The KE0VH Hamshack for December

DECEMBER 2016

Greetings all, and MERRY CHRISTMAS

Check out the article I wrote for “The BDR.Net” talking about the time our own EMF’s Steve Wilde (Also of American Amplifier Technologies) provided our bandpass filter and great help at our Denver K-LOVE/Air1 station. Here is the link.

http://www.thebdr.net/articles/rf/site/AAThelps.pdf

There are a plethora of new Chinese ham radio gear available these days (just in time for Christmas maybe?) that actually could be a real alternative to some of the usual fare from the big 3 companies. Check these out:

Wouxun http://www.wouxun.us/item.php?item_id=346

The Xiegu X-108G HF 1-20 watt Transceiver also available with a companion portable HD Multiband antenna. .5 to 30 MHz, Really looks pretty cool.

These are available also thru a seller on eBay for around $510.00. http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=Xiegu+X-108G&_sop=15
Here is a video from DO7PSL on the rig: YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9br0Gd_J_iI

The video shows the unboxing and a QSO with the rig. Also the really great audio and reception from the rig.
AND, Reviews: QRZ http://qrznow.com/hf-x108g/ Eham http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/12587 http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/12214

There is also a web forum for the rig at: https://x-108.com/.

Check out the Portable all band antenna (which comes with a convenient travel carrying case by going to:

http://www.wouxun.us/item.php?item_id=364&category_id=67

Another project I have wanted to get done was connecting my D-104 microphone into the TS-2000 in the shack. These mic’s are really great for giving you a DX punch during a pileup and since this is the amplified version I didn’t have to use a buffer stage between the mic and the radio. The voice amplifier in the mic is all the buffer you need. I had previously used this mic on my Kenwood TS-120s I owned years ago, and I used it on a Yaesu FT-757 GXII in recent years. So all I had to do was look up the pinouts and take of the 4 conductor connector on the coiled mic cable, and put on the new 8 pin connector. Plugged it in and made my first D-104/Kenwood TS-2000 contact with Darren, KG5LGK in northwestern New Mexico on 3.989 MHz!

The D-104 connected to the TS-2000 in the Shack

Cool mic flag from http://www.hamcrazy.com/

Get one for your station!

Shane Toven, KØSDT and his wife Andrea at the end of November decided to get aware from the cold and wind of Laramie WY, and take a Caribbean cruise! Shane wanted to operate HF from the ship, and so he borrowed my Yaesu FT-897D for shipboard operations. Here are some pics from Shane’s MM QTH!

The portable antenna at the ships rail

The Yaesu FT-897D with AT897 antenna tuner ready to go!

Pretty good match for 40! And, WHAT A GROUND PLANE!

KØSDT at the mic, ready to maritime mobile it up!

I will report next month on how he did on the high seas! As of this writing he was still awaiting permission from the Comms officer and the CAPTAIN of the ship to operate. How cool though, he definitely was going to be in some rare grid squares!

And yes, winter is here in Colorado and Wyoming. Shane and I had to go up to Pilot Hill east of Laramie in the middle of November to ascertain why the K-LOVE station there was behaving strangely with high SWR and the transmitter power was fluctuating crazily. Well, we saw the reason pretty quickly: