Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
RadioKitGuide.com updating again
December 12th, 2013 | 
Author: Hi all!
CRX1 Receiver from Etherkit
I’m working on a major update for the kit guide. I’m finally alphabetizing the list, and including a directory of sources. I should have the new guide up by this weekend.
I have added a bunch of new vendors. 14 so far and counting. If you can think of any more, let me know at: W2NDG(at)RadioKitGuide(dot)com
The next big change will be getting the guide into a separate hosted site, and adding a files section, and a forum.
Big things are coming.
Click “Read The Rest of This Post” to read the current list of vendors.
(note: new vendors in the list (*) have not been added to the site as of yet)
73 de Neil W2NDG
SDR Giveaway Winners
I’m sure you’ve all been waiting for the announcement of the ten winners in our SDR receiver giveaway….
Here they are:
Peter, ZL1PWD
Ivan, KP3IV
Jerome, WB8LFO
Norm, VE1NMK
Larry, WA0JDL
Andrew, AA4XS
Edward, VA3EDO
Bob, W2RWM
Keith, ZS6TW
Paul, VK2APA
Congratulations! Thank you to everyone who entered — all 973 of you! We love co-sponsoring these contests, especially with a great company like NooElec.
Didn’t win? Well, Jeff at NooElec was reading all of your great comments about their SDR products and wanted to offer everyone the opportunity to get 5% off any order (no minimum!) at NooElec.com until December 31, 2013. Use coupon code AMATEURRADIO to get your discount. It may only be used once per customer.
Check out NooElec’s USB SDR receivers and Ham It Up upconverter
Please note that we do not get a commission or other compensation from NooElec if you use this code — we just want everyone to be able to try out these cool little receivers and save a little money, too.
Thanks again for entering and stay tuned for our next giveaway!
The Spectrum Monitor fills void left by Monitoring Times
I was excited to see that Ken Reitz, KS4ZR, managing editor of MT, will continue to publish an e-magazine called The Spectrum Monitor. As most of you know, Monitoring Times has ceased publication with the December, 2013 edition.
The lineup looks fantastic:
Keith Baker KB1SF/VA3KSF, “Amateur Radio Satellites”
Kevin O’Hern Carey WB2QMY, “The Longwave Zone”
Mike Chace-Ortiz AB1TZ/G6DHU “Digital HF: Intercept and Analyze”
Marc Ellis N9EWJ, “Adventures in Radio Restoration”
Dan Farber ACØLW, “Antenna Connections”
Tomas Hood NW7US, “Understanding Propagation”
Kirk Kleinschmidt NTØZ, “Amateur Radio Insight”
Cory Koral K2WV, “Aeronautical Monitoring”
Stan Nelson KB5VL, “Amateur Radio Astronomy”
Chris Parris, “Federal Wavelengths”
Doug Smith W9WI, “The Broadcast Tower”
Hugh Stegman NV6H, “Utility Planet”
Dan Veeneman, “Scanning America”
Ron Walsh VE3GO, “Maritime Monitoring”
Fred Waterer, “The Shortwave Listener”
Thomas Witherspoon K4SWL, “World of Shortwave Listening”
A charter subscription is available for the very affordable price of $20 and includes 12 issues available in a variety of digital formats.
Win a Free SDR Receiver Package!
AmateurRadio.com & NooElec have teamed up to give away
SDR (Software Defined Radio) receiver packages to TEN hams!
If you haven’t had the chance to play with an SDR receiver, here’s your chance! Using freely available software (SDRSharp, HDSDR), a modest antenna, and an inexpensive USB SDR dongle (the NESDR Mini or NESDR Nano), you can tune from 25 MHz – 1750 MHz right from your PC.
If you want to listen to MF/HF, just add the inline Ham It Up upconverter to tune down as low as 500 kHz. There’s even an Android app (SDR Touch) that allows you to plug these USB SDRs into your tablet (Android 4.0+, must support USB OTG)!
These little USB SDR receivers are amazing and extremely affordable (under $20). They are a lot of fun to play with!
Prize Packages
We’re giving away TEN prizes including:
Two (2)
Complete HF sets including:
NESDR Mini receiver
Ham It Up upconverter
SMA to MCX cable
SMA to BNC adapter
SMA to PL259 adapter
SMA to F adapter
Two (2)
Complete Touch SDR sets including:
NESDR Nano receiver
SDR Touch license (for Android tablets)
USB OTG micro & mini cables
Three (3)
NESDR Mini receivers
Three (3)
NESDR Nano receivers
Eligibility
All licensed Amateur Radio Operators worldwide
(Worldwide shipping is included!)
How to Enter
It’s simple!
Leave a comment to this post.
(e-mail address will not be shared)
Entry Duration
Only 1 week!
