Sparks's Journal

[caption id="attachment_1270" align="alignleft" width="244"] Hey look, a flag![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1259" align="alignleft" width="300"] Portable HF setup on Methodist Hill North[/caption]

Updated: 2017-12-20 @ 0315Z -Not doing Long Mountain, adding Snowy Mountain.

Looking at taking a few days and going hiking up in Pennsylvania this upcoming weekend.  I have at least two summits in my sights: W3/PD-006 and [STRIKEOUT:W3/PD-013] W3/PD-007 that I'd like to activate for Summits on …

Somehow, in all this mess, work does get done...

[caption id="attachment_1179" align="aligncenter" width="2617"] WG3K Operating Position[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1180" align="aligncenter" width="2895"] WG3K Electronics Workshop[/caption]

The scary thing is, I haven't yet fully moved-in yet so this could get better, or worse.

Years ago I was given a CLOVER2 board. I later gave it away to someone who was interested in trying to add capabilities to his BBS. I now have found the cables for it! I wonder if I can figure out who got the board or if someone else could …

Years ago, Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, talked about a "good" antenna for APRS SATCOM applications.  It was a 19-inch vertical antenna that would function on both the 2m and 70cm bands, and had lobes that were up around the 30-degree mark.  Looking for information on that antenna last night I found …

Spinning the dial on the HF radio, the other night, I ran across Radio New Zealand International broadcasting news and music.  A bit shocked to hear sounds coming from the opposite side of the globe at such a late hour I confirmed that they were, indeed, broadcasting from Rangitaiki!  (This …

This weekend's reception of Shortwave Radiogram was cut off at the beginning due to an operator error.  I had left my computer up and listening to WRMI but had also left the automatic frequency control (AFC) feature turned on.  This meant that fldigi ended up surfing around the bandpass instead …

Since 2016 a few friends and I have been participating in the APRS Golden Packet Event which is held every year on the third Saturday in July.  The main objective of the event is to build an ad-hoc APRS network along the Appalachian Trail and pass the "golden packet" from …

Like last year, I'll be heading over to Apple Orchard Mountain to support the annual APRS Golden Packet Event.  My friends Dave KB3RAN and Steve N3IPN are once again part of the team with the addition of Ed KC3EN joining us for the long slog up the mountain.

In addition …

[caption id="attachment_1055" align="alignleft" width="169"] Fiberglass mast with two VHF j-pole antennas affixed.[/caption]

I recently started working with Calvert K9 Search, a local SAR team that specializes in using dogs to search for people.  In an effort to improve communications between the command post (base) and teams …

Yesterday I received, by way of U.K. Royal Mail and the U.S. Postal Service, two SOTA awards!  The first is my award for chasing 100 points-worth of summits:

The second award is the SOTA Mountain Hunter - Bronze award where I had to work at least two summits in …

Opened the mailbox today and was surprised to see an envelope from Newington waiting for me.  Looks like I placed third in the Atlantic Division (SOLP) and first (out of two) in the MDC section!

Missed all the VHF+ contest this year but I'm hoping to get my antennas back …

On Saturday, 16 July 2016, Dave KB3RAN, Steve N3IPN, and I hiked up Apple Orchard Mountain (SOTA W4V/RA-001) to activate it for the Appalachian Trail Golden Packet event.  While we were there we took advantage of the altitude and activated the summit for Summits on the Air (SOTA), National …

Turning on the radio this morning I was surprised to hear Puerto Rico coming in loud and clear on 50.125MHz. Once I had KP4EIT and HI3TEJ (Dominican Republic) in the logs I checked the DX Cluster to check the activity. There appeared to be many other stations from the …

During the weekend of July 16th I plan on being atop Apple Orchard Mountain, in Virginia, operating in the AT Golden Packet event as well as doing some VHF+ work while I'm there.  I'll be accompanied by Dave, KB3RAN, and Steve, N3IPN, who are planning to operate QRP HF voice …

This would be an interesting addition to a HSMM network...

IP radios that use the TCP/IP stack to communicate.

[caption id="attachment_898" align="alignright" width="300"] Mark, WD4KSE, shadowing Zoe during the 2016 Raleigh Tour de Cure. - photo by MotoPhotoMe.[/caption]

Over the weekend I helped support the American Diabetes Association's Raleigh Tour de Cure - a two-day charity bicycle ride that allows riders to choose between 80 and …

Last night I was having a conversation with Marty KB3MXM, ARRL Maryland-DC (MDC) Section Manager, regarding notification of ARES^® members in times of need, quickly.  This isn't the first time I've written about the topic and not much has changed.  Taking another look at the subject has given me the …

The other day a fellow amateur radio operator, WJ3K, caught me on the Annapolis repeater and asked me whether I was seeing odd things happening on the APRS network.  Specifically, whether or not I was seeing station tracks getting bounced around as if an old packet had been injected into …

I finally remembered to listen in to this weekend's VOA Radiogram transmission from the Edward R. Murrow transmitter facility in Greenville, NC.

