The September 2018 Communicator

We're Back! Here is the latest Communicator 

After our Summer recess we have over 50 pages of Amateur Radio News from the South West corner of Canada and elsewhere. You will find Amateur Radio related articles, profiles, news, tips and how-to's. You can download it as a .PDF file directly from 
goo.gl/8Kekuo

http://goo.gl/8Kekuo

As always, thank you to our contributors, and your feedback is always welcome.  My deadline for the October edition is September 14th. If you have news or events from your Vancouver area club or photos, stories, projects or other items of interest from elsewhere, please email them to the communicator@ve7sar.net

Keep visiting this site for regular updates and news.

~ 73,
  John VE7TI
  Communicator Editor

My Screwdriver Antenna Experiences

Even On A Compact SUV

Some of you may be familiar with the Hi-Q line of mobile HF antennas. SEPAR has several, a choice prompted by the need for a relatively compact, portable HF antenna that is quick to set-up in the field, at least until a more robust antenna can he erected. As an RV’er I decided that I needed a usable mobile HF antenna that I could erect quickly, but that would provide me with a worthwhile HF experience. There is nothing worse than spending hours at the radio and not hearing a soul on the air!

In order, my criteria were:

• Performance 
• Size;
• Ease of set-up (not necessarily speed);
• Ruggedness; and
• Solid mount

I researched a number of mobile HF antennas including the Buddipole and Tarheel products. Not to bad-mouth these other products, but I tried both and was not satisfied that they would meet my expectations. I was impressed by the quality of construction and military spec components of the Hi-Q. Performance reports were good (provided it is properly installed) and it met my needs for ease of transport and mounting.

Hi-Q antennas are made in the workshop of Charlie Gyenes, W6HIQ, VA7HIQ in Wildomar, CA about 150 Km SE of Los Angeles. Charlie has been supplying these antennas for over 20 years and is a supplier to the US military and NASA. I visited Charlie to pick up my Hi-Q  and he is an interesting, though opinionated fellow who came to the US from Hungary via Canada during the 1956 revolution. Charlie worked for Boeing before setting out on his own.

Charlies’s workshop is modest, consisting of a medium sized building beside his home. When I visited, he had about 20 Hi-Q’s ready to go. He also showed me several military antennas—ruggedized versions of the Hi-Q, and a huge VLF antenna which was to be installed aboard a US Navy submarine. His test equipment is impressive and his greatest joy is in developing new concepts which can be incorporated into his antenna designs. I mentioned Charlie was opinionated… he pulls no punches when describing his competition and he is obviously very proud of his product. 

Before we left, Charlie’s wife, a lovely lady, insisted on preparing lunch before we headed out with the antenna. 

Some Mis-steps

Arriving at our Palm Springs RV Resort, I set up the antenna on a satellite stand, a setup we had used with SEPAR at community displays. This antenna is a typical screwdriver design, the coil being contained in a 20cm diameter plastic housing. A rotor moves up or down the inside of the coil to decrease or increase the virtual length of the antenna, thereby tuning it to the appropriate frequency. To complete that process, the user can use something as simple as a toggle switch, a turns counter, or a third party automatic antenna tuner. I had opted to purchase Charlie’s turns counter, basically a switch box with an LED numeric display that shows how many turns are in the antenna circuit. This worked but I found it less precise and it was easy to under or overshoot the target frequency with just one rotation. 

Palm Springs is in a ‘bowl’, surrounded by tall mountains, I found that the antenna performed well for strong stations within 1000 Km, but was not stellar for DX.

The ‘Right’ Set-up

This year we sold the RV but I still wanted to be able to travel with the Hi-Q to operate mobile. We stay in an RV Resort with antenna restrictions, but they do not cover antennas on vehicles. We often travel with bicycles and my wife suggested I find a way to mount it on the car’s bike carrier (see photo below). This also permitted me to easily remove either just the antenna or the rack and antenna. I added a ground strap to the frame and also added a current balun to the feedline. Additionally, I extend about 20ft of plain hookup wire directly out from the rear of the vehicle... kind of a counterpoise. With this revised setup and my Icom 7000 (100 Watts max.) I worked the CQ WW DX contest. What a difference! Granted the conditions were excellent and even the high bands were open but the results were immediate and surpassed any previous use of the Hi-Q. I worked stations throughout the US, Canada and the Caribbean. I also worked Portugal, Mexico, Japan and added two new countries, Curacao and Cape Verde—the latter my first African contact. On all bands I got an SWR less than 1.6 and as low as 1.1 on 20m.

