AmateurRadio.com

Count me amongst those who consider DXpeditioning and radiosport contesting true sports on par with chess, professional poker, America’s Cup sailing, and similar pursuits. Operating SO2R for 48 hours straight in CQ WW, chasing WRTC qualification, and pounding out 160m Qs all night from sub-Antarctic Islands are not for the faint of heart, literally!

No surprise, then, that many DXers and Contesters also participate in endurance sports such as running, cycling, and triathlon when not on the radio. The ‘king’ contester/endurance athlete must be Thomas OZ1AA who spent five years cycling around the world and operated contests from whatever country he happened to be riding through along the way. Thomas’ amazing Cycling The Globe Blog is here:

http://www.cyclingtheglobe.com/

Thomas logged his cycling travels on Strava, a smartphone app that uses GPS to track cycling, running, and other sports, with share/compare social media functionality. Think of Strava as Logbook of the World for cycling and running. Thomas’ Strava feed is here:

https://www.strava.com/athletes/7378076?oq=thomas

Are there other hams on Strava? Yes! At Force 12, yours truly (AA7XT, triathlon) and Jon (KL2A, running) are both active Strava users:

https://www.strava.com/athletes/2467

https://www.strava.com/athletes/15413914

If you look at the Strava users that Jon and I follow, you’ll see many DXers and contesters including Juan TG9AJR, Mark N5OT, Jeff N5TJ (CQ WW World Record Holder and an accomplished bicycle racer), and many more. There are also numerous ham oriented Strava Groups. I’m a member of  the “DXCC” and “DX Runners” groups.

If you’re on Strava or are going to sign up (it’s free!), please do connect with Jon and myself. Maybe we can have a meetup at Dayton and go for a morning group run? Or create a combo annual contest points + mileage Strava Challenge?

I should note that Force 12 engineer/builder Jeremy KE0CGU is the best athlete at the company but does not use Strava (Jeremy prefers his time outside to be away from gadgets – purist!). Jeremy commutes to F12 via bike regardless of the weather and also has competed in mountain ultra-running and long distance mountain bike events.

A few day after Veterans Day, I am still awash in the recognition vets received on their special day. In the interest of full disclosure, I spent two years on active duty and four years in the Army Signal Corps Reserve during the Korean War era, which probably doesn’t make me an impartial observer.

In actuality, this story began about ten years ago. I was visiting relatives in Florida and was dispatched to the supermarket to procure a few last-minute items. As I was walking into the store a distinguished looking old timer was heading toward a car with Purple Heart courtesy license plates. (The Purple Heart is presented to United State military personnel who have been wounded in combat.) I walked over to him and put out my hand and said, “thank you for your service and sacrifice, I sincerely appreciate both.” Whereupon he started to cry and said, “I’ve had these plates for ten years and you’re the first person who has every said a word!” In the discussion that followed, he told me he was a Marine who received a serious leg wound while fighting on Iwo Jima. Sixty years later he still walked with a serious limp. He also received the Bronze Star for valor in action. My new-found friend dispatched me with a big hug and an emotional, “thank you.” This chance encounter made my vacation and literally changed my life.

Over the ensuing years, I’ve frequently thought about this WWII hero. I wish I had taken his name and address so I could have remained in contact. It has also reminded me of the vast number of vets who gave their life or years of their life in the service of our country. You may be totally anti-war but in my opinion, even the most avid pacifists owe homage to those who died or were willing to serve to give them the right to protest.

Looking for vets I would simply say, “thank you for your service” and shake their hand if the occasion presented itself. I am especially on the lookout for Viet Nam vets as they were the object of disdain when they came home. People would spit at them and called all types of names. Possible a few acts of kindness now can help erase the pain of their homecoming. When encountering a WWII vet, there aren’t many left, I try and engage them in conversation. If I’m in the check-out line at a convenience store and there is a vet behind me with a container of coffee, I frequently tell the person at the cash register, “take out for the vet’s coffee.”

Don’t be surprised if thanking a vet, or other random acts of kindness, makes you feel better. Knowing you have brought a smile and a good feeling to another human being is a very special thing.

What will Amateur Radio – and radio in general – look like in the future? And maybe not that far in the future. Say 5 or 10 years?

At this year’s ARRL & TAPR Digital Communications Conference, two well-known hams in satellite and microwave circles made that question the focus of their Sunday Seminar talk. The Sunday Seminar at the DCC is a four hour ‘deep dive’ into a single topic, from 8 AM to noon on the final day of the three-day conference. The Friday and Saturday sessions are all 45-minute talks, and while they can get pretty technical, they’re still more overviews of their subject matter. This year’s conference was in September 2016 in St. Petersburg FL.

