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39 Articles

FEBRUARY RICHMOND, VIRGINIA—The Richmond Amateur Telecommunications Society will hold Frostfest and the 2019 ARRL Roanoke Division Convention from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Saturday, February 2 at the Exhibition Hall-Richmond Raceway Complex, 600 E. Laburnum Avenue. Website: . Talk-in 146.880- (PL 74.4). VE exams, DXCC card checking. SANDY, UTAH—The Utah Digital Communication Conference 2019 will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, February 2 at the Salt lake Community College Conference Center, 9750 South 300 West. Email: . Website: . SPRINGFIELD, VERMONT—The Connecticut Valley FM Association will hold its Swap Fest beginning 8 a.m., Saturday, February 2 at the Springfield VT VFW Post 771, 191 River Road. Email: . Website: . Talk-in 146.760- (PL 110.9). ORLANDO, FLORIDA—The Orlando Amateur Radio Club will hold the Orlando Hamcation and 2019…

FCC Back to Full Strength (But Closed at Press Time) The Federal Communications Commission once again has five members, with the Senate confirmation of Brendan Carr for a full five-year term (he’d been filling a vacated seat since 2017) and of Geoffrey Starks, who is replacing former Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. They join Chairman Ajit Pai and fellow Commissioners Michael O’Rielly and Jessica Rosenworcel. Starks moves up from a staff position as Assistant Chief of the Enforcement Bureau. The Senate also confirmed Kelvin Droegemeier as director of the White House office of Science and Technology Policy. (Tnx K3ZJ) At press time in mid-January, the FCC remained essentially closed due to the partial shutdown of the federal government. See News Bytes on page 10 for more details on how the shutdown is…

ZERO BIAS: A CQ Editorial

The Lure of Less We hams like to get more for less. Just check out the haggling at a hamfest flea market if you have any doubts. Part of it is being frugal (or “cheap” if you prefer), but another part is the challenge of seeing how far you can stretch a buck. At hamfests, this challenge is about dollars, but on the air, it’s the same challenge that drives the QRP, or low power, enthusiast to see how far he or she can stretch a watt. And just as it’s possible to get some amazing deals at a hamfest, you can make some amazing QSOs with QRP. In fact, it may be easier since there are more opportunities. Hamfests happen here and there, scattered around the calendar and the…

ZERO BIAS: A CQ Editorial

OUR READERS SAY:

The W9IOP Second Op Our November cover story on the W9IOP Second Op DXing aid brought back happy memories for many readers, as well as several letters from them. Here are a few: Editor, CQ: The cover of the most recent CQ magazine caught my eye while I was browsing in our library today. I found Terry Joyner’s article, “Blast From the Past: The W9IOP Second Op,” very interesting as I never knew who W9IOP was or that he was an avid contester. I fondly remember the Second Op. I had one at my operating position many years ago and used it frequently. Mr. Joyner wrote that W9IOP moved to Electro-Voice after working at CQ magazine in its early days. He mentions the names of a couple of hams at…

OUR READERS SAY:

As this is written in early January, the federal government is partially shut down due to a funding dispute between the President and Congress. The FCC is among the agencies affected. We hope that, by the time you read this, an agreement has been reached to reopen all federal agencies. However, the impact on hams will likely extend beyond the shutdown. Here’s a snapshot of how the shutdown affected government agencies and services typically used by hams, including any expected post-shutdown effects. FCC The FCC shut down all but essential functions (such as spectrum auctions) as of January 3. The Universal Licensing System (ULS) and Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) websites continued to be accessible; however, there was no staff support behind them. Amateur license processing was shut down, including…

QRP, Marconi, and Me

Photo Essay of a Hamming Vacation to Italy Every amateur should have a bucket list. Mine includes traveling to a far-flung destination and being DX as part of a DXpedition; visiting ARRL headquarters and operating from W1AW; operating from a cruise ship as/MM (maritime mobile) from a faraway location; earning DXCC, 5-band DXCC, WAS, and Honor Roll. The list continues to grow. Having goals and achieving them over a number of years as an active ham has been good for me and good for the hobby. I visited ARRL headquarters way back in 1990 and operated two days at W1AW, check. DXCC, check; WAS, check; maritime mobile, check. Visit the birthplace of radio1? Check! I’m still looking to join a DXpedition. So how did I come to visit the birthplace…

