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Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 268
31 December 2022 | by 
As is tradition, the last issue of the year takes a look back at the most popular links from the past 12 months. 2022 was an abbreviated year (ARW spun back up in April), but plenty of great articles were published in the past 9 months. So without further delay, here are the top links measured by number of clicks for 2022!
The most clicked links of 2022
1. TAP: A Morse Code alternative
This mode has roots in ancient Greece.
SV3ORA
2. KrakenSDR locates a repeater jammer in 1 hour
Using the KrakenSDR Radio Direction Finder, we were at his house in 60 minutes.
RTL-SDR.com
3. Sun is more active than NASA predicted
It could be in its strongest cycle since records began.
Forbes
4. sBitx: The SDR for the homebrewer
$100 40 Watt HF transceiver based on a Raspberry Pi.
VU2ESE
5. Taking a long hard look at our community
Without the efforts of each individual amateur, our worldwide license to experiment is doomed.
VK6FLAB
6. An economical solar kit for a 100W Ham Station
These starter kits can be easily expanded with a larger battery and additional series or parallel cells.
AE5X
7. Morsle: The daily Morse code challenge
You have 21 tries to guess the word
Morsle
8. Icom announces IC-905 SHF SDR transceiver
The IC-905 covers 144MHz, 430Mhz, 1.2GHz, 2.4GHz, 5.6GHz and (with the help of an optional module) 10GHz.
QRPblog
9. Why I quit QRP (and maybe shouldn’t have)
For many years I was a dedicated QRP operator, then came along the gloomy depths of the solar minimum.
Ham Radio Outside the Box
10. Yes, Amateur Radio is still a thing: Here’s why
With great power comes greater responsibility, and Amateur Radio is no exception.
Electronics360
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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.
Closing out 2022
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| A great way to close out 2022 |
I can't say this year just flew by it was more like a consistent movement in the right direction. Once again for another year, we managed to avoid getting COVID. We are all up to date with our COVID booster shots, flu shot and our first dose of 2 of the Shingles shots. Very thankful for no major health issues in our family.
I became a grandpa for the first time to a beautiful healthy girl. I am heading into my 4th year of retirement and I can finally say the retirement gig is kicking in for me. Last year at this time I thought I had made the shift but looking back the shift was still in progress. Over the year I was able to responsibly manage home chores, renovations, exercise and ham radio. I have come to the realization I am not as young as I used to be and that slow and easy wins the race.
Let's move on to ham radio....my major hope at the start of 2022 was to move in a CW direction. I had worked very hard learning the code as it was a requirement when I went for my licence. I very much enjoy contesting and toward the end of 2021 I started to run in CW contests. I am pleased to say that I ran in the majority of the CW contests in 2022.
The best way to learn is to do I always say so I did a nose dive into CW! Being confident in your CW speed is important when you want to run in major CW contests, I started small and fast! The CWops group has in my time zone 2 mini 1-hour contests a week held on Wednesdays. The minimum CW speed is 25wpm and up and I mean in some cases way up! For increasing your speed and more importantly your accuracy live CW work is the best. I do use computer programs like G4FON contest trainer but there is nothing like live training.
My first CWops mini-test earned me 14 contacts and a score of 196. I was thrilled I copied that many calls and exchanges. In 2022 I took part in 61 mini CWops 1-hour contests and my best score was 54 contacts and a score of 2754. I am now consistently in the mid-50s to high-40s in contacts. In this contest I am still doing search and pounce and who knows what 2023 will bring maybe running in the CWop mini-tests?
A new 1-hour contest was launched on May 2 2022 called the MST or medium speed CW contest. The maximum speed is 25 wpm. This contest is run by ICWC and is held in my time zone on Mondays. This is a great contest for me to run in as it gets me real-time practice. I can run at a low relaxed speed (under 25 wpm) and I have taken part in 17 of these mini 1-hour contests.
Finally, on Fridays and Sunday evenings the K1USN CW club runs a SST or slow speed test. The max speed here is set to 18 wpm and it is a 1-hour contest. This is a great contest for me as I can slow down and give back to upcoming CW contesters.
In short, some of the 2022 VE9KK's ham highlights are:
- At the end of June, I finally migrated my blog from ve3wdmblogspot to ve9kkblogspot.
- In the spring I purchased and installed a Hustler 4BTV vertical antenna.
-I was asked to join the CWops group which requires 25wpm, being nominated by a member and sponsored by 3 other members. I was asked earlier in the year but I declined as at the time my contest speed met their speed but not my QSO speed and I wanted to make sure I had both before accepting a nomination. I did just that later in the year and received club member number 3265.
- I entered 18 large CW contests and ran in all of them. My contest score improved over 2022 from 227 contacts and a score of 44,721 to my final large CW contest of 1,134 contacts and a score of 454,030.
- It would seem I have all my RFI issues under control in the shack (famous last words).
- One of my highlights is at the top of the post my CW count for 2022. My plan was to only operate CW for the year and that was done. I also had the most ever CW contacts in a year.
So what are the plans for 2023 you ask well that is going to be another post as I have gone on way too long in this one?
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].
80 Meter ARDF (Fox) Receivers
Better than ever!
Amateur Radio direction finding (ARDF), also known as Fox Hunting has become easier and more exciting using 80m. More and more kids are participating in our annual event and learning about radio. No transmitter, so no license required.
