AmateurRadio.com

Its quite humbling really. Ive had this blog now for a number of years. I’ve always had a bit of a love/hate relationship with it. I love the concept of sharing my experiences, failures and successes with who ever stumbles across the blog. But mostly only a couple of entries get found and commented on. Namely my MQ26SR antenna posts are the most popular entries on this blog and I get about 1 email a month asking very specific questions.

That all changed this week. With the addition of my latest Arduino project. All of a sudden and quite literally overnight – the traffic to this blog skyrocketed. My inbox was awash of emails asking questions, my twitter feed was stacked with retweets and favorites of this circuit.  I seem to have struck a chord with many folks who, like me, were looking for a Morse Tutor, but don’t want to sit in front of a PC all day.

I’ve had some really wonderful feedback. I have been offered Crowd funding, beta testers and asked if I can supply more information. So I hope this entry can help with my plans for my Morse Tutor version 2, So here are some headlines for you all.

1. I am making a kit. I have this in hand and a PCB design is on the screen right now.
2. This will be launched as soon as I have figured out some minor gremlins.
3. There will be added functionality. And some really cool features too – watch this space.
4. The Sketch I have created so far is only a fraction of what is on offer. (plus also a lot of fixes have been included in the Version 2 build)
5. Below are 2 drawings – 1 Schematic, 1 Breadboard.  This will support Version 1.01 of the code.

Version 2 will include an Audio Amp, an SD card and proper switching logic (either a rotary encoder, or latch chip) four new modes of training and all ready as either a pre assembled kit or kit of parts for you to build & box yourself. And trust me on this, it wont be expensive either.

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.

Its quite humbling really. Ive had this blog now for a number of years. I’ve always had a bit of a love/hate relationship with it. I love the concept of sharing my experiences, failures and successes with who ever stumbles across the blog. But mostly only a couple of entries get found and commented on. Namely my MQ26SR antenna posts are the most popular entries on this blog and I get about 1 email a month asking very specific questions.

That all changed this week. With the addition of my latest Arduino project. All of a sudden and quite literally overnight – the traffic to this blog skyrocketed. My inbox was awash of emails asking questions, my twitter feed was stacked with retweets and favorites of this circuit.  I seem to have struck a chord with many folks who, like me, were looking for a Morse Tutor, but don’t want to sit in front of a PC all day.

I’ve had some really wonderful feedback. I have been offered Crowd funding, beta testers and asked if I can supply more information. So I hope this entry can help with my plans for my Morse Tutor version 2, So here are some headlines for you all.

1. I am making a kit. I have this in hand and a PCB design is on the screen right now.
2. This will be launched as soon as I have figured out some minor gremlins.
3. There will be added functionality. And some really cool features too – watch this space.
4. The Sketch I have created so far is only a fraction of what is on offer. (plus also a lot of fixes have been included in the Version 2 build)
5. Below are 2 drawings – 1 Schematic, 1 Breadboard.  This will support Version 1.01 of the code.

Version 2 will include an Audio Amp, an SD card and proper switching logic (either a rotary encoder, or latch chip) four new modes of training and all ready as either a pre assembled kit or kit of parts for you to build & box yourself. And trust me on this, it wont be expensive either.

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've just recently read of a phenomenon that I had never heard of before this week ... "Tin Whiskers". Tin whiskers are hairlike crystalline structures that can grow from tin surfaces and have the potential to wreak havoc on modern electronics.

Ever since the European RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Materials) implementation, most manufacturers have been forced to switch to lead-free solder. It seems that lead, when combined with tin, inhibits the growth of tin crystals. Although tin whiskers have been around for many years, it is just since the switch to lead-free solder that their impact on circuit boards (particularly with SMD sizes) has been garnering a lot of attention. Even the military, which has always demanded a higher standard for its components and circuit fabrication, is worried. With almost everything, from alarm clocks to aircraft, reliant on electronic circuit boards, are we awash in a sea of electronic ticking time-bombs? Some experts believe that we are.

courtesy: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/

The whiskers themselves can grow from a few millimeters to over 10mm in length. Growth rates as much as 9mm per year have been observed. One might think that these tiny hairlike structures would not be capable of carrying sufficient current to cause damage and would act more like a fuse when shorting with a nearby pc trace or component lead but such is not always the case. Tin whiskers have been known to carry as much as 30ma of current ... more than enough to cause catastrophic failure in delicate circuitry ... not a pleasant scenario if you are cruising along at 36,000' in a 10-year old aircraft.

