User:W0DBW

ke0etz - Christian Amateur Radio Operator
Derek Winterstien / Nebraska

Current Events

UPDATED: Friday, March 18, 2016

I put the 70cm Yaga beam up on the tower today. Now it is much easier to hit the Omaha UHF repeaters.

SWIARC is testing digital mode on their .82 repeater starting today. Signal strength for me when from a 6+ down to 2 on the S-meter. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Ham radio is all about experimenting!

When I was transmitting on my old Kenwood TR-7400A today, using an omi on the roof several feet from the UHF yagi which is up on the tower, the Kenwood on full power wiped out the front-end on the UHF rig I was using, causing it to go nutty and shut itself off. It seemed to come out of it after being reset. I was a bit worried that it was toast. Reflected signal is low coming in the cable on the Kenwood, however, there is a lot of RF in the shack on full power transmit. The radio itself is a strong emitter of RF coming out of the case, more so than the newer radios. I am going to start setting my coffee cup on the Kenwood when I use it, so the stray RF keeps the coffee warm.

SOME OLDER POSTS:

I have been studying and experimenting more with cross-band repeat[...]. Updates to how it works and what is permissible by the FCC can be read on the wiki page about Ham Radio Cross Band Repeater. Maybe I will discuss [...].

In my area our local ham group, the Plattsmouth Amateur Radio Club, we have been experimenting with DMR and SDR. The club president, KB0OGO, did a demonstration of SDR with his new SDRplay receiver. KI0PY has demonstrated MotoTRBO with a Motorola branded HT while I have recently obtained the Tytera MD-380.

I've been building antennas, with my most recent endeavor to build a 6-meter "squalo" horizontally polarized antenna. There is a local 6-meter [...].

About Me

Renewed my interest in radio after over two decades in absentia and obtained my ticket last summer. I hold a General class license and will pursue obtaining the Extra as time permits, which I plan to achieve eventually. I have been working with Part 90 radios as part of my business for several years, which was another motivating factor in my decision to go "full ham." I would like to get a vanity so that my callsign is shorter and less cumbersome for others to remember.

My wife will be taking the Tech exam this summer so that she can enter into the hobby. If she is going to be exposed to RF radiation here at the house she might as well have a license too. I have two children, the oldest boy is 9 and he shows a lot of interest in radio. He wants to be a ham operator, however, he also wants to be Iron Man Tony Stark. My daughter likes to sit next to me when I DX. Her favorite is the Australian broadcast on 9.58. That's my favorite too, reminds me of when I lived in Brisbane.

Memo: Proposal (Please Read)

This memo is something I plan to present to the leadership of local amateur radio clubs in my area. Please read and if you agree, consider printing it and presenting it your own local ARC.

Proposal to Create an Amateur Net for New Licensees

• Download: File:PtCaANfNL.pdf

Update: There is interest in the concept. Discussion is taking place to locate volunteers and select a time and repeater frequency.

About the "Go" Net (or whatever we decide to call it)along with details and the progress of implementation please see: SW Iowa and Eastern Nebraska Go Net

The name "Tech Net" has been abandoned for the purpose of disambiguation. It is not a technical discussion net. It is a net for those newly licensed to receive an inviting and warm introduction to the hobby.

Recent Equipment Photographs

Working Inventory

Transceivers I have collected and used over the years are listed here. I am trying to locate the ones I stored away. Since I have renewed my interest in radio communication after many years (late 80s early 90s) I have started buying here and there again. My radio hobby has to be on a budget so don't expect any super-mega-digital-all-crazy $$$ rigs in this collection.

Working Inventory: HF

Primary Base Rig:

• Kenwood TS-940SAT - A Solid State Competition Grade HF Transceiver. Solid state HF transceiver, radio bands from 160 to 10 meters, general coverage receiver from 150 kHz to 30 MHz, CW, SSB, AM, FSK, and narrow-band FM. 100 Watt out. The S model has no auto tuner, while my SAT has the auto tuner.

