MNQRP News March 1999

Today is FBYO Day! We had a station going outside with some members operating it. There were 8 members in attendance at the meeting plus a new member Jack, N0GI.

No treasurers report due to lack of treasurer. $3 was received from the raffle today. The secretary is holding the money to give to the treasurer.

In old business, we have received official notice from the ARRL of our club affiliation. The ARRL has suggested that we have a "charter party" with the ARRL section manager, ACC and division director in attendance. A discussion followed as we tried to figure out what kind of meaning this had for us and what we could do. Ideas included a pot luck, a special meeting without food and not having special meeting at all. It was agreed that if we had anything it should occur in late spring or early summer. A motion was presented and seconded which read "We will have a charter chairman at a later date." It carried, however details needed to be discussed at a later time.

For New Business, someone asked about having a table for advertising the club at Midwinter madness on April 17th or at the Rochester Ham Fest the weekend before. Cla said he would report on the costs and the details at the next meeting.

John, KA0OSC, program chairman begged, or at least asked for program ideas and volunteers to present after the regular business meeting. Cla suggested that we have a repair meeting where members could bring in ham equipment that they were having problems with and others could help. Those of us who have access to advanced test equipment such as Spectrum Analyzers and service monitors could bring them in and help fix and calibrate others equipment. Antennas could also be fixed and tested during this time.

Craig AA0ZZ, our official "Chat Session Meister", and I were discussing it and decided that 9:00pm local would be a better time. Craig finds he is often not at home and I find I'm involved in the family at that time. Please make effort to join us on the 146.67 repeater for QRP and radio building talk. See the Bob N0EB's article for a cheap way to boost your signal to the repeater too.

This year FYBO really got off on a rocky start. A couple weeks back I received an email from Larry KB0R one of our best contesters and the organizer of our club FYBO event that he was "stuck" in Madrid on business and wouldn't be back until after FYBO. He asked me if I'd do the organization. I had two immediate thoughts "nice place to be stuck" and "OK, what do I do now!". So a flurry of emails went out on the list and the organizing started. I think I should offer up my apologies to my fellow members as I over did it a little bit. But in hindsight, I believe it's best to go a little to far then not quite enough. Up here in "God's country" you have to expect the unexpected, as there are many days you'd swear the ownership had changed! February is traditionally the coldest month of the year. It's not uncommon to have a high temperature for the day well below zero with stiff bone freezing wind. So we had everything lined up for the worst weather to make the outdoor assault. Tent, tarps, winter tent stakes, lots of rope, kero-heater, and backup everything.

But in the last days the weather had been mild, so mild we thought it would cost us temp multipliers. Saturday came early and last minute details got me out the door late. Just as I left I noticed the temp was 21F, nuts!. Off to pick up Mike N0DWM and meet the guys at MacDon's for breakfast arriving at about 6:30, 30 minutes late. Jim N0UR, Bill N0BSN, Craig AA0ZZ were there waiting and wondering. A quick cup of coffee and a MacBiscuit and we headed for the site.

We set up outside the Minnetonka Community Center, our regular meeting location. The first Saturday of the month is our meeting day so we try to make an all day event out of it. The weather report indicated a warm day with highs going to the mid-thirties, little to no wind and warming through the night to a Sunday high close to 40. Doesn't look like it will dip below 20 degrees this evening either! Given the good weather and Minnesotans being a hearty bunch, we decided to dispense with the tent and set up in the open along the south side of the building and let the sun shine on us. Turned out we had to put up a tarp so the operators/loggers could see the controls and computer screen due to the bright sun. Another lesson learned. Setup started a bit slow but all went well and we made it on the air right at 8am. The setup crew did a great job. First Q was Ed WE6W, and not only that, the temperature had slipped a few degrees below 20! We nabbed max cold multipliers right at the start!

We used a 40-10m multiband vertical mounted to the patio railing and started with a TS-850. We switched to an FT-747 after the first hour or so as it was easier for unfamiliar operators to quickly understand and take over. Over the course of the day an operator/logging crew of ten members manned the station. I think everyone had a great time and we had extra people around the whole day to help out. The noon potluck lunch went well and was really good with Chili and Arizona Hot Sauce from last year keeping us very warm inside! About 6pm we started to talk about shutting down, we had done real good during the day, but we finally decided to go right to the 8pm end and squeeze the last few Q's out of 40 meters that we could. So it all ended at 8pm with the teardown crew chomping at the bit, we were all taken down and packed up by 8:30. Amazing.

Despite the rocky start and my over zealous organizing the teamwork really came together. I just want to thank all the MNQRP members that helped out. I also want to say a special thank you to one of our very special members. He's contributed more equipment, time and effort to our club events than many of our members even know. This also will probably embarrass him because that's the kind of guy he is. Thank you Bill N0BSN, you deserve it.

So, now the results of our efforts. I'm afraid we didn't break last years score, we SHATTERED it!

