Morse

OK, lets be honest about this. I love Morse, but i'm crap at it. Which is annoying, as I seem to have developed an interest in collecting telegraph keys! I now have a Kent solid brass straight key, a WT8 AMP No.2 Mk III, and a pair of 'leg' keys - a McMurdo and a Racal, both miniature keys designed to be strapped to the operators leg!

I also want desperately to use Morse on air, comfortably. Ideally I want to use it to make at least some of the contacts during the Doncaster Show. CW on 40m might save us from the death knell of the National Field Day contest. I'm sure I can get a CW operator if needed, but I really want to do it myself. Besides, CW is ideal for my home situation - using Morse and 'phones would mean I could operate more at night.

I'm back learning the morse. 10-30min a day. Ive moved onto common words, as lets face it I know the damn characters, and random code is so dull. My numbers could do with some improvement, and I certainly need to work more on punctuation and prosigns. Ive decided that 18wpm is a realistic target speed, so im training with the actual character speed at 25wpm (so Its easier not to count the dits and dahs) and the code speed at 18wpm. If I make decent progress I might go to 25wpm code.

The Larkspur mast is coming on well. Only two tubes need doing now, and one has already been sanded down. All the others have been painted, NATO matt green. Most of the locking collars are half painted, the other side i'll do once they've had time to dry. I would have had them all in that state today, but my primer ran out of propellant, so one is still awaiting priming.

Finding the guy pegs and a spanner is proving harder though!

I really must organise a site visit for the show. I need to know the area in which the antennas must fit, and four months will fly by if im not watching closely!

Im still trying to get a 42MHz crystal so I can start the 4m transverter project. Again one is up on ebay. Im sure the seller is Shill bidding but hes the only one so im going to have to grin and bear it and bid.

Ive abandoned the Pixie 2+, and will strip it for bits. Just couldnt get it to work. Im going instead to build a project from DeMaws 'QRP notebook' possibly a gutless wonder for 40m

Plugs and sockets

One task I have to complete, which at face value should be simple, is to add a connector to my Time Lapse controller for my SLR. Unfortunately, when I first set up the controller system, my camera was a Minolta Dynax 404si, a film 35mm SLR, and it only took a remote release, or a simple timer controller. I now have a Sony SLT, which although it takes all my Minolta accessories, also takes a digital time lapes intervalometer. It is to this I need to add a connector, but sadly, the connectors I used were extremely expensive and rare Lemo miniature multipole locking connectors. I have none of these left spare, and in the very few places in the world I can find them for sale, they cost upwards of £40 each.

So, I have to embark on the process of replacing the connectors across the whole system, with something much cheaper and more readily available. Luckily, there is such a connector system, one which I already make good use of - 3.5mm audio jacks. The camera system uses three connections - focus, release, and ground. So stereo connectors are ideal. I also have a need for a custom lead from my gear lever mounted PTT control to the microphone interface box on my rig in the car, which uses 3.5mm jacks. So, I have a batch of connectors on order to allow me to complete these tasks.

My run of night shifts is now complete, so after a decent sleep and a few bevvies, I can finally get back to work on the various projects that require my attention. I should be well on the way to having a completely overhauled No. 1 mast soon.

As I type this, G4FONs Koch trainer software, is sending me random Morse characters at 12wpm (character speed 20wpm). This time, I really want to crack it. I want to start using CW in anger, and would love to be able to use if on GB2LDS. Which reminds me, I must get the license application sent!

Show Antenna Designs

The paint for the Larkspur mast arrived yesterday. Theres still plenty of work to be done on it, but now I can get one with more than one task at a time!

The Doncaster Show will also need an antenna that will give us access to the WARC bands. Ive decided on a vertical system for this. I was intending to make something that would work on the fishing pole mast, but have decided instead on a Fan Vertical design that will utilise the 5.4m Clansman mast, there are several good reasons for this -

1. The 5.4m mast is much sturdier and will withstand the wind loading of the extra antenna wires better
2. It is already designed to be used as a vertical and has suitable fixings for the 20m element to run up the mast
3. I have spare mast sections that can be used to form a sturdy horizontal cross member support for the other four bands antenna elements
4. It will also be capable of supporting a VHF lightweight antenna at the top
5. Its guying radius is 3m, add on a 2m safety zone, and you have 5m. The required ground radials are to be 5m 30cm. A bit extra safety margin and its all contained.

My worry is being able to fit the 40m inverted V dipole into the antenna field, and having sufficient coax available if the shack has to be a distance from the antennas.

Ive also taken a punt, for a few quid, on a little digital voice recorder unit. The reason for this, is i'd like to do more CQ calls while mobile, but find it a bit tedious! If this sounds decent, and I can suitably modify it to feed into the mic audio and PTT system of the FT-857D, then it should just be a touch of a button to put out a CQ. I know its just a promotional toy, but it is from Cisco, so with any luck its half decent audio.

No. 1 Mast overhaul and refirb

As complex as this mast first seemed, its really quite easy to work on. It does of course help to have the field repair guide, which shows the correct method of dismantling.  Due to some rather over zealous repainting done sometime in the past, theres quite a bit more to be done than just clean it out.

