VE9KK the world of CW 2023-02-02 20:02:00

 


 January is now in the rearview mirror and weather wise there was a mix of very warm weather (for January) of plus 12C, days with freezing rain and the occasional snowstorm of 37cm. I had a good month for radio, I was involved in some contests, WRTC competition more on that in another post. Then just some good all-around DX AP5A Barbados, S01SW Western Sahara, 5B4AMX Cyprus and CO8NMN Cuba. 

The space weather has been fantastic of late with some very surprising openings on 10m. Now into February by 2 days we have had cold weather. Last evening it was -25C and on Friday evening -30C with a wind chill of -47! I am staying indoors so bring on the DX!!


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

Well this was a first for me!

 


Most any Ham you talk to have heard or taken part in Field day that takes place each year in the summer. Over the years I have read blog posts regarding Winter Field Day but had not paid too much attention to it. I am not one to spend time outdoors in the winter on the radio. Winter is nice but not that nice, but this year I did some reading and there is a category for working this event from home! Now my wife did give me some advice telling me to at least open the window and rough it a bit with some cold air. Sorry, not for me I am a summer/warm-weather guy!
I entered CW only as my category and I found the event well attended and very relaxed compared to major CW contests. It is an event that I will add to my contest calendar for next year.








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

ICQ Podcast Episode 395 – Workshop Experiments

In this episode, we join Martin Butler M1MRB, Dan Romanchik KB6NU, Edmund Spicer M0MNG and Ed Durrant DD5LP to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin Butler (M6BOY) rounds up the news in brief and in the episode's feature is Workshop Experiments.

We would like to thank Martin Malley (WØZZK) and our monthly and annual subscription donors for keeping the podcast advert free. To donate, please visit - http://www.icqpodcast.com/donate

  • Internal Heating Element Makes These PCBS Self-Soldering
  • Amateur Satellite FalconSAT-3 Nears Reentry
  • DX-Unlimited, Arnie Coro, CO2KK — SK
  • Grid Hunters who Use Satellites Risk Losing an Important Resource
  • Natural Phenomenon Affects Radio Waves and Helps Science
  • Missouri S&T Amateur Radio Club to Celebrate 100 Years
  • Mobile App Available to Navigate 2023 Orlando HamCation
  • RSGB Coronation Celebration Confirmed

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 271

Amateur Radio Weekly

Director Ria Jairam recused by ARRL, and it seems political to me
Ria discussed the issue with me, and this is my understanding.
Bruce Perens

Innovation on Morse Code for US Military
In 1991 this system revolutionized the training of Morse code copying skills for both students and instructors.
SOFREP

The Meteor M2 LRPT weather satellite has failed
Meteor M2 is a Russian meteorological satellite whose LRPT transmissions at 137 MHz were relatively easily received by anyone with a simple satellite antenna.
RTL-SDR.com

BBC Lights Out
A man, a mouse and a morse key: The story of a Radio Amateur in Kyiv.
BBC Radio

Archive for Amateur Radio grows to 51,000 items
The newest additions include books, journals and magazines, newsletters, and archives of early Internet discussion lists.
DLARC

How to become a Shortwave listener with Fedora Linux
Replace the radio receiver with Fedora Linux.
Fedora Magazine

POTA-expedition?
There are still quite a few POTA sites that have never been activated.
AE5X

I fell off the QRP wagon and regret it already
Here is the backstory of my most recent park activation and how I got it all wrong.
Ham Radio Outside the Box

Pros and cons of HF attic antennas
Want to work more than a single band? Parallel/fan dipoles are a good solution.
OnAllBands

Voice vs asynchronous data for survival
Asynchronous messaging works in parallel with our real-time comms plan.
OH8STN

Video

Downloading images directly from weather satellites
This is an introductory video to a series that will show you how you can do the same.
YouTube

Learn Morse Code in 20 minutes
Classic US Army Training (1966)
YouTube

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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.

