Archive for the ‘radio’ Category
Update: Propagation Forecasts for CQ WW (SSB and CW) DX Contest Weekends
October 25th, 2017 | 
Author: Are you participating in this year’s CQ World-Wide DX Contest, either the SSB weekend (this coming weekend, October 28-29, 2017), or the CW weekend (November 25-26, 2017)? The CQ WW is the largest Amateur Radio competition in the world. Over 35,000 participants take to the airwaves on the last weekend of October (SSB) and November (CW) with the goal of making as many contacts with as many different DXCC entities and CQ Zones as possible.
Space Weather and Radio Propagation
I have updated my forecast on the expected propagation conditions during both the SSB and CW weekends of the 2017 CQ World-Wide DX Contest. I will publish a new update for the CW weekend, when we get closer to that November weekend.
The link to the latest update is: http://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2017/10/cqww-dx-contest-propagation-update.html
Good luck!
73 de NW7US dit dit
FCC Opens 630/2200 Meters Amateur Band; Pre-Registration Required!
Yes, the headlines read, “FCC OPENS 630/2200 METERS TO AMATEUR USE AS OF OCTOBER 16, 2017; PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED.”
The FCC has authorized amateur radio use of the 630 and 2200-meter bands, effective October 16, 2017, providing registration procedures have been followed and no objections are received within 30 days.
The PLC (Power Line Communications) database is live and hams may begin registering immediately. They may begin operating on 472 kHz (630 meters) and 137 kHz (2200 meters) as early as October 16 if they register today and receive no objection in the next 30 days. Hams may not operate on the bands without going through this process.
Please fill out the UPC Form, today, to register your station, even if you don’t have any plans on transmitting on these new bands.
It is imperative that all amateurs register, even if they don’t plan to use these bands in the near future, as the FCC rules prohibit UTC (the Utilities Technology Council) from deploying PLC in these bands closer than one (1) kilometer from registered stations. Registration now will protect your ability to use our new MF/LF bands in the future.
A few SOTA’s
Over the last few weeks our domestic life has been a bit different to what it used to be. A change in how we work as a family has happened and it meant a hold on radio, or rather a less than active summer is the result.
I have one the other hand spent more time away from work than normal which meant that I didn’t have to chance the normally predictable weather in Cumbria at just the weekend if I was going /p. I am fortunate to live within 30 minutes of both the Ennerdale and Wasdale valley’s. If you know where they are you might also know that the meet between Pillar and Great Gable with Ennerdale being further inland to Wasdales long views out to sea. I’ve been to Ennerdale quite a bit so Wasdale it was for this couple of trips.
Operating in the he lakes gives up a few challenges. The harshest being the number of people that visit the 8+ point summits. One solution is to stay off the beaten track, the other is to go early. Combine the 2 on a sunny day and you’ve got English summer nirvana.
First up, Pillar and Kirk Fell – Wasdale head pub to Pillar via Mosedale and a short trot along to Kirk fell then down the front face of Kirk Fell. To get this view climb straight up the Mosedale scree slope (beware it is hard work). The view is worth it. Looking towards Scafell you can almost see the small tent I passed on the way up. Needless to say some geology buff will tell you different but it looks to me like a glacier made this shape.
The next shot is from Kirk Fell. Showing the sea off in the distance and Burnmoor tarn on the left, Wastwater (the chilly-est lake ever) with Illgill head in between the two. Kirk fell is a good summit to SOTA, its very accessible but if you go up the front be prepared for some heavy going.
Great Gable was attacked another day and the weather came in so it was a short activation. Another popular summit and at 8 points it is worth it. I like the route up to Styhead tarn the turn left. You get a good view of the unspoiled wilderness that is the route to Scafell Pike from Borrowdale. I’m sure the path would accept either 10 people abreast or a land rover. Its like a motorway.
The last trip was another early morning ascent, this time Scafell Pike. The quick route from Wasdale head car park during the summer is punctuated by knackered looking ‘3 peakers’. Some who look like they haven’t spent a lot of time preparing for what they were doing. Or, over-preparing in the pub. This was the first time I’ve been up and down without being in the cloud. This is not a quiet summit, even at 7:30am.
Whilst the blog may have been quiet over the summer I did manage to get 8 points for Pillar, 8 for Kirk Fell, 8 for Great Gable and 10 for Scafell Pike. If I carry this on for the next 25 years I could be part way to being a mountain goat.
Calling Olivia-mode Operators (from All Regions)
Calling all Olivia-mode operators with experience using the Olivia digital mode in all areas of the world:
Please join our Facebook group at the following link. We are discussing important operational changes!
If you are on Facebook, and interested in the Olivia HF radioteletype chat mode, please join the community group at the following link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/olivia.hf/
If you want to join our discussion by way of the Olivia group on Groups.io, please feel free to spread the news, and also to subscribe to that group email reflector. We’ll start discussions, soon. Here’s the link: https://groups.io/g/Olivia
OLIVIA (Also, Olivia MFSK) is an amateur digital radioteletype mode designed by Pawel Jalocha, SP9VRC, starting in 2003, and in use by 2005. The Olivia-mode goal was to be effective even in poor propagation conditions on the high frequencies (shortwave).
