Two years ago this day we moved into our own house in Daxi and exactly two years later I can finally say that my shack is finished. Done, completed, set and sorted. After I fixed the walls and painted them bright during Chinese New Year 2016 it took more than a year before the itch of a dedicated bookshelf for all my radio stuff became too much to bear, so CNY 2017 saw this addition….

The lighting was too cold for my taste, so I made this with some old wood and LED lights I got for free from a defunct coffee house…..

Then I really got going and made shelves on top of my ham desk so I could finally stack all my rigs in one place. Heaven! The first time ever I got things organized this well. I also put in a new vent for the cables going to the outside, color coded everything et voila, we were done!

I haven’t been on air yet, but monitoring instead to see how my antennas perform reception wise. At first I used WSPR, but as there are only so many stations I switched to JT65. I have been spending quite a bit of time on pskreporter.info, which is fascinating website. Within 12 hours you can get a view of what you can receive and from where. Do it for a couple of days and you will get a feel of how good conditions are at the moment.

Even though noise on 20 meters is huge I can still hear a lot, but there is room for improvement. With the shack and antenna cables in place I can finally start working on my antennas and see if I can get the noise down a bit. Noise on 20 meters is the worst, 40 meters is fine, but I don’t have a resonant antenna for that band. The 5 meter vertical on the roof performs well for NDB DXing, but not for much else. The summer is always hot here, but I will beat the heat and make those improvements so I can work the world again this fall.

Hans "Fong" van den Boogert, BX2ABT, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Taiwan. Contact him at [email protected].

If you are anything like me you have used those little repeater directories and strained your eyes in the process. I use to hate trying to find a repeater to use while I was on a trip. Most of the time, while I was on a trip, the town that I was in didn’t have any repeaters in it, but the next town over did. Maybe it was two towns over, or the third of fourth town that I look at in the directory. Either way, it was a pain in the…well you know.

Bob had the same thinking that I did all those years ago, but he acted on it. He went and digitized all the repeater data that was available and made it into an Android app. It is now available to IPhone, Android and on the web for just a small fee.

RFinder is the official repeater directory of Canada, the United Kingdom as well as 13 other countries. This year the ARRL partnered with RFinder to print the 2017 ARRL repeater directory. This years directory has 10,000 more listings and is the first time that the ARRL has crowd sourced the repeater information. The data that RFinder uses comes from many different places including Repeater societies, club websites and directly from repeater owners.

For more information about RFinder, hear it from Bob himself in the latest episode of the Everything Ham Radio Podcast at http://www.everythinghamradio.com/podcast/75

Curtis Mohr, K5CLM, is the author/owner of Everything Ham Radio Blog and Youtube channel. Contact him at [email protected].

Participants in the central states seemed to enjoy much greater groundwave coverage than here on the west coast. It seems that the rugged Coastal ranges and the Rockies do have a pronounced effect on daylight propagation when skywave is not involved. Beacon ERP cannot be ignored as well as location and ground system efficiency ... some definitely get out much better than others even though output powers may be the same.

Anthony Casorso, ADØVC, listening near Denver, Colorado with an Elad SDR and a 17' Low Noise Vertical (LNV), managed several +500 mile catches but all N-S or to the east.

Bill Riches, WA2DVU, in Cape May, NJ, found SJ-212 in Saint John, New Brunswick, 635 miles to the north with his Perseus and Wellbrook loop.

Dave Tomasko, K9QU, in Galena, Illinois, caught OKS-233 in Oshkosh, NE at 625 miles and FOR-236 in Forsyth, Montana, at a whopping 845 miles with his R-75 and Wellbrook ALA100 loop. 

These were heard here at 11 a.m. local time using my Perseus SDR and inverted-L tuned to 300kHz:

