AmateurRadio.com

Christmas came and went very quickly this year yet again. I must be getting old these days to feel that I don't enjoy it any longer? No sooner we had done the shopping and all the running around for ourselves and the family, stuffed the turkey, had a few visitors and done a bit of entertaining, we were left with nothing more than a few bones and an empty fridge.

The last of the turkey went in the pot a few days ago and we boiled it up for a nice stew, this was really appreciated as the weather had turned colder here since Boxing day the 26th, we even had some snow! After the stew followed a nice piece of homemade Xmas Cake and a large Scotch keeping one in the spirit of things.




Presents were few this year, I cheekily had asked for the money on purpose because I would like a new wristwatch, when the one I have been looking at for quite sometime comes around in a sale in the New Year at the right price.

However, apart from the analogue meter which I have already purchased from the gift cash pot: (see: http://g1kqh.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/spare-pocket-money.html ). I did receive a couple of other nice little presents too. A book from the RSGB by Eamon Skelton & Elaine Richards. Building a Transceiver http://www.rsgbshop.org/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Technical_6.html  (I currently do not have permission from the RSGB to reproduce or copy, so I cannot provide a photo of the front cover, hence the link. I am working on this one!).

My other tech present was a nice little DMM in the shape of a probe from Mastech Model MS8211:








First thoughts about this, it comes in a sturdy box with instructions and a certificate, complete with a nice case, a couple of leads for the Com, one with a probe and the other with a croc clip attached. The whole unit has got a nice rugged feel about it.

I am looking forward to reviewing the DMM along with the book further down the Blog.


A Happy New Year to you all!




Steve, G1KQH, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from England. Contact him at [email protected].

2014 was a stellar year for amateur radio. The year-long celebration of the ARRL Centennial was nothing short of fantastic. The QSO Party and the summer convention were major successes. Our hobby has never received so much attention by popular media. For one entire year, ham radio became the ‘Kardashian’s’ of the hobby world. The ARRL deserves most of the credit for their hard work and vision in promoting our hobby while working tirelessly to foster future growth and protect the valuable resources we enjoy.

Amateur Radio and electronics are woven tightly together and 2014 was without doubt the Year of the Raspberry Pi and everyone jumped on the bandwagon, including radio enthusiasts. It wasn’t difficult to find numerous ways to put these credit-card sized, $35 computers to work in the shack — replacing desktop computers employed for dedicated functions. The trajectory of this trend is nearly vertical and we can expect to see even more interesting uses from it in the coming New Year.

The HF bands cooperated with the major DX operations in 2014. In fact, what appears to be a double-peak in this current solar cycle created some real excitement — about the same time the experts declared us to be on the backside of decent and headed toward minimum. I’m amazed by the courage of operations like FT5ZM that moved forward with their plans despite predictions of less than great band conditions, and brought joy (and QSL’s!) to DXers everywhere.

Logbook of the World adoption picked up steam in 2014. The online service has now crossed 100 million confirmations and the number of users could cross 100,000 in the New Year.

Operators on the International Space Station delighted the world with SSTV transmissions in late 2014 reminding the entire planet that amateur radio still has a shack in space!

Amateur Radio really took to social media in 2014. Facebook and Twitter being the primary beneficiaries of Maxim’s progeny. The ARRL Facebook page has nearly 50K “likes” while its main Twitter account has over 20K followers. Yes, we’ve been tweeting up a storm and the @CallSign label appears on almost everything #HamRadio these days. This won’t last forever, Internet time moves fast and things change in a heartbeat online. Still, these forms of social media are continuing to expand and amateur radio seems firmly affixed for the ride.

Every year it seems we lose more of the old guard, passings that leave us feeling a little off-balance in our mission. 2014 was no different in that regard. Though many of our giants have left us, their work and inspiration continues — in us. That’s the point. The tasks that we undertake and share today, are passed along to tomorrow.

It’s been that way with our passion since the basement experimenters first began to decode the secrets of radio, and passed them along to the next generation of basement experimenters in order to perfect the art and science of radio.

And that work continues into another new year — a new century — a new millennium for amateur radio.

Nostalgia is a wonderful place of retreat to warm and nourish your soul but those are chapters in a book already read. RIGHT NOW is infinitely more exciting because we don’t know what will come next, but we get to write the next chapter!

Filed under: Ham Radio, Syndicate Tagged: history

Jeff Davis, KE9V, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Indiana, USA.

