Winter Operating Events

The first of this winter's Classic/Boat Anchor Radio operating events is on the  horizon, only a few weeks away. I've been working on rigs since last spring. Now I'll have more chances to put them on the air.

First up is the AWA Bruce Kelley Memorial CW QSO Party in early November. This one requires that transmitters be of 1929 or earlier design and use tubes available in 1929. I'll use my Push Pull Colpitts with either an SW3 or my Simple Superhet. If things get really tough I'll move my KX3 over for the receiver.

Next is the ARRL Straight Key Night on New Years Day (UTC). This is ARRL's "Uncola" of contests (Does anyone remember those Uncola 7 Up ads?). It runs for 24 hours and has no scoring, only interesting QSOs. I'll probably bounce between several rigs but I think I'll have my Drake 2NT and R4B running as the primary station.

Right after SKN, in mid January, is the AWA  Linc Cundall Memorial CW Contest. In this one extra points are scored for rigs designed before 1950. I've three stations that would fit but I've just gotten my National FB7 checked out and running again. I'll operate it with my "CW Jr" as a 1934 station.

Next is the Novice Rig Roundup. The NRR emphasizes rigs from the early Novice era when novices had to be crystal controlled and run only 75 watts. My Heathkit HW16 is newer for me so I'll run it on 80 and 40 for this event. The backup receiver will be my KX3.

Finally, the AWA John Rollins Memorial DX Contest is in mid-March. This one emphasizes contacts on 40 and 20 using rigs designed before 1960. I'll have a chance here to use my Collins 75A4 with my Eico 720. This may not be a real DX station but, for me, it has a lot of class. 


Listen around and participate. All of these except the Bruce Kelley Memorial CW QSO Party allow you to join in using modern gear . If you hear me give me a call. 

This winter should be a lot of fun.

2016 AWA Linc Cundall Memorial CW Contest (Epilog)

Well, company, schedule conflicts and QRN really cut into my LC

time/score this year. I couldn't get on much and I didn't hear many stations when I did. I ended up working only KA0AAM, W2TAC, AA9DH and KB0ROB.

Still, I did get two of my vintage stations out of mothballs and on the air. That certainly counts for a gold (ok, maybe, bronze) star in my log.

2016 AWA Linc Cundall Memorial CW Contest

The "LC" is now only a week away. Over the past few weeks I've been playing with various transmitters and receivers to decide which I'm going to use. Two that I've been working with are a Push-Pull 6L6 transmitter and my version of the 1941 Beginner's Receiver.

This evening I put this pair on 40 mtrs and had a nice QSO with K2UPI in Bridgeport, NY. The signal reports were 569 both ways. This receiver and transmitter worked well together. I'll certainly use them during the LC.

Next I'll make certain my HRO Sr and Utah Jr are working well so that I can use them also, probably on 80.

Addendum, 1/11/2016. This evening I worked Jerry, W1ZB, in Andover, MA on 80 using the HRO Sr and Utah Jr at 15 watts... I'm ready to LC.

A Winter Vertical

Each winter I shift my primary operating from QRP in the Park to Boat Anchors in the Basement. Two of my favorite winter operating events are the AWA Bruce Kelley 1929 QSO Party and the AWA Linc Cundall Memorial CW Contest. Both of these focus on boat anchors running on 160, 80 and 40 meters. My permanent shack antenna is a trade off at best. I don't have a good way to get much height.  For the past several years I've played around with a temporary/winter vertical.

This year I used 7 4' sections of military surplus
fiberglass tubing plus a 5' whip as a 40 meter quarter wave vertical. It is attached to the deck railing at the 9' level and guyed at 24'. I added a loading coil at 13' to get it resonant on 80. This coil is bypassed for 40 meter operation.

After looking at my 80/40 meter vertical I thought, "Hey, I like to operate on 20 also. Let's add a 20 meter quarter wave wire"; good on paper but bad idea. Both the 80/40 meter wire and the 20 meter wire are connected in parallel at the bottom of the vertical. The 20 meter quarter wave wire runs within an inch or two of the 80 meter loading coil. This wire couples into the loading coil changing the resonant frequency by 100-200 KHz...and the resonant frequency varies if the wire flops around in the wind at all. I could watch the

SWR shift as I held the key down. In addition this loading shift really ruins my 29 transmitter tone/signal. Solution: remove the 20 meter element. My winter vertical works fine on 80 and 40 meters, perfect for the AWA operating events.

Some might notice the knotted
rope and pulley attached at the 24' level. For the last two weeks of December and the first days of January my vertical is re-purposed for Christmas decorations. We run a lighted star up it with an attached "tree" of lights.

