Foundations of Amateur Radio

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Tools in my shack Nov 08, 2015

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Foundations of Amateur Radio

Today I was looking around my shack and noticed that I have lots of different amateur radio tools that go beyond the simple bits and pieces that I started with, namely a radio, battery, power supply, coax and antenna.

While I have no illusion that my gear is complete, or even representative of all of the stuff that you might need or come across, I think that it's worth while to mention a few bits and pieces that you may not have considered.

I think the first thing I got that wasn't part of the basic kit, was a dummy load. It's only a little one, rated at 50 Watts or so, but seeing that I'm only using 5, that's more than enough. I use it to check things like VOX sensitivity, that is, I want to set-up a way to talk into my radio without having to push a button - for when I'm doing a contest, and I don't actually want to transmit any signal while testing, so I plug in the dummy load and test with that. I also use it to plug into the end of a piece of coax that I'm testing. I can tell you, it's helped me find some dodgy coax over the years.

I have a range of adaptors, from PL259, SO239, N-type, SMA, BNC, male-to-male, male-to-female, female-to-female, all different permutations. They're all in one box and I have that with me whenever I go portable, it's saved my bacon more times than I can remember.

I have a multi-meter, the most often used part of it is the continuity beep. You can set it to beep if there is a short, which is great for testing power leads, coax shorts and the like.

I splurged and purchased an antenna analyser. It's helping me understand the errors of my ways while building antennas, though I confess that on more than one occasion it added to the confusion.

I have a coax cutter, a pair of high quality pliers, though one of my so called friends left it in the rain one day, so they're less quality than they were, an Anderson Powerpole crimper, a gas soldering iron - so you can solder in the field, a third-hand, since holding something while soldering is an excellent way to get a scar to impress your friends. On my workbench I have a lighted magnifying glass, since the older I get the harder it is to focus on small things. I have a bag of clip-on torroids which I use in places where operating surprises me with bonus RF interference.

I also have stuff like cable-ties, electrical tape, self-amalgamating tape and a fair bit of rope.

You'll notice that I don't have an SWR meter, I figured that the one in my radio and the antenna analyser combined were enough.

I'm sure there are other things that I take for granted, but the items I've outlined are in regular use.

I'm Onno VK6FLAB

Wet string and 10 Watts Nov 01, 2015

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Foundations of Amateur Radio

Today I had the pleasure of talking to a group of freshly minted Amateurs. It's a semi-regular occurrence where I visit a local club that offers training to obtain an Amateur License. I should mention that you'll find clubs like this all over the place and there are often opportunities to do remote examinations if you're too far from an assessor. This however isn't about becoming an Amateur, that's something that I'll leave entirely up to you, even if I think that being an Amateur is a wonderful thing.

One of the things I like about this hobby is that it's different things to different people. There is a huge variety of aspects to this pursuit of Amateur Radio and as I've said in the past, it's really a thousand hobbies rolled into one.

In Australia there are three so-called classes of license, think of it as a moped licence, a car license and a truck license. If you want to drive a truck you need that one, but if you're on a moped, there's no need to spend your efforts on learning to double-de-clutch a Ranger gearbox - something I can assure you from personal experience is hard to master, but fun to get right.

The three licenses in Australia, Foundation, Standard and Advanced each have different privileges, access to different but overlapping aspects of the hobby. One privilege within the class of license that I hold, the Foundation or F-call, is that I'm limited to using 10 Watts.

I've spoken about this restriction many times, in fact, the very first time I shared my opinion about this hobby in this forum was exactly about those pesky 10 Watts and what is possible with them.

Back to the freshly minted Amateurs.

It occurred to me that while I was explaining the amazing width and breadth of our hobby, that the 10 Watts, while completely arbitrary, and often lambasted for being so, is actually a blessing in disguise.

When you get on air, or if you already have the privilege to do so, you'll learn or already know that making contacts with a wet piece of string is pretty hard, nigh on impossible with 10 Watts.

One solution is to add more power. A better, more elegant solution, is to get a better antenna.

So, the blessing in disguise that 10 Watts represents is really all about forcing a Foundation Licensee to spend considerable effort in their antenna system. Something which we might all agree on is a good thing, if only to clear the air of alligators, big mouth, no ears.

I'll take the risk of repeating myself. It's not how much power, but what you do with it that matters.

I'm Onno VK6FLAB

Propagation and reality Oct 25, 2015

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Foundations of Amateur Radio

A recurring topic of conversation is propagation. There is learned discussion about sun-spots, A and K indices, forecasts, ionospheric probing, not to mention half-baked guess work from less scientific perspectives.

