mercredi 15 mars 2023

• You learn something new every day: screw extractors
  About a year and a half ago, I bought an Icom IC-2820H at the Findlay hamfest. It included the UT-123 option, which is a board that you plug into the main board, which gives it D-STAR capability. I mentioned in a previous post that I’d be willing to remove and sell that board as there […] The (...)
  
  

mercredi 8 mars 2023

• Partly-baked idea: Does amateur radio need more marketing?
  Warning!! This is a partly-baked idea, so go easy on me….Dan I worked for Northern Telecom (NT) from 1985 to 1991. They had purchased a company here in Ann Arbor, MI and formed a division that was developing an integrated voice and data system, called the DV-1. It used quite sophisticated (...)
  
  

dimanche 5 mars 2023

• Balun or no balun?
  On the Elecraft-KX mailing list, an item popped up on a topic that I’ve been pondering for a while. Titled Balun necessary? Barry N1EU asked the question: I’m planning some 40M-15M portable operation with a 44ft doublet fed with 25ft of twinlead into the KX2 ATU. Is it, or is it not, necessary to (...)
  
  

jeudi 2 mars 2023

• We’re missing the STEM boat
  I subscribe to an email newsletter named Model D that covers community news in Detroit. The company that publishes it also publishes other email newsletters that cover similar news around the state of Michigan. In the last issue of Model D there was an ad for the SC4 STEM Fest. I thought to (...)
  
  

mardi 28 février 2023

• ICQ Podcast Episode 397: Spy station, solar cycle 25, 100-year-old club, GMRS
  For ICQ Podcast Episode 397, I joined Martin Butler M1MRB, Edmund Spicer M0MNG, Ed Durrant DD5LP and Chris Howard M0TCH to discuss the following topics: Spy Radio Stations that Still Broadcast Today An Expansion on Solar Cycle Prediction Another 100 year old Radio Club PRESENTER OPINION: There (...)
  
  

lundi 27 février 2023

• Operating Notes: Ice storm takes me off the air
  Last week, I’d signed up to do a turn as W1AW/8 as part of the ARRL’s Volunteers on the Air operating event. I had planned to operate 40-meter CW on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings. That was the plan, anyway. On Tuesday, I simply forgot about operating. My bad. On Wednesday, I wasn’t (...)
  
  

lundi 20 février 2023

• A nice find at the local library
  We have a really great library here in Ann Arbor. It’s won “library of the year” honors in the past, and it continues to do a fabulous job. In addition to books and magazines and music, you can borrow stuff like telescopes, energy meters, thermal cameras, and a bunch of other cool stuff. One of (...)
  
  

jeudi 16 février 2023

• Amateur radio in the news: CT students contact the ISS, club demos amateur radio in northern Florida, practice makes perfect
  Norwich Free Academy contacts the ISS This video was made and posted by the Norwich Bulletin. This contact was made possible, in part, by a grant from Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC), my employer. Club demos ham radio in northern Florida WALDO, Fla. (WCJB) -The Gainesville Amateur (...)
  
  

lundi 13 février 2023

• Latest browser tabs: G7FEK antenna, SWR, repeater activity
  If you’re like me, you have a lot of browser tabs open. These tabs have web pages that you keep meaning to get around to reading, but often do not. You could bookmark them, but bookmarking those pages just puts them out of sight, and they shortly become out of mind. Right now, I have […] The (...)
  
  

mardi 7 février 2023

• First impressions: IC-7610 vs. Flex 6400
  A little over three years ago, I got a pretty good on a Flex 6400. So, although I’ve been an Icom guy since the 1980s, I bought the Flex and sold my IC-7300. The Flex is a great radio, but after three years, I got a hankering for a radio with real buttons and knobs. […] The post First (...)
  
  

samedi 4 février 2023

• Operating Notes: Odd prop, is zero beating a lost art?
  Odd propagation A couple of weeks ago, I turned on the rig, tuned up on 30 meters, and called CQ. The first station I worked was KB8FCG. According to QRZ.Com, KB8FCG is 28.8 miles away from me. The signal was S9 here in Ann Arbor. That seems a little too far for ground wave, but […] The post (...)
  
  

jeudi 2 février 2023

• My first PC board!
  One of the things on my ham radio bucket list was to learn how to use KiCAD and design a PC board. Being a newbie at PC board design (when I was an engineer, we had PC designers do the actual layout), I decided to do something simple. Since I teach ham radio classes, I […] The post My first PC (...)
  
  

mardi 31 janvier 2023

• NIST studies first-responder communications needs
  This article was published by NIST yesterday. I think that if amateur radio wants to remain relevant in emergency communications, someone needs to be reading these kinds of reports. Based on this survey, NIST produced 14 different reports. Here’s a quote from one of them, Voice of First (...)
  
  

lundi 30 janvier 2023

• ICQ Podcast Episode 395 – Workshop Experiments
  In this episode, I join Martin Butler M1MRB, Edmund Spicer M0MNG and Ed Durrant DD5LP to discuss the latest amateur / ham radio news. In this episode, we discuss: Internal Heating Element Makes These PCBS Self-Soldering Amateur Satellite FalconSAT-3 Nears Reentry DX-Unlimited, Arnie Coro, CO2KK (...)
  
  

samedi 28 janvier 2023

• TIL: Michigan issued the first ham license plates
  On Twitter, one of the accounts I follow is Michigan’sPast. His tweets are always interesting, and I’ve learned a lot. One of his recent tweets included this photo of the display of Michigan license plates at the R. E. Olds Museum in Lansing, Michigan: What jumped out at me was the W8AHV license (...)
  
