QSY Special Event Station

QSY Society Amateur Radio Club: Get on the Air!

The QSY Society Amateur Radio Club demonstrates an amateur radio station at the Mid-Hudson Children’s Museum (MHCM) on Saturday, September 26. The club is promoting awareness of Henry Hudson's 400th anniversary voyage of discovery, as well as encouraging others to try amateur radio and foster goodwill.

We expect to be on 40m CW, SSB + 20M CW, SSB, PSK31 + expect to also be on 2m SSB & FM intermittently from 11AM to 5PM

Special Event Call sign N2H and K2QS our club station.

Our club station will be operating to get "Kids on The Air" so if you hear them calling CQ K2QS please return their call. QSL to KC2QFR for the K2QS call.

QSL info on N2H.us and additional details on qrz special events forum.

More Details & Flyer

30 meter fun activity this weekend

30 meter fun activity this weekend.

Here is the flyer: tinyurl.com/mjkb6f

Also visit the 30M Digital Group at www.30meterdigital.org

73 de Fred KC2QFR

August Meeting WSPR Mode Presentation/Demo

At the QSY meeting on Tuesday I will be doing a presentation and demo of WSPR Weak Signal Propagation reporter. Runs QRP so it is good for all. I will explain how to use it for your own propagation and antenna studies/evaluation.

See http://wsprnet.org and http://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/K1JT/ for some reading before the meeting.

If someone has a portable MP-1 vertical, hamstick or buddipole, anything else thats a quick setup (for 30m QRP) I can have it running live on 30m where most activity occurs, otherwise I will run on 20m with my hamsticks.

To see the propagation reporter database go here:

http://wsprnet.org/meptspots.php?mode=html&band=all&limit=50&findcall=kc2qfr&findreporter=kc2qfr&sort=date

It should come up live for my call but if not put my call in as follows then push go to see how the system works for reporting.

Search for call:
Show spots heard by:

You can also go to wsprnet.org and do the same thing (database link).
Click activity to see who is on what band.

73 de Fred KC2QFR

This was only a test...

Friday, June 26th was a test to see that everyone could find the Field Day site. I am pleased to say that everyone passed! Now that the storms are gone, it's time to kick things into high gear and get ourselves ready for Field Day! See you at 8:00.

Interesting P.S.

I saw this super compact power supply mentioned in the Elecraft forum. Sounds interesting but is not cheap. Good for portable ops.

See www.gammaresearch.net

Getting ready for Spring & Summer OPs

With the warmer weather approaching I figured its time for change. Enter the Icom IC 703+:


Just picked it up from HRO last week and can't wait to start backpacking with it! For a qrp rig it seems to fit me better than my FT 817 but weighs a ton! First impression seemed good - I like the dsp features and built in auto "tuner". I also like the low current drain compared to the 817, ~300-350ma on receive with muted audio, tx at 5 watts is about 1.5 amps, 10 watts is around 2 amps with a load voltage of ~13.5 volts. This rig can also run off of ~9.6 volts and still put out 4 to 5 watts which works for me as I happen to have some spare vex 9.6v nicad 1A power packs not being used(another battery pack to be built!).

Still the 817 has its place as a portable 6m, 2m, and 70cm all mode rig with just the basics. Just yesterday I took it to the top of Mt. Taurus for some weekend spring qrp action:


Even the 817 still weighs a bit - any serious operating will require an external power source - I use a homebrew 2A 12v regulated battery pack. This adds considerable weight and you'll begin to feel it in no time when trekking about. For an antenna I just use 22g speaker wire that I had laying around as an end fed wire to my homebrew t transmatch. I usually work on 20m , 10m, 6m, and 2m - give me a call if you hear me!

I've finally gotten around to fixing up that nice 1919 Vibroplex Original, here it is:
















I replaced the feet since they were worn out with ones found at Home Depot - at the time they had only white feet, a bit oversized but they actually work far better than the stock ones and they manage to hold their grip pretty well. Can't wait to start operating some more after this semster is out! Until then,

73 de KC2BNX

Bug Maintenence Continues

Finally finished cleaning a few bugs this weekend, the 1933 Lightning and Lionel J 36. Here's the 1933 base, parts(brasso'd), and final re-assembly:

















I just used Brasso, soap & water in a cup, defunct
toothbrush, few rags and some elbow grease to get it almost completely clean. Unfortunately the previous owner decided it was better to glue strips of rubber on the bottom so when it came time to improvise round rubber feat I had some trouble. That is with the glue left behind, real sticky stuff. I managed to work most of it off but some still remains - I had faced a dilemma: either use harsh chemicals to remove the glue crud and damage the paint underneath or use the brush, water and soap. I opted for the soap and water - it worked ok and I still have the paint(whats left of it) on the bottom of the base. For replacement feat I used white rubber ones found in the Home Depot furniture section(or thereabouts). They're a little oversized but work and give the bug a much better footing on the table. A side note: when using Brasso, avoid the RED PAINTED bug emblem on the Vibroplex name plate! I ended up Brasso'ing that part too much and pretty much lost most of the red paint on the little bugger.

The Lionel cleaned up much better, especially the base. Take a look at the "before and after" pictures below:

The end result?

Two down, two to go - the 1920 Martin Junior and last but not least, a 1919 Original:
















The journey continues...

73

- Mike
KC2BNX