Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 220
October 6th, 2018 | 
Author: 
October 7-13: Fire Prevention Week Amateur Radio Special Event
Fire Prevention Week special event stations N0F, N1F, N2F, N3F, N4F, N5F, N6F, N7F, N8F, and N9F will be QRV October 7-13. Plus the wildcard stations: KF2IRE and VE3FIRE.
Siemens Fire Safety USA Amateur Radio Club
An interview with Howard Michel, WB2ITX, the new ARRL CEO
I think that you’ll find this to be a great interview. Howard has won me over, and I hope that he’ll win you over, too.
K6BNU
ARRL, FCC Discussing Uncertified Imported VHF/UHF Transceivers
The Advisory broadly prohibits the ‘use’ of such radios, but our view is that there is no such prohibition relative to licensed Amateur Radio use.
ARRL
A new antenna using single atoms
We may be on the verge of so-called “atomic radio,” thanks to the development of a new type of antenna capable of receiving signals across a much wider range of frequencies (more than four octaves) that is highly resistant to electromagnetic interference.
Ars Technica
Hustler 6BTV Installation Update
While this is a great antenna, it requires a substantial amount of work installed in a ‘ground-mount’ configuration.
W5KV
About Microphones
A primer on mics for Ham Radio.
VE7SAR
Connecting an RTL-SDR Panadapter to a uBITX
uBITX is a fully analogue radio, but it can be combined with an RTL-SDR to create a panadapter display.
RTL-SDR.com
Video
How Solar Cells Work
Today I want to cover solar cells and solar power systems – partly because renewable energy is such a huge pursuit in our community.
SparkFun
Receive Beautiful Images of the Earth Directly From Space | GOES-16
While it’s a bit harder to receive data from GOES the extra effort is absolutely worth it.
The Thought Emporium
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The Spectrum Monitor — October, 2018
Stories you’ll find in our October, 2018 edition:
Tracing the Development of the AM Broadcast Transmitter
John F. Schneider W9FGH
In the Beginning, there was King Spark. There were a few early attempts at using spark equipment to transmit the human voice. This was because a spark signal consists of a continuous sequence of decaying waves, called “damped waves.” The signal faded in intensity as the energy of each spark dissipated, until it was replaced by a new signal from the next spark. In the early 1900s, there were only two devices that were capable of generating a continuous wave – an arc transmitter and a high-frequency alternator. But it was the invention of the “Audion” triode vacuum tube by Lee de Forest in 1906 that created a revolution in radio communications. Its ability to function as both an oscillator and amplifier opened doors to the creation of a practical all-electronic speech transmitter. John takes a detailed look at the evolution of the AM broadcast transmitter.
Has it Really Been a Decade!?
By Troy J. Simpson W9KVR
There’s nothing easy about teaching school anywhere but teaching, coaching, keeping a school amateur radio club going, being a dad and a husband makes time really fly. So much so that Glenn Raymond Middle School teacher, Troy Simpson, hadn’t realized their club station license was already up for renewal until he received the notice from the FCC. Troy recaps just the last few years of this very active and successful amateur radio school club as he prepares this month for another School Club Roundup.
SDR Report Part 3: From High-End SDR Receivers to SDR Transceivers
By Thomas Witherspoon K4SWL
Part one of our series on Software Defined Radios (SDRs), which appeared in the June issue, focused on the nomenclature and components of a functioning SDR system. Part two, in the July issue, took a look at some affordable SDR station options that would propel you into the world of SDRs for less than $200 US. This month, Thomas dives a little deeper into the SDR rabbit hole, and investigates higher-end SDRs as well as ham radio transceivers with embedded SDRs that include high-ticket rigs that have intel-agency specs and capabilities you won’t find in any analog radio at any price.
A Visit to the Tokyo Ham Fair 2018
By Keith Baker KB1SF/VA3KSF
Once again, Keith was asked to join the Dayton Amateur Radio Association team in a trip to Japan to attend the annual Tokyo Ham Fair, which is sponsored by the Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL). As Secretary-Treasurer of AMSAT North America, Keith would be doing double duty during this trip. And, as a regular contributor to TSM, Keith nailed the trifecta with this photo essay of that trip. Keith renewed many old acquaintances, got up close and personal with new ham equipment and enjoyed handing out goodies to everyone he saw.
Scanning America
By Dan Veeneman
Hialeah, Florida, and a Public Service Radio Feud
Federal Wavelengths
By Chris Parris
Hurricane Florence Response
Milcom
By Larry Van Horn N5FPW
Monitoring the US Coast Guard and the COTHEN HF Radio Network
Utility World
By Hugh Stegman
US Coast Guard Mobilizes for Hurricane Florence
Shortwave Utility Logs
By Hugh Stegman and Mike Chace-Ortiz
VHF and Above
By Joe Lynch N6CL
International Space Station Astronauts are Calling CQ Students
Digitally Speaking
By Cory GB Sickles WA3UVV
Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes
Amateur Radio Insights
By Kirk Kleinschmidt NT0Z
Transmit Audio—How’s Your Sound?
