Here are a trio of recent announcements from the ARRL:
LOTW back online
On July 1, the ARRL returned Logbook of The World (LoTW) to service! They noted that during a brief LOTW opening 6600 logs were uploaded, but not processed until they were sure that the system was functioning properly.
They also ask that you not call ARRL Headquarters to report issues you are having with LoTW. Instead, contact support at LoTW-help@arrl.org.
They conclude the announcement with, “We appreciate your patience as we worked through the challenges keeping LoTW from returning to service. We know the importance of LoTW to our members, and to the tens of thousands of LoTW users who are not ARRL members.”
Personally, I think that they did a pretty good job with getting LOTW back online. It was definitely a difficult task.
ARRL Foundation Club Grant Program July 25
The ARRL Foundation Club Grant Program—funded by Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC)—is an opportunity for clubs to apply for grants up to $25,000 to fund projects in areas that will motivate and develop active radio amateurs, with an emphasis given to projects that are of a “transformational” nature.
The application period is NOW OPEN and runs through Friday July 26, 2024 at 4:00PM Eastern Time. Clubs across the country are encouraged to apply, even if your club is not an ARRL Affiliated Club or not a 501(c)(3) organization—all are welcome to apply. Grant recipients will be required to share progress reports and updates with ARRL.
It seems like the ARRL should have made this announcement a lot sooner to give clubs a better shot at meeting the deadline, but perhaps those clubs who have been working on big projects have been working on their proposals all along. We’ll see.
ARRL developing performance analysis program for NTS
The National Traffic System (NTS) will soon be evaluated with new tools to help improve system performance. The ARRL is developing a web-based Performance Analysis Tool (PAT) to ultimately improve speed and accuracy of the traffic system. Additional training materials will also be developed to improve NTS performance. Once the new tools are complete, the ARRL will hold a test exercise to measure their effectiveness.
When I started amateur radio in 2019, I initially only considered FT8 and FT4, as it is a very simple and straightforward way to get into the hobby - also because I still was very mic shy. I was already experimenting with other digi modes like PSK31 and RTTY, but my main goal was to work as many countries on as many bands as possible and as quickly as possible. To achieve this, FT8 and FT4 are very suitable and have been instrumental in achieving first the DXCC and later the WAS award.
One of the biggest hurdles for me was to get Fldigi (a very popular open source for Digital Modes in Amateur Radio) working together with Quisk (Python based SDR software for the Hermes Lite 2 transceiver amongst others). Now that I have managed to do this, I have finally been able to try out various alternative digi modes again.
I was actually mainly interested in newer modes like Olivia, Contestia or Thor, but unfortunately there seems to be less activity here. However, I was able to make many nice QSOs in PSK31 in the last few days. Most of them were rather macro-based and comparable to the mouse to mouse FT8 experience, but a few were actually real keyboard to keyboard conversations. Interestingly, these 30-40 minute ragchews were all DX QSOs.
I find it absolutely fascinating to be able to make longer intercontinental conversations with just a little power and even in less than ideal conditions. You have a lot more time to think during the conversation as it would be in SSB, which is very helpful if you're not talking/typing in your native language. I used a mixture of macros and manual keystrokes to automate, for example, the beginning of each pass or the transitions to the other station, but also longer blocks of text such as the station description.
But even with macro-based QSOs you learn much more about the person on the other side than in any FT8 or in most SSB QSOs. It was the latter in particular that I realized with regret. SSB remains my main mode, but I have now found a functioning alternative mode that meets my requirements.
I would like others to give the many different keyboard to keyboard modes available a chance. I keep reading about younger radio amateurs who don't dare to try SSB and prefer to communicate via the computer and then use FT8.
The main message of this post: Modes like Olivia, JS8call and PSK31 offer a great opportunity to communicate non-verbally but still personally. It could be the perfect way to enjoy ham radio as an introvert or as a ham with a sub-optimal antenna situation in a way that it's still a personal communication between humans.
The latest episode of the ICQ Podcast features a discussion between Martin, M1MRB, and yours truly share our experiences with troubleshooting electronic equipment. Our discussion starts at 59:40 of the podcast. I think you’ll enjoy it.
I’d love to hear your troubleshooting tips. Please comment below.
Zero Retries is an independent newsletter promoting technological innovation that is occurring in Amateur Radio, and Amateur Radio as (literally) a license to experiment with and learn about radio technology. Now in its third year of publication, with 1800+ subscribers. Radios are computers - with antennas!
My thanks to Prefers to Remain Anonymous 35 for becoming a new Annual Paid Subscriber to Zero Retries this past week!
Approximately one year ago, at the request of a few dedicated readers who wanted to support Zero Retries financially, I activated payment options for Zero Retries. I include this in every issue of Zero Retries at the “ending boilerplate”:
If you’d like to financially support Zero Retries, becoming a paid subscriber is greatly appreciated and helps offset expenses incurred in publishing Zero Retries. Paid subscriptions for Zero Retries are entirely optional, as explained in this special issue of ZR: Zero Retries Administrivia - Activating Payment Options.
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I am especially indebted to K3FZT for a formative conversation I had with him at Hamvention 2022 and his ongoing support and feedback on Zero Retries.
Financial support is a real vote of confidence for continuing to publish Zero Retries.
We’re almost at the three year anniversary of Zero Retries - the 2nd Friday of July, and I’ll have some reminiscing to do next week in Zero Retries 0160, with the start of Zero Retries’ fourth year of publication.
But this has been a busy week on the personal / home front, with some travel and the US Independence Day holiday, thus I’m falling back on a favorite quote of mine from the television series Stargate SG-1, “The Serpent’s Lair”, by Col. Jack O’Neill. The context is that his team is on the cusp of beginning a “big project”.:
Well, I suppose now is the time for me to say something profound.
[long pause]
Nothing comes to mind. Let's do it.
And today a trusted advisor to Zero Retries offered this advice:
If it gets to be a grind - might already be - take 2 weeks off. Nobody'd mind. Gotta keep yourself happy.
While I’d get a bit itchy if I didn’t put out an issue of Zero Retries each week, Thank You for that grace, trusted advisor!
So please enjoy this “lite” version of Zero Retries with no heavy reading, only ZR > BEACON items.
Looking for HF-forwarding packet nodes to extend RF-only network in USA
Jeff Mein KP3FT on Facebook Packet radio systems and information:
We're using VARA HF and ARDOP between NVIS-range stations. The conventional 300-baud AFSK mode isn't very good for HF links, which is why we're using VARA and ARDOP. Currently we have from NY to Virginia linked. NVIS range preferred for 24/7 links. We want to keep extending to every direction (except eastward over the ocean obviously). Map: https://www.qsl.net/swlkp3/Packet/(X)Net/NEnetwork6.png There's a Groups.io page dedicated to RF forwarding here: https://groups.io/g/Packet-Radio-RF-Forwarding The most common setup is a packet node using BPQ with a VARA HF port or ARDOP, with BBS mail forwarding set up to forward to a partner BBS using one of those modes. Other modes can be used as well, but VARA HF is easily the best performer (except probably the very expensive PACTOR mode). Thanks, 73 Jeff KP3FT
In the early to middle stages of the “Packet Radio Revolution”, forwarding of Packet Radio Bulletin Board System (PBBS) traffic via HF was common… but problematic as the 300 baud AFSK AX.25 protocol was barely up to the task of getting messages back and forth over noisy, erratic HF frequencies. In fact, it’s surprising it worked at all. When access to the Internet became available for the general public, much of the PBBS traffic moved to the Internet… until PBBS usage fell to the point where PBBS sysops didn’t feel it was worth continuing to keep a PBBS online. But PBBS’ are seeing a resurgence, and we now have VARA HF which, in a phrase, “just works”, because it’s robust, adaptive, and offers higher data rates. For those that prefer not to use VARA HF, Amateur Radio Digital Open Protocol (ARDOP) is also an option. It’s notable that this network uses Near Vertical Incidence Skywave (NVIS) techniques to “restrict” the area covered to “regional” versus “worldwide” propagation. The G8BPQ BBS package has good integration with both VARA HF and ARDOP. Kudos to KP3FT and friends for getting the radio back into Amateur Radio Networking.
