AmateurRadio.com

There has been a big change here since our move with regards to ham radio.   Antenna challenges, finding a spot for the radio, having the setup "eye friendly" to non hams who visit.  The antenna challenge seems to be solved with the MFJ 1788 loop antenna. There are still some hick ups with it, for example not being able to tune 20m below a 9.1 to 1 SWR. I have spoken with MFJ and they have given me some great ideas to try with the loop. (more on that as I venture into the loop's insides) The setup was solved with a great roll top desk all is hidden away and protected with a very fashionable piece of furniture. Now it's time to look at expanding my radio operations beyond CW but still very much not forgetting about CW it will still be a large part of my operating. CW is perfect for low power and simple antenna operating. BUT also with my new antenna it has a narrow bandwidth and needs to be returned as you move up or down the band. With practice the loop can be retuned very fast. I was wanting now to add a mode that would favour the loops narrow band width. The digital world came to mind.
The last time I was in digi land PSK31 was the ground breaking mode and I have come to understand by many of the blogs I read there are some new modes in town!! PSK is still around but it too has changed. There is also now SIM31 and 63,  JT65, Olivia and the list goes on, I have been out of digital for some time now and am not sure what all is out there. What I am looking for is something that uses a narrow bandwidth, (most digi modes do) only requiring low power, would be great to have a "conversation mode" and not signal reports and goodbye and not a mode that takes forever for exchanges as I have heard about some digi modes. Having said all that one thing I can remember about the digi modes is they can be lot of "fun" to setup with your rig and PC! BUT that is all part of the fun I guess. So you digi fans out there help me out with some suggestions as to an HF low power narrow bandwidth digi mode I can scramble my brains with. Oh and if it helps the bands I have available are 10-40m and the rigs I have are the Elecraft K3  and KX3.
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

Series Seven Episode Three of the ICQ Amateur / Ham Radio Podcast has been released. The latest news, Martin (M1MRB) and Colin (M6BOY) discuss the 50 years of ICOM and Martin, reviews radio codes.

• Canada fully authorises 5 MHz Channels
• New Essex Ham Radio club in Thurrock
• Fatal West Virginia tower collapse
• 4m VHF Transatlantic Beacon
• K9LA to receive the 2013 Bill Orr, W6SAI, Technical Writing Award
• EuCW launches Snakes and Ladders
• First details of Icom’s New Touch screen ID-5100 Dual Band D-STAR Mobile Radio
• IC-7700 HF/50MHz Base Station firmware upgrade
• Radio Hams responding to Slovenia electricity disruption
• Icom celebrate their 50th anniversary

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

Series Seven Episode Three of the ICQ Amateur / Ham Radio Podcast has been released. The latest news, Martin (M1MRB) and Colin (M6BOY) discuss the 50 years of ICOM and Martin, reviews radio codes.

• Canada fully authorises 5 MHz Channels
• New Essex Ham Radio club in Thurrock
• Fatal West Virginia tower collapse
• 4m VHF Transatlantic Beacon
• K9LA to receive the 2013 Bill Orr, W6SAI, Technical Writing Award
• EuCW launches Snakes and Ladders
• First details of Icom’s New Touch screen ID-5100 Dual Band D-STAR Mobile Radio
• IC-7700 HF/50MHz Base Station firmware upgrade
• Radio Hams responding to Slovenia electricity disruption
• Icom celebrate their 50th anniversary

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

For working FT5ZM, and it looks like I may not get them. I spent three hours tonight, trying to work them on both 20 and 30 Meters – no dice. They QRT on Tuesday, so time is running short. I would really like to work them, as most of the QRPers that I know are in their log book. But if it turns out that I don’t ….. well, the sun will still keep shining, the Earth will still keep spinning, and come Springtime, bunnies and birdies will dance on the lawn. And come 500 years from now, no one will know who W2LJ was, or how many countries he worked and at what power. You have to keep your eye on the bigger prize.

That’s like at the VE session that I worked this morning ….. there was a Ham there who was quite disappointed about being a General Class operator. This person has tried to upgrade to Extra, but is having a hard time of it, and is getting discouraged with the whole deal.

Goals are a good thing, but you have to remember that this is a hobby. We’re not looking for a cure for cancer here. It’s high time to enjoy what you have and not worry too much about what you don’t. Once you have fun with where you are, that just may take off enough self inflicted pressure to allow you accomplish what you feel is an impossibility.

As they say, the joy is in the journey, not the destination, whether that be an Extra class license or DXCC Honor Roll.

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].

The various models of Baofeng handheld transceivers keep popping up everywhere. At prices less than $50, radio amateurs (including veterans and newbies) are scarfing up these radios. See my postings or check out PD0AC’s blog for more information.

Also very frequently, the new owner of such a radio finds that they cannot figure out how to program it. Of course, the solution is “use the programming software” which is often helpful (and often not). The really gnarly problem that usually surfaces is getting the programming cable to work.

It appears that many of the cheap Baofeng USB programming cables use a clone of the Prolific PL-2303 chip that is not supported by the latest Windows driver. This Miklor web page does a good job of explaining the driver problem and giving some helpful advice. (Actually the Miklor site has tons of information on these radios, so check it out.) I’ll also note that the same cable can be used to program a Wouxun radio, so the same remedies apply. Using the info on the Miklor site allowed me to get my Baofeng/Wouxun cable working with my old Windows XP computer. When I bought a new notebook PC, it came with Windows 8 installed, which I later “upgraded” to Win 8.1. (I will spare you the sad story of dealing with Win 8 and 8.1)  Anyway, I have not gotten the Baofeng cables to work on Win 8 or 8.1, even following the Miklor advice.

I started using the Chirp programming software, an open source application that supports a wide variety of radios. (I have found the supplied Baofeng and Wouxun software to be, uh, well, crapware. It can be made to work but it is a pain.) While the Chirp software is not bug free and is in perpetual beta, it basically works well and does a great job of supporting a wide range of radios. I noticed that the Chirp Cableguide recommends the use of programming cables with an FTDI USB chip. I found this one on Amazon for $19, a little more expensive than the cheapo cables but not bad.  I plugged it into my Win8.1 computer and it started working immediately. I did not load any drivers, Windows actually did its job and took care of it for me. In minutes, I was programming a variety of Baofeng and Wouxun radios. Success!!!

My strong recommendation at this point is to use the Chirp software and get a FTDI-based programming cable. You will be a much happier Baofeng or Wouxun owner.

73, Bob K0NR

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

When giving the video tour of my latest QRP pack I was asked by a few fellow KX3 owners what case it was that I was using.

Ive created another YouTube clip that shows off the Think Tank Strobe Stuff Pouch. Which was recommend to me by G4ILO on his blog.

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.

Here’s a certificate I’m very proud to add to my NAQCC folder. The majority of my 50 state contacts were made with my indoor mounted Isotron antennas on either 40 meters or 20 meters. Alaska and Hawaii were two states I had doubts of ever working from my city location considering I’m forced to operate with stealth antennas. I worked those last two states with a 50 ft indoor random wire.

I’m also within a very short distance of my DXCC award now with 95 countries showing on the QRZ.com log book. I need to count all those in my “personal” log book since I started that log book a year or so before the QRZ book.

John Smithson, Jr., N8ZYA, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from West Virginia, USA. Contact him at [email protected].