The signal strength on 5745 kHz was marginal even with strong S9 to +10dB signals.  It seems the bands are quite noisy with a noise floor of ~S7 …

Enable Server Ports.  Those three words have baffled me for years. It's a menu item, under Interface, on Xastir and I've been wondering what it does for a while.  I had searched the Internet before without a positive result but last night I hit gold.

Okay, maybe not gold but …

You've built your mesh or 802.11 network to support your activity.  Now what?  Unfortunately, most client software doesn't support peer-to-peer activities.  You have to have a server acting as the central repository and distribution point for your data.  Sounds complicated...

It can be daunting to make these resources available …

Earlier today I made contact with Bert, F6HKA, at a distance of 3,845 miles.  We first made contact on 15 meters using 5 watts.  The band conditions were so good that I hooked up the K1 and we made contact on 17 meters.  That 17m contact was made with …

A few months ago I reported that I had achieved the 1,000 miles per watt SKCC award only later to find out that my radio was putting out 7 watts instead of the 0.1 watts I thought it was putting out.  After sending the radio off for repair …

This morning around 9AM I got mixed up with a crowd on 144 MHz.  Since I'm the new guy I ended up with a pileup on my hands!  I picked up KA3QWO, KG4KWW, K1PXE, WB2SIH, K3GNC, WV2H, N2FKF, W1AN, and WB2QEG in very quick succession.  We then ventured up to …

Tonight I worked several station with two in particular being W1AN and WZ1V.  Both of those stations I worked on three bands: 144, 432, and 1296 MHz.  W1AN is a little further away than WZ1V but both are fairly close to each other in Connecticut with WZ1V being a bit …

I'm interested in VHF and higher bands.  Unfortunately my current home doesn't permit me to really dive into these bands like I'd prefer (with LOTS of big antennas!).  So, to get my fix, I'm hoping to build a rover station that I can use go catch some new grids and …

Whew, it's been interesting last couple of days around here.  On Friday the only antenna I had in the sky was my OCF dipole for HF.  Saturday morning found myself, Bob N3PPH, and Dave W3PQS erecting a pole with antennas for 2m, 70cm, and 23cm.  With the ARRL August UHF …

In 1997 I received my first amateur radio license.  The FCC granted me KF4OTN back then and exercised it the best I could.  Fast forward to my move to Virginia and I decided to drop the "KF" in favor of "W" (it cut down on the time to transmit the …

Unless you were asleep at the dial you probably heard a lot of yelling, begging, and contacts being made on the HF bands yesterday.  From 1200Z yesterday to 1200Z today stations were on the air doing what contest stations do - making contacts.  Ahh, yes, it was the weekend for the …

[caption id="attachment_781" align="alignright" width="300"] QSL card and envelop received from GM3YOR.[/caption]

While looking over my DXCC statistics I noticed that my log didn't match the DX station's log as uploaded to Clublog.  I double checked my log and it looked like a good QSO but upon …

Taking immediate advantage of my new Extra Class privileges, last night I picked up a new DXCC entity - Asiatic Russia.  This one has been difficult for me.  I worked the entity back in 2002 but couldn't get a confirmation.  Since then I've heard them but never been able to work …

No more tests for me.  I'm done.

Last year I was one of the CARA members asking for an Extra Class class.  I was really happy when Shawn, N3AE, agreed to teach the class and we started on a three-month class meeting every Tuesday night for three (or more) hours …

I made an inquiry to Rayfield regarding their c-Bridge product that can be used to join several (up to 50) Motorola DMR (MOTOTRBO) repeaters together.  Here's what I found out:

There is a software option that is $600 less than the hardware solution.  The software runs on CentOS 5 or …

A few weeks ago I ventured down to Cary and to RARSfest to see some friends.  It was a good event and the weekend was nice and relaxing.  While at RARSfest I noticed many of my friends carrying DMR portables.  They told me to go talk to the NC PRN …

I am, or have been at one time or another, been active on 6m, 2m, 70cm, and 23cm VHF and UHF bands.  (I've also experimented with some mesh networking on 2.4GHz (13cm band) so maybe I can claim another band?)  All of the weak-signal work (2m through 23cm) was …

The Radiobuster by Volney G. Mathison

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a great book that I happened to stumble upon. I've been looking for a book that talks about life as a commercial radio operator but have found few. This book approaches my expectations although I wish …

Thursday was QSL bureau day (the day in which I receive cards from the bureau).  If that wasn't exciting enough, I also received an envelope with a return address of "Rarotonga, Cook islands"!  Oh yeah, I finally got E51JD confirmed!  This is my 149th confirmed DXCC entity.

The stamp on …

Update

It would appear that my K1 is stuck transmitting 6 to 7 watts no matter what the power output setting is.  I can only assume that the contacts I made for this award were not made using 100 mW but rather 7W.

