Wednesday Lunchtime Net Digital Modes

Update: KB7KBH reports response has been weak, and he also finds himself busier than expected, so the digital focus on Wednesdays has been suspended. Plenty of good information below, however, and a future event or discussion is always possible.

Greetings all. Michael W7ALX wanted me to do the Wednesday Lunchtime Net to see if there was any interest in folks wanting to expand their knowledge in Digital, and Satellite Opps. I am by no means an expert, but I’m willing to assist those that are interested. We will have the normal net, then after check-ins we can discuss the digital and Sat stuff.

Here are some examples of radio setup for digital modes.

Kenwood radio link 590G

https://www.kenwood.com/i/products/info/amateur/ts_590g/pdf/ts590_g_ft8_settings_en.pdf

Yaesu

Icom

Most of the newer Icom radios have a built-in sound card. Other brands may need a SignalLink USB modem.

There are a lot of YouTube videos that will help guide you thru installation and setup for your brand radio.

The WJST-X free software is what most folks use. They have it for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

https://wsjt.sourceforge.io/wsjtx.html. Com ports are the biggest issues some folks have, Me included!

VARA HF is very similar to FT-8 and some of the settings are similar. It again depends on the brand of HF radio you have. I did a lot of trial and error until I got it. YouTube videos are helpful in setup.

Satellite Comminutions

Satellite comminutions can be a challenge. There are a few in the club that work the birds with a HT or two, and a handheld dual band Yagi antenna. You can find tracking software for your cell phones to help with that. Most of the Sats uplink on 2M, and downlink on 440, depends on the satellite. There are Linear sat’s that are SSB, in that case you would need a radio capable of 2M and 440 SSB. The challenge is the Doppler shift. I have a unit called S.A.T from CSN Technologies. It is a standalone unit that can be used on your cell phone (no computer necessary.  It will control the antennas, frequency’s and doppler shift. I have the Yaesu G5500 rotor for azimuth and elevation antenna control.

Anybody interested can come over to my QTH, and see how it works.

Don Hopkins

KB7KUH

Chuck’s Blog January 2024

Starting the new year can be problematic. Do I change things or do I
leave well enough alone? If I do change things, what things do I change and to
what extent do I change them? Some things get changed for you. I am no
longer President of Lincoln County Amateur Radio Club, I’m beginning to feel
my age, and my family responsibilities have increased. Some things you are in
the driver’s seat and can decide direction, speed and duration. Then there are
those things you would LIKE to change and which you must conjure up the
resources to affect that change if you want to accomplish them.

Changes I want to make for my amateur radio life can be easily listed and
can be difficult to get done. First of all, I must decide which of the lengthy list
I want to work on. Then I have to muster the willpower and other resources to
get started. The biggest problem to getting started is always the “circle of
projects”. That is to start this project I need these tools and items. I know I
own all those tools and items … but I must FIND all those tools and items.
My mind says, “It would be far easier to round those items up if you just
clean and organize your shop.” Alas! Now I’m off course! I’m cleaning and
organizing instead of trouble shooting that Hallicrafter’s SX-100! But relax
Chuckie, you just found that VTVM (Vacuum Tube Volt Meter) that you will
find very useful when trouble shooting! See, you are making progress! You
are starting on the project!

But look, when I plug the VTVM in it isn’t working! Probably just one of
the tubes. Get out the Tube Tester and check the tubes. How much trouble is
that? Where are you going to set the tube tester? Clear that work bench and set
it there. OK


Oh, look, there is that box of vacuum tubes I was given last year. I might
as well test them too. Kill two birds as they say. Three hours later and the box
of tubes are tested, dead ones discarded, good ones boxed and labeled and
numerically stored with all the other vacuum tubes! Good job, Chuckie!
Oh, I forgot to check the tubes in the VTVM. Well how much time can
that take? There are only a few. Common ones too. This isn’t going to be a
problem at all! There, it only took 45 minutes and all the tubes are checked and
they were all good! OH! That means the problem is elsewhere. Where is the
manual for that meter? 45 minutes of going though the files and Voila there it
is a printout from the internet. I must have done that when I got the meter.
Good for you Chuckie!

So, would you look at that fried resistor and the two capacitors leaking
wax! This thing is older than I thought. 30 minutes and I have found replacements for the capacitors and the resistor. Get the soldering iron on and
remove and replace the three items. Wow! Am I good or am I good? Look at
that; the VTVM is working … except where is all that smoke coming from?
Two hours later, I have a working, non-smoking VTVM. One hour later I
have the tube tester and other equipment put away and the workbench is clear
and usable … OK, relatively clear and usable.

