I’ve finally started putting the shack together. Getting it down to the final picks on equipment.
The pic below is probably not the final configuration but it will be close.
Shack Update
Uncategorized
Comments Off
Apr 212012
Spring Update
Uncategorized
Comments Off
Apr 212012
Well spring is here and we’ve had lots of rain. The creek is flowing and everythig is growing like crazy.
Spending a lot of time on the mower these days but still planning the new station. I’ve made some progress
still running wire antennas and no amp. I still need to get 240 into the shack which shouldn’t be a problem. Just
finding the time to get it all done.
Tower Base Going in Soon
Uncategorized
Comments Off
Feb 032012
Update: Never mind, the Kansas weather caught me. Two inch’s of rain
today and more coming and cold.
=================================
With the weather we’re having I’ve decided to push the tower base
install up a few weeks. Looking at the 10 day forecast the days will be
in the forty’s and fifty’s with night’s above freezing or just below.
But it’s Kansas so everything is subject to change. Went out this
morning and took a few pictures of the tower location and the surrounding
area. I plan on documenting the process as well as I can. Should be fun
as well as a good record if anything goes wrong. I am amazed at how
expensive concrete is. I’ll post pics here as we go along if anyone is
interested. 73.
Weather Station Back Online
Ham Radio
Comments Off
Jan 302012
The weather station has been running for a while now at the new QTH. I finally got some reasonably fast internet access so I’ve put it back online. The real time data looks good as well as most everything else. A couple of folks asked about where it is located and what type of equipment I’m using.
It’s a Davis Advantage Pro II. It’s wireless with a rage of 1000′ and Solar powered. The temperature and humidity sensors are enclosed in a solar-powered, 24-hour fan-aspirated radiation shield to lessen the radiation effects. The anemometer is mounted about 9′ off the ground with the sensor package at about 5′.
The physical location should give a pretty accurate representation of what’s going on. The mounting is intended to let me know what I’m going to be hit with when I walk out the door. There are no obstructions for a good distance around it so it should be pretty accurate.
Back on the air…sort of
Uncategorized
Comments Off
Jan 132012
Got a Dipole up at the new place and a radio connected but that’s about it. It’s a lot quieter here in the country and I’m really looking forward to getting the tower back up. Hopefully it will be going up in the early spring before the rains start. I never realized how many cables and connections I had made over the years. Starting with an empty room is a real challenge. So far just getting the first coax line into the shack has been a lot of work. I didn’t want to run it in the window so it took more effort to run it into the house and get it into the shack but I think it will be worth it in the end.The only problem with a finished basement is trying to run cables with all the walls and ceiling finished, what a pain!!
I’ve mounted Panduit around the wall and am bringing the cable into the closet. That will be the equipment closet now. I’m planning on putting the power supplies in there also and control them with a switch on the wall. The computers will eventually go in there also that should get some of the noise and extra heat out of the room.
ST0R Southern Sudan
Uncategorized
Comments Off
Aug 042011
ST0R from the newest country finally made it onto the General portion of 20 meters. I was beginning to think they were going to miss us. I came downstairs tonight and they were on 14.145/14.245. Not very loud here in Kansas but loud enough. I was afraid the band would drop out while I was waiting for the amp to warm up so I gave him a call with 100 watts he came back to me on the second call and he was in the log about the time the amp finished it’s warm-up.
Their website seems to be down tonight for maintenance hopefully they are uploading logs. 73.
The bands are improving
Uncategorized
Comments Off
Mar 182011
The sunspot numbers are increasing and so is the DX. I’ve been hearing more DX lately and with the CQWW WPX contest coming next weekend it may prove to be one of the best we’ve had in years!
I worked I2VRN in Italy Thursday morning at 03:20Z on 40 meters. He was 5-8 here in Wichita and he gave me a 5-7. Huge pileup, lots of very loud stations especially from the East.
You don’t have to be a big time contester to have some fun in these events. The international contests are a great way to add some new countries to your log, so get on and see what’s available. These are stations that usually have a pretty good antenna system and can hear really well. So it doesn’t take a mega station to work them. The first night and part of the next day can be pretty busy but after that the pileups get smaller and they are begging for contacts. Give them a shout and add a new country to your log.
Weather system is back up !!
Uncategorized
Comments Off
Nov 102010
Managed to rebuild the Boot Record and got the drive back up and running !!
Updates should be back to normal except for the rain totals. Still working on that.
Later,
Updates should be back to normal except for the rain totals. Still working on that.
Later,
Weather Station Update Down
Uncategorized
Comments Off
Nov 032010
Weather Station Updates Down
I had a hard drive failure on the computer that takes care
of the weather station so there won’t be any updates for a while
until I can get it replaced and set everything up.
Thanks,
I had a hard drive failure on the computer that takes care
of the weather station so there won’t be any updates for a while
until I can get it replaced and set everything up.
Thanks,
Additions to the site…
Uncategorized
Comments Off
Jul 042010
I added a few extra pages over the weekend. Now you can get
realtime APRS activity and DX Spots. Also made a few changes
to the weather page. I still can’t decide if I like the Live Weather
Display software enough to buy it. So I guess the pink lettering
will be around a while longer hihi.
I lost power on the weather console so there is some historical
data missing but nothing too drastic. If I find the time I’ll rebuild
the tables but don’t count on it.
I went to the sidewalk sale/tailgate event at the Derby Radio Shack
last weekend and that was a lot of fun. It seems to get better every year!!
Apr 172010
O’ that’s right we listened to the radio !!
