Licensed Amateurs by State

How Extra is Your State?

My amateur radio license was set to expire early in 2026, so I sat down to navigate the FCC’s renewal process. I don’t recall a separate payment system (CORES) needing to be tethered to an FRN a decade ago, but it’s there now, and hopefully at your next renewal you will enjoy the game of Bureaucratic Twister as much as I did. I'll spare you that particular headache for this post.

While I was clicking through the digital maze, it reminded me of the time I spent a decade ago studying to upgrade from General to Extra. I wanted the extra band privileges and the ability to help out as a VE, but it made me wonder: how many amateurs actually bother with the climb to the top of the licensing hill?

Back in 2006, the upgrade from Technician to General still required the 5 WPM Morse test. If I’d had the audacity to try for Extra at that time, I would have needed to demonstrate 20 WPM. Since I was already struggling to keep my head above water at 5 WPM, the prospect of hitting 20 felt about as realistic as me winning the lottery.

The FCC eventually dropped the Morse requirement in 2007, but I didn't give the upgrade serious thought until 2015 when I started playing with QRP rigs and CW again. The reality is that if you enjoy working CW, there are exclusive neighborhoods in the bands that you simply can’t enter without an Extra ticket—and that’s usually where the best DX is hiding.

Extra class = Extra Bandspace

If you like to jabber, blabber SSB look at all that Extra space, and the DX-CW lurking at the bottom of each band.

E = Extra

E = Extra

E = Extra

Map of Extra Class by Percentage of License Holders

This map color codes Extra class percentage to all class holders by state.  Yellow is fewer Extra class by percentage while Green is more. 

Amateur Extras - Percentage by State

Show me the data

That was a wordy intro, so what’s this really about? I wanted to be able to query the FCC database. There was supposedly an API at one time, but that seems to be defunct now. However, you can still download the entire FCC database as a zip file: https://data.fcc.gov/download/pub/uls/complete/l_amat.zip That download provides a collection of pipe-delimited files containing the raw data from the FCC amateur license database. Many of these are large files, containing data that is related by call sign or fccid records.

If you were so inclined, you could load those records into the database of your choice, a Jupyter Notebook, or any other tool to query it.  I would guess they are too large for Excel but not having Excel I can't be sure. Fortunately, a helpful ham created a bash script that downloads and parses these files into a MySQL database. You can find the repository for that script at: https://github.com/k3ng/hamdb

I had to modify the script slightly to get it running under Windows, but otherwise, it worked as expected. The script includes some simple commands to send SQL to the database server to look up a record by call sign or return all call signs for a specific zip code. In my initial testing, I found it interesting that there are 257 licensed operators in my zip code.

However, if you want to obtain interesting insights that requires writing SQL (Structured Query Language), which is the standard for relational databases like MySQL or PostgreSQL. If you haven’t spent time as a software developer, that might seem a little daunting. 

But in this bold new age of "I don't need to know nothin because I have an AI assistant" 

Anyone can now generate a SQL script to return the results they are looking for.

Specifically, I wanted to know how many amateur operators held Extra Class licenses across all states. It was a bit tricky to pull the correct data because the operator class is part of a table that contains every upgrade and renewal. Since there are multiple records for many call signs, you have to build a query that returns only the most recent result from the updates (hd) table.

Example SQL Query:

SELECT 

    e.state,

    -- Total count of all active licenses in the state

    COUNT(*) AS total_licenses,

    -- Count of Extra Class specifically

    SUM(CASE WHEN a.class = 'E' THEN 1 ELSE 0 END) AS extra_class_count,

    -- Percentage of the state's total that is Extra Class

    ROUND(SUM(CASE WHEN a.class = 'E' THEN 1 ELSE 0 END) * 100.0 / COUNT(*), 2) AS state_extra_percentage,

    -- Distribution of other classes (optional context)

    SUM(CASE WHEN a.class = 'G' THEN 1 ELSE 0 END) AS general_count,

    SUM(CASE WHEN a.class = 'T' THEN 1 ELSE 0 END) AS technician_count

FROM fcc_amateur.am AS a

JOIN fcc_amateur.en AS e ON a.fccid = e.fccid

INNER JOIN (

    -- Get the single highest fccid (most recent) for every callsign

    SELECT MAX(fccid) AS latest_fccid

    FROM fcc_amateur.hd

    WHERE status = 'A'

    GROUP BY callsign

) AS latest ON a.fccid = latest.latest_fccid

WHERE e.state IS NOT NULL AND e.state != ''

GROUP BY e.state

ORDER BY extra_class_count DESC;

I joined those results with census data into a Google Sheet to provide the following:

Results

Conclusion

That table shows that Idaho has the highest percentage of Amateur Radio licenses  by population but one of the lowest percentage of operators upgraded to Extra class. 

