PA3CLQ's Leuke Linken Nr. 501

 

Wisdom - good to know

Good head copying requires a CW vocabulary, and anticipation of words - predictions based on the elements that have come before - is an integral part of comprehension, in ANY language.

Thoughts have a momentum, a trajectory, we lock in on and follow.

That's where anticipation comes from.
    Conversely, one must never "anticipate" when working "ears to fingers."

If I could anticipate the next character, it wouldn't be "random," eh?

That's why 5-character groups are used for Radiosport contests - they level the playing field for folks who aren't English speakers, and they prevent anticipation as a factor in measuring pure CW skill.

So practicing with five-character groups, as part of one's training, is an excellent way to hone skills (I won a Radiosport contest sending 5-mixed-character groups on a straight key at 26WPM after lots of such practice) it is but one arrow in the training/learning quiver.
    Sadly, other than as a training tool, or practice copying calls, the ability to copy or send random charters for hours on end is no longer of practical use; the days of the professional op copying or sending thousands of groups at a go are behind us.
    Being able to do 100% copy is a laudable goal.

So is conversational head copying.

And either can be a ton of fun.
    Me, I prefer head copying and write down only what I consider necessary.

I stopped contesting a few years back, and prefer to spend my time in conversation, practicing and honing my CW skills (but still love to duke it out in a DX pileup once in a while).

Rather different skills.
73 Chris NW6V

 

Chris, You are building a CW vocabulary
Joe,

 

A lot of information about Radio, only in Dutch at:

http://www.film-radio-tv.nl/pdf/frtv-2_supplement.pdf.pdf

 

 

Noise Reduction

I get LOTS of noise from the solar panel optimizers on my house.

So much that I can barely hear any but the strongest CW signals during the day.
Given the choice of spending thousands of dollars to retrofit my solar installation with RF suppression or spending a few hundred dollars on a digital signal processing module, I'm leaning towards trying the DSP module between my radio and my headphones.
The West Mountain Radio CLRdsp seems to have good reviews on eHam.net.
Does anyone here have any relevant experience to share or helpful comments for me to ponder while I decide what to do?
Thank you for your time!
Steve AI9IN

Yes, I have a CLRdsp and it works for low band noise.

One problem though.
My CLRdsp plugs into my rig's earphone jack.

You plug your ear phones into the CLRdsp.

The CLRdsp delays the side tone from the rig as well in the processing algorithm.

The side tone delay at higher speeds is very confusing while transmitting.

When I use the CLRdsp, I turn the volume up on my keyer and pull my cans down while I am transmitting.

My West Mountain unit is 3 years old.
Bill, N5IR

The only solution is to eliminate the source of your local noise... which in your case .. your solar power.

About 7 yrs ago, I was in the market for a new rig.. with the noise reduction being a prime requirement.
The first rig I acquired was a very expensive top of the line Yaesu..

It had the worst noise reduction choices of any rig I've ever tested and I immediately got a refund for it.

Then I tried the Icom 7700.. and the noise reduction was way more than acceptable.. and so was everything else about it.

Later I also acquired an Icom 7600 and the noise reduction with it was even better than the 7700.
Then a few years ago I started having large amounts of local noise.

So I immediately blamed it on one of my neighbors who has solar power.

I built a radio direction finder ant and using a K2... I began trying to find the source of the noise..

First driving as close to our neighbors as possible to check for noise.

But to my amazement, the noise seemed to be coming from my own property.

I traced it down to one of the power supplies in our outdoor security cameras.

Once I shut down the offending power supply, all the local noise was gone..
Using the noise reduction on the Icom 7600 helped but it was so bad, the upper freq ham bands were worthless.
So thats why I say --trying to mask the noise by using some sort of noise reduction fantasy wont solve your situation.

Only getting rid of the noise source with solve it.

You should be able to find an affordable fix for the solar power noise sources your experiencing.
Frank W7is

Steve- You should take a look at this website.

I have had good luck with their products myself but not on solar systems.

Like most people with a house full of modern customer electronics with their switching power supplies and wall warts i found that ferrites are your friend.