The two hams are Michelle Thompson W5NYV and Dr. Bob McGwier N4YH. It’s hard to reduce their session to a short summary, but I’ll try. If you want more, I recorded the whole thing on video for HamRadioNow Episode 276, and there’s an 11-minute synopsis video at the bottom of this essay. I actually recorded the whole conference, as I have since 2008, and I’m releasing each talk as a HamRadioNow episode as I get them produced.

By the way, Ham Radio 8.0 is my title, not theirs. The official title of the Sunday Seminar is Spectrum: It’s the Frequency Crunch for Real. And that gets closer to the heart of their subject.

So, the short story: out there in the real world, spectrum is in short supply. It’s been that way for a long time, but it’s getting more and more critical, especially in UHF and the microwaves as wireless broadband (4G, 5G, WiFi, etc.) needs more and more space. And yet it’s being used inefficiently. Blocks of spectrum are assigned to services as if they are city blocks of land. Yet those services don’t use every bit of the spectrum they’re given all the time.

Starting about now, software defined, cognative radios can be designed to work together, to cooperate on frequency, mode, bandwidth and spectrum to each get their message through using whatever they need to do it. I’m going to take a paragraph break here because the previous sentence is the heart of the story. So much so that I’m going to repeat it, in bold type, and turn it blue:

 Starting about now, software defined, cognative radios can be designed to work together, to cooperate on frequency, mode, bandwidth and spectrum to each get their message through using whatever they need to do it.

We’ve got the technology. We just need the plan (and the will). The plan part is being spurred on by the DARPA Spectrum Collaboration Challenge. That’s the same DARPA that brought you cool stuff like the Internet. Your tax dollars at work. The will part… well, that probably comes from government and industry running up against a wall and finding they have no other choice.

Where does ham radio come in? Bob N4YH is Chief Scientist at the Hume Center for National Security and Technology at Virginia Tech. He’s way up there in advanced academic circles. And he mixes that up with ham radio as much as he can, encouraging students to become hams because that opens up some unique paths for experimentation. We can do almost anything we want with our allocations across the radio spectrum at will, without asking anyone’s permission. Bob expects (hopes?) that our more technically savvy hams will take on that DARPA challenge and lead the way into this brave new world.

So where does your ham radio come in, assuming you’re not one of our most technically savvy hams ready to lead the way? I think you’ll enjoy hearing Michelle and Bob wind their way around this subject, and this is really just the start, so the discussion begins here. Government and industry need this to keep communications moving forward. Bob’s take is that ham radio needs it to survive into a new generation of hams – hams who are attracted to technical challenges of the future, not legacy operation of the past (and the present). That is not going to sit well with today’s older ham gentry. We like our CW and SSB, and even our PSK 31 (and WSPR – HamRadioNow Episode 277 is on using a Raspberry Pi and a TAPR shield kit as a WSPR beacon). Bob readily admits that this is the End of Amateur Radio As We Know It. And the beginning of an Amateur Radio that we won’t recognize.

Here’s the 11-minute version. The full talk in Episode 276 runs about 3 hours (which I break up into three parts). That’s a serious time commitment, even for something this entertaining and important. Maybe the audio version will help, so HamRadioNow is available as an audio podcast you can download onto your phone.

Dave K1SWL and I spent a couple of hours at Winslow State Park at the base of Mt. Kearsarge this afternoon. It was 57F and really beautiful.

A nearby parking area serves as the trail-head for several hiking paths up the mountain. There are a few picnic tables in a small field nearby and we set up there.

Dave wanted to try out a new half wave wire and matching circuit he’d built. So he tossed a wire into a maple tree and pulled up the antenna. He used his KX3. He was already making a QSO on 20 meters as I was setting up.

A few feet away, I pulled up the 3-band LNR end fed wire. I supported it in the middle and used it as an inverted Vee. I had the 3-band MTR by KD1JV powered by 8 AA cells. The output is close to 3 watts. I made a quick contact with Ron K4UY in Alabama and received a 569 report.

As I finished I heard Dave working another station… VO1DD in Hearts Delight, Newfoundland. I called over and Dave gave me the frequency. When Dave signed, I gave the Newfoundland station a call. Doug gave me a 599 and we chatted for a minute. That was super.

In the meantime Dave was working a station in California. I never got the call, but had time to snap a quick photo of Dave before they signed.

I switched to 40 meters and happened to hear Joe N2CX calling CQ from an NPOTA site… the Clara Barton National Historic Site in Maryland. Fantastic! I gave Joe a call and received a 559. Joe left 40 meters before Dave could finish his California QSO, so Dave didn’t catch Joe this time around.

