Foundations of Amateur Radio

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1000 hobbies under one roof Aug 30, 2015

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Foundations of Amateur Radio

The hobby we call Amateur Radio is hard to explain to anyone outside. I was recently asked about what it was about the experience that had me hooked. I talked about Summits on the Air, SOTA, Islands on the Air, IOTA, World Wide Flora and Fauna, WWFF and satellite communications. DX hunting and competitions, but I never quite managed to capture what it all really means.

Since then I came across a really wonderful explanation about what it is that we have here.

Said simply, Amateur Radio is a thousand hobbies in one place, each with their own community, their own skills, their own gear, pursuits and club-songs.

For some it's the pursuit of making a contact using low power and Morse-code, for the next it's building the key to make that happen, the next person wants to build the radio, the amplifier, the twin-feed, the mast, go camping, etc. etc.

The characterisation of 1000 hobbies in one place under the umbrella also helps in other ways. It highlights that we're all different, with experiences that are both shared and unique. All coming together under the single, almost trivial moniker of: "I am a radio amateur."

The take-away from this is of course that you can do inside our hobby what interests you. Find people with the same outlook, or people who are smarter than you, or people who push you, or make you laugh, or make fun of you. All these things are within our hobby.

Your job is simple. Find your own place among us.

I'm Onno VK6FLAB

Names in Amateur Radio Aug 23, 2015

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Foundations of Amateur Radio

The origins of names of things in Amateur Radio has a long and internet riddled history, with hear-say and false memories added.

The humble BNC connector was patented in 1951. BNC doesn't stand for Baby N-Connector, Bayonet N-connector, British Naval Connector, Berry Nice Connector, Berkeley Neucleonics Corporation or any such name. Apparently, it's named after it's inventors Paul Neill and Carl Concelman, the Bayonet Neill-Concelman connector. They went on to invent the Threaded Neill-Concelman connector, the TNC. A sub-miniature version of these connectors came in three types, A, B and C, called SMA, SMB and SMC.

Also, the N-type connector was invented by the very same Paul Neill at Bell Labs, and the C connector came from Carl.

The Yagi antenna, was invented in 1926 by Shintaro Uda in collaboration with Hidetsugu Yagi, both of Tohoku Imperial University in Japan. It's actually called an Yagi-Uda antenna. Yagi described the antenna in English in 1928 and his name became associated with the antenna.

The PL-259 and SO-239 connectors are not so clear-cut. The PL for plug and SO for socket seems to be agreed on. There are several explanations on the numbers, but the most persistent one seems to be that it was a US army part number. They're also referred to as UHF connectors and if you know that they were invented in the 1930s, you'll understand that UHF frequencies started at 30MHz and "above", which in practical terms meant 300MHz. An interesting thing to note is that a standard banana plug mates properly with an SO239, so you can just plug your long-wire straight into the socket.

Of course we have the Volt, the Ohm, the Ampere and the Farad, named after Italian physicist Alessandro Volta, German physicist Georg Simon Ohm, French physicist and mathematician André-Marie Ampère and English physicist Michael Faraday.

Everything is named after something. Sometimes we even remember what that was and where it came from.

What things have you learned about names in Amateur Radio?

I'm Onno VK6FLAB

Do your thing and find friends to play with Aug 16, 2015

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Foundations of Amateur Radio

Today in Amateur Radio is no different from yesterday, last year, last decade or longer. The hobby today is filled with people who are here to have fun, learn stuff and experiment. This hasn't changed since our hobby came into being.

You can argue that the hobby has seen a great many changes. We have seen spark-gap transmitters, valves, transistors, miniaturisation, chips and now software defined radios. The experimental nature of our pursuit has not changed.

We still spend time looking for cool stuff to do and people to do it with.

And that's the single point I'd like to make.

Finding people "to do it with".

If you're a new amateur you might look to a club or your fellow classmates to combine your efforts. This can be a great way to forge life-long friendships and it's a sure fire way to find exposure to other ideas and activities.

There might come a time when you find yourself at a loss what to do next, or who to do it with. You might lament that the group you're hanging out with are not doing fun stuff anymore, or that activities never quite happen or any number of observations that make it less fun to be part of amateur radio.

