# More QRP...



## JEV

Yesterday was another great morning working QRP 5 watts on 10m. 



 RZ3EC  Russia
 IT9PQJ  Sicily
 9A9A  Croatia
 YO4RIU  Romania
 OM3SEM  Slovak Republic


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## ki0ho

Good show there JEV.......fun isnt it???


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## JEV

ki0ho said:


> Good show there JEV.......fun isnt it???


You betcha!


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## squerly

ki0ho said:


> .......fun isnt it???


I wouldn't know, still studying...


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## ki0ho

Hang in there Squerly...it will come.....I passed the 20 word code test...back in the day!!!and I hated the very sound !!!  but stayed with it and passed....once I did I have never used cw again!!!!@  dont know why but the sound of cw would piss me off!!!!   but when all else fails...the simpelest of equipment can be used to comunicate with cw!!!   again ..hang in there it will come!!!


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## JEV

ki0ho said:


> Hang in there Squerly...it will come.....I passed the 20 word code test...back in the day!!!and I hated the very sound !!!  but stayed with it and passed....once I did I have never used cw again!!!!@  dont know why but the *sound of cw would piss me off*!!!!   but when all else fails...the simpelest of equipment can be used to comunicate with cw!!!   again ..hang in there it will come!!!


I have had a few women in my life who triggered the same response from me when they spoke. Like nails on a chalkboard. 

Squerly has it made, as there is no code requirement. Just get down the questions and take the test. He'll stand a good chance of passing Tech & General at the same session. Just takes a little time to study (easier said than done.)


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## ki0ho

Squerly...try not to just memorise the questions and answers....try to understand the therry behind them....it helps when the questions are worded different than in the study books....

another method ...a truck driver I knew had the audio tapes of all the posiable questions and the correct answers........said he listened to them over and over. while on the road.and when he took the test for extra he said he would read the question and the answer would jump out at him......I guess if a person heard the question and then only the correct answer..and not any of the other possable answers it might work...he passed with a good grade so I guess it worked for him...the reason I know is I was on the team grading the tests that day.......at that time I was a ARRL..VE...  stick with it and you will get it....and then you will wonder what all the fuss was about!!!


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## Snowtrac Nome

squerly said:


> I wouldn't know, still studying...


my oldest boy took the test at 11 he took the qrz practice exams he studied 2 hours a night if a question stumped him he would google it once he could pass 10 exams in a row we took him up for a test he passed the first time. the general took a little bit more studying for me but it wasn't too hard.


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## ki0ho

I noticed that the younger folks seem to have a higher number of sucesses in testing....could be their just smarter than us old farts!!!  the thery was a shooin for me as I worked in a field that had a lot of electronics included....
 my bugaboo was the damed BEEP BEEP BEEP!!!!!!!!  many times we would work with the ET. folks and when we went into radio cent. I would put cotten in my ears and they would laugh at me.   Oh yea...as to googaling the answers...........hard to do in the 70s!!!!!!!!  the memory chips in those days were 3inch wide....18 inch rolls of tape!!!!!!!!!!several hundred feet long!!!!!!

Didnt have my ticket then..but one of the radiomen on board was a general class...and the rig we used was a mod 32 collins stood a little over 6 ft high...fed into a vertical back on the aft stack and a bed springs on the uper deck.....we had to crank the amps down to stay legal on the ham bands...
and get the ok from the skipper..but hitting the states from any where in the world was normaly not a problem.....boy would I like to have that final amp now!!!!!!!!!!  it had 16  A-440s inthe final.......two of them would put out a full bucket no problem on the ham bands......I dont remember what the max was...but if the skipper wanted to talk to some one almost anywhere he could...I cant emagine what they have now days!!! But with the birds in the sky ect...that kind of power wouldnt even be needed!!  

sorry got long winded again.....glad Doc dont charge b y the word!!!!!
Hang in there Squeral it will come.....


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## Snowtrac Nome

first time I studied we still needed to know code I had a cassette tape I would listen to at night . I found that old code masters tape not too long ago or should I say my dog found it.


