Welcome to my blog styled "KN4LF Amateur & SWL Radio Autobiography". This site exists as an amateur radio educational tool. Amateur radio has done allot for me and this is one of my ways of giving back to our great hobby and service.
I still believe in the concept of brotherhood through amateur radio. I still believe in the fraternity of amateur radio, where I can meet a total stranger that is a fellow amateur radio operator and we immediately hit it off and become friends. I still believe in elmering new amateurs. I still believe in international diplomacy and peace through amateur radio. I still believe in voluntary public service. Unfortunately though I'm afraid that I'm part of a rapidly shrinking group, a dinosaur!
I have many interests within the hobby and they include ionosphere radio wave propagation data collection, study and forecasting, antenna design modeling, construction and experimentation, DXing, digital modes operation such as BPSK31/63/125, Feld Hell, Olivia MFSK 500/16, MFSK16 and RTTY, AM mode and QRP operation on CW, RTTY, SSB and PSK31. I'm also a very active SWL and spend allot of time DXing the LF/MF/HF bands both broadcast and utility.
My radio shack is really a combined hobby shop and is 12' x 13' in size. It contains an electronics work bench, computers, guitars, radio equipment, telescopes, and weather observing equipment.
Here is one of my favorite astronomy/astrophysics
oriented websites.
Check it out it will make your head hurt.
As far as musical instruments I have a small collection that includes a Fender Stratocaster electric, Telecaster electric and Stratocaster acoustic guitar. The amplifiers are small Fender 10 and 15 amp boxes. I played guitar for 20 years but stopped for 10 long years due to ever worsening rheumatoid arthritis and diabetic nerve damage of the hands. Fortunately though with new more effective drugs to treat rheumatoid arthritis now available, I'm now attempting a slow comeback. However as their is no effective treatment for nerve damage I will never be return to the semi professional playing level I once enjoyed.
Speaking of guitars I've been a Fender Stratocaster man going back to 1965 and it's the only type of guitar I've ever owned, with the exception of one Fender Telecaster. I've always had a love for that Stratocaster tone, much like guitar legend Jimi Hendrix did and living guitar legend Eric Clapton. George Harrison also used a Stratocaster. If you are interested in the history of the Fender guitar check out the link below.
Also check the Jamorama dot com link. In my
personal opinion it's the most comprehensive guitar course with the most value
available for purchase on the WWW. I'm using it to relearn the many chords that
I have forgotten, especially power chords that are easier to play with hand
problems.
THE FENDER GUITAR MANUFACTURING COMPANY
HISTORY
I also produce a free daily LF/MF/HF/6M frequency radiowave propagation
forecast. The forecast is very unique in that nothing similar to it is produced
by any other amateur radio operator, SWL, government or university entity. I publish it every Friday
around 1600 UTC.
Amateur radio has done allot for me and this is another one of my ways of giving back to our great hobby and service.
G4ILO has written a piece of propagation
prediction software called VOAProp v1.1 It is actually an interface for the very
accurate but otherwise difficult to use VOACAP software written for the Voice Of
America and honed to near perfection over many decades. After you download VOAProp you then download VOACAP and the two pieces of software work together in
a seamless fashion. When you unzip the VOACAP file called
itshfbc allow it to install on your C:\ drive directly, not into the "Programs
Files" folder. The software covers 1.8-30 mc and the 120-11 meter shortwave
bands. BTW both pieces of software are free.
KN4LF DAILY SOLAR SPACE WEATHER AND GEOMAGNETIC DATA ARCHIVE
2008 KN4LF DAILY LF/MF/HF/6M FREQUENCY RADIOWAVE PROPAGATION FORECAST
& ARCHIVE
SUBSCRIBE TO THE LF/MF/HF/VHF/UHF FREQUENCY RADIOWAVE
PROPAGATION EMAIL REFLECTOR
I am the only amateur radio operator in my family. My grandfather of whom I was named after was an MF AM broadcast band SWL and owned an Italian language newspaper in New York City, NY in 1930's and 1940's. He had a 1960 Zenith Royal 50 all transistor portable (huge by today's standards) AM radio and a 1959 Zenith AM/FM table top radio. Both radios were purchased on "Radio Row" in Manhattan Borough, New York City. In 1965 he began letting me listen to the Zenith table top radio both day and night and this began my fascination with radio and The Beatles, as they were on AM radio at that time. He also was an amateur weather observer and forecaster as he raised citrus, of which I also picked up from him.
