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Long : 4.30664 E (4° 18' 24'' E)
Lat : 52.05249 N (52° 3' 9'' N)
QTH locator : JO22DB

1st page

Introduction, 2nd page, 3rd page, 4th page, 5th page, 6th Page, 7th Page

 

 

The SAILOR R104 receiver

 

Play the CQ serenade !

Part of the Maritime Telegraphy license as obtained in 1965.

The second hand vintage YAESU FT-7

The maritime radio station KSM, now as HAM station

By connecting the world and fulfilling everyone’s fundamental right to communicate, we strive to make the world a better and safer place.

Among technological developments, national and international policies, and the many diverse interests of commercial businesses, there needs to be an organization that safeguards everyone’s fundamental right to communicate.

The ITU is that organization. With 192 member states and over 700 sector members, ITU puts great emphasis on its accountability and transparency. Communication is not only the subject of our efforts, it is, increasingly, the means by which we achieve our goals. Working with partners and members from around the world, what we do affects everyone on the planet – our work is truly global. And we believe that communicating openly and honestly is the only way to get the job done.

It is our task to ensure that people around the world can communicate with each other in an efficient, safe, easy and affordable manner. It is our responsibility to be proactive about what the world might need in the future, not just what it needs right now. We will do our utmost to get everyone to work together – government and industry alike – to come up with solutions that work: for sharing knowledge, developing tools, and building and safeguarding networks.

There are serious challenges facing us. The growing role for ICT holds great promise, but it can be abused. Breakthroughs in communications bring not only benefits but also new dangers. Global cooperative agreements have never been more necessary, yet at the same time, the sheer speed of development makes this all the more difficult. This means we must not only work hard, we must work smart: creating effective partnerships, making efficient teamwork central, and finding ways to do more with less. When doing things better proves not enough, we’ll show the courage to do things differently.

In the coming years, ITU must take the lead in many areas: ensuring security in cyberspace, the efficient use of radio-frequency spectrum and satellite orbits, promoting appropriate strategies and policies, encouraging infrastructure development to bridge the digital divide, and the use of ICTs to mitigate climate change. We are the first and last stop for establishing workable standards to provide global telecommunications for everyone, including the disabled and disadvantaged. To realize all this, we know that it is not enough to be only communication specialists; we also have to be specialized in communicating.

Because it uses an international natural resource--the radio spectrum--Amateur Radio must organize nationally and internationally for better mutual use of the radio spectrum among radio amateurs throughout the world, to develop Amateur Radio worldwide, and to successfully interact with the agencies responsible for regulating and allocating radio frequencies. The American Radio Relay League is an example of this organization on a national scale. At the international level, national societies throughout the world work together for the international good of Amateur Radio under the auspices of a representative democracy, the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU).

Created in Paris, France, the International Amateur Radio Union has been the watchdog and spokesman for the world Amateur Radio community since 1925. The IARU Constitution, last amended in 1989, organizes the Union into three Regional Organizations that correspond to the three radio regions of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The IARU Constitution also provides for an IARU Member Society to serve as the Union's International Secretariat.


The work of the CEPT is conducted by three autonomous business Committees:
The Electronic Communications Committee (ECC)
The European Committee for Postal Regulation (CERP)
The Committee for ITU Policy (Com-ITU)


The Chairmen of these Committees form the Presidency of the CEPT.

i.s.m. startpagina.nl

Startpage for the Radio amateur

Call sign PD3TRU officially registered on 25 May 2011. And a real UTC clock including the so called silent periodes (SP) which needed to be observed for distress signals in 'the old days'.

Early morning of 22 April 2011, 07:00 local time. Clear blue sky on the back ground of my G5RV antenna. As you can see the feeder line is not entirely vertical (as it should so I was told).

Bought a new straight key at SDR

Some observations:
I realize that I am still very green so to speak when it comes to the subject of HAM Radio, but a few observations puzzle me:

  • why are telegraphy codes like 73, QRZ, QSL, QSB, QTH and QSY used in telephony mode (e.g. J3E)? I don't recall this was done professionally during my life as a sparks. For example why would you use QSB when the word fading doesn't take longer (even shorter).

  • Equally with the use of CQ in telephony mode. Telegraphy code CQ means ALL STATIONS in telephony. So why not say All Stations ?

  • To me it comes across as a kindo' macho way of showing that you know all these telegraphy codes (but don't use CW anymore)

Comments are welcome in my guestbook on the top of this page

My shack on 22 May 2011.

