Field Day EPILOGUE

[Ed Swynar]

Hi All,

Well, FD's over for another year, & VERY casual operating on 80- and 40-meters CW with the 1923 p-p 203A Colpitts self-excited transmitter / Heathkit SB-301 receiver yielded a page --- & then some --- of QSOs...

By far, the most were made on 80-meters. I think the chirpy signal --- coupled to the fact that both the antenna and tank coil were effectively "...wind modulated" by the outdoor environment --- contributed to this. Forty was VERY busy here, and I'm sure 99% of the gang therein were running with extremely tight CW IF filtering, which would have made my chirpy signal essentially undetectable! On 80 --- where things were not nearly as hectic --- it's my supposition that IF filters were relaxed, to hear more (possible) callers in the passband...hence my greater success there.

I had a very FB QSO with Rod Newkirk (former "How's DX?" editor in QST) from his Ottawa QTH, and more than a few of the OT's I worked commented on how well technology from 83 years ago could still sound to-day. The vast majority of to-day's Hams, though, have apparently been spoiled by the superlative and near-universal T-9 quality of signals emanating from to-day's appliances, and when they heard me, more than one hesitated to respond, and instead, elected to scamper down the band a few KHz, or so, to call CQ FD again! 

I guess chirp & character in one's CW emanations are a foregn concept these days to most! Hi Hi

Anyway, if I worked you, thanks for the QSO --- if I didn't, well, maybe next year I'll build up a small oscillator & convert the p-p Colpitts to a p-p RF amplifier in a MOPA set-up, and try it again, but this time WITHOUT all of the "...wind modulation." Hi Hi.

Hope you & your respective groups had fun --- I did!

~73~ Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ

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