Sparks's Journalhttps://eric.christensenplace.us/2023-11-02T00:00:00-04:00Sweeteners in soda2023-11-02T00:00:00-04:002023-11-02T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2023-11-02:/sweeteners-in-soda.html<div class="paragraph">
<p>I’ve been wondering what the difference between diet beverages is; why is there a <em>diet</em> beverage and a <em>zero</em> or <em>free</em> option as well.
I’m also including regular soda when I get a chance.
I finally spent five minutes looking this information up, here’s what I found …</p></div><div class="paragraph">
<p>I’ve been wondering what the difference between diet beverages is; why is there a <em>diet</em> beverage and a <em>zero</em> or <em>free</em> option as well.
I’m also including regular soda when I get a chance.
I finally spent five minutes looking this information up, here’s what I found.</p>
</div>
<table class="tableblock frame-all grid-all stripes-even stretch">
<caption class="title">Table 1. Sweetener contents in soda</caption>
<colgroup>
<col style="width: 16.6666%;">
<col style="width: 16.6666%;">
<col style="width: 16.6666%;">
<col style="width: 16.6666%;">
<col style="width: 16.6666%;">
<col style="width: 16.667%;">
</colgroup>
<thead>
<tr>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Beverage</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Aspertame</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Acesulfame Potassium</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Sucralose</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">High Fructose Corn Syrup</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Caffeine per 12 oz</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Coca Cola Classic</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top" colspan="4"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">34mg</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Cherry Coke</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">No</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">No</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">No</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Yes</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">34mg</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Diet Coke</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Yes</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">No</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">No</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">No</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">46mg</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Coke Zero</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Yes</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Yes</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">No</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">No</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">34mg</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Pepsi</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top" colspan="4"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">37.5mg</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Diet Pepsi</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Yes</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">No</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">No</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">No</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">35mg</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Pepsi Zero Sugar</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Yes</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Yes</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">No</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">No</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">69mg</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Dr. Pepper</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top" colspan="4"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">41mg</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Diet Dr. Pepper</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Yes</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">No</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">No</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">No</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">41mg</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Diet Cheerwine</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top" colspan="5"><p class="tableblock">No longer made?</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Cheerwine Zero</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">No</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Yes</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Yes</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">No</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">47mg</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Mountain Dew</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top" colspan="4"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">54mg</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Diet Mountain Dew</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top" colspan="4"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">54mg</p></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>SOTA activation of Lambs Knoll2023-10-08T00:00:00-04:002023-10-08T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2023-10-08:/sota-activation-of-lambs-knoll.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The day started with a good night’s sleep; an almost rare thing for me.
I had planned on leaving at 9AM but when one wakes up at 8:45A you realize that’s not going to happen.
We did leave the house around 10 o’clock so no big …</p></div></div></div><div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The day started with a good night’s sleep; an almost rare thing for me.
I had planned on leaving at 9AM but when one wakes up at 8:45A you realize that’s not going to happen.
We did leave the house around 10 o’clock so no big deal.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The drive to <a href="https://www.sotadata.org.uk/en/summit/W3/WE-007">Lambs Knoll</a> was supposed to take two hours and fifteen minutes.
Including a quick stop for lunch, we were at our destination around 12:20P.
Lambs Knoll was the site of a secret Cold War communications station, <a href="https://whcacannonball.blogspot.com/p/presidential-emergency-facility-site-7.html">Presidential Emergency Facility Site 7 - Corkscrew</a>, from the late 1960s until the 1970s (or later?).
The site now houses the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The site is 536m (1,758ft) above sea level and is designated W3/WE-007 by the <a href="https://www.sota.org.uk/">Summits on the Air (SOTA)</a> organization (also designated K-6390 for the <a href="https://dnr.maryland.gov/publiclands/Pages/western/southmountainbattlefield.aspx">South Mountain State Battlefield State Park</a> and K-4556 for the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/appa/index.htm">Appalachian Trail National Scenic Trail</a> by the <a href="https://parksontheair.com/">Parks on the Air (POTA)</a> organization).
The goal of the day was to activate the summit using portable HF and VHF radios.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>We parked just outside the gate of the FAA complex and hiked around to the tower site used by the state of Maryland, County of Washington, and other tenants.
A small foot path leads from the roadway, here, to the Appalachian Trail (AT) just above White Rock Overlook.</p>
</div>
<div class="imageblock text-center">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2023/10/Lambs_Knoll_Ops.webp" alt="Lambs Knoll Ops" width="75%">
</div>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>A small clearing (well, a less covered area) showed itself just before reaching the AT and that is where I setup my Elecraft KX3 and end-fed half wave (EFHW) antenna.
The antenna ended up being much lower than I usually like, but contacts were made on 20 and 40 meters.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Once I had the antenna up and power connected, I realized I had left my CW key in the car.
Luckily my family hadn’t left the car, yet, so they were able to bring it to me.
While I waited I made a few contacts using voice and then setup for digital modes.</p>
</div>
<div class="imageblock text-center">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2023/10/KC3UJB_on_the_air.webp" alt="KC3UJB on the air" width="75%">
</div>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Twenty meters yielded nine contacts within the first thirty minutes.
Voice only yielded two contacts with the remainder being on FT8.
I switched to forty meters and made three contacts using FT8 and three more using CW.
In all, fifteen contacts were made by me and three by Harlan (one on two meters and two on ten meters).</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>We packed up and joined the rest of our party just up the trail at White Rocks Overlook.
Several other hikers were gathering there so we moved on after a few minutes.</p>
</div>
<div class="imageblock text-center">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2023/10/White_Rock_Overlook.webp" alt="White Rock Overlook" width="75%">
</div>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>We tried to activate two additional summits but were not successful.
We found where the trail head for <a href="https://www.sotadata.org.uk/en/summit/W3/WE-013">Blue Ridge summit (W3/WE-013)</a> should have been, but it wasn’t clear that a trail existed there.
The <a href="https://www.sotadata.org.uk/en/summit/W3/WE-019">Red Hill summit (W3/WE-019)</a> is all residential, now, with no public lands available to operate from.
I may have a way to activate this summit, however, so I’m not ruling this one out just yet.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>We drove back to the base of Lambs Knoll and I hiked in to Rocky Run Shelter and camping area.
After verifying the map data, I hiked out and then we headed to Frederick for supper.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>After parking at the MARC train station, with the car charging, we walked along Carroll Creek towards the downtown area.
<a href="https://www.frederick-social.com/">Frederick Social</a> was our destination where we we ate some very tasty food.
Amanda was able to sample a few beers they had on tap and we watched part of a football game before heading out.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>We arrived back home and everyone passed out from the busy day.
Can hardly wait for the next adventure!</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_contacts_made_on_lambs_knoll">Contacts made on Lambs Knoll</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="images/2023/10/W3-WE-007-WG3K.webp"><span class="image"><img src="images/2023/10/W3-WE-007-WG3K.webp" alt="{half-view-width}" height="Map showing contacts with SOTA chasers."></span></a></p>
</div>
<table class="tableblock frame-all grid-all stripes-even fit-content">
<caption class="title">Table 1. Contacts made on Lambs Knoll by WG3K</caption>
<colgroup>
<col>
<col>
<col>
<col>
<col>
</colgroup>
<thead>
<tr>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Time</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Callsign</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Band</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Mode</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Notes</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">16:52</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">KO4WDT</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">14MHz</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">SSB</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">P2P K-2206 Vogel State Park</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">16:58</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">W0MNA</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">14MHz</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">SSB</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">17:05</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">KB9HUO</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">14MHz</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">DATA</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">17:06</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">K4VHE</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">14MHz</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">DATA</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">17:07</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">KO4LEM</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">14MHz</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">DATA</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">17:10</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">KQ4DIA</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">14MHz</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">DATA</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">17:16</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">AD0DQ</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">14MHz</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">DATA</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">17:17</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">KM4IOA</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">14MHz</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">DATA</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">17:19</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">VE2JFM</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">14MHz</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">DATA</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">17:27</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">K4YJ</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">7MHz</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">DATA</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">17:31</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">AG4JO</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">7MHz</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">DATA</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">17:32</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">N2BTD</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">7MHz</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">DATA</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">17:41</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">K2FW</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">7MHz</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">CW</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">17:48</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">KK2B</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">7MHz</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">CW</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">17:50</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">K8ITU</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">7MHz</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">CW</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>Tech Notes: LoRa, Meshtastic, and TAK2023-08-16T00:00:00-04:002023-08-16T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2023-08-16:/tech-notes-lora-meshtastic-and-tak.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>There’s going to be a lot to unpack here so bear with me.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_the_bits_and_pieces">The bits and pieces</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_lora">LoRa</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LoRa">LoRa</a> (standing for Long Range) is a proprietary communications technique that is generally used on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISM_radio_band">ISM bands</a>.
In the United States of America that generally means 915MHz although other bands …</p></div></div></div></div><div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>There’s going to be a lot to unpack here so bear with me.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_the_bits_and_pieces">The bits and pieces</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_lora">LoRa</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LoRa">LoRa</a> (standing for Long Range) is a proprietary communications technique that is generally used on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISM_radio_band">ISM bands</a>.
In the United States of America that generally means 915MHz although other bands including 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz.
In ITU Region 1, a small portion of 433MHz is designated as ISM, meaning devices are available that radio amateurs in other ITU regions can utilize.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The benefit of LoRa isn’t the frequencies used but rather the ability to receive signals well below the noise floor (link budgets in the neighborhood of 155dB to 170dB).
Generally, the frequencies used for LoRa are line-of-sight.
This makes it more difficult to establish networks in hilly areas.
It does improve the ability for many different networks to exist in an area.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Another benefit of LoRa is its low power requirements.
A single, small battery could last for days (or months) based on usage.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>LoRa operates in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSI_model">OSI Layer 1</a>.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_meshtastic">Meshtastic</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="https://meshtastic.org/">Meshtastic</a> is an open source LoRa protocol that enables applications to communicate over LoRa and seems to operate in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSI_model">OSI Layers 2 and 3</a>.
Applications include those that share position information, messaging, and telemetry.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Meshtastic creates a dynamic mesh network that allows LoRa transceivers to repeat what it hears to other devices, increasing the area covered.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_tak">TAK</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="https://tak.gov/">Team Awareness Kit (TAK)</a> is an application that provides position sharing, cartographic resources, and other information sharing capabilities.
Developed by the DoD, the software was released as open source software which almost immediately caused a surge in plugins and other improvements to the software.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>TAK requires devices to be on the same <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcasting_(networking)">broadcast network</a> to share data unless they are talking to a TAK Server.
Due to this limitation, if devices are all connected using cellular or other disparate networks, a VPN is required to maintain communications between all devices.
It seems the VPN solution that many users are using is site:https://zerotier.com[Zerotier].</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_putting_it_all_together">Putting it all together</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>A TAK user can connect to other users using a variety of communication platforms including cellular, WiFi, and LoRa.
It’s possible to use Meshtastic to interface TAK with a LoRa transceiver.
Adding static Meshtastic devices in advantageous locations (high location with good sight of the operational area) can improve information sharing over a larger distance.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_aprs_over_lora">APRS over LoRa</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Similar to Meshtastic is a protocol designed for Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS).</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>Emergency Communications using JS8Call2023-08-08T00:00:00-04:002023-08-08T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2023-08-08:/emergency-communications-using-js8call.html<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/JS8Call_Logo.webp" alt="JS8Call logo" width="300">
</div>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="https://js8call.com/">JS8Call</a> is a program developed by KN4CRD and is based on the popular WSJT-X application and the related FT8 mode.
Basically, the software takes the weak-signal benefits of FT8 and turns it into a keyboard-to-keyboard mode that doesn’t use canned messages and has some really nice other features including …</p></div><div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/JS8Call_Logo.webp" alt="JS8Call logo" width="300">
</div>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="https://js8call.com/">JS8Call</a> is a program developed by KN4CRD and is based on the popular WSJT-X application and the related FT8 mode.
Basically, the software takes the weak-signal benefits of FT8 and turns it into a keyboard-to-keyboard mode that doesn’t use canned messages and has some really nice other features including the ability to relay messages through other stations and the ability to send or store messages for another station if they aren’t currently available.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>So, what does any of this have to do with emergency communications?
Simply, the ability of a station to join the network of other stations and either communicate directly or through another station is a huge benefit.
As HF propagation changes, the overall network changes, and routes come and go.
But as long as the two stations involved can still work a common station or stations, then they should be able to work anyone and everyone on that particular network.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The ability of a station to store a message for someone and then walk away knowing that when the operator queries for messages your station will let them know of the pending message is also great.
Mind you, these transmissions are generally slow, in the range of 8 to 40 words per minute (WPM), so it’s not appropriate for longer messages.
But when you’re trying to get a message through rough conditions, this is the mode to use.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>This is yet-another-tool in the toolbox of amateur radio.
If you enjoy digital modes on HF and haven’t tried it, I would recommend testing it out.</p>
</div>Tracking Wanderers2022-10-09T00:00:00-04:002022-10-09T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2022-10-09:/tracking-wanderers.html<div class="paragraph">
<p>Just a few years ago I was looking for a tracking solution for my mom.
She had been diagnosed with dementia, probably Alzheimer’s, and was prone to wandering.
Nothing on the market, at that time, really fit the bill.
They were either too bulky, didn’t track the individual …</p></div><div class="paragraph">
<p>Just a few years ago I was looking for a tracking solution for my mom.
She had been diagnosed with dementia, probably Alzheimer’s, and was prone to wandering.
Nothing on the market, at that time, really fit the bill.
They were either too bulky, didn’t track the individual in real-time, or had other issues that made them not a good fit.
Today, I was made aware of a new product: <a href="https://www.jiobit.com/">Jiobit</a>.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>For clarity, I have neither a relationship with Jiobit nor have used their product, but based on the advertising information, this seems like it would be a good fit for a wandering dementia patient.
The device is small, has multiple attachment mechanisms, and, most importantly to me, has multiple means of communicating its position including cellular, Bluetooth, and WiFi.
This is important because the sensor doesn’t require other people to run a particular app for the sensor’s information to be received by the system, like Tile or AirTag.
It also has a built-in GPS/GLONASS receiver so the system knows where the tracker is, not where the device that picked up the sensor is; an important distinction.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I am quite interested to see if I run into one of these devices in the field and how it compares with other tracking solutions like AirTag, Fi, AngelSense, SmartThings, Gizmo, Tile, and Whistle.</p>
</div>ATGP and POTA Activation at Gambrill State Park2022-07-16T00:00:00-04:002022-07-16T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2022-07-16:/atgp-and-pota-activation-at-gambrill-state-park.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Ahh, yes, July.
It bees are in the air.
Storms are rumbling all around.
And the sweet smell of packets are flying from mountain peak to mountain peak all along the Appalachian Trail.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Of course I’m talking about the annual Appalachian Trail Golden Packet (ATGP) event held at the …</p></div></div></div><div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Ahh, yes, July.
It bees are in the air.
Storms are rumbling all around.
And the sweet smell of packets are flying from mountain peak to mountain peak all along the Appalachian Trail.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Of course I’m talking about the annual Appalachian Trail Golden Packet (ATGP) event held at the request of Bob Bruninga, WB4APR/SK.
This is the first ATGP since his death earlier this year and he was missed.
His memorial service was happening at the same time as the ATGP so we were sort of doing Bob’s work at the same time others were remembering him elsewhere.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_the_event">The Event</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>This year we manned MDMTNS-7 which is at Gambrill State Park near Frederick, Maryland.
Previous years we’ve done Apple Orchard Mountain in Virginia which is a lot different than this location.
At Apple Orchard, everything you need to activate must be hiked up to the summit.
The views are absolutely worth the hike but it’s gotten old over the years.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>At Gambrill State Park, we activated near the south edge of the ridge.
The hardest part for us was walking from the car to the covered picnic table; big difference.
We could have camped nearby but the timing of several other events just didn’t make that possible.
It’s only a two-hour drive from the house so it wasn’t so bad to just get up in the morning and go.
The car was pretty much packed the night before so beside leaving the Kenwood D-74 at home, everything we needed made the trip.</p>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_setup">Setup</h3>
<div class="imageblock right">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2022/20220716_101109.webp" alt="Eric WG3K and Harlan KC3UJB set up the VHF/UHF antenna for APRS." width="300">
</div>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>We arrived promptly at 10:00.
Setup included four three-foot mast pipes and a high-gain mobile antenna suitable for VHF and UHF, a Kenwood D700A for the digipeater, and a deep-cycle battery to power the system.
I also brought my Elecraft KX3 and end-fed long wire antenna to keep myself occupied since this was going to be a lot of automated work during the next few hours.
My biggest job until the end of the event would be changing baud rates and checking to see who I was hearing.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_operations">Operations</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Turns out, the first station I started hearing was Hawksbill (HWKSBL-6) but only very weakly.
It was enough to decode their signal but I noted that I was not hearing myself being digipeated when I transmitted my beacon.
Clearly this was going to be a problem.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>It was well after 11:00 before I heard GDHILL-8 join the net.
His signal was around an S5 and packets were easily decoded from his station.
I was also noticing that he was digipeating my station so I had hopes that the northern stations would also be able to hear me as well.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>2022-07-03 Bee Log2022-07-03T00:00:00-04:002022-07-03T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2022-07-03:/2022-07-03-bee-log.html<div class="dlist">
<dl>
<dt class="hdlist1">Date</dt>
<dd>
<p>2022-07-03</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Time</dt>
<dd>
<p>12:00</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Quantity of Bees</dt>
<dd>
<p>Medium</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Temperament</dt>
<dd>
<p>Nervous</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Fitness</dt>
<dd>
<p>Average</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Queenright</dt>
<dd>
<p>Yes</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Queen Cells</dt>
<dd>
<p>Not Seen</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Feed</dt>
<dd>
<p>Syrup still on tap. Will need to replace tomorrow.</p>
</dd>
</dl>
</div>
<table class="tableblock frame-all grid-all" style="width: 75%;">
<caption class="title">Table 1. Hive Body 1 - Frame Observations</caption>
<colgroup>
<col style="width: 12.5%;">
<col style="width: 12.5%;">
<col style="width: 25%;">
<col style="width: 12.5%;">
<col style="width: 37.5%;">
</colgroup>
<thead>
<tr>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Frame</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Side</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Contents</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">%age Filled</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Observations</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">1</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">A</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">1</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">B</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">2</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">A …</p></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="dlist">
<dl>
<dt class="hdlist1">Date</dt>
<dd>
<p>2022-07-03</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Time</dt>
<dd>
<p>12:00</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Quantity of Bees</dt>
<dd>
<p>Medium</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Temperament</dt>
<dd>
<p>Nervous</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Fitness</dt>
<dd>
<p>Average</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Queenright</dt>
<dd>
<p>Yes</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Queen Cells</dt>
<dd>
<p>Not Seen</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Feed</dt>
<dd>
<p>Syrup still on tap. Will need to replace tomorrow.</p>
</dd>
</dl>
</div>
<table class="tableblock frame-all grid-all" style="width: 75%;">
<caption class="title">Table 1. Hive Body 1 - Frame Observations</caption>
<colgroup>
<col style="width: 12.5%;">
<col style="width: 12.5%;">
<col style="width: 25%;">
<col style="width: 12.5%;">
<col style="width: 37.5%;">
</colgroup>
<thead>
<tr>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Frame</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Side</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Contents</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">%age Filled</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Observations</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">1</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">A</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">1</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">B</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">2</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">A</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">2</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">B</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">3</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">A</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">3</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">B</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Honey</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">33%</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Free-form comb not drawn on foundation. Honey in center cells.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">4</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">A</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">4</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">B</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">5</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">A</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Brood</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">65%</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Some capped cells seen.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">5</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">B</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Brood</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">65%</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Some capped cells seen.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">6</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">A</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">6</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">B</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Brood?</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">50%</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Free-form comb not drawn on foundation.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">7</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">A</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">7</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">B</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">8</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">A</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">8</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">B</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">9</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">A</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">9</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">B</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="dlist">
<dl>
<dt class="hdlist1">Notes</dt>
<dd>
<p>I believe the bees are drawing free-form comb, instead of using the plastic foundation due to the lack of wax on the foundation.
I probably should have thought of that but I didn’t.
I removed the foundation from frames 3 and 6 so the bees could more easily work on their comb from both sides.
The bees seemed nervous <strong>after</strong> the inspection, and this may have been due to the removal of the foundations.
Hopefully they won’t mind too much.
I want to get some wax on the foundations that they haven’t built on, yet,</p>
</dd>
</dl>
</div>2022-06-27 Bee Log2022-06-27T00:00:00-04:002022-06-27T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2022-06-27:/2022-06-27-bee-log.html<div class="dlist">
<dl>
<dt class="hdlist1">Date</dt>
<dd>
<p>2022-06-27</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Time</dt>
<dd>
<p>13:30</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Quantity of Bees</dt>
<dd>
<p>Medium</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Temperament</dt>
<dd>
<p>Calm</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Fitness</dt>
<dd>
<p>Average</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Queenright</dt>
<dd>
<p>Yes</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Queen Cells</dt>
<dd>
<p>Not Seen</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Feed</dt>
<dd>
<p>Syrup still on tap.</p>
</dd>
</dl>
</div>
<table class="tableblock frame-all grid-all" style="width: 75%;">
<caption class="title">Table 1. Hive Body 1 - Frame Observations</caption>
<colgroup>
<col style="width: 12.5%;">
<col style="width: 12.5%;">
<col style="width: 25%;">
<col style="width: 12.5%;">
<col style="width: 37.5%;">
</colgroup>
<thead>
<tr>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Frame</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Side</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Contents</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">%age Filled</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Observations</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">1</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">A</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">1</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">B</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">2</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">A</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">2</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">B</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">3 …</p></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="dlist">
<dl>
<dt class="hdlist1">Date</dt>
<dd>
<p>2022-06-27</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Time</dt>
<dd>
<p>13:30</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Quantity of Bees</dt>
<dd>
<p>Medium</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Temperament</dt>
<dd>
<p>Calm</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Fitness</dt>
<dd>
<p>Average</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Queenright</dt>
<dd>
<p>Yes</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Queen Cells</dt>
<dd>
<p>Not Seen</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Feed</dt>
<dd>
<p>Syrup still on tap.</p>
</dd>
</dl>
</div>
<table class="tableblock frame-all grid-all" style="width: 75%;">
<caption class="title">Table 1. Hive Body 1 - Frame Observations</caption>
<colgroup>
<col style="width: 12.5%;">
<col style="width: 12.5%;">
<col style="width: 25%;">
<col style="width: 12.5%;">
<col style="width: 37.5%;">
</colgroup>
<thead>
<tr>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Frame</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Side</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Contents</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">%age Filled</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Observations</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">1</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">A</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">1</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">B</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">2</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">A</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">2</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">B</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">3</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">A</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">3</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">B</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Honey</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">20%</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Free-form comb not drawn on foundation.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">4</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">A</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">4</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">B</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">5</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">A</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Brood</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">50%</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Some capped cells seen.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">5</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">B</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">6</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">A</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">6</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">B</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">7</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">A</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">7</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">B</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">8</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">A</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">8</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">B</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">9</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">A</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">9</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">B</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="dlist">
<dl>
<dt class="hdlist1">Notes</dt>
<dd>
<p>Some brood starting to show in the comb on frame 5.</p>
</dd>
</dl>
</div>2022-06-13 Bee Log2022-06-13T00:00:00-04:002022-06-13T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2022-06-13:/2022-06-13-bee-log.html<div class="dlist">
<dl>
<dt class="hdlist1">Date</dt>
<dd>
<p>2022-06-13</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Time</dt>
<dd>
<p>12:00</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Quantity of Bees</dt>
<dd>
<p>Medium</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Temperament</dt>
<dd>
<p>Calm</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Fitness</dt>
<dd>
<p>Average</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Queenright</dt>
<dd>
<p>Yes</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Queen Cells</dt>
<dd>
<p>Not Seen</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Feed</dt>
<dd>
<p>Syrup on tap.</p>
</dd>
</dl>
</div>
<table class="tableblock frame-all grid-all" style="width: 75%;">
<caption class="title">Table 1. Hive Body 1 - Frame Observations</caption>
<colgroup>
<col style="width: 12.5%;">
<col style="width: 12.5%;">
<col style="width: 25%;">
<col style="width: 12.5%;">
<col style="width: 37.5%;">
</colgroup>
<thead>
<tr>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Frame</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Side</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Contents</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">%age Filled</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Observations</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">1</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">A</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">1</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">B</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">2</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">A</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">2</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">B</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">3</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">A …</p></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="dlist">
<dl>
<dt class="hdlist1">Date</dt>
<dd>
<p>2022-06-13</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Time</dt>
<dd>
<p>12:00</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Quantity of Bees</dt>
<dd>
<p>Medium</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Temperament</dt>
<dd>
<p>Calm</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Fitness</dt>
<dd>
<p>Average</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Queenright</dt>
<dd>
<p>Yes</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Queen Cells</dt>
<dd>
<p>Not Seen</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">Feed</dt>
<dd>
<p>Syrup on tap.</p>
</dd>
</dl>
</div>
<table class="tableblock frame-all grid-all" style="width: 75%;">
<caption class="title">Table 1. Hive Body 1 - Frame Observations</caption>
<colgroup>
<col style="width: 12.5%;">
<col style="width: 12.5%;">
<col style="width: 25%;">
<col style="width: 12.5%;">
<col style="width: 37.5%;">
</colgroup>
<thead>
<tr>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Frame</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Side</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Contents</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">%age Filled</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Observations</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">1</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">A</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">1</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">B</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">2</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">A</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">2</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">B</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">3</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">A</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">3</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">B</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">4</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">A</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">4</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">B</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">5</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">A</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">5</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">B</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">6</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">A</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">6</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">B</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">7</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">A</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">7</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">B</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">8</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">A</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">8</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">B</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">9</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">A</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">9</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">B</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Empty</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="dlist">
<dl>
<dt class="hdlist1">Notes</dt>
<dd>
<p>First inspection since bees moved in.
Removed queen cage (box) and verified queen was on a frame.</p>
</dd>
</dl>
</div>OCSP Vulnerability in Nextcloud client2022-06-09T00:00:00-04:002022-06-09T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2022-06-09:/ocsp-vulnerability-in-nextcloud-client.html<div class="imageblock right">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2022/320px-Nextcloud_Logo.svg.webp" alt="Nextcloud Logo">
</div>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_Certificate_Status_Protocol">Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP)</a> is a method for determining the revocation status of a X.509 digital certificate used to authenticate a website, service, or user.
Basically, a web browser can, before deciding to use a particular certificate for an encrypted session<sup class="footnote">[<a id="_footnoteref_1" class="footnote" href="#_footnotedef_1" title="View footnote.">1</a>]</sup>, verify that the certificate is still …</p></div><div class="imageblock right">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2022/320px-Nextcloud_Logo.svg.webp" alt="Nextcloud Logo">
</div>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_Certificate_Status_Protocol">Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP)</a> is a method for determining the revocation status of a X.509 digital certificate used to authenticate a website, service, or user.
Basically, a web browser can, before deciding to use a particular certificate for an encrypted session<sup class="footnote">[<a id="_footnoteref_1" class="footnote" href="#_footnotedef_1" title="View footnote.">1</a>]</sup>, verify that the certificate is still valid instead of just relying on an expiration date.
While many (most?) certificates are good until expiration, one never knows if a certificate gets replaced due to compromise or because the certificate was upgraded.
This is why OCSP exists; to provide a mechanism to notify the end-device that the certificate is no longer in use and that it shouldn’t be trusted.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Back in January of 2022, I discovered that Nextcloud client does not check the status of certificates.
I was in the process of swapping out some certificates and my computer readily accepted a revoked certificate as trusted.
I opened a bug against the product to let the developers know of the issue; it should be a relatively easy fix.
Today, five months later, I was told that:</p>
</div>
<div class="literalblock">
<div class="content">
<pre>After some discussion and getting a broader picture of the situation and consequences, it was decided that we will not fix this.</pre>
</div>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>So, with that out of the way, I now disclose this to you fine people to do what you will with the information.
Hopefully you will not be adversely affected by this bug and I’m not sure exactly how difficult it would be to fix it.
If they are simply calling openssl then it’s likely just adding the proper switch.
I, unfortunately, have not gotten that far into the issue just yet.</p>
</div>
<div id="footnotes">
<hr>
<div class="footnote" id="_footnotedef_1">
<a href="#_footnoteref_1">1</a>. Does not always need to be for an encrypted session. Certificates are primarily used for authentication and then can be used to start an encrypted session if there is trust between the user and the certificate.
</div>
</div>Multi Factor Authentication Tokens2022-05-24T00:00:00-04:002022-05-24T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2022-05-24:/multi-factor-authentication-tokens.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>There are many types of multi factor authentication (MFA) tokens available.
Some are virtual, some are software (apps), and some are hardware.
Each has their benefits and their disadvantages.
This paper discusses some of the concerns with each type of authentication token type and what is recommended for secure networks …</p></div></div></div><div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>There are many types of multi factor authentication (MFA) tokens available.
Some are virtual, some are software (apps), and some are hardware.
Each has their benefits and their disadvantages.
This paper discusses some of the concerns with each type of authentication token type and what is recommended for secure networks.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_virtual_tokens">Virtual tokens</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Virtual tokens are one-time passwords, usually a short series of numbers, that are delivered to the user by way of email, SMS message, or even a phone call.
The biggest problem is that with this mechanism is that with a targeted attack, using this method of authentication becomes a race condition.
None of these delivery mechanisms are secure so an attacker who is in the correct location, physical or logical, can easily intercept these tokens and authenticate to the system before the user can.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The phishing tools Modilishka, CredSniper, and Evilginx can intercept username, password, and a token entered by a user to a look-alike site, gaining access to the site while passing the user onto the site as well so the user doesn’t know the difference.
A hardware token is not susceptible to this type of attack.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Another threat to virtual tokens is that phone companies can be fooled into transferring a phone number to a different SIM card allowing an attacker to receive a MFA token instead of the user.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>And finally, any outage to the infrastructure supporting the delivery of the token will render the user or users unable to receive the necessary information to log into their systems.
That includes the cellular network, Internet connection, email server, SS7 SMS delivery network, and other components, all of which are outside of the control of the system owner.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) released a bulletin regarding attacks to U.S. banking institutions and their customers that were using these types of tokens back in 2019.
The attacks went back to 2016 and involved SIM swapping to circumvent two-factor authentication.
In 2019, the Muraena and NecroBrowser phishing tools were shown intercepting network traffic that led to the recovery of enough information to gain access to secured systems.
The system cannot defeat USB hardware tokens with support for the Universal 2nd Factor (U2F) standard, however.
Solutions based on codes received over SMS or generated by a mobile authenticator app are vulnerable.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_soft_tokens">Soft tokens</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Soft tokens are generally software applications run on a mobile computing device that uses a cryptologic function and a clock to provide a one-time password.
These applications are better than a virtual token as the codes are never transmitted over a network connection, but are susceptible to any malware that may be running on the device.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Hardware versions of the same type system, typically seen from the RSA company, also fall into this category even though they aren’t run on a mobile device.
These devices, while not susceptible to a malware threat, are vulnerable to phishing attacks related to Muraena and NecroBrowser, Modilishka, CredSniper, and Evilginx because the codes have to be entered in by hand.
Hardware devices, including USB and smart cards, aren’t susceptible to these threats.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_hard_tokens">Hard tokens</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Hard tokens are physical devices that connect to the device you are attempting to authenticate to and provide the extra form of identification (something you have).
They are considered to be a high security factor and generally do not require any other infrastructure to work.
Some hardware tokens can even provide authentication to or through mobile devices using NFC.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The downside of hard tokens is the cost.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Users of hard tokens include the U.S. government and military, Google, and Facebook.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>Options for MDMTNS-72022-04-02T00:00:00-04:002022-04-02T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2022-04-02:/options-for-mdmtns-7.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>This July will be the first time I’ll be activating <a href="http://www.aprs.org/hamtrails/MD.html">MDMTNS-7</a> for the Appalachian Trail Golden Packet (ATGP) event.
Previous years have seen this station manned from a home with tower.
Unfortunately, this is no longer an option.</p>
</div>
<div class="imageblock right text-center">
<div class="content">
<a class="image" href="images/2022/PHV3V.webp"><img src="images/2022/PHV3V.webp" alt="Topographic chart of the three sites for MDMTNS-7" width="300"></a>
</div>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Today I went looking for options for this year’s event …</p></div></div></div><div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>This July will be the first time I’ll be activating <a href="http://www.aprs.org/hamtrails/MD.html">MDMTNS-7</a> for the Appalachian Trail Golden Packet (ATGP) event.
Previous years have seen this station manned from a home with tower.
Unfortunately, this is no longer an option.</p>
</div>
<div class="imageblock right text-center">
<div class="content">
<a class="image" href="images/2022/PHV3V.webp"><img src="images/2022/PHV3V.webp" alt="Topographic chart of the three sites for MDMTNS-7" width="300"></a>
</div>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Today I went looking for options for this year’s event.
Looking at topographic charts I found three areas of interest:</p>
</div>
<div class="olist arabic">
<ol class="arabic">
<li>
<p>Gambrill State Park main parking area</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>North Frederick Overlook</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Tower site off of Gambrill Park Road</p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Each of these sites have their positives and negatives.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Our targets from Maryland Mountains are:</p>
</div>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>to the south, Hawksbill; and</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>to the north, Governor Dick Hill.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_gambrill_state_park_main_parking">Gambrill State Park main parking</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="imageblock text-center">
<div class="content">
<a class="image" href="images/2022/Gambrill_State_Park_panoramic.jpg"><img src="images/2022/Gambrill_State_Park_panoramic.jpg" alt="Panoramic image from Gambrill State Park parking area." width="600"></a>
</div>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Coordinates: 39.46234, -77.49538</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Altitude: 470m</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>This is the main visitor area for the state park.
There are many picnic areas including some individually covered tables.
Camping is available just south of this location.
There should be good takeoff to the south as the parking area seems to sit right on top of a ridge.
The area is fairly wooded, however, and would not be good for microwaves.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Other downsides include the number of people that would be in the area.
Not sure how high of an antenna one could put up here.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_north_frederick_overlook">North Frederick Overlook</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="imageblock text-center">
<div class="content">
<a class="image" href="images/2022/North_Frederick_Overlook_panoramic.jpg"><img src="images/2022/North_Frederick_Overlook_panoramic.jpg" alt="Panoramic image from North Frederick Overlook parking area." width="600"></a>
</div>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Coordinates: 39.46991, -77.49453</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Altitude: 490m</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>This is a parking lot right off of Gambrill Park Road just north of the Gambrill State Park main parking.
Not a lot of space, here, but it does give pretty good takeoff towards the northeast.
Area could be busy depending on the number of visitors to the overlook.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Powerlines run N-S just east of the parking lot.
There are many trees that surround the site so might not be good for microwaves except to the northeast.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_tower_site_off_of_gambrill_park_road">Tower site off of Gambrill Park Road</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="imageblock text-center">
<div class="content">
<a class="image" href="images/2022/Gambrill_tower_site_panoramic.jpg"><img src="images/2022/Gambrill_tower_site_panoramic.jpg" alt="Panoramic image from the Gambrill tower site." width="600"></a>
</div>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Coordinates: 39.49390, -77.49909</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Altitude: 525m</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>This site is home to <strong>many</strong> towers.
As you might expect, it’s the highest altitude site around.
It is also an RF-rich environment.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>There is a N-S running power line that runs through this area as well as many trees.
Might be able to get a pole up in the air without too much trouble and there likely won’t be too many people around.
Again, the biggest issue will be the high RF environment.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>SWL Logs for the week of 2021-01-022021-01-02T00:00:00-05:002021-01-02T00:00:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2021-01-02:/swl-logs-for-the-week-of-2021-01-02.html<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_2021_01_03_1945_radio_national_da_amazonia_11910khz_drm">2021-01-03 – 19:45 – Radio National da Amazonia – 11910kHz DRM</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>A very good music program in Portuguese broadcast using DRM (Mode B) from Parque do Rodeador, Braslia, Brasil.
Heard via SDR in Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Nearby AM signal was causing some dropouts.
Adjusting receive frequency up 0.12 kHz seemed …</p></div></div></div><div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_2021_01_03_1945_radio_national_da_amazonia_11910khz_drm">2021-01-03 – 19:45 – Radio National da Amazonia – 11910kHz DRM</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>A very good music program in Portuguese broadcast using DRM (Mode B) from Parque do Rodeador, Braslia, Brasil.
Heard via SDR in Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Nearby AM signal was causing some dropouts.
Adjusting receive frequency up 0.12 kHz seemed to help.
SINPO 54555</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="audio/bonaire.twrmon.net_2021-01-03T19_46_48Z_11910.00_drm.wav">Recording of Radio National da Amazonia on 2021-01-03 on 11910kHz DRM</a></p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="audio/bonaire.twrmon.net_2021-01-03T19_59_43Z_11910.12_drm.wav">Recording of Radio National da Amazonia on 2021-01-03 on 11910kHz DRM</a></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_2021_01_03_2050_china_radio_international_6020khz">2021-01-03 – 20:50 – China Radio International – 6020kHz</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>A personal favorite of mine, Chinese music via AM.
This program was destined to the Polish-speaking community of Europe although heard very well in Mardshegy, Hungary.
There did seem to be some sort of TTY signal near the carrier that caused some interference but did not take away from the overall experience.
SINPO 54555</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="audio/fsdr.duckdns.org_2021-01-03T20_49_54Z_6019.98_amn.wav">Recording of China Radio International on 2021-01-03 on 6020kHz</a></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_2021_01_05_1414_denge_welat_11540khz">2021-01-05 – 14:14 – Denge Welat – 11540kHz</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Music program. Lost signal at 14:30.
SINPO 35433 in Wien, Austria.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_2021_01_05_1440_all_india_radio_11560khz">2021-01-05 – 14:40 – All India Radio – 11560kHz</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Music program with what appears to be news mixed in.
According to documentation I can find online, this is being transmitted from Bengaluru.
SINPO 45544 in Wien, Austria.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_2021_01_05_1630_china_radio_international_5970khz">2021-01-05 – 16:30 – China Radio International – 5970kHz</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Music program with news in German.
SINPO 55555 in Lutsk, Ukraine.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_2021_01_05_1646_china_radio_international_6040khz">2021-01-05 – 16:46 – China Radio International – 6040kHz</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Singing music program.
Not my favorite but it was a nice program.
SINPO 55555 in Lutsk, Ukraine.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_2021_01_05_1700_radio_new_zealand_pacific_9780khz_drm">2021-01-05 – 17:00 – Radio New Zealand Pacific – 9780kHz DRM</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Supposed to be DRM to the Pacific Islands but I’m not getting a full lock on the signal using any of the SDRs on the New Zealand island.
Signal looks strong with no adjacent signals.
Did hear a blip of audio at the top second.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_2021_01_05_1710_radio_new_zealand_pacific_9780khz_drm">2021-01-05 – 17:10 – Radio New Zealand Pacific – 9780kHz DRM</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Music and Apollo 13 BBC story.
Finally found the audio!
No joy using SDR in Brisbane (no signal at all) but a great signal in Hawaii (AI6VN/KH6 using 75m Beverage antenna).
DRM Mode B.
Really enjoy the text being sent along with the audio:</p>
</div>
<div class="listingblock">
<div class="content">
<pre class="highlight"><code>16:50 - 18:35 9780kHz
18:36 - 19:58 11690kHz
QSL www.rnzi.com</code></pre>
</div>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>SINPO 55555 in Hawai’i</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="audio/kiwisdr.robinett.us_2021-01-05T17_10_10Z_9780.00_drm.wav">Recording of Radio New Zealand Pacific on 2021-01-05 on 9780kHz DRM</a></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_2021_01_05_2013_china_radio_international_6020khz">2021-01-05 – 20:13 – China Radio International – 6020kHz</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Traditional Chinese music.
Another day of great traditional music (with Polish introductions).
Tried a receiver in Poland but transmission is noisy there.
Signal is very clear in Fuzesabony, Hungary.
SINPO 55555.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_2021_01_05_2058_tech_note">2021-01-05 – 20:58 – Tech Note</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>49m band is quite crowded at his hour.
Seeing 6010, 6020, and 6030 all in use simultaneously (including a DRM signal!).
All signals seem to be clean and no problem with selectivity on the receiver.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_2021_01_05_2100_radio_romania_international_6030khz_drm">2021-01-05 – 21:00 – Radio Romania International – 6030kHz DRM</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>French program.
Tried a receiver in Hungary but SNR is too low.
Showing 17.7dB in Buchen, Germany (DM7RM).
SINPO 55555.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_2021_01_06_0230_wrmi_9395khz">2021-01-06 – 02:30 – WRMI – 9395kHz</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>60s, 70s, and 80s music program.
Great signal in Alexandria, Virginia.
SINPO 55555.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_2021_01_07_2000_china_radio_international_6020khz">2021-01-07 – 20:00 – China Radio International – 6020kHz</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I’m really starting to like this music program beamed to Europe from China.
Traditional Chinese music with very good signals.
Receiver used today was a KiwiSDR in Maroshegy, Hungary.
SINPO 44544.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>Signal routing2020-10-19T00:00:00-04:002020-10-19T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2020-10-19:/signal-routing.html<div class="paragraph">
<p>Made a <a href="https://signal.org/">Signal</a> call to a friend today.
He was curious and pulled up Wireshark to see how the call was being routed.
It appears that our call was going point-to-point, over IPv6 (no NAT), directly between devices.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>So, as the Internet was designed…​</p>
</div>DMARC Works2020-09-01T00:00:00-04:002020-09-01T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2020-09-01:/dmarc-works.html<div class="paragraph">
<p>Earlier today I received a few notifications of bounced mail from Google.
This was odd seeing as how I hadn’t sent any mail to Google in a while.
Upon further inspection, the messages originated from an application running on one of my servers.
These were password reset messages destined …</p></div><div class="paragraph">
<p>Earlier today I received a few notifications of bounced mail from Google.
This was odd seeing as how I hadn’t sent any mail to Google in a while.
Upon further inspection, the messages originated from an application running on one of my servers.
These were password reset messages destined to a real user but were rejected because I hadn’t properly setup SPF and DKIM for this domain and Google had kindly rejected the messages based on my DMARC policy of <strong>reject</strong>.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I’ve talked about <a href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/e-mail-security.html">e-mail server security</a> in a previous post and it clearly worked in this case.
A quick fix on my server and to a DNS entry fixed this problem, but I wondered if there were other messages that had been rejected recently that I wasn’t aware of.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I use <a href="https://www.mailhardener.com">Mailhardener</a> to collect all my security reports regarding e-mail.
Reviewing the last few weeks showed that a few Chinese servers had been trying to send mail using my aehe.us domain but had been thwarted by my DMARC policy.
The fact that the policies I have in place kept these spam messages out of circulation is a testament to how far we’ve come with easily deployable authentication mechanisms that should be common place on the Internet today.</p>
</div>802.11 5GHz channels in the 5cm amateur radio spectrum2020-08-26T00:00:00-04:002020-08-26T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2020-08-26:/80211-5ghz-channels-in-the-5cm-amateur-radio-spectrum.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>WiFi channels 132 (5660 MHz) through 183 (5915 MHz) are within the 5cm amateur radio spectrum.
That breaks down to:</p>
</div>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>11 - 20MHz channels - ~150Mbps</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>4 - 40MHz channels - ~300Mbps</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>2 - 80MHz channels - ~900Mbps</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Wikipedia has a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WLAN_channels#5_GHz_(802.11a/h/j/n/ac/ax)">wonderful chart that depicts overlap of channels</a>.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_channel_usage">Channel usage</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_local_area_networks_lans">Local Area Networks (LANs)</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Channels 165 …</p></div></div></div></div><div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>WiFi channels 132 (5660 MHz) through 183 (5915 MHz) are within the 5cm amateur radio spectrum.
That breaks down to:</p>
</div>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>11 - 20MHz channels - ~150Mbps</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>4 - 40MHz channels - ~300Mbps</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>2 - 80MHz channels - ~900Mbps</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Wikipedia has a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WLAN_channels#5_GHz_(802.11a/h/j/n/ac/ax)">wonderful chart that depicts overlap of channels</a>.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_channel_usage">Channel usage</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_local_area_networks_lans">Local Area Networks (LANs)</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Channels 165, 169, and 173 are all 20MHz channels with no overlap of 40 or 80MHz channels.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_point_to_point_ptp_links">Point-to-point (PtP) Links</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Channels 132, 136, 140, 144, 149, 153, 157, and 161 are all 20MHz channels that can be joined together to create 40 and 80MHz channels.
Channels 134, 142, 151, and 159 are all 40MHz channels.
Channels 138 and 155 are 80MHz channels.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>Applications for Ham Radio 802.11 Networks2020-08-15T00:00:00-04:002020-08-15T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2020-08-15:/apps-for-ham-radio-networks.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="admonitionblock note">
<table>
<tr>
<td class="icon">
<div class="title">Note</div>
</td>
<td class="content">
This article originally appeared on 2016-02-12 but has been revamped to better include amateur radio technologies that are present in 2020.
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Digital wireless networks have been around for decades, now.
In the last few years, amateur radio operators have been taking advantage of cheaper microwave gear that has allowed …</p></div></div></div><div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="admonitionblock note">
<table>
<tr>
<td class="icon">
<div class="title">Note</div>
</td>
<td class="content">
This article originally appeared on 2016-02-12 but has been revamped to better include amateur radio technologies that are present in 2020.
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Digital wireless networks have been around for decades, now.
In the last few years, amateur radio operators have been taking advantage of cheaper microwave gear that has allowed much higher bandwidth than was once even thought possible back in the days of packet radio.
So what can we do once we’ve built our IP-based 802.11 network to supplant the Internet or other commercial networks?
Here are just a few ideas.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_situational_awareness">Situational Awareness</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Taking an existing technology and expanding its role in day-to-day operations, as well as during emergencies; <a href="http://aprs.org/">Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS)</a> can easily be run on a hybrid network to pass short messages, show the location of resources (food, water, repeaters, infrastructure), display emergent issues such at road closures, damaged infrastructure, or persons in need of help, and who is on the air.
By running a local server on the network, everyone can run an IP-based station on the network without fear of overloading the VHF network.
With a couple of well-placed i-gates, needed information can seamlessly move between the two networks allowing users on both networks to have a view into what’s happening.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_linking_repeaters">Linking Repeaters</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_allstar">AllStar</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The <a href="https://www.allstarlink.org/">AllStarLink</a> network is an extension of the Asterisk PBX (see below) used to link repeaters over IP networks (e.g. the Internet).
These links can be passed over your own network to a server on the network without any Internet connectivity required.</p>
</div>
<div class="sect3">
<h4 id="_dmr">DMR</h4>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_mobile_radio">Digital Mobile Radio (DMR)</a> repeaters already use IP connections to connect to their network servers.
Using your wireless network to connect your repeaters together is a logical use (see <a href="https://www.rmham.org/amateur-microwave-network/">Rocky Mountain Ham Radio’s Microwave Network</a> and their <a href="https://www.rmham.org/dmr-network/">DMR network</a>) of your network and doesn’t require much bandwidth.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_e_mail">E-mail</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>You don’t need Winlink when you’re trying to pass messages to someone that’s already on your network!</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>E-mail is a simple, asynchronous method of communication that is familiar to most people.
If you aren’t using a web client, the bandwidth required can be very minimal.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Network and system administrators should be familiar with the three protocols that make email work: SMTP, POP3, and IMAP.</p>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_smtp">SMTP</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smtp">Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)</a> is an Internet standard for routing messages between e-mail servers.
When you send an e-mail, your client connects to an SMTP server and sends the message.
The SMTP server, after receiving the message from you, attempts to figure out how to deliver the message to the distant email server.
If the message is being kept locally (e.g. the recipient is on the same server as where you delivered the message) then the message is filed for delivery when the recipient queries the server.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><span class="image"><img src="images/2016/02/mysza.gif" alt="200" width="200" height="The Postfix logo"></span>An often-used SMTP program is <a href="http://www.postfix.org/">Postfix</a>.
It requires a little configuration but basically just works out of the box.
Postfix will handle receipt of mail and delivery to the mail server where your recipient is without further action from the user.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_pop3_and_imap">POP3 and IMAP</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POP3">Post Office Protocol version 3 (POP3)</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Message_Access_Protocol">Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP)</a> are on the message delivery side of the house.
These are the protocols that allow a user to query the e-mail server for messages.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>POP3 basically forces a user to collect their mail and then delete it from the server.
By doing so, once downloaded, the user has the only copy of the message and the server is freed of the responsibility (and storage space) for handling the message.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>IMAP, on the other hand, allows the user to download a copy of the message but, until deleted, the message remains on the server.
This allows the user to utilize multiple computers and, be able to sort their messages into folders and have that organization synchronize among all the user’s computers.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><span class="image"><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Dovecot-logo.png" alt="200" width="200" height="The Dovecot logo"></span>Dovecot handles delivery of messages to clients using POP3 and IMAP.
Again, the software requires a bit of configuration but generally just works out of the box.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_web_server">Web Server</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Have a website you want to publish on your network?
Want to use a program to share files and other information?
You’ll need a web server!</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><span class="image"><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Apache_HTTP_server_logo_%282016%29.svg" alt="200" width="200" height="Apache logo"></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_HTTP_Server">Apache’s http server</a>, commonly known as httpd, is very easy to setup and use.
Once installed, the server looks for files in your web folder (/var/www/html) and waits for a request from a client.</p>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_wordpress">WordPress</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>WordPress can be used to create websites that can be updated in seconds from a web browser.
WordPress uses a web server (like httpd) and a database (like mariadb) to function.
Once you have everything up and running, you’ll be up and running!</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_nextcloud">NextCloud</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><span class="image"><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Nextcloud_Logo.svg" alt="Nextcloud Logo"></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nextcloud">Nextcloud</a> is a suite of client-server software that creates a file hosting service and also allows management and sharing of calendar information, contacts, and more.
Because it’s far more efficient to share files using the http protocol, compared to email, and because files can be managed and synchronized among many computers through shares, using Nextcloud to manage files is far superior than using email for the same tasks.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_voice_communications_voip">Voice Communications (VoIP)</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Using the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Session_Initiation_Protocol">session initiation protocol (SIP)</a>, one can handle VoIP "calls" over the network.
This can be between VoIP phones or between AT conversion boxes linking analog repeaters.
Unless you know exactly what phones are where, and your system isn’t growing, you likely don’t need a server.
But, if you plan on expanding your network and wish to have dynamic routing (phone numbers) then you’ll likely need a centralized server.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><span class="image"><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e4/Asterisk_Logo.svg/650px-Asterisk_Logo.svg.webp" alt="200" width="200" height="Asterisk logo"></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterisk_%28PBX%29">Asterisk</a> is a great <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_branch_exchange">private branch exchange (PBX)</a> server allowing telephones to connect with each other.
Connections between the server and the clients are generally done using SIP whereas connections between Asterisk servers use <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter-Asterisk_eXchange">Inter-Asterisk eXchange (IAX)</a>.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_connecting_lans">Connecting LANs</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>All of this information has been presented absent the network management infrastructure that helps make communications between easier.
Handling data on a single local area network (LAN) doesn’t necessarily require this kind of infrastructure but utilizing tools like DHCP, DNS, and others can be helpful.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_summary_conclusion">Summary Conclusion</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>As you’ve seen, once you’ve built your network there are a few more steps to making your network work for you.
You don’t need any fancy hardware, either, as these tools can easily work on a laptop connected to the network for easy deployment.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>All the suggested software is free and open source software (FOSS) which allows anyone to deploy the software for free (and allows you to make changes to the software if needed).</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>Shortwave Radiogram 1632020-08-01T00:00:00-04:002020-08-01T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2020-08-01:/shortwave-radiogram-163.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I usually can only decode the Shortwave Radiogram program on Sunday evenings (local time) when conditions and frequencies line up to be perfect for the short transmission path from Florida.
This morning I decided to tune in to the 15775 kHz channel, transmitted from WRMI.
To my surprise there was …</p></div></div></div><div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I usually can only decode the Shortwave Radiogram program on Sunday evenings (local time) when conditions and frequencies line up to be perfect for the short transmission path from Florida.
This morning I decided to tune in to the 15775 kHz channel, transmitted from WRMI.
To my surprise there was very little fading on the signal and I was able to obtain a perfect copy (there is some noise on a couple of the images).</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The last image, made of the RGB channels 0, 128, and 255, was really cool to watch (and listening to) coming across the radio.
There were three distinct channels showing on the waterfall which were very distinct on MFSK64.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_the_program_decoded">The program, decoded.</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="literalblock">
<div class="content">
<pre>Welcome to program 163 of Shortwave Radiogram.
I'm Kim Andrew Elliott in Arlington, Virginia USA.
Here is the lineup for today's program, in MFSK modes as noted:
1:44 MFSK32: Program preview (now)
2:58 MFSK16: ARRL/TAPR conference call for papers
5:40 MFSK32: Highest-altitude mammal is a mouse*
11:03 MFSK64: China's South China Sea propaganda*
17:20 This week's images*
27:40 MFSK32: Closing announcements
* with image(s)
Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.net
And visit http://swradiogram.net
Twitter: @SWRadiogram
Shortwave Radiogram now changes to MFSK16 ...
Before RSID: <<2020-08-01T13:33Z MFSK-32 @ 7780000+1500>>
This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK16 ...
From ARRL.org:
ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference Seeks Papers
07/27/2020
Technical papers are being solicited for presentation at the 2020
ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference (DCC), September 11 -
13. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year's conference will
be held online. Papers will also be published in the Conference
Proceedings. Authors do not need to participate in the conference
to have their papers included in the Proceedings. The submission
deadline is August 15, 2020. Submit papers via email to Maty
Weinberg, KB1EIB, maty@arrl.org. Papers will be published exactly
as submitted, and authors will retain all rights.
https://bit.ly/3hOsh8Z
Returning to MFSK32 ...
Before RSID: <<2020-08-01T13:35Z MFSK-16 @ 7780000+1500>>
This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK32
Please send your reception report to radiogram@verizon.net
From Science News:
A South American mouse is the world's highest-dwelling mammal
Jack J. Lee
29 July 2020
A yellow-rumped leaf-eared mouse has shattered the world record
as the highest-dwelling mammal yet documented.
The mouse (Phyllotis xanthopygus rupestris) was found 6,739
meters, or 22,110 feet, above sea level on the summit of Volcán
Llullaillaco, a dormant volcano on the border of Chile and
Argentina. For comparison, Mount Everest is 8,848 meters high
(29,029 feet).
The record was previously held by the large-eared pika (Ochotona
macrotis), reported at an altitude of 6,130 meters during a 1921
Mount Everest expedition. Birds have been found at even higher
altitudes.
That mammals can live at these heights is astonishing,
considering there's only about 44 percent of the oxygen available
at sea level. "It's very difficult to sustain any kind of
physical activity, or mental activity for that matter," says Jay
Storz, an evolutionary biologist at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln. The temperature is also rarely above freezing
and can drop as low as -60° Celsius.
Storz and colleagues captured several yellow-rumped leaf-eared
mice, including the summit-topping one, plus mice from three
other species from a range of high altitudes, the team reports
July 16 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Next,
the team plans to look for genetic changes that might have
equipped these animals to survive at high elevations.
Surprisingly, another yellow-rumped leaf-eared mouse was found at
sea level, indicating that this species has the broadest altitude
distribution of any mammal, in addition to the altitude record.
"It's so amazing that they're up there," says Graham Scott, a
physiologist at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada who was
not involved in the study. Understanding how these and other
animals survive under low-oxygen conditions could provide insight
into how humans could overcome diseases that cause reduced oxygen
levels, he says.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/south-american-mouse-world-highest-dwelling-mammal
Sending Pic:208x147C;</pre>
</div>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/08/pic_2020-08-01_134050z.webp" alt="South American mouse">
</div>
</div>
<div class="literalblock">
<div class="content">
<pre>Shortwave Radiogram changes to MFSK64 ...
Before RSID: <<2020-08-01T13:41Z MFSK-32 @ 7780000+1500>>
This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK64
Please send your reception report to radiogram@verizon.net
From the Voice of America:
China Launches Propaganda for Recognition of Disputed Maritime
Claims
Ralph Jennings
27 July 2020
TAIPEI, TAIWAN - Chinese scholars have had scores of reports
published in internationally recognized scientific journals
containing a mention of their country's 'nine-dash line,' the
core of its claim to the hotly contested South China Sea, an
American research institution said this month.
China is using the journal pieces to promote its claimed
demarcation line, Vietnamese scholar Nguyen Thuy Anh wrote in a
July 15 article for the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative
under the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Journal articles are just China's latest effort to publicize its
nine-dash line for a wide global audience in hopes that the
constant reminders will legitimize its claim over the claims of
other countries, analysts say.
Maps, globes, postcards, T-shirts, video games and at least one
blockbuster film influenced by China refer to the line as well.
China has churned out those items for at least 10 years.
"If you do slap a nine-dash line on say DreamWorks movies that
get localized and distributed around the world, it does I think
send a subtle message that (the) default world view should be
that the nine-dash line is real and legitimate," initiative
director Gregory Poling said.
Nguyen, a research fellow at the East Sea Institute of the
Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, found 260 articles using the
nine-dash line in 20 "prominent" scientific journals owned by
various publishers, her report says.
China vies for maritime sovereignty in the South China Sea with
Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. At stake
is a shared 3.5 million-square-kilometer sea valued for
fisheries, energy reserves and commercial shipping lanes.
Beijing claims about 90% of the waterway and has angered weaker
neighbors over the past decade by landfilling tiny islets in the
sea for military, economic and scientific use.
China refers to the nine-dash line to back its sovereignty claim.
The line, literally composed of nine thick dashes, swings south
from the Chinese mainland, across waters east of Vietnam, near
the north coast of Borneo, and back along the Philippine island
of Palawan toward Taiwan. The thickness of lines plus the spaces
between them make China's actual claims vague, analysts have
said.
Propaganda and constant reminder
Chinese officials as well as private firms show the nine-dash
line in passports, books, online games and tourist brochures,
Nguyen said in her report.
In cinema, the most internationally memorable example was a scene
from "Abominable," an animated movie made by China-based Pearl
Studio and America's DreamWorks Animation. The film was banned in
Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam last year because of the
scene.
Vietnamese officials in 2018 denounced the arrival of 14 Chinese
tourists who flew into the Southeast Asian country wearing
T-shirts showing the disputed line. Five years earlier Philippine
booksellers quit selling made-in-China globes showing the Chinese
demarcation line.
The government in China, a major exporter of globes, last year
published a notice aimed at ensuring that any map-bearing
materials make the Chinese "position on territory clear to the
international community," state-controlled media outlet Global
Times online said.
'Target audience'
China is aiming these materials at a "target audience" of Arab,
African, and other "third countries" rather than Western
consumers, Poling said. A student doing research in Africa, he
said, would see probably the nine-dash line on a globe and not
question it.
Few world consumers know what the line means, said Jay
Batongbacal, international maritime affairs professor at
University of the Philippines.
"Most of them don't notice it, because they're not really
familiar with South China Sea issues, meaning this goes over
their heads," Batongbacal said. "That's why China is doing this.
It's like a subtle propaganda effort, which they will use later
on to say the nine-dash line is well known to everybody because
it's in all these products and articles and whatnot."
China cites historical records to support its maritime claim. In
2016 a world arbitration court ruled against the claim's legal
basis in the South China Sea. Southeast Asian countries that
assert their maritime sovereignty, sometimes sparring with
Chinese vessels in the contested sea, normally rely on
370-kilometer-wide exclusive economic zones extending from their
coasts.
People offshore and on are supposed to pay attention to the
nine-dash line merchandising, said Huang Kwei-bo, vice dean of
the international affairs college at National Chengchi University
in Taipei. The Chinese government regularly reminds citizens of
its achievements overseas to drum up support for the state and
ruling Communist Party.
"Its actions of this type actually have two points - one is to
approach the international community and promote that the PRC has
had the whole South China Sea forever, but another point of
course is for what amounts to domestic patriotic education,"
Huang said.
https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacific/china-launches-propaganda-recognition-disputed-maritime-claims
Image: Map of the "nine-dash line" ...
Sending Pic:182x204C;</pre>
</div>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/08/pic_2020-08-01_134717z.webp" alt="Nine-dash line">
</div>
</div>
<div class="literalblock">
<div class="content">
<pre>This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK64
Please send your reception report to radiogram@verizon.net
This week's images ...
Cows graze in a pasture beneath a haze-filtered moon near Sioux
Falls, South Dakota. From https://bit.ly/3geEoMb ...
Sending Pic:205x145C;</pre>
</div>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/08/pic_2020-08-01_134913z.webp" alt="Cows grazing in a pasture.">
</div>
</div>
<div class="literalblock">
<div class="content">
<pre>The Phillie Phanatic sits alone in the stands during a game
between the Miami Marlins and the Philadelphia Phillies at
Citizens Bank Park on July 25, 2020, in Philadelphia. From
https://bit.ly/3jWEw5t ...
Sending Pic:194x170C;</pre>
</div>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/08/pic_2020-08-01_135113z.webp" alt="Phillie Phanatic sits alone in the stands during a game.">
</div>
</div>
<div class="literalblock">
<div class="content">
<pre>A compound in the leaves of the American beautyberry boosts an
antibiotic’s activity against antibiotic-resistant staph
bacteria, according to Emory University research. From
https://bit.ly/3k4WD9o ...
Sending Pic:204x115C;</pre>
</div>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/08/pic_2020-08-01_135245z.webp" alt="The American beautyberry.">
</div>
</div>
<div class="literalblock">
<div class="content">
<pre>A fish swims in the Cineaqua Aquarium in Paris, which reopened
its doors to visitors a few weeks ago. From
https://bit.ly/3fifuKd ...
Sending Pic:199x140C;</pre>
</div>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/08/pic_2020-08-01_135425z.webp" alt="A fish swims in the Cineaqua Aquarium.">
</div>
</div>
<div class="literalblock">
<div class="content">
<pre>Zinnias at Burnside Farm in Nokesville, Virginia. From
https://bit.ly/30abVSe ...
Sending Pic:198x122C;</pre>
</div>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/08/pic_2020-08-01_135553z.webp" alt="Zinnias at Burnside Farm">
</div>
</div>
<div class="literalblock">
<div class="content">
<pre>Our art of the week is this design by our listener and analyst
Roger in Germany. It uses a mixture of colors in which there
are only 3 values in the RGB channels: 0, 128 and 255 ...
Sending Pic:161x161C;</pre>
</div>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/08/pic_2020-08-01_135730z.webp" alt="pic 2020 08 01 135730z">
</div>
</div>
<div class="literalblock">
<div class="content">
<pre>Shortwave Radiogram returns to MFSK32 ...
Before RSID: <<2020-08-01T13:57Z MFSK-64 @ 7780000+1500>>
This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK32 ...
Shortwave Radiogram is transmitted by:
WRMI, Radio Miami International, wrmi.net
and
WINB Shortwave, winb.com
Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.net
And visit http://swradiogram.net
Twitter: @SWRadiogram or twitter.com/swradiogram
I'm Kim Elliott. Please join us for the next Shortwave
Radiogram.</pre>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>2020 Golden Packet Event on Apple Orchard Mountain2020-07-18T00:00:00-04:002020-07-18T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2020-07-18:/2020-golden-packet-event-on-apple-orchard-mountain.html<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_sota_stats">SOTA Stats</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p><strong>When:</strong> 2020 from 1442Z to 1600Z</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Where:</strong> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Orchard_Mountain">Apple Orchard Mountain</a> - <a href="https://summits.sota.org.uk/summit/W4V/RA-001">W4V/RA-001</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Who:</strong> Just me</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Ascent:</strong> Hike Up</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Equipment:</strong> Kenwood D-700, Opek HVU-500 antenna</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>APRS Coverage:</strong> Excellent</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Contacts Made:</strong> 7</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Mistakes were made; success was had.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>As in <a href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/tag/aprs-golden-packet.html">years past</a>, the goal of the <a href="http://aprs.org/at-golden-packet.html">Golden Packet Event</a> is …</p></div></div></div><div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_sota_stats">SOTA Stats</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p><strong>When:</strong> 2020 from 1442Z to 1600Z</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Where:</strong> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Orchard_Mountain">Apple Orchard Mountain</a> - <a href="https://summits.sota.org.uk/summit/W4V/RA-001">W4V/RA-001</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Who:</strong> Just me</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Ascent:</strong> Hike Up</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Equipment:</strong> Kenwood D-700, Opek HVU-500 antenna</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>APRS Coverage:</strong> Excellent</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Contacts Made:</strong> 7</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Mistakes were made; success was had.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>As in <a href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/tag/aprs-golden-packet.html">years past</a>, the goal of the <a href="http://aprs.org/at-golden-packet.html">Golden Packet Event</a> is to create an APRS network, along the Appalachian Trail, from Georgia to Maine.
My spot in this fifteen-station link is number five.
I suspect all fifteen summits are a little different to get to and operate from.
While Apple Orchard is one of the most beautiful summits I’ve visited (ranks in my top five), getting there…​ sucks.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_twas_the_night_before">Twas the Night Before…​</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I left Maryland the day before, since my drive would take me around five hours (ha ha ha ha).
I made it roughly 45 minutes away from the house when I remembered that I had forgotten feedline.
Not sure how I was expecting to connect the antenna to the radio but I figured it was important enough to turn around and return home to retrieve<sup class="footnote">[<a id="_footnoteref_1" class="footnote" href="#_footnotedef_1" title="View footnote.">1</a>]</sup>.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>My routing engine told me that it would be fastest to go via I-66 and I-81.
I’m not sure why I continue to go that way as every single time I use those two highways bad things happen<sup class="footnote">[<a id="_footnoteref_2" class="footnote" href="#_footnotedef_2" title="View footnote.">2</a>]</sup>.
This time it was just a lot of traffic combined with road construction.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>When I finally arrived at the gated entrance to the mountain there was just enough daylight left to make a quick run up the mountain.
I pulled together my antenna supports, antenna, and battery and made the 20-minute trek up the mountain to cache it all for the night.
I was greeted by a nice sunset once I finally made it to the top and had stowed my stuff.</p>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/07/2020-07-18-Sunset_on_Apple_Orchard_Mountain.webp" alt="600" width="600">
</div>
<div class="title">Figure 1. Sunset on Apple Orchard Mountain</div>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>That night I attempted to sleep in my car.
I’ve done it before and, being alone, I just didn’t want to deal with a tent for just a few hours.
I may deal with a tent next time.
It was uncomfortable.
Not unbearable, mind you, just uncomfortable.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The next morning I was up with the sun (literally) and found a nice grab-n'-go breakfast at the Peaks of Otter Restaurant just down the road.
With breakfast in my belly, I returned to the mountain for my journey up for the day.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_the_event">The event</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Getting up to the summit is a 20 to 30-minute hike up a paved road with a ~300 foot altitude change.
It doesn’t sound bad but when you’re trying to haul gear up, it’s not a happy time.
Coming down, by the way, is much easier.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I was setup and on the air at 9:17 (EDT) and was hearing a station on 1200 baud (we were all going to be operating at 9600 baud).
Turns out it was KM6BWB-10 (yes, I decoded it), a balloon at ~35k feet in altitude over DC!
At 10:39, my friends down at <a href="http://aprs.org/hamtrails/comers-rock.html">Comers Rock</a> (KJ4OAP) came online and we chatted a bit on UHF<sup class="footnote">[<a id="_footnoteref_3" class="footnote" href="#_footnotedef_3" title="View footnote.">3</a>]</sup>.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Things started coming together fairly quickly then.
At 10:44 I was seeing <a href="http://aprs.org/hamtrails/MD.html">Maryland Mountains</a> which meant that <a href="http://aprs.org/hamtrails/hawksbill.html">Hawksbill</a> had to be on the air as well.
At 11:05, <a href="http://aprs.org/hamtrails/roan.html">Roan</a> showed up followed by <a href="http://aprs.org/hamtrails/clingmans.html">Clingmans Dome</a> at 11:37.
The best part was seeing <a href="http://aprs.org/hamtrails/katahdin.html">Katahdin</a> on my screen at 12:25!
I did, eventually, see all of the stations on my screen and even received a QSL from VE1WRG in Nova Scotia!</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>We were asked to obtain signal strengths of our neighbors.
From AOMTN-5, I was receiving COMERS-4 with roughtly 8-9 bars and HAWKSBILL-6 with roughly 3 bars.
I was never able to reach Hawksbill on UHF voice which goes to show that this is probably the shakiest path on the network.</p>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/07/2020-07-18-AOMTN-5.webp" alt="600" width="600">
</div>
<div class="title">Figure 2. AOMTN-5 Station in 2020</div>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>At 2:00PM, everyone packed up and headed off of their summits.
I was very ready to get down.
Even though temperatures were supposed to be in the upper 70Fs to lower 80Fs, the sun beating down with very little shade, made it nearly unbearable.
The flying insects were bad, too.
I need a better plan for that summit…​</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_sota_activation">SOTA Activation</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I figured that while I was up there and waiting for everyone else to get setup I might as well try to make some contacts on VHF.
I managed to make seven contacts (six on 146.520) with three contacts being to other summits!
I almost brought out my HF radio but it was just too darn hot.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Thanks to WS4W, KG4OYS, W4MW, KJ4OAP, N4LXP, KN4CFT, and W4BVB for making my SOTA activation a success.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div id="footnotes">
<hr>
<div class="footnote" id="_footnotedef_1">
<a href="#_footnoteref_1">1</a>. At least I didn’t forget my radio, right Bob? :)
</div>
<div class="footnote" id="_footnotedef_2">
<a href="#_footnoteref_2">2</a>. And by that I mean car crashes, flooding, and even large boulders in the middle of the roadway.
</div>
<div class="footnote" id="_footnotedef_3">
<a href="#_footnoteref_3">3</a>. The path between Apple Orchard and Comers Rock is fantastic. Very little loss of signal on VHF and UHF. Am able to work them on an HT with 5 watts on 445MHz!
</div>
</div>E-mail Security2020-07-01T00:00:00-04:002020-07-01T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2020-07-01:/e-mail-security.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Way back when, e-mail was from server-to-server, and really client-to-server as well, without much thought to security.
Messages were transmitted in plain text (no encryption) and the only people reading your mail (literally) were the system administrators who ran the email server.
Of course, those system administrators knew what was …</p></div></div></div><div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Way back when, e-mail was from server-to-server, and really client-to-server as well, without much thought to security.
Messages were transmitted in plain text (no encryption) and the only people reading your mail (literally) were the system administrators who ran the email server.
Of course, those system administrators knew what was up and understood the later ramifications these open networks could have.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>In 1991, Phil Zimmermann developed encryption software that would allow users to digitally sign and/or encrypt their e-mail in hopes of improving security on this open system.
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy">Pretty Good Privacy (PGP)</a> (<a href="https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4880">RFC4880</a>) was the name of his creation and the end result was that users could protect their data in a somewhat standard way.
Unfortunately, use was limited and it didn’t address the problem of a third-party gaining access to whom you were communicating with.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>There had been rumors, and common sense should have told us as much, but it wasn’t until 2013 when <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden">Edward Snowden</a> let the world know exactly how vulnerable our communications were did people start to pay attention.
It was at that point that we realized just what the U.S. Government, specifically the National Security Agency (NSA), had been up to.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The NSA, it was revealed, had been "partnering" with many information technology companies to help obtain data created and stored by individuals within the United States and around the globe.
To supplement this data, as sometimes they actually ran into businesses that wouldn’t quietly go along with their plans, they began to tap into portions of the Internet so they could capture the data as it was moving between the clients and servers and between servers as well.
While it hasn’t been a large focus in the United States, it should be remembered that if the U.S. Government was doing this, it is almost certain that other countries are too and who knows what they are doing with your data.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>It’s difficult to accurately count the number of web servers that implemented secure connections after the revelation from Snowden but some polls saw a significant increase in adoption of HTTPS to help protect users.<sup class="footnote">[<a id="_footnoteref_1" class="footnote" href="#_footnotedef_1" title="View footnote.">1</a>]</sup>
The introduction of tools, such as <a href="https://letsencrypt.org/">Let’s Encrpt</a> which launched in 2016, certainly helped to bolster the number of websites that supported <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTPS">HTTPS</a> but many of these solutions didn’t address server-to-server connections or e-mail connections.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Fast forward to today, a new set of standards have been put in place to help protect e-mail, both while in transit (between the client and server as well as between servers) and while the email is sitting on the server.
It’s not exactly easy to understand how many of these "new" technologies work together or exactly how they protect your data.
There are many resources on the Internet to explain them to you; lets add another.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_securing_the_mail_connections">Securing the mail connections</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>It’s important to remember that when e-mail was first developed back in 1973 (<a href="https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc561">RFC561</a>) that just making it work was the important part.
There were no such things as untrusted networks; if you were on the network then you were known by others.
Security wasn’t a thought as the circle of users was so small and the networks were manually controlled.
Now it would be a huge undertaking to change the basic structure that is e-mail that it would actually be easier to break things rather than try to fix everything at once.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Some of the new protocols that help add security include <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sender_Policy_Framework">Sender Policy Framework (SPF)</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DomainKeys_Identified_Mail">DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM)</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DMARC">Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC)</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Mail_Transfer_Protocol#SMTP_MTA_Strict_Transport_Security">SMTP MTA Strict Transport Security (MTA-STS)</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Mail_Transfer_Protocol#SMTP_TLS_Reporting">SMTP TLS Reporting (TLS RPT)</a>.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The first group, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, exist to help authenticate e-mail as have been legitimately sent from an authorized user and authorized server for a particular domain.
This helps mostly with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spamming">SPAM</a> but can also be good for protecting yourself against someone who might try to spoof a message as something you sent when you actually didn’t.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The second group, MTA_STS and TLS RPT, are all about enforcing encrypted connections between e-mail servers, preventing an adversary from being able to downgrade a connection to plaintext, since that is the default in e-mail connections.</p>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_sender_policy_framework_spf">Sender Policy Framework (SPF)</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>SPF is an advertisement to other mail servers which includes IP addresses authorized to send mail on behalf of a domain and what to do with mail that is received outside of this policy.
This works well to prevent spoofing of e-mail from an unauthorized source.
When properly implemented, this policy secures the mail coming from your domain as other servers receiving mail outside of this policy will either quarantine (move to junk mail) or flat out reject the incoming message.
Similarly, it also helps protect you from spoofed mail addressed to someone on your domain.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The policy is defined in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_Name_System">DNS</a> as a TXT record.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_domainkeys_identified_mail_dkim">DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM)</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>DKIM was sort of rolled out in parallel with SPF and adds a digital signature to each e-mail sent from a mail server.
The incoming e-mail server should be able to cryptographically verify that the message came from the proper server as well as validate that the message wasn’t changed in transit.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>DKIM is a little more difficult to setup as it requires a key pair (public and private) be setup for each domain and a DNS record advertising the public key.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Similarly to SPF, a properly setup mail server can take action on a message that doesn’t have the proper signature and reject the message outright.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_domain_based_message_authentication_reporting_and_conformance_dmarc">Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC)</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>DMARC was put in place to basically stitch together both SPF and DKIM.
Now an incoming e-mail server can verify both the SPF policy and the DKIM signatures and make a decision on what to do with the message based on the DMARC policy.
Yep, there’s a policy for the policy.
But DMARC added a very important feature to both SPF and DKIM: feedback.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Once an e-mail server has verified (or not) an incoming message as being authentic, the DMARC policy tells the server to, on occasion, send feedback to the originating domain to let them know if all messages received were from an authenticated source and, if not, where the messages were coming from.</p>
</div>
<hr>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Now we have authenticated mail that, when setup properly, cannot be spoofed (or at least it’s much more difficult).
But what about encrypting our messages to make sure they can’t be easily read in transit.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_smtp_mta_strict_transport_security_mta_sts">SMTP MTA Strict Transport Security (MTA-STS)</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The MTA-STS policy tells other e-mail servers that want to connect up to your e-mail server whether it should be an encrypted connection or not.
It also tells the other e-mail server what servers it should use when sending mail to your domain.</p>
</div>
<div class="admonitionblock note">
<table>
<tr>
<td class="icon">
<div class="title">Note</div>
</td>
<td class="content">
You will need have your e-mail server (SMTP) setup to use TLS with a certificate prior to setting up MTA-STS and TLS RPT.
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>This prevents a couple different attacks.
First, it tells the distant e-mail server that, yes, you want all connections to your e-mail server to be encrypted.
If you cannot make an encrypted connection (known as a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downgrade_attack">downgrade attack</a>), then just stop and retry later.
Second, if the attacker can’t break the encryption, perhaps they can make a fake e-mail server for the distant end to connect to and then can read the messages before passing them along to your e-mail server as if it came from the first (this is known as a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man-in-the-middle_attack">man-in-the-middle attack</a>).
This is prevented by the listing of servers in the policy.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The MTA-STS policy is stored on a server designated by your domain and is referenced by a DNS record to tie things together.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_smtp_tls_reporting_tls_rpt">SMTP TLS Reporting (TLS RPT)</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Much like DMARC, TLS RPT provides that feedback loop for other servers to use to tell you whether or not there have been any problems with securely connecting to your e-mail server.
This record is stored in DNS.</p>
</div>
<div class="admonitionblock important">
<table>
<tr>
<td class="icon">
<div class="title">Important</div>
</td>
<td class="content">
Since much of this security is being retrieved from your DNS records, the use of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_Name_System_Security_Extensions">Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC)</a> is really needed here.
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
<hr>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>With these five protocols in place, your e-mail server (as well as the ones you communicate with) have improved its confidentiality and integrity protections for data flowing both within your domain as well as between domains.
And while it’s important to setup all of these solutions, just getting started with one or two of them will dramatically improve the security of your e-mail.
All of the information regarding who the message is going to, from, and the contents of the message are now protected while being moved around between servers.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Of course, this doesn’t protect data at rest (those pesky e-mails that are just sitting around on a server waiting to be read or otherwise dealt with).
The use of OpenPGP (the open source implementation of PGP) is still important to protect the contents of your e-mail.
Anyone that can access your data as it sits on the server can read everything as it is usually stored in plaintext.
There is an exception to this, however.
E-mail providers such as <a href="https://protonmail.com/">ProtonMail</a>, <a href="https://www.hushmail.com/">Hushmail</a>, <a href="https://mailfence.com/">Mailfence</a>, and <a href="https://tutanota.com/">Tutanota</a> also encrypt your mail while it is on their server.
This means that only you can read your mail.<sup class="footnote">[<a id="_footnoteref_2" class="footnote" href="#_footnotedef_2" title="View footnote.">2</a>]</sup>
Oh, and don’t be fooled by the encryption feature that Google’s Gmail recently rolled out.
This does not prevent Google from being able to read your mail.
Remember, it is their job to read your mail so they aren’t going to support technologies that prevent that.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Perhaps one of the safest ways to manage your data is to do it yourself, but that can have technical challenges.
Even with all the policies and security protocols in place, much of this is left up to trusting a third-party with your data.
But, this is all about improving your security and reducing your attack area.
With the networks secure, there are much fewer ways that someone could gain access to your data.<sup class="footnote">[<a id="_footnoteref_3" class="footnote" href="#_footnotedef_3" title="View footnote.">3</a>]</sup></p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Lastly, it’s important to audit your security once you have it setup.
There are several tools available to help verify that your settings are correct and even help manage the reports you receive from other servers.
<a href="https://www.mailhardener.com">Mailhardener</a> is one that I use which has a free tier for personal use and even has a <a href="https://www.mailhardener.com/kb/">knowledgebase</a> to help you setup these technologies.<sup class="footnote">[<a id="_footnoteref_4" class="footnote" href="#_footnotedef_4" title="View footnote.">4</a>]</sup></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div id="footnotes">
<hr>
<div class="footnote" id="_footnotedef_1">
<a href="#_footnoteref_1">1</a>. The SSL Pulse, a report provided monthly by Qualys SSL Labs, shows only 19.2% of sites being secure in January of 2013 (total sites surveyed were 176,606) compared with 71.1% just 7 years later (total sites surveyed were 139,633).
</div>
<div class="footnote" id="_footnotedef_2">
<a href="#_footnoteref_2">2</a>. Okay, there are a couple of ways around this type of security so make sure you get enough information about the company you are trusting with your data prior to going all in.
</div>
<div class="footnote" id="_footnotedef_3">
<a href="#_footnoteref_3">3</a>. Remember, we haven’t discussed connections between clients and the server. There are several things that can be done to help reduce the risk at that level, as well. But the focus of this paper was specifically on server-to-server connections where the user doesn’t typically get to see how their data is being handled.
</div>
<div class="footnote" id="_footnotedef_4">
<a href="#_footnoteref_4">4</a>. I am in no way related to this company other than being a user of their services. They’ve done me well so far.
</div>
</div>New website for Fessenden Amateur Radio Society (K4OBX)2020-06-29T00:00:00-04:002020-06-29T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2020-06-29:/new-website-for-fessenden-amateur-radio-society-k4obx.html<div class="paragraph">
<p>Years ago I built a <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030426072222/http://home.earthlink.net/~kf4otn/">website listing all the repeaters in Northeastern North Carolina</a>.
It was more for me than anyone else as I was trying to document all of the local repeaters and clubs in the area.
The page was horrid, from a graphics stand point, but some folks …</p></div><div class="paragraph">
<p>Years ago I built a <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030426072222/http://home.earthlink.net/~kf4otn/">website listing all the repeaters in Northeastern North Carolina</a>.
It was more for me than anyone else as I was trying to document all of the local repeaters and clubs in the area.
The page was horrid, from a graphics stand point, but some folks liked it and used it.
And then, as all great things do, it got lost in time when I left Earthlink (or they stopped providing space, I forget).</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Now, I "own" a virtual machine with Linode and provide space for groups I support to have a web presence of their own.
I currently host a <a href="https://www.pcra.us/">few</a> <a href="https://auxcomm.k3cal.org/">sites</a> and I offered to create a site for the <a href="https://k4obx.org">Fessenden Amateur Radio Society (K4OBX)</a> down on Hatteras Island.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>To me, the site turned out better than I had hoped.
Very minimal, no clutter or little kittens running across the screen.
Just a listing of the information that many people probably want when heading down to the Outer Banks.
There is still a bit of information I need to add, such as maps showing where the repeaters are, but it’s mostly done and ready to go live.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I don’t know why but I really like looking back on that first webpage of mine and remembering what I was doing and how it all came together so well.</p>
</div>Upgrading APRS on the Outer Banks2020-06-28T00:00:00-04:002020-06-28T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2020-06-28:/upgrading-aprs-on-the-outer-banks.html<div class="paragraph">
<p>I recently had the opportunity to help a friend update the APRS digipeater in Buxton, NC.
The digipeater has been in service for around fifteen years and during those years a few things have changed.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The digipeater used to transmit weather data from an Ultimeter weather station.
That weather station …</p></div><div class="paragraph">
<p>I recently had the opportunity to help a friend update the APRS digipeater in Buxton, NC.
The digipeater has been in service for around fifteen years and during those years a few things have changed.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The digipeater used to transmit weather data from an Ultimeter weather station.
That weather station was taken out of service many years ago but the digipeater was still attempting to transmit empty weather packets.
The system also hadn’t been updated for the latest <a href="http://aprs.org/fix14439.html">N-n paradigm</a>, as recommended by Bob Bruninga, WB3APR.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Luckily, the fix was fast (only took two trips to the tower site…​) and now <a href="http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?call=BUXTON">BUXTON</a> lives on with the latest settings.
The digipeater is also transmitting two objects: <a href="http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?call=145.150BX">145.150BX</a> and <a href="http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?call=444.925BX">444.925BX</a>.
These two repeaters are the main systems for the area and include net information as well as range of the systems.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>An additional digipeater, <a href="www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?call=WAVES">WAVES</a>, will hopefully be on the air soon, helping to fill the gap on the north side of Hatteras Island.</p>
</div>Dare County Repeaters2020-06-16T00:00:00-04:002020-06-16T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2020-06-16:/dare-county-repeaters.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Changes to the way the multitude of repeaters in Dare County operate recently came to my attention.
The introduction of links and DMR has added many ways for residents, as well as visitors, to communicate in interesting ways.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_hatteras_and_ocracoke_islands_linking_system">Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands Linking System</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="imageblock left">
<div class="content">
<a class="image" href="images/2020/06/Hatteras_Island_System.webp"><img src="images/2020/06/Hatteras_Island_System.webp" alt="Repeaters on Hatteras Island that are linked together." width="25%" height="25%"></a>
</div>
<div class="title">Figure 1. Linked repeaters on Hatteras …</div></div></div></div><div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Changes to the way the multitude of repeaters in Dare County operate recently came to my attention.
The introduction of links and DMR has added many ways for residents, as well as visitors, to communicate in interesting ways.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_hatteras_and_ocracoke_islands_linking_system">Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands Linking System</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="imageblock left">
<div class="content">
<a class="image" href="images/2020/06/Hatteras_Island_System.webp"><img src="images/2020/06/Hatteras_Island_System.webp" alt="Repeaters on Hatteras Island that are linked together." width="25%" height="25%"></a>
</div>
<div class="title">Figure 1. Linked repeaters on Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands</div>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>This system has been around for decades.
The main repeater, 145.150 MHz (CTCSS 131.8 Hz), has a roughly 30 mile range from Buxton.
To help users on the fringes using low-power, hand-held radios, UHF repeaters are used to extend the usable range of the system.
To cover the three villages of Rodanthe, Waves, and Salvo, the 444.325 MHz (CTCSS 131.8 Hz) repeater was established.
To cover the village of Ocracoke, the 444.250 MHz (CTCSS 131.8 Hz) repeater was established.
Both of these repeaters are linked with each other as well as the Buxton repeater providing full coverage of Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>These repeaters are usually linked to the Dare County Repeater System to provide full coverage of Dare (and Currituck) Counties.</p>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_other_repeaters_on_hatteras_island">Other repeaters on Hatteras Island</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Buxton also hosts a standalone UHF repeater on 444.925 MHz (CTCSS 131.8 Hz).
This repeater is great to use for local communications when you don’t need to tie up lots of repeaters covering many square miles.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The 444.425 MHz (CTCSS 100.0 Hz) repeater is normally linked to the <a href="https://www.carolina440.net">Carolina440 network</a> via AllStar.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>And then there are two DMR repeaters.
The first is 444.0625 (CC 1) which is on the <a href="https://ncprn.net">NCPRN network</a> while the second is 146.6250 (CC 1) which is on the <a href="https://brandmeister.network/?page=repeater&id=313768">Brandmeister network</a>.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_dare_county_linking_system">Dare County Linking System</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="imageblock left">
<div class="content">
<a class="image" href="images/2020/06/Dare_County_Link_System.webp"><img src="images/2020/06/Dare_County_Link_System.webp" alt="Repeaters in Dare County that are linked together." width="25%" height="25%"></a>
</div>
<div class="title">Figure 2. Linked repeaters covering Dare and Currituck Counties</div>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>This system is the new one (for me).
Prior to this system being put into place, many of these repeaters were standalone systems that may or may not have received much traffic.
During emergencies, it was also difficult to communicate with all areas at once so this system makes it much easier to do so.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The Mamie 146.940 MHz, Kill Devil Hills (Colington) 145.110 MHz, Bodie Island 145.290 Mhz, and Columbia 442.725 MHz repeaters are all linked together with the Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands Linking System which provides coverage from the North Carolina/Virginia state line on Highway 168 to the north, Williamston on US Highway 64 to the west, and Ocracoke Village to the south.