See the 'How-to' video at https://youtu.be/YK3gETNc2jU
This is a project by Surrey Amateur Radio Communications in support of the hobby
Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 267
Bill introduced to replace symbol rate limit with bandwidth limit
Congresswoman Lesko introduced a bill to require the FCC to replace the current HF digital symbol rate limit with a 2.8 kHz bandwidth limit.
ARRL
Geostationary Amateur satellite in the works?
Zero Retries outlines the possibility of a QO-100 equivalent for the western hemisphere.
N8GNJ
LoRa: Field testing antennas
Determine which will suit your long-range needs.
Sparkfun
Lets Dump RS(T) Signal Reports
How much use is a signal report – really?
Ham Radio Outside the Box
In a future filled with electric cars, AM radio may be left behind
BMW, Tesla, Audi, Porsche, Volkswagen, and Volvo have removed AM radio from their electric vehicles.
New York Times
X-Mas CW Jokes
Celebrate the festive season in style: sending each other jokes in CW.
M0KTZ
Too good to be true LiFePO4 battery prices?
AE5X
Guide to Ham Radio weather watching
One does not have to be a Ham to participate in the SKYWARN program.
OnAllBands
10 meter beacon DXing
MW DXing is great, but that involves DXing primarily during the night time and early morning hours.
SWLing Post
Mid-Winter Sporadic-E opening on 28 MHz
What caught my attention was the fact that the skip distance was short for 10m.
EI7GL
Jim’s Elecraft KX2 leg mount
I recently came up with a new way (for me) to hold the KX2 when I am out in the field.
QRPer
Video
Using a drone to put up a dipole antenna
Instructional video on putting up a dipole antenna using a Mavic Pro DJI Drone.
Human Geno Project
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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.
Top Five K0NR Blog Posts for 2022
Closing out 2022, here are the top five blog posts at k0nr.com during the year. Some people may see this as a lazy way of creating one more blog post for the year without much effort and they would be right.
Top Five Blog Posts
Leading the list is this blog post…a perennial favorite that seems to make the top five each year. This particular article is tuned for Colorado but it also provides a link to an article that covers the topic for the USA.
This is another popular article that provides an introduction to 2m SSB operating.
In third place, this post explains how the FCC rules get in the way of having one radio that does everything.
This older April Fools article from 2019 jumped into fourth place this year. I am not sure why it suddenly popped onto the scene but I think it is a fun article as long as you don’t take it seriously.
In fifth place is one of my favorites, an article that encourages hams to “make some noise on 2m FM.”
Editors Choice
Just for good measure, I am including one more post that I think is notable. This one promotes the idea of the North America Adventure Frequency (146.58 MHz), which is working out nicely.
Also, take a look at this post:
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
73 Bob K0NR
The post Top Five K0NR Blog Posts for 2022 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].
2022 RAC contest in the rearview mirror
The Radio amateurs of Canada (RAC) winter contest has come and gone for 2022. This contest is both CW, AM, FM and SSB. As for me, it was the same old same old just CW. The propagation gods were smiling on this contest and conditions were great. I operated 7 hours on Saturday they were 1-hour sessions with about a 10 min break at each end of hour. I find this works best for me and I set in a lunch and or dinner time as well.
The radio, software and antenna worked great no complaints at all. The system I find works best for me is to start out searching and pouncing contacts. This gets in the log those who are only running in the contest and also it gets my ears warmed up to the code speed. I then move on to running which in this contest I did about 90% of the time. The participation was great and while running my best 1-hour count was 91 QSOs which kept me very busy and the hour flew by.
There were nice openings on all the bands my Hustler 4BTV provided for me 10,15,20 and 40m. The settings I find that work best for me on the Icom 7610 are;
Filter set to 400Hz so I can hear those that call a bit off frequency I find that 250 or less a bit too narrow. Now having said that during the "biggy" contests 250Hz is required due to the close proximity of signals.
I keep my APF (audio Peak Filter) on and set it to wide.
I keep the NR (noise reduction) on and set it to a low range.
I use the CW full break in and it does take some getting used to. As you transmit dits and dahs your rig goes back and forth from receive to transmit. This allows me to hear if anyone is trying to contact me while transmitting. You would be shocked at how many times I hear someone. Also when searching and pouncing as you call a station it allows you to hear if another station is also trying to make contact. In that case, I just stop transmitting as it would be just a mixed mess being sent to the station. Also, it allows you to hear if the running station is contacting someone and then you just stop transmitting as you don't want to QRM.
Below are the end results of 7 hours on the air I am very pleased with the numbers and I am getting more confident in my contest running abilities.
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].
ICQ Podcast Episode 392 – Choosing a Hand Held / Handie Talkie
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 Choosing a Hand Held / Handie Talkie.
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
- New General Question Pool Released for Ham Radio Licensing
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- Museum of Information Explosion
- New Record Set on Lowest Ham Band in Australia
- Future of the BBC as Presented by Director-General Tim Davie
- Santa is On the Air Via Ham Radio
- John Hislop (G7OHO) joins RSGB’s Examinations and Syllabus Review Group
- CAMSAT XW-4 (CAS-10) Satellite To Be Deployed
Colin Butler, M6BOY, is the host of the ICQ Podcast, a weekly radio show about Amateur Radio. Contact him at [email protected].
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