I have already responded to the award …

I received the following message from Ron Bower, AC2C, after submitting my SKCC award log last night:

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Gather 'round and pay heed to the news of this
day!

Let there be celebration to recognize a fellow SKCC member who
has advanced to the Centurion level of …

Years ago I purchased a 40-80-160m dipole antenna in hopes of getting a good signal out on the lower bands. Unfortunately the antenna ended up being too large for my yard and I didn't use it.  Fast forward to now and I've got plenty of room for antennas.  When I …

I ran across a paper that was written discussing the shortwave broadcast station at Woofferton, UK, last year, and thought I'd share it.  It's a really interesting read and gives you a perspective of what it took to maintain such a station with a near-constant change to technology.  It's in …

Earlier this month I volunteered to take over the position of ARES Emergency Coordinator (EC) for Calvert County. The previous EC had gotten busy in other areas and decided it was time to step down. I've held this position before but in a different location so while the job isn't …

The ARRL Sweepstakes contest (phone) took place last weekend and I spent a few hours on the air making a few contacts. Although I didn't have much time to spend on the event I did add twenty new contacts to my log. Since I'm working on my WAS from my …

The Arrow Antenna for satellites has an optional diplexer that allows easy operation of 2m and 70cm from a single feedline.  I've used this configuration for over ten years with no problems.  I'm not sure, exactly, what happened but the diplexer failed.  After ordering a new one I started digging …

I was surprised at the difference three and a half megahertz made this evening.  While chatting with my friend Emily, N1DID, we started trying different bands to check for a better signal.  Fifteen meters was okay but twelve was better.  We decided to try ten meters for the heck of …

My friend Hubert has been doing a lot of work to make better the world a little safer.  Glad he's getting some recognition.  Here's a great article on testing your server for proper SSL/TLS configurations.

Yesterday I was tuning around 20 meters and heard packet!  Wow, it's been years since I've used packet (outside of APRS which is a different animal when compared to this).  Turns out I stumbled onto the Net105 frequency with all of their users.  It's quite busy there and I've seen …

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I bought a UHF repeater and put it on the air at the Mt. Hope tower site here in Calvert County.  This was a temporary test which allowed myself and other CARA club members (and anyone else) to see what UHF would do …

[caption id="attachment_601" align="alignleft" width="300"] W4OTN/R Installed at Mt. Hope[/caption]

Earlier today, Dave W3PQS and I installed my UHF repeater up at the CARA site in Sunderland.  The repeater is on the air on the TMARC shared, non-protected pair which makes the system quite portable.

In …

Frequency

444.350MHz (+ 5MHz)

CTCSS 131.8Hz

Location Chesapeake Beach, Maryland

Just a little project I'm working on.  I picked up a UHF repeater, controller, and duplexer at a RARSFest from a friend of a friend and I now have it here at home in Calvert County.  The repeater, along …

Yesterday I had a broken QSO with K9?H?.  We were running CW and between the fading, the Doppler shift, and my poor CW skills I couldn't quite get the full callsign and exchange. And then, of course, I was also chasing myself all over the transponder.  This morning was …

I had a good pass of FO-29 this morning so I figured I'd give it a try with my 2m/70cm loop antenna.  I wasn't expecting great things as this is not a gain antenna and I'm not sure how much of the signal is actually radiated up but I …

Okay, I'm thinking about parabolic antennas right now.  I created a spreadsheet that would take care of all the formulas some years back but I can't seem to find it now.  I'm trying to find all the formulas that I need to get the information I need to make my …

Just copied program 61 of the VOA Radiogram on 5145.  The program was transmitted from the Edward R Murrow Transmitting Station down in Greenville, NC.  I've seen this place many times and am happy to have copied its transmission now.  I'm also lucky that I was watching Twitter just before …

I use a program named Shortwave Schedules to tell me what's on the radio at any given time.  It used to just digest a CSV file from Eibi and tell you who was on and when.  Now it's gotten fancy (propagation maps for one). A feature I stumbled upon last …

Yesterday I unofficially* crossed the 150 mark.  That's 150 DXCC entities worked.  I've actually worked 151 as I just picked up 3B8CF (Mauritius Island (AF-049)) tonight on 20m CW.  That means I've added 21 new entities to my log just this year.  I've also added quite a few new islands …

Earlier this week the Calvert Amateur Radio Association (CARA) hosted its monthly meeting with a program by a local guru of mesh networking. Keith KB3TCB gave a presentation on what mesh networking is and what it can be used for.  I've known about mesh networking for some years but never …

Tonight some members of the Calvert Amateur Radio Association met on 146.580MHz to test out simplex range of narrow mode C4FM as seen in the new Yaesu radios.  Five stations got into a round table discussion, all within about ten miles of my station.  I haven't purchased anything other …

Since moving to Calvert County and getting my Carolina Windom up (radiating East-West) I've added five new DXCC entities to my logs:

