KC9MIB

My friend N9YOD sent me this:



"Life Explained!"

# posted by Dave Zollinger @ 6:54 PM 0 Comments

Last Thursday I passed my Element 3 exam. Yesterday at noon, only 3 1/2 days (1 1/2 working days!) after taking the test, my license status had been upgraded on the ULS website. This speaks volumes for the efficiency of the VEs who administered the tests. It means that the FCC held up their end of the bargain as well. This is an entirely different experience than I had when I took my Element 2 exam. I won't go into details, but that one got rather frustrating. A different set of VEs really makes a difference.
After finding out that my license had been upgraded I decided to apply for a vanity callsign. There is nothing wrong with my current callsign, in fact I quite like it. But I have had a particular callsign in mind since I became licensed. So I decided that now would be the time to try for it. If I am understanding the instructions at the FCC website properly the callsign that I want is currently available, and it is the right format for me to be eligible for it. So we'll see. If I do not get that particular callsign assigned to me then I intend to keep my current one for good.
During the course of filing for the callsign change online at the FCC website I had a problem with my password. Being unable to resolve it online I finally had to call the FCC support line on the phone. I expected a long wait, followed by a hassle. I was wrong on both accounts. After making my selection from the automated menu a young lady named "Stephanie" took my call in less than a minute. She was polite, friendly, and completely helpful. After I hung up and tried to log on, it still didn't work! So I called back. This time I didn't wait at all, and I got the same person again! Almost unheard of in this day and age! We discovered the mistake (miscommunication on spelling) and she fixed things again. This time it worked. I came away really impressed with the quick, friendly, helpful service that I had received from the FCC. This is how government should respond every time a citizen needs something.

# posted by Dave Zollinger @ 8:47 AM 0 Comments

Today was a nice day. Mrs. Spiny Norman and myself took the day off from work so that we could travel to Grand Rapids, Michigan. I needed to visit Bachelder's Gunsmithing in Grand Rapids, and we had a few other things to take care of, so we decided to make a day of it.
The trip home took us through the town of Allegan, Michigan. Since we arrived there at about lunchtime, we decided to see what the place had to offer. Much to our pleasure, we discovered that Allegan has a very nice downtown. There are lots of shops, an actual downtown movie theater, and a beautiful river park area that overlooks a historic iron bridge.



After a few minutes of exploring downtown Allegan we discovered a place called the "Iron Bridge Bar and Grill", and decided to land there. Located at 118 Brady Street, Allegan, Michigan 49010, TX (269) 686-9900, the Iron Bridge is nothing fancy. But they have a menu full of appetizers, salads, baskets, sandwiches, burgers, and dinners, which include steaks, fish, and prime rib. They even have a limited selection of southwestern fare such as burritos, fajitas, and the like.
We had a great meal (try the onion rings!), and also got terrific service from Connie.
If you are in the Allegan area you might want to grab a bite at the Iron Bridge.

# posted by Dave Zollinger @ 7:53 PM 0 Comments

A team of researchers from UC Berkeley have created the first fully functional radio from a single carbon nanotube. This by far the smallest radio ever made.
I do not pretend to understand how it works, but apparently the implications of the discovery are enormous.

You can read all about it here:

Nanotube radio article at Science Daily

# posted by Dave Zollinger @ 1:30 PM 0 Comments

It's been quite some time since my last post, hasn't it?
Lately it seems that most of my time has been taken up by studying for my General exam. I am happy to report that last night I passed the Element 3 exam, and will soon receive my General Class license.
What a relief!
The tests were held at the Goshen Amateur Radio Club and we had quite a turnout. Several people (including a 9 year old young man) qualified for their Technician licenses and several more got their General licenses.
The GARC held classes for both Tech and General leading up to the exams, taught by KA9SYE-John. John was a wonderful instructor and I learned alot from him. If anyone in the Northern Indiana area is considering becoming licensed for the first time, or upgrading their current license, they really ought to contact the club about taking one of John's classes.
So what's next for me? Last night someone suggested that I should begin studying for my Amateur Extra license right away. But I don't agree.
I want to gain more experience first, and I want to learn Morse code.
I realize that code is no longer a requirement to get any class of license, and for a Tech license I think that's just fine. I believe that the lack of a code requirement for Technician Class licenses will bring more people to the hobby. I know that it did in my case, and in the case of a friend of mine too. So that's two new ham radio operators who had been considering becoming licensed for years, but didn't until the code requirement was dropped. I'm sure that there are many others.
For many people who consider entering the amateur radio service (many of whom have no background in radio communications, or electronics in general) having to learn the basics to get a Tech license, and then get over "mike fright" and learn to operate a radio are a daunting enough task. To have to learn code on top of that is just too much for many people. So they just don't take up the radio hobby. So again, in my opinion, a "no code required" policy for Tech licenses is a good idea.
However, Morse code always has been, and still is, the "ham's international language". I personally feel that anyone who wants to walk around and call himself an Extra Class operator needs to have at least a working knowledge of Morse code. I almost feel like an impostor as a General Class operator, not knowing code. I don't know why I feel that way, I just do.
So before I go on any further, I'm going to learn code. Or at least I'm going to try! If I struggle with it I will at least make it my goal to be able to meet the minimum standards for my class of license that were in place before the requirements were dropped.
But for right now I have an ICOM IC-735 with matching power supply sitting at my station ready to go. There is a brand new MFJ antenna tuner right next to it. I have a Cobra wire antenna sitting on the floor waiting to be installed.
Today I am just looking forward to getting the antenna up, and enjoying the use of my recently-granted General class privileges.

