Preparing Iler20 transceiver project.

Last weekend, 9 and 10 February, I participated in the PACC contest.
For many years I'm operator by PA6W, in Tiel. Under this call we participate in the MOST class. This time with 5 operators, normal 7. Given the number of QSO's for us it has been a very successful contest.
I'm also busy with the preparations for the Iler20 project.

I have found in the "junk box" a nice new box.

For tuning, I search for a "Ventier Dial", such a knob I have also on my 20 Howes transceiver. On Ebay I found a supplier in the USA. Saturday the knob was delivered by postmen.

Last week I had the opportunity to buy an EndFed 10/20/40 for a reasonable price. This EndFed made ​​by PAR Electronics in the USA.
The first results are promising. Nice reception at 40M. On 20M it need some help from the internal tuner, my 5 watts CW signal heard by a skimmer station in the USA and Canada. At 10M it was quite good and I could, with a output of 20 watts, work 3 stations, with CW, from the USA.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Iler20 transceiver kit building

Yesterday afternoon, the postman delivered the long-awaited package from Spain.
A large envelope containing the components for the Iler20 20M ssb transceiver to build.

I start with the description carefully and try next week to start with soldering. Check my blog frequently to follow this Iler20 project.


73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

QRV on 2M

It's a few months ago I wrote an article on my blog. I'm still busy with my work, read books and do some household chores. Gradually there will be more time for the hobby and hopefully the weather will be better to do something with antennas on the balcony.

In December 2012, I have the Yaesu FT7800 put on the shack table and after some problems to connect my PC, the new repeaters on 1 January 2013 programmed in my set. Installing a virtual com-port remains a painstaking task.
Late last year I received a Moxon beam for 2M as a gift from a good friend. This antenna is build from scrap and the he gave it with the message "try this one". I searching for my photo tripod. Unfortunately, I didn't found. I'm afraid that it ends in the wrong container during my move to here.

At a local hardware store they had a tripod with construction lamp in offer, I bought this one and put together. The construction lamp neatly packed behind. Then I mounted the Moxon in top and put it in the living room with an unobstructed view through the balcony. It was too cold to go to the balcony. The SWR is on the high side. Probably because the antenna is inside and not in "free" space. In spite of this I was able to make some QSO. The "new" repeater PI3UTR is no problem, the antenna is horizontally polarized.

The snow is gone, now a higher temperature, then I can go out on the balcony for experiments.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Op stap met de Nederlandse Vuurtoren Vereniging (NVV).

Al weer ruim 10 jaar ben ik lid van deze vereniging. Een vereniging van mensen die vuurtorens en/of lichtschepen als hun passie hebben. Voor mij is deze passie ontstaan tijdens de meerdere vakanties, die ik in mijn kindertijd, op Vlieland heb gehad.
De vereniging bestaat dit jaar 20 jaar. In dit jaar zijn er meerdere jubileumactiviteiten geweest, o.a. een reis naar noord Duitsland. De boottocht van 29 september j.l. was de afsluiting van het jubileumjaar.

Zaterdagochtend, 29 september, meerde we rond de klok van 10:00 af bij het muziekgebouw achter het centraal station van Amsterdam. De tocht ging als eerste naar het Vuurtoreneiland. Dit eiland voor de kust van Durgerdam heeft in het verleden deel uitgemaakt van de “Stelling van Amsterdam”. Op dit eilandje staat een lichtopstand en een huisje. Uit de begin tijd zijn de nog half ondergrondse bunkers. De gids van Staatsbosbeheer vertelde o.a. dat deze nooit in de praktijk zijn gebruikt. Nu wonen er een paar mensen die het eilandje onderhouden en worden er theatervoorstellingen in de open lucht gegeven. Via een lange dam is het eiland met de vaste wal verbonden. Een groot hek blokkeert de toegang vanaf het vaste land.

