Amateur Radio Contesting from KL2R & Then Some

ARRL 10M Brings Joy to the Far North

2011-12-13T18:18:00.004-09:00

Conditions on 10 meters in the latest ARRL contest were overall excellent from Alaska. From the Fairbanks and Denali areas, KL1JP, KL6C, WL7BDO, and KL8DX reported spectacular results. Although there were no true openings to Europe, A65BD did make a brief appearance at KL2R just after midnight on Sunday morning. South of the Alaska Range, propagation was apparently excellent, too. JAs were plentiful when the eastern US died down. A number of Asian and Pacific stations were loud but sporadic to appear. Ten meters seemed to burst to life around 0830 local time and shut down quickly about eight hours later. Some UA9s and UN stations could be worked around 2100 local (0600 UTC). During the final few hours on Sunday, the band became somewhat unstable, and signals came and went quickly.

Contest : ARRL 10 Meter Contest
Callsign : KL2R
Mode : CW
Category : Single Operator (SO)
Overlay : ---
Band(s) : Single band (SB) 10 m
Class : High Power (HP)
Zone/State/... : AK
Locator : BP64KU
Operating time : 15h28

MODE QSO DUP DXC MLTS POINTS AVG
---------------------------------------
CW 1271 22 26 67 5084 4.00
SSB 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
---------------------------------------
TOTAL 1271 22 26 67 5084 4.00
=======================================
TOTAL SCORE : 472 812

Operators : N1TX

Soapbox : That was fun. Too bad the band never opened to Europe. Sunday night I heard A65BD at midnight for about 2 minutes before he faded. Dang. A surprising number of dupes. Hmmm...Thanks to all who worked me, even if twice for good measure. You made it a real pleasure.

How Was Your Thanksgiving Weekend?

2011-12-03T23:32:00.001-09:00

After a pleasant Thanksgiving day with friends and family in Fairbanks, N1TX flew on Friday to Kenai to join Rich KL7RA, Tree N6TR, and Wigi AL7IF for an all-out M2 assault on CQWW. Forty eight hours, 8000+ QSOs, and 13M points later, the team basked in the feeling of a job well done, celebrated with margaritas, and ended the evening with -- wait for it -- a turkey dinner. Great times!

Sweepstakes SSB 2011

2011-11-22T17:22:00.001-09:00

Now THAT was a real hoot! The boys at Array Solutions returned the ACOM 1010 with a new tube late Friday before Sweepstakes SSB started. A quick check, and we were ready for an all-out multi-single shakedown of the station. KL1JP loaned a brand new FT-950 to augment the primary station for multipliers. It paid off, because we snagged a clean sweep a couple of hours before the end when a VE2 station called us. We worked many difficult sections early, as the operators had some incentive. They all received $1 rewards for snagging the tough ones. (Thanks to Elaine KL6C for the photos.)

Elaine KL6C showing off her "Delaware Dollar"

All systems running well. N1TX can breathe easy.

Carl WL7BDO squeezing the last Q's from 10m late Sunday.

A Clean Sweep!

Breakdown by bands:

BAND QSO DUP SECT POINTS

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

160 0 0 0 0

80 0 0 0 0

40 56 0 6 112

20 96 2 5 190

15 230 1 22 460

10 452 3 47 904

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

TOTAL 834 6 80 1666

=============================

TOTAL SCORE : 133 280

Hexx Beam Under the Aurora

2011-09-28T17:18:00.000-08:00

More Field Day Photos

2011-07-05T19:59:00.000-08:00

John Shadle W4PAH visited during Field Day, and he took some nice shots of the operation:

https://picasaweb.google.com/john.shadle/2011KL2RFieldDay?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCKzQyqSs75KK1gE&feat=directlink

It's the Power, Man

2011-07-04T17:23:00.001-08:00

In November, KL2R purchased an ACOM 1010 amplifier from Array Solutions. I really enjoy doing business with AS, and the ACOM line has a good reputation. The 1010 fit the bill, as in budget. Array Solutions cut us a break on shipping to Alaska to offset the "free shipping" benefit to Lower 48 hams. I could not have been happier.

The amp remained idle until WPX CW, which was planned as a test run for Field Day using high power and generators. Neal W7USB loaned a Generac 7 kW generator with 240 VAC output more than sufficient to drive the ACOM 1010. After some fiddling to get the T/R delays set well for the FT950 and Microkeyer II driving it, we were off to the races. The shack was quite hot, 85F, as a result of an extraordinary heat wave over Memorial Day. As the ambient temperature increased, the G2 LED began to flash with more frequency. The manual says it is an indication of overdriving or a need to adjust the amplifier tuning. Neither was the case, and the error persisted even with 20 watts drive from the Yaesu. Oddly enough, switching to standby from operate while G2 flashed would trip the amp into fault mode. A number of causes are under investigation. This remains a mystery, and the problem repeated itself during Field Day. I need to complete testing on stable, commercial mains.

Field Day 2011

2011-06-28T21:51:00.000-08:00

Time marches relentlessly, and another year has come and gone since the phenomenal 2010 version of Field Day. This year we ran 4E with an ACOM 2010 amp in place for part of it. Publicity was simply stupendous thanks to Neal W7USB and his natural PR abilities. Local radio stations and the News-Miner newspaper provided coverage, and nearly three dozen visitors came to check out the operation.

Springtime Teases

2011-04-23T10:04:00.001-08:00

Breakup this year seems slow to proceed. An abundance of snow as well as days and nights toggling between 35-40 and 10-20F means a constant cycle of slow thaw and re-freeze. Antennas weigh on our minds, Dan and I. KL1JP has already begun construction of a 160 vertical, and a new Hexx beam arrived in the mail. Planning for Field Day has begun in earnest, too.

Until the ground thaws, a lot of preparation for summer is in order. Gather parts, place orders, line up volunteers. As the snow parts, a few blades of grass are beginning to green. Still, the ground is solid as cement just below the surface. It's a tease.

A new QSL design has just been shipped to Gennady UX5UO. Fantastic work at a reasonable price.

Weak Signal Redux with JT65A

2011-01-30T15:10:00.000-09:00

While I like to operate a fair amount on PSK31 during non-contest time, that mode simply is not robust enough to cope with the flutter and Doppler smearing on the trans-polar paths. To be fair, the popularity of PSK31 and its performance on a light band make it a valuable asset in the mode arsenal. However, phase-shift keying detection requires a relatively pristine and stable carrier. Also, the lack of forward error correction in the data stream makes it completely vulnerable to corruption caused by the peculiarities of a turbulent ionosphere.

Various other weak signal modes on HF have captured my interest for a while, as you can see by reading earlier posts on playing with Olivia during a solar storm and impressive results on QRP via the Weak Signal Propagation Reporter Network. Modes based on multi-tone frequency-shift keying are inherently better suited than PSK for rough skywave conditions. Detection is easier, because the demodulator does not have to lock to an unsteady carrier. Also, if the data stream carries some redundancy and/or error-detection or error-correction coding, the impact of a lost tone here and there due to selective fading can be minimized.

Over a decade ago, Joe Taylor K1JT began to develop some rather robust modes for weak signal communications at VHF to bring exotic propagation modes like moonbounce and meteorscatter more down to earth for hams unable to erect giant arrays and to run legal limit power amplifiers. The project evolved into "Weak Signal Communicatons, by K1JT", or WSJT for short. The protocols now in use include FSK441 for meteorscatter and JT65, which has proven very popular for V/UHF moonbounce and is increasingly used by weak-signal enthusiasts for HF skywave propagation. JT65 has a number of sub-modes, but you will find JT65A in common use on the HF bands. If you have a soundcard interface for your radio and can keep the PC clock fairly well synchronized, you have all the fixin's for a JT65A operation once you add some software.

