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Re: CW Practice / Rag chew on Friday
Ed, Thanks for the heads up. I am definitely a new CW op. I have managed to hunt several parks with success only because of the very patient and understanding activators on the far end. I will look for you Friday morning. I have limited success making the trip to MI with my attic antenna, but will give it my best shot. Thanks, Jon K4CIH? On Wed, Jan 8, 2025 at 11:49?AM Ed AB8DF via <ekwik=[email protected]> wrote:
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Re: CW Practice / Rag chew on Friday
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72 de KB9BVN |
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CW Practice / Rag chew on Friday
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýI will be doing another CW on the air practice session on Friday 10 January on 30 meters. Anyone is welcome. This practice
is intended for operators who are new to CW or they need
some practice. IT DOES NOT MATTER HOW POOR YOUR CW IS.
Mistakes are OK. Poor fists are OK. Slow speed is OK.
Really slow speed is OK. This practice is meant for you to
improve your CW. I will do my best to adjust to your skill
level. Operate at any power level. If several stations
show up, I will operate as a round-table control station.
I will do it as a round-table so everyone gets a chance to
transmit. Please listen to my directions.
Details: Time - 9:00 am Eastern time 14:00 UTC Band - 30 Meters How to find me - I will find a clear frequency and call CQ. Go to the Reverse Beacon Network and search for my call sign AB8DF. That will tell you what frequency I
am on. Tune your station to that frequency and if you hear
me give me a call. If there is a QSO in progress, please
wait for a break in the action. Then send your callsign.
If I hear you, I will invite you to join the QSO and start
a round-table QSO.
Reply to this email if you have questions. IT DOES NOT MATTER HOW POOR CW IS Ed AB8DF |
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Michigan QRP Club Zoom meeting invite and report
¿ªÔÆÌåÓý We had eleven folks at the 2 January Michigan QRP Club weekly Zoom chat. Please join us Thursday January 9th (and every Thursday) at 4PM Eastern for the Michigan QRP Club weekly QRP Chat where the main topics will be QRP and other ham interests. New hams are encouraged to participate and ask questions. It's fun, it's easy, and it's free. You only need a computer, a smart phone, or a tablet that can connect to the Internet. OR if you can't be close to any of those you can join by audio with any standard phone. Just follow the directions below. No software needs be loaded or installed. Anyone can join and non members are welcome. Details are here: Thursdays topics will be CW verses SSB for QRP and the Michigan Mighty Mite transmitter. Pete WK8S Ed AB8DF Ernie W3ETE Jacob N3JU Frank KB4VU Tom WW8LA Stuart M0SGV Larry AC8YE Tony W8CDC Casey KC9IH Rick K8BMA Pete is researching hydraulic masts. They cost a bunch but they are pretty cool. Went over the list of contests coming up in 2025. Looked at serval that are fun QRPers. Larry is in Florida doing POTA and QRP. Lots of QRP rigs. Has a KH1 and uses a bunch of different antennas. Pete asked about his experiences with the Elecraft whip antenna. Pete also picked Larry¡¯s brain on the set up he uses for his POTAs. Ernie asked Larry about the KH1 key. He has mixed feelings about the Elecraft KH1 key. N6ARA and K6ARK paddles. Jacob just got parts for his Michigan Mighty Mite and there are more on the way but he needs to finish his QMX before doing any MMM building. We talked a little bit about the Michigan Mighty Mite revival for the FDIM club night. Standby for an announcement about the event. Ed has a new space heater in the basement shack. No more shivering while trying to send CW. The CW practice session he had today was rough because of the solar conditions. 