In amateur radio terms, Chirp is an ambigious term! In this context, we’re not talking about your CW transmitter warbling up and down the band and we’re not talking about a neat package for programming your handheld.

Two or three weeks ago, Rory Cellan Jones presented an item on the BBC about an application called Chirp that runs on smartphones. It provides the ability to transfer files between devices using audio.

Let’s say I’ve a picture or a URL on my phone that I want to send you. I start the Chirp application on my phone, as do you. I select the photo that I want to send you and press the button. First of all, the application quickly uploads the picture to the Chirp server. Once it’s done that, it sends a series of tones which your phone ‘hears’. The tones act as like an audio QR code and provide your phone with a URL with which it can access the picture that I uploaded.

Julie and I have been using Chirp to transmit photos between our iPhones and iPads – it’s easier than emailling photos back and forth.

The other evening I was talking to David M0TFY on GB3WH and we were talking about Chirp and we wondered whether it would work on the air. After all, how often do you want to send someone a URL or an email address over the air? If you’re like me, pretty frequently! Something like Chirp would work well.

Our experiment of using Chirp using our iPhones miked into the radio across GB3WH failed. However, I’ve a feeling that if we tried simplex we might be more successful – my suspicion was that some of the tones that Chirp uses were not being passed by the audio circuitry of the repeater.

Even if the Chirp application doesn’t work over the air (which I think it probably should) – it might be an interesting project for someone to write something that would use tones that would pass over the air readily and robustly to send URLs or eMails…

The Chirp application is free and runs on iPhones. You can read about it here or download it from the App Store.

Come join us on Saturday, September 15th, 2012 (9:00 AM to 2:00 PM) at the Tri-Lakes Monument Fire Administration Complex at 166 Second St. in beautiful Monument, CO for a half day workshop aimed primarily at the new Technician Licensees to help them get started in ham radio. While you’re here you’ll learn what it takes to be a ham radio operator, brush up on your DXing skills, test  your own ham radio equipment, check out some sweet mobile radio installations, and ask an Elmer “What’s so cool about 10 meters?”

Getting started in ham radio has never been so much fun!

Presentations

9:30 am – Youth DXpedition to Costa Rica
by Anna Veal WØANT

10:30 am – Mountaintop Operating
by Steve Galchutt WGØAT

11:30 am – Home Station Setup
by Anna Veal WØANT

12:30 pm – Getting On the Air
by Brandon Hippe KDØPWF

1:30 pm – Radio Equipment 101
by Shel KFØUR

* Each presentation is approximately 15 minutes with 5 minutes of Q&A at the end.  Events subject to change

Booths – Open 9AM to 2PM

Get Your Radio Programmed with Local Repeater Freqs by RT Systems
hosted by Kyle Hippe KYØHIP & Cole Turner WØCOL

Check Your Radio Performance
hosted by Bob Witte KØNR

See an HF Station
hosted by Dan Scott WØRO & Stu Turner WØSTU

Ask Any Question – The Elmer Booth
hosted by Paul Swanson AAØK & Shel KFØUR

Understand Mobile Installations
hosted by James Bucknall KDØMFO & Ethan Bucknall KDØMFP

Getting Your Ham Radio License
hosted by Brandon Hippe KDØPWF & Eric Hippe NØHIP

Ham Radio & Public Service
hosted by Randy Meadows KNØTPC

Sponsors

Tech Day 2012 is proudly sponsored by the WØTLM Amateur Radio Club and the  Pikes  Peak Radio Amateur Association.

Get the one page flyer in pdf format here.

Direct any questions to Bob KØNR

in the 20 Meter Fox hunt tonight.

I worked Dave AB9CA first.  His signal strength was a bit different tonight as he is not home in Alabama, but is vacationing in Wisconsin.  Completing Fox duty while on vacation – now THAT’S dedication!

Paul AA4XX was another matter.  I could barely hear him when I did finally find him.  The K3’s APF (Audio Peak Filter) made all the difference in the world.  At ESP levels when I first heard him, turning on the APF feature insured that when I finally worked him, I was able to hear him answer me back!  It took a barely audible signal and boosted it to a 449 to my poor old ears.

