AmateurRadio.com

"Will those who predicted that ending Morse Code testing would be the death knell of Morse Code on the airwaves, please find your hat and eat it? Would you like Hollandaise sauce with that?"

"...Morse code proficiency assists amateurs in acquiring the very skills that form the basis and purpose of the Amateur Radio Service, and provides something essential to our country - technical skill and experimentation. There exists no simpler entry into the field of radio-frequency circuit design. Without Morse proficiency this easy entrance will be closed."

"Retaining the Morse code requirement encourages amateurs to become proficient in Morse code and many other activities...."

"Failure to keep Morse testing part of the licensing structure undermines many core activities integral to the Amateur Radio Service and nullifies one of the traditional objectives of the Service, i.e., to train a ' . . . reserve pool of qualified radio operators and technicians.' "

"LET THEM HEAR FROM US!! Start a petition at your local club!! We will not just sit by quietly and let them dumb us down any further!!"  (emphasis added)

One of the reasons I’m not endlessly filling my log with DX contacts is because I actually get more enjoyment and interest out of trying new things or just tinkering about. On Sunday I decided to try using my K2 – which has been redundant since the few mobile excursions I made earlier in the year when Olga was away – for HF 30m APRS. I connected it up to the magnetic loop. I didn’t have a spare sound card I could use for the packet modem, but the microphone input of the USB dongle I use for computer audio playback was free, so I set it up for receive only.

When I previously tried to use that USB audio device to decode HF packet via the AGW Packet Engine I had no luck at all. At the time, I concluded that this was due to 300baud packet being a higher speed mode than PSK31 and the USB device was somehow losing the information necessary to decode it. However it now appears that the reason it didn’t work before is because the AGW Packet Engine opens the device at a higher sample rate than most digital mode programs. For the last few weeks I have been using TrueTTY as a packet decoder and this uses a 11025Hz sample rate. I used TrueTTY to decode the audio coming from the cheap dongle and it appears to be just as sensitive as it was when the audio was coming from my best sound card.

This morning I tried listening on 14076kHz, the JT65A frequency, and decoded several stations despite the high noise level on 20m. So it seems to me that it is possible to use these cheap USB dongles for sound card digimodes as long as the software you use samples at 11025Hz. Some programs unfortunately don’t let you set the sample rate and may use a rate as high as 48000Hz. This is unlikely to work if my experience is anything to go by, so I still don’t recommend that you buy one of these cheap devices for digimode use unless you have a specific application in mind that you know it will work with.

I have now ordered another of these cheap USB dongles which I plan to make into a “DIY SignaLink USB” with the aid of the digital VOX circuit developed by Skip Teller, KH6TY. This will allow me to use the K2 for HF APRS, WSPR or other QRP activities using the magnetic loop, and free up the K3 for other purposes using the multiband dipole. In fact I will then be able to use four amateur bands and four different radios simultaneously if I want to!

Charles Preston, a member of the Buddipole User Group email reflector has just posted links to two clear and useful guides to using the A123 Battery Packs available from Buddipole. While the Buddipole site links to documents about the batteries there’s very little practical information available about how to nurture these batteries. Similarly the Cellpro Multi4 charger documentation is more geared to the primary market – radio controlled airplane enthusiasts – so it’s great to see advice directly relevant to our intended use.

The first document is a Guide for Buddipole A123 Battery Packs and it explains how to maintain them and likely operating times for popular transceivers. The core of the document is how to charge the A123 Packs using the Multi4 charger (also available from the Buddipole site). There’s also mention of how to approach charging the Battery Packs with a solar panel and mention of the Genasun GV-4 Li 14.2 V MPPT controller. BatterySpace.com also sell a version of this charger designed for LiFePO4 batteries. Prices between US$110-119.

It’s great to have all of this information available.

The second document is Charging a Buddipole 4S2P or 4S4P A123 battery pack with a Cellpro 10s charger and focusses on the larger charger.

Three cheers for Charles Preston!

Logging Qs this afternoon in the Salmon Run was a lot of ham radio fun
inside the shack relaxation zone. Signals ranged from arm chair copy
to light with more than one unique call going into the database. I
listened on 15 and 10m yet Cycle 24 needs a little more punch for my
low profile, low power station. Admittedly, there are a few of us
local ops, wishing upon a sunspot where the high bands are fully
juiced.

A few locals either upgraded their antenna systems or performed
maintenance chores like treating for corrosion or added a new antenna.
Sunspots or the lack thereof has not stopped anyone from having fun
with ham radio. Fred has nearly completed his Route 66 award and his
VUCC received its certification.

Traditional cards continue arriving in the mailbox with countries like
Chile and Galapogas Islands now confirmed in addition to blogger AE5X
and longtime RadioSport operators. My approach is crafting fun out of
our tradition of exchanging cards like KB6NU who collects a callsign
that makes a word.

I came back from a nice walk through the countryside, having picked a lovely amount of blackberries, damsons and sloes and popped into the shack. Earlier today, I’d started up my APRSIS client (APRSIS32 by Lynn, KJ4ERJ) and left it running.

I noticed there was a message waiting from Julian, G4ILO-6. I opened it up and to my surprise, it said ‘Hi via ISS’. Julian had launched a packet on 2m, it had been digipeated by the International Space Station and then come back to earth where it had been received by other iGates on the APRS network and found its way to me.

Thanks Julian for a really interesting message!

If you want to read about how this works and see the stations that have been heard by the International Space Station have a look here.

I enjoy Dave Jones’ Electrical Engineering Video Blog, or EEVblog. He recently submitted this video to a competition.  It is a 90 second compilation showing the entertaining side of what he shares with followers and makes a great commercial for the EEVblog, so I include it here in case you have never watched one of his videos.  Warning, best not to watch this with the kids or grandma in earshot!

Don’t go thinking that Dave just fools around on his videos.  There is some pretty good information in the posts, so give his site a try if you like electronics.