Stories you’ll find in our April, 2018 issue:

TSM Reviews: Icom IC-7610
By Mark Haverstock K8MSH

At Hamvention 2017, we got our first official peek at the IC-7610. It was billed as the next big thing in amateur radio transceivers, containing a more advanced set of features than the IC-7300. And, it’s loaded: An Ethernet port to run the radio remotely; an onboard RS-BA1 server means no PC or software is required; left and right speaker outputs; USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports; built-in RTTY/PSK on-screen decoder and encoder; TX memory means you can do basic QSO or contest operations without using an external device or software. And that’s just to start! Mark puts this rig through its paces.

‘De-Frankensteining’ Electricity: Life and Work of Michael Faraday and Joseph Henry
By Georg Wiessala

There are significant parallels between the lives and careers of Michael Faraday and Joseph Henry: They lived in times when gases and electricity fascinated people and were among the first to work by scientific method, through controlled experiments and experimental science. More generally, both researchers were born in poverty and seriously troubling family backgrounds. Both were apprenticed at a young age, both became eminent scientists and outstanding science communicators, educators and lecturers. Georg examines the lives of these two giants of electricity.

Facing the Challenge of Making Ends Meet at Nonprofit Radio Stations
By Richard Fisher KI6SN

The world of Low Power FM (LPFM) radio is a far cry from the well-heeled world of their distant cousins—powerful noncommercial radio stations in big cities. Instead of feasting on highly organized quarterly fundraisers that can bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars, LPFMs can often be heard pleading for day-to-day funds to fix air conditioners, CD players, even transmitters. Richard looks into this seldom reported part of American radio.

Yaesu FTM-3207DR
By Cory GB Sickles WA3UVV

While prototypes of the FTM-3207 were shown at the Dayton Hamvention in 2017, it was not until nearly the end of the year that the radios started shipping. This happened for several reasons – not the least of which was the reveal of System Fusion II – with new features, a new repeater and upgraded firmware for existing radios. Understandably, upgrading and enhancing the “System” part of System Fusion took precedence over the release of a new radio. The upside is that when the FTM-3207 was released, it had some unexpected and welcome new features making it fully System Fusion II- ready and then some. Cory takes a look at the Yaesu FTM-3207 and speculates on the future of Digital Voice on the VHF/UHF amateur bands.

Channel Master’s New Over-the-Air TV Tuner/DVR with Interactive On-Screen Guide
By Ken Reitz KS4ZR

The landscape has been ripe for a digital OTA-TV tuner with recording capabilities and interactive guide. Channel Master has previously released similar products, which we have reviewed in years past, but in order to compete with TiVo or an Over-the-Top (OTT) device such as Roku and deliver a more cable/satellite-type viewing experience, Internet connectivity would be required. That brought the company to launch its latest effort in March—the CM-7600 Stream+ Media Player, an OTA-TV/Internet set-top box. We take a look at how this new Channel Master product works today.

Scanning America
By Dan Veeneman
DeKalb County, Illinois and New Additions to P-25 Phase II

Federal Wavelengths
By Chris Parris
Software Defined Radio and Federal Monitoring

Milcom
By Larry Van Horn N5FPW
225-400 MHz Military Aircraft Band Overview

Utility Planet
By Hugh Stegman NV6H
Whew! (Busy Month on the Radio)

Shortwave Utility Logs
Compiled by Hugh Stegman and Mike Chace-Ortiz

VHF and Above
By Joe Lynch N6CL
The Lyrids Meteor Shower

Digitally Speaking
By Cory Sickles WA3UVV
Analog FM – Half Off

Amateur Radio Insights
By Kirk Kleinschmidt NT0Z
You Can’t Keep a Good Antenna Down

Radio 101
By Ken Reitz KS4ZR
Baseball on the Radio 2018

Radio Propagation
By Tomas Hood NW7US
How to Beat the Low Sunspot Numbers

The World of Shortwave Listening
By Rob Wagner VK3BVD
A Little Knowledge of Propagation Can Really Help!

