Welcome the Amateur Radio Station of Jerry Perlman W4SGA

My initial interest in radio dates back to about 1962. My dad got us a Hallicrafters S53-A receiver and strung a wire antenna up between some trees. I listened to stations from around the world and eventually covered the walls of my room with QSL cards from all over the world. I listened to the HAM bands a lot. I also remember listening to police, taxis and some old radio telephones back then on another radio we obtained about the same time. Somewhere around 1965 my Dad introduced me to a friend of his that was a HAM, an old pharmacist that lived across the street from my Grandmother on 52nd street in Savannah. I spent time with him listening and learning radio and electronic theory. But when it came to learning the code I couldn't do it. As hard as I tried I just didn't get it. So I became a listener, an SWL enthusiast, and was satisfied with that as a kid until I discovered girls, photography, rock and roll music and then broadcasting.

When the FCC dropped the code requirement for the Technician's ticket I knew it was time to get into the hobby.

I earned my no code tech ticket under the new rules at the first testing session I could find. My buddy Lyndy Brannen (now ND4XE) and I went to the Charleston, SC Hamfest in 1991 and took and passed the test. My given call at that time was KC4YEC.

I was very active for about 5 years on VHF and UHF from my QTH on Tybee Island, Georgia. It was an ideal location for working stations up and down the eastern seaboard. I was quite active on all the bands from 50Mc through 70cm.

When the Internet came along in the mid 1990’s and computers starting to really become the tools of choice in my business, television broadcasting, my attention was diverted from HAM radio to computers. I also moved from my original HAM QTH on Tybee to another place and lost my antenna farm.

I was off the air until October of 2006. That’s when my friend Mark Eversoll (KQ4WT) gave me some of his old radio gear so I set it up and got back on the air on the 146.970 repeater in Savannah. I connected with some old friends and made a lot of new ones.

And that started it all again. I got the bug again. I became active once again on all the bands I had privileges on as a Technician.

Soon after becoming active again my buddy Lyndy told me about the vanity call program that had come about while I was inactive, so I checked that out.

While I was exploring the database of unused calls I discovered that W4SGA was available. Everyone that is about my age or older that grew up around Savannah Georgia in the 60's - early 80's knew this radio station the "Rocking 140 WSGA". It was a 1000 watt day/250 watt night AM station on 1400 that was the local rocker and EVERYONE listened to it.

It was also the first radio station were I was exposed to the world of broadcasting and my friends there got me into the industry.

So I was simply stunned !! I couldn't believe that call sign was up for grabs. So I paid for it and got it.

So as a tribute to all the guys that were "Goodtimers" on WSGA 1400 AM in Savannah, I honor them by keeping their call alive and on the air. And I sure love saying it.

OK, so I had the bug again. And I now had the ideal spot for transmitting here at my new house on the Ogeechee River in South Bryan County, EM91, near Richmond Hill, Georgia. I have ample real estate for any kind of antenna I might want to put up and a large area for a radio shack in my shop downstairs.

This is my QTH on the Ogeechee River in Bryan County Georgia. The wooded area on the right side of the house in this picture is where all my antennas are discreetly located. Most of the bottom floor of the house is my radio shack.

About that time the FCC made the best decision regarding HAM radio it had made since dropping the code requirement for the Technician class license, it was dropping that damn code requirement for all license classes. In my opinion this was the best move the FCC could have made to advance the hobby and remove what I considered an artificial filter that had been in place way too long. Removing the code requirement has brought some of the best and brightest new operators to the hobby in numbers we have not seen since the 1950's.

So like I did in 1991 I studied and took the test at the first testing session I could find and earned my general class ticket and got on the air on HF.

Since then I have made HAM radio my number one hobby and enjoy every moment I am able to indulge in it.

I operate on the HF bands 80-10 as well as 6 meters, 2 meters and 70cm. My primary modes of operation are SSB and AM on HF but recently I have added a Tigertronics Signalink USB box to my Yaesu 857D and I'm having a blast with PSK31. I plan to explore more digital modes this winter.

