AmateurRadio.com

Turning back time to virtually witness a critical historic method of shortwave communication using the fundamental mode of continuous wave modulation. This is a film from 1944, teaching the basics of Morse code, for military comms.

What is the proper (and most efficient) technique for creating Morse code by hand, using a manual Morse code key? Ham radio operators find Morse code (and the ‘CW’ mode, or ‘Continuous Wave’ keying mode) very useful, even though Morse code is no longer required as part of the licensing process. Morse code is highly effective in weak-signal radio work. And, preppers love Morse code because it is the most efficient way to communicate when there is a major disaster that could wipe out the communications infrastructure.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmg1MlstxWM[/embedyt]

While this military film is antique, the vintage information is timeless, as the material is applicable to Morse code, even today.

Credits: National Archives and Records Administration

Department of Defense. Department of the Army. Office of the Chief Signal Officer. (09/18/1947 – 02/28/1964)

ARC Identifier 36813 / Local Identifier 111-TF-3697. PRINCIPLES AND BASIC TECHNIQUE FOR GOOD, RHYTHMIC SENDING 0F MORSE CODE BY OPERATING THE HAND KEY.

Made possible by a donation from Mary Neff.

This is a video of the German Weather Broadcast from DWD, Hamburg, on shortwave (HF), using teletype (RTTY). I demonstrate two decoding software options: JWcomm32 (older), and, FLdigi. Note the in FLdigi, the “Reverse” feather is selected to properly decode the signal (in either USB or LSB, you still need to select, “Reverse”).

The radio used to receive these weather bulletins is an Icom IC-7610, using an antenna designed for 160 Meters.

RTTY is a system for broadcasting text over radio. The technology dates back to the late 1950s and seems somewhat anachronistic. Speeds are slow, even slower than NAVTEX. A similar service is the USCG service, SITOR (Simplex Teletype Over Radio) providing offshore and coastal forecasts over very wide and remote areas from the tropics to the polar regions.

There is dedicated equipment to receive RTTY and SITOR but we can receive both using a standard HF/SSB receiver with software packages such as TRUETTY and SEATTY to decode the signals.

The main advantage of RTTY/SITOR is the reception of information over an entire ocean area. The USCG also shares frequencies across multiple transmitters according to a schedule, rather like NAVTEX. The system is available over the Atlantic and Pacific including polar regions not served. For more about SITOR see the Monitoring Times link or the USCG site.

Around Western Europe and the Mediterranean, the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD) , the German Weather Service has accepted the responsibility to broadcast weather information for mariners on RTTY. Frequencies are in the table on the webpage at:
https://weather.mailasail.com/Franks-Weather/Radio-Teletype-Weather-Broadcasts

This video captures the RTTY transmission on 14467.3 kHz (with adjustment in the passband to center on Mark and Space as seen in the video).

DWD (Hamburg) Broadcast Content:

Some broadcasts are of raw weather observations in a WMO coded form. Otherwise, for the broadcasts include,

• Strong wind, gale and storm warnings for German Bight, Western and Southern Baltic Sea, German North Sea and Baltic Sea coast
• Weather forecast for the North Sea and Baltic Sea, Weather situation, forecast valid for 12 hours and outlook valid for another 12 hours
• Weather report German North Sea and Baltic Sea coast, Weather situation and forecast valid for 12 hours.
• Navigational warnings for North Sea, Baltic Sea and German coast
• Weather report Norwegian Sea and Baltic Sea Route North Cape – Shetlands, The Quark – Gulf of Finland. Weather situation and time series forecast for 2 days
• Weather report North Atlantic. Route Pentlands – Southwest Greenland. Weather situation and time series forecast for 2 days
• Station reports North Sea and Baltic Sea
• Weather report Western European Sea. Route Southern Ireland – Area Canarias. Weather situation and time series forecast for 2 days
• Medium range weather report North Sea, Weather situation and time series forecast for 5 days
• For the Mediterranean there are Station reports Mediterranean Sea
• Weather report Mediterranean Sea (in German), Weather situation and forecast valid for 24 hours.
• Alborán – Tunis. Weather situation and time series forecast for 2 days
• Weather report Eastern Mediterranean Sea (in German). Route Eastern Tunis – Rhodes/Cyprus. Weather situation and time series forecast for 2 days
• Medium range weather report Mediterranean Sea (in English), Weather situation and time series forecast for 5 days
• Around the North Sea and the Baltic this service is a useful supplement to NAVTEX. Particularly so are the 5 day outlooks, These give wind forecast every 12 hours for the 5 day period. The values are straight from the DWD NWP model at a few grid points although these are sufficient to give an overall view and much quicker to receive than synoptic charts on radio fax.

