I finally got the steerable VHF/UHF array put up on the weekend. It is pretty much a copy of the very successful arrangement I had back in the nineties. A pair of Cushcraft 13B2 yagis for 2m, a homebrew 10-turn helix antenna on 70cm and all mounted on the shack trailer with a 20ft. fold-down tower with rotators for azimuth and elevation. I still have to build and install the mast-mounted VHF preamp and switching arrangement and put in the permanent feedlines (1/2" hardline) but so far everything seems to be working great. I made a bunch of contacts on AO-51, SO-50 and FO-29 and listened to myself calling CQ for a whole pass each of AO-7 and VO-52.
I think AO-7 is going to be my new favorite. Launched in 1974 (!) Amsat-Oscar 7 came back from the dead in 2002 after a 21 year sleep. The altitude is high enough that from my QTH I get coverage (at various times) to all of North America, Europe and Japan. Last night my downlink was audible right to the horizon so hopefully I'll be able to work a good bit of DX on this bird.
Once the preamp and new feedlines are installed the station should be EME-capable and I'm also working on automating the antenna tracking to allow for complete 'hands-off' operation. Tuning the radio, adjusting antenna azimuth and elevation, logging and operating all at the same time is pretty challenging but I'm starting to get the hang of it again.
I'll post more as things get completed but suffice to say that working satellites is BIG fun!
73
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
VC8B - Banks Island NA-129
The special callsign VC8B was authorized today for the Banks Island expedition. I'll be operating from Sachs Harbour, NT from July 24-27 (UTC) including the RSGB IOTA Contest. Activity will be exclusively SSB, mostly on 20m which, aurora permitting, should be open round the clock. Will watch for openings on 15m and 10m as well.
I'll post any updates here but I'm not anticipating any problems unless there is delay for weather, likely fog, which is common that time of year.
73
John - VE8EV
I'll post any updates here but I'm not anticipating any problems unless there is delay for weather, likely fog, which is common that time of year.
73
John - VE8EV
Monday, May 25, 2009
QSL, QSL.
With the torrent of VX8X cards finally slowing down to a steady trickle I thought I'd write a bit about QSL cards. When you stop and think about, exchanging cards is kind of a strange addition to a hobby that's mostly about radio and electronics. Now that contacts can be confirmed by ARRL's Logbook of the World and e-QSL I wonder how much longer hams are going to exchange paper through the mail (or bureau)? My guess is ...forever! Here is my perspective on this fascinating aspect of our hobby.
It's Better to Give Than to Receive (or is it?)
I've sometimes had mixed feelings about QSL cards. When I first started out years ago, I diligently QSL'd most contacts direct. I remember the thrill of seeing the envelope in the mailbox coming back from some far off country and adding cards to my collection. Then the bureau cards started coming. Every few months another big bundle of cards would arrive and I would laboriously reply to them all. It didn't take me very long to pare down my own QSL requests to only needed DXCC entities or other rare contacts and after many years I've finally perfected a system so that replying to cards isn't a chore.
Bigger is Better...NOT!
There's lots of info out there on the right way and the wrong way to send a QSL request. I don't really think there's a 'wrong' way to QSL but sometimes I wonder what people at the other end are thinking when they post their request. Here are the things I think about when I'm processing cards:
Plus: SASE (Self Addressed Stamped Envelope)
Minus: SASE with US postage stamps. Hello, US postage only works in the US!
Plus: Reply envelope with peel-and-stick or self sealing flap.
Minus: Reply envelope with no adhesive at all requiring tape to seal. WHY!?
Plus: Reply envelope one size smaller than the original envelope, tucked neatly inside.
Minus: Reply envelope folded in half.
Plus: Reply envelope with my return address already on it.
Minus: Reply envelope with identical To and From addresses. Does anyone really think that if I forget to apply enough postage the post office is going to send the letter overseas just because the return address says so? Doubtful.
