VK2RH's blog has moved

The blog is alive and well at http://vk2rh.com.

Overland Telegraph - 140 years ago, yesterday!

An ABC News story today tells of the celebrations in Darwin this week marking the start of the Overland Telegraph on 20th June 1870 when the South Australian parliament voted to dedicate about half its annual budget to building the telegraph line!

Barrie Barnes of the SA & NT Morsecodians and others appear in the video accompanying the story explaining the history.

CW resources

Via a link to a Facebook page I found two morse related application (for Windows) here. This page is interesting not just for the RSS Morse and Morse Keyer programs, but also some handy morse related links.

I discovered a free pdf book 'Zen and the Art of Radiotelegraphy' by Carlo Consoli, IK0YGJ. Interestingly Carlo wrote the book in Italian, translated it into English himself and then got Ulrich Steinberg, N2DE to revise the book. Net result: Very readable! When you think about it the first thoughts behind the first morse signals to hit the ether would have been in Italian! Carlo also salutes craftsmen such as craftsmen like Piero Begali I2RTF, Salvatore Canzoneri IK1OJM and Alberto Frattini I1QOD.

There are also links to versions of The Art and Skill of Radiotelegraphy by William G. Pierpont N0HFF (3rd edition - 20 April 2002) and Using an Iambic Paddle by Chuck Adams, K7QO.

Also via a post to the CW email group a link to K6DBG's page on 'Some things I've discovered about learning and operating CW' and a link to a "a cross-platform Morse program http://c2.com/morse/.

This site is the distributon site for current and historical versions
of A Fully Automatic Morse Code Teaching Machine first described in a

May 1977 QST article of the same name by Ward Cunningham.". 

Ward Cunningham of course is the ham who also developed one of the earliest wikis at http://c2.com/cgi/wiki.

Call that a morse key!

Received the club key from SKCC today.
A very solid piece of work that you can tell immediately was designed by an operator. It's beautifully finished with adjustment knobs that instill confidence.
And it certainly makes some in my small collection look tiny!

USB morse key

Via Julian G3ILO news of an Arduino based project to build an inteface to enable direct input to a computer with a morse key. Lots of information can be found here.

It looks like a neat little project. I don't get the feeling it's going to be offered as a kit or anything. Most of what you'd need to know to make one is on the site including a schematic and the code that decodes the morse code!

This is similar  - in concept at least - to those iPhone morse apps where you can tape the screen in the same way you would a straight key, and the app gives you feedback on your morse - at the most basic level by translating it back to what you hopefully intended to say.

What would be even more exciting would be an interface that could also handle paddle input to PCs ... a bit like the $1.99 iPhone app iDitDahText by Marc Vaillant. You can only load this one on to jailbroken iPhones. It's available via the Cydia Store. It enables you to enter text in all iPhone apps using the equivalent of an iambic keypad on the screen up to 50 wpm. Great party trick!

Or better still isn't there a way to connect the output of the iPhone or even the iPad - electrical not audio - to control a keyer and a transmitter. Throw in PTT control while you're at it!

Digital radio speed bump

Lead story on Southgate News is latest stage of mounting concern over radio "scrappage" plans that are part of the switchover to digital radio in the UK. One UK radio network group UKRD is refusing to broadcast the radio scrappage advertising campaign and they describe it as "morally and ethically suspect."

And apparently they're not alone. Rob Mannion G3XFD, editor of the UK radio magazine Practical Wireless also has grave doubts about the rush to digital radio in the UK. He's launched a national campaign aimed at maintaining essential traditional analogue broadcast radio for everyday listening and for use in times of national emergencies.

Also see the earlier Southgate news item about concerns that DAB is twenty-year-old technology.

QST for June 2010 arrived in Sydney today

Now I can see the article by Tony K2MO that was being talked about on the digitalmodes email list and that generated a flurry of activity with the ALE 400 mode. It explains how to use MultiPSK by Patrick F6CTE to use ALE 400 to have error-free two way keyboard chats.

Other articles this month include:
Homebrew Challenge II Winner #1 — The Lowest Cost Entry - Donald W. Huff, W6JL
For less than $30, you can build this 40 meter band 50 W linear amplifier for your QRP rig.

HF Yagi Triplexer Especially for ARRL Field Day - Gary Gordon, K6KV
Put three transceivers on one antenna using a decoupling network in conjunction with band-pass filters.