Data of the Agentschap Telecom per 25-05-2011

Category: N-amateur    Registration number: 6629107

Antenna coördinates NB: 52,05584 OL: 4,25541

Transmitter identification

Call sign PD3TRU

Data available: Yes

See www.qrz.com for QSO's and QSL's

Make an account first in QRZ.com. A basic account is free.

QRZ callsign lookup:
Callsign lookups provided by qrz.com

 

Above you can find the latest QSO's I have made. I'll update at least once a week.

HERE you can find the eQSL cards I have already received.

 


 

The collapse of the broadcast transmission mast in Bovensmilde on Saturday 16 July 2011 and the fire in the mast near IJsselstein.

And click here for photo's of the rebuilt starting 1st May 2012.

 

 

 

Experiences, disappointments, pitfalls and enjoyment of a beginning Radio Amateur.

It was in the summer of 2009 that I saw a Sailor R-104 receiver on www.marktplaats.nl (an equivalent of eBay). The picture can be seen in the left column. It was an offer I couldn't resist so I left for a trip of about 80 kilometres to go and get it. It also included a direction finding compass but I decided not to connect that as I should know by now where I live. I had used a similar Sailor R-104 when I was an R/O on board a variety of merchant marine vessels. So it was nostalgia to a large extent. My aim was to try and find Morse signals on MF and HF. I had recently been writing my biography and that had brought back a lot of memories that had been tucked away deeply apparently. Working the radio over long distances using Morse was one of those nice memories, hence my sudden interest in this Sailor R-104.

Although I have (sea)sailing as a hobby I don't plan to install this receiver with direction finding compass on board a sailing yacht. GPS is a better alternative. And the time that 2182 KHz was a telephone distress frequency has long gone by.

With the Sailor R-104 one can use SSB (USB only), AM and CW in A1 and A2 mode. It has LW, MF and HF, but in HF mode only the 160 and 80 meter bands are available. Especially in the evenings these bands are usually open, so it may be a good chance to receive some CW.

This Sailor R-104 requires 12 VADC power and so I went to a shop in The Hague (Stuut en Bruin, who closed their doors, shortly after I paid them a visit J). They had what I needed and I connected it the minute I came home. I turned the Sailor on and I didn't smell or see any smoke, so that was a good sign. The Sailor did not have a speaker, but there was a 5 Ω headphone jack and I had a headphone somewhere, so a few moments later I had sound. On one 'ear' though, but that is only a minor detail. I was listening to shortwave radio for the first time in some 35 years after I quit being a sparks.

Now being the proud and joyful owner of an ancient R-104 is of course only part of the story. What good is a receiver without an adequate antenna? Theoretically one would need 1/2 λ = 80 meters of antenna wire for the 160 meter band. That certainly doesn't fit in the backyard of my condominium. Even 1/4 λ = 40 meters is far too long. And in addition such an antenna would need to be some 40 meters above the ground. My neighbours probably would not be very pleased.

So I decided to postpone my decision about an antenna. Instead I started off with connecting the CAS (Central Antenna System) of my TV provider to the Sailor and although the impedance doesn't match (75 Ω instead of 50 Ω), the result wasn't that bad. As an ex R/O I was interested in signals on the 500 KHz and the 2182 KHz (distress and calling frequencies in the 'old' days), but after tuning in on those frequencies it turned out that earlier information from 1999 that these frequencies were no longer in use are true. Only scatter. GMDSS has taken over. Professional usage of Morse doesn't exist anymore either, but when I slowly went tuning over the 160 and 80 meter bands I did indeed hear some Morse signals. I had apparently entered the HAM Radio section of the bands. I heard a German station doing a DARC contest with an unbelievable speed (40 wpm plus) and another one at probably some 12 wpm, like a sparks in his first weeks of the R/O training. I thought I heard the usage of straight Morse keys as well as the use of so called bucks and paddles. Some call it bugs instead of bucks. But a bug in my humble opinion is a fly or a software failure in a computer program or operating system. Anyway, who cares? I never learned to work with bucks or paddles. Radio Holland - my employer when I was an R/O - had forbidden such keys as it 'would make the wrist less flexible and reduce the ability to properly work with straight keys'. I also heard some SSB, but as it turned out, SSB on 160 and 80 and 40 meter bands is using the lower side band (LSB) and the Sailor R-104 only as USB. So my first experiences as an apparent SWL (Short Wave Listener) were very inviting to explore higher frequencies. I have learned that SDR (Software Defined Radio) is an option in combination with a PC. It requires a good soundcard though. SDR comes at some € 300,-- and up, so that is fitting into budget J.

