With Varying Frequency - Amateur Radio Ponderings

Randomly Random

k9zw — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:17:57 +0000

61592689450503340833 72589522806364287224 11933358777144337564 91965287896421411221 08094092958275637215 Strings of Random Numbers – useful things for various testing, coding and modeling efforts. But how to generate these strings (and other forms of randomness), specially as so many on-line offerings are not truly random (“Pseudo-Random” in the jargon)? One interesting project is “Random.Org” at: http://random.org RANDOM.ORG is a true random number service that generates randomness via atmospheric noise. [...]

Emcomm Professionalization Marches On

k9zw — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:43:40 +0000

As an ARRL Emcomm Level I, II & III Field Instructor/Mentor/Examiner I’m included on the ARRL’s related communications. The program is doing a major change, and just look at the list of courses they expect someone to make time to take – courses that do not have very much to do with Radios BTW, but instead [...]

GUEST POST – Paul AE5JU’s Radio Adventures – Part 2 PSK31

k9zw — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 06:09:23 +0000

Here is my good friend Paul Coats follow up article – Paul AE5JU’s Radio Adventures – Part 2 PSK31 Enjoy! 73 Steve K9ZW A week or so back I spent a few hours with Larry W5LJL, a fellow club member. He has a Kenwood TS-140 and an Icom IC-718. Larry had downloaded Ham Radio Deluxe / Digital Master [...]

Planning a Quiet November as it is NaNoWriMo Time

k9zw — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:52:31 +0000

With Varying Frequency is planning a quiet November. I have some posts prepared and will use this time to repost updated versions of some of the most popular posts. Taking a second year stab at doing some larger scale writing, by doing the NaNoWriMo project (National Novel Writing Month) From their website: What is NaNoWriMo? National Novel Writing [...]

Island Upgrades to Omni VII, Orion II, FT-2000 and Flex-5000a

k9zw — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:11:37 +0000

Today after a two and half hour drive and a 40 minute ferry ride I set foot, or more exactly set my wheels, on Washington Island WI-001L, on my way to George W9EVT’s ham shack to install firmware updates on several radios and set up his Flex-5000a radio after he had received a new [...]

It Must Be Something in the Air – Radio Clubs & Emcomm

k9zw — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:06:18 +0000

It must be something in the air, the obvious differences between various amateur radio hobby groups. Wait — perhaps that is it? amateur radio hobby groups — there we go, it is that combination of words. Amateur – the nonprofessional, the enthusiast, the Explorer, the experimenter, the advocate. Radio — that use of the electronic ether [...]

Voice Text – Possibilities for Integration into the Shack

k9zw — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 10:00:22 +0000

This is the first post for “With Varying Frequency” that I am speaking rather than typing. I’m working with a software package called “MacSpeech Dictate” in an effort to learn more about speech recognition by computers. Obviously through the errors of my speech, and the limits of computer software, there will be some small corrections I’ll need [...]

When the Loon calls! Autumn Station Work

k9zw — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 01:38:00 +0000

Where did summer go? Even Autumn is racing to be done. And now it is my race to get outside station work tidy before the cold settles in. As my shack is set up so I can see one of our fireplaces; we’ve put in a couple full cords of firewood to enjoy over the winter. I’m [...]

Winter Reads – 2008-2009 – Batch IX

k9zw — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:12:59 +0000

A further quick update on my ninth batch of books read so far during my 12 month reading log. I have added the previous lists a cumulative list to help me keep track of my reading goals: Earth Abides, by George Stewart Better to Beg Forgiveness, by Michael Z. Williamson One Second After, by William R. [...]

Mole Day 10^23 (October 23rd)

k9zw — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:34:51 +0000

Remember that October 23rd is Mole Day! Full Write Up at: http://k9zw.wordpress.com/2009/10/09/6-0225-×-1023-day-on-oct-23rd-–-national-mole-day-09/ 73 Steve K9ZW

FCC Speaks on Emcomm – “Get a Waiver”

k9zw — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:03:29 +0000

From the ARRL this morning: http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/10/20/11151/ FCC Issues Public Notice on Amateur Service Communication During Government Disaster Drills On Tuesday October 20, 2009 the FCC released a Public Notice clarifying the Commission’s rules relating to the use of Amateur Radio by licensed amateurs participating in drills and exercises on behalf of their employers. [...]