  

jeudi 26 janvier 2023

• Archive for Amateur Radio Grows to 51,000 Items
  From the Internet Archive blog…. Internet Archive’s Digital Library of Amateur Radio & Communications is quickly growing to become an important archive of radio’s past and present. The collection has blossomed to well over 51,000 items related to ham radio, shortwave listening, scanners, and (...)
  
  

lundi 23 janvier 2023

• From my reading list: The inner beauty of electronics
  Safari, the web browser that I use most often, has a feature called the “reading list.” It’s like a bookmark, but much more temporary. The list is meant to be a parking lot for sites that you want to read, but not read over and over. Once you’ve read it, you’re supposed to delete the […] The post (...)
  
  

dimanche 22 janvier 2023

• Amateur radio in the news: Morse Code edition
  Oddly enough, Morse Code has been in the news lately. Here are three articles that I’ve run across recently……Dan This article appear in the January/February 2023 issue of Smithsonian. Looking to Ditch Twitter? Morse Code is Back For almost 20 years, Steve Galchutt, a retired graphic designer, has (...)
  
  

mardi 17 janvier 2023

• Amateur radio videos: amateur radio in Montana, dealing with noise, update on the IARU R1’s future of #hamradio program
  Ham Radio in Montana This documentary has been praised by many in the amateur radio community. Here’s how Montana PBS describes the film: Join us as we investigate the culture of Montana Amateur Radio Operators, or “hams”, as they recount their admiration for the global Amateur Radio community. (...)
  
  

vendredi 13 janvier 2023

• Operating Notes: Auroral flutter, big pileups for TN8K, more new ops?
  I called CQ on 30 meters a couple of evenings ago and got a surprise call from R1DX in Saint Petersburg. What was notable about this contact was the auroral flutter on Vic’s signal. I wish I had recorded it. The sound is very distinctive, though, and Vic even commented on it. Here’s the great […] (...)
  
  

samedi 7 janvier 2023

• Amateur radio in the news: Club celebrates 40th anniversary, QSL? Roger Roger
  “What’s the frequency, Kenneth?”: Watertown Amateur Radio Club celebrates 40th anniversary WATERTOWN, WI – The Watertown Amateur Radio Club is putting out the call for new members. Founded in 1982 with members from Watertown and the surrounding communities, the group of radio enthusiasts enjoy (...)
  
  

mardi 3 janvier 2023

• ICQ Podcast Episode 393 – Radio Tips to Start 2023
  In this episode, I join Martin Butler M1MRB, Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT, Edmund Spicer M0MNG and Ed Durrant DD5LP to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. We discuss: 70MHz, 4 m band released in Switzerland German Hams – Temporary Band Access Extended An Award for Hams who Help Others Reach (...)
  
  

lundi 2 janvier 2023

• The Ailunce HS2 has lots of potential
  Just before Thanksgiving, I received an email from Cara Chen at Retevis. She wrote, I am responsible for the radio review cooperation. We have a SDR radio HS2 for review cooperation. Are you willing to test and write a blog about it? When I asked her what that meant, she said that she would (...)
  
  

mercredi 28 décembre 2022

• QSLs: KG4BIG, KB9ROB
  Two more for my collection of QSLs from stations whose call signs spell words! Ken writes, “Thanks for the POTA QSO. I was running a TS480SAT @ 5 watts to a 35.5 feet random wire fed with a 5:1 unun with a few 17′ long radials.” He had a really nice signal into Michigan. Dean […] The post QSLs: (...)
  
  

lundi 26 décembre 2022

• Operating notes: Do I have a stalker?, don’t be a macho CW op, DXCC update
  Over the past week, I’ve had a couple of odd QSOs. The first was with a guy who I almost think is stalking me. He has a tendency to call me right after I’ve completed a contact with another station. Usually, I kind of sigh every time I hear his call because he’s very hard […] The post Operating (...)
  
  

samedi 24 décembre 2022

• Amateur radio in the news: Ham radio helps rescue lost hiker, passing traffic during Falklands War, SkyWarn Recognition Day
  Ham radio repeater connects lost hiker with help BELMONT, NH — Off trail, after sundown, as the temperature and snowflakes are falling, and with a dead cellphone, it seemed that all factors were against a local man in the woods Sunday evening. Yet he was safely home by the end of his ordeal, and (...)
  
  

vendredi 23 décembre 2022

• Who says CW ops don’t have a sense of humor?
  Enzo, M0KTZ, recently posted a series of CW jokes to his website. He writes: You find below a collection of ham/CW-themed Christmas-Cracker jokes. They come from a challenge put up by Steve G4OCP at Essex CW ARC, who wanted to celebrate the festive season in style: sending to each other jokes (...)
  
  

jeudi 22 décembre 2022

• Would it be such a terrible thing if…
  Today, on reddit’s /r/amateurradio, a fellow posted: I recently got a radio for myself and my brother so we could communicate via radio during our airsoft games. From looking online and through some of these posts I see that to transmit we would need a license. I’m not exactly sure which license (...)
  
  

mercredi 21 décembre 2022

• ChatGPT doesn’t really live up to its hype
  The hype around ChatGPT, the latest artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot has gotten intense in the last couple of weeks. CNET says that it’s “mindblowing.” Lifehacker called it the “coolest (and most terrifying) tech of 2022.” All this hype made me curious as to how useful it might be to me in (...)