WEBVTT 00:00:09.719 --> 00:00:12.560 Thanks for tuning in. HamTalk Live will be on 00:00:12.560 --> 00:00:30.480 the air shortly. Please stand by. Thanks for 00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:33.240 tuning in. HamTalk Live will be on the air shortly. 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:41.170 Please stand by. This episode of HamTalk Live 00:00:41.170 --> 00:00:44.810 is brought to you by Tower Electronics. For connectors, 00:00:45.189 --> 00:00:50.649 cables, and more, call 920 -435 -2973 or visit 00:00:50.649 --> 00:00:56.509 pl -259 .com. And by ICOM, heard it, worked it, 00:00:56.789 --> 00:01:01.750 logged it. Visit www .icomamerica .com slash 00:01:01.750 --> 00:01:05.629 amateur for more information about ICOM radios. 00:01:36.840 --> 00:01:39.040 Good evening, everyone. It's time for HamTalk 00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:43.959 Live. It's episode number 177, Building a Modest 00:01:43.959 --> 00:01:48.560 Contest Station with BeLoud .us, recorded live 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:52.680 on Thursday, August 15th, 2019. I'm your host, 00:01:52.879 --> 00:01:56.739 Neil Rapp, WB9VPG. Thanks for tuning in to this 00:01:56.739 --> 00:01:59.159 episode of HamTalk Live. Tonight we're joined 00:01:59.159 --> 00:02:05.629 by Steve W9SN. And I forgot to ask if Fred was 00:02:05.629 --> 00:02:09.289 going to make it to WW4LL. He is traveling. They're 00:02:09.289 --> 00:02:11.490 going to be down at Huntsville this weekend. 00:02:12.569 --> 00:02:16.009 So we'll take Steve and if Fred can join in, 00:02:16.509 --> 00:02:19.210 we will add him in and we'll take your calls 00:02:19.210 --> 00:02:22.009 in a few minutes. Last week here on the show 00:02:22.009 --> 00:02:27.090 Craig Thompson K9CT was here to talk about SMC 00:02:27.090 --> 00:02:28.969 Fest and if you missed the show you can listen 00:02:28.969 --> 00:02:32.349 anytime at HamTalkLive .com or on your favorite 00:02:32.349 --> 00:02:36.469 podcast app or YouTube or you can catch the rebroadcast 00:02:36.469 --> 00:02:42.650 on WTWW 5085 AM Saturday evenings at about 630 00:02:42.650 --> 00:02:46.590 PM Eastern Time. So get your station building 00:02:46.590 --> 00:02:49.069 questions ready to go if you're listening to 00:02:49.069 --> 00:02:52.439 us live On Thursday night you can give us a call. 00:02:53.300 --> 00:02:56.539 We'll do the interview first and then we'll open 00:02:56.539 --> 00:02:59.500 up the phone lines and the number to call is 00:02:59.500 --> 00:03:06.979 812 -NET -HAM -1. It's 812 -638 -4261. You can 00:03:06.979 --> 00:03:09.860 also send a question via Twitter. The Twitter 00:03:09.860 --> 00:03:12.879 handle is at HamTalk Live and I'll be back with 00:03:12.879 --> 00:03:16.240 Steve right after this word from Tower Electronics 00:03:16.240 --> 00:03:20.319 right here on HamTalk Live. Is this getting serious? 00:03:20.719 --> 00:03:24.659 I think so. Well, how do you feel about it? Just 00:03:24.659 --> 00:03:28.759 imagine if you hadn't run out of PL -259s. Just 00:03:28.759 --> 00:03:30.879 imagine if your connectors weren't from Tower 00:03:30.879 --> 00:03:33.759 Electronics. Consider the sophisticated quality 00:03:33.759 --> 00:03:36.520 of connectors from Tower Electronics. Their silver 00:03:36.520 --> 00:03:39.180 -plated end connectors are so good, they've even 00:03:39.180 --> 00:03:41.479 been used on the International Space Station. 00:03:42.099 --> 00:03:45.139 I'm not so sure why I ever used any other PL 00:03:45.139 --> 00:03:48.990 -259s. Mine are better. Besides, you deserve 00:03:48.990 --> 00:04:20.350 the best. You know I love you. Oh baby, you put 00:04:20.350 --> 00:04:26.290 a 5 -9 in my log book. Now enjoy more Hamtalk 00:04:26.290 --> 00:04:46.420 Live. Thanks to Tower Electronics for sponsoring 00:04:46.420 --> 00:04:48.839 the show again tonight. They help bring you HamTalk 00:04:48.839 --> 00:04:52.879 Live each and every week. And we'll see Scott 00:04:52.879 --> 00:04:56.100 and Jill this weekend down in Huntsville, Alabama. 00:04:56.259 --> 00:04:59.319 They will be there. And then they're off to Shelby, 00:04:59.540 --> 00:05:02.860 North Carolina, August 30th, 31st and September 00:05:02.860 --> 00:05:06.839 1st. Finley, Ohio, September 8th and then Peoria, 00:05:06.860 --> 00:05:10.540 Illinois, the Superfest, September 14th and 15th. 00:05:10.600 --> 00:05:18.319 but you can visit them anytime at PL -259 .com. 00:05:18.939 --> 00:05:22.540 Steve Narducci, W9SN, is an active contestor 00:05:22.540 --> 00:05:25.779 participating mostly in CW and RIDI contests. 00:05:26.220 --> 00:05:28.839 He's helped install several contest stations 00:05:28.839 --> 00:05:32.560 with antenna station design, engineering, and 00:05:32.560 --> 00:05:36.300 software modeling. He's a former CEO of a small 00:05:36.300 --> 00:05:38.839 wireless company prior to its acquisition and 00:05:38.839 --> 00:05:42.680 now focuses on contest station building and design. 00:05:43.300 --> 00:05:46.579 In 30 years, he reached the top of the honor 00:05:46.579 --> 00:05:50.560 roll of DXCC at 349 and he owns and operates 00:05:50.560 --> 00:05:53.060 a winning contest station on a high hilltop in 00:05:53.060 --> 00:05:56.319 Northeast Tennessee, holding two USA records 00:05:56.319 --> 00:05:59.319 and many top three finishes and continues to 00:05:59.319 --> 00:06:02.060 push the limits with his four tower installation 00:06:02.060 --> 00:06:06.019 and several antennas. So Steve, welcome back 00:06:06.019 --> 00:06:09.379 to the show. Yeah, thanks, Neil. It's good to 00:06:09.379 --> 00:06:12.160 be back. Can you hear me alright? Yeah, I hear 00:06:12.160 --> 00:06:16.759 you just fine. We're going to talk about building 00:06:16.759 --> 00:06:22.439 some contest stations. You operate BeLoud .us. 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:25.339 That's a large remote contest station out in 00:06:25.339 --> 00:06:29.800 Maine. You can remote into that and operate that. 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:33.839 I'm sure we'll talk about it as well. We talked 00:06:33.839 --> 00:06:37.480 about that. Station quite a bit last time you 00:06:37.480 --> 00:06:40.040 were on and we said, you know, we didn't get 00:06:40.040 --> 00:06:43.300 around to talking about okay Now what what are 00:06:43.300 --> 00:06:47.339 the rest of us do? Okay, I'd love to have you 00:06:47.339 --> 00:06:50.139 know, one of these great big contest stations 00:06:50.139 --> 00:06:53.160 like that I would absolutely love that but the 00:06:53.160 --> 00:06:57.920 reality is I'm not gonna be able to pull that 00:06:57.920 --> 00:07:02.959 off. So for somebody like me that that likes 00:07:02.959 --> 00:07:06.370 contesting but knows, you know, I'm not going 00:07:06.370 --> 00:07:08.550 to be in the top five and I'm not going to have 00:07:08.550 --> 00:07:12.269 the time to to get in the in the top five. But 00:07:12.269 --> 00:07:16.529 you know, I want to improve and do better and 00:07:16.529 --> 00:07:22.769 build a modest contesting station. Let's take 00:07:22.769 --> 00:07:26.810 tonight to talk about some of the main things 00:07:26.810 --> 00:07:30.949 that you need to do without breaking the bank. 00:07:32.970 --> 00:07:35.379 Yeah. I'll share some things that I've learned 00:07:35.379 --> 00:07:38.779 over the years for more modest station and building 00:07:38.779 --> 00:07:44.779 for Contesting and DXing You know I started out 00:07:44.779 --> 00:07:47.800 as a DXer and ended up as a contest or so, but 00:07:47.800 --> 00:07:49.740 I still like both I still do both. It's a lot 00:07:49.740 --> 00:07:54.139 of fun, but I'll also say I'm one of the newcomers. 00:07:54.680 --> 00:07:56.600 I've really only been doing this seriously for 00:07:56.600 --> 00:07:59.519 about ten years I've had really good success, 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:04.040 and it's been a blast But many guys, a lot of 00:08:04.040 --> 00:08:05.220 my peers have been doing this a whole lot longer 00:08:05.220 --> 00:08:08.459 than I have. It's decades. So I don't consider 00:08:08.459 --> 00:08:10.699 myself an expert, but I've learned a lot from 00:08:10.699 --> 00:08:13.579 my experience and I've had the privilege to contest 00:08:13.579 --> 00:08:16.300 some of the best talent on the planet and I've 00:08:16.300 --> 00:08:19.360 learned from them. So yeah, I'm going to focus 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:24.139 on building some contestation and just some techniques 00:08:24.139 --> 00:08:28.920 and some fundamental building blocks. Today probably... 