Ham College episode 77 is now available for download.

Extra Class Exam Questions – Part 15.
E4A Test equipment: analog and digital instruments, spectrum analyzers, antenna analyzers, oscilloscopes, RF measurements, computer-aided measurements.
53:37

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LF-336kHz courtesy: http://www.ve3gop.com/

It's CLE time! 'CLE's are 'Co-ordinated  Listening Events, and NDB DXers around the world focus their listening time on one small slice of  the NDB spectrum.

Propagation on MF has been both hot and cold for the past few weeks, seemingly depending on where you live and the amount of geomagnetic activity affecting your region. As well, the Sun has been throwing a lot of Coronal Hole Streams toward earth which may or may not affect this weekend's propagation ... but this is all part of the radio-magic fun.

A 'challenge target' for listeners in North America is LF - 336kHz in La Salle, Manitoba, in the southern central part of the province. Even though running just 50 watts, it's widely heard throughout North America and is a good target for listeners everywhere. Listen for LF's upper sideband on 336.390 kHz.

When tuning for NDBs, put your receiver in the CW mode and listen for the NDB's CW identifier, repeated every few seconds. Listen for U.S. NDB identifiers approximately 1 kHz higher or lower than the published transmitted frequency since these beacons are modulated with a 1020 Hz tone approximately.

For example, 'AA' near Fargo, ND, transmits on 365 kHz and its upper sideband CW identifier is tuned at 366.025 kHz while its lower sideband CW ident can be tuned at 363.946 kHz. Its USB tone is actually 1025 Hz while its LSB tone is 1054 Hz.

Often, one sideband will be much stronger than the other so if you don't hear the first one, try listening on the other sideband.

Canadian NDBs normally have an USB tone only, usually very close to 400 Hz. They also have a long dash (keydown) following the CW identifier.

All NDBs heard in North America will be listed in the RNA database (updated daily) while those heard in Europe may be found in the REU database. Beacons heard outside of these regions will be found in the RWW database. These databases have recently been re-vamped and are slicker than ever before!

From CLE coordinator Brian Keyte (G3SIA), comes the following CLE info:

 Hello all,

Our sixth special 'Channels Challenge' listening event is nearly here.
These are the full details.

    Days:      Friday 28 May - Monday 31 May
    Times:     Start and end at midday, your LOCAL time
    Range:     275 kHz - 425 kHz   (see below)
    Target:    Try to log ANY ONE NDB in each channel

The main challenge is to try and log ONE NDB in each of the
151 channels in the range from 275 kHz up to 425 kHz inclusive.
The last time we did this was in CLE248 in September 2019.

The 'channel' means the NDB's NOMINAL (published) frequency.
(It may not be quite where you hear the Morse ident of course). 
In parts of the World some NDBs are on intermediate frequencies,
such as 321.5 kHz.  Logging an NDB on a 'half frequency' would be OK.
  E.g. OK for channel 321 would be  EITHER  one on 321.0 kHz
                OR  one on 321.5 (shown as 321.5 in your log of course).

Each NDB must be a 'normal' one - no DGPS, NAVTEX or amateur.
(If you hear any UNIDs, please show them in a separate list).

So it means a highest possible total of 151 CLE loggings in all - and that
will surely be impossible for everyone!

If you have extra time and want to make the challenge more interesting you
could include NDBs which:

   Give you the greatest number of DIFFERENT RADIO COUNTRIES heard.
   (See our Countries list at
http://www.ndblist.info/beacons/countrylist.pdf

 
    Each State/Province in USA, CAN and AUS is a separate radio country)
   OR  give the greatest TOTAL DISTANCE from you to all of the NDBs.
   OR  include the greatest number of MIDDAY LOGGINGS
          i.e. heard within 2 hours of midday by your local clock time.

Send your 'Final' CLE log to the List, ideally as a plain text email (not in
an attachment) and, IMPORTANT, with CLE268 and FINAL at the start of its
title.
Please show on EVERY LINE of your log:

   #   The full date or day no.  e.g. '2021-05-29' or just '29', etc.
          and UTC (the day changes at 00:00 UTC).
   #   kHz  - the beacon's nominal published frequency.
   #   The Call Ident.

Show those main items FIRST on every line, before other optional details
such as Location, Distance, Offsets, Cycle times, etc.

Tell us your location of course and details of your receiver, aerial, etc.

We will send the usual 'Any More Logs?' email at about 19:00 UTC on Tuesday
so you can check that we have received your log OK.
Do make sure that your log has arrived on the List at the very latest by
08:00 UTC on Wednesday 2 June.
We'll try to complete making the combined results within a day or two.

Good hunting,
   Brian and Joachim
-------------------------------------------------------------------
From:      Brian Keyte G3SIA       [email protected]
Location:  Surrey,  SE England      (CLE coordinator)
-------------------------------------------------------------------

(Reminder:   You could use any ONE remote receiver for your loggings,
stating its location and owner - with their permission if required.
A remote listener may NOT also use another receiver, whether local or
remote, to obtain further loggings for the same CLE).

If you are interested in some remote listening - maybe due to local difficulties - you could use any one remote receiver for your loggings, stating its location and with the owner's permission if required.( e.g. see  kiwisdr.com ) A remote listener may NOT also use another receiver, local or remote, to make more loggings for the same CLE.

