- — Amateur radio videos: W6LG on SWR, CW without Morse Code?, M0NTV on impedance matching
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at 4/15/24 8:44amW6LG on SWR Standing wave ration (SWR) is arguably one of the most debated—and misunderstood—topics in amateur radio. Here is Jim, W6LG’s, take on it. CW without Morse Code? In amateur radio, we tend to use the terms “CW” and “Morse Code” interchangeably. Technically, though, we send Morse Code using continuous wave (CW) transmissions. CW could be used to send other codes, such as the one proposed by this video. It doesn’t’ seem like the code proposed here is all that practical, but YMMV. Let me know what you think. MONTV on impedance matching Impedance and impedance matching are two more misunderstood topics. Here, Nick, M0NTV, explains some of the basics of LC matching networks. What good is knowing this? Well, for example, if you really want to understand how your antenna tuner works, you’ll want to watch this. This is Part 1 of 2 videos.- — Random Noise: Wet antenna, POTA ragchewing, more ops sending BK
- at 4/12/24 2:22pmRain puts a damper (literally!) on 30m operations I love my homebrew Cobra antenna …but it suffers from one big drawback. When it rains, the ladder line impedance changes and I have to retune the antenna. And, when it rains constantly for more than a couple of hours—like it has been here for the past 24 hours or so—I can’t tune it at all on 30 meters. That’s a bummer because 30 meters is my favorite band. Oh well….It looks like the rain has finally let up here, so I should be back in business on 30 meters this evening. POTA Ragchewing? One of my ragchewing buddies is Howard, K4LXY. He’s fun to chat with because he always has something interesting that he’s doing or working on. A couple of days ago during our QSO, he suggested that POTA would be even more fun if somehow one could get credit for ragchewing from a park. I like this idea. Perhaps if one had a ragchew of 15 minutes or more from a park, that one contact would qualify the operation as a legal activation and 10 contacts. What do you think? More breaking, less IDing It used to be that, at the end of a transmission, one would send the other station’s call, then “DE”, then your call, then “K”. So, for example, if I was working W1ABC, I’d send “W1ABC DE KB6NU K”. Lately, however, I’ve been noticing more stations simply sending “BK” when they’re done with their transmission. I’m cool with this. The regulations say that one only has to identify every ten minutes, so why waste time sending call signs over and over? What do you think?
- — QSLs from the “Motor City”
- at 4/10/24 9:53amI’ve written before about the cache of old QSLs that my brother came across several months ago while conducting an estate sale. The recipient of these QSLs lived near Detroit, so it’s understandable that many of the cards he received came from hams in the “Motor City. W8IFI proudly proclaims himself to be “The Voice of the Motor City.” W8BNG more modestly announces that he is “in the Motor City.” W8KWX’s card simply says, “The Motor City.” I looked up these addresses on Google Maps, and the only house still standing is the house at 1294 W. Grand Blvd. It looks like 5317 Maybury Grand was razed to make way for the I-96 Freeway. 6128 Comstock is simply gone. The date that Google Maps last shows a house there is August 2013. Now that whole block is almost completely deserted. Looking east, 6128 Comstock would have been on the left side of this street.
- — Amateur radio videos: Extreme toroid winding, CW bandwidth, KB6NU on LICW
- at 4/6/24 7:42amNeed to wind some toroids? While I’m waiting for my QRPLabs’ QMX kit to arrive, I thought I’d try to learn something about toroid winding. This video takes toroid winding to a whole new level. W2AEW on CW bandwidth Question T8A11, in the Technician Class question pool asks, What is the approximate bandwidth required to transmit a CW signal?” The correct answer is 150 Hz. The question says “approximate” because the bandwidth depends on the speed at which the Morse Code is being sent. In this video, Alan, W2AEW, actually makes some measurements to determine the bandwidth of a CW signal. KB6NU on LICW A couple of weeks ago, Bob, K4LRC, asked me to speak to the LICW Portable Ops group about getting better at CW. I guess they ran out of qualified speakers. I don’t know if the group learned anything, but it was fun to speak to the group. TL;DR getting on the air and making contacts is the best way to improve your CW.
