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The Ultimate3 QRSS/WSPR Transmitter Kit is the third version in the “Ultimate” QRSS/WSPR kit trilogy. It can produce QRSS, Hell, WSPR, Opera and PI4 slow-signal modes anywhere from audio to 10m and above. Plug-in LPF filters are available for all 12 HF/MF/LF bands.

The price is USD $29.00. To order please visit QRP Labs.

The Ultimate 3 is probably the lowest cost beacon available. I still have my unbuilt kit awaiting better health to build, although several kind folk have offered to build mine for me. Jay W5OLF kindly supplied me a 10m 500mW, single PCB, WSPR beacon (WSPR-AXE-CW) ready assembled and that has blown me away: it has been copied in every continent on 10m.  The Ultimate 3 is the more flexible design but the WSPR-AXE-CW is an ideal tiny WSPR only beacon.

My Ultimate 3 kit was ordered with GPS, but it was supplied without this, but with an extra PCB – I think I got the wrong order. I really should write to Hans Summers, but I have been too unwell. For now, the kit remains unbuilt. I intend to build it when I am fitter and less clumsy, hopefully in 2015.

Its been quite some time since I have added anything to my blog, and indeed quiet some time since I’ve added any videos. Don’t worry though, everything is fine, I’ve just been really busy on other projects.

Radio and all radio related items has taken quite a large step back over the past 6 months, work commitments and other personal commitments have really swallowed up any spare minutes that I have.

However I have still kept up with the distance learning classes and also been involved in the upcoming Club Relay for 2015 (now 2016) for the RSGB. So its not all lost.

So what has prompted the sudden blog entry ? well I received this week a Volunteer 2015 badge for the RSGB for all the activities I have completed over the past 12 months. For which I’m very grateful for the recognition.

It got me thinking – how we take the RSGB for granted, and indeed watching other constantly belittle the society, how we should actually take a moment and celebrate the society and everything that it has accomplished over the past years.

I even wrote a quick entry on the RSGB unofficial Facebook page, which is often a melting pot full of moans and groans – and I added that we should all note down what makes up proud to be a member, and add an open thanks to things that the society has done for us.

A few liked the posting but even better quite a few agreed with my comments and also added what they are proud of and how the Society had helped them.

Its times like this that we really should step back form the immediate issues that we face in the hobby and remind ourselves – its just a hobby. We all volunteer, we all do out best, and we really should be grateful for what we have achieved.

This is likely to be the last post of 2014 – so until next year (and I promise not to leave it so long) have a very happy Christmas and happy new year.

Its been quite some time since I have added anything to my blog, and indeed quiet some time since I’ve added any videos. Don’t worry though, everything is fine, I’ve just been really busy on other projects.

Radio and all radio related items has taken quite a large step back over the past 6 months, work commitments and other personal commitments have really swallowed up any spare minutes that I have.

However I have still kept up with the distance learning classes and also been involved in the upcoming Club Relay for 2015 (now 2016) for the RSGB. So its not all lost.

So what has prompted the sudden blog entry ? well I received this week a Volunteer 2015 badge for the RSGB for all the activities I have completed over the past 12 months. For which I’m very grateful for the recognition.

It got me thinking – how we take the RSGB for granted, and indeed watching other constantly belittle the society, how we should actually take a moment and celebrate the society and everything that it has accomplished over the past years.

I even wrote a quick entry on the RSGB unofficial Facebook page, which is often a melting pot full of moans and groans – and I added that we should all note down what makes up proud to be a member, and add an open thanks to things that the society has done for us.

A few liked the posting but even better quite a few agreed with my comments and also added what they are proud of and how the Society had helped them.

Its times like this that we really should step back form the immediate issues that we face in the hobby and remind ourselves – its just a hobby. We all volunteer, we all do out best, and we really should be grateful for what we have achieved.

This is likely to be the last post of 2014 – so until next year (and I promise not to leave it so long) have a very happy Christmas and happy new year.

I just ordered an AP510/AVRT5 APRS tracker and am anxious to get my hands on it to try it out. I like the small size and the fact that it is self contained – no external wires are needed to have a fully functional tracker for the automatic packet reporting system APRS: But is it useful or just a toy?

The specifications from the Amazon.co.uk site are (adapted from Chinenglish):

• SainSonic AVRT5 APRS Tracker VHF with GPS/Bluetooth/Thermometer/TF Card, Support of APRSdroid
• GPS module: SIRF3 module, high sensitivity, fast positioning, stable power.
• GPS antenna: 18mm x 18mm active GPS antenna, built-in LNA amplification, Star Search, locate quickly.
• VHF Module (1W): The latest 1W VHF transceiver modules, small size, high stability for all types of wireless data transmission.
• VHF antennas are individually matched to transmitter to ensure that the standing wave ratio is proper and the emission is efficient.