 

The nice thing about this radio is "no menus." Everything is controlled by manual controls on the face. It needed some attention when it came to me. I have corrected some problems with it including the well known PLL lock problem, the sub display not working, and a problem with the auto tuner. I think it is ready for use.

Primary Mobile Rig:

• Alinco DX-70T HF/6m Tranceiver - Working. This transceiver will cover 160 meters - 10 meters and 6 meters. SSB, CW, FM 1.8MHz-30MHz 100 Watts; 50MHz-54MHz: 10 Watts (AM) 1.8 MHz - 30 MHz 40 Watts; 5OMHz - 54 MHz: 4 Watts.

Shelved or in Storage:

• Clear Channel Ranger AR-3500 - In storage. Hand-me-down from a family member. I like my President HR2510 better although this AR3500 is the 100 watt model so it is more powerful. It does have power! This radio is in unknown condition. I haven't powered it up in over 20 years.

• Uniden President HR2510 - Working however since it hasn't been used much in a couple decades I think it is a bit out of tune. The SWR meter on it never seemed to work well. I used to thump the signal display to get it to register. I have worked this radio a lot and made many contacts. In 1990 I was able to make regular contacts in the UK. Used with the Hy Gain Penetrator antenna, which has to be shorted a bit for 10-meter operation, and during the right solar activity, this radio is great for making long distant contacts on HF band. Here is what it looks like:

When I get this back on a good antenna I plan to make some contacts before this sunspot cycle dries up. I will eventually put a log here. This is my only working HF radio right now.

I also have some old amps and equipment not worth mentioning. Though, the tube AMP I have will do 800 watts.

• Yaesu Sommerkamp FT-7B - This was also a hand-me-down from a family member. It once worked, but now doesn't seem to put out any power, low output problem. I plan to take it apart and start with a good cleaning, then go from there.

Working Inventory: VHF & UHF

• Icom IC-2820H with UT123 board. This is a dual band 2m / 70cm transceiver with optional D-Star digital mode. Mine has the D-Star board installed. I haven't had this radio very long. I will post some pics and a review after I have put some time in on it. There is the Nebraska D-Star Club, and the D-Star Repeater and User Directory. You can register your callsign for use on D-Star.

stock photo

• TYT TH-9800 Quad Band Transceiver. This radio does cover 10-meter but not with SSB so I didn't list it up there. It is strictly AM-FM mode. It is a Chinese knockoff of Yaseau. I got it for under $200 new. looks like:

stock photo

The above is a stock image. I will snap a pic of it as it is hooked up in my van as soon as I clean up the way I mounted it. Right now it is held to the dash by zip ties.

• Kenwood TR-7400A - My old VHF mobile rig. I dug this out of storage but can't find where I put the microphone.

Actual pic: I hooked this up to a VHF HT antenna and a 12v PSU to see if it still worked. Even if I had the mic I wouldn't key down on this type of antenna. I was picking up conversation from a couple local repeaters. Sounded good. When I find the mic I will hook it up in my van and see if it still transmits well enough.

• QYT KT-8900 dual band 20W MINI Moblie radio. This is a noisy little rig that I put in the wife's car. I wouldn't recommend this radio to anyone.

• Kenwood TK 880H - This is a Part 90 radio which retails with the following feature list: 32 systems / 250 groups (trunked mode), Max 600 channels (trunked mode), Max 250 channels capacity (conventional mode), 12 character dot matririx LCD, 10 character alphanumeric alias. This radio can be programmed for use on Ham bands. Programming is done with KPG-49D software. It is supposed to be 50 watts and programmable for use between 400 to 430 mhz. With a dummy load I tested it at about 30 watts. Requires a serial cable to program, serial on one end, RJ45 on the other.

Digital

I have been testing the water on DMR with the Tytera MD-380 which is MotoTRBO compatible. DMR is Digital 2-Way Radio. If you're interested in DMR take a look at Using DMR which is a guide to get you started.

