Over the Alps with 5 Milliwatts and Solar Power

Yesterday morning the lower portion of the 30 meter QRSS band was dominated by three Italian stations: Near the bottom of ON5EX's grabber screen was the very clear and FB CW of Fabio, IK0IXI. Fabio runs about 50 milliwatts to a Windom and operates from Civitavecchia, a beautiful coastal town about 20 miles from Rome. Here you can take a look at his rig, and his schematic: http://www.geocities.com/ik0ixib/bcn.html A bit further up were the droopy dashes of yours truly, 200 mw (QRO!) to my all-purpose end-fed wire. And a bit further up from me was the very interesting signal of Paolo, IZ1KXQ. Paolo runs 5 milliwatts from a super-simple solar powered rig (see above) that resides on the roof of his house. It puts out a distinctive square wave sig.

IKoIXI's crystal is in an oven and is temperature stabilized. He stays on the same freq all day. We've found that my signal seems to drift down in freq during the course of the day, as Rome heats up. It moves about 15 hz down from early morning to afternoon. IZ1KXQ's rig is more exposed to the heat, and seems to move quite a bit more, and his sig moves UP in freq. I think this drifting adds to the QRSS fun.
FB Paolo! FB Fabio!

Here is IZ1KXQ's schematic:

Crossing the Pond on 200 milliwatts QRSS

As you can probably tell, I was really pleased to get my little QRSS station in operation. But then came some icing on the cake: Vernon, VE1VDM, sent a screen shot (above) that showed the unmistakable traces of my somewhat chirpy signal. Look around 10140020 Hz . See those kind of droopy dashes? They're mine! (Johan, ON5EX, called them "Italian tears.") Hooray! Crossing the pond on 200 milliwatts!

Of course, this is no big deal in the QRSS world. 200 milliwatts is decidedly QRO for these fellows. I feel some pressure to reduce power. I also feel the urge to clean up the chirp, but then again, the Italian tears make spotting the signal easier.

For a great explanation of how QRSS allows you to pull signals out of the noise see ON7YD's excellent article: http://www.qsl.net/on7yd/136narro.htm

The online "grabbers" add a very interesting dimension to this. You can watch the band from stations around the world simultaneously. Take a look at I2NDT's grabber compendium:
http://digilander.libero.it/i2ndt/grabber/grabber-compendium.htm

Here's something else that I found really cool: I can watch the grabbers on my Blackberry! So, the other day, with my beacon on, as I made my way through central Rome on the 63 bus, I pulled out the Blackberry and opened ON5EX's grabber page. There I could see my droopy dashes at 10140020. Now I've got my eye on the grabber of Laurence, 9V1LF, in Singapore; I hope to put some Italian tears on his screen soon.

Guys, this real "essence of QRP" stuff. I'm reading Ade Weiss's book on the history of QRP, and I often find myself thinking that The Old Man and the QRPers of yesteryear would very much approve of QRSS.

It may seem complicated, but it is not. The transmit systems are just milliwatt crystal-controlled transmitters and some sort of keyer (mine is from K1EL). For receive, all you need is a cable from your receiver to your soundcard, and some free software.

We need more QRSS activity from the States. When will AA1TJ put one of those Zener Diode rigs on 10140030?

QRSS Success -- Signals Visible in Online Grabbers

Shortly after recording SolderSmoke 86 (in which I shared my tale of QRSS woe), I solved my calibration problem. IK3NWX has a CW beacon on 10141800 Hz. I fired up the Spectran soundcard program, and put the output of my Drake 2-B into the line in connector. With the 2B's bandpass wide, I tuned NWX's beacon to the top of the display. I then adjusted the trimmer cap on my oscillator to put me 1750 Hz below NWX. Eccolo! That put me in the 100Hz wide QRSS band. Almost immediately I could "see myself" on some of the on-line "grabbers." Vic, G3GKI, sent a screen shot (above) You can see some chirp on my signal. I might fix that, but I might leave it as is to make the signal more easily recognizable.

Eddie, G3ZJO, also sent a screen shot. I think this one is from an online grabber located in Northern Italy. You can see Eddie's far more sophisticated signal higher up in the display. My more rudimentary effort appears below. You can make out my call.