A Fan Dipole for 80 through 6 Meters - Richard P. Clem, WØIS
Parallel dipoles can be easy to build and are quite effective — once you know the rules.

Receiver Sensitivity — Can You Have Too Much? - Joel R. Hallas, W1ZR
With modern receivers, hams are not as concerned with sensitivity as they once were. But if you want top performance from your rig, here are some tips to keep in mind.

A Vehicle Mounted Mast for Field Operating - Geoff Haines, N1GY
This easy-to-deploy portable mast will get your Field Day antenna up fast.

Product Review includes the second part of the wrap on popular dual-lever keyer paddles — Vibroplex Iambic Standard, Elecraft's HexKey, K8RA's P-2 & W5JH's Black Widow Kit.

Three new keys

As the aussie dollar dies and the exchange rate plummets (down > 11% in less than a week!), I can sense the appeal of eBay waning. And soon the pleasant flow of small and not so small packets from overseas may dry up. (Even now - with  slight recovery - the aussie is just at US 83 cents compared to 93c last week.)

This week I've received three keys - from the UK, the US and Victoria - all of them neat and smaller than your average morse key.

Arriving from the UK was a key made by New York firm J H Bunnell - similar to the very first key I ever had in my teens. It was billed as a WWII key.

Coincidentally in the same delivery there was a key I'd ordered from the J H Bunnell company in the states. I was responding to an (out-of-date as it turned out to be) note about a stash of NOS (new old stock) Bunnell Navy Flameproof keys. They wrote back promptly to let me know these keys were out of stock but they did have NOS supplies of the same MIL STD CMI-26003A keys manufactured as the prefix indicates by Molded Insulator. A very neat key, as new in what looks like the original labelled cardboard box.

The last of this trio of keys to arrive was an as new Hi Mound HK-705 which Morse Express describes as the little brother to my HK-708.

All of these keys are compact enough to literally fit in your pocket, but still not as small as - or perhaps as practical for portable ops - as the tiny Palm Paddle!

Fuchs antenna

Received the kit for the Multiband Fuchs antenna from QRP porjects in Germany. The English manual explains how it tunes a half wavelength at the lowest band to operate effectively on higher bands. So a 41m length of wire can be used from 80 - 10 metres.

"Tuning is very easy. The first step is, to find the point of maximum noise / loudest signal in receive. Now with a small transmitter signal, the link is switched to lowest SWR. Ready. The FUCHS is equipped with an output indicator. Only at the point of resonance, the LED glows."

Handy K3 resource

Via the Elecraft email list a pointer to a comprehensive looking listing of settings for the K3 compiled by K8DD. There's also a document detailing calibration procedures for the K3.

June World Radio Online available now

The June edition of WorldRadio Online is here.

Cover story is of Steve WG0AT and taking on the ARRL Field Day alone. Well the two goats Rooster and Peanut aren't too far away, but they don't look very interested in helping log contacts or make the odd cup of coffee.

B&W coils

I was surprised to see that one longtime brand I associate with my earliest days playing around with radio, Barker and Williamson, is still thriving - and even better, still providing the product I associate them most closely with, air wound coils, specifically the Miniductors.

There's a list of the types they have available here. They're not cheap, but they are convenient. They don't appear to have a local Australian distributor. They do sell an attractive looking 13-42pF butterfly variable capacitor for US$25.

QST for May 2010 arrived in Sydney today

Articles this month include

• a report on the second Homebrew Challenge featuring inexpensive designs (think around $30) for a 50 W amplifier.
• circularly polarized Yagi antennas for satellite communications
• a homebrew a window feed through panel
• explaining the differences bewteen a duplexer and a diplexer
• a six band - 20 - 6 metres log periodic dipole array using a phasing line.
• an Amp-Hour meter for portable ops to monitor battery discharge rate.
• there's also a review of some popular dual-lever keyer paddles and a couple of noise canceling headphones, and the Yaesu FT-1900R 2 meter transceiver. 

More info - including how to subscribe - here.

K1 arrived

The K1 I purchased recently arrived today. I'm looking forward to exploring it.

It has all options including both interchangeable 4 band and 2 band modules, KAT1 - ATU, KNB1 - noise blanker,  KBT1 - internal battery holder, K1BKLT - dial backlight and KTS1 - the wide range tilt stand.