1. Kuwait - 9K2WA - 20m SSB
2. Wallis & Futuna Islands - FW5JJ - 17m CW
3. San Andres & Providencia - 5J0X - 10m SSB and 10m CW
4. Kazakhstan - UN1L - 15m RTTY
5. American Samoa - KH8/DL6JGN - 12m …

While I haven't worked much in the way of DX since moving onto the boat I have worked some (and would like to work more!).  I've been contemplating using a different QSL card for those contacts and last night I opened up GIMP and started playing around.  I'm pretty happy …

If you've been a QRZ.com user for a while you probably noticed a lock-down of information in recent years.  The effort prevents amateur radio operators from using automated methods (like logging software) to collect contact information on their fellow radio operators.  And while you can easily establish an account …

If you've done any reading of 20th century European history then this story will seem familiar.  Back then there were places where you had to be careful about what you said to whom.  It could really be anything you said to any number of people including close friends, family members …

Whew, the last week or so has shown changes in the regular morning HF propagation.  At 1200Z I usually check into the Waterway Radio and Cruising Club net on 7268kHz.  During the winter WA6CCA near Washington, DC (~44km away) is usually loud but now I haven't been able to hear …

[caption id="attachment_944" align="alignleft" width="300"] CHIRP[/caption]

In the past I've been frustrated by a lack of Linux-supported software for programming my amateur radios. Sure, the Kenwood software that they gave you to use would kinda work under Wine but it's Wine and who wants to operate under …

The SWLing Post ran a post on a Monitoring Times article about the VOA transmitter facility in Greenville, NC.  The article featured a friend of mine, Macon WB4PMQ, and provides a good summary of what you'll find at Site A.  I hope my readers will enjoy reading it as well …

[caption id="attachment_446" align="alignleft" width="300"] Voice of Russia QSL Card[/caption]

In a recent rash of shortwave QSLs being received the Voice of Russia was not to be left out.  They sent me a nice QSL honoring their 50 years of manned space flight, 1961 to 2011.  I …

Last night I ventured out to the greater Davidsonville area to meet some of the people I've been talking to on the local repeater and to join the club.  I've always felt that it was important to support the local club financially as well as with my time.  The members …

[caption id="attachment_449" align="alignleft" width="300"] QSL from 7X4AN[/caption]

I received confirmation for my August contact with 7X4AN, today.  Most excited to receive another "new one" I confirmed receipt of the QSL. Mohamed is one of those courteous CW operators that will happily slow down for you if …

[caption id="attachment_452" align="alignleft" width="300"] QSL from NMN[/caption]

I checked the mail, yesterday, and was surprised to see a whole box full!  Not much in the way of junk mail but I did receive two radio-related mailings.  First was an envelope from "Commanding Officer, U.S. Coast …

I love to use my little Grundig shortwave receiver to tune in the world, at night, in hopes of tuning in traditional music from lands I've never visited.  With fewer stations on the air it's becoming more difficult to find these stations.  I thought I'd share one station that continues …

Today I boxed up my radios, rolled up the coax, and removed all my antennas from their heights.  This is all in preparation for our move to Maryland in a few days.  We have almost completely packed up everything we own and either moved it to the boat, into storage …

Today I received a QSL in the mail from 8R1Z in Guyana, South America.  I worked Lennox on 14 August 2012 and was quite pleased to have a return QSL from him in a month's time.  Contact was made on 20-meters SSB when conditions were good and the confirmation represents …

Last December I was handling a lot of traffic on the National Traffic System nets.  I was the liaison between Virginia and 4RN, between 4RN and EAN, and was filling in on an open TCC slot.  Come to think of it, I was also handling quite a bit of traffic …

Here's a great video on the history of shortwave jamming since the end of World War II: http://www.polskieradio.pl/68/2055/video/652120

It's Spring cleaning time, again, and I'm offering up the following items for sale:

• [STRIKEOUT:Kenwood TS-480SAT HF transceiver.  Includes power cable, hand microphone, and original box.  $700 obo + shipping.]
• [STRIKEOUT:Kenwood TS-790A with the UT-10.  144/432/1200MHz all-mode transceiver.  Includes power cable, hand microphone, and original box.  This …

The weather was nice enough for me to get some of my antenna maintenance done that I couldn't do during the cold winter months.  First on the list was to completely remove the 23cm (1.2GHz) antenna from the top of the tower.  While I've had good luck working stations …

A recent discussion on the Radiogram listserv got me wondering about my traffic handling numbers since I started working in NTS in 2010.  Here's what I came up with:

In 2010 I handled 960 messages, sending 250 of my own.  In 2011, however, I handled 1658, creating 365 myself.  That's …

December was a busy month for me.  Not only did I have a new harmonic join the family (callsign will be forthcoming in the next few years, I hope) but I also took some TCC shifts as well.  The NTS message numbers speak for themselves:

The first QSO of 2012 was with a good friend of mine, Joe K4EIT.  Joe received his ticket late last year and I have been trying to hook up with him ever since.  With our schedules dividing us it has been difficult at best.  Today, however, the planets aligned and …

HSMM, or High Speed Multimedia, networks provide IP-based wireless network communications over amateur radio microwave frequencies for the amateur radio community. Many different services can be offered across this network providing a wide range of communication operations to the users.

