5 easy steps to antenna matching with a Vector Network Analyzer lnkd.in/eFnTyui
“With Halloween and Pirate Radio Global HF Weekend coming up listen to pirates on Shortwave” : youtu.be/a6nY-7MFFxU?a via @YouTube
5 easy steps to antenna matching with a Vector Network Analyzer lnkd.in/eFnTyui
“With Halloween and Pirate Radio Global HF Weekend coming up listen to pirates on Shortwave” : youtu.be/a6nY-7MFFxU?a via @YouTube
WSPR Antenna Testing Methodology oh8stn.org/blog/2017/06/2…
The Smith Chart Enters a New Dimension bit.ly/2uRUqng
There were lots of good things in my Twitter feed this morning. Here are the three coolest.
AMSAT-UK @AmsatUK
Having Fun with #AmateurRadio Satellites by VK4ZQ vk4zq.wordpress.com/2016/09/24/hav…#amsat#hamradio#hamr
This item got my attention because I finally got around to reading the AMSAT Journal that I picked up at Dayton last year. In that issue, there was a short article by Carlos, CX6BT, who, while on vacation set up his HT to scan the 2m band and inadvertently picked up AO-85. This got me thinking that I should be able to do the same thing. So, I’m going to reprogram one of my HTs to simply scan for satellites.
Mark Taylor @ma_taylor4
An interesting RX antenna for medium wave. bit.ly/2hUtzzW
When I was a kid, I built a similar antenna to do AM BCB DXing. I think I got the plans from a National Radio Club newsletter or maybe a Popular Electronics. Mine was a larger loop, but with fewer turns wound on a wooden frame. My woodworking skills were pretty bad (they still are!), so it looked pretty crude, but it worked pretty well.
HackerSpace Tech @HackerSpaceTech
How Rotary Encoder Works and How To Use It with Arduino #HackerSpaceTech #arduino #tutorials vid.staged.com/dZAt
Tedium @readtedium
The bizarre, unusually deep rabbit hole of DXing: bit.ly/2fQ90EA#radio#vintage
Sverre Holm, LA3ZA @LA3ZA
Even better low-pass filters for transmitters la3za.blogspot.com/2016/11/even-b… #hamr #hamradio #G3TMG #QEX
Today, I got a nice surprise in the mail–a prize package from Radio Slovakia International. About six weeks ago, I entered their contest, “Icons of Slovakia.” By answering a simple question after listening to a program about Peter Sagan, Slovakia’s latest cycling star, I won the t-shirt and cap shown in the picture below. The cap says “Slovensko,” which is the Slovak word for Slovakia. The shirt has a picture of Peter Sagan with the message, “SAGAN: Made in Slovakia.”
Yeah, I know the colors don’t match, but I wanted to get them both in the same picture. :) I also know that this isn’t amateur radio related, but it is SWL-related, even though I listen to the Radio Slovakia podcast instead of the SW broadcast.
I once again joined the ICQPodcast panel for episode 209. We discussed the following:
I talked a little bit about the D-STAR satellite in a previous post. Of the other topics, the dynamiting of the VOA towers and the changeover at the RSGB (and more importantly for U.S. amateurs at the ARRL) are the most interesting.
On the ICQPodcast, Marin, W9ICQ/M1MRB said that watching the demolition video (see below) nearly brought him to tears. I wasn’t quite so affected, but I do find it sad that the antennas weren’t being used anymore and that there were no plans to use them in the future. It’s just another indication of the decline of shortwave broadcasting. At least they won’t be putting up an apartment complex or a shopping mall; the land is slated to be a wildlife preserve.
DVMEGA the Swiss army knife for Digital Voice. Check what it all can do ! dvmega.auria.nl/Downloads.html
The Oxo Good Grips Turntable for the Mediumwave DXer goo.gl/fb/fGjbxZ #shortwave #swl #dx
Build your own satellite ground station, makezine.com/2015/09/30/bui…, by me for @make. #cubesat #space pic.twitter.com/RgzBvV3xUy
The other day I was thinking some more about the CW Geek’s Keyer, so I thought I’d search Amazon for 16 x 2 LCD displays. One of the displays that I came across is called the 1602 Keypad Shield, or something similar. This display not only has a 16 x 2 LCD display but six buttons as well. How cool is that?
I wonder how robust those buttons are for regular use, but the price is certainly right. You can get one of these shield for less than $10, and I’ve seen at least one for less than five bucks.
Yesterday, at our amateur radio club meeting, Ed, AB8OJ, mentioned that he subscribed to The Spectrum Monitor, He said that it was being published by the guys who used to run Monitoring Times. Single issues are $3, a yearly subscription (12 issues) is $24, and the magazine is only available in PDF format.
I had some trouble with their online ordering system, but I finally got hold of the May 2015 issue. It’s impressive. There is a good mix of articles, covering nearly all aspects of the radio hobby. For radio amateurs, there’s an article on homebrewing, digital voice on the 220 MHz band, and a U.S. Navy special event station.
There’s plenty for shortwave listeners, too, including utility loggings, a report on a shortwave broadcaster’s conference in Oman, and even an article on VLF. All told there are 92 pages of really good content.
Ulis K3LU @UlisK3LU
FCC Experimental License Grants Show Interest in HF Spectrum @SWLingDotCom @LondonShortwave #shortwave #hamr radioworld.com/TabId/64/Defau…
EDN.com @EDNcom
RT @spiraljetty: Make high-quality double-sided PCBs – at home | EDN edn.com/design/pc-boar…
London Shortwave @LondonShortwave
Morse Code learning is good for the brain: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2034639… @UlisK3LU @SWLingDotCom