Now the sun started dipping below the trees and our picnic tables were in shade. Right away we began to feel the chill and packed up. It’s unlikely we’ll get another day this warm before the snow falls. Thank goodness we were able to take advantage of the opportunity.

For the past few months I have been having a love hate relationship with a Raspberry Pi Model B and Direwolf. The software runs perfectly well on my Pi3 but makes my other Pi fall over relatively easily. When this is at home it is no problem at all. I just reset and it will restart the software but the trouble is it has been at the clubs QTH. Ok I can log in remotely and deal with it but when it refuses to connect to the internet it becomes a pain. So I was looking for alternative solutions.

I came across the Dorji DRA818v module a little while ago and though that would work. It is a simple module that just needs a PCB and some connections to the Pi. But hang on, there are PCB’s you can already buy. But they don’t have filtering. Now hang on again there are those with filtering too. Now that looks good. Then hanging on for a third time the Sainsonic AVRT7 does it all simply!

So, now there are a bunch of choices for the same module. I’ve ordered a AVRT7 and around 30+ working days later I should receive the new toy.

There are a few warnings about counterfeit Prolific chips and trouble programming. I can see some frustrating times ahead but I’ve never been one to shy away from a challenge. I just hope it’ll be one that can be beaten. I will also get myself a SV1AFN pcb when I get around to it for home / experimental use. Just don’t tell Mrs g7kse!

Whilst we are on the subject I am really impressed with Direwolf. WB2OSZ has produced a really great bit f software that is easy to install on that Raspberry Pi and RTL Dongle you bought that you’re not using. The world can only get better with loads of iGates

AmateurLogic.TV Episode 97 is now available for download.

Tommy shows us the Android SDR, Peter makes an Auto-Pi, Emile continues his COMM TCPIP Remote, George talks about RG-142 and correct Connector Installation.
1:24:04

Download
YouTube

by John ‘Miklor’

APRS-K2
It’s long overdue, but there’s finally a TRRS/APRS cable available for radios using a standard Kenwood style K2 connector.

I’ve been wanting to get involved with APRS for a while now, and this made it extremely easy.

APRS-K2 interface cable
The APRS-K2 cable allows you to interface your handheld transceiver with your existing mobile device, including. iPhone, iPad, and Android.

One end of the cable uses the Kenwood style K2 connector, while the opposite end is terminated with a TRRS connector. Also included with the APRS-K2 is a Reverse Adapter to insure compatibility with all devices. This adapter allows cable to connect to earlier 3.5MM TRRS standards, such as Nokia.

App Driven
The APRS-K2 cable uses a virtual TNC found in several apps, such as APRSDroid, APRS.fi, and Pocket Packet. Plug in the cable, turn on the VOX, and you’re pretty much set to go.

Product Description
BTECH APRS-K2 TRRS / APRS Cable A simple way to start using APRS by using devices you already own. The BTECH APRS-K2 Cable will quickly connect your radio to APRS by using virtual TNC (app driven) on your tablet or device. The APRS-K2 cable is built with a custom circuit board that will automatically adjust the audio for clear packet transmissions with minimal adjustment; along with protecting your devices from strong over modulated signals.

Along with allowing APRS functionality the APRS-K2 cable can provide a simple interface gateway to allow several features to your radio!

Easily record radio conversations:
By connecting the APRS-K2 cable between your radio and any recording (line-in) device.

Use the APRS-K2 cable as a Mic In Connector:
Set up VOX on your radio to accept any form of incoming audio – such as a Push-to-talk application on a Phone – or a Line-out application from your computer.

Use the APRS-K2 cable to push transmissions over a speaker system:
Easily play audio over a intercom or speaker system from your handheld.

With a backup radio and your own ingenuity, the APRS-K2 cable can serve as an interface for a variety of applications for any amateur. Compatible with Kenwood K2 Accessory Slot Radios (such as BaoFeng, BTECH, Wouxun, TYT) Compatible with all phones, tablets, and computers with 3.5MM Audio In/Out Ports

Includes:
APRS-K2 Cable
Reverse Connector Adapter
Quick Start Guide

Conclusion:
The cable comes with a simple one page instruction sheet which should have you up and running in about 10 minutes after the appropriate app is loaded.
–  Plug in the cable
–  Set your handhelds volume control
–  Turn on the VOX
–  Set your handheld to 144.390 (US)
–  Activate the app

That’s all it takes. If you’ve been considering building an APRS cable, you might find this an easy Plus and Play alternative.

The APRS-K2 can be ordered from   Amazon, or if outside the US, you can go to their website and contact them directly.   Baofeng Tech

Too many toys, too little time.
John ‘Miklor’   K3NXU
http://www.miklor.com