It's been my experience that all these tools are wonderful, but none of them beat turning on your radio and having a listen, or better still putting out a call.

So when do you listen and where do you listen?

The trivial response would be everywhere, all the time, but none of us has enough time for that.

In general, 20m, 14 MHz works most of the time. At night, frequencies lower than 20m, that is 40m, 7 MHz and 80m 3.5 MHz work better. During the day, higher frequencies, 15m, 21 MHz and 10m, 28 MHz work better.

Of course this is not a hard and fast rule. As I said previously, there is no such thing as a perfect antenna, in fact we can prove that it cannot actually exist. Similarly, there is no such thing as perfect propagation.

We tend to think of propagation in terms of layers in the ionosphere, the D, E and F layers. We might think of them as specific, distinct things, but the reality is that they're more like clouds.

Clouds are not uniform in cover, sometimes fluffy, other times dense thunderclouds and an infinite variety in between. Coverage is variable and forecasting is a real challenge. And that's for something we can see.

The ionosphere is no different. It's not uniform, it's not predictable and forecasting is hard.

Back to the clouds for a moment; you might have a forecast for rain, but it's perfectly dry where you are. Similarly, you might have a forecast of poor propagation, but it's perfectly fine where you are.

So, best tip is to use the forecasts you have access to, but stick your head out of the window to see if it's raining right now. If that was too obscure, turn on your radio and make some noise, even if the sunspot count is rubbish and the Ionospheric Prediction Service tells you that nothing is going to work.

I'm Onno VK6FLAB

Getting started with portable operation Oct 18, 2015

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Foundations of Amateur Radio

Today I'm operating portable, in fact I'm operating portable every day. Though I'd have to confess, some days more than others.

I have to do this by necessity. There is lots of RF noise at home, so I'm forced to physically move away from the interference and set up elsewhere.

You can do this as simply or as complex as you like. I've done it with a bag that contained my radio, a battery and a wire antenna that I strung between two trees.

I've also gone portable with my car, camping gear, a trailer full of radio gear, a wind up mast and a rotatable dipole with a generator to provide power.

And everything in between.

My point is that for every circumstance there is a different set of tools that will solve your problem.

Several amateurs I've spoken to are quite unsure about this portable adventure and are not really geared up for such shenanigans even if they're interested to get out and about.

So what is involved with going portable?

The essence of any station is the antenna. If you know where you're going to operate and why, you can figure out what kind and how much of an antenna you need to bring. Likely a mast and rotator are not part of the deal, but I have set up a yagi on mast in a park for a contest.

If you don't know where you're going to be, you need to come up with a solution that is more flexible. Either a self supporting vertical with something like a squid pole or a wire antenna that you can throw into a tree.

The next challenge is power. Are you going to operate for a little while or are you going to set up for 48 hours to participate in a contest. Are you going to be using low power, 5 watts, or are you in a position where you can give an amplifier a workout?

Batteries, generators, your car or a solar panel, all of these can power your radio in different situations.

Are you planning to make a few contacts, or are you expecting a huge pileup to get your blood pumping? Logging for either requires a different solution.

You should always, always consider the weather when you're operating portable. Sun, wind, rain, storm, hot and cold all have different implications for you personally and the wear and tear of your equipment. So prepare yourself.

Just like when you started your shack, you had to figure out what goes where and how will I use it?

Portable operation is no different.

A tip for new players, less is more. You have to carry all this stuff, so expect to make compromises. You won't be able to take everything in your shack, unless you already built it in the back of your vehicle, in which case I'd like an invite to come and visit.

I'm Onno VK6FLAB

Antenna Calculators Oct 11, 2015

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Foundations of Amateur Radio

Recently I was asked about finding the best antenna calculator. It's a tool that helps you determine what the length of an antenna should be for a particular frequency.

Picture a dipole antenna, two wires, end to end, strung out horizontally, joined in the middle by a feed point. A dipole is most effective if its total length is half of the wavelength of the frequency it's intended for.

To calculate what that is, you divide the speed of light by the frequency. So, for argument sake, the wavelength for 28.5 MHz is roughly 10 m, which makes sense, since 28.5 MHz is in the 10 m band.

If you use your favourite search engine to find a dipole calculator, you'll find many different ones. If you try a few, you'll find that the answers that each calculator gives is slightly different. For a half-wave dipole on 28.5 MHz, you'll find that there is a half meter variation among the calculated answers.