I’ve  now purchased the automatic tuner for use with my Icom, a purchase that I hope will ease tuning and further improve my portable station. Given my recent experience, I’d recommend this set-up for anyone with strata restrictions wishing to operate HF.

More info at: http://www.hiqantennas.com/

The Hi-Q with whip is 12' high

The bicycle mount provides enough height to
work HF, even on the low bands

Brett - Where to start?

Jim Smith VE7FO Also Remembers Brett

My own involvement with SARC started when I was recruited by John VE7TI, as a Field Day operator. 

There are many enjoyable ways of conducting FD which range from everyone sitting around the BBQ, telling stories and making a few contacts to the hard core contest style where everybody goes all out to WIN.

I was told that it would be a hard core, win for Canada, situation.  Being a hard core contester myself I took the bait.

Well, it turned out that the operators, while enthusiastic, didn't have the HF contest experience necessary to achieve the goal.  Nonetheless, it was obvious that the potential was there so, once FD was over, I joined the Club and made a FD training proposal to the Exec with the goal of winning for Canada, which was accepted. 

This training started in October (I think) and ran until next year's FD.  It consisted of many formal training sessions including class room style and participation in the major contests, during which the ops received coaching on the operating techniques for maximizing the number of contacts per hour.

This would be a very significant investment of time for the trainees.  Brett realized that many people might be worried about this so he started a "Get Your Feet Wet" program to provide a low commitment introduction to contesting so that they could see whether or not they liked it. 

Here's how it worked.

A potential trainee would sign up for an hour or two of operating time during a major contest.

The trainee would operate the contest while being mentored by one of the experienced members, with no requirement that he sticks to it for his entire shift. 

If, after 15 minutes or whatever, the trainee says, "This is not for me" and ends his session then it will be obvious that attending the formal training would not be a good use of his time.

Conversely, if he really enjoyed the experience then he was more disposed to make the time commitment required by the formal training.

Brett managed the whole thing.

Altogether, a stroke of genius on his part.

Some trainees enjoyed the Get Your Feet Wet program so much that they repeated it three times!

Brett was also very involved in the formal training and was a great help to me.

Did the training achieve the #1 Canada goal?  No, but we did move up to #2.  After a 2nd year of training we made it to #1.

Brett was both persuasive and persistent.  Over the course of several years on the FD Committee he kept pointing out that some QRP FD operations did VERY well using only 5 watts of power, making better scores than us with 100W.  (QRP is ham lingo for operating at 5W or less.)  The way that the FD scoring is set up, a CW contact using more than 100 watts is worth 1 point, one using 5 to 100 watts is worth 2 points and one made using less than 5W is worth a big 5 points.    Sounds like a no-brainer.  You want to maximize the points?  Go QRP.  Just one problem.  People find it hard to hear you so you get fewer contacts per hour.

Finally, the FD Committee started paying attention to his point of view and consulted propagation predictions to see what we might be able to do with just 5W.  Hoo boy!!  With some adjustment to the antenna lineup we could do very well indeed.

Did we?  We sure did.

 

Shattered the Canadian record for all categories.

Out of 2,719 FD stations in the US and Canada in 2015, some with more than 10 transmitters and most running 100W, we ranked #91 with our 3 transmitters and 5W.

Altogether a VERY significant achievement which any club would be proud of.

Wouldn't have happened without Brett.

We were very fortunate to have had Brett as a member.

Brett's gone

Damn!

~ Jim Smith VE7FO

Remembering Brett Garrett VE7GM - SK

One of the 20%

They often say that 20% of a given membership do 80% of the work... Brett was one of the 20%, no, more like 5%. An active member of both the Surrey Amateur Radio Club (SARC) and Surrey Emergency Program Amateur Radio (SEPAR), Brett freely shared his knowledge and led Surrey Amateurs to two very successful Field Days.

Brett VE7GM Silent Key

Brett first got his ham license around 1967, and enjoyed doing a little youthful operating before life got in the way.  

