This Week in Amateur Radio News for Friday 30 March 2018

[TWIAR via rec.radio.info Admin]

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Amateur radio operators invited to Summits on the Air (Tennessee)

Posted: 30 Mar 2018 08:02 PM PDT
http://bit.ly/2GDGS8v

Amateur radio operators from throughout the Southeast will be coming to the
Tri-Cities next month for a special event called Summits on the Air.

Organizer Patrick Harris said the event will allow these radio operators —
or “hams,” as they are sometimes called — to meet other hobbyists and
engage in a bit of friendly competition.

“Summits on the Air is an awards program (think trophies and certificates)
where we hike to mountaintops, set up small portable radios and antennas
and try to make radio contacts,” Harris said. “It is a bit like a scavenger
hunt or, as I often tell people, it is like geocaching for ham radio.”

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Meet Koduru Nagasainath, the young radio ham from Telangana (India)

Posted: 30 Mar 2018 07:58 PM PDT
http://bit.ly/2pTc0Hz

Meet this 19-year-old student -- Koduru Nagasainath, one of the youngest
radio hams in Telangana. Call it sheer obsession or passion, this teenager
engages himself, all the time, in assembling and repairing various radio
handsets and making them functional again.

At a time when all his peers are busy preparing for exams, this 19-year-old
radio-obsessed geek is engrossed in tinkering with radios walkie-talkies,
mobile radio transceivers, base transceivers.

Meet this 19-year-old student — Koduru Nagasainath, one of the youngest
radio hams in Telangana. Call it sheer obsession or passion, this teenager
engages himself, all the time, in assembling and repairing various radio
handsets and making them functional again.

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Norway radio stations fined for using FM

Posted: 30 Mar 2018 07:53 PM PDT
http://bit.ly/2uA35zt

The Radio NYTT site reports the Norwegian Media Authority has fined two
local radio stations because they have continued broadcasting in FM

Kyrre Dahl writes:

Radio Metro and Radio Rox, has been issued a fine of almost 7000 euros by
The Norwegian Media Authority. The reason is exceptional by European
standard, the two local radio stations wanted to stay on air on FM, but was
not allowed.

According to the Digital Switchover Plan, all national broadcasters had to
switch of their FM transmitters in 2017. In the big cities this also
applied to the commercial local radiostations, regardless if they wanted to
stay on FM or not.

Almost all local radio stations was given an extension on their FM licence,
187 local stations in all. But the Parliament decided that larger mainly
commercial radio stations in and around Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim and
Stavanger was to be denied an extension on FM, out of fear they would steal
listeners from the national broadcasters, which are now on DAB only.

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The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling Is an Intimate Portrait of a Comedy
Pioneer

Posted: 30 Mar 2018 07:44 PM PDT
http://bit.ly/2GpOlII

...Shandling was born in Chicago and raised in Tucson, Arizona, where his
family moved because his older brother Barry had cystic fibrosis, and his
parents thought the dry, warm climate would be better for him. Barry’s
death at just 10 years old is the “Rosebud” of this production, if not of
Shandling’s life. His personal trajectory feels like a response to that
formative tragedy, in particular Shandling’s laid back yet painfully
confessional form of stand-up comedy. His family wasn’t repressed,
necessarily — not in the stereotypical 1950s way — but like a lot of
Americans, they had trouble talking about their feelings. There was
tremendous pressure to just keep pain to yourself and soldier on so as not
to be a bother to anyone. It’s clear that once Shandling got older, entered
therapy, and became interested in Eastern religion (meditation in
particular), he started to realize how unhealthy this was, and built his
style of comedy as a cathartic, liberating response. “I had no one that I
recall putting a hand on my shoulder and saying, ‘This is death. It’s okay
to grieve,’” Shandling wrote in his diaries.

We see the seeds of this philosophy in his teenage fascination with ham
radio operation. He had radio buddies in countries all over the world, and
became very close to a Japanese boy who ultimately came to Tucson as an
exchange student. This tendency to want to reach out across a void of space
and seek closeness also seems related to the loss of Shandling’s only
brother, and it’s to Apatow’s credit that he trusts us to get this without
hammering the point home too hard.

