AmateurRadio.com

Jim W1PID was at it again today:

Prepare yourself for some beautiful photos as well as a good story.


http://www.w1pid.com/spring/spring.html

On a side note, some of you may have noticed that I removed the “Capcha Code” from the blog comments area.  I did that in response to a couple of you out there that were having difficulties posting comments.  It’s a good thing that comments are on moderation and that Blogger has a good spam detection process.  Since removing the Code, I have been averaging about 15 – 20 spam comments a day!  Don’t people have better things to do?

Today was more like the end of April than the beginning of March.  Around lunchtime, the high was 68F (20C).  We really shouldn’t be seeing temps like this for another 4 to 6 weeks; but you know what?  I’ll take it any day.  Unfortunately, tomorrow is supposed to be more seasonable with highs only in the upper 40s (8C or so).

Tonight is the 40 Meters QRP Foxhunt.  I managed to get both Foxes Tuesday night in the 80 Meter hunt.  I worked Lee AA4GA quite easily; but was having a devil of a time with Ray KX9E in Illinois.  Turns out I had the K2 set to 1 Watt. When I bumped it up to 5, Ray was able to hear me a bit more easily.  I had forgotten that I had set it to 1 Watt over last weekend, and forgot to reset it.  That means I worked AA4GA in Georgia with only 1 Watt as it turns out. Cool!

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

My Gadget Gangster Parallax Propellor board has just modulated its first APRS packets. This is not down to any clever programming by me. I simply used the Spin APRS Object published by Richard, G3CWI based on code by Alex Erlank.

Richard had to make some changes to get Alex’s code to work and I had to change a few things as well. Mostly they involved replacing Richard’s callsign and position with my own! The AFSK output was connected to the mic input of my old TH-205E using a 0.1uF DC blocking capacitor. There is enough idle time at the start of the packet for VOX to be used if the transceiver supports it. Mine doesn’t, so for test purposes I manually keyed the radio’s PTT.

I found that my packets were not decoded by the Kenwood TM-D710 TNC when I used the option to include a path such as WIDE1-1,WIDE2-1. I’m not up to debugging the code. However, Richard had mentioned that calls less than 6 characters long needed to be padded with spaces so thanks to an inspired guess I found that that this applies to paths like WIDE1 as well.

There is a GPS object included with the code. I haven’t tried the Propellor with my GPS module yet, mainly because the GPS doesn’t pick up any satellites from inside the shack so I’d need to rig up a battery supply and take all the kit out to the garden to test it, where it’s damp and cold. (Yes I know, I’m a wimp.)

The AX25 object contains a section intriguingly called “demodulator” which has been removed. So it seems that there may be some Spin code that would enable the Propeller to be used as a TNC to decode and display APRS packets. That isn’t something I had particularly planned to do, but it would be interesting to see if it works better than the WB8WGA PIC based TNC that I built a year ago which is a bit fussy about the level of the input audio.

One of the options with the Propeller is a touch screen colour TFT display panel. With one of those a suitably clever person could make a very nice standalone APRS terminal. I think there’s an Ethernet module as well, so it could even be an IGate…

Some exciting news!  It looks like the new Baofeng UV-5R has arrived stateside.  Browsing Ed Griffin’s Wouxun.us, I’ve found a page indicating that it’s coming soon and the scrolling banner lists the price at $65 shipped (USA). Brick O’Lore has a great post showing some of the exciting new features:

BAOFENG UV-5R 4W
136-174/400-480Mhz

BAOFENG UV-5R The transcevier is a micro-miniature multiband FM transceiver with extensive receive frequency coverage,providing local-area two-way amateur communications along with unmatched monitoring capability

VHF/ UHF  DUAL-BAND TWO WAY RADIO

Frequency Range: 136-174 / 400-480MHz
Dual-Band Display, Dual Freq. Display, Dual-Standby
Output Power: 4 /1Watts
128 Channels
50 CTCSS and 104 CDCSS
Built-in VOX Function
1750Hz Brust Tone
FM Radio (65.0MHz-108.0MHz)
LED Flashlight
Large LCD Display
Hight /Low RF Power Switchable
25KHz/12.5KHz Switchable
Emergency Alert
Low Battery Alert
Battery Saver
Time-out Timer
Keypad Lock
Monitor Channel
Channel Step: 2.5/5/6.25/10/12.5/25KHz
Roger Set

With all the news about giant solar flares that could black out communications I was surprised to hear activity on 10 metres. I made a few contacts on SSB with my attic dipole, including A65EE in Dubai and TC2012WKD from Turkey: a special event station for World Kidney Day to raise awareness of the importance of kidneys to our health.

I like to operate on the highest frequencies I can. On the shortest wavelengths small antennas are at the least disadvantage.

You may remember back in September, I blogged about the news of the developer (Simon) of Ham Radio Deluxe selling to several US hams.  I followed one of the threads over on the QRZ forums until I basically grew bored of the hate and non-sense being discussed.  At that time (Sept. timeframe) no one really knew what was going to happen or when we would learn the fate and future of the HRD software.  While many had conjured up ideas of users receiving cease and desist letters, as I stated then (and what has been proven since) I didn’t think anyone had anything to worry about.