Stories you’ll find in our January, 2015 edition:

K3LR: Contesting With the Big Guns
By Mark Haverstock K8MSH

Looking at the cover photo on this month’s TSM prompts the question, “Does this guy have enough antennas?” That’s a question that’s been asked hundreds of times by drivers on Interstate 80 who pass by the amateur radio antenna farm just east of the Ohio border. Tim Duffy K3LR says, “No. You can never have too many antennas!” Since 1987, Duffy has spent countless hours building his dream station, as well as collecting numerous contest awards along with the operators that make up the K3LR Contest Team. This is their story.

Monitoring Utility and Amateur Radio Transmissions with a DVB-T Dongle
By Mario Filippi N2HUN

With a small investment, any radio hobbyist can expand the reception capabilities of a DVB-T dongle to include long wave, medium wave and short wave frequencies. Creative individuals in the software industry have realized the potential of these diminutive, economically priced devices and have crafted programs that allow the dongle to function as multi-mode Software Defined Radios, when attached to a USB port of a computer.

Volunteer Interceptors: Listening for Terrorists
By Bob Patterson K5DZE

Any amateur, SWL or scanner monitor, who listens to a range of frequencies on a regular basis, soon learns what normally is heard over that range. These frequencies become the operator’s “radio
neighborhood.” Should a Volunteer Interceptor (VI) service be organized within the radio enthusiast community to monitor radio frequencies for possible national and international threats?

AMIKO A3 FTA Satellite Receiver
By Ken Reitz KS4ZR

If Apple made a Free-to-Air (FTA) satellite receiver it might look and perform like the AMIKO A3. In fact, opening the A3’s box, you might think you were opening a Mac; electronics manufacturers all seem to have taken a tip from Apple’s packaging concept. The Mac reference is a plus and a minus. Like a Mac, the A3 is modern in design, ruggedly built, and takes a little getting used to.

Why Go Digital?
By Cory GB Sickles W3UUV

Digital voice (and data) radios are certainly here to stay. This is one of the fastest growing and evolving aspects of amateur radio today. Although DV’s roots extend back more than 25 years, we’re still introducing new ways to communicate with ones and zeros, through methods that will eventually put analog VHF FM where HF AM is today.

Scanning America
By Dan Veenaman
Monitoring Digital Systems

Federal Wavelengths
By Chris Parris
A Year in Federal Monitoring

Utility Planet
By Hugh Stegman NV6H
More Russian “Numbers” Mysteries

Digital HF: Intercept and Analyze
By Mike Chace-Ortiz AB1TZ/G6DHU
Have PacTOR, Will Travel The High Seas!

HF Utility Logs
By Mike Chace-Ortiz and Hugh Stegman

Amateur Radio Insights
By Kirk Kleinschmidt NT0Z
Current Balun Bonus: Noise Reduction?

Radio 101
By Ken Reitz KS4ZR
The View Ahead, Through the Rearview Mirror

Radio Propagation
By Tomas Hood NW7US
Fundamentals: Radio Wave Propagation

The World of Shortwave Listening
By Jeff White, General Manager, WRMI Shortwave
Shortwave Listeners make their Voices Heard

The Shortwave Listener
By Fred Waterer
Change and Opportunity in the New Year

Maritime Monitoring
By Ron Walsh VE3GO
Marine Radio Traffic and Heritage

The Longwave Zone
By Kevin O’Hern Carey WB2QMY
Firing Up the Neophyte 1
(Formerly: A Cure for PPHD)

Adventures in Radio Restoration
By Rich Post KB8TAD
Back to the Future

The Broadcast Tower
By Doug Smith W9WI
This is a Test. This is only a Test.

Antenna Connections
By Dan Farber AC0LW
On The Road Again: Mobile Antenna Concepts

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].

It’s always interesting to see which of my blog posts are getting the most attention. According to my website stats, these posts got the most views in 2014. It turns out that most of these were written before 2014 but they are still getting lots of hits.

The top post was 2012 Jeep Wrangler Radio Install. When it comes to doing mobile radio installations, I’ve often found it helpful to search the web for information. There’s nothing like seeing how someone else did their radio install to get some help and guidance. With this post, I tried to repay the favor and it seems that lots of people have gotten use out of it.

The second most popular post is Can I Use My Ham Radio on Public Safety Frequencies?  I wrote this one back in 2012 but always seems to get a lot of hits. It is getting a bit out of date, so I should probably update it.

