Will most likely have Sat night dinner elsewhere with my bride. Trying to coax Mo, a new ham neighbor, to join us and possibly work GOTA
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On Jun 8, 2023, at 8:36 PM, Dave Moss <davemoss@...> wrote:
?
So, looks like three folks are in for FD 2023¡ªme, Eddie AE4TQ, and Gary WB4SQ.?
The two-radio setup ought to work fine.? I have the TS-2000 also we can use for VHF if 6m is open and there is an operator interested.?
The plan would be to set up the radios on the deck as in the past¡ªbut the deck is rather different after this spring¡¯s project.? The ¡°old¡± covered part of the deck is the same, except it is all open steps down to the pool rather than railing.? There is a new 12x15¡¯ or so covered area as well where the high top table is now.? We should have plenty of space.?
Margaret is planning to head downtown for a weekend with grandkids, so we¡¯ll have the place to ourselves.?
When the time gets closer we can figure out what we want to throw on the grill for supper Saturday.? I¡¯ll make breakfast on the flat top grill Sunday morning, and something simple (burgers and brats?) at 2pm Sunday when the operating ends.?
For those interested, if you want we can get together at the Wings Caf¨¦ and Tap Room on Roswell Rd about ? of a mile east of the 120 loop.? It¡¯s in the NW corner of the East Lake Shopping Center (there is also a Harbor Freight in the shopping center).
Maybe we can come up with a thing or two to try for the first time?
Dave UW
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So, looks like three folks are in for FD 2023¡ªme, Eddie AE4TQ, and Gary WB4SQ.?
The two-radio setup ought to work fine.? I have the TS-2000 also we can use for VHF if 6m is open and there is an operator interested.?
The plan would be to set up the radios on the deck as in the past¡ªbut the deck is rather different after this spring¡¯s project.? The ¡°old¡± covered part of the deck is the same, except it is all open steps down to the pool rather than railing.? There is a new 12x15¡¯ or so covered area as well where the high top table is now.? We should have plenty of space.?
Margaret is planning to head downtown for a weekend with grandkids, so we¡¯ll have the place to ourselves.?
When the time gets closer we can figure out what we want to throw on the grill for supper Saturday.? I¡¯ll make breakfast on the flat top grill Sunday morning, and something simple (burgers and brats?) at 2pm Sunday when the operating ends.?
For those interested, if you want we can get together at the Wings Caf¨¦ and Tap Room on Roswell Rd about ? of a mile east of the 120 loop.? It¡¯s in the NW corner of the East Lake Shopping Center (there is also a Harbor Freight in the shopping center).
Maybe we can come up with a thing or two to try for the first time?
Dave UW
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Going to W1CUM FN34 VT.
Work us!
Jeff n1kdo
On Tue, Jun 6, 2023 at 7:47?AM Eric Howell < erhowell@...> wrote: As much as I want to be there, I cannot make it. If there is anything that I can do to help from afar, please let me know.
Eddie, We could always setup the 7300 for remote operations and I can run N4N from Richmond ;-) ?I¡¯m definitely interested in wire antenna setup and phone op. Nada on digital. Can meet this Sat for a late lunch to plan but will be out of town from the 15th thru 22nd. ?I'm available on 17th for the N1MM computer set up etc.
Eddie,? AE4TQ? On Mon, Jun 5, 2023 at 21:44, Dave Moss
Gents,
It¡¯s getting close to FD so it¡¯s probably time to figure out what we¡¯re going to do this year.?
First thing we need, of course, is some idea of who is interested in participating this year.? I have spoken to Jeff N1KDO and Tim WK4U and they are out this year.? Eddie AE4TQ is in, as am I.? Who else is interested in participating?
The last couple of years we trimmed waaaaaay back on the setup level of effort.? Instead of trying to raise two or three yagi, we instead raised a few wire antennas, and put up phased verticals for 40m in the front yard.? All of the wire antennas were raised by one person on Friday morning of FD weekend.? I¡¯m all for doing something similar this year to keep the setup effort to a minimum.??
We have gotten together the weekend before Field Day to get the N1MM setup done on the computers, and verify the rig control, WSJT-X interfaces, and CW interfaces (if there are any CW ops) are working.? This has worked really well, so plan on gathering any rigs we plan to use on Saturday June 17 to get things set up.? Eddie has been the guru leading the software setup, so that will depend on his availability.?
Last year we had three ops, and all preferred to operate FT4/FT8.? We were also ready for phone, but there wasn¡¯t much interest.? So what modes are folks interested in this year?
As far as radios, we have my Kenwood TS-590 and Eddie¡¯s IC-7300 so far.? With just those two radios we could probably keep 4 or 5 operators happy with their operating time.? If more folks are interested, we may need one or two more.?
The past couple of years we have operated one or more stations from solar power and batteries.? It has been a great learning experience¡ªglad we did it, as it isn¡¯t necessarily as simple as it might seem.? We learned that a lot of the amp and amp-hour ratings for panels and batteries are, shall we say, rather inflated.? But we have enough equipment to operate at least one station from solar/battery power.? We have a Honda EU-2000 that can power a few more if needed.?
Open to ideas for a thing or two we can try for the first time this year.? Nice to have some opportunity to learn a new thing or two.?
So, who¡¯s in?? For those who are in, what modes tickle your fancy??
Dave UW
--
Eric Howell
W4MC
w4mc@...
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As much as I want to be there, I cannot make it. If there is anything that I can do to help from afar, please let me know.
Eddie, We could always setup the 7300 for remote operations and I can run N4N from Richmond ;-) Eric Howell Erhowell@... ??
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On Jun 5, 2023, at 10:49 PM, Gary McConville via groups.io <WB4SQ@...> wrote:
? I¡¯m definitely interested in wire antenna setup and phone op. Nada on digital. Can meet this Sat for a late lunch to plan but will be out of town from the 15th thru 22nd. On Jun 5, 2023, at 10:00 PM, Edmund Thompson <Edmundthompson@...> wrote:
?I'm available on 17th for the N1MM computer set up etc.
Eddie,? AE4TQ? On Mon, Jun 5, 2023 at 21:44, Dave Moss <davemoss@...> wrote:
Gents,
It¡¯s getting close to FD so it¡¯s probably time to figure out what we¡¯re going to do this year.?
First thing we need, of course, is some idea of who is interested in participating this year.? I have spoken to Jeff N1KDO and Tim WK4U and they are out this year.? Eddie AE4TQ is in, as am I.? Who else is interested in participating?
The last couple of years we trimmed waaaaaay back on the setup level of effort.? Instead of trying to raise two or three yagi, we instead raised a few wire antennas, and put up phased verticals for 40m in the front yard.? All of the wire antennas were raised by one person on Friday morning of FD weekend.? I¡¯m all for doing something similar this year to keep the setup effort to a minimum.??
We have gotten together the weekend before Field Day to get the N1MM setup done on the computers, and verify the rig control, WSJT-X interfaces, and CW interfaces (if there are any CW ops) are working.? This has worked really well, so plan on gathering any rigs we plan to use on Saturday June 17 to get things set up.? Eddie has been the guru leading the software setup, so that will depend on his availability.?
Last year we had three ops, and all preferred to operate FT4/FT8.? We were also ready for phone, but there wasn¡¯t much interest.? So what modes are folks interested in this year?
As far as radios, we have my Kenwood TS-590 and Eddie¡¯s IC-7300 so far.? With just those two radios we could probably keep 4 or 5 operators happy with their operating time.? If more folks are interested, we may need one or two more.?
The past couple of years we have operated one or more stations from solar power and batteries.? It has been a great learning experience¡ªglad we did it, as it isn¡¯t necessarily as simple as it might seem.? We learned that a lot of the amp and amp-hour ratings for panels and batteries are, shall we say, rather inflated.? But we have enough equipment to operate at least one station from solar/battery power.? We have a Honda EU-2000 that can power a few more if needed.?
Open to ideas for a thing or two we can try for the first time this year.? Nice to have some opportunity to learn a new thing or two.?
So, who¡¯s in?? For those who are in, what modes tickle your fancy??