Several weeks ago I downloaded the WSJT 9.0 package, which is available for Windows and Linux. I must admit to have been a bit overwhelmed by reading through the user's guide, but eventually things started to make some sense. Getting everything set up and ready to use takes some deliberation, and it helps to have an experienced Elmer to guide you through getting on JT65A. (The Alaska-Yukon Weak Signal Group is a great resource for us northern hams.) Those a bit impatient who just want to cut to the chase with a single mode can download JT65-HF written by Joe Large W6CQZ. The software runs on Windows only. The interface is intuitive, and soon you can be pointing and clicking your way to DXCC.

Make no mistake. JT65A is not a ragchewing mode. Each transmission and decoding cycle takes about one minute, and messages are limited to 13 characters. Nevertheless, it is very effective getting basic information exchanged across an otherwise-impossible channel, even more effective than CW when the signal-to-noise ratio dips to the -10 to -20 dB range. Case in point: Last night on 40M, I monitored an exchange between ZS (South Africa) and FR (Reunion Island) in the SW corner of the Indian Ocean. I couldn't hear a thing, and I could barely make out the tones on the waterfall display.

JT65A is powerful stuff! Many operators use 10-25W into simple wires or vertical antennas for worldwide contacts. These are during conditions in which your grand pappy would have had sense enough to go fishing instead.

QRPp and a Magnetic Loop

2010-12-31T17:02:00.002-09:00

W0MRZ had an awesome signal into KL2R this afternoon on 20m PSK31. He said he was running 500 milliwatts and a magnetic loop antenna just delivered.

Update 2 Jan 11: We successfully made a two-way QSO on 40m just before 0200Z!

Some New Ways to Use the FT-950

2010-12-26T15:25:00.002-09:00

An ah-HAH moment occurred recently with respect to the FT-950 operation with a DMU-2000. In searching for ways to better use the two, I believe I've improved the effectiveness of operation using VFO-A and -B as well a different band scope settings on the DMU.

http://www.akradio.net/DMU2000.htm

End of Year Activity: SRD, 10M, RAC, RR

2010-12-25T09:38:00.001-09:00

I used to get a lot more stressed over the holidays. All the shopping, decorating, cooking, and dreaded family gatherings interfered with some fun, year-end activities on the air. KL1BE and I agreed some time back to severely prune the commercialism, and magically there is much more time for radio!

First on the December docket was Skywarn Recognition Day. SRD in Fairbanks serves as the primary opportunity for the Arctic ARC to activate KL7FWX at the National Weather Service Office. Dan KL1JP has been instrumental in organizing these events for several years. This time he focused on heavy automation with Ham Radio Deluxe, his FT857D, a Microkeyer II, and an LDG autotuner. I helped configure the HRD and MK2. Echolink driven primarily by Mac Carter KL2GS netted hours of contacts. Phone, CW, and digital modes worked on HF. In total, a 10-year best number of stations went into the log.

The ARRL 10M Contest proved a hoot, although some prime operating time was missed due to other obligations. I haven't made so many contacts on 10 meters in ages. Later in the month I find the RAC Contest an enjoyable hunt, and this year was more successful than most. The few hours of Rookie Roundup was enriching, and I worked some good new ops. December always ends on the positive note of leisurely holiday ragchewing.

So now the look is ahead to the on-air events in the coming several months. Push onward and upward!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

2010-12-24T14:37:00.000-09:00

Code-a-rific CQWW

2010-12-04T08:25:00.004-09:00

Between October and March, my XYL Connie KL1BE will often ask, "Is there a contest this weekend?" My answer is usually yes, and she responds, "Of course." The query is merely perfunctory, and after all these years of gaining momentum, KL2R occupies my off-time a lot. Having recently moved from engineer to paper-pusher at the office, I find ham radio more rewarding these days. I can still get my brain engaged and hands dirty solving technical and method problems.

The weeks in and around November, of course, are filled with Sweepstakes, CQWW, and a number of other on-air sporting events proving to be quite popular. I had mixed feelings about entering solo in CQWW CW this year. I am always excited to do a CW contest like this, but how would I fare over the 48 hours? I had been up since 2 AM Friday. Never mind, though. I got a late start after helping KL1JP configure some new equipment and software for the KL7FWX special event. Twenty was alive with JAs and UA0s, then it tanked quickly. 15m was slightly promising to Asia for a while. I tried 40 with only a little success. I was soon exhausted and had to sleep, but not before I set an end-goal of 1000 Qs and/or 500k points.

I apparently missed a good 40m opening, but I started Saturday right with some good runs on 15 and 20, plus a few contacts on 10m. I trudged on most of the day and night looking for good multipliers with the grayline. The Middle East opened nicely on 20m late in the evening, and I worked Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar. Europe was steady later on. Around midnight into early Sunday morning, 40m was just a blast. I have never seen so many strong signals in 13 years working from Alaska. I could snag many East Coast stations with one call, a rarity. I worked into Japan, the US, and Europe simultaneously. I had one anomalous contact on 15m with an S5 in the middle of the night on 15. Weird.

At 0330 Sunday, I had to sleep again. I had planned a three-hour nap, but I failed to set the alarm clock correctly. I didn't get started again for nearly six hours. I missed catching the early run of US on 20 and some more action 15. I pressed on with S&P after only a handful of weak runs. I found I could keep a rate between 45 and 60 per hour this way. I had a 240/hour run the day before. along with several periods of 180. In the end, I made only 3/4 toward my goal. But with 761 contacts in the log and several new countries, I'm pleased with the results. I worked ZL8X on five bands, a real highlight. Africa, the UK, and Spain could have been better represented, but I think this time the path to that general direction seemed lacking. Check out the Google Earth plots at the akradio.net website. It was Worldwide fun, though!

No Clean Sweep, but Good, Clean Fun

2010-11-25T10:15:00.001-09:00

The phone portion of ARRL Sweepstakes using low power from interior Alaska often generates a combination of great excitement intertwined with abject frustration. Each year, we hope against all past evidence, that this will be the weekend for a clean sweep, working all 80 ARRL and RAC sections. The strategy is tricky to execute with very limited openings to some of the New England states and eastern Canadian provinces. Then the stars must align to actually find the odd station in, say, Newfoundland or Rhode Island. Even if these factors are favorable, chances are their antennas are not pointed to Alaska. And to overcome the drone of Stateside stations pummeling the rare ones' receivers with desperate calls, our measly 100 watts has to be timed exactly right. Odds are overwhelmingly against us. We persevere, though. The magic of Sweepstakes is just too powerful to resist.

Carl WL7BDO (above), Elaine KL6C, and Dan KL1JP were undaunted. I turned over the KL2R reigns to them for the SSB Sweepstakes weekend and stood by to bring hot coffee, liaise with KL1BE in the kitchen, and to offer some technical advice as needed. I was soooo impressed by their teamwork and perseverance. On top of it all, the weather was bad with heavy, wet snow falling and icy road conditions. Carl came all the way from Nenana, about a 70-mile drive, only to get stuck in the driveway a few minutes before the start. Fifteen minutes later, though, we had him parked at the mic on the way to collecting valuable contacts. Elaine's 6-dB signal booster (her YL voice) drew in stations from all over North America. Here she smiles having just snagged Iowa:

The method was mostly S&P, but a handful of brief runs boosted the rate and final score to best 2008 and 2009 results. I discovered donuts were powerful motivators. Coffee was the lubricant of choice, and KL1BE's tasty meals provided the necessary calories to keep reaching for the elusive clean sweep against all probability.

The consensus is, as usual, we need an amplifier. Santa, can you hear us through the pileup?

The Fall Guy Discovers 12 Meters

2010-11-13T18:47:00.004-09:00

This being fall, we Interior Alaskans find a chill in the air, leaves long gone from the trees, and a few inches of snow on the ground. October and November bring the fall CQWW and ARRL Sweepstakes contests wafting through the air with a tiny hint of better propagation, and the combination is potent. Adrenaline starts to pump most weekends.

