Intermezzo

Wading in the surf and slinging lead and squid at unappreciative Bluefish, it ain't fly fishing with a #20 Adams dry but it sure beats working.   73 de Rob

Support Higher Education

Murray the Flinger is in a runoff for grant money for a pet project, go, vote early, vote often.  http://hittingmetalwithahammer.wordpress.com/

73 de Rob

PSK-31 and the QSL Rate-Tis a Puzzlement

PSK is a robust mode, no doubt about it-except over the pole. Its the replacement for CW us tin ear terminal no-codes have been waiting for; Narrow bandwidth and good distance for power-I'm at 2K+ miles per watt now (Bolshoi spasebo Fedor!) confirmed. Last night was up and down the east coast and into the UK on 2.5W-what now is a typical night (slow radioing these days as Joy and I are taking care of a second harmonic while his mother preps and takes her medical boards. My job is to make sure all my old fart friends don't send him home with a BB Gun, three pocket knives and a Coon Hound pup. And buy him chocolate!) And, BTW the YL has her first novel published, The 13th Victim (Renee Porter) on Amazon for Kindle-Remember buy the book-buy me a tower! HI! Anywho-what has surprised me is the QSL rate among PSKers (PSKees?), the first four months I was back on the air on SSB, and very active after a seven year drought,  I got a total of 15 cards E and snailmail. I got 14 the first month, and not too active because of other demands, on PSK-31. Also got a lot of over-the-air help getting my lash-up fine tuned. This seems like what the six meter band was like back in the 90's: helpful and not having a bad case of "QSY this is my frequency." Maybe the narrow bandwidth has something to do with it, maybe its what CW is like??? Tis a puzzlement.

73 es gud dx Rob

No Interface PSK 31 or Hillbilly Engineering

Got this new all mode, damn near all band, qrp transcever, a new laptop and some Digipan freeware and they want how much for an interface? Not gonna happen! First I tried ginning up the "Dirt Cheap" pot and resistor interface but the salvaged din-6 plug from an old mouse was too banged up so I was looking at spending some money. I had used the mike on the speaker bit for my first SWL taste of PSK when I noticed that the laptop was listening to the speaker, quite well, with its own mike. It slowly sunk thru my thick skull that this laptop was made for video/music types and its speaker, mike and soundcard had pretty good fidelity. So...set the mike near the speaker on the laptop and turn up the volume till the waterfall display looked good, turned on the vox and tried a CQ. KA0UEH replied and helped me clear up some splatter and then Brett, KE5EYQ/QRP/P and I had a 599/599 QSO 5 watts each way-WV to La. FB indeed! Now, on the Brag macro, I call it an "Homebrew Acoustical Interface," real hillbilly engineering-making something from nothing, See ya on the waterfall!

73 de Rob

Doh!

Rewired the shack a bit, easier access to the tuner and all that. Then tried to tune up the antenna that had been re cut to compensate for the additional feed in the shack. SWR thru the roof, trimming not of benefit, tore the home brew tuner apart and back together; nothing, nichts, nada, nichivo! Then I check the only thing left- a coax pigtail that came with a name brand tuner ( No not MFJ, their stuff is like a Russian T34, simple, needs a hammer as a fine adjustment tool...) bum stuff-and I almost gave that tuner away. A Rat Shack pigtail, tunes right up and a 5W QSO with David in Magnolia TX. Why is it the solution to a problem is always the last place you look?

73 de Rob

GIRI

The Japanese talk of a sense of an obligation as a debt that can never be repaid. Among the acts of courage and selflessness seen over the last few days, such a debt has been owed to the power plant engineers, technicians and firefighters that have responded to the disaster at Dai-Ichi. Learning that these individuals have said there goodbyes with text messages or not at all before facing this invisible killer makes this writer hope for the human spirit.  Courage in the face of sudden danger is commendable but to face it with full knowledge and time for consideration is incredible. Some have compared these workers to the pilots that  climbed into their aircraft in one-way missions to try to save their homeland. Perhaps they too are deserving. But what do I know I'm just another gaijin.

73 de Rob

The Crud

Missed two days of work and had a new radio, barely got it hooked up-it's a pisser actually to be sick when you take  sick days!  Between bouts at the porcelain throne I got some contacts on 17 and 40, 20 stll the go to band, tuner is still cranky on 40 and depends on how I drape the counterpoise so a new build is in order-Lord how I hate winding coils!     
                                   73 de Rob