- — Amateur radio in the news: Hackable ham radio, ham radio at the museum, club hosts Scouts
- at 4/5/24 7:38amThe Most Hackable Handheld Ham Radio Yet The [Quansheng] UV-K5, released last year, might be the most hackable handheld ever, with a small army of dedicated hams adding a raft of software-based improvements and new features. I had to have one, and $30 later, I did. Like Baofeng’s 5R, Quansheng’s K5 as a radio transceiver is fine. (I’m using K5 here to refer to both the original K5 and the new K5(8) model.) The key technical distinction between the 5R and K5 is a seemingly minor design choice. With Baofeng’s 5R, the firmware resides in read-only memory. But Quansheng stores the K5’s firmware in flash memory and made it possible to rewrite that memory with the same USB programming cable used to assign frequencies to preset channels. …read more ICHMS collaborates with IRARC CASPIAN, MI – The Iron County Historical & Museum Society (ICHMS) will have two new exhibits this summer thanks to a collaboration with the Iron Range Amateur Radio Club (IRARC) and a grant from the Crystal Falls/Dickinson Area Community Foundation. “We couldn’t be any more excited about this collaboration and the exhibits that will come from it”, states museum director Kathlene Long. The club members are in here helping build the exhibits and are bringing their expertise along with their own artifacts to build these exhibits in time for this coming summer season. The Stager Depot at the Iron County Historical Museum in Caspian, MI. The Club is building a working ham radio station in the museum. It will be fully functional. Museum visitors will be able to see the exhibit and signs will help visitors understand the importance ham radios and amateur operators have played in our county’s, and our country’s history. They will also learn why they continue to be so important. In addition, the Club is recreating a display of a vintage WIKB studio from pieces they have collected over the years. All of this is being paid for, in part, from a $500 grant from the Crystal Falls/Dickinson Area Community Foundation. “All in all, this is a lot of moving parts finally coming together to make this happen.” Long explains. …read more SIERA hosts Scout amateur radio merit badge day METROPOLIS, IL — Boy Scouts talked to amateur radio operators as far away as Puerto Rico and Arizona during a radio merit badge class hosted by the Southernmost Illinois Emergency Radio Association (SIERA). Five scouts from Troop 2007, out of St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Paducah, attended the class on Saturday, March 23, at Trinity Church in Metropolis. Scouts experimented with tuning forks and a wave generator and had the opportunity to talk on both handy-talkie and high-frequency base radios during the class. They also learned about the science and mechanics of radio as well as important safety measures. …read more
- — Operating Notes: Bandscope observations, a pirate on 2m, VU2
- at 3/31/24 6:40pmBandscope observations If you who read my blog regularly, you know Im a big fan of bandscopes. Here are a couple of relevant observations: I almost missed a DX contact because the DX station called about 250 Hz below my frequency. Because I had my bandpass set to 300 Hz (+/-150 Hz), I couldnt hear him at all. I did seem him on the bandscope, though, and after I adjusted my receive incremental tuning (RIT), I worked him just fine. Not having a radio with a bandscope can lead you to be more pessimistic about ham radio than you should be. I worked a fellow who lamented how quiet the band was and how no one operated CW anymore. I found this baffling, as the band looked pretty active to me. It turns out that the guy was using a radio without a bandscope and when he tuned around, he couldnt hear anything. I, on the other hand, could see the activity. A pirate on 2m? I am the main net control station for our clubs Monday night 2-meter net. (The net convenes every Monday night at 8 pm Eastern time on the 146.96- repeater. Join us if you can hit the repeater.) Last week, a fellow checked in the call sign K1TKE. Since I have a computer in the shack, I like to call up the QRZ.Com page for people I havent worked before. There was no page for K1TKE. Now, I know that there are some licensed amateurs that dont have a QRZ page for one reason or another, so when it was K1TKEs turn, I gave him a call. I got no response, so Im guessing that this guy was unlicensed. Thats the first time this has happened to me. VU2! After all these years, I finally worked a VU station, logging VU2GSM on March 10 on 30-meter CW. I know this isnt the biggest accomplishment in my ham radio career, but nonetheless its pretty cool to me. I must say that Kanti had great ears. He wasnt all that strong here, so I imagine that I was equally weak there. Even so, he got my call correctly the first time.