QRP, Marconi, and Me

A Trip Back to 1895

Traveling to Italy for a vacation was a no-brainer. I am into cooking and all things Italian, including cars. I was attending a radio club meeting and a visitor from Italy was sitting next to me. Fabio, IZ4AFW, and I began to talk and discovered that we both had a mutual ham friend in Brazil, PY2NY. Fabio is from Bologna, and when I told him I would be visiting Italy the following summer, he invited me to visit the Marconi Museum there. My wife and I made plans and arranged for our tour once we arrived in Bologna from Modena. I had the good fortune to visit the house and grounds where the very first transmission of a wireless signal was successfully sent in 1895. The Marconi Museum is housed…

A Trip Back to 1895

Traveling Light: QRP with an SDR Radio and a Windows® Tablet

As a licensed amateur radio operator since 1965 (originally WN3EIQ), I’ve been at it for a long time. I’ve enjoyed many aspects of the hobby that seems to keep on giving. I’ve built a wide range of transmitters, receivers, and transceivers like the two-tube, two-band “Scrounger” featured in the September 1964 issue of Electronics Illustrated, and such kits as the Heathkit HW-7 and the A & A Engineering 20-meter transceiver. Some are still in boxes waiting for the time to build them. I also have an Elecraft KX3 in my stable, but I find a certain lure and mystique in operating small, homebrewed, noncommercial radios. SDR for QRP I think the most interesting QRP experiences I’ve had lately have been in building and operating SDR radios. I first encountered software-defined…

Traveling Light: QRP with an SDR Radio and a Windows® Tablet

A35EU: DXpedition to the Kingdom of Tonga

Over a few beers during the hamfest in Friedrichshafen last year, several of us were talking about our next DX destination. Personally, I don’t like to go to the same country twice. We mentioned a few possibilities in the Pacific. Some were out of our scope because of the cost and/or the difficulty of getting there. Frank, DL4KQ, mentioned Myanmar and everybody though that was a great idea. From July through mid-September, we worked on this destination. Frank did most of the work because he had some contacts in Myanmar. He even flew there to make some arrangements with the local government. Everything seemed fine, but after a month back home, we still hadn’t received the official papers. We wanted to go to Myanmar in October, so there were only…

A35EU: DXpedition to the Kingdom of Tonga

SOTABEAMS Tactical 7000hds Portable Antenna Mast

Recently, I had the opportunity to try the SOTABEAMS Tactical 7000hds, a fully collapsible, portable antenna mast designed for the ham on the go. As a ham who enjoys portable operation, a mast or other support structure is necessary for the successful deployment of a wire antenna when in the field, especially if operating in an area void of trees and other supports. I put the Tactical 7000hds through the rigors of portable operation and used it as my primary support during several portable operations last fall. I deployed the mast under windy conditions, during periods of light rain, and at times when there was a flake or two of snow in the air. Each adventure was different, and for good reason, as I wanted to see how the mast…

SOTABEAMS Tactical 7000hds Portable Antenna Mast

How I Worked 100 DX Entities QRP, CW Mobile

Several years ago, I had a mobile CW station in one of my pickup trucks, consisting of my Kenwood TS-440AT and Hustler antenna. With that, I was able to work mobile CW. But the 440 was the only HF radio I had, so it did double duty as my home station as well. That proved to be inconvenient, to say the least. So … move ahead to the present and I now have two Elecraft K3s, one as my home station rig and the other for operating away from home. The KX3 is a great little radio. I have used it for portable operations from the Grand Canyon in Arizona to the Black Forest in Germany. My job required me to travel around the state of Pennsylvania and the KX3…

