Podcasts about PSK31

Foundations of Amateur Radio Recently I received a lovely email from Michele IU4TBF asking some pertinent questions about the Bald Yak project. If you're unfamiliar, the Bald Yak project aims to create a modular, bidirectional and distributed signal processing and control system that leverages GNU Radio. The short answer to how I'm doing getting GNU Radio to play nice with my computer is that I have bruises on my forehead from banging my head against the wall. When I get to success I'll document it. To be clear, I'm not sure what the root cause is. I suspect it lies between the GNU Radio developers, the people making packages and the manufacturer of my computer. I'm the lucky one stuck in the middle. A more interesting question that Michele asked was, for Bald Yak, what is the A/D and D/A requirement for making GNU Radio talk to an antenna? This is a much deeper question that meets the eye and I think it serves as a way to discuss what I think that this project looks like. Ultimately in the digital realm, to receive, an analogue antenna signal needs to be converted to digital using an Analogue to Digital or A/D converter, and to transmit, the reverse uses a Digital to Analogue or D/A converter to make an electrical signal appear on your antenna. The specific A/D or D/A converter determines what you can do. The sampling rate of such a converter determines what frequencies it can handle, the sample size determines the range of signals it can handle. You can compare it with a video screen. The sample rate determines how many pixels on the screen, the sample size determines how many colours in each pixel. The sample rate of an A/D converter is measured in samples per second. If the device only has one channel, you could think of this as Hertz, but if there are multiple channels, like say a sound-card, the sample rate is likely equally divided across each channel. You might have a sound card capable of 384 thousand samples per second, or kilo-samples, but if it supports simultaneous stereo audio input and output, only 96 of those 384 kilo-samples will be allocated to each channel and only half of those will actually help reconstruct the audio signal, leaving you with 48 kHz audio. In other words, the advertised frequency response might not have a direct and obvious relationship with the sample rate. At the moment I have access to a few different A/D and D/A converters. The simplest one, a USB audio sound card, appears to do up to 192 kilo-samples at 16 bits. The next one, an RTL-SDR tops out at a theoretical rate of 3.2 million or mega-samples at 8 bits. The Analog Devices ADALM-PLUTO, or PlutoSDR handles 61.44 mega-samples at 12 bits. Now, to be clear, there are other limitations and considerations which I'm skipping over. Consider for example the speed at which each of these devices can talk to a computer, in this case over USB. I'm also going to ignore things like mixers, allowing devices like the RTL-SDR and PlutoSDR to tune across frequency ranges that go beyond their sample rate. Each of these three devices can convert an analogue antenna signal into bits that can be processed by GNU Radio. All of them can also be used to do the opposite and transmit. Yes, you heard me, several amateurs figured out that an RTL-SDR can actually transmit. Credit to Ismo OH2FTG, Tatu OH2EAT, and Oscar IK1XPV. The point being that whatever Bald Yak looks like, it will need to handle a range of A/D and D/A converters. As I've said previously, I'm aiming for this to work incrementally for everyone. This means that if you have a sound card in your computer or an $8 USB one, this should work and if you have an $33,000 NI Ettus USRP X410 lying around, this too should work. Also, if you have an X410 lying around not doing anything, I'd be happy to put it to use, you know, for testing. So, kidding aside, what about the rest of the Bald Yak experience? GNU Radio works with things called blocks. Essentially little programs that take data, do something to it, then output it in some way. It follows the Unix philosophy, make each program do one thing well, expect the output of every program to become the input to another, design and build software to be tried early and use tools rather than unskilled labour. Amateur radio transceivers traditionally use electronics blocks, but if we move to software, we can update and expand our capabilities as the computer we're using gets faster and the GNU Radio blocks evolve, and because it's all digital the computer doesn't actually have to be in the same box, let alone the same room, it could be in multiple boxes scattered around the Internet. So, the idea of Bald Yak is a collection of blocks that allow you to do radio things. You might have a separate box for each amateur radio mode, AM, FM, SSB, RTTY, CW, WSPR, FT8, FT4, Q65, but also modes like Olivia, FreeDV, SSTV, Packet, PSK31 or Thor. Instead of having to figure out how to wire these modes into your radio and your computer, the infrastructure is already there and you just download another block for a mode you want to play with. We'll need to deal with variables like which A/D and D/A converter is being used and what their limitations are. We'll also need to build a command and control layer and probably a few other things. I'm considering a few other aspects. For example, GNU Radio is mostly run with text files. We might distribute those using something like a web store. GNU Radio is proving hard to install, perhaps a LiveCD is the way to go. We'll need to come up with a base level of functionality and the documentation to go with it. I'm still contemplating how to best licence this all, specifically to stop it from being exploited. Feel free to get in touch if you have ideas. I'm Onno VK6FLAB

Foundations of Amateur Radio Internet access across HF radio In the mid 1980's there was this thing called a Bulletin Board System or BBS. You would connect your computer to a gadget called an acoustic coupler that you would sit next to a telephone. You'd pick up the handset, dial a phone number and wait until there was a squeal in your ear. Then you'd push the handset into the rubber cups on the coupler and watch as your computer started putting characters on your screen. Now, truth be told, my first foray was the next generation of this, an actual modem where you didn't actually have to touch the telephone, instead, the device could dial on your behalf using so-called AT commands. And if we're being totally honest, I never actually connected to a BBS. My adventures with global communications started with Usenet News in 1990, but I'm here to make a point, I promise. Amateur radio is a hobby that is for experimentation. One such experiment is a thing called packet radio. Before you roll your eyes about ancient technology, this gets very cool, very fast. At its most basic, packet radio is about digital radio communication. Until not that long ago to play you needed a thing called a TNC or a Terminal Node Controller. When I got my license in 2010 I was told that this was a magic box to make digital communication possible between a radio and other radios and amateurs. Right now, many people are playing with WSPR, Weak Signal Propagation Reporter as well as FT8, both examples of things intended to get specific chunks of information exchanged between two stations. What if I want to chat, or send a file, or a picture? There are tools like "js8call" which is experimenting with the idea of using FT8 to chat, but what if I told you that there's a better way? Written by John WB2OSZ, named after a canine that became extinct 9,500 years ago, "direwolf", is software that implements an expensive piece of 1980's hardware, a TNC, that runs just fine on a $5 Raspberry pi. It's been around for over a decade, the oldest date I can find is March 2013 though undated versions before that exist. It's an example of a so-called software-modem, simple to get started, and it implements the essential pieces of packet radio. It's currently running connected to my radio and I can see packets of information scrolling past. In this case I'm tuned to the local APRS, or Automatic Packet Reporting System frequency of 145.175 MHz. It's the same information that you can see if you point your web browser at aprs.fi While that's great, it's just the beginning. Tune to another 2m or 70cm frequency and you can use it to connect to a BBS being run by a local amateur, or, you can tune to a HF frequency and connect to one run somewhere else. Direwolf also supports a technology called KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid, yes really, developed by Brian WB6RQN, Phil KA9Q, Mike K3MC and others. KISS allows you to connect a modem, like direwolf, to a computer and use technologies like TCP/IP, the primary language of the internet, across a radio link, any radio link. Let me say that again with different words. You can use your HF radio to browse the internet. No proprietary modes in sight, weak signal, error correction included, all open source, all free, all ready to go. While we're singing its praises, direwolf can also act as an iGate, an interface between radio and services like aprs.fi, a digipeter that receives and re-transmits APRS data and plenty more. It gets better. What if you wanted to use something like RTTY, PSK31, Olivia or some other mode? You could use "fldigi" instead of direwolf since it too supports KISS. To be fair, there are lots of moving parts here and I've glossed over plenty. This isn't intended to discuss precisely how to do this, rather that it's possible at all and has been for quite some time. I can't wait to attempt to browse the internet using my radio, for nothing other than the thrill of attempting it. I wonder if I can do this with Morse Code as the underlying protocol. Only one way to find out. I'm Onno VK6FLAB

GB2RS News Sunday the 7th of April 2024 The news headlines: The RSGB 2024 AGM is approaching Don't forget about the RSGB's new ‘Join a friend' referral scheme The next Tonight@8 webinar is taking place tomorrow, the 8th of April   Are you an RSGB member? Have you voted on the AGM resolutions? The deadline for voting is 9 am on Thursday the 11th of April. Online voting is available 24 hours a day, so make sure you use your vote before then. Registration for asking a question live via Zoom has now closed but there is still time to submit a written question in advance – this is the only way for members to ask a question during the formal part of the meeting. During the later Q&A sessions, written questions will be answered before any are asked via YouTube live chat. The AGM itself includes the results of the voting, the Honorary Treasurer's report, a video review of the year by the RSGB President, as well as announcements of trophies and construction competition winners. There will also be a presentation by Ofcom Group Director, Spectrum, David Willis who will talk about “Making amateur radio licensing fit for the future”. After this presentation, there will be a live Q&A session on the new licence conditions with four senior RSGB representatives. Be part of this important annual event and take the opportunity to ask questions of the Board and about the licensing conditions. The RSGB AGM will take place at 10 am on Saturday the 13th of April on YouTube – be part of it! Find out more on the RSGB website at rsgb.org/agm Don't forget that the RSGB has launched a new opportunity to get even more out of your RSGB membership. If you recommend a friend who hasn't been an RSGB member during the last 12 months, you will both receive £10 cashback when they become a member paying by direct debit. Whether you're an individual RSGB member or an affiliated club, you can sign up as many friends as you like. Membership of the RSGB gives you a range of fantastic benefits so why not encourage others to join? Members have access to RadCom, exclusive online resources, RSGB award schemes and contests, as well as advice from the Society's specialist committees. The RSGB's representation to Ofcom and its ability to defend the spectrum nationally and internationally is more powerful through strength in numbers. Go to the special RSGB 'Join a friend' web page to find all the information you'll need to take advantage of this offer, including a link to the online form at rsgb.org/join-a-friend The latest Tonight@8 webinar is taking place tomorrow, Monday the 8th of April. Whitham Reeve will be looking at high-frequency aurora reflections observed at Anchorage in Alaska in the United States of America. The presentation will include an overview of early investigations and concepts that underlie the observations of aurora reflections and instrumentation. It will also include a selection of spectrum images from 2020 showing aurora reflections. Watch this live presentation on the RSGB YouTube channel or special BATC channel and ask questions via the live chat. To find out more go to the RSGB website at rsgb.org/webinars Are you making the most of the new amateur radio licence conditions already? Or are you still discovering what has changed and how it applies to you? The RSGB website has a range of resources about the Ofcom consultation, the new licence conditions and where to find help and guidance. You'll find videos, summaries and links to Ofcom's documentation. This is also a good time to revalidate your licence. Go to rsgb.org/licence-review to find out more and remember to be part of the RSGB AGM if you have a question you'd like to ask.  A reminder that registration is open for Maritime Radio Day 2024 which takes place annually on the 14th and 15th of April. The event is held to commemorate the almost 100 years of wireless telegraphy service for seafarers which ended with the closure in the UK of Portishead Radio on the 30th of April 2000. Commencing at 1200UTC on the 14th of April, and finishing at 2300UTC on the 15th of April, this event is a great opportunity to have a QSO with ex-Marine Radio Officers and Coast Station professionals who exchange details of their previous ships and coast stations. The mode of operation is CW and all of the HF bands are used, including the WARC bands. A certificate of participation will be issued to everyone who submits results. Amateur licence holders are invited to register to take part in Friends of Maritime Radio Day. Shortwave listeners may also submit logs. For more information and to register, visit tinyurl.com/MRD24 Lots of stations are on the air today to join in with this year's Airfields on the Air event. Amateurs are invited to contact as many of the stations as possible. To learn more about the event, and read a list of registered stations, visit tinyurl.com/2024AOTA Tomorrow, the 8th, a total solar eclipse will head toward the UK from the west. While not visible over the UK, it will likely affect transatlantic VLF and HF radio propagation. RSGB Propagation Committee associate member Gwyn Griffiths, G3ZIL has a particular interest in the effect of reduced ionisation during the eclipse on second and third hops on 15 to 10m paths from the UK to North America. He encourages occasional WSPR users to dust off their transmitters to operate on those bands from today, the 7th, through to Tuesday the 9th of April, not just on the 8th, to provide results on undisturbed days.   And now for details of rallies and events Holsworthy Spring Rally is being held today, Sunday the 7th of April, at Holsworthy Livestock Market in Devon. The doors open to traders from 8 am, and to the public from 10 am. Wheelchair access, catering and free parking are available. For more information email m0omc@m0omc.co.uk Yeovil Amateur Radio Club's 38th QRP Convention will be held on Saturday the 20th of April at Digby Hall, Sherborne, Dorset, DT9 3AA. The doors will be open from 9.30 am to 1.30 pm and admission will be £3. The event will feature talks, traders, a bring-and-buy area, club stalls and a café. For more information, see yeovil-arc.com or email derekbowen1949@talktalk.net Andover Radio Amateur Club Boot Sale is due to take place on Sunday the 21st of April at Wildhern Village Hall, Tangley, Wildhern, Andover, SP11 0JE. The doors open at 10 am for visitors and at 9 am for sellers. Entry will cost £2. The fee for a field pitch is £8 and the cost for a table in the hall will be £10. For more information visit arac.org.uk  For table bookings email admin@arac.org.uk  Now the Special Event News Special event station GB0WYT will be active from RAF Wyton during the Airfields on the Air event on the weekend of the 13th and 14th of April. This is the 12th year that a special event station has marked the event. The callsign will again be operated by RAF Air Cadet Communication Staff and club members from the Huntingdonshire Amateur Radio Society. This year, due to restrictions, the activity will be run from a site just west of the main runway at Wyton. Operators will be active on the HF bands, subject to working conditions, using CW, phone, RTTY, PSK31 and FT8. FM and SSB will also be in use on the 2m band. Lots of special event stations are on the air today for Autism Awareness Week. For more information, including a list of callsigns that will be active, visit the GB2AA page on QRZ.com  Now the DX news A team of amateurs is active from Vanuatu, OC-035, until the 11th of April. Operators will be QRV on the 40 to 6m bands using SSB, CW and FT8. QSL via OQRS. QSOs will be uploaded to ClubLog. Watch the YJ0VK page at QRZ.com for updates. A team of UK amateurs is about to set off on an expedition to the Isle of Coll in the Inner Hebrides. The IOTA reference for the location is EU008. The team will be on the island on the afternoon of Sunday the 14th of April and is expected to be operating by the evening. The last day of operation will be the 20th of April. Operators expect to be active using CW, FT8 and SSB on most bands from 160 to 10m as well as the 2m band. The team has a portable station and hopes to activate each of the following Worked All Britain Squares: NM 15, 16, 25, and 26. More details are available on GB0SIC's QRZ.com web page.  Now the contest news FT4 International Activity Day started at 1200UTC on Saturday the 6th and ends at 1200UTC today, Sunday the 7th of April. Using FT4 on the 160 to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is your report. The SP DX Contest started at 1500UTC on Saturday the 6th and ends at 1500UTC today, Sunday the 7th of April. Using CW and SSB on the 160 to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is signal report and serial number. SP stations also send their province code. Today, the 7th, the UK Microwave Group Low Band Contest runs from 1000 to 1600UTC. Using all modes on 1.3 to 3.4GHz frequencies, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Also, today, the 7th, the Worked All Britain Data Contest runs from 1000UTC to 1400UTC and from 1700 to 2100UTC. Using FT8, FT4, JS8, RTTY and PSK on the 80, 40 and 20m bands, the exchange is signal report, serial number and Worked All Britain square. Club and multi-operator stations can only score points in either one of the operating periods. Entries need to be with the contest manager by the 17th of April. The full rules are available on the Worked All Britain website. On Monday the 8th, the 80m Club Championship runs from 1900 to 2030UTC. Using CW on the 80m band, the exchange is signal report and serial number. On Tuesday the 9th, the 432MHz FM Activity Contest runs from 1800 to 1855UTC. Using FM on the 70cm band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Also on Tuesday the 9th, the 432MHz UK Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 2130UTC. Using All modes on the 70cm band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Wednesday the 10th, the 432MHz FT8 Activity four-hour Contest runs from 1700 to 2100UTC. Using FT8 on the 70m band, the exchange is a report and four-character locator. Also on Wednesday the 10th, the 432MHz FT8 Activity two-hour Contest runs from 1900 to 2100UTC. Using FT8 on the 70cm band, the exchange is a report and four-character locator. Stations entering the four-hour contest may also enter the two-hour contest. On Thursday the 11th, the 50MHz UK Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 2130UTC. Using all modes on the 6m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.   Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA, and G4BAO on Thursday the 4th of April 2024 Looking at the Sun on Wednesday the 3rd of April, you might be forgiven for thinking we are near sunspot minimum! With a near-total lack of sunspots and a solar flux index of 112, the solar disk was looking pretty bare. Compare that with just two weeks ago when the solar flux index was sitting at 209 on the 23rd of March. But never fear, there seems to be some activity coming up. Two active regions, AR3627 and AR3628, have just rotated into view, but in the meantime make the most of the geomagnetically-quiet conditions. 10m propagation is still holding up, although you may find that the band opens a little later in the morning and shuts earlier in the afternoon. The 4X6TU and VK6RBP IBP beacons were both audible at 0945UTC on Thursday the 4th, while China, Japan, Mongolia and Thailand were copiable on 10m FT8, even with a lowish solar flux index. Higher HF band propagation from the UK has moved from favouring North America to north-south paths, notably to South Africa and South America. Next week, NOAA predicts that the solar flux index will rise a little, perhaps starting at around 135 and finishing at around 150. Geomagnetic conditions should be reasonably quiet with a maximum Kp index of 3, unless we get a coronal mass ejection that could send it soaring. As always, keep an eye on solarham.net  for current conditions. And now the VHF and up propagation news from G3YLA and G4BAO There have been reports of trans-equatorial QSOs on 144MHz from Southern Africa to the Southern Mediterranean, but here in the UK we can only dream due to our northerly location. The next period of weather is unfortunately shaping up to be the same as most of the recent ones, dominated by low-pressure systems driving active weather fronts across the British Isles. It means that Tropo conditions seem unlikely to feature much through to the end of the coming week. Rain scatter for the GHz bands remains the mode of choice with help from some heavy April showers. Meteor scatter options are still best with random meteors before dawn, but we are getting closer to the April Lyrids shower later this month, so not long to wait now. The solar conditions have subsided a little recently, but we remain in scope for further activity, especially since April can be one of the more active months for Aurora. Watch out for fluttery signals on HF or VHF bands, use the various clusters, or save the frequency of one of the northern beacons in your rig's memory. This is a good time to suggest updating your list of favourite beacons on the 10, 6, 4 and 2m bands since they'll be useful for the upcoming sporadic-E season too. It's a good time to take an early look at the sporadic-E prospects before it gets properly busy.  Some background rules which may help are to use propquest.co.uk to see where the jet streams are since Sporadic-E propagation is often associated with turbulence in regions of jet stream activity. Then look for a relatively low Kp index. The other main rules are related to timing. Usually, there are two windows of opportunity, one in the morning and a second in the late afternoon or early evening. However, at the beginning of the season, these are approximate.  Sporadic-E starts on the lower bands like 10m and, if strong enough, will gradually extend to the higher bands. The 10 and 6m bands are probably the ones to check this month. For EME operators, Moon declination goes positive again on Sunday, which is also Moon perigee, its closest point to Earth, so we'll see lengthening Moon windows, increasing elevation and low path losses. 144MHz sky noise is low until Monday's total solar eclipse, then moderate for the rest of the week. And that's all from the propagation team this week.

