Category Archives: Radio

2023 Post-Eclipse Report

image000000 (3)My son and I were in Corpus Christi, Texas, for the annular eclipse on Saturday, October 14, 2023.  Our original plan was to view it from the Padre Island National Seashore, which we had scoped out the day before.  But when we woke up Saturday morning, it was cloudy in Corpus Christi, and weather maps showed clouds over most of the region.

There was a large break in the clouds to the north, and we decided to head that direction.  Weprojected decided to head to Rockport Beach, and this proved to be an excellent spot to view the eclipse.  This was the first time I experience an annular eclipse.  Basically, it’s a 99% partial eclipse, with the remaining 1% of the sun forming a “ring of fire”.  The photo above was taken with my son’s cell phone, using the filter from a pair of eclipse glasses.  The photo at right is using an expedient projection method.  With the pair of “cheaters” reading glasses in my pocket, I simply projected the image onto the picnic table.

rockportbeachThe phenomenon was very different from total eclipse.  It was worth the trip, but considerably less dramatic.  I could tell that it didn’t seem as bright outside as usual, but if I hadn’t known there was an eclipse in progress, I might have dismissed it as haze.  No stars were visible, although the sun didn’t seem as hot as it should.  As you can see from the photo at the left, it’s still obviously daytime.  This is very different from the total eclipse, where at least one star (the planet Venus) was visible, and there was a sunset on the horizon for 360 degrees.

The moral of the story is that if you are in an area with a 99% total eclipse, you should definitely drive a few miles to where it is 100%.  It’s worth the drive.

There was a fairly large crowd at Rockport Beach.  It was obviously smaller than they would have on a hot summer day, but I’m sure it was much larger than a typical windy October morning.  Everyone seemed to have eclipse glasses, and one group played “Ring of Fire” during annularity, which seemed like a nice touch.
image000000 (4)After annularity, most other eclipse chasers on the beach started packing up to head home, even though the partial eclipse was still ongoing.  I made an effort to operate on the radio during the Solar Eclipse QSO Party on 40 meters CW.  Unfortunately, I had an extremely marginal antenna, as there wasn’t much to attach an antenna from my location.  As you can see, I used two broomsticks taped together as the center support.  The ends, I staked into the ground.  In Minnesota, there are always plenty of sticks on the ground to use to tie down the antenna.  South Texas, with its palm trees, doesn’t have convenient sticks on the ground.  Fortunately, I had two pencils in the car, and I used them.

But my makeshift antenna was only a few feet off the ground, and I didn’t manage to make any contacts, nor was I heard by the Reverse Beacon Network.  I made a list of calls heard, and I guess I’ll submit them.

 



October 14, 2023 Annular Eclipse

You might have noticed that we’ve been kind of incommunicado lately and not posting any new content. That’s because my son and I have been on the road, selling eclipse glasses for the annular solar eclipse, which will be visible in most of North and South America on Saturday, October 14, 2023. If you still need a pair of glasses, you can find them at one of the retailers we’ve sold to from Nevada to Texas, listed at this page.

If you don’t have glasses, see our post from 2017 showing safe projection methods of viewing the eclipse.

Our official headquarters for the eclipse will be near Corpus Christi Texas, probably at the Padre Island National Seashore, as we watch the annular eclipse leave the United States and head toward Central and South America.

For hams, please listen for us (W0IS) during the Solar Eclipse QSO Party on 40 meters CW.  We will try to set up and look for contacts, probably after annularity, or shortly after noon central time.  We will be calling CQ looking for contacts, as well as making ourselves visible on the Reverse Beacon Network.  After the eclipse, other citizen scientists will analyze the data generated to see how the eclipse affects the ionosphere.  You should be able to see where we are heard at this link.  Since we will be in a National Park and on an island, we’ll also submit our logs for POTA and WWFF, as well as US Islands and/or IOTA.

For information about the exact times that the eclipse can be viewed in your area, visit this page.  For information from NASA on safely viewing the eclipse, visit this page.



Field Day 2023: Greenberg Island, Wm. O’Brien State Park, MN

2023FDoperatingThis past weekend was ARRL Field Day, an operating event in which Amateur Radio operators set up in the field and see how many contacts they can make with portable equipment. It’s mostly a fun activity, but it also serves as a test of emergency capabilities. For many, this involves hauling large equipment, often powered by a gasoline generator, and setting up large antennas.  Often, large groups are involved in these operations.  It’s been around since 1933, so this year’s running marked the 90th anniversary.

