AmateurRadio.com

It’s day four of my hopefully last Windows-to-Linux migration, and so far so good.  I have my HRD log imported into CQRLog and it’s talking to both my Arduino Keyer and Yaesu FT-897.  The Keyer is happily sending CW and CQLog is reading the rig frequency.  The rig control function is very simple and utilitarian compared to HRD’s, but it works.  What I cannot get working is controlling the Kenwood TS-850.  This appears to be a problem with Hamlib, which CQRLog uses via rigctld.

I found that Linux re-enumerates USB /dev/ devices if you unplug one.  For example, I had my Arduino Keyer at /dev/ttyUSB0, my TS-850 interface at /dev/ttyUSB1, and my FT-897 interface at /dev/ttyUSB2.  Upon unplugging the Arduino Keyer and TS-850 interface, the FT-897 became /dev/ttyUSB0, and with nary a mention in syslog.  I find this behavior strange.  But I’m really pleased Linux handles USB device insertions and ejections so well.  Back in the day to do stuff like this you’d have to edit some text file, recompile your kernel, and walk uphill in snow both ways.

To run N1MM I installed Virtualbox and within that installed a very bare bones Windows XP installation.  This enables me to run Windows XP as a virtual machine within Linux, without rebooting.  N1MM installed and ran without a hitch in the virtual machine. I was reminded N1MM likes to install in C: root, like it’s 1994 on Windows 3.1.  But I digress.  Attaching host USB devices to virtual machines in Virtualbox is a piece of cake and I had N1MM talking with the 850.  So I’ve got my contesting needs covered.

It occurred to me that it wouldn’t take much to get CQRlog to do basic contest logging.  It already has cw interface keying and function key definitions and macros.  All it really needs is serial number generation with corresponding function key macros, previous QSO report lookup, and perhaps a little more field customization.  This would cover the basics.  One can handle scoring outside the program, but a band map with the DX cluster integrated would be the next feature on the list.  I may just look at the source code and see if I can make sense of it and maybe play around with some customizations.  I sense another project I’m going to get sucked into.

So far I haven’t had to go back to my native Windows installation for anything, other than to steal more disk partition space.  Maybe I cheated a little by installing an instance of Windows XP on Virtualbox, but hey, whatever gets the job done!

(Update: I just found the CQRLog band map window and it is integrated with the DX cluster!)

Anthony, K3NG, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com.

Back in December when my second Elecraft K2 kit arrived I tossed around the idea of starting an additional blog about my K2 build. I planned to not only document my kit build but to keep the site updated with links and sites that will help out fellow builders. I have up to this point produced 3 pages and some updating posts on the blog itself. Check out the blog and give me  your feedback as well as any info you would like to see on the site as well.
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

Fifteen metres was again in good shape today. The contacts I made included the prettiest ham I’ve yet worked, and the station with the longest call I’ve ever logged.

Natali, RV3ADL

Call me a male chauvinist if you like, but whenever I work a YL (young lady) on the bands I can’t resist looking to see if I can find a picture of her. I worked Natali from Moscow on PSK31 this afternoon and she must be the prettiest ham radio operator I’ve worked in my long career. She keeps a pretty neat shack, too.

The prize for the longest callsign ever logged goes to YO2013EYOWF which is the official call of the European Youth Olympic Winter Festival 2013 in Brasov, Romania. I pity anyone having to send that in CW! I don’t have any pictures of the YO2013EYOWF operators but they do have a very pretty logo which I expect will be on their QSL.

Julian Moss, G4ILO, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cumbria, England. Contact him at [email protected].

In the last couple of weeks I have received two eQSLs for contacts that never happened. The QSLs were from made-up callsigns that are clearly SWLs, e.g. UA-123456. But the message with the card says simply: TNX For QSO TU 73! Curiously, both QSLs contained exactly the same wording.

Now I have nothing against SWLs. I started in this hobby as a broadcast SWL and I feel that all hams should have had experience as an SWL to get familiar with procedures, propagation and so on. But I am uncomfortable with receiving eQSLs from listeners as the eQSL system has no way to distinguish a listener report from an actual contact so their presence messes up my totals.

In practice it isn’t a big mess-up as I have never received an SWL card from a country I haven’t had a proper QSO with. So I do accept eQSLs that make it clear they are for reception of a contact I made. But TNX FOR QSO? Who do they think they are kidding, and what do they hope to gain from it?

Julian Moss, G4ILO, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cumbria, England. Contact him at [email protected].

I spent the evening conversing with Ed, KN9V on 40 Meters. Ed sent me an e-mail a few weeks back, asking him if I would meet him on the air for some real live CW practice. We tried earlier this week, but the propagation gods were against us. Tonight we had a much better go.