Dave UW
--
Eric Howell
W4MC
w4mc@...
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I¡¯ll be participating in club golf tournament this year. They didn¡¯t check with me on the schedule¡ tnx Mike / K5JR Alpharetta GA
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On Jun 5, 2023, at 9:44 PM, Dave Moss <davemoss@...> wrote: ?
Gents,
It¡¯s getting close to FD so it¡¯s probably time to figure out what we¡¯re going to do this year.?
First thing we need, of course, is some idea of who is interested in participating this year.? I have spoken to Jeff N1KDO and Tim WK4U and they are out this year.? Eddie AE4TQ is in, as am I.? Who else is interested in participating?
The last couple of years we trimmed waaaaaay back on the setup level of effort.? Instead of trying to raise two or three yagi, we instead raised a few wire antennas, and put up phased verticals for 40m in the front yard.? All of the wire antennas were raised by one person on Friday morning of FD weekend.? I¡¯m all for doing something similar this year to keep the setup effort to a minimum.??
We have gotten together the weekend before Field Day to get the N1MM setup done on the computers, and verify the rig control, WSJT-X interfaces, and CW interfaces (if there are any CW ops) are working.? This has worked really well, so plan on gathering any rigs we plan to use on Saturday June 17 to get things set up.? Eddie has been the guru leading the software setup, so that will depend on his availability.?
Last year we had three ops, and all preferred to operate FT4/FT8.? We were also ready for phone, but there wasn¡¯t much interest.? So what modes are folks interested in this year?
As far as radios, we have my Kenwood TS-590 and Eddie¡¯s IC-7300 so far.? With just those two radios we could probably keep 4 or 5 operators happy with their operating time.? If more folks are interested, we may need one or two more.?
The past couple of years we have operated one or more stations from solar power and batteries.? It has been a great learning experience¡ªglad we did it, as it isn¡¯t necessarily as simple as it might seem.? We learned that a lot of the amp and amp-hour ratings for panels and batteries are, shall we say, rather inflated.? But we have enough equipment to operate at least one station from solar/battery power.? We have a Honda EU-2000 that can power a few more if needed.?
Open to ideas for a thing or two we can try for the first time this year.? Nice to have some opportunity to learn a new thing or two.?
So, who¡¯s in?? For those who are in, what modes tickle your fancy??
Dave UW
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I¡¯m definitely interested in wire antenna setup and phone op. Nada on digital. Can meet this Sat for a late lunch to plan but will be out of town from the 15th thru 22nd.
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On Jun 5, 2023, at 10:00 PM, Edmund Thompson <Edmundthompson@...> wrote:
?I'm available on 17th for the N1MM computer set up etc.
Eddie,? AE4TQ? On Mon, Jun 5, 2023 at 21:44, Dave Moss <davemoss@...> wrote:
Gents,
It¡¯s getting close to FD so it¡¯s probably time to figure out what we¡¯re going to do this year.?
First thing we need, of course, is some idea of who is interested in participating this year.? I have spoken to Jeff N1KDO and Tim WK4U and they are out this year.? Eddie AE4TQ is in, as am I.? Who else is interested in participating?
The last couple of years we trimmed waaaaaay back on the setup level of effort.? Instead of trying to raise two or three yagi, we instead raised a few wire antennas, and put up phased verticals for 40m in the front yard.? All of the wire antennas were raised by one person on Friday morning of FD weekend.? I¡¯m all for doing something similar this year to keep the setup effort to a minimum.??
We have gotten together the weekend before Field Day to get the N1MM setup done on the computers, and verify the rig control, WSJT-X interfaces, and CW interfaces (if there are any CW ops) are working.? This has worked really well, so plan on gathering any rigs we plan to use on Saturday June 17 to get things set up.? Eddie has been the guru leading the software setup, so that will depend on his availability.?
Last year we had three ops, and all preferred to operate FT4/FT8.? We were also ready for phone, but there wasn¡¯t much interest.? So what modes are folks interested in this year?
As far as radios, we have my Kenwood TS-590 and Eddie¡¯s IC-7300 so far.? With just those two radios we could probably keep 4 or 5 operators happy with their operating time.? If more folks are interested, we may need one or two more.?
The past couple of years we have operated one or more stations from solar power and batteries.? It has been a great learning experience¡ªglad we did it, as it isn¡¯t necessarily as simple as it might seem.? We learned that a lot of the amp and amp-hour ratings for panels and batteries are, shall we say, rather inflated.? But we have enough equipment to operate at least one station from solar/battery power.? We have a Honda EU-2000 that can power a few more if needed.?
Open to ideas for a thing or two we can try for the first time this year.? Nice to have some opportunity to learn a new thing or two.?
So, who¡¯s in?? For those who are in, what modes tickle your fancy??
Dave UW
|
I'm available on 17th for the N1MM computer set up etc.
On Mon, Jun 5, 2023 at 21:44, Dave Moss <davemoss@...> wrote:
Gents,
It¡¯s getting close to FD so it¡¯s probably time to figure out what we¡¯re going to do this year.?
First thing we need, of course, is some idea of who is interested in participating this year.? I have spoken to Jeff N1KDO and Tim WK4U and they are out this year.? Eddie AE4TQ is in, as am I.? Who else is interested in participating?
The last couple of years we trimmed waaaaaay back on the setup level of effort.? Instead of trying to raise two or three yagi, we instead raised a few wire antennas, and put up phased verticals for 40m in the front yard.? All of the wire antennas were raised by one person on Friday morning of FD weekend.? I¡¯m all for doing something similar this year to keep the setup effort to a minimum.??
We have gotten together the weekend before Field Day to get the N1MM setup done on the computers, and verify the rig control, WSJT-X interfaces, and CW interfaces (if there are any CW ops) are working.? This has worked really well, so plan on gathering any rigs we plan to use on Saturday June 17 to get things set up.? Eddie has been the guru leading the software setup, so that will depend on his availability.?
Last year we had three ops, and all preferred to operate FT4/FT8.? We were also ready for phone, but there wasn¡¯t much interest.? So what modes are folks interested in this year?
As far as radios, we have my Kenwood TS-590 and Eddie¡¯s IC-7300 so far.? With just those two radios we could probably keep 4 or 5 operators happy with their operating time.? If more folks are interested, we may need one or two more.?
The past couple of years we have operated one or more stations from solar power and batteries.? It has been a great learning experience¡ªglad we did it, as it isn¡¯t necessarily as simple as it might seem.? We learned that a lot of the amp and amp-hour ratings for panels and batteries are, shall we say, rather inflated.? But we have enough equipment to operate at least one station from solar/battery power.? We have a Honda EU-2000 that can power a few more if needed.?
Open to ideas for a thing or two we can try for the first time this year.? Nice to have some opportunity to learn a new thing or two.?
So, who¡¯s in?? For those who are in, what modes tickle your fancy??
Dave UW
|
Gents,
It¡¯s getting close to FD so it¡¯s probably time to figure out what we¡¯re going to do this year.?
First thing we need, of course, is some idea of who is interested in participating this year.? I have spoken to Jeff N1KDO and Tim WK4U and they are out this year.? Eddie AE4TQ is in, as am I.? Who else is interested in participating?
The last couple of years we trimmed waaaaaay back on the setup level of effort.? Instead of trying to raise two or three yagi, we instead raised a few wire antennas, and put up phased verticals for 40m in the front yard.? All of the wire antennas were raised by one person on Friday morning of FD weekend.? I¡¯m all for doing something similar this year to keep the setup effort to a minimum.??
We have gotten together the weekend before Field Day to get the N1MM setup done on the computers, and verify the rig control, WSJT-X interfaces, and CW interfaces (if there are any CW ops) are working.? This has worked really well, so plan on gathering any rigs we plan to use on Saturday June 17 to get things set up.? Eddie has been the guru leading the software setup, so that will depend on his availability.?
Last year we had three ops, and all preferred to operate FT4/FT8.? We were also ready for phone, but there wasn¡¯t much interest.? So what modes are folks interested in this year?
As far as radios, we have my Kenwood TS-590 and Eddie¡¯s IC-7300 so far.? With just those two radios we could probably keep 4 or 5 operators happy with their operating time.? If more folks are interested, we may need one or two more.?