So now you have an idea of how the “circle of projects” works. If all
goes well I should circle my way to working on the Hallicrafter’s SX-100 in a
month or so. Hopefully I will still have the determination to work on it.
The “circle” exists in other part of my life as well. For instance I would
like to relearn CW. I determined that the Koch method would be a good way to
accomplish that goal. I determined which computer to put the program on and
set it up. In setting it up I found that I had begun to load a program which had
a Ham Clock on that computer and began checking the extent to which I had
committed the computer to being the Clock. I then remembered I decided to
put the Ham Clock on a Raspberry Pi.

Where is that Raspberry Pi now? Oh gee, I found three. Why do I have
three? What is on each one? Oh, I think the readers see where THIS is going!
My life can be a series of “circles” if I let it. Fortunately, I can also get projects
into a “linear” status and I can actually accomplish something!
So to the hams who have labored through this piece I wish you a Happy
New Year! Go forth and try new things. Hopefully one or two of those things
will involve amateur radio. Extend your horizons. Try something you have
thought about doing. Contact other hams whether they be within the county,
the state, the United States or around the globe. We are part of a wonderful
hobby that holds possibilities for new experiences, new friends, and new
accomplishments! Experience things with this new year!
Chuck Gerttula, W7CRG 73

“73” Which reminds me of my first effort for this New Years Blog. The
term 73 and how we use it.

We’ve all heard something like the following come across the airwaves.
“Hey, it’s been nice talking with you! I hope we meet again on the bands.
This has been a very interesting QSO. 73.”

I’ve heard something similar to this hundreds of times on the ham bands.
I’ve never thought much about such statements. Today I heard a ham sign off
with “73s”. You will hear “seventy-three” and “seven-threes” often as hams
end their conversations. The intent is to wish the other ham well or have a
good day.

First of all, it is SEVEN THREE. Two numbers not the third number to
show in the seventies. Remember much of our lexicon comes from the beginnings of amateur radio which was Morse Code sent over the radio. Why
did they choose 7 3?

First of all, Morse Code numbers consist of Zero through Nine. There are
no teens, twenties nor seventies, hundreds, thousands, etc.. If you know Morse
Code, which is not my forte I was a novice in 1960’s and very poor at CW, you
know that Seven is . . . – – and Three is – – – . . ! How about that they are the
reverse of each other! Easy to learn, easy to send and easy to hear.
This, like the Q codes was to make sending and receiving CW easier and
faster. Also, like many things from the beginning of our hobby the use and
meaning has been diluted or changed.

Will this explanation make a big difference to anyone in our hobby? I
doubt it. Just an interesting sidelight to add a little depth and verve to our
favorite pastime. “7 3” Chuck W7CRG

Ramblings of an Old Noob

It’s Christmas Eve morning around 4 a.m. and I can’t sleep. It isn’t the thought of sugar plums keeping me awake, but rather….you…..me……us. Looking ahead to a new year, each day brings so much opportunity for growth, both individually and as a club. What will our contributions be? I’ve never been big on resolutions, but maybe this year….

Back in the 70’s, cable television pioneer, Ted Turner, coined the slogan, “Lead, follow or get out of the way” (paraphrased). I always liked that….something for everyone. Even those who can’t (or won’t) participate, have the opportunity, dare I say obligation, to not impede those who are more motivated to guide or learn. I’m going to suggest a minor alteration to that inspirational slogan. Lead, follow or get in the way. Of course I don’t mean for anyone to literally impede. I mean to ‘get in the way’ of ham radio. I realize I am “preaching to the choir”, as they say. Many of you have forgotten more about ham radio than I will ever know. But if you aren’t actively involved in the club now, I encourage you to once again, or maybe for the first time, lead, follow or get in the way. Even stepping up to embrace something new gives those more experienced the opportunity to mentor. We all remember someone in our ham lives who gave us the courage to push that mic key for the first time. Just this week, a seasoned and respected club member was stretching his comfort zone to embrace FT8. That desire to learn opened the door for someone to have the opportunity to elmer. 

2023 heard a rallying cry for Volunteers On The Air. In our club, let 2024 be the year of renewed involvement. We are incredibly fortunate to have knowledge and experience that can propel LCARC to even greater heights! I look forward and resolve to create and meet the goals and challenges in the coming year.

73,

John/KN4RTK

2024 Officers

At our Annual Meeting and Holiday Dinner members elected new officers for 2024. Heartfelt thanks are due to our outgoing officers for their years of dedicated service to the Club. Chuck W7CRG, David KG7ZMX, Ginny W7OTR, and Jim KK7EMhave been active members for a number of years, both in and out of office. As Immediate Past President, Chuck remains on the Board.

