Here is this week’s space weather and geophysical report, issued 2018 Mar 05 0116 UTC.

Highlights of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 26 February – 04 March 2018

Solar activity reached low levels on 02 Mar due to an isolated C1 flare from Region 2700 (N06, L=328, class/area=Cro/30 on 26 Feb), which was the only active region with sunspots this period. Solar activity was very low throughout the remainder of the period and no Earth-directed CMEs were observed.

No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit reached high levels on 26-27 Feb and 03 Mar and moderate levels were observed on 28 Feb and 01-02 Mar. Normal levels were observed on 04 Mar.

Geomagnetic field activity reached active and G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storm levels on 27 Feb due to the influence of a negative polarity CH HSS. Generally quiet and quiet to unsettled conditions were observed throughout the remainder of the period.

Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 05 March – 31 March 2018

Solar activity is expected to be very low throughout the outlook period.

No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to reach high levels on 18-25 Mar and moderate levels are expected on 17, and 26-30 Mar. Normal flux levels are expected for the remainder of the outlook period.

Geomagnetic field activity is expected to reach G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storm levels on 18, 22 and 26 Mar due to the influences of multiple recurrent, CH HSSs. Active levels are expected on 15-17 and 21 Mar with generally quiet and quiet to unsettled conditions likely through the remainder of the outlook period.

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So you have run the latest Windows and found out that 10 is full of bloatware and updates to nail your PC to the ground. You may have also tried Linux, but found some things it does, and some things it won't, or impossible to be made to work, like camera drivers for example. Stuff which would work with Windows no problem. You may have tried running Windows Apps under Wine on top of Linux, some work, but some refuse point blank, or you have just found Linux too geeky and given up?

You have also discovered there is a lot more software around for Windows against Linux, especially for our radio hobby.

Also there is the no security update problem with those using ageing copies of XP, 2000, Vista and Win 7. Like myself whom will fall into the no support trap in another 18 months or so?

You also don't like paying for a new operating system and want it for free!


Well I might of found something that is being developed as an open source operating system that appears to fit the bill called ReactOS.
 
ReactOS is only up to version 0.47a, so it is in it's very early stages of development and I guess full of bugs, but it does seem to work as you would expect from a Windows operating system.

I have done a bit more research around the Web and found that that only a day ago, Chris Barnatt of Explainingcomputers.com had just made a video about the product, which I have bopped the link here for you all to watch:




This seems quite an exciting development as operating systems go, and something tight fisted penny pinching Radio Hams have been looking around for a number of years. Currently, I am not minded to move to it yet until it gets passed the beta stages, but it is something I would welcome very soon.




Steve, G1KQH, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from England. Contact him at [email protected].

Sunday March 4th was a beautiful and slightly cool (mid-seventies) day in Jupiter, Florida and was the day I selected for my first #POTA activation (parksontheair.com).  I picked the 11,000 acre Jonathan Dickinson State Park, KFF-1887, just six miles from my Florida QTH.  I scouted out locations a few days earlier and chose the picnic area near the river, with cooperating pine trees with handy limbs.  Using my unique antenna launch tool (see pic) on only the second try I hit my target limb and hoisted the “high” end of an EndFedz antenna cut for 20 meters.  My battery was charged, I had my sandwich, I even had a cushion for the hard picnic table bench seat.  Right on time I was ready to spot myself, all settled and happy.  Do you hear a “but” coming?

This was also the weekend ARRL chose, without checking with me, for their hugely popular annual DX Contest.  There were a few thousand hams on 20m, most, it seemed, with a kilowatt and a pretty good beam competing with me barefoot with a dipole up all of fifteen feet.   I spotted myself on DXSummit.fi but apparently nobody cared.  I raised my friend Rick on the local repeater and got him to listen for me at 14.244 a few miles away and we could barely hear one another on ground wave.  We were in a wall of sound (and I was learning the value of a filter for sideband.)

So there’s my POTA Pickle; I’m in the right place and all set to operate POTA but cannot compete with a thousand big gun stations.  Well  golly, let’s join in on the fun then.

First I took down the End Fedz that just doesn’t work that well for me and put up my link dipole made from lamp cord and began to hunt and pounce.  Worked a dozen international stations in an hour and called it, after all, a good non-POTA day.

This is Wayne,  K4WK, http://www.hamdom.com. Thanks for listening; you’re in the log.

 

Wayne Robertson, K4WK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Georgia, USA.