I was lucky enought to get a Palm Paddle included in the deal and the paddle base is neatly stowed on the stand. This compact little radio just needs an antenna and it's ready to go.

Iambic keying: How to?

Stumbled across interesting YouTube video on "Iambic Keyer and Technique" attempting to teach how to use an Iambic keyer. It's about 5 1/2 mins long. Another video from IK0YGJ simply shows the sender using a beautiful Begali Sculpture and sending at 50wpm.
While I'm at it I should include the link to the 9mins plus video explaining how to use iDitDahText on the iphone.

Homebrew ladder line spacers

It never ceases to amaze me what wisdom is simmering away amongst those email discussion groups I read.

Out of the blue today - prompted by mention of a commercial solution on the Elecraft list - came a sequence of brilliant ideas about making effective and easy on the budget ladder line spacers.

The commercial spacers from K&S Ham Radio Parts look great, but the fact they're made of nylon prompted concerns about their survival against UV. At 25 cents a piece I think they look fine!

In response there was a pointer to a YouTube video showing how to turn a box of ballpoints into very neat and secure spacers using black cable ties.

And then a pointer to another commercial solution from True Ladder Line, and a hint about how to replicate the effect at home using 'drip sprinkler tubing' which is the right size and and has just the right amount of rigidity for the job. And there's Dave ZL1BJQ with his approach based on those plastc chopping boards you can buy at any $2 shop, cut into spacer pieces, notched then pushed on to wires and held in place with hot glue.

And then there's this approach by VK2YE using plastic coat hangers, cut to length (5cms) and drilled to fit wire, and then glued to stay in place. In fact this is just one of 138 videos on his YouTube channel.

FT-817 resources online

There's a wealth of digested experience on this particular radio online.

ka7oei has a detailed site which has pages devoted to the following topics:

• Repeater coverage analysis using the FT-817 and GPS
• About the RF Power Amplifier 
• The NiCd/NiMH page 
• "Customizing" the FT-817 
• FT-817 Correspondence 
• The FT-817's 'Soft Calibration' Menu 
• The FT-817's Schematics  
• Quirks of the FT-817
• The Receiver 
• VSWR/Reflected power metering on the FT-817 
• A Detailed circuit description of the FT-817 
• Current Consumption of the FT-817 
• Optimizing the power consumption of the FT-817 when using battery power and a switching supply 
• Operating the FT-817 from Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) cells 
• Operating the FT-817 from other types of cells 
• CAT (tm) Interface Programming with the FT-817 
• FT-817 Bugs, Manual Errata and Omissions, and Birdies... 
• FT-817 Radio modifications 

Other FT-817 related sites include:

• OZ9AEC has an FT-817 page
• Yaesu's own web page about the FT-817 
• K6XX's FT-817 pages 
• The Yahoo FT-817 E-group which also hosts the useful FAQ page
• 

The "Ham Radio Deluxe" page 
• FT-817 FCC Type-Acceptance Documents

One of G4ILO's 'Radio topics' pages is devoted to the FT-817. His document points to 817-Mem, a program to manage memories on the radio.

WSPR

Prompted by Julian G4ILO's musings about the possibility of volcanic ash being responsible for propagation he observed a few days back, I've been looking deeper into WSPR, the application that produced the data that inspired the notion.

First stop was the main WSJT site where Princeton physicist Joe Taylor K1JT outlines the application along with other weak signal communications applications. The WSPR page points to the 20pp. User's Guide (pdf).

There's also some information at the WSPRnet site - especially the stunning map and the detailed database of recent spots.

Full circle  - when I searched for a general introduction to the software and the mode it's based on - sure enough I end up back with Julian, G4ILO. He's published a very readable and comprehensive article which quite rightly comes up #4 on a WSPR google search. He describes how easy it is to become part of a global beacon network and contribute to the generation of up-to-the-minute propagation reports.

Right now, I'd really like to know how to interpret the colour and thickness of the lines tracing the transmission paths on the map. 

It is, ah, not raining here also!

Via vk3app's twitter feed, a pointer to the first part of the definitive and classic Hancock episode, 'The Radio Ham'.



Painfully hilarious!
Part 1  |  Part 2  |  Part 3

Volcanic propagation

G4ILO has some interesting observations and speculation about recent 10m openings in his part of the world. He wonders whether they might be scatter off the clouds of volcanic ash drifting to Europe from Iceland.