- — Debouncing switches can be a challenge
- at 3/29/24 9:31amThe PicoMite Keyer hardware has five pushbuttons and uses two I/O pins for the dit and dah paddle contacts. One of the challenges that I faced when I started my Micropython keyer project was debouncing the switch closures. There are seven in all: five pushbuttons and the dit and dah inputs. So, I did what everybody does nowadays—perform an internet search. I searched for “switch debouncing with Micropython” and got about a zillion references. One of the first references is actually part of the Micropython documentation. The documentation suggests that one read the current value of a given pin, wait for the value to change, and then verify that the new value is stable for at least 20 ms. They give the following example code: import pyb def wait_pin_change(pin): # wait for pin to change value # it needs to be stable for a continuous 20ms cur_value = pin.value() active = 0 while active < 20: if pin.value() != cur_value: active += 1 else: active = 0 pyb.delay(1) And, here’s how you would use this function: import pyb pin_x1 = pyb.Pin('X1', pyb.Pin.IN, pyb.Pin.PULL_DOWN) while True: wait_pin_change(pin_x1) pyb.LED(4).toggle() pyb, by the way, is a library of functions that support the PyBoard, a small microcontroller board that was designed specifically to run MicroPython. Pin is one of the classes in the pyb library that provides I/O pin functions. More stuff from the internet This is a simple solution, and really too simple for my project. So, I kept looking and found a bunch more solutions: Jack Ganssle, a long time embedded systems consultant, has published a couple of pages on debouncing on his blog, A Guide to Debouncing, or, How to Debounce a Contact in Two Easy Pages. Being a hardware guy, Ganssle gives a nice explanation of the problem before he goes on to show us his solution. Hack-a-Day has also tackled this issue with two posts, Embed with Elliot: Debounce Your Noisy Buttons, Part I and Part II. What I ended up using is the asyncio library that was developed for MicroPython. This allows a programmer to implement a form of multi-tasking called cooperative multi-tasking,” which is widely used in embedded systems. It’s more complicated programming this way—you have to keep in mind all the various things that can be running at the same time—but there are definite advantages as well. For example, I think when I get to the point of implementing accepting commands via the USB port, it will be easier to do this. Commands will be arriving asynchronously, after all. Another advantage to using this library is that it has drivers for switches, pushbuttons, ADCs, and incremental encoders. The switch drivers, for example, include functions that detect both short and long presses. This is a feature that I’m using in this project. Hardware solution There is also hardware solutions to debouncing switches. These range from simply soldering a capacitor across the switch to connecting the switch to a Schmitt trigger. For more information on these solutions, and how to make the tradeoff between hardware and software solutions, see Ultimate Guide to Switch Debounce by Max Maxfield.
- — Operating notes: New CW ops edition
- at 3/26/24 7:10pmIm hearing some new ops on the CW bands these days, and I think its very cool. I’m not sure what’s motivating them, but whatever it is, I’m all for it. Heres one email I got from a fellow after our QSO: Dan, Im a new CW operator and I heard your call tonight and recognized it from podcast fame, so I answered. I appreciated that you slowed down right away, but I immediately regretted my decision when you sent more than RST and state . I could tell you were asking questions, but I was lost. Then my fingers panicked and stopped working . I bet Im the only guy thats ever happened to. Im using the Morse Code Ninja podcasts which are great (only a few characters left). I try to hunt a few POTA activators here and there for the simple/predictable exchange, and listen far more than I send. Anyway, I got you in the log and hopefully our paths will cross again once Ive got some more QSOs under my belt. Thanks for trying. 73, Todd Heres another: Dan, It was good making contact. I hope someday to be able to copy. :-) I probably got about 60% of what you sent. I think I got the gist of what you were saying. Thanks for your patience. This is the class Im taking https://cwinnovations.net/ Glen put it together and this is the second time he/theyve taught it. It is ten weeks long. We started on the 6th. Ive read tons of stuff on learning CW and have taken the beginning and intermediate CWops classes. It will be interesting to see what innovations he has in this course. Ive been using a paddle until this point and have decided to try a straight key in this course to see if the tactile motion improves copying. It might be helping some, but who knows as Im doing other stuff and getting experience every day. I know one thing that holds me back is when I do stuff like POTA, WES or SST, I search and pounce assisted. If I know what is coming, copying is easy. :-) Thats why I need to do more rag chews. Thanks again. I look forward to seeing you in Dayton. Robert A third fellow sent me a QSL card after struggling through a QSO, and after I sent him an electronic version of my book, CW Geek’s Guide to Having Fun with Morse Code. He wrote: I didn’t realize until after our QSO that I have the No Nonsense Extra Class License Study Guide on my Kindle. Thanks again for the CW advice! These weren’t the smoothest contacts I’ve made lately, but I give them a lot of credit for trying. I hope that if you find yourself in the same situation, and hear me calling CQ, that you’ll give me a call. And, if any of you more experienced operators hear these new ops, be slow and patient with them. They’re making the effort, so you should, too.