The column "One out of every" I find interesting just to demonstrate how rare licensed operators are in the population.  For example, in the state of North Carolina where I reside while there are 25,924 licensed operators, given the total population of the state only one out of every 42,609 persons are a licensed operator.  There are more doctors in the state than licensed amateur operators.

As to my original question of how many upgraded to Extra there are only 5,705 amateurs in NC or 22% of the licensed operators.  So almost a quarter of operators in NC upgraded to Extra.  It ranks slightly better than other states in that regard (see map above).

Play around with the table and let me know in a comment if you find anything surprising or interesting.

That's all for now

72/73 de Richard AA4OO

AI Analysis of Logs for Antenna Directionality

Where is this dang thing pointing?

Wire antennas generally have directionality broadside to the antenna but multi-band antennas have "lobes" of directionality that vary greatly as you go up in frequency from their fundamental frequency.  I can generate a KML file of my contacts from the Log4OM logging software, but it is a bit overwhelming and I don't have the ability to break it down by band.

I wondered what Google Gemini AI would determine from evaluating the contacts from my LOTW logs and how that differed from the theoretical directionality of the antenna.  I have over 2800 logged QSOs in LOTW that I provided for evaluation.

I have made a lot of contacts when portable but I paper log those and they rarely make it back into my electronic logs, so nearly all of these logs are from my station operation and 95% of those have been on the 80m OCF.

Gemini provided me with this evaluation

• 80m: Broad "figure-8" pattern with maximum radiation broadside to the wire at 55° (NE) and 235° (SW).
• 40m: A "four-leaf clover" pattern. Your strongest performance is at 45° and 315°, perfectly hitting Europe and the US Midwest.
• 20m: Four sharp lobes that pull closer to the wire axis. Your log shows high-gain "spikes" at 35° (Europe) and 330° (West Coast).
• 10m: Eight or more very narrow lobes. Your 10m contacts are extremely directional, primarily clustering at 50° and 130°.

I then asked Gemini to evaluate how my log results differ from the theoretical directionality of the antenna.  In general the results match the theoretical performance of the antenna.  I also asked it to include the results from 30m and 17m in this analysis:

• 80m, Broad Figure-8, Strongly Biased NE/SW: Contacts cluster at 55° and 235°. Coverage is broad but noticeably stronger toward the Northeast US/Canada. High: Matches the broadside radiation of a dipole.
• 40m, 4-Leaf Clover, 4 Strong Peaks: Contacts are highly concentrated at 45°, 135°, 225°, and 315°. You are successfully hitting Europe and the US West Coast via these distinct lobes. Very High: Confirms the 2nd harmonic pattern.
• 30m, Distorted 6-Lobe, NW Dominant: You have a massive cluster toward the Northwest (330°). This band is notoriously asymmetrical on an OCF antenna, and your log shows you've "found" the dominant lobe. Moderate: The theoretical pattern is messy; your data simplifies it.
• 20m, 4 Long, Sharp Lobes, Sharp Spikes: Contacts are extremely localized at 35° (Northern Europe) and 330° (Washington/Oregon). This matches the narrowing of lobes as frequency increases. High: Matches the "tilting" of lobes toward the wire axis.
• 17m, 6 Very Sharp Lobes , Strategic Clusters: Contacts cluster at 13° (New York/New England) and 225° (Mexico). The narrowness of these clusters indicates you are operating within high-gain "fingers" of radiation.  High: Confirms the 5th harmonic pattern.
• 10m, 8+ Needle-Thin Lobes, Pinpoint DX: You have specific, isolated successes at 50° and 130°. Many other directions show "nulls" where no contacts were made. Moderate: High-QSB (fading) makes this band less predictable.

Conclusions

Using AI to provide me with analysis of my antenna directionality was certainly faster than manually breaking down all the data and plotting it myself.  I can also see how much I'm likely missing on 20m and 10m due to the severe directionality of the few lobes.  I would be well served by having separate antennas for those bands, but I am very limited where I can put outdoor antennas given the lack of tall support structures at my house. The OCF works because the tallest thing in my lot is the peak of my roof and I have too short a distance to the tree in front of my house for a fan dipole to work.

