AmateurRadio.com

Greetings, salutations and happy holidays! Today your weary hosts (minus one) bring you some great information about great topics, like: Why you should avoid qrznow.com, why you should upgrade your WordPress installation, why you should try ElementaryOS, why the government is like a turtle, and why bacon renders your argument invalid. Be well, listen often, and stay safe.

73 de The LHS Guys

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].

A co-worker of mine got his GMail hacked. I doubt anyone guessed the password — it was not easily “guessable.” There was probably some malware running on a machine he used to log in at some point. Who knows?

Why is a hacked GMail or Yahoo Mail account a big deal? Because once they get into your e-mail account, they have access to EVERYTHING.

Think about it… if someone has access to your e-mail account, they can launch any number of frauds against you. They can read through your email and see that you’re on vacation in Hawaii. Then, when you’re asleep, they can email your contacts asking them to send money via PayPal using credible details about your travel (“I twisted my ankle on the beach — please send cash!”). They can also reset the passwords on your bank accounts, Facebook, etc. Access to your e-mail account is, to a hacker, like a kid in a candy store.

For a number of years I’ve been using Two-Factor Authentication on my GMail account. Each time I log in, you can set it up to send you a text with an additional code that’s only valid for a short period of time. Alternatively, they make an app (called Google Authenticator) that gives you the code even if you aren’t in wireless range. Using two-factor authentication makes it MUCH harder for someone (other than you) to access your GMail account.

If you don’t always (or ever?) carry around a smartphone and would rather have a physical device, you can use an “electronic key” that you plug into your computer. I’ve used a Yubico security key (the cheap one — there are more expensive versions) and can recommend it. It’s a little device that hooks to your keychain. It almost looks like a USB thumb drive, and while it does get inserted in a USB port, it is much more rugged that a standard thumb drive. You can set it up so that the key has to be plugged into your computer in order to log in to your account.

I found the security key to be easy to carry around, it’s cheap ($18 on Amazon – not an affiliate link), and waterproof. The key can be used to provide an extra layer of security not only for GMail, but also WordPress (via 3rd party plugin), Lastpass, and more. One downside, however, is that it only works with the Google Chrome browser at the moment. I would imagine as more browsers adopt the FIDO U2F standard specification, more options will be available.

Whether you choose to use one of the two free options, or pony up for a physical device like the security key, the only thing that matters is that you do SOMETHING. If you use GMail, watch the video above to learn step-by-step how to do it. Please do it now and avoid waking up some morning to find that you’ve been hacked. It’s not a good feeling.

Matt Thomas, W1MST, is the managing editor of AmateurRadio.com. Contact him at [email protected].

One of the great things about amateur radio is the number of different ways in which the hobby can be enjoyed.

For over a year now my health has been poor because a brain bleed in September 2013. Before then, I enjoyed QRP QSOs (mainly SSB), construction and field experiments from VLF to optical. Since my stroke I have been clumsy and (until recently) not allowed to drive. Very very slowly, normality is returning but I think it will be way into 2015 before I can call myself well.

In the meantime, I still manage WSPR and other digital modes from home. I can even, albeit briefly, manage our local 2m FM net and the occasional VHF/UHF contest. Some people enjoy satellites, MS or moonbounce. Others just like to ragchew on 80m.

We must rejoice that there are so many different, yet equally valid, ways of enjoying ourselves. We have a great hobby.

Roger Lapthorn, G3XBM, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cambridge, England.

Being involved in VLF amateur radio is a very specialised activity requiring special (but low cost) kit to be successful. Casual listening is highly unlikely to be successful. Long distance reception of amateur VLF signals usually involves looking for signals using Spectrum Laboratory software locked to a VLF MSK signal so that very narrow bandwidths can be looked at for hours or days on end.

Most amateur VLF tests are done on 8.27kHz as this is unallocated spectrum in many countries.

News about amateur VLF activity can be found at https://sites.google.com/site/sub9khz/ . There has been very little amateur VLF work done this year but amateur VLF signals have crossed the Atlantic.

Tests using utilities assisted earth-mode do not involve big loading coils. Just under 6km has been achieved with just 5W using this mode, before I had my stroke! The kit was simple too. See https://sites.google.com/site/sub9khz/earthmode .

One of the things I am really looking forward to, when fit again, is some more field work with VLF using earth-mode.

Roger Lapthorn, G3XBM, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cambridge, England.