An article in Aviation Today reports:

It’s rational to ask, after a few years of RoHS policy in force, does this effect ever really cause any problems? As it happens, yes, and some examples are so spectacular that it’s amazing they have not reversed the policy for RoHS. In Europe, the most impressive example was $1 billion recall of Swatch watches from Switzerland, as the use of lead-free solder caused a roughly 5 percent watch failure rate in 2006. The “solution” to this problem was yet another rule exemption, and lead was again used in Swatch construction. A real RoHS policy triumph there.

John Keller, Editor in Chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine reported in a 2005 article that:

Reports indicate that six satellites sustained partial or complete loss due to tin whiskers. These involved Galaxy-3, Solidaridad 1, Direct TV3, and HS 601 satellites built between 1998 and 2002. Problems also have been reported with the F-15 jet fighter radar, the Patriot missile, and the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft.

One prominent manufacturer, Apple, has been using lead-free solders since 2004, reportedly, without any issues. As noted by Kurt Jacobsen, author of "Within A Whisker of Failure" (published in The Guardian):

Perhaps manufacturers haven't developed an "experience base", or perhaps it isn't registering as a problem. Many customers will probably chalk failed devices off to their own isolated tough luck, when the cause might really have been microscopic whiskers inside their machines.

And Bob Willis, Technical Director for the Surface Mount and Related Technology Group in the UK mused:

Overall, was it sensible to go lead-free? "I would say no," ... Earlier obsolescence means more discarded devices. Critics argue that substitutes are more toxic and energy-wasteful than the lead they replace - and that lead doesn't leach from circuit boards, because it doesn't migrate as lead in paint or petrol does.

Well worth reading and perhaps one of the best summaries of the dilemma can be found in "Death By Tin Whisker" by Walter Shawlee:

This is clearly a problem that has to be addressed for the avionics industry sooner rather than later. Either a clearly worded exemption from lead use is required, or the frankly ineffective removal of lead from electronic assembly construction rule should be abandoned. This misguided policy has introduced a random failure mode into every item now being made under these standards or with RoHS compliant parts, a simply unacceptable risk for all involved. Plus, the ridiculously small (2 percent) targeted lead-use area fails utterly and completely to address the very real concerns of lead toxicity in the environment. Clearly, all of these issues are something worth thinking about, and their impact on our industry and all of us is significant if no useful action is taken. 

Although this is all new to me personally, perhaps this is old-hat by now, since the problem has been around for the past few years. Maybe a viable solution has been found already or will we see the introduction of lead into solder once again? I also wonder about the millions of life-critical circuit boards already in place that are, at this moment, quietly growing 'tin whiskers'.
Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

• TWO SILENT KEYS LOST TO TRAGEDIES
• FIGHTING ALS
• NO HAM IS AN ISLAND
• RAMPING UP AGAINST RADIO INTRUDERS
• AT THE END OF THE PAPER TRAIL
• LICENSE CHANGES OVERSEAS
• WHEN PIGS FLY
• YLS and XYLS ARE “ALL EAARS”
• DXPEDITION ON THE MOVE
• HAM AND CB: WHEN TWO WORLDS COLLIDE
• BIG BUSINESS IN BALI
• NEW UNITY FOR ALBANIAN HAMS
• THE WORLD OF DX
• THE CODE OF SISTERHOOD