Radio 101
By Ken Reitz KS4ZR
Viasat: Help for Rural Broadband Access
The World of Shortwave Listening
By Andrew Yoder
US and International Pirate Shortwave Broadcasters
The Shortwave Listener
By Fred Waterer
Creepy October Shortwave Programming
Maritime Monitoring
By Ron Walsh VE3GO
Stormy Weather and Changing Times
The Longwave Zone
By Kevin O’Hern Carey WB2QMY
SDR, Step One
Adventures in Restoration
By Rich Post KB8TAD
Reviving a Comanche: The Siltronix 1011D
Antenna Connections
By Dan Farber AC0LW
Artificial Ground, Part Two
Radio Horizons
Review: National Radio Club’s 39th Edition AM Radio Log
By Larry Van Horn N5FPW
The Spectrum Monitor is available in PDF format which can be read on any desktop, laptop, iPad®, Kindle® Fire, or other device capable of opening a PDF file. Annual subscription is $24. Individual monthly issues are available for $3 each.
Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 219
Beta version WSJT-X 2.0 boasts major changes
Support for standard ARRL Field Day exchanges, such as 6A SNJ and “significantly better sensitivity” (about 1 dB) for the WSPR decoder.
ARRL
Fundraising campaign for critical ISS radio infrastructure upgrade
AMSAT and ARISS are currently supporting a FundRazr campaign to raise $150,000 for critical radio infrastructure upgrade on ISS to enable students to talk to astronauts in space via amateur radio.
AMSAT
SOTA and Mental Health – how it’s helping
SOTA, Amateur Radio, and how it is helping me fight depression and anxiety.
Wadeabout
A Step by Step Tutorial to Receiving GOES-16 Images
A step-by-step guide to setting up a GOES weather satellite receiver with an RTL-SDR dongle, Raspberry Pi and the goestools software.
RTL-SDR
Getting on HF: The Fiddle Factor
The Fiddle Factor is the interaction of multiple barriers to getting on HF.
K0NR
Where a choke chokes
Common mode current suspicions. Various tests of the venerable N9TAX dual band ladder line J antenna suggest the coax becomes rf hot at UHF. It was time to quantify this behavior in the lab.
Magnum Experimentum
Run a Raspberry Pi Program on Boot
Our newest (sorta-Python-related) tutorial shows you a few ways to run a script whenever a Raspberry Pi boots up.
SparkFun
Yellowstone Parks On The Air Adventure and Lessons Learned
Cell service is very, very limited in the park. Data service is non existent if you use AT&T like I did. Therefore there was no way for me to self spot on the cluster.
K0PIR
About Microphones
A primer on mics for Ham Radio
VE7SAR
Tesla Opens with Precomputed Key Fob Attack
This hack precomputes a ton of data, looks for a collision in the dataset, and opens the door. Here’s how it works.
Hack A Day
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Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 218
Preparing Ham Radio response to Hurricane Florence
Amateur radio emergency communications groups throughout North and South Carolina and surrounding areas are gearing up for a possibly massive impact on communications infrastructure.
CQ Newsroom
How to listen to Hurricane Watch Net frequencies
The Hurricane Watch Net is a group of amateur radio operators who are trained and organized “to provide essential communications support to the National Hurricane Center during times of Hurricane emergencies.”
The SWLing Post
Worldwide refractive index forecasts
Maps are fully customizable and show refractive index from 80° S to 80° N worlwide.
Beyond the Horizon
[PDF] Introduction to Amateur Digital Television
High-Definition, Digital, Amateur Television — Confirmation photo showing an image received over a distance of 77 miles using a 3 watt, DVB-T transmitter.
KH6HTV
ARRL September VHF 2018 results
Rain on Saturday, Cloudy and Dry on Sunday. Good fun but exhausting.
K5ND
Electronics concept posters
We’ve covered Ohm’s Law, Alternating Current vs Direct Current and Analog and Digital Signals. Each poster is high-resolution and ready to print out up to 24″ x 36″.
SparkFun Electronics
Virtual serial port options for Ham Radio operators
For Hams looking for a reliable solution to create virtual COM port pairs on Windows.
Eltima
Ham Shack-In-A-Box
With a go box, having all my radios are mounted in a single portable box with the radio gear and power connections set up means I will have much longer to operate – and that much more isn’t left to chance.
Soliloquy Blog
Testing FreeDV: Digital voice over HF
This video shows the 700C mode having the ability to decode with 50% of its carriers removed.
Rowetel
Installing Winlink on a Raspberry Pi
Installing and setting up Pat Winlink on a RPi 3.
