My trusty old Butternut vertical gets a new lease of life

It's been sitting at the end of the garden for years, stored behind the shed. My trusty (and admittedly dirty) old Butternut HF6V vertical antenna is back in the air. I re-erected it last week, but found signals on the bands quite attenuated compared with my nested inverted vees.

What followed was a patient game of "adjust, test, adjust, test, adjust more, test more..." as I tried to bring the antenna into resonance on the six bands where it is designed to operate.

Given that the SWR was high (at least 5:1 on most bands), a quick read of the 28-page manual for the antenna (yes, I RTFM'd!) revealed that when SWR is reading high across the bands, this is likely to be because of a problem with the feeder.

The Butternut is fed with a quarter-wave section of 75 ohm coax which is used as a "geometric mean transformer" to match the approximate 100 ohms of feedpoint impedance on the 20 metre band to a 50 ohm main transmission line.

I suspected that there was an issue with the 75 ohm coax, and particularly where it connects with the Butternut. Yesterday, I disconnected the coax from the Butternut and fed it into the shack, where I was able to cut a couple of centimetres off and begin to reveal the core and braid so that I could re-attach the coax to the antenna.

The coax is difficult to work with because it's very stiff, and the core is solid. I soldered a short length (approx 10cm) of insulated electrical earth wire to the braid and taped it up using insulating tape. I also cleaned the connecting screws on the antenna and replaced the washers with new ones.

When I re-attached the coax, the antenna was sounding "louder" (less attenuated than before), but quick tests at the radio and with an analyser revealed the SWR was still high across the board.

What followed today was an exercise in patience and meticulous adjustments. The Butternut HF6V has three L/C assemblies - one for 80 metres, one for 40m and one for 30m. Upon making adjustments to the 80m coil, I was able to get resonance on that band. In fact, I was really thrilled to get the SWR all the way down to 1.0:1 at the bottom end of 80 - just above 3.5Mhz, where I love trying to work DX on CW.

By old Butternut HF6V is back in the air.

A great start, but some time and patience was needed for 40m, where lots of adjustments of the coil were needed to eventually get the SWR to a respectable 1.2:1 at the top of the band and 1.9:1 on the CW portion. I can certainly live with that! The Butternut will give me an advantage on the low bands because it offers a lower angle of radiation than the inverted vees, which in truth are not high enough at the apex, being just 10 metres at the feed point.

The 30 metre band proved extremely finicky. Very small adjustments of the 30m coil on the Butternut HF6V can shift the lowest SWR frequency by 100Khz! After making something like a dozen or fifteen changes, I eventually settled for an SWR of about 2.2:1 on 10Mhz - realising that that was much better than the 5:1 I had been seeing after just very minor movements of the coil.

For now, the SWR on 20 metres is high. It is reading a 5:1 or slightly higher across the entire band. Not ideal obviously. I did try to change the position of the coil support tube 30 meter L bracket where it attaches to the 40 metre coil, as instructed by the manual, but was unable to see a lower SWR. I will have to think about my strategy for 20m resonance. Should I replace the 75 ohm transformer coax? Or tinker with the 30m L bracket some more? I am afraid to do too much because I have a good SWR on 80m and 40m, where I really want it.

On 15 metres, with no further adjustments the antenna presented an SWR of 2:1 at 21.005Mhz and 1.5:1 at 21.345Mhz, which is nice. The Butternut HF6V does not resonate on 17 metres. On 12 metres, it has an SWR of 1.4:1 across the band, while on 10 metres it had "acceptable" SWR values varying only very slightly from 28.000Mhz to 28.500Mhz from 2.2:1 to 2.3:1.

In all honesty though, if you quickly glanced at my Butternut, you would wonder how the thing radiates at all. It came into my possession just after I got licenced in the winter of 2009. My very good friend and mentor, Tony EI4DIB (now sadly silent key), had acquired it - I think from a ham in GI/Northern Ireland - and had it stored in his back garden. I reckon it had spent a number of years in what might be termed "outdoor storage". It was filthy, covered with grime and dirt, and had long ago lost its sheen.

