ShopTalk Sunday: Ham Radio Field Day Weekend

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Ready for the Internet to Collapse?

Of course not.  No one is.

I mean picture a world where…

  • Credit cards no longer work.
  • Food and groceries can’t be delivered.
  • Trains don’t run.
  • Fire, medical, and police dispatch may not work.
  • No social media work.
  • Your bank’s offline until….who knows?
  • Oh, and you’re locked in whatever trading account positions you held when the web was up and the lights were on…

Fortunately, this is the weekend when ham radio types are engaged in something called Field Day.

It’s the last weekend each June and put together by the American Radio Relay League (arrl.org).  Rall back to personal comms practice.

The idea is to take some radio gear and head outside.  Pretty much anywhere that’s not “home” and “regular power.”

While the rules are outlined on the ARRL page Field Day (arrl.org).  For those of us who are hams, what matters is the Field Day Rules (arrl.org).

Ham radio really shines when conditions are bad, power’s down, and an adequate government response is not handy.

Ham radio offers something for everyone.  Several of my 75-meter pals are vision impaired – and even unsighted hams enjoy the hobby. It’s amazing what a few voice-reporting devices can do.  See, people forget how much of modern electronica was invented by hams.

There are famous hams galore. A starting point is Famous Radio Hams and What They Did for a Living – Ham Radio Insider.  (Hmm, somehow I’m not listed…)

My late friend Don Stoner (W6TNS) wrote hundreds of articles and plenty of books not only on ham radio, but also telecomputing.  Which Covid introduced to millions.  As hams, we were running computer modem tones on AM and FM radio stations (experimentally) in 1982.  Godfathers of wireless, we were.

Don call ham radio The King of Hobbies.  If you liked antennas, there was always something new and interesting to try.  If you like Public Service, the USRACES.ORG chapters have frequent nets and message handling practice sessions so there will be some way to get word passed around without phone lines and the Internet.

I always loved the smart end of the soldering gun.  Built a ton of gear when younger and even now, I love to troubleshoot pesky electronics.  Antique restorations are fun, too.  And when nothing else is going on, my rack of mid 1960’s Hallicrafters gear is a constant source of pleasure.  The company – founded in 1932 started in consumer radios and got seriously into shortwave gear of all sorts. Hallicrafters Company, est. 1932 – Made-in-Chicago Museum.

Point is, if you see a bunch of people in a public park, or at a State Park site with strange antennas and such, go over an introduce yourself.  Hams are great people and they’re out all over the place this weekend.

NO MORSE CODE REQUIRED – hasn’t been for years. Though it’s still a very valuable skill.  A good operator can still Morse faster than you can text, too.

Buying Used Ham Radio Gear

It’s an art form. You can get a ham radio for anywhere from $20 and up on eBay these days.

My home office, as you might expect, looks more like a Mad Scientist’s lab than a functional human space.  On any shelve you look at, you’re likely to find a pile of radio gear.  Let me introduce you to some very nice – well cared-for – equipment.  Let’s talk prices.

Top shelf, L-R is an 1960s Hallicrafters transmitter – an HT-40.  AM voice and Morse only.  To its right is the match HA-5 VFO (variable frequency oscillator).

In early radio history, frequency of transmitters was controlled by quartz crystals.  Eventually, stable techniques (like the heterodyning system in the HA-5) allowed extremely stable transmitters to be built.  Which evolved from there into solid-state phase locked loops and now DDS (direct digital synthesis).

There’s no particular receiver paired with this transmitter set-up, though when I’ve used it, one of the Drake 2B/2BQ’s (a speaker-q multiplier) is dandy set of ears.  (Bought the HA-5 from reader WoRR who posts comments often and is a serious quality gear guy.)

Second shelf down (top row) is a 10-watt, all band, all mode capable radio that you can buy today for about $2o0 including shipping online.  See the website uBITX V6 – HF SIGNALS for ordering information.  I’ve had a ton of fun with this radio working low power (QRP) all over the world.  Mainly on CW (continuous wave – Morse code).  On the right is a spare ATS-25 all band receiver which could be paired with the top shelf transmitter above.