KM4ACK
Forwarding WSJT-X QSOs to Ham Radio Deluxe
Setup WSJT-X to forward QSOs to HRD Logbook without having to use additional software. Works with FT8Call too.
K0PIR
Receiving GOES-15,16,17 and Himawari 8 HRIT
In this video we go through the hardware and software needed to receive these gorgeous images and what is contained in the signals we receive.
The Thought Emporium
Video
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QRP from the Lifeguard’s Chair
Tim W3ATB and I went to Ellacoya State Park in Gilford New Hampshire today. He did a Parks on the Air activation… I sat in the lifeguard’s chair and worked France!
The beach is on Lake Winnipesaukee with a gorgeous, expansive view of the surrounding mountains. I saw this lifeguard’s chair and I couldn’t resist. It was under a huge pine tree. So while Tim was 30 yards away working stations for his POTA activation, I heaved a line into a pine tree above the orange high seat.
As soon as I turned on the KX3, I heard Bert F6HKA in France finishing up a QSO. What a hoot! He came back and gave me a 549. I was thrilled.
I called over to Tim and he worked Bert right after I did. I dismantled my station and went over to Tim’s picnic table to help out if I could. We had a lovely picnic lunch at the park and Tim made his ten contacts for the POTA activation.
P.S. Thanks to Tim for the great photos. His account of the outing is here:
https://w3atb.com/ellacoya-state-park-pota-activation-k-2651/
Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 217
SharkRF announces OpenSPOT 2
DMR, D-STAR, Fusion, NXDN, P25, and POCSAG capable hotspot now has Wi-Fi support.
SharkRF
Petition Drive to Save WWV/WWVH
Two petitions have been started on the White House’s “We the People” petition site calling for restoration of funding for these two essential radio stations.
CQ Newsroom
μWWVB: A Tiny WWVB Station
Build your own GPS sourced atomic clock sync.
cat /var/log/life
SatMatch
Enter two grid squares to learn when contact via satellite is possible between those two locations.
K5EM
FCC Podcast: More than Seven Dirty Words
The Official FCC Podcast will bring you interviews with FCC staff and others in the communications space.
FCC
The Rebirth of Radio Astronomy
“Radio waves heard from remote space,” announced The New York Times in May 1933. “Sound like steam from a radiator after traveling 30,000 light-years.”
Wired
Catch some shortwave pirate radio action this Labor Day weekend
Shortwave pirates love to operate on long holiday weekends.
The SWLing Post
New NOAA APT Image Decoder
A new NOAA APT image decoder that can run on both Linux and Windows.
GitHub
Video
Icom 7610 HDSDR Installation and Settings
An overview installing HDSDR, installing Icom 7610 I/Q package and settings in HDSDR for the Icom 7610.
K0PIR
N4KGL EM28/EM29 Gridline AO-92 Kansas
AO-92 pass 1615 UTC on levee next to Riverfront Park near Lawrence Kansas.
YouTube
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Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 216
Atomic clocks’ final tock
The atomic clock time signal station that synchronizes time devices, may be shut down next year if a presidential budget request passes as proposed.
The SWLing Post
QRP experiment with FT8Call
Even with a relatively small amount of output power, I’m having keyboard to keyboard QSOs with stations in Europe and North Africa.
OH8STN
Antenna sales are rising
The lowly, unsightly TV antenna, consigned to garages or forgotten altogether when people switched to cable and satellite services for TV, is rising again.
Star Tribune
Using a HackRF to spoof GPS navigation in cars and divert drivers
This uses a clever algorithm that ensures that the spoofed GPS location remains consistent with the actual physical road networks, to avoid the driver noticing that anything is wrong.
RTL-SDR.com
Using multi-meters
Multi-meters have the ability to measure voltage, current and resistance and more expensive models may add other functions such as temperature.
VE7SAR
6m lightweight delta loop for sporadic E
This is a simple, cheap, lightweight horizontally polarised somewhat-directional antenna.
M0LTE
Antenna comparison on 6m during a Sporadic-E opening
I’ve been operating on 6m using two less than ideal antennas and was interested to see how they compared during a recent opening on 6m.
Adventures in Ham Radio
What is VSWR: Voltage Standing Wave Ratio
Standing waves are a key value for any system using transmission lines / feeders where measurements of the VSWR, Voltage Standing Wave Ratio are important.
electronicsnotes
Send APRS objects or telemetry via Bash
This is to internet only, not to RF.
S55MA
Video
FT8Call quick start guide basics calling CQ and QSO
I’m having fun with this new FT8Call and I think you will too.
K0PIR
Speaker wire antenna
In this video I show you my infamous speaker wire antenna.
KG6HQD
3D printed universal cable fix
A 3D printed small enclosure that can be used as a join box for cables or cords,
FunElectronicsToday
