. You should say “break, break, break” to be sure you’re heard. It’s not used to join a conversation.
• Deviation: This refers to the change in the carrier frequency of an FM transmitter produced by the modulating signal. If you’re told your transceiver is over-deviating, talk farther away from the microphone to avoid distortion.
• Double: Two or more stations transmitting simultaneously on the same frequency, often without knowing it. The one with the strongest signal wins, but if it’s a tie, neither is heard.
• Full Quieting: This term usually signifies a good quality signal on a repeater or FM transmission. It means that your signal is clear, free of static, and easily readable.
• Half-Duplex: Radio communication using two frequencies, one for receive and one for transmit—one radio at a time.
• Hang Time: This is a cure for the double. Waiting briefly between transmissions allows smooth transitions. It also gives others a chance to join in the conversation.
• Kerchunking: You have an HT, but will it reach the local repeater? Turning it on, you briefly hit the transmit button and hear a tone in response. Satisfied, you try it again—and again. That’s kerchunking—keying up a repeater just because you can. It can really become annoying to anyone monitoring the frequency. The proper way is to say your call sign when you transmit, or something like “KE8XYZ, testing.” I even heard of one repeater that reportedly responds with “kerchunk” if it is keyed and no audio is detected.
• Machine: This refers to the repeater system itself. You might hear something like, “The 37/97 machine has the best coverage in the county.”
• Offset/Split: If the repeater output is 146.840 MHz, the input or the frequency the repeater receiver listens on is 146.240 MHz (600 kHz below 146.840 MHz). The offset prevents transmit and receive signals interfering with each other at the repeater.
  • If you’re tuned to 146.840 MHz, when you push the mic button your radio automatically transmits on 146.240 MHz, 600 kHz down from 146.840. When you release the mic button, your radio switches back to 146.840 MHz to listen on the repeater’s output frequency. Confused? No worries—virtually all ham radios sold today set the offset automatically.
• Open Repeater: A repeater that may be used by any licensed ham radio operator is considered open. Closed repeaters are restricted to exclusive groups, such as members of a club.
• PL Tone: PL (private line) tones or CTCSS (continuous tone-coded squelch system) tones are sub-audible tones of 300 Hz and below that are transmitted and detected by radios and repeaters. The tone is transmitted when you talk, and the repeater lets you through if you’re using the correct tone. It’s used to prevent people accidentally keying up on a repeater frequency or a repeater interfering with another repeater during a band opening.
• Repeater Directory: It’s a publication that lists repeaters in the U.S., Canada, and other areas. A popular repeater directory is published annually by the ARRL (below). You can also find directories on the Internet from many sources. Do a repeater directory search to locate them.
• Simplex: This is communication where hams receive and transmit on the same frequency without using the repeater. It’s also called talk around. You can do this to avoid tying up the repeater, especially if you’re not far apart.
• Time Out: No, you don’t have to sit in the corner. This happens when a person talks too long and the repeater time-out timer (TOT) temporarily shuts down the transmitter. There will be a short pause, then the repeater will reset and the conversation continues.

Try the DX Engineering N8DXE Repeater!

If you’re ever near Akron, Ohio, you can access the DX Engineering Amateur Radio Club (N8DXE) repeater at 146.985 MHz. It was recently upgraded to the Icom ID-RP2010V repeater, which allows for both digital and analog operation. D-STAR gateway access is unchanged. For analog, there is no PL to access the repeater. However, the repeater will transmit a 110.9 Hz tone so you can set up your analog radio for Tone Squelch. This will allow you to filter out the digital traffic. Of course, if you are in digital mode, it already filters out the analog traffic.

The post Ham Radio 101: Understanding Repeater Speak appeared first on OnAllBands.

The Most Hackable Handheld Ham Radio Yet

The [Quansheng] UV-K5, released last year, might be the most hackable handheld ever, with a small army of dedicated hams adding a raft of software-based improvements and new features. I had to have one, and $30 later, I did.

Like Baofeng’s 5R, Quansheng’s K5 as a radio transceiver is fine. (I’m using K5 here to refer to both the original K5 and the new K5(8) model.) The key technical distinction between the 5R and K5 is a seemingly minor design choice. With Baofeng’s 5R, the firmware resides in read-only memory. But Quansheng stores the K5’s firmware in flash memory and made it possible to rewrite that memory with the same USB programming cable used to assign frequencies to preset channels.

…read more

ICHMS collaborates with IRARC

CASPIAN, MI – The Iron County Historical & Museum Society (ICHMS) will have two new exhibits this summer thanks to a collaboration with the Iron Range Amateur Radio Club (IRARC) and a grant from the Crystal Falls/Dickinson Area Community Foundation. “We couldn’t be any more excited about this collaboration and the exhibits that will come from it”, states museum director Kathlene Long. The club members are in here helping build the exhibits and are bringing their expertise along with their own artifacts to build these exhibits in time for this coming summer season.

The Club is building a working ham radio station in the museum. It will be fully functional. Museum visitors will be able to see the exhibit and signs will help visitors understand the importance ham radios – and amateur operators – have played in our county’s, and our country’s history. They will also learn why they continue to be so important. In addition, the Club is recreating a display of a vintage WIKB studio from pieces they have collected over the years. All of this is being paid for, in part, from a $500 grant from the Crystal Falls/Dickinson Area Community Foundation. “All in all, this is a lot of moving parts finally coming together to make this happen.” Long explains.