GB2RS News Sunday the 31st of March 2024 The news headlines: Chris Whitmarsh, G0FDZ's lifetime achievement award The RSGB 2024 AGM is coming up The RSGB is providing regular updates on its strategic priorities   Congratulations to Chris Whitmarsh, G0FDZ who has been presented with an RSGB Lifetime Achievement Award by RSGB President John McCullagh, GI4BWM and RSGB Board Chair Stewart Bryant, G3YSX. Chris is the only amateur in the UK to have had a two-way QSO on every single amateur band for which we are licensed. Chris has been Vice President of Cray Valley Radio Society for over 20 years, and members of the club turned out in force to see the presentation and celebrate his achievement. A reminder that this year's RSGB AGM will take place at 10 am on Saturday the 13th of April. It is being held online to ensure as many members as possible can watch and take part. The formal business of the meeting will include the results of members' votes on the resolutions, including the endorsement of three Nominated Directors. RSGB members are encouraged to vote on all the resolutions. This year you can ask the RSGB Board a question in one of three ways: by submitting it in advance via an online form; registering to ask a question live on video via Zoom; or asking via the YouTube live chat during the event. There are deadlines for submitting questions via the online form or Zoom so make sure you don't miss those! Find out more on the RSGB AGM web pages at rsgb.org/agm At the Discussion with the Board session at the RSGB Convention last year, President John McCullagh, GI4BWM committed the Board to giving regular updates on work being done to fulfil the RSGB's strategic priorities. Since the beginning of this year, a monthly report has been shared in RadCom and on the RSGB website. These reports have covered a range of activities and achievements involving both staff and volunteers. The Board is committed to continuing this regular communication so look out for the updates in RadCom each month. If you've missed any this year, you can find them all on the RSGB website at rsgb.org/strategy-updates Are you aged 18 to 30? Are you passionate about all things radio? Are you ready for exciting experiences, making new friends and shaping the future of amateur radio? Why not apply to be part of the RSGB YOTA team going to the YOTA Czechia summer camp this year? You can find out more on the RSGB website at rsgb.org/yota-camp  You'll be able to read about the experiences of previous teams and download an application form for the Czechia event. The closing date for applications is the 15th of April for the Team Leader and the 22nd of April for Team Members. The March 2024 edition of RadCom Basics is now available on the RSGB website for members to read. RadCom Basics is aimed at new licensees or anyone who enjoys reading about the fundamental principles behind the many facets of amateur radio. This edition includes articles which cover: the checking and testing of components; working on the 160 and 80m bands with limited space; the importance of antenna radials; what it's like to take up portable operating; and a guide to clean transmissions. To read RadCom Basics visit rsgb.org/radcom-basics At its recent meeting, the CEPT Frequency Management Working Group confirmed that Barry Lewis, G4SJH, in his IARU role, would continue as Chair for a further three-year period, having first been appointed in 2019. The meeting also noted updates to T/R 61-01 that facilitate the temporary operation in a fellow member's country, for Georgia joining the scheme, as well as editorial changes to accommodate Australian licence changes and Canadian provincial prefixes. Barry has also continued his work in CEPT on the 23cm band, following the outcomes from WRC-23. IARU and RSGB volunteers are also starting ITU WRC-27 preparations, where further bands and topics are of concern to amateur radio. Please note that RSGB HQ will be closed for the bank holiday on Monday the 1st of April. Please continue to send all of your news and updates to radcom@rsgb.org.uk  The deadline for the GB2RS News is 10 am on Thursday before the Sunday broadcast.   And now for details of rallies and events Holsworthy Spring Rally will be held on Sunday the 7th of April at Holsworthy Livestock Market in Devon. The doors open to traders from 8 am, and to the public from 10 am. Wheelchair access, catering and free parking will be available. For more information email m0omc@m0omc.co.uk Yeovil Amateur Radio Club's 38th QRP Convention will be held on Saturday the 20th of April at The Digby Hall, Sherborne, Dorset, DT9 3AA. The doors will be open from 9.30 am to 1.30 pm and admission will be £3. The event will feature talks, traders, a bring-and-buy area, club stalls and a café. For more information, see yeovil-arc.com or email derekbowen1949@talktalk.net   Now the Special Event News Special event station GB0WYT will be active from RAF Wyton during the Airfields on the Air event on the weekend of the 13th and 14th of April. This is the 12th year that the station has put on a special event station for the event. The callsign will again be operated by RAF Air Cadet Communication Staff and club members from the Huntingdonshire Amateur Radio Society. This year, due to restrictions, the activity will be run from a site just west of the main runway at Wyton. Operators will be active on the HF bands, subject to working conditions, using CW, phone, RTTY, PSK31 and FT8. FM and SSB will also be in use on the 2m band. Special event station OE100RADIO  is active until the 31st of December to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the beginning of regular radio transmissions in Austria in 1924. The station was heard recently on the 40m band using CW. QSL via the Bureau.   Now the DX news Felipe, CE3SX will be active as CB0ZIX from Juan Fernández until the 4th of April. He will be QRV almost exclusively on the 6m band using SSB and FT8. QSL via Logbook of the World. Traditional QSL cards will not be available. Thaire, W2APF is active as VP2MDX from Montserrat, NA-103, until the 11th of April. He is operating CW, SSB, FT8 and FM on the 80 to 6m bands. QSL via Logbook of the World, or directly to W2APF.   Now the contest news The CQ World Wide WPX SSB Contest started at 0000UTC on Saturday the 30th of March and ends at 2359UTC today, the 31st. Using SSB on the 160 to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is signal report and serial number. On Monday the 1st, the IRTS 70cm Counties Contest runs from 1300 to 1330 UTC. Using FM and SSB on the 70cm band, the exchange is signal report and serial number. EI and GI stations also send their country. Also on Monday the 1st, the IRTS 2m Counties Contest runs from 1330 to 1500 UTC. Using FM and SSB on the 2m band, the exchange is signal report and serial number. EI and GI stations also send their country. On Tuesday the 2nd, the 144MHz FM Activity Contest runs from 1800 to 1855UTC. Using FM on the 2m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Also on Tuesday the 2nd, the 144MHz UK Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 2130UTC. Using all modes on the 2m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Wednesday the 3rd, the 144MHz FT8 Activity four-hour Contest runs from 1700 to 2100UTC. Using FT8 on the 2m band, the exchange is the report and four-character locator. Also on Wednesday the 3rd, the 144MHz FT8 Activity two-hour Contest runs from 1900 to 2100UTC. Using FT8 on the 2m band, the exchange is report and four-character locator. Stations entering the four-hour contest may also enter the two-hour contest. On Wednesday the 3rd, the UK and Ireland Contest Club 80m Contest runs from 2000 to 2100UTC. Using SSB on the 80m band, the exchange is your six-character locator. The FT4 International Activity Day starts at 1200UTC on Saturday the 6th of April and ends at 1200UTC on Sunday the 7th of April. Using FT4 on the 160 to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is your report. The SP DX Contest starts at 1500UTC on Saturday the 6th and ends at 1500UTC on Sunday the 7th. Using CW and SSB on the 160 to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is signal report and serial number. SP stations also send their province code. On Sunday the 7th, the UK Microwave Group Low Band Contest runs from 1000 to 1600UTC. Using all modes on 1.3 to 3.4GHz frequencies, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Sunday the 7th, the Worked All Britain Data Contest runs from 1000UTC to 1400UTC and from 1700 to 2100UTC. Using FT8, FT4, JS8, RTTY and PSK on the 80, 40 and 20m bands, the exchange is signal report, serial number and Worked All Britain square. Club and multi-operator stations can only score points in either one of the operating periods. Entries need to be with the contest manager by the 17th of April. The full rules are available on the Worked All Britain website.   Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA, and G4BAO on Wednesday the 27th of March 2024 What a tumultuous time we had last week. Active region 3614 produced an X1.1 solar flare and coronal mass ejection, or CME, in the early hours of the 23rd of March. This impacted Earth's geomagnetic field sending the Kp index to 8 on the 24th of March. There were simultaneous flares from active region 3614 and the larger region AR3615. The solar wind speed reached more than 850 kilometres per second at the height of the geomagnetic storm, peaking at 880 kilometres per second. The CME started to impact the Earth early in the afternoon of the 24th and, according to Digisonde data, its full effects on the ionosphere started to be felt by 1540UTC. The large AR3615 sunspot cluster continues to evolve as it moves into the Sun's southwest quadrant. Moderate flaring will remain likely in the short term with a lower chance for another strong X-class flare, although it is around the side of the Sun and is not considered a threat today, Sunday the 31st. All this was not good news for HF propagation, which saw maximum useable frequencies over a 3,000km path plummet on the 24th to less than 18MHz. The ionosphere didn't fully recover until two days later, with the MUF struggling to get above 18MHz on the 25th. It wasn't until the afternoon of Wednesday the 27th that we saw the 10m band behaving normally again with the Kp index back in the range of 1 to 3. So, this is what can happen if we have an X-class flare and associated CME. We can expect more of the same to come. Next week, NOAA predicts that the solar flux index will remain high at around 175 to 190. Unsettled geomagnetic conditions are forecast from the 3rd to the 5th of April when the Kp Index could rise to 4. But keep an eye on solarham.net for a near real-time guide to current solar conditions.   And now the VHF and up propagation news from G3YLA and G4BAO The period leading up to the Easter Weekend, and the following week shows up on the forecast charts as dominated by low pressure, feeding several periods of rain and showers across the country.  This unfortunately means that Tropo is again off the menu of weather-related VHF propagation. Of course, wet weather is usually very supportive of rain scatter propagation on the GHz bands and this prolonged period of rain or showers will give the UHF and SHF operators something to occupy their time. Meteor scatter prospects are once again just random, which tends to be better in the hours just before dawn. We can start to look forward to the April Lyrids, which are active in the second half of April with a peak around the 22nd. It's worth checking out the operating conventions and frequencies now so that you can be ready. Strong aurora has been reported recently, with a Kp index of 8, and a quick listen for fluttery signals on the 80m or 40m bands is often a good clue if you don't have access to the Kp index at the time. The main mode of interest for the coming months is Sporadic-E and some early propagation is possible, mainly on digital modes on the 10m or 6m bands, but probably very fleeting.  During the summer Sporadic-E season, it's well worth checking the propquest.co.uk  graphs to see what is occurring and get an idea of how it may relate to jet stream weather patterns by cross-checking with the Sporadic-E blog upper air charts. The Sporadic-E Probability Index, or EPI, maps are also potentially useful to see how the favourable regions change with time. In the current pre-season period, it's more typical to find trans-equatorial propagation, or TEP, as an exotic mode offering paths to the south into South Africa and possibly into South America. For EME operators, Moon declination reaches minimum on Easter Monday, so we'll see short Moon windows with low elevation. Path losses are falling all week and 144MHz sky noise is moderate, rising to a peak of more than 3,000 Kelvin on Easter Monday before returning to low levels. And that's all from the propagation team this week.

Esta semana seguimos repasando el mundo de los modos digitales en la radioafición con algunas pinceladas de diferentes modos: FT8 (FT4), RTTY, PSK31, SSTV, Packet Radio... y escuchamos su sonido para que seamos capaces de reconocerlos cuando nos encontramos escuchando las diferentes bandas. Además, empezamos con algunas fe de erratas respecto a comentarios en episodios anteriores, que siempre viene bien puntualizar algunos de los conceptos que hemos ido mencionando. Notas del episodio - FT8 https://www.todo-sdr.com/que-es-ft8-y-como-funciona/ - RTTY http://www.radioaficion.net/EA4YD/Cosas/RTTY/index.html - Varios Modos digitales https://www.ea2cdy.es/varios-modos-digitales.html - Optimizar las operaciones en FT8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJED6ti52CQ&t=101s ¿Nos apoyas para que podamos seguir haciendo este podcast y más contenidos? Puedes apoyarnos en QRP con 1,99€ al mes o un poco más de potencia en QRO, con 5,99€ al mes aquí: https://cqenfrecuencia.com/cq-en-frecuencia-podcast/apoya/ Envía tus preguntas, propuestas de temas o lo que quieras: https://cqenfrecuencia.com/contacto/ O en nuestro canal de Telegram https://t.me/cqenfrecuencia Y no dejéis de visitar nuestra web: https://cqenfrecuencia.com No olvides el like, subscribirte y/o darle a la campanita para no perderte ningún episodio de nuestro podcast! Nos encontrarás también en Spotify y Youtube.

GB2RS News Sunday the 18th of June 2023 The news headlines: His late Majesty, King Hussein of Jordan's UK amateur radio equipment Coding and amateur radio RSGB Convention 2022 presentations   The Radio Society of Great Britain is delighted to announce that Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan has chosen to donate the UK amateur radio equipment of His late Majesty, King Hussein of Jordan to the Society. His Majesty was a great ambassador for amateur radio and, whenever his official duties allowed him, his radio callsign JY1 could be heard on the amateur bands. His Majesty always operated modestly, never announcing himself as King Hussein, always just ‘Hussein from Jordan'. A permanent display is being organised at the RSGB National Radio Centre so that the equipment can be used to help inspire people to get involved in amateur radio and promote communication, friendship and understanding throughout the many countries and cultures of the world. The RSGB extends its thanks to Her Majesty for this generous donation. National Coding Week has been run for many years in the third week of September. Coding is used increasingly in amateur radio, and the BBC Micro:bit and the Arduino have made it easier for radio amateurs of all ages to discover more about this. As part of its commitment to encourage youngsters into amateur radio and to support lifelong learning, the RSGB will be providing resources and creating coding activities for people to get involved in throughout the month of September. The Society is keen to hear from volunteers who have ideas for this initiative and would like to be part of it. Further details will follow but, if you're interested, in the first instance please contact Exam and Syllabus Review Group member John Hislop, G7OHO via g7oho@rsgb.org.uk The RSGB has released two further Convention 2022 presentations. In the first, Noel Matthews, G8GTZ provides an introduction to the challenges of operating on 122GHz and gives an overview of the VK3CV-designed transverter boards which have put operation within the reach of amateurs without requiring advanced electronic and mechanical engineering skills. He tells the story of how he and Dave, G1EHF used the boards to work up from their first QSO over 2km to breaking the UK record for 122GHz at 36.5kms. Secondly, in a presentation called “HF propagation – what do the numbers mean?” RSGB Propagation Studies Committee Chair Steve Nichols, G0KYA unravels what terms such as Solar flux index, SSN, A and K index, and Solar Wind Speed mean and explains how to find the best HF conditions. You can watch both on the RSGB YouTube channel at youtube.com/theRSGB After serving for nine years, the RSGB Trophy Manager is retiring and the Society is looking for a new volunteer for this role. The position is part of the RSGB Volunteer Leadership Team, reporting to the Board. Working in close relationship with the three Contest Committees and the RSGB General Manager, the Trophy Manager looks after the RSGB's trophies arranges for their engraving and presentation to recipients and maintains the trophies' history. If you are interested in applying for the role or would like to find out more, please email gm.dept@rsgb.org.uk The G-QRP Club is running a fun event called the Summer Sizzler from Saturday the 17th to Sunday the 25th of June. This is not a contest, rather it is a relaxed on-air QRP event. It is an ideal opportunity to meet and greet new and old friends, to test your latest homebrew creations and to fill the bands with friendly QRP activity. The best logbook for the event will win the inaugural GM3OXX trophy. This will be decided upon by adjudicators and will not necessarily be awarded to the entrant with the most contacts. Unusual or remarkable logbooks have just as much chance of winning. For more information visit gqrp.com/awards.htm The Royal Air Force Air Cadets are running their popular radio communications event Exercise Blue Ham on the 60m shared band from the 19th to the 23rd of June from 7 pm to 9 pm local time. Contact can be made via USB Voice, PSK31 or Olivia 16/500. Details can be found by following the ‘Exercise Blue Ham' link at alphacharlie.org.uk   And now for details of rallies and events The East Suffolk Wireless Revival, also known as the Ipswich Radio Rally, will take place today, Sunday the 18th of June. The venue is Kirton Recreation Ground, Back Road, Kirton IP10 0PW, just off the A14. The doors open at 9.30 am and the entry fee for visitors is £3. The venue has free car parking. There will be trade stands, a car boot sale, a bring-and-buy area, special interest groups, an RSGB bookstall and much more. Catering is available on-site. For more information contact Kevin, G8MXV on 07710 046 846 and visit eswr.org.uk The Newbury Radio Rally will take place on Sunday the 25th of June. The venue will be Newbury Showground, next to junction 13 of the M4 motorway in Berkshire, RG18 9QZ. There will be a display area with an amateur radio station, exhibits, special interest groups, clubs and societies. The doors will open to sellers at 8 am and visitors at 9am. Ample free parking will be available. Entry is £3 for visitors. A seller's pitch costs £15. On-site catering and disabled facilities will be available. For more information, email NewburyRally@nadars.org.uk and visit nadars.org.uk The Barford Norfolk Radio Rally will take place on Sunday the 2nd of July. The venue will be Barford Village Hall and Green, Barford, Norwich, NR9 4AB. The doors open at 9 am for visitors and 8 am for traders. The event will feature trade stands, car boot sales, bring and buy, a raffle, repeater groups, catering and free car parking. Entry costs £2.50 per person. Under 16s will be admitted free of charge. For more information contact radio@dcpmicro.com and visit norfolkamateurradio.org The Cornish Radio Amateur Club Rally will take place on Sunday the 9th of July at Penair School, Truro, Cornwall, TR1 1TN. Doors open at 10.30 am and admission is £3. There will be traders, bring-and-buy and club stalls. Car parking and catering are available on-site. Contact Ken, G0FIC on 01209 821073 for more information.   Now the Special Event News Today is the last chance to work PD2023APD. The station is active to mark Autistic Pride Day which is held on the 18th of June each year. Listen for the callsign on the 10, 20 and 40m bands. See QRZ.com for more information. Special callsign AU40NRO is active on the HF bands until the 30th of June to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the National Institute of Amateur Radio in India. QSL via VU2NRO. VI75G is the callsign being used by the Geelong Amateur Radio Club throughout 2023 to celebrate its 75th anniversary. QSL via Logbook of the World, eQSL or via VK3ATL.   Now the DX news Today is the last chance to work Yuris, YL2GM who is active as VU7W from the Lakshadweep islands in the Arabian Sea. He is operating from Minicoy Island, AS-106, with a focus on the 6m band although he is also using other bands. QSL via Club Log's OQRS is preferred, or direct to YL2GN. Roland, F8EN is active as TR8CR from Gabon until the 12th of August. He operates CW only, usually on the 30 to 10m bands. QSL via F6AJA. Ersoy, TA2OM has been active as 3C3CA from Bioko Island, AF-010, Equatorial Guinea since October 2022. His current plans are to stay there for another two months. He usually operates using FT8 on the HF bands and he uploads his log to Club Log and Logbook of the World on a regular basis.   Now the contest news The 50MHz Trophy Contest ends its 24-hour run at 1400UTC today, the 18th of June. Using all modes on the 6m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Today, the 18th of June, the Worked All Britain 6m Phone Contest runs from 0800 to 1400UTC. Using phone on the 6m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and Worked All Britain square. The All Asian DX Contest ends its 48-hour run at 2359UTC today, Sunday the 18th of June. Using CW on the 160 to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is signal report and age. On Tuesday the 20th of June, the 1.3GHz UK Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 2130UTC. Using all modes on 1.3GHz frequencies, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Thursday the 22nd of June, the 80m Club Championship SSB Contest runs from 1900 to 2030UTC. Using SSB on the 80m band, the exchange is signal report and serial number. On Sunday the 25th of June, the 50MHz CW Contest runs from 0900 to 1200UTC. Using all modes on the 6m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Sunday the 25th of June, the UK Microwave Group 5.7 and 10GHz Contest runs from 0600 to 1800UTC. Using all modes on 5.7 and 10GHz frequencies, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.  Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA, and G4BAO on Thursday the 15th of June 2023 We had another week of sound HF propagation, helped by relatively quiet geomagnetic conditions, a lack of bad solar flares, and some good multi-hop Sporadic-E openings. The Kp index never rose above three and was mostly ones and twos. This was no doubt helped by no M-class or higher solar flares and no Earth-directed coronal mass ejections. A large filament did break away from the Sun on the 12th of June, but luckily it was directed away from Earth. The solar flux index declined to the mid-140s after reaching 172 on the 6th of June. Paul, GM4ULS sent in an impressive log of 10m SSB contacts with Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. These were mostly during the late afternoon although Paul says the openings often started around noon. F2-layer propagation was the first thought, but closer analysis suggests that these were more likely to be multi-hop Sporadic-E. If these contacts die out as we progress through the summer that should confirm that they were multi-hop Sporadic-E. Paul does have one tip. He listens to 27.555MHz, which is the SSB CB calling frequency. If he hears activity there he then fires up on the 10m band. Other DX this week has included VP6A on Ducie Island in the South Pacific. This DXpedition should be active until the 26th of June, so there is still plenty of time to work them. 8Q7KB in the Maldives should also be on until the 21st of June. Next week, the Space Weather Prediction Centre thinks the Solar Flux Index will start the week at around 150, rising to 170 as the week progresses. After a geomagnetic disturbance this weekend that may see the Kp index rise to four, and is likely caused by a coronal hole on the Sun's surface, we may expect quieter conditions next week with a maximum Kp index of two.   And now the VHF and up propagation news There has been some excellent Sporadic-E and super Tropo propagation during recent UK Activity Contest events. This is high-season for Sporadic-E, so it's worth a few notes to sharpen your DX potential. There are often two main 'windows' of activity: mid-morning and late afternoon or early evening. For early risers, there can be a surprise ‘window' of activity around 0600 to 0700UTC on some days and this is particularly useful for paths across the pole to Japan and the Pacific. The tendency is for openings to migrate westwards. Paths across Eastern Europe will be replaced by new paths to Italy or even Iberia as the particular event ‘window' migrates west. In this peak season the Sporadic-E operating ‘windows' may almost merge into one continuous activity period, especially on the lower bands such as 10m and 6m. As paths to Portugal fade, the new cycle may be starting with paths to Scandinavia and the Baltic. Multi-hop paths will be weaker than single-hop, and often more fleeting due to the complex geometry required, making the slower data modes frustrating. Add this to frequency spreading, and sometimes slick, fast CW can be the best mode if you can find the activity. The prolonged high pressure has provided some very good Tropo paths, particularly across the North Sea to Scandinavia. This may not be so reliable in the coming week as low-pressure moves in and offers heavy thundery showers as a source of rain scatter for GHz operators.  Meteor scatter and aurora are always possible, but Sporadic-E will probably be too much of a distraction. Sunday sees peak Moon declination but with apogee this coming Thursday, path losses will be at their highest.  144MHz sky noise is moderate until Saturday afternoon when the Sun and Moon are very close in the sky, spoiling the weekend for VHF EME. This “close to eclipse” condition persists until Sunday night after which noise levels are low to moderate for the rest of the week. And that's all from the propagation team this week.

