Those of you who participated in the Phone Sweepstakes this weekend, please post your results here so I can include them in the CTRI Champions leaderboard.

Thanks…

73, Ken K3IU, Keeper of the Leaderboard

Please post your ARRL SSCW results here for inclusion in the CTRI Champions Leaderboard.

73, Ken K3IU
Keeper of the Leaderboard

Hello gentlehams,

Some time ago I sold off my radio gear (boy, what an idiot!) and am now trying to build myself back up again.  I presently am using a Icom IC-718 with no filters.  I tried to play in the CQWW-SSB recently and it was just so utterly miserable I actually shut the radio off in anger.  Don’t get me wrong, the 718 is a nice little starter radio for rag chewing, but if there is anyone nearby to you, forget it.

In the past I had a Kenwood TS-2000 and thought with the adjustable DSP filters it was pretty good.  Since then I have listened to you all and believe there may be something better out there for a contester that would like to play without getting my ears burned off with QRM.

As the holidays are approaching soon to be followed by hopefully a nice tax refund check, I will be searching for a nice contest radio.  What are your opinions with pros and cons on what I should get?  What kind of budget should I set?  I was thinking around $1,000 to $1,500.  I think I should find something nice in that range.  If I look at certain models, are there options I should verify it has?  Have you upgraded to the new Binford 6100XLT and maybe thought you would keep your old 756Pro3 around as a back up and now think you may sell it?  I will be combing the QRZ ads as well as a likely trip to NEAR-Fest this spring.

FWIW, I am hoping to pick up 6 meters in the new radio also, but not a deal-breaker.  I see many of the later radios do that already.  You should probably know, I want an amp too!  I am tired of sitting there trying to bust pileups with 100 watts!  Baby steps!

Thanks to all for your consideration,

Chuck -ka1cqr-

   It was thought that “The Drill” — otherwise known as re-raising a vertical antenna at W1XX — was not needed this season.  The recent “Big Wind” thought otherwise in taking direct aim on the 80 meter vertical.  Last Tuesday with hailstones the size of dimes, thunder, lightning, and gusts over 50 mph bent over the top third of the antenna.  With the W1AW/1 RI operation looming, being without 80 meters would not be good. Please bring hardhat(s).

   Thanks to prez K1DM accepting my plea to change the venue and host the November meeting at my W1XX QTH.  Thus, I am asking if members could show up about a half hour early — around 9:30 — and assist in putting the antenna back vertical.

Refreshments will be provided.  Please reply to this message so we can get a count of those attending.  Thanks as always to CTRI for coming to my antenna rescue.  73!  — John, W1XX

Wow! Ten meters has been wide open for this contest. Even I have put in about 4 hours, all 10 meters, and worked DXCC on that band. If you haven’t participated, then you have really missed out on a great opportunity.

Please post your results here so that I can include them in the CTRI Champions competition spreadsheet and please don’t forget to submit your results at the end of the contest on time. This from the Rules…

1. All entries must be sent WITHIN FIVE (5) DAYS after the end of the contest: no later than 2359 UTC October 31, 2014 for SSB and 2359 UTC December 5, 2014 for CW. Resubmitting an entry after the deadline will result in it being considered as a late log.

73, Ken K3IU
Keeper of the Leaderboard

If you haven’t heard the CQWW Phone Test starts tonite! I hope we can get some activity. I will have the station here open if you get the urge to put in a few hours. Come on down!
73, John, W1AN

By John Lindholm, W1XX

   Ken, K3IU, recently did an analysis of the club’s Champions competition that determined the number of members participating in each contest.  Also during a recent meeting, we discussed which contests we wished to continue sponsoring a plaque.  A number value of 1 to 3 was assigned – with   1 being the most desirable.  As has often happened with such discussions, nothing seems to ever come of it.  Anyway…looking at Ken’s analysis and using the 1 to 3 ranking, the following contests – with a little stretch – earn a 1 ranking:

