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Skywaves 2025 February; Happy Groundhog Day

Discussion in 'Amateur Radio News' started by KG5WHQ, Feb 3, 2025.

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  1. KG5WHQ

    KG5WHQ Ham Member QRZ Page

    QRZ readers are some of the best people.
    The W5SRA newsletter is here and Happy Groundhog Day.

    I am back in Texas for a few weeks. If you enjoy SkyWaves I challenge you to send me a photo of your shack!

    SkyWaves is the official newsletter of the Sachse Amateur Radio Association. We meet on the second Thursday of every month. You are invited!

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    Download

    Please enjoy our newsletter. It is very Technician accessible, and there is a kids' section for those of you who are trying to gently teach something about the hobby.

    Special finds:
    • Radio Quest; the continuing fun self-challenge, how many points do you have?
    • ARRL trends downward; Examining the membership trends (do we need a new member-centered org or is there more to be dug up?)
    • Coding the arduino column reaches part four.
    • Hams doing Fire Watch; please drop a comment if you are in the fire-stricken areas. I want to hear from you!
    • Getting on the Club Repeater; busting through the jargon.
    • Prepare for a fire; Reprinting the steps from the Red Cross.
    Download the February SkyWaves newsletter, now published in a magazine format.
    Click here to download or copy this link into your browser's address bar:
    https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1RVzQLyUs_Gb5MQ3SadFpQMwuDvkVtdWT

    Show me your RadioQuest cards! There is one in every newsletter. How far have you been able to progress?
    Reply with a screenshot or the number of points you have!

    I enjoy talking to you all. Please tell me what you like or hope to see. Btw, is it time for a new Thibodeax story yet? Hop on your radio and keep having fun!
    KG5WHQ
     
    DO1FER likes this.
  2. DO1FER

    DO1FER Ham Member QRZ Page

    Nice to compare whats going on across the pond and whats going on here. Especially the big clubs comparison.
     
    KG5WHQ likes this.
  3. KG5WHQ

    KG5WHQ Ham Member QRZ Page

    Did you give yourself some points on the RadioQuest cards?
     
  4. DO1FER

    DO1FER Ham Member QRZ Page

    Yes, of course. At the technician level nearly every point and at the general level different points, but not all. In the general section it depends of what the operator is intrested in. Maybe there are some points in space weather or different other things that concers to the hobby, which can be more intresting than to operate. After Space Weather together with some Greyline experiments, experiments with QRP to that time and easy build up wire antennas and so on.

    Personaly I tried a folded wire antenna (Helical) for the 80m. It was a half-wave with a wireline of 40m and driven with a manual tuner. To this I tried it with a QRP transceiver and indoor. The best and repeatabel results were around 1500 km in a diameter with different SSB voice contacts, mayflys not counted.
     
  5. KG5WHQ

    KG5WHQ Ham Member QRZ Page

    Those are good additions! How did the antenna work? Did you get photos? Would you write a piece for me describing how to build it?
     
  6. DO1FER

    DO1FER Ham Member QRZ Page

    It wasnt really a special thing. I took a wooden windowframe with the dimensions of about 1,3 m x 0,7 m. Then I took a wire with twisted 60 thin wires within, for to bring a good signal into the air. And thats it. The wire got a length of about 40m and I bend it around the frame evenly to the longest side. In the end it got a figure of a harp. Further both ends of the wire were soldered together. After that I put it to the analog tuner and tuned it in. The thin wire is only useable for QRP.

    Maybe it deprives some people of the mystique, what ham radio is or can be.
     
  7. KG5WHQ

    KG5WHQ Ham Member QRZ Page

    Can I have a photo?
     

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