The past couple of years we have operated one or more stations from solar power and batteries.? It has been a great learning experience¡ªglad we did it, as it isn¡¯t necessarily as simple as it might seem.? We learned that a lot of the amp and amp-hour ratings for panels and batteries are, shall we say, rather inflated.? But we have enough equipment to operate at least one station from solar/battery power.? We have a Honda EU-2000 that can power a few more if needed.?
Open to ideas for a thing or two we can try for the first time this year.? Nice to have some opportunity to learn a new thing or two.?
So, who¡¯s in?? For those who are in, what modes tickle your fancy??
Dave UW
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This happened... 
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I¡¯ll be very happy to ¡®drag you into the satellite world¡± Dave, we can continue learning together!
I have Mon-Tue-Weds off work next week, what am ?going to do? ? Glad you had a great Hamfest, sorry I couldn¡¯t make it this year. ? Eddie, AE4TQ ?
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From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dave Moss
Sent: Sunday, May 21, 2023 22:14
To: [email protected]
Subject: [N4N-Field-Day] Great Hamvention!? I had a great time with Eric W4MC at Hamvention.? We split our time between wandering the boneyard and sitting in the tents.? Didn¡¯t bring all that much to sell, but sold almost everything that I brought.? Eric sold one toy and bought another one to replace it, but that¡¯s his story to tell.? I got a new Hygain DCU rotor controller so I can computer control the rotor for the 6m yagi soon.? I also bought the yaesu azi-eli rotor and I¡¯m determined to figure out satellite operation.? That will be my next new ham radio adventure. The weather was near perfect!? Enough so that I had to pause from time to time and make sure it wasn¡¯t a dream.? Sunny, clear skies, and temps in the mid 70s and low humidity (like outdoor air conditioning) for the drive up on Wednesday.? Same thing Thursday and Friday.? Between midnight and 8 am got a bit of rain, but not enough to make the boneyard muddy.? By 9am the sun was shining, and by 1100 or so the temps were back into the 70s, low humidity, and just beautiful.? Best weather I¡¯ve seen for the Hamvention weekend in maybe 30 treks.? Maybe the weather put folks in a good mood, because we had lots of great conversations with folks passing by. I didn¡¯t run into very many Atlanta area folks.? Tim WK4U visited a couple times.? Also saw Brian W3CP several times (if I could work half of the countries I see him working on 6m FT8, I¡¯d have DXCC on that band too).? Other than a few guys in GA Tech T-shirts that caused Eric to mutter GO DAWGS, that was about it for the GA crowd.? I¡¯m sure others must have been there, but I missed them.? (And if I¡¯m forgetting somebody who did stop by, forgive my old man CRS) ? The last couple of years I didn¡¯t spend a lot of time wandering the boneyard, but this year I did, and it seemed a bit different that in the past.? Way more ham stuff and (at least IMHO) way less motorola/GE stuff.? I liked that.? Seemed to be the year for CW keys in the boneyard-lots available.? (BTW, I¡¯m up to 205 confirmed on CW now, and have yet to plug a key into the radio).? Only a handful of antennas for sale in the boneyard¡ªmaybe a dozen in the whole boneyard.? Seems like there used to be a lot more.? I was asked to look for some hardline, but this year the miles and miles of any size, any length hardline weren¡¯t there.? Lot¡¯s of short lengths of ?¡± hardline, no long pieces. So maybe less big bulky low-price stuff, but as I said, there were radios/mics/keys/rotors/accessories in abundance.? Seemed odd to me, but maybe 20% of the boneyard spots that were sold were never occupied.? Not sure what¡¯s up with that.? Can¡¯t blame the weather.?? I wish I could tell you about all the wonderful new things I saw in the inside exhibits, but to be honest, I didn¡¯t notice a lot of new things.? Kenwood had a promise of a new HT to replace the TH-D74 (it will be the TH-D75), maybe ready next year.? It¡¯s essentially the same radio redesigned around chips and parts they can actually get.? Same GPS/APRS/D-star functions as the D74.? But it looks like maybe, just maybe, they aren¡¯t leaving the ham market after all.? I talked to Phil Parton about why Kenwood pulled out of Australia (which seemed to many like the beginning of the end for Kenwood ham radio).? He said they could really justify a service center and Kenwood support staff for a country/continent with less than 25000 hams total (VK and ZL combined), so they trimmed their organization.? North America, with 30 or 40 times as many hams shouldn¡¯t see any change.? Per Phil, sales of the 590, 890, and 990 are still fairly strong¡ªand I find it a bit surprising that the TS-590 at around $1500 is selling at all, when the IC-7300 can be had for a bit over $1000.? Your mileage may vary.? In the ICOM booth I really only was looking at the 9700¡ªmaybe on next year¡¯s list.? But I didn¡¯t see anything else that was new since last Hamvention.? Might have missed something new in the pile of HTs and mobile rigs they had.? About the only thing I looked at carefully in the Yaesu booth was the G-5500 rotor, but didn¡¯t notice anything new.? Walked quickly through Elecraft and Flex displays, and didn¡¯t see anything new.? Even West Mountain Radio had nothing new, and the only thing they mentioned coming soon was a 10 position network-controlled DC power strip (power poles) with the ability to turn on/off each circuit remotely.? Availability TBD. The big dealers were there¡ªHRO, Gigaparts, DXEngineering, R&L.? DX Engineering had a deal of $50 off a ¡°qualifying purchase¡± (not sure what qualifies, but the Yaesu rotor did).? Other than that, as far as I could tell you could have ordered anything off the internet for the same price.? Not much in the way of special hamvention discounts where you had to be there to get it.? While they had some stock there (Eric brought his toy home with him), I¡¯d guess that much (or most) of the sales were to be shipped direct from the store to your house.? Both of mine were. I had great plans to attend a couple of the forums, but I was having too much fun doing other stuff so I skipped them.? I thought the ARRL forum might be interesting as one topic was to be the proposed dues increase.? Seems like 4 or 5 years ago they raised the dues 25%, and when folks pushed back at the ARRL forum, the president pretty much said ¡°get over it¡±.? The CEO and much of the board are new since then, so they seem to be doing a better job of soliciting input this time around.? But I missed the forum, so others may have to tell that story.? I also missed the DX forum, which would have been pretty interesting, with presentations on the one man expedition to Crozet (thanks for that new one), the almost expedition to Bouvet, and the T88WA and CY0S expeditions.? I usually make it to a couple forums, but then the weather is often crappy and worth getting in out of.??? All in all I had a super time!? Got to compare options for the things I was looking for, and ordered what I needed.? Got to enjoy Eric¡¯s company¡ªit has been a while.? Got to meet and chat with a bunch of smart, interesting people from all over the world.? Just could not ask for better weather. So now that Eric is finished dragging me into the digital modes, and Jeff1 is nearly finished dragging me in to the 6m vhf game, and several folks poked enough fun to drag me into CW DXing, it¡¯s Eddie¡¯s turn to drag me into the satellite world.? I¡¯m living proof that old dogs can learn new tricks, if the Elmer¡¯s have enough patience.? And yes, Eddie, I will RTFM.? ? Next up ¨C Huntsville! Dave UW? ?
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On May 22, 2023, at 9:02 PM, Eric Howell <erhowell@...> wrote:
? Gary, ? Nothing that a chain saw could not remedy ? ? ? Gee Dave, You¡¯ve sold be on the 9700 and el-as rotator. Just wondering about all my trees.