- — ICQ Podcast Episode 426 – HamSCI Eclipse
- at 3/25/24 12:07pmIn this episode, I join Martin Butler M1MRB, Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT, Edmund Spicer M0MNG, and Ed Durrant DD5LP to discuss: Amateur Radio Stands Ready to Support Eclipse Operations Discarded Space Junk From Iss Falls To Earth Without Incident At This Library, Check Out Ham Radio As Well As Books FCC Sets Rules For Cellular-Satellite Coverage This episodes feature is more information about HamSCI’s activities during the upcoming full solar eclipse.
- — Random stuff: Circuit debugging tips, choke cookbook, Bluetooth observation
- at 3/24/24 5:04pm8 Tips for Debugging Electronic Circuits Jameco’s eight tips for debugging circuits include: Understand the circuit. Do a visual inspection. Use the right tools. Check power supply and ground connections. Consider signal tracing and analysis. Conduct incremental testing and isolation. Learn from documentation and community resources Develop a methodical approach For a more complete description, visit the Jameco website. My advice would include a combination of #2 and #4. After doing a visual inspection, the first thing I do is to check all the cables and connectors. It’s been my experience that bad cables and connections account for approximately 80% of electronics problems. An RG-179 choke. A New Choke Cookbook for the 160–10M Bands Using Fair-Rite #31 2.4-in o.d. (2631803802) and 4-in o.d. (2631814002) Toroids This article by K9YC is chock-full of information about RF chokes for HF antenna systems, including circuit theory and practical construction techniques. The introduction reads: Common mode chokes are added as series elements to a transmission line to kill common mode current. The line may be a short one carrying audio or control signals between a computer and a radio, video between a computer and a monitor, noisy power wiring, or feedlines for antennas. This application note focuses on the use of chokes on the feedlines of high power transmitting antennas to suppress received noise, to minimize RF in the shack (and a neighbor’s living room) and to minimize crosstalk between stations in multi-transmitter environments. Bluetooth multi-path distortion I’ve started using a set of Bluetooth ear pods to listen to podcasts on my Android phone when walking around town. (I do a lot of walking.) I’ve noticed that when I’m walking around downtown, sometimes the sound will go out in one or both ear pods. At first, I thought that might be because my hand or my body was shielding the Bluetooth signal when my phone was in my pocket. Thinking more about it, though, I’ve decided that I’m losing the signal due to reflections from buildings as I walk by them. It’s multipath distortion! I should have realized this right off the bat, as I’ve been teaching this very thing in my one-day Tech classes for at least the last ten years.