The ARRL processed my DXCC Award update for 2011 in record time this year.  Since I received the Mixed DXCC award last year I have added 14 new entities to the confirmed list bringing my total up to 115 current (116 total).  Here's the running total including year 2011:

TYPE …

Did you know there were five principles of Amateur Radio written into the law that is Part 97?  Those principles are:

    (a) Recognition and enhancement of the value of the amateur service
to the public as a voluntary noncommercial communication service,
particularly with respect to providing emergency communications.
    (b) Continuation …

I don't understand the use of the Internet in conjunction with Amateur Radio.  Echolink, Winlink 2000, and IRLP all setup a false sense of security for users.  Creating a dependency on something you cannot control means that resource won't be there when you need it.  Most recently the American Radio …

I received my SKCC WES Participation Certificate today; very cool.  I've been a member of the Straight Key Century Club (SKCC) for almost a year and had never participated in their Weekend Sprint (WES) which takes place every month for twenty-four hours.  I scored 115th out of the 199 entries …

Recently the owners of QRZ.com Callsign Database started restricting access to addresses and other data unless you were a registered user. If you used a logging program, such as CQRLOG, you would have to pay a yearly fee to access this mostly public information. I'd much rather give a …

Just submitted my 2011 DXCC Update to the ARRL.  I submitted fifty QSOs via LoTW and twelve QSOs via paper QSLs.

New DXCC entities include:

1. 5B - Cyprus
2. CE9 - Antarctica
3. CP - Bolivia
4. CT8 - Azores Islands
5. CY0 - Sable Island
6. EU - Belarus
7. GU - Guernsey
8. PJ4 - Bonaire
9. TF - Iceland
10. TK - Corsica
11. T7 - San Marino …

A while back I had told Marcia KW1U that I'd like to try a TCC slot one day to see what it's all about.  Yesterday was that day.  The Lima schedule goes from the second cycle of the Eastern Area Net (EAN) to the Central Area Net (CAN) and the …

About half way through the month of October I realized that I might have a chance to hit the five hundred message mark to qualify for the ARRL's Brass Pounder's League.  As the liaison from Virginia to 4RN and sometimes from 4RN to EAN I have the potential to move …

I friend of mine recently tested for the Technician-class Amateur Radio license and passed without trouble.  Not that this is surprising given his history in the communications world (fricken helium atom, Sir). What I find neat is his style of operating as a newly licensed ham.  I remember when I …

I received the QSL cards for the N4I DXpedition today.  Received QSLs have been answered and will go out in tomorrow's mail.

According to Part 97 of the FCC rules (specifically §97.221 Automatically controlled digital station) automatically controlled digital stations have 134.5kHz of space to work in on the the HF bands (10 meters through 80 meters).  Breaking this bandwidth up into 500 Hz channels* we see that we have …

Have you completed the DX Magazine 2011 Most Wanted Survey?  If you haven't then your voice won't be heard when DXpeditioners try to make their plans to put the rare ones on the air.  The deadline for completing the survey is 15 October 2011.  Do it and do it now …

NTS traffic is addressed very simply:@NTS.  So if I was going to send an NTS message to the ARRL I would use 06111@NTSCT.  Simple, right?  And I'm assuming that most BBSs would allow you to route traffic based on the @NTSportion of the address but not FBB.  FBB …

After months of gathering pieces and trying to get time to tinker I think I've finally got everything figured out with connecting my PTC-II modem to my XFBB BBS so I can communicate over HF to distant lands.  Right now I'm only setup to guard and call on a single …

[caption id="attachment_917" align="alignleft" width="300"] Amanda, KI4IWS, operating HF on Core Banks.[/caption]

A small cadre of hams invaded Core Banks (Portsmouth Island), North Carolina (NA-067) for the 2011 Islands on the Air (IOTA) contest as N4I.  Although many others activated NA-067 from other islands that were much …

The Core Banks (Cape Lookout) DXpedition team will be heading to the island tomorrow morning.  We plan to have at least one phone and one CW station on the air this weekend (digital modes are an option as well). We will be QRV as N4I beginning Friday through Monday and …

Finally received a response from the QSL request I sent for last October.  In good form I received several "extras" along with the confirmation cards.  I didn't receive a response to the question I submitted so maybe that will be coming soon.