2023FDmapI prefer a simpler approach, and set out by myself or a smaller group with equipment that I can easily carry and quickly set up.  This year, instead of just driving to a park, I decided to operate from an island accessible only by boat.  In particular, I operated from Greenberg Island in the St. Croix River, part of William O’Brien State Park, Minnesota.  The plan was for my wife and I to do the operation, bringing our canoe from home.

Setting up one end of my antenna. I'm breaking of a stick which I used as a stake to anchor it in the sand.

Setting up one end of my antenna. I’m breaking of a stick which I used as a stake to anchor it in the sand.

The initial weather reports didn’t look promising, so we decided not to take the canoe, and instead just operate from the mainland. But while driving there, the weather looked fine, so we decided to rent a canoe and activate the island as originally planned.

The island has been part of the park since 1958.  When I was a kid, there was a pedestrian bridge linking it to the mainland, with a trail covering part of the island.  Exploring the island was always a fun part of a trip to the park.  The bridge is long gone, and the only way to access it is by boat.  I did check first, and it’s perfectly legal to land there, although it is posted “No Camping.”  And not having been there for about 50 years, it was fun to explore the island again, but there was no trace of the old trails.

There were a few human footprints on the beach, but not many.  At the beach where we landed, there were deer footprints, as well as either a dog or a wolf.  The only other sign of humans was a fairly recent mylar balloon reading “happy birthday” which had landed in the brush just off the beach.  I inspected it carefully to see if it carried a note.  Unfortunately it didn’t, so I just picked it up and took it to a trash can on the mainland.

I was on the air from about 3:30 – 5:00 PM, and the weather held up fine. It started looking like rain and we headed back. We had a few drops of rain, but it didn’t start pouring until we had just left the park on the way home.

We found a beach on the east side of the island, and set up there. I used the QCX Mini, running 5 watts on 40 meter CW, and worked about 20 contacts.  The antenna was an inverted vee supported my trusty golf ball retriever shoved into the sand and leaning against a tree.  The power source was a fish finder battery.  I did purchase it new for Field Day, since the previous one was showing signs of wear after 7 years of abuse.

I forgot to bring a folding chair (although my wife remembered hers and was able to relax while I operated).  The fallen tree shown above served as a suitable substitute.

Heading home. KC0OIA at the bow, W0IS at the stern.

Heading home. KC0OIA at the bow, W0IS at the stern.

Best DX was Alabama, I believe. In addition to working Field Day, I submitted the logs for Parks On The Air (POTA), WWFF-KFF, and U.S. Islands Awards Program. This is the first time the island has been activated, and since we went over the magic number of 15 QSOs, it will count as being “qualified” for that program.

Thanks to the stations shown below, some at home, and some out in the field, for pulling in my 5 watt signal.  If you look carefully, you’ll see three dupes.  All of my logging is pencil and notebook, so sometimes it’s hard to remember who I just worked.

Will I ever save the world with my communications abilities?  Probably not.  But it’s good to know that with equipment I can carry with me, just a few minutes setting up, and a battery found in any car, I could get messages out to my friends and relatives in case of disaster, and could do the same thing for my neighbors.

Log2023FD

 



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When Wires Are Down: 1948

1948JunQSTThere was a time when electronic communications meant wires running from city to city. In the United States, these were the telephone lines owned by The Phone Company, or telegraph lines owned by Western Union.  If those lines were knocked down due to some kind of natural disaster, then whole communities could be cut off from the rest of the world.

When that happened, Amateur Radio might serve as the only link.  And 75 years ago this month, the June 1948 issue of QST announced that Western Union had reinstated a cooperative program with the ARRL to ensure that hams were available as backup “when wires are down.”  It was a reinstatement because Amateur Radio had been off the air during the War, and the program originally dated to 1939, as announced in the June 1939 issue of QST.

The ARRL was able to “give W.U. a list of Emergency Coordinators (EC), so in any pinch, the W.U. local managers will know who to call upon for coordinated information on the active amateur stations, radio schedules, points in radio nets, local emergency-powered outlet, and so on, so
necessary emergency traffic might be filed.”  For their part, Amateurs were encouraged to fill out ARRL Form 7 and give it to their EC to sign up as members of the Amateur Emergency Corps.  In fact, the blank forms were available at Western Union offices, and could even be dropped off there, with Western Union routing the forms back to ARRL headquarters.