In the Mediterranean, most valuable is the 5 day forecast which seems to be used and very highly regarded by the majority of serious cruising yachtsmen. It is a most valuable service for predicting the major strong wind systems such as Mistrals, Libeccios, Tramontanes, etc. Such winds are usually well predicted 4 and often 5 days ahead. Conversely, I have never found the 24 hour forecast to be much use. For this period, the French, Spanish and even the Italian NAVTEX broadcasts are to be preferred.

This video is an introduction to an international public-service and technology hobby known as ‘amateur radio’ (or ‘ham radio’).

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K40HpIjDLRs[/embedyt]

Amateur radio (also called ham radio) describes the use of radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emergency communication. The term “amateur” is used to specify “a duly-authorized person interested in radioelectric practice with a purely personal aim and without pecuniary interest;” (either direct monetary or other similar rewards) and to differentiate it from commercial broadcasting, public safety (such as police and fire), or professional two-way radio services (such as maritime, aviation, taxis, etc.).

The amateur radio service (amateur service and amateur-satellite service) is established by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) through the Radio Regulations. National governments regulate technical and operational characteristics of transmissions and issue individual stations licenses with an identifying call sign. Prospective amateur operators are tested for their understanding of key concepts in electronics and the host government’s radio regulations. Radio amateurs use a variety of voice, text, image, and data communications modes and have access to frequency allocations throughout the RF spectrum to enable communication across a city, region, country, continent, the world, or even into space.

Amateur radio is officially represented and coordinated by the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU), which is organized in three regions and has as its members the national amateur radio societies which exist in most countries. According to an estimate made in 2011 by the American Radio Relay League, two million people throughout the world are regularly involved with amateur radio. About 830,000 amateur radio stations are located in IARU Region 2 (the Americas) followed by IARU Region 3 (South and East Asia and the Pacific Ocean) with about 750,000 stations. A significantly smaller number, about 400,000, are located in IARU Region 1 (Europe, Middle East, CIS, Africa).

Activities and practices

The expansive diversity found in the amateur radio hobby attracts practitioners who have a wide range of interests. Many hams begin with a fascination of radio communication and then combine other personal interests to make the pursuit of the hobby rewarding. Some of the focal areas amateurs pursue include radio contesting, radio propagation study, public service communication, technical experimentation, and computer networking. But, that is just a sampling of interest areas found in the hobby.

Amateur radio operators use various modes of transmission to communicate. The two most common modes for voice transmissions are frequency modulation (FM) and single sideband (SSB). The FM mode offers high-quality audio signals, while SSB is better at long distance communication when bandwidth is restricted.

Modern personal computers have encouraged the use of digital modes such as radioteletype (RTTY) which previously required cumbersome mechanical equipment. Hams led the development of packet radio in the 1970s, which has employed protocols such as AX.25 and TCP/IP. Specialized digital modes such as PSK31 allow real-time, low-power communications on the shortwave bands. More robust digital modes have been invented and improved, including such modes as Olivia, JT65, and WSPR.

NASA astronaut Col. Doug Wheelock, KF5BOC, Expedition 24 flight engineer, operates the NA1SS ham radio station in the Zvezda Service Module of the International Space Station. Equipment is a Kenwood TM-D700E transceiver.

Amateur radio operators, using battery- or generator-powered equipment, often provide essential communications services when regular channels are unavailable due to natural disasters or other disruptive events.

This video comes to us via Canada, and is used by permission from Bernard Bouchard – / ve2sms – The original video was published on Feb 28, 2013.- Website is https://www.ve2cwq.ca/amateur-radio-club-ve2cwq/

Voici maintenant, la version complète du documentaire «La radioamateur» d’une durée de 11 minutes. On y aborde toutes les activités sur le monde de la radioamateur. Ce vidéo a été produit par le Club Radioamateur VE2CWQ / Canwarn-Québec. Pour information: https://www.ve2cwq.ca/

Connect with me at https://NW7US.us

USA Amateur Radio information: http://ARRL.org

Before modern radio broadcasting, the trails were being blazed both in public broadcast, but also critical links out of the local area. Here’s a side-look back in time…. in this 1939 Film: New Zealand Shortwave Communications; Morse code (CW)

The romance of the radiotelegraph service (in this video, the service in New Zealand) is a fascinating aspect of communication history. The use of shortwave, longwave, and medium frequency spectrum for communication, particularly through Morse code, played a significant role in connecting people across vast distances. This service utilized the high-frequency spectrum known as “shortwave” (from 3 MHz up to 30 MHz) as well as the longwave (30 kHz to 300 kHz) and medium frequency spectrum (300 kHz to 3 MHz).

