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LHS Episode #420: No No Jar Jar
5 July 2021 | by 
Hello and welcome to the 420th installment of Linux in the Ham Shack. Smoke 'em if you got 'em! In this episode the hosts discuss Youths on the Air 2021, the FCC and 5cm, the reopening of ARRL HQ, satellites made of plywood, the Linux 5.13 kernel, a new version of Mixxx and much more. We hope you enjoy this episode and have a great week.
73 de The LHS Crew
Russ Woodman, K5TUX, co-hosts the Linux in the Ham Shack podcast which is available for download in both MP3 and OGG audio format. Contact him at [email protected].
ICQ Podcast Episode 354 – 8 Watt Handie Talkie
In this episode, Martin (M1MRB) is joined by Chris Howard (M0TCH), Ed Durrant (DD5LP) and Frank Howell (K4FMH) to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin (M6BOY) rounds up the news in brief and this episode's feature - 8 Watt Handie Talkie.
ICQ AMATEUR/HAM RADIO PODCAST DONORS
We would like to thank Philip Heckingbottom VK6ADF and Dave Renton G1DUM and our monthly and annual subscription donors for keeping the podcast advert free. To donate, please visit - http://www.icqpodcast.com/donate
- FCC Seeks Comments in Proceeding Involving 70 and 5 Centimetres
- Australian 2X1 Call Signs
- New Version of WSJT-X July 2021
- 'Woodpecker' is Now a Cultural Heritage Site
- 820,000 Norweigan Kroner to Support Ham Radio Emergency Comms
- JARL Reports First Membership Increase for 27 years
- France: New Online Directory of Radio Amateurs
- New Zealand Frequency Allocation Table
Colin Butler, M6BOY, is the host of the ICQ Podcast, a weekly radio show about Amateur Radio. Contact him at [email protected].
LHS Episode #419: The Weekender LXXIV
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
Russ Woodman, K5TUX, co-hosts the Linux in the Ham Shack podcast which is available for download in both MP3 and OGG audio format. Contact him at [email protected].
LHS Episode #418: ARDC Deep Dive
Hello and welcome to the 418th installment of Linux in the Ham Shack. In this episode, we talk to part of the team from Amateur Radio Digital Communications, a group that emerged from the AMPRNet. We find out how the group was formed, the popular grant program for amateur radio projects it has created, its available resources and much more. Thank you for listening. We hope you enjoy this episode and have a great week.
73 de The LHS Crew
Russ Woodman, K5TUX, co-hosts the Linux in the Ham Shack podcast which is available for download in both MP3 and OGG audio format. Contact him at [email protected].
Field Day – 200 QSOs with a Flashlight Battery
Field Day was an experiment this year. I ran my operation for nine hours using a 5V 18650 battery. I made 200 QSOs before calling it quits.
I operated on the deck with an MTR 4-B designed by KD1JV. The antenna was an 88 foot doublet up about 45 feet. I used the ZM-2 tuner. For power I used the Powerfilm Lightsaver. This is a 5 watt roll-up solar panel that charges a 3.7V 18650 battery rated at 3.2 Ahr. The battery inside the Powerfilm product is commonly used in flashlights. The combination of the rig and the power supply is crucial.
The MTR rigs will operate from 6 to 12 volts. The Powerfilm puts out 5V to a USB socket. The secret ingredient required to bring the USB voltage up to the operating voltage of the rig is a Baofeng USB charging dongle. This device takes a 5V input and outputs 10.3 volts… perfect for the MTR transceiver. With this voltage the MTR puts out a little less than 3 watts.
The Powerfilm Lightsaver is designed to charge cell phones for hikers and campers. It weighs only about 5 oz. and rolls up into a tiny package. Any USB 5V cell phone charging battery could be used with the Baofeng dongle.
This year my whole station operated on 5V. I used a Samsung tablet for logging.
In New Hampshire it was cloudy for most of Field Day, but fortunately the amorphous solar panel provides some charging even when it’s cloudy. I’m guessing that after 9 hours of operating the battery was down to about half capacity. The beauty of this system is that one could operate indefinitely with moderate sunshine.
