On Monday a number of us from DLARC (Delaware-Lehigh Amateur Radio Club) took a field trip to the ARRL Headquarters in Newington, CT and also work the W1AW station.

During the 4 hour trip, I worked a number of DX stations on 17 and 20m including Russia and Belgium. Having HF in the car definitely makes the time go quick, but logging becomes the difficult and hazardous part.

Once on-site, our tour guide took us around league headquarters where we visited the Logbook of the world (LoTW) and certificate department as well as Product Test Lab, Marketing & Advertising, and VEC departments. While there Laurie (KB3SIK) was able to find out the status to her recent upgrade, which happened to arrive in the mail that day. In the outgoing QSL card bureau, we found cards destined for NE3F, the local contest station in Reading, PA, which I found rather funny.

We also had a tour of the ARRL employee station, W1HQ which had a decent amount of gear including a SteppIR beam and 6 meter King Conversion amplifier. I’ll be adding W1HQ to my rare DX list.

It was nice to be put faces and names to the ARRL and see what they do from their perspective. They do alot with what they have and make use of every piece of equipment they have; Something quite apparent in the Lab and Art departments.

View at Picasa ARRL, Newington, CT11-Apr-2011 16:17, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, 0.001 sec, ISO 50	View at Picasa ARRL League Headquarters, Newington, CT.11-Apr-2011 11:13, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, 0.001 sec, ISO 50	View at Picasa Cubesat11-Apr-2011 11:57, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 87	View at Picasa W1HQ Employee station.11-Apr-2011 12:12, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 102	View at Picasa W1HQ Employee station.11-Apr-2011 12:12, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 181	View at Picasa W1HQ Employee station.11-Apr-2011 12:11, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 79
View at Picasa W1HQ Employee station.11-Apr-2011 12:11, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 179	View at Picasa W1HQ Employee station.11-Apr-2011 12:11, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 336	View at Picasa Radio under test11-Apr-2011 12:26, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 420	View at Picasa Radio under test11-Apr-2011 12:14, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 800	View at Picasa Outgoing QSL Cards11-Apr-2011 12:52, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 115	View at Picasa Outgoing QSL Cards11-Apr-2011 12:52, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 125
View at Picasa APRS Beacon outside W1AW11-Apr-2011 16:15, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 50	View at Picasa ARRL Benches and memorandum bricks11-Apr-2011 16:12, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 50	View at Picasa ARRL Memorandum bricks11-Apr-2011 16:12, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 50	View at Picasa ARRL Memorandum bricks11-Apr-2011 16:12, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 50

After lunch at a local pizza place, we put in some operating time at W1AW, their visitor operator station. W1AW is also the station that provides the on-air ARRL bulletins as well as qualifying Morse code runs. I ended up running their Yaesu FTDX-9000D on 15m for a bit. The station has alot of different gear and operates a number of modes.

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View at Picasa W1AW – Amateur Radio Station11-Apr-2011 16:13, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, ISO 50	View at Picasa W1AW Beam Antennas11-Apr-2011 16:13, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, ISO 50	View at Picasa W1AW Beam Antennas11-Apr-2011 16:13, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, ISO 50	View at Picasa KB3SIK (Laurie) at W1AW11-Apr-2011 11:11, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, 0.001 sec, ISO 50	View at Picasa W1AW HF Beams11-Apr-2011 11:11, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, ISO 50	View at Picasa W1AW – Oscar Satellite Antennas11-Apr-2011 11:12, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, ISO 50
View at Picasa W1AW – Oscar Satellite antenna11-Apr-2011 11:12, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, ISO 50	View at Picasa N3QO, Jeff and KB3SIK, Laurie11-Apr-2011 16:07, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 50	View at Picasa K3GMT (Dave) working 20m and N3OW (Jay) working 15m11-Apr-2011 14:43, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 128	View at Picasa K3GMT (Dave) working 20m and N3OW (Jay) working 15m11-Apr-2011 14:45, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 341	View at Picasa K3GMT (Dave) working 20m and N3OW (Jay) working 15m11-Apr-2011 14:43, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 88	View at Picasa W1AW – ARRL Station11-Apr-2011 15:53, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 163
View at Picasa W1AW Bulletin Service radios – Icom 756 ProIII with PW1 Amplifier.11-Apr-2011 15:50, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 800	View at Picasa W1AW Bulletin Service radios11-Apr-2011 15:50, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 800	View at Picasa W1AW Bulletin Service radio11-Apr-2011 15:50, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 800	View at Picasa W1AW Bulletin Service – Antenna Patches11-Apr-2011 14:54, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 800	View at Picasa W1AW Bulletin Service radios11-Apr-2011 14:54, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 800	View at Picasa KU3X, Barry and W3CE, Al11-Apr-2011 15:50, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 76

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View at Picasa Vintage station – Viking Valiant11-Apr-2011 14:51, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 126

View at Picasa Vintage Station – National11-Apr-2011 14:51, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK Zi8 Pocket Video Camera, 2.8, 6.34mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 73

The remainder of the photos and video can be found here.

