In the latest episode of Linux in the Ham Shack, which is in fact better than the title would suggest, we tackle a bunch of different and interesting topics. There's information on driving while hamming, openness at the FCC, Belarussian nanosats, open-source documentation, Firefox returning to Debian, Chinese Linux distributions, things Linux doesn't have that it should, CW clocks and more. Thank you for listening and please donate and share our Hamvention 2017 funding campaign. Thank 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].

Has it been this long since I was on the radio??

My last blog post was over a month ago! What's the reason for this over due lapse........I have really not been on the radio or for that mater doing any thing radio what so ever. I have not fallen off the Ham radio wagon but have been busy with my other budding hobby... photography. My wife Julie is into photography big time has taken me under her wing. I have using my time to learn the in's and outs of our camera's (Nikon D800, D810 and a Lumix mirrorless) along with editing software such as Adobe Lightroom.  I'm begging to understand that "point and shoot" is the past and for me understanding the camera and the shot is my new learning curve. As you can see from the above picture ( Done with my iPhone and an instant fail in my dear wife's eyes) the roll top desk was  long overdue in opening. Today it was time to get down to some radio time. I setup the MFJ 1788 loop antenna on the balcony and flipped the K3 switch. I found myself on 20m and the band was in decent shape. I came across F6HKA calling CQ and I called him and he came back to me (with a few repeats  of my call) we had a nice QSO with the standard exchange. My mode of choice was CW, my report was 229 and  he was 559. The code speed was about 15 WPM and I must say even with the time away from the radio I found this speed very comfortable.  Before I knew it was time for Bert to move on as he had others waiting to make contact. I was thrilled to had made this contact and I soon after sent him an email of thanks. It's not news that the solar cycle is in the  down swing BUT I read some very encouraging blog posts over this past month...On March 7th John N8ZYA posted that he had contacted Australia VK3CWB with 5 watts and using an indoor antenna!!!
John also quoted VK3CWB regarding a great attitude to have:

"Its not the QRP which is important, it's the enthusiasm, endeavor, application and belief that things can be done simply which I really admire. And of course, if you run QRP there must be a persistence and a "never say die' attitude which is also most admirable".

Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

Has it been this long since I was on the radio??

My last blog post was over a month ago! What's the reason for this over due lapse........I have really not been on the radio or for that mater doing any thing radio what so ever. I have not fallen off the Ham radio wagon but have been busy with my other budding hobby... photography. My wife Julie is into photography big time has taken me under her wing. I have using my time to learn the in's and outs of our camera's (Nikon D800, D810 and a Lumix mirrorless) along with editing software such as Adobe Lightroom.  I'm begging to understand that "point and shoot" is the past and for me understanding the camera and the shot is my new learning curve. As you can see from the above picture ( Done with my iPhone and an instant fail in my dear wife's eyes) the roll top desk was  long overdue in opening. Today it was time to get down to some radio time. I setup the MFJ 1788 loop antenna on the balcony and flipped the K3 switch. I found myself on 20m and the band was in decent shape. I came across F6HKA calling CQ and I called him and he came back to me (with a few repeats  of my call) we had a nice QSO with the standard exchange. My mode of choice was CW, my report was 229 and  he was 559. The code speed was about 15 WPM and I must say even with the time away from the radio I found this speed very comfortable.  Before I knew it was time for Bert to move on as he had others waiting to make contact. I was thrilled to had made this contact and I soon after sent him an email of thanks. It's not news that the solar cycle is in the  down swing BUT I read some very encouraging blog posts over this past month...On March 7th John N8ZYA posted that he had contacted Australia VK3CWB with 5 watts and using an indoor antenna!!!
John also quoted VK3CWB regarding a great attitude to have:

"Its not the QRP which is important, it's the enthusiasm, endeavor, application and belief that things can be done simply which I really admire. And of course, if you run QRP there must be a persistence and a "never say die' attitude which is also most admirable".

Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

Joyce KØJJW and I were out for a little snowshoe activity near Monarch Pass in the San Isabel National Forest. Initially, we were headed to Old Monarch Pass when we noticed that the snow and weather conditions looked favorable on Monarch Ridge (also called Monarch Crest). Last winter, we tried snowshoeing Monarch Ridge twice, failing both times, once due to blizzard conditions that blew us off the summit.

Monarch Ridge South (W0C/SP-058) is the high point and a Summits On The Air (SOTA) summit, so of course it was a great idea to showshoe up there. In August of 2016, we road to the top using the tram. Take a look at that posting for more information on the summit.

