Leo, don't talk yourself out of it before you even try.

I found the ARRL guides for the Tech and General to be superb resources--far better than West's books.  But on the Extra, the ARRL manual tried to cover so much that it ended up covering nearly nothing in sufficient depth to understand the concepts.  For the Extra exam, to pass the test, I would go with West's book and concentrate on memorization.

And on the next ARRL Extra revision, my $0.02 suggestion would be to double or treble the length of the book so it can cover everything it needs to in sufficient depth to be useful.

Instead I pulled up Latvia... 

You're right on the money Jack.  It's like fishing.  And right now I'm fishing for Delaware on 20-meters.

Different strokes for different folks.  Hope to see you in JT65 land.

Holy cow I am a dumb ass.  Need to take a break.  Thanks for the basic math school.

I was squaring .1, not taking the square root.  Duh.

I'm using Gordon West's book to prep for the MROP/GROL exams.  I need help understanding two question/answer pairs, and Gordon's "explanation" has only confused me more.  I'm going to transcribe, verbatim, the question/answer/explanation from the book.  Can somebody provide a viable explanation?  Not that I'm a math or electrical genius, but I'm pretty sure the square root of 0.1 is not 0.316!


3-10B3 A 500-ohm, 2-watt resistor and a 1500-ohm, 1-watt resistor are connected in parallel.  What is the maximum voltage that can be applied across the parallel circuit without exceeding wattage ratings?
A 22.4 volts
B 31.6 volts
C 38.7 volts
D 875 volts
To solve this question, you must calculate the maximum voltage that can be applied before its power rating is exceeded.  Use the formula P x R = E^2.  For the 500-ohm resistor, 2 x 500 = 1000.  The square root of 1000 gives the maximum voltage of 31.6 volts.  For the 1500-ohm resistor, 1 x 1500 = 1500.  The square root of 1500 gives a maximum voltage of 38.72.  So the 31.6 V for the 500-ohm resistor limits the voltage value.  ANSWER B.


3-10B6 What is the maximum rated current-carrying capacity of a resistor marked "2000 ohms, 200 watts"?
A 0.316 amps
B 3.16 amps
C 10 amps
D 100 amps
The formula here is P = I^2 x R, or I^2 = P / R.  This gives us 200 / 2000 = 0.1.  Then, take the square root of 0.1 to get the correct answer:  0.316 amps.  ANSWER A

I'm operating 20 meters, almost all digital modes--JT65 and/or RTTY being 99% of what I do.  Been trying seriously for 20-m WAS for about 2 months.  I've got everything but Maine.  Most New England states I have only hit once or twice.  Seem to hit West Virginia and Virginia every few hours.  If there was something like worked all prefectures for Japan, I'd have that done.

I usually operate in the evenings, mountain time, which would put it a little late in Maine.  But I've also done several long daytime stints without luck.

I also routinely hit Brazil, which is right off the end of my dipole, so... there you have it.

I'm not familiar with the utilities you are asking about, but...

There are some converters here:
http://b4h.net/cabforms/

I've also found this spreadsheet very helpful when you have to roll your own:
http://www.mydarc.de/DL1HW/adif_en.html

The version 1.0.7 software is superb.  But...

The three add-ons that you (IZ4CZL) supply (JT-Alert-1.4.1+; JT-Import1.0.0+; JT-Macros1.0.2) are the greatest software improvements known to man.  JT-Alert is so great it makes me weep.  After using v1.0.7 for several months I had a mental list of "it should do this" and "it'd be great if it did this".  And JT-Alert does every single one of those things.

To anybody using JT65 on HF, I seriously urge (in fact, I demand) that you try out JT-Alert.  I know you will like it.
Download here:  http://iz4czl.ucoz.com/index/0-28

JT-Alert docks to the bottom of the v1.0.7 window.  Every minute it puts up a horizontal list of all incoming call signs for that minute.  If they are a CQ, it puts them in green and the PC talks to you.  If they are addressed to your callsign, it puts them in red and the PC talks to you.  If you've QSO'd them before, it puts them in grey and adds the text " - B4" so you know.  You can select a list of states that you're looking for and if a callsign from one of those states comes in on a CQ it puts it in yellow and the PC talks to you.  It also gives you an option to "quit TX after current message", so you can fire off your "73" and then take a bio-break without worrying about sending your "73" over and over.  Yes, it's all that and a bag of chips too.

JT-Import lets you import an ADIF into a tracking database that JT-Alert uses to "know" whether you've QSO'd an incoming call.  A separate (free) database associates all US call signs with states.  It takes 10 minutes to set up but after that it's pure butter, baby.

JT-Macros adds a bunch of macros that you can then send over to v1.0.7 (personally I don't use it but I can see how it's cool).  Works like the built in macros, but there are lots more.

So IZ4CZL, thank you for making my life better and my hobby more fun.  You're the tops.

It's almost due N-S, perhaps 10 degrees counter-clockwise from true N-S.  So, almost optimal for Maine.

Yep, thought of that of course, but the problem is I don't have much choice.  20-meter dipole is the length of my roof so I'm working with a narrow margin here!

