WA2HOM

Digital modes at the museum.

We have had great success running digital modes with the SignaLink hooked up to the Ten Tech Omni VII.

We have made Feld Hell, SSTV, RTTY, PSK and Olivia contacts. We use HRD/DM780 and it works well. Although we use DM780 and I have no complaints I would like to try other software. ROS sounds cool too but is not legal in the USA due to it using spread spectrum.

Unfortunately the tower and beam are not up yet. It was going to be installed in May and here it is July and we are still waiting. So we are still using our inverted V dipoles at about 30 feet.

If you are in the area or just want to visit email me Jim k8elr or Dan kb6nu and we would be glad to give you a demo and let you operate the station.

Later and 73!

Jim K8ELR

One-Day Tech Class – Everyone Passed!

Yesterday, we held yet another One-Day Tech Class, and just like last time, we scored 100% again. We had twelve students, with all twelve passing the test!

What was notable about this class is that we had two of our youngest students ever—two brothers, aged ten and twelve. Normally, kids don’t do well in the one-day format, and I mentioned this to their mother. She turned to the kids, who quickly told her that they were sure they could pass.

As we got into the material, it was evident that they had been studying. They had a little trouble doing the math—at one point one of them exclaimed, “We haven’t had fractions yet!” I slowed down a bit, though, and I think they got the idea.

They did have the other material down, though. As we covered the other sections, they were quick to answer the questions.

I was very impressed that the kids were able to stick with us through the whole six-hour session. They did get distracted from time to time, but I tried to keep them involved by asking them questions and speaking directly to them. In the end, it paid off. They both passed the test!

While we were waiting for their tests to be scored, I spoke briefly with the parents. As it turns out, it was their mother who encouraged their interest in amateur radio. As a girl, she’d built a crystal set and learned Morse Code. Now, I’ve got to get her into my next class.

This Weekend on the Air at WA2HOM

This Saturday, we operated the MI QSO Party—I operated on Saturday down at the Hands-On Museum. To avoid any confusion, we used the W8CWN callsign.

I got to the museum around 10 am, and the contest didn’t start until noon, so I fiddled around a bit, trying to figure out how the bands were. I made three contacts on 40m and a couple of contacts on 20m, so it looked like band conditions were going to cooperate.

When noon hit, I was off and running. Switching back and forth between 40m and 20m, I made a total of 90 contacts in the next two hours, including three DX contacts. Not stellar, but not bad, either.

Having my WinKeyer certainly helped. As I’ve mentioned, the Omni VII doesn’t have a built-in memory keyer, meaning that in previous contests, I had to bang out the CQs myself. The WinKeyer improved the process immensely.

On Sunday, Jim, K8ELR, opened the station up around 12:30. I joined him about 2:15.

Unfortunately, the band conditions weren’t so good on Sunday. We managed to eke out only one CW contact on Sunday.

Coming Up
Next Saturday, April 24, we’ll be conducting another One-Day Tech Class. There’s still room, so if you know someone that would like to attend, have them e-mail me at cwgeek@kb6nu.com.

Operating Notes – 4/10/10

Yesterday, it was just me down at the museum. I made a couple of great contacts, though.

The first was with Fred, KI4XH. Fred was operating his Collins S-Line gear, and keying it with a bug. About halfway through the QSO, he switched over to a VibroKeyer single-lever paddle, keying a Hallicrafters HA-1 keyer.

The HA-1, or T.O. Keyer, was a commercialization of the vaccum-tube keyer designed by W9TO. in the 1950s. It occurred to me that maybe building one of these things is something that I could do with al the tubes that I have. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find the schematic on the Net.
There is an an article in the May 1959 issue of QST by W9TO, but this is for the first transistor keyer. If any of you have a schematic and can scan it for me, or can point me to where I can find it, I would appreciate it.

Titanic Duo
After making a couple of CW contacts, I thought I’d try making a phone contact. Tuning to 7220 kHz, I found our favorite frequency occupied by W0S, a special event station commemorating the sinking of the Titanic. W0S was operating from the Titanic Museum in Branson, MO. According to their website, “This event will commemorate the heroic efforts of Harold McBride and John ‘Jack’ Phillips as they sat at the Marconi radio in the Titanic sending the first ever SOS.” They’ll be on the air until 2200 UTC Sunday, April 11.