My XYL had an
uncle named George Friend. He was a very active amateur on CW, AM and SSB and
held the callsign W4MTU but is now a silent key. He also co-owned the local MF
AM broadcast radio station WPLA 910 kc 5KW in nearby Plant City, FL for many
years. When the station signed off at local sunset he would use the self
supporting 1/4 wave station tower on 160 meters and had a very big signal. He
was very fond of Heathkit equipment and had an enormous setup at the radio
station and also at his home QTH.
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My current rigs are an Icom IC-746 Pro and an IC-718 with the W4RT modification of a Collins mechanical 2.4 kc SSB and 500 hz CW filter, both powered by Astron RS-35M's and monitored with Autek Research WM1 SWR/PWR meters. My amplifier is an Ameritron AL-811 amplifier with three 572B's which easily puts out 600 watts PEP. However I normally run it at 400 watts PEP at those rare times that I DX or rag chew on SSB. Initially I used Icom SM-6 desk microphones on phone but recently replaced them with Heil iCM desk microphones, which are mounted on professional looking homebrewed booms. The iCM is designed for Icom rigs and at -3db passes 30 hz to 12000 hz audio with a bit of a peak at 4000 hz. I've received some very good audio reports with the microphones so far.
You can directly key a linear amplifier such as the Ameritron AL-811 and most other modern amplifiers with the Icom IC-746 Pro and Icom IC-718. The IC-746 Pro can handle switching voltage and current of 16 volts at 500 ma, the IC-718 16 volts at 2 amps and the Ameritron AL-811 16 volts at 100 ma. However to be safe I use a rig to amplifier buffer interface. In the past I have used the Ameritron AR-704 and it works great but this time around I am using a K4AVU interface. It is a plug and play interface that does not require an outboard power source and costs only $33.00. You can see it at the link below.
By the way the IC-718 is a very capable QRP rig. Its output power can be cranked down to as low as 900 milliwatts QRPp and has an excellent CW keyer built in, though I use a straight key 99% of the time. All of my QRP operation is with this rig. You do have to add the optional 500 hz CW filter. I'm a fairly competent technician and recently I installed the W4RT "One Board" Collins mechanical 2.4 kc SSB and 500 hz filters. I also made some other modifications to the rig which can be read about at the link below. I was so surprised by its excellent performance for the price that I published a review of the rig.
On the receive side at age 51 I have some premature hearing loss of high tones in both ears, all courtesy of my military duty with Uncle Sam. Therefore I use a pair of MFJ-392B headphones to overcome some of the hearing problems. The impedance is 16 ohms and the audio range on the headphone is 100-24000 hz and has independent volume controls for each can. It goes a long way in evening out the hearing loss. This is my third pair of 392B headphones in the past ten years, as the first two sets fell apart electrically and mechanically due to poor construction. However my newest set seems to have been totally redesigned and much more sturdy. Of course only time will tell.
I also use an active noise canceling headphone made by Encore, model #ANC-01 with an impedance of 32 ohms and audio range of 20-20000 hz, that I bought on eBay for only $5.99, a once in a lifetime deal! They actually make copying CW under poor conditions easier!
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LIVE UPDATE WEBSITE OF WEATHER OBSERVATIONS FOR LAKELAND, FL
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HARMFUL MAN INDUCED CLIMATE (GLOBAL WARMING) CHANGE REFUTED
LAKELAND FLORIDA DAILY CLIMATOLOGICAL WEATHER OBSERVATION DATA ARCHIVE
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As I already mentioned above I'm very active on the digital modes on 160 through 2 meters using the Rig Expert Mini soundcard interface and the Tigertronics Signalink USB outboard soundcard interface to my IC-718 and Icom IC-746 Pro. My first digital modes interface was homebrewed and I still have it but it does not allow for computer control of my rig. I also operate a little on all MF/HF bands but am most active on 160, 80, 40 and 17 meters using CW, SSB and AM, both rag chewing and DXing. If you want to set up a CW, BPSK31/63/125, FELD HELL, MFSK16, OLIVIA MFSK 500/16, RTTY or THROB schedule on any band for Florida and/or Polk County just send me an email.
While on the subject of the digital modes there is an issue with the PSK mode that I am going to address. I've been operating the PSK mode since 2003 and I'm seeing more and more dirty PSK signals (as wide as 3000 hz versus 31 hz) than ever on the HF bands, especially on 20 meters. I always make it a point to work stations with a dirty signal so as to assist them in cleaning their signal up.
Most of the time they are running 30 watts or less and the problem is how they
are operating their rig, i.e, controlling output power with the RF output
potentiometer on their rig.