The really cool part is that there are a lot of presentations that I believe will have a high level of appeal to Zero Retries readers:
Digital Communications by "Bucky" Buckwalter W0SUN
Mesh Networks by Frank Kostelac N7ZEV
Winlink by Gary Hutton KE7UIA
Ham Radio Homebrew by James Kretzschmar AE7AZ
Using Attenuators by myself, Bill Buhler AF7SJ (I believe a vital part of good digital experimentation / station calibration).
Build the Foundation & They Will Come by David Becar KI6OSS might be
interesting.
AI and Machine Learning in Ham Radio by Michelle Thompson W5NYV
Arduino University Workshop by Jeff Anderson (requires additional fee and pre-registration)
#APRSTHURSDAY by Mike DiTurno KC8OWL
Starlink by Jeff Baxter KE7DYR
Amateur Satellites by Ednaf Buckley N6UTC/MW1BQO & Patrick Stoddard WD9EWK / VA7E
There are several other presentation on things like the Icom 905, Yeasu System Fusion, and other more traditional ham radio topics.
For those not in the US, “Zion” refers to the nearby Zion National Park. Judging solely by the website, there seems to be an unusually high level of energy to HamCon:Zion! I agree with AF7SJ about a number of Zero Retries Interesting seminars, to which I would add Icom 905 by Scott Honaker - N7SS - Icom. This is the first time I’ve seen a seminar devoted to this radio; its unique capabilities are worth devoting a seminar session to. Had I known about this conference earlier, I might have made plans to travel and attend - the route from Bellingham to St. George looks like an interesting two-day drive. This conference is now on the Zero Retries Guide to Zero Retries Interesting Conferences.
If Zero Retries readers are aware of other “general” Amateur Radio conferences with a “reasonable number” of Zero Retries Interesting presentations, please let me know about them. (“Reasonable number” is entirely subjective, at your discretion from your reading of what subjects receive coverage in Zero Retries.)
AREDN production software version 3.24.6.0 is now available, with many new features and enhancements. Besides a fix for an RF link issue that snuck past beta testing release 3.24.4.0, this release contains these fixes and enhancements:
Enhancements
Added MTR support via installable package (mtr-nojson).
Improved iPerf3 service to provide data line by line rather than at the end.
Now use the closest supernode rather than first discovered supernode.
Made LQM+OLSRD improvements where weak connections are detected.
Now detect "leaf" nodes and prevent them being blocked.
Plus numerous fixes and improvements. The energy and continuous improvement of the AREDN development team is really impressive. They continually demonstrate technological innovation within Amateur Radio!
If you want to learn about AREDN and experiment with (very local) Amateur Radio microwave networking, the easiest (in my opinion) and least expensive way to do so is with the GL-iNet products that are supported by AREDN.
2024 ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference (DCC) Sept. 20-21, Knoxville, Tennessee
Editorial - I do wish TAPR would have the courage to drop the reference to ARRL from this conference. All management, scheduling, financial commitments, etc. are solely done by TAPR; ARRL has had nearly nothing to do with this conference for decades now other than some history, passive mentions of it in their publications, and “printing” the conference Proceedings of which I’m probably one of a dozen that actually purchase them.
2024 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting – October 25th thru 27th, 2024
Doubletree by Hilton Tampa Rocky Point Waterfront 3050 N Rocky Point Drive West Tampa, FL 33607
I saw this terse mention of this conference in passing in the AMSAT News Service 182. Despite the inclusion of the AMSAT website link, at the moment there is no information about this conference available there (but ample details about the 2023 conference).
Heathkit was Acquired… And Relocated… and No One Noticed
I’ve been mildly curious about Heathkit since its “revival” early in the past decade and the “revival owners” idiosyncratic mysteriousness about not revealing the owners and other personnel of the company. Not much seems to change with “New Heathkit”, so every few years I browse around to see if there are any new developments beyond their two primary products, a clock and an AM broadcast receiver. This year’s browsing resulted in some actual news - from a LinkedIn post for Heathkit nearly a year ago:
Kirkwall is pleased to announce its acquisition of Heath Company. Following the acquisition, William Cromarty will serve as Chief Executive Officer of both companies and will oversee a relocation of manufacturing operations to North Dakota as part of a planned expansion.
There is no mention of this acquisition (or relocation of facilities) on the Heathkit website or the Heathkit page on Facebook (last post 2020-01-01).
In the time since this announcement, this statement doesn’t appear to have been realized:
This expansion of operations in North Dakota will build on the impressive work of the Heath team in reestablishing the company as the premier educational electronics kit manufacturer, and allow our team to scale operations in preparation for new product launches.
I understand that all press releases are intended to be a bit over-the-top to get noticed, but… premier educational electronics kit manufacturer??? That was true in Heathkit’s prime, but that statement is really over-the-top considering New Heathkit’s very modest product line compared to, for example, the electronic kits available from Velleman or Adafruit. But, I guess the press release served its purpose - it did get this mention.
M17 Experimental Authentication Signatures
The goal of the M17 Project is to create a digital voice / messaging / telemetry / data system for Amateur Radio VHF / UHF that does not use DVSI’s proprietary digital voice CODEC. In mid-2024, “the pieces are in place” (in my opinion) that M17 can actually be used as a radio system. Documenting the usability of M17 in real world usage, such as this item and the following two items, is an ongoing project here in Zero Retries.
Apologies for how “fuzzy” this item is, but in the past couple of weeks I saw mention by Wojciech Kaczmarski SP5WWP that he was experimenting with adding authentication signatures to M17 transmissions.
Unfortunately, I cannot find the actual statement from SP5WWP (he posts his ideas in a variety of places). I recorded this link, but don’t see any detail there to support the above statement.
Finally some good news regarding digital signatures. I've been experimenting with ST's CMOX library and just got 160-bit ECDSA to run on the Module17. It takes around 8.25 ms to sign a 16-byte M17 voice stream digest. The signature can be appended to the voice stream. The curve used is Brainpool P-160 R1, with secp256r1 signing takes a tad under 15 ms. ^SP5WWP
In the future, users might be able to generate ECDSA key pairs and use the private key for M17 stream signing. Then, by sharing the public component, allow the rest to perform identity checks. No more impersonation.
Implementing digital signatures in M17 - part 2. Looks like both encoder and decoder work together and the latter is able to verify stream signatures now. ^SP5WWP GitHub (`auth` and `crypto` branches are the most interesting): https://github.com/M17-Project/M17_Implementations
I think the idea is that in addition to the digitized voice or data and overhead data, an authenticated M17 transmission would interleave the data (or perhaps a separate payload) interleaved private key that can be authenticated with checking it against a person’s public key. This is a good example of the nature of an Open Source system, and the ability to extend it to experiment with new ideas that aren’t practical with “hardcoded” and commercially produced radios.
Connect Systems M17 Project Status 2024-07-04
“Ongoing” communications like this are only accessible from signing up for the Connect Systems email list - there’s no web-based archive. Connect Systems is developing a pair of portable Amateur Radio units that will feature a native M17 mode - no reprogramming or modification needed. To my knowledge, these radios will be the first to feature a native M17 mode, and are hoped to be available in Summer, 2024.
Excerpt:
There is something else to consider. If I buy the AnyTone, I just give them money and I get the radio With the M17 design, the company is paying for the development to implement the protocol in our radio. Then we will support for the CS7000 M17 PLUS for the development and implementation of the other protocols such as Fusion and DSTAR.