You may enter only once from
4 December 2013 18:00 UTC
to
11 December 2013 20:00 UTC
(multiple entries from the same entrant will be discarded)
Winner Announcement
11 December 2013
We will announce the winner on AmateurRadio.com.
You can get the winner announcement by
subscribing to our free Amateur Radio Newsletter via e-mail,
following our posts via RSS feed, or via Twitter (@amatradio).
Sign up so you won’t miss our next prize drawing!
Please tell your friends about this giveaway!
Thank you to NooElec for offering these fantastic prizes!
Learn more about their cool USB SDR receivers!
Visit their website at NooElec.com / eBay store / Amazon store
For more information about SDR, check out the SDR sub-Reddit (/r/RTLSDR), Ham Radio Science and RTL-SDR.com.
The winner will be chosen at random (using random.org) from all valid comment entries to this post received by the contest deadline. Entries will be deemed valid at the sole discretion of AmateurRadio.com and may be rejected for any reason, including inappropriate comments. Entries received after the deadline will not be considered. The prize may not be transferred. The prize may not be exchanged for cash. Winner agrees to allow AmateurRadio.com to use their name and callsign to announce them as a winner on our site, and to share their contact information with the sponsor for the purposes of awarding the prize. No purchase necessary to win. Odds of winning dependent on total number of entries received. Winner is responsible for any applicable taxes or fees imposed by their jurisdiction. Void where prohibited by law. E-mail addresses of all other entrants will not be shared with any third party, including the sponsor. Portable operations with the FT-857
Just before the weather got cooler and the snow fell I was able to take my manpack setup outside in the backyard and do some pedestrian mobile communications, this was the week of Nov 11-16 2013. 10 and 12 meters were in great shape and 10 meter FM simplex was even better.
My manpack consists of a frame I bought on eBay from China, it is attached to my Alice Pack. In the frame I have a FT-857, LDG AT-100 PROII tuner, PBox LiPO batteries(x2) ran in parallel. My antenna for HF is a Chameleon Hy-Brid Mini with a V1L whip or a PRC-271 10’ whip. Power out was typically 10 watts for all contacts. I worked into TX and CA on 29.600 FM Simplex with a 60 over report. I worked Northern Ireland and South Africa as well.
This is a picture of my setup:
It works quite well and I use a comet antenna for 2/440 on it as well. It has a jack on the front for a morse code key and I have connections on the back for the computer for soundcard digital modes.
A video of the setup in operation can be seen here on YouTube:
I am waiting for a CHA CAP Hat so I can tune on 80 and 160. I use a counterpoise as well of 25’ with a quick connect/disconnect in case someone trips on it or when I am walking I get it snagged. The pack is continually taking on new changes. I have a strip of LED lights I want to use for night operations to lessen current draw and want to put a fold down tray on the pack for my logbook as well.
Hope to work you this winter from the cross country ski trails pedestrian mobile.
BBC News features FUNcube educational satellite
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnDoq9sRZpk
It’s great to see exposure for the FUNcube project in the major world media. Congratulations to the FUNcube team!
I thoroughly enjoyed G4VXE’s post about his experience downloading AO-73 telemetry. Has anyone else been playing around with this?
The Pond is Frozen – The DX is Hot
Hanz W1JSB and I hiked to Knox Mountain this afternoon. There was ice on the pond, but we worked St. Martin, Cape Verde Island and Curacao.
We were lucky to cross the first bridge. After crossing it, we noticed that one of three main supporting logs had collapsed. This was no surprise because we’ve seen holes developing in several places, and we were always careful where we stepped.
The owners tore down the second bridge a couple of years ago. Hanz and I placed a board across some rocks last spring. It’s served us well for a crossing, but today we notice ice hanging down from the board.
We knew this was treacherous… and we were right. The top of the board was slick with smooth ice. We quickly thought to spread some dirt across the surface and that worked like a charm. We crossed with no trouble.
At the pond, we were a bit surprised to find it completely covered with ice.
Today it was in the mid-thirties but the sun kept us from feeling the chill. I set up under some tall pines behind the cabin. I chose the spot because even though the sun was low in the sky the shadows hadn’t reached there yet.
I threw the line nearly 40 feet over a branch and pulled up a wire. I operated exclusively on 15 meters and the band was full of DX. I had to work split on two of the stations, but the KX3 was up to the challenge.
I worked three quick stations in barely five minutes. First I heard FS/K9EL in St. Martin calling CQ and I answered. I received a quick response and we exchanged 599 signal reports. The second was D44AC in Cape Verde Island off the coast of Senegal in East Africa. Again the exchange was 599. Finally, I worked PJ2/N7WA in Curacao just north of Venezuela. Again we exchanged 599s. Hanz didn’t feel like operating, so we packed up and headed back down the trail.
The forecast is calling for rain or snow tomorrow. The warm days are probably past.