Middle of the second shelf down is a Ten Tec Jupiter.  Ten Tec has kind of come and gone over the years.  They’re an American company and their most recent higher end equipment is the NEW 588+ OMNI-VII+ Tx/Rx – (tentec.com).  Set you back about $2,700 bucks.  I snagged the 10-year old Jupe for about $500. Still a great radio.

To give you an idea about how particular hams are, Ten Tec made a great reputation for having the best, quietest transmit-receiver switching in the world. Coupled with the very low noise receiver and it’s really good gear, though it can be a challenge maintaining older gear.

Next to it is an MFJ (Mississippi-based co.) antenna tuner.  Literally, you and throw any old length of wire (over 20-feet, or so) up in a tree and make it “play worldwide” if you’re skilled and band conditions are good.

Then down on the bottom (left to right):  An Icom marine M-710.  This is one I tend to use mainly on the channelized HF 60-meter band band.

Last radio in the pile is a Kenwood TS-430 which has served us well over the years.  Good receiver, predictable transmit.  No built-in tuner, but hey!  Works great.

Moving Down the Bench…

Long ago in my broadcast news days, I did the odd voice-over for Icom product introduction videos.  Icom being in Bellevue, WA very near home.  Best radios ever?  The 761’s:

With luck, you can still pick these up on eBay for about $600 each and they are extremely good transceivers.  Even has a built-in automatic tuner and an electronic keyer.  They came with all the filters installed, too.  But with parts scalpers on eBay, pays to ask and make sure they’re still all present.

Maintenance hasn’t been too bad.  The top radio repair of the digital display (display comes and goes – cold solder joint under the display inverter, well described issue and fix) still hasn’t crawled to the top of my “Do List.”

Bottom radio is ready for recapping of the built-in power supply which is nearly identical to the PS-35 supply.  Cap kits run $50 bucks, or so.  Again, waiting for higher items to get off the Do List.

Back to Field Day…

It’s a day when hams not only rack up lots of contacts on the air, but also when hams jawbone endlessly about their favorite radio adventures.  Mine date back to helping a friend install the Drake TR-3 ham station on the Space Needle in Seattle some billions of years ago. Early 60s.

A few years back, as news director of KOL, I did an on-air live interview with long-ago retired Continental Airlines captain Ed Wolkowitz driving a DC-10 heavy SeaTac down to Denver.  Described the zone of totality from 31,000 feet over Pendleton, Oregon.

Son G2 (KF7OCD) has done two-meter DX work under canopy while jumping at Sky Dive Spaceland.  I’ve done a bit of 2-meters from the plane when we had it.

G2 has also done 2-meters while snow camping atop Mount Washington, in Wn cold the state.

With G2 tied up with his emergency medical schedule for the weekend, I’ll be staying inside today.  Not going for points, but if you’re around the CW end of the 20-meter band, see you there.

And if your kids have never seen hams in action before?  Go visit any of the clubs that are set up and on the air this weekend.

Radio – taken to the streets – is, at least for now mainly fun.  May it always be so. (But don’t count on it!)

Write when you get rich and –…   …–

George@Ure.net (ac7x)

40 thoughts on “ShopTalk Sunday: Ham Radio Field Day Weekend”

  1. During the 1940s, when World War II was breaking out across Europe, Hedy Lamarr had an idea for a communication system that would guide allied torpedos with radio signals. Her idea included a way that could prevent the enemy from “jamming” the signal by switching to different radio frequencies. She named her idea “frequency hopping.”

    https://intrans.iastate.edu/news/hedy-lamarr-secret-inventor/

  2. Good morning George. I agree there is a high possibility of the internet and perhaps the whole grid going down. Can I ask you or one of your ham operator friends to recommend a battery supported HAM receiver if there is such a thing? It would allow this old codger the opportunity to listen to what is going on in the world but not necessarily participate. Thanks.

    Have a good day.