I've now been here for a little while and I've noticed that some of my fellow amateurs have fallen by the way-side. Of course family and changing interests will account for some of that, but often it's a lack of something to do that makes people fade away.

There is nothing stopping you from organising your own event. You can plan a camp-out, or an antenna testing day, or a DX activity, a contest, an activation, some software hacking, or hardware building, soldering training, learning how to log, how to do a QSO, or any number of other things.

If you tell the community about it, you're likely to be surprised by some other amateur who was just thinking to do the same thing.

So, don't wait for someone else to do your fun activity. If you focus on doing things that you enjoy, you might find a few like-minded friends who will participate.

I'm keen to hear your ideas and activities, so drop me a line.

I'm Onno VK6FLAB

Radio Amateur - the local lunatic Aug 09, 2015

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Foundations of Amateur Radio

There are things that surprise me about this amazing hobby of Amateur Radio every day.

One thing that is not a surprise is that some part of the general public thinks that I'm crazy, a lunatic, or worse, someone or something to be feared.

Picture this.

My car is parked in a car-park, next to some bush-land. Behind the car is a 12m fibre-glass squid-pole with a delta-loop hanging off it. The car-doors are open, it's a warm day, and I'm sitting in the driver's seat with a good friend coaching from the passenger side.

I'm calling CQ and trying to figure out if this antenna works.

Cue, Isobelle, she's the local ranger for the park we're in. She pulls up in her truck and comes out with "So, what's going on here then?"

We explain that we're radio amateurs and that we're testing an antenna. She tells us that someone has seen us, phoned it into the ranger and she's been tasked to come out and check.

We'd been set-up for all of 15 minutes.

Two days later, I'm in my local park, 2 minutes walk from my home, trying to see if the delta-loop will reduce some of the RF noise I get at home. I've brought along a fishing rod, some guy wires, walked around the park, found a suitable tree, unpacked my stuff, cast a sinker across the tree, hoisted up the delta-loop, secured it to a nearby fence and strapped the feed point to the tree with some webbing.

I'm sitting on the ground with my radio, having a fine chat with a fellow amateur when two likely lads walk up in ranger uniforms. I tell my fellow amateur that I've got to go, as I have two visitors. We finish up and I ask, "Hello, how can I help you?"

One ranger tells me that they have had a report from a neighbour who told them that there was this lunatic putting ropes in trees and doing weird stuff. He goes on to tell me that he's quite disappointed to see the actuality of a radio amateur setting up an antenna.

Seems our ranger was in the emergency services in a prior life and has some experience with HF wire antennae.

They have a look around to make sure that it's not unsafe and that I've not damaged any trees and finish off with wishing me a great day.

I learned two things from this. Expect to be noticed and think about how the public might interact with what you're doing. Also, be mindful of public safety, ensure that your setup isn't a health hazard to someone.

So, those are my lunatic amateur stories, what stories do you have to tell? Drop me a line and let me know.

I'm Onno VK6FLAB

Delta Loop for Portable Operation Aug 02, 2015

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Foundations of Amateur Radio

Today I learned something new. A good antenna makes a big difference and you can hear it.

Of late, I've been using the antennas on the boot of my car and have for some time all but abandoned my 12m spider-beam squid pole. As you might recall, the very first antenna I ever built was a quasi-random length vertical with 16 radials. Each of the 17 wires is about 12.5 meters long, so there is a lot of wire, wound onto a garden hose reel for transport, lots of effort in setting up, lining up and stuff to do before I can actually get on air. In a HF quiet area it works pretty well but it's too big for most back yards; it takes up a circle of 25m diameter and needs either guy wires or a car at the base.

I went back to the drawing board. Using my trusty SG237 antenna coupler, I found a design online for a delta-loop. It's 120 foot or just over 36.5 meters of wire, setup in a triangle with the SGC coupler at the middle of the base. Yes, I know, the take-off angle isn't optimal, but oh my, what a difference in signal strength. Of course, from a setting up perspective, strap the squid pole to a vertical structure of some sort, roll out the wire, stick it to the top of the pole, erect the pole, click the antenna coupler in place and you're good to go. Call it 5 minutes.