However, when Tony and I installed it at my QTH back in 2009, it did work. It radiated. I'm not sure how effectively, but I was able to make QSOs. In January 2010, using just 100 watts, I made my first ever QSO with Australia using the Butternut, although admittedly I had to wait until the pile-up dissipated and there was nobody else calling before I could be heard. That station was VI2AJ2010, a special event station for the 22nd Australian Scouts 2010 Jamboree in Appin, New South Wales.

The Butternut was my main HF antenna for a while, before I acquired an MA5B minibeam, and later a hexbeam. I cannot remember when I took it down, but it might be as long as 10 years ago or more. I wondered if it would ever see use again. Thankfully, it is radiating RF as I write this, on 15 metres FT8, and is actually showing an SWR of 1.4:1 on 21.074Mhz.

Last week, when I re-erected it, I noticed that an aluminium strip which was part of the 40 metre L/C circuit was missing. Thankfully, I have some Butternut HF6V "spare parts" (which again I have Tony to thank for, because he spotted them in a box at a radio rally and I got them for next to nothing), and was able to solder a new nut on to the 40m capacitor, drill a hole into a spare aluminium strip and bolt it on.

That was certainly a bit of what might be termed "homebrewing" or improvisation, but it works.

I look forward to testing the Butternut as soon as possible on 80 metres. That band has been very fruitful this summer, giving me four or five new DXCC in recent weeks, mostly on FT8. When I was studying for my ham licence, and even for several years after getting licenced, it was commonly held that 80 metres should be avoided during the summer because it's a nighttime band and the DX was only there in the winter. However, at this latitude (53 degrees north), in midsummer we have an extended grey line, which offers lots of opportunity for DX contacts. 

Some of those new DXCCs on 80 were Angola, Paraguay and Singapore, and on one evening in the past week I worked THREE stations in Western Australia on 3.573Mhz using FT8. It will be interesting to see, using a combination of CW and FT8, and watching the Reverse Beacon Network and PSK Reporter, how the Butternut performs compared with the dipoles.

Some new arrivals to the EI2KC shack!

There have been a few new arrivals to the EI2KC amateur station. I have not written a blog post in ages, but I have been active on the bands, chasing DX, ragchewing, occasionally contesting and improving the antennas and station setup.

A couple of weeks ago, I secured something of a bargain when I bought a "secondhand" Yaesu FTdx10, which turned out to have been completely unused by its only owner. Not only were the screen protectors still on it, but it hadn't been used and all the settings were at defaults. There wasn't a fingerprint or a speck of dust anywhere on the radio.

The brand new Yaesu FTdx10 is my new main HF/50Mhz rig.

First impressions were quite fantastic, and I have found the digital noise reduction on this radio to be simply outstanding. The noise levels on the low bands in particular are reduced by engaging the DNR button and lowering the RF gain knob. Since its arrival, I have found the FTdx10 to be much superior to the Icom IC-7300 which it replaces - with one caveat. The Yaesu is more complex in terms of setup and menus, but once you get used to it it becomes clear that it deserves its second place rating on the Sherwood Engineering test page. It's the second-best receiver money can buy, after its big brother, the FTdx101D/MP.

To help with noise levels (I have a small garden in the middle of a housing estate), I also invested in a CMC-130-3K common mode filter from myantennas.com, which has been placed beneath the antenna switch in the shack. Furthermore, I have adjusted my nested inverted vees so that the lower ends of the 40m and 80m dipoles in particular are higher from the ground. All these things have improved my station's ability to hear weak DX stations. For instance, in the past few weeks - in the middle of summer - I have worked about five new countries on 80 metres alone. These included 9V1YC (James in Singapore) on FT8.

The new CMC-130-3K common mode filter from myantennas.com.

The Icom IC-7300 will be staying, because I like it so much, and will become my main portable and static mobile radio. I have it fully set up with my laptop and Watson Multiranger antenna for CW, SSB and FT8 operation from my van. I bought side handles for the IC-7300 from WiMo to help protect the radio when lifting it in and out of the van.

My Icom IC-7300 with side handles sitting in the van, operating on 20m FT8.

