Ramblings by K6RJ

National Public Radio (NPR) had an interesting item a couple of days ago about the growth of amateur radio in spite of the current age of such social networking technologies like Facebook, Myspace,Twitter,cell phones and more. In fact, it states that the number of ham licensees in the US has increased to nearly 700,000, up 60% since 1981.

Should we really be surprised by this?  If you think about it, wasn’t ham radio is one of the first social networking technologies?  It just makes sense that interest in ham radio would rise as interest in social networking rises.   So, who says ham radio is dying?  You can read the whole article here.

Newington, CT. April 7, 2010 – The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU), and its member societies representing over 150 countries around the world, will celebrate World Amateur Radio Day on April 18, 2010. The theme for this year’s celebration is “Amateur Radio: combining communication experience with modern digital techniques.”

Amateur Radio operators, called “Hams,” have been the leaders in developing many of today’s modern electronic and communications marvels. Today the citizens of Earth can think of “wireless” as being the ubiquitous cellular phone or WiFi systems because of the pioneering work in radio and associated technologies first explored by these “amateurs”. Many leading electrical engineers were able to draw from their practical experiences as Amateur Radio Operators as they developed modern radio receivers, television, VCR’s, high powered transmitters, FM radio, adaptive antennas, and many other inventions that are today’s necessities.

Today’s hams continue to explore new frontiers. Radio Amateurs are finding ways to use frequencies at the fringes of the radio spectrum while developing marriages of radio and the internet, and experimenting with digital and satellite communications. Ham Radio operators may be “Amateur” because they are unpaid volunteers, but their skills and contributions to the world are of the highest order.

Since 1925, the IARU has been instrumental in coordinating and representing Amateur Radio to the world. For information about the International Amateur Radio Union please see: www.IARU.org.

One of the more fun contests of the year is this weekend, March 27-28, 2010.  It’s the CQ WPX SSB contest.  The goal of the contest is for amateurs world wide to contact as many amateurs and call prefixes as possible during the contest period.  If you are new to contesting, chasing awards or just want pick up a few new DXCC entities this is the contest for you.  You can check out the rules here.

This promises to be a good one with sunspot activity on the rise.  Hope to hear you in the pileups!

The FCC’s new Spectrum Dashboard allows new ways for citizens to search spectrum in the United States. Use the dashboard to find out how spectrum is being used, who owns spectrum licenses around the country, and what spectrum is available in your county.

Below is a screen print of the Spectrum Dashboard when browsing by spectrum bands.  You also have the option of browsing by map, common name (i.e. ATT, Verizon, etc.) or FCC license category.  Place the mouse cursor over an allocation and the frequency range and usage is displayed in a pop up.

There is a lot of useful information here and it’s searched and presented in a very practical manner.  It’s nice to see our tax dollars actually producing a useful tool for once!

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Jims Briggs, WA9TIR

Jim Briggs, WA9TIR of Bensenville, Illinois is the rightfully proud owner of this beautiful console installation.  How I wish I had the skills to produce something like this!  Great job, Jim!

There is an interesting article on PHYSORG.COM that may shed some light on the extended solar minimum we experienced between solar cycles 23 and 24.  That minimum lasted 15 months longer than was expected.  Unfortunately, and let’s hope they are wrong,  researchers Lisa Rightmire of the University of Memphis, Tennessee, and David Hathaway of the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama also predict the current solar cycle is likely to produce less activity that the previous one.

I must admit to having a lot of fun with my new Yaesu FT-450.  This rig has been extremely easy to operate remotely and I finally got around to trying the Ham Radio Deluxe software by HB9DRV.  I found the software very easy to install and configure.  I had it up an running within 15 minutes.  I installed the HRD IP server and was remotely operating the FT-450 on my home LAN within 30 mintues.  I have the IP Server configured to run on start up so my station is always ready to operate remotely.  I installed HRD on my work computer the next day and was operating in minutes.

I really like the interface of the HRD software.  It gives me everything I need, is attractive and is quite customizable.  Within a few hours I was changing the skin, adding new CAT control command buttons and more.  This is how I have my HRD interface looking now.

