AmateurRadio.com

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

RSGB had this puzzling note in its recent news script:

Some say that CW has been made obsolete by modern digimodes, which work well in conditions far too poor for the older mode. Now that Morse is no longer used in commercial radio traffic, the RSGB confirms that it would fight any moves to prohibit CW on amateur bands. The Society recognises that Morse gives much pleasure to thousands of operators, and will continue to support its use.

The blurb doesn’t cite any specific threats.  To use a quote never said by, but attributed to Jerry Seinfeld, “Who are these people?“

I’ve said before that there are people saying there are people saying that CW is dying, but I have yet to find anyone saying CW is dying.  Much like American politics, we tend to get our panties in a bunch making up things to be outraged over and threats to be worried about.  No radio amateur who has been licensed more than a week would seriously propose to outlaw CW operation.  Any amateur who does is likely insane or doesn’t have the capacity to garner support of anyone from amateurs to government officials.

Perhaps I’m reading more into the RSGB statement and giving it more time than it deserves, but my guess is RSGB suffers from one of the thorns that has been in the side of ARRL here in the States.  People make accusations that the organization doesn’t support the code, in order to increase the number of licensed amateurs and fill its coffers with more memberships.  The people who make such nonsense accusations are still upset with the elimination of the code test or just dislike the organization and look for whatever means to criticize it.  To this day I still hear people claim ARRL doesn’t support CW, despite petitioning the FCC for a 5 WPM test for the Extra class test and running code practice and bulletin broadcasts every weekday.  Myths are hard to replace with facts.

The 4 state QRP QRPometer

Back in late March I read on W2LJ's blog a post about the new QRPometer available from the 4 state QRP group. At the time I was also building my Elecraft KAT2 antenna tuner. I was getting to the stage of testing and setting up the tuner. I needed a watt meter for one of the tests. I do have the LP-100A meter and it is a super meter! BUT for me to use this meter it involves removing it from my Elecraft K3 setup and that is a REAL pain to do. So reading Larry's post about this new meter had me come to the understanding that this unit would be a nice fit for my shack......and also it's a kit! This little unit is a great SWR and watt meter. It's reads from 10 watts and goes down to 100mW's it has a large easy to read LED read out. The kit arrived at the shack on Wednesday of this week and it's still waiting assembly. I was fortunate to get the kit as it sold out very fast. I hope to get the unit built over the Easter weekend.
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

Could files on the driver CD included with some USB radio programming cables be triggering a malware alert?

It’s a possibility in one case, according to James, K7NEO. He apparently stumbled upon the warning yesterday after running a check on the driver CD he had received with his USB programming cable.

“I was excited to get my radio, but I erred on the side of caution and scanned the CD that came with it,” wrote James. “I can’t say it’s 409shop’s fault as I have no clue who did what — just giving everyone a heads-up.”

After receiving a warning from his desktop virus scanner indicating that the files could contain malware called “Trojan.ADH.2,” James ran the files through VirusTotal, a service that checks many different anti-virus programs simultaneously. Of the 40 services tested, he said that 23 indicated that the file was possibly suspect. We analyzed the same USB driver software available as an online download from both 409shop and a US distributor and neither showed as infected (VirusTotal showed 0 positive of 19 tested). It is also very possible, however, that this alert is a false positive and is being triggered erroneously.

Even if it’s not a false positive, Trojan.ADH.2 is a low-level threat and easy to remove if it were to infect your computer, according to Symantec’s website. The episode, however, has made James think twice about installing drivers, even from supposedly trusted sources.

“What really hit home for me was the common sense of never blindly trusting a source of data or files. You should always scan for threats,” he said.

In some cases it may be better to download drivers from the seller’s or manufacturer’s website directly versus using accompanying CDs. Not only are these often the latest and most up-to-date versions, they can also be more easily scanned through an online service (like VirusTotal) before downloading.

Editor’s Update: Jim, KC9HI purchased a programming cable from 409shop which came with a driver CD. He scanned the CD and found no viruses or malware. Not sure what to make of this other than to assume that the original case was some kind of false positive.

Heard back from Carol at 409shop. She didn’t indicate whether or not they had received other reports, but did offer up their website driver download page as an alternative:

http://www.409shop.com/shop_displaynews.php?id=292

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

10m WSPR spots for G4ILO – 6 April 2012

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

Date:            7 April 2012
Time:           Approx.    2000 UTC – 2300 UTC
Region:        CO-Front Range
Elevation:    2520 m / 8268 ft – 2 Points
Call Sign:     KDØBIK
Frequencies:     14.342.5-ssb, 18.157.5-ssb, 28.327.5-ssb,  +/-  146.52-fm

Equipment: FT-817ND / Buddipole versatee vertical
(still anxiously awaiting delivery of the KX3)

APRS Track: On Road / On Trail

This will be my first SOTA activation in 2012 and my third since being bitten really hard by the SOTA bug back in the fall of 2011.  I’d like to say it was the harsh, Colorado winter weather that kept me away.  But it’s actually been a mild winter with many weekends suitable for an activation.  But if you’ve followed my recent blogging, you know I’ve also been actively working on the new basement ham shack.  Anyway, this activation will be slightly different than my previous two solo activations.  More about this in a minute.

Steve Galchutt, wGØAT invited me to assist him in the WØ region by serving as the regional manager for the central Colorado area.  I proudly accepted and part of my role is to help promote Summits On The Air throughout the Greater Denver Metro area.  If you missed my blog post from earlier in the week.  Please visit and book mark our new WØ-SOTA.org website.

The 285 Tech Club has invited me to present SOTA this coming Saturday at their monthly meeting with the option to do an activation after the meeting. When I originally agreed to do this (about two months ago) I wasn’t sure what sort of weather conditions we might face.  Thankfully, Mother Nature must also be a SOTA enthusiast and looks to bless us with a beautiful Easter weekend.

Here’s why this SOTA activation will be slightly different.  The meeting starts at 10 AM local (1600 z).  I will begin my SOTA presentation around 11AM and plan to wrap by 12 (12:30 at the latest).  Those who are planning to attend the activation demonstration will leave the meeting facility, stop for a quick bite to eat and then drive to Genesee Mountain. 

Genesee Mountain is located just outside of the Denver Metro area.  It is accessible off of I-70 as the highway begins to gain in elevation through the foothills of the magnificent Rocky Mountains.    As you can see from the image below, Genesee Mountain Road goes all the way to the top. 

I’m told to expect an interest from our older generation of hams and with this in mind, will take advantage of the road to the top.  We’ll take a casual stroll down 100’ and then back up to make the activation legal.  So this is why I can’t with any high degree of accuracy predict exactly when we’ll be on the air. 

We plan to setup two HF stations.  One on 20m and the second on 17m.  We will also monitor and attempt QSO’s on 146.52.  I have also listed 10m as a possible option.  Depending on time and interest, we may or may not get to that band.

I’m really excited to be able to share all the wonderful aspects of the Summits on the Air program with this amateur radio club.  If you listen to my amateur radio podcast, the practical amateur radio podcast, you know I take my Elmer role very seriously and passionately.  I’m truly honored to have been given the opportunity to show others just how fun SOTA actually is.  Please listen towards Colorado for us.   

Well that just about does it for this activation alert.  All that is left to do is…well go and activate Genesee Mountain.  Besides this activation alert, I’ll post my activation intentions in all the usual places.  But I’m also going to Self-Spot via Amateur Radio to Twitter.  If you want to know more about  what I’m talking about…please make sure to read this blog post.

Until next time….

73 de KDØBIK (Jerry)

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].

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