Hunting For NDBs In CLE288

YNE - 207 Norway House, MB (tnx ve3gop.com)

Yes! It's CLE time once again. This is a challenge for all newcomers to NDB listening and the ultimate test of your medium frequency receiving capabilities. Can you meet the challenge?

'CLE's are 'Co-ordinated  Listening Events, and NDB DXers around the world focus their listening time on one small slice of  the NDB spectrum.
 
It's a two-parter this time:

The first part is hunting for the NDBs whose published frequencies are between 190 - 239.9 kHz. With NDBs closing down at a rapid rate, this wider range will offer listeners more targets.

The second part is hunting for the NDBs whose carrier frequencies are 'half-way'. 

E.g. 282.5 RT (AUI), 284.5 MH (TUA), 312.5 KML (SYR), 328.5 EGT (NIR), 400.5 COD (ITA).

A good target for all NA listeners is powerhouse YNE on 207 kHz in Norway House, Manitoba. Listen for its upper sideband CW identifier on 207.405 kHz.

When tuning for NDBs, put your receiver in the CW mode and listen for the NDB's CW identifier, repeated every few seconds. Listen for U.S. NDB identifiers approximately 1 kHz higher or lower than the published transmitted frequency since these beacons are modulated with a 1020 Hz tone approximately.

For example, 'AA' near Fargo, ND, transmitted on 365 kHz and its upper sideband CW identifier was tuned at 366.025 kHz while its lower sideband CW ident could be tuned at 363.946 kHz. Its USB tone was actually 1025 Hz while its LSB tone was 1054 Hz.

Often, one sideband will be much stronger than the other so if you don't hear the first one, try listening on the other sideband.

Canadian NDBs normally have an USB tone only, usually very close to 400 Hz. They also have a long dash (keydown) following the CW identifier.

All NDBs heard in North America will be listed in the RNA database (updated daily) while those heard in Europe may be found in the REU database. Beacons heard outside of these regions will be found in the RWW database.

From CLE organizers comes the following info:

Hello all,

Do try not to miss our 288th co-ordinated listening event - it starts this Friday at midday.  This could be an ideal CLE to try out for the first time, but everyone is welcome, as always, of course!

 

    Days:  Fri. 27th - Mon. 30th January, Midday-Midday, your local time

    NDBs  on frequencies from 190 - 239.9 kHz

    PLUS:  normal NDBs with carriers on 'half-way' frequencies ( nnn.5 kHz )

                from 190.5 - 999.5 kHz

 

So for all of us it is a CLE in two parts - the first part is hunting for the NDBs whose published frequencies are lower than 240 kHz.

The second part is hunting for the NDBs whose carrier frequencies are 'half-way'. 

E.g. 282.5 RT (AUI), 284.5 MH (TUA), 312.5 KML (SYR), 328 EGT (NIR), 400.5 COD (ITA).

The seek list below includes the ones that are more likely to be logged.

 

(Europe listeners will hear few or none from part 1, while the

listeners away from Europe will hear few or none from part 2)

 

Please send your final CLE log to the List, if possible as a plain text email and not in an attachment, showing 'CLE288' and 'FINAL' in its title.

(Loggings from both parts can be shown in the same list)

Please include on EVERY line of your log:

 

  #  The date (or just the day 'dd') and UTC (days change at 00:00 UTC).

  #  kHz - the beacon's nominal frequency.

  #  The Call Ident.

 

It is important to show those main items FIRST - any other optional details such as Location, Distance, etc., go LATER in the same line.

 

Don't forget to give your OWN location (your 6-character Locator if you know it please) and details of your receiver and aerial(s), etc.   Others will be interested to know, especially new members - and old ones with failing memories like mine!

Listening around the 'half-way' frequencies means we might also catch some interesting non-CLE beacons – you can tell us about those too, but in a separate list. 

 

Joachim and I will be processing the incoming logs as usual - please look out for our 'Any More Logs?' email at about 19:00 UTC on Tuesday evening, with a list to let you check that your own log has been found OK.