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Ham with a mission (India)

Posted: 30 Mar 2018 07:37 PM PDT
http://bit.ly/2GZrBMY

A High Court lawyer, holder of six post-graduate degrees, and currently
pursuing a PhD in Law. But, what satisfied him the most is amateur radio,
also known as Ham. Ramesh Kuthumbaka turned his terrace into a wireless
station with over a dozen antennas, all made by himself. Now, he has made a
name for himself in satellite contacts through his ham set and shooting off
messages to ham operators abroad using satellites (AO 91 & AO 92) as FM
repeaters (a device which receives signal and transmits it).

Ham radio involves use of radio frequencies for non-commercial and
emergency communication purposes. One has to procure a licence to operate
the amateur radio after clearing an exam held by Wireless Planning and
Coordination wing of the Union Ministry of Communication and Information
Technology.

On January 26, 2018, Ramesh (VU3FTP) became the first person to contact a
ham station in Tamil Nadu through A0-92 satellite, which is one of the 104
satellites launched at one go by ISRO. He also made a call to an Indonesian
ham (YD0NXX), whose station is 4,100 km away from his station in Hyderabad,
becoming the second person in the world to cover such a long distance
through Satellite AO92 on March9.

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Ham City: Regina's amateur radio operators look to the future (Saskatchewan)

Posted: 30 Mar 2018 07:28 PM PDT
http://bit.ly/2pR23KK

From his basement in White City, Stan Ewert dreams of contacting North
Korea.

“That’s the rarest contact you can ever make,” he said.

Using his 200-watt radio transceiver, Ewert has spoken with ham radio
operators from 285 “countries” — a category that includes dependencies and
isolated territories like Alaska. But he hasn’t reached North Korea, the
holy grail of the hobby. It’s a place only a handful of hams have ever
heard from.

Ewert is one of an estimated 200 amateur radio enthusiasts in the Regina
area. They call themselves hams, a term with obscure origins. They relish
the thrill of tinkering with old equipment, helping out in disasters or,
like Ewert, socializing with fellow hobbyists in faraway lands.

Many are retired. Ewert has been a ham for about 70 years. It runs in the
family.

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via HACKADAY: Putting a Poor Mans Vector Analyzer Through Its Paces

Posted: 30 Mar 2018 06:47 PM PDT
https://ift.tt/2IfLC1g

If anything about electronics approaches the level of black magic, it’s
antenna theory. Entire books dedicated to the subject often merely scratch
the surface, and unless you’re a pro with all the expensive test gear
needed to visualize what’s happening, the chances are pretty good that your
antenna game is more practical than theoretical. Not that there’s anything
wrong with that — hams and other RF enthusiasts have been getting by with
antennas that work without really understanding why for generations.

But we’re living in the future, and the tools to properly analyze antenna
designs are actually now within the means of almost everyone. [Andreas
Spiess] recently reviewed one such instrument, the N1201SA vector impedance
analyzer, available from the usual overseas sources for less than $150.
[Andreas]’s review does not seem to be sponsored, so it seems like we’re
getting his unvarnished opinion; spoiler alert, he loves it. And with good
reason; while not a full vector network analyzer (VNA) that will blow a
multi-thousand dollar hole in your wallet, this instrument looks like an
incredible addition to your test suite. The tested unit works from 137 MHz
to 2.4 GHz, so it covers the VHF and UHF ham bands as well as LoRa, WiFi,
cell, ISM, and more. But of course, [Andreas] doesn’t just review the unit,
he also gives us a healthy dose of theory in his approachable style.

[The guy with the Swiss accent] has been doing a lot of great work these
days, covering everything from how not to forget your chores to reverse
engineering an IoT Geiger counter. Check out his channel — almost
everything he does is worth a watch.

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Space Stations Slow-Scan Television System to be Active in April

Posted: 30 Mar 2018 06:49 PM PDT
https://ift.tt/2urx6l3

The Amateur Radio Slow-Scan Television (SSTV) system on the International
Space Station (ISS) is expected to be active in April on 145.800 MHz (FM).
The Russian segment’s MAI 75 SSTV has announced transmissions on Monday,
April 2, 1505 – 1830 UTC, and on Tuesday, April 3, 1415 – 1840 UTC.