The viewers have spoken! I put a poll on my YouTube Community tab earlier today that you can see here - https://www.youtube.com/post/UgkxGvOygb7crrQEQ7z2EJWpyQdjUtoVe3LsThe sBitx topic was the winner. So let's take a look at it on tonight's livestream.The sBitx is a 40 watts, fully open source, high performance HF SDR transceiver with in-built popular modes like the FT8, RTTY, PSK31, etc.Joining me tonight will be Pat from the @WA7PBE "POTA BY EXAMPLE" channel

Jon worked for over three decades in the spacecraft and propulsion industry on a wide range of high technology programs. He grew up with propulsion scientists coming to the house and was immersed in high-tech from the very beginning. He worked in scientific and engineering computer systems support and ended up getting his degree in information technology while working full time and moved into applications design, programming, authored secure communications system applications and specialized in document management systems, streaming broadcast servers, technology evaluation and recommendations and much more. Parts of his job saw him sitting close to rocket engine tests doing broadcasts of rocket tests for his company and commercial and military partners. He witnessed many amazing technology developments during his three decades in the business. He also explored the world of the paranormal, the strange and unusual and the spiritual world.He is a psychic medium and retired scientist who lives smack in the middle of two very unusual and beautiful worlds. He started seeing spirits and having paranormal experiences from the time when he was five years old right on up to the present day. He was VERY lucky to have parents who were understanding of these things and was quite frankly just one of a number of people in his family with the gift. For Jon, it was just “everyday life” and frankly, that is just how it should be. He enjoy his contacts with the other side, but he balances it out with life “in-the-now” and that works well for him. While Science explains much of the world to us, there is an infinite amount of hidden history, unknown and secret knowledge and mysterious happenings occurring on our planet that needs to be looked at. That is why he does this work on the air and also in his writing and field work Now that Jon is retired from aerospace work, his full time job is that of a radio host, writer and explorer. He is presently the host of SoulStream and loves life in Northern California in the Sierra Foothills. He is also a ham radio operator and can usually be found on 20 and 40 meters broadcasting using the PSK31 digital protocol. One of my many EVP recordings from my paranormal work made it such that I was on the SyFy show “Haunted Highway” to debut my EVP recording of a little boy whose voice called out as to where his grave stone stood at the “Pioneer Cemetery” in the gold rush city of Coloma, California. Soul Stream Radio --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/scott-wise9/message

Foundations of Amateur Radio The amateur radio community is as varied as humanity across the globe. It represents an endless supply of ideas and experiments that continue to attract people looking for something new and exiting. On the face of it, our hobby is about radio and electronics, about propagation and antennas, about modes and contacts, but if you limit your outlook to those topics you'll miss out on a vast expanse of opportunity that is only just beginning to emerge. Until quite recently, computing in amateur radio was essentially limited to logging and contest scoring. It has evolved to include digital modes like PSK31 and the advent of smaller, faster and cheaper computers in the home has brought the possibility of processing unimaginable amounts of data leading to modes like WSPR and FT8. In the past I've spoken about how amateur radio means different things to different people. Making contact using a digital internet enabled repeater is sacrileges to one and manna from heaven to another. Between those two extremes there is room to move and explore. Similarly where one uses valves, another expects an integrated circuit. One wants low power, the other wants every Watt they can lay their hands on. Contesting versus rag chewing, nets vs contacts, SSB vs. CW, FT8 vs. RTTY. Each of these attracts a different part of the community with different outcomes and expectations. For some it's about antenna building, others going portable, climbing a mountain, or setting up in a park. Those are all traditional amateur activities, but the choice and opportunity don't end there. The longer I play with computers the more I see a convergence in the world, a coming together of technologies and techniques. I've talked about some of this before when in 1994 I produced a competition broadcast promotion for the radio station I was working at, using just a computer in the era of reel-to-reel tape and razor blades. My station manager couldn't quite put his finger on what was different, but with hindsight it represented a landslide change in how radio stations have operated since. Mind you, I'm not saying that I was the first, just the first in that particular radio station. In many ways computing is an abstract effort. When asked, I like to express it as designing something intangible in an imaginary world using an made up language and getting paid real money to make it happen, well, numbers in my bank account at least. Within that context, amateur radio is slowly beginning to reap the rewards that come from the exponential growth in home computing power. While the majority of humanity might use the vast amount of CPU cycles to scroll through cat videos online, that access to processing power allows us to do other things as well. For example, right now I'm playing with the dataset that represents all the WSPR spots since March of 2008. As of now there are around four billion rows of contacts, containing data points like a time-stamp, the transmitter, the receiver, the signal strength, location, direction, and more. As part of that investigation I went looking for documents containing the words "RStudio" and "maidenhead", so I could consider creating a map in my statistical tool that allowed me to represent my dataset. In making that search I discovered a thesis by a mathematician who was using the reverse beacon network in an attempt to predict which station could hear which transmitter at what time. In reading the thesis, which I opened because I was looking for an example on how to convert a maidenhead locator into geo-spacial data types in R, a popular statistics platform, I discovered that the author didn't appear to have much, if any, amateur knowledge or experience, but they approached their task, attempting to predict as a mathematician what we in our community call propagation, based on a public dataset, downloaded straight from the reverse beacon network, created by amateurs like you and I. This interaction between science and the amateur community isn't new. Sometimes it's driven by science, other times it's driven by amateur radio. There's a team exploring the ionospheric prediction models that we've used for decades, popularly referred to as VOACAP or Voice of America Coverage Analysis Program, based on multiple evolutions of empirical models of the ionosphere that were first developed in the 1960's, headed by both a scientist and an amateur, Chris KL3WX. With the advent of WSPR and the associated data collection some experiments have started to compare the reality of propagation as logged by WSPR to the predicted propagation as modelled by VOACAP. One such experiment happened in 2018 where Chris and his team at HAARP, the High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Program, set out to make transmissions at specific times and frequencies, using the amateur community logging of WSPR spots to compare their transmissions to the predictions. Interestingly they did not match. Just think about that for a moment. The tool we love and use all across our community, VOACAP, doesn't match the reality of propagation. My own playing with WSPR data is driven by the very same thing that I use to be a better contester, a burning curiosity in all things. My VOACAP prediction experience has been poor to date. Setting up my own WSPR beacon is the first step in attempting to discover what my actual propagation looks like, but in doing so, it's also a possible contribution to the wider challenges of predicting propagation based on a dataset with four billion spots. One such approach might be to create an ionospheric prediction map based on actual data and compare that to the models as well as the published space weather maps and combining these efforts into a machine learning project which might give us the next generation of ionospheric prediction tools, but only time will tell. No doubt I will have to learn more about statistics and machine learning than I expect, but then, that's half the fun. So, next time you think of amateur radio as being limited to valves, transistors, soldering, antennas and rag chewing on HF, consider that there might be other aspects to this hobby that you have not yet considered. What other research are you aware of that relates to amateur radio? I'm Onno VK6FLAB

GB2RS News Sunday 22nd August 2021 The news headlines: Latest Convention details released Members' free entry to Bletchley resumes Megacycle Ride reaches northern Scotland The RSGB has announced further details of its online Convention, which will be held on Saturday the 9th of October. The event will be streamed live on the Society's YouTube channel. Dan, M0WUT will be focusing on hand-soldering techniques that will allow you to tackle all but the most challenging of components. If levels of interference at home are a problem, Michael, G0POT will look at taking your station out into the countryside and how to make it effective. Whether you're new to amateur radio or have been enjoying it for years, do put the 9th of October in your diary. You can find more information at rsgb.org/convention. The RSGB is delighted that it can now resume its RSGB Members' free entry voucher for Bletchley Park, which also gives entry to the RSGB National Radio Centre. Visitor arrangements have changed and you will need to pre-book a date and time slot for your visit via the Bletchley Park website. You will need your visitor ticket and your RSGB entry voucher to hand in when you arrive. Please follow carefully the instructions on the RSGB website at rsgb.org/bpvoucher so you can enjoy your visit to Bletchley Park and the RSGB NRC. Kevin, G0PEK and Lauren, 2E0HLR commenced their Megacycle 2021 ride at the start of August and have now reached the North of Scotland. This weekend they are active using GB5CWL at Cape Wrath. They plan to finish their cycling challenge on Thursday the 26th of August. While radio activity has been limited during the ride, they have been using the challenge to raise funds for the RNLI. For more information look for Megacycle DXpedition on Facebook. Part two of the BATC Convention will take place on the 16th of October. It will be a day of free online talks about amateur television. More information is at batc.org.uk. The International Air Ambulance Week will take place between the 4th and the 12th of September 2021. The event covers two weekends, giving amateurs a great chance to get involved. Details can be found at radio-amateur-events.org. The National Museum of Computing on the Bletchley Park site will be holding another Electrojumble on Sunday the 19th of September from 11 am to 3 pm. Although entry to the event is free, admission will be by pre-booked ticket. For more detailed information and booking details please visit tnmoc.org. The QSL Bureau sub-manager for the G4T-Z group has retired. A replacement volunteer to distribute cards to this active sub-group is urgently needed. If you have time, a little space, some basic computer skills plus the desire to help your fellow members, the bureau would like to hear from you. You can find out more by emailing QSL@rsgb.org.uk. And now for details of rallies and events Before travelling to any rally or event, please check the event's website as there may be alterations or cancellations due to the current restrictions. Today, the 22nd, a Grand Field Day Out will be held at Willesborough Windmill, Ashford, just off M20 junction 10. As previously publicised the Milton Keynes ARS Rally, originally due to be held on the 29th of August, is cancelled. The organisers look forward to welcoming visitors again in 2022. The Organising Team & Club Committee of the Torbay Amateur Radio Society are very pleased to be able to confirm that the annual communications rally is going ahead this year on the 29th of August. The event is being held at the Newton Abbot Racecourse site. Further details are at tars.org.uk. The Huntingdonshire ARS Rally will take place on bank holiday Monday, the 30th, at Ernulf Academy, St Neots PE19 2SH. More at hunts-hams.co.uk. Now the DX news Elvira, IV3FSG will be active as 5X3R from Uganda until the 2nd of September. QSL via IK2DUW direct; the log will be uploaded to Club Log. A team will be active as EJ7NET from Gola Island, IOTA reference EU-121, until the 25th of August. They will operate CW, SSB and FT8 on the 80 to 6m bands. QSL via EI6FR, direct only. Pasi, OH3WS will be active as OJ0WS from Market Reef, EU-053, until the 28th of August. He will operate CW only. QSL via the bureau to OH3WS. Bill, K9HZ will be active as J68HZ from St. Lucia, NA-108 until the 8th of November. He operates FT8, CW and SSB. QSL via Logbook of The World, which is preferred, eQSL or direct to K9HZ. He will also upload his log to Club Log. Now the Special Event news Today, the 22nd is the final day of the International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend. Many lighthouses, lightships and associated places will be activated for this annual event. Moray Firth Amateur Radio Society will be operating as GB0CSL from the Covesea Skerries Lighthouse, Lossiemouth, with the kind permission of the lighthouse trustees. GB0ELH will be active from near the Beachy Head Lighthouse. North Bristol Amateur Radio Club will run GB0AVL from Avonmouth Community centre, close to the Avonmouth Lights. Today, the 22nd, members of Colchester Radio Amateurs are operating GB0BRO to support the reopening of the British Resistance Organisation Museum. Activity will be on 80, 30 and 20m SSB, FT8 digital and PSK31. The Shropshire Linux User Group is celebrating 30 years of the Linux operating system with GB4TUX from the 4th of September. The call will be activated from the Telford Hamfest on the 5th of September. Now the contest news When operating in contests, please keep yourself and fellow amateurs safe by following any government recommendations during the pandemic. August is the month of the traditional summer holiday so there are no RSGB HF contests this month. On Tuesday the SHF UK Activity Contest runs from 1830 to 2130UTC. Using all modes on the 2.3 to 10GHz bands, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Next weekend is the World Wide Digi DX contest. It runs from 1200UTC on the 29th to 1200UTC on the 30th. It uses FT4 and FT8 on the 1.8 to 28MHz contest bands. The exchange is your 4-character locator. Next Sunday, the 29th, the UK Microwave group contest runs from 0600 to 1800UTC. Using all modes on the 5.7 and 10GHz bands, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA & G4BAO on Friday the 20th of August. We had another week of low sunspot numbers but generally settled geomagnetic conditions. The solar flux index generally stayed in the range of 73-75, which is nothing to get too excited about. The Kp index hit a maximum of three but was more often at zero or one. Maximum usable frequencies over a 3,000km path have struggled to exceed 18MHz during daylight hours and 14MHz has probably been more usable. Thirty metres, and sometimes 20 metres, have remained open long after dark, but we are seeing those bands closing earlier as we leave Summer and head towards Autumn. But this does mean that we are also heading for an upturn in ionospheric propagation as the chemical make-up of the ionosphere changes from molecular to atomic components, which are easier to ionise. Next week, NOAA predicts more of the same, with a solar flux index in the range 72-74. It also predicts a rise in the Kp index to four on Tuesday the 24th, which could see MUFs decline. This may be due to a high-speed stream from a coronal hole, stretching down towards the solar equator and currently rotating into an Earth-facing position. It's the North American SSB QSO party this weekend, so perhaps a good opportunity for a trans-Atlantic phone contact. Again, 20 metres would be best during daylight hours, with an occasional opening on 15 metres. And now the VHF and up propagation news. Last week's spell of indifferent summer weather partially supported Tropo conditions due to a weak ridge close to southern areas, but it remained more unsettled in the northwest. This Tropo saw a few stations in Southern England managing to launch signals into the almost ever-present Tropo ducting down to the Canaries caused by the Azores High phenomenon. Even some lucky stations east of the Meridian in JO02 square worked the 3,000km or so path to the Canaries and Madeira, EA8 and CT3 respectively, on 144MHz FT8. This is very rare on Tropo alone and usually is the privilege of stations much further south and west. Early in the coming week, a high-pressure area is signalled to return to northern areas initially, with improving Tropo prospects soon extending to the whole country in the early part of next week. Some models suggest the return of low pressure towards the end of the week, with some rain scatter to be had from this on the microwave bands. There have been a few Sporadic-E examples continuing into the second half of August and, although becoming harder to find now, it is still worth checking the clusters and beacons. Last week, some activity on 10m even extended well past midnight. We are still close to the broad-peaked Perseids meteor shower, so continue to monitor for improved meteor scatter conditions. The shower radiant might still enhance the usual peak of random meteors around dawn. Moon declination goes positive again on Wednesday so we'll see lengthening Moon windows and higher peak Moon elevation as the week progresses. Path losses will rise steadily as the Moon goes out to apogee, its farthest point from Earth, a week on Monday, the 30th. And that's all from the propagation team this week.  

