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Top Five K0NR Blog Posts For 2016
27 December 2016 | by 
As we approach the end of the year, it is fun to look back to see which blog posts were read the most. It turns out these five blog postings were written in previous years but they are the ones that got the most hits in 2016.
The most read post on k0nr.com was Choose Your 2m Frequency Wisely, an article I wrote that explains the 2m band plan in Colorado. I wrote this one years ago after encountering quite a few folks that did not understand how the band plan is set up. (If you are outside of Colorado, see What Frequency Do I Use on 2 Meters? over on HamRadioSchool.com) The second most read post concerns the use of amateur gear outside the ham bands: Can I Use My Ham Radio on Public Safety Frequencies? Actually, I have two blog postings that cover the same topic but I’ve linked to the one that is up to date. This is a hot topic as many people still believe strongly that no ham gear is legal on Part 90 frequencies (read through the comments on that post). This is why I took the time to write about it, attempting to explain it and educate the ham community.
Another perennial favorite is: Solving the Baofeng Cable Problem. There is a really frustrating problem with how the Windows driver works with certain USB interface chips. Many folks who went out and bought low cost Baofeng (and other) radios got totally hosed up by this. Hence, the need for and the popularity of this blog posting.
Next up is my classic article FM/VHF Operating Guide, written many years ago and continually updated over the years. Mobile radio installations are always a bit of an exploration, so I try to share what I learn when doing one. People seem to appreciate this kind of article and often ask followup questions via email. For whatever reason, my 2012 Jeep Wrangler Radio Install post continues to be a popular post on my blog.
Hey, thanks for stopping by k0nr.com. Best of luck to you in the New Year.
73, Bob K0NR
The post Top Five K0NR Blog Posts For 2016 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].
Christmas Memories
As the cold days of December dragged on, like most high school kids, I always looked forward to the arrival of the Christmas holidays ... even more so once I had discovered the magic of radio.
One particular Christmas holiday stands out above many others ... December '64. By then, I was licenced and on-the-air as VE7ANP. I was using a Heathkit DX-20 (30 watts out) along with the Heathkit VF-1 VFO ... the one with the mesmerizing green dial (it was the sight of one of these dials a few years earlier that tweaked my interest in amateur radio ... but that's another story!).
 |
| courtesy: http://www.transistor-repairs.com |
My receiver was an aging but lovely BC-779 Hammarlund Super-Pro.
 |
| courtesy: http://rigreference.com |
On the peaked porch roof just outside of my upstairs attic window, was the base of my new 40m antenna ... a full-sized 40m vertical groundplane. It was made from 33' of galvanized eavesdrop drain pipe, reinforced with an inner 2x2 and guyed in three places. The ground counterpoise system consisted of just three bell-wire radials, each a quarter-wavelength long ... one to the boulevard tree and the other two wrapped around the sides of the house, just under the eaves. The antenna was fed with about 10' of RG-58 coax. Switching was handled via a footswitch-controlled 'clunky' relay that also switched the VFO on for a better sounding note. The highly affordable VF-1 was not known for its great stability but by finding just the 'right' 6AU6, and keeping the switch contacts clean, it could do a pretty good impression of a real VFO.
This particular holiday stands out because I was intent on trying to work some JA stations on 40m, in the pre-dawn hours. I had worked several JA's on 20m CW earlier in the fall but working Japan on 7mc with my previous low wire antennas had proven to be very challenging. I hoped things would be different with my new 40m vertical.
I recall rising the first morning of the holidays to find that we had received a huge overnight snowfall, about a foot in total. This seemed to happen a lot more often back then than it does now. The peaked roof supporting the groundplane was piled high with fresh snow and completely covered the vertical's feedpoint and the radial wire junction. I pulled-up the wooden window's bottom sash and reached far enough out to clean all of the snow from the antenna's base while the rig, preparing itself for the impending assault of 40m's low end, warmed-up just beside me.
A careful tune across the band brought a plethora of signals sounding as clean and crisp as the morning air ... it was the perfect 'DX-morning'! I managed to work several JA's that morning and throughout the Christmas break. Several of the contacts stretched well past my local sunrise, as 40m revealed some of her DX secrets to me for the first time.
Like so many Christmases past, the memories of my Christmas '64 radio experiences are as vivid as if they had happened yesterday. I hope that your Christmas of 2016 is as joyous and memorable as well.
Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].
Christmas Memories
As the cold days of December dragged on, like most high school kids, I always looked forward to the arrival of the Christmas holidays ... even more so once I had discovered the magic of radio.
One particular Christmas holiday stands out above many others ... December '64. By then, I was licenced and on-the-air as VE7ANP. I was using a Heathkit DX-20 (30 watts out) along with the Heathkit VF-1 VFO ... the one with the mesmerizing green dial (it was the sight of one of these dials a few years earlier that tweaked my interest in amateur radio ... but that's another story!).
|
| courtesy: http://www.transistor-repairs.com |
My receiver was an aging but lovely BC-779 Hammarlund Super-Pro.
|
| courtesy: http://rigreference.com |
On the peaked porch roof just outside of my upstairs attic window, was the base of my new 40m antenna ... a full-sized 40m vertical groundplane. It was made from 33' of galvanized eavesdrop drain pipe, reinforced with an inner 2x2 and guyed in three places. The ground counterpoise system consisted of just three bell-wire radials, each a quarter-wavelength long ... one to the boulevard tree and the other two wrapped around the sides of the house, just under the eaves. The antenna was fed with about 10' of RG-58 coax. Switching was handled via a footswitch-controlled 'clunky' relay that also switched the VFO on for a better sounding note. The highly affordable VF-1 was not known for its great stability but by finding just the 'right' 6AU6, and keeping the switch contacts clean, it could do a pretty good impression of a real VFO.