The links are all RF-based with no Internet or other commercial wire-line connectivity required.</p>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_other_repeaters_in_dare_county">Other repeaters in Dare County</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The 444.125 MHz (CTCSS 100.0 Hz) repeater on Bodie Island is linked to the <a href="https://www.carolina440.net">Carolina440 network</a> via AllStar.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>There is also the 444.9875 MHz (CC 1) DMR repeater, also at Bodie Island, and 442.850 MHz (CC 1) located in Mamie that are linked to the <a href="https://ncprn.net">NCPRN network</a>.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>These repeaters cover the northern end of the Outer Banks quite well. 1 |CC 1 | DMR, Brandmeister</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_a_quick_note_about_dmr_on_the_outer_banks">A quick note about DMR on the Outer Banks</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The <a href="https://ncprn.net">NCPRN</a> DMR repeaters on and near the Outer Banks use a shared local talkgroup.
This means that when using the local talkgroup (TS 1, TG 27500) on the Mamie 442.850 MHz, Bodie Island 444.9875 MHz, Buxton 444.0625 MHz, or Englehard 442.4625 MHz repeaters, your transmission will be retransmitted among all of those repeaters.
This can aid in communicating up and down the Outer Banks.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_a_quick_list_of_outer_banks_repeaters">A quick list of Outer Banks repeaters</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Just looking for a list of repeaters without all the text?
Here ya go…​</p>
</div>
<table class="tableblock frame-all grid-all stretch">
<caption class="title">Table 1. Hatteras and Ocracoke Island Repeaters</caption>
<colgroup>
<col style="width: 20%;">
<col style="width: 10%;">
<col style="width: 10%;">
<col style="width: 10%;">
<col style="width: 10%;">
<col style="width: 40%;">
</colgroup>
<thead>
<tr>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Town</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Frequency (MHz)</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Offset (MHz)</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">TX CTCSS (Hz)</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">RX CTCSS (Hz)</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Notes</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Buxton</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">145.150</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">-.600</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">131.8</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">131.8</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Linked to Ocracoke and Waves repeaters. Usually linked to Dare County system and linkable to Coastal Linking system.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Buxton</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">146.625</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">-.600</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">CC 1</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">CC 1</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">DMR, <a href="https://brandmeister.network/?page=repeater&id=313768">Brandmeister</a></p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Buxton</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">442.425</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">+5.0</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">100.0</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">100.0</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Linked to the <a href="https://www.carolina440.net">Carolina440 network</a>.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Buxton</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">444.0625</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">+5.0</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">CC 1</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">CC 1</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Linked to the <a href="https://ncprn.net">NCPRN network</a>.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Buxton</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">444.925</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">+5.0</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">131.8</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">131.8</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Ocracoke</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">444.225</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">+5.0</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">131.8</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">131.8</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Linked to Buxton 145.150 and Waves 444.325.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Waves</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">444.325</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">+5.0</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">131.8</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">131.8</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Linked to Buxton 145.150 and Ocracoke 444.225.</p></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table class="tableblock frame-all grid-all stretch">
<caption class="title">Table 2. Northern Dare County Repeaters</caption>
<colgroup>
<col style="width: 20%;">
<col style="width: 10%;">
<col style="width: 10%;">
<col style="width: 10%;">
<col style="width: 10%;">
<col style="width: 40%;">
</colgroup>
<thead>
<tr>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Town</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Frequency (MHz)</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Offset (MHz)</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">TX CTCSS (Hz)</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">RX CTCSS (Hz)</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Notes</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Mamie</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">146.940</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">-.600</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">131.8</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">131.8</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Linked to Dare County system.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Mamie</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">442.850</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">+5.0</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">CC 1</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">CC 1</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">DMR Linked to the <a href="https://ncprn.net">NCPRN network</a>.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Kill Devil Hills</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">145.110</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">-.600</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">131.8</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">131.8</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Linked to Dare County system.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Bodie Island</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">145.290</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">-.600</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">131.8</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">CSQ</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Linked to Dare County system.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Bodie Island</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">444.125</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">+5.0</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">100.0</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">100.0</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Linked to the <a href="https://www.carolina440.net">Carolina440 network</a>.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Bodie Island</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">444.9875</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">+5.0</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">CC 1</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">CC 1</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">DMR Linked to the <a href="https://ncprn.net">NCPRN network</a>.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Columbia</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">442.725</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">+5.0</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">131.8</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">131.8</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Linked to Dare County system. No hang time.</p></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>Shortwave Radiogram 1462020-04-05T00:00:00-04:002020-04-05T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2020-04-05:/shortwave-radiogram-146.html<div class="paragraph">
<p>This week’s Shortwave Radiogram was an interesting test of digital mode in a variety of propagation conditions.
Many times, the Radiogram is transmitted using MFSK modes.
This week, with Springtime coming in and propagation changes happening, Olivia 64-2000 was used to transmit a portion of the program.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>With this …</p></div><div class="paragraph">
<p>This week’s Shortwave Radiogram was an interesting test of digital mode in a variety of propagation conditions.
Many times, the Radiogram is transmitted using MFSK modes.
This week, with Springtime coming in and propagation changes happening, Olivia 64-2000 was used to transmit a portion of the program.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>With this experiment happening, I took advantage of two transmit periods that were well outside what I would consider appropriate frequencies for the time of day and the distance from the transmitter.
The <a href="images/2020/04/2020-04-02-SW_Radiogram.txt">first reception was made on Thursday at 2330</a> on 9265kHz from WINB in Pennsylvania.
As expected, the transmission was not received 100%.
In fact, the only portion that was received complete was the part transmitted in Olivia 64-2000.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The <a href="images/2020/04/2020-04-03-SW_Radiogram.txt">second reception was made on Saturday at 1330</a> on 15770kHz from WRMI in Florida.
As the first reception, it was received broken with the exception of the Olivia 64-2000 portion.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>My usual sked of 2330 on 7780kHz from WRMI Florida was received really well, as usual.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The audio, as received at my station, is <a href="images/2020/04/2020-04-05-SW_Radiogram.wav">available for download</a> if you’d like to try to decode it yourself.</p>
</div>
<div class="literalblock">
<div class="content">
<pre>Welcome to program 146 of Shortwave Radiogram.
I'm Kim Andrew Elliott in Arlington, Virginia USA.
Here is the lineup for today's program, in modes as noted:
1:50 MFSK32: Program preview (now)
3:07 Olivia 64-2000**: Seismic impact of stay-at-home
7:41 MFSK16: Seismic impact continued
10:24 MFSK64: Harvesting energey from Wi-Fi
16:14 This week's images*
27:48 MFSK32: Closing announcements
* with images
** Turn off Fldigi squelch (SQL) and choose receiver bandwidth
that will accept the data at 500 to 2500 Hz above and/or below
the carrier frequency.
Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.net
And visit http://swradiogram.net
Twitter: @SWRadiogram
Shortwave Radiogram now changes to Olivia 64-2000 ...
Before RSID: <<2020-04-05T23:33Z MFSK-32 @ 1422100+1499>>
This is Shortwave Radiogram in Olivia 64-2000
Scientists Report Coronavirus Shutdowns Have Reduced Seismic
'Noise'
VOA News
31 March 2020
Researchers who study Earth's movements say mandatory shutdowns
of transportation systems and other human activities as a result
of the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in a drop in what they
call seismic "noise" around the world.
An article published Tuesday in the scientific research journal
Nature explains that human activity, such as moving vehicles and
industrial machinery, can move Earth's crust the way earthquakes
and volcanic activity do. And researchers say the lack of such
human activity in recent days has made a significant difference.
Article continues in M
Before RSID: <<2020-04-05T23:37Z OL 64-2K @ 1422100+1504>>
This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK16
Royal 7dcD ory of Belgium seismologist Thomas Lecocq says
vibrations caused by human activity have dropped by one-third
since coronavirus containment measures were introduced in that
country.
Researchers at the California Institute of Technology reported a
similar drop in the Los Angeles area, as did researchers in
Britain.
Nature reports the reduced human-generate "noise" has allowed
scientists to get more accurate and sensitive readings regarding
earthquake aftershocks in urban areas that might otherwise go
undetected.
The researchers say this also allows for the study of more subtle
vibrations, such as those generated by ocean waves crashing,
which help when probing the Earth’s crust.
bit.ly/2UxmUSO
Changing to MFSK64 ...
Before RSID: <<2020-04-05T23:40Z MFSK-16 @ 1422100+1499>>
This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK64
Please send your reception report to radiogram@verizon.net
From MIT News:
Energy-harvesting design aims to turn Wi-Fi signals into usable
power
Device for harnessing terahertz radiation might enable
self-powering implants, cellphones, other portable
electronics.
Jennifer Chu
27 March 2020
Any device that sends out a Wi-Fi signal also emits terahertz
waves —electromagnetic waves with a frequency somewhere between
microwaves and infrared light. These high-frequency radiation
waves, known as "T-rays," are also produced by almost anything
that registers a temperature, including our own bodies and the
inanimate objects around us.
Terahertz waves are pervasive in our daily lives, and if
harnessed, their concentrated power could potentially serve as an
alternate energy source. Imagine, for instance, a cellphone
add-on that passively soaks up ambient T-rays and uses their
energy to charge your phone. However, to date, terahertz waves
are wasted energy, as there has been no practical way to capture
and convert them into any usable form.
Now physicists at MIT have come up with a blueprint for a device
they believe would be able to convert ambient terahertz waves
into a direct current, a form of electricity that powers many
household electronics.
Their design takes advantage of the quantum mechanical, or atomic
behavior of the carbon material graphene. They found that by
combining graphene with another material, in this case, boron
nitride, the electrons in graphene should skew their motion
toward a common direction. Any incoming terahertz waves should
"shuttle" graphene's electrons, like so many tiny air traffic
controllers, to flow through the material in a single direction,
as a direct current.
The researchers have published their results today in the journal
Science Advances, and are working with experimentalists to turn
their design into a physical device.
"We are surrounded by electromagnetic waves in the terahertz
range," says lead author Hiroki Isobe, a postdoc in MIT's
Materials Research Laboratory. "If we can convert that energy
into an energy source we can use for daily life, that would help
to address the energy challenges we are facing right now."
Isobe's co-authors are Liang Fu, the Lawrence C. and Sarah W.
Biedenharn Career Development Associate Professor of Physics at
MIT; and Su-yang Xu, a former MIT postdoc who is now an assistant
professor chemistry at Harvard University.
Breaking graphene's symmetry
Over the last decade, scientists have looked for ways to harvest
and convert ambient energy into usable electrical energy. They
have done so mainly through rectifiers, devices that are designed
to convert electromagnetic waves from their oscillating
(alternating) current to direct current.
Most rectifiers are designed to convert low-frequency waves such
as radio waves, using an electrical circuit with diodes to
generate an electric field that can steer radio waves through the
device as a DC current. These rectifiers only work up to a
certain frequency, and have not been able to accommodate the
terahertz range.
A few experimental technologies that have been able to convert
terahertz waves into DC current do so only at ultracold
temperatures — setups that would be difficult to implement in
practical applications.
Instead of turning electromagnetic waves into a DC current by
applying an external electric field in a device, Isobe wondered
whether, at a quantum mechanical level, a material's own
electrons could be induced to flow in one direction, in order to
steer incoming terahertz waves into a DC current.
Such a material would have to be very clean, or free of
impurities, in order for the electrons in the material to flow
through without scattering off irregularities in the material.
Graphene, he found, was the ideal starting material.
To direct graphene's electrons to flow in one direction, he would
have to break the material's inherent symmetry, or what
physicists call "inversion." Normally, graphene's electrons feel
an equal force between them, meaning that any incoming energy
would scatter the electrons in all directions, symmetrically.
Isobe looked for ways to break graphene's inversion and induce an
asymmetric flow of electrons in response to incoming energy.
Looking through the literature, he found that others had
experimented with graphene by placing it atop a layer of boron
nitride, a similar honeycomb lattice made of two types of atoms —
boron and nitrogen. They found that in this arrangement, the
forces between graphene's electrons were knocked out of balance:
Electrons closer to boron felt a certain force while electrons
closer to nitrogen experienced a different pull. The overall
effect was what physicists call "skew scattering," in which
clouds of electrons skew their motion in one direction.
Isobe developed a systematic theoretical study of all the ways
electrons in graphene might scatter in combination with an
underlying substrate such as boron nitride, and how this electron
scattering would affect any incoming electromagnetic waves,
particularly in the terahertz frequency range.
He found that electrons were driven by incoming terahertz waves
to skew in one direction, and this skew motion generates a DC
current, if graphene were relatively pure. If too many impurities
did exist in graphene, they would act as obstacles in the path of
electron clouds, causing these clouds to scatter in all
directions, rather than moving as one.
"With many impurities, this skewed motion just ends up
oscillating, and any incoming terahertz energy is lost through
this oscillation," Isobe explains. "So we want a clean sample to
effectively get a skewed motion."
One direction
They also found that the stronger the incoming terahertz energy,
the more of that energy a device can convert to DC current. This
means that any device that converts T-rays should also include a
way to concentrate those waves before they enter the device.
With all this in mind, the researchers drew up a blueprint for a
terahertz rectifier that consists of a small square of graphene
that sits atop a layer of boron nitride and is sandwiched within
an antenna that would collect and concentrate ambient terahertz
radiation, boosting its signal enough to convert it into a DC
current.
"This would work very much like a solar cell, except for a
different frequency range, to passively collect and convert
ambient energy," Fu says.
The team has filed a patent for the new "high-frequency
rectification" design, and the researchers are working with
experimental physicists at MIT to develop a physical device based
on their design, which should be able to work at room
temperature, versus the ultracold temperatures required for
previous terahertz rectifiers and detectors.
"If a device works at room temperature, we can use it for many
portable applications," Isobe says.
He envisions that, in the near future, terahertz rectifiers may
be used, for instance, to wirelessly power implants in a
patient's body, without requiring surgery to change an implant's
batteries. Such devices could also convert ambient Wi-Fi signals
to charge up personal electronics such as laptops and cellphones.
"We are taking a quantum material with some asymmetry at the
atomic scale, that can now be utilized, which opens up a lot of
possibilities," Fu says.
This research was funded in part by the U.S. Army Research
Laboratory and the U.S. Army Research O?ce through the Institute
for Soldier Nanotechnologies (ISN).
http://news.mit.edu/2020/energy-harvesting-wi-fi-power-0327
This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK64
Please send your reception report to radiogram@verizon.net
This week's images ...</pre>
</div>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/04/pic_2020-04-05_234834z.webp" alt="pic 2020 04 05 234834z">
</div>
<div class="title">Figure 1. Anti-frost candles between apricot trees near Balatonvilagos, Hungary. From bit.ly/342opf3</div>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/04/pic_2020-04-05_235027z.webp" alt="pic 2020 04 05 235027z">
</div>
<div class="title">Figure 2. A member of the Military Emergencies Unit cleans a room at the Sant Antoni extended care facility in Barcelona. From bit.ly/2Uy5wNU</div>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/04/pic_2020-04-05_235230z.webp" alt="pic 2020 04 05 235230z">
</div>
<div class="title">Figure 3. The Empire State Building in New York City is illuminated to honor emergency workers during the coronavirus outbreak. From wapo.st/3aCj7t9</div>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/04/pic_2020-04-05_235415z.webp" alt="pic 2020 04 05 235415z">
</div>
<div class="title">Figure 4. In Kansas City, a man pauses while crossing an empty downtown street to watch the sunset, 31 March. From bit.ly/2XdAcpB</div>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/04/pic_2020-04-05_235533z.webp" alt="pic 2020 04 05 235533z">
</div>
<div class="title">Figure 5. The pier at Cromer, England. From bbc.in/2X1HfkX</div>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/04/pic_2020-04-05_235747z.webp" alt="pic 2020 04 05 235747z">
</div>
<div class="title">Figure 6. Our painting of the week is "Kragerø in Spring" by Edvard Munch. From bit.ly/2xEannI</div>
</div>
<div class="literalblock">
<div class="content">
<pre>Shortwave Radiogram returns to MFSK32 ...
Before RSID: <<2020-04-05T23:58Z MFSK-64 @ 1422100+1499>>
This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK32 ...
Shortwave Radiogram is transmitted by:
WRMI, Radio Miami International, wrmi.net
and
WINB Shortwave, winb.com
Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.net
And visit http://swradiogram.net
Twitter: @SWRadiogram or twitter.com/swradiogram
I'm Kim Elliott. Please join us for the next Shortwave
Radiogram.</pre>
</div>
</div>Shortwave Radiogram 1452020-03-30T00:00:00-04:002020-03-30T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2020-03-30:/shortwave-radiogram-145.html<div class="literalblock">
<div class="content">
<pre>Welcome to program 145 of Shortwave Radiogram.
I'm Kim Andrew Elliott in Arlington, Virginia USA.
Here is the lineup for today's program, in modes as noted:
1:48 MFSK32: Program preview (now)
2:59 Olivia 16-1000: Hams to help develop low cost ventilator
9:42 MFSK64: Ford helps produce respiratory …</pre></div></div><div class="literalblock">
<div class="content">
<pre>Welcome to program 145 of Shortwave Radiogram.
I'm Kim Andrew Elliott in Arlington, Virginia USA.
Here is the lineup for today's program, in modes as noted:
1:48 MFSK32: Program preview (now)
2:59 Olivia 16-1000: Hams to help develop low cost ventilator
9:42 MFSK64: Ford helps produce respiratory equipment*
14:29 This week's images*
28:00 MFSK32: Closing announcements
* with image(s)
Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.net
And visit http://swradiogram.net
Twitter: @SWRadiogram
Shortwave Radiogram now changes to Olivia 16-1000 ...
Before RSID: <<2020-03-29T08:03Z MFSK-32 @ 1422100+1504>>
This is Shortwave Radiogram in Olivia 16-1000 ...
From ARRL.org:
Radio Amateurs Team Up to Help University Design Low-Cost
Ventilator
23 March 2020
Amateur radio volunteers from around the world have volunteered
to assist University of Florida Professor Sam Lampotang and his
engineering team in their quest to rapidly develop an
open-source, low-cost patient ventilator that can be built
anywhere from such commonly available components as PVC pipe and
lawn-sprinkler valves. The amateur radio volunteers are
developing Arduino-based control software that will set the
respiratory rate and other key parameters in treating critically
ill coronavirus victims.
Multiple volunteers responding to a call for help from Gordon
Gibby, MD, KX4Z, included noted software developer Jack Purdum,
W8TEE, and uBITX transceiver maker Ashhar Farhan, VU2ESE.
University of Florida physicians are working to address the
critical legal aspects as the design moves closer to fruition.
The ventilator's valves would precisely time compressed oxygen
flow into patient breathing circuits under Arduino control,
allowing exhausted patients with "stiff" lungs impacted by viral
pneumonia to survive until their body can clear the infection.
The software design team is also adding simple features suc, enntilator
Changing to MFSK64 ...
Before RSID: <<2020-03-29T08:09Z OL 16-1K @ 1422100+1499>>
This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK64
Please send your reception report to radiogram@verizon.net
From New Atlas:
Ford uses manufacturing muscle and F-150 parts in coronavirus
battle
C.C. Weiss
24 March 2020
With auto production at a virtual standstill throughout North
America, automakers are repurposing their vast manufacturing
resources toward helping fill the shortage of medical supplies
around the continent. Ford is partnering with 3M and GE
Healthcare to rapidly up the production of respiratory equipment,
creating parts and new designs with 3D printing and off-the-shelf
auto components like F-150 seat-cooling hardware.
ord and 3M are working together to quickly increase production
capacity of powered air-purifying respirators (PAPRs), with
engineers from both companies actively collaborating on a
new-generation PAPR that can be manufactured efficiently with
available components. Both 3M and Ford have mined their
warehouses for useful parts, using 3M HEPA filters and portable
tool batteries, in addition to Ford F-150 seat-cooling
components, to piece together the new design. If successful, Ford
could handle manufacturing of the new respirator at one of its
Michigan facilities, increasing 3M's production capacity as much
as tenfold.
"We have empowered our teams of engineers and designers to be
scrappy and creative to quickly help scale up production of this
vital equipment," says Jim Hackett, Ford president and CEO.
3M's traditional powered respirators rely on a waist-mounted,
battery-powered blower system to circulate clean, filtered air
into a hood, protecting the wearer from airborne contaminants.
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a skyrocketing demand for
these PAPRs from the likes of first responders and healthcare
workers, leaving 3M to look outside company walls to meet the
ballooning need.
"We're exploring all available opportunities to further expand
3M's capacity and get healthcare supplies as quickly as possible
to where they're needed most, which includes partnering with
other great companies like Ford," says Mike Roman, 3M chairman of
the board and CEO.
3M says that it has already doubled its global output of N95
respirators, producing them at a rate of nearly 100 million per
month. Of the 35 million it's making each month in the US, 90
percent are earmarked for healthcare workers, with the other 10
percent going to other critical industries, including food
supply, energy and pharmaceuticals.
Ford is also in the process of building and testing protective
face shields. Designed to be used by healthcare professionals in
conjunction with N95 respirators, the transparent shields protect
the eyes and face from contact with liquids. More than 1,000 of
the face shields will be put into testing at Detroit-area
hospitals this week, and Ford plans to ramp up manufacturing to
100,000 per week.
Ford is also cooperating with GE Healthcare on building a
simplified version of the company's ventilators, used to support
patients with respiratory failure or difficulty breathing.
Finally, it is using the 3D-printing capabilities of its Advanced
Manufacturing Center to create components and subassemblies of
other personal protective equipment.
Ford is not the only American Big 3 automaker involved in such
work. etG tne Motors and Fiat Chr4²er announced their own
efforts this week. FCA is prepaee eo m tayuNN
manufacturing anOŠde›tZZyjmillion per month. The masks will go to police, EMTs,
firefighters, and hospital and clinic workers in the US, Canada
and Mexico. Meanwhile, GM is working with Ventec Life Systems to
scale up the production of the company's ventilators.
Sources: Ford, 3M
https://newatlas.com/automotive/ford-manufacturing-muscle-f-150-parts-coronavirus-battle/</pre>
</div>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/pic_2020-03-29_081428z.webp" alt="Ford sketch of a disposable hood. From https://newatlas.com/automotive/ford-manufacturing-muscle-f-150-parts-coronavirus-battle/">
</div>
<div class="title">Figure 1. Ford sketch of a disposable hood. From <a href="https://newatlas.com/automotive/ford-manufacturing-muscle-f-150-parts-coronavirus-battle/" class="bare">https://newatlas.com/automotive/ford-manufacturing-muscle-f-150-parts-coronavirus-battle/</a></div>
</div>
<div class="literalblock">
<div class="content">
<pre>This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK64
Please send your reception report to radiogram@verizon.net
This week's images ...</pre>
</div>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/pic_2020-03-29_081617z.webp" alt="A surgical mask on the Fearless Girl statue outside the New York Stock Exchange" width="19 March. From bit.ly/2UjWtQH">
</div>
<div class="title">Figure 2. A surgical mask on the Fearless Girl statue outside the New York Stock Exchange, 19 March. From bit.ly/2UjWtQH</div>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/pic_2020-03-29_081752z.webp" alt="This bear on a cold night in Romania demonstrates why social distancing is a good idea. From bbc.in/2vPSMbX">
</div>
<div class="title">Figure 3. This bear on a cold night in Romania demonstrates why social distancing is a good idea. From bbc.in/2vPSMbX</div>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/pic_2020-03-29_081908z.webp" alt="A closeup of a damselfly in China" width="looking like a Chinese painting. From bbc.in/2vPSMbX">
</div>
<div class="title">Figure 4. A closeup of a damselfly in China, looking like a Chinese painting. From bbc.in/2vPSMbX</div>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/pic_2020-03-29_082256z.webp" alt="A pedestrian looks at an illuminated map board in the empty streets of the Alpine resort of Zermatt" width="Switzerland" height="amid the spread of the COVID-19">
</div>
<div class="title">Figure 5. A pedestrian looks at an illuminated map board in the empty streets of the Alpine resort of Zermatt, Switzerland, amid the spread of the COVID-19, 18 March. From bit.ly/39jifbr</div>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/pic_2020-03-29_082407z.webp" alt="Father Scott Holmer of St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church in Bowie" width="Maryland" height="hears confessions in the parking lot of the church that remains closed because of restrictions set in place because of the coronavirus. From wapo.st/2wEzEhh">
</div>
<div class="title">Figure 6. Father Scott Holmer of St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church in Bowie, Maryland, hears confessions in the parking lot of the church that remains closed because of restrictions set in place because of the coronavirus. From wapo.st/2wEzEhh</div>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/pic_2020-03-29_082601z.webp" alt="Coronavirus signage on the M80 motorway near Banknock" width="Scotland. From bit.ly/3amg4VI">
</div>
<div class="title">Figure 7. Coronavirus signage on the M80 motorway near Banknock, Scotland. From bit.ly/3amg4VI</div>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/pic_2020-03-29_082754z.webp" alt="A family in Rome" width="12 March. From bit.ly/2UjWtQH">
</div>
<div class="title">Figure 8. A family in Rome, 12 March. From bit.ly/2UjWtQH</div>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Our painting of the week is "Coconut Palms' Last Stand, Key
Biscayne" by Paul Hampton Crocket. From bit.ly/2UA8fVO …​</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Sending Pic:207x154C;</p>
</div>
<div class="literalblock">
<div class="content">
<pre>Shortwave Radiogram returns to MFSK32 ...
Before RSID: <<2020-03-29T08:28Z MFSK-64 @ 1422100+1499>>
This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK32 ...
Shortwave Radiogram is transmitted by:
WRMI, Radio Miami International, wrmi.net
and
WINB Shortwave, winb.com
Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.net
And visit http://swradiogram.net
Twitter: @SWRadiogram or twitter.com/swradiogram
I'm Kim Elliott. Please join us for the next Shortwave
Radiogram.</pre>
</div>
</div>Updates to the VIPER Network2020-03-26T00:00:00-04:002020-03-26T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2020-03-26:/updates-to-the-viper-network.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Coming home from Plymouth, today, I captured updates to eleven trunking sites of North Carolina’s statewide radio network (VIPER).
A few months ago there was a large update to the network that included many control channel updates.
Some radio monitors haven’t caught up just yet.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_updates">Updates</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Records showing …</p></div></div></div><div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Coming home from Plymouth, today, I captured updates to eleven trunking sites of North Carolina’s statewide radio network (VIPER).
A few months ago there was a large update to the network that included many control channel updates.
Some radio monitors haven’t caught up just yet.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_updates">Updates</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Records showing site neighbors contain a complete list of control channels while records without site neighbors only contain the current control channel based on peer notification.</p>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_site_003_003_barco">Site: 003-003 - Barco</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>853.3375c
852.2750a
853.6750a</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Site Neighbors: 003-019 003-034 003-060</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_site_003_014_columbia">Site: 003-014 - Columbia</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>853.6125c
852.4375a
853.7500a</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Site Neighbors: 003-013 003-018 003-050 003-051 003-055 003-062 003-064 003-066 003-071 003-072</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_site_003_019_elizabeth_city">Site: 003-019 - Elizabeth City</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>853.5625c
853.3375a
853.6750a
853.7500a</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Site Neighbors: 003-003 003-014 003-026 003-034 003-051 003-060 003-071 003-072</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_site_003_046_odom_doc">Site: 003-046 - Odom DOC</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>774.48125c</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_site_003_050_plymouth">Site: 003-050 - Plymouth</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>857.2125c
853.5625a
853.7500a</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Site Neighbors: 003-003 003-004 003-014 003-026 003-034 003-051 003-066 003-069 003-071</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_site_003_051_ponzor">Site: 003-051 Ponzor</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>853.8250c
852.3250a</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Site Neighbors: 003-014</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_site_003_060_south_mills">Site: 003-060 - South Mills</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>853.6750c
853.5625a
853.7500a</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Site Neighbors: 003-003 003-019 003-026 003-034 003-072</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_site_003_066_valhalla">Site: 003-066 - Valhalla</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>853.675c</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Site Neighbors: 003-001 003-003 003-004 003-014 003-018 003-026 003-034 003-050 003-055 003-060 003-069 003-071 003-072</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_site_003_069_williamston">Site: 003-069 - Williamston</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>860.4875c
853.6125a
859.9875a</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Site Neighbors: 003-023 003-028 003-066</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_site_003_071_windsor">Site: 003-071 - Windsor</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>857.9875c
853.8250a
855.2375a</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Site Neighbors: 003-001 003-046 003-066</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_site_003_072_winfall">Site: 003-072 - Winfall</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>774.80625c</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>Shortwave Radiogram 1442020-03-22T00:00:00-04:002020-03-22T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2020-03-22:/shortwave-radiogram-144.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I’ve been absent from the radio lately but I finally got some time to update some gear and get my KX3 on the air on digital modes.
Tonight I received the Shortwave Radiogram; a program I really enjoy receiving.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_the_program_decoded">The program, decoded.</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="literalblock">
<div class="content">
<pre>Welcome to program 144 of Shortwave Radiogram …</pre></div></div></div></div><div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I’ve been absent from the radio lately but I finally got some time to update some gear and get my KX3 on the air on digital modes.
Tonight I received the Shortwave Radiogram; a program I really enjoy receiving.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_the_program_decoded">The program, decoded.</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="literalblock">
<div class="content">
<pre>Welcome to program 144 of Shortwave Radiogram.
I'm Kim Andrew Elliott in Arlington, Virginia USA.
Here is the lineup for today's program, in MFSK modes as noted:
1:46 MFSK32: Program preview (now)
2:55 Russian plans first spacecraft to Moon in 45 years*
6:37 MFSK64: German, US companies to develop COVID-19 vaccine
8:47 Mercury has a surprising amount of ice*
12:31 This week's images*
28:16 MFSK32: Closing announcements
* with image(s)
Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.net
And visit http://swradiogram.net
Twitter: @SWRadiogram
From Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty:
Russia Plans To Send First Spacecraft To Moon In 45 Years
17 March 2020
Russia plans to land a spacecraft on the moon's surface next year
for the first time in more than four decades.
The country will launch Luna-25 on October 1, 2021, Igor
Mitrofanov, the head of the nuclear planetology department at the
Space Research Institute, said at a meeting of scientists on
March 17.
Moscow last launched a spacecraft to the surface of the moon in
1976 as the Soviet Union's space race with the United States came
to an end.
Luna-25 will carry out scientific research in the polar region of
the moon, including studying the properties of the soil.
According to Russia's space program agenda, the country plans
four more launches to the moon by 2028.
With reporting by Vedomosti and Ria Novosti
https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-plans-to-send-first-spacecraft-to-moon-in-45-years/30492338.html</pre>
</div>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/pic_2020-03-22_233622z.webp" alt="Illustration of the Luna-Glob lander">
</div>
<div class="title">Figure 1. Illustration of the Luna-Glob lander</div>
</div>
<div class="literalblock">
<div class="content">
<pre>Shortwave Radiogram now changes to MFSK64 ...
Before RSID: <<2020-03-22T23:36Z MFSK-32 @ 1422100+1500>>
This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK64
Please send your reception report to radiogram@verizon.net
From Deutsche Welle:
Coronavirus: German, US companies sign deal to develop vaccine
Germany's BioNTech is to use its drug development platform
alongside Pfizer to find a vaccine for COVID-19. It comes
after Donald Trump reportedly tried to entice a German lab
to develop a vaccine exclusively for the US.
17 March 2020
US drugmaker Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech will immediately start
work together on a potential vaccine for COVID-19, the companies
announced in a joint statement on Tuesday.
Both companies have signed a letter of intent for the vaccine's
distribution outside China and they will decide on financial
terms, manufacturing and possible commercialization over the next
few weeks.
"This is a global pandemic, which requires a global effort. In
joining forces with our partner Pfizer, we believe we can
accelerate our effort to bring a COVID-19 vaccine to people
around the world who need it," said Ugur Sahin, Co-Founder and
CEO of BioNTech.
The companies said they would use BioNTech's mRNA-based drug
development platform and will use research and development sites
from the two companies in both the US and Germany.
The two companies already work together to develop mRNA-based
vaccines for influenza.
A day earlier, BioNtech signed a deal with Shanghai Fosun
Pharmaceutical outlining its rights in China to its experimental
coronavirus vaccine.
The companies are aiming to start testing on humans from late
April.
Race for vaccine
On Sunday, German media reported that US President Donald Trump
was offering large sums of money to German scientists working on
a vaccine. He allegedly wanted to secure exclusive rights to the
CureVac company's work.
Immunity to the rapidly-spreading virus is seen as the most
effective way to stop the global outbreak.
Nearly 179,000 people around the world have been infected with
the coronavirus and more 7,000 people have died.
Massachusetts-based Moderna Inc is also competing to develop a
vaccine. The bio-technology company is collaborating with the US
National Institutes of Health and on Monday announced that it
dosed the first patient with its experimental coronavirus vaccine
in an early-stage trial.
https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-german-us-companies-sign-deal-to-develop-vaccine/a-52802822
See also:
https://investors.biontech.de/news-releases/news-release-details/pfizer-and-biontech-co-develop-potential-covid-19-vaccine
This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK64
Please send your reception report to radiogram@verizon.net
From New Atlas:
Mercury may paradoxically use intense heat to make huge amounts
of ice
Michael Irving
16 March 2020
Despite being the closest planet to the Sun, Mercury is home to a
surprising amount of ice. Now, researchers at Georgia Tech have
put forward an explanation for how at least some of it got there
- and it turns out, the heat plays an important role.
Most of Mercury is a broiling hot hellscape, where daytime
temperatures peak at a toasty 427 °C (800 °F). But with no
atmosphere to spread the heat around, the poles remain chilly,
and the floors of some deep craters never see sunlight. There,
temperatures can be as low as -170 °C (-274 °F) - the perfect
conditions for ice to form.
And form it does, with spacecraft observations and other
calculations showing large deposits at both poles of the planet.
How it actually got there in the first place has remained a
mystery, but now the Georgia Tech team has proposed at least a
partial explanation.
The team says that protons - charged particles from the Sun -
pelt the surface of Mercury, creating minerals called hydroxyl
groups (OH) in the soil. Then, the intense heat helps release and
energize these minerals, so they collide and form water molecules
and hydrogen.
These water molecules then drift around the planet. Some will
inevitably be broken down again by the extreme sunlight, but some
molecules will settle in the polar craters, where the cold
conditions are ready to make some ice.
"The total amount that we postulate that would become ice is 10
trillion kg (11 billion tons) over a period of about 3 million
years," says Brant Jones, first author of the study. "The process
could easily account for up to 10 percent of Mercury’s total
ice."
The rest, they posit, would arrive through asteroid strikes. That
doesn’t necessarily mean the asteroid itself has to be carrying
much water - the forces of the impact itself can trigger a
chemical reaction that produces the stuff.
The research was published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
The team describes the idea in the video below.
https://newatlas.com/space/mercury-ice-heat-chemistry/</pre>
</div>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/pic_2020-03-22_234227z.webp" alt="A true color image of Mercury" width="snapped by MESSENGER">
</div>
<div class="title">Figure 2. A true color image of Mercury, snapped by MESSENGER</div>
</div>
<div class="literalblock">
<div class="content">
<pre>This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK64
Please send your reception report to radiogram@verizon.net
This week's images:</pre>
</div>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/pic_2020-03-22_234432z.webp" alt="A priest Miroslaw Matuszny walks on the street holding Relics of St Anthony as he prays to stop spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Lublin" width="Poland" height="17 March. From reut.rs/3a3CgE4">
</div>
<div class="title">Figure 3. A priest Miroslaw Matuszny walks on the street holding Relics of St Anthony as he prays to stop spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Lublin, Poland, 17 March. From reut.rs/3a3CgE4</div>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/pic_2020-03-22_234627z.webp" alt="Street art in Mumbai. From bit.ly/2xOUuuF">
</div>
<div class="title">Figure 4. Street art in Mumbai. From bit.ly/2xOUuuF</div>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/pic_2020-03-22_234757z.webp" alt="A mural at municipal radio station WNYC in New York City" width="painted as part of the Works Progress Administration during the 1930s Depression. From bit.ly/2x5aTea">
</div>
<div class="title">Figure 5. A mural at municipal radio station WNYC in New York City, painted as part of the Works Progress Administration during the 1930s Depression. From bit.ly/2x5aTea</div>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/pic_2020-03-22_234946z.webp" alt="A family enjoys the cherry blossoms at the National Arboretum in Washington DC" width="18 March. From wapo.st/2wmHUlX">
</div>
<div class="title">Figure 6. A family enjoys the cherry blossoms at the National Arboretum in Washington DC, 18 March. From wapo.st/2wmHUlX</div>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/pic_2020-03-22_235106z.webp" alt="The Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich in London marked St Patrick’s Day. From bit.ly/2Wp4CEM">
</div>
<div class="title">Figure 7. The Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich in London marked St Patrick’s Day. From bit.ly/2Wp4CEM</div>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/pic_2020-03-22_235300z.webp" alt="During the absence of human visitors due to COVID-19" width="Wellington" height="a 32-year-old rockhopper penguin">
</div>
<div class="title">Figure 8. During the absence of human visitors due to COVID-19, Wellington, a 32-year-old rockhopper penguin, meets other animals while exploring the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. From reut.rs/2Quo9zJ</div>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/pic_2020-03-22_235441z.webp" alt="People walk through snow in Red Square during a recent stretch of cold weather in Moscow. From bit.ly/2Ukxyen">
</div>
<div class="title">Figure 9. People walk through snow in Red Square during a recent stretch of cold weather in Moscow. From bit.ly/2Ukxyen</div>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/pic_2020-03-22_235641z.webp" alt="Light from a GaN laser diode" width="diffracting through a GaN LED wafer etched with a photonic quasi-crystal with twelvefold rotational symmetry for enhancing light extraction. From bit.ly/2UxlKFZ">
</div>
<div class="title">Figure 10. Light from a GaN laser diode, diffracting through a GaN LED wafer etched with a photonic quasi-crystal with twelvefold rotational symmetry for enhancing light extraction. From bit.ly/2UxlKFZ</div>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2020/pic_2020-03-22_235805z.webp" alt="Our painting of the week is "Daffodils" by Julian Merrow-Smith. From bit.ly/2xasyku">
</div>
<div class="title">Figure 11. Our painting of the week is "Daffodils" by Julian Merrow-Smith. From bit.ly/2xasyku</div>
</div>
<div class="literalblock">
<div class="content">
<pre>Shortwave Radiogram returns to MFSK32 ...
Before RSID: <<2020-03-22T23:58Z MFSK-64 @ 1422100+1499>>
This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK32 ...
Shortwave Radiogram is transmitted by:
WRMI, Radio Miami International, wrmi.net
and
WINB Shortwave, winb.com
Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.net
And visit http://swradiogram.net
Twitter: @SWRadiogram or twitter.com/swradiogram
o im Elliott. Please join us for the next Shortwave
Radiogram.</pre>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>Building a network for AMPR2020-03-15T00:00:00-04:002020-03-15T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2020-03-15:/building-a-network-for-ampr.html<div class="paragraph">
<p>Okay, I’m quitting just before I go completely crazy and start shredding things that actually work.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>A little background on what I’m working on.
I’m trying to build out a little piece of the <a href="https://www.ampr.org/">AMPRnet</a> for me to play with.
Mind you, I’m more of a …</p></div><div class="paragraph">
<p>Okay, I’m quitting just before I go completely crazy and start shredding things that actually work.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>A little background on what I’m working on.
I’m trying to build out a little piece of the <a href="https://www.ampr.org/">AMPRnet</a> for me to play with.
Mind you, I’m more of a network architect and less of a systems administrator so about half of what I’m trying to do is exciting for me while the other half is quite frustrating.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Yesterday I received my IP allocation (44.60.16.0/27) and today I’ve been trying to stand up a server (VM) that will allow me to host a gateway to bridge my little piece of allocation with others over the Internet and to also be able to host the necessary services needed to run a network.
This is all fine and good except FreeNAS, the host I want to run this VM on, is making things…​ difficult.
I don’t know, really, if it’s all FreeNAS’s fault but it just seems to do unexpected things with respect to networking, VLANs, handling operating systems, and several other things.
So, after fighting with it for most of the day, I’m just going to walk away from it for now.
I’ve turned off the VM and maybe a miracle will happen and things will correct itself while it’s sleeping.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>What has gone well, though, is the 5 GHz access point (AP) on the roof seems to still be working.
When I get some time I want to do some range testing to see what kind of distance I can get out of it.
It’s up pretty high but we’re surrounded by trees so I’m not expecting anything great.
I need to get some more outdoor gear to experiment with and maybe see if there are any hams in the neighborhood that would like to play as well.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Anyway, here’s hoping that tomorrow goes better.
73 for now.</p>
</div>A look at electric vehicle charging.2020-02-12T00:00:00-05:002020-02-12T00:00:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2020-02-12:/a-look-at-electric-vehicle-charging.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I’ve been driving an electric vehicle (EV) (Chevrolet Bolt) for a little over a year now and have now gotten used to the way it drives and the lifestyle of charging.
Getting behind the wheel of a internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle is now quite disturbing.
The noise, the …</p></div></div></div><div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I’ve been driving an electric vehicle (EV) (Chevrolet Bolt) for a little over a year now and have now gotten used to the way it drives and the lifestyle of charging.
Getting behind the wheel of a internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle is now quite disturbing.
The noise, the handling, the inefficiencies…​ they are all quite annoying.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>One question I get about owning an EV is charging it.
Many people try to make the comparison of filling up a ICE vehicle with gasoline or diesel fuel with charging their EV.
While both are adding potential energy to their vehicle, most people neither fill up their vehicles daily nor do they have this capability at home thus they only fill up every few days when they get low.
With an EV, you don’t wait until you are empty; you simply plug your vehicle in every day when you get home and charge up!
Because your vehicle is mostly sitting parked, it can easily be charging while it isn’t being driven, so it’s always ready to go.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_types_of_charging">Types of charging</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Charging rates are measured in kWs, miles per hour, and time to finish.
Depending on what information you are interested in, these different rates are important.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>There are basically three types of charging that are available to modern EVs (not to include the Tesla vehicles which have their own charging environments and lingo).
Each of those levels charge the vehicle at different rates as each rate is suitable for different situation.</p>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_level_1_charging">Level 1 charging</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Level 1 charging is the slowest charging method.
This is basically a charger that plugs into a regular 110V household outlet and consumes 8 or 12 amps (configurable for the Bolt).
At this rate, you’ll likely be charging at a rate of ~4 miles per hour.
If you are charging your vehicle while you are at work (think 9 hours) or while you are home for the evening (think ~12 hours), you’ll put 36 to 48 miles of range back into your battery or a combined 84 miles per day if you can charge at work and home.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Depending on your commute to and from work, this might work well for you.
We used a Level 1 charger for several months until we just decided to go with something a bit faster, just because.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_level_2_charging">Level 2 charging</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Level 2 charging is a good medium speed charging method.
It requires 220V of AC power instead of the standard 110V outlet, but can give you a much faster charging experience.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Our charging station is setup to deliver approximately 7.5kW to the vehicle and the vehicle’s onboard inverter controls how much of that energy it will use to efficiently charge the battery.
Now we’re charging in the range of 15 miles per hour or even faster.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_level_3_charging">Level 3 charging</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Level 3 charging is a very fast, direct DC charge to the vehicle’s battery.
The charger will only charge the battery to roughly 80% to prevent damaging the battery, but it can bring an empty battery to almost charged in just under an hour.
For me, that’s like adding around 270 miles to my battery in less than an hour!</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_cost_of_operating">Cost of operating</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>So what is the cost difference between operating my electric car and my ICE car?
Well, here are some numbers for you:</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>In the month of January I logged 1960 miles on the EV at a cost of around $59 (based on rates set by BG&E).
Had I driven those same miles in my ICE vehicle, which gets around 34 miles to the gallon, and paid an average of $2.65 per gallon, it would have cost me roughly $152 in gasoline (not including oil changes and other ICE maintenance that my EV doesn’t have).</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>If I factor in that I generate some of my own electricity using solar panels, and that I get <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_Renewable_Energy_Certificate">SRECs</a> for generating that power, the cost for operating my EV goes down even more.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_range">Range</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Some of the EVs from previous years had a rather short range of 100 miles or so.
The Bolt we purchased has a range of 300 miles which means we don’t really look for chargers along our journey unless we’re going a long ways away.
I suspect the next versions of these EVs will have an even better range as battery technology continues to improve.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>Updating e-mail security features on my server.2019-09-14T00:00:00-04:002019-09-14T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2019-09-14:/updating-e-mail-security-features-on-my-server.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I recently learned of a new security process called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Mail_Transfer_Protocol#SMTP_MTA_Strict_Transport_Security">SMTP MTA Strict Transport Security</a>, or MTA-STS for short.
It’s not new, exactly, but it hasn’t been talked about a lot, either.
Basically, it does what <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_Strict_Transport_Security">HTTP Strict Transport Security</a>, HSTS, does for websites and informs the connecting client …</p></div></div></div><div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I recently learned of a new security process called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Mail_Transfer_Protocol#SMTP_MTA_Strict_Transport_Security">SMTP MTA Strict Transport Security</a>, or MTA-STS for short.
It’s not new, exactly, but it hasn’t been talked about a lot, either.
Basically, it does what <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_Strict_Transport_Security">HTTP Strict Transport Security</a>, HSTS, does for websites and informs the connecting client that not only is encryption available but it should be used, in this case for delivering mail to the SMTP server.
<a href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/gmail-becomes-first-major-email-provider-to-support-mta-sts-and-tls-reporting/">Google officially rolled out support for this in April of this year</a> and I am receiving reports that <a href="https://mta-sts.aehe.us/.well-known/mta-sts.txt">my rule</a> is being used so that’s encouraging.
This solves the opportunistic encryption vulnerability whereas a MITM attacker could downgrade an otherwise encrypted connection.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_how_mta_sts_actually_works">How MTA-STS actually works.</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>First, a mail client (usually a mail server) queries a DNS server to determine the domain’s MX record so it knows where to send the mail.
A mail client could also query the DNS server to determine if a MTA-STS record exists as well.
If the record exists, then the server connects to a predetermined URL (<code>mta-sts.<domain>/.well-known/mta-sts.txt</code>) and obtains the rule that has been established by the system owner.
This rule is cached by the system and doesn’t change unless the DNS record’s ID changes so, like HSTS, once the server connects the first time, it knows that it should always connect to that domain’s SMTP server(s) using encryption.
If there is a downgrade attack, or some other problem where encryption is not available, the connection fails and mail is not sent.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>It should be noted that the DNS records should/must be secured with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_Name_System_Security_Extensions">DNSSEC</a> for this whole thing to work well.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_but_what_about_dane">But what about DANE?</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Oh, lets not forget about DANE which is another great way of advertising encryption possibilities.
DANE not only shows your encryption possibilities but also provides your public key so your clients can compare it when they connect.
A bad actor trying to imitate you wouldn’t be able to unless they were able to steal your private key.
And this isn’t HPKP where you can completely lock your domain off of the web for months because you lost control of your keys or did something incorrect.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_so_what_feedback_are_you_getting">So what feedback are you getting?</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I’ve been running this for only a few days and, so far, I’ve received feedback from two providers: Google and Comcast.
Google is using MTA-STS and has successfully read my rule and is enforcing encryption for all messages coming to my domain.
Comcast is using DANE and is successfully sending messages to my domain not only encrypted but is verifying my certificate as well.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Others may also be using these technologies but not reporting using the <a href="https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc8460">RFC8460 SMTP TLS report</a>.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>Apple Orchard Mountain for APRS Golden Packet and SOTA2019-07-20T00:00:00-04:002019-07-20T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2019-07-20:/apple-orchard-mountain-for-aprs-golden-packet-and-sota.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="images/2019/AOMTN/Apple_Orchard_sign.webp"><span class="image right"><img src="images/2019/AOMTN/Apple_Orchard_sign-250x188.webp" alt="Apple Orchard Mountain sign"></span></a> I must be a glutton for punishment.
This is my third time visiting Apple Orchard Mountain (AO) and its steep climb to the top with way too much stuff.
But I’m always rewarded in the end with awesome views, excellent VHF and UHF range, and interesting phenomena.
This trip …</p></div></div></div><div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="images/2019/AOMTN/Apple_Orchard_sign.webp"><span class="image right"><img src="images/2019/AOMTN/Apple_Orchard_sign-250x188.webp" alt="Apple Orchard Mountain sign"></span></a> I must be a glutton for punishment.
This is my third time visiting Apple Orchard Mountain (AO) and its steep climb to the top with way too much stuff.
But I’m always rewarded in the end with awesome views, excellent VHF and UHF range, and interesting phenomena.
This trip was no different.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_stats">Stats</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>When: 2019-07-19 and 2019-07-20</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Where: <a href="http://aprs.org/hamtrails/AO.html">Apple Orchard Mountain</a> - W4V/RA-001</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Who: Eric WG3K, Amanda KI4IWS, Harlan, and Elise</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Ascent: 280ft in .58mi (3928ft to 4208ft)</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Equipment: Elecraft KX3, SOTABEAM Bandspringer Midi antenna, Kenwood D700A, Opek HVU-500</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>APRS Coverage: Excellent with nearby I-Gate.
Use path WIDE2-1 on your HT when up here to reduce interference and unneeded repeats.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_the_mission">The mission</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Each year, several <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_radio_operator">amateur radio operators</a> make the hike (or drive if you’re lucky) to a pre-determined mountain summit along the <a href="http://www.appalachiantrail.org/">Appalachian Trail</a> (AT) to create an ad-hoc packet network based on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_Packet_Reporting_System">APRS</a> protocol.
This "event" is titled, simply, the <a href="http://aprs.org/at-golden-packet.html">APRS Golden Packet Event</a>.
From Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine, (and now we’re including some summits in Canada as well!) we create a digital network comprised of fourteen digipeaters that can be used to pass along positions and messages along the AT.
AO Mountain is station five in the network and links Comers Rock with Hawksbill Mountain, each just more than 100 miles (161 kilometers) in distance.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_the_team">The team</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>In years past, I’ve been accompanied by some experienced operators that made such a trip enjoyable and easy. In <a href="activating-apple-orchard-mountain-w4vra-001.html">2016</a> I was joined by Steve N3IPN and Dave KB3RAN on what ended up being a big learning experience of what not to do when climbing AO Mountain.
Too much <em>heavy</em> stuff ended up on that trip which led to a re-evaluation of what we really needed to bring on these trips.
In <a href="apple-orchard-mountain-in-july-2017.html">2017</a> we added Ed KC3EN to the group and lightened our load a bit.
Many feet make light work, especially when you decide not to bring so much junk with you.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>This year was a bit different.
The people I asked were on travel or were otherwise engaged.
I was planning on doing this trip solo when, at the last minute, <a href="https://family.christensenplace.us/2019/07/21/camping-on-apple-orchard-mountain/">my family decided to join me</a>.
Elise hadn’t really been camping before and Harlan hadn’t been truly camping outside of a campground so I figured it was about time to get them out into nature.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_staying_there">Staying there</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2019/AOMTN/Camp_Sparks.webp" alt="Camp Sparks showing" width="from left to right" height="the crew tent">
</div>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>This year we made camp at the summit.
Besides the industrial complex that has been constructed at the top, much of the summit area is natural, green, and pretty.
The paved road makes it <em>easy</em>, well easier, to get up to the summit with lots of stuff.
Camping at the top is awesome with clear, starlit skies, and a nice breeze blowing around.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_aprs_golden_packet">APRS Golden Packet</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Since we camped at the summit there was no rush to set up the digipeater and make sure everything would be up and running prior to the event.
In fact, I was able to get the system up and running, by myself, in just a few minutes.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="images/2019/AOMTN/GP_antenna.webp"><span class="image right"><img src="images/2019/AOMTN/GP_antenna.webp" alt="VHF and UHF antenna" width="350" height="350"></span></a>
This year I used a different antenna setup that yielded excellent results.
Instead of a base station antenna, as I’ve tried in the past, I used an <a href="https://www.opekantenna.com/HVU-500.htm">Opek HVU-500</a> mobile antenna for 6m, 2m, and 70cm.
Coupled with an <a href="https://www.mfjenterprises.com/Product.php?productid=MFJ-1401">MFJ-1401 antenna ground plane kit</a>, used for converting mobile antennas into base antennas, along with three fiberglass mast pipes each measuring 1.13m in length, the Opek did a fantastic job and was much easier to haul around and was still lightweight.
This setup will definitely go into my portable setup.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I’m continuing to use my LiFePO4 battery.
This year I added a 18-watt solar panel to help extend my battery’s capacity.
The solar charger, unfortunately, failed at some point in middle of operations and I didn’t realized it until I had been operating HF off of the battery for a while.
Fortunately, the charger started working later in the mission but only generated enough to keep the voltage up when the sun came out from behind the clouds.</p>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_signals_and_operations">Signals and operations</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Signals between AO Mountain and Hawksbill Mountain have traditionally been the weak link in the Golden Packet network.
I figured out my first year that antenna placement is very important on the summit.
If this were my land I think I’d put in a survey marker at the spot to make sure I can come back to the exact same spot each time.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Signals, compared to years past, were great going both north and south.
I never heard Hawksbill on UHF voice but I copied their packets on VHF with no problem.
Comer’s Rock has never been a problem and I chatted regularly with KJ4OAP throughout the day.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>One thing that seemed annoying to me was when we were trying to complete Golden Packet exchange, I was losing power, and all the digipeaters in between were sending their position reports.
Each report that went through my station drained my battery a little bit more.
So instead of being there for the Golden Packets, I was being killed by extra traffic.
And that damned cloud wouldn’t move out of the way to help charge my battery!
But, in the end, the cloud moved, the station stabilized, and we moved on to complete the pass.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>After passing the Golden Packet each way at 1200 baud, we switched to 9600 baud and completed the same Golden Packet in just a few minutes.
9600 baud apparently doubles the ALOHA channel capacity and also seems to do better along some of our weaker paths.
I saw no problems at AO Mountain.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_summits_on_the_air_sota">Summits on the Air (SOTA)</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="images/2019/AOMTN/WG3K_SOTA.webp"><span class="image left"><img src="images/2019/AOMTN/WG3K_SOTA.webp" alt="Eric operating HF at Apple Orchard Mountain" width="350" height="350"></span></a>
As usual, I brought my <a href="https://elecraft.com/products/kx3-all-mode-160-6-m-transceiver">Elecraft KX3</a> along with my <a href="https://www.sotabeams.co.uk/bandspringerMidi40m30m20m/">SOTABEAMS Bandspringer Midi antenna</a> and 4.1m fiberglass pole.
The antenna continues to perform well and is the easiest and fastest antenna I’ve found to erect for HF.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I started at 60m and went to 20m putting stations in the log on every band I stopped in.
There is really awful noise up at the top of the summit that has rendered my Elecraft K1 useless in previous trips.
This noise was back and got worse the higher in frequency I went.
I really wanted to do more CW but my filters just weren’t taking out the noise and it was difficult to pick out the stations.
I, unfortunately, ended up with only one CW contact, which was a disappointment.
With my power budget very low, I ended HF operations early to keep power for the primary mission.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I did manage fourteen contacts on five bands during the operational period and thank AB4PP, KG3W, W2SE, NE4TN, K2JB, KB1RJD, KI4TN, AA4IT, K1LIZ, W5GAI, KJ4OAP, and W5ODS for answering my calls.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_summary">Summary</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Overall, the operation was a success both personally and for the Golden Packet team.
I need to do more testing to figure out what happened with my solar charger but I feel that everything else went well.
We’ll see what next year holds.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>Satellite APRS Article from 20052019-07-06T00:00:00-04:002019-07-06T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2019-07-06:/satellite-aprs-article-from-2005.html<div class="paragraph">
<p>I’ve been going through some papers around the house and scanning them onto my computer for longevity sake.
Recently, I ran across an article I published in Project OSCAR’s <em>The Satellite Beacon</em> journal back in 2005.
I reprint it here for those that might be interested in what …</p></div><div class="paragraph">
<p>I’ve been going through some papers around the house and scanning them onto my computer for longevity sake.
Recently, I ran across an article I published in Project OSCAR’s <em>The Satellite Beacon</em> journal back in 2005.
I reprint it here for those that might be interested in what Satellite APRS looked like back then.</p>
</div>
<div class="listingblock">
<div class="content">
<pre>Satellite communication has become open to most, if not all, Amateur Radio operators around the world using simple equipment that some already have in their personal inventories. Low Earth Orbit (or LEO) satellites are being built with increasing numbers that are carrying FM repeaters and FM digital equipment that operate in the common 2m uplink and 70cm downlink or Mode-J. Because these satellites are in lower orbits, amateurs with handheld and mobile radios can use these satellites as repeaters in the sky.
One new technology being implemented is the Automatic Position Reporting System or APRS(R). This allows the amateur to send a short burst of data that includes the station's call sign, position, type of station, and some text up to the satellite. There it will be received and digipeated (digitally repeated) back to Earth for many other satellite operators to receive. APRS makes it possible to have many "conversations" going on over the satellite, simultaneously, without disrupting the rest of the operators.
With the equipment that is available today, there really isn't any excuse why more amateurs aren't out there enjoying these resources. Newer radios including handhelds that will interface to both mobile and handheld GPS units, and will automatically update their position. Digital messages have been sent to and from stations using this simple setup allowing amateurs who are hiking, camping, or have antenna restrictions to join in and exchange messages with other hams hundreds or thousands of miles away. One ham even used APRS to beat a speeding ticket by showing the judge she couldn't have [been] speeding because APRS recorded her speed over that stretch of road as many miles per hour less.
Currently, there are two satellites active that support APRS; NO-44 (PCSAT) and the ISS, both of which can easily be used with mobile and handheld radios. At the time of this being written, both satellites are orbiting the earth listening to 145.825MHz and waiting to hear an APRS formatted packet. Using a handheld such as a Kenwood D7A(G) dual-band handheld radio will allow amateurs to transmit position information packets up to the satellite or ISS and monitor messages from other users. The stock antenna will work, higher-gain antennas will add to your fun! Antennas like the Arrow (or similar) and the Pryme AL-800 make excellent satellite antennas for not only APRS but for voice communications too. Unlike other satellites both NO-44 and the ISS work on 2M only, so a dual band radio is not required for APRS.
NO-44 orbits at approximately 750km about(sic) the earth. With a digipeater up that high you can expect your packets to be heard for thousands of kilometers. Usually you can operate on this satellite for about ten minutes per orbit. Bulletins are transmitted on the terrestrial APRS frequency (144.390MHz) when the satellite is overhead and in good working order. See the AMSAT Web site for more information.
The International Space Station is also available for APRS. Orbiting at approximately 350km above the Earth, the ISS doesn't have as big of a footprint as NO-44. The ISS digipeater is shared with the ISS BBS so it is a little more difficult to use as there are more users on the uplink.
APRS is a fun mode to use but why not take it to the next level and utilize equipment for a completely different experience. If a one-hop QSO that would land your packet over 3000km away doesn't sound like fun, then I don't know what does!
For additional information on amateur satellites, check out the following Web sites:
Project OSCAR - http://www.projectoscar.net
AMSAT - http://www.amsat.org
ISS APRS Log - http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/ariss/index.cgi
PC Sat APRS Log - http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/pcsat.cgi
WB4APR's Website - http://web.usna.navy.mil/~bruninga</pre>
</div>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Looking back over this article, I would have written this article very differently today.
That said, I present it as-is for historical purposes.</p>
</div>JOSM: Fixing the "Centering map when drawing" feature.2019-06-28T00:00:00-04:002019-06-28T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2019-06-28:/josm-fixing-the-centering-map-when-drawing-feature.html<div class="paragraph">
<p>It happened again.
I hit some keys while editing in JOSM and my imagery started centering itself while adding a way.
I’ve done this in the past and it’s really quite annoying.
The "feature" is documented on the web but due to a misspelling you can’t find …</p></div><div class="paragraph">
<p>It happened again.
I hit some keys while editing in JOSM and my imagery started centering itself while adding a way.
I’ve done this in the past and it’s really quite annoying.
The "feature" is documented on the web but due to a misspelling you can’t find it.
Well, here it is so I can find it next time.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><code>CTRL+SHIFT+F</code> <a href="https://josm.openstreetmap.de/wiki/Help/Action/ViewportFollowing">Enable/Disable automatic centering of the map view to last placed node.</a></p>
</div>2019-06-11 Astronomy Observations2019-06-11T00:00:00-04:002019-06-11T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2019-06-11:/2019-06-11-astronomy-observations.html<div class="paragraph">
<p>Conditions:</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><strong>Outdoor temperature</strong>: ~21C<br>
<strong>Relative Humidity</strong>: ~65%<br>
<strong>Sky cover</strong>: Mostly clear with a few high clouds starting to build towards the west.<br>
<strong>Observatory</strong>: <a href="https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=38.62954&mlon=-76.51618#map=12/38.6295/-76.5162">Beach at Willows Colony</a></p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Harlan and I went out to test a new-to-us telescope in a spot I had previously thought would be good for nighttime observations …</p></div><div class="paragraph">
<p>Conditions:</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><strong>Outdoor temperature</strong>: ~21C<br>
<strong>Relative Humidity</strong>: ~65%<br>
<strong>Sky cover</strong>: Mostly clear with a few high clouds starting to build towards the west.<br>
<strong>Observatory</strong>: <a href="https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=38.62954&mlon=-76.51618#map=12/38.6295/-76.5162">Beach at Willows Colony</a></p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Harlan and I went out to test a new-to-us telescope in a spot I had previously thought would be good for nighttime observations but had never really tried.
The spot, a neighborhood park next to the Chesapeake Bay, was fairly dark with no street lights nearby and had a great, nearly unobstructed, view towards the east.
A cool breeze mostly kept the biting insects away, as well.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<div class="title">Jupiter</div>
<p><span class="image right"><img src="images/2019/2019-06-11-Jupiter-diagram.webp" alt="Drawing of my Jupiter observation"></span> On advice received from members of the <a href="http://somd-astro.mysite.com/">Astronomy Club of Southern Maryland</a>, our first target of the night was Jupiter.
Jupiter wasn’t too low in the sky and with the wider lens was easily discerned against the backdrop of stars and other objects.
Using the 9mm lens, the stripes of Jupiter’s atmosphere and its various orange coloration were able to be seen.
I believe I also saw three of Jupiter’s moons; all objects seemed to be of similar brightness but none were on same plane.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<div class="title">An Iridium flare?</div>
<p>While tracking around the sky, I saw what appeared to be a high-speed object reflecting the suns light for a split second before continuing it’s travels.
The object was traveling in an ascending direction and appeared metallic.
I’m not sure if this was an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_flare#Iridium_flares">Iridium flare</a> or not.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>UPDATE (2019-06-12): This was <strong>not</strong> an Iridium flare.
All Iridium satellites were in a descending orbit in that part of the sky at that time.
The mystery continues.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>More research will be needed to answer the questions I have for both my Jupiter and object flare observations.</p>
</div>Cost comparison for operating an EV compared with an ICE2019-06-05T00:00:00-04:002019-06-05T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2019-06-05:/cost-comparison-for-operating-an-ev-compared-with-an-ice.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Earlier this year we purchased a Chevrolet Bolt EV.
It didn’t take long to figure out one-peddle driving, which is awesome.
But now that we have put ~7,600 miles on the car, I feel comfortable talking about the efficiencies and costs.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Overall, the vehicle has averaged 3.3 …</p></div></div></div><div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Earlier this year we purchased a Chevrolet Bolt EV.
It didn’t take long to figure out one-peddle driving, which is awesome.
But now that we have put ~7,600 miles on the car, I feel comfortable talking about the efficiencies and costs.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Overall, the vehicle has averaged 3.3 miles/kilowatt-hour.
However, over the last ~3,000 miles I’ve averaged 4.4 miles/kilowatt-hour.
Compare this with our Honda CR-V (ICEV) which gets somewhere between 32 and 37 miles/gallon of gasoline.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_now_lets_do_some_math">Now, lets do some math:</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The current electrical rate charged for BG&E customers (<a href="https://www.bge.com/MyAccount/MyBillUsage/Documents/Electric/P3_SCH_R.pdf">schedule R, effective 2019-06-01</a>) is 6.715 cents/kWh plus 3.147 cents/kWh for delivery service charge or 9.862 cents/kWh (not counting the ~$8 monthly fee for just being affiliated with the BG&E family).
The electrical cost will increase to 7.287 cents/kWh on 2019-10-01 which, combined with the delivery service charge, will yield a cost of 10.434 cents/kWh.
The current cost of a gallon of regular, unleaded gasoline is roughly $2.65 (obviously this varies on a daily basis).</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>In our EV, each mile we drive costs roughly 2.241 cents (based on the recent 4.4 miles/kWh).
In our ICEV, each mile we drive costs roughly 12.075 cents (based on 32 miles/gal).
That makes driving our EV a little more than 5 times more cost effective to drive at the current electrical and gasoline rates.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_now_lets_talking_about_incentives">Now lets talking about incentives.</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>We have solar power on our house and use this power to charge our car.
This electrical power has the same market value as that coming from BG&E as that is the price we sell it to them.
One difference is that we get <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_Renewable_Energy_Certificate">SRECs</a> based on our solar power generation.
Currently, in Maryland, our SRECs are worth around $65 per Megawatt-hour.
When factoring in these funds our adjusted cost per kilowatt-hour is 3.362 cents/kWh now and 3.934 cents/kWh in the Fall.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Redoing the math, our EV now costs 0.764 cents per mile and will cost 0.894 cents per mile in the Fall.
That makes driving our EV a little more than 15 times more cost effective to drive!
That’s before you look at the maintenance costs of an ICEV compared with an EV (oil changes…​) and we’re saving even more.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Of course, there is more to switching to an EV than the cost savings.
What are the environmental reprocussions (positive and negative) to adding another large appliance to your home that needs to be plugged in?
I’ll continue to do research and will report back.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>Blue Ridge Parkway Search and Rescue Exercise 20192019-05-05T00:00:00-04:002019-05-05T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2019-05-05:/blue-ridge-parkway-search-and-rescue-exercise-2019.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Boy, that was fun.
I’m just getting back from a search and rescue exercise (SAREX) that I participated in as a prospective member of the <a href="http://www.sarti.us/">Search and Rescue Tracking Institute (SARTI)</a>.
Having operated as a flanker on a canine search team during the previous two years, I decided to …</p></div></div></div><div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Boy, that was fun.
I’m just getting back from a search and rescue exercise (SAREX) that I participated in as a prospective member of the <a href="http://www.sarti.us/">Search and Rescue Tracking Institute (SARTI)</a>.
Having operated as a flanker on a canine search team during the previous two years, I decided to take a look at another avenue of interest I’ve had for a while but haven’t had the opportunity to look further into: tracking.
I learned about SARTI at the Virginia SAR Conference I <a href="virginia-search-and-rescue-conference-2019.html">attended a few weeks ago</a> and decided to take advantage of their upcoming training session to become better educated on the subject.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Tracking is the ancient art of finding a track, whether it be a human or non-human, and be able to not only identify it but also follow it.
(There is probably a better definition, and if I find one I’ll fix this, but this is what I’ve got off the top of my head.)
So imagine you’re walking down the side of the road, across a park, or maybe around your yard.
Every step you make is leaving a trace that you were there.
Trackers can detect those traces and make sense out of that data.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I’ve now seen trackers work twice and it is amazing to me.
At first you don’t see anything.
Then they will point out the smallest detail: a broken twig, several rocks pushed up, or, the obvious, a shoe print.
That is the start of what becomes the slowest adventure ever.
A path starts to form and clues materialize.
You now have data that can be used to rule out or confirm other clues that are found by other teams and narrow down the areas that need to be searched.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_the_sarex">The SAREX</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The SAREX was the 21st Annual Blue Ridge Search and Rescue Exercise hosted by the National Park Service (NPS).
Taking place at the Rocky Knob Recreation Area, the landscape has everything from rolling hills, to steep mountains, to the gorge with its babbling stream and waterfalls, and, of course, the trails running throughout.
It’s the perfect place for someone to get lost, accidentally or otherwise.</p>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_the_scenario">The scenario</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Our missing subject was an 82yo man, Delmer, who liked to go wander in the woods and look at plants.
He was known to walk with a shuffle and use a walking stick when he went into the woods.
His vehicle had been discovered at a parking area near the Rocky Knob cabins, parked illegally, and subsequently towed.
There had been a report of seeing a person matching Delmer’s description walking up Rock Church Road, from that parking lot, around dusk the day before.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>(Obviously I’ve left out a lot of details here.)</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_the_weather">The weather</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I’d love to say here that was nice and sunny, temperatures around 68F all day, but that’s not how it happened.
When Delmer went missing, it had been a nice day.
That was Thursday.
When we started this whole scenario it was Friday evening and a cold front was coming in bringing lots of rain, lightning, and hail to some parts of the area.
We were sure Delmer would be fine; he was well acquainted with the woods and how to stay safe.
Our clues, however, were getting beaten to death and I wasn’t sure what we’d find the next morning.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>(A CoCoRaHS station in Floyd County recorded 2.14 inches of rainfall Saturday morning and 1.66 inches of rainfall Sunday morning.)</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_first_task">First Task</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><span class="image right"><img src="images/2019/Slate_Mountain_Church.webp" alt="Slate Mountain Church" width="300" height="300"></span>My team’s first task (04-03) was "signcut the roadway north to the church near 5426-7044, then cut for sign around the church & further up the roadway to 5436-7050".
We were on task at 09:34 and started looking for clues around a beautiful old "rock church" named Slate Mountain Church.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Walking around the church and a shelter didn’t yield any clues but once we got down to the road we started to see what appeared to be "shuffle" footprints along the edge of the roadway with an associated "poke" mark where one might be using a walking stick.
It was very difficult to see some of the "prints" but the "pokes" were much easier locate and then be used as a reference to see the prints.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>We were able to establish a track that went along the road, crossed the road at the church, and continued along the other side of the road around the curve.
Moving back down the road, towards the parking lot where his car was originally found, I actually found what I thought was a drag mark from the walking stick that led me to a poke mark.
The poke mark pointed to prints that matched what we had seen further up the road.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>While I was finding tracks closer to the parking lot, another member of the team (Tyler) had found some tracks that ran into the woods and had started working those.
It was way more fun to try to track the person through the woods but when we finally found a good print we realized it was not the person we were looking for (we had received a picture that showed the bottom of the subject’s boots at some point in this evolution) and was able to say that these clues did not belong to Delmer.</p>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2019/Tracks_along_Rock_Church_Road.webp" alt="Tracks found along the side of the roadway.">
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_second_task">Second Task</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>A canine team on an area assignment had run across a print that seemed to match our subject’s and had marked it for follow up.
Our tracking team was sent out to evaluate the print and determine if it could have been Delmer’s.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>We had to hike in maybe a half mile or so down Rock Castle trail to get to the print.
And while the print was similar, it did not match what we were looking for.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_third_task">Third Task</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>With storm clouds rolling in, Base sent us on a reflex task to search a drainage.
It was one of those steep drainages that has lots of downed trees and vegetation on it, so the going was slow.
We had gotten roughly 100m up into the drainage when the thunder started, team Delta called the find in the drainage next to us, and Base told us to return to Base NOW!</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The thunder was getting louder and the rain was starting to fall once we had gotten back to our vehicles.
Upon getting back onto the Parkway, we received a flash flood warning so I was happy to not have been down in the gorge any longer.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_wrap_up">Wrap up</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="https://sartopo.com/m/5S54">Success!</a>
I think everyone had fun and everyone did a great job as well.
Delmer was returned safe and sound and will live to go plant hunting again.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I learned a lot about tracking just from watching other people do it.
This is definitely something I want to learn more about!</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_the_accommodations">The accommodations</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The NPS allowed us to camp at the Rocky Knob Campground for the weekend.
The campground is nice, has restrooms nearby, and is wooded.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I took my trusty hiking tent with me that I hadn’t used in quite a while.
Apparently I should have tested it before I took it because it I discovered a puddle in the tent Friday night when I returned from preplanning and then to my very own swimming pool on Saturday night.
Sleeping in my car on Saturday night wasn’t great but at least I was dry!</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>APRS-IS Core Servers2019-04-27T00:00:00-04:002019-04-27T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2019-04-27:/aprs-is-core-servers.html<div class="paragraph">
<p>I’ve been running <a href="http://wg3k-nj.firenet.us:14501/">WG3K-NJ</a>, an APRS Firenet server, for a few years now, which is configured to connect to a core <a href="http://www.aprs-is.net/APRSServers.aspx">APRS-IS</a> server to provide upstream connectivity to the rest of the network.
Tonight I got thinking about network efficiencies and wondered if this connection could be made any …</p></div><div class="paragraph">
<p>I’ve been running <a href="http://wg3k-nj.firenet.us:14501/">WG3K-NJ</a>, an APRS Firenet server, for a few years now, which is configured to connect to a core <a href="http://www.aprs-is.net/APRSServers.aspx">APRS-IS</a> server to provide upstream connectivity to the rest of the network.
Tonight I got thinking about network efficiencies and wondered if this connection could be made any better.
Here’s what I found out.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>There are nine core APRS-IS servers, each located in a variety of locations around the U.S.:</p>
</div>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>FIRST Oklahoma</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>SECOND New Jersey</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>THIRD United Kingdom</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>FOURTH Oklahoma</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>FIFTH New Jersey</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>SIXTH New Jersey</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>SEVENTH Oklahoma</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>EIGHTH Idaho</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>NINTH Idaho</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>You can see that there are actually three major areas where these servers live: Oklahoma, New Jersey, and Idaho.
(I should mention that this information was had from looking at the IP address’s WHOIS information so the actual server could actually be elsewhere!)
WG3K-NJ lives in New Jersey, somewhat logically close to SECOND, FIFTH, and SIXTH.
Unfortunately, WG3K-NJ was connecting on a regular basis to EIGHTH, meaning that all the upstream packets had to flow to and from the other side of the continent (nearly) just to propagate out.
Now that just doesn’t seem efficient.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>With that in mind, I hard-coded those New Jersey servers into my configuration file while leaving the 'rotate' address last.
That should hopefully make things a little more efficient, network-wise, although I doubt anyone will notice.</p>
</div>Virginia Search and Rescue Conference 20192019-04-14T00:00:00-04:002019-04-14T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2019-04-14:/virginia-search-and-rescue-conference-2019.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="images/2019/IMG_20190413_103044.webp"><span class="image"><img src="images/2019/IMG_20190413_103044-300x400.webp" alt="A track for tracking."></span></a>
I attended the <a href="http://vasarconf.org/">Virginia SAR Conference</a> in Appomatox, Virginia this year and had a blast!
The primary reason I attended the conference was to attend the <a href="http://dbs-sar.com/LPB/lpb.htm">Lost Person Behavior</a> class, taught by Bob Koester himself, along with the companion Train the Trainer class, which allows me to teach the class …</p></div></div></div><div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="images/2019/IMG_20190413_103044.webp"><span class="image"><img src="images/2019/IMG_20190413_103044-300x400.webp" alt="A track for tracking."></span></a>
I attended the <a href="http://vasarconf.org/">Virginia SAR Conference</a> in Appomatox, Virginia this year and had a blast!
The primary reason I attended the conference was to attend the <a href="http://dbs-sar.com/LPB/lpb.htm">Lost Person Behavior</a> class, taught by Bob Koester himself, along with the companion Train the Trainer class, which allows me to teach the class to interested people.
Of course there were lots of other classes offered at the conference that I had a hard time picking and choosing from.
Tracking won the day and I have now been exposed to some of the most interesting manual search procedures I’ve ever seen.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_lost_person_behavior">Lost Person Behavior</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Lost Person Behavior is a class that basically teaches you how to use the Lost Person Behavior data that is published in the book and app.
This data, collected from thousands of searches from around the world, provides statistical data about where missing subjects are found compared to where they whet lost, and separates missing subjects into categories that differentiate characteristics regarding their wandering.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>This class is offered sporadically so when I had the opportunity to take the class from its creator I jumped at the chance.
I also took the opportunity to take the train-the-trainer class so I could later teach this class to others.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The class is a data-geek’s dream!
Bob will offer formulas and statistics when asked and explains the data well.
There are lots of map exercises which lead to an immersive experience that will lend the student to being better prepared for actual searches.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_introduction_to_tracking">Introduction to Tracking</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Before the conference, the closest I had been to the subject of tracking was that of a TV show.
I know what tracking is: the determination of whether or not someone or something has been in a particular location and, if they have been, in what direction they went.
Beyond that, I knew nothing.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>After the Introduction to Tracking class, taught by <a href="http://www.trackingschool.com">Rob Speiden</a>, I can say I know just a little bit more.
We examined shoe prints in easily impressionable sand.
We measured and diagrammed the prints, measured stride, and learned how to properly document a track.
All-in-all, it was a great class.</p>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_tracking_evaluations">Tracking Evaluations</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>While at the conference I had the opportunity to take two tracking evaluations: <a href="images/2019/2019-04-14-Sign_Interpretation_Station.pdf">sign interpretations</a> and <a href="images/2019/2019-04-14-Sign_Squares_Station.pdf">sign squares</a>.
These evaluations, along with several others, are required for becoming a certified tracker.
To say I did well would be an overstatement.
I knew some of the sign interpretation questions but had never been exposed to any of the sign squares which requires the student to determine whether there are zero, one, or two tracks in each square, where the track starts and ends, and in what direction the track goes.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I did better than I expected, having never been exposed to the problem, and found myself learning more about what to look for when looking for tracks.
The scores I received were a 3.27 on the Sign Interpretation, and a 2.22 on Detection and a 3.75 in the Interpretation on the Sign Squares test.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Needless to say, I’m not a tracker…​ yet.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Overall, I found the conference to be a great way to learn new skills and to meet new people.
I’ve even been invited to attend the NPS SAREX in a couple of weeks so we’ll have to see how that goes.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>Received WRMI QSL2019-03-11T00:00:00-04:002019-03-11T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2019-03-11:/received-wrmi-qsl.html<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="images/2019/WRMI-2019-01-03-1.webp"><span class="image"><img src="images/2019/WRMI-2019-01-03-1.webp" alt="Front of a WRMI QSL Card" width="33%"></span></a>
I took at a short trip up to Catoctin Mountain Park at the beginning of the year and stayed in a rustic cabin with no running water and no electricity.
It was nice, to say the least.
For evening entertainment I used my Elecraft KX3 with a longwire antenna to …</p></div><div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="images/2019/WRMI-2019-01-03-1.webp"><span class="image"><img src="images/2019/WRMI-2019-01-03-1.webp" alt="Front of a WRMI QSL Card" width="33%"></span></a>
I took at a short trip up to Catoctin Mountain Park at the beginning of the year and stayed in a rustic cabin with no running water and no electricity.
It was nice, to say the least.
For evening entertainment I used my Elecraft KX3 with a longwire antenna to listen to shortwave stations from around the world.
Romania, Slovakia, some unknown Spanish music stations, and, of course, <a href="http://wrmi.net/">WRMI</a> in Florida were just some of the stations I put into my log while enjoying no electrical noise in the mountains.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>One program that I particularly enjoyed was from WRMI, broadcast from Okeechobee, Florida, on 9395kHz.
Their "Oldies Music" program of 60s, 70s, and 80s music was fading between a 25532 and 45544 (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SINPO_code">SINPO</a>) for the hour their program was on the air.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Upon returning home, I sent my reports to the broadcasters and a few days ago I received my first QSL card in the mail:</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="images/2019/WRMI-2019-01-03-2.webp"><span class="image"><img src="images/2019/WRMI-2019-01-03-2.webp" alt="Back of my WRMI QSL Card" width="50%"></span></a></p>
</div>Security of Shredding Services2019-02-04T00:00:00-05:002019-02-04T00:00:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2019-02-04:/security-of-shredding-services.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>When I started dealing with <strong>serious</strong> information security we created a lot of paper.
This wasn’t regular information printed on paper but very sensitive information that could be very damaging if it ever found its way out of the building.
If this paper was ever deemed to be <strong>trash …</strong></p></div></div></div><div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>When I started dealing with <strong>serious</strong> information security we created a lot of paper.
This wasn’t regular information printed on paper but very sensitive information that could be very damaging if it ever found its way out of the building.
If this paper was ever deemed to be <strong>trash</strong>, it wasn’t thrown into a trash can, rather it was put into a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burn_bag">burn bag</a>.
Once full, or after a specific period of time, this bag would be secured at the top, serialized, recorded, and then shredded and burned on site.
It is highly unlikely that any information would be easily recoverable with that method of destruction (and even keeping the ash!).</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Having learned this way of handling my <strong>trash</strong>, imagine my surprise that at my next job people were supposed to put their sensitive papers in a box which would be opened by a civilian contractor who would come around every so often with a big trash can and then wheel it out to his big truck where, supposedly, the papers were shredded on-site.
There were, and are, so many problems with this plan I actually complained to the security officer at the command.
He didn’t seem concerned.
We weren’t handling <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classified_information#Top_Secret_(TS)">top secret</a> (or even secret) information, who would want anything we had, it was good enough, blah blah blah.
Of course he did take notice a few weeks later when I gave him a call to let him know that the locked containers were so full that I could actually reach in and pull papers out <strong>and</strong> people were just stacking papers, that were otherwise too sensitive to be thrown in the trash, in big piles on top of the containers.
It didn’t change the culture nor the practice of handling this information but at least some additional training was had in the following days.
(Needless to say, I was not impressed.)</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>So all of this happened many, many years ago; why talk about it now?
Each of us generates, receives, and sends information everyday that we end up just throwing away.
Maybe we think that no one will see it once it hits the round receptacle.
Those that do have a security mindset will realize that once their trash leaves their house they are no longer in control of it and that perhaps destroying it would be better.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Some cities and counties have started providing "shred trucks" as part of a service to their community to help them get rid of sensitive documents on a regular basis.
This might be better than just throwing it away, but is it a Trojan horse?</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_shred_it">Shred it?</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>First, lets discuss shredding.
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_shredder">Paper shredders</a> used to be all the rage a couple of decades ago.
They were advertised on TV and were front and center in stores as a quick impulse buy item.
But are they any good?
The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Agency">National Security Agency (NSA)</a> has a <a href="https://www.nsa.gov/Portals/70/documents/resources/everyone/media-destruction/epl-18-may-2015.pdf">list (as of 2015-05-18) of "High Security Crosscut Paper Shredders"</a> that will no doubt educate you as to the options available as well as asking how you might afford such a device.
Of course shredding is time consuming (unless you have a really big shredder and can just dump things into them).</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Shredding may also not be very secure.
The use of computers has made it almost trivial to put shredded documents back together.
In 2011, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DARPA_Shredder_Challenge_2011">DARPA hosted a challenge</a> whereby teams were given five hand-written documents that were shredded into more than 10,000 pieces with a goal of extracting useful information from the pieces before an end date.
Several teams completed the challenge.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_what_about_that_shred_truck">What about that shred truck?</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>(I can’t find this now but it’s buried in a book somewhere around here.)
There was an attack where a paper shredder in an office was modified so that when a paper was put in to be shredded, a picture was made of the document just before it was cut up.
That was decades ago, fast forward to today and you have a large, opaque truck sitting outside making lots of noise and everyone just assumes there’s a big shredder inside whirring away making dust out of all your bank statements, personal files, and letters.
Why do you trust that?
What’s inside that thing?
Basically you are going to hand over what you’ve already identified as important information to a stranger with a big truck with hopes that they are trustworthy.
Heck, you’re doing all the work for them, sorting out all the garbage, and handing over all the good stuff!
I’m sure they appreciate it.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_so_what_should_you_do">So what should you do?</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>What you should do depends a lot on what kind of information you are trying to dispose of.
Long, single cut shredders aren’t good enough.
Some crosscut shredders aren’t either.
Educate yourself and determine what it’s worth to you to have the information end up in the wrong hands.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>You can also burn paper, just make sure it actually gets burned to ash.
This may not be feasible for everyone.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Another thing is to stop producing the paper in the first place.
If there isn’t a good reason to put unencrypted, sensitive information on paper then just don’t do it.
(I’ll say the same thing about other modes of conveying information.
If you aren’t going to encrypt it before it leaves your hands (or your computer) then just don’t do it.
Hard drives, email, data in databases…​ you just don’t know when those types of things are going to get leaked.)</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Reducing the amount of paper you need to get rid of will always lessen the problem of destruction.
Just remember that trusting others to do what you should have done in the first place is never good security.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>Article: Builder uses solar power to heat Fairbanks home in the winter2019-02-03T00:00:00-05:002019-02-03T00:00:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2019-02-03:/article-builder-uses-solar-power-to-heat-fairbanks-home-in-the-winter.html<div class="paragraph">
<p>Just found this on Twitter, even though it’s a rather old article from 2011 "<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180704112755/http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/builder-uses-solar-power-to-heat-fairbanks-home-in-the/article_0e6654f8-6226-576b-a004-2870890894cb.html">Builder uses solar power to heat Fairbanks home in the winter</a>"</p>
</div>
<div class="quoteblock">
<blockquote>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>FAIRBANKS — Sunlight poured into a large south-facing window and drenched the stained concrete floor, stones and flower beds in warmth. Like batteries, these features …</p></div></blockquote></div><div class="paragraph">
<p>Just found this on Twitter, even though it’s a rather old article from 2011 "<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180704112755/http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/builder-uses-solar-power-to-heat-fairbanks-home-in-the/article_0e6654f8-6226-576b-a004-2870890894cb.html">Builder uses solar power to heat Fairbanks home in the winter</a>"</p>
</div>
<div class="quoteblock">
<blockquote>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>FAIRBANKS — Sunlight poured into a large south-facing window and drenched the stained concrete floor, stones and flower beds in warmth. Like batteries, these features capture, store and dispense energy to the 2,300-square-foot house year round. Sun coming through the window has provided all the home’s heat since mid-February.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Outside, a dozen solar thermal panels stared at the Alaska Range and drank in the mid-morning sun. The panels and a stone masonry heater (complete with a bake oven) are the only heat sources in the home.</p>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>It’s not the "alternative" energy aspect of the article that grabbed my attention but rather the energy storage that is built into the house. I should probably look up the engineer and see how these experiments are going now that he’s had several years, and probably a few more houses built, to test all of his theories. Looks promising!</p>
</div>Two Monks and a Woman2019-01-26T00:00:00-05:002019-01-26T00:00:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2019-01-26:/two-monks-and-a-woman.html<div class="paragraph">
<p>A friend and Sensei has shared this story with me a few times and I share it here so I will not forget it.
Searching for it on the Internet turns up many iterations but I’ve not come up with a definitive author.</p>
</div>
<div class="quoteblock">
<blockquote>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>A senior monk and a junior …</p></div></blockquote></div><div class="paragraph">
<p>A friend and Sensei has shared this story with me a few times and I share it here so I will not forget it.
Searching for it on the Internet turns up many iterations but I’ve not come up with a definitive author.</p>
</div>
<div class="quoteblock">
<blockquote>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>A senior monk and a junior monk were traveling together.
At one point, they came to a river with a strong current.
As the monks were preparing to cross the river, they saw a very young and beautiful woman also attempting to cross.
The young woman asked if they could help her cross to the other side.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The two monks glanced at one another because they had taken vows not to touch a woman.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Then, without a word, the older monk picked up the woman, carried her across the river, placed her gently on the other side, and carried on his
journey.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The younger monk couldn’t believe what had just happened.
After rejoining his companion, he was speechless, and an hour passed without a word between them.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Two more hours passed, then three, finally the younger monk could not contain himself any longer, and blurted out “As monks, we are not permitted a woman, how could you then carry that woman on your shoulders?”</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The older monk looked at him and replied, “Brother, I set her down on the other side of the river, why are you still carrying her?”</p>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>Electricity generation for 20182019-01-20T00:00:00-05:002019-01-20T00:00:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2019-01-20:/electricity-generation-for-2018.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Today I received my December electricity bill from Baltimore Gas and Electric (BG&E) which reminded me that I hadn’t actually looked at our electricity usage over the past year since we had the solar panels installed.
