Winner Announcement:
http://www.amateurradio.com/winner-announcement-2016-nooelec-giveaway/

It’s our biggest giveaway ever!

NooElec and AmateurRadio.com have teamed up to give away a
HackRF One SDR (Software Defined Radio) transceiver
to a lucky ham PLUS we’re giving away
40 SDR receivers to radio enthusiasts (non-hams, too!) worldwide.

Almost $2,500 in free prizes — and they’ll even pay the shipping!
The deadline to enter is 31 January 2016 20:00 UTC.

Prize Packages

We’re giving away FORTY-ONE (41!) prizes including:One (1)
HackRF One SDR transceiver bundle
Estimated retail value $500 each
Contains everything you need to listen to, and transmit, HF, VHF & UHF (1 MHz to 6 GHz) with the HackRF One from Great Scott Gadgets, down to 100kHz or lower! Standard bundle includes HackRF, Ham It Up, Antenna Balun, 2 SMA interconnect cables and an SMA to BNC adapter. Pre-installed in a black aluminum enclosure and with the RF shield.

Three (3)
NESDR XTR+ HF bundles
Estimated retail value $140 each
Each kit will contain an SDR, an upconverter to enable HF reception, and a cable to connect the two units.

Two (2)
NESDR Mini 2+ HF bundles
Estimated retail value $125 each
Each kit will contain an NESDR Mini 2+ SDR with 0.5PPM TCXO, MCX-connected antenna for VHF, an upconverter to enable HF reception, and a cable to connect the two units.
 Ten (10)
NESDR XTR+ sets
Estimated retail value $60 each
NooElec NESDR XTR+ SDR & DVB-T USB set, including GPS-rated +/- 0.5PPM TCXO, quality telescopic antenna and remote control. Genuine Elonics E4000 tuner is guaranteed.

Ten (10)
NESDR Nano 2+ sets
Estimated retail value $30 each
Same form factor as the Nano 2 but with a TCXO!

Fifteen (15)
NESDR Nano 2 sets
Estimated retail value $25 each
The NESDR Nano 2 is based on the R820T2 tuner IC made by Rafael Micro, which means an approximate tuning range of 25MHz-1700MHz and improved selectivity and sensitivity in most frequency ranges versus R820T-based SDRs. There is also an RTL2832 (RTL2832U) IC on board of course, to provide basic demodulation and USB interface functionality

Eligibility

All tech geeks, nerds, and radio enthusiasts worldwide!
(Free worldwide shipping is included!)

How to Enter

It’s very simple!
Leave a comment to this post.
(e-mail address will not be shared)

Entry Duration

Only 1 week!

You may enter only once from
24 January 2016 20:00 UTC
to
31 January 2016 20:00 UTC

(multiple entries from the same entrant will be discarded)

Winner Announcement

31 January 2016

You can get the winner announcement by
subscribing to our free Amateur Radio Newsletter (subscribe below),
following our posts via RSS feed, via Twitter (@amatradio),
or via Facebook (facebook.com/amatradio).

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Sign up so you won’t miss our next prize drawing!

Please tell your friends about this giveaway!

Thank you to NooElec for offering these fantastic prizes!

Visit their website at NooElec.com / eBay store / Amazon store

The winner will be chosen at random (using random.org) from all valid comment entries to this post received by the contest deadline. Entries will be deemed valid at the sole discretion of AmateurRadio.com and may be rejected for any reason, including inappropriate comments. Entries received after the deadline will not be considered. The prize may not be transferred. The prize may not be exchanged for cash. Winner agrees to allow AmateurRadio.com to use their name and callsign to announce them as a winner on our site, and to share their contact information with the sponsor for the purposes of awarding the prize. No purchase necessary to win. Odds of winning dependent on total number of entries received. Winner is responsible for any applicable taxes or fees imposed by their jurisdiction. Void where prohibited by law. Winner of HackRF One transceiver limited to licensed Amateur Radio Operators and subject to export restrictions, where applicable.  E-mail addresses of all other entrants will not be shared with any third party, including the sponsor. Entrants will not receive any unsolicited e-mail or be placed on any e-mail list.

Don’t forget to enter! Just leave a comment to this post.

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

In this episode, Martin M1MRB / W9ICQ is joined by Ed Durrant DD5LP and Martin Rothwell M0SGL to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin M6BOY rounds up the news in brief, and this episodes feature is an Introduction to SOTA by Ed Durrant (DD5LP).