- — Amateur radio in the news: Wicker, Blumenthal sponsor ham radio bill; young people still drawn to ham radio, student starts ham club at Marshall University
- at 3/23/24 7:40amSen. Wicker co-introduces Amateur Radio Emergency Preparedness Act Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) [BROOKHAVEN, MS] U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) have introduced legislation to give amateur radio operators the right to install their antennas and serve the community. Homeowner association rules prevent amateur radio operators from installing outdoor antennas on residential properties even though this communication method has proven to be essential in emergencies and natural disasters, such as hurricanes in states like Mississippi and Connecticut. Among other provisions, this legislation would: Prohibit homeowner association rules that would prevent or ban amateur radio antennas Clarify the approval process for installing amateur radio antennas Give amateur radio operators a private right of action The full text of the legislation can be found here. …read more The Athens County Amateur Radio Association finds that young people are still drawn to old-school communication ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) – Long before cell phones and the internet, ham radios were linking people around the world. And this old-school technology continues to fascinate hobbyists of all ages in the Athens County Amateur Radio Association. “What really brought me into radio is the fact it’s such a unique hobby,” said Josh Senefeld. “Everyone uses (wireless communications) every day without even realizing it.” Senefeld first became interested in the world of amateur radio at age 13 after he became a cadet in the Civil Air Patrol. Four years later, he got his amateur radio license. Now 20, Senefeld is one of the younger members of the Athens County Amateur Radio Association, though it is open to people of all ages. …read more Ham Radio Club Revives Alternative Communication The president of Marshall University’s ham radio club said he believes radio communication is a great way to bring people together. Jacob Wriston, the president of the Thundering Herd Amateur Radio Club, said his experience with ham radio began in high school. He said that when he was looking at Marshall, he had hoped there would be a radio club similar to WVU’s amateur radio club. In July of 2022, he started a discord for the group before making it an official organization in the 2022 Fall Semester. “I saw that WVU has a radio club,” Wriston said. “They’ve actually had one since like 1913 as the oldest club on campus, and, so, I was hoping that Marshall would have the same thing, and they don’t. So, I just started a discord server over the summer.” Wriston said the club’s main goal is to promote the hobby of amateur radio. …read more
- — Amateur radio in the news: Wicker, Blumenthal sponsor ham radio bill;
- at 3/23/24 7:40amSen. Wicker co-introduces Amateur Radio Emergency Preparedness Act Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) [BROOKHAVEN, MS] U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) have introduced legislation to give amateur radio operators the right to install their antennas and serve the community. Homeowner association rules prevent amateur radio operators from installing outdoor antennas on residential properties even though this communication method has proven to be essential in emergencies and natural disasters, such as hurricanes in states like Mississippi and Connecticut. Among other provisions, this legislation would: Prohibit homeowner association rules that would prevent or ban amateur radio antennas Clarify the approval process for installing amateur radio antennas Give amateur radio operators a private right of action The full text of the legislation can be found here. …read more The Athens County Amateur Radio Association finds that young people are still drawn to old-school communication ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) – Long before cell phones and the internet, ham radios were linking people around the world. And this old-school technology continues to fascinate hobbyists of all ages in the Athens County Amateur Radio Association. “What really brought me into radio is the fact it’s such a unique hobby,” said Josh Senefeld. “Everyone uses (wireless communications) every day without even realizing it.” Senefeld first became interested in the world of amateur radio at age 13 after he became a cadet in the Civil Air Patrol. Four years later, he got his amateur radio license. Now 20, Senefeld is one of the younger members of the Athens County Amateur Radio Association, though it is open to people of all ages. …read more Ham Radio Club Revives Alternative Communication The president of Marshall University’s ham radio club said he believes radio communication is a great way to bring people together. Jacob Wriston, the president of the Thundering Herd Amateur Radio Club, said his experience with ham radio began in high school. He said that when he was looking at Marshall, he had hoped there would be a radio club similar to WVU’s amateur radio club. In July of 2022, he started a discord for the group before making it an official organization in the 2022 Fall Semester. “I saw that WVU has a radio club,” Wriston said. “They’ve actually had one since like 1913 as the oldest club on campus, and, so, I was hoping that Marshall would have the same thing, and they don’t. So, I just started a discord server over the summer.” Wriston said the club’s main goal is to promote the hobby of amateur radio. …read more
