I have been emailed details of a new RTTY contest which will run for the first time this year on Friday 4th October 2024. It’s scheduled for the first Friday of October each year going forward. It’s called the URC DX RTTY Contest and the rules are pretty standard in that everyone works everyone. The […]
The post New RTTY contest – Friday 4th October 2024 first appeared on QSO365.Anyone who chases DX can’t fail to have noticed that the Jarvis Island DXpedition is now on air and has been for less than 48 hours. I did have a listen yesterday but didn’t hear them anywhere. I set up HamAlert notifications specifically for N5J with the source set as G, GM and GW in […]
The post That’s N5J in the log for DXCC #304 first appeared on QSO365.The latest August edition of the RadioWorld Magazine has included an article by James Careless about the use of software defined radios for shortwave radio listening. RadioWorld is a magazine targeted towards radio broadcast owners, managers and engineers all over the world. The article explores SDRplay and RTL-SDR Blog V4 units from the perspective of a shortwave listener new to software defined radios, comparing them to his high-end Sangean ATS-909X2 shortwave digital receiver.
The article can be accessed freely from this link and is found on pages 18-21.
This is one of three SOTA peaks in the Kaiser Wilderness above Huntington Lake. After some staring at a map, I decided the easiest approach was to drive up to Kaiser Pass, then follow the ridge. This is broadly what we did.
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| About to enter the wilderness. |
The road gets pretty narrow and windy on the way up to the pass, so be prepared for that. There was plenty of parking at the pass, and even some bathrooms. Much cushier than I expected. Heading up the hill we passed a few campfire rings, then the sign marking the wilderness boundary. The slope here is pretty gentle, and it was a pleasant walk through a Sierra forest. On top of the first sub peak we headed down to the col.
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| Enjoying the view from the open areas. |
On the way there we stayed high enough to avoid the marshy meadows. It was probably slightly longer, but having dry shoes made it worth it. The original plan was to get on the ridge and follow it to the summit, but the ridge looked pretty rough. We decided to stay a little below where we only had to walk through calf-high brush. Going was pretty easy, and there weren't any areas we had to fight through.
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| Huntington Lake. |
After you pass around the last sub-peak, you can see the summit above you. This climb was the steepest of the day, but nothing terrible. From below it looks like there are some cliff bands, but the rocks are broken and it was easy to just walk to the summit. From the top the views to the north were excellent, there being a cliff on that side of the mountain. My Verizon phone had ok service, enough to put out some spots. AT&T had some, but not as good.
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| Making contacts with the new KH1. |
The bands were not in good shape, but I managed to get enough on HF with only the KH1 whip. We called on 2m for a while, but there was a station hogging the calling frequency, so we didn't make many there.
We retraced our steps, more or less, to get back to the car. We stayed a little lower on the ridge during the traverse, and it was just as easy as higher. It did mean, however, we had to cross the wet meadow. Luckily we were able to find enough solid ground to keep our feet dry. Back at the car we coasted down the hill to the general store at the marina to get some snacks and beverages, then back to the campground to relax by the lake.
Amateur Radio operators from around Colorado will be climbing Colorado Summits On The Air (SOTA) peaks and communicating with other radio amateurs across the state and around the world. Join in the fun during the annual event by activating a summit or contacting (chasing) the mountaintop stations.
This event is normally held the first full weekend in August. Again this year, we will add two bonus days to the Colorado 14er Event. The main two days remain Saturday and Sunday (Aug 3 & 4), while the bonus days are Friday Aug 2nd and Monday Aug 5th, for those SOTA enthusiasts that need more than two days of SOTA fun! Be aware that many mountaintop activators will hit the trail early with the goal of being off the summits by (1800 UTC) noon due to lightning safety concerns.
The 14er event includes Summits On the Air (SOTA) peaks, which provide over 1700 summits to activate. (See the W0C SOTA web page or browse the SOTA Atlas.) The Colorado 14er Event was started in 1991, about 19 years before the SOTA program was set up in Colorado. As SOTA grew in popularity, this event expanded from just the 14,000-foot mountains (14ers) to include all of the SOTA summits in the state. We still call it the Colorado 14er Event because, well, that’s where it all started and the 14ers are the iconic summits in the state.