GB2RS News Sunday 15th August 2021 The news headlines: Amateurs help with forest fire comms Latest Online Convention news Morse Texting girls make video Radio Amateurs from the Algerian National Society ARA are assisting their Government in the response to forest fires, where 65 people have lost their lives already. An ARA team was dispatched to the scene of the incident, where communications networks were already weak, to communicate emergency needs between the mobile station in the area and the crisis unit in Tamda via the ARA HQ station. Frequencies reported in use are 7110kHz, 3650kHz and 14300kHz. Please take care not to affect emergency operations on those frequencies. The RSGB has announced further details of its online Convention, which will be held on Saturday 9 October. The event will be streamed live on the Society's YouTube channel and there is a great line-up of expert speakers to inspire you. Whether you're new to amateur radio or have been enjoying it for years, do put the date in your diary. You can find out more information from the website at rsgb.org/convention Milly, Alice and Caitlin, the three girls featured in the August issue of RadCom, have made a video about Morse Texting. It will be shown at the QSO Today online conference on Sunday 15 August at 5 pm BST. Access to the Exhibitor area is free but does require registration. You can see a complete list of over 90 speakers and purchase tickets at qsotodayhamexpo.com. For a number of years, the RSGB has been operating a very successful Morse Competency Scheme. Until he recently became SK, Philip Brooks, G4NZQ ran the scheme's administration. It relies on the services of approximately 28 Morse Assessors dotted up and down the country to carry out the actual tests/assessments. The Society would like to appoint someone to take on this important role. Ideally, applicants should have an interest in Morse code. For further information see the full description on the RSGB volunteers' web page, rsgb.org/volunteers The G-QRP Club has released the agenda for its Online Convention 2021, which takes place on the 4th and 5th of September. The event comprises a series of online presentations and knowledge-sharing meetings. It's free to G-QRP Club members; others are charged. For more information and to view the full event schedule, visit gqrp.com/convention.htm The QSL Bureau sub-manager for the G4T-Z group has retired. A replacement volunteer to distribute cards to this active sub-group is urgently needed. If you have time, a little space, some basic computer skills plus the desire to help your fellow members, the bureau would like to hear from you. You can find out more by emailing QSL@rsgb.org.uk. Dudley and District club plans a nine-week Foundation course that commences on the 10th of September. For details, email exams@dadars.club. The RSGB held its 2021 AGM online in April and members were invited to send in questions for RSGB Board Directors before the AGM. These questions were answered during the event. In successive issues of RadCom, the RSGB is sharing the Q&A so that everyone can see the topics discussed and the answers given. You can also read them on the Society's website and if you missed the event, you can still view the whole of the AGM on the RSGB YouTube channel. And now for details of rallies and events Before travelling to any rally or event, please check the event's website as there may be alterations or cancellations due to the current restrictions. The Dartmoor Radio Rally takes place today at its new venue, The Yelverton War Memorial Hall, Meavy Lane, Yelverton. Devon, PL20 6AL. Free parking is available on site. Doors open at 10 am and admission is £2.50. There will be the usual Bring & Buy, trade stands and refreshments. Part 1 of the British Amateur Television Club Convention, CAT 21, will commence on the 21st of August at the Midland Air Museum, Rowley Road, Coventry CV3 4FR. There will be lectures, discussions and fix-it sessions on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, followed by the BATC General meeting on Sunday afternoon. The intention is that all lectures will be streamed online. Details can be found at forum.batc.org.uk. On Sunday the 22nd, a Grand Field Day Out will be held at Willesborough Windmill, Ashford, just off junction 10 of the M20. Now the DX news Yann, F1SMB is activating several French Polynesia islands as FO/F1SMB. From the 15th to the 17th of August he is on Rangiroa, IOTA reference OC-066; for 17th to the 20th he moves to Fakarava, OC-066 and finally, on the 20th to the 23rd, it's Tahiti, OC-046. He operates QRP SSB and FT8, mainly on 40m and 20m. QSL via F1SMB and eQSL, according to operator's instructions. AM1CCB is the special callsign for URE Burgos to mark the 800th anniversary of Burgos Cathedra, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The callsign is active until the 18th of August. QSL via the bureau, LoTW, eQSL, or direct. Massimo, HB9TUZ will be active as HI9/HB9TUZ from Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic, NA-096, until the 30th of August. He will operate SSB on 40 to 10m. QSL via eQSL only. Special callsign 6E0D will be active until the end of August to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the fall of the capital of the Aztec Empire, Tenochtitlan, on the 13th of August 1521. QSL via LoTW, or direct to XE1EE. Special callsigns R20RTA, R20RTM, R20RTP, R20RTRN and R20RTT will be active until the end of August to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network, created on 13 August 2001. QSL via operator's instructions. Now the Special Event news Next weekend is International Lightships and Lightship weekend. Many lighthouses, lightships and associated places will be activated for this annual event. Moray Firth Amateur Radio Society will be operating as GB0CSL from the Covesea Skerries Lighthouse, Lossiemouth, with the kind permission of the lighthouse trustees. Activity will be on HF and VHF, with details listed at www.mfars.club and on QRZ.com under GB0CSL. GB0ELH will be active over the weekend of the 21st and 22nd August 2021 for the International Lighthouses and Lightships Heritage Weekend from near the Beachy Head Lighthouse. They will be operating on an ad-hoc basis from HF through to 23cm. QSL by email only to canavp@gmail.com. Full details are on the QRZ.com page for GB0ELH. North Bristol Amateur Radio Club will run GB0AVL from Avonmouth Community centre, close to the Avonmouth Lights. They intend to operate from 9 am to 5 pm on both days. Details are at nbarc.org.uk. Other special event calls we know of in relation to the weekend include GB2RL for Roker Light, Sunderland; GB5HCL, Hurst Castle Lighthouse; GB0TLH, Teignmouth Lighthouse and GB0ALK for the Association of Lighthouse Keepers. There are many more, worldwide. Next Sunday, members of the Colchester Radio Amateurs are holding a special event called BRO On The Air, using the callsign GB0BRO. The aim is to support the reopening of the British Resistance Organisation Museum and to celebrate, belatedly, the 80th Anniversary of the formation of the British Resistance Organisation in June 1940. Activity will be on 80,30 and 20m SSB, FT8 digital and PSK31. Now the contest news With different parts of the UK having different lockdown restrictions, please make sure you follow the appropriate regulations. Keep yourself and fellow amateurs safe. August is the month of the traditional summer holiday so there are no RSGB HF contests this month. The first of the Worked All Europe DX contests of the year ends its 48-hour run at 2359UTC today, Sunday. This is the CW leg. Europe works non-Europe only in this German-run series. Exchanging QTCs, that's reports of previously held contacts, can significantly boost your score, although not everybody chooses to do it. See the rules to learn how QTCs work. The exchange is signal report and serial number. Today, the 5th 70MHz Cumulative contest runs from 1400 to 1600UTC. The exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Tuesday the 1.3GHz UKAC runs from 1900 to 2130UTC. Using all modes on the 23cm band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Thursday sees the 70MHz UKAC from 1900 to 2130UTC. Using all modes on the 4m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA & G4BAO on Friday the 13th of August. We had another week of minimal sunspot numbers, a low solar flux, but quiet geomagnetic conditions. As a result, DX was a little harder to find. We did have a low-level C-class solar flare on August the 9th that erupted from a plage region on the Sun. Whether this was a precursor to a sunspot appearing we will have to wait and see. HF conditions have been a little lacklustre with maximum usable frequencies over a 3,000km path struggling to get above 18MHz a lot of the time. Sporadic-E has helped a little, but that is also starting to decline now that the bulk of the season is over. The best DX may be occurring overnight. Laurie, G3UML reports working Anguilla on 3.799MHz at 0109Z this week – the top 10kHz on 80 metres is often a good DX watering hole. He also reports very good conditions to South America on 20m up to around 2300hrs local and huge signals on 40m from the eastern US. On Thursday morning he also logged K7GI in Arizona on 40m at a genuine S9+. Meanwhile, Colin, G3VCQ reports that signals from Japan on 40m in the early evening have been good too. This may be due to the quiet geomagnetic conditions, which allow the ionosphere to settle. The lower SFI means that higher bands may not be open during the day, but the lower bands can come into their own after dark. As of Thursday, there were no coronal holes on the Sun's equator so we may expect the good conditions to continue over this weekend. NOAA predicts the solar flux index will start next week in the low 70s. There may be a slight increase to the mid-70s as the week goes on. We may expect slightly unsettled geomagnetic conditions on the 16th with a Kp index of three, but after that, it should settle again to one or two. And now the VHF and up propagation news. The end of last week saw some reasonable Tropo conditions over southern areas extending south into the near continent and down across Biscay to Spain. This area of enhanced lift conditions will be displaced to just affect southwestern parts of the UK and southern Ireland as we move into the new week. The main change is a return to a more unsettled northwesterly weather type with showers in the first half of next week, so some rain scatter options should be available. By about midweek the next change comes in the form of high pressure returning to northern areas and perhaps more widely later. This is potentially useful for Tropo again, although not as good as that at the end of last week. Last week's Perseids meteor shower has probably added some useful new long-lived metallic ionisation into the mix as fuel for Sporadic-E. The coming week shows that jet streams are still present, so maintain your watch list of 10m and 6m beacons to check. The Perseids are a relatively broad-peaked shower, so there will still be some good meteor scatter moments through the coming week as well as the best random meteors around dawn. The Kappa Cygnids shower is active and should peak around the 18th, but with a ZHR of just three, it's a small one. Moon declination is negative this week so Moon windows will be short. Minimum declination is very close to Tuesday's perigee where we have the lowest path losses. And that's all from the propagation team this week.

Episode 35 RF Podcast Live Show Notes 00:00 Promo: Ohio Linux Fest (http://www.ohiolinux.org) 00:25 Theme music 01:20 Intro: This is the unedited audio version of our first live video episode The video appears to be lost to history but the audio remains 03:15 Live show: This is our first live show and it's a little rough, primarily an equipment test. 05:25 Feedback: George, N0JRJ, likes the podcast and the idea of the live show. He listens while commuting and talks about his frustrations with the attitudes of "old timers" toward new hams.Barry, K4RUE, a recently licensed ham, enjoys the show and the music.Mike, KF7AME, just found the podcast and is listening to the old episodes. He appreciates comments on previous shows about how difficult it may be for new hams to afford new equipment.Bob, K4BB, just discovered the podcasts and music, and enjoys them, though he's not too sure about all of the music.Google alert: Russ Wenner of The Techie Geek podcast mentions us in episode 40. Check it out at https://web.archive.org/web/20130805083259/http://thetechiegeek.com/Robert, WA4HRK, sends thanks for a recent episode. Thank you everyone for the feedback. Find us at: http://rfpodcast.info or Email us at kb5jbv@gmail.com 19:20 Topic: Everyone assumes everyone else has the same equipment or can afford such equipment. There are lots of ways to get equipment, and it takes time to accumulate a station. Building wire antennas is a great way to learn and is inexpensive. 22:42 Amazon: Please make your Amazon purchases through the Amazon link on http//:rfpodcast.info as we get a small portion of that transaction. It doesn't cost you anything extra and is another way to support the podcasts. Thanks. 24:56 Station ID: This is KB5JBV… 25:30 Topic: Elmering… but Richard seems to have lost his train of thought. 26:50 Topic: Twitter and other social networks. 28:00 Topic: Bill, KA9WKA, distracts Richard with comments in the chat room. (Sorry - Ed.) 30:20 Topic: The rude amateur radio operator. Is Elmering a lost art?Anyone else see this sort of thing? 33:15 Topic: Field Day. 36:00 Topic: Richard is intending to attend more hamfests in the east Texas, south Oklahoma, west Louisiana area and looks forward to talking with the podcast listeners and maybe recording a few of those conversations for the podcasts. 38:30 Topic: Hurricane season. 42:20 Other folks joining in the chat room. Check out Chris' (N7ICE) website http://73s.org, 44:30 Keyboard balls. :) 45:04 A tour of Richard's studio. Hope you're not prone to motion sickness. 50:45 Check out Hacker Public Radio at http://hackerpublicradio.org/ 53:20 Rambling a bit. 55:30 Star Trek memorabilia. 59:20 Back to hamfests. Richard has yet to attend Dayton. But there is HamCom (Recently Closed Permanently) 1:01:30 W1AW bulletins: AMTOR and ASCII to be replaced by PSK31 and MFSK16. RTTY to remain.fldigi is a great program for digital modes. It's available for Linux AND Windows. Download at http://www.w1hkj.com/ 1:04:40 Also check out the NUE-PSK standalone modem: http://www.nue-psk.com/Thanks, Craig, KB3SBI. 1:05:25 Richard reminisces about the Commodore 64 computer that he used as a portable packet terminal. 1:08:20 Wrap up. Thanks to KA9WKA, N7ICE, KB3SBI, and all the anonymous ustreamers for showing up in the chat room. 1:10:35 Conclusion: Read More About Resonant Frequency: The Amateur Radio Podcast At www.rfpodcast.info Glossary - See Glossary for terms used on the show. Contact Info For Richard KB5JBV: Website: www.rfpodcast.info Email: kb5jbv@gmail.com Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/RichardBaileyKB5JBV FaceBook: www.facebook.com/groups/resonantfrequency/ Twitter: www.twitter.com/kb5jbv MeWE: mewe.com/i/richardbailey31 Tumblr https://www.tumblr.com/settings/blog/resonant-frequency-podcast Discord: https://discord.com/channels/758866379104845856/75886637910484586...

GB2RS NEWS Sunday the 28th of March 2021 The news headlines: Ham Radio Friedrichshafen cancelled In-person exams to resume 18th April is World Amateur Radio Day The in-person Ham Radio international amateur radio exhibition held in Friedrichshafen, Germany, has once again been cancelled. With the Covid-19 pandemic maintaining a firm grip on world events, the venue has been forced to postpone the event until 2022. The dates for 2022 will be the 24th to 26th of June. Details of any online activities in place of this year’s event will be released nearer the time. The RSGB remote invigilation exams have been a great success during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Society can now plan to resume exams for candidates who prefer to sit them in a club setting with in-person invigilation. The RSGB will start accepting bookings from club Examination Secretaries from the date when the Government lifts all Covid-19 restrictions in their part of the UK. The Society will release further details shortly. The online remote invigilation exams will continue in parallel. Mandatory practical assessments at Foundation level will remain suspended pending an ESC/ESRG-led review and consultation on their long-term future. The 18th of April will be World Amateur Radio Day. It was on this day in 1925 that the International Amateur Radio Union was formed in Paris. The theme for 2021 will be ‘Home but never alone’. Due to Covid-19, many gatherings and amateur radio events have been cancelled, however, amateur radio kept us connected. Listen out for special event stations around the world that will be on the air that day. The RSGB is holding its AGM online this year on Saturday the 24th of April and will live-stream the event. You can submit written questions for Board Directors in advance through a form on the Society’s website at rsgb.services/gb2rs/007. After the formal business part of the meeting, EMC Chair John Rogers, M0JAV will give an update on Ofcom’s new EMF regulations. In the UK, the clocks went forward one hour at 1 am today, the 28th of March. This means we are on British Summer Time. Please note that many contests and other events often state the timings in UTC or GMT, which will be one hour behind the local clock time here in the UK. The next edition of RadCom Basics is now available. It includes articles on Using a Multimeter – both digital and analogue, tracking down sources of interference and part two of Making Small Metal Boxes. RSGB Members can read previous editions of RadCom Basics by going to rsgb.org/radcom-basics. You can also register to receive notification of subsequent issues as they become available at the same address. At the request of the European Commission, the IARU met with representatives of the automotive industry, standards bodies and the Commission on the 25th of March. It was to review the current position on the development of an emission standard for Wireless Power Transfer for Electric Vehicles. There was a frank exchange of views and the Commission determined that further joint tests should be arranged. The IARU confirmed it was content to participate and welcomed the initiative. A further meeting will take place once the relevant tests have been completed, with a view to making progress towards an emission standard. Read the full news item at iaru-r1.org. There is an IET webinar about Amateur Radio on the 12th of May starting at 7.30 pm. Phil Gould will give you an appreciation of amateur radio, a hobby that puts science and technology into action. You can register on the IET website at theiet.org, then go to the events tab. Registration is open to non-members as well as members of the IET. Lee, M0RLE started a net at the beginning of the first lockdown. It is every Monday evening on GB3RF and GB3PF and usually attracts over 20 people. He has been working most of the lockdown but has kept the net going including contacting people if they miss the net to check that all is well. Well done Lee. The short film ISS_Overs won the Best Dramatic Short at the Quarantini Monthly Film Festival. It has also been selected as a finalist in the Awards Sections of the WeMakeFilms International Film Festival. It is about an elderly amateur radio operator who catches a signal from the International Space Station while in lockdown. Now the DX news Lee, HL1IWD will be active holiday style as HL1IWD/5 from Koje Island, IOTA reference AS-081, between the 2nd and 4th of April. He will operate CW and some FT8 on the 40 to 20m bands. QSL via the bureau, or direct to EA5GL. Keith, KL2JE will remain operating from Dutch Harbor, Unalaska Island, NA-059, until the 10th of April. In his spare time, he is on 20 metres using FT8. Mats, SM6LRR, will be active as 8Q7MS from the Maldives between the 28th of March and the 10th of April. He is operating holiday-style on mainly the 40 to 15m bands using CW, but he will also use SSB. Now the Special Event news For the annual RAFARS Airfields on the Air activity, GB0WYT – standing for RAF Wyton, Cambridgeshire – will be operational on the 3rd and 4th of April. This is the ninth year of operation. Due to the current restrictions, the callsign will be operated by RAFAC Radio Staff and members of Huntingdonshire ARS who live locally to RAF Wyton. Subject to conditions, they will be operating on the HF bands using CW, voice and RTTY, PSK31, FT8; they will also be on 2m FM and SSB. John, MW1CFN will be active as GB1004FTS from Anglesey, EU-005, between the 25th of March and the 8th of April. He will operate SSB and digital modes on the HF bands, 6 and 2m. QSL via Logbook of The World or direct. The special callsign celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Royal Air Force’s No 4 Flying Training School, which opened on the 1st of April 1921. Now the contest news The RSGB VHF Contest Committee will once again accept portable entries from stations within some areas of the UK from the 29th of March. Different parts of the UK have different regulations, so please ensure you obey your national and local government’s advice. Details are in the RSGB Contest Committee Newsletter and you can subscribe at rsgbcc.org. The CQ World Wide WPX SSB contest ends its 48 hours run at 2359UTC today, the 28th. Please check the rules as there is a new multi-station category. Using the 1.8 to 28MHz contest bands, the exchange is signal report and serial number. On Wednesday the UK EI Contest Club 80m contest runs from 2000 to 2100UTC. Using CW only, the exchange is your 6-character locator. Next weekend the SP DX contest runs from 1500UTC on the 3rd to 1500UTC on the 4th. Using CW and SSB on the 1.8 to 28MHz contest bands, the exchange is signal report and serial number. SP stations will also exchange their Province code. On Sunday the 4th of April the First 70MHz contest runs from 0900 to 1200UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA & G4BAO on Friday the 26th of March. What a mixed week we had, with large geomagnetic storms interspersed with quiet periods. The first storm occurred last weekend when the Kp index hit six on Saturday and then five on Sunday. This wasn’t unexpected and we did warn that it might happen in the last GB2RS broadcast. A second storm occurred when a weak shock passage was detected at around 1920UTC on Wednesday evening. This was likely related to a coronal mass ejection coming off the Sun’s eastern limb, which was observed on the 20th of March. The solar wind increased from 375km/s to around 440km/s and the Bz Interplanetary Magnetic Field component tipped south. Otherwise, it was relatively quiet on the sunspot front with the solar flux index climbing from 77 on Sunday to 84 on Thursday, reflecting the increased UV due to groups 2811 and 2812. Conditions have been a little lacklustre, with daytime maximum usable frequencies over a 3,000km path struggling to climb over 18MHz at times. Next week NOAA has the solar flux index prediction at 78 all week. It also predicts unsettled geomagnetic conditions on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, with the Kp index set to rise to five thanks to a high-speed stream from a coronal hole. Expect depressed critical frequencies and MUFs until this clears later in the week and the Kp index returns to more normal values. This might be a good time to check your antennas so that you are ready for the 10 metre Sporadic-E season in a few weeks! And now the VHF and up propagation news. After some welcome Tropo down to Atlantic France and Northern Spain early last week, we are in the midst of a very disturbed period of weather and this will continue into early next week. Perhaps contrary to expectations there could be some more Tropo on the southern warm air side of a waving front over southern Britain. These will most likely be west-east paths from southern Britain into northern Europe. Otherwise, we can hope the frontal rain band may provide limited rain scatter options on the GHz bands. From about Tuesday, a new high will establish a dominant position over the UK and this could make Tropo more likely again, but this will be a cold air high and usually, these are not the best providers of good Tropo. As we enter April in the coming week, it's worth dusting down the Sporadic-E equipment and consider looking at 10m or 6m digital modes for early signs of life. If the locational trigger is jet streams, in this case, it would favour Scandinavia and the Baltic region. For EME enthusiasts, declination goes negative today, so peak Moon elevation will fall as the week progresses and Moon windows will shorten. Path losses are at their lowest with perigee coming up on Tuesday. The Lyrids meteor shower will start to ramp up in about two weeks’ time, peaking on the 22nd of April, but until then, the best time for meteor scatter contacts is the pre-dawn random meteor enhancement. And that’s all from the propagation team this week.

Foundations of Amateur Radio Every community has its own language. As a member of that community you learn the words, their meaning and their appropriate use. For example, the combination of words "Single Side Band" have a specific meaning inside amateur radio. Outside of radio, those same words are random words with no relationship. Sometimes a term like "FM" can be heard across many communities with similar understanding, though not identical. It gets tricky when a word is used widely but doesn't have a common understanding at all. A word like "software" for example. A question you might hear in amateur radio is: "Can I buy a software defined radio or SDR that has digital modes built-in?" It's a perfectly reasonable question, the radio runs software, the digital modes are software, so the answer is obvious, right? What about: "Can the hundred or more computers in my car play Solitaire?" Aside from the perhaps unexpected fact that your car has computers on board, you most likely know the answer to that. No, since the computers are specialised for different tasks - and if you're driving a Tesla right now, yes, you can play Solitaire, but I'd recommend that you keep your eyes on the road instead. My point is that not all software is created equal. The software inside an SDR is essentially doing signal processing, often by several components, each running software, transforming an antenna signal into something, that can be used somewhere else, likely sound. The applications WSJT-X and fldigi, both software, use a computer running Linux, MacOS or Windows, software, to decode and encode digital modes while providing a way for you to interact with it. Software running on software. You might well argue that we should be running applications like that directly on our radio and on the face of it that sounds perfectly reasonable, except that to achieve that, you'd also need to build a system to install and update different types of applications, so you could run SSTV, APRS, RTTY, PSK31, FT8 or any of the other hundreds of digital modes and new ones as they are developed. If you did that, you'd also have to provide a way to manage the operating system, to connect to the Internet and provide security. You'd need to develop a user-interface, perhaps a keyboard and mouse solution, a screen, etc. Before long you'll have developed a whole computing infrastructure, much like the one we already have in the form of the computer on your desk or the phone in your pocket. Computers are getting faster and faster every day. This allows for the software on them to become more and more complex. The inter-dependencies are increasing by the second, but that doesn't mean that specialisation isn't useful. A software defined radio likely has a Field Programmable Gate Array, an FPGA on-board that is great at processing data in streams. It too runs software. Your microwave is running software, as is your television, your smart-watch, your battery charger, the gearbox in your car and your electric tooth brush. Making a distinction between the various types of software is helpful to understand what is possible and what is not. Being a computer nerd, I must point out that I've only barely scratched the surface of software here, in-case you're curious, microcode, firmware, hardware abstraction, the rabbit hole goes very deep. Not all software is created equal and every now and then it's a good idea to remember that when you talk about a word in one community, it might mean a completely different thing in another and sometimes the distinction is significant. As for having an SDR that runs WSPR, no. You can transmit from a computer though, but that's a whole other thing. I'm Onno VK6FLAB

A quick trip out to work PSK31 data mode.