In reports of disasters, it wasn’t uncommon to read that hams had assisted Western Union when the lines were down.  For example, during the 1940 Armistice Day Blizzard, Sherm Boen  of Albert Lea handled traffic for the railroad, since a dispatcher in southern Minnesota needed permission from Minneapolis before sending a snowplow north.

These days, it’s unlikely (but not totally inconceivable) that the normal telecommunications networks will fail completely.  In addition to ground-based lines, there are multiple satellite options available for linking various communities.  So it’s unlikely that an internet service provider or phone company will call hams for assistance with restoring their networks.

However, it’s not unheard of for individuals and families in areas hit by disasters to be cut off from the outside world.  The ability to send a short message to family or friends in other states could be a major morale booster, and could be extremely helpful in reuniting families separated by disasters.  Hams spend an inordinate amount of time trying to find a “served agency” to whom they can offer their services.  But radio communications today isn’t exactly rocket science, and those agencies can probably have communications in place operated by their own personnel.

WFD1But hams still have a major strength, and that is the fact that they are widely dispersed around the country, mostly in residential areas.  In other words, if there is a local or regional disaster, they are already there, and they can begin communicating immediately.  As exercises such as Field Day and Winter Field Day prove, they can be on the air immediately, even if power is out, and even if part of their station is damaged.  A wire antenna can be put up almost anywhere, hooked up to an HF rig and car battery, and communications are immediately established.  Even the most modest of VHF rigs can provide local communications with other hams.

It seems to me that individual hams should figure out how they can serve their neighbors in time of emergency.  In my case, I will simply make it known, perhaps with a sign in the front yard, that I can send short messages to anyone, just about anywhere, via Amateur Radio.  I have multiple radios that can be pressed into service, and all I need is some wire to build an antenna.  For power, I have multiple options, such as a car battery, flashlight batteries, or a solar panel.  I can be on the air almost immediately, and stay on the air more or less indefinitely.  I don’t need any agency to serve.  My license is the only authorization I need to offer my services to my neighbors.



1973 Multiband Antenna

Screenshot 2023-03-31 11.35.48 AMGreat minds think alike, as shown by the April 1973 issue of Popular Electronics.  I wrote an article for the June 2010 issue of QST entitled, “A Fan Dipole for 80 through 6 Meters.”  It was really nothing new, and I cited earlier versions dating back to the 1930s.  But apparently QST hadn’t published one for a while, so they included my version.

The idea is simple–one piece of feedline feeds antennas for multiple bands, so that you can instantly switch from one to the other.  But the 1973 magazine includes a new twist in the article by RIchard Yommus, W2DMK (or maybe the name is Richard Yeomans, since that name goes with the license).  While the antenna covers 80 through 10 meters, the longest antenna elements are for 40 meters.  The added trick is using 90-1/2 feet of RG-59 coax.  Apparently, the coax radiates on 80 meters, along with the rest of the antenna, on 80 meters, thus providing a good SWR on that band.  The author notes that the coax should be kept as straight as possible, and as much as possible should be outside and away from metallic objects.

I haven’t tried this particular antenna, but I wouldn’t be surprised that it works well on 80 meters.  My antenna works surprisingly well on 160 meters.  When I use it on that band, I unscrew the outer connector of the coax, so that the whole antenna, coax and wires in the air, constitute a long wire.  I suspect that the antenna when used this way causes the house wiring to do much of the job of radiating RF, but it does seem to get out pretty well on 160.



Winter Field Day 2023

327057549_420653090238651_583568416017169018_nThis weekend was Winter Field Day, an event in which amateur radio operators set up at a remote location and see how many contacts they can make. Two years ago, many hams stayed home in the mistaken belief that being in a field somehow causes COVID. To dispel that notion, I set up at a state park campground, where I operated while socially distancing myself hundreds of feet from other persons.

Last year, I operated a little bit from home, albeit with battery power, and doing my best to work only portable stations. But the name of the event is Field Day, and it doesn’t make a lot of sense to do it anywhere but out in the field. Santa Claus recently gave me a new QRP (low power) radio, the QCX Mini for 40 meters, and this was a good opportunity to put it to work.

