FT8: Passive Entertainment?

On Sunday evening after CQ WW SSB finished the bands became eerily quiet, on both CW and SSB. That's typical because quite a lot of the daily chatter on the bands is by contesters, and they understandably shut down at 2359Z to eat and rest. Since I made an unserious contest effort I was not tired. Finding little to interest me I drifted over to 3573 kHz and fired up WS Digital Mode Suite (the former WSJT-X Improved).

There were a few Africans on so I worked one and then called another, C5R. I couldn't work him. He heard me fine but I couldn't decode his somewhat weak signal after that initial message sequence.

There's the rub. I am decoding nothing, that's the software's job. While it records and decodes signals in the passband I sit, watch and wait. I have no influence at all over whether a signal successfully decodes. The decode can fail for any of several reasons: QRM, fading, distortion, receiver issues, etc. All that I (really, the software) can do is repeat a message until a reply is received and decoded.

In this case it was QRM. A couple of NA stations would start transmitting with far stronger signals that overlapped C5R. I doubt that any harm was meant, only that they didn't hear his relatively weak signal while I have a very effective directional vertical yagi on 80 meters.

All I could do was watch while my report to him repeated several times without a decoded response. I could see his signal partially exposed next to the stronger stations on the waterfall display so I knew he was transmitted. Yet there was nothing I could do except give up, so that's what I did. The same thing happened a little later. I didn't try a third time. He may have been wondering what was going on.

That's the issue I have with these digital modes. On CW or SSB it is possible to interact with the station to try and find a way to complete the QSO, or to quickly QSY and ask the interfering station to move. It is possible though awkward to compose a custom message in WSJT-X, which I never do. Maybe he wouldn't move anyway or just not understand what I wanted from the very short message that the software allows.

There is another reason I prefer the traditional modes: pile ups. On digital modes all you can do is call and hope that the DX picks your call out of dozens. Worse, you might not be decoded at all due to the QRM. You can't easily hear others on or near your frequency due to enforced transmission intervals that are precisely identical. You can't listen without losing at least half a minute.

For FT8 pile ups it's: little pistols beware! In the past I've written many articles about CW pile up techniques that can allow even the smallest station to get through. Here's an old article from when I got through a big pile up on a DXpedition using QRP. Skill counts for a great deal on CW, to a lesser extent on SSB, and not so much on digital. On the other hand, luck can be a friend to the little pistol on FT8 if the DX happens to click on your call.

FT8 and its sibling digital modes are just too passive for my taste. Skill and interaction count for so little. I am not too concerned with the software decoding but with the inability to be more actively involved in a challenging QSO. That's one reason I am not attracted to digital modes other than a few cases. One of those is 6 meters, where it does wonderfully, and occasionally on 160 meters when CW activity is sparse or absent, a common occurrence. I might also work rare DX on digital as insurance in case they don't appear on CW. I'm not a traditional modes snob.

On the other hand, the passivity of FT8 can be relaxing after a hard fought contest or a busy day at work. FT8 can be the active ham's alternative to television or doom scrolling. Have a seat and let the activity wash over you. There's nothing wrong with that, if kept in moderation.

An incomplete FT8 QSO is no disaster. You move on to the next station while hoping to work them another time, whether a few minutes later or next week. That can happen for any mode. Unfortunately there is nothing much you can practice to hone your skills on digital modes since circumstances dominate the probability of success.

Keep your perspective and don't punch the computer or curse the oblivious interfering stations. It won't do any good. It's just one QSO out of many thousands you'll make over your ham career. When I get frustrated I spend some time on CW or SSB where I have more control, more agency over the results.

Oops! Repairing a Broken Guy Anchor Rod

In a previous article I teased a picture showing a small pit dug up in the 80 meter vertical antenna field. As I said, I had an accident with a tractor. It was careless of me to let the vegetation grow high and then not mark the guy anchor rods, which poke up only a few inches above grade, and then fail to watch for them when I'm working in the field. 

The new anchors were installed a year ago as the first step in rebuilding the 80 meter array. I have been proceeding in steps and I hope to replace the tower this year, as time and weather allow. A consequence of my slow schedule is that the guy anchors are so far unused and have no attachments to make them particularly visible. They were vulnerable.