"Reviewing the crew schedule, the SSTV activity, which uses Amateur Radio
on the International Space Station (ARISS) radios, was coordinated around
ARISS school contacts and is listed for April 2 and April 3," said NASA ISS
Ham Project Coordinator Kenneth Ransom, N5VHO.

The SSTV system, which uses the call sign RS0ISS, is also expected to be
active from April 11 – 14 worldwide to mark Cosmonautics Day in Russia on
April 12. Specific transmission times are not yet available. Images on all
dates will be related to the Soviet Union’s Interkosmos cooperative space
ventures project.

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via HACKADAY: Fail of the Week: How Not To Build Your Own DGPS Base Station

Posted: 30 Mar 2018 06:47 PM PDT
https://ift.tt/2pSu0Ry

GPS is the modern answer to the ancient question about one’s place in the
world yet it has its limitations. It depends on the time of flight of radio
signals emitted by satellites twenty thousand kilometers above you. Like
any system involving large distances and high velocities, this is bound to
offer some challenges to precise measurements which result in a limit to
achievable accuracy. In other words: The fact that GPS locations tend to be
off by a few meters is rooted in the underlying principle of operation.

Today’s level of precision was virtually unattainable just decades ago, and
we’re getting that precision with a handheld device in mere seconds.
Incredible! Yet the goal posts continue to move and people are working to
get rid of the remaining error. The solution is called Differential GPS or
‘DGPS’ and its concept looks surprisingly simple.

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Kenneth Graham, WX4KEG, Tapped as Next National Hurricane Center Director

Posted: 30 Mar 2018 06:47 PM PDT
https://ift.tt/2uslNJj

The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has named
Kenneth Graham, WX4KEG, to head the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in
Miami. Preparations at the NHC continue ahead of the 2018 hurricane season,
which begins on June 1. Graham will pick up the reins from Deputy/Acting
Director Ed Rappaport on April 1.

“It’s an honor and privilege to be selected to work alongside the talented
and dedicated employees of the National Hurricane Center,” said Graham.
“This is an exciting time to work for the National Weather Service, and I
look forward to the important work ahead in an effort to keep our
communities safe from the various threats posed by hurricanes.” He and
Rappaport were presenters at this week’s National Hurricane Conference in
Orlando.

Graham comes to the NHC after serving as the meteorologist-in-charge of the
National Weather Service New Orleans/Baton Rouge Office since 2008. He is
credited with establishing two command centers in the wake of the Deepwater
Horizon oil spill in 2010, to provide forecasts that aided authorities in
making critical decisions in the succeeding 5 months. Graham also led the
effort to support decision makers in Louisiana and Mississippi with
services focused on expected impacts for hurricanes Gustav, Ike, Isaac, and
the hurricanes during the historic 2017 season.

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via HACKADAY: Ask Hackaday: Is Your Clock Tied to Mains Frequency?

Posted: 30 Mar 2018 06:47 PM PDT
https://ift.tt/2GFGGFK

Earlier in March we heard about a quirk of the interconnected continental
European electricity grid which caused clocks to lose about six minutes so
far this year. This was due to a slight dip in the mains frequency. That
dip didn’t put anything out of commission, but clocks that are designed to
accumulate the total zero-crossings of the power grid frequency of 50 Hz
don’t keep accurate time when that frequency is, say 49.985 Hz for an
extended period of time.

An interesting set of conversations popped up from that topic. There were
several claims that modern alarm clocks, and most devices connected to
mains, no longer get their clock timing from mains frequency. I’ve looked
into this a bit which I’ll go into below. But what we really want to know
is: are your alarm clocks and other devices keeping time with the grid or
with something else?

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via the ARRL: Hamvention Setting Space Aside to Spotlight Emergency
Communication Vehicles

Posted: 30 Mar 2018 06:47 PM PDT
https://ift.tt/2pJxzKu

In keeping with its theme, “Serving the Community,” Hamvention® 2018 is
offering an opportunity for Amateur Radio groups to display the
communication vehicles they use to serve their communities. A special area
has been set aside at the Greene County Fairgrounds and Expo Center for
emergency communication trailers, vans, trucks, and other vehicles.
Hamvention organizers are hoping that emergency response groups such as
ARES, RACES, CERT, and others with an interest in Amateur Radio emergency
communication will take advantage.