• Amateur Radio St Patrick's Day Award
• Ramsey Kits Calls Time
• LED Bulbs Tested for Electromagnetic Interference
• Netherlands Low-Power AM Broadcasting
• Gender Imbalance in Amateur / Ham Radio?
• New UK Distance Record on 134 GHz
• AX for Australia's National Day
• Eric June, KU6J - Silent Key

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

In this episode, Martin M1MRB / W9ICQ is joined by Ed Durrant DD5LP and Martin Rothwell M0SGL to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin M6BOY rounds up the news in brief, and this episodes feature is an Introduction to SOTA by Ed Durrant (DD5LP).

• Amateur Radio St Patrick's Day Award
• Ramsey Kits Calls Time
• LED Bulbs Tested for Electromagnetic Interference
• Netherlands Low-Power AM Broadcasting
• Gender Imbalance in Amateur / Ham Radio?
• New UK Distance Record on 134 GHz
• AX for Australia's National Day
• Eric June, KU6J - Silent Key

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

Another small celebration in the shack. I wasn't sure the time was right to spend much time chasing South Sandwich with a QRP signal. I usually save that  attempt for the last day or two of a big expedition and the VP8 guys are still working to satisfy a lot of demand. In fact I did try earlier in the day and just rationalized, after calling for a while, that the pile-up was still too big. The other deterrent to my thinking was that they just weren't that loud. As a rule of thumb I figure the DX needs to be 559 or better for them to hear my QRP signal. However as the sun went down I checked the 20 meter pile up on the Elecraft P3, hmm, not too big on the screen. Their signal was probably only an S3, what the heck, let me have a go, as my British buddies would say. I turned the K3 down to 5 watts, hit the split button and started listening on the second VFO. I found him and followed him up for 4 or 5 QSO's and then he came back to me, just like he does with the big guns, AD5A 599:-) That was when the small celebration broke out.

I love this radio stuff.



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

Another small celebration in the shack. I wasn't sure the time was right to spend much time chasing South Sandwich with a QRP signal. I usually save that  attempt for the last day or two of a big expedition and the VP8 guys are still working to satisfy a lot of demand. In fact I did try earlier in the day and just rationalized, after calling for a while, that the pile-up was still too big. The other deterrent to my thinking was that they just weren't that loud. As a rule of thumb I figure the DX needs to be 559 or better for them to hear my QRP signal. However as the sun went down I checked the 20 meter pile up on the Elecraft P3, hmm, not too big on the screen. Their signal was probably only an S3, what the heck, let me have a go, as my British buddies would say. I turned the K3 down to 5 watts, hit the split button and started listening on the second VFO. I found him and followed him up for 4 or 5 QSO's and then he came back to me, just like he does with the big guns, AD5A 599:-) That was when the small celebration broke out.

I love this radio stuff.



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

I’m going to use it as an excuse but really it isn’t….The shack is cold (Its a garage really) and the thought of going in there really wasn’t that appealing. We’ve had some pretty miserable weather since the end of November and its been a full time effort just to go out and walk the dog. I’d also taken on the mechanical build of the SatNOGS project as part of the club project and that took up way more time that I thought. Now that’s finished it was time to get on with a few things of my own.

First things first, looking at the Minima digiatl board it seemed like something that could be built and tested in an afternoon. I was nearly right, in the interim I had lost / put in a safe place, the LM1117 3.3v regulator and didn’t have a spare (Like I keep spares of stuff like that, I’m not a professional you know).

Built what I could and here is the result. Stone me it actually powered on an worked first time, but there isn’t any power to the Si570 and that’s a whole different ball of solder.

Onwards and upwards

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

Reading blogs and operating JT65-HF

I flipped the switch on the radio this afternoon to 20m CW and it was dead! There were some very faint stations basically at the noise level and to hear them I had to engage the Audio Peak Filter. Thinking it was DX calling CQ I was very surprised to hear both calls were from the States! That kinda gave me an idea of the band conditions for CW and I then moved onto JT65 HF on 20m and it was nice to hear many op's. Most of the calls on the waterfall were from the U.S and that's just fine considering the propagation, I did see one station from Spain being decoded. I did make contact with KB0PPQ in Kansas City and while waiting to make another contact I was reading PE4BAS Bas's blog.  Have radio and multi tasking!
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].