Surfin': Are You in the Blog Now?

This week, Surfin' takes a look at the current state of the art of Amateur Radio blogging.

More at http://www.arrl.org/news/features/2008/05/30/10133/

New feature for Parma Radio Club Online

On the sidebar at the right you'll see a map showing the geographic locations of the last 100 visitors to our site. If you move your mouse over any point on the map the city and country for that visitor will be displayed. If you click on the map, a large Google map map shows the 1000 most recent visitors. This map has the normal Google map zoom and navigation features.

As time passes, data on the visitors to the blog will be compiled, and in a while you'll see how many people from all over the world check us out.

Lunchtime CW confusion !

A good lesson about sending CW.

Previous to that, my CQ was answered by another 599 station; but even if my life depended on it; I would not be able to tell you who it was that was calling me. The station answering me sent a string of letters with no breaks whatsoever. It was a jumble and mish-mash of consonants, vowels and numbers. I was able to make out my own call; but that was it.

More at http://w2lj.blogspot.com/2008/05/lunchtime-cw-confusion.html

With No Prohibition, Skimmer Gets CQ WPX CW Test Drive

After weeks of contester chatter about the impact of the CW Skimmer, some hams around the world finally gave VE3NEA's controversial program a test during a major contest, as the CQ WPX CW became the first real Skimmer proving ground.

More at http://www.radio-sport.net/skimmer6.htm

CW Skimmer

CW Skimmer may be the biggest thing to contesting since computer logging. Or, maybe not. It's software that makes use of a simple receiver used with SDR (Software Defined Radio). See for yourself at http://www.dxatlas.com/CwSkimmer/

Features

* a very sensitive CW decoding algorithm based on the methods of Bayesian statistics;

* simulatneous decoding of ALL cw signals in the receiver passband - up to 700 signals can be decoded in parallel on a 3-GHz P4 if a wideband receiver is used;

* a fast waterfall display, with a resolution sufficient for reading Morse Code dots and dashes visually;

* the callsigns are extracted from the decoded messages, and the traces on the waterfall are labeled with stations' callsigns;

* the extracted callsigns are exported as DX cluster spots via the built-in Telnet cluster server;

* a DSP processor with a noise blanker, AGC, and a sharp, variable-bandwidth CW filter;

* an I/Q Recorder and player.

HF’s Magic Carpet Ride

Not sure HF is such a good thing? Take a look at http://ke9v.net/2008/05/25/hfs-magic-carpet-ride/ . There may be more to it than you think.

Solder Smoke

Are you a home brewer or like to experiment? Then Solder Smoke is the WEB site for you at http://www.soldersmoke.com/. They have podcasts covering all sorts of technical subjects. You can also listen to the mp3 files with your media player. They also have a blog at http://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/

WebSDR

On this page you can listen to and control a short-wave receiver located at the amateur radio club ETGD at the University of Twente. In contrast to other web-controlled receivers, this receiver can be tuned by multiple users simultaneously, thanks to the use of Software-Defined Radio.

Check it out at http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/websdr.html

Straight Key Century Club

Not very good at CW or just like using a straight key? SKCC (Straight Key Century Club) may be for you.

The Straight Key Century Club - a/k/a SKCC is the fastest growing group of straight key, morse code operators in the world. First organized in January of 2006 our membership has rapidly grown to include thousands of members from all corners of the globe.
Here's how it works:

* SKCC is open to any interested licensed radio amateur
* Membership is free
* SKCC numbers are issued for life. Once you get it, it's yours.
* Exchange SKCC numbers using a Straight Key, Bug or Side Swiper.

To Request a SKCC Number, send an email with 'SKCC # Request' as the subject.
Include: Your name, call, city and state and a brief description of why you're joining SKCC

Check it out at http://www.skccgroup.com/

New Contest Blog from ARRL

It didn't take very long after CQ Magazine announced their WPX contest blog for ARRL to start their own Contest blog at http://www.arrl.org/blog/Notes%20From%20The%20Contest%20Branch called "Notes From The Contest Branch Weblog." The battle of the blogs has started.

Neighbourhood Dispute Over a Ham Radio Long Wire

Morse Code at 140 WPM

After reading an article in the Wall Street Journal about Chuck Adams, K7QO, who has a fascinating hobby — or two — I decided to contact him and find out the story for myself.

Chuck copies Morse code accurately at 140 words per minute (WPM), making him one of the fastest operators in the world. When contacted about his amazing feat he said the figure of 140 WPM is “probably misleading.” Chuck explained, “There are three code speeds that I think any good CW operator should know and should know how to measure. Plain text with a ‘mil’ or keyboard. This is the way world records are done and [also] code tests, [copying] one minute without error out of five minutes of plain text from the hard copy generated. [C]ode tests started out this way and then went to either a multiple choice or fill-in-the-blank [test] …before being discontinued.

More at http://www.arrl.org/news/features/2008/05/20/10107/

Amateur Radio Field Day 2008

This is a promo by the ARRL.

KN4LF DAILY LF/MF/HF/6M FREQUENCY RADIOWAVE PROPAGATION FORECAST

For those who like to look into future here is a nice forecast site by Thomas Giella, KN4LF, at http://www.kn4lf.com/kn4lf6.htm It is very comprehensive. He also moderates an e-mail reflector. Info about that can be found at http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/kn4lf

My website is a conglomeration of solar, space weather, geomagnetic data, as well as my KN4LF 160 Meter (LF, MF, HF, VHF) Radio Propagation.