Review of QCX Mini

I’ve had the QCX Mini, a product of QRP Labs, a few weeks now, and I’m absolutely amazed at how well this radio works. It weighs less than half a pound, and can easily be held in the palm of your hand. It’s available for multiple bands, but I chose 40 meters, which is almost always open to somewhere, day or night. Winter Field Day is, in addition to being a fun activity, an exercise in emergency preparedness, and this tiny rig is one that you could carry with you anywhere. You just need to plug it into a key, headphones, power supply, and antenna. It’s an excellent CW transceiver, and in many ways, it’s comparable with even the best stations.

The receiver is possibly a little less sensitive than a full-size receiver at home, but it’s more than adequate for QRP use. My best DX with it so far was Austria, I was able to pull in the other station’s signal, and he was able to hear me. Additional sensitivity wouldn’t really add much.

It is, however, extremely selective, and has a narrow filter which is ideal for CW. The downside is that the filter is an analog filter permanently wired in, so it’s really not possible to copy AM or SSB signals. You can hear them, and make them out to some extent, but not very well. For example, the receiver is able to tune to both 5 and 10 MHz, and I can hear the beeps from WWV, but can’t really copy the voice messages.

In addition to the transmitter and receiver, the little radio has a built-in keyer, and even a code reader. The code reader doesn’t work quite as well as the one between my ears, but it actually does come in handy. Occasionally, I might miss a letter, but there it is, right on the screen. And if I forget a call sign before writing it down, it’s there on the screen for a few seconds until it scrolls away.

I haven’t tried it out yet, but the QCX Mini also contains a WSPR beacon that might be fun to play with.  You can read the QST review of the radio at this link.

If someone wants to get into amateur radio very cheaply, and they’re willing to learn Morse Code, the QCX Mini would be a very inexpensive way to start.  Completely assembled, it sells for about $120.  Of course, knowledge of Morse code is necessary, but the code reader makes the learning curve a bit easier.  As long as the station you’re working is sending reasonably good code, the built-in reader will help you catch all or most of what you might have missed.  Even if you’re a little unsure of your abilities at first, you can get on the air right away, and build your speed up on the air, rather than having to worry about “practicing.”

In kit form, the radio is only $55, although you probably want to spend an additional $20 for the case.  (But it would work fine with the printed circuit boards exposed.)  If you get the models for 80, 40, or 15 meters, only a technician class license is required, and that can be done with a weekend of study (perhaps using the study guide I authored).

Winter Field Day Summary

326990256_846822686428782_4363993949095429185_nThe contest incentivizes operating away from home, so I decided to trek a bit further than my own back yard.  I toyed with the idea of just sitting in a folding chair outside, but the temperature was only 5 degrees Fahrenheit, so I opted to sit inside the car for a little protection from the elements.  I found an almost-empty parking lot at Como Park in St. Paul, MN, and decided to operate for a couple of hours from there.

The 40 meter band is best during nighttime hours, but I wanted to avoid sitting in the dark as much as possible.  So I arrived at about 4:00 PM local time, and stayed until a little after 6:00.  Most of my time there was in daylight, but with very good band conditions.

My antenna was an inverted-vee dipole.  The center was held up with my trusty golf ball retriever shoved into a snowbank next to the car, and the ends were tied to the ground.  Normally, I just pick up a stick off the ground and use that as a stake, but when I got there, I realized that all of the sticks were buried under two feet of snow.  A search of my car found a water bottle, which I pushed into the snow to serve as an anchor at one end, and my windshield scraper, to which I tied the other end.  The antenna, made of cheap speaker wire, was up in about 10 minutes.  Since I was in my car, I just plugged the radio into the lighter socket.  But I would normally run it with my fish-finder battery.  In fact, the radio will work just find on as little as a 9-volt battery, although I’m guessing one battery would last less than an hour or so.  A better compromise for small size but reasonable battery life would be 8 AA batteries or 8 D cells.

generateCertificateAs soon as I turned on the radio, it sprang to life, and I made a total of 34 contacts over the course of two hours.  You can see from my log below, the radio does get out.  The log image below was made shortly after the contest and confirmations continue to trickle in, but other states worked included Texas, Louisiana, New York, and Pennsylvania, as well as Ontario, Canada.  Surprisingly, I worked nothing to the west, but there are a couple of explanations.  Forty meters is primarily a nighttime band, and it was still daylight to the west of me.  Also, the antenna had an east-west orientation, meaning that it would get out the best to the north and south, which explains the good signal into Texas and Louisiana.