2024 officers are:

President: Mike Eastman N7ONP
Vice President: John Moore KN4RTK
Secretary: Michelle Pelkey KA7OQQ
Treasurer: Chris Nintzel KJ7RAL
Immediate Past President: Chuck Gerttula W7CRG

We are grateful for a very good year in 2023 and look forward to a fruitful 2024.

Membership Forms

Now is a good time to renew your membership for 2024. The form is downloadable under the “Documents” tab here on the website. If you have downloaded the form before this morning, the heading will say “2023.” No problem. Just cross out the 3 and write in “4,” and we’ll know.

If you download now, it should come up with “20__” at the top, is a fillable PDF.

President’s Blog Dec 2023

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas from Chuck Gerttula W7CRG

          This is hopefully the last effort for this month’s Blog.  I’ve started and tossed numerous efforts and thought I had a finished product when I fact checked something and the result caused me to toss the “finished product”.

          The coming of Christmas has always been one of my favorite times of the year.  Growing up in Taft (now part of Lincoln City) I remember greetings and Christmas scenes painted  on store windows.  Bernie’s Sports and Fishing Tackle store had a big speaker hanging outside his door playing Christmas carols.  Even today when I hear “Silver Bells” I think of Bernie’s.  Even with LP records having ten to twelve songs on them it was a constant chore for Bernie or his wife to change records.

          Another more current reminder that “Tis the Season” is the appearance on TV of Ralphie in “A Christmas Story” hoping to find a Red Ryder lever action BB rifle under the tree.  His story, along with all the family drama of a post WWII mid west snowy quirky holiday is so entertaining.  The story is a favorite of many and most certainly one of mine.  It was written by a fellow amateur radio operator Jean Shepherd who coincidentally was also a radio personality on station WOR doing a nightly show without phone calls and guests, just the host’s monologue.

          There are remastered recordings of his show on the internet if you google him.  The show I enjoyed was describing getting his amateur license in 1935 at the Chicago FCC office when he was 14 years old.  It starts with two minutes of music which made me wonder if I had the right tape but that was  the style back in the 1950’s and ’60’s.  If you think it is difficult to obtain an amateur license in 2023 you will be amazed what it took to get one in 1935!

          In many ways I look at our hobby in the same way I viewed my family.  We, as a hobby, tend to stick together.  We have our differences and some have talents others don’t but for the most part we like and appreciate each other much like many families.  There are those of us who jump in to help when one needs assistance.  There are those of us who provide comfort and understanding when a member experiences disappointments such as failing the test to upgrade their license, or a tragedy within their life.  There are those who anger us as my brother did me so many times, but we persevere and most often forgive and forget.

           Within any community there are the generous and the not so generous.  Hams often are generous with their time, experience , expertise, equipment, help, information and many other things.  I know hams who consistently give equipment away and expect nothing in return but the satisfaction of a ham on the air.  I also know hams who are happy to get equipment to those in need but view the action more like a businessman.  But the thing many hams are generous with is their time; time to work with emergency operations, time to help get an antenna up and connected, time to teach a class, time to teach an operator to use a specific piece of equipment.

          Time is something we cannot get more of.  Time is one of the most valuable resources.  It is one of our most often donated and valued things.  If and when you have the time to help our hobby ….  here’s to you!  Thank you! 

We don’t always acknowledge our appreciation but it’s there.

Chuck Gerttula  W7CRG

President’s Blog November 2023

“You sure do talk funny.”

Chuck Gerttula W7CRG

I was 17 and the product of having been raised in a small coastal town in Oregon. I loved history, particularly American history and was fascinated with the Civil War (also known in certain regions as the War Between the States or the War for Southern Independence) An organization in Lake Oswego offered student tours to the east coast to visit many of the places where United States history began. I was fortunate to get to go on one of the American Heritage two week tours with 50 or 60 other young students from the Pacific Northwest.

The train delivered us to Washington D.C. and we were ensconced in a hotel with two to four students in a room. The hotel had a cafeteria downstairs and being teenagers we were eager for some breakfast. As I moved my tray down the line I got a serving of hash browns, eggs … and then I arrived at the meat choices. “I think I’ll have the ham,” I announced.

“Yo’all sure do talk funny, honey child! Where yo’all frum?”

Me talk funny? She was the one with the drawling accent! Yes, I had a lot to learn about my fellow Americans. I learned about different ways to speak, different types of food, I was not supposed to use certain drinking fountains or restrooms and I was not to sit in certain seats.

So how does this relate to ham radio you ask? Well, as hams … “We sure do talk funny.” I was asked how to pronounce the word embroidered on my hat … it was my first call sign “KF7WZV”. I smiled and told the checker at Freddy’s it was an inside joke. That aside, we do use a lot of slang, jargon, call it what you may, and it can be confusing to the new and uninitiated.