I'll add this to my other QSL from …

15 meters is open to Europe from the east coast of USA.  You have to be greater than 4000 miles, less than 6000 miles, and the wind has to be blowing in the proper direction for those stations to hear me.  I missed on OH0 because they were just too …

I've been looking for a good amateur radio contest logging program for Linux. Little did I know that the solution was right under my nose!

fldigi is a great amateur radio program that will encode and decode almost any digital mode you can find out on the HF bands.  This …

Okay, I've been caught.  I haven't been keeping up with a program I used to make a point of listening to every week.  Our World, from Voice of America, is a weekly technology show that was always quite interesting to me.  The show's host, Art Chimes, is a great guy …

Received bureau cards today.  All from Europe and no new confirmations but I always enjoy receiving the art work that is QSLs.  Confirmations received from:

My Europe stack of cards is getting …

I was surfing through the shortwave broadcast bands and stumbled upon Radio Ukraine International.  They were transmitting some very beautiful music and I was hypnotized.  This is why I really love shortwave radio.

I wish I had been around when orchestras were broadcast live to the world on shortwave.  How …

I've been meaning to introduce myself, really I have, but I just never got around to it.  My neighbor, one street up and over a bit, put up a 70-foot tower a number of months ago and put a very impressive beam on top.  That was an immediate indicator that …

Here's something I've been thinking about. If you have a VoIP phone system in your house with your own phone switch (like Asterisk) why couldn't you hook in a transceiver to monitor your local repeater or simplex frequency so you could monitor throughout the house without having to carry an …

We stopped by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) on our road trip to submit my application for DXCC Mixed. The application was processed while we were at lunch and upon our return I was awarded my DXCC Mixed with 102 entities confirmed. The breakdown by band is as follows …

There needs to be a comprehensive list of all NTS nets and NTSD stations. This list needs to be in text format and a "pretty" graphical format and should be available on the ARRL website under NTS.

This would make it easier for those of us on the road to …

I just installed the new CQRLOG on both my computers. I noted that in the release notes that a change was made to the main logging screen that allows netbook users to more easily use the program. I was very excited about this as I do run a small laptop …

I have submitted my application to the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) for my initial DXCC (https://www.arrl.org/dxcc) award. The plan is to present my cards for checking to the ARRL on 6 August. I'm quite excited as this has been a long-term goal of mine.

I …

Received a nice surprise in the mail, today.  TG9AHM sent his card, a sticker of the Guatemala flag, and two smaller stickers showing the image from the front of the QSL card.  Very nice!  The stamps on the envelope were also a nice surprise and will immediately go into my …

Well, I finally received QSLs for DXCC entities 100 and 101!  HD2A sent his card for our 15m contact thus confirming Ecuador for number 100 and then YN2EA confirmed our contacts on 15m and 20m for Nicaragua and entity number 101.

It's official, I now qualify for DXCC!  Woot!  Only …

Writing the title of this post was extremely difficult for me.  This morning I checked my email to find a message from Gregory informing me of Hugh's passing yesterday and the dates and times of his visitation and funeral.  I was shocked, to say the least.

Hugh was my boat …

Received a card from ZB3R, Gibraltar, today which confirms my DXCC entity number 99.  So close to my DXCC I can taste it!

I received a QSL card from JH7XMO in Japan for our contact on 06 March 2010 and then on LoTW I received confirmation from VP2MPR in Montserrat for our contact on 10 March 2010!  It's a good day.

Got lucky today. Saudi Arabia and Lebanon managed to make their way into my logbook today. Needless to say I was very excited to put them there. I also received confirmation, via LoTW, from New Zealand for a contact that I made a couple of weekends ago. So that puts …

Kudos to the ARRL WAS Awards desk for quickly processing my application for Worked All States (WAS) - Basic.  I sent in the three QSL cards, representing the three states that I didn't have confirmed via the LoTW, to the ARRL for checking.  Exactly one week after sending the cards to …

This morning I received the ARRL's ARES E-Letter (24 Feb 2010) and found it riddled with how Icom's D-Star system was so great and the answer to all our problems.  The entire letter seemed to be one big advertisement for Icom, actually.  What I can't understand is why the ARRL …

Received DXCC QSL #92 for Trinidad today!  9Y4SRR sent his card via his manager in record time.  Thank you!

After thirty hours of listening to "diddles" the 2010 CQ WW WPX RTTY Contest is over!  Band conditions did not let me down, this year.  I had excellent results from all bands and even scored a New Zealand contact!

Last week I went looking for better logging software.  I have been using xLog for the last year and it did a good job but I found it lacking in features that I wanted.

I found many solutions that did less than xLog in my search but finally found CQRLOG …

Received a reply to my QSL for TL0A, today.  Glad to make #90 the Central African Republic!

QSL cards from Africa always make me stop and think about the world. I've received sunset pictures from South Africa, mountainous sea-scapes from Cape Verde, and various scenery pictures from Madeira Island, but …

Heard 10m was open this morning but concentrated my efforts on 6m as it is rarely open this time of year.  Worked NJ2F, N2WB, N3LL, W4LT, and K4MM, all from Florida.  I didn't really hear anyone else on but the Florida stations were saying that the bands were crowded!