Guy anchor rods are designed to be strong in tension. They are not typically designed to withstand an impact from the side. The soil can be a poor support for a long steel strut projecting from a deeply buried concrete guy anchor. Hardened steel driven by many horsepower via a reduction drive can do a lot of damage. 

The vulnerability to impacts leads some commercial tower sites to construct concrete or steel bollards on either side of guy anchors to prevent accidental collisions with vehicles and heavy equipment. These incidents can and have occurred.

Since I want to rebuild the central tower this fall the anchor needed to be repaired. It is not as difficult as it might seem but must be done properly if it is to have at least the strength of the original. The steps were as follows:

1. Dig down to inspect the damage
2. Assess the point below which the rod is undamaged
3. Cut the rod at the transition between damaged and undamaged
4. Fabricate an extension rod that overlaps and is joined to the remaining rod
5. Align the rod extension (azimuth and elevation angle) to the original spec
6. Coat the new and old rod to prevent corrosion
7. Backfill the hole and compact the soil
8. Confirm that the rod is still aligned

In the worst case, there is not enough undamaged rod to splice to or too deep to effect repairs. This is not a large anchor or very deep, but I was happy not to have to remove it and make a new one. After cutting off half the rod there was enough left to work with it.

After performing steps 1 and 2 last month I included a new extension rod on my shopping list when I visited the metal yard. Since I had to cut 2' (60 cm) down, the extension had to be at least 2.5' (75 cm) to account for overlap to make the splice. Splicing angle stock is far easier than for round anchor rods. The extension is wider (2.5" vs 2") and thicker (3/16" vs ⅛") to make the repair easier and a little stronger than the original.

I used a short straight edge in step 3. I slid it up and down the rod to precisely determine where the steel began to curve. The objective was to preserve as much of the original as possible to make the repair easier. If the cut is too far down it may be impossible to work on with hand and power tools other than by making the excavation wider and thus significantly more toil with a shovel. 

Do not attempt to straighten the bent rod! This will in most cases weaken the steel, especially if it is tempered to any degree. Even mild steel can be weakened when bent. Steel is inexpensive so don't try to "cheap" your way out of this problem.

I had to cut a radial while digging since it was in the way of the repair work. I was able to keep the radial intact and running over the excavation when the anchor was installed last year since I didn't need to fit tools down there. It can be spliced after the repair is complete.

I scooped out ~2 ft² of soil around the shortened rod to fit tools for the repair work: a hacksaw to cut off the damaged part and a drill to make the splice holes to join the new section to the old. The paint on the old one was damaged during digging and had to be repaired as well. That required washing and drying the surface before applying new paint coats. For convenience I used cold galvanizing compound since it dries faster than rust prevention paint. Since the painting must be done outdoors pay close attention to the temperature range specified for the product. I painted the extension indoors where it is warm.

The exact positions of the splice holes is not critical which is great because precision is difficult when working in the tight space. Holes should be set back from from the edges and far enough apart that the upper section can't wobble. Assuming the remnant is correctly aligned, the new extension should also be aligned. Notice that the larger extension is placed behind the remnant to make maximum use of the available surface area. The cut and drilled holes are filed and reamed to remove metal ridges that would prevent the pieces from sitting flat against each other. 

Support the upper end of the extension with a piece of lumber as shown at right. Sight the extension to confirm that it is lined up with the tower (azimuth angle) and use an inclinometer for the elevation angle. Don't rely only on the clamps and the trueness of the metal.

⅛" pilot holes are drilled first in the remnant. Next I firmly mated the extension to the remnant with small C-clamps (one on each face) and continued the pilot holes by drilling through the extension. I separated the sections and widened the holes to accommodate 5/16" grade 5 fasteners. 

Drilling in the hole is awkward and it can be difficult to apply pressure on the bit on axis and without wobble or bending. Don't rush it and wear eye protection! You could shatter the bit and fling fragments into your eyes. Widening the holes with a large bit is much easier than drilling the pilot holes. Holes in the extension can be widened on site or on a drill press. I found it easier to do all the drilling on site. I hope it is obvious that the drill bits should be of suitable type and quality, and sharp enough that they cut quickly without wandering. Use coolant on large bits cutting through steel or you can ruin them.