These listening events serve several purposes. They

Hello and welcome to the 414th installment of Linux in the Ham Shack. In this episode, the hosts discuss the Young Ham of the Year Award, new EM exposure limits in the UK, privacy at the FCC, the impending demise of Freenode, expensive keyboards, medical device hackers, wfview, js8call and much more. Thank you for listening and have a fantastic week.

73 de The LHS Crew

In this episode, Martin (M1MRB) is joined by Leslie Butterfield G0CIB, Dan Romanchik KB6NU and Edmund Spicer M0MNG to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin (M6BOY) rounds up the news in brief and in the episode we feature we discuss the RSGB Survey with the New RSGB President.

ICQ AMATEUR/HAM RADIO PODCAST DONORS

We would like to thank Patrick Bean, Simon Bracegirdle, Walter Washburn (KT0D), and our monthly and annual subscription donors for keeping the podcast advert free. To donate, please visit - http://www.icqpodcast.com/donate

- CANWARN Online Training 2021 - Amateur radio on BBC Essex Breakfast Show - IRTS AGM Rejects New Licence Level Proposal - Congress Seeks to Designate National Amateur Radio Operators Day - Amateur Radio Software Award Goes to KN4CRD for JS8CALL - M0IBG Inducted into CQ Hall of Fame - RSGB National Radio Centre to reopen - Final Details on EMF from Ofcom

The Summits On The Air (SOTA) program was designed with hiking/climbing in mind but some SOTA summits have roads that go to the top. Some notable ones that come to mind are Pikes Peak (W0C/FR-004), Mount Scott (W5O/WI-002), Mount Coolidge (W0D/BB-012), Sandia Crest (W5N/SI-001), Mount Greylock (W1/MB-001) and Mount Mitchell (W4C/CM-001). There are also summits that have trams, trains and chairlifts that provide easy access.

Some SOTA activators dismiss drive-up summits as not being the real SOTA experience. Everyone is entitled to their point of view and can choose their summits accordingly. I am too pragmatic (read: lazy) to worry about that. If there’s a road to the top, I am probably going to use it, whether it’s a serious 4WD road or a well-paved surface.

The Rules

The specific terminology used in the various SOTA Association Reference Manuals (ARMs) may vary a bit so I will refer to the Colorado (W0C) ARM:

The SOTA General Rules state that the method of final access to the radio operating location must be nonmotorized. The General Rules do not specify the distance, either vertical or horizontal, that this final access must cover. The use of non-motorized vehicles (e.g. bicycle) or pack animals to enter the Activation Zone (AZ) is permitted. Operations must not be in, or in the close vicinity of a motor vehicle, cannot use a permanent electrical power source, nor use a fossil fuel generator in any fashion. No part of the station may be connected in any way with the motor vehicle. All equipment must be operated from portable power source (batteries, solar cells, etc).

The intent of the rules is quite clear: SOTA is not a motorized activity…you need to operate independently of a motor vehicle. Like most rules though, there are shades of grade on the interpretation. Just how independent do we need to be? Unless you started your hike from your home location, all SOTA activations have some form of mechanized transport involved. It is just a question of how far you ride and how far you walk.

Some SOTA Associations used to suggest or require a qualifying hike for drive-up summits. This means that you hike down from the summit for some minimal vertical distance (100 feet or so) and then hike back up to “qualify” your activation. This idea seems to be on the way out and this language was removed from the W0C ARM some years ago. However, your Association may still encourage it or you could just decide that it is a practice that you want to do. (You can find ARMs here.)

Some new SOTA activators look at the rules and suggest they are too restrictive. They argue that people with limited mobility should be allowed to operate from a vehicle. These requests have been heard before and are immediately rejected. I do think the SOTA Management Team has crafted a workable approach that keeps SOTA oriented towards backpack portable operating while still allowing for minimal mobility.

Our Approach

The guiding principle that we use on our drive-up or tram-up summits is to use our normal backpack-portable SOTA station. However we get to the summit, everything goes into a pack which is carried for some minimal distance away from the vehicle, tram or chairlift. This keeps the drive-up SOTA station configured just like the hike-in variety: compact, lightweight, no chairs, no tables (unless they fit into our packs.) This avoids the “Field Day” style set up with lots of gear carried from the vehicle via multiple trips to create a Big Portable Station. Sometimes the drive-up summits are overrun with people, so a short hike away from the crowds can get you to a quieter spot.

That’s how we do it. What are your thoughts?

73 Bob K0NR

The post About Those Drive Up SOTA Summits appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.

It's time once again for The Weekender. This is our bi-weekly departure into the world of amateur radio contests, open source conventions, special events, listener challenges, hedonism and just plain fun. Thanks for listening and, if you happen to get a chance, feel free to call us or e-mail and send us some feedback. Tell us how we're doing. We'd love to hear from you.

73 de The LHS Crew

Hello and welcome to the 412th episode of Linux in the Ham Shack. In this episode, we have a fantastic interview with Elliott, Phil and Roeland, developers of the WFView project. WFView is an open source rig management application which implements rig control, network access, audio transport, full display view and more. It's open source and cross platform and available for download today. We hope you check out the project and enjoy the podcast.

73 de The LHS Crew