With Varying Frequency – Amateur Radio Ponderings

Learned that while waiting for a crane to dismantle the collapsed Big Quad further damage has occurred with the top section of the tower being damaged.

Inquiries to purchase a replacement section have been met with a new manufacturer’s policy that ANY tower damaged has to be completely returned to their plant for an inspection. 

At this inspection they will decide if the tower is scrap, repairable or re-workable. 

In this case it is a very heavy duty 100 ft tower, so the transport costs between WI-001L and Southern California would tally to a $6000-$8000 bill, plus the non-disclosed inspection fee.

This same tower manufacturer was unable to supply basic maintenance parts, claiming that they didn’t have access to the information to even make them. 

Is this the usual in the Tower Industry?

It would seem the product liability of denying customers technical support and quality replacement parts would be huge. 

Your comments and experiences appreciated!

(I have purposely not named the manufacturer at this stage, as we’ve asked to speak to the company’s owner seeking some clarification. It is NOT the manufacturer of my tower at the K9ZW QTH.)

73

Steve
K9ZW

Last Weekend as a Mancorad Radio Club W9DK club function I had the pleasure of being part of the team that supervise working the National Contest Journal’s North American QSO Party.

 We had a blast!  Sixteen Club Members participated and though our QSO count was low (126) and even with multipliers our score was very modest (7600 range), it was FUN!

Several members who had never worked a contest had their first chance to participate.  One YL (Young Lady) who is the daughter of a club member used her “Lady’s Voice” to great effect in almost creating mini-pile-ups!

 Of course the bands are very crowded during a popular contest, and with the variances of propagation one hears more and less at the bands change.

This sometimes lets stations who previously didn’t hear each other suddenly find themselves hearing each other.

My question on a point of Contest Etiquette is who should be the first to QSY (change frequencies)?

We found some folks were simply great, telling you that we’d both ended up calling on the same frequency and they would happily QSY unless we were going to first.

Then we had those who were more possessive and wanted to “order” W9DK to QSY as it was “Their Frequency”.  In each case this was an Extra Class contester, at least by call sign.

We had our young team stand-by (QSX) until one of those of use supervising could help them QSY into the clear, so it wasn’t a big deal.  As we were in the contest simply for the “Love of the Game” missing a QSO or two wasn’t the issue.

Having young amateurs exposed to the rude side of contesters didn’t do them any harm either. 

But really who should QSY first?  Obviously someone needs to and I would contend that the station that first hears the other should move in the interest of reducing QRM.

Your thoughts?

73

Steve
K9ZW

In the K9ZW shack I’ve been transitioning to Type-N connectors where possible.  New patch cables are all N connector terminated, the coax runs have N connector ends, and any new gear is ordered with N connectors if available.

Existing gear is slowly being converted if possible. 

My back-up Alpha-78 amp had N connectors for both input and output installed while at Alpha Radio being serviced.

Thoughts behind this move are:

• N connectors show less when I run a TDR, suggesting there is less loss & RFI potential
• N connectors, at least the good ones, do not depend on the outer shell for electrical connection, so a loose screw-on outer shell dosen’t cause stray RF or swings in SWR
• Most N connectors seem to be of decent grade which should help them hold up over time
• I simply like N connectors as I find them easier to install on coax than UHF connectors

What have I missed – is there less or more reason to make the effort and investment to go mostly N connector?

Some connectors simply can’t be economically switched – many HF rigs from the big names have the connectors cast into the frame, which means I’ll have to use an adaptor rather than switching connectors. 

The Ten-Tec gear I have is easy to switch, as are most of the accessories like the LDG switches and Array Solutions PowerMaster Meter.

Would love to hear your thoughts on whether to N or not!

73

Steve
K9ZW