On May 22, 2023, at 7:02 PM, Dave Moss <davemoss@...> wrote:
? Yea.? Eric and I were chatting about next steps for me while sitting in the boneyard on Friday, and it sort of gelled for me that the most pressing need was the rotor.? A new radio with the manual antenna steering probably wouldn¡¯t get me where I need to be.? So the rotor first.? ? If I can¡¯t get the TS-2000 to work reliably (and even though I am keenly aware that there is nothing wrong with the TS-2000, but rather with me and my wrestling match with the software) the next step will be to try a new radio.? I looked closely at the IC-9700 and chatted with the ICOM folks about using it for satellite, and it seems to be the best thing available amongst the new radios now.? The DXEngineering folks had a 9700 and G-5500 set up to demonstrate their new S.A.T. (self-contained antenna tracker) that basically does all the computer does for most satellite operations, as long as you use the 9700 and G-5500.? Has pass predictions, radio control, rotor control, etc.? Neat little box.? It was one (although minor) reason for me to go with the yaesu rotor.? (Biggest reason was that I already have the GS-232 interface for computer control).? Anyway, got a good look at the 9700 capabilities, and it¡¯s pretty impressive.? But it¡¯s greatest advantage is that with the 9700, I can go screen by screen through the software setup and make my settings the same as your settings.? THAT should work for sure.? ? ? While at the DXengineering booth, an English ham really into satellite was also chatting with the DXengineering folks and I was happily listening in.? This gent was pretty happy with his 9700.? Seems his only beef was that now that 10, 12, and 15m are open most days, folks are there instead of on satellite, so activity is down.? Don¡¯t know if that¡¯s true or not, but it came from someone far more knowledgeable than me.? ? ? So, I have bit more work to do getting the AC wiring done to receptacles on the new deck, and hopefully I will get that done this week and well before the rotor arrives.? Once it gets here I¡¯ll have to get some connectors/spade lugs installed on the rotor cable and hopefully get permission from the queen to mount the rotor on as long a pipe as I can find and along the outside of the new deck.? Then it¡¯s just a wrestling match with the software, which for me doesn¡¯t usually work smoothly.? ? ? But at least then I should be able to keep focusing on the radio and software, and the antenna should always be pointing in the right direction.? Well, hopefully, anyway.? ? Dave UW ? ? Great summary Dave, wish I could have been there, soonds like it was a great hamfest this year. So gonna try to get the TS 2000 working with SatPC32? ? I had a great time with Eric W4MC at Hamvention.? We split our time between wandering the boneyard and sitting in the tents.? Didn¡¯t bring all that much to sell, but sold almost everything that I brought.? Eric sold one toy and bought another one to replace it, but that¡¯s his story to tell.? I got a new Hygain DCU rotor controller so I can computer control the rotor for the 6m yagi soon.? I also bought the yaesu azi-eli rotor and I¡¯m determined to figure out satellite operation.? That will be my next new ham radio adventure. The weather was near perfect!? Enough so that I had to pause from time to time and make sure it wasn¡¯t a dream.? Sunny, clear skies, and temps in the mid 70s and low humidity (like outdoor air conditioning) for the drive up on Wednesday.? Same thing Thursday and Friday.? Between midnight and 8 am got a bit of rain, but not enough to make the boneyard muddy.? By 9am the sun was shining, and by 1100 or so the temps were back into the 70s, low humidity, and just beautiful.? Best weather I¡¯ve seen for the Hamvention weekend in maybe 30 treks.? Maybe the weather put folks in a good mood, because we had lots of great conversations with folks passing by. I didn¡¯t run into very many Atlanta area folks.? Tim WK4U visited a couple times.? Also saw Brian W3CP several times (if I could work half of the countries I see him working on 6m FT8, I¡¯d have DXCC on that band too).? Other than a few guys in GA Tech T-shirts that caused Eric to mutter GO DAWGS, that was about it for the GA crowd.? I¡¯m sure others must have been there, but I missed them.? (And if I¡¯m forgetting somebody who did stop by, forgive my old man CRS) ? The last couple of years I didn¡¯t spend a lot of time wandering the boneyard, but this year I did, and it seemed a bit different that in the past.? Way more ham stuff and (at least IMHO) way less motorola/GE stuff.? I liked that.? Seemed to be the year for CW keys in the boneyard-lots available.? (BTW, I¡¯m up to 205 confirmed on CW now, and have yet to plug a key into the radio).? Only a handful of antennas for sale in the boneyard¡ªmaybe a dozen in the whole boneyard.? Seems like there used to be a lot more.? I was asked to look for some hardline, but this year the miles and miles of any size, any length hardline weren¡¯t there.? Lot¡¯s of short lengths of ?¡± hardline, no long pieces. So maybe less big bulky low-price stuff, but as I said, there were radios/mics/keys/rotors/accessories in abundance.? Seemed odd to me, but maybe 20% of the boneyard spots that were sold were never occupied.? Not sure what¡¯s up with that.? Can¡¯t blame the weather.?? I wish I could tell you about all the wonderful new things I saw in the inside exhibits, but to be honest, I didn¡¯t notice a lot of new things.? Kenwood had a promise of a new HT to replace the TH-D74 (it will be the TH-D75), maybe ready next year.? It¡¯s essentially the same radio redesigned around chips and parts they can actually get.? Same GPS/APRS/D-star functions as the D74.? But it looks like maybe, just maybe, they aren¡¯t leaving the ham market after all.? I talked to Phil Parton about why Kenwood pulled out of Australia (which seemed to many like the beginning of the end for Kenwood ham radio).? He said they could really justify a service center and Kenwood support staff for a country/continent with less than 25000 hams total (VK and ZL combined), so they trimmed their organization.? North America, with 30 or 40 times as many hams shouldn¡¯t see any change.? Per Phil, sales of the 590, 890, and 990 are still fairly strong¡ªand I find it a bit surprising that the TS-590 at around $1500 is selling at all, when the IC-7300 can be had for a bit over $1000.? Your mileage may vary.? In the ICOM booth I really only was looking at the 9700¡ªmaybe on next year¡¯s list.? But I didn¡¯t see anything else that was new since last Hamvention.? Might have missed something new in the pile of HTs and mobile rigs they had.? About the only thing I looked at carefully in the Yaesu booth was the G-5500 rotor, but didn¡¯t notice anything new.? Walked quickly through Elecraft and Flex displays, and didn¡¯t see anything new.? Even West Mountain Radio had nothing new, and the only thing they mentioned coming soon was a 10 position network-controlled DC power strip (power poles) with the ability to turn on/off each circuit remotely.? Availability TBD. The big dealers were there¡ªHRO, Gigaparts, DXEngineering, R&L.? DX Engineering had a deal of $50 off a ¡°qualifying purchase¡± (not sure what qualifies, but the Yaesu rotor did).? Other than that, as far as I could tell you could have ordered anything off the internet for the same price.? Not much in the way of special hamvention discounts where you had to be there to get it.? While they had some stock there (Eric brought his toy home with him), I¡¯d guess that much (or most) of the sales were to be shipped direct from the store to your house.? Both of mine were. I had great plans to attend a couple of the forums, but I was having too much fun doing other stuff so I skipped them.? I thought the ARRL forum might be interesting as one topic was to be the proposed dues increase.? Seems like 4 or 5 years ago they raised the dues 25%, and when folks pushed back at the ARRL forum, the president pretty much said ¡°get over it¡±.? The CEO and much of the board are new since then, so they seem to be doing a better job of soliciting input this time around.? But I missed the forum, so others may have to tell that story.? I also missed the DX forum, which would have been pretty interesting, with presentations on the one man expedition to Crozet (thanks for that new one), the almost expedition to Bouvet, and the T88WA and CY0S expeditions.? I usually make it to a couple forums, but then the weather is often crappy and worth getting in out of.??? All in all I had a super time!? Got to compare options for the things I was looking for, and ordered what I needed.? Got to enjoy Eric¡¯s company¡ªit has been a while.? Got to meet and chat with a bunch of smart, interesting people from all over the world.? Just could not ask for better weather. So now that Eric is finished dragging me into the digital modes, and Jeff1 is nearly finished dragging me in to the 6m vhf game, and several folks poked enough fun to drag me into CW DXing, it¡¯s Eddie¡¯s turn to drag me into the satellite world.? I¡¯m living proof that old dogs can learn new tricks, if the Elmer¡¯s have enough patience.? And yes, Eddie, I will RTFM.? ? Next up ¨C Huntsville! Dave UW? ?
-- Eric Howell W4MC w4mc@...
|
Gary, ? Nothing that a chain saw could not remedy ? ?