      • thanks for sharing that G
        I was wondering the same thing BIC was wondering.. I personally don’t really want to interact if such a time happens but want to be able to scan the air waves for whatever is going on in the world

      • Thank you George. I checked it out and ready to purchase. I understand it has its own rechargeable battery. What if the power grid is down.? Is their any way to connect with normal batteries or use normal batteries to charge the rechargeable battery?

        • I’d have to pop mine open – think (memory is a dangerous thing at this age!) that it’s with a USB charger.
          Just told WoRR that I might do an article on it for next weekend’s ShopTalk – maybe go through a basic list of functions and where to listen and when…

        • George that would great if you can do an article on that radio. Mines supposed to show up on Friday! Thanks!

        • The charging interface is USB — 1850mAh wall wort recommended. It has been my experience that USB-charged appliances will charge, even via an old 180mW computer port (just takes time)… I should think any solar panel or crank-generator with a USB (or 5VDC) output would recharge the battery. Whether a battery swap is feasible…well, you’ll have to wait for George to take his radio apart, because my mini-receiver is an old ATS-20. The ATS-20 is the size of one pack of “Camel W I D E S” cigarettes; the ATS-25, the size of two boxes of Dunhills or packs of Virginia Slims Wides (IOW these things are tiny!)

      • My ATS-25 is scheduled for delivery 6-27-23.
        Thank you for offering a tutorial next Sunday.

    • The plain old regular AM radio band is a true winner — especially at night — for long-range but highly useful information. (One reason us Emergency Comunications workers want it kept alive.) FM is nice, but fairly local — which is important — but in a true Strategic Big-Time Emergency, longer-range intel becomes vital. At night, here in central North Carolina, I can easily hear New York, WASHDC, Chicago, Detroit, Cincinatti, Nashville, Atlanta, Fort Wayne, Miami, and many many others on plain old AM.

      Just tune all those “in-between” channels twixt the local Big Gun Blowtorch stations. They’re there; and heavily populated.

      -73-

      • Check out CC Crane for their directional Loop Antennas for the AM band. Those things will triple to quadruple the distance you can hear an AM station, taking one that you can’t even hear to being almost right next door to you.

        You don’t have to buy one from CC Crane, but looking at their catalogue gives you an idea of what they are, the different varieties of them, and how they match up with an AM radio. (some you just set next to the AM radio, don’t need to hook any wires up)

        ALSO get a listing of the AM Clear Channel stations (I may do a list and post it in a few days). Mine is organized two ways, 1) by frequency … 2) by state /city.

        By doing that you just look up say Illinois/Chicago and voila you have the fequency and call sign of any Clear Channel AM station in metro Chicago. (ditto NY City, ditto Detroit etc.). Not all big cities have a Clear Channel station, when they were being apportioned out in the 1920’s not all currently big cities were big cities back then so they didn’t get one. The frequency list is good if you are just scrolling down the band, find a powerful signal, and can check and see where it is physically located.

    • I will second George’s choice of the ATS-25 as a great radio. I used mine with a whip antenna under a steel roof to listen to our inter-island 40 meter nets when I could not participate. It would be my first choice for all purpose monitoring.

  3. I’m currently telecommuting. Power failures almost always black out my comms, but if the power stays on, I can get to work. I have 6KWH batteries and an inverter I use as a UPS which can be re-tasked for small-scale solar. Not enough for running the computers all day, but enough to keep the DC freezer on, and recharge critical devices.
    The closest clusters of chain grocery and box stores are at 8 and 11 miles. There is a Brahms and convenience stores at around 4.6 miles. A dollar store is at around 6 miles. My tested pedaling endurance is 12 mi. I need to extend that to 24+ miles this summer. I need an efficient bike trailer as well. $$$.
    Back-up spring water is 0.5 mile away. I am on speaking terms with the owner. I have surface water that can be purified. Nothing but dry holes up here on the ridge.
    Do you have a supply of antiseptic and antibiotic creams and ointments laid in?
    Have you thought any of this hard-times logistics through at Ure locations?

