Author Archive
KA9Q on Rebooting ISEE3
August 17th, 2014 | 
Author: Phil Karn, KA9Q is an Internet pioneer with his name on at least six RFC‘s. Best known in the world of amateur radio for his KA9Q NOS as well as numerous AMSAT satellite communications projects.
Retired from Qualcomm, Karn seems to be staying busy with other interesting projects — like this one.
Phil Karn on the reboot of the 1978 International Sun/Earth Explorer-3 (ISEE-3)/ (International Cometary Explorer) from InterWorking Labs on Vimeo.
Filed under: Ham Radio Tagged: amsat, ka9q, satellite, space, video 
Time Passages
Shortwave Broadcasting is Dead
Who among us didn’t get baptized in ham radio via shortwave listening? A special committee on the future of shortwave broadcasting paints a grim picture. “While there is still a critical need for shortwave in key countries, it is a medium of marginal and continuously declining impact in most markets.” The report said that even in countries where shortwave radio enjoys significant usage levels, “audiences will migrate to other platforms as they become more accessible.”
QRP Blog Ends Syndication
W2LJ decided to end the syndication of his ham radio blog on AmateurRadio.com, a popular blog aggregator. I don’t know how long his posts had been picked up and re-broadcast there, but it’s been available for quite some time. His explanation was guarded, though he did write that it was a decision he’s been mulling “since this past Easter”. He also mentioned that not all his musings are about ham radio, some of them detail his religious beliefs and that may have played a factor.
Larry says his blog will remain open for business.
Leaving TenTec
In other passages, Jim Wharton, NO4A has resigned from TenTec. He assumed day-to-day operation of the company as President in January of this year when Jack Burchfield, K4JU retired.
This is likely related to the new association with RF Concepts and the assessment of the need for multiple leaders as a result of the merger. Or Wharton found a better gig. Or maybe TenTec really is going belly-up. Hard to say as the situation there seems anything but predictable…
Adventure Tuner Kit
The Adventure Tuner Kit from SOTABEAMS is an affordable small project suitable for beginners and pros who will end up with a useful wire antenna tuner. According to SB:
It’s an L network tuner – but with a difference: the L network is bi-directional to increase the matching flexibility of the tuner. Both sides of the L network can be used for the antenna or the radio. It’s got co-ax socket on both sides of the network too so it can be used to extend the useful tuning range of narrow-band co-ax fed antennas – such as making an 80 m dipole usable across the whole band.
The inductance is provided with switched inductors giving a range of 0 – 5.6 uH in 0.1 uH steps. Hyper-bright LEDs indicate antenna current to aid tuning. They are in circuit all the time to give you reassurance that your system is working at peak efficiency. The typical matching range of the Adventure Tuner is 3.5 – 30 MHz.
It looks like another swell Saturday morning project melting solder followed by radio adventures from the field and shack.
What’s not to like?
Pursuit of Happiness
The Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2014, is a congressional effort to direct the FCC to extend the “reasonable accommodation” provision for ham radio antennas to include all types of land-use regulation, including deed restrictions and restrictive covenants. I predicted this would die a swift death, and while I still expect it to fail to become law, the “swift” part may not come to pass as the bill continues to gain co-sponsors.
So while that works its way through the political maze in Washington, it has sparked a more interesting debate in the world of amateur radio. Most of us might expect the fraternity to embrace any regulation that benefits us, yet a few cracks of dissension have started to show. Beginning with an appearance on HamRadioNow (#158) by Mike Alexander, N8MSA who cited his libertarian view that the government shouldn’t get involved in private contracts.
While his is far from the prevailing view, I’ve been surprised by the number of hams who have adopted it as their own and are reciting it in online forums, mailing lists, and social media.
Though I have my own reservations about shoving ham radio down the throats of muggles via government legislation, I also find a chuckle or two in the notion that this is a desirable libertarian cause. I mean come on, ham radio inhabits a swath of radio spectrum that can only be used by federally licensed devotees. The entire notion of a select group of citizens being exclusively handed publicly owned radio spectrum is anti-libertarian. For the true zealot, the proper view would be that the airwaves belong to “we the people”, not the federal government, who should auction it off to the highest bidder and get out of the business of regulating it altogether.