I’ve been experimenting with this setup during hikes and bike rides for the last couple of months with a view to using it for Field Day. This year’s emergency exercise proves that it is viable for an extended grid-down power outage.
Jim Cluett, W1PID, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Hampshire, USA. Contact him at [email protected].
Ham College 78
Ham College episode 78 is now available for download.
Extra Class Exam Questions – Part 16.
E4B Measurement technique and limitations: instrument accuracy and performance limitations, probes, techniques to minimize errors, measurement of Q, instrument calibration, S parameters, vector network analyzers.
54:43
George Thomas, W5JDX, is co-host of AmateurLogic.TV, an original amateur radio video program hosted by George Thomas (W5JDX), Tommy Martin (N5ZNO), Peter Berrett (VK3PB), and Emile Diodene (KE5QKR). Contact him at [email protected].
Hunting For NDBs In CLE269
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| AP-378 Active Pass, Mayne Island |
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. Thankfully the Sun has ended, for now, its Coronal Hole Streams toward earth which had been causing so much disruption.
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 organizers comes the following CLE info:
Hi all,
Please join us in our 269th Coordinated Listening Event which starts this Friday.
The CLE is open to everyone including new-comers.
It’s not a contest - but enjoy taking part and you will be a winner:
Days: Friday 25th June - Monday 28th June
Times: Start and end at midday, LOCAL TIME at the receiver
Frequencies: 370 - 384.9 kHz
Wherever you are, please join us and log all NDBs that you can positively identify with their nominal (listed) frequencies in the range (it includes 370 kHz but not 385 kHz) plus any UNIDs that you come across there.
Very short logs are as welcome as very long ones!
Please Send your CLE log to the List, preferably as a plain text email (not in an attachment) with ‘CLE269 FINAL’ at the start of its subject line.
Show on EVERY LINE of your log:
# The date (e.g. 2021-06-25, etc., or just 25)
# UTC (the date changes at 00:00 UTC)
# kHz (the nominal published frequency, if known)
# The Call Ident.
Show those main items FIRST - other optional details such as Location and Distance go LATER in the same line.
If you send interim logs, please also send a 'FINAL’ (complete) log!
As always, tell us your own location and brief details of the equipment that you were using during the weekend.
We will send the usual 'Any More Logs?' email at about 19:00 UTC on Tuesday 29th June - you can then check that your log has been found OK.
All logs must arrive on the list at the very latest by 08:00 UTC on Wednesday 30th June.
We hope to complete making the combined results within a few days.
To help you to plan your listening, seeklists and maps for your part of the World are available via the CLE page http://www.ndblist.info/cle.htm.
You can also access listings, seeklists, maps and export-files via REU/RNA/RWW by clicking on the “CLE” menu-item.
We last used this frequency range for CLE252 in January 2020.
Good listening - enjoy the CLE.
Joachim & Brian
Reminder:
If you wish you can use any one remote receiver for your loggings,
stating the location and owner and with their permission if required.
A remote listener may NOT also use another receiver, whether local
or remote, to make 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
• determine, worldwide, which beacons are out-of-service or have gone silent since the last CLE covering this range
• will indicate the state of propagation conditions at the various participant locations
• will give you an indication of how well your LF/MF receiving system is working
• give participants a fun yet challenging activity to keep their listening skills honed
Final details can be found at the NDB List website, and worldwide results, for every participant, will be posted there a few days after the event.
The NDB List Group is a great place to learn more about the 'Art of NDB DXing' or to meet other DXers in your region. There is a lot of good information available there and new members are always very welcome. As well, you can follow the results of other CLE participants from night to night as propagation is always an active topic of discussion.
You need not be an NDB List member to participate in the CLEs and all reports, no matter how small, are of much value to the organizers.
Remember - 'First-time' logs are always VERY welcome!
Reports may be sent to the NDB List Group or e-mailed to CLE co-ordinator, Brian Keyte (G3SIA), whose address appears above. If you are a member of the group, all final results will also be e-mailed and posted there.
Please ... give the CLE a try ... then let us know what NDB's can be heard from your location! Your report can then be added to the worldwide database to help keep it up-to-date.
Have fun and good hunting!
Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].
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