For awhile now, I’ve been wanting to get a Tytera MD-380 or Connect Systems CS-750 (or CS-700) in order to learn more about how Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) really works.

To be honest, I’d been having a very hard time wrapping my head around the differences between analog FM and DMR. All of these (relatively) new terms for us old hams including tiers, talk groups, two-slot TDMA, zones, code plugs — they really didn’t make sense to me.

Last night I downloaded and read a free 28-page PDF guide called the Amateur Radio Guide to Digital Mobile Radio by John Burningham W2XAB available on the TRBO.org website. It made everything come together for me. If you’ve been interested in getting into DMR, download this and read it tonight. Well worth the hour it took!

The world of Digital Mobile Radio can be a little complicated, but it opens a whole new world once you understand it. Don’t let the future pass you by!

Thank you, John! What a service to the Amateur Radio community.

I need your help!

Come meet me on the shortwave (HF) ham bands for the Morse code (CW mode) special event, the Straight Key Century Club (SKCC) celebration, with special callsign, K3Y. During the shifts (time slots) listed below, I am the control operator as K3Y/0.

I need you to make a contact with me.

This special event takes place every year during January. We celebrate the legacy of Morse code, and promote Morse code and manual creation of the code by any non-electronic (digital) device and method. Which means that we love mechanical bugs, straight keys, two ends of a wire, or any other manual device, if Morse code is generated. The Straight Key Century Club is a free membership group. The link to their website is below.

I need you to make a contact with me, during my scheduled times, listed below.

NOTE: YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE A MEMBER OF THE (free) SKCC GROUP. To get into my logbook, you meet me on my frequency, and use Morse code to communicate with me. It is painless. If you must, you can use computer-generated Morse code. Or, you can tap it out on any Morse code signalling device, like a bug, a set of paddles, or a straight key; whatever you choose to make Morse code emanate from your HF transmitter.

HOWEVER: For those of you who want to get fully immersed in the spirit of this event, you are invited to use a straight key. And, as a bonus, you may and can join the SKCC group for FREE. Then, you would have your own SKCC number. That’d be cool; we SKCC members use that number in our exchange during our QSO information exchange. But, you don’t need that. Since it is free, why not?

What is needed is simply you, getting on the shortwave band, finding me, hearing me, and responding to me with Morse code. In other words, we need to have a QSO using Morse code. I am not a fast operator, so no problem if you are not very fast. I’ll meet your speed.

In any case, here are some of the times I will be on the air as K3Y/0… please dust off your straight key, bug, paddles, whatever, and make a QSO with me. Thanks!

My current schedule:

UTC Start/End (remember, these are NOT your local times, but are the UTC (GMT) times!)

(revised times, as of edit date)


00:00 - 02:59 19-Jan-16
00:00 - 02:59 20-Jan-16
00:00 - 02:59 21-Jan-16
00:00 - 02:59 22-Jan-16
00:00 - 05:59 23-Jan-16
14:00 - 18:59 23-Jan-16
20:00 - 21:59 23-Jan-16
00:00 - 02:59 24-Jan-16
14:00 - 18:59 24-Jan-16
21:00 - 21:59 24-Jan-16
00:00 - 02:59 25-Jan-16
00:00 - 02:59 26-Jan-16
00:00 - 02:59 27-Jan-16
00:00 - 02:59 28-Jan-16
00:00 - 02:59 29-Jan-16
00:00 - 05:59 30-Jan-16
13:00 - 18:59 30-Jan-16
20:00 - 21:59 30-Jan-16
00:00 - 03:59 31-Jan-16
13:00 - 23:59 31-Jan-16

Now, what frequency will I be on?

To find out what frequency I am on:

Visit http://g.nw7us.us/sched4SKCC and look on the right side for my callsign, NW7US. I usually post my frequency of operation right after my call sign.

Typically, evening operation is 30m, then 40m, and then possibly 80m.

If you are trying to alert me to your presence, you may message me on my personal Facebook profile, under my “Tomas David Hood” profile messages, but I may not see that right away.

Here is the detail covering the K3Y operation and the SKCC group: http://skccgroup.com/k3y

73 de NW7US
dit dit

This was last year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfRvITFpTb4

..

..

Sunday, January 10, 2016 at Briarcliffe College in Bethpage, NY

• D-Star and System Fusion
  Randy Gutentag WA2RMZ and Scott Weis KB2EAR
• DMR (Digital Mobile Radio)
  Bernie Hunt K2YO
• SDR (Software Defined Radios)
  Neil Goldstein W2NDG
• Keynote Address
  ARRL Chief Executive Officer Dave Sumner K1ZZ
• Building Your First Ham Station
  Phil Lewis N2MUN
• Basics of HF Operating
  Phil Lewis N2MUN and Mel Granick KS2G

Here are the 10 winners of our Skilman Instroduction to Morse Code giveaway:

Darlene (Unlicensed)
British Columbia, Canada

John KB5HCT
Oklahoma

Jeff K3JRZ
Delaware

Scott K3BYU
Washington

George Porth NY4FD
Florida

Sean KC2LWX
New York

Scott W0SGM
Iowa

Paul AF7HL
Washington

Joe KC1BJG
New Hampshire

Joe W2DRS
New York

Congratulations to the winners and thank you to the 286 of you who entered! If you’re listed here, Skilman will contact you shortly to arrange for the shipment of your prize.

If you weren’t one of the winners and are interested in trying out the program, Skilman has sent us a 10% off coupon code ‘U4YDIFM’ (valid through 1/24).

Thanks again and stay tuned for our next (BIG!) worldwide giveaway in the next couple of weeks!

This Saturday me and my friend Stan UA3LMR (also RD2A) tried to work as pedestrian mobile (/PM) for the first time. We took my FT-817nd (running 5 W output power) and his AlexLoop Walkham antenna, and walked to the park near Moscow river.

Despite cold and windy weather of minus 16C, we had luck to make 11 QSOs with 6 DXCC countries (UA, UA9, G, F, I, OE) during an hour and a half. We used SSB QRP frequency on the 20-meter band (14285 kHz), hf-pack frequency on the 17-meter-band (18157.5 kHz), and one very popular among ex-USSR HAMs frequency for mobile and portable operations on the 40-meter-band, i.e. 7175 kHz.