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## JEV

I have a two-CD set for learning code. I used to keep it in the truck and practice on my leg as I drove. Got busy and didn't ever get back to it, but it's still on the shelf and something I'd like to learn...right after I get my Extra Class license. Hoping to do that at the December VE session for our club. It would be my 4th anniversary as a ham. 

CW has a QRP reach that SSB just cannot touch. Both have their place, and I admire newer hams who take the time to learn the code, even at 5WPM if nothing else.


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## ki0ho

One of the fellows that helped me over the hump with cw was an old rail road telegrafer we were going to a club meet one evening and he had a key st




raped to his leg....he was driving ..carring on a conversation with the other thrtee of us in the car.....while making contacts all over kansas..at about 25 words a min....he sudenly ask us to be silent for a bit.....all of a suden cw came out the speaker  so fast it sounded to me like a steady scream!!!!...and he would answer back at what seemed like the same speed...after a few minets   he signed off he said we just heard cw at about 85 or 90 words a min......I  have no way of knowing for sure...as at my very best 25 was my absolut limit!!!  and then not solid......there are some diferances between cw amd rail road code...with cw you listen to to long and short tones....with the rail road it is clicks and clacks and silence between them...also if I remember corectly a few of the letters are different.......
up to about 18 or 19 wpm you hear letters...at that point you have to more or less hear words......and at about 30+ you have to start hearing groupes of words and whole sentenses......Russell loved it...youn seldom would find him on phone....and in the car it was only cw....those two guys wou.d get on 
a couple of times a week and push each others speed.....and the fun part was ...many times the band would be crowded.......late at night....they would come on and go for it....and when they would sign off...half the band would be total silence!!!!!!  and some one would come on and ask if any one else just heard that!!!????  I lived about a mile or two from him so if I was close to him on the band I heard him...He had one of the pertyest fists I ever heard....he used what we used to call a BUG when he went above 30 wpm or so.....me I enjoyed talking to folks over the globe...for a while I played chess with a fellow in Japan....he was trying to teach me ....he died and I never went back to chess.......Russell liked hunting for old RR telegrafers   in the 70s there wernt many of them left........he had worked as one for almost 40 years if I remember right........well shit!!!got windy again!!!    

On of these days I plan on getting back on...the low bands...didgetal dont trip my triger  and 2-meter ect.. is ok for some folks ...me I like the long low bands...rag chewing......Later....73s


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## JEV

Never heard of Rail Road Code before. I'll ask some of our club members about it at the meeting on Wednesday, and see if any of them have encountered it. Can't imagine those words per minute, except coming from the lips of an angry woman.


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## ki0ho

as for the code system used on the RR...there were a few letters that were different...dont remember whitch ones but there were a few....as for the telegraph instead of a sound coming out of a speaker...it was a bar that snaped down onto the magnet pole....during the time I knew russell the RR had gone to radios but they still had the telegraph in operation..........and the old guys tending the stations would chit chat back and forth.....what usely happened was russell would transfer to a station...keep records of freight being on loaded there and when it was shone to be a loosing propersition...the RR would shut down the station and consolodate to a larger station...sush as Dodge city......a lot of the little townes out through kansas would pitch a bitch...at first about the closings..but the RR would just tell them to eather provide enough freight to make it a paying operation...or they would shut it down...and usely demolish the buildings unless some one bought them for what ever...the line through that part ov kansas was the old santa-fe.....russell  did that until he was forced to retire....and live out his days in Hutchison Kansas.....  He always told me that once you got to about 60 wpm it became like a conversation...and the only way to take it down was with a typewriter......(another thing young kids have not heard of) My typing in high school was about 40words a minet.......because the little girl sitting behind me would fly through her asignment and then do mine so I could hand something in to pass!!!  He did say that the RR telegraph could not match the speeds of cw...it couldnt move fast enough......He took off the stright key and hooked up his bug and it wasent very long before the (claker...my word) would just humm....cause it couldnt move fast enough....He tryed to get me to learn how to read it...shit Iwasent the least bit interested.....I worked til I got the 5 words a min for my novice....at that itme any general could give the novice exam.....and then worked till I could pass the general..and for a long time I would not listen to cw....if it wasent phone it wasent ........then when I was in KC working we got a call fron Russells wife saying he had died...and in the conversation she said that russell had always hoped that I would go on to Extra......guess I felt guilty cause I boned up on cw think it was 13 wpm at the time and passed my advanced class......and then took the thery for extra...and the last night that the 20wpm test was given I wrote a perfect copy at 20 wpm....Not an easy feat for a guy that hated the very sound of it!!!!!  At 2300 that night I called russell wife and told her I had made Extra...she died about 30 days later...and I have not listened to cw sence!!!!!    asto the speeds those two ran at ...I ask him how they could posiably record it and he said you cant.....it is just like a conversation you hear it and it is words justy like talking...only you remember the jest of the contact...in your memory.....if it comes to copy..you have to slow down to a point that you can write. or type at.....I watched him once at a club contest and he would write in some soet of short handwhile copying a mess...and then type the message when the session was over....the guys would be sending from written copy so they could check him  and he seemed never to miss anything...some of the old guys in the club were right good at 30 or 40 wpm...when it came his turn to send Russell eould get a gren on his face..and start sending copy at about 20 or so and slowly speed up and it would not be long they would throw the pensel down and give up......Dont remember  him ever being bested...he would sit down at a typewriter and when the person would styart sending russell would close his eyes and type..he would bring a roll of paper from work...that way he didnt need to change sheets of paper....No body could send fast enough that he couldnt type perfect copy