Miscellaneous HTs

• Yaesu VX-2R
• Baofeng BF-F8HP
• Baofeng UV-B6
• Kenwood TK-380K
• Tokmate UHF

Actually I have a box full of HTs mostly China made and a few old Radio Shack "Realistic" models.

Antenna Tuners

Dentron Jr. Monitor

• HF coverage from 1.6-30 MHz
• 300w

Manufactured by Prime for Dentron.

MFJ-945E

• HF+6M coverage from 1.8 to 60 Mhz
• 300/60 and 30/6 Watt ranges
• ON/OFF lamp switch
• MFJ Product Page

MJF-941E

• HF coverage from 1.8 - 30 Mhz
• 300/60 and 30/6 watt ranges
• ON/OFF lamp switch
• Bypass
• 4:1 balun
• MFJ Product Page

Antenna Systems

• Ringo Ranger (mono 2m) - elevated with the base at 45ft above ground
• 70cm yaga beam - half way up on tower pointed north
• Edison Fong DB-1 Antenna - this is a dual band although is only good for 2m
• 120ft Fence doublet HF - tunes to 40m and when tweeked 80m
• 6-meter horz dipole - on side of tower at about 30ft
• 10-meter inverted dipole - on roof of house. Clips to attach extra length to work 10 - 40 meter

10-meter convertible dipole

This is a wire antenna I built. There is a 1:1 balun to which LMR-400 is attached and goes into the shack. The antenna is nearly an inverted V, however, I say it is less inverted than a traditional inverted V. A true inverted V tends to be omni directional. Now the truth of that has relevance to proximity to the ground (must be less than 1/4 wavelength) and band. 10-meter is high enough in frequency you do not want to treat it like you would one of the lower HF bands.

The 10-meter dipole I am using has about a 30 degree angle downward. The length of each side is 94" giving a total dipole length of 15' 8" long. At this length the antenna is resonate on the SSB voice portion of the 10-meter band towards the bottom. Although it is perfectly resonate, I still use the auto-tuning function on my HF radio to protect the finals. According to a hamuniverse article a dipole at 10-meter should be about 16½' long. Mine is shorter, however, the antenna analyzer allowed me to accurately trim it down to resonance and it is a match straight to the transceiver.

Each end of the antenna has a connector so that I may attach extra length to the antenna. I can, for example, attach sufficient length bringing the total dipole length to around 32' - 33' so that I may work 10m - 20m matching ham bands in-between with the tuner. Of course, the more inductor loading required, the less efficient the antenna is. However, on 20m the antenna is again resonate without the tuner.

• Attach 154" of additional length to each side of the 10-meter dipole for the 20-meter band.

188" total length on my 10-meter (15' 8")
94"    per side
7' 10" per side
 
402" total length on a 20-meter inverted-V (33' 6")
201"   per side
16' 9" per side

201 - 94 = 107" of additional length needed for conversion to 20m
           8' 11"

756" total length on a 40-meter inverted-V (63')
378"   per side
31' 5" per side
 
378 - 94 = 284" of additional length needed for conversion to 40m
           23' 8"

To 80-meter a lot more length is required. This begins to be a challenge on my urban located property lot. I can build long HF antennas that run North - South. I have a long narrow lot. However, the 10-meter convertible dipole on my roof runs East - West. If my neighbor is not home I can go the extra length to work 80-meter on this antenna. I would not try to use this particular antenna for the 80-meter band.

Tower

I have a Rohn BX40 tower. I would like to eventually go higher. Right now, the BX40 will have to suffice.

It is a free standing tower anchored to a concrete slab. The depth of the slab is below the frost line. Two of the 3 tower legs are grounded to 8ft 1/2" buried copper pipe. I have an HF antenna built on a 120ft stretch across the top of the property line fence. I also use the roof of my house and chimney for various antenna configurations.