I picked up this little beauty at FrostFest yesterday in Richmond.  I've been looking for a backup HF radio for the shack but this one is quickly becoming my primary rig!  It came with a power supply, hand microphone, mobile bracket, and the manuals.

The audio is quite clear and …

I just received the January 2010 issue of LINUX Journal and was surprised to see a penguin with headphones, a microphone, and a amateur radio callsign!  Awesome!  There is a four page article which starts to show the relationship between open source software and amateur radio and how one can …

I just pulled down the December version of Linux Journal a couple of minutes ago.  I made it all the way to page 4 and read that next month's issue would be on Amateur Radio (or at least some portion there of). I'm excited to see that Amateur Radio and …

I've been thinking a lot about volunteer responders in the scheme of emergency management. Many of these groups lack a robust communications system without which you are going to be stuck in the mud.

So what about ARES groups. From the emergency managers point of view ARES is a communications …

All antennas are up. I now have 11 elements on 2m, 22 elements on 70cm, and 25 elements on 23 cm. I was able to trim a couple of branches out of the nearby tree and now my antennas swing nearly free through space.

I've also noted that the only …

It was hot this afternoon but I was able to get two of the three planned antennas up. Tomorrow is the ARRL UHF Contest so hopefully I'll be ready (still have to trim a limb or two out of a tree).

Top antenna is 23cm (1278MHz) and the lower one …

Came home to find a long box on the doorstep. Opened it up to find my new 23cm (1.2GHz) antenna ready for assembly. In less than an hour I had my twenty-four element loop yagi put together and ready for talking. Now I just need to get some N …

Well, things took a slight turn for the worst last night. After receiving the UT-10 and the coax, N-connectors, and rotator control wire I realized that the pole I have stuck up in the air isn't wide enough to support the rotator. Apparently the pole is 1" in diameter and …

I haven't posted anything lately but that doesn't mean that nothing has been happening.

First, a couple of weeks ago I found a Kenwood UT-10 1.2GHz module for my TS-790A. I've been looking for one of these for going on two years. Finally my eBay alert came through and …

Last night eBay sent me an e-mail saying it had located a UT-10 for me. I jumped on it! I've been looking for one of these for about two years. The price was right, too, so now I'll have 1.2GHz in the TS-790A in a couple of weeks! Oh …

I'm considering doing a rover operation for the ARRL UHF Contest this August. I'm still trying to figure out where I want to operate (Shenandoah comes to mind) but I should have my 1.2GHz (23cm) transceiver up and working in addition to the 432MHz (70cm) so it should be …

I got back from Cary, NC last night around 6:30P. It was an exciting but extremely exhausting weekend. The Tour de Cure went off with only a few minor problems but none really related to the communications operation (which is what I'm in charge of). I was pretty excited …

I'll be leaving around noon tomorrow (EDT) for Raleigh, NC. This is the weekend for the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure of which I've volunteered for via Carolina Helping Hams for going on ten years now. This is an excellent event where bicyclists ride either 80 or 100 miles …

I had the pleasure of doing a mini-DXpedition over the Memorial Day weekend on Hatteras Island. The YL and I setup a 20m SSB station in the tent using a MFJ 20m SSB Travel radio, a hamstick rotatable dipole, a 12ah battery, and a 18w solar panel.

Overall, the test …

A few years ago, when I had just passed my General test, the solar cycle was still up to where I could hear 10 meter repeaters all over the east coast.  I used to chat with the owner of a 10-meter repeater on the island of Puerto Rico often.  The …

I was surprised to see a bureau envelope in my mailbox today. I really wasn't expecting it as I haven't really been on the air that much but some how they had some cards for me.

Opened the mailbox this afternoon and found my QSL from Victor Cuesta YV4DYJ of whom I worked on AO-51 back in September.  Very cool.  Glad I was able to make this contact using 5 watts and my hand-held station in my front yard.

I received my copy of "Passport to World Band Radio" (ISBN 978-0-914941-80-4) in the mail the other day. Since I received it I haven't been able to put it down. It is a heftier book that what I was expecting at over 500 pages of information on shortwave broadcasts. A …

19:xx 15,400 kc - BBC World Service - Very loud in VA.

23:00 9,885 kc - VOA - "Welcome to the VOA, in Spanish!"

Things I need to purchase:

• 2.4GHz Downconverter ($105)
• UT-10 1.2GHz Module for TS-790A ($450)
• 432MHz Yagi ($357)
• 432MHz Preamp (MSP432VDG-160) ($240)
• Yaesu G-400X rotator pole mount ($40)
• 2.4GHz Patch Feed
• LMR400 feedline (amount?) ($.92/ft or $.81/ft >= 100')
• Mast pipe for mounting the antennas.
• Rotator control …

I just worked a pass on AO-16. Heck yeah it was early. But having the bird all to myself at 5:45 in the morning means I get to test my antennas without stepping on anyone else. I did work N8OQ but it wasn't easy. And I'm not really sure …

Now comes the interesting part. How do I hold up my antennas so they can twist and turn as required? I don't plan to be in the same location in two years so I don't want to do anything permanent. I currently have a 30-foot pole up next to the …

The most important part to a radio station is the antennas. You could probably lump in the feedline as well but I think I have that figured out for the moment.

