Show Notes

Featured Topic:

• John Burwell, KI5QKX talking to us about 44Net
  • ARDC - https://lhs.fyi/MF
  • Portal AMPR - https://lhs.fyi/MD
  • 44Net Connect - https://lhs.fyi/ME

Announcements & Feedback:

• Announcements:
  • Support the show!  
    • Support us via Patreon, Paypal, Merch, Sharing the Podcast via Social Media, and Rating Us in your Podcast Application! Your support allows us to continue to pay to host and produce the 18 years of the podcast and participate in person at Hamvention!  We have $2/$5/$10 monthly subscriptions via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/cw/lhspodcast) or you can set up to send us a recurring payment ($2/$5/$10 monthly or $20 yearly) via PayPal ([email protected])
  • It’s (almost) our birthday!
    • The very first episode of LHS dropped on October 7, 2008.  Cheryl has been here from the beginning, silent until the episodes in the early 100’s (I was too busy chicken herding with Russ and Richard - then I got unceremoniously and unexpectedly popped into my current spot starting with episode #606) and Bill joined us on episode #168!  464 episodes as of tonight… he’s been a trooper!  I think we’re going to turn our early October 5th episode (NOTE:  We are not recording on Sunday, October 4th!) into a Birthday Party Episode!  Mark your calendar and make plans to join us!
  • Come hang out with us on Minecraft!
    • It’s been ages since we reminded folks about this, but… in case you missed it, we have 2 Minecraft Servers, and we’d love to have you join us.  And, to whoever left me the sign letting me know about the Creeper that blew up our train station… thanks!!  I think I’ve gotten the damage MOSTLY fixed! Connect with us to get you whitelisted
      • minecraft.lhspodcast.info
      • minecraft.bluecows.com
  • We need your feedback!
    • Comments, Questions, Show Topic Ideas! Go ahead and send us hate mail, too… we get bored and need something to read and comment on!  Email us at [email protected]
  • Memorial Service for Russ, K5TUX
    • There will be a memorial service held for Russ at our home in Mt. Vernon, Missouri on November 1, 2026.  Everyone is welcome!  If you’d like to join us, please send an email to [email protected] and we’ll send you more info!
    • Facebook event page: https://lhs.fyi/mem

Subscribers & Supporters:

• Paid Patreon
  • Rodney Norris
• Facebook
  • Siegrist Peter
• Discord
  • Bob (VK1ED)
  • cornergrove
  • jmbwell73
• Live Show Participants
  • Dan - KB6NU

For some time now, I’ve been following Q5 on YouTube. It covers many aspects of contesting, POTA, DXpeditions, and other areas of amateur radio.

Their latest video deals with the WRTC cheating controversy. It is a one-on-one interview with Braco, E77DX, and Sven, DJ4MX, from WRTC Team MB1I.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_1q8lqH4kI

If you’re interested, I’ve included the link below. If not, I would still encourage you to check out their YouTube channel. They have a large library of shows covering a wide range of amateur radio topics.

https://www.youtube.com/@q5hamradio 

We continued on our trip along the Lewis and Clark National Historical Trail, traveling across Montana and seeing many of the famous Lewis and Clark sites. We completed another 10 Parks On The Air activations along the way. The expedition took two different routes going westbound and coming back eastbound. We were not going to ... Read more

The post West Over Lemhi Pass appeared first on Above Average Terrain.

Show Notes

Featured Topic:

• Interview with Mooneer Salem, K6AQ, FreeDV Leadership Team, Developer
  • FreeDV Website: https://lhs.fyi/Cu
  • ARDC Press Release: https://lhs.fyi/MC

Announcements & Feedback:

• Announcements:
  • Support the show!  
    • Support us via Patreon, Paypal, Merch, Sharing the Podcast via Social Media, and Rating Us in your Podcast Application! Your support allows us to continue to pay to host and produce the 18 years of the podcast and participate in person at Hamvention!
  • Come hang out with us on Minecraft!
    • We have 2 Minecraft Servers, and we’d love to have you join us!
  • We need your feedback!
    • Comments, Questions, Show Topic Ideas! Email us at [email protected]
  • Memorial Service for Russ, K5TUX
    • There will be a memorial service held for Russ at our home in Mt. Vernon, Missouri on November 1, 2026.  Everyone is welcome!  If you’d like to join us, please send an email to [email protected] and we’ll send you more info!
    • Facebook event page: https://lhs.fyi/mem
• Feedback:
  • Email from Mike, AE8U
    • I am interested in the Ambassador Program. I am an avid Linux user and run my entire station with it. What is involved in the program? Also, I have developed a new Desktop application that has lots of features. It runs as a Browser app. It has a station startup tab, a Station operation tab, a logging tab - which includes linking to your WRL Logging, an Automatic FT8 function, a CW send/decode application, and lots more. It is designed to run in Debian, and I run it as a Linux Mint app. I plan to offer it for free just to promote our hobby once I am done with having it Beta Tested. If you are interested in checking it out, please email me with your GitHub username. 73 and all the best, Mike,  AE8U

Subscribers & Supporters:

• Paypal
  • Tony Coberly
• Discord
  • DigitalAddiction
  • themindiswatching [K6AQ]
• Live Show Participants
  • Don - KB2YSI
  • Dan - KB6NU

 I have been asked by a few bloggers for the details on what I did to overcome the issue with the blogs I follow widget with Blogger blogs not working. So below are the details of that I and AI together came up with. 