Obviously the CS7000 M17 is costing us a lot more to buy but there is a reason. The CS7000 M17 is based on a commercial radio and the receiver is a double conversion superhet design with front end varactor tuning. That compares with the AnyTone which uses a single chip direct conversion receiver. The radio is also rated at IP-67 which means you can swim with it and not destroy it.
2. What is the status of your work and was is an approximately schedule for you to complete this part of the project.
The radio transmits and receives M17 without modulation or demodulation issues. I'm currently working on the radio driver in order to properly set up the missing parts, that are the bias voltage for the input filter and RF PA and some HR_C6000 configurations. It also seems that there is a bug somewhere that causes the radio to sometimes transmit only a carrier, but I didn't figure out yet where the problem is. I also brought up the driver to use the HR_C6000 as the audio DAC for the speaker, it needs some integration and final touches. The plan is to have a first alpha version of the firmware, with working M17 but still without settings' persistence, within two weeks: it all depends on how much time it's going to take working on the radio part, which implies a lot of reverse engineering of the CoValue firmware (and this takes really a lot of time). After this, I'll move on implementing the persistence, codeplug system and the remaining parts.
M17 uses 4FSK modulation at 4800 baud (9600 bps). Last I knew, there were 3 modes defined:
Full rate voice (Codec2 3200). This is currently by far the most dominant format. However there’s still room for some ancillary data like GNSS position. I believe this is a streaming mode.
Half rate mixed voice/data (Codec2 1600 plus a data channel). Kind of like D-STAR’s original mode. I’m not sure if this one is still officially defined.
Packet mode. This is M17’s data only mode.
Another interesting fact is M17 over KISS has been defined, which allows M17 frames to be sent to a TNC and transmitted. Obviously the TNC has to support 4FSK for the resulting transmission to actually be M17. The TNC4 is able to do this.
It’s also possible to use packet mode to run AX.25 over M17.
This… is really cool. M17’s data capabilities are something that I intend to dive deeply into. My thanks to Tony for explaining this so clearly - in my previous readings of the M17 Specification, I had not been able to find that level of detail / explanation about doing data over M17.
You asked for Australian info. Manly Warringah Radio Society (VK2MB) is building the ADX (Arduino Digital Transceiver) and today was a big build day with the first units on-air. It's all documented on the club website:
Image courtesy of the Manly-Warringah Radio Society
It all started with very good lecture by Richard Hinsley VK2ARH/W5ARH on the ADX (the Arduino Digital Transceiver) in April 2024 followed by an email to all from Michael VK2MDP asking around about interest for a club buildathon, very quickly the list of interested members grew to 28 people wishing to grab a kit, many to attend the 2 buildathon sessions, others either not local, not available or just wanted the challenge to try it on their own.
The ADX Buildathon workshop dates were:
Wed 26-Jun-2024 – 7:30pm to 9:30pm Winding toroids for the low pass filters.
Sat 29-Jun-2024 – 9:00am to 5pm ADX Build and Testing … and mandatory BBQ.
This buildathon of the ADX (link, I think…) by the Manly-Warringah Radio Society (Terrey Hills Allambie Heights, New South Wales, Australia) is well-documented with many photographs of folks obviously having a good time with their builds, elbow to elbow.
TX Factor - Episode 31 (TXF031) - Bluetooth Radio and QO-100 Ground Station
Email from Zero Retries Pseudostaffer Jeff Davis KE9V:
I was just watching the latest edition of TX-Factor that was out new yesterday (TXF031). It includes the 2nd half of the QO-100 groundstation, but perhaps even more ZR relevant was as review of the new Anytone BT01 bluetooth “microphone” for the Anytone 578 DMR transceiver. The video can explain much better than I can type it up but basically, it's a useful accessory that permits the mobile style radio to have remote access (via BT) which works well since that transceiver doesn't have a detachable head.
I can see where this would be very useful and I imagine a lot of ZR readers are into DMR.
I jumped into this a video on KE9V’s recommendation and it’s pretty engaging. The Anytone BT-01 is a pretty cool item, which I first wrote about in Zero Retries 0065. It’s just one of several Bluetooth “remotes” for Amateur Radio units, and it would be cool if someone was able to reverse engineer the Bluetooth protocol and create an open source equivalent. Also, the Anytone 578 is also capable of FM, so if the BT-01 is a major usability improvement, and you don’t have any DMR repeaters in range (or don’t care for DMR operation), it’s might still be worth investing in an Anytone 578. The last part of the video is also pretty engaging, operating on the QO-100 geostationary Amateur Radio payload accessible from most of the Eastern Hemisphere using the DXPatrol Full Duplex Groundstation V2.0.
ELEKITSORPARTS - the Most Zero Retries Interesting Amateur Radio Retailer
A correspondent [in the US] remarked recently:
Sometimes I wish I lived in Europe ... everything good in the ham radio world is “over” there now, not here.
I replied with a link to ELEKITSORPARTS, which I’ve been a fan of since they became the first to offer a plug and play New Packet Radio unit. Their unique product mix for Amateur Radio exemplifies what my correspondent was saying. I have no idea where ELEKITSORPARTS is located in Europe; I’ve never been able to find a clue on their website.
ELEKITSORPARTS keeps featuring new Zero Retries Interesting units, most recently the New digiPi HAT. Just as an example, here are some Zero Retries Interesting radio options:
ELEKITSORPARTS is pretty close to my ideal of a 21st century Amateur Radio retailer. If we could combine that with a Raspberry Pi retailer for one shop stopping for computer and radio hardware… that would be fantastic.
If you’re not yet licensed as an Amateur Radio Operator, and would like to join the fun by literally having a license to experiment with radio technology, check out Join the Fun on Amateur Radio for some pointers.
In its mission to highlight technological innovation in Amateur Radio, promote Amateur Radio to techies as a literal license to experiment with radio technology, and make Amateur Radio more relevant to society in the 2020s and beyond, Zero Retries is published via email and web, and is available to everyone at no cost. Zero Retries is proud not to participate in the Amateur Radio Publishing Industrial Complex, which hides Amateur Radio content behind paywalls.
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More bits from Steve Stroh N8GNJ:
SuperPacket blog — Discussing new generations of Amateur Radio Data Communications — beyond Packet Radio (a precursor to Zero Retries)
N8GNJ blog — Amateur Radio Station N8GNJ and the mad science experiments at N8GNJ Labs — Bellingham, Washington, USA
Thanks for reading! Steve Stroh N8GNJ / WRPS598 (He / Him / His) These bits were handcrafted (by a mere human, not an Artificial Intelligence bot) in beautiful Bellingham (The City of Subdued Excitement), Washington, USA, and linked to the Internet via Starlink Satellite Internet Access.
2024-07-05
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Last week, in response to a reader’s question here on QRPer.com, I was reminded that I hadn’t yet made a video specifically about my Mountain Topper MTR-3B SOTA field kit. Yesterday, I made a short video (see below) where I show what I pack in my MTR-3B field kit and why I choose to house … Continue reading Deep Dive: My Mountain Topper MTR-3B Watertight SOTA Field Kit→
This is the “morning after Independence Day” edition! Last night, we were quintessential Americans, attending the Hillsboro Hops baseball game and staying for the fireworks. This has nothing to do with radio except for appreciating our freedom to work and play with radio!
“You're talking on the air, an unowned medium. It's literally like talking in person, except with technology that allows your voice to travel farther. But the government requires that you license yourself to exercise the right to speak in this way?”
I’m not going to try to summarize the hundreds of comments in that thread. If you’re interested in reading points of view about rights, privileges, a regulated society, and more, I commend the thread (linked above) to you. I found that the comments improved my perspective on this topic and enhanced my appreciation for the many privileges we enjoy as licensed amateur radio operators. In any case, it seems appropriate to reflect on our freedoms and privileges as we put another Independence Day in the log! To all the veterans in my life and the ones I have not yet met: thank you.
