AmateurRadio.com • Ham Radio Blog

Saved by something or other

24 July 2016 | by Alex G7KSE | Leave a Comment (4)

Today I almost bought a new rig. I say almost because it has been the closest time I have ever got to buying a new rig. I had a week with a KX3 and found it wasn’t to my taste, not because it didn’t perform well but for some reason or another it just didn’t do it for me. So I looked at the new Icom IC7300 and was really taken aback by it. It looks like a great rig and I’m sure it’ll do a lot for those that buy it, one day I might get one. Today I almost did. My finger was hovering over the buy now….I put one in the basket and got the credit card out. My XYL pointed out I could afford it (This made me very suspicious). Then I realised I was sure I didn’t actually want it. Am I losing the fun of radio?

I don’t think so.

I bought a LNR Precision Mountain Topper last April and have used it a handful of times and enjoyed the portability of it all. The simplicity and the lack of domestic real estate needed to make it work for me. I put together a neat little pack for taking away with me and I think I’ll refine that a little. Some things might look familiar, others look like they’re missing, notably a ‘flight deck’ or ‘thing to put your radio on whilst you’re operating out and about’. I’m going to laser cut a bespoke one that will fit into the case (which by the way is an old Dremel carry case). More on that later

So I decided to save my money and think about a shack in the box that I really miss, a Yaesu FT817ND. I sold my 817 a couple of years ago and regretted it from the minute I sold it. I think I will get myself a decent second hand one of those with a few of the bells and whistles I didn’t have the first time around. At least that’s what I think I’ll do today.

Tomorrow I’m sure I’ll change my mind again.

Alex Hill, G7KSE, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cumbria, UK. Contact him at [email protected].

» Leave a Comment (4)

ICQ Podcast Episode 216 – DA0HQ Contest

24 July 2016 | by Colin M6BOY | Leave a Comment (0)

In this episode, Martin M1MRB / W9ICQ is joined by Edmund Spicer M0MNG, Chris Howard M0TCH and Ed Durrant DD5LP to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin M6BOY rounds up the news in brief, and this episodes feature is an interview with the organisers of the DA0HQ Contest site.

Malaysian Amateur Radio Licences Changes
BBC Starts Roll-Out of International Radio App
US Ham’s Save Kids from Surrounded Campfire
Earthing and the Radio Amateur
Ofcom Proposes Ham Band for Wi-Fi
UK Amateurs Visit 10 Downing Street
AES Ham Radio Store Closing Down
New European Table of Frequency Allocations
Australian Radio Operator Fined and Off Air

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

» Leave a Comment (0)

ICQ Podcast Episode 216 – DA0HQ Contest

24 July 2016 | by Colin M6BOY | Leave a Comment (0)

In this episode, Martin M1MRB / W9ICQ is joined by Edmund Spicer M0MNG, Chris Howard M0TCH and Ed Durrant DD5LP to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin M6BOY rounds up the news in brief, and this episodes feature is an interview with the organisers of the DA0HQ Contest site.

Malaysian Amateur Radio Licences Changes
BBC Starts Roll-Out of International Radio App
US Ham’s Save Kids from Surrounded Campfire
Earthing and the Radio Amateur
Ofcom Proposes Ham Band for Wi-Fi
UK Amateurs Visit 10 Downing Street
AES Ham Radio Store Closing Down
New European Table of Frequency Allocations
Australian Radio Operator Fined and Off Air

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

» Leave a Comment (0)

Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 121

23 July 2016 | by Cale K4HCK | Leave a Comment (0)

Radiosport vs. Pokémon GO
It should come as no surprise that ham radio operators are drawing comparisons between Pokémon GO and Amateur Radiosport.
ARRL

Growing 6m JT65 activity
On several occasions this week, I have heard or worked dozens of others on JT mode while the bottom end of the band appears void of signals.
AmateurRadio.com

North Korea activates numbers station
A female announcer at the radio station read numbers for two minutes on 24 June and 14 minutes on Friday.
The Guardian

What’s In your rubber duck?
I often refer to the rubber duck as The World’s Most Convenient Crappy Antenna.
K0NR

Life as a blind radio Ham
Anyone can join in the conversation and sometimes you find yourself talking to a dozen or so people across the ends of the Earth.
Largs & Millport

Smartphone vibration motor as microphone
Two researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have devised a method for turning vibration motors, like the ones found in smartphones, into makeshift microphones, capable of recording the sound around them.
Southgate

How to: GPS spoofing (to hack Pokémon GO)
As satellite GPS signals are very weak while receiving on earth, transmitted signals with the HackRF will be very strong in comparison
Insinuator

A speaker mic NOT to buy
I’m guessing this one didn’t pass through quality control, if there is such a thing at the Baofeng factory.
Digital Mobile Radio

Receiving WSPR with RTL-SDR
Direct sampling mode allows you to receive HF signals on an RTL-SDR without the need for an upconverter
RTL-SDR.com

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.