00:08:28.939 --> 00:08:31.819 The first thing that I do when I look at it is 00:08:31.819 --> 00:08:36.679 software in design. I've been traveling the globe 00:08:36.679 --> 00:08:38.879 quite a bit lately and I've been in a lot of 00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:41.899 countries and I've been all over our country 00:08:41.899 --> 00:08:46.759 helping stations, giving some pointers and doing 00:08:46.759 --> 00:08:51.980 it hands on. Really building the modest to the 00:08:51.980 --> 00:08:54.519 big, the fundamentals are really the same. The 00:08:54.519 --> 00:08:56.820 first thing I always look at is HFTA software. 00:08:59.000 --> 00:09:01.720 K6 to use website now makes it easy to do this 00:09:01.720 --> 00:09:04.840 and it can be done in minutes You know just a 00:09:04.840 --> 00:09:09.340 few years ago before this came along It was a 00:09:09.340 --> 00:09:12.080 monumental task to do this. It was like an hour 00:09:12.080 --> 00:09:14.840 and a half video on YouTube. You had to download 00:09:14.840 --> 00:09:17.519 stuff from different websites and had to install 00:09:17.519 --> 00:09:20.159 it. It was actually quite cumbersome to do it. 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:24.820 I did it and I modeled my station. Now, if you 00:09:24.820 --> 00:09:28.820 go to K6TU's website, you can really just download 00:09:28.820 --> 00:09:30.799 something in just a few minutes and you can model 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:35.019 it. It's very easy. It's it's really it might 00:09:35.019 --> 00:09:37.000 even surprise you on what you have available 00:09:37.000 --> 00:09:40.080 good or bad For example my station that I have 00:09:40.080 --> 00:09:42.700 in Tennessee likes my antennas about a hundred 00:09:42.700 --> 00:09:47.620 feet or less from 20 meters and up Anything much 00:09:47.620 --> 00:09:51.340 over that is either very little return or even 00:09:51.340 --> 00:09:55.460 negative gain because of my topography But you 00:09:55.460 --> 00:09:57.740 know each station location is very different 00:09:57.740 --> 00:10:00.320 if even only 200 foot away So it's always best 00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:03.620 to find out your geography's ability to produce 00:10:03.620 --> 00:10:05.639 from the exact spot where you plan on putting 00:10:05.639 --> 00:10:09.220 your antennas. The results of what you get can 00:10:09.220 --> 00:10:11.379 also determine what contest will be best for 00:10:11.379 --> 00:10:14.840 you to get the most out of those results. For 00:10:14.840 --> 00:10:18.019 example, if your location has a higher takeoff 00:10:18.019 --> 00:10:21.000 angle either because of your topography or because 00:10:21.000 --> 00:10:22.840 you can't get your antennas high enough, you 00:10:22.840 --> 00:10:24.779 might actually do better in the domestic contest. 00:10:26.990 --> 00:10:29.070 You might do really well in the international 00:10:29.070 --> 00:10:31.129 contest if it's just the opposite and have really 00:10:31.129 --> 00:10:34.850 good low angle takeoff. So my station that I 00:10:34.850 --> 00:10:37.350 have actually has really good low takeoff angle, 00:10:37.470 --> 00:10:40.330 especially towards Europe. So each station has 00:10:40.330 --> 00:10:43.110 its strengths and weaknesses depending on what 00:10:43.110 --> 00:10:47.529 you have to work with. Now I've modeled my station 00:10:47.529 --> 00:10:50.129 location and compared it to other top contest 00:10:50.129 --> 00:10:52.830 stations just to see how I stack up. You know, 00:10:52.889 --> 00:10:55.490 in changing the heights and putting different 00:10:55.490 --> 00:10:58.600 stacks in, Uh, moving the, the, the location 00:10:58.600 --> 00:11:01.279 around the property, uh, it shows me where my 00:11:01.279 --> 00:11:04.059 greatest potential is and how high and to get 00:11:04.059 --> 00:11:07.659 the best bang out of it. Uh, it saved me a lot 00:11:07.659 --> 00:11:09.980 of time and a lot of energy and a lot of money, 00:11:10.259 --> 00:11:12.299 uh, because I know exactly what I'm going to 00:11:12.299 --> 00:11:17.320 have when, when it's produced. So how, how do 00:11:17.320 --> 00:11:22.809 you, how do you really. Is it all computer modeling 00:11:22.809 --> 00:11:26.110 or is there anything that you can do to just 00:11:26.110 --> 00:11:29.610 kind of Look at the maps and and the elevations 00:11:29.610 --> 00:11:32.970 and and try to figure that out Or do you really 00:11:32.970 --> 00:11:36.529 need that computer modeling? Well, the computer 00:11:36.529 --> 00:11:39.370 modeling is going to give you an exact And I 00:11:39.370 --> 00:11:41.009 you know, I got to be careful about saying that 00:11:41.009 --> 00:11:44.070 because you know, it's it's the is the most exact 00:11:44.070 --> 00:11:47.379 that we have today I'm sure maybe something in 00:11:47.379 --> 00:11:49.600 the future may be different, but for right now 00:11:49.600 --> 00:11:54.120 it is the best thing that we have. There's no 00:11:54.120 --> 00:11:58.159 substitute for altitude. I mean, you really can't 00:11:58.159 --> 00:12:01.759 substitute that. But I found that if I find a 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:06.639 piece of ground that has rolling, sloping, Towards 00:12:06.639 --> 00:12:08.840 the direction that you're wanting. That's really 00:12:08.840 --> 00:12:11.720 good my location example I live on a hundred 00:12:11.720 --> 00:12:14.399 and forty five foot ridge And I've got hundred 00:12:14.399 --> 00:12:16.340 foot towers on there and the ground underneath 00:12:16.340 --> 00:12:19.059 there almost goes down at a 45 degree angle underneath 00:12:19.059 --> 00:12:21.740 of them So, you know when you model it, it's 00:12:21.740 --> 00:12:24.240 like holy smokes it's it's it's an incredible 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:26.399 takeoff as compared to what it would be if it 00:12:26.399 --> 00:12:29.799 was flat ground so that's kind of what the The 00:12:29.799 --> 00:12:32.279 software shows you is it it can it can compare 00:12:32.279 --> 00:12:34.299 what your property would be like if it was completely 00:12:34.299 --> 00:12:37.450 flat or if you have, you know, what you've got 00:12:37.450 --> 00:12:39.970 right now. So that's kind of the advantage that 00:12:39.970 --> 00:12:42.169 I've got and it gives me an idea on whether, 00:12:42.429 --> 00:12:44.990 you know, I'm going to be really strong in high 00:12:44.990 --> 00:12:48.309 angle or in low angle takeoff. So, and that tells 00:12:48.309 --> 00:12:50.149 me what kind of a contest that I may want to 00:12:50.149 --> 00:12:52.909 enter in. If I'm looking at really doing well 00:12:52.909 --> 00:12:56.090 in a particular contest and, you know, there 00:12:56.090 --> 00:12:58.450 are some stations with just single tower setups 00:12:58.450 --> 00:13:01.549 that are done right, that really perform very 00:13:01.549 --> 00:13:05.850 well. In fact, it's surprisingly well. One thing 00:13:05.850 --> 00:13:09.950 that you probably want to look at also is antenna 00:13:09.950 --> 00:13:12.830 modeling. Especially if you're going to build 00:13:12.830 --> 00:13:16.789 like your own antennas. I found that by stacking 00:13:16.789 --> 00:13:20.070 two smaller antennas will give me an advantage 00:13:20.070 --> 00:13:22.330 over one really long big antenna, like a long 00:13:22.330 --> 00:13:25.389 boom antenna. The modeling is going to show me 00:13:25.389 --> 00:13:28.629 what's best for my particular location. But when 00:13:28.629 --> 00:13:32.120 building, like in Tennessee, I like the most 00:13:32.120 --> 00:13:34.480 forward gain and all sacrifice on the front to 00:13:34.480 --> 00:13:37.799 back. To me the front to back is not very important 00:13:37.799 --> 00:13:40.500 and actually might end up being an advantage 00:13:40.500 --> 00:13:42.639 for me to have less of the front to back. The 00:13:42.639 --> 00:13:44.860 reason why is because the stations in my rear 00:13:44.860 --> 00:13:49.720 like Southwest, like in Texas, they're going 00:13:49.720 --> 00:13:51.480 to hear me better if I have less front to back 00:13:51.480 --> 00:13:52.940 and they're probably going to be less apt to 00:13:52.940 --> 00:13:56.379 call CQ on my frequency. So now others might 00:13:56.379 --> 00:13:58.360 disagree and they like having a high front to 00:13:58.360 --> 00:14:00.929 back