KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

Books and Magazines

Things I’m working on and things I should be working on

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As usual, I have a lot of projects that I’m working……and a bunch that I should be working on.

Projects that I’m currently working on include:

  1. I’m currently working on a section of the next RSGB operating manual.

    A chapter on POTA for the next edition of the RSGB Radio Amateur Operating Manual. I don’t have to write an entire book on the topic—it’s only going to be a few pages—but sometimes deciding what to include and what to leave out is harder than just writing more.

  2. Ham evangelist. What’s a ham evangelist, you ask? Well, I got a grant from ARDC, my former employer, to take my one-day Tech class on the road, brining amateur radio to places that should have more amateur radio. We’re in the process now of identifying those places.
  3. Raspberry Pi Pico version of the K3NG Keyer. I’m going to try to make a Raspberry Pi Pico do what the Arduino Nano does and more. Right now, I’m just focusing on learning Python.

Projects that I should be working on or will shortly have to start working  include:

  1. The 2024 edition of the No Nonsense Extra Class License Study Guide. The NCVEC has just published the updated question pool, and I’ll need to get started on that sooner or later.
  2. An outline for a book on microcontroller projects that I’ve been talking to the RSGB about.
  3. Lining up panelists for a forum at Dayton 2024 on different methods for learning Morse Code.
  4. Various projects around the house. There are enough of those to keep me busy for years.

Random thoughts: The case for paper, CB for youth engagement, POTA/SOTA safety

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The case for paper

As most of you know by now, the ARRL is going to start charging extra for the print version of QST in January—even if your membership expires after that date. While I am generally in favor of magazines going digital, paper does have its advantages.

For example, I’ve recently been plowing through my stack of paper QSTs, looking for interesting things before I toss them. In the process, I’ve come across several items of interest, including articles on building an inline RF current sensor and building a short vertical for 160 meters.

I’m not sure that you’d get this kind of serendipitous occurrence with digital magazines.

CB for youth engagement?

On reddit, someone asked if anyone had any information on successful programs for youth engagement. Someone replied, “Heard of a ham club that gave out old CB radios to young people in the area, and helped them with setting them up. Within 2 years, most of them were licensed hams!”

I think that in addition to just helping them get set up, you might also want to give the kids some structured activities, like showing them how to run a net or maybe do a hidden transmitter hunt, if such a thing is possible with CB radios. You’ll also want to be available if, or should I say when, there are problems with the radios.

This sounds like an interesting idea to me. I asked for more details. Have any of you heard of something like this?

SOTA/POTA Safety

A couple of weeks ago, I joined a Long Island CW Club Zoom meeting on portable operation. It was a great meeting, and a lot of good ideas were mentioned.

One of the best, I thought, was the reminder to be safe when doing a Parks on the Air (POTA) or Summits on the Air (SOTA) activation. One of the things that I do is to attached caution tape to my inverted-V antenna where there’s any chance that someone could come into contact with it.

Another fellow mentioned that he wears a blaze orange vest when he heads into the woods. This had not occurred to me, as I have been operating from open areas where no hunters are allowed. But, if there’s any chance that you might come into contact with hunters on your POTA/SOTA adventures, the orange vest is a good idea.

The 2023 version of the No Nonsense General Class License Study Guide is now available!

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Well, it took a bit longer than I expected, but the updated version of my General Class study guide is now available. You’ll find the PDF version here on this website, and the Kindle version on the Amazon website. The print version should be available by the end of the week, and I’ll be recording the audiobook over the next several weeks.

There were actually quite a few changes to this year’s question pool. According to HamStudy.org, there were

  • 80 removed questions,
  • 57 new questions, and
  • 119 updated questions

Overall, the number of questions was reduced from 454 to 431.

Some of the deletions I don’t really understand. For example, they deleted the three questions that asked about the maximum signal rates allowed for data emissions on various bands. Perhaps they were anticipating rules changes, although I’m not sure those are going to happen any time soon.

One thing that I will applaud them for is that they have clarified the language of many of the questions and answers. These clarifications will make it easier for students.

100, 50, and 25 years ago in QST: 100 meters, 10-meter tips, build your own rubber duck

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Here are some interesting articles from the March 1923, March 1973, and March 1998 QST. To find and download the articles, go to http://www.arrl.org/arrl-periodicals-archive-search. Note that you do have to be an ARRL member to make use of this service…..Dan

March 1923: “Exploring 100 Meters.” This article describes some of the work going on to induce amateurs to operate on wavelengths of 100 meters and below. That’s 3 MHz and up, frequency-wise. That was “short wave” back in the day. Activities described included a 100-meter CQ Party and weekly “short-wave tests.”

The March 1923 issue also included a couple of other interesting articles:

March 1973: “Beginner and Novice: Tips on Ten.” In 50 years time, amateur radio has gone from its first steps into the shortwave region to operating on 10 meters. And, now that we’re headed towards the peak in the sunspot cycle, 10 meters will be plenty active again. In this article, Ed Tilton, W1HDQ, gives some great advice on the propagation modes that you can take advantage of on 10 meters and covers a wide variety of antennas that you can use for this band.

