QRS CW Net: 03-30-2013 07:00 PM - 07:30 PM

[K7NNT]

Nice! Now I need to dust of my key. Wait, where is the key?

[WB7X]

The key is aqui!

[KE7KUS]

Reminder - QRS CW Net tonight at 7:00pm MST (June 3rd @ 0200Z). CU there!

[KE7KUS]

All right! The first QRS CW Net of 2012 was held tonight on 7.116MHz. Thanks to Marty, WB7X and Brian, KF7ORO for making it a smashing success! Sigs to Las Vegas were great tonight. Brian sounded just as good from Vegas as Marty did from 5 miles away. Both were 579, although there was quite a bit of QRM on the band. Just below 7.115 MHz there was intermittent foreign SWL QRM, so we moved up 1, although I'm not sure it helped that much. I'm going to try to compress the net recording down to MP3 format and see if I can't upload it to the site here in a few minutes...bad sending on my part an all! Thanks Marty & Brian for checking in...great sigs from both of you. See you all next week!

[WB7X]

Good job Kurt. ORO was S7 or so most of the time. You varied between S3-S6, which is interesting since we are close.

May want to include the link to the net protocol every time the "reminder" is made.

[KF7ORO]

Thanks for doing the net Kurt. That was fun. You sounded really good here. About S7 most of the time and the QRM wasn't all that bad. I was running 50 watts.

I'm sorry I had to run at the end. Hope you weren't trying to call me. I heard a scream in the backyard, ran out and got massacred by water balloons. I guess about 40 minutes is all you can leave a 5 year old and her mom alone without them pulling something.

I swear I was hearing a faint echo of your signal there for about a minute or two. It was very strange. Not sure if that was your signal going around the world both ways. I've never heard that before but it was pretty cool. It made it a little tough to copy for a rookie but I got a lot of the net and it was a huge confidence booster for me. Hopefully we can get some more people in on it.

[KE7KUS]

Ugh. For some reason, the recording was only of my half of the net...RX stations didn't make it on there. I'll have to see how to fix that for next week. I also had some pretty bad sending. Lots of missed characters (5 instead of H, Z instead of D, S instead of I, etc.) Those dits really seem to get me. I also noticed that my sending spacing was fairly erratic. One of the things that makes CW easy to listen to, at least for me, is consistent spacing between elements and adequate pauses between words and sentences. My pacing tonight was erratic, and my pauses were the same. Sending QRS Farnsworth-style is definitely a challenge in that respect, and something I sorely need practice on to clean up my code.

I've got some work to do on my main station, which may involve building a new computer to run my Flex3000. The computer I'm using now is a 2.7GHZ P4, but it only has 1GB of RAM. Processor load when the Flex is listening is about 50-60%. I have to run a 1024K buffer to keep the audio from chopping, which makes for some pretty horrendous delays when trying to code CW. I much prefer sending using my FT-897 with 10ms QSK. That being said, I will take the Flex any day of the week for receiving.

Tonight I was running about 60W through the Flex into the magnetic loop antenna you can see on my QRZ page, or under the two-part write up here at 4x4Ham. I had the 7.090MHz stub installed and used the ATU on the Flex to bring the SWR as low as possible (pretty much 1:1). I still need to get a variable capacitor for the loop, as I'd like to run QRO and not have to change stubs to change bands. I'd also like to move the loop to a different corner of the yard farther away from the shack, as I'm getting RFI through my computer speakers in the shack when I key up on 40m. Always something to be adjusted...

Thanks again Marty & Brian for the CW practice. It's been a few weeks since I got on a set of paddles, and I needed the practice. I'll work on getting better for next week.

[KE7KUS]

Interesting, Brian, on the "echo" signal. I'm wondering if that actually was long path. My loop axis is pointed pretty much directly at Las Vegas from here, so there's a good signal going in both directions. You're not the first person to report this with my signal, so I've been trying to figure out if it's my keyer, my radio, or propagation. I think I can rule out the radio because the last report of it was using my 897. That leaves either my keyer or propagation. Not sure which it is. I'd be curious to know if Marty heard the same thing?

[KE7KUS]

Good job Kurt. ORO was S7 or so most of the time. You varied between S3-S6, which is interesting since we are close.