Ray's station is a Yaesu FT-212RH 2 Meter mobile, powered by a power supply.

KD8HBZ - Ray and I spent last Sunday afternoon getting his station put together and on the air.
The Yaesu FT-212RH is set up on a desk near a window, and a short length of RG-213 coax leads to an Arrow Antennas open stub j-pole antenna. It's an excellent little 2 meter set-up.


The Arrow Antennas j-pole antenna at KD8HBZ.

Although his antenna is only about 15 feet up, we can easily talk to each other on simplex, with our radios on low power. Our stations are almost exactly 13 miles apart, with lots of hills, trees, bridges, highways, and buildings between us.
Amateur radio does not have to be an expensive hobby. The radio that Ray is using was purchased at a hamfest for $75.00. The power supply was $40.00 or so at Radio Shack. The used antenna was almost free. Throw in a few feet of coax and some inexpensive conduit for an antenna mast, and you have a radio station. A radio station that performs very well.
If you are in the area of Bristol, IN or Mottville, MI, you might want to give KD8HBZ a call. He's usually on the 146.895(-)(pl 131.8) repeater or 146.520 simplex.

# posted by Dave Zollinger @ 6:17 PM 0 Comments

It's now been about two weeks since the new Yaesu VX-3R arrived. Seems like a good time to share a few impressions.
My first impression? I'm impressed.
I did not expect this to be a practical HT for everyday use. I was wrong.
Three days after it arrived I stood in my front yard and talked to N9BAV on a repeater that is located 9 miles away. That may not sound real impressive to some people. But we're not talking about 9 miles across a flat desert. I was in a suburban neighborhood surrounded by two-story houses and trees. There are more trees, buildings, bridges, hills, you name it, between my house and that repeater. Not bad for a micro HT pushing 1.5 watts. We also talked across the neighborhood on simplex, crisp and clear. Since then I have made numerous contacts with it, all with good reports.
None of this would be interesting if the VX-3R was a normal sized HT. What makes this kind of HT performance (ie: average) noteworthy is the fact that the VX-3R is SMALL.



The VX-3R is a small radio. Note size compared to a Quarter.

This is an HT that you can slip into a pocket and keep with you all of the time. It also fits neatly into several cell phone cases that I've tried it in.
So it's a useful HT. But there's more.
The wideband FM receiver is excellent. I have spent quite a bit of time listening to FM stereo with a set of headphones plugged in. While we were playing with the radio at Phil's Ham Radio Store we discovered that you can plug in a pair of computer speakers and listen to some pretty fine sounding FM music.
The AM broadcast receiver is OK. Not great.
The little radio will actually receive some shortwave too. I haven't experimented much with this feature yet though. It receives broadcast television audio very well also.
So far this has been a glowing report about the little radio. But it does have a few faults; the battery latch is flimsy and you have to careful not to shift the battery when gripping the radio, the AM broadcast reception (something Yaesu advertised as being a feature of the radio) is not great, and the radio does not have a belt clip. The worst feature of the radio, however, is the factory antenna. If you buy a VX-3R just plan on replacing the antenna as the performance of the factory supplied model is just plain awful. I'll be posting more in this soon.
All having been said, I am very happy with my VX-3R. It is a far more practical HT than I thought it would be, it's small size makes it easy to take along wherever you go, and the FM stereo reception will probably make you want to.



The Yaesu VX-3R (right) compared to the Yaesu FT-60R (left). The FT-60R is not a large HT but it still dwarfs the VX-3R.