Plus: Request with SASE or IRC or greenstamps
Minus: Overseas QSL request with no postage and no reply envelope.
Covering the Costs
QSLing is expensive. Last month I spent close to $1000 on cards and postage (mostly postage) replying to QSL requests. My direct cost to reply to a QSL is $0.14 for the card and $0.98 for postage to USA or $1.65 for overseas. I don't think it's unreasonable to ask for at least 1 or 2 greenstamps or an IRC to cover the costs. The 'Final Courtesy...' thing was invented by US hams back in the days when a stamp cost a penny and a really busy station made two or three hundred contacts a year. Every contact was special and it was no big deal to swap cards afterwards. I'm in the position that everyone wants a VE8 card but I really don't need another W6 or W7 card for 20m SSB. So, I'll spring for the cards (and the time!) but you guys buy the stamps, ok?
Keepers
OK, so now that I've let it slip that I have Washington state confirmed on just about every mode and every band from DC to daylight, let's talk about what cards really are special. There's a lot of factors that make any one contact more special than others. I think to be really special the contact represented by the QSL card has to be irreplaceable. I guess QSL's from deleted entities would qualify although the actual land is still there, just called by a different name. If you're getting on in years (as many hams are) that rare DXpedition contact could be the last chance you'll get but it might come around again. When I looked through my own collection, I was surprised that the most precious cards have nothing to do with DXCC. Here's the ones that I drag out to show people whenever the subject comes up (mouse over the images to see the backside):
The Space Shuttle
Back in the 80's and 90's NASA flew the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) on many shuttle flights. With the exception of Challenger (which was lost before I was licensed) I managed to work all four of the remaining orbiters (Columbia, Atlantis, Endeavor and Discovery) before SAREX was cancelled in 1999 and changed to an ISS based program. The really special part for me is that from this latitude (68 degrees N) only a few high-inclination shuttle flights were even visible from here and then they only scraped across the horizon once a day for few minutes at a time.
Wow, I coulda had a VE8!
Just because I live here doesn't really make VE8 stations that much easier to work. They're still rare as hen's teeth. In all the time I've operated from up here I've only worked a handful and only managed to pry a QSL out of even fewer. My favorite from the VE8 collection is VE8RCS, the now-QRT club station at Canadian Forces Base Alert on the northern tip of Ellesmere Island.
You did WHAT !?
Hams and non-hams alike are always wowed by this one. It was my first (but hopefully not my last!) contact via Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) or moonbounce. Dave, W5UN did most of the work. I was only running 50 watts to a pair of 13-element yagis on 2 meters.
That's all from the Arctic for now. Expect a formal announcement this week for my July expedition to Banks Island, NA-129 and I'll do my very best to get my QSL into your special collection.
73 de VE8EV
It's Better to Give Than to Receive (or is it?)
I've sometimes had mixed feelings about QSL cards. When I first started out years ago, I diligently QSL'd most contacts direct. I remember the thrill of seeing the envelope in the mailbox coming back from some far off country and adding cards to my collection. Then the bureau cards started coming. Every few months another big bundle of cards would arrive and I would laboriously reply to them all. It didn't take me very long to pare down my own QSL requests to only needed DXCC entities or other rare contacts and after many years I've finally perfected a system so that replying to cards isn't a chore.
Bigger is Better...NOT!
I think that a good question for exam pools around the world would be "What is the size of a standard QSL card?" The answer, of course, is 5-1/2" x 3-1/2" (or 140mm x 90mm). In every bundle of cards I receive there are always a few that are larger than all the rest. These are the ones that get all tattered and dog-eared during handling, don't fit in the card holders, don't fit into small envelopes, make it difficult to flip through the pile looking for a specific card, etc, etc.