If you do this for a dipole for 3.5 MHz, you'll find the variation is just over 4 m between the shortest calculated dipole and the longest one.

That's a 5% variation across a calculated response. That's strange, since the calculation should be the same across all different calculators.

So what's going on?

Let's start with the wave length. If you use the speed of light as 300.000 km per second, then a frequency of 28.5 MHz is 10.526 m, but if you use the actual speed of light, there's a 7mm difference.

Right, simple, so there should be two types of answers, those that use 300.000 km per second and those that use the actual speed.

Unfortunately, no.

You could use "majority rules" and pick the calculated answer that turns up most often, but science isn't a democracy. It's either correct or it ain't and you have no way of knowing which is which.

What you're actually witnessing when you see all these answers with the overall 5% spread is different approximations of the answer. Calculator is a word that implies precision and accuracy, but what's actually happening is that each calculator uses their own fudge factor to get closer to the starting point. It's all in an attempt to get to an actual answer quicker, since hoisting an antenna, measuring, lowering it, trimming it, hoisting it again and so-on, is not fun with a 10m antenna, let alone an 80m antenna.

Some of the fudge is related to how high the antenna is off the ground, the thickness of the wire used, if the wire has insulation on it and how thick that insulation is, what the soil type is and what angle it's actually hanging at and how far it's from other things.

What this really means is that you need to experiment. When you buy wire, buy long, cut in little bits, measure lots and try it. A calculator will get you in the ball-park, but you already know the nominal length for a dipole as it is, it's right there, in the band name.

So, just because you've found a fancy calculator online, doesn't make it right for your circumstance.

One tip, plot all the antenna length results from the various calculators and see what the curve looks like, you'll see a wonderful distribution curve that just begs to be used.

I'm Onno VK6FLAB

Use it or Lose it ... make a contact today! Oct 04, 2015

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Foundations of Amateur Radio

In your travels around the sun it's likely you've heard the phrase: "Use it or lose it."

Within the ranks of our hobby, that refers to making noise on air and using the bands we've been allocated.

It's easy to sit in your shack - in what ever form that might take - turn on your radio and scan up and down the bands to see what's going on. If something interesting catches your fancy, you might even plug your microphone or key in, and actually call the other station.

Unfortunately, that's not using the bands, that's sitting on the side and listening. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but it's no way to ensure that the bands and privileges we enjoy today are going to be here tomorrow.

Over the past few years I've come across several ideas to change that. I've seen blogs and posts from individuals who attempt to make a contact every day, in what ever form they prefer. Some don't distinguish between local or DX contacts, portable or QRP, whatever takes their fancy.

In New Zealand there's the ZL2AL Memorial Activity Marathon. You get recognition for making 4 or more contacts on a specific number of days during the year. Some amateurs are working on a single contact per day, others are attempting a QRP QSO every day.

Imagine if all the amateurs in the world made one contact every week. In Australia alone that would generate 2000 extra contacts every day.

You can limit your activity to making contacts when it suits, or during a contest, or on the way to work on the local repeater, or you can spread your wings and make contacts more often than that.

I know for a while - until my antenna circumstances changed - I was making at least one contact a day. I kept that up for nearly a year. I'm still getting the QSL cards coming in the mail.

So, don't wait for permission to get on-air. Don't wait for "just the right conditions", turn on your radio, plug in your microphone and make a contact. Why not do it right now?

I'm Onno VK6FLAB

Propagation predictions and operating your radio Sep 27, 2015

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Foundations of Amateur Radio

Today propagation is what it is, yesterday it was different and tomorrow it will be different again. It's one of the fundamental aspects of amateur radio.

We talk about propagation on air, like we do the weather. Rain, sun, snow or storm, there's always something. Of course most of those weather events have no impact on radio. A rain drop isn't going to make a great deal of difference to a HF signal, other than potentially making the operator wet, or creating a short-circuit in an unexpected way.

Propagation on the other hand has little or no effect in day-to-day life, other than your GPS, mobile phone or other electronic device. In radio however, propagation makes the difference between only hearing your neighbours and speaking to another station on the other side of the globe.

In the past I've mentioned that if you skip a stone across a lake, you get a good idea about how radio waves bounce off the ionosphere and in doing so, make it possible to hear and be heard beyond the line of sight of your antenna.

A stone is a fixed object and water has a pretty uniform density, so you get mostly predictable results. The ionosphere is not uniform and radio waves are not fixed, so the result is anything but predictable.