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From: [email protected] < [email protected]> On Behalf Of Gary McConville via groups.io Sent: Monday, May 22, 2023 8:10 PM To: [email protected]Subject: Re: [N4N-Field-Day] Great Hamvention! ? Gee Dave, You¡¯ve sold be on the 9700 and el-as rotator. Just wondering about all my trees.
On May 22, 2023, at 7:02 PM, Dave Moss <davemoss@...> wrote:
? Yea.? Eric and I were chatting about next steps for me while sitting in the boneyard on Friday, and it sort of gelled for me that the most pressing need was the rotor.? A new radio with the manual antenna steering probably wouldn¡¯t get me where I need to be.? So the rotor first.? ? If I can¡¯t get the TS-2000 to work reliably (and even though I am keenly aware that there is nothing wrong with the TS-2000, but rather with me and my wrestling match with the software) the next step will be to try a new radio.? I looked closely at the IC-9700 and chatted with the ICOM folks about using it for satellite, and it seems to be the best thing available amongst the new radios now.? The DXEngineering folks had a 9700 and G-5500 set up to demonstrate their new S.A.T. (self-contained antenna tracker) that basically does all the computer does for most satellite operations, as long as you use the 9700 and G-5500.? Has pass predictions, radio control, rotor control, etc.? Neat little box.? It was one (although minor) reason for me to go with the yaesu rotor.? (Biggest reason was that I already have the GS-232 interface for computer control).? Anyway, got a good look at the 9700 capabilities, and it¡¯s pretty impressive.? But it¡¯s greatest advantage is that with the 9700, I can go screen by screen through the software setup and make my settings the same as your settings.? THAT should work for sure.? ? ? While at the DXengineering booth, an English ham really into satellite was also chatting with the DXengineering folks and I was happily listening in.? This gent was pretty happy with his 9700.? Seems his only beef was that now that 10, 12, and 15m are open most days, folks are there instead of on satellite, so activity is down.? Don¡¯t know if that¡¯s true or not, but it came from someone far more knowledgeable than me.? ? ? So, I have bit more work to do getting the AC wiring done to receptacles on the new deck, and hopefully I will get that done this week and well before the rotor arrives.? Once it gets here I¡¯ll have to get some connectors/spade lugs installed on the rotor cable and hopefully get permission from the queen to mount the rotor on as long a pipe as I can find and along the outside of the new deck.? Then it¡¯s just a wrestling match with the software, which for me doesn¡¯t usually work smoothly.? ? ? But at least then I should be able to keep focusing on the radio and software, and the antenna should always be pointing in the right direction.? Well, hopefully, anyway.? ? Dave UW ? ? Great summary Dave, wish I could have been there, soonds like it was a great hamfest this year. So gonna try to get the TS 2000 working with SatPC32? ? I had a great time with Eric W4MC at Hamvention.? We split our time between wandering the boneyard and sitting in the tents.? Didn¡¯t bring all that much to sell, but sold almost everything that I brought.? Eric sold one toy and bought another one to replace it, but that¡¯s his story to tell.? I got a new Hygain DCU rotor controller so I can computer control the rotor for the 6m yagi soon.? I also bought the yaesu azi-eli rotor and I¡¯m determined to figure out satellite operation.? That will be my next new ham radio adventure. The weather was near perfect!? Enough so that I had to pause from time to time and make sure it wasn¡¯t a dream.? Sunny, clear skies, and temps in the mid 70s and low humidity (like outdoor air conditioning) for the drive up on Wednesday.? Same thing Thursday and Friday.? Between midnight and 8 am got a bit of rain, but not enough to make the boneyard muddy.? By 9am the sun was shining, and by 1100 or so the temps were back into the 70s, low humidity, and just beautiful.? Best weather I¡¯ve seen for the Hamvention weekend in maybe 30 treks.? Maybe the weather put folks in a good mood, because we had lots of great conversations with folks passing by. I didn¡¯t run into very many Atlanta area folks.? Tim WK4U visited a couple times.? Also saw Brian W3CP several times (if I could work half of the countries I see him working on 6m FT8, I¡¯d have DXCC on that band too).? Other than a few guys in GA Tech T-shirts that caused Eric to mutter GO DAWGS, that was about it for the GA crowd.? I¡¯m sure others must have been there, but I missed them.? (And if I¡¯m forgetting somebody who did stop by, forgive my old man CRS) ? The last couple of years I didn¡¯t spend a lot of time wandering the boneyard, but this year I did, and it seemed a bit different that in the past.? Way more ham stuff and (at least IMHO) way less motorola/GE stuff.? I liked that.? Seemed to be the year for CW keys in the boneyard-lots available.? (BTW, I¡¯m up to 205 confirmed on CW now, and have yet to plug a key into the radio).? Only a handful of antennas for sale in the boneyard¡ªmaybe a dozen in the whole boneyard.? Seems like there used to be a lot more.? I was asked to look for some hardline, but this year the miles and miles of any size, any length hardline weren¡¯t there.? Lot¡¯s of short lengths of ?¡± hardline, no long pieces. So maybe less big bulky low-price stuff, but as I said, there were radios/mics/keys/rotors/accessories in abundance.? Seemed odd to me, but maybe 20% of the boneyard spots that were sold were never occupied.? Not sure what¡¯s up with that.? Can¡¯t blame the weather.?? I wish I could tell you about all the wonderful new things I saw in the inside exhibits, but to be honest, I didn¡¯t notice a lot of new things.? Kenwood had a promise of a new HT to replace the TH-D74 (it will be the TH-D75), maybe ready next year.? It¡¯s essentially the same radio redesigned around chips and parts they can actually get.? Same GPS/APRS/D-star functions as the D74.? But it looks like maybe, just maybe, they aren¡¯t leaving the ham market after all.? I talked to Phil Parton about why Kenwood pulled out of Australia (which seemed to many like the beginning of the end for Kenwood ham radio).? He said they could really justify a service center and Kenwood support staff for a country/continent with less than 25000 hams total (VK and ZL combined), so they trimmed their organization.? North America, with 30 or 40 times as many hams shouldn¡¯t see any change.? Per Phil, sales of the 590, 890, and 990 are still fairly strong¡ªand I find it a bit surprising that the TS-590 at around $1500 is selling at all, when the IC-7300 can be had for a bit over $1000.? Your mileage may vary.? In the ICOM booth I really only was looking at the 9700¡ªmaybe on next year¡¯s list.? But I didn¡¯t see anything else that was new since last Hamvention.? Might have missed something new in the pile of HTs and mobile rigs they had.? About the only thing I looked at carefully in the Yaesu booth was the G-5500 rotor, but didn¡¯t notice anything new.? Walked quickly through Elecraft and Flex displays, and didn¡¯t see anything new.? Even West Mountain Radio had nothing new, and the only thing they mentioned coming soon was a 10 position network-controlled DC power strip (power poles) with the ability to turn on/off each circuit remotely.? Availability TBD. The big dealers were there¡ªHRO, Gigaparts, DXEngineering, R&L.? DX Engineering had a deal of $50 off a ¡°qualifying purchase¡± (not sure what qualifies, but the Yaesu rotor did).? Other than that, as far as I could tell you could have ordered anything off the internet for the same price.? Not much in the way of special hamvention discounts where you had to be there to get it.? While they had some stock there (Eric brought his toy home with him), I¡¯d guess that much (or most) of the sales were to be shipped direct from the store to your house.? Both of mine were. I had great plans to attend a couple of the forums, but I was having too much fun doing other stuff so I skipped them.? I thought the ARRL forum might be interesting as one topic was to be the proposed dues increase.? Seems like 4 or 5 years ago they raised the dues 25%, and when folks pushed back at the ARRL forum, the president pretty much said ¡°get over it¡±.? The CEO and much of the board are new since then, so they seem to be doing a better job of soliciting input this time around.? But I missed the forum, so others may have to tell that story.? I also missed the DX forum, which would have been pretty interesting, with presentations on the one man expedition to Crozet (thanks for that new one), the almost expedition to Bouvet, and the T88WA and CY0S expeditions.? I usually make it to a couple forums, but then the weather is often crappy and worth getting in out of.??? All in all I had a super time!? Got to compare options for the things I was looking for, and ordered what I needed.? Got to enjoy Eric¡¯s company¡ªit has been a while.? Got to meet and chat with a bunch of smart, interesting people from all over the world.? Just could not ask for better weather. So now that Eric is finished dragging me into the digital modes, and Jeff1 is nearly finished dragging me in to the 6m vhf game, and several folks poked enough fun to drag me into CW DXing, it¡¯s Eddie¡¯s turn to drag me into the satellite world.? I¡¯m living proof that old dogs can learn new tricks, if the Elmer¡¯s have enough patience.? And yes, Eddie, I will RTFM.? ? Next up ¨C Huntsville! Dave UW? ?