    • If it really gets to that point a good shoulder holster for your favorite “Peace Keeper” might be in order. I’m going to check with some local boot makers to see what they can do for me in that regard. Not cheap but I haven’t seen a good off-the-shelf holster that looks as if it would last for years the way a well-made leather crafter would make them. There was a company on Ebay that made some really good looking holsters but their prices doubled last year. If I’m going to spend that much I’m going to do it locally.

  4. What? No Collins S Line gear? That was top-of-the-line stuff 60 years ago. We had a Collins station at Ft. Belvoir and others in Greenland when I was in USAPR&DC (Army polar research & development center) and used it on MARS. Lots cheaper than phoning home long distance at the time.

    • While I have a deep and abiding respect for Collins gear in general, the later S-lines in particular and that big mutha 30-S1 amplifier, I was never that big a fan of Art Collin’s receivers. They were simply too sharp and – to my ear – too harsh sounding as a result of no bottom end.
      The Hallicrafters radios like the SX-117 (to a lesser extent the horribly overpriced SX-115’s and the “still haven’t found one SX-88s…) were much more pleasing over the long term.
      Modern day ham rigs may feature more predictable bandwidth, but again DSP makes then, too, more harsh sounding.
      You take my SX-111 and HT-37, or the SX-117/HT-44 and Loudenboomer amplifier? Yes, on pure technical grounds, Collins m ay have looks better on paper, but on the air (depending on which mechanical filters were in the Collins) it was not something you could look forward to using for a six-hour late night rag chewing session on 40 or 75 meters.
      DX into Europe in humongous pile-ups of thousands of stations, Collins would have been a better choice.
      But in terms of raw old school CW, a normal l/c filtering system and maybe a Q-multiplier for additional narrowing, was a far better choice. For pure CW work, the HT-40, Drake 2B/Q and HA-5 were great and the other Drake 2B/Q is paired up with a Gonset GSB-100 phasing SSB rig and a Johnson Thunderbolt amp. Pound brass and work all over the world with that kind of gear – no operator fatigue!!!

      Should mention my experience with Collins was mainly a KWM-2 and 30-S1 at the old Murphy Dome ACW station outside Fur Banks…lol

  5. There is a certain ineffable quality to the SOUND of the older, analog (even tube!) radios. A “smoothness,” an easy-to-use-ness that many of the feature-saturated newest digital doo-dads lack. Hard to explain.

    Hallicrafters iron here included S-107 (my first shortwave receiver), SX-140K the kit-built style companion to AC7X’s HT-40 — which I also had one of, kit built. SX-110, S-120A — (yes the “A,” the very rare solid-state version), the TO-Keyer (which I still have and use). Primarily, however, I was a “Drake man.” R4B, T4xB with a Dentron Clipperton L afterburner for 1KW PEP. Sold them off in a time of financial distress, and rue the day. Still have my extremely unique Drake SPR-4 all gussied up as a faux “ITT Mackay Marine type 3022PX” sales demonstrator from a failed private label deal that Mackay never bought into. Only three ever built, and this one is probably the last one in existence. Still works perfectly, and is a dream to use. Sounds WONderful. (Circa 1970) Inside it’s a perfectly stock SPR-4 — just with an Art Dept gussied up faux front panel. Came to me via “certain shady government connections,” free. (Some outfits used tons of SPR-4s in the day.)

    Gotta lotta Jap Krappe here of much more recent vintage, and it all works nicely enough — but the Old Stuff is pure magik, man. Pure magik.

    • You’d go nuts looking at my “rebuilding queue” here.
      SX-25 Super Defiant from WW II
      Johnson Viking with outboard VFO
      Johnson Pacemaker SSB exciter
      Plus a lovingly cared for Wells-Gardiner BC-348Q contributed by a marvelous reader who heard of my penchant for olde geare.
      I need to live a long time to rebuild the whole list, but it’s by-God fun and an art…
      G2 is pushing me to sell off a lot of it. Like the Herathkit HR-10 I modded and gdt down to a -135 dnm on 80 meters only. Still stone deaf on 15 and 10 because of the daft oscillator/mixer lashup choice.. but great on the low bands with the DX-60/HG-10…
      I too miss my drake twins and L4. Damn, I wish you hadn’t brought them up…

      • I had use of a S line station while working as a Tech on an Army Tropo/Iono scatter station on Kauai in 1962. Backup, sort of to reach the other scatter stations across the Pacific. i remember talking on SSB to another one if our hams on Palau; speaking for all our Techs there, he put in an urgent request that we send them a large quantity of condoms.