You might have a more difficult time finding any supporters for that kind of political correctness among the rank-and-file radio hobbyists.
What this really comes down to is decisions, choices, compromise, and the pursuit of happiness. One fellow’s 70-foot tower and antenna brings him happiness but ruins it for his neighbor. Another fellow wants his kids to go to the best schools, be near the amenities of city life — while abiding in a Norman Rockwell painting neighborhood — but he doesn’t want to agree not to plant an antenna farm in that Nirvana. Or worse, he does agree and signs on the dotted line, but now wants Uncle Sam to bail him out of his poor decision.
I understand the broader issue is much more complicated than that, but it’s tough to get much sympathy from those of us who made the decision to live outside the confines of fancy neighborhoods in favor of owning a home with no land-use restrictions.
But you can’t throw the baby out with the bath water. In a vacuum, local governments are as bound to overreach as the feds. Without legal protection, whose to say that some local tin-horn dictator won’t slap antenna restrictions on places that have never before heard of them? I like to think that PRB-1 provides that protection, but who knows?
It all feels a lot less reassuring when you read how an HOA expert interprets these things.
QRP Works – QRO Works Better
For more than a decade, beginning in 1996, I adopted the QRP lifestyle and had more fun building kits, learning about antennas, making friends and filling the log than I had during any other period of my many decades in the hobby. Granted, my goals during that period were modest, but I’ve never had much problem making contacts using QRP and CW with wire antennas.
Count me as a believer in the magic of QRP. But while contacts can be made using QRP, that doesn’t mean it’s always easy for the guy on the other end of the link, who may struggle mightily just so I could put him in the log and publicly proclaim, “QRP Works!” Low-power enthusiasts should always acknowledge that any success is not so much theirs as it is the guy on the other end of the contact.
Beyond that, admitting that there are benefits to be derived from generating a potent signal is important because they are many. You don’t read much about that in the posts of QRP blogs. Most seem to take great pleasure in pointing out that “QRP works” without mentioning the obvious — if low power CW works then high power CW works too.
This last weekend, John Shannon, K3WWP, a devoted QRP and CW enthusiast and co-founder of the North American QRP CW Club (NAQCC) surpassed the 20 year point in a continuing “streak” of days (7,305) making at least one CW contact. Using low-power and simple wire antennas. From a less than desirable HF radio location. It’s an impressive show of perseverance and tenacity that he says was done to show that QRP CW works. He wrote:
“This is dedicated to all those who say things like ‘You need high power, big antennas, and a great location to be able to make ham radio contacts’, or ‘Life is too short for QRP’, or ‘CW is dead’ and other such remarks denigrating QRP/CW.”
But I would suggest that there are fewer operators who claim “QRP doesn’t work”, than there are QRP enthusiasts willing to concede that finding a potent signal that pops out of the noise floor is one of the great joys of abiding in the shortwaves.
The “right tool for the right job” is an eternal wisdom. It’s always been good advice. “If all you have is a hammer, every problem begins to look like a nail” is another nugget of wisdom. Putting them together and stretching them to fit, I came up with a corollary:
If all you want to use is QRP, you’ll spend your life preaching how well it works.
Common sense, and physics, support the notion that if a five watt CW signal can be copied, a 1,000 watt signal will be easier to copy despite the vagaries of propagation, QRN, and QRM — though you won’t find that truism bandied about much.
QRP Works – QRO Works Better.
I’m going to have that tee-shirt made. Who wants one?
Five Ways IRLP is Better Than D-STAR
The history of the Internet Radio Linking Project (IRLP) goes all the way back to the last century when David Cameron, VE7LTD created it. His was an effort to link repeater systems across Canada using the Internet. Since then, the system has evolved, matured and grown. And it’s still growing. Today, there are nearly 1700 active nodes around the globe.