This particular holiday stands out because I was intent on trying to work some JA stations on 40m, in the pre-dawn hours. I had worked several JA's on 20m CW earlier in the fall but working Japan on 7mc with my previous low wire antennas had proven to be very challenging. I hoped things would be different with my new 40m vertical.
I recall rising the first morning of the holidays to find that we had received a huge overnight snowfall, about a foot in total. This seemed to happen a lot more often back then than it does now. The peaked roof supporting the groundplane was piled high with fresh snow and completely covered the vertical's feedpoint and the radial wire junction. I pulled-up the wooden window's bottom sash and reached far enough out to clean all of the snow from the antenna's base while the rig, preparing itself for the impending assault of 40m's low end, warmed-up just beside me.
A careful tune across the band brought a plethora of signals sounding as clean and crisp as the morning air ... it was the perfect 'DX-morning'! I managed to work several JA's that morning and throughout the Christmas break. Several of the contacts stretched well past my local sunrise, as 40m revealed some of her DX secrets to me for the first time.
Like so many Christmases past, the memories of my Christmas '64 radio experiences are as vivid as if they had happened yesterday. I hope that your Christmas of 2016 is as joyous and memorable as well.
Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].
Ham College 24
Antennas and more questions from the Technician pool.
1:01:01
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].
ICQ Podcast Episode 227 – Operating Portable in Winter
In this episode, Martin M1MRB / W9ICQ is joined by Martin Rothwell M0SGL, Dan Romanchik KB6NU, and Ed Durrant DD5LP to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin M6BOY rounds up the news in brief, and this episode’s features: Operating Portable in Winter.
We would like to thank Ralph Kuehn KD9HNU, Bill Seward and our monthly and annual donors for keeping the podcast advert free. To donate, please visit - http://www.icqpodcast.com/donate
- Germany Access 60m
- RSGB Yearbook 2017 Error
- Pilot for Online Advanced Exams
- HamRadioDeluxe Customer Service Failure
- End of Norwegian FM
- NASA X-Ray Potential Superfast Deep Space Comms
Colin Butler, M6BOY, is the host of the ICQ Podcast, a weekly radio show about Amateur Radio. Contact him at [email protected].
ICQ Podcast Episode 227 – Operating Portable in Winter
In this episode, Martin M1MRB / W9ICQ is joined by Martin Rothwell M0SGL, Dan Romanchik KB6NU, and Ed Durrant DD5LP to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin M6BOY rounds up the news in brief, and this episode’s features: Operating Portable in Winter.
We would like to thank Ralph Kuehn KD9HNU, Bill Seward and our monthly and annual donors for keeping the podcast advert free. To donate, please visit - http://www.icqpodcast.com/donate
- Germany Access 60m
- RSGB Yearbook 2017 Error
- Pilot for Online Advanced Exams
- HamRadioDeluxe Customer Service Failure
- End of Norwegian FM
- NASA X-Ray Potential Superfast Deep Space Comms
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 – Issue 139
Ham Radio Deluxe bricks user’s software after negative review
37 pages into into this forum’s discussion of HRD’s brutally inept handling of a customer complaint, the co-owner of the company wades into the fray and apologizes.
Techdirt
Amateur radio fans drop the ham-mer on HRD’s license key ‘blacklist’
Remotely killing one customer’s copy was not an isolated incident, say readers.
The Register
NPOTA contact tally tops 1 Million
Activators operating from National Park Service units across the US and Chasers around the world pushed the contact tally over its goal this week.
ARRL
EME In The ’80s
Unlike today’s widespread JT65B usage on eme, where signals can be many db into the noise and inaudible by ear, eme contacts could only be completed by actually copying signals that you could hear with your ears. This usually required big antennas and lots of power.
VE7SL
Keeping an NVIS antenna legal on 60 meters
To compute ERP, antenna gain must be relative to a half-wave dipole antenna. An NVIS antenna has a lot more gain than a dipole.
keep-nvis-legal-on-60m
A Cootie key
The “Cootie” key or “Sideswiper” is basically a double-sided straight key and has a reputation for being very hard to learn, possibly harder even than the Vibroplex Bug.
Ham Radio QRP
Using a GPS repeater antenna with the Yaesu FTM-400DR
My Yaesu FTM-400DR has had a difficult time ascertaining a GPS lock inside of my vehicle. Some others have also complained of this.
K5ACL
Video
Discovering secret “Numbers Stations”
Brian and Jason have been scanning the air waves for sstv signals for two months, but what they found was something else. An old standby from the Cold War.
The Modern Rogue
Icom-7300 spectrum scope band edge how-to
For those of you wanting to customize the band edges here’s a how-to.
K0PIR
DMR range test part 1 of 3: Baofeng DM-5R
In the series I am doing a range test of three different DMR radios from two locations. One location is 11km away and the other almost 19km away.
dmr-range-test
A diamond radio receiver
Researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have made the world’s smallest radio receiver.
Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering
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.
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