Author Archive
If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.
March 20th, 2026 | 
Author: 
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| My clone drives |
3Y0K in the log
Finally, it has started to warm up here and on Saturday temps hit a nice 7C, and we celebrated by burping the house. It ended up raining all day, but that helps melt the snow faster which is ok with me. I was in the radio room doing some this and that, I decided to check (again) the DX Heat cluster and see what if anything was going on with 3Y0K on Bouvet island. As way of background I have seen them many times on the cluster followed by a huge pile up but never could hear them.
As I was looking over the spots on the cluster 3Y0K just popped up with a new spot on 20m. I flipped the switch on the 7610 and ventured down to there spotted frequency on 20m. For the first time I could hear them at about S3, even better there was next to no pileup.....YET! The Icom 7610 was on CW, I tapped Dual then split and joined the fray.
In the right ear I could hear the pileup and was looking at the waterfall to see where the lonely signal was who answered 3Y0K's beck and call. Very fast I caught on to how they were working the pileup. One issue was 3Y0K would reach out to a caller BUT still many would continue to send their call sign. Once 3Y0K worked a station many like me have a waterfall display and could see were the action was. Then all of a sudden that small wedge of the frequency became very busy. What I noticed was 3Y0K moved down frequency a bit more than normal to get away from the clump of callers. I decided to do the same. I noticed that 3Y0K now had moments of fading in and out, also the pileup was starting to grow fast. But after only 3 tries I was in the log.
During my attempt there were those calling on 3Y0K's frequency, someone for about 30 seconds or more sending a carrier over top of 3Y0K and those who just sent their call continually no matter who 3Y0K was working. Oh well just part of the fun I guess.
HamClock lives on
With
Elwood (the creator of HamClock) now SK, HamClock is set to stop
functioning in June 2026. Fortunately, several alternatives and
workarounds exist for those looking to continue using similar features.
Here’s a summary based on my experience and research:
1. Open HamClock
- Feature-rich: Offers extensive customization and configuration.
- Spotting Control: Ability to turn off spotting to de-clutter the map.
- Setup: Easy setup process; remembers your preferences if saved.
- Full Screen: Can be run in full-screen mode.
- Updates: Regular updates with clear notifications and instructions.
- VOACAP Display: Improved propagation prediction display.
2. Hamtab
- Web-based: Runs in your browser for all OS’s.
- HamClock Themes: Includes a theme similar to Elwood's HamClock theme.
- Fewer Options: Less configurable than Open HamClock.
- Spotting Limitation: No clear option to remove all spots from the map.
- Map Interaction: Limited ability to click on the map for DX/solar info; can only click on spots.
- Solar Overlay: Not as detailed as Open HamClock, Open HamClock-backend or Bruce W4BAE HamClock.
3. HamVision
- Early Development: Still under heavy development; site is often in maintenance mode.
- Limited Configuration: Little to no configuration is possible at this stage.
- Updates: Latest info and updates are shared on their Facebook page.
4. HamClock me Online
- Web-based Version: Another browser option.
- Limited Testing: I haven’t explored this one deeply, but it’s worth checking to see if it meets your needs.
GitHub-Based Projects
- General Note: These require familiarity with GitHub, Docker, and self-hosting.
- Actively Updated: Closest in spirit to Elwood’s original HamClock.
- Setup Challenges: Can be tricky to get running if you’re not comfortable with GitHub/Docker.
- Mixed Results: I couldn’t get this running on my Pi4; the Mac OS version didn’t work due to OS version issues. Your experience may vary.
3. Keeping HamClock Alive
- Resource: Bruce (W4BAE) has compiled a detailed guide and history at his website.
- -b Flag: Elwood’s last version (4.22) introduced a back-end override (-b flag) letting HamClock point to an alternate server.
- Easy-to-Follow Instructions: Bruce’s guide makes it straightforward to implement this workaround, and he’s responsive to questions.
- Result: I was able to set up a working HamClock on my Pi3b using this method. I kept my Pi4 still running Elwood's HamClock until I am happy with alternatives.
- Summary
While Elwood’s original HamClock will stop functioning, there are multiple alternatives and ways to keep similar functionality alive. Your best option depends on your technical comfort level and preferred features. For those wanting a near-identical experience, Bruce W4BAE’s method is highly recommended along with Open HamClock-Back-end. As for a one stop shopping I would recommend Open ham clock. Enter it in your browser and you are ready to go.
ARRL DX CW contest
I spent a lot of time in the contest chair this weekend. While the Olympics were on and on Sunday, the much-anticipated U.S. vs. Canada hockey matchup sparked sports fever in our house, but it belongs to my wife, not me. For me, it was all about contesting, so I happily settled behind the radio.
I began early Saturday morning and continued until Sunday evening, wrapping up at 23:45. Conditions fluctuated significantly: on Sunday morning, I noticed a lot of what I call “wobbling” in station signals. Solar activity picked up on Sunday, and I found many stations calling me were just above the noise floor. I ran for about 90% of the contest and enjoyed every minute. I can always tell when I’m spotted suddenly as the floodgates open with callers!
