Would a chip-scale atomic clock (CSAC) do what you need?
This is akin to keyword-stuffing blog posts, it’s a technique nearly as old as Google itself. They know about it.
If you look at $350 as a substantial amount of money, I'd say pass.
On the other hand, if $350 is roughly equivalent to a dinner for two for you, then yolo and see what you get.
You might get something worth it and something you can flip if this isn't the radio you ultimately want to end up with.
I usually try to find myself on 20m. I like it's DX-ability at night and appreciate it's reach during the day. Otherwise 10m is nice because there's lots of new hams ready to answer CQ calls, or calling CQ themselves.
The person who answered my very first QSO made it extra special by sending me a first-contact certificate; went way above and beyond and I am incredibly thankful for it.
If you’re seeing them go for twice as much elsewhere, then it sounds like it might be a good deal. Bear in mind the old adage “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
It’s possible it’s being sold by someone who had high ideas of amateur radio and wants to rid themselves of a basically brand new radio.
It could be part of an estate sale and the seller did not do sufficient research.
It could be inoperable and the seller is not being forthcoming.
It could be stolen and someone is trying to fence it.
At the end of the day, you have to decide if $350 is worth the risk.
Some banks have them, some don’t. It depends on what’s in stock that day. Tried to ask for a stack of US$2 bills once and they told me I’d need to place an order for US$10,000 in order to get them in because they don’t keep them stocked.
Handle this server-side by scaling the upvote/downvote weight for every subsequent vote.
It still won’t affect bots.
As other commenters have said, disincentivizing downvotes would have a more profound effect.
Do you agree with me? Blink once for yes, twice for no.
This is how extension cables are recharged.
They just used a short one for demonstration purposes.
Sweeeet
Absolutely insane.
Just get a tattoo of their name like the rest of us.
100W club here, and hoping to reduce my power use as I get into CW and still make international QSOs.
Wait until you learn about words starting with a silent p, like pterodactyl and ptoilet.
Gimme some Stilton all day.
ISO: Morse Code trainer
Hi friends!
I am in search of a small Morse Code trainer/electronic keyer small enough to fit in my pocket, and has the following features:
- Speed selectable
- Works with an iambic key, and is Type B selectable
- Has a key jack for an external keyer
- Polarity selection, I key southpaw.
- Headphone jack
Bonus:
- Can adjust tone pitch down to 440Hz
Google turns up a few things here and there, I’d just like to see if any of y’all have any immediate recommendations.
Thank you!
E: autocarrot
Global QSO Visualization
I got it into my head that I would like to see a spherical depiction of my QSOs. Azimuthal and other representations weren't cutting it for me.
I managed to coax an LLM to output my ADIF into a KML so I could better visualize the reach of my QSOs, and I am quite stunned. 20m has almost complete global reach, as you'll see below. Admittedly, on CW it probably does. In these visualizations, the vast majority of contacts are on FT8 20m, but there are a few dozen SSB contacts as far as Indonesia. Usually I made these contacts well before sunrise.
This is a representation of my entire logbook, so any QSO not from the SW US are 10m.
Setup: IC-7300, barefoot, 15m mast, and a 20m twinlead j-pole. Having been temporarily based in a residential area, I had quite a high noise floor from various EMI sources, and could have probably done better with weak stations had my noise floor been lower.
More west, Australia prominently visible: !
Looking toward the east, the west coast of Africa coming into view: !
Africa; the lonely QSO east of Madagascar is Reunion Island, got this one on FT8: !
aMATEur RaDio Is dEAD
Granted, this is the IARU Championship. But that's a lot of people on the radio.
ARRL Field Day has begun!
20m at 1500Z.
Side note: for the last three days I’ve enjoyed nearly bottomless noise floors; been making SSB QSOs to Japan, Indonesia, and even Rarotonga. Then–today of all days–the AirBnB beside my house has turned on their aircon and it’s completely wiping out all but the strongest signals. My waterfall looks like college ruled notebook paper:
1830Z Update:
1900Z. This is wild.