OLIVIA can decode well under noise, propagational fading (QSB), interference (QRM), flutter caused by polar path propagation and even auroral conditions and sporadic-E. Olivia uses a 7-bit ASCII alphabet. There were a handful of amateur digital modes that were derived from Olivia, including RTTYM and PAX.
Outside of amateur radio two-way communication, this mode is utilized during the tests run by the VoA every weekend. See the VoA RadioGram website, VoARadiogram.net, for the schedule.
The Olivia QSO between K4SOL and NW7US using 16/500 mode settings on shortwave, 2017-AUG-06 @1410UTC
The first on-the-air tests were performed by two radio amateurs, Fred OH/DK4ZC and Les VK2DSG on the Europe-Australia path in the 20-meter amateur band. The tests proved that the protocol works well and can allow regular intercontinental radio contacts with as little as one watt RF power. Since 2005 Olivia has become a standard for digital data transfer under white noise, fading and multipath, flutter (polar path) and auroral conditions.
Voluntary channelization
Since Olivia signals can be decoded even when received signals are extremely weak, (signal to noise ratio of -14 dB), signals strong enough to be decoded are sometimes below the noise floor and therefore impossible to search for manually.
As a result, amateur radio operators have voluntarily decided upon channelization for this mode. This channelization allows even imperceptibly weak signals to be properly tuned for reception and decoding. By common convention amateur stations initiate contacts utilizing either the 16/500 or 32/1000 modes and then switch to other modes to continue the conversation. The following table lists the common center frequencies used in the amateur radio bands.
The traditional channels are now under heavy use by newer modes. Thus, this Olivia group is working on refiguring the strategy for continued use and channelization. Please join us for discussion.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/olivia.hf/
[embedyt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-EXniWF79w[/embedyt]
[embedyt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUjiBVsXrzE[/embedyt]
[embedyt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yz7a–ePSNs[/embedyt]
Thank you,
Tomas / NW7US
What a Zoo!
The question I raised in my article about JT65’s success (“Who’s next?”) has already been answered: Joe Taylor. The same guy that brought us the JT mode of families has devised the mode FT-8, developed together with Steven Franke (K9AN). It’s basically turbo charged JT65, with a message length of only 12.64 seconds and transmission beginnings synced to the next 15 second interval. It’s not as sensitive as JT65, but that might change when a priori information is added at a later stage.
My version of WSJT-X was automatically updated to 1.8.0-rc1 on July 11th and just for fun I decided to check out if there was any FT-8 activity. There was: a couple of VKs and JAs. I was a bit surprised, because I had been monitoring FSQ which has been around for a while already and I couldn’t find any activity. FT-8 had only just been introduced so that was a good sign. It got even better when I noted some European stations popping up in the local evening. I tried my hand at making a QSO, but couldn’t get through, so my first ever FT-8 QSO was with HS7WMU from Thailand. The reason why I couldn’t get through became clear later: the delta loop for 6 meters was still hooked up to the rig! After switching to a proper antenna if became apparent that even my modest verticals didn’t have any problem in getting through to Europe. Even better, stations from the east coast of the US were also coming in fine early evening and I also had no problem working them. (Over here in Taiwan the eastern US is one of the more difficult regions of the world to work).
Over the course of the next few weeks I noticed a steady increase in the number of stations I could receive. The statistics page of pskreporter.info backs this up. As I write this the number of FT-8 spots over the last 2 hours outnumber the JT65 spots 2 to 1. JT9 has already been relegated to the margins, so it seems Amateur Radio’s new favourite mode has become FT-8.
I have always been critical of the JT modes, mainly because they reduce QSOs to a 599 exchange with no possibilities to engage in a more meaningful conversation. Plus, JT65 is boringly slow. So, how do I feel about FT-8? Well, it’s not slow at all. In fact, you don’t even have time to push the appropriate macro buttons on the screen, so let WSPR-X do all the work for you. Even answering a reply to your own CQ can be handled automatically, which frees your hands into doing something else (In my case practising guitar. I’m working on Lindsey Buckingham’s “Never Going Back Again“, but don’t expect any performance soon). Arm chair DXing but still no possibility to start a real conversation with the other party. Not great in my book.
Screen capture of WSJT-X with my first ever FT-8 QSO. Notice the checks with “Auto Seq” and “Call 1st”. Keep these on if you want smooth, automatically sequenced QSOs.
Still, I’ve been playing with FT-8 a lot and it is kind of fun. I normally only log some four hundred QSOs a year and in the last two years that has been reduced to forty or less. Honestly, till July 14 I only had 22 QSOs in my log for 2017. Now I’m way over 240 of which 212 are FT-8 QSOs. July 8th was the highlight so far: SSN of 11 and the K index only 1, so pretty good ionospheric conditions. Within 4.5 hours I worked 50 stations from 19 DXCC entities, working from the east coast to the west coast of the US (I added four new states for my WAS), then into Europe. I hardly had any time to put out CQs, because the next station was already calling me before the previous QSO was finished. The pass band on the scope was filled to the brim, when one anonymous ham sent out the cry that became the title of this post: “What a Zoo!”
