AmateurRadio.com

In this episode, Martin M1MRB is joined by Chris Howard M0TCH, Martin Rothwell M0SGL, Frank Howell K4FMH, Ed Durrant DD5LP and Bill Barnes N3JIX to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin M6BOY rounds up the news in brief and this episode’s feature is Grow, Merge or Disband your Amateur Radio Club!

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- PACTOR Developer SCS Announces Monitoring Software - Can Online Ham Radio Exams Improve Accessibility? - Inspiring Youth with Science in Space - Michigan State University Amateur Radio Club Celebrates Centennial with Second-Century Special Event - New ARRL Online Groups for More Direct Communications - Amateur Radio Operator Faces Fine for Blocking Other Amateurs - RSGB Youth Team Recruiting - December is YOTA Month

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

Ham College episode 58 is now available for download.

General Amateur Radio Exam part 29. General questions pool updates 1 of 3.

01:06:31

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YouTube

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].

It's time once again for The Weekender. This is our bi-weekly departure into the world of amateur radio contests, open source conventions, special events, listener challenges, hedonism and just plain fun. Thanks for listening and, if you happen to get a chance, feel free to call us or e-mail and send us some feedback. Tell us how we're doing. We'd love to hear from you.

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].

Those hearing me on 20m FT-8

This evening I gave FT-8 a go on 20m and 30m and I was shocked with the contacts I was able to make. I was calling CQ on 20m FT-8 and JI3MJK from Japan came back to me! The contact was made and then JA3ADW came back to my CQ call. I was not able to make contact with him as there was about 4 other station also calling me, he may had given up. My evening contacts both on 20m and 30m were from Italy, U.S, Japan, Denmark, Slovenia and the Czech Republic and the U.S.  

Those hearing me on 30m FT-8 On 20m I was being heard in Japan, South America, Central America, Europe(including Iceland) and all over the U.S. On 30m FT-8 the food gates opened to Europe and all over the U.S but Japan closed down. Overall I am very pleased with how my Endfed antenna preformed this evening.

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

Welcome to Episode 308 of Linux in the Ham Shack. In this short-topic episode, the hosts discuss the JOTA/JOTI weekend, Homebrew Heroes, youths as the future of amateur radio, GNU, Perl, OpenLibra, open hardware, FOSS satellites and much more. Thank you for tuning in. We appreciate you all.

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].

Here is this week’s space weather and geophysical report, issued 2019 Oct 21 0358 UTC.

Highlights of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 14 – 20 October 2019

Solar activity was very low. The solar disk was spotless throughout the period. No Earth-directed CMEs were observed.

No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit reached moderate levels on 14-15 Oct and again on 17-20 Oct with a peak flux of 777 pfu observed at 14/1500 UTC.

Geomagnetic field activity ranged from quiet to unsettled levels. Solar wind speed was mostly in the 300-400 km/s range but increased to 400-440 km/s on 16-17 Oct. Total field ranged from 1-8 nT. The geomagnetic field responded with mostly quiet conditions with isolated unsettled periods on 15 and 20 Oct.

Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 21 October – 16 November 2019

Solar activity is expected to be at very low levels for the forecast period.

No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to reach moderate levels on 24 Oct, 04-11 Nov, and again on 13-16 Nov. High levels are expected on 25 Oct-03 Nov due to coronal hole high speed stream (CH HSS) influence.

Geomagnetic field activity is expected to reach unsettled to active levels on 21-22 Oct and 24-29 Oct with G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storm levels likely on 24-25 Oct due to recurrent CH HSS activity.

Don’t forget to visit our live space weather and radio propagation web site, at: http://SunSpotWatch.com/

Live Aurora mapping is at http://aurora.sunspotwatch.com/

If you are on Twitter, please follow these two users: 1. https://Twitter.com/NW7US 2. https://Twitter.com/hfradiospacewx

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Be sure to subscribe to our space weather and propagation email group, on Groups.io

https://groups.io/g/propagation-and-space-weather

Spread the word!

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Links of interest:

+ Amazon space weather books: http://g.nw7us.us/fbssw-aSWSC
+ https://Twitter.com/NW7US
+ https://Twitter.com/hfradiospacewx

Space Weather and Ham Radio YouTube Channel News:

I am working on launching a YouTube channel overhaul, that includes series of videos about space weather, radio signal propagation, and more.

Additionally, I am working on improving the educational efforts via the email, Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, and other activities.

You can help!

Please consider becoming a Patron of these space weather and radio communications services, beginning with the YouTube channel:

https://www.patreon.com/NW7US

The YouTube channel:
https://YouTube.com/NW7US

..

Visit, subscribe: NW7US Radio Communications and Propagation YouTube Channel

20m without balun

On Saturday I picked up my Balun Designs 1:1 balun and on Sunday I was able to do some on air tests. I wanted to see the difference between using the 1:1 balun and not using it. This post will deal with how my receive signal was  affected with and without the Balun installed. I was able to take some screenshots from my Icom 7610 for this comparison. The first band I looked at was 20m, it was getting a bit late in the day so there was not a whole lot of action on the band. Even with the lack of signals I was able to see an interesting comparison. The span on the 7610 was set to 14.000 to
 14.100 to cover the CW and digi section of the band. The local time was in around 22:37 and without Balun Designs 1:1 balun installed the section of 20m from 14.000 to 14.100 showed some what I called washout sections. I did notice around the 14.040 mark there is some RFI on the waterfall. When I moved the VFO over to that section the RFI was very faint.  Also a very faint indication of RFI on the waterfall just past the

20m with balun

14.080 mark.
When the 1:1 balun was introduced the band cleaned up regarding the washed out sections. I was able to see digi signals, in the posted picture the digi signals are almost gone from the waterfall. There was some CW signals close to the noise floor that I was able to hear (not shown in the picture). I did notice the RFI what was in the waterfall without the balun installed is gone BUT after the balun was installed at 14.080 there was a stronger RFI signal and I could hear it very well when tuned to it. This RFI was not there all the time I would say it was on and off. Not sure what it is but that is not the purpose of this post.....save that for another post.

20m RFI without balun

With the 1:1 balun installed it seemed to clean up the band and bring out signals that were otherwise washed out.

20m RFI with balun

The next band I did was 30m and the span was 10.100 to 10.150 I found without the 1:1 balun installed the 30m band was washed out with just a hint of digi signals between 10.130-10.140. Once the balun was installed the band cleaned up and there was no longer a washout effect. The digi signals were much more significant and I also was able to see some CW signals on the waterfall. I did notice just

30m without balun.

to the right of the digi signals something on the waterfall. I was not really hearing any RFI when I tuned it in maybe it was packet I am not sure?
Because it was later in the evening 40m seemed to really shine when I preformed the comparison with and without the balun installed. The span on 40m was 7.000 to 7.100. Without the balun there was some CW signals as well as some digi signals that I noticed. I was pleased with what I saw until I placed the balun in the picture. This cleared up the band and I was able to see more CW signals and the digi section was much more pronounced. I also noticed according to the S-meter with the balun was in around S-4 and without just over S-5.

I am very pleased how the balun has improved the reception end of things.

30m with balun

30m digi signal with something to the right?

40m without balun

40m with balun

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