Unfortunately though too many newer digital operators are unwilling to do it the
right way and often get offended when you tell them that their signal is
dirty.
The correct way is to turn up rig output power for maximum ~100 watts and
control the power output with the rig mic gain potentiometer and/or computer
sound card slider. I say control as in reduce output until the transmitted
signal is clean with no adjacent sidebands.
With my Rig Expert Tiny interface on my Icom IC-746 Pro using this method I can run up to 100 watts with no ALC movement and have a clean signal. With my Signalink USB outboard sound card interface I can run up to 150 watts with no ALC movement and have a clean signal. The performance of the internal sound card of the Signalink USB is very impressive, much cleaner than the expensive sound card in my computer.
I do not operate wide digital modes such as OLIVIA MFSK using a
bandwidth of wider than 500 hz as it is a big waste of RF spectrum on bands
already crowded with a myriad of digital modes. ALE is another very wide digital
mode, as well as PACTOR III (~2600 hz). There is a small but militant movement
of selfish digital mode amateur radio operators that are gravitating towards creation of and use of wider band
digital modes. I oppose this trend as it just makes no sense on our crowded
digital sub bands.
I am member #349 of the Pennsylvania/Ohio DX Association (PODXS) 070 PSK31 Club,
member #141 of the Feld Hell Club, member #1723 of the North American QRP CW
Club, member #3097 of the Straight Key Century Club (SKCC), member #691 of the
30 meter Digital Group, member #1243 of the Digital Modes Club and a member of the U.S. Coast Guard
Radio Club.
Using CW, PSK31, RTTY and SSB phone my 160 meter DXCC entity worked total was 168, confirmed 158. I started over again on 160 meter DXCC on 01/01/2007 and my worked DXCC entity worked total is 86, confirmed 43.
My all band RTTY DXCC entity worked total is 131, confirmed 74. My all band BPSK31 DXCC entity worked total is 106, confirmed 66.
Using CW, PSK31, RTTY and SSB phone my all band QRP DXCC entity worked total was 81, confirmed 50, QRP WAS total was 50, confirmed 50. However I started over again on QRP DXCC on 03/04/2007 and my all band QRP DXCC entity worked total is 30, confirmed 13, QRP WAS total is 24, confirmed 13.
As I mentioned previously the IC-718 is a very capable QRP rig. Its output power can be cranked down to as low as 900 milliwatts QRPp and has an excellent CW keyer built in. All of my QRP operation is with this rig. You do have to add the optional 500 hz CW filter. I'm a fairly competent technician and recently I installed the W4RT "One Board" Collins mechanical 2.4 kc SSB and 500 hz filters. All of my QRP operation is with this rig.
I recently purchased a U.S. Navy flame proof straight key. It has the orange U.S. Navy stenciled on the bottom and the serial number on the base is CMI-26003A. CMI means that it was made by Molded Insulator Company and the number is the model number.
I am also second owner of a non iambic paddle, the Vibroplex Vibrokeyer. It's a beauty with a serial number of 243902 that was manufactured in 1965.
I also do some of my Morse Code sending with a computer, sound card, keyboard, MixW v2.18f and MRP v4.06 software, as I have osteo and rheumatoid arthritis and diabetic neuropathy in my hands. At times I find it less painful to peck with my index fingers then to actuate a key. MixW is an excellent piece of software for handicapped amateur radio operators that want to send CW, the MRP v4.06 software not as good.
Though I can copy CW at 25 wpm by ear, as I
mentioned earlier I
do have slowly worsening hearing problems due to service to my country. When my
MFJ-392B headphones fall short the software assists me in hearing/detecting
signals out of my hearing range and/or below my local receiving noise threshold
when signals (QSB) fade and noise (QRN) is high and allows for good contacts to
be made 99% of the time. In any event marriage between computer and rig is total
at this QTH.
My radio hobby computer is a Toshiba Satellite A205-S5000 laptop with a 634 mc
with a 2 gig Celeron
Pentium processor, 2 gigs of RAM, a 160 gig hard drive and the XP Vista Home
Premium
OS. I connect to the Internet via a secured and fire walled Ethernet wireless
LAN to my T3 permanent broadband connection. Besides running amateur radio related software on it I access callsign databases, DX spots, radiowave propagation and lightning strike data.