Just today, another new addition arrived all the way from China, in the form of a mini Putikeeg straight CW key, which cost a mere €38 including postage from China. I made a couple of QSOs with it and am very happy with how it operates. I have stuck it to the metal base alongside my other "cheap" morse key, the TUMD paddle which also came from China. See pictures below.

The new Putikeeg straight key is small but capable. And it looks great!

The TUMD paddle and Putikeeg straight key mounted side by side. I now have the
best of both worlds, and only need to swap out the cable from one to the other!

Ignore the anti-FT8 brigade - some of them don't know how to use it!

This is my first ham radio blog post in quite a while. I have been very active, particularly on HF, continuing to work DX every day, including many of the dxpeditions.

This post, however, is about one subject that seems to raise the ire of many ham radio operators. It is that ubiquitous digital mode that we know as FT8.

Every day, and several times a day, there are spots on the DX clusters (mostly from fake callsigns and cowards who aren't willing to put their name/callsign with their opinion) deriding FT8. It's become a really boring and repetitive routine actually. The anti-FT8 brigade claim that FT8 is a mode that does not require a brain, and that the computer is doing all the work.

V73WE gave me a new DXCC on 40 metres when I worked him on FT8.

They are wrong, of course, to suggest that FT8 ops don't possess intellect or ability. For instance, I use FT8 pretty much every day, but I also like working DX on phone and CW. To successfully use FT8 to make QSOs on HF and VHF does take skill and knowledge. Getting your software (whether it's JTDX or WSJT-X) to communicate with your radio is not always easy, and adjusting your settings to ensure the optimal transmit and receive levels also involves some skill and knowledge.

I suspect, and have done for a long time now, that those who give out about FT8 being "too easy" are, in fact, fearful and ignorant of it. Yes, the fact that so many ham radio ops are on FT8 means that the SSB and CW portions of the bands are quieter than they used to be (except during SSB and CW contests, of course). But why waste time creating cluster spots using fake identities? Who's going to listen to someone who moans about FT8 being too easy? Those regular cluster spots are an annoyance, but you get used to ignoring them.

The fact of the matter is that FT8 levels the playing field to an extent for those of us with modest antennas. As a weak-signal mode, FT8 allows the opportunity to work DX that might not be audible on phone or on CW. If you consider that a form of cheating, well that is your opinion and you are entitled to it. What you are not entitled to is to spead anti-FT8 bile on the clusters, especially when you are not even willing to put your own callsign to those repetitive anti-FT8 messages.

Could it be remotely possible that at least some of those who castigate FT8 users do not, in fact, possess the technical knowledge to get their computer working with JTDX/WSJT-X, and are unable to make QSOs using the popular mode? I suspect this to be the case in many instances.

The hobby of amateur radio offers a wide variety of specialisation. You could, for instance, dedicate yourself to QSOs using moon-bounce (EME - Earth-Moon-Earth). You might be interested in building your own HF transceiver. You may be the sort of ham who experiments with various homebrew antennas. You might, like I do, enjoy making QSOs through the crossband VHF/UHF repeater on the International Space Station.

Whatever aspect of amateur radio you enjoy, it will involve a certain level of technical competence and knowledge. Is FT8 a step too far in terms of computer automation? Perhaps for some hams it is, but for all of us who actually use it every day (rather than deriding it on the clusters), it offers a new opportunity and mode with which to contact other hams around the globe.

Australia worked on 80 metres FT8.

You think it's too easy, and that the computer does all the work? I don't care what you think. I am not interested in your opinion.

FT8-bashers would make better use of their time and effort concentrating on those aspects of the hobby that they enjoy, as an alternative to attempting to make the rest of us feel somehow ashamed about enjoying FT8 as another aspect of the hobby.

Quit your whinging. Nobody likes a moaner. If you don't like FT8, that's your choice. But don't try to ram your opinion down our throats. 

Where were all the protests when PSK was a popular digital mode? And do the FT8 haters not have an opinion about RTTY?

In any case, as an FT8 user, I can tell you that working Western Australia on 6 metres (using FT8) was one of the most exciting QSOs I've had in 15 years as a licenced ham. Maybe some day I'll make a similar long-distance QSO on 50Mhz using phone or CW. Maybe. But without FT8, I wouldn't have that DXCC in my 6m log.