This is a slow weekend, contest-wise. I got up early and knocked off a few OK and OM stations in their DX contest using a rough path over the pole on 20 meters. I called CQ high in the band and had a lot of fun working QRP station N7LWF, who blew me a way with 1.5 watts thanks to grayline enhancement as the sun rose here. When the European nighttime fell and signals faded, I tuned around after a hearty breakfast and found some DX activity (including the YJ0HA Vanuatu DXpedition) on 15 meters.

Except for a lot of past CW action on 30 meters, I'm a relative newcomer to the WARC bands, so I decided to move on up to 12m to see what the propagation may be like. The station is limited on 17 and 12, because I have to use a tuner with the C3 tri-banders to punch out a signal. Just before lunch, I dropped a CQ, and pretty soon I had a decent pileup. Ten has been largely dead from KL for a long time, so this was downright exciting. I seemed to work stations in regular increments of distance; i.e., W6/W7, Texas, and Florida, all at the same time with nothing in between. Allen N5XZ/KL5DX came on frequency from his Texas QTH and convinced me to try 10m CW. It was tough going, but the path was there enough to complete the exchange. Afterward, I went back to 12m and tried SSB for a bit more fun. Let me say that I'm impressed. Another band has life in it when the usual haunts fail to get the heart pumping.

Mini Stack Match Arrives

2010-11-13T18:27:00.001-09:00

A box from Array Solutions perched on my desk one morning a few months ago. I was excited. KL2R had just taken delivery of a Mini Stack Match:

The Stack Match principle allows you to phase two, three, or more antennas while maintaining a constant 50 ohms. A number of configuration options are available, including both-in-phase (BIP) and both-out-of-phase switching for ultimate stack flexibility. Being on a tight budget, I opted to purchase a two-antenna Mini Stack Match (BIP only) and use 2x1 coaxial switches to switch it in and out of line.

Although I've had limited time to test it, its value became immediately obvious. I had begun to notice the 20 and 15m paths to East Coast stations were, at times, slightly skewed to the north instead of the normal due east, thus making it difficult to work those stations using the usual NA C3 at 55 feet. This was particularly true in the early morning and evening. The European C3 pointed north was somewhat better, but I found it frustrating to have to toggle back and forth between the tri-banders to get them to hear me. When I hooked up the MiniStack Match, voila! The combination of using both antennas in the stack saved time and trouble of switching, and I could work across the entire US and Canada much more easily. Another advantage I have found is that I no longer miss those brief openings to EU and AF when I happen to be running US/VE stations on 20m. It's the best money I have spent in a long while.

All Those JARL Awards

2010-09-06T21:33:00.003-08:00

I happened to mention to Ken W6HF on Saturday morning that I was kind of interested in seeing which JARL awards KL2R qualified for. After over 22k contacts in four years, I had quite a few cards from JA stations. I had read some information previously about the various Japanese awards. They were a bit of an enigma, and I had already started to comb out the JAs from the boxes of KL2R QSL cards. Before you knew it, we were sorting and entering JA QSL information from 350 cards. Saturday became a blur of on-air action as well as (mostly) playing CSI to figure out JCC, JCG, and other codes. Ken and I became far more enlightened than we ever thought about Japanese administrative districts, from prefectures to -kus.

In the end, KL2R remains two prefectures short of worked all. I have a QSL in the mail to hopefully close one gap in Kyoto. JCC is a slam-dunk. Many challenges lie ahead.

Suddenly, I find myself a it obsessed with paper collecting. DXCC mixed and DXCC 20m are awarded, and various certificates roll in for the usual contests. Now I am looking at various bits of glitter to be added to the shack walls. In part, building and operating KL2R has been a Herculean effort by N1TX and KL1JP, and the results speak for themselves. Those CQ certificates and ARRL plaques on the wall demonstrate the payoff in a well-rounded combination of technology and teamwork. Now I wonder what other achievements we have made, so I dig, as a paper-chaser does.

NCDXF Beacons: 17 Meters Shows Promise

2010-08-16T21:17:00.000-08:00

I have heard Lower 48 hams extol the fun of the 18 MHz band, and I must confess being a bit intrigued. Several weeks ago I heard a brief European opening in the middle of local night, and I worked a JA at the same time. Twenty meters was essentially lifeless, and 15m was DOA. During the solar upset earlier in the month, I was surprised to hear VK/ZL phone transmissions on 17 meters when little could be detected elsewhere. I decided to download Faros by VE3NEA and spend a few days monitoring the high-band beacon network sponsored by the Northern California DX Foundation.

The following 24-hour sample shows some surprising (to me) openings on 17 meters. The vertical axis on each sub-graph represents frequency in MHz. The horizontal axis shows time starting at 0000Z and major ticks every three hours. The boxes represent time slots for each beacon, and colors range from dark blue to orange and red to indicate increasing signal strength. paths are fairly weak. (Some beacons, like 4U1UN, are off the air.)

(Almost) All Quiet on the Northern Front

2010-08-08T09:23:00.004-08:00

This past week brought a C-class x-ray flare, and the sun sent a coronal mass ejection hurtling toward earth. The HF prognosis for the first week of August was poor, indeed. There would be a "solar tsunami" arriving around August 3rd, according to one local headline, while worldwide there were predictions of fantastic auroral displays. The six-meter gang at the mid-latitudes must have been drooling with anticipation, but HF radio operators inferred a dismal time on the bands. The HAARP riometer looked grim. Kp was at 5 and headed upward, plus the aurora scale was pegged at 9.

I would have written off the radio and cleaned the cameras to prepare for the northern lights had it been a week or two later. The skies at night are still too light to see aurora at 65 North, though. Instead, I fired up the rig to see what, if anything, I could hear during the onslaught.

I chose to explore 20m around 0200Z, and I heard W1AW with code practice almost ESP-weak. No other CW signals were audible. I switched to the 85-foot C3 pointed to Europe, and I noticed a surprising number of apparently European PSK31 signals. Although the signals were moderately strong, I could see on the waterfall an unsettling dance of flutter and Doppler. DM780 could just make out a few prefixes and other tantalizing details. PSK31 on trans-polar paths is notoriously susceptible to corruption. I switched to the North American C3 and could begin to see (and decode) several US stations, but copy was still rough. With the Kp index so high, I had little hope of them being able to hear me. Years of experience have taught me that much.

I quickly scanned the higher bands up through six meters. I was surprised to hear some weak but readable ZL/VK SSB on 17 meters, but otherwise, they were dead. Back on 20, I watched the digital waterfall display and saw slightly improving conditions towards the States. Two very clean PSK signals appeared, which turned out to belong to a VK and a 3D2, both 90-95% readable. The north-south route was less impacted by the ionospheric turbulence overhead, and I believe grayline enhancement helped things along. (A short time later I had a nice chat with Aisea 3D2AA and proved the reasonably good path was two-way.)

The signal ID function in DM780 then reported an Olivia 500/16 signal just up the band. I could barely discern the smeared, faint tones on the waterfall, but I tuned up and changed modes to see what I could monitor. Lo and behold, it was Peter VE7NBQ having a ragchew with a W5. Peter had told me of the impressive performance of Olivia earlier in the week, and now I am convinced. As the tones faded from view on my screen, characters continued to print a clean QSO. Olivia's forward error correction makes it far superior to PSK31, and perhaps even CW under some circumstances. I will have to explore more.

2010 IARU HF Championship

2010-07-11T15:16:00.000-08:00

Last year, the KL2R crew were drafted into service for W1AW/KL7. For this year's IARU event, however, we opted for a multi-single effort with W6HF, KL1WE, KL1JP, NL7WO, and N1TX operating. It was a nice mix of interests and experience, and as a 24-hour contest, the pace was relatively leisurely for any one operator.

