AmateurRadio.com

Do you Google+ ?

After an initial flurry on interest in Google+ I couldn’t quite decide what it was for. Like many people I keep contact with friends and family on facebook and it servers a purpose, I can’t say I actually like the platform but it does keep me in contact. Google+ is a similar swervice but for a while I couldn’t understand what it was actually for. If nobody I knew was on it then what use is it to me?

Over the past few months a number of different additions have been made to it. There are now communities that seem to be well populated including several for Ham radio.

Again I wasn’t really sure how these things would benefit me, especially as time seems to disappear very quickly at the moment. But yesterday it struck me that you get out what you put in. Not exactly innovative thinking but I posted a question on one community and was pleasantly surprised to see the responses came quickly and they were relevant. Having tested the water I think its time I used it a bit more, not just a personal news service from various blogs and sites now that Google Reader is going to be shut down.

So if you fancy dipping a toe into the various communities I can recommend it. I struggle to actually explain what the service is but as a geek I’ve found it useful in keeping myself up to date with my interests.

Alex Hill, G7KSE, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cumbria, UK. Contact him at [email protected].

Larry Makoski, W2LJ, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Jersey, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Thanks to the Southgate Amateur Radio news, I’ve just seen that Guido, PE1NNZ has turned a Raspberry Pi into a 10mW WSPR transmitter that works up to 250MHz. Just a low pass filter and an antenna are required in addition to the Raspberry Pi and the software.

The code is available here

The Readme file at Github says the following:

Makes a very simple WSPR beacon from your RasberryPi by connecting GPIO

Tim Kirby, G4VXE, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Oxfordshire, England. Contact him at [email protected].

On Tuesday of this week Julie and had plans to go out for a nice dinner. When I got home from work it was time to the make lunches for the next day, have a shower and feed the cat. To have all this done before Julie got home meant we could just head out for dinner once she got in.  It was a nice dinner and we took our time relaxing and talking. It was shaping up to be a great evening until we came home and our neighbour called out to us..."I think I hear smoke alarms going off in your place" As we got to the front door I could hear them and then it HIT ME...one of the steps to making our lunches was to boil some eggs!!! I forgot 6 eggs that were on the stove cooking on hi. The house was full of smoke, no fire, cat was hiding under the bed and all six eggs exploded and were EVERYWHERE!!!
I will say Julie was very understanding but I was very very upset with myself!! So no radio at all for the next week or so as I have to do some major cleaning! Our insurance has a deductible of 1,000 and I figure I can get things back to normal for 1/8 that cost. Lesson learned I am now looking for an automatic egg steamer that cooks the eggs and then turns off on it's one if I happen to have another senior moment.
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

Pat Tice, WA0TDA, is the manager of HANDI-HAM and a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com. Contact him at [email protected].

Episode #102 Audio (Listen Now):

Introduction:

• Rob from the MintCast podcast is on the show tonight filling in for the nomadic and enigmatic Richard.

Announcements:

• The 2013 Dayton Hamvention is coming up May 17-19 in Dayton, Ohio. We are still in need of donations. Please keep ‘em coming.
• The Wouff Hong Podcast, member of the Black Sparrow Media Network, have released their first episode. If you don’t subscribe to the BSM aggregate feed, you can find them at the link above. Good episode, and they mention LHS.
• Rob and Russ use BeyondPod on Android as a podcast manager.
• Roy, KK4ATD, will be in Atlanta at RARSfest as an ambassador for LHS. If you’re anywhere near Raleigh, NC on Saturday, March 30, 2013, stop by and say hello. [LHS will NOT be present at RARSfest this year. Sorry for any confusion. -Ed]
• The sponsored ads in the right column of the LHS web site actually make us a not insignificant amount of money when you click on them. If you want to help us out without donating your own money, please click on an ad when you visit our site. We get money in our donation box, and you don’t lighten your own pockets. Thank you!

Topics:

• Visit KE8P’s blog. One of the articles documents using a Raspberry Pi as a temperature monitor.
• KK4ATD has developed Hamux, a 64-bit, CentOS-based Linux distribution with ham radio applications. This is a “live” CD image, so you can boot it from CD and try it before installing. At 698MB, it just barely fits on a CD.
• Our hosts embark on a brief digression about Douglas Adams.
• Slow Scan TV (SSTV)SSTV is a method of sending still images using radio frequencies on the HF bands. FSTV (fast-scan TV), which is typically done on VHF and UHF frequencies at distances up to a couple hundred miles, is similar to broadcast TV.In order to operate SSTV, you’ll need a radio (and a license to transmit), a computer, a sound card interface to connect them to each other, and software. For Linux, we have QSSTV. The current version is 7.1.7, released on January 4, 2012. It is compatible with the Ham Radio Control Libraries (hamlib) for controlling the radio.Russ gives a brief overview of the various configuration options and interface of QSSTV.
• Rob is not a ham, but has considered obtaining his license. Unfortunately, he lives in an area with deed restrictions that prohibit outside antennas. What are his options? There are several resources on the web for ham operation with antenna restrictions. Some of these are:
  • http://www.stealthamateur.com/
  • http://www.g4ilo.com/stealth.html
  • http://www.iw5edi.com/ham-radio/?attic-antennas,131

  Though in Rob’s case, with aluminum foil-lined roof tiles, attic antennas are not likely to work very well.

  Other possibilities: using EchoLink, IRLP, operating mobile or portable. Perhaps tossing up a temporary wire antenna in the back yard, operate, then take it down.

  Rob and Russ discuss the various options, potential for TVI, and VEC testing opportunities.

Feedback:

• David, KE0AZ, writes to say he’s sorry to see Richard to go, but will continue to listen.
• Frank, K4FMH, would like to see more technical content in future episodes.
• W. Lynn writes to say that the Belton HamExpo will be April 20, 2013 in Belton, TX.
• Gary, KE2YK, will miss Richard, too. He also appreciates the mention of Linux Mint 14 as it reminded him to give it a try.
• Pete, VE2XPL and the host of the wAVEgUIDES podcast, sends his congratulations on 100 episodes and best wishes for Richard.
• Gary, KE2YK, also sent comments about episode 101, including a link to his review of the Raspberry Pi.
• Brian, WB4ES, sends his thanks for Richard’s introduction to JT-75 screencast. (Available to subscribers.)
• There are more comments on LHS Facebook Page.

Contact Info:

• Contact Russ at [email protected] or [email protected].
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 1-909-LHS-SHOW (1-909-547-7469), or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• LHS merchandise is available at the Merch link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

• “Insanity” by Mad Mav from the album Black Sheep, courtesy of Jamendo.
• “Strike the End” by Convergence from the album Points of View, courtesy of Jamendo.

Russ Woodman, K5TUX, co-hosts the Linux in the Ham Shack podcast which is available for download in both MP3 and OGG audio format. Contact him at [email protected].

A reader from North Carolina, USA, wrote to me and asked the following:

A question: I am a just a general class ham. I would like to know exactly what it takes to operate on PSK. I have a TS140s, a key and a dipole at 50′. I also have a Compaq laptop computer with a sound card. Can someone tell me what I need to buy — not just in generalities — to help me get up and running with this mode?

Would those of us with some experience with PSK (definitely not me!) take a shot at answering him? If so, please reply in comments. Thanks in advance!

Matt Thomas, W1MST, is the managing editor of AmateurRadio.com. Contact him at [email protected].