ICQ Podcast Episode 398 – Recruiting into Ham Radio

In this episode, we join Martin Butler M1MRB, Chris Howard (M0TCH), Martin Rothwell (M0SGL), Frank Howell (K4FMH), Bill Barnes (WC3B) and Leslie Butterfields (G0CIB) to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin Butler (M6BOY) rounds up the news in brief and in the episode's feature is Recruiting into Ham Radio.

We would like to thank  ICQPodcast 400 Club Member Winston Lawrence, KD2WLL, Dave LeBlanc (KF7JAF) and our monthly and annual subscription donors for keeping the podcast advert free. To donate, please visit - http://www.icqpodcast.com/donate

CB Radio vs. 10 Meter Radio: Which is better?

Amateur Radio Digital Library is a Treasure Trove

Auto Industry Non-Committal to Keeping AM in New Cars

Hackers Disrupt Russian Radio

NASA Help Wanted: Ham Radio Operators Please Apply

Beware of Radio Selling Scammers

New Satellite Distance Records


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

Ham cake

Today was my birthday, it was very fitting to be presented with a nice cake from my family to help celebrate the milestone.

 


 

Of course the cake was well thought out and appropriate to my long dedication to our illustrious hobby.



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

Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 277

Amateur Radio Weekly

Hedy Lamarr and frequency hopping technology
Hedy Lamarr was a Hollywood actress in the 1940s as well as an inventor who holds the patent for frequency hopping, which is used in wireless communications today like WiFi.
SparkFun

FreeDV digital voice mode gets boost from ARDC
FreeDV aims to bring open-source HF digital voice into the mainstream.
ARDC

The Bouvet Letter from Alan VK6CQ
Expedition operational safety questioned.
AE5X

Who benefits by removing AM from cars?
Car manufacturers claim they cannot suppress noise getting into the AM signals in their electric vehicles. This article presents the viewpoint of three people who beg to disagree.
Radio World

HamAlert: Receive Spots via SMS, push notification
A system that allows you to get notifications when a desired station appears on the DX cluster, the Reverse Beacon Network, SOTAwatch, POTA, or PSK Reporter.
HamAlert

CQ Magazine brings on new Associate Editor
Sabrina Herman, KB3UJW, named CQ magazine’s Associate Editor.
CQ Newsroom

OpenWebRX fork with additional decoders
Additional decoders include SSTV, CW, and RTTY.
RTL-SDR.com

TikTok Hams: K5ATA Goodgame Ham Radio
Husband, Father, ARRL Education and Learning Manager, YouTuber, coffee addict.
TikTok

Stealth QRP transmitter in Berlin
Operating a stealth QRP transmitter in a Berlin hotel room was an interesting Ham Radio experiment.
OH8STN

CB band DX frequencies for SSB fun
10m and 11m is HOT these days as the sunspots help push the MUF up higher as we move into Cycle 25.
VE3IPS

Bike-portable with the AX1 antenna
I set up my TR-35 on a bench in the picnic area and mounted the AX1 on the handlebars of my bike.
WB3GCK

Video

Longwave tower demolished in favor of FM
RÚV’s long wave transmitter in East Iceland has been demolished.
RÚV

The Fourier Series and Fourier Transform demystified
Up and Atom

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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.

ARRL DX (SSB) Contest

 

Another successful event

I think we made a commendable showing this weekend,  thanks to all.  Statistics below and log attached.

Thanks to all participants and especially the new guys, Doug and Larry, who jumped in got their feet wet.  

The bands were open although a recent solar storm could have had an impact. Most remarkable was 10m which was wide open worldwide on Sunday morning. The best contact of the event was Namibia, V55Y, by John VE7TI, on Sunday afternoon 10m. Also Reunion Island FR8TZ off the SE coast of Africa.  This is a good way to learn your geography!






~ SARC


A pleasant surprise….

 


 From time to time over the past week, I have seen 3B7M dxpedition spotted on the DX Heat Cluster and most of the time I either did not hear them or they were at or below the noise floor. I knew they were there as the pile-up was alive and well and responding with their call signs hoping to make it into 3B7M log. Yesterday they were spotted on 15m at their usual CW watering hole of 21.005 and as with all dxpedition they were operating split.