The online grabbers are a real hoot. My favorite is that of Johan, ON5EX. Check it out and see if you can see my 200 milliwatts reaching out across Europe. look for me around 10140020. Johan's page updates every minute or so:

http://www.on5ex.be/grabber/grabber.html

SOLDERSMOKE 86

June 22, 2008

http://www.soldersmoke.com

Maritime Mobile on Lake Bracciano.
Jean Shepherd loses girlfriend due to THE KNACK.
30 Meter transmitter self-constructs (almost).
QRSS Woes.
Do CW signals have sidebands?
Freq Counter down for the count.
Dial Parallax: Drake 2B jumps 3 kc from eyeball to eyeball.
Radio Shack: Count your blessings!
Nice wire from old computers.
Good luck on Field Day.
MAILBAG: VU3RDD NEW HARMONIC!
Frank on analog scopes,
PE1OIT on si570 chips,
KG4ENB on 179 kc LOWFERS,
M0NJP on how XYL's can deal with THE KNACK,
K7JM on SolderSnow,
W8OAJ SolderSmoke as Knack Therapy,
Jonathan 7J1AWL "from commuter train in Tokyo"

Jason, the Argonauts, and QRP

You don't often find beauty in software read-me files, but I found some in those of I2PHD and IK2CZL. Take a look at this. It is from the read-me file for a Slow Speed CW program:
----------------------------

ARGO -- A QRSS Viewer by I2PHD & IK2CZL

Argo is program for viewing QRSS signals, i.e. very
slow CW, or DFCW signals, i.e. slow CW where dots and
dashes are of the same length, but offset in frequency
by a few Hertz, or even a fraction of an Hertz.

The name Argo is taken from that mythical ship which,
with the Argonauts on board, headed to Colchis,
in the quest for the Golden Fleece, much like the LF
Hams are in search of that fraction of dB of S/N which
will allow them to make that elusive QSO.

--------------------------

Here is where you can get the Argo software.
Free!  And lots of other good programs
(check out Spectran):

http://www.weaksignals.com/

Bravo Alberto! Grazie!

QRSs QRPp

I blame Hans Summers for this. His articles in SPRAT on very slow speed, very low power CW on 30 meters have caused me to develop a new set of Knack symptoms. I now listen intently to CW that is so slow that by the time I get to the end of a letter, I've forgotten if it started with a dit or a dah. I've become intimately familiar with the refresh rates of strange web sites known as "Grabbers" (I'd never heard of them before. See above for a sample.) And for the first time in my life as a radio amateur, using crystal control is no guarantee that I'm "in the band."

My 30 meter QRSs 200 mw "MEPT" beacon is on the air, but no one has heard me yet. This is almost certainly due to the fact that I'm probably outside the QRSs "band." This band is only 100 HERTZ wide! I'm using a 10.140 Mhz crystal, but the circuit values of my oscillator could easily put me out of that band. And Murphy struck: Just days before I started all this, my frequency counter died. My trusty Drake 2B is of little help in measuring frequency to this accuracy: The dial increments are 10 KILOhertz! And the 2B suffers from a problem totally unfamiliar to those who have grown up with glowing numerals: DIAL PARALAX! (It sounds like Knack-related disease, doesn't it? "I'm sorry m'am, your son Dilbert also has a bad case of DIAL PARALAX!!!")

Wish me luck. Don't blame me if you succumb to QRSs madness. Remember: it is all Hans Summers' fault.

DUGA-3 aka STEEL YARD aka WOODPECKER

Mama mia! Now that's an antenna! Put your HW-8 on that one and you'd be in business!
Here are some more shots of the Woodpecker antenna complex:
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/1200861

Jean Shepherd: KNACK VICTIM!

Guys, stop what you are doing. Put down that soldering iron, or that cold Miller High Life ("the champagne of bottled beer") and click on the link below. You will be transported back to 1965, and will hear master story-teller Jean Shepherd (K2ORS) describing his teenage case of The Knack. He discusses his efforts to build a Heising modulated transmitter for 160 meters. He had trouble getting it working, and became obsessed with the problem, obsessed to the point that a girl he was dating concluded that there was "something wrong with him" and that his mother "should take him to a doctor."

This one is REALLY good. It takes him a few minutes to get to the radio stuff, but it is worth the wait. More to follow. EXCELSIOR! FLICK LIVES!

http://ia310115.us.archive.org/2/items/JeanShepherd1965Pt1/1965_01_29_Ham_Radio.mp3

SolderSmoke 85: Special QSO with WA6ARA

June 8, 2008 

Echo-QSO with WA6ARA! 
Phoenix lands on Mars.
Beacon operations.
Adrian Weiss, W0RSP. FB QRP Author.
Need correspondent for Flea at MIT.
Understanding balanced modulators.
Dan's accident (Dan's Small Parts).
Hendricks Cap Kit.
"Hot Iron"  Journal of The Constructor's Club
The Woodpecker.
MAILBAG (Return of the GONG!):
W6DWF
KC0PEI on "IP Telepathy"
Mark Z on a crank-up Pocket Pixie.
Ramakrishnan in Singapore.
Niels PE1OIT on Robert E. Pease.
Jerry NR5A: Cursed with Beacon Madness.
Echolink QSO with Mike, WA6ARA.

