Continue the adventure.
Now that fall is just around the corner and summer vacations, lazy days in the sun and let's not forget the yard work comes to an end it makes more time for radio. Over the summer I have found the bands are a bit more on the quiet side, blog posts slow down and for the most part, we are preoccupied with summer.
For those of you who are into CW and the key has gathered some dust over the summer break a great way to slide back into the CW groove is to take part in some 1 hour "mini-contests"
The K1USN SST (Slow Speed Test)
The event runs twice a week Friday 2000-2100 UTC
Monday 0000-0100 UTC which is Sunday eve but Monday according to UTC time....always threw me off when I first got into contesting.....anyways...
This 1-hour mini contest max's out at 20 wpm and I have done many of these and sent at 16-18 WPM and had many contacts. If you are rusty and want to pick up the dit dah pace a bit this contest is a great place to be. If you are a veteran op it's a great place to slow the pace down and donate an hour.
The exchange is your call sign, name and your State or Province. The contest program N1MM+ supports this contest also if the call sign you are working on is in N1MM+ database the op's name and State/Provence is auto filled if you want. This way you can start by just having to copy the op's call sign.
ICWC MST (Medium Speed Contest)
Mondays 1300-1400 and 1900-2000
Tuesdays 0300-0400
In this 1 hour mini contest the CW speed picks up the pace a bit to 20-25 WPM BUT on request will slow down. This contest is also supported by N1MM+ but under the UDC section (user-defined contest) I'm not going into the UDC format here but use the ICWC link above and they provide a link to the N1MM site to set this contest up. The exchange in this one is your call sign, name and QSO number (serial number as it's called)
This event runs 4 times a week. Wednesdays 1300-1400 UTC and 1900-2000 UTC
Thursdays 0300-0400 UTC and 0700-0800 UTC
In this 1-hour mini contest, one has to put their seat belt on and realize your hair (if you still have any) will be blowing in the wind with the CW speeds. This contest is looked at as a high-speed mini-contest. The speed starts at 25 wpm and goes up from there. When I say up.... speeds into the 40's wpm....mind-boggling. Anyway, N1MM+ does support this contest. In my humble opinion if you are in the 20ish wpm range give this contest a listen only. Search and pounce just listening to the calls and see what you can pick out. The average speed is mid 20's to mid 30's wpm. The exchange your call, name and CWops member number or if not a member your State or Province.
I do take part in this contest but I am not as yet a member of the CWops so my exchange is NB for New Brunswick. Membership details can be found at the site from the link above.
So there you have it if you are interested this fall and winter and have some time on your hands give the 1-hour mini tests a go. Here is the way I look at it....I busted my hump learning CW (it was not an option when I went for my ticket) and I just did not want to throw that away. I had done what most did to get my ticket I learned the code just to get past the exam and I planned to forget about it.
I did leave the code and radio alone as I had a young family like most of you did. I then started to have time on my hands and the love for radio was alive again. I listened to CW and to be honest I was a few code letters short of a full load if you know what I mean. Slowly started to pick it up again and have never looked back.
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Above is me stepping down off my soapbox....I hope you found some useful information from the above.
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].
The September-October 2022 SARC Communicator
We're Back With 130+ Pages Of Projects, News, Views and Reviews
'The Communicator' digital periodical of Surrey Amateur Radio Communications is now available for viewing or download.
Read in over 145 countries now, we bring you Amateur Radio news from the South West corner of Canada and elsewhere. With less fluff and ads than other Amateur Radio publications, you will find Amateur Radio related articles, projects, profiles, news, tips and how-to's for all levels of the hobby.
This month two new columnists, Daniel's Workbench with several projects, refurbishing the MFJ CW oscillator, home-built antennas and much more.
You can view or download it as a .PDF file from: https://bit.ly/SARC22Sep-Oct
Previous Communicator issues are at https://ve7sar.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Communicator
As always, thank you to our contributors, and your feedback is always welcome.
The deadline for the next edition is October 20th.
If you have news or events from your club or photos, stories, projects or other items of interest from BC or elsewhere, please contact us at [email protected]
73,
John VE7TI
'The Communicator' Editor
LHS Episode #479: Pop!_OS Deep Dive
Hello and welcome to the 479th installment of Linux in the Ham Shack. After the discussion in the last episode where the hosts settled on Pop!_OS as the "best" Linux distribution, they decided to take a hard look at it and figure out what's good, what's usable and what needs improvement. We hope you find this episode enjoyable and if you have some time and free hard disk space, give Pop!_OS a whirl.