Before setting up my radio in split operation I wanted to make sure I could hear 3B7M. As I listened they did top out at S4 at times and that was good enough for me to give them a go. With my radio configured to split operation the next task was to watch my waterfall and see who 3B7M was contacting. With VFO A in my left ear (3B7M) and VFO B in my right ear (the pileup) I paid attention to who 3B7M was calling and then looked at the pile up on the waterfall to see the lonely signal that was coming back to him. The problem here was call signs not even close to the one 3B7M was calling were throwing their calls out again. 


It took about 10 mins to figure out where 3B7M was dropping his call, now having said that there are a lot of radios with waterfalls out there now and they too have ferreted out 3B7M's pattern. Now the game is to figure out when we're exactly to drop my call. Most of the time it's just luck that you drop your call at the right time and right place! There are times in the waterfall you see stations running a KW or more signified by a bright red line on the waterfall as well as splatter. During those times I just rest as there is no use jumping in and getting nowhere. 


It took about 20 minutes but I did finally hear 3B7M call "VE9KK 5NN". Now call me a bit skeptical but I have had times when I think that was my call or just one close to it? So I never get too excited until I check their online long which most dxpeditions have now and see if I am in it. This morning I checked and there I was in the log. 


Finally, I am not sure why but there seems to be a new operating practice when it comes to dxpeditons and that is DQRMing (deliberate QRMing) In the past there have been those who forgot to put their rigs in split and transmit on the dxpetions calling frequency and I have been guilty of that! Also, those by mistake are tuning up their amp on top of the dx station as well. BUT recently I have unfortunately witnessed outright DQRMing. In the case of 3B7M I heard stations sending a series of fast CW dits over top of 3B7M or sending a series of the letter "V". I am almost positive they were intentional as this QRM was only sent when 3B7M was sending out a call sign they were seeking to make contact with. The DQRM was consistently dropped at just the right time each and every time. Fortunately, they grew tired of their childish behavior and moved on to something else.




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

Close to Denver: Green Mountain (W0C/FR-107)

Sometimes you just want a close-in SOTA summit that is easy to access and allows you to get on the air. On the west side of greater Denver, a few summits meet that requirement. One of them is Green Mountain (W0C/FR-107), near the intersection of I-70 and C-470. This would make a good beginner summit or an easy-access summit for visitors to the area. Joyce/K0JJW and I activated this 1-point summit today.

The blue line marks our route up Green Mountain, starting at the trailhead on South Rooney Road.

Access is easy and convenient, the trailhead can be found by going west on Alameda Parkway, off C-470, then north on S Rooney Road. There is a large parking lot there and an obvious trailhead with pit toilets. From here we hiked east over C-470 into William Frederick Hayden Park. We followed signs for the Green Mountain Trail, which is basically an unimproved road, to the summit of Green Mountain (see map above). This is not the only option because the park has an extensive trail system to explore. Check out the Lakewood parks map here. Also, you can check the trail conditions here. My mapping app recorded the hike as 1.6 miles (one way) with an elevation gain of 800 feet, not very difficult but still a decent hike. On a cool Saturday afternoon, we met many hikers and mountain bikers on the trail.

The view looking west from Green Mountain.

This hike starts out with a lot of road noise from C-470 but things soon quiet down as we left the highway behind. On the summit, we could see many higher summits to the west and downtown Denver to the east. We only had a couple of handheld VHF/UHF radios with us and made a bunch of contacts on 2m FM. This is usually the case when you have line-of-sight to the Denver area, with plenty of activity on 146.52 MHz.

This summit is not the best SOTA summit in the state but if you are itching to do a SOTA activation without driving deep into the mountains, this one will work!

73 Bob K0NR

The post Close to Denver: Green Mountain (W0C/FR-107) 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].

Ham College 98


Ham College episode 98 is now available for download.

Extra Class Exam Questions – Part 36
E7F DSP filtering and other operations, software defined radio fundamentals, DSP modulation and demodulation.

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].

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