SDR lists

Via M1KTA's blog a pointer to Christophe F4DAN's exhaustive list of SDR projects.

What an amazing resource! It feels like the distillation of many hours of research and study.

Really valuable information in here. It was last updated at the end of March. Also available in 'une version française'.

A123 batteries

There's been a great explanation posted on the Buddipole list about the practicalities of using the A123 battery packs Buddipole sell from their site.

The advantages of the A123 chemistry are low weight, fast charge times and ability to deliver high current. As well their voltage - 13.2v for a four cell pack such as the one shown - is well-suited to modern amateur radio gear.  

The email exchange is yet another example of how an innocent newbie's question can draw out the best information which benefits the broader group. Mark KD5RXT's explanation of duty cycle and the unique qualities of this new battery chemistry are almost text-book ready!


I'm still keen to find out more about the selection of the best solar cell and charger system to keep such a battery topped up. I sense that a system that could take advantage of its fast charge rate might dwarf the rest of the radio gear. And I also sense that current portable solar panels, especially the expensive roll-up ones might barely keep track even at QRPp levels.

iPad date announced for Australia

News this morning from Apple that the delivery date for iPad (both WiFi & 3G) - in Australia - is 29th May.

I'm so looking forward to seeing how an iPad might fit into a portable QRP operation. Or even a remote one. I'm also hoping that Apple will retain enough of open protocols so that the device does not simply become an expensive personal front end to whatever shops they wish to set up, like the sadly not ready for primetime Kindle.

Lack of a camera on the iPad is odd - given the next iPhone will actually have two - one in the front as well as the existing one on the back. Bluetooth keyboard sounds like it could be fun. I also imagine that ham radio apps to track satellites (ProSat) and monitor solar activity (Space Wx, 3D Sun etc) should look amazing. A work colleague showed me his new Android phone with a graphically brilliant astronomy application that you could use to locate, stars, planets and constellations easily. It felt like visual velvet and the images were much richer than I've seen so far on the iPhone.

Even a straighforward app to display bandplans should be able to be made to look clear and brilliant and enable you to get different views depending on mode, QTH or licence class.

The creator of the Continental code

I stumbled on to a page on Wikipedia about Friedrich Clemens Gerke, (22 Jan 1801 - 21 May 1888) the man responsible for simplifying Vail and Morse's original telegraphic code.

As the wikipedia article explains, "The original Morse code consisted of four different hold durations (the amount of time the key was held down), and some letters contained inconsistent internal durations of silence. In Gerke's system there are only "dits" and "dahs", the latter being three times as long as the former, and the internal silence intervals are always a single dit-time each."

 This chart reveals the logic behind his reform of the code.

 

After some minor changes it was standardised at the International Telegraphy congress in Paris in 1865.

Fabric antenna

Via Southgate News and MAKE magazine news of a collapsible fabric yagi antenna developed by Diana Eng KC2UHB who has combined two craft skills in a stylish way, electronics and sewing. It's a design for a Yagi for portable amateur radio satellite operation.

Her MAKE magazine article is well-written, comprehensive and brilliantly illustrated.
Diana Eng has also written an earlier article aimed at newcomers to amateur satellites for MAKE that covers:

• Finding out when to listen
• Finding the frequency
• Aiming a whip antenna
• Following the pass with the antenna
• Tuning the radio for the Doppler effect

Check the size of the antenna in that earlier piece and you'll understand why she aimed at something more portable!

KGD antenna translation

I'm keen to have a go at building a 40m version of the KGD short vertical dipole that used to be sold by QRPprojects.

Step one will be to translate whatever information I can find. It's happening here.

Silicon Chip (May 2010) and Elektor (March 2010)

Picked up two new (for me) electronics magazines.

Highlights of the Silicon Chip:

• Solar-powered lighting controller - a detailed description of the issues involved in the design. I've always been a fan of the Radio & Hobbies etc house style of technical writing. I grew up on in fact so it's like mother's milk to me. 
• There's also a very neat and compact 12v Stereo Amplifier that seems to be designed for buskers with SLA batteries. How many banjo players have you seen who need a PA? How many buskers play the banjo? I think there's a joke waiting to pop out there.