Drop me a note if you want to try a contact on any band I can work. 73 - Jerry Perlman - W4SGA

Let me tell you about the radio club I belong to - CARS-Savannah - W4LHS

The Coastal Amateur Radio Society

I have been elected as a board member of my local amateur radio club, CARS, The Coastal Amateur Radio Society and am honored to help serve the club and the amateur community. I am a member of several committees and I will do my best to improve what the club provides to it's members and further the state of the art of the hobby, and most of all, try to do contribute to what a club should provide for it's members - fun.

I am a member of the website committee and would appreciate your input on what you would like from an amateur radio club website.

I also consider myself an ambassador for the club and would like to invite all of you hundreds of HAM's in our area to check out the website from time to time to look for new stuff, try out our new repeaters, and maybe join us for breakfast or come to a meeting.

Our club Website is W4LHS.com. Our club call is the former call sign of J. Curtis Lewis, now a silent key.

Ed Bigbie, W4MMQ, obtained Mr. Lewis' call for us recently so we could show our respect for his contributions to the club and the amateur radio community of Savannah Georgia. Curtis was a member, benefactor was a very influential member of the Savannah Georgia amateur community. We owe a lot to Curtis for what he did to advance the state of the art of HAM radio in Savannah.

You can reach me or any other member of CARS-Savannah by e-mail using the member's call @ CARS-Savannah.org anytime to reach a member.

Our club publishes a monthly newsletter, Groundwaves, edited by Mac, KF4LMT. We encourage the contribution of articles. You can submit articles directly to Mac at Groundwaves@CARS-Savannah.org.

The latest edition of the Groundwaves newsletter can be viewed by clicking here.

Recent improvements have been made to some of the repeaters the club operates and maintains. I think our147.330 repeater located on the tower of the TV station I work for, WSAV-TV/DT on Victory Drive across from Daffin park in Savannah at about 385 feet now the flagship for our club. That baby works!!

Ed Bigbie enlisted the help of our Director of Engineering, Lowell Beckner, N4ZLJ and between the 2 of them they were able to do what I had been working on management to do for 12 years with no success - get a really good repeater up on that tower in the middle of town. They just aren't making places like that anymore. My thanks to both of them for what they have done to help us all enjoy the hobby. They both put in a lot of effort, time and planning and none of it was cheap. The entire system from the bottom to the top is first class gear and the installation is the best I've ever seen.

It is a wide area repeater and can be worked with an HT from almost anywhere in the Savannah Metro area. This repeater has a PL access tone of 203.5Hz. WSAV has a huge generator and massive fuel tank so this repeater will remain on the air as long as that tower on Victory Drive is standing. SO far it's been there since 1959 so I think the odds are good it will remain on the air in an emergency. Oh, and I forgot to mention, the entire bottom of the rack cabinet is filled with big batteries and another backup.

CARS also has the only UHF repeater in the area on the air. It's frequency is 442.70 and is located on the 1500 foot tall broadcast tower owned by WSAV located on Little Neck Road at US 17 in Chatham County. Look for upgrades coming soon to our antenna system located above the 800 foot level.

CARS also has it's original repeater the 146.700 repeater back on the air. It is also located on the WSAV tower on Little Neck road. The source of the interference that made it virtually unusable for years, the Georgia Public Radio station transmitter has been moved and Ed Bigbie tells me it's working like a champ. It has a PL tone of 100Hz.

Please feel free to use these repeaters at any time. You'll find a lot of the club members hanging out there.

The Soundcard Oscilloscope

Some fellas from Pennsylvania that I met late one night on 60 meters turned me on to this soundcard based oscilloscope that is very useful and really cool to use.