When I was done the alignment of the repaired anchor rod was within 1°. That's pretty well perfect, and stayed correctly aligned when the lumber support was removed. I spray painted the hardware and let the pieces dry overnight. Then I backfilled the hole while compacting it, paying particular attention to the underside of the repaired anchor rod. However, don't tamp too aggressively since you might alter the alignment or scrape the paint. Guy wire tension can correct a misalignment but it's better to keep the rod aligned throughout the job.

The backfilled hole and rod looked great when I was done. I just had to be careful to keep the broken ends of the cut radial from being buried. After several years they get "absorbed" by the vegetation and might be difficult to find later when you want to splice them together.

The rebuild of the 80 meter tower won't happen in October. I hope to do that in November while the weather is still warm enough for concrete work. There are other priorities at the moment.

Amateur Radio is a Small Market

Another item on my 2026 list has been checked off: a new solid state, broadband amplifier.

It will take some time for me to become familiarized with the amp and properly integrate with the rest of the station. At the moment it is sitting on top of the Acom 1500, which is convenient for initial testing and there are no air vents on the underside to be blocked. The 4O3A PGXL is deeper (back to front) than most other equipment but not wider or higher, and it is lighter than typical tube amps.

This is an expensive product. There are cheaper amps but, overall, despite the price and some aspects of it that I dislike it is on balance the right amp for me. The choice was determined by my operating preferences and is not an endorsement. I won't be telling you whether it is the right or wrong choice for you. 

While I proceed with getting the amp set up I want to use the opportunity of this purchase to talk about a broader topic: the amateur radio equipment market. Although there are many of us around the world we are a small market, and very small when it comes to high-end specialized equipment. This includes transceivers and amplifiers, but especially products for narrow interests such as sophisticated switching systems for SO2R and multi-op contests, BPF, big HF yagis and receive antenna arrays, contest software and more. 

I find that many hams are surprised by how few employees and revenue the major brand names have in their ham radio product teams. They're well known brand names to us but are mostly small to medium size businesses. When the founder/operator of a small brand retires the company more than often than not is wound down, not sold. For large companies, like Kenwood, ham radio is just one division among many. That is helpful with respect to marketing and technology but small divisions don't impress much at the CEO level.

There aren't many of us to sustain commercial companies -- manufacturers, dealers and service centres -- on the basis of numbers alone. Manufacturers have a challenge amortizing upfront and ongoing development costs and providing service for products with production runs in the low thousands or even hundreds. For some it is a labour of love and may be born out of necessity when an entrepreneur sees a need for themselves and decides to turn their unique builds into products. 

We are fortunate that there are as many products as there are, and that we have the option not to build our own. For the most sophisticated modern equipment, building your own is almost never possible.

I'll use this amplifier purchase as an example of manufacture and distribution of a high-end amateur radio product with few sales. It was an interesting journey. Please take note: although a few of the points are politics adjacent this is not a political article. If you take offense easily you should stop reading now to keep your blood pressure stable.

1) Buy local preferred

Few of the major product categories found in our hobby are made in Canada. There have been more in the past but companies come and go. About the only product in my station that falls into the high-end category are the BPF (band pass filters) from Pavel VA6AM. His products are widely lauded yet it is a one-man shop. BPF for contesters is a small market that he likely can't live on alone. He has a day job.

Kilowatt class HF amplifiers are built in Japan, US, EU and a few other places. For example, Icom, Yaesu, 4O3A, Omron, Acom, RF Power, Elecraft, SPE, Flex and Mercury. Each has features that appeal to some and not others. None sell many of them. Quite a few hams get by with previously enjoyed tube equipment from decades past. I have one of those: the Drake L7. 

No amplifier in this class is currently made in Canada despite being no more difficult to do it here than elsewhere. Since the Canadian amateur radio market is too small to build a business and offer competitive prices any prospective entrepreneur would have to market globally.