Important: The recommended 2m FM frequencies have been changed to 146.58, 146.55, and 146.49 MHz, to align with the use of the North America Adventure Frequency for SOTA (146.58). The National Simplex Calling Frequency (146.52) may be used as appropriate. There will be plenty of action on the other ham bands, for more information see the operating frequencies page.
Resources:
Colorado 14er Event webpage – Everything to Know About The Colorado 14er Event
Beginner Guide – For the first-time activator
Ham14er Groups.io – Discussion Group for the event
Colorado SOTA groups.io – Colorado SOTA discussion group
Colorado 14er Event Task Force
info@ham14er.org
The post 2024 Colorado 14er Event (SOTA) appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.
Amateur Radio Fun in the Colorado Mountains August 2 through 5, 2024 www.ham14er.org Amateur Radio operators from around Colorado will be climbing Colorado Summits On The Air (SOTA) peaks and communicating with other radio amateurs across the state and around the world. Join in the fun during the annual event by activating a summit or contacting (chasing) the mountaintop stations. Continue reading 2024 Colorado 14er Event (SOTA)→
The post 2024 Colorado 14er Event (SOTA) appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.
VHF contesting season is in full swing! Summer weather brings with it enhanced propagation. With...News Flash: I found a cheap economical VHF/UHF handheld that I really like. The TIDRADIO TD-H3 is getting a lot of attention from YouTube reviewers. You can think of this as an improved Baofeng UV-5R, with a few key features that grabbed my attention: Improved Look and Feel: This radio looks like a quality product, much improved over the plastic Continue reading TD-H3 VHF/UHF Radio→
The post TD-H3 VHF/UHF Radio appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.
News Flash: I found a cheap economical VHF/UHF handheld that I really like. The TIDRADIO TD-H3 is getting a lot of attention from YouTube reviewers. You can think of this as an improved Baofeng UV-5R, with a few key features that grabbed my attention:
Improved Look and Feel: This radio looks like a quality product, much improved over the plastic Lego-style industrial design of the Baofeng radios. It feels and looks solid in my hand. The rubber duck antenna seems higher quality although I haven’t tested its performance.
One Radio, Three Modes: The firmware can be set to operate in three distinct configurations: Ham (transmit on 2m and 70cm ham bands only), GMRS (standard FCC Part 95 GMRS channels) and Normal (which is basically unlocked). You can easily switch between these modes but the memory information does get reset. So in most cases, you will need to reprogram the radio with your favorite frequencies after you change modes. The exception might be GMRS mode which will reset to standard GMRS channels. The flexibility of these three configurations is quite nice: The Ham configuration is great for normal ham operating with no risk of going “out of band.” I can loan out the radio in the GMRS configuration knowing that the user won’t inadvertently transmit on the ham bands. And, of course, the Normal mode provides access to a wide range of frequencies, to be used carefully, abiding by the relevant regulations.
USB-C Connectors: The radio battery has a USB-C connector for charging and a USB-C connector for programming (with Chirp or the TIDRADIO app). This may seem minor, but using a common industry-standard connector is a huge convenience factor. For example, I recently packed my gear for a trip and found that the USB cables I normally carry for my smartphone and tablet will handle the TD-H3 just fine. So there is no need for a drop-in cradle, extra charger or special programming cable.
Apparently, TIDRADIO gave away a gazzillion radios to ham radio Youtubers and asked them to review the radio, so you’ll find many reviews out there. This one gives a good overview of the radio’s capabilities:
This radio is not quite the One Radio To Rule Them All, primarily because it won’t be convenient to switch between configurations. However, the radio is legal for GMRS and ham use, so that is definitely a plus. Will the FCC object to this kind of flexibility? Who knows, but they haven’t so far.