I found this tonight while browsing around qsl.net:

"For areas which are within the groundwave range of the transmitting station, the groundwave's presence may interfere with the reflecting skywave. It may very well help, too. It all depends on whether the groundwave and the skywave arrive in phase, out of phase, or somewhere in between, and their relative strengths. If the groundwave arrives at about the same strength as the skywave, and the two are out of phase, the signal will disappear. Since the height of the ionosphere varies with time, phase alignment may drift from in phase, to out of phase, resulting in signal fading. For this reason, it's best to minimize groundwave radiation when using NVIS techniques, so that it will be less likely to interfere with the skywave."

This may explain the varying signal between you and me Marty. We're close enough that you may have been getting both GW and SW prop. What antenna setup are you using now on 40m?

[WB7X]

Kurt, interesting.

Currently using Butternut HF6V with the FC-40.

I just found an HF2V but haven't gotten around to it yet. Also picked up an SGC-230.

I've got some ideas.

[KE7KUS]

The QRS CW Net will be held this Saturday night at 7:00pm MST on 7.115MHz. All stations are welcome and encouraged to participate.

Join us this week as we put NVIS propagation to a real-life test. For this week's net, I will be operating QRP portable from the Flagstaff, AZ area thanks to the generous loan of a portable QRP rig by Chris, K6OZY. During last week's net we confirmed that 40m @ 7pm is a good time/frequency combination for NVIS operations in the southwest US area. Using 50-60W, Brian, KF7ORO, and I were able to make solid 579-599 contact between Phoenix and the Las Vegas area. This week we're going to put QRP NVIS to the test and see if we can pull off the net at 5W. VOACAP predictions for the weekend for 5W CW between all three locations anticipate high circuit reliability, SNR's above 40 dB-Hz, and S7-S9 signal levels.

In order for this net to be a success, we need max participation. Stations with low (1/20th to 1/8th wavelength high) horizontally polarized 40m antennas within 250 miles of Flagstaff, AZ are particularly encouraged to participate, as they'll have the best chance of receiving signals. If able, it is recommended to run a reflector wire on the ground under your 40m antenna which is approximately 15% longer than the antenna. This will give an approximately 3-6dB signal boost for NVIS operations. Lower antenna heights will reduce DX QRM & QRN. We need max participation because relays may be necessary for all to hear.

The CW Net uses a script which can be downloaded here:

http://www.4x4ham.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=101

Use of this script is important, as there is a specific format for check-in to keep things predictable for our newer ops. In addition, the script explains some of the Q-codes you may not be familiar with for CW net ops. Using the script is a great way to follow along if you are a new, or rusty op.

If you've been meaning to get back into CW, or are just looking to brush up on your skills, stop by and join us. As always, the net speed will be kept to around 5-7wpm via Farnsworth keying. I look forward to working all of you from Flagstaff this weekend!

[KF7ORO]

Looking forward to the net. I was thinking about doing it QRP portable too but I'm not quite ready. I got an FT-817 a couple weeks ago and haven't really done much with it yet. I spent part of today getting a case set up for it and a bunch of accessories. Also got an SLA battery charged up so I could run the full 5 watts. I haven't got a 40m antenna made up though. I used up all my solder on something else last week and thought I had more somewhere but can't find it. Oh well, maybe next week I can get on from out of the house. Thanks for the pointers on how to set up the antenna Kurt. I'm going to try that out.

[KF7ORO]

Thanks for doing the net again. I got some good copying practice there which is what I need. Marty, I didn't get to give you a signal report back but you were about 579 again. Kurt, you sounded pretty good too. You weren't too far above the noise but you were readable except when there was a little QSB. I was glad I did this one from home since I don't have a CW filter in the FT-817 yet. I really needed the DSP filters on the home rig to get rid of a couple other stations that popped up pretty close.

[WB7X]

Great job Kurt and thanks Brian for participating. One of these times I need to get a direct contact so that I can log you.

Dominique and I threw together a dipole today. Center is on 2 military fiberglass masts, so about 7 1/2 ft. Ends on the block fence at about 5 feet. Ends oriented E-W. Didn't have enough wire left to do the reflector. It is a little long as the SWR was 3:1 at 7.115, but the internal tuner (which I haven't previously used) brought it in nicely. Works fine on 15M also without retuning.