2. New LiFePO4 Battery
I picked up a small LiFePO4 battery from Dakota Lithium recently, on sale for $69. I’m not sure I needed another small battery but I’m certain I’ll find a use for it. I have a spade-to-PowerPole adapter on order with PowerWerx, along with a PowerPole-to-OEM T adapter for my mobile radios.
LiFePO4 batteries
I have a smaller battery from an off brand. That 6 Ah battery weighs almost the same as the Dakota 10 Ah battery! Amazing.
And, as I noted last week, I clipped my Ten-Tec Scout 555 to it to give the radio a bit of needed exercise.
Ten-Tec Scout 555 clipped to Dakota 10 Ah battery
3. Digirig and Digirig Lite
I have a Digirig Mobile device and it does work. It’s amazingly small, perhaps the size of a large thimble. It’s really quite amazing. I do like miniaturized devices and this one just blows my mind.
Digirig Mobile is very small
While reading Steve Stroh’s great Zero Retries newsletter, I discovered a new, less expensive, and simple Digirig: the Digirig Lite. This is definitely on my “to be acquired” list. I do love a small device and my experience with the Digirig Mobile device has been very positive. (And many thanks to Steve for once again surprising me with something new. It seems like every issue of Zero Retries surprises me!)
I don’t find the Digirig Lite listed on Amazon yet, but the Digirig Mobile is available there. I have a link to it on the Support page.
4. New TNC Arrived
Speaking of terminal node controllers…I was about to purchase a new MFJ-1270X TNC-X device when the news about MFJ shutting down some manufacturing hit the air. As soon as I heard this, I went to the MFJ website only to discover that the 1270X was sold out. I’ve been keeping an eye out for any stock that was still available and found some for sale by Ham Radio Outlet. Boom. One more 1270X is coming to the shack! The one I already have is simple and simply rock solid. The Digirig Mobile works fine but I do like how less mysterious the 1270X TNC-X feels.
My uses cases are APRS and Winlink. We’ll see where this goes in the future. I have too many radios so I may as well put one of them to a productive use.
Here’s a photo gallery of the unboxing of the new 1270X:
For now, this TNC stays in the box, but I’m certain I’ll find a good use for it! I am not including an affiliate link on the support page because the price for this TNC on Amazon is too far off street prices for my comfort.
5. Encryption of Radio Traffic
While going on my morning trip to get coffee about a week ago, I listened to an interesting conversation. I was listening to the W7RAT IRLP repeater in Portland when traffic from an East Coast reflector started booming in. It was a bunch of hams from New York and Massachusetts who seemed to know each other, and somehow, they got onto the topic of encryption of radio traffic by city, county, and state agencies.
Very interesting. It sounds like conversion from analog to encrypted radio is not cheap and the effective range of encrypted radios may be slightly less than unencrypted radios.
I’m of two minds on radio encryption. On the one hand, I get it — encrypting radio traffic provides additional safety for our public safety workers. The guys on the radio were talking about riots in 2020 and how some bad actors were listening in on cheap handie talkies, calling out certain officers in the police department by name. Implied in this conversation was those officers were being targeted. That’s not good.
On the other side of the coin is making sure we have the ability to hold such agencies accountable for their actions. If comms are hidden behind a veil, that becomes harder to do. I’m guessing that news media folks are a bit rankled by seeing comms that have traditionally been “in the clear” become encrypted.
I had a bad experience with a law enforcement officer in my youth where I was a victim but was treated as if I made up the story. Why? Probably because the perpetrator was a LEO. I was surprised that the judge leaned so heavily on the side of the LEO, but then again, my judgment was definitely biased because of the incident. That experience has left me pretty jaded. While I try to give law enforcement the benefit of the doubt, I’m very uncomfortable around armed officers I don’t know.
Nevertheless, I want our public safety folks to be as safe as they can be, so if encryption helps move the dial in that direction, I support it. (And related to my experience with a LEO, if location tracking was part of the encrypted radio system, that would create a data set that could help clear up statements that don’t agree.) To satisfy those who think they should have access to the communications, perhaps streaming the audio from general channels over a system like Broadcastify with a 10-minute delay would give them what they want. TAC channels? Encrypt them. I don’t see the need to overhear in real time what our public employees are doing to resolve a situation.
This particular topic probably strays slightly into the realm of politics and I really don’t want politics to invade this newsletter. Philosophically, radio ought to be open to all. Normally, I would not be supportive of encryption, but having worked in the public safety arena, I know there are times when being able to send and receive detailed information about a situation or a person is invaluable, and indeed, sometimes life saving. I support encryption when it enables public safety officials to do their job safely and effectively.
6. How Do You Do APRS?
I’ve been an APRS fan since I first learned of it. My first handie talkie was a Yaesu VX-8 with the external GPS module. I got that radio to run APRS and to work satellites. (APRS is the Automatic Packet Reporting System.)
I still run APRS in my mobile rig. Even though my spouse and children are not licensed amateur radio operators, they can still track me via https://aprs.fi.
My morning coffee run on June 25, 2024
I also have APRS enabled on one of my AllStarLink nodes and on the hotspot I use for Yaesu System Fusion. AllStarLink node 588412 reports the position of the node:
AllStarLink node 588412
My Yaesu System Fusion hotspot also reports to APRS:
Hotspot with YSF reports position
I’ll be interested to learn what you use APRS for, and if you don’t, why not? Granted, it’s been around for a while so it may feel dated. However, that’s actually a strength because APRS is supported by a significant number of APRS digipeaters around the world. I use https://aprs.fi to see what is happening around me, and APRSDroid (on my phone) for messaging over APRS.
I have been thinking of adding a WX3in1 Plus device to my home network to bolster local capacity to the APRS network. I’m also noodling on how to build a low-power-consumption portable fill-in digipeater…perhaps something like Evan Pratten’s Building a cheap APRS digipeater!
I’m also looking at other implementations, including:
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I thought I’d better clone the microSD card in my Raspberry Pi 4 hotspot that I use for Yaesu System Fusion. While I could use it for other modes, I find it simpler to dedicate the hotspot to one system. I do also run APRS on it but the load from that is very light.
I used Win32DiskImager to make an image file of the system from the working microSD card. Then I burned the image to another microSD card, stuck that into the hotspot, and booted up. It’s working fine, and the original microSD is labeled and put away in my desk drawer, in case my friend Justin Case comes visiting again. I also have the image file stored on my file server so that I can burn a fresh image whenever I need to.
Note that I made the image file on Windows 11 Pro but on the Win32DiskImager page, it says it only goes up to Windows 10. I did have to reboot my computer after installing the program.
7.2 Sound clip of AllStarLink
One of my new goals is to include a sound clip of a mode in each issue.
This recording captured part of a youth net (as in: moderated by a youth) I overheard on my home AllStarLink station on June 28th at about 4:20 pm Pacific. The recording was made with a Zoom H4n Pro with audio captured in mono to save space. You’ll hear a variety of audio characteristics among the different participants, ranging from smooth, clear audio to a thoroughly broken transmission. I think one of the participants may have been using Echolink but I can’t be sure.
For those who have not used AllStarLink before, I hope this gives you some insight into the quality of audio you might experience in this mode.
7.3 Hillsboro Hops baseball
If I get time after the Hops game, I’ll post a few photos here for those who want to experience the moment through a few images. We had a great time. This is a small ballbark with only one tier of bleachers. You are close to the action. The Hillsboro Hops are a minor league affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Hillsboro Hops pitching against the Eugene Emeralds
After the game, we were treated to about 20 minutes of great fireworks.
I welcome this big version change but I think it should come with a caution. Many of us will want to upgrade to the latest and greatest version which is now ASL 3 Beta. If your node is running fine, I suggest waiting a bit to see if undiscovered bugs or problems come to light, especially if your node is publicly accessible.