Band conditions were promising at the start with countless loud signals from Europe on 20 meters. The 15m band never developed as hoped, but 40m blew the doors open with many loud stations from North America and the Pacific on the dipole at 100 feet. For a while, we had a pipeline to Brazil. ZL6HQ on 80 was a nice surprise, too. QSO breakdown was a pretty even split between Europe and North America at about 40% each. Africa was all but completely absent from our headphones. Best DX goes to VQ9 and A71. This DX Monitor map shows the distribution of all contacts:

We had a special incentive to look for one particular Russian station. Alaskan contester and friend Corliss was invited to Moscow and operated R3/AL1G. We worked her on both CW and SSB on 20 meters. It turned out to be easier work her there than when she is at home, but it was still a big challenge! Corliss seems to draw a big crowd whenever she's on the air.

KL8DX: His Take on KL2R

2010-06-30T17:41:00.000-08:00

Field Day 2010: Gone but Never to be Forgotten

2010-06-28T12:32:00.005-08:00

Despite the poor propagation, this was a banner year for Field Day at KL2R. Not just a contest, Field Day is a great exercise in teamwork. Also, to Connie KL1BE and yours truly N1TX, Field Day represents a time for socializing and a chance to "integrate" family/friends with the radio hobby through fellowship and mutual generosity from everyone involved. This year proved a resounding success in that regard. We had about 20 visitors, some of whom I had never met before, and several I had not seen for a long time.

The preparation team and operators demonstrated a tremendous amount of enthusiasm, innovation, and sheer determination. The personal contributions of each resulted in an accomplishment greater than their sum, which was an event far more fun and enriching (and fattening) than I had imagined it could be.

About six weeks of planning in earnest paid off when Friday setup began. We had many equipment options available and were able to adapt as needed to changes in personnel and time available to test. By the time Friday morning rolled around, the shack was ready to accept new gear and antennas. Dan KL1JP brought a portable solar setup with batteries, a Moxon 6m antenna, and a strong arm for slinging lines to put up the two additional G5RVs.

We had four HF stations set up in the shack with my FT950 and FT100, KL1RL's FT1000MP Mark V, and KL1AZ's TS2000. Elaine KL6C rolled in an 18-foot trailer complete with table, generator, and Ten-Tec Jupiter for a fifth HF station. Ken W6HF and Luci KL1WE operated their mobile FT897D briefly as HF #6. Thank goodness for the effectiveness of W3NQN bandpass filters. Two Honda 2 kW generators powered the shack, and the solar-charged batteries kept things going in Elaine's trailer.

The entire layout was networked using N1MM software. Although basic configuration of multi-multi operation is fairly straightforward with N1MM, I believe this arrangement proved to be the most problematic aspect of the entire weekend. As with anything, you can do planning to the smallest detail, but only thorough testing can wring out the bugs. Alas, Murphy was lying in wait in several dark corners once the contest began. As an example, we painfully discovered N1MM is far more stable in multi-user mode with fixed IP addresses instead of using DHCP. Fortunately, no fatal errors occurred, and the log did not suffer.

Mother Nature once again demonstrated her cruel sense of humor by teasing us earlier in the week with decent propagation only to pull the magic ionospheric carpet out from under us on Saturday with high aurora and Kp index See below. We hardly heard any east coast stations. Even our relative proximity to the west coast didn't seem to help much with contacts. Twenty meters CW was the money band, disappointing as it may have been, thanks largely to the skill and tenacity of Phil KL8DX. Elaine KL6C tried like the dickens to resuscitate 80m, and John KL1AZ persevered on 10m and 6m. He netted one QSO on the latter. Along with digital guy Kevin NL7WO and newcomer Rich W8VK, Elaine and John earned gold stars in my book for exemplary commitment by keeping the CQs going despite few or no prospects most of the time.

Space Weather and Geomagnetic Indices

Results by Band

    Band Mode QSOs    Pts
     7 CW       9      18
     7 LSB      4      4
     7 PSK31    3      6
    14 CW     213     426
    14 PSK31    1      2
    14 RTTY     2      4
    14 USB     18      18
    21 CW       1      2
    50 USB      1      1
   144 CW       1      2
   144 FM       2      4
   420 FM       4      8
Total Both   259     495

With these contact results, of course, bonus points will play an essential role for any sort of competitive standing. We had that pretty well covered. W1AW bulletin? Check, thanks largely to the booming signal of K6KPH. Satellite QSO? No problem, as W6HF and KL1WE have that down to a science. Public relations? Done. Neal WL7NZ even got us a plug on radio station KIAK. Alternative power? Yup. KL1JP's solar-charged battery configuration worked with aplomb. QTC? Ed AL7N took traffic for me on 2m CW. Public official? State Rep. Tammie Wilson stopped by with her SWL husband, Bob, and spent a good long time asking a lot of questions. Again, planning and teamwork paid dividends.

Food, of course, played an essential role in keeping the team motivated and rolling in the right direction, largely thanks to KL1BE and KL1WE laboring in the kitchen day and night. The menus included biscuits and gravy, home fries, huevos rancheros, refried beans, tortillas, homemade bread, grilled cheese sandwiches, vegetable pie, pea soup, green salad, bean salad, moose chili, burgers, bratwurst, angel food cake with fresh strawberries, and other tasty treats. Gallons of coffee, iced tea, sodas, wine, and plenty of water kept us well-lubricated.

Special guest Rich Carstensen W8VK happened to be visiting family in the area and hitched a ride with KL8DX. Rich spent most of Saturday entertaining us with tales of QRP conquests on Top Band and his time as lead tech at Alinco. He never missed an opportunity to call CQ on CW when a position was free. Andre KL7AC, Mike AL7KC, Ruth KL2WR, Larry KL2WS, Eric KL7AJ, Chad AL2D, John AL7ID, and Fred WL7IJ rounded out the guest list. (I am sure there are a couple of others I am not recalling in the post-FD fog, and I hope they forgive me.)

In the end, 2010 brought a Field Day for the memory book. Even though I'm a competitive sort of guy, the points are secondary. The published results can hardly reflect the wonderful rewards of camaraderie and good cheer gained from the whole weekend experience. Thank you, all!

Field Day 2010 Preparations

2010-06-19T09:19:00.001-08:00

The shack's radios have been fairly quiet during the past couple of months, save for some odd moments for DX and some lightweight competition efforts. For the past six weeks, however, we've been planning for a wonderful Field Day with (hopefully) a turn-out greater than ever.

Many of the Fairbanks-area hams, as most Alaskans, are busy with summertime outdoor activities like fishing and camping, and organized events like Field Day take too much time away from those. Still others enjoy a trip down to Byers Lake for the annual Motley Group picnic, which happens to coincide with Field Day. (The Motley Group is a statewide net that meets daily at 2100 local time on 3933 kHz.)

A couple of months ago, Neal Brown WL7NZ, president of the local Arctic Amateur Radio Club, asked Larry N1TX if KL2R would be interested in hosting some AARC operators not otherwise occupied, since it appeared KL7KC would not be participating in Field Day this year. Of course others would be welcome. FD 2009 was a banner year in terms of participation at KL2R, and the more the merrier! Thus, the gears began turning.

Initial response to the call for help was very enthusiastic, so we quickly began inventories and brainstorming the possibilities. Over the past several years, we've been operating primarily as a Class E station (home emergency power) and will do so again. Generators and batteries are not a problem. A wide number of rigs are available, too. We got quite excited about the possibility of checking out NL7Y's Elecraft K3, but other interests pulled him away. Nevertheless, ICOM, Yaesu, Kenwood, and Ten-Tec should all be well-represented. Dan KL1JP set about building another solar power unit housed in a large portable cooler. He also designed and built Moxon antennas for 6 and 20m. Elaine KL6C (ex-N6PU) has been gathering parts for our educational activity, building some battery systems. Ken W6HF and Luci KL1WE made the drive north from California and practically demanded to be put to work cleaning out and organizing the KL2R shack to make the place suitable for human habitation.