» Leave a Comment (0)

2016 Summer Trip – Day 55

22 July 2016 | by Scott NØZB | Leave a Comment (0)

Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota. Devils Tower National Monument, Wyoming.

Lakota Native Americans call it the Bear Lodge.

Friday, July 22nd – Toured Wind Cave. Once we entered the cave and started to descend, Emily was scared at first but then was ok. After the tour, the girls finished up their Junior Ranger books and received their badges for Wind Cave.

The day started getting hot. The expectation was temps into the upper 90s. I had gotten a prime parking spot in front of the Wind Cave Visitors Center which allowed me to connect to their wifi. I used the wifi connection to make reservations at the Devils Tower KOA. The heat made me want to camp at a location where we could make use of our air conditioner.

We left the Elk Mountain Campground around 1pm. Elk Mountain Campground is a good place to camp if the weather had been a bit more cooperative. I was disappointed in the lack of any substantial Ranger-led evening program.

It was a nice drive in a northeast direction through a national forest to I-90 where we were only on I-90 to go up one exit. Checked into Devils Tower KOA (located immediately outside the monument) and had some food across the street at the trading post. Ended up getting a pull-thru site next to another ham (KF5SA). He has an HF station mounted inside his trailer.

Quick trip up to the visitors center to get Junior Ranger books (from Ranger Erin Cahill). Attended evening program at the campground amphitheater which was blown out by bad weather into the picnic area.

Scott Hedberg, NØZB, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Kansas, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

» Leave a Comment (0)

Activating SOTA’s at Philmont Scout Ranch

21 July 2016 | by Mike AD5A | Leave a Comment (0)

Philmont Scout Ranch belongs to the Boy Scouts of America and is located near Cimarron, NM. Philmont consists of some 136,000 acres of rugged back country ideal for backpacking and any number of other outdoor activities. (www.philmontscoutranch.org) Philmont offers a variety of backpacking itineraries that cover 10 days of hiking ranging in distance from 56 miles to 106 miles.

I was fortunate to be able to do a 84 mile backpacking trek with my son, AB5EB, and my grandson, KF5GYD, at Philmont Scout Ranch near Cimarron, NM. It was 25 years ago to the day, July 5^th, 1991 that I started a trek with my two sons, the second, KB5SKN, to July 5^th, 2016 that I started this trek. Pretty cool from a grandfather perspective. Aside from the trek experience I had in mind to activate a couple of SOTA peaks, within the Philmont boundries, that we would climb on our trek. Neither had every been activated for SOTA.

Philmont rates their treks by the magnitude of difficulty from Challenging, Rugged, Strenuous and Super Strenuous. The trek I was on was in the Super Strenuous category, for those familiar with the system, our Trek was # 31. I have been training for this trek for over a year and would need all that accumulated fitness to make the trip. We had a crew of eight, two adults and six teenage boys. What you learn, or maybe remember, is that youth covers lots of physical ills, in other words, they recover quickly.

The first summit on our trek was Baldy Mountain, W5N/CM-002, 12,441 ft. ASL. We would summit the mountain on the 4^thday of our trek. Trek #31 started at ~ 6,500 ASL, so we would spend 4 days climbing with 50 lb packs on our back toward the summit of Baldy Mountain. There were a multitude of other activities on the way, but the trail was always going up. The day of the final ascent, we arose and 3:30 am, was on the trail by 5:00 am and we climbed ~2,300 vertical feet over four miles of trail from 9,200 ASL to 11,500 ASL with full backpacks to the shoulder of Baldy and hiked the final 1,200 feet with day packs. It was a full day.

Baldy Mountain getting closer

The SOTA activation of Baldy was a bit chaotic. Baldy Mountain is the iconic destination for Philmont trekkers so there was a significant number of scouts on the summit and trying to keep them away from my EFHW was a distraction. I used the KX2, needing SSB capability from my grandson. We made a total of 16 QSO’s in tough conditions, using both my call, AD5A and KX5BSA, a club call that my son is the trustee of. I’ve had my eye on this summit for a while, but the only way to access it is to do a Philmont trek. The descent was satisfying, but when we go back to our packs, we had to saddle up and hike another 3 miles, this time downhill, to our camp for the night. It was a 15 mile day, 12 miles of which was with full packs.