and it keeps the noise down on the radio, 00:14:00.929 --> 00:14:03.210 because I will hear some of the more noise on 00:14:03.210 --> 00:14:06.529 the back, but I like having that advantage. But 00:14:06.529 --> 00:14:08.409 everybody's a little different, but that's me. 00:14:08.990 --> 00:14:11.049 I'm going to agree with you on that, because 00:14:11.049 --> 00:14:15.129 we've got at school, you know, what I would call 00:14:15.129 --> 00:14:18.789 a very modest, but it's more of a contest grade 00:14:18.789 --> 00:14:22.409 station. We've got a two element stepper and 00:14:23.450 --> 00:14:26.809 you know, we try turning it and seeing, you know, 00:14:26.809 --> 00:14:29.730 how directional it is. And it does give us a 00:14:29.730 --> 00:14:33.570 lot of directionality. But the thing is we also 00:14:33.570 --> 00:14:37.330 get a lot of stuff off of the back. And if we 00:14:37.330 --> 00:14:41.289 didn't, I think we'd miss out on an awful lot. 00:14:43.330 --> 00:14:45.929 Well, and I've, you know, being in contests, 00:14:46.049 --> 00:14:47.909 I've, you know, there'll be guys that don't hear 00:14:47.909 --> 00:14:50.509 me very well. That'll get right on top of my 00:14:50.509 --> 00:14:53.240 frequency and call and then there'll be a DX 00:14:53.240 --> 00:14:56.299 station or somebody coming back to us and I can 00:14:56.299 --> 00:14:59.379 kind of tell he's there and I've seen it where 00:14:59.379 --> 00:15:01.580 we're both trying to contact that station exactly 00:15:01.580 --> 00:15:04.559 at the same time and he'll give a report so it's 00:15:04.559 --> 00:15:07.980 like okay if you clobbered each other on who 00:15:07.980 --> 00:15:10.779 he's responding to you may not realize you know 00:15:10.779 --> 00:15:13.820 you may not have actually worked the guy so it's 00:15:13.820 --> 00:15:16.000 for me I like having the lesser front to back 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:18.000 but the most gain in the front but that's the 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:24.240 way I like to do it Talking about the contest, 00:15:27.539 --> 00:15:29.899 you'll want to focus on antenna directivity as 00:15:29.899 --> 00:15:33.240 well, because I like to, well for me I like to 00:15:33.240 --> 00:15:34.840 install an inexpensive tri -bander that faces 00:15:34.840 --> 00:15:38.259 the Caribbean on the international contest. One 00:15:38.259 --> 00:15:40.000 of my best antennas, believe it or not, is a 00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:42.460 homebrew wire tri -band yaggy that hangs between 00:15:42.460 --> 00:15:45.909 two trees. just got it fixed on the caribbean 00:15:45.909 --> 00:15:48.809 but a picture a two inch aluminum boom that has 00:15:48.809 --> 00:15:51.289 suspended between two tall trees i've got two 00:15:51.289 --> 00:15:53.570 75 foot oak trees and i've got this thing up 00:15:53.570 --> 00:15:56.649 about 65 70 feet and it's got pulleys on the 00:15:56.649 --> 00:16:00.590 bottom of the boom and i just pull up uh dipoles 00:16:00.590 --> 00:16:02.990 well it's basically the the driven element is 00:16:02.990 --> 00:16:05.669 a like a fan dipole for 10 15 and 20 and then 00:16:05.669 --> 00:16:07.669 i just pull up reflector wires for each band 00:16:07.669 --> 00:16:10.570 two on those pulleys and i don't have a hundred 00:16:10.570 --> 00:16:13.909 bucks in it and it really works quite well it's 00:16:13.909 --> 00:16:16.429 fast because I can just click right over to that 00:16:16.429 --> 00:16:18.470 antenna work them and then I can go right back 00:16:18.470 --> 00:16:20.570 to my run antenna if I'm doing a single op or 00:16:20.570 --> 00:16:24.129 even if like in multi contest when I have multiple 00:16:24.129 --> 00:16:26.649 operators there they can just click over to the 00:16:26.649 --> 00:16:28.529 Caribbean antenna and then click right back to 00:16:28.529 --> 00:16:31.779 to another one so It's a big advantage for us. 00:16:32.080 --> 00:16:34.179 So I like having fixed antennas in different 00:16:34.179 --> 00:16:36.779 directions. We actually did the same technique 00:16:36.779 --> 00:16:40.440 on our main station. We actually have antennas 00:16:40.440 --> 00:16:42.899 that are fixed so that we can quickly switch 00:16:42.899 --> 00:16:45.340 between directions without having to take the 00:16:45.340 --> 00:16:48.440 time for the rotor. And it's a big advantage. 00:16:51.860 --> 00:16:55.179 I've also had low -mounted multi -band tri -banders. 00:16:56.029 --> 00:16:58.309 different areas as well and that kind of fills 00:16:58.309 --> 00:17:01.409 in the gap on the high angle but one of the one 00:17:01.409 --> 00:17:04.369 cool thing that I've done is is I've put like 00:17:04.369 --> 00:17:07.490 two element quads they're just wires is all they 00:17:07.490 --> 00:17:09.829 are just a loop antenna or just a single loop 00:17:09.829 --> 00:17:12.349 and I've done some two element quad loops that 00:17:12.349 --> 00:17:14.910 I put inside basically just hung them from a 00:17:14.910 --> 00:17:17.329 tree When you stand back and look, you can't 00:17:17.329 --> 00:17:18.990 even really tell that it's up there. But it's 00:17:18.990 --> 00:17:20.789 a two -element quad that hangs from the tree. 00:17:21.089 --> 00:17:24.009 SWR is flat. It's facing the direction that I 00:17:24.009 --> 00:17:27.029 want. Low cost, and it's actually quite effective. 00:17:27.230 --> 00:17:30.730 They're quiet. The quads, you can actually mount 00:17:30.730 --> 00:17:32.250 them closer to the ground than what you could 00:17:32.250 --> 00:17:35.029 a Yagi. And you get pretty good performance out 00:17:35.029 --> 00:17:37.869 of these things. So I've got one that's mounted 00:17:37.869 --> 00:17:44.170 at 25 feet. Three bands, 10, 15, and 20. It's 00:17:44.170 --> 00:17:46.769 fed with a single coax because I've just got 00:17:46.769 --> 00:17:50.470 a true one ballon on it. And guys coming to the 00:17:50.470 --> 00:17:51.869 house, you just cannot believe how well that 00:17:51.869 --> 00:17:53.349 thing's working. I've got one of them facing 00:17:53.349 --> 00:17:56.069 towards Europe. And we've got a big five over 00:17:56.069 --> 00:17:58.849 five long boom stacks up there. But this small 00:17:58.849 --> 00:18:02.349 quad, two element, really holds its own at 25 00:18:02.349 --> 00:18:06.349 feet. So it's kind of impressive. But each station's 00:18:06.349 --> 00:18:07.910 going to be a little different. So you'll want 00:18:07.910 --> 00:18:10.509 a model to find out what you can get away with. 00:18:12.490 --> 00:18:17.329 The other thing is pick your category. There's 00:18:17.329 --> 00:18:20.470 all these categories, whether it's high power, 00:18:20.589 --> 00:18:25.049 low power, maybe QRP or assisted. So I'd suggest 00:18:25.049 --> 00:18:26.849 looking at the results of the last few years' 00:18:27.230 --> 00:18:30.069 winners and see how many queues and how many 00:18:30.069 --> 00:18:33.299 malts those stations are turning in to win. This 00:18:33.299 --> 00:18:35.400 will give you a goal to work towards and help 00:18:35.400 --> 00:18:37.720 you to choose the best category for your particular 00:18:37.720 --> 00:18:41.059 contest. The other thing you can do for more 00:18:41.059 --> 00:18:44.579 of a modest station is single band contesting. 00:18:45.140 --> 00:18:47.259 And I've actually done that. When I first put 00:18:47.259 --> 00:18:50.819 my 40 meter antennas up, I had brand new 40 meter 00:18:50.819 --> 00:18:54.019 antennas I had put up. And I basically had one 00:18:54.019 --> 00:18:56.460 array that I faced towards the Northwest, towards 00:18:56.460 --> 00:18:59.059 Japan. I had another ray that I faced towards 00:18:59.059 --> 00:19:01.799 Europe, and then I had a four square on 40 meters 00:19:01.799 --> 00:19:04.660 that I faced, that I basically parked on the 00:19:04.660 --> 00:19:07.660 Caribbean and towards the south. And running 00:19:07.660 --> 00:19:11.240 SO2R, but basically just 40 meter band only, 00:19:11.740 --> 00:19:14.680 I actually took first place. And not only just 00:19:14.680 --> 00:19:16.539 USA, but I was actually first place in the world. 