CQ WW RTTY
CQ WW DX SSB
CQ WW DX CW
ARRL 10
ARRL RTTY RU
CQ WPX RTTY
ARRL DX PHONE
CQ WPX SSB
NEQP

The next question is:  which of these contests in the most recent year available did CTRI sponsor a plaque?  Surprisingly, there are only three:  2013 ARRL RU New England Single Op Low Power; 2013 CQ WPX RTTY Multi-2 USA; 2013 NEQP Rhode Island Single Op.  Plaque programs for 2014 for both ARRL and CQ seem to be in somewhat administrative disarray. Of the other six high value contests to CTRI members, only ARRL 10 does not offer plaques.

So what’s the point?  Well, now that the club treasury is in the process of being refurbished, do we as a club want to expand our plaque commitment to other #1 contests…or even reach down to some #2 ranked contests such as Sweepstakes?

Food for thought and perhaps a meeting agenda item that hopefully will go somewhere.

PS (from K3IU): To see the analysis John referred to above go to this link:
http://ctri.club/2014/08/03/small-analysis-of-the-ctri-champions-competition/

By John Lindholm, W1XX (Amigo #3)

Discussion continued up to the last minute of decision on Thursday night: Do we go to NEARFest on Friday with good weather forecast, or take a chance on Saturday and 50% chance of rain?

James (K1SD), John (W1AN), and John (W1XX) – penned “The 3 Amigos” by Mike KB1RFJ – met van driver John (W1AN) at the exit 7 commuter parking lot off I-95 at 5 AM Saturday morning.  The van was packed with gear from the KA1GEU estate. A poster advertised the big ticket items which were left home at the W1AN QTH.

The drive up was rather uneventful…overcast but no rain.

We set up in a good spot near the entrance which caused a feeding frenzy as we unloaded stuff in boxes from the van.  The bux were flying fast and furious.  Couldn’t keep up with the accounting and equipment list.

AN was hard-nosed on pricing while XX kept trying to almost give stuff away.  SD tried his best to keep those two apart. Things got really testy when XX sold a whole box of toroids for $100.  AN predicted that the buyer would re-sell them at 5 bux apiece at his venue a short distance away.  He was right.  Oh well, a hundred bux is a hundred bux. The high-ticket items poster drew little interest…simply the wrong venue for towers, amps and such.

After a couple of hours it did start to rain – not hard but a steady drizzle.  Meanwhile, AN found a bucket of needed tower parts for Mike, KB1RFJ, for 10 bux. We tarped the tables and concluded around noon or so that we were about done.

The three amigos stopped for lunch on the way home at a bar-restaurant in Methuen.  Food and drink was good.  We missed the 93 to 95 exit so continued on through Boston to pick up 95 south of Boston. We were all home by about 5 PM.

The Deerfield turn-out was perhaps a little disappointing…but overall we were satisfied and glad we went.  We turned the radio gear assets into $ 660 cash for the club.  Not bad.

Thanks to John, W1AN, for driving. The three amigos had a good time kibitzing with the folks.

P.S. – Posted by K3IU for W1XX

Tom, N1MM, recently sent out a reminder about logging info in the Sweepstakes contest.   Thought you all might find this helpful.

73, Ken K3IU

Re SS: Make sure you understand the parsing for the SS exchange. In
general, it's best to enter the data in pairs, like 39A and 61CT. That
way there is no ambiguity between the number and the check.

You may repeat exchange elements rather than correcting them. If you
enter 122A 61CT 123 it will be interpreted as 123A 61CT. The frame
around the exchange textbox will tell you what the program thinks you mean.

You may also enter the call in the exchange if you miscopied it, or go
to the callsign textbox and correct it there.