-- Eric Howell W4MC w4mc@...
|
Gee Dave, You¡¯ve sold be on the 9700 and el-as rotator. Just wondering about all my trees.
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On May 22, 2023, at 7:02 PM, Dave Moss <davemoss@...> wrote:
? Yea.? Eric and I were chatting about next steps for me while sitting in the boneyard on Friday, and it sort of gelled for me that the most pressing need was the rotor.? A new radio with the manual antenna steering probably wouldn¡¯t get me where I need to be.? So the rotor first.? ? If I can¡¯t get the TS-2000 to work reliably (and even though I am keenly aware that there is nothing wrong with the TS-2000, but rather with me and my wrestling match with the software) the next step will be to try a new radio.? I looked closely at the IC-9700 and chatted with the ICOM folks about using it for satellite, and it seems to be the best thing available amongst the new radios now.? The DXEngineering folks had a 9700 and G-5500 set up to demonstrate their new S.A.T. (self-contained antenna tracker) that basically does all the computer does for most satellite operations, as long as you use the 9700 and G-5500.? Has pass predictions, radio control, rotor control, etc.? Neat little box.? It was one (although minor) reason for me to go with the yaesu rotor.? (Biggest reason was that I already have the GS-232 interface for computer control).? Anyway, got a good look at the 9700 capabilities, and it¡¯s pretty impressive.? But it¡¯s greatest advantage is that with the 9700, I can go screen by screen through the software setup and make my settings the same as your settings.? THAT should work for sure.? ? ? While at the DXengineering booth, an English ham really into satellite was also chatting with the DXengineering folks and I was happily listening in.? This gent was pretty happy with his 9700.? Seems his only beef was that now that 10, 12, and 15m are open most days, folks are there instead of on satellite, so activity is down.? Don¡¯t know if that¡¯s true or not, but it came from someone far more knowledgeable than me.? ? ? So, I have bit more work to do getting the AC wiring done to receptacles on the new deck, and hopefully I will get that done this week and well before the rotor arrives.? Once it gets here I¡¯ll have to get some connectors/spade lugs installed on the rotor cable and hopefully get permission from the queen to mount the rotor on as long a pipe as I can find and along the outside of the new deck.? Then it¡¯s just a wrestling match with the software, which for me doesn¡¯t usually work smoothly.? ? ? But at least then I should be able to keep focusing on the radio and software, and the antenna should always be pointing in the right direction.? Well, hopefully, anyway.? ? Dave UW ? ? Great summary Dave, wish I could have been there, soonds like it was a great hamfest this year. So gonna try to get the TS 2000 working with SatPC32? ? I had a great time with Eric W4MC at Hamvention.? We split our time between wandering the boneyard and sitting in the tents.? Didn¡¯t bring all that much to sell, but sold almost everything that I brought.? Eric sold one toy and bought another one to replace it, but that¡¯s his story to tell.? I got a new Hygain DCU rotor controller so I can computer control the rotor for the 6m yagi soon.? I also bought the yaesu azi-eli rotor and I¡¯m determined to figure out satellite operation.? That will be my next new ham radio adventure. The weather was near perfect!? Enough so that I had to pause from time to time and make sure it wasn¡¯t a dream.? Sunny, clear skies, and temps in the mid 70s and low humidity (like outdoor air conditioning) for the drive up on Wednesday.? Same thing Thursday and Friday.? Between midnight and 8 am got a bit of rain, but not enough to make the boneyard muddy.? By 9am the sun was shining, and by 1100 or so the temps were back into the 70s, low humidity, and just beautiful.? Best weather I¡¯ve seen for the Hamvention weekend in maybe 30 treks.? Maybe the weather put folks in a good mood, because we had lots of great conversations with folks passing by. I didn¡¯t run into very many Atlanta area folks.? Tim WK4U visited a couple times.? Also saw Brian W3CP several times (if I could work half of the countries I see him working on 6m FT8, I¡¯d have DXCC on that band too).? Other than a few guys in GA Tech T-shirts that caused Eric to mutter GO DAWGS, that was about it for the GA crowd.? I¡¯m sure others must have been there, but I missed them.? (And if I¡¯m forgetting somebody who did stop by, forgive my old man CRS) ? The last couple of years I didn¡¯t spend a lot of time wandering the boneyard, but this year I did, and it seemed a bit different that in the past.? Way more ham stuff and (at least IMHO) way less motorola/GE stuff.? I liked that.? Seemed to be the year for CW keys in the boneyard-lots available.? (BTW, I¡¯m up to 205 confirmed on CW now, and have yet to plug a key into the radio).? Only a handful of antennas for sale in the boneyard¡ªmaybe a dozen in the whole boneyard.? Seems like there used to be a lot more.? I was asked to look for some hardline, but this year the miles and miles of any size, any length hardline weren¡¯t there.? Lot¡¯s of short lengths of ?¡± hardline, no long pieces. So maybe less big bulky low-price stuff, but as I said, there were radios/mics/keys/rotors/accessories in abundance.? Seemed odd to me, but maybe 20% of the boneyard spots that were sold were never occupied.? Not sure what¡¯s up with that.? Can¡¯t blame the weather.?? I wish I could tell you about all the wonderful new things I saw in the inside exhibits, but to be honest, I didn¡¯t notice a lot of new things.? Kenwood had a promise of a new HT to replace the TH-D74 (it will be the TH-D75), maybe ready next year.? It¡¯s essentially the same radio redesigned around chips and parts they can actually get.? Same GPS/APRS/D-star functions as the D74.? But it looks like maybe, just maybe, they aren¡¯t leaving the ham market after all.? I talked to Phil Parton about why Kenwood pulled out of Australia (which seemed to many like the beginning of the end for Kenwood ham radio).? He said they could really justify a service center and Kenwood support staff for a country/continent with less than 25000 hams total (VK and ZL combined), so they trimmed their organization.? North America, with 30 or 40 times as many hams shouldn¡¯t see any change.? Per Phil, sales of the 590, 890, and 990 are still fairly strong¡ªand I find it a bit surprising that the TS-590 at around $1500 is selling at all, when the IC-7300 can be had for a bit over $1000.? Your mileage may vary.? In the ICOM booth I really only was looking at the 9700¡ªmaybe on next year¡¯s list.? But I didn¡¯t see anything else that was new since last Hamvention.? Might have missed something new in the pile of HTs and mobile rigs they had.? About the only thing I looked at carefully in the Yaesu booth was the G-5500 rotor, but didn¡¯t notice anything new.? Walked quickly through Elecraft and Flex displays, and didn¡¯t see anything new.? Even West Mountain Radio had nothing new, and the only thing they mentioned coming soon was a 10 position network-controlled DC power strip (power poles) with the ability to turn on/off each circuit remotely.? Availability TBD. The big dealers were there¡ªHRO, Gigaparts, DXEngineering, R&L.? DX Engineering had a deal of $50 off a ¡°qualifying purchase¡± (not sure what qualifies, but the Yaesu rotor did).? Other than that, as far as I could tell you could have ordered anything off the internet for the same price.? Not much in the way of special hamvention discounts where you had to be there to get it.? While they had some stock there (Eric brought his toy home with him), I¡¯d guess that much (or most) of the sales were to be shipped direct from the store to your house.? Both of mine were. I had great plans to attend a couple of the forums, but I was having too much fun doing other stuff so I skipped them.? I thought the ARRL forum might be interesting as one topic was to be the proposed dues increase.? Seems like 4 or 5 years ago they raised the dues 25%, and when folks pushed back at the ARRL forum, the president pretty much said ¡°get over it¡±.? The CEO and much of the board are new since then, so they seem to be doing a better job of soliciting input this time around.? But I missed the forum, so others may have to tell that story.? I also missed the DX forum, which would have been pretty interesting, with presentations on the one man expedition to Crozet (thanks for that new one), the almost expedition to Bouvet, and the T88WA and CY0S expeditions.? I usually make it to a couple forums, but then the weather is often crappy and worth getting in out of.??? All in all I had a super time!? Got to compare options for the things I was looking for, and ordered what I needed.? Got to enjoy Eric¡¯s company¡ªit has been a while.? Got to meet and chat with a bunch of smart, interesting people from all over the world.? Just could not ask for better weather. So now that Eric is finished dragging me into the digital modes, and Jeff1 is nearly finished dragging me in to the 6m vhf game, and several folks poked enough fun to drag me into CW DXing, it¡¯s Eddie¡¯s turn to drag me into the satellite world.? I¡¯m living proof that old dogs can learn new tricks, if the Elmer¡¯s have enough patience.? And yes, Eddie, I will RTFM.? ? Next up ¨C Huntsville! Dave UW? ?