Some Local Nets

************************************************************************************************************************************

These nets I have either monitored, to verify, or checked in. Current as of: April 2016

70cm Nets

• (443.925+)(FM)... Sunday 8:30pm, Nebraska IRLP Net

2m Nets

• (147.360+)(FM)... Sunday 9:00pm, Douglas Co ARES, Formal, announcements and checkins only.
• (146.940+)(FM)... Sunday 9:00pm, Douglas Co ARES, Formal, announcements and checkins only.
• (145.290-)(FM)... Monday 7:00pm, Heartland Hams, Formal, announcements and chat.
• (146.940+)(FM)... Monday 9:00pm, SWIARC Info Net, Casual, Predetermined Subject. Chat.
• (146.820-)(FM)... Wednesday 9:00pm, SWIARC, Casual, Open Chat.
• (146.820-)(FM)... Saturday 12:00pm, SWIARC, Casual, swap net, buy, sale, trade.

6m Nets

• (50.200)(SSB)... Tuesday at 8:00pm, Simplex, Casual, Open Chat.

10m Nets

• (28.350)(SSB)... Thursday at 8:00pm. UNVERIFIED Thurs 8PM 28.350 USB
• (28.305)(SSB)... Thursday at 9:00pm. UNVERIFIED 28.305 10-Meter Net.

IRLP via Repeater

• (443.925+)(FM)... Mon-Sat at 9:00am. Say Good Morning With Radio IRLP Net, Casual, Predetermined Subject. (Node 966)
• (444.800+)(FM)... Mon-Sat at 9:00am. Say Good Morning With Radio IRLP Net, Casual, Predetermined Subject. (Node 966)
• (443.925+)(FM)... Sat at 9:00pm. Kansas Nebraska K-Link Saturday IRLP Net, Casual, Say Hello. (Node 933)
• (443.925+)(FM)... Sun at 8:30pm. Sunday Nebraska IRLP Net, Casual, Check-ins by node/region. Say Hello. (987-5)

************************************************************************************************************************************

Vintage

I collect vintage tube radios, shortwave radios, and various related. I will throw some pics up here when I get time.

For Sale

 ITEM DESCRIPTION                                           PRICE
 -----------------------------------------------------      --------

 Cobra 124 GTL - (used) expanded 365 channels ............. $ 350.00 --- --- tested, fully functional.

 Cobra 1000 GTL (used) .................................... $ 

 Tokmate TU30 (new) Handheld UHF 400-480MHz ............... $  55.00 --- --- NIB, will program for you 
                                                                         at no additional cost.  
 Kenwood Tk-880h -1 70cm .................................. $ 125.00 OBO --- used, excellent cond

The Hy Gain antenna was damaged by a storm. What remains has been sold. I had a second one in storage. If I can locate it I might post it here for sale.

Update: second Hy Gain P500 was disposed of by my parents, probably scrapped for metal round up on the farm.

Cobra 142 GTL expanded for 365 channels operate 10-meter USB and LSB.

Local Repeaters

The first link is a google docs spreadsheet with all of the local repeaters near the EN21 Grid Square Map. These are repeaters that cover Omaha, Bellevue, Plattsmouth, and Council Bluffs.... Nebraska and Iowa.

Currently 2m and 70cm only:

• EN21 Public Repeater List
  

last updated: Sunday, April 17, 2016

The following is a repeater list obtained from an online source. It may be out of date.

• East Nebraska and West Iowa Active Repeater List

Sun Spots

Sunspot numbers wax and wane in an approximately 11-year cycle. Solar Cycle 1 spanned the years 1755 to 1766. The last, Cycle 23, peaked in April 2000 with an average of 120 sunspots per day around the time of maximum. The last minimum part of the cycle bottomed out in December 2008, was the longest and quietest in over a century. Cycle 24 is occurring now in 1014 - 1015. Cycle 24 is a disappointing cycle. 10-meter DX depends largely on solar activity. Skip on 10-meter is active now and predicted to remain active until 2018 or shortly thereafter. It is a weak sunspot cycle, however, it is enough to provide for skip.

Cycle 24 actually peaked in 2014.

We need more sunspots! Join my campaign to lobby Washington to pass a bill that creates sunspots. Click HERE to send us your donation.

Skip

VHF

• 6m : sporadic, mostly daytime.