The press release is finished and ready for distribution, elected officials and fire department staff have been invited, Ed AL7N is standing by for NTS traffic, the menus are shaping up, etc. So things are looking very good, indeed!

Two Days Full Of Surprises & A Fig Newton Solution

2010-03-08T19:39:00.005-09:00

Both N1TX and KL1JP manned the KL2R contest club location for
the ARRL SSB DX contest.  Despite an optimistic pre-contest strategy
of hopeful band openings, we were lonely for several hours in the
beginning of the contest; eliciting responses to that effect from the few
stations that responded to the KL2R call.  Saturday afternoon, we
finally gained some traction calling CQ on both 15m and 20m before the
sun let loose a x-ray burst and terminated our modest efforts.  As the
x-ray burst subsided and the bands started improving, the aurora kicked
up and limited our efforts again.  Fortunately, persistence up here in
Fairbanks becomes a way of life and persisted we did, finally racking
up about 250 contacts before 15m and 20m faded into oblivion Friday
evening.  The late evening and nighttime efforts by a solo N1TX added
a few 40m contacts but nothing like we had hoped for.  40m becomes a
continually challenging band from the Alaskan interior and again, that
proved true for this contest too.

We were hoping conditions would improve Saturday morning, allowing us to
pick-up the east coast on both 15m and 20m during the early daylight hours.
But again, despite our optimism, our efforts were akin to plunking away; in
either S&P or CQ modes, getting a few here and there.  We had hoped for some
limited action on 10m but it never occurred.  It was only in the early
afternoon when KL1JP asked Larry for some snacks and fresh coffee that
conditions up here drastically changed.  After a handful of relatively fresh
Fig Newtons, things took a turn for the better.  After the cookies, KL1JP,
calling CQ added QSO after QSO to the log, achieving a "personal" best rate
of approximately 250/hr.  We were told by many "lower 48" stations that we
were "booming" into the lower 48 and KL2R certainly took advantage of that
factor.  Although we mostly played the westerly advancing grayline, some
surprisingly and very strange 20m openings occurred, allowing us to pick up
numerous Midwest and Southeast US stations.  The arrival of the evening
hours again saw the bands quiet down.  Since Dan had to work on Sunday,
Saturday night saw another solo N1TX effort with some contact additions to
our 80m and 40m stockpile.

Sunday morning saw Larry operate when time and patience permitted, adding
another 90 contacts to our log giving us a total of 740 Q's with a total
point count of 176,160 which bettered our previous 2009 QSO count of 663.

As always, Larry was an excellent host; constantly making fresh coffee and
offering to sit in the seat when I wanted a short break.  The way we figure,
in the end it came down to having the Fig Newtons in the shack that did the
trick, allowing the bands to open up.  Needless to say, fresh Fig Newtons
will be available during any future contests.

Here's the preliminary tally:
Callsign        : KL2R
Category        : Multi Operator - Single Transmitter (MS)
Band(s)         : All bands (AB)
Class           : Low Power (LP)
Operating time  : 17h59

BAND   QSO  S/P DUP  POINTS  AVG 
----------------------------------
  160     0    0   0       0 0.00

   80     4    3   0      12 3.00

   40    19    7   0      57 3.00

   20   570   54   9    1701 2.98

   15   147   16   0     432 2.94

   10     0    0   0       0 0.00

----------------------------------
TOTAL   740   80   9    2202 2.98

==================================
      TOTAL SCORE : 176 160

Solo in ARRL DX CW

2010-02-22T14:47:00.001-09:00

Rich KL7RA invited me down to participate in this year's ARRL DX CW, but work demands and outrageous air fares between Fairbanks and Kenai kept me grounded. This was a pity, because I always enjoy operating CW with Rich and Wigi AL7IF. As a consolation, I decided to press KL2R into service, going it alone. At the start, I hadn't yet decided to go for single- or all-band entry, but the hopping bands soon convinced me the latter was the way to go. I'm glad I did.

Band    QSOs Mults
-------------------
160:      1     1
80:      19     8
40:     119    40
20:     755    58
15:     612    55
10:     12     6
-------------------
Total: 1518   168
Total Score = 764,568

This was the first time ever KL2R had points on all bands. Conditions were unexpectedly good.

I was never able to hear a significant number of "workable" stations on Top Band. Propagation to the northwestern US seemed to peter out early in the evening. The brief, late morning/early afternoon openings on 10m gave some real encouragement to seek out multipliers, although I had to do it quickly, or overall rate would suffer. On Sunday, 10m seemed to be ducting to the Caribbean and South America with very few US and no Canadian stations heard at my QTH during my band checks.

Alaska was well-represented, especially KL7RA, AL1G, KL8DX, and AL9A loud and clear on most bands.

KL7RA and I had a funny, inadvertent duel of sorts on Friday afternoon. I was running about 130 per hour on 20m when KL7RA rolled in about 100 Hz up from me, apparently unaware of the action I had going. Suddenly, I realized stations weren't calling me, but KL7RA instead. One CQ from the power house of Kenai, and they took my frequency AND my pileup as well! As I told them by email, I was glad I could "chum the waters" for them.

All in good fun, and I had a really good laugh.

More on W1AW/KL7 for IARU

2010-02-16T21:39:00.001-09:00

See page 20 of http://aptos.arrl.org/contests/IARU09-v2.pdf

SO2R and Multi-Two that Much Closer

2010-02-15T12:18:00.000-09:00

What little time I spent in the shack recently was centered on getting the second operating position, KL2R-B, ready for a chance to try M2 in WPX RTTY. Alas, a last-minute PC failure on KL2R-A and repair delayed operation in earnest until Saturday morning. Dan KL1JP did much search-and-pouncing and rode the 15m opening pretty hard. While he did that, I managed to get KL2R-B on line and Win-Test viewing the spots and the log. After Dan left, I cleaned up a few and enjoyed working into Europe on 20m around 0600-0800Z. Aurora and fluctuating Kp caused some declining conditions commencing Saturday night. Conditions were never great on Sunday to the Lower 48.

Contest : CQ World Wide WPX Contest
Callsign : KL2R
Mode : RTTY
Category : Multi Operator - Single Transmitter (MS)
Overlay : ---
Band(s) : All bands (AB)
Class : Low Power (LP)
Zone/State/... :
Locator : BP64KU
Operating time : 14h31

BAND QSO DUP PFX POINTS AVG
-----------------------------------
80 8 0 1 34 4.25
40 14 0 11 60 4.29
20 293 0 181 654 2.23
15 61 0 39 141 2.31
10 0 0 0 0 0.00
-----------------------------------
TOTAL 376 0 232 889 2.36
===================================
TOTAL SCORE : 206 248

Dupes are not included in QSO counts neither avg calculations

Operators : N1TX, KL1JP

Experimenting with Weak Signal Propagation Reporter

2009-12-15T10:30:00.001-09:00

Last week, Phil KL8DX mentioned the Weak Signal Propagation Reporter (WSPR) network and the initial success he was having using 8 watts on the low bands from his high-noise location in Healy, near Denali National Park. G4ILO has a really nice writeup on WSPR. I couldn't resist the temptation to play myself, so on Friday I configured KL2R to transceive using the K1JT software and report results up to the network. I changed bands aperiodically from 160/80/40/20 as well as changed antennas. Here's a map showing spots to/from KL2R during a 16-hour period on 40m using 10 watts and a dipole at 100 feet.

I can see immediately the potential application for contesting to notify the user of possible band openings, particularly on 10 and 160m. Information on all bands is useful, because propagation from our location to a particular area can be very, very short-lived. I can also imagine a long-term study using the spot data to better understand conditions required for those openings. We need more WSPR stations in KL7, since conditions can be highly variable with latitude.

For the first time in a long time, I am really excited about some new radio technology.

