Ham Radio

HamClock

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I find it amazing how well 1 watt at digital modes propagate like JS8 compared to 5 watts and even 100 watts of SSB and will be presenting a talk at my local radio club on how I use HamClock to monitor propagation conditions. It really is capable of much more than I use it … Read more

QRP Radio Power Dissipation

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In the spirit of experimentation, I wanted to find out exactly how much power my QRP radios consume. I’ve had a Yaesu FT-818ND for several years now. It’s built like a tank but fragile at the same time. I bought a set of rails for it a while back to protect the knobs and the … Read more

My CW Progress

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Morse Code, aka CW in the ham world, was not a requirement when I was licensed. Some would say I’m a no code extra. Well not any more… I’ve been slowly working on my CW and although I have a poor fist I’ve gotten through all ten digits and all 26 characters. I’m not proficient … Read more

VARA APRS

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There’s been a recent upswing of APRS on the HF bands using EA5VHKs VARA modem. A recent update to the software allows larger KISS frames which makes APRS more efficient on the HF bands. A little bit about VARA VARA is an Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) method to transfer data. OFDM is primarily used … Read more

Off Grid Portable Radio

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I ran a solar powered off-grid portable op today. Equipment:Yaesu FT-818NDUSB SignaLinkFTDI CT-62 CAT cable from Valley Enterprises2014 Dell LaptopDuracell 9ah AGM batteryHardened Power BattBacHarbor Freight 100watt solar power kitN9TAX roll-up 2M/70CM Slim Jim antenna Operated 2M voice into WF4X (147.285) repeater in Defuniak Springs. QSOs with K4NDJ and KK4WDR.Operated JS8 at 5 and 1 … Read more