# posted by Dave Zollinger @ 9:32 PM 0 Comments

Sunday, the 1st of June, was a beautiful day. Mrs. Spiny and I decided to take a drive up to Lake Michigan.
Driving along the lake shore, exploring the shops, and having lunch in places like New Buffalo, Michigan, used to be one of our favorite activities. I say "used to be" because we almost can't afford to now that gas is so expensive.
But Sunday was such a perfect day that we decided to head up to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. If you haven't been there before, the dunes lakeshore has lots of nice public beaches. But they also have large areas of quiet wetlands where you can walk, bicycle, or pull a car in and enjoy a restful afternoon watching the wildlife like we did. It's a nice place.
On the way to the there I made sure to take US Highway 12 through Michigan City, Indiana, because there was a building that I wanted to photograph there. On a previous trip to the area I had noticed a large concrete structure straddling the railroad tracks that run parallel to US 12. Now long abandoned I'm not sure what it was used for originally. Ray - KD8HBZ was with me at the time I first saw it, and he thought it might have been for loading coal. No matter what it was used for, I was fascinated by it and resolved to get some shots of it the next time I was in the area.
I decided to try my Canon S5 IS out on this job, an occasion that I would usually use the Digital Rebel SLR for. The new generation super-zoom cameras really can do many things well, and overall I was fairly satisfied with it's performance.













Interestingly, just as I was about to start shooting, another photographer arrived to shoot the same structure. She too had seen it on a previous trip to the area and decided to come back later to photograph it. We had a nice talk about how much fun it is to shoot old abandoned structures, while our respective spouses waited patiently. When my wife and I left I felt sort of vindicated somehow. It was so nice to be able to show my wife that I'm not insane, and that I am not the only amateur photographer in the world whose favorite subject matter is abandoned buildings!

# posted by Dave Zollinger @ 5:04 PM 0 Comments

Well the Diamond X50 has been up since last Saturday and I've made numerous contacts on it now, including several on simplex.
Let's just say that I am very happy with this antenna. Lots of good reports, and much improved performance.

# posted by Dave Zollinger @ 8:50 PM 0 Comments

It's Memorial Day weekend and there are many exciting things going on. The Indy 500, the Coca-Cola 600, parades, festivals, family reunions, you name it.
But as we were all having fun here on Earth one of the most ambitious, complicated, risky, and exciting, missions that NASA has ever undertaken came to a climax this evening as the Phoenix lander touched down on the surface of Mars.
This is an incredible achievement and the possible scientific discoveries that could come from this mission boggle the mind. You can read all about it here: Phoenix
As usual the media largely ignored the event. Thankfully it was covered live by the Science Channel.
It will be very interesting to watch what sorts of results the numerous experiments aboard the craft are able to compile over the next few months.

# posted by Dave Zollinger @ 8:58 PM 0 Comments

Finally. A Saturday with some decent weather.
In a previous post I talked about having to cancel my plans to install the new Diamond X50 antenna for my 2m/70cm base station. Then for the next couple weeks following we either had bad weather, schedule conflicts, or both.
But not today. Today the weather was perfect and the schedule worked out.



I now have a Diamond X50 antenna for my 2m/70cm base station. I chose the X50 for a couple of reasons; partly because of previous experience with Diamond products, and partly because of positive reviews at places like eham.net.
So far, this antenna has not given me any reason to be disappointed. It went together very easily. It appears to be constructed of quality materials. Last but not least, I really like the design. The feedpoint connection for the coax is located inside a tube at the bottom of the antenna where it is protected from the elements.



Once the antenna was in place I did an echo test on the local repeater, which sounded great. I was also able to hit all of the repeaters in the area. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find anybody to talk to. The middle of the afternoon on Saturday of Memorial Day weekend doesn't seem to be a good time to make 2 meter contacts. I'll post a report once I get some reports.
But for now the X50 is up, and it's good!

# posted by Dave Zollinger @ 6:57 PM 0 Comments

The Yaesu VX-3R is here already!
As I type this, the battery is getting its' initial charge. While it charges I'll go through the manual and try to get a handle on some of the features, as there are lots of them!
I continue to be impressed with the service from AES. I ordered this radio online yesterday afternoon and it was sitting on my porch when I got home from work today. That's with standard ground shipping. Which means the folks at AES got it packed up and out the door within hours of my order arriving. This kind of service has been my experience every time that I have done business with them.
To really top off an excellent day, I was flipping through the TV channel guide while I was getting ready to unpack the new radio from the box. What did I find? Night Of The Living Dead was just starting on the Encore Action Channel!
A new radio on the porch and a zombie movie on TV. That's the way to come home and begin a weekend!

# posted by Dave Zollinger @ 6:58 PM 0 Comments

It's always fun to order a new radio, isn't it?
Like many amateurs today I use an HT an awful lot. Since I have to switch back and forth between my personally owned vehicle and my work vehicle many times a week, I've never bothered to mount a conventional "mobile" radio in either of them. I have simply used a Yaesu FT-60R dual-band HT, with a magnetic mount antenna on the roof of both vehicles. This sort of set-up has served me very well for my 2m/70cm mobile rig.
But earlier this week I was having radio problems, or at least I thought I did but that's another story. It was then that the thought struck me. If my HT goes down, I have no mobile radio, and no emergency back-up. Many people who have a mobile mounted in their vehicles have their HTs to use in case of emergency. In my case, my only radio would be the one at my station if my HT were to go down. Clearly, I needed another radio, and a second HT seamed like the most sensible way to go.
After several days of careful consideration the choice was clear. I decided to buy the radio that was the least well suited to my needs, the Yaesu VX-3R.