Download the SolderSmoke Podcast at
http://www.soldersmoke.com

The I-QRP Club Magazine

The Italian QRP Club (I-QRP) has a very nice quarterly bulletin. They have recently started to present a good portion of the articles in both Italian and English. The May 2008 edition is very FB, with many good articles, including one on impedance matching with broadband transformers.
Thanks to the I-QRP Club for making this available to hams around the world!

Here's the link:

http://www.arimontebelluna.it/i_qrp/bollettino.htm

Beacon Rig I0/N2CQR 28.240 MHz 1 Watt

Just a few shots of my new beacon rig. The first shows the Beacon Box on the shelf above the HW-8, attached to the battery. I've been running the beacon on solar power, using my two Volkswagen panels.

Here's a look under the hood: The larger board is a crystal controlled 1 watt transmitter (Dour DeMaw's ("Lil' Slugger"). The smaller board is K1EL's amazing keyer. I've left space for a 30 meter QRPp QRSS transmitter.

Finally, here is the "Sideswiper" aka "Cootie Keyer" I threw together in order to get my beacon message into the keyer. I discovered that I need a lot of practice on horizontal CW!

Adrian Weiss, W0RSP. Very FB!

I'm reading Chapter 11 ("Milliwatts and Miles") of the book "The History of QRP in the U.S.; 1924-1960" by Ade Weiss, W0RSP. What a gem this book is! I find it particularly inspirational that a book of this high technical level was written by someone with a PhD. in Renaissance Literature. Thanks Ade!

Parachuting on Mars

What a great shot! This is the Phoenix lander descending to the Martian surface by parachute. The photo was taken from Mars orbit by the MRO probe. You can even see the shroud lines!

Well done! Bravissimo!

(And Phoenix features solar panels and antennas, making it an entirely suitable subject for SolderSmoke News.)

Beacon Operations

On Saturday 24 May I connected my newly acquired K1EL keyer to a little homebrew 10 meter beacon transmitter that I'd built about 10 years ago. (The transmitter is based on the "Lil Slugger" design by Doug DeMaw -- about 1 watt out.) Ten meters seems pretty dead these days, so when I turned the thing on and put it on the air, I had the feeling that no one would hear me. It sort of felt like throwing a message-in-a-bottle into the ocean. I put my e-mail address in the beacon transmission. I've had the thing on the air very intermittently over the last few days.
Imagine my surprise when this morning my e-mail box contained a message from Andre in Germany. He'd heard the beacon in its first day on the air! Wow!

During daylight hours I can hear beacons from all over Europe on ten.

I have left space in my "beacon box" for a very QRPP 30 meter transmitter. The K1EL keyer will generate QRSS. Where is the best place to get a crystal for 10.140 Mhz?

See if you can hear my beacon on 28.240 MHz. I'll have it on during daylight hours (Italian daylight hours).

I'll post some pictures soon.

SolderSmoke Podcast # 84 FDIM Special

Listen at: http://www.soldersmoke.com

SolderSmoke #84
May 25, 2008

SPECIAL FDIM PROGRAM!!!!
Flying a glider over Circus Maximus
THE NEW SOLDERSMOKE BLOG:
SolderSlides!
SolderLinks!
SolderChat!
SolderYouTube!
Subscribe today!
W7ZOI/W7PUA Power Meter Calibration
Bifilar toroids in LTSpice. Help!
Variations in Type 43 Ferrite
Finding friends in old SPRATS
Beacon Madness hits I0/N2CQR
AA1TJ crosses the pond (really)
80 Meter DSB project (design first, build later!)
Bob, W8SX, interviews FDIM speakers!
MAILBAG:M0NDE, WB6NTL, ZS1I, NR5A, M0EEJ, ON6CSV
7J1AWL, KC0PET

Tired of listening to The Who or Wagner on your I-Pod? Wouldn't you like to be able to carry with
you the kinds of ham radio conversations that you
listen to while in your radio shack? Tune in to SolderSmoke!

RSS FEED: You can subscribe to the program, have
them downloaded to your MP-3 player, and listen to
them at your convenience. To subscribe, just cut and
paste this URL into your I-poder (or similar)
software.
http://www.soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke.rss

If you don't have an MP3 player you can just go to the
site below and listen to the latest program (and
earlier editions) using the audio software on your
computer.

http://www.soldersmoke.com
All the programs are available here.
I hope you enjoy the program. Please send us
feedback.
73 from Rome
Bill M0HBR N2CQR CU2JL
http://www.gadgeteer.us

Farhan's Site

http://www.phonestack.com/farhan/bitx.html

Farhan updated his BIT20 site. Very nice. Every time I visit this site, I leave wanting to build a BITX20. What a great circuit. Thanks Farhan. I may soon join the worldwide BITX 20 movement!

The only station on 80 in Rome at 0430 local: W1AW... then K1JJ

I was up earlier than usual this morning (my Italian ham friends think my schedule is totally nuts!). As usual, I tuned across 80 -- it seems 0430 is a bit too early even for the hardcore fanatics who can be heard starting at around 0530 local. But there was one CW signal distinctly audible: good old W1AW, pounding out code practice close to the color burst frequency.