Russell was my Elmer...and I supose Ill never forget the effort he put in  helping me gain my tickets...  guess I had beter end this and get some sleep..got to go vote for O-slimmy ebola ......NOT!!!!!!!!!


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## Snowtrac Nome

between you and Lyndon I love stories like that.


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## squerly

Yeah, me too.  Great stories.  

I'm about a week away, maybe a little more.  But very close anyhow...


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## ki0ho

For those wanting to get into higher speed code...a pointer russell gave me is to not look at code written out on paper as dots and dashes......when you do that you train your mind to first visulize a letter and then convert back to the sound then as a letter....works fine up to about 15 wpm and then it slows you down....start from day one and only listen to the sound and conect it to a letter....as you progress it becomes more like hearing a conversation....not having that extra step  in your mind....

as he told me...take the letter A.....when some one says A...what you actualy hear is Aee....but you dont first think Aee then back to just A....

and as we put words together...we hear the sounds ..but dont break them down as seperate letters but hear them as combined sounds forming words and sentenses or actualy....thoughts..

days after I wrote my 20wpm......I realized that even though I was a hopeless case of nerves...when the code started....it was like someone was just talking and it it went down as thoughts......

Have had other thoughts about that night........but they are mine....


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## squerly

Snowtrac Nome said:


> my oldest boy took the test at 11 he took  the qrz practice exams he studied 2 hours a night if a question stumped  him he would google it once he could pass 10 exams in a row we took him  up for a test he passed the first time. the general took a little bit  more studying for me but it wasn't too hard.





ki0ho said:


> Hang in there Squerly...it will come.....





JEV said:


> Squerly has it made, as there is no code requirement. Just get down the questions and take the test. He'll stand a good chance of passing Tech & General at the same session. Just takes a little time to study (easier said than done.)



Actually I've been taking the practice tests the last couple of days and I seldom score below the 90's and a good amount of the time I hit 100.  If I don't get 100 it's because I get in a hurry and give an answer for an incorrectly read question.  

I feel I would do well if I took the test today but I want to hit 100 consistently before I schedule.   Given my capacity to go brain dead when the chips are down, I want to be as prepared as possible.  Now that I know these guy's who are administering the test I want to score high and pass the first time.  This is a small town and the last thing I want is to be remembered as the John Kennedy of the Technician's exam.


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## JEV

You're doing exceedingly well on the Tech exam, so get into the General book and get that going. There are Tech questions on the General exam, so you'll recognize the questions and be able to breeze on by them. To be able to pass both exams at the same sitting will save you from being envious of the guys who talk about their contacts on bands that a Technician does not have privileges on.

Don't be concerned about getting 100% on the exam. Remember this...the guy who was last in his class at medical school is still called Doctor. Nobody on the air gives a shit if you aced the exam, just that you passed it and have license privilege to talk on the band.

You're doing great!