SCRIPT

AUDIO

Status report

My digi adventure is slowly coming along, I have decided to start off with WSJT-X this will give me JT9 and JT65 to start off with. I found  a GREAT user guide that takes you step by step through installation and setup. Right off the bat the guide stresses the importance of your PC's clock being spot on! With these modes the timing of transmissions and reception can make or break your success with this mode. The user guide suggests using Meinberg Network time Protocol and gives you a link to the web page.  That for me is just way to easy to turn down, for me its "KISS....keep it simple stupid". Not wanting to search all over the web for a program I went with Meinberg NTP program. In the past I have found the internet can be a great resource and at other times a HUGE waste of time. With this program right at my finger tips time can be saved and I will be able to speed up my setup and that's all I needed! This user guide walks you through each step with  suggestions regarding best directory locations. As with most programs as you install them you come across "suggested" install options, this user guide makes it very clear as to the best choice to make. Nothing bothers me more when you install a program and click through the options only to find out via trouble shooting that other options should had been chosen!! I have have used other time protocol programs in the past and to be honest I was  not sure if it was working or not. With Meinberg NTP program you can go to your Windows command prompt and type in ntpq -p and see what's going on with the program. Now having said that after entering this code and hitting the enter button you are shown a screen of numbers, letters and columns such as ST, T, WHEN, POLL and REACH.........if your like me this is a foreign language! Fortunately the Meinberg Network time Protocol link also explains very simply what all the numbers mean and how to tell if what your reading is correct and if not suggestions needed to fix the program so it's running properly. So my clock sync program is working great it's now time to get to the install of the actual program!
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

Given the latest flight path prediction, weather forecast and approval restrictions I will unfortunately have to likely postpone the National Hamfest high altitude balloon till Saturday.

The forecast for tomorrow is strong gusty winds at ground level which isn't ideal for launching, but that is the least of the issues.

The current flight predictions for tomorrow are not good. The prediction model used is accurate and for the size of balloon I have and the amount of helium at my disposal even a maximum fill giving the maximum ascent rate and assuming the calculated decent rate for the parachute it is still putting the likely landing right on the coast. Earlier in the week the landing wasn't quite as marginal but as the model's data set have been updated it has drifted further eastward, it is odds on it will actually land out to sea.

However the real show stopper was when I received the CAA approval for the launch this morning. They have put a restriction not permitting a launch if the balloon and payload is likely to go on a North Easterly or Easterly path that could interfere with operations on local military airfields.

This is the predicted flight path, generated by the CUSG Landing predictor at predict.habhub.org and the flight path currently goes directly over RAF Cranwell but not at a high enough altitude. 

Flight prediction for Friday

Saturday is forecast to be a much calmer day with a predicted path as shown below

Flight prediction for Saturday

There would be no issues with the airfields for that flight path and has the advantage of going almost straight up and landing close by.

Apologies to those wanting to track on Friday, but the situation is out of my control and I would be foolhardy to ignore the prediction and  it is very unlikely it will change significantly to allow a flight tomorrow so I hope you can all track on Saturday. I will still be at the Hamfest tomorrow with the equipment if you want to know more about what it is all about.



Andrew Garratt, MØNRD, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from East Midlands, England. Contact him at [email protected].

Given the latest flight path prediction, weather forecast and approval restrictions I will unfortunately have to likely postpone the National Hamfest high altitude balloon till Saturday.

The forecast for tomorrow is strong gusty winds at ground level which isn't ideal for launching, but that is the least of the issues.

The current flight predictions for tomorrow are not good. The prediction model used is accurate and for the size of balloon I have and the amount of helium at my disposal even a maximum fill giving the maximum ascent rate and assuming the calculated decent rate for the parachute it is still putting the likely landing right on the coast. Earlier in the week the landing wasn't quite as marginal but as the model's data set have been updated it has drifted further eastward, it is odds on it will actually land out to sea.

However the real show stopper was when I received the CAA approval for the launch this morning. They have put a restriction not permitting a launch if the balloon and payload is likely to go on a North Easterly or Easterly path that could interfere with operations on local military airfields.

This is the predicted flight path, generated by the CUSG Landing predictor at predict.habhub.org and the flight path currently goes directly over RAF Cranwell but not at a high enough altitude. 

Flight prediction for Friday

Saturday is forecast to be a much calmer day with a predicted path as shown below

Flight prediction for Saturday

There would be no issues with the airfields for that flight path and has the advantage of going almost straight up and landing close by.

Apologies to those wanting to track on Friday, but the situation is out of my control and I would be foolhardy to ignore the prediction and  it is very unlikely it will change significantly to allow a flight tomorrow so I hope you can all track on Saturday. I will still be at the Hamfest tomorrow with the equipment if you want to know more about what it is all about.



Andrew Garratt, MØNRD, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from East Midlands, England. Contact him at [email protected].