Skywarn Recognition Day

2009-12-06T09:35:00.005-09:00

Once again, Dan KL1JP and Tracy W7EIK did a fine job organizing operations for Skywarn Recognition Day at the local National Weather Service forecast office. The station callsign is KL7FWX, and they run barefoot using a G5RV and ICOM IC-718 atop the International Arctic Research Center on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus. SSB, CW, and PSK31 contacts were accomplished in the 24-hour event. Here's a video of Sam KL2TU making his first contacts:

A number of stations worked KL7FWX over the local IRLP node, too. The down side of this mode is that the self-appointed "policeman" of Alaska IRLP rarely seems to miss an opportunity to belittle operators who may step outside his strict notion of protocol. I witnessed this first-hand on Saturday afternoon. We all know the type, and these people provide excellent examples of how NOT to behave on the air.

CQWW CW - Quick Impressions

2009-11-29T17:11:00.000-09:00

Conditions seemed, overall, quite decent for KL7 stations. KL1JP reported incredible propagation using QRP on 80 and 40 meters Friday night. No 10 meters was obvious in Fairbanks, but 15m proved strong from US/VE and JA. N1TX took KL2R through the paces solo-band on 20m in low-power unassisted. The EU C3 tribander proved its worth there.

Alaska was well represented as a double multiplier for many. NL7Z, AL9A, AL7R, AL1G, KL8DX, KL1JP, KL2R, and others were on.

Contest         : CQ World Wide DX Contest
Callsign        : KL2R
Mode            : CW
Category        : Single Operator (SO)
Overlay         : ---
Band(s)         : Single band (SB) 20 m
Class           : Low Power (LP) UNASSISTED
Zone/State/... : 01
Locator         : BP64KU
Operating time : 15h20

BAND   QSO CQ DXC DUP POINTS   AVG
--------------------------------------
160     0   0   0   0       0 0.00
   80     0   0   0   0       0 0.00
   40     0   0   0   0       0 0.00
   20   969 27 52 27    2250 2.32
   15     0   0   0   0       0 0.00
   10     0   0   0   0       0 0.00
--------------------------------------
TOTAL   969 27 52 27    2250 2.32
======================================
        TOTAL SCORE : 177 750

N1TX: More Impressions of SSB Sweeps

2009-11-24T21:42:00.003-09:00

Contest         : ARRL Sweepstakes
Callsign        : KL2R
Mode            : PHONE
Category        : Multi Operator - Single Transmitter (MS)
Overlay         : ---
Band(s)         : All bands (AB)
Class           : Low Power (LP)

Zone/State/... : AK

Locator : BP64KU
Operating time : 14h33

BAND   QSO DUP SECT POINTS
-----------------------------
160     0   0    0       0
   80     3   0    0       6
   40    12   0    1      24
   20   187   1   28     372
   15    92   0   25     184
   10     7   0    5      14
-----------------------------
TOTAL   301   1   59     600
=============================
    TOTAL SCORE : 35 400

Operators : N1TX, KL1JP, N6PU, WL7GK

Dan KL1JP and Elaine N6PU kicked off Saturday on 10, and shortly thereafter moved to 15 meters to good effect. Elaine was new to Win-Test, and between that and getting used to the complicated Sweeps exchange, she had a steep learning curve. However, she soon became expert. The operators discovered that the cure for calling CQ and getting dead air in return was to have one of them remove their headsets.

Dan took advantage of the relative heat wave of Saturday afternoon -- it had warmed to -15F -- to try installing a new 160m vertical (rev 2.0), which unfortunately wouldn't tune up. The MFJ antenna analyzer was cranky in the cold, too. Dang!

At 1800 local, their shifts were done, so I pressed on 40m for a short while before getting a headache. After supper, I napped a couple of hours and returned to the airwaves to ply 80/40 to little effect. I mean, something like 10 QSOs in six hours? C'MON!

Elaine returned early Sunday morning as 20m was perking up. Guest operator Bob WL7GK arrived around 0900 local. He was new to contesting, and Elaine patiently showed him the ropes while I fought a Windoze problem on a rebuilt laptop. She gave him a good hour tutoring before having to leave again. Bob caught his stride with S&P, picking up several badly needed sections on 20 and 15m.

After lunch I finally elbowed my way on to 20m to try to catch a little running. After a couple of CQs, and operator called me and told me I was QRMing some net and asked me to move a few kHz. I agreed, but only after I guilted him into giving me an exchange. :-) I also worked W2RCA, a special event station for the Radio Club of America, which was a bonus.

Just after 1600 local I broke 300 QSOs and pulled the plug, completely exhausted but quite pleased with everyone's teamwork.

We had no equipment problems, save for the 160m antenna situation. Dan and I are determined to solve the Top Band QSO gap sooner rather than later.

Notice: We have finally signed up with GlobalQSL for confirmation delivery via the bureaus. Service of everyone's QSL request should be much more responsive.

ARRL Sweeps SSB - Tough, Fun Learning

2009-11-22T20:39:00.002-09:00

I promise not to whine about how lousy the low bands were for us and will focus on the up sides observed here at KL2R. Elaine N6PU soon developed a knack for keeping 15 meters open until late in the day on Saturday after some brief 10m fun with KL1JP. N1TX manned the late shift on 40 and 80, and it might as well have a head-banging contest. Elaine had a late-night work call-out and arrived about 1600Z. She soon mounted up for some 20m action. When guest operator Bob WL7GK arrived, she took him under her wing for the basics of operating this contest with Win-Test. After a little more side-saddle time with Larry, Bob soon found a technique that suited him: S&P. He netted several badly-needed sections, and I could see a big grin develop from this initial panicked look.

In short, I think we al learned something, both about each other as well as various technologies in the KL2R shack. It's a training ground, first and foremost.

ARRL CW Sweeps @ KL2R in a Word: UGH!

2009-11-09T16:56:00.001-09:00

BAND QSO DUP SECT POINTS
-----------------------------
160   0   0   0   0
80    6   0   0   12
40    48 0   6   96
20    207 1   23 414
15    90 0   32 180
10    0   0   0   0
-----------------------------
TOTAL 351 1   61 702
=============================

TOTAL SCORE : 42,822
Operators :   N1TX, KL1JP

The contest was off to a promising start with a strong opening on 15m, but eventually we moved to 20m and found it was hard to gain traction. Best 40m QSO count ever using the new dipole at 100 feet. Sunday proved rough as the aurora picked up (see purple curve in the chart below), and those east coast multipliers could not hear us.

Running KL2R Solo With An Iron Pot On My Head

2009-10-27T13:51:00.014-08:00

Larry was gone for the week and upon his return to Alaska, chose to operate at Rich Strand's station KL7RA in Kenai. Larry's absence from Fairbanks and the imminent CQWW SSB contest was enticement enough for me to operate KL2R solo and give those new antennas of his a methodical checkout. My strategy for the contest was to concentrate on acquiring multi's, EU stations and accumulate data on what antenna works the best and for what direction and time period. Little did I know the aurora would kick up into high gear, effectively throwing an iron pot on top of me and that the sun would throw off a nice X-Ray Class C burst adding to a growing list of challenges for my low power operation.

After initializing all the equipment and working out a few start-up bugs, I spent quite a bit of time simply listening…. switching between the Force 12 antennas – the NA C3 and the EU C3. I know that listening in a contest is verboten but heh… I’m testing here. The EU C3 had more noise than the NA C3 but the EU C3 was more sensitive to EU especially Russian and US west coast stations while the NA C3 was more sensitive to daylight JA’s and NA east coast locations. It quickly became obvious that working daylight JA’s off the back of the NA C3 worked better than the EU C3 direct. And, as I expected, China on 20m is still easy during the daytime on the NA C3. I broke thru both large pileups on the first call. Attempting to work the B1/BY3 stations on the EU C3 didn’t bring any results and both calling stations were much muted.