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## squerly

Contacted the local Ham Club and they are going to order the Technician and General tests for me.  Not sure how long that takes but I'm guessing a week or so?  Still haven't gotten an antenna hooked up and haven't even gotten to listen to my new rig. Bummer!


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## Galvatron

i got to speak to all sorts of Europeans today,all i done was pop in to my local shop for a pint of milk

sorry i could not help myself


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## road squawker

Galvatron said:


> i got to speak to all sorts of Europeans today,all i done was pop in to my local shop for a pint of milk
> 
> sorry i could not help myself



pint?,... pint??

they sell _milk_ in pints?


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## squerly

Galvatron said:


> i got to speak to all sorts of Europeans today,all i done was pop in to my local shop for a pint of milk
> 
> sorry i could not help myself


  Go stand in the corner Galvi...


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## ki0ho

Squerly... you tell the VEs that if they fail ya....we will flood them with a thosand  e-mails a day.....and blow the finals of all their rigs!!!!!

Come th think .....maby ya should have a grin on your face when ya do!!!!

Actualy it is kind of like being constapated for a week........and then when it is finly over....ya wonder what all the pain was about


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## squerly

ki0ho said:


> Squerly... you tell the VEs that if they fail ya....we will flood them with a thosand  e-mails a day.....and blow the finals of all their rigs!!!!!


OK, I told em.  They were smiling as they wrote your call sign down.   

Anyhow, took a couple of weeks to finally get a test set up but Tuesday is the day.  I'll be pissed if I don't ace it.  Been taking sample tests for the last couple of weeks and generally score 100%.   

Lately I've been looking for the perfect antenna but found that it doesn't exist.    So, my second best consideration looks to be the Butternut HF9V 9-band vertical.  Works on 80, 40, 30, 20, 17, 15, 12, 10, 6 Meters.  I'll only be able to use 80, 40, 15, 10, and 6 meters but that's OK.  I'll get my general soon enough and that'll open up 30, 20, 17 and 12.

Won't be long boys...


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## JEV

You better be taking the Tech & General test back-to-back. They're too easy to not get both together. And I don't want to hear no chit either. Just do it and get them out of the way. 

As for antennas, soon you'll be making your own wire antennas and learn how easy they are to build, and how good they work (not to mention how well they disappear in the trees). You can't just have one antenna, and 4 or 5 are better. That's a rule that nobody tells you about, but you figure out real quick.

Here's the first one to make...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7za6gPWcNng#t=56

And you'll want one of these for 2m/440 bands. I built one and have it on top of the mast for my tri-band beam.
http://www.arrowantennas.com/inst/OSJ146440.pdf


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## ki0ho

squerly said:


> OK, I told em.  They were smiling as they wrote your call sign down.
> 
> Anyhow, took a couple of weeks to finally get a test set up but Tuesday is the day.  I'll be pissed if I don't ace it.  Been taking sample tests for the last couple of weeks and generally score 100%.
> 
> Lately I've been looking for the perfect antenna but found that it doesn't exist.    So, my second best consideration looks to be the Butternut HF9V 9-band vertical.  Works on 80, 40, 30, 20, 17, 15, 12, 10, 6 Meters.  I'll only be able to use 80, 40, 15, 10, and 6 meters but that's OK.  I'll get my general soon enough and that'll open up 30, 20, 17 and 12.
> 
> Won't be long boys...


Go for it.....you will do fine..I agree with JEV.......take the Gen at the same time.....chances are you will pass it...but even if ya dont ...it will show ya where you are lacking and give ya a leg up on studying...

As for the But-nut...I think I still have one in the trusses in the garage.....used it at an apartment in KC...while still working ....regardless of what they say verts always work much better with a good groundplane....  give some thought to an inverted V...with the apex as high as ya can get it....all it is is wire......way cheeper and easy to put up........another to look into are ..sloopers......out in elkhart kansas I had a 90 ft tower  with beams on top....and tried sloopers off the sides for several bands and they worked great....had them set up ...north west south and east pattern...and used a coax switch to flip from one to the other......Build any  wire ant...with traps and you can have a multi band for very little cost!!

through the years I spent a lot of money on factory ants...and always ended up with as good or better results with my wire ants....or the ones I built out of conduit and pipe and wire...  what ever way you go....have fun and enjoy.....it is a great hobby..and ya meet a lot of fine folks!!