Ed feels that he’s a little rusty, but it was evident that he’s really doing fine. We were about 559 both ways, and we were able to enjoy a QSO for just about an hour. A little QSB and QRM made it interesting, but it was a very nice QSO.

I hope to meet Ed on the air again soon.

If you feel your Morse Code needs a little work and that you need a CW buddy, then send me an e-mail at [email protected].

Time permitting, I’d love to make a sked with you and work with you on the air. Now that the KPA3 amp is installed in my K3, I can turn on the afterburners so that you wouldn’t have to strain to hear me. Although, if you’re so inclined as to want to attempt a 2X QRP QSO, you wouldn’t get any arguments from me!  I am comfortable sending anywhere between 5 to about 23 WPM, and I can go on any band from 160 to 6 Meters.

I am available most weeknights, and would be glad to hear from you.

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

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

What’s the point of PSK125? I just finished a session running PSK31 on 15m (which was really lively, by the way) when I thought I’d just check 10m to see if anything was going on up there. I soon found that there wasn’t much. The waterfall was devoid of traces, apart from a weak, wide, nebulous trace which proved to be PSK125.  PY2DN was calling CQ, but try as I might he couldn’t decode me.

It appeared that he was making some QSOs, presumably with people enjoying better 10m propagation than I had. PY2DN’s signal was far from perfect copy. Most times he transmitted I received mostly garbage. But I’m sure there was enough energy in the transmission to produce solid copy had he been using PSK31.

I guess the point of PSK125 is speed. PY2DN’s CQ and my reply both lasted about two seconds. But what’s the hurry? Not only can I not type that fast, I can’t even click macro buttons that fast. So the time saved is for nothing. I accept there is a role for PSK63 in contests, when speed matters, but only when signals are strong enough to provide good copy. PSK125 is a step too far. It spreads the energy too thinly.

I’ve tried loads of new digital modes but I keep on coming back to good old PSK31. I find it more satisfying in the long run. There’s tons of activity from heaps of different locations. You can often find a PSK31 signal when the CW and SSB band segments are dead. PSK31 is a real QSO mode where you can actually converse with somebody and exchange information with them. And you don’t need to run a kilowatt to a huge tribander to be successful. I was calling CQ on 15m with 40w to my attic dipole and I felt like a big gun: I was getting replies, including DX replies, to every other call.

I think PSK31 has earned its place alongside CW and SSB as one of the staple modes of amateur radio. Other modes are just for temporary amusement.

Julian Moss, G4ILO, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cumbria, England. Contact him at [email protected].

A huge sunspot has formed on the sun – big enough to make the “regular” news.

http://www.weather.com/news/science/massive-sunspot-forms-20130220

So, as an Amateur Radio operator you’ve heard about sunspots, you’ve read about sunspots, you may have even prayed for sunspots ……. but what do you KNOW about sunspots?

I have perused the Internet and have come across several articles by our own Paul Harden, NA5N of Very Large Array (and Zombie Shuffle) fame.  He’s our authority on things of the sun.  I have found the best of his words and are pasting them here for your edification:

From Paul Harden NA5N, some solar weather basics:

We all know the sun goes through a solar cycle about every 11 years. During the minimun, or QUIET SUN, there are few sunspots, the solar flux is very low ( less than100), which means the sun’s ionizing radiation is quite low. As a result, our upper atmosphere, where the E and F layers reside, are not well ionized. This means the E and F layers do not reflect HF radio waves very well … and most of your signals will pass right on through to space to be picked up by Jodie Foster in the sequel to “Contact.” One measure of how well ionized our E and F layers are is the MUF, or Maximum Usable Frequency. During the quiet sun, the MUF is often below 15-18MHz. This is why 15M and 10M are “dead” during the quiet sun, except for local (line-of-sight) communications.

However, during the solar maximum or ACTIVE SUN, there are many sunspots, the solar flux is high, and this highly ionizes our ionosphere. This in turn means our E and F layers become very reflective to HF signals. Virtually all the power hitting the E and F layers will be reflected back to Earth and Jodie Foster will hear nothing out in space. This high reflectivity causes the MUF to rise, often to above 30MHz. And when this occurs, 10M will be open all day long to support global communications by using “skip propagation” … in that your signals are skipping (or being reflected) off the ionosphere back to earth.

SOLAR FLUX (SF) is a number that attempts to describe the total power output of the sun at radio wavelengths, which in turn helps describe the total ionizing power delivered to our ionosphere. The higher the SF, the more ionization, and the more reflective our ionosphere is to HF.