Thanks Elecraft, for a real neat (and usable) feature!

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

Here’s an interesting piece of radio history.

My current assignment at Fort Leavenworth has me traveling quite a bit. My intent has been to bring a rig with me and have some casual QSOs while on the road. My success has been mixed. I would mostly attribute this to either a lack of planning on my part or being in a stuck in a hotel room with zero antenna opportunities.

One of the most inspiring ham radio blogs I ever ran across was the 100 Pound Dxpedition. I enjoyed how Scott, NE1RD, covered his adventures of conducting portable operations… documenting what worked and what did not. His last post on that paticular blog was back in 2007, but I still use the site as a reference. Scott’s praise for the Buddipole led me in using the Buddipole during my recent tour in Korea. Another tip from Scott I am going to try out is using a hardside golf bag case to transport my Buddipole to Hawaii.

Now for a rig… I think the Elecraft KX3 would be ideal for a Hawaii trip. With 10 watts output and an internal battery, I can’t think of better rig to take to the beach. But the wait time for the KX3 is still quite a while. I have both an Elecraft KX1 and a Yaesu FT-817ND. The KX1 would be great due to its small size and ease of use. But it is limited to only CW and I would like to do some PSK in addition to CW.

I pulled out my FT-817 and conducted an inventory:

– West Mountain Radio RIGblaster Plug n Play connects directly to the DIN socket on the back of the rig.
– CAT cable that connects from the RIGblaster to the rig’s ACC socket which enables rig control.
– PowerPole 12v adapter.
– Palm Paddle.
– Elecraft T1 Auto-tuner.
– Nifty manual for the FT-817.

My FT-817 has quite a few of the optional bells and whistles from W4RT:

– DSP module
– Kranker Knob – probably the most useful of any of the options
– One Board Filter (300 Hz)
– Speech compressor built into the MH-31 handmike
– Why all the options? The FT-817 was the center piece of my 2009 Field Day setup and I was attempting to get the most I could out of the pint-sized rig.

I also splurged on two recent upgrades:

– Peg Leg tilt stand – I think this will be helpful as one of my significant dislikes of the FT-817 is the small display which is hard to see.
– Magnets for the Palm Paddle – this is critically important as the Palm Paddle by itself is not heavy enough. The magnets allow the Palm Paddles to firmly stick to the top of the FT-817.

For PSK, rig control, and logging I have my Dell Mini netbook. I had not used the netbook in a while, so I started it up to see how it was working. I initally purchased it back in 2009 baselined with Ubuntu and have kept Ubuntu installed on it since then. After booting it up. I updated the distribution to 10.04 LTS and installed fldigi. The RIGblaster easily interfaced with the netbook via a USB connection and the headphone/microphone jacks.

I configured fldigi to work with the RIGblaster to include rig control using Hamlib:

– Audio: PortAudio using the netbook’s hardware soundcard for both Capture and Playback
– Rig: Hamlib; Device /dev/ttyUSB0; Baud rate 38400; Stopbits 2; PTT via Hamlib command checked

… clicked on the Initialize button and I was good to go.

Setting up the macros on flidigi is pretty straightforward with the default macros only needing slight tweaking for my personal preferemces.

Once I fired everything up all I had to do was switch to 14.070 MHz, switch the mode to DIG, and drop the input level a bit. With the narrow yellow PSK streams cascading down the waterfall, I picked one that was calling CQ and answered. Transmit worked and my home antenna provided a nice low SWR, no need for the tuner. My macros worked and the QSO was concluded successfully. All with 5 watts.

I plugged in the Palm Paddle, switched to 7.115 MHz, listened and heard nothing, then used the paddles to send QRL? a few times. SWR still looked decent. After a few CQ calls, I got an answer followed by a short QSO. Great – both PSK and CW were working FB.