73,
Tom - N1MM

This isn’t one of our Club Competition contests, but I recall it is a fun contest. BIG scores available and if memory serves me correctly quite a bit of activity. Check it out at

home.arcor.de/waldemar.kebsch/The_Makrothen_Contest/TMC_Rules.html

For some reason, I can’t make the link to the website work by clicking on it. Just copy/paste the URL to your browser and it does work. At least it works here.  🙂

73, Ken K3IU

The Nearfest flea market at Deerfield NH is next weekend. At the clubs direction much of the items from Chris KA1GEUs estate will be brought there for sale, with the exception of a few large or expensive items such as the Heights Tower, the Alpha 9500 amplifier, the Flex 5000A radio, The SteppIR antenna, some spools of 50 ohm cable, etc. The below list is the items available to club members before the flea market. Please let me know if you are interested at the listed (price) by next Friday so I can make sure the item stays behind. If you think the price should be lower or higher please advise. Nothing is written in stone here. If two or more members are interested at same price we will pull the winner out of a hat.

The items that have member offers for at least the amounts on the list I receive up thru Friday 10/10 will be set aside. Other items will go to Nearfest, where the plan is to see what sells, generally asking for more than the amounts on the list. If there is a member offer below the list on an item, we won’t sell it for any less at the flea market. If no better offer we will bring it home for the member at the offered price.

Look over the list. There are several nice items at much less than new prices. If you have any question on an item, let me know. I have revised some prices down after searching the web for recent sales.

73, John, W1AN
w1an@nulldxusa.net
cell 860-536-1118, leave message

23 Oct: Some items have been sold at Nearfest and have been removed from the list. I will update as time permits. Offers still needed!

Item
1	MFJ Versa-Tuner V 3KW roller inductor Tuner (200)
2	MFJ-760C Dry Dummy Load 50 ohm 300W  (20)
3	Wavetek PP-75 Precision Preselector CATV (10)

5	Heath SB102 with book, No PS cable,  Needs Rubber O-rings, Cabinet Good, restorable (25)
6	Heath SB600 P.S., No interconnecting cable, AC plug missing, Cabinet Good (35)


9	Reecom NOAA Radio Model R1630 Specific Area message Encoding & Hazard Alert, manual is on web (20)

11	Palomar VLF coverter, 10-500KHz, IF 4.4.5MHz with 12VDC wall wart, no manual (20)
12	CALAN Star 2010SLMS CATV signal analyzer, bad battery, no charger, no manual (25)
13	National NC57 General Coverage Receiver, Powers up, hum from speaker, No signals heard,
        6SGY sockets have WE 717As a usual upgrade, no cracks in dials, Cabinet good, restorable (30)
14	SteppIR DB-18E, with SDA 1100 control box, interconnecting cables, splice kits, truss kit,
        (needs new plastic truss couplers for about $25)(2000)
15	HiQ HF Antenna, MC Series, CAGE/PRIME 4X4W4, SN 14187 (200)
16	Fluke 45 Dual display Multi-Meter Min/Max Storage (40)
17	BK Precision 1601 Variable DC Supply, Dual Meter 0-50, 2A (40)Nice Lab supply!
18	Heil Pro-Set Plus (40)