WFDLog2023

 

 

If you see your call sign here, thanks for the contact.  And if you don’t see your call sign here (or if you don’t have a call sign yet), I look forward to seeing you on the air next year!  Maybe by then I’ll try out QRP Labs’ QDX digital transceiver.   Starting for just $69, it’s a multi-band digital transceiver.  It plugs into your computer, and you can immediately start bouncing your signals off the ionosphere into other states and countries.  If you get the entry-level technician license, you can use it immediately on 10 meters.  While that band is very hot right now, that’s not always the case.  Therefore, I would recommend also taking the test for the slightly more  difficult general class license.  But you’re in luck, as I’m also the author of a study guide for that test.



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1963 Stealth Antennas

1963JanEIIt’s become a more common issue these days, but even 60 years ago, some hams and SWL’s were faced with the issue of needing to put up an antenna where they weren’t allowed. As highlighted by this article in the January 1963 issue of Electronics Illustrated, one solution, then and now, is to use an invisible antenna. The easiest way to do that, as apparently done by the owner of the antenna shown above, is to use a very thin gauge wire. The article suggested 18 gauge or smaller (larger numbers being smaller). The best choice is often enamel wire, and it is sometimes possible to select a color that matches the background, for added stealth.

I’ve discovered that one source of very cheap almost invisible wire is cheap speaker wire.  Remember, when you see the price per foot, you’re actually only paying half that much, since you can unzip the wire before using it.  And it often comes with clear insulation, meaning that it’s almost invisible from even a short distance away.

The magazine suggested a type of insulator to use, but modern hams have discovered that the insulator is often unnecessary. Instead, just tie the end of the wire to a piece of monofilament fishing line, which is even less visible.

The article also suggested the possibility of becoming patriotic and installing a flagpole on your house. Especially for higher frequencies, they can form the basis for an excellent antenna system.



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Book Review: War Diaries by Volodymyr Gurtovy

My friend Volodymyr “Wlad” Gurtovy, US7IGN, has published a book about his experiences living in Kyiv, Ukraine, in the middle of a war. Wlad, like me, is an attorney, and lived a middle-class existence similar to mine, until Russia invaded eastern Ukraine in 2014. He and his family then relocated to Kyiv, but with Russia’s 2022 invasion, he was once again in the middle of the war. His wife and teen son and daughter evacuated to Poland, where they were able to find an apartment, thanks in part to the generosity of friends in America and elsewhere.

He remained behind, partly because he was prohibited by law from leaving, but mostly because he felt the need to stay behind and defend his native land.

The most compelling part of his book is his account of the mundane details of life in the middle of a war. Wlad lives in a fifth-floor apartment building in the middle of a city of 2.8 million (prewar population). Some days, the supermarkets are open, and some days they are not. The mail continues to go through, but some days, it’s too dangerous to go to the post office to pick it up.  Power, water, and heat are sometimes turned on, but they’re often unavailable. When he needed dental work, he was surprised to find the dental office near his home open, staffed by dental students.  There are even a few accounts of his visits to court on behalf of some pro bono client.  To me, the descriptions of how he navigates this dystopia are fascinating, especially since his life prior to the war wasn’t too different from mine.  Many who follow this blog have an interest in emergency preparedness, and I’m sure they will also find this book compelling.

Of course, since Wlad is a ham, radio is a main character in the story. He gets much of his information from the broadcast radio, and one of his main roles has become that of radio repairman so that others can remain in touch when their radio has problems. He also recounts listening in directly to Russian pilots and both Russian and Ukrainian troops.

As the title suggests, it’s written in chronological format, and you’ll have a hard time putting it down, wondering what’s going to happen the next day.

The book is available at Amazon, as a paperback, hard cover, or Kindle.

If you feel moved to provide additional assistance to Wlad’s family, please see our crowdfunding campaign to help with their needs at GoFundMe or GiveSendGo.

 



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Partial Solar Eclipse of 25 October 2022

On 25 October 2022, there will be a partial solar eclipse over most of Europe, northern Africa, the Middle East, and western Asia. While not nearly as spectacular as a total solar eclipse, if you are in the area where the eclipse will be visible, it is certainly worth observing.

