Posts Tagged kb3sik
2009 W3OK Field Day
Posted by jeff in Contesting, Radio Club Related on August 25th, 2009
I finally got the field day photos up on flickr.
N3QO Desk
Posted by jeff in Shack Stuff on August 25th, 2009
One of the trickiest parts about building a shack is how to set everything up that is both easy to use, makes the best use of the space and can facilitate additional operators (+1). Since upgrading to my HF privileges in March, it was just me and my 746. In short time my YL, Laurie (KB3SIK) obtained her General license and soon had her own HF rig. An L-shaped desk wasn’t going to cut it if we both wanted to operate. At least electrically we could do it with the help of 2 antennas and a set of ICE filters, but ergonomically it just wasn’t happening.
For the last 2 months I had this idea for as stacked desk design in my head. Just this last weekend I finally executed on the build. It measures 8ft wide and can facilitate 3-4 radios in 2-3 operating positions. I also wanted to later design in a 19″ rack under the main desktop for central power supplies, antenna patching/switching, audio processing, etc. The grounding wire interconnected the Alpha Delta switches is NOT the final setup. With some input from Jon (N3INJ), I’ll be using copper strapping as the final station ground bus.
Weekend update.
Posted by jeff in Contesting on July 14th, 2009
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.
10 meter open??
Posted by jeff in Shack Stuff on May 19th, 2009
I hadn’t posted in a bit so I figured I’d do a little updating….
Missed out on Dayton this year, bummer. With starting the new job yesterday it was just too much to cram into a weekend. Next year is a must! I did however start playing around with Echolink. I setup a simplex repeater on 145.600 here in Allentown and we seemed to have coverage all the way up to the Hickory Run area. I linked it up to a ham out at Dayton who sets up a simplex repeater every year. And word was one of my local clubs linked up the 440 side of the D-Star repeater out there, but some of us just don’t have that ability just yet.
During the weekend while going over some operating proceedures with my YL, KB3SIK; 10 meter seemed to come alive on 28.400. I heard a VK station to the south west of me, only assuming he was actually from Australia, but found quickly he was located in Tennessee. But not bad for 10 meter from Pennsylvania!
So all that being said I did start the new job yesterday. I’m psyched and intimidated all at once. I think that’s what happens when you’ve been laid-off for 6 months. It’s a role I haven’t been directly assigned in over 4 years, having come back to the Linux admin side of the house from being a Network Engineer. The chops are still there and seem consistant. Now to fast forward the next 3 months to get up to speed so I actually feel like I’m contributing to the group.
Oh, more QSL cards on the way and a new vanity call sometime next week!
–jeff