Keeping ScoreThere's lots of info out there on the right way and the wrong way to send a QSL request. I don't really think there's a 'wrong' way to QSL but sometimes I wonder what people at the other end are thinking when they post their request. Here are the things I think about when I'm processing cards:
Plus: SASE (Self Addressed Stamped Envelope)
Minus: SASE with US postage stamps. Hello, US postage only works in the US!
Plus: Reply envelope with peel-and-stick or self sealing flap.
Minus: Reply envelope with no adhesive at all requiring tape to seal. WHY!?
Plus: Reply envelope one size smaller than the original envelope, tucked neatly inside.
Minus: Reply envelope folded in half.
Plus: Reply envelope with my return address already on it.
Minus: Reply envelope with identical To and From addresses. Does anyone really think that if I forget to apply enough postage the post office is going to send the letter overseas just because the return address says so? Doubtful.
Plus: Request with SASE or IRC or greenstamps
Minus: Overseas QSL request with no postage and no reply envelope.
Covering the Costs
QSLing is expensive. Last month I spent close to $1000 on cards and postage (mostly postage) replying to QSL requests. My direct cost to reply to a QSL is $0.14 for the card and $0.98 for postage to USA or $1.65 for overseas. I don't think it's unreasonable to ask for at least 1 or 2 greenstamps or an IRC to cover the costs. The 'Final Courtesy...' thing was invented by US hams back in the days when a stamp cost a penny and a really busy station made two or three hundred contacts a year. Every contact was special and it was no big deal to swap cards afterwards. I'm in the position that everyone wants a VE8 card but I really don't need another W6 or W7 card for 20m SSB. So, I'll spring for the cards (and the time!) but you guys buy the stamps, ok?
Keepers
OK, so now that I've let it slip that I have Washington state confirmed on just about every mode and every band from DC to daylight, let's talk about what cards really are special. There's a lot of factors that make any one contact more special than others. I think to be really special the contact represented by the QSL card has to be irreplaceable. I guess QSL's from deleted entities would qualify although the actual land is still there, just called by a different name. If you're getting on in years (as many hams are) that rare DXpedition contact could be the last chance you'll get but it might come around again. When I looked through my own collection, I was surprised that the most precious cards have nothing to do with DXCC. Here's the ones that I drag out to show people whenever the subject comes up (mouse over the images to see the backside):
The Space Shuttle
Back in the 80's and 90's NASA flew the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) on many shuttle flights. With the exception of Challenger (which was lost before I was licensed) I managed to work all four of the remaining orbiters (Columbia, Atlantis, Endeavor and Discovery) before SAREX was cancelled in 1999 and changed to an ISS based program. The really special part for me is that from this latitude (68 degrees N) only a few high-inclination shuttle flights were even visible from here and then they only scraped across the horizon once a day for few minutes at a time.
Wow, I coulda had a VE8!
Just because I live here doesn't really make VE8 stations that much easier to work. They're still rare as hen's teeth. In all the time I've operated from up here I've only worked a handful and only managed to pry a QSL out of even fewer. My favorite from the VE8 collection is VE8RCS, the now-QRT club station at Canadian Forces Base Alert on the northern tip of Ellesmere Island.
You did WHAT !?
Hams and non-hams alike are always wowed by this one. It was my first (but hopefully not my last!) contact via Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) or moonbounce. Dave, W5UN did most of the work. I was only running 50 watts to a pair of 13-element yagis on 2 meters.
That's all from the Arctic for now. Expect a formal announcement this week for my July expedition to Banks Island, NA-129 and I'll do my very best to get my QSL into your special collection.
73 de VE8EV
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
VX8X - Cards in the mail.
QSL cards arrived from the printer yesterday and all direct requests received to date will be in the mail by the end of the week.
The link for the on-line QSL request is up and working (see previous post).
73
John
The link for the on-line QSL request is up and working (see previous post).