HF

• 10m : evening propagation and daytime mostly and during high sunspot period of solar cycle.
• 12 - 17m : daytime bands, usually opened.
• 20m : Can be opened day or night. This is a reliable band for DX.
• 40m : local skip during the day, DX at night.
• 80m : local skip during the day, longer distance DX at night.

MF

• 160m : night propagation. local skip.

Hy Gain Penetrator

The Hy Gain Penetrator antenna designer Howell Pabian is now retired in the Lincoln, Nebraska! That's where I ordered my antennas from. A little 2-way radio shop that once existed on O Street.

Hy Gain Penetrator Facts:

• 5/8 wave ground plane antenna.
• shorten the vertical radiator for 10-meter use.

MFJ now owns the rights to Hy Gain in name. lb

• Penetrator P500 article from October 2009

A new version of the antenna is back in production.

• Hy-gain SPT-500 (fall in love again!)

Investigating

Icom IC-9100

Base Amateur HF/VHF/UHF Transceiver
Frequency range 10-160 m + WARC / 6 m / 2m / 70cm
23cm + D-Star optional, Requires 13.8 VDC at 24 amps. 12.5 x 4.6 x 13.5 inches 24.3 lbs.

• used value: $1,800.00 - $2,025.00
• new value: $2480.00

• built in SWR?

Equipment: Connect Systems CS750 DMR Digital/Analog Radio

Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) - The new CS750 is the first DMR-compatible radio to be designed specifically for the Ham market.

• $210

Equipment: Yaesu VX-3R VHF/UHF DualBand Handheld -vs- ZASTONE ZT-2R+

The Yaesu Receives 0.5-999Mhz AM/FMN/FMW, Transmits 144-148 & 430-450Mhz VHF/UHF FM Output is 1.5W Vhf, 1W UHF

The ZASTONE ZT-2R+ TX Frequency Ranges: 144-146 MHz 430-440 MHz (but no info on AM/FM)

Icom ICR6 Broadband Receiver

0.100 ~ 1309.995MHz in AM / FM / WFM.

Yaesu FT-736R

The Yaesu FT-736R all-mode transceiver incorporates up to four band modules covering the 50, 144, 220, 430, 440 and 1200 MHz amateur bands. The FT-736R is supplied standard with 2 meters and 440 (at 25 watts output). Standard modes are SSB, CW and FM. This radio has operating conveniences usually found only on HF transceivers, such as IF shift, IF notch, keypad entry, noise blanker, all mode VOX and three-speed selectable AGC. The memory system includes 100 general purpose memories, 10 full duplex cross-band memories and 1 global call channel, all of which store mode and frequency.

$615.00 / $667.61     Used: Excellent
$670.00 / $715.00     Used: Excellent with optional 6m and other addons
$645.00 / $697.61     Used: Excellent
$520.00 / $560.00     Used: Good with FTS8 tone unit

The Yaesu FT-726R (726 rather than 736) is an older unit that is lower power, only 10w. These typically sell for $200 less than the FT-736R and I would not recommend paying over $400 for a used working model.

Scanning the HF dial

Day Night kHz use location language comments

		X	0.330	CW				
		X	3.215	AM	SW		english	news, political
		X	3.330	AM	SW		english	automated beacon
		X	3.618	LSB	ham		english	
		X	3.625	LSB	ham		english	
		X	3.700	LSB	ham		english	
		X	3.908	LSB	ham		english	
		X	3.908	LSB	ham		english	
		X	3.916	LSB	ham		english	
		X	3.936	LSB	ham		english	
		X	7.138	LSB	ham		english	
	X		7.217	LSB	ham			
		X	7.385	AM	SW		english	religious
		X	7.455	AM	SW		english	religious
		X	7.489	AM	SW		english	
		X	7.569	AM	SW		english	
		X	9.395	AM	SW		english	
	X		9.474	AM	SW		english	religious
		X	9.790	AM	SW		english	
		X	9.800	AM	SW		english	news
		X	9.955	AM	SW		english	religious
		X	9.975	AM	SW		english	
	X		9.980	AM	SW		english	religious
	X		11.550	AM	SW		spanish	
		X	11.670	AM	SW		foreign	
		X	11.780	AM	SW		foreign	
	X		11.825	AM	SW		english	religious
		X	11.840	AM	SW		foreign	same as 13.743
	X		11.950	AM	SW		spanish	strong signal
	X		12.160	AM	SW	USA	english	midwest USA, call in talkshow
		X	13.743	AM	SW		foreign	
	X		14.670	AM	SW	Canada	english	radio beacon
	X		15.120	AM	SW		foreign	
	X		15.230	AM	SW		spanish	
	X		15.370	AM	SW		spanish	same as 15.230
	X		15.700	AM	SW	China	english	China radio propiganda, news, strong signal
	X		18.155	USB	ham		english