Foundations of Amateur Radio So, there's nothing on TV, the bands are dead, nobody is answering your CQ, you're bored and it's all too hard. You've run out of things to try, there's only so many different ways to use the radio and it's all too much. I mean, you've only got CW, AM, SSB, FM, there's Upper and Lower Side-band, then there's RTTY, the all too popular FT8, then there's WSPR, but then you run out of things. I mean, right? What about PSK31, SSTV, then there's AMTOR, Hellschreiber, Clover, Olivia, Thor, MFSK, Contestia, the long time favourites of Echolink and IRLP, not to forget Fusion, DMR, D-STAR, AllStar, BrandMeister or APRS. So far I've mentioned about 20 modes, picked at random, some from the list of modes that the software Fldigi supports. Some of these don't even show up on the Signal Wiki which has a list of about 70 amateur modes. With all the bands you have available, there's plenty of different things to play with. All. The. Time. There's contests for many of them, so once you've got it working, you can see how well you go. Over the past year I've been experimenting with a friend with various modes, some more successful than others. I'm mentioning this because it's not difficult to get started. Seriously, it's not. The most important part of this whole experiment is getting your computer to talk to your radio. If you have FT8 already working you have all the hardware in place. To make the software work, you can't go past installing Fldigi. As a tool it works a lot like what you're familiar with. You'll see a band-scope, a list of frequencies and a list of decodes. It's one of many programs that can decode and generate a multitude of amateur digital modes. If this is all completely new to you, don't be alarmed. There are essentially two types of connections between your computer and your radio. The first one is audio, the second is control. For this to work well, both these need to be two-way, so you can both decode the audio that the radio receives and generate audio that the radio can transmit. The same is true for the control connection. You need to be able to set the transmit frequency and the mode and you need to be able to read the current state of the radio, if only to toggle the transmitter on-and-off. If you already have CAT control working, that's one half done. I've spoken with plenty of amateurs who are reluctant to do any of this. If this is you, don't be afraid. It's like the first time you keyed up you radio. Remember the excitement? You can relive that experience, no matter how long you've been an amateur. Depending on the age of your radio, you might find that there is only one physical connection between your computer and the radio, either using USB or even Ethernet. You'll find that your computer will still need to deal with the two types of information separately. Notice that I've not talked about what kind of operating system you need to be running. I use and prefer Linux, but you can do this on any operating system, even using a mobile phone if that takes your fancy. Getting on air and making noise using your microphone is one option, but doing this using computer control will open you to scores of new adventures. I will add some words of caution here. In general, especially using digital modes, less is more. If you drive the audio too high you'll splatter all over the place and nobody will hear you, well, actually, everyone will, but nobody will be able to talk to you because they won't be able to decode it. If the ALC on your radio is active, you're too loud. WSJT-X, the tool for modes like FT8 and WSPR, has a really easy way of ensuring that your levels are right, so if you've not done anything yet, start there. Another issue is signal isolation. What I mean by that is you blowing up your computer because the RF travelled unexpectedly back up the serial or audio cable and caused all manner of grief. You can get all fancy with optical isolation and at some point you should, but until then, dial the power down to QRP levels, 5 Watts, and you'll be fine. A third issue that was likely covered during your licensing is the duty cycle. It's the amount of time that your radio is transmitting continuously as compared to receiving only. For some modes, like WSPR for example, you'll be transmitting for a full 2 minutes at 100%, so you'll be working your radio hard. Even harder might unexpectedly be using FT8, which transmits in 15 second bursts every 15 seconds, so there may not be enough time for your radio to cool down. Investing in a fan is a good plan, but being aware of the issue will go a long way to keeping the magic smoke inside your radio. I'm sure that you have plenty of questions after all that. You can ask your friends, or drop me an email, cq@vk6flab.com and I'll be happy to point you in the right direction. Next time there's nothing good on TV, get on air and make some digital noise! I'm Onno VK6FLAB

Foundations of Amateur Radio When you begin your journey as a radio amateur you're introduced to the concept of a mode. A mode is a catch-all phrase that describes a way of encoding information into radio signals. Even if you're not familiar with amateur radio, you've come across modes, although you might not have known at the time. When you tune to the AM band, you're picking a set of frequencies, but also a mode, the AM mode. When you tune to the FM band, you do a similar thing, set of frequencies, different mode, FM. The same is true when you turn on your satellite TV receiver, you're likely using a mode called DVB-S. For digital TV, the mode is likely DVB-T and for digital radio it's something like DAB or DAB+. Even when you use your mobile phone it too is using a mode, be it CDMA, GSM, LTE and plenty of others. Each of these modes is shared within the community so that equipment can exchange information. Initially many of these modes were built around voice communication, but increasingly, even the basic mobile phone modes, are built around data. Today, even if you're talking on your phone, the actual information being exchanged using radio is of a digital nature. Most of these modes are pretty static. That's not to say that they don't evolve, but the speed at which that happens is pretty sedate. In contrast, a mode like Wi-Fi has seen the explosion of different versions. During the first 20 years there were about 19 different versions of Wi-Fi. You'll recognise them as 802.11a, b, g, j, y, n, p, ad, ac and plenty more. I mention Wi-Fi to illustrate just how frustrating changing a mode is for the end-user. You buy a gadget, but it's not compatible with the particular Wi-Fi mode that the rest of your gear is using. It's pretty much the only end-user facing mode that changes so often as to make it hard to keep up. As bad as that might be, there is coordination happening with standards bodies involved making it possible to purchase the latest Wi-Fi equipment from a multitude of manufacturers. In amateur radio there are amateur specific modes, like RTTY, PSK31, even CW is a mode. And just like with Wi-Fi, they evolve. There's RTTY-45, RTTY-50 and RTTY-75 Wide and Narrow, when you might have thought that there was only one RTTY. The FLDIGI software supports 18 different Olivia modes out of the box which haven't changed for a decade or so. The speed of the evolution of Olivia is slow. The speed of the evolution of RTTY is slower still, CW is not moving at all. At the other end new amateur modes are being developed daily. The JT modes for example are by comparison evolving at breakneck speed, to the point where they aren't even available in the latest versions of the software, for example FSK441, introduced in 2001 vanished at some point, superseded by a different mode, MSK144. It's hard to say exactly when this happened, I searched through 15 different releases and couldn't come up with anything more definitive than the first mention of MSK144 in v1.7.0, apparently released in 2015. My point is that in amateur radio terms there are modes that are not changing at all and modes that are changing so fast that research is being published after the mode has been depreciated. Mike, WB2FKO published his research "Meteor scatter communication with very short pings" comparing the two modes FSK441 and MSK144 in September 2020, it makes for interesting reading. There are parallels between the introduction of computing and the process of archiving. The early 1980's saw a proliferation of hardware, software, books and processes that exploded into the community. With that came a phenomenon that lasted at least a decade, if not longer, where archives of these items don't exist because nobody thought to keep them. Floppy discs thrown out, books shredded, magazines discarded, knowledge lost. It didn't just happen in the 1980's. Much of the information that landed man on the moon is lost. We cannot today build a Saturn V rocket with all the support systems needed to land on the moon from scratch, even if we wanted to. We have lost manufacturing processes, the ability to decode magnetic tapes and lost the people who did the work through retirement and death, not to mention company collapses and mergers. Today we're in the middle of a golden age of radio modes. Each new mode with more features and performance. In reality this means that your radio that came with CW, AM, FM and SSB will continue to work, but if it came with a specialised mode like FSK441, you're likely to run out of friends to communicate with when the mode is depreciated in favour of something new. In my opinion, Open Source software and hardware is vitally important in this fast moving field and if we're not careful we will repeat history and lose the knowledge and skill won through perseverance and determination due to lack of documentation or depreciation by a supplier. When did you last document what you did? What will happen to that when you too become a silent key? I'm Onno VK6FLAB

Foundations of Amateur Radio When you start playing with software defined radio, you're likely to begin your journey using something with a display that shows you a lovely waterfall, gives you a way to pick out a frequency, decode it and play it over your speakers all over the house. Likely your first effort involves a local FM radio station. These graphical tools come in many and varied forms available on pretty much anything with a display. Tools like SDR#, cuSDR, fldigi and WSJT-X. That can be immensely satisfying as an experience. Underneath the graphics is software that is essentially translating an antenna voltage to a sound, in much the same way as that happens in an analogue radio. There are the parts that get the signal, then they get translated and filtered, translated some more, decoded, and eventually you have sound coming from your speakers. During the week I caught up with a fellow amateur who pointed me at the work of Andras HA7ILM who for a number of years has been quietly beavering away making various tools in the SDR landscape. One of those tools has the innocuous name of "csdr", a command-line software defined radio digital signal processor. It started life on November 1st, 2014 and has had many updates and community changes since. This tool has no graphics, no user interface, nothing visible that you can toggle with a mouse and yet it's one of the coolest tools I've seen in a long time and from a learning perspective, it's everything you might hope for and then some. Before I explain how it works, I need to tell you about pipes. They're much like water pipes in your home, but in computing they're a tool that allow you to connect two programs together so you can exchange data between them. One of the ways that you can think of a computer is a tool that transforms one type of information into another. This transformation can be trivial, like say adding up numbers, or it can be complex, like filtering out unwanted information. The idea is that you take a stream of data and use a pipe to send it to a program that transforms it in some way, then use another pipe into another program and so on, until the original stream of numbers has become what you need them to be, creating a transformation pipeline with a string of programs that sequentially each do a little thing to the data. That stream of data could be numbers that represent the voltage of the signal at your antenna and the final output could be sound coming from your speaker. If you were to take that example, you could use one tool that knows how to measure voltage, pipe that to a tool that knows how to convert that into FM and pipe that to a tool that knows how to play audio on your speaker. Converting something to FM is, in and of itself, a series of steps. It involves taking the raw numbers, extracting the part of the samples that are the station you want to hear, decoding those and converting that into something that is ready to be played on your speakers. This process is fundamentally different from using a so-called monolithic tool that does everything behind the scenes. The person writing the software has decided what to do, how to do it, in what order and in what way. If you want to do something that the author hadn't thought of, like say listening to a new type of broadcast, you'll be waiting until they update the software. In another way, this is the difference between making a cake from raw ingredients and buying it up the road at the shops One final part of the puzzle. There's nothing preventing you from piping the output of your program to another copy of the same program. So, if you had a tool that knows how to do the maths behind filters, AM and FM decoding, translating Lower Side Band into Upper Side Band and vice-versa, band filtering, etc., you'd be able to set up individual steps that translate a signal, one step at a time, from raw antenna data into a sound you can hear. You would have all the building blocks for the fancy tools that you are used to. csdr is such a tool. For example, it knows how to set the gain of a signal, how to up and down sample, how to shift frequencies, how to decode them, it knows about RTTY, PSK, AM, FM and do about a hundred other things. So far I've mentioned decoding, but there's nothing stopping you from starting with plain text, piping that into csdr and converting that to a PSK31 audio signal and transmitting that audio on your radio. To make it even better, because it's so modular, you can look at the math behind what's going on and begin to understand what's happening behind the scenes. Of all the tools I've found in the past decade, I have to confess, this is the one that has stopped me in my tracks. Thank you to Randall VK6WR for introducing me to this tool and to Andras HA7ILM for writing it. I'm Onno VK6FLAB

Foundations of Amateur Radio My radio shack consists of two radios, identical, well, in as much as that they're the same model, a Yaesu FT-857d. Their memories are different, their microphones are different, but both of them are connected via a coaxial switch to the same VHF and UHF antenna. One of them is also connected to a HF antenna. Let's call these two radios alpha and bravo. Alpha is used to host F-troop and play on the local repeater. Bravo is used to do HF stuff. It's also connected to a computer via a serial cable, called a CAT cable, Computer Assisted Tuning, but really, a way to control the radio remotely. The audio output on the rear of the radio is also connected to the computer. These two connections are combined to provide me with access to digital modes like PSK31, WSPR and SSTV, though I haven't actually yet made that work. The computer itself is running Linux and depending on what I'm doing on the radio some or other software, often it's fldigi, a cross-platform tool that knows about many different digital modes. The computer is also connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi, and is used to see what various reporting websites have to say about my station, things like propagation, the DX cluster, an electronic way of seeing what other stations can hear, then there's solar radiation information and other neat tools. This shack is pretty typical in my circle of friends. I'm lucky enough to have a dedicated table with my shack on it, for others they're lucky to have a shelf in a cupboard, or at the other end of the spectrum, a whole room or building dedicated to the task. The level of complexity associated with this set-up is not extreme, let's call it in the middle of the range of things you can add to the system to add complexity. In case you're wondering, you might consider automatic antenna switching, band switches, band filters, amplifiers, more radios, audio switching, automatic voice keyers. If you look at the world of Software Defined Radio, the hardware might include many of those things and then add a computer that's actually doing all the signal processing, making life even more complex. At the other end of the complexity scale there's a crystal radio. As I've been growing into this field of amateur radio it's becoming increasingly clear that we as a community, by enlarge, are heading towards maximum complexity. There's nothing wrong with that as such, but as a QRP, or low-power operator, I often set-up my radio in a temporary setting like a car or a camp site. Complexity in the field is not to be sneezed at and I've lost count of the number of times where complexity has caused me to go off-air. It occurred to me that it would be helpful to investigate a little bit more just what's possible at the other end of the scale, at the simple end of complexity if you like. So, I'm intending, before the year is out, supplies permitting, to build a crystal radio from scratch. I realise that I have absolutely no idea what I'm getting myself into, no doubt there will be more complexity that I'm anticipating, but I'm getting myself ready to build something to be able to look at it and say to myself, look, this is how simple you can get with radio. I'm currently too chicken to commit to making the simplest - legal - transmitter, but if you have suggestions, I'll look into it. Just so you know, simplicity is an option. I'm Onno VK6FLAB

Foundations of Amateur Radio The other day day I managed my first DX contact using a new mode, FT8. It wasn't very far away, all of 2600 km or so, but it evoked memories of my first ever on-air DX contact nearly a decade ago. I should say thank you to YD3YOG for my 15m contact, fitting because my first ever was also on 15m as I recall. Unfortunately I never did log my first. Recently a friend asked me how the two compared. 15m and logging aside, there's a lot of similarities, even though I'm a more experienced operator today when compared to when I made my first ever contact. The preparation and the building anticipation is what made the contact all the sweeter. A while ago I managed to connect the audio of my radio to a computer. This is pretty much the first step in starting to use digital modes. Essentially many common digital modes use an SSB transmission to generate and receive audio that in turn contains digitally encoded information. There are hundreds of modes like this, from PSK31 to RTTY, WSPR, FT8, SSTV and many more. If you've not yet dabbled in this area, I'd recommend starting with WSJT-X. The software is so far the best tool I've found to make sure that your digital levels are correct and offers several popular modes to see how your station is operating. If you're asking for a first mode recommendation, I'd start with WSPR. Just do the receive part first, then work on from there. There are many tutorials available, some better than others, so if the one you find doesn't float your boat, keep looking. A fly-over view is that there are several things that you need to get working and if they don't all work together, you'll get no result. Obviously you'll need to install the software, but that's not the whole story. For the software to be able to control your radio, change bands, frequency and set-up things like split operation, you'll need to set-up the hardware to do this, in my case a CAT cable between the radio and the computer. You'll also need to set-up control software that knows how to talk to the hardware. In my case that's Hamlib on Linux, but it could be Hamlib or flrig on MacOS or something like OmniRig on your Windows machine. The purpose is to control the radio. When you're troubleshooting, keep that in mind, hardware plus software need to work together to control the radio and this is before you actually do anything useful with the radio. Then you need to have both hardware and software to have audio go between the computer and the radio. In my case the headphone and microphone connectors on my computer are connected to the data port on the back of the radio. If your computer doesn't have access to sockets you might need to use a USB sound-card. If your radio doesn't have an easily accessible port, you might need to have an interface. The computer software in this case is likely setting the volume levels using the audio mixer in your operating system. I will add that some radios have a USB socket on the back that combines both CAT control and audio. The principle though is the same. You need to make the CAT interface work, which is essentially a serial connection, and you need to make the audio work, which is essentially a sound-card. Nothing else will make sense until you've managed to make those two work. Then, and only then, can you try to launch something like WSJT-X, point it at the various things you've configured, then you can actually start decoding signals. For WSJT-X to work properly, there's one more thing. An accurate clock is required. Likely you'll need to use a piece of software that knows how to synchronise with something called NTP or Network Time Protocol. The simplest is to point your clock tool at a time-server called pool.ntp.org which will get you global time coverage. Each operating system does this differently, but getting it right is essential before WSJT-X will actually make sense. You can visit time.is in a web browser to see how accurate your clock currently is. So, get computer control of your radio working, get audio working, set the clock, then you can run WSPR, FT8, JT65 or any other mode. I will note that I'm not attempting to give you specific computer support here, just an overview of what's needed before anything will work. If you've been contesting then CAT control might already be operational. If you've been using a computer voice-keyer, then audio might also be ready. Depending on where you are on your digital journey, these steps might be complicated or trivial. Once you've done all that you can start doing things like figuring out where satellites are or how to talk to the International Space Station, or use Fldigi to make a PSK31 contact or send a picture using SSTV or decode a weather fax. When you've made that first digital DX contact, I'm sure that you too will have a sense of accomplishment! I'm Onno VK6FLAB

Foundations of Amateur Radio The other day I was getting ready to go out when rain started pelting down. Not unexpected in this part of the world at this time of year but inconvenient for my plans. I didn't particularly want to carry an umbrella and the thought of wearing a rain hood brought back memories of water trickling down my back. For reasons I'm not quite sure of, my eye fell on my hat on its hook at the door. The hat I wear in the heat of summer to keep my brain from frying, the hat I use whilst camping with my amateur radio friends, the hat I've worn whilst loading massive hay bales with a tractor and the hat I've worn swimming in the Ord River - well, a descendent, third generation if I remember correctly. I shook my head in disbelief, after donning my raincoat, put my trusty Akubra Territory on my head and stepped out into the rain. Perfect. Kept me dry, kept my glasses clear and no drips down my back. You may well wonder what this has to do with radio and that's a fair question. I will preface this with a disclaimer that you might not have this set-up in your shack just now, but perhaps it will inspire you to get started. I've been talking a lot about Software Defined Radio, and I do believe that it represents the future for our hobby, but that doesn't mean that my traditional radio, in my case a Yaesu FT-857d, is headed for the scrap heap just yet. As you might know, with some preparation you can connect your radio to a computer and control it. You can also connect both the send and receive audio to a computer using a variety of techniques which I probably should get into at some point. Assuming that you have, and I realise you might not yet have done this, but assuming for a moment that you have made this all work, you can use this to do things like JT65, FT8, PSK31, SSTV and hundreds of other modes. One thing I did during the week was use this set-up to listen to noise. Seriously, that's what I did. I picked a spot on the band with nothing but noise. No discernible signal and fired up the application WSJT-X, it's the tool you use for many weak signal modes. As an aside, as a tool, it is also helpful in getting your digital mode levels set correctly. One of the windows in WSJT-X is the waterfall and spectrum display. On it you can see the signal as it is right now and how it's been in the past. If you turn on one of the filters on your radio, you can see the display change. You can literally see what gets filtered out. On my radio I've got the standard filter, as well as a 2 kHz and a 300 Hz Collins filter. Using this technique, you can specifically see what each filter does. If I turn on the built-in Digital Signal Processor, the DSP, I can see what the adjustments do, as well as the impact of the mode on the filter. And how the various settings interact. For example, until I saw this display, I didn't know what the "DSP HPF CUTOFF" and "DSP LPF CUTOFF" specifically did and how they interacted with the other filters. Similarly what "DSP BPF WIDTH" did and how. I also didn't know that even if you set both the high and low pass filter frequencies to the same value, you still have a usable filter, even if you might think that nothing could get through. Now I do realise that your radio may not have those specific settings, but I am confident that if you pick a spot on the band, set up a frequency display and waterfall, you'll discover things about your radio that you hadn't before. I also realise that you can hear some of this by just playing with filters, but seeing it on the scope adds a whole other dimension to the experience. Just one example is to see how a narrow filter interacts with the in-built DSP, something that's difficult to hear, but easy to see. If you have a Morse beacon to hand, you can also see how various frequency shifts work and the impact of selecting filters in relation to that signal. No need to just listen to the beacon with just CW mode either. Have a look at it using SSB. Using something for an unexpected purpose can give you many great rewards. As for the hat, really, I hadn't used my hat to ward off the rain until then; you live and learn. What have you discovered recently? I'm Onno VK6FLAB