00:19:16.619 --> 00:19:19.859 It was kind of cool. Won me a plaque, and it 00:19:19.859 --> 00:19:23.599 was a lot of fun. So, you know, if... I see some 00:19:23.599 --> 00:19:25.700 of these really high scores being turned in on 00:19:25.700 --> 00:19:28.400 single band operation. So if you don't have a 00:19:28.400 --> 00:19:32.500 lot of real estate or a lot of money, you can 00:19:32.500 --> 00:19:35.359 actually pour a lot of your energy just into 00:19:35.359 --> 00:19:39.039 a single band. Whether it's 15, obviously 15 00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:42.019 is not really good right now, but maybe 20 or 00:19:42.019 --> 00:19:45.880 40 or even 80 meters. So there's some guys that 00:19:45.880 --> 00:19:48.579 really do well on a certain band. And I found 00:19:48.579 --> 00:19:51.119 this to be true at a lot of the contest station. 00:19:51.750 --> 00:19:54.150 The big ones where they have multiple bands There's 00:19:54.150 --> 00:19:56.970 usually several bands that they really shine 00:19:56.970 --> 00:19:59.490 on those bands on and that just comes down to 00:19:59.490 --> 00:20:02.109 modeling and how they've built the station So, 00:20:02.170 --> 00:20:05.829 you know, it's it's it's you know a fairly simple 00:20:05.829 --> 00:20:10.269 thing to focus on a single band effort If you're 00:20:10.269 --> 00:20:14.609 looking at doing like single op contest To be 00:20:14.609 --> 00:20:16.569 the most successful if you're really trying to 00:20:16.569 --> 00:20:18.789 do well in it, you'll want to learn how to do 00:20:18.789 --> 00:20:22.650 SO2R It's an art. It does take some time to get 00:20:22.650 --> 00:20:24.829 better. So don't expect to master it in a night. 00:20:24.890 --> 00:20:28.630 I sure didn't. But just by doing it in a contest 00:20:28.630 --> 00:20:31.349 really helps you to learn it. Now, I'm not the 00:20:31.349 --> 00:20:34.789 best at it, but I do it. And I've watched other 00:20:34.789 --> 00:20:37.829 guys like on YouTube. These guys can just literally 00:20:37.829 --> 00:20:41.769 kick my butt at it. But you can't let that discourage 00:20:41.769 --> 00:20:46.029 you. I use SO2R when the rate gets slow, like 00:20:46.029 --> 00:20:49.289 say under 60 contacts an hour. It's still a huge 00:20:49.289 --> 00:20:52.289 advantage. Just if you can just make an extra 00:20:52.289 --> 00:20:55.210 five to ten contacts an hour with a second radio 00:20:55.210 --> 00:20:59.069 or a second VFO if you only have one radio. I 00:20:59.069 --> 00:21:02.329 have won and lost contests by only five contacts 00:21:02.329 --> 00:21:05.509 an hour. I mean if you do the math, it's amazing. 00:21:05.769 --> 00:21:09.130 So just having that second VFO or that second 00:21:09.130 --> 00:21:12.450 radio, even if you're not very good at SO2R, 00:21:12.490 --> 00:21:15.410 you'll be amazed about how many extra contacts 00:21:15.410 --> 00:21:17.049 that you can put in the log by the end of the 00:21:17.049 --> 00:21:22.640 contest. Now, how about separate receive antennas? 00:21:25.160 --> 00:21:27.940 Do you just go ahead and use the single antenna 00:21:27.940 --> 00:21:31.299 or do you have a separate receive antenna like 00:21:31.299 --> 00:21:34.880 maybe a beverage? Oh, hang on. We're going to 00:21:34.880 --> 00:21:40.279 enjoy a beverage here. That's right. Got a little 00:21:40.279 --> 00:21:45.799 water there. So there's the beverage joke. So 00:21:45.799 --> 00:21:50.769 what do you think on that? Well, yes Here's the 00:21:50.769 --> 00:21:53.950 thing if you're going to do a a single radio 00:21:53.950 --> 00:21:58.210 with two VFOs in it You know the if you're if 00:21:58.210 --> 00:22:00.630 you're on the higher frequencies or or even on 00:22:00.630 --> 00:22:03.529 like say 40 meters The beverage may not come 00:22:03.529 --> 00:22:05.970 in to play there, but if you're going to do like 00:22:05.970 --> 00:22:09.329 80 meters and 160 Absolutely, it's going to take 00:22:09.329 --> 00:22:14.089 the noise down and what I have found is Is that 00:22:14.089 --> 00:22:19.500 even when I'm doing SO2R? And I like using two 00:22:19.500 --> 00:22:23.619 actual radios. One radio I put in one ear, one 00:22:23.619 --> 00:22:25.599 radio I put in the other ear. And one of them, 00:22:25.759 --> 00:22:28.660 like say the left radio, I'll call it my run 00:22:28.660 --> 00:22:31.720 radio. That's where I'm calling CQ. And I'm basically 00:22:31.720 --> 00:22:34.400 parked on a single frequency and I'm operating. 00:22:34.940 --> 00:22:36.960 The radio to my right is what I'm gonna call 00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:40.240 either my in band, if I'm running in band with 00:22:40.240 --> 00:22:42.299 that other radio. So what a lot of times what 00:22:42.299 --> 00:22:44.220 I'll do is I'll take my run radio and put it 00:22:44.220 --> 00:22:46.339 down at the bottom end of the band. or at the 00:22:46.339 --> 00:22:51.240 top end of the band, and then my in -band radio 00:22:51.240 --> 00:22:55.079 or my Malt radio, my SU -2R radio, I'm going 00:22:55.079 --> 00:22:57.180 to roll around the band and try and stay away 00:22:57.180 --> 00:22:59.579 from it as much as possible. Now, just like you 00:22:59.579 --> 00:23:01.259 were talking about a receive antenna, by putting 00:23:01.259 --> 00:23:04.500 that on a different receive antenna, I keep the 00:23:04.500 --> 00:23:07.079 hash and the noise down, so while I'm transmitting 00:23:07.079 --> 00:23:11.119 with my Ren radio, I'm listening to the extra 00:23:11.119 --> 00:23:15.220 radio in the other ear. If I'm listening to an 00:23:15.220 --> 00:23:20.039 antenna that's very close or really resonant, 00:23:20.319 --> 00:23:22.420 then it's really going to be loud and it's hard 00:23:22.420 --> 00:23:26.319 to take that noise out. And that's where having 00:23:26.319 --> 00:23:29.119 a different antenna actually comes into play. 00:23:29.519 --> 00:23:33.279 I'll never forget one contest, AA4CF and I was 00:23:33.279 --> 00:23:35.579 running 15 meters one time and we were doing 00:23:35.579 --> 00:23:37.960 them all time and all the rest of the guys went 00:23:37.960 --> 00:23:40.500 home. The last two hours of the contest and 15 00:23:40.500 --> 00:23:43.460 meters decided to open up to Japan. Well, he's 00:23:43.460 --> 00:23:45.720 on the run radio. He's running a stack on 15 00:23:45.720 --> 00:23:49.019 meters over on one radio, where I'm basically 00:23:49.019 --> 00:23:50.759 in banding for him, because the band's open. 00:23:50.859 --> 00:23:52.720 We only have a short period of time. We want 00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:55.059 to make as many contacts as on that band as possible. 00:23:55.559 --> 00:23:57.720 So he's at the bottom end of the band on the 00:23:57.720 --> 00:23:59.599 stacks. I'm at the top end of the band. Well, 00:23:59.779 --> 00:24:02.099 every time he transmits, he just clobbered my 00:24:02.099 --> 00:24:03.880 receive. And every time I transmit, I do the 00:24:03.880 --> 00:24:07.839 same to him. So what I did was we've got an 80 00:24:07.839 --> 00:24:10.779 meter delta loop that's in a tree that's about 00:24:10.779 --> 00:24:14.599 400 feet away from the transmit antennas. I just 00:24:14.599 --> 00:24:17.460 basically used that antenna on my radio and tuned 00:24:17.460 --> 00:24:20.160 it and the band was open enough where I could 00:24:20.160 --> 00:24:22.400 still make contacts and still hear those guys 00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:26.099 in Japan on that big wire but the noise, I cut 00:24:26.099 --> 00:24:28.079 the noise in half. Now we still heard each other 00:24:28.079 --> 00:24:31.839 obviously but it was enough that we could actually 00:24:31.839 --> 00:24:35.440 do that. So there's times that you may want just 00:24:35.440 --> 00:24:38.559 oddball antennas out there that are either non 00:24:38.559 --> 00:24:41.420 -resident or on another band to use with your 00:24:41.420 --> 00:24:44.079 second radio just for that purpose if you're 00:24:44.079 --> 00:24:45.579 going to in band for yourself or if you're going 00:24:45.579 --> 00:24:50.299 to multi contest. Well we're going to need to 00:24:50.299 --> 00:24:53.940 take a break here we're just about to break time 00:24:53.940 --> 00:24:56.500 so we're going to do that when we come back we 00:24:56.500 --> 00:24:59.920 want to talk about you know what what are some 00:24:59.920 --> 00:25:02.119 of the things that you can trim off if you have 00:25:02.119 --> 00:25:04.819 to trim off something on your install and then 00:25:04.819 --> 00:25:07.720 we'll talk about some some contesting software 00:25:07.720 --> 00:25:10.900 and some other things when we come back after 00:25:10.900 --> 00:25:14.759 this word from ICOM right here on HamTalk Live. 00:25:15.119 --> 00:25:18.759 Heard it, worked it, logged it. It's time to 00:25:18.759 --> 00:25:20.920 get the transceiver that's best suited for your 00:25:20.920 --> 00:25:24.599 lifestyle. ICOM offers a variety of high performance 00:25:24.599 --> 00:25:27.619 and innovative products. Make the most out of 00:25:27.619 --> 00:25:30.859 contest season with one of these ICOMs today. 