How I Worked 100 DX Entities QRP, CW Mobile

QRP on the Cruise of a Lifetime

Back in 2004, I had the opportunity to take a sailing trip of a lifetime with my son, Brandon, KC9DNH, on a Boy Scout event off the Florida Keys. The captain basically loaned his boat—named the “Soggy Paws” (Photo A), to the Boy Scouts of America and the scouts were taught many things from basic boating to chart reading and everything they needed to “stay alive” for a while on the water (Photo B). We did 11 days I believe on the water, moored every night where the boys wanted to be. In preparation for the trip I packed everything I thought I would need—including my FT-817. When we arrived for the sail, the captain told us each we could fill only one bag, which he supplied. The bags were…

QRP on the Cruise of a Lifetime

An Ideal Low Current and Ultra High Resistance Meter

This circuit was first built around 1971 to measure leakage current of the newly available CMOS integrated circuits. Over the years, it has been improved as better operational amplifiers (op-amps) and higher value resistors have become available. This version incorporates Analog Devices’ zero-drift 130-dB gain ADA4638 op-amp and Ohmite’s ultra high value precision resistors. This amazing but simple current measuring circuit provides the following features: 1. It measures current with less than 10 μV across its input terminals. 2. It delivers 10 volts output for full-scale ranges of 10 pA to 10 mA. 3. It is undamaged by a continuous overload of 1-amp or short 10-amp peak. 4. It provides high precision, limited only by range resistor tolerance and the display DVM accuracy. 5. It makes possible the accurate measurement…

An Ideal Low Current and Ultra High Resistance Meter

Build an Amplified Absorption Wavemeter

Improve Sensitivity to Really Low RF Signals In 1970, I was playing with tunnel diode oscillators as very low power RF sources for short-range transmitters and signal generators. The RF power was so low that my trusty Heathkit grid dip oscillator could not sense it in diode mode, where it becomes a simple absorption wavemeter with a vacuum tube diode RF detector to drive the meter. I built an amplified absorption wavemeter with one transistorized gain stage to be able to see the signal and estimate the frequency of those tunnel diode oscillators and have used it ever since. The parts all came from my junkbox. The neatest feature is that it reverts to an unamplified instrument when turned off and becomes much more sensitive when turned on. I was…

Build an Amplified Absorption Wavemeter

A Little Help From the Kitchen

Baking pans and their deeper cousins, loaf pans, especially the non-stick coated variety, have several advantages. I seem to have a natural inclination to come up with alternative uses for common objects. So a while back, it occurred to me that with the dwindling availability of certain construction components for electronic projects, in particular enclosures and chassis, I should look elsewhere … outside of the electronics websites. That’s when it hit me to consider using inexpensive baking pans. Baking pans and their deeper cousins, loaf pans, especially the non-stick coated variety, have several advantages. 1. They are typically manufactured from thin steel, making them easy to cut, drill, punch, nibble, etc. 2. The side walls generally slope upward when the pan is inverted. So when a pan sits on a…

A Little Help From the Kitchen

Southern California RTTY History … and its Continued Popularity Today

WHEN I OPERATED RTTY IN THE 1950S, ALL THE RECEIVED RTTY TEXT LOOKED LIKE THIS. THIS IS CONSIDERED “SHOUTING” IN TODAY’S NETIQUETTE RULES BUT BACK THEN ALL YOU HAD WAS BAUDOT UPPER CASE TEXT1. Radioteletype, better known as RTTY, was very popular back in the 1950s and, at the July 1958 meeting of the Southern California Radio Teletype Society (SCARTS), some 78 members and their wives spent the afternoon and evening at a swimming pool party held at the Arcadia home of Merrill Swan, W6AEE, better known in the area as Mr. Teletype. One teletype expert, Art Addaway, tore down a Model 15 machine and showed us how to adjust it, oil the clutch felts with a hypodermic needle and put it back together. All of the details were published…

