Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 315
January 13th, 2024 | 
Author: 
ARRL responds to FCC proposals
ARRL concluded that the FCC should also remove the bandwidth limits that apply uniquely to the data modes on the subject bands.
ARRL
In praise of old meters
There were two obviously burned resistors and a leaking battery—an easy repair to put this meter back into service.
Hackaday
SDU-X: Software defined data transmission with ultrasonic transducers
SDU-X uses two ultrasonic transducers mounted on 3D printed parabolic dishes.
RTL-SDR
open890
open890 is a web-based UI for the Kenwood TS-890S Amateur Radio, and features good usability, clean design, and high-speed bandscope/audio scope displays, among other features not available either on the radio itself, or in the ARCP remote control software.
N0RUA
144 MHz EME Newsletter
Since 2003 I’ve produced the monthly 144 MHz EME Newsletter focusing on 2m EME activity. The newsletter comes free of charge and is my personal courtesy to the Ham community.
DF2ZC
What’s new at DLARC January 2024
On January 1, 2024, content published in 1928 in the United States entered the public domain. But what about the Amateur Radio content?
Zero Retries
Investigating creeping ground fault
I decided to make a device that could monitor the residual current of my mains installation over time to see if the if it would uncover anything.
Dzl’s Evil Genius Lair
Top 5 Parks on the Air tips for activating a park
The top 5 tips to help you make the most of your park activations and ensure a successful and enjoyable experience.
N1JUR
Video
External meter display and tune button for Yaesu FT-991a
Build a Yaesu external meter display and tune button yourself with an Arduino NANO.
PA0LUX
Build a Ham transmitter with a Raspberry Pi Pico
Using only a few external components build a Ham Radio transmitter covering 0.5-30 MHz.
101 Things
Handheld spectrum analyzer review
The Jstvro spectrum analyzer covers 240-960 MHz on the first port and 15 – 2700 MHz on the second port.
Tech Minds
Meet the students using radio waves to contact the ISS
A high school club in Pennsylvania is making waves — radio waves, that is.
TODAY
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Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 314
The ARRL Board is at it again
A newly proposed Code of Conduct, which I believe is the equivalent of a loyalty, confidentiality and obedience pledge to the League itself and not to the members that elect us.
KB6NU
Going on a social media diet
Leaving Twitter, investing in Mastodon.
QRPer
MeshCom 4.0
A project to exchange text messages via LORA radio modules. MeshCom modules can be combined to form a mesh network, but can also be connected to a message network via MeshCom gateways, which are ideally connected via HAMNET.
ICSSW
2023: The Year in Radio
Ham Radio in 2023 was a continual source of rejuvenation and energy.
KC8JC
Introducing QSOMate
A Ham Radio logging application for iPhone, iPad, and macOS Desktop.
MacHamRadio.com
Mini-whips: Junk, right?
The results were very surprising.
Real-World Amateur Radio
Everything you wanted to know about Zulu Time
Zulu Time is the military name for Universal Coordinated Time (UTC).
OnAllBands
AM or SSB are there ‘windows?’
A new voice mode appeared in 1947 when Wes Schum, W9DYV, introduced the first Amateur Radio SSB transmitter.
K9EID via AmateurRadio.com
Somaiya students’ Amateur Radio Satellite takes to the skies
Equipped with a voice repeater and digipeater, the satellite extends its services to the global Amateur Radio community.
HindustanTimes
Video
Demo of 3 Ham study sites
Demo of 3 Amateur Radio study sites in under 3 minutes.
Branvini Films
Salmon Run 2023
WA State QSO Contest from Samish Overlook.
WA7JNJ
Working the ISS Ham Radio Repeater with a Baofeng
My first attempt working the International Space Station Ham Radio Repeater.
W6IWN
The best Ham Radio videos of 2023
Top 10 list.
KB9VBR
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AM or SSB are there ‘windows’?
Amplitude Modulation has been used for voice transmission between Radio Amateurs for more than a century. A new voice mode appeared in 1947, when Wes Schum, W9DYV introduced the first Amateur Radio SSB transmitter, the Central Electronics 10A. By the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, competition for dial space began to “heat up” between the ‘died in the wool’ AM operators and the new, hard to tune in, Single Sideband operators. Eventually, there was a sit-down, face to face meeting, between some “Big Gun” SSB operators and long time, AM operators. Together, both groups decided on a ‘Gentlemen’s Agreement’, for AM dial space. For example, on 75 meters, they choose 3.870MHz to 3.890MHz as the “AM Window”. On 40 meters, AM around 7.290MHz. 20 meters, 14.268MHz; etc. These “windows’ were promoted by the ARRL and strongly observed by AM operators for a couple of decades.
