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Northwest Indiana DX CLUB Volume 6, Issue 12 December 2018

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E

1 President Speaks

2- Member News/DX News

President’s Corner

Here it is the end of the year

again. I hope each of you had a

good year and that next year

will be even better.

We are still waiting for that DX

team to go to Bouvet. I can’t

wait to see if I can hear and

worked them.

Wishing everyone a wonderful

holiday season and happy

DXing.

73

John W3ML

Good DXing!

Don’t Forget DXCC CARD CHECKING Doctor Richard Lochner, K9QA is our

Official ARRL DXCC Card Checker.

Contact Rich to schedule an appointment

for card checking.

You may email him at mailto:k9qa@arrl.net

for details on how to mail your cards to him,

if you desire to go that route.

NWI DX Club Website http://nwidxclub.weebly.com/

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Reminder, the NWIDX Club has a club call W9NWI. The call is available to members for use during contests, special events, Field Day, etc. To schedule dates for its use, contact the trustee, Steve Mollman – KD9HL. kd9hl@arrl.net QSL cards are available.

We support the LoTW.

NWIDX Club Logo

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Member DXCC Scorecard

A Reminder

We will be listing the membership’s ARRL DXCC standings in the January issue of the newsletter. If

you have worked any new entities since the last listing and haven’t yet submitted them to the ARRL

please do so before December 28, 2018.

Doctor Richard Lochner, K9QA is our Official ARRL DXCC Card Checker. Contact Rich to schedule

an appointment for card checking. Email him at k9qa@arrl.net for details on how to mail your cards to

him, if you desire to go that route.

To submit LOTW credits click the Award tab, and in the Your LOTW ARRL DXCC

Accounts section on the left side of the Logbook Awards page, select the DXCC Award Account for

which you intend to submit an application. Select the Award

Account Menu on the left side and then select Application.

Ω

Note: The ARRL seems to be experiencing some delays in processing and members should submit their

applications ASAP.

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A New Source of RFI By Steve Mollman –KD9HL

A new source of RFI has hit the road. Electric vehicles (EVs) such as Tesla, the Chevrolet Volt and others are the latest

generators of that insidious disease known as RFI. The motors of EVs are prodigious RFI generators. The noise produced is so

strong that to avoid complaints, EV manufacturers have stopped installing AM radios in their cars.

The electric-motors in these cars generate electromagnetic noise at the same frequencies that are used by AM radios and probably

by most HF amateur radio operators. As the motors grow more powerful, so does the RFI. EVs are powered by a rechargeable

battery, electric motor, and a frequency converter that controls how much power the car's electrical motors put out by turning

voltage on and off thousands of times a second, basically chopping up energy. This process causes electromagnetic interference

that gets picked up by the radio.

Manufacturers, rather than solving the problem have instead elected to remove AM receivers from their cars. The manufacturers

claim that there isn’t any easy way to stop the RFI without adding to much weight. Toyota claims to be working on the problem

but also says it “is a tough problem”. As part of their excuses, some spokesmen say that the day of AM radio has passed with the

gravitation toward the internet or satellite radio, so why bother with a fix.

Reports as to whether EV generated RFI is strong enough to affect nearby receivers (i.e. ham HF rigs) are scarce, but as more of

these cars, with even larger motors hit the road, we may have a big RFI problem from passing EVs wiping out signals in our ham

shacks.

Ω

DX Opening Alert Ten-Six-Two Meters

By Steve Mollman –KD9HL

On December 13th and 14th the Geminid Meteor Shower will peak and is expected to be stronger than

normal. Jupiter’s gravity has pulled the meteor stream closer to the earth. Some shooting stars associated with the

shower are expected to be visible each night from December 7 to December 16.

A Time-Lapse Photo of the 2017 Geminid Meteor Shower

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When fast-moving meteoroids strike Earth's atmosphere they heat and ionize the air in their path. The luminous ionized trails are

not only visually striking -- they also reflect radio waves. The meteors tend to peak about 2 a.m. local time but can be seen as early

as 9-10 p.m. The most productive path is expected to be North-South from about 10 PM to Midnight and 5 AM to 7 AM.

Because the Geminids move at a slower speed than some other meteor showers such as the Perseids, the propagation is expected

to be best on ten and six meters with okay conditions on two meters. At the shower peak, SSB contacts are expected to be

possible. FT8 should be fairly easy on all three bands.

