AmateurRadio.com

The work that Rob Sherwood NC0B has contributed to the public over the past decade is unique and an amazing service to hams worldwide. I’m talking about, of course, his summary Table of receive bench tests published at this Sherwood Engineering website. He is independent so no one can think that advertising dollars could skew his assessments or how he presents them. As a CW contest operator, he is very clear that he sorts his table on the basis of what his experience and training has shown him to be the single most important measurement in his table: the narrow dynamic range.

I am not a CW operator or accomplished contester (lol) but enjoy the latter with my small team of fellow hams. But I am a statistician who likes to focus on problems where analytic tools can help foster a wider understanding of the data surrounding the problem area. So, working with Rob NC0B, I’ve created a set of “Sherwood Tools” to visualize his data as well as link them to a couple of other critical aspects of a rig purchase: market-entry price, consumer satisfaction, and the year the radio entered the market. These four vectors of data drive all of these tools, now available over at foxmikehotel.com.

The tools include a sortable Sherwood list where you can sort on any of the nine tests he publishes as well as the composite index of them that I created and included in my two-part NCJ articles in 2021. A set of 3D data visualizations are available to simultaneously view radios on four data elements (that does make it 4D, technically). Several graphs illustrate key aspects of the data, including how to not get tripped-up in the “ranking” of radios where the bench measurements are just not appreciably different. Seeing how the past 50 years of radios appearing in Rob’s Table have made a remarkable and clear progression toward the best receiver performance that modern test equipment can detect is in another tool. In addition, how the trend in getting a receive bang-for-the-buck has progressed over this 50 year period is there, too. Finally, I’ve used the industry-standard tool by Gartner, the Magic Quadrant, to help isolate radios in Rob’s Table that perform and are rated above average at various price points. I call these the Golden Quadrant Lists.

Rob NC0B has not endorsed these tools and neither have Scott K0MD or Bob K0NR. But all three have given advice and suggestions for how I’ve designed them for which I am very grateful. None should be held accountable for any mistake or result that the viewer may find there. I hope these Sherwood Tools are of use to viewers who are evaluating rigs. (They have been to me over the past two years of doing this research during which I’ve purchased two new HF rigs.) Making a written set of must-have features is a critical complement to these tools. Just like Smokey the Bear says: only you can put out forest fires. Only you can determine the feature-set and ergonomics to satisfy your use-case for a new radio!

I’m outlining a talk on the use of these tools should clubs wish me to visit with them via Zoom. See my contact tab above. I’m good on QRZed.

Frank Howell, K4FMH, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Mississippi, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

In this episode, Martin Butler (M1MRB) is joined by Chris Howard (M0TCH), Frank Howell (K4FMH), Bill Barnes (WC3B) and Leslie Butterfield (G0CIB) to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin (M6BOY) rounds up the news in brief and in the episode's feature Handy Talkies, New or Secondhand.

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

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Colin Butler, M6BOY, is the host of the ICQ Podcast, a weekly radio show about Amateur Radio. Contact him at [email protected].

Hello and welcome to the 465th installment of Linux in the Ham Shack. In this episode, the hosts discuss the latest long-term-support release of Ubuntu, 22.04, otherwise known as Jammy Jellyfish. Topics include installation, updates and changes, general usability, installation of ham radio-specific applications, plans for the LHS re-spin and much more. Thank you for listening and have a great week.

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].

 

This past weekend was the running of the UK/EI DX CW contest and most of the time I have a great receive/transmit into the UK and so I was looking forward to this contest. I have seen sunspot numbers on the increase along with solar flux which is a good and bad thing. Good because the important numbers are rising and poor as this means the sun is active and at times lets loose with solar activity which can bring a rise to the Kp index. 

This weekend during the contest was similar to me using a string and tin can for communications. I did hear some UK stations but no EI stations at all. When I did hear a UK station at one moment they were solid and then in the mud. Generally I made contact with them and then the contest report at both ends was in the mud and needed many repeat backs. 

Well such is the life of a ham radio op they say....and what I add to that is any day on the radio is a good day! I was able to get some CW practice in and overall the time I spent in the contest (about 2 hours) was a nice time spent. 

I made 23 contacts for a score of 833. The picture above is my ADIF  log projected on a map to show contacts for the contest.

Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

 

This past weekend was the running of the UK/EI DX CW contest and most of the time I have a great receive/transmit into the UK and so I was looking forward to this contest. I have seen sunspot numbers on the increase along with solar flux which is a good and bad thing. Good because the important numbers are rising and poor as this means the sun is active and at times lets loose with solar activity which can bring a rise to the Kp index. 

This weekend during the contest was similar to me using a string and tin can for communications. I did hear some UK stations but no EI stations at all. When I did hear a UK station at one moment they were solid and then in the mud. Generally I made contact with them and then the contest report at both ends was in the mud and needed many repeat backs. 

Well such is the life of a ham radio op they say....and what I add to that is any day on the radio is a good day! I was able to get some CW practice in and overall the time I spent in the contest (about 2 hours) was a nice time spent. 

I made 23 contacts for a score of 833. The picture above is my ADIF  log projected on a map to show contacts for the contest.

Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

Ham College episode 88 is now available for download.

Extra Class Exam Questions – Part 26.
E6C Digital ICs: Families of digital ICs, gates, Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs).

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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].

Do you have a crystal radio, homebrew or otherwise? If so and you haven't used it for awhile, here's a great opportunity to try it out again!

Facebook's Crystal Radio DX Contest Group ran a DX contest back in January but participation was fairly limited. After polling the group, it seemed that more members were interested in 'just listening' rather than competing in a contest. With this in mind along with the propagation moving into summer-like conditions, the upcoming non-contest Crystal Radio Listening Event two-night activity will take place on May 13 & 14th (Friday & Saturday). With virtually no rules and no category restrictions, it is hoped that more crystal radio users will be encouraged to enter by listening and reporting to the group what they were able to hear. 

If you are already a group member, please join in the discussion before, during and after the event and don't forget to post your log ... even if you heard just one station! As well, please indicate what you were using with a short description of your receiver and antenna. If you can include a photo, even better! Your participation will hopefully motivate others and generate more interest in crystal radio building and usage. If you are not a member of the group, new members are always welcome!

The only real 'rule' for this event is that your system must be a traditional 'passive' crystal receiver  ... that is, no amplification of the signal can take place. Other than that, your receiver can be as simple or as complex as you like.

For non-members, your log and description can be sent to my mailbox indicated at the bottom. Please feel free to post a link to this blog to anyone or any group that you feel may have interest in participating. If you have further questions please ask in the comment section below or in the group chat. 

I hope you are able to participate in the May listening event.

Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].