Okay, this isn’t ham radio, but I couldn’t find a solution for this problem online and the solution took so much effort to get to that “eureka” moment that I wanted to share it.
Are you getting a CLR Error 80070002 on your Windows XP Media Center Edition when you try to actually run the Media Center Software? Maybe you’re getting this error elsewhere on the same system? Well, with help from Microsoft Tech Support, we found the fix. It all revolves around the combination of WinXP Media Center Edition, .NET Framework ver 1.0 and Windows Update. FYI, this is the OS that arrived on my Sony Vaio desktop system. It took two months to identify, but here’s the story. Read more…
“T’was the night before Christmas…”
So begins the old chestnut, originally titled “A Visit from St. Nicholas.” Since Clement Moore wrote this classic 1822, hundreds if not thousands of variations have been created, shared, and thankfully in some cases, forgotten. In ham radio, there have been a handful of variations on this theme, but Gary, KN4AQ has created one that has been gaining in popularity for almost a decade and a half since he forst wrote it in 1996.
Recently, Gary decided that it was time to create a video of his potentially classic ham radio version of Mr. Moore’s traditional holiday poem. While we debated whether it qualified as a viral video (he claims it is, I don’t know that 10k views in 4 days is quite enough), it is certainly on track to becomming the most popular ham radio themed video on YouTube. As of this writing, he’s passed 12,000 views and it looks like 500 to 1000 a day is the current average and climbing fast. For those that don’t know, Gary is the force behind Amateur Radio Video News, or ARVN. He produces high quality, professional grade videos of interest to the amateur radio community. Beyond this holiday offering, he has covered Dayton Hamvention, TAPR conventions, D_STAR, and a number of other topics. Need a presentation for your club meeting? Check out his other offerings. The link is on the right side of this page.
For now, check out his (arguably) viral video, A Ham’s Night Before Christmas! Nice job, Gary.
Ever try to operate a contest and change a hot water heater at the same time?
Last month brought the CQ Worldwide SSB 2010 contest, presenting an opportunity to test out the High Gain Single Wire Beam antenna (HGSW) described in my last blog entry. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I thought I’d give it some exercise. In spite of losing a day to help a fellow ham with a broken water heater, I managed to put in several hours of happy contesting, covering every band to some degree. The result was a log with about 242 contacts in 64 countries and 23 zones for a score of over 111,000 points. Not a bad effort, given that I wasn’t really trying that hard. Read more…
It’s a good practice to put an analyzer on your antenna every now and then, just to make sure that all is well. Recently, that’s exactly what I did. I’ve had good success with an 80 meter dipole suspended between two trees at about 80 feet. Well, I sorta cheated. The space between trees is only about 100 ft, so I had about 15 feet on each end hanging down. Imagine my surprise when the best I could get was about a 9:1 match on any frequency. This is bad. Time to pull the antenna down again!
The GPS files for BikeMS New Bern 2010 are now available. Just click on the Public Service link at the top of the page. The BikeMS page is listed in the pulldown menu.
It’s that time of year again, time for the BikeMS New Bern 2010! Once again, I’m building GPS files of all of the courses. This year, expect courses for 30, 50, 75 and 100 mile routes on both Saturday and Sunday! The biggest change? They finally opened the bridge coming out of the park!!!! Most courses start out by crossing the bridge, so the long ride through the city to get to the freeway and to cross the river to the south has been eliminated. Another big change — we go all the way into Oriental, NC on Sunday! I think everyone will like the courses as designed.
The GPS routes are finished, but I’m still tweaking the files for waypoints and other nits. The event looks as spectacular as ever.
Reminder – check back from time to time for updates and additions. If anything changes, I’ll be changing the files accordingly. And finally, remember that while these are provided as a courtesy, the routes, cue sheets and directions given out AT THE EVENT are the final word and my files could be different from the official info(see disclaimers elsewhere on this site.) Changes happen at the last minute due to construction, safety issues, etc. Last minute changes probably won’t make it here.
So, keep an eye on my Public Service pages. The GPS files should be posted in just a few more days!
Do you have an MFJ-434 attached to your Yaesu FT-1000MP, but your microphone doesn’t work well or the radio starts retuning downward when you engage the EDSP? Then it’s time to check those 434 jumper settings!
For years, I’ve had an MFJ-434 voice keyer that I wanted to use with my Yaesu FT-1000MP during contests. Sometimes, it would work fine. Other times, the combination of the radio and the keyer would do strange things. Often, I would just disconnect the keyer and set it aside – I wasn’t in the mood to troubleshoot during a contest. Afterwards, once I recovered, I wasn’t really in the mood to troubleshoot the problem. I spent a lot of time searching the internet for a solution, but never found anything that worked. In fact, I didn’t find much on the topic at all. Anyways, with Field Day approaching, combined with the relay problem that I had (see http://w4ft.com/2010/06/yaesu-ft-1000mp-transmit-relay-replacement/ ) I decided to spend some time really digging into this one. The good news: I found a solution – the correct jumper settings for the MFJ-434 to work with the FT-1000MP! Read more…
Failed RL6016 transmit relay - the black component at the top edge.
What do you do when your Yaesu FT-1000MP, your main base HF rig, that’s been a trusted partner for over a decade, just doesn’t want to transmit? As if antenna problems weren’t enough, now I have to perform surgery on my old friend. Fortunately, this is a story with a happy ending.
For a while now, I’ve been experiencing some difficulty tuning my Yaesu FT-1000MP. I’ve been trying to figure out how to resolve this problem, but was still able to operate reasonably well, so I carried on. Anyways, on certain band segments, the internal tuner would hunt around for a long time but wouldn’t be able to tune the antenna for the frequency. Sometimes, tuning up or down the band, letting the tuner lock in and then coming back would work, but it was annoying. Recently, that changed completely. The radio would no longer tune at all. Instead, it would just show an infinite SWR and the protection circuit would cut output power to milliwatts, as designed. This is what happened when the radio was tuned to the antenna resonant frequencies, so it isn’t a mismatch issue. (Yes, I know that most internal tuners only function if the SWR is 3:1 or less.) Read more…
Are you arranging for a generator for your Field Day effort? Then it’s time to get to work, to drag them out, test them and make sure they’re ready for Field Day.
These tips will help you in getting your small to mid-size generators ready for Field Day. If you’re running a large generator, the kind that comes on a trailer, some of this may bot apply. They will have additional needs anyways. The point is that now is the time to pull the generator out and get it ready.
W4FT at the W4DW 2008 Field Day 80m/15m SSB station
It’s that time again! Field Day 2010 is a mere 8 weeks away. Or as one of our local hams calls it, that High and Holy Day of Field! Around here, the local big gun is the Raleigh Amateur Radio Society.
So what does all this mean? Simply that it’s time tostart working on getting everything ready. There are other web sites that will detail a broad range of preparations and I urge you to google them and get ideas. My plan is to do a series of posts on different preparation topics. I don’t claim to be an expert, but they should get you thinking! Read more…
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