If you are playing around with HF you need to know when to be on the air and what band to use if you are chasing a particular location.
The RSGB have released a new propagation tool which really fits the bill.
Go to https://soundbytes.asia/proppy/radcom and put your grid square in the TX location hit the Run Prediction button. and see what comes back.
Hope to see you on FT8 or FT4.
73
Jim
ZL1LC
Friday, May 24, 2019
Thursday, April 25, 2019
FT4 is on its way
The next significant version of WSJT-X is expected to contain variation which will allow digital mode users to better use that mode for contests. It's been named FT4.
The ARRL says "FT4 is an experimental digital mode designed specifically for radio contesting that -- like FT8 -- uses fixed-length transmissions, structured messages with formats optimized for minimal contacts, and strong forward-error correction. Transmit-receive sequences are 6 seconds long, making it 2.5 times faster than FT8 and about the same speed as conventional RTTY for radio contesting. FT4 can work with signals 10 dB weaker what would be required to decode RTTY while using much less bandwidth."
Read the paper on FT4 at Preliminary FT4 Information
Something to look forward to in July 2019, by the sound of it.
The ARRL says "FT4 is an experimental digital mode designed specifically for radio contesting that -- like FT8 -- uses fixed-length transmissions, structured messages with formats optimized for minimal contacts, and strong forward-error correction. Transmit-receive sequences are 6 seconds long, making it 2.5 times faster than FT8 and about the same speed as conventional RTTY for radio contesting. FT4 can work with signals 10 dB weaker what would be required to decode RTTY while using much less bandwidth."
Read the paper on FT4 at Preliminary FT4 Information
Something to look forward to in July 2019, by the sound of it.
Monday, April 22, 2019
Thursday, April 11, 2019
European FT8 Club Contest
Just found out in the ARRL letter for 11 April 2019 that there is a FT8 contest between 1200U on 13 April and 1200U on 14 April 2019.
Full information can be found at the FT8 Club
Note that the maximum power is 100 watts and that the WARC bands are NOT being used for this contest.
On your WSJT-X program, find Preferences, then the ADVANCED tab, check the box marked ARRL RTTY Roundup and finally set the RTTY RU Exch to DX if you are outside of the USA or Canada. That will sort out all the necessary requirements for the contest.
Don't forget to uncheck the ARRL RTTY Roundup box once the contest is over.
Good luck.
Full information can be found at the FT8 Club
Note that the maximum power is 100 watts and that the WARC bands are NOT being used for this contest.
On your WSJT-X program, find Preferences, then the ADVANCED tab, check the box marked ARRL RTTY Roundup and finally set the RTTY RU Exch to DX if you are outside of the USA or Canada. That will sort out all the necessary requirements for the contest.
Don't forget to uncheck the ARRL RTTY Roundup box once the contest is over.
Good luck.
Wednesday, April 3, 2019
A Must Read Club Newsletter
Recently I came across the Surrey Amateur Radio Club. They are based in Canada. Their monthly news letter is called The Communicator.
The April 2019 issue, which is devoted to antennas, may be found at April 2019 The Communicator
Their blog page is SARC Blog and they have back issues of this magazine going back years.
It's certain well worth spending some time reading these.
Well Done SARC and keep up the good work.
73
Jim
ZL1LC
The April 2019 issue, which is devoted to antennas, may be found at April 2019 The Communicator
Their blog page is SARC Blog and they have back issues of this magazine going back years.
It's certain well worth spending some time reading these.
Well Done SARC and keep up the good work.
73
Jim
ZL1LC
Thursday, March 14, 2019
Cleaning up after a leaky battery
Here's a handy link to a site that shows you have to rescue a battery compartment where a battery has leaked.
Battery Cleaning
Just roll through the 15 pictures and explanations and you will have it looking like new.
Battery Cleaning
Just roll through the 15 pictures and explanations and you will have it looking like new.
Monday, March 11, 2019
FT8 Without the Nag
I've just downloaded the latest WSJT-X from Source Forge
It's version 2.0.1 and the annoying startup nag has finally disappear.
Well done!
It's version 2.0.1 and the annoying startup nag has finally disappear.
Well done!
Tuesday, February 19, 2019
A few links that I have received.
Grahame recommends Dislin as a nice graphic
software with a few extra surprises such as its ability to handle Smith charts
and other calculations. Start at <tinyurl.com/ZL1LC19213>
Dave also recommends Inkscape <inkscale.org>
as a good drawing package. Both these graphics packages are free
and work on multiple platforms including Raspberry Pi.
Peter sent me a link to a Blog a Day at <amateurradio.com> which wasn't
but it had an interesting link to The Daily Antenna <tinyurl.com/ZL1LC19214> which is by VK3YE.
Joe knows that I have been playing around
with linear amps and suggested that I look at <w6pql.com> He has
parts and units from HF up.
Friday, January 11, 2019
FT8 2.0
FT8 version 2.0 is working well and it is amazing to see how fast it took over once it was released.
This new version decodes better than the older version and generally appears much better to use in all directions. I still get busted QSOs but not as often as before. The up and down arrows for changing the TX frequency to the RX frequency and vice versa, now are logical.
My only gripe is that I wish they would remove the nag at startup which tells you to move to this version by 1 January 2019.
Two sites to bookmark are <tinyurl.com/FT8files>, to pick up the latest software and ZL2iFB's wonderful guide, <tinyurl.com/FT8opguide>.
This new version decodes better than the older version and generally appears much better to use in all directions. I still get busted QSOs but not as often as before. The up and down arrows for changing the TX frequency to the RX frequency and vice versa, now are logical.
My only gripe is that I wish they would remove the nag at startup which tells you to move to this version by 1 January 2019.
Two sites to bookmark are <tinyurl.com/FT8files>, to pick up the latest software and ZL2iFB's wonderful guide, <tinyurl.com/FT8opguide>.
DX News
DX News.com has a listing of stations that are out and about working from a DX
location.
Look for their calendar and you will see a day by day plot and
click on the call on the calendar to see more information such as modes etc.
Subscribe to their email updates if you want
to be notified of new stations coming on the air.
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