AmateurRadio.com

Conditions towards the east on LF as well as on the broadcast band (BCB) have taken a positive leap forward over the past few days. Last night, 160m was open to Europe from here, the first opening of the season as far as I am aware. I also spent some time listening to a dozen or more TA (Trans-Atlantic) carriers on the broadcast band, signalling good conditions over the pole finally.The polar skip also extended down into the LF band, as it did the previous night.

In the afternoon hours I started watching for Europe1 on 183kHz, transmitting from western Germany, and was able to see its weak carrier on the Perseus SDR's waterfall display several hours before sunset. Twilight here brought a dramatic improvement in signal strength as shown below.



As daylight approached the transmitter site in Germany, the 183kHz signal provided a good visual example of 'dawn-enhancement', with the signal showing a dramatic flare on the waterfall indicating its build-up in strength.




Once dawn arrived, it was interesting to see that the signal was able to hang-on for over an hour with reasonable strength before fading out rather quickly. Even though the transmitter site was in full daylight, the dark skies to the west were able to sustain propagation for some time before it all came crashing down.

Of late, the pre-dawn hours here have also been providing some exceptionally strong signals from Asia on the BCB. These are often enhanced at sunrise as well, as the strength often takes a short fast peak, before fading out for the day.

One of the loudest this week was from JOAK (NHK1) in Tokyo on 594 kHz ... listen ...

This was heard on the Perseus SDR and inverted-L antenna. The LF polar signals shown above, were recorded with the 10' X 20' loop and Wellbrook preamp while looping towards Europe at 030 degrees.

With the DST going positive, hopefully these good conditions will continue to build over the next few weeks. October is often one of the best months of the year for LF/MF DX.

courtesy: http://wdc.kugi.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dst_realtime/presentmonth/index.html

Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

It looks like I’m coming down with another case of the “builder bug”. That’s what I call it when I get the urge to make stuff. For the last couple of years, I’ve been content playing with digital repeaters I’ve cobbled together, or wiring up a TNC for a Raspberry pi in recent months. But now, I’m looking at Arduinos. These boards are a little lower level than the full-blown Linux system I’ve come to love with the pi. The Arduinos have incredible potential because of their simplicity. With very lower power consumption, and nearly instant power up, I can see many uses for these wonders of the 21st century. My youngest daughter is working on a project to provide weather data from the high school’s crop test plot 4 miles away. That led us to looking at building a weather station from scratch, which led to Arduinos, which then led to…well you get the point. I’ve now found at least four other projects that I could accomplish with these little microcontrollers. I placed an order for an $4 UNO last night. Let the fun begin!

Michael Brown, KG9DW, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Illinois, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

It looks like I’m coming down with another case of the “builder bug”. That’s what I call it when I get the urge to make stuff. For the last couple of years, I’ve been content playing with digital repeaters I’ve cobbled together, or wiring up a TNC for a Raspberry pi in recent months. But now, I’m looking at Arduinos. These boards are a little lower level than the full-blown Linux system I’ve come to love with the pi. The Arduinos have incredible potential because of their simplicity. With very lower power consumption, and nearly instant power up, I can see many uses for these wonders of the 21st century. My youngest daughter is working on a project to provide weather data from the high school’s crop test plot 4 miles away. That led us to looking at building a weather station from scratch, which led to Arduinos, which then led to…well you get the point. I’ve now found at least four other projects that I could accomplish with these little microcontrollers. I placed an order for an $4 UNO last night. Let the fun begin!

Michael Brown, KG9DW, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Illinois, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Stories you’ll find in our October, 2015 issue:

It Can Still Be Done! Kit Building is Alive and Well
By Kevin O’Hern Carey WB2QMY

Kit building is as old as amateur radio and as popular as ever. The attraction to kit building comes from the learning experience of building an electronic project, the pride of knowing how components work and the money saved by doing it yourself. A longtime kit builder himself, Kevin shows us that kits for all kinds of radio projects are readily available today, but that it’s also a fun experience to do with your children or grandchildren.

Digitally Speaking: The Original Digital Conversation
By Cory GB Sickles WA3UVV

This month our digital guru goes old school as he examines the original digital conversation: Morse code. The attraction of CW is multilevel: it’s a mode available to all license classes, an efficient use of bandwidth, and a natural for low power DIY ham stations. Furthermore, savvy CW operators can put together a small, capable station at a fraction of the cost of voice mode stations. Despite the fact that the Morse requirement for amateur licenses was dropped in early 2007, CW operating is a popular as ever.

Build a Rugged, Copper Pipe J-Antenna for VHF-UHF
By Richard Fisher KI6SN

Explore the myths and magic of the J-antenna and get yourself “de-polarized.” Richard explains that some of the things you thought you knew about the J-antenna just aren’t right. And, that with a quick trip to your nearest home-improvement store, you can find all the parts and all the tools you need to build one of the most popular VHF-UHF antennas for scanning or amateur radio applications. You’ll even find out how to put this antenna on your bike for some on-road and off-road bicycle/mobile fun.

TSM Reviews: Manhattan DJ-1997 FTA Satellite Receiver
By Ken Reitz KS4ZR

The new Manhattan DJ-1997 receiver is smaller and less expensive than its predecessor and yet more capable. It goes a long way toward blurring the lines between traditional cable and satellite TV services and the new direction consumers are inevitably migrating toward: Over the Top TV. We’ve seen similar activity with services offered by new TV sets: direct access through apps to Netflix, Hulu, Pandora and a host of other non-cable/satellite video and audio services, including direct access to Web content. This is disruptive technology in the best sense of the word.