I think it would be an interesting hobby to be a amateur radio operator (HAM) - don't know the origin of that word - as it would also allow me to practise Morse and to familiarize myself with the new generation of electronics. I come from the radio tube era. So I became a member of VERON, a Dutch HAM Radio club, but there are others as well and international ones. And I want to get my F-license of course. My license as an R/O cannot not be used for HAM Radio I was told.

When I was 17 years of age I built a multivibrator (tone-generator) with one radio tube (a ECH84 if I am correct) allowing me to also practise Morse at home. It included a key and a headphone. I threw it all away many years ago as I thought I would never ever going to use it anymore. What a pity. I now would have loved to try and use it again. On the Internet I learned there is a club that aims at the conservation and expansion of the usage of Morse: FISTS. Funny name; I never used my fist working CW. Fingers and wrist, yes. Well, what is in a name?

In the summer of 2010 - a year later - I walked the city centre searching for a shop where they would sell a Morse key with tone generator. They all threw pitiful looks at me as if I hadn't been outside after WW II. But on the Internet I found Classics International and they had exactly what I needed to pick up on my rusty wrist trying to rev up my Morse skills: a Morse key with an integral tone generator. Fine for beginners J Well in the HAM world I am a beginner, isn't it?

I also found an interesting active receive-only antenna for some € 85,--. The specs say it works from 1.800 KHz to 200 MHz. So that should do the job for me as an SWL. I called them up for a coax cable that is needed between the antenna and the R-104 and a friendly women was very helpful on the phone, taking into account that I must have come across as pretty dumb.

My credit card made it all turn into a deliverable order and a few days later it would all be delivered to my home. Why did I walk the streets in the city for hours in the first place? Can't wait to try and find out how I can work the Morse key again after some 35 years.

Coming home from work on the Monday after the weekend I found my order delivered as a neat package including the required instructions and batteries. So I put it all together and started working the Morse key; I estimate to have worked some 22 words per minute. Not bad after so many years. The active antenna resulted in an improvement of some 200% on the R-104 with a fine S/N ratio. I heard a French radio amateur on the 80 meter band including all sorts of French words with characters like é and è (..-..). I had a flashback to the days I had to produce the French newspaper on board the s/s Statendam/PHSC in 1968. St Lys Radio (FFL) was transmitting it in Morse with some 32 wpm and it felt like each and every word had some é, è, á, à or ç in it. It was quite stressful for a young R/O being on a passenger liner for the first time, with colleagues looking over your shoulder having a laugh at you.

I found a power adapter that I could use on the antenna amplifier in stead of the 9 Volt battery, so I changed that. And VERON gave me their membership number: 34419 and I paid for my membership for the remainder of 2010.
And my SWL number is: NL 13550 R-18. So the first few steps on the path of HAM Radio have been set. A small step for man, but a giant step for me J.

Whilst practising with Morse and trying to speed it up again, I also started to study the new electronics technologies; mostly digital these days now; PNP, NPN, MOSFETs, diodes and alike, let alone the large variety of microprocessors.

I also grounded my 'shack' to the central heating system and learned that it also gave a signal to noise ratio improvement.

Wednesday 4 August 2010. I went to the local VERON clubhouse in The Hague for their weekly meeting (PI4GV). I used a FT-7 Yaesu transceiver and one of the guys told me that there was a similar model for sale on www.tweedehands.nl for € 150,--. As I liked what I had done with the FT-7, I immediately sent an e-mail to the owner of the YAESU FT-7 in Zelhem in the East of The Netherlands. A day later I had a response and we arranged for a meeting. A two hour drive, but what the hack.

Saturday 7 august 2010. I had my afternoon of travelling up and down the A12 motorway and had a nice contact with the owner of the vintage FT-7 transceiver. I made the deal and connected the unit the minute I came home (see picture in the left column). I can now also listen to the 10, 15, 20 and 40 meter bands. The transmitter has an output of some 10 Watts, but I can't use that of course, since I don't have a license yet. I have put the microphone with PTT (push-to-talk) in the drawer to avoid accidental activation of my transmitter. The active MFJ antenna certainly wouldn't like that! I am now using my Sailor R-104 as an LW and MF broadcast receiver and to listen to the 160 and 80 meter bands. Of course I am now missing the other WARC bands (30, 18 and 12 meter bands). And the FT-7 10 meter band only has the phone frequencies, not the CW frequencies. Of course I would like to have the maritime bands as well. It might turn out to be a hobby where one can spend a good deal of money.