Southern California RTTY History … and its Continued Popularity Today

Last month, and on several occasions in the past, I have written about optical communications as it is of particular interest to me and I believe it is fertile ground for amateur experimentation. I work in fiber-optic transmission systems of all sorts but I am not talking about “wire-type communications” here; I am talking about free space applications—akin to radio. As you might realize, this is usually a line-of-sight mode since almost anything between a transmitter and receiver can block an optical signal, similar to UHF and microwave transmissions. This month, I would like to present some ideas on this subject as “food for thought” to the experimenters in our midst. Producing a High-Power Optical “Signal” First, let me give you an idea of how to produce a high-power optical…

BEHIND THE BYLINES…

Don Minkoff, NK6A (“QRP, Marconi and Me,” p. 12), loves to travel and loves to bring a QRP ham station along for the ride. He wrote about a trip to Portugal and Ireland in our February 2016 issue (“Sardines, Wine, Whiskey, Cows and a Radio,” p. 14) and was pictured on the cover of that issue. Richard Lawn, W2JAZ (“Traveling Light,” p. 20), is a jazz musician (thus the call) and music educator who has played with Lionel Hampton and Chuck Mangione, among others. He has taught music at the college level, becoming dean of the College of Performing Arts at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia in 2002. He retired as professor emeritus in 2012. On the ham bands, Rick has a variety of interests, most notably QRP…

BEHIND THE BYLINES…

THE LISTENING POST

A Visit to the Medium Waves Acombination of a news item, Gerry’s inability to do this month’s column due to some personal issues, and part of my January editorial prompted me to focus this month’s “Listening Post” on a range of frequencies that is frequently overlooked today, despite the fact that it’s where so many of us (myself included) got hooked on radio and DXing … the AM broadcast band. News item first: As of the end of 2018, two medium wave broadcasters in Belgium went off the air: Groot Nieuws Radio on 1008 kHz and French-speaking station RTBF, which previously broadcast on both 621 and 1125 kHz. This, according to Ydun Ritz on his excellent “Ydun’s Medium Wave Info” site . Ydun also reports that RTBF is continuing its…

THE LISTENING POST

Popular shortwave broadcaster may reappear, the business of issuing licenses, new allocations for Turkey and 1X2 callsigns reappearing in the UK. Campaign in Australia to Bring Back Shortwave Radio When the Australian Broadcasting Corporation ended its shortwave services in January 2017, many residents became upset because, in several remote communities and in the Northern Territory, the broadcasts were a lifeline to civilization. Now, politicians are getting involved. A Labor Government under Opposition Leader, Bill Shorten, in a bid to win the 2019 election, has vowed to provide the required $2 million in funds to bring services back. Senator Nigel Scullion, minister for indigenous affairs, acknowledged the vital necessity of shortwave radio, particularly during cyclones, floods, and other emergencies. He was quoted on radioinfo.com as saying: “This is a really poor…

EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS

One of the best parts of my job as EmComm editor for CQ magazine is receiving cards, letters, and emails from readers. Every month, I receive comments about an article I have authored, sometimes complimentary, sometimes to point out where I was wrong. Hey, I’m human and can take the licks. So, before we begin this month’s offering, my direct email is , or feel free to pen a card or letter to me at P.O. Box 67, Lewes, DE 19958. I received a lovely handwritten letter from my new friend Michael, KC5DBD, in Huntsville, Texas. Michael has been a ham since 1992 and enjoys working mobile emergency communications. However, in 2009 he became dependent on crutches and since 2014 has been using a wheelchair, with no hope of walking…

“Over the river and through the woods, a sly little fox he was. So sly that this little fox sought the help of his twin.” That is how Nathan Hardman, N8THN, of Clarksville, Michigan announced that he had deployed a pair of hidden 2-meter transmitters for his friends to find in the next 12 days. “I hope you all have your fox-hunting skills tuned up for the season,” he continued. “The two foxes are hiding within walking distance of designated parking areas. As this is an extended hunt, you must activate the fox. Key your radio, identify your transmission and press the 1 key. If you are close enough for the fox to hear you, it will begin transmitting a sequence of tones for 30 seconds followed by a Morse…