Perhaps an analogy that will help is that the difference between the HF antenna in my car and the delta-loop suspended from the 12m pole is like cleaning your glasses, you can see perfectly well through them, but when you clean them, you can see more than you thought was there.

For my portable contest and QRP operation I'm going to have a look-see at a set of delta-loops, still suspended from my squid-pole, but this time cut to resonant length with no tuner at the base at all - and I can feed it at the bottom corner where it makes for a better take-off angle.

Before I forget, a take-off angle is like the angle at which you skip a stone across a lake. If you do it too steep, you get bloop, rather than a skipping stone; the better the angle, the more skips. The same is true for HF radio signals. Make the angle too high and you get bloop, make it low and you can hear stuff on the other side of the planet.

The experimentation with antennas continues, and I'm beginning to learn, it will for the rest of my life.

I'm Onno VK6FLAB

Hunting for the perfect SWR. Jul 26, 2015

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Foundations of Amateur Radio

There is a persistent perception among a small part of the amateur community that you need to build, buy or use antennas with a perfect 1:1 SWR to get the best results. Sometimes a contest erupts with who can get the lowest SWR.

Without getting technical, since that could take hours and you have better things to do. A 50 Ohm dummy load has a perfect SWR of 1:1 and you should already know that a proper dummy load doesn't radiate, so while it has a perfect SWR it's not a perfect antenna.

If your SWR meter reads 1.5:1, you're losing 3% of your signal, at 2:1 it's 11%, so just because the SWR is 2, doesn't mean you've got a dud antenna.

Now I should point out that this can be a particularly dense topic if you get into the finer detail and if you do a search for "Understanding SWR by Example", you'll come across a delightful and very detailed document written by Darrin K5DVW and published in QST magazine that goes into pictures, graphs and explanations and also discusses ladder line.

So, you can now stop hunting for the perfect 1:1 SWR and learn what your SWR meter is telling you.

I'm Onno VK6FLAB

Tuning a dipole, bring your friends... Jul 19, 2015

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Foundations of Amateur Radio

This week I spent several hours in a park with a mast, guy wires, some coax, an antenna analyser, copper wire, a balun, cable ties and a pair of pliers, not to mention a tape measure, a calculator and several experienced amateurs.

We set out to create a linked dipole antenna for a portable activation that we're working on.

If you're unfamiliar with the concept of a linked dipole, it's simple. Imagine a dipole for 10m. It's about 5m long with a connection to the feed in the middle. At each end of the dipole is a connector of some sort - in our case, just some bare wire while we were building the contraption - and then some method of joining a piece of wire, in such a way that you can either opt to have the bits electrically connected, or just physically.

If you repeat this, then you end up with a normal dipole that's made up of segments that you can either connect or not. This means that when a segment is connected, the dipole becomes resonant on a lower frequency, since the electrical length increases, and if you disconnect it, it becomes resonant on a higher frequency.

The purpose of this contraption is to have a single antenna that you can simply lift up in the middle and use. To change bands, you lower the thing, then you either disconnect or connect a segment, and then you raise it again.

The internet is full of calculators that will give you the length of a dipole for a given frequency. You'll find some that account for the thickness of the wire, the thickness of any insulation and the angle at which the dipole is hanging from the centre and the height above ground.

Unfortunately my experience thus far is that none of these actually give you the real length, just the theoretical one. The actual length could be longer or shorter, so this means that for any given calculator, you need to cut the wire long and then trim as required. While you're doing this, the length of the antenna changes, the angle at which your antenna hangs changes and the height of the antenna above ground also changes.

If that's not enough, the soil on which your antenna is being built will change the characteristics of the antenna as well.

Most of this wasn't a surprise to me and as soon as you start playing with this, you'll observe the very same phenomenon.

What took me by surprise is that the method of tuning, cut, measure, cut, measure, cut, measure, cut, that I'd been using with much frustration is still the very same method if you're an experienced amateur.

The only difference that I could discern in the shared activity was that it came with jokes, laughter, arguments and assistance, which when you're doing something as frustrating as tuning a wire dipole, is a great benefit.