“The Flats” WI046R First Time Island Activation by W9DK

k9zw — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 08:20:17 +0000

On October 17th 2009 the Mancorad W9DK Radio Club successfully qualified “The Flats” Island in Appleton Wisconsin as First Time Activators! The field team for W9DK consisted of: Jody KC9KVT Gene KB9KXF Rich KC9LOA Steve K9ZW The W9DK team made 26 QSOs with 5 DXCC countries – Germany, Madeira Island, Spain, Canada & USA – using the W9DK Club Call Sign. Weather [...]

Podcasts – Getting Information Across or Blather?

k9zw — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:09:37 +0000

I like podcasts. I specially like podcasts that get to the point. Disappointingly so many podcasts often are blather and windy. Specially the unscripted. Unscripted may work for an Arts Podcast, but for a technical podcast it is a real gamble. Non Structured “Interview Episodes” very much depend on the interviewee and the interviewer having a [...]

GUEST POST – Paul AE5JU’s Radio Adventures – Part 1 PSK31 & More

k9zw — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:59:41 +0000

I’m very pleased to receive another Guest Post from my friend Paul Coats AE5JU today! Here is Paul recounting some of his adventures getting started in Amateur Radio: Foreword – Steve asked me to write a few guest columns describing my trials and tribulations in ham radio for hams not very far behind me. In other [...]

US Islands W9DK – First Time Activation Oct 17th 2009

k9zw — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 06:09:59 +0000

It is official, the Mancorad W9DK October 2009 US Islands effort was approved as a Mancorad W9DK official club event. For the Oct 17th event we will be using W9DK/Flats from “The Flats” Island until we have enough QSO’s logged to qualify the Island, at which time we will be able to give out the US [...]

K9ZW Classic Articles Tag Added

k9zw — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 15:05:54 +0000

You will find in the menu at the top of the blog screen a new tab “Classic” That tab links to page with a predefined search for the tag “K9ZW Classic” Articles with huge continuing readership are being tagged so this shortcut will take you there. 73 Steve K9ZW

6.0225 × 10^23 Day on Oct 23rd – National Mole Day ‘09

k9zw — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 18:52:29 +0000

6.0225 × 10^23 Day on Oct 23rd is National Mole Day 2009! Tuesday, October 23rd is National Mole Day – a Mole being Avogadro’s Number (6.02 x 10^23), which is a basic measuring unit in chemistry. With my XYL being the third generation of Chemist in her family, and our eldest Tom KC9JGD in his [...]

US Islands Announcement – First Time Activation Oct 17th 2009

k9zw — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 03:01:53 +0000

Members of Mancorad W9DK Radio Club are planning a first time activation of “The Flats” an Island in the “Fox River,” Outagamie County, Appleton, Wisconsin It has a pre-approved US Islands ID which will be released upon successful activation. http://www.usislands.org Expected activation team is Steve K9ZW * Carl KA9WYK * Rich KC9LOA Tim N7TAL and Jody KC9KVT * = Usual “W9DK Island Activation [...]

I.C.E. Radio Products Technical Bulletins

k9zw — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 12:48:00 +0000

I.C.E. engineers and staff technicians have prepared a list of free technical publications for customer reference. These cover a variety of subjects related to the usage of I.C.E. products, facility design and construction, lightning and over voltage protection, and product comparisons with other companies’ goods. Written in easy-to-understand language for the non-technical: http://www.iceradioproducts.com/10.html Using Anti-Oxidants To Ensure Good [...]

Cold War Artifacts – Radio Communication Rockets

k9zw — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 02:17:18 +0000

The mention of Soviet “Command Rockets” part their Perimeter Doomsday machine in a recent article reminded me of the former missile based system I’d read about in the press: http://www.wired.com/politics/security/magazine/17-10/mf_deadhand?currentPage=all Our USA UHF Emergency Rocket Communications System part of our Post-Strike Survival System was designed to maintain communications after an EMP/Nuclear Event. Some links: http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/c3i/ercs.htm http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=8222 “Emergency Rocket Communications System (ERCS) An [...]