Now we can filter the band we want, the country and even down to the individual station. No need to sit and watch the screen just set an alarm and when your prey shows up an alarm goes off and you get a text message on your cell phone. Pretty space age stuff !!
The big wet snow storm of 2010
Uncategorized
Comments Off
Feb 092010
It wasn’t suppose to be but just a couple of inches, so no big deal. They weren’t too far off
there. I had about 4 to 5 inches at my home depending on where you measured. But it was a
very wet snow. When it was falling there was no wind at all. The snow was coming straight down which
is pretty unusual for Kansas, usually it’s going horizontal.
It really just stuck to everything and added up pretty quick. The Mosley is having no trouble at all
but I was glad I had the doublet on a pulley and counterweight system. The snow really stayed on the
ladder line and even on the wire. It got pretty close to the ground but then came back up as the snow
melted and fell off. This will probably be the last snow for this winter.
there. I had about 4 to 5 inches at my home depending on where you measured. But it was a
very wet snow. When it was falling there was no wind at all. The snow was coming straight down which
is pretty unusual for Kansas, usually it’s going horizontal.
It really just stuck to everything and added up pretty quick. The Mosley is having no trouble at all
but I was glad I had the doublet on a pulley and counterweight system. The snow really stayed on the
ladder line and even on the wire. It got pretty close to the ground but then came back up as the snow
melted and fell off. This will probably be the last snow for this winter.
Quick lookup of Latitude and Longitude
Uncategorized
Comments Off
Dec 192009
If you don’t need an exact location this website can give you a latitude and longitude from your
zip code. Which is close enough for most applications.
zip code. Which is close enough for most applications.
The output looks like this,
| Mailing Name |
State Code |
ZIP Code |
Latitude (North) |
Longitude (West) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wichita | KS | 67207 | 37.6676 | 97.2266 |
http://www.zipinfo.com/search/zipcode.htm
Heathkit SS-9000 and PS-9000
Uncategorized
Comments Off
Sep 192009
This is probably the finest rig Heathkit ever produced I picked these up a few months ago and have been checking them out. Everything seems to work pretty well. I’ve been checking into the Heathkit net on Sundays and the 3900 Club Trader Net also on Sundays. I’ve made some comparisons with the K3 and it’s really amazing how well the 9000 holds up.
The passband shift works great and used in conjuction with the RF control will allow you to get a good copy on most signals. The audio is wonderful. It has that tube sound and feel to it and by backing off the RF you can get it to where all you are hearing is the station you’re wanting. The receiver is very quite and the audio just seems to pop out. An outstanding rig, it’s just too bad it came too late to really help Heathkit. If you ever have a chance to pick one up, get it! You’ll be surprised and you can see how the well to do ops got to live.
It was introduced in 1982 with a price tag of $2795.00 and the PS-9000 Power supply/speaker with dual 12/24 hour clocks was $295.00. That’s a lot of money even by todays standard much less 1982 dollars.
The passband shift works great and used in conjuction with the RF control will allow you to get a good copy on most signals. The audio is wonderful. It has that tube sound and feel to it and by backing off the RF you can get it to where all you are hearing is the station you’re wanting. The receiver is very quite and the audio just seems to pop out. An outstanding rig, it’s just too bad it came too late to really help Heathkit. If you ever have a chance to pick one up, get it! You’ll be surprised and you can see how the well to do ops got to live.
It was introduced in 1982 with a price tag of $2795.00 and the PS-9000 Power supply/speaker with dual 12/24 hour clocks was $295.00. That’s a lot of money even by todays standard much less 1982 dollars.
If you’re into Collins equipment….
Uncategorized
Comments Off
Jul 112009
If you like the Collins line of radios and equipment you might want to take a look at the Collins Radio Classics. Lots of pictures and good information. The design of the website is worth a look also some thought and effort went into it’s design.
Check it out!
Check it out!
Jun 042009
Worked 2E0CON in England and F8CHM in France in the last few days. Also Martti Laine, OH2BH at his CU2KG QTH in the Azores. He was unbelievably loud at 20 over. From looking at the DX Cluster it
seems lots of DX is being worked. So don’t let the low number stop you there’s still some good stuff to work out there.
73,
May 242009
Antenna System for the Soviet "Woodpecker"
Uncategorized
Comments Off
Apr 192009
Back in the 70′s and 80′s the “Woodpecker” was a real problem for Ham operators as well as commercial radio stations. These guys put out an incredible signal all across the HF bands. Take a look at the site that is abandoned now. It looks like they had a heck of an antenna system. Click the picture to see more pics and information on the site.
73,
73,
New Infrasonic Quartet Sound Card
Uncategorized
Comments Off
Apr 182009
I just installed the Infrasonic Quartet sound card.
This card has 4×4 channels at 24 bit/192 kHz. I’m using it with the LP-PAN Panadapter from N8LP at TelePost Inc. and the Elecraft K3. It makes a great setup and the card is very easy on system resources.
I’m using 2 channels for the panadapter and 2 chanels for the PSK-31 audio into the K3. You can’t run them both at the same time…yet.
This card has 4×4 channels at 24 bit/192 kHz. I’m using it with the LP-PAN Panadapter from N8LP at TelePost Inc. and the Elecraft K3. It makes a great setup and the card is very easy on system resources.
I’m using 2 channels for the panadapter and 2 chanels for the PSK-31 audio into the K3. You can’t run them both at the same time…yet.
Mellish Reef VK9GMW
Uncategorized
Comments Off
Apr 182009
Well guess it’s a rap. Only heard them a couple of times. Worked them on 20 and now they are having problems with the log during the time I worked them. Why am I not surprised…
Hope they find it.
73,
Hope they find it.
73,