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I have been using IP Sound to handle the VOIP functions.  I found the sound quality to be good and installation and configurability is a breeze.  I have both my remote and base PCs configured to start IP Sound on startup.  I also have IP Sound configured to auto answer so it is always ready to receive calls.  IP Sound also allows you to define an application to run upon start up.  On my remote PC I have it configured to auto start Ham Radio Deluxe.  I simply start IP Sound, connect to my base PC and Ham Radio Deluxe is started automatically.  I click connect in HRD and I am connected to my FT-450 at home and in business.  Two clicks and I am operating.  It really is that quick.

The distance between my office and home is about 34 miles.  I am anxious to try remote ops when I go on a business trip next month.  I will be about 350 miles from home with many hours free in the evenings.  Hopefully the hotel with have a true broadband connection.

This contest was a lot of fun.  I ran the whole time using the new Yaesu FT-450.  I must say it performed quite well.  The receiver is much quieter than the Alinco DX-70 it replaced and the IF DSP functions really helped separate out the weak signals.  All in all, I am quite impressed with it!   I was disappointed that I couldn’t keep my hands free by using my headset.   I had made an adapter for my Heil BM-10 headset but was disappointed to have some AC hum on the audio.  That sent me back to the hand mic thus slowing my logging and QSO rate.

The propagation was definitely better than recent years.  Lots of good activity into Europe on 40, 20 and 15 meters.  I made only a few Qs on 10m and 80m.  As usual, I only operated about 1/3 of the contest but still managed a couple hundred QSOs.  Below is the QSOMap plot of my QSOs.

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My new Yaesu FT-450

I recently acquired a Yaesu FT-450 HF + 6m transceiver to replace the aging Alinco DX-70 as my back up rig in my shack.  I’ve only had the 450 for a few days but I’ve already discovered there is a lot to like about this little rig.  First is it’s size.  It doesn’t take up a lot of room on the desk at only 9”W x 3.3”H x 8.5”D and it weighs in at only 7.9 lbs. Some have complained about the size of the controls, particularly the main VFO knob, but I’ve had no problems with the size.  Sure, a larger VFO know would be nice but it hasn’t been a problem for me.

It also features 400 MHz IF DSP, a 10 kHz bandwidth roofing filter in the 68 MHz first IF, IF Shift and Width, IF Notch filter, DNR (Digital Noise Reduction) and a contour filtering system that provides shaping of the IF filter pass band to suppress or enhance particular frequency components among it’s QRM fighting tools.

In addition, it sports a digital microphone equalizer to tailor your signal to your voice, a built in electronic keyer, a memory keyer,  a limited but useful voice memory keyer and CAT control, of course.  This rig has a lot of features I’ve yet to play with or discover.  As I use and become more familiar with this rig, I will post more.  If you have any tips, tricks or comments on the FT-450, I would appreciate your comments to share with others.  Thanks!

I don’t know about you but I don’t get a lot of radio operating time during the week or most weekends.  My long commute and busy family life prevent me from getting on the air as much as I would like.  That is why I enjoy operating contests when I can.  I really enjoy chasing DX, awards and trying different modes and contests give me that chance in a short time frame.  I run barefoot (100W) and have a very modest antenna farm and DX contests put a lot of DXCC entities on the air in a very short time frame.  Perfect for guys like me to pad their DXCC  or other award totals!

This weekend (March 6-7) is the 2010 ARRL International DX Phone Contest.  The object is for North American amateurs work as many amateur stations in as many DXCC countries of the world as possible on 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meter bands and vice-versa.  It is a great way  to raise your award totals, improve your operating skills under crowded, sometimes difficult band conditions and have a lot of fun.

If you have never participated in a contest, this would be a great one to jump in on.  No special gear or CW skills are required as this is a phone (voice) contest.  The rules are simple and you are sure to have fun.  With sunspot activity on the rise, propagation will be better and the DX will, hopefully, be popping!  Why not give it a try!