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Not long now! Just three days left till the National Hamfest and hopefully the launch of my second high altitude balloon.

Balloon, parachute and helium have all been purchased and payloads have under gone final testing and have been put to one side ready for the flight which should hopefully be around 12pm on Friday 25th September.

The SSDV payload callsign PINKY will transmit on 434.575MHz USB RTTY 300 baud 880Hz shift ASCII-8 no parity 2 stop bits.

SSDV Test image

the backup telemetry tracker callsign PIGLET will transmit 434.150MHz USB RTTY 50 baud 380Hz shift ASCII-7 no parity 2 stop bits

They will transmit using the UKHAS telemetry protocol and can be tracked on tracker.habhub.org for information on how to receive and upload data to the tracking system visit the UKHAS wiki some information and useful links have been collated on the AMSAT-UK website

I was hoping to also transmit using the LoRa system, using the callsign PERKY. The transmitter had been successfully tested but a last minute gremlin has struck and it stopped working this weekend, I have been unable to locate the fault and suspect it is the actual module and with time being short have all but given up getting it working. If I do get it working it will be on 434.450MHz in Mode 1

PERKY seen working on SDR

PINKY & PERKY tracker

I have already detailed the PIGLET payload in an earlier post. The PINKY/PERKY payload is constructed on strip board and was originally meant to to be a prototype, hence the rubbish layout. I had planned to build a better laid out version but the tight time scale, stresses and demands of work, commitments with the radio club not to mention nursing the wife as she recovers from a major operation scuppered that plan. Being pragmatic I decided it didn't need to be work of art to work! I have secured all the connections with hot glue and it has been drop tested several times.


"Pinky" pig will be the passenger on the day, donning his fetching headset. Getting him in the right position for the camera was tricky.


I am still waiting for the CAA approval, should hopefully get it soon. I have put in a request for both days of the Hamfest just in case, the latest prediction at predict.habhub.org shows if I get the fill right I might just escape a watery landing on Friday, however Saturday looks more promising at the moment - also the forecast for Friday at the moment also has strong gusty surface winds, which could make the launch problematic. I am still planning for Friday since conditions and predictions do change.

Friday prediction as of 22/09/2015

Saturday prediction as of 22/09/2015

I and other members of South Kesteven ARS will be in attendance with a tracker station on the day, so please introduce yourself and perhaps join the club?

Please don't mention anything to do with other pigs in the news..
Andrew Garratt, MØNRD, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from East Midlands, England. Contact him at [email protected].

courtesy: http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/

As is usually the case on CLE weekends, the propagation gods seem to ensure that the monthly activity never escapes a solar flare or CME event. Saturday evening, just as propagation was starting to look really nice, a fast-moving CME arrived one day earlier than expected, pretty much shutting down propagation for the night. With Friday night being very poor as well, it was hoped that Sunday night would see a return to better conditions. Unfortunately, Sunday was very noisy with heavy lightning crashes, although overall propagation seemed improved. Sunday night provided one new catch, VVV-332 kHz, not heard here before.

For those looking to log Hawaii on the NDB band, 'POA' on 332 kHz is a good bet as it had a strong signal here on all three nights and was heard shortly after sunset in Hawaii.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DD UTC    kHz     Call       mi   New Location

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
19 11:00  323     HJH        1393      Hebron Municipal Apt, NE, USA
19 10:00  325     YJQ        312       Bella Bella (Campbell Island), BC, CAN
19 12:00  326     XJ         522      Fort St. John, BC, CAN
19 09:00  326     MA         1594     FARLY - Midland, TX, USA
20 04:00  326     FO         1531     'Riply' Topeka, KS, USA
19 10:00  326     DC         131       Princeton Municipal Apt, BC, CAN
19 12:00  328     LAC        133      'Lacomas' Fort Lewis, WA, USA
19 12:00  328     5J         564      Coronation, AB, CAN
20 05:00  329     YHN        1730     Hornepayne, ON, CAN
19 12:00  329     YEK        1414      Arviat, NU, CAN
19 12:00  329     X2         590      Athabasca, AB, CAN
19 12:00  329     TAD        1240     Trinidad - Hoehne, CO, USA
19 10:00  329     PMV        1437     Plattsmouth, NE, USA
19 12:00  329     PJ         920      Robinson (Whitehorse), YT, CAN
21 09:00  329     HMA        1851     Hondo Municipal Apt, TX, USA
19 08:00  332     XT         442      Terrace, BC, CAN
19 08:00  332     XH         565      Medicine Hat, AB, CAN
19 08:00  332     WC         25       White Rock (Abbotsford), BC, CAN
20 04:00  332     VVV        1280     Ortonville Municipal Apt, MN, USA
19 08:00  332     POA        2681      Pahoa - Hawaii Island, HWA
20 05:00  332     FIS        2794     Fish Hook - Key West, FL, USA
19 08:00  333     STI        540       'Sturgeon' Mountain Home, ID, USA
19 08:00  334     P2         514      Wetaskiwin, AB, CAN
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As usual, all stations were heard using the Perseus SDR.

Hopefully CLE 199 will see the return of quieter band conditions and better propagation ... if the sun can calm down long enough.
Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

Welcome to the latest installment of Linux in the Ham Shack. In this episode we present some topics of the day related to ham radio and Linux, as well as veer a little off course and put forth a thought experiment, comparing Linux, Windows and MacOS in a purely subjective way. We also look at open pharmacology, Linux distros, German food and a lot more. Thanks for listening, and please let your friends know about us.

