[AMRadio] Hash on 3710

[Rob Atkinson]

Todd, tnx vy much for sig. report.  I was on different antennas last
night--I finished working on getting the verticals ready for winter (to the
extent I could) and relearned how to detune the unused one and match the
driven one and started out last night on the 75 m. 1/4 w. vertical.    A guy
in KC MO said it was working FB but most of the guys on frequency were
closer in and reported a lot of deep QSB so I eventually went back to the
dipole.  I'm not sure when you heard me so I don't know which antenna I was
on.  I wish I had noted the time I went to the dipole but it was probably
around 10:30 Eastern time.

I really apologize for the frequency choice.   I do not want this to sound
arrogant or conceited at all as it is the simple truth--I have been an Extra
so long I have quit thinking much about the sub-bands and I must make a
mental note to stay well above 3700.   Actually I started out on 3703 to
avoid having my upper side band QRM some guys up on 3710 and a guy broke me
and said go up 3 so I did because by then the 3710 guys had quit.   He
explained that he was not an extra so he couldn't work me down there.  So we
continued around 3706 but later some of the guys showed up on 05, then 04
and the group gradually slid back down.

The SSTV noise is kind of amusing because to me it is just like IBOC hash
from a broadcast station and is actually less objectionable than the old
SSTV.

I saw the photos of the KW1 you posted--those rectifiers sure look sweet.
Of course the whole rig looks good, and reminds me of the Collins work I
have seen in their broadcast rigs.

The work here on getting rid of 15 years of junk that accumulated while I
was taking care of my parents is progressing.   I'm hauling some away in a
few minutes to K9ACT's junk swap.  Jack is trying a new thing this year
where we all bring the stuff we just want to get rid of and hope someone
else will want some of it.  I'm taking an old dummy load I have no use for
(I have three others as it is) and a Kantronics TNC (my packet days are
over) plus a few other things.   I have a plan for the basement cleaning now
that I have done the upstairs and garage, so then I can organize my parts
and tools and set up my workshop (a friend gave me a drill press) and get
started on all these vintage rigs and such I have been buying.    As I told
ACT, running the plastic radio into an amp is okay for a year or so but
after that it is boring.

I hope all you night owls can get QRV an hour or two early so I can have a
chance to work y'all.   By 11 p.m. I'm exhausted and babbling and have to
kill the rig and hit the hay so I never get to talk to some of you (Don).

73

Rob
K5UJ

On Sat, Oct 2, 2010 at 9:40 AM, Todd, KA1KAQ <ka1kaq at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Sat, Oct 2, 2010 at 12:33 AM, Rob Atkinson <ranchorobbo at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > Well, we had a big group tonight on 3703 to 3706 ( we moved occasionally
> to
> > accommodate hams who had to stay inside the Advanced class sub-band) with
> a
> > lot of strapping signals for about 3 hours or so and no digital hash or
> SSB
> > bugged us at all.   There were enough big carriers flattening the noise
> on
> > my end that I think they all just gave up and went away.
>
> Heard you in there Rob when you were on 03 so I didn't chime in. Along
> with being in the Advanced portion but too close to to the band edge
> for Advanced ops to use AM, another thing to consider is that 05 is a
> popular frequency for the guys in Europe, like Henk in the Netherlands
> and Jean in France, as well as guys from Malta, England, Wales and
> elsewhere. If you're right on 05, there's a good chance they'll hear
> you at their peak time and some of the gang can work across the pond.
>
> You were definitely the channel master when I heard you, Rob. Very
> loud into NC, +20 to +40 without a lot of fluctuation. Could hear an
> AB9 station well too, the others were down near the noise.
>
> I got the transmitter back together late in the afternoon, did some
> testing and later fired up on 3710 to join Dee W4PNT in W VA and Tom
> W3BYM in MD. We were joined by Larry K3JRR/4 who was demonstrating ham
> radio to his 8 year old grandson Matt. Unfortunately the nitwit SSTV
> goons decided it was time to fire up and from the comments I heard
> from them when I tuned to sideband, it was indeed deliberate. They
> tried jamming for a while with their pissweak carriers and whistling,
> etc, ten finally turned on their noise boxes. One of them is in
> Arkansas and another is in Alabama from what they said. Certainly from
> the shallow end of the gene pool.
>
> After chatting there for about an hour, I moved up to 3725 and found
> Al VE3AJM and Tim VE6PG having a discussion about MW and SW DXing of
> the past, quite interesting so I listened for a while then joined in.
> Both were coming in down here between 20-40 over. Had an excellent
> chat with them until the wife got home from her school meeting, when
> the guys were treated to hearing the garage door open in the
> background as I was talking. Finally signed off a while later to spend
> some time with the Mrs just as Don 'KYV arrived on frequency. When I
> came back out later, 25 was quiet and you guys were down on 03, so I
> called it a night. The last couple of early mornings working on the
> rig caught up with me.
>
> Good news is, the band was in great shape for another night, and it
> looks like I actually fixed the transmitter.I'll post some shots on
> 'fone later of what I found, which I thought was pretty unusual but
> apparently really isn't.
>
> ~ Todd,  KA1KAQ/4
>
>