AmateurRadio.com

I noticed today that this blog has now got 150 followers not including those who read it on AmateurRadio.com. I’m amazed and humbled that so many people find what I write worth reading, especially as I am not all that active at the moment. While I wasn’t looking, my other blog One Foot in the Grave passed 50 followers as well. Thanks to all of you for your interest.

These numbers are not as great as the number of followers some of my blogging colleagues have got on Twitter. I’ve resisted joining Twitter, in part because I couldn’t see the point, but also because I don’t need yet another way for people to try stealing my identity. I seem to remember a couple of years back writing something on the lines of “if I start Twittering, send the men in white coats round.”

A few months ago I signed up to Google+ which is nowhere near as popular, but only because I use so many Google services already that one more won’t make a difference plus it uses the same login. But perhaps I should take the plunge and join Twitter.

If you’re a Twitter user, in what ways do you find it useful?

Sounds silly, doesn’t it?  But yes, I do have Ham Radio heroes.  They include the ones who Elmered me; and the ones who have mentored and motivated me.

But tonight, I’d like to concentrate on the ones who have inspired me, in a very particular way.

My big dream as a QRPer is to someday be in the position where I can operate from the “Great Outdoors” on a regular basis.  Whether it be SOTA or a far away DXpedition like Steve WG0AT and Guy N7UN. Or day hikes like Jim W1PID or Ron WB3AAL. Or even perhaps, someday, serious trail hiking like Steve KD1JV.  And then there are always the pedestrian mobile exploits of Paul W0RW and Ed WA3WSJ to enjoy.  There are also the adventures of Martin VA3SIE to admire.  He always seems to be able to get to a good location for the outdoor QRP events – or just a fun day out.

For now, I will have to settle for trips to the local parks and even the back yard to fulfill my outdoor “fix”. But someday …….. someday ………. (the dreaming continues).

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

10m WSPR spots @ G4ILO 16 October 2012

Some good propagation today. A good opening across the Atlantic seems to have caught operators by surprise. One US station remarked that he wan’t hearing much on 10 metres.

I snatched the K3 away from WSPR duty long enough to work CO8LC in Cuba and Dave, N8DC in Michigan. Also heard several other US states as well as KP4 (Puerto Rico).

Introduction:

• The earth moved in Texas, recently, which sends Richard down memory lane.

Announcements:

• Texoma Hamarama will held October 26-27, 2012 at the Ardmore Convention Center in Ardmore, Oklahoma. Pre-registration ends October 20th.
• The Augusta Hamfest will be Saturday, October 13, 2012 in Augusta, GA.
• Scott, N8VSI, was the LHS ambassador at the Ohio LinuxFest, September 28-30, 2012. We look forward to hearing a report from Scott in the near future.

Topics:

• Richard recounts his experience replacing a computer power supply. Moral? Don’t be afraid to try repairing a computer yourself. Swapping parts is easier than you might think. For power supplies, pay attention to the wattage required. (Ed. Note: When in doubt, it’s best to replace the bad supply with one that has the same or greater wattage rating.)
• Departing from our usual topics, Russ and Richard discuss a couple applications for producing slide shows and panoramic photographs:
  • Imagination is a lightweight and simple DVD slide show maker for Linux and FreeBSD that’s very easy to use, offers a wide variety of transitions, supports background music, and much more. Available in the Debian and Fedora repositories, and probably many others.
  • Hugin is a program that allows you to assemble a mosaic of photographs into a complete, immersive panorama, stitch together any series of overlapping pictures, and much more. It’s cross-platform and easy to use.
• Why Ham Radio? Richard talks about why you might wish to obtain an Amateur Radio License and how you can combine it with Linux, including:
  • Getting your ham license for our non ham listeners.
  • There are many modes of communication, including voice, Morse code, and many digital modes.
  • The ease of getting your license.
  • Why you should get your license.
  • How to get your license.
  • The Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL) is a good source of information
  • Free practice tests are available at qrz.com
  • A list of certified Volunteer Examiner Coordinators is available at www.ncvec.org.
  • Test sessions can be found through the ARRL and many local radio clubs.
• Russ describes Universal Plug ‘n’ Play devices (UPnP). Many new devices offer the ability to play media from UPnP servers. It makes sharing your media very convenient and easy, but can also be a security risk.

Feedback:

• Pete, VE2XPL, sends a long email in response to episode 88, and covers such things as the Toonie, Alexandre Graham Bell, Brad Sucks, the wAVEgUIDES PodCast, SouthCARS, email addresses for LHS, and the MintCast.
• Ted, WA0EIR, asked if there is a problem with the LHS mailing list as his attempts to post a message there “bounced”. Yes, the mailing lists have been broken, but they’re fixed now.
• Larry Bushey of the Going Linux podcast says thanks for the great show, and admits they stole the LHS “badger” sound effect for use on their show. Episode 185 contains an example of their use of the Badger.
• LHS was mentioned in a comment to a post at hak5.org.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at [email protected], Russ at [email protected], or both at the same time at [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.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon 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:

• “You Are You” by Fall Walk Run from the album Throwing It All Away, courtesy of Jamendo.
• “Flash Back” by MattMigma from the album Phoenix, courtesy of Jamendo.

I measured out the distances from the house to the maple tree in the back yard and over to the mast in the “upper right” corner of the back yard.  The 85 foot W3EDP will fit just fine, with room to spare.  There should be less than 10 feet worth of Dacron rope between the end of the antenna and the mast.

The drawing is not to scale; but the run along the side of the house accounts for no more than 15 to 20 feet or so of the antenna run.  The EDZ currently follows the same route (more or less) but I am hoping to get a dog bone insulator (which will serve as the wire “bending point”) up about 10 to 15 feet higher in the tree than where the center insulator hangs for the EDZ.

Last Thursday, I ordered a 4:1 current balun from Universal Radio and I have all the other materials I need.  The balun should come during the week, and hopefully I will get to do some antenna installing next weekend.

In the end, this W3EDP will be configured as a horizontal “L” as you can see from the diagram.  The ends will be at about a 25′ level and I am hoping the point at where the wire will take its sharp right turn will be in the 35 – 40′ neighborhood.

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

It’s ages since I played with WSPR, but inspired by Julian G4ILO’s 28MHz WSPR results I thought I would give it a go.

I set the rig up with about 1 Watt out – a little over but I have quite a long feeder run to the Butternut. To start with, I doubted that it was working but then I heard G0MGM and he heard me – so it was obviously working!

Left things running throughout the day. My most distant report seemed to be around 3600km away; UA6AAK and 4X1RF around the same sort of distance. Some great reports from EA8FF in the latter part of the day.

Heard LU and T5 – but my 1W didn’t get that far today!

Fun experiment which I will repeat!