Het eiland is voor € 1,00 te koop.
De nieuwe eigenaar moet vervolgens voor miljoenen restaureren. Weer terug op de boot waren ging we richting Marken waar we dicht bij de vuurtoren zouden gaan liggen om van alle hoeken foto’s te kunnen nemen. Dit gebeurde ook inderdaad en door de zon die zich veelvuldig liet zien, in combinatie met mooie wolkpartijen, konden er mooie foto’s worden gemaakt. Op een bepaald moment ging de boot dichter naar de wal toe om als verassing aan te meren. We kregen de gelegenheid om aan wal te gaan en de vuurtoren rondom te fotograferen. Een gelegenheid die niet zo vaak wordt geboden om deze vuurtoren van zo dichtbij te bezoeken. 10 leden werden, door de bewoners, gelukkig gemaakt met een korte kijk aan de binnenkant van deze vuurtoren.

Tijdens de boottocht kwam ik erachter dat er meerdere collega’s met mij deze passie delen. Een ontmoeting met een collega buiten kantoor. Een mooie tocht met prachtig (foto) weer en mooie luchten. Voor een zaterdag was het vroeg opstaan voor mij, het was het waard!
Vriendelijke groet, Tjeerd G. Gaasbeek

First qso's from my new desk.

Last Monday the desks for the radio corner and home brew corner are assembled and put on the right place in my apartment.

Yesterday I thought that there would be a Dutch contest on 6M and had therefore set-up my rig + antenna. After a few minutes I heard Es signals and made over a period of 1.5 hours 5 qso's. This qso's made with ssb/cw and only 5 watts output into a 1/4 wave antenna on the balcony, approximately 13 meters above street level.
I worked:
Spain 2 times, Baleares 1 time, Italy 1 time and Portugal. This last country is a new one for me.

Regarding the Dutch contest I have been mistaken. This is next week on Tuesday, August 14.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

First 6M qso's from JO22NB

Last Saturday I built up my 6 meter station for the first time. This means the mobile 1/4 whip on the balcony, put on a metal table and the coax connected to my FT817nd.
The balcony is about 13 meters above street level

With 5 watts SSB I worked with YL2IP & IS0BSR/P. 2 qso's about 1400 km away from JO22NB.

Not bad for the first qso's from this new location.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

APRS and DXCC with QRP

Since I have a TNC, see earlier post, I am QRV with APRS. Mainly on 144,800 as a digipeater for a part of the Betuwe. Despite this I notice a black hole on the A15 highway along Tiel. This by altitude.

Meanwhile I have also some rides with APRS in the car. First I had the interval of the beacon at 3 minutes, which I have now been reduced to 2 minutes. This is pretty close, depending on the available digipeaters.

Last week I received the QSL of my contact with JY5HX. With this card I have confirmed 54 countries with QRP power.

The next time I will do almost nothing to the hobby.
About 2 months well I leave this house, I'm looking for another.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

APRS from my car

A few weeks ago I was thinking about an old wish to do anything with APRS from the mobile. I have this working from home and in my opinion it’s static

Searching on the internet for a tracker, I came through ebay on the following APRS tracker + GPS receiver inside.

I ordered and within a week it was neatly delivered. The idea was to use it in combination with the ICOM IC-228H. I bought a serial 1:1 cable and cut one plug. On this side I soldered a 8-pin microphone plug, what a hassle.
From the beginning it worked almost equal. Reception is not yet fully functional, with a C of 4.7nF in the audio line it would also be good to go.

Today I planned a trip. First to Hillegom. Then via Leiden to The Hague. From there, via Rotterdam to Tiel.
My trip.
On my way to Hillegom I used only 5 watts, more was not possible from the cigarette lighter. In Hillegom I received a battery that is ideally suited for this purpose. The full power of the set can be use without problems.

I will not be qrv with APRS every time I drive my care. This will be incidental.


73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

New DXCC with QRP

Last week I was qrv, for a few days, from the village of Zuidlaren. My set-up was the Yaesu FT817nd and a ZEPP for 30M.
This antenna is on the top floor and when I'm there I span the last few meters via the window on the top floor to the end of the garden behind the house.