The Norden Broadcasts: America’s Ace in the Hole
By J. Wandres

While British forces in WWII had mounted successful radio-based propaganda campaigns, the US had no such program until 1942 when the US Office of Naval Intelligence put together an unlikely trio, which included a doctor, a lawyer and a Hungarian émigré. They created a fictitious character named Commander Norden and broadcast what they said was the truth in German aimed at German warships. But, how successful was the program?

Scanning America By Dan Veenaman
Counties Weigh a Combination of Radio System Options

Federal Wavelengths By Chris Parris
Programming Federal Interoperability Channels

Utility Planet By Hugh Stegman NV6H
US Coast Guard Consolidates HF Services

Digital HF: Intercept and Analyze
By Mike Chace-Ortiz AB1TZ/G6DHU
A Few Easy Digital Catches for the Beginner

HF Utility Logs
By Mike Chace-Ortiz and Hugh Stegman

Amateur Radio Insights By Kirk Kleinschmidt NT0Z
Are You Up for the Challenge of 60 Meters?

Radio 101 By Ken Reitz KS4ZR
Ramsey AM Broadcast Transmitter Kit: $45 of Pure Radio Fun

Radio Propagation By Tomas Hood NW7US
The Chromosphere (Continuing our Look at the Sun)

The World of Shortwave Listening By Andrew Yoder
Tales of Pirate Radio Woe and Intrigue

The Shortwave Listener By Fred Waterer
Spy Stations, Canadian Elections, Central European Crisis and More

Maritime Monitoring By Ron Walsh VE3GO
Marine Radio Technology Sails On

The Longwave Zone By Kevin O’Hern Carey WB2QMY
Adventures in Through-Ground Radio

Adventures in Radio Restoration By Rich Post KB8TAD
From Aristocrat to Royalty: First Look at a Zenith Trans-Oceanic G-500

The Broadcast Tower By Doug Smith W9WI
Go West, Young Man!

Antenna Connections By Dan Farber AC0LW
The Modern Underground: Stealth

The Spectrum Monitor is available in PDF format which can be read on any desktop, laptop, iPad®, Kindle® Fire, or other device capable of opening a PDF file. Annual subscription (12 issues, beginning with the January 2015 issue) is $24. Individual monthly issues are available for $3 each.

Ken Reitz, KS4ZR, is publisher and managing editor of The Spectrum Monitor. Contact him at [email protected].

For those who have not seen the Arcorn II SDR kit, you can now purchase the complete kit for just £29.95 from www.kanga-products.co.uk The kit is an excellent entry into SDR receivers and we will be featuring this kit as a a part of the 2015 buildathon at the RSGB convention.

To aide the construction, I have created a set of instructions that may help with anyone who is building this little kit. You can download the PDF here,  There are significantly more pages than the Kanga instructions, but for a group construction project we find that lots of space and easy to follow instructions are a great help.

And if you haven’t seen the construction video – here it is again.

Dan Trudgian, MØTGN, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Wiltshire, England. He's a radio nut, IT guru, general good guy and an all round good egg. Contact him him here.

For those who have not seen the Arcorn II SDR kit, you can now purchase the complete kit for just £29.95 from www.kanga-products.co.uk The kit is an excellent entry into SDR receivers and we will be featuring this kit as a a part of the 2015 buildathon at the RSGB convention.

To aide the construction, I have created a set of instructions that may help with anyone who is building this little kit. You can download the PDF here,  There are significantly more pages than the Kanga instructions, but for a group construction project we find that lots of space and easy to follow instructions are a great help.

And if you haven’t seen the construction video – here it is again.

Dan Trudgian, MØTGN, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Wiltshire, England. He's a radio nut, IT guru, general good guy and an all round good egg. Contact him him here.

I spent a few hours, yesterday and today, playing in the Texas QSO Party. As annual QSO Parties go, this one must be one of the best.

With Texas being such a large state, there seemed to be a correspondingly large amount of activity. As well, Texas is a nice single-hop from here on HF and most signals, even from the numerous mobiles, were loud.

I entered in the low-power, single- operator, CW-only class and without spending huge amounts of time, ended up with 185 contacts in 117 counties. There was a very active fleet of mobile operators as well, moving from county to county and sometimes setting-up on county borderlines to provide two, three or even four counties at a time. Thanks to the dedicated mobilers ... you fellows really add a lot of interest to the contest.

Mobile stations also provide extra 'bonus' points, with 500 additional points gained each time you work the same mobile in 5 different counties. Two of them were worked in more than 15 counties, while five were worked in 10 counties. Two were worked in 9 counties, missing the extra thousand points by one more from each.

My weekly QSO Part activity has been a good way for me to ease back into contesting and an aid in improving my ear-brain-keyboarding skills ... it's been helping a lot. One area that doesn't get a lot of practice is in the 'run' mode, since most of these QSO party contacts are in the 'search and pounce' (S&P) mode. Hopefully something will come up soon where I can get more 'run' practice as this requires a higher level of alertness compared with S&P. In reality, either mode is a great way to keep your CW skills honed.

The old laptop, running Windows XP, continues to work well as does the N1MM logging software driven by the K1EL USB keying interface. Further scrubbing of the laptop's unneeded files and start-up programs has sped boot-time to about 90 seconds. Quite an improvement over the eight minutes it was taking before tackling the cleanup!

If you are interested in getting started in contest work, or getting back into it, the WA7BNM Contest Calendar is probably the best source of information ... descriptions of all of the major contests (and some not so major), as well as links to contest-sponsor pages, may be found there. As well, the same site provides the '3830' board, a place where contesters can share their claimed score totals and discuss the event immediately following a contest. It's always fun to see how you compare with other submissions in the same category.



Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].