AmateurRadio.com

My friend Tony, KD8RTT, is an Extra from Cleveland, Ohio. He has launched a new YouTube channel and is giving away prizes to four lucky hams who subscribe in order to get new followers.

Tony is a sophomore studying engineering at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana.

It’s always great to see a young ham jump so enthusiastically into the hobby. From his recent trip out to Hamvention to operating maritime mobile from a Disney Cruise, Tony has done a fine job documenting his ham adventures on video.

Great job with your videos, Tony. Keep up the hard work!

I have never really spent much time on the Software Defined Radio arena, but the more I keep loo at them they are becoming so interesting. The CommRadio CR-1a communications receiver is a true SDR (software defined radio), but does not require a computer. Enjoy the benefits and performance of state-of-the-art SDR, but in a conventional radio package.

As much as I hate to say, it might be time for me to make a purchase and spend some time playing with these. I really like the size of the rig in comparison to the SunSDR2 (http://nicktoday.com/sunsdr2-sunsdr-mb1-transceivers-software-defined-radios/). Hard to tell until I see them both in person.

Full story: http://nicktoday.com/commradio-cr-1a-another-sdr-looks-interesting/

Very informative presentation by Randy K7AGE (with George W5JDK behind the camera). Worth watching if you’re interested in expanding into this very effective low-power mode popular on 20-meters.

I decided that I wanted to try something new paddle-wise for my lunchtime QRP portable operations. The main criteria was that it had to be on the inexpensive side. That seems to be my main criteria these days where a lot of things are concerned. Besides working well, it would also be nice if  the paddle was light in weight.

Palm paddles would probably be the ultimate, but are way too expensive and would not fit within my meager budget right now. I needed to keep it under $50 if at all  possible.  That really narrows down the possibilities, let me tell you. I have a Whiterook MK-33 single lever paddle.  It works well and it also fits the bill, but it tends to get a bit sloppy around the 22-23 WPM mark.

I had a Bulldog paddle back when I had my K1 and I liked it. However, I included it as part of the K1 package when I sold that radio to raise money for my KX3. So, relying on my memory, I decided to give another Bulldog a try.  I went to the Website: http://www.amateurradioproducts.com/, only to find out that they no longer manufacture the model I had.  Mine was the one on a small triangular wooden base that had three tiny suction cups.

They have several different models now, and I decided to go with the BD6, the Mini-Iambic.  It arrived on Saturday through the mail, and tonight was the first chance I had to try it out.

I have to admit that I was skeptical when I opened up the package that it came in.  It is indeed ‘mini” – in fact, it gets lost in the middle of the 1.5 inch fender washer that serves as a base! But as usual, it turns out that looks are quite deceiving. This little paddle is smooth and is great to use just as it is, no adjustments were required, although  the accompanying instruction sheet tells you how to go about that, if needed.  I worked both W1AW/5 and W1AW/0 tonight at about the 21 WPM range. The paddles acquitted themselves nicely there. Then I turned up the speed a notch to work EV1R and LZ1WR and C6ATT. Even at the speed where the Whiterook goes kaflooey on me, the Bulldog stays sharp, smooth and flawless and had great feel to it. The fact that it was only $35 was icing on the cake. I will definitely bring these along for Field Day. They may be too small for some of our guest operators, but they work great for me!

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

As the propagation columnist for several amateur radio magazines, I hear from a diverse group of interested people that find space weather and the propagation of radio waves fascinating. I admit: I am a space weather and radio propagation nut, and it is always good to correspond or meet with other interested folks. This is an aspect of our hobby that never grows old, as there is so much that we don’t yet know–we communicators are in a perfect space to make discovery and to make improvements to our understanding of this science.  Over the years, I’ve heard a lot from readers of my columns, expressing their fascination with the science of radio and solar phenomenon.

Are you interested in learning about the Sun and the Sun-Earth connection (space weather), including topics of sunspots, solar flares, coronal mass ejections, and so on?  Do you want to delve deeper into topics including the ionosphere, the magnetosphere, and how radio waves propagate from transmitter to receiver?

The critical frequency (foF2) for mornings during June 2014.

You might consider a time-proven “course”–material that is very comprehensive–that you can self-study, to become well-versed in this information. The course (one that has been used in professional disciplines) is offered either stand-alone, or bundled with the ray-tracing PropLab PRO software. 

Some may say, “But, I like the magic of just getting on the air and trying my luck! If I learn all this stuff, then it becomes science, and not a hobby.” It is true that there’s a joy at being dazzled with the magic of radio; buy a super cool transceiver, and a factory-made antenna with coax already fitted with connectors, adding the necessary accessories to make it come alive, then begin exploring the shortwave frequencies. Magical, indeed! But, there are many in the hobby that wish to learn how all of that works. Some even begin learning how to build antennas, radio kits, and discover the joy of the “science” of radio. A few eventually take the step with gained “scientific” knowledge of electronics, and they design and build equipment for their hobby. The course is part of that mix: learning how the Sun affects getting a radio signal from point A to point B, and how to leverage their time and efforts, is a joy, indeed.

Interested?  Here’s the web page: http://hfradio.org/swp_course/

PropLab PRO creates ray-traced radio wave analysis

If any disclosure is necessary, here you go: The proceeds from a purchase of this course go to the funds I use to keep cw.HFRadio.org, swl.HFRadio.org, and other resources at HFRadio.org, plus http://SunSpotWatch.com up and running. There are monthly fees, yearly fees, and software licensing to cover, as well as the purchase of hardware from time to time. These operating and maintenance funds are mostly covered by me, Tomas, NW7US, out of my personal funds. Any donations and sales helps out. Haters and Hecklers can send their comments to the bit bucket.

73 de NW7US

Being from Connecticut I never, really appreciating being that closes the ARRL. I have always had connections from club lunches in Newington as well as being a Diamond Club contributor as I believe in the cause: http://www.arrl.org/the-arrl-diamond-club

I was visiting my dad at the VA in Rocky Hill, which the VA care he is getting right now is amazing and I am excited about that considering all the other news out there. I do not want to get off on a VA tangent, but the story starts there. After a hard day seeing a World War II Vet at 94, I wanted to get back to the airport and head back to Florida. I had some time so I decided to head over the league for a while.

To be on the safe side I emailed the league the night before to ensure they knew I was coming, but I found that over the years of operating it’s pretty easy to get in and of course it’s first come first serve.

For full story and pictures:

http://nicktoday.com/w100aw-day-dx-w1aw/