QRP: Low-Power Communications

Unless this column is your first stop, you probably know by now that February is CQ’s annual QRP Special and many of this month’s features are slanted toward low-power communication. I started thinking about what to prepare for this column while traveling home from a project worksite last fall. While tuning across the car’s FM radio dial, I came across a radio station that was playing snips from a “Top 10 List” that had aired on an old episode of Late Night with David Letterman. As I drove along listening to the clip, I thought, “why not do a Top 10 countdown focusing on reasons for operating QRP?” I could poke a little fun at QRO operators (hi), provide some information that both new and seasoned QRP operators may find…

QRP: Low-Power Communications

SOTABEAMS ContestConsole Switching Unit for ICOM Radios Contesters looking for a quick way to instantly access the voice, CW, and PSK memories on ICOM radios should check out SOTABEAMS’ new ContestConsole. It was designed with the IC-7300 in mind but works with a wide range of other ICOM radios, including the IC-2300H, IC-2730, IC-275, IC-575, IC-7000, IC-703, IC-706, IC-707, IC-7100, IC-718, IC-7300, IC-7400, IC-746, IC-746PRO, IC-756, IC-756PRO, IC-756PROII, IC-756PROIII, IC-7600, IC-7610, IC-7700, IC-78, IC-7800, IC-7850, IC-7851, IC-9100, IC-910H, ID-4100A, ID-4100E. Functionality varies for each radio. SOTABEAMS new ContestConsole connects between your radio and microphone and provides instant access to your memories without the need to have them displayed on the radio screen. Other features include a Transmit push-to-talk button; a transmit low power tune function, which sends a 10-watt carrier…

ANALOG ADVENTURES

We’d like to welcome Eric Nichols, KL7AJ, to our contributing staff, along with his new “Analog Adventures” column. As more and more of our technology becomes digital, it’s sometimes easy to forget that radio itself is analog, and always will be. The goal of this column is to help make sure that we all keep up on the knowledge and techniques needed for sending and receiving analog radio signals, even if the modulation on those signals is digital.–W2VU I think it’s most fitting and timely to launch this new column on analog methods in the CQ’s annual QRP Special. In this column, we will explore classical as well as cutting-edge analog techniques, and hopefully take you on some very interesting detours. It’s probably best to start out by defining what…

ANALOG ADVENTURES

For QSO on the GO Get the Best… the PreciseLOOP HG-1 Antenna!

Proven Performance Proven in the very challenging environment of Mt. Kilimanjaro, yet perfect for a casual QSO at a nearby park. The PreciseLOOP is ideal when portability and performance matter. Many operators favor the MLA (Magnetic Loop Antenna) for Field Day, SOTA and restricted HOA operation. An MLA is a convenient, lightweight antenna, which can be deployed quickly. PreciseLOOP Advantage A dipole’s takeoff angle is considerably higher in portable deployment. As a result an MLA outperforms a low dipole by as much as 6dB at the lower takeoff angles for DX use. The high-Q resonator imparts a very narrowband frequency selective bandpass filter ahead of the Rx front-end stages. Such an incidental preselector comprising the antenna itself greatly improves receiver performance. Unmatched Features • 80 - 10 meter bands*• Low…

For QSO on the GO Get the Best… the PreciseLOOP HG-1 Antenna!