So, thank you to my friends for starting this caper. And if you're off on a dipole building party, bring some friends. It won't make it any easier, but it will be more rewarding.

I'm Onno VK6FLAB

7Ps of Amateur Radio - be prepared Jul 12, 2015

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Foundations of Amateur Radio

Amateur Radio is as much about having fun as it is about learning. Sometimes they go hand-in-hand, sometimes not so much.

The 7Ps of Amateur Radio are as valid today as they were 100 years ago, Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance.

Amateur Radio Planning can take many forms, but the basics include creating a permanent checklist. The notion of creating one every time means that you forget every time what you learned last time, so if you create a permanent one and then revise it from time-to-time, you'll be able to incorporate lessons learned, like "bring the radio face-plate control cable", and "bring the quarter inch jack adaptor", so you don't end up repeating the same lesson over and over.

Test your gear at home. Not just turn it on, but set up the mast, check that you have guy wires and anchors. Check that you have enough coax to connect your antenna to your radio, spare batteries, etc. One trick I learned recently is to have a red and green label or elastic band. Attach the appropriate colour to your batteries, so you can instantly see if the battery you're lifting up is charged or not.

Look at maps, bring instructions to get to places, look at Google Earth and remember that power lines might not show up on a satellite map, but they're sure going to annoy you when you get on air. Street view is handy to check out power-lines.

Try different antennas. Verticals are easy to setup, but sometimes depending on your location they can be noisy. Dipoles need two supports, but an inverted V only needs one. Wire antennas can be simple to make and cheap to get bits for and repair, but they're not like the yagi you left at home.

A really helpful comment I read from Julie VK3FOWL and Joe VK3YSP is that you shouldn't be embarrassed by your hobby. Be seen, be visible, talk to people. You'll be amazed at the amount of interest you get, people are curious, they'll sticky-beak whenever they can.

Amateur Radio is not the only thing you can do when you're out and about. Go for walks, go hiking, fishing or drink beer around the campfire, whatever floats your boat.

Just like you can see stars at night in the bush, you can hear radio when you're away from interference. You'll hear stuff you never heard before and likely you'll get hooked into either astronomy or radio in the bush, or both.

There is much more to discuss about planning, but the basic premise is that it pays to think through the activity, the process of packing, driving, setting up, operating, living on-site, packing up and driving back. Think about food, safety, emergencies, fuel, and remember, Amateur Radio is not worth dying over, this is a hobby. Laugh, have fun, be merry.

Yes, in case you're wondering, the 7Ps don't come from Amateur Radio, but just like the US Marine Corps Antenna Handbook, search for "r3403c", we can learn lots from them about both antennas and planning.

I'm Onno VK6FLAB

Cabrillo and ADIF file formats Jul 05, 2015

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Foundations of Amateur Radio

Cabrillo and ADIF are likely two terms you've heard if you've done anything with logging or contesting. So what are they, how do they work and why does it matter?

Let's start with Cabrillo. It's a file format used for submitting an electronic log to a contest manager. It was developed by Trey N5KO in 1999 for the ARRL. It's up to version 3.0, but the intent is that the older v2 files are still readable by todays programmes.

The aim of the Cabrillo format is to provide some meta information, like the contest name, the person who did the contest, what club they're part of, where they live, what category, etc.

After that, each contact is shown as a single line with a fixed format that shows the frequency, the mode, time-stamp, exchange and other pertinent details.

Significantly it does not contain any point information, because the intent is that the contest manager imports each log and their software calculates the actual score, dealing with the rules as defined by the contest, duplicates, multipliers etc.

The format for all of this is precisely defined and all the fields for a contact are required. The only other comment about Cabrillo is that it was developed to allow both humans and computers to read it easily.

At first glance, the ADIF format is all but the same. It deals with amateur radio stuff, contacts and the like.

But at second glance, ADIF, or Amateur Data Interchange Format is really not the same.

For starters, if you open up an ADIF file in a text editor you'll immediately notice that it's all but unreadable by a human. If you know what you're looking at you have a good chance to glean meaning, but at the first look it will appear as gobble-de-gook.