The Soundcard Oscilloscope receives its data from the Soundcard in your or from an external soundcard interface like the Signalink USB from Tigertronics with 44.1kHz and 16 Bit resolution. The data source can be selected in the Windows mixer (Microphone, Line-In or Wave). The frequency range depends on the sound card, but 20-20000Hz should be possible with decent to good modern sound cards. The low frequency end is limited by the AC coupling of the line-in signal. The oscilloscope contains a signal generator for 2 channels for Sine, Square, Triangular and Sawtooth wave forms in the frequency range from 0 to 20kHz. These signals are available at the speaker output of your sound card. These can be fed back to the oscilloscope in order to generate Lissajous figures in the x-y mode.

The software is FREE from the author Christian Zeitnitz. He is very adamant that it is free to the point that a dialog box pops up each time you open the program that you have to OK telling you if someone has charged you for it you should kick their ass.

He makes it clear also that he does not want any financial support but also not to expect any technical help. As his website states "Do not expect any help with your individual sound problems. Its up to you to solve these problems related to your installation".

So there you go. Check it out and enjoy. It works really well.

A few thoughts on a great product, and it's free - Ham Radio Deluxe Software

I want to brag on the amateur radio software Ham Radio Deluxe by Simon Brown HB9DRV for a moment. It has been a part of my radio room since day one. If you have a modern radio and a computer in your radio shack you really owe it to yourself to check out this great, free software. It is about the best accessory that I can think of to add to your radio. It interfaces with most modern radios and takes all the functions and controls, some of which are buried behind multiple presses of the function key and layers of menus, and puts them right there on the screen along with all important operating parameters. HRD connects to your radio through the CAT interface connection and then to your computer. You can pay retail price and buy the CAT cable from Yaesu or your radio maker or buy an aftermarket cable on ebay. In my case, the Yaesu cable was an old style serial connection so in part that dictated the computer I am using for radio control. On ebay you can get a pre-made cable that connects to a USB port. I didn't know this when I got mine. I have a computer dedicated to operation of the radio but might also open an internet browser, but that's about all I run on it.

Setup and connection was super easy and the first time I used my radio I had it connected to the computer using HRD software. I cannot imagine using this tiny (but great) radio any other way. About the only controls I ever touch on the radio are the on/off button, the button to activate the 60 meter band and the tuning knob. I still like to spin the knob, which instantly reads out on the screen via Ham Radio Deluxe. Every other control; band changes, recalling from memory, or any operating control other than the few I mentioned I control from the interface screen. HRD allows customization of the GUI so you can really make it look any way you want. I change mine constantly, making little tweaks here and there now that I have settled on a basic layout.

HRD contains the best logging software I have ever seen. It opens as a tab on the operating screen. It interfaces with QRZ to fill in information and it records time, frequency, virtually everything from the radio as you log to call. It contains extensive data handling capabilities such as tracking status of QSL's etc. There is a satellite tracking program as part of the program that works great and it handles all the digital modes, but I have yet to use them.

Oh, and I forgot to mention you can run your radio from a remote location, like in another room on a laptop or desktop computer. This is a really great feature I seldom take advantage of but it is there and works great. I have not tried it over the internet outside my home network but I understand it works that way too.

And best of all, it's free !!

You've got to check it out. Go to http://hrd.ham-radio.ch/

To all my new friends all over the world working PSK31

Thank you all for your contacts. QSL information at the end of this page. I plan to send out QSL cards on a regular basis and if you send me a card do not worry about sending a SASE. I will gladly pay return postage no matter where you are.

As I said earlier I recently added a Tigertronics Signalink USB box to my station and it was simple to configure, install and get on the air. I am using it with my Yaesu 857D controlled using HRD (Ham Radio Deluxe) software and my primary digital software is the integrated DM780 software. It all works great. Thank you all for the help offered on the air and by e-mail to get me up and running just right. Looking forward to making many more contacts on this and the other digital modes.

