14.195 is utterly quiet

Last week, I read a remark on the blog of MM0NDX (link) about the rumor that the license of IT9RYH has been suspended for six months. I felt reluctant to copy and paste this immediately, as it was just a rumor.

However, 14.195 has been utterly quiet for more than a week – quiet in the sense that there’s no QRM, no jamming, nothing of the like. Just rare DX stations, as this frequency was originally meant for. This morning, 5U5U was active there, very weak, barely moving my S-meter, but readable!

Wow.

Pros And Cons of DX Clusters

Many radio amateurs scan DX clusters instead of bands. DX clusters are an easy and convenient way of finding rare DX. They also make HAMs deaf. Not all of them, but a small percentage of (very annoying) people. Relying on a DX cluster makes one lazy. You don’t have to listen anymore. At least, some think they don’t.

Listening is much more difficult than yelling into a microphone. Yet, listening is much, much more important than getting your signal into the air. Unfortunately, some just don’t get it. They spot something on a DX cluster, change to that frequency and start yelling immediately. They don’t listen. If they would first listen for a while, they would know that the station is working split, asks for specific prefixes or certain numbers in a prefix.

Take your time! Thanks to those DX clusters, there’s a monstrous pile up anyway! Your chances improve significantly when you take the time to listen. Just picking up the words “listening up five” makes the difference between a successful QSO and just being an annoying source of interference.

30 Contesting Tips

I’m not much of a contest guy, but I really liked the contesting tips and other related articles, written by K9JY. One of the better Ham Radio blogs around, and added to my Blogroll immediately.

Field Day VRZA, Almere (JO22OI)

Last weekend, we had our last field day of the year. The weather couldn’t be better! Every day before and after the field day, we had rain and wind… It was an excellent opportunity to test my latest field day antenna.

The antenna consists of a 12 meter high ‘fishing rod’, some wire and a balun. If left full size, it’s a vertical for 40 meters. If you disconnect the upper part of the wire (and do the same with the radial), the antenna will resonate in the 20 meter band.

The balun is clamped to the lower part of the rod.

I used the antenna in combination with a Kenwood TS-570D(G). The antenna performance proved to be much better than expected! Also on the table: a Yaesu VX-177.

My dog didn’t care much about the QSOs, but she loved the BBQ!

Yaesu FT-901

Why on earth would someone still keep (and use!) a 30-year old, bulky, heavy ‘boat anchor’ transceiver? Good memories? Good performance? A bit of both.

My FT-901 -still shiny, no damage, and technically 100%.

Building on the success of the FT-101 line, the FT-901DM was crafted as a “hybrid” transceiver, using all solid state design except for the driver and final amplifier stages. It utilized plug-in circuit boards, popular in the 101 and 301 lines, and it featured a die-cast front panel and spectacular solid mechanical construction inside the case. The FT-901 was among the “cleanest” internal structures Yaesu ever created.

The “breakthrough” feature of the FT-901DM was its memory system. In a day when the only concept of “memory” was a quartz crystal, the FT -901DM allowed the operator to push a button, wait about five seconds, and in that time the synthesizer would lock in on the current operating frequency, storing it for later recall. No other HF radio in the Ham world had memory, and it was a huge performance breakthrough that set the stage for the memory-based transceivers of today.

Another area where the FT-901 shone was in its improved receiver performance. The 901 was the result of a concerted effort by Yaesu’s top receiver people, who included a permeability-tuned RF preselector (similar in concept to the “µ-Tuning” modules in today’s FTdx9000!), and the entire receiver section featured at least 10 dB more dynamic range than any previous solid-state receiver from Yaesu. At the time, the dynamic range of the FT-901DM was, by far, the best in the industry, and it led to the wide acceptance of this model in DX and contest circles.

For the fun of it: take a look at the receiver tests, done by Sherwood Engineering (link). Even after 30 years, the FT-901 is still ranking #12 – defeating numerous modern transceivers with ease.

On the transmitter side, the 901 used a pair of 6146B tubes in the final, and utilized RF negative feedback to ensure low IMD products. The 901 series was always renowned for its outstanding audio quality and signal purity. Will I ever sell my FT-901? No way.