We started producing electrical power on 19 February 2018 and by April …</p></div></div></div><div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Today I received my December electricity bill from Baltimore Gas and Electric (BG&E) which reminded me that I hadn’t actually looked at our electricity usage over the past year since we had the solar panels installed.
We started producing electrical power on 19 February 2018 and by April we were making enough to completely offset our usage.
According to BG&E, we had actually banked enough carryover electricity to not have a bill until November!</p>
</div>
<table class="tableblock frame-all grid-all" style="width: 50%;">
<caption class="title">Table 1. Solar generation per month for the year of 2018</caption>
<colgroup>
<col style="width: 50%;">
<col style="width: 50%;">
</colgroup>
<thead>
<tr>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Month</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">kWh</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">February</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">148.7</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">March</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">974.3</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">April</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">1,190.7</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">May</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">1,047.5</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">June</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">638.4^</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">July</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">1,073.2</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">August</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">1,055.3</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">September</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">612.1</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">October</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">373.9</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">November</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">291.4</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">December</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">275.7</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">2018</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">8737.2^</p></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>^The receiver that collects the data was out of service for part of June so it failed to collect more than a MW which is not reflected for that period of time. It does account for it in the overall annual total, however.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_seasonal_variances">Seasonal variances</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>There was a noticeable drop in generation in September and October. After summer solstice the planet starts to shift its angle in relation to the Sun. This means the sun is now dipping down behind trees that still had leaves on them. I was hoping that once the leaves came off the trees I’d see a rebound in power generation but that hasn’t happened yet. I’m postulating this is because of cloud cover and other weather-related events. Of course this is the same time I’m running my heat which is very inefficient.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_batteries">Batteries</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>We also have two Power Wall battery packs that, during the Spring and Summer, allowed us to basically live off the grid with our 9.75kW solar installation on the roof. In the Winter I just don’t have enough charging capacity to recharge them quickly so I’ve switched them to backup-only mode. They should work well for us if we have a power outage (and they have) as we can better control our usage in an emergency situation and try to limit the amount of area we are going to heat which will reduce the amount of our electricity demand.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_whats_next">What’s next</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I wish we had enough consistent wind to be able to use a turbine here. Oh well.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I need to figure out a better way to clear snow off the panels as we recently found out that six inches of snow completely blocks the penetration of the Sun’s rays resulting in no power generation. This is not a big deal unless we are also suffering from a power outage and I need to recharge my Power Walls.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>Appalachian Trail Golden Packet event 2018 notes2018-07-21T15:16:00-04:002018-07-21T15:16:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2018-07-21:/appalachian-trail-golden-packet-event-2018-notes.html<div class="paragraph">
<p>Due to a family emergency, I’m sitting down close to the beach instead of being atop a mountain summit playing with packet gear setting up a Georgia-to-Maine APRS network.
Each year, hams scale mountains and temporarily setup digipeaters in an effort to pass a "golden packet" along the ~2 …</p></div><div class="paragraph">
<p>Due to a family emergency, I’m sitting down close to the beach instead of being atop a mountain summit playing with packet gear setting up a Georgia-to-Maine APRS network.
Each year, hams scale mountains and temporarily setup digipeaters in an effort to pass a "golden packet" along the ~2,200 miles (~3,500km) <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_Trail">Appalachian Trail</a>.
The hope is to permanently establish digipeaters along the trail, on a separate frequency, to support hikers along the trail.
Since I’m watching all of the action from a distance I’m able to take notes based on my view from afar…​</p>
</div>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>What would happen if we used horizontal yagi antennas for the backbone; using tropospheric propagation instead of the ground path?</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Since Hawksbill is in the Shenandoah National Park there is little chance of us getting a station permanently installed here. What’s is near by that will provide both a link back to Apple Orchard and Maryland Mountains <strong>and</strong> provide LAN coverage along the AT in Shenandoah?</p>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>There is an alternative to Hawksbill.
Where is it?</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</li>
<li>
<p>How about using an <a href="http://aprs.net/vm/DOS/PROTOCOL.HTM">ALTNET address</a> for this event?</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>The linear network is fragile.
If any one station goes down the entire path up and down is broken.
Generally, APRS is mesh and would otherwise route around an outage.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Use <a href="http://thelifeofkenneth.com/aprx/">APRX</a>, or similar, to provide both standard APRS and special APRS digipeating with possible bi-directional i-gates and linking between networks.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Maybe provide weather stations at digipeaters, not propagating throughout the network, to provide information to hikers.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Use compressed/mic-e packets wherever possible.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>The loss of local content2018-06-16T00:00:00-04:002018-06-16T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2018-06-16:/the-loss-of-local-content.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>It’s interesting to me that we’ve come so far from where we started when looking at the landscape of the Internet.
As originally built, content was hosted locally and it was a benefit to obtain it at a distance (over the Internet).
Now, all content is hosted in …</p></div></div></div><div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>It’s interesting to me that we’ve come so far from where we started when looking at the landscape of the Internet.
As originally built, content was hosted locally and it was a benefit to obtain it at a distance (over the Internet).
Now, all content is hosted in a few locations to be delivered everywhere; nothing is local.
We no longer care about network efficiencies.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Case in point, Comcast (Xfinity) sent an email, this morning, to their customers regarding their <a href="https://stormready.xfinity.com/">storm ready website</a>.
This link was sent to Xfinity customers for the use of Xfinity users that are, highly likely, sitting on the Xfinity network.
These users are local to that network and have no real need to cross any Internet boundaries (they, effectively, wouldn’t be <strong>on</strong> the Internet since they wouldn’t be leaving the Xfinity network!).
This content, however, might need to be accessed by a customer that’s not on the Xfinity network (a mobile user) and, thus, it would be good to have access from the Internet to this content.
Again, not a problem…​ this is something that happens every day.
Here’s what I discovered when I did a little research:</p>
</div>
<div class="listingblock">
<div class="content">
<pre>traceroute to stormready.xfinity.com (104.130.199.113), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
1 gateway (192.168.2.1) 0.445 ms 0.561 ms 0.703 ms
2 96.120.105.21 (96.120.105.21) 10.015 ms 17.502 ms 17.884 ms
3 xe-5-2-0-sur01.princefrdrck.md.bad.comcast.net (68.85.175.133) 17.494 ms 17.545 ms 17.595 ms
4 68.85.133.162 (68.85.133.162) 16.036 ms 16.876 ms 16.972 ms
5 68.85.133.97 (68.85.133.97) 25.527 ms 26.451 ms 26.514 ms
6 ae-13-ar01.capitolhghts.md.bad.comcast.net (68.87.168.61) 21.697 ms 11.299 ms 15.775 ms
7 be-33657-cr02.ashburn.va.ibone.comcast.net (68.86.90.57) 19.385 ms 25.522 ms 24.197 ms
8 be-10114-cr02.56marietta.ga.ibone.comcast.net (68.86.85.10) 37.064 ms 37.445 ms 37.723 ms
9 be-10614-cr01.chicago.il.ibone.comcast.net (68.86.84.141) 63.466 ms 64.412 ms 64.855 ms
10 be-10506-cr02.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net (68.86.86.229) 61.179 ms 62.127 ms 62.563 ms
11 be-10588-pe04.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net (68.86.83.50) 59.910 ms 58.877 ms 46.231 ms
12 as36248-1-c.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net (23.30.206.226) 54.480 ms 53.365 ms 54.106 ms
13 * * *
14 be42-corea.ord1.rackspace.net (50.56.6.165) 50.792 ms dcpe1-coreb.ord1.rackspace.net (50.56.6.163) 52.137 ms 173.203.0.131 (173.203.0.131) 50.897 ms
15 coreb-core2.ord1.rackspace.net (184.106.126.131) 51.194 ms core1-CoreA.ord1.rackspace.net (184.106.126.125) 50.312 ms corea-core2.ord1.rackspace.net (184.106.126.127) 50.032 ms
16 core2-aggr601a-12.ord1.rackspace.net (184.106.126.219) 46.607 ms core1-aggr601b-12.ord1.rackspace.net (184.106.126.221) 46.057 ms core2-aggr601a-12.ord1.rackspace.net (184.106.126.219) 51.107 ms
17 104.130.199.113 (104.130.199.113) 50.095 ms 46.238 ms *</pre>
</div>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Do you see what I see?
Xfinity isn’t hosting their content locally within their own network, they are hosting it on Rackspace’s infrastructure!
So any interruption in the Internet connections connecting Xfinity to the rest of the world will yield their <strong>own</strong> content unavailable on their <strong>own</strong> network.
Anyone else see a problem with this?</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_hosting_content_at_home">Hosting content at home</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I guess it’s no surprise that Comcast also does not allow someone to stand up their own server from their home to serve their own content over their Xfinity connection (Verizon Fios does <strong>not</strong> have this restriction).
Since they don’t host their own content, why should anyone else want to?
If I wanted to serve up content for my neighborhood, which is likely all using Xfinity Internet connectivity, I would be breaking my terms of service to do it even though it would mean faster access to the content, higher availability, less cost, and better resiliency during disasters.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>But this isn’t something people really think about, now days, when everything is on Facebook or other social media outlets being hosted everywhere but where you are.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>Bee Diary: 2018-06-07 - Into the hive, one last time2018-06-07T00:00:00-04:002018-06-07T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2018-06-07:/bee-diary-2018-06-07-into-the-hive-one-last-time.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><span class="image"><img src="images/2018-06-07_Bees_trying_to_get_into_the_front_door.webp" alt="Bees amassing at the entrance to the hive"></span></p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>When I <a href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/bee-diary-2018-05-30-venturing-into-the-hive.html">last went into the hive</a> I was so nervous and excited I ended up forgetting to look for the things I wanted to look for.
I don’t really want to go tearing into the hive and disturbing the house too frequently, but knowing I needed to look …</p></div></div></div><div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><span class="image"><img src="images/2018-06-07_Bees_trying_to_get_into_the_front_door.webp" alt="Bees amassing at the entrance to the hive"></span></p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>When I <a href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/bee-diary-2018-05-30-venturing-into-the-hive.html">last went into the hive</a> I was so nervous and excited I ended up forgetting to look for the things I wanted to look for.
I don’t really want to go tearing into the hive and disturbing the house too frequently, but knowing I needed to look for eggs and larva, I waited a week and then ventured back in.
What I found both excited and relieved me.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_brood">Brood</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><span class="image right"><img src="images/2018-06-07_Happy_bees_at_work.webp" alt="A view into the hive from the top" width="200"></span> Sorry, I have but so many hands so I didn’t get a picture of this, <strong>but</strong> there was definite larva growing on both side of at least one frame in the hive!
I was going to say that they looked so little but, no, they didn’t.
They looked like they were getting ready to flop right out of their hexagon homes and into full animation.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The frame was maybe the fourth one in from the end so I didn’t really venture further into the hive to reduce the probability of potentially inflicting damage on the hive.
The question was, do I have a viable queen; the answer is yes.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_honey">Honey</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Another sign of a healthy hive I wanted to see was honey being stored.
Last time I noticed that the bees were busy making wax and building out the hexagon honeycomb that we all know and love.
A week later and the bees are now actually storing things inside those little hexagons!</p>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2018-06-07_Honey_on_the_comb.webp" alt="Honey stored on the comb">
</div>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>This is one of the outer frames so I’m guessing they have already been working hard on the inner frames.
A brief look into the cracks between the frames shows definite wax work.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_summary">Summary</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Overall, I’m pleased.
I was worried that something was wrong even though all evidence pointed in the other direction.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Oh, the ants had mostly gone away!
I guess the eviction by paint brush was enough to make it inhospitable for long-term living.
Good.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_to_do">To Do</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="olist arabic">
<ol class="arabic">
<li>
<p>Continue to inspect the medium box (empty) for ants and evict them if seen.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Tilt the hive forward instead of back.</p>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>Need to get a small piece of wood to do this.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_the_bees">The Bees!</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="videoblock">
<div class="content">
<video src="https://cdn.christensenplace.us/2018-06-07_Bees_coming_and_going.mp4" width="300" controls>
Your browser does not support the video tag.
</video>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>Bee Diary - 2018-06-052018-06-05T00:00:00-04:002018-06-05T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2018-06-05:/bee-diary-2018-06-05.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>It has been a couple of days since I had made it out to the hive.
The weather has been quite rainy as of late and that makes the trail quite muddy.
In my absence the girls seem to have been carrying on, doing their thing.
Today I visited around …</p></div></div></div><div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>It has been a couple of days since I had made it out to the hive.
The weather has been quite rainy as of late and that makes the trail quite muddy.
In my absence the girls seem to have been carrying on, doing their thing.
Today I visited around 11AM and found a lot of comings and goings.
Many of the arrivals had nectar sacs filled to flight capacity.
I will likely wait another day or so to go in and make sure the queen is laying and that everything inside is doing what it should be doing.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_ants">Ants</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The ants continue to be a nuisance under the lid but their numbers seem to be down from previous visits.
I brought a paint brush with me, this time, to remove them and their larva without having them get on me and inflict revenge like last time.
Hopefully this eviction will continue to reduce their numbers.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_osbeehives">OSBeehives</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>A while back I downloaded the <a href="https://www.osbeehives.com/pages/osbeehives-app">OSBeehives app</a> in the hopes of using it to detect problems with the hive.
It simply records the sound of the hive, uploads it to a server, analyses the sounds, and gives you an opinion.
I don’t know how proven it is but it is another tool in the tool box…​</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>One problem I have with the application is the requirement that it have network connectivity while collecting the 15-second audio sample.
My apiary seems to be in a cellular dead zone and is too far away from my home network to get a WiFi connection.
I would love it if the program would just record the audio, hold it until I can get back to a network connection, and then process it, but no.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Today, the winds must have been blowing in the correct direction as I was able to get the weakest of 4G signals.
Enough of a signal to grab the audio and send it into the ether.
I received a report of "Healthy".
I’ll continue to make these recordings and see how it pans out.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_to_do">To Do</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="olist arabic">
<ol class="arabic">
<li>
<p>Inspect the medium box (empty) for ants and evict them if seen.</p>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>Try cinnamon?</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</li>
<li>
<p>Inspect brood box to make sure:</p>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>eggs are visible</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>everyone is happy</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</li>
<li>
<p>Tilt the hive forward instead of back.</p>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>Need to get a small piece of wood to do this.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
</div>Bee Diary: 2018-05-312018-05-31T00:00:00-04:002018-05-31T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2018-05-31:/bee-diary-2018-05-31.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Harlan and I made a quick visit to the hive today.
I was very proud that Harlan not only voluntarily came to the hive but also got within a meter of the hive to checkout what the bees looked like coming and going.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>There was less of an ant highway …</p></div></div></div><div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Harlan and I made a quick visit to the hive today.
I was very proud that Harlan not only voluntarily came to the hive but also got within a meter of the hive to checkout what the bees looked like coming and going.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>There was less of an ant highway, today, but that was only because they had finished moving in to the top of the hive.
Lifting the lid showed hundreds of ants, and their larvae piled up in the center, just waiting for the next phase of their invasion plan.
I was able to evict many of the ants and larvae but I’m not optimistic that those actions were somehow long-term fixes.
The ants were none-to-happy with my treatment and managed to get under my shirt and left me some feedback.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Other than that, all looked well.
The bees were humming along inside, lots of pollen sacs were coming back in filled, and I received no negative reports from the bee residents.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_to_do">To Do</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="olist arabic">
<ol class="arabic">
<li>
<p>Inspect the medium box (empty) for ants and evict them if seen.</p>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>Try cinnamon?</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</li>
<li>
<p>Inspect brood box to make sure:</p>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>eggs are visible</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>everyone is happy</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</li>
<li>
<p>Tilt the hive forward instead of back.</p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
</div>Bee Diary - 2018-05-30 - Venturing into the hive2018-05-30T00:00:00-04:002018-05-30T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2018-05-30:/bee-diary-2018-05-30-venturing-into-the-hive.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Well…​ I’ve had better days.
It has been three days since I had started my new colony and I was quite excited to see what was going on inside the confines of the box.
Going out there I knew in my head what I wanted to look for: eggs …</p></div></div></div><div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Well…​ I’ve had better days.
It has been three days since I had started my new colony and I was quite excited to see what was going on inside the confines of the box.
Going out there I knew in my head what I wanted to look for: eggs, wax, and food.
Going out there I also knew what I wanted to get accomplished: get the queen box out.
What I wasn’t expecting was having to acknowledge the errors I had made in the days previous.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The first problem was that I didn’t completely clear the lid when I removed the shim on Monday.
This ended up trapping many bees which later died.
That was a complete shock to my system which, along with digging my hands into many, many stinging insects, clouded my thoughts for the rest of the operation.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The next thing I found that was worrisome was the hundreds of ants that had made their way under the lid of the hive and onto the sugar syrup can.
I had noted the ant-highway going up the side of the hive yesterday and sort of expected to find what I did.
I’m hoping that removing the syrup can will help alleviate the problem.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_inside_the_hive">Inside the hive</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><span class="image right"><img src="images/2018-05-30-Inside_the_hive.webp" alt="Inside the hive" width="300"></span>Once I got over the shock and dismay of opening the lid, I ventured into the heart of the hive…​ the brood box.
Of course by now the excitement of getting to see what’s going on inside is competing directly with the nervousness of opening a box of thousands of bees.
(I should note that I’m using smoke to quell any attacks from the ladies which seems to be working.)
Popping off the lid, I’m greeted with many eyes wondering what I’m doing.
Luckily they all seem to not really care all that much and I’m able to go about my business of removing the queen box and rubber band to one of the center frames.
It’s a little difficult and I have to step away from the hive, once, to give my nerves a moment to calm themselves.
Once I’ve removed the box from the frame I quickly take a look and notice that the bees have been hard at work depositing lots of wax into perfect little hexagons.
Unfortunately, I forget to look for eggs to make sure the queen is doing her job so that will be for next time.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_to_do">To Do</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="olist arabic">
<ol class="arabic">
<li>
<p>Inspect brood box to make sure:</p>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>eggs are visible</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>everyone is happy</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</li>
<li>
<p>Tilt the hive forward instead of back.</p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
</div>Dipping my toe into FT82018-05-28T20:31:00-04:002018-05-28T20:31:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2018-05-28:/dipping-my-toe-into-ft8.html<div class="paragraph">
<p>There has been a lot of talk, recently, about the new FT8 mode that has recently been included in the WSJT software.
It’s very similar to it’s older cousin, JT65, in that it is for weak-signal work but the transmission/reception time has been cut down to 15 …</p></div><div class="paragraph">
<p>There has been a lot of talk, recently, about the new FT8 mode that has recently been included in the WSJT software.
It’s very similar to it’s older cousin, JT65, in that it is for weak-signal work but the transmission/reception time has been cut down to 15 seconds making it much easier for those of us that don’t like to wait to use it.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>It’s much more automated than I would prefer as one only has to double-click on a callsign to start the process of "working" the station (I’m currently attempting to work Z32ZM on 17m but you wouldn’t know it) but I could see this as a much lower impact means of taking on a DXpedition or long contest.
The software literally runs the exchanges of signal reports to "73" leaving you nothing to do but select "ok" to put them in the log (oh look, I completed the QSO with Z32ZM).
You won’t actually be having QSOs but in contests who is talking anyway?
For what it’s worth, this won’t be replacing FLdigi in my toolbox for chatting (oh look, SV1OCA just answered my CQ) and general digital QSOs but this is oddly…​ neat.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>So how far have I worked so far?
Last night I sat on 30-meters working into Europe and Asia to around 5300 miles (~8500 km).
Not bad for a dipole up around 50 feet (~15 m) (main lobe isn’t incredibly low).
With sunspots being what they are, weak-signal work on HF may be all that there is for a while.
I guess we might as well go ahead and embrace the new modes for longer distance contacts.
Well, that and CW…​</p>
</div>Bee Diary: 2018-05-282018-05-28T00:00:00-04:002018-05-28T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2018-05-28:/bee-diary-2018-05-28.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><span class="image right"><img src="images/Fairway_Apiary.webp" alt="Bee hive"></span>Everyone seems happy at the new homestead.
It was, however, raining off and on today so it seemed our new lodgers were mostly staying indoors.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I did remove the wedge that was propping the lid open and added a concrete block to the top which will hopefully keep everything together …</p></div></div></div><div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><span class="image right"><img src="images/Fairway_Apiary.webp" alt="Bee hive"></span>Everyone seems happy at the new homestead.
It was, however, raining off and on today so it seemed our new lodgers were mostly staying indoors.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I did remove the wedge that was propping the lid open and added a concrete block to the top which will hopefully keep everything together.
I did <strong>not</strong>, however, open the hive as it was too early and it was fairly wet out.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>In spite of all the rain, the ground immediately under the hive seems to not be soggy.
The same cannot be said for the ground leading up to the hive as the spring that is running nearby is in full flood mode and is making everything treacherous.
Harlan found out that out the hard way by losing a shoe along the way.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Wednesday looks better, weather-wise, to get into the hive and check things out.
The rest of the week looks like a higher chance of rainfall with even some thunder showing up starting Thursday morning.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_osbeehives">OSBeehives</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I was excited to try out a program called <a href="https://www.osbeehives.com/pages/osbeehives-app">OSBeehives</a>.
The company makes a hardware device that you mount to your hive but it requires 24/7 network connectivity and that’s not happening right now where this hive is located.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a good enough cellular signal at the apiary to be able to record the sounds and immediately upload data which the app seems to require.
So, for now I won’t be able to take advantage of this software, it would seem.
I’ll keep tinkering with it because, you know, technology!</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_to_do">To Do</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="olist arabic">
<ol class="arabic">
<li>
<p>Remove syrup can in ~three days.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Inspect brood box in ~three days to make sure:</p>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>bees are creating wax along the frames, not between the frames</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>eggs are visible</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>everyone is happy</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</li>
<li>
<p>Remove queen box in ~three days</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Tilt the hive forward instead of back.</p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
</div>Bee Diary: New Hive2018-05-27T00:00:00-04:002018-05-27T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2018-05-27:/bee-diary-new-hive.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><span class="image right"><img src="images/Sue.webp" alt="Bee"></span>I’ve been toying with the idea of getting bees for a while but with all the moving about I’ve not considered it to be something that was feasible.
Well, now that we’ve put down roots I felt that it was the right time to dive in.
Thanks …</p></div></div></div><div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><span class="image right"><img src="images/Sue.webp" alt="Bee"></span>I’ve been toying with the idea of getting bees for a while but with all the moving about I’ve not considered it to be something that was feasible.
Well, now that we’ve put down roots I felt that it was the right time to dive in.
Thanks to a generous gift from my friend Bill, I only needed to obtain the occupants to make my hive come alive.
Josh, from <a href="https://www.solnectarfarm.com/">Sol Nectar Farm</a> delivered ~10,000 bees today and we made them a nice home over on the sunny, east side of our property.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>It was pandemonium (for the bees) at first; no one knew where they were supposed to be going.
Before long, a cloud of bees formed around the hive and me.
Josh said that within two hours all the bees would figure out where the queen was (inside the hive) and sure enough before we left they had already started using the front door.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><span class="image right"><img src="images/Eric_installing_bees.webp" alt="Eric installing bees"></span></p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>We left the lid propped open as some of the bees would have otherwise been trapped up there.
We also left them with the remains of the syrup can that they were transported with.
Much like that very valuable take-out menu you need when you first move into a new house, this should give them time to move the furniture around and go to the store before growing hungry.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>With instruction to revisit them in ~three days, we left them to setup house.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_to_do">To Do</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="olist arabic">
<ol class="arabic">
<li>
<p>Remove wedge that is propping lid open.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Add "something heavy" to lid to help stabilize the hive.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Remove syrup can in ~three days.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Inspect brood box in ~three days to make sure:</p>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>bees are creating wax along the frames, not between the frames</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>eggs are visible</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>everyone is happy</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</li>
<li>
<p>Remove queen box in ~three days</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Tilt the hive forward instead of back.</p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
</div>A review of ProtonMail2018-05-02T00:00:00-04:002018-05-02T00:00:00-04:00Eric H. Christensentag:eric.christensenplace.us,2018-05-02:/a-review-of-protonmail.html<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_update_2018_07_25">Update (2018-07-25)</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Shortly after publishing this original post, <a href="https://protonmail.com/blog/address-verification-pgp-support/">many of my concerns were addressed</a>. ProtonMail now supports sending mail that is signed and/or encrypted using OpenPGP. This is a huge benefit to the secure-email community. It is also possible to use your own key which allows me to use …</p></div></div></div><div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_update_2018_07_25">Update (2018-07-25)</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Shortly after publishing this original post, <a href="https://protonmail.com/blog/address-verification-pgp-support/">many of my concerns were addressed</a>. ProtonMail now supports sending mail that is signed and/or encrypted using OpenPGP. This is a huge benefit to the secure-email community. It is also possible to use your own key which allows me to use a trusted key that is already known to the community. There were other features added which are important to securing the overall infrastructure. ProtonMail seems to continue to make strides to make a more secure world for those of us that care about our privacy.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_original_post">Original Post</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>There are several "private" email providers that advertise encrypted email storage as well as other security services to help protect your privacy and data online.
<a href="https://protonmail.ch">ProtonMail</a> may be one of the unique providers that actually hides their servers <a href="https://protonmail.com/security-details">inside a mountain</a> in <a href="https://protonmail.com/blog/switzerland/">Switzerland</a> affording them both physical and political (legal) protections beyond what other providers can offer.
While some of the features offered by ProtonMail are truly unique in the arena of even private-email providers and should be lauded by the information security community, several implementations of these features, and some policies, are down right confusing and break traditional functionality that many are used to.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>As a user of the service over the past few months, there have been times when I’ve both wanted to shake the hands of the developers as well as shout in frustration at how a feature was implemented.
Today, I’ll try to document some of the pros and cons that I would have wanted to know before moving my email over to the service.</p>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_openpgp_integration">OpenPGP integration</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The <a href="https://protonmail.com">ProtonMail website</a> and <a href="https://protonmail.com/blog/">blog</a> both discuss the storage of email on their servers as being encrypted with OpenPGP.
This prevents ProtonMail admins, attackers, and anyone else trying to gain access to the email stored on the server, from gaining access to the <strong>contents</strong> of your messages.
It should be stressed that like using OpenPGP elsewhere, only the contents of your message is encrypted and the metadata is stored as clear text.</p>
</div>
<div class="listingblock">
<div class="title">Example message showing headers and encrypted message content.</div>
<div class="content">
<pre>Message headers
Return-Path: <b064692dc3aeric=xxxxx.xxx@bounce.twitter.com>
X-Original-To: eric@xxxxx.xxx
Delivered-To: eric@xxxxx.xxx
Received: from spring-chicken-ay.twitter.com (spring-chicken-ay.twitter.com
[199.16.156.164]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 (128/128 bits))
(No client certificate requested) by mail7i.protonmail.ch (Postfix) with ESMTPS id
EF8879A for <eric@aehe.us>; Wed, 25 Apr 2018 13:25:48 -0400 (EDT)
Authentication-Results: mail7i.protonmail.ch; dmarc=pass (p=reject dis=none)
header.from=twitter.com
Authentication-Results: mail7i.protonmail.ch; spf=pass
smtp.mailfrom=b064692dc3aeric=aehe.us@bounce.twitter.com
Authentication-Results: mail7i.protonmail.ch; dkim=pass (2048-bit key)
header.d=twitter.com header.i=@twitter.com header.b="H/vMx/GD"
Dkim-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=twitter.com; s=dkim-201406;
t=1524677147; bh=4NeEOW9arAfrKKWvbk9bnhcwwDTKYhfDutmOK5OPhYw=;
h=Date:From:To:Subject:MIME-Version:Content-Type:List-Unsubscribe:
Message-ID; b=H/vMx/GDy8+VZZ0eKryrypRl3XrBEy6lTe/cigpg2ZU2snGvDAhaMgoyTCsOObtEv
m4DEt+65Ppveo2Vg89KHP2n0MofYrNcaYYcsHZ8xo+Su493KXN5ISQ+0bkxYo/YVW1
4v3wypNoidcH6ZDv7/omk1izHF3uVGPyAyv13MZVihEoi94op5PYJhhAy2gz1pAP+8
dmifS879PRvONdLMm0dVeXNHs5ipv2wuTDcuV2Oyx5gWuz/OHPO0oVedbLA11YmlZM
nl+yd1TkifymWmIXgk48UyFidWi199HchGGVp6gRoVBnkHL95T3o7RReB9bzXPZUs/
jBi0M7NK/uzAQ==
X-Msfbl: prnBZH2LJPOZNGLnvH+vormIocunIZh2f4jqKVkU6iU=|eyJnIjoiQnVsayIsImI
iOiJhdGxhLWFwcC0zMS1zcjEtQnVsay4xODQiLCJ1IjoiZXJpY0BhZWhlLnVzQGl
pZCMjNGUzYzBmNzc4ZjQ0NGIyMmI0ZjEwOGI1ZjkxMmJhYTVAdXNiIyMyNEAyNDR
AMTQ1NzI4OTQyQDBAOGVjMDc5ZGRkNjJhNzlhYzE2NDhlOWFiNzFlMDhkYjY0Mzk
4NDdjZiIsInIiOiJlcmljQGFlaGUudXMifQ==
Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2018 17:25:47 +0000
From: Twitter <info@twitter.com>
To: Eric Christensen <eric@xxxxx.xxx>
Subject: Updates to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/html
Precedence: Bulk
Message-Id: <34.41.29484.B1AB0EA5@twitter.com>
X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.1 required=4.0 tests=DKIM_SIGNED,DKIM_VALID,
DKIM_VALID_AU,HTML_MESSAGE,SPF_PASS,T_DKIMWL_WL_HIGH,T_KAM_HTML_FONT_INVALID
autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.0
X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.0 (2014-02-07) on maili.protonmail.ch
X-Pm-Origin: external
X-Pm-Content-Encryption: on-delivery
X-Pm-Transfer-Encryption: TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 (128/128 bits)
-----BEGIN PGP MESSAGE-----
Version: ProtonMail
Comment: https://protonmail.com
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=RxF7
-----END PGP MESSAGE-----</pre>
</div>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>One feature that may not be immediately apparent is that because an OpenPGP key pair has to be created for each account in order to store messages encrypted, this key pair can also be used by external users to send encrypted messages to you.
This provides a real <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End-to-end_encryption">end-to-end encryption</a> (E2EE) solution for users.
The private key, necessary for decrypting the messages, is stored encrypted on the server and is decrypted with your ProtonMail password.
Also, any message sent to or received from a ProtonMail user is automatically encrypted.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>One problem that has been found in this process is if you try to use your own OpenPGP keys on top of, or in lieu of, the ProtonMail encryption, bad things happen.
One might take a standard PGP-encrypted message, and try to insert it as plain-text in the email content field.
ProtonMail will take this message and munge it to the point that what actually gets sent may or may not be decipherable.
Similar things happen when someone sends a message to a ProtonMail user using a different key than what ProtonMail is expecting.
This is unfortunate as someone wanting to provide an additional layer of security, by using a key pair that they physically control, is unable to do so.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Another problem in this system is the lack of sending messages encrypted with OpenPGP.
If a ProtonMail user is sending a message to an external-to-ProtonMail user, they cannot encrypt the message with OpenPGP.
This can be a confusing bug as the opposite is possible.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The solution, by the way, provided by ProtonMail is to provide a password (OpenPGP being used to do symmetric encryption?) that can then be passed to the external user by a separate means, for them to be able to open the message using a special URL.
The problem, of course, is getting the password to the external-user in a secure method.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Lastly, at this time it is impossible to rekey your account so if, some how, the OpenPGP keys needed to be superseded it could not be done.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_webmail_and_imapsmtp">Webmail and IMAP/SMTP</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>ProtonMail’s webmail is nice and feature-rich but not overly confusing to use.
There is also a security benefit to having one’s messages physically stored on the server with no real way to export them.
Because everything was always on the server, there would never be a local copy that could be stolen (encrypted or not).
Of course this also limited the ability of people to be able to move away from ProtonMail, if they chose to do in the future, as their data would be forever locked away and they couldn’t bring it with them.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I frown on vendor lock-in on every level and this was a big lock-in.
The developers kept talking about the forthcoming <a href="https://protonmail.com/bridge/">ProtonMail Bridge</a> which was to provide local decryption of messages and a local IMAP and SMTP server that would allow local clients to connect to the ProtonMail email servers and download their messages (along with sending and receiving messages outside of the webmail GUI).
When the <a href="https://protonmail.com/blog/thunderbird-outlook-encrypted-email/">official release came</a> I was extremely disappointed to see that while Windows and macOS were both supported, the Linux version was still marked as "Coming Soon" (and still is as of this writing).
It was only much later that I happened to find an utterance of a beta program for the Linux Bridge that I could join to get early access.
As I’m not shy about beta testing software, I submitted my request and was rewarded with a download URL link.
Since then I’ve been using the webmail instance, Thunderbird, and the mobile app and haven’t found any issues with the Bridge causing problems.
This does solve my vendor lock-in fear as I can pull my messages out and move to a different provider at any time.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_smtp_limits">SMTP limits</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Here’s the one big issue that is not technical in nature and is causing me some major headaches: limits to the number of addressees on an outgoing message.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>ProtonMail doesn’t explicitly tell you what the limit is for the number of people you can send a message to but may mention that there is a limit.
That number, by the way, is 25.
Sure, how often do I send a message to twenty-five individual addresses?
Not often!
But when I do, I <strong>really</strong> need to…​ R I G H T N O W!</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Here’s my use-case:
I am on a <a href="http://www.calvertk9search.org">search and rescue team</a> that uses email for disseminating information quickly to a large number of email addresses.
The last mission I was on I found myself as first on scene and needed to convey where the incident command post was setting up.
If only I could do something simple like replying-to-all on the message I had just received to let everyone know to meet me at the intersection I’m standing in.
Nope, could not do it.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>ProtonMail support will tell you that this "feature" is in place to protect the reputation of ProtonMail and not allow it to become a haven for spammers.
While I can sympathize with their problem, I feel this is not the way to go about fixing the problem.
In my case, it has limited the ability of a paying customer to legitimately do work.
And this is a unique "feature" among email service providers.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_tor">Tor</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="https://protonmail.com/tor">ProtonMail also supports Tor users with an .onion address</a> to access their services.
This means that you can connect to ProtonMail over <a href="https://www.torproject.org/">Tor</a> end-to-end which helps reduce the attack surface of the communications going across the Internet.
Overall, this is a positive step for helping people preserve their privacy through anonymity but there is one piece that seems to have been left out: .onion email addresses.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>There are some email providers that provide .onion addresses for people to use exclusively on the Tor network.
None of the providers have been anyone that I would trust my messages with, long-term, only because I fear they may disappear tomorrow.
ProtonMail is different in that regard and it would be very interesting to see them take on this as a challenge.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_overall_feel">Overall feel</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Overall, I like what ProtonMail is trying to do.
For the average person it probably works very well.
But as soon as you try to push the system to where you expect it to be, disappointment appears on the horizon.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I was a paying member before I started using the service full-time because I believed in what they were trying to do.
I am used to dealing with software bugs and testing software to find flaws so many of the downfalls I’ve spoken about are things that I’m sure will be remedied soon.
The sticking point, to me, is the self-imposed limit to addressees in outgoing mail for paying customers.
I’m not exactly sure how I want to deal with this bug but it may curtail my funding the project in the end.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>How to: Work DX, Talk locally, and other questions of new hams.2018-04-30T00:00:00-04:002018-04-30T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2018-04-30:/how-to-work-dx-talk-locally-and-other-questions-of-new-hams.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>A friend of mine recently passed her FCC Technician Amateur Radio exam but has been riddled with questions ever since.
I’ve been attempting to help but I fear that I haven’t been able to give adequate time to properly answer some "basic" questions that many new hams have …</p></div></div></div><div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>A friend of mine recently passed her FCC Technician Amateur Radio exam but has been riddled with questions ever since.
I’ve been attempting to help but I fear that I haven’t been able to give adequate time to properly answer some "basic" questions that many new hams have.
With that in mind, I’m going to attempt to answer some questions in written form so I can refer back to these <em>notes</em> later and can hopefully build on these answers as well.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="DX">How do I work DX?</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Listening and talking with DX, also defined as far away or foreign stations, is an activity that brings many people into the amateur radio hobby.
Although not as popular as it once was, listening to shortwave radio opened up the world to many people and now with an amateur radio license in hand the new ham would like to be able to try to "work the world".</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Given the necessary conditions and equipment, talking with someone several hundred or thousand miles away isn’t that difficult.
Most of what is needed to complete the QSO is likely already in your head…​</p>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_frequencies">Frequencies</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Generally speaking, a high frequency (or HF) radio is necessary to work DX.
Yes, you can use very high frequencies (VHF) and ultra high frequencies (UHF) with satellites, moon bounce, and other methods for working the world but for now lets just stick with the basics.
The FCC allows the following HF frequencies to be utilized by a Technician licensee:</p>
</div>
<table class="tableblock frame-all grid-all" style="width: 50%;">
<caption class="title">Table 1. Technician-level HF Frequency authorizations (CFR-2011, Title 47, Vol 5, Sec 97-301(e))</caption>
<colgroup>
<col style="width: 20%;">
<col style="width: 40%;">
<col style="width: 40%;">
</colgroup>
<thead>
<tr>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Band</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Spectrum allowance (MHz)</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Mode</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">80m</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">3.525 - 3.600</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">CW</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">40m</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">7.025 - 7.125</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">CW</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">15m</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">21.025 - 21.200</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">CW</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">10m</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">28.000 - 28.300</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">CW & Digital</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">10m</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">28.300 - 28.500</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">SSB, CW, & Image</p></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Of these bands, it’s generally going to be easier to find and work DX on the higher bands (15m and 10m).
That’s not to say that you can’t work foreign stations on 80m and 40m but the antenna requirements at those frequencies are so much more intensive that it makes it much more difficult to get a good signal at a distance.</p>
</div>
<div class="admonitionblock note">
<table>
<tr>
<td class="icon">
<div class="title">Note</div>
</td>
<td class="content">
When I was first licensed as KF4OTN the solar cycle was peaking and 10m was very active.
Listening to stations from all over Europe and South America was the impetus I needed to buckle down and get my 5 WPM Morse Code exam completed so I could upgrade to a Technician Plus and obtain HF privledges.
I worked many stations on 10m all over the world including Australia!
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>It’s also important to note that the ionosphere changes every instance of every day over every portion of the earth and, thus, affects what band will support communications to particular parts of the globe at any given time.
Generally speaking, one can predict, with some degree of accuracy, which bands are going to be "open" to certain parts of the world at certain times of the day.
Propagation tools, like <a href="http://www.voacap.com/p2p/index.html">VOACAP</a>, determine the best time and frequency to use when attempting to communicate to a certain place.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_the_antenna">The antenna</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>HF propagation is generally built on the principle of bouncing your signal off the ionosphere.
The angle at which your signal hits the ionosphere, the angle of incidence, will predict where your signal will come back to earth.
A higher angle of incidence will yield a shorter distance covered while a lower angle or incidence will yield a farther distance covered.
Because we want our signal to come back to earth far from where it started, we should design an antenna that will radiate our signal as low to the horizon as possible.
The best antenna for this is a vertical antenna as it radiates in all directions at a relatively low angle.
Of course there are other antennas that can also do this magic as well.</p>
</div>
<div class="sect3">
<h4 id="_vertical_antennas">Vertical antennas</h4>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Vertical antennas are generally made of a quarter-wave radiator set vertically with a ground plane of some sort.
A quarter-wave on VHF is generally manageable but as the frequency decreases the length increases!</p>
</div>
<table class="tableblock frame-all grid-all" style="width: 50%;">
<caption class="title">Table 2. Length of quarter-wave vertical antenna radiator</caption>
<colgroup>
<col style="width: 20%;">
<col style="width: 40%;">
<col style="width: 40%;">
</colgroup>
<thead>
<tr>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Band</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Length (m)</th>
<th class="tableblock halign-left valign-top">Length (ft)</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">10m</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">2.5</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">~8.2</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">15m</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">3.75</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">~12.3</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">40m</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">10</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">32.8</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">80m</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">20</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">65.6</p></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="admonitionblock important">
<table>
<tr>
<td class="icon">
<div class="title">Important</div>
</td>
<td class="content">
The measurements in the table are made based on the band and not any specific frequency.
When building an antenna <strong>always</strong> design your antennas on expected operating frequencies and not random numbers.
It is also important to model your antenna to verify impedence and SWR as tweaking one part of the antenna can often affect other aspects of the antenna.
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>There are ways to make the antenna shorter but those can affect efficiency and reduce performance.
It is also important to note that the ground plane is what actually "controls" the angle of radiation and affects the efficiency of the antenna greatly.
There is lots of literature available both on the web and in libraries and bookstores so I won’t elaborate on this further (for now).</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect3">
<h4 id="_dipole_antennas">Dipole antennas</h4>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Dipole antennas seem to be the defacto standard HF antenna.
They are simple to build and erect and work well if installed correctly.
At a height of one wavelength, power is concentrated in the 5 to 15 degree lobes making the antenna work well for DX.
Lowering the antenna makes the antenna radiate higher making the expected range decrease.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>One can see that using a single antenna for multiple bands means the wavelength height is different for each band making the antenna have a different expected range for each band.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect3">
<h4 id="_delta_loop_antennas">Delta Loop antennas</h4>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="http://w5sdc.net/delta_loop_for_hf.htm">Delta Loop antennas</a> are simple loop antennas that can pack a punch.
When setup with a vertical polarization, this antenna will yield the low angle of radiation needed for DX.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_mode">Mode</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Many times overlooked, mode of operation makes a big difference when trying to work the weak signals that are (generally) DX.
While phone (voice) is traditionally the most used mode on the air today, CW (Morse code) and other digital modes offer much better signal-to-noise ratio with the ability of a "small" signal to be heard much further.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_how_do_i_work_stations_that_are_close_to_me">How do I work stations that are close to me?</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>If you’ve read the <a href="#DX">How to work DX</a> section then you might have caught on to some key ingredients, specifically with the antenna, that make communications possible over a long distance.
Of course if you’re not looking to work a station thousands of miles away but rather a few hundred miles away (say, within 300 miles) we’ll need to talk about <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near_vertical_incidence_skywave">Near Vertical Incidence Skywave</a> or NVIS.
Basically, this is a technique for using an antenna that is close to the ground so the angle of radiation is high.
Because the angle is high, the angle of incidence is also high yielding a signal range that is fairly close.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>NVIS generally requires lower frequencies to work properly (think 7MHz and down) due to absorption and reflection properties of the ionosphere.
If you select a frequency that is too high the RF energy can pass straight through the ionosphere without being reflected at all.
Of course selecting a frequency too low will yield absorption of the RF energy by the ionosphere and your signal will also never make it back to Earth.
Generally speaking, 40m and 60m is best for daytime use while 60m and 75/80m is best for nighttime use.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>So, following what we learned in the <a href="#DX">How to work DX</a> section, we just need to use an antenna that is <strong>bad</strong> for DX.
Something that radiates up instead of out.
If we look at the dipole antenna we see that we should have it elevated to one wavelength above the ground for good DX.
Lowering that antenna to almost ground level (an eighth to a quarter wavelength above the ground) makes the radiation pattern go from 5 to 15 degrees to basically one huge lobe that is pointing straight up!</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Now you know why many hams have so much wire in their trees!
Some antennas are for talking around the corner while others are for talking around the world!</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_contesting">Contesting</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Contesting is another question that has come up a few times.
There are many amateur radio contests every weekend on the radio sponsored by different organizations like <a href="https://www.cqww.com/">CQ</a> and the <a href="https://www.arrl.org/contests">ARRL</a>.
Each contest has a different set of rules and objectives but in general the operator is trying to work as many eligible stations as possible during the contest period.
Some of the more popular contests include the <a href="https://www.cqww.com/">CQ World Wide DX Contest</a>, <a href="https://www.cqww-vhf.com/">CQ World Wide VHF Contest</a>, <a href="https://www.arrl.org/arrl-dx">ARRL DX Contest</a>, and the <a href="https://www.arrl.org/sweepstakes">ARRL Sweepstakes</a> just to name a few.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><em>TO BE CONTINUED…​</em></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>Moving to Pelican2018-04-21T04:00:00-04:002018-04-21T04:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2018-04-21:/moving-to-pelican.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I’ve maintained a blog for the previous ten, or so, years in one form or another.
The first iteration was hosted on some platform that I don’t remember followed by WordPress (.com and self-hosted).
I’ve grown weary of all the third-party <strong>stuff</strong> that gets brought in when …</p></div></div></div><div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I’ve maintained a blog for the previous ten, or so, years in one form or another.
The first iteration was hosted on some platform that I don’t remember followed by WordPress (.com and self-hosted).
I’ve grown weary of all the third-party <strong>stuff</strong> that gets brought in when you use more complex CMS platforms, though.
That, plus the need for a database backend makes things a little heavy for something I just want to work all the time.
So I went in search of a different solution that would handle all my previous articles plus allow me to easily customize the look and feel as well as maintain strict requirements on third-party connections.
The solution I went with is <a href="https://blog.getpelican.com/">Pelican</a>.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_pelican">Pelican</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Pelican allows me to write in AsciiDoc in vim (which makes me happy), save everything as simple text files, commit everything to git, and use SSH to push my site to my server quickly.
Because the final site it HTML already, there is processor requirements are low and there is no need for a database backend.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I’m still tweaking the theme I’m using to make it just right so expect the look of the site to change in the coming days but overall the information is here so feel free to poke around.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>Ditch All Those Other Messaging Apps: Here's Why You Should Use Signal2018-02-21T19:56:00-05:002018-02-21T19:56:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2018-02-21:/ditch-all-those-other-messaging-apps-heres-why-you-should-use-signal.html<p>Completely agree!</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="https://www.wired.com/story/ditch-all-those-other-messaging-apps-heres-why-you-should-use-signal/">https://www.wired.com/story/ditch-all-those-other-messaging-apps-heres-why-you-should-use-signal/</a></p>
Content Security Policy and WordPress2018-01-14T21:56:00-05:002018-01-14T21:56:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2018-01-14:/content-security-policy-and-wordpress.html<p>For your protection, I've been working on <a class="reference external" href="https://securityheaders.com/?q=https%3A%2F%2Feric.christensenplace.us&hide=on&followRedirects=on">securing this
website</a>
with all the <a class="reference external" href="https://owasp.org/www-project-secure-headers/">proper security HTTP
headers</a>.
Of course, by running <a class="reference external" href="https://wordpress.org/">WordPress</a> as the
backend, I'm making it easy to manage all the data but making it
difficult to manage all the pieces and parts of the system's backend.
The …</p><p>For your protection, I've been working on <a class="reference external" href="https://securityheaders.com/?q=https%3A%2F%2Feric.christensenplace.us&hide=on&followRedirects=on">securing this
website</a>
with all the <a class="reference external" href="https://owasp.org/www-project-secure-headers/">proper security HTTP
headers</a>.
Of course, by running <a class="reference external" href="https://wordpress.org/">WordPress</a> as the
backend, I'm making it easy to manage all the data but making it
difficult to manage all the pieces and parts of the system's backend.
The largest problem I've found are the many inline javascript and inline
CSS scripts that are in WordPress Core.</p>
<p>So far I've added the easy headers:
<a class="reference external" href="https://scotthelme.co.uk/hsts-the-missing-link-in-tls/">Strict-Transport-Security</a>,
<a class="reference external" href="https://scotthelme.co.uk/hardening-your-http-response-headers/#x-frame-options">X-Frame-Options</a>,
<a class="reference external" href="https://scotthelme.co.uk/hardening-your-http-response-headers/#x-xss-protection">X-XSS-Protection</a>,
<a class="reference external" href="https://scotthelme.co.uk/hardening-your-http-response-headers/#x-content-type-options">X-Content-Type-Options</a>,
and
<a class="reference external" href="https://scotthelme.co.uk/a-new-security-header-referrer-policy/">Referrer-Policy</a>.
The complicated one, at least for sites using WordPress, is the
<a class="reference external" href="https://scotthelme.co.uk/content-security-policy-an-introduction/">Content-Security-Policy</a>.
Unfortunately, the Content-Security-Policy is the best protection
against <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-site_scripting">XSS</a>
attacks. As I pointed out above, WordPress uses several inline scripts
and CSS instructions. This means that I'd have to use "unsafe-inline"
when describing what is allowed for scripts and styles. Unfortunately,
adding that negates much of the protections offered by the policy.</p>
<p>There is a way around doing this while still allowing inline scripts:
<a class="reference external" href="https://scotthelme.co.uk/content-security-policy-an-introduction/#Nonce">using a
nonce</a>.
Of course this isn't really possible with code that one doesn't directly
control, like the WordPress Core. I did, however, find a <a class="reference external" href="https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/39941">potential fix
that may be
forthcoming</a> that I'll
be monitoring. This enhancement would allow for a plug-in to add a
nonce to these scripts, thus allowing a Content-Security-Policy to be
defined to allow those specific scripts. Until then, I'll have to leave
this site somewhat unprotected like many (most?) websites are today.</p>
NASAR SARTECH II Complete!2018-01-13T21:25:00-05:002018-01-13T21:25:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2018-01-13:/nasar-sartech-ii-complete.html<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://nasar.org"><img alt="National Association for Search and Rescue logo" src="images/NASAR_CYMK_LOGO_BlackType.webp" /></a>Over the past few
months a small group of us from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.calvertk9search.org/">Calvert K9 Search
Team</a> (CK9) have been working
towards our <a class="reference external" href="http://nasar.org">NASAR</a> <a class="reference external" href="https://nasar.org/education/courses-certifications/sartech">SARTECH II
certification</a>. The four of us have
been meeting several times a month, in addition to studying at home, to
learn lots of material and become proficient …</p><p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://nasar.org"><img alt="National Association for Search and Rescue logo" src="images/NASAR_CYMK_LOGO_BlackType.webp" /></a>Over the past few
months a small group of us from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.calvertk9search.org/">Calvert K9 Search
Team</a> (CK9) have been working
towards our <a class="reference external" href="http://nasar.org">NASAR</a> <a class="reference external" href="https://nasar.org/education/courses-certifications/sartech">SARTECH II
certification</a>. The four of us have
been meeting several times a month, in addition to studying at home, to
learn lots of material and become proficient in clue finding, land
navigation, tracking, ropes, and other search and rescue techniques.
Yesterday and today was the culmination of all that hard work with the
administration of written and practical examinations.</p>
<p>Ed, Elizabeth, Will, and I took the written exam and knots practical
exam last night and then met this morning for all the outdoor practical
exams. It was a little wet with the rain, turning into sleet, and then
turning into a little snow. Once we got moving, though, we warmed right
up and didn't even feel the chill in the air.</p>
<p>Ed and I paired up to do both of the clue courses and then it was onto
the navigation course. As usual I somehow magically drew the long
course. At one point, between the fourth and fifth points, I wasn't
sure that I was hitting the correct spot. I backtracked several times
and ended up slipping on a log and landing on my knee. My knees, being
unhappy with any kind of trauma, large or small, was not happy about
this and so I had a slight limp for the legs between the fourth, fifth,
and sixth markers. Up until the fifth marker my bearings had been right
on with no deviation over tens of meters through brush and woods but I
was off a little bit on that fifth marker which led to some doubt.
Oddly enough, running a back azimuth track from the fifth to the fourth
marker yielded a perfect bearing so I took the fifth point to be where I
was supposed to go.</p>
<p>After the navigation course, I quickly did my tracking test and then
went inside to calculate my distances between points from the navigation
course and rest my knee. Betty provided an ice pack which really helped
with the pain.</p>
<p>In the end, four of us started and four of us passed! It was hard work
and the work we put in showed in the end. It's really helpful that my
team, CK9, has many NASAR SARTECH II evaluators on hand to not only
teach the courses but also administer the examinations. This would have
been a lot more difficult had I been forced to travel long distances to
complete this work.</p>
<p>Thanks to all the CK9 evaluators that came out and helped teach and
administer the examination. A special thanks to Mike and Betty who
opened their home to us on a regular basis for our learning sessions and
fed us and to Mike for taking the lead on teaching all of us!</p>
SOTA Activation: Snowy Mountain W3/PD-0072017-12-24T11:25:00-05:002017-12-24T11:25:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2017-12-24:/sota-activation-snowy-mountain-w3-pd-007.html<p>[caption id="attachment_1270" align="alignleft" width="244"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/12/20171225_1940061763063391.webp"><img alt="Eric holds up his SOTA flag while kneeling over his radio setup in the woods." src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/12/20171225_1940061763063391-244x300.webp" /></a> Hey look, a flag![/caption]</p>
<div class="section" id="stats">
<h2>Stats</h2>
<ul class="simple">
<li><strong>When:</strong> 2017-12-24 from 1543Z to 1625Z</li>
<li><strong>Where:</strong> Snowy Mountain - W3/PD-007</li>
<li><strong>Who:</strong>Just me</li>
<li><strong>Ascent:</strong> 148' over 0.64mi**
**</li>
<li><strong>Equipment:</strong>Elecraft KX3, SOTABEAM MIDI antenna</li>
<li><strong>APRS Coverage:</strong> Excellent</li>
<li><strong>T-Mobile Coverage:</strong>Good. Had 4G (no LTE) coverage …</li></ul></div><p>[caption id="attachment_1270" align="alignleft" width="244"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/12/20171225_1940061763063391.webp"><img alt="Eric holds up his SOTA flag while kneeling over his radio setup in the woods." src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/12/20171225_1940061763063391-244x300.webp" /></a> Hey look, a flag![/caption]</p>
<div class="section" id="stats">
<h2>Stats</h2>
<ul class="simple">
<li><strong>When:</strong> 2017-12-24 from 1543Z to 1625Z</li>
<li><strong>Where:</strong> Snowy Mountain - W3/PD-007</li>
<li><strong>Who:</strong>Just me</li>
<li><strong>Ascent:</strong> 148' over 0.64mi**
**</li>
<li><strong>Equipment:</strong>Elecraft KX3, SOTABEAM MIDI antenna</li>
<li><strong>APRS Coverage:</strong> Excellent</li>
<li><strong>T-Mobile Coverage:</strong>Good. Had 4G (no LTE) coverage at the summit.</li>
</ul>
<hr class="docutils" />
<p>Oh what a difference a day makes! The family and I hiked up to the fire
tower at the summit of Snowy Mountain. It was around 10 to 12 degrees
colder <a class="reference external" href="https://www.wg3k.us/2017/12/23/sota-activation-report-methodist-hill-north-w3-pd-006/">than
yesterday</a>
but it wasn't raining and the sun was actually shining!</p>
<p>The walk up from our parking area wasn't too bad. The dirt road has been
maintained well so it was more of a leisurely walk up. I setup near the
fire tower to stay away from the nearby power lines and other RF noise
generators at the radio tower site that also inhabits the summit.</p>
<p>I chose the west-facing side and strung my antenna up in among some pine
saplings. I was surprised to find a 4G cellular signal (T-Mobile) out
here and took advantage of it to check for other summits that were also
on the air at the time. I did see N3ICE up on W3/PH-004, of which I
thought would have been an easy S2S contact, but could not hear her on
40m. My usual 60m channel was in use so I started on 40m and sent out my
first spot.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="contacts">
<h2>Contacts</h2>
<p>I thought I'd give my fingers a rest and do a little voice work today.
The upper portion of forty meters is pretty busy but I managed to find
an open spot to call CQ. I quickly put NP2EI, K1LIZ, NE4TN, W9MRH, and
KI4TN into my log. I was informed that the Eastern Tennessee SOTA chaser
contingent was listening and would be trying to work me. :)</p>
<p>I switched over to CW and put AC1Z, KI4TN, K8HU, and WA2USA in the log.
My ear seemed to handle the code much better today compared with
yesterday. I tried twenty meters but for some reason the antenna
wouldn't tune-up. I moved down to seventeen meters but got no response
even though the band seemed to be open.</p>
<p>I checked the spots, again, and saw I had a request for eighty meters or
sixty meters. The MIDI antenna isn't supposed to do 3MHz but I have had
it work before; not today. Luckily I had Internet connectivity so I was
able to lookup the channels for sixty meters. I finally found one that
wasn't in use, spotted myself, and started calling CQ. I picked up
N2ESE, N2GBR, and K3JZD all on CW. Tried voice on the same channel but
no joy.</p>
<p>[caption id="attachment_1266" align="alignright" width="300"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/12/20171224_103004779126757.webp"><img alt="image1" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/12/20171224_103004779126757-300x225.webp" /></a>
Amanda and Elise are cold. Harlan is missing.[/caption]</p>
<p>By this my fingers were getting cold and my family, all of whom had
already abandoned me for the car, were waiting "patiently" for me at the
bottom. It didn't take me long to break camp and hike the .6 miles down.</p>
<p>The sky was clear enough that I was able to see other mountain summits
in the distance. Just a beautiful sight. I would highly recommend this
summit to others as it's fairly easy to get to and offers some very nice
views once you get away from the summit itself.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="lessons-learned">
<h2>Lessons Learned</h2>
<p>From yesterday, I had the same problem of a wet, cold ground to sit on.
Because I'm still trying to figure out how to pack all my gear I still
am carrying my KX3 with much of what it was packed in when it was
shipped to me: lots of plastic, foam USPS envelopes. I ended up sitting
on one of these and it worked great! My butt was warm and dry the
entire time! My friend Zach has suggested a, perhaps, more suitable
solution: a <a class="reference external" href="https://www.rei.com/product/829881/therm-a-rest-z-seat-pad">Therm-a-Rest Z-Seat
Pad</a>.</p>
<p>I still need to figure out why the MIDI antenna will sometimes tune up
on a band and other times not.</p>
<p>I also need to figure out an antenna to better support the lower bands
(80m and 160m).</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="summary">
<h2>Summary</h2>
<p>All in all, this is a great summit to activate. It requires some hiking
(I would have preferred a bit more), the views are nice on a clear day,
and the RF noise isn't so bad here. I hope to come back to this summit
and do it again some day!</p>
</div>
SOTA Activation Report: Methodist Hill North W3/PD-0062017-12-23T14:15:00-05:002017-12-23T14:15:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2017-12-23:/sota-activation-report-methodist-hill-north-w3-pd-006.html<p>[caption id="attachment_1259" align="alignleft" width="300"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/12/20171223_1319381266250731.webp"><img alt="An Elecraft KX3 HF transceiver on the ground with a SOTA flag." src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/12/20171223_1319381266250731-300x169.webp" /></a> Portable HF
setup on Methodist Hill North[/caption]</p>
<div class="section" id="stats">
<h2>Stats</h2>
<ul class="simple">
<li><strong>When:</strong> 2017-12-23 from 1832Z to 1915Z</li>
<li><strong>Where:</strong> Methodist Hill North - W3/PD-006</li>
<li><strong>Who:</strong> Just me</li>
<li><strong>Ascent:</strong> None (see below)</li>
<li><strong>Equipment:</strong> Elecraft KX3, SOTABEAM MIDI antenna</li>
<li><strong>APRS Coverage:</strong> Excellent</li>
<li><strong>T-Mobile Coverage:</strong> Nil</li>
</ul>
<hr class="docutils" />
<p>I arrived …</p></div><p>[caption id="attachment_1259" align="alignleft" width="300"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/12/20171223_1319381266250731.webp"><img alt="An Elecraft KX3 HF transceiver on the ground with a SOTA flag." src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/12/20171223_1319381266250731-300x169.webp" /></a> Portable HF
setup on Methodist Hill North[/caption]</p>
<div class="section" id="stats">
<h2>Stats</h2>
<ul class="simple">
<li><strong>When:</strong> 2017-12-23 from 1832Z to 1915Z</li>
<li><strong>Where:</strong> Methodist Hill North - W3/PD-006</li>
<li><strong>Who:</strong> Just me</li>
<li><strong>Ascent:</strong> None (see below)</li>
<li><strong>Equipment:</strong> Elecraft KX3, SOTABEAM MIDI antenna</li>
<li><strong>APRS Coverage:</strong> Excellent</li>
<li><strong>T-Mobile Coverage:</strong> Nil</li>
</ul>
<hr class="docutils" />
<p>I arrived at the summit a little earlier than I had originally planned
only because of the littlest one's nap time. I also didn't hike in due
to the weather, which was and is a disappointment. Nonetheless, I did
wander around the activation zone a bit trying to find that perfect
place to setup. Unfortunately, I had to settle for a rotten log in an
area that wasn't as thick, brush-wise, as the rest of the area.</p>
<p>This is the first deployment of my Elecraft KX3 and, coupled with the
SOTABEAM MIDI antenna, I have no complaints. Receive noise levels were
low and signals were decent. Only problem I could find in the whole mix
was me!</p>
<p>[caption id="attachment_1260" align="alignright" width="169"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/12/20171223_131510680830265.webp"><img alt="image1" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/12/20171223_131510680830265-169x300.webp" /></a>
SOTABEAM MIDI deployed in the woods.[/caption]</p>
<p>I mentioned the weather wasn't great. Temperatures were in the 40Fs with
a breeze. There was also rain. My CW likely ranks among the worst on the
air and it gets worse when I'm sitting on the wet, cold ground being
rained upon. For those that worked me, thank you. For those that worked
me towards the end on 40m, as we say down in the South, "bless your
heart". I was going to try some PSK31 to give my fist a break but the
USB connection for the keyboard seems to make a lot of RF hash noise.
Switching to voice yielded no contacts so I just packed up and headed
down the mountain.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="contacts">
<h2>Contacts</h2>
<p>Thirteen contacts were had over two bands: sixty and forty meters. I
started with sixty meters where I put K8HU, N2ESE, W2SE, KB9ILT, N3SW,
and N2GBR in the log. I moved down to forty meters and found K3TCU,
KI4TN, AC1Z, NE4TN, VE2JFM, AB9CA, and AA1CQ. All contacts were CW.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="lessons-learned">
<h2>Lessons Learned</h2>
<p>First, I need lightweight gloves that will keep my fingers warm but will
still allow operation of a CW key. Even at moderately cool
temperatures, my fingers were getting too cold to not make mistakes when
sending CW. Not sure what to do about my brain getting too cold to not
make mistakes when decoding CW.</p>
<p>Second, I need to find something lightweight and flexible to sit on that
will insulate my butt and keep me dry while I sit on the ground. It was
not comfortable to absorb the dampness that was the ground while making
contacts.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="summary">
<h2>Summary</h2>
<p>Thirteen contacts in the log and a new summit to boot. Overall, I'm
happy with the activation and can hardly wait to do it again!</p>
</div>
Upcoming SOTA Activation(s) - Methodist Hill North and Snowy Mountain2017-12-18T21:48:00-05:002017-12-18T21:48:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2017-12-18:/upcoming-sota-activations.html<p><strong>Updated: 2017-12-20 @ 0315Z -</strong>Not doing Long Mountain, adding Snowy
Mountain.</p>
<hr class="docutils" />
<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/07/sota_logo.webp"><img alt="SOTA Logo" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/07/sota_logo.webp" /></a>Looking at taking a few days and going hiking up in
Pennsylvania this upcoming weekend. I have at least two summits in my
sights: <a class="reference external" href="https://summits.sota.org.uk/summit/W3/PD-006">W3/PD-006</a> and
[STRIKEOUT:<a class="reference external" href="https://summits.sota.org.uk/summit/W3/PD-013">W3/PD-013</a>]
<a class="reference external" href="https://summits.sota.org.uk/summit/W3/PD-007">W3/PD-007</a> that I'd like to
activate for <a class="reference external" href="https://www.sota.org.uk/">Summits on …</a></p><p><strong>Updated: 2017-12-20 @ 0315Z -</strong>Not doing Long Mountain, adding Snowy
Mountain.</p>
<hr class="docutils" />
<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/07/sota_logo.webp"><img alt="SOTA Logo" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/07/sota_logo.webp" /></a>Looking at taking a few days and going hiking up in
Pennsylvania this upcoming weekend. I have at least two summits in my
sights: <a class="reference external" href="https://summits.sota.org.uk/summit/W3/PD-006">W3/PD-006</a> and
[STRIKEOUT:<a class="reference external" href="https://summits.sota.org.uk/summit/W3/PD-013">W3/PD-013</a>]
<a class="reference external" href="https://summits.sota.org.uk/summit/W3/PD-007">W3/PD-007</a> that I'd like to
activate for <a class="reference external" href="https://www.sota.org.uk/">Summits on the Air (SOTA)</a>.</p>
<div class="section" id="methodist-hill-north-w3-pd-006">
<h2>Methodist Hill North - W3/PD-006</h2>
<p>The first, <a class="reference external" href="https://summits.sota.org.uk/summit/W3/PD-006">Methodist Hill North
(W3/PD-006)</a>, appears to be
a drive-up summit but I'm hoping to take advantage of some quiet and
hike in the 4.57 miles from the parking area at Shippensburg Road along
the Appalachian Trail. The terrain doesn't look too bad: up 700 feet,
down 643 feet (gross).</p>
<p>[caption id="attachment_1193" align="aligncenter" width="800"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/12/Trail_Profile.webp"><img alt="Trail profile along to W3/PD-006" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/12/Trail_Profile.webp" /></a> Trail profile along to W3/PD-006[/caption]</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="strikeout-long-mountain-w3-pd-013">
<h2>[STRIKEOUT:Long Mountain - W3/PD-013]</h2>
<p>[STRIKEOUT:The second, <a class="reference external" href="https://summits.sota.org.uk/summit/W3/PD-013">Long Mountain
(W3/PD-013)</a>, has never been
activated before and I'm not sure if that's because it's such a low
point summit (2 points) or if there are access restrictions. Either
way, I'll find out as it appears to be an easy drive up to the summit
along a roadway that has houses along side it.]</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="snowy-mountain-w3-pd-007">
<h2>Snowy Mountain - W3/PD-007</h2>
<p>A little further away from base camp than I would have liked but the
Long Mountain summit doesn't look like it's going to work out. The SOTA
community in the W3 area suggested that I try Snowy Mountain so I'm
putting it on the list.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="other-summits">
<h2>Other summits?</h2>
<p>There is a <em>very</em> slim chance I may try to activate another summit
during this trip but I'll have to see what the family is up to doing
first.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="the-gear">
<h2>The Gear</h2>
<p>This will be my first activation using my Elecraft KX3. My CW is rusty
(it down right sucks, really), and SSB isn't going to be fantastic, so I
hope to make up for my lacking in both of these areas by offering up
PSK-31 directly from the rig. I've done this a little bit, and have
been somewhat successful, but have never tried this in the field so if
you hear me please give me a little latitude when trying to make a
contact.</p>
<p>I'll be using my SOTABEAMS Bandspringer Midi antenna which is supposed
to be good 10m through 60m. This antenna has worked really well with my
Elecraft K1 (40m-17m) and I can hardly wait to see (hear) what it will
do on the KX3.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="the-operations-plan">
<h2>The Operations Plan</h2>
<p>Still working out the exact timing; I'm hoping to be on the summit early
afternoon on Saturday, 23 December 2017. As soon as I get the antenna
up in the air I'll start on 60m and try to work CW, then PSK-31, then
voice. I'll repeat this pattern on every band, through 10m, I can tune
up on until I get tired or run out of time. I will also be monitoring
146.535MHz FM on my HT along with chirping on
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.aprs.org/">APRS</a>
(<a class="reference external" href="https://aprs.fi/#!mt=roadmap&z=11&call=a%2FWG3K-7&timerange=3600&tail=3600">WG3K-7</a>).
I've heard I won't have cellular coverage at the summit so I'm hoping to
have APRS coverage so I can <a class="reference external" href="https://www.sotaspots.co.uk/viewpage.php?page_id=1">self
spot</a> when I get
started.</p>
<p>That's the plan as of now. I'll update this if there are any changes
before heading up (if I can). <em>73!</em></p>
</div>
The Radio Shack2017-10-29T16:42:00-04:002017-10-29T16:42:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2017-10-29:/the-radio-shack.html<p>Somehow, in all this mess, work does get done...</p>
<p>[caption id="attachment_1179" align="aligncenter" width="2617"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/10/20171029_163308324263485-e1509309472805.webp"><img alt="WG3K Operating Position showing a mess of radios and assorted parts and pieces." src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/10/20171029_163308324263485-e1509309472805.webp" /></a> WG3K Operating Position[/caption]</p>
<p>[caption id="attachment_1180" align="aligncenter" width="2895"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/10/20171029_163253904840459-e1509309567372.webp"><img alt="WG3K Electronics Workshop showing lots of tools, wire, and stuff... everywhere." src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/10/20171029_163253904840459-e1509309567372.webp" /></a> WG3K Electronics Workshop[/caption]</p>
<p>The scary thing is, I haven't yet fully moved-in yet so this could get
better, or worse …</p><p>Somehow, in all this mess, work does get done...</p>
<p>[caption id="attachment_1179" align="aligncenter" width="2617"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/10/20171029_163308324263485-e1509309472805.webp"><img alt="WG3K Operating Position showing a mess of radios and assorted parts and pieces." src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/10/20171029_163308324263485-e1509309472805.webp" /></a> WG3K Operating Position[/caption]</p>
<p>[caption id="attachment_1180" align="aligncenter" width="2895"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/10/20171029_163253904840459-e1509309567372.webp"><img alt="WG3K Electronics Workshop showing lots of tools, wire, and stuff... everywhere." src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/10/20171029_163253904840459-e1509309567372.webp" /></a> WG3K Electronics Workshop[/caption]</p>
<p>The scary thing is, I haven't yet fully moved-in yet so this could get
better, or worse.</p>
FOUND: CLOVER2 Board cables2017-10-28T14:29:00-04:002017-10-28T14:29:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2017-10-28:/found-clover2-board-cables.html<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/10/20171028_142552272304593.webp"><img alt="CLOVER2 Board cable" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/10/20171028_142552272304593-300x169.webp" /></a>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 …</p><p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/10/20171028_142552272304593.webp"><img alt="CLOVER2 Board cable" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/10/20171028_142552272304593-300x169.webp" /></a>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 use the cables.</p>
APRS SATCOM base antennas2017-10-28T10:26:00-04:002017-10-28T10:26:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2017-10-28:/aprs-satcom-base-antennas.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 a page Bob had written expanding on the idea. This page
provides <a class="reference external" href="http://www.aprs.org/aprs-satellite-igate-antennas.html">designs for i-gate antennas on
2m</a> and
includes the 19-inch antenna as well as a new design, a 3/4-wave 2m
antenna.</p>
<p>I'm seriously considering building one or both of these antennas this
weekend to test out these antenna designs.</p>
RNZ QSL card received2017-10-01T21:36:00-04:002017-10-01T21:36:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2017-10-01:/rnz-qsl-card-received.html<p>Spinning the dial on the HF radio, the other night, I ran across <a class="reference external" href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/international">Radio
New Zealand International</a>
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 …</p><p>Spinning the dial on the HF radio, the other night, I ran across <a class="reference external" href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/international">Radio
New Zealand International</a>
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 is about the same
time that I used to work a ZL2BLQ on 18MHz CW so maybe I shouldn't be
surprised.)</p>
<p>Sent in my report of
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SINPO_code">45534</a> for 13840kHz using
their web form and a few days later received this card via email:</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/10/2017-09-17-RNZ_QSL_Card.webp"><img alt="RNZ QSL Card showing the RNZ logo" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/10/2017-09-17-RNZ_QSL_Card.webp" /></a></div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I also copied their broadcast on 11725kHz but with a report of 25511 it wasn't worth mentioning.</div>
</div>
</div>
Shortwave Radiogram for the weekend of 29 September 20172017-10-01T20:25:00-04:002017-10-01T20:25:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2017-10-01:/shortwave-radiogram-for-the-weekend-of-29-september-2017.html<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/10/pic_2017-10-01_235712z.webp"><img alt="image0" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/10/pic_2017-10-01_235712z.webp" /></a>This weekend's reception of <a class="reference external" href="http://swradiogram.net/">Shortwave
Radiogram</a> was cut off at the beginning due
to an operator error. I had left my computer up and listening to
<a class="reference external" href="http://wrmi.net/">WRMI</a> but had also left the automatic frequency
control (AFC) feature turned on. This meant that fldigi ended up
surfing around the bandpass instead …</p><p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/10/pic_2017-10-01_235712z.webp"><img alt="image0" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/10/pic_2017-10-01_235712z.webp" /></a>This weekend's reception of <a class="reference external" href="http://swradiogram.net/">Shortwave
Radiogram</a> was cut off at the beginning due
to an operator error. I had left my computer up and listening to
<a class="reference external" href="http://wrmi.net/">WRMI</a> but had also left the automatic frequency
control (AFC) feature turned on. This meant that fldigi ended up
surfing around the bandpass instead of locking onto the signal and
decoding it. Luckily I came up to the shack in the nick of time and was
able to correct the problem.</p>
<p>Here is my download of this weekend's Shortwave Radiogram:</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">deployments. The hams and their equipment will be sent to Red</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Cross shelters extending from San Juan to the western end of the</div>
<div class="line">island.</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">"This generous outpouring of response represents the finest</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">qualities of the Amateur Radio community," ARRL CEO Tom</div>
<div class="line">Gallagher, NY2RF, said. "These individuals are dropping whatever</div>
<div class="line">they are doing now, heading off to an extended hardship-duty</div>
<div class="line">assignment, and offering their special talents to Americans who</div>
<div class="line">have been cut off from their families, living amid widespread</div>
<div class="line">destruction and without electrical power since Hurricane Maria</div>
<div class="line">struck the Caribbean region last week."</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">ARRL's Emergency Preparedness Manager Mike Corey, KI1U, said this</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">was the first time in the nearly 75-year relationship between</div>
<div class="line">ARRL and the American Red Cross that such as request for</div>
<div class="line">assistance had been made. "Hurricane Maria has devastated the</div>
<div class="line">island's communications infrastructure," Corey said. "Without</div>
<div class="line">electricity and telephone, and with most of the cell sites out of</div>
<div class="line">service, millions of Americans are cut off from communicating.</div>
<div class="line">Shelters are unable to reach local emergency services. And,</div>
<div class="line">people cannot check on the welfare of their loved ones. The</div>
<div class="line">situation is dire."</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Full text:</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://www.arrl.org/news/amateur-radio-s-force-of-fifty-answers-the-red-cross-call-in-puerto-rico">http://www.arrl.org/news/amateur-radio-s-force-of-fifty-answers-the-red-cross-call-in-puerto-rico</a></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">See also:</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="https://www.voanews.com/a/puerto-rico-radio-station-hurricane-maria/4047762.html">https://www.voanews.com/a/puerto-rico-radio-station-hurricane-maria/4047762.html</a></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Image: NOAA satellite images of Puerto Rico before and after</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Hurricane Maria ...</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>Sending Pic:437x101;</p>
<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/10/pic_2017-10-01_234154z.webp"><img alt="NOAA satellite images of Puerto Rico before and after Hurricane Maria" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/10/pic_2017-10-01_234154z.webp" /></a></p>
<p>This is Shortwave Radiogram.</p>
<p>Please send reception reports to <a class="reference external" href="mailto:radiogram@verizon.net">radiogram@verizon.net</a></p>
<p>From the BBC Media Centre:</p>
<p>BBC News launches Korean language service</p>
<p>25 September 2017</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The new Korean language service announced in November 2016 by the</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">BBC World Service began broadcasting today. Audiences in the</div>
<div class="line">Korean peninsula and Korean speakers around the world can now</div>
<div class="line">hear radio broadcasts and access the latest news online at</div>
<div class="line">BBC.com/korean .</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">BBC News Korean is one of 12 new language service launches now</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">underway as part of the biggest expansion of the BBC World</div>
<div class="line">Service since the 1940s, funded through a £291 million grant in</div>
<div class="line">aid from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Director of the BBC World Service Francesca Unsworth says: "BBC</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">News Korean will build on the long-standing reputation for</div>
<div class="line">fairness and impartiality the BBC World Service has earned all</div>
<div class="line">over the world."</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">BBC News Korean features a daily 30-minute radio news programme</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">broadcast at 15.30 GMT on Shortwave (SW) and 16.30 GMT Medium</div>
<div class="line">wave (MW). The service will also feature a digital offer with</div>
<div class="line">written stories, videos and radio programmes which can be</div>
<div class="line">downloaded and shared. The new service features a wide range of</div>
<div class="line">news, sport, business, culture, in-depth reports and English</div>
<div class="line">language learning.</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">BBC News Korean journalists will be based in Seoul, London and</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Washington and will draw on the full extent of the BBC's global</div>
<div class="line">network of correspondents.</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>Notes:</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Service launched Monday 25 September at 15.30 GMT (Tuesday 26</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">September in Korea):</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Shortwave service to broadcast for three hours, 15.30 - 18.30</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">GMT</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>Medium wave service transmission for 1 hour 16.30 - 17.30 GMT</p>
<p>All transmissions to be 7 days a week</p>
<p>Medium wave (MW) Frequency: 1431KHz</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Shortwave (SW) Frequencies: 5810 kHz & 9940 kHz (from launch</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">to 28 October 2017) then; 5810 kHz & 5830 kHz (from 29 October</div>
<div class="line">2017 to 24 March 2018)</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>The BBC News Korean website will be available at BBC.com/korean</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The BBC World Service is currently launching in 12 new languages</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">- Afaan Oromo, Amharic, Gujarati, Igbo, Korean, Marathi, Pidgin,</div>
<div class="line">Punjabi, Serbian, Telugu, Tigrinya, and Yoruba.</div>
</div>
</div>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2017/bbc-news-launches-korean-language-service">http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2017/bbc-news-launches-korean-language-service</a></p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Image: From BBC video comparing North and South Korean usages of</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">the Korean language ...</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>Sending Pic:230x103C;</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/10/pic_2017-10-01_234707z.webp"><img alt="From BBC video comparing North and South Korean usages of the Korean language" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/10/pic_2017-10-01_234707z.webp" /></a></div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">This is Shortwave Radiogram.</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>Please send reception reports to <a class="reference external" href="mailto:radiogram@verizon.net">radiogram@verizon.net</a></p>
<p>From New Atlas:</p>
<p>Highest-capacity transatlantic data cable completed</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">David Szondy</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">25 September 2017</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The highest-capacity data cable stretching across the Atlantic</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">has now been completed. A consortium including Microsoft,</div>
<div class="line">Facebook and Telxius recently finished threading the complex</div>
<div class="line">4,000-mi (6,400-km) cable across the ocean floor from Virginia</div>
<div class="line">Beach, Virginia to Bilbao, Spain to produce a high-speed data</div>
<div class="line">connection that will be more secure from disruption by natural</div>
<div class="line">disasters.</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Though modern telecommunications may conjure up images of lasers</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">skittering between communication satellites high above the Earth,</div>
<div class="line">the backbone of today's internet is heavily dependent on a giant</div>
<div class="line">spider web of cables spanning between continents and along coast</div>
<div class="line">lines carrying everything from tweets to high-definition live</div>
<div class="line">streaming videos.</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Unfortunately, these cables are vulnerable to natural and manmade</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">disasters. In the aftermath of the October 2012 Hurricane Sandy</div>
<div class="line">that wreaked havoc on the east coast of the United States,</div>
<div class="line">wireless, internet, and home telephone services were knocked out</div>
<div class="line">for days. Therefore, it was decided by Microsoft and Facebook,</div>
<div class="line">along with Telxius, to develop, design, build, and lay a new</div>
<div class="line">cable farther south than existing transatlantic connections.</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Work on the new cable, called Marea or "Tide" in Spanish, began</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">less than two years ago and Microsoft says the project was</div>
<div class="line">completed three times faster than a typical undersea cable</div>
<div class="line">project. The route for the cable required the surveying of the</div>
<div class="line">seabed to depths of up to 11,000 ft (3,300 m) to avoid hazards</div>
<div class="line">that include active volcanoes, earthquake zones, and coral reefs.</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Marea consists of eight pairs of fiber optic cables encased in</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">copper, a hard-plastic protective layer, and a waterproof</div>
<div class="line">coating. The whole thing measures 1.5 times the diameter of a</div>
<div class="line">garden hose and is buried in a set of trenches close to shore to</div>
<div class="line">protect it from fishing nets and anchors, but lies open on the</div>
<div class="line">seabed in the mid-ocean.</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Marea is expected to go operational early next year when it will</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">carry up to 160 terabits of data per second, which is 16 million</div>
<div class="line">times faster than the average home internet connection. This is</div>
<div class="line">the equivalent to 71 million high-definition videos streaming</div>
<div class="line">simultaneously and will allow the cable to serve hubs in Africa,</div>
<div class="line">the Middle East, and Asia. In addition, its open design will</div>
<div class="line">allow it to be upgraded as demand grows.</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">"Marea comes at a critical time," says Brad Smith, president of</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Microsoft. "Submarine cables in the Atlantic already carry 55</div>
<div class="line">percent more data than trans-Pacific routes and 40 percent more</div>
<div class="line">data than between the US and Latin America. There is no question</div>
<div class="line">that the demand for data flows across the Atlantic will continue</div>
<div class="line">to increase and Marea will provide a critical connection for the</div>
<div class="line">United States, Spain, and beyond."</div>
</div>
</div>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://newatlas.com/highest-capacity-transatlantic-cable/51488/">http://newatlas.com/highest-capacity-transatlantic-cable/51488/</a></p>
<p>Image: Route of the Marea cable between Spain and Virginia ...</p>
<p>Sending Pic:228x71C;</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/10/pic_2017-10-01_235246z.webp"><img alt="Route of the Marea cable between Spain and Virginia" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/10/pic_2017-10-01_235246z.webp" /></a></div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Finally, this photo of a young Anatoly Karpov, Soviet chess</div>
<div class="line">grandmaster, includes his multiband portable radio -- probably</div>
<div class="line">capable of receiving shortwave ...</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>Sending Pic:346x254;</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/10/pic_2017-10-01_235443z.webp"><img alt="Photo of a young Anatoly Karpov, Soviet chess grandmaster, includes his multiband portable radio -- probably capable of receiving shortwave" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/10/pic_2017-10-01_235443z.webp" /></a></div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Photo from:</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="https://twitter.com/sovietvisuals/status/768374422864404481">https://twitter.com/sovietvisuals/status/768374422864404481</a></div>
</div>
</div>
<p>Transmission of Shortwave Radiogram is provided by:</p>
<p>WRMI, Radio Miami International, <a class="reference external" href="http://wrmi.net">http://wrmi.net</a></p>
<p>and</p>
<p>Space Line, Bulgaria, <a class="reference external" href="http://spaceline.bg">http://spaceline.bg</a></p>
<p>Please send reception reports to <a class="reference external" href="mailto:radiogram@verizon.net">radiogram@verizon.net</a></p>
<p>And visit <a class="reference external" href="http://swradiogram.net">http://swradiogram.net</a></p>
<p>Twitter: @SWRadiogram</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I'm Kim Elliott. Please join us for the next Shortwave</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Radiogram.</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>Sending Pic:192x151C;</p>
<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/10/pic_2017-10-01_235712z.webp"><img alt="image5" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/10/pic_2017-10-01_235712z.webp" /></a></p>
Apple Orchard Mountain in July 20172017-07-17T08:05:00-04:002017-07-17T08:05:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2017-07-17:/apple-orchard-mountain-in-july-2017.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><strong>Success!</strong> That’s the word I’m using to describe my latest battle up a
summit. It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t without some failure, but I’m
willing to give this trip a grade of <strong>B</strong>. Luckily I had some help…​</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_stats">Stats</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p><strong>When:</strong> 2017-07-15 from 14:00Z …</p></li></ul></div></div></div><div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><strong>Success!</strong> That’s the word I’m using to describe my latest battle up a
summit. It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t without some failure, but I’m
willing to give this trip a grade of <strong>B</strong>. Luckily I had some help…​</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_stats">Stats</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p><strong>When:</strong> 2017-07-15 from 14:00Z to 20:00Z</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Where:</strong> Apple Orchard Mountain -
`W4V/RA-001 <<a href="http://aprs.org/hamtrails/AO.html>`__" class="bare">http://aprs.org/hamtrails/AO.html>`__</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Who:</strong> Dave KB3RAN, Ed KC3EN, Steve N3IPN, and myself</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Ascent:</strong> 280ft in .58mi (3928ft to 4208ft)</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Equipment:</strong>\ Lots (See below)</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>APRS Coverage:</strong> Excellent with nearby I-Gate</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>T-Mobile Coverage:</strong>\ Poor. Could receive text messages and
voicemail notifications but couldn’t make calls or send messages.
Seemed common among all carriers. There is one spot at the northwest
corner of the FAA fence that seems to get okay coverage that may
work.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_getting_there_and_staying_there">Getting There and Staying There</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>This is a fun event made even more enjoyable by the addition of a few
friends. This year, like last year, I was joined by Dave KB3RAN and
Steve N3IPN. A new member of the group, Ed KC3EN, also joined us this
year, and I hope will continue to be part of the team.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Since we’re so far away (about a 5 hour drive) we camped at the `Peaks
of the Otter
Campground <<a href="https://www.recreation.gov/camping/peaks-of-otter-campground/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&parkId=72774>`__" class="bare">https://www.recreation.gov/camping/peaks-of-otter-campground/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&parkId=72774>`__</a>,
the night before, which is a few miles south of Apple Orchard Mountain.
The campground is nice and wasn’t crowded. We were able to get two
sites that were adjacent allowing us to put up two tents and have the RV
all together.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Steve, and his excellent fire-building skills, had a roaring fire going
in no time, and pork chops were our first meal of the trip.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Overnight rain kept me in a tent and out of my hammock that I’ve been
sleeping in as of late, so that was kind of a bummer. At least we
missed the torrential rainfall that hit the area earlier in the day.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_up_the_mountain_we_go">Up the mountain we go</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2017/07/20170715_103612-e1500311654515-300x180.webp" alt="Ed" width="Eric" height="and Steve arriving at the summit with wagon #2 loaded with radio equipment. - Photo by Dave KB3RAN">
</div>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I don’t think I touched on this subject last year, probably because I
was still sore (physically and emotionally) about the situation. For
this year’s readers I’ll do a recap.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Last year was our first year supporting the APRS Golden Packet event.
It was also our first time ever going atop Apple Orchard Mountain.
