Amateur Radio Weekly is curated by Cale Mooth K4HCK. Sign up free to receive ham radio's most relevant news, projects, technology and events by e-mail each week at http://www.hamweekly.com.

In this episode of Linux in the Ham Shack, we recount our experiences from day one of Hamvention 2017 live from its new home at the Greene County Fairgrounds in Xenia, Ohio. Thank you to everyone who stopped by to see us live at the show.

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].

The late-spring episode of TX Factor has arrived! In episode 16 our new team member, Pete Sipple M0PSX, looks forward to Youngsters On The Air 2017 and chats to some key players at this Summer’s YOTA UK event.

Pete also finds time to take an eager look at the new dual-band handie offering from Kenwood – the TH-D74E with D-STAR.

Bob chats to our friend Bob Inderbitzen from the ARRL about the League’s worldwide presence and Mike investigates two clever devices from SOTABeams that will help to improve the filtering of your FT-817 and check the efficiency of your HF antenna respectively.

Why not take your mind off the UK general election campaign for an hour and enjoy our latest show? It’s on the air now and it’s FREE with no hidden taxes!!

txfactor.co.uk

Nick Bennett 2EØFGQ co-hosts TX Factor with Bob McCreadie GØFGX and Mike Marsh G1IAR. Contact the team at [email protected]

Friday
9:15 – 10:50 TAPR Forum
10:30 – 11:30 Instructor’s Forum
Noon – 1:00 D-Star Forum
1:00 – 2:15 Techniques of Best Operators Forum
2:30 – 5:00 Antenna Forum

Saturday
9:15 – Noon Youth Forum
10:45 – 12:15 AMSAT Forum
1:30 – 2:30 MESH Forum
2:15 – 3:30 System Fusion Forum
3:30 – 5:00 DX Forum

Sunday
9:15 – 10:15 West Mountain Radio Forum
10:30 – 11:30 Tower Safety Forum

Matt Thomas, W1MST, is the managing editor of AmateurRadio.com. Contact him at [email protected].

Dayton is often the place where ICOM and Yaesu announce new products. I’d like to see a replacement to the FT817 from Yaesu, but have all but given up hope. Certainly a few years ago they would have released at a time of sunspot peak. As it is, we have years of falling conditions, so not the best “window of opportunity.”

Roger Lapthorn, G3XBM, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cambridge, England.

AmateurLogic.TV Episode 104 is now available for download.

Peter upgrades his BitX40. Tommy meets Buster D-Star for the Mac. Emile experiments with D-Rats. George tests the MFJ Receiving Loop Antenna. Plus a New Zealand Taste Test.

1:17:38

Download
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].

G3XBM's 5W Earth-Mode Tx (courtesy: G3XBM)

My interest of late has been piqued by the ongoing VLF experimental work by several European amateurs.








Recalling that Roger, G3XBM, did some VLF experimenting a few years ago, I have been reviewing some of the excellent hands-on information gathered and published in his ham radio blog and to some of his other VLF pages.

It's not the first time that I have found project-inspiring reading within Roger's blogs. They really are a treasure-trove of useful information, construction notes and accumulated test data gathered from his methodical approach to so many interesting topics ... experimental amateur radio at its very best.

A few years ago I was immediately hooked by his experimental lightwave work, both line-of-sight and clear-air / cloudbounce scatter ... so much so that I also became involved in some lightwave work with other locals who were also inspired by Roger's information, culminating in our own West Coast Lightwave Adventure.

Roger's VLF experiments are also proving hard to resist, especially those of the earth-mode type and I may find myself falling victim to his detailed Sub 9kHz Amateur Radio pages and the Earth Mode pages in particular.

It seems that most amateur VLF work is being done in the vicinity of 8kHz since this part of the frequency spectrum is unassigned. I gather that one can conduct earth-mode tests in any portion of the VLF spectrum since no signal is being 'radiated' as is typically done via antennas. Further investigation remains to see if I need a 'developmental licence' to conduct some radiated (non-earth-mode) experiments in the 8kHz range as well.

Getting a VLF signal from here on Mayne Island across Georgia Strait via earth-mode or via conventional methods would make an interesting challenge and would certainly result in some new homebrewing opportunities.

courtesy: https://www.google.ca/maps

Here on the island, I often hear audio associated with the container terminal and ship-loading operations near Tsawwassen, directly across the strait from here. I feel that this may be aided somewhat by the solid sandstone of the island being directly connected to the other side, so perhaps an earth-mode system utilizing the ocean as one-leg of a buried loop might be an interesting experiment to tackle ... or groundwave transmissions across the ocean via an antenna, to the other side, providing I could find someone to listen.

I see just two Canadian amateurs experimenting on VLF ... VO1NA (Joe) and VA3VVV (John) near Toronto. Any VE3's in the area who are interested in VLF may wish to contact John and exchange notes. He has a Facebook page showing his VLF setup. Interestingly, Joe's 30W VLF signal on 8.270 kHz has just crossed the Atlantic! Joe is documenting his VLF experiments here.

All of G3XBM's VLF blogs can be downloaded for reading or for printing via this link. Similarly, his lightwave experiments can all be found here ... both links will yield several pages of material if you click on the 'Older Posts' link at the bottom of each page.

The best way to follow these is chronologically which requires going all the way to the end of the final 'OlderPost' link and follow along with Roger as he gradually develops, evaluates and improves the gear that he needs to make progress. This is fascinating reading.

But be suitably warned ... you may readily fall victim to his experimental work as well and suddenly find yourself with another exciting project!
Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].