As far as amateur radio related software programs I run the following: N3FJP ACLog v3.0 for general and DX logging, G4ILO's VOAProp v1.1 and W6EL v2.7 for propagation prediction, EZNEC 5.0 for antenna modeling, Geo Clock v8.4 for sunrise, sunset and gray line mapping, MixW v2.18f for BPSK31/63, FELD HELL, MFSK16, Olivia MFSK 500/16, MFSK16, RTTY and THROB operating, MRP v4.061 and MixW v2.18f for computer keyboard CW sending, Ham Radio Deluxe v4.0sp3b1875 for CAT rig control and Storm Lab v3.1 radar for thunderstorm tracking.
My ground system is made up of 300 feet of #6 solid bare copper wire buried 3" deep that encircles my house. Attached are six eight foot ground rods, twelve sixty four foot long #14 stranded bare wire radials, the three ground rods for the power mains, cable TV and telephone, my house copper pipe plumbing system and the city water system.
Antenna #1 is a four wire element (80, 40, 20 and 10 meters) 80-10 meter fan doublet made out of black UV resistant double coated plastic stranded #14 wire. It is fed with 122 feet of high quality #18 gauge stranded hard drawn copper 300 ohm window/ladder feed line.
I call the antenna a doublet (a very old antenna term) instead of a dipole, as the antenna has two 1/4 elements for each band like a conventional dipole, but is not self resonant like a conventional dipole. But for all intents and purposes a dipole and doublet are the same beast.
The antenna consists of the following:
A 134 foot 1/2 wave element for 80 meters, which is also a 3 quarter wave element on 60 meters, a 3 half wave element on 30 meters and a 7 half wave element on 12 meters,
A 67 foot half wave element for 40 meters, which is also a double extended zepp on 17 meters and a 3 half wave element on 15 meters,
A 33 foot half wave element for 20 meters.
A 16.7 foot half wave element for 10 meters.
It's up at 35 feet on a Rohn telescoping push up pole broadside NNE-SSW and is tuned by my link coupled balanced Johnson Viking Match Box (275 watt carrier/1100 watt PEP).
Antenna #2 is a slightly modified W4TWW 160 meter broad banded coaxial inverted L antenna. The stub is 86' 4" feet long and the rest of the antenna 39' 4" feet long for a total of 125' 8" feet of 50 ohm RG-58, which is a 1/4 wave on 1863.057 kc. It is fed with 110 feet of RG-8X.
I laid down twelve 1/8 wave radials (64 feet) using #14 stranded bare wire. I also have nine eight foot ground rods, my house copper water pipe system and city water system tied in with the twelve radials. The vertical section is 42 feet high but eventually I will get the vertical section 65 feet high. The radial plate was purchased from DX engineering and is of high quality stainless steel.
As follows are four views of
the feed point of
the coaxial inverted L. The gray watertight PVC electrical box contains the
reversed feed point connections that makes the antenna magic work.
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As follows is the VSWR curve with one 1/8 wave radial:
As follows is the VSWR curve with twelve 1/8 wave radials:
I had tremendous DX success with this antenna on 160 meters between 1989-1991 running only 100 watts. You can read more about the antenna at:
Antenna #3 is a K4TR D&G Antenna MFG. & Sales http://kk4tr.tripod.com/index-10.html three half waves (3/2) doublet for 6 meters made out of 28.5 feet of black UV resistant double coated plastic stranded #14 house wire. It has a G5RV type feed point arrangement with 8 feet of 300 ohm window line to a 1:1 BALUN and then 55 feet of 50 ohm hard line. The antenna has approximately 3 db of gain with a bidirectional broadside pattern. It is currently mounted at 25 feet above ground broadside NNE-SSW. The antenna is built like a tank and will hold up under most high wind conditions.
Without use of an antenna tuner the VSWR curve is as follows:
2.0:1 48.613 mc
1.5:1 49.520 mc
1.3:1 50.165-50.550 mc
1.5:150.931 mc
2.0:1 51.550 mc
#4 is 1/2 vertical J Pole for 2 meters made up of soldered copper water pipe with the highest current point at 25 feet AGL, 115 feet HAAT and 218 feet AMSL. The antenna is fed with 25 feet of 50 ohm hard line. This setup allows me to hit most repeaters within a 200 mile range.
As far as receive antennas on 160
meters, I use an eight foot diameter balanced coaxial loop with the base
mounted at 2 feet above ground on a Hy-Gain AR-35 rotator and a KD9SV 160
meter preamplifier. It is fed with 100 feet of RG-213. Here is a photograph of the loop. Further down is a link to a
website that I published concerning construction of the antenna.