I did look at some tools for evaluating directionality based on logs such as https://qsomap.org but the ones I found are visual and require manually evaluating the graphics.  There are likely other tools that would do what the AI is doing but I'm not aware of them yet.  Please leave a comment if there are log analysis tools that you use for this purpose.

The analysis of the 30m being severely clumped showed me that I could likely do better using my attic antenna for that band, but I had pretty much given up using the attic antenna years ago due to high receive noise given it's proximity to all the noise in the house.  Now that I have a Loop on Ground receive antenna that allows for quiet receive I will begin using the attic antenna for transmitting and try to determine how its directionality differs for the for the WARC bands that the 80m OCF is extremely inefficient on.

That's all for now,

Lower your power and raise your expectations, or let AI tell you what you should expect.

DE AA4OO - Rich

Loop on Ground (LoG) Receive Antenna

Dirt Shark Antenna

How a Humble Wire on the Ground Can Transform Your Radio Listening

Ever find yourself locked in a frustrating battle, wrestling with all those fancy knobs and buttons on your shiny radio to bring a signal out of the noise, just to catch a faint whisper from that station that started out copyable? Or that elusive DX station is sending a call that you just can't copy because the SNR is like 3-6 dB.  You're not alone.  Our primary antennas often become indiscriminate collectors – drawing in not only the desired signals but also a relentless barrage of buzzing, static, and digital hash. In our increasingly noisy world, the conventional antenna, while a decent transmitter, can become a veritable noise vacuum.

My Noisy, Old-Faithful 80m OCF

My homebrew 80m OCF has been a very good antenna for me at my QTH.  I replaced my 40m OCF with it over 10 years ago.  Ice and wind have broken its supports a few times over the years but it has continued to be a good performer for me on all bands except 30m.  I still get regular reports where the receiving station is hearing me better than I'm hearing them.

Even with all that praise, it always has been subject to noise.  The balun is supported by a rope connected at the apex of my roof, so it is right up against my home.  My house is full of electrically noisy stuff, the worst of which is a treadmill worthy of an all-band WW2 radio jammer and a HVAC that has a noisy blower and gas furnace igniter that wipes out 5kHz segments on 20m in regularly spaced sections.  My neighbors have something that turns on and off and gives me a nice S8 noise in segments across 40m and 80m, usually happening after I've begun a QSO.

I enjoy a challenge as much as anyone but I realized I could do better.  I wanted an antenna optimized for receive rather than transmit.

Receive Only Antennas?

While researching, I read about a number of receive only antennas.  

• Magnetic loops- Too fiddly to re-tune when you change bands
• Beverage - Give me land, lots of land
• LNA augmented, phased verticals - Money, money, money
• Loop on Ground - Cheap, but they can't possibly work

Loop on Ground Antenna

Enter an unlikely Receive Only Antenna, known as the "Loop-on-Ground" (LoG). It’s a marvel of minimalist design – nothing more than a simple loop of insulated wire. Its genius, however, lies not in boosting signals, but in not hearing noise.

Think of the LoG as a more approachable, compact cousin to the venerable Beverage antenna. Harold Beverage's experiments in the 1920s, involving long wires hugging the ground, revealed the potential for noise rejection and clear signal reception that the LoG continues to explore.

So why would 60 feet of wire oriented as a square, fed at a corner, pressed into the ground and covered by your lawn make a good receive antenna?  Haven't we always been told that antennas work better, the higher they are?

I'm no expert on this (or much of anything).  The most useful information I found that demystified LoG antennas was on Matt Roberts KK5JY's website. 

A Loop on Ground (LoG) antenna rejects noise by primarily responding to the magnetic field of radio waves, not the electric field, making it less sensitive to common electrical interference from household devices (like TVs, computers, power supplies) that create strong electric fields. Its low-to-the-ground placement also helps it "see" less local electrical noise, effectively acting as a directional antenna with deep nulls, especially when oriented away from noise sources, significantly improving the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) for weak signals, according to KK5JY.Net. 

How to Make One

The keys to the success of the antenna is making sure it is electrically isolated.  Build a transformer using a binocular core with 5-6 turns (I used 6) of 30 AWG magnet wire connecting the wire and 2 turns going to the coax (instructions on KK5JY's site).