VE3NEA’s Ham CAP Propagation Prediction Tool

k9zw — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:57:35 +0000

I’ve been running Alex VE3NEA’s Ham CAP 1.61 on my station PC. Other software created by Alex Shovkoplyas, VE3NEA includes DX Atlas, DX Bulletin Reader, CW Skimmer, Morse Runner and more, marketed under his Afreet Software, Inc. moniker. Ham CAP 1.61 is his HF propagation prediction tool for Amateur Radio and one of [...]

ARRL Speaks on Paid Employee Emcomm

k9zw — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 01:33:29 +0000

A few days ago the ARRL released a position paper on Paid Employee Emcomm which supports the present interpretation that the rules as they are do not legally provide for Paid Employee Emcomm outside of during an actual emergency, and even then with caveats. Even if “off the clock” the FCC has said you [...]

DX Video Review: K5D Desecheo Island 2009 DXpedition DVD

k9zw — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 06:17:46 +0000

The KP1-5 Project 2009 K5D Descecheo Island DXpedition was an amazing event for the DX Amateur Radio enthusiast. An island “DX Country” so close but basically closed to Amateur Radio for years. Only a small number of contacts from a series of small scale DXpeditions had been made from KP5 over the 30 years it [...]

Post Number 900 to With Varying Frequency – Amateur Radio Ponderings

k9zw — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 01:31:32 +0000

It is a sort of nonsense milestone, but in the fashion that WordPress counts Blog Posts, this is my 900th update to With Varying Frequency – Amateur Radio Ponderings. For the most part my original project goals are continuing, a chance to share what others have been kind enough to teach me about Amateur Radio and [...]

Guest Post: AE5JU – I Never Knew the Guy

k9zw — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:21:57 +0000

I’d asked my friend Paul AE5JU if I could share some of his ham experiences, and he’d has graciously agreed. Paul AE5JU went from a SWL to Amateur Extra in a single test session, and has kept a-going! Here is a recent recounting of being recognized as a Ham: I’ve had my picture in the paper several times [...]

Being Technically Right Does Matter – Dealing with Incorrect Amateur Radio Emotionalism

k9zw — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:02:23 +0000

Specially in the Club Setting, how many of use have had to deal with “I feel” and other emotional rational masquerading as Technical Decision Making? We once even had a (now ex-)Board Member go off on an adult tantrum with an “I don’t care what …. because I FEEL that it is …..” Needless to [...]

Special Event Spots – Courtesy or Run Amuck?

k9zw — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:35:00 +0000

Have a peek of the DXScape screen shot above – Domestic Spotting of a Domestic Special Event has not only crowded out real DX Spots, but between N2CU and W2TB become virtually the only reports available to a user. By reporting their domestic event spots every few minutes the usual DX Content has been [...]

Technology Forgotten – The Steps of How We Got Here?

k9zw — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 16:59:43 +0000

I did an interesting experiment over the last week by showing various people one of my sliderules to see what their reaction might be. I showed a Pickett N-500ES “Hi Log Log Duplex Slide Rule” in its leather case, like this one from a fantastic website. Website link for The Sphere Research Slide Rule Site: http://www.sphere.bc.ca/test/sliderule.html I [...]

Amateur Radio Bits and Pieces – An Update from K9ZW

k9zw — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:15:32 +0000

Have been pretty busy with work and family, enough to limit my on-air radio time to a few hours a week. An upgrade to the Flex-Radio Flex-5000A’s PowerSDR software has me back in the Digital modes again, and did work some PSK31 this weekend. A night or two each week you can find me on the Everynight [...]

Winter Reads – 2008-2009 – Batch VIII

k9zw — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 17:03:34 +0000

A further quick update on my eighth batch of books read so far during my 12 month reading log. Pushed this post a bit ahead, as I’ve hit a milestone where I have now read enough to claim a book-per-week for the year several months early. I have added the previous lists a [...]