The AWA Builders Group has been buzzing with activity over the past few days as many '29ers get prepared for the upcoming Bruce Kelley QSO Party. If you've been following the blog of late, you'll already know that the BK is the year's premier operating event to celebrate radio as it was in 1929....only self-excited oscillators are allowed (no crystals!) and only tubes that were first introduced in 1929 or earlier. Party activities commence this Saturday afternoon at 2300Z and run for 24 hours....same for the following weekend, only add 160m to the action.

You may hear plenty of activity in the nights leading up to the Party as various stations burn the cobwebs out of their handmade creations around 3550-3570 in the next few nights...you might give them a call if you hear them as most will be delighted to know that they're getting out of their backyard.

A few weeks ago, in the same spirit of preparation, I began work on a small amplifier for my Hull Hartley transmitter. Ever since entering the BK Party, I have been held hostage by the monster winds which always seem to show up here during early December. Self-excited oscillators connected to blowing antennas create an unusual-sounding signal...somewhat musical....up to about 30km, but after that, somewhat dreadful, as shifts in frequency between keying elements can be measured in tens of Hertz or more and make it difficult to copy a weak signal.

I put the amp together in the original 'ugly construction' style of the 20's, which I'll call 'ugly breadboard'. For the most part, period-appropriate components were used, as it was to be a 'proof-of-concept' project....to see if and how it would work and what changes might need to be implemented in a 'finished' version.

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Amplifier stage followed by Hull Hartley exciter on far end.

The original circuit, shown below, was published in the February 1931 QST and penned by George Grammer (W1DF), the ARRL's Assistant Technical Editor. Since I already had the oscillator section, I built the amplifier only, making a few modifications.

Courtesy: http://www.arrl.org/

My changes involved removing the B+ from the exposed plate tank coil by putting C7 between the plate and the tank circuit, grounding the coil tap point and shunt-feeding the B+ directly to the plate. As well, the operating bias was changed from the original combination of grid-leak and external fixed-bias (always a pain) to grid-leak bias only. Since I planned to let the oscillator run and key only the amplifier stage, no external (extra) bias was needed. The original system of feeding drive via capacitive coupling from the oscillator tank circuit was maintained as was the 'plate neutralizing' system. With the plate tank no longer carrying B+, a wide-spaced variable capacitor was no longer required for C3. These changes are illustrated below:

Courtesy: http://www.arrl.org/

Testing went smoothly and with the help of a tuned RF-sniffing wavemeter (the actual one I built when I was a brand new15 years old ham!), the amplifier neutralized beautifully. It was unconditionally stable, in spite of the numerous clip leads surrounding the board connecting to the separate Hartley oscillator in a somewhat haywire fashion....it really was a mess. As one other '29 builder (KK7UV) so perfectly described his latest workbench project, it "looked like the transmitter was on life-support!"

Surprisingly little drive was required from the Hartley and it was run at just 200VDC. The amplifier efficiency was around 50% which could probably be improved upon with careful attention to biasing values, shorter leads and more efficient antenna coupling. On 80m, the only band that I wound a coil for, keying was clean and very nice (an advantage of being able to run the oscillator at low level). Without too much effort, 15 watts out was easily obtained...far too much for the BK Party.

Tapping down on the tank coil for 40m operation proved to be a different story as the note sounded like a buzz saw...very raspy and nasty. To really undertake a fair test, a dedicated 40m tank coil would have to be used as well as a  much 'cleaner build'.
The rat's nest of unwanted coupling of both RF and AC ripple was showing through on this higher frequency.

For multiband operating events, such as the BK, things have to be efficient enough to make band changing and tune-up procedures quick and simple and in its present haywire form, the amplifier would just not be 'contest-friendly'.

All in all it was a very valuable building exercise as a LOT was learned. I am now convinced that for a true MOPA (Master Oscillator Power Amplifier) combination to do what is needed will require an all-in-one style of construction....both oscillator and amplifier on the same board, with short leads and little chance for unwanted parasitic-coupling between stages. With separate coils for all bands and calibrated dials, tuning and changing bands would be very much easier than trying to couple two separate units together. I can see why the struggle to get the original '29ers away from their simple Hartley's and TNT's and over to MOPAS went on for several years.






So once again I am at the mercy of the wind-gods and hoping for two back-to-back Saturdays of quiet BK-friendly air...in early December...on the west coast...by the ocean...yeh, right!
Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

Larry Makoski, W2LJ, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Jersey, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

See www.qrpme.com .

http://www.qrpme.com/images/MeSquares.jpg

Always on the look out for interesting QRP projects, the QRPme website has lots of interesting and low cost projects. They also sell crystals for QRP frequencies and MePads and MeSquares, which are very useful. In all, a useful resource for keen QRP enthusiasts.

Roger Lapthorn, G3XBM, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cambridge, England.