The coax thus becomes electrically isolated from the antenna.  I forgot to take a picture before I sealed up the box with RTV but the photo above is from Matt's site.  Stripping the enamel and soldering 30 AWG magnet wire is a challenge for me, especially in that small enclosure but I sorted it out.  I filled my enclosure with RTV to secure the core and make it extremely difficult to work on in the future :)

I used 60 feet of my surplus, insulated telephone wire, bonded 2 stainless steel terminals to the ends and laid it out in the suggested pattern to align with my TX antenna.  I have it placed about 25 feet away from my house in the back yard.  It is about 50 feet away from my 80m OCF.  It is secured using ground staples to hold the wire down into the grass.  It literally disappears in the yard.  I mean seriously disappears.  I didn't have the transformer with me when I laid out the wire and stapled it, and when I came back out it took me 5 minutes to find the wire.  You want to use a very small transformer enclosure so that it sits low in the ground so that your lawn mower won't destroy your hard work.

I used 75 feet of weather resistant RG6 75 ohm TV coax to get it back to my grounding point by the house where it goes into an arrestor before I use another 75 feet of coax to get it back up to my operating position.

I used coax seal on the connections both to the transformer and the arrestor.

Results

At my station I run it to my SDRPlay, using the SDR Antenna Switch and Front End protector I built 8 years ago.  

I clearly see signals on the SDRUno display that don't even appear on my Yaesu FT-DX10 waterfall connected to the 80m OCF.  The FT-DX10 has one of the best receivers in ham radio at this time, so it can dig those invisible signals out (barely) if I tune to what I see on the SDR, but if I switch to the audio from SDRUno they can be heard clearly.

Signals are being picked up by the LoG that are lost in the noise and are invisible on the waterfall of the FT-DX10 no matter how much I fiddle with the display gain and display peaking filters. But I can work them when I find them because that 80m OCF is a good performer as a TX antenna.

Similar to how I configured the SDRPlay to work with my Ten-Tec Eagle; SDRUno is feeding an IQ signal to CW Skimmer.  CW Skimmer acts as my cluster server and my logging software shows me what I don't see on the Yaesu's waterfall.  I click a station, either in CW Skimmer's display or from the cluster list and the FT-DX10 tunes to the station.  

If I can't hear it on the DX10 it is a bit of a pain to turn off the IQ output from the SDR and send it's audio to a speaker rather than CW Skimmer, but I can work the station receiving on SDRUno and transmitting from the DX10.  

Flipping the IQ on/off and changing the output is annoying so I have found a used DX-Engineering RTR-1A that I plan to put in series with the SDRPlay allowing the DX10 to listen on the LoG and transmit on the OCF, while protecting the SDR.  I'll make a video showing the results when it arrives.

Conclusion

I had read mixed results from other hams on forums discussing using Loop on Ground antennas so my expectations were not super high.  Maybe hams who aren't getting good results could try re-orienting their receive loops or maybe the transformer wiring could use improvements.  Maybe they just don't have as much local noise as I do, but for my station this is a game changer.

While I've had mixed feelings about my DX10 I will admit that it hears and cleans up noise far better than my Ten-Tec Eagle and KX3 ever did, but I didn't know what I was missing.  Since I had the waterfall on the DX10 I had stopped just slowly moving the VFO across the band.  I would just tune to a signal I saw on the waterfall.  I had no idea there was so much hiding in the noise.  

"Now I see" said the blind man

That's all for now,

So lower your power and raise your expectations... Or build a receive only antenna and see what you were missing.

73 AA4OO

Begali Intrepid

 The Perfect Bug?

In the Western World we are consumers.  Advertising drives us to think we'd be a bit happier if we had that new "thing", whatever the thing is.  It drives much of our economies and unfortunately keeps many burdened in debt.

That's certainly a pessimistic way to begin this but let's be honest.  No one needs a ~$580 morse code key.  Most of us are handy enough to make a straight key out of stuff laying around the house for free.  I have a number of very fine keys that I've purchased used. I've purchased most of them for well under $70, including my 1970s Standard Vibroplex Bug.

BUT... If we are ham radio operators regularly doing CW, then we spend a lot of time with a morse key under our hand.  I've said this previously, but when you are a CW operator you touch your key more than anything else related to the hobby.  You are moving it many hundreds to thousands of times as you send code.  Your keying becomes part of you and you are intrinsically linked with the ease or difficulty of operating the key for hours at a time.