During the 1980’s and 1990’s AM operations had declined, and many newly licensed SSB operators came to be. Many of them didn’t know AM even existed on the Amateur bands, as the AM Window concept was no longer promoted well, or not acknowledged. However, AM has seen a recent resurgence of popularity, in part due to the introduction of Software Defined Radio Transceivers, such as FlexRadio Systems lineup, the ICOM IC7300, Yaesu FT101DX, Kenwood TS890, Apache Labs Anan 80000DLE, etc. New and old AM enthusiasts have homebrewed Class E modulated solid state AM transmitters. In 2018, QST tested and reviewed the K7DYY AM (only) solid state, Class D transmitter, a near legal limit, AM only transmitter, with built in power supply, that weighs only 8 pounds!
With increased activity, some cross mode interference is sometimes unavoidable. It is always best to remember, NO ONE owns a frequency, regardless of mode. It is good practice to always check the tuned frequency, to make sure it is not already in use, by one, or more stations. Some AM Operators are crystal controlled and cannot easily change frequency. 3.885 MHz for example, is a popular crystal frequency used within the US phone band. With almost all SSB transmitters being frequency agile, would you give the 3885 kHz crystal controlled AM station a little leeway and move a few kHz, if he was there, first?
With the increased number of AM stations, there are now are a few other spots on the dial that AM operation can be found. Both SSB and AM mode users can avoid misunderstanding, or disagreement, if each party observes the AMATEUR’s CODE:
- AMATEUR IS CONSIDERATE
The Amateur is considerate, never knowingly operates in such a way to lessen the pleasure of others. - AMATEUR IS LOYAL
He offers his loyalty and encouragement to fellow amateurs. - AMATEUR IS PROGRESSIVE
Keeps his station efficient and well maintained. His operating practice is above reproach. - AMATEUR IS FRIENDLY
Offers kind assistance, cooperation and consideration for the interest of others. - AMATEUR IS BALANCED
Radio is his hobby. He never allows it to interfere with duties to his home or family. - AMATEUR IS PATRIOTIC
His station is always ready for service of his country.
Adapted from the original Amateur’s Code, written by Paul M. Segal in 1928.
In addition, please ask, “Is the frequency In Use?”
As always, with any mode, asking if the frequency is in use, first, will alleviate an initial misunderstanding. Please remember that the ham bands can change quickly, causing new interference. Acknowledge the changing band, and be friendly about it. I encourage everyone to join AMI: www.aminternational.club. Learn, appreciate, and enjoy AM operation. Lets all be courteous to each other and share our frequencies.
Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 313
Another year of Ham Radio is in the books! Before turning our sights toward 2024, let’s take one last look back at 2023 through the lens of everyone’s favorite metric: Email engagement. The following are the top ten most clicked links measured across every issue of Amateur Radio Weekly in 2023. Happy New Year!
73 K4HCK
P.S. Take a look at the top links from years past: 2022, 2018, 2017, 2016, and 2015
Top links of 2023
10. Practical Antennas
Based on 50+ years of building and experimenting.
WB6BYU
9. Ham Radio tunes in to a new generation
Ham Radio appears to be making a comeback.
The Times
8. A strange but proven antenna
The VP2E has earned a place of honor in my antenna box.
Ham Radio Outside the Box
7. $30 Lowes antenna
You can still put together a decent all-band antenna on a budget.
KB6NU
6. Revision of the RST standard for signal reporting
Technology has developed a situation where the time has come for a revision.
Amateur Radio Daily
5. RFNM: A next generation SDR with 10 MHz to 7200 MHz tuning range
Up to 612 MHz of real time bandwidth for receiving and two DACs with up to 153 MHz of TX bandwidth.
RTL-SDR
4. A 200ft wire antenna up zero feet
How does it perform?
Ham Radio Outside the Box
3. It’s finally dead!
Yaesu FT-818 discontinued.
OH8STN
2. Amateur Radio License Map
Use this map to find Amateur Radio license holders in the USA.
KT1F
1. HamClock
A kiosk-style application that provides real-time space weather, radio propagation models, operating events, and other information particularly useful to the Radio Amateur.
WBØOEW
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Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 312
NASA streams first video from deep space via laser
The video, featuring a cat named Taters, was sent back from nearly 19 million miles away.