00:25:31.099 --> 00:25:36.259 The IC7610 is the SDR every ham wants. This high 00:25:36.259 --> 00:25:38.960 -performance SDR has the ability to pick out 00:25:38.960 --> 00:25:41.599 the faintest of signals even in the presence 00:25:41.599 --> 00:25:45.759 of stronger adjacent ones. The IC7610 by ICOM 00:25:45.759 --> 00:25:49.180 is a direct sampling software -defined radio 00:25:49.180 --> 00:25:51.900 that will change the world's definition of an 00:25:51.900 --> 00:25:56.400 SDR transceiver. It has RF direct sampling, 110 00:25:56.400 --> 00:26:00.799 RMDR, independent dual receiver, and dual digicel. 00:26:00.960 --> 00:26:04.779 The IC7300 is changing the way entry -level HF 00:26:04.779 --> 00:26:07.160 is designed. This high -performance, innovative 00:26:07.160 --> 00:26:10.460 HF transceiver with a compact design will far 00:26:10.460 --> 00:26:14.000 exceed your expectations. With RF direct sampling, 00:26:14.319 --> 00:26:18.039 15 discrete bandpass filters, a large 4 .3 -inch 00:26:18.039 --> 00:26:20.359 color touchscreen, real -time spectrum scope, 00:26:20.420 --> 00:26:24.589 and SD memory card slot. And of course, the IC7851 00:26:24.589 --> 00:26:28.410 keeps your competitive contesting edge with faster 00:26:28.410 --> 00:26:31.309 processors, higher input gain, higher display 00:26:31.309 --> 00:26:35.069 resolution, and a cleaner signal. ICOM's IC7851 00:26:35.069 --> 00:26:38.609 is the pinnacle of HF perfection. It has dual 00:26:38.609 --> 00:26:41.430 receivers, digital IF filters, memory keyer, 00:26:41.529 --> 00:26:44.150 digital voice recorder, high resolution spectrum 00:26:44.150 --> 00:26:46.809 waterfall display, enhanced PC connectivity, 00:26:47.089 --> 00:26:50.069 and an SD memory card slot. For more information 00:26:50.069 --> 00:26:58.059 on ICOM radios, be sure to visit Join the conversation. 00:26:58.319 --> 00:27:02.819 Give us a call at 812 -NET -HAM -1. That's 812 00:27:02.819 --> 00:27:14.339 -638 -4261. Now, here's more HamTalk Live. HamTalk 00:27:14.339 --> 00:27:18.000 Live. The longer you listen, the later it gets. 00:27:30.700 --> 00:27:34.480 Thanks to Icom America for sponsoring HamTalk 00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:39.359 Live each and every week. Check them out at icomamerica 00:27:39.359 --> 00:27:43.599 .com slash amateur. HamTalk Live is on the air 00:27:43.599 --> 00:27:46.180 every Thursday night at 9 p .m. Eastern time 00:27:46.180 --> 00:27:50.240 right here at hamtalklive .com and be sure to 00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:53.910 check us out on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 00:27:54.069 --> 00:27:56.869 It's time for your calls now. So if you have 00:27:56.869 --> 00:27:59.630 a question for Steve, give us a call right now 00:27:59.630 --> 00:28:07.099 at 812 -638 -4261. That spells 812 -NET. Ham 00:28:07.099 --> 00:28:10.339 one or you can tweet us. It's at ham talk live 00:28:10.339 --> 00:28:12.740 on Twitter. And if you're listening to us on 00:28:12.740 --> 00:28:16.799 WTWW or the podcast edition, um, you won't find 00:28:16.799 --> 00:28:19.680 anybody home at the phone line cause cause we're 00:28:19.680 --> 00:28:22.140 all going to be in Huntsville. So you won't be 00:28:22.140 --> 00:28:25.410 able to. You won't be able to find us here. We 00:28:25.410 --> 00:28:28.930 do have one tweet here, uh, that, that we'll 00:28:28.930 --> 00:28:31.849 throw in before we get back to Steve. Uh, it's 00:28:31.849 --> 00:28:35.289 from Brett W Y seven B G says, good evening. 00:28:35.289 --> 00:28:37.930 And it occurred to me today that hams might want 00:28:37.930 --> 00:28:42.130 to activate parking lots. I know where this is 00:28:42.130 --> 00:28:44.210 going because of my fascination with Walmart 00:28:44.210 --> 00:28:47.589 parking lots on the air. Uh, but activate the 00:28:47.589 --> 00:28:51.490 parking lots of hundreds of IMAX theaters around 00:28:51.490 --> 00:28:54.900 the country. Because after all it would be cool 00:28:54.900 --> 00:28:58.440 to say that one is participating in an event 00:28:58.440 --> 00:29:06.220 called imploda Well, good evening Brett, thank 00:29:06.220 --> 00:29:11.170 you for thank you for writing in so Yeah, hopefully 00:29:11.170 --> 00:29:14.890 it doesn't implode so Steve let's get back to 00:29:14.890 --> 00:29:17.750 the the contest Station here, and we'll see if 00:29:17.750 --> 00:29:20.829 we get some calls here at eight one two six three 00:29:20.829 --> 00:29:24.509 eight four two six one We were getting ready 00:29:24.509 --> 00:29:29.210 to talk about some ways that You know, maybe 00:29:29.210 --> 00:29:32.289 you've got this grand plan and you've got all 00:29:32.289 --> 00:29:34.630 this stuff figured out that you're going to do 00:29:34.630 --> 00:29:38.130 to build your station and you get in and invariably 00:29:38.130 --> 00:29:41.309 you find something unexpected and it ends up 00:29:41.309 --> 00:29:45.490 costing more money. And, and so, you know, with 00:29:45.490 --> 00:29:48.049 the big stations, you don't cut corners, but 00:29:48.049 --> 00:29:52.670 if you had to cut a corner, what would it be? 00:29:54.109 --> 00:29:59.740 Well, um, first of all, I would, um, Your money 00:29:59.740 --> 00:30:03.640 is well spent in your antennas outside. That 00:30:03.640 --> 00:30:06.140 is going to be your best bang for the buck. A 00:30:06.140 --> 00:30:09.339 transmitter is a transmitter. So I would make 00:30:09.339 --> 00:30:14.940 sure that your main focus of your contest station 00:30:14.940 --> 00:30:17.339 will be what you connect at the other end of 00:30:17.339 --> 00:30:19.500 the coax. That's going to be your best bang for 00:30:19.500 --> 00:30:20.819 your buck. And there's other things you can do 00:30:20.819 --> 00:30:23.890 as well. For example, you know if you don't have 00:30:23.890 --> 00:30:26.089 a lot of room for beverage antennas and receive 00:30:26.089 --> 00:30:28.630 antennas, one thing that I have done and it's 00:30:28.630 --> 00:30:31.750 been very successful is put out some what they 00:30:31.750 --> 00:30:34.809 call loops on the ground. Now if you can picture 00:30:34.809 --> 00:30:39.670 a 60 foot piece of wire that is shaped into a 00:30:39.670 --> 00:30:43.430 diamond, it's 15 foot on a side, a 9 to 1, I 00:30:43.430 --> 00:30:44.809 think it's a 9 to 1 ballon, I have to look at 00:30:44.809 --> 00:30:47.309 my notes again, but it's a small tiny ballon 00:30:47.309 --> 00:30:50.559 that you can build for... for pennies, fed into 00:30:50.559 --> 00:30:52.960 75 ohm coax. Now these are not going to compare 00:30:52.960 --> 00:30:55.779 with a beverage at all, but they are directional. 00:30:57.099 --> 00:30:59.000 You can mow right over them once you put them 00:30:59.000 --> 00:31:00.640 on the ground with some ground staples. I've 00:31:00.640 --> 00:31:02.440 actually took several of these and phased them 00:31:02.440 --> 00:31:04.920 together. Now again, they're not going to work 00:31:04.920 --> 00:31:07.440 as well as a beverage, but if you don't have 00:31:07.440 --> 00:31:09.859 the room for a beverage, this is a very cheap 00:31:09.859 --> 00:31:12.880 and inexpensive way that you can knock the noise 00:31:12.880 --> 00:31:15.079 down and still get good gain. Put a preamp on 00:31:15.079 --> 00:31:18.519 them if your rig doesn't have one. And and use 00:31:18.519 --> 00:31:22.000 these they're pretty effective Another tool that 00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:24.920 you can use is having your own skimmer now. They've 00:31:24.920 --> 00:31:27.420 got some inexpensive solutions out now. You can 00:31:27.420 --> 00:31:31.059 take these small FDR plays There's guys building 00:31:31.059 --> 00:31:34.940 these little things at us at kits But it's basically 00:31:34.940 --> 00:31:37.039 having your own DX skimmer and I'm talking for 00:31:37.039 --> 00:31:41.019 like CW contest or for RIDD contest You can actually 00:31:41.019 --> 00:31:43.740 build a CW or RIDD skimmer now the beauty of 00:31:43.740 --> 00:31:46.059 having something like this is is that your skimmer 00:31:46.870 --> 00:31:50.569 Will spot to your station things that it's actually 00:31:50.569 --> 00:31:52.630 hearing so you know that you're going to be