Novice Rig Roundup for regular folks

From March 2, 2019 to March 10, 2019 I will be participating the the Novice Rig Roundup.  This is my very first time ever, therefore I am technically a novice.  Here is a link to the NRR page.

So what is a Novice Rig Roundup?  I had no clue, but now I know a little bit more.  For those of us who are old enough, there was a time when nearly everyone started off their ham radio career as a novice.  A novice was limited by watts and bands.  Most novices worked hard to improve their CW and to do what was necessary to upgrade to General and beyond.

A Novice Rig is a radio that was somewhat geared for Novice operators.  For example, my Ten Tec Century 21 pictured below.

I have removed the top cover of my Ten Tec Century 21 to perhaps do some maintenance.

Now, this radio is a "novice" type rig in that it has about 75 watts of input power in keeping with novice guidelines.  Output power according to Ten Tec was 30 to 40 watts, but other have realistically stated that output power is about 25 to 30 watts.  I have found this to be true, in that the lower bands are around 32 or so watts out on my Bird wattmeter, and less on the higher bands.

The Novice Rig Roundup classifies a 75 watt input radio as a "Novice 1," and gives points based on contacts between Novice 1 and Novice 2 stations.  Novice 2 is a station beyond 75 watts input.

It is really essential to click on the link above to learn all about the NRR contest...all 8 days of it.

Unfortunately, I am going to use my C21 in a slightly handicapped condition since the PTO is in need of some care.  Something is mechanically screwy with the tuning shaft so I am getting some random variation in frequency.  This will most likely be fixed by rebuilding the PTO, but since there is no time before the contest to do the repair, well, I will just have to get by with an occasionally quirky PTO.

Here's the inside of the C21...

The PTO is inside the silver box looking thing which is behind the main tuning dial and just below the two light bulbs in the bottom center of the photo.  It is somewhat nerve-wracking to disassemble the radio to do the job, but it is worth it for at least 2 reasons: 1) it will hopefully solve your PTO issues, and 2) it is a tremendous opportunity to learn some new skills and deal with a late 1970's radio the way a Novice would back in those days.

There are 2 excellent youtube videos about breaking down and repairing the TenTec C21 PTO.  Even if you don't have this radio sitting in your shack, it is worth it to watch and learn.  Click here to see the first of the 2 videos. 

If you have a novice rig, then by all means, participate in the contest.  In addition, you don't need a Ten Tec or other commercial novice rig to take part.  You can get on the air with a "rock bound," crystal controlled transmitter and have a great time.  In the USA it should be very easy to work stations with 5 watts from your homebrew crystal controlled rig.

I am interested very much to know what kind of Novice rig you may have sitting on your shelf.  Please send me your thoughts and ideas for the upcoming March 2 to March 10 contest...and have a great time!!

73

Mark 4x1ks

The TRUTH about working DX at a time like this...

Hello All:

Very busy the last couple of weeks, so not nearly enough time to blog.

Today I would like to touch on a subject that is a sore spot for those of us looking for DX to work and put into the log.

Let's get straight to it.

Saturday night (GMT+2 / Israel time), I flicked on the IC7300 to see if there was anything doing on 20m at all.  To my surprise, the bandscope on the 7300 was full of stations active on 20m at 8pm and later local time.  This was completely unexpected.  Despite the fact that is was the ARRL CW contest, who would have thought that 20m would be open that late.

To put this in context, every night when I turn on my 7300 or some other rig, I listen on 20m and hear Zippo.  I mean that 20m is absolutely dead after dark on pretty much any night, but not this night.

The contest was very active.  I heard many NA stations making QSO and sending signals that were good and LOUD, and not just the major big guns either.

Unfortunately I was unable to work this contest due to other pressing commitments, but if I had, then I would have made a lot of QSO s to NA.

Why is this important?  Well, for starters, 0 sunspot numbers does not mean zero DX.  The massive amount of activity on 20m (at least), was a good indication that there is plenty of DX out there.  More importantly, and the main point of what I would like to say, is that 20m is clearly NOT DEAD at 1800 utc (when it is 8pm local here in Israel).  So that could mean that 20m is not dead where you are at 8pm local time.

With 100w I did manage to work some DX in a very short period of time.

