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Today, 14 August marks my 4th year as a licensed amateur radio operator.  I’ve done a lot in the hobby since getting my ticket and I look forward to each and every anniversary of not only having fun but also learning. 

As I have shared many times, amateur radio has always been in my life.  Yes, this is me as a young child (circa 1969-70) sitting down and pretending to talk on my Uncle’s ham station.  During the early 80’s I tried very hard to learn CW while fitting everything else in that a young teenage boy does in those years.  Simply put…I failed!  Between school, work, cars and girls….I failed to do what many have done.  Of course what I realize now (some 40 years after that photo was made) that the issues I experienced in trying to learn CW as a teenager is a lot of what I’m going through with earning my extra ticket.  I get serious about it (as I am now) and life throws me a curve and I have to shift priorities and by the time I get back around I’ve forgotten more of what I learned.  I’ve recently picked up the studies and my focus to finish this time is very strong.

Like I said, I’ve been licensed 4 years today and during this time, I’ve done a lot in the hobby and arguably perhaps too much at times, as I’ve often had to admit to myself that I was trying to catch up for lost time.  Regardless, I have very few regrets as I’ve always tried to follow the guidelines spelled out in the Radio Amateur’s Code and I have the most supportive wife who understands the importance of hobbies and the need to serve our communities. 

While one might not believe an adult can “grow and develop” any further just from a hobby, they probably don’t know anything about amateur radio.  Regardless if it is discovering a new mode, learning  something you didn’t know or working a new DX station, the hobby has given back to me in so many ways. 

I’ve met so many incredible people through this hobby, and many of you I consider very dear friends.  While some of you I’ve never met face to face, the help you’ve given me along with the knowledge we’ve shared and the friendship you’ve shown is perhaps my biggest accomplishment in the hobby.

My goals for the future are to strive to continue to learn, have fun and continue to build the friendships I have today and develop brand new ones along the way.  I know of no other hobby which opens the doors, knocks down the walls and creates friendships across nations like amateur radio.  I’m truly proud to be a part of this incredible fraternity of nation builders.

Thank you for allowing me to share my fourth year anniversary with all of you. 

73 de KD0BIK

I’m amazed that nearly four years into the wonderful hobby, I still find myself getting ‘as giddy as a schoolboy’ with some accomplishments in the amateur radio hobby.  Of course, this is just a reminder how how truly awesome this hobby of ours really is.

My first QSO as a licensed ham was made on 18 August 2008 on a local 2m repeater with WA0DFW.  I had only had my license a few days, but had spent time listening on the local repeater.  I took the advice of Gordon West and clearly stated, This is KD0BIK looking to make my first contact as a licensed ham.  Mo came back to me and we had a nice QSO.  Within about 5 minutes the rest of the afternoon repeater crowd had joined in and I was ‘smack dab’ in the middle of my first roundtable.   Mo was kind enough to invite me to send him a QSL card, which he would reciprocate to mark the occasion of my first ham radio QSO.  By the way, I made my first HF contact a little over a month later during a 10m DX contest.  The station was ZW5B (a contest station) in Brazil. 

If you have followed my blog over the years and also listen to my podcast, The Practical Amateur Radio Podcast you know I live in an HOA restricted neighborhood.  My restrictions state no outside antennas other than satellite and small digital TV antennas.  The policies also state permission must be received from the architectural review committee so they can approve placement of these antenna types.  So how do I operate HF?

I think the answer to that question is probably best answered in a future blog posting, so please stay tuned and I’ll add that to my long list of items to blog about.  I’ll just add that my antenna setup is as stealth as I can get it and do most of my HF operations on a 20m hamstick dipole.  This hamstick dipole has gained me many DX stations in my logbook.  I also have a Hustler 6BTV vertical which I use for 10, 30, 40 and 80m.  The 20m hamstick dipole really outperforms 20m from the vertical.  But I’ll save that discussion for another time.

