Bill's Blog
Mar. 10 2008
TX5C has really nice expedition going, some of the Stateside stations leave a little to be desired in their operation but overall it's been a lot of fun, for the first time I have been atop the leaderboard on their website log, the individual contacts aren't showing up yet, but if you click on the leader tab, there we are in second place with 13 QSO's in the first 24 hours, yeah I am braggin, you would be too!!! :-)
Feb . 9 2008
New rig in the shack, an Icom IC-756 Pro II, wow what a radio, this is gonna really help the RTTY numbers, a real DX radio!
Jan 20, 2008
Thanks to the guys at J5C for an excellent operation from Guinea-Bissau, in spite of all the lids they have made sure that most of us have J5 worked everywhere we need them, I knocked them out on 30 CW and 40 meter phone this evening, only place left I really would like to work them would be 80 meter CW, I have J5 worked there but not in the log and it seems like a lot of these expeditions of late use LOTW so here's a chance to save a lot of stamps, both green and otherwise, and time with LOTW, I just checked my LOTW account a moment ago, and today, thanks to K9GY's operation from YS land (my old stomping ground), I now have El Salvador confirmed on 20, 15 and 80 CW, and after living there almost a decade I can tell you, that YS on CW is NOT an everyday thing, none of the hams I met there worked CW.
Logbook of the World is the best thing since sliced bread. The fastest QSL I have ever received was on LOTW, it was only 5 minutes from QSO to QSL, I worked a LA station in Norway, and as soon as we signed, just by chance, we both uploaded our logs to LOTW, Now that's FAST! :-)
If you are not on Logbook you should be, its free, its simple, and you do NOT have to be a member of the ARRL to use it, and you could give a badly needed QSL to another ham at no expense whatsoever, so what valid reason is there NOT to be on the Logbook?
Jan 13, 2008
After many moons I am again writing in my blog to complain. I am beginning to think the no-code was a huge mistake, these idiots are coming in with their "1st personals" and other CB jargon and operating habits, this may be the end of ham radio as we who EARNED our tickets know it. I was listening the J5C expedition last night and every callsign he asked for was answered by a few complete IDIOTS, who answered with a confident "ROGER ROGER" and proceeded to give a suffix COMPLETELY different that what he was asking for, do you people not know your ABC's? Are you all mentally retarded? If you are mentally retarded then I am out of line in complaining. Otherwise be advised you are NOT the only ones calling these guys, if your call ends in ALPHA and he asked for ZULU, it's NOT YOU HE WANTS!!!! Is that so hard a concept to grasp???? You cats are pathetic. If you weren't invading my territory I would probably feel sorry for your ignorance.
A few guidelines
We don't "swing" or "throw" watts out of a radio, a radio puts out watts, it has no arms, it can't swing or throw......
Our names are names, not personals or 1st personals or LAST personals for that matter!
A QRA is also a NAME, many Spanish speaking hams use QRA instead of "name" that is perfectly acceptable.
If the DX stations doesn't ask for YOUR SUFFIX HE ISN'T CALLING YOU!!!
You CAN say "break" the CBers stole that from US.... break break means an emergency...
And the best advice is to LISTEN for a while, THEN transmit, I listened for about 6 months before I got my ticket, then I talked just like the fellows I had listened to, try and be like a mockingbird, that's a lot better than sounding like the complete idiot you sound like now!!!
Remember, when in Rome, do as the Romans do, and we were doing this LONG before YOU came along..
OR you can always go back to 11 meters!! That sounds like a great idea to ME!!!
And finally, to the small percentage of new hams, who are playing by the rules and acting like normal human beings, this was not meant for you, welcome to ham radio.....
NO MORE "BREAK" ALLOWED!!??!!??!
I was listening to 2 idiots on 10 during the opening, obviously 11 meter ops proudly strutting their new privs, and I thought I would say hello when one of them stepped away from his rig for a moment, I said "break" as hams have for decades, no response, when the other moron returned the ham said "someone said "break" when you went away, don't know what's up with that" I swear to God.... this hobby is going to hell in a hand basket, These idiots were talking about getting a "good" radio, trashing all the other hams gear, one of them was running a 706 Icom!!!! Not that I am trashing that rig, had one, it's a great LITTLE radio, but the way they were talking I was waiting to hear about their 7800 or FT-9000, one said "I drive good cars, I shoot good guns and talk on good radios" Well at least he can't hurt anyone, a Daisy won't do any damage unless he hits you in the eye,
Also during my other QSO's with "normal" hams, there were constantly people calling me, asking were I was, calling CQ on top of the other station to see if I would complain, I guess that's their way of getting a signal report. They ALL knew I was in QSO and they simply wouldn't wait. Boys I am a ragchewer at heart, I run stations in contests and when I am operating YS1XS, not K4FX, when a station is in QSO just WAIT, He's not going anywhere most likely, and if the band dies there's always tomorrow, you are NOT going to make ANY friends with those kind of operating habits, only gonna make a lot of people mad. When you are QRMing me like that do you really think I am going to go back to YOU when I finish my current QSO? NO WAY!!! I heard all of you calling when I finished QSO's, but because you had QRMed me in the previous QSO, I picked out someone else! And the same thing will happen every single day, I am not changing nor are the other hams, so you guys better learn to adapt to our ways if you ever want to be accepted. Like it or LEAVE it. All of you 11 boys always told me you could talk anywhere you wanted to when I tried to show you guys the err of your ways and get you into REAL radio, so I don't see what you're doing here in the first place!