Foundations of Amateur Radio When you start life you learn early on the difference between being told about an experience and the actual experience. There's a saying that comes to mind, I use it regularly in my day job: In theory there is no difference between theory and practice, while in practice there is. I thought I'd do the quote justice to see where it came from, not from Einstein, who was three years old at the time it was coined and neither Yogi Berra or Richard Feynman had been born. Quote Investigator puts it in the Yale Literary Magazine of February 1882 and attributes it to Benjamin Brewster, but I digress. A little while ago the regulator in Australia altered the rules of engagement in relation to amateur radio for people holding the license that I do. All Australian amateurs are now permitted to transmit digital modes. Not that this should have been any impediment to the exploration of the receive side, but I had a few other things on my plate to try. Still do. Over the weekend I sat in my driveway with my radio and had the urge to see if I could actually do some PSK31, a digital mode that had a low entry barrier, since there were defined frequencies, and I could use a decoder on my phone. So, I set about doing just that. I had already programmed in the various frequencies into my radio the week before. I hadn't actually heard any signals, but that didn't deter me. I set about getting myself set-up for what I'm calling a driveway hack. Picture this. A folding table with my radio. A stool next to it with me on it. The radio connected to an antenna, a vertical that was attached to a neighbour's roof with a magnetic mount and my phone running DroidPSK. I was tuned to the 10m PSK frequency, had the volume turned up, holding my phone next to the speaker, watching the waterfall. Nothing. I called up a mate who had this all working and we set about trouble shooting my set up. He made some transmissions; nothing. I listened to the 10m beacon, loud and clear. He made some more transmissions, still nothing. Then we realised while I was switching back and forth between the beacon and the PSK frequency that his radio was set up for a different standard PSK frequency. Gotta love standards, there's one for every occasion. Changed my frequency and for the first time I could actually see stuff in the waterfall display on my phone. If you've never seen a waterfall display, it's a tool that helps visualise the signal strength of a chunk of spectrum over time. It's pretty nifty and a waterfall displays a lot of information. Starting with colour, the idea is that a colour represents a particular signal strength. Red for full signal, yellow for half, blue for the lowest detected signal and black for no signal. Fill in the gaps with the colours of the rainbow. If you represent a line made of dots with the start of the line at say 0 Hz and the end of the line at say 3 kHz, you could split the line into 300 dots, and each dot could be coloured to represent the average signal strength for a little 10 Hz slice of spectrum. If you wait a second, move the line you drew down and then measure again, you'd end up with two lines. The line from now at the top, the line from a second ago below it. If you do this every second, you'll end up with lines flowing off the bottom of the screen, the oldest lines at the bottom and the newest ones at the top. That is a waterfall display. Over time you'll start to recognise what a particular signal looks like on the waterfall and there are even modes where you can draw on the waterfall, but I'll leave that for another day. As I said, I could now finally see signals on my waterfall display. I'm not going to dig too deep here, because there's much confusion in the language surrounding all this and I intend to get the names straight in my mind before I express them here, but after figuring out that you have to tell DroidPSK which signal you want to decode, I finally managed to decode the transmission from my friend. After putting on some headphones and realising that the clicks I was hearing from my phone were actually artefacts from the speaker, I also managed to transmit a CQ signal which my friend decoded. He then acknowledged my callsign in his next transmission. So, I now have two screen shots, his and mine, showing that we both saw each other using 10m PSK31. There wasn't a signal strength exchange, mainly because I have yet to figure out how to determine that and where it's visible, but for all the things that matter, I managed a contact with PSK31 thanks to Randall VK6WR, very exciting! Since then I've started experimenting with decoding WebSDR, that's HF signals coming in via the internet and being decoded on my computer from the web audio. I'm still working on that, but there is so much to learn and play with and a transmitter isn't yet needed to have fun. I should mention that you can also decode satellite signals like this. Digital modes, just when you thought that the rabbit hole couldn't get any deeper. I'm Onno VK6FLAB

Foundations of Amateur Radio The other day it occurred to me that my callsign had been away from HF for months, probably longer. I didn't really want to think about how long it had been. I moved QTH over two years ago and ever since I've been working on a new antenna set-up. You know the kind, you shouldn't rush this. Anyway, having just had a camp-out with some friends for a portable contest, where I gleefully had fun with the station callsign, I thought it was time to actually do what I keep advocating to anyone who stands still long enough, to get on air and make some noise. So I did. You know that feeling when the longer you wait, the harder it gets and the more you put it off? That had invaded my thinking and my avoidance. The typical excuses of not enough space, too much noise, no antenna, radio not ready, too hard, all fought their way into prominence. I'd had enough. So, on Saturday I collected all the bits that make up my portable station. It had clearly been a while since I'd used it, since I couldn't for the life of me remember where the head of my Yaesu FT-857d was, that was until I remembered that it had previously been installed in my car, so that's precisely where I found it. The tiny jumper cable between the head and the body was located in my headset bag where I'd stashed it after forgetting it for a contest one year. The microphone was where I'd stored it in the car. The battery was easier, since I'd used that the weekend before. Pulled out a table, a chair and set about putting my station together right there in the driveway. I'd been meaning to test an antenna that to all intents and purposes was doomed to fail, a long-wire on the ground. I didn't have an un-un or a balun, but I did have my trusty antenna coupler, so I used that. One end of the antenna, twelve and a half meters going one way, the other half going at a right angle. That pretty much solved that. Then for the final touch, I turned the radio on. All worked and I set about figuring out what I could hear. Across all the NCDXF beacons and bands I could hear the local beacon about 30km away. I have mentioned the NCDXF before, but in short, the Northern California DX Foundation has since 1979 coordinated the installation and maintenance of a collection of transmitters that 24 hours a day, every three minutes transmits on a staggered schedule across 5 different bands. It's called the International Beacon Project. For funding, the NCDXF relies on donations from people like you and in Western Australia the WA Repeater Group maintain the beacon, VK6RBP. Each transmission consists of a callsign, a beep at a 100 watts, a beep at 10 watts, 1 watt and 100 milliwatts. You can hear the beacons on 20m, 17m, 15m, 12m and 10m. Their purpose is to determine what propagation is like across the world on each of the bands, in pretty much real time. It was the impetus for me to start learning Morse Code - in case you're wondering, no, I know, I'm still at it. On my wire on the ground antenna the local beacon on the 10m band was by far the strongest. I also had a listen on 80m and 40m and even found two stations in deep discussion about something or other. Didn't manage to catch their callsigns, but good readability, not so much in the way of signal strength. I called up a friend on 900 MHz, in case you're sceptical, yes I hold a licence for that, so do you, it's cunningly encapsulated in a sophisticated portable battery powered multifunctional gadget made of electronics and glass. He was in the middle of repairing some damage sustained to his G5RV Jr. antenna during our latest adventures - Hi Glynn - and afterwards we had a go to see if we could in fact hear each other. I was using 5 Watts, he something like 70 Watts. Neither of us could hear the other, even though we're a similar distance from each other as the beacon. Not yet sure if it was his radio acting up, or mine for that matter. I then started down the digital modes path. Installed a PSK31 decoder and set about programming my radio for the traditional PSK31 frequencies. Didn't hear anything, didn't decode anything, but had a ball none the less. You might think to yourself right about now what the point of all this was if I didn't make any contacts? The answer is simple, I got outside, in the sun, soaked up some Vitamin D and played radio, just like the weekend was intended for. My next adventures are likely going to involve the same antenna and a vertical for transmit to see how that goes. You don't need an excuse to get out and play and when you do you might not make any contacts, but that's not really the point of playing, is it? I'm Onno VK6FLAB

Foundations of Amateur Radio A regular lament is the lack of things to do in our hobby. I know, it's foreign to me, but there are plenty of amateurs who express frustration at the lack of activity, no contacts, nothing new, no challenges. For my poison, I started the process of contacting 100 different countries using 5 Watts. I've been at it for a number of years and truth be told, since my latest domestic move, over two years ago now, my efforts have been put on hold. Not because I didn't want to, but because I was getting annoyed with having to leave my home and wanting desperately to have a functional shack at home. As you might know, that's a project that's still in hand and thanks to some magnificent assistance from various places, I'm still making progress. That said, your perspective might be dulled by the notion that this pretty much concludes the on-air activity possibilities that exist. Within my own license class, until recently, I was permitted to use voice modes like SSB, AM and FM and I was permitted to use hand-keyed Morse. I have access to 10 Watts and am currently allowed to use six different amateur bands, namely 80m, 40m, 15m, 10m, 2m and 70cm. So together with the four modes, I'd be able to make 24 different contacts to 100 different countries, that's 2400 different combinations. Of course there are more than 100 countries, that is, DXCC entities. The 2018 list has 340 of them, so that's over 8-thousand different options for getting on air and making noise. Last year all that changed. The local regulator in Australia, the ACMA decreed that all amateurs in Australia were permitted to use all modes. It's taken a little while for that to sink in. Specifically what it means for me. A quick search reveals that there are at least 60 different digital modes, think RTTY, Olivia, PSK31, etc. In addition to those, there's a plethora of other modes like IRLP, AllStar Link, EchoLink, CODEC2 and Brandmeister. So conservatively I'm going to estimate that I now have got access to over a hundred different modes, across six bands with 340 countries, that's over 200-thousand different options for making a contact. Of course it's unlikely that I'll make a contact between say Belize V3A and Perth VK6 on 2m using Olivia, but even if we limit our calculation to HF, we still have at least 136-thousand opportunities for adding something interesting to your logbook. I've been hunting for a canonical list of all the various amateur modes and the tools needed to make and receive them. No doubt that will take me some time. I'll be documenting it on the projects page on vk6flab.com if you want to follow along. Speaking of which, you'll also find past episodes of this podcast there. I suppose I should start by converting my current efforts into some pretty pictures that show what I've been up to so far, but that's a mapping exercise that I'll have to add to my to-do list, since I'm guessing it involves learning how to use some fun mapping tools. If 136-thousand opportunities isn't enough, you can also add grid-squares, large and small, different prefectures in Japan, provinces in the Netherlands, CQ zones across the world or ITU areas, prefixes and operating modes. Clearly there's plenty to do and see. I wonder if there's an award for all modes all bands all countries and I wonder what happens if someone invents a new mode? I'm Onno VK6FLAB

Foundations of Amateur Radio The other day I bumped into a concept that I've heard repeated before. The so-called "impersonal nature" of digital modes. There's this idea that any communication that isn't using voice, is devoid of the human touch. Often this assertion is specifically made in relation to modern digital modes like JT65 and FT8. As an aside, I've never heard it in relation to other digital amateur modes like slow-scan television, RTTY or PSK31. In the early 1900's when amateur radio was beginning to be a thing, the means of communication was Morse Code. With beeps across the globe contacts were made between amateur stations. With every incoming dit and dah, letters were received, words constructed and meaning derived. This is long distance communication in its early stages. Each amateur was said to have a fist, their particular rhythm of touching the key. Across multiple stations it was possible for an experienced operator to distinguish between two amateurs based on how they were sending Morse Code. I can confirm that if you've ever had the privilege of hearing lots of amateurs clamour in a so-called pile-up, you can hear for yourself that different stations sound different, even if they're all sending Morse Code. So on the one hand we have this deeply inhuman means of communications like Morse Code which is by the language we use considered to be made by humans, personalised with a fist. On the other hand we have a deeply technical mode like FT8 which isn't. During the week I was discussing this change of perception during a haircut. I pointed out that this happens everywhere. For example, in the hairdressing profession an electric clipper might have been seen as impersonal when it was invented in 1921. Today it makes quick work of a Number 1 cut. In mobile phone communication an SMS was seen as impersonal with voice preferred, but today the world would look quite different without the 5 billion messaging mobile phone subscribers. In 2013 it was estimated that there were 8 trillion SMS messages, and 10 trillion other smart phone messages. As you might realise, behind each of those messages is a human, well, apart from the SPAM and the computer notifications, but even those are programmed by a human. So what makes the difference between Morse Code and FT8? Why is an SMS impersonal in 1992, but preferred by most today? I'd hazard a guess and state that the experience of the person making the statement has a lot to say about their perception of the nature of the medium. My typing away at a keyboard and seeing words appear on my screen might not appeal to someone who chased a turkey around the yard in search of a quill, but then electricity might also be surprising. It's interesting to me that PSK31, something that's not particularly thought of as being impersonal, was introduced to the amateur radio community in December 1998 by Peter G3PLX. The first Weak Signal modes, commonly known as WSJT modes, were introduced in 2001 by Joe K1JT, only three years later. JT65 came around in 2003. We have this situation where PSK31 is not impersonal, but JT65, which is five years younger, is considered impersonal and the popular mode FT8, which is an extension of JT65 is said to be the end of the hobby. If hyperbole would relate to truth, the end of our hobby in sight, we should all get rid of our radios and hand back our licenses. Perhaps we should take a step back and notice that behind every FT8 station, behind every voice-call, behind every amateur transmitter is at some point a human with a license. If we're splitting hairs, then a local automatic voice repeater must be the height of impersonal. The other thing I'd like to point out is that how you perceive the use of a particular mode is also important. If you think of FT8 as having a personal beacon in your shack that uses your radio and your antenna to measure how well your signal is heard across the globe, you might just start enjoying this so-called impersonal mode. One of my friends, Wally VK6YS, now silent key, told a story where he was driving down the highway to meet his friend. They were chatting away using Morse Code, Wally in his car, the friend in his shack. Once Wally arrived the friend wanted to see how Wally was able to send Morse Code whilst driving and could he please see his Morse key? Wally confessed to having whistled into his microphone to make the contact, since he didn't have a Morse key in his car. According to Wally, his friend was off the air for months in disgust. I should mention that my Number 1 haircut looks great, if only for the fact that it allowed me to spend some quality time discussing and contemplating the nature of the hobby that I love. I'm Onno VK6FLAB

Foundations of Amateur Radio In my day to day activities as a radio amateur I come in contact with people across all parts of their amateur journey. Some who don't yet know that they're amateurs, through to those who've just passed their test and are waiting for their callsign. Then there are those who have been amateurs for a while, experimented a bit and have settled down into the comfort of being a member of an active community. Stretch that further and I also spend regular quality time with amateurs who have been licensed longer than I've been alive. Recently I received an email from a freshly minted amateur. Just like me, still pretty much wet behind the ears, keen as mustard, trying very hard to figure out what to do next and where to go. The basic gist of the email from this amateur was that they didn't know what kind of antenna they could erect at their home and failing that, couldn't decide on what radio to acquire to match the antenna that they hadn't decided on, not to mention that the antenna needed to match the radio that didn't yet exist. If you've been around this community for a while you might recognise the chicken and the egg, which comes first, the antenna or the radio? The answer is obvious, hidden in plain sight, easy to deduce, simple to understand, and completely useless. Let me help you with the answer: It depends. If that didn't test your patience, even if you've been an amateur for longer than my parents have been alive, you'll know that this is an unanswerable question. So how do you break the egg and get started? Easy. Start somewhere. As it happens I have a recommendation. It's cheap, simple and it will get your feet wet sooner rather than later. My recommendation is neither, or both, depending on your perspective. I promise, I'll get to the point shortly. The reason I'm making it last and savouring the point, some might say, belabouring it, is because it's one that happens over and over again, day in, day out, year in, year out. My recommendation is that you spend $25 on an RTL-SDR dongle and hunt around your home for a piece of wire. That's it. If you're not familiar with an RTL-SDR dongle, it's essentially a USB thumb-drive sized device that plugs into the nearest computer and paired with the correct software it has access to many if not all of the frequencies that you as an amateur are allowed to play with. Given that it's a receiver, the antenna doesn't really matter all that much, at least not initially, so any piece of conductive wire will suit. Most dongles even come with an antenna of sorts, so you can get started straight away. Resources associated with this podcast are on the vk6flab.com website where I've also collected a few links under F-troop to get you on your way with an RTL-SDR dongle. The purist radio amateurs will likely arc up at this point and mention that this isn't real amateur radio, to which I can only say: Bah Humbug. Radio is about receiving as much as it is about transmitting. Any fool with two bits of wire can transmit, but it takes finesse to receive, so start there. There are other benefits from going this way. Other than ease of entry, that's another way of saying - cheap - you can easily spot where and when there is activity. You can use all the traditional modes like CW, SSB, AM and FM, but you can also play with all of the new modes like WSPR, FT8, JT65 and investigate some of the other modes like RTTY, PSK31, Olivia, SSTV and others. All this will help you have a better idea of the landscape you're stepping into without a major purchase. To really set a cat among the pigeons, I'm also looking into a Raspberry Pi based transmitter, rpitx by Evariste F5OEO. When that bears fruit I'll let you know. In the mean time, play, learn, listen, experiment. No need to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars while you're still unsure. Even if you already have a lovely amateur station, an RTL-SDR dongle is worth every cent and then some. I'm Onno VK6FLAB

