   
May / June
2012
Volume
2, Issue 3 |
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SOTA from Ossipee Hill
WS1SM
activates W1/AM-253
by
Tim Watson, KB1HNZ
With
the sun shining on the last Sunday in April, the WS1SM team ventured to
Ossipee Hill to activate W1/AM-253 for Summits on the Air (SOTA). In
only a few hours of operating, they made 26 contacts on HF and 2 meter
simplex, using an Icom IC-706 MKIIG, battery power, and portable
antennas.
WSSM at the 2012 Gorham Founders' Festival
May
25-26th
by
Tim Watson, KB1HNZ
After
a succesful 4-day special event at last year's 275th anniversary
edition of the Gorham Founders' Festival, the Wireless Society of
Southern Maine will return to take part in this year's festival, which
will be held Friday, May 25th - Satuday, May 26th.
Here's
the latest QSL card received for club station WS1SM. To view
more, visit the QSL Gallery page on our website.
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Product
Review
iPortable Antenna
Analyzer
by
Thom Watson, W1WMG
When
looking for an analyzer, I wanted something small and light for
mountain-topping and special events. The iPortable turned out to be
perfect for that application. Its compact size (about the size of a
deck of cards, only slightly thicker), makes it easy to carry, and was
just what I needed to set up antennas in the field. The unit is well
built, with a cleanly arranged circuit board with no jumper
wires.
It operates on low power, using a 9-volt battery, and features simple
push
buttons to change bands and frequency step. The iPortable is easy to
use. With the turn of a knob, it quickly finds the resonant frequency and
indicates SWR, and
shows instantaneously how the SWR varies with frequency. We tested the
iP60z model, which includes the 6 meter band, and retails for $249.00.
I received the unit in less than a week from the manufacturer. I am
very
pleased with it, and would recommend the iPortable to anybody looking
for a small, simple, and reasonably priced antenna analyzer. For more
information about the iPortable line of analyzers, click
here.
Getting Ready
for Field Day
June
23 - 24th
by
Tim Watson, KB1HNZ
It's hard to believe
it's that time of year again! Field Day is just around the corner, and
WSSM is already discussing ways to capitalize on bonus points and
improve on last year's score. There's been talk about using multiple
transmitters this year, which will add to the technical challenge and
the amount of air time required by each participant. In the weeks to
come, we'll be working on Field Day related projects, including
building band-pass filters, which will allow us to transmit on
different HF bands in close quarters without desensitizing each others'
receivers. Once again we have permission to hold Field Day at Wassamki
Springs Campground, in Scarborough, Maine. A special thank you goes out
to the Hillock family for making this possible.
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June
14th - from 7PM-9PM at Wassamki Springs Campground.
July
12th -
from 7PM-9PM at Wassamki Springs Campground.
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The
Wireless Society of Southern Maine would like to welcome Larry Feldman,
W1GOR, as our latest member. |
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Click
here to view ham radio gear for sale, events, and other ads
in our
classified section. Remember this FREE feature when you have
announcements or items for sale. |
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Rumor
has it that one of our club members has just earned Worked All States
(WAS), and CQ Magazine's WPX Award. |
From
the Editor's Desk
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"They'll
only be there for a few more days.
You can't miss it," said Stefania, YO9GJY, who sent me an instant
message. In a few moments of conversation, she reminded
me about just how exciting chasing rare DX is, and one station in
particular caught her fancy of late - a DXpedition to Socotra Island in
Yemen, that was in its waning days of operation.
As soon as I got home from work, I began studying the online
propagation charts to devise a way to break through the pileup with my
modest 100 watts and HF
vertical. I had only two days to work with. 7O6T proved to be elusive
at first, going QRT just
when propagation between us was getting good on 20 meters sideband, and
again on RTTY on 17 meters. Greyline seemed to be the only possibility,
and Sunday morning the bands were wide open to the mid east, but I had
no luck
breaking the pileups on 15 or 20. Finally, just when I was about to
give up, I turned on the rig at about 7:30 PM local time, and after
determining the split, tossed out my call like I'd done a hundred
times before...
We
think we know a lot about radio. The antennas are oriented just so, SWR
is adjusted till its 1:1, MUF is predicted to the hertz, but nature has
a way of amazing us sometimes. You press the PTT, a graphical
meter quivers on the transceiver, RF energy accelerates up your
transmission line, into the antenna and radiates through the great
unknown...
Suddenly, a voice on the other end replied: "Hotel November Zulu, go ahead -" I almost fell out of my chair. "Was that my
callsign?.. Could it be?" I guess that sometimes persistance,
determination, and hard work really does pay off - or maybe it was just
dumb luck. Either way, I managed to get through, and was also able to
nab 7O6T on 15 meters as well.
I hope some of you have had an
opportunity to explore the bands this month, and maybe catch a few rare
ones. Remember, if you don't have Stefania to remind you when and where
that rare DX is on, a good place to check the spots is DX Summit.
For more information about the 7O6T expedition, click here.
If anyone is interested in contributing, just send along a story idea, brag, or picture to [email protected]. As always, I also welcome any comments or suggestions on how to improve The Radiogram for future issues.
- Tim Watson, KB1HNZ
Disclaimer:
Results are not typical. Determination, hard work and dumb luck
are qualities posessed solely by the editor of The Radiogram, and may
not work for you. Without going into the technical details of the thing, prayers, voodoo, and four-leaf clovers, have been known to work just as well for some people.
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