Mast ideas and recommendations
I currently use a ~35' (~10m) fiberglass telescoping mast, and I love it. It's great when I hoist my 10m window line j-pole (thank you KB9VBR!) and now that I'm messing around on 20m, it's just too short. My SWR is a bit higher than it ought to be on account of ground reflection since I can't get the base of the radiating element more than about ~1m (~3') off the ground.
The antenna I use (currently, at least) is fairly lightweight, so I'm not worried about mast flexion since the wight will largely be just outside mast center.
I am not to deterred by cost, and I am trying to avoid metallic antennas for fear it will mess with my radiation patterns and SWR in a new way. I am greatly interested in telescoping options.
Are you familiar with fiberglass or carbon fiber masts which get the top to a definite 15m (~50')?
Nearly all of my operations are /P, so it really has to be fairly convenient. I recognize that these requirements may be a little mutually exclusive.
ARRL Service Disruption Update (29 May)
>Updated 5/29/2024 > >This update includes information about the status of several services as we continue to respond to a serious incident involving access to our network and systems. > >The ARRL Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (ARRL VEC) has resumed the processing of Amateur Radio License applications with the FCC. A more comprehensive update on the status of ARRL VEC services is available here. > >There has been no interruption to visitor operating at W1AW, the Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Station. The station resumed voice bulletins on Thursday, May 23. All other scheduled transmissions, including Morse code practice, and code and digital bulletins, will resume on Thursday, May 30. Please refer to the regular operating schedule at www.arrl.org/w1aw-operating-schedule. > >After last week's distribution of the ARRL Letter, our e-newsletter service has resumed. Current editions of ARRL Club News and The ARES® Letter have also been distributed. > >ARRL Store orders have resumed shipping. Orders are being fulfilled from earliest order dates to the latest. Please allow additional time for our processing. > >There has been no disruption to the @arrl.net email forwarding service, though forwarding email addresses and aliases cannot be modified at this time. > >Our telephone system is unavailable at this time. > >We appreciate your patience as we continue working on restoring access to affected systems and services.
Log dilemma; seeking your input
I have a small dilemma regarding logging a QSO, and I'm wondering if you can guide me through it. I made a contact the other day while doing POTA, but I did not capture the entire callsign. The error was only revealed after I saw their re-spot on the POTA site; if it weren't for that small glimpse, I would never know, and we'd never confirm in QRZ.
The Eagle Scout in me suggests that I should not change my logs based on the 3rd party information, but my QSO sent me a QRZ confirmation request.
On the other hand, borrowing from aviation, I am keen to "use all available resources", recognizing that so long as we have the tech and tools, we should use them, even if that may fly in the face of radio purity.
What say ye?
Radio Day, and a Total Solar Eclipse
Man, what an amazing day which will be long–if not impossible–to forget.
In the late 90s, I observed my first partial eclipse from South Florida. Then and there I decided I needed to see a total solar eclipse. Nearly 30 years later, I made good on that little personal promise. The moment I realized I would be in position to get along the path of totality, I made plans with my spouse to do so. We saved the date and planed the logistics.
I, of course, ensured my radio was packed and fully functional; charged the battery the night before. We left Del Rio, the closest place we could find reasonable accommodations, at 0400L. By 0700L we had hoisted and strung the OCF dipole and we were ready to go in DL98rv, just under the central path of the eclipse on the side of Hwy 131 in Texas just beyond the US-Mexican border.
The Tech section of 10m was silent that early, but I kept calling CQ until I started getting QSOs, pretty much went ten in a row in nearly the same number of minutes once the band came alive.
I had wanted to participate in the research project contest, but the instructions and bonuses were a little overwhelming, but I did manage to make one QSO during totality. On the one hand, I was expecting propagation attenuation, but the QSO I made was over 1,500 miles away.
I've read over and over about experiencing totality. Photos will never do it justice. Words doubly so. If you've ever been on the fence about traveling to see totality–just do it.