Wavelength to Frequency Table

Meter Band 	Frequency Range and Use
--------------------------------------------------
160 meter 	1800 - 2000 kHz ham radio
120 meter 	2300 - 2498 kHz broadcasting
90 meter 	3200 - 3400 kHz broadcasting
80 meter 	3500 - 4000 kHz ham radio
60 meter 	4750 - 4995 kHz broadcasting
49 meter 	5950 - 6250 kHz broadcasting
41 meter 	7100 - 7300 kHz broadcasting
40 meter 	7000 - 7300 kHz ham radio
31 meter 	9500 - 9900 kHz broadcasting
30 meter 	10100 - 10150 kHz ham radio
25 meter 	11650 - 11975 kHz broadcasting
22 meter 	13600 - 13800 kHz broadcasting
20 meter 	14000 - 14350 kHz ham radio
19 meter 	15100 - 15600 kHz broadcasting
17 meter 	18068 - 18168 kHz ham radio
16 meter 	17550 - 17900 kHz broadcasting
15 meter 	21000 - 21450 kHz ham radio
13 meter 	21450 - 21850 kHz broadcasting
12 meter 	24890 - 24990 ham radio
11 meter 	25670 - 26100 kHz broadcasting
10 meter 	28 - 29.7 MHz ham radio 
6 meter         50 - 54 MHz ham radio since 1947
5 meter         56 – 64 MHz taken from ham radio in 1946
4 meter         70.000 MHz – 70.500 MHz
3 meter         76 - 88 MHz 88 - 108 MHz broadcasting 
2 meter         144 MHz to 148 MHz for ham
1.25 meter      219 - 225 MHz
70 centimeter   420 - 450 MHz ham 462 - 468 MHz non-ham public
33 centimeter   902.000 MHz – 928.000 MHz
23 centimeter   1.240 GHz – 1.300 GHz
13 centimeter   2.300 GHz – 2.450 GHz

mobile antennas

CSB-770A

Comet's BEST DualBand Mobile Antennas
2M/440MHz high gain antenna
Gain& Wave:
2M  5/8 wave  4.4dBi
440MHz  Two 5/8 waves 6.9dBi
VSWR:  1.5:1 or less
Max Power:  150W
Length:  50"
Connector: Gold-plated PL-259
Fold-over hinge included

Tram 1180

2M/70cm 5/8 wave mobile antenna
37.5" tall
NMO mount
eham: 4.1

CA-2x4SR The Comet CA-2x4SR dual band is a 2 meter and 440 MHz mobile antenna. It is a 5/8 wave on 2 meters providing 3.8 dB gain and a 5/8 wave on 440 MHz providing 6.2 dB gain. VSWR 1.5 : 1 or less. This antenna can handle up to 150 watts. This antenna is black with three coils on the whip element. The CA-2x4SR is pretuned, but an Allen wrench for adjusting is included.

This antenna is 40 inches (1.02 m) high. The connector type is UHF

power supply

Most modern power supplies are the switching type while older power supplies are the linear type. The linear type are not very energy efficient and they are also larger and weigh a lot more.

Note to Moderator / Admin

Please contact me prior to considering making modifications to my own user page.