        Also there b4 that station there, I had use of a BC-Xxx transmitter without a key. I managed to contact a ham within 4 blocks of my girlfriend’s college dorm in Radford VA just using bare tipped wires in each hand! He got her the msg and we visited him the next year.

      • “SX-25 Super Defiant from WW II”

        That was fun. Mine was used on an uncharted “spotter island” in the Pacific. It came still packed in the original wood case. This is my “nightstand radio…”

        Do you like your HT-40? Mine is a-way down my resto pile. I’ve lusted after an HT-20 for years, though…

        The SX-115 on eBay is down to $1200. The last time an SX-88 came up, I sent the link here in a comment, also mentioning that at $4950BIN it would probably be gone before you woke up, and it was. Personally, I don’t know, between the two. The 115 was the only triple-conversion boatanchor Hallicrafters ever made, but a museum-quality resto on an 88 would probably put it on the same page as the IC-9500, pricewise…

        BTW, read this and weep (I did…)

        https://schulmanauction.hibid.com/lot/102906034/hallicrafters-sx-88-receiver

        I obviously need to write meself a new PERL script…

  7. I, too, would be interested in more info on the ATS 25. I depend on internet to tell me what’s going on in the world. I seldom leave my house so would really miss some form of communication. Some simple way to monitor events sounds like just what I need.

  8. I grew up with tubes and saw a lot of different rigs over the years, but I refuse to collect ‘boat anchors’. I don’t have the space. Late in my broadcast career I had to learn digital technology and the inner workings of digital High Definition TV. The upper frequency limits of bit slicing technology have been extended well into the microwave frequencies. Over George’s objections, I am still a huge fan of my IC-7300 that does everything needed or wanted, without the customary and usual analog anomalies of heterodyning, ringing, birdies, etc. Direct digital conversion of the incoming RF received signal allows all processing to be done in software. Some of the sharpest bandpass filtering ever made… with no ringing. SSB square blocks on the bandscope with no splatter. It is the cleanest transmitter ever.
    But I know where George is stuck… Cue Joe Walsh, ‘Analog Man’
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YkAnv8inQE&list=OLAK5uy_mz0hpcYPqwHro4MnHJ5-7AkmpfgMfw9qE
    (Listen to the words)

  9. George,

    Global Crash of Equities, commodities, and crypto over next 4 weeks ..

    Nikkei: a Mar 2020 Maximum Valuation Growth Series: x.2-2.5x/2x :: 8/18/16 months with a characteristic terminal second fractal nonlinear lower low gap between week 71 and 72 of month 18 of the 18 month second fractal interpolated in a slightly longer Mar 2020 Nikkei Valuation Decay Series: y/2-2.5y/2-2.5y :: 8/18/17 months.

    http://www.economicfractalist.com/blog/

  10. Hey BCN, You catch any of this? [ being XRP’s cousin and all the portfolio is 100% smiling this morning]. I Would suspect that Mr. Market is telegrapahing that BlackRock is going to get their way with converting Grayscale[s] to a Spot ETF[s]. Hear that Homegamers? its the sound of a Tidal Wave arriving in the distance

    https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/15/blackrock-files-for-spot-bitcoin-etf-with-coinbase-as-a-crypto-custodian.html

    Could you imagine what GXRP would be telegraphing right now if it wasnt clawed back off of the retail exchange channels? Id say this is a big poker tell for whats coming !

    https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/GXLM/

    Got Blockchain? Not Advice so your own home work

    [XLM = RETAIL RAIL, XRP = INSTITUTIONAL RAIL] Epic, BTC to $250K post halvening. Giddy Up.

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