I grew bored with what was on the “boob tube” (TV Set) and decided to go down to the shack to see what I could conjure up on the HF bands.  I had been working JT65-HF earlier in the evening and decided to see what was biting.  Within a half hour I had answered about four CQ’s and decided I should probably turn the radios off and head upstairs to read and study for the extra class license I’m working on.  My self-control just doesn’t allow me to study in the ham shack. Before I know it, I’ve turned on a radio or two and have Twitter, Facebook and Google+ all up and I’ve wasted time I could/should be using to study.  But before I shut down I decided I would answer one more stations CQ.  After all, why work just four stations when you can work five?

Much to my surprise the next station I saw calling CQ on JT65-HF was a VK station.  Without hesitation, I double-clicked on his entry and hit the “Answer CQ” button.  A few seconds later my Yaesu FT-897D started the 50 second transmit cycle.  This was one of the longest 50 seconds of my life and of course I would need to wait another minute to learn if the VK station copied my signal.  While I’ve worked many DX stations before on SSB, PSK, RTTY…this would be the first DX station using JT65-HF.  Fingers crossed, the next thing I would see would be his report to me and after his transmit cycle I wasn’t disappointed.  He had copied me and gave me a signal report of –20.  The complete JT65-HF QSO was complete a few minutes later after I sent his report (-16) and the final 73.  VK3BM became my first Australian JT65-HF contact and I was very pleased.

It wasn’t until this morning I realized the JT65-HF contact I had made with VK3BM was actually much more impressive.  VK3BM became not only my first JT65-HF contact in Australia, but my first Australian DX contact and of course my furthest contact ever made from my home QTH station at a distance of 8,760 miles.  I’ve been as ‘giddy as a schoolboy’ ever since realizing this.

While I know my station has been heard many times in and around Australia from using WSPR (this was also exciting the first time), I’ve never actually managed to have a true two-way contact until now.  While JT65-HF may not be a voice mode and it doesn’t provide for “rag chewing” QSO’s, it does provide an exchange of callsigns, locators, and signal reports all in real-time with an operator on both ends.      

Remember, you don’t need a tall tower and high priced amplifiers to work DX.  Also, just because someone says “no you can’t have an antenna” doesn’t mean you still can’t get on the air and work DX stations like I do.  You just have to be smarter and have a lot of patience.  Yes you can do it.

So….what’s stopping you?

Until next time….

73 de KD0BIK

This is certainly not the first blog posting to be written about the D-STAR Access Point Dongle (DVAP).  If you Google the subject you’ll find many.  I would like to thank Tim Kirby, G4VXE for his excellent blog postings regarding the subject of the DVAP and his time in helping answer a few questions I had regarding the product. 

Let me start off by answering the question of why, why did I purchase the DVAP?  Yes, I am extremely fortunate to live in a part of the county which has several excellent D-STAR repeaters.  As a matter of fact, we have repeaters both here in Denver (W0CDS) and one down in Monument, Colorado (W0TLM) serving the greater Colorado Springs area.  From just about any point in Denver, including my home shack (via external antenna) I can connect to the Denver machines and generally anywhere south of Denver can hit the Monument system.  So again, why do I need the DVAP device?

This is partly answered by saying my biggest interest in D-STAR is not for local rag chew.  I much prefer to either just listen in on an active reflector or conduct short QSO’s or even rag chews with a hams around the world.  It has been my experience that our local D-STAR repeaters are often used for local rag chew sessions.  Again, sometimes I just enjoy listening in on an active reflector and hear hams from the other side of the world talk about whatever they are talking about.  The DVAP allows me to essentially connect to any D-STAR reflector I choose and I can listen without interruption or without tying up the local repeaters for just my listening enjoyment.  Of course, I can also contribute to the conversations as well and I do enjoy that aspect about D-STAR over Echolink or IRLP.