By the end of each evening, fatigue started to set in, and I found myself mixing up S and H or 7 and 8. When that happens, I know it’s time to pull the plug and walk away before frustration takes over.
The station, PC, and antenna all operated flawlessly. I had contacts from South America, Hawaii, and even Africa. There were also quite a few QRP stations reporting just 5 watts I double-checked, thinking they meant 500, but nope, it was 5! One of my many pins now claims South Korea, though I know that’s not accurate. When I looked up the call, I realized my mistake, but by then, the station had already moved on.
All in all, it was a memorable weekend of contesting, full of challenges and highlights.
ARRL DX CW contest
I spent a lot of time in the contest chair this weekend. While the Olympics were on and on Sunday, the much-anticipated U.S. vs. Canada hockey matchup sparked sports fever in our house, but it belongs to my wife, not me. For me, it was all about contesting, so I happily settled behind the radio.
I began early Saturday morning and continued until Sunday evening, wrapping up at 23:45. Conditions fluctuated significantly: on Sunday morning, I noticed a lot of what I call “wobbling” in station signals. Solar activity picked up on Sunday, and I found many stations calling me were just above the noise floor. I ran for about 90% of the contest and enjoyed every minute. I can always tell when I’m spotted suddenly as the floodgates open with callers!
By the end of each evening, fatigue started to set in, and I found myself mixing up S and H or 7 and 8. When that happens, I know it’s time to pull the plug and walk away before frustration takes over.
The station, PC, and antenna all operated flawlessly. I had contacts from South America, Hawaii, and even Africa. There were also quite a few QRP stations reporting just 5 watts I double-checked, thinking they meant 500, but nope, it was 5! One of my many pins now claims South Korea, though I know that’s not accurate. When I looked up the call, I realized my mistake, but by then, the station had already moved on.
All in all, it was a memorable weekend of contesting, full of challenges and highlights.
ARRL DX CW contest
I spent a lot of time in the contest chair this weekend. While the Olympics were on and on Sunday, the much-anticipated U.S. vs. Canada hockey matchup sparked sports fever in our house, but it belongs to my wife, not me. For me, it was all about contesting, so I happily settled behind the radio.
I began early Saturday morning and continued until Sunday evening, wrapping up at 23:45. Conditions fluctuated significantly: on Sunday morning, I noticed a lot of what I call “wobbling” in station signals. Solar activity picked up on Sunday, and I found many stations calling me were just above the noise floor. I ran for about 90% of the contest and enjoyed every minute. I can always tell when I’m spotted suddenly as the floodgates open with callers!
By the end of each evening, fatigue started to set in, and I found myself mixing up S and H or 7 and 8. When that happens, I know it’s time to pull the plug and walk away before frustration takes over.
The station, PC, and antenna all operated flawlessly. I had contacts from South America, Hawaii, and even Africa. There were also quite a few QRP stations reporting just 5 watts I double-checked, thinking they meant 500, but nope, it was 5! One of my many pins now claims South Korea, though I know that’s not accurate. When I looked up the call, I realized my mistake, but by then, the station had already moved on.
All in all, it was a memorable weekend of contesting, full of challenges and highlights.
RFI issue solved!
For those of you who are consistent readers of my blog, you may remember that for some time now, I have had an issue with RFI. The problem it caused was that my contesting program N1MM+ would freeze while CW contesting on 15m and sometimes on 20m and 40m. As well, the Reverse Beacon Network website would get hung up while refreshing the world map and not stop trying to refresh the page. I would just see a spinning hourglass on the map. This only happened when I was on 15m, unlike the issues with N1MM+. I determined it was due to RFI, as when I dropped my power output to 60 watts, the issue was gone. Now, some might say just operate at 60 watts and FORGET ABOUT IT, as was said on The Sopranos, but as for me, I just can’t do that.
I decided to look into my internet connection setup. The motherboard I have for my PC does have WiFi via two small antennas on the motherboard. I am using a TP-Link extender in the hallway,
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| TP-Link extender |
which has a LAN connection. I attached a LAN cable to the TP-Link and plugged that into a TP-Link LAN switch beside my PC. From the LAN switch, one LAN cable went to my PC and the other to the Icom 7610 radio. I tried split toroids on the LAN cables and LAN switch power cable. That did not work. I then just used the WiFi connection on the PC to the TP-Link extender in the hallway—that did not work. I then connected my PC WiFi to the main WiFi from our router in the living room, thinking the TP-Link extender could be the issue, and that did not solve the issue.
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| LAN switch |
Then it occurred to me: during every test I did, I had left in place the LAN cable connected to my PC, the LAN cable connected to my 7610, both connected to the LAN switch, and the LAN switch’s power connected. I removed all these from the picture, and lo and behold, my issue was gone. Now, I did not start my happy dance just yet. In the past, I’ve had this false positive before and was let down when N1MM+ froze along with Reverse Beacon Network failing to update. It has now been three months of contesting and testing, and I am sure the issue is no more.
So what part of this LAN connection octopus was the issue? To tell you the truth, I don’t care, and I am just happy all is well once again.