So what antennas do I already have and what do I need.

Have:

• 11-element 2m beam (single polarization, currently …

I'm ready to take the next step. I have a set of azimuth and elevation rotators and I even have a 2M beam. I think it is time I get serious about my satellite operations. Not that I don't have fun working the FM birds via my HT and an …

Every day or so my local packet BBS receives a humor post from W1GMF in Massachusetts. I really enjoy the jokes but I'm really impressed by the path the message has to take to make it to Yorktown, Virginia. The path looks like: KR4MA N9NDS KB0OFD N0KFQ KB8DM N4JOA N9ZZK …

I meant to post this last night but I'm up and active on 6m and 2m SSB for the ARRL September VHF QSO Party.  I can almost say that I've worked everyone that I've heard but AA4ZZ in Boone, NC is going to make me a liar.  In my defense …

Last weekend was CRAZY! 105+F heat index and over 300 bicycles somewhere between Koka Booth Amphitheater in Cary and Oxford NC. Yep, it was that time again... The American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure. Where else can you find enough crazy people to ride their bikes somewhere between 75 …

Got a return QSL from EA6SX today. Before you say "You didn't have Spain?" you should know that this isn't exactly Spain. Turns out it this is from the Balearic Islands in the Med. Contact was made on 16 Mar on 17 meters.

Thanks Mike for …

Before travelling the seven hours back to Virginia, today, Amanda reminded me to grab some stuff off the Internet that we could listen to on the way home.

I went to my favourite radio programs and downloaded their latest (and some times a few more) podcasts. I burned the files …

Last night John and I were up on 75 ragchewing and we noted the relatively high noise floor. Now it is 13:50z and the noise floor still seems high on some bands. Here are the current conditions:

So I have been looking for a simple "terminal" program to run that will allow me to interface to my terminal node controller (TNC) that I use for packet on Amateur Radio. I've found two programs that work but each of them has some crazy side effects that limit their …

On October 20th I completed my application and sent my cards to the ARRL for verification that I had met the requirements for the IARU's "Worked All Continents" award. Exactly seven days later I not only had my cards returned but also had my certificate as well. Now that is …

I just learned of a plug-in for Firefox that automatically polls and displays the current solar index and other propagation numbers right on the status bar in Firefox. N0HR Propfire is the name of the plug-in and it seems to work just fine. It will automatically poll to obtain the …

It appears that I'll be working the November Sweepstakes with friends this year. Ed, KN4KL, will (hopefully) be sponsoring us at his house for the contest and will be joined by Jeremy, KO4SJ, and Jason, N4ZBE. There was even a rumor about Amanda, KI4IWS, joining in the fun. I guess …

Got 114 QSLs mailed to the ARRL Outgoing Bureau yesterday. Costs less than $3.00 for shipping so I'm happy about that. I also sent out a handful of DX cards via Airmail as well. All but five have been sent as I'm waiting for IRCs from the Post Office …

Would you believe that it hasn't even been 24-hours since the end of the CQ WW RTTY DX contest and I've already have 22% of my QSOs confirmed? I just checked the ARRL's LoTW and noted that I have 52 of my 240 contacts confirmed from over the weekend. Those …

A man can only take but so much and I have gone well beyond that. I have figured out where I stand in the ham radio community, I am not a contester but rather a DX chaser. The CQ WW RTTY DX Contest goes for 48-hours and it is quite …

Well, actually it is day one plus four hours or so. I haven't been really "competing" but I have been grabbing the QSOs that I could. So far I've racked up 160 QSOs on 4 continents, 42 countries, 28 US states, 7 Canadian providences, and 16 CQ zones. Not bad …

Last night I put the final touches on the 20m vertical antenna I built the previous night. Looking over everything and checking it twice I thought I had everything taken care of. I looped a branch in a nearby tree and pulled the antenna skyward so that the base was …

Ten days ago I reported on my blog that the ARRL wouldn't recognize QSOs taking place via the ISS for DXCC or WAS. I got the response I was looking for today from Norm Fusaro, W3IZ. Thank you ARRL for letting this happen. Now I have QSOs to upload to …

The CQ WW RTTY DX Contest will be this upcoming weekend (29-30 Sep 2007). This will be the first contest I will be participating in since moving into the new shack. I'm not expecting a lot of good DX results at the moment due to the past experiences with the …

I'm going to build a new antenna I found in the 2003 edition of the ARRL Handbook. This antenna was originally published by the ARRL in their September 1984 edition of QST in which Chuck Hutchinson, K8CH, explains his "Tree-Mounted HF Groundplane Antenna".

I will be building the 20m version …