20	MFJ 259B Antenna analyzer with AC adapter (100)
21	Tektronix RM503 Oscilloscope, has trace (15)
22	Pacific Measurement Portable RF Power meter Model 1034A (40)
23	Wavetek Oscilloscope 1901C, has trace (5)
24	Radio PLus Quantum QX Loop (80)
25	Palomar VLF Converter 10-500KHz in 4-4.5MHz IF (15)
26	MFJ910 200W Mobile antenna Matcher (25)
27	Simrad Taiyo ADDF TD-L1100 (10)
28	Auto Direction Finder, missing loop antenna and power adapter (10)
29	Flex1000 SDR, 1W no power amp or tuner (350)
30	Flex5000A +VHF&UHF options, Probable 2nd receiver, receives, transmitter not yet checked (2000)
31	Misc coax cable on reels.  (save for club members, field day, etc. charge per foot)
32	Misc patch cords, serial, usb cables, connectors (2 each)
33	Rosewill 4-RS232 port full height PCI-E card (12)
34	Scanner antennas (15)
35	Heights CUA55 all aluminum crank-up tower, with options: hinged base, foldover kit, rotor shelf,
        thrust bearing, safety brake system, with factory motorized tilt and raise and cabling,
        no rebar cage ($6500) This was over $13K new. Now only 2 years old. Beautiful!
36	M2 Rotator, Control and cable, OR2800PXAZ (1300)Real Heavy duty!
37	1 Footswitch with 1/4" plug (10)
38	RCA Test Oscillator 167A, bad power cord, not tested (10)
39	Heath Electronic keyer with book, not tested (15)
40	W1VLF 9 pole low pass filter  680KHz (30)
41	W1VLF 9 pole low pass filter 1020KHz (30)
42	Trilithic AL-1 AM loop Antenna P/N 2010830000 (20)
43	Digital Measurement Wave-Node WN-2 with 2ea 1.8-60MHz filter, no accessories (75)
44	1ea Array solutions Surge/lightning arrestors AS302/AS303 (25ea)
45	Heath Condenser Checker w tuning eye, works! Antique (35) (Tuning eye worth $20)
46	4ea FRS? Handhelds, not checked, one bat cover missing (15)
47	Alpha delta 2 position Surge Protector Antenna Switch(35)
48	Rital Smart Power strip 16 outlets with digital current monitor, Fused, needs cord (80)

50	Assorted lengths copper braid for staion equip grounding ($1/ft)
51	Kramer Video Distribution amp VM-80V, New in box (200)


55	Weller 140W Soldering Gun Kit (25)
56	Sears soldering gun (10)
58	Velcro strips both sides 10-20'(15)
59	CSI/SPEC 7Amp 13.8V DC power supply, works (20)

61	DX Engineering Balun Current BAL050-HO5A 1.8-30 2KW-4KW (55) Heavy duty!
62	Radio works current balun B1-4K (20)
63	Misc. Parts and tools, connectors, cables, wres, jumpers
64	Alpha 9500 Amplifier 1.5KW HF Auto tune, Not checked yet for function

66      Pyramid 25A 13.8 V DC power supply two meters, works(75)

It’s that time again. If you are familiar with the interactive meeting notice skip down to “Topics“. This is an interactive meeting notice. What, you may ask, is an interactive meeting notice? As the phrase suggests, it is a meeting notice which requires interaction by the readers. For example: we need to have topics for presentation at the meeting; we need presenters; we need volunteers to provide lunch; we need to know who is coming to the meeting so the quantity of lunch portions may be determined, and so on. This post will be updated as interactions (comments) are appended.

Topics

1. W1AW/1 for RI – missing 20-m SSB logs
2. Discussion of Chris’ gear to Deerfield
3. Show and Tell on Titan amp repair
4. Matters Arising

Lunch provider:

Coffee and Donuts by:K3IU(Donuts)

Members who will attend: K1SD, NG1G, W1XX, K3IU, KS1J, KI1G

Venue: QTH of K1SD, at 10:00AM on Saturday, Oct 4, 2014

Please post your results for the RTTY contest here for entry into the CTRI Champions Competition.

DON’T BE LATE SUBMITTING YOUR RESULTS TO CQWW.

This from the rules…
LOG DEADLINE:

I know. Time flies. It’s hard to believe the CQWW RTTY is this weekend. I’m finishing up some cleanup and will be prepared for those who may like to operate at my QTH. There will be the usual two stations available. Let me know if you will be dropping by.

Conditions for the W1AW/1 operation this past week were very good. 12M and 10M were open into the early evenings. Could be a good for us this weekend.

w1an@nulldxusa.net

73, John W1AN

In case you missed or forgot the date on my first post, the 2nd ARRL W1AW/1 Centennial operation for CT started 9/17 Tuesday. There are many open band/mode slots available. I will have my host station open Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and next Monday and Tuesday. If you want to operate from here let me know and I will get the slot reserved for you.

For available band slots:
http://w1aw.dxusa.net

73, John, W1AN