Monday 9 August 2010. With the growing number of equipment, my 'shack' needed additional power outlets and some redoing of cabling. It also became apparent that it would be nice to have a 12 VDC distribution panel. I saw that Classics International have that to.

Of course the issue of an outside antenna comes to mind. Dipole or vertical? And how does one elegantly bring the coax cable from outside to inside the shack? Any advice is welcome in my guestbook at the top of this page.

I did a number of trial exam's in the N category and had enough points to pass an exam. I need additional study though on regulations and transmission classes. After that I'll try and do the trial exam's of the F category. N stands for Novice and F for Full.

Somewhere deep in a drawer I still had a multimeter and I decided to connect that meter as an amp-meter to my 12 VDC PSU. It is a 3 Amp max PSU and I thought it became quite warm, but when all that is connected is witched on, it still doesn't draw more than 1,05 Amps, so it should not be a problem. When I start transmitting it may become yet another story. I'll then buy an additional PSU I guess.

Looking at my study and the process of converting it to a shack, I decided to expand my Lundia book shelf with yet another segment that can contain most if not all of my radio equipment.

The study books of the Radio club VERON have arrived so I now can dig into the technologies much deeper.

Sunday 18 October 2010. The Lundia book shelf has been expanded and adjusted. I ordered the 12 VDC distribution panel at Classic International. It is the MFJ 1128. Apparently it was the last one they had, because after I had ordered it, it immediately disappeared from their catalogue. The successor turns out to be the MFJ1129. Kind of obvious.

Again antenna's. The subject keeps coming up. Obvious since it is probably one of the most important instruments of a shack. I was advised to try and use a G5RV antenna. It is a 'cost-effective' dipole with a 450 Ω balanced feeder line ending in a S239 coax connector to connect the unbalanced coax cable to the RIG. An antenna tuner should provide for the balun function in combination with a choke balun near the feeder line. On 6/11/2010 I'll go to the so called Dag van de Radiozendamateur where they also have a 'flee-market'. I'll need to fill my pockets with Euro's I guess.

Saturday 23 October 2010. Yesterday I received all that was ordered on Classic International and Conrad. The picture above shows the 12 VDC distribution panel. I thought the equipment could be connected using so called banana plugs, but it turned out to be a proprietary connection system whereby it also required the wires to be soldered to the plugs. Well it was a good exercise. I also needed to change the connectors to connect the PSU. After all that I mounted it all into my newly expanded Lundia book shelf, putting the power and antenna cables out of sight as good as I could and you can see the result for yourself with the pictures below. You can still hardly call it a shack, but it is a beginning and it needs to grow gradually.

Thursday 28 October 2010. An auction was held at the local VERON clubhouse. The showup was great and the things that were given in auction where finding their new owners with the speed of light. I myself found an SWR meter for € 4,--. You can see the meter in the picture below.

SWR meter voor € 4,--Saturday 6 November 2010: The day of the Radio amateur in Apeldoorn. I left home at 08:10 local time. I went with my wife who was going to visit a friend of hers, also in Apeldoorn.
Upon showing my VERON membership card I was given a € 1,-- reduction on the entrance fee. The place was packed! I didn't know there are that many radio amateurs. First some coffee and some small talk with other visitors and then I started walking the floor. Bottom line is that I bought:

To cut it short: I have spent to much! But I also listened to a lecture about the use of 500 KHz that will shortly become available for Radio amateurs. All sorts of data about propagation and critical values of antenna's. As an R/O I used the 500 KHz daily. I have even been able to work PCH (Dutch coast station) from near Barbados in the Caribbean. No ground radial needed on board a ship J. When I listen to the 500 KHz nowadays I hear a very strong unintelligible transmission just against the 500 KHz. Don't know what that is.

Sunday 7 November 2010. The pictures below show how I have managed to put all of my purchases together. MK-1 Masterkeyer with soldered power plugs for the MFJ distribution panel; paddle to the MK-1 Masterkeyer, antenna switch connecting the transceiver to either the dummy antenna or the antenna and putting it all in/on the shelf. Working the paddle requires extra training. That'll take some time.