Conditions where reasonable and I work different station on 30, 17 and 10M.
On this last band I made a nice qso with JY5HX. I heard him calling in cw with the remarks that he listening 2 up. After a few tries he came back for my qrp signal, it was easy to work him. I worked Jordan several times but until now not with qrp. Today I send a qsl direct a hope to receive his confirmation. Via email he told me that I'm in his log.

On the photo you see the Norcal keyer. It works fine for a automatic CQ from the memory.


I toke this photo with my mobile phone.

I also tried to contact PE4BAS on 70cm via a repeater but this was not really success full.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

New DXCC via buro

This is my first publication for this year. Reason? I'm busy with work and with my hobbies happens not to much.

In early December I received a large envelope from the institute where I had followed the course "medical terminology". The exam for this was in October, I successfully completed and received the diploma.
The exam was multiple choices. Despite this I had to wait almost 2 months for the results.

Last Wednesday I was at the local club meeting and received some qsl's.
The qsl of UK/JI2MED confirmed the country Uzbekistan for me.
This country was already confirmed via LOTW. But I prefer a paper card.






73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Contest

On September 5th of this year I wrote about the fieldday contest. During this contest, I made in about 3 hours 31 QSOs with QRP. In the QRP section, I was unfortunately the only participant. It was inevitable that they sent me the certificate belonging to the first place.Next year I expect more competition.

Last weekend was the CQWW CW contest. The condition in recent weeks are a lot better, especially on 10M.
Yesterday I setup my FT817nd on the dinner table with on the rear the ATX-1080 antenna. There were plenty of signals and have the preamp turned off.
I made 2 QSOs with European Russia and one with N3RS in the USA. Unfortunately I managed not to work W3LPL, the station where PB2T was a guest operator.


73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

PA Beker contest 2011, QRP.

This article goes about a Dutch contest. Therefor written in Dutch.

Afgelopen zaterdag heb ik in de QRP sectie meegedaan aan de PA Beker contest. Thuis heb ik geen antennes voor 80 en 40 en kon beschikken over de shack van een bevriende amateur hier in Tiel, ik had mijn Yaesu FT817nd mee genomen.
Deze set beschikt niet over een memory keyer en had een zelfbouw keyer meegenomen, deze werkte helaas niet. Gevolg was dat ik zelf CQ moest geven, dit heb ik bijna de volle 2,5 uur gedaan. Uit reacties van andere begreep ik dat je dit als QRP niet moet doen. Mijn ervaring is anders en volgens mij ook succesvol geweest.
Dat de memory keyer niet werkte is geen technische fout geweest, ik had het verkeerd ingesteld.

Tijdens de contest heb ik schriftelijk gelogd, er stond geen pc aan. Thuis heb ik alles via het PA Beker programma van PA3AYQ verwerkt. Dit programma kan ook een ADI formaat genereren om het log in een andere programma in te lezen. Dit werkt niet zonder meer en heb de file aardig moeten verbouwen om het in Logger te kunnen importeren.

Om even een plaatje bij dit artikel te krijgen ben ik naar CW reverse beacon gegaan en heb een overzicht gegenereerd waar ik laatste half uur ben gehoord, buiten Nederland met 5 watts. Op 1 station na hoorde iedereen mij met een snelheid van 16wpm.
Klik op het plaatje voor een vergroting.













Een leuke contest waarbij ik ongeveer 65 qso's maakte en 42 mulipliers.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

DvRA 2011

A visit to a Dutch fair, so I write this article in Dutch.

Afgelopen zaterdag naar de DvRA in Apeldoorn geweest. Omdat ik erg vroeg was had ik geen parkeerproblemen en kon zelfs dichtbij de Americahal parkeren.
Het hoofddoel van deze dag was het bemannen van de CGR stand. Ondanks dit was er tussendoor de gelegenheid om over de beurs te lopen.

Mijn aankopen tijdens de DvRA.








Thuisgekomen met een Cuna SR9. Met deze ontvanger is in 1984 mijn hobby begonnen. Een 160GB externe hardddisk + het boek "Stealth Antennas". Het begrip "Stealth" in dit boek is ruim genomen. Zo worden er ook portabele antennes voor in de tuin besproken.