Playing the grayline in the afternoon with the EU C3 got me several stations to the south of Japan and the western coast of Africa (Cape Verde D44AC) to boot. D44AC picked me up on the second call. Tonga (A31KK) came in around the same grayline time period and on the first call. Add to those, both ZM2M and VK4KW which were logged on 15m on the second call. The VK station said we had a big signal.

As I mentioned, during the contest, the aurora kicked up to 9+ and as you would bet, from Fairbanks, the only stations that could hear KL2R where those immediately inside Mother Nature’s iron pot, ie… the aurora cap. Realizing the low probability of contacting lower 48 stations, I altered strategy and attempted to maximize my multi points so I switched to the EU C3 and started calling CQ on both 20m and 15m. Stations in Sweden (SJ2W), Norway (JW7QIA) and Finland (OH8L) came booming back on the first or second call. Surprisingly, even a few in Spain (EB1WW) and (EC2DX) came right back.

Philosophical speaking, having a short lived but high aurora period puts us northern low power stations in good position to pick up EU mults while circumventing the competition. Stations outside the auroral bowl usually have difficulty in being heard by the stations inside the bowl. As long as the aurora is short-lived, it is quite comforting to hear the flutter and realize the competition just dropped out.

In previous contests, the NA C3 usually had difficulty working into JA country during their nighttime. However, the new EU C3 worked exceptionally well into the JA nights on 20m. I had little trouble picking up any existing 20m contacts that I could hear from both JA land and scattered locations within EU. Russian stations RG9A and RZ3AXX came back on the first call. Both reported we had a great signal.

The new 40m dipole was actually disappointing. I expected more EU stations. Generally speaking, I had better luck with the older 40m loop. For example, I was able to get UA0IT on the 40m loop but not on the 40m dipole. The 40m loop is also much quieter and if nothing else, represents an excellent receive antenna. However and surprisingly, the 40m dipole works FB into Alberta and the east coast. I got VE6FI, VE6SV and VE6AO and VA3YP (Ontario) on the dipole – all on the first attempt. I now wonder if the 40m dipole is pointed correctly ? Time to dig out the compass and make some azimuth measurements.

Here in Fairbanks, the 10m band was non-existent. The 15m band was disappointing and full of noise. Usually, 15m contacts from SA were plentiful but not this time. I fought hard for my QSO with LS2D. Both 40m and 80m were disappointing and very noisy, probably due to the high aurora. I made only one contact on 160m and that was one I fought hard for.

Although I spent a lot of time testing, sometimes using one antenna to transmit while receiving on another, I still made 167 QSO’s with 30, 628 total points and was pleasantly surprised I did as well as I did with only 15 hours in the chair (had to work on Sunday).

Dan (KL1JP)

CQWW @ KL7RA

2009-10-26T21:32:00.002-08:00

N1TX diverted to Kenai on the way home from DC for a bit of radio action. Great to have a mini-reunion of some of the old Fairbanks crew from KL7RA, plus some new blood added to the team. And a good time was had by all. Listen to some 40m audio here.

CQ Worldwide DX Contest, SSB

Call: KL7RA
Operator(s): AL2F AL7IF KA1NCN KL7RA N1TX N5XZ NL7Y
Station: KL7RA

Class: M/M HP
QTH: ALASKA
Operating Time (hrs): 48

Summary:
Band QSOs Zones Countries
------------------------------
160: 92 7 6
80: 341 17 19
40: 1592 31 71
20: 3273 35 131
15: 1525 32 86
10: 19 7 7
------------------------------
Total: 6872 129 320 Total Score = 7,312,863

KL7RA - N1TX - NL7Y - N5XZ - AL2F - KA1NCN - AL7IF

Photos: KA1NCN

New Antennas on the Tower...At Last!

2009-10-11T13:42:00.002-08:00

The planets aligned, weather moderated, friends and co-workers gathered for a good old-fashioned antenna party at KL2R yesterday. See the KL1JP video (28 MB) here. It's unbelievable how lucky we were. The Force 12 EF-140 40m dipole made it to 100 feet and is oriented to North America and Asia. This should help fill the gaps on 40m, as we go lacking for NA contacts in most contests on this band. The second Force 12 C3 oriented towards Europe is now installed at the 85-foot level and produces superior results. Check out the comparison I did today:

KL2R New Antennas Compared

I don't have enough thanks to offer: KL1RL, KL1JP, N6PU, and my two work colleagues Marc Meindl and Lance Seman.

Good times coming!

Photo by KL1RL

Sweepstakes Surprise

2009-09-13T19:46:00.005-08:00

When I went to the post office late last week, there was a pickup slip for a parcel. When the clerk brought it to me, I was surprised to see it had an ARRL return address. Hmmm...I hadn't ordered any books, so I was intrigued. Lo and behold, I was stunned to see KL2R has won NW Division CW in multi-op category. It just goes to show the importance of choosing your competition category carefully. Our first plaque ever!

Thanks to EVERYONE who worked us that weekend! And special appreciation to Eric KL7AJ for his help as second operator.

KL1Y Returns from YI-land

2009-09-09T10:45:00.004-08:00

Two Rivers Contest Club member Rod Mitchell KL1Y/YI9YO (photo center) returned home safely after a year stint overseas. Yay!

I think the desert has made him soft. He's back just in time for cooler temperatures ahead and snow only weeks away, and Rod is already making noise about relocating to warmer climes, at least temporarily. That's a bad thing. We could use some extra help for KL5O and the fall contests. :-(

Welcome home, Rod!

Nearly Cooked Bush Shack

2009-09-07T17:03:00.003-08:00

Here's some pics a friend took a couple of days ago showing the results of this summer's forest fire (called Zitziana fire) that nearly cooked the NL7Y remote cabin and two towers at West Twin Lake. QTH is 93 miles SW of Fairbanks. The black in the foreground near the cabin is the result of a backfire set by the smoke jumpers to prevent the fire that approached from the west (upper area now turned tan/brown). All was saved as the fire was slow moving through grasses and new green vegetation. Some big big spruce trees were saved. The tallest one to the left rear of the cabin held my 160M inverted-L. Hope the groundplane survived. The Force-12 beam shines through the trees to the right of the dwellings.

Prior to the first big fire in 2002, the area was unburned for over 150 years. Some of the big spruce had been there since the 1600's (over 400 yrs at least). Trees like those surrounding the cabin plus black spruce covered the surrounding terrain as far as can be seen. So, after two fires in seven years maybe it's now safe to move the main tower up the hill for a better shot at East Asia.

73 Gary NL7Y

Keep an ear out for KL5O

2009-09-05T20:23:00.003-08:00

The Alaska 50^th Anniversary of Statehood Special Event will be on the air October 18, 2009 from 1800Z until October 19, 2009, 0600Z. There will be many stations on from around the state of Alaska all using KL5O (kilo lima five oscar). We will be on all bands, from 160 through 10 meters, including the WARC bands. This would be a good opportunity for those station needing Alaska on a particular band or mode to make that needed QSO. Operation will be scheduled to facilitate working North American stations, though all stations worldwide are encouraged to participate.

Making a QSO in this event qualifies as credit for Alaska in the ARRL Year Of The State QSO Party.

Details and updates: http://www.kl5o.com/

July NAQP RTTY

2009-07-19T19:21:00.003-08:00

Yeah, well, THAT sucked. 98 QSOs in six hours of operating. My objective was 100. 40m never really opened. I was happy to make a few Q's on 15m. The rest were, of course, on 20m. The Kp and aurora were giving KL2R fits. On the DMU-2000, I could watch the signals peak and dip in a rhythm almost sea-sickness-inducing. Bang, bang: make four or five Q's in a spurt, then nothing for 15 minutes. Typical for Fairbanks.

I can understand why all the real contesters beat feet south as soon as they could.

