AmateurRadio.com

There’s a lot of excitement right now in the UK tech community about a new computer called the Raspberry Pi. It’s a bare board computer with an ARM processor that runs Gnu/Linux that is expected to sell for $25. It’s aimed principally at the education market with the intention of getting schools to teach students how to program and build things with computers instead of just learning Word and Excel as they do now.

The Raspberry Pi will soon be available for anyone to buy. When they are, I’m tempted to get one. My recently acquired Gadget Gangster has helped me recapture some of the magic and excitement I felt when I first started dabbling in home computers back in the ’80s with things like the Nascom 1, ZX81 and Sinclair Spectrum. I think the Raspberry Pi would do the same.

PCs and Windows are great tools, but they have turned computers into appliances and made computing boring. Microcontrollers are like QRP computers – more of a challenge to use but when you succeed you feel a real thrill at having accomplished something.

I think there has never been a better time than now to have an interest in electronics. I hope the Raspberry Pi is a huge success. Perhaps it will result in more of our young people becoming engineers instead of wanting to be lawyers or salespeople.

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

CT1IUA on the beach

Good afternoon fellow bloggers, went to see the Chiropractor and Physiotherapist today regarding my back troubles. The news was...... come back and see us and in the mean time REST!!! Well for me it is very hard to sit still and Julie can attest to that. One way to make sure I sit still and rest is to softly hobble into the radio room. I started out the day on WSPR I was transmitting 1 watt on 20 meters. The big reception report for me was from FR5DN on Reunion Island. At 1 watt that made it 9463 miles per watt for my attic dipole. I also tried some CW on 30m and 17m. Now my DX-33 dipole is not resonant for either of these bands but the K3 does

PV8ADI at the desk

have a tuner so I gave it a shot. Things did not work out very well although the bands seem to be open my signal was just not happening. The LP-100A meter here was showing an SWR up to the antenna of 8.89:1 on 30m's and 9.3:1 on 17m's. The K3's tuner was able to bring it down to 1:1 so the K3 was happy. Later in the day it was off to CW and I checked DX summit's cluster and found a spot for CT1IUA in Portugal. I spun the K3 over to the spot and there was a nice pileup trying to make contact. I gave it a go and was able to snag CT1IUA on my first call with 5 watts. I then saw a spot for PV8ADI in Brazil I spun the dial in that direction and there was not really anyone calling him. He in fact called CQ several times without an answer. I gave him a go at 1 watt but that did not seem to do the trick. I then went to 2 watts and he was able to make out my call with 2 repeats. Funny though I still got a 599 as a report. So at 2 watts that makes it 1529 miles per watt on that contact. I did notice there was lots of action on PSK on the cluster so this evening I hope to get PSK all straightened out this evening with my rig and the software. That way on Tuesday I can maybe do some digi contacts.
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

If you were within earshot of an HF transceiver this past weekend and especially tuned through the data portion of the bands, I’m sure you heard the tell-tale signs of a digital contest taking place.   You really can’t miss it.  The quick bursts of RTTY signals going back and forth is music to some and a nightmare to others. 

Between a heavily packed weekend consisting of an amateur radio breakfast on Saturday morning, taking the Christmas tree down along with the lights outside before the snow started falling and a few other misc. items on the “honey do” list, I managed to find about 3 hours of spare time to spend in the shack working the ARRL RTTY Roundup.  During this time I logged 79 RTTY QSO’s mostly on 20 and 40 meters. 

I must admit I don’t work a lot of RTTY contacts outside of contests and while I started getting serious about contesting in 2011 and actually submitted logs for several, digital contesting isn’t something I get overly excited about.  This fact may sound odd, especially coming from someone who spends 75% or more of his on-air time working the digital modes. 

In any event, as the title states….I did have fun and this is what matters to me.  I’ve mapped out many of the contests (mostly State QSO Parties) I hope to operate in throughout 2012.  I hope to make 2012 and my involvement in the radio sport  aspect of the hobby a memorable one.  So between many of the upcoming on-air contests and my SOTA involvement.  You’ll be certain to hear CQ CQ CQ from KD0BIK throughout the year. 

Until next time…

73 de KD0BIK

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].

My morning surf has brought me to the ARRL’s website with a nice little quiz about Ham Radio that has been on TV and in Hollywood. The recent news in the community about Tim Allen’s new TV show giving Ham Radio some “props”, has inspired this.

This quiz is thanks in part to the websites of AD7DB, KB9MWR and AC6V for the references. As I went through looking at it, some were pretty easy, and some were a little tougher. I didn’t check my answers to see how I did. I wanted to see what you posted for your results first. I know this is a pop quiz, but hey, my teacher did it to me in school, and I’m sure he/she did it to you too. So take the quiz and let us know how you did.

73.

 

 

 

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Rich Gattie, KB2MOB, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New York, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Paul PC4T may be taking a rest from blogging but he is still active. Yesterday evening I spotted him using the new Opera mode.

Andy K3UK has prepared a quick guide to using Opera which some may find helpful. As he points out, Opera is not a QSO mode. The only information that is sent in a beacon transmission is your callsign. Other information that is displayed in the software such as QTH, distance and bearing is sent over the internet back-channel by connected software clients.

Eldon WA0UWH has taken the Parallax Propeller code from my previous post and tried it out on the air. He has already received several reception reports.

Before I can do the same I will need to build a small PA / LPF with an output in the range 200mW to 500mW. Hopefully I can find a suitable circuit that uses standard components such as 2N3904 or 2N2222 which I have in my parts box. Suggestions welcome.

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

I’d like to pass along a tip that has taken me about 25 years of ham radio experience to figure out. I’ve owned many different models of handheld FM transceivers through the years and have always just used the standard “wall wart” charger to charge the batteries.

Recently, I decided to “splurge” and get desktop chargers for the pair of FT-60′s that inhabit our two-ham household. I never realized how handy the drop-in style charger could be until I had one…the HT is always sitting there ready to go. Most of these drop-in chargers are rapid chargers that sense the battery condition — charging them quickly but also dropping back to a trickle charge once they are full.

Since then, I’ve made it a point to always pick up a desktop charger with a new HT. Yes, it does cost $60 to 75 extra but it is well worth the convenience.

73, Bob K0NR

Bob Witte, KØNR, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Colorado, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Today while putting some laundry way in the bedroom I threw my back out. I  simply hung up a T-shirt in the closet and that was it. I was on my knees and down for the count, this has happened in the past and I do see a Chiropractor one a month for up keep.  Now it will be off to the Chiropractor to slowly get better. I will be off work but at this point not sure for how long. I do know there will be no lifting, house work or sudden anything with movements. Hmmm radio does not require any of that!!! So it looks like here at VE3WDM part of the healing will be radio and rest....:)
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].