While we had looked at maps and measured distances and altitude changes
we really hadn’t grasped the energy it would take to get two overloaded
wagons up the mountain. For the record, the distance up the road is .6
mi and the elevation change is just over 300 feet. But last year the
two wagons of gear were likely weighing in excess of 2 tons each
(metric, imperial, royal…​ your pick).</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>This year we scaled back enormously. Batteries and antenna masts were
reduced and lightened. Radio and antennas were lessened. Oh, and we
added another mule to the team (thanks Ed!). This year we made it up to
the summit <strong>much</strong>\ faster than last year.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_the_primary_mission">The Primary Mission</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><span class="image left"><img src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/07/20170715_112850-300x225.webp" alt="Eric WG3K setting up the APRS digipeater on a boulder. - Photo by Dave KB3RAN" width="300" height="225"></span></p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The primary mission of this trip was to activate an APRS digipeater on
`Apple Orchard Mountain <<a href="http://aprs.org/hamtrails/AO.html>`" class="bare">http://aprs.org/hamtrails/AO.html>`</a><em> in
support of the `APRS Golden Packet
event <<a href="http://www.aprs.org/at-golden-packet.html>`" class="bare">http://www.aprs.org/at-golden-packet.html>`</a></em>. The event takes
place annually and takes fifteen teams from Springer Mountain in Georgia
to Katahdyn in Maine to build and maintain a network of VHF digipeaters
so that a <strong>golden packet</strong> may be passed from Georgia to Maine and back.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="activating-apple-orchard-mountain-w4vra-001.html">Last year</a>
we completed our portion of the mission but there were problems along
the link (equipment and personnel) that caused a failure. What parts we
did get active worked well and we tested both 1200 and 9600 baud links.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>This year we decided to do <strong>only</strong> 9600 baud links. Unfortunately I
didn’t realize that the link between us (AOMTN-5) and
Hawksbill <a href="http://www.aprs.org/hamtrails/hawksbill.html" class="bare">http://www.aprs.org/hamtrails/hawksbill.html</a> (HAWKBL-6)
is quite fragile and a change in antenna made the path between us
unusable for 9600 baud. Even 2m FM voice was tough going. Fortunately
1200 baud packet was able to get through, and everyone switching to 1200
baud allowed the entire network to connect and function. It wasn’t too
long after everyone switched to 1200 baud that news went out that the
<strong>Golden Packet</strong> had been passed from Maine to Georgia and back so we
were successful! <strong>Mission complete.</strong></p>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_hind_sight">Hind sight</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>In hind sight I should have probably walked our antenna around a bit to
see if I could have found a better location while I had Hawksbill on VHF
voice. Next year I want to bring a 2m/70cm yagi to direct my power to
where I want it to go instead of just having it fly all over the place.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I’m also hoping to venture back out to Apple Orchard Mountain, before
next July, and test comms with Hawksbill if I can get time and another
team on the distant end.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_other_activities_sota">Other Activities (SOTA)</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><span class="image left"><img src="images/2017/07/wp-image-161438961-1-e1500314452518-155x300.webp" alt="SOTA flag flying from an antenna mast."></span> It’s a haul to
get up to the top of `Apple Orchard
Mountain <<a href="http://www.sota.org.uk/summit/W4V/RA-001>`" class="bare">http://www.sota.org.uk/summit/W4V/RA-001>`</a><em>. At least the
road is paved, though. Of course we’re not going to go up there with
only a TM-D700 and call it a day; no, we brought stuff! I believe there
were five HF/VHF+ transceivers that made the trip with several antennas,
batteries, poles, tents, and other accouterments. Like last year, we
also decided to activate the summit for
`SOTA <<a href="http://www.sota.org.uk/>`" class="bare">http://www.sota.org.uk/>`</a></em>!</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>We were much more successful this year than last. We did have some
failures, but overall I think everyone enjoyed themselves. Last year
Dave had issues with his portable HF digital station but had this to say
this year:</p>
</div>
<div class="literalblock">
<div class="content">
<pre>I had 15 contacts, 13 states, have 4 eQsl confirmations already and
maybe picked up VT as my 49th state. Dang, could have had DE and had
a WAS but couldn't hear Bob Balint [KF3AA].</pre>
</div>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Steve also had problems last year but was busy scratching contacts onto
his log while working a pile-up on 40m. He wanted to work 2m SSB but
heard no one, which is unfortunate.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><span class="image left"><img src="images/2017/07/20170715_112906-e1500314564436-225x300.webp" alt="Steve N3IPN with his 2m loop antenna in the air."></span></p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I, too, tried listening on the lower portion of 2m and didn’t hear squat
which I found amazing from ~4200 feet. No beacons or chit chat of any
kind. What was worse was the neighborhood RF seemed to be overloading
the front end of my K1 making my <strong>Plan A</strong> QRP station completely
inoperable. Thankfully I was able to borrow a 40m dipole for a few
minutes and put a few contacts in the log using my FT-857D.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I was actually talking with W2SE on 40m when I had a <strong>duh</strong>\ moment and
grabbed the microphone on the D700 and called Comers Mountain and worked
their crew for summit-to-summit (S2S) credit. Hawksbill had already
closed down so I missed my opportunity there, unfortunately. In the end
I managed 10 SOTA contacts which isn’t too shabby.</p>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_what_worked_well">What worked well</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><strong>APRS</strong> worked really well from up on the summit. There was plenty of
digipeater coverage below and that allowed us to send spots and
communicate with others well.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><span class="image left"><img src="images/2017/07/wp-image-447435341-e1500318667891-175x300.webp" alt="Dave KB3RAN sitting on a up-turned milk crate working PSK31 using a tablet."></span></p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>`<strong>APRS2SOTA</strong> <<a href="https://www.sotaspots.co.uk/home.php>`__" class="bare">https://www.sotaspots.co.uk/home.php>`__</a> worked
spectacularly! Being able to let the chasers know what frequencies were
were operating on in real time via RF was priceless. It’s easy to use,
and I was able to interact with the service using only my D72 portable
radio.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><strong>PSK31</strong>. Dave left his tablet and phone home last year but was ready
this year and boy did he put some contacts in the log. Of course you
never really knew when he was working stations or just goofing off
because he was always just sitting on the up-turned milk crate with the
tablet in his hand looking around and chatting.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><strong>LifePo4 batteries.</strong> I purchased one of these batteries days before
the expedition so I hadn’t had a chance to do anything except rig it
with Anderson Power Poles and charge it up. Turns out, the battery
lasted for around five or so hours being hooked to the D700 being run on
high power for the digipeater, high power on UHF for coordination with
Comers, and on the FT-857D running 25-watts on HF. When it stopped
working (and boy did it stop) the voltage was a little over 8V. It had
recovered a bit by the time I had gotten home but I’ll call it a good
day.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_what_didnt_work_well">What didn’t work well</h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><strong>K1</strong>. The K1’s front end seemed to be overloaded from the high-RF
environment that is Apple Orchard Mountain. Unfortunately, I had
planned on this being my primary operating radio and so the antenna I
had brought was specifically for this transceiver.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><strong>Cellular phones.</strong> Up on top of the summit there is either too much
competition for cellular signals or weird multipath happening. Sitting
in one spot I could watch my phone go from no signal to get a 3G signal
to a 4G signal to nothing all within the time-span of a minute or two.
Walking to one specific location on the summit would yield a usable
signal for text messaging and maybe a phone call where the rest of the
summit was useless. This problem seemed to be common to all carriers.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><strong>2m weak signal.</strong> Not sure what was going on as last year that’s
pretty much all I worked.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="_ideas_for_next_year">Ideas for next year</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>I’ve got a couple of ideas for next year including a better antenna to
point at Hawksbill.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>One thought is to attempt a microwave link to Comers (2.4GHz, 3GHz, or
5GHz). We’ll have to coordinate some on this one.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Speaking of coordinating, others were apparently active on HF from their
summits. It would have been nice to know what summits were active and
coordinate with them (maybe using our freshly-built APRS network) to
make some SOTA contacts.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Anyway, I’m excited about what 2018 will bring.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>APRS Golden Packet Event 20172017-07-13T20:48:00-04:002017-07-13T20:48:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2017-07-13:/aprs-golden-packet-event.html<p>Since 2016 a few friends and I have been participating in the <a class="reference external" href="http://aprs.org/at-golden-packet.html">APRS
Golden Packet Event</a> 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 <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_Trail">Appalachian
Trail</a> and pass the
"golden packet" from …</p><p>Since 2016 a few friends and I have been participating in the <a class="reference external" href="http://aprs.org/at-golden-packet.html">APRS
Golden Packet Event</a> 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 <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_Trail">Appalachian
Trail</a> and pass the
"golden packet" from Georgia to Maine and back.</p>
<p>Sub-missions change each year and sometimes add onto the goals of the
next year. In 2016 9600 baud was tested for the first time. It was a
complete success and 2017 will see <em>only</em> 9600 baud being used.</p>
<p>We manage the Apple Orchard summit near Bedford, Virginia. It's a very
high summit that has little competition for hundreds of miles around.</p>
<p>Panaramic shot towards the northwest from Apple Orchard summit.| Panaramic shot towards the northwest from Apple Orchard
summit.</p>
<div class="section" id="notes">
<h2>Notes</h2>
<p>Mission Website: <a class="reference external" href="http://aprs.org/at-golden-packet.html">http://aprs.org/at-golden-packet.html</a></p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://aprs.org/hamtrails/AO.html">Apple Orchard Notes</a></p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="https://www.repeaterbook.com/repeaters/prox_result.php?city=37.5175+-79.5105&distance=25&Dunit=m&band=%&status_id=%&use=%25&order=loc">Nearby
Repeaters</a></p>
</div>
Heading up to Apple Orchard Mountain this weekend.2017-07-11T22:20:00-04:002017-07-11T22:20:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2017-07-11:/heading-up-to-apple-orchard-mountain-this-weekend.html<p><a class="reference external" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/activating-apple-orchard-mountain-w4vra-001.html">Like last
year</a>,
I'll be heading over to Apple Orchard Mountain to support the annual
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.aprs.org/at-golden-packet.html">APRS Golden Packet
Event</a>. 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.</p>
<p>In addition …</p><p><a class="reference external" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/activating-apple-orchard-mountain-w4vra-001.html">Like last
year</a>,
I'll be heading over to Apple Orchard Mountain to support the annual
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.aprs.org/at-golden-packet.html">APRS Golden Packet
Event</a>. 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.</p>
<p>In addition to operating APRS, we'll also be active on HF and VHF+. You
can watch for spots from us on the
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.sotawatch.org/index.php">SOTAwatch2</a> site.</p>
<div class="section" id="changes-from-last-year">
<h2>Changes from last year</h2>
<p>Last year we didn't quite know what to expect; we ended up bringing way
too much stuff and it was all way too heavy. This year weight is a
primary concern and we don't plan on making the same mistake again.</p>
<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/07/wp-image-974154764-e1499825290417.webp"><img alt="image0" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/07/wp-image-974154764-e1499825290417-150x150.webp" /></a>My friendly postal carrier dropped off a box just yesterday
which contained the new heart of my station. I've heard good things
about these new LifePO batteries so I figured I'd get one to try it out
for myself. So far I'm impressed. I've not really put it under a load
test, yet, but if it really gives me the watt-hours that it says it will
at ~3 lbs, I'll be ecstatic!</p>
<p>Another change is that I'll be bringing my Elecraft K1 with SOTABEAMS
Band Springer Midi antenna. This is an extremely lightweight HF setup
and has proven itself to work quite well (you can read about my
adventure <a class="reference external" href="https://www.wg3k.us/2016/11/11/activating-emmaville-mountain-north-w3sv-019/">activating Emmaville Mountain
North</a>
up in Pennsylvania with this setup).</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="listen-for-us">
<h2>Listen for us!</h2>
<p>We'll be on the air from the summit starting Saturday, 15 July 2017,
morning (likely around 1400Z) and will stay on the air until early to
mid afternoon. I'll be chirping on APRS (WG3K-7) if you need to get a
message to me while we're up on mountain!</p>
<p>73!</p>
</div>
J-Pole antennas for SAR2017-07-10T11:00:00-04:002017-07-10T11:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2017-07-10:/j-pole-antennas-for-sar.html<p>[caption id="attachment_1055" align="alignleft" width="169"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/03/20170311_141406-e1489263684680.webp"><img alt="Image of fibreglass mast with two VHF j-pole antennas affixed." src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/03/20170311_141406-e1489263684680-169x300.webp" /></a> Fiberglass mast
with two VHF j-pole antennas affixed.[/caption]</p>
<p>I recently started working with <a class="reference external" href="http://www.calvertk9search.org">Calvert K9
Search</a>, a local
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_and_rescue">SAR</a> team that
specializes in using dogs to search for people. In an effort to improve
communications between the command post (base) and …</p><p>[caption id="attachment_1055" align="alignleft" width="169"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/03/20170311_141406-e1489263684680.webp"><img alt="Image of fibreglass mast with two VHF j-pole antennas affixed." src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/03/20170311_141406-e1489263684680-169x300.webp" /></a> Fiberglass mast
with two VHF j-pole antennas affixed.[/caption]</p>
<p>I recently started working with <a class="reference external" href="http://www.calvertk9search.org">Calvert K9
Search</a>, a local
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_and_rescue">SAR</a> team that
specializes in using dogs to search for people. In an effort to improve
communications between the command post (base) and teams in the field I
embarked on a mission to find a simple solution to the problem of
limited comms.</p>
<p>There were several requirements that prevented the use of a repeater
(added complexity, weight, setup time), using a higher power base
station (may damage dog collar transmitters and GPSr
receivers<cite>:sup:`1</cite> <#footnote>`__ and only amplifies one side of the
communication), or a portable tower (see repeater above).</p>
<p>The solution was happened upon almost by accident and the improvements
were immediately noticeable. Digging through the back of my car I came
up with a VHF j-pole and fiberglass expandable pole to put it up in the
air. A few adapters later and we were on the air!</p>
<p>The performance improvement was immediate! Suddenly communications were
possible at a much further distance and, when connected to the Garmin
Astro 320, dog collars could be received from a much further distance
away.</p>
<p>Anyone who has examined the efficiency of a "rubber duck" antenna will
know that these stock antennas aren't great and that almost anything is
better. Stepping up to a j-pole antenna is a significant improvement
and then putting that antenna up in the air has a lot of wow-factor to a
non-radio person.</p>
<p>[caption id="attachment_1057" align="aligncenter" width="640"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/03/20170311_143627-e1489263914557.webp"><img alt="Image of collapsed fibreglass pole, used as mast, straps, and two VHF j-pole antennas rolled up and ready for deployment." src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/03/20170311_143627-e1489263914557-1024x544.webp" /></a> Two VHF antennas, straps,
and mast ready for activation.[/caption]</p>
<p>With the tests complete I built two j-pole antennas: one centered on
155.160MHz, our primary operational frequency, and one centered on the
average of all the MURS frequencies. The latter is used as a
receive-only antenna for the dog collars and hangs below the VHF "ops"
antenna. Both of these antennas are hung onto a fiberglass expandable
pole that holds the antennas up in the air around 20 feet or so. This
pole can be attached to a fence post, command trailer, tent pole, or
laid into a tree branch to keep it upright.</p>
<p>The most expensive part of the project was the LMR-240
feedline<cite>:sup:`2</cite> <#footnote>`__ that we used. The antennas were made
out of 300-ohm ladderline with shrink wrap at each end to help keep the
elements out. The pole is actually made for pulling cable and wires and
is made by
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.pushpullrods.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=P&Product_Code=TP26-HD&Category_Code=TPHD">PushPullRods.com</a>.
It's really strong but isn't crush resistant so you have to be careful
not to step on it when it's laying on the ground.</p>
<p>For about the price of a good commercial antenna we were able to get a
working antenna system that is completely portable/pack-able and
lightweight and takes only a few minutes to setup and take down. It
also doesn't take up much space for storage meaning it fits into the
existing infrastructure without having to make changes.</p>
<p>We've deployed this antenna system several times this spring and summer
and have noted improvements over a variety of terrain. This project
would have cost around $350 for parts if not for donations of parts and
pieces along the way.</p>
<div class="section" id="footnotes">
<h2>Footnotes</h2>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">1. Calvert K9 Search uses the Garmin Astro 320 GPSr units that, when coupled with the dog collars, allow the user to track the location of the dogs on the screen. These units are very sensitive to RF energy and the manufacturer recommends not using any more than 5 watts near these devices. (Although they don't specify what frequency band they are most sensitive, the units use MURS for communicating between the dog collars and receiver units so I'm assuming VHF is the most sensitive.)</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">2. LMR-240 feedline was utilized as it was small, lightweight, and reasonably low-loss at VHF frequencies.</div>
</div>
</div>
A response to 'Strong Encryption and Death'2017-01-20T14:10:00-05:002017-01-20T14:10:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2017-01-20:/a-response-to-strong-encryption-and-death.html<p>I recently read an article on the <a class="reference external" href="https://trilug.org/">TriLUG</a> blog
mirror discussing <a class="reference external" href="https://www.adventuresinoss.com/2017/01/19/strong-encryption-and-death/">access to data after the death of the
owner</a>.
I've also given this a lot of thought as well and had previously come to
the same conclusion as the original author of the article has:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"I created a file …</p></blockquote><p>I recently read an article on the <a class="reference external" href="https://trilug.org/">TriLUG</a> blog
mirror discussing <a class="reference external" href="https://www.adventuresinoss.com/2017/01/19/strong-encryption-and-death/">access to data after the death of the
owner</a>.
I've also given this a lot of thought as well and had previously come to
the same conclusion as the original author of the article has:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"I created a file called “deathnote.txt” which I then encrypted
using GPG. This will encrypt the file so that both Bob and Alice
can read it (and I can too). I then sent it to several friends
unrelated to them with instructions that, upon my death (but not
before), please send this file to Bob and Alice."</p>
<p class="attribution">—Tarus</p>
</blockquote>
<p>To be honest, I didn't actually go through with this project as there
were just too many variables that I hadn't figured out. There is a lot
of trust involved in this that potentially requires a very small number
of people (2) to really hose things up. It's not that I wouldn't trust
my "trusted friends" with the responsibility but it potentially makes
them targets and two is just a really low threshold for an adversary to
recover this information.</p>
<p>What really threw me was that the author also included a copy of his
private key in case they couldn't locate it on his computer to, I'm
assuming here, access other data. I have one word for this: NOPE!</p>
<p>Okay, short of the private key thing, what was proposed was quite
logical. Like I said above, I had a very similar idea a while back.
Springboarding from that idea, I'd like to propose another layer of
security into this whole process.</p>
<div class="section" id="splitting-up-the-data">
<h2>Splitting up the data</h2>
<p>So you have your encrypted blob of information that goes to person A
when you kick off but you don't want person A to have it before. Import
some trusted friends and you have a means of providing the information
to person A upon your demise. But letting a single person, or even two
people, control this information is dangerous. What if you could split
up that data into further encrypted parts and handed those parts out to
several friends? Then, not one single person would hold all the
information. You'd likely want some overlap so that you wouldn't need
ALL the friends to present the information (maybe it got lost, maybe the
friend got hit by the same bus that you did, etc) so we'd want to build
in a little redundancy.</p>
<div class="section" id="ssss">
<h3>ssss</h3>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://point-at-infinity.org/ssss/">Shamir's Secret Sharing Scheme</a>
(ssss) is a neat piece of software that takes some information, encrypts
it, and then break it into pieces. Redundancy can be added so that not
all parts are required to reassemble the data (think RAID 5).</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"In <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptography">cryptography</a>, a
<strong>secret sharing scheme</strong> is a method for distributing a
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secrecy">*secret*</a> amongst a group
of participants, each of which is allocated a <em>share</em> of the secret.
The secret can only be reconstructed when the shares are combined
together; individual shares are of no use on their own."</p>
<p class="attribution">—From the SSSS website</p>
</blockquote>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="implementing-the-solution">
<h2>Implementing the solution</h2>
<p>Because ssss can only share relatively small strings (less than 1024
bits), my "death" instructions would likely need to be stored whole as a
cipher text and the key (symmetric) being the shared object.</p>
<p>The other piece of this solution would be whom to get to hold the shared
bits of keys. It would likely be best if the individuals were not only
trusted but also didn't know the others involved in the share. That way
there is a smaller chance that these individuals could get together to
put the key back together.</p>
<p>Also, if person A is the one holding the cipher text, even if the
individuals did find each other they would only have a key and not be
able to decode the actual texts.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="conclusion">
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>I'm quite happy that I read the original article and I hope to do the
same thing that the author did before I kick the bucket. I'm quite sure
that there are other ways to do what Tarus and I wrote about and actual
implementation will vary depending upon the individual, their technical
level, and their personal privacy requirements. This problem, though,
is one that deserves to be solved as more and more of our information is
kept digitally.</p>
</div>
Activating Emmaville Mountain North W3/SV-0192016-11-11T14:33:00-05:002016-11-11T14:33:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2016-11-11:/activating-emmaville-mountain-north-w3sv-019.html<div class="section" id="sota-logostats">
<h2><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/07/sota_logo.webp"><img alt="SOTA Logo" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/07/sota_logo.webp" /></a>Stats</h2>
<ul class="simple">
<li><strong>When:</strong> 2016-11-11 from 18:04Z to 18:33Z</li>
<li><strong>Where:</strong> <a class="reference external" href="https://summits.sota.org.uk/summit/W3/SV-019">Emmaville Mountain
North</a> – W3/SV-019</li>
<li><strong>Who:</strong> Amanda KI4IWS, Harlan, Elise, and myself</li>
<li><strong>Ascent:</strong> Drive up</li>
<li><strong>Decent:</strong> Drive down</li>
<li><strong>Equipment:</strong> Elecraft K1, SOTABEAMS Band Springer Midi, Navy
Flameproof Key</li>
<li><strong>APRS Coverage:</strong> Good coverage</li>
<li><strong>T-Mobile Coverage:</strong> Good coverage</li>
<li><strong>Contacts:</strong>10</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="section" id="overview">
<h2>Overview</h2>
<p>[caption …</p></div><div class="section" id="sota-logostats">
<h2><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/07/sota_logo.webp"><img alt="SOTA Logo" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/07/sota_logo.webp" /></a>Stats</h2>
<ul class="simple">
<li><strong>When:</strong> 2016-11-11 from 18:04Z to 18:33Z</li>
<li><strong>Where:</strong> <a class="reference external" href="https://summits.sota.org.uk/summit/W3/SV-019">Emmaville Mountain
North</a> – W3/SV-019</li>
<li><strong>Who:</strong> Amanda KI4IWS, Harlan, Elise, and myself</li>
<li><strong>Ascent:</strong> Drive up</li>
<li><strong>Decent:</strong> Drive down</li>
<li><strong>Equipment:</strong> Elecraft K1, SOTABEAMS Band Springer Midi, Navy
Flameproof Key</li>
<li><strong>APRS Coverage:</strong> Good coverage</li>
<li><strong>T-Mobile Coverage:</strong> Good coverage</li>
<li><strong>Contacts:</strong>10</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="section" id="overview">
<h2>Overview</h2>
<p>[caption id="attachment_1006" align="alignleft" width="169"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/11/20161111_125537-e1479592923247.webp"><img alt="Picture of SOTA Antenna Deployed" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/11/20161111_125537-e1479592923247-169x300.webp" /></a> SOTA Antenna Deployed[/caption]</p>
<p>This was a good stop, about half way, on our way up to Ohio. The kids
got a chance to get out and run around and I got a chance to put a few
more contacts in the log.</p>
<p>The roadway going to the top is a single lane, gravel road that is in
good condition. At the top of the summit is an open area that allows for
parking and one could imagine lots of antennas and operating locations
here. You are ringed with trees, however, so I'm not sure if this would
make a good microwave location. Perhaps in the winter when the leaves
are off the trees...</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="the-gear">
<h2>The Gear</h2>
<p>[caption id="attachment_1011" align="alignright" width="300"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/11/20161111_133508.webp"><img alt="Picture of Elecraft K1 on tree stump." src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/11/20161111_133508-300x169.webp" /></a> A convenient operating
position.[/caption]</p>
<p>After <em>hiking</em> across the field I began setting up my gear. Just as I
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.wg3k.us/2016/10/31/activating-sugarloaf-mountain-w3cr-003-a-k-a-plan-b/">used at Sugarloaf Mountain a few weekends
ago</a>,
I setup my Elecraft K1 (5 watts using 8 AA batteries), the SOTABEAMS
Band Springer Midi antenna, 4.1m fiberglass pole, and Navy Flameproof
key. I was able to find a convenient tree stump in which to setup my
station. The antenna was setup nearby in the bushes and held well in
spite of the stiff breeze that was blowing.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="the-operating">
<h2>The Operating</h2>
<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/11/20161111_133530.webp"><img alt="Navy Flameproof key sitting on stone." src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/11/20161111_133530-300x169.webp" /></a>Most stations were quite loud.
Unlike last time, the bands were stable enough that stations didn't have
to chase me around the bands trying to contact me (or at least if they
did I couldn't hear them like on Sugarloaf).</p>
<p>I continue to be surprised by how quiet the bands are once you get on
top of the mountain. The K1's receiver continues to do a fantastic
job. I quickly put four contacts in the log on 40m before moving to and
putting three contacts each on 30m and 20m. I was planning on trying
17m but time was running out and my family was getting cold. It was
time to hit the road once again. Next time I might try to start on the
upper bands and work my way down.</p>
<p>Oh, there was one challenge. When I first started working 40m I had my
four year old son basically hanging all over me so my CW, both listening
and sending, were negatively impacted. Luckily I was able to tie him to
a tree and get back to making contacts! (I'm kidding!)</p>
<p>Furthest contact was with OK1DVM in the Czech Republic (~6895km)! I was
very surprised he could hear me while I was only running 5 watts. I'll
take contacts like that any day!</p>
<p>Thanks to all the chasers that helped with my activation: W4DOW, K3JZD,
KG3W, N1EU, N1GB, W4ALE, W4HBK, K4MF, OK1DVM, and W7CNL.</p>
</div>
SOTA Awards Received2016-11-06T10:37:00-05:002016-11-06T10:37:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2016-11-06:/sota-awards-received.html<p>Yesterday I received, by way of U.K. Royal Mail and the U.S. Postal
Service, two <a class="reference external" href="https://www.sota.org.uk/">SOTA</a> awards! The first is my
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.sota.org.uk/Joining-In/Awards">award</a> for chasing 100
points-worth of summits:</p>
<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/11/2016-10-12-SOTA_100_points_Chaser.webp"><img alt="WG3K's SOTA 100 Points Chaser Award" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/11/2016-10-12-SOTA_100_points_Chaser-300x212.webp" /></a>The second
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.sota.org.uk/Joining-In/Awards">award</a> is the SOTA Mountain
Hunter - Bronze award where I had to work at least two summits in …</p><p>Yesterday I received, by way of U.K. Royal Mail and the U.S. Postal
Service, two <a class="reference external" href="https://www.sota.org.uk/">SOTA</a> awards! The first is my
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.sota.org.uk/Joining-In/Awards">award</a> for chasing 100
points-worth of summits:</p>
<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/11/2016-10-12-SOTA_100_points_Chaser.webp"><img alt="WG3K's SOTA 100 Points Chaser Award" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/11/2016-10-12-SOTA_100_points_Chaser-300x212.webp" /></a>The second
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.sota.org.uk/Joining-In/Awards">award</a> is the SOTA Mountain
Hunter - Bronze award where I had to work at least two summits in at
least five mountain associations:</p>
<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/11/2016-10-18-SOTA_Mountain_Hunter_Bronze.webp"><img alt="WG3K's SOTA Mountain Hunter - Bronze Award" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/11/2016-10-18-SOTA_Mountain_Hunter_Bronze-212x300.webp" /></a>Hopefully I'll have some
activator awards in the coming year!</p>
Activating Sugarloaf Mountain (W3/CR-003) (a.k.a. Plan B)2016-10-31T06:30:00-04:002016-10-31T06:30:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2016-10-31:/activating-sugarloaf-mountain-w3cr-003-a-k-a-plan-b.html<div class="section" id="stats">
<h2>Stats</h2>
<ul class="simple">
<li><strong>When:</strong> 2016-10-30 from 18:25Z to 19:19Z</li>
<li><strong>Where:</strong> Sugarloaf Mountain -
<a class="reference external" href="https://summits.sota.org.uk/summit/W3/CR-003">W3/CR-003</a></li>
<li><strong>Who:</strong> <a class="reference external" href="https://family.christensenplace.us/2016/10/31/sugarloaf-mountain/">Amanda KI4IWS, Harlan, Elise, and
myself</a></li>
<li><strong>Ascent:</strong> 984 feet in 0.36 miles along the East View parking lot
using the Sunrise Trail.</li>
<li><strong>Decent:</strong> 0.93 miles along the Monadnock, Northern Peaks, and
Mountain loop …</li></ul></div><div class="section" id="stats">
<h2>Stats</h2>
<ul class="simple">
<li><strong>When:</strong> 2016-10-30 from 18:25Z to 19:19Z</li>
<li><strong>Where:</strong> Sugarloaf Mountain -
<a class="reference external" href="https://summits.sota.org.uk/summit/W3/CR-003">W3/CR-003</a></li>
<li><strong>Who:</strong> <a class="reference external" href="https://family.christensenplace.us/2016/10/31/sugarloaf-mountain/">Amanda KI4IWS, Harlan, Elise, and
myself</a></li>
<li><strong>Ascent:</strong> 984 feet in 0.36 miles along the East View parking lot
using the Sunrise Trail.</li>
<li><strong>Decent:</strong> 0.93 miles along the Monadnock, Northern Peaks, and
Mountain loop Trails.</li>
<li><strong>Equipment:</strong> Elecraft K1, SOTABEAMS Band Springer Midi, Navy
Flameproof Key</li>
<li><strong>APRS Coverage:</strong> Good coverage with an active I-Gate nearby</li>
<li><strong>T-Mobile Coverage:</strong> Decent; kept bouncing between LTE and Edge but
was able to use the data without too much problem.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="section" id="what-brought-us-here">
<h2>What brought us here</h2>
<p>[caption id="" align="alignright" width="237"]<img alt="Picture of Sugarloaf Mountain" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Sugarloaf2.webp" /> CC BY - Scott Robinson from Rockville, MD, USA[/caption]</p>
<p>Well, we were going to get up early, pack all of our gear, and get on
the road to go see the leaves changing color at <a class="reference external" href="https://www.nps.gov/grfa/index.htm">Great Falls National
Park</a>. Of course, with two kids,
and I'm not the best morning person either, getting out the door at any
hour before noon is asking for a miracle. That and some of the roads we
took to get there <a class="reference external" href="http://wtop.com/marine-corps-marathon/2016/10/marine-corps-marathon-brings-road-closures-to-arlington-dc/">ended up being
closed</a>.
So, by the time we arrived at the park there was a line to get in that
was so long we couldn't actually see the gate. It was time for plan B.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="plan-b">
<h2>Plan B</h2>
<p>Plan B was to head over to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.sugarloafmd.com/">Sugarloaf
Mountain</a> (about 40 minutes away) and
hike around and maybe even setup my radio and do a
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.sota.org.uk/">SOTA</a> activation. Luckily I had planned
for this contingency and had my K1, SOTABeams Band Springer Midi
antenna, batteries, a key, and expandable pole packed in my hiking pack.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="the-hike-up">
<h2>The Hike Up</h2>
<p>[caption id="attachment_992" align="alignleft" width="300"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/10/20161030_134717-e1477885675297.webp"><img alt="Picture of Eric and Harlan hiking up Sugarloaf Mountain" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/10/20161030_134717-e1477885675297-300x207.webp" /></a> Eric and Harlan hiking
up Sugarloaf Mountain[/caption]</p>
<p>Our hike up from the East View parking area was pretty neat. The red
trail (a.k.a. The Sunrise Trail) gets pretty steep in sections. My
first harmonic, Harlan, was on his hands and feet trying to get up some
of the rock scrambles that he encountered. At four (almost five) years
old he really did a good job making it up the mountain. I'll be very
surprised if you don't hear him activating some summits as soon as he
gets that whole reading and licensing thing behind him!</p>
<p>There are many ways to get to the top of the summit. With so many
people on the mountain, today, we took the first parking spot we could
find; I didn't want to chance missing the only parking spot because I
wanted to try to park closer.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="at-the-summit">
<h2>At the summit</h2>
<p>The summit area was very crowded today. It's a good thing that the
summit is very wide. I was able to move about 20 feet from the boulders
that sit at the very highest point and setup my gear well away from
everyone else. I was actually able to "hide" behind some boulders that
were in the wooded area and be completely hidden to keep the curiosity
down from others.</p>
<p>This is the first time I have had this particular setup out in the
field. The SOTABEAMS <a class="reference external" href="http://www.sotabeams.co.uk/bandspringerMidi40m30m20m/">Band Springer Midi
antenna</a> and
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.sotabeams.co.uk/mini-telescopic-fiberglass-poles/">mini telescopic fiberglass
pole</a>
take only a few minutes to setup. I'd say that within five minutes of
arriving I was on the air.</p>
<div class="section" id="what-went-well">
<h3>What went well</h3>
<p>[caption id="attachment_998" align="alignright" width="275"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/10/APRS-coverage-Sugarloaf-Mountain.webp"><img alt="Map of WG3K-7 on APRS at Sugarloaf Mountain" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/10/APRS-coverage-Sugarloaf-Mountain-275x300.webp" /></a> Map of WG3K-7[/caption]</p>
<p>All the equipment performed well. I picked up six stations on 40m and
another three on 20m. One of the stations I worked on 20m tried to work
me on 30m but was unable to do so. All-in-all, I'm quite happy with the
performance of the station. Honestly, the Elecraft K1 has a great
receiver and the Band Springer Midi antenna performed well. This is
also the first time using the K1 with the AA battery pack installed. No
problems running the summit on eight 2800mAh AA batteries!</p>
<p>Also, APRS coverage was pretty good at the summit and along some of the
trails.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="what-didn-t-work-so-well">
<h3>What didn't work so well</h3>
<p>Me. I haven't been on the radio much as of late so my CW listening
skills are horrific. I would show you my log but I'm too embarrassed.
Another thing that needs improvement is my key. I tossed my Navy
Flameproof key in the bag since it already had the correct connector on
it but what I should have used is my trusty J-37 with the KY-116/U
bracket to hold it to my leg (if you've worked me /m this is probably
what I was using). Had I done that I wouldn't have had to do a
two-handed operation: one hand holding the key, the other <em>using</em> the
key.</p>
<p>Disappointingly I heard K2JB on a nearby summit but couldn't get through
the pileup on 40m to make the contact. There were a couple different
summits on the air at the same time I was on the air but no S2S contacts
today.</p>
<p>Oh, yeah, and I didn't take any pictures of me, my station, or the
perfect antenna installation. I guess that's the problem when setup
takes hardly any time, you're on the air and then you're back to hiking!</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="qsos">
<h2>QSOs</h2>
<p>I put nine stations in the log today: 6 on 40m and 3 on 20m. I also
tried 30m but was unable to complete any contacts there. I was going to
try 17m but the family was ready to go. All contacts made using five
watts.</p>
<p>While putting the contacts in my <em>official</em> log I realized that I worked
three stations that I had previously worked while they were activating a
summit. I'm happy they took the time to tune me in and work me (since,
after all, I was worth only 1 point today). The chaser has become the
chased!</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="overall">
<h2>Overall</h2>
<p>Overall, the trip was a success. Everyone had fun, I had fun <em>and</em> made
a few contacts along the way. Hopefully my next summit activation will
be even more smoothly executed. Until next time...</p>
</div>
2015 August UHF Contest Results2016-10-04T16:13:00-04:002016-10-04T16:13:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2016-10-04:/2015-august-uhf-contest-results.html<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/10/2015_ARRL_UHF_Contest_certificate.webp"><img alt="2015 August UHF Contest certificate" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/10/2015_ARRL_UHF_Contest_certificate-300x231.webp" /></a>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!</p>
<p>Missed all the VHF+ contest this year but I'm hoping to get my antennas
back …</p><p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/10/2015_ARRL_UHF_Contest_certificate.webp"><img alt="2015 August UHF Contest certificate" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/10/2015_ARRL_UHF_Contest_certificate-300x231.webp" /></a>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!</p>
<p>Missed all the VHF+ contest this year but I'm hoping to get my antennas
back up and figure out what to do with these transverters. I had a
slight point deduction due to a mis-copied grid when I contacted WB2JAY
and a couple of duplicates. I had fun participating and hope to do so
again soon.</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
ARRL Contest Branch
==============================================================
Contest: 2015 ARRL AUGUST UHF CONTEST
Call: WG3K
Category: Single Operator, Low Power
Location: MDC
************************** Summary ***************************
15 Claimed QSO before checking (does not include duplicates)
14 Final QSO after checking reductions
54 Claimed QSO points
51 Final QSO points
8 Claimed grids
8 Final grids
432 Claimed score
408 Final score
-5.6% Score reduction
6.7% Error Rate based on claimed and final qso counts
3 (16.7%) duplicates
0 (0.0%) calls copied incorrectly
1 (5.6%) exchanges copied incorrectly
0 (0.0%) not in log
0 (0.0%) calls unique to this log only (not removed)
********************** Results By Band ***********************
Band QSO QPts Grid
Claimed 432 12 36 5
Final 432 11 33 5
Claimed 1.2G 3 18 3
Final 1.2G 3 18 3
Claimed All 15 54 8 Score 432
Final All 14 51 8 Score 408
*************** Incorrect Exchange Information ***************
432 CW 2015-08-02 1334 WG3K FM18 WB2JAY FN10 correct FN30
******************* Multipliers by band ********************
432 multiplier total 5
FM19 FM29 FN10 FN20 FN31
1.2G multiplier total 3
FN10 FN20 FN31
</pre>
POSM, OSM without the Internet2016-08-09T10:11:00-04:002016-08-09T10:11:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2016-08-09:/posm-osm-without-the-internet.html<p><em>Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with the POSM or its
development. I'm just an OSM contributor who thought this was neat and
wanted to share the love.</em></p>
<p>For a while I've been envisioning some sort of system that would allow
map data to be collected over a large …</p><p><em>Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with the POSM or its
development. I'm just an OSM contributor who thought this was neat and
wanted to share the love.</em></p>
<p>For a while I've been envisioning some sort of system that would allow
map data to be collected over a large area and then committed and later
shared <em>without</em> an
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet">Internet</a> connection. Going
into a rural area without sufficient or existing Internet connectivity
would surely be a problem with using tools for compiling and rendering
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.openstreetmap.org">OpenStreetMap</a> (OSM) data. I had
come up with a few solutions that were not unique and seems to have been
tried before.</p>
<div class="section" id="sneakernet">
<h2><a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sneakernet">Sneakernet</a></h2>
<p>Yep, just toss your GPS tracks, pictures, and JOSM output onto a USB
thumb drive and walk/drive it over to a centralized location, where
Internet connectivity is available, for processing. Sure, it might take
a while to collect all the information and take a while longer to
redistribute all the information to the people in the field but it
works.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="intranet">
<h2><a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intranet">Intranet</a></h2>
<p>Okay, being a network geek this is my favorite solution; <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intranet">build your own
network</a>! For the record,
I'm not talking about stringing wire from village to village like
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.armysignalocs.com/veteranssalultes/tour_of_duty.html">soldiers did around Europe in
WWII</a>.
No, I'm talking about building <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_area_network">wireless
MANs</a> to
connect <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_area_network">wired/wireless
LANs</a> that may
already exist in these villages (or we can build our own!).</p>
<p>Adding our own infrastructure (email, web, and other servers) to the
network would provide basic communications between villages with a
potential connection to the Internet from a faraway town.</p>
<p>But this is far from <em>fun</em>for a software geek (I'm not one of those).
From here enter the POSM.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="posm">
<h2>POSM</h2>
<p>The <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/AmericanRedCross/posm">Portable
OpenStreetMap</a>, or POSM,
device is a small server that hosts all the tools needed to compile,
edit, and publish collected mapping data without Internet connectivity.
The project was discussed at the <a class="reference external" href="http://stateofthemap.us/">US State of the
Map</a> (2016) and <a class="reference external" href="https://youtu.be/jDBQN5wgyr8?list=PLqjPa29lMiE3eR-gK80irr3xdUiRbIMeg">the
video</a>
is a must-watch.</p>
<p>video::jDBQN5wgyr8[youtube]</p>
<p>Of course a POSM could be added to either a Sneakernet or Intranet to
allow for distributed data to be collected faster but the POSM, alone,
seems to make working with this data much easier in the field.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="back-to-my-thoughts">
<h2>Back to my thoughts</h2>
<p>Honestly, my first thoughts around making a box like this, even before I
heard about POSM, was the syncing of data back to the master OSM
database. If you watched the video to the end it appears someone else
in the crowd had the same concern. The answer to this was the use of
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Git_(software)">git</a> to manage
conflicts. To me this is very smart as git was made for this type of
use-case (distributed data that needs to be compiled together at a core
location).</p>
<p>I do wonder how well POSM would work if you had one in each village with
MAN connections between and having the POSMs sync among themselves,
sharing the data in near-real time. This would be beneficial as there
would be a backup of the data in the event one of the POSM devices died
and could add some redundancy. Providing connectivity could also aid in
communications between sites through
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Relay_Chat">IRC</a> or
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XMPP">XMPP</a>.</p>
<p>Lots of ideas... Lots of options...</p>
</div>
Activating Apple Orchard Mountain (W4V/RA-001)2016-07-18T21:42:00-04:002016-07-18T21:42:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2016-07-18:/activating-apple-orchard-mountain-w4vra-001.html<p>On Saturday, 16 July 2016, Dave KB3RAN, Steve N3IPN, and I hiked up
Apple Orchard Mountain (<a class="reference external" href="https://summits.sota.org.uk/summit/W4V/RA-001">SOTA
W4V/RA-001</a>) to activate it
for the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.aprs.org/at-golden-packet.html">Appalachian Trail Golden Packet
event</a>. While we were
there we took advantage of the altitude and activated the summit for
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.sota.org.uk">Summits on the Air (SOTA)</a>, <a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org/NPOTA">National …</a></p><p>On Saturday, 16 July 2016, Dave KB3RAN, Steve N3IPN, and I hiked up
Apple Orchard Mountain (<a class="reference external" href="https://summits.sota.org.uk/summit/W4V/RA-001">SOTA
W4V/RA-001</a>) to activate it
for the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.aprs.org/at-golden-packet.html">Appalachian Trail Golden Packet
event</a>. While we were
there we took advantage of the altitude and activated the summit for
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.sota.org.uk">Summits on the Air (SOTA)</a>, <a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org/NPOTA">National Parks
on the Air (NPOTA)</a>, and the <a class="reference external" href="http://cqww-vhf.com/">CQ WW VHF
Contest</a>.</p>
<div class="section" id="getting-to-the-summit">
<h2>Getting to the summit</h2>
<p>[caption id="attachment_948" align="alignright" width="300"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/07/DSC07610.webp"><img alt="Steve N3IPN and Eric WG3K hauling their gear." src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/07/DSC07610-300x200.webp" /></a> Steve N3IPN and Eric WG3K
hauling their gear. <em>Photo by Dave Hardy KB3RAN</em>[/caption]</p>
<p>Wow, getting to the top isn't easy. First we took <em>way</em> too much
stuff. We were, however, prepared for most anything. Suffice it to say
we'll be better prepared for hiking and less prepared for anything next
time we activate a summit.</p>
<p>We were originally hoping that one of the existing tenants on the
mountain could have allowed us access by vehicle to the top but everyone
was otherwise engaged and so we were left to drag everything up the
service road to the top on foot.</p>
<p>The service road is a nice, paved road of approximately six-tenths of a
mile in length. It is grueling carrying a bunch of stuff to the top,
however, and it took us around 45 minutes to traverse the distance
hauling our wagons.</p>
<p>Convenient vehicle parking is available just north of the service road
along the Blue Ridge Parkway.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="setting-up-the-gear">
<h2>Setting up the gear</h2>
<p>[caption id="attachment_949" align="alignleft" width="225"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/07/20160716_115228-e1468885836699.webp"><img alt="Eric gets the APRS digipeater on the air." src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/07/20160716_115228-e1468885836699-225x300.webp" /></a> Eric gets the APRS digipeater on the
air. <em>Photo by Steve Hempling N3IPN</em>[/caption]</p>
<p>Our first priority was setting up the APRS digipeater for the AT Golden
Packet event (as AOMTN-5). We were running late so we wasted no time
putting the antenna up ~12 feet in the air and powering on the radio.
We were rewarded by hearing packets coming through from both Northern
Virginia to our north and Comers Rock to our south.</p>
<p>Because we had setup the station quickly we didn't get an opportunity to
look around and determine if there was a better location for our
station. Turns out we were <em>close</em> to the summit but needed to continue
a few hundred yards further to reach it. After catching our breath and
regaining a little strength we picked up the APRS digipeater, feedline,
and antenna and moved it to the summit. I don't think the performance
of our setup improved but the views certainly did!</p>
<p>[caption id="attachment_950" align="aligncenter"
width="640"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/07/20160716_164925-e1468886214392.webp"><img alt="Panaramic shot towards the northwest from Apple Orchard summit." src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/07/20160716_164925-e1468886214392-1024x155.webp" /></a> Panoramic shot towards the northwest from Apple Orchard
summit. Antennas are up and rain is approaching! <em>Photo by Eric
Christensen WG3K</em>[/caption]</p>
<p>There isn't much shade on the summit so it's important to either bring
some sort of shelter or move off the summit a bit. Just to the north is
a rock pile with several trees growing that could offer some shelter if
needed.</p>
<div class="section" id="other-users-of-the-summit">
<h3>Other users of the summit</h3>
<p>There is no shortage of antennas on Apple Orchard Mountain. As this is
the highest summit in the area, at 4215 feet, so many people want their
radio systems up there.</p>
<p>[caption id="attachment_952" align="aligncenter" width="640"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/07/20160716_165055-e1468886764380.webp"><img alt="Many antennas on Apple Orchard Mountain" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/07/20160716_165055-e1468886764380-1024x138.webp" /></a> Some of the antennas on Apple
Orchard Mountain. <em>Photo by Eric Christensen WG3K</em>[/caption]</p>
<p>One user of concern for SOTA activators is the <a class="reference external" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130224104332/http://www.directivesystems.com:80/WA1ZMS.htm">WA1ZMS 2m
beacon</a>
on 144.285MHz. Due to the proximity of this auxiliary station the
weak-signal portion of the 2m band is likely unusable. We were lucky
that WA1ZMS was able to turn off the beacon for the AT Golden Packet
event since the frequency used was close to the beacon's frequency.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="contacts">
<h2>Contacts</h2>
<div class="section" id="at-golden-packet-event">
<h3>AT Golden Packet Event</h3>
<p>The mission was to link up the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine.
Using fifteen digipeaters, we pass messages along the Trail to prove
that we can setup an ad-hoc network on short notice. We were successful
in seeing sites 3 through 12 this year. We also tested 9600 baud which
also worked well. Simplex voice communications were used to help
coordinate the event on UHF.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="sota-npota-cq-ww-vhf">
<h3>SOTA/NPOTA/CQ WW VHF</h3>
<p>We also activated for <a class="reference external" href="https://www.sota.org.uk">SOTA</a>,
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org/NPOTA">NPOTA</a>, and <a class="reference external" href="http://cqww-vhf.com/">CQ WW VHF
Contest</a>. Conditions weren't great and most of
my contacts on 6m and 2m were limited to a few grid squares around. I
did manage one contact out to the Midwest but most of my contacts were
very much local.</p>
<p>It was fun giving out
<a class="reference external" href="https://summits.sota.org.uk/summit/W4V/RA-001">W4V/RA-001</a> for SOTA and
TR01 for NPOTA. I also worked a station that had 432MHz capabilities
even though it wasn't for the contest; I'm all about putting the
contacts in the log.</p>
<p>The antennas used were a Buddipole 2-element 6m yagi and horizontal
loops for 2m and 70cm. The radio was a Yaesu FT-857D.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="contact-summary">
<h3>Contact Summary</h3>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Six Meters - 10 Contacts</li>
<li>Two Meters - 9 Contacts</li>
<li>70 Centimeters - 1 Contact</li>
<li>Voice - 18 Contacts</li>
<li>CW - 2 Contacts</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="other-missions">
<h2>Other missions</h2>
<p>Another mission that I was successful in was updating
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.openstreetmap.org">OpenStreetMap</a> data for the area.
Updating this information will hopefully provide others wishing to
activate the summit with better cartographic information.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><br /></div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=16/37.5175/-79.5126">View Larger Map</a></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="summary">
<h2>Summary</h2>
<p>I haven't talked about Dave and Steve's attempts at activating the
summit. In spite of good radios and antennas the contact count wasn't
great. Part of the problem was that we didn't have any way of
self-spotting on the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.sotawatch.org/">SOTAwatch2</a> site
meaning that their QRP signals just couldn't be found easily. Hopefully
we won't have this problem next time.</p>
</div>
Oh, did I mention six meters was open?2016-07-12T21:17:00-04:002016-07-12T21:17:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2016-07-12:/oh-did-i-mention-six-meters-was-open.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 Southeastern
United States working towards the Caribbean. A few hours later the
Sporatic-E opening moved towards the west and soon I was working into
the Midwest and into Eastern Canada.</p>
<p>I did check two-meters but never heard any activity.</p>
<p><em>Image represents contacts made from FM18rq. Station locations
represent grid locator (grid square) center. C=CW, S=SSB, J=J65A or J9</em></p>
<p>The twenty-three contacts, representing twenty-one grids, I put in the
log were made using mostly CW with SSB, JT65A, and JT9 rounding out the
rest of the modes.</p>
<div class="section" id="beacons">
<h2>Beacons</h2>
<p>During a lull in activity I rolled down to the bottom of the band to
check for beacons:</p>
<table border="1" class="docutils">
<colgroup>
<col width="68%" />
<col width="32%" />
</colgroup>
<tbody valign="top">
<tr><td>DX de WG3K: 50007.7 VA2ZFN/B FM18<EM92 1845Z</td>
<td>2016-07-12 18:45:00</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>DX de WG3K: 50059.0 VE3UBL/B FM18<FN03 1839Z</td>
<td>2016-07-12 18:39:00</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>DX de WG3K: 50067.5 N8PUM/B FM18<EN66 1827Z</td>
<td>2016-07-12 18:27:00</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>DX de WG3K: 50073.0 K0KP/B FM18<EN36 1825Z</td>
<td>2016-07-12 18:25:00</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
<div class="section" id="reverse-beacons">
<h2>Reverse Beacons</h2>
<p>I also took a look at the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.reversebeacon.net/">Reverse Beacon
Network</a> and found that I had been
heard a few times:</p>
<table border="1" class="docutils">
<colgroup>
<col width="71%" />
<col width="29%" />
</colgroup>
<tbody valign="top">
<tr><td>DX de K9IMM-#: 50098.0 WG3K CW 25 dB 16 WPM CQ 1717Z</td>
<td>2016-07-12 17:17:42</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>DX de WE7L-#: 50097.90 WG3K CW 16 dB 16 WPM CQ 1707Z</td>
<td>2016-07-12 17:07:47</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
Operating Portable from Apple Orchard Mountain2016-07-06T17:01:00-04:002016-07-06T17:01:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2016-07-06:/operating-portable-from-apple-orchard-mountain.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 and
digital. This should be a fun adventure...</p>
<div class="section" id="supported-events">
<h2>Supported Events</h2>
<ul class="simple">
<li><a class="reference external" href="http://www.aprs.org/at-golden-packet.html">AT Golden Packet</a>
event</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="https://www.sota.org.uk/">Summits on the Air</a> (SOTA) -
<a class="reference external" href="http://sotawatch.org/summits.php?summit=W4V/RA-001">W4V/RA-001</a></li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="https://npota.arrl.org/">National Parks on the Air</a> -
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.nps.gov/appa/index.htm">Appalachian National Scenic
Trail</a> (TR01)</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="http://cqww-vhf.com/">CQ World Wide VHF Contest</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="section" id="expected-operating-frequencies">
<h2>Expected Operating Frequencies</h2>
<div class="section" id="at-golden-packet">
<h3>AT Golden Packet</h3>
<ul class="simple">
<li>144.340MHz - AT APRS</li>
<li>444.925MHz - Coordination</li>
<li>144.390MHz - US APRS</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="section" id="general-operating">
<h3>General Operating</h3>
<ul class="simple">
<li>50.185MHz USB +/- or 50.096MHz CW +/-</li>
<li>144.285MHz USB +/- or 144.060MHz CW +/-</li>
<li>432.100MHz and up</li>
<li>14.060MHz PSK? +/- (KB3RAN)</li>
<li>Another HF frequency (N3IPN)</li>
<li>144.390MHz - APRS (WG3K or WG3K-6 [STRIKEOUT:and/or WG3K-7])</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
An interesting add-on for a HSMM network2016-06-05T13:37:00-04:002016-06-05T13:37:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2016-06-05:/an-interesting-add-on-for-a-hsmm-network.html<p>This would be an interesting addition to a HSMM network...</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.icomamerica.com/en/products/landmobile/networkroip/ip100h/default.aspx">IP
radios</a>
that use the TCP/IP stack to communicate.</p>
An ARES alert system using listservs2016-04-08T14:33:00-04:002016-04-08T14:33:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2016-04-08:/an-ares-alert-system-using-listservs.html<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/04/ares_cl.webp"><img alt="ARES Logo" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/04/ares_cl.webp" /></a>Last night I was having a conversation with Marty KB3MXM,
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org">ARRL</a> <a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl-mdc.net/">Maryland-DC (MDC)
Section</a> Manager, regarding notification of
ARES<sup>®</sup> members in times of need, quickly. This isn't the first
time I've written about <a class="reference external" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/notification-to-ares-groups.html/">the
topic</a>
and not much has changed. Taking another look at the subject has given
me the …</p><p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/04/ares_cl.webp"><img alt="ARES Logo" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/04/ares_cl.webp" /></a>Last night I was having a conversation with Marty KB3MXM,
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org">ARRL</a> <a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl-mdc.net/">Maryland-DC (MDC)
Section</a> Manager, regarding notification of
ARES<sup>®</sup> members in times of need, quickly. This isn't the first
time I've written about <a class="reference external" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/notification-to-ares-groups.html/">the
topic</a>
and not much has changed. Taking another look at the subject has given
me the opportunity to look at some additional resources.</p>
<p>Various options are available today (each with their own pros and cons):</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Phone trees<ul>
<li>PRO: Simple, easy to establish</li>
<li>CON: Assumes telephony lines are up and not congested. Also,
calling the 500+ members in the MDC ARES team could take a while.</li>
<li>Pretty much every ARES organization has such a device as a means
of communicating with their members. It's cheap, simple, and easy
to deploy although it could be time consuming to actually use.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS">Short Message Service (SMS)</a>
notification systems<ul>
<li>PRO: Fast delivery of short messages to cellular phones.</li>
<li>CON: Assumes cellular circuits are available, solution can be
costly, and may require Internet access to implement a
notification.</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="https://auxcomm.k3cal.org">Calvert County AUXCOMM</a> currently
uses <a class="reference external" href="https://www.eztexting.com/">ez texting</a> to send SMS
messages to all members. At the time the account was established
we were able to get a free account with ~100 SMS messages per
month. This type of account is no longer advertised.</li>
<li>See also, <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multimedia_Messaging_Service">Multimedia Messaging Service
(MMS)</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Email Listservs<ul>
<li>PRO: Simple to setup, can send messages to phones via SMS email
addresses, regular email addresses, and Winlink addresses. Email
is fairly ubiquitous.</li>
<li>CON: Assumes Internet connectivity to the server, from the server
to the client email servers, and then to the clients themselves.</li>
<li>Similarly to the phone tree, I suspect most ARES groups have one
of these already setup and ready to go.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Transmitting messages across the radio<ul>
<li>PRO: All radio with a potential for higher availability.</li>
<li>CON: Requires users to be monitoring a particular frequency all
the time.</li>
<li>The best case I've seen for this is in <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ctares.org/">Connecticut
ARES</a>. <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ctares.org/ares_dmr.php">Their DMR
network</a> has an <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ctares.org/CT-ARES_DMR_Talkgroup_Info_14Mar15.pdf">alert
talkgroup</a>
that is silent but for alerts. Because the system is all UHF the
radios are small enough to be carried most places which increases
the possibility that a user will have it monitoring the talkgroup
for such a call-up.</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/notification-to-ares-groups.html/">Paging</a>
is also an option which could be successful.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p>There are likely additional means of communicating an alert message to
ARES members and I'm sure they've been deployed with success somewhere
(and if you know of any please leave a comment!).</p>
<p>The problem with most of these solutions is they require commercial
infrastructure that may already be hampered by the emergency that the
ARES members are needed for. Obviously a hybrid approach is always
going to be better. With that in mind, lets discuss using a listserv
to transmit alert and informational messages to members.</p>
<div class="section" id="listserv">
<h2>Listserv</h2>
<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/04/Gnu_mailman_logo2010.webp"><img alt="Gnu_mailman_logo2010" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2016/04/Gnu_mailman_logo2010.webp" /></a>A
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LISTSERV">listserv</a> is just a system
that retransmits email messages received to the list's subscribers. The
listserv may also store a copy of the message for subscribers or the
public to review at a later date. One popular implementation of a
listserv server is <a class="reference external" href="http://www.list.org/">GNU Mailman</a>. One could
use existing solutions like Yahoo! Groups or Google Groups but these
solutions scrape their data for advertisement purposes and can lead to
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Email_spam">spam</a> and other activities
that only degrade for the overall experience. There is also no
guaranteed availability with these solutions so it's likely not a good
fit for emergency communications. By now one can tell I'm advocating
for managing your own infrastructure. There's nothing like controlling
your own information and making sure it stays secure.</p>
<p>Specific to the MDC section, multiple layers of listservs might be
appropriate to allow an easy transmission to all or parts of the group.
Individuals are added to their county(ies), district lists only address
the county lists below them, and the MDC list only addresses the
district lists:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Maryland-DC - MDC-ARES-All@<ul>
<li>Eastern District MDC-ARES-East@<ul>
<li>Caroline - MDC-ARES-CARO@</li>
<li>Denton</li>
<li>Dorchester</li>
<li>Kent</li>
<li>Ocean City</li>
<li>Queen Anne's</li>
<li>Somerset</li>
<li>Talbot</li>
<li>Wicomico</li>
<li>Worchester</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Central District<ul>
<li>Anne Arundel</li>
<li>Baltimore City</li>
<li>Baltimore County</li>
<li>Calvert</li>
<li>Cecil</li>
<li>Charles</li>
<li>DC</li>
<li>Harford</li>
<li>Howard</li>
<li>Montgomery</li>
<li>Prince Georges</li>
<li>Saint Marys</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Western District<ul>
<li>Allegany</li>
<li>Carroll</li>
<li>Frederick</li>
<li>Garrett</li>
<li>Washington</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p>Administration and sending permissions would also be limited to specific
addresses at a particular level. An EC would be able to send a message
to their specific county, and perhaps their district, but not to the
entire section. List membership would be managed at the local level by
the EC or their designated alternate (AECs?). One change, one place,
would be all that is needed to maintain the entire chain.</p>
<p>The latest version of Mailman supports a forum-type of interface in
addition to email delivery so one could input a message via a website if
email wasn't available.</p>
<p>Duplication of these layers may be desired to support non-alert messages
(routine, informational) that would likely be larger than what could be
handled by SMS. Additional lists could be used for specific
section-level nets (e.g. MEPN, MDD) or local nets (BTN) to alert members
to an other-than-regular call-up. Likewise, it might be beneficial to
also setup a layer including management (SEC, DECs, ECs, and AECs) when
notification of all members isn't warranted (planning).</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="what-about-sms">
<h2>What about SMS?</h2>
<p>SMS can actually be handled by a listserv fairly easily. Every SMS
account actually has an email address attached to it (as listed in the
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NIFOG">National Interoperability Field Operations
Guide</a>, Version 1.5):</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Alaska Communications<ul>
<li>SMS: <a class="reference external" href="mailto:number@txt.acsalaska.net">number@txt.acsalaska.net</a></li>
<li>MMS: <a class="reference external" href="mailto:11-digit-number@mms.ak.net">11-digit-number@mms.ak.net</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Alltel<ul>
<li>SMS: <a class="reference external" href="mailto:number@sms.alltelwireless.com">number@sms.alltelwireless.com</a></li>
<li>MMS: <a class="reference external" href="mailto:number@mms.alltelwireless.com">number@mms.alltelwireless.com</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>AT&T<ul>
<li>SMS: <a class="reference external" href="mailto:number@txt.att.net">number@txt.att.net</a></li>
<li>MMS: <a class="reference external" href="mailto:number@mms.att.net">number@mms.att.net</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Bell Canada<ul>
<li>SMS & MMS: <a class="reference external" href="mailto:number@txt.bell.ca">number@txt.bell.ca</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Boost Mobile<ul>
<li>SMS: <a class="reference external" href="mailto:number@sms.myboostmobile.com">number@sms.myboostmobile.com</a></li>
<li>MMS: <a class="reference external" href="mailto:number@myboostmobile.com">number@myboostmobile.com</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>C Spire Wireless<ul>
<li>SMS & MMS: <a class="reference external" href="mailto:number@cspire.com">number@cspire.com</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Cricket Wireless<ul>
<li>SMS: <a class="reference external" href="mailto:number@sms.mycricket.com">number@sms.mycricket.com</a></li>
<li>MMS: <a class="reference external" href="mailto:number@mms.mycricket.com">number@mms.mycricket.com</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>General Communications Inc. (GCI)<ul>
<li>SMS: <a class="reference external" href="mailto:number@mobile.gci.net">number@mobile.gci.net</a></li>
<li>MMS: <a class="reference external" href="mailto:number@mms.gci.net">number@mms.gci.net</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Iridium<ul>
<li>SMS: <a class="reference external" href="mailto:number@msg.iridium.com">number@msg.iridium.com</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Metro PCS<ul>
<li>SMS & MMS: <a class="reference external" href="mailto:number@mymetropcs.com">number@mymetropcs.com</a> or <a class="reference external" href="mailto:number@metropcs.sms.us">number@metropcs.sms.us</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Qwest<ul>
<li>SMS & MMS: <a class="reference external" href="mailto:number@qwestmp.com">number@qwestmp.com</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>SouthernLinc Wireless<ul>
<li>SMS: <a class="reference external" href="mailto:number@page.southernlinc.com">number@page.southernlinc.com</a></li>
<li>MMS: <a class="reference external" href="mailto:number@mms.southernlinc.com">number@mms.southernlinc.com</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Sprint<ul>
<li>SMS & MMS: <a class="reference external" href="mailto:number@messaging.sprintpcs.com">number@messaging.sprintpcs.com</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>T-Mobile<ul>
<li>SMS & MMS: <a class="reference external" href="mailto:11-digit-number@tmomail.net">11-digit-number@tmomail.net</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Telus Communications<ul>
<li>SMS & MMS: <a class="reference external" href="mailto:number@msg.telus.com">number@msg.telus.com</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>TracFone<ul>
<li>SMS & MMS: <a class="reference external" href="mailto:number@mmst5.tracfone.com">number@mmst5.tracfone.com</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>U.S. Cellular<ul>
<li>SMS: <a class="reference external" href="mailto:number@email.uscc.net">number@email.uscc.net</a></li>
<li>MMS: <a class="reference external" href="mailto:number@mms.uscc.net">number@mms.uscc.net</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Verizon<ul>
<li>SMS: <a class="reference external" href="mailto:number@vtext.com">number@vtext.com</a></li>
<li>MMS: <a class="reference external" href="mailto:number@vzwpix.com">number@vzwpix.com</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Virgin Mobile<ul>
<li>SMS: <a class="reference external" href="mailto:number@vmobl.com">number@vmobl.com</a></li>
<li>MMS: <a class="reference external" href="mailto:number@vmpix.com">number@vmpix.com</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p>ARES members would need to provide their cellular phone number and
carrier so they could be added to the list.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="but-what-about-using-the-radio">
<h2>But what about using the radio?</h2>
<div class="section" id="winlink">
<h3>Winlink</h3>
<p>Members that utilize the <a class="reference external" href="http://winlink.org/">Winlink</a> system can
also add their Winlink e-mail addresses to the listserv as well. This
will allow the member to be notified by RF (when a pull is done from the
Winlink server) as well as email and SMS push message.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="call-frequencies-and-primary-repeater">
<h3>Call frequencies and primary repeater</h3>
<p>Members that, as a matter of routine, monitor their local ARES repeater
or a specific frequency that is used for emergencies can also be alerted
in such a manner. It's important to not count out the simple approach
of being able to simply do a call-up on the local repeater as a means of
notifying members of an emergency.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="assumptions">
<h2>Assumptions</h2>
<p>It is assumed that a total Internet failure has not occurred. A system
like this is dependent upon Internet connectivity not only between the
user's email client and user's email SMTP server but also to the
subscribers' SMTP servers and subscribers' clients. It assumed that
notifications sent would occur before the communications emergency
actually started or that at least some of the members would receive the
message and word could be passed using an additional method (e.g phone
tree, repeater call-up) to notify those not yet participating.</p>
<p>There is also an assumption that users have a cellular phone, email
address, or Winlink account and that these communications mechanisms are
checked regularly.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="conclusion">
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>While there are several ways of notifying ARES members of a
communications emergency this shows one way of doing so utilizing a
mechanism that is, from the user's point of view, very simple. We
shouldn't let "this isn't a perfect solution" hold us back from "better
than we have now" and "yet another tool". Utilizing a series of
listservs could potentially deliver an alert message to all users within
a few seconds and this is definitely better than what we have today.</p>
</div>
The oddest thing happened today... Analysis of an APRS replay "attack"2016-03-27T14:08:00-04:002016-03-27T14:08:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2016-03-27:/the-oddest-thing-happened-today-analysis-of-an-aprs-replay-attack.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 the network out of sync with the rest. As soon as he
said it I knew exactly what he was talking about. Not only had I seen
such things in recent days but I remember the Mic-E packet expansion
"attack" from over a decade ago (<em>sorry, can't find the discussion that
was held on the `APRSSIG mailing
list <http://www.tapr.org/mailman/listinfo/aprssig>`__</em>).</p>
<p>Anyway, I had some time to look at some recent packets and realized that
something very odd was happening. I was seeing packets from my HT
(WG3K-7) coming through a digipeater across the Bay when the HT was
safely off and sitting next to me. I turned up the volume on the
transceiver hosting APRS and was very surprised to hear two things: 1)
packets being received but not being passed to my client and 2) packets
received at my client that I hadn't heard come across the radio! It
would seem that the problem plaguing the local network was <em>my</em>
problem! For some reason, my TNC was caching the packets and then,
after several minutes was releasing them to my client who had no choice
but to accept them with the thought they were real-time and send them to
the <a class="reference external" href="http://aprs-is.net/">APRS-IS</a>.</p>
<p>The culprit seems to be a SCS PTC-IIusb modem in KISS mode. Still
investigating why it's happening and I'll update this article when I
can.</p>
VOA Radiogram #155 as received in Maryland2016-03-19T23:15:00-04:002016-03-19T23:15:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2016-03-19:/voa-radiogram-155-as-received-in-maryland.html<p>I finally remembered to listen in to this weekend's <a class="reference external" href="http://voaradiogram.net/">VOA
Radiogram</a> transmission from the <a class="reference external" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/edward-r-murrow-transmitting-station-tour.html">Edward R.
Murrow transmitter
facility</a>
in Greenville, NC.</p>
<p>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 …</p><p>I finally remembered to listen in to this weekend's <a class="reference external" href="http://voaradiogram.net/">VOA
Radiogram</a> transmission from the <a class="reference external" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/edward-r-murrow-transmitting-station-tour.html">Edward R.
Murrow transmitter
facility</a>
in Greenville, NC.</p>
<p>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. As you can see below, the MFSK32 was received much better than the
Olivia 64-2k. None of the images transmitted came out particularly
well, either. Fldigi also failed to automatically change from MFSK to
Olivia but did manage to make the change back to MFSK. I'll try to
receive the last transmission tomorrow afternoon to see if I can copy
that better.</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
Welcome to program 155 of VOA Radiogram from the Voice of
America.
I'm Kim Andrew Elliott in Washington.
Here is the lineup for today's program, all in MFSK32 except
where noted:
¸
Gerogr bKa.(now)
3:01 NASA plans large fire on spacecraft*
7:26 Rotten tomatoes produce renewable energy*
11:54 Olivia 64-2000: Legislation to counter propaganda
19:48 MFSK32: Over the horizon radar in amateur HF bands*
25:04 Early General Electric shortwave broadcasting*
27:05 Closing announcements
* with image
Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.
And visit voaradiogram.net.
Twitter: @VOARadiogram
<EOT>
)rw¦³
<STX>
NASA Plans to Light Large Fire in Orbiting Spacecraft
VOA News
March 16, 2016
In order to see how fire-resistant to make the new lightweight
materials that will be used to build next-generation spacecju!nu
NASA plans to start a large fire in space.
The test "is crucial for the safety of current and future space
missions," said NASA's Gary Ruff in an interview Tuesday with
AFP.
In the experiment, NASA wants to see how big the flames get, how
they spread, and the amount of heat and gas released.
The fire will take place aboard an Orbital ATK Cygnus capsule,
which is used to transport cargo to and from the International
Space Station, after it has made a drop-off.
The spacecraft will be launched March 23 from Cape Canaveral,
Florida, then head to the space station. Once it has moved a safe
distance away, NASA will trigger the fire.
Called "Saffire-1," the experiment is designed to give NASA
engineers a better idea about how fire behaves in space and how
much fire resistance to incorporate into new spaceships, as well
as space suits.
"Understanding fire in space has been the focus of many
experiments over the years," said Ruff, who added that while have
small fires have been purposely lit in space, NASA needs to
understand how a major fire would behave.
The fire is expected to burn for 20 minutes, during which data
about temperature, oxygen and carbon dioxide will be recorded.
The event will also be filmed.
Once the experiment is over, the capsule will re-enter Earth's
atmosphere and burn up.
https://www.voanews.com/content/nasa-plans-to-light-large-fire-in-space/3240548.html
<EOT>
t<EM>et
<STX>
Image: Orbital ATK's Cy<SOH>o &argo craft ...
<EOT>
<STX>
Sending Pic:151x207C;n§
mn
<STX>
This is VOA Radiogram from the Voice of America.
Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.
Rotten Tomatoes Produce Renewable Energy
Rick Pantaleo,
VOA Science World Blog
March 16th, 2016
About 21-percent of world electricity generation is estimated to
be from non-fossil fuels such as the wind or sun.
But scientists hope to boost that number by looking at new ways
to create it – one of which involves spoiled fruit.
A team of researchers found that damaged or spoiled tomatoes can
be turned into a unique and powerful source of renewable energy
when fed to biological and microbial electrochemical cells.
And the good news is, there seems to be a nearly endless supply
of damaged and rotten tomatoes. Florida alone generates 396,000
tons of tomato waste every year.
The scientists admit that right now the power produced by their
tomato fueled energy cells is quite small.
But they're quite optimistic that with continued research they'll
be able to greatly increase the electrical output of their energy
cells.
http://blogs.voanews.com/science-world/2016/03/16/bright-spots-of-ceres-rotten-tomatoes-produces-energy-black-hole-flashes-red/
<EOT>
<STX>
Image: Overripe tomatoes on a compost heap ...
<EOT>
tt
<STX>
Sending Pic:342x122C;
<EOT>
t
<STX>
VOA Radiogram now changes to Olivia 64-2000 ...
<EOT>
:v$oP
irz<SI>i,F mu ºR® llWM t að’Mt nbx efoúz in Olivia 64-2000.
Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.
From Rh~Gwd4?l^)rope/Radio Liberty:
U.S. Senators Seek New Center To Counter Russian,0t<RS><(
gz5|{ropaganda'
By RFE/RL
March 16, 2016
WASHINGTON -- New legislation being introduced in the U.S. Senate
aims to improve Washington's efforts to counter "propaganda and
disinformation" spread by Russia, China, and other countries.
<SYN>}n\<RS>#C<EM>4 BQalled the Countering InformatiU3T;KWszx<GS>*@<GS>d:)C2016,
99jR amid gro<ETB>in;e_YJ
s in Congress and in man{u(lU<CAN>pean
W,@5<GS>s<DC3><FF>Ee to fight foreign disinformation campaigns.
Russia, in p<DC2>tiul3<SO>v_ through the portrayal of its @m-<DC4><ETB>K<DC3>
<EM>SMnUkraine and along the per r5<SUB>Lm<GS>"9HNn}<DC1>uropean Union and NATO
-- has alarmed lawmakers and policymakers on both sides of the
Atlantic.
The EU 0$n!6f<EM>=<UoA small unit 1{B^[YR<VT>T4[<SUB>uropean Exte<DC2>nalm
5nvE[
Service to counter narr<DC4>ives<FF>ln9`d by Kremlin-backed
media, such as RT and Sputnik, and govey${X8Edl8a<CAN>ored Internet
activists. NATO has also set up a Strategic Communications Center
ofu#]t_Dye<FF>L based in the Baltic state of Latvia, to counter
Russian p<DC2>#oS5J<SYN><ETB>0E9~j&u<FF><FF>@>zfg<DC4>!p://www.rferl.org/content/us-senators-seek-to-counter-russia-china-propaganda/27617521.html
VOA Radiogram now returns
Before RSID: <<2016-03-20T02:50Z OL 64-2K @ 1422100+1500>>
to MFSK32 ...
= d/?w-
[3q<GS><SI>GO<SO>JJh ¬eCÑNqenovCÃy0xt o Rf:¤ c^ tVe
This is VOA Radiogram in MFSK32.
pQ eav send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.
From ARRL:
Over the Horizon Radars Becoming Routine Visitors on Amateur HF
Bands
03/14/2016
The International Amateur Radio Union Region 1 (Europe/Africa)
Monitoring System (IARUMS) reports a spate of over the horizon
(OTH) radar signals on various Amateur Radio HF bands — exclusive
and shared. Many of these signals are being heard outside of the
Region 1 confines.
A 50 kHz wide Russian OTH radar has been heard in the evening on
80 meters, often in the CW part of the band. An "often
long-lasting" Russian OTH signal about 13 kHz wide is beheCv bre00-7100 kHz segment oetn
t zn
Zv me digital
traffic (FSK or PSK), and a "Codar-like radar from the Far East"
are being heard in the 7000-7200 kHz segment as well as
non-amateur CW transmissions.
The same OTH radar being heard on 40 meters also is appearing on
20 meters, along with digital traffic in FSK or PSK and on CW and
broadband OTH radar signals from China. Some monitoring reports
are intriguing, such as this one on 14.280 MHz from IARU Region 1
Monitoring System Coordinator Wolf Hadel, DK2OM: "Female voice
with encrypted msgs — figures — "SZRU" = Foreign Intelligence
Service of Ukraine in Rivne — every Wednesday at 1005 UTC."
Broadband OTH radars from China, Australia,D¶ rus, and Turkey
have been monitored in 15 meters. On 10 meters, radars from Iran
with FM CW and different sweep rates have been monitored, as well
as fishery buoys on CW, and taxi operations on voice from Russia.
Voice traffic from fishing operations has been heard on all or
most HF bands, as well as a variety of broadcasters, including
Radio Tajik on 14.295 MHz, Radio Taiwan and Myanmar Radio, both
on 7.200 MHz, and Radio Hargaysa in Somalia on 7.120 MHz.
The February 2016 IARU Region 1 Monitoring System newsletter
offers more details. There is an online archive of past issues. —
Thanks to the IARU Region 1 Monitoring System
http://www.arrl.org/news/over-the-horizon-radars-becoming-routine-visitors-on-amateur-hf-bands
<EOT>
l
<STX>
Sending Pic:126x249C;
<EOT>
<STX>
This is VOA Radiogram from the Voice of America.
Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.
The 14 March 2016 edition of Radio World includes an interesting
article by John F. Schneider aboout the early shortwave
broadcasting operations of General Electric in the United States.
See:
http://www.radioworld.com/article/schenectady-shortwave-transmitters-1941/278353
This image of GE's Schenectady, New York, shortwave operation in
1941 accompanies the article ...
<EOT>
<STX>
Sending Pic:270x219;
<EOT>
O tn ¹
Please send reÃeoytn´ts to radiogram@voanews.com.
And visit voaradiogram.net.
Twitter: fê½yRadioge tm
Thanks to colleagues at the Ed§,d R. Murjirortwave
transmitting station in North Carolina
I'rm El rG: Please join us for the next VOA Radiogram.
This is VOA, the Voice of America.
</pre>
APRS on RF from your computer network2016-02-28T11:03:00-05:002016-02-28T11:03:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2016-02-28:/aprs-on-rf-from-your-computer-network.html<p><em>Enable Server Ports.</em> Those three words have baffled me for years.
It's a menu item, under <em>Interface</em>, on
<a class="reference external" href="https://xastir.org/index.php/Main_Page">Xastir</a> 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.</p>
<p>Okay, maybe not gold but …</p><p><em>Enable Server Ports.</em> Those three words have baffled me for years.
It's a menu item, under <em>Interface</em>, on
<a class="reference external" href="https://xastir.org/index.php/Main_Page">Xastir</a> 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.</p>
<p>Okay, maybe not gold but I did hit the online version of the Xastir <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_page">man
page</a> (who reads the man
pages anyway?). On the man page it clearly calls out how to interact
with this switch:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
NETWORK PORTS
Enable these ports on this menu: "Interface->Enable Server
Ports"
TCP:2023 Bidirectional TCP port for clients to connect
to. Requires login if client will be transmitting.
UDP:2023 Unidirectional UDP input port for clients to inject
packets. See the documentation for the format.
</pre>
<p>Hmm, this would make it seem I could share out my RF APRS connection
with other APRS clients on my
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_area_network">LAN</a>. Bingo! A
quick modification to iptables and setting up my APRSdroid software to
connect to my APRS computer yielded APRS stations coming across the
radio showing up directly on my phone! Nice! I was using a TCP
connection so I am able to [STRIKEOUT:transmit and] receive on my
Android device using the TNC and radio upstairs in my shack.</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
WG3K>APX204,K3CAL-1,WIDE2-1:}WG3K-5>APDR13,TCPIP,WG3K*:=3841.14N/07632.08W$202/005/A==-00052 CALV ARES EC WL2K-1
</pre>
<div class="section" id="where-is-this-useful">
<h2>Where is this useful?</h2>
<p>This would be extremely useful anywhere you have multiple APRS clients
but only a single RF connection (and who wants ten different APRS
stations at a single location?). Think EOCs where you have multiple
stations setup. Each station could have their own APRS client where
they could monitor the status of other stations, update resources, and
send and receive messages.</p>
<p>For sharing situational awareness information this is great as well.
Using a <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_Datagram_Protocol">UDP</a>
connection, several APRS clients could be connected to Xastir as
"read-only". Think the big situational awareness screens or information
screens for bike races and marathons.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="tcpip-troubles">
<h2>TCPIP Troubles</h2>
<p>If there were a downside to this implementation it's that it doesn't
appear these stations will show up on the Internet. [STRIKEOUT:That
<em>TCPIP</em> in the packet stream should tell any I-gate that the packet has
already come across the <a class="reference external" href="http://aprs-is.net/">APRS-IS</a> and shouldn't
be passed. This isn't a problem if all your stations you want to
communicate with are on RF but if some are coming across another TCP/IP
network... well, there will likely be problems. I haven't tested if
this affects incoming packets marked as TCPIP but it's on my list.]</p>
<p><strong>Update: 2016-03-27 @ 1812z</strong></p>
<p>After <a class="reference external" href="http://xastir.org/pipermail/xastir/2016-March/023106.html">discussing what I was seeing with some Xastir
developers</a>
I realized that what I was seeing was expected. The feature was
designed to have a master computer on the APRS network with other
clients hanging off that master that were getting everything that the
master was seeing but couldn't actually transmit back out to the
network. I was actually making this happen by adding my phone's
callsign into the nws-stations.txt file that forces the client to
transmit those packets, as third-party packets, over the air.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="conclusion">
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>So there you go, <em>Enable Server Ports</em> is a pretty neat feature but one
that will require a bit of work to understand the limitations. Sharing
a single RF connection with a bunch of APRS clients could be very
useful. I'll continue to test out the functionality and see how much of
a load I can put on the server. Updates to this article will be
forthcoming...</p>
</div>
Securing email to Gmail2015-12-22T15:32:00-05:002015-12-22T15:32:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2015-12-22:/securing-email-to-gmail.html<p>I've been working on securing my postfix configuration to enforce
certificate validation and encryption on some known, higher-volume, or
more sensitive connections between
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Mail_Transfer_Protocol">SMTP</a>
servers (port 25).</p>
<p>On many of the connections I've setup for secure transport there have
been no problems (assuming proper TLS certificates are used).
Unfortunately Gmail …</p><p>I've been working on securing my postfix configuration to enforce
certificate validation and encryption on some known, higher-volume, or
more sensitive connections between
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Mail_Transfer_Protocol">SMTP</a>
servers (port 25).</p>
<p>On many of the connections I've setup for secure transport there have
been no problems (assuming proper TLS certificates are used).
Unfortunately Gmail™ has been a problem. Sometimes it verifies and
validates the certificate and other times it doesn't... for days.</p>
<p>After conferring with Google Security I believe I've come up with a
solution. In my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.postfix.org/postconf.5.html#smtp_tls_policy_maps">tls_policy
file</a>
I've added the following:</p>
<blockquote>
gmail.com secure match=.google.com:google.com ciphers=high
protocols=TLSv1.2</blockquote>
<p>So far this is working[STRIKEOUT:but I'll continue to test].</p>
<p>If you run your own SMTP server and wish to maintain a secure connection
with Gmail this is an easy way to enforce encryption as well as validate
the certificate. Of course this doesn't protect the message while it's
being stored on the server or workstation (<a class="reference external" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/11/04/how-we-know-the-nsa-had-access-to-internal-google-and-yahoo-cloud-data">or on Google's internal
network</a>).
To protect messages at rest (on a server) one should use
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Privacy_Guard">GPG</a> or
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S/MIME">S/MIME</a>. Using both TLS over
the network between servers <em>and</em> GPG or S/MIME is beneficial to provide
protection of the messages going over the Internet.</p>
<div class="section" id="update">
<h2>Update</h2>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">[STRIKEOUT:This configuration is applicable with the OpenSSL version shipped with CentOS 6/RHEL 6. Implementing this on CentOS 7/RHEL7 or another flavor of Linux may require a different/better configuration.]</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The policy has been updated for CentOS 7/RHEL 7 which supports TLSv1.2 on Postfix. Other services can also be setup similarly:</div>
</div>
</div>
<pre class="literal-block">
google.com secure ciphers=high protocols=TLSv1.2
comcast.net secure ciphers=high protocols=TLSv1.2
verizon.net secure ciphers=high protocols=TLSv1.2
hotmail.com secure ciphers=high protocols=TLSv1.2
</pre>
</div>
38,000 Miles per Watt endorsement2015-12-16T22:30:00-05:002015-12-16T22:30:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2015-12-16:/38000-miles-per-watt-endorsement.html<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/12/SKCC_1000_Miles_per_Watt_Award_38000mpw.gif"><img alt="SKCC 1,000 Miles per Watt Award 38000" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/12/SKCC_1000_Miles_per_Watt_Award_38000mpw-300x232.gif" /></a>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 …</p><p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/12/SKCC_1000_Miles_per_Watt_Award_38000mpw.gif"><img alt="SKCC 1,000 Miles per Watt Award 38000" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/12/SKCC_1000_Miles_per_Watt_Award_38000mpw-300x232.gif" /></a>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 my side running only 100 mW which equates to 38,450 miles per
watt. This is the kind of contact I was hoping to log running
milliwatts. I always enjoy talking to Bert and am happy that he was
able to hear my QRPp signal. As long as the daytime bands keep being
quiet perhaps I'll be able to best my current record. I'll keep trying.</p>
1,000+ MPW award... finally!2015-12-05T21:07:00-05:002015-12-05T21:07:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2015-12-05:/1000-mpw-award-finally.html<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/12/SKCC_1000_Miles_per_Watt_Award_2000mpw.gif"><img alt="SKCC 1,000 Miles per Watt Award 2000 MPW" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/12/SKCC_1000_Miles_per_Watt_Award_2000mpw-300x232.gif" /></a>A few months ago <a class="reference external" href="https://www.wg3k.us/2015/01/23/skcc-1000-miles-per-watt-award/">I
reported</a>
that I had achieved the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.skccgroup.com/operating_awards/qrp_mpw/">1,000 miles per watt SKCC
award</a> 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 …</p><p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/12/SKCC_1000_Miles_per_Watt_Award_2000mpw.gif"><img alt="SKCC 1,000 Miles per Watt Award 2000 MPW" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/12/SKCC_1000_Miles_per_Watt_Award_2000mpw-300x232.gif" /></a>A few months ago <a class="reference external" href="https://www.wg3k.us/2015/01/23/skcc-1000-miles-per-watt-award/">I
reported</a>
that I had achieved the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.skccgroup.com/operating_awards/qrp_mpw/">1,000 miles per watt SKCC
award</a> 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 (there were a few other issues that cropped up) I now have a
working radio that has been fully calibrated. One of my first contacts
was with K2PAY in New York. I was able to work him with my 100mW and
put him in the log at a distance of 240 miles and 2402 miles per watt!</p>
<p>I'm happy to have the award with the 2,000 miles per watt endorsement.</p>
RFC: Using video conferencing for GPG key signing events2015-09-24T11:17:00-04:002015-09-24T11:17:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2015-09-24:/rfc-using-video-conferencing-for-gpg-key-signing-events.html<p>A thought that I haven't had a chance to fully consider (so I'm asking
the Internet to do that for me)...</p>
<p>I have a geographically-diverse team that uses GPG to provide integrity
of their messages. Usually, a team like this would all huddle together
and do a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cryptnet.net/fdp/crypto/keysigning_party/en/keysigning_party.html">formal key-signing
event …</a></p><p>A thought that I haven't had a chance to fully consider (so I'm asking
the Internet to do that for me)...</p>
<p>I have a geographically-diverse team that uses GPG to provide integrity
of their messages. Usually, a team like this would all huddle together
and do a <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cryptnet.net/fdp/crypto/keysigning_party/en/keysigning_party.html">formal key-signing
event</a>.
With several large bodies of water separating many of the team members,
however, it's unlikely that we could even make that work.</p>
<p>The alternative I thought of was using a video chat meeting to
facilitate the face-to-face gathering and exchange of information.