Now the question is: do I want to bring my small Tokyo Hy-Power HL-100B amplifier that will raise the output to 100 watts? If I bring the amp, I will have to bring a power supply and a different tuner. I am thinking I need to be able to use two different configurations:

(A) Beach and Buddipole: using the barefoot FT-817, running everything on batteries.
(B) Lanai Portable: used from the hotel room, with amp and assoicated power supply.

Now it is time to go through my Buddipole bags and figure out what I need to pack.

Looks like I will be there during the Hawaii QSO Party!

Welcome to Handiham World.

What should you have to know to operate a club station?

Radio clubs usually do not have dedicated meeting space and extra room for a complete club station, but some do. Many clubs do have temporary “club stations” for the duration of club events or Field Day. What all of these club stations have in common is that they are shared resources that can be operated by many club members. For those amateur radio operators who cannot put up antennas at their homes, the club station is a great way to get on the HF bands or to have fun with VHF weak signal operation. 
But here’s the problem: The typical home station will be configured by the owner to be exactly what that operator wants. It will have the brand of radio equipment and the accessories preferred by that person, and everything will be laid out in a customized fashion. The club station will be used by many different operators. It may have different equipment than what you are used to, and be configured differently. With all of these different operators, each with different station layouts at home, the club station presents a learning challenge!
Let’s consider some basic skills that might be expected of each club station user. These might be part of a “check ride”, similar to that given to a licensed pilot when being checked out in an airplane for the first time. Although a person may hold a pilot’s license, it is by no means certain that the pilot knows everything about every airplane! The same is true about licensed amateur radio operators and radios. To begin this discussion, I have identified six basic knowledge areas, but you may be able to think of some others:

1. License and identification:  To operate an amateur radio station, you need a license, so a new user should expect to present his or her license along with some supporting identification (if requested) so that the club’s station manager can determine if the licensee is current and what the operating privileges might be. 
2. Safety and convenience: Since the club station will be unfamiliar territory to the new user, it is important to go over basic safety topics. These include the emergency power shut off, the location of fire extinguishers and other emergency equipment such as an AED, the location of exits, a telephone, and restrooms, and how to call for emergency help.
3. Ergonomics, accessories, and policies: This topic area covers your comfort and safety while operating the station. It will cover how to switch the lighting on and off, where writing materials, a frequency chart, and other commonly used desktop materials are found, seating adjustments, station layout, the ham shack computer (if there is one), and policies related to the use of the station. For example, a policy might include switching the equipment on and off in a certain sequence, no beverages on the operating desk, returning antennas and extendible towers to their nested positions at the end of a session, logging all contacts, using the club callsign, and so on. 
4. Radio orientation and operation: This will show the new operator what each piece of equipment does and how it operates. It will include all the basics, such as the power switch, tuning, modes, antenna switching and rotor control and use of various accessories such as amplifiers. 
5. Record-keeping: There may be a sign in/out sheet for users of the station. If logging of contacts is done, there may be a need to explain the procedure, whether it is by computer or in a paper logbook. There may also be a QSL policy and procedure. If a piece of equipment is not working or if a part is broken or missing there is usually a place to make note of it so that the club can remedy the problem. 
6. Securing at shutdown: After the operating session, the station must be shut down and secured. In some cases, this may include disconnecting the equipment from the power mains and antennas to prevent lightning damage. It is also considered good practice to leave the radio in a more or less “normal” mode of operation, so that the next user will not sit down to a radio that has been left in split frequency mode with the RF gain at zero and every button pressed and knob twisted! If desk accessories are used during the operating session, they should be returned to wherever they were stored so that the operating desk is clear of clutter. The lights should be turned off and the room should be secured in whatever way is described by club policy. 

A club station is an excellent resource for all club members, but because it is shared among many users it is wise to have some clear rules about its use and to include an orientation (“check ride”) for each new user.
Email me at [email protected] with your questions & comments.   
Patrick Tice, WA0TDA
Handiham Manager

Handiham remote base station report

W0EQO at Courage North is in service. W0ZSW is in service.