The above installation showed that I had to dig deeper into the issue of PL, BNC and N coax plugs and connectors. I now have an antenna switch with N connectors and coax cables with PL connectors. So I went to a shop in the centre of The Hague called: Radio Twenthe. I will not bother you with the hassle of finding a parking place in the city centre of The Hague and the charge for 15 minutes. € 2,50! It is as if they make you buy your car back. But I had my N to PL converter plugs: € 4,50. See picture below.

This radio amateur hobby makes you learn new things almost every day. PL (Amphenol) connectors are apparently used for HF and VHF. N connectors for UHF and microwave. The F and BNC connectors for TV antenna systems. But opinions not always seem consistent. Here you may find additional data.

Tuesday 9 November 2010; evening. All connected. Then I started testing my transmitter on the dummy antenna. The SWR meter was put between the dummy and the FT-7 transceiver. I used the PTT switch whilst the transceiver was in LSB mode. I wondered why the meters didn't do anything only to find out later that I should have used CW or just say a few words in the microphone. I should have known that one! And I'll have to find out how to work and interpret the SWR meter. On board you either had to peak or dip antenna meters to make the transmitter frequency match the antenna. But that was a somewhat different world than the HAM world today: for example the transmit frequencies were always different from the receive frequencies. Not so in the HAM world. And I tried working the paddle again. It is still a pain in the ass. I'd rather work the straight key.

Wednesday 10 November 2010. Research on the internet taught me how to handle my external SWR meter. I also found a site where I could get a manual for the SWR meter: www.mods.dk but after three attempts to get an inlog code I gave up.

In the evening I tried my SWR meter as I should like I learned earlier that day and my SWR turned out to be 1:1 when working the dummy antenna. That probably is a rating you cannot achieve on a real antenna. (A year or so later I learned that a 1:1 ratio - or better still - on a G5RV antenna can easily be achieved on certain frequencies).

And I connected the MK-1 Masterkeyer to the PC, using the PuTTY editor to fill memory banks with certain Morse strings. Changed a few other MK-1 settings and connected both the paddle and the straight key to the MK-1. The MK-1 then needed to get connected to the FT-7 transceiver. But - as usual - I missed a few plugs here and there. So I will need to get back to Radio Twenthe. I'll use public transport this time.

I have also learned that - especially during so called contests - quite a few operators work 35+ wpm. Amazing. But I was told most of them use computers and the required software for that; transmitting and receiving. It's all automated. Is that fun? May be I'll find out as time goes by. It is for sure that the worlds of IT and HAM Radio are already very much integrated.

One of the integration steps is to connect the RIG with the PC. For that modern RIG's have a CAT interface. My vintage YAESU FT-7 doesn't have that of course. So my HAM Radio and IT integration has its limitations.

Saturday 20 November 2010. Ten days went by without doing anything in the shack. But now I finally had some time and connected my straight key to the FT-7 transceiver. Also connected the FT-7 to the dummy antenna and started testing the transmission. All went well. Now it is time to use the additional plugs that I bought at Radio Twenthe to connect the MK-1 Master Keyer to the FT-7 and the straight key to the MK-1. It turned out that I needed some other jacks as well. There are mini jacks and normal jacks, stereo jacks and mono jacks. Well to make a long story short: I paid another visit to Radio Twenthe and got all the stuff in the end, including a low impedance speaker for the Sailor R-104.

Saturday 27 November 2010. The straight key is now connected to the MK-1 Masterkeyer and when I use the dummy antenna and start transmitting I can hear myself on the Sailor R-104 in the 80 meter band. It is as if the FT-7 sounds like a howling dog though. In SSB mode everything seems okay. It turns out that after 30 minutes or so, when the FT-7 is all warm and cosy, the howling is over. Working the paddle is still 'open for improvement'.

Tuesday 12 April 2011. As you can see I have been inactive in my shack for some time. Other priorities and activities. But I have again started to make trial exams for the N license. I have decided to start with the N license as I will not be able to install an adequate 160 and 80 meter band antenna anyhow, so why bother for an F license (laziness probably). I am so eager to get on the air that I might as well start off with an N license, so I thought. And take it up from there. I have also listened to SSB in the various bands, but receiving is 'limited' to Europe and Asiatic Russia, Ukraine and so.

Wednesday 13 April 2011. A major step has been set: 12 May is the day for my N license exam at Dirksen in Arnhem. And I ordered the MFJ1778M G5RV Junior antenna as well as the MFJ925 auto tuner. So I am aiming for an operational shack in May of this year 2011. The antenna feeder line will go through the window when I leave the window a bit open. That will do for the time being. The G5RV was a good buy I though: € 47,--. And the auto tuner is needed anyhow, regardless of any antenna I assume.