Also couldn't do an A/B comparison to the Butternut as I used the coax to feed the dipole.

Power was 20W, then 10W, and finally 5W during the "afternet" QSO. Did go back to 90W for the final sign off.

Sorry about the slop at the end Kurt. I worked 6m and some 2m SSB all day during the event. Stopped about 10 minutes before the CW net.

(I heard K7VZ before net but got no response)

[KE7KUS]

Thanks again Brian & Marty. That was absolutely awesome! I parked in Flagstaff at the top of the hill at the entrance to the Lowell Observatory (elevation 7200' MSL). I used the KX1 I borrowed from Chris along with a 40m end-fed antenna. I had the coax end of the antenna bungeed to the roof rack on the Suburban and had the other end pulled tight and tied off in a pine tree. The antenna was flat and up about six feet running directly east-west. The KX1 was hooked to a lithium battery and tuned to 1.2:1. Forward power on my end was 4 watts according to the KX1. I had the filter dialed back to about 500Hz wide. There were a couple adjacent signals at times though out the net, but no problems at all copying both Brian & Marty. I also heard K7VZ from east Phoenix just prior to the net starting.

This net was definitely a highlight in my amateur radio journey. I've been working for about 18 months on figuring out how to master NVIS propagation, and I feel like I'm finally getting there. 40m was great tonight in Flagstaff with very little noise on the band up on the hill. I wanted to set up the antenna with the ground wire run underneath it to test out that configuration, but I forgot the wire in Phoenix as I was late to get out of town. I was a little worried that without it I wouldn't be able to get out loud enough to have the net work out. Thankfully, that wasn't the case. I was also worried because I couldn't get the antenna up to the 4m height that I wanted to for the net. I think that contributed to the quiet on the band, but I wonder how much better I would have gotten out with the antenna up another 2m.

This net (and my post-net QSO with Marty) confirmed for me that when both ends of an NVIS QSO have their antennas properly configured, QRP operation (at least on CW) is completely feasible due to the low signal loss over the NVIS path. Marty and I both worked QRP for our QSO following the net with no problems whatsoever until right at the end when 40m started to go long and QSB kicked in a tiny bit.

Brian, I think you're really going to like that 817. It's on my "next to buy" list for gear. I have a few QRP crystal rigs to build out for some upcoming SOTA hikes, but I really want to get one of those 817's and get it done up by W4RT. Chris, K6OZY, just had his done and it really works well with the filters and DSP.

Thanks again to Virgil, Brian, and Marty for helping me test out the QRP setup. I'm hooked! Hope to be able to run the net from a couple different locations around the AZ high country this summer. See you all next week!

72,
Kurt
KE7KUS

[KE7KUS]

I forgot to add my apologies for not following the script...I forgot it along with my antenna wire and couldn't download it from the website on my phone, so I tried to do it from memory. Hopefully it wasn't too far off the standard.

I recorded the net by setting my cell phone over the speaker I had hooked to the KX1. The buzzing noise you hear periodically comes from my cell phone causing RFI in the speaker. You can also periodically hear the Elden ARA 2m repeater traffic going on my D710 in the background. You can also periodically hear adjacent CW stations on the band. Not a great quality recording, but at least you can hear both ends this week. I'll get it uploaded to the website when I get back to Phoenix tomorrow night. Thanks again Brian & Marty. This was awesome from my end!

[KF7ORO]

Great job Kurt and thanks Brian for participating. One of these times I need to get a direct contact so that I can log you.

I was thinking the same thing Marty. I could probably be on the net freq a little early next week if you want to do it then.

Kurt, I was following the script a little and I didn't notice anywhere that you got off of it. Great job and thanks again.

[KE7KUS]

Reminder - CW Net tonight at 7:00pm MST. This week's net will be hosted back at my home QTH - hopefully we'll get the net recording working this time. As always, we'll meet on 7.115MHz for the net and QSY up if it's busy. I'll be on frequency about 5 minutes prior. Call early if you need a QSY due to local QRM. See you there!

[WB7X]

Sorry for being late. Went to Globe today, long day.

I was on the Butternut tonight. Massive static and a bunch of dust outside.

I changed the coax on the NVIS dipole and didn't test it. Turns out I introduced some kind of problem as it wouldn't tune.