***Which brings me to my main point in this diatribe***

We all need to start calling CQ on 20m, even at 9pm.  I am certain that I am not the first one to say that the band will be "dead" if no one bothers calling.  It is like a Catch-22.

1) People don't call on 20m at night because they think the band is dead.
2) The band is quiet because people aren't calling.

Now, based on the tremendous activity on 20m in the ARRL CW contest, I believe it is safe to say that if folks should start calling CQ instead of making the assumption that the band is flat.

I, for one, am going to make a point of calling CQ on 20m even at 8 or 9 pm local just to see if maybe there are some optimists out there who are hoping to make a 20m QSO even when one side of the QSO is at 9pm local time.

Last week, I worked a K3 station on 17m when there was almost no noise on 17m at all.  In a big surprise, I had a nice QSO that was 589 and perfectly copyable on a band that was supposed to be quiet and gone for the evening.

So fellow hams, give 20m a try even at 9pm local...there just might be someone 6,000 miles away who can copy you S9.

Anyone else out there have a surprising DX opening at night on 20m (or whatever)?

73,

Mark 4x1ks

Working DX the right way...

Use your computer to work DX the right way

Many of us get on the air quite frequently hoping to work a new DXCC country or to work an existing country in our log on a new band or mode.  It can be frustrating, especially when conditions are less than ideal.

There is however a tool that most of us already know about called the DX Cluster.  Below is a screenshot of dxsummit.fi

There are practices that can be extremely important when trying to work that new one.  If I am working contest as "unassisted," then I will never look at a dx cluster site.  However, when you are chasing DX to build up your totals, there is nothing wrong with using the cluster, and most of us do.

The problems that do occur when chasing DX are typically just a few.

1) Calling on the DX station's split frequency.  We all have been told LISTEN.  Nevertheless, we constantly hear stations coming to the aid of the DX station and calling out  "UP UP UP."  I have noticed this much more in the EU than I ever did stateside.  The problem is that someone will look on the cluster and see 3B9VB  (or whoever), and immediately start calling on his frequency.  This is just awful LID behavior.  DX stations know who they are, and they are almost always going to work split.  Whoever posted them to the cluster may not have posted "up 2," but it should still enter your mind that they are probably working split.  So the first this to do is to wait, and verify where he is listening.

Let's say that he is transmitting on 14.208, so he might be listen up 5 to 10.  That means you transmit between 14.213 and 14.218.  IT IS AMAZING how many people just don't understand this.

2. The DX cluster will tell you if you can even work the guy.  Let's say that 3B9VB is listed 6 times on the cluster.  Let's also say that every one of those listing is by a West Coast USA station.  Well, chances are that if your call starts with and I or a DK, so you probably won't be able to work him.  Not definitely, but probably.  ON the other hand, if you see only EU stations listing the DX, then it is a good chance that the USA is not going to be able to work the DX.  There is a certain rhythm to propagation that you should learn to figure out.  There are also some programs online like:

http://www.voacap.com/

Voa cap allows you to put in your station particulars and then gives you a prediction of your propagation to another location that you specify.  The important thing is that it is a "prediction," and not a certainty.  Many times, Voacap indicated that my chances of working a particular DX country was on 25%, yet I was able to make the QSO.

3. When not to call is just SO important.  NEVER call if you can't hear the DX station.  NEVER call if the DX station is not working your continent.  This happens to me All The Time.  I will often call CQ JA, and some stations from the EU will just keep sending me their calls.  Don't be like those guys.

4. Give only your full callsign.  DX stations will usually ignore the stations calling with only their prefix or suffix.  On those occasions when I have worked as a special event or just if I have a pile up, I will absolutely ignore the station sending or calling with just "ZZ" or their suffix.  Even if  I work a long list and they are still there at the end still calling with just their suffix; I will go QRT without working them.  The reason for this is 1) it is not legal to give a partial callsign, and 2) it is really bad ham radio behavior.

This little review is probably just automatic for nearly all of you, but if you are a newbie or if you have been licensed for a while but have just fallen into bad habits, well, it is a good idea to try to correct those habits before you get a bad reputation on the air.

Everyone likes a good operator, and you can use the DX Cluster to find that DX, beef up your totals, and also work the radio like a pro.

73,

Mark 4x1ks