Ω

FOR SALE: Ranger RCI-5054DX-100 6 Meter, AM/FM/SSB/CW transceiver. $200.00

Used less than 5 hours, excellent condition. Requires 13.8 V/ 30 A

supply. Email: jerryhess@frontier.com

Nice train video. Denver Post Cheyenne Frontier Days Train, brought to you by Union Pacific and the Union Pacific Steam

Program. Submitted Tom W8FIB

Union Pacific 844 Departs Cheyenne, WY July 2018

Some links submitted by Tom, W8FIB

https://www.vivatubes.com/

Antique Electronic Supply

CE Manufacturing Shares its Can Capacitor Production Process in New Video

CE Manufacturing Can Capacitor Production (Part 2)

DX LISTINGS FOR DECEMBER

Nov21 2018

Dec31 Minami Torishima

JD1 [spots]

JA8CJY

2018 Nov22

2018 Dec06

Sri Lanka 4S7DLG [spots]

LotW

2018 Nov22

2018 Dec07

Ogasawara JD1

[spots] LotW

2018 Nov22

2018 Dec10

Solomon Is H44SHD [spots]

HB9SHD Direct

2018 Nov22

2018 Dec14

Cambodia XU7AKB [spots]

LotW

2018 Nov24

2018 Dec01

Mozambique C91HP [spots]

LotW

2018 Nov24

2018 Dec03

French Guiana TO5NED

[spots]

F5NED Buro

2018 Nov25

2018 Dec02

East Timor 4W

[spots] LotW

2018 2018 Montserrat VP2M TBA

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Nov25 Dec02 [spots]

2018 Nov26

2018 Dec03

East Timor 4W

[spots] HL1AHS

2018 Nov26

2018 Dec06

Nicaragua YN

[spots] RZ3FW

2018 Nov27

2018 Dec01

Micronesia V63YAP

[spots]

LotW

2018 Nov28

2018 Nov29

Palau T88HF

See Web

2018 Nov28

2018 Dec07

St Martin FS See Web

2018 Nov30

2018 Dec10

Montserrat VP2M See Info

December

2018 Dec02

2018 Dec11

Burkina Faso XT2BR LotW

2018 Dec04

2018 Dec18

French Polynesia TX0A Club Log

2018 Dec04

2018 Dec19

Dominican Republic HI

DD1GG

2018 Dec05

2018 Dec11

East Kiribati T32NH LotW

2018 Dec07

2018 Dec09

Senegal 6V1A LotW

2018 Dec25

2018 Dec31

Mariana Is KH0TG JL1UTS

2018 Dec25

2019 Jan08

Vanuatu YJ0AFU LotW

With permission from NG3K

Also, from the ARRL DX Weekly DX News - many are listed for the CQWW DX CW Contest:

4l, 8Q,9M6, A4, BY, D4, EA9, FY, HH, OH0, P2, PY0F, PZ, SV9, XU, XV, ZA, ZS ____________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Beacons: A DX’ers “Realtime” Friend By

Jerry Hess, W9KTP

So, the bands are in terrible shape and all you hear is noise? Or you chase a ‘spot’ and there’s nothing

there? Seems like it’s time to pull the plug and take up sky diving or basket weaving, huh? Hold on a

minute, ham person, it isn’t all that bad! Why not check the beacons? Not just any beacon, there are

hundreds of them (see #7), I mean the Northern California DX Foundation/International Amateur Radio

Union (NCDXF/IARU) beacons. I’ll confess, I never paid attention to them either.

NCDXF has created a group of 18 beacons worldwide that transmit on 14.100, 18.110, 21.150,

24.930 and 28.200 MHz, 24 hours a day. Each beacon transmits during a ten second period during a 3-

minute cycle using 100 watts and a omni-directional antenna. If you can hear a beacon, you should be able to

work some DX in that location. This is “realtime” information, not just a prediction. Go ahead and call CQ

and start your own pile-up.

Since there are several QST articles written about the NCDXF beacons, I will try to cover just the

basics. References #1 & #2 below are best for current detailed information. #3, #4 and #5 are more about the

development of the network.

To test out the network from Northwest Indiana I gathered data over a 12-day period (a total of 22

observations). I did my trials on 20 Meters. I grouped the 18 beacons into 7 groups so I could start my beam

at 160 degrees and rotate the antenna CCW in steps around to 241 degrees in one session. See attached

example worksheet for details. Keep in mind this is only for 20 Meters, the time slots are shifted ten seconds

on each higher band.