Operating from Baldy Mountain
AD5A In The Middle and AB5EB On The Right

Fast forward six days, the last day of our trek, we camped at ~7,500 ASL, We would ascend almost 2,000 feet again to Schaeffer’s Peak, W5N/CM-016, at 9.413 feet, with full packs. The final 100 ft. or so was with day packs. We had a nice activation there with 23 QSO’s between AD5A and KX5BSA. On this activation, my son and grandson both had sufficient QSO’s to qualify for the points and the scouts gathered around to listen to CW and SSB as my grandson activated. A couple of the boys expressed interest in getting licensed so we will follow up on that.

Baldy Mountain From Scheaffers Peak
Yes, We Hiked That Distance

My Grandson, KF5GYD Operating
From Scheaffer's Peak

After the activation of Scheaffer's Peak, we had to put our packs back on and finish the last nine miles of the trek. Another long day, but at the end, what a sense of accomplishment. Hiking 84 miles in rugged back country and activating two new SOTA summits.

What a great hobby.

Mike Crownover, AD5A, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Texas, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

» Leave a Comment (0)

Activating SOTA’s at Philmont Scout Ranch

21 July 2016 | by Mike AD5A | Leave a Comment (2)

Philmont Scout Ranch belongs to the Boy Scouts of America and is located near Cimarron, NM. Philmont consists of some 136,000 acres of rugged back country ideal for backpacking and any number of other outdoor activities. (www.philmontscoutranch.org) Philmont offers a variety of backpacking itineraries that cover 10 days of hiking ranging in distance from 56 miles to 106 miles.

I was fortunate to be able to do a 84 mile backpacking trek with my son, AB5EB, and my grandson, KF5GYD, at Philmont Scout Ranch near Cimarron, NM. It was 25 years ago to the day, July 5^th, 1991 that I started a trek with my two sons, the second, KB5SKN, to July 5^th, 2016 that I started this trek. Pretty cool from a grandfather perspective. Aside from the trek experience I had in mind to activate a couple of SOTA peaks, within the Philmont boundries, that we would climb on our trek. Neither had every been activated for SOTA.

Philmont rates their treks by the magnitude of difficulty from Challenging, Rugged, Strenuous and Super Strenuous. The trek I was on was in the Super Strenuous category, for those familiar with the system, our Trek was # 31. I have been training for this trek for over a year and would need all that accumulated fitness to make the trip. We had a crew of eight, two adults and six teenage boys. What you learn, or maybe remember, is that youth covers lots of physical ills, in other words, they recover quickly.

The first summit on our trek was Baldy Mountain, W5N/CM-002, 12,441 ft. ASL. We would summit the mountain on the 4^thday of our trek. Trek #31 started at ~ 6,500 ASL, so we would spend 4 days climbing with 50 lb packs on our back toward the summit of Baldy Mountain. There were a multitude of other activities on the way, but the trail was always going up. The day of the final ascent, we arose and 3:30 am, was on the trail by 5:00 am and we climbed ~2,300 vertical feet over four miles of trail from 9,200 ASL to 11,500 ASL with full backpacks to the shoulder of Baldy and hiked the final 1,200 feet with day packs. It was a full day.

Baldy Mountain getting closer

The SOTA activation of Baldy was a bit chaotic. Baldy Mountain is the iconic destination for Philmont trekkers so there was a significant number of scouts on the summit and trying to keep them away from my EFHW was a distraction. I used the KX2, needing SSB capability from my grandson. We made a total of 16 QSO’s in tough conditions, using both my call, AD5A and KX5BSA, a club call that my son is the trustee of. I’ve had my eye on this summit for a while, but the only way to access it is to do a Philmont trek. The descent was satisfying, but when we go back to our packs, we had to saddle up and hike another 3 miles, this time downhill, to our camp for the night. It was a 15 mile day, 12 miles of which was with full packs.

Operating from Baldy Mountain
AD5A In The Middle and AB5EB On The Right

Fast forward six days, the last day of our trek, we camped at ~7,500 ASL, We would ascend almost 2,000 feet again to Schaeffer’s Peak, W5N/CM-016, at 9.413 feet, with full packs. The final 100 ft. or so was with day packs. We had a nice activation there with 23 QSO’s between AD5A and KX5BSA. On this activation, my son and grandson both had sufficient QSO’s to qualify for the points and the scouts gathered around to listen to CW and SSB as my grandson activated. A couple of the boys expressed interest in getting licensed so we will follow up on that.

Baldy Mountain From Scheaffers Peak
Yes, We Hiked That Distance

My Grandson, KF5GYD Operating
From Scheaffer's Peak

After the activation of Scheaffer's Peak, we had to put our packs back on and finish the last nine miles of the trek. Another long day, but at the end, what a sense of accomplishment. Hiking 84 miles in rugged back country and activating two new SOTA summits.

What a great hobby.

Mike Crownover, AD5A, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Texas, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

» Leave a Comment (2)