Since the sun is never completely obscured, it is dangerous to look directly at the sun. However, you can view it indirectly by projecting it, as shown in this picture. You can use a pair of binoculars or telescope to do this. You do not look through the binoculars or telescope. Instead, you point the binoculars at the sun, and point the other end at the ground or other flat surface. You will then see a projected image.

While this picture shows a relatively expensive telescope, this is not necessary.  A good image can be projected with even a pair of toy binoculars.  See the NASA website for more ideas on viewing the eclipse.  You can also view our page from the 2017 U.S. eclipse.

The eclipse will be visible first over Greenland at 08:58 UTC, and will end over India at 13:02 UTC. The peak eclipse will be visible over Siberia at 11:00 UTC. To find the exact times for your location, use this interactive map.

Those with an interest in radio will want  to experience how the partial eclipse affects radio propagation.  During the 2017 eclipse, I found that there was a very noticeable effect on propagation on 40 meters.  Those with just a mediumwave or longwave receiver will probably discover that stations normally heard only at night can be picked up during the day, due to the eclipse.

Solar eclipses and lunar eclipses come in pairs, about two weeks apart.  The corresponding lunar eclipse will be visible in North America on November 7-8.



1941 ARRL Battery-Powered Equipment Test

1941SeptQSTToday marks the 80th anniversary of an ARRL contest that, as far as I can tell, happened only one time, the 1941 ARRL Battery-Powered Equipment Test. The announcement shown here appeared in the September 1941 issue of QST, and the full rules appeared in the October issue.

While June Field Day was, and is, dominated by gasoline powered generators, this event was “aimed at individual-class lighter weight equipment.” To stress this, the official contest exchange included the transmitter weight. Participants could work non-contest stations for one point, with an extra point for sending and getting acknowledgment of the transmitter weight. If the other station was battery powered, there was an additional point for copying their transmitter weight.

WFD1In my opinion, the small advantage gained by an electric generator is more than offset by the convenience of operating with batteries.  For example, as I previously reported, I worked the 2021 Winter Field Day contest with my trusty fish finder battery.  Especially if you’re thinking in terms of emergency preparedness, it’s an easy matter to keep fully charged batteries on hand, whereas a generator usually requires a certain amount of maintenance, as well as keeping fuel on hand.

The maximum power level for the 1941 contest was set at 30 watts, although it would have been a stretch to get more from battery-powered equipment. Operation from the field was encouraged, with a multiplier of of 2 for all contacts. However, stations could also be operated from home, as long as batteries provided all power for transmitter and receiver. The contest rules reminded hams that portable operation required 48 hours advance notice to the FCC.

There were categories for both HF and VHF (called in those days “low frequency” and UHF). Interestingly, HF operation was confined to the daylight hours, but UHF could continue all night. The UHF category allowed 5 meters and up, but all of the entries in that category used exclusively the 2-1/2 meter band.

The results weren’t published until after Pearl Harbor, in the March 1942 issue of QST.  They are shown below, with W8RMH, Edgar Cantelon of Detroit, later W8CV, taking the honors for high score with 82 contacts from a portable location. Among the calls is one familiar one, that of Don Wallace, W6AM, whom we have previously profiled.

In the “UHF” category, W2NPN took top honors, with an impressive 72 contacts from a portable location, all on 112 MHz.

The “transmitter weight” is an interesting piece of data to exchange. Even though this contest is no more, transmitter weight is still a factor in at least one contest. While it’s not sent on the air, transmitter weight is an important factor in scoring for the Adventure Radio Society Spartan Sprint contest.  In the most recent runningK4PQC managed 11 contacts with a station (transmitter, receiver, headphones, and battery) weighing in at 0.1268 pounds (2 ounces). He reported that his station consisted of a 40 meter ATS-3b.  The rig is designed to fit inside an Altoid’s tin, but he ran it without the case to shave a whopping 1.2 ounces off the station weight.

I suspect W8RMH’s rig weighed a bit more in 1941, but he probably used a lot of other gear, both larger and smaller, over the years. According to his 2016 obituary, he had just started working at WJBK radio (now WLQV) shortly after this contest, and he was in the transmitter room when the station reported that Pearl Harbor had been attacked. He then secured a new job in a defense plant, later becoming a radio operator for bomber test flights. He later served in the Merchant Marine as a radio operator, and then the army. He later went back to WJBK and served as an engineer for their TV station.

BatteryPowerContestScores1941



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