2) Domestic dealers

I have to buy an amp made elsewhere but I'd like to buy it from a dealer in Canada to ease the purchase and any future service. However, finding a dealer or service in Canada for any of these products is challenging. They naturally gravitate to the nearby far larger US market. That can still be convenient but not always, and less so at this time in history.

There was one dealer for the PGXL in Canada that came as part of the partnership between Flex and 4O3A. While I know none of the details there appear to be a few fractures. One consequence is that PGXL is no longer sold by that dealer. I spoke to them to ask why. It came down to poor sales prospects for a high-end product. You can only negotiate a lower price with the manufacturer when you commit to higher sales volume and buy in bulk, not one by one.

The bottom line is that they'd love to keep selling the PGXL but without Flex in the deal it is not possible to negotiate a price that allows them to be competitive. I can certainly understand that. But it meant that I'd have to look elsewhere, and that elsewhere is outside the country.

3) Foreign dealers

There is one 4O3A dealer in North America: DX Engineering. They're a great company to deal with in most cases and they make it easy for Canadian hams to purchase products from them. There is never a need to cross the border, whether to buy, return or get warranty service (not all products). 

They have two things working against them in this instance: cross-border politics (hopefully short term only) and a 10% tariff for products entering the US from Europe. The tariff is not rebated for sales outside of the US. 

Although not anyone's fault, cross-border high priced items trigger credit card fraud algorithms. While I appreciate the intent, it's time consuming to get purchases of this nature approved. Many calls are needed, and these days involve getting past the AI "front desk".

Other amplifier companies may locate their NA distribution in the US, or have none at all. They don't often locate here. Few of the US-based dealers and manufacturers go out of their way to sell beyond the continental US, whether it's to other countries or offshore US states and territories. They find the process and associated costs too bothersome. The continental US is enough of a market for them. It's an understandable business strategy even if some money is left on the table.

There are many companies that will provide a US shipping address right across the border where we can pick up shipments or they will transfer across to our side of the border for a fee. That makes it easy to buy, but there's a greater cost and I don't want the expense and inconvenience of conveying products across the border myself whether for the initial purchase or possible future repairs. It is not surprising, because of how the amateur radio market is structured, that I know many Canadian hams that go this route. It is also done when buying used equipment from American hams. A friend of mine bought a used PGXL by meeting the selling ham across the border.

Unhappy with these options I set about exploring other PGXL dealers. I focussed on Europe since that is really the only good alternative for us outside NA. I have no experience buying this class of products from Europe so I made a few inquiries and looked online.

In summary, the prices are not lower. It was a surprise considering that the manufacturer is in Europe and these are European dealers. However, Montenegro is not in the EU and that probably affects prices. Even accounting for that, the cost of doing business in Europe is typically higher than here. Subtracting the VAT, which is not charged for international sales, didn't bring the prices down low enough to be attractive.

A friend of mine with contacts made an inquiry for me and found that, yes, I could order direct from the company. I looked at shipping and insurance and considered the higher commercial risk, and that manufacturers are loath to undercut their dealers' prices. That ended my search for a better deal from a foreign dealer. 

I went ahead and bought the amplifier from DX Engineering. With the included 10% Europe-to-US tariff it was still a favourable price and service prospects are better. It arrived quickly but with an unwelcome substitution. To their credit they shipped the correct power cord very quickly without a fuss. Less than 2 weeks after placing my order the amp was powered up and making contacts.

4) Post-sales service

Local service is almost never an option. I remember in my youth (early 1970s) taking a busted ham band tube receiver to a TV repair shop owned by a friend of my father. My electronics knowledge was still nascent and I didn't own any test equipment, which I couldn't afford. Their techs looked at it from time to time for the two weeks they held on to it but wisely chose not to delve deeper. It was beyond their knowledge base. 

Amateur radio equipment has only become more complex and techs that can service these products are specifically trained for it. To everyone else in the electronics repair business it's not servicable. That limits service to a handful of independent small businesses (often just one man shops), occasionally the dealers (though most contract out service work) or the manufacturer's facilities in NA or their own factories overseas. 