Local Mancorad W9DK Club News – September 2009

k9zw — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:41:28 +0000

Have been rather busy and very involved with work, family and a little bit of Radio. A few nights I was able to make the 1.895 Everyday 160m Net at 00:00z and had caught a very small amount of DX on mostly 20m. Our local club has several very good things going on: - A Hamcram is in [...]

Right There With CW – Illustrated Self-Guided Course On How To Use The Slide Rule

k9zw — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 10:14:43 +0000

I’m a fan of things Nomogram, like Slide Rules, and on discovering this wonderful on-line Slide Rule course wanted to share it with you. Illustrated Self-Guided Course On How To Use The Slide Rule http://sliderulemuseum.com/SR_Course.htm The course is excellent, a virtual Slide Rule is available on-line to try your virtual hand at working a Slide Rule, and [...]

For the Want of a Nail – 50-Cent Station Necessities

k9zw — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:50:57 +0000

For the want of a Nail – Fuse – my station is off 160m. For no apparent reason my Alpha-78 Amp blew a fuse and I had no spares on hand. Most bands I can work quite successfully without an Amp, but 160m seems to all but require the amp’s QRO efforts to push my [...]

Winter Reads – 2008-2009 – Batch VII

k9zw — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 01:37:25 +0000

A further quick update on my eigth batch of books read so far during my 12 month reading log. I have added the previous lists a cumulative list to help me keep track of my reading goals: Another Place to Die, by Sam North The Politically Incorrect Guide to The Great Depression and the New [...]

Further Thoughts on the K9ZW Operating Desk Redesign

k9zw — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:54:18 +0000

Having further thoughts on doing the redesign of my operating desk. Have started recording what switches I need to access at what points, making a list of what I need to be able to see. Some items are “start & forget” for the most part – Power Supplies, Amp Keyer Interface, and similar items only need [...]

New Operating Station Design for K9ZW

k9zw — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 01:14:06 +0000

I’m busy working on a new operating station design for my operating console. The layout is far from ideal, and evolved rather than was planned. Though it is working OK, the “piled-up” style makes even minor maintenance troublesome. A recent RFI in the shack took way too long to track down, mostly due to evolved rather [...]

Recent QSL Cards Received by K9ZW

k9zw — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 02:30:06 +0000

Here is a quick list of some of the recent QSL Cards I have received: IR0IPY – Italy (International Polar Year Station) OF8X – Radio Arcala Team FJ/OH2AM – First St Barthelemy Island Operation 4A3IH – IOTA NA-183 Ixtapa Island IW9HII – IOTA EU-025 Sicily Island VP9/K1XM – IOTA NA-005 Bermuda ER4DX – Moldova CU2/DK5SAL – IOTA EU-003 Sao Miguel, Azores FM/DK5AL – IOTA [...]

NUE-PSK Modem adds RTTY Mode

k9zw — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 18:45:56 +0000

Just over the reflector, news that RTTY has been added to the very interesting stand alone NUE-PSK Modem: RTTY mode now fully supported in NUE-PSK Digital Modem! W8NUE and I are very pleased to annouce that RTTY mode is now fully supported on the NUE-PSK Digital Modem! Milt has been working like crazy this summer to complete support [...]

Guest Post – Paul AE5JU on Anderson Powerpoles

k9zw — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 03:05:18 +0000

Paul AE5JU gave a presentation to his local radio club, BEARS, at their August 12th 2009 Meeting and has offered the material as a blog post from the Wednesday presentation: Tonight I will be showing how to install and use Anderson PowerPole connectors. These are considered “the standard” power connector for ARES/RACES and allow interconnectability of [...]

Software Defined Radio (SDR) goes HT

k9zw — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 21:51:27 +0000

Software Defined Radio (SDR) goes HT, albeit for the Government: Over a year ago: Thales Communications announced its Liberty™ Multiband Land Mobile Radio (LMR), the first multiband, software-defined LMR for government agencies and first responders. With coverage across all of the public safety bands (136-174 MHz, 380-520 MHz, 700 MHz, and 800 MHz), Federal, State, Local, and [...]