“The displays will allow groups planning to develop their own units to get
suggestions and ideas and ask questions of those supporting the vehicles,”
Hamvention said in announcing the special display area. Groups planning to
display vehicles are encouraged to have them staffed, functional, and able
to demonstrate their capabilities during Hamvention.

Gary Hollenbaugh, NJ8BB, who has coordinated Hamvention emergency
communication vehicle displays for 10 years, said that many groups are
thinking about building units and could gain some beneficial ideas from
seeing what other organizations have done. He encouraged teams to make
information about their units available to share with visitors.

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via HACKADAY: Terrible RC Transmitter Made Less Terrible

Posted: 30 Mar 2018 06:47 PM PDT
https://ift.tt/2pJSxJc

It should probably go without saying that we’ve got nothing against the
occasional bout of elaborate troubleshooting and repair, in fact it’s one
of the most common things we cover here. As it turns out, people aren’t
overly fond of being fleeced, and there are a lot of smart people out there
who will put a lot of work in to keep from having to toss a favorite piece
of gear into the trash. We can’t fault them for that.

But we have to say, we generally don’t see those kind of elaborate repairs
for something brand new. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what [Marek
Baczynski] had to do when trying to review the new iRangeX transmitter for
his YouTube channel “dronelab”. He found a transmitter that was so poorly
designed and constructed that he had to address a laundry list of issues to
make the thing halfway tolerable. As you might expect, he’s not suggesting
anyone go run and pick this one up.

The biggest problem is a fundamental flaw with how the gimbals are
constructed. Due to poorly mated surfaces between the potentiometer and the
stick itself, the accuracy of the controller is very low. The
potentiometers don’t even return to zero when the sticks are released. Some
tape was used to tighten up the connection and make the controller usable,
but such poor tolerances are hard to forgive when accurate control is
essentially the whole point of the device.

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FCC Seizes Equipment from Pirate Broadcasters in Boston

Posted: 30 Mar 2018 06:47 PM PDT
https://ift.tt/2E7qaZU

The FCC reports that it seized transmission equipment from two pirate radio
stations in Boston on March 26. According to court documents, the seizures
involved an illegal broadcaster that identified as “Big City” on various FM
channels from Dorchester, Massachusetts (with a studio in Roxbury) and
pirate “B87.7 FM,” which operated on 87.7 FM from Dorchester. Both
unlicensed stations had been issued multiple warnings but continued to
operate. Pursuant to federal forfeiture statutes, authorities seized
equipment operated by each radio station. The forfeiture actions came in
the wake of complaints to the FCC — including one from a licensed
broadcaster — about interference, the FCC said.

“When pirate radio stations refuse to cease operations, despite multiple
warnings, action must be taken,” US Attorney Andrew E. Lelling said. “It is
a public safety hazard for illegal radio stations to broadcast, potentially
interfering with critical radio communications. We will work in conjunction
with the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau to identify violators of federal
communications law.”

Over past year, the FCC has significantly ramped up its enforcement
activity against unlicensed broadcasters, netting at least two Amateur
Radio licensees alleged to be involved in pirate broadcasting.

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via HACKADAY: Storm Detector Modules: Dancing in the Rain

Posted: 30 Mar 2018 06:47 PM PDT
https://ift.tt/2Gy7rvP

Earlier, we had covered setting up an AS3935 lightning detector module.
This detector picks up radio emissions, then analyzes them to determine if
they are a lightning strike or some other radio source. After collecting
some data, it outputs the estimated distance to the incoming storm front.

But that only gets you halfway there. The device detects many non-lightning
events, and the bare circuit board is lacking in pizzazz. Today I fix that
by digging into the detector’s datasheet, and taking a quick trip to the
dollar store buy a suitable housing. The result? A plastic plant that
dances when it’s going to rain!



In the last article, I had covered detecting events from the device and
then reading back the type of event detected from the device memory.
However, we had received a whole lot of type ‘4’ (0100) events output to
the terminal, indicating the detection of a lot of non-lightning events.
These are called ‘disturbers’ and are radio signals that the chip detects
but does not consider lighting. By default it raises the interrupt pin high
for these and transmits them anyway.