1978-1995 N7BHC Utah

After a brief stint in Florida as KA4DRA, I moved to Salt Lake City, Utah. VHF operation began in earnest using an Icom IC-211 with the RM-2 remote control. The first antenna was a single Cushcraft A-3219. Soon a 160 watt KLM amplifier was added. Most DX was via Meteor Scatter on SSB, and tropo-scatter to Idaho and Montana.

A succession of other radios followed. These included the IC502A / IC-202S / IC-402 small portable radios for 6m, 2m, and 70cm.

Much DX was worked on 6m using the IC-50sA and a simple dipole. The best QSO was working a JA using the 502A indoors with a 1' tall loaded whip. The 502A was eventually replaced by an IC-551. This radio was a big step up from the 502A but was very prone to overload from the strong Es and F2 signals. Ultimately it was replaced with a Kenwood TS-830S and a Lunar transverter with a 300 watt Mirage amplifier. This combination was fantastic on receive. The TS-830S still has the best noise blanker I have ever used. On transmit I used a Shure 577B microphone to block out all background noise such as fans. This mic remains the preferred microphone at N7BHC. The radio drove the transverter at half power, which in turn drove the amplifier to half power. This resulted in an exceptionally clean transmit audio signal. The antenna was a Cushcraft 6 element yagi. A Kenwood TS-850S was later used as the IF strip, but the TS-830S was felt to be a better performer.

On 2m the IC-211 was replaced by a IC-251, then a Yaesu FT-225RD. AL worked well, driving first a 160 watt KLM amplifier and eventually a Mirage 600 watt amplifier. The antenna array was increased to 4 Cushcraft 3219 yagis on an az-el mount for EME. Later this was changed to a single KLM 16LBX. A TR-751A was used for portable operation.

The 70cm station was updated to an Icom IC-475A with 100 watts and a KLM 16 element yagi.

A special array was assembled using a pair of 3219 yagis configured to produce circular polarization on an az-el mount in order to W5LFL. The contact was successful, using MCW on FM. W5LFL was a CW fan, and it was felt that with thousands of similarly equipped stations attempting to contact him, few would obtain a true FM capture of his receiver. The MCW stood out from the rest of the nose. After I was successful, several other stations copied this technique with success.

Finally, an Icom IC-970A replaced the 2m and 70cm radios. A 23cm module was added, as well as a general coverage receiver. While not as good a performer as the latest radios, this system is still in use in 2008 as it is very simple an easy to use.

HF operation over those years included the Yaesu TS-830S and eventually replaced with a Yaesu FT-100D and Henry 3KA linear. The antennas included a KLM KT-34XA and M2 WARC dipole at 55', and a Hygain 18HTS antenna. Even with this excellent setup, very little HF operation took place. The FT-1000D is also still in use, and is possibly the best of non-DSP radios used. many years later an Icom IC-781 was tried for a few months, but its performance was not as good on receive as the FT-1000D.

Mobile and Portable VHF'ing

N7BHC was regularly heard in VHF and UHF contests, and took first place in division and state over the years. Summer contesting and the Perseids meteor shower were often operated from mountain locations. Salt Lake City sits in a deep valley, and the normal VHF horizon was 6 degrees to the east and west. This limited range to 900-1100 miles. Early mountain-topping used a succession of portable stations that operated with the home equipment taken portable, and operated from a card table in a tent. Later operation was performed from my 1987 Landcruiser which was outfitted with a number of radios over the years. A substantial Australian made roofrack from East Coast Bullbars was added. This was strong enough to walk on, and carried many large antennas up the mountains.

The vehicle was outfitted with M2 loops for 2m and 70cm, and an early High Sierra HF whip. The initial equipment lineup was comprised of an Kenwood TS-50S, TM-255A and TM-455A, as well as a TM-742A for FM operation. The 2m station fed a 300 watt Mirage amplifier. The lineup was later replaced with a Yaesu FT-100. Mountaintop antennas initially were a 3 element 6m yagi, a KLM 16LBX, and a 16 element KLM 70cm antenna. These were later replaced by a M2 2m-5WL and a M2 432-9WL. The longest range DX heard but not worked from the mountain tops om 2m was W1AIM on double hop meteor scatter in the mid 80s, a range of 2150 miles. The mobile setup commonly worked 300-400 miles in motion, and was used often on rover expeditions. With many mountains, it became "policy" to always exceed 10,000' elevation on any cross-country trip.

Packet Radio

As packet radio began in the early 1980s, it occurred to me that it might be worth trying for meteor scatter. It was eventually determined as not being suitable, but the concept emerged successfully many years later in the WSJT software. I was the first station on packet radio in the state of Utah, building a TAPR TNC-1. Many various packet products have been used over the years. To boost activity in Utah, I helped form the Utah Packet radio Association, and was UPRA's president for several years. UPRA also assisted TAPR by building the experimental Network Node Controllers. My interest in VHF DX'ing with packet radio led me to successfully try FM packet radio to W7ID in Boise, 250 miles away. The path was tropo-scatter all the way, and after an hour the first response came as "W7ID Busy". I immediately tried connecting to Rod W7ZRC via W7ID as a digipeater, which worked very well while the short signal enhancement lasted.