AmateurRadio.com

In this episode, Martin M1MRB is joined by Chris Howard M0TCH, Martin Rothwell M0SGL, Dan Romanchik KB6NU, 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 is our first impression of the ICOM IC-9700.

ICQ AMATEUR/HAM RADIO PODCAST DONORS

We would like to thank Charles Benet (AI6TT)  along with our monthly and annual subscription donors for keeping the podcast advert free. To donate, please visit - http://www.icqpodcast.com/donate   

• Record Year for Online Amateur Radio Training Course

• D-STAR ONE Launched, Telemetry Received

• VHF/UHF Workshop Aims To Boost Activity Above 30 MHz

• New Amateur / Ham Radio General Class Question Pool Released

• Amateur Radio eBooks Available for Download

• Court Ruling - Excessive Antenna Application Fees Violated Reasonable Accommodation

• Amateur Radio Exam Success in Holland

• French Amateur Radio "Tax" Removed

• New Amateur Radio Technical Requirements in Bulgaria

Colin Butler, M6BOY, is the host of the ICQ Podcast, a weekly radio show about Amateur Radio. Contact him at [email protected].

OO-391kHz - Oshawa, Ontario courtesy: VE3GOP

This coming weekend will see another monthly CLE challenge. This time the hunting grounds will be 385.0 - 399.9 kHz.

 


For those unfamiliar with this monthly activity, a 'CLE' is a 'Co-ordinated Listening Event', as NDB DXers around the world focus their listening time on one small slice of the NDB spectrum.

A wonderful challenge for listeners in North America is to hear little OO - 391kHz, located in Oshawa, Ontario. It puts out only 7 1/2 watts but has been logged on both coasts as well as in Europe! Listen for its USB CW identifier (with your receiver in the CW mode) on 391.396 and its LSB ID on 390.595 kHz.

MF propagation this past week has been good and signals in this frequency range should be propagating well if things stay undisturbed for the weekend. As usual however, a large coronal hole has returned to its monthly CLE position and its weekend effects are still unknown.

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 1020Hz 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.


From CLE organizer Brian Keyte, G3SIA, come details via the The NDB List Group:


Hello all,

Our 240th Coordinated Listening Event is less than a week away.
We can now forget all about pyramids and relax with a straightforward
event.   Whether you are a keen propagation watcher or just a
take-what-comes listener, please join in.

    Days:    Friday 25 January - Monday 28 January
    Times:   Start and end at midday, your LOCAL TIME
    Range:   385.0 - 399.9 kHz

Please log all the NDBs you can identify that are listed in that range
(it includes 385 kHz but not 400 kHz) plus any UNIDs you find there.
We last used this frequency range for CLE224 in October 2017.


Please send your final log to the List (no attachments and ideally
in a plain text email) with ‘FINAL CLE240’ in its title.
Show on each line:

    #   The Date (e.g.  '2019-01-26' etc.  or just '26' )
    #   The Time in UTC (the day changes at 00:00 UTC).
    #   kHz  - the nominal published frequency, if known.
    #   The Call Ident.

Please show those main items FIRST.  Other optional details such
as Location and Distance go LATER in the same line.
As always, of course, tell us your own location and brief details
of the equipment that you were using during the Event.

We will send the usual 'Any More Logs?' email at about 18:00 UTC
on Tuesday so that you can check that your log has been found OK.

The combined results should then be completed within a day or two.

You can soon find full details about current and past CLEs from the CLE page
http://www.ndblist.info/cle.htm  It includes access to CLE240 seeklists
for your part of the World, prepared from the previous loggings in Rxx.

Good listening - enjoy the CLE.
      Brian and Joachim
---------------------------------------------------------------
From:      Brian Keyte G3SIA      ndbcle'at'gmail.com
Location:  Surrey,  SE England     (CLE coordinator)
---------------------------------------------------------------

  (If you would like to listen remotely  you could use any one remote
  receiver for your loggings, stating its location and owner and with their
  permission if required.  A remote listener may NOT also use another
  receiver, local or remote, to make further loggings for the same CLE)


These listening events serve several purposes. They:


Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

Welcome to the 22nd edition of the LHS Weekender. In this episode, the hosts discuss upcoming amateur radio contests and special event stations, Open Source events in the next fortnight, Linux distributions of interest, news about science, technology and related endeavors as well is dive into food, drink and other hedonistic topics. Thank you for listening and we hope you're having a wonderful 2019 so far.

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].

Welcome to the first episode of Linux in the Ham Shack for 2019. In this episode, the hosts discuss topics including the 2018 RTTY Roundup using FT-8, Cubesats and wideband receivers in space, the ORI at Hamcation, Wekcan, Raspberry Pi-based VPN servers, the LHS Linux distributions, CW trainers and much more. Thank you for listening and we hope you're having a wonderful new year so far.

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].

AmateurLogic.TV Episode 126 is now available for download.

Tommy reviews the Blue Thumb DV. George and the crew pull out the test equipment and experiment with 1/4 wave stubs. This live demonstration helps clear up some of the mystery. Mike, VE3MIC sits in for the Cheap Old Man to help keep expenses under control.

1:31:49

Download
YouTube

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].

W7OS - Radio Club of Tacoma working the CX

This winter's running of the CW "Classic Exchange" will take place on Sunday, January 13 and on Tuesday, January 15. The following month will see the Phone "Classic Exchange", on Sunday, February 24 and on Tuesday, February 26.