I just received some good news from Mike, WA9PIE.  He writes in an email:

The first release of Ham Radio Deluxe for 2018 (Ham Radio Deluxe version 6.4.0.794) is now available for download. Please download it from the Download pages on our website at:

https://www.hamradiodeluxe.com

This release includes a number of important changes including the addition of the Icom IC-7610, resolves a Logbook exit problem, resolves “sort on LOTW date”, API for QSO Forwarding now populates Logbook with My Station data, a number of fixes for the Kenwood TS-480, applications remember screen position, enable CI-V address to be entered directly, and a number of stability enhancements.

The full release notes can be found here:

http://ReleaseNotes.hamradiodeluxe.com

I would like to acknowledge and thank Mike Blaszczak (K7ZCZ) and our beta team on their hard work in getting this release out.

All those who have purchased Ham Radio Deluxe at any time in the past should download and install this version in order to benefit from all bug fixes. You are entitled to them. Our clients who are covered by an active Software Maintenance and Support period are entitled to Feature Enhancements.

As announced previously, we expect to release as many as 9 releases in 2018. There will be no releases between 1-Nov and 1-Jan. We continue to focus on reducing our development backlog with five developers dedicated to all applications in the suite.

Please watch these newsletters for updates. Pass these updates along to your friends. Newsletters will also be posted on our website’s blog at:

https://www.hamradiodeluxe.com/blog

Thank you es 73 de Mike, WA9PIE

HRD Software, LLC

Visit, subscribe: NW7US Radio Communications and Propagation YouTube Channel

Tandberg Huldra 10

Tasos, SV8YM, has written about “The Mysterious Case of the Withering Filters“. This seems to affect not only ham radio transceivers, but FM stereo receivers as well.

Tandberg from the 70’s are collectors items and since I actually worked one summer at Tandberg in the early 70’s they bring back good memories for me. The latest generation of receivers (2nd version of Huldra 10, Huldra 11, and Huldra 12) had ceramic filters for the 10.7 MHz intermediate frequency for FM. It is also known that these filters deteriorate leading to reduced sensitivity over time.

SV8YM has pointed out that ceramic filters deteriorate due to DC on the terminals, especially the output terminal and that this leads to electromigration. In the Huldra 10, both filters have 7.1 V DC on the input. Filter F1 has 0 V DC on the output, while F2 has 2.1 V on the output.

Old filters (left) and new filters

As I got ready to replace mine with new Murata filters (SFELF10M7GA00-B0, 230 kHz bandwidth), I read the same warning in their specifications, which says: “For safety purposes, connect the output of filters to the IF amplifier through a D.C. blocking capacitor. Avoid applying a direct current to the output of ceramic filters.“

I also noticed that the filters had been replaced before. To be sure, I added three coupling capacitors (10 nF – 0.01 uF). This value has a reactance of 1/(2 pi 10.7e6 0.01 e-6) = 1.5 ohms which is negligible compared to the 330 ohm termination impedance. They were surface mount capacitors which is quite some upgrade as they perhaps were not even invented when this receiver was designed. They were fitted under the PCB by cutting the appropriate trace. Whether this has any long-term effect I don’t know, as the Huldra 10 at the age of 40 years is beyond its design life anyway.

My somewhat inaccurate oscilloscope measurements indicated that the passband attenuation in F1 was reduced from 7 to 4 dB and in F2 from 9 to 2 dB, in total maybe as much as 10 dB gain. FM sensitivity seems to have been restored to normal value after this replacement, so it was well worth the effort.

The three new 10 nF coupling capacitors, circled in red

The two filters, circled in red

Sverre Holm, LA3ZA, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Norway. Contact him at [email protected].

In this episode, Martin M1MRB is joined by Edmund Spicer M0MNG, Leslie Butterfield G0CIB, Bill Barnes N3JIX and Chris Howard M0TCH to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin M6BOY rounds up the news in brief, and this episode’s feature is - Book Review 2018

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

• Ada Lace Book Features Ham Radio
• Experimental Homebrew Equipment Does Not Require Type Approval
• Radio Hams Assist GirlGuides to go International
• Maplin Collapses as Rescue Talks Fail
• Shoe Tap to Morse Code
• New Swedish Driving Law to Effect Amateur Radio
• Argentinian Balloon Flight Completes 2nd Round World
• MacLoggerDX Version 6.17 Released

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

Amateur Radio Weekly is curated by Cale Mooth K4HCK. Sign up free to receive ham radio's most relevant news, projects, technology and events by e-mail each week at http://www.hamweekly.com.