And I ain't going to feel bad about it.

PS: On a side-note, surely it is time that all hams wishing to create spots on the DX clusters should have to log in and use their real callsigns? Clusters that allow anonymous or fake spots are a big part of the problem. If everyone had to log in and use their real identity, I suspect that most of the anti-FT8 spots would disappear.

My 50,000th QSO - an extraordinary coincidence

I made my 50,000th QSO as a licenced radio amateur today. Recently, I had noticed that my QSO count was steadily increasing from 45,000, and then 46,000, and so on. As of Thursday, I had reached 49,990. Yesterday, I made another nine QSOs to bring the total to 49,999. I wanted to wait until something special came along for the 50,000th contact.

I was unable to spend long in the shack this morning as I was heading out to play music. In the ten minutes I was at the radio, I watched the DX clusters to see if there was anything interesting to work. Seeing nothing special, I decided to "spin the VFO" on my Icom IC-7300.

On the 12 metre band, I listened on the SSB portion and spun the dial to find out if I could hear anything that might make a good 50,000th QSO. I looked at the spectrum scope and could see some activity around 24.940Mhz. I tuned in to the station and could quickly hear that someone was calling CQ. But who?

"CQ CQ, CQ 12 metres, this is Echo Alpha Five Bravo Romeo Echo, Echo Alpha Five Bravo Romeo Echo, CQ, Q ..."

I recognised the callsign immediately. Luis, EA5BRE, gave me my very first QSO on HF the day I got my ham licence, way back in October 2009. On that day, I received my new callsign af around 4.45pm on what was a Friday evening. I had just left work and was heading home. I worked my good friend, the late EI4DIB (Tony) on the Dundalk 2m repeater (on 145.675) on the way home. My callsign back then was EI8GHB. When I got home, I found the higher bands all dead and there was very little activity on the phone sections of 40 metres and 80 metres. Back then, I did not know CW (something I learned in the winter of 2009-2010 and, having passed my morse test in February 2010, I got my new callsign EI2KC in early March 2010).

Luis EA5BRE

There are only two callsigns in my log for the evening of 30th October 2009, the day I got my licence. They are EI4DIB and EA5BRE. I worked Luis on 7.121 Mhz LSB, my first HF contact as a licenced ham! It was 23:17 UTC, so quite late in the evening.

Luis and I have had only one other QSO in the intervening years - a 17m SSB QSO in June 2017. Luis lives in Alicante and is an active DXer with 10-band DXCC. 

Today's QSO was very special, because of the way I unintentionally stumbled upon his CQ. I felt it was immensely coincidental and just HAD to work him as QSO #50,000, given that he had been my very first HF contact when I began my ham radio activity from this shack 13 years ago.

Here is a short video of some of my QSO with Luis today:

My first QSO with Japan on 6 metres

Well it finally happened. After weeks of waiting, I managed to log two JA stations on 6 metres this morning. I got a message from Doug EI2CN saying he was decoding and working Japan. Now Doug has a much more substantial station than me, at a much higher elevation, just a few miles from here. He regularly sees and works stations that I cannot see/hear.

However, after waiting a little while I started to see decodes from Japan on FT8. I put out a CQ JA, and after a few minutes I was called by JG2BRI. He was at -15 and gave me a -18, but with heavy QSB on the band other EIs were reporting that they were having difficulty completing QSOs. 

I grabbed my smartphone and made a quick video. I hope you can forgive my excitement, but this was the moment of my first ever Japan QSO on 6m - one I have waited 11 years for. I think the "yeeehaa" was justified!

A few moments later, I was also called by JH4UYB and managed to complete with him too, with signal reports of -16 each way. After that the band closed up pretty quickly here, but I did not mind as I had finally achieved a QSO that I have been anticipating for years.

Needless to say I also worked two new squares with these JA QSOs - PM84 and PM86. Also, Japan becomes my 110th DXCC worked on 50 Mhz.

A screenshot of my first QSO with Japan on 6 metres.

A screenshot from PSKreporter.info showing some of my decodes in Japan.