That said, a great number of people are working on providing propagation prediction tools in an attempt to provide us with somewhat more of a reliable outcome. Once you step into this area, you'll come across the A and K indices, the Solar Flux and Geomagnetic and Solar Flare numbers.

You'll find websites like solarham.com, bandconditions.com, spaceweather.tv and many others. Sometimes they'll even agree with each other - which is interesting in itself, since the source of actual data is pretty limited. We have the Ionospheric Prediction Service or IPS in Australia, in the US there's the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA.

All this is to attempt to quantify what the sun is doing and how this affects the ionosphere and in turn our experience as radio operators.

If you know anything about predicting the weather, that is, what is the temperature going to be today and is it going to rain, you'll understand that predicting solar activity and its impact on us is a less than perfect experience. In 1959 we managed to snap the first images of the far side of the Moon, it took until 2011 for us to do the same with the sun.

Many of our predictions are really observations and imperfect ones at that, coming from the two STEREO spacecraft, one orbiting the sun ahead of the earth, the other behind the earth, combined they manage to cover the back of the sun.

In the end, the predictions on carrying an umbrella or not are like predicting whether to operate or not. It's a prediction. Nothing beats turning on your radio and having a go.

I'm Onno VK6FLAB

Every Antenna is a Compromise! Sep 20, 2015

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Foundations of Amateur Radio

Recently I read a comment a fellow amateur made about an antenna. He said: "Of course, that antenna is a compromise..."

Let me say that again: "That antenna is a compromise ..."

It was the funniest thing I'd seen all week and the person making the statement wasn't even trying to be funny.

Unless you're looking at the Sun from a distance, or checking out the propagation associated with the Big Bang, All Antennas are a compromise. We can prove that an isotropic antenna, one that is a theoretical point source of radio waves, cannot actually exist, so that basically means that you cannot have it all, ever.

Once you've got your head around the notion that no such thing as a perfect antenna actually exists, or can exist, it makes sense that amateurs around the world spend so much time discussing and trialling antennas.

As you get involved in Amateur Radio, you'll soon realise that the number of variables to construct an antenna is large. The more you learn, the more variables you unearth. Initially, you'll learn that the length of the radiator will determine the resonant frequency, then you'll learn that the thickness affects this, then whether or not there is insulation, what material it's made from, how high it's off the ground, what soil type there is, what's nearby, how it's fed, where it's fed, if it's stranded or solid, not to mention shape, orientation, frequency and other variables you'll unearth along the discovery process.

The take-away should be that playing with antennas, while not immediately satisfying, is a fundamental part of this hobby. It's the final link in the chain and the single largest influence on the effectiveness of our station.

In all this, I've just looked at the physics of the antenna, but other variables also come into play. The amount of actual space you have available, the depth of your wallet, the availability of materials, the feedback from your neighbours or your local council, your family and their acceptance of your crazy pursuit. Patience and propagation also take a large chunk of the pie.

Is there the ultimate antenna? Yup. It's an isotropic antenna and it cannot exist. Everything else is up for grabs. So what ever works for you is good. Compare your efforts with your fellow amateurs and ask questions. Duplicate other efforts, trial stuff, make noise, get on air and see what happens.

A popular metaphor, that an infinite number of monkeys, banging on an infinite number of typewriters, left to their own devices, sooner or later will reproduce the works of William Shakespeare.

It's like that with amateur radio. We just evolved to play with antennas, rather than typewriters.

I'm Onno VK6FLAB

Phonetic Alphabets Sep 13, 2015

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Foundations of Amateur Radio

Today we have a standard for our on-air phonetic alphabet - technically it's called a spelling alphabet, but I digress.

As you should be aware if you're a licensed Amateur, we use the so-called standard phonetic alphabet. It's used and defined by several organisations, including the International Telecommunications Union, the International Civil Aviation Organisation and NATO.

It should come as no surprise that each of those organisations defines their own alphabet. It just so happens that today each of these definitions is the same, but that hasn't always been the case.

In the United Kingdom, Alpha went through Apples, Ack, Ace, Able an Affirm.

In the United States, Alpha has been Able, Affirmative, Afirm, Able, Alfa.

In Amateur Radio we've heard America, Amsterdam and even Australia.

All that for just the letter that we spell as Alpha.

If that's not enough, try on Adams, Adam, Anatole, Anton, Ancona, Antonio, Anna, Aarne, Adana, Aveiro, Amor, Ana and Avala.

No wonder we have a few different spellings that we hear on air when we're busy spelling our callsign to the other station.

Where does that leave you?

Well, the ACMA specifies in their amateur operating procedures the International Phonetic Alphabet and it is recommended for use by amateur station licensees.