Sunday 17 April 2011. The stuff I ordered on Classic International has been delivered the day before yesterday and today I installed the auto tuner and tried it on the dummy antenna for which the auto tuner obviously had little work to do. Before I can span the G5RV antenna I need some UV resistant rope with stainless steel shackles. I also need to build a 1:1 choke balun to prevent RF currents on the coax. When I asked about that when I ordered the G5RV it was kind of neglected or disregarded, but the G5RV manual is very specific on this subject. Initially it was assumed that the choke balun would be part of the auto tuner functionality, but that was wrong. The auto tuner does provide for the balun function only to make the coax impedance match with the feeder line impedance (balanced <--> unbalanced).

Wednesday 20 April 2011. Yesterday evening I tried to span the G5RV antenna between the attic and the garden house, but that distance turned out to be too small for the 15 meters of the G5RV dipole. I had sort of worked out that distance using the famous Pythagoras formula, but apparently I had wrongly guessed or estimated the height of the attic. What next? It would be a waste to cut the G5RV and make it smaller that way. I could roll up the antenna wire at both ends, but what would that do to the antenna characteristics and / or impedance? Well it was lovely weather so it was a nice job, but it needs to be continued. That evening I also heard the most distant station so far: Oman on the 15 meters.

So this Wednesday I continued to try and span my G5RV antenna. The reception of the radio signals on my FT-7 is significantly better when using the G5RV than from the MFJ1022 indoor active antenna. Not really surprising. I cannot make the auto tuner do his job though. The auto tuner either tells me to QRO (increase transmit power) or SWR (which means that my SWR is way out of line). The green light on the auto tuner should light up when the tuning was successful, but it didn't. I should either read the manual more carefully ('if nothing else works, read the stupid manual') or may be it all depends on the absence of a choke balun. I thought: why shouldn't I contact the administrative agency for HAM Radio subjects (AT) on this one.

And I did receive an answer from the AT. Initially saying that these subjects are normally not dealt with by the agency; it is the responsibility of the HAM operator to find these things out either with the supplier or other HAM Radio colleagues, but in the end I was given the advice to indeed include a 1:1 choke balun and / or try an open dipole antenna, because the guy who responded had 'similar tuning problems with the G5RV than I experienced'. He suggested an open dipole with 2 x 15 meters wire. Well 2 x 15 meter is a no no for me; I even found it difficult to span 1 x 15 meters. He also referred to an article in QST:
http://www.sgcworld.com/Publications/Downloads/ClassicMultiband.pdf

Funny: the guy from the administrative agency (AT) who responded turned out to almost live next door J

Saturday 23 April 2011. A memorable day for me! At first I found out why my auto tuner didn't tune: I used the PTT switch on the mike, using SSB (suppressed carrier). How stupid can one be? So when I used CW, it all worked fine. On the 40 meter band I had an SWR of 1,5:1, so that is not so bad and I heard F8CSL very loud. Having the Morse key already at my finger tips and a reasonable to good SWR, I just couldn't help myself, but I just had to respond to the CQ of this French radio amateur. And I had an immediate response. He gave me an RST of 599 and I only had 10 Watts transmit power. F8CSL is in the middle of France, province Cher. It was a true adrenaline boost: For the first time after I had stopped being an R/O 37 years ago, I again had a CW QSO. I know, it is illegal as I don't have a license yet, but it only lasted for a minute or so. It really made my day!

Monday 25 April 2011. The speaker I bought some time ago at Radio Twenthe has now been connected to the old Sailor R-104, so I can listen to LW en MF stations without using a headphone. And the speaker is fixed to a side panel of the book shelf. Again a small improvement of the shack. The MFJ1022 indoor active antenna is now dedicated to this Sailor R-104.

The speaker in the FT-7 stopped working however. Touching and lightly moving the power connector at the rear of the unit gave a cracking sound, so I took the unit apart only to find out that the power connector inside the unit had a broken part that holds the pins in place. It is a 6 pins Cinch Jones connector; male on the FT-7 chassis and female on the power cord. Why not the other way around? If you put the FT-7 on its rear panel it becomes a hazard for the connector pins. Anyway I took the unit to the workshop in the VERON clubhouse to see if anyone there had Cinch Jones parts. Small chance but if you don't try you don't know. There were of course no spare parts, but we figured out how the pins were configured and as it turned out only two pins really mattered.