Do make sure that your log has arrived on the NDB List at the very latest by 08:00 UTC on Wednesday.

 

Good listening

   Brian and Joachim

  (CLE Coordinators)

 

If you wish you could use any one remote receiver for your loggings,

stating the location and owner - and with their permission if required.

A remote listener may NOT also use another receiver, local or remote,

to make further loggings for the same CLE.

 

For your full seek list in the 190-240 kHz range just go to Rxx (https://rxx.classaxe.com/cle) for your part of the World.

Below is the seek list which includes the ‘nnn.5’ NDBs that are more likely to be heard.




CLE's provide several purposes. They:

• determine, worldwide, which beacons are actually in service and on-the-air so the newly-re-vamped Rxx online database can be kept up-to-date

• determine, worldwide, which beacons are out-of-service or have gone silent since the last CLE covering this range


• will indicate the state of propagation conditions at the various participant locations


• will give you an indication of how well your LF/MF receiving system is working


• give participants a fun yet challenging activity to keep their listening skills honed


Final details can be found at the NDB List website, and worldwide results, for every participant, will be posted there a few days after the event.


The NDB List Group is a great place to learn more about the 'Art of NDB DXing' or to meet other DXers in your region. There is a lot of good information available there and new members are always very welcome. As well, you can follow the results of other CLE participants from night to night as propagation is always an active topic of discussion.

You need not be an NDB List member to participate in the CLEs and all reports, no matter how small, are of much value to the organizers.

Remember - 'First-time' logs are always VERY welcome!

Reports may be sent to the NDB List Group or e-mailed to CLE co-ordinator, Brian Keyte (G3SIA), whose address appears above. If you are a member of the group, all final results will also be e-mailed and posted there.

Please ... give the CLE a try ... then let us know what NDB's can be heard from your location! Your report can then be added to the worldwide database to help keep it up-to-date.

Have fun and good hunting!

Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

LHS Episode #494: Linux Gaming Deep Dive

Hello and welcome to Episode #494 of Linux in the Ham Shack. This is the first episode for 2023. To ease into the new year, the hosts have chosen a topic based purely in fun: playing games on Linux. Several options are explored and we take a quick look at the new LHS Minecraft server as well. Thanks for listening and have a great week.

73 de The LHS Crew


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].

Winter Field Day 2023 (Jan 28, 29 UTC)

Join the Winter Field Day!

You do NOT have to operate from a cold location; home operation is an allowed category.

Winter Field Day is a communications exercise. WFD is held on the last full weekend in January. WFD can be worked from the comfort of your home or in a remote location. You can participate by yourself or get your friends, family, or whole club involved. Winter Field Day is open to participants worldwide. Amateur radio operators may use frequencies on the HF, VHF, or UHF bands and are free to use any mode that can faithfully transmit the required exchange intact. Similar to the ARRL’s Field Day, bonus points are earned in several ways, including using non-commercial power sources, operating from remote locations, satellite contacts, and more.

Winter Field Day

Winter Field Day

Winter Field Day is sponsored by the Winter Field Day Association. We passionately believe that Ham radio operators should practice portable emergency communications in winter environments as the potential for freezing temperatures, snow, ice, and other hazards present unique operational concerns. WFD is formatted to help increase your level of preparedness for disasters and improve your operational skills in subpar conditions. Click here to read more about the history and purpose of winter field day.

Do check out the rules, as there are some important things you must know.

During the last weekend in January, ham radio operators worldwide participate in Winter Field Day. We encourage you to grab your radio, get outside and join us during this uniquely challenging event. Click on the links below to view our 2023 Rules and our Resources page. The Resources page has a plethora of information, including FAQs, logging software recommendations, operating aids, and more.

Website: https://www.winterfieldday.com/


Visit, subscribe: NW7US Radio Communications and Propagation YouTube Channel

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