24 18:00 200.0  YJ   Victoria - Sidney Island, BC, CAN
24 18:00 203.0  YBL  Campbell River, BC, CAN
24 18:00 214.0  LU   'Cultus' Abbotsford, BC, CAN
24 18:00 216.0  GRF  GRAYE - Fort Lewis, WA, USA
24 18:00 223.0  YKA  Kamloops, BC, CAN
24 18:00 227.0  CG   Castlegar, BC, CAN
24 18:00 236.0  YZA  Ashcroft, BC, CAN
24 18:00 240.0  BVS  Skagit/Bay View - Burlington, WA, USA
24 18:00 242.0  ZT   Port Hardy, BC, CAN
24 18:00 248.0  ZZP  Dead Tree - Queen Charlotte Is, BC, CAN
24 18:00 251.0  YCD  Nanaimo, BC, CAN
24 18:00 257.0  LW   Kelowna - Wood Lake, BC, CAN
24 18:00 266.0  VR   Vancouver - Lulu Island, BC, CAN
24 18:00 269.0  YK   'Brilliant' Castlegar, BC, CAN
24 18:00 272.0  XS   Prince George, BC, CAN
24 18:00 284.0  FHR  Friday Harbor Apt, WA, USA
24 18:00 290.0  YYF  Penticton, BC, CAN
24 18:00 293.0  MB   Mill Bay - Sidney, BC, CAN
24 18:00 312.0  UNT  Naramata, BC, CAN
24 18:00 325.0  YJQ  Bella Bella (Campbell Island), BC, CAN
24 18:00 326.0  DC   Princeton Municipal Apt, BC, CAN
24 18:00 328.0  LAC  'Lacomas' Fort Lewis, WA, USA
24 18:00 332.0  WC   White Rock (Abbotsford), BC, CAN
24 18:00 338.0  K    Ediz Hook - Port Angeles, WA, USA
24 18:00 344.0  XX   Abbotsford, BC, CAN
24 18:00 348.0  MNC  'Mason Co' Shelton, WA, USA
24 18:00 350.0  NY   Enderby, BC, CAN
24 18:00 353.0  RNT  Renton Municipal Apt, WA, USA
24 18:00 356.0  ON   'Okanagan' Penticton, BC, CAN
24 18:00 359.0  YQZ  Quesnel, BC, CAN
24 18:00 359.0  YAZ  Tofino - Vancouver Island, BC, CAN
24 18:00 362.0  BF   'Nolla' Seattle, WA, USA
24 18:00 368.0  ZP   Sandspit - Moresby Island, BC, CAN
24 18:00 371.0  YK   'Donny' Yakima, WA, USA
24 18:00 374.0  EX   Rutland (Kelowna), BC, CAN
24 18:00 378.0  AP   Active Pass (Mayne Island), BC, CAN
24 18:00 382.0  YPW  Powell River, BC, CAN
24 18:00 382.0  AW   WATON - Marysville, WA, USA
24 18:00 385.0  WL   Williams Lake, BC, CAN
24 18:00 389.0  YWB  Kelowna, BC, CAN
24 18:00 400.0  QQ   Comox, BC, CAN
24 18:00 408.0  MW   PELLY - Moses Lake, WA, USA
24 18:00 414.0  YZK  Harper Ranch, BC, CAN
24 18:00 515.0  CL   ELWHA - Cresent Beach, WA, USA
Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

Participants in the central states seemed to enjoy much greater groundwave coverage than here on the west coast. It seems that the rugged Coastal ranges and the Rockies do have a pronounced effect on daylight propagation when skywave is not involved. Beacon ERP cannot be ignored as well as location and ground system efficiency ... some definitely get out much better than others even though output powers may be the same.

Anthony Casorso, ADØVC, listening near Denver, Colorado with an Elad SDR and a 17' Low Noise Vertical (LNV), managed several +500 mile catches but all N-S or to the east.

Bill Riches, WA2DVU, in Cape May, NJ, found SJ-212 in Saint John, New Brunswick, 635 miles to the north with his Perseus and Wellbrook loop.

Dave Tomasko, K9QU, in Galena, Illinois, caught OKS-233 in Oshkosh, NE at 625 miles and FOR-236 in Forsyth, Montana, at a whopping 845 miles with his R-75 and Wellbrook ALA100 loop. 

These were heard here at 11 a.m. local time using my Perseus SDR and inverted-L tuned to 300kHz:

24 18:00 200.0  YJ   Victoria - Sidney Island, BC, CAN
24 18:00 203.0  YBL  Campbell River, BC, CAN
24 18:00 214.0  LU   'Cultus' Abbotsford, BC, CAN
24 18:00 216.0  GRF  GRAYE - Fort Lewis, WA, USA
24 18:00 223.0  YKA  Kamloops, BC, CAN
24 18:00 227.0  CG   Castlegar, BC, CAN
24 18:00 236.0  YZA  Ashcroft, BC, CAN
24 18:00 240.0  BVS  Skagit/Bay View - Burlington, WA, USA
24 18:00 242.0  ZT   Port Hardy, BC, CAN
24 18:00 248.0  ZZP  Dead Tree - Queen Charlotte Is, BC, CAN
24 18:00 251.0  YCD  Nanaimo, BC, CAN
24 18:00 257.0  LW   Kelowna - Wood Lake, BC, CAN
24 18:00 266.0  VR   Vancouver - Lulu Island, BC, CAN
24 18:00 269.0  YK   'Brilliant' Castlegar, BC, CAN
24 18:00 272.0  XS   Prince George, BC, CAN
24 18:00 284.0  FHR  Friday Harbor Apt, WA, USA
24 18:00 290.0  YYF  Penticton, BC, CAN
24 18:00 293.0  MB   Mill Bay - Sidney, BC, CAN
24 18:00 312.0  UNT  Naramata, BC, CAN
24 18:00 325.0  YJQ  Bella Bella (Campbell Island), BC, CAN
24 18:00 326.0  DC   Princeton Municipal Apt, BC, CAN
24 18:00 328.0  LAC  'Lacomas' Fort Lewis, WA, USA
24 18:00 332.0  WC   White Rock (Abbotsford), BC, CAN
24 18:00 338.0  K    Ediz Hook - Port Angeles, WA, USA
24 18:00 344.0  XX   Abbotsford, BC, CAN
24 18:00 348.0  MNC  'Mason Co' Shelton, WA, USA
24 18:00 350.0  NY   Enderby, BC, CAN
24 18:00 353.0  RNT  Renton Municipal Apt, WA, USA
24 18:00 356.0  ON   'Okanagan' Penticton, BC, CAN
24 18:00 359.0  YQZ  Quesnel, BC, CAN
24 18:00 359.0  YAZ  Tofino - Vancouver Island, BC, CAN
24 18:00 362.0  BF   'Nolla' Seattle, WA, USA
24 18:00 368.0  ZP   Sandspit - Moresby Island, BC, CAN
24 18:00 371.0  YK   'Donny' Yakima, WA, USA
24 18:00 374.0  EX   Rutland (Kelowna), BC, CAN
24 18:00 378.0  AP   Active Pass (Mayne Island), BC, CAN
24 18:00 382.0  YPW  Powell River, BC, CAN
24 18:00 382.0  AW   WATON - Marysville, WA, USA
24 18:00 385.0  WL   Williams Lake, BC, CAN
24 18:00 389.0  YWB  Kelowna, BC, CAN
24 18:00 400.0  QQ   Comox, BC, CAN
24 18:00 408.0  MW   PELLY - Moses Lake, WA, USA
24 18:00 414.0  YZK  Harper Ranch, BC, CAN
24 18:00 515.0  CL   ELWHA - Cresent Beach, WA, USA
Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

In this episode, Martin M1MRB / W9ICQ is joined by Leslie Butterfield G0CIB, Edmund Spicer M0MNG and Bill Barnes N3JX  to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin M6BOY rounds up the news in brief, and this episode’s feature is Repair and Safety

We would like to thank Kevin Strishock (N3LGA) and our monthly and annual donors for keeping the podcast advert free. To donate, please visit - http://www.icqpodcast.com/donate

• US Ham Possible Oldest Active Radio Amateur

• WIA consults - Increased Foundation Power

• Morse No Longer Required for Jamaican Radio Operators

• UK Based Real-time Propagation Tool

• FCC Part 97 Ham Radio Changes

• 5 MHz for Jamaica

• Asteroid named after Radio Ham

• Irish 2017 VHF/UHF Contest

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

In this episode, Martin M1MRB / W9ICQ is joined by Leslie Butterfield G0CIB, Edmund Spicer M0MNG and Bill Barnes N3JX  to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin M6BOY rounds up the news in brief, and this episode’s feature is Repair and Safety

We would like to thank Kevin Strishock (N3LGA) and our monthly and annual donors for keeping the podcast advert free. To donate, please visit - http://www.icqpodcast.com/donate

• US Ham Possible Oldest Active Radio Amateur

• WIA consults - Increased Foundation Power

• Morse No Longer Required for Jamaican Radio Operators

• UK Based Real-time Propagation Tool

• FCC Part 97 Ham Radio Changes

• 5 MHz for Jamaica

• Asteroid named after Radio Ham

• Irish 2017 VHF/UHF Contest

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.