Dayton Finale

17 May 2015 | by Mike AD5A | Leave a Comment (1)

Dayton Hamvention 2015 is over for me. I have a plane to catch Sunday morning so I made my final rounds through Hara Arena just before 5:00 pm. I will be back, good Lord willing and the creek don't rise. It was a good time and I now have lots of ideas of things to do in and around the shack.

Below is a picture of the new K3S. There are some significant differences that I'm sure will be documented soon. Some of the differences will be mods that can be applied to current K3's, other changes will not. Only minor changes to the appearance of the radio

K3S

There are always new things to discover and I came across a neat product for portable QRP practioners. One of the processes to getting efficient in portable QRP operation is to try to figure out a reasonable antenna configuration. Enter PackTenna, www.packtenna.com .

The product is a prepackaged antenna system, including the telescoping 32 ft. pole. The antenna is an innovative design that allows you to configure the antenna as a dipole or a vertical. Check it out.

PackTenna

Finally, I didn't get away without a couple of catches of my own. I found a Navy Flameproof straight-key and a 100 year commemorative version of the Vibroplex Original semi-automatic key. Both are seen below.

So another Dayton experience in the books, can't wait to go again.

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

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Using Remote SDR’s

16 May 2015 | by Steve VE7SL | Leave a Comment (0)

A recent post to Yahoo's Perseus SDR Group posed some interesting questions.

Lasse, SM5GLC, operates an online remote Perseus and made the following comments:

Over the past few weeks/months I have see some "power-users" on my Perseus server... and my plan was to dissect the server log to investigate the usage percentage of my server... and found that already in May the log is 240 kb and growing fast. It seems impossible to analzye by hand.

Now I do notice one user, not too far away (only some 200 miles or so), seems to spend 2-3 hours per day using my server. Mostly just use all allotted time and then get back on asap. I know my antenna is nothing to write home about and the performance is mediocre if any... so this makes me wonder. What on earth do this user do with all the time??

Do others see similar behaviour??

By browsing the log it seems most, user time,70-80 per cent, are from Russia. Most others stay only for a very short period of time, up to a few minutes.

Has anyone tried to hack a script that would automatize the log analysis??
A few Q's that I do have are:
Is the server abused by some?
What is the optimal allowed time? and then the drop-out time?
What usage load would be best to shoot for??

Don, VE6JY, a long-time remote owner added:

I notice similar patterns here. Obviously some are listening to a single frequency for the entire time, others stop by for a few seconds to see if a certain target is being propagated. And then some just tune around and see what there is to hear and see. And I'm sure some fall asleep until it times out. These are all things I have done when I am using the remote side. One thing we need to remember, an antenna that is mediocre to one person may be a window to the world for someone living in the urban noise jungle. And consider this - if there were enough remotes to choose from, scattered all over the globe, even a poor antenna would cover their locals and fill in the gap. Unfortunately, the number of remotes seem to be dwindling, esp here in N AM. Maybe summer coming and lightning season but still, even this winter, choices were fairly meagre.

I'm not too concerned about the usage aspect - it's not a big drain on my internet and I see enough different names, many of whom I know personally who use it so I think most get a fair chance to see if whatever signal they're looking for makes it to my part of Alberta. Both of mine are set to 62 mins on with the minimum 2 minute reconnect time.

The only "abuse" if it really is, I see sometimes is from the amateur radio side, people wanting to hear a station better in order to work a rare one or have an unfair advantage in a contest. What does annoy me is users who can't be bothered to put in their proper name or callsign or even a lat/long. And then there's a few servers that get the lat/long wrong or reversed so they wind up in a rare portion of the world and for a moment we all get excited!!

Both operators raise some interesting questions!

If you have used a remote SDR or do so with some regularity, how did you find the experience? What types of things did you listen or look for? How much time would you typically spend on the site? What do you think the limits on time should be?

I have used a remote once or twice in the past, to listen for my Tri-Tet-Ten's chirpy, low power signal, and found it very useful but I've never used one for general listening.

What are your experiences?

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

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W5KUB Live Coverage – Hamvention 2015

16 May 2015 | by Matt W1MST | Leave a Comment (0)

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

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Live From Dayton

16 May 2015 | by Mike AD5A | Leave a Comment (0)

I am taking a break at the Dayton Hamvention to capture a few thoughts. This is the first time I've been to Dayton since the late '90's. The good news and bad news is that not much has changed. The good news is that all the cool stuff is here.Yesterday I got a look at the new K3S that Elecraft announced and all the other new toys and old ones are here. It is Ham Radio Heaven from that perspective.