Highlights of the Elektor issue:

• Sceptre, a 32-bit ARM7 fast prototyping system. Open source, open hardware and open mobile. The project is a response to the low calculating power of the Arduino. This looks like a good way to dive head first into microcontrollers.
• An interesting article on the carbon footprint and appliances, standby power, manufacture and distribution and of course in generating the power to run the appliances.

Latest 'Amateur Radio' arrived

Received the latest 'Amateur Radio' magazine for May today. I really like the new look and the magazine feels like it's really arrived. It's always been a good read, but now the layout is matching the quality of the information. It's much easier on the eye and there also seems to be more investment in selecting the right mix of content.

Anyway, this month's highlights include :

• a continuation of the brilliant historical articles AR has been running as part of the Wireless Institute of Australia's centenary celebrations
• good technical articles about duplexers, diplexers and triplexers, quad loop antennas, homebrew butterfly capacitors and how to make your own ladder line using lego blocks!

I always think it's a healthy sign when you get more inspiration and enjoyment out of the content than the advertisements! And I suppose you don't one without the other.

Morse gems

Browsing today and came across some rich veins of morse information, including a great list of morse related links on the SKCC site, G0RDO's Morsemad site which has another fantastic list and the site of George VK2DLF with his brilliant keys such as the model 900 below.

These keys look like they're worth the 6-12 month wait.

Portuguese in morse

This page has a listing of how different alphabets and accented characters are sent with morse including Russian, Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Japanese and Korean. I feel an overwhelming urge to change it from its dots and dashes layout to a didah format to reinforce the sound and not the visual structure of the characters. As comprehensive as these charts are, I'm still a little in the dark about some accents used in Portuguese. It could be that they're simply not used in morse. Maybe listening to QSOs is the only way to confirm this.

Even the listing on the Portuguese Wikipedia page is missing the ã character. And this Brazilian page makes no mention of accented characters, even though it does explain that the codes for each character reflect their frequency in English.

Palm Paddle and Code Cube

Took delivery yesterday of a Palm Radio Paddle and the Code Cube. Reassuring how well made they are. The paddle is very finely adjustable. t comes with a neat base which has two strong magnets which have s great grip on the top of a FT-817 and make for a very compact package.

Very convenient combo for practising using a paddle and ready to go out of the box - but I can't work out how to adjust the actual volume of the sidetone. Maybe it can't be done. Excellent quality is such a relief when you buy something sight unseen on the recommendations of others.

I also got the Peg Legs for the FT-817 which are very neat and retractable. They took all of a couple of minutes to attach to the tiny transceiver. It took me longer to work out how to re-thread the carrying strap through the bracket slots. Good to put the brain through its paces.

Morse alive!

Great BBC story on morse code from 2008, mentioned on the FT817 email list by Joe WB7VTY:

CW Operator's QRP Club Inc

I rejoined the CW Operator's QRP Club Inc. after a long absence. I was surprised to discover I'm entitled to my original membership no #56. It's probably been almost two decades.

I have fond memories of the Lo-Key magazine, but I'm also keen to have a go at the club's Milliwatts per Kilometre Award! 10,000km on 5W or 1,000km on 500mW!

Via Julian G4ILO I came across a WSPRnet report from DM1RG on his success with a newly built KGD Antenna from the German site QRP Project. I had actually ordered their other antenna project (a Multiband Fuchs antenna that enables a single 41m wire to operate on all 8 HF bands) a few days ago and earlier tonight revisiting their site I was readng more about the KGD antenna - a very small vertical dipole - how's 130cm for a 30m antenna that enabled a link from D to VK on 5 watts?

The Kurz Geratener Dipol antenna is no longer available as a kit but the instructions are still online - auf deutsch. I should also have a go at translating the manual. It seems to be quite an effective design. On the 40m version (pictured here from the QRP project site) - all 150cm of it - the bandwidth between SWR 2:1 points is 45kHz.

Reading about the antenna again on the same evening is clearly some kind of good omen? I can almost imagine one mounted bike mobile!

Samuel Morse's 219th birthday

Samuel Morse was born 219 years ago. But of course credit for devising the code that bears Morse's name goes to his assistant (machinist & inventor) Alfred Vail. His birthday is 25th September 1807.

This key was built by Alfred Vail as an improvement on Samuel Morse’s original transmitter.