As the old year (2011) turned into the new year (2012) news began to surface about the plans for Ham Radio Deluxe.  The new owners (Rick Ruhl, W4PC Mike Carper, WA9PIE and Randy Gawtry K0CBH have since released two free updates (version 5.1 and 5.11) and offered users a $59.95 support plan which covers version 5.11 and version 6 at no cost.  Ham Radio Deluxe version 6 is scheduled to be available around the Dayton Hamvention timeframe of this year. 

I learned about HRD before I even earned my license and was using it with my Yaesu FT-897 as I tuned around the bands listening.  Once I got my ticket I used it to log my first HF QSO’s on 10 meters and have used it since.  The value of what Ham Radio Deluxe brings to me in the enjoyment of the hobby is certainly more than I can associate a cost to.  I’ve looked into alternatives for casual QSO logging, rig control and the digital modes and have found nothing that even comes close to beating HRD in its present form.

After watching the video below, I’m actually excited about the opportunity for HRD version 6 and beyond.  Some of the new features discussed will be an integration between N1MM logger and DM780.  This to me will be worth the investment to upgrade to version 6.     I do love N1MM logger for contest operations, but I rarely use anything other than DM780 for digital modes.  When I try to use other applications for PSK or RTTY, I’m like a fish out of water.  For that reason I don’t do a lot of true digital contest operations. 

If you haven’t already, please take about 52 minutes of your time and watch the video below which is made available by Gary Pearce, KN4AQ and his Amateur Radio Video News (ARVN) service. 

Watch this video on YouTube.

I’ve had no contact with any of the three mentioned owners and simply blog about this particular subject because I want to.  The opinions expressed are simply my own.  I fully understand and appreciate that not everyone will share my thoughts and opinions on this subject. 

Until next time…

73 de KDØBIK

Welcome to Handiham World.

On March 5, 2012 the latest version of the United States Amateur Radio Bands chart from ARRL became effective.  If you will recall, last November the FCC made some changes to the 60 meter band, and this new chart brings us up to date.  Of course that will mean that you will want the latest version on your computer or in your ham shack for reference. Prior to this week, only upper sideband operation was allowed on the channelized 60 meter band.  Few of us had actually made the move to 60 meters and made contacts, partly because of the odd restrictions in frequencies and modes, but also because many antenna systems just didn’t tune on 60 meters.  Even so, those who were adventuresome took the plunge and were delighted to find that propagation on 60 meters made it quite a useful alternative to 75 and 40 meters since it has characteristics of both of those popular bands. This morning I was surprised to be listening on 5.330.5 MHz and hear a station in the southeastern United States calling CQ using CW at around 30 words per minute. He called off and on for perhaps 15 minutes, obviously using a programmed keyer before he was finally answered by a station somewhere on the East Coast. I have to admit that 30 words per minute is too fast for me to copy comfortably, so I had to listen up to make sure I was hearing correctly. After all, only upper sideband operation was allowed on the 60 m band. When I was sure I was copying the call sign correctly, I decided to check the frequency chart on my wall just to confirm that only upper sideband operation was allowed. The chart confirmed this, but then I recalled the changes that the FCC had made and decided to check the ARRL website for a new frequency chart. Sure enough, a new version was available and had been released just two days ago!
The difference is pretty significant, because the effective radiated power, the modes of operation, and even one of the channelized frequencies have been changed.  Let’s go over the “new” 60 meter band as shown in the ARRL Frequency Chart.  Here is the new information for our blind members in an easy to listen format:
The 60 meter band is also known as the 5.3 MHz band.  Only General, Advanced, and Extra Class licensees may use 60 meters.  All of these license classes have full band privileges. 
The five channels available on a secondary basis with a maximum effective radiated power of 100 W PEP relative to a half wave dipole are:
5.330.5 MHz
5.346.5 MHz
5.357.0 MHz
5.371.5 MHz
5.403.5 MHz
Some readers and listeners may find it odd that we have listed two decimal points in each frequency. I decided to do it that way because this preserves the concept of the “5.3 MHz band”. The ARRL chart lists kilohertz, so that the frequency would read 5330.5 kHz, for example. On my ICOM IC-7200 transceiver the readout follows our listing in megahertz and has two decimal points.
Only USB suppressed carrier voice, CW, RTTY, and data such as Packtor 3 transmissions are allowed on the 60 m band. 
There is a bandwidth restriction on 60 m.  Bandwidth is limited to 2.8 kHz centered on 5.332, 5.348, 5.358.5, 5373, and 5.405 MHz respectively. (For example, you will be on the right frequency if you use upper sideband and tune to 5.330.5 MHz, which is the carrier frequency.)
All things considered, the 60 m band has been improved by these changes. It is still quite unique in its channelized nature, but the addition of new modes of operation do increase its versatility and will make it more attractive to a wider variety of users. Although there is no restriction on which mode of operation may or should be used on which channel, I did hear the CW station on 5.330.5 MHz, perhaps because that is the traditional lowest frequency spot on the band where CW operators might decide to congregate. Perhaps at some time in the future there will be at least an informal band plan beyond the more or less agreed upon use of 5.403.5 MHz as a DX frequency. The increase in power from 50 W to 100 W makes the band more useful still, especially during summertime band conditions when more power is likely to be needed to be heard above thunderstorm static.
I hope you will consider giving the 60 m band a test drive if you have a General Class license or above and an antenna that can be tuned to 5.3 MHz. I think you will be surprised and delighted with the propagation characteristics on 60, and will likely add it to your regular list of useful frequency bands.
For Handiham World, I’m…
Patrick Tice, [email protected]
Handiham Manager