Photo copyright Yaesu.

Is the VX-3R, which has low transmit power and is not weatherproof, impractical as my back-up/emergency rig? Yes it is. But boy, is it cool!
I had a chance to check one of these out at the Fort Wayne Hamfest last fall. They are really SMALL.


Photo copyright Yaesu.

This photo of the radio in relation to the model's hand gives you some idea of the size of the radio, but it still really doesn't sink in until you handle one for yourself.
It is amazing to me that a radio this compact can put out 1.5W TX on 2m when using the battery and 3W when plugged in to a DC power outlet. That's just awesome.
As for as quality goes, I've read some good reviews at eham.net and I've personally had very good luck with my FT-60 from the same manufacturer.
I ordered the radio from AES and they are usually really quick getting things here. Let's hope so.
We'll have some owner impressions when it arrives.

Selected specifications from Yaesu's website:

VX-3R Specifications May, 2007

Frequency Ranges: RX 0.5-1.8 MHz (AM Broadcast)
(USA Version) 1.8-30 MHz (SW Band)
30-76 MHz (50 MHz HAM)
76-108 MHz (FM)
108-137 MHz (Air Band)
137-174 MHz (144 MHz HAM)
174-222 MHz (VHF TV)
222-420 MHz (ACT1)
420-470 MHz (430 MHz HAM)
470-800(729) MHz (UHF TV)
(757-774) MHz (UHF TV)
800-999 MHz (GEN2; USA Cellular Blocked)
TX 144-146(148) MHz
430-440(450) MHz
Antenna Impedance: 50 W

Case Size (W x H x D): 1.9” x 3.2” x 0.9” (47 x 81 x 23 mm) (W/O knob & antenna)
Weight: 4.6 oz (130 g) With FNB-82LI & antenna

Transmitter
RF Power Output: 1.5 W (@ 4.5 V AA x 3 or 3.7 V FNB-82LI 144 MHz)
3 W (@ 6 V or EXT DC 144 MHz)
2 W (@ 6 V or EXT DC 430 MHz)
Low 0.1 W (@ 4.5 V AA x 3 or 3.7 V FNB-82LI)
Low 0.3 W (@ 6 V or EXT DC)

Receiver
Circuit Type: AM, NFM: Double-Conversion Superheterodyne
WFM: Triple-Conversion Superheterodyne
AM Radio/FM Radio: Single-Conversion Superheterodyne
Intermediate Frequencies: 1st: 47.25 MHz (AM, NFM)
1st: 45.8 MHz (WFM)
1st: 130 kHz (AM Radio/FM Radio)
2nd: 450 kHz (AM, NFM)
2nd: 10.7 MHz (WFM)
3rd: 1 MHz (WFM)
USA Version Cellular Blocked

# posted by Dave Zollinger @ 6:57 PM 0 Comments

My family and I spent Mother's Day weekend in Indianapolis. Since we live in the northern part of Indiana just a few miles south of Michigan, and my sister's family lives in Louisille, Indy is a natural place to meet. So my wife, my son, and I, took my mother to Indy and my sister's family met us there for a getaway weekend.
During the drive to and from Indianapolis I monitored the 2 meter national simplex calling frequency - 146.520. I also monitored the frequency whenever I was out and about in town. For the first time ever, simplex was silent in the Indianapolis area. I never heard a conversation throughout the entire trip.
For readers who may not be familiar with amateur radio terms, a conversation on "simplex" means that one radio is talking directly to another, without the use of a repeater. The "national simplex calling frequency", 146.520, is a frequency that is universally monitored by amateurs operating on the 2 meter band. Therefore any amateur that wants to make contact with another would call for for that station on the calling frequency. Stations needing to call for help in an emergency can use this frequency as well.
On a previous trip to Indy I happened to hear two stations talking on "520" and realized that I knew one of them. A few months prior to this we had been passing through South Carolina on the way to Florida. I made contact with a station on a repeater who told me that he used to live in Indiana, but now made his home in South Carolina. On that day in Indy I heard him talking to someone else on simplex, and gave a call. He remembered our conversation in South Carolina, and was as amazed as I was that we would happen to be in Indy on the same day, months after we had first talked on the air.
So I went to Indy looking forward to making some contacts. I guess that next time I head that way I'll have to monitor the area repeaters as well. Because last weekend, simplex was silent.

I was driving through a small town in Michigan the other day, I think it was Paw Paw. While I was sitting at a red light I noticed the name of this building. I had just enough time to grab my cell phone and snap one quick pic.



I wonder who it's named after?
He must have been quite a guy.