Friday 29 April 2011. I ordered a new male/female set of the Cinch Jones connector at KVConnections in Tennessee. The delivery time was said to be 5 weeks. That would mean I couldn't work my set for at least 5 weeks! Cannot have that, can I ? So I took the connector apart from the FT-7 chassis and started to redo it with the only two pins that really mattered and glued the whole thing together with two component glue. After an hour or so work, the FT-7 is again working fine and so does the speaker . And I received a confirmation of my participation in the N exam on May 12th at 10:00 AM in Arnhem, chair number 9.

Saturday 30 April 2011. Made yet another trip to the Lundia store to do some additions to my book shelf. I bought an extra shelf that expands some 20 cm to the front, giving enough space for the FT-7 to be placed. The standard shelf was just a little too small.
I also tried to make some SSB QSO's (naughty, naughty) but the pile up was too tense. I did however have some QSO's with Estonia and Lithuania. It is hard to wait until I have my license. I did find out that my Morse key that came with the tone generator of MFJ does not have the best quality of the world, so I ordered a Kent straight key at SDR. I also learned that the straight key input on the MK-1 Masterkeyer from Ham Gadgets is causing problems.

Thursday 12 May 2011. I went on my way at 07:15 local time with destination Arnhem. An hour and a half or so normally, but I would now probably hit rush hour with various traffic jams. I arrived at 09:15 at the office of Dirksen Training and thus had some time for coffee. There were 12 other candidates. At 10:45 I finished and delivered my results. I was given a list with the correct answers and after checking I found I had made two errors. Even stupid ones. Anyway I did pass my exam successfully! I am now a licensed radio amateur! I still have to wait for the official paperwork and the official registration of my call sign: PD3TRU. HERE you can find the N exam of 12 May 2011 and HERE you can find the answers. All in Dutch I am afraid.

Sunday 15 May 2011. My first phone QSO at 16:10 UTC. With GB2GGM on the 40 meter band (7062 KHz). It was during the so called mill weekend. This contester was based in a monumental windmill in Wales. In ancient times the miller's son was the first one to hear the Titanic's SOS, the story goes. I was 'a bit off frequency'. Later I found that this is caused by the so called CLAR function on the FT-7. But it could also have been caused by the fact that my vintage FT-7 needs to 'warm up' before it is stable. At least that is what various interfora tell me.

Wednesday 18 May2011. I already noticed earlier that using the straight key on the MK-1 Masterkeyer makes the FT-7 do funny things, like hanging and sending a continuous tone without me even touching the key. When I connect the straight key directly to the FT-7 I have no problems. So this is what I have done, but I didn't buy my MK-1 Masterkeyer for nothing, did I ? So I sent an email directly to mk1comments@hamgadgets.com . See what their experiences say. In the mean time I've had a few QSO's with Lithuania on the 20 meter band. Time for intercontinental QSO's. I've heard East and West Coast of the U.S. in the evenings already. I have heard quite a few radio amateurs saying QSY to 15 or 30 meters. So I am eager to get a set where I can use the WARC bands as well, although my N license doesn't permit it.

Friday 20 May 2011. Had a response from Ham Gadgets about the straight key problems on the MK-1 Masterkeyer. I need a software upgrade to version 1.30. Can easily be done with a USB stick. Apparently I have not been the only one with the straight key problem J

Yesterday evening I had a brief QSO with a special event station in Bulgaria on the 20 meter band. Immediate contact and RST599. Their station is in honour of the founder of the Cyrillic alphabet. See LZ2011KM. Why don't we have such a station for our alphabet?

And I upgraded the MK-1 Masterkeyer to version 1.30. I also did some mods on the mono mini jack that connects the straight key to the MK-1 as I was not satisfied with the way the wiring was done. Prone to failure. The result: my straight key now also works fine with the FT-7 via the MK-1 masterkeyer. But is this the result of the upgrade or of the mods on the wiring of the mini jack? Will I ever know?
Monday 23 May 2011. It really gives a kick to be able to work with so many far away stations with only 10 Watts transmit power. My G5RV antenna works best on 40 and 20 meters. Reception on 80 and 15 meters is poor. As I am not allowed to work the WARC bands, 80 meters and 160 meters with an N license anyhow, I probably shouldn't bother. The G5RV junior in addition is also 3 meters shorter as I rolled up the wire with about 1,5 meters at both ends to make it fit between my attic and the garden house.