Next up is Solving the Baofeng Cable Problem. This article explains how to solve one of the biggest challenges of programming those low cost HTs from China. Also on the subject of low cost HTs is this popular post: Yet Another HT From China (Baofeng UV-B5).

Another popular post is my list of favorite ham radio iPhone apps: The Incomplete List of Ham Radio iPhone Apps.  This post from 2011 is definitely out of date but keeps getting lots of hits. I’ve updated this list a couple of times now and the most recent post is here: The Completely Updated Incomplete List of Ham Radio iPhone Apps. For some reason, the obsolete post still gets viewed the most.

Well, that is the top five posts but I am including a sixth bonus post at no extra charge. The FM/VHF Operating Guide is arguably one of the best time-tested articles I’ve written, originating way back in the twentieth century. It has taken many forms and revisions over the years and is now a static page on k0nr.com.

Thanks for stopping by k0nr.com and have a Happy New Year.

73, Bob K0NR

The post Top Five K0NR Blog Posts from 2014 appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.

Bob Witte, KØNR, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Colorado, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Courtesy of the QRP-ARCI and Jeff Hetherington VA3JFF

 2015 QRP-ARCI NEW YEAR’S SPRINT

A) Date/Time: 1500Z to 1800Z on 1 January 2015.

B) Mode: HF CW only.

C) Exchange: Members send: RST, State/Province/Country, ARCI member number Non-Members send: RST, State/Province/Country, Power Out

D) QSO Points: Member = 5 points Non-Member, Different Continent = 4 points Non-Member, Same Continent = 2 points

E) Multiplier: SPC (State/Province/Country) total for all bands. The same station may be worked on multiple bands for QSO points and SPC credit.

F) Power Multiplier: >5 Watts = x1 >1 - 5 Watts = x7 >500 mW - 1 Watt = x10 >200 mW - 500 mW = x15 >55 mW - 200 mW = x20 <55 mW = x25

G) Suggested Frequencies:

    160m  1810 kHz
    80m  3560 kHz
    40m  7030 kHz (please listen at 7040 kHz for rock bound participants)
    20m  14060 kHz
    15m  21060 kHz
    10m  28060 kHz

H) Score: Final Score = Points (total for all bands) x SPCs (total for all bands) x Power Multiplier + Bonus Points

Bonus Points: If you are operating PORTABLE using battery power AND a temporary antenna, add 5000 points to your final score. (You can NOT be at your shack operating from battery power using your home station antenna to qualify for this bonus.) This is to help level the playing field for contesters who work from the field against contest stations with 5 element yagis at 70 ft.

I) Categories: Band: Entry may be All-Band (AB), Single Band (e.g., SB-160, 80,40,20,15 or 10), High Bands (HB); 10m, 15m and 20m) or Low Bands (LB); 40m, 80m and 160m Antennas: Entry may be A1 or A2 A1: Single Element Antenna If you are using a single element antenna such as a dipole, inverted V, loop, or a vertical you can enter the A1 category. ( Note that with a vertical you can have as many radials as you want but only one “vertical” element. ) A2: Multiple Element Antenna If you are using a multi element beam, vertical array, or any antenna that has more than one driven element or uses reflective or directive elements you are in the A2 category.

J)How to Participate: Get on any of the HF bands except the WARC bands and hang out near the QRP frequencies. Work as many stations calling CQ QRP or CQ TEST as possible, or call CQ QRP or CQ TEST yourself! You can work a station for credit once on each band.

K) Email Log Submission: Submit Logs in plain text format along with a summary stating your Call Sign, Entry Category, total # of QSOs with members, total # of QSOs with non-members on different continent, total # of QSOs with non-members same continent, total # of SPCs worked, Actual Power and Station Description, along with score calculation to [email protected]

L) Snail mail Log Submission: Submit Logs in plain text format along with a summary stating your Call Sign, Entry Category, total # of QSOs with members, total # of QSOs with non-members on different continent, total # of QSOs with non-members same continent, total # of SPCs worked, Actual Power and Station Description, along with score calculation to:

ARCI NEW YEARS SPRINT
C/O Jeff Hetherington
139 Elizabeth St. W.
Welland, Ontario
Canada L3C 4M3

Deadline: Entries must be postmarked on or before 8 January, 2015.

M) Results: Will be published in QRP Quarterly and shown on the QRP-ARCI website.