This month, I thought I’d work on a kit that has great instructions and follows a step-by-step approach to its assembly. The Vectronics 30M receiver kit has been around for quite a few years, yet it’s still available and works. The Vectronics lineup of receivers covers the 80-through 20-meter bands and has a matching set of QRP CW transmitters to go with each of them. For a beginning builder, I found this kit to be straightforward and relatively easy to solder. The supplied PC board is single-sided with large pads, making desoldering a lot easier, should it be necessary. The only drawback I found is that the PC board ground pads are not thermally isolated, making it necessary to turn up the heat a little bit on my soldering iron…

Christina’s Story

Here is the first of a series of articles going behind the scenes of our advertisers. This month we are taking a look at HamTestOnline which offers online courses for the U.S. ham radio license exams. HamTestOnline integrates study materials with question drill, using the actual exam questions and answers. The software tracks your progress and focuses on weak areas, drilling questions you get wrong more often than ones you get right. While viewing their website we came across the informative and entertaining user story below. We think you will enjoy it too. Until I met my husband, John, W1AI, my only exposure to ham radio was a brief visit to a ham radio store back in 1974, where the owner said, “Little girl, there’s too much math, and you…

Christina’s Story

For those of us old enough to remember, one song from the Beatles’ Abbey Road album contains the lyrics, “And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.” To me, these lyrics are a poetic, musical way to express the notion that what you put into something is what you get in return. In other words, not taking a little risk and not putting in a little work translates into diminished non-rewarding results; however, putting your all into an endeavor is far more rewarding with greater results. However, putting out your all is much easier said than done. Perhaps, like me, you’ve found, with the passing of time, that it’s all too easy to become complacent and maybe even lackadaisical when it comes to…

There are some interesting claims about E- and H-field antennas that keep trying to revise physics. In Photo A, I have my E-field generator. A balloon and a silk scarf are great at generating an E or electrostatic field. But it is a static field, and why we call it static electricity. E fields do not propagate, they stay put. (OK, I will admit the charged plasma from solar storms does hit the earth, but the E-field that accompanies all those particles traveled with the plasma and did not propagate at the speed of light!) In Photo B, I have my H-field. The magnetic lines of flux exist only between a north pole and a south pole. And while they can extend some distance from these poles, they do not…

Though the calendar may tell us we’re mired in the winter months, this is a great time of the year to be a “car nut.” But then again, most car nuts—myself included—enjoy their pursuit throughout the year anyway. What makes this time of year fun is indoor car shows. Some feature the latest models from Detroit, Europe and Asia; others focus on antiques, classics, and custom creations. And from the proliferation of car enthusiast TV shows available on cable, satellite, and internet channels, interest runs high among those who define love as a “many fendered thing.” (Sorry, but I felt I had to do that.) So if you enjoyed being part of the performance car era, classics, customs - or perhaps you still participate - there is no end of…

Based on postings made to the Ping Jockey Central and the DX Maps websites, the Geminids meteor shower, which peaked on December 14th, MSK144 meteor scatter activity on the Magic Band was high. The Geminids are always a reliable shower and in some years the number of “rocks” entering the earth’s atmosphere reaches storm levels. However, there were no post-shower reports that would suggest that the shower reached storm levels this year. It seems that most operators had “gotten the memo” and had migrated to WSJT-X version 2.0 with its expanded protocol prior to the shower. See Figures 1 and 2 for snapshots of the meteor scatter activity on 50 MHz. The winter sporadic-E (Es) season got off to a good start at the beginning of December with 6 meters…

While we continue our search for a successor to K1BV as Awards Editor, we’ll use the opportunity to shine a spotlight on CQ’s own operating awards, some of which are very wellknown, such as USA-CA (the USA Counties Award) and WAZ (Worked All Zones), and others of which don’t always grab as much attention. We’ll start this month with one of those—several, actually—the CQ DX Awards. –W2VU At first glance, the CQ DX Award might seem like a clone of the ARRL’s DXCC award, since the basic level entails making confirmed contacts with 100 different DX entities. But there are differences and, in some ways, the CQ DX Award is more difficult to earn than basic DXCC. To start, there is no mixed-mode version of the CQ DX Award. You…

The top 25 most-wanted DX entities from Club Log, as of November 15, 2018, are listed in Table 1. For me, it seems quite strange to see some of these here, for a number of reasons. I would have thought they would have been further down. Some, such as Midway, Desecheo, South Sandwich, and Palmyra had been activated fairly recently by large operations. Others just haven’t been on the air lately, such as Peter I, Aves, St. Peter & Paul Rocks, and Turkmenistan. And some, such as Mount Athos, Macquarie, and Marion Island, are on the air but being activated by solo operators. Let’s look at the top 10 a little more carefully. 1. North Korea being in the #1 slot is pretty obvious. There have only been three operations…