So...  having a key that is easy to operate; a key that disappears under your hand is an enjoyable thing. 

Operating a Bug correctly, or more precisely in a manner that is pleasing to the person copying your code is more difficult than operating paddles with an electronic keyer.  When the bug was invented it was a tool used by professional telegraphers.  There were no electronic keyers, and having a tool that allowed them to send good code for hours on end with less mechanical stress on their bodies than a straight key was important, and they sought the best tool they could afford to allow them to do their work.

But no one reading this is a professional telegrapher, because that ship has sailed.

For those of us that choose to use a Bug, we do so for different reasons.  For me, I enjoy the control I have in forming my characters, as well as the extra level of difficulty in sending good code.  Why would I want it to be more difficult?  Well, why do we do anything that is challenging.  Being challenged is fun.  It drives me to improve.  It takes my mind off of things that might otherwise crowd my thoughts if I were not doing something challenging that is also fun.

I have operated a bunch of different bugs at my club gettogethers, from different makers.  They all have a different feel.  They all intrigue or annoy their user.  I have two Vibroplex Bugs at my station.  I've previously written about them.  They each have advantages and challenges but they share the same design and they have more in common than they do differences.

A New Design

Fortunately for amateur radio operators there are still new keys being developed, and in this case a new design for a semi-automatic key that has a markedly different design from most of the bugs that came before. 

The Begali Intrepid is distinctive in a few ways:

• The pendulum hinge is at the rear of the key rather than the middle
• The adjustments are all based on magnets rather than springs
• The dwell for the dits has a real control, rather than using various pieces of foam, string or clips to change dwell time
• The dit contact is a sprung plunger that always remains centered on the contact rather than brushing against it at various angles
• The split lever mechanism operates at the center of the key placing the DAH and DIT contacts much closer to one another than a traditional bug
• There is less mass in the pendulum itself than a Vibroplex Bug
• It has a sprung, nylon wheel damper that doesn't clatter
• It weighs a TON (well about 6 lbs) and feels welded to the desk without having to use non-slip material or using spit to semi glue them in place (yech, yes I use spit to hold my keys to my desk)

These differences really add up to make a semi-automatic key that feels markedly different than all other bugs available to amateur operators.

I've not had the chance to try the GHD fully automatic bugs, nor their bugs that use optical contacts.  That would be interesting, but they still fundamentally follow the Vibroplex model.

Preparing for Use

The Intrepid ships with a cable but there's nothing to plug it into on the key.  It's up to the owner to solder the connections.  I understand that some transceivers require different plug wiring but in general they are fairly common.  Be prepared to spend some time soldering under the key to wire it up.

I had some spare 1/8" plugs for projects, and with some heat shrink tubing and a couple pieces of wire I created a tidy connector for the male to male cable shipped with the key.

In Use

I spent about 2 hours practice sending into the practice oscillator that I built.   I had a Vibroplex Deluxe Bug next to it that I alternated with.  The range of DIT speeds on the Intrepid is impressive.  Other makers like Vizkey have created bugs with a similar range of adjustment, and the Deluxe Bug I use has a Vari-Speed that can match the Intrepids speed range, bu the Intrepid is easier to quickly adjust and more importantly can be done one-handed.  It will comfortably go from about 15 wpm up to 35 wpm and with the dwell adjustment makes changing speeds and keeping the DIT dwell correct, is singular.  I don't think any bug can match it in that respect.

It did require a change in how I operate.  The Vibroplex Bug fingerpieces stick out further and I have the habit of placing my index finger out over the top of the Bug.  The Intrepid doesn't allow for that.  I have to curl my index finger down to avoid hitting the bracing for the pendulum.

Because there is less mass in the pendulum it operates with a much lighter touch than Vibroplex Bug.  The pendulm movement is initated with less force and due to the isolation of the pendulum from the paddles you don't feel the pendulum moving as you do with a Vibroplex.  I kinda like the feedback I get from Vibroplex pendulum.  The Intrepid feels more like a single paddle key with an electronic keyer than a bug.

Because of the how the lever is split in the middle, the actual DAH contact is almost dead center in the key rather than toward the front.  It is far closer to the DIT contact than a bug.  I have no way to describe it other than to say it feels as if the DAH and DIT operations are more similar than they are different.

