AmateurRadio.com

A fellow blogger, Brick O’Lore, wrote me with a question that I don’t have a good answer for.  Would anyone care to weigh in on this?

I’d like to add a 2M mobile rig in my wife’s car. Sounds simple enough, but the trick is that I need something that is as small as possible and will have a really neat installation. I’d prefer to have a mobile rig that I can wire in (power and an antenna) and see the display (versus cobbling together something with an HT). A detachable  faceplate/remote would be fine. I want 2M to hit the repeaters – any other bands or advanced features would be a bonus, but not required. The car is a 7 year-old Audi A4 and there is very little room in the footwells. It does have a neat feature – a drawer under each of the front seats. So what’s small and installs such that it will score well on the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) scale?

My suspicion is that there are a lot of good choices — and none are going to be particularly “affordable.”  If you have a photo of your creative radio installation that might help others, send it to me (editor at amateurradio dot com) and I’ll attach it to this post.  I think that would be especially helpful.  If not, your insight and tips via comments are always very much appreciated!

I wanted to take a quick moment to welcome AmateurRadio.com’s newest sponsor, HamSphere.

For those who may not be familiar, HamSphere is a virtual ham radio “simulator.”  It doesn’t use RF — instead, hams communicate over the Internet with simulated interference, propagation, and more.

You can download software for PC, Mac, or Linux and try out the service free for a limited time.

Thanks for checking them out and remember that it’s the generosity of sponsors like HamSphere that helps pay for our hosting and bandwidth and, ultimately, keeps AmateurRadio.com “on the air.”

Have you tried HamSphere?  Share your thoughts….

I’m planning on buying a small multi-mode HF rig for a relative who has recently become a ham.  It’s been a very, very long time since I’ve bought a radio (used or otherwise).  I’m polling the readership for opinions of the very best choice.

Ah, what do I mean by “best”?

Here are my criteria:

• Affordable
  Browsing eBay and the other ham classified sites, there is quite a range of prices for used HF gear.  I don’t really have a price in mind, but I am looking for a good value. As I can buy a new radio for about $600, I would say that the cost would have to be under $500 in the used market.
• Reliable
  The radio should probably be solid-state.
• Portable
  Should be able to be taken “backpack portable”

I would love to be in a position to spring for an Icom IC-7000, IC-718 or an Yaesu FT-817. They’re beautiful rigs, but I just don’t have the cash to spring for one.

What do you recommend?  What’s the best value for your money?

Does anyone out there have any suggestions for an Android or iOS smartphone app to help learn Morse code and improve speed and accuracy?  I’ve been poking around the App Store and Android Market.  There are MANY choices and I’m hoping someone will be able to save me a little time and frustration.

Something’s come over me lately.  I’ve had this renewed interest in learning Morse code.  Well, not really “learning” — more like “re-learning.” I had to learn the code when I became licensed twenty years ago, but like most things I studied at the time, I promptly forgot it after the test was over.  What a shame, really.  I honestly viewed it as an antiquated, useless requirement.  I never imagined that I’d ever want to use it.

I’m looking for a new challenge.  For me, I think that challenge is QRP CW.  I love this hobby.  There are so many aspects that it literally can take a lifetime to explore them all.

I was perusing HRO’s website this morning and noticed that they’ve apparently launched an auction page. It looks like they’ve gone to an auction model to move damaged box and scratch’n’dent merchandise.  You’ll have to watch closely, however, as you can’t see the price that previous items sold for.  It also doesn’t look like it will notify you if someone outbids you.  Will be interesting to see if there are any deals to be had.

As first reported on the Southgate site:

CQ Communications, Inc., will launch multi-platform digital editions of all of its magazine titles before the end of 2011, Publisher Richard Ross, K2MGA, announced today.

Those titles include CQ Amateur Radio (CQ magazine), CQ VHF, Popular Communications and WorldRadio Online. Many CQ book titles are already available in digital form on CD.

“The digital editions will supplement, not replace, current print editions, and will feature enhancements not possible in the print medium,” said Editorial Director Rich Moseson, W2VU.

“Versions will be available for a variety of online and mobile platforms* and will be hosted by Zinio, one of the top names in the e-magazine hosting business. This will assure that our magazines will always be able to take advantage of new technology when it becomes available.”

Examples of features that will be possible in the digital editions include live links to all World Wide Web addresses listed in each issue, as well as supplemental content, such as photo albums, audio and video files, software and more. “Imagine reading an article about meteor scatter and being able to listen to a meteor scatter contact with a click of a mouse,” said Moseson, “or reading an ad for a piece of new gear and being able to click directly to a video explaining its features. All of this and more will be possible in our digital editions.”

“At the same time,” he added, “the print editions will retain their unique characteristics, such as portability, the tactile experience of holding a magazine in your hands, no need for batteries and the ability to continue reading on an airplane after you’ve been told to turn off all electronic devices!”

The digital launch will begin in late October with the November issue of an enhanced, multi-platform, version of WorldRadio Online, which will again become a paid-subscription publication; followed by November CQ, which, appropriately, is the magazine’s first annual Technology Special. The fall issue of CQ VHF and the December issue of Popular Communications will round out the introductions. Digital editions will be available by single copy and by subscription.

Details will be in the near future in the magazines and on all CQ Communications websites.

(*Initially, digital editions will be compatible with the following platforms:
PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android 2.0 and higher.)

In light of the recent discussions here about World Radio going digital, is anyone surprised?  I remember when one of my favorite titles, PC Magazine, went to Zinio.  I tried it but could never get used to it.  Then, awhile later, they discontinued their print version. I never read another issue.

CQ Communications has seemed to embrace the “walled garden” of their print magazine instead of publishing articles on their website. This is an understandable business decision, but I think that they’ve missed an opportunity to build their online brands in trying to protect their paper magazines. Again, not sure that I’d do it differently. But looking at PC Magazine’s website, it seems that most content is now available free online. Granted, some will enjoy the magazine-like interface that Zinio offers, with their animated page turns, etc.

One line from this press release struck me as kind of funny:

Examples of features that will be possible in the digital editions include live links to all World Wide Web addresses listed in each issue, as well as supplemental content, such as photo albums, audio and video files, software and more.

Photo albums? Audio and video files? Live links to World Wide Web addresses?  These sound like cutting edge features. In 1996.  It has to be more than this to get people’s attention — and money.

The folks at CQ may have no choice but to start the process of moving to digital distribution with the magazine publishing business being as it is.  I desperately want to see this effort succeed.  We can’t afford to lose another great magazine.  CQ is smart to keep its print editions, at least for now.  But I believe that most hams will not pay for a digital-only magazine — at least not yet.  I hope I’m wrong.

Bob Heil, K9EID, of Heil Sound and Ham Nation fame sent me this e-mail which may interest clubs looking to expand their educational offerings:

Of interest to all clubs in the UK or actually just about anywhere,  I have been doing workshops for radio club meetings using SKYPE. This is a fantastic use of technology.   The club brings in a projectoror large TV driven by a computer connected to high speed Internet and through SKYPE we communicate two way.  It helps the many clubs – no matter the size to have fun, educational and entertaining programs for their meetings.Let all of your readers know that we are available to do this.  Address inquiries to me, Bob Heil   [email protected]  or Gordon West at [email protected].