Therefore, I’ll be a bit of an elmer and explain some of our jargon. An elmer is a mentor. Someone who helps, teaches and explains the technicalities, information and traditions of ham radio.

Roger is a term used to indicate understanding. Many hams will repeat this thus broadcasting “roger roger” which either means they want to fill their transmission so they don’t appear to have little to say, they are talking to a ham named Roger or it is a poor connection and they have to repeat the words to be understood. Roger is often thought to be the same thing as QSL. That is not the case. QSL indicates receipt and was a means of showing an operator had received the message or transmission from another operator. For many hams exchanging QSL cards which confirmed the time, quality and frequency of a contact was an important part of the hobby.

Perhaps this is a good time to explain the “Q” codes were created when CW or code was the primary means of communication. They were universal codes that shortened the message which is nice when you are sending letter by letter in code. It is so much easier to sent QSL than to send “I have received your transmission”. The same can be said for “7 3” which is sending two characters instead of tapping out “It has been nice talking with you and thank you for the contact”.

Have you heard someone say something like, “that is one of the funniest stories I have ever heard, hi hi”? This is another CW usage that has carried over to phone. If you want to laugh on a phone transmission, the microphone will send your laughter. If your transmitter sends dots and dashes how do you indicate laughing? The convention was to send hi hi (…. ..) (…. ..). Why some use this on phone transmissions I can not say; they should just laugh.

Here are some commonly used phrases, many of which started with CW but are now common on Phone:

ragchew a long discussion over any topic or topics

full-quieting your transmission has no background noise

picket fence the transmission has a fluttering to it

kerchunk a short press of the PTT (Push To Talk) often used to see if the radio is getting into the repeater.

boat anchor an old radio, usually tube type and very heavy.

silent key a ham who has passed away

OM used in CW for Old Man which is a ham

YL used in CW for a female operator, a Young Lady

XYL used in CW for wife

DX D for distance and X for unknown (Asian contact is DX)

The Q codes are good examples of CW terms moving into the realm of Phone conversations. Most of these three letter codes are not frequently used on phone but a few are.

QSO is a contact

QRM is interference from other stations or “M Man made”

QRN is interference from static and other “natural N” causes

QSY is changing frequency “I’m QSYing to 14.255 mHz”

QTH is the station’s location “My QTH is Toledo, OR”

QRP designates low power or to lower power

QST A general call for a message to all hams, which fits for the name of the ARRL magazine

ARRL The American Radio Relay League not the Amateur Radio Relay League

CQ A general call to any station that would respond. Amateur lore has many ideas for the origin of CQ, a popular one is it is from the expression “Seek You”.

Perhaps this will help some better understand the conversations both on the air and at an eyeball qso (face-to-face conversation). Perhaps it is unnecessary as you know these terms well. If any of this makes you more comfortable and better to understand your fellow hams – great! Get on the air and communicate with people from around the block to across the oceans!

Chuck Gerttula W7CRG President LCARC

Shakeout Exercise – Winlink DYFI

More information gleaned from a recent [RATPAC] email:

First and foremost: have fun with ShakeOut!
ShakeOut is a great opportunity to engage with our communities and get to meet our neighbors.

USGS ShakeOut Scenario Map

Here is OFFICIAL USGS ShakeOut Scenario Map:
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/scenarios/eventpage/usshakeout2023_se/map
– The map will populate with entries on ShakeOut Day
– The map will map Winlink DYFI entries
– The map will map web DYFI entries made on the USGS ShakeOut Scenario DYFI.
– Use the “Comments” in either the Winlink or the Web DYFI to indicate your call sign, group affiliation(s) and any other information you would like USGS to know about. All information you share is optional.
– The USGS map is available to anyone interested and functions exactly like the real DYFI maps after an earthquake.

Here are step-by-step instructions for filling out a Winlink DYFI report:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/10Co_9Zs1c4hPJkMGvJ0mjz2WmBeQP45uSfHmegCAUrk/edit?usp=sharing 
Here are step-by-step instructions for filling out a Web ShakeOut Scenario DYFI Report on the USGS Scenario website:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nXDhSrKX6fnJ_SyULUMBr5d_wVP_DFJb/view?usp=sharing 
The USGS created the Web ShakeOut Scenario DYFI to encourage those without Winlink, and non-hams (!) to participate and have fun at ShakeOut. USGS values all ShakeOut DYFI contributions and wants to include the whole community.

The Great ShakeOut | Winlink Global Radio Email

Exercise Instructions: ShakeOutWinlinkExercise_cm6.pdf

The Great Oregon ShakeOut – Get Ready!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nXDhSrKX6fnJ_SyULUMBr5d_wVP_DFJb/view