able 00:31:52.630 --> 00:31:55.750 to work that particular station You know unlike 00:31:55.750 --> 00:31:57.970 having it connected up to some of the clusters 00:31:57.970 --> 00:32:00.549 where a guy in Japan is spotting somebody in 00:32:00.549 --> 00:32:02.630 Europe Which you're you know most likely not 00:32:02.630 --> 00:32:05.690 to be able to hear that So these are these are 00:32:05.690 --> 00:32:07.230 going to be direct spots that you're not going 00:32:07.230 --> 00:32:09.970 to waste your time on trying to search out So 00:32:09.970 --> 00:32:12.210 that's you know, they're inexpensive and they're 00:32:12.210 --> 00:32:16.269 pretty effective and Having, you know, Jeff, 00:32:16.349 --> 00:32:18.690 W2F, you told me one time that your receive antenna 00:32:18.690 --> 00:32:21.230 are more important than your transmit antennas, 00:32:21.369 --> 00:32:23.289 and he is correct on that because you're not 00:32:23.289 --> 00:32:24.730 going to hear them, or you're not going to work 00:32:24.730 --> 00:32:28.549 them if you can't hear them. So one thing you 00:32:28.549 --> 00:32:30.710 want to do is make sure that your location you 00:32:30.710 --> 00:32:33.170 can hear. Now I've actually tested some of these 00:32:33.170 --> 00:32:36.210 small loop antennas, and we've actually used 00:32:36.210 --> 00:32:39.569 them. We used them, there are several manufacturers 00:32:39.569 --> 00:32:42.309 of these, but they're about a three foot diameter 00:32:42.309 --> 00:32:45.559 loop. There again, that's if you don't have a 00:32:45.559 --> 00:32:47.140 lot of room and a space. We were actually using 00:32:47.140 --> 00:32:48.579 them on our property where we had a lot of room 00:32:48.579 --> 00:32:50.759 and we were just testing these things and putting 00:32:50.759 --> 00:32:53.160 a couple of them in phase and we found that we 00:32:53.160 --> 00:32:56.349 used them to knock down our own noise. because 00:32:56.349 --> 00:32:59.049 our transmit station is transmitting so loud 00:32:59.049 --> 00:33:01.170 and he's running 1500 watts we're only two or 00:33:01.170 --> 00:33:02.970 three hundred feet away from the antenna we're 00:33:02.970 --> 00:33:05.349 using these antennas to knock that hash down 00:33:05.349 --> 00:33:08.009 but to hear the other stations as well so there 00:33:08.009 --> 00:33:10.210 are some effective little small receive antennas 00:33:10.210 --> 00:33:13.369 that you can do to do that especially if you're 00:33:13.369 --> 00:33:15.309 going to in band for yourself as a single op 00:33:15.309 --> 00:33:18.509 or you know even as a multi -op but you want 00:33:18.509 --> 00:33:23.250 to in band for it for example I take one radio 00:33:23.250 --> 00:33:26.680 and I'll put it on 20 meters and I'll put Another 00:33:26.680 --> 00:33:29.079 radio using non -resonant antenna I kind of talked 00:33:29.079 --> 00:33:31.500 about this before also on 20 meters But I'll 00:33:31.500 --> 00:33:33.859 use a completely a different antenna that's that's 00:33:33.859 --> 00:33:35.579 not resonant on that band that really knocks 00:33:35.579 --> 00:33:38.680 the noise down, too It's inexpensive You know 00:33:38.680 --> 00:33:40.960 it's just a if nothing else just a dipole that 00:33:40.960 --> 00:33:43.480 you've got hanging in a tree or some other location 00:33:43.480 --> 00:33:46.339 on your property Get it as far away from the 00:33:46.339 --> 00:33:48.500 transmit antenna as possible, but it does become 00:33:48.500 --> 00:33:51.299 quite effective You know there's a lot of new 00:33:51.299 --> 00:33:53.299 hardware out there, too And there's some advantages 00:33:53.299 --> 00:33:55.279 with the hardware choices. A lot of these newer 00:33:55.279 --> 00:33:58.480 rigs now have two VFOs and split audio where 00:33:58.480 --> 00:34:01.460 you can put one VFO in one ear and another VFO 00:34:01.460 --> 00:34:03.480 in the other ear. And then you can adjust the 00:34:03.480 --> 00:34:07.160 audio levels of each one. When I'm busy in a 00:34:07.160 --> 00:34:11.519 run, like say I've got 100 an hour coming in 00:34:11.519 --> 00:34:15.900 on CW, I want to focus both. ears on that one 00:34:15.900 --> 00:34:18.179 VFO. But when the pileup starts slowing down, 00:34:18.340 --> 00:34:20.000 I may want to split that off and start searching 00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:22.119 and pouncing with the other radio or the other 00:34:22.119 --> 00:34:24.699 VFO, and then I can split the audio and I can 00:34:24.699 --> 00:34:27.719 adjust the audio each year. So most of your modern 00:34:27.719 --> 00:34:32.880 rigs will do that. And now what a lot of guys 00:34:32.880 --> 00:34:34.559 will do, and I've learned this from different 00:34:34.559 --> 00:34:37.059 contest stations I've operated once, the contest 00:34:37.059 --> 00:34:39.179 station that has the most automation seems to 00:34:39.179 --> 00:34:42.199 do the best. And I'm talking about when you don't 00:34:42.199 --> 00:34:46.380 have to manually click and change the bands on 00:34:46.380 --> 00:34:49.059 the antenna switch, when you don't have to change 00:34:49.059 --> 00:34:51.980 the amplifier, when you don't have to change 00:34:51.980 --> 00:34:54.300 those things. It's much quicker because like 00:34:54.300 --> 00:34:57.099 at my place, they're in Tennessee. In fact, most 00:34:57.099 --> 00:34:59.480 of my contestation I've done, they're all automated 00:34:59.480 --> 00:35:03.639 totally. So when you click 20 meters on your 00:35:03.639 --> 00:35:06.780 logging software, and I particularly like N1MM, 00:35:06.840 --> 00:35:09.440 but if you click on 20 meters, the radio goes. 00:35:10.280 --> 00:35:13.119 Those obviously the software goes the antenna 00:35:13.119 --> 00:35:16.380 switch goes the amplifier goes everything switches 00:35:16.380 --> 00:35:19.860 with one click So it's you're just much more 00:35:19.860 --> 00:35:23.760 efficient that way So the more you can automate 00:35:23.760 --> 00:35:30.699 I think the better you'll be I like again. I 00:35:30.699 --> 00:35:32.400 like having two radios now there's some guys 00:35:32.400 --> 00:35:34.219 who operate really well with one radio and there's 00:35:34.219 --> 00:35:36.780 some radios now that coming out with two VFOs 00:35:36.780 --> 00:35:39.670 and complete you know split and everything i 00:35:39.670 --> 00:35:42.110 mean you you've got full duplex with these things 00:35:42.110 --> 00:35:44.349 so some of the some of the hardware choices coming 00:35:44.349 --> 00:35:48.489 out now is really cool and uh with uh within 00:35:48.489 --> 00:35:50.369 one mm and i i can only speak for that because 00:35:50.369 --> 00:35:53.289 i don't use a lot of other logging software uh 00:35:53.289 --> 00:35:56.949 what i can do is with with keys on my with just 00:35:56.949 --> 00:36:00.510 f keys i can put one one vfo or radio in one 00:36:00.510 --> 00:36:03.590 ear and one in the other ear and i hit one key 00:36:03.590 --> 00:36:06.429 it's like the backslash key i can switch back 00:36:06.429 --> 00:36:09.699 and forth between which VFO I'm transmitting 00:36:09.699 --> 00:36:13.139 on, which radio I'm transmitting on, and one 00:36:13.139 --> 00:36:16.920 other click I can switch the audio. in and out 00:36:16.920 --> 00:36:19.840 of both ears with one push of a button. So like 00:36:19.840 --> 00:36:22.159 say for example that I'm calling CQ and I'm doing 00:36:22.159 --> 00:36:24.000 search and balance and all of a sudden I've got 00:36:24.000 --> 00:36:26.659 four guys coming back to me on my run frequency. 