N) Certificates: Will be awarded to the top scoring entrant in each category. Certificates may be awarded for 2nd and 3rd place if entries are sufficient in a category.

Thanks, Jeff!

An idea of my own - maybe participate in this sprint with a straight key?  A little SKN and QRP to boot?  Just a thought!

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Larry Makoski, W2LJ, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Jersey, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

LNR Precision is now flagging a price of $575 (£380 UK) for its new HF QRP radio the LD-5. I guess this price doesn't include shipping?

Currently it is flagged "Out of stock".

http://www.lnrprecision.com/store/#!/LD-5/p/39885476/category=10468544

I gave a short mention about this radio back in October:

http://g1kqh.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/lnr-ld-5-no-news-is-good-news.html

Plus a link to its manual a few weeks later:

http://g1kqh.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/lnr-publish-ld-5-manual.html

If I was buying this radio here in the UK, I would like to see it supported by a dealer, so I hope you all are reading?










Steve, G1KQH, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from England. Contact him at [email protected].

So here we are, another year has past, and it seems, at warp speed. I hope each of you are enjoying the holiday season, however you celebrate it. Our family celebrates Christmas and I was able to spoil my grandchildren, so it has been fun indeed. Happy New Year as we approach 2015, and may you have health and happiness.

I am spending a few days at my Santa Fe, NM QTH for the holidays. There is snow on the ground and its only been above freezing about 3 hours since last Friday. However its a dry cold so its not too bad.

As always when I'm here I try to squeeze in some Summits on the Air (SOTA) activations. So far I've been able to do a couple as detailed below.

The Wagon Mound W5N/EL-016  6,930ft ASL  6 pts

The Wagon Mound gets its name from it's appearance. Without too much imagination you can see the outline of an old Conestoga Wagon on the summit outline. I chose this summit primarily because I've never done it, but also because, for the peaks in the area, it is at a relatively low elevation and the snow cover should be much less than higher peaks. When I departed Santa Fe, it was clear, sunny and 19F. I envisioned very thin snow cover, if any, on the mountain.

I was in for a little surprise, as you will see from the video below.


Wagon Mound, NM is 104 miles northeast of my QTH near Lamy, NM. About half way there we encountered fog. Visibility dropped, at times, to about 50 yards and the temperature dropped to 7F. I was beginning to have my doubts about making the climb. It was obvious that the snow accumulations were significantly more here, than back home. However I continued, postponing my decision until I could see the actual conditions at the base of the mountain..

Upon arrival, conditions had improved a little, visibility to 1 mile and the temperature was 13F at the base of the mountain. It wasn't a long climb, but it was steep. There was about 12 inches of snow on the ground. The problem with that is that this climb was a bushwhack over volcanic rocks and cactus. The snow cover completely disguised what might or might not be underneath. I decided to make the attempt. Cris, my XYL, was with me and she was willing to try as well. After all, we had just come over 100 miles.

The footing was treacherous. I had to plant my foot through the snow to discover what footing was below, whether solid ground or slippery rocks.We took our time and turned what should have been a 20 minute climb into about 40 minutes.

We set up about 30 feet below the summit, well into the activation zone. I used my KX3, 31 ft. piece of wire elevated with a 21 foot mast through a 9 to 1 balun, tuned by the KX3's tuner. Despite weather conditions, propagation was very good. I worked 31 stations on 20m CW in 18 minutes, a quick QSY to 40m yielded no results and since it was cold I didn't try any other bands. We packed up and retraced our steps down.

All in all a very satisfying activation given the challenges. We stopped on our way home in Las Vegas, NM and warmed ourselves up with some Mexican Food. A good day.

Summit 6860 W5N/SI-022  6,860ft ASL  6 pts

After my experience heading north, I decided to go south for my next activation. This summit is east of Albuquerque NM just south of I-40 and 67 miles from my QTH. This is a nice summit. Depending on where you start, the hike is 2. to 3 miles round trip. The elevation change is about 800 feet over that distance. There are numerous crisscrossing trails over the terrain, so there are multiple ways to get to summit. The trails are all nice trails, no bushwhacking required on this one.

The weather was near perfect for climbing, about 40 degrees, sunshine and little wind. Very enjoyable. You will see from the video below that the conditions were splendid and there was a little snow on the ground.



I used the same set-up here as described above. Conditions were good, 31 QSO's on 15, 20, and 30 meters.

So 12 more points in the log and some good exercise and, obviously, some stories to tell.

Happy New Year!!





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