73
John
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
VX8X Write-up (Part I)
It's no secret that the key to a successful dxpedition is planning. The first step after you have picked a destination is to decide on what kind of operation it will be. Multi-op DX juggernaut, single-op casual, or somewhere in between. After that you just need to figure out all the details and make it work. Our plan for Ellice Island was simple. Jump in the truck with a couple of radios and an amplifier, drive the ice road up to the drilling site on the island, put up a little tribander on the roof of the camp and go at it. Office space and power to operate, comfortable beds and first-rate food would all be provided for us at the camp. Everyone calls it a 'camp' but it's really more like a 50-room motel complex with a restaurant, phones, internet access, and all the creature comforts you would expect to find anywhere.
The first hiccup in the plan came the week we were scheduled to go. We had always intended to arrive just as the drilling operation was winding down and the best estimate for that was March 20th. As it turned out, the company made a very significant natural gas discovery, the camp was full and operations were expected to continue for another couple of weeks. We rescheduled for April 2nd and waited. Geomagnetic conditions would be critical to a successful operation and the long-range forecast was for little to no auroral disturbance on those dates. Things were looking good.
Fast forward to Wednesday, April 1st. I called to make sure they were still expecting us and found out that not only were they not expecting us, they were GONE. Over the past weekend they had wrapped everything up and moved the rig, the camp, and all their equipment back to the mainland. All that was left was the ice road, a compacted snow pad the size of a soccer field and a little well-head sticking out of the ground. I was disappointed but not totally surprised. I'd worked in the oil industry before and an operation like that in the Arctic costs about a million dollars a day. The minute they finish what they came there to do is a mad scramble to get everyone and everything back to where they came from. It was time to switch to my backup plan.
The backup plan wasn't really a plan, more just a vague notion that if the camp shut down before we got out there we would have to take a generator and my portable contesting station out there. The more I thought about it, though, the less I liked the idea. My shack trailer is comfortably appointed with two operating positions, two bunks and a tiny little kitchen. It's just fine to tow up to our operating location on the edge of town but I was leery of pulling it over 100 miles of bumpy ice roads. There might be nothing left of it when we arrived!
The next blow was operators. We'd already lost Gerry, VE8GER. I hadn't even talked to him but I knew he was working out at the camp and would have been happy to spend some time on the radio. With the camp gone, so was he. That just left me and Wally, VE8DW. When I first told him of the change in plans he thought it was an April Fool's joke. After I convinced him that, no, the camp was really gone and we were going to have to rough it, he decided that making a trip like that was outside of his comfort zone. His gut was telling him that he had to pass and I didn't blame him one little bit. It's one thing to take a little afternoon cruise in the truck and sleep in a warm bed with three hot meals a day but quite another to travel out to the middle of nowhere in the Arctic Ocean and camp all alone for three days. The icing on the cake came from outer space. Based on solar activity observed by the STEREO satellites, NOAA was now predicting a chance of unsettled to active geomagnetic conditions at high latitudes. I was not at all pleased with the situation.
I stewed all afternoon on Wednesday wondering what I should do. I knew a lot of people were counting on us to activate the island. The Island Radio Expedition Foundation had graciously agreed to cover the cost of the little triband yagi that we purchased, provided, of course, that we actually made the trip. The special callsign was all arranged and the pending operation was plastered over all the DX bulletins and IOTA web sites. If we cancelled now there would have been a lot of disappointment all around.
I certainly wasn't very keen to go up there alone. It's a pretty forbidding place. Polar bears aren't common at this time of year but they do show up from time to time. The abandoned ice road was still in good shape but it wouldn't take much wind to blow it in and you'd be stranded. Furthermore, doing any kind of work alone is dangerous. One silly little slip off a ladder or the back of the truck and you'd freeze to death before anyone even started wondering where you were.