There are obviously some risks, here, but I wonder if those risks are
suitably mitigated through the use of authenticated/encrypted links to
the video chat system? Can anyone point to why this would be a bad
idea?</p>
Encryption you don't control is not a security feature2015-09-23T10:55:00-04:002015-09-23T10:55:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2015-09-23:/encryption-you-dont-control-is-not-a-security-feature.html<p>Catching up on my blog reading, this morning, led me to an <a class="reference external" href="https://blog.cryptographyengineering.com/2015/09/09/lets-talk-about-imessage-again/">article
discussing Apple's iMessage
program</a>
and, specifically, the encryption it uses and how it's implemented. Go
ahead and read the article; I'll wait.</p>
<p>The TL;DR of that article is this: encryption you don't control is not a …</p><p>Catching up on my blog reading, this morning, led me to an <a class="reference external" href="https://blog.cryptographyengineering.com/2015/09/09/lets-talk-about-imessage-again/">article
discussing Apple's iMessage
program</a>
and, specifically, the encryption it uses and how it's implemented. Go
ahead and read the article; I'll wait.</p>
<p>The TL;DR of that article is this: encryption you don't control is not a
security feature. It's great that Apple implemented encryption in their
messaging software but since the user has no control over the
implementation or the keys (especially the key distribution, management,
and trust) users shouldn't expect this type of encryption system to
actually protect them.</p>
<p>For Apple, it's all about UI and making it easy for the user. In
reality, what they've done is dumbed down the entire process and forced
users to remain ignorant of their own security. Many users applaud
these types of "just make it work and make it pretty" interfaces but at
the same time you end up with an uneducated user who doesn't even
realize that their data is at risk. Honestly, it's 2015... if you don't
understand information security... well, to quote my friend Larry "when
you're dumb, you suffer".</p>
<p>Yes, that's harsh. But it's time for people to wake up and take
responsibility for their naked pictures or email messages being
publicized. I'm assuming most everyone makes at least a little effort
toward physically securing their homes (e.g. locking doors and
windows). Why shouldn't your data be any less protected?</p>
<p>In comparison, I'll use <a class="reference external" href="https://sparkslinux.wordpress.com/communicating-securely/secure-instant-messenger-im/">Pidgin and
OTR</a>
as an example of a better way to encrypt messaging systems. OTR doesn't
use outside mechanisms for handling keys, it clearly displays whether or
not a message is simply encrypted (untrusted) or whether you've verified
the key, and it's simple to use.</p>
<p>One thing I'll say about Apple's iMessage is that it at least starts to
fix the problem. I'd rather have ciphertext being sent across the
network than plaintext. Users just need to understand what the risks
are and evaluate whether they are okay with those risks or not.</p>
More tropo ducting today2015-08-18T18:05:00-04:002015-08-18T18:05:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2015-08-18:/more-tropo-ducting-today.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 23cm (1296 MHz) and I
worked W1AN, WB2SIH, K1PXE, and K3GNC (most with armchair copy). I
ended the morning's tropo opening with a contact with AC2BL on 2m (144
MHz).</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Longest distance on 144 MHz: 320.5 mi (515.8 km) - AC2BL</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Longest distance on 1296 MHz: 305.6 mi (491.8 km) - W1AN</div>
<div class="line">Loudest signal: W1AN (louder and clearer the higher in frequency we went!)</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>I'm hoping for another few mornings like this one. Thanks to all the
stations I made contact with; it was fun!</p>
The difference a few miles will make.2015-08-17T23:38:00-04:002015-08-17T23:38:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2015-08-17:/the-difference-a-few-miles-will-make.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 further west.</p>
<p>Oddly enough, W1AN was stronger the higher in frequency we went while
WZ1V was the opposite.</p>
<p>We'll see what tomorrow brings!</p>
N6NB VHF/UHF Quad Antenna2015-08-09T22:12:00-04:002015-08-09T22:12:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2015-08-09:/n6nb-vhfuhf-quad-antenna.html<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/08/N6NB_VHF_UHF_Quad_Antenna_drawing.webp"><img alt="N6NB VHF/UHF Quad Antenna drawing" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/08/N6NB_VHF_UHF_Quad_Antenna_drawing-228x300.webp" /></a>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 …</p><p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/08/N6NB_VHF_UHF_Quad_Antenna_drawing.webp"><img alt="N6NB VHF/UHF Quad Antenna drawing" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/08/N6NB_VHF_UHF_Quad_Antenna_drawing-228x300.webp" /></a>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 explore the countryside.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://n6nb.com">N6NB</a> has it figured out. Among the technology
he's brought to the hobby is a <a class="reference external" href="http://n6nb.com/vhfquad.htm">VHF/UHF quad
antenna</a> that covers 144, 222, and 432
MHz in a compact form. I'm hoping to duplicate this antenna (maybe
several times) and see how well it works (and maybe improve it?).</p>
<p>His website provides a good written description of this antenna along
with a nice <a class="reference external" href="http://n6nb.com/3lqalone.webp">photo</a>. Unfortunately a
good drawing was not available. I've <a class="reference external" href="images/2015/08/N6NB_VHF_UHF_Quad_Antenna_drawing.webp">drawn
one</a>
up to the best of my abilities along with an incomplete parts list.</p>
<p>I'd like to make a couple of these and compare them with my current
antennas I'm using on 144 and 432 MHz. I'll add more notes to this page
as they become available.</p>
2015 ARRL August UHF Contest results2015-08-02T15:21:00-04:002015-08-02T15:21:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2015-08-02:/2015-arrl-august-uhf-contest-results.html<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/08/VHF-UHF_antennas.webp"><img alt="VHF and UHF antennas" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/08/VHF-UHF_antennas-300x199.webp" /></a>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 <a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org/august-uhf">ARRL
August UHF …</a></p><p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/08/VHF-UHF_antennas.webp"><img alt="VHF and UHF antennas" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/08/VHF-UHF_antennas-300x199.webp" /></a>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 <a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org/august-uhf">ARRL
August UHF contest</a> starting at 2PM
(local) we had to scramble.</p>
<p>Okay, so I was a little late getting on the air. First QSO went in the
log at 3:09 PM. I operated, off and on, until 2:00 PM on Sunday and
ended up with 18 QSOs, representing six grids and six states, all within
~500 km.</p>
<div class="section" id="best-dx">
<h2>Best DX</h2>
<div class="section" id="mhz-70cm">
<h3>432 MHz - 70cm</h3>
<p>Best DX of the weekend was K1GX in FN31 with a door-to-door distance of
~493.9km.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="mhz-23cm">
<h3>1296 MHz - 23cm</h3>
<p>Best 23cm DX of the weekend was K1TEO with his powerhouse station at a
distance of ~405.3km.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="easiest-copy">
<h2>Easiest Copy</h2>
<p>K1TEO was very loud during the entire event. When I went searching for
a place to call CQ (usually around 432.107 MHz) I had to give him
clearance as he was constantly in my ear. WA3QPX was also armchair
copyable and we chatted for a bit during the contest.</p>
<p>K3TUF gets the 'easiest copy' mention on 1296MHz. We chatted using SSB
on 1296.100 MHz without too many problems.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="score">
<h2>Score</h2>
<p>I pay little attention to the score I generate in these contests as I am
more interested in the number of contacts and the distances I can work.
With my small station, and with my off-and-on operation, I managed to
rack up 324 points. Obviously not a winning score but with my antennas
stuck pointing at FN (basically pointing at Connecticut) and running 50
watts on 432MHz and 10 watts on 1296MHz I say I did okay.</p>
<div class="section" id="grids">
<h3>Grids</h3>
<ul class="simple">
<li>FM19</li>
<li>FM29</li>
<li>FN10</li>
<li>FN20</li>
<li>FN30</li>
<li>FN31</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="section" id="states">
<h3>States</h3>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Connecticut</li>
<li>Deleware</li>
<li>Maryland</li>
<li>New Jersey</li>
<li>New York</li>
<li>Pennsylvania</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
New Callsign... WG3K2015-07-14T18:10:00-04:002015-07-14T18:10:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2015-07-14:/new-callsign-wg3k.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 callsign on RTTY). Now that I'm in
Maryland, and an Extra, I decided it was the right time to change my
callsign, perhaps for the last time.</p>
<p>As of 3:39 AM this morning I am now WG3K. It's a mouthful but sounds
nice on CW. Here's hoping I don't butcher it too badly for the next few
days.</p>
A non-contester's results of the IARU HF Championship2015-07-12T09:48:00-04:002015-07-12T09:48:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2015-07-12:/a-non-contesters-results-of-the-iaru-hf-championship.html<p>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 …</p><p>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
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org/iaru-hf-championship">IARU HF Championship</a>.</p>
<p>I hadn't planned on participating until I started seeing some islands
starting to be advertised on the spotting networks. Since I'm still
chasing the islands I immediately seized the opportunity and started
making contacts. 80m was also open to Europe in the overnight hours
(particularly after 0400Z) so I was able to pick up a few countries
there as well.</p>
<p>Here's some of the places I put in the log during the contest:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Aland Islands, 20m CW</li>
<li>Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, 15m SSB</li>
<li>Isle of Man, 20m CW and 40m CW</li>
<li>Faeroe Islands, 40m CW</li>
<li>Aruba, 80m CW and 40m CW</li>
<li>Germany, 80m CW</li>
<li>Canada, 15m CW and 80m CW</li>
<li>South Cook Islands, 20m CW</li>
<li>Portugal, 80m CW</li>
</ul>
<p>Most, if not all, of these contacts were either new countries, new
bands, or new modes. That brings my current DXCC count to:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>SSB - 118</li>
<li>CW - 65</li>
<li>Data - 106</li>
<li>Overall - 165</li>
</ul>
<p>Looks like I will be competing in the upcoming Maryland QSO Party and
helping out with the ARRL Rookie Roundup - RTTY, both as K3CAL. Those
contests should be a lot of fun!</p>
<p>Oh, and a checklog has been submitted to the ARRL.</p>
Sked and QSL from GM3YOR2015-06-15T22:40:00-04:002015-06-15T22:40:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2015-06-15:/sked-and-qsl-from-gm3yor.html<p>[caption id="attachment_781" align="alignright" width="300"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/06/GM3YOR.webp"><img alt="GM3YOR QSL Card" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/06/GM3YOR-300x215.webp" /></a> QSL card and envelop received from GM3YOR.[/caption]</p>
<p>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 …</p><p>[caption id="attachment_781" align="alignright" width="300"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/06/GM3YOR.webp"><img alt="GM3YOR QSL Card" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/06/GM3YOR-300x215.webp" /></a> QSL card and envelop received from GM3YOR.[/caption]</p>
<p>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 checking with the DX station it
was determined that I had not, in fact, made it successfully into his
log. But in grand amateur radio fashion he offered to set up a sked
with me for the following afternoon so we could work and I could get
Scotland on CW in my logs.</p>
<p>I had never had a scheduled QSO with someone I didn't know and was a
little uncertain if it would actually happen. We had agreed to a
frequency on 20m and I was monitoring it ten minutes before the
appointed time. Unfortunately for the both of us, the previous day I
had removed my trusty J-38 key from service and replaced it with a set
of Vibroplex paddles. Since I hadn't actually used the paddles in years
my fist left something to be desired. It was amazing that Andrew could
actually tell what I was saying in the first place!</p>
<p>A few minutes early I started calling him but didn't hear a response. A
few minutes later, right on time, I heard a strong signal calling me.
VOACAP had certainly predicted the propagation correctly as his signal
was registering 40 dB on my signal meter. After a quick contact on 20m
we decided to meet on 30m to give that band a try. While not as strong,
we were able to make contact there as well adding a new band for
Scotland for me.</p>
<p>I was quite pleased with making this contact but even more so when,
after only a few days, I received the above envelope and card in the
mail. A fast QSL with a nice card! Andrew certainly exhibits really
good amateur radio values. Thanks Andrew!</p>
DXCC Entity # 153 - Asiatic Russia2015-06-14T08:52:00-04:002015-06-14T08:52:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2015-06-14:/dxcc-entity-153-asiatic-russia.html<p>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 …</p><p>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
them. That all changed last night.</p>
<p>As I've always said, you work the contests because that's where the DX
will be. I'm not sure what contest is going on this weekend but it has
brought out the DX. I heard, and then worked,
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.csdx-club.ru/index.php">RG0A</a> on 14008.6 kHz. He was a
good 559 on this side of the pond and received a similar report. This
morning I pleasantly found a QSL waiting for me on LoTW from him. Nice!</p>
Adding 1.75 MHz of bandwidth to my HF operating portfolio2015-06-13T23:59:00-04:002015-06-13T23:59:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2015-06-13:/adding-1-75-mhz-of-bandwidth-to-my-hf-operating-portfolio.html<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/06/Extra_CSCE_sm.webp"><img alt="W4OTN's Extra Class CSCE" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/06/Extra_CSCE_sm-300x229.webp" /></a>No more tests for me. I'm done.</p>
<p>Last year I was one of the <a class="reference external" href="https://k3cal.org">CARA</a> 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 …</p><p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/06/Extra_CSCE_sm.webp"><img alt="W4OTN's Extra Class CSCE" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/06/Extra_CSCE_sm-300x229.webp" /></a>No more tests for me. I'm done.</p>
<p>Last year I was one of the <a class="reference external" href="https://k3cal.org">CARA</a> 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. After the class, after
two weeks of taking practice exams online (and failing most), and after
reading back through the material that I was having troubles with, I
took my exam yesterday.</p>
<p>I was nervous. I really wanted to do well as I had invested quite a bit
of time and energy into the process of learning this stuff. I also
wanted that extra bandwidth to find those sneaky DX operators that hide
there.</p>
<p>Ed, KC3AEN, with Steve, N3IPN, picked me up on Saturday morning and we
made our way to Davidsonville for our test. We had all been in the
class and hoped we were ready. We had pre-registered (#s 2, 3, and 4)
so we didn't have to wait long to get started. I was pleasantly
surprised that most of the questions were familiar and that the others
appeared to be ones that I could figure out. After a couple of hours
all three of us walked out with our Extra Class CSCEs! Another
gentleman who was in our class, I don't remember his name or callsign,
also took his Extra exam and passed. That's 4 for 4 from the class!
Add two more that took their tests early and that's about half the class
that has passed the exam!</p>
<p>Last night I put a couple of QSOs in the log from the Extra and Advanced
portions of the bands. I even ended up with a new DXCC entity in the
books. Looks like all the studying is already paying off.</p>
An interesting way to deploy a DMR c-Bridge2015-04-28T14:07:00-04:002015-04-28T14:07:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2015-04-28:/an-interesting-way-to-deploy-a-dmr-c-bridge.html<p>I made an inquiry to Rayfield regarding their <a class="reference external" href="https://www.rayfield.net/c-bridge">c-Bridge
product</a> that can be used to join
several (up to 50) Motorola DMR
(<a class="reference external" href="https://www.motorolasolutions.com/en_us/products/mototrbo-story.html">MOTOTRBO</a>)
repeaters together. Here's what I found out:</p>
<p>There is a software option that is $600 less than the hardware
solution. The software runs on CentOS 5 or …</p><p>I made an inquiry to Rayfield regarding their <a class="reference external" href="https://www.rayfield.net/c-bridge">c-Bridge
product</a> that can be used to join
several (up to 50) Motorola DMR
(<a class="reference external" href="https://www.motorolasolutions.com/en_us/products/mototrbo-story.html">MOTOTRBO</a>)
repeaters together. Here's what I found out:</p>
<p>There is a software option that is $600 less than the hardware
solution. The software runs on CentOS 5 or 6 (I'm assuming RHEL would
also work here). I was able to quickly stand up an un-licensed version
(doesn't actually do anything) to test with in a VM on my laptop and I
didn't see any resource problems.</p>
<p>I suspect one could easily run this on a <a class="reference external" href="https://www.linode.com/?r=93f7a6a4d883fe22033a66ee60e5e810d421695a">1GB
Linode</a>
for $10/mo and have really good availability. The best part of using a
hosted virtual machine for this type of system is that you can duplicate
it (to have a hot backup elsewhere), geographically move it around (to
counter physical disasters) and be afforded a great deal of availability
if needed (of which you'll want since this is a radio system you're
dealing with). Plus it's easy to increase the resources afforded to the
VM if needed (as the system expands to allow more repeater connections).</p>
<p>I may be incorrect on my assumptions, and if anyone has tried it I'd
really like to know, but I think this sounds like a good and cheaper way
to deploy a c-bridge.</p>
Dipping my toe into the DMR pool2015-04-27T10:20:00-04:002015-04-27T10:20:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2015-04-27:/dipping-my-toe-into-the-dmr-pool.html<p>A few weeks ago I ventured down to Cary and to
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.rarsfest.org/">RARSfest</a> 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 <a class="reference external" href="https://ncprn.net">NC PRN …</a></p><p>A few weeks ago I ventured down to Cary and to
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.rarsfest.org/">RARSfest</a> 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 <a class="reference external" href="https://ncprn.net">NC PRN</a> guys who had a booth
there. Well, fast forward to today and I now have a DMR radio sitting
on my desk.</p>
<div class="section" id="what-i-know-so-far">
<h2>What I know so far...</h2>
<p>Well... I did a lot of reading to try to understand how the system is
setup. As I used to have to deal with trunking systems [in a previous
life] I understand talkgroups and the problems with having too many
available without the channels to support them all when you have
simultaneous use. DMR is no different. Throughout the world I see many
different thoughts on how to allocate the talkgroups to make many
options for the users without completely killing the system. Some
groups do it well, others... well, I'm not sure how their systems can
even work.</p>
<p>They systems in the Mid-Atlantic seem to do well. I'd probably make
some adjustments but overall they seem to run smoothly. The repeaters
seem to have "local" on one timeslot and everything else on another.
That keeps local open all the time for conversations. This is in
contrast to the NC PRN network which lumps local onto a timeslot with a
bunch of "on-demand" talkgroups.
Their system-wide talkgroup, PRN, is kept on its own timeslot without
interference. Again, it's all about priorities.</p>
<p>The system's efficiency is at risk when you put too many users on too
many talkgroups, especially when those talkgroups occupy timeslots on
all the repeaters all the time. Of course someone thought of this and
created
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.va3xpr.net/introducing-tac-310-ham-radios-new-all-digital-sked/">TAC-310</a>;
an on-demand talkgroup that most everyone (globally) has access to but
doesn't occupy a timeslot on a repeater unless it's been activated
there. Makes sense, correct? You can get off the calling channel and
get over on a discrete channel that doesn't utilize that many
resources. Unfortunately there is only one of these talkgroups. Even
on a system the size of NC PRN their get-off-of-PRN talkgroup is named
'Southeast' where the talkgroup has many more potential off-network
users. Still it's all about priorities and fulfilling a certain
mission.</p>
<p>CalDMR seems to have a good way of <a class="reference external" href="http://caldmr.org/About%20DMR%20Tab/best-practice-guide/">separating communications onto their
timeslots</a>.
I guess the hope is that you won't have too many conversations at each
level happening simultaneously.</p>
<p>One system I've been quite impressed with the <a class="reference external" href="http://ctares.org/ares_dmr.php">Connecticut's DMR ARES
system</a>. Designed to facilitate
intra-state communications, they have <a class="reference external" href="http://ctares.org/CT-ARES_DMR_Talkgroup_Info_14Mar15.pdf">added ten tactical on-demand
tactical
channels</a>
to help spread out the load away from system-wide channels while
supporting many simultaneous communications. Still, I wonder about the
load and whether or not the repeater congestion will be a problem.</p>
<p>Most of these networks are young and I suspect some shifting around will
be required on all networks as well as an understanding of the
priorities of the network by its users.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="so-where-are-you-hanging-out">
<h2>So where are you hanging out?</h2>
<p>As for me, I'm listening to the North America calling channel as well as
local on the Upper Marlboro and Charlotte Hall repeaters. Feel free to
give me a shout!</p>
</div>
Postfix Encryption2015-03-12T13:09:00-04:002015-03-12T13:09:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2015-03-12:/postfix-encryption.html<p>I've been tinkering with the encryption options in
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.postfix.org/">Postfix</a> for a while. Encryption between
clients and their SMTP server and between SMTP servers is necessary to
protect the to, from, and subject fields, along with the rest of the
header, of an email. The body of the message is also …</p><p>I've been tinkering with the encryption options in
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.postfix.org/">Postfix</a> for a while. Encryption between
clients and their SMTP server and between SMTP servers is necessary to
protect the to, from, and subject fields, along with the rest of the
header, of an email. The body of the message is also protected but it's
always better to utilize
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy">PGP</a> or
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S/MIME">S/MIME</a> cryptography to
provide end-to-end protection; encryption between clients and SMTP
servers doesn't provide this.</p>
<p>As rolled out now, encryption between SMTP servers is <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opportunistic_encryption">opportunistic
encryption</a>
and is generally not required. While doing a review of my mail log I
seem to be receiving most personal mail via some encrypted circuit while
much of the mail coming out of listservs, like Yahoo! Groups, is not
negotiating encryption on connect. I've also noticed that some email
providers actually run their incoming email through an external service,
I suspect for spam control, before accepting the message into their
servers. Some of these spam services don't support encryption making it
difficult to protect mail in transit.</p>
<p>Postfix documentation is pretty decent. The project seems to document
most settings but sometimes they don't actually put the entire picture
together. Encryption is one of those things where a complete picture is
difficult to put together just by looking at a single page of
documentation.</p>
<p>Postfix's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.postfix.org/TLS_README.html">documentation on
TLS</a> is fairly complete.
What they miss on that page, <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forward_secrecy">forward
security</a>, must be
found <a class="reference external" href="http://www.postfix.org/FORWARD_SECRECY_README.html">else
where</a>. Until
last night, I had missed that last page and now have fixed my
configuration to include, what I consider, acceptable settings.</p>
<p>Here's what I've got:</p>
<p>main.cf</p>
<blockquote>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">### TLS</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">smtpd_tls_security_level = may</div>
<div class="line">smtpd_tls_eecdh_grade = ultra</div>
<div class="line">tls_eecdh_strong_curve = prime256v1</div>
<div class="line">tls_eecdh_ultra_curve = secp384r1</div>
<div class="line">smtpd_tls_loglevel = 1</div>
<div class="line">smtpd_tls_cert_file = /etc/pki/tls/certs/mail.crt</div>
<div class="line">smtpd_tls_key_file = /etc/pki/tls/private/mail.key</div>
<div class="line">smtpd_tls_CAfile = /etc/pki/tls/certs/mail-bundle.crt</div>
<div class="line">smtpd_tls_session_cache_timeout = 3600s</div>
<div class="line">smtpd_tls_session_cache_database =</div>
<div class="line">btree:${queue_directory}/smtpd_scache</div>
<div class="line">smtpd_tls_received_header = yes</div>
<div class="line">smtpd_tls_ask_ccert = yes</div>
<div class="line">smtpd_tls_received_header = yes</div>
<div class="line">tls_random_source = dev:/dev/urandom</div>
<div class="line">#TLS Client</div>
<div class="line">smtp_tls_security_level = may</div>
<div class="line">smtp_tls_eecdh_grade = ultra</div>
<div class="line">smtp_tls_loglevel = 1</div>
<div class="line">smtp_tls_cert_file = /etc/pki/tls/certs/mail.crt</div>
<div class="line">smtp_tls_key_file = /etc/pki/tls/private/mail.key</div>
<div class="line">smtp_tls_CAfile = /etc/pki/tls/certs/mail-bundle.crt</div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p>master.cf</p>
<blockquote>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">submission inet n - - - - smtpd</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">-o smtpd_tls_security_level=encrypt</div>
<div class="line">-o smtpd_sasl_auth_enable=yes</div>
<div class="line">-o smtpd_sasl_type=dovecot</div>
<div class="line">-o smtpd_sasl_path=private/auth</div>
<div class="line">-o smtpd_sasl_security_options=noanonymous</div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p>Those familiar with setting up TLS in Apache will notice a few
differences here. We haven't defined ciphers or SSL protocols. This is
because this is opportunistic encryption. We're just happy if
encryption happens, even using EXPORT ciphers, since the alternate is
plaintext. In a more controlled setting you could define the ciphers
and protocols and enforce their use. Until encryption becomes the norm
on the Internet (and why shouldn't it be?) I'll have to stick with just
begging for encrypted connections.</p>
<p>It should also be noted that client-to-SMTP server connections are
forced to be encrypted in master.cf as seen in the submission portion.
This was a quick and dirty way of forcing encryption on the client side
while allowing opportunistic encryption on the public (port 25) side.</p>
<p>It should be noted that ECC keys can be used with Postfix, which forces
good ciphers and protocols, but most email servers have RSA keys
established so problems could arise from that. Dual keys can always be
used to take advantage of both ECC and RSA.</p>
<p>As <a class="reference external" href="https://www.ssllabs.com/">SSLLabs</a> is for testing your web
server's encryption settings, so is <a class="reference external" href="http://checktls.com/">CheckTLS</a>
for checking your SMTP encryption settings. These tools are free and
should be part of your regular security check of your infrastructure.</p>
CERN cares about information security... what about you?2015-03-08T12:44:00-04:002015-03-08T12:44:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2015-03-08:/cern-cares-about-information-security-what-about-you.html<p>As a security engineer it's usually difficult for me to endure many of
dumb things companies do. It's quite sad when a company that prides
itself on creating solutions for building internal solutions to protect
customer data actually starts pushing its own data out to Google and
other "solution" providers …</p><p>As a security engineer it's usually difficult for me to endure many of
dumb things companies do. It's quite sad when a company that prides
itself on creating solutions for building internal solutions to protect
customer data actually starts pushing its own data out to Google and
other "solution" providers. It's as if they don't actually believe in
their own products and actually think that a contract will actually
protect their data.</p>
<p>So it's quite refreshing when you run across a group that actually gets
information security. Recently, I ran across the <a class="reference external" href="https://security.web.cern.ch/home/en/index.shtml">information security
bulletins</a>
at <a class="reference external" href="https://home.cern/">CERN</a> (particle physics is another
interest of mine) and was excited to find a group that actually gets
it. They provide <a class="reference external" href="https://information-technology.web.cern.ch/services?qt-services=2#qt-services">internal, secure solutions for getting their work
done without using outside
solutions</a>
such as Google, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Dropbox cloud solutions (I
wish more of the internal solutions were FOSS but...). In fact, CERN
feels <a class="reference external" href="https://cds.cern.ch/journal/CERNBulletin/2013/25/News%20Articles/1554961?ln=en">externally-hosted solutions are a bad idea for both business and
personal
uses</a>.
I concur.</p>
<p>Here is a sample of their infosec bulletins:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><a class="reference external" href="https://cdsweb.cern.ch/journal/CERNBulletin/2012/18/News%20Articles/1442980?ln=en">Don't let your mail
leak</a></li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="http://cds.cern.ch/journal/CERNBulletin/2015/10/News%20Articles/1994237">An update on your privacy - or lack of
it</a></li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="https://cds.cern.ch/journal/CERNBulletin/2012/45/News%20Articles/1490689?ln=en">...and thank you for your mobile
data</a></li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="https://cds.cern.ch/journal/CERNBulletin/2014/37/News%20Articles/1752542?ln=en">Enter the cloud, pay with your
password</a></li>
</ul>
<p>What about you? Do you care about the security of your information?</p>
Weak-signal VHF/UHF/Microwave2015-02-21T18:31:00-05:002015-02-21T18:31:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2015-02-21:/microwave-10ghz-and.html<p>I am, or have been at one time or another, been active on
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6-meter_band">6m</a>,
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2-meter_band">2m</a>,
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/70-centimeter_band">70cm</a>, and
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/23-centimeter_band">23cm</a> VHF and UHF
bands. (I've also experimented with some mesh networking on 2.4GHz
(<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13-centimeter_band">13cm band</a>) so
maybe I can claim another band?) All of the weak-signal work (2m
through 23cm) was …</p><p>I am, or have been at one time or another, been active on
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6-meter_band">6m</a>,
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2-meter_band">2m</a>,
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/70-centimeter_band">70cm</a>, and
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/23-centimeter_band">23cm</a> VHF and UHF
bands. (I've also experimented with some mesh networking on 2.4GHz
(<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13-centimeter_band">13cm band</a>) so
maybe I can claim another band?) All of the weak-signal work (2m
through 23cm) was done when I was in Newport News, Virginia (FM17rc)
using a sub-optimal antenna array. It was the best I could do at the
time but I'm always hoping to do better.</p>
<div class="section" id="current-plans">
<h2>Current Plans</h2>
<p>My new QTH (April 2015) is quite near the Chesapeake Bay in Chesapeake
Beach, MD (FM18rq). The location provides a great path to Philadelphia
and points north and east into Connecticut.</p>
<p>I currently have my 144, 432, and 1296 MHz antennas up in the air on a
20-foot pole. No rotator, yet, but the antennas are pointing toward
Connecticut and Rhode Island and I'm having fun working those guys up
there.</p>
<div class="section" id="vhf-uhf">
<h3>VHF/UHF</h3>
<div class="section" id="m-50-mhz">
<h4>6m (50 MHz)</h4>
<p>Kenwood TS-2000X, 100 watts into a OCF dipole. Not great but it gets me
on the air.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="m-144-mhz">
<h4>2m (144 MHz)</h4>
<p>Kenwood TS-2000X, 100 watts into an 11-element yagi.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="cm-432-mhz">
<h4>70cm (432 MHz)</h4>
<p>Kenwood TS-2000X, 50 watts into an 23-element yagi.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="cm-1296-mhz">
<h4>23cm (1296 MHz)</h4>
<p>Kenwood TS-2000X, 10 watts into an 11-element yagi.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="microwave-plans">
<h3>Microwave Plans</h3>
<p>As luck would have it, I'm in the process of building out my bands, not
with 222 MHz as I thought I might, but rather with 33cm (902 MHz) and
13cm (2300 MHz). More information will be forthcoming.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="proposed-future-bands">
<h3>Proposed future bands</h3>
<p>I'm hoping to make a portable transceiver for 5GHz and
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3-centimeter_band">10GHz</a>. This would
be for voice (SSB) and CW. I'd also like to experiment with mesh
networking in the 13,
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9-centimeter_band">9</a>, and
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5-centimeter_band">5cm</a> bands.</p>
<p>Initial station would be a portable station that could be taken
mountain-topping as well as setup along the Chesapeake Bay.</p>
<div class="section" id="cm-5-ghz">
<h4>5cm (5 GHz)</h4>
<p><em>Proposed -</em>60cm aluminum dish with a dual band feedhorn. Currently
looking at the <a class="reference external" href="http://directivesystems.com/2304-mhz-above/6-cm-3-cm-5-7-ghz-and-10-ghz/dsedbfeed">Directive Systems' DSEDBFEED 5GHz and 10GHz
feedhorn</a>.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="cm-10-ghz">
<h4>3cm (10 GHz)</h4>
<p><em>Proposed -</em>60cm aluminum dish with a dual band feedhorn. Currently
looking at the <a class="reference external" href="http://directivesystems.com/2304-mhz-above/6-cm-3-cm-5-7-ghz-and-10-ghz/dsedbfeed">Directive Systems' DSEDBFEED 5GHz and 10GHz
feedhorn</a>.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
The Radiobuster2015-02-18T15:21:00-05:002015-02-18T15:21:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2015-02-18:/the-radiobuster.html<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24964929-the-radiobuster"><img alt="The Radiobuster" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1460911221l/24964929.jpg" /></a><a class="reference external" href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24964929-the-radiobuster">The
Radiobuster</a>
by <a class="reference external" href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13522673.Volney_G_Mathison">Volney G.
Mathison</a></p>
<p>My rating: <a class="reference external" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1204349987">5 of 5
stars</a></p>
<p>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 …</p><p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24964929-the-radiobuster"><img alt="The Radiobuster" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1460911221l/24964929.jpg" /></a><a class="reference external" href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24964929-the-radiobuster">The
Radiobuster</a>
by <a class="reference external" href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13522673.Volney_G_Mathison">Volney G.
Mathison</a></p>
<p>My rating: <a class="reference external" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1204349987">5 of 5
stars</a></p>
<p>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 the
author would have spoken more on the radio operation itself. Still this
is an excellent book for anyone interested in the life of a commercial
radio operator in the 1920s.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/17531431-eric">View all my
reviews</a></p>
Confirmed DXCC Entity #149: South Cook Islands2015-02-01T09:32:00-05:002015-02-01T09:32:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2015-02-01:/confirmed-dxcc-entity-149-south-cook-islands.html<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/02/E51JD.webp"><img alt="E51JD QSL Card" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/02/E51JD-300x192.webp" /></a>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.</p>
<p>The stamp on …</p><p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/02/E51JD.webp"><img alt="E51JD QSL Card" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/02/E51JD-300x192.webp" /></a>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.</p>
<p>The stamp on the envelope was quite neat with a snail on it. But it was
what was inside the envelope, other than the card, that made this QSL
special.</p>
<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/02/Cook_Island_coin_back.webp"><img alt="Back of a Cook Island coin" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/02/Cook_Island_coin_back-150x150.webp" /></a> <a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/02/Cook_Island_coin_front.webp"><img alt="Front of a Cook Island coin" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/02/Cook_Island_coin_front-150x150.webp" /></a></p>
<p>The paper enclosed with the coin says:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
The coin portrays TANGAROA,
Lord of the sea and one of the
Great deities of the Polynesian
race. In ancient times this god
was one of the principal gods of
Rarotonga and adjacent islands.
This coin was withdrawn from
circulation some months after it
was issued when it was realized
that it was the same size as a ten
cent coin used in slot machines.
</pre>
<p>Honestly, I'm just happy that my card was received at the distant end
with an address that went something like (Pacific Islands via New
Zealand).</p>
SKCC 1,000 Miles per Watt Award2015-01-23T10:51:00-05:002015-01-23T10:51:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2015-01-23:/skcc-1000-miles-per-watt-award.html<p><strong>Update</strong></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>I have already responded to the award …</p><p><strong>Update</strong></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>I have already responded to the award coordinator and to the SKCC group,
in general. Now I need to figure out why the radio is doing this and
how to fix it so I can actually go try to make these contacts. *sigh*</p>
<p>[STRIKEOUT:Last night I dusted off my Elecraft K1 transceiver and hooked
it up to my Carolina Windom antenna so I could work some locals on QRP.
On a whim I decided to call WB5KSD on a 40m frequency he was on using
only 100 milliwatts. To my surprise not only did he answer me but also
gave me a signal report of 559. Needless to say, I was in shock. That
is a distance of 1,875km (1,165mi)!]</p>
<p>[STRIKEOUT:About fifty minutes later I decided to work K5TRI as we had
tried to work QRP x2 a couple of nights before without luck. He was
operating as K3Y/7 and also responded with a 559 from near Redmond, WA.
Astounded, I let him know that I was running a tenth of a watt and he
replied that the signal was good. The distance between he and I, coast
to coast, is about 3,768km (2341.4 mi). We repeated the contact some
forty minutes later although the band was starting to close by then and
significant fading was present.]</p>
<p>[STRIKEOUT:I submitted my award request to W0EJ who formally presented
my award this morning. According to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.skccgroup.com/operating_awards/qrp_mpw/mpw_roster.php">the
roster</a>
my contact puts me in fifth place behind KC9IL at 146,500 (who the heck
did he talk to and at what power?), AK4JA at 98,500, K8PG at 70,500, and
AC2C at 38,000. I've got my eye on a couple of stations out in Hawaii
so maybe I'll be able to extend my endorsement one day.]</p>
SKCC: I now have my Centurion!2015-01-20T13:43:00-05:002015-01-20T13:43:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2015-01-20:/skcc-i-now-have-my-centurion.html<p>I received the following message from Ron Bower, AC2C, after submitting
my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.skccgroup.com">SKCC</a> award log last night:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
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 …</pre><p>I received the following message from Ron Bower, AC2C, after submitting
my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.skccgroup.com">SKCC</a> award log last night:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
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 SKCC achievement !!!
Having submitted a log and sworn statement, documenting the
completion of QSOs with 100 other SKCC members, Eric Christensen,
W4OTN, SKCC #7320, is duly proclaimed to be SKCC Centurion Number
1107 effective at 0000Z on 21 Jan 2015. SKCC Centurions are
encouraged to proclaim their accomplishment by appending a C to
their SKCC Number.
The Master Centurion List has been duly scribed where all SKCC
Members may reflect upon and pay tribute to this momentous
achievement.
Duly approved, recorded, and published.
I set forth my hand and key.
20 Jan 2015
Ron Bower, AC2C
SKCC 2748S
SKCC Centurion Administrator
</pre>
<p>Woot! So as of tonight at 0001Z I now can append a "C" to my SKCC
membership number! I guess I'll start working on my
"<a class="reference external" href="http://www.skccgroup.com/operating_awards/tribune/">T</a>", next.</p>
Now on medium wave!2015-01-14T00:12:00-05:002015-01-14T00:12:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2015-01-14:/now-on-medium-wave.html<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/01/20150111_231622-e1421595905722.webp"><img alt="160m on Kenwood TS-2000X" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/01/20150111_231622-e1421595905722-300x146.webp" /></a>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 …</p><p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/01/20150111_231622-e1421595905722.webp"><img alt="160m on Kenwood TS-2000X" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2015/01/20150111_231622-e1421595905722-300x146.webp" /></a>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 put up this antenna the trap for 160m on one leg broke
off. I had most of the antenna up in the air so I just didn't do
anything with it. Now that it's winter and 160m is supposed to be
useful now I wanted to get on the air and make some contacts there.</p>
<p>As temperatures recently poked above freezing for the first time in some
days I heated up the soldering iron, bundled up, and made my way out to
the antenna to make the repair. Luckily it was a simple fix and in less
than an hour I was back inside with the antenna up in the trees like
it's supposed to be.</p>
<p>I did some tests and I'm disappointed that there is only one real sweet
spot on the antenna (around 1860kHz). The little tuner in my radio
doesn't handle the band very well but I guess this is better than not
having anything at all.</p>
<p>I'm glad to be concentrating towards the bottom of the band and I'm
hoping to find some CW down there. I'd love to get a signal report if
you do hear me on the band.</p>
Securing Secure Shell2015-01-06T10:47:00-05:002015-01-06T10:47:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2015-01-06:/securing-secure-shell.html<p>I was passed an <a class="reference external" href="https://stribika.github.io/2015/01/04/secure-secure-shell.html">interesting
article</a>,
this morning, regarding hardening secure shell (SSH) against poor crypto
that can be a victim of cracking by the NSA and other entities. The
article is well written and discusses why the changes are necessary in
light of recent <a class="reference external" href="https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/inside-the-nsa-s-war-on-internet-security-a-1010361.html">Snowden file
releases</a>.</p>
Fifty years of transmitting at BBC Woofferton2014-12-18T09:58:00-05:002014-12-18T09:58:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-12-18:/fifty-years-of-transmitting-at-bbc-woofferton.html<p>I ran across a
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbceng.info/Operations/transmitter_ops/Reminiscences/Woofferton/woof50y-v2.pdf">paper</a>
that was written discussing the
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shortwave">shortwave</a> <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woofferton_transmitting_station">broadcast
station at Woofferton,
UK</a>,
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 …</p><p>I ran across a
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbceng.info/Operations/transmitter_ops/Reminiscences/Woofferton/woof50y-v2.pdf">paper</a>
that was written discussing the
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shortwave">shortwave</a> <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woofferton_transmitting_station">broadcast
station at Woofferton,
UK</a>,
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 PDF format so you should
be able to read it on most any device.</p>
How to really screw up TLS2014-12-12T11:09:00-05:002014-12-12T11:09:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-12-12:/how-to-really-screw-up-tls.html<p>I've noticed a few of my favorite websites failing with some odd error
from Firefox.</p>
<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2014/12/firefox-unable_to_connect_securely1.webp"><img alt="Firefox's Unable to connect securely error message" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2014/12/firefox-unable_to_connect_securely1.webp" /></a>The Firefox error
message is a bit misleading. It actually has nothing to do with the
website supporting SSL 3.0 but the advanced info is spot on. The error
"ssl_error_no_cypher_overlap …</p><p>I've noticed a few of my favorite websites failing with some odd error
from Firefox.</p>
<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2014/12/firefox-unable_to_connect_securely1.webp"><img alt="Firefox's Unable to connect securely error message" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2014/12/firefox-unable_to_connect_securely1.webp" /></a>The Firefox error
message is a bit misleading. It actually has nothing to do with the
website supporting SSL 3.0 but the advanced info is spot on. The error
"ssl_error_no_cypher_overlap" means that the client didn't offer any
ciphers that the server also supports. Generally when I see this I
assume that the server has been setup poorly and <em>only</em> supports unsafe
ciphers. In this case the website <em>only</em> supports the RC4 cipher. I
wondered why I was starting to see a reversal of removing RC4 from so
many websites recently (especially since <a class="reference external" href="https://community.qualys.com/blogs/securitylabs/2013/03/19/rc4-in-tls-is-broken-now-what">RC4 is very
weak</a>
and <a class="reference external" href="https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-tls-prohibiting-rc4/">is on the way
out</a>).
Apparently these websites all use the F5 load balancer that had a bad
implementation of the TLS 1.0 standard causing a POODLE-like
vulnerability.</p>
<p>Stepping back for a moment, back in October the <a class="reference external" href="https://access.redhat.com/articles/1232123">POODLE
vulnerability</a> hit the
streets and a mass exodus from SSL 3.0 happened around the world. I was
happy to see so many people running away from the broken cryptographic
protocol and very happy to see the big push to implementing the latest
version of TLS, TLS 1.2. So with SSL 3.0 out of the way and the POODLE
vulnerability being squelched why are we seeing problems in TLS 1.0 now?</p>
<p>Well, simply put, <a class="reference external" href="https://community.qualys.com/blogs/securitylabs/2014/12/08/poodle-bites-tls">F5 load balancers don't implement TLS 1.0
correctly</a>.
The problem with SSL 3.0 is that the padding format isn't checked.
Apparently in the F5 devices it's still a problem in TLS 1.0. And while
the company did offer up patches to fix the issue, <a class="reference external" href="http://blog.darrenduke.net/Darren/DDBZ.nsf/dx/poodle-tls-the-poodle-strikes-back.htm">some really bad
advice</a>
has been circulating the Internetz telling people to only support RC4,
again. <em>Sigh</em>.</p>
<p>When RC4 finally dies a fiery death I'll likely throw a party. I'm sure
I won't be the only one...</p>
Calvert County ARES Emergency Coordinator2014-11-19T19:39:00-05:002014-11-19T19:39:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-11-19:/calvert-county-ares-emergency-coordinator.html<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2014/11/W4OTN_Calvert_EC_badge.webp"><img alt="W4OTN Calvert County EC badge" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2014/11/W4OTN_Calvert_EC_badge-300x196.webp" /></a>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 …</p><p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2014/11/W4OTN_Calvert_EC_badge.webp"><img alt="W4OTN Calvert County EC badge" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2014/11/W4OTN_Calvert_EC_badge-300x196.webp" /></a>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 completely foreign to me, well, it's
been a while. I've been working on a new emergency operations plan (EOP)
for ARES that's more of an all-hazards plan than laying out specifics.
Once that is complete I'll start trying to get people to work on
developing training and training topics.</p>
<p>At last night's ARES meeting I was happy to have fifteen people join me
in a review and feedback session on the new EOP. I'm hoping the momentum
continues as I plan more training and exercises for the next few months.
I'll try to write about those events here when I get them complete.</p>
ARRL Sweepstakes contest and LoTW2014-11-19T19:06:00-05:002014-11-19T19:06:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-11-19:/arrl-sweepstakes-contest-and-lotw.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 new home in Maryland (contacts made
before I moved up here don't count since they were made greater than 50
miles away) working the Sweepstakes contest let me add a few more states
to my log (I now have twenty-four states confirmed via LoTW). I wish I
had had more time to devote to the event but I'm glad I worked the
stations that I did.</p>
<p>I downloaded my LoTW QSLs today and found that [STRIKEOUT:fourteen]
twelve stations have already uploaded their contest contacts. That's
really great to already have those states confirmed so quickly. I wish
everyone did this.</p>
<p>I'll update this when the contest results are available.</p>
Breaking the Arrow Antenna's diplexer2014-11-02T10:59:00-05:002014-11-02T10:59:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-11-02:/breaking-the-arrow-antennas-diplexer.html<p>The <a class="reference external" href="http://www.arrowantennas.com/arrowii/146-437.html">Arrow Antenna for
satellites</a> 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 …</p><p>The <a class="reference external" href="http://www.arrowantennas.com/arrowii/146-437.html">Arrow Antenna for
satellites</a> 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 into the hardware to
see if I could see anything that was the matter.</p>
<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2014/11/DSC_0148.webp"><img alt="Arrow Antenna diplexer" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2014/11/DSC_0148-300x198.webp" /></a>Looks like one of the surface mount parts got
a little warm. The picture does not show the hole that had melted
through the shrink wrap but the bottom right component definitely got
too hot. The solder is completely gone from one side which was
definitely affecting the circuit. I'll likely try to repair this even
though I have a new one in service right now.</p>
Ability to remove TLS 1.0 from httpd in CentOS 62014-10-30T11:22:00-04:002014-10-30T11:22:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-10-30:/ability-to-remove-tls-1-0-from-httpd-in-centos-6.html<p>Due to a bug in mod_ssl, the ability to remove TLS 1.0 (and only
support TLS 1.1 and/or TLS 1.2) has not been available. The fix has now
made it to CentOS 6 and you can now fine-tune your cryptographic
protocols with ease.</p>
<p>Before the …</p><p>Due to a bug in mod_ssl, the ability to remove TLS 1.0 (and only
support TLS 1.1 and/or TLS 1.2) has not been available. The fix has now
made it to CentOS 6 and you can now fine-tune your cryptographic
protocols with ease.</p>
<p>Before the fix my /etc/httpd/conf.d/ssl.conf file had this line:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
SSLProtocol all -SSLv2 -SSLv3
</pre>
<p>This allows all SSL protocols except SSLv2 and SSLv3 to be used with
httpd. This isn't a bad solution but there are a couple of sites that
I'd prefer to further lock down by removing TLS 1.0 and TLS
[STRIKEOUT:1.2] 1.1. With the fix now in mod_ssl my settings can now
look like this:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
SSLProtocol all -SSLv2 -SSLv3 -TLSv1 -TLSv1.1
</pre>
<p>...and I'll only support TLS 1.2 and beyond. Of course doing this will
significantly reduce the number of clients that can connect to my
server. According to SSLLabs I'm blocking all IE users before IE 11,
Android before 4.4.2, Java 7, and Firefox 24.2.0 ESR. But luckily I
really don't have a problem with any of these browsers for a couple of
things I do so I'll likely tighten up security there and leave my more
public sites alone.</p>
<div class="section" id="update-2014-12-12">
<h2>Update (2014-12-12)</h2>
<p>NSS and mod_nss for httpd wasn't discussed because it's not in use on
my systems. it should be noted that mod_nss can be similarly
configured as mod_ssl <em>however</em> mod_nss does not support TLS 1.2 and
you'll max out at TLS 1.1.</p>
</div>
What a difference 3.5MHz makes.2014-10-16T21:02:00-04:002014-10-16T21:02:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-10-16:/what-a-difference-3-5mhz-makes.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 it
and the almost full-quieting signal of Emily's was not heard at all just
three and a half megahertz up the band. Somewhere in that little bit of
bandwidth the signal, instead of being returned to Earth via the
ionosphere, was being shot into space with little hope that Emily would
hear it. I guess we found our maximum usable frequency!</p>
Automated configuration analysis for Mozilla's TLS guidelines2014-10-09T17:14:00-04:002014-10-09T17:14:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-10-09:/automated-configuration-analysis-for-mozillas-tls-guidelines.html<p>My friend <a class="reference external" href="https://securitypitfalls.wordpress.com/">Hubert</a> has been
doing a lot of work to make better the world a little safer. Glad he's
getting some recognition. Here's a <a class="reference external" href="https://jve.linuxwall.info/blog/index.php?post/2014/10/09/Automated-configuration-analysis-for-Mozilla-s-TLS-guidelines">great
article</a>
on testing your server for proper SSL/TLS configurations.</p>
What's that noise on 20m?2014-10-02T14:07:00-04:002014-10-02T14:07:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-10-02:/whats-that-noise-on-20m.html<p>Yesterday I was tuning around 20 meters and heard <strong>packet</strong>! 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 …</p><p>Yesterday I was tuning around 20 meters and heard <strong>packet</strong>! 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
stations from Florida and Colorado and everywhere in between.</p>
<p>I still enjoy packet radio and even worked two stations, keyboard to
keyboard, this morning. I may try to put up something more permanent up
for the network. If I can find a KAM+ I should be able to hook an HF
radio and a VHF/UHF radio together and provide a gateway for myself and
anyone else that wants to join in.</p>
<p>We'll see what happens in the future.</p>
Results of the W4OTN/R UHF repeater test2014-10-02T10:36:00-04:002014-10-02T10:36:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-10-02:/results-of-the-w4otnr-uhf-repeater-test.html<p>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
<a class="reference external" href="https://k3cal.org">CARA</a> club members (and anyone else) to see
what UHF would do …</p><p>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
<a class="reference external" href="https://k3cal.org">CARA</a> club members (and anyone else) to see
what UHF would do in our area. Turns out, the system did quite well.</p>
<p>We estimated ~3 watts was being seen at the antenna. That's not a lot
of power and we weren't expecting very good performance. Turns out,
that ~3 watts was enough to give us pretty good coverage, about a 15 to
20 mile radius with several longer distances seen.</p>
<p>We have now replaced the repeater with a Yaesu repeater and better
duplexers. We're now seeing about 45 watts ERP and a better foot print
(around 35 mile radius).</p>
<p>This has been a good experiment. I'll be moving on to stage two for my
repeater project.</p>
W4OTN/R on the air2014-09-11T23:09:00-04:002014-09-11T23:09:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-09-11:/w4otnr-on-the-air.html<p>[caption id="attachment_601" align="alignleft" width="300"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2014/09/20140911_095033.webp"><img alt="W4OTN/R Installed at Mt. Hope" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2014/09/20140911_095033-300x225.webp" /></a> W4OTN/R Installed at Mt. Hope[/caption]</p>
<p>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 …</p><p>[caption id="attachment_601" align="alignleft" width="300"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2014/09/20140911_095033.webp"><img alt="W4OTN/R Installed at Mt. Hope" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2014/09/20140911_095033-300x225.webp" /></a> W4OTN/R Installed at Mt. Hope[/caption]</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>In the short term, the repeater will be on the air at the Mt Hope site.
In the longer run, the repeater will be setup to be portable for special
events, emergencies, and "family" use.</p>
<p>If you're in the Southern Maryland area try it out and see if you can
hear the system. 442.900MHz, + offset, CTCSS 156.7Hz.</p>
<div class="section" id="update">
<h2>Update</h2>
<p>As of 25 September the 442.900 repeater is off the air. It has been
replaced with a Yaesu System Fusion repeater on a frequency of
444.950MHz, + offset, CTCSS 156.7Hz.</p>
</div>
Okay, this is a neat attack...2014-08-22T09:44:00-04:002014-08-22T09:44:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-08-22:/okay-this-is-a-neat-attack.html<p>This morning I received an email from my "administrator" saying that I
needed to validate my email address within the next 48 hours or my email
account would be suspended. Seeing as how I'm my own email
administrator, I couldn't remember sending out such a message, I decided
that this …</p><p>This morning I received an email from my "administrator" saying that I
needed to validate my email address within the next 48 hours or my email
account would be suspended. Seeing as how I'm my own email
administrator, I couldn't remember sending out such a message, I decided
that this was likely spam. I'm always interested in seeing how these
attacks are actually going to be played out so I clicked on the link.</p>
<p>[caption id="attachment_1309" align="aligncenter" width="521"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2014/08/verify_screen_owa2.webp"><img alt="OWA Verify Screen" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2014/08/verify_screen_owa2.webp" /></a> OWA Verify Screen[/caption]</p>
<p>Neat, Microsoft-y looking screen! And it looks like the backend is
WordPress! It looks like the attacker is using the account system in
WordPress to collect the information. When you submit your information
for validation you get this response:</p>
<div align="center">
Your information was successfully submitted, please ensure that you
entered your email details correctly; to enable us complete your
security updates. If you have entered your details wrongly kindly
click back and refill in details correctly.
N.B Please be informed that filling in the wrong details will be
resulting to the deactivation of your email address.<p>I'm guessing my address will not be closed down, since I <em>did not</em>
provide my correct email information. I don't know, maybe I'll disable
my own email... you know, just for the weekend.</p>
</div>UHF Repeater and APRS2014-07-23T21:32:00-04:002014-07-23T21:32:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-07-23:/uhf-repeater.html<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/07/wp-image-681933164-e1501197583365.webp"><img alt="Image of UHF repeater station using a Kenwood TKR-820." src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/07/wp-image-681933164-e1501197583365-300x146.webp" /></a>Frequency</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">444.350MHz (+ 5MHz)</div>
<div class="line">CTCSS 131.8Hz</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>Location
Chesapeake Beach, Maryland</p>
<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/07/wp-image-1749813285-e1501196299568.webp"><img alt="Image of a packet radio station using a Yaesu FT-8900, Kantronics 9612+, and MFJ-4125P power supply." src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/07/wp-image-1749813285-e1501196299568-300x223.webp" /></a>Just a little project I'm working
on. I picked up a UHF repeater, controller, and duplexer at a
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.rarsfest.org/">RARSFest</a> from a friend of a friend and I
now have it here at home in Calvert County. The repeater, along …</p><div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/07/wp-image-681933164-e1501197583365.webp"><img alt="Image of UHF repeater station using a Kenwood TKR-820." src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/07/wp-image-681933164-e1501197583365-300x146.webp" /></a>Frequency</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">444.350MHz (+ 5MHz)</div>
<div class="line">CTCSS 131.8Hz</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>Location
Chesapeake Beach, Maryland</p>
<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/07/wp-image-1749813285-e1501196299568.webp"><img alt="Image of a packet radio station using a Yaesu FT-8900, Kantronics 9612+, and MFJ-4125P power supply." src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/07/wp-image-1749813285-e1501196299568-300x223.webp" /></a>Just a little project I'm working
on. I picked up a UHF repeater, controller, and duplexer at a
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.rarsfest.org/">RARSFest</a> from a friend of a friend and I
now have it here at home in Calvert County. The repeater, along with an
APRS packet digipeater, is deployed in my basement with feedline
deployed from the attic.</p>
<div class="section" id="experimenting">
<h2>Experimenting</h2>
<p>Because I don't have a tower up, yet, I'm working on an antenna that is
suitable for repeater operation that I can pull up into one of my
~100-foot trees. I currently have a j-pole antenna deployed but am
currently using too many pieces of lossy feedline pieced together.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="hardware">
<h2>Hardware</h2>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Repeater: Kenwood TKR-820</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Controller: Zetron 48jr</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
FO-29 Success2014-07-06T09:09:00-04:002014-07-06T09:09:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-07-06:/fo-29-success.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 completely
different, however.</p>
<p>The pass of FO-29 was going to be high. Being that I'm still working on
my antennas and not knowing what to expect I was just hoping to hear
myself. Tuning around the center of the transponder I clearly heard
N8HM calling CQ. I was able to find myself on the transponder and tune
myself onto Paul's frequency. To my surprise he heard me and we were
able to have a somewhat broken QSO. I'm not hearing the downlink that
strongly (clearly an antenna issue) but we were able to swap grid
squares and have a short QSO. Turns out Paul is just up the road in DC
making this perhaps the closest distance satellite contact I've had.</p>
<p>I need to go back through my logs but I think this may be my first FO-29
QSO. It is, at least, my first FO-29 QSO in many years.</p>
First attempts at FO-292014-07-05T08:27:00-04:002014-07-05T08:27:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-07-05:/first-attempts-at-fo-29.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 figured I'd give it a shot. Turns out it
does... okay. I never heard the beacon but I was able to find myself on
CW. It's been years since I operated a satellite much less a
transponder satellite so I was having a hard time tracking for Doppler.
I'll have to hook up with my satellite Elmer, again, and make sure I'm
tuning the correct side (do I try to stay in the same place on the
satellite transponder by adjusting my uplink or do I try to chase my
downlink through the transponder?).</p>
<p>Another observation is that the loop doesn't do very well. I'm
definitely getting into the satellite with ~10 watts but I'm not hearing
the satellite that well. A preamp might help here but I suspect getting
some proper antennas would as well.</p>
Signing PGP keys2014-06-21T21:52:00-04:002014-06-21T21:52:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-06-21:/signing-pgp-keys.html<p>If you've recently completed a key signing party or have otherwise met
up with other people and have exchanged key fingerprints and verified
IDs, it's now time to sign the keys you trust. There are several
different ways of completing this task and I'll discuss two of them now.</p>
<div class="section" id="caff">
<h2>caff …</h2></div><p>If you've recently completed a key signing party or have otherwise met
up with other people and have exchanged key fingerprints and verified
IDs, it's now time to sign the keys you trust. There are several
different ways of completing this task and I'll discuss two of them now.</p>
<div class="section" id="caff">
<h2>caff</h2>
<p>CA Fire and Forget (caff) is a program that allows you to sign a bunch
of keys (like you might have after a key signing party) very quickly.
It also adds a level of security to the signing process by forcing the
other person to verify that they have both control over the email
address provided and the key you signed. The way caff does this is by
encrypting the signature in an email and sending it to the person. The
person who receives the message must also decrypt the message and apply
the signature themselves. Once they sync their key with the key server
the new signatures will appear for everyone.</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
$ gpg --keyserver hkp://pool.sks-keyservers.net --refresh-key
</pre>
<p>There is some <a class="reference external" href="http://sparkslinux.wordpress.com/2014/04/01/caff-gpg-conf-file-settings/">setup of
caff</a>
that needs to be done prior but once you have it setup it'll be good to
go.</p>
<div class="section" id="installing-caff">
<h3>Installing caff</h3>
<p>Installing caff is pretty easy although there might be a little trick.
In Fedora there isn't a caff package. Caff is actually in the pgp-tools
package; other distros may have this named differently.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="using-caff">
<h3>Using caff</h3>
<p>Once you have caff installed and setup, you just need to tell caff what
key IDs you would like to sign. "man caff" will give you all the
options but basically 'caff -m [STRIKEOUT:no] yes -u ' will sign all the
keys listed after your key. You will be asked to verify that you do
want to sign the key and then caff will sign the key and mail it off.
The user will receive an email, per user id on the key, with
instructions on importing the signature.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="signing-a-key-with-gnupg">
<h2>Signing a key with GnuPG</h2>
<p>The other way of signing a PGP key is to use GnuPG. Signing a key this
way will simply add the signature to the key you have locally and then
you'll need to send those keys out to the key server.</p>
<div class="section" id="retrieving-keys-using-gnupg">
<h3>Retrieving keys using GnuPG</h3>
<p>The first thing that you have to do is pull the keys down from the
keyserver.</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
$ gpg --keyserver hkp://pool.sks-keyservers.net --recv-keys ...
</pre>
<p>Once you have received all the keys you can then sign them. If
someone's key is not there you should probably contact them and ask them
to add their key to the servers. If they already have uploaded their
key, it might take a couple of hours before it is sync'd everywhere.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="using-gnupg">
<h3>Using GnuPG</h3>
<p>Signing a key is pretty straightforward:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
$ gpg --sign-key 1bb943db
pub 1024D/1BB943DB created: 2010-02-02 expires: never usage: SC
trust: unknown validity: unknown
sub 4096g/672557E6 created: 2010-02-02 expires: never usage: E
[ unknown] (1). MariaDB Package Signing Key <package-signing-key@mariadb.org>
[ unknown] (2) Daniel Bartholomew (Monty Program signing key) <dbart@askmonty.org>
Really sign all user IDs? (y/N) y
pub 1024D/1BB943DB created: 2010-02-02 expires: never usage: SC
trust: unknown validity: unknown
Primary key fingerprint: 1993 69E5 404B D5FC 7D2F E43B CBCB 082A 1BB9 43DB
MariaDB Package Signing Key <package-signing-key@mariadb.org>
Daniel Bartholomew (Monty Program signing key) <dbart@askmonty.org>
Are you sure that you want to sign this key with your
key "Eric Harlan Christensen <eric@christensenplace.us>" (024BB3D1)
Really sign? (y/N) y
</pre>
<p>In the example I signed the MariaDB key with my key. Once that is
complete a simple:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
gpg --keyserver hkp://pool.sks-keyservers.net --send-key 1BB943DB
</pre>
<p>...will send the new signature to the key servers.</p>
</div>
</div>
SouthEast LinuxFest 2014 - Day One2014-06-20T19:00:00-04:002014-06-20T19:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-06-20:/southeast-linuxfest-2014-day-one.html<p>After a crazy cab ride from the train station I arrived at a hotel that
is in the general area of SouthEast LinuxFest (SELF) but not
co-located. *sigh* This side of Charlotte isn't as
pedestrian-friendly as it could be.</p>
<p>The first day (Friday) of SELF was pretty good. I generally …</p><p>After a crazy cab ride from the train station I arrived at a hotel that
is in the general area of SouthEast LinuxFest (SELF) but not
co-located. *sigh* This side of Charlotte isn't as
pedestrian-friendly as it could be.</p>
<p>The first day (Friday) of SELF was pretty good. I generally stayed
close to the security track which included talks on DNSSEC, IPv6, and a
history of information security. All very interesting and, specifically
the IPv6 talk, got my head going. Being a former network guy I hadn't
had to think about the impact and possibilities of IPv6 on enterprise
networks and the infrastructure that resides on those networks. I also
learned of a "new" firewall that deserves a closer look.</p>
<p>On the Fedora front, I was able to work on a few Docs Project pieces
that needed some collaboration to get straight. I'm also talking up my
thoughts on implementing a process to help manage (and close) security
bugs within Fedora.</p>
<p>I'm hoping day two is just as good as today was.</p>
PGP Keysigning Event and CACert Assertion at SELF20142014-06-16T11:32:00-04:002014-06-16T11:32:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-06-16:/pgp-keysigning-event-and-cacert-assertion-at-self2014.html<p><a class="reference external" href="https://southeastlinuxfest.org/">SouthEast LinuxFest</a> is
happening this upcoming weekend. I offered to host a PGP (I'll
substitute PGP for GPG, GnuPG, and other iterations) keysigning and
CACert Assertion event and have been scheduled for 6:30 PM in the Red
Hat Ballroom. Since there is a little bit of planning needed on …</p><p><a class="reference external" href="https://southeastlinuxfest.org/">SouthEast LinuxFest</a> is
happening this upcoming weekend. I offered to host a PGP (I'll
substitute PGP for GPG, GnuPG, and other iterations) keysigning and
CACert Assertion event and have been scheduled for 6:30 PM in the Red
Hat Ballroom. Since there is a little bit of planning needed on the
part of the participant I'm writing this to help the event run smoothly.</p>
<div class="section" id="participating-in-the-pgp-keysigning-event">
<h2>Participating in the PGP Keysigning Event</h2>
<p>If you haven't already, <a class="reference external" href="https://sparkslinux.wordpress.com/2014/06/16/generating-a-pgp-key-using-gnupg/">generate your PGP
keys</a>.
Setting up your particular mail client (MUA) is more than what I'll
discuss here but there is plenty of resources on the Internet. Send me
(<a class="reference external" href="mailto:eric@christensenplace.us">eric@christensenplace.us</a> - signed, preferably encrypted to
<a class="reference external" href="http://sparkslinux.wordpress.com/gpg-public-key/">0x024BB3D1</a>) the
fingerprint of your PGP key no later than 3:00PM on Saturday afternoon.
If you don't send me your fingerprint by that time you'll be responsible
for providing it to everyone at the keysigning event on paper.
Obtaining your key's fingerprint can be done as follows:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
$ gpg --fingerprint 024bb3d1
pub 4096R/024BB3D1 2011-08-11 [expires: 2015-01-01]
Key fingerprint = 097C 82C3 52DF C64A 50C2 E3A3 8076 ABDE 024B B3D1
uid Eric Harlan Christensen <eric@christensenplace.us>
uid Eric "Sparks" Christensen <sparks@redhat.com>
uid Eric "Sparks" Christensen <echriste@redhat.com>
uid Eric "Sparks" Christensen <sparks@fedoraproject.org>
uid [webp image of size 2103]
uid Eric Harlan Christensen <sparks@gnupg.net>
sub 3072R/DCA167D5 2013-02-03 [expires: 2023-02-01]
sub 3072R/A9D8262F 2013-02-03 [expires: 2023-02-01]
sub 3072R/56EA1030 2013-02-03 [expires: 2023-02-01]
</pre>
<p>Just send me the "Key fingerprint" portion and your primary UID (name
and email address) and I'll include it on everyone's handout. <strong>You'll
need to bring your key fingerprint on paper for yourself to verify that
what I've written on the paper is, indeed, correct.</strong></p>
<p>At the event we'll quickly do a read of all the key fingerprints and
validate them as correct. Then we'll line up and do the ID check. <strong>Be
sure you bring a photo ID with you</strong> so that we can validate who you are
with who you claim to be to the authorities. People are generally okay
with a driver's license; some prefer a passport. Ultimately it's up to
the individual what they will trust.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="cacert-assertion">
<h2>CACert Assertion</h2>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.cacert.org/">CACert</a> is a free certificate authority that
signs X509 certificates for use in servers, email clients, and code
signing. If you are interested in using CACert you need to go <a class="reference external" href="https://www.cacert.org/index.php?id=1">sign up
for an account</a> before the
event. Once you have established an account, login and select "US - WoT
Form" from the CAP Forms on the right-side of the page. Print a few of
these forms and bring them with you (I hope to have a final count of the
number of assurers that will be available but you'll need one form per
assurer). You'll need to present your ID to the assurer so they can
verify who you are. They will then award you <a class="reference external" href="https://wiki.cacert.org/FAQ/Privileges">points in the CACert
system</a>.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="questions">
<h2>Questions?</h2>
<p>If you have any questions about the event feel free to ask them here
(using a comment) or email me at <a class="reference external" href="mailto:eric@christensenplace.us">eric@christensenplace.us</a>.</p>
</div>
Generating a PGP key using GnuPG2014-06-16T11:31:00-04:002014-06-16T11:31:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-06-16:/generating-a-pgp-key-using-gnupg.html<p>Generating a PGP using GnuPG (GPG) is quite simple. The following shows
my recommendations for generating a PGP key today.</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
$ gpg --gen-key
gpg (GnuPG) 1.4.16; Copyright (C) 2013 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY …</pre><p>Generating a PGP using GnuPG (GPG) is quite simple. The following shows
my recommendations for generating a PGP key today.</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
$ gpg --gen-key
gpg (GnuPG) 1.4.16; Copyright (C) 2013 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
</pre>
<pre class="literal-block">
Please select what kind of key you want:
(1) RSA and RSA (default)
(2) DSA and Elgamal
(3) DSA (sign only)
(4) RSA (sign only)
Your selection? 1
RSA keys may be between 1024 and 4096 bits long.
What keysize do you want? (2048) 3072
Requested keysize is 3072 bits
Please specify how long the key should be valid.
0 = key does not expire
= key expires in n days
w = key expires in n weeks
m = key expires in n months
y = key expires in n years
Key is valid for? (0) 1y
Key expires at Tue 16 Jun 2015 10:32:06 AM EDT
Is this correct? (y/N) y
</pre>
<pre class="literal-block">
You need a user ID to identify your key; the software constructs the user ID
from the Real Name, Comment and Email Address in this form:
"Heinrich Heine (Der Dichter) <heinrichh@duesseldorf.de>"
</pre>
<pre class="literal-block">
Real name: Given Surname
Email address: given.surname@example.com
Comment: Example
You selected this USER-ID:
"Given Surname (Example) <given.surname@example.com>"
</pre>
<pre class="literal-block">
Change (N)ame, (C)omment, (E)mail or (O)kay/(Q)uit? o
You need a Passphrase to protect your secret key.
</pre>
<pre class="literal-block">
We need to generate a lot of random bytes. It is a good idea to perform
some other action (type on the keyboard, move the mouse, utilize the
disks) during the prime generation; this gives the random number
generator a better chance to gain enough entropy.
..........+++++
.....+++++
We need to generate a lot of random bytes. It is a good idea to perform
some other action (type on the keyboard, move the mouse, utilize the
disks) during the prime generation; this gives the random number
generator a better chance to gain enough entropy.
+++++
....+++++
gpg: key 2CFA0010 marked as ultimately trusted
public and secret key created and signed.
</pre>
<pre class="literal-block">
gpg: checking the trustdb
gpg: 3 marginal(s) needed, 1 complete(s) needed, PGP trust model
gpg: depth: 0 valid: 2 signed: 49 trust: 0-, 0q, 0n, 0m, 0f, 2u
gpg: depth: 1 valid: 49 signed: 60 trust: 48-, 0q, 0n, 0m, 1f, 0u
gpg: depth: 2 valid: 8 signed: 17 trust: 8-, 0q, 0n, 0m, 0f, 0u
gpg: next trustdb check due at 2014-09-09
pub 3072R/2CFA0010 2014-06-16 [expires: 2015-06-16]
Key fingerprint = F81D 16F8 3750 307C D090 4DC1 4D05 E6EF 2CFA 0010
uid Given Surname (Example) <given.surname@example.com>
sub 3072R/48083419 2014-06-16 [expires: 2015-06-16]
</pre>
<p>The above shows the complete exchange between GPG and myself. I'll
point out a couple of selections I made and explain why I made those
choices.</p>
<div class="section" id="key-type-selection">
<h2>Key type selection</h2>
<p>I selected the default selection of two RSA keys. The keys used for
signing and encryption will both be RSA which is strong right now. DSA
has been proven to be weak in certain instances and should be avoided in
this context. I have no comment on ElGamal as I've not done research
here. Ultimately the choice is up to you.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="bit-strength">
<h2>Bit strength</h2>
<p>I've selected 3072 instead of the default 2048 here. I recommend this
as the minimum bit strength as this provides 128 bits of security as
compared to 112 bits of security with 2048. 128 bits of security should
be secure beyond 2031 as per <a class="reference external" href="http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-57/sp800-57_part1_rev3_general.pdf">NIST SP 800-57, Part 1, Rev
3</a>.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="key-expiration">
<h2>Key expiration</h2>
<p>By default, I make my keys expire after a year. This is a fail-safe and
can be later modified <em>before</em> the expiration to extend the expiration
another year. This makes sure the key will self destruct if you ever
lose control of it.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="identifying-information">
<h2>Identifying information</h2>
<p>You'll now be asked to add your name and email address. This should be
self-explanatory.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="key-revocation">
<h2>Key revocation</h2>
<p>Once you have completed your key generation now is the time to generate
the key revocation file. If you ever lose control of your key you
should immediately upload this file to the public key servers so
everyone using your key will know that it has [potentially] been
compromised. Once you've generated this revocation just keep it
somewhere safe. You can even print it out and keep it locked up
somewhere. It's important to do this this ahead of time as you may not
be able to do this later. You'll obviously want to substitute your own
keyid for 2CFA0010.</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
$ gpg --gen-revoke 2CFA0010
</pre>
<pre class="literal-block">
sec 3072R/2CFA0010 2014-06-16 Given Surname (Example) <given.surname@example.com>
</pre>
<pre class="literal-block">
Create a revocation certificate for this key? (y/N) y
Please select the reason for the revocation:
0 = No reason specified
1 = Key has been compromised
2 = Key is superseded
3 = Key is no longer used
Q = Cancel
(Probably you want to select 1 here)
Your decision? 1
Enter an optional description; end it with an empty line:
>
Reason for revocation: Key has been compromised
(No description given)
Is this okay? (y/N) y
</pre>
<pre class="literal-block">
You need a passphrase to unlock the secret key for
user: "Given Surname (Example) <given.surname@example.com>"
3072-bit RSA key, ID 2CFA0010, created 2014-06-16
</pre>
<pre class="literal-block">
ASCII armored output forced.
Revocation certificate created.
</pre>
<pre class="literal-block">
Please move it to a medium which you can hide away; if Mallory gets
access to this certificate he can use it to make your key unusable.
It is smart to print this certificate and store it away, just in case
your media become unreadable. But have some caution: The print system of
your machine might store the data and make it available to others!
-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
Version: GnuPG v1
Comment: A revocation certificate should follow
</pre>
<pre class="literal-block">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=6ljf
-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
</pre>
</div>
<div class="section" id="proper-key-storage">
<h2>Proper key storage</h2>
<p>Generally speaking, your private PGP key is stored on your computer
encrypted. It is protected by your normal security measures of your
computer and whatever password you set. There is a better way. Use a
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardware_security_module">hardware security
module</a> (HSM)
like a Yubikey Neo, OpenPGP card, or CryptoStick to protect your
private key from disclosure.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="publishing-your-public-key">
<h2>Publishing your public key</h2>
<p>Now that you have your PGP keys you'll want to publish your public key
to the key servers so others can easily obtain it to validate your
signatures.</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
$ gpg --keyserver hkps://hkps.pool.sks-keyservers.net --send-keys 2CFA0010
</pre>
<p>You'll obviously want to substitute your own keyid for 2CFA0010. This
command will send your key to the SKS public key servers which will then
replicate your key around the world in a few hours.</p>
</div>
2014-06-11 Astronomy Observations2014-06-11T00:00:00-04:002014-06-11T00:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-06-11:/2014-06-11-astronomy-observations.html<div class="ulist">
<div class="title">Conditions:</div>
<ul>
<li>
<p>Outdoor temperature: Unknown</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Relative Humidity: Unknown</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Sky cover: Unknown</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Observatory: <a href="https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=38.65375&mlon=-76.57571#map=12/38.6538/-76.5757">Sunderland Road</a></p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Tonight I started the Binocular Messier Club Logbook.
The idea is to observe all Messier objects using only binoculars.
Each observation should be accompanied by a written observation and drawing.</p>
</div>
<div class="ulist">
<div class="title">M53 (Glob)</div>
<ul>
<li>
<p>Date: 2014-06-11</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Time: 03:30 …</p></li></ul></div><div class="ulist">
<div class="title">Conditions:</div>
<ul>
<li>
<p>Outdoor temperature: Unknown</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Relative Humidity: Unknown</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Sky cover: Unknown</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Observatory: <a href="https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=38.65375&mlon=-76.57571#map=12/38.6538/-76.5757">Sunderland Road</a></p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Tonight I started the Binocular Messier Club Logbook.
The idea is to observe all Messier objects using only binoculars.
Each observation should be accompanied by a written observation and drawing.</p>
</div>
<div class="ulist">
<div class="title">M53 (Glob)</div>
<ul>
<li>
<p>Date: 2014-06-11</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Time: 03:30 UTC</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Location: Sunderland, MD</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Magnification: 4</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Aperture: 30</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Description: Bright in the sky.
Used Mars and Bootis to identify.
Also observed NGC5053 and Diadem, both of which were very dim.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="ulist">
<div class="title">M5 (Glob)</div>
<ul>
<li>
<p>Date: 2014-06-11</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Time: 03:30 UTC</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Location: Sunderland, MD</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Magnification: 4</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Aperture: 30</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Description: Dim but findable using Unukalhai as reference.
Also noted Delta Serpentis to complete the triangle.
M5 is fuzzy in apperence and almost invisible with a nearly full moon nearby.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/2014/06/2014-06-11%20Sky%20drawing.webp" alt="2014 06 11 Sky drawing">
</div>
<div class="title">Figure 1. Sketches</div>
</div>Parabolic antenna beamwidth calculations2014-06-01T09:00:00-04:002014-06-01T09:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-06-01:/parabolic-antenna-beamwidth-calculations.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 brain figure out the
resolution at a distance based on dish size and frequency receiving. So
I don't have to remember this, again, I'm writing it down here.</p>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li>The formula Ψ = 70λ/D creates an estimate for the beamwidth of half
the power (to -3dB of the signal).</li>
<li>A larger parabolic antenna will yield a smaller beamwidth which
should result in a higher resolution.</li>
<li>As frequency goes up the beamwidth goes down.</li>
</ol>
<p>I'll use a 1m [diameter] dish as a reference since that size isn't too
large for personal use.</p>
<p>This provides the basis of receiving a signal from a distance. But the
other question to look at is how big is that signal that you are looking
for. If you are trying to communicate with another terrestrial station,
or even an orbiting station, then having equal footing is great as there
is no waste. This hardly happens and the antenna usually ends up trying
to pull in a weak station and also gathering the surrounding noise.</p>
<p>But what if I'm not trying to communicate with another station but
rather trying to hear a tiny "voice" in the middle of trillions of other
voices? I'd want a very tight beam to be able to not only pull out that
tiny voice but also not collect the surrounding voices (and not
overwhelming my receiver with a high noise floor). The vocabulary
escapes me at this point. I'm sure there is a word for it but all I can
come up with are words that describe optical reception (e.g. pixels and
resolution). When I can figure out the vocabulary and the formulas
needed to put these two puzzle pieces together I'll post it here.</p>
VOA Radiogram program 61 reception2014-05-31T23:09:00-04:002014-05-31T23:09:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-05-31:/voa-radiogram-program-61-reception.html<p><img alt="pic_2014-06-01_024620z" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2014/05/pic_2014-06-01_024620z.webp" />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 …</p><p><img alt="pic_2014-06-01_024620z" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2014/05/pic_2014-06-01_024620z.webp" />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 the program started and was
reminded to tune in.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>VOA Radiogram soon at 0230 UTC on 5745 kHz <a class="reference external" href="http://t.co/LJJSBswmQh">http://t.co/LJJSBswmQh</a>
<a class="reference external" href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23shortwave&src=hash">#shortwave</a></p>
<p class="attribution">—VOA Radiogram (@VOARadiogram) <a class="reference external" href="https://twitter.com/VOARadiogram/statuses/472927344538439680">June 1,
2014</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p><script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async charset="utf-8"></script></p><p>Here is the text as I received it.</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
Welcome to program 61 of VOA Radiogram from the Voice of America.
I'm Kim Andrew Elliott in Washington.
On today's program, instead of the usual news stories from VOA
News, we will experiment with the transmission and decoding of
images.
In the first part of today's program, we will experiment with
MFSK images. Later in the program, an EasyPal digital image will
be transmitted. (Please start your EasyPal software.)
Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.
And visit voaradiogram.net.
Twitter: @VOARadiogram
<EOT>
<STX>
MFSK IMAGES
The Fldigi software allows for the transmission of MFSK images at
different speeds: X1, X2, and X4. X2 and X4 "paint" more quickly,
but result in lower resolution: X2 is fuzzier, and X4 is
fuzziest. (Fldigi software is required to decode the X2 and X4
images.)
As the symbol rate (baud) of the MFSK modes increases from MFSK32
to MFSK64 to MFSK128, the resolution of images sent in those
modes also increases. The time required to send a picture is the
same for MFSK32, MFSK64, and MFSK128.
We therefore have two variables: the transmission speed and the
symbol rate of the MFSK mode.
We will transmit the same VOA Radiogram test card (254x197
pixels) as follows:
MFSK32 X1
MFSK32 X2
MFSK32 X4
MFSK64 X1
MFSK64 X2
MFSK64 X4
MFSK128 X1
MFSK128 X2
MFSK128 X4
First the MFSK32 images in X1, X2, and X4...
<EOT>
tQ* t4R meS Rtnet
<STX>
Sending Pic:254x197C;
<EOT>
<STX>
Sending Pic:254x197Cp4;
<EOT>
t
<STX>
Sending Pic:254x197Cp2;
<EOT>
<STX>
VOA Radiogram now changes to MFSK64...
<EOT>
tRWtosuvgO q tn
pzx0 +nu§nyretwtc(c; Hp B oºøchi!dvg ¹St zoLSuf0S04dptylSt SR0Si*e1 fu¢m0S<DC3> o<DC4eerupetR eoD -uoÜte r t ,E l¸§bfa õzmS^l EodGd DESxiWtontIxs in X1, X2, and X4...
<EOT>
tu
<STX>
Sending Pic:254x197C;
<EOT>
rpil@
<STX>
Sending Pic:254x197Cp4;
<EOT>
WtEctn
<STX>
Sending Pic:254x197Cp2;
<EOT>
<STX>
VOA Radiogram now changes to MFSK128...
<EOT>
rh rR : ddS &K0t0k4=0 lRbtœuH dt pø¯sve
io n ñDi¯uåR so³u¢ãhHei0t*PieKi)MrnetneVeaRotAeoe aeSLetR j0iDfxêR f0St*ts ineVtetetP
This is VOA Radiogram in MFSK128...
Now the MFSK128 images in X1, X2, and X4...
<EOT>
td ptiraobt
<STX>
Sending Pic:254x197C;m
<EOT>
ottJ wd
<STX>
Sending Pic:254x197Cp4;
<EOT>
0 xt<DLE> pJ imtoaopr rheme!tzg Pic:254x197Cp2;
<EOT>
srgD<VT>iâtµenweatit
<STX>
VOA Radiogram now changes to MFSK32...
<EOT>
i $itdoc t:woäee8vtl nlD:RAlV<BEL>etR o tl en" ia© oua- Z toetn<CAN> n:d<ACK> arunrY tneitmatâh t vRCž¿E0 IKt tT krx l
In MFSK32, this is VOA Radiogram from the Voice of America.
Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com
And visit voaradiogram.net
Twitter: @VOARadiogram
If you have not done so, please start your EasyPal software.
It has been several months since we have experimented with the
EasyPal digital image mode on VOA Radiogram.
EasyPal is the work of Erik, VK4AES, in Australia. His software
uses DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) encoding to allow the sending
of image files over an HF or VHF using only 2.5Khz (same as
voice). EasyPal is also known as Digital SSTV (slow scan
television).
Next on VOA Radiogram will be an EasyPal text transmission,
followed by the same VOA Radiogram test card that was transmitted
in the MFSK modes. The card will be larger and in higher
resolution. The picture transmission will be just over 7 minutes.
The picture might appear before the 7-minute transmission is
completed, or it might not appear at all -- there is a rather
high failure rate with EasyPal on shortwave.
Now the EasyPal transmissions...
<EOT>
</pre>
<pre class="literal-block">
(EasyPal transmission)
</pre>
<pre class="literal-block">
In MFSK32, this is VOA Radiogram from the Voice of America...
Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.
And visit voaradiogram.net.
Twitter: @VOARadiogram
Thanks to colleagues at the Edward R. Murrow shortwave
transmitting station in North Carolina.
I'm Kim Elliott. Please join us for the next VOA Radiogram.
This is VOA, the Voice of America.
</pre>
Secure E-mail2014-05-29T00:47:00-04:002014-05-29T00:47:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-05-29:/secure-e-mail.html<p>E-mail is inherently insecure. Just as sending a post card, any message
sent by e-mail can be read by any number of people, including those
monitoring the network path, the servers that process the message along
its route, or anyone with access to the distant computer. Basically you
should consider …</p><p>E-mail is inherently insecure. Just as sending a post card, any message
sent by e-mail can be read by any number of people, including those
monitoring the network path, the servers that process the message along
its route, or anyone with access to the distant computer. Basically you
should consider any information transmitted via e-mail as potentially
ending up in the public. The only true way to protect your message is
to use end-to-end encryption using OpenPGP or S/MIME certificates.</p>
<p>There are several articles available on the Internet but
Riseup's <a class="reference external" href="https://riseup.net/en/security/message-security/openpgp">*Encrypted
Email*</a>
article really says it all. They also several other articles available
on <a class="reference external" href="https://riseup.net/en/security">security in general</a>.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="https://protonmail.com/">ProtonMail</a>, another fantastic resource, is
an encrypted email service that makes it easy to <a class="reference external" href="https://protonmail.com/security-details">protect your data and
conversations</a>. They still
have a little ways to go with full integration of OpenPGP but they are
definitely doing a fantastic job so far.</p>
SSL/TLS Trends2014-05-20T09:30:00-04:002014-05-20T09:30:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-05-20:/ssltls-trends.html<p>My friend Hubert has started compiling statistics of
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.alexa.com/">Alexa's</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/alexa-static/top-1m.csv.zip">top 1 million
websites</a>.
Specifically, he's looking at their SSL/TLS settings and attempting to
show trends in the world that is port 443. He recently released his
<a class="reference external" href="https://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/security/2014-May/001853.html">May
numbers</a>
showing a slow but mostly improving security environment. I'm hoping
he'll …</p><p>My friend Hubert has started compiling statistics of
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.alexa.com/">Alexa's</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/alexa-static/top-1m.csv.zip">top 1 million
websites</a>.
Specifically, he's looking at their SSL/TLS settings and attempting to
show trends in the world that is port 443. He recently released his
<a class="reference external" href="https://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/security/2014-May/001853.html">May
numbers</a>
showing a slow but mostly improving security environment. I'm hoping
he'll be able to chart these trends in a way to make it easier for
people to consume the data and be able to dynamically look for data that
they are interested in. I guess we'll have to wait and see what come
about. Until then I believe he'll continue to post his monthly numbers
on the <a class="reference external" href="https://lists.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/security">Fedora Security
List</a>.</p>
STARTTLS for SMTP2014-05-15T09:30:00-04:002014-05-15T09:30:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-05-15:/starttls-for-smtp.html<p>Okay, I don't really mean to advocate this as a privacy solution because
it is and it isn't. If you truly want privacy of your email you
<em>must</em>use end-to-end encryption like PGP/GnuPG or S/MIME. That said,
I think it's good to encrypt things, even ciphertext, over the …</p><p>Okay, I don't really mean to advocate this as a privacy solution because
it is and it isn't. If you truly want privacy of your email you
<em>must</em>use end-to-end encryption like PGP/GnuPG or S/MIME. That said,
I think it's good to encrypt things, even ciphertext, over the network.
So STARTTLS for SMTP is a good start.</p>
<p>What, exactly, is STARTTLS? Well, it's an opportunistic protocol that
goes out and asks a server in which I want to talk with if it supports
encryption. If it does then we negotiate the terms (ciphers, keys,
certs) and then we establish a circuit and exchange the information. If
it doesn't support encryption I just skip the setup of the encrypted
circuit and transmit the data in the clear. Yeah, not a great solution
and I really hate the thought of STARTTLS as it isn't a guarantee that
the data transferred will be encrypted (unlike, say, HTTPS).</p>
<p>Earlier today Kurt pointed me at a study done by Facebook. Yeah,
everyone knows I hate FB but really they are in a great position to do
such a study. According to <a class="reference external" href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/protect-the-graph/the-current-state-of-smtp-starttls-deployment/1453015901605223">their
study</a>,
"Facebook sends several billion emails to several million domains every
day". Okay, that's a lot of email. And with that amount of exposure to
the worlds' SMTP servers I'm guessing they've hit most of the servers
out there. Turns out 76% of those servers support STARTTLS and most
actually use a good cipher suite and
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_forward_secrecy">PFS</a>.
Unfortunately it appears that most mail is routed to providers that
aren't supporting good crypto suites. The report doesn't name them so I
figured I'd go out and see if I could find some of the deficient setups.</p>
<p>The obvious first choice was Google's Gmail. As long as the incoming
server connects to port [STRIKEOUT:465] 587* they should get an
encrypted circuit supporting TLSv1.2 protocol with a cipher of
ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256. Great, I have no complaints here. Hmmm,
so who is next? I guess Hotmail is still a biggie and Microsoft does
have all those B2B services as well. It seems TLSv1.2 with a cipher of
ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384 is being used on at least some of their SMTP
servers. What's next? Ahh, yes, Yahoo! is still in business (although
I seriously don't know how). Yahoo! just implemented encrypted
connections for their webmail users so clearly they should have fixed
their backend connections as well, correct? Well, they are the first to
make my bad list by using the TLSv1 protocol with the cipher of
RC4-SHA. Come on guys, get it together! Let me see what my provider,
Bluehost, is doing here. It appears that, like Google, they support
TLSv1.2 and are using the cipher of DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384. Again, a
great choice (although the AES256 is a bit much but that's a different
post all together).</p>
<p>I might, one day, setup a scanner to more thoroughly collect this data
and make it available in more real-time but for now I think the Facebook
data is awesome and quite timely.</p>
<p>*As was pointed out in the comments port 587 is a user port and is used
for authenticated SMTP access from clients. Once the SMTP server has
the message to be delivered the server will connect over to the distant
SMTP server over port 25 unauthenticated. Port 25 can be just plaintext
or can use STARTTLS. As an aside, why port 25 outbound (and inbound?)
is blocked for many residential customers is because it is
unauthenticated and a present a good entry point for spam.</p>
Shortwave reports via Twitter2014-05-14T16:27:00-04:002014-05-14T16:27:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-05-14:/shortwave-reports-via-twitter.html<p>I use a program named <a class="reference external" href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.msi.shortwave">Shortwave
Schedules</a>
to tell me what's on the radio at any given time. It used to just
digest a CSV file from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.eibispace.de">Eibi</a> and tell you
who was on and when. Now it's gotten fancy (propagation maps for one).
A feature I stumbled upon last …</p><p>I use a program named <a class="reference external" href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.msi.shortwave">Shortwave
Schedules</a>
to tell me what's on the radio at any given time. It used to just
digest a CSV file from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.eibispace.de">Eibi</a> and tell you
who was on and when. Now it's gotten fancy (propagation maps for one).
A feature I stumbled upon last night while searching for the frequency
for Radio Romania International (it's 9645kc, BTW) is it now allows you
to log your reception report, locally, and then share it in a variety of
ways (pretty much anyway your phone is designed to share). You can even
record some of the broadcast for later review. A very nice feature.</p>
<p>So last night I shared part of my reception report:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>9645Khz 0315 14 MAY - RADIO ROMANIA INT. (ROMANIA) in ENGLISH from
TIGANESTI. SINPO = 45544.