Another great article in this issue is “The W2FMI Ground-Mounted Short Vertical” by Jerry Sevick, W2FMI. In addition to writing the book on baluns and ununs, Sevick did quite a bit of work on short verticals. The example in the article is a 6-ft. vertical for 40 meters.

March 1998: There are a number of interesting articles in this issue, including:

A nice find at the local library

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We have a really great library here in Ann Arbor. It’s won “library of the year” honors in the past, and it continues to do a fabulous job. In addition to books and magazines and music, you can borrow stuff like telescopes, energy meters, thermal cameras, and a bunch of other cool stuff.

One of the best features, however, is the Friends of the Library book sale. Ann Arbor is home to the University of Michigan, and as you might expect, people here have a lot of books. So many books that we don’t have enough shelf space to store them all. So, when shelf space needs to be freed up, many of these books get donated to the Friends of the Library and get sold in the Friends’ shop. This shop is open every day, and you never know what you might find.

I’ve purchased many technical books from the Friends of the Library book shop. My latest find is Understanding Basic Electronics, 1st edition. I snagged it for two dollars. I would never have purchased this book new. After all, I think that I’m pretty well versed in basic electronics. But, for $2, I couldn’t pass it up.

I’m glad I didn’t. It explains some of the basic concepts in ways that makes these concepts understandable to newcomers. For example, instead of just saying that the phase angle between voltage and current in a capacitor is 90º, it explains why this is:

It appears that capacitors don’t like the applied voltage to change. They react to a voltage change as to oppose that change. When the voltage is increasing, they take energy from the voltage supply. You could view this as an attempt to prevent the voltage from increasing. When the voltage is decreasing, the capacitor returns stored energy to the circuit. Think of this action as working to prevent the voltage from decreasing.

There are similar explanations of concepts such as resonance and how transistors are made and how they work. I’m hoping that by reading this book, I’ll come up with new ways to explain how some of this stuff to the folks taking my ham radio classes.

Before you buy the book, note that there’s nothing in the book about antennas and very little about electronic circuits. That’s because this book is really devoted to the basics of electronics.

Also note that there is a second edition that was published in 2010. I haven’t seen that edition, but I’d guess that it’s even better than the first.

You never know what you’re going to find….

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I was puttering around the shack yesterday, putting some stuff away and throwing out stuff that I’ve either finished with or will probably never get back to. In doing so, I ran across this:

It’s hard to read, but the date of the 15 wpm endorsement is “JUN 28, 1972, almost 50 years ago! I think that, just for fun, I’ll try to qualify for the 30 wpm endorsement.

The certificate itself is really brittle, but I don’t want one of the new ones. I don’t like the way they look with the Vibroplex key on them. Maybe I can have this one laminated.

While I was at it, I decided to re-organize my small collection of ARRL Handbooks.

As you can see, I have the 1949, 1958, 1963, 1965, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1985, 1986, and 2000 Handbooks. Not shown is the six-volume 2022 Handbook that I purchased a couple of months ago.

Paging through these Handbooks really gives one a sense for the history of the  hobby. For example, the 1948 Handbook has a chapter on broadcast interference (BCI). Now, we’d call that radiofrequency interference (RFI) or electromagnetic interference (EMI). Also, I didn’t find any information on RF exposure in the 1948 Handbook.

Who are the top ten figures in the history of amateur radio?

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Should we consider Samuel Morse to be one of the top ten figures in amateur radio?

I’m working with an author who is working on amateur radio reference book. It will have a glossary of terms, a list of Q-signals, and some other good stuff. Yesterday, he sent me a link to the Wikipedia page for Samuel Morse, the inventor of the Morse Code. He asked, “Would this be useful? Can we use it?”

We’re having enough trouble getting this book done without adding material to it, so I jokingly replied, “Maybe this is the start of your next book, something like Profiles in Amateur Radio, short biographies of the 10 most important figures in the history of amateur radio.” I did mean it as a joke, but the more I think about it, the more I like this idea. I’m thinking maybe short biographies of perhaps the ten most influential people in the history of amateur radio.

The question, then, is who are these ten people? Here’s a list that I’ve come up with off the top of my head:

  1. Samuel Morse, inventor of Morse Code
  2. Guglielmo Marconi, the “inventor” of radio
  3. Lee de Forest, inventor of the vaccum tube
  4. Hiram Percy Maxim, the first president of the ARRL
  5. Hugo Gernsback, one of the first publishers of radio magazines and the founder of the Wireless Association of America
  6. Arthur A. Collins founder of Collins Radio
  7. William Halligan, founder of the Hallicrafters Company
  8. Joseph Taylor, Nobel laureate and inventor of many weak-signal digital modes
  9. Howard Anthony, the man who got Heathkit into the electronics business
  10. Wayne Green, W2NSD, editor of CQ and editor/publisher of 73 and various computer magazines

I’d love to get your input on this. Please email me with your recommendations, or comment below.