You might be wondering exactly what the DVAP is and how it works?  Another great question.  You may have heard of the DV Dongle which came out a few years ago.  It was a little blue box which connected to your PC and allowed up to use a PC headset and microphone to access the D-STAR network. The DVAP is almost the same thing.  Notice I said almost.  It does connect to a PC or Mac, but you must also own a D-STAR capable transceiver.  I have the ICOM IC-92AD. 

In my case, the IC-92AD controls all aspects of the DV Access Point Dongle and functions much the same way as my local D-STAR repeater.  The DVAP is essentially my own personal D-STAR repeater/gateway system.  I can setup my memories in the IC-92AD to connect to, communicate with and disconnect from all the reflectors on the D-STAR global system.   The DVAP has a built-in antenna and is capable of transmitting at 10mw on the 2m amateur band.  The range of the DVAP is designed to cover a range of up to 100 yards.  Depending on a few variables your results may vary.  In my application I plan for now to just operate it indoors with the stock antenna.  Of course, I’ll test with my outside mounted 2m antenna at some point to see just how far I can walk away from my QTH and still be able to use the DVAP.  But the general application is mainly inside my home and perhaps on the back deck or courtyard.

As you can tell from the photo above, the DV Access Point Dongle is relatively small.  Inside the box you you’ll find the DVAP module with antenna attached, a user guide and a USB cable.  The user guide explains briefly about the operation of the DVAP and points you to the DVAP Support Website.  From the DVAP website you’ll find additional “how to” material and links to the various software you’ll need to download and install. 

Because I had done some homework on my own before hand, and again thanks to Tim for answering a few questions, I was setup and fully functional in about 10 minutes.  During this 10 minutes I downloaded the software and drivers, unpacked the DVAP from the box, connected it to a laptop running Windows 7 and programmed a few memories to connect to the UK reflector.  I’ve been playing around with the DVAP and getting my memories setup on the IC-92AD for about an hour and am really pleased with the DVAP.  As I stated, I’ll do some more testing and will make sure to blog about my experiences.  Currently I’m using the DVAP tool which is what you’ll find on the DVAP support website.  I do have plans to test another client which offers a little more functionality and allows you to connect direct to reflectors from the software client versus the need to setup from the radio.  But I wanted to first checkout this client first.

As I stated earlier, I do have a few tests I want to complete.  First, I’ll connect the DVAP to my external 2m antenna which is mounted just below my roof line.  It might be interesting to know just how far I can walk away from my QTH and still be in communication to the DVAP.  Remember the DVAP transmits at 10mw.

I also want to check out the other software client which I briefly discussed.  I also plan to setup additional memories on the IC-92AD for other D-STAR reflectors.  I’d like to see how it all works from my office location.  I do work in a lab which is somewhat of an RF black hole.  It might be nice to take the setup to work and enjoy some D-STAR QSO’s during my lunch break.  Finally, I plan to test the range of the DVAP by attaching my external 2m antenna and walking around the neighborhood.  This will probably just a be a one-time test to fulfill my curiosity of just how far 10mw will truly go.  I also have plans to test to see how well it would perform when connected to my 3G AT&T data card.  This could be useful on longer road trips where either I don’t take along HF gear or just to supplement my operation.  I’m sure I’ll share my experiences via this blog site.

But for now, it will come in handy in the shack.  Speaking of which, I just finished my first QSO on the DVAP while connected to the USA Reflector 001, module C with N9ZGE – Don in Springfield, IL.  I was his first D-STAR contact and he was my first DVAP contact.  Best of luck to Don as he continues making those D-STAR contacts.

If you would like to learn more about the exciting D-STAR digital mode, please read this.

Until next time…

73 de KD0BIK

I have been thinking about, reading and studying for my US amateur radio extra class license now since early 2008.  If you are new to my blog and do not know me through my podcast or the various social media locations I hang out on, then you might not know that I originally got my license in August of 2007 and upgraded to general in January of 2008.  For much the same reason it it best for a graduating high school senior to start his/her college studies the very next fall (after graduation) the same can be said for the amateur radio exam and study process.  Once you are in the mode of studying and testing, it is much easier to just to keep moving along the process.