GB2RS NEWS Sunday the 16th of February 2020   The news headlines: Storm Ciara prevents 40m GB2RS news reading Get involved in British Science Week Second mock Full licence exam available   Due to the awful weather conditions last weekend during Strom Ciara, Gunter, DJ2XB and Colin DJ0OK were unable to read the GB2RS news on 40m. Both readers had to take their antennas down for safety. They hope to resume a normal service today, the 16th, weather permitting. If you or your radio club want to get involved in British Science Week, which takes place between the 6th and the 15th of March, activity packs are now available to download from https://tinyurl.com/qvyqnr8  The pack contains tips on how to run British Science Week in school or at home, easy-to-run activities, and details of the annual poster competition. Whilst there’s no details of radio activities, there's a lot to get you started on this excellent initiative and can be adapted for amateur radio use. The RSGB has published a second mock exam paper for the Full licence this week so there are now two for each licence level. You can see all the mock exam papers on the Society’s website at www.rsgb.org/mock-exams Amateurs in all French territories now have access to the 60m 5351.5 to 5366.5kHz WRC allocation at a maximum power of 15WERP following the publication in the French official journal. The French national society, REF, advocates the use of the IARU 60m band plan. Mitsuo, JA1WQF successfully decoded a 47GHz signal bounced off the moon from Al, W5LUA on the 10th of February. Al posted news of the achievement on the Moon-Net email reflector saying these were only one-way tests that started out with sending single tones that were copied well. Then Al sent several sequences of calls and grid that Mitsuo was able to decode at 1146 and 1234UTC. Signal levels were -23 and -25dB. More tests are planned. The Leicester Mercury has a story on the top-secret wartime listening station Beaumanor Hall’s crucial role in the Second World War. It was a Y station and you can read the full story at https://tinyurl.com/rhtb8tl The IARU Monitoring System Region 1 Newsletter January 2020 is now available at www.iaru-r1.org. Richard, G4DYA is the Intruder Watch Coordinator runs the RSGB Monitoring System, part of the IARU Monitoring System. His report contains several instances of the Container over-the-horizon radar. The RSGB Build a Radio workshop at the National Radio Centre at Bletchley Park on the 14th of March is now sold out. Details of the next event will be in a forthcoming GB2RS.   And now for the details of rallies and events for the coming week Today, the 16th, the RadioActive Rally will be held at Nantwich Civic Hall, Cheshire, CW5 5DG. There is free car parking and doors open at 10.30am. There will be a Bring & Buy, as well as traders and an RSGB book stall. A single raffle ticket is included with the entrance programme; additional tickets available. Catering is provided on site. Contact Stuart Jackson on 0788 073 2534. Also today, the 16th, the Lomond Radio Club Bring & Buy event takes place at John Connolly Centre, Main Street, Renton G82 4LY. Doors open at 10am. There will be a Bring & Buy, traders and refreshments will be available. Contact Bill at mm0elf@blueyonder.co.uk Next Sunday, the 23rd, the Rainham Radio Rally takes place at The Victory Academy, Magpie Hall Road, Chatham, Kent ME4 5JB. Doors open from 10am to 4pm and admission is £3 with children attending free of charge. Talk in will be on 145.550MHz using GB4RRR. Local and national traders will be in attendance. The BRATS Interactive Zone for Kids will be available as will the BRATS Junk stand. Refreshments from the BRATS Kitchen. Contact 0782 583 8877 if you need more information. Also next Sunday, the 23rd, is the Red Rose Winter Rally at St Joseph’s Hall, Chapel Street, Leigh WN7 2PQ. Doors open at 11am. There will be trade, individual and Club stands as well as a Bring & Buy. Details at www.wmrc.co.uk Please send details of your rally and event plans as soon as possible to radcom@rsgb.org.uk – we give you valuable publicity online, in RadCom and on GB2RS, all for free.   And now the DX news from 425 DX News and other sources Chas, NK8O will be active as 5H3DX from Zinga in Tanzania between the 16th of February and 16th of March. In his spare time, he will operate CW, PSK31, FT8 and possibly SSB on the 40 to 10m bands. QSL via NK8O direct only, see qrz.com for instructions, Logbook of The World and eQSL. Hiro, JG1SXP will be active as 8Q7HK from the Maldives, AS-013, between the 19th and 24th of February. He will operate FT8, CW and some SSB on the 80 to15m bands, possibly also on 160m depending on local conditions. QSL via Logbook of The World, Club Log's OQRS, or direct to home call. Brian, ND3F will be active as KP2/ND3F from St. Croix in the Virgin Islands, NA-106, until the18th of February. QSL via EA5GL. Mike, TI5/W1USN and Bob, TI5/AA1M will be active from Costa Rica from the 20th of February to the 4th of March. They will operate CW, SSB and FT8 on the 160 to 10m bands. QSLs via Logbook of The World, or via their home calls either direct or via the bureau. Rick, N1DC is active holiday style as N1DC/4 from Hutchinson Island, NA-141, until the 25th of February. He operates CW, FT8 and SSB on the 40, 30 and 20m bands. QSL direct to his home call and Logbook of The World. Wolfgang, DL5MAE will be paying another visit to Laos until the 20th of February. In his spare time, he will reactivate his 3W2MAE callsign. He suffers from heavy local QRM and requests that callers bear this in mind when trying to contact him. His preferred QSL route is via the German QSL bureau.   Now the special event news Members of the Bruneck section of the ARI, the Italian national society, will be using II3BIA until the 23rd of February to celebrate the Biathlon World Championships in Italy. Operations will be on all bands between 160 and 10m as well as 2m and 70cm using CW, SSB, digital modes and QO-100 satellite. QSL via IN3ZWF, by the Bureau, direct, eQSL or OQRS. Please send special event details to radcom@rsgb.org.uk as early as possible to get your event publicised here on GB2RS, in RadCom, and online.   Now the contest news This weekend the ARRL International DX Contest ends its 48-hour run at 2359UTC today, the 16th. Using CW only on the 1.8 to 28MHz bands the exchange is signal report and transmit power, with US stations also sending their State and Canadians their Province. On Monday the first FT4 contest runs from 2000 to 230UTC on the 80m band. The exchange is your 4-character locator. On Tuesday, the 1.3GHz UK Activity Contest runs from 2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Thursday the 70MHz UK Activity Contest also runs from 2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Next Sunday, the 23rd, is the first 70MHz Cumulative Contest. Running from 1000 to 1200UTC and using all modes the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. For 48 hours next weekend the CQ 160m DX contest take place. Starting at 2200UTC on the 21st, it ends at the same time on the 23rd. Using SSB only the exchange is signal report and CQ Zone with American stations also sending their State and Canadians their Province. From 0600UTC on the 22nd to 1800UTC on the 23rd, the REF Contest is SSB only on the 3.5 to 28MHz bands. The exchange is signal report and serial number with French stations sending their Department number or overseas prefix. For 24 hours from 1200UTC on the 22nd, the UK EI Contest Club DX contest is CW only on the 3.5 to 28MHz bands. The exchange is signal report and District Code.   Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO on Friday the 14th of February. Last week saw reasonably-settled HF conditions after the effects of a geomagnetic disturbance passed. But the Sun remained spotless again with a solar flux index of about 70-72 all week. Wednesday’s 80m Club Championship contest left many amateurs feeling disappointed and with fairly empty logs after the critical frequency let them down. At the start of the contest the f0F2 as measured at RAL in Chilton was 3.5MHz, but it then declined before finishing at 3.45MHz at 21:30hrs. As a result, long skip was the order of the day with the highest scorers being in Scotland, the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden. With a few exceptions, there were few inter-G contacts as the high-angle signals were just not being returned by the ionosphere. Hopefully, this will improve over the next few months as the series continues and the evening critical frequency or f0F2 rises. Barring any dramatic changes, NOAA has the solar flux index at 71 this coming week. A large coronal hole should become Earth-facing on Friday the 14th, which means we may see its associated high speed solar wind impact the Earth around Sunday or Monday the 16th/17th. This could see the Kp index rise to four with characteristic disturbed conditions after a potential initial positive phase. There are some DX nuggets to be had this week. Mike TI7/G3WPH and John TI7/G4IRN are both active in Costa Rica until 17th February. They have already been spotted on 160m and 40m, and should be taking part in this weekend’s ARRL International DX Contest. See www.rsgb.org/predtest for prediction details to Costa Rica   And now the VHF and up propagation news.   Next week’s weather is likely to continue the unsettled theme, so more strong winds at times and little real chance of significant Tropo paying a visit. There may just be a brief weak ridge close to southern England midweek, but not looking too useful for developing the inversions needed for Tropo. In propagation terms, that leaves us with some potential for rain scatter as active fronts and showers bring useful scatter points regions for the GHz fraternity. The shower examples may be quite a challenge since the rate of movement can be quite high in such windy weather; imagine trying to follow a target moving at 40mph! Radar displays are your friend here and can make a big difference to the outcomes. Moon declination reaches its minimum for the lunar month on Wednesday, with the Moon appearing above the horizon for seven hours and reaching just 13 degrees elevation. Path losses are rising all week and 144 MHz sky noise is very high, peaking at around 3000 Kelvin on Tuesday. Keep looking for random meteor scatter QSOs around dawn when the Earth is rotating towards the main meteor flux to keep the VHF DX coming. And that’s all from the propagation team this week.  

Mike from Tactical Wood Gas Mike is a Ham Radio operator and is experienced in using radios in the marines. Mike has great information on batteries and has great stories of field day and field operations using his ham radio. He likes PSK31 and other digital operation. http://www.tacticalwoodgas.com

Frecuentemente los mensajes no necesitan de un respaldo escrito y son recibidos en forma verbal porque no presentan un carácter urgente, en cambio cuando el mensaje tiene datos de gran interés que deben ser interpretados con precisión, se necesita de un formulario adecuado donde podamos consignar todos los datos necesarios y que puedan llegar a su destino sin errores; a este mensaje se le denomina Radiograma.El Radiograma es un formulario en el cual el operador de radio, escribe lo que va recibiendo, y lo deriva a quien corresponda. Los radioaficionados podemos enviar o recibir comunicación de datos por medio de los sistemas digitales en Packet, en las bandas de HF y VHF; en los modos RTTY, PSK31, Pactor II y III, etc. en las bandas de HF. Los sistemas digitales durante una emergencia pueden enviar y recibir comunicados de alta prioridad con ahorro de tiempo en las transmisiones, debe de ser una preocupación el desarrollo de las comunicaciones digitales en los Radioaficionados para estar preparados en situaciones de emergencias y colaborar en la emisión de datos en caso de necesidad, desde estaciones gubernamentales y no gubernamentales de socorro o centros de operación de emergencia (COE) y puestos de mando (PC).--- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/desdemishack/messageSupport this podcast: https://anchor.fm/desdemishack/support

David Reed, W5SV, began his ham radio story in Mexico at the age of 6, and was undoubtedly one of Mexico’s youngest hams at age 7.  W5SV has a rich and interesting story that includes stints in electronics technology, advanced education, as a US Marine Corps pilot, and as homicide detective. The twists and turns in this story makes this QSO Today an interesting ride.

Kristen McIntyre, K6WX, is the president of the Palo Alto Amateur Radio Club, in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley,  and an ARRL Pacific Division Vice Director. Trained as an MIT electronic engineer, she was an entrepreneur for many years in Japan.  Kristen is a much sought after speaker at amateur radio conventions and forums. Antenna design, digital modes, and just getting on the air is key to Kristen’s amateur radio success.   K6WX, is my QSO Today.

De opname is, geheel in stijl overigens met de inhoud van de aflevering, een beetje amateuristisch. We waren genoodzaakt de telefoonopname van Wietse te gebruiken. Maar evengoed een interessante show over amateur radio, verborgen berichten, Duck Duck Go en indie games. Onderwerpen I talked to space! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwm-6tf7KCs) PSK31 Stenografie Titanic Text Messages - A Streaming Log of Distress Transmissions (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxRN2nP_9dA) Don’t Skype and Type (https://www.math.unipd.it/~dlain/papers/2017-skype.pdf) DuckDuckGo gebruikt Apple Maps (https://spreadprivacy.com/duckduckgo-apple-mapkit-js/) Indie games - itch.io (https://itch.io/games/top-sellers) The Evolution of Trust - game theory example (https://ncase.me/trust) We Become What We Behold (https://ncase.itch.io/wbwwb) Interactive Fiction - IFComp 2018 (https://ifcomp.org/comp/2018) Captain Marvel | Trailer & Official Movie Site (https://www.marvel.com/captainmarvel) Grote dank aan de vrienden van de Appels en Peren Show: Nozzman (http://www.nozzman.com/) voor het coverartwork, Clublime (http://twitter.com/#!/clublime) voor de introjingle en al onze Patreons.

Foundations of Amateur Radio We tend to spend most of our energy looking at antennas and power to evaluate how well our station works. Based on a better antenna or more power, you're likely to make more contacts is the general gist of the process. Being a QRP operator, power rarely comes into the conversation, 5 Watts is what you get, leaving antennas as the prime method of discovering how effective we can be. Recently I received an email from Layne AE1N, pointing me at an article he wrote on the Nashua Area Radio Society website titled: It's all about the decibels - factors in enhancing station effectiveness. The article, goes into great detail in looking at an alternative way of measuring how well you're doing and builds on the December 2013 QST article - How Much Punch Can You Get from Different Modes? In our hobby we measure using a thing called the decibel. I've spoken about it at great length previously. The way to use it is to compare something against something else. Using the metric used in the QST article we take as a starting point a modern transceiver, using 100 Watts, CW into a half-wave dipole at 30m. Everything we're discussing from here on in, is related to that starting point, the zero point. I should also make clear that we're talking about the ability of the receiver to decode your message, not the strength of the signal. If you were to use the same radio and instead of using CW, used AM, you'd have a station that was 27 dB worse off. That is, your signal would effectively become harder to hear by 27 decibel. On the other hand, you if were to replace the half-wave dipole with a 4 element Yagi, your station would be just under 7 dB better off, that is, it would be easier to hear you by 7 dB. Of course you can combine AM and the Yagi, adding the two measurements together, coming out at minus 20 dB, which means that compared to a 100 Watt transmission on CW into a half-wave dipole, the same 100 Watt transmission on AM into a 4 element Yagi would still be harder to hear by 20 dB. If you go from CW to SSB, you'd be 17 dB worse off, or SSB is 10 dB better than AM. Note that when I say better and worse, it's about how much your signal can be decoded at the other end, using the same receiver, antenna, etc. The whole article includes comparisons between CW and FM, CW and RTTY and so-on. RTTY is only 4 dB worse than CW, but most transceiver manufacturers recommend that you reduce power to a quarter power, that is, 25 Watt instead of 100 Watt when using RTTY or Digital modes, so you end up losing 14 dB for that, making RTTY slightly worse than SSB if you follow the manufacturer instructions to reduce power. This isn't all doom and gloom however. Even though CW is very effective, we can improve things in other ways. For example, using PSK31 gives you a 7 dB head start, switching from CW to JT65 or FT8 gives you 25 dB. Even if you take into account the reduction from the loss of full power, 14 dB, you still end up in front by 11 decibel, which is more than you can get from upping power from 100 Watt to 400 Watt which only gets you 6 dB. Adding an 11 element Yagi gives you a similar improvement as changing from CW to FT8, just over 11 dB, and using 1500 Watts is only slightly better at 12 dB. The point I'm making is that you can use this idea to figure out how to get your signal heard. More power or a bigger antenna is only part of the conversation, picking the correct mode is just as important. Of course, the 11 dB gain you get from moving from CW to FT8, even when reducing power, is one of the main reasons that it's so popular, much easier to change mode than to build a new fancy antenna. One more thing, what of the 5 Watts vs. 100 Watts we started with, 13 dB. That's significant, but if you were to use 5 Watts FT8 into a quarter-wave dipole, using 100% of the 5 Watts, you'll actually be 12 dB better off than the same station using 100 Watts CW. Check out Layne's article for a reference to QST and a whole lot more. It's a very useful way of looking at how your station can be very effective, even if you're QRP. I'm Onno VK6FLAB

Dan Gravereaux, N1ZZ, began his ham radio story as a kid leading to a career in electronics, a stint at the CBS Labs working on quadraphonic sound, and later founding West Mountain Radio creators of the Rigblaster interfaces for HF digital modes.  West Mountain Radio also popularized the ubiquitous Anderson Power Poles that we all use now and love. N1ZZ shares his ham radio story and expertise in this QSO Today.

Foundations of Amateur Radio Don't get me started, Let's start this thing, Where do I start, Start me up, I could go on, but I have better things to do today, like starting a podcast. Amateur Radio is a hobby with an enourmous range of activities, interests, skills and experiences. If you're new to this hobby, you might find yourself standing at the edge of a precipous wondering what to do next. Where do I start, who do I ask, what's the first step, what if I fail and a myriad of other doubts and concerns. Would you be surprised to learn that this same dialog happens to every Amateur, all the time? Let's say that I'm an experienced member of the community and there is this new mode called FT8 that keeps polluting my PSK31 transmissions. I decide that it's time to see what it's all about. Or, imagine that you've been invited to come on a hiking trek for the first time with some fellow amateurs to activate a summit. Or, you hear about a new entity that has just been announced. Or, you decide that you need a new radio, a new antenna, a new head-set or a new logging package. Or, like me, you want to try again to learn Morse Code. For every activity you ever engage in, there's that moment of doubt, of concern, of challenge. In fact I suspect that it's exactly that thrill that makes people go ahead and pursue their hobby. That means that as a new amateur you're no different from an old amateur. You have the same level of concern and worry that others also have and you too can overcome those by just deciding to. So, what if you're not yet a new amateur? The first thing to note is that everybody who is an amateur today was at one point or another not yet a new amateur. For some that step happened yesterday, for others it happened over 80 years ago and for some that step lies in the future. At this point it would be helpful if I could point out a few resources, some things to look at, to listen to, or to engage with. If you're already on-air, listening, scan around and hear other activities. If you've managed to find the community on-line, you'll likely find other resources nearby, since we amateurs like to cluster, much like any other community. You'll also find on-line radios to hear HF, websites, discussion groups, mailing lists, interest groups, associations and clubs. If you came across this as a random event, see what brought you here and ask around. If you're stuck, ask a fellow amateur. I can introduce you to one right now. Hi, I'm Onno VK6FLAB and I'm an Amateur Radio Operator, pleased to meet you. Drop me a line and say hello, don't be shy. Just because you're not licensed is no excuse to get started. There are stories everywhere of those who start as shortwave listeners, or CB-ers, or come across the hobby in some other random way, like I did. The fact that you're here, now, means you've already found the community. Welcome. Seriously, Welcome to Amateur Radio. Now all you need to do is take another step, and then after that, another, and before you know it you're in and among other amateurs. There are many steps inside this hobby. Which ones you choose to take and at which speed are entirely up to you. This can be as formal or informal as you like. I'm Onno VK6FLAB

My QSO Today is with John Stanley, K4ERO, a frequent contributor of articles about antenna design and performance to QST, QEX, the ARRL Antenna Book, and the ARRL Handbook.  An MIT graduate, John and his wife Ruth, WB4LUA, spent many years abroad working as engineers for Christian Broadcast stations in India and South America. John shares his ham radio story and his antenna expertise in this QSO Today.

Jeff McGrath N1SC presented using Digital Modes for Field Day at the Utah Digital Communications Conference. Jeff covers the use of digital modes, interfacing FLDIGI with N3FJP logging software, and shares his use of macro's.

In this episode, Martin is joined by Leslie Butterfield G0CIB, Edmund Spicer M0MNG, and Bill Barnes N3JIX to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin M6BOY rounds up the news in brief, and this episode’s feature is Using PSK31. We would like to thank our monthly and annual subscription donors for keeping the podcast advert free. To donate, please visit - http://www.icqpodcast.com/donate 430-440 MHz Medical Capsule Endoscopy Application Canadian's Tiny LF Hop VHF Manager Handbook Version 8.00 Sweden Releases Amateur Radio Training Guide Tin whisker New Digital Modes Changing Complexion of Bands and Ham Radio? Hams in Argentina get 5 MHz and 472 kHz bands Bletchley Park 'listener' Passes Free Back Issues of Ham Radio Horizons

Foundations of Amateur Radio Previously I've explained how Radio-teletype or RTTY works from a technical perspective. If you recall, it uses a technique called Frequency Shift Keying, or FSK to encode digital information. It does this by transmitting a carrier across two alternating frequencies, allocating one as a SPACE and the other as a MARK, or as a binary 0 and a binary 1. There are several other ways of encoding information and today I'm going to look at Phase Shift Keying, or PSK, which I find humorous, because Phase is spelled with a P, but it sounds like an F, which links the FSK and PSK together, but then I've always had a strange sense of humour. Imagine if you will a sine wave. It's the one you learned in high-school, nothing sophisticated about it, just keeps going up and down over time. Now imagine another one. Also going up and down over time. If these two sine waves are synchronised, going up and down at the same time, the difference between them is 0. If one of the sine waves is going up, while the other is going down, then the difference between them is 1. That is enough to give you a binary 0 and a binary 1. One of the sine waves is a carrier, so it's transmitted continuously, and the other is changed depending on whether you're sending a 0 or a 1. These two sine waves are said to be "in-phase" when they're both going up and down at the same time, and "out of phase" when they're going in opposite directions. This is how Phase Shift Keying works. And the simple example I gave is known as BPSK, or Binary Phase-Shift Keying. There are countless variations on this. For example, you don't need to have them going in completely 180 degrees opposite directions, you could go only 90 degrees, or even 45 degrees, which would allow you to encode more information across a shorter time span at the cost of less accurate decoding at the other end. You could play with the carrier and instead have the signal be compared to itself, making it more robust in some circumstances, or you could have multiple of these signals happening at the same time. You could change the amplitude of the carrier and allocate specific byte values to each combination. For example, one variation, an encoding method called "16-QAM" allows you to create 16 different signals, which equates to sending 4 bits at a time. Each of these have different advantages and disadvantages, trade-offs between speed, reliability, error detection, impact of polarisation changes in the ionosphere, energy efficiency, etc. You might be surprised to learn that these techniques are not only used inside Amateur Radio and PSK31, they're also used in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Ethernet, RFID and countless other places, like remote controls, hard-drives, tape recorders, satellite communications, mobile telephony, etc. If you get hooked, there's lots of maths that you can associate with all of this - if that floats your boat, but you don't need any maths to grasp how it works. Phase Shift Keying, one of the many Digital Modes that make our world go round. I'm Onno VK6FLAB

Foundations of Amateur Radio Having a Digital Mode in your shack appears to be a special privilege, at least in some parts of the world. If you'd like to learn all there is to do with using a Digital Mode you need to pay attention and I'll share the secret, it won't take long. If you want to distinguish yourself as a Digital Mode Diva, you need to know that Morse, RTTY, FSK and PSK are digital modes and you must also remember that the bandwidth of a data transmission is dependent on speed and mode. At this point you've covered all the syllabus requirements for holding a Standard License in Australia in relation to operating a Digital Mode. If you want to climb the Mountain of Digital Mode Magic, you need to remember two acronyms, FEC or Forward Error Correction and ARQ or Automatic Repeat Request. You also need to remember four numbers, 31 Hz for PSK31, 250 Hz for RTTY, 730 Hz for Packet Radio and 300 Hz for FSK. And if you want to get really fancy, I should point out that there are several versions of each of these modes and different ways to implement them, so those numbers will change depending on who's teaching you. If I go on to tell you that a Terminal Node Controller or TNC is a black box with two audio leads, one for the microphone and one for the speaker and that you plug those into the appropriate sockets on your radio, you know all that is required to hold an Advanced Certificate in Australia for using a Digital Mode. If you don't want to blow up your radio, then you should also remember that there is a thing called Duty Cycle that will come to haunt you if you get it wrong. That's it, now you know everything there is to know about using Digital Modes. Actually, I'm lying. When you say the letter A on air you use the word Alpha. You're sending extra information so the other end has a better chance of understanding what you said. That's Forward Error Correction. And when you say the same thing repeatedly, like saying CQ, CQ, CQ, if you don't get an acknowledgement from the other end, that's Automatic Repeat Request. Now you really do know all there is to know about Digital Modes according to the syllabus for both Standard and Advanced Licenses in Australia. I'm Onno VK6FLAB

Randy Hall, K7AGE, has been a ham for almost 50 years and is well known for his You-Tube channel with his hundreds of ham radio videos.  Randy is also a regular contributor to Ham Nation on the TWIT network where he works with George, W5JDX, on the Smoke and Solder segment videos.  He works just about all bands and modes.  Randy is a ham’s ham and elmer, and a popular guest on a number of the ham radio podcasts. K7AGE is my QSO Today.