New CW learning resource

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

But make sure to check out the new training section on the SKCC site featuring mp3 files prepared by John KF7BYU.
So far the following texts are online, some in speeds ranging from 5 up to 50 wpm, along with text files:
The War of the Worlds, The Gettysburg Address, The Jabberwock, The Night Before Christmas, Hams Christmas and The Raven.

International Marconi Day

Today is International Marconi Day. He was born on this day in 1874 in Bologna.

Two of my favourite magazines

This afternoon I found the latest copies of MAKE and the QRP Quarterly in my letterbox.

    

Extreme solar close-ups

Hot science news of the day is the series of startling close-up images of the sun in full roar. ABC Science has a story with local scientific analysis of the unprecedented pix provided by the Solar Dynamics Observatory which was only launched on 11 Feb this year. A comprehensive set of images and downloadable video clips is at Watts Up With That?

The SDO's five year mission has got off to a brilliant start. Some of the images and video captured a coronal mass ejection from an amazingly close observation point!
(Image credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio)

Wouxun KG-UVD1P

I've had my Wouxun KG-UVD1P for a few weeks. I ordered it from a Hong Kong based dealer for US$105! I also ordered a USB programming cable. The radio works well and has a very pleasant audio to listen to. However I was never able to get the original progrmming cable to work. I tried every possible way, on three different PCs and even on a Mac pretending to be a PC(!). I finally contacted the dealer who suggested sending it back to HK for a check. The airmail was probably three times the cost of the cable. In any case now a couple of weeks later, I've just received a new cable and best of all - it actually worked first go! Thank you to Radioshop888!

My radio works on 2m and 70cm. In fact the frequency range is quite wide, taking in UHF CB and Marine frequencies: 136-174 and 400-480Mhz. As the Wikipedia sourced photo indicates other ranges are available for other markets.

The design and finish is probably short of the big firms, but for me it's easier to use than my Yaesu  VX-7R even though it's a bit fatter. It feels like a radio you'd readily grab and use. You don't need to spend a few nights of your life getting orientated to the device's view of the world. (That's probably just as well given the brevity of the Wouxun's guide). The battery is holding a charge well and all accessories including a spare battery are cheap. Full retail Yaesu replacement battery are almost what I paid for the Wouxun. I surprised how well the little 7" (18cm) whip works.

The Lost Tribes of Radio Shack

An article appeared on the WIRED site recently about the re-branding of RadioShack, a mirror of the same change happening to Australia's iconic Dick Smith Electronics stores. The subtitle sums it up: 'Tinkerers Search for New Spiritual Home'.

" The new bosses want to turn RadioShack into a hipper, more mainstream place for “mobility” — which is what they insist on calling the cell phone market. (In an interview, RadioShack’s marketing chief used the word mobility an average of once every 105 seconds.) Selling phones is central to the new RadioShack. And so far, it seems to be working. Per-store sales are up, and corporate profits jumped 26 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009." 

The article identifies 'a small subculture of RadioShack nostalgics' and their feelings of betrayal and loss. The author asserts that 

"in a single generation, the American who built, repaired, and tinkered with technology has evolved into an entirely new species: the American who prefers to slip that technology out of his pocket and show off its killer apps. Once, we were makers. Now most of us are users."

It sketches the history of the brand, the importance of the high profit margin and how in a way the introduction of the TRS-80 the first mass-produced PC was the beginning of the end for the DIY mission of owner Charles Tandy. The up to 500% markup of tiny electronic components has been replaced by the cell phone which is "like a tiny slot machine that pays off month after month."

The WIRED piece features eight pages of old Radio Shack catalogues scanned by fan Mike D'Alessio.

In Australia the Tandy chain was established in 1973 and finally purchased by Woolworths in 2001. Woolworths also own Tandy's one-time competitor Dick Smith Electronics (fully owned as of 1982). In 2009 Tandy stores began morphing into DSE outlets. Jaycar now remains as the most likely place to purchase electronic bits and pieces, with a wide network of stores across the country. Hunting down rarer semiconductors, components like toroids, hardware and even wire is often easier via US speciality suppliers like 'The Wireman' etc.

Start at 35wpm and you'll copy at 25 in no time!

Fantastic approach:

"You can copy 25 wpm in three weeks, with just 15 min a day practice. Start at 35 and work down... You listen, and listen some more. Use the W1AW practice run that starts at 35 wpm. After a few weeks, 25 wpm will sound slow, and you should be able to write the characters."