I am mighty proud to have been a part of it, great crew, great operators, great WX, and great fun. Thanks to everyone involved and for the moral support of those who couldn't make it. How do we have more fun NEXT year?
Mike - KE0WW MNQRP #25

I had a wonderful experience. I would like us to publicize the social aspects of FYBO. The people who brought the food were very generous and helped to give us an excuse, if one was needed, to hang out and get to know each other better. This was a well-organized and coordinated event. I hope to participate again next year.
73, Howard KB4UY

I wish I could just relax and have more fun and be more patient, but once the contest starts I just want to go!! This weekend I saw some really good ops in the group, you guys will do just fine without me. No slam to anyone or the group but I want to do more contesting on my own. I plan on doing FD at my parent's this year, and would like to do FYBO out in the wild next year operating single op. Had a great time though, thanks.
Jim NOUR

If the wind had been blowing, no one would of had much fun. Fish house in order. Might be fun to try and put up a few low dipoles. Speaker and headphones, so all could listen in. Hand warmer thing like your mom used to have, a big tube with fuzzy stuff to put the key in. Thanks.
Scott N0AR

I have followed the FYBO event via the comments on e-mail. A family commitment prevented me from any participation this year. I felt envious of you folks out there. Next year!
Russ, W0NBU

It was a GREAT day at FYBO. I think a winter field day is great way to get a group of Hams together during the dreary winter months and our group is an especially good group. Since becoming involved in QRP, I am continually amazed at the comradely, operating skills, and technical ability of the people in this movement. It certainly does revitalize Ham Radio to the level that I remember as a youngster with my first rig.
72 Mert, W0UFO

The new GQRP email reflector is now up and running. Last month almost saw the demise of this long running QRP resource. The GQRP reflector is the European equivalent of our QRP-L and was run by Peter G4MJS no longer can devote the time. The list is being continued on ONELIST.COM and subscription instructions are on the GQRP club website http://www.btinternet.com/~g4wif/gqrp.htm

How about a project that EVERY ham can build and use. A lot of folks have seen the 2 meter "plumber's delight" copper tubing J-Pole antenna. Now, I'd like to describe my $10 "fold-um-up" travel version of a J-Pole than can be built in less than half an hour and is good for 2 meters and 70 cm. How? By using 300 ohm TV twin lead or better yet, 450 ohm ladder line.

Before we start cutting wire and making some simple solder connections let's spend a few minutes on the J-pole antenna and why they are popular. Much of our 2-meter operation involves simple and not very effective antennas. Whether it be a rubber ducky, a 1/4 wave, or a 5/8 wave whip, the problem with these antennas is the ground plane (or lack of) that it must operate against. The solution to this problem - design an antenna that does not require a ground plane for effective operation. A vertical half wave dipole is an example of such an antenna. And that is basically what a J-Pole antenna is. The J-pole consists of a vertically polarized 1/2-wavelength radiator section that is end fed by a 1/4-wave stub matching section resulting in an end-fed dipole antenna.

The version described here can be rolled up and used as a portable antenna and hung from a tree for emergency use or tacked to a hotel window. Or it can be used as a base antenna by mounting the whole kit-and-caboodle in a length of PVC tubing, capped at the top and clamped to a mast at the bottom. At my last QTH the J-pole was thumbtacked to my apartment window and it worked better that any other 2-meter indoor antenna that I've used.

Ok, let's get the soldering iron warmed up. Please refer to my sketch of the J-pole. My design uses 450 ohm amateur ladder line, but your design can use standard 300 ohm TV flat twin lead (don't use the foam TV twin lead). 450-ohm ladder line is a little easier to work with and prune for the frequency you desire. So let's begin:

Start by shorting one end of the twin lead by soldering the twin lead wires together.

Using the calculated L (3/4) length from the chart below cut a section of the complete twin lead starting from the shorted bottom. This will make up your radiator section.

Pick one of the legs of your twin lead as your 1/4 wave matching stub section and measure up L (1/4) from the bottom and trim off ¼ inch of the wire and insulation. Don't cut the unused top of this leg off - it will be used to provide rigidity to the antenna.

From the bottom of the antenna measure up approximately 1 1/4 inches for the 300 ohm TV twin lead or approximately 2 1/4 inches for the 450 ohm ladder line. Attach your piece of RG-58 coax with the center to the radiator (long) section and the shield to the matching stub section. Tape the coax to the ladder line for strain relief.

For some RF decoupling of the RG-58 feed line, wind 3 to 5 turns of the coax in a 1 to 2 inch diameter at the base of the antenna to act as a RF choke. Secure the coil in place with some tie-wraps. If you want to get fancy you can use some coax ferrite beads instead.

Connect your coax connector (BNC or PL-259) to the other end or buy a store bought pre-assembled RG-58 coax and connector to start with.

Plug in your new J-pole to your 2-meter rig and marvel at the repeaters and digipeaters that you are now able to access.