Those of you who have a blogger blog sign into it and on the left hand side go down to Layout and click on it. On the right side you will see "Add a Gadget" click on that to expand to a menu of Gadgets. Now find the Gadget called "HTML/JAVAScript" and click on that. 

A new HTML/JavaScript window will open and you first put a title. I just called it "Blogs I follow" In the the space below is where you add the HTML coding. This coding will add a new Blogs I follow to your blog. Below is the script and before you cut and paste it some changes need to be made from the code I posted. They are very easy changes and actually you really do not need to do anything as AI can make the changes for you. In the code you will notice a section STEP 1 and some instructions to enter your blog you follow URL's. An easy way to do this is to sign into your blog, go to layout and to the left you will see Gadgets. Look for the gadget "blogs I follow" in the lists of gadgets and click edit. Highlight all the URL's of the blogs your follow and post the code below into the AI of your choice and ask also paste the URL's of the blogs you follow and ask AI to add them at step 1 in the code. Then take this code with the URL's inserted and cut and paste it into the gadget HTML/JavaScript. Click save and give it a go in your blog. Also in the HTML code below is a line that will hide your gadget Blogs I follow. This way you do not have 2 Blogs I follow. 

 NOTE: Always keep a unedited version of the code incase something does not workout. The code below worked great for me but I take no responsibility how things may work out at your end. As a side... if you try the HTML/JavaScript and it messes things up just turn it off and go back to the broken gadget "Blogs I follow"   

The HTML code 

<div id="blogger-bloglist-feed">
  <p style="font-size: 0.9em; 
            color: #ffffff; 
            margin: 0;">
    Loading blog updates...
  </p>
</div>

<style>
  .bloglist-item {
    margin-bottom: 14px !important;
    padding-bottom: 10px !important;
    border-bottom: 1px dashed 
      rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.3) !important;
    font-family: inherit !important;
  }
  .bloglist-name {
    display: block !important;
    font-size: 1.05em !important;
    font-weight: bold !important;
    color: #ffffff !important;
    margin-bottom: 4px !important;
    line-height: 1.3 !important;
  }
  a.bloglist-link, 
  a.bloglist-link:visited {
    display: block !important;
    font-size: 1.0em !important;
    font-weight: normal !important;
    color: #ffffff !important;
    text-decoration: none !important;
    line-height: 1.3 !important;
  }
  a.bloglist-link:hover {
    text-decoration: underline !important;
  }
  .bloglist-date {
    font-size: 0.85em !important;
    color: #ffffff !important;
    margin-top: 3px !important;
    display: block !important;
    opacity: 0.9 !important;
  }
  /* Hides original broken gadget */
  #BlogList1 { 
    display: none !important; 
  }
</style>

<script>
(function() {

  /* ====================================
     STEP 1: ADD YOUR BLOGS HERE
     Copy your list of blog URLs and paste 
     them between the brackets [] below.
     ==================================== */
  var followedFeeds = [
    "http://ae5x.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default",
    "https://www.kb6nu.com/feed/",
    "http://w2lj.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default"
  ];
  /* ====================================
     DO NOT EDIT BELOW THIS LINE
     ==================================== */

  var container = 
    document.getElementById(
      "blogger-bloglist-feed"
    );
  var loadedCount = 0;
  var items = [];

  async function fetchXmlFallback(feedUrl) {
    try {
      var proxyUrl = 
        "https://api.allorigins.win/get?url=" + 
        encodeURIComponent(feedUrl);
      var res = await fetch(proxyUrl);
      var data = await res.json();
      if (!data.contents) return null;

      var parser = new DOMParser();
      var xmlDoc = 
        parser.parseFromString(
          data.contents, 
          "text/xml"
        );
      var item = 
        xmlDoc.querySelector("item") || 
        xmlDoc.querySelector("entry");
      if (!item) return null;

      var title = item.querySelector("title") ? 
        item.querySelector("title").textContent : 
        "Untitled";
      var link = item.querySelector("link") ? 
        item.querySelector("link").textContent : 
        "#";
      if (!link || link.trim() === "") {
        link = item.querySelector("link") ? 
          item.querySelector("link")
            .getAttribute("href") : "#";
      }

      var dateStr = 
        item.querySelector("pubDate") ? 
        item.querySelector("pubDate").textContent :
        (item.querySelector("published") ? 
         item.querySelector("published").textContent :
        (item.querySelector("updated") ? 
         item.querySelector("updated").textContent : ""));
      