- — 1930s cards for my collection of QSLs from stations whose callsigns spell words
- at 3/20/24 3:38pmI recently posted about the collection of QSL cards from the 1930s and 1940s that my brother discovered at an estate sale that he conducted. I was very pleased to see that many of them had call signs that spelled words. I plan to add all of these to my collection
- — Operating Notes: I’m twitch-y, bye-bye X-6100, bring on the toroids
- at 3/19/24 1:10pmIm Twitch-y! Last night, I worked Luis, EA1TG, and this morning, he sent me a link to a video on Twitch that he made of our contact. (Click on the image to go to Twitch. For some reason, I couldn’t embed the Twitch video here.) This is kind of cool. I’ve been thinking of setting up my own Twitch channel to stream my contacts. I’m not sure if anyone would actually watch them, but who knows? Bye-bye X-6100 Last summer, I purchased a Xiegu X-6100 from Radioddity when they put it on sale. I had a lot of fun using it. In some ways, it’s more fun to use than my Elecraft KX-3. I attribute that mainly to the brightly-colored waterfall display. It’s just not the radio that the KX-3 is, however. For one thing, the KX-3’s antenna tuner is much better than the X-6100’s antenna tuner. The KX-3 tuner almost always achieves an SWR of 1.1:1 or less with my 66-ft. doublet antenna, while the Xiegu is satisfied once it hits 1.5:1. The color choices are also terrible, making it hard to read, especially in bright sunlight. So, after making 36 contacts with it on my latest POTA activation, I sold the X-6100 last week. I hope that the new owner will have as much fun as did with it. And, find its shortcomings less annoying. Bring on the toroids! To replace the X-6100, I purchased a QRP Labs QMX kit. For less than $100, the QMX provides five band coverage (either 80m 20m or 20m 10m), CW and digital modes, an SDR receiver, a 24-bit 48 ksps USB sound card, CAT control, and synthesized VFO with TCXO reference. Since I’ll be using this for POTA, and propagation on the higher bands is headed in the right direction, I opted for the 20m 10 version. I also purchased the enclosure and power cord, so the price came to just short of $140, including shipping. Even so, that’s quite a deal, I think. When I told my friends Rick and Paul about my purchase they jumped all over me about the toroids. One of them in particular has a trifilar winding and is supposed to be difficult to fabricate. I’m not a big fan of winding toroids, but I’m not scared of them either. Bring on the toroids! In the meantime, I’ve been watching this video: After watching it, it seems to me that the biggest thing to watch out for is how crowded everything is inside the radio. For example, there are several warnings about how close some of the components and traces are to one another. Forewarned is forearmed, though, so at least I’ll know what to look out for. Stay tuned for reports on how I get along with the kit. Who knows? Maybe I’ll live-stream my toroid-building on my YouTube or Twitch channel.
- — Hamfests are as much about meeting people as they are about selling stuff
- at 3/18/24 9:36amFrom L to R, KB6NU, KW1L, and K8BMA at the 2024 TMRA Hamfest. Yesterday, my friends Paul KW1L, Rick K8BMA, and I drove down to Toledo for the Toledo Mobile Radio Association (TMRA) hamfest. This is generally a well-attended event, so I schlepped a bunch of stuff down there. Some of it was my junk, some of it odds and ends from the estates I agreed to liquidate. We had a lot of fun, and I managed to net about $250 from the stuff I sold. More importantly, though, I met some great people. One fellow came up to me to thank me for publishing my study guides. I always enjoy meeting readers, and as always, I told him to call me should he ever hear me on the air. Another fellow, who purchased a copy of my Tech study guide, mentioned that he had let his Extra Class license expire and now wanted to get back into the hobby. I told that should be easy enough, now that all he is required to do is to pass the Tech test. In addition to selling him the book, I gave him my card and told him to contact me if he had any questions about any of the material. Towards the end of the event, a kid I guess to be 15 or 16, came up to the table with his father and expressed some interest in the RD-5R DMR radio and another analog HT that I had. I had priced the RD-5R at $25 and the other radio at $10. He shyly said something like, “I don’t want to offend you, but would you take $22 for both radios?” When I replied, “Well, how about $25 for both of them?” he said, “Well, I only have $22 left.” At that, his father said, “I’ll front you the extra three dollars,” and pulled out his wallet. And, as it turned out, the kid only had $21, so the total sale amounted to $24. Paul, Rick, and I got a laugh out of that. As he collected the radios, I asked him what his call sign was. He replied that he hadn’t gotten his license yet, but he was going to take the test soon. I gave him my card and told him to make sure to get a copy of my free study guide. And, once he gets his license, to call me if he ever heard me on the air. I was about his age when I went to my first ham radio swap meet. I hope that he has as much fun with ham radio as I’ve had over the years.