The only confusing part is determining when each station will be transmitting. To make things easier,

I created a table to convert beacon time in minutes and seconds to current clock time in a HH:MM:SS

format. ‘HH’ stands for hours which are not important, only MM, Minutes, and SS, are needed to determine

a beacon time. For example; suppose you want to check ZS6N, South Africa. It transmits at 01:40 during a

3-minute cycle and suppose the current clock time is HH: 37:00. When clock time reaches HH:37:40, you

should hear them if conditions are good. A Czechoslovakian ham created a large matrix for all beacons on

all bands if you want a complete reference table (See #7).

Over a dozen days I found that often there is propagation favorable to at least one or more location in

the world using beacons. With the low SFI, I never heard Sri Lanka, 4S7B, Russia, RR9O, Hong Kong,

VR2B, Japan, JA2IGY, or Australia, VK6RBP. I have to confess, I always get a good night’s sleep and they

might have appeared between 2:00 Z and 12:00 Z. By the way, you can even add a computer program

“Faros” which keeps track of the beacons (See #8). It also controls your rig for band switching.

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REGION DIRECTION BEACON XMS TIME

LU4AA-156 :02:30 X X X XA 160 OA4B-168 :02:40 X X X X X X X X X X

YV5B-145 :02:50 X X X X X X X X

4U1UN-90 :00:00 X X X X X X X X X X

B 80 ZS6N-95 :01:40 X X X X

5Z4B-67 :01:50 X X

CS3B-75 :02:20 X X X X X

4S7B-17 :01:30

C 30 4X6TU-46 :02:00

OH2B-31 :02:10 X X

D 350 RR9O-5 :01:10

VR2B-339 :01:20

E 325 VE8AT-313 :00:10 X X X X X X

JA2IGY-326 :01:00

W6WX-272 :00:20 X X X X X X X X X

F 280 KH6WO-273 :00:30 X X

VK6RBP-285 :00:50

G 241 ZL6B :00:40

69 6969 69

11:12 00:29 11/12 15:32 11/12 20:41

68 68

11/13 20:30 11/14 00:32

DATE/TIME OF OBSERVATION/SFI

69 69 69 69 69

11/7 16:36 11/8 14:57 11/8 22:05 11/9 22.19 11/10 01:14 11:14 15:16

00xx 0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30 33 36 39 42 45 48 51 54 57

01xx 1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 40 43 46 49 52 55 58

02xx 2 5 8 11 14 17 20 23 26 29 32 35 38 41 44 47 50 53 56 59

CLOCK TIME IN MINUTESBEACON TIME

XX= Seconds after minute that beacon transmits

As with all DX sightings, the number of times I heard the various beacons differed almost daily. The

following summary chart gives a sense of what I found.

BEACON TIME RANGE, Z COUNT %

LU4AA 00:29-20:22 5 22.73%

OA4B 01:14-11:43 13 59.09%

YV5B 00:39-11:43 19 86.36%

4U1UN 00:32-14:14 16 72.73%

ZS6N 14:14-21:22 11 50.00%

5Z4B 20:22-20:41 4 18.18%

CS3B 11:43-22:05 11 50.00%

4X6TU 14:19 1 4.55%

OH2B 14:14-20:41 4 18.18%

VE8AT 14:14-21:22 11 50.00%

W6WO 01:14-14:57 12 54.55%

KH6WO 01:14-20:27 5 22.73%

ZL6B 23:40 1 4.55% To summarize, this was a fun investigation and I certainly will be using beacons often. I’m thinking that

maybe I might be posting which beacons I hear on the spotting network.

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Until next time, best of DX,

Jerry, W9KTP

References:

1. “Tune in a Beacon Station”, W5ZK, QST 7/2006

2. “Use Beacons to Spotlight Band Openings”, AG1YK, QST 11/2010

3. “The NCDXF/IARU International Beacon Project, W6ISQ and N6EK, QST 9/1997

4. “The NCDXF/IARU International Beacon Network-Part1”, QST 10/1994

5. “The NCDXF/IARU International Beacon Network-Part2”, QST 11/1994

6. OK1SAT Complete BeaconTime Schedule, https://www.ncdxf.org/beacon/ibp.pdf

7. G3USF’s Worldwide List of HF Beacons, https://www.qsl.net/co8tw/beacons.htm

8. http://www.dxatlas.com/faros/

A Low-Cost Transceiver-Amplifier Interface By Steve Mollman –KD9HL

Do you have an older linear amplifier such as one of the Heath 200 series, Drake L-4 or a Collins 30L-1 and want to use it with a

modern transceiver?

Doing so can be a challenge. For example, the Collins 30L-1 has a minus (-) 170 VDC key line. With this amplifier you are

actually keying the four 811A final tubes grid cutoff bias, not a relay. My Elecraft K3 only handles positive keying voltages. With

this transceiver you have to use an intermediate interface to key the 30L-1. Most other modern rigs also require positive voltages.

