In the few free moments I could spend the last week I made some progress with the Arduino. Bought a whole kit with an Arduino UNO, breadboard, wires and all and mounted it on a…..breadboard!

My son’s Windows 7 installation was so slow in compiling sketches that I wiped it and installed Linux Mint. He wasn’t pleased with it in the beginning, but he likes it better and better now. He played with some LEDs, but I tried to get some sensors going. The thermistor was quite easy and after looking at some code and getting the appropriate libraries the 1-Wire temperature sensor put some temperatures on the serial monitor. That gave me hope because my 1-Wire weather station is getting old and Maxim has phased out some essential ICs to keep it running. A new station based on Arduino boards could be a great alternative.

So I dug out a spare HIH-4020 humidity sensor and getting that to work was also trivial. Next was a photo diode and the one on hand was the SFH203P. The current produced by that sensor is so tiny that it can hardly be measured by the analogue input on the Arduino. The answer is to use an op amp, but the only one I could find in my junk box were some UA741s. They are special to me, because I used these to build some projects together with my father when I was young, so they must be at least 30 years old. But they require a bipolar voltage rail and can’t even work rail-to-rail. I tried them anyway, using a unipolar voltage supply, but no dice.

I had some other op amps lying around, but they were all surface mounted devices and I couldn’t find the matching break out boards. Guess I will have to find some through hole versions, like the TLC271CP which sell for a buck a piece here in Taiwan. Can’t go wrong with those for that price, I guess.

All month long, during January 2015, a group of volunteers using the special event callsign, “K3Y” with a slant-region number (i.e., “K3Y/3” or “K3Y/0”), were on the amateur radio HF bands (and some, on six meters).  I was one of these volunteers, operating nearly every day of the month for at least one hour, but some times a few hours per day.

“K3Y,” the Straight Key Century Club’s annual January celebration, commemorates the club’s founding in 2006 following the American Radio Relay League’s Straight Key Night. A small group of participants wanted to extend the fun of SKN throughout the year. The SKCC is the result.

For the first three years, the club’s founders used K1Y, K2A, and K3Y as the celebration’s special-event calls. But someone cleverly noticed that a 3 is nothing more than a backwards, curvaceous E. This “KEY” event has operated under the K3Y call ever since.

The on-air party is open to members and non-members alike. It runs from 0000 UTC Jan. 2 through 2359 UTC Jan. 31. It’s a great time to introduce others to the joys of hand-crafted Morse code using straight keys, bugs, and side swipers.

In this video, you can see this operation at my ham radio shack, as I am the control operator of the special event station, “K3Y/0”, during one of the many shifts. “K3Y” is the special event callsign of the Straight Key Century Club (SKCC). The special event operates each January.

In the following video, you can see some of the QSL cards associated with this year’s operation, and then some other QSL cards in my collection.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOsNjT7OCyc

+ The SKCC website is at http://skccgroup.com

+ The “K3Y” special event page is http://www.skccgroup.com/k3y/index.php

+ My page is at http://NW7US.us

+ My Morse code page is http://cw.hfradio.org

AnyTone Tech announced that their new lineup of HTs is now available via Amazon.

Here is the price list (includes free shipping in the US):

• AnyTone Tech TERMN-8R – $138.89
• AnyTone Tech OBLTR-8R – $98.89
• AnyTone Tech NSTIG-8R – $68.89
• AnyTone Tech ANILE-8R – $46.89

Here is sales copy from their flagship radio, the TERMN-8R:

The First Licensed Radio for Amateur, Commercial, and Public Use
The most versatile two way radio on the market, certified for use for commercial, public, and amateur frequencies. The TERMN-8R includes built-in modes with 23 GMRS channels and 5 MURS Channels. The TERMN-8R is FCC Certified for Part 90 and Part 95 usage.

Receive Transmissions on Six Different Bands

Customize Your Operation with Channels, Programmable Buttons, and more!
You can program your TERMN-8R exactly how you want it. There are 200 programmable memory channels. The side keys are programmable to multiple options. You can give channels alphanumeric names, without using a computer. The TERMN-8R has 2 VFO banks, and allows you to be in both VFO and channel modes at the same time. You can easily program from a PC to set-up the radio to operate exactly as needed.