Despite my sense of caution, I must say well done to the AllStarLink folks. I feel like my financial support of AllStarLink is helping to make a difference. AllStarLink is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization so your donations may be tax deductible.
In next week’s issue, I’ll detail how I got ASL3 running in a virtual machine and configured to work with my Cisco SPA525G SIP phone on my desk. There are some significant changes with ASL3, particularly in the realm of configuring for use with SIP phones. Step one with a major upgrade like is a must: read the user manual!
A special thank you to Jeff for buying me some coffees! I appreciate your support very much.
Thank you to all readers and subscribers, and 73 to all!
Yesterday, I met up with Jonathan (KM4CFT) who happens to be in town visiting family over the holiday weekend. Before our POTA activation, he mentioned that he is now selling a 3D-printed paddle kit for $34.95 on eBay: https://ebay.us/GhLOYz (note: this is an eBay partnership link) Jonathan told me that he’s using the kit as … Continue reading New 3D-Printed Paddle Kit from KM4CFT→
As some of you know I do some QRPp Parks on the Air activations using the QRP Labs QCX Mini. For the past couple of years I've had GREAT results using my 40 and 20 meter QCX Mini with what I call, "My Smoke Detector Battery" setup
This spring and so far this summer I've used both 40 and 20 meter QCX minis with a 9 volt/200mW battery for WSPR operations. And most recently I've used the 9 volt/200mW battery with my 40 meter QCX Mini for for early morning CW Parks on the Air activations.
While using my YouKits HB-1B during a POTA activation on April 29th, 2024, I set up another vertical antenna with my 20 meter QCX Mini to use as a WSPR station with a 9 volt/200mW battery. I ran this setup for almost an hour and was amazed with the distance and how many beacons picked up my less than a watt signal from Kentucky, USA.
QRP Labs QCXX Mini 20 Meters
A few days later on May 1, 2024; I decided to give it another try but this time on 40 meters when conditions were not quite optimal. And again, I was amazed with the number of stations picking up my signal with "My Smoke Detector Battery"
QRP Labs QCX Mini 40 Meters
As most of you may know, during the month of June 2024, the sun has presented several Earth facing regions which have been quite active with solar storms, solar flares, large sunspot regions, CME's and HF radio blackouts. These conditions have not been favorable for QRPp communications. Living in Kentucky, USA this time of year also represents days and weeks of hot, humid weather with potential for almost daily thunderstorms. So far in June 2024; we've seen record low morning temperatures of 82 degrees and several days of temperatures exceeding 95 degrees with heat indices well over 100 degrees.
Finally the Solar Space Weather forecast for the first few days of July 2024 looked like an excellent opportunity to try some Parks on the Air CW activations using QRPp. However, terrestrial weather was another issue. Heat advisories were forecasted for the last few days of June 2024 and first few days of July 2024. It was time to take advantage of this brief window to do some QRPp operating.
QRPp Equipment Set Up
The antenna I was going to use was the Tufteln 40 / 20 Linked EFHW. I made this antenna specifically for my QRP Labs 40 & 20 Meter QCX Minis.
Tufteln 40 / 20 Meter Linked EFHW
As for a keyer, I was going to use the American Morse Equipment Ultra Porta Paddle.
American Morse Equipment Ultra Porta Paddle
Upon awaking before daybreak, I checked the NOAA Space Weather Predication Center's website for Space Weather conditions. It all looked favorable. Terrestrial weather had a Heat Advisory forecasted for July 2, 2024, so I decided to head out for a near sunrise Parks on the Air activation at Beargrass Creek State Nature Preserve US-7956 which is less than 4 miles from my QTH.
Not knowing who would be hunting at 1130 UTC, I arrived on site; throw up my arborist line about 45 feet into a tree and pulled up my antenna in a sloper configuration, set up my 40 meter QCX Mini and was ready to go.
At 1142 I started sending CQ and 'BEHOLD" within a minute or two the hunters responded top my calls and kept me busy for the next 50 minutes. Below are the results of what a QRPp CW Parks on the Air activation yielded me.
The highlight of this day's activation was a QSO with Greg / VE3GSS Port Carling, ON, Canada. A little over 920 km from my Kentucky POTA site with less than 1 WATT.
At 1235 UTC the temperature had risen to 84 degrees. It made no sense in pushing it as I had already achieved more than I expected. To say I walked away with a HUGE grin on my face is an understatement. It was a GREAT Parks on the Air activation.
On July 3, 2024 my internal clock woke me at 0900 UTC with basically the same Space and Terrestrial conditions that were in play as the day before. So why not make this "Ground Hog Day in July. Same time, same set up on July 3, 2024. One difference; today I would try 20 meters.
Within less than a minute after my CQ on 40 meters at 1143 UTC, my activation began with hunters eagerly wanting to be acknowledged. I didn't disappoint and neither did they. QSOs were rapid fire for almost an hour.
At 1240, I switched over to my 20 meter QCX Mini to see what I could garner, knowing that at time time of morning in the U.S., the likelihood of getting any action on 20 meters was suspect. I did manage one 20 meter QSO. Here was my catch for a July "Ground Hog Day"
The highlight of this day was as try for a Park-to-Park QSO with a station in Japan. I tirelessly tried for several minutes to make a 40 meter contact with a Parks on the Air station JJVAS at JP- 0128. The QSB was pronounced and the strongest I could get was a 229. The operator was kind enough to send AGN? a few times but I was just trilled for that reply with less than 1 WATT.
This day like many others brought greetings from people who have become familiar with my operations as they get in their daily walks, runs and cycling before the heat sets in. Today though I met Dr. Tamekka Cornelius, Ph. D, who was out on her daily walk. She, like others are inquisitive about seeing a man sitting in a mostly open field connected to some wires, a bicycle close by and some weird equipment strapped to his legs. Dr. Cornelius and I had a nice chat about Amateur Radio, brief history of my broadcast career and my bicycling activities.
Operating QRPp reminds me of the country music singer Kenny Rogers' song:
"The Gambler"
You've got to know when to hold 'em
Know when to fold 'em
Know when to walk away
And know when to run
Once in your ham radio journey, try operating QRPp.
Tuesday, my friend Paul, KW1L, texted me, and asked if I could come over to his house and help him with his new antenna. He had just purchased and installed a Cobra Ultra-Lite Junior, and he didn’t think that it was performing as well as it should.
The suspect jumper wire.
I won’t go into all of the details, but one of the checks he had made was to measure the continuity of the feed line, which is 80 feet of 18-gauge, 450 Ω ladder line. To do this, he connected the jumper wire in the photo at right across the ladder line in his shack and then measured the resistance at the antenna feed point.
The measurement that he came up with was 16 Ω. Well, the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) says that the resistance of 18-gauge solid wire should be about .0064 Ω/ft. Using that figure, the resistance should be somewhere near 1 Ω.
So, Paul asked me to bring over my DMM, which I did yesterday. We dropped the antenna, put my Fluke 79 across the feed point, and measured close to 16 Ω.
It didn’t make much sense, but the only reasonable explanation was that the problem with this measurement was the jumper wire. This was somewhat troubling to Paul, as he had a sentimental attachment to this jumper wire. It was given to him by a fellow who worked for him at Xerox, and he pointed out to me how well-made it was. He noted, for example, that each end of the wire had been tinned before it was screwed to the alligator clip.
I agreed that it was well-made, but certainly one or both of the connections could have oxidized, resulting in a high-resistance connection. And guess what? When I measured the resistance of the jumper, it turned out to be about 15 Ω!
I then unscrewed the wire at one end and measured again. It measured 15 Ω. I unscrewed the wire at the other end, and voilá, I measured 0 Ω. I screwed the alligator clips back on, and the overall resistance was near 0 Ω again. My guess is that the second connection was a little loose, and that over the years, some oxidation built up on both the wire and the alligator clip.
