One ham radio activity that I enjoy is chasing special events. Special events are when a station goes on the air to celebrate a historical or public event. You may find them on the air for a festival, commemorating some thing or some one, or even marking a moment in time. Special events are fun to chase and they are fun to be a part of.
This week’s video is all about one of the largest and most popular summertime special events, the 13 Colonies Special Event. This event commemorating the American Revolution and our Independence as a nation is the topic of this week’s video: Celebrate Independence with the 13 Colonies Special Event: https://youtu.be/9or1QQ0MVZM
Daryl, K4DCP, was extremely gracious in sitting down with me to talk about the special event and the plans that K2J, the North Carolina event station, is up to. Whether you are a newcomer or this event is old hat for you, I’m sure the twists that K2J are adding will add an extra level of enjoyment.
The 13 Colonies Special Event runs from 1300 UTC July 1 to 0400 UTC July 8. Good luck and I hope you get a ‘clean sweep.’
Field Day Musing
Last week I mentioned that I’m planning to build a vertical delta loop antenna for this year’s event. I love to put to experimental antennas on the air during the event and this year the delta loop has captured my attention.
This last week I assembled a 20 meter delta loop and did some tests. I haven’t put it on the air yet, but the data I collected in my back yard has got me going in the right direction. First off all, this online calculator seems pretty spot on>: https://portable-antennas.com/deltalp.php I used the dimensions for my 20 meter loop and according to my analyzer, the dip was spot on.
The bad news is that the dip had the lowest SWR of 2.8:1. This is a corner fed loop and I was using a 4:1 transformer for my feed point. This brought the characteristic impedance down to almost 20 ohms. I chatted with Dave about this and he said that corner fed delta loops will usually be about 120 ohms at the feed point, so a 4:1 balun is way to much. He suggested using a 2:1 transformer. Further testing was interrupted by rain, so its off to the workbench to build a 2:1 balun. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
On a side note, I’ve pretty much abandoned my plans for building a 40 meter delta loop. After seeing the amount of physical space the 20 meter model occupies, I know a larger one won’t fit the campsite I’m planning to operate from. Who knows, maybe with a tuner I’ll be able to get the smaller one on the 40 meter band, we’ll see what happens.
Finishing up
We’ll be on the road yet again this weekend. This time to the Madeline Island in Lake Superior’s beautiful Chequamegon Bay. We head up to the island a couple times of year, it’s our favorite spot to rest and relax. It also gives me a chance to put two seldom activated parks on the air US-1439 Big Bay State Park and US-4244 Big Bay Sand Spit and Bog. Since you need to take a ferry to get to the island, activations tend to be a little more deliberate. Weather permitting, I will be on the shores of Lake Superior, putting these parks on the air.
I hope to get you in the log.
Michael
KB9VBR
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