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2025 stats from online #hamradio testing with the WM7X.net team:

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  • Working WFD CW today.

    Uncategorized hamradio winterfieldday
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    40m came alive in the last hour, as we started to get close to evening, and as 20m was frankly played out.I was going to plug my rig into battery, but then saw in the rules that your computer has to be on battery power as well, and I didn't have a way to plug my shack computer into battery, so I didn't bother running the rig off battery.Then when I went to submit my log, I saw that actually your logging computer can be mains powered, so the rules must have been about the computer you are using for digital modes. Which I wasn't. I did all CW, no multi-mode multipliers for me!So I could have gotten another multiplier for my 2-point CW QSOs for my solar-charged battery, as well as the 4x QRP multiplier. I could have had 510 points instead of 408 points. Which doesn't matter at all because I'm not actually in any form of contention for anything; I worked only about five hours thanks to all the winter storm prep. And even if I'd worked the whole time I still wouldn't be competitive. I only hunted, I didn't run.And running only 5W, I didn't even make the antenna wire warm enough to melt the ice that was covering it.Maybe next year I'll run instead of hunting. But probably still QRP, and maybe actually in the field...#WinterFieldDay #HamRadio
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    Today I released version 0.7 of my print-in place single-paddle Morse code key.This will function as release notes:The most important practical change is that the slot in the lever for the stabilizer bar is taller, so that it doesn't bind. Previously, it sometimes bound depending on luck, and when it didn't bind, needed to be greased with a light lubricant.The most important user-facing change is updated build instructions, now with pictures. Previously, the instructions were just text.The most important developer-facing change is that it was rebuilt with FreeCAD 1.1RC, and all recalculation errors and warnings were removed. previously, it had quit building correctly due to changes in FreeCAD.The side contacts are better aligned with the common/ground screw in the lever when using thin ring terminals. (It was previously optimized for thick terminals.)The rear stabilizing bar was never necessary and was just extra weight and ugly complexity, so it has been removed.The spring radius is no longer an explicit parameter.I added more links to sources for hardware.This is getting close to what I would consider a polished, 1.0 release.As always, I crave feedback. If you build this, I want to hear what went well and what, if anything did not.#MorseCode #HamRadio
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    The prototype worked well enough that I'll proceed on to another iteration. Leaning it out with two legs held up by the radial wire worked well, and the little knobs on the top of the spool to hold the wire in place work fine. I'll made them a touch larger to be more robust, but the concept works.I want to be able to fit 12m of wire on the spool, because I want radials that work well as flat radials on 40m, which might take up to 28%λ instead of the nominal ¼λ which would be appropriate in the "discone" setup with 45° radials. However, with this wire, 8m barely fits on this spool. So I need to add a generous allowance for more wire.I need a handle for the hub at the bottom so that I can wind it up with the legs removed. It's unwieldy with two 6' long fiberglass stakes.According to DJØIP, 1 elevated, tuned radial is roughly equivalent to 8 ground radials. Two of these should give me the performance of 16 ground radials. According to his table, I can expect 3.76dB gain over my usual 4 radials on the ground, or even more if I'm using a shortened antenna.With these just leaning, if someone inadvertently walks into my bright pink wire, they'll probably just knock over the leaning posts, which is unlikely to cause a big problem. I'll probably use bullet connectors for the other end of the wire so that they can pop out and not knock the antenna over.
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    @bitsplusatoms After all am is for AM. 😀