This weekend Laurie and I visited the Trenton Computer Festival where there was some hamfest-like activity in a computer dominate show, but there were a few interesting things. It seemed like a typical computer show, flashing lights, techno music playing from cheap computer speakers and questionable software being sold, but there were some talks on various computer and amateur radio topics. One of the talks I sat in on was presented by two members of the Packrats VHF club on VHF communications.

While I sat in on the discussion, Laurie took her Extra exam, which I’m glad to report, she passed! Obtaining her Extra has been something she’s been working towards on and off over the course of the last year, bringing her up with the top ranks of amateur radio operators, more importantly being a woman with an Extra class amateur radio license. While she awaits the update to the FCC ULS (Universal Licensing System), she’s scoping out vanity callsigns.

While I’m on the topic of Amateur License exams (VE sessions), something that has been a big concern of mine has been the way these VE sessions have been carried out. When Laurie went to take her exam last year at the Wrightstown Hamfest (2010), the session ended up being loud and disruptive with people talking during the exam. Unfortunately she found that the Sunday session at this year’s Trenton computer show was almost just as bad.

I do believe the ARRL has set guidelines on how a VE session should be operated, of which one being a suitably quiet location for someone to take their exam. When I took exams with the Lehigh Valley Amateur Radio (LVARC) and Delaware-Lehigh Amateur radio (DLARC) clubs, sessions were run professionally and in environments appropriate for taking exams. Just something to keep in mind for VE’s running their own exam sessions.

Tonight was the 2010 DLARC mini hamfest which brought a great turn out to our monthly meeting. I’m pretty psyched to have come home with about 300 feet of RG8/U. Coax is a non-stop necessity in this shack… At least for the time being. All in an effort to convert from my RG8x to support an upcoming amplifier purchase. For those not in the know, RG8x is a smaller diameter 50 ohm coax cable that serves the HF world very well, but usually has a maximum power rating of 300-500 watts.

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WOW! It’s been a while since I’ve posted. Even with this blog being purely about ham radio, alot has been going on for me within the hobby. Here’s the update:

1) The Pocono Hamfast was an unfortunate bust. We drove 70 miles from our QTH in Pottstown, PA, to be faced with a “less than mediocre” hamfest. Only 1 vendor listed on the flyer was there and they were only selling power poles and HT cases. Honestly this has to be the worst one I’ve been to yet, which was quite unfortunate.

2) With the upcoming 2009 CQ RTTY contest this weekend (Sept 26-27) I’ve enabled digital modes on Laurie’s Heathkit SB401/301. I took a hint from another ham using the HD15 phone patch as a computer interface for a DVK (digital voice keyer), I used our SB-630 station console for PSK/RTTY/SSTY instead. It was quite simple to do even though their appears to be a 550 ohm impedance difference between the computer and the phone patch interfaces. So far so good. Posts with photos coming soon.

3) I recently aquired an IC-2200H for the truck. Even though it’s only 2 meter, it gives me better D-Star capabilities down the road. My interest in D-Star has been waning as of late. Packet loss and “R2D2′ing” gets old quick, especially when you are a member of net operations. Thoughts of selling my 91AD for this reason have been plaguing me lately. See my recent D-Star post.

4) After spending an afternoon with my local radio club (DLARC) and speaking to a fellow ham, I’ve been introduced into the world of Hex Beams and Cubical Quads. I’ve never really investigated these types of antennas as they’re not considered to be the “conventional beam”. I’m happy to say after doing a bit of research, I’ve started building the base of the antenna and am quickly aquiring the parts to build the rest of the antenna. It seems all the commercial vendors want $100 for a hex base. I really wanted to go with the DX Engineering base, but decided to go completely homebrew instead and spent $30 at The Home Depot last night on parts. As I build this thing I’ll post my experiences and photos as I progress.

This last weekend was a ham radio packed weekend. On Saturday morning I arrived at the club station (aka The Milk House) with 746 in hand and setup for the IARU HF World Championship. Dave, K3GMT; Howard, KB3RTB; and Ben, KB3CTX would also setup to join in the competition. Collectively as operators we knew we were far from any award winning experience, just the fun of competing.

By 9:30AM some of us were on the air, myself on 15 meter where activity was starting to build as the band was opening. Throughout the day I would eventually end up on 20 meter where I would find the DX chaos. Approximately 12 hours into the competition a large thunderstorm began to role in causing us all to take an unintended break. This would be the end of the competition for me with 102 QSO’s logged with approximately 7300 points.

On Sunday Laurie and I went up to Sussex county NJ to a hamfest where we put on a D-Star TV demo with DLARC member, Howard (KB3RTB) and a number of NJDSTAR members. A lot of attention was drawn around the booth as the first pictures were transferred. While there I purchased the parts to build a D-Star hotspot and picked up a Heathkit SWR/Wattmeter for Laurie’s rig.

Photos to come.