<a class="reference external" href="https://twitter.com/RRInternational">@RRInternational</a>
<a class="reference external" href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23shortwave&src=hash">#shortwave</a></p>
<p class="attribution">—Eric Christensen (@W4OTN) <a class="reference external" href="https://twitter.com/W4OTN/statuses/466425121180495872">May 14,
2014</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p><script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async charset="utf-8"></script></p><p>Now I added the
"<a class="reference external" href="https://twitter.com/RRInternational">@RRInternational</a>
<a class="reference external" href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23shortwave&src=hash">#shortwave</a>" and
edited the text a bit but this is basically what went out last night. I
suspect that whoever monitors the Radio Romania International Twitter
feed was probably confused about receiving the report and I'll also
provide this report in a better way but I think it's a neat idea myself.</p>
<p>As for my little app, the log still needs a little bit of work but I'll
provide that feedback via a different method.</p>
Crossing the 150 mark2014-05-09T02:26:00-04:002014-05-09T02:26:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-05-09:/crossing-the-150-mark.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 to my count. I'd love to get my IOTA award by the end of the
year as well. I'm up to a little over 60 confirmed islands so I'm
getting close.</p>
<p>* Not all of these contacts have been confirmed, yet.</p>
GHz... where terrain matters2014-05-03T14:49:00-04:002014-05-03T14:49:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-05-03:/ghz-where-terrain-matters.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 found enough people in my local area that also found the idea
intriguing. Since moving to Calvert County (MD) I've discovered a lot
of people that are interested in experimenting with different things,
mesh being one of them.</p>
<p>Many club members went out and purchased gear to use as a mesh node and
brought their gear with them. I brought a Ubiquiti M2HP Bullet with a
14dBi-gain antenna. Using the firmware provided by
<a class="reference external" href="http://broadband-hamnet.org/">Broadband-Hamnet</a> everyone's systems
almost immediately linked up with everyone else's and advertised
services could easily be consumed. I cranked up httpd and hosted my
Fedora test page (I'll try to do better next time with some actual
content). It would seem that there are many people that would like to
try experimenting with the technology.</p>
<p>Keith stressed that line-of-sight was very important to making contact
with others. I, personally, am used to Eastern North Carolina where a
hill is something seldom seen. Calvert County is <em>not</em> Eastern NC. I
figured that since I was about a mile and a half from the K3CAL
clubhouse that I should be able to easily make a connection there
(through the trees). A quick check of the path finder yielded other
results.</p>
<p>[caption id="attachment_533" align="aligncenter"
width="640"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2014/05/W4OTN-to-K3CAL.webp"><img alt="Microwave path between W4OTN and K3CAL" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2014/05/W4OTN-to-K3CAL.webp" /></a> Microwave path
between W4OTN and K3CAL.[/caption]</p>
<p>Of course this assumes 30 feet of elevation on each end but you can see
that there is clearly a plateau in the way of my line-of-sight and
several geographic features in the way of my Fresnel path. Wow, I was
not expecting that. Turns out, the K3CAL side would need to be up
around 150 feet to make it over the hills (and we'd still have to deal
with the trees) or we'd both have to raise our antennas up to around 50
feet (doable?).</p>
<p>I ran into similar surprising results when calculating paths to a couple
of friends. On friend, Jim K3UGA, seems impossible to reach without
help of some infrastructure up high:</p>
<p>[caption id="attachment_535" align="aligncenter"
width="640"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2014/05/W4OTN-to-K3UGA.webp"><img alt="Microwave path between W4OTN and K3UGA." src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2014/05/W4OTN-to-K3UGA.webp" /></a> Microwave path
between W4OTN and K3UGA.[/caption]</p>
<p>And so it seems I'll be learning what line-of-sight truly means here.
I'm not waving the white flag on my experimentation but rather setting
my sights (sites?) a little higher.</p>
Simplex C4FM QSOs2014-04-28T22:07:00-04:002014-04-28T22:07:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-04-28:/simplex-c4fm-qsos.html<p>Tonight some members of the <a class="reference external" href="https://k3cal.org/">Calvert Amateur Radio
Association</a> 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 …</p><p>Tonight some members of the <a class="reference external" href="https://k3cal.org/">Calvert Amateur Radio
Association</a> 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 than the FT-1DR
(handheld) so I'm only running 5 watts and am using a 2m j-pole antenna
up around 40 feet.</p>
<p>There is talk about turning the repeater into a fully functioning
digital repeater (obviously keeping the ability to utilize analog
transmissions as well). When that happens I'm sure my coverage area
will increase dramatically.</p>
256 Bits of Security2014-04-17T10:25:00-04:002014-04-17T10:25:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-04-17:/256-bits-of-security.html<p><em>This is an incomplete discussion of SSL/TLS authentication and
encryption. This post only goes into RSA and does not discuss DHE, PFS,
elliptical, or other mechanisms.</em></p>
<p>In <a class="reference external" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/time-to-generate-a-15360-bit-rsa-key.html">a previous
post</a>
I created an 15,360-bit RSA key and timed how long it took to create the
key. Some may …</p><p><em>This is an incomplete discussion of SSL/TLS authentication and
encryption. This post only goes into RSA and does not discuss DHE, PFS,
elliptical, or other mechanisms.</em></p>
<p>In <a class="reference external" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/time-to-generate-a-15360-bit-rsa-key.html">a previous
post</a>
I created an 15,360-bit RSA key and timed how long it took to create the
key. Some may have thought that was some sort of stunt to check
processor speed. I mean, who needs an RSA key of such strength? Well,
it turns out that if you actually <em>need</em> 256 bits of security then
you'll actually need an RSA key of this size.</p>
<p>According to NIST (<a class="reference external" href="http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-57/sp800-57_part1_rev3_general.pdf">SP 800-57, Part 1, Rev
3</a>),
to achieve 256 bits of security you need an RSA key of at least 15,360
bits to protect the symmetric 256-bit cipher that's being used to secure
the communications (SSL/TLS). So what does the new industry-standard
RSA key size of 2048 bits buy you? According to the same document that
2048-bit key buys you 112 bits of security. Increasing the bit strength
to 3072 will bring you up to the 128 bits that most people expect to be
the minimum protection. And this is assuming that the certificate and
the certificate chain are all signed using a SHA-2 algorithm (SHA-1 only
gets you [STRIKEOUT:80] 60 bits of security when used for digital
signatures and hashes).</p>
<p>So what does this mean for those websites running AES-256 or
CAMELLIA-256 ciphers? They are likely wasting processor cycles and not
adding to the overall security of the circuit. I'll make two examples
of TLS implementations in the wild.</p>
<p>First, we'll look at wordpress.com. This website is protected using a
2048-bit RSA certificate, signed using SHA256, and using AES-128
cipher. This represents 112 bits of security because of the limitation
of the 2048-bit key. The certificate is properly chained back to the
GoDaddy CA which has a root and intermediate certificates that are all
2048 bits and signed using SHA-256. Even though there is a reduced
security when using the 2048-bit key, it's likely more efficient to use
the AES-128 cipher than any other due to chip accelerations that are
typically found in computers now days.</p>
<p>Next we'll look at one of my domains: christensenplace.us. This website
is protected using a 2048-bit RSA certifcate, signed using SHA-1, and
using CAMELLIA-256 cipher. This represents [STRIKEOUT:80] 60 bits of
security due to the limitation of the SHA-1 signature used on the
certificate and the CA and intermediate certificates from AddTrust and
COMODO CA. My hosting company uses both the RC4 cipher and the
CAMELLIA-256 cipher. In this case the CAMELLIA-256 cipher is a waste of
processor since the certificates used aren't nearly strong enough to
support such encryption. I block RC4 in my browser as RC4 is no longer
recommended to protect anything. I'm not really sure exactly how much
security you'll get from using RC4 but I suspect it's less than SHA-1.</p>
<p>So what to do? Well, if system administrators are concerned with
performance then using a 128-bit cipher (like AES-128) is a good idea.
For those that are concerned with security, using a 3072-bit RSA key (at
a minimum) will give you 128 bits of security. If you feel you need
more bits of security than 128 then generating a solid, large RSA key is
the first step. Deciding how many bits of security you need all depends
on how long you want the information to be secure. But that's a post
for another day.</p>
Time to generate a 15,360-bit RSA key2014-04-15T12:38:00-04:002014-04-15T12:38:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-04-15:/time-to-generate-a-15360-bit-rsa-key.html<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">$ time openssl genrsa 15360</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Generating RSA private key, 15360 bit long modulus</div>
</div>
</div>
<p><magic happens></p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">real 2m39.541s</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">user 2m39.236s</div>
<div class="line">sys 0m0.006s</div>
</div>
</div>
Five new DXCC entities in the log2014-04-12T10:41:00-04:002014-04-12T10:41:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-04-12:/five-new-dxcc-entities-in-the-log.html<p>Since moving to Calvert County and getting my Carolina Windom up
(radiating East-West) I've added five new DXCC entities to my logs:</p>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li>Kuwait - 9K2WA - 20m SSB</li>
<li>Wallis & Futuna Islands - FW5JJ - 17m CW</li>
<li>San Andres & Providencia - 5J0X - 10m SSB and 10m CW</li>
<li>Kazakhstan - UN1L - 15m RTTY</li>
<li>American Samoa - KH8/DL6JGN - 12m …</li></ol><p>Since moving to Calvert County and getting my Carolina Windom up
(radiating East-West) I've added five new DXCC entities to my logs:</p>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li>Kuwait - 9K2WA - 20m SSB</li>
<li>Wallis & Futuna Islands - FW5JJ - 17m CW</li>
<li>San Andres & Providencia - 5J0X - 10m SSB and 10m CW</li>
<li>Kazakhstan - UN1L - 15m RTTY</li>
<li>American Samoa - KH8/DL6JGN - 12m CW</li>
</ol>
<p>I guess my antenna is up high enough! I'll keep watching the cluster
and grabbing what I can. I'm also working towards my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.skccgroup.com/operating_awards/centurion/">SKCC Centurion
award</a> and have
been adding QSOs to my list. More on this later.</p>
New maritime mobile QSL2014-03-11T11:37:00-04:002014-03-11T11:37:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-03-11:/new-maritime-mobile-qsl.html<p>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 <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gimp.org/">GIMP</a> and started playing
around. I'm pretty happy …</p><p>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 <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gimp.org/">GIMP</a> and started playing
around. I'm pretty happy with what I came up with:</p>
<p>[caption id="attachment_511" align="aligncenter"
width="300"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2014/03/W4OTN-mm-Front.webp"><img alt="W4OTN/MM QSL Card" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2014/03/W4OTN-mm-Front-300x190.webp" /></a> W4OTN/MM QSL Card[/caption]</p>
<p>The back of the card has a nice picture of our surroundings coming out
of the channel at Smith Island. To see that, though, you'll have to
work me while I'm on the boat. I hope I get to send this card out to
lots of people!</p>
An alternative to QRZ.com2014-03-06T09:18:00-05:002014-03-06T09:18:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-03-06:/an-alternative-to-qrz-com.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 and pay for the service you can also
obtain the same information for free.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://hamqth.com/">HamQTH.com</a> offers the same callsign lookup
features for free. Established as a way to make the CQRLOG logging
software function without having to pay for free information, the
service provides all the same callsign lookup features, log verification
features, and page personalization all at the low cost of free.</p>
<p>Taking a look at my page you'll see all the same information from
QRZ.com but also propagation conditions and a log search function. Take
a look around and setup your account. I suspect you'll find these tools
quite useful and at the correct price.</p>
My Mapbox article for OpenSource.com2014-03-05T11:31:00-05:002014-03-05T11:31:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2014-03-05:/my-mapbox-article-for-opensourcecom.html<div class="paragraph">
<p><span class="image left"><img src="images/2014/03/mapbox.webp" alt="Exterior of the Mapbox Office" width="50%"></span>Back in December I met with Eric Gundersen (<a href="https://twitter.com/ericg">@ericg</a>), CEO of Mapbox, and Alex Barth (<a href="https://twitter.com/lxbarth">@lxbarth</a>), lead of Mapbox’s Data Team, at their DC office to discuss their work within the open source community.
I was happy to find their office have the "start up" feel to them and …</p></div><div class="paragraph">
<p><span class="image left"><img src="images/2014/03/mapbox.webp" alt="Exterior of the Mapbox Office" width="50%"></span>Back in December I met with Eric Gundersen (<a href="https://twitter.com/ericg">@ericg</a>), CEO of Mapbox, and Alex Barth (<a href="https://twitter.com/lxbarth">@lxbarth</a>), lead of Mapbox’s Data Team, at their DC office to discuss their work within the open source community.
I was happy to find their office have the "start up" feel to them and everyone seems to be very passionate about their work.
I’ve since run into a few Mapbox employees that, even outside the office, seem to have maps in their hearts.
I suspect this company will provide even more FOSS goodness in the future and will be one to watch.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>If you haven’t read the story it can be found on <a href="http://opensource.com/life/14/3/mapbox">OpenSource.com</a>.</p>
</div>Looking for something to map?2013-12-09T17:19:00-05:002013-12-09T17:19:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2013-12-09:/looking-for-something-to-map.html<p>Recently people have released tools to make it easy to find something to
map on the <a class="reference external" href="https://www.openstreetmap.org/">OpenStreetMap</a> (OSM)
project. If you're looking for something to do take a look at one of
these tools:</p>
<div class="section" id="hot">
<h2>HOT</h2>
<p>The <a class="reference external" href="https://www.hotosm.org/">Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team</a>
(HOT) focuses on areas in the world that aren't mapped well …</p></div><p>Recently people have released tools to make it easy to find something to
map on the <a class="reference external" href="https://www.openstreetmap.org/">OpenStreetMap</a> (OSM)
project. If you're looking for something to do take a look at one of
these tools:</p>
<div class="section" id="hot">
<h2>HOT</h2>
<p>The <a class="reference external" href="https://www.hotosm.org/">Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team</a>
(HOT) focuses on areas in the world that aren't mapped well (or at all)
and where there is a need for a humanitarian effort. If you've been
around OSM for a while you'll probably remember reading something about
the <a class="reference external" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OF-JuFxhDT8">mapping effort in
Haiti</a> after the
earthquake back in 2010. The humanitarian effort didn't stop there.
Most recently Typhoon Haiyan has left many international emergency
responders in need of mapping data to be able to move their resources
around and perform damage assessments. Their
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.hotosm.org/projects">projects</a> are listed on their
website and allow you to checkout a task for mapping or validating other
mapping work. As work is completed it goes into the hands of the
responders on the ground.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="maproulette">
<h2>Maproulette</h2>
<p>Okay, this is a neat idea. Whenever edits or massive data entries are
done there are times when everything doesn't mesh well. Maybe a road
crosses another road which looks fine when viewed on a screen but breaks
navigation and leads to inefficient routes. These bugs can go unnoticed
unless someone tries to use the data and finds a problem or someone
might happen to stumble upon the issue. That's where
<a class="reference external" href="http://maproulette.org/">Maproulette</a> comes in. This system gets
programmed with a specific problem that needs to be fixed. Right now
that problem is the connectivity issue I mentioned. It combs through
the OSM database looking for just these issues and records where they
are located. A visitor to the site is shown the next error in the list
with an offer to bring up an editor so they can either fix the problem
or verify a false positive. Because the edits are quick to fix I've
been able to knock out forty or more in an hour without much thought.
(Hey, some people knit and watch TV, I fix mapping bugs and watch TV!)</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="battle-grid">
<h2>Battle Grid</h2>
<p>[caption id="attachment_1202" align="alignright" width="142"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2013/12/battlegrid.webp"><img alt="Battle Grid data of Greenville, NC" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2013/12/battlegrid.webp?w=142" /></a> Battle Grid, Greenville NC[/caption]</p>
<p>Oh yes, the <a class="reference external" href="http://maproulette.org/battlegrid/">Battle Grid</a>!
Sounds similar to a cage match doesn't it? When the 2012 TIGER mapping
data from the US Government was released it was discovered that the
quality of the data was much better than the TIGER maps that many of the
United States' roadways were originally based upon in OSM. Battle Grid
(from Maproulette) combs through the OSM database and compares the TIGER
2012 data to what's in OSM and then shows discrepancies as colored
blocks. The redder the boxes the more discrepancies there are in that
grid. So a quick look at the map shows you where your mapping skills
are most needed. Some additional tools have been created that allow you
to <a class="reference external" href="https://www.mapbox.com/blog/openstreetmap-tiger/">overlay the TIGER 2012 data under the OSM data for
comparison</a>. This
allows you to visually see the problem areas and fix them quickly.</p>
<p>There are other ways to find data that might be missing. Just walking
around your community and visually comparing the OSM data to what you
see with your own eyes certainly helps. Validating data against
satellite imagery is also good. As I wrote about in an <a class="reference external" href="https://sparkslinux.wordpress.com/2013/12/02/tools-for-contributing-to-the-openstreetmap-project/">early
post</a>,
collecting points of interest and address information is also quite
useful while out and about. <a class="reference external" href="https://www.openstreetmap.org/welcome">Getting involved in
OSM</a> is easy and learning how
to map isn't difficult either. So get out there and get mapping!</p>
</div>
Tools for Contributing to the OpenStreetMap Project2013-12-02T15:47:00-05:002013-12-02T15:47:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2013-12-02:/tools-for-contributing-to-the-openstreetmap-project.html<p>Okay, I admit it, I'm a closet cartographer. There are few things that
excite me like looking at, building, and working with maps. Luckily for
me the OpenStreetMap (OSM) Project was born and I started contributing
back in 2008. Back when I was starting contributing I was making minor
changes …</p><p>Okay, I admit it, I'm a closet cartographer. There are few things that
excite me like looking at, building, and working with maps. Luckily for
me the OpenStreetMap (OSM) Project was born and I started contributing
back in 2008. Back when I was starting contributing I was making minor
changes to the TIGER map data, cleaning up the bad data that peppered my
local town. Today I'm still cleaning up data but I'm also adding points
of interest (POIs), such as restaurants, shops, and hotels, and also
address information that makes the overall data more useful to
consumers.</p>
<p>The tools used to edit and collect mapping data have improved over the
past few months with many applications coming to the Android operating
system. The physical size of many Android devices allows field
collection of data without having to lug around a laptop. With many of
the features now available on the portable platform, collecting mapping
data is easier than ever.</p>
<div class="section" id="tools-of-the-trade">
<h2>Tools of the Trade</h2>
<div class="section" id="josm">
<h3>JOSM</h3>
<p>Still the workhorse tool of my contributions, I use the <a class="reference external" href="http://josm.openstreetmap.de/">Java
OpenStreetMap Editor</a> (JOSM) for most
of my edits on the project. Whether I'm using GPX files of trails and
roads collected from the field or adding POIs and other map features
from satellite imagery, JOSM makes it easy to make advanced additions
and changes. Many mapping programs use JOSM as a springboard for their
data to get into the OpenStreetMap repositories. If you are serious
about working with OSM data then you should get comfortable with using
JOSM.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="osmand">
<h3>OsmAnd</h3>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://osmand.net/">OsmAnd Maps and Navigation</a>, an Android, is
usually marketed as a program for viewing OSM data and using it for
navigating from one point to another. This program allows you to
download, directly to your device, the mapping data which is quite
helpful if you don't have an Internet connection to get this data like
other mapping solutions.</p>
<p>From a contributor's point of view, OsmAnd allows you to create GPX
track files that can be later edited with JOSM and also allows you to
create, and upload directly to OSM, POIs such at restaurants that you
may be visiting at the time. This is a great feature for me as I will
sometimes find myself somewhere that isn't officially on the map.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="keypad-mapper-3">
<h3>Keypad-Mapper 3</h3>
<p><a class="reference external" href="https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Keypad-Mapper_3">Keypad-Mapper
3</a> is an Android
application that allows easy mapping of house numbers. Using JOSM or
Potlatch 2, the online OSM editor, Keypad-Mapper data can be imported,
verified, and then uploaded into the OSM repositories.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="other-applications">
<h3>Other applications</h3>
<p>Other <a class="reference external" href="https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Software">software</a> is
available to collect, modify, and use OSM mapping data. If maps interest
you or if you are just looking for a good, open source mapping solution
take a look at OSM and enjoy the large amount of global work that goes
into the project every day.</p>
</div>
</div>
Kicking RC4 out the door2013-11-13T11:00:00-05:002013-11-13T11:00:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2013-11-13:/kicking-rc4-out-the-door.html<p>I've been arguing with my web hosting company about their use of
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RC4">RC4</a>. Like many enterprise
networks they aren't consistent across all their servers with respect to
available ciphers and such. It appears that all customer servers
support TLS_RSA_WITH_CAMELLIA_256_CBC_SHA and
TLS_RSA_WITH_CAMELLIA …</p><p>I've been arguing with my web hosting company about their use of
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RC4">RC4</a>. Like many enterprise
networks they aren't consistent across all their servers with respect to
available ciphers and such. It appears that all customer servers
support TLS_RSA_WITH_CAMELLIA_256_CBC_SHA and
TLS_RSA_WITH_CAMELLIA_128_CBC_SHA, in addition to
TLS_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA (although the latter is preferred over the
other two) but their backend controlling web servers only support RC4.
This is a problem if you are handling crypto (keys) (and other settings)
over a weak encryption path to better secure your web service as you
have essentially failed due to using the weak encryption to begin with.</p>
<div class="section" id="so-what-s-wrong-with-rc4">
<h2>So what's wrong with RC4?</h2>
<p>It's been <a class="reference external" href="https://community.qualys.com/blogs/securitylabs/2013/09/17/updated-ssltls-deployment-best-practices-deprecate-rc4">known for a
while</a>
(years!) that RC4 is not a good encryption cipher. <a class="reference external" href="http://threatpost.com/attack-exploits-weakness-rc4-cipher-decrypt-user-sessions-031413/77628">It's
broken</a>
and there are several attacks that are available. So why is it being
used so frequently? In a word:
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BEAST_%28computer_security%29">BEAST</a>.
RC4 was the only stream cipher available that can combat BEAST and so it
became the standard for all TLS connections. It's not clear which
attack vector is worse: BEAST or the weak RC4.</p>
<p>In recent months most Internet browsers have implemented the workaround
<a class="reference external" href="https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=665814#c59">n/n-1</a> to
fix the BEAST vulnerability. With the fix in place it should, once
again, be safe to use block ciphers and, thus, get better encryption
ciphers (better protection). There have been many people and
organizations talking about the need to get rid of RC4 now since it is a
bigger threat to web security. Yesterday Microsoft <a class="reference external" href="https://blogs.technet.com/b/srd/archive/2013/11/12/security-advisory-2868725-recommendation-to-disable-rc4.aspx?Redirected=true">released a security
bulletin</a>
discussing the problem and urged all developers to stop using RC4. (Oh
yeah, and they also want to <a class="reference external" href="http://blogs.technet.com/b/srd/archive/2013/11/12/security-advisory-2880823-recommendation-to-discontinue-use-of-sha-1.aspx">stop using
SHA-1</a>
as well.) I usually think of Microsoft as trailing in the security
field (lets face it, their products aren't known for being secure ever
since that whole network thing happened) so when they say that this mess
with RC4 must stop it's gotten to a point where we should have already
done so.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="so-what-are-we-waiting-for">
<h2>So what are we waiting for?</h2>
<p>I think, simply, we're waiting for TLSv1.1 and TLSv1.2 to become
mainstream. It's not as if these technologies have just popped up on
our radar screens, however, (they've been out since <a class="reference external" href="https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4346">April
2006</a> and <a class="reference external" href="https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5246">August
2008</a>, respectfully) but there
has been slow adoption of the two flavors of TLS. According to
Microsoft, their products are ready for TLSv1.1 and TLSv1.2 (both IIS on
and IE 11+). Firefox supports up to TLSv1.2 in 25.0 but you have to
manually turn it on (it's for testing) and OpenSSL (used for Apache)
should support TLSv1.2 in its 1.0.1e release. It's time to start
pushing these better encryption mechanisms into operation... now.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="updates">
<h2>Updates</h2>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://googleonlinesecurity.blogspot.ca/2013/11/a-roster-of-tls-cipher-suites-weaknesses.html">What Google has to say on the
subject.</a></p>
</div>
How secure are those SSL and SSH keys anyway?2013-10-30T13:31:00-04:002013-10-30T13:31:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2013-10-30:/how-secure-are-those-ssl-and-ssh-keys-anyway.html<p>Thought I'd pass along this research study, <a class="reference external" href="http://bit-player.org/2013/the-keys-to-the-keydom">The keys to the
kingdom</a>, as I
found it to be quite interesting (especially when you scan the entire
Internet for your data). If you don't understand the math explanation
at the beginning just continue reading as you don't need to have a …</p><p>Thought I'd pass along this research study, <a class="reference external" href="http://bit-player.org/2013/the-keys-to-the-keydom">The keys to the
kingdom</a>, as I
found it to be quite interesting (especially when you scan the entire
Internet for your data). If you don't understand the math explanation
at the beginning just continue reading as you don't need to have a
degree in math and science to understand what's going on.</p>
Why Android SSL was downgraded from AES256-SHA to RC4-MD5 in late 20102013-10-14T14:17:00-04:002013-10-14T14:17:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2013-10-14:/why-android-ssl-was-downgraded-from-aes256-sha-to-rc4-md5-in-late-2010.html<p>Just ran across this article discussing how horrible the cipher
preference list is in Android. That's a lot of bad crypto on the
streets right now.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="https://op-co.de/blog/posts/android_ssl_downgrade/">Why Android SSL was downgraded from AES256-SHA to RC4-MD5 in late
2010</a></p>
Trusting Trusted CAs2013-10-09T09:30:00-04:002013-10-09T09:30:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2013-10-09:/trusting-trusted-cas.html<p>Like it or not, the basis of trust for much of the Internet is based on
Certificate Authorities (CA). Companies like Verisign, GoDaddy, and
GeoTrust are in the trust business. They will sell you cryptographic
proof of your Internet assets (namely your domain name) that others can
use to verify …</p><p>Like it or not, the basis of trust for much of the Internet is based on
Certificate Authorities (CA). Companies like Verisign, GoDaddy, and
GeoTrust are in the trust business. They will sell you cryptographic
proof of your Internet assets (namely your domain name) that others can
use to verify that when they visit your website that they are actually
visiting <em>your</em>website and not some lookalike website. This is
important as you don't want to give your login credentials to your bank
account to a lookalike web page that really isn't your bank.</p>
<p>The trouble is, how do you know the CAs are doing their due diligence
and not just <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20908546">issuing certificates to people who just claim to own a
particular domain
name</a>? Well, I'm not
sure we do know, as users.
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/certs/">Mozilla</a>, like
other web browsers, has <a class="reference external" href="https://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/certs/policy/">a policy for including
CAs</a> in
their browser product but a quick look at the <a class="reference external" href="https://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/certs/included/">list of CAs that are
already in
Firefox</a>
shows that we as users probably can't go behind and verify them all.</p>
<p>If I were a conspiracy theorist I would be looking real hard at what the
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.eff.org">Electronic Freedom Foundation</a> (EFF) <a class="reference external" href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/10/how-nsa-deploys-malware-new-revelations">recently
released about the NSA spying
program</a>.
According to their research (and that of the Guardian and others) the
NSA is actively performing <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man-in-the-middle_attack">man-in-the-middle
attacks</a>
(MITM) to get malware into computers. This malware allows the NSA (and
anyone else capable of accessing these infected computers) to circumvent
protections put in place to keep information passed over the Internet
secure. To do these MITM attacks one would need to provide users with a
valid SSL certificate if they happen to be visiting a site that is
supposed to be secured. The only way of doing this is to either obtain
the SSL certificates from the real sites or to create their own and have
them trusted by a trusted CA. With that in mind, I wonder which option
is more probable?</p>
<p>It's good to note that these types of attacks are not solely done by the
NSA. Gaining access to computers is a very profitable business and one
that people other than governments can do. It's important to protect
yourself against these attacks and be smart when surfing the Internet.
The <a class="reference external" href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/10/how-nsa-deploys-malware-new-revelations">end of the EFF
story</a>
contains information on how to protect your computer (and yourself) and
is a good read for everyone.</p>
How do you collaborate remotely?2013-09-30T09:46:00-04:002013-09-30T09:46:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2013-09-30:/how-do-you-collaborate-remotely.html<p>Recently at my $dayjob the remote workers were asked what collaboration
tools we used to get our work done. I thought this was a good topic and
so I provided the following:</p>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li>IRC - This is the bread-and-butter tool for communicating with people
inside and outside of my team. If I …</li></ol><p>Recently at my $dayjob the remote workers were asked what collaboration
tools we used to get our work done. I thought this was a good topic and
so I provided the following:</p>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li>IRC - This is the bread-and-butter tool for communicating with people
inside and outside of my team. If I go more than an hour without
looking at IRC there is no telling what I might have missed.</li>
<li>E-mail - Sometimes you need to send a lot of information to one or
several people at a time. I *only* use e-mail when I can't get
someone up on IRC (they are out of the office, they work on the
opposite side of the globe, or they don't use IRC) or have a large
amount of information I need to convey.</li>
<li>git - There is nothing like collaborating like knowing everyone is on
the same page as you are and you can track changes back. I write a
lot of documentation and it all lives in git.</li>
<li>svn - Like git, svn works well although we are trying to move the
last bit of data that lives in svn into git</li>
</ol>
<p>I think this is a good list but I also wonder what other people use for
collaborating remotely. What do you use?</p>
SFGate: If You Send To Gmail, You Have 'No Legitimate Expectation Of Privacy'2013-08-15T10:28:00-04:002013-08-15T10:28:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2013-08-15:/sfgate-if-you-send-to-gmail-you-have-no-legitimate-expectation-of-privacy.html<p><a class="reference external" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130814154100/https://www.sfgate.com/technology/businessinsider/article/GOOGLE-If-You-Use-Gmail-You-Have-No-Legitimate-4730587.php">SFGate: If You Send To Gmail, You Have 'No Legitimate Expectation Of
Privacy'</a></p>
<p>Not that this is really news but if you hand your message to a
third-party for delivery you have no expectation of privacy. Agree with
it or not that's the way it is inside the United States …</p><p><a class="reference external" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130814154100/https://www.sfgate.com/technology/businessinsider/article/GOOGLE-If-You-Use-Gmail-You-Have-No-Legitimate-4730587.php">SFGate: If You Send To Gmail, You Have 'No Legitimate Expectation Of
Privacy'</a></p>
<p>Not that this is really news but if you hand your message to a
third-party for delivery you have no expectation of privacy. Agree with
it or not that's the way it is inside the United States. This is why it
is important for people to use end-to-end encryption (like
<a class="reference external" href="http://gnupg.org/">GnuPG</a>) to protect the contents of messages being
sent through <em>any</em> email provider. The same goes for using any instant
messenger service, SMS, or telephone that uses a third-party provider.</p>
<p>This isn't anything new, really. Ever since the telegraph was invented
people have encrypted messages before handing them to a third-party for
delivery. The Engima machine was actually developed as a business tool
that was later used by the German military during World War II.
Businesses needed to protect their communications during transit across
a third-party. Today there isn't a person sending your message to a
distant point but rather a computer system that can not only efficiently
and accurately send your message across distant lands but can also make
a copy of that message and share it with whomever they wish.</p>
<p>While it has become easier for companies to share your messages with
governments and third parties it has also become easier to protect your
messages with encryption. The question now is how to make this
technology easier for people to use and, perhaps more importantly, make
people care about securing their messages. This last part is probably
most important.</p>
<p>We've been kicking the ball down the field for a while. When Google
implemented TLS encryption for its Gmail service people raved about the
security measure. Sure, what they did was important as it prevented
anyone watching the network traffic between the user and Google from
seeing what was happening. But that left Google having open access to
the contents of the messages being sent. This is the case for all email
providers that use TLS encryption to secure the communications between
users and their servers. Now is the time to fill that gap. How to do
that easily is still up for debate.</p>
The Police State: History repeats itself.2013-08-01T15:53:00-04:002013-08-01T15:53:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2013-08-01:/the-police-state-history-repeats-itself.html<p>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 …</p><p>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,
and business associates. Conversations, even out of context comments,
could be used against you for any reason. Trumped up charges or a
violation of some old, obscure law could get you detained by the police
or worse.</p>
<p>Here in the United States we had our constitution and, more importantly,
the Bill of Rights to protect people from an over-reaching government.
We didn't see first-hand what many Europeans did. We felt protected
based on a few words written down on paper. We became complacent.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/01/government-tracking-google-searches">An
article</a>
was shared with me earlier today. <a class="reference external" href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/01/government-tracking-google-searches">The Guardian retells the
story</a>
of police coming to someone's home and interrogating the resident based
on their Google searches and what they have viewed on the Internet.</p>
<p>Some might say "but after <fill in the event here> we have to do
something so it won't happen again". Sure, there are things that need
to happen to help prevent such future activities but "doing something"
isn't a real solution.</p>
<p>Fear drives power and if there is power up for grabs then the scariest
thing wins. Detonate a bomb and you get fear. Unfortunately talking
about detonating a bomb usually generates more fear. Many people will
give up nearly everything just to have someone tell them that they are
safe. Right now privacy is what's taking most of the hits and it's easy
to understand why. It's easy to control people, make a lot of money,
and generally be able to "terrorize" anyone you don't like when you have
the keys to their thoughts. Having access to people's thoughts is even
easier today than it was fifty years ago. Today people talk via email,
IM, and other digital means that generally go through a few centralized
servers. Get to the servers and you've got access to the thoughts and
feelings of millions of people. You now have leverage over almost
anyone you wish.</p>
<p>Unless we want history to repeat itself we need to stand up to these
types of actions. It is not okay to go sifting through my Internet
searches. It is not okay to read my email. It is not okay to come to
my home and interrogate me and my family. It's time for this to stop.</p>
Tor and HTTPS2013-07-17T21:10:00-04:002013-07-17T21:10:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2013-07-17:/tor-and-https.html<p><a class="reference external" href="https://www.eff.org/pages/tor-and-https">Tor and HTTPS</a></p>
<p>An excellent description of how Tor and HTTPS can help protect your
online privacy and secure your web communications.</p>
Lawmakers of both parties voice doubts about NSA surveillance programs2013-07-17T19:17:00-04:002013-07-17T19:17:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2013-07-17:/lawmakers-of-both-parties-voice-doubts-about-nsa-surveillance-programs.html<p><a class="reference external" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/house-committee-holds-hearing-on-nsa-surveillance-programs/2013/07/17/ffc3056c-eee3-11e2-9008-61e94a7ea20d_story.html">Lawmakers of both parties voice doubts about NSA surveillance
programs</a></p>
<p>I'm happy to read the Washington Post story discussing the House
committee's hearing on the NSA's domestic spying programs. It's
encouraging that both parties aren't happy with the programs and that
"...there are not enough votes in the House now …</p><p><a class="reference external" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/house-committee-holds-hearing-on-nsa-surveillance-programs/2013/07/17/ffc3056c-eee3-11e2-9008-61e94a7ea20d_story.html">Lawmakers of both parties voice doubts about NSA surveillance
programs</a></p>
<p>I'm happy to read the Washington Post story discussing the House
committee's hearing on the NSA's domestic spying programs. It's
encouraging that both parties aren't happy with the programs and that
"...there are not enough votes in the House now to renew Section 215 [of
the Patriot Act] when the law is revisited."</p>
<p>Of course the wrong arguments were being made by Stewart Baker, the
former NSA general council. Using fear mongering techniques, Baker
talked about the failures of the NSA prior to September 11th (which was
an investigation failure and not an intelligence failure) and how the
"hyped and distorted press reports orchestrated by Edward Snowden" was
out to harm the intelligence agencies. Baker should have been
addressing the civil liberties that are being put at risk and the risks
to the First and Fourth Amendments.</p>
<p>Needless to say, I'll be following these hearings closely.</p>
Privacy articles to read2013-07-09T19:22:00-04:002013-07-09T19:22:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2013-07-09:/privacy-articles-to-read.html<p><a class="reference external" href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/Why-Privacy-Matters-Even-if/127461">Why Privacy Matters Even if You Have 'Nothing to
Hide'</a>
by The Chronicle Review</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="https://kieranhealy.org/blog/archives/2013/06/09/using-metadata-to-find-paul-revere/">Using Metadata to Find Paul
Revere</a>
by Kieran Healy</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="https://moxie.org/2013/06/12/we-should-all-have-something-to-hide.html">We Should All Have Something To
Hide</a>
by Moxie Marlinspike</p>
Secure GnuPG configuration2013-07-09T01:00:00-04:002013-07-09T01:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2013-07-09:/secure-gnupg-configuration.html<p>Someone recently asked what my GPG.conf file looks like since he hadn't
updated his in... years. Okay, let's take a look and I'll try to
explain what each setting is and why I feel it is important. I'm not
guaranteeing this as being complete and I welcome input from …</p><p>Someone recently asked what my GPG.conf file looks like since he hadn't
updated his in... years. Okay, let's take a look and I'll try to
explain what each setting is and why I feel it is important. I'm not
guaranteeing this as being complete and I welcome input from others.</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
keyserver-options auto-key-retrieve
</pre>
<p>This says that if a program needs a public key but it's not in my
keyring that it should automatically reach out to the keyserver (see
below) and download it.</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
use-agent
</pre>
<p>This says to use the GPG agent. I cannot remember, right now, why this
was a good idea. Perhaps it isn't?</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
auto-key-locate cert pka ldap hkps://hkps.pool.sks-keyservers.net
keyserver hkps://hkps.pool.sks-keyservers.net
keyserver-options ca-cert-file=/etc/ssl/certs/sks-keyservers.netCA.pem
keyserver-options no-honor-keyserver-url
keyserver-options auto-key-retrieve
</pre>
<p>Almost the fun stuff there. This is just setting up the keyserver that
I wish to use (note the <a class="reference external" href="https://sparkslinux.wordpress.com/2013/07/01/inadvertant-data-leakage-from-gnupg/">use of hkps instead of
hkp</a>).</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
default-preference-list AES AES192 AES256 TWOFISH SHA1 SHA224 SHA256 SHA384 SHA512 Uncompressed ZIP ZLIB BZIP2
personal-cipher-preferences AES256 TWOFISH AES192 AES
personal-digest-preferences SHA512 SHA384 SHA256 SHA224
personal-compress-preferences BZIP2 ZLIB ZIP
</pre>
<p>Okay, the fun stuff. These are all the algorithms that I wish to use. If
you setup your GPG key to advertise these then it will make it easier
for others to use the most secure algorithms since they will already
know what you can do. The first line just lists all the preferences. The
second, third, and fourth lines actually provide the preferences <strong>in
order</strong> of them being used. If you'll note my preferred cipher is AES
with a 256-bit key and my preferred hash (digest) is SHA with a 512-bit
key. There are other options available and a quick</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
gpg --help
</pre>
<p>should provide what options are available to you. For instance, my
current installation says that its supported algorithms are:</p>
<blockquote>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Supported algorithms:</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Pubkey: RSA, RSA-E, RSA-S, ELG-E, DSA</div>
<div class="line">Cipher: IDEA, 3DES, CAST5, BLOWFISH, AES, AES192, AES256, TWOFISH,</div>
<div class="line">CAMELLIA128, CAMELLIA192, CAMELLIA256</div>
<div class="line">Hash: MD5, SHA1, RIPEMD160, SHA256, SHA384, SHA512, SHA224</div>
<div class="line">Compression: Uncompressed, ZIP, ZLIB, BZIP2</div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p>I've omitted 3DES, MD5, and SHA1 from my preferences due to their
weaknesses but I could still use them according to my GnuPG software.</p>
<p>Again, this wasn't meant to be a strict "thou must do this to be secure"
but rather a "this is what I'm doing" sort of thing. I'd appreciate
feedback!</p>
Inadvertant data leakage from GnuPG2013-07-01T21:10:00-04:002013-07-01T21:10:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2013-07-01:/inadvertant-data-leakage-from-gnupg.html<p>I was recently introduced to a privacy issue when refreshing your
OpenPGP keys using GnuPG. When refreshing your public key ring using a
public key server GnuPG will generally use the OpenPGP HTTP Key Protocol
(HKP) to synchronize keys. The problem is that when you do refresh your
keys using …</p><p>I was recently introduced to a privacy issue when refreshing your
OpenPGP keys using GnuPG. When refreshing your public key ring using a
public key server GnuPG will generally use the OpenPGP HTTP Key Protocol
(HKP) to synchronize keys. The problem is that when you do refresh your
keys using HKP everyone that you maintain in your public key ring is
sent across the Internet unencrypted. This can allow anyone monitoring
your network traffic to receive a complete list of contacts in which you
may hope to use OpenPGP.</p>
<p>The fix is quite simple: in your gpg.conf file make sure that your
<em>keyserver</em> entries include hkps:// instead of hkp://. This will force
GnuPG to wrap HKP in SSL to keep the key exchange private.</p>
<p>Happy encrypting!</p>
The Guardian: I'd pay more for tech products with greater privacy from surveillance2013-06-26T20:45:00-04:002013-06-26T20:45:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2013-06-26:/the-guardian-id-pay-more-for-tech-products-with-greater-privacy-from-surveillance.html<p><a class="reference external" href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jun/21/paying-for-privacy-government-surveillance">The Guardian: I'd pay more for tech products with greater privacy from
surveillance</a></p>
<p>I thought this was a fantastic article. It skims over the fact that if
you aren't paying for a service then you are probably the product being
sold. Google, Facebook, and many other companies make billions of …</p><p><a class="reference external" href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jun/21/paying-for-privacy-government-surveillance">The Guardian: I'd pay more for tech products with greater privacy from
surveillance</a></p>
<p>I thought this was a fantastic article. It skims over the fact that if
you aren't paying for a service then you are probably the product being
sold. Google, Facebook, and many other companies make billions of
dollars off of data about every one of its users. It's wrong to sell
our privacy and it's one of the reasons I'm not on Facebook, that I no
longer use Google's tools and apps, and why I look everyday for more
open source solutions that don't lock me in to their service.</p>
Spring morning propagation2013-04-01T10:34:00-04:002013-04-01T10:34:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2013-04-01:/spring-morning-propagation.html<p>Whew, the last week or so has shown changes in the regular morning HF
propagation. At 1200Z I usually check into the <a class="reference external" href="https://www.waterwayradio.net/">Waterway Radio and
Cruising Club</a> net on 7268kHz. During
the winter WA6CCA near Washington, DC (~44km away) is usually loud but
now I haven't been able to hear …</p><p>Whew, the last week or so has shown changes in the regular morning HF
propagation. At 1200Z I usually check into the <a class="reference external" href="https://www.waterwayradio.net/">Waterway Radio and
Cruising Club</a> net on 7268kHz. During
the winter WA6CCA near Washington, DC (~44km away) is usually loud but
now I haven't been able to hear him at all. ND7K down in Marathon,
Florida is now the strongest shore station on the net at a distance of
~1618km.</p>
<p>I'm not sure I've taken notice of a condition change on 20-meters but
W5WAZ, roughly 1985km away, on 14300kHz usually has a pretty good signal
into Maryland during his shift on the Intercon net.</p>
<p>We'll have to see how things change as we move into the Summer months.</p>
Encrypting SMS messages and phone calls on Android2013-03-21T09:00:00-04:002013-03-21T09:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2013-03-21:/encrypting-sms-messages-and-phone-calls-on-android.html<p>Much of our daily lives are contained within our smartphones and
computers. Email, text messages, and phone calls all contain bits and
pieces of information that, in the wrong hands, could harm our privacy.
Unfortunately many people either don't understand how vulnerable their
data is when sent across the Internet …</p><p>Much of our daily lives are contained within our smartphones and
computers. Email, text messages, and phone calls all contain bits and
pieces of information that, in the wrong hands, could harm our privacy.
Unfortunately many people either don't understand how vulnerable their
data is when sent across the Internet (or another commercial circuit) or
just don't care. While I don't have much to say for the crowd in the
latter category (can't fix stupid) I do try to help people in the prior
category understand that any network outside of their control is fair
game for pilfering and that basic protections need to be taken to
protect themselves. While I'm not going to dig into how data can be
intercepted (there are plenty of articles out there on the subject) I
would like to talk about how one can use tools to protect their data
when using an Android smartphone.</p>
<p>Until recently email was the only easily-encrypted mode of
communication. Most people didn't have the means of encrypting their
phone conversations and certainly not their SMS messages (unless you
happen to be using a SME-PED, but those things are terrible in other
ways). Now, <a class="reference external" href="http://www.whispersystems.org/">Whisper Systems</a> have
released two open source programs that allow you to protect your
communications. The first is called "RedPhone". This program encrypts
your phone conversations and allows you to converse securely. The
second program is called "TextSecure" and encrypts text messages using
authenticated, asymmetrical encryption.</p>
<p>I like the way TextSecure manages keys and allows you to verify the
user's key directly so you can establish trust. RedPhone appears to use
the trust in the phone number for authentication. RedPhone also
provides encryption opportunities when the distant party also has
RedPhone on their device which is a nice feature that I wish TextSecure
also provided. Both of these programs are very easy to use and need
very little configuration.</p>
<p>TextSecure also provides an encrypted container for all your text
messages so that your text messages are secure if the attacker has
physical access to the device.</p>
<p>And OpenPGP is still a great option for protecting your email
communications but that is a topic for later.</p>
Port scanning /0 using insecure embedded devices2013-03-20T10:22:00-04:002013-03-20T10:22:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2013-03-20:/port-scanning-0-using-insecure-embedded-devices.html<p>Someone sent me a link to the <a class="reference external" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140208005539/http://internetcensus2012.bitbucket.org/paper.html">Port scanning /0 using insecure embedded
devices</a> article
that was recently published. Describing the Carna Botnet, this project
aimed to prove (or disprove) the hypothesis that there were one hundred
thousand open systems on the Internet in which to make a botnet. I …</p><p>Someone sent me a link to the <a class="reference external" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140208005539/http://internetcensus2012.bitbucket.org/paper.html">Port scanning /0 using insecure embedded
devices</a> article
that was recently published. Describing the Carna Botnet, this project
aimed to prove (or disprove) the hypothesis that there were one hundred
thousand open systems on the Internet in which to make a botnet. I
choose to use the word "open" and not "vulnerable" because we aren't
talking about systems that have some sort of unpatched bug that allows
access. This researcher only used unsecure telnet sessions to create
his botnet.</p>
<p>Because this was for research, no long lasting effects were created by
the deployed software but that isn't to say that other software couldn't
be introduced in a similar manner as was discovered during the
experiment. It is believed that most of these open systems are
appliances (printers, network devices, etc) which could yield other
interesting developments if the software was malicious. This is a good
read with lots of data provided inside the article. A good read for
anyone interested in information security.</p>
create-tx-configuration2013-03-19T16:00:00-04:002013-03-19T16:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2013-03-19:/create-tx-configuration.html<p>Last week while publishing a new guide I ran into a problem creating the
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.transifex.com">Transifex</a> client configuration file
(.tx/config). The configuration file is generally a hateful file that
requires a lot of manual manipulation to add in all the POT files for
translation. This file exponentially increases the hatefulness …</p><p>Last week while publishing a new guide I ran into a problem creating the
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.transifex.com">Transifex</a> client configuration file
(.tx/config). The configuration file is generally a hateful file that
requires a lot of manual manipulation to add in all the POT files for
translation. This file exponentially increases the hatefulness as the
number of POT files increase or the complexity of where these POT files
increases. In summary, I hate to create these POT files. It seems I
always end up screwing it up somehow and the Transifex client isn't real
great about telling you why it failed (it just fails in a non-obvious
manner).</p>
<p>I started putting together some bash script to write the thing for me
until I realized that the script was going to become unwieldy quite
quickly. Luckily I have a boss who doesn't mind poking me into learning
a new trick. This new trick came in the form of Python. Realize that
the last formal programming class came in the form of a Java class
nearly ten years ago. Since then I try not to touch the stuff. But now
I have a purpose... a need... a problem in search of a solution... and
an excuse to start to learn Python.</p>
<p>So my creation is called
<a class="reference external" href="https://gitorious.org/create-tx-configuration">*create-tx-configuration*</a>.
This simple program will read the pot/ directory for .pot files and
create the .tx/config file for Transifex to use. While there was a way
to have the Transifex client make the config file the process wasn't
easy nor did it work in all cases.</p>
<p>If you have a need to create Transifex config files please checkout
<a class="reference external" href="https://gitorious.org/create-tx-configuration">create-tx-configuration</a>
and, as always, I appreciate feedback.</p>
Privacy Upgrade: Encrypted Internet browsing2013-03-14T09:00:00-04:002013-03-14T09:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2013-03-14:/privacy-upgrade-encrypted-internet-browsing.html<p>Many websites have both the traditional, unencrypted
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP">HTTP</a> and the <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Sockets_Layer">SSL or
TLS</a>-encrypted
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTPS">HTTPS</a> addresses available to
access their content. Wikipedia is one good example of this
functionality. You can easily view <a class="reference external" href="https://www.wikipedia.org">Wikipedia using traditional
HTTP</a> protocol but if you wanted or needed a
little more privacy the <a class="reference external" href="https://www.wikipedia.org">HTTPS …</a></p><p>Many websites have both the traditional, unencrypted
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP">HTTP</a> and the <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Sockets_Layer">SSL or
TLS</a>-encrypted
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTPS">HTTPS</a> addresses available to
access their content. Wikipedia is one good example of this
functionality. You can easily view <a class="reference external" href="https://www.wikipedia.org">Wikipedia using traditional
HTTP</a> protocol but if you wanted or needed a
little more privacy the <a class="reference external" href="https://www.wikipedia.org">HTTPS address</a> is
available as well. Unfortunately it is sometimes hard to know if a
website has the encrypted feature or not unless you try. And you might
be in a hurry and forget to use the HTTPS version and then you've
potentially sent sensitive information about yourself out onto the
Internet unexpectedly.</p>
<p>There is an easier way, however, to use HTTPS whenever possible. The
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.eff.org">Electronic Freedom Foundation</a> (EFF) has
released a plug-in for Firefox and Chrome that knows of almost all of
the commonly used websites that are available over HTTPS and will
dynamically redirect your web browser to use that encrypted channel
without you having to remember. The plug-in, known as <a class="reference external" href="https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere">HTTPS
Everywhere</a>, will convert any
web address from HTTP to HTTPS whenever it knows that HTTPS is
available.</p>
<p>Why is it important to encrypt your traffic whenever possible? Well,
simply you never know who might be listening to your connection. If you
are living in a country dominated by an oppressive government then your
liberty or even your life might dictate that you need to obtain your
information via encrypted means. Other people might be more concerned
with their private browsing getting into the hands of a corporation to
be sold to the highest bidder to get more information on you into their
files. Others are just concerned with their privacy in general.
Whatever the reason it's a good idea to use encryption whenever
possible.</p>
<p>It should be noted that HTTPS Everywhere doesn't automatically encrypt
<em>all</em> websites and users should still verify that the lock is showing in
the browser address bar and that the certificate matches the site in
which they are visiting. That said, using encryption makes your
Internet browsing safer and this tool makes it easier.</p>
Git access from within vim2013-03-12T19:04:00-04:002013-03-12T19:04:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2013-03-12:/git-access-from-within-vim.html<p>Today a line was crossed. I'm not sure if it was the insanity of
spending all day writing nine lines of Python (I am not a developer... I
am not a developer... I am not a developer.) or what, but I really
wanted to do git commands from within vim …</p><p>Today a line was crossed. I'm not sure if it was the insanity of
spending all day writing nine lines of Python (I am not a developer... I
am not a developer... I am not a developer.) or what, but I really
wanted to do git commands from within vim (my editor of choice). A
quick search <a class="reference external" href="http://vim.runpaint.org/extending/integrating-vim-with-git/">turned
up</a> the
properly-named <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/motemen/git-vim">git-vim</a>. The
program does just what I want it to: be able to 'git add', 'git commit',
and 'git push' all while never leaving vim. It also does other things
but these are the basics that I want. If you want this functionality I
recommend git-vim.</p>
How PGP actually works...2013-03-04T10:58:00-05:002013-03-04T10:58:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2013-03-04:/how-pgp-actually-works.html<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://xkcd.com/1181/"><img alt="How PGP actually works..." src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2013/03/pgp.webp" /></a></p>
<p>CC BY-NC xkcd</p>
The dangers of mandatory software on smartphones2013-03-04T09:00:00-05:002013-03-04T09:00:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2013-03-04:/the-dangers-of-mandatory-software-on-smartphones.html<p>I awoke this morning to find an email from
<a class="reference external" href="https://evernote.com/">Evernote</a>, the company that has the product
of the same name for note taking, saying that they had been hacked and
that I should change my password. T-Mobile installs this software,
along with many other pieces of software, on my smartphone …</p><p>I awoke this morning to find an email from
<a class="reference external" href="https://evernote.com/">Evernote</a>, the company that has the product
of the same name for note taking, saying that they had been hacked and
that I should change my password. T-Mobile installs this software,
along with many other pieces of software, on my smartphone by default
and does not allow the customer to remove it. Luckily the attack
against this product was not against the individual installations of the
software but rather against the parent server where all the information
is stored.</p>
<p>Unfortunately having unwanted software installed on phones is a security
problem. The basic rule is that if the software isn't installed on
one's computer then the software cannot be used as an attack vector. My
first smartphone came loaded with five pieces of software that I could
not remove. The Galaxy S that I purchased last November came with
thirty-nine. And that was just the pieces of software that are
visible. Last year we heard about
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.carrieriq.com/">CarrierIQ</a> being <a class="reference external" href="http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/11/secret-software-logging-video/">installed on nearly
every
smartphone</a>
in America. This software had some very scary features that could allow
the cellphone carrier, the software owner, or anyone else able to break
into the software, access to everything contained within the phone and
every message sent and received (including key strokes).</p>
<p>There's another price to be paid for this mandatory software. Updates
need to be downloaded and installed which take up space on the
smartphone and uses up valuable bandwidth. With cellphone companies
complaining about usage of their wireless networks it seems silly that
some of this is required by the companies themselves.</p>
<p>So what to do about this problem? Cellphone companies should stop
preventing users from removing software from their phones. If they want
to load up the device with lots of software that they feel the user
might like that's fine but keeping people from removing that software is
wrong. If the companies won't stop this bad practice on their own then
perhaps if they get enough complaints from customers then they will
change their practices. I guess the only other option is rooting our
phones or just purchasing them outright. Still it shouldn't be so
difficult to maintain a secure computing environment. And with privacy
and so much money at stake the problem will only get worse.</p>
Shameless Plug: Contribute to digital cartography with OpenStreetMap2013-03-01T13:17:00-05:002013-03-01T13:17:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2013-03-01:/shameless-plug-contribute-to-digital-cartography-with-openstreetmap.html<p>I've been trying to write an article for
<a class="reference external" href="http://opensource.com">opensource.com</a> for the last year dealing
with open source cartography. I <em>finally</em> got around to finishing <a class="reference external" href="http://opensource.com/life/13/2/openstreetmap">the
article</a> and it was
published yesterday. I'm not exactly happy with the way it turned out
so I'm hoping to do a part two …</p><p>I've been trying to write an article for
<a class="reference external" href="http://opensource.com">opensource.com</a> for the last year dealing
with open source cartography. I <em>finally</em> got around to finishing <a class="reference external" href="http://opensource.com/life/13/2/openstreetmap">the
article</a> and it was
published yesterday. I'm not exactly happy with the way it turned out
so I'm hoping to do a part two discussing more than just the
OpenStreetMap project and perhaps comparing various open source projects
to those that are just crowd-sourced.</p>
<p>I appreciate feedback!</p>
Removing dependencies when using yum2013-03-01T13:12:00-05:002013-03-01T13:12:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2013-03-01:/removing-dependencies-when-using-yum.html<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="http://yum.baseurl.org/"><img alt="yellowdog updater modified" src="images/Yum.webp" /></a>A forthcoming article on the Red Hat
Security Blog got me to ask the
question: is it possible to have yum remove dependencies when
uninstalling packages? The answer is a somewhat surprising "yes"! The
functionality is turned off by default for a good reason but that's no
reason why everyone …</p><p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="http://yum.baseurl.org/"><img alt="yellowdog updater modified" src="images/Yum.webp" /></a>A forthcoming article on the Red Hat
Security Blog got me to ask the
question: is it possible to have yum remove dependencies when
uninstalling packages? The answer is a somewhat surprising "yes"! The
functionality is turned off by default for a good reason but that's no
reason why everyone should have it off. A little perspective here is
probably due...</p>
<p>If a piece of software isn't installed on your system then it can't be
used as a vector of attack. That's a simple thought, really. If I
don't have Apache, for instance, installed then it cannot be used as a
means of gaining unauthorized access to my system. So when removing a
package it would be nice to be able to remove the package's dependencies
as well so that no extra software is left on the system. In the past
I've had to go back through logs to see what was actually pulled in to
know what I could remove. Now that I know the switch things will be
much easier.</p>
<p>Well, it might not actually be that simple. Giving software a set of
logical rules to use to determine whether or not a piece of software can
be removed isn't that simple. Yum's implementation isn't bullet-proof
either. I give the following example:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
$ sudo yum remove cqrlog
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package cqrlog.x86_64 0:1.5.2-2.fc18 will be erased
--> Finished Dependency Resolution
--> Finding unneeded leftover dependencies
---> Marking mysql-server to be removed - no longer needed by cqrlog
---> Marking trustedqsl to be removed - no longer needed by cqrlog
---> Marking mysql to be removed - no longer needed by cqrlog
---> Marking hamlib to be removed - no longer needed by cqrlog
---> Marking perl-DBD-MySQL to be removed - no longer needed by mysql-server
---> Marking wxBase to be removed - no longer needed by trustedqsl
---> Marking tqsllib to be removed - no longer needed by trustedqsl
---> Marking wxGTK to be removed - no longer needed by trustedqsl
Found and removing 8 unneeded dependencies
</pre>
<p>CQRLog has several dependencies including mysql-server and
openssl-devel. You don't see openssl-devel being targeted for removal
because it's in use by another package. But what about mysql-server?
That is a package that could be needed all on it's own. Had I actually
needed mysql-server and hadn't been paying attention that package would
have been removed and things could have broken on my system.</p>
<p>So using this functionality in yum should come with some caution. You
must be a diligent systems administrator and watch what you are doing
instead of just hitting that 'y' key when asked if this is what you
really want to do.</p>
<p>I actually looked for this functionality a while back and now it is
found, surprisingly, right under my nose for a while. A quick read of
the man page for yum.conf shows:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
clean_requirements_on_remove When removing packages (by removal,
update or obsoletion) go through each package's dependencies. If
any of them are no longer required by any other package then also
mark them to be removed. Boolean (1, 0, True, False, yes, no)
Defaults to False
</pre>
<p>Adding this switch to the yum.conf file added the functionality
immediately. Testing has proved positive that the functionality works
as advertised as well. I, for one, will be using this feature on all of
my systems that I administer as I dislike having packages just laying
around needing updates and not doing anything. Having packages just
laying about is a potential security hazard and this should help reduce
the amount of "stuff" one has on their system.</p>
Hashing Algorithm: Is your GPG configuration secure?2013-02-21T12:49:00-05:002013-02-21T12:49:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2013-02-21:/hashing-algorithm-is-your-gpg-configuration-secure.html<p>If your email messages are being signed using
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SHA-1">SHA-1</a> you may not be getting
the security you think you are.
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SHA-1#Attacks">Attacks</a> on the hashing
algorithm have caused much pain to those that use it. Luckily
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SHA-2">SHA-2</a> is available and
hopefully we'll start seeing
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SHA-3">SHA-3</a> out in the world soon.</p>
<p>You've …</p><p>If your email messages are being signed using
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SHA-1">SHA-1</a> you may not be getting
the security you think you are.
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SHA-1#Attacks">Attacks</a> on the hashing
algorithm have caused much pain to those that use it. Luckily
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SHA-2">SHA-2</a> is available and
hopefully we'll start seeing
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SHA-3">SHA-3</a> out in the world soon.</p>
<p>You've probably already seen SHA-2 in the wild designated as SHA-224,
SHA-256, SHA-384, and SHA-512. Because of the weaknesses found in SHA-1
it's important to not use that algorithm any longer. That means when
you generate hashes you shouldn't use sha1sum but rather one of the
SHA-2 tools: sha224sum, sha256sum, sha384sum, or sha512sum. Depending
on the length of time you need to protect the data the strength of the
hash will be important. A larger key will be more secure for a longer
period of time than a shorter one.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Privacy_Guard">GNU Privacy Guard</a>
(GPG) has a default of using SHA-1, however, unless you manually select
another algorithm in your gpg.conf file (usually found in ~/.gnupg). To
use something other than the default you should add the following lines:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
personal-cipher-preferences AES256 TWOFISH AES192 AES
personal-digest-preferences SHA512 SHA384 SHA256
personal-compress-preferences ZLIB BZIP2 ZIP
</pre>
<p>These lines establish not only the preferences for which algorithms to
use (for cipher, digest (hashing), and compression) but also in what
order to use them. You can determine what algorithms are available to
you by asking GPG in the command line:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
$ gpg --version
...
Home: ~/.gnupg
Supported algorithms:
Pubkey: RSA, ELG, DSA
Cipher: 3DES, CAST5, BLOWFISH, AES, AES192, AES256, TWOFISH, CAMELLIA128,
CAMELLIA192, CAMELLIA256
Hash: MD5, SHA1, RIPEMD160, SHA256, SHA384, SHA512, SHA224
Compression: Uncompressed, ZIP, ZLIB, BZIP2
</pre>
<p>GPG will show specifically what is supported based on what's built into
the code when the package was built.</p>
<p>Using the proper algorithm is important for maintaining a secure
communications environment so do your research and use something in
which you feel comfortable.</p>
Open Source Libraries2013-02-19T18:00:00-05:002013-02-19T18:00:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2013-02-19:/open-source-libraries.html<p><a class="reference external" href="http://opensource.com/education/13/2/open-source-libraries">An
article</a>
on <a class="reference external" href="http://opensource.com">Opensource.com</a> caught my attention
today. The article focused on developing and using open source
solutions in libraries. Libraries are one of the places where openness
and sharing go hand-in-hand. Why more open source software solutions
aren't found there I don't really understand.</p>
<p>Take my library for …</p><p><a class="reference external" href="http://opensource.com/education/13/2/open-source-libraries">An
article</a>
on <a class="reference external" href="http://opensource.com">Opensource.com</a> caught my attention
today. The article focused on developing and using open source
solutions in libraries. Libraries are one of the places where openness
and sharing go hand-in-hand. Why more open source software solutions
aren't found there I don't really understand.</p>
<p>Take my library for instance. There are ten computers there for the
public to use. These computers are running old versions of Microsoft
Windows and old versions of Internet Explorer. The software is so old
and antiquated that I've actually had problems using some web
applications on these computers. The library also uses the SirsiDynix
software for its
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_library_system">ILS</a>
solution. This software offers one of the worst search I've ever
experienced. Even if I know the title of the resource I'm looking for
it doesn't generally help in locating the resource in the database. The
system also lacks a history feature so you can obtain a list of items
you've checked out. It would also be nice if their system integrated
with the state's electronic library so that a single search would show
books (and media) available locally as well as electronic versions
available from the state.</p>
<p>I want to take a closer look at <a class="reference external" href="http://koha-community.org/">Koha</a>
and see if their ILS solution is any better. If it is I may approach my
library management people with this solution. I will propose they use
Linux (Fedora?) for their public computers as it will yield a more
secure and better web-browsing environment at less cost. Libraries
support sharing and learning and should take advantage of the sharing
and learning that comes with open source software.</p>
CHIRP - Open source programming of your amateur radio2013-02-17T11:14:00-05:002013-02-17T11:14:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2013-02-17:/CHIRP.html<p>[caption id="attachment_944" align="alignleft" width="300"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="images/2013/02/screenshot-from-2013-02-17-110257.webp"><img alt="A screenshot of CHIRP" src="images/2013/02/screenshot-from-2013-02-17-110257-300x237.webp" /></a> CHIRP[/caption]</p>
<p>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 …</p><p>[caption id="attachment_944" align="alignleft" width="300"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="images/2013/02/screenshot-from-2013-02-17-110257.webp"><img alt="A screenshot of CHIRP" src="images/2013/02/screenshot-from-2013-02-17-110257-300x237.webp" /></a> CHIRP[/caption]</p>
<p>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 that? Last year I discovered a project that aimed to
solve my problem. <a class="reference external" href="http://chirp.danplanet.com">CHIRP</a> is an open
source alternative to other pieces of software that allow you to program
your radios. Supporting many of the current radio models, this software
allows you to create your channel list and then use that on every radio
you own.</p>
<p>Last year when I tried the software it wouldn't program frequencies in
the 70-cm band correctly. That bug has been fixed and many features
added as well. There are even static lists of frequencies one might want
to include on their radio including the FRS channels, 60m channels,
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/">NOAA weather radio</a> channels, and
others. The software even interfaces with online frequency repositories
making it easy to program repeaters into your radio when you are
traveling to a new area.</p>
<p>The software is available for Linux, Mac, and Windows and is currently
available in the Fedora software repositories (<em>sudo yum install
chirp</em>).</p>
Petition to add more open source software to US schools2013-01-14T11:46:00-05:002013-01-14T11:46:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2013-01-14:/petition-to-add-more-open-source-software-to-us-schools.html<p>Earlier this morning I took a quick look on identi.ca to see what I had
been missing. I was a bit surprised to see that someone had started a
<a class="reference external" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130110062022/https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/promote-use-free-software-our-schools-libre-office-gimp-gnu-cash-and-other-gpl-software-which-cost/T1xGw1fZ">petition on the Whitehouse.gov
website</a>
asking for more open source, specifically GPL-licensed, software to be
included in our public …</p><p>Earlier this morning I took a quick look on identi.ca to see what I had
been missing. I was a bit surprised to see that someone had started a
<a class="reference external" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130110062022/https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/promote-use-free-software-our-schools-libre-office-gimp-gnu-cash-and-other-gpl-software-which-cost/T1xGw1fZ">petition on the Whitehouse.gov
website</a>
asking for more open source, specifically GPL-licensed, software to be
included in our public schools. I had not seen this petition and it
appears that it won't be active for too much longer. I encourage
everyone to sign the petition as this is an easy way to get the
Whitehouse to recognize the goodness that is open source software.</p>
US-CERT: Java vulnerability2013-01-11T09:26:00-05:002013-01-11T09:26:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2013-01-11:/us-cert-java-vulnerability.html<p>A bad (as in it's a 10) <a class="reference external" href="http://www.java.com">Java</a> vulnerability has
been discovered. Affecting Java 7 Update 10 and prior versions, this
vulnerability can allow an untrusted Java applet to escalate its
privileges without requiring code signing.</p>
<p>Currently, the only defense to this vulnerability is to disable Java in
your browser …</p><p>A bad (as in it's a 10) <a class="reference external" href="http://www.java.com">Java</a> vulnerability has
been discovered. Affecting Java 7 Update 10 and prior versions, this
vulnerability can allow an untrusted Java applet to escalate its
privileges without requiring code signing.</p>
<p>Currently, the only defense to this vulnerability is to disable Java in
your browser. <a class="reference external" href="http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/625617">Additional
information</a> is provided by
US-CERT.</p>
<div class="section" id="update-at-20-18-utc-11-jan">
<h2>Update at 20:18 UTC 11 Jan</h2>
<p>I good resource to follow this story is
<a class="reference external" href="http://krebsonsecurity.com/2013/01/zero-day-java-exploit-debuts-in-crimeware/">krebsonsecurity.com</a>.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="update-at-22-05-utc-14-jan">
<h2>Update at 22:05 UTC 14 Jan</h2>
<p>The <a class="reference external" href="http://www.us-cert.gov">US-CERT</a> has released the following
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.us-cert.gov/current/#us_cert_releases_oracle_java">bulletin</a>:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
US-CERT Current Activity
Oracle Releases Out-of-Band Patch to Address Java 7 Vulnerability
Original release date: January 14, 2013
Last revised: January 14, 2013
Oracle has released an out-of-band patch to address the recently
announced vulnerability in Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 7. US-CERT
encourages users and administrators to review the bulletin and follow
best-practice security policies to determine which updates should be
applied.
Relevant URL(s):
<http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/alert-cve-2013-0422-1896849.html>
<http://www.us-cert.gov/current/#us_cert_releases_oracle_java>
</pre>
</div>
Edward R. Murrow Transmitting Station Tour2012-12-27T12:40:00-05:002012-12-27T12:40:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2012-12-27:/edward-r-murrow-transmitting-station-tour.html<p><a class="reference external" href="https://swling.com">The SWLing Post</a> ran a post on a Monitoring Times
article about the <a class="reference external" href="https://www.voanews.com/">VOA</a> 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
<a class="reference external" href="https://swling.com/blog/2012/12/for-your-holiday-enjoyment-a-tour-of-the-edward-r-murrow-transmitting-station/">reading</a>
it as well …</p><p><a class="reference external" href="https://swling.com">The SWLing Post</a> ran a post on a Monitoring Times
article about the <a class="reference external" href="https://www.voanews.com/">VOA</a> 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
<a class="reference external" href="https://swling.com/blog/2012/12/for-your-holiday-enjoyment-a-tour-of-the-edward-r-murrow-transmitting-station/">reading</a>
it as well.</p>
Starting work at Red Hat2012-11-30T12:00:00-05:002012-11-30T12:00:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2012-11-30:/starting-work-at-red-hat.html<p>I'm excited. Earlier this week I accepted a position at Red Hat working
on a very cool project that has the ability to affect many open source,
and not so open source, projects in a very positive way. The
opportunity that I was presented was too good to turn away …</p><p>I'm excited. Earlier this week I accepted a position at Red Hat working
on a very cool project that has the ability to affect many open source,
and not so open source, projects in a very positive way. The
opportunity that I was presented was too good to turn away. The best
part is, aside from never having to touch a Windows box again, that I
get to continue my work and studies in security and bring this project
to the world in an open source way.</p>
<p>There is a lot of work that needs to be done and I hope to spread the
wealth of information and goodness to the masses in a few short months.
I won't say much about the project now but I will be writing about my
work after I start in early January. Stay tuned.</p>
The Voice of Russia2012-11-18T12:00:00-05:002012-11-18T12:00:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2012-11-18:/the-voice-of-russia.html<p>[caption id="attachment_446" align="alignleft" width="300"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2012/11/VOR-front.webp"><img alt="Voice of Russia QSL Card" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2012/11/VOR-front-300x171.webp" /></a> Voice of Russia QSL Card[/caption]</p>
<p>In a recent rash of shortwave QSLs being received the <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_of_Russia">Voice of
Russia</a> was not to be left out. They sent
me a nice QSL honoring their 50 years of manned space flight, 1961 to
2011 …</p><p>[caption id="attachment_446" align="alignleft" width="300"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2012/11/VOR-front.webp"><img alt="Voice of Russia QSL Card" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2012/11/VOR-front-300x171.webp" /></a> Voice of Russia QSL Card[/caption]</p>
<p>In a recent rash of shortwave QSLs being received the <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_of_Russia">Voice of
Russia</a> was not to be left out. They sent
me a nice QSL honoring their 50 years of manned space flight, 1961 to
2011. I have been a listener of VOR for a number of years and in this
particular case I confirmed receiving their broadcast on 9800kHz as well
as 9665kHz.</p>
<p>They have some interesting programs, like Red Line, that give an
interesting view on the world. As always, I listen for the music of
which they do have several programs for that.</p>
<p>I've found that shortwave stations really do want you to provide signal
reports and will happily add you to their mailing list. I usually
receive schedule and frequency updates a couple of times a year and
maybe some stickers or other items displaying the radio station's logo.
And it's always neat to see their QSL cards, some of which change
monthly.</p>
My new club... Anne Arundel Radio Club2012-11-17T12:00:00-05:002012-11-17T12:00:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2012-11-17:/my-new-club-anne-arundel-radio-club.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 of the
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.w3vpr.org">AARC</a> made me feel right at home by showing me
club shack and the club repeaters, also hosted from the same building.
They seem like a very active group so I'm excited to be a part of the
club.</p>
<p>Now if I can just remember everyone's name and callsign...</p>
Algeria - DXCC Confirmed Entity #1222012-11-16T18:14:00-05:002012-11-16T18:14:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2012-11-16:/algeria-dxcc-confirmed-entity-122.html<p>[caption id="attachment_449" align="alignleft" width="300"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2012/11/7X4AN.webp"><img alt="QSL from 7X4AN" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2012/11/7X4AN-300x192.webp" /></a> QSL from 7X4AN[/caption]</p>
<p>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 …</p><p>[caption id="attachment_449" align="alignleft" width="300"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2012/11/7X4AN.webp"><img alt="QSL from 7X4AN" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2012/11/7X4AN-300x192.webp" /></a> QSL from 7X4AN[/caption]</p>
<p>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 you aren't ready to receive at ~32 WPM.</p>
<p>He also used two very nice stamps that I will happily add to my
collection.</p>
Mutt Configuration of GPG and From field2012-11-07T21:51:00-05:002012-11-07T21:51:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2012-11-07:/mutt-configuration-of-gpg-and-from-field.html<p>Mutt is one of those programs I have a love-hate relationship with: I
hate to love it. It's flexibility and almost infinite configuration
options makes this email client one of the best and worst to use. Once
you get mutt configured you'll want to put the configuration file in the …</p><p>Mutt is one of those programs I have a love-hate relationship with: I
hate to love it. It's flexibility and almost infinite configuration
options makes this email client one of the best and worst to use. Once
you get mutt configured you'll want to put the configuration file in the
same place you keep your other important papers, passport, etc. I have
been on the losing end of not doing this and had to start over from
scratch with my configuration. Trust me, it's not fun. Pair that with
reconfiguring offlineimap and postfix and you'll have a new-found
respect for backing up your configuration files (/home and /etc). If
you've ever looked at another mutt configuration file and feel
overwhelmed a good place to start to build your own config file is the
<a class="reference external" href="http://muttrcbuilder.org">muttrc builder</a>. That builder will help
you build your configuration file for most settings.</p>
<p>I won't bore you with all 1334 words that is my configuration file but I
will point out the GPG settings, how to customize the From field, and
working with listservs.</p>
<p>I am subscribed to many listservs. Probably not as many as some but
more than average. Because of this I receive an obscene amount of email
everyday. Mutt allows you to mark these messages as coming from a list
so you can safely ignore these messages for several [STRIKEOUT:days]
weeks and you won't miss that personal message that someone responded
directly to you from the list. To do this you must provide the lists
you are subscribed to. Wildcards are allowed, thankfully.</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
subscribe @lists.fedoraproject.org
subscribe @yahoogroups.com
</pre>
<p>That's it, you can just list the from address of each list, or just use
partials, and mutt will show these messages as coming from a list. This
brings up another interesting aspect of dealing with lists: the address
from which you subscribed. Maybe you use one email address for certain
lists or contacts and you want to automatically use that address for
messages going to certain addresses. No problem, just use this string:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
send-hook '~t @fedoraproject.org' my_hdr From: "First Last <me@example.com>"
</pre>
<p>That configuration will change the from address to "First Last
<<a class="reference external" href="mailto:me@example.com">me@example.com</a>>" when sending to an address that contains
@fedoraproject.org. You can put in as many of these as you'd like.</p>
<p>Mutt also works well with GnuPG (GPG) and S/MIME. While I haven't
worked with S/MIME certificates I can attest to mutt's ability to
utilize GPG gracefully. There are some settings you'll want to set in
the configuration file to make sure GPG does as you expect.</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
set forward_decrypt = no <- This setting means that you won't accidentally forward a previously encrypted message.
set crypt_autoencrypt = no <- This will force all messages to be encrypted.
set crypt_autopgp = yes <- This will force the crypto to be PGP or GPG.
set crypt_autosign = no <- Sign all messages.
set crypt_autosmime = no <- Use MIME instead of in-line signatures
set crypt_replyencrypt = yes <- Encrypt replies to encrypted messages.
set crypt_replysign = yes <- Reply to signed messages with a signature
set crypt_replysignencrypted = yes <- Reply to signed and encrypted messages with a signed and encrypted message.
set crypt_timestamp = yes <- Use a timestamp.
set crypt_use_gpgme = no <- Use GPGME
set crypt_verify_sig = yes <- Verify signatures on incoming messages
set pgp_auto_decode = yes <- Automatically decode PGP signatures
set pgp_autoinline = yes <- Use auto inline.
set pgp_sign_as = '024BB3D1' <- Which key you want to use by default.
</pre>
<p>You don't have to use the settings I use but you should know what each
setting does. There may also be some duplicate or deprecated commands
in there as well. You can even set mutt to automatically sign and/or
encrypt messages based on the address you are sending the message to:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
send-hook friend@example.com 'set pgp_autosign'
send-hook friend@example.com 'set pgp_autoencrypt'
</pre>
<p>Aliases are your address book of email addresses. They look like this:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
source $HOME/.mutt/mutt-aliases <- Points to where the file of aliases is located. You can put them in muttrc.
alias Friend First Last <friend@example.com>
</pre>
<p>This means that when you send a message to 'Friend' the message will
magically be sent to 'First Last <<a class="reference external" href="mailto:friend@example.com">friend@example.com</a>>'. A very handy
way of sending messages to people without having to type their entire
name or email address.</p>
<p>I hope this has been a helpful post on mutt. I'll happily attempt to
answer any questions although I'll have to say that I'm far from a mutt
expert. There are also many other customizations that I did not get
into that could further increase your enjoyment of this great program.</p>
QSLs Received: NMN and Radio Bulgaria2012-11-05T09:56:00-05:002012-11-05T09:56:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2012-11-05:/qsls-received-nmn-and-radio-bulgaria.html<p>[caption id="attachment_452" align="alignleft" width="300"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2012/11/NMN-front.webp"><img alt="QSL from NMN" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2012/11/NMN-front-300x190.webp" /></a> QSL from NMN[/caption]</p>
<p>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 …</p><p>[caption id="attachment_452" align="alignleft" width="300"]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2012/11/NMN-front.webp"><img alt="QSL from NMN" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2012/11/NMN-front-300x190.webp" /></a> QSL from NMN[/caption]</p>
<p>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 Guard CAMSLANT..." and the second was from "Radio Romania".</p>
<p>I couldn't imagine why I would be receiving something from
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.uscg.mil/lantarea/camslant/">CAMSLANT</a> but when I saw the
QSL card inside I remembered sending them a signal report after seeing
such a request on a NAVTEX broadcast. I wasn't really expecting a QSL
from NMN but it's always great to receive one!</p>
<p>Likewise, I sent <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rri.ro">Radio Romania</a> a letter thanking
them for their continued broadcasts on the shortwave bands and commented
on a program I had heard. They sent me back a nice QSL, broadcast
schedule, calendar, sticker, and a letter. I always enjoy hearing
broadcasts from Europe as they seem to take great pride in their
transmissions. It's unfortunate that two of my favorite stations, Radio
Ukraine International and Radio Bulgaria, are now both off the air.</p>
Beautiful music from around the world2012-10-07T12:00:00-04:002012-10-07T12:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2012-10-07:/beautiful-music-from-around-the-world.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 the
tradition of news, current events, and music.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://english.rti.org.tw">Radio Taiwan International</a> can be heard
on 5950kHz and 9680kHz each night in North America. On Wednesday
mornings (UTC) a signature program, Jade Bells and Bamboo Pipes, is
broadcast. The program is great and brings the sounds of the orient
right to your home. It is an award-winning program that should
entertain your ears.</p>
<p>Radio Ukraine International used to broadcast several classical music
programs before their transmitters went dark. Radio Bulgaria was also
an excellent station that was worth tuning in before it went
Internet-only (not much radio in the Internet).</p>
<p>If anyone knows of any other good stations please post a comment and
I'll include them.</p>
QRT2012-10-06T22:26:00-04:002012-10-06T22:26:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2012-10-06:/qrt.html<p>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 …</p><p>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, or given it away.
Once we completely move onto the boat I'll be back active on HF using an
Icom M-802 and a vertical antenna.</p>
<p>I'm hoping to be back on the air on a regular basis very soon. Hope to
hear you there!</p>
Confirmed DXCC entity # 119 and 1202012-09-25T02:18:00-04:002012-09-25T02:18:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2012-09-25:/confirmed-dxcc-entity-119-and-120.html<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2012/09/8R1Z.webp"><img alt="8R1Z QSL" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2012/09/8R1Z-300x287.webp" /></a>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 …</p><p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2012/09/8R1Z.webp"><img alt="8R1Z QSL" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2012/09/8R1Z-300x287.webp" /></a>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
my 120th DXCC entity confirmed.</p>
<p>Just last week I worked UA2FR in Kaliningrad on 17-meters CW and
received an electronic QSL via LoTW yesterday. Valentin's contact and
confirmation represents my 119th DXCC entity confirmed.</p>
<p>Conditions on HF certainly haven't been great but there is DX to be
had. I've been quite pleased to run into several 'new ones' on the
bands and see quite a lot of activity on the DX-cluster. I'm hoping
conditions continue to improve.</p>
Brass Pounders' League2012-08-27T16:51:00-04:002012-08-27T16:51:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2012-08-27:/brass-pounders-league.html<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2012/08/bpl_dec_20111.webp"><img alt="W4OTN's BPL Certificate" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2012/08/bpl_dec_20111.webp?w=300" /></a>Last December I was handling a lot of traffic
on the <a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org/nts">National Traffic System</a> nets. I
was the liaison between Virginia and 4RN, between 4RN and EAN, and was
filling in on an open
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org/chapter-seven-operation-of-the-transcontinental-corps">TCC</a>
slot. Come to think of it, I was also handling quite a bit of traffic …</p><p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2012/08/bpl_dec_20111.webp"><img alt="W4OTN's BPL Certificate" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2012/08/bpl_dec_20111.webp?w=300" /></a>Last December I was handling a lot of traffic
on the <a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org/nts">National Traffic System</a> nets. I
was the liaison between Virginia and 4RN, between 4RN and EAN, and was
filling in on an open
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org/chapter-seven-operation-of-the-transcontinental-corps">TCC</a>
slot. Come to think of it, I was also handling quite a bit of traffic
as a <a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org/chapter-eight-operation-of-the-digital-system">Digital Relay
Station</a>
as well. By the end of the month I had handled 546 messages using
almost every mode known to NTS. I knew the days of handling lots of
traffic were coming to an end, at least in the short run, as my first
little harmonic was born at the beginning of December. Luckily for me,
he enjoyed listening to the radio; it seemed to soothe him. But as
January came around I had to let it all drop. I've just recently gotten
back active in NTS and, while I probably won't be able to get the
numbers I was getting before, I'm hoping I can start making some time to
move traffic around.</p>
<p>Last week I was looking at my records and remembered that I had finally
qualified for the <a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org/files/file/Public%2520Service/Brass%2520Pounders%2520League.doc">Brass Pounders'
League</a>
but never officially asked for the certificate. A quick e-mail to Steve
WV1X solved that problem and I received my certificate in the mail today
(thanks Steve!). It will be displayed promonately next to my
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org/dxcc">DXCC</a> as I feel it was just as difficult a
challenge and I'm proud of both.</p>
A History of Shortwave Jamming2012-08-10T18:41:00-04:002012-08-10T18:41:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2012-08-10:/a-history-of-shortwave-jamming.html<p>Here's a great video on the history of shortwave jamming since the end
of World War II: <a class="reference external" href="http://www.polskieradio.pl/68/2055/video/652120">http://www.polskieradio.pl/68/2055/video/652120</a></p>
Password strength, more characters are better than complexity2012-07-26T11:35:00-04:002012-07-26T11:35:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2012-07-26:/password-strength-more-characters-are-better-than-complexity.html<p>In a recent PBS Newshour
article
discussing the recent Yahoo! password list theft, a reference to a chart
showing how<a class="reference external" href="https://www.baekdal.com/insights/password-security-usability">short passwords can still be
secure</a> was
added to the story. The data and conclusions included in that chart were
disturbing to me, to say the least. While complexity does …</p><p>In a recent PBS Newshour
article
discussing the recent Yahoo! password list theft, a reference to a chart
showing how<a class="reference external" href="https://www.baekdal.com/insights/password-security-usability">short passwords can still be
secure</a> was
added to the story. The data and conclusions included in that chart were
disturbing to me, to say the least. While complexity does add to the
number of characters one would have to try to brute force attack a
password lengthening the password has a much greater effect on improving
password security particularly when you force people to use the
complexity.</p>
<p>Actually requiring combinations of letters, numbers, and symbols in a
short password increases the chances of the password being cracked as
you have limited the theoretical set of combinations that could be used
to make the password, thus making rainbow tables much more efficient. In
the paper<a class="reference external" href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=1-plWjeq48Uia3kYV1l1_QRpm7oL1MRtFr3R1fEqXH_QYO039Np_eoONHd9mx">*Reduced Keyspace with Password Complexity* the math clearly
shows how this actually
occurs.</a></p>
<p><em>`The Usability of
Passwords <http://www.baekdal.com/insights/password-security-usability>`__</em>
study, by Thomas Baekdal, also includes quite a few assumptions that
aren't very realistic. Saying that “...most web applications would not
be capable of handling more than 100 sign-in requests per second” is a
rather big assumption of unknown systems where these attacks might
occur. A quick Google search returns a wide range of answers including
one discussing the limiting factor of one system being the iSCSI storage
system and the system only being able to handle 200 sign-in requests per
second, per server. With cloud computing you could potentially have
hundreds or thousands of servers bring brought together to handle
whatever the load.</p>
<p>Another assumption is that the passwords are being attacked remotely and
are actually removed from the system, like what happened with LinkedIn
and Yahoo!. Once an encrypted list of passwords are brought locally the
attack could occur quite quickly and the latency of the home system's
interface and the network are removed completely. Mr. Baekdal is
correct, however, when discussing passwords that are not stored
encrypted. Complexity and length will not help you there. What will help
you, though, is the use of a unique password for each account you have
so that if the password is exposed you haven't put all your accounts at
risk.</p>
<p>Oddly enough, it appears that Mr. Baekdal has already been <a class="reference external" href="https://www.baekdal.com/insights/usable-security-reply-to-security-now">confronted
with these
issues</a>
but still doesn't get it. Again, his assumptions get in the way of what
the possibilities truly are. He is correct in saying that people
generally can't remember long, complex passwords. But the use of
technology helps us. Using a password safe to store your
randomly-generated, long passwords for each site you visit makes life a
lot easier and more secure. There are several to choose from and many
that you may already have on your system like the one that Mozilla
includes in its Internet browser Firefox.</p>
<p>I'm quite appalled that the reparable news source Newsline would provide
such bad advice to their readers. For the non-technical people that read
that article, and that don't understand the bad assumptions provided,
the possibility that they will become more confused about how to
properly protect themselves when they hear advice that is backed up by
mathematics is great. It's time we stop with all the bad advice and come
together with a clear and concise message that is backed up by the math.