Realtime Contest Scoreboards on the Web Whether competing at full bore or in casual mode, contest operators increasingly are trying online contest scoreboards. Competitors configure their logging software to automatically report their score information to a server on the web, where it can be viewed in an organized fashion by fellow competitors. Many users report that using online scoreboards adds to their fun. This month we describe scoreboards and their functionalities. But first, please note that nominations for the CQ Contest Hall of Fame must be received no later than March 1, as discussed in earlier columns. A maximum of two (2) people will be inducted at the annual Contest Dinner on May 19 during the Dayton Hamvention®. If you know of someone who deserves this honor, consult the nomination…

Online Scoreboards for Contesters

Contesting traditionally has been a rather lonely sport. You sit in your shack, make QSOs, and then find out how you did at the end. That requires a lot of self-motivation to keep going when conditions are poor. Over the past few years, I have been watching the online scoreboard while operating. It gives me an idea of how I am doing compared with others. There have been several times when I have operated many more hours than I intended to, just because I was chasing the next score above me on the scoreboard. That is especially true when I am operating part time. I sit down, see who is ahead of me, and then try to catch and pass them. It’s a fun little shot of excitement when the…

Online Scoreboards for Contesters

Good 2018 CQWW CW Contest Conditions The 2018 CQ World Wide DX CW Contest weekend of November 24-25 started off with great geomagnetic activity conditions. Geomagnetic activity was very quiet; the Middle-Latitude (Fredricksburg) A Index was 2 on day one, and 3 on day two. The High-Latitude (College) A Index was 1 and 3, respectively, while the Estimated Planetary A Index (Ap) was 4 and 3, making for a stable ionosphere. The sunspot count was 14 on day one and 15 on day two, so the 10.7-cm Radio Flux was 70 on both days. The background X-ray Flux was just above dead at level A1.0, so HF contest bands from 20 down to 80 were usable, and anything higher than that favored north-south and equatorial paths, but none were spectacular.…

On the Cover…

Foxhunting, or Amateur Radio Direction Finding (ARDF), is perhaps the ultimate in QRP, or low-power, amateur radio. Hidden transmitters send out flea-powered signals to be tracked down by hunters, making a foxhunting photo a perfect introduction to our annual QRP Special, which also includes the results of the 2018 CQ World Wide Foxhunting Weekend (page 66). In this photo, members of Colorado’s Ski Country Amateur Radio Club are waiting to begin their on-foot transmitter hunt in an area between Glenwood Springs and Aspen. Hunters are, from left, Jim Legg, ADØLI; Debbie Buckley, NØLDB; Robert Forster, ADØTA; Al Schulz, KØAMA; Clark Heckert, K3NI; Gerry Hittinger, N6HUQ; Sofia Harwood (no license yet); and Sue Ludtke, NØDBY. The club’s annual Foxhunting Weekend activity is followed by a potluck lunch at a member’s home.…

Advertising Rates: Non-commercial ads are 20 cents per word including abbreviations and addresses. Commercial and organization ads are $1.00 per word. Boldface words are $1.50 each (specify which words). Minimum charge $2.00. No ad will be printed unless accompanied by full remittance. All ads must be typewritten double-spaced. Closing Date: The 10th day in the third month preceding date of publication (example: Jan. 10th for the March issue). Because the advertisers and equipment contained in Ham Shop have not been investigated, the Publisher of CQ cannot vouch for the merchandise listed therein. The publisher reserves the right to reject any advertisement. Direct all correspondence and ad copy to: CQ Ham Shop, 17 West John Street, Hicksville, NY 11801 (fax: 516-681-2926; e-mail: . RF CONNECTORS & GADGETS - Parts - Products…

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