So what to do? I started cataloguing the assets that I had available. I had my big, diesel truck which, in addition to being six-wheel drive and very dependable, also had a huge back seat that folded down into a cozy bunk. Add a foam mattress and a sleeping bag and I would at least have a warm place to sleep. I knew where I could borrow one generator and another to have as a spare. That took care of the electricity situation. Some jerry cans for gasoline and extra diesel for the truck and I knew I'd be able to stay safe and warm for twice as long as I planned to be on the island. I also had a satellite phone that I could use to call in several times a day to let everyone know I was ok. Things were starting to look a bit brighter. All I really needed now was some place to operate from and a way to raise the antenna. The answer to both items came from my former employer, New North Networks. When I worked there we had built several portable communications trailers for use at remote sites. Each one had an 5'x5' shelter with an equipment rack, lights and electric heat and a 50-foot fold-over crank-up tower with a rotator on top for aiming a microwave dish. Since all the oil and gas activity had wrapped up for the season the trailers were all sitting in a neat little row waiting for next year. A quick phone call was all it took to secure the use of one (always stay on good terms with former employers!).
Things were falling into place now. The weather forecast was good and I decided that I'd just have to deal with the aurora if and when it happened. The only item left on my list was the problem of working alone. I wasn't worried about operating by myself but I wanted to bring someone along to be there while I was setting up. But who could I find that would want to take a day off work on short notice and drive out to the ocean and back? The light from the little bulb that came on over my head was blinding when I came up with the answer: my mother! My mom also lives in Inuvik and is the senior manager at the local housing authority but she is also an accomplished semi-professional photographer. No stranger to wilderness adventures (she spent two weeks last summer with a group of other artists at a remote camp in Ivvavik National Park) she jumped at the chance for her and her camera to make a day trip up the ice road. In addition to the wildlife and nature pictures she would also be able to get some shots of the dxpedition setup. Sweet!
With a new plan fully realized, I pushed the departure back 24 hours and spent all day Thursday collecting equipment and supplies. I had a lengthly checklist and methodically went through it to make sure I had everything I needed. By 11pm Thursday night everything was loaded and ready to go for first thing Friday morning. My mom had to be back in town by 5pm so that meant we'd have to hit the road early. Three hours for the drive up there with the trailer and all the gear, a couple of hours to get set up and test everything, two hours back to town to drop off my mom and two hours back out to the island. It would make for a lot of driving but with any luck I'd be on the air early Friday evening. VX8X was GO!
Click here to continue...
The first hiccup in the plan came the week we were scheduled to go. We had always intended to arrive just as the drilling operation was winding down and the best estimate for that was March 20th. As it turned out, the company made a very significant natural gas discovery, the camp was full and operations were expected to continue for another couple of weeks. We rescheduled for April 2nd and waited. Geomagnetic conditions would be critical to a successful operation and the long-range forecast was for little to no auroral disturbance on those dates. Things were looking good.
Fast forward to Wednesday, April 1st. I called to make sure they were still expecting us and found out that not only were they not expecting us, they were GONE. Over the past weekend they had wrapped everything up and moved the rig, the camp, and all their equipment back to the mainland. All that was left was the ice road, a compacted snow pad the size of a soccer field and a little well-head sticking out of the ground. I was disappointed but not totally surprised. I'd worked in the oil industry before and an operation like that in the Arctic costs about a million dollars a day. The minute they finish what they came there to do is a mad scramble to get everyone and everything back to where they came from. It was time to switch to my backup plan.
The backup plan wasn't really a plan, more just a vague notion that if the camp shut down before we got out there we would have to take a generator and my portable contesting station out there. The more I thought about it, though, the less I liked the idea. My shack trailer is comfortably appointed with two operating positions, two bunks and a tiny little kitchen. It's just fine to tow up to our operating location on the edge of town but I was leery of pulling it over 100 miles of bumpy ice roads. There might be nothing left of it when we arrived!
