AmateurRadio.com

Hello AmateurRadio.com readers! I am Neil, W2NDG, a resident of the North Shore of Long Island in New York. I am a recent ham (August 2011), but a life-long techie and a shortwave listener since 1973. I will be posting from time-to-time here and wanted you to know a little about me first.  I write mostly on my own sites, which can all be reached through the landing page at neilgoldstein.com.

I will be taking a look at the hobby from a newcomer’s point of view, but also covering the areas where computers and amateur radio cross over. I intend to learn code and build some QRP equipment by the end of the summer, so follow along, and we’ll have some fun with all of this. I also have some interesting plans involving SDR that I hope to be able to share in the months to come. I want to try to appeal to those of you out there on a limited budget, and help you find what you need without breaking the bank. These are tough times for many of us, but it shouldn’t keep us from having a great time with amateur radio. I also have 3 (possibly more) family members currently studying for their Technician licenses, which should make things interesting. My first post is a research piece I did for my club (LIMARC) here on Long Island about kit sources for amateur radio.  So, 73s for now. See everyone soon.

Neil, W2NDG

Neil Goldstein, W2NDG, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New York, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Congratulations to Brian Tanner, AG6GX!

He’s the winner of The Rigger giveaway.

Thank you you Gary, N5BI, for sponsoring the giveaway
(and for joining us as a sponsor of AmateurRadio.com).
Even if you didn’t win, consider picking one up. They’re pretty cool!

Here’s the website: www.therigger.net

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

Julian, G4ILO once confessed to being fond of handheld radios. I’m the same! There’s something magic about having a bit of handheld radio kit which can make interesting radio contacts, in some cases around the globe.

When the postman delivered another handheld last week, Julie said, completely in fun, ‘you’ve got quite a few of those now’. And she’s right. Let’s see:

– Icom E92 144/432MHz FM/D-STAR
– Yaesu FT-817 1.8-432MHz All Modes (I sort of don’t *really* class this as a handheld, but technically….)
– Baofeng UV-3R 144/432MHz FM micro transceiver
– Yaesu VX-1 144/432MHz FM micro transceiver (battery not very well!)
– Baofeng UV-5R 144/432MHz FM
– Palstar KH-6 50MHz FM

All except the E-92  and FT-817 have been acquired at quite modest prices over the years, so there’s not an expense thing really.

The trouble is, that strictly speaking, there are a couple more I wouldn’t mind. Something like a Yaesu VX-8GR with APRS/GPS capability built in. That would be fun. And then there’s the Alinco DJ-G7 which does 144/432 and 1296MHz. I’d really like to try 1296MHz! By the way, check out Rob, MW0DNK’s review of the DJ-G7 on his very interesting new blog.

Maybe some consolidation would be good – but they all do different things.Honest!

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

Can you say road trip?  I love to promote what others are doing in the hobby of amateur radio.  Please do me a favor and visit, bookmark and subscribe to the brand new blog site of Connie Bird, NR4CB.  Connie is about to embark on a summertime journey that most of us can only dream about.  Connie’s blog site is titled Are We There Yet?  The site will serve as her written journal as she travels over 6000 miles through two countries, two Canadian provinces, one district (DC), twenty-three states and as many ham radio QSO’s as she can manage.

When I was a teenager, my uncle (K5SOR) and I would embark on similar journeys as we traveled and explored the western US.  It was on these trips when I realized I truly wanted to one day call Colorado home.  Of course, this was well before my time in amateur radio.  But I do recall my uncle working CW mobile and while camping he would typically throw a wire in a tree and check into his HF nets. 

Again, please visit Connie’s site.  Bookmark and subscribe to the RSS feed.  Her journey will begin in late May/early June.  She plans to kick things off by presenting a forum titled “On Air, Online, and Eyeballs: The Social Side of Ham Radio”, at the Atlanta Ham Fest on Saturday, 2 June.  She then plans to travel up through the eastern portion of the US making her way up to the Boston area for her brothers wedding taking place on Field Day weekend. Of course it doesn’t stop just there.  She hopes to operate as a guest operator at W1AW and onboard the USS Yorktown later in the summer. 

I would personally like to thank Connie (in advance) for sharing her experiences and her journey with all of us.  Of course, I also wish her the best of luck and very safe travels.  You may also follow Connie on Facebook and Twitter.  Perhaps I can convince Connie to take 30-45 minutes out of her journey and provide the listeners of the Practical Amateur Radio Podcast an update later this summer.

Until next time…

73 de KDØBIK

Jerry Taylor, KD0BIK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Colorado, USA. He is the host of the Practical Amateur Radio Podcast. Contact him at [email protected].

Alinco DJ-G7

There are many reviews on the internet already about this cracking little 23cm-capable transceiver. In fact, it's the only 23cm handheld currently manufactured, which begs the question when will the Chinese fill the obvious gap in demand?

Alphanumeric display

Rob Law, MW0DNK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Anglesey, Wales. Contact him at [email protected].

I had a surprising and slightly emotional experience on DV mode last week. I was in QSO with a mobile station who temporarily lost the repeater for a couple of seconds. Not unusual, but get this - instead of vanishing permanently in to vast digital abyss, he came right back as the system re-synced and locked-up. This happened again and he was re-acquired and all was well. Remarkable.

No longer will your beautiful, eloquent, flowing QSO be 'bumped' abruptly and permanently off the air by a random mobile station the other side of the world 'pinging' his local repeater for a few milliseconds. You can now even QSY to a 'chat' module and not hog the repeaters of an entire nation while you discuss your passion for North Korean tractor parts for three hours.

The advent of DCS reflectors, hand-in-hand with the German DV-RPTR boards shipped all over the world, is going to save the mode from extinction, no less. Witness the used D-STAR radios in the graveyard of Ebay as testament to the disillusioned DPlus users.

If only they'd have waited.

The DV-RPTR unit in its housing

*UPDATE 24th April 2012: Looks like the Dplus system has been suddenly revamped to include the routing information with the voice packets in the same way as DCS. Shame it took seven years of dysfunctional communications and a rival system to prompt this. I'll be staying on the DCS system - but enjoy whichever system you use and enjoy the mode!
Rob Law, MW0DNK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Anglesey, Wales. Contact him at [email protected].

Brought to you by Don Keith N4KC, fellow blogger and Ham Radio wordsmith extraordinaire.

http://www.eham.net/articles/27962

Oh, to have the writing talent of Don N4KC or Jeff KE9V or Woody K3NG, fine writers one and all.

I hope you enjoy the story, I did!

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].