…read more

SIERA hosts Scout amateur radio merit badge day

METROPOLIS, IL — Boy Scouts talked to amateur radio operators as far away as Puerto Rico and Arizona during a radio merit badge class hosted by the Southernmost Illinois Emergency Radio Association (SIERA). Five scouts from Troop 2007, out of St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Paducah, attended the class on Saturday, March 23, at Trinity Church in Metropolis.

Scouts experimented with tuning forks and a wave generator and had the opportunity to talk on both handy-talkie and high-frequency base radios during the class. They also learned about the science and mechanics of radio as well as important safety measures.

…read more

Bandscope observations

If you who read my blog regularly, you know I’m a big fan of bandscopes. Here are a couple of relevant observations:

1. I almost missed a DX contact because the DX station called about 250 Hz below my frequency. Because I had my bandpass set to 300 Hz (+/-150 Hz), I couldn’t hear him at all. I did seem him on the bandscope, though, and after I adjusted my receive incremental tuning (RIT), I worked him just fine.
2. Not having a radio with a bandscope can lead you to be more pessimistic about ham radio than you should be. I worked a fellow who lamented how quiet the band was and how no one operated CW anymore. I found this baffling, as the band looked pretty active to me. It turns out that the guy was using a radio without a bandscope and when he tuned around, he couldn’t hear anything. I, on the other hand, could see the activity.

A pirate on 2m?

I am the main net control station for our club’s Monday night 2-meter net. (The net convenes every Monday night at 8 pm Eastern time on the 146.96- repeater. Join us if you can hit the repeater.)

Last week, a fellow checked in the call sign K1TKE. Since I have a computer in the shack, I like to call up the QRZ.Com page for people I haven’t worked before. There was no page for K1TKE.

Now, I know that there are some licensed amateurs that don’t have a QRZ page for one reason or another, so when it was K1TKE’s turn, I gave him a call. I got no response, so I’m guessing that this guy was unlicensed. That’s the first time this has happened to me.

VU2!

After all these years, I finally worked a VU station, logging VU2GSM on March 10 on 30-meter CW. I know this isn’t the biggest accomplishment in my ham radio career, but nonetheless it’s pretty cool to me.

I must say that Kanti had great ears. He wasn’t all that strong here, so I imagine that I was equally weak there. Even so, he got my call correctly the first time.

I have a Yaesu FT-991A, it's a great radio and it's served me well on HF, since replacing the broken FT-900, however, it's also a VHF/UHF rig too! That was one of the reasons I settled on it over the Icom 7300. Anyways, I finally got around to setting up a VHF/UHF antenna and getting on the air.

I ordered Dr. Ed Fong's (WB6IQN) DBJ-1 antenna back in May. Just this past week I finally got the antenna set up and on the air.

With my dad's help, we tried to first run the LMR-400 I ordered earlier this month through the wall like how the coax for my HF antenna is setup. 

However, up in the attic we ran into some issues drilling through the wood, so we tried a different approach and drilled a hole right in the ceiling. It's not pretty, but it got the job done.

The hole drilled in the ceiling

Up until last week, there was an old TV antenna that was installed when the house was first built by my grandfather, we removed that and tossed it in the trash since it was of no use as this house has long been wired for cable. You can see the TV antenna in some of these photos.

And up went the new antenna.

My dad hooking the antenna into place.

Originally the plan was to mount this outside and I brought an antenna bracket for that purpose off Amazon. But so far, I seem to be hitting the repeaters I want, so I might hold off on putting the antenna outside.

That's all for now, sorry I've been lacking in updates here, there hasn't been much going on with me and ham radio anyways aside from operating FT8, but that will hopefully change! You can always find me on Twitter though, I tend to update that more often this blog.

The race

Current conditions at the @babson volunteer meeting point. #bostonmarathon2019 pic.twitter.com/Lm6QX4EU4u

— 📡Patrick ⚡ W1PAC📻 (@W1PAC) April 15, 2019

Conclusion

1. Work and Time: I've worked an odd schedule for the past half year, working from 1700 to 0130. As many hams are driving home, I'm driving to work. It doesn't give me much time to talk as most non-retired hams are in the middle of their work day when I'm just waking up. Plus while working I obviously I can't talk on my radio. 


2. Location: I live in Lynn, Massachusetts. Lynn has odd geography, it's flat near the ocean and the Saugus River, but other parts of the city are very hilly. I happen to live in the hilly section. The only problem, the slight hill I'm on is surrounded by taller hills, so in essence, I'm a valley. My club's main repeater is located in Danvers. Which while only separated by another city is about 10 miles. As VHF and UHF radio is line of sight, it has to traverse those hills to reach the repeater. I can receive the repeater just fine on my Yaesu VX-6R, but transmitting is another story. I've listened to myself via Echolink on the repeater and I've heard nothing but static on Echolink despite kerchunking the repeater with my Yaesu, and this is with an upgraded Diamond SRH320A as the antenna.


3. No Local Repater: Lynn has a couple repeaters according to the New England Repeater Directory, RFinder, RepeaterBook and even the New England Spectrum Management Council, the repeater coordinators themselves. There's only one problem, they're offline according to a couple of sources and have been since before I got my license. This would make it a lot more easier to talk since I'm right down the road from the repeater and would have no issues, that is unless.


4. Repeaters Are Dead: Some of the repeaters are just dead. D-E-A-D. Not all of them, but a good majority of the day, which plays into issue #1. Some are active, but again, they're usually active when I'm at work, or they're out of transmitting range.