Of course I didn’t take my own advice and I have on more than one, two and perhaps more than three occasions picked up the ARRL Extra Class license manual and said today is the day I start (or start over again).  Sadly, Yes…it has been “start over” since too much time had passed from the last time I seriously studied and read the material.

I recently heard about an amateur extra class starting up online.  The class is hosted by the South Coast Amateur Radio Service (SOUTHCARS) and is taught by extra class operators and all done on-line using Echolink or IRLP.  The time commitment is twice per week (Sunday and Tuesday evenings) and is scheduled to complete by middle of September. 

I’m really not going to pressure myself or make commitments to anyone that this time will be different.  I’m also not (at this moment) setting myself any hard and fast deadlines for when I would attempt an exam session after the middle of September.  I’ve made these mistakes before and honestly, it’s been one of the reasons I’ve put the book back on the shelf. 

All I can do is make an attempt to attend each of the twice weekly sessions and follow the guidance of the instructor(s).  I think the one key difference I see in this plan is the training class only lasts a little over one month.  It’s not something that is going to string out for half the year.  Fingers crossed, my work schedule will comfortably allow this and I can get through the class and on the other side be better prepared (both knowledge wise and confidence) to take the exam.  I won’t lie about this….my biggest fear is sitting for the extra class exam and failing.  I know failing is not the end of the world, but just a hard thing for me to deal with. 

Well….while I wasn’t going to post a blog post today, I did want to get this out there.  Wish me luck.

Until next time,

73 de KD0BIK

Like many hams, I started trying to simply receive ARISSat-1.  My first opportunity was today around 7 AM MT (1300z).  ARISSat-1 was successfully launched (really tossed) from the ISS on Wednesday, 3 August.  I blogged about these events which you can read here.  While I have the Arrow satellite antenna from Arrow antennas, due to work commitments beginning also at 7 AM, I would be unable to go outside and receive the transmission properly.  This meant my only real chance of hearing anything would be via my Diamond 2m/70cm vertical I have attached to the side of my house.  While this solution is less than ideal, I should be able to copy some of the transmitted signals as the satellite passed overhead.

 The 7 AM pass would be my most ideal opportunity with the setup I had available to hear anything.  As you can see from the image to the right, the ARISSat-1 would pass just to the north of Denver metro area.  By the way, the image is a screen capture of the iPhone app titled GoSatWatch.  This app is available in the iTunes store for iOS devices (there is even an iPad version).  The price is $9.99 and is well worth it if you enjoy working the satellites and don’t want to have to lug around a laptop everywhere you go.  In my situation, I can’t easily work satellites from my QTH.  I don’t have a large enough yard and trees and other houses are in the way.  I drive up to a parking lot which overlooks Cherry Creek reservoir.  From this position I can very easily operate the birds without trees and buildings getting in my way. 

Again, I would not have time to drive up to this parking area and would only be able to hear what my vertical antenna was capable of receiving.  My expectation level was set very low and just simply hearing a faint signal would have been considered major success.  I had no expectation of actually being able to copy any audio or data/video.  I had heard reports of other hams being able to hear via an HT and stock rubber duck antenna, so the wait began.

Around 1150z I turned on the digital recorder and just simply set it next to my Yaesu VX-6 hand-held transceiver connected to the outside Diamond antenna.  I’ve used the VX-6 to listen to other birds before and have setup frequencies for some of the common amateur radio satellites.  My interest in satellite operations has sort of come and gone over the last 3-4 years.  I’ll admit I’ve yet to have an actual QSO via satellite.  But have my process for receiving down fairly well.  I do plan to try for QSO’s on AO-51 this weekend. 