You may want to design your initial antenna for 145 MHz (physically longer antenna) and cut and prune the radiator and matching stub sections (using an SWR meter) until it nulls at the lowest SWR for the operating frequency you desire. Remember to cut and prune in the ratio of 1 to 3 for the stub and radiator (if you trim 1/4 inch off of the stub you need to trim 3/4 inches off of the radiator. Unfortunately this cut and trimming is not an exact science since there is interaction between the sections.

So there you have it. As a bonus the antenna will resonate on the 70-cm band so you can use this one antenna with your dual-band transceiver. Oh I almost forgot - the formulas to calculate your radiator and matching stub lengths are listed below. Since this is a tech topic article I'd like you all to use these formulas to calculate your lengths (as a hint 300 ohm TV twin lead cut for 146 MHz comes out approximately to 50-5/16" for the radiator and 16-3/4" for the matching stub - check it out).

V= velocity factor for wire used (i.e. from the ARRL Antenna Handbook - TV 300 ohm twin lead = 0.85 and 450 ohm ladder line = 0.94)

If you want to read more about J-Pole antennas then check out the September 1994 issue of QST (page 61), July 1994 issue of CQ (page 50) and the ARRL Antenna Handbook (the Antenna Bible). Have fun and enjoy the Sunday Minnesota QRP Society 2 meter roundtable.

For the record, I am not a hard-core RTTY, operator. Nor am I an expert on the subject either. But I do enjoy QRP and think that RTTY at QRP power levels is fun.

I became interested in packet on VHF about 1990 and bought a multi-mode TNC. It was capable of running all sorts of digital, or almost digital, modes: CW, ASCII, RTTY, AMTOR, along with a few modes that very few use, like WEFAX. I planned to operate all these interesting modes on HF and VHF, and become the digital guru of south Minneapolis. Well, that didn’t happen. In fact, I quickly became bored with packet and never operated other modes, except occasionally RTTY at QRO power.

AMTOR was a popular HF digital mode in the early to mid 90s. More recently, PACTOR and CLOVER, which require specialized hardware, have become commonplace. RTTY is still used on occasion, often for DXpeditions. Ironically, during digital contests, it is the dominant mode by far. For a simple, homebrew RTTY and AMTOR interface, check this interesting web page: http://www.accessone.com/~tmayhan/.

I really like the spirit and challenge of QRP. But I am not a very proficient CW operator. Other modes for QRP operations appeal to me because they are, well, different. In late 1997, I read a feature in QST about the RTTY Roundup, held every January. This seemed to be a perfect operating event to combine QRP and a non-CW or voice mode.

I think casual operating in contests is a great opportunity to test rigs, antennas and operating skills, especially for the QRP operator. I have found that most contesters want to contact you because you help them build their scores. Usually, if they can hear you, they’ll work you. QRP power seems to have a fighting chance.

For the 1998 RTTY Roundup I used my old TNC, Kenwood rig at about 4 watts out, and a modest 40 through 10 meter dipole, about 25 feet high. Without really trying, I managed contacts with 37 states and Canadian provinces plus HH2, Haiti. My goal was at least 50 contacts and I completed 57. Why a goal of 50 contacts? The ARRL offers a certificate to all entrants for 50 or more contest QSO's in the Roundup. Incidentally, the League does not offer a QRP category for the RTTY Roundup at present. Dan Henderson, N1DH, ARRL Contest Manager, told me that there are simply not enough QRP entrants to warrant an award category.

I operated in the 1999 Roundup this last January. I managed 65 contacts but only 34 states and Canadian provinces this time. For DX, I worked FM5, Martinique, and LU3, Argentina, on 4 watts; both contacts were on 10 meters. In February, I worked several stations in the RTTY WPX contest. In that event, I worked 18 contacts, 10 states, in about 60 minutes. Recently, I had a 30-minute QSO with a high power RTTY station in Cleveland on 20 meters. He was running 500 watts and I gave him a report of 599; I ran 5 watts and received a 579 report.

OK, so maybe watching text of a QSO print on a computer screen is not for you. The important point is that QRP operations can encompass a variety of modes: CW, SSB, and RTTY, even Slow Scan TV on HF. Try a different mode to add some spice to your operating. You’ll be surprised at how well QRP power can perform, especially as the higher HF bands come alive in the new sunspot cycle. Good luck; I’ll be interested to hear about your experiences.

Events maybe you missed!

March Happenings!

Good Stuff coming up!

February 1999

Spartan Sprint

6 MNQRP Meeting
6 FYBO '99

20-21 ARRL DX CW

March 99

1 Spartan Sprint

6 MNQRP Meeting

6-7 ARRL DX Phone

April 99

1 QST April Fools Day Article
3 MNQRP Meeting
10 ARCI QSO Party
10 Rochester Hamfest
17 Midwinter Madness
18SMARTS Fest
?? Fergus Falls Hamfest