73 de The LHS Crew
Russ Woodman, K5TUX, co-hosts the Linux in the Ham Shack podcast which is available for download in both MP3 and OGG audio format. Contact him at [email protected].
ICQ Podcast Episode 384 – FT8 as a Messaging Network?
In this episode, Martin Butler (M1MRB) is joined by Frank (K4FMH), Chris (M0TCH) and Martin (M0SGL) to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin (M6BOY) rounds up the news in brief and in the episode's feature FT8 as a Messaging Network.
We would like to thank our monthly and annual subscription donors for keeping the podcast advert free. To donate, please visit - http://www.icqpodcast.com/donate
- Simultaneous APRS and Voice Repeater on the International Space Station
- Hams Radio Operators Support American Red Cross in Kentucky Flood Response
- 13-year-old Restoring Old Soviet Tech in Georgia
- Bicycle Mobile Competition at Ham Radio Event
- ARUMS newsletter - Over The Horizon Radars
- New Radio - Icom IC-905
- New Radio - Yaesu FT-710
- United States Special Event
- Free Windows RF Calculator - WinRFCalc
- GB3HA Back on Air in Northumberland
Colin Butler, M6BOY, is the host of the ICQ Podcast, a weekly radio show about Amateur Radio. Contact him at [email protected].
AmateurLogic.TV 17th Anniversary Contest

AmateurLogic celebrates 17 years on October 15, 2022 and you could be a winner.
Check out the details at amateurlogic.tv/contest .
George Thomas, W5JDX, is co-host of AmateurLogic.TV, an original amateur radio video program hosted by George Thomas (W5JDX), Tommy Martin (N5ZNO), Peter Berrett (VK3PB), and Emile Diodene (KE5QKR). Contact him at [email protected].
Ham College 92
Ham College episode 92 is now available for download.
Extra Class Exam Questions – Part 30.
E7A Digital circuits: digital circuit principles and logic circuits, classes of logic elements, positive and negative logic, frequency dividers, truth tables.
George Thomas, W5JDX, is co-host of AmateurLogic.TV, an original amateur radio video program hosted by George Thomas (W5JDX), Tommy Martin (N5ZNO), Peter Berrett (VK3PB), and Emile Diodene (KE5QKR). Contact him at [email protected].
Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 252
New Icom IC-905 VHF/UHF/SHF SDR transceiver – 144MHz to 10GHz
Originally dubbed Project SHF, the new IC-905 sports a control unit based on the portable IC-705.
QRPblog
Hunstville Hamfest in photos
The Huntsville Hamfest was alive and well this year with a strong showing from major companies.
WK4DS
QRZ New Ham Jumpstart Program
The program will provide a new Ham welcome package, including a free HT, to eligible applicants.
QRZ.com
Solid-stating old tube gear
Look at that. Well, maybe some of you shouldnt.
SolderSmoke Daily News
Is your radio vulnerable to outside control?
In our IoT (Internet of Things) world things are open to purposeful and inadvertent control.
With Varying Frequency
Maidenhead Grid overlay for aprs.fi
Add a grid overlay to the popular aprs.fi APRS map.
Notizbl0g
Understanding wire & conductors
Wire and electrical conductors are so fundamental that we use them without giving much thought to their importance.
Off Grid Ham
13-year-old restoring old Soviet tech
Unlike most 13-year-old girls, she has a passion for fixing phones and computers.
EuroNews
Nuclear power plant exercise includes ARES
The drill was practice for the federally judged exercise scheduled for September.
ARRL
Video
Huntsville Hamfest 2022
We will walk the floor, check out some vendor areas, and the flee market.
Tank Radio
How to make meteor scatter QSOs
Harnessing Meteors for Ham Radio VHF QSOs.
K5ND
5 useful 3D printer projects For Ham Radio
Five 3D printer projects for the Amateur Radio Operator
Tech Minds
Integrated Circuit Manufacturing At Bell Labs (1983)
This classic 16mm Bell Labs film shows every step of the manufacturing process for integrated circuits.
Fran Blanche
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