Amplifiers can damage radios if the amplifier uses a high voltage for relay control, has back-EMF voltage spikes, or draws

excessive current on the relay control line. Such damage often appears as stuck or sticky transmit relays in exciters, or shorted

transistors on transmit control lines. In cases where the radio is damaged, the system transmits normally, but the external amplifier

stays locked in a transmit mode. This prevents receive signals from coming through the amplifier with normal levels whenever the

amplifier is supposed to be in the un-keyed operating "bypass" mode.

What is needed is an Interface with transmitters or transceivers that will pull amplifier control lines to ground or operate with

positive or negative control voltages, have no moving parts, switch almost instantly, are noiseless, have very long life, will not

develop dirty (pitted) contacts, buffers vacuum relay QSK amplifiers, and doesn’t affect attack or release times in an adverse

manner.

What to do? First off, there are at least two commercial products that provide interfaces to handle the problem. First is the Ameritron ARB-704 Amplifier-Transceiver Keying Interface which retails for about $59.95. The second is the KD9SV Products SV-KR Keying Relay retailing for $47.99. (DX Engineering prices-shipping additional)

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An alternative is to build your own interface. Use the Keyall kit from WB9KCY. Priced at $15.50 plus shipping ($4.00).

http://wb9kzy.com/keyallhv.htm

Originally intended for use to interface modern CW keyers with older rigs, it can be easily adapted for use as an amplifier

interface. This interface works with all common radios and amplifiers, even if the radios and amplifiers do not have standardized

voltages. The input is designed to be compatible with any transmitter or transceiver, and the output is compatible with AC control

lines or DC positive or negative amplifier control lines having up to 500 V of peak open circuit voltage and up to 2.5 amps (2500

mA) of operating current. It will handle positive, negative, isolated from ground, cathode, grid block, solid state, high voltage, or

high current. No electrical path exists between the circuit's input and output.

The Keyall Kit

In addition to the kit, you will probably need the following:

1. 2 RCA chassis mount female jacks for the transmitter and amplifier connections

2. A jack of the type to match the plug of your power source (assuming you are not going to run it of internal

batteries) otherwise a suitable battery holder.

3. A resistor of the proper size to adjust your DC power source to 3 volts. See the Building and Operating

Manual for sizing instructions.

4. About 18 to 24 inches of stranded hookup wire (split between two different colors)

5. An electrolytic capacitor if using a “Wall Wart” power supply. I used a 470µF 25 Volt

6. An empty Sucrets or Altoids tin or a small utility box

7. Miscellaneous small screws and nuts.

I was lucky and had all of this in my “junk box”.

Assembly of the board is straight forward and took less than 30 minutes. Since the supplier provides excellent instructions and

notes we won’t repeat them. A few comments:

1. One decision the builder should make before starting construction is how the project will be mounted in the case. It should be mounted in an all metal case - a Sucrets or Altoids tin will work fine.

2. Before you solder the components to the board, use it as a template for drilling the mounting holes into the

case or utility box. It is easier to do it without components!

3. Prep the board with a couple of swipes of very fine steel wool to remove any oxidation.

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4. Cut a piece of card stock or cardboard to fit between the board and the case. This will prevent any shorts

should any of the component leads happen to be a “little too long”.

5. Use some kind of standoffs or washers to separate the board from the case.

6. IMPORTANT-Most if not all “Wall Wart” type DC power supplies are only half-wave rectifiers thus they have

a lot of ripple. To smooth the output of one of these devices it is necessary to install a filter capacitor across

the output of the power supply. A 470 µF 25 Volt electrolytic capacitor was installed with the positive (+)

lead soldered to the + 3V pad and the negative (-) soldered to the ground pad. Failure to do this mod will

result will result in a rapid cycling on and off of the amplifier when it is keyed. This is not good for the

amplifier!

A 5 Volt DC “Wall Wart” Powered Relay (Note the Blue Filter Capacitor in the Upper Right Corner)

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A Populated Circuit Board

AA Battery Powered in Altoids Tin D Battery Powered in a Project Box

The interface has proven reliable, one having been in service for ten years. Besides interfacing with older amplifiers, the

interfaces have been used to isolate modern transceivers from modern amplifiers. Having no electrical path between the

transceiver and the amplifier gives an additional layer of protection between two expensive pieces of equipment.

Finally a little secret- the KD9SV Products SV-KR Keying Relay retailing for $47.99 is built around this same board!