Whenever we do something like this, Paul likes to ask, “So, what did we learn from this?” In this case, I think what we learned is that even jumper wires can go bad. It’s also a validation of the KB6NU Theory of Electronic Failures, i.e. at least 80% of the problems associated with electronic equipment are problems with cables or connectors.
Many thanks to Christian (IX1CKN) who shares the following field report: Friedrichshafen: POTA Across Borders by Christian (IX1CKN) The Friedricshafen fair is one of the most interesting events for its social aspects, where you can finally put a face to colleagues whose voices you’ve only ever heard. Among the various OM (radio amateurs) I met this year … Continue reading Friedrichshafen: Christian and Andrea’s Multi-Country POTA Rove→
The Dell DA-2 is a power supply for, I don't actually know. A Dell computer of some sort I assume. They're popular for running external GPUs, and can be easily modified to supply 12v at up to 18 amps, aka 200 watts with no fan and (in theory) decent performance etc.
So, let's modify one to use as a radio power supply! (Please ignore the continuity errors, I took the photos after doing the mod and whilst putting it back together.)
To open it up you'll need a "security" bit, S2 T10, it's a 6 pointed star with a bit in the middle. The screws are all under the rubber feet.
Inside the case you'll find everything wrapped up in metal which is held with tape, and shimmed into the case with two flat bits down the sides. Slide those out and the rest should come free easily.
Cut the tape and you can unfold the metal and slip the thing out.
There is a big flat copper thing that connects the earth/ground/0v from one side to the other. You'll need to unsolder this to remove it.
Yet more unwrapping! Unwrap the plastic thing and you'll finally see the actual circuit.
This is where you need to tin your soldering iron and make sure it's hot as there are two bundles of wires that need removing and it'll take a lot of heat. Be patient and make sure all the solder is liquid before pulling them out.
There are also two smaller wires that need disconnecting.
Decision time. The supply can be switched by connecting pin 5 to ground. Although not any more as we just removed that wire... If you want it to always be on you can just short the through hole marked "remote" to ground. Or you can do what I did and wire in a switch.
I've no idea what "red" is for. I didn't connect anything to it.
Time to get the soldering iron to work again and connect your +ve and -ve wires. Use something chunky enough to handle 18 amps! I used some of the cable that came with my Icom IC-706 which I'd already cut in bits and fitted Power Poles onto.
Now, put it all back together! Don't forget the copper thing. Plastic wrap, copper, metal, tape, shims down side, case, screws. Be careful you don't trap any of your new wires on the screw posts.
I extended my solar energy production with 5 extra solarpanels a while ago. It really was a bargain getting these as I bought the 260Wp panels at a cost of €50 (€10 per panel) from a colleague. The inverter was searched for on the dutch internet marketplace and I bought one for another €50. Most of the costs were the mounting rails, wiring and the #31 ferrite to make shure no RFI would reach my antennas. The last items were an additional €300.
The open line of the inverted-V doublet is just about 1,5 meter above the solarpanels. I even got a quarter wave CB antenna near the panels to listen to some chats on CB when in the garage. I really did take all precautions to make shure I would not have any RF coming from the inverter or the panels. On the pic at the right you see that I used big #31 FT240 ferrite rings in both AC and DC lines. The earth wire is fitted with a big #31 snap-on ferrite. DC wires are mostly fitted in earthed Alu tubes were possible. Everything is earthed to a central earth point, the tubes, the mounting frames and the inverter.
At the left a pic from the Alu tubing used. Yes, it is made of old antenna left overs. I always use what I have at hand. I seldom throw away scrap Alu tubing. Over the years I collected some ;-).
Well to keep a long story short I can recommend the page from FerriteShop about this subject. I followed most from their tips and used #31 snap-on ferrites below the panels. The only difference at my installation are the FT240 ferrite rings below the inverter.
Well, I don't have any RFI from my own solarsystems. I see QRM in the waterfall of my IC-7300 from my neighbours solarsystem on 50MHz. Just to be shure it isn't my own I checked when I switch my own systems off. Of course there was no change, the QRM stays there and is not from my property for shure. Luckily the QRM is only there when I turn my beam over their house.
The 5 solarpanels harvested 165 KWh in less then 2 months. Approx 3 Kwh average per day. It is not much but anything helps. The system can be extended easily when I find another 5 or 6 secondhand solarpanels.
I have twisted and worked my way around this problem for some time now and this probably isn’t the last time that I will revisit this topic. However, my station is evolving and as a result, I’m going to make some notes here and share what I know so that other folks can make use of it. Honestly? It’s more so that I will remember how I got here when I inevitably screw something up and have to back it out.
Why Are We Doing This Again?
My solution for the home setup, was to run Win11 on a stick PC that I could interface with the IC-7100 for Winlink email and Other Stuff. Now, what is Other Stuff? In ham radio, we have an unhealthy relationship to old and busted Windows-Only software. It’s changing slowly, but there are still weird packages that find their way into my hands that I “need” to use for This or That.
With the shift from the barely usable Win10 to the What Is This Nightmare Of Constant Advertising Win11, MS pushed me too far. Every time I touch what used to be the Start Menu, I get an advertisement or some unwanted tidbit of news with a picture of a politician or other pop culture nuisance. On top of that, they’d now like me to have an “AI” that follows me around and trains itself using my hardware?
We’re done here.
CrossOver
I don’t know how the link came to me, but I found my way to WG1V’s site and encountered a very different approach to solving the Winlink/Vara/All That Stuff conundrum.
The author simply runs CrossOver on their Mac and all of the stuff works.
Now, back in the day, as a Frothy Linux Zealot, I was a reluctant user of Wine to address some needs I had in my day job. I wrestled with it and made it work. Over time, running VMs to handle this stuff seemed to become the new hotness and I didn’t even think about CrossOver for the Mac. The trouble with a VM is that it’s still a full install of Windows and still antagonistic to my desired mental state. Would CrossOver really do the trick?
In a word: Yes.
Following the instructions at the above link, I got VARA HF and ARDOP up and running on my Mac which is what I attach to my shiny new IC-7300 in my shack. It worked out of the box with no fiddling. Full disclosure: I hadn’t updated brew in some time so that took a minute, but with that done, everything else fell into place.
What about the Other Stuff? Most of the radio software out there that might be used for programming an HT for example, is built on ancient frameworks that happen to run reliably under CrossOver. I even pulled up some piece of software that I used to program my DMR HT and it worked out of the box. That outcome was unexpected, but most welcome.
Now What?
To send Winlink mail, I kick off rigctrl and pat with its HTTP UI from a command line and launch either ARDOP or VARA from CrossOver and send my Winlink mail. This gets me two big wins: No Windows and No Winlink Express. This is called Winning.
I have been noodling with my Surface Go to make sure that I can use the 7300 under my Ubuntu setup as well. I want my two main computing devices to be fully ready to run any rig I’ve got that can do a digital mode. On Ubuntu, it will be ARDOP and pat as well. For me, that’s a well-oiled setup with the IC-705. I need to take a minute to add the IC-7300 to the configuration. No big deal, just 10 minutes or so when I get it.
The outcome of all of this is that I now have a single shack computing device that is my Mac and I can do all of the things that I do in one place. Simplifying things is good. And I’ve even got this little stick PC that I can throw something on for an internal fileserver or something.
The Future
In an ideal world, someone (maybe me someday?) will get ARDOP running on a Mac. ARDOP is under active development again and these are exciting times for that modem. I can’t wait to see where it goes! But for now, I will leverage it in this new ecosystem with CrossOver. It works and that’s what matters.
Final
It’s probably pretty clear that I’m willing to work with all flavors of software in different evironments. I’m not opposed to paying for useful software, though my first stop will always be Free/Open solutions. The sticking point here is that I don’t have a lot of time to mess around with some of this stuff and this approach gets me from A to B rather quickly. Again, Winning.