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Yea.? Eric and I were chatting about next steps for me while sitting in the boneyard on Friday, and it sort of gelled for me that the most pressing need was the rotor.? A new radio with the manual antenna steering probably wouldn¡¯t get me where I need to be.? So the rotor first.? ? If I can¡¯t get the TS-2000 to work reliably (and even though I am keenly aware that there is nothing wrong with the TS-2000, but rather with me and my wrestling match with the software) the next step will be to try a new radio.? I looked closely at the IC-9700 and chatted with the ICOM folks about using it for satellite, and it seems to be the best thing available amongst the new radios now.? The DXEngineering folks had a 9700 and G-5500 set up to demonstrate their new S.A.T. (self-contained antenna tracker) that basically does all the computer does for most satellite operations, as long as you use the 9700 and G-5500.? Has pass predictions, radio control, rotor control, etc.? Neat little box.? It was one (although minor) reason for me to go with the yaesu rotor.? (Biggest reason was that I already have the GS-232 interface for computer control).? Anyway, got a good look at the 9700 capabilities, and it¡¯s pretty impressive.? But it¡¯s greatest advantage is that with the 9700, I can go screen by screen through the software setup and make my settings the same as your settings.? THAT should work for sure.? ? ? While at the DXengineering booth, an English ham really into satellite was also chatting with the DXengineering folks and I was happily listening in.? This gent was pretty happy with his 9700.? Seems his only beef was that now that 10, 12, and 15m are open most days, folks are there instead of on satellite, so activity is down.? Don¡¯t know if that¡¯s true or not, but it came from someone far more knowledgeable than me.? ? ? So, I have bit more work to do getting the AC wiring done to receptacles on the new deck, and hopefully I will get that done this week and well before the rotor arrives.? Once it gets here I¡¯ll have to get some connectors/spade lugs installed on the rotor cable and hopefully get permission from the queen to mount the rotor on as long a pipe as I can find and along the outside of the new deck.? Then it¡¯s just a wrestling match with the software, which for me doesn¡¯t usually work smoothly.? ? ? But at least then I should be able to keep focusing on the radio and software, and the antenna should always be pointing in the right direction.? Well, hopefully, anyway.? ? Dave UW ?
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From: [email protected] < [email protected]> On Behalf Of Eddie Thompson Sent: Monday, May 22, 2023 4:19 PM To: [email protected]Subject: Re: [N4N-Field-Day] Great Hamvention! ? Great summary Dave, wish I could have been there, soonds like it was a great hamfest this year. So gonna try to get the TS 2000 working with SatPC32? ? I had a great time with Eric W4MC at Hamvention.? We split our time between wandering the boneyard and sitting in the tents.? Didn¡¯t bring all that much to sell, but sold almost everything that I brought.? Eric sold one toy and bought another one to replace it, but that¡¯s his story to tell.? I got a new Hygain DCU rotor controller so I can computer control the rotor for the 6m yagi soon.? I also bought the yaesu azi-eli rotor and I¡¯m determined to figure out satellite operation.? That will be my next new ham radio adventure. The weather was near perfect!? Enough so that I had to pause from time to time and make sure it wasn¡¯t a dream.? Sunny, clear skies, and temps in the mid 70s and low humidity (like outdoor air conditioning) for the drive up on Wednesday.? Same thing Thursday and Friday.? Between midnight and 8 am got a bit of rain, but not enough to make the boneyard muddy.? By 9am the sun was shining, and by 1100 or so the temps were back into the 70s, low humidity, and just beautiful.? Best weather I¡¯ve seen for the Hamvention weekend in maybe 30 treks.? Maybe the weather put folks in a good mood, because we had lots of great conversations with folks passing by. I didn¡¯t run into very many Atlanta area folks.? Tim WK4U visited a couple times.? Also saw Brian W3CP several times (if I could work half of the countries I see him working on 6m FT8, I¡¯d have DXCC on that band too).? Other than a few guys in GA Tech T-shirts that caused Eric to mutter GO DAWGS, that was about it for the GA crowd.? I¡¯m sure others must have been there, but I missed them.? (And if I¡¯m forgetting somebody who did stop by, forgive my old man CRS) ? The last couple of years I didn¡¯t spend a lot of time wandering the boneyard, but this year I did, and it seemed a bit different that in the past.? Way more ham stuff and (at least IMHO) way less motorola/GE stuff.? I liked that.? Seemed to be the year for CW keys in the boneyard-lots available.? (BTW, I¡¯m up to 205 confirmed on CW now, and have yet to plug a key into the radio).? Only a handful of antennas for sale in the boneyard¡ªmaybe a dozen in the whole boneyard.? Seems like there used to be a lot more.? I was asked to look for some hardline, but this year the miles and miles of any size, any length hardline weren¡¯t there.? Lot¡¯s of short lengths of ?¡± hardline, no long pieces. So maybe less big bulky low-price stuff, but as I said, there were radios/mics/keys/rotors/accessories in abundance.? Seemed odd to me, but maybe 20% of the boneyard spots that were sold were never occupied.? Not sure what¡¯s up with that.? Can¡¯t blame the weather.?? I wish I could tell you about all the wonderful new things I saw in the inside exhibits, but to be honest, I didn¡¯t notice a lot of new things.? Kenwood had a promise of a new HT to replace the TH-D74 (it will be the TH-D75), maybe ready next year.? It¡¯s essentially the same radio redesigned around chips and parts they can actually get.? Same GPS/APRS/D-star functions as the D74.? But it looks like maybe, just maybe, they aren¡¯t leaving the ham market after all.? I talked to Phil Parton about why Kenwood pulled out of Australia (which seemed to many like the beginning of the end for Kenwood ham radio).? He said they could really justify a service center and Kenwood support staff for a country/continent with less than 25000 hams total (VK and ZL combined), so they trimmed their organization.? North America, with 30 or 40 times as many hams shouldn¡¯t see any change.? Per Phil, sales of the 590, 890, and 990 are still fairly strong¡ªand I find it a bit surprising that the TS-590 at around $1500 is selling at all, when the IC-7300 can be had for a bit over $1000.? Your mileage may vary.? In the ICOM booth I really only was looking at the 9700¡ªmaybe on next year¡¯s list.? But I didn¡¯t see anything else that was new since last Hamvention.? Might have missed something new in the pile of HTs and mobile rigs they had.? About the only thing I looked at carefully in the Yaesu booth was the G-5500 rotor, but didn¡¯t notice anything new.? Walked quickly through Elecraft and Flex displays, and didn¡¯t see anything new.? Even West Mountain Radio had nothing new, and the only thing they mentioned coming soon was a 10 position network-controlled DC power strip (power poles) with the ability to turn on/off each circuit remotely.? Availability TBD. The big dealers were there¡ªHRO, Gigaparts, DXEngineering, R&L.? DX Engineering had a deal of $50 off a ¡°qualifying purchase¡± (not sure what qualifies, but the Yaesu rotor did).? Other than that, as far as I could tell you could have ordered anything off the internet for the same price.? Not much in the way of special hamvention discounts where you had to be there to get it.? While they had some stock there (Eric brought his toy home with him), I¡¯d guess that much (or most) of the sales were to be shipped direct from the store to your house.? Both of mine were. I had great plans to attend a couple of the forums, but I was having too much fun doing other stuff so I skipped them.? I thought the ARRL forum might be interesting as one topic was to be the proposed dues increase.? Seems like 4 or 5 years ago they raised the dues 25%, and when folks pushed back at the ARRL forum, the president pretty much said ¡°get over it¡±.? The CEO and much of the board are new since then, so they seem to be doing a better job of soliciting input this time around.? But I missed the forum, so others may have to tell that story.? I also missed the DX forum, which would have been pretty interesting, with presentations on the one man expedition to Crozet (thanks for that new one), the almost expedition to Bouvet, and the T88WA and CY0S expeditions.? I usually make it to a couple forums, but then the weather is often crappy and worth getting in out of.??? All in all I had a super time!? Got to compare options for the things I was looking for, and ordered what I needed.? Got to enjoy Eric¡¯s company¡ªit has been a while.? Got to meet and chat with a bunch of smart, interesting people from all over the world.? Just could not ask for better weather. So now that Eric is finished dragging me into the digital modes, and Jeff1 is nearly finished dragging me in to the 6m vhf game, and several folks poked enough fun to drag me into CW DXing, it¡¯s Eddie¡¯s turn to drag me into the satellite world.? I¡¯m living proof that old dogs can learn new tricks, if the Elmer¡¯s have enough patience.? And yes, Eddie, I will RTFM.? ? Next up ¨C Huntsville! Dave UW? ?