I tend to pivot at my wrist when I operate a Vibroplex bug, to control the timing of DIT to DAH transitions.  That doesn't seem to be as necessary with the Intrepid.  Again, it feels more like a paddle than a Bug.

The DIT contact is a sprung plunger that is always centered.  This is one of the biggest problem areas on a Vibroplex Bug and Begali has masterfully designed the proper contact.  Most Bug operators spend more time adjusting the U-spring to try and get proper contact than any other part of the key.  I assume this level of precision is just not something that Vibroplex wanted to spend the time on in manufacturing.

You'll notice there are spare holes.  I assume they are to allow the frame to be used for left handed operation.

The sprung teflon damper makes for clatter free operation.  No more ker-thunk as you transition from DITS to DAHS.  They key is markedly quieter in operation than any other Bug I've tried.  The only other key that comes close is the right-angle Vizkey.

The weights are easy to adjust but I have found that the set screws don't bite the pendulum as firmly as a Vibroplex bug and I have had them come loose a few times. When they accidently come loose they flop to one side and touch the frame, completing the circuit, resulting in a continous carrier. I'm a bit concerned about leaving the bug connected unattended to my tranceiver and having one flop over into transmit while I'm not at the station.

The laser etching is nicely done.  The model name can appear, white, gray or black depending on the angle of light.

The pendulum is hinged at the back of the key, making easy access to the adjustment weights.

Conclusions?

This is a very fine piece of engineering.  It will take me months to decide if stick with it over a Vibroplex Bug, but for now I'm thinking it was a fine birthday gift.

That's all for now

So lower your power and raise your expectations.

Rich, AA4OO https://hamradioqrp.com

Yaesu Interface Cable SCU-28

 TX Relay, Power and TX REQ IN

R&L Electronics sent me a SCU-28 10-pin DIN cable by accident and were nice enough to let me keep it.  Consider shopping from those guys.  They offer great communication and good prices.

This cable is typically used to wire connections for an external amplifier.  I don't have an external amplifier but I wanted to make use of the +12v power and transmit relay for the protection relay I built for my SDR-Play a few years ago.

I had also read that the TX REQ IN pin could be used to switch the radio into a lower power tune mode for use with external tuners. The absence of a TUNE button for external tuners is one of my pet-peeves about the FT-DX10 so I was excited to have one.

Wiring the Break Out Box and TX-REQ-IN

So I used my last spare plastic project box, some female phono jacks and found a push-button that I'd cut off of some other project in my junk box and went to work.

I used some shrink wrap for the momentary switch for the TX-REQ-IN pin.

I wired up 3 phono jacks... One for the TX relay, another for the +12v out, and one for the ALC control in case I ever do get an amp.  I safed the other wires for future use inside the project box.

Partial Success

I connected the box and verified that I was getting power for the relay and that the Relay Switch operated

Unfortunately, the TX-REQ-IN does NOT do what it does with other Yaesu transceivers.  Pressing the button grounds the TX-REQ-IN - the radio does transmit a carrier in any mode (here I tested with LSB) but rather than transmitted a reduced power carrier as it's supposed to, it just transmits at whatever wattage the mode is currently set to.  In this case I had the power set to 50w into a dummy load and it transmitted the full 50w rather than a reduced power 10w or 20w carrier for tuning.  See the power out on the radio's display

In my opinion Yaesu screwed the pooch on this one.  I don't see any reason why they wouldn't operate like they do with their bigger brethren radios when the TX-REQ-IN is grounded.  Some subsequent forum searching turned up posts from others that confirmed that the FT-DX10 does not properly respond to that signal.

My Elecraft KX3 and Ten-Tec Eagle both have a "TUNE" button that sends a low power tuning signal regardless of what the current power setting is at and there's no reason that the FT-DX10 shouldn't do the same.  Having to dive into a menu to change the power setting for tuning an external matching unit is just silly in this day and age.

I have confirmed that my box is working the relay properly to my SDR-Play.  I reference the relay I built to protect the front-end of the SDR-Play in this post https://www.hamradioqrp.com/2017/02/spruce-up-basic-transceiver-with-sdr.html

That's all for now.

So lower your power and raise your expectations

Rich AA4OO https://www.hamradioqrp.com/

Portable Ops in Comfort

Towable Shack

Working my rolling shack portable station from air-con comfort

We've had a few RV's over the years, but for some reason I've never thought to operate from inside the RV.  I have always tossed a wire over a tree and operated from a picnic table or from my camp chair, as here...