Note that it's recommended, not mandated.

My best advice is to learn and love the standard phonetic alphabet. It's been almost standard since 1956. That's not to say you won't hear me call Victor King Six Florida London America Boston on occasion, when I'm trying to talk to some station that hasn't a clue that I have a legitimate callsign with a four letter suffix and they need to be sure that I know that it's real.

The recommended procedure when dealing with a Pirate is to go silent. You won't believe how many stations went quiet whilst I was working my latest contest. Those four letters do cause some grief, but I understand, it was only introduced recently, as close as 2005, so it's understandable that not everyone has heard of an Australian Foundation call, let alone get their head around the standard phonetic alphabet.

I'm Onno Vice Kilogramme, Soxisix, Frank Loves Amsterdam Beer

What to say in a contest... Sep 06, 2015

Show notes

Foundations of Amateur Radio

Today I want to talk about things to say and do in a contest. Before I begin, I must point out that there are many views on this and depending on your aim for the contest, what I'm going to talk about will be different.

First of all, a contest is an Amateur Radio activity that starts and stops at a particular time. Often this time is expressed as UTC, or Universal Time. Since there are several official time-zones and more unofficial time-zones here in VK alone, you'll need to check your own location to determine what the actual local time is, but for my money, I have a watch that is set to UTC and during a contest I put it on my wrist.

Apart from the rules for each contest, often described in mind-numbing detail with particular exceptions for different issues, often grown over time, there is a basic aim to get on air, make contact with other stations and exchange a salient piece of information. This information of course varies with the contest, but the most common exchange is a serial number.

What that means is that your first contact is 001, your second 002 and so-on.

I mention the double zero, since they are often expected and leaving them out is a source of confusion for the other station. Especially if their first language isn't English.

So, you give out a signal report, followed by the serial number which often will be something like 59001, 59002 and so on.

The very first thing people say about a contest is that signal reports are bogus. The reason they're bogus, always 5/9, is because it reduces the time it takes to say them, and more importantly, to log them. Most contesting software doesn't require you to enter the signal report and you need to spend extra effort to change them, often much more than just typing in the correct digits. So, despite your misgivings, if you're in a contest and you're talking to another contester and you're playing to win, then 5/9 is the signal report.

If you make many contacts you'll learn that there is a rhythm to making a contest contact. The more rhythmic you can make it, the more likely you'll succeed in getting through the contact quicker.

And that really is the point, less words, more contacts, saving your voice, less misunderstanding, better contest result.

This is not the conduct you'd do on a rainy Tuesday afternoon when you're chewing the fat, or on air also known as rag-chewing, this is specifically during a contest or pile-up.

In the local contests it's fine to say "Hi", use the words "My number to you is", but in the rest of the world these are just not helping. During a contest there is no discussion about your radio, your antenna, your dog or what you'd like to buy when you win LOTTO, it's about the quickest, most accurate contact you can make.

Let's imagine I'm searching and pouncing; that means I'm moving around the band looking for contacts. Let's imagine that K1DG is running; which means they're on a single frequency calling CQ Contest. The bare bones of a contest contact between K1DG and VK6FLAB during an SSB contest contact would be like this:

K1DG contest VK6FLAB VK6FLAB 59667 QSL 59667 59001 QSL 59001 K1DG contest

Now in that exchange I've said a grand total of 18 words. K1DG has said 23. The whole thing is 41 words, no more, no less. Of course, callsign length increases or decreases that count.

Some things to observe.

I never say their callsign. There is an assumption that if you're calling someone who is running you'll spend a few moments listening for their callsign, either before or after the contact, no need to tell them what it is, they already know it and it's 4 words extra, plus the pause between the two callsigns, it breaks the rhythm of the contact.

K1DG when he's running a pile-up is not going to call CQ, but not saying his callsign at all is worse than not saying CQ. There are people who are tuning up and down the band like I was, who want to know who the station is because they may or may not want to work the station. And the opposite is also true, the station might want to work you. So if you're the running station, say your callsign at the end of every contact.

Note that the rhythm continues. In the example, after confirming my number, K1DG has already called "contest" and is ready for the next contact.

Note that there is no discussion about anything other than the exchange. It's over before it began and in a contest or a pile-up, that's a really good thing. Less transmission means less noise, means faster contacts, means more stations getting an exchange, everybody wins.

Finally, this is about a contest or pile-up exchange. It isn't about a day-to-day contact, but it pays to know and practice it.

I'm Onno VK6FLAB

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