It's up in the air about 35'...

I routinely use all three--QRZ.com, EQSL.cc, and LotW.

QRZ focuses on providing licensee details--you "look somebody up" using QRZ (succinctly, you answer QRZ? by using QRZ.com).  If the person you're searching has never even logged into the internet, their license (I'm assuming USA) will be on QRZ.  If they have an active QRZ account and have set it up, you can see other stuff, like photographs, biography, etc.  Most logging programs will work with a QRZ account transparently, quickly, and automatically, to retrieve all their details from the net at the time of the contact.  I find this immensely convenient.  QRZ also has a GUI logbook function that accepts ADIF uploads and downloads with a subscription.  I think it's probably the "best" place for newbie operators to get started with a log.  It's free, too, until you want to download it.  QRZ currently has no awards tracking or program, but some of their site documentation mentions they've considered it.

eQSL.cc focuses on providing QSO confirmations (succinctly, it turns QSOs into QSLs).  You can open an account immediately and be Non-Authenticity Guaranteed, then submit the required things to become Authenticity Guaranteed.  Non-AG QSLs are not applied to award tracking.  eQSL tracks several standard awards and issues them when you qualify.  These awards are recognized by eQSL.cc and they are issued immediately (you can print them for free or pay them to send you a nice plaque).  When a QSO is QSL you can also print off the person's QSL card if you want.  Most logging programs will work with eQSL transparently, quickly, and automatically.  I find this convenient.

When you enter a QSO in either QRZ or eQSL the other person can see it and either confirm/deny/ignore it.  Or update it if something is wrong with it.

LotW is an ARRL logging place but you don't have to be a member of ARRL to use it.  You do have to be a member of ARRL to get most of the awards they offer.  The system is essentially "blind"--you submit your QSOs and nobody ever sees them:  the system will try to match them against submissions by other people.  If the system finds a match, it creates a QSL for you.  This is fairly non-intuitive and sometimes frustrating.  Setting up LotW can be done, but it is tedious compared to the other sites.  Many people find the process of getting your LotW account set up to be Byzantine.  Most logging programs work with LotW by creating a file to submit to the site, followed by manual or partially automated submission of the file.  LotW allows you to download your QSL list for review or import into a logging program.  Once you work with it, it all makes sense.  But I would argue it's not a very intuitive process.  And once you submit you can't ever edit (so if you mistakenly submit the same QSO twice it's there twice forever).

So QRZ is a "tool" and QSL and LotW are used for tracking awards.  If you don't care about awards, and don't care if you help others earn awards, I don't see why you would ever even log into either eQSL or LotW.  If you do care about awards, then you would use one or both of those sites to track and get awards.  I think most people who use one use the other.  I think it's sort of odd that some people pursue the ARRL awards and spit on the eQSL awards as irrelevant.  After all, *all* the awards are meaningless, really--just personal bragging rights.  So if you're not lying about your own logs (and why would you?), then e.g. acquiring WAS on your own (without either eQSL or ARRL to "validate") should be just as significant as having a plaque from somewhere.

Here are my personal "stats" at the moment (QSO count varies because of duplicates):

QRZ.com  -- 1302 QSOs, 297 QSLs
eQSL.cc  -- 1302 QSOs, 462 QSLs
LotW -- 1346 QSOs, 358 QSLs

I submit all my contacts, including VHF and UHF on FM; these hardly ever get QSLs.

As a final note--none of the sites track all the fields (or even close) that typical personal logging software tracks.  And none of the sites are used directly by any contests (at least, I don't know of any).  Major contests always want their own log submitted in a special way with a special format.

If I take an installed dipole and "rotate" it 180 degrees (i.e., use the same hanging method but swap the two leads for each other) will the radiation pattern change very much?

Does it matter which "leg" of a dipole is the hot (center wire) leg and which is the shield leg?

I ask because I've not been able to contact Maine (from Utah) and was wondering if swapping the legs on my dipole would change my radiation pattern enough to get better coverage for Maine.

Thanks for the replies and information.  My feed line is 50' of RG-8 coax.

Antenna is mounted as inverted V, about 40' above ground at the center, dropping to about 35' at the ends.

Icom 706MkII -> LDG 100+ Autotuner -> 50' RG-8 coax -> MFJ-918 choke --> Fan dipole.

When you say that the coax is radiating power lost as heat; my radio warms up; tuner doesn't; so do you mean the coax is physically radiating heat (I assume that's what you mean)?  I haven't noticed that--the line doesn't "feel" warm.  Is the heat generated distributed along the entire length of line?  Or is the heating concentrated at a particular place in the line?

Thanks for the responses.

WB2WIK: I routinely hit Japan and Russia (both in the 5500-ish miles range) on 20-meters.  In fact, I hit Japan and Russia more than I hit nearby states, often both Japan and Russia 4-5 times in a few hours of operating (another JA contact?  Yawn).  My 20-meter "problem" is trying to hit adjacent states (I'm in Utah).  Trying to get Nevada, New Mexico, Wyoming... those are really hard on 20-meters, for me.  I assume my signal is "skipping over" that distance?