But I thought, "Hey, I have a 12v power supply built-into the RV and the built-in ladder makes a nice solid mount for an antenna mast."

Early try with a military fiberglass pole mast

Now I use a Flagpole Buddy with a 30 foot telescoping mast

Here's a link to the flagpole buddy... link

Our RV has a Converter / Inverter with a spare 25 amp 12v circuit.  I tapped into that and ran a power pole wire to the dinette table.  

The camper had a coax outlet to watch a TV outside the camper... that's obnoxious.  So I cut the cable TV coax and crimped on a UHF connector, and ran that to the dinette table.  I simply attach my coax from outside the camper to cable TV coax adapter to get the antenna connection inside the camper.  Wallah, coax through the wall with no drilling. The cable TV coax run from the dinette to the wall outlet is only a couple feet so it's not really impacting the impedance of the coax run to the antenna.

I've tried a couple of antenna's and have settled on my end-fed 44 foot wire fed with a 9:1 balun and some clip on radials.   I pull the antenna wire through top end of the telescoping mast with kite string, counter-weighted with a heavy sinker.  That keeps the wire taught from the end-fed point up to the top of the mast and out at an angle.

Gone RF fishing with a 30 foot pole and a big sinker.

The Elecraft KX3 and Ten-Tec Eagle will both match a bent spoon with their auto-tuners and have no trouble with the end-fed on 40m and above. 

For a portable key I use my Palm Radio Single paddle.  Either magnetically attached to the steel side of the Eagle or just held with one hand while operating with the KX3.

Palm Radio Single Paddle

On the Eagle the Palm Radio Single magnetically attaches to the side

One thing I find interesting about operating while "camping" (if you call towing a small house to a campground camping) is that I seem to also work a suprising number of other stations that are operating from a campground.

Note the power and antenna connections under the table

The KX3 can stay on the dinette and doesn't take much room.  Keeping the footprint small and the earbuds in, keeps the XYL happy when operating during an outing.

I worked a number of stations on 40m, 30m, 20m and 10m this weekend.  It's always fun to tell a station that you are portable, even if you are essentially operating in your home away from home.

Thats all for now.

Lower your power and raise your expectations

Rich AA4OO HamRadioQRP.com

Benefits of the Yaesu XF-130CN 300 Hz Crystal Roofing Filter

Do You Need That Filter?

The Yaesu FT-DX10 comes standard with a 500 Hz crystal (xtal) roofing filter, but offers an optional 300 Hz roofing filter.  Should you purchase the optional filter?

The 300 Hz roofing filter is twice the size of the 500 Hz filter so it must be twice as good right?  

If you casually switch back and forth between the two filters on a noisy band, it sounds like the 300 Hz filter markedly improves selectivity and quiets the noise.  But try this: Select the 500 Hz filter and narrow the bandwidth (using the bandwidth control) to 300 Hz, then switch to the 300 Hz filter. 

When you digitally narrow the bandwidth of the 500 Hz filter to 300 Hz you will "hear" the same reduction in noise as you have cut out 200 Hz of higher frequency sound.  Engaging the 300 Hz filter lowers the volume a bit (3-6 dB) due to insertion loss.  

So what you are actually "hearing" when you switch back and forth between the filters without changing the digital bandwidth is the reduction of the higher frequency noise that can be accomplished using the bandwidth control alone with the 500 Hz filter.

So, from a selectivity standpointthe 300Hz filter doesn't gain you anything over using the digital filtering with the 500 Hz filter.  The real benefit should come in the form of adjacent signal rejection.  So let's look at that.

In the video below I demonstrate the signal rejection of a 40 dB over S9 adjacent signal to a weaker S3 - S5 signal.

From the video you can hear that there is a very small demonstrable difference in strong signal rejection when using the 300 Hz optional filter, but the difference is so small that I doubt many of us would find practical benefit over simply narrowing the DSP bandwidth while using the 500 Hz filter. Even when contesting.  The digital filtering built into the FT-DX10 is really, really good when using the included 500 Hz roofing filter alone.

Yes, I spent the $200 for the optional filter thinking it would help, but I wished I had known what I do now.  I would have $200 for some other nifty radio gadget to spend instead. 

That's all for now.

Lower your power and raise your expectations

Richard AA4OO

https://www.hamradioqrp.com