I built an IRLP node (4212) way back in 2003 and have operated it as a simplex UHF node in my home ever since. With it and my handheld transceiver, I’m only ever just a few touch-tone presses from linking my system to repeaters and other simplex nodes around the planet.
These days, much attention is heaped on D-STAR, the growing digital network promoted by ICOM. Digital systems have some advantages that might be very useful going forward in the amateur service. I use and support the continued deployment of D-STAR, but if you’re thinking about diving into linked systems, I can think of five good reasons why IRLP should be considered before taking the digital plunge:
- IRLP uses standard FM. There are few radio amateurs who don’t already have a standard two meter or 440 transceiver at their disposal. D-STAR equipment is generally more expensive, and it obsoletes perfectly good hardware.
- D-STAR systems usually require all new repeater hardware. IRLP can make use of existing, standard FM repeater installations with the addition of some simple equipment. Clubs don’t have to chuck their previous investment in their repeater system to deploy IRLP.
- If you can push-to-talk and press a few touch-tone keys, you can link your local IRLP system to others. D-STAR equipment is much more complex to use. Programming software is generally employed to make the task of setting the new D-STAR radio up a bit easier but despite ICOM’s best efforts to make it simple, it remains a steep learning curve.
- The D-STAR system can be accessed directly via the Internet via the DV-Dongle. While this could be seen as an advantage, radio purists will blanch at the notion of operators “getting on the air” directly via the Internet. Sure, the Internet provides the backbone for IRLP, but it’s a system design requirement that real radios are required on both ends of an IRLP link. That’s why VE7LTD used the “keeping the radio in ham radio” motto.
- And then there’s the audio. Listening to an FM transmission from a properly adjusted ham radio repeater is a joy. D-STAR audio on the other hand is compressed, tinny-sounding. It’s not a showstopper and most D-STAR fans will tell you they have grown to prefer the pinched audio. Still, the first impression of many is that the audio is painfully compressed.
I might also add that IRLP is available over a wider geographic region than D-STAR. That’s probably due to its ease of deployment, lower investment, and the five year head start it has on digital systems.
Linked VHF/UHF repeater systems aren’t for everyone, but I see plenty of utility in amateur radio having its own “intercom” system that provides reliable, stable, enjoyable communications — when the Internet is up and all systems are “go”.
Long Shadows of Summer
When I got home from work last night I quickly mowed the lawn because the weatherman said there was a sixty percent chance of rain on Saturday and Sunday and I wanted to get ahead of the game. After working in the yard I plopped down in the shack to see if I couldn’t make quick work of the W1AW/1 and W1AW/9 portable stations.
Worked them both within a whisker of each other on 40 meter CW then worked them both again later on 80 meter CW for insurance. I didn’t think the Indiana station would be difficult, but I wasn’t quite as confident about Rhode Island but all’s well that ends well and both are logged and another week of the QSO Party is behind us.
Given that the weatherman said it would probably rain, I shouldn’t have been surprised to wake up this morning to sunshine and blue skies. I swear the weather prognosticators are getting worse at their jobs even as technology has delivered into their hands unfair advantage over the elements.
Brenda says it’s because the weather has become “news” and all of them want to be the first to report a bad storm using giant touch-screens powered by super, frappa, chappa, slappa doomsday doppler radar systems.
She might be right…
Anyway, with the sun shining we hit the local farmers market early this morning and picked up more sweet corn, tomatoes, and a great big melon. And get this, the guy who was selling from the back of his melon truck, told everyone who would listen that he would be back in two weeks — with apples.
Yep, the days are ticking away and the orchards around here are near to busting with autumn goodies. Another cold snap is due to arrive here on Monday and it looks like the first few nights of August could break a few records.
Not to worry though, I’m certain there remains yet a few more days of blistering heat before Summer yields to Fall, but we’re on the backside of 2014 with school days and sweet apple cider coming up fast.
Filed under: Ham Radio, Life Tagged: cw, hr, qso