I also signed up for the Yahoo group AP510 AVRT5 APRS.

Last Friday, I was working from home. I generally have one of the radios on in the background and of late, it has been the revived TS-940S, generally on 10m or 40m.

Thursday evening had been very windy, so when 10m seemed very quiet indeed, I wasn’t too surprised, I thought the coax had fallen off at the feed or something. I popped out and checked – it looked ok, but I tightened it all up and tried again. Still nothing!

I replaced the barrel coax connector between the antenna and the feedline, No luck!

Then I put a dummy load at the end of the coax – hmm. SWR 1:1.5 or so in the shack, but no receive noise. I quickly connected the FT-817 to the base of the antenna. Lots of signals!

A coax problem then! That could be interesting as the coax was buried in undergrowth around the perimeter of the garden. I gently started to trace the coax from the antenna back towards the termination point. Rather tellingly, just a few moments later the cause became obvious. The coax had been gnawed through.

Rats!

A hasty bit of splicing and we’re back in business!

Last Friday, I was working from home. I generally have one of the radios on in the background and of late, it has been the revived TS-940S, generally on 10m or 40m.

Thursday evening had been very windy, so when 10m seemed very quiet indeed, I wasn’t too surprised, I thought the coax had fallen off at the feed or something. I popped out and checked – it looked ok, but I tightened it all up and tried again. Still nothing!

I replaced the barrel coax connector between the antenna and the feedline, No luck!

Then I put a dummy load at the end of the coax – hmm. SWR 1:1.5 or so in the shack, but no receive noise. I quickly connected the FT-817 to the base of the antenna. Lots of signals!

A coax problem then! That could be interesting as the coax was buried in undergrowth around the perimeter of the garden. I gently started to trace the coax from the antenna back towards the termination point. Rather tellingly, just a few moments later the cause became obvious. The coax had been gnawed through.

Rats!

A hasty bit of splicing and we’re back in business!

Ham radio continues to grow in popularity and it seems to be gathering even more interest from curious muggles. It’s no longer an oddity to see dozens of news stories about our hobby splashed from various news reporting services.

Just last night, my wife and I were driving to dinner, and the car radio was tuned to a local channel that has started playing Christmas music around the clock. At some point during a break in the music there was a short public service announcement about amateur radio. I suppose it was sponsored by the local radio club though I can’t be certain — it was an ARRL promotion.

My point is that there is an increasing possibility that one of these days, someone from the local newspaper or TV news station might approach YOU to ask a few questions about your hobby. And while none of us are going to be the perfect ambassador/evangelist/spokesperson for the entire hobby, if that fate should befall you, I hope you’re able to elicit a better headline than what appeared recently in the Des Moines Register:

Men support fading ham radio habit

Overall, the article is interesting and, if you can get past that headline and the initial wave of nausea, it’s not really all that bad. I’m assuming the interviewer who crafted these words was influenced by things shared by those being interviewed:

“But in the age of the smartphone, the amateur radio network is a dwindling hobby whose aging practitioners are the keepers of a fading but potentially still vital means of communication.”

No matter whose responsible for spinning that notion, it’s just flat out wrong. Poppycock. Hokum. There’s nothing “dwindling” about the hobby. The number of licensed hams in the US is at its highest level in history and it continues to enjoy strong growth.

On the air activity has changed significantly from the 1950’s but there are no fewer signals in the spectrum now than at some mythical touchpoint in the past. Forty years ago, its likely this story would never have even appeared in a newspaper as amateur radio was much too small a niche to waste newsprint on.

I’m not kidding, you really do need to prepare for how you’ll respond to a question about your hobby, and not just from someone working in popular media.

Sooner or later, your family, friends, and co-workers are bound to discover that you’re a radio ham. And when they do, someone is invariably going to ask the toughest question. One that’s not on any radio test exam but should be:

“So what do you talk about on the radio?”

This one can be a real stumper and you need to think long and hard about what you will say when it comes up, because it will eventually come up. How you answer will, at a minimum, become the basis for someone’s opinion of amateur radio. And at the very best, your answer might spark an interest that results in yet another new call sign for all of us to work.

What will you say?

This article first appeared in CALLING CQ a weekly letter for amateur radio enthusiasts.

Tagged: media