LIMARC HOTSPOT Presentation 9/12/2018

Links for HotSpot Discussion

Example eBay seller: https://www.ebay.com/itm/2018-Antenna-Case-OLED-MMDVM-Hotspot-Support-P25-DMR-YSF-for-Raspberry-pi/183098690667?epid=22021349476&hash=item2aa1884c6b:g:f~cAAOSwQp5alVPb

Setup guide: http://www.hagensieker.com/blog/page/?post_id=99&title=jumbospot-dmr-hotspot

PiStar: https://www.pistar.uk/index.php

Basic CW Rigs You Can Build Yourself

This is a list of websites covering all of the products shown in the demonstration for the

LONG ISLAND CW CLUB

Midway Electronics ME40

Breadboard Radio 

EA3GCY radio kits

Four State QRP Group

DIY QRP transceiver (eBay)

Third Planet Solar KC9ON

Hans Summers QRP LABS

Pacific Antenna / QRPKits

QRPME - W1REX

QRPME Li'l Squall

Small Wonder Labs.....RIP
Midway Electronics
QRPME
Chinese Kits

Midway Electronics

Walford Electronics

QRPGuys

HFSignals - BITX

My Favorite Places #1: P&T Surplus

As a kid, I had two older brothers that were tinkerers.  Mostly Lee with his interest in anything automotive, but Paul too who fixed old TV's and experimented with computers and photography.  There was a place in my hometown of Kingston, NY called P&D surplus.

I can remember the first time Lee brought me there.  To a kid it was a museum.  There was so much to look at.  They were a scrap dealer, hardware store, used electronics store, and carried quite a

Radios I Have Known #2 The old, the new, and the Select-A-Tenna

L-R: Select-A-Tenna, Tivdio V-115, Sony ICF-5500W

After promising this series a year and a half ago, I finally have started digging through the collection, and will start posting about once a week.  The radios, and accessories may not have anything in common (as seen in this post), but were all acquired because they were in some way interesting, or

The Empty Store

My first spring-terminal kit from Radio Shack (1976 catalog)

I'm not sure what age I was when I started being fascinated by electronics.  Record players really were the first thing I was obsessed with, but it was soon followed by radios, and most things that were built out of transistors, resistors, capacitors, and other components.  My late brother Paul received one of these spring-terminal project kits when I was very young, and I just had to have one when I was old enough.  His kit, the one I received later on, and most of the electronic kits I built in the early days came from Radio Shack.

Today I am mourning the loss of the retail store known as Radio Shack.  Some of you may be asking: Why today?  Radio Shack already

BITX Kits (Limarc / LARC Meeting Discussion) Jan 10, 2018

Interesting article on Ashhar Farhan with links:
https://ke0bll.wordpress.com/2016/04/04/the-homebrew-journey-of-ashhar-farhan-vu2ese/

Original design and writeup from Farhan:
http://www.phonestack.com/farhan/bitx.html

QRPKITS (Hendricks / Pacific Antenna Version) 20 and 17 meter
http://qrpkits.com

Radio-Kits UK 80 Meter Version:
https://www.radio-kits.co.uk/mkars80page.html

Amateurradiokits India  Version 3, cases, and accessories:
http://amateurradiokits.in

HFSIGNALS (Farhan's new inexpensive versions)
http://hfsignals.com

BITX Hacks Blog:
http://bitxhacks.blogspot.com/

Groups.io BITX20 Forum:
https://groups.io/g/bitx20

Presentation  here:  https://drive.google.com/open?id=1X9fxqp_6nlECMPI99I1EJ9e2QMdnUzXn

WSJT-X and FT-8 Mode HRU 2018

Software Download:

https://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/wsjtx.html

Meinberg NTP (Time Sync Software) for Windows.