First stage then is to dismantle and clean out the crud from about half a decade of neglect. To start with, the F adaptor needs to be removed. This is soldered into the top pole, and needed a bit of brute force and a blowlamp. Once this was out, the base assembly could be taken out. This is only screwed in, but needs a good whack to break the pein over the seam. This assembly was dismantled, degreased and cleaned, given a rust treatment with Jenolite, and then rebuilt with a generous coating of lithium grease.

With the base and F adaptor taken care of, it was time to take a look at the poles. These have to be extracted from the base, with great care taken at the top end to collect the locking roller. These are what works with the cam cut into the locking collars to hold the mast together when erected. Each is a slightly different diameter so has to be kept with its associated collar. As can be seen from the photo, the poles need a good rubbing down and repainting. They are steel with a copper plating, so more care needed when dealing with the worst of the corrosion not to strip off the copper plating.

The first four locking rings are shown removed below. One is missing its lug, which is needed to give purchase to a seized ring. All of them need a complete repaint, it looks like they were last repainted with an emulsion brush! The rollers are inside each ring in the photo.

The top pole was the first to be stripped and primed. Each pole is getting this treatment, although some are not as bad as others and will not be stripped back as far. None are down to bare metal as this isnt required. The photo shows the lower two sections awaiting being taken apart, and the top section after priming. The end shown has a large area of unpainted metal, as this is the area that makes physical contact with the next section and the locking collar and roller. The amount of bare metal isnt obvious in the photo because of the masking tape around it.

The guying rings also needed a complete repaint. These were stripped using an abrasive wheel down to bare metal to ensure the nicks and scratches were rust free, then primed.

To date, three pole sections have been stripped/rubbed down, and primed, as have the two guying rings. Four of the locking collars have been stripped, two are still in the process and undergoing degreasing. One has been primed ready for respraying. The base assembly external parts have also been primed. This will get a coating of VHT matt black rather than the matt NATO green the rest of the mast will be resprayed in. The paint should be on its way now.

Originally these masts were in olive drab, and gloss. I have a personal preference to not use gloss, perhaps that stems from the matt paints we used on the Landys in the squadron. Either way I prefer military kit not to be reflective!

Im still in the process of trying to find the correct guy pegs for this mast, and the specialist spanner and the base insulator. But, its still some time until september, when I need this mast to be deployable, so hopefully something will turn up in the meantime.

Also needed for the Show, is another vertical antenna that will provide our frequency agile station. Im once again looking at a 5-band fan vertical for this job, but need to work out how to make stable spreaders that will work on the fibreglass fishing pole mast. (or the 5.4m clansman)

Antennas for show

Time has come to start thinking about the show - The 2nd Lions Doncaster Show. If at all possible we want a dual HF set-up this year, one on 40m fixed, and another to be 'frequency agile' to help get around the NFD contest. Im very much disinclined to bother with 2m FM this year, unless I can secure a couple of day operators extra. If we do have 2m, then a lightweight antenna is needed, the 1/2w commercial being too heavy.

We have a new (to us) 27ft mast - an ex-army Larkspur telescopic. This will hopefully provide the main HF antenna, using the Clansman antenna wires, in an inverted V. Im missing the three guy pegs at present but im sure those can be found before september.

Since im looking into antennas for the show, and since im also looking to rig something up for the VHF marine band, my thoughts have turned again to the fibreglass parts and mountings of an old colinear I have. After looking at various ideas, we come back, as always, to the Slim-Jim. Nothing special, the Slim-Jim, but remarkably easy to build. Trouble is, although I have plenty of 450 ohm window line, this is too wide to fit in the fibreglass tube of the old colinear. I could bend it over a little, securing it in its new shape with cable ties, which will allow it to fit but of course change the characteristic impedance.

Another idea, is to build a slim jim from the huge amount of high current twin cable I have. This has a spacing of about 3mm! I might give one a try and see if it can be done.

SAQ UN Day Transmission

Feeling atrocious all night at work, despite the joys of pizza and free doughnuts provided by management. Mostly this was due to having a cold, but also the hassle of having a pocket of transmitters on the south coast failing due to incoming RBR failure. A nasty little high pressure pocket was causing tropospheric ducting all night, in fact i think the lads dealing with the final DSO had an easier time.

Coming home, and with the prospect of plenty of tasks in hand from Julie being away and the boys to look after, I decided to stay up for the UN day transmission from SAQ Grimeton. It was my intention to try an E-Field probe antenna for this, which i had started constructing the day before, having done the case work, layouts etc, and aquired the parts. As a 'back-up' I quickly strung a 45m longwire, which was only a few feet high, draped over things in the garden. This fed the laptop and Wolf DL4YHFs Spectrum Laboratory software, via a simple protective interface to the soundcard.