      var blogTitle = 
        (xmlDoc.querySelector("channel > title") ? 
         xmlDoc.querySelector("channel > title").textContent :
        (xmlDoc.querySelector("feed > title") ? 
         xmlDoc.querySelector("feed > title").textContent : 
         "Blog"));

      var pubDateObj = new Date(dateStr);

      return {
        blogTitle: blogTitle,
        title: title,
        link: link,
        date: pubDateObj,
        dateStr: isNaN(pubDateObj) ? "" : 
          pubDateObj.toLocaleDateString(
            undefined, 
            { month: 'short', day: 'numeric' }
          )
      };
    } catch (e) {
      return null;
    }
  }

  followedFeeds.forEach(function(feedUrl) {
    var apiUrl = 
      "https://api.rss2json.com/v1/api.json?rss_url=" + 
      encodeURIComponent(feedUrl);

    fetch(apiUrl)
      .then(function(res) { 
        return res.json(); 
      })
      .then(async function(data) {
        if (data.status === "ok" && 
            data.items && 
            data.items.length > 0) {
          var blogTitle = 
            data.feed.title || "Blog";
          var latestPost = data.items[0];
          var pubDateObj = 
            new Date(latestPost.pubDate);

          items.push({
            blogTitle: blogTitle,
            title: latestPost.title,
            link: latestPost.link,
            date: pubDateObj,
            dateStr: isNaN(pubDateObj) ? "" : 
              pubDateObj.toLocaleDateString(
                undefined, 
                { month: 'short', day: 'numeric' }
              )
          });
        } else {
          var fallbackItem = 
            await fetchXmlFallback(feedUrl);
          if (fallbackItem) 
            items.push(fallbackItem);
        }
      })
      .catch(async function(err) {
        var fallbackItem = 
          await fetchXmlFallback(feedUrl);
        if (fallbackItem) 
          items.push(fallbackItem);
      })
      .finally(function() {
        loadedCount++;
        if (loadedCount === followedFeeds.length) {
          if (items.length > 0) {
            items.sort(function(a, b) { 
              return b.date - a.date; 
            });

            var htmlBuffer = "";
            items.forEach(function(item) {
              htmlBuffer += 
                '<div class="bloglist-item">';
              htmlBuffer += 
                '<span class="bloglist-name">' + 
                item.blogTitle + '</span>';
              htmlBuffer += 
                '<a class="bloglist-link" href="' + 
                item.link + 
                '" target="_blank" rel="noopener">' + 
                item.title + '</a>';
              if (item.dateStr) {
                htmlBuffer += 
                  '<span class="bloglist-date">' +
                  'Updated: ' + item.dateStr + 
                  '</span>';
              }
              htmlBuffer += '</div>';
            });
            container.innerHTML = htmlBuffer;
          } else {
            container.innerHTML = 
              "<p style='font-size:0.85em; " +
              "color: #ffffff;'>" +
              "No recent updates available.</p>";
          }
        }
      });
  });
})();
</script>



This is how the blog URL section looks in my HTML/JavaScrip gadget. 
<script>
(function() {
  var followedFeeds = [
    "http://ae5x.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default",
    "https://www.kb6nu.com/feed/",
    "http://w2lj.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default",
    "http://pa1b-qrp.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default",
    "https://ve7sar.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default",
    "https://swling.com/blog/feed/",
    "https://www.arrl.org/arrl.rss",
    "http://ve3clq.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default",
    "https://wb3gck.com/feed/",
    "https://tommcquiggan.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default",
    "http://ve3vn.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default",
    "https://ke9v.net/feed.xml",
    "https://kg3v.com/feed/",
    "http://offgridham.com/feed/",
    "http://pe4bas.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default",
    "https://qrper.com/feed/",
    "https://www.amateurradio.com/feed/",
    "https://k9zw.wordpress.com/feed/"
  ];

In this episode, we join Martin Butler M1MRB, Chris Howard (M0TCH), Martin Rothwell (M0SGL), Frank Howell (K4FMH), Bill Barnes (WC3B) and Leslie Butterfields (G0CIB) to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin Butler (M6BOY) rounds up the news in brief, and the episode's feature is What makes an Antenna Fail?

We would like to thank Daryll McCaffery (VK6DMC) and our and monthly and annual subscription donors for keeping the podcast advert free. To donate, please visit - http://www.icqpodcast.com/donate

• AMSAT Youth Initiative Launches Its Fifth Course: Satellites and Astronomy
• Remote FT8, No VPN Required: Say Hello to HamRadioWeb
• Two Years After Helene, Western North Carolina Builds a Radio Network That Won't Go Dark
• Route 66 Takes a Detour Onto the HF Highway
• North Dakota Hams Run a Full Communications Blackout Drill
• Icom Releases Firmware Update 1.03 for the IC-7300MK2
• 100 Years of the Yagi: Contest University Marks a Milestone Antenna Design