Walter Cronkite KB2GSD SK

2009-07-17T17:25:00.004-08:00

My earliest memory of TV is Walter Cronkite signing off. That magnificent, confident, reassuring voice was something to which my whole family looked forward weeknights. I was hooked on evening news as a tyke. He has been much on my mind lately, as we remember two generations have passed since man first walked on the moon.

Although licensed only as a novice, I think KB2GSD was a contester at heart. "I want to win," he once said. "I not only want to win. I want to be the best. I feel very badly if I can't be."

Good night, Walter. Thank you for being the very best.

Field Day Reprise

2009-07-15T20:57:00.004-08:00

I turned on the Wayback machine and found myself thinking about Field Day a few weeks ago.

Last year's participants, Ken W6HF and Luci KL1WE, couldn't visit for Field Day, and co-founder Rod KL1Y is overseas. Nevertheless, Field Day 2009 at KL2R was a record-setter. We station operated Class 4E for a change of pace. Rain was minimal, and KL1JP's solar-battery cooler was put to good use with FT897 and FT857. The FT950 was primary for CW and digital modes. N6PU's Jupiter was in the #2 HF position. Dan attempted several satellite QSOs, but the passes were not favorable.

Justin KL1RL dusted off the ham-hat and lent a hand on setup and operation after months away from any radio. New member Elaine N6PU was first to arrive and last to leave, and she stirred up some good interest on PSK31 and the other modes. Her 5 kW generator came in handy in the middle of the night, too. New licensee Alex KL2TI camped in front of the microphone with some coaching and worked some SSB. Phil KL8DX, another new member, drove all the way up from Healy and earned the nickname "Manimal II" after six hours pounding brass with little introduction or orientation. He said of Field Day at KL2R, "My first chance at operating in a group setting was last weekend, and it makes me want to return and do it many more times. "

Read more about our Alaskan ham fun: http://www.akradio.net/activities.htm

KL1JP comments about IARU

2009-07-15T08:21:00.004-08:00

As a beginning contester, this was my first multi-station event and I liken my involvement in IARU as something akin to the awe I've felt standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon or watching Mt. Saint Helens explode. Considering my marginal skill level, I feel quite humbled in being "invited" to participate by Rich (KL7RA) and Larry (N1TX). I've always wondered what it would be like to watch a log tick by fast, resembling a slot-machine feed of callsigns as contacts were made. From Fairbanks, there are always a series of challenging band conditions that most times plague our best efforts and you just do not see log entries motor-boating along that fast - ever. Thankfully, band conditions, even from Fairbanks were better than normal, which I suspect added to the extraordinary tally of contacts, especially those on 10m and 15m over the course of the 24 hour event.

It was truly amazing to watch the WinTest gab window; stations being passed from one band and op to another, reports of changing band conditions and of course, the camaraderie, issued personal challenges and the humor that were often displayed. In my opinion, it was a most memorable team effort by all participants involved. Simply put, it was a lot of fun to be a part of this, not to mention the education and experience I received. There's a lot to learn by participating in contesting. Any contest will allow you to work with different radio modes and frequencies, try new equipment, have a look at a variety of antennas and get a better understanding of propagation and the effects of the sun upon propagation and locations.

I continue to be impressed with all of the pre-contest testing and last minute tweaking everyone did for IARU. Things like Larry sitting out in his shack at 1am (that's 3 hours pre-start) wiring together a 240v power cable so we can use Gary's (NL7Y) amplifier, Rich climbing the tower to replace a blown 40m relay in the middle of the event or the extraordinary IT effort by Wigi (AL7IF) to make the routers play together nicely amaze me in term of commitment. And, I am especially astonished that nothing did a big melt-down in the middle of the event. We've all dealt with radio and computer equipment over the years to know how unusual that single event is; namely that everything worked the way it was suppose to AND when it was suppose to. After all... to think there were, what, 10 radios interfaced to 10 software packages using 8 separate routers using a variety of internet providers. Whew...just think what might have happened had GCI inadvertently cut their fiber optics cable again?

There were a lot of personal "firsts" for me in this event. First time I saw logging that rapid, first time as a multi op, first time I used an amplifier (thanks Gary !) and of course first time I used the W1AW/KL7 callsign. I remember hearing more than a few "huh's ?" and "are you guys in Alaska ?" and "how much power are you guys running ?" returns on calls. I assume the amp was partly responsible for our delightful BIG BOOMING signal for a change. And then... there was the tenacity of the operators. Now I know first-hand what sort of effort it takes to rack up several million points.

This truly was an once-in-a-lifetime experience. Thanks again to Rich for his extraordinary courage in placing his head between the stock and the guillotine blade. Thankfully, no one had to let the blade loose.

Dan (KL1JP)

KL0FZ ON THE 40 METER TOWER @ ABOUT 1:30 AM

2009-07-14T21:17:00.001-08:00

The Big Lake crew make repairs under summer midnight light.

More on W1AW/KL7

2009-07-14T21:05:00.000-08:00

Near the end. WT screenshot by Kris AL2F.

W1AW/KL7 for IARU

2009-07-13T20:22:00.000-08:00

All I can say is, WOW!

The king of multi-multi contesters in Alaska, Rich Strand KL7RA, proposed last year to operate as W1AW/KL7 in the IARU HF contest. Several stations signed up to activate the headquarters station, and the idea began to germinate.

Stream of consciousness...

Rich pulled a million strings, even up to the last minute, to make the knot that held this thing together. WOW! He is far too modest, but I think we all know without this extraordinary effort, W1AW/KL7 would have been a pipe dream.

The HC8N CW team stacked the decks from Rich's new Kenai station. The 3830 reflector is full of comments regarding how strong the signals were. Some good 10m contacts were in the offing, too. Those guys really know how to light up the ionosphere.

Wigi AL7IF gets a blue ribbon for his technical support getting the VPN and WinTest networking going well in advance so we could have a chance to wring things out. Without it, I have a feeling things could have gone very badly.

Corliss AL1G gets my gold star for sheer staying power and making the Voice of Willow a force to be reckoned with, especially towards the end when new stations were not that easy to find. She did a tremendous job keeping alive the memory of Frank KL7FH SK.

Frank WL7O and Debbie KL7OU at Big Lake kept things running and running and running from there on 40 SSB. Whatever it took. And many thanks to them for pictures/words for my documentation effort.

AL7F Kris' 80m SSB signal from Anchor Point was absolutely amazing. That antenna work has paid off.

The odds and ends I contended with at KL2R to get ready were numerous but all relatively minor. Repairs from Field Day, re-cabling, labeling, running 240 VAC for the amp, etc. I dotted the last i and crossed the final t with just under 3 hours left until the start.

Dan KL1JP started the generator at 1150Z and toughed it out for half the contest until work demands drew him away. Thankfully,Gary NL7Y came to the rescue. Both these guys deserve a round of applause for dogged perseverance in less-than-ideal conditions. But we're used to that sort of tenacity, which is what it takes in Fairbanks to compete when the Kp and aurora go high. Lesser ops would have gone to bed or gone fishing.

The technology -- WinTest in particular -- was rock-solid. IARU gave us a chance to exercise some of the multi-multi tools in the software suite. After this, M2 operation at KL2R will be a piece of cake. Partnering was fun to do. Gab kept us awake and entertained, not to mention proved an invaluable coordnation tool. (I didn't receive one phone call.)

I had a huge sense of relief when I powered off the generator at 1201Z Sunday. I had slept barely 3 hours in the previous 48, and as Gary said, I was slowly bleeding. But I went to Snoozeville feeling a great sense of accomplishment, tremendous pride in everyone's teamwork, and above all, real honor in having been invited to participate in such a special event.

Long Overdue: A Blog

2009-07-13T20:06:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I know, the web site just isn't keeping pace with all the shenanigans going on of late at the Two Rivers Contest Club. So, belatedly, we decided to try to keep up via blogging.

As Paul Harvey would say, "Stand by for NEWwwws!"