The ADIF file format is intended to be a way of exchanging any amateur information, such as awards multipliers, packet spot data, contest rules and it is intended to be expandable to include and incorporate any new kind of information as our hobby evolves.

There are countless ADIF fields, things like the reporting a short wave listener report, or an encryption key, or the grid square of the station, or the propagation mode, or any number of other values.

So, if you think of Cabrillo as the bare-bones of a contest contact log and ADIF as all the information you ever wanted to log and hadn't thought of logging, you'll have the right idea.

I should point out that both file formats are text. That means that if you open them up in a text editor you can look at them.

Word of warning for the unwary, you can really break an ADIF file by editing it in a text editor.

If you want to exchange amateur radio information with another amateur, use ADIF. If you want to submit a contest log, use Cabrillo.

I'm Onno VK6FLAB

Amateur Radio FAQ's Jun 28, 2015

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Foundations of Amateur Radio

There are questions that happen, over and over again. In computing they're called FAQ's, or Frequently Asked Questions.

Here are some that happen in Amateur Radio.

What radio should I buy?

It depends on your budget. Where are you going to be using this radio, at home, in the car, in a park or on a mountain? Will you have power where you are, will you be using HF, or will you be using VHF, UHF and above? Ask other amateurs around you, use their radios and have a play.

What is the best antenna?

The one that works. You can buy, build or borrow. Try out several ones, trade off size, space, cost, functionality and simplicity. It can be as simple as a single piece of wire, or as complex as a remote controlled and adjustable multi-band antenna.

When should I be trying to make a contact, or what is the best frequency to be on?

The one that works. If you're tuning up and down the band and you hear nothing, and you've checked that the squelch isn't closed and your antenna is connected, change bands and have a look elsewhere. You might think that there are specific times for specific bands, but that just isn't true. There are too many variables to make a hard and fast rule. You'll get pleasant surprises at sun-rise and sun-set. Look up the grey-line.

How much power do I need?

Just enough to make the contact. Sometimes that's 5 Watts or less, sometimes 100 Watts isn't enough. Conditions vary greatly and every time you turn on your radio is a new adventure.

Can I use my radio in the car legally?

Yes. Your hand microphone is permitted in a vehicle, it's not classed as a mobile phone and you cannot be booked for using it, BUT, you can still be charged for dangerous driving, so don't be an idiot on the road. If in doubt, don't. Life is not worth a DX entity, even if you've been trying for 38 years.

Why should I care about contesting, it's not my style.

It exposes you to working on-air in adverse situations. There is lots of activity, lots of interference and making contacts can be hard if you've never done it. If you learn how to operate in a contest, then when the time comes and an emergency of some-sort occurs, you'll be well practised in the art of making a contact when the going is tough. Think of a contest as a perfect excuse to learn how to use your radio.

Why do I keep hearing Sugar and Washington, instead of Sierra and Whisky?

Because the Americans think that the NATO alphabet doesn't apply to them. You will find that some stations just cannot hear "Sierra", but respond immediately to "Sugar" which may tempt you to use that by default. Opinion is divided on the best practice, but the ACMA specifies that you use the NATO alphabet and they are the people who grant you your license.

Should I always use phonetics in my callsign?

Yes. There are some who think that it's a waste of air-time on VHF and UHF, but it depends entirely on the conditions. If you're operating with a station that you know well, then you might be able to go with the non-phonetic version, but if in doubt, use phonetics. On an international conversation, it's good practice to use phonetics, since not everyone around you will be listening to a 5 and 9 signal.

What's the best wire to use for an antenna?

There are only two types of wire, cheap wire and free wire. When in doubt, go with the free wire.

Should I upgrade my license?

That depends entirely on why you're in Amateur Radio. If you're here to have a yarn and your current license suits you, then leave well enough alone. If you want a structured environment to learn more stuff, do an upgrade. If you want more privileges, more bands, more modes, more power, do an upgrade. If you're happy as you are, read, talk and learn. One day you might want to upgrade. Don't ever upgrade because someone tells you that you must. This is your hobby. If you stay within your license conditions, then carry on and have fun.

If you have other questions, or if you didn't like my answers, drop me a line.

I'm Onno VK6FLAB

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