My last QSO was with W1T, a station that was also commemorating the sinking of the Titanic. I made the contact on 14.050 MHz. W1T was operating from somewhere in Maine. At first, I thought that perhaps this was a CW operation from W0S, but it was a completely separate operation. I was unable to find any information on the Net about this station.

What I did find, however, was a third special event station commemorating the Titanic. This is an operation of the Titanic Historical Society, which is located in the Springfield, MA area. If I’d known about this, I bet that I could have worked them. Maybe next year.

Good News! Beam Will Be Up by the End of May

Jack, WT8N; Jim, K8ELR, and I met this afternoon with the folks at the museum, and the plan now is that our tower and beam will be up by the end of May. That’s really great news. Get the tower and beam in place should make WA2HOM a really great station to operate.

In other news:

John, the museum exhibits director, said that the Morse Code display is almost complete. It’s set to go alongside the “see your voice” exhibit.
For the third tabletop exhibit, they were working on a crystal radio exhibit, but they’re still not 100% sure how well it’s going to work. I suggested that perhaps instead of the crystal radio, we set up something along the lines of the Diana Eng video that visually shows how directional antennas work. This kind of display could also demonstrate antenna polarity.
I had a discussion with J.P. Golden, the curriculum director of Elderwise, about teaching a class for seniors. We had a good discussion about how to best structure a class for seniors.
Their website says, “Elderwise is an independent, member-driven organization offering learning experiences and camaraderie for the over-fifty community in Southeast Michigan.” My thought is that I could teach a class there and perhaps get some of them to come down to the museum and operate the station during weekdays.

Operating Notes – 4/3/10

Yesterday, I was joined by Quentin, KD8IPF, just back from one of his many business trips, and Jim, K8ELR. Unfortunately, the bands were really in bad shape. 20m was all but useless, and 40m was very up and down. While I went to get a cup of coffee, however, Quentin managed a contact with HR1FAC on 40m SSB.

At one point, Quentin was calling CQ to no avail on 7.220 MHz, our favorite frequency. He had called a couple of times with no answer, and then we started talking about something or another. All of a sudden, we heard a call from Neil, K8IT.

I hadn’t talked to Neil for years. Back in 2005, Neil and I ran (unsuccessfully) for Director and Vice Director of the Great Lakes Division. Since then, he’s moved away from the Detroit area (he worked for an auto supplier that closed up operations here) and now lives in Virginia.

Anyway, we had a very nice chat, catching up with one another. He was also very gracious in talking to one of the kids who was visiting the museum. One of the cool things about ham radio is that you never know whose voice is going to come out of the speaker. Yesterday, I was glad that it was Neil’s.

Another Ham Makes Her First Contact

Yesterday, was another busy day at WA2HOM. Hams who showed up included:

Dan, KB6NU
Jim, K8ELR
Eugene, KD8HSU
Susan, KD8MZR
Richard, KD8MZS

Susan and Richard were two of the students in our latest One-Day Tech Class. They’re planning to take a six-month cruise down to the Caribbean soon, and are planning to use ham radio to keep in touch with folks back home.

After answering a bunch of questions about ham radio in general, and trying to figure out how they could use the marine radio that they currently have on their boat on the ham bands, I got Susan to sit down and make a couple of contacts. I wrote out a simple script for her to read to call CQ, and on the second try, she got a reply! So, now, we have another new ham with her first contact under her belt.

We also had quite a bit of visitor activity. We had a group of kids come in, and four different adults signed up to be on our mailing list for the next one-day class.

We were so busy that I wasn’t able to actually get to the “hands-on” activity that I’d planned. Make: Magazine recently posted a new video by Diana Eng, KC2UHB, that shows a very simple way to visualize radio waves. Rather than describe this more fully, you can just watch the video:

Cool, isn’t it? Hopefully, I’ll be able to do this next week.