Weer een leuke dag, ondanks dat het na mijn mening een stuk minder druk was. Handelaren komen ook minder.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

6M Es season is over

A few week ago, during my holiday, I removed my 6M antenna from the balcony. On that moment I thought the Es season for 6M was over. Until this moment I'm right.This Es season I made the first qso on May 9, it was with HA8CE in KN06EN. On August 8, I made my last Es qso. In this period I worked 9 DXCC countries.
All qso made with 5 watts, SSB or CW, from the Yaesu FT817nd. Antenna: a 1/4 wave on a metal table on my balcony.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

QRV on 70cm, from the field. PA3GNZ/P

Today between 11:00 and 15:00 local time I had to stay home to receive any visitors. This because my apartment is on sale.
The bad economic situation and possible also the nice weather played tricks. There was no visitor to watch my apartment.

Because the weather was fine I just want to go out. With my FT817nd and a HB9CV for 70cm I drove to my regular location in the field, JO21QW. Meanwhile I saw on the internet that there was a contest at 70cm, more activity.
Arrived on the location I putted my FT817nd on the wary shelf and connected the HB9CV, voltage from the internal battery. Antenna in one hand and and mike in the other one.
To my amazement, I worked between 15:30 and 16:00 UTC 4 stations. I had a clear view direction east and direction South / West looked the antenna against a dike.

I worked with:
PA6NL JO21BX
DF0MU JO32PC
PI4GN JO33II
PA1TK JO22IJ







My HB9CV for 70cm, photo on my balcony.


73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

Holiday is over, saw 2 lighthouses.

After 2 weeks holiday it's, next Tuesday, time to work.

We stayed in the Netherlands and have visited different places. Wijk aan Zee, Amsterdam and Schoorl.
From Wijk aan Zee we drove to IJmuiden to take a picture of the lighthouse "high light". Nearly 10 years ago I was by this lighthouse, in that time I had no digital camera.

During the stay in Schoorl we drove to Den Oever for a picture of this this lighthouse.












Visit Flickr for more pictures of our holiday.

Regards, Tjeerd

DXCC in frame

Last week, in a second hand store, I found a new frame for my DXCC certificate.The frame is a little bit larger then the certificate, the small whit border is not a problem for me.


73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

My own fieldday, PA3GNZ/P

Last Saturday I had my own fieldday. My intention was to make more qso's then last year (8).

Between 13:00 and 15:30 UTC I made 31 qso's. This with only 2,5 watts from my Yaesu FT817nd with a small battery.
The additional support of the pole was now on 3 and 9 meters. The variant off the ZS6BKW/G5RV antenna was mounted in the middle about 10 meters high. I used the antenna as an inverted V.

Nice weather and a lot of fun.









73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

New DXCC certificate

Last week I wrote about the certificate I received. It was folded in the envelope.
Yesterday the post ring the bell with the announcement that there was an envelope to big for my mailbox. So, she gave it personal to me. This time the certificate was between 2 pieces of cardboard. A very good & quick service from the ARRL.
The only thing I have to do is put it into a frame. Until now I did find a frame from size 28 x 35 cm. It's 11 x 14 inch.

Yesterday evening I finished with the upload of my PB0ALS log to LOTW. All HF qso's I made are manual uploaded to the LOTW server.
Today (August 25) there are 5851 qso's in LOTW and 651 are confirmed by qsl.Write me if you worked me in the past but there is no qsl match on LOTW.

Callssign in LOTW:
PA3GNZ, PA3GNZ/P, PA3GNZ/LH, PA53GNZ and PB0ALS.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ

DXCC certificate

Last week, via the LOTW site, I made a request for the DXCC mixed certificate. Yesterday I received the certificate in the mailbox.
Unfortunately, the envelope is so large that it was folded into the mailbox. Despite the board, there was a big crease in the certificate
After an email exchange with the ARRL helpdesk, they promised me a new certificate. This time it is shipped in a tube at no additional cost.

73, Tjeerd (Gose) - PA3GNZ