The Shortwave Listener
By Fred Waterer
Blues on Shortwave; BBC Programming for April

Maritime Monitoring
By Ron Walsh VE3GO
Radio Active Spring

The Longwave Zone
By Kevin O’Hern Carey WB2QMY
PIM/272 is Back (Sort of)!

Adventures in Radio Restorations
By Rich Post KB8TAD
Hallicrafters S-85: Another Scarce Model

Antenna Connections
By Dan Farber AC0LW
Move Toward the Light: Antennas Above 144 MHz, Part One

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Ham Radio Deluxe can log your WSJT-X FT8, JT65A, and JT9 QSOs, via the JT-Alert software. This is a demonstration of my use of HRD and Logbook, during an FT8 QSO,today.

As some of you know, I have had some differences of opinion regarding the selection of frequencies chosen by the FT8 creators and advocates. Regardless, I do still use the mode. Here is proof:

Go ahead and share, if you would. And, please subscribe to my YouTube channel, as I will be creating many how-to videos in the near future.

Thanks and 73 … de NW7US

In this video, I expound on another point of view regarding the ARRL petition to the FCC. The petition requests an expansion of operating privileges of Technician-class operators in the USA. The ARRL believes that giving broader shortwave access, using digital communications, to Technicians, will better entice the Techs to upgrade to General or Amateur Extra. In this video, I discuss this a bit.

If you are wondering why I’ve made a few videos about this topic, when the topic has been the hot item on many forums already, I believe that the drama will not cease until well after the FCC makes a decision, because this is a relevant topic, and one that has a significant impact on the amateur radio community at large. It is not a trivial conversation about which type of coax is best suited for Arctic field activity.

After some replies came from various viewers, I clarify my point. I stand corrected.

I failed to mention that there are a limited few slices of VOICE (SSB) spectrum on HF that the petition seeks for the Tech licensee. The ARRL states, “ARRL has asked the FCC to expand HF privileges for Technician licensees to include limited phone privileges on 75, 40, and 15 meters, plus RTTY and digital mode privileges on 80, 40, 15, and 10 meters.”

More specifically, “ARRL proposes to provide Technician licensees, present and future, with phone privileges at 3.900 to 4.000 MHz, 7.225 to 7.300 MHz, and 21.350 to 21.450 MHz, plus RTTY and digital privileges in current Technician allocations on 80, 40, 15, and 10 meters. The ARRL petition points out the explosion in popularity of various digital modes over the past 2 decades. Under the ARRL plan, the maximum HF power level for Technician operators would remain at 200 W PEP. The few remaining Novice licensees would gain no new privileges under the League’s proposal.” Reference: http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-requests-expanded-hf-privileges-for-technician-licensees

My point holds: give some reason to desire to upgrade to a higher class. Do this by granting HF operations on lower bands (lower in frequency than 10 Meters), with more than a CW-only privilege.

If a tech can only use CW on 80m, but doesn’t know CW, then it is likely she won’t ever try making contacts on 80m. Hence, no exposure to the magic of 80-meter DX. If, however, the Tech can dabble with digital or limited SSB, on 80m, then she gets a real, practical exposure to the magic, and may well upgrade. Why do you think a General, who has limits, would ever upgrade? What am I missing here?

The following video expands this idea:

The truth is, I see a strong argument for just ONE license, permanent. Or a temporary entry-level training ticket, then the permanent. But, that would make us like some other countries. That can’t be good.

The original video to which this new video continues is here:

Some viewers are asking me why I am making a video while driving. They try to convince me that talking while driving is too distracting. My answer is here:

73 de NW7US

I have my opinion on ARRL asking FCC to grant more HF privileges to Technician-class licensees.

I verbalize them in this video:

After you hear my comments, please leave your comments.

Thanks, 73 de NW7US dit dit