It's not difficult to protect yourself online and while you do have to
put some trust in the remote system you can still mitigate many of those
risks yourself.</p>
Spring cleaning means... things for sale!2012-03-28T10:16:00-04:002012-03-28T10:16:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2012-03-28:/spring-cleaning-means-things-for-sale.html<p>It's Spring cleaning time, again, and I'm offering up the following
items for sale:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>[STRIKEOUT:Kenwood TS-480SAT HF transceiver. Includes power cable,
hand microphone, and original box. $700 obo + shipping.]</li>
<li>[STRIKEOUT:Kenwood TS-790A with the UT-10. 144/432/1200MHz all-mode
transceiver. Includes power cable, hand microphone, and original
box. This …</li></ul><p>It's Spring cleaning time, again, and I'm offering up the following
items for sale:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>[STRIKEOUT:Kenwood TS-480SAT HF transceiver. Includes power cable,
hand microphone, and original box. $700 obo + shipping.]</li>
<li>[STRIKEOUT:Kenwood TS-790A with the UT-10. 144/432/1200MHz all-mode
transceiver. Includes power cable, hand microphone, and original
box. This radio includes the modification for full-duplex 9600-baud
operation for satellite operation. $1200 obo + shipping.]</li>
<li>Midland 70-056C low band transceiver with mobile mount, power cable,
hand microphone and telephone-style microphone, two speakers, and
three faces. Midland specs say the unit can be programmed from 40MHz
to 54MHz and is 110 watts. Several six-meter frequencies already
programmed! Trunk mount. $300 obo + shipping.</li>
<li>[STRIKEOUT:Ten-Tec Argosy HF transceiver with power supply and mobile
mounting bracket. $250 + shipping.]</li>
<li>Maha MH-C777 universal charger. No plug (takes 12-18V input). $15 +
shipping.</li>
<li>1988 ARRL Antenna Book. Rough condition. Free + shipping.</li>
<li>JT-30 Astatic microphone housing, element, and stand, black. $150
obo + shipping.</li>
<li>Courier Port-A-Lab meter. Free + shipping.</li>
</ul>
<p>Pictures available upon request.</p>
<p>Interested parties may contact me at <a class="reference external" href="mailto:W4OTN@W4OTN.#TIDE.VA.USA.NOAM">W4OTN@W4OTN.#TIDE.VA.USA.NOAM</a> or
<a class="reference external" href="mailto:w4otn@arrl.net">w4otn@arrl.net</a>.</p>
Antenna maintenance2012-03-18T22:40:00-04:002012-03-18T22:40:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2012-03-18:/antenna-maintenance.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 up into New
England from here on the band the antenna had lost the bolts holding it
to the tower and was now fouling my two meter and seventy centimeter
yagis. I also decided to remove the two meter yagi (13B2) from the tower
and turn the seventy centimeter yagi vertical to accommodate better
communications with the LPEN packet node. I did place a two meter
j-pole at the top to give me local coverage.</p>
<p>In addition to the tower work I was able to clean up a few projects in
the back yard. My four-element six meter yagi has now been disassembled
and stored for future use. A couple of expandable poles that were in
the back yard have also been cleaned up and stored. All that's left is
cleaning up the Butternut vertical antenna. It was taken down for
Hurricane Irene and wasn't put back in service due to several problems I
have had with it at this location (worked great in North Carolina). I'm
hoping my next location will yield a better location for this antenna.</p>
<p>While I got a lot accomplished I did have a little help. Amanda fixed
the j-pole I was installing (needed to be soldered in a couple of
places) and Harlan came out, with wrench in hand, to work on the six
meter antenna. I'm certainly glad I have a supportive family!</p>
New year, updated keys.2012-01-03T16:12:00-05:002012-01-03T16:12:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2012-01-03:/new-year-updated-keys.html<p><img alt="GnuPG Logo" src="images/logo-gnupg-light-purple-bg.webp" />I run a SKS key server and watch my daily numbers to see
how many keys get updated, etc. Being a numbers guy I wondered how many
people, like me, update their GPG keys, I specifically update the
expiration date and generate new encryption keys annually, at the
beginning of …</p><p><img alt="GnuPG Logo" src="images/logo-gnupg-light-purple-bg.webp" />I run a SKS key server and watch my daily numbers to see
how many keys get updated, etc. Being a numbers guy I wondered how many
people, like me, update their GPG keys, I specifically update the
expiration date and generate new encryption keys annually, at the
beginning of the new year. Apparently I'm not alone:</p>
<div class="section" id="daily-histogram">
<h2>Daily Histogram</h2>
<table border="1" class="docutils">
<colgroup>
<col width="33%" />
<col width="29%" />
<col width="38%" />
</colgroup>
<tbody valign="top">
<tr><td>Time</td>
<td>New Keys</td>
<td>Updated Keys</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>2012-01-02</td>
<td>266</td>
<td>210</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>2012-01-01</td>
<td>251</td>
<td>6422</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>2011-12-31</td>
<td>191</td>
<td>99</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>2011-12-30</td>
<td>287</td>
<td>133</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>2011-12-29</td>
<td>326</td>
<td>112</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>2011-12-28</td>
<td>297</td>
<td>154</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>2011-12-27</td>
<td>290</td>
<td>133</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>2011-12-26</td>
<td>248</td>
<td>84</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>2011-12-25</td>
<td>146</td>
<td>55</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>2011-12-24</td>
<td>157</td>
<td>81</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>2011-12-23</td>
<td>216</td>
<td>99</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>2011-12-22</td>
<td>330</td>
<td>152</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>2011-12-21</td>
<td>326</td>
<td>146</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Specifically these keys were updated at 1700Z. I'm not sure I have the
ability to see which keys were updated but I'd love to know how that
happened.</p>
</div>
2011 NTS Summary2012-01-01T23:43:00-05:002012-01-01T23:43:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2012-01-01:/2011-nts-summary.html<p>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:</p>
<p>In 2010 I handled 960 messages, sending 250 of my own. In 2011,
however, I handled 1658, creating 365 myself. That's …</p><p>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:</p>
<p>In 2010 I handled 960 messages, sending 250 of my own. In 2011,
however, I handled 1658, creating 365 myself. That's a ~73% increase in
messages handled over 2010! What's funny is looking at the numbers I
took a break at the beginning of 2011 and didn't really start handling
traffic <em>seriously</em> until September. I handled the majority of my
messages during the last quarter of 2011. I'm hoping the trend
continues and the NTS continues to be a strong component of the ARRL.</p>
<table border="1" class="docutils">
<colgroup>
<col width="50%" />
<col width="28%" />
<col width="22%" />
</colgroup>
<tbody valign="top">
<tr><td> </td>
<td>2011</td>
<td>2010</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>January</td>
<td>12</td>
<td>83</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>February</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>140</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>March</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>98</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>April</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>65</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>May</td>
<td>17</td>
<td>60</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>June</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>20</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>July</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>45</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>August</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>64</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>September</td>
<td>106</td>
<td>94</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>October</td>
<td>488</td>
<td>44</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>November</td>
<td>485</td>
<td>138</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>December</td>
<td>546</td>
<td>109</td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr><td>TOTAL</td>
<td>1658</td>
<td>960</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>% Change</td>
<td>72.71%</td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr><td> </td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr><td>Total Messages</td>
<td>365</td>
<td>250</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>% Change</td>
<td>46.00%</td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
December NTS Numbers2012-01-01T23:34:00-05:002012-01-01T23:34:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2012-01-01:/december-nts-numbers.html<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://www.arrl.org/nts"><img alt="NTS Logo" src="images/nts-cl_low.JPG" /></a>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
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org/nts">NTS</a> message numbers speak for themselves:</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Originated: 3</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Received: 212</div>
<div class="line">Sent …</div></div></div><p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://www.arrl.org/nts"><img alt="NTS Logo" src="images/nts-cl_low.JPG" /></a>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
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org/nts">NTS</a> message numbers speak for themselves:</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Originated: 3</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Received: 212</div>
<div class="line">Sent: 327</div>
<div class="line">Delivered: 4</div>
<div class="line">Total Message Count: 546</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>This also means that I <em>finally</em> made the Brass Pounders League since I
handled over 500 messages! Whew! It was a lot of fun and I hope I can
continue the trend into 2012.</p>
<p>My <a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org/public-service-honor-roll">PSHR</a> came out to
be 1/40, 2/40, 3/20, 4/0, 5/0, 6/10, T/110. Nothing earth shattering
there.</p>
First QSO of 20122012-01-01T14:10:00-05:002012-01-01T14:10:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2012-01-01:/first-qso-of-2012.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 I was able
to help him get his transceiver aligned. He's in the log but not
getting one of my QSL cards until I get a CW QSO in the books as well.
:)</p>
End user security for web browsing2011-12-31T12:32:00-05:002011-12-31T12:32:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2011-12-31:/end-user-security-for-web-browsing.html<p>Someone asked me, earlier this week, how to setup a "very secure Fedora
16..." system for a user that mostly surfs the web and uses email.
Instead of responding directly to that user I'm writing this in order to
get others to comment and provide additional information that I may …</p><p>Someone asked me, earlier this week, how to setup a "very secure Fedora
16..." system for a user that mostly surfs the web and uses email.
Instead of responding directly to that user I'm writing this in order to
get others to comment and provide additional information that I may not
think about as I'm writing this. Generally speaking, however, I think
this would be a short list of things to do:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Remove unused packages. Software packages that are unused on your
system may introduce unwanted access into your system through an
unpatched bug. More software packages also means more packages to
update/maintain.</li>
<li>Use the latest version of your web browser. Web browser makers
provide updates to their supported versions of their software. If
you are using an older version of your web browser then you may not
be protected from all vulnerabilities.</li>
<li>Use HTTPS whenever possible. When you use
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Https">HTTPS</a> instead of
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Http">HTTP</a> when surfing the web,
the connection between you and the web server is encrypted. If you
use the <a class="reference external" href="https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/">Firefox</a>
browser then you can use the <a class="reference external" href="https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere">HTTPS
Everywhere</a> plug-in that
will automatically change HTTP to HTTPS on many pages that the
plug-in knows about.</li>
<li>Don't use the same password for all of your online accounts. If one
of your accounts gets compromised then all of your online accounts
could get become compromised. Use a <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Password_manager">password
manager</a> to store
your passwords so you can use long, complex passwords and not have to
remember them. Firefox has a password manager built-in.</li>
<li>Use <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SE_Linux">SE Linux</a>. SE Linux
helps keep your system secure by using mandatory access controls.
This will keep any rouge code from gaining too much access and doing
too much damage.</li>
</ul>
<p>This is a short list and I'll probably add onto it. Anyone have
anything else to add?</p>
HSMM2011-12-26T11:29:00-05:002011-12-26T11:29:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2011-12-26:/hsmm.html<p><a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Speed_Multimedia">HSMM</a>, 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.</p>
<div class="section" id="communication-modes">
<h2>Communication Modes</h2>
<p>Because this network is IP-based, the network will …</p></div><p><a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Speed_Multimedia">HSMM</a>, 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.</p>
<div class="section" id="communication-modes">
<h2>Communication Modes</h2>
<p>Because this network is IP-based, the network will support many
different types of communication simultaneously. Here are a few
examples:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRC">IRC</a> - Text-based
point-to-point and point-to-multipoint chat</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletin_board_system">BBS</a> -
Traditional packet networks utilize bulletin board systems (or BBSs)
to move messages around the globe. This, too, can be utilized as
either user connection points or backbones to move messages, using
telnet, around the area.</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Email">Email</a> - Electronic mail, or
email, servers can be established on the network providing similar
communications as you would find on the Internet.</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XMPP">XMPP</a> - Extensible Messaging
and Presence Protocol, or XMPP, provides IM communications.</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Html">HTML</a> - Webpages containing
both static and dynamic information can be created for users to gain
access information.</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Session_Initiation_Protocol">SIP</a> -
Session Initiation Protocol, or SIP, provides voice and video
communication capabilities across the network. Repeaters can even
use this protocol to link to each other using ATA converters
providing a clear, digital voice channel.</li>
<li>Others - There are many other mechanisms of IP-based communications
that can be utilized that I haven't even documented here. For the
most part these can be utilized across this network.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="section" id="bandwidth">
<h2>Bandwidth</h2>
<p>Because we are utilizing IEEE
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/802.11">802.11</a> protocols, bandwidth
of 54 Mb/s and greater are possible. While higher bandwidth is possible
utilizing newer amendments to the 802.11 protocol (802.11n supports
54Mb/s to 600Mb/s and 802.11ac supports upto 1300Mb/s compared with
802.11b supporting 11Mb/s) bandwidth decreases the further away the
station is from the user due to the number of retries that must be sent
to get a complete communication and other environmental concerns.
Generally the bandwidth provided by this network will be higher than
those provided by local ISPs.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="integrating-traditional-amateur-radio-systems">
<h2>Integrating "traditional" amateur radio systems</h2>
<div class="section" id="analog-repeaters">
<h3>Analog Repeaters</h3>
<p>Analog repeaters can be linked together with digital-quality voice links
utilizing SIP across a HSMM network. Using ATA modules, analog voice
"links" from repeater controllers are changed to digital using the SIP
protocol and transmitted to either the distant point directly or via a
telephony server such as Asterisk to provide multi-point connectivity.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="digital-repeaters">
<h3>Digital Repeaters</h3>
<p>Digital repeater systems, such as D-Star and DMR, contain native IP
network connections. HSMM could easily allow these types of systems to
be linked up connecting a regional area together without the use of the
Internet.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="aprs">
<h3>APRS</h3>
<p>APRS digipeaters can also act as gateways to an APRS server on the HSMM
network. This will provide regional connectivity without the use of the
Internet.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="bbs">
<h3>BBS</h3>
<p>BBSs can utilize the HSMM network to provide high speed connectivity
between BBSs to pass traffic over telnet. Users could also be given
access to BBSs using telnet to gain access to these systems.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="strikeout-hardware">
<h2>[STRIKEOUT:Hardware]</h2>
<p>[STRIKEOUT:The custom firmware for MESH is now being standardized around
the Ubiquiti hardware.]</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="articles-of-interest">
<h2>Articles of Interest</h2>
<ul class="simple">
<li><a class="reference external" href="https://www.wg3k.us/2016/02/12/apps-for-ham-radio-networks/">Applications for Amateur Radio
Networks</a></li>
<li>Security for Amateur Radio Networks</li>
<li>802.11 compared with Mesh</li>
</ul>
</div>
Fedora Amateur Radio Guide2011-12-11T18:56:00-05:002011-12-11T18:56:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2011-12-11:/fedora-amateur-radio-guide.html<p>Earlier today John WB8RCR and I released the
<a class="reference external" href="http://fedoraproject.org">Fedora</a> <a class="reference external" href="https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/Fedora/16/html/Amateur_Radio_Guide/index.html">Amateur Radio
Guide</a>.
Depicting many of the programs available in Fedora's repositories, these
free and open source software packages provides many tools to turn any
amateur radio operator into a truly geeky operator.</p>
<p>John did a wonderful job putting together the …</p><p>Earlier today John WB8RCR and I released the
<a class="reference external" href="http://fedoraproject.org">Fedora</a> <a class="reference external" href="https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/Fedora/16/html/Amateur_Radio_Guide/index.html">Amateur Radio
Guide</a>.
Depicting many of the programs available in Fedora's repositories, these
free and open source software packages provides many tools to turn any
amateur radio operator into a truly geeky operator.</p>
<p>John did a wonderful job putting together the guide to include
twenty-one software packages. And while there is still work to do we
wanted to get it out the door now so that Fedora users could take
advantage of what was complete. We hope you find it useful!</p>
DXCC Update for 20112011-12-05T21:45:00-05:002011-12-05T21:45:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2011-12-05:/dxcc-update-for-2011.html<p>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:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
TYPE …</pre><p>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:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
TYPE CURRENT TOTAL
MIXED 115 116
PHONE 85 86
CW 6 6
RTTY/DIGITAL 79 80
SATELLITE 2 2
CHALLENGE 257 259
160M 3 3
80M 10 10
40M 47 48
30M 4 4
20M 82 82
17M 19 19
15M 64 65
12M 2 2
10M 23 23
6M 3 3
2M 1 1
</pre>
<p>The plan for 2012 is to concentrate on CW. I don't want to necessarily
concentrate on the lower bands when the higher frequencies are booming
but it would be nice to get a few more countries confirmed there too.</p>
Five Principles of Amateur Radio in the United States2011-11-23T10:47:00-05:002011-11-23T10:47:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2011-11-23:/five-principles-of-amateur-radio-in-the-united-states.html<p>Did you know there were five principles of Amateur Radio written into
the law that is Part 97? Those principles are:</p>
<blockquote>
<pre class="literal-block">
(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 …</pre></blockquote><p>Did you know there were five principles of Amateur Radio written into
the law that is Part 97? Those principles are:</p>
<blockquote>
<pre class="literal-block">
(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 and extension of the amateur's proven ability to
contribute to the advancement of the radio art.
(c) Encouragement and improvement of the amateur service through
rules which provide for advancing skills in both the communication and
technical phases of the art.
(d) Expansion of the existing reservoir within the amateur radio
service of trained operators, technicians, and electronics experts.
(e) Continuation and extension of the amateur's unique ability to
enhance international goodwill.
</pre>
</blockquote>
<p>It would seem that we aren't just using our airwaves for emergency
communications like some people would have us believe. We <em>can</em>
actually go out and enjoy our bands without feeling guilty!</p>
Leave your Internet out of my Amateur Radio2011-11-23T10:11:00-05:002011-11-23T10:11:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2011-11-23:/leave-your-internet-out-of-my-amateur-radio.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 Relay League (ARRL) has been advocating the
use of Winlink 2000 for emergency use without much forethought, in my
opinion. This really isn't much surprise since they've started doing
away with bulletins that could easily be made available over digital
amateur radio networks in favor of shiny, flashy, and pretty text that
are best viewed using a broadband Internet connection.</p>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li><strong>If I have Internet access why do I need amateur radio?</strong> It's
actually a really good question. The ARRL likes to think that ARES
members march into a disaster-affected area or into emergency
operations centers and setup shop to save the day when traditional
communication systems fail. But if these ARES members only know how
to use Internet-based communication systems then they very well might
fail as well. There is a lot of talk of using Winlink 2000 for ARES
because email is easiest for our "customers" to handle at the distant
end. Okay, I'm good with that except if the customer doesn't have
Internet access then you are sending messages that won't be delivered
in a timely manner (maybe not until days or weeks after the
disaster). But if their Internet access is working then why do I
need amateur radio operators? Simply put, I don't. During Hurricane
Irene, the EOC I was stationed at never lost communications with the
world or the local shelter. Had they, we were prepared to handle
traffic to the state EOC digitally through the Virginia Digital
Emergency Network (VDEN) which does not rely on any Internet
connectivity.</li>
<li><strong>If I train to use the Internet I won't train to use anything
else.</strong> It's a sad fact but when people rely on a technology they
deem to be superior because it's fast or easy you then they end up
failing to maintain skills that would allow them a means of
communicating around a failure. The same goes for the equipment
being used. Think that local Echolink repeater link is going to be
available during an emergency? What if it's not? If you practice
and use that path to communicate with, say, the National Hurricane
Center will you be able to do so over HF when your Echolink no longer
functions? Do you even remember the frequency they monitor
(14.325MHz)? Does your equipment even work?</li>
<li><strong>Why would I want to use the Internet to communicate to other
Amateurs?</strong> Good question. I received a license from the FCC
stating I have access to all kinds of frequencies in which to exploit
using all kinds of modes of communication. Why would I want to
connect an Internet link to the system? Heck, if I did that I might
as well turn the radios off and use the fiber connection I have
plugged into my house for all my global communications. Funny,
though, that back in 2003 the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.sera.org/">SouthEastern Repeater
Association</a> (SERA) met and <a class="reference external" href="http://www.sera.org/SERA%20on%20IRLP-Echolink.pdf">agreed that two
hams communicating over the Internet with no RF was still "ham
radio"</a>. In an
emergency this would fall squarely into #1 on this list. The ARRL's
National Traffic System (NTS) currently handles messages going
between hams, between hams and non-hams, and even between non-hams
and non-hams using amateur radio without Internet links. They do
this using voice, CW, RTTY, and a 24/7/365 digital network, the NTSD,
that links up the entire country. If deployed properly, the NTSD
could bring doorstep-to-doorstep communications between hams anywhere
in the country (US and Canada) without much delay.</li>
<li><strong>Degradation of skills.</strong> I know of some very smart hams that build
and maintain digital networks. These are smart individuals and they
maintain their equipment much as they do their minds by testing
different scenarios, working through routing problems, and figuring
out how to provide connectivity to different geographic areas when
none exists. Then I know of people who are just smart enough to
connect a radio, TNC, and computer together, get the Winlink 2000
software going, and think that the VHF or UHF link they have just
created to the Internet is how they are going to communicate with the
state EOC a hundred or so miles away. If the Internet fails at
either location or somewhere in between they won't know how to
quickly work around the problem because they don't have the skills or
the equipment to do so.</li>
</ol>
<p>With so many modes and bands in which to operate why do so many hams
seem to revolve around the Internet? Why has our ambassador, the ARRL,
spent more time getting information into a pretty format rather than
supporting the means of moving information around via ham radio? I dare
say there isn't anything that can be done on the Internet that can't be
done on Amateur Radio with respect to communications.</p>
SKCC WES2011-11-21T19:06:00-05:002011-11-21T19:06:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2011-11-21:/skcc-wes.html<p>I received my <a class="reference external" href="/images/2011/11/w4otn_skcc_wes_nov_20111.pdf">SKCC WES Participation
Certificate</a>
today; very cool. I've been a member of the <a class="reference external" href="https://www.skccgroup.com/">Straight Key Century Club
(SKCC)</a> for almost a year and had never
participated in their <a class="reference external" href="http://www.skccgroup.com/operating_activities/weekend_sprintathon/">Weekend Sprint
(WES</a>)
which takes place every month for twenty-four hours. I <a class="reference external" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20111117063645/http://wes.m0trn.com/results.php?eventid=17">scored
115th</a> out of the 199
entries …</p><p>I received my <a class="reference external" href="/images/2011/11/w4otn_skcc_wes_nov_20111.pdf">SKCC WES Participation
Certificate</a>
today; very cool. I've been a member of the <a class="reference external" href="https://www.skccgroup.com/">Straight Key Century Club
(SKCC)</a> for almost a year and had never
participated in their <a class="reference external" href="http://www.skccgroup.com/operating_activities/weekend_sprintathon/">Weekend Sprint
(WES</a>)
which takes place every month for twenty-four hours. I <a class="reference external" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20111117063645/http://wes.m0trn.com/results.php?eventid=17">scored
115th</a> out of the 199
entries. Not bad for arm chair operating off and on. I think I
mustered sixteen contacts including Australia, Alaska, and France among
the other stateside contacts. It is a fun event and I hope to
participate in the next one which come up on 11 December 2011.</p>
HamQTH.com2011-11-20T09:48:00-05:002011-11-20T09:48:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2011-11-20:/hamqth-com.html<p><img alt="image0" src="images/hamqth_125x125.webp" />Recently the owners of <a class="reference external" href="https://www.qrz.com/">QRZ.com Callsign
Database</a> started restricting access to addresses
and other data unless you were a registered user. If you used a logging
program, such as <a class="reference external" href="https://www.cqrlog.com/">CQRLOG</a>, you would have to
pay a yearly fee to access this mostly public information. I'd much
rather give a …</p><p><img alt="image0" src="images/hamqth_125x125.webp" />Recently the owners of <a class="reference external" href="https://www.qrz.com/">QRZ.com Callsign
Database</a> started restricting access to addresses
and other data unless you were a registered user. If you used a logging
program, such as <a class="reference external" href="https://www.cqrlog.com/">CQRLOG</a>, you would have to
pay a yearly fee to access this mostly public information. I'd much
rather give a donation to a group that is trying to do the right thing
rather than have my information held hostage for ransom. Because of this
I'd like to introduce <a class="reference external" href="http://www.hamqth.com">HamQTH</a>.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.hamqth.com">HamQTH</a> is a free ham radio callsign database
that provides similar information but is completely free. The owner of
the data (you) gets to determine what is visible and what isn't.</p>
<p>I encourage everyone to visit HamQTH and try it out. I already use it
for my logging program and have received great results so far. And best
of all it's all free!</p>
2011 DXCC Update2011-11-13T12:33:00-05:002011-11-13T12:33:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2011-11-13:/2011-dxcc-update.html<p>Just submitted my 2011 DXCC Update to the ARRL. I submitted fifty QSOs
via LoTW and twelve QSOs via paper QSLs.</p>
<p>New DXCC entities include:</p>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li>5B - Cyprus</li>
<li>CE9 - Antarctica</li>
<li>CP - Bolivia</li>
<li>CT8 - Azores Islands</li>
<li>CY0 - Sable Island</li>
<li>EU - Belarus</li>
<li>GU - Guernsey</li>
<li>PJ4 - Bonaire</li>
<li>TF - Iceland</li>
<li>TK - Corsica</li>
<li>T7 - San Marino …</li></ol><p>Just submitted my 2011 DXCC Update to the ARRL. I submitted fifty QSOs
via LoTW and twelve QSOs via paper QSLs.</p>
<p>New DXCC entities include:</p>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li>5B - Cyprus</li>
<li>CE9 - Antarctica</li>
<li>CP - Bolivia</li>
<li>CT8 - Azores Islands</li>
<li>CY0 - Sable Island</li>
<li>EU - Belarus</li>
<li>GU - Guernsey</li>
<li>PJ4 - Bonaire</li>
<li>TF - Iceland</li>
<li>TK - Corsica</li>
<li>T7 - San Marino</li>
<li>VK - Australia</li>
<li>V4 - Saint Kitts and Nevis</li>
<li>YL - Latvia</li>
</ol>
<p>DXCC entities still awaiting confirmation:</p>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li>HB0 - Liechtenstein</li>
<li>OD - Lebanon</li>
<li>S2 - Bangladesh</li>
<li>T32 - East Kiribati</li>
<li>UA (AS) - Russia (Asiatic)</li>
<li>XT - Burkina Faso</li>
<li>YB - Indonesia</li>
<li>YS - El Salvador</li>
</ol>
Temporary TCC Lima/Victor2011-11-03T12:52:00-04:002011-11-03T12:52:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2011-11-03:/tcc-limamike.html<p>A while back I had told Marcia KW1U that I'd like to try a
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.arrl.org/chapter-seven-operation-of-the-transcontinental-corps">TCC</a>
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 …</p><p>A while back I had told Marcia KW1U that I'd like to try a
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.arrl.org/chapter-seven-operation-of-the-transcontinental-corps">TCC</a>
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 Victor schedule comes back from
CAN with any traffic heading east. When I checked into EAN as the
Central Receive (with two through) I was told that I had a station with
two messages for Central. This is going to be <em>easy</em> I thought. I can
surely take four messages over to another net. What I wasn't ready for,
though, was the nearly twenty messages I received from CAN to bring
back! I had a lot of fun, though, and while I couldn't hear 1RN or 2RN
nets when I listened for them I was able to deliver all my traffic,
mostly going to Massachusetts and Ontario, over the NTSD.</p>
<p>I had a lot of fun and can hardly wait to do it again. If you are an
amateur radio operator in the United States or Canada I'd recommend
getting involved in NTS especially at the local/section level.</p>
Brass Pounder's League - so close...2011-10-31T23:14:00-04:002011-10-31T23:14:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2011-10-31:/brass-pounders-league-so-close.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 some traffic.
Add in my NTSD station and we're talking message central here. And
since new ra-day started a few hours ago here's how I faired:</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">O/59</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">R/206</div>
<div class="line">S/217</div>
<div class="line">D/6</div>
<div class="line">T/488</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>For those that don't know O stands for messages originated, R stands for
messages received, S stands for messages sent, and D stands for messages
delivered. T is just the total of all messages handled. Unfortunately
I was twelve messages short of the required 500.</p>
<p>I'm a little disappointed that I didn't make the 500 message mark but
488 is a <em>lot</em> of messages! And I'm not giving up, either. I
effectively have this entire month to try to do it all over again!
Hopefully I'll have more trips to EAN with more traffic and hopefully
band conditions will improve from my station to the rest of fourth
region (VA to FL).</p>
CW Opportunties for Fun2011-10-31T23:04:00-04:002011-10-31T23:04:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2011-10-31:/cw-opportunties-for-fun.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 received my Technician license all I wanted to do was
talk on the local repeaters and meet people that were around town. This
guy I *think* owns an HT but has been sucked down to the bowls of 40
meters ever since receiving his ticket. The Novice portion of the band
never looked better to him.</p>
<p>Unfortunately I haven't been able to meet him up on the air. It's not
for him trying, however. He noted in a recent message that he is QRV
beginning when he walks in the door from work and then again for a
couple of hours starting at 8PM. I, on the other hand, am usually
pulling myself out of the office/radio room during those times. I do
plan, however, to make a sched for later this week.</p>
<p>In the mean time I thought I'd send him a couple of resources that he
might find useful. And if he might find it useful then I'm sure others
might as well so I'll just post here.</p>
<p>Clubs and Organizations</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><a class="reference external" href="http://www.skccgroup.com/">Straight Key Century Club</a> - When I
met W8DEA on the radio back in December of 2010 he pointed me to this
group. Free to join and participate, this club encourages folks to
get on the air and have fun (using a straight or other manually
operated key). I highly recommend not only joining the group but
<em>participating</em> with the group.</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="http://fists.org/">The International Morse Preservation Society</a>
- Also known as FISTS is one of the older groups of Morse enthusiasts
that have a presence around the world. Similar to SKCC, they have
contests and other activities getting people on the air using their
skills.</li>
</ul>
<p>Local Nets</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><a class="reference external" href="http://bellsouthpwp2.net/r/g/rg_burns/index.htm">Carolinas Slow
Net</a> - Meeting
every night at 8PM (ET) on 3571 kHz, this net is great for those just
getting into CW and needing a little help finding their feet. This
net is also a NTS-affiliated net and traffic is passed.</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="http://www.ncarrl.org/nets/nc_nts_nets.html">Carolinas Net -
Early</a> - Meeting
every night at 7PM (ET) on 3573 kHz, this net facilitates traffic
flowing from North Carolina and South Carolina to the 4RN net. This
net is advertised as running 20 to 22 WPM.</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="http://www.ncarrl.org/nets/nc_nts_nets.html">Carolinas Net -
Late</a> - This net is a
partner to the Carolinas Net - Early. The Late net meets to
distribute traffic coming from the EAN and 4RN nets. The Late net
meets at 10PM (ET) on 3573 kHz.</li>
<li>Virginia Net Early (VNE) - This net meets at 7PM (ET) on 3578.5 kHz
to pass traffic throughout Virginia and to the 4RN net.</li>
</ul>
<p>Other neat stuff</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><a class="reference external" href="http://radiomarine.org/">Maritime Radio Historical Society</a> - I'd
be holding back if I didn't give some credit to one of the groups
that really spurred me on to working on my fist. The guys (and gals)
at KPH/KSM/K6KPH really know how to excite the atmosphere and my
receiver.</li>
</ul>
<p>This is a short list of items I'd pass to a new ham who is hot on the
key. I, for one, will be guarding 7114kHz when I'm in the shack and not
on a net working traffic. Remember to throw your callsign out every so
often so that others will know you are there. If anyone knows of any
other good resources please leave a comment and I may just include them.</p>
<p>73</p>
N4I QSLs Available2011-10-31T20:48:00-04:002011-10-31T20:48:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2011-10-31:/n4i-qsls-available.html<p>I received the QSL cards for the N4I DXpedition today. Received QSLs
have been answered and will go out in tomorrow's mail.</p>
Automatically Controlled Digital Stations on HF2011-10-19T09:41:00-04:002011-10-19T09:41:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2011-10-19:/automatically-controlled-digital-stations-on-hf.html<p>According to Part 97 of the FCC rules (specifically <a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org/part-97-amateur-radio#">§97.221
Automatically controlled digital
station</a>) 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 …</p><p>According to Part 97 of the FCC rules (specifically <a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org/part-97-amateur-radio#">§97.221
Automatically controlled digital
station</a>) 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 269 spaces for digital stations to
work. The breakdown is as follows:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
Frequency | Bandwidth | Channels
------------------------|-----------|-------------
28.120 MHz - 28.189 MHz | 69 kHz | 138 channels (57 channels @ 1200 baud)
24.925 MHz - 24.930 MHz | 5 kHz | 10 channels
21.090 MHz - 21.100 MHz | 10 kHz | 20 channels
18.105 MHz - 18.110 MHz | 5 kHz | 10 channels
14.095 MHz - 14.0995 MHz| 4.5 kHz | 9 channels
14.1005 MHz - 14.112 MHz| 11 kHz | 21 channels
10.140 MHz - 10.150 MHz | 10 kHz | 20 channels
7.100 MHz - 7.105 MHz | 5 kHz | 10 channels
3.585 MHz - 3.600 MHz | 15 kHz | 30 channels
</pre>
<p>So we can easily see where we have the most areas to play. Ten meters
may be a bit misleading as you can run 1200 baud packet there. So who
is operating on all these frequencies? Looking backwards (longest
wavelength first) we see the following channel users:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
3.5850 MHz - WL2K
3.5859 MHz - NTSD
...
3.5870 MHz - WL2K, NTSD
3.5872 MHz - WL2K
...
3.5890 MHz - WL2K
...
3.5900 MHz - WL2K
...
3.5909 MHz - NTSD
3.5910 MHz - WL2K
3.5919 MHz - NTSD
...
3.5930 MHz - WL2K
3.5935 MHz - NTSD
...
3.5950 MHz - WL2K
...
3.5970 MHz - NTSD
3.5979 MHz - NTSD
...
7.1004 MHz - NTSD
...
7.1011 MHz - NTSD
7.1012 MHz - WL2K
7.1014 MHz - NTSD
7.1015 MHz - WL2K
7.1017 MHz - WL2K
7.1019 MHz - WL2K
7.1024 MHz - WL2K, NTSD
7.1029 MHz - NTSD
7.1030 MHz - WL2K
7.1034 MHz - WL2K, NTSD
7.1035 MHz - WL2K, US Packet
7.1037 MHz - WL2K
7.1039 MHz - NTSD
...
7.1044 MHz - WL2K
10.1409 MHz - NTSD
10.1412 MHz - WL2K
10.1419 MHz - NTSD
10.1420 MHz - WL2K
10.1429 MHz - NTSD
10.1434 MHz - WL2K
10.1437 MHz - WL2K
...
10.1449 MHz - NTSD
10.1450 MHz - WL2K
10.1455 MHz - WL2K
10.1459 MHz - NTSD
10.1462 MHz - WL2K
10.1465 MHz - WL2K
10.1467 MHz - US Packet
10.1470 MHz - WL2K
10.1477 MHz - WL2K
...
14.0959 MHz - NTSD
14.0962 MHz - WL2K
...
14.0974 MHz - NTSD
14.0978 MHz - US Packet
14.0979 MHz - NTSD
14.0980 MHz - WL2K
14.0985 MHz - WL2K
14.0987 MHz - WL2K
...
14.1027 MHz - WL2K
...
14.1042 MHz - WL2K
...
14.1067 MHz - WL2K
...
14.1080 MHz - WL2K
14.1085 MHz - WL2K
14.1089 MHz - WL2K
...
14.1099 MHz - WL2K
14.1100 MHz - WL2K
...
14.1120 MHz - WL2K
...
18.1062 MHz - WL2K
18.1069 MHz - WL2K
...
21.0934 MHz - NTSD
21.0987 MHz - WL2K
(All frequencies are center. WL2K and NTSD station frequency list pulled on 19 October 2011. Incomplete listing of US Packet SKIPNETs. Only US stations included in the listing.)
</pre>
<p>So are we using our frequencies in a channelized fashion? No we are
not. What does that mean? That means that the overall efficiency of
our spectrum is reduced. If you have a station between two channels
transmitting they are basically occupying two channels instead of one.
Is this a problem? Maybe. I've heard several times two stations
transmitting where they were clearly overlapping causing neither station
to communicate with who they were attempting to talk with. But from
where I'm listening (40 meters) it's rare. The use of PACTOR-III makes
things worse, however, as these stations transmit 2kHz-wide signals
taking up four channels. These stations also get on and off the
frequencies faster as well so they aren't taking up any channels as long
as a regular 500 Hz station would. (Yes, we are TDMA.) You can tell by
the ellipses I've included in the chart where there are gaps in known
usage. That means that there is still room for new stations to come up
on HF and utilize the spectrum.</p>
<p>Would it be better to have a "frequency coordinator" of sorts working
with all HF networks to spread stations out and make better use of the
spectrum we have? Probably wouldn't hurt. Is it necessary? Probably
not; at least not now.</p>
<p>And remember that band that has 69kHz of available spectrum? No one
claims to be there...</p>
<p>* There is nothing that says we have to channelize our spectrum here
but to not do so would be incredibly wasteful and could lead to
interference.</p>
DX Magazine 2011 Most Wanted Survey2011-10-11T10:35:00-04:002011-10-11T10:35:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2011-10-11:/dx-magazine-2011-most-wanted-survey.html<p>Have you completed the <a class="reference external" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120708064719/http://dxpub.com/dx_survey2011.html">DX Magazine 2011 Most Wanted
Survey</a>? 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 …</p><p>Have you completed the <a class="reference external" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120708064719/http://dxpub.com/dx_survey2011.html">DX Magazine 2011 Most Wanted
Survey</a>? 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!</p>
XFBB and NTS Message Routing2011-10-10T08:52:00-04:002011-10-10T08:52:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2011-10-10:/xfbb-and-nts-message-routing.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 routes traffic based on
the zipcode *only*. While this does allow a more fine tuning this
also means that your forward.sys file will be quite long for routing NTS
traffic all over the US and Canada and you'll also have to figure out
the zip code schema. Not to worry as I've already done that last part
for you. Below is the complete list of zip codes per state. Simply
copy and paste which zip codes a forwarding BBS will handle into their
portion of the forward.sys file and off you go.</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
Z NTSAL
Z 35*
Z 36*
Z NTSAK
Z 99*
Z NTSAZ
Z 85*
Z 86*
Z NTSAR
Z 71*
Z 72*
Z NTSCA
Z 90*
Z 91*
Z 92*
Z 93*
Z 94*
Z 95*
Z 96*
Z NTSCO
Z 80*
Z 81*
Z NTSCT
Z 06*
Z NTSDE
Z 197*
Z 198*
Z 199*
Z NTSDC
Z 20*
Z NTSFL
Z 32*
Z 33*
Z 34*
Z NTSGA
Z 30*
Z 31*
Z 39901
Z NTSHI
Z 96*
Z NTSID
Z 83*
Z NTSIL
Z 60*
Z 61*
Z 62*
Z NTSIN
Z 46*
Z 47*
Z NTSIA
Z 50*
Z 51*
Z 52*
Z NTSKS
Z 66*
Z 67*
Z NTSKY
Z 40*
Z 41*
Z 42*
Z NTSLA
Z 70*
Z 71*
Z NTSME
Z 039*
Z 04*
Z NTSMD
Z 20*
Z 21*
Z NTSMA
Z 01*
Z 02*
Z 05501
Z 05544
Z NTSMI
Z 48*
Z 49*
Z NTSMN
Z 55*
Z 56*
Z NTSMS
Z 386*
Z 387*
Z 388*
Z 389*
Z 39*
Z NTSMO
Z 63*
Z 64*
Z 65*
Z NTSMT
Z 59*
Z NTSNE
Z 68*
Z 69*
Z NTSNV
Z 88901
Z 88905
Z 89*
Z NTSNH
Z 03*
Z NTSNJ
Z 07*
Z 08*
Z NTSNM
Z 87*
Z 88*
Z NTSNY
Z 06390
Z 10*
Z 11*
Z 12*
Z 13*
Z 14*
Z NTSNC
Z 27*
Z 28*
Z NTSND
Z 58*
Z NTSOH
Z 43*
Z 44*
Z 45*
Z NTSOK
Z 73*
Z 74*
Z NTSOR
Z 97*
Z NTSPA
Z 15*
Z 16*
Z 17*
Z 18*
Z 19*
Z NTSRI
Z 028*
Z 029*
Z NTSSC
Z 29*
Z NTSSD
Z 57*
Z NTSTN
Z 37*
Z 38*
Z NTSTX
Z 73301
Z 73344
Z 75*
Z 76*
Z 77*
Z 78*
Z 79*
Z 885*
Z NTSUT
Z 84*
Z NTSVT
Z 05*
Z NTSVA
Z 201*
Z 22*
Z 23*
Z 24*
Z NTSWA
Z 98*
Z 99*
Z NTSWV
Z 247*
Z 248*
Z 249*
Z 25*
Z 26*
Z NTSWI
Z 53*
Z 54*
Z NTSWY
Z 82*
Z 830*
Z 831*
# CANADIAN PROVINCES
Z A*
Z B*
Z C*
Z E*
Z G*
Z H*
Z J*
Z K*
Z L*
Z M*
Z N*
Z P*
Z R*
Z S*
Z T*
Z V*
Z X*
Z Y*
</pre>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><a class="reference external image-reference" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-sa/3.0/88x31.webp" /></a></div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Radio W4OTN by <a class="reference external" href="https://wg3k.us">Eric H Christensen W4OTN</a> is licensed under a <a class="reference external" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License</a>.</div>
</div>
</div>
GeekNote: PGP/GnuPG Key Statistics Tools2011-10-02T19:13:00-04:002011-10-02T19:13:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2011-10-02:/geeknote-pgpgnupg-key-statistics-tools.html<p><a class="reference external" href="http://pgp.cs.uu.nl/">PGP Pathfinder and Key Statistics</a></p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.lysator.liu.se/~jc/wotsap/">WOTSAP</a></p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="https://listman.redhat.com/archives/rhl-devel-list/2008-January/msg00710.html">https://listman.redhat.com/archives/rhl-devel-list/2008-January/msg00710.html</a></p>
BBS Forwarding over HF2011-09-30T10:25:00-04:002011-09-30T10:25:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2011-09-30:/bbs-forwarding-over-hf.html<p>After months of gathering pieces and trying to get time to tinker I
think I've finally got everything figured out with connecting my <a class="reference external" href="https://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/252">PTC-II
modem</a> to my
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.qsl.net/ok2pen/LinuXFBB.htm">XFBB</a>
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletin_board_system">BBS</a>
so I can communicate over HF to distant lands. Right now I'm only setup
to guard and call on a single …</p><p>After months of gathering pieces and trying to get time to tinker I
think I've finally got everything figured out with connecting my <a class="reference external" href="https://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/252">PTC-II
modem</a> to my
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.qsl.net/ok2pen/LinuXFBB.htm">XFBB</a>
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletin_board_system">BBS</a>
so I can communicate over HF to distant lands. Right now I'm only setup
to guard and call on a single frequency. I need to figure out the
cabling to link my PTC-II modem to my <a class="reference external" href="http://www.kenwood.com/i/products/info/amateur/ts_480/">Kenwood
TS-480SAT</a>
for frequency control. Once that happens I will be able to have the
modem to tell the radio to scan several frequencies and to call stations
on particular frequencies.</p>
<p>For now I'm just trying to get my connections to the
<a class="reference external" href="http://home.earthlink.net/~bscottmd/n_t_s_d.htm">NTSD</a> established
so I can send and receive NTS traffic. I have plans, though, for
<a class="reference external" href="https://wg3k.us/bbs-project/">future connections</a>.</p>
Complex, secure passwords made easy2011-09-29T10:44:00-04:002011-09-29T10:44:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2011-09-29:/complex-secure-passwords-made-easy.html<p>I attended a talk by <a class="reference external" href="https://pthree.org/">Aaron Toponce</a> at Ohio
Linux Fest on password security. Everyone knows you shouldn't use a
simple password that is easily guessable and that you shouldn't use the
same password for every account but how do you make unique, complex
passwords and only use it once …</p><p>I attended a talk by <a class="reference external" href="https://pthree.org/">Aaron Toponce</a> at Ohio
Linux Fest on password security. Everyone knows you shouldn't use a
simple password that is easily guessable and that you shouldn't use the
same password for every account but how do you make unique, complex
passwords and only use it once per account and still remember them all?
Personally, I've been using a password locker (encrypted storage for my
passwords) and using <a class="reference external" href="http://gnome-password.sourceforge.net/">Gnome Password
Generator</a> to create random
strings of gibberish. But Aaron discovered a better way.</p>
<p>[caption id="attachment_448" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="A
simple card to use to help you create and remember your
passwords."]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://sparkslinux.wordpress.com/2011/09/29/complex-secure-passwords-made-easy/generatecard-do/"><img alt="image0" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2011/09/generatecard-do.webp?w=300" /></a>[/caption]</p>
<p>The solution,<a class="reference external" href="https://www.passwordcard.org">PasswordCard</a>, is quite
simple and easy to use. The card has eight rows and twenty-nine columns
of random letters and numbers that you can use to create your password.
To create a password simply choose a starting point on the card (maybe
the frown face and the #4 for your work email account), remember where
you started, and then follow a pattern on the card to create your
password. You can choose any pattern you like (and should probably
always use the same pattern for each of your passwords so you won't
forget). That's it, you are done.</p>
<p>Let's try one together to make sure everyone is on the same page. It's
time to change that work email password. You've got your PasswordCard
in your hand (laminated I'm sure) and we are going to start at the frown
face and the #4 (work is a four letter word after all). So the first
character of our password is P. From there we can go in any pattern you
want. Perhaps just a straight line up, down, or sideways or maybe we're
going to make a square or a stair-step. For our example we'll use a
stair-step pattern with five characters on each step and we'll go to the
left and down.
P...F...G...F...Z...v...P...5...N...F...x...b...J...t...d...B...4...B...K...Q</p>
<p>Did you see what I did after the N? Because I ran out of letters going
down I just started over at the top and kept going. So now we have a
very good password that is complex and long (more characters in your
password make it harder for others to break into your account). Just
remember where you started and your pattern and you'll never forget
your password! Need another password for another account? No problem,
just select a new starting point and use the same pattern that you used
before. It's that simple.</p>
<p>One thing I should mention is that each card is unique. If you lose
this card you won't be able to go back to the website and get the same
card back <em>unless</em> you have that code at the bottom of the card. It is
very important to write that code somewhere safe so you can get your
card back if you happen to lose the original.</p>
<p>Too cool for a piece of paper? Not a problem! There is also an
<a class="reference external" href="https://market.android.com/details?id=org.pepsoft.passwordcard.android">Android</a>
application and one for your
<a class="reference external" href="http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/passwordcard/id411850657?mt=8">iPhone</a>
as well that will allow you to take your password card with you
everywhere.</p>
<p>So, there you go! No more excuses for not having secure passwords and
remembering them, too! And unless you divulge your starting point for
each of your passwords and the pattern used to create the password no
one will be able to obtain your passwords simply by looking at your
card.</p>
Preparing to leave for Core Banks NA-0672011-07-28T16:07:00-04:002011-07-28T16:07:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2011-07-28:/preparing-to-leave-for-core-banks-na-067.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 we will be
active during the IOTA Contest.</p>
<p>Hope to put you in the logs!</p>
QSL from Radio Habana Cuba2011-07-09T02:05:00-04:002011-07-09T02:05:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2011-07-09:/qsl-from-radio-habana-cuba.html<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/04/Cuba_QSL.webp"><img alt="Cuba QSL card" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/04/Cuba_QSL-300x180.webp" /></a>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.</p>
<p>I'll add this to my other QSL from …</p><p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/04/Cuba_QSL.webp"><img alt="Cuba QSL card" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2017/04/Cuba_QSL-300x180.webp" /></a>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.</p>
<p>I'll add this to my other QSL from Radio Ukraine International.</p>
Does Google's multi-factor authentication make your security weaker?2011-06-20T15:10:00-04:002011-06-20T15:10:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2011-06-20:/does-googles-multi-factor-authentication-make-your-security-weaker.html<p>A few months back Google introduced "<a class="reference external" href="https://support.google.com/a/answer/175197?hl=en">2-step
verification</a>"
for all Google accounts. This amounted to multi-factor authentication
(something you know (password) and something you have (token)) for all
web-based Google applications. Cool, right? They created an app for
the Android, I-Phone, and Blackberry devices that acted like a token and …</p><p>A few months back Google introduced "<a class="reference external" href="https://support.google.com/a/answer/175197?hl=en">2-step
verification</a>"
for all Google accounts. This amounted to multi-factor authentication
(something you know (password) and something you have (token)) for all
web-based Google applications. Cool, right? They created an app for
the Android, I-Phone, and Blackberry devices that acted like a token and
if you don't have one of these devices Google can just send you a code
via a text message for you to use to login. Okay so far?</p>
<p>Up until this point I'd say that Google has done a pretty good job on
this implementation. Of course we haven't included those users that
access their Google accounts via a third-party program (Thunderbird for
email, their Android device, maybe some plug-in for Blogger, etc).
These programs don't have a mechanism for logging in with multi-factor
authentication. Google thought about this and created application
passwords that you can use for a program to gain access without using a token.
The passwords appear to be sixteen randomly generated numbers and
letters and cannot be viewed after they have been viewed that first
time.</p>
<p>This is an interesting concept. Essentially you have many keys that now
fit the same lock. Loose control of one of those keys and you can
simply nullify the key remotely. So far so good? Well, what you have
also done is increase the number of keys that can get access to your
system. If a brute force attack were done against a Google account
before 2-step verification was enacted the security was up to the user's
password strength. Now an attacker has multiple chances to gain access
to the same lock because there are many more keys available.</p>
<p>I would like to point out that sixteen-character passwords are a lot
better than most people's <a class="reference external" href="http://www.schneier.com/essay-144.html">passwords which average eight characters or
less</a>. But is having more
keys to the lock (and knowing characteristics about that key) more of a
security problem that what is being used without the 2-step
verification? I guess time will tell. I would like to point out that I
don't have a better solution to the third-party application issue.
Perhaps some sort of machine readable token?</p>
SouthEast LinuxFest - Day 32011-06-13T02:49:00-04:002011-06-13T02:49:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2011-06-13:/southeast-linuxfest-day-3.html<p>Southeast LinuxFest Day Three started off with a... headache. Not a
hangover but one of those random migraines that I've been trying to ward
off with medications. It wasn't debilitating but it was annoying enough
to keep me out of the Puppet Labs class.</p>
<p>I was able to hack on …</p><p>Southeast LinuxFest Day Three started off with a... headache. Not a
hangover but one of those random migraines that I've been trying to ward
off with medications. It wasn't debilitating but it was annoying enough
to keep me out of the Puppet Labs class.</p>
<p>I was able to hack on the <a class="reference external" href="https://fedorahosted.org/documentation-guide/">Fedora Documentation
Guide</a> a bit more and
visit with some other Fedorians before they left for the airport or the
Failvan. I talked with Jim and his wife (sorry, I'm horrible with
names) from <a class="reference external" href="http://sudomakecoffee.com/">Sudo Make Coffee</a> for a
while (they are both entertaining people). Joat and I decided to leave
a little early so after syncing all my documentation repositories and my
email (thank you offlineimap) we headed out on the open road,
Virginia-bound.</p>
<p>On the way home I was able to tinker with the <a class="reference external" href="https://fedorahosted.org/documentation-guide/">Documentation
Guide</a> more but was
having problems with Publican building the chapter I was working on.
Headache and fatigue hid the problem from my view so after activating
the MiFi I committed the code to git and requested help on the Docs
list.</p>
<p>We arrived back in southeastern Virginia just in time for the storms to
come in and start dumping rain. Funny enough, it rained just long
enough for me to exit Joat's car, grab my stuff, and make it into my
truck. Then, of course, it stopped raining allowing me to make it most
of the way home without seeing another drop. Go figure.</p>
<p>Hope everyone made it home unscathed and perhaps everyone can catch up
on their lost sleep. I will be doing the same in about five minutes as
I'm sure I have a full day planned for tomorrow.</p>
<p>Thanks to the SouthEast LinuxFest staff and volunteers for making yet
another successful, educational, and entertaining conference (you can go
to sleep, now, David). I certainly hope to be in attendance next year.
Next up, <a class="reference external" href="http://www.ohiolinux.org/">Ohio Linux Fest</a>!</p>
SouthEast LinuxFest - Day 22011-06-13T02:14:00-04:002011-06-13T02:14:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2011-06-13:/southeast-linuxfest-day-2.html<div><p>Day two at SouthEast LinuxFest (SELF) began way too early as I had not
received enough sleep. Of course this is a Linux conference; who really
gets enough sleep during these things?</p>
</p><p>Ben had already setup the Fedora table in the conference area of the
hotel so I helped with …</p></div><div><p>Day two at SouthEast LinuxFest (SELF) began way too early as I had not
received enough sleep. Of course this is a Linux conference; who really
gets enough sleep during these things?</p>
</p><p>Ben had already setup the Fedora table in the conference area of the
hotel so I helped with answering the questions of passers-by and handing
out the F14 media that no one really wanted because "didn't you just
release F15?". Of course we had just released F15 a couple of weeks
before but the media that had been ordered had decided to vacation in
Salt Lake City at a UPS distribution center. Ben had checked and
noticed that it was on the way but he was wary as to if it was going to
arrive before we left. Luckily the hotel called him around 10AM to say
that UPS had just delivered a box for him at the front desk and F15
media was put on the table for everyone to procure. I was able to snag
a few copies of each DVD (32-bit installation, 64-bit installation, and
the cool new multi-desktop 32/64-bit live DVDs) for my LUG
(<a class="reference external" href="http://www.twuug.org/mediawiki/index.php/Main_Page">TWUUG</a>).</p>
<p>There were several talks I wanted to attend. One was "Intro to Puppet"
as I have high hopes of installing several VMs at home that I want to
not have to individually manage and with the number of servers at work
continuing to increase perhaps I can learn something that I can use to
make my life easier there as well. After the introduction I have to say
that I really like what Puppet does and I hope to work with it at home
in hopes that I wll become competent enough to roll it out at work.
Only problem is that you have to build your servers from scratch with
Puppet as it won't go out to an existing server and help bring them
under control.</p>
</div><div><p>Another great talk was given by Thomas Cameron of Red Hat. The topic
was SELinux (one of my favorite tools in Linux) and he did an excellent
job explaining how to make SELinux work for you instead of fighting
you. I'm going to have to see if my notes make any sense as he was
throwing so much information that was note worthy and I'm sure there is
no order to my writing.</p>
</p><p>I find that keynote speakers are always very interesting and
entertaining to listen to so I try not to miss their talks. Spot kept
this tradition up with his talk on how we all fail a little and how we
can get better when working with FOSS projects (his talk was derived
from a <a class="reference external" href="http://spot.livejournal.com/308370.html">blog post</a> he made
in May of 2009). Tom, I only have one word to say to you about your
presentation... Cloud!</p>
<p>The rest of the day was spent talking with users and contributors,
getting ideas for my next big project, and answering questions that
people had about Fedora, documentation (Linux and Fedora), and just
generally socializing. Around supper time a gang (or is it a flock?) of
us ventured out on the streets and descended upon "A Taste of
Spartinburg". After realizing that none of us really had enough cash to
get more than a sampling of food we turned our attention to one of the
nearby restaurants. An Irish pub was selected and after putting two
long tables together we consumed food and beverages before heading back
out on the streets.</p>
<p>After returning to the hotel Jared and I decided that hacking on some
documentation was more our speed. Deciding to resurrect the
Documentation Guide we wrote up an outline, attempted to pull anything
useful from the previous guide that was many years old, and started
populating the chapters. Somewhere around one o'clock in the morning we
decided that we had done enough damage and headed to bed. It was
probably a good thing as reviewing what I had written showed that I was
mostly asleep during the last few sections of text.</p>
<p>SELF Day Two was definitely productive and is why I enjoy going to these
conferences.</p>
</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><img alt="image0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1501672565957800252-634486689310734966?l=fedora-sparks.blogspot.com" /></p>
</div>Southeast LinuxFest - Day 12011-06-11T14:36:00-04:002011-06-11T14:36:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2011-06-11:/southeast-linuxfest-day-1.html<p>Day 1 of SELF was quite busy. Several Fedorians met for a FAD to
discuss FUDCon finances. Ideas were hammered out and Max or Jared or
... should be posting details on that later.</p>
<p>After the finance talk, Jared and I got together and started hashing out
a framework on the …</p><p>Day 1 of SELF was quite busy. Several Fedorians met for a FAD to
discuss FUDCon finances. Ideas were hammered out and Max or Jared or
... should be posting details on that later.</p>
<p>After the finance talk, Jared and I got together and started hashing out
a framework on the new Fedora Cloud Guide
(<a class="reference external" href="http://git.fedorahosted.org/git/?p=docs/cloud-guide.git">git</a>).
This guide will be out later this weekend with at least a framework.</p>
<p>I attended Paul's talk on PyGObject. Since Python is on my to-do list I
was quite interested in the discussion. Paul explained in great detail
how to use PyGObject to create the UI (it's XML!) for a Python program
and how to hook it into your code.</p>
<p>Later, more discussion regarding Docs processes were had. Working to
integrate a QA process into the Docs products has always been an
important task that I've wanted to see implemented and I'm hoping that
this weekend's discussions, and those on the Docs list, will lead to a
formal QA process.</p>
<p>Later in the evening I met up with several friends and hung out. The
social aspect of these conferences shouldn't be minimized as I generally
get more ideas during these discussions than at any other time. My only
problem with these social contacts is that I rarely have time to take
this information and put it into products within a sane amount of time.
I'll try to do better, though.</p>
Southeast LinuxFest - Day 02011-06-10T03:06:00-04:002011-06-10T03:06:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2011-06-10:/southeast-linuxfest-day-0.html<p>Joat and I left Virginia around 1PM, this afternoon, and made the drive
down to Spartinburg for Southeast LinuxFest. Officially starting on
Saturday, we came down a little early for classes that are happening on
Friday and the FAD that I'll be participating in. I'm also hoping to
get some …</p><p>Joat and I left Virginia around 1PM, this afternoon, and made the drive
down to Spartinburg for Southeast LinuxFest. Officially starting on
Saturday, we came down a little early for classes that are happening on
Friday and the FAD that I'll be participating in. I'm also hoping to
get some face time with some Fedorians as well.</p>
<p>Not much happening tonight so I'll write more about what's happening
tomorrow.</p>
IPv6 up and running on Fedora2011-04-03T22:54:00-04:002011-04-03T22:54:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2011-04-03:/ipv6-up-and-running-on-fedora.html<p>I'm coming to you through the shiny and "new" IPv6 Internet. No,
seriously, I am! I'm sure there are many people in the community that
have jumped on the IPv6 bandwagon but I just made the leap this weekend.</p>
<p>I'm using the "IPv6 development and tunnel broker"
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.sixxs.net">SixXS</a> and it …</p><p>I'm coming to you through the shiny and "new" IPv6 Internet. No,
seriously, I am! I'm sure there are many people in the community that
have jumped on the IPv6 bandwagon but I just made the leap this weekend.</p>
<p>I'm using the "IPv6 development and tunnel broker"
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.sixxs.net">SixXS</a> and it was actually quite easy to make
it all happen. After completing the paperwork for obtaining an account
I read ahead and discovered that SixXS uses the program
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.sixxs.net/tools/aiccu/">AICCU</a> for the client-side of
the IPv6 tunnel. Fedora already has this packaged and in the repos so
it's an easy install. After applying for a tunnel and being approved I
modified the config file and started AICCU up. I did a quick ifconfig
and found a new interface there waiting for me with an IPv6 address and
everything. Very cool.</p>
<p>I visited a <a class="reference external" href="http://test-ipv6.com/">test site</a> to see how prepared I
would be for <a class="reference external" href="http://isoc.org/wp/worldipv6day/">World IPv6 Day</a> and
discovered that I was almost there. The only problem was my ISP's DNS
server wouldn't serve up AAAA responses (it's not aware of the IPv6
world just yet). That wasn't going to stop me, though. I installed
BIND9 and did a quick hardening of the settings and two minutes later
Wireshark showed AAAA queries and responses and IPv6 traffic flowing.
What was surprising to me was that a quick visit to fedoraproject.org
yielded a trip down the IPv6 Internet instead of IPv4!</p>
<p>I was surprised at how quick, easy, and painless it was to jump on the
IPv6 highway. Maybe more people will also find out how easy it really
is to do the same!</p>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><img alt="image0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1501672565957800252-2726699211585474312?l=fedora-sparks.blogspot.com" /></p>
</div>Setting up your (my) HP LaserJet 3055 Scanner2011-02-12T11:37:00-05:002011-02-12T11:37:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2011-02-12:/setting-up-your-my-hp-laserjet-3055-scanner.html<p>A couple of weeks ago I posted a message on identi.ca inquiring as to if
anyone knew how to get my multi-function HP printer device to scan. I
got a couple of responses but, unfortunately for me, these responses
dealt with devices that were much nicer than mine.</p>
<p>Today …</p><p>A couple of weeks ago I posted a message on identi.ca inquiring as to if
anyone knew how to get my multi-function HP printer device to scan. I
got a couple of responses but, unfortunately for me, these responses
dealt with devices that were much nicer than mine.</p>
<p>Today, however, I figured it out (again) and I'm writing to remind me
how to do this later...</p>
<p>My initial problem was allowing Fedora to setup my printer in the first
place. When you do this the HP software, that makes everything work in
the back-end, doesn't "see" the printer. So the solution is quite
simple. First, remove the printer from system-config-printer. Make
sure you have the following packages installed:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>hplip</li>
<li>hplip-common</li>
<li>hplip-libs</li>
<li>hpijs</li>
</ul>
<p>With these packages installed run <em>hp-setup</em> and complete the
information requested on the first screen. By selecting next the
software should see the device. Select next again and it will ask for
additional about the device. This information is optional. You can now
complete the transaction and by firing up your SANE software.</p>
<p>Now maybe I can remember how to do this the next time I forget.</p>
FOSS solutions could help when communication failures occur.2011-01-29T13:25:00-05:002011-01-29T13:25:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2011-01-29:/foss-solutions-could-help-when-communication-failures-occur.html<p>Not to get into the political battle that is occurring in Egypt but I
wonder how the organization of both news gathering agencies and
organizers would have fared had they been using StatusNet software (the
software that supports identi.ca) on a local computer inside the country
instead of utilizing …</p><p>Not to get into the political battle that is occurring in Egypt but I
wonder how the organization of both news gathering agencies and
organizers would have fared had they been using StatusNet software (the
software that supports identi.ca) on a local computer inside the country
instead of utilizing Twitter servers that were located outside Egypt.
When the Egyptian government<a class="reference external" href="http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/telecommunications/how-egypt-pulled-its-internet-plug">removed their BGP routers from the
Internet</a>
they essentially left the Egyptian Internet as an intranet which would
have allowed communications within the country.</p>
<p>Just thinking out loud...</p>
How to efficiently publish 88 guides in 42 languages2010-11-18T10:32:00-05:002010-11-18T10:32:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-11-18:/how-to-efficiently-publish-88-guides-in-42-languages.html<p>Eighty-eight (88) guides in forty-two (42) languages comes out to be
<a class="reference external" href="http://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/Site_Statistics.html">six hundred and thirty (630)
guides</a>
that have been published, so far, to the <a class="reference external" href="http://docs.fedoraproject.org">Fedora Docs
website</a>. That includes everything
from Fedora Core 1 to today. With the release of Fedora 14, earlier
this month, we introduced twelve new …</p><p>Eighty-eight (88) guides in forty-two (42) languages comes out to be
<a class="reference external" href="http://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/Site_Statistics.html">six hundred and thirty (630)
guides</a>
that have been published, so far, to the <a class="reference external" href="http://docs.fedoraproject.org">Fedora Docs
website</a>. That includes everything
from Fedora Core 1 to today. With the release of Fedora 14, earlier
this month, we introduced twelve new guides to the system that were
translated into a number of languages.</p>
<p>Now, I'm not saying that this isn't great. It is quite fantastic! The
problem comes from the way we've been handling all the source. Right
now generally one person is responsible for compiling all the different
languages and pushing them up to the
<a class="reference external" href="http://docs.fedoraproject.org">docs.fp.o</a> website. Keeping track of
which languages got published is not easy as the L10n teams are
constantly turning out new translations. The work load has increased in
recent releases and keeping track of which guides have been published
and which have not has become a problem.</p>
<p>We've talked about this before but nothing has officially happened.
What I would like to see happen is for the translation teams to take
responsibility for building their translations and publishing them to
the <a class="reference external" href="http://docs.fedoraproject.org/">Fedora Docs website</a> when they
feel their work is ready to be seen by the world. Some teams, such as
the Spanish team, are already doing this which is a great relief.</p>
<p>Once we get all translation teams doing this the next step is getting
these guides packaged and into the Fedora repository.
<a class="reference external" href="https://fedorahosted.org/publican/">Publican</a> should be able to do
the heavy lifting of creating the SPEC and SRPM for each guide allowing
translation teams to create their packages very efficiently.</p>
<p>There currently exists <a class="reference external" href="http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Publishing_a_document_with_Publican">procedures for publishing guides using
Publican</a>
on the <a class="reference external" href="http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/">Fedora Wiki</a>. A recent
upgrade in Publican has made publishing incredibly easy and an upcoming
release should take all the guess work out of publishing and packaging.</p>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><img alt="image0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1501672565957800252-3586915071530439127?l=fedora-sparks.blogspot.com" /></p>
</div>CQ WW SSB - 15m Open2010-10-30T14:27:00-04:002010-10-30T14:27:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-10-30:/cq-ww-ssb-15m-open.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 close. Since when is being between
Sweden and Finland too close?</p>
Amateur Radio Contest logging software for Linux2010-10-29T12:55:00-04:002010-10-29T12:55:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-10-29:/amateur-radio-contest-logging-software-for-linux.html<p>I've been looking for a good <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_radio">amateur
radio</a>
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_radio_contest">contest</a>
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contest_logging_software">logging
program</a>
for <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux">Linux</a>.
Little did I know that the solution was right under my nose!</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="https://sourceforge.net/projects/fldigi/files/fldigi/">fldigi</a> is a
great amateur radio program that will encode and decode almost any
digital mode you can find out on the
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_frequency">HF</a>
bands. This …</p><p>I've been looking for a good <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_radio">amateur
radio</a>
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_radio_contest">contest</a>
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contest_logging_software">logging
program</a>
for <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux">Linux</a>.
Little did I know that the solution was right under my nose!</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="https://sourceforge.net/projects/fldigi/files/fldigi/">fldigi</a> is a
great amateur radio program that will encode and decode almost any
digital mode you can find out on the
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_frequency">HF</a>
bands. This morning I noticed a new mode:
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-sideband_modulation">SSB</a>.
Now I can't confirm this but I'm pretty sure this isn't a means of
transmitting voice from your desktop but rather a placeholder for using
fldigi's awesome contest logger for your next voice contest.</p>
<p>I've used fldigi in contests before but they have been
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RTTY">RTTY</a>
contests. The log output works perfectly and allows me to immediately
submit my log to the contest managers, to
<a class="reference external" href="http://globalqsl.com/">GlobalQSL</a> for my bureau cards, and import
the contest log to my traditional logging software
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.cqrlog.com/">CQRLOG</a>.</p>
<p>I'll be trying out this solution this weekend on the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cqww.com/">CQ WW
SSB</a> contest. I'll try to document my feelings
on Monday.</p>
I'm going to need a few more Yubikeys...2010-10-18T18:26:00-04:002010-10-18T18:26:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-10-18:/im-going-to-need-a-few-more-yubikeys.html<p>Last week I received my <a class="reference external" href="http://fedora-sparks.blogspot.com/2010/10/yubikey-and-drupal.html">Yubikey and promptly figured out how to use it
with my Drupal
installation</a>
using the Yubico authentication server. Since then life got in the way
and I haven't had a chance to work on my other projects that I want to
get working. I did …</p><p>Last week I received my <a class="reference external" href="http://fedora-sparks.blogspot.com/2010/10/yubikey-and-drupal.html">Yubikey and promptly figured out how to use it
with my Drupal
installation</a>
using the Yubico authentication server. Since then life got in the way
and I haven't had a chance to work on my other projects that I want to
get working. I did get a chance to do some research on the mechanics
behind the Yubikey and figured out that I'm going to need a few more
Yubikeys for all my projects.</p>
<p>The vulnerability I'm trying to combat is a <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replay_attack">replay
attack</a>.
This means that different
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Encryption_Standard">AES</a>
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_%28cryptography%29">keys</a>
are needed for each authentication server or replay attacks are a real
possibility.</p>
<p>I have three uses for my Yubikey:</p>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li>Authentication to websites utilizing the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.yubico.com/developers/srv/">Yubico authentication
server</a>.</li>
<li>Authentication into <a class="reference external" href="https://fedoraproject.org/">Fedora</a> servers
using the <a class="reference external" href="https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Infrastruture/Yubikey">Fedora authentication
server</a>.</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="http://www.securixlive.com/yubipam/index.php">Authentication into my local computer using a local
database</a>.</li>
</ol>
<p>I <em>THINK</em> I can setup my Yubikey to handle two of these using different
profiles in the token but not the third. Perhaps I'll be able to get
everything functioning soon.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><a class="reference external image-reference" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-sa/3.0/us/88x31.webp" /></a></div>
<div class="line">Sparks' Fedora Project Journal by <a class="reference external" href="http://fedora-sparks.blogspot.com/">Eric H Christensen</a> is licensed under a <a class="reference external" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/">Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License</a>.</div>
</div>
Art Chimes missing from Our World2010-10-15T18:42:00-04:002010-10-15T18:42:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-10-15:/art-chimes-missing-from-our-world.html<p>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 <a class="reference external" href="https://www.voanews.com/">Voice of America</a>, is a weekly
technology show that was always quite interesting to me. The show's
host, Art Chimes, is a great guy …</p><p>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 <a class="reference external" href="https://www.voanews.com/">Voice of America</a>, is a weekly
technology show that was always quite interesting to me. The show's
host, Art Chimes, is a great guy whom I met a year, or so, ago. Today I
had some time so I grabbed last week's show and played it only to be
greeted by a strange voice. Not that the new guy is bad but what
happened to Art?!?</p>
<p>I looked back through the shows and found that his last show was on 30
April 2010. Like I said, I haven't been keeping up. I hope Art is
well. I've seen a few stories published by <a class="reference external" href="https://www.voanews.com/">Voice of
America</a> with his name prominently at the
top so perhaps he is still around just sitting behind a different
curtain.</p>
Setting up nVidia drivers2010-10-14T14:10:00-04:002010-10-14T14:10:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-10-14:/setting-up-nvidia-drivers.html<p>At work I always forget this so this is a technical note for myself.
Maybe it will help you too?</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Run lspci to determine what controller you have.</li>
<li>Visit the <a class="reference external" href="https://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx">nVidia driver
website</a> and select
your controller.</li>
<li>Stop X (telinit 3)</li>
<li>Download the file and chmod 500.</li>
<li>Verify you have …</li></ul><p>At work I always forget this so this is a technical note for myself.
Maybe it will help you too?</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Run lspci to determine what controller you have.</li>
<li>Visit the <a class="reference external" href="https://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx">nVidia driver
website</a> and select
your controller.</li>
<li>Stop X (telinit 3)</li>
<li>Download the file and chmod 500.</li>
<li>Verify you have gcc and kernel-devel packages installed.</li>
<li>Execute the program you downloaded from nVidia.</li>
<li>Start X (telinit 5)</li>
<li>Log in</li>
<li>Execute nvidia-settings</li>
<li>Activate additional monitor (twinview)</li>
<li>May have to enable Xinerama for more than two monitors.</li>
<li>Enjoy fruits of labor.</li>
</ul>
Dressed for success... I hope.2010-10-11T12:37:00-04:002010-10-11T12:37:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-10-11:/dressed-for-success-i-hope.html<p>[caption id="attachment_487" align="alignleft" width="300"
caption="I've been labeled."]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="images/2011/10/imag0315-e1318349697818.webp"><img alt="Shirt that says 01000100 01000001 01000100" src="images/2011/10/imag0315-e1318349697818-300x180.webp" /></a>[/caption]</p>
<p>My wife, being the organized one in our household, believes that
everything has a place and everything in its place. Items should also
be labeled so that you know what they are, their purpose, and most
importantly …</p><p>[caption id="attachment_487" align="alignleft" width="300"
caption="I've been labeled."]<a class="reference external image-reference" href="images/2011/10/imag0315-e1318349697818.webp"><img alt="Shirt that says 01000100 01000001 01000100" src="images/2011/10/imag0315-e1318349697818-300x180.webp" /></a>[/caption]</p>
<p>My wife, being the organized one in our household, believes that
everything has a place and everything in its place. Items should also
be labeled so that you know what they are, their purpose, and most
importantly where they are supposed to be at any given time. So it was
no surprise to me that I finally received my label (see shirt to the
left).</p>
<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="images/2011/10/imag03162.webp"><img alt="Shirt tag" src="images/2011/10/imag03162-300x259.webp" /></a>I've been told I can't wear it just yet as it's not
official but that I should bring it to the hospital. That's cool. I
understand not having the label until the kid comes and all but I felt
the need to share my new toy. I'm quite excited and will wear it with
pride.</p>
<p>The best part was that my developer/programmer father-in-law immediately
knew what it meant and started laughing. I think he was a bit jealous
and we may need to find one that labels him as well. Maybe not in
binary but rather in COBOL.</p>
<p>I also thought a picture of the tag would also be a good addition. Glad
to know that I can't put it in the dishwasher, that it's for external
use only (glad I read that one since I was getting ready to do something
that would have been embarrassing), and yes the contents are hot.</p>
Bureau Cards Received2010-10-08T21:00:00-04:002010-10-08T21:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-10-08:/bureau-cards-received.html<p>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:</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">DL5CJ</div>
<div class="line">DC1MUC</div>
<div class="line">DO7ND</div>
<div class="line">F8FAZ</div>
<div class="line">F5PU</div>
<div class="line">DF7ZS</div>
<div class="line">I4IKW</div>
<div class="line">YR9P</div>
<div class="line">EI9FVB</div>
<div class="line">HA7TM</div>
<div class="line">HA1TNX</div>
<div class="line">9A5W</div>
<div class="line">OK2WED</div>
<div class="line">IZ5DKJ</div>
<div class="line">DL8SCG</div>
<div class="line">HB9CXZ</div>
<div class="line">EA1ABT</div>
<div class="line">OE2GEN</div>
</div>
<p>My Europe stack of cards is getting …</p><p>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:</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">DL5CJ</div>
<div class="line">DC1MUC</div>
<div class="line">DO7ND</div>
<div class="line">F8FAZ</div>
<div class="line">F5PU</div>
<div class="line">DF7ZS</div>
<div class="line">I4IKW</div>
<div class="line">YR9P</div>
<div class="line">EI9FVB</div>
<div class="line">HA7TM</div>
<div class="line">HA1TNX</div>
<div class="line">9A5W</div>
<div class="line">OK2WED</div>
<div class="line">IZ5DKJ</div>
<div class="line">DL8SCG</div>
<div class="line">HB9CXZ</div>
<div class="line">EA1ABT</div>
<div class="line">OE2GEN</div>
</div>
<p>My Europe stack of cards is getting too big for the container now!</p>
<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-sa/3.0/us/88x31.webp" /></a></p>
Music on Radio Ukraine International2010-09-29T13:24:00-04:002010-09-29T13:24:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-09-29:/music-on-radio-ukraine-international.html<p>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.</p>
<p>I wish I had been around when orchestras were broadcast live to the
world on shortwave. How …</p><p>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.</p>
<p>I wish I had been around when orchestras were broadcast live to the
world on shortwave. How beautiful the airwaves must have been back
then.</p>
<p>If you have the opportunity I'd recommend tuning in to 7440kHz around
0100 UTC and giving a listen.</p>
Proposed encryption "backdoor" for the US Government and how it will fail.2010-09-28T12:55:00-04:002010-09-28T12:55:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-09-28:/proposed-encryption-backdoor-for-the-us-government-and-how-it-will-fail.html<p>If you haven't heard, the President is drafting legislation that may
require hardware and software developers to install backdoors in their
encryption solutions and give the keys to these backdoors to the US
Government. In my opinion, this is an increadibly bad idea.</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>This has already been tried and failed …</li></ul><p>If you haven't heard, the President is drafting legislation that may
require hardware and software developers to install backdoors in their
encryption solutions and give the keys to these backdoors to the US
Government. In my opinion, this is an increadibly bad idea.</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>This has already been tried and failed. As <a class="reference external" href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/government_programs/july-dec10/wiretap_09-27.html">reported by PBS
Newshour</a>,
back in 2005 Greece created backdoors into the cellular telephone
networks to allow the government real-time access to this
communication system. It was promptly hacked by foreign governments
and Greece's own government phonecalls were monitored.</li>
<li>The United States Government doesn't have a good handle on this court
ordered wiretapping program. As <a class="reference external" href="http://www.npr.org/news/specials/nsawiretap/legality.html">reported by National Public Radio
(NPR)</a>,
when the Bush administration began its <a class="reference external" href="https://www.eff.org/nsa/faq">wiretapping
program</a> it circumvented the US
Constitution and seldom got the required warrants. While I can't say
for sure, I'd be willing to guess that this project continues.
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.eff.org/cases/att">Lawsuits have been filed</a> but I
haven't heard a definitive answer to these.</li>
<li>Open source puts the control in the public's hands. Sorry, you won't
find this kind of control if you run one of Microsoft's operating
systems but if you are one of millions that run open source Linux you
have complete control over how your software operates. While
developers of
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Shell">ssh</a>
may be required to put these backdoors into their software, open
source users could just as easily remove the weakness prior to
utilizing the tool. This could actually be a useful tool in a legal
battle. The government couldn't charge you with not using "approved"
encryption software unless they were trying to break into your data
stream which would mean that they would have to have a warrant and
have to defend the warrant. (I am not a lawyer. If this is
something important to you I would recommend discussing it with your
attorney.)</li>
<li>Wouldn't the [STRIKEOUT:mear] mere threat that others could be
watching your Internet traffic severely reduce the amount of
ecommerce that happens? I wouldn't want to pass my personal
information across an insecure link. Information security
professionals have been beating the drums to get lay people to
understand to look for the lock on webpages before submitting
personal information. Now that will be useless.</li>
</ul>
<p>Have I missed anything?</p>
Met my neighbor2010-09-04T13:49:00-04:002010-09-04T13:49:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-09-04:/met-my-neighbor.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 there were more hams in the
neighborhood than I realized. While walking around the neighborhood I
noted the license plate on his truck, W3EL. What I should have done is
walked up and knocked on his front door but I didn't.</p>
<p>Just yesterday when the XYL and I were headed out to Home Depot I noted
the familiar "W3EL" license plate in my rear-view mirror. I switched
over to "52" and tried to give him a call. Nothing. Oh well, maybe he
doesn't have his radio on or he's not listening to the calling channel
or...</p>
<p>As we pull up to the stop light he gets in the lane next to me and goes
ahead of me. I thought that maybe I could have waved at him in traffic
but no joy. I do notice, however, that he's messing with something and
that he has pulled his microphone out. Hmmm, maybe he did see me. Then
I hear his call on "52"; awesome!</p>
<p>We chatted for a good bit and it turns out he's a big DXer like I try to
be. We talked about articles that we had both read what we were
chasing. It was fun. He invited me over to his house as long as I
ignored the mess. I think I'll take him up on that offer.</p>
IP Voice and Amateur Radio2010-08-21T01:04:00-04:002010-08-21T01:04:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-08-21:/ip-voice-and-amateur-radio.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 HT? If you don't like the idea of having every phone
in your house be an output for your local repeater (or maybe just a few
phones) you could easily setup a DTMF tone selection that would ring a
certain phone, or all your phones, when someone dialed the special
number on the radio side.</p>
<p>Lots of ideas that I'm thinking of in regards to this but I just haven't
thought about putting them all down. I'll continue this thought at some
point in the future.</p>
DXCC Mixed Awarded2010-08-07T00:35:00-04:002010-08-07T00:35:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-08-07:/dxcc-mixed-awarded.html<p>We stopped by the <a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org/">American Radio Relay League
(ARRL)</a> on our <a class="reference external" href="https://family.christensenplace.us/category/ne-road-trip-2010/">road
trip</a> to
submit my application for <a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org/dxcc">DXCC Mixed</a>. 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 …</p><p>We stopped by the <a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org/">American Radio Relay League
(ARRL)</a> on our <a class="reference external" href="https://family.christensenplace.us/category/ne-road-trip-2010/">road
trip</a> to
submit my application for <a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org/dxcc">DXCC Mixed</a>. 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:</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">160m 2</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">80m 10</div>
<div class="line">40m 42</div>
<div class="line">30m 3</div>
<div class="line">20m 70</div>
<div class="line">17m 16</div>
<div class="line">15m 51</div>
<div class="line">12m 2</div>
<div class="line">10m 17</div>
<div class="line">6m 3</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>Most of my contacts are using RTTY (72) with PHONE next (62).</p>
<p>So with my first DXCC application being processed I guess I can start
working on my band endorsements and other countries I need for DXCC
Honor Roll.</p>
Things to do: NTS and NTSd list2010-08-01T15:04:00-04:002010-08-01T15:04:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-08-01:/things-to-do-nts-and-ntsd-list.html<p>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.</p>
<p>This would make it easier for those of us on the road to …</p><p>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.</p>
<p>This would make it easier for those of us on the road to be able to
utilize the NTS system to send messages back home or to friends.</p>
New CQRLOG installed.2010-07-26T22:17:00-04:002010-07-26T22:17:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-07-26:/new-cqrlog-installed.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 (is it a netbook?) and I have had
problems with this screen. Sure enough it works great! Now I just need
to sync up my log from the big computer to the laptop.</p>
DXCC!2010-07-26T16:39:00-04:002010-07-26T16:39:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-07-26:/dxcc.html<p>I have submitted my application to the American Radio Relay League
(ARRL) for my initial DXCC (<a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org/dxcc">https://www.arrl.org/dxcc</a>) 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.</p>
<p>I …</p><p>I have submitted my application to the American Radio Relay League
(ARRL) for my initial DXCC (<a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org/dxcc">https://www.arrl.org/dxcc</a>) 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.</p>
<p>I think three-quarters of my countries were confirmed using the ARRL's
Logbook of the World (<a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org/logbook-of-the-world">https://www.arrl.org/logbook-of-the-world</a>) which
makes their confirmation extremely cheap.</p>
<p>After my cards have been processed I should have 102 countries
confirmed.</p>
A better backup solution2010-07-02T13:39:00-04:002010-07-02T13:39:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-07-02:/a-better-backup-solution.html<p>When Fedora 13 hit the streets I was excited to see a new backup
solution, Deja Dup, included in the distribution. For the past several
months I've been using my own version of a backup solution, namely rsync
rdiff-backup, which always felt a little cobbled together. But now I
have …</p><p>When Fedora 13 hit the streets I was excited to see a new backup
solution, Deja Dup, included in the distribution. For the past several
months I've been using my own version of a backup solution, namely rsync
rdiff-backup, which always felt a little cobbled together. But now I
have a shiny new backup solution that will solve all of my problems,
right?</p>
<p>Well, unfortunately I wish I could give Deja Dup better reviews.
Because Deja Dup is a shiny frontend for Duplicity I can't really tell
you which one I don't like. The biggest problem is that from day to day
the system may backup appropriately or it may error out for no apparent
reason. When it does error out the information I receive to help
troubleshoot the problem is less than helpful. Most of the time it
simply says that the program error is unknown.</p>
<p>It also takes quite a while to make regular, daily incremental backups.
With so little changing on the system daily there shouldn't be much to
backup but it still takes half an hour or longer to do so whereas my
rsync would take 10 minutes on a bad day.</p>
<p>Deja Dup, and Duplicity by extension, have a really cool feature that
rsync does not have, however. Deja Dup provides the ability to use
synchronous encryption on your backup. If you use Duplicity you can use
asynchronous encryption as well. This is a great feature if you are
doing off-site backups to a location that you don't fully trust.
Unfortunately I never got that feature to work, either.</p>
<p>So I'm moving back to my trusty and faithful rsync rdiff-backup which
also means a full backup today. Hopefully Deja Dup will soon become
that solution I've been dreaming about for so long.</p>
My first TWUUG meeting...2010-07-02T12:47:00-04:002010-07-02T12:47:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-07-02:/my-first-twuug-meeting.html<p>Not since my last <a class="reference external" href="http://www.twuug.org/mediawiki/index.php/Main_Page">TriLUG</a> meeting, several years
ago, had I attended any kind of
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_User_Group">LUG</a> meeting. Last
night I decided to give my local UUG a go.</p>
<p>A friend of mind had told me about the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.twuug.org/mediawiki/index.php/Main_Page">Tidewater Unix User's
Group</a> (TWUUG) a couple of years ago but I put …</p><p>Not since my last <a class="reference external" href="http://www.twuug.org/mediawiki/index.php/Main_Page">TriLUG</a> meeting, several years
ago, had I attended any kind of
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_User_Group">LUG</a> meeting. Last
night I decided to give my local UUG a go.</p>
<p>A friend of mind had told me about the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.twuug.org/mediawiki/index.php/Main_Page">Tidewater Unix User's
Group</a> (TWUUG) a couple of years ago but I put
it in the back of my head and didn't think about it much. Luckily for
me I decided to go, last night, and see what the group is all about.
I'm not sure what I was expecting but what I found was good group of
geeks that had assembled to learn more from one another. While an
informal presentation was given on a program named hardinfo others
people in the group were helping provide answers to questions that went
far further into computer engineering than I had expected to be asked.
But isn't that what it's all about? You see something, want to know
more about it, and then ask the question hoping the presenter will be
able to answer the question. But it doesn't have to be the presenter or
any single person that has to be able to answer that question because we
are a community and we help each other.</p>
<p>So on my calendar on the first Thursday of the month will be TWUUG. If
you are down in the Norfolk area during that time you should stop by and
say hi!</p>
HTTPS-Everywhere2010-06-21T12:26:00-04:002010-06-21T12:26:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-06-21:/https-everywhere.html<p>The other day I found myself reading about a new Firefox plugin that
will automatically select HTTPS for various websites (and you can make
your own rules, too). The plugin, created by the
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.eff.org/">EFF</a>, is named <a class="reference external" href="https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere/">HTTPS
Everywhere</a>.</p>
<p>Basically it knows that there are several popular websites out there
that …</p><p>The other day I found myself reading about a new Firefox plugin that
will automatically select HTTPS for various websites (and you can make
your own rules, too). The plugin, created by the
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.eff.org/">EFF</a>, is named <a class="reference external" href="https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere/">HTTPS
Everywhere</a>.</p>
<p>Basically it knows that there are several popular websites out there
that do HTTPS as an option and will redirect you to the SSL-secured
versions of those websites if you forget to do it yourself. This helps
you protect your privacy and security of your web browsing.</p>
FAD (Hackfest) @ SELF - Day 22010-06-13T01:23:00-04:002010-06-13T01:23:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-06-13:/fad-hackfest-self-day-2.html<p>I was able to attend many talks during the second day of SELF and here
are some of the information I gleamed from the discussions.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><strong>IPv6</strong></div>
<div class="line">The speaker on IPv6 was from ARIN. He was quite upfront with the situation regarding IPv4 addresses. In short, we should run out of …</div></div><p>I was able to attend many talks during the second day of SELF and here
are some of the information I gleamed from the discussions.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><strong>IPv6</strong></div>
<div class="line">The speaker on IPv6 was from ARIN. He was quite upfront with the situation regarding IPv4 addresses. In short, we should run out of IPv4 addresses by the beginning of 2011. At the beginning of 2010 there were 10% of all the available IPv4 addresses remaining. By the beginning of June that number had shrunk to just over 6%.</div>
</div>
<p>One of the bigger concerns is that server hosting companies need to have
IPv6 up and running so that clients coming from the IPv6 network can
gain access to the servers. Since IPv4 and IPv6 are mutually exclusive
hosts need to have both.</p>
<p>Here are some links that you might be interested in if you want to know
more about IPv6:</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="https://www.arin.net/knowledge/v4-v6.html">https://www.arin.net/knowledge/v4-v6.html</a></div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://getipv6.info/index.php/Main_Page">http://getipv6.info/index.php/Main_Page</a></div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="https://www.sixxs.net/main/">https://www.sixxs.net/main/</a></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><strong>Fedora, Not just another pretty Linux</strong></div>
<div class="line">Our fearless leader, Paul, did a great presentation on Fedora. There were lots of people in attendance and Paul showed them what Fedora was all about.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><strong>FOSS Statistics</strong></div>
<div class="line">Another great Fedorian, Ian talked about his plan to open up the log files of Fedora to the public (after being cleaned of personally identifiable information). Allowing anyone to pull this data and use it to create their own statistics will mean that anyone can use the information to try to find cause and effect on their own.</div>
</div>
<p><a class="reference external" href="https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Statistics">https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Statistics</a></p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><strong>Secure Virtualization</strong></div>
<div class="line">Dan Walsh from Red Hat gave a very good talk on secure virtualization and how SELinux is helping to keep the bits from ending up in the wrong place. There's no way I could write about everything that Dan said because every time I hear him talk my brain starts to percolate with all kinds of ideas and documenting all those would be extremely difficult.</div>
</div>
<p>One thing that he did talk about that was very cool was the sandbox
program. You can create your own sandbox that has no access to anything
in your home directory and can even be limited to not having access to
the network! So you can truly work in an environment without worry that
the program you are testing will get out of hand.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><strong>DNSSEC</strong></div>
<div class="line">The last talk of the day was about DNSSEC. Very informative with the latest information on the rollout. The talk was short and sweet but to the point.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://www.dns.com">http://www.dns.com</a></div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://www.dnssec.net">http://www.dnssec.net</a></div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><strong>FOOD!</strong></div>
<div class="line">After all the events the Fedorians assembled and headed out on the town in search of supper. A little Thai restaurant was selected and everyone ate their fill. We returned to find the SELF party in full swing with Dual Core providing the music!</div>
</div>
QSL from TG9AHM2010-04-21T20:48:00-04:002010-04-21T20:48:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-04-21:/qsl-from-tg9ahm.html<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2011/09/tg9ahm1.webp"><img alt="image0" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2011/09/tg9ahm1.webp?w=300" /></a></p>
<p>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 …</p><p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2011/09/tg9ahm1.webp"><img alt="image0" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2011/09/tg9ahm1.webp?w=300" /></a></p>
<p>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
collection.</p>
DXCC Entities #100 and #101 confirmed!2010-04-07T12:58:00-04:002010-04-07T12:58:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-04-07:/dxcc-entities-100-and-101-confirmed.html<p>Well, I finally received QSLs for
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org/awards/dxcc/">DXCC</a> 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.</p>
<p>It's official, I now qualify for
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org/awards/dxcc/">DXCC</a>! Woot! Only …</p><p>Well, I finally received QSLs for
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org/awards/dxcc/">DXCC</a> 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.</p>
<p>It's official, I now qualify for
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org/awards/dxcc/">DXCC</a>! Woot! Only 237 countries
left!</p>
Hugh Martin, K4HMM SK2010-03-31T14:00:00-04:002010-03-31T14:00:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-03-31:/hugh-martin-k4hmm-sk.html<p>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.</p>
<p>Hugh was my boat …</p><p>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.</p>
<p>Hugh was my boat buddy. The guy I could talk about boats with and talk
about journeys yet to be made by the two of us. Before Hugh retired a
few years ago he was supposed to be getting his boat ready for a voyage
down to some tropical island where it was always sunny and warm. Being
that we were both amateur radio operators the discussion of
communications always came up and we talked about antennas, digital
modes, and other radio-related topics. He inspired me.</p>
<p>Hugh lived aboard his boat with his cat in Belhaven. When he was at
McCotters' Marina I used to visit him as my boat was at the marina next
door. Always hospitable, Hugh would invite me aboard and we would sit
and talk for hours.</p>
<p>Unfortunately I haven't spent much time conversing with him as of late.