Instructions and links:  

http://www.satsignal.eu/ntp/setup.html

General Instructions and Guide:

http://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/wsjtx-doc/wsjtx-main.html

JT Alerts add-on to WSJT-X

http://hamapps.com/

Presentation:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1t8W46Y9fyQXLQW9NbuMflOb8Y1PleCbC/view?usp=sharing

Chirp and Chinese Handheld Radios

This is to support the discussions on CHIRP and Chinese Handhelds (mainly Baofeng/Pofung and
BTech radios) given at LIMARC on 10/11/2017 and LARK on 10/12/2017

Always make sure you are running the latest version of CHIRP

CHIRP:  http://chirp.danplanet.com/
     there are versions for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
     you will notice two Windows versions.  One is an installer. This is the easiest way to get going.

CHIRP uses databases from several sources:
     DMR MARC (I am investigating this further)
     Radio Reference (Subscription) Good for municipal and public service frequencies
     Repeaterbook (FREE repeater lookups)
     R-FINDER (From LI resident Bob, W2CYK). If you have paid for the iOS or Android APP
     przemienniki.net  for European repeaters

Programming cables are available from many sources.  Look for FTDI chipsets.  They are more reliable.  I have a universal programming cable kit from Retevis.  Here are a few similar ones for sale on Amazon: https://goo.gl/dKz5sP

The best source for info on Chinese HTs is Miklor.com  Here you'll find reviews and information.  Some of the most useful information here is the comparison of various Baofeng/Pofung radios so you can figure out the differences, and the USB driver troubleshooting guide.

The Tri-Band HT I had that looked like a UV-5R but is actually a B-Tech UV-5X3 is a great little radio.  Available here:  https://goo.gl/cre33a  Currently under $60 as of this writing, and available through PRIME next day shipping!

While you're looking at the '5X3, take a look at B-TECH's other offerings.  They have some interesting radios including the 8-Watt HTs, and some very interesting mobile radios too.

I am testing this tri-band antenna with it (It comes with two antennas stock. One for 2M/440 and one for 220):  https://goo.gl/mmrR81  Keep in mind that most of these radios use reverse SMA (or MALE SMA) connectors so they require an antenna with a FEMALE SMA.  I'll report back on my findings.

Other things that were discussed at the LARK meeting were SDR related:

     OPENWEBRX Project:  http://sdr.hu
     WEBSDR:  http://websdr.org
     Enhanced RTL-SDR Dongles:  https://www.rtl-sdr.com/buy-rtl-sdr-dvb-t-dongles/

Also, for the brave hearted.  Here is the Zastone radio (The Yaesu copy):  https://goo.gl/jCUo4U

Fraud Fumble

I was late getting home tonight.  When I'm this late I'll grab food in the city, usually eating on the train.  As I was walking through the station with my food, water, napkins, and backpack, I felt almost off-balance already, and my phone started ringing.  Looking at the display, I saw a 631 area code number.  This usually means it's somewhat important.  I was thrown further off balance trying to get the phone answered, and get at least one of my earbuds in my ear.  I almost dropped the food, and myself for that matter, and answered the phone.

"Hello, we have been trying to reach you. This call is officially a final notice from the IRS, Internal Revenue Service. The reason of this call is to inform you that IRS is filing a lawsuit against you.”

Have you gotten one of these?  It's been a year or more, but this is about the tenth final notice I've gotten from these scammers.  My reaction tonight is one of anger.  I almost performed the epileptic slide just trying to answer the phone, only to get this call again.  I also have to wonder who falls for these.  Literally.

Nightmares

Scot Robinson - FLICKR

For someone who never remembers their dreams, waking from a scary one, and remembering the whole thing can be a bit disorienting.  Even though I may be at one of the lower stress-levels in my life, something is triggering these weird nightmares.  They're usually early in my sleep cycle, and occur when I was trying to stay up late in bed to finish something, or attempt a nap before actually going to bed.

I woke last night calling Jill in my sleep.  Yelling, I guess, according to her.  The dream was