Wednesday 25 May 2011. Yet another milestone: all of a sudden I could log into the radio amateur site of the government agency (AT) using my DigID code (personal code to log in on governmental sites, like the tax office or other 'services'). I saw to be registered as an N licensee. And when I came home from work I found all the paperwork like exam results and HAM license. I could also register my call sign PD3TRU. I will add that one to QRZ.com. Trying to do that failed unfortunately. But I have been able to register in the database of Hamcall.net. I also had a late QSO with PA0VLY who made a compliment for my audio quality of the FT-7. I have the mike amplification set half way and that seems to be sufficient. I don't have the original YAESU microphone, but a Philips model that came with the set when I bought it second hand.

Sunday 29 May 2011. Jan Onclin at PD5SJO helped me with registering my call sign into QRZ.com. And I filled my logbook, but haven't seen any 'confirmations' yet. Have to get acquainted with the not so intuitive website for personal settings an alike. Also had a QSO with SJ2W who gave me RST 599 and gave me a sequence number: 1114. He also asked me for a sequence number. Didn't have the faintest what he meant. I didn't participate in his contest and hadn't started a numbering system. So what should I do. As you can see: the world of contests is new to me. But HERE I found what is expected.

Monday 30 May 2011. Other radio amateurs have told me that I shouldn't expect a confirmation on each and every QSO I log in QRZ.com. Not everyone is as diligent as others to upload their logbooks, cause most of them use off an offline logbook that needs to be uploaded every now and then.

Friday 3 June 2011. Yesterday on Ascension Day - in between garden jobs - I had a few nice QSO's with e.g. various German Lady Clubs in the regions K, S and F respectively with YL Anke, YL Eve and YL Petra. Excessive 88's were flying through the air. Somewhat later I also had a QSO with DL3KWR who also sent me an 88 that I found suspicious at first J, but checking QRZ.com I learned it was YL Rosel Zenker. And all the QSO's were in CW. I find it somewhat disappointing though I find so very few confirmations of my QSO's in QRZ.com. Of the 32 logs I have entered, only one was confirmed and that was the one I had asked for with an e-mail. UA1APX shows that he has 'seen' me (why not confirmed ?). On the other hand there are quite a few sites where you can keep a logbook, so there may be sites where others have logged a QSO with me, without me knowing it. I found out somewhat later that eQSL has four eQSL cards waiting for me for example. So I have made an account at eQSL and selected my own eQSL card. I have also taken an subscription (€ 29,95) at QRZ.com as that is required when you want to upload your logbook file. Sending paper QSL cards is also still done very often. I don't think I'll do that, but I can imagine it is nice to have a tangible card as a proof of the QSO's that were made.

It is remarkable that the 20 meter band is very good early in the morning, later in the day it deteriorates and in the late evening it is tops again, also for DX. Around 11 PM and later the U.S. is coming in, but I often find that too late as I have to get up for work early in the morning. So these opportunities are for the weekends.

I also realise I am often making QSO's in the 40 meter band on frequencies ranging from 7000 - 7050 KHz, because that is where CW is being heard, but I shouldn't be there with my N license. That is limited to 7050 - 7100 KHz. I have never heard CW there, only SSB.

When I came home from work last Friday I found additional paperwork from the administrative agency (AT), including my International Certificate and my registration card in the size of a credit card, saying explicitly CW not included. And CW is what I am using most of the time. Remarkable as there is no longer a way to do a CW exam in The Netherlands anywhere, which was confirmed by the AT. So if you cannot do a CW exam in the first place, why then mention CW not included. If there is no option, don't mention the subject, I would say.

Talking to other radio amateurs about this subject I learned that a CW exam still can be done in Belgium at the ham radio club UBA. I contacted Johan ON5EX, who came back with the suggestion to contact our Dutch amateur radio clubs VERON and VRZA about this subject as it is silly to put that on the plate of the UBA. Well to cut a long story short: the VERON, VRZA and AT all say they don't want to get involved. No more CW exams in The Netherlands full stop. As it turns out only France requires a CW qualification on a license if and when you want to use the radio equipment in France. That apparently is the reason for our AT to mention CW not included. It remains a mystery how to get CW included on that license.

Interested in the background of specific telegraphy codes, like 73 en 88? Click HERE

This story is continued on the following page. 

HamCall.net Callsign Lookup:

 

The above map shows the QSO density so far.