Many thanks to Scott (VO1DR) who shares the following guest post: Construction Notes – VO1DR Antenna Mount for Camera Monopod by Scott Schillereff, VO1DR Further to my article about radio during trip to Portugal, a number of readers asked for details on how I mounted my whip antenna system to my camera monopod for /P … Continue reading Construction Notes: VO1DR Monopod Antenna Mount→
Yesterday, I operated from the Silver Lake Day Use Area of US-3322, Pinckney State Recreation Area. This is a great park, and in many respects, I like it a lot more than US-3315, Island Lake Recreation Area. It’s just a little further from my house than Island Lake, and I think I’ll be spending more time at US-3322, now that I’ve hit 1,000 QSOs at US-3315.
One of the 40 contacts I made was with Jim, N4JAW. He’s not only a very active POTA operator, but also very active on Mastodon. Yesterday, after I returned home, I was pleasantly surprised to find this video posted to Mastodon. I’m re-posting it here with Jim’s permission.
Not so twisted anymore
As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been contemplating ditching the twisted-pair feedline I have been using on my POTA doublet antenna, after having such good success with my friend Paul’s Cobra antenna. That antenna uses 450 Ω ladder line. I happened to have a 100-ft. roll of high-quality, 300 Ω twinlead, so I thought I’d give that a go. I’ve used this antenna twice now, and while it’s hard to prove conclusively that the antenna works better with with the 300 Ω feedline, it “feels” as if it’s working better.
Of course, it could just be that band conditions have been better during my last two activations. That’s why I’d like to actually make some measurements. It’s not that easy, though. There are a couple of articles online that explain how to use an antenna analyzer to do this (1, 2), and I’ll give these a go once I’ve read and digested this material.
The downside to using 300 Ω twinlead is that it’s bulkier and less flexible than twisted-pair wire. It also seems more sensitive to environmental factors, such as touching the ground. But, taking a little care when setting up the antenna takes care of those issues.
QRN?? At the park?
It wasn’t all good news yesterday, though. There’s something at the park generating a hellacious noise on 20 meters. The noise is so bad that the band is practically unusable. This noise is somewhat noticeable on the other bands, but just barely, and certainly not enough to make the bands unusable.
That being the case, every one of the 40 contacts I made yesterday were on bands other than 20 meters. I started out on 40 meters, then jumped to 17 meters, which fortunately was open and active. I tried 15 meters, too, and made a few contacts there, but it wasn’t very active, so I moved back to 17 meters.
This noise is new. Last Thursday was the first time I’d noticed it. I would have made a recording of it, but I didn’t have an audio recorder handy on my phone. I will do next time I get to that part of the Pinckney Recreation Area.
On Mastodon, someone suggested that the noise was coming from a solar inverter. I hadn’t thought about that at the park, so I wasn’t really looking for solar panels, but I’m guessing that this is correct. Next time I’m there, I’m going to have to walk around and see if I see any. I might bring a small radio, too, to see if I can pinpoint the noise source.
Even if I do find the noise source, I’m not sure what I can do about it. I suppose that I can point this out to the park officials, but I’m not sure what, if anything, they’ll be motivated to do about it. Stay tuned for more on this. If you have any ideas of what I should look for, please let me know.
After far too long, I've finally managed to get Fldigi and Quisk to work together to finally do digi modes like Olivia. The problems I had before were the following:
When I used hamlib to set the frequency from Fldigi and switch Quisk from RX to TX via PTT, it seemed like Quisk and Fldigi were fighting each other. The frequency then jumped back and forth for so long that Fldigi became so unusable that I had to terminate the process .
I did not see the sound devices within Fldigi
The guide by James Ahlstrom helped a lot, which unfortunately I initially hadn't understood in as much detail as I should have.
I have implemented the following instructions with the following software versions:
Debian 12 stable with Cinnamon as DE
Fldigi 4.1.23
Quisk 4.2.35
Quisk: Sound Settings
The following screenshot shows how I've set up the audio settings in Quisk:
The two important settings are:
Digital Tx0 Input: "pulse: Use name QuiskDigitalInput"
Digital Rx0 Output: "pulse: Use name QuiskDigitalOutput.monitor"
Fldigi: Rig Control
I've switched from hamlib to flrig / xmlrpc with the following settings:
Enable flrig xcvr with Fldigi as client
Shutdown flrig with fldigi
Addr: 127.0.0.1
Port: 12345
Flrig PTT keys modem
FlDigi: Soundcard - Devices
Check the option "PulseAudio":
Gluing the Sound Stuff together
Now comes the interesting part!
First, start both, Quisk and Fldigi. It is very important that the applications are running.
Now start the Pulse Audio Volume Control application with the command pavucontrol. You might need to install it first from the package repository.
Click on the tab "Recording". There should be a line visible with the Fldigi icon and the text "capture (some number)". Select "Monitor of QuiskDigitalOutput" in the drop down box next to it:
Click on the tab "Playback". You will notice that there is no such line with the Fldigi icon visible. This is because it is only there when you transmit from inside Fldigi. Pick a clear frequency and e.g. send a longer CQ message in Olivia. As soon as Fldigi switches to TX, a new line with the Fldigi icon and the text "playback (some number)" will be shown in pavucontrol. Select "QuiskDigitalInput" in the drop down box next to it:
That's it!
Now you are good to go: It should now be possible to change the frequency in both Quisk and Fldigi for both applications at the same time, PTT from Fldigi should work without any problems and you should be able to see the signals received by Quisk in the Fldigi waterfall and also be able to make transmissions.
Many thanks to Lee (M0VKR) who shares the following field report and video: SOTA CW Activation on High Willhayes Dartmoor by Lee (M0VKR) It was an overcast and breezy morning when wife Joanne and myself Lee, M0VKR set out on our latest SOTA (Summits on the Air) activation adventure. Our destination was High Willhays, the … Continue reading QRP SOTA: Lee pairs the KH1 and MPAS 2.0 to activate High Willhayes (G/DC-001)→
Come to me, O ye children!
And whisper in my ear
What the birds and the winds are singing
In your sunny atmosphere.1
About the Longfellow House
According to its official website, the Longfellow House “was a site of colonial enslavement and community activism, George Washington’s first long-term headquarters of the American Revolution, and the place where Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote his canon of 19th-century American literature.”
The house served as George Washington’s headquarters during the Siege of Boston from July 1775 to April 1776, making it an important Revolutionary War site. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow lived in the house from 1837 until his death in 1882. It was a center for literary and cultural activity during his residency. The Longfellow House was a gathering place for prominent literary figures, artists, and intellectuals of the time, including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Charles Dickens.
Activating the Longfellow House
I live about 7 miles from the Longfellow House. Like the Alewife Brook State Reserve that I activated recently, this is a semi-urban site. Being Sunday, I was able to drive to the site and park across the street. Note that Cambridge has strict parking enforcement with few non-resident spaces in this area on other days. So you may want to consider a Sunday activation. Alternatively, you could take the 77 MBTA bus from Harvard Sq. to this POTA site.
The park consists of a single large lot nestled in tony West Cambridge. I walked the grounds to explore a bit and find a good place to set up my Elecraft KH1 Transceiver. In the back, there was a nice garden.
Initial Setup
Just behind the visitor center on the northern end of the house, there are some picnic tables well-suited to a small rig like the KH1.
Unfortunately, early in my activation, my radio display indicated that it was overheating and stopped transmitting. It was probably good it did so—I was so focused that I didn’t realize that I was overheating myself! So I took a break and found a new site on the southeastern side of the small park with some beautiful trees and shade. I’ll probably just set up at that location in the future. It’s out of the way of foot traffic and has great shade.
I resumed my activation. Propagation was not good that day. I had to work fairly hard for a little over 2 hours to make 11 contacts and consider my efforts successful.