40 meters was very noisy. He is going through his junk box looking for parts for his MMM. Thinking about using a T68-2 for the coil instead of a pill bottle. Hopes to improve the second harmonic output because of the higher Q. Casey said he sticking with the original design. He hates winding toroids. He would like to find some RF chokes he could use in place of the coil. Tom fixed his FT8 feedback issue. He gets RF feedback when he uses his amplified speakers. The fix was to use earphones! Rick got a JBL powered speaker that he uses with his QRP Labs rigs. He has no problems with RF feedback. The topic for January 9th will be CW verses SSB for QRP and the Michigan Mighty Mite transmitter. Anyone can take the floor and ask questions. We will go one by one until all have had a chance to have the floor. Files, pictures and presentations can be shared if you have any. There will be time for comments and questions. Please try to stay muted when someone has the floor. Thanks Ed AB8DF |
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Re: Vendor/Club night Info - FDIM
Hi Brian: Al and I would like a vendor table. One with access to power would be great! Thanks! Jack, W8TEE
On Tuesday, January 7, 2025 at 10:37:50 AM EST, Brian KB9BVN via groups.io <kb9bvn@...> wrote:
Vendors/Clubs If you want to reserve a place at Vendor Evening or Club Night please -
Club Evening is held on Friday night, in the Ball Room. Tables
are provided free of charge but we would appreciate a donation
of a door prize to be presented at the Grand Banquet. 73 de KB9BVN
-- 72 de KB9BVN |
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Vendor/Club night Info - FDIM
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýVendors/Clubs If you want to reserve a place at Vendor Evening or Club Night please -
Club Evening is held on Friday night, in the Ball Room. Tables
are provided free of charge but we would appreciate a donation
of a door prize to be presented at the Grand Banquet. 73 de KB9BVN
-- 72 de KB9BVN |
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FDIM Schedule revised again - Not word on Lunch Buffet during Symposium
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýAll times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC -4) Wednesday May 14?- Registration from 7:30PM to 9:30PM? Thursday May 15?- Registration starts at 7:30AM Outside the Ballroom Make sure you pick up your FDIM badge from the registration table Thursday May 15?- Seminars Beginning at 8AM and breaking at 10:45AMRestarting at 11:00AM? Lunch is from Noon to 1:00PM Restarting at 1:00PM and ending at 5:00PM 7PM to 8PM - Vendor registration and setup - Main Ballroom, no public access 8PM to 10PM - Vendor Night Friday May 16th Afternoon - W1REX Buildathon!?7PM to 8PM - Club Registration and setup in the Main Ballroom, no public access 7PM to 8PM - Show and Tell Homebrew Contest Registration and setup in Ballroom 8PM to 9PM - Homebrew Contest Judging in the Ballroom 8PM to 10PM - IC Transmitter Challenge! 8PM to 10PM - Radio Show and Tell in the Ballroom 8PM to 10PM - Club Night in the Ballroom?-?The Michigan QRP Club will be hosting a? Saturday May 17th? 7PM - Awards Ceremony and Grand Banquet in Ballroom?9PM - Post Banquet Chat Sessions, bring your QSL cards to trade Sunday May 18th? Hamvention and head back home Clubs and Vendors - please send email to president@... letting us know if you need a table, and/or electricity There
is no charge for Club or Vendor tables - Limit 1 per If you have any questions please let us know ! -- 72 de KB9BVN |
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FDIM Schedule - Revised
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýAll times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC -4) Wednesday May 14?- Registration from 7:30PM to 9:30PM? Thursday May 15?- Registration starts at 7:30AM Outside the Ballroom Make sure you pick up your FDIM badge from the registration table Thursday May 15?- Seminars Beginning at 8AM and breaking at 10:45AMRestarting at 11:00AM? Lunch is from Noon to 1:00PM - sandwich buffet lunch included with Symposium Restarting at 1:00PM and ending at 5:00PM 7PM to 8PM - Vendor registration and setup - Main Ballroom, no public access 8PM to 10PM - Vendor Night Friday May 16th Afternoon - W1REX Buildathon!?7PM to 8PM - Club Registration and setup in the Main Ballroom, no public access 7PM to 8PM - Show and Tell Homebrew Contest Registration and setup in Ballroom 8PM to 9PM - Homebrew Contest Judging in the Ballroom 8PM to 10PM - IC Transmitter Challenge! 8PM to 10PM - Radio Show and Tell in the Ballroom 8PM to 10PM - Club Night in the Ballroom?-?The Michigan QRP Club will be hosting a? Saturday May 17th? 7PM - Awards Ceremony and Grand Banquet in Ballroom?9PM - Post Banquet Chat Sessions, bring your QSL cards to trade Sunday May 18th? Hamvention and head back home Clubs and Vendors - please send email to president@... letting us know if you need a table, and/or electricity There