I have maybe $200 worth of ferrites on various devices in my house which reduced my noise level considerably.
http://palomar-engineers.com/rfi-kits/solar-system-rfi
Ed N7BAV

 

[slowspeedwire] Telegraph Instruments in Scranton DS's Office

Based on Yahoo’s recent inability to handle file attachments posed on Group Lists, I shall just give you the link and you can go there:

http://lists.railfan.net/erielackphoto.cgi?erielack-08-01-16/B0771.jpg

This photo shows the Scranton Train Dispatchers’ Office on the Delaware Lackawanna & Western RR.

The glass plate negative is now in the Steamtown archives at Scranton.

Steamtown releases scans of 4 or 5 Lackawanna negatives every day, and posts them on the Erie Lackawanna List.

When this scan was released several years ago, one date given for it was April 26, 1911.

The new station building in which this photograph was made was opened in 1908, so that 1911 date could be accurate.

However, I believe the clothing and haircuts of the men indicate a date of about a decade later.

Yes, there are telly-phone selector thingies in front of the Train Dispatchers, but who cares about those.

The Lackawanna had a lot of money and played with all kinds of such frivolous contraptions.

But, Ah ! ... notice the lovely Morse instruments.

The office call for the message office in Scranton was “Z”, and some old timers understand that the Train Dispatching Office was also referred to as "Z."

But no one remembers what specific office calls the three dispatchers answered.

Two electric lights in the ceiling.

Not quite good enough to cover three train sheets on a dark night.

So my guess is they lit the gas lights on the left wall.

That must have made for a real cooker on a hot July night !

As for territory these three men handled, here’s a guess: (1) Main Line Slateford Jct to Scranton; (2) Main Line Scranton to Binghamton, and (3) a branch line man to handle the Bloomsburg Branch Scranton to Northumberland, the Bangor & Portland Branch, plus a couple smaller things.

Final observation: Only one ink well.

So I guess they didn’t make “red stick entries” for Against-the-Current-of-Traffic moves, and such.

This office was still functioning until 1977, when Conrail moved it to Hoboken Terminal, NJ, on the west bank of the Hudson River and right across from Manhattan.

-- 73 SW & (abram burnett)

 

Telegraph Resonators - When Were They Introduced ?

Here's links to two Bunnell catalog pages from a catalog published between 1901 and 1904 showing resonators including what Abe calls the trammel-type. Note that although there are the Skirrow (Postal Telegraph) triangular resonators on the one page, the other only shows the trammel-type and a couple different rounded back resonators, no triangular Acme or hog trough. Also looking through the rest of the catalog pages, there is no Barclay box relay which supposedly was introduced during this time frame and Bunnell was the manufacturer of them which further proves that this catalog was from the first few years of the 20th century.

http://www.telegraph-history.org/bunnell-tel-elec-catalog/page9.htm
http://www.telegraph-history.org/bunnell-tel-elec-catalog/page10.htm

I've also seen a number of photos showing resonators but with no typewriters in view so although one argument for them is that they overcame the noise generated by the typewriter that certainly is not the only reason they were employed. I have seen old photos (and I think I have seen that large Postal Telegraph office photo published somewhere but I do not have a digital copy of it) showing a large office with the trammel type resonators. Just like with the different designs of rounded back resonators I have seen I also have photos showing different designs for the trammel-type. I have suspected that with the exception of the Skirrow type which is patented that most resonators were not patented as given all the slight variations in designs I've seen the idea must have sprung up simultaneously in a number of places and was thus not considered patentable.

Anyway, from all I've seen and read, I've more or less come to the conclusion that they first appeared in the 1890's. Now for another "first" problem, when did the first "sounding relays" that we would recognize as "box relays" appear? I've tried to find this as well without success, my best guess being in the 1870's.

73, Chris Hausler

 

Yahoo has fallen down on the job of handling file attachments and images,

I have put some things about trammel resonators up on Google Drive: (Things have gone to the dogs since they let Marissa Mayer go...)

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Qehi82WWHj0uahU242LpHvN4swn0C6_i

Here you will find an 1892 Electrical Engineer article, and photos of the trammels in use at UD Supt's Office Harrisburg station, at J Tower Lemoyne, Pa (Philadelphia Div.) and at J Tower Lewistown Jct , Pa (Middle Division.)

-- 73 SW & ( abram burnett)

 

Telegraph relays used to help recreate original Flip-Flop circuit

The IEEE Spectrum has an article that describes how the original Flip-Flop circuit was recreated.