- — Handmade QSLs from the 1930s
- at 3/14/24 9:48pmMy brother, Mike, runs an estate sale company, Metro Detroit Estate Sales (shameless plug intended). From time to time, he’ll call me when a sale he’s conducting includes some electronics or ham radio gear. A couple of months ago, he called and said that this most recent sale included a bunch of miscellaneous amateur radio-related stuff. The owner of the house, who passed away, was the daughter of W8HZN, and the estate included some of his logbooks, some old QSL cards from the 1930s, and some Popular Electronics magazines from the 1960s. This evening, I finally got around to looking at the QSL cards. One of the things that struck me was that so many of them were hand-made. Apparently, they would purchase post cards from the post office (only a penny each, including postage!) and created their own designs. This first one was one of the more elaborate. Hamtramck is a city completely surrounded by the city of Detroit. Many hams had stamps made with their call signs. They would stamp their call on a postcard and add the rest of the information by hand. This card is notable because it has three different colors. One thing that you’ll notice is that all of these card are brown with age. You can imagine what they would have looked like 90 years ago. There were more than 100 QSL card in the box that my brother found, so this is just the tip of the iceberg. I’ll be writing more about this treasure trove of ham radio history in the future.
- — Amateur radio videos: ARDC community meeting, Hamvention award winners, send texts over VHF/UHF
- at 3/11/24 7:32amARDC Community Meeting 2024-02-24 Here’s the latest update from ARDC on their activities. Hamvention 2024 award winners The winners this year include: Special Achievement Award: Anthony Luscre, K8ZT Technical Achievement: Ward Silver, N0AX Club of the Year: Young Ladies Radio League Amateur of the Year: Edward Engleman, KG8CX Text over radio with Rattlegram This might be something interesting to try on a repeater that’s not very active.
- — Don’t miss it! The Solar Eclipse is only a month away. Learn How You Can Participate in Two HamSCI Roundtable Events
- at 3/8/24 2:51pmThe last total solar eclipse across North America for twenty years will occur on Monday, April 8. HamSCI is asking hams across North America to participate in learning more about how the ionosphere functions by getting on the air to help scientists in a series of ionospheric experiments. To learn more about how you can participate, connect with HamSCI members and curious hams on Wednesday, March 27 at 8PM (Eastern) / 5PM (Pacific)*, or that same day at 10PM (Eastern) / 7PM (Pacific)* for a Zoom presentation on HamSCIs Festivals of Eclipse Ionospheric Science (FoEIS). The presenters will take your questions during the 30-minute presentations. The program will start by covering HamSCIs basis and purpose, quickly moving into why they are conducting these experiments, how hams and SWLs can participate, and what they hope to learn from the event. Along the way, they will discuss why the science behind the events is important to users of the high frequency radio spectrum including amateur radio operators! Learn about the HamSCI’s eclipse-focused operating events: Solar Eclipse QSO Party (SEQP) Gladstone Signal Spotting Challenge (GSSC) Medium Wave Recording Event Time Delay of Arrival (TDOA) Event Grape 1 Doppler Receiver project and more! There is no need to pre-register, create an account or log into any site. Simply go to the HamSCI FoEIS Roundtable Zoom meeting room on March 27th!! Then, get on the air April 8th!! HamSCI fosters collaboration between professional researchers and amateur radio operators. It assists in developing and maintaining standards and agreements between all people and organizations involved. Its goals are to advance scientific research and understanding through amateur radio activities and encourage the development of new technologies to support this research. For more information about HamSCI, to join its mailing list, or participate in its work, visit their website.