A major milestone: DXCC confirmed on 6 metres

At the beginning of June, I had 95 DXCC worked on 50Mhz (6 metres), of which 89 were confirmed. I am delighted to now report that I have reached 100 confirmations on the band and therefore have achieved the much-sought-after 100 DX entites confirmed via Logbook of the World.

On 1st June, I took down my storm-damaged hexbeam and erected in its place my old three-element 6m yagi. I was able to work a rake of new ones (exclusively on FT8) using this beam, but a couple of weeks ago I upgraded to a five-element LFA with folded driven element which I was very kindly offered on loan by Declan EI9HQ.

Last night, I logged HK3PJ, my first contact into Colombia on 6 metres, and my 109th DX entity logged.

Here's a quick list of all the new ones I have worked since 1st June:

7X2RF Algeria, worked on 1st June. DXCC #96 on 6m. 

A61DD United Arab Emirates. Worked 3rd June. DXCC #97. Confirmed on LoTW.

HZ1SK Saudi Arabia. Worked 3rd June. DXCC #98. Confirmed on LoTW.

HC1BI Ecuador. Worked 3rd June. DXCC #99.

P43A Aruba. Worked 5th June. DXCC #100 worked - a landmark day!

A71AE Qatar. Worked 8th June. DXCC #101. Confirmed on LoTW.

OD5KU Lebanon. Worked 8th June. DXCC #102. Confirmed on LoTW.

5T5PA Mauritania. Worked 11th June. DXCC #103. Confirmed on LoTW.

J69DS St Lucia. Worked 14th June. DXCC #104. Confirmed on LoTW.

5el LFA yagi erected 16th June 2021.

XE1KK Mexico. Worked 18th June. DXCC #105. Confirmed via LoTW.

5Z4VJ Kenya. Worked 20th June. DXCC #106. Confirmed via LoTW.

TZ4AM Mali. Worked 20th June. DXCC #107. 

OX3LX Greenland. Worked 24th June. DXCC #108. Confirmed via LoTW.

HK3PJ Colombia. Worked 26th June. DXCC #109. Confirmed via LoTW.

HK3PJ from Colombia, my 109th DXCC worked and 100th confirmed on 6m.

I am extremely grateful to my fellow EI dxers who prompted some of these QSOs by alerting me to their presence on the band. There is a wonderful community of hams here and most are extremely helpful to other hams.

I began operating on 6 metres in the summer of 2010 using just a fixed dipole with no rotation. I was active for several summers until around 2015, with a 3el yagi, by which time I had worked around 90 DXCC. I was inactive for a while before grabbing some more new ones in 2018 with my six-band hexbeam which had two elements for 6m. After that antenna was badly damaged by a storm, I eventually removed it and re-erected the 3el beam on 1st June this year, and that's when the new ones started to roll in. 

Some of the DX stations worked above appeared only for a few minutes, while others such as 5T5PA have been seen regularly. That's the magic band!

Today, I am proud to be able to say I have worked and confirmed DXCC on NINE bands (80m through 6m), all via LoTW as I do not send out QSL cards except in reply to those sent to me.

Now for the next challenge! Is it possible to get DXCC on 160m from a postage-stamp garden, or should I aim for 100 countries on 2m using EME? :D

A century worked on 50 Mhz (6 metres)

I don't blog about ham radio nearly as often as I would like to, but that's because I'm exceptionally busy with work and other writing projects. I have published two books so far in 2021 and am currently 90% through writing a third, which will hopefully be published in the next month or so.

I haven't been neglecting radio though, and have been QRV regularly. This being the summer season (with its attendant sporadic E propagation!), I recently decided to remove the wrecked hexbeam from the pole and put my three-element 50Mhz yagi up in its place. The hexbeam was wrecked in a storm a couple of years ago and due to radio inactivity and being busy with many other projects, I did not do anything about it.

However, when some of my local DXing friends were reporting good DX openings on 6 metres, I could not resist putting the yagi up to try to capture some action.

My total reach on 6 metres on Thursday 3rd June 2021, a memorable day on the band.

At the beginning of the 2021 6m season, I had 96 DXCC worked on 50Mhz and 89 confirmed.

I am glad to report that, thanks to a couple of really great openings during the past week, I now have 100 DXCC worked and 90 confirmed.