Anyway, around 1157z I began hearing faint noises in the static.  I had the squelch open and from 1157z through 1204z I managed to hear both audio (female and male voice transmission) as well as SSTV tones.  Thankfully the conference call just required me to listen and I sort of did this at about 50%.  Most meetings never start on time and this one was no exception.  By the time the satellite had traveled further south, the signals dropped and I shut off the recorder and turned down the squelch. 

Once my meeting was finished, I listened to the audio recording and managed to pull out the “secret word” and I plugged the recorder into my Rigblaster and used Ham Radio Deluxe and DM780 to decode the SSTV data.  The image to the left is what I managed to copy.  I’m impressed, especially considering I wasn’t actually pointing an antenna in the exact direction of the satellite pass.  Just about anyone with an external antenna can do the same thing.  You just need to know when to expect the satellite and listen for it. 

If you want to try your hand at listening for ARISSat-1 just set your 2m transceiver on 145.950 and at the very least setup an external antenna.  At present time, ARISSat-1 is just slightly ahead of the ISS which can be tracked here.  You might also want to check out Orbitron.  Orbitron is PC software available to track just about any type of satellite orbiting the earth.  I would expect ARISSat-1 to be added very soon.  But just track the ISS and you should be OK for now.

Until next time…

73 de KD0BIK

Like so many fellow hams I follow on Twitter, Facebook and Google+, yesterday I sat glued to a small 6 inch window which showed the events unfolding up at the ISS (International Space Station) during the launch attempt of the ARISSat-1, amateur radio satellite.  The 6 inch window was a browser window I had sized to fit in the upper corner of my screen so I could also still work. 

I had heard of the ARISSat-1 launch a few days before and to be honest at the time I wasn’t aware of just how the satellite would be launched.  The past few days have been busy for me at work and the assumption was it would blast into orbit on the back of  a Titan rocket along with other payload.  It really wasn’t until I began streaming the NASA channel (since Comcast doesn’t offer it) that I realized the event wasn’t going to be as “eventful” as I had first thought.

My morning started off busy like most and the spacewalk had already begun by the time I settled in to watch.  The two Russian spacewalkers were already outside of the ISS with ARISSat-1 in hand.  I heard mention ARISSat-1 weighs in at 70 pounds and appeared to be about the size of a toaster oven.  At one point the satellite was un-tethered and  perhaps moments from being launched when it became clear something was missing from the satellite.  The missing item was the 70cm UHF uplink antenna.

This immediately caused a flurry of conversation on Twitter and Google+ regarding what happened to the 70cm antenna.  Really unsure just how the ARISSat-1 arrived to the ISS, I tweeted “I wonder if anyone found an extra antenna in the glove box of Atlantis STS-135”.  Others imagined it sitting behind some books or boxes on someone’s desk back on Earth.  Of course, it could have easily been floating around in the ISS.  We later heard an update which ruled out the missing antenna was on Atlantis as the ARISSat-1 arrived some time ago on board a Russian supply mission. 

The launch of ARISSat-1 was the first of several projects to be completed during the EVA.  The Russian spacewalkers eventually returned the satellite to the holding bay and started work on project number 2 which was to install a laser based communication system.  The comedy of errors continued.  At one point one of the two Russian spacewalkers either unscrewed a wing nut or was trying to attach a wing nut.  It went missing and was then discovered floating off into the deepest, darkest depths of space.  More space junk?

This little boo-boo spurred more chuckles on social media and the entire event sort of reminded many of us of a typical field day weekend.  It also reminded me of the time I had left my house on a Saturday morning for a DAREC training meeting.  We were meeting just a few miles away from my house and I was extremely early.  So early that I realized I had my hand-held, but no antenna.  I quickly returned home to grab the antenna and still made it to the meeting with time to spare.  Of course…returning to Earth to pickup the 70cm antenna was out of the question and this was well outside of the scope of “What can brown (UPS) do for you”?