Lessons learned or confirmed:
- Get there at least two days before; scout potential setup locations. We scouted several locations with our radio setup in mind. We didn't want to risk trampling on private property, and the OCF antenna (being a 7-band) has nearly a 200' wingspan on its longest dimension. We needed plenty of space while also being considerate to others who would certainly want to see the eclipse as well. We must be good stewards of Amateur Radio.
- Get lodging as near as you can, as far in advance as you can, maybe no more than an hour away.
- Set up at least six hours before C1 (eclipse start).
- Make considerations for food and toilets. I was fortunate that our travel partners had a trailer with a functioning toilet. In my eagerness, I had completely overlooked the requirement for toilets.
- Don't underestimate the value of a radio day checklist.
- A 7-band OCF dipole is absolutely unwieldy for portable ops. I love the mast I've been using, but the antenna itself is a huge pain–and a huge footprint–to get up. For future ops, I plan to go with a monoband. I am planning to make KB9VBR's 10m window line j-pole to hoist on the mast instead.
- Small auxiliary/desk lights or headlamp, red is my preference, for log work before sunrise. I was struggling to get my radio configured and my log setup before the sun came up.
I am eager for your questions and feedback!
What's going on with our instance?
I admire @w0odl@lemmy.radio for configuring and maintaining the instance, one can only imagine how much work goes into it—thank you mate for giving us an instance catered to our interests.
Has anyone else had any issues getting engagement or replies to their posts elsewhere on the fediverse when posting from this instance’s account?
Checking federation issue; can you see this post?
Our instance upgraded to 0.19 and it seems there are some users experiencing issues with comments and posts being seen. Are you able to see this post?
How did the geomagnetic storm this past weekend affect your contacts?
I was atop Stone Mountain in Georgia this past weekend hoping for a glorious POTA activation, dragged my spouse and kids who braved the early (for them) cold and wind and setup the 7300 only to make a single park-to-park contact… from inside the park.
How did you guys do during the weekend?
@lemmy.radio Instance Admin - Please update the instance
Certainly many of us use Voyager to access this instance, please update so we can continue to access our community.
Brief poll: What kind of confirmation rates do you have in QRZ?
Title. Methodology: Confirmed / total QSOs
I’m at 22% and curious to see what others are encountering.
Successful radio day!
Brought the 7300 out and erected the 7-band OCF; it was huge! Literally. It spanned nearly 200’ in its longest dimension. While I could probably have done better if I were able to have gotten the feed point to 30’, I managed to make 24 contacts and participated in a 10-10 net via relay that I had chanced on while zipping around 10m.
It was a beautiful day down in EL96, I setup the radio bench under the tree for shade and kept a close eye on the antenna in case someone wandered around it.
Running barefoot, I managed QSOs with Namibia (7000+ miles), Chile, Spain, Costa Rica, and New Foundland. Amazing people all around.
Got my mom spun up and handling the radio (we got licensed at the same time a couple years ago) and the contacts nearly poured in for her.
An all around amazing day.
E: Updated the photo; the klansman look was terrible. Do not recommend.
First time on the air
Was out in EL96 today at a park 65 feet up for my very very first Tech CQs on 10m. This past December I picked up an IC-7300 and finally got some time to go out. I put my kit together, wired the radio directly to the car battery and went whole hog. In one hour I logged eight contacts.
While I have a 7-band OCF antenna I received as part of the starter kit, I don't yet have all I need to get it standing for portable ops, so I managed to turn up what seems like a quarter wave mag mount CB whip I found in the garage. I tuned it up with the built in tuner, ran barefoot at 100W and managed to QSO as far as 1700mi.
I can't tell if it was propagation or local equipment configuration, but nearly all of my contacts were to the northeastern seaboard region, including one in Rochester, NY.
The most distant contact was in DM79 Colorado, though he indicated he was picking me up out of the noise floor.
Everyone I met on the radio was very charismatic, and I really REALLY enjoyed my first outing. In a few days I plan to haul my gear out again, including the OCF, plant it, and see where else in the world I can reach.
#hamradio #amateurradio