In 2012, John Brodie shared a memory of an early encounter with Brett:

"I was licensed in 1960 when I was in 10th grade at Prince of Wales High School.  After graduating in 1962 I put ham radio aside as I began my Engineering education.  My ham radio gear in those days consisted of mostly post WW2 vintage odds and ends of the “low budget” variety, scrounged, donated by ham friends or purchased with paper route earnings.  
Before retirement, my father worked at C Gardner Johnson, ships agents in Vancouver for the Swedish Johnson Line and Japanese Mitsui OSK.  One of his colleagues was a man which we children only knew as “Mr. Garrett”.   Since I knew that there would be no ham radio in my life for a few years, I disposed of all my gear.  The receiver, a military version RCA ACR-3 behemoth weighing about 100 lb, went to an aspiring ham in the neighbourhood named Bill Coltart who, through research on the RAC registry, I find is VE7BMM.  The remainder went to my father’s colleague, “Mr. Garrett” whose son, I was told, was interested in ham radio. 

At the time I never met the son, and wondered if he had gone on to get licensed and involved in the hobby.  Now I know.  He is our Brett Garrett VE7GM, a relatively new member of SARC and now a Director, who, like me, came back to the hobby after several decades away and was featured in last month’s “RadioActive”.  Garrett is an enthusiastic participant in club activities, including the CW subgroup of the “Operator Skills Training” and contesting program started last Fall. The photo shows Brett returning the “junk”, including a Harvey Wells TBS-50 transmitter to its former owner."

Brett first became intrigued with ham radio as a sixth grader.  His interest in electronics began when his father bought him a radio kit.   A school administrator discovered his intense interest in electronics, and suggested to his mother that perhaps he should consider getting a ham license.  Brett soon began attending ham classes run by the Vancouver Club in a member's basement, and succeeded in getting his license.  

'Back in the day' when VE7GM got licensed, Morse code was a requirement for a Basic license, and operators had to show proficiency at 10 w.p.m.   After assembling some equipment, Brett began operating HF on 80 and 40 meters using code.

Move forward several decades and Brett refreshed his Basic with Honours, Morse and Advanced qualifications. SARC was pleased to have this long-time ham join the club after he became active again. He went on to become a Director, Vice-President in fact, and also became active in SEPAR. It was Brett's interest on the emergency communications side of Amateur Radio that sparked his renewed interest in the hobby.  Having taken early retirement from his career as a Power Systems engineer for BC Hydro, Brett became more concerned with community level emergency preparedness after the Japanese quake and tsunami.  He ran into then SEPAR Coordinator Kelvin Hall VA7KPH at a local swap meet, and decided to get back into the hobby, and get involved. 

Brett trains SARC Members Nell and Ralph for contesting

For the 2012 BC QSO Party, he operated from his home station, which he'd just gotten operational the day before.  While not much of a 'rag chewer', Brett found the contest environment to be an enjoyable and satisfying operating environment.

Brett looked forward to refreshing his CW skills, advancing from his 15 to his target of a solid 30 w.p.m.  Towards that end, Brett became actively involved in the SARC Contesting/Operating Skills training program led by Fred Orsetti VE7IO and Jim Smith VE7FO. That program, with Brett's capable help, brought forth many of the skilled contesters we now have at SARC. Describing the experience as 'just terrific', Brett reported that he'd learned a great deal, while having lots of fun in the process. 

Living in the Crescent Beach area until recently, with somewhat limited antenna space, Brett operated an IC-7000 on a 20 meter dipole at about 4.5 meters high. After his mother passed a couple of years ago, Brett decided to move to some property he had on Green Lake with the intention of building his dream station. As a result we saw less of him, although he was occasionally available in town for coffee and the annual SARC Christmas Party.

Brett said more than once that he was very happy to have become active in the Surrey-White Rock Amateur Radio community, and was grateful that hams, who have so much capability and knowledge, are so generous in sharing their time and experience.  Having seasoned operators willing to sit down and really help you made all the difference.  For him, the club experience and the high caliber people who were there to help, was a recipe for enthusiasm and inspiration that pushed him to go further and try harder.  

We will miss Brett.

Brett is presented with a certificate by Jim VE7FO
for his tireless work training SARC members in contesting

Chronology Of A Tower Installation - Part 3

The Communicator Revisited - October 2012

Phase 3: Its a Tower!

Part 2 of my chronology in last month’s Communicator took us to the completion of the concrete pour.  Since then I decided not to grout beneath the base plate, as grouting seemed likely to cause retention of moisture and possibly lead to corrosion; also, the leveling nuts would no longer be adjustable. 