I see WAY too many 11 meter DX habits on 10 meters these days.....the Texas Star's the PDL's Lord have mercy 11 meters has moved to 10!!!!!
COPS AND KNOW-IT-ALLS
Well this is a long and lengthy subject, IMO these scum of the earths are WORSE than the 11 meter boys. There seems to have been a large influx of know-it-alls in the late 80's and early 90's. Ham radio did not used to be like this. We helped each other. A new ham could ask a question with worry about being ridiculed for not knowing the answer. There were only a couple of WELL QUALIFIED hams who wrote books and most of them were pretty much free, the cost of printing was about all they costs. Now you see everyone who's had a ticket 10 years, or operated a certain mode for a while, or been in 100 contests is writing books, and selling them for high prices. I have no problem with this, I know that no one is hold a gun to anyone's head to buy them. But the on the air comments on top of other stations without ID'ing IS ILLEGAL! And YES IT PISSES ME OFF if that makes you happy,
I was on just tonight, and a clown keyed up on top of the other fellow I was talking to and said "too much reverb" I replied "get a call" He replied after the next over "you're 5 Khz wide" I replied "10 watts average output, get a receiver" he replied "7800" which we know he had that radio about as much as he had a callsign. These types are OBVIOUSLY a little short between the legs and are trying to make up for it in other ways. They certainly aren't making any friends. If you don't like the sound of my station TURN THE VFO, that's what it's for. I later found the same clown down the later and he was about 10 Khz wide at LEAST and said he had a TS-870 amongst many curse words he used. A terrible operator!!!! Reminded me of Mr Rogers on steroids. This is the kind of guy we need to get OFF the bands, he would be an asset to his states penal system!
THANKS BS7H, and to the jammers and cops, just think of how many people you kept from working a new one, I know that a lot of guys were not as lucky as K4FX to get in their log, But with morons dead keying and cops just looking for the chance to jump on some poor sap who forgot his split button, it's certainly makes it harder on the rest of us. That was BS of the expedition, here not there. Please read the complaint letter to the team posted on the BS7H web site, note that after such a scalding letter, with text and grammar like that of a 1st grader at best, they were kind enough not to post this illiterate bastards identity.
Job well done guys!
Beware of your DX Cluster Spots, say to much and you may fail prey to the self proclaimed "DXSpotGod" with an unsolicited (SPAM) e-mail to an insulting link that's on a "DX" site in Virginia that I (and probably YOU) don't want to be any part of. From my short visit there it looks like they stand for everything ham radio is NOT about.
Beware, you've been warned ;-)
K4FX makes first DIGITAL AUDIO QSO, with K0PFX on May 5,2007 at 19:20 UTC, Mel said I was sounding good after a couple of adjustments, check out WinDRM, and the net at 14.236 on Sat and 19:00 UTC! A NEW MODE, AMAZING SOUND QUALITY, BEST OF ALL FREE!! BUT THE PC WITH THE JUICE TO MAKE IT RUN IS NOT, MIN 1Ghz rec. K4FX uses P4 3.0GHz
Later in the day I compiled the melp1400.dll with my Visual Basic Studio and installed the more robust DrmDV, looking forward to testing that tomorrow. The QST article forgot to make mention (or I missed it if they did) of the fact you can use a USB mic, and one sound card, and make things a lot simpler. I was somewhat confused when they talked about swapping cables to go from receive to transmit with a single sound card, as I have been testing into a dummy load for about a week while looking for signals, the article did inform me where the guys hang out.
Made some more fine tuning adjustments on the WinDRM and the DRMDV, and WOW, it's amazing just how nice this mode is. Listening to Mel and the net on 14.236 this afternoon (May 6, 2007) was utterly amazing, Mel sounded like he was just down the street on 2 meter FM, that's about the best way I can describe it! Don't prejudge it and live in the past old-timers, TRY IT you will like it!