My morning soon turned into lunchtime and I had a 12:30 dentist appt.  By the time I arrived back home it was a little after 2 PM.  I checked in with friends on Twitter to learn they had launched ARISSat-1 successfully without the 70cm antenna.  This left many of us on earth scratching our heads.  I saw this posted on Google+ “It appears that ARISSat-1 was deployed…without the UHF antenna. My brain keeps saying WTF?”

While I (and many) found humor and poked fun at the events unfolding some 240nm above Earth, the brave men and women (regardless of nationality) are true modern day pioneers.  The duties performed are as important as those performed hundreds of years ago by names like Columbus, Magellan, Lewis & Clark and two brothers named Wright.  These duties are performed in an environment which very few could or would even want to journey.  Thank you to all these modern day pioneers for what you contribute to the rest of us on Earth.

As I said, once I returned around 2:15 PM MT, ARISSat-1 was tumbling away from the ISS.  I guess the decision to launch without the 70cm antenna was weighed against the next scheduled EVA wasn’t until February 2012.  It was confirmed the missing antenna will have no impact to the satellites ability to transmit to stations on earth, and receiving capabilities will only be marginally impacted.  ARISSat-1 was given a gentle push by one of the two Russian spacewalkers and it began its 1-3 month journey.

Hams all around the world began pointing their antennas to the sky in hopes of receiving the signals from ARISSat-1.  Images like the one below slowly began making their way into social media streams.  This one received by Peter Goodhall, 2E0SQL in the United Kingdom.  This was a low elevation pass, but clearly shows the onboard cameras are active and audio was also received.  Similar images and audio have been received by many other hams and will continue to do so for many weeks to follow.

If you would like to learn more about the ARISSat-1 Satellite and working satellites in general, please check out the AMSAT website.  You might also find this document a helpful read.  In the US, hams holding at least a technician class license can operate most amateur radio satellites with nothing more than a dual-band hand-held transceiver and an external antenna.  There are many plans available on the internet (Google is your friend) on how to construct your own.  Also, the Arrow II satellite antenna is used by many hams (including myself).  Check out this link for this antenna and watch videos by Randy Hall, K7AGE.  Randy also produces many other helpful “how to” videos and makes them available on his Youtube channel.  Please check them out.

Until next time…

73 de KD0BIK

Google+ is the latest entry in the social media web applications taking the world by storm.  It’s been around for a little over a month and is gaining some attention.  I believe it is still in beta form and you can only gain access to the service via an invite from another existing user.  More about that in a minute.

Yes it might be possible that you have already hit your limit of the number of social media sites you will join and use.  Like many hams, I tend to frequent Twitter and Facebook only.  But Google+ is gaining more of my attention, especially over Facebook.

Facebook privacy concerns have always been something I’ve thought about.  I know some folks just flat out will not join Facebook or they cancelled their accounts for this very reason.  I tend to operate under the idea that I won’t say or talk about anything on Facebook that I would be afraid for my Mother or Grandmother to read.  But with Facebook you really don’t have a lot of control with who you share what information with. 

An example of this problem is I have a couple of different types of people who follow me on Facebook.  I have hams (like you), family and old class mates.  If I log onto Facebook and talk about how excited I was to work the STS-135 special event station, about half of my followers won’t or care to understand what I’m talking about. 

Google+ changes all this.  When you setup Google+ you add people you know or want to know better into circles.  Think of them as a circle of friends.  I’ve setup circles based on ham radio, geocaching, flight simulation, family and friends.  When I decide to post something on Google+ I can decide which of my circles to direct that message to.  This functionality helps prevent the information overload effect of broadcasting every thought to every person you follow.

There are other advantages to Google+ which I’ve not covered.  I wanted to keep this blog posting short and sweet.  If you are a ham and would like an invite to Google+, please contact me (my email address is on QRZ) and I’ll be more than happy to send you an invite and add you to my amateur radio circle.

Until next time…

73 de KD0BIK