After the concrete set for a couple of weeks, I invited the willing crew over once more to help me move the tower from its storage location onto the base and bolt it to the hinge.  This tower weighs something like 800 lb. so 3 or more persons are required to lift it.  Although I still had the old bolts from the previous owner, the threads were in poor condition therefore I elected to purchase new ¾ inch galvanized Grade 5 bolts from Princess Auto.  With the two hinge bolts in place, we installed the tower lifting device and attached its cable to the tower.  

The hand winch was able to handle the lift easily as we slowly raised the tower to a vertical position [left] and bolted the 3rd leg.  The leveling screws under the base plate were adjusted to get the tower perfectly plumb [right].  For the next week, I did not raise the tower higher, but just sat back and admired it before eventually lowering it to the ground once again.  I installed a mast and rotator – a Ham III – half way up the top-most section of tower, and connected an 8-conductor cable to both rotator and controller.  After testing to see if the mast rotated as it should (it did), I attached my 2m/440 vertical to the mast and once again raised the tower to a vertical position.
  

Spirit level in hand, Rob VE7CZV oversees quality control and gives ‘thumbs-up’
that the final product is secure and plumb.

Since then I have cranked up the tower sections to a height of about 35 ft. at which height it has remained for the last 2 weeks to “introduce it to the neighbours”.  So far, there has been no sign of the lynch mob!  

Three ground rods are embedded in concrete at the edges of the concrete footing.  I connected each of these to its respective leg of the tower with #4 copper wire, using two stainless steel hose clamps.  The copper wire is separated from the galvanized tower leg with a piece of 1/8” x ¾” x 3” stainless steel in order to discourage galvanic corrosion which could be expected if the two dissimilar metals were in intimate contact.  The other end of each ground wire is fastened to the copper-plated ground rod by bronze clamps.  Before assembling the clamps and conductors, I smeared the surfaces with GB Ox-Gard paste (from Home Depot) to discourage oxidation and maintain a good electrical bond.   What’s next?  I am waiting for a new 3-element beam, good for 40 m through 6 m and will attach it to the mast when it arrives in a couple of months.  Then, I look forward to snagging some good DX in the winter months with my 100 watts.

~ John VA7XB

Chronology Of A Tower Installation - Part 2

A Communicator Reprise: September 2012

Phase 2 - The Foundation

Last month I described my efforts to factor in the various constraints at my QTH around location and installation of a self-supporting tower, and then to begin digging the foundation hole.  Persistent effort with the shovel and jackhammer gradually got the job done over a period of 3 weeks, with the hole ultimately reaching the design depth of 6 ½ ft deep.  

Soil from the last 2 ft had to be loosened, shoveled into buckets and lifted out by rope.   I was lucky to encounter no significant amount of water or large boulders, just stones and stiff clay, the latter of which turned mushy if allowed to get wet after loosening and before removal.  The result was a hole of desired dimensions with vertical, competent sides and no need for formwork below grade.  I actually made the hole 60 in x 63 in wide, which is larger than the 4.5 ft x 4.5 ft called for in the spec.


Next I purchased re-bar in 20 ft lengths and constructed the reinforcing cage later to be lowered into the hole.  This proved to be a challenge as rebar does not easily bend and moreover, it tends to bend where you don’t want it.  After some experimentation and initially poor results, I made a bending jig that allowed all the critical pieces to be fabricated to identical size and shape.  Bending was done with a 2 ft piece of steel pipe inserted over the rebar, held in place in a vice or in the jig.  I then assembled the various pieces of rebar into the final configuration by first driving the 8 vertical elements a short distance into the ground to temporarily hold them upright, then tie-wrapping the horizontal elements one-by-one to the vertical elements from the ground upwards.  I left off the top elements initially to limit the weight while the cage was lowered into the hole, then added them later once the cage was in place.  The contraption was rather wobbly until surrounded by concrete.


After completing the rebar cage by adding the final horizontal elements in situ, a head frame of the required size was fabricated from 2x6 and 2x10 lumber, positioned over the hole and the rebar cage and shimmed level.  Some finishing details were added to the frame to give the final product a beveled edge.  I then made up a temporary 2x4 support for the steel tower base which I had purchased from the manufacturer, US Towers.  Prior to this I had acquired three 27 inch long bolts of correct ASTM specs from a local supplier, Trydor in Surrey (half the price of ordering from US Towers).   The assembly was placed on the frame in readiness for concrete to be poured. I had also acquired three copper-plated steel ground rods which were hung from the outside edge of the frame to be embedded into the edges of the concrete.