Interesting Visit on Sunday afternoon, May 6th 2007
Lucy's "son" came to visit us today. Mr Jack Outlaw, who purchased 2 pups, brought the one who most favored Lucy to visit with us when he brought in a PC for me to repair., I was in the office on a phone call when Jack and his daughter Jennifer arrived, when I walked in the room with Jimmy holding Lucy and Jennifer holding "Bubba" I honestly could not tell them apart looking only at their heads,
Here is Lucy meeting Bubba after about 6 months out of the nest, Lucy with the red collar is slightly smaller than Bubba, but not nearly as much as the picture seems to depict. Their faces and head colors are identical, We are very proud of Lucy. Her pups are really beauties. I really think she remembered him and he went immediately to were he was born in our house and then on to his favorite hangouts as a young puppy. I was really surprised, I didn't think either would remember, but it really looked like they did. They growled a little at first, neither not used to being around other dogs, but after a sniff or two, they were playing like puppies, running, jumping all over the place.
Yes that's your Mama son..... (Red collared Jack is Lucy)
On the the normal"blog" well were do I start? What rants and raves do I have to say, well I guess it would have to be on 80 meters, Wrong you say, "you mean 75 meters," No I mean 80 meters, where real hams dare to be hams, sorry if I upset any of you no-code lite hams, but amateur radio has a long history of using morse, and just because they changed the rules doesn't mean that you can change the fact that world wide, there is more cw in use than any mode we have, If you don't believe me, tune your FT-101EE down there and if you didn't screw it up too much when you "tweaked" it for 11 meters, you'll hear a lot of beeping, each different row of beeps is another ham station, yeah it's a lot of them, and no law you pass is gonna make them get up above 3.9 and talk to YOU, So the bottom line is this, if you really plan on working DX and getting up on the honor roll, Well you better get those code tapes outta the trash before the garbage man comes! Your celebration was somewhat pre-mature! But back to my complaint on 80 CW, As of late when there are any big pile ups. Some deranged imbecile who has yet to master the skills needed to work rare DX in Charles Whiskey pileups has began dead keying on top of the DX stations frequency, and once he unkeys and is hit with a ton of well deserved LID's sent quickly on the DX freq, he responds by FU FU FU, and I don't think he's referring to Kung Fu, I am sure those of you out there this past low band season are very familiar with this pea-brain. What's the world coming to? CB'ers learning code? I think there is something about that in the Bible about the nearing of the end of time.
Winkey, the wonderful wonderful Winkey. K1EL has a kit for 28 bucks that even the least experienced builder could put together in under an hour and have a full featured keyer that interfaces to your radio via the PC, I use the serial port model, But there are USB models for the growing number of "com port-less" laptops out there. There are a lot of features, in my everyday logging software, Winlog32, it supports Winkey, I can click a few memory buttons and go right on thru the QSO, now on my PC you have to decode the received signal with your brain. But the ease of sending is so cool, and the code is basically error free perfect. After a few weeks of using the Winkey I am completely satisfied, it works great with G0CUZ'z Winlog32 and I can send via paddle or macro's, no problema. Paddle always takes first priority. If you are using the PC for logging chances are you have the software in place to run a Winkey. I should have gotten one years ago!
Looking at the cluster tonight I saw a DX depraved ham post a spot on a 5N he was unsuccessful in working, the post went something like this, "200,000+ new hams on HF, thanks arrl" now what planet is this cat on, it was a NO CODE deal, where was the 5N? 3.501.5 not only was he in the CW portion of the band, he was in the extra portion!
A note to the new hams under the no-code rules, I personally have no problems with the new rules although I had to learn CW at 13 wpm just to get on HF and later had to pass 20 wpm for some decent dx frequencies, I don't mind at all, but what I do mind is you bringing your "dirty laundry" from 11 meters such as "first personals" and "seven thirds" and all that mumbo jumbo, Amateur radio has a long and proud tradition and that garbage is never gonna be a part of it. If you want to be accepted by the masses, you best start acting like the masses. Talk as you do with someone in person. Not like you're a damned auctioneer!!
These self professed "experts" who tell us what kind of antennas and radios we need to buy, and how and when we need to run them really get under my skin. Many have even written books and sell them to us so we can help finance their radio stations. Especially considering the fact that 99% of their gospel is pure BOVINE FECAL MATTER. HI HI.... some of the things they get all excited about are humorous, like many who preach that mag mount antennas are the devils work, a Hiroshima waiting to happen in a crash. Same clown has a 12 foot, HUGE coiled screwdriver antenna held down with a few screws in some proudly drilled holes. I assume that type install is still gonna be straight and working if you hit something at 70 mph like they preach about with the mag mounts? If I had to hit a mobile ham in a car I would take the dual band mag mount over that "properly" installed monster any day. Talk about being impaled. That HiQ could do it! Face it. Life itself is dangerous. You could slip on icy steps and DIE, Don't sweat the small stuff.
More as it occurs to me.....
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