You can see the map of my contacts that day. Thanks to all the hunters who stuck it out that day with my little 5-watt radio, my compromised whip antenna, and poor conditions.
Pride
While I was there, the park was hosting a Pride Month event. So this is my chance to wish all LGBTQ friends and allies a Happy Pride Month!
You’re seen and you’re loved.
From the poem “Children” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ↩
Good afternoon. KJ7T is in the booth! This is Tom Salzer with some Random Wire Reflections for Issue 97 of the Random Wire Review that will publish on Friday, July 5th.
And I have to laugh a bit when I saw I'm in the booth, because the reality is I'm at my messy sit-stand workstation at home, early in the morning when it is quiet, and just pretending that I have a recording booth!
I actually recorded this podcast inside the passenger compartment of my Honda Ridgeline truck while waiting for my daughter’s prescription to be filled. I captured audio on my Zoom H4N Pro Handy Recorder with a “dead cat” filter over the sensitive microphones. The audio was later imported into Audacity for final editing. I exported the audio in mono to save space, making this podcast a bit more friendly for folks using cellular bandwidth to listen.
Tom Salzer KJ7T
Overview
OK, let's take a dive into Random Wire Review issue 97.
Topics in issue 97 include:
Independence Day;
a new (to me) Dakota Lithium battery;
the Digirig Mobile and Digirig Lite devices; and
a terminal node controller by MFJ.
I also offer some reflections on encryption of radio traffic and on APRS. The closing notes include a short bit about cloning my hotspot microSD card, a sound clip from an AllStarLink net, and a few photos from the Hillsboro Hops baseball game.
If you are interested in AllStarLink, you’ll want to stay tuned to the very end where late-breaking news is shared about a major version upgrade for AllStarLink!
Independence Day Edition
Since issue 97 will publish on July 5th, I'm calling it the Independence Day Edition.
On July 4th, my wife and I will attend a baseball game that pits the Hillsboro Hops against the Eugene Emeralds. We'll try to eat a few hot dogs, have a beer, and watch the fireworks show that will be featured at this game. Usually we get together with family, but having a night out for the two of us seems like a great way to celebrate Independence Day this year.
In issue 97, I refer readers to a Reddit thread about the First Amendment and ham radio. Reading through those comments helped me appreciate the many privileges we enjoy as licensed amateur radio operators even more.
New Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery
I succumbed to a deal on Facebook for a 12-volt, ten amp-hour battery from Dakota Lithium, for $69. That’s a nice price for a portable battery.
This little guy is a bit larger than my off-brand 12.8V 6 amp-hour battery by TalentCell. I'm surprised the Dakota battery doesn't weigh much more than the TalentCell battery.
I tested the battery by clipping the power leads from my Ten-Tec Scout 555 to the spade lugs on the Dakota battery. It worked great and I can tell this is going to be a mainstay in my ham radio kit.
Digirig Mobile and Digirig Lite devices
I have a Digirig Mobile device that I bought because I couldn't get an MFJ TNC some time ago. The Digirig device works great. It's about the size of a large thimble, as in the protective device you put on your thumb when sewing.
Actually, the Digirig kind of blows my mind. Essentially, it's an external sound card that is just tiny.
The catalyst for me to look again at the Digirig products was an issue of Steve Stroh's great newsletter titled Zero Retries. Steve included a bit about the new Digirig Lite device that incorporates some of the needed cabling into the device.
I love a tiny and complete solution so the Digirig Lite is on my "must acquire" list.
If you like content that is interesting and future focused, produced by an experienced and capable ham, I recommend Steve's newsletter to you. A subscription button is included in issue 97 of the Random Wire.
A New TNC Arrived in the Shack
And speaking of terminal node controllers, Steve's mention of the Digirig Lite caused me to remember why I bought the Digirig Mobile, so I went looking for an MFJ 1270X TNC again. Most vendors I checked list this device as out of stock, but Ham Radio Outlet had some in Sacramento.
I very swiftly logged into my HRO account and ordered up another 1270X. It arrived a few days later. I include unboxing photos in issue 97.
Encryption of Radio Traffic
I overheard an interesting conversation from an east coast reflector while on a morning drive for the coffee that fuels the start of my day. Somehow, those hams got onto the topic of encryption of radio traffic by city, county, and state agencies.
I reflect a bit on this in issue 97. I'm of two minds. Normally I would prefer radio be open to all. But I've been in the public safety arena and I understand the need to protect people, families, businesses, and public officials. If encryption makes public safety officials safer and better able to do their jobs, then I support it.
How Do You Do APRS?
I actually did laugh out loud when this title popped into my head because it echoes a line in the 1980s movie The Last Starfighter. In that scene, an alien astronaut is meeting the hero's friends and family on Earth, and when one of the people asks him "How do you do?" he responds with: "I do WELL! How do YOU do?" That's the intonation I hear in my mind when I read How do YOU Do APRS?
I run APRS in my mobile rig: a Yaesu FTM-300DR on VFO B. I also have APRS enabled on my desktop AllStarLink node and on my Yaesu System Fusion hotspot. These latter two devices simply report the position of the devices. They aren't digipeating or igating APRS traffic.
I'd love to know how you use APRS, and if you don't, why not? The technology has been around for a while but I consider that a strength because it means there are a significant number of APRS digipeaters around the world.
I've been kinda sorta thinking of adding a digi on my home network, and that means either getting a pre-built device like the WX3in1 Plus or building a fill-in digipeater. There are links to some interesting digi projects in issue 97.
Notes
I did clone my hotspot microSD card as I suggested I should a few weeks ago. The clone is currently in the hotspot and running fine. The original card is labeled and in my workstation drawer. The image file that I can use to burn more microSD cards is stored on my file server. That's about as backed up on this system as I need to be.
Something I'd like to do in Random Wire Review issues is include a sound clip of a particular operating mode. In issue 97, I link to a seven-minute clip of an AllStarLink net that let's you hear the wide range of audio quality among the participants. Audio ranges from smooth and clear to completely broken.
One of my goals is to help subscribers who have not used some of these modes experience the kind of audio you might hear.
I think I'll throw in a few photos from the Hillsboro Hops game, just for fun. Getting away from radio for a few hours can be a refreshing change that helps provide a bit more perspective when you come back to it later.
LATE BREAKING NEWS
Hours after Random Wire 96 was published last week, AllStarLink announced the availability of ASL 3. This is presented as a Beta release. If you take a look at the online manual, this is a big step forward for ASL:
Supported Hardware & Software
Any x86_64/amd64 hardware device
Any emulated x86_64/amd64 virtual machine
Any arm64-based device such as Raspberry Pi
Any emulated arm64 virtual machine
Debian 12
I welcome this big version change but I think it should come with a caution. Many of us will want to upgrade to the latest and greatest version which is now ASL 3 Beta. If your node is running fine, I suggest waiting a bit to see if undiscovered bugs or problems come to light, especially if your node is publicly accessible.
Despite my sense of caution, I must say well done to the AllStarLink folks. I feel like my financial support of AllStarLink is helping to make a difference. AllStarLink is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization so your donations may be tax deductible.
I’m sure I’ll give it a try soon. My cloud node is definitely a public-facing system so I’ll capture multiple backups of the working node before I go down this path. Step one, though, is to read the user manual!
With that, I'll say thank you for taking the time to listen and to comment. 73 to all. This is KJ7T and I'm clear.
Login
On July 1, the ARRL returned Logbook of The World (LoTW) to service! They noted that during a brief LOTW opening 6600 logs were uploaded, but not processed until they were sure that the system was functioning properly.
The ARRL Foundation Club Grant Program—funded by Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC)—is an opportunity for clubs to apply for grants up to $25,000 to fund projects in areas that will motivate and develop active radio amateurs, with an emphasis given to projects that are of a “transformational” nature.
Amateur Radio Daily reports that:
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