The gatherings around town are still a highlight. The social aspect of Dayton is always a plus, getting to hang out with your "on-air" buddies in person and getting together with people of common interests

So what is the bad news? Hara Arena was in bad need of a facelift in the late 90's and I can't tell that anything has been improved. Even a light rain brings out the buckets, inside, to catch the leaking water. The Flea Market area has crumbling asphalt, to the extent of being dangerous in places. Although it's early on Saturday, the crowds seem much smaller.

I was able to mix in a little SOTA fun while here. The highest point in Ohio is about an hour north of Dayton in Belle Fountain, OH. So I ventured up to there to activate a summit in a new association and get 4 points.

A Collins Amplifier

Activating Campbell Hill

I will try to take a few more pictures to day.

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

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Live From Dayton

16 May 2015 | by Mike AD5A | Leave a Comment (2)

I am taking a break at the Dayton Hamvention to capture a few thoughts. This is the first time I've been to Dayton since the late '90's. The good news and bad news is that not much has changed. The good news is that all the cool stuff is here.Yesterday I got a look at the new K3S that Elecraft announced and all the other new toys and old ones are here. It is Ham Radio Heaven from that perspective.

The gatherings around town are still a highlight. The social aspect of Dayton is always a plus, getting to hang out with your "on-air" buddies in person and getting together with people of common interests

So what is the bad news? Hara Arena was in bad need of a facelift in the late 90's and I can't tell that anything has been improved. Even a light rain brings out the buckets, inside, to catch the leaking water. The Flea Market area has crumbling asphalt, to the extent of being dangerous in places. Although it's early on Saturday, the crowds seem much smaller.

I was able to mix in a little SOTA fun while here. The highest point in Ohio is about an hour north of Dayton in Belle Fountain, OH. So I ventured up to there to activate a summit in a new association and get 4 points.

A Collins Amplifier

Activating Campbell Hill

I will try to take a few more pictures to day.

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

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Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 60

16 May 2015 | by Cale K4HCK | Leave a Comment (0)

Dayton livestream from W5KUB
W5KUB broadcasts live from Hamvention all weekend long.
W5KUB.com

Dayton livestream from Icom
Icom will be streaming a number of D-STAR related forums as well as the Youth Forum
Icom

Elecraft announces new K3S [PDF]
“We’ve upgraded nearly every subsystem, improving performance and adding many new features.”
Elecraft

Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2015: 55 cosponsors — and climbing
This weekend’s Dayton Hamvention will offer an opportunity for ARRL to speak with individual radio amateurs and encourage them to seek their House member’s support.
ARRL

Browser-based SDR software: OpenWebRX
OpenWebRX is a multi-user SDR receiver software with a web interface.
OpenWebRX

Public service operating notes
ARROW, our amateur radio club here in Ann Arbor, was asked to help out with crowd control and parking. Here are some observations.
KB6NU

HF mobile, a different kind of radio shack
Mobile HF radio adds yet another dimension to Ham Radio. This is my second go at HF Mobile operation.
AmateurRadio.com

US Naval Academy CubeSat launch to include next APRS satellite
Sometime on or about May 20, the next US Naval Academy satellites and Brno University PSK31 transponders head into space from Cape Canaveral on an Atlas 5 launcher and into an approximately 50° orbit.
ARRL

How to

Reverse engineering a radio weather station
Decoding messages from a 433 MHz weather station using an RTL-SDR.
atx

Altoids tin solder fume extractor
Candy tin device helps keep your air clean and your lungs healthy.
Make:

US Amateurs: How to print out your license
Following these steps will allow you to print the official copy, not just the reference copy.
W2LJ

Video

Climbing a 1,500′ TV Tower
This is tower climber Kevin Schmidt making the climb to the very top of the now inactive KDLT TV analog broadcast antenna near Salem, SD.
Prairie Aerial

Transatlantic beacon reception on 144 MHz
The 144.436 MHz beacon D4C in the Cape Verde Islands HK76mv was received at PJ4VHF in Bonaire, Caribbean EM95qc on May 6 over a distance of 4686 km.
Southgate

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.

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Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1965 May 15 2015

16 May 2015 | by Amateur Radio Newsline | Leave a Comment (0)

Amateur radio responds as another killer earthquake hits Nepal
Radio France International heard splattering on 40 meters
Thailand's military to keep 50 to 54 MHz
Ham radio numbers fall and rise in Germany
And a look back at the history of the Dayton Hamvention.

THIS WEEK'S NEWSCAST

Script

Audio

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