NASA
QRP Cluster
A QRP self spotting cluster.
QRP Cluster
Visualizing FT8
FT8 operators coming and going over a 24 hour period, animated on a map.
K9OX
The lifeline of CW and POTA
The Ham community saw me through my difficulties.
QRPer
The 2023 Winter Olivia QSO Party
The first-ever Winter Olivia Digital Mode QSO Party is about to commence.
The Olivia Digital DXers Club
NanoVNA setup for common antenna system measurement tasks
A common task is an overall assessment of an antenna system.
owenduffy.net
A WSPR monitor running on an old Android TV Box with OpenWebRX
These TV Boxes have an AMlogic S805 chip with excellent performance.
RTL-SDR
IC-9700 Hamlib setup for FT-8 via QO-100
There were some interesting commands that are obviously not in use within hamlib/rigctl.
Notizbl0g
Meteor scatter experiment with the 2023 Geminid shower
Using an Amateur Radio beacon 500kms away to find the peak of the 2023 Geminids meteor shower.
EI7GL
Video
Intro to the Olivia digital mode for HF
An introduction presented to the Raleigh Amateur Radio Society by NW7US.
NW7US
Why the ARRL matters
Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R, serves as the Director of Marketing and Innovation at the ARRL.
W1DED
HamClock on Windows
This method works on Windows 10 and 11.
KF0IDT
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Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 311
ISS SSTV this weekend
Event celebrates 40th Anniversary of Ham Radio in Human Spaceflight.
AMSAT UK
12 Days of Christmas on-air special event
12 stations plus 2 bonus stations will make up the event.
Amateur Radio Daily
CATS Communication And Tracking System
CATS is a packet radio standard primarily designed for autonomous position reports.
CATS
AO-73 back in transponder mode
After a year long period of battery management, the transponder on AO-73 has been restarted.
AMSAT UK
GEO satellite proposal could include large portion of North America (PDF)
Plus an experimental laser based high-speed data link.
AMSAT
Host A YSF DMR DSTAR C4FM Multi-mode reflector on Ubuntu
XLX is a multi-mode/multi-protocol gateway reflector for Amateur Radio digital modes.
The Modern Ham
UniQSL-2: QSL cards made easy
Create an easily printable PDF file, three QSLs per page.
UniQSL-2
Determining signal bearing from switching antennas in software
Time difference of arrival system for determining the bearing to a transmitter.
KA7OEI
Two new DX-peditions planned for Bouvet Island
Just days later, a rival expedition announced that they were planning a separate expedition.
EI7GL
Video
TAPR Digital Communications Conference
Video recording of the 2023 TAPR Digital Communications Conference.
TAPR
DX from a Christmas Tree
Christmas light dipole.
Modern Ham
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Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 310
NASA receives laser-beamed message from 10 million miles away
The laser can send data at 10 to 100 times the speed of traditional radio wave systems.
CNN
ARDC and ARRL announce $2.1 million for the next generation of Amateur Radio
Includes funding to support scholarships for Radio Amateurs, radio technology for classroom teachers, and Amateur Radio club grants.
ARRL
WSPR beacon for Raspberry Pi Pico
The WSPR beacon provides the output signal on the GPIO pin of Raspberry Pi.
RPiks
Host a website from your Xiegu X6100
Hosting a website to serve manuals and other useful applications.
The Modern Ham
Chatt Radio Ham Radio store
Chatt Radio offers both an online and brick and mortar storefront.
Chatt Radio
sBitx V2 Amateur transceiver mods for POTA use
A touchscreen radio with a huge screen and powered by a Raspberry Pi.
WK4DS
One year on
So what have I done in this time?
GM5ALX
Edmonds Woodway Amateur Radio Club celebrates five years of connecting
With just a piece of wire for an antenna, you can be in contact with people all over the world.
My Edmonds News
The art of DX pileup busting
Listen, Listen, Listen
AmateurRadio.com
Happy 10th Birthday FUNcube-1 (AO-73)
Many stations around the world continue to upload the telemetry.
ICQ Podcast
Video
ARISS 40th Anniversary Webinar with Richard Garriott
Discussing the first contact via Amateur Radio in Human Spaceflight.
ARISS
Ham Radio contest secrets from N6MJ and KL9A
Dan Craig N6MJ and Chris Hurlbutt KL9A are phenoms in the Ham Radio contesting world.
W1DED
Ordering A Pizza With A Baofeng
Out of cell range and wanting a Pizza.
WaveTalkers