Another all band transmit antenna that I've had great success with in the past is the
switchable horizontal doublet/vertical Tee transmit antenna. For more information about it go to:KN4LF
160-10 METER LINEAR LOADED INVERTED L ANTENNA
KN4LF
80-10 METER FAN DOUBLET ANTENNA
Last but not least, as far as QSLing I use ARRL LOTW and eQSL. I will
respond to old fashioned paper QSL cards if I receive them but no bureau please.
I long ago obtained mixed mode DXCC and WAS via paper QSL cards. I'm now also
approaching same through ARRL LOTW and eQSL.cc.
If you would like to save $$$ and design and print your own QSL card check
out this website link.
In my personal observation digital modes operators are dedicated QSL card
swappers and actively use LOTW and eQSL.
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My current modern receivers include an Icom R-75, Sangean ATS-909, ATS-818, ATS-505P, Grundig S350D and Eton E10.
Older receivers include a Zenith Transoceanic H500 and Royal 7000,
Realistic DX-60 and DX-100, Hallicrafters WR600 and S120, Sony ICF-6500W,
Kenwood R-1000 and R-2000 and Collins R-390A.
On the low frequency (LF) band, I've logged 100's
of part 15 LOWFERS, air navigation, marine and broadcast stations in 27
countries. I'm also active experimenting with DSP receiving software such as
Argo, Spectran, Spectrum Lab, etc. for weak signal reception. As far as receive
antennas for LF I use an 160 meter 1/4 wavelength coaxial inverted L vertical.
On the medium frequency (MF) AM broadcast band I
have logged 1300+ stations in 43 states and 41 countries. BTW my first job in
weather forecasting was at a small 1 kw station in Florida, WDCF 1350 kc in Dade
City, FL. As far as receive antennas for MF I use an outdoor 5 foot balanced
coaxial loop and an 160 meter 1/4 wavelength coaxial inverted L vertical.
NOTE!!! If the following content on Jesus Christ and Christianity offends you then feel free to keep scrolling past it, as I'm not an accommodating, apologetic, sheepish Christian.
I would rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out that there isn't, than live my life as if there isn't a God and die to find out that there is!!!
On early Monday morning March 29, 2004 I discussed supernatural and paranormal phenomena with fellow amateur radio operator Art Bell W6OBB on his Coast To Coast AM radio program. http://www.coasttocoastam.com/shows/2004/03/28.html . Scientific research and investigation of supernatural occurrences by myself in my own home in 2003 and 2004 resulted in a life altering experience that led me to accept Jesus Christ as my personal savior and to live for and serve God for the remainder of my mortal life.
In July 2007 I began attending a small church, The Church Of God Cleveland Tennessee (though in practice I consider myself non-denominational Christian). It is a church where revival is happening and via the Pentecost and you can literally feel the presence of God and Jesus through the Holy Spirit at every visit. It is the first time in my almost 52 years that I have been able to feel the presence of God in a church or anywhere else for that matter. This is the real deal folks, where supernatural healing of the mind and body is occurring!!!
CHURCH OF GOD FLORIDA STATE OFFICE
I was raised in the New England Italian Roman Catholic culture and even became an Alter Boy when the Latin mass was performed. When I turned 18 I left the church as I strongly disagreed with certain church traditions and other goings on. For 29 years I wandered aimlessly in the desert of Atheism and then Agnosticism, a skeptic due to my education in the physical sciences. You know a seeing is believing, let me examine it under controlled laboratory conditions type of guy.
A belief in a supernatural creator God seemed totally absurd and foolish. However the more I learned about
the Universe through education in and research in the physical sciences the more I came to realize that everything that is, is far to
complicated to have happened by chance. It became very obvious to me that
intelligent design was involved, a supernatural creator God. Check out the website links below.
I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6
For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Matthew 24:27
Sayings of Jesus ChristMatthew 5:2-12 - The Beatitudes
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"Lord Jesus, I believe you are the
Son of God. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. Please
forgive my sins and give me the gift of eternal life.
I ask you in
to my life and heart to be my Lord and Savior. I want to serve you
always."
NOTE!!! If the following pro U.S. Military content offends you then feel free to keep scrolling past it. I support the "War On Terror" (though I feel that it has been mismanaged due to the rapidly spreading plague called political correctness) and I strongly support our troops.
Are you fat dumb and happy? Do you sleep well at
night in your warm and comfy bed because you feel safe and secure? Are you a
life long taker, not a contributor to our great representative republic? Well
check out how our military personnel have been living in Afghanistan and Iraq
while protecting our precious freedoms!!!
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