Posts

UHF APRS iGate - If someone else won't, just do it yourself.

Image
        Many digipeaters and iGates on the APRS network will, of course, repeat your packet to extend your coverage, and will send your location to the APRS-IS network for viewing through internet platforms. However, there are many objects on the APRS network that do not travel via RF paths. This can include MMDVM hotspots, CWOP weather stations, users of Android/iOS APRS applications, and even severe weather events.      A great use case for this could be during a SKYWARN severe weather net, where spotters can quickly see temperature shifts and rain rates between weather stations located on opposite sides of town. This is also useful during SKYWARN nets as a way for the Net Control Station to add reports to APRS-IS, such as road blockages, flooding, and locations of emergency response centers; objects that cannot easily be added to the APRS network via traditional RF sources. Spotters will have immediate access to this information via their radios they are already usin
Post a Comment
Read more

WeatherScan 2.0 - Bringing back UHF SSTV

Image
      For any newer hams reading this, SSTV (Slow Scan TeleVision) is an interesting mode in Amateur Radio that converts images to sound files, and the sound is sent over RF. The receiving station has some software that reprints the image line-by-line from the audio file that is received. Most commonly found of the HF bands, there can sometimes be SSTV found on the higher VHF-UHF bands, but it is quite rare. A fellow NOVARS member and I set off to design and implement a SSTV beacon that would deliver an image of the local radar on the top of the hour, and a forecast based off the late 1980's Weather Channel "Local on the 8's" style that sent at the half hour.     A benefit of using SSTV is that no special cables or equipment is required, besides a way to receive the signal, and a device with software and a microphone. Non-hams can easily use a SDR to receive the signal, and smartphone apps for iOS and Android exist that can decode the signal.     Our system started by
1 comment
Read more

APRS over DMR with a Motorola XPR radio

Image
      One fun part of working with commercial gear is the limited number of up to date resources on how to get the radio working with amateur radio systems. And one of those big pains for me was getting APRS to work via a Motorola radio. Motorola radios that have GPS are designed to report station location and current channel back to a central dispatch center, but some very clever hams in this hobby have made that system work through Brandmeister. Most of the guides I have come across have been relatively out of date, or would tell you thirteen different ways of doing it. By combining bits and pieces of each one, I have gotten my APRS location to successfully report via a hotspot and a Motorola HT. I am currently waiting on the results of using a mobile with a fixed repeater in town.      The radios I have used are a Motorola XPR 6550 DMR UHF handheld, and a XPR 4550 DMR UHF mobile. I have followed the same steps with my mobile radio, and will post an update if that was successful. How
Post a Comment
Read more

Who needs a server in their house? You, probably.

    As Amateur Radio operators, it's likely that we all share a love-hate relationship with our computers. A lot of us love to tinker with what's possible on our home PC's, while others just want the things to work. But some of us want to push the envelope even further. Unless you've been living under a rock, it's likely that you've heard of a Raspberry Pi. For those who prefer the Patrick Star lifestyle, these little technological wonders are full fledged computers that are about the size of a credit card. Also known as Single Board Computers, these Pi's have found their way into just about every hamshack around the world. Most are familiar with them for Digital Voice hotspots, some have used them as Linux machines that run HF digital modes and logging software, the possibilities are truly endless.     However, steering away from the Amateur Radio world for a minute, many people use them as network devices for a plethora of tasks. Some use Pi-Hole, a DNS le
Post a Comment
Read more

Compromise and Improvise: Not always a bad idea

  HF and Apartment Dwellers don't go together. It's like vinegar and milk. Sure, there are plenty of apartments or townhomes out there that can support (within reason) an outdoor HF wire antenna, or there are certainly commercially made compromise antennas out there. But I'm sure you can guess the efficiency will be in the toilet, and you're going to likely have to keep the power to a minimum. I have personally tried several indoor style antennas with varying degrees of success. First up was a Super Antenna (think Wolf River Coil style) in the middle of my living room floor near the sliding door to the balcony. At this point, my apartment was on the second floor. Several 10ish foot ground radials were spread out around it. I was running 10 watts of FT8 through