The "CX" encourages participants to use older vintage gear including any homebrew equipment, both receivers and transmitters. A unique scoring system provides bonus points for various equipment and combinations as well as encouraging 'repeat contacts' when you switch to different equipment.

W8KM and his wonderful vintage station

No vintage gear? ... no problem! All amateurs are invited to participate and get in on the fun no matter what they are using and submit their scores.

K3MD's Heathkit AT-1 and Hallicrafters HT-37 ready for the CX

The CX is a low-key relaxing affair and the 'extra' Tuesday operating period should encourage a lot of midweek activity from the vast numbers of retired operators who cherish and run older gear.

Lots of combos ready at W4BOH's CX setup

K6ZI, Las Vegas - WWII ARC-5s ready to go

A summary of the Fall 2018 CX and soapbox comments, along with some wonderful vintage-station eye candy, may be found here.

For complete details of the upcoming event, see the web site announcement here.

If you've never entered the Classic Exchange, why not give it a try this year as it truly is a case of 'the more the merrier' ... and eastern operators, make sure to keep the porch light on for those out west!
Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

Stories you’ll find in our January, 2019 issue:

Exploring the Mysteries of Effective Radiated Power (ERP)
By Richard Fisher KI6SN

Why is it that some amateur stations you hear on the high frequency bands sound like they are international broadcasting stations? Sure, some may be running the full “legal limit” but many claim to be running just a few hundred watts. The secret is in their antenna—the higher the gain, the greater the Effective Radiated Power (ERP). This month Richard shows us that not only antenna gain but transmission mode has a lot to do with how big your signal sounds on the air and it doesn’t even require a lot of higher math to understand.

APRS and Other Related Digital Communications—Part II
By Cory GB Sickles WA3UVV

As a follow-up to Part 1, which appeared in the August 2018 issue of TSM, this month Cory takes a look at some of the interesting digital modes available that are used for more than simply communicating between stations. While packet radio may seem like a relic of the 1980s and 90s, it’s still widely used in a variety of applications—including communicating through the International Space Station. Cory shows us how this is done and what kind of equipment you need to do it—hint: it’s not all expensive gear with a steep learning curve and you don’t have to have a ham ticket to monitor the action.

HF Transmitter Hunting using KiwiSDRs and TDoA
By Tony Roper

The proliferation of the globally connected and remotely operated KiwiSDRs (software defined radios) has proved a boon to shortwave listeners the world over. It’s also providing an intriguing platform for high-frequency transmitter hunters. Where are those numbers stations originating from? What is the location of those Over-the-Horizon Radar installations causing havoc on the band? Longtime HF sleuth (and professional Air Traffic Controller), Tony Roper, a regular contributor to TSM walks us through the process of using these convenient radios to help answer these age-old shortwave questions.

Winter Shortwave Reading: TSM Reviews the Top Three Shortwave Guides
“Klingenfuss 2019/20 Guide to Utility Radio Stations” and “2019 Shortwave Frequency Guide”
Reviewed by Bob Grove W8JHD

This year Joerg Klingenfuss celebrates his 30th anniversary of publishing his “Guide to Utility Radio Stations” and his “Shortwave Frequency Guide.” Both publications have become indispensable guides to radio hobbyists around the world.

Gayle Van Horn’s “Global Radio Guide”
Reviewed by Ken Reitz KS4ZR

This year marks the debut of Gayle Van Horn’s “Global Radio Guide,” a 456-page compendium of global broadcasting as an e-book available only in Kindle format. The Global Radio Guide replaces her very successful “International Shortwave Broadcasting Guide.”

“World Radio Television Handbook”
Reviewed by Gayle Van Horn W4GVH

The 73rd edition of the World Radio Television Handbook is a wealth of vital information for any radio or television hobbyist and remains the most comprehensive exemplary reference book and a must-have for your listening post.

Scanning America
By Dan Veeneman
Nevada Shared Radio System

Federal Wavelengths
By Chris Parris
Hiding in Plain Sight: Federal Communications Systems

Milcom
By Larry Van Horn N5FPW
Monitor’s Guide to NAS Whiting Field and Training Wing Five

Utility Planet
By Hugh Stegman
Cuban and Russian “Numbers” Continue

Shortwave Utility Logs
By Mike Chace-Ortiz and Hugh Stegman

VHF and Above
By Joe Lynch N6CL
Space and Near Space Communications

Digitally Speaking
By Cory GB Sickles WA3UVV
Double Vision

Amateur Radio Insights
By Kirk Kleinschmidt NT0Z
New Year, New Milestone, New Tidbits

Radio 101
By Ken Reitz KS4ZR
AIR in DRM and Understanding RDS

Radio Propagation
By Tomas Hood NW7US
State of the Union, er…High Frequencies (An Outlook for 2019)

The World of Shortwave Listening
By Jeff White, Secretary-Treasurer NASB
European SW DXers Meet in Slovakia and Austria

The Shortwave Listener
By Fred Waterer
WRNO’s Powerful Return; WRMI’s International Programming: BBC Lineup

Maritime Monitoring
By Ron Walsh VE3GO
Snow, Ice and RF

Adventures in Radio Restoration
By Rich Post KB8TAD
Part 15: Radio as You Like It

Antenna Connections
By Dan Farber AC0LW
Stealth: Fighting Antenna Oppression

Ken Reitz, KS4ZR, is publisher and managing editor of The Spectrum Monitor. Contact him at [email protected].