Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 296

Amateur Radio Weekly

Modifying magnetic mobile antenna mount to accept radials
Spots into Europe on 40m seem to suggest it works well.
AE5X

How to self-spot off-grid for SOTA/POTA using HF
The answer lies in a phone app called SOTAmat.
Ham Radio Outside the Box

Forensic analysis of the Arecibo collapse
Blame it on the sockets.
Hackaday

Repeater World
Open Source and Open Data repeater directory.
Repeater World

DX in a hurry: An ode to DXing and FT8
Tips on how to work a lot of DX in a hurry.
N6CTA

QO-100 on FlexRadio
Accessing QO-100 on a FlexrRadio 6700.
G7UFO

Fun with HamClock
Unused 32 inch TV earmarked for HamClock.
N1FD

Knife-edge effect in 2m and 70cm
You can be surrounded by mountains and still reach far with their help.
EA5IYL

Best QRP transceivers for operators who are blind/visually-impaired
The Elecraft KX3 is loved for the CW read outs and tactile buttons/knobs.
QRPer

Video

How to Slinky antenna
How to make a Slinky HF Antenna using Xiegu G90 and a Slinky to work France.
W6IWN

Ham Radio operations over smoke-filled Cascade Mountains
This flight takes us from Tacoma Narrows Airport (KTIW) to Twisp Airport (2S0) in the Methow Valley.
W7NY

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Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 295

Amateur Radio Weekly

RFBitBanger: Off-the-grid QRP radio
Designed to be assembled and maintained off-the-grid.
RFBitBanger

KiwiSDR 2 pre-release announcement
KiwiSDR 2 prototypes are now under construction.
KiwiSDR

As Canadian wildfires rage, Facebook’s news ban reveals importance of radio
AM and FM radio still play an essential role.
The Conversation

Can just 1 radial really be better than 8 or more?
A field expedient temporary antenna follows a different rulebook.
Ham Radio Outside the Box

Parachute mobile Ham sets QSO record
Ranae Six (KR5SIX) unites community with daring jump.
W0MET

FEMA and FCC plan nationwide emergency alert test
Test messages will be sent to all US TVs, radios and cell phones.
FEMA

2023 Huntsville Hamfest from the view of a vendor
I can tell already it is going to be a good show.
WK4DS

DCC papers now online
41st ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference.
TAPR

How ARES is Structured: Ham Radio 101
The ARRL governance structure divides the United States into 15 ARRL Divisions.
OnAllBands

Video

Homebrew transistors
Building a 1200°C tube furnace.
ProjectsInFlight

Resonant dipoles
A look at the finer details of dipole antennas.
FesZ Electronics

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Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 294

Amateur Radio Weekly

RTL-SDR V4 dongle initial release
The HF design consists of a SA612 double-balanced mixer circuit with front end filtering.
RTL-SDR

A 200ft wire antenna up zero feet
How does it perform?
Ham Radio Outside the Box

Hack the ARRL
Creatively overcoming the limitations of the ARRL.
KB6NU

APSPOT: APRS spotting tool
APSPOT is a new APRS system designed to provide a one-stop shop for self spotting activations via APRS.
APSPOT

A declaration of love to Amateur Radio
Since the spring of 2019, practically not a day has gone by that I have not engaged in some form of Amateur Radio.
DK1MI.radio

Python Telegram bot for QRZ.com lookups
The code is available on GitLab.
K8VSY

SolarPi experiment 2: Finally something that works
It finally works, but there are still some challenges I need to solve in the long term.
Bystroushaak

Activating a park on the side of the road
I had a great time doing it even with the traffic on the other side of the truck.
WK4DS

Dos and don’ts on Greencube IO-117
IO-117 is a medium earth orbit satellite meaning it is moving rather slow compared to low earth orbit satellites.
Notizbl0g

Video

Inside the EPMAK transceiver
A look at the EPMAK SDR HF transceiver.
UR6EA

Vertical half wave antenna – QRP portable
Working Australia from a beach in North Carolina 10 watts SSB QRP.
Coastal Waves and Wires

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Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 293

Amateur Radio Weekly

Special ISS SSTV experiment scheduled for ARRL Teacher’s Institute
The pass will be over the Mid-Atlantic area with transmissions scheduled to begin at 16:05 ET and ending at 16:20 ET.
ARISS

Building a simple Faraday Cage
This article describes the effects of EMP and CME and how to build a simple inexpensive Faraday cage.
Survival Blog

Monitoring the temperature of our radios
A stick-on temperature label may be the answer.
AE5X

How does a ground tuning unit work?
Tuning an entire planet? Now that’s a different matter!
Ham Radio Outside the Box

HOA antenna challenges
How I accepted the antenna challenge and kept the HOA hounds or condo cops from having their heads spin backwards.
VE9KK

Modifying a battery fan to also run from 12 volts
A blog post about a fan? Really?
KA7OEI

Careers for Hams: ARRL is hiring
ARRL has open positions for full-time employment in both technical and non-technical areas of the association.
ARRL