For SOTA, Monarch Crest South is a versatile and very accessible peak. The slacker method is to ride the tram up during the summer months. It also can be an easy summer hike. Monarch Pass is at 11,312 feet in elevation and Monarch Crest South rises to 11,898 so the vertical gain is about 600 feet. In winter, it is a reasonable snowshoe trip. However, watch the weather carefully: you might get blown off the summit.

We started from the Monarch Pass parking lot and snowshoed straight up to the summit, roughly following the tram line. This route is simple but steep. Near the top, the ground was bare, so we removed the snowshoes and hiked on bare ground and rocks. I did not have cellphone coverage at the parking lot but I did get “one bar” about halfway up the mountain. I used this to post a SOTAwatch alert and send an email notice to hams in the area.

Just like last time, I did have some minor interference on 2m fm from the radio site at the summit, which seemed to peak up right around 146.52 MHz. Lovely. But it did not keep me from making contacts.

As you can see from the photos, it was a gorgeous day. The temperature hung around 35 degrees F with some wind at the summit, so no problem with that. Another great day in the mountains, playing with ham radio.

73, Bob K0NR

The post Winter SOTA on Monarch Ridge South appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.

Bob Witte, KØNR, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Colorado, USA. 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.

The buttons in my Kenwood TS-50S ham radio started falling out when the foam inside started getting old. The foam was the only thing holding the buttons in so I used jewelry repair rings from  Michaels Store to clamp around the base of the buttons inside the bezel face plate which then holds the buttons in nicely yet lets them have full travel and good tactical feel.

Todd Harrison, KF7NBI, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Arizona, USA.

About midway through January, I heard via a Sunday morning WIA broadcast that a group of ARRL Volunteer Examiners was offering to hold exam sessions at the Wyong Field Day at the end of February.

I passed my original amateur license exam here in Australia almost 40 years ago. My AOCP (Amateur Operator’s Certificate of Proficiency) says I passed a test on 21st November 1978. (That was probably the date of my second or third attempt to pass the morse at 10 wpm test.)

For the exam, I also had to answer questions about radio regulations and to demonstrate “a knowledge of wireless telegraphy and wireless telephony and electrical principles”, I had to write a number of essays about things like neutralizing a valve (tube) power amplifier or how a superheterodyne receiver works. A lot has changed since then. New technology like software defined radio and the internet.

After I heard that local hams were conducting US license exams here, my first resolution of the year was to pass the US exams for all three levels.

I was surprised that I was able to do this. All the FCC required was an online registration of an FRN (an FCC Registration Number) using a US address which was easy enough to obtain without having to pay a monthly fee. Also for the US, there is no license fee and licenses have a term of ten years.

With just on six weeks to prepare I planned to work sequentially through the three levels, spending more time on the hardest level, Extra. With no time to spare I ordered Kindle versions of the license manuals for all three levels. I also downloaded copies of the freely available complete question pools for each level. The exams are objective tests based on random selections from every part of all of the ten main exam topics – 35 questions for Technician and General, and 50 for Extra.

The license manuals essentially re-arrange the hundreds of disparate questions into a more or less flowing narrative about how to be a modern ham radio operator.

As I worked my way through the manuals I would mark up the questions and answers in my copies of the question pools and make notes if necessary to explain the answer.

The information in the manuals was very well presented and manageable and digestible. I loved the way liberal amounts of ham radio wisdom about operating practice was added to the mix. It was really like having your own personal Elmer guiding you through the intricacies of aspects of the hobby that previously were unclear or were new to me.

Best of all for me the study process demystified a lot of the mathematics of electronics and set me on a path to better understand what after all is the basis of the ‘magic’ of radio. I love the fact that the Scottish mathematician Maxwell concluded radio waves must exist, just from the maths, many years before they were actually discovered or produced by Hertz and others.

The ARRL web pages supporting the license manuals has links to a range of other resources including a page of references that pointed me to a really brilliant site which sets out to systematically (and enjoyably) explain the advanced maths to those whose school maths didn’t quite reach those dizzy heights, like me. It’s highly recommended if you want to delve deeper.

I’m happy to say I passed all three exams. I received an email from the FC about two weeks after the tests. There was no real need to do it, but it was a personal challenge – a little like voluntarily doing a driving test again, times three. It also turned out to be a convenient way to calibrate and update my ham radio knowledge.

The session was well organised and afterward, one of the VEs demonstrated how he uses his US call by connecting via remoteham.com on his iPad to a contest-grade station high in the hills in New York state. Amazing and fast! At rates around a US$ a minute, this must be a good way to turn a remote location into a source of revenue to be earned from the hordes of hams living in cities with a high level of local electrical noise.