This video from KS6DAY shows how to switch between the three radio configurations:
Early on, several Youtube reviewers reported high spurious emissions coming from the radio. They fed this information back to TIDRADIO, who responded with a design change and some updated radios to test. They appear to have corrected this problem…the three radios in my possession tested out fine. There have also been some complaints about how a few features work and TIDRADIO has responded with a firmware upgrade to address those issues. So we can give TIDRADIO a good grade for responsiveness but poor marks for releasing a product that was not completely baked. Unfortunately, there are many videos in the etherwebz claiming the radio has problems and it is a challenge to sort through the actual situation today.
To become familiar with the radio, KS6DAY has a series of videos that explain how to use the radio. Lots of good information here:
As I mentioned, I have three of these radios and may be going back for more. For me, they fit the role of that “spare radio” that is kept in my vehicle, loaned out to other people, or just stored away for When All Else Fails.
73 Bob K0NR
The post TD-H3 VHF/UHF Radio appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.
I have been playing around with the weak-signal propagation mode WSPR for about a year now. Most of my WSPR initial work was in receiving and reporting Spots from WSPR transmitters. Now I wanted to do some HF antenna testing but it was in a rough RF reception environment. So instead of receiving and reporting WSPR packets, I decided to use a WSPR Transmitter and to analyze resulting Spots reported by monitoring Stations. That allows me to see how other stations are receiving my signal, as I change or modify antennas. I think using a single transmitter on my end, and many receivers is better than the alternative for me anyway. It gives me control of the most important signal factors.
It seems like WSPR is a natural for HF antenna testing and evaluation/comparison. I have heard some say that it is NOT a good vehicle for antenna testing because of the way HF propagation changes and varies over time. It IS true that you could not perform evaluation of a single antenna over many weeks or months without considering this variable. There are some things to keep in mind when using WSPR for testing of antennas:
You can use most modern HF radios with WSJT-X software as your WSPR transmitter. There are some drawbacks. Many HF Transceivers only go down to 5 watts. While this is acceptable, it is overkill. Most testing on WSPR is done with 10s or hundreds of milliwatts. If you do not use GPS for timing, some other means of time synchronization will be required. For my field testing, I selected a nice portable WSPR Transmitter from Zachtek. There are many transmitters out there to choose from. The one I am using can be found here. A picture is provided below. Help is also readily available on the Zachtek forum, if you run into any trouble.
This unit uses just 5V DC which you can provide from any USB charger. It does REQUIRE GPS and an antenna is provided. GPS is used for both timing ad location calculation, so it is not optional. I have found that placing the included GPS antenna on a ground plane (mine is about 10 X 10 inches) gives me adequate signal, even inside my house with metal-backed roof insulation. The Zachtek Desktop unit can transmit on any HF Band or a combination of Bands. For my current testing, I transmit on 15, 20, and 80 meters during each 10 minute time period.
All stations that receive WSPR packets can report their signal reports to a universal database. You can find this database online and have permanent access to all WSPR Spots ever reported. There is also an incredible WSPR front-end by VK7JJ which can be found at WSPR.ROCKS This provides an interface for extracting and sorting of WSPR Spots from the universal database. Here is a screenshot of my WSPR reports after a few hours. I was using 200 mW from the Zachtek Transmitter and the antenna was an 80 meter broadband dipole. Here is a screenshot of the map vies for my transmissions at the WSPR.Rocks Site:
Table-oriented lists are also available at WSPR.ROCKS and they can be easily imported into any spreadsheet or data analysis software.
When I start a WSPR session, I am always shocked at the locations where my low-power WSPR transmissions are being received. This transmitter is well designed for protection even from poorly-matched antennas. Antenna tuners are not really needed unless there is some terribly high-SWR case that is being used.
I have now found several WSPR monitoring stations that can receive my signals on a daily basis. I am just in the process of creating some test scenarios for evaluation. If you like working with HF antennas and you aren’t using WSPR, why not? It takes little of no investment if you already have HF radio equipment. If you give this a try, please let me know how it works out for you. There is much to be learned here!
73,
Tom, KG3V
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