Well, the longwire ended up being the primary antenna, as when tested the E-Field probe drew nearly 50mA, sent the battery flat, and didnt receive! So, with the longwire set up,  I watched and listened for SAQ. When they began tune-up, I could just make out a signal. Of the transmission, I could make out a few V's being sent, but nothing more. This was disappointing, and probably due to the antenna being low and local noise. I need to get Sam to help me rig a proper long wire high up, to feed his receivers and the FRG-100, and also the VLF systems.

It turns out, that in my weakened, fatigued haste, I had misread the pin-out of the J310 FETs, and fitted them both backwards. Although the J310 has interchangeable source and drain, sadly the gate isnt!. Anyway, once these were refitted (not an easy job) the unit now only drew 5mA, and provided a signal. Phew, I hadnt killed the FETs. The signal was quite a bit weaker than on the longwire, GBZ from Anthorn was visible but nowhere near the strength as on the wire, but then, the wire was 45m long, and the E-Field probe antenna just a 1m whip!

All that remains, is to find a tripod or spike to fit the probe to for proper use. I do however, think its rather a nicely built unit

Heres an internal view, the circuit is build dead-bug, which is great for a simple circuit, until you need to fix it! I need to stick a bit of foam in to keep the battery from moving.

Slightly blurred photo, but this is the completed unit. Signal out from the 3.5mm Jack, BNC for the antenna whip, Ground terminal, and of course an on/off switch.

Rishworth

The Ferranti U1032 is now repaired and restored, its not probably working 100%, but its good enough to sit on the shelf as my workshop wireless, merrily playing away radio 2 or 4 depending what mood im in.

The photos below show some of the condition after repair

On the 20th, Sam and I went to the G-QRP club convention at Rishworth school. Armed with a wad of cash, and a list of wanted items as long as my arm, we set out searching the stalls. A donation of books to the children in need bring and buy a book stall, resulted in a donation of a book to Sam! Other stalls were equally generous and Sam aquired a number of free items! Sam in fact did better than me, as I never found a single item from my list! The resulting score - Sam 3, dad 0. Total items bought (not including pie and pies) - two battery holders and a colour burst crystal. I never even needed the crystal, but it was housed in a glass valve body, so i just had to have it. Two of Sams donated items were also crystals - one in a normal shaped glass holder, and one in wartime package.

Sams crystals are not on amateur frequencies, but I plan on using mine in a nice little one valve CW transmitter.

Sams donated book was a very old guide to building a morse practice set, including plans to make your own mechanical buzzer, naturally this is the part Sam wants to build.

Little by little

Two of the 47uF 400v electrolytics fitted inside the old TCC tripple can. The empty space of the can has been packed with foam, and a bitumen disk (cut from roofing underlay) used to seal the can, with the wires poking through. The first connection, the ground, has been made, but in order to get at it I had to replace the first of the 2uF electrolytics a bit earlier than planned. This took a bit of planning as the original axial part was much much bigger than the replacement 2u2 250v radial, so some extra wire and sleeving was needed. The first of the Hunts mouldseal 0.003uF has also been replaced with a new 3n3 400v polyester.

It looks like one of the waxies will need to be next, as its in the way of the wiring for the big caps.

Pop a cap in yer... er, cap

The spares have arrived from CPC. Once again, CPC have shown how ridiculous their handling charge is, by sending a handful of capacitors in a 5l box! Heres the box

And heres the contents

Why the heck they didnt just stick them in a jiffy bag i dont know! But hey, its not like its cost them extra to do it this way, since ive paid the full shipping cost of 4.9l of air!

Anyway, on a less bitter note, I do now have the caps needed for the restoration (save for the 22uF 16v, which amazingly were out of stock!). Sadly, the size of the 47uF 400v electrolytics is such that only two will fit in the original can.

The cabinet however cleaned up very nicely, heres how it looked before 

And heres how it looks inside and out now

The first job is the big can capacitor that can be seen at the top of the chassis photo, you can also see some of the Hunts waxies and the TCC oil electolytics that will also be replaced with shiny new modern aluminium and polyester devices

I dont expect much more to be required, but we will see when this is done and the set is powered up (with its nice new modern jacketed mains lead).

This coming saturday is the G-QRP club Rishworth convention, hopefully many more interesting parts will be found there. I have in mind to build a Rockmite...

Ferranti Restoration

Its been a while since ive updated this blog, but apart from growing older and probably uglier, not much has changed. I operate more mobile HF now, and with the help of Steve G7TAO and Rob M1BBV, we recently ran GB1LDS at the Doncaster Show. Thanks also go to Geoff at FDSprint for creating the QSL cards, which are currently in print and should be with me to send out in the next working day or two

One project I have on the go at the moment though, will be getting documented on here. I have recently aquired a late vintage valve table radio, a Ferranti U1032. This doesnt look to need much work, but a few capacitors need changing, and it needs a good clean up. The capacitors are on order, from CPC. I dont normally like using CPC/Farnell or RS, due to their extortionate 'handling' charges for small orders, but they stock the high voltage ratings needed, where my normal suppliers dont. So the caps have proved to be quite expensive but I will then have a few spares.

I'll start getting photos of the radio on here soon.