Ron on the CW list describing how he broke through his own plateau. Extreme Farnsworth.

New Elecraft 500W Amp

There are pics of the new Elecraft 500W amplifier online. Front and back.
Unveiled at the Visalia International DX Convention.

Ham Radio's Technical Culture

Kristen Haring's book "Ham Radio's Technical Culture" is a fascinating coverage of an activity that gets precious little coverage in the mainstream.

""Although approximately one million Americans operated ham radios in the course of the 20th century, very little has been written about this thriving technical culture in our midst. Kristen Haring offers a deeply sympathetic history of this under-appreciated technical community and their role in contributing to American advances in science and technology, especially the electronics industry. In the process she reveals how technical tinkering has defined manhood in the United States and has powerfully constituted 'technical identities' with often utopian, even, at times, revolutionary, notions about the social uses of technology."
—Susan Douglas, Catherine Neafie Kellogg Professor of Communication Studies, University of Michigan, and author of "Listening In: Radio and the American Imagination"

QOTD straight vs paddle

Quote of the Day from David N1EA in an exchange on the CW list about the merits of a CW newbie starting with a straight key or jumping straight onto a bug or paddle:

"A paddle and speed key in the hand of someone who has no feel for Morse sounds pretty ugly when they start sending with no spaces or extra dots and dashes. Kind of like running a rotary floor buffer the first time!"

David argues "with a straight key - especially on the lower frequencies - 1.8, 3,5 and 7.0 MHz - you can customize your sending to match the conditions. Sometimes sending "fatter" dashes gets the message through."

Another adds:

"...do yourself a favor, and learn with a straight key. Learning to be proficient in sending and receiving "good" code, is not magic. It takes a little dedication, and lots of practice on a regular basis. Check out youtube and you will see more than one "cw op" who thinks he is the cat's meow on a bug or paddle, little does he know that what he is sending is considered "poop fist" material. By learning slowly with a hand key, you will learn proper spacing between characters and words. When you get to the point where you can set the gap on your hand key at a "hairs width" and send with it perfectly at 15 to 20 wpm, you might then give a paddle a try."

Hearing EME with QRP gear & homebrew antenna

Congratulations to Julian G4ILO! He managed to hear EME signals with his FT-817 and a homebrew antenna.

Read all about it here and hear the signals.

Also interesting side stories about RFI sources and soundcards & recording audio off-air.

K3WWP's site

I've only just discovered K3WWP's CW and QRP site via NW7US' http://cw.hfradio.org/.

Amazed at the continuous record of publishing online since 1996 and the simple but powerful commitment to have at least one CW QRP QSO every day (a little like the necessary resolution of any half serious blogger!). What a model!

And what a wealth of good info there is online for the CW and QRP fan. Which makes the challenge of actually getting on the air and operating even greater!

Looking forward to exploring the K3WWP site further.

'Buddipole in the Field' by Scott NE1RD

This is a great US$15 value! Only downside I can see so far is that after reading it you come out with a new wishlist of Buddipole accessories such as the 9.5ft whips, the shockcord mast, the longest shockcord whip and other bits and pieces.

Scott is great at explaining the most efficient ways to use the Buddipole system. Along the way you learn a lot about the behaviour of small HF antennas at low heights and this informs the configurations most likely to succeed in QSOs.

While some of the info may already be available via the files on the BUG list site, the book pulls it all together and presents it so you have a clear idea of how it's likely to perform. Some of the 10/12m beams and the VHF beams look very interesting. And further reason to hit the Buddipole accessories page which is another place you can order the book. It's also available as a free download - in added colour - from the BUG Yahoo group page but if you're like me you'll find the printed book a useful companion.

Scott is also active on the BUG fielding queries about the book and the Buddipole system. He brings a time-saving degree of order and logic to using the Buddipole. And the book is very practical. The info he presents helps you decide whether to deploy the Buddipole or try a dipole high in a tree - assuming the location offers you that choice. There's a wealth of information about how best to use the Buddipole and the Buddistick as verticals. And no surprises here - more metal and fewer turns of coil loading needed, yield a bigger useable bandwidth.

Now I'm hunting for some basic info about how best to use my new MFJ-269 Antenna Analyser with the Buddipole. Youtube, here I come!

