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Critical Thinking

7 January 2010 | by Anthony K3NG | Leave a Comment (0)

As I have gotten older, while physically I'm not what I used to be, mentally and intellectually I think I have grown stronger. Looking back on the past decade I'm troubled that we've become a society that has abandoned critical thinking. Today with the Internet it's way too easy to have material that supports our already established beliefs and steadfast opinions available at our fingertips, and we're often all too eager to forward this information to others without giving the validity of it any thought. Critical thinking has been replaced with leading question asking, predetermined goal-oriented thinking, and political slacktivism.

This year one of my blogging goals is to engage in more critical thinking and present those views.

Below is a video on critical thinking that I think is excellent...

Anthony Good, K3NG, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Pennsylvania, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

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Handiham World for 6 January 2010

6 January 2010 | by Patrick WA0TDA | Leave a Comment (0)

Welcome to Handiham World!

Pat, WA0TDA, with handiham coffee mug.

This week is a busy one with back to back meetings all day Wednesday and Thursday, so that accounts for this late (and shorter) edition of your weekly Handiham World. I hope you all had a pleasant holiday season and are ready to get back into the routine of getting on the air every day.

I did want to let you know that Santa was good to me this year, because a brand-new Icom IC-7200 was under the tree on Christmas morning. I plan to learn a bit more about the 7200, then I’ll write a more thorough review from the our particular Handiham perspective. The best points about the rig so far:

Front-firing speaker
Easy to use numeric keypad
Built-in speech for blind users, no extra module needed
USB interface on the back panel
Easy to read display
Great receiver

So how’s that for starters? I’ll put together some more detailed thoughts later on, but I have to say that the new IC-7200 is really a step up from the IC-706 Mark 2 G that I had been using for HF. And I’m thrilled that manufacturers are finally including voice frequency readout that doesn’t cost extra!

Now, stay tuned for two new year’s resolutions. That means you!

For Handiham World, I’m…

Patrick Tice, [email protected]

Pat Tice, WA0TDA, is the manager of HANDI-HAM and a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com. Contact him at [email protected].

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RTTY Roundup 2010

4 January 2010 | by Paul Lannuier | Leave a Comment (0)

First contest of the year for me but was only able to put in 7 about hours on 40m (0244-0952 UTC) and logged 103 QSOs.

Not much luck with DX but nabbed LA (Norway, a new one from Texas) and a few other Europeans (G, I, OK, PA, SP), plus EA8, FM, HI, JA, KH6, KP4, P4, VE and XE. Stateside, I managed three new states on 40m (HI, RI and WY).

I wasn’t able to do anything on Sunday, just exhausted. Final score: 4,532

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ICQ Podcast Series Three Episode One (03 January 2010) – Choosing 2010 Construction Project

3 January 2010 | by Colin M6BOY | Leave a Comment (0)

Series Three Episode One of the ICQ Amateur / Ham Radio Podcast. News Stories include:-

Your feedback, and Martin explains our choice for the 2010 ICQ Podcast Construction Project.

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

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2009 Wrap-Up

2 January 2010 | by Paul Lannuier | Leave a Comment (0)

or: This Was The Decade That Was.

And with little fanfare I made my return to the HF bands in 2009. This, in keeping with the tradition I seem to have of always coming back to HF near the absolute ass end of a sunspot cycle after a prolonged absence during the peaks. The last time this happened was October 1995 when I went QRV at the tail end of Cycle 22 after being off the air for almost 6 years. Now I’m just in time to experience Cycle 24 which some predict will be the least active solar cycle in the history of this universe and all others, or some such. My lucky stars!

How long has it been this time? My logbook shows that other than sporadic activity (9 QSOs) between January 2001 and March 2002, I’ve been out of the game for over 10 years — my last contest from Closter, NJ was CQ WPX Phone in March 1999. Before that, my last spurt of activity lasted for 42 months (Oct. 95 to Mar. 99) during which time I worked a lot of mobile HF; discovered the joy of computerized logging during contests; discovered the further joy of losing copious amounts of computerized log data to the fickle whims of that third-rate, so-called “operating system” known as Windows (Win98, I believe it was that did my logs in….); I worked some CW contests for the first time; and got a new call, relegating that godawful N2HIE to the trash heap of bad-CW-call history. I was tanned, rested and ready for Cycle 23.