This is the circuit that used vacuum tubes, not the solid-state circuit that most electronic hobbyists/professionals know.
https://spectrum.ieee.org/geek-life/hands-on/recreating-the-first-flipflop?utm_source=techalert&utm_campaign=techalert-05-31-18&utm_medium=email

The author used telegraph relays to control indicator lamps for the state of the circuit.
The Flip-Flop circuit was invented 100 years ago in June 1918.
73, Chip

 

Gang, The June issue of The Rag Chew is on the web at……
http://www.skccgroup.com/member_services/newsletter/

Don’t miss this 59 page newsletter featuring: the Dayton Roundup QSOs and Chocolate F6HKA award Boat Anchor Centurion SKS Results FT8 and SKCC
RARS Fest Vertical Bug History CW with a Twist WES activity Magnetic Bugs SKCC QSK Bureau Brag results Toledo Hamfest “Radioman” 2018 SKCC QSO Party “Man Key NRR photos W7GVE Rake Tine Straight Key and many more articles and pictures.
Once again “thank you” to the many contributors who submitted articles and photos that made this newsletter possible.
Please consider submitting pictures of you up-coming Field Day activities and latest station projects.
73, you Rag Chew Editor Ted K8AQM

 

Opinion requested on cootie

Rick brings up a question asked by several active or potential cootie users.

First of all, a quick peek at my QRZ page where I have posted a narrative of my journey from straight key to Top-of-the-line Cooties reveals personal testimonials which include my opinions and recommendation for the W1SFR TBCP (Torsion Bar Cootie Paddle).

While at that QRZ biography please click the link to the SKCC Cootie User List where you will find a dozen or more members who own and use the referenced cootie key.

My recommendation is to contact each of those persons individually with your questions of what they think of that little jewel.
For those members with interest or ownership in a Sideswiper (a.k.a. Cootie) key, please bookmark my QRZ page as a reference, and remind all cootie users to be sure to follow instructions in the header of that list to be a part of that list.

It is encouraging to note that when that list was originated about a year ago, it accounted for approximately 35 SKCC members using cootie keys.

As of today it recognizes 110, and from all observations I know that number is much higher, but many have failed to report in.

I hope others will help to spread the word so that others can join in on the "Bragging Rights" of this unique and pleasing form of "manual keying". (many have volunteered that the cootie keying method is most comfortable to those with ailing fists, wrists, and arms)
I know there are others out there with testimonials of their cootie experiences, and surely there are those with curiosities who can benefit.

Perhaps all of us can learn from your inputs.

https://www.qrz.com/lookup  ----> K5MP
Cheers, Mike, K5MP SKCC

 

Hello Friends

Antennas disconnected here due to  thunderstorms in the area.

I've been listening to the 20m session via KFS webSDR: http://69.27.184.62:8901/
Very good signals from NCS, JL1MUT, very poor path to VK. Glad VK7CW, VK5EEE made it + maybe VK3IM and VK3TP.
Here's a recording of the 20m session, file uploaded temporarily:
http://www.sideswipernet.org/temp/websdr_recording_2018-05-27T09_29_15Z_14055.0kHz.mp3

The latest from Tamitha Skov Solar Storm Forecast 05-31-2018

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwvKyY26lB0&feature=em-uploademail

... Amateur radio operators are also enjoying marginal radio propagation this week due to bright region 2712 with the promise of new regions rotating into Earth-view in a couple of days. ...

Cheers, Darrel, aa7fv.

Have a nice day / week(end) gents, BCNU.

73, Yann, F5LAW

http://www.sideswipernet.org/

By OM Yann F5LAW SideSwiperNetGroup

 

73, from the town at the rivers "De Bergsche Maas" and "De Dongen" Geertruidenberg (800+ years city rights) at: 51.702211N 4.853854E

Editor Jan Pieter Oelp PA3CLQ

 

-30-

 

pa3clq@casema.nl

My simple website about Gigantic DF-Antennas

Part 1 "DF-Antenna Wullenweber Array"

Part 2 "DF-Antenna USSR Variants"

Part 3 "DF-Antenna USA Variant"

Next Part 4 "USSR OTHRA DUGA 1,2 & 3" at:

www.pa3clq.nl/