The 60 Meter Band - The Hidden Jewel of HAM Radio

No matter what time of day I turn on the HF radio I immediately tune to the 60 meter band. There is a lot of activity on the band in the morning when I am getting out of the house to head to work, and a nice group seems to gather each evening about sunset usually before I get home. Heard here usually on channels 2 and 4, (what the heck is that digital stuff on channel 3 and where is it coming from) and lately the band is pretty hot. There is a lot of mobile activity. I am talking to a lot really nice fellas pretty regularly from out as far as Arizona and Missouri down to Florida and up to West Virginia and all points in between. I've even made some DX contacts from Central America, The Caribbean and one HAM in the UK I've talked to twice in the middle of the night.

This is really a fun band and one I consider a "gentlemen's" band (not that bad behavior is a real problem these days on any band like it used to be). Everyone is on equal footing and that foothold is within reach of every HAM at a modest investment. Since maximum ERP is 50 watts no one is trying to blow the other guy away with more power and massive beam antennas. QRP is common. Everyone is courteous and abides by the rules, as far as I have observed. Since this band is shared with government users and essentially on loan to Amateurs, and everyone using it knows it, we're setting an example so perhaps we can be granted more spectrum in the band at some time in the future. There is an official push going on right now to do that. Sometimes this band is real quite. Good microphones, great audio and antennas are the focus of the people using and experimenting on this band. Wire antennas seem to be most common but I have encountered few users of verticals.

Recently I've added an antenna the plans of which were passed on to me by someone I was talking to on 60 meters. Plans for that antenna were recently featured in QST magazine. It works great on 60 as well as several other bands.

I may also build a vertical antenna for this band from plans passed on from others that have built them that I have talked to on 60 meters. Since I am located on the bank of a salt water river and have the room for a ground field I think I am in the perfect location for doing that.

This is a channelized band unlike all the other HF bands and most older radios, although you can receive on your general coverage receiver, they can't transmit on it. The process for making my FT-857 operate on this band was not intuitive at all. I had to get the book out to use it the first time. Tuning up has been a challenge without an auto tuner.

But it has been a lot of fun. I've sent and received a lot of QSL cards with folks and send cards to most people I make contact with on this band.

So now after settling back into the hobby after many years off I'm finding 60 meters as a nitch I like. Of course I'm still operating on the other bands but this is rapidly becoming my favorite.

Antennas in the attic

The final thing a wanted to mention was I took down all my outside scanner, UHF and VHF antennas and put them in my attic. Ken Griffin, W4JKG gave me the idea. He has a bunch of antennas in his attic and performance is great. I was put over the top after talking for some time to Bob Harmon, W4WTO when I found out he has an antenna farm in his attic too. I read as much as I could find on the subject and found this is very popular particularly in antenna restricted areas, which, fortunately is not the case here. I was only worried about attenuation from the roof materials but so far no problems from that either. I have a 4 story house with a full sized, walk up, unfinished attic that made this a very easy project. A hell of a lot easier than erecting and taking down push up poles outside that were never as tall as my house. And getting up on the roof was just out of the question. On a one story house when you are up on a roof you can always rationalize you might just get hurt badly if you fall. From the roof of a 4 story house with a steep pitch I believe certain death is probably going to be outcome of any fall. So the roof was not an attractive option. Ken loaned me his MFJ antenna analyzer and I was able to decrease my db loss considerably with shorter feed lines and I will also decrease my chances of lightning hits and weathering of connections. Adjustments are as easy as walking up the stairs. This was a great idea that has increased my transmitting and receiving ability by several fold. I have also increased antenna height by no less than 10 feet. The fact that the antennas are in the attic seem to be transparent so far. I am hearing things on my scanners I never heard before, and hitting repeaters 80-125 miles out solidly and regularly. If you've been thinking about doing this don't delay, just do it. It's a great idea and a simple solution. Be sure to stay as far away from wiring and if there are walls or areas with foil backing this could present a problem. But otherwise a far better idea than risking falling from a roof.

Marconi the HAM KITTY calls the shack home