Get this book and get on six meters

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Capture the Magic of Six Meters: Average Antennas + Limited Antennas = Exceptional QSOS by Jim Wilson, K5ND. 2020. FREE!. https://www.k5nd.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Six-Meters-eBook-V3.pdf

One of the things that I said I was going to do this summer was get on 6 meters and take advantage of sporadic E propagation. Of course, I never got around to it. If I’d seen this book last July, however, I might have done it. After all, according to the introduction:

It really doesn’t take much on six meters — your existing HF+6 meter rig along with a simple antenna, even a dipole, will work……It covers propagation, equipment, software, antennas, awards and contesting, as well as assistance in finding the magic. All of this is leavened with stories from my personal experience.

The book does a pretty good job of this, too. One thing that I take a little bit of exception to is that there’s a heavy emphasis on the use of digital modes, but as on the HF bands, that’s probably where a lot of activity is these days. For example, K5ND writes:

In the early days of ham radio meteor scatter they often used CW and eventually went to very high speed CW with the received signal recorded and then slowed down to try to catch glimpses of the call sign, etc. Since the advent of WSJT and now WSJT-X computer signal processing is used to accomplish the same thing. The early mode of FSK441 and the newer mode of MSK144 essentially send hundreds of messages packed into a several second transmission (15 seconds is currently the standard duration).

So, if you do want to make meteor scatter contacts, then I guess you really do need to be operating MSK144.

I also think that the book would be a little more useful if K5ND had gone into a little more detail on the antennas he writes about. This is just a minor quibble, though. There are plenty of books, blog posts, and YouTube videos that show you how to build various antennas. The author’s descriptions of his experiences with the various antennas will certainly help you decide which antenna may be right for you.

Another thing that you really can’t quibble with is the price. It’s FREE! So, get a copy and get on 6 meters!

100, 50, and 25 years ago in QST: QRM, finding parts, the internet in 1995

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October 1920

The only article of interest to me in the October 1920 QST is “A Paper on QRM” by John Gray, 6MZ.  QRM is still sometimes a problem today, but the QRM problem in 1920 was a much different one. They were still using spark-gap transmitters in 1920, and radio gear was pretty broadband. As 6MZ put it,

All radio communication is more or less affected by interference, but the situation is particularly bad in amateur work. When you come to thing about it this is not very surprising. Nobody expects very good service out of a six-party telephone. So why should we expect to whomever we please, whenever we please, on the several-hundred party line of two hundred meters? When you look at it that way, I sometimes wonder that we ever succeed in talking to each other at all.

Another thing to note is the price: 20¢. That equates to $2.72 in today’s dollars, so for some reason, the price of magazines has gone up way more than the rate of inflation in the ensuing 100 years.

October 1970

The October 1970 QST features the article, “The Ham Builder’s Nightmare” by Doug DeMaw, W1CER. The article reports on complaints by some QST readers that the parts called out in some of the construction articles were difficult to obtain. W1CER says, “Regretfully, the parts procurement situation seems to be going from bad to worse, feeding fuel to the fires of frustration which contribute to the counting of sheep…or sine waves.”

Geez, what would he have to say about the situation today? At the end of the article, he lists the following suppliers:

  • Allied Radio Shack
  • Allied Electronics
  • Amidon Associates
  • Arrow Electronic Supply
  • Barry Electronics
  • Burstein-Applebee
  • Harrison Radio
  • Harvey Radio, Inc.
  • Henry Radio
  • Lafayette Electronics
  • J. W. Miller Co. (now part of Bourns Co.)
  • Newark Electronics
  • Poly Paks
  • Radio Shack (Tandy Corp.)
  • Stafford Electronics Corp.
  • World Radio Labs

I’ve crossed out the companies that are no longer in business. As you can see, most of them are now long gone.

October 1995

The editorial in the October 1995 QST, “Thinking Strategically” by Dave Sumner, K1ZZ, is a piece on the inevitability of the internet. K1ZZ didn’t have any predictions about how the internet would affect amateur radio, just that it would in some way. It certainly has, hasn’t it?

He notes that surveys have pointed out that 48% of 1995’s radio amateurs had access to the internet and compared the use of the internet to the various amateur radio modes: FM, SSB – 79%, CW – 54%, packet radio- 40%. I wonder what these percentages would be today. Certainly, more than 90% of today’s ham use the internet and would guess that fewer than 25% operate CW.

It’s nice to be appreciated

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I’ve gotten some nice feedback from readers in the past couple of days, and I thought I’d share them with you. Comments like these really keep me motivated.

Kyle wrote:

Just wanted to drop you a line and say thanks for your great books. After being a Tech for 18 years, I finally got around to getting my General because of your book. Now I’m working on my Extra! Thanks for the resource. You’ve really opened up the hobby for me. Over the weekend, I activated my first summit for SOTA and really enjoyed it. Hope all is well with you and thanks again.

Eric writes:

I read your study guide and took my Technician exam today and got 35 for 35. Great book, easy to read. It helped me immensely. Just wanted to say thank you.

Del writes:

I just wanted to thank you for the free Technician’s PDF and the very modestly priced Anki “smaht” flash cards. With the two of those and about 4 weeks of study I just passed my Technician’s Exam this morning. No call sign yet, of course, but my smile will suffice in the meantime.

Jay writes:

 I passed!!!!! Wooooohooooo! You made the difference. Your book is what put me here. Thank you.