Ω

Editor Note: With the newer Ameritron Amps they sell specific radio cables that are plug and play from radio to amp. No interface

needed.

John Gianotti submitted the next information on another type of Flagpole antenna that he received from Mark, K9MQ .

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Real DX Flagpole, Real Stealth OCF

Vertical Dipole HF Radio Antenna for 10

bands, 80-6M and NO Radials!

Customer Review: "Got Indonesia (YB) this morning on 40m SSB with 100 watts.

Over 9,000 miles!"

Customer Review: "Highly Recommended for HOA CC&R restricted Ham Radio

QTH's."

HOA APPROVED Nation-wide!

XYL & fussy neighbors love the smooth stealthy demeanor.

NO ugly stubs, traps, coils, or unsightly elements. Just One Clean Stealthy Vertical

Radio Antenna, a real Flagpole.

DX Flagpole & DXV Series

Both Lines of OCF Vertical-Dipole Antennas come in

12', 16', 20' and 28’ foot tall.

High Power Now Standard on 10 Bands

80, 60, 40, 30, 20, 17, 15, 12, 10, 6M - Yes, really!

November 2018 Design Reviewed:

High Power Feed System Now Standard. Real. Quality.

28' version added for a little extra Low Band performance

Found more dB's! Lower Loss, Lower Angles, & Higher Efficiency added

Easy Install: "1-2 hours unboxed to on the air."

Rugged Engineering: Rated for 80-100 MPH; ANSI/NAAMM FP 1001-07 regs.

Designer Review: "Equal or Better Performance than verticals requiring Radials!"

Loads of Transparent data on market comparisons illustrating why our OCF

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design is a very smart, well-engineered HF Radio antenna for Amateur and

Commercial markets alike!

Customer Review: "FB antenna for FT8 Mode, WSJT-X and SDR operations."

No Radio Tower? No Problem!

DX'ers, Remote Ham Radio (RHR), and Digital modes such as SDR, FT8, and WSJT-

X are a natural all-band fit. MARS, ALE, Land, Marine, and Mobile Procomm projects

enjoy our efficient RF system designs too. This is not a typical antenna. Read more in

our FAQ and RF Blog.

Customer Review: "Holds its own vs. taller competitors with no radials & is also

stealth!"

See for yourself. Loads of transparent performance data in our FAQs and RF Blog

QRP and High Power stations will love the efficiency knowing

each precious watt is delivered to the antenna.

Tom, W8FIB submitted a link to the following:

Pasternack's RF calculators and conversions section provides engineers valuable and easy-to-use tools ranging from complex mathematical formulas to simple conversions. Our RF and microwave calculators and converters will provide the figures you need for your radio frequency engineering needs. RF calculations and RF conversions include metric-standard, link budget, coax cable, power, attenuation, frequency and many more.

http://tinyurl.com/ybq8v2ev

Also, he sent in this link for those of us that like to rebuild old radios. Electrolytics available for antique radio repair

https://www.tubesandmore.com/products/capacitors?page=4

Changes To FT8 Coming Dec 10 Old version Incompatible with the New

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Users of FT8 should be aware that K1JT's WSJT-X development team has been busy with version 2.0. The new version makes

changes in the digital format of FT8 and MSK144 that make it INCOMPATIBLE with older versions.

The changes have been made to allow a few more characters to be transmitted, to allow for /R to indicate Rovers, to allow for

contest exchanges for Field Day, RTTY Roundup, and VHF contests, and to allow for more complex and non-standard call signs.

V 2.0 also includes better error checking, resulting in fewer false decodes, and it eliminates the grid weirdness that occurred in V

1.9 when one station was using Contest Mode and the other was not..

While V 2.0 is currently in Beta, it's well-advanced beta, and works very well. Those using 1.9 cannot copy or transmit to

stations using V 2.0 and those using the latest V 2.0 betas cannot copy stations using V 1.9. The non-beta release of 2.0 is

scheduled for Dec 10. (Early 2.0 beta versions DID allow 1.9 and 2.0 users to communicate, but this capability has been removed

to allow the final version to work better.)

Users are encouraged to switch to the new version as soon as possible. The only downside is that most users are still using V 1.9,

so you won't be able to work them, but this will gradually change as more users upgrade, and the transition will happen more

quickly as more users

upgrade. K1JT's Quick-Start Guide is here.

https://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/Quick_Start_WSJT-X_2.0.pdf

Links to installation packages are here.

https://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/wsjtx.html

Ω

I want to thank those that have been sending in articles for the newsletter. All items are appreciated.

Until Next Time,

73

John W3ML

http://nwidxclub.weebly.com/

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