We were delighted to hear about WSPR from Joe Taylor, K1JT. The passion that drives people to excellence is always here, but in this hobby we get to share and enjoy the fun, too! In fact, the WSPR project (pronounced like "whisper") would not even work unless other hams and SWLs joined in!Listen to K1JT at Masscon

Foundations of Amateur Radio The thing I like about our community is that there is always something new brewing, someone is inventing something, making something or doing something. It amazes me that the level of ingenuity is boundless. During the week someone asked the question, "What's the difference between AM and FM?" and while answering that could incorporate hand waving, arrows and drawings, I came across a much simpler explanation, which simply says it all. Credit goes to redditor EmmetOT. Imagine replacing radio with light, this isn't a stretch, since it's part of the same spectrum. Replace a radio transmitter with a light bulb. AM is using a dimmer, changing the brightness, to send information. FM is changing the colour of the light to send information. I could stop right there, but there is so much more going on in our community. If you've been out of Amateur Radio for a while, and I know, this happens to the best of us, you'll be forgiven in thinking that nothing is the same as it was, while wondering if anything ever changes. Both these things are true and I think that's good. The first AM voice transmission was made in 1900, SSB experimentation began in 1915 and FM experiments were happening in the early 1930's. These three modes, AM, SSB and FM are still with us today. We've done other cool stuff since then, stereophonic and quadraphonic FM. We think of RTTY as a relative new kid on the block, but it has its origins in 1874 and the first on-air RTTY was heard in 1922. Without going into too much detail, other modes that we are beginning to think of as ancient are surprisingly new. PSK31 for example joined us in 1998, but Hellschreiber, is from the 1920's, MFSK comes from 1962 and Packet Radio hails from the 1970's. JT65 comes from 2003 and JT9 is from 2012. My point is that whatever the mode you're using, someone is extending it, modifying it, improving it or inventing something new. Your level of familiarity with a mode has little or nothing to do with the age of the mode. As is the case with everything in Amateur Radio, horses for courses. In your Amateur pursuits you'll come across those who will tell you that there is nothing new to be invented, that everything has already been thought of and that we are a hobby of old people harking back to the golden era of something or other. I'm here to tell you that nothing is further from the truth. Amateur Radio is a hobby of invention of people asking the question: "I wonder what happens if I do this...", often followed by a big bang and the magic smoke coming out. Don't let that deter you. Keep on with the experimentation, even if you've only been a member of this community for a minute and a half like me, you too can make a contribution. I'm Onno VK6FLAB

What use is an F-call? The Amateur Foundation License in Australia has a range of obligations and restrictions that differentiate it from the other Amateur Licenses. The most visible of those is a limit on power of 10 Watts, the bands that are allowed, 80m, 40m, 15m, 10m, 2m and 70cm. Another restriction is related to the use of a computer and your radio. The interpretation is often made along the lines of: "You cannot use a computer connected to your radio." ... and that's simply not the case. The current LCD, as of January 2014, says: "The licensee [..] must not operate an amateur station using automatic mode or computer controlled mode." And it says: "The licensee [..] must not operate an amateur station that is directly connected to a public telecommunications network. It adds in italics a note: "An amateur foundation station may be indirectly connected to a public communications network through a gateway operated by another licensee." This means that you can use your radio to connect to Echolink and IRLP, both Internet based radio technologies. What you cannot do is run an Echolink node on your computer, connect the computer to the radio and have incoming connections activated by somebody over the Internet. You cannot do this, not because it's a public telecommunications network, more on that in a moment, but because the computer is controlling the radio without your input, which you're not permitted to do. Now, the public telecommunications network part. I know that some of you are already spluttering, but, but, but. The amateur station isn't directly connected to a public telecommunications network. It's connected to a computer, which in turn is connected to a network, which in turn is connected to the Internet. This restriction isn't about the Internet, it's about connecting an Amateur Radio to the telephone network, about having someone ring a phone number and the audio that comes in, be sent out over the air on your radio. It's about ensuring that only appropriately licensed persons access the station to transmit. It's an example of how regulation and invention are often not in sync. Another point. APRS, Automatic Packet Reporting System, is a way to use Amateur Radio to transfer packets of information to people who want it. For example, it can be used to report a GPS location, the state of a battery at a repeater site, the read switch on a security door, what ever you can dream up. As a Foundation Licensee, you cannot use the digital mode to send packets using your radio, but nothing prevents you from using APRS on your phone. This has nothing to do with your Amateur License or with the ACMA. It's a system built and used by Amateurs, but if you're not using your radio, you're good to go. Also, there's nothing stopping you from listening to packet radio. You might even pick up an ArduSat or two and help out school science in the process. Other modes you might look at are PSK31, RTTY, JT65, WSPR. The sky is the limit when you listen. Go forth and have fun. I'm Onno VK6FLAB

George answers the question 'Can you work PSK31 on the Raspberry Pi'. We bring you a behind the scenes view of 'The Making of AmateurLogic.TV'. Peter visits the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex and gets a special tour just for our viewers. Plus we announce our exciting Field Day Giveaway Contest with great gear from Icom, GigaParts, MFJ and Heil Sound. More details at amateurlogic.tv/contest.

George answers the question ‘Can you work PSK31 on the Raspberry Pi’. We bring you a behind the scenes view of ‘The Making of AmateurLogic.TV’. Peter visits the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex and gets a special tour just for our viewers. Plus we announce our exciting Field Day Giveaway Contest with great gear from Icom, GigaParts, MFJ and Heil Sound. More details at amateurlogic.tv/contest.

Today I spent some time at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord, NH. It was the dedication of a new ham radio station, with the call letters KA1SKY, which will be used as a hands-on exhibition about the radio spectrum, space, and the invisible magic that attracted many of us to science and electronics.I spoke with two of the (many) people who made this happen, and my thanks to Dave McDonald and Michael Crestohl. We talked about how all of this came to be, and also some ideas for you, in case you want to duplicate their results in your own community.Update!  Check out the Center's web page discussing KA1SKY at http://www.starhop.com/education-and-exploration/ka1sky.aspxThis fully functional HF/VHF/UHF/Satellite amateur radio station is a unique exhibit that demonstrates and uses a part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The radio allows voice transmission and Morse code on thousands of frequencies of various wavelengths. With the guidance of volunteer amateur radio operators, you can talk to other “hams” around the country as well as contact the International Space Station when it is in a favorable position. Communication with satellites in space is also possible in order to receive and make transmissions to other parts of the world.

This year at Dayton, my friend and Official 99 Hobbies Field Correspondent Cal, WA1WOK made a quick recording of a conversation he had with Gordon West, WB6NOA. This one is a quick two minutes, but you can get an idea of the buzz in the background, and feel for the energy present at this event!(photo: pacificon.org)

This is the fourth presentation that we listened to during the Masscon 2010 event in Westford, MA USA during the weekend of March 12-13, 2010. Chuck Kitchin, N1TEV, presents "Updating Classic Regenerative and Super Regenerative Circuits" to an enthusiastic audience at Masscon. Part of the fun of this presentation, of course, is the associated materials presented via overhead projector. But you can get most of the content from the audio portion that we present here.The advance materials described the talk like this:Modern components allow Hams to modify the classic regenerative and super regenerative designs of the past. Ham radio experimentation is an excellent electronics teaching tool (as well as being FUN) and can lead to new discoveries in radio communications. This talk will cover the theory and modern applications of these classic circuits.We are glad that they used the word "fun" because this presentation was great for so many reasons, and it really was fun, too!Conference materials can be found here.

This is the second presentation that we listened to during the Masscon 2010 event in Westford, MA USA during the weekend of March 12-13, 2010. The only way to appreciate the full effect was to be sitting in the audience. However, you can get an idea of what it was like if you listen to this, while watching the overhead slides from the talk, which are available from www.masscon.org.Dave Siegrist NT1U and Bruce Beford N1RX discuss the design and construction and testing of RF filters.Conference materials can be found here.

I was delighted to be in the audience during the Masscon 2010 event in Westford, MA USA during the weekend of March 12-13, 2010. My friend Scott Andersen, NE1RD, put the event together, and it represents over a year of planning and preparation by Scott and his staff.The podcast you are about to listen to is one of the presentations given during this convention. The only way to appreciate the full effect was to be sitting in the audience. However, you can get an idea of what it was like if you listen to this, while watching the overhead slides from the talk, which are available from www.masscon.org.There is something indescribable that happens when you have a room full of people who share a passion. Hopefully you will hear it.Allison Parent, KB1GMX, presents at Masscon 2010.You can view the slide show here while you listen to the presentation.Conference materials can be found here.

Today I talked with Jeff Johnson, VK4XJJ on the phone about his cross-country walk.He had ham radio along for the ride -- among other things.Jeff was raising money for charity in the process of this 2,500 km "walkabout".Show notes (many lifted from Jeff's site):www.jeffswalk.comeBook now available. Five months backpacking over 2,500kms across Oz with 5W FT-817nd US$5.DeafBlindAssociation (NSW) Inc.www.dbansw.org.auOther DeafBlind LinksWalking Club LinksWirelessInstitute of Australia Magazines

Today I talked with Cal, WA1WOK about D*STAR. We discussed the past, present, and future of the hobby (AM, SSB, digital modes) and specifically how D*STAR fits in.You can get in on the ground floor of this new part of amateur radio, if you want to. Listen in and you will get an idea of what to expect with this new mode, with the help of guys like Cal who can show you the ropes.Show notes:http://www.dstarusers.orghttp://www.dstarinfo.comhttp://www.washcoares.org/d-star/index.htmlhttp://www.icomamerica.com/amateur/dstar/Promotional video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8PYZOc9L9oCal's email address is his callsign at arrl.net

I stopped in Richmond, VA on the way to Florida, and visited the Richmond Frostfest 2009. It was a decent-sized hamfest held on the international raceway. I talked to several very interesting people who have done some unusual things with ham radio. This was a lot of fun!Show notes:Dominion DX Group web siteARRL listing for local clubsK-9 Alert Search and Rescue Dogs, IncVA Dept. of Emergency Management - Terry's email addrZuni Maritime Foundation

I talked to quite a few people at the Orlando Hamcation 2009, covering lots of ham radio subjects, as well as some not-so-technical things. What a great time, and in the winter sun! Kick back and enjoy this one. It's a little long, nearly 25 minutes, but close your eyes and pretend that you are in Florida.....Show notes:www.ten-ten.orgwww.lidomounts.comwww.farcircuits.netwww.hamtestonline.comBrenda's Catering

After putting this off some because of the holidays and other obligations, Episode #006 is now hot off the press. This is the second in our two-part series on PSK31. …

Last November I spoke with Rich Mitchell, N3III about his award-winning article in QST in November, 2007. It is always memorable when you are speaking with someone who has such passion, and also who loves the hobby like this. This one was so much fun I couldn't stop. Run time is long.Rich is http://www.qrz.com/n3iiiNovember article in QST (won the Cover Award for the month) (you may need to be an ARRL member to access this)http://www.arrl.org/qst/2007/11/mitchell.pdf

This morning I joined our monthly breakfast with the PART radio club. I had a chance to interview Kimberly Stewart, KB1PZG, who was licensed in February of this year. She is bright, articulate, and shows an obvious passion for the hobby. I think we will be hearing a lot about her as the years go by.Links: PART of Westford: www.wb1gof.org

Tonight I had a nice chat with Joe Fairclough, WB2JKJ. Joe is the president of the Radio Club at JHS 22 in New York. We discuss the club and what they do, and also talk about how you can get involved. A great story.This one is a little longer than usual, and worth every second.Show noteswww.wb2jkj.orgApple Slices Newsletter is at home.triad.rr.com/michaelbest/

Have you ever thought about doing your own podcast about amateur radio? It's easier than you may think. I discussed this with Mark Jensen, KB2EGB, who just recently returned from a podcasting exposition. Mark gives some tips and suggestions about how you can get started making podcasts!

I was shooting the breeze with my friend Joe, WY3T, on the telephone and the subject of PSK came up. You guys know Joe already (previous podcast)Joe had told me about his recent foray into the digital modes. While we were talking, I asked him if I could turn on the podcast machine to record this conversation, and what you hear now is the answer. Awesome. Very fun.Show notes:CQ magazineRigblaster

Hi Everyone.I'm back from my summer in China and surprisingly adjusted to the difference in time zones pretty well. My wife and my dog are getting used to my being back home in New Hampshire, and I am excited about seeing my dog again, and being able to get on the air.I'm just playing around with you. It's wonderful to be back home, for more than a thousand reasons, not the least of which is to see my lovely N1TMZ face-to-face again. We used VoIP, POTS, email, and internet chat using Skype, 9y.com, and some others. A LOT. I missed her while I was gone.I would like to say thanks to everyone who've emailed me, asking where the podcasts went, and 'when are they coming back?' It is gratifying to know that so many of you enjoy these podcasts. One listener told me, "I listen to you on the train every morning on the way to work." Another guy from Romania sent me email asking when the podcasts will start back up, because he has a translator who knows English, and he wants her to download the podcasts. Another ham asks "would you like to talk to one of our amateur radio experts here in Japan about 99 Hobbies?"Those made feel pretty good, and it's why I keep doing this.Thanks.I will endeavor to pick up the pace and start cranking these out again. There are so many fascinating people to talk to and I can hardly wait to get going. Of the 99 Hobbies I've mentioned, I haven't yet talked about half of them!My desire was to kick things into gear by talking with someone who has a passion for ham radio, who knows what he is talking about, and about a subject that affects all of us who have an amateur radio license.SCORE!!!!!As you will see, I went overtime (23:30) and still had some un-answered questions!!! This was so fun.Here we go!Last night I had a fun conversation with Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA, about his passion: propagation. Of course, Carl is well known as an expert on the subject, having regularly written for Worldradio, QST, and CQ magazines, among others. Check out the picture here of him and his wife Vicky.Carl and I talked about how and why your signal is able to go from here to there. I think you will be able to hear his love of the hobby.In one of his answers he uses my favorite radio phrase: "get on the air". Did you hear it?73,DaveShow notesEmail to Carl with questions: [his callsign]@arrl.netCarl's propagation website is at http://mysite.verizon.net/k9laCQ magazine at http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com/Space Environment Center at http://sec.noaa.govSpace Weather at http://spaceweather.com

Today I talked with Joe, Wy3T, about getting on the air on an HF net. There are many new HF operators out there, and you may be wondering how to contact new HF friends. Have you ever tried to do this? Check out this podcast.Show noteshttp://www.ecars7255.com

Today I spoke with my friend Scott Andersen, NE1RD, about some of the things that he has done in the 12 months since we talked on 99 Hobbies last year. His "100 pound DXpedition" has taken him many places, and has been a true learning experience -- not to mention a lot of fun. Join me for this one!Show noteshttp://100pounddxpedition.blogspot.comhttp://dxpedition-vp2m.com/http://www.monserrat.co.uk/

Do you need to be a land baron to operate on 160 meters? Not according to Don Boudreau, W5KFX. Today we talk about some of the reasons why the Top Band can be a lot more fun than many people think, not the least of which is DXing on 160.Show NotesTopband? No Way!... But Never say Never, Feb 2007 QST, p.52The Delta DX Association, www.deltadx.net

Tom Baker, NC6B, talks to me about the first- of- its- kind skills class that he teaches at Moorpark HS, near Ventura California. The Radio Amateurs and Disaster Operations (RADIO) teaches skills that include amateur radio, First Aid training, CPR training, Defibrillator, and SERT/CERT certification. They promote the idea that "Teaching our students about preparedness better prepares our community."Photo is Tom (at left, NC6B) with principal Miyashiro (N6LKI).Show notesGreat article in the Ventura County Star at http://tinyurl.com/s44z9The High School's web page is at http://www.mhsweather.org/ and click on RADIO

The Young Ladies Radio League (YLRL) is a very serious, very fun, and very active group on the air. Today I talked with Anne Manna WB1ARU about the YLRL and why women should get on the air.BTW, guys should plan for these contests. Even if we don't get points (sometimes we do), just striking up a QSO will attract others to the frequency, of course.There are upcoming contests - give it a listen!!!Show notesYLRL is at http://www.ylrl.orgWRONE is at http://www.qsl.net/wrone

No, not a spelling mistake. This is SATERN, the Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network. Every year around this time you hear a lot about hurricanes, and you also hear amateur radio volunteers performing public service, providing communications when the usual means fail. You can join them.At the 2006 Boxboro convention I talked with Joe Fratto, N1RLO, who was manning the SATERN booth. This was another guerilla attack by me, and Joe had no advance notice that I was looking for someone to point a microphone at. Joe was very gracious and talked with me about some of the cool stuff that SATERN does when nature lashes out.Show notesSATERN is at www.satern.organd much contact information is there, for your particular part of the world.

Have you been a ham radio operator for 25 years or more? The Quarter Century Wireless Association (QCWA) wants to hear from you. Chuck, K1IGD explains why.This conversation was from the floor of the Boxboro convention, and in all fairness to Chuck, I really did stick a recorder in his face and ask him some questions. He did a great job of describing the QCWA in three minutes or less. I want to talk to him again. This was fun!Show notesQCWA is at www.qcwa.orgThe Boxboro convention is at www.boxboro.orgChuck's contact information is at www.qrz.com

While I was at the Boxboro convention (www.boxboro.org ) this year, I bumped into Joel Harrison, W5ZN. As you might expect, he was very busy there, but was gracious enough to spend a few minutes for an interview with 99 Hobbies. What a great guy, and I just really liked his attitude about ham radio and its future. Unfortunately, the recorder was off for a lot of this, but here is 3 minutes of our chat.As I listened to this clip, I can hear us talking pretty quickly, lots of excitement, and a really fun time. If you have never been to a convention (they are different from a hamfest) you should give it a try.