GO FOR IT......


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## Snowtrac Nome

that is my limitation with hf right now is antennas about the only thing that is going to give me good performance on all bands would be a huge expensive log periodic which wont stand up to our winds so I might try a mono band wire antenna first and maybe a 10 meter vertical. I'm thinking about an hf rig for the snow cat so I can go try to work hf from some mountain tops.


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## ki0ho

Snowtrac Nome said:


> that is my limitation with hf right now is antennas about the only thing that is going to give me good performance on all bands would be a huge expensive log periodic which wont stand up to our winds so I might try a mono band wire antenna first and maybe a 10 meter vertical. I'm thinking about an hf rig for the snow cat so I can go try to work hf from some mountain tops.




Try a traped inverted V......the only suport is in the middle..feed it at the apex with ladder line...or coax...I always had the best luck with wide ladder line...another is just a long wire and some sort of a tunning set up....fed on one end and strung out acrost trees or poles or what ever just to keep it up off the ground.   the whole point is to just get on the air.......and see what happens.....


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## Snowtrac Nome

we lack trees,I have a 60 foot tower, but I need to do some repairs to it maybe a next summer project. we also have a lack of radio shack stores so I need to put together a good materials list before I order.  I have an old military nvis antenna but I haven't played too much with it.


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## ki0ho

Well Squerly....is this not the day?????Give em hell old man......come back with that ticket in your fist!!!!!!


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## JEV

Give 'em hell, Squerly.


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## ki0ho

Snowtrac Nome said:


> we lack trees,I have a 60 foot tower, but I need to do some repairs to it maybe a next summer project. we also have a lack of radio shack stores so I need to put together a good materials list before I order.  I have an old military nvis antenna but I haven't played too much with it.



ST.....one place I was at......for a short time I couldnt put up any thing perminet  ...I took  a piece of 2" water pipe...and some 2" thinwall conduit...some 1" thinwall and some muffler clamps...and ended up with almost 45 ft   some old fence wire for guy wires and a pully on top with some 1/4 inch rope and WALA!!!I had a place to hang my inverted V.......and come to think of it I had put an old 2 meter mobile ant on top when I built it.....    Give ya any Ideas????    When you are cooped up with no place to hide and the kids are getting on your nerves.....a set of earphones can be a great place to go!!!!


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## squerly

ki0ho said:


> Well Squerly....is this not the day?????Give em  hell old man......come back with that ticket in your fist!!!!!!





JEV said:


> Give 'em hell, Squerly.



Technician KM4GGD


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## Jim_S RIP

squerly said:


> Technician KM4GGD




CONGRATULATIONS!  

Jim K4REL


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## Snowtrac Nome

congratulations now pick up a fm radio and find a node in your area steerit to the Alaska reflector and give a shout out my radio has been on all day


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## ki0ho

squerly said:


> Technician KM4GGD




Congrats there old man!!!!!!!!        Used to be you had to wait around 6 weeks to get your call.......talk about hell!!!!passed the test and still couldnt get on the air till it came in the mail!!!!!    Glad that has changed!!!!!


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## JEV

squerly said:


> Technician KM4GGD


Congratulations! Now you can get on the air on 10 meters, VHF & UHF.


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## Snowtrac Nome

Ki0ho any ideas about a multi band hf antenna for brutis I have enough room for my ts 140 in it


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## road squawker

Snowtrac Nome said:


> Ki0ho any ideas about a multi band hf antenna for brutis I have enough room for my ts 140 in it



most of the "screwdriver" type will work for mult-band operation.


.... how big is your wallet?


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## Snowtrac Nome

I've looked at screw driver models even talked with some of the manufactures and they all are concerned about the environment I will be using them in


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## JEV

Snowtrac Nome said:


> Ki0ho any ideas about a multi band hf antenna for brutis I have enough room for my ts 140 in it


Here are a few ideas for you.  http://qrznow.com/70-wire-antenas-ideas/


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## Snowtrac Nome

those would be nice for a stationary set up I'm looking for a mobile idea. what seems to be sticking with mew right now is going to be a 102 inch whip ,with a auto tuner.mount the tuner at the back of the cab with a short run of coax to the antenna that will make for about the best hands free works in icy conditions I can find right now. I don't see much else out the other options are essentialy the same, ie the screw drivers


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## squerly

Snowtrac Nome said:


> congratulations now pick up a fm radio and find a node in your area steerit to the Alaska reflector and give a shout out my radio has been on all day


OK, I'm working on it.  By any chance, do you have a 2 meter repeater close by?