Thursday was a big day. After a slow start in the morning time, with few signals being decoded on FT8, the band opened up to the Middle East. At 11.23am local time (10.23UTC), I logged 9K2OW. I didn't immediately realise it, but I had 9K (Kuwait) worked and confirmed on 6 metres. But this was only the beginning of what turned out to be one of the most enjoyable radio days I've had since being licenced in October 2009.

Soon, I had A61DD from the United Arab Emirates in the log for a brand new DXCC on 6m, number #97. That was followed with another A6 QSO with A65BR, both later confirming via Logbook of the World.

I logged 9K2NO, the second Kuwaiti contact on the band. At that point, around 2pm or so in the afternoon, the band closed to the Middle East but there was still lots of propagation to Europe, before eventually some trans-Atlantic propagation began to appear.

I worked PV8DX in Brazil at 5.34pm local and at that stage had only the slightest hope of some action into the Caribbean. Soon I had HI8RD (Dominican Republic) in the log, and what followed was a fantastic evening of DX on the "Magic Band".

My three-element yagi on 6m has helped me get 100 DXCC on the band.

I logged no fewer than EIGHT Dominican Republic stations - HI8RD, HI3T, HI8T, HI8DL, HI3AA, HI8S, HI8PAP and HI8GSP. I also logged CU2AP in the Azores, who later confirmed the QSO on LoTW and although I had CU worked on 6m before, I had no confirmation, so it was a new one confirmed. I also worked CU3AC on 50.152Mhz using SSB – a rare mode for me these days!

Unbelievably, there were still reports from EI and UK of openings to the Middle East, so I swung the beam back and forth between west and east, and on the latter I soon bagged HZ1SK in Saudi Arabia, another new DXCC on 6m, no. #98!

Back looking/listening west, I logged WP4G in Puerto Rico (not a new one) and soon W4AS gave me my first North American QSO on 6m in 2021.

ZF1EJ in the Cayman Islands was worked, which was a nice one to get, although I had previously logged him in 2018 and the QSO was confirmed on LoTW. Several EI friends were decoding HC Ecuador and even HK Colombia. Could it be possible, I wondered?

Soon HC1BI was in the log, my first Ecuador and DXCC no. #99 on 6 metres. I was thrilled. Shortly thereafter I logged PJ4KY in Bonaire, and while not a new one it was a nice QSO anyway.

K0BZ was working from KP2 (US Virgin Islands) and I was getting occasional decodes of him on and off all evening, but eventually, with patience and perseverance, I logged him at 11.02pm local time. It was not a new DXCC but still a nice contact.

HC1HC gave me my second Ecuadorian DX of the day at 11.23pm and, after a few more contacts into both EU and NA, the band eventually faded.

Friday was another busy day on the band, but no Middle East this time, only EU. Later in the day the band opened to the USA and Canada and I bagged a heap of DX calls from eastern USA and Canada and some new squares.

Although Saturday (yesterday) was a quiet one on the band, there was a small opening in the evening time towards the Caribbean, and that's when history was made!

A screenshot of my historic QSO with my 100th DXCC entity on 6m with P43A.

I worked WP3R in Puerto Rico on FT8 and knew that I might have a chance with P43A in Aruba, who was active on the band and worked by some fellow EI ops. At 9.03pm local, I eventually got a QSO with P43A, giving me my 100th DXCC entity worked on 6 metres!

It has taken a long time to get to 100 entities worked. But there are many reasons for this. I first began 6m activity in summer 2010. For several years I used just a fixed aluminium dipole. Eventually I got the 3el yagi on a rotator but after just one season a storm broke the rotator and stub pole, so I was back to the dipole until a few years ago I got a six-band two-element hexbeam. That was also wrecked after just a couple of seasons in use, so I am now back to the 3el yagi again. 

All things considered, it's not bad. In order to take VHF seriously, I think one needs to focus on good antennas. It would have helped a lot if I had a 5el or 7el yagi on the band, but space, time and money are all considerations.

Now that I have 100 DXCC worked on 6m, the hope is to (a) work more DXCC and (b) get from 90 confirmed to 100 confirmed. To that end, I am making inquiries about acquiring a five-element yagi. I will keep you posted!