With the move away from the area and life keeping me hopping I just
never seemed to have time to sit down and write or call him up. I was
looking back on some of the messages we exchanged and discovered I
hadn't really talked with him in some months. Unacceptable. It's not
that I don't know better than to keep contact with folks but I guess I
wasn't thinking. Of course Hugh wasn't old enough for me to think that
I'd have limited time to enjoy his company. I guess we all are on
limited time, though.</p>
<p>Fair winds and following seas, Hugh. You are a good friend...</p>
DXCC Entity #99 confirmed2010-03-24T22:24:00-04:002010-03-24T22:24:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-03-24:/dxcc-entity-99-confirmed.html<p>Received a card from ZB3R, Gibraltar, today which confirms my DXCC
entity number 99. So close to my DXCC I can taste it!</p>
DXCC Entities #97 and #98 confirmed!2010-03-22T23:50:00-04:002010-03-22T23:50:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-03-22:/dxcc-entities-97-and-98-confirmed.html<p>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.</p>
New DXCC entities in the log2010-03-03T04:02:00-05:002010-03-03T04:02:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-03-03:/new-dxcc-entities-in-the-log.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 my DXCC count at 111
and confirmation count at 94.</p>
Kudos to the ARRL WAS Awards desk...2010-02-24T22:37:00-05:002010-02-24T22:37:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-02-24:/kudos-to-the-arrl-was-awards-desk.html<p>Kudos to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.arrl.org/awards/was/">ARRL WAS Awards</a> 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
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.arrl.org/lotw/">LoTW</a>, to the
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.arrl.org/">ARRL</a> for checking. Exactly one week after
sending the cards to …</p><p>Kudos to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.arrl.org/awards/was/">ARRL WAS Awards</a> 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
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.arrl.org/lotw/">LoTW</a>, to the
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.arrl.org/">ARRL</a> for checking. Exactly one week after
sending the cards to the card checker I received them back. That's
quick service!</p>
Why is D-Star being pushed so hard for emergency communications?2010-02-24T14:56:00-05:002010-02-24T14:56:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-02-24:/why-is-d-star-being-pushed-so-hard-for-emergency-communications.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 feels like
D-Star is such a good idea. Let's look at the facts of the system.</p>
<div style="text-align:left;"><ul class="simple">
<li>D-Star uses a proprietary codec for its digital voice. So everyone
that purchases a D-Star transceiver is also shelling out money to buy
the license to use that codec. So unless you are using Icom's
proprietary equipment you won't be heard during an emergency. The
same thing was happening in the public safety market. Different
vendors were using different, proprietary codecs for digital voice.
This became a huge interoperability problem. The solution was
simple, however. The <a class="reference external" href="http://www.apco911.org/">Association of Public Safety Communications
Officials International</a> (APCO) created
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.apco911.org/frequency/project25/index.html">Project
25</a> (P25)
which created a standard for digital voice and data among all public
safety agencies in world. This was an international standardization
that has worked quite well. The codecs used for P25 are open source
and thus available for everyone to use, for free. Because of this,
P25 has taken off and is available in radios made by a variety of
manufacturers. Unfortunately Icom wasn't very forward thinking and
did not get on board with P25.</li>
<li>D-Star linking occurs only via TCP/IP. So unless you can setup a
wireless network with enough bandwidth to handle the data connection
you will be using the Internet to link up your repeaters to other
repeaters. As this is for emergencies, shouldn't you be using
non-Internet methods of linking? If I can just use the Internet then
I have no need for amateur radio, you can go home now.</li>
<li>D-Star transceivers are expensive! You can expect to pay $200 more
for a D-Star-enabled handheld transceiver than you would for one that
is not D-Star-enabled. For $30 more, I could buy Kenwood's D-710
mobile radio with APRS and have 50-watts of communicating power.
Plus APRS specification is completely open and can be, and has been,
implemented by numerous people and manufacturers.</li>
<li>D-Star won't have the same range that analog will. Remember when
cell phones went from analog to digital? There were spots that I
used to be able to make a phone call that I couldn't when digital
came about. The reason is simple, actually. The computer in your
head (your brain) can understand what is being said even in bad
conditions. The computer in that repeater control cannot, however,
and a dropped packet means communications lost. During an emergency
I don't think lost communication is an option.</li>
</ul>
<p>So all this said, what are the pros to D-Star? Hmmm... I actually
cannot think of any. If anything it makes us complacent about how to do
our jobs and makes us reliant on a communications medium that we cannot
control. I'd be more apt to get behind a P25 system than a D-Star
system because of the openness of the system but even that has
limitations.</p>
</div>Confirmed DXCC entity #922010-02-18T20:30:00-05:002010-02-18T20:30:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-02-18:/confirmed-dxcc-entity-92.html<p>Received DXCC QSL #92 for Trinidad today! 9Y4SRR sent his card via his
manager in record time. Thank you!</p>
2010 CQ WW WPX RTTY Contest is complete!2010-02-15T15:23:00-05:002010-02-15T15:23:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-02-15:/2010-cq-ww-wpx-rtty-contest-is-complete.html<p>After thirty hours of listening to "diddles" the 2010 <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cqwpxrtty.com/">CQ WW WPX RTTY
Contest</a> 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!</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Statistics:</div>
<div class="line">435 Contacts</div>
<div class="line">47 DXCC Entities</div>
<div class="line">47 US States</div>
<div class="line">17 CQ …</div></div><p>After thirty hours of listening to "diddles" the 2010 <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cqwpxrtty.com/">CQ WW WPX RTTY
Contest</a> 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!</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Statistics:</div>
<div class="line">435 Contacts</div>
<div class="line">47 DXCC Entities</div>
<div class="line">47 US States</div>
<div class="line">17 CQ Zones</div>
<div class="line">15 Meters: 103 contacts (36 countries, 8 US states)</div>
<div class="line">20 Meters: 105 contacts (34 countries, 20 US states)</div>
<div class="line">40 Meters: 116 contacts (27 countries, 29 US states)</div>
<div class="line">80 Meters: 111 contacts (12 countries, 35 US states)</div>
</div>
<p>My total score is estimated at 105,462 but I may end up competing in a
single-band competition.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Some contacts of note are (i.e. <a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org/awards/dxcc/">DXCC entities</a> I need confirmation):</div>
<div class="line">5B/UT0U - Cyprus</div>
<div class="line">6V7V - Senegal</div>
<div class="line">SI4G - Sweden</div>
<div class="line">SM6NET - Sweden</div>
<div class="line">ZL1BYZ - New Zealand</div>
</div>
<p>I also worked the three states (Utah, Vermont, and Wyoming) I need for
my <a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org/awards/was/">WAS</a> so as soon as I get
confirmation on these contacts I'll be submitting my documentation for
that award.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone whom I contacted this weekend and a special thank you
to my lovely wife who kept me fed and tolerated the whole event.</p>
CQRLOG2010-02-15T15:01:00-05:002010-02-15T15:01:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-02-15:/cqrlog.html<p>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.</p>
<p>I found many solutions that did less than xLog in my search but finally
found <a class="reference external" href="https://www.cqrlog.com/">CQRLOG …</a></p><p>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.</p>
<p>I found many solutions that did less than xLog in my search but finally
found <a class="reference external" href="https://www.cqrlog.com/">CQRLOG</a> which is exactly what I was
looking for. This logging software does pretty much everything I
wanted. It's built on a SQL database so running custom queries is
easy. There are lots of statistics
(<a class="reference external" href="https://wg3k.us/W4OTN_DXCC_Statistics.html">DXCC</a> and
<a class="reference external" href="https://wg3k.us/W4OTN_US_State_Statistics.html">WAS</a>, just to name a
couple) that you can pull from the software and it fully supports LoTW!</p>
<p>I'd recommend giving CQRLOG a try if you are looking for a really good
contact logging software.</p>
Confirmed DXCC entity # 902010-02-11T02:44:00-05:002010-02-11T02:44:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-02-11:/confirmed-dxcc-entity-90.html<p>Received a reply to my QSL for TL0A, today. Glad to make #90 the
Central African Republic!</p>
<p>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 …</p><p>Received a reply to my QSL for TL0A, today. Glad to make #90 the
Central African Republic!</p>
<p>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
the picture of the village that Christian shows on his card makes me
thankful that I have what I have and don't have to live so close to the
ground and cook on an open fire daily.</p>
<p>I now need ten more countries to confirm their contact with me. I've
worked 104 countries and if I get ten more countries then I'll qualify
for <a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org/awards/dxcc/">DXCC</a>. I'd like to have this
wrapped up before our August trip up north, if at all possible.</p>
10m and 6m band opening2010-02-07T18:16:00-05:002010-02-07T18:16:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-02-07:/10m-and-6m-band-opening.html<p>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!</p>
Ten-Tec Argosy2010-02-07T15:19:00-05:002010-02-07T15:19:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-02-07:/ten-tec-argosy.html<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2011/09/argosy1.webp"><img alt="image0" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2011/09/argosy1.webp?w=300" /></a></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>The audio is quite clear and …</p><p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2011/09/argosy1.webp"><img alt="image0" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2011/09/argosy1.webp?w=300" /></a></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>The audio is quite clear and clean and its fifty watts out is more than
enough to make it across the pond. SM5CAK was my first DX contact on
this rig. I received a 5-7 report through nearby QRM. I should have
flipped the switch in the back to drop it down to 10 watts to see how he
was copying me on QRPp mode.</p>
<p>I need to work on my HF6V antenna so I won't have to use a tuner on this
rig. Right now the antenna has good SWR on 40m, 30m, 20m, and 10m. I
need to adjust it so the 15m portion is flat and I need to replace the
matching coil for 80m. The antenna also has the 6m add-on kit but that
isn't tuned properly so I need to work on that, too. Maybe next weekend
I can get on that.</p>
Privacy risk in your email client?2010-02-02T22:55:00-05:002010-02-02T22:55:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2010-02-02:/privacy-risk-in-your-email-client.html<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">That was a switch in my email client <em>Thunderbird 3</em> that I did not have checked because I wasn't sure what it was doing and I certainly didn't want my Inbox to be cleared every time I exited the software. So I decided to do a search for it to …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">That was a switch in my email client <em>Thunderbird 3</em> that I did not have checked because I wasn't sure what it was doing and I certainly didn't want my Inbox to be cleared every time I exited the software. So I decided to do a search for it to see what I could find out. <a class="reference external" href="http://kb.mozillazine.org/Compacting_folders">Here's what I found</a>:</div>
</div>
<blockquote>
When you delete messages in an email program ("email client") or
move them to another folder in the program, they are not yet
physically removed - even emptying the Trash does not remove them.
Instead, Thunderbird and other email programs simply hide the
"deleted" messages and mark them as ready for physical removal. The
process of physically removing such no longer visible messages is
called "compacting". This means that messages that you think you
have deleted are not actually physically removed until you manually
or automatically compact the folder they were (are) in.</blockquote>
<p>This, to me, is a privacy and a security concern. If you are <a class="reference external" href="https://ssd.eff.org/your-computer/protect/retention">following
a policy</a> of
deleting sensitive messages after you have read them, you may only be
hiding them from yourself and not actually deleting them. This means
that the messages are still out there and available for discovery.</p>
<p>So do some research and make sure your email client is doing what you
want it to do.</p>
Protecting your email from disclosure2009-12-07T01:32:00-05:002009-12-07T01:32:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2009-12-07:/protecting-your-email-from-disclosure.html<div><p>Climate
talk,
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.networkworld.com/article/2346267/palin-s-private-e-mail-hacked--posted-to--net.html">Alaska government
business</a>, and
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/fox-anchors-email-hacked_b_239423">Dave
Briggs</a>.
What do these three things have in common? Each of these subjects had
more light shown on them by someone
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_difference_between_hacking_and_cracking">cracking</a>
email messages and releasing those messages to the public over the
Internet. Of course there are many more of these events …</p></div><div><p>Climate
talk,
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.networkworld.com/article/2346267/palin-s-private-e-mail-hacked--posted-to--net.html">Alaska government
business</a>, and
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/fox-anchors-email-hacked_b_239423">Dave
Briggs</a>.
What do these three things have in common? Each of these subjects had
more light shown on them by someone
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_difference_between_hacking_and_cracking">cracking</a>
email messages and releasing those messages to the public over the
Internet. Of course there are many more of these events that happen on
a daily basis but those three were the bigger ones that I could think of
right off hand. So, the bigger question than why did I choose those
three examples is how do we prevent such disclosures in the first
place. The answer is actually simpler than you might think.So let's
break this down into a couple of different categories. We'll start with
authenticating a user into their email messages, go to protecting your
message while it's enroute, and end with protecting the message while
it's being stored.</p>
<p>So, if our email providers would provide its users with better ways of
authenticating then many of these problems will go away. Multi-factor
authentication is an absolute must! Something you know (a password),
something you have (a token), and something you are (biometrics) make up
multi-factor authentication. When you hear two-factor authentication
they are talking about using two of those to authenticate you into the
system which makes guessing your password much more difficult.</p>
<p>A good example of a company that gets it would be
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.paypal.com">Paypal</a>. They provide an
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.paypal.com/securitykey">option</a> to use <a class="reference external" href="http://www.verisign.com/authentication/consumer-authentication/identity-protection/index.html">VeriSign Identity
Protection</a>
in addition to a username and password. This is an excellent example of
two-factor authentication in action. A good example of a company that
doesn't get it would be <a class="reference external" href="http://www.aol.com/">AOL</a>. They <a class="reference external" href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/117873/aol_offers_added_security.html">allowed
their
customers</a>
to use <a class="reference external" href="http://www.rsa.com/node.aspx?id=1156">RSA SecurID tokens</a> to
provide that second authentication factor but recently have <a class="reference external" href="http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/12/aol-securid/">decided to
stop the
use</a>.
Apparently they feel that their customers are too stupid to push a
button, see a number, and type it into a computer. Bottom line is you
should take your business to someone who takes authentication security
seriously.</p>
<p>For those who use passwords (and we all do) make sure you use passwords
that don't include words that are in the dictionary, family or friend
names, or things that other people could guess. Dictionary attacks
against passwords are common because they work! Oh, and your favorite
football/baseball/hockey/whatever team's name is in the dictionary used
to crack passwords... trust me. And the longer the password the
better. You can exponentially increase the strength of your password by
using twelve characters instead of eight, but don't let that make you
stop at twelve characters.</p>
<p>Okay, so we are using strong passwords and we have a token... that's all
I need, right? Not quite. What would you think if I told you that your
message can be read at any point along the route to its destination?
I've always been told that sending an e-mail is like sending a postcard
but it's actually worse. Imagine sending your message on a postcard and
then handing it to someone else for delivery. Do you trust that unknown
someone who is going to deliver your message? Well, e-mail is exactly
the same way. So what can you do? Easy... use encryption!</p>
<p>Oh, I know you don't think you know anything about encryption and the
mathematics that goes along with it but it's really easy! There are
basically two different styles of e-mail encryption:
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S/MIME">S/MIME</a> and
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Privacy_Guard">GPG</a> (or
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy">PGP</a>). While
S/MIME is more hands off, it costs money to get a certificate from a
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certification_authority">Certificate
Authority</a> and
then you are basically trusting their trust model taking you out of the
trust equation. I'm not impressed. GPG, which is the open source
implementation of PGP, is my choice.</p>
<p>I'm not going to get into how to setup GPG because their are <a class="reference external" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=Implementing+GPG&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a">lots of
instructions</a>
already out there. I have helped with documenting how to setup GPG in a
number of email programs and even for
<a class="reference external" href="https://mail.google.com">Gmail</a>, though, and will say it's in the
<a class="reference external" href="https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Using_GPG">Fedora wiki</a>.</p>
<p>Anyway, what makes GPG my choice is that not only is it easy to use but
it is also completely free. You generate your own keys and can upload
your public key to one of the public key servers (like <a class="reference external" href="http://pgp.mit.edu/">MIT's key
server</a>) which makes your public key available
to all. This doesn't make your encryption vulnerable because this is
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public-key_cryptography">public-key
cryptography</a>
and not <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symmetric_key_algorithm">symmetric
cryptography</a>.</p>
<p>So by using GPG (or S/MIME or PGP) you are protecting your message
enroute to its destination. So now we have to protect the message now
that it has arrived and is being stored on someone else's server. The
great thing is that because you encrypted before transmitting it can
only be decrypted by the recipient so it should be left unreadable to
anyone cracking into your email account. So if the cracker does get
into your mail account then all they will find is scrambled up
characters that they won't be able to understand.</p>
<p>So by using multi-factor authentication and encryption you can remove
most risks of using e-mail and keep your information yours. Think you
don't need to protect your information because no one would want to see
what you write? Think about the three subjects we started with and
remember those are just some of the more recent, public examples. It
happens every day.</p>
</div>Amateur Radio in January's LINUX Journal2009-11-30T16:51:00-05:002009-11-30T16:51:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2009-11-30:/amateur-radio-in-januarys-linux-journal.html<p>I just received the January 2010 issue of <a class="reference external" href="https://www.linuxjournal.com/">LINUX
Journal</a> and was surprised to see <a class="reference external" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100227035722/https://www.linuxjournal.com/ham">a
penguin with headphones, a microphone, and a amateur radio
callsign</a>! Awesome! There is a
four page article which starts to show the relationship between open
source software and amateur radio and how one can …</p><p>I just received the January 2010 issue of <a class="reference external" href="https://www.linuxjournal.com/">LINUX
Journal</a> and was surprised to see <a class="reference external" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100227035722/https://www.linuxjournal.com/ham">a
penguin with headphones, a microphone, and a amateur radio
callsign</a>! Awesome! There is a
four page article which starts to show the relationship between open
source software and amateur radio and how one can benefit from the
other. There are so many options for amateur radio operators within the
Linux community and the price is definitely right... free!</p>
Amateur Radio in next month's Linux Journal2009-11-06T22:20:00-05:002009-11-06T22:20:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2009-11-06:/amateur-radio-in-next-months-linux-journal.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 Open Source has been written
about together because they do share so many similarities. Amateur
radio operators used to build all their equipment and help mentor each
other on developing better communications stations. Open source
software is very similar to that. While I might not build my
transceivers, I do still build many of my antennas which is something I
enjoy. Amateur radio operators, also like OSS developers, are in it to
help people and have some fun in the mean time. Yep, Amateur Radio and
OSS... a match made in heaven.</p>
Expiring OpenPGP keys...2009-10-19T16:01:00-04:002009-10-19T16:01:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2009-10-19:/expiring-openpgp-keys.html<p>A discussion was had on one of the Fedora IRC channels months ago about
the "proper" way to handle expiring GPG keys without breaking the web of
trust. It was my opinion that by generating new keys every so often
(yearly?) that it would increase the security of the overall …</p><p>A discussion was had on one of the Fedora IRC channels months ago about
the "proper" way to handle expiring GPG keys without breaking the web of
trust. It was my opinion that by generating new keys every so often
(yearly?) that it would increase the security of the overall system
because keys can be cracked and the longer the key is in the wild the
higher the chances of the key being exposed. You may not even know that
they key has been cracked or being used.</p>
<p>Today I went searching for answers and found them in a <a class="reference external" href="http://cryptnet.net/fdp/crypto/keysigning_party/en/keysigning_party.html#key_expiration">keysigning
HOWTO</a>.
The HOWTO explains, what I would consider to be, a valid reason to
regenerate your keys along with a proper method for not necessarily
breaking the web of trust.</p>
<p>Opinions?</p>
Notification to ARES groups2009-08-26T12:20:00-04:002009-08-26T12:20:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2009-08-26:/notification-to-ares-groups.html<p>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.</p>
<p>So what about ARES groups. From the emergency managers point of view
ARES is a communications …</p><p>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.</p>
<p>So what about ARES groups. From the emergency managers point of view
ARES is a communications powerhouse. Give them a message and the message
comes out wherever it is supposed to. Or at least that's how it should
work. But how does ARES get notified of a communications emergency? If
the emergency is a phone outage then your phone tree won't work. And
calling on the repeater? How many people actually monitor the repeater
all the time?</p>
<p>So I have two proposals to help remedy this:</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Proposal One: Voice Pagers</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Give your ARES members voice pagers like firefighters and EMTs carry. They are small and can be kept quiet so members might not mind carrying them. That way they are always a couple of button presses away.</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>Of course here is where you might run into problems. Do you page them
from governmental systems or amateur systems? It is always better to
have ARES notified via amateur radio so that if they are being called to
help out with your fire paging system being down the message will still
get out. Don't rely on a resource that you may need help with to notify
your communications contingency.</p>
<p>Of course if you page them from your local ARES repeater (many repeater
controllers can do this for you) how does the city/county make that
happen? Unless someone is a ham that works for emergency management or
your 911 center then someone else outside emergency management's control
will have to initiate the notification. Also not a good option.</p>
<p>Another problem I can foresee is the cost of a voice pager. These things
can run into the hundreds of dollars a piece. This is not to say that
you can't find them cheaper on eBay.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Proposal Two: Digital Pagers</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Remember back in the nineties when it was cool to have a pager? It still can be! Pick up some Motorola Bravo pagers and a Kantronics KPC-9612+ and you can have your very own paging system. Of course you'll have to get it up high and I don't have a clue at how far away those pagers can be activated from but it is a cheap option. I recently found Bravo Plus pagers on eBay for around $15 a piece. That's not bad at all. Of course you'll still have the same problems with it being on an amateur band. How does emergency management interface with the system if he/she's not a ham?</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>Anyone have any other thoughts/ideas?</p>
All antennas up in the air.2009-08-01T14:24:00-04:002009-08-01T14:24:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2009-08-01:/all-antennas-up-in-the-air.html<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2011/09/uhfantennas2009-08-01-10-09-130031.webp"><img alt="image0" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2011/09/uhfantennas2009-08-01-10-09-130031.webp?w=300" /></a></div>
<div class="line">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.</div>
</div>
<p>I've also noted that the only …</p><div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2011/09/uhfantennas2009-08-01-10-09-130031.webp"><img alt="image0" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2011/09/uhfantennas2009-08-01-10-09-130031.webp?w=300" /></a></div>
<div class="line">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.</div>
</div>
<p>I've also noted that the only clear shot that isn't through the trees is
towards the south-east. That should make it interesting during today's
UHF Contest. But it also is encouraging for checking into the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.w4dex.com/east_coast_70cm_net.htm">70cm East
Coast Net</a>.</p>
New antennas up in the air.2009-07-31T22:01:00-04:002009-07-31T22:01:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2009-07-31:/new-antennas-up-in-the-air.html<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2011/09/uhfantennas2009-07-31-17-01-480011.webp"><img alt="image0" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2011/09/uhfantennas2009-07-31-17-01-480011.webp?w=300" /></a>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).</p>
<p>Top antenna is 23cm (1278MHz) and the lower one …</p><p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2011/09/uhfantennas2009-07-31-17-01-480011.webp"><img alt="image0" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2011/09/uhfantennas2009-07-31-17-01-480011.webp?w=300" /></a>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).</p>
<p>Top antenna is 23cm (1278MHz) and the lower one is 70cm (432MHz). There
will be a 2m (144MHz) antenna added later (tomorrow?).</p>
Thanks Seth!2009-07-29T12:17:00-04:002009-07-29T12:17:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2009-07-29:/thanks-seth.html<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2011/09/thanks.webp"><img alt="image0" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2011/09/thanks.webp?w=300" /></a>While I was out of town last week something arrived at my
house...</p>
Received 23cm antenna2009-07-07T02:50:00-04:002009-07-07T02:50:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2009-07-07:/received-23cm-antenna.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 connectors put on some coax and get this
antenna in the air!</p>
<p>I'll post pictures later.</p>
VHF/UHF Update2009-07-01T11:51:00-04:002009-07-01T11:51:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2009-07-01:/vhfuhf-update.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 need at
least a quarter inch more for the rotator to grab on to. Of course not
knowing this I went down to Lowe's last night and purchased a 1"x10'
pipe to mount all the antennas on which will no longer be of use. Not
sure about what to do with the lower portion (under the rotator) but I'm
pretty sure I can just return the pipe I bought and buy a larger one.</p>
<p>I also sat down with a pencil and paper last night and figured out how I
was going to mount the three antennas on the pole. Since the 1.2GHz
antenna is a loop antenna and can't tolerate anything metal in the
middle of the field that antenna will be at the top of the pole. 14"
lower will be the 70cm antenna and then 79" below that will be the two
meter antenna. This will leave enough room for the h-plane of each
antenna to be unobstructed by the other antennas for a better
performance.</p>
<p>Now if I can only figure out how to get them up in the air.</p>
New toys...2009-06-27T00:05:00-04:002009-06-27T00:05:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2009-06-27:/new-toys.html<p>I haven't posted anything lately but that doesn't mean that nothing has
been happening.</p>
<p>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 …</p><p>I haven't posted anything lately but that doesn't mean that nothing has
been happening.</p>
<p>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 I was able to pick it up within
my budget. Of course that also means that I need a new antenna, low-loss
coax, and some N connectors. Never fear, the Internet is here!</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The Antenna</div>
<div class="line">So I talked to a few people and was sent to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.directivesystems.com/">Directive Systems</a> in Maine. I called them up and talked to the guy that was busy building antennas but had enough time to answer some of my questions. After about a half-hour of microwave antenna theory I decided on the <a class="reference external" href="http://http//www.directivesystems.com/PDF/2325LY.PDF">2325LY</a> which is a 1.2GHz (23cm) beam that uses loops for elements instead of dipoles. The antenna is 6-feet long and has approximately 17 dBi of gain. Not too shabby. With 10-watts in and around 1 dB of loss in the coax and connectors I should be seeing nearly 400 watts EIRP.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The Coax</div>
<div class="line">Okay, so I have a transceiver and an antenna coming. I must missing something, right? Yeah, something to hook them together. I'm lucky. At the house I have a relatively short run to the radios (around thirty to forty feet) so it won't cost me an arm and a leg to connect everything together. Even so, <a class="reference external" href="http://thewireman.com/">The Wireman</a> has just shipped me 17 pounds of wire. Yep, LMR-400, rotator wire, and a couple of N connectors. I bought enough LMR-400 to get my 432MHz beam on the air as well (23-elements). See what happens with the wife leaves me at home... alone?</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The End Result</div>
<div class="line">Well, I can't really talk about the end result because I'm still waiting for everything to get in. But I've been doing my prep work. I pulled the rotator out of storage and I'm going to get it prepared for installation. The 432MHz (70cm) antenna has been brought out from storage and is on the deck partially assembled (still need a couple of screws and four U-bolts). Today I swapped out a 2m/70cm J-pole for a 6m J-pole at the top of my "tower" (I worked quite a few VEs (using CW) on that J-pole just minutes after it was in the air. Amazing how it outperforms the dipole (not really amazing)). Unfortunately I have to figure out something else to do with the J-pole as the 23cm antenna has to go at the very top without anything running through the antenna. Looks like I'll be putting up another pole soon.</div>
</div>
<p>So that's what's been going on. As soon as I start getting stuff in the
mail I'll try to remember to take pictures and post them here.</p>
<p>73</p>
Found a UT-102009-06-10T14:02:00-04:002009-06-10T14:02:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2009-06-10:/found-a-ut-10.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 yeah, I'm excited!</p>
Proposed Rover Operation for ARRL UHF Contest2009-06-10T13:56:00-04:002009-06-10T13:56:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2009-06-10:/proposed-rover-operation-for-arrl-uhf-contest.html<p>I'm considering doing a rover operation for the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2009/uhf.html">ARRL UHF
Contest</a> 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 …</p><p>I'm considering doing a rover operation for the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2009/uhf.html">ARRL UHF
Contest</a> 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 fun.</p>
Back but not ready for Monday2009-06-08T11:39:00-04:002009-06-08T11:39:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2009-06-08:/back-but-not-ready-for-monday.html<p>I got back from Cary, NC last night around 6:30P. It was an <a class="reference external" href="http://fedora-sparks.blogspot.com/2009/06/ada-tour-de-cure-this-weekend.html">exciting
but extremely exhausting
weekend</a>.
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 …</p><p>I got back from Cary, NC last night around 6:30P. It was an <a class="reference external" href="http://fedora-sparks.blogspot.com/2009/06/ada-tour-de-cure-this-weekend.html">exciting
but extremely exhausting
weekend</a>.
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 when I couple of people stuck their head in to
say "hi" to have them pause and say "wow, are you running Fedora?". Yep,
we Fedorians are all over the place.</p>
<p>Someone outside the race wanted to know how I was using Fedora during
this event. <a class="reference external" href="http://www.hello-radio.org/">Amateur radio</a> provides the
communications between all the rest stops along the route (100 miles
each day) and between the Support-and-Gear vehicles (SAGs). We relay
position reports of where riders are, provide that initial emergency
support, and handle logistics. There is a system in the amateur radio
world called
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_Packet_Reporting_System">APRS</a>
(Automatic Position/Packet Reporting System) which transmits the
position of the SAGs and also allows messaging. Thanks to the <a class="reference external" href="https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/SIGs/AmateurRadio">Amateur
Radio SIG</a>, many
useful pieces of software have been packaged for Fedora. Xastir is my
top pick for APRS. So with Xastir running on Fedora (a perfect match)
I'm able to actually see where the SAGs are and comunicate with them via
typed message, both of which reduces voice communications and improves
efficiency.</p>
<p>So with another event under my belt I have a couple of months before the
"Ride Without Limits" is upon us. This time a figure-8 in the Wake
Forest area. Maybe I'll remember that I should probably stay in NC for
an extra day to help myself recover. Alas, I didn't do that this time
and I have to get ready to head in for a 9AM meeting.</p>
ADA Tour de Cure this weekend.2009-06-05T03:56:00-04:002009-06-05T03:56:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2009-06-05:/ada-tour-de-cure-this-weekend.html<p>I'll be leaving around noon tomorrow (EDT) for Raleigh, NC. This is the
weekend for the <a class="reference external" href="http://tour.diabetes.org/site/TR/TourdeCure/TDC154358030?pg=entry&fr_id=5583">American Diabetes Association's Tour de
Cure</a>
of which I've volunteered for via <a class="reference external" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180922191813/http://www.hampublicservice.org:80/">Carolina Helping
Hams</a> for going on ten years now. This
is an excellent event where bicyclists ride either 80 or 100 miles …</p><p>I'll be leaving around noon tomorrow (EDT) for Raleigh, NC. This is the
weekend for the <a class="reference external" href="http://tour.diabetes.org/site/TR/TourdeCure/TDC154358030?pg=entry&fr_id=5583">American Diabetes Association's Tour de
Cure</a>
of which I've volunteered for via <a class="reference external" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180922191813/http://www.hampublicservice.org:80/">Carolina Helping
Hams</a> for going on ten years now. This
is an excellent event where bicyclists ride either 80 or 100 miles on
Saturday and roughly the same on Sunday all in an effort to raise money
to help researchers do what they need to do to get rid of this horrible
disease. Diabetes hits really close to home as my Dad had it and my
sister-in-law has it so I'd like nothing more than to find a cure.</p>
<p>I've loaded up my Fedora laptop with some open-source goodness that will
help me manage all the resources I'll be [STRIKEOUT:managing]
coordinating during the event. Now all I have to do is hope for sunny
skies and no rain!</p>
Mini-DXpedition to Hatteras Island NA-0672009-05-27T13:25:00-04:002009-05-27T13:25:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2009-05-27:/mini-dxpedition-to-hatteras-island-na-067.html<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2011/09/w4otnhatteras1.webp"><img alt="Mini-DXpedition to Hatteras Island NA-067" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2011/09/w4otnhatteras1-300x196.webp" /></a> 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.</p>
<p>Overall, the test …</p><p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2011/09/w4otnhatteras1.webp"><img alt="Mini-DXpedition to Hatteras Island NA-067" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2011/09/w4otnhatteras1-300x196.webp" /></a> 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.</p>
<p>Overall, the test was a success. Contacts were made in eleven different
countries utilizing only ten-watts of output power. While time was short
for operating (hey, this was a vacation, too!) I did find that operating
during the grey zone (twilight) yielded the best results. Pointing the
dipole towards Europe yielded excellent results on both sides of the
antenna. This was a test for the upcoming <a class="reference external" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090725223545/http://www.vhfcc.org:80/hfcc/rules/2009/riota.shtml">IOTA
contest</a>
in July where I <a class="reference external" href="https://www.wg3k.us/?p=177">plan on activating an
island</a> either on the coast of North
Carolina or South Carolina. More about that later, though.</p>
<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2009/05/Hatteras-Island-IOTA-DXPedition-2009-05-22-09.18.32-001.webp"><img alt="Hatteras Island IOTA DXPedition camp" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2009/05/Hatteras-Island-IOTA-DXPedition-2009-05-22-09.18.32-001-300x225.webp" /></a><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2009/05/Hatteras-Island-IOTA-DXPedition-2009-05-22-09.31.48-002.webp"><img alt="Hatteras Island IOTA DXPedition radio" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2009/05/Hatteras-Island-IOTA-DXPedition-2009-05-22-09.31.48-002-300x225.webp" /></a>DX cards have been sent via the bureau and all contacts have
been uploaded to LoTW.</p>
Securing Instant Messaging2009-05-26T23:34:00-04:002009-05-26T23:34:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2009-05-26:/securing-instant-messaging.html<p>More and more sensitive communications are occurring over unsecure
instant messaging (IM) systems. These messages go through a third-party
and can be read anywhere along the way. An easy, open-source solution
does exist to help protect these communications, however.</p>
<p>First you need the IM client called <a class="reference external" href="https://www.pidgin.im/">Pidgin</a>.
This client works …</p><p>More and more sensitive communications are occurring over unsecure
instant messaging (IM) systems. These messages go through a third-party
and can be read anywhere along the way. An easy, open-source solution
does exist to help protect these communications, however.</p>
<p>First you need the IM client called <a class="reference external" href="https://www.pidgin.im/">Pidgin</a>.
This client works with virtually every IM service and is extremely easy
to install and setup. Pidgin can be customized using plugins. The plugin
you are looking for is named
<a class="reference external" href="http://pidgin-encrypt.sourceforge.net/">pidgin-encryption</a>.</p>
<p>Once you install pidgin-encryption you have to go through a couple of
steps to get it up and running but the steps aren't too complex. First
you need to activate the plug-in. In Pidgin, goto Tools -> Plugins (or
Ctrl-U) and when the plugin box appears scroll down to
"pidgin-encryption" and check the "enabled" box to enable it. When you
do this the first time it will automatically generate keys for the
accounts you have setup in Pidgin. If you select the plugin the
"configure plugin" button should appear at the bottom of the page and a
screen will pop up with various options. These options are important for
maintaining a secure environment.</p>
<p>The first tab on the screen is "config". I recommend selecting all of
the boxes EXCEPT the "Accept conflicting keys automatically". The second
tab is "local keys". This tab should show you all of your keys, one for
each account. One change you could make on this screen is regenerating
your keys to a higher bit. Default is 1028 but for maximum security I'd
go for 4096. The third and forth tabs will contain keys of people that
you talk to. These tabs will be empty until you make contact with
someone or manually import someone's key (not required).</p>
<p>The encryption <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algorithm">algorithm</a>
used is called <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSA">RSA</a> <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public-key_cryptography">public-key
cryptology</a>.
Don't worry, you don't have to understand how it works. Just know this
type of cryptology algorithm is a tried and true method of securing
information.</p>
<p>So now how do you encrypt your conversations? This is the easiest part.
So your friend must be using this combination on the other side. Other
than that requirement all you have to do is click the lock icon at the
top of the screen which will enable the encrytion. Your public key will
be sent across the link and as long as the lock is closed at the top of
the screen your communications will be encrypted. That's it, you're
done!</p>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><img alt="image0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1501672565957800252-9014397438600075387?l=fedora-sparks.blogspot.com" /></p>
</div>10m Repeaters2009-02-06T21:10:00-05:002009-02-06T21:10:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2009-02-06:/10m-repeaters.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 sound of those repeaters were just
magic to me. Earlier today there was a brief 10-meter opening. I
rushed up the band to see if I could hear any of those repeaters. I was
greeted by only one which was way down in the noise. Maybe one day soon
they will all be back.</p>
Bureau cards received today2009-02-06T21:05:00-05:002009-02-06T21:05:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2009-02-06:/bureau-cards-received-today.html<p>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.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Cards received today:</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">SP9LJD - Poland</div>
<div class="line">NP2/AK2P - St. Croix Island</div>
<div class="line">LX7I - Luxembourg</div>
<div class="line">VE2AXO - Quebec …</div></div></div><p>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.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Cards received today:</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">SP9LJD - Poland</div>
<div class="line">NP2/AK2P - St. Croix Island</div>
<div class="line">LX7I - Luxembourg</div>
<div class="line">VE2AXO - Quebec</div>
<div class="line">OL3Z - Czech Republic</div>
<div class="line">VE2XAA - Montreal</div>
<div class="line">OK1DO - Czech Republic</div>
<div class="line">DR1A - Germany</div>
<div class="line">VE1MC - Nova Scotia</div>
<div class="line">VA1CHP - Nova Scotia</div>
<div class="line">ON4IQ - Belgium</div>
<div class="line">OK1CF - Czech Republic</div>
</div>
</div>
Why we still need shortwave broadcast in this world.2009-01-22T14:24:00-05:002009-01-22T14:24:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2009-01-22:/why-we-still-need-shortwave-broadcast-in-this-world.html<div><p>The BBC is reporting that <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7841580.stm">China censored Obama's
speech</a> on a
number of websites. This is yet another reason why the Internet does
not, and cannot, replace shortwave broadcast. Shortwave broadcast is
very difficult, if not impossible, to block. Governments have tried in
the past to keep their citizens from …</p></div><div><p>The BBC is reporting that <a class="reference external" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7841580.stm">China censored Obama's
speech</a> on a
number of websites. This is yet another reason why the Internet does
not, and cannot, replace shortwave broadcast. Shortwave broadcast is
very difficult, if not impossible, to block. Governments have tried in
the past to keep their citizens from hearing stations like the BBC, VOA,
and others but these attempts have largely been unsuccessful. The
Internet, however, can <a class="reference external" href="http://opennet.net/google_china/">easily be
censored</a> by governments which
allows them to control the information their citizens receive.</p>
</p><p>It is also important to note that the Internet is not everywhere. While
we may have access to the Internet in our homes we may not have that
same access away from home. The speeds and reliability of that home
connection may also not support "streaming audio" to listen to the BBC
or VOA or other news outlet.</p>
<p><p>It is disappointing to see shortwave transmitters going silent. In a
time when it is easier for governments to control information coming
into their countries, it is more important to turn these shortwave
transmitters on and push the truth into these areas than rely on a
medium that we cannot predict or control.</p>
</div>QSL from YV4DYJ2009-01-20T23:36:00-05:002009-01-20T23:36:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2009-01-20:/qsl-from-yv4dyj.html<p>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.</p>
Two Fedorians on a Northbound Train2008-12-19T13:00:00-05:002008-12-19T13:00:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2008-12-19:/two-fedorians-on-a-northbound-train.html<p>So I'm sitting at the Staples Mill Rd, Richmond Amtrak Station waiting
for the northbound 84 when none other than Seth Vidal walks up to me and
says "do you work for Red Hat?" noticing the Shadowman hat I'm wearing.
Maybe we should host a hackfest on the train!</p>
<p>Just …</p><p>So I'm sitting at the Staples Mill Rd, Richmond Amtrak Station waiting
for the northbound 84 when none other than Seth Vidal walks up to me and
says "do you work for Red Hat?" noticing the Shadowman hat I'm wearing.
Maybe we should host a hackfest on the train!</p>
<p>Just goes to show you that Fedorians are everywhere!</p>
Plaintext Recovery Attack Against OpenSSH2008-11-18T18:27:00-05:002008-11-18T18:27:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2008-11-18:/plaintext-recovery-attack-against-openssh.html<p><a class="reference external" href="https://isc.sans.edu/diary/Plaintext+Recovery+Attack+Against+OpenSSH/5366">https://isc.sans.edu/diary/Plaintext+Recovery+Attack+Against+OpenSSH/5366</a></p>
<p>SANS Internet Storm Center is reporting an attack against OpenSSH.
Please go to the link above for more information as they are posting
updates there.</p>
Passport to World Band Radio2008-11-04T16:08:00-05:002008-11-04T16:08:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2008-11-04:/passport-to-world-band-radio.html<p>I received my copy of "<a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.com/Passport-World-Band-Radio-2009/dp/0914941801/ref=sr_11_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1225814807&sr=11-1">Passport to World Band
Radio</a>"
(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 …</p><p>I received my copy of "<a class="reference external" href="http://www.amazon.com/Passport-World-Band-Radio-2009/dp/0914941801/ref=sr_11_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1225814807&sr=11-1">Passport to World Band
Radio</a>"
(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
good deal, in my opinion.</p>
<p>The book is written to help a person that doesn't know anything about
shortwave to be able to make an informed purchase of a receiver and be
able to tune in the world with no other resources. I've been listening
to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/">BBC World Service</a>,
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.voanews.com">VOA</a>, and other broadcasts for a number of
years and found that the frequency charts, broadcast times, and the "Ten
of the best shows for 2009" are valuable even for an experienced user.</p>
<p>If you are interested in shortwave broadcast and haven't picked this
book up I think you definitely should.</p>
Shortwave Log for 16 Oct 20082008-10-16T16:11:00-04:002008-10-16T16:11:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2008-10-16:/shortwave-log-for-16-oct-2008.html<div><dl class="docutils">
<dt>16:00 21,470 kHz - BBC Africa Service - Excellent signal. SF:71 A:7 K:1. TX from Ascension</dt>
<dd>17:00 13,675 kHz - BBC World Service - Good signal. SF:71 A:7 K:1 Unknown from where it is being transmitted.
18:00 13,675 kHz - BBC World Service …</dd></dl></div><div><dl class="docutils">
<dt>16:00 21,470 kHz - BBC Africa Service - Excellent signal. SF:71 A:7 K:1. TX from Ascension</dt>
<dd>17:00 13,675 kHz - BBC World Service - Good signal. SF:71 A:7 K:1 Unknown from where it is being transmitted.
18:00 13,675 kHz - BBC World Service - Excellent signal. SF:71 A:7 K:1. Unknown from where it is being transmitted.
19:40 15,400 kHz - BBC World Service - Good signal. SF:71 A:7 K:1
19:40 9,080 kHz - VOA Special English - Excellent signal. TX from South Africa
19:41 15,410 kHz - VOA Special English - Good signal. TX from Greenville, NC
19:46 15,580 kHz - VOA Special English - Good signal. TX from Botswana
19:46 17,895 kHz - VOA Special English - Good signal. TX from Greenville, NC</dd>
</dl>
</div>Shortwave Log for 15 Oct 20082008-10-15T23:03:00-04:002008-10-15T23:03:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2008-10-15:/shortwave-log-for-15-oct-2008.html<dl class="docutils">
<dt>19:xx 15,400 kc - BBC World Service - Very loud in VA.</dt>
<dd>23:00 9,885 kc - VOA - "Welcome to the VOA, in Spanish!"</dd>
</dl>
HF Allocations: Shortwave Broadcast v. Amateur Radio2008-10-15T17:19:00-04:002008-10-15T17:19:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2008-10-15:/hf-allocations-shortwave-broadcast-v-amateur-radio.html<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I was just curious what percentage of the HF band is being used for Shortwave Broadcast versus Amateur Radio. Here's what I came up with:</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Shortwave: 6.145 MHz [1] or 22% of the HF band [2].</div>
</div>
</div>
<table border="1" class="docutils">
<colgroup>
<col width="30%" />
<col width="30%" />
<col width="39%" />
</colgroup>
<tbody valign="top">
<tr><td>Start</td>
<td>End</td>
<td>Bandwidth</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>25.670</td>
<td>26.100</td>
<td>0.43</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>21.450</td>
<td>21.850 …</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">I was just curious what percentage of the HF band is being used for Shortwave Broadcast versus Amateur Radio. Here's what I came up with:</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Shortwave: 6.145 MHz [1] or 22% of the HF band [2].</div>
</div>
</div>
<table border="1" class="docutils">
<colgroup>
<col width="30%" />
<col width="30%" />
<col width="39%" />
</colgroup>
<tbody valign="top">
<tr><td>Start</td>
<td>End</td>
<td>Bandwidth</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>25.670</td>
<td>26.100</td>
<td>0.43</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>21.450</td>
<td>21.850</td>
<td>0.4</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>18.900</td>
<td>19.020</td>
<td>0.12</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>17.480</td>
<td>17.900</td>
<td>0.42</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>15.000</td>
<td>15.825</td>
<td>0.825</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>13.570</td>
<td>13.870</td>
<td>0.3</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>11.500</td>
<td>12.160</td>
<td>0.66</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>9.250</td>
<td>9.995</td>
<td>0.745</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>7.100</td>
<td>7.600</td>
<td>0.5</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>5.800</td>
<td>6.300</td>
<td>0.5</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>4.400</td>
<td>5.100</td>
<td>0.7</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>3.900</td>
<td>4.050</td>
<td>0.15</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>3.200</td>
<td>3.400</td>
<td>0.2</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>2.300</td>
<td>2.495</td>
<td>0.195</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The 41m shortwave band is being changed. The 75m shortwave band is not used in all Regions and is shared with amateur radio.</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Amateur radio: 3.75 MHz [3] or 13% of the HF band [4].</div>
</div>
</div>
<table border="1" class="docutils">
<colgroup>
<col width="30%" />
<col width="30%" />
<col width="39%" />
</colgroup>
<tbody valign="top">
<tr><td>Start</td>
<td>End</td>
<td>Bandwidth</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>28.000</td>
<td>29.700</td>
<td>1.7</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>24.890</td>
<td>24.990</td>
<td>0.1</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>21.000</td>
<td>21.450</td>
<td>0.45</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>18.068</td>
<td>18.168</td>
<td>0.1</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>14.000</td>
<td>14.350</td>
<td>0.35</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>10.100</td>
<td>10.150</td>
<td>0.05</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>7.000</td>
<td>7.300</td>
<td>0.3</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>3.500</td>
<td>4.000</td>
<td>0.5</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>1.800</td>
<td>2.000</td>
<td>0.2</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>The 80m amateur radio band is not used in all Regions and is shared with
amateur radio. Also, the 60m frequencies available to US and UK amateur
radio operators are not included.</p>
<p>I wonder what the other ~78% of the HF band is being used for.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">----</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">[1] Includes 0.195 MHz in the medium wave band.</div>
<div class="line">[2] Does not include 0.195 MHz in the medium wave band.</div>
<div class="line">[3] Includes 0.2 MHz in the medium wave band.</div>
<div class="line">[4] Does not include 0.2 MHz in the medium wave band.</div>
</div>
</div>
Satellite Operations: Action items2008-09-29T17:11:00-04:002008-09-29T17:11:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2008-09-29:/satellite-operations-action-items.html<p>Things I need to purchase:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><a class="reference external" href="http://www.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110293620859">2.4GHz
Downconverter</a>
($105)</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="http://lists.contesting.com/_vhfcontesting/2008-05/msg00078.html">UT-10 1.2GHz Module for
TS-790A</a>
($450)</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20111201010056/http://www.m2inc.com:80/products/uhf/70cm/436cp30.html">432MHz
Yagi</a>
($357)</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="http://www.advancedreceiver.com/page10.html">432MHz Preamp
(MSP432VDG-160)</a>
($240)</li>
<li>Yaesu G-400X rotator pole mount ($40)</li>
<li>2.4GHz Patch Feed</li>
<li>LMR400 feedline
(amount?) ($.92/ft or $.81/ft >= 100')</li>
<li>Mast pipe for mounting the antennas.</li>
<li>Rotator control …</li></ul><p>Things I need to purchase:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><a class="reference external" href="http://www.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110293620859">2.4GHz
Downconverter</a>
($105)</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="http://lists.contesting.com/_vhfcontesting/2008-05/msg00078.html">UT-10 1.2GHz Module for
TS-790A</a>
($450)</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20111201010056/http://www.m2inc.com:80/products/uhf/70cm/436cp30.html">432MHz
Yagi</a>
($357)</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="http://www.advancedreceiver.com/page10.html">432MHz Preamp
(MSP432VDG-160)</a>
($240)</li>
<li>Yaesu G-400X rotator pole mount ($40)</li>
<li>2.4GHz Patch Feed</li>
<li>LMR400 feedline
(amount?) ($.92/ft or $.81/ft >= 100')</li>
<li>Mast pipe for mounting the antennas.</li>
<li>Rotator control cable (10 wire)</li>
<li>U-bolts for elevation rotator</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="http://www.powerwerx.com/product.asp?ProdID=3783&CtgID=3574">Super Powergate
40S</a>
($120)</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="http://www.powerwerx.com/product.asp?ProdID=1844&CtgID=3574">RigRunner
4008</a>
($85)</li>
<li>AGM Batteries</li>
<li>LVB Tracker</li>
<li>Diamond SX-1000</li>
</ul>
<p>Things I need to do:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Complete the construction of the 2.4GHz parabolic antenna.</li>
<li>Mount the rotators and mast pipes.</li>
<li>Mount antennas to mast pipes.</li>
<li>Replace coax.</li>
<li>Setup better power distribution using the RigRunner 4008 and battery
backup using the Super Powergate 40S and AGM batteries.</li>
<li>GROUND EVERYTHING!</li>
<li>Have fun.</li>
</ul>
Worked AO-16 from inside using???2008-09-27T09:58:00-04:002008-09-27T09:58:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2008-09-27:/worked-ao-16-from-inside-using.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 which antenna I was using because they
aren't labelled. That's going to be something on today's to-do list.</p>
<p>Anyway, on whatever I'm using now, I was able to hear the bird much
further to the south than I was to the north. I was still inside the
footprint when I lost it so I'm not happy with it quite yet.</p>
<p>Things to do today:</p>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li>Figure out which coax goes to which antenna.</li>
<li>Measure for new coax.</li>
<li>Account for the rotators and get them cleaned up.</li>
<li>Buy rotator cable.</li>
<li>Work AO-51 passes.</li>
</ol>
Satellite Operations: Antenna Support2008-09-23T16:33:00-04:002008-09-23T16:33:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2008-09-23:/satellite-operations-antenna-support.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 house that has been attached near the top of
the house for stabilization. I don't know what kind of weight it can
handle but I have been thinking about trying to mount the azimuth
rotator to the top and then have a short piece of pipe hold the array up
(including an elevation rotator. I wonder if anyone has ever done this.</p>
Satellite Operations: 2m and 70cm Antennas2008-09-23T14:36:00-04:002008-09-23T14:36:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2008-09-23:/satellite-operations-2m-and-70cm-antennas.html<p>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.</p>
<p>So what antennas do I already have and what do I need.</p>
<p>Have:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>11-element 2m beam (single polarization, currently …</li></ul><p>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.</p>
<p>So what antennas do I already have and what do I need.</p>
<p>Have:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>11-element 2m beam (single polarization, currently horizontal) -
operational condition</li>
<li>24-element 70cm beam (single polarization) - needs minor repairs to
get it operational</li>
</ul>
<p>Want:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>M2 2MCP22 2m circular polarized yagi</li>
<li>M2 436CP42 U/G circular polarized yagi</li>
</ul>
<p>There really isn't anything wrong with the 2m beam I currently have. But
I want to have better. Since I already own it I'll probably just stick
with it until I have everything else covered. Why fix it if it isn't
broken.</p>
<p>The 70cm side of the house is another story. I don't think my current
antenna is appropriate for satellite operations. It is rather large and
is going to be difficult to mount, turn, elevate, etc. I'm not sure of
what it is worth but I might be able to sell it in order to pay towards
a shiny new M2 antenna.</p>
<p>Of course M2 is quite proud of their work. The436CP42 U/G has a price
tag of $420 for 16.8dBdc of gain and their 436CP30 is $357 with
14.15dBdc of gain. I'm not exactly sure which one I should look at. With
a couple of HEO satellites in process of being launched I wonder what it
will take to reach out and touch them reliably. I don't want to have to
use a pre-amp to receive the signals coming back to Earth as this
sometimes causes more problems.</p>
<p>On the 2m side I'm facing the 2MCP22 at $360 for 12.25dBdc of gain or
the 2MCP14 at $245 for 10.2dBdc of gain. Again, I want to be able to
reach out and touch a HEO without the use of amplifiers or anything
other than my 50-watts out of my TS-790A. Simplicity is best, I feel
like.</p>
<p>Now this just covers a Mode B or Mode J system and nothing else. I think
the 1.2 GHz and 2.4 GHz is going to be just as important as the 2m and
70cm side of the house but I also think that if I can base my operations
in Mode B or Mode J then I can move on up from there.</p>
Satellite Operations2008-09-23T14:31:00-04:002008-09-23T14:31:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2008-09-23:/satellite-operations.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 Arrow Antenna but I think it will be more fun to
automate some of it and be able to work from the comfort of my chair
inside.</p>
<p>Here is a list of things I need to buy, build, or gather:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>2m and 70cm Antennas</li>
<li>Antenna Support</li>
<li>Software</li>
<li>Rotator Control</li>
<li>1.2 GHz</li>
<li>2.4 GHz</li>
</ul>
<p>I'll try to cover in detail each of these items in later blog entries so
I can keep track of what I want to do.</p>
Humor Posts via Packet2008-09-19T13:03:00-04:002008-09-19T13:03:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2008-09-19:/humor-posts-via-packet.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 ON0AR F4BWT
VE2PKT N1UAN W1GMF W1GMF. Wow, lets see where all these stations are.</p>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li>W1GMF - Abington, MA</li>
<li>N1UAN - Kingsport, TN</li>
<li>VE2PKT - Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier, Quebec, Canada</li>
<li>F4BWT - Chartainvilliers, France</li>
<li>ON0AR - ?, Belgium</li>
<li>N9ZZK - Diamond, IL</li>
<li>N4JOA - Boynton Beach, FL</li>
<li>KB8DM - Aurora, CO</li>
<li>N0KFQ - Branson, MO</li>
<li>KB0OFD - Forsyth, MO</li>
<li>N9NDS - Cloverdale, IN</li>
<li>KR4MA - Yorktown, VA</li>
</ol>
<p>Wow, now that's a lot of hops across a couple of continents to get my
daily joke! Thanks for being there guys!</p>
September VHF QSO Party is over...2008-09-15T18:16:00-04:002008-09-15T18:16:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2008-09-15:/september-vhf-qso-party-is-over.html<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Well, I survived my first VHF QSO Party. Last week I got the idea to put up my 11-element 2 meter beam in the horizontal mode so I could play around on <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-sideband_modulation">SSB</a> and <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_code">CW</a>. Then I learned of the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2008/sepvhf.html">QSO Party</a> coming up and thought I'd test out my …</div></div><div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Well, I survived my first VHF QSO Party. Last week I got the idea to put up my 11-element 2 meter beam in the horizontal mode so I could play around on <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-sideband_modulation">SSB</a> and <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_code">CW</a>. Then I learned of the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2008/sepvhf.html">QSO Party</a> coming up and thought I'd test out my gear then. I have a Carolina Windom up for HF which tunes well for 6 meters and I have a 70cm loop up that I've never done anything with except to look at it. All antennas got exercised over the weekend and I learned a lot and had a lot of fun doing it.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Lessons Learned</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Every time you operate you should learn something. I learned a lot. Here is the short list:</div>
</div>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Antennas don't need to be up high to be effective. I worked five
states (Virginia, North Carolina, West Virginia, Maryland, and
Pennsylvania) during the contest. With the exception of AA4ZZ, I
worked everyone I heard.</li>
<li>You better run good feedline. I mentioned I have a 432 loop up. It
sits at about 30 feet
<a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Above_ground_level">AGL</a> and is fed
with <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coaxial_cable">RG-8</a> feedline
because I was testing it out and didn't have anything better laying
around to hook to it. That was a mistake. I could barely hear a
nearby station. I'm going to remedy that soon, though.</li>
<li>An antenna rotator makes life easier. I'm guessing anyway. I
generally kept my antenna pointed towards the north but I would run
outside and turn it towards the southwest occasionally to see if I
could hear anyone else. This is a process in my house, however. It
goes something like this: spin around in the chair, run down the
stairs, unlock the deadbolt on the front door, open the front door,
make it across the acorn covered driveway and around the side of the
house in bare feet, startle the cat behind the trash can so he can do
the same to you as he makes his getaway, try to figure out where the
radio gods want the antenna turned and spin it around, make your way
back into the house, lock the front door, notice wife laughing at
you, run back upstairs, sit back in chair, spin around, enjoy. Of
course I quickly realized the bands were really performing towards
the north so I would repeat the above process to get pointed back to
the north. Repeat as necessary. I plan on remedying this problem as
well.</li>
<li>A supportive spouse makes everything work well. Mine is a doll (and
she's cute too). Not only did she fix me lunch but she brought it up
to me and ate with me in between contacts. Now if I can just get her
to pick up the microphone more often.</li>
</ul>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The Other Guys</div>
<div class="line">Here's who I contacted during the event:</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">6 meters</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="https://www.qrz.com/callsign/K4CML">K4CML</a> - Newport News, Virginia</div>
<div class="line">N2XOM <- for some reason I don't remember this contact. We'll see.</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="https://www.qrz.com/callsign/NG4C">NG4C</a> - Elizabeth City, North Carolina</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">2 meters</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="https://www.qrz.com/callsign/K4CML">K4CML</a> - Newport News, Virginia</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="https://www.qrz.com/callsign/w3so">W3SO</a> - Wopsononock Mountain near Altoona, Blair County, PA, in the Allegheny Mountains, at elevation 2500 feet</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="https://www.qrz.com/callsign/W3IP">W3IP</a> - Maryland</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="https://www.qrz.com/callsign/W4IY">W4IY</a> - Virginia</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="https://www.qrz.com/callsign/W4MYA">W4MYA</a> - Goochland, Virginia (SW of Richmond)</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="http://www.k8gp.net/">K8GP</a> - Spruce Knob, West Virginia</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="https://www.qrz.com/callsign/WB2KWF">WB2KWF</a>- Smithfield, Virginia</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">70 centimeters</div>
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="https://www.qrz.com/callsign/K4CML">K4CML</a> - Newport News, VA</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">The Score</div>
<div class="line">Well, I didn't think I was going to make two contacts the entire weekend but ended up with eleven on three bands, ten grid multipliers which equals a claimed score of 120. Now I know I worked two stations (W3SO and K8GP) who will easily turn in scores of 100k or more. But I'm taking my 120 points to the bank. I did as good a job as I could and I'm happy I did what I did. I will be working on my station over the next few months to improve things and maybe get a better score come the next contest.</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">QSLs</div>
<div class="line">I worked hard on getting all my cards filled out and stuffed in envelopes with addresses and stamps and all that in hopes of getting them in the mail today. Nope, left them right by the front door. They will be in the mail tomorrow, though.</div>
</div>
ARRL September VHF QSO Party in progress!2008-09-14T14:33:00-04:002008-09-14T14:33:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2008-09-14:/arrl-september-vhf-qso-party-in-progress.html<p>I meant to post this last night but I'm up and active on 6m and 2m SSB
for the <a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2008/sepvhf.html">ARRL September VHF QSO
Party</a>. 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 …</p><p>I meant to post this last night but I'm up and active on 6m and 2m SSB
for the <a class="reference external" href="https://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2008/sepvhf.html">ARRL September VHF QSO
Party</a>. 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, he was really low and I
don't think he was pointed at me. I heard him on 2m and 6m but couldn't
make the contact.</p>
<p>So far I've worked five states:</p>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li>North Carolina</li>
<li>Virginia</li>
<li>West Virginia</li>
<li>Maryland</li>
<li>Pennsylvania</li>
</ol>
<p>I have already identified a few things I need to work on here at Radio
W4OTN but I'll outline those later.</p>
<p>CQ CQ CQ this is W4OTN W4OTN W4OTN calling CQ CQ CQ!</p>
Open Source down falls when dealing with the US Government2008-08-15T17:08:00-04:002008-08-15T17:08:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2008-08-15:/open-source-down-falls-when-dealing-with-the-us-government.html<p>I don't hide the fact that I am a contractor to a few US Government
organizations and deal specifically with security issues. As such, I'm
asked if I'm seeing any open source or Linux items in my daily work.
Unfortunately the answer is always "not as much as I'd like …</p><p>I don't hide the fact that I am a contractor to a few US Government
organizations and deal specifically with security issues. As such, I'm
asked if I'm seeing any open source or Linux items in my daily work.
Unfortunately the answer is always "not as much as I'd like to see". I
know that a Linux system can be hardened faster and easier (and cheaper)
than that other brand of OS. I know that doing compliance testing takes
half as long on Linux (and Solaris) than that other brand as well. This
all equals to a larger cost savings to the customer (the gov't) and to
the American public. So why isn't there more open source solutions out
there being used? Two words: "testing" and "certifications".</p>
<p>I'll use LUKS as a good example. LUKS provides "Data at Rest (DAR)
Encryption" for computer hard drives and removable media. By default, in
Fedora, it uses AES encryption and protects all data on the hard drive
from being copied or altered on a system that is powered down. Simple,
easy to install, free, and meets the basic requirements for DAR
Encryption. Why isn't this an approved solution, then? Because LUKS
doesn't meet FIPS 140-2 requirements. Well, I won't say that it doesn't
meet the requirements because it probably does but it has never been
certified as such. And to do so is usually takes at least $100k+ and a
few months of government testing. Now if you are developing open source
software you probably don't have the money to fund such testing.</p>
<p>There are a few notable exceptions. SELinux was a joint project between
the community and the NSA. That worked out well for all involved.</p>
<p>I'd like to see the bar lowered for software to become accepted as
solutions instead of being discarded because they don't have a large
amount of funding.</p>
My new WiFi Card2008-06-11T16:38:00-04:002008-06-11T16:38:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2008-06-11:/my-new-wifi-card.html<p>Some of you know that I have been having problems getting my laptop on
WiFi. The on-board card is proprietary and left me banging my head
against the wall trying to make it work. A couple of weeks ago I decided
enough was enough. I searched <a class="reference external" href="https://www.newegg.com">Newegg</a> for a
PCMCIA …</p><p>Some of you know that I have been having problems getting my laptop on
WiFi. The on-board card is proprietary and left me banging my head
against the wall trying to make it work. A couple of weeks ago I decided
enough was enough. I searched <a class="reference external" href="https://www.newegg.com">Newegg</a> for a
PCMCIA WiFi card that would work with Linux. I found
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833315047">one</a>
but it seemed a little... cheap. Of course it was out of stock but they
offered to send me an email when it was available.</p>
<p>Last week I got the email. I went online and purchased the card thinking
that I'd only be out $20 if it didn't work and I could get most of that
back by returning it. I did the three-day shipping from UPS and ended up
waiting four days for it because the shipment was rescheduled after they
realized it wasn't in the same state as I was on the day it was supposed
to be delivered. I figured that was a slight problem and apparently so
did they.</p>
<p>So yesterday I just happened to walk out on my front stoop and noticed
that a box had been carelessly tossed up there. Handy. In the box was a
shiny new WiFi card. The instructions in the box were for setting it up
to work with Windoze (15 pages worth) and a driver CD. I was thinking
that with no mention of Linux in the paperwork that I was in for some
trouble. My Fedora laptop was already booted up so I pushed the card
into the PCMCIA slot on the side and waited for something to happen.</p>
<p>I'm not sure what I thought was going to happen, maybe a pop-up saying
that I had done something or... well, anything. Well, nothing happened.
I clicked on the Network Manager icon at the top of the screen and was
pleasantly suprised to see my wireless network displayed in the list!
How cool! That would be a zero-configuration install right there. After
transferring the <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WPA2">WPA2</a> key to my
laptop and putting the <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAC_Address">MAC
address</a> in the WAP I was
up and running. VERY COOL!</p>
<p>I'd say to anyone to get one of these cards but I noticed earlier that
they were sold out again. So go get in line if you want one.</p>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><img alt="image0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1501672565957800252-5002379887994630921?l=fedora-sparks.blogspot.com" /></p>
</div>ADA Tour de Cure2008-06-11T12:33:00-04:002008-06-11T12:33:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2008-06-11:/ada-tour-de-cure.html<p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2011/09/p6070011.webp"><img alt="image0" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2011/09/p6070011.webp?w=300" /></a>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 <a class="reference external" href="https://www.diabetes.org">American Diabetes
Association's</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://tour.diabetes.org/site/TR/TourdeCure/TDC154358030?pg=entry&fr_id=5012">Tour de
Cure</a>.
Where else can you find enough crazy people to ride their bikes
somewhere between 75 …</p><p><a class="reference external image-reference" href="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2011/09/p6070011.webp"><img alt="image0" src="https://eric.christensenplace.us/images/2011/09/p6070011.webp?w=300" /></a>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 <a class="reference external" href="https://www.diabetes.org">American Diabetes
Association's</a> <a class="reference external" href="http://tour.diabetes.org/site/TR/TourdeCure/TDC154358030?pg=entry&fr_id=5012">Tour de
Cure</a>.
Where else can you find enough crazy people to ride their bikes
somewhere between 75 and 100 miles each day in this kind of heat? Well,
it was all for a good cause.</p>
<p>I am a member of the Carolina Helping
Hams and generally manage the voice
and data radio nets and manage resources. I used my handy dandy Fedora
laptop for managing my resources and managing the data side of the
house. It was great to show visitors that we were using Fedora and other
open source software for management.</p>
<p>I'd also like to point out the sightings of a few Red Hat folks on the
course. Hopefully next year there will be more Shadow Man sightings (and
cooler temperatures).</p>
New DXCC entity confirmed2008-05-30T19:14:00-04:002008-05-30T19:14:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2008-05-30:/new-dxcc-entity-confirmed.html<p>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.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Grid JM19ik</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">IOTA EU-004</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>Thanks Mike for …</p><p>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.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Grid JM19ik</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">IOTA EU-004</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>Thanks Mike for the QSL!</p>
Shortwave to FM to CD2008-05-27T03:07:00-04:002008-05-27T03:07:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2008-05-27:/shortwave-to-fm-to-cd.html<p>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.</p>
<p>I went to my favourite radio programs and downloaded their latest (and
some times a few more) podcasts. I burned the files …</p><p>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.</p>
<p>I went to my favourite radio programs and downloaded their latest (and
some times a few more) podcasts. I burned the files to a few audio CDs
with ease and we listened to them on the way home. Great idea.</p>
<p>Of course this got my mind wandering somewhere around Dunn, NC. All of
the podcasts that I grabbed I usually listen to over the radio. Before
the VOA stopped most of its' English broadcast I could usually hear <a class="reference external" href="https://www.voanews.com/english/science/ourworld.cfm">Our
World</a> on
shortwave in the early morning hours. I used to listen to the
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/">BBC</a> broadcasts as well until they stopped
their shortwave service to the Americas (and now Europe and...). Radio
is now FM. And that is where I usually listen to my other radio shows
but listening to them without any static or that "radio" sound made me a
little sad. I used to love to just listen to the AM signals coming into
my receiver. The static and shifting signal was a comfort to me knowing
that I was able to hear news and world events without having to rely on
any other technology other than the transmitter and the receiver. And
the receiver you could build yourself.</p>
<p>It is amazing to me that the BBC would have discontinued their shortwave
service to so many parts of the earth. The <a class="reference external" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice">BBC World
Service</a> used to be, in my
opinion, the elite of the elite. But sadly they felt that the Internet
and local FM radio stations would cover their listening area for them
and they should discontinue their transmissions. What they don't
understand is that some NPR stations do broadcast the BBC World Service
over FM but it is during the hours of 0100 to 0500 when most people are
asleep and that most places still don't have access to the Internet in a
true fashion to make use of this service.</p>
<p>Oh how I long to hear the BBC come through my shortwave receiver
speaker.</p>
SANS ISC goes to YELLOW: SSH vulnerability2008-05-15T17:59:00-04:002008-05-15T17:59:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2008-05-15:/sans-isc-goes-to-yellow-ssh-vulnerability.html<p>SANS Internet Storm Center has raised the <a class="reference external" href="https://isc.sans.edu/diary/INFOCon+yellow%3A+update+your+Debian+generated+keyscerts+ASAP/4421">Internet Threat Level to
YELLOW</a> in response
to a report of a SSH vulnerability on all Debian-based systems that
generated SSH keys between September 2003 and 13 May 2008.</p>
Microsoft for Apple leaves a bad taste in my mouth.2008-04-23T13:44:00-04:002008-04-23T13:44:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2008-04-23:/microsoft-for-apple-leaves-a-bad-taste-in-my-mouth.html<p>The <a class="reference external" href="https://flathatnews.com/">school newspaper</a> where my wife is
a student reported yesterday that William and Mary would start giving
students an option for what
computer
(and thus operating system) they could run. Apple will be coming to the
campus starting this summer. I'm all about giving people an option away
from …</p><p>The <a class="reference external" href="https://flathatnews.com/">school newspaper</a> where my wife is
a student reported yesterday that William and Mary would start giving
students an option for what
computer
(and thus operating system) they could run. Apple will be coming to the
campus starting this summer. I'm all about giving people an option away
from Microsoft and Apple isn't a bad way to do just that. What got me
was the sentence "IT Services will continue to offer Microsoft Office to
students at reduced prices." I simply cannot understand why a college or
university wouldn't be pushing open source solutions to students that
are already on a fixed income. And while $90 is a lot better than paying
regular price for another broken Microsoft product I prefer my
OpenOffice software. It does everything that Microsoft Office does only
better.</p>
HF Noise Floor2008-04-20T13:49:00-04:002008-04-20T13:49:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2008-04-20:/hf-noise-floor.html<p>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:</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">160m - S5</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">80m - S3</div>
<div class="line">75m - S5 with static crashes (nearby thunderstorms)</div>
<div class="line">60m …</div></div></div><p>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:</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">160m - S5</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">80m - S3</div>
<div class="line">75m - S5 with static crashes (nearby thunderstorms)</div>
<div class="line">60m - 0</div>
<div class="line">40m - S3 with static crashes</div>
<div class="line">30m - 0</div>
<div class="line">20m - 0</div>
<div class="line">17m - 0</div>
<div class="line">15m - 0</div>
<div class="line">12m - S4</div>
<div class="line">10m - S1</div>
<div class="line">6m - 0</div>
</div>
</div>
DOC v. PDF v. ODF... size wise2008-04-02T18:42:00-04:002008-04-02T18:42:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2008-04-02:/doc-v-pdf-v-odf-size-wise.html<p>At my job we create very large documents for customers explaining how we
are going to test their systems. These documents are usually a couple
thousand pages long which means the files can also get pretty large.</p>
<p>I got curious to see how big the file would be based on …</p><p>At my job we create very large documents for customers explaining how we
are going to test their systems. These documents are usually a couple
thousand pages long which means the files can also get pretty large.</p>
<p>I got curious to see how big the file would be based on the "type" of
file that it was. Here are some of the numbers I came up with:</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Microsoft Word .DOC file = 30,627 KB</div>
<div class="line">Adobe Acrobat .PDF file = 12,610 KB</div>
<div class="line">OpenOffice.org .ODT file = 1,052 KB</div>
</div>
<p>There is something that just isn't right about those results. You mean
to tell me that I could just e-mail that one file to my customer instead
of burning one of the other files to a CD or DVD and FedEx'ing it to
them? I guess this also shows how bloated Microsoft makes their
documents. I wish I could use OpenOffice at work!</p>
Amateur Radio: Terminal Program2008-02-02T10:59:00-05:002008-02-02T10:59:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2008-02-02:/amateur-radio-terminal-program.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 usefulness. Here is
what I've found:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Minicom - Minicom is a great little program that runs from the CLI
and provides a simple interface to the TNC so I can interface
directly with the device. It has problems, though. If you resize the
screen you loose everything that was on your screen at the time. This
is really annoying as I only resize the screen because of something
ON the screen that I can't read. Here's the other kicker... if you
operate in full-screen mode and you need to copy text from the window
it includes all of the space behind the text to the edge of the
window as spaces. So I have to limit my window if I want to copy
something just so I don't have to remove the spaces by hand next
time.</li>
<li>Screen - I have been a Screen user since I started seriously using
Linux so I was very surprised when I found out that you could simply
'screen /dev/ttyS0 19200' to interface with whatever is on your
Serial 0 port at 19200 baud. Pretty cool and it doesn't have the same
problems as Minicom. The problem it does have is that it isn't
sending the correct characters to the device. You can't backspace and
you confuse it a great deal if you accidentally hit an arrow key or
something like that. Being that you can't backspace, and thus delete
any mistakes you may have made, it really limits the usefulness of
the software.</li>
</ul>
<p>I'm sure there are fixes for each of these problems but I've yet to come
across it. Maybe someone else has another solution?</p>
Internet Backbone Outage Reported in the Middle-East2008-01-31T02:45:00-05:002008-01-31T02:45:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2008-01-31:/internet-backbone-outage-reported-in-the-middle-east.html<p><a class="reference external" href="https://isc.sans.edu/">SANS Internet Storm Center</a> is
<a class="reference external" href="https://isc.sans.edu/diary/Decreasednon-existant+connectivity+to+the+Middle-East/3907">reporting</a> that
possibly several under-sea cables have been cut near the coast of Egypt.
Several countries in that area have reported slow connections or
complete packet loss. <a class="reference external" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190723143143/https://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/30/india_mideast_lose_internet/">India is experiencing a 50% packet
loss</a>
at times due to all their traffic having to flow out …</p><p><a class="reference external" href="https://isc.sans.edu/">SANS Internet Storm Center</a> is
<a class="reference external" href="https://isc.sans.edu/diary/Decreasednon-existant+connectivity+to+the+Middle-East/3907">reporting</a> that
possibly several under-sea cables have been cut near the coast of Egypt.
Several countries in that area have reported slow connections or
complete packet loss. <a class="reference external" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190723143143/https://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/30/india_mideast_lose_internet/">India is experiencing a 50% packet
loss</a>
at times due to all their traffic having to flow out alternate Asia
pipes. The real depressing part is that it is expected to take a few
weeks to repair the damage.</p>
Problems at Radio Station W4OTN2007-11-22T16:12:00-05:002007-11-22T16:12:00-05:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2007-11-22:/problems-at-radio-station-w4otn.html<p>I've been having problems with my radio station lately and it has really
started to bother me. I've used two antennas and haven't been satisfied
with either one of them. Before I was using a 40-80-160 dipole but the
80m portion was too long and didn't want to work right …</p><p>I've been having problems with my radio station lately and it has really
started to bother me. I've used two antennas and haven't been satisfied
with either one of them. Before I was using a 40-80-160 dipole but the
80m portion was too long and didn't want to work right being near the
40/trapped 160 legs. Then a friend (KN4KL) let me borrow a Carolina
Windom. I don't think I ever got it working right either. Probably
because my yard isn't that big and I end up not being able to string it
up straight.</p>
<p>I think there is a short somewhere, though, as my receive audio comes
and goes and I've been told that my transmissions are the same way; one
second they are there the next second no one can hear me.</p>
<p>Anyone got any suggestions?</p>
IARU's Worked All Continents - RTTY Award2007-10-30T15:07:00-04:002007-10-30T15:07:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2007-10-30:/iarus-worked-all-continents-rtty-award.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 fast!</p>
<p>By the way, I opted for the RTTY version vice the "mixed" version. I
wonder if that will come back to haunt me later. Onward to DXCC and WAS!</p>
HF Propagation Extension for Firefox2007-10-16T12:05:00-04:002007-10-16T12:05:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2007-10-16:/hf-propagation-extension-for-firefox.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 information and will display the
information at the bottom of your screen and provides you links for
getting more information.</p>
November Sweepstakes2007-10-12T14:22:00-04:002007-10-12T14:22:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2007-10-12:/november-sweepstakes.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 we'll
see as the time comes nearer.</p>
QSLs out for delivery2007-10-10T14:36:00-04:002007-10-10T14:36:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2007-10-10:/qsls-out-for-delivery.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 (they are out in Portsmouth).
Hopefully my mailbox will start filling up soon! :)</p>
QSLs from CQ WW RTTY DX Contest2007-10-01T23:08:00-04:002007-10-01T23:08:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2007-10-01:/qsls-from-cq-ww-rtty-dx-contest.html<p>Would you believe that it hasn't even been 24-hours since the end of the
<a class="reference external" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20071016115721/http://cq-amateur-radio.com:80/RTTYDXContest.html">CQ WW RTTY DX
contest</a>
and I've already have 22% of my QSOs confirmed? I just checked the
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.arrl.org/lotw/">ARRL's LoTW</a> and noted that I have 52 of
my 240 contacts confirmed from over the weekend. Those …</p><p>Would you believe that it hasn't even been 24-hours since the end of the
<a class="reference external" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20071016115721/http://cq-amateur-radio.com:80/RTTYDXContest.html">CQ WW RTTY DX
contest</a>
and I've already have 22% of my QSOs confirmed? I just checked the
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.arrl.org/lotw/">ARRL's LoTW</a> and noted that I have 52 of
my 240 contacts confirmed from over the weekend. Those QSLs account for
the following countries:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>USA</li>
<li>Denmark</li>
<li>US Virgin Islands</li>
<li>Bonaire, Curacao</li>
<li>England</li>
<li>Italy</li>
<li>Luxembourg</li>
<li>CzechRepublic</li>
<li>France</li>
<li>Puerto Rico</li>
<li>Wales</li>
<li>Canada</li>
<li>Spain</li>
</ul>
<p>The best part about <a class="reference external" href="http://www.arrl.org/lotw/">LoTW</a> is that it
doesn't cost a thing. I could have spent around $50 and lots of time
waiting for my QSLs to be confirmed but with the
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.arrl.org/lotw/">LoTW</a> system it is free and confirms the
contact almost instantaneously when both parties upload their logs into
the system.</p>
CQ WW RTTY DX Contest FINAL2007-09-30T21:02:00-04:002007-09-30T21:02:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2007-09-30:/cq-ww-rtty-dx-contest-final.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 an event. I, however, could not possibly go for
the entire time.</p>
<p>Here are my results from this weekend's contest:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Contacts: 240</li>
<li>US States: 32</li>
<li>Canadian Providences: 8</li>
<li>DXCC Entities: 52</li>
<li>Continents: 5</li>
<li>CQ Zones: 17</li>
<li>Total Multipliers: 109</li>
<li>Claimed Score: 54064</li>
</ul>
<p>I would like to mention a couple of notes that I wrote down during the
event:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>I made six 10-meter contacts during the event. Three contacts with
Argentina, one with the Galapagos Islands, one with Brazil, and one
with Hungary. The Galapogos Islands were strongest on 10-meters with
Brazil being the weakest.</li>
<li>6H1YYD's QSL Manager is EA5KB</li>
<li>The operators working 20m generally stayed within the bandplan
provided by the ARRL (I'm sure this is an international agreement).</li>
<li>The operators working 40m generally operated EVERYWHERE! The DX
window is 7.040MHz and the RTTY operating band is 7.080 through
7.125. I listened and I usually couldn't find anyone operating in the
RTTY operating band but I could always find people from 7.025 through
7.060. That DX window was stretched wide open! The CW operators were
displaced and took up space up in the RTTY operating area. Sorry guys
(and gals).</li>
<li>I noted that on the strongest RTTY signals there was an accompanying
phantom signal. This phantom signal presented itself just lower (in
frequency) of the actual signal and was wider than the traditional
signal but could still be decoded. Not sure why this is.</li>
</ul>
<p>That's all I got for this subject. I'm still recovering and I think I
need to go stand outside and get some... air.</p>
CQ WW RTTY DX Contest - Day 12007-09-30T04:25:00-04:002007-09-30T04:25:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2007-09-30:/cq-ww-rtty-dx-contest-day-1.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 for someone just
sitting back working the lines.</p>
<p>I even worked Brazil and the Galapagos Islands on 10 meters! Who says
the bands are dead! Heck, I worked the Galapagos Islands on 10m, 15m,
20m, and 40m and they were the loudest on 10m!</p>
<p>It is 0400z on 30 Sep right now and Europe is coming in very strong on
40m and are weak but there on 80m. I tried to work Italy and the Czech
Republic but just couldn't be heard over the racket of the Canadians. I
think propagation is going over the north pole as many of the stations
being worked by the Europeans are Canadians. Of course I could be wrong,
just an observation.</p>
<p>Anyway, I'm worked everyone that can hear me and I'm continuously
running into the same people over and over again. Think I'm going to lay
down and take a nap and see if I can get back up around 0900z for the
sunrise and the grey zone when 20m and 15m will hopefully come back to
life.</p>
<p>BTW, propagation hasn't been the best at all today. The SFI has hovered
around 68 while the "A" value went from 17 to 26 and the "K" value went
from 5 to a 3. I'm hoping for better conditions tomorrow. Maybe even an
opening to Asia and Oceania would be nice.</p>
20m Vertical Erected2007-09-28T10:16:00-04:002007-09-28T10:16:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2007-09-28:/20m-vertical-erected.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 just off the
ground and I then spread out the ground wires at approximately 180
degrees of each other. Everything looked ready to go.</p>
<p>I came back into the shack and hooked up the coax to the rig and fired
it up on 14.080Mc. Testing the standing way showed it to be high. It
appears that the wire is too long. I may have over compensated so I'll
visit that again in the future.</p>
<p>Applying the tuner I made quick work of four stations, all of which I
got on the first call and sometimes in a pileup. HR2DMR was my first
victim. Picking up a new DXCC entity, Honduras, was a great feeling. He
said he was having problems with the equipment on his end but that I was
strong, real strong. Next came VE6EPK, Peter in Calgary, Alberta Canada.
Again I got strong signal reports despite the occasional QSB from the
solar event that hit us last night. As pleased as I was with the
performance of the antenna I went out hunting DX. I cranked up the DX
cluster and saw a spot for ZF2JO on 30m. I hadn't tried the antenna on
10Mc yet but thought it was cut a little long so it would probably work
well. Turns out I think the antenna is cut for around 11 or 12 Mc so I
wasn't really flat. That, however, didn't seem to be a problem because
75 watts into a mismatched antenna grabbed the Caymen Islands on the
first call in a pileup! Very cool.</p>
<p>After that I decided to QSY back up to 20m and clean up the shack. I
heard Roger, KC0QJQ, calling CQ and worked him while he was at home in
MN. Found out towards the end of the QSO that this was his first RTTY
contact. Good sounding signal, Roger. I hope I print you later this
weekend during the contest!</p>
<p>So what's the verdict? A $15 (less the coax) antenna performing on 20m
and 30m after dark and still grabbing DX. Not bad. I think I'll keep it.
This weekend is the CQ WW RTTY DX Contest so I'll definitely give it a
workout and see how well it works.</p>
The ARRL Recognizes QSOs via the ISS2007-09-24T17:54:00-04:002007-09-24T17:54:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2007-09-24:/the-arrl-recognizes-qsos-via-the-iss.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 LoTW when I get home.</p>
<p>Hi Eric.</p>
<p>After review, ARRL will be permit contacts through the ISS (Earth - ISS-
Earth) to be counted towards satellite endorsement for WAS and DXCC.</p>
<p>This applies to contacts made via the onboard repeater equipmentprovided
that the equipment does not hold and re-transmit information.</p>
<p>Contacts with the ISS do not receive any award credit.</p>
<p>Further information will be available on the LoTW website.</p>
<p>Thank you for bringing this to light.</p>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">73,</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">Norm Fusaro, W3IZ</div>
<div class="line">Assistant Manager,</div>
<div class="line">Membership & Volunteer Programs Department</div>
<div class="line">ARRL - The national association for Amateur Radio</div>
<div class="line">225 Main St.</div>
<div class="line">Newington, CT 06011</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line"><a class="reference external" href="mailto:w3iz@arrl.org">w3iz@arrl.org</a></div>
<div class="line-block">
<div class="line">860-594-0230</div>
</div>
</div>
CQ World Wide RTTY DX Contest2007-09-24T11:52:00-04:002007-09-24T11:52:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2007-09-24:/cq-world-wide-rtty-dx-contest.html<p>The <a class="reference external" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070730083154/http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com/RTTYDXContest.html">CQ WW RTTY DX
Contest</a>
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 …</p><p>The <a class="reference external" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070730083154/http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com/RTTYDXContest.html">CQ WW RTTY DX
Contest</a>
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 antenna I have up right now. Another problem is
that I'm stuck using a Rig Blaster soundcard device for my RTTY instead
of my modem. For those that have not tried a modem and think I'm nuts
because the soundcard devices are the best thing YOU'RE WRONG! Soundcard
devices are nice because they are generally software based and will
allow you to do any kind of digital mode under the sun. The problem is
with the significantly lower sensitivity. My modem successfully decodes
RTTY and PSK31 at significantly lower levels than my soundcard device.
That means that DX stations that might not have a stellar signal won't
be decoded and the QSO won't be had. Hopefully I'll have my modem back
up and running soon.</p>
<p>I'm also going to try to build a new 20m antenna for the contest. I'll
write about that later in the week once I get all my part and pieces
together.</p>
New HF Antenna2007-09-21T21:48:00-04:002007-09-21T21:48:00-04:00Sparkstag:eric.christensenplace.us,2007-09-21:/new-hf-antenna.html<p>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".</p>
<p>I will be building the 20m version …</p><p>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".</p>
<p>I will be building the 20m version just in time for the CQ WW RTTY DX
Contest. Hopefully it will be up and functioning in time. Hope to hear
you on the air!</p>