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Great summary Dave, wish I could have been there, soonds like it was a great hamfest this year.
So gonna try to get the TS 2000 working with SatPC32?
Eddie AE4TQ?
I had a great time with Eric W4MC at Hamvention.? We split our time between wandering the boneyard and sitting in the tents.? Didn¡¯t bring all that much to sell, but sold almost everything that I brought.? Eric sold one toy and bought another one to replace it, but that¡¯s his story to tell.? I got a new Hygain DCU rotor controller so I can computer control the rotor for the 6m yagi soon.? I also bought the yaesu azi-eli rotor and I¡¯m determined to figure out satellite operation.? That will be my next new ham radio adventure.
The weather was near perfect!? Enough so that I had to pause from time to time and make sure it wasn¡¯t a dream.? Sunny, clear skies, and temps in the mid 70s and low humidity (like outdoor air conditioning) for the drive up on Wednesday.? Same thing Thursday and Friday.? Between midnight and 8 am got a bit of rain, but not enough to make the boneyard muddy.? By 9am the sun was shining, and by 1100 or so the temps were back into the 70s, low humidity, and just beautiful.? Best weather I¡¯ve seen for the Hamvention weekend in maybe 30 treks.? Maybe the weather put folks in a good mood, because we had lots of great conversations with folks passing by.
I didn¡¯t run into very many Atlanta area folks.? Tim WK4U visited a couple times.? Also saw Brian W3CP several times (if I could work half of the countries I see him working on 6m FT8, I¡¯d have DXCC on that band too).? Other than a few guys in GA Tech T-shirts that caused Eric to mutter GO DAWGS, that was about it for the GA crowd.? I¡¯m sure others must have been there, but I missed them.? (And if I¡¯m forgetting somebody who did stop by, forgive my old man CRS) ?
The last couple of years I didn¡¯t spend a lot of time wandering the boneyard, but this year I did, and it seemed a bit different that in the past.? Way more ham stuff and (at least IMHO) way less motorola/GE stuff.? I liked that.? Seemed to be the year for CW keys in the boneyard-lots available.? (BTW, I¡¯m up to 205 confirmed on CW now, and have yet to plug a key into the radio).? Only a handful of antennas for sale in the boneyard¡ªmaybe a dozen in the whole boneyard.? Seems like there used to be a lot more.? I was asked to look for some hardline, but this year the miles and miles of any size, any length hardline weren¡¯t there.? Lot¡¯s of short lengths of ?¡± hardline, no long pieces. So maybe less big bulky low-price stuff, but as I said, there were radios/mics/keys/rotors/accessories in abundance.? Seemed odd to me, but maybe 20% of the boneyard spots that were sold were never occupied.? Not sure what¡¯s up with that.? Can¡¯t blame the weather.??
I wish I could tell you about all the wonderful new things I saw in the inside exhibits, but to be honest, I didn¡¯t notice a lot of new things.? Kenwood had a promise of a new HT to replace the TH-D74 (it will be the TH-D75), maybe ready next year.? It¡¯s essentially the same radio redesigned around chips and parts they can actually get.? Same GPS/APRS/D-star functions as the D74.? But it looks like maybe, just maybe, they aren¡¯t leaving the ham market after all.? I talked to Phil Parton about why Kenwood pulled out of Australia (which seemed to many like the beginning of the end for Kenwood ham radio).? He said they could really justify a service center and Kenwood support staff for a country/continent with less than 25000 hams total (VK and ZL combined), so they trimmed their organization.? North America, with 30 or 40 times as many hams shouldn¡¯t see any change.? Per Phil, sales of the 590, 890, and 990 are still fairly strong¡ªand I find it a bit surprising that the TS-590 at around $1500 is selling at all, when the IC-7300 can be had for a bit over $1000.? Your mileage may vary.?
In the ICOM booth I really only was looking at the 9700¡ªmaybe on next year¡¯s list.? But I didn¡¯t see anything else that was new since last Hamvention.? Might have missed something new in the pile of HTs and mobile rigs they had.? About the only thing I looked at carefully in the Yaesu booth was the G-5500 rotor, but didn¡¯t notice anything new.? Walked quickly through Elecraft and Flex displays, and didn¡¯t see anything new.? Even West Mountain Radio had nothing new, and the only thing they mentioned coming soon was a 10 position network-controlled DC power strip (power poles) with the ability to turn on/off each circuit remotely.? Availability TBD.
The big dealers were there¡ªHRO, Gigaparts, DXEngineering, R&L.? DX Engineering had a deal of $50 off a ¡°qualifying purchase¡± (not sure what qualifies, but the Yaesu rotor did).? Other than that, as far as I could tell you could have ordered anything off the internet for the same price.? Not much in the way of special hamvention discounts where you had to be there to get it.? While they had some stock there (Eric brought his toy home with him), I¡¯d guess that much (or most) of the sales were to be shipped direct from the store to your house.? Both of mine were.
I had great plans to attend a couple of the forums, but I was having too much fun doing other stuff so I skipped them.? I thought the ARRL forum might be interesting as one topic was to be the proposed dues increase.? Seems like 4 or 5 years ago they raised the dues 25%, and when folks pushed back at the ARRL forum, the president pretty much said ¡°get over it¡±.? The CEO and much of the board are new since then, so they seem to be doing a better job of soliciting input this time around.? But I missed the forum, so others may have to tell that story.? I also missed the DX forum, which would have been pretty interesting, with presentations on the one man expedition to Crozet (thanks for that new one), the almost expedition to Bouvet, and the T88WA and CY0S expeditions.? I usually make it to a couple forums, but then the weather is often crappy and worth getting in out of.???
All in all I had a super time!? Got to compare options for the things I was looking for, and ordered what I needed.? Got to enjoy Eric¡¯s company¡ªit has been a while.? Got to meet and chat with a bunch of smart, interesting people from all over the world.? Just could not ask for better weather.
So now that Eric is finished dragging me into the digital modes, and Jeff1 is nearly finished dragging me in to the 6m vhf game, and several folks poked enough fun to drag me into CW DXing, it¡¯s Eddie¡¯s turn to drag me into the satellite world.? I¡¯m living proof that old dogs can learn new tricks, if the Elmer¡¯s have enough patience.? And yes, Eddie, I will RTFM.? ?
Next up ¨C Huntsville!
Dave UW? ?
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Jeff Otterson n1kdo
Eric Howell