The foundation required about 6.5 cu. yd of concrete, but ready-mix was not feasible for several reasons, so it all had to be mixed manually.  For this I had 8 cu. yd of Navvy Jack delivered along with 42 bags of cement and moved it all to the back yard in readiness for the pour.  At this point, I called for assistance as the pour had to be done all at one time, and this was more concrete than one or two persons could easily manage in a single day.  Sean VA7CHX, Anton  VE7SSD, John VE7TI and Ed (a non-ham friend) came to my rescue.
  

We set up two rented mixers next to the hole with the Navvy Jack, cement and water close by.  I also rented a concrete vibrator which was lowered into the mix periodically during the pour and used to remove entrained air and distribute the concrete around the rebar and anchor bolts.  Starting at 0730 on a warm Thursday morning, the crew continued mixing and pouring until the job was done around 1300.  The top was leveled with a screed, then left for an hour or two to partially set before finishing the surface.  The forms were removed the next day and the concrete kept moist for several days thereafter during the hot weather to improve curing. 

This tower is hinged at the base and can be raised and lowered with a special fixture and hand winch, making erection a relatively simple matter.   Shortly, I plan to temporarily connect the tower to the base, raise it to a vertical position then adjust the leveling nuts below the base to ensure the tower will be absolutely plumb.  Once I am satisfied with this, I will remove the tower and fill in the space beneath the base with thin-set mortar.  The tower will again be attached to the base and raised.  Our next installment will describe these steps.


~John Brodie VA7XB

Chronology Of A Tower Installation - Part 1

The Communicator Revisited - August 2012

Phase 1 - Preparation

The original plan was to document my experience with a planned tower installation at the new QTH, starting with first encounter at Surrey Municipal Hall, continuing with preparations on the ground, then concluding with the actual tower erection. This journey started 6 months ago shortly after I had moved into my new abode, when I made inquires about the procedure for erecting a tower and beam. My application for a building permit was refused by Surrey. Because of some legal sensitivities, I am going to defer my discussion of further developments with the municipality, and simply say that the installation is now going ahead – the bureaucratic hurdles to be reported at a later date. 

Major physical problems to be resolved: 

how to actually dig the hole since a machine cannot (legally) get access to the back yard; 

where to dispose of the large volume of soil that will be removed; 

how to get ready-mix concrete from the street into the hole, once completed, or alternatively should I make up my own concrete? 

Last week I confirmed the location of the proposed tower and began digging the hole. Chief among my concerns was the need to have the tower sufficient offset from the property line so that the beam will not hang over my neighbour’s property. In addition, because my lot is heavily treed, I needed to spot it where branches will not interfere now or later. 

Soils in this area of Surrey are comprised of dense glacial till, which typically contain a random mixture of clay, sand, stones and boulders. The good news is that such soils being stiff and difficult to erode, can often be excavated without slumping or over excavation, which means vertical walls on the excavation. The bad news is that they make for difficult digging… my situation exactly. 

The US Tower design calls for an excavation 4.5 ft square, 6.5 ft deep, with a re-bar cage embedded in about 5 cu.yd of concrete. I elected to dig the hole by hand – I may come to regret this decision. 

Here is my log of progress so far:

Day 1: marked out the location of the excavation, removed the sod and 6 inches of topsoil. Continued down another 6” for an overall depth of 12 in. Not bad for the first day.

Day 2: Encountering stones embedded in clay which could only be dislodged with a steel bar or mattock. Got down another 6”.

Day 3: The stones and clay are so difficult to penetrate that only slow progress with hand tools is possible. Removed another 6” with the greatest of difficulty. I am now down to 2 ft depth. Mercy!

Day 4: Encountered a small area of soft sand, which was easily removed. The remaining 2/3 of the hole bottom is covered with a hard layer that appears to be rock! Is this a buried boulder? I exposed this layer to allow deployment of more aggressive techniques.

Day 5: Rented a jackhammer and, to my great relief, found that the feared rock is actually cemented clay containing weathered rock which can be broken loose.  After half a day with the jackhammer and shovel, the hole is now 3 ft. deep. From here on it gets difficult to pitch the soil out of the hole into a wheelbarrow with a shovel, so I may have to use a bucket, rope and pulley. 

Stay tuned for further progress.

~ John Brodie VA7XB