Then I got distracted — work took up more of my time, I got married, moved 4 times around northern New Jersey, got sidetracked by other hobbies (astronomy, photography, a brief and futile affair with model trains), spent 2+ years gutting and remodeling my mom’s house, then finally made the big move to Texas in August 2008.

Yet all during this time I never really let ham radio drift too far away. I may not have put a signal on the air but I had some or all of my radios set up at both my Bergenfield (2001) and Lake Wallkill (2002-2008) QTHs and did quite a bit of listening. Even had an FT-817 in my car for a spell and used to listen to 20m and 40m during my commute. I picked up a few key elements of my current station like a second NRD-515 receiver, a NCS Multi-RX audio mixer and a Heil Classic 5 mic; put an FT-7800 dual-bander in my Jeep; ordered and built my KX1 QRP transceiver; and got a new HF rig, the insanely great K3, in January 2008.

The only missing piece was an antenna and that came in June of this year in the unlikely form of a Tarheel screwdriver antenna (a hex beam or phased verticals being out of the question at the current QTH). And with that, on June 16th, WW2PT was back on HF. By the end of 2009 I had:

Installed Ham Radio Deluxe and DM780 and set up (grudgingly…) a Windoze machine for logging and digi-modes.
Deciphered the needlessly complex Logbook of the World registration process and got that up and running, and also joined up with eQSL to cover all the electronic verification bases.
Started working PSK and several other digital modes.
Started listening to more CW towards the end of the year (in preparation for Resolution #1, see previous post), but I only worked up the courage to touch the paddles for one QSO (HK1X).
Played in a few contests — IARU HF, IOTA, CQ WWDX Phone, WAE RTTY, PSK DeathMatch.

…and just over 6 months later I had worked all 50 states, 78 DXCC countries and 25 CQ zones — that’s a whopping 103 DX Marathon points! (tnx AE5X for the reminder…) QSLs have been trickling in, too, giving me 47 countries and all states confirmed in 2009. The final tallies for the year (as of 31-Dec-09) are…

2009 DXCC:

2009 WAS:

2009 WAZ:

Bring on Cycle 24.

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2010 Resolutions & Wishes

31 December 2009 | by Paul Lannuier | Leave a Comment (0)

My 2010 New Year Resolutions

1. I will work CW: No, seriously. I really mean it this time — I can no longer take it when I hear people bragging about their QSO with Holyshite Reef, South Fubar Island, or Siddown & Shuddup Rocks on CW with only 10 watts and a coat hanger. I want in on this action!

So… I’ve been spending a lot of time listening down at the low end of the bands lately and have an iPod Shuffle loaded up with W1AW code practice MP3s, trying to get my speed up above my current retard level. I don’t phant’sy I shall ever achieve contester/DXer proficiency but I figure if I can recognize my own call sign and “5NN’ at 30-35 WPM I can fake the rest and blame QRM and QSB for all that I miss.

2. I will work QRP: This resolution closely related to the one immediately preceding. Time to break out the KX1, head out to Whiskey Hill with a 300′ roll of bell wire and see what happens. I might even try for WAS on PSK running only 5 watts.

3. I will concentrate on single-band WAS: All-band/all-mode WAS is in the bag, and I just need HI for the PSK endorsement. Only 5 QSLs left to complete WAS on 20m, then I swear to Baby Jesus I’m through with that infernal band (contests excepted). With solar conditions improving I expect to be spending a lot more time on 17m and 15m. And of course 40m is always a lot of fun even with only 100 watts. If I can finish 2010 with WAS on 40m and either 17m or 15m, I’ll be happy; if all three, I’ll be delirious.

4. I will upgrade to Extra: I’ve been putting this off for too long. Never did it because I never really needed the lower 25 kHz, but now that Resolution #1 is in effect…

5. I will buy an amp: Because even though QRP is fun, it ain’t gonna help me earn any awards on 80m or 40m. That ALS-1300 looks soooo nice.

6. I will build more equipment: Been itching to dig into another kit or two, perhaps a K1 or a SoftRock. If I can muster the dough, I’d love to build a K2 that I can dedicate to QRP CW and PSK31. At the very least I will build and install the 80m/30m option for my KX1 that I have in a box somewhere.

My 2010 Wish List

1. PSK ops will refrain from using RSID: I love automatic ID for oddball modes like Throb and MFSK, but do we really need it for garden-variety PSK31 transmissions? I end up turning RSID off after a few minutes.