is no charge for Club or Vendor tables - Limit 1 per If you have any questions please let us know ! -- 72 de KB9BVN |
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Michigan Mighty Mite Revival at FDIM
THE MICHIGAN MIGHTY MITE REVIVAL
The Michigan QRP Club is holding a REVIVAL! During the ARRL 2025 Hamvention and as part of the ACRI Four Days In May event, The Michigan Mighty Mite will have a REVIVAL. It is open to all. The FDIM has a Club night on Friday 16 May 2025 at the Holiday Inn in Fairborn, OH The Michigan QRP Club will have a table at Club night. Bring you old, new, whatever MMM to Club night. We will have a set up that includes 12vdc power and a dummy load. You bring your MMM and a way to key it (could be a pair of wires). If your MMM can be heard on our receiver, you will get a very special award. Not sure what it will be yet because we are still working on budget. But it will be special. I promise. Receiver will probably my old K2 with a hunk of wire antenna. There are no other criteria other we can hear it. If it puts a ton of power, we don¡¯t care. If is cute, we don¡¯t care, If it is ugly, we don¡¯y care. If it in an altoids tin, we don¡¯t care. Image 12-23-24 at 12.50 PM.jpeg amateur radio license required to operate on the air! 500mW CW TRANSMITTER Author and technical wizard, Dave Ingram - K4TWJ. (SK), once wrote: A very quick and easy way to get on the air is to build a "Michigan Mighty Mite" CW transmitter for 160, 80, 40 or 30 meters originated by Ed Knoll, W3FQJ and developed by Tom Jurgens, KY8I. KY8I was one of the MIQRP¡¯s founding members. It can't get simpler than this! I made my very first QSOs with a 40-meter version. It has very few parts, costs almost nothing, and it works! Output power is about 500 milliwatts with a 12-volt power supply. To operate, attach 50-ohm dummy load or appropriate 50-ohm antenna (do yourself a favor and use a half-wave dipole antenna to avoid tuners and assure good results) and ground, insert crystal and close the key. Adjust the variable capacitor for the cleanest signal that has the most power (compromise).That's it! You're on the air, and can confirm that it's working with field strength meter. Power output can be figured with a common multitester by using a very simple wattmeter circuit. Q1: 2N3053, 2N2222, SK3265 or similar inexpensive general-purpose NPN transistor. I use a plastic-case transistor that came in a bargain-pack from Radio Shack - works fine. Use heat sink - try an alligator clip if you don't have a heat sink handy. TANK COIL: use a 1.25" diameter form (35mm film canister, pill bottle, etc.) and #20 - #22 AWG enameled ("magnet") wire. To make tap, wind L1 to the "tapped at" number of turns (see table below). Make a loop about 1 inch long, twist it a few times and finish winding. Sand the insulation off the end of the loop. This is your tap. After winding L1, wrap it with a thin layer of masking tape and wind L2 on top of the tape in the same direction as L1. Secure L2 with more tape and finish by sanding insulation off remaining leads. L1: L2: (primary/collector windings) (secondary/antenna windings) 160m--60 turns, tapped at 20 160m-- 8 turns 80m--45 turns, tapped at 15 80m---6 turns 40m--21 turns, tapped at 7 40m---4 turns 30m--15 turns, tapped at 6 30m---4 turns XTAL: fundamental-mode crystal for desired frequency. About that variable capacitor - the unit in the photo is a discontinued item from Radio Shack, but NO PROBLEM - salvage one from an old transistor AM Radio or try a trimmer capacitor. Of course, a fullsize variable will work - but it will also be bigger than the rest of the transmitter! Tracking down variable capacitors at a good price is a noble challenge and part of the game. Source: Ingram, Dave, K4TWJ, "World of Ideas: QRP Fun - Part II" (CQ, Vol.48, No.3, March 1992, pp.107-108) Ed AB8DF Ernie W3ETE |
Brian KB9BVN
jjpurdum
Peter VE3POA