Not all of us can repair our own equipment, but sometimes it is possible to dive in and fix an amplifier, as I did with the Acom 1500. I saved a lot of money doing this. All the manufacturer offered in response to my query about the problem was to try a new lamp (tube). The lesson is not to rely on the manufacturer to be helpful, especially years afterward. Companies change and small companies can change very quickly. There are no certified or competent Acom tube amp service centres in Canada.

DX Engineering recently partnered with a reputable service tech to take on their warranty repairs for Canadian customers (tube amps excluded). I don't know how well that will work in practice since the PGXL is a little out of the ordinary. I didn't inquire and I hope not to find out. All of my personal acquaintances that own this amplifier haven't needed service. If it is needed it would indeed be a benefit to have it done in-country.

Shipping and insuring a fragile, heavy and expensive product for service is to be avoided when possible. For modern transceivers and amplifiers it may be unavoidable. Shipping within Canada is not as economical as it once was and shipping to the US costs more, and involves customs paperwork to waive fees each time the product crosses the border. It is only really practical to hand carry it across the border for shipping to a US-based service centre, and pick it later in the same manner. Time, travel and government bureaucracy (two of them) take their toll.

I shouldn't complain considering what hams living in many countries must deal with. They have no sales or service in their country and perhaps not even on the same continent. The low demand doesn't justify it. Not only is it very expensive and risky to import these products, you pay dearly for shipping both ways for service. Some have noted that it can be more economical to buy another rather than repair! Yes, that's extreme, but it really happens.

Next steps

My plans for CQ WW SSB are proceeding poorly. Operators have had to cancel due to life events and most within easy driving distance are busy that weekend or strongly prefer CW over SSB contests. The latter I understand since I feel the same, but a phone contest can be a lot of fun in a group. 

It may be that the PGXL won't get its intended workout in CQ WW SSB. We'll see. In the meantime I still need to properly configure it for my equipment and choose its final position on or under the operating desk. For the next while it'll be on top where I can easily access the connections on the rear panel.

A complete review of the amp will wait until I have more experience with it. So far, so good. In the meantime I need to get back to antenna work, if the birds let me! The work must get done whether I operate the contest or not.

Beverage Remote Switch Repair (Again!)

Since earlier this spring I experienced intermittent functioning of the Beverages. With the 160 meter winter season winding down the problem wasn't high on my priority list. In September the problem worsened to the point that the Beverages were unusable. The top band season has now begun so it was time to deal with it.

This is not the first time I've had trouble with the Beverage remote switch which sits on the edge of a hay field not far from the "head ends" of the 3 reversible Beverages (6 directions). When the hay is high and the weather is warm the ticks are on the hunt. In any case the radials on the big shunt-fed tower are absent during the growing season to clear the ground for my neighbour's farm equipment. Radials and farming don't mix!

In early October I went out to the switch to troubleshoot. I had already determined that the long run of RG6 out to the field was fine. It is important to sectionalize a system and test each component if you hope to isolate and identify the cause of a fault. I next inspected the F connectors on the RG6 to each Beverage and tested them. The analyzer confirmed that the Beverages were all fine -- exclusive of damage due to summer growth and other damage. That's a different problem that I am dealing with in parallel to this one.

The last remedy I tried is one that should be approached with caution. Relay contacts can develop high resistance over time if they are not periodically wetted. Wetting means switching and conducting a modest current to break the thin layer of oxidation or contamination that builds over time. The small signal from a receive antenna is insufficient to wet the contacts.

The Omron G5V relays are good in this application but are not impervious to contact corrosion. Due to the design of the switch the DC reversing current can't wet the contact because the DC is injected at the relay outputs (the selected Beverage via a bias-T). Wetting of the relays requires RF. I moved the transmission line from the rig's receive antenna port to the main antenna port and transmitted a signal. 

Use only low power for the wetting attempt since the receive antenna electronics can't handle 100 watts. I gradually increased power to 10 watts while manually switching the Beverage selection. The problem persisted so that was unlikely to be the problem.

The picture above right (taken after the switch was moved indoors) shows how I most recently tried to keep insects out by taping shut the weep holes. The tape over the one on the right had been eaten through; ants always find a way. I tore it off before I took the picture. I prepared to find insect damage, again. 