The next blow was operators. We'd already lost Gerry, VE8GER. I hadn't even talked to him but I knew he was working out at the camp and would have been happy to spend some time on the radio. With the camp gone, so was he. That just left me and Wally, VE8DW. When I first told him of the change in plans he thought it was an April Fool's joke. After I convinced him that, no, the camp was really gone and we were going to have to rough it, he decided that making a trip like that was outside of his comfort zone. His gut was telling him that he had to pass and I didn't blame him one little bit. It's one thing to take a little afternoon cruise in the truck and sleep in a warm bed with three hot meals a day but quite another to travel out to the middle of nowhere in the Arctic Ocean and camp all alone for three days. The icing on the cake came from outer space. Based on solar activity observed by the STEREO satellites, NOAA was now predicting a chance of unsettled to active geomagnetic conditions at high latitudes. I was not at all pleased with the situation.
I stewed all afternoon on Wednesday wondering what I should do. I knew a lot of people were counting on us to activate the island. The Island Radio Expedition Foundation had graciously agreed to cover the cost of the little triband yagi that we purchased, provided, of course, that we actually made the trip. The special callsign was all arranged and the pending operation was plastered over all the DX bulletins and IOTA web sites. If we cancelled now there would have been a lot of disappointment all around.
I certainly wasn't very keen to go up there alone. It's a pretty forbidding place. Polar bears aren't common at this time of year but they do show up from time to time. The abandoned ice road was still in good shape but it wouldn't take much wind to blow it in and you'd be stranded. Furthermore, doing any kind of work alone is dangerous. One silly little slip off a ladder or the back of the truck and you'd freeze to death before anyone even started wondering where you were.
So what to do? I started cataloguing the assets that I had available. I had my big, diesel truck which, in addition to being six-wheel drive and very dependable, also had a huge back seat that folded down into a cozy bunk. Add a foam mattress and a sleeping bag and I would at least have a warm place to sleep. I knew where I could borrow one generator and another to have as a spare. That took care of the electricity situation. Some jerry cans for gasoline and extra diesel for the truck and I knew I'd be able to stay safe and warm for twice as long as I planned to be on the island. I also had a satellite phone that I could use to call in several times a day to let everyone know I was ok. Things were starting to look a bit brighter. All I really needed now was some place to operate from and a way to raise the antenna. The answer to both items came from my former employer, New North Networks. When I worked there we had built several portable communications trailers for use at remote sites. Each one had an 5'x5' shelter with an equipment rack, lights and electric heat and a 50-foot fold-over crank-up tower with a rotator on top for aiming a microwave dish. Since all the oil and gas activity had wrapped up for the season the trailers were all sitting in a neat little row waiting for next year. A quick phone call was all it took to secure the use of one (always stay on good terms with former employers!).
Things were falling into place now. The weather forecast was good and I decided that I'd just have to deal with the aurora if and when it happened. The only item left on my list was the problem of working alone. I wasn't worried about operating by myself but I wanted to bring someone along to be there while I was setting up. But who could I find that would want to take a day off work on short notice and drive out to the ocean and back? The light from the little bulb that came on over my head was blinding when I came up with the answer: my mother! My mom also lives in Inuvik and is the senior manager at the local housing authority but she is also an accomplished semi-professional photographer. No stranger to wilderness adventures (she spent two weeks last summer with a group of other artists at a remote camp in Ivvavik National Park) she jumped at the chance for her and her camera to make a day trip up the ice road. In addition to the wildlife and nature pictures she would also be able to get some shots of the dxpedition setup. Sweet!
With a new plan fully realized, I pushed the departure back 24 hours and spent all day Thursday collecting equipment and supplies. I had a lengthly checklist and methodically went through it to make sure I had everything I needed. By 11pm Thursday night everything was loaded and ready to go for first thing Friday morning. My mom had to be back in town by 5pm so that meant we'd have to hit the road early. Three hours for the drive up there with the trailer and all the gear, a couple of hours to get set up and test everything, two hours back to town to drop off my mom and two hours back out to the island. It would make for a lot of driving but with any luck I'd be on the air early Friday evening. VX8X was GO!
Click here to continue...
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