Video

RadioBerry HF SDR transceiver Pi Hat
RadioBerry has a maximum bandwidth of 384 kHz and an operating frequency range of 0 to 30 MHz.
Tech Minds

Interview with SP5WWP of the M17 Project
Why SP5WWP created M17 and how to get started with it.
Ria’s Ham Shack

Inside the ARRL with CEO David Minster NA2AA
A free-wheeling conversation about culture and being responsive.
W1DED

Stealth HOA Ham Radio antenna flag pole
The HOA will never know.
HOA Ham

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Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 292

Amateur Radio Weekly

New Packet Radio
IP over 430MHz Ham Radio, 50 to 500kbps, 20W RF. Extension for HSMM-Hamnet-AREDN.
New Packet Radio

Solar cycle 25s maximum might arrive earlier and hit harder
The current solar cycle has a forecasted peak sometime in 2025.
ZeroHedge

Field Day with 4 AA batteries
I used a tiny rig that fits in a 3 X 5 inch box and runs on 4 AA batteries.
W1PID

Hamsat: Working the birds? Let the world know
Post an activation alert when you plan to be on a satellite.
WW1X

It is possible to have an RF-quiet home PV (solar) electric system
For the past several years an incremental nemesis of Amateur Radio operation on the HF bands is solar power.
KA7OEI

Roll your own tube tester
Not comprehensive, but good enough most of the time.
Hackaday

Hystérésia
Art installation listens to zombie satellites.
Hystérésia

Receiving unintentional voice transmissions from GPS satellites
Malicious pirates may be actively using these SAR repeaters for their own communications.
RTL-SDR.com

Video

Short Film: Aberdeen Amateur Radio Society
This Ham focused film won a top award at the 2023 Doric Film Festival.
Scots Radio

Hamvention 1987
Destination Dayton is a video shot by myself and WB0CMC on 8mm camcorders and edited at WOWT Channel 6 in Omaha in 1987.
YouTube

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Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 291

Amateur Radio Weekly

This weekend is Field Day
Find an event happening near you.
ARRL

13 Colonies special event begins July 1
Event runs from July 1 through July 8 and consists of 13 colony stations and 2 bonus stations.
13 Colonies

Ofcom proposes multitude of changes to licensing framework
Changes include additional access to spectrum and airborne use.
Amateur Radio Daily

Report sheds some light on Icom’s Amateur Radio strategy
The report paints a picture of what Icom’s business strategy will be over the next three years.
KB6NU

Amateur Radio Moonshots
The 5 things that show the most promise in revolutionizing Amateur Radio.
Zero Retries

Cornbread Road: An episodic Ham Radio mystery
Thirteen episodes originally released once per week from the summer solstice until the autumnal equinox.
KE9V

Amateur Radio helps air show fly high
Middle Tennessee radio clubs partnered to provide operations support throughout the 2023 Great Tennessee Air Show.
ARRL

My father may be gone, but our radio is still going
My most prized possession was once somebody’s trash.
Los Angeles Times

How to take advantage of ARRL log archives
The original logs from the 1977 KA1S operation were indeed on file.
OnAllBands

Modding the Quansheng UV-K5 HT
A collection of modified firmwares for the Quansheng UV-K5 radio.
Tunas1337

The NVIS illusion
I don’t think there is any subject that is so misunderstood by hams as NVIS.
Ham Radio Outside the Box

Get in over your head
Starting off on something that you don’t already know how to do provides you with a fearlessness.
Hackaday

Video

Ham Radio enthusiast’s long road since the Derecho
Tower collapse and community to the rescue.
WBRC

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Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 290

Amateur Radio Weekly

Legislation to remove antenna restrictions on Amateur Radio introduced in Congress
Bill to remove barriers to disaster and emergency communications and training.
ARRL

Listening to the ISS on the cheap
What do you need to talk to a $100 billion space station? As it turns out, about $60 worth of stuff will do.
Hackaday

King Hussein radio equipment donated to RSGB
A permanent display is being organised at the RSGB National Radio Centre.
RSGB

Video showing Flipper Zero smoking a smart meter may be fake
Meter featured in the video does not have any ability to be switched on and off wirelessly.
RTL-SDR.com

June 2023 VHF Contest — A non-stop Es blast
The 2023 edition of the ARRL June VHF Contest hit an all-time high for my home station.
K5ND

Field Day countdown
To QRP or QRO?
N4KGL

Five tips for a successful Field Day
Here are a few friendly reminders to help make this year’s event the most successful ever.
OnAllBands

Ham Radio & the Art of Bushcraft
Keep calm and carry in.
Ham Radio Outside the Box

Video

Detecting meteors with software defined radio
We take a look at how we receive and detect meteors as they burn their way into earths atmosphere.
Tech Minds

Adventures on 122GHz
An introduction to the challenges of operating on 122GHz.
RSGB

Get local weather info over APRS
Send the message “n 3” to “WXNOW” to get a weather report.
KM6LYW

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  • Matt W1MST, Managing Editor