00:36:27.039 --> 00:36:28.619 Well the first thing I'm gonna do is put both 00:36:28.619 --> 00:36:31.019 ears on that pile up that's coming in so I can 00:36:31.019 --> 00:36:33.159 copy better. That's me, some of the younger ears 00:36:33.159 --> 00:36:36.920 out there might do better, be okay not doing 00:36:36.920 --> 00:36:39.360 that, but me I'm getting older, I wanna have 00:36:39.360 --> 00:36:43.309 both ears focused. I hit one key on there. uh... 00:36:43.309 --> 00:36:45.630 so learn to do these techniques these are cheap 00:36:45.630 --> 00:36:47.650 they're free and there's all kinds of uh... youtube 00:36:47.650 --> 00:36:50.170 videos to show you how to set up your your particular 00:36:50.170 --> 00:36:52.650 logging software with your radio that you can 00:36:52.650 --> 00:36:54.730 do that and it just makes them so much faster 00:36:54.730 --> 00:36:56.610 and better because i don't have to turn knobs 00:36:56.610 --> 00:36:59.989 if i don't touch the radio and all i'm doing 00:36:59.989 --> 00:37:02.690 is keystrokes i'm so much more efficient i'm 00:37:02.690 --> 00:37:07.469 so much faster and you know The radio actually 00:37:07.469 --> 00:37:08.949 kind of slowed me down because I'm playing with 00:37:08.949 --> 00:37:11.090 all the time So I've got a lot of my macros and 00:37:11.090 --> 00:37:15.030 a lot of my F keys all laid out to where I do 00:37:15.030 --> 00:37:20.969 this so The other thing you'll have oh, okay. 00:37:21.090 --> 00:37:23.469 Go ahead. I've got some tweets here. So we're 00:37:23.469 --> 00:37:26.550 Okay, go ahead and I'll let me gather my thoughts 00:37:26.550 --> 00:37:29.090 on this next subject. Okay. All right Well speaking 00:37:29.090 --> 00:37:31.829 of younger ears, we have we have a couple of 00:37:31.829 --> 00:37:35.639 tweets from a couple of younger ops And, uh, 00:37:36.019 --> 00:37:38.780 and another one. Oh, well, I'll just put it that 00:37:38.780 --> 00:37:42.539 way. So, uh, first of all, Bryant KG five HVO 00:37:42.539 --> 00:37:45.599 has a question, uh, for Steve. Do you have any 00:37:45.599 --> 00:37:50.139 BPF recommendations for a low power? S O two 00:37:50.139 --> 00:37:54.360 R station. Hi, Brett. Good. Good to talk to you 00:37:54.360 --> 00:37:58.719 here. Um, well, you know, a lot, there's some 00:37:58.719 --> 00:38:01.019 choices on the big ones, obviously on the smaller 00:38:01.019 --> 00:38:04.059 ones. Um, You can, okay, there's a couple of 00:38:04.059 --> 00:38:06.340 manufacturers that make these now. One of them 00:38:06.340 --> 00:38:10.480 is an all -in -one box. I think Ray Solution 00:38:10.480 --> 00:38:14.000 is one of them. And it basically is, in fact, 00:38:14.000 --> 00:38:18.099 I've got one at my house. It's a six -band bandpass 00:38:18.099 --> 00:38:19.679 filter that's only good for 200 watts. Now, you 00:38:19.679 --> 00:38:21.059 can use an amplifier with it, but you would have 00:38:21.059 --> 00:38:23.320 to use it between your radio and your amp. And 00:38:23.320 --> 00:38:25.119 it does full band tracking, where if you hook 00:38:25.119 --> 00:38:29.130 a control cable up to your radio, It takes all 00:38:29.130 --> 00:38:30.949 different type of radios. It'll work with about 00:38:30.949 --> 00:38:34.210 anything that's modern. It'll band track automatically 00:38:34.210 --> 00:38:36.510 with it, so you can have your band pass filter 00:38:36.510 --> 00:38:41.469 on there. They also have W3 NQN filters that 00:38:41.469 --> 00:38:43.550 are available now too. They're single band filters, 00:38:44.050 --> 00:38:46.570 but they also make a matrix that you can put 00:38:46.570 --> 00:38:49.090 them into and make them... So in other words, 00:38:49.110 --> 00:38:50.530 if you bought one for each band that you want 00:38:50.530 --> 00:38:54.190 to use. So they're all low power ones. Those 00:38:54.190 --> 00:38:57.320 are the ones that... you know that we've I've 00:38:57.320 --> 00:38:59.480 used them and they actually are effective obviously 00:38:59.480 --> 00:39:01.559 I've used the big ones too so you know you're 00:39:01.559 --> 00:39:04.460 going to be in a high power you know you want 00:39:04.460 --> 00:39:06.559 to look at the big ones but the the smaller ones 00:39:06.559 --> 00:39:08.199 are actually effective the other thing you can 00:39:08.199 --> 00:39:11.059 do and don't count this out is coaxial stubs 00:39:11.059 --> 00:39:15.380 I actually use both I have coaxial stubs outside 00:39:15.380 --> 00:39:19.050 right behind my shack And I also use the bandpass 00:39:19.050 --> 00:39:21.250 filters, the small ones, the low power ones in 00:39:21.250 --> 00:39:23.630 between my radio and my amplifiers. Those work 00:39:23.630 --> 00:39:27.510 quite well. I have very little band interaction 00:39:27.510 --> 00:39:32.030 with using both of those. All right, we've got 00:39:32.030 --> 00:39:33.610 another question for you. We're going to kind 00:39:33.610 --> 00:39:35.690 of switch gears here because we've been talking 00:39:35.690 --> 00:39:40.309 to HF all night. But Carl KD9HQT says, would 00:39:40.309 --> 00:39:44.360 a 2 meter, 70 centimeter, 23 centimeter Uh, antennas 00:39:44.360 --> 00:39:47.599 horizontally polarized and above be ideal for 00:39:47.599 --> 00:39:51.460 sideband and CW. Um, since you can do that on 00:39:51.460 --> 00:39:54.179 those bands and, and those modes aren't used 00:39:54.179 --> 00:39:59.340 much, uh, since FM is more popular and I couldn't 00:39:59.340 --> 00:40:03.079 really comment very well on, on how well, uh, 00:40:03.199 --> 00:40:05.400 or what the, the things you need to look at mostly 00:40:05.400 --> 00:40:11.219 for VHF contest. Okay. And then Don, KB2YSI, 00:40:11.880 --> 00:40:13.659 wants to know if you've ever worked at multi 00:40:13.659 --> 00:40:17.000 -op station where they passed the multi. And 00:40:17.000 --> 00:40:19.659 if so, how do you communicate the pass -off? 00:40:20.769 --> 00:40:27.130 We have it's done differently a devastation Whatever 00:40:27.130 --> 00:40:33.889 works We've got some operators that have done 00:40:33.889 --> 00:40:35.809 different type of things So this is why it's 00:40:35.809 --> 00:40:38.630 really good to operate with with different kindness 00:40:38.630 --> 00:40:40.469 I listened to your show last week where Craig 00:40:40.469 --> 00:40:42.630 canine CT was on there and Craig is such a joy 00:40:42.630 --> 00:40:45.250 to listen to he's a he's a wealth of information 00:40:45.250 --> 00:40:47.909 and And also I'll say sign of the same things 00:40:47.909 --> 00:40:50.070 that he's done and I noticed him say this he 00:40:50.030 --> 00:40:54.389 said that if you can ever get around other contesters, 00:40:54.750 --> 00:40:58.409 it's really good to do that. Participate, even 00:40:58.409 --> 00:41:01.550 if you're just a bystander and just want to watch. 00:41:01.849 --> 00:41:03.530 It's amazing how much you're going to watch by 00:41:03.530 --> 00:41:05.190 doing this. And just like this question here 00:41:05.190 --> 00:41:07.210 about learning to do this, because different 00:41:07.210 --> 00:41:08.630 operators will actually do this in different 00:41:08.630 --> 00:41:11.570 ways. They'll tell the DX station to actually 00:41:11.570 --> 00:41:15.170 physically go to this station, or hey, we're 00:41:15.170 --> 00:41:19.909 sitting on the 14 185 running right now call 00:41:19.909 --> 00:41:24.150 us there. You know so you know and it works We've 00:41:24.150 --> 00:41:26.510 actually done this in ready contests in ready 00:41:26.510 --> 00:41:30.250 contests what we've done is is we'll have a macro 00:41:30.250 --> 00:41:34.230 on our keyboard and We'll push that macro and 00:41:34.230 --> 00:41:37.190 it actually will spot ourselves to that station 00:41:37.190 --> 00:41:40.090 not not spot like a DX spot But it will actually 00:41:40.090 --> 00:41:42.710 report automatically where that other station 00:41:42.710 --> 00:41:46.659 is in the key command so that that prints it 00:41:46.659 --> 00:41:49.400 out on his screen so that he knows our station 00:41:49.400 --> 00:41:51.300 is transmitting on that other frequency at that 00:41:51.300 --> 00:41:53.840 time. And that's very effective. It's very fast. 00:41:54.380 --> 00:41:56.719 Obviously if you're in sideband or CW, it's a 00:41:56.719 --> 00:41:58.559 lot more difficult, but that's how we've been 00:41:58.559 --> 00:42:02.000 doing it. All right, very good. Well, if you 00:42:02.000 --> 00:42:04.699 have a question, we're about to finish up here. 00:42:04.739 --> 00:42:07.440 So if you have one, give us a call right now. 00:42:07.559 --> 00:42:13.019 It's 812 -638 -4261. Or we'll check Twitter once 00:42:13.019 --> 00:42:16.579 again. It's at HamTalk Live. And we'll get things 00:42:16.579 --> 00:42:19.780 finished up here tonight. I know one other thing 00:42:19.780 --> 00:42:23.480 that you had on your list here that we didn't 00:42:23.480 --> 00:42:29.920 get too far into was preparation. Yep. And that's 00:42:29.920 --> 00:42:33.550 actually a very big subject. You know, and I've 00:42:33.550 --> 00:42:35.210 done this before where I've been in a hurry. 00:42:35.829 --> 00:42:38.050 I, uh, in fact, one contest, I got off the plane, 00:42:38.050 --> 00:42:41.869 um, I'm rushing home and I got home 20 minutes 00:42:41.869 --> 00:42:43.710 after the contest start and nothing has turned 00:42:43.710 --> 00:42:45.510 on. I got to boot up all my computers, got to 00:42:45.510 --> 00:42:48.070 turn on the radios. I got, you know, you know, 00:42:48.070 --> 00:42:50.409 I'm way late for the contest. I didn't test anything. 