73 de The LHS Guys

Russ Woodman, K5TUX, co-hosts the Linux in the Ham Shack podcast which is available for download in both MP3 and OGG audio format. Contact him at [email protected].

Once upon a time my digi experience

With reports of the solar cycle on the decline and considering I'm not a big gun station that can belt out 1KW into a multi element beam I have to somewhat raise the white flag. I'm not going to give up on CW , getting contacts into the states is great and Morse code is like having a second language and I'm not going to give it up! When the solar cycle is in a low time I find it amazing that during a CW contesst my QRP signal is still able to get across the pond. It makes me think that just the idea of a decline in the solar cycle just has hams not turning their radios on and not giving it a go. For me I'm in a condo with the MFJ mag loop antenna and then to add to it QRP power I figure over the long haul the digi modes are going to be my best option for reeling in some DX. I have reformatted my PC's hard drive and just installed Windows 7 so it's time to start fresh! I have WSPR installed and up and going, in the past I had JT65HF and PSK31 installed and making contacts………..so ham folks what's out there that you have having had great success with?? I have a balcony antenna and QRP power that can go to 5 watts max. Whats nice with the digi modes is the MFJ 1788 will not have to be constantly returned. The bandwidth required is so narrow I can concentrate of making contacts.What programs do you use and where do you get your support when things don't work out as planned? I have always become frustrated with setting up the digi modes but I am going to have to bite the bullet and plow through the up's and downs of setting up the digi modes on my PC along with my rig.     
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

In a recent conversation with my good friend Lewis, we started discussing Morse code, training and the old equipment that was used to educate and teach the code to newcomers. In particular we discussed the old Datong D70 practice oscillators.  Lewis carried on the tell me that his Datong  like so many others started sending odd illegal characters and essentially rendered the kit useless. Of course you could whip of the lid and replace the logic chips, but I thought of recreating the Datong functionality in a new Arduino sketch.

So here is a breakdown of what the Datong offered:

1. Either Mixed, letter or number combinations
2. Groups of 5 characters
3. Variable speed ( up to 37.5 word per minute)
4. Variable character spacing (up to 4 seconds)

The Datong also allowed you to connect a telegraph key, and your headphones. But for now I will focus on the code generation element of the project.

The finished project has just a handful of components and can easily be created on a breadboard, or indeed if you have an old broken Datong you can reuse the box and panel to really replicate the old kit.   The complete project includes 3 variable resistors (1K LIN) for Character speed, gap and volume. It also needs a 3 way switch to select the mode.

The Arduino I’m using is the UNO. Arguably the most popular Arduino on the market, but I have also tried the sketch on a Nano and it works fine – just some customisation of pin assignments is all that is needed.

On start up the Arduino checks to see which switch is LOW – it also saves the current mode and checks if the saved mode is the same as the current selected switch. If this is different, then the Arduino has had a change in the mode selection and resets.

When generating the tones, the Arduino randomly selects a character from an array. With that chosen letter – it calls a function and plays the corresponding tone functions. 2 functions exist as a DIT and a DAH.

The rest of the functions are dedicated to allowing the speed and gap to alter and also displaying the results on the LCD panel (completely optional).

Here is a short video of the kit working, and a link to the source code.

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.

In a recent conversation with my good friend Lewis, we started discussing Morse code, training and the old equipment that was used to educate and teach the code to newcomers. In particular we discussed the old Datong D70 practice oscillators.  Lewis carried on the tell me that his Datong  like so many others started sending odd illegal characters and essentially rendered the kit useless. Of course you could whip of the lid and replace the logic chips, but I thought of recreating the Datong functionality in a new Arduino sketch.

So here is a breakdown of what the Datong offered:

1. Either Mixed, letter or number combinations
2. Groups of 5 characters
3. Variable speed ( up to 37.5 word per minute)
4. Variable character spacing (up to 4 seconds)

The Datong also allowed you to connect a telegraph key, and your headphones. But for now I will focus on the code generation element of the project.

The finished project has just a handful of components and can easily be created on a breadboard, or indeed if you have an old broken Datong you can reuse the box and panel to really replicate the old kit.   The complete project includes 3 variable resistors (1K LIN) for Character speed, gap and volume. It also needs a 3 way switch to select the mode.

The Arduino I’m using is the UNO. Arguably the most popular Arduino on the market, but I have also tried the sketch on a Nano and it works fine – just some customisation of pin assignments is all that is needed.

On start up the Arduino checks to see which switch is LOW – it also saves the current mode and checks if the saved mode is the same as the current selected switch. If this is different, then the Arduino has had a change in the mode selection and resets.

When generating the tones, the Arduino randomly selects a character from an array. With that chosen letter – it calls a function and plays the corresponding tone functions. 2 functions exist as a DIT and a DAH.

The rest of the functions are dedicated to allowing the speed and gap to alter and also displaying the results on the LCD panel (completely optional).

Here is a short video of the kit working, and a link to the source code.

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.

In this episode, Martin M1MRB / W9ICQ is joined by Leslie Butterfield (G0CIB), Chris Howard (M0TCH) and Edmund Spicer (M0MNG)  to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin (M6BOY) rounds up the news in brief, and this episodes feature is Software Defined Radio Dongles.

• Bermuda Closes AM / Medium Wave Radio Transmitters
• Acorn II 40m SDR Construction
• Indian Government Employees to learn Amateur / Ham Radio
• Chess Controversy and Morse Code
• Ofcom Suggest 70.5 MHz for Internet of Things
• Reflectorless Yagi Radio Antennas Designs
• Councillors Vote in Favour of Ham Radio Mast
• Malta Digital Repeater

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