Busy Day at the Museum

It was busy down at the Hands-On Museum yesterday. I goto there a little after 10am, and Eugene, KD8HSU was waiting for me. Eugene, who is an on-again, off-again resident of Ann Arbor hadn’t seen the new rig, so I gave him a quick demo. Fortunately, 20m was open, and we were able to work YT40E (Serbia) on CW right off the bat.

Shortly after, Jim, K8ELR, and Ovide, K8EV, showed up. Then, Quentin, KD8IPF, and his kids arrived. A little later, Ralph, AA8RK, came for a visit, and Mike, one of the students from last week’s class arrived.

K8ELR, who is now our “digital modes specialist,” got all set up to do Hellschreiber. He called CQ a couple of times, and got a few responses, but apparently the band was a little up and down, and was never actually able to complete a contact.

At about 3 pm, I sat down to demonstrate CW for Mike. After QSYing to 40m and calling CQ a couple of times, we connected with Roger, W1OJ. After a nice QSO with Roger, we got a call from Lynn, NG9D. I think I appropriately impressed Mike with my CW skills.

We also were visited by a couple of museum visitors who turned out to be hams. So, overall it was a great day down at the museum.

We Scored 100%!

Not to toot my own horn—at least not too much—but yesterday we scored 100%! That is to say that everyone in our latest One-Day Tech Class at the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum passed the test. 17 people attended the class and took the test, including one 15-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl.

To be honest, I was concerned about the two teenagers. Kids don’t seem to do well in the one-day class, and neither of them had done much pre-study. The girl, however, only got two questions wrong; I’m not sure what score the boy had.

Several of the students were the sons of amateur radio operators. One of them, Ryan, came all the way from Alma (about two hours away), with his girlfriend, Kathena, to take the class. I just received an e-mail from Ryan:

Just wanted to give a big thanks for offering the class. You definitely helped Kathena and I learn all the technical aspects of ham radio. You definitely helped me feel more confident about passing the test. I have been trying to get around and take it for ten years now. Kathena has only been around ham radio for a week and she loves it!

Mel, the executive director of the museum, his wife, and his father-in-law, were also part of the class. Since they all passed, two of the museum’s staff now have amateur radio licenses.

Thanks to my co-teachers and especially to VEs who administered the test. This was quite a large group, but they were able to handle the group speedily and efficiently.

Operating Notes: New Year’s Day Weekend; Sat., January 9

New Year’s Day weekend was pretty busy down at the museum:

Friday: I did a bunch of housekeeping. I logged in our recently-received QSL cards and replenished our brochure supply.
Saturday: Quentin, KD8IPF, and I figured out how to use the SSTV feature of Ham Radio Deluxe. This was surprisingly confusing. We expected to find SSTV as one of the items in the drop-down menu of the DM780 program, along with PSK, Olivia, and the other digital modes. Instead, to receive SSTV, you have to click on a separate menu item.
Quentin and I didn’t make any SSTV contacts as band conditions were really poor, but we did receive a couple of pictures. Next, we have to set up a couple of our own templates and then actually make a contact.
Sunday: Jim, K8ELR, and I were there, ostensibly to operate Kid’s Day. Unfortunately, there weren’t very many people at the museum, nor could we find any other stations on the air working this event. So, we ended up not making any Kid’s Day QSOs.

On Saturday, January 9, Les, W8LDS, and I met for breakfast before heading over to the museum. There, we met Jim, K8ELR. After turning on the rig, we heard Tom, K5IRH, Shreveport, LA calling CQ on 40m CW and quickly established our first contact. When we mentioned that we were at a local science museum, he quickly told us about Sci-Port, a science museum there in Shreveport. I told him that every science museum should have a ham radio station and have e-mailed him information on our operations.

Emboldened by our success with SSTV the previous week, Jim and I decided to give RTTY a whack. Fortunately, there was an RTTY contest last weekend–the Mongolian RTTY DX Contest, no less! Again, band conditions weren’t the best on 20m, but we managed one contact apiece. Mine was with P4OYL in Aruba, Jim’s with EA5FL in Spain.

After that, we decided to pad our QSO statistics a bit, so made a bunch of CW contacts in the North American QSO Party. That was kind of like shooting fish in a barrel, so we quit pretty quickly and wrapped up ops at about 1:30 pm.