Windows soundcard software

Via the new SDR list heard about RV3APM's page listing a very wide range of 'Windows software via Soundcard'. It's a comprehensive, detailed and at the moment very up-to-date listing.

Also includes handy information about frequencies for different modes, discussion groups and othe background info about soundcard modes.

I wonder if there's a comparable listing of Mac applications... But that's probably this page!

Digging out useful info on gear

Spent a bit of time visiting WW2PT's site and reading the thread of messages tagged with 'K3'. It's great when you discover someone who has followed a similar path to the one you're on and can write about with a combo of wisdom and wit.

A key post is this one 'Concerning computers' about getting his K3 to talk with his MacBook Pro.

This has to be the great difference to doing ham radio now compared to when I first got the bug back in the 1960s and 70s. The sheer volume of experience and overwhelmingly good will that's materialised on the net has created an always available knowledge bank that's transformed the most enjoyable part of hamming for me at least - troubleshooting. Sure there's nonsense out there but it's not too hard to discern. And then there's the user communities!

 

I bought the KX1 and K3 partly due to the solid community of users on the main reflector, lead in the best way by gurus like Don W3FPR who are so generous with their experience and don't hesitate to share it, as well as the active involvement of Elecraft principals, Eric WA6HHQ & Wayne N6KR and others. Other purchases are informed as much as possible by getting a taste of the user community - aside for the occasional eBay impulse of course. Buddipole's BUG has a similar shared spirit. It's probably no accident that both lists are well moderated.

As an example of what I'm talking about here's an excerpt from Don's reply to a recent query about whether or not to build the 80/30m option kit as part of the initial build of the KX1 or to do it later:

"...there are pieces of the KXB3080 that can be installed during the initial build so you do not have to remove any more than 2 toroids. At one time, I created a "cheat-sheet" telling a couple of builders how to do it - I can try to find that email if you would like to try. I would only recommend doing that to an expert and confident builder. OTOH, an expert and confident builder would have no problem removing components from the PC board without damaging the board or burning the relay cases either.

The KXB3080 is difficult to install because of the small space available in the KX1, and the instructions must be followed exactly, particularly the LPF board - if not done exactly like the instructions, it will interfere with the tuner."

Maybe this impresses me so much because I never was lucky enough to have an Elmer when I started out!

Elecraft's P3 panadapter is now available to order

Elecraft have started taking orders for their much anticipated P3 panadapter. Cost for the kit version is US$699.95 and first deliveries not until the middle of July. The factory assembled version is US$50 more. All details currently at the Elecraft news page and orders can be placed at this page.

No sign yet of the manual for the P3.

Update 20 April: Details of the new P3 here.

Buddipole set up videos

I've only just discovered the set of video tutorials on YouTube featuring Chris W6HFP. They're clear and well shot and edited I suspect by Steve WG0AT. And they've been online for over a year!



In this one Chris explains setting up a Buddipole Versatee Vertical.

European keying

Attention drawn by a post to the SKCC email list to video on the GHD keys site illustrating the 'European' style of keying, demonstrated appropriately enough in this video by a Japanese operator. On this page it's described as the 'Reaction Method'.




Also an interesting exchange of comments on the SKCC list about this style.

Also found the GHD catalogue an eye-opener. Some very sophisticated keys and paddles there. Again these keys are also available from Morse Express.

CW and the missing link

I've been keen on finding out more about the Palm mini paddle. I like the look - and the size - of the paddle. I haven't worked out yet if there's a way to strap it onto your leg, but it certainly doesn't seem to require too much in the way of real estate.
I also like the design style of this line including the modular keyer, the "code cube".
Most impressive of all is the Infra Red link technology they've incorporated into the line. It looks like you can purchase an IR enabled Code Cube to plug into an existing Mini Paddle so you can link up via an IR receiver connected to your transceiver, or even a tiny sensor within the txrx - up to 5 metres away.
Marshall Emm's Morse Express seems to be the most accessible distributor. The site hosts extensive info including the pdf manuals, which can also be found on the German site.

waiting for the iPad

How long will it be before an app is developed and released for the new iPad which will enable you to remotely operate an SDR? The opportunity to use more screen real estate more effectively must be well-suited to such a task. How brilliant would it be to be able link back to your home station with a rich graphical interface via wifi or G3!