AWA Linc Cundall Memorial OT CW Contest

Between 80 and 40 I managed twelve contacts using my National HRO Sr and TZ-20 transmitter with a low hung inverted L antenna. By contesting standards not a lot but still better than any of my LC QSO counts going back 20 years.

I worked nothing to the west but I did manage Qs to Canada, the east coast and southwest. I heard N2BE a lot. Too bad I could only work him once per band. I was surprised to not hear many of my MN friends on the air. Of the eight I worked in the BK I only heard three on for the LC.

I have grown to depend on the Reverse Beacon Network to help me decide if the band is dead. If I call CQ and I don't get a lot of feedback from the RBN with reasonable signal strength it's time to change bands or go to bed.

AWA LC CW Contest

Last week was the AWA Linc Cundall Memorial CW Contest. I used my 1934 style crystal controlled oscillator-buffer (47 to two 46s in parallel)  driving two TZ-20s in push-pull. The receiver was a 1936 vintage HRO Sr.

QSOs included W0CWU (MN), K1TG (CT), VE3AWA (ONT), N0EK (ND), WA9WFA (MN) and WB8APR (MI). Unfortunately, as I wrapped up with WB8APR, my transmitter output dropped to zero. Earlier I had had a hint of trouble when two stations reported chirp on my signal. I was keying the buffer stage, not the oscillator. Any chirp should have been slight. Contest or no contest the transmitter wasn't getting better by itself. After a few minutes of tube swapping and coil reseating I knew I wouldn't be back on any time soon. Eventually I found the problem: a bad solder connection. A little heat and solder fixed it. I had a working transmitter but I couldn't turn back the clock. The contest ended without my making any more contacts.

The HRO Sr and a three stage crystal controlled transmitter does make a nice late 30's CW station, though. It is one of my favorite winter operating positions. I'll be on it a lot. After all it is below zero today, I'm certainly not heading to the park.
 

AWA 2012 Linc Cundall OT CW Contest

This afternoon I wrapped up my participation in this year's Linc Cundall OT CW Contest. Obviously I'm not a major contester. During the 48 hour contest I netted nine contacts. Not many contacts/points but I did enjoy putting my latest homebrew transmitter on the air.

This year I used my new "Taylor 75", a 1934 style oscillator-buffer deck driving two Taylor TZ-20s in push-pull. The receiver was a National NC-101X. Everyone that commented indicated that the transmitter sounded fine. Keying the buffer stage helped. With the crystal oscillator running continuously (on transmit) there was no sign of chirp.

I went ahead and created a QSL card to send out.

AWA Linc Cundall Memorial OT CW Contest

For two days this past week I participated in the AWA Linc Cundall Memorial OT CW Contest. This contest gives a significant multiplier to those using pre 1947 gear. I used a National NC-101X and one of my recent homebrew transmitters, a "46 job". I worked nine stations in four states plus Ontario.

AWA Linc Cundall OT CW Contest (Part 2)

The second half of the AWA Linc Cundall OT CW Contest was this past weekend. Between Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon I added 4 contacts to my log including W0LGU(MN), WA9QNN(WI), WB9WHG(MN) and NG9D(IL). While not a lot of contacts this year my push-pull 6L6 transmitter seemed to work pretty well. I suspect my low antenna (only 10-15ft off the ground) resulted in a lot of RF going straight up. I did OK for nearby stations but heard/worked no east coast stations.

AWA Linc Cundall OT CW Contest

The first half of the AWA Linc Cundall OT CW Contest ran Wednesday evening through Thursday late afternoon. This coming Saturday is the second half of the "contest".

My station this year is a 1938 vintage NC-101X and a homebrew crystal controlled push-pull 6L6 oscillator. Electrically this transmitter is based on the QSL Push-Pull in QST, June 1940. I added cathode current metering, a load control and regulated the screen voltage to 150V. I ran mine with only 300V on the plates for about 20 watts input and around 10 watts output on 80 and 40. Cosmetically this transmitter is based on what I had on the shelf to work with, an old amplifier build in an even older Meissner Signal Shifter cabinet.

Here in SE Minnesota using my low hung 105' inverted "L" antenna I heard no AWA stations on the air Wednesday night but did work W0NYQ(MN), KB0ROB(MN), VE3AWA(OT) and AA9DH(IL) late Thursday afternoon.

AWA OT CW Contest Operating

Last week was the AWA OT CW Contest. I had hoped to be operating using my 815 transmitter but it continues to run off on it's own as a tuned grid-tuned plate oscillator. I switched to my 6J5/6L6 transmitter ( http://www.io.com/~nielw/2tube_xmtr/2tube_xmtr.htm ) and a NC-101X ( http://www.io.com/~nielw/nat_list/nc100.htm ). The pair worked well together and I had four enjoyable QSOs including WA9QNN, W0LGU, WU2D and AA4RM.