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KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

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Operating notes: a (tr)usdx @ 200 W?, dead last in the MS QSO Party, 30 wpm ragchew

Posted: 14 Jul 2022 01:38 PM PDT https://www.kb6nu.com/operating-notes-a-trusdx-200-w-dead-last-in-the-ms-qso-party-30-wpm-ragchew/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email


The other day, I worked a guy who said that he was using a (tr)usdx at 200
W! As it turns out, he had connected his little, 5 W radio (see right) to a linear amplifer.

Our QSO has encouraged me to get mine built. Im hoping to get strarted on that this weekend.

One thing that he warned me about is to make sure to take ESD precautions. Indeed, several of the members of our club who have built these have had
ESD failures. I do all my assembly work on a conductive mat, and for this build, Ill also make sure to use the ESD wrist strap. The elevated humidity in my basement should help mitigate the problem as well.
Dead last in the MS QP

Last Saturday, I got an email from W5XX. Attached, were the results of 2022 MS QSO Party. Turns out, that with only 5 CW QSOs and 10 points, I was dead last from the state of Michigan. There were a few other participants that scored lower than me, but only a few.
A 30 wpm ragchew

I recently had a contact with Jeff, KA9s. He was going pretty fast (30
wpm), but I decided that since his signal was pretty strong, and his fist
was pretty good, that I could hang with him. So, I cranked my keyer up to
30 wpm and called him.

Over the first couple of exchanges, I discovered that I could indeed hang with him and settled in for a ragchew. Jeff was a great ragchewer. The conversation never lagged as he asked question after question. An hour
later, I realized that I had to QRT.

I have noticed that Ive been getting faster lately, and this QSO just confirmed this. Today, I looked up Jeff on QRZ.Com and realized why hes
such a speedy operator. His last name is Goodspeed!

The post Operating notes: a (tr)usdx @ 200 W?, dead last in the MS QSO
Party, 30 wpm ragchew appeared first on KB6NUs Ham Radio Blog.


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Yaesu FT-710: Whats the big deal?

Posted: 11 Jul 2022 06:00 PM PDT https://www.kb6nu.com/yaesu-ft-710-whats-the-big-deal/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email


There has been a lot of buzz about the Yaesu FT-710 (above) on Twitter and YouTube over the past week or so. For the life of me, though,  I cant
figure out what the buzz is about. Here are the specs from the Yaesu
website:

TX Frequency Range: 1.8MHz band ΓÇô 50MHz band (Amateur bands only). 70MHz ΓÇô
70.5MHz (UK Amateur bands only)
RX Frequency Range: 30KHz – 75MHz (Operating)

1.8MHz ΓÇô 29.699999MHz (Specified performance, Amateur bands only)
50MHz ΓÇô 53.999999MHz (Specified performance, Amateur bands only)
70MHz ΓÇô 70.499999MHz (Specified performance, UK Amateur bands


Emission Modes: A1A(CW), A3E(AM), J3E(LSB/USB), F3E(FM)
Supply Voltage: DC13.8V ┬▒15%
Power Output: 5 100W (5 ΓÇô 25W AM Carrier)
Dimensions (W x H x D):    9.4” x 3.1” x 9.7” (239 x 80 x 247mm) Weight (Approx.):  9.92lbs (4.5kg)


OK, so its a very small, HF+6m SDR transceiver. According to video hastily produced by John Kruk, N9UPC, the FT-710 is meant to be a desktop base station radio and NOT a competitor of the Icom IC-705.

That being the case, whats the big deal? What purpose does this radio
really serve? If its supposed to be a base station, I know that I would prefer to have a Yaesu FTdx-10, which I had the pleasure of  operating on Field Day. The front panel and controls are bigger than the FT-710, and I cant imagine that the performance of the FT-710 is any better than that of the FTdx-10.

The only reason that I can think of for all the hubbub about the FT-710 is
to increase traffic to websites and YouTube channels. And, honestly, thats the only reason Im blogging about it. Thanks for reading this, and
increasing my readership numbers. <evil grin>

The post Yaesu FT-710: Whats the big deal? appeared first on KB6NUs Ham
Radio Blog.


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Is having a club chaplain appropriate?

Posted: 11 Jul 2022 08:30 AM PDT https://www.kb6nu.com/is-having-a-club-chaplain-appropriate/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email

How diverse is your club?

On reddit, someone asked:



Hello, newbie here. I am studying for my test, and just connected with my local group. Everyone was really nice and helpful. But. They have a club chaplain who began the meeting with a convocation. It was short and
mumbled. And I cant be sure what he prayed for, buy as a non-Christian this made me uncomfortable. I said nothing, as a guest there, but I wanted to
know if this is a common thing.


I replied:

I dont think that having a club chaplain is very common, but your club is probably not the only club with one. If I were you, Id have a chat with the club officers about this. Chances are youre not the only one whos turned
off by this, and speaking up might just get them to reconsider this
practice. If youre shy about doing this yourself, email me the name of the club or the officers, and Ill contact them.
The Ann Arbor (MI, USA) Rotary club that I belong to used to offer a prayer at the start of each meeting. Some time agobefore I joined in 2005they realized that that practice was not very inclusive, and could actually be a
a reason for someone to quit the club or not join in the first place. So,
to be welcoming to all, they replaced the prayer with a non-religious inspiration. And, our membersip includes Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and even agnostics like myself.


I suppose that there are some cases where you might not care about the diversity of a club. For example, if a church wanted to start a club open only to church members, then being exclusive and praying at meetings would
be acceptable. Id say, however, that most clubs should strive to be as inclusive and diverse as possible. Attracting and retaining a diverse membership will not only attract and retain members, but make the club more interesting and fun for everyone.



The post Is having a club chaplain appropriate? appeared first on KB6NUs
Ham Radio Blog.


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