Work at Area 57 AKA 125 Contest lane begins on the holes for the Two Towers

Follow up 4 December 2016

Rented a very large CAT Backhoe with supposedly rock teeth
got a bit deeper on all the holes but the north Guy anchor needs to go Four more feet
yup I am in solid rock at only two feet down

Ordered a large SDS MAX Hammer Drill and a couple of bags of some stuff called DexPan
which is supposed to go in the drilled holes in the rock and twenty four hours later will have expanded enough to break the rock

We shall see if this works, at this point I have my doubts
and may need to move my Northern Guy anchor out fusrther and pary I don't hit another Vein of the same rock !

I guess this is my real welcome to North Texas :)

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

Rented a small back hoe got most of the holes dug for the front tower Then at the front Guy anchor point I hit shale rock while only down 2 feet So now I am on hold to find a much bigger track hoe and or a jack hammer !!!                                       

Mean while I now have started on wiring for the
new Ham Shack building

I also received delivery of 8 utility poles that are
begging for my attention I plan on using these for
a large Rhombic antenna on the back 24 acres

All nine elements of the YCCC low band Receive
array are now up however the electronics are not
mounted as of now as they were getting destroyed
by lightning.
So I am building some rather large RF chokes to
go in parallel with some inexpensive lightning
arrestors I bought from Mouser Electronics

This image taken before I had all the elements up
wife like to call this one the Wagon Wheel

Cheers!
Steve
KG5VK

W4ZV's Pile Up buster Technique..........(For the K3 with cw skimmer)

KQ5S wrote I looked at this. The reason I want to use SKIMMER is to help locate where an OP is listening. By having my own SKIMMER I am able to see 599 or a call sign almost instantly and can click on the call or 599 and QSY to where it OP is listening (a little RIT helps to move off the exact frequency). The RBN only shows calls and there is the obvious internet latency. I am not sure this would work for my intended purposes.

That's exactly how I use Skimmer for pileup busting. You need the following: 1. K3 with KXV3 and KRX3. 2. LP-PAN ~$200...probably don't need the preamp option. 3. LP-Bridge free...allows running Skimmer and N1MM simultaneously 3. CW Skimmer software $75 4. A decent soundcard $100...see http://www.telepostinc.com/soundcards.html 5. P4 2.5 GHz computer...mine cost $90 on eBay.

You do NOT need: HamRadioDeluxe PowerSDR NaP3 (I haven't tried it but it's not necessary for what you described) CW Skimmer includes OmniRig which is all that's needed to drive the K3 directly (none of the above is needed).

The only limitation is that you're limited to 24 kHz bandwidth, which is a limit Alex VE3NEA imposes on the "Softrock on IF" mode. However I haven't found any pileups wider than 24 kHz! You do need to set the Sub RX on the DX station because Skimmer only sees IF OUT for Main and because the K3 always transmits on Main (VFO A).

The procedure is:

1. Tune in the DX station. If you prefer using the Main knob, double tap A>B to copy everything to the Sub RX. If you want to listen to the pileup and the DX station simultaneously you can set L-R MIX audio options in CONFIG. I use a Pileup Buster Macro to set everything up with a single button press.

2. Next set Main (VFO A) to the approximate center of the pileup. Skimmer will then see +/- 12 kHz around VFO A.

3. Listen to the DX station. When he answers N6KR, look for the "N6KR 599" decoder dot on the display.

4. Click the dot and you're ready to transmit.

I usually crank in ~50 Hz XIT so I'm not dead zero beat with others doing the same thing. :-)

Believe it or not, I've actually busted some huge pileups without even listening to them. One I recall vividly was the ST0R pileup on 160 in August. 73, Bill ---------------------

transmit and other Macros for the k3 with many thoughts and thanks to Alan K2ACK

K3

1 RAGCHEW TE+06+06+00+06+00+04+08+12;MN110;SWT12;SWH45;MN255;

2 DX TE+00+00+00-06+00+04+08+12;MN110;SWT13;SWH45;MN255;

3 VERYDX TE-06-06+00-06+00+04+08+12;MN110;SWT24;SWH45;MN255;

4 FLAT TE+00+00+00+00+00+00+00+00;MN110;SWT11;SWH45;MN255;

as found on the following website

Also see his Chaining of Macros discussion...

Thanks to Alana K2ACK for the posts at his site.

Cheers!

Steve

KG5VK

AGC settings for the K3 explained rather well...

http://www.w3fpr.com/K3_AGC.htmhttp://www.w3fpr.com/K3_AGC.htm

connectors for VXL5-50

connectors for VXL5-50

Excellent info from K9YC

click here

Propagation Tools a Presentation by KG5VK centered on ViewProp

Click here for the HTML version of my power point as Presented at the LCC (Louisiana Contest Club) meeting at the Shreveport Ham Fest this summer Any questions or comments may be directed to KG5VK at ARRL dot Net Cheers! Steve KG5VK

N3FJP's Amateur Radio Software

N3FJP's Amateur Radio Software



http://www.n3fjp.com/clubscore.html

W8TN's Ramblings: Building a K2AV FCP 160-M Antenna

W8TN's Ramblings: Building a K2AV FCP 160-M Antenna



This one has some excellent diagrams

FCP Info by DL2OBO - www.DM9EE.de

FCP Info by DL2OBO - www.DM9EE.de



Make sure you look at the Notes from Tom W8JI in this one

he makes some very good points,  just like he always does !

