ham_bitious

Three of us (AA6XA, KE6MT, N6RUN) spent a few days peakbagging and playing radio in California's White Mountains. The highlight was climbing White Mountain Peak, a 14er. Here are the videos from the trip

Day 1: https://youtu.be/N4vlB0vUXDM

Day 2: https://youtu.be/_MrAtT4pRhI

Day 3: https://youtu.be/XVUOeInevQY

Hope you enjoy!

As you've probably heard, the Quansheng UV-K5 is the hot new HT. And there is a good reason it is so popular. I've been having a lot of fun with mine, and I would highly recommend getting one. 2m FM is fun, and 2m SSB or CW is even funner. And if you choose the same firmware to load as I did (uvk5cec), it will transmit APRS and SSTV.

I made a video going over how mine is setup. Hopefully it helps if you have one. And I'm sure there'll be more videos coming with it in use. The CQ VHF contest is just a week away....

I made and tested a couple of capacity hats for my loaded whip antenna to see how they'd do in the real world. Could you use one instead of paying Elecraft for their 40m coil? Maybe. Could you get on 30m and 40m with your KH1 whip? Might be a stretch... https://youtu.be/uYH9yit8jEo

I assume by now everyone's heard about the new Elecraft KH1 handheld transceiver. Offical Website Wayne N6KR is not a SOTA op, but he seems to know exactly what SOTA ops want.

I was able to hold one and play around a little at Pacificon today. Definitely a nice radio. Most of the internal volume is a giant battery. Due to space limitations, he said not to expect any other bands. But 40-15 is the sweet spot for QRP HF. Lightweight, and even with the whip extended doesn't feel heavy. Probably the closest thing the ham community has to an HT for HF, so far. I wouldn't mind having one; N6KR is a great salesman and engineer. I'm sure there are videos out showing it in action by now. We timed him going from packed to ready to transmit, it took him about 22 seconds. Most of that time was unwinding and tossing out the counterpoise wire.

The receiver is a superhet, similar to the MTR or KX1. Transmitter puts out 5W. There are two antenna connectors, BNC and the screw for the whip, and you can choose between them. Its not really shown in the manual, but there's a little "catch" to hold the end of the counterpoise wire when it's wrapped around the radio to keep it nice.

The first weekend of the ARRL 10GHz and Up Contest starts tomorrow (August 19) at 0600 local. https://contests.arrl.org/10g/ There will be plenty of activity in California, and probably other regions. It's a fun contest, and everyone should get on the band!

I'll be on a SOTA summit (W6/NC-151) on Saturday, not sure if I'll be able to get out on Sunday.

The ARRL 222MHz and up contest is this weekend: http://www.arrl.org/222-mhz-and-up-distance-contest

I'm planning to get on from a summit with the lower four bands. Probably won't be as much activity as the regular VHF contest, but should be fun

In case you missed it: (stolen from the ARRL weekly letter)

Summits on the Air (SOTA) in North America has three events scheduled between August 4 - 7, 2023. The Colorado 14er annual event will run from August 4 - 7, the SoCal SOTAFest in Southern California will run from August 4 - 6, and the Pacific Northwest Not-Quite-Fourteener event will run from August 5 - 6, and includes climbers in Washington and Oregon.

Many different frequencies and modes will be used during the August events, but the recommended 2-meter FM frequencies have been changed to 146.58, 146.55, and 146.49 MHz to align with the use of the North America Adventure Frequency for SOTA (146.58 MHz). Operation is also permitted on select HF frequencies. The National Simplex Frequency (146.52 MHz) may also be used. Each event website provides a list of operating frequencies. All amateur radio operators and shortwave listeners are invited to participate.

The CQ VHF contest starts soon. Sadly, I'm not able to get on the air, but if you have 6&2 meters you should give it a try. https://cqww-vhf.com/

Diz W8DIZ has retired from running kitsandparts.com, and KU4QO had taken over.

Good news if you need toroids and other small parts. And the 5watter is a great radio if you need a kit.

Finished cutting together some clips from my 10MHz reference box construction: https://youtu.be/aVKIIHGPXMA

I was inspired to copy W1GHZ's power meter from April QST (pg 52). Seemed like it would be nice to know if my 10GHz rig (or any of them!) was putting out power. Got some bargraph boards from him, the rest of the parts from the internet, and finally built it today.

I had a bit of trouble cutting a square hole with only a hand drill, but I can see the bars. (If anyone likes designing and printing cases, let me know!)

Turns out I don't have any 9v batteries, so testing will have to wait until I go to the store. I don't expect to have any problems though, since the bargraph circuit is pretty simple, and the AD8317 board had everyone on it already.

How are you learning CW?

Self study? CW Ops class?