Having localized the fault to the switch itself I opened its enclosure. It didn't look good at first glance. There is clear evidence of corrosion and insect activity. As we'll see in a moment it was worse than what could be seen with just the lid removed. 

I disconnected all the cables and brought the switch indoors for a closer inspection. When I disassembled it what I found was worse than I expected. We all make mistakes and hopefully you will learn from mine. I am not shy about exposing my failures in the blog since that is how we (me and my readers) learn.

This is what I saw when I turned the PCB over.

What a mess! Compare these pictures to what the switch looked like when I rebuilt it after a lightning strike two years ago. Can you spot the construction choice I made that led to the failure? Despite how ugly it looked, I took a few minutes to seat and reseat the relays in their sockets. That also didn't help. It was time to deal with the messy interior. 

Since the small protoboard has no mounting holes I needed something to insulate it from the aluminum enclosure. I looked around the table where I was working and saw a thin piece of cardboard that was exactly the right size. I knew that it was not a great decision but used it anyway since I was in a hurry to move on to other projects on my priority list. Insects and moisture decomposed the cardboard to it original components: plant fibre (tree pulp) plus a chemical soup.

I scrubbed the PCB clean, including using a wire to push out debris that clogged many of the pad holes. All copper pads and wires were corroded, and some pads were entirely missing; soldered pads survived. Tinned wires and component leads were fine. The stranded copper wires (salvaged from an old Cat5 cable) to the F connectors snapped off the PCB since there was little metal left for them to be structurally sound. As it turned out that was the proximate cause of the failure: intermittent or entirely disrupted continuity through those wires to the chassis F connectors for the 3 Beverages. 

The solid Cat5 wires on the leftmost connector were fine. Stranded wire corrodes faster since they have more surface area. For comparison, the tinned stranded wires to the barrier strip, though coated in insect debris were in good condition.

Many commercial products intended for outdoor use have a sprayed on dielectric coating on the underside of PCBs to prevent corrosion. As mentioned, tinned wires are preferred. It is not surprising that many electronic components use tinned leads.

After cleaning the board and sanding away stains on the enclosure I soldered tinned wires from the PCB to the Beverage connectors. With that done I proceeded to test the switch. It worked perfectly.

The Beverages switched, reversing current flowed and the impedance was per the original design. I was ready to put it back together and move on to the next item on my long to-do list.

Rather than repeat my earlier mistakes and oversights, I made he following changes during the rebuild:

• Tinned wire for the leads to the F connectors
• Silicone sealant on all the weep holes and around the (replaced) fibre rimmed washers on the transmission line connector since they degraded in the weather and needed moisture protection
• Thick teflon (PTFE) insulation under the PCB, replacing the cardboard I foolishly used last time
• GDT added for lightning protection on the control leads and each of the incoming Beverage connectors; these are complementary to the GDT in each Beverage head end

Aside from one cold solder joint it worked as it should. It has now been reinstalled and all is well. I can listen to activity on 160 meters even though my transmit capability is poor until I redeploy the radials on the shunt-fed tower. That has to wait a little longer to avoid tripping hazards until work on the HF yagis is done. The northeast-southwest Beverage still needs repair when I can safely enter the bush. The other two Beverages have already been repaired, other than needing to clear the bush after the ground has frozen.

With more time I would have made other changes to the remote Beverage switch. One is to put it into a larger enclosure. It's difficult to work on since the fit is tight. Also the layout of components is not ideal due to the limited space. 

Another change would be to use a plastic enclosure. There really isn't that much risk of coupling among the Beverages without a surrounding metal cage and plastic is both easier to work with and removes the need for isolating the transmission line connector from the metal enclosure with those flimsy fibre insulators. When the switch was first built I chose the enclosure material based on what seemed sensible at the time.

In closing I'll note that my Beverage articles are among the least popular on the blog. I write about the work I do on my own station, including my equipment and operating preferences, not what I think might be popular. Few hams have the land for Beverages and large top band antennas, which likely explains the low interest. Nevertheless the lessons learned can be applied to any antenna project. That, at least, makes writing these articles worthwhile.