Bottom line is instead of folded radials FCP use short radials

made electrically longer with coils - however the difference is small

and as Tom said unless you really screw it up

These things just plain work !



Also the W0UCE.net page is broken



cheers!

Steve

W1UJ Folded Counterpoise (FCP) Project

W1UJ Folded Counterpoise (FCP) Project

Trouble shooting tips for the YCCC array

Did you check each of the 9 preamps? Disconnect all of the antenna feedlines from the combiner and reconnect each one to the CTR port, one at a time, and power up the system. (Leave the 2 delay lines connected). Note the signal level with the one antenna connected, using a local BCB station if you can tune there. Remove the feedline when you finish testing one preamp and then repeat the same test on the next antenna preamp. They should all have the same signal level. If one is down, you have another bad preamp. Next thing to check is the 9 RF chokes on the combiner board. These are fragile devices that can fail under excessive current. With DC power removed from the system, put an ohmmeter across each of the chokes. You should see 6 ohms +/-1 ohm. If you see an open circuit or a short circuit (close to zero ohms), you have a failed choke. Finally, in the switch box unit, test the RF choke in there with the ohmmeter. Also test each of the 12 diodes with an ohmmeter. Measure the resistance across each diode with the ohmmeter leads connected one way and then reversed. One of the ohmmeter connections should show much higher resistance than the other way. If it doesn’t you have a failed diode. Do you use your array in the summer? I disconnect all cables and feedlines from mine for the duration of the summer to avoid lightning damage. I learned this the hard way. Of course, it means I don’t operate 160 or 80 in the summer, so that’s the downside.

The official documentary video for WRTC2014 is now available!

The official documentary video for WRTC2014 is now available! The video was produced by James Brooks, 9V1YC, and runs approximately 59 minutes. James took advantage of 9 roving video teams to capture high definition footage of action at headquarters and out in the field, artfully telling the WRTC2014 story using the participants’ own words. View the video at: https://vimeo.com/119947598 Funding for video production was provided by a generous grant from the Northern California DX Foundation (NCDXF).

Antenna Resistance a very good dicussion by W8JI

http://www.w8ji.com/radiation_resistance.htm

More from N4JTE This time Two pairs of phased Verticals, no it is not a true Four Square

Scroll down to where he says "Poor Man's Four Square" More from N4JTE This time a pair of 40m Phased verticals Not a Four Square but Two pair of separate Phased verticals

Phasing Short HF Vertical Antennas - The Clark County Amateur Radio Association, Springfield, OH

Phasing Short HF Vertical Antennas - The Clark County Amateur Radio Association, Springfield, OH

N4JTE Vertical Array - Phased Verticals on 40 Meters!

N4JTE Vertical Array - Phased Verticals on 40 Meters!

VA7ST.ca » Blog Archive » Phased 40M Wire Verticals

VA7ST.ca » Blog Archive » Phased 40M Wire Verticals

VA7ST Christman phasing calculator

VA7ST Christman phasing calculator

W8WWV gives us S-Meter Lite

http://nk7z.net/review-of-s-meter-lite/

DX-World.net Featured DXPeditions timeline

DX-World.net Featured DXPeditions timeline

AB0X and the KCDX Club offer a great pdf file on Receive antennas

AB0X Low Band Receive antennas for small lots.... Click Here Cheers! steve KG5VK

NK7Z very useful Blog

KF5EYY Tech site

http://kf5eyy.info/technical.htm

Optimize Windows for DXlabs Spot Collector

http://www.dxlabsuite.com/dxlabwiki/OptimizeWindowsForSpotCollector

YCCC Articles Index Link

http://yccc.org/Articles/index.htm

An On Line Simple Air Coil Calculator mentioned in the Feb 2016 QSR Article by Ward Silver

Simple Air Coil Calculator
http://www.k7mem.com/Electronic_Notebook/inductors/coildsgn.html

The Impedance Matching designer link is here
http://home.sandiego.edu/~ekim/e194rfs01/jwmatcher/matcher2.html

Thanks to Ward for another great effective article

Cheers!
Steve
KG5VK

YCCC 9 element Low band Vertical RCV Array

Here is a very short Video of the performance of this array....

Note I have only finished 3 of the 9 elements
They are in a line N.E.  / S.W.
The control cable was only two lines for power, none for switching

So the only switching in this first use

is The Array (RX ANT) Versus the Transmit antenna (which is a long legged Vee Beam)
I will be posting more Videos of this very impressive antenna soon.

Cheers!

Steve

KG5VK

Vee Beam a simple wire antenna with very long legs

Vee Beam fed with Ladder line
Forground 3 el 17m beam being assembled

at

Area 57

Nearly end of the day at "Area 57"

Nearly End of The daylight Hours

at

"Area 57"

Finished up the roughed in plumbing and started hooking up a few appliances like a whirlpool tub
HVAC system will get installed in a couple of weeks

Tomorrow I spend a little more time perfecting the three elements of the 9 ele YCC low band receive array, while we have another day of sunshine here.

Mean while I just worked a new one on 80m cw
ES3AX  August in Estonia

Cheers!

Steve

KG5VK