Remote Radio Station Control

The Mysterious Memristor

This one is a bit technical but very interesting.

Anyone familiar with electronics knows the trinity of fundamental components: the resistor, the capacitor, and the inductor. In 1971, a University of California, Berkeley, engineer predicted that there should be a fourth element: a memory resistor, or memristor. But no one knew how to build one. Now, 37 years later, electronics have finally gotten small enough to reveal the secrets of that fourth element. The memristor, Hewlett-Packard researchers revealed today in the journal Nature, had been hiding in plain sight all along—within the electrical characteristics of certain nanoscale devices. They think the new element could pave the way for applications both near- and far-term, from nonvolatile RAM to realistic neural networks.

More at http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/may08/6207

Fully Automatic Bug (cheap)

GHD's Mechanical version of the "ultimate autokey" harks back to the glory days of mechanical keys. Supplied with three weights, the GN907 can be configured for three different speed ranges. It has an extra contact assembly on the right, so the dash pendulum can be locked and the GN907 will operate as a traditional semi-automatic bug. The base measures 6" x 4" and the weight is

You save can some money. This one is only $1199.95 at http://www.mtechnologies.com/ghd/index.htm#bugs.

Fully Automatic Bug

GHD's "Ultimate" key, the optical sensor FULLY AUTOMATIC bug. This unbelievable machine feels like a slightly "heavy" paddle. The dash pendulum can be "locked" for semi-automatic operation. Reliable optical sensors remove the need for adjusting contacts. The 907 is supplied with three weights for a wide range of operating speeds. A universal powersupply, pre-wired for the 907, is included. The base measures 6" x 4" and the weight is 5 Lbs.

Every shack should have one of these. You can have your very own for only $1549.95. Check it out at http://www.mtechnologies.com/ghd/index.htm#bugs

A Fully-Automatic Single Pendulum Morse Key

This is a fully automatic mechanical keyer. It does both dits and dahs automatically. Unfortunately this fellow doesn't send very well and the resolution of the video isn't very good.

4D Ionosphere in Google Earth

The 50/50 Rule

I never really had an “Elmer.” However, I took a lot of advice from hams wiser and more experienced than I, and probably the best advice I ever received was the “50/50 rule.”

The 50/50 rule basically postulates: Whatever your budget for amateur radio, for every fifty cents you spend on equipment, spend fifty cents on your antenna system. Of course, that translates to fifty dollars, or five thousand dollars, or any other sum.

Why follow the rule? Simply because time, money and effort spent on antennas pays far greater dividends than the same time, money and effort spent on station equipment and accessories. Ask any “big gun” station owner, regardless of the bands he uses to make his mark on the ionosphere, or even the troposphere.

more at http://www.eham.net/articles/3625

HamKat

A Super Solar Flare

At 11:18 AM on the cloudless morning of Thursday, September 1, 1859, 33-year-old Richard Carrington—widely acknowledged to be one of England's foremost solar astronomers—was in his well-appointed private observatory. Just as usual on every sunny day, his telescope was projecting an 11-inch-wide image of the sun on a screen, and Carrington skillfully drew the sunspots he saw.

On that morning, he was capturing the likeness of an enormous group of sunspots. Suddenly, before his eyes, two brilliant beads of blinding white light appeared over the sunspots, intensified rapidly, and became kidney-shaped. Realizing that he was witnessing something unprecedented and "being somewhat flurried by the surprise," Carrington later wrote, "I hastily ran to call someone to witness the exhibition with me. On returning within 60 seconds, I was mortified to find that it was already much changed and enfeebled." He and his witness watched the white spots contract to mere pinpoints and disappear.

It was 11:23 AM. Only five minutes had passed.

more at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/06may_carringtonflare.htm?list69914

History Channel Show to Feature Nikola Tesla

Modern Marvels, a series on The History Channel, will feature electricity pioneer Nikola Tesla in an episode scheduled to air May 14. Helping out with the program was Bob "Loby" Lobenstein, WA2AXZ; Lobenstein is General Superintendent, Power Operations for New York City's subway system. "We did 8 hours of taping interviews at my 1904 power substation," Lobenstein said. "In addition to the action scenes of me throwing the 100 year old switches and demonstrating the use of power, I did a 'Mr Wizard' talk, showing the various things that 'Mr T' envisioned and invented.

more at http://www.arrl.org/?artid=8169

Organizing electronic components

Here's a neat way to store and organize electronic components from "Marxy's Musing on Technology" http://marxy.org/2007/04/organizing-electronic-components.html

W1TP MUSEUM OF TELEGRAPH AND SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS

This site displays the magnificent keys, designed and machined by Richard A. Meiss, WB9LPU. Not only are they beautifully designed, but they are also works of art.

See more at http://w1tp.com/mrm.htm

Google Earth's Ionosphere

This just in: NASA-funded researchers released to the general public a new "4D" live model of the Earth's ionosphere. Called Earth Space 4-D, this new online tool visualizes the ionosphere using Google Earth and an Internet connection.

"This is an exciting development," says solar physicist Lika Guhathakurta of NASA headquarters in Washington, DC. "The ionosphere is important to pilots, ham radio operators, earth scientists and even soldiers. Using this new 4D tool, they can monitor and study the ionosphere as if they're actually inside it."

more at http://www.arrl.org/news/features/2008/05/02/10076/?nc=1