- — Amateur radio in the news: young ham to pursue engineering career, young people still drawn to ham radio in Ohio, ham club sends aid to Ukraine
- at 3/5/24 8:49amI often think that instead of emcomm, we should be playing up the educational aspect of amateur radio and how it encourages young people to get into engineering…..Dan Ham Radio Inspired This Scranton University Student to Pursue Engineering Many college students participate in sports, listen to music, or play video games in their spare time, but IEEE Student Member Gerard Piccini prefers amateur radio, also known as ham radio. He’s been involved with the two-way radio communication, which uses designated frequencies, since his uncle introduced him to it when he was a youngster. His call sign is KD2ZHK. Piccini, from Monroe Township, N.J., is pursuing an electrical engineering degree at the University of Scranton, in Pennsylvania. The junior is president of the university’s W3USR amateur radio club. He’s also a member of Scranton’s IEEE student branch, the IEEE Club. …read more Here’s another story about young people in amateur radio….Dan The Athens County Amateur Radio Association finds that young people are still drawn to old-school communication ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) – Long before cell phones and the internet, ham radios were linking people around the world. And this old-school technology continues to fascinate hobbyists of all ages in the Athens County Amateur Radio Association. “What really brought me into radio is the fact it’s such a unique hobby,” said Josh Senefeld. “Everyone uses (wireless communications) every day without even realizing it.” Senefeld first became interested in the world of amateur radio at age 13 after he became a cadet in the Civil Air Patrol. Four years later, he got his amateur radio license. Now 20, Senefeld is one of the younger members of the Athens County Amateur Radio Association, though it is open to people of all ages. …read more I like this story a lot because, as the article points out, we are the Amateur Radio Service, and that amateur radio and has a unique ability to enhance international goodwill (§ 97.1(e))…..Dan The Bosque Amateur Radio Club is connecting people in Ukraine. Heres how. Theres a reason the Federal Communications Commission refers to HAM radio operators as the Amateur Radio Service. If you ask Bosque Amateur Radio Club members Bill Kent, Larry Elkin, Art Nichols, Terry Zipes and the clubs president, Jerry Aceto, the answer is rooted in a shared fundamental belief: to help those in need. We have a saying, Kent explained. When all else fails, HAM radio works. But its not just the radios that work on behalf of the public; their operators do as well. For nearly the past two years, the Bosque Amateur Radio Club has been working on behalf of Care4Ukraine.org, providing the group with radios and instructions on how to build handmade antennas so its members can communicate in the field. …read more
- — Operating Notes: W1AL, sunset propagation changes, new CW ops
- at 3/4/24 7:50pmA couple days ago, I worked Scott, W1AL. When I looked him up on QRZ.Com, I found this: That looked remarkably like my “retro QSL:” so I emailed him and asked him if I’d sent it to him. He replied, “I thought your call sounded familiar! Propagation at sunset If you’re like me, you’ve noticed how radically propagation can change around sunset. One transmission, a station is just booming in. On the next transmission, however, they’re down in the mud. I would love for someone to explain to me the mechanics of that. Showing a new op the ropes Earlier this evening, a station answered my CQ by simply sending his call a single time. Normally, I don’t reply to those stations, but I decided to this time for some reason. I’m glad I did. This fellow was not a ragchewer at all. He didn’t know the standard protocol for a CW contact, and he admitted as much. He said that he’d operated in CW contests, but hadn’t really done any ragchewing. So, I took the opportunity to teach him how to do it. For example, he’d just stop sending when he was finished with what he had to say. He didn’t send BK or even K. I explained why that was important, and by the end of the contact, he was doing this correctly. I’m glad I took the time to explain things to him, instead of just blowing him off. After all, how else is he going to learn how to do it? He seemed like an interesting fellow, and I hope that I hear him on again sometime. I’m going to send him a copy of my CW Geek’s Guide to Having Fun with Morse Code, and hope that that encourages him to do more ragchewing.
- — Amateur radio videos: ARDC Interview, microwaves, operating 160 meters
- at 2/27/24 7:08pmA Free VPN Service from ARDC This interview took place at the 2024 HamCation. Amateur Microwave Its easier than you think Can You Do 160 Meters on Two Wolf River Coils? K8MRD connects two Wolf River loading coils in series to see if he can use that lashup to tune on 160 meters.
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