A bit later I tuned up around 3.8 Mhz, where the DXers hang out. There I heard a familiar call (and voice!) from the homeland: K1JJ. I used to listen to OM JJ on 75 Meter AM. What a signal he has in Europe! The Italians were all saying "Mama mia!" And what an antenna! From JJ's web site (at QRZ.com) :

NE/Europe: Dual quads system. (4 elements total) A two-element quad on a 40' boom at 190' high (63 meters) phased to a second identical two-element quad at 190' high on a separate tower. These two-element quads are spaced 1.17 wavelengths apart from each other, (spaced 100 meters apart) beaming broadside to Europe. The horizontal pattern is narrow, only about 35 degrees wide because of the collinear gain...intended for central Europe. The two quads are fed with equal length coaxial hard-lines that are run into the shack, and connected in-phase. The take-off angle is about 28 degrees, much like a flat, horizontal Yagi at 135' high. The AVERAGE height of the quad loops dictates this take-off angle.

I went out for pizza last night with I0YR, IK0JNI, and IK0ZMH. We had a great time.

K1EL Keyer

I just got a very pleasing dit dah dit from my new K1EL keyer. The board went together quickly. It is a very nice kit. Lots of capabilities in that little thing: beyond the normal keyer function, there is beacon capability. And QRSS! I plan to match mine up with my 10 meter beacon transmitter and my Volkswagen solar panels for a self-contained, solar powered beacon.
I may have to buy another one of these for use with my HW-8 -- this keyer may actually cause me to abandon my straight key.

Thanks Steve!

http://www.k1el.com

Building for 80, Listening to 17, Ragchewing on 20

Just a quick Sunday morning report from Rome: With my 20 meter DSB rig finally tamed, I've been trying to decide which band to build for next. Italian hams just got access to more of 40 meters (now 7.0 -- 7.2 vice 7.1 MHz) so for a while I was thinking of 40. But 40 is pretty quiet at 5 am here, while there ARE stations operating on 80 at that time. So I'm building for 80. Actually I am rehabilitating a DSB rig that I built in London for 40. This morning I changed the coil in the VFO and have it percolating nicely from 3.55 -- 3.8 MHz.

I've been having a great time on 20 DSB. We have a local roundtable in Rome each night at 2030 local. I0YR, IK0JNI, IKOJMH, and I0ZY are all regulars. Very FB. Yesterday afternoon I worked Renato IZ1MJU up in Torino. He too was running a homebrew station. It is rare to have an HB-HB qso, especially on phone.

Right now I am tuned to my old stomping ground on 17 meters, listening to my old friend Chris, SM0OWX. I'll have to get that 17 meter rig going...

I should have another SolderSmoke podcast next weekend. I've added some stuff to the blog page: Check out the slide shows (2 of them) and the Dilbert Knack animations.

73 from Rome.

LB Cebik, WN4RNL, and the "Ham Spirit"

As all of you probably know, LB Cebik, esteemed antenna expert and mentor, recently passed away. This morning I happened to find his entry on the wonderful "Novice History" web site:
http://www.novice.bappy.com/index.html

Note what LB says about "the ham spirit."

L.B. Cebik, W4RNL (WN4RNL, 1954)
I was licensed in 1954 as both a Novice and a Tech, since
then you could take both exams in one session and
privileges were separate. (W1APS/WN1APS)I got on
the air for the first time with a ham a couple of blocks away,
an fine old timer.

However, I got key fright half way through. My dad,
James S. (Jim) Cebik, came to my rescue and finished
the contact, although he had not touched a key in
over 20 years.

Jim Cebik had been 1ATG and later W1BUK in the late
1920s and early 1930s (and wrote a few articles on
his experiments). He gave up amateur radio
when he married in the depression years. Relative
parts costs were high, and family came first. In fact,
he rarely mentioned amateur radio, and my
entry was independent via some high school
comrads and a cousin. But he had not forgotten
his CW or key skills and saved me from
embarrassment on that first day. I returned the favor
by renewing his interest in amateur radio
and about 1964, he was relicensed and obtained
his old W1BUK call, which he used for very many
years. He died in 2002 in his high 90s.

So my Dad was a part of my Novice beginning
in amateur radio, and I strove to send CW with
a straight key so that one could not tell it from
a keyer.

He remains a strong part of my effort. He noted
that the ham spirit is to give, if needed, the shirt
off one's back to a fellow ham and to expect--not
its return--but rather that it be passed on to the
next ham who needs it.
That is the spirit of my web site.

My Novice days were a joy, and I have been
pleased to carry my father's amateur radio days
into everything that I do.

Hope this is useful.
-73-
LB, W4RNL