CQ CQ CQ – #HamRadio Saturday – POWER!

I have power.

That is to say, the folks who made my Juicebox finally got the new batteries to me. You may recall that my hardened portable power unit wouldn’t charge, despite my various efforts. So, the Juicebox folks wrote to say they were going to send new batteries. Then, days later, I got the email with the shipping information: no movement of the package, even though it was 2nd day shipping. I dropped them a line and they started the process over. New batteries arrived. I pull the guts of the unit out of its ammo can case. I swapped out the batteries and – bada bing! It works.

I tried to charge the removed batteries with my 12 v 6 amp trickle charger for a couple days each but – no joy. The multimeter suggests that these batteries have gone to the Voltaic Pile Happy Hunting Ground.

The effect of this battery switching operation is that I have now a way to plug in the Kenwood T140S which WB0YLE sent and which came with an Anderson Power Pole cord! Since the Juicebox has, among others, these Anderson Power Pole connectors, I’m in business. I can now take the unit out on the road, if I wish. Heck… now I can actually power it up!

I set up the rig on the balcony of the building with a Buddistick antenna (I thirst for their Buddipole, the versatile dipole). The location isn’t ideal, since the balcony has a lot of limestone around it, and tuning the antenna is a little tricky (at least for me). Still, the elevation is excellent. The building is on one of the highest spots in the city. I could probably string some wires to the nearby trees… hmmm.

I am gaining practical knowledge now, not just theoretical, about the importance of antennas. So far, I’m doing a lot of measuring with a tape measure.

So, yesterday I fired up the transceiver and scooted around listening on the 20m band. I heard quite a few CW contacts (Morse code) going on. My Morse Code is really bad at this point, though I am practicing. The code was flowing pretty quickly. I switched on my iPhone Morse decoder app and, when I got the tone adjusted so that the app had a shot at deciphering it, I read some clear texts. I heard one fellow in Maine make a QSO (contact) with another fellow. I wrote down what I heard and looked him up so I could at least send an email. He responded right away with a friendly and supportive note.

NB: So far, the hams I’ve met have been really nice people! They are friendly and helpful.

So, I figure it is time for me to develop a QSO card. I also have to pull out some of the old UStream Z-Chat hardware and find that adapter plug for my headphones. Some of that Morse is a little weak and covered by static.

With CW, I am not yet in an active mode of sending out CQs (requests for contacts). My Morse code isn’t there yet and – even more fundamentally – I don’t have even a basic key!

I have looked into a couple rigs which also decipher Morse and PSK31. There’s a spiffy Yaesu in the FTDX series that looks useful. I also saw a super versatile and portable Elecraft KX3, which can decode. It has a keyer that you can attach directly to the side. There is a bewildering choice among keying hardware and, therefore, methods. Anyway… that’s what wishlists are for, I guess. I will need a couple different styles of keys so I can figure out what I want to use the most. For the time being, however, the old fashioned key seems to be the best option. Meanwhile, my brain works and I am learning.

Click!

On the little hand held Baofeng front, I received a USB cable and got the Chirp program set up. The computer talks with one of the radios but not the other. I have more than one of these inexpensive, low-power radios for work on the local repeater. Yesterday I attached a mag antenna to one and spoke to a couple guys while I was running errands. One nice fellow, Catholic and Knight of Columbus, was on his way to visit his 2.5 lbs daughter in a local hospital’s NICU.

In the meantime, I will turn on my Echolink program for a while today while at my computer. It’s homily prep continuation today (Novus Ordo on Sunday! That’s a change of pace.) If you are a ham, you can use Echolink. Install the program and send your call sign in for a password. Easy.

Also, I am building a list of hams who frequent this blog:

Z-Blog HAMS