This short film is from 1939, and captures the essence of communication at that time in history, to and from New Zealand using shortwaves and Morse code. It showcases the importance of the radiotelegraph service in enabling long-distance communication during that era. The transition from Morse code via spark-gap communications to continuous wave (CW) modulation marked a significant advancement in the technology and efficiency of radio communication.

It’s incredible to see how technology has evolved over the years, transforming the way we communicate and connect with each other globally. Films like these provide a glimpse into the past and remind us of the ingenuity and dedication of those who worked in the radiotelegraph service to ensure effective communication across the seas.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-KUat5WEkU[/embedyt]

This film is a 1939 Government film scanned to 2K from a 16mm combined B/W reduction print.

If you have not yet explored ham radio repeaters, this might be interesting to you.

What is an amateur radio repeater and how do they work?

In this video, with a non-amateur-radio viewer in mind, I chat about the very basic concepts of a repeater.

It is filmed in a relaxed, “ride along with me,” format.

Want to learn more about ham radio (amateur radio)?
Visit: http://nw7us.us/arrl

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_a5Pxh931U[/embedyt]

The Colorado Search and Rescue Association is promoting FRS (Family Radio Service) Channel 3 as “the default during backcountry search and rescue (backcountry SAR) emergencies.” FRS channel 3 is the same as GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service) channel 3. There is more GMRS info here. To keep things simple, no CTCSS (“privacy code”) is used…carrier squelch only.  See the CSAR announcement here: FRS Radio Use for Backcountry.

For backcountry exploring, it is important to emphasize self-sufficiency and to avoid reliance on electronic gizmos that may fail. Avoiding an emergency situation is way better than having a device to call for help, which may be many hours away. See this article for a discussion of The Ten Essentials for Hiking.

Still, the FRS3 concept has merit. Many backcountry hikers already carry FRS or GMRS radios, so designating a preferred channel makes sense. My read on this is that randomly calling for help on FRS3 will not be very effective due to the limited range of FRS radios. However, it does not hurt to try. More likely, FRS3 can be used for local comms once Search and Rescue crews have been deployed and are within a few miles of the party in distress.

Ham radio operators may want to carry a handheld transceiver capable of transmitting on 462.6125 MHz. For emergency use only, of course.

73 Bob K0NR

The post FRS3 For Colorado Backcountry appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.

Regarding the important religious issue of ham radio modulation, I am agnostic. There is room in ham radio for many modes including CW, AM, FM, SSB, RTTY, DV, FT8, and more. This springs from my belief that the universal purpose of amateur radio is to have fun messing around with radios. As long as you are obeying the FCC rules (or equivalent), having fun, and not being a pain to other radio hams, you have my full support to choose whatever emission type you prefer.

When I mention the use of FT8, I often get comments from folks disparaging the mode. Usually, the complaint is that FT8 is too impersonal or that it relies too much on DSP and computer power to get the job done. Those are actually valid complaints. Most of us would rather hear the voice of the other operator (or their CW fist) and have just a bit of interaction with them, even if it’s just “Roger, Five Nine Colorado.” (JS8 is a digital mode that provides a bit more interaction, so that is another option.) And there is no question that we depend on the technology to make the contact (more so than your typical CW or SSB contact.)

Recently, I wrote about how I need A Reason To Get On The Air, which is all about going after some particular operating activity whether it be DXCC, SOTA, POTA or whatever. The main objective of such activity is making a radio contact. Can I get my electromagnetic wave through the ether and have it arrive at the other station’s location? Then can they get their signal back to me, so we have a legitimate contact. If so, I get to check the box on that radio contact. See What is a Valid QSO?

I am not alone because many hams are voting with their transceiver settings on a daily basis, choosing FT8 over other modes. They are prioritizing making the contact higher than having a robust conversation with another radio operator. In fact, I sometimes hear radio amateurs comment that they prefer not having to deal with the standard chit-chat that provides a signal report, name, location, etc. They would rather just get the contact and put it in the log.

And it’s not just FT8. Many examples of ham radio operation emphasize making the QSO, independent of the mode used: SOTA, POTA, IOTA, DXCC, WAS, WAZ, contesting, EME, meteor scatter, and more. Meteor scatter is an interesting one…on the surface, it is not the most exciting activity. Sometimes it feels like watching paint dry because it may take 20 or 30 minutes to complete a contact. However, there is clearly a challenge here…can I bounce a signal off a meteor trail and have it reach the other station? And can I hear the other station’s reply? I’ve worked new stations and grids on 6m and 2m using this method and I enjoy getting a new one in the log. Perhaps not much different than busting through a CW or SSB pileup trying to work a rare DXpedition.

So keep having fun messing around with radios, using whatever mode you like.
And make the contact…we can talk about it later.

73 Bob K0NR

The post Make The Contact appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.