An SF of less than 100 is fairly poor propagation, the MUF  will be lower than 15MHz.  An SF of more than 150 is fairly good propagation, the MUF will be greater than 25MHz

A general rule of the thumb is 10M is open when the solar flux is greater than 150.

IONIZATION. The solar radiation reaching the Earth contains IONIZING radiation. This means the incoming solar radiation can rip electrons away from the oxygen molecules high in our atmosphere. So now you have all these “free electrons” roaming around that makes the upper atmosphere (or ionosphere) more dense. Now the mass or weight doesn’t change, it’s just denser. This density causes your RF signal to not pass onto space. In the real case, your RF signal strikes all these free electrons, and that is what reflects them back to earth … DURING DAYLIGHT HOURS when ionization occurs.

This is why the higher bands, such as 15M and 10M, are open (that is, signals being reflected back to earth) during the DAYLIGHT HOURS, but these same bands go dead (no reflective propagation) nearly as soon as the sun sets – because the sun’s ionizing radiation goes away.

This is also why these same bands tend to be completely dead during the quiet sun, because there is insufficient ionizing radiation to cause ionization for reflection. This is a phenomenon of the active sun, the period we are well into right now. And, during a quiet sun, the ionization can be so low, that the MUF drops below 14MHz at night, which is why even 20M can go dead at night. During an active sun, the MUF almost always remains above 15MHz even at night, which is why 20M often becomes a ’round-the-clock band during the active sun.

So what about 40M? Truth is, the solar cycle has virtually no effect on 40M or below. Propagation on 40M remains pretty much the same during the active sun as it does the quiet sun, because the MUF seldom drops below 10MHz. This is why 40M is the main nighttime band, year in and year out. Even with low ionization, the very long wavelengths of the lower frequencies will be reflected by the ionosphere. This would be like rolling a basketball through the popcorn balls … while the high frequency RF (the marbles) pass through pretty easy, certainly the low frequencies (basketball) would not. Quiet sun or active sun.

The active sun DOES effect 40M in that absorption to RF can be very good to very bad, or very high noise levels from geomagnetic storms … both due to solar flare activity that occurs only during an active sun. A large solar flare sends an extra dose of ionizing radiation to the Earth. This can raise the MUF to very high frequencies (greater than 100MHz), but this radiation can also penetrate far into our atmosphere to ionize the lower D-layer. RF signals must pass through the D-layer on their way to the upper E and F layers, where the reflection occurs. The more ionized the D-layer is, the more collisions that will take place with your RF signal, absorbing or attenuating some of its power. Thus, high absorption to HF signals can occur during and after a solar flare. Your poor little QRP signals just vanish on their way to the E and F layers!

80M signals are almost always highly or fully attenuated by the D-layer, and what “propagation” that occurs on 80M is actually by the signals traveling across the Earth’s surface, or “ground wave” propagation. The wave front is confined between the Earth’s surface and the D-layer, which causes attenuation to the power as it travels along the ground, skims the D-layer, and propagates through the dense atmosphere near the surface. This is why QRP on 80M is challenging at best since the absorption rates are fairly high – day and night, quiet sun or active.

The other major effect to HF propagation during the active sun is geomagnetic storms. Very briefly, this is caused by a shock wave from a solar flare hitting the Earth’s magnetic field, causing it to compress and wiggle for awhile. And while it’s wiggling, it’s generating huge electrical currents, which in turn creates gobs of noise on HF.

…BAND…. THE QUIET SUN………. / ……….THE ACTIVE SUN
——————————————————————–
….80M…. Seldom has skip propagation…..Seldom has skip propagation
….40M…. Open around the clock……………..Open around the clock
….30M…. Open daylight hours………………….Open around the clock
….20M…. Open daylight hours………………….Open around the clock (usually)
….15M…. Dead – no skip propagation……….Open – daylight hours only
….10M…. Dead – no skip propagation……….Open – daylight hours only
——————————————————————–

See also – http://www.gqrp.com/SOLAR_HO.pdf  This link explains the A and K Indices and other phenomena associated with solar weather. It also contains other pertinent links to other valuable solar weather sites.

Thank you, Paul!

So to recap (and this is a very general nutshell, and in W2LJ’s words)

High Solar Flux and sunspot numbers = increased ionization of the ionosphere =  good propagation = happy Hams.

Keep in mind that giant sunspots can be too much of a good thing, though, causing geomagnetic disturbances and solar flares which can muck everything up.

High A and K Index values = higher noise level on the bands and higher chance for signal absorption and a lowering of the MUF = bad propagation = sad Hams.

In the end, like everything else in nature, it’s all a fine balance.

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

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