00:42:50.840 --> 00:42:55.880 I really bombed that contest. So it's like anything 00:42:55.880 --> 00:42:58.500 else in life or sports, the guy who comes in 00:42:58.500 --> 00:43:00.539 and prepares the best, the most, has the best 00:43:00.539 --> 00:43:03.860 chance of winning. So I can't stress on how important 00:43:03.860 --> 00:43:07.440 it is. Me personally, I host a lot of multi -contests. 00:43:07.780 --> 00:43:09.800 I've got a core group of guys that comes to my 00:43:09.800 --> 00:43:14.840 place. And so the entire week before these guys 00:43:14.840 --> 00:43:18.099 arrive, I am preparing for the contest. I know 00:43:18.099 --> 00:43:21.039 that sounds maybe a little obsessive. And ask 00:43:21.039 --> 00:43:24.440 my wife, it probably is. But we plan everything. 00:43:24.699 --> 00:43:27.960 I mean, the meals, the sleeping arrangements, 00:43:28.639 --> 00:43:31.889 the operating schedules. all the way down to 00:43:31.889 --> 00:43:35.690 checking SWR on every antenna making sure that 00:43:35.690 --> 00:43:37.969 the antenna switch switches making sure the amplifier 00:43:37.969 --> 00:43:41.230 is tuned up properly on each band making sure 00:43:41.230 --> 00:43:43.949 that nothing's out of place the rotors turn the 00:43:43.949 --> 00:43:46.829 radio and everything is in sync and in harmony 00:43:46.829 --> 00:43:50.150 we update all of our software you know get the 00:43:50.150 --> 00:43:52.010 latest updates like with M1MM you know there's 00:43:52.010 --> 00:43:54.670 updates nearly every week, there's usually sometimes 00:43:54.670 --> 00:43:58.250 more than one a week. We put the latest country 00:43:58.250 --> 00:44:00.989 file in there. If you've got a history file from 00:44:00.989 --> 00:44:03.329 previous contests, we want to put those in there 00:44:03.329 --> 00:44:06.710 so that when the calls come in, maybe that's 00:44:06.710 --> 00:44:08.369 when you've worked before in a prior contest, 00:44:08.550 --> 00:44:10.489 so your software would remember his credentials. 00:44:11.510 --> 00:44:13.429 It's just these type of things do this. And the 00:44:13.429 --> 00:44:16.570 other thing I'll mention is make yourself comfortable. 00:44:17.769 --> 00:44:20.289 During the contest, I try and place everything 00:44:20.289 --> 00:44:23.269 on the table in the operating position to where 00:44:23.269 --> 00:44:25.369 it's comfortable to reach it. If you have to 00:44:25.369 --> 00:44:28.590 struggle to reach that knob or get to the mouse 00:44:28.590 --> 00:44:30.710 or whatever you're trying to reach for in the 00:44:30.710 --> 00:44:33.170 contest, it's very fatiguing. So you want to 00:44:33.170 --> 00:44:35.829 make sure that everything is comfortable. You 00:44:35.829 --> 00:44:37.849 know, I got my snacks and my drink right there 00:44:37.849 --> 00:44:40.550 where I can reach them with one hand and the 00:44:40.550 --> 00:44:42.550 mouse and the keyboard with the other. So, you 00:44:42.550 --> 00:44:44.289 know, I try and make it to where I can sit in 00:44:44.289 --> 00:44:46.269 a seat the longest period of time and be the 00:44:46.269 --> 00:44:53.030 most comfortable. Well all great tips all Wealth 00:44:53.030 --> 00:44:56.969 of information tonight on on getting your own 00:44:56.969 --> 00:45:00.590 contest station going and Steve thanks so much 00:45:00.590 --> 00:45:04.409 for coming on and and before we go we want to 00:45:04.409 --> 00:45:08.869 mention that you know the big station here You're 00:45:08.869 --> 00:45:12.070 going to be down at Huntsville and talking about 00:45:12.070 --> 00:45:17.380 it Remind us about be loud Yeah, we've we've 00:45:17.380 --> 00:45:18.960 made some improvements and you know since I was 00:45:18.960 --> 00:45:22.000 last on we were just Just it finished up phase 00:45:22.000 --> 00:45:23.900 one of our build and we've gone back and we've 00:45:23.900 --> 00:45:25.860 done some more we put some receive antennas out 00:45:25.860 --> 00:45:27.739 we didn't get all the things that we wanted done 00:45:27.739 --> 00:45:32.780 at that particular station, but it It's it's 00:45:32.780 --> 00:45:34.280 prime time. It's it's a world -class winning 00:45:34.280 --> 00:45:36.599 station. We've already proved it We've had three 00:45:36.599 --> 00:45:39.239 first place USA finishes from it and some of 00:45:39.239 --> 00:45:41.199 the finishes we had were just incredible finishes 00:45:41.199 --> 00:45:43.380 So it's working quite well. We're not done with 00:45:43.380 --> 00:45:46.219 it yet. We still have got a 164 square to put 00:45:46.219 --> 00:45:49.179 up. We've got all the hardware ready to go 80 00:45:49.179 --> 00:45:50.960 meter four square. We've got some other things 00:45:50.960 --> 00:45:53.860 planned for the station as well So it's pretty 00:45:53.860 --> 00:45:55.639 incredible. We've got a lot of guys out there. 00:45:55.639 --> 00:45:58.239 That's asking us You know, we're coming out with 00:45:58.239 --> 00:46:00.880 software. The software is basically it's a a 00:46:00.880 --> 00:46:04.880 web interface that folks around the country or 00:46:04.880 --> 00:46:08.980 the world can actually log into and use our station 00:46:08.980 --> 00:46:11.320 as if they were sitting there. And it's a web 00:46:11.320 --> 00:46:13.920 -based interface. There's no software to download. 00:46:14.039 --> 00:46:16.519 There's no hardware. They basically can do it 00:46:16.519 --> 00:46:20.420 from an iPhone or a Mac or a PC or an Android. 00:46:20.480 --> 00:46:24.559 It'll work on any platform. And they can operate 00:46:24.559 --> 00:46:26.039 the station. So it's really cool. We've been 00:46:26.039 --> 00:46:29.400 testing with it. And we are about two weeks from 00:46:29.400 --> 00:46:32.400 launch. And so we're quite excited about it. 00:46:33.300 --> 00:46:35.300 And since then, we've added some other stations 00:46:35.300 --> 00:46:37.840 that want to be a part of what we're doing. So 00:46:37.840 --> 00:46:39.760 we're still actually looking for other stations 00:46:39.760 --> 00:46:43.619 that we can marry in and be a part of the network 00:46:43.619 --> 00:46:46.539 to take part in this. It's really cool. So we 00:46:46.539 --> 00:46:48.699 feel we're actually changing the hobby by all 00:46:48.699 --> 00:46:53.920 of this. Very good. Well, you've got an incredible. 00:46:54.519 --> 00:46:57.320 Set up out there. And so we wanted to remind 00:46:57.320 --> 00:47:00.820 everybody about it and it's be loud .us to find 00:47:00.820 --> 00:47:04.380 out more about that. And if you're down in Huntsville, 00:47:05.159 --> 00:47:08.619 stop by and give Steve a yell and talk to him. 00:47:09.579 --> 00:47:12.340 And Fred will be down there too, right? He's 00:47:12.340 --> 00:47:15.780 on his way. That that's right. We've got we got 00:47:15.780 --> 00:47:18.699 a full booth and we got some signs and Fred will 00:47:18.699 --> 00:47:20.619 be there handing out some cards and talk to some 00:47:20.619 --> 00:47:23.159 folks that We got a lot of folks. We know that 00:47:23.159 --> 00:47:25.559 are interested in coming to talk to us. So it's 00:47:25.559 --> 00:47:29.440 quite exciting All right. Well, we look forward 00:47:29.440 --> 00:47:32.960 to it and we want to thank you and thank everybody 00:47:32.960 --> 00:47:36.500 for tuning in tonight and and Thanks so much, 00:47:36.500 --> 00:47:39.860 and I'm sure we'll do it again soon Thanks, Neil. 00:47:40.179 --> 00:47:43.579 It's a lot of fun coming back All right. Well 00:47:43.579 --> 00:47:47.440 that is a wrap for this week's edition of HamTalk 00:47:47.440 --> 00:47:50.579 Live. I'd like to thank my guest Steve Narducci 00:47:50.579 --> 00:47:54.699 W9SN from BeLoud .us and everybody out there 00:47:54.699 --> 00:47:57.480 in cyberspace for typing in tonight and listening 00:47:57.480 --> 00:48:00.599 and invite you back next Thursday night at 9 00:48:00.599 --> 00:48:03.659 p .m. Eastern Time and for a list of all of our 00:48:03.659 --> 00:48:07.380 upcoming guests visit HamTalk Live. And if you 00:48:07.380 --> 00:48:10.199 like HamTalk Live, please consider leaving us 00:48:10.199 --> 00:48:12.679 a review on iTunes or wherever you listen. It 00:48:12.679 --> 00:48:15.659 helps others find us faster. So for now, this 00:48:15.659 --> 00:48:21.139 is Neil Rapp, WB9VPG, saying 7375. See you this 00:48:21.139 --> 00:48:23.420 weekend if you're in Huntsville, and may the 00:48:23.420 --> 00:48:41.679 good DX be yours. Thanks for watching!