Screen capture of pskreporter with all the stations I received on August 8 in the span of 4.5 hours.
He may have found it a zoo, but I like zoos, a lot. All joking aside, the one thing that really attracts me to FT-8 is the fact that you can do real time ionospheric observations. WSPR was meant for this, but the number of WSPR stations is too small and signals are too infrequent to be very accurate in my opinion. By constantly monitoring the FT-8 pass band I already noted a couple of sudden ionospheric disturbances and even a complete black out. Sometimes it only takes minutes for conditions to change from favourable to abismal and as a self reliant ham FT-8 is then a nice monitoring tool to have.
So apart from Antenna Summer, this has also become FT-8 Summer. Until the end of August (summer break) I will be active from 05 to 15 UTC most days, calling CQ a lot. I’m on 20 meters only, so if you see me on your waterfall there give me a call.
Hallicrafters Shortwave Radio; Winning WWII With Technology (1944)
Great film about a great radio manufacturer and radio set.
In 1944, this short subject film was produced by the Jam Handy Organization and sponsored by the Hallicrafters Company. It shows the construction of the SCR-299 and dramatizes its use during World War II. This is a B&W documentary presenting a look at the manufacturing and use of the (now defunct) Hallicrafters Company’s SCR-299 “mobile communications unit.” This 1944 film, produced with help from the US Army Signal Corps, and by the Hallicrafters Company, explains how, using radio gear such as this Hallicrafters shortwave radio transmitter and receiver technology, the US Forces and Allies were better equipped to win World War II.
The SCR-299 “mobile communications unit” was developed to provide long-range communications during World War II. The US Military sought improvements of range, flexibility and durability over its existing SCR-197 and SCR-597 transmitters. In 1942, Hallicrafters Standard HT-4 was selected as the SCR-299’s transmitter, known subsequently by its military designation as the BC-610. The SCR-299 was first used on November 8, 1942, during Operation TORCH involving companies of the 829th Signal Service Battalion establishing a radio net that could exchange messages between beach-landed forces and bases in Gibraltar. Despite initial problems unloading the sets from convoy ships, the SCR-299s served until the installation of permanent Army Command and Administrative Network stations. According to US Army military historians, “General Dwight Eisenhower credited the SCR-299 in his successful reorganization of the American forces and final defeat of the Nazis at Kasserine Pass.”
The SCR-299 was a “self-contained” receiving and transmitting mobile high-frequency (HF; or, shortwave) station capable of operating from 2 MHz to 8 MHz. Using conversion kits, it could operate from 1 MHz to 18 MHz. The transmitter output reached 350 watts.
The entire unit came in a K-51 truck except for Power Unit PE-95 which was in a K-52 trailer. Power could either be supplied by the Power Unit and a 12-volt storage battery or 115-volt 60-cycle AC commercial power and two spare 6-volt storage batteries. The power requirement was 2000 watts, plus 1500 watts for heater and lights.
The system could be remotely controlled up to a distance of one mile (1.6 km) using two EE-8 field telephones and W-110-B Wire kit. Remote equipment was provided for remotely keying or voice modulating the transmitter, remotely listening to the receiver, and for communicating with the operator of the station.
Read more details here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCR-299
Public domain film from the Library of Congress Prelinger Archive.
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73 de NW7US
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Old, But Still Useful!
This old WWII military training video is still useful regarding Morse code:
[embedyt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqTn-165orw[/embedyt]
This is an antique United States Navy Training Film from 1943/1944, in which proper hand-sending of Morse code is demonstrated. The film covers some basic principles and mechanics of manual keying of the International Morse code, as used during WWII.
Amateur (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.
While this military film is antique, the vintage information is timeless, as the material is applicable to Morse code, even today.
There’s more about Morse code, at my website: http://cw.hfradio.org
For additional joy, here are a few of old films regarding Morse code:
Morse Code – Principles and Basic Techniques (US Army Signal)
(Learn to Send Perfect Morse Code by Hand – Vintage Training Film (Ham Radio / CW))
[embedyt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmg1MlstxWM[/embedyt]
Vintage 1944 Radio Operator Training: How to Send Morse Code (CW) by Hand
[embedyt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjupJslRj5E[/embedyt]
This one is a pretty cool film:
1939 Film: New Zealand Shortwave Communications; Morse code (CW)
[embedyt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-KUat5WEkU[/embedyt]
I’ve also created a play list, and most of the videos are still online. Once and a while something changes and I have to update the list. Here is the list:
Original Title: TECHNIQUE OF HAND SENDING, by Department of Defense, Published 1944
Usage CC0 1.0 Universal
TECHNIQUE OF HAND SENDING
PIN 23735 1944
IMPORTANT PARTS OF THE TRANSMITTER, TENSION SPRING, ADJUSTING CONTACTS, ADJUSTING SPRINGS. ELEMENTS OF MORSE CODE, TIMING, AND PARTS OF BODY THAT FUNCTION WHEN TRANSMITTING CODE. IMPORTANCE OF CORRECT POSITION AND OPERATION.
Producer Department of Defense
Enjoy!