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## Snowtrac Nome

squerly said:


> OK, I'm working on it. By any chance, do you have a 2 meter repeater close by?


yes I do have a repeater system here my node is simplex and I leave it connected to the Alaska reflector. a reflector is just a hub that lets multiple nodes communicate. so once you have found a node in your area either simplex or connected to a repeater it's a matter of disconnecting with a 73 command than re connecting with a 9070 command. the best way to find a node in your area is go to the irlp web site do a search with your zip code.
 it will give you all kinds of info most important is contact for the node owner  some owners like to keep their nodes secure others are like me and leave them open for any one to use or direct where ever they want.  I have found most clubs that have a node connected to their repeater system like to leave it disconnected when not in use. my opinion is that's a waste, but opinions are like a holes every one has one and mine doesn't stink.  
there are no requirements to announce you are going to shut down the node. again some locals like some kind of announcement my suggestion is disconnect than announce it why share your local requirements with the world . other wise enjoy your new hobby I have had a great time with it.


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## squerly

I'm confused Don, but that's to be expected at this early stage of the game.  Don't you have a node # that I can connect to via EchoLink?


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## Snowtrac Nome

I have a node but it is an irlp node if you connect to echolink node kl7m it is bridged through the Alaska reflector allowing echo link and irlp to talk together. if you wanted a node to node connect I would have to coordinate it as I leave it connected to 9070 all the time Give me a call 907 304-1383 I can talk you through it and clear up the confusion.


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## squerly

It was trial and error for awhile but I found your node.  Talked with a fellow (sorry, didn't write his call sign down) who said he hadn't heard from you today.  Asked him to pass 73's to you and let you know I'll try again tomorrow.  

I'm going to start building a directional 2 meter band antenna next week. Nothing too fancy but it should give me 7 db of gain and help me hit the (semi) local repeater. Also good experience as I charge into the never ending search for the perfect antenna.

I will also be setting up a OCF Dipole next week and hope to get a little more active with DX.  I've had my Yaesu for over a month and never even had a chance to use it!  But that all changes next week!

Have to hunt down Jev and KI0HO too!


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## ki0ho

Jev should not be to hard to find.......as for me ....I havent been active for years...all my gear is boxed up ....but one of these days  I hope to get set back up again........


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## Jim_S RIP

> as I charge into the never ending search for the perfect antenna.



Good luck!

I've looked for that for the last 38 years.  I have come close a few times though.  

Jim


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## Snowtrac Nome

squerly said:


> It was trial and error for awhile but I found your node. Talked with a fellow (sorry, didn't write his call sign down) who said he hadn't heard from you today. Asked him to pass 73's to you and let you know I'll try again tomorrow.
> 
> I'm going to start building a directional 2 meter band antenna next week. Nothing too fancy but it should give me 7 db of gain and help me hit the (semi) local repeater. Also good experience as I charge into the never ending search for the perfect antenna.
> 
> I will also be setting up a OCF Dipole next week and hope to get a little more active with DX. I've had my Yaesu for over a month and never even had a chance to use it! But that all changes next week!
> 
> Have to hunt down Jev and KI0HO too!


 
 I think I herd a bit of that conversation it was Dave kl7m you were talking to with our recent snow I have been jumping in and out of the truck last couple of days. glad you discovered how it works .


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## JEV

squerly said:


> Have to hunt down Jev and KI0HO too!



Let's see...if I point the tri-bander with these bearings, I should "blow your doors off!" LOL You're a little close to me, but when you're setup we'll give it a shot. Maybe we'll start via long path for grins & giggles.





US State North Carolina 
US County Macon 
Bearing195.5° SSW (from KD8PFB) 
Distance 470.3 mi ( 756.8 km) 
Long Path24386.6 mi (39246.4 km)


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