2. PSK ops will develop some DXing skills: For God’s sake, people… stop sending “My Station” macros and weather reports when working DX. Unless the DX station starts chatting you up, work him like it’s a contest — people are waiting. And trust me, the DX doesn’t care what kind of radio or computer you’re using or when you were “created”. Try this macro instead:
hisCall TU 599 599 Name myName QTH myQTH BTU DE myCall

If the DX wants to know anything else, he’ll ask. Betcha’ a dollar he won’t.

When the DX station signs, just give a quick “73” and leave it at that. Wishing him and his family Merry Christmas in six different languages is not required; neither is informing him that “PSK31 QSO #261 has been logged at 0351 UTC on 12-December-2009”, nor that he can find more info about you on QRZ.com. And if the DX ends his last transmission to you with “QRZ?”, don’t say anything else — just log the QSO and move on. Remember: “QRZ?” is short for “OK, you’re in the log, now shut yer pie-hole and let me work someone else!”

This is all so “DXing 101” that I’m embarrassed to have to mention it, but the PSK band segments are clearly overpopulated with noobs who need some gentle Elmering. I’m here to help.

3. Sunspots will return: ‘Nuff said.

4. More hams will use LOTW: Yes, I know it sucks… but it’s really not that hard to figure out or that much of an inconvenience to sign and upload your logs — certainly much less hassle than filling out a couple hundred cards, stuffing them into envelopes, fixing stamps, etc. And a whole lot cheaper, too; this alone should appeal to the cheap bastards that all hams are known and well documented to be.

With that, I now sign off for 2009 wishing all a Happy New Year and all the best DX in 2010!

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Amateur Radio Website Technology Patent Causes Uproar

30 December 2009 | by Anthony K3NG | Leave a Comment (0)

The popular amateur radio forum website iHam announced today that it has received a patent for a recycling technology developed by their staff over the past several years. The proprietary process enables iHam staff to turn fecal matter into text which is then posted on their website in the form of an article. The technology eliminates the need for humans to author articles, a process which requires time and effort. It also eliminates the need for editors to review the material, reject bad articles, and correct mistakes, misinformation, and mispellings in articles. iHam staff indicated that they can "have anyone be an editor now, even those without any editing inclination or experience", noting that feces can be fed into the system and one merely pushes a button for the article text to appear on the iHam website.

Rival forum website QRM is expected to file a lawsuit to block the patent citing prior art by providing articles from its website dating back to 2003. One insider familiar with QRM's process I spoke with on the condition of anonymity and a free case of Yuengling Lager stated that a QRM lawsuit would be unsuccesful. "Their technology is quite different from iHam's." he said. "Although their process also recycles fecal material, they use monkeys in a room to fling it onto a whiteboard to form the article text. iHam's process is much more high tech and efficient. I think you can see the difference in the quality of articles when comparing iHam to QRM. QRM has had only limited and sporadic success with its technique, but iHam has had its patented technology work consistently for the past several years."

It's been reported that several cable news networks, a UNIX operating system intellectual property litigation firm, and a propagation prediction report are interested in licensing and using the technology. However, even without merit, the lawsuit may delay iHam's plan to monetize the patent, the proceeds of which have been slated to buy more colors and modern fonts for the popular website.

The amateur radio advocacy group Radio Amateur Remembrance League (RARL) may also be jumping into the fray and is rumored to be examining the patent to see if it infringes on material they had used previously for a regulation by bandwidth proposal and by a digital subcommittee that rubber-stamped a popular HF email standard. When asked about their position on the patent, Worldcommunications Online responded that their statement would be online in the February 2010 issue which was going to press next week and slated for uploading to their website in a month and a half.

The patent has certainly created a lot of noise in amateur radio and is starting out 2010 with a bang. Stay tuned.

(After coming to my house and eating all my crackers and licorice, The K3NG Report legal team has informed me that I have to tell all viewers that the above story is fictional satire, and not a real news story. The names have been changed to protect the guilty and any resemblance to any organizations or websites, living or dead, is purely intentional. There is no confidential informant and I haven't gotten anyone to talk with a free case of beer. Actually, there were several cases of beer and it was my legal team drinking it and doing a lot of talking. I'm told only political TV networks pretending to be news channels are allowed to create news articles that are totally fictional. No animals were injured in the making of this blog article, however the egos of several amateur radio operators may be bruised when reading it. I'm told that's OK.)

Anthony Good, K3NG, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Pennsylvania, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

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