What’s In the Box?
TERMN-8R Radio Body
2200mAh Battery
High Gain Antenna
Earpiece with Remote Mic
Desktop Charger
120v AC Adapter
Belt Clip
Wrist Strap

TERMN-8R SPECIFICATIONS
Frequency range:
[TX] 136 – 174MHz, 400 – 520MHz
[RX] 136 – 174MHz, 400 – 520MHz, 520-1710kHz (AM Broadcast), 2.3-30MHz (Shortwave), 68-108MHz (FM Broadcast), 108-136MHz (Aviation Band)
Channel Capacity: 200 Channels
Channel Spacing: 25KHz (wide band)12.5KHz (narrow band)
Sensitivity: ≤0.25μV (wide band)  ≤0.3μV (narrow band)
Operation Voltage: 7.4V DC ±20%
Battery: 2200mAh
Antenna Connector: SMA-Female / Antenna Impedance: 50Ω
Accessory Connector: Kenwood 2 Pin Standard
Stability: ±2.5ppm
Output power: 5W / 2W / 1W (Max 6W)
Audio Power Output: 1000mW/10% (1 WATT)

When someone gets a chance to try one out, please comment here so we can get an idea of how well they perform. I haven’t used any of them personally.

In addition to being marketed for amateur radio user, I think it’s interesting that the radio is both Part 90 (commercial/public safety) and Part 95 certified (MURS/GMRS). It appears to share its Part 90 grant with Anytone’s AT-3318UV-A/E.

Are the features worth the price? What are your thoughts?

Last night LA4ANA (1047km) copied my 5mW ERP from the earth-electrode “antenna” on 472kHz WSPR. This is my best DX yet on the non-antenna, nearly 300km further than my best previous TX record.  I was also spotted by DL4YHF (556km) for the first time on the earth-electrode “antenna”.   My PC decided to crash some time after midnight last night, so I missed any DX overnight. These spots were during the evening period.

In the last 2 weeks alone I have been spotted by 28 different stations when I’ve been using 5mW ERP from the earth-electrode “antenna” on 472kHz WSPR.  Let no-one say 472kHz is out because they cannot fit an antenna! If my signal can span over 1000km with WSPR then you can surely do better. I make no claims for the earth-electrode “antenna” but if you are unable to erect a proper antenna give it a go.

I have still to try it at this QTH on 136kHz but at my old QTH I managed to be spotted at 250km with very low ERP.

First, I apologize for this cut-and-paste from QRZ.com. I won’t usually do that, but I spent a lot of time writing this, and I want to spread it around. They moderate, I’ve been “pre-approved” here on AR.com, so you’ll see it first. So I guess I “cut and pasted” from here to there. OK, I can live with that…

HamRadioNow Episode 193: DV is Exploding

David Rowe VK5DGR updates CODEC2 and FreeDV,
introduces a FreeDV “Speaker-Mic”, and is developing a
disruptive DV system for VHF/UHF

David Rowe VK5DGR is the ham who developed CODEC2*, and CODEC2 changes everything. So, is this a click-bait title, or a valid prediction?

In this program, David talks to me about the SM-1000 “speaker-mic”, a little box he’s developed to let hams use FreeDV digital voice without a computer. The box does all the processing and has all the input/output connections, so you can run digital voice over your SSB radio with no computer attached. The SM-1000 will be available soon for about $200.

We also talk about improvements to FreeDV and CODEC2 that David expects will make digital voice work as well as, and maybe a little better than SSB with weak signals or noisy HF conditions. Today, SSB can be copied below the level that a DV signal drops out, but it’s somewhat rough listening. Yesterday, you needed a lot more signal for DV. Tomorrow: parity with SSB, or maybe advantage: DV. Yes, there are plenty of issues left. Voice quality (many hams don’t like the ‘robotic’ sound or the fidelity). Contest/DX pileups. David readily admits that SSB has been around for so long on HF because it works great in that hostile environment. He sees it as a challenge.

Finally, David tells me about a VHF/UHF project he’s working that, at my first look, has the potential to disrupt everything in repeaters. It won’t happen overnight, and given ham’s investment in analog FM and even the newer DV modes from D-STAR to DMR and Fusion, it might not really happen at all. But here’s what David is aiming at:

• Signal to Noise that’s better than FM by 10 dB
• 5 kHz bandwidth
• TDMA “time-slice” modulation that will allow for “on-channel” repeaters.

By “on-channel” I mean repeaters that don’t need an “input” channel. As David described it, the repeater receives you for about 40 milliseconds, then retransmits what it just received. When you’re transmitting, your radio transmits for the 40 ms that the repeater is receiving, then stops while the repeater transmits. When you’re receiving, the software smooths it all out so it sounds like a continuous transmission. David didn’t say this, but I suppose it would allow you to monitor your signal thru the repeater in real time. This also means that a repeater works without a duplexer, and without some of the shielding needed to allow a high-power transmitter to operate right next to a sensitive receiver.

The disruptive part, though, is the 5 kHz bandwidth and no separate receive frequency. Cheaper, better repeaters that use far less spectrum will allow for dozens more repeaters to go unused everywhere. OK, that’s a snarky reference to the common complaint about unused repeaters in ham radio, but in commercial and public safety, where spectrum is in extreme demand, it really could change everything. And they have money.

David says that he needs to develop hardware for this because current hardware won’t handle the DV signal to make this work. His time-frame for a working prototype: end of this year. And his vision is a repeater that’s as simple as “an HT you stick up on the hill.” You might want something a bit more robust for your full-time repeater, but for fast emergency use… wow. On the other hand, I can see every DV mobile and HT having a “repeater” mode built-in. I see equal potential for utility and chaos on our VHF/UHF bands! Would we be up to the challenge?

Yes, DMR/MotoTRBO uses TDMA. They don’t use it for on-channel repeaters. They use it to allow two simultaneous conversations to occupy a single RF channel, but it still needs an input and an output frequency (and a duplexer), and occupies 12.5 kHz of RF bandwidth.

So, watch the show, and see the future…

*CODEC2 is the open-source software that digitizes speech into a very narrow, or slow, stream of data. The result: a highly useful, if a bit “robotic” sounding version of your voice that can be sent over a typical SSB transmitter, but using about half the RF bandwidth of typical SSB speech (2.5 kHz for SSB, 1.2 kHz for the DV). David’s been working on it for about 5 years, and he’s far from done. It works very well today. It’ll work even better tomorrow. Did I mention it’s open-source? Yes, there are proprietary codecs that do this. The AMBE codecs used by D-STAR, DMR and Fusion are the most common today. Is CODEC2 better? I’ll leave the technical arguments to those with the chops to make them. None of them are done. They’re all being improved. CODEC2 is free, and the hardware that uses it, typically SDR like FlexRadio, can be updated as new versions are released.

Links:

David’s Blog (details on FreeDV/CODEC2 development):
http://www.rowetel.com/blog/

Interview with David on “Linux in the Ham Shack”
http://lhspodcast.info/2015/01/lhs-episode-138-being-david-rowe/

David’s 2011 talk on CODEC2 at the ARRL/TAPR DCC:
http://youtu.be/bLb7stxOqmI

The 2011 DCC’s banquet talk – “The Village Telco” – David’s project to provide extremely low cost telephone service in East Timore, Africa.
http://youtu.be/1H1OVH1FwTQ

Every Tuesday evening the RSGB organises a VHF/UHF activity contest.  I have just in time submitted my entry for the low power section of last Tuesday evenings 50MHz contest. With just 3 QSOs logged there is no way on this earth that I’ll be anywhere but near the bottom! Having a V2000 omni vertical antenna, 5W, and a stroke damaged voice is no way to enter a 50MHz, UK based, contest! The V2000 and even 2.5W is great in the Es season (I work most that is around), but it is far from ideal working inter-G on 6m SSB.

Tonight is the 144MHz (2m) March leg of the UKAC. My small 3el beam should turn again now (manually) so I’ll see how long my voice holds out. 45 minutes to 60 minutes is usually my limit. Last week I was on very little time. My best DX seems to be around 200km with 5W on 2m in “normal” conditions.

At this time of the year there are fewer portable stations active but activity (SSB and CW) is usually very high so this is a good opportunity to work some new squares. People have been very friendly. If in the UK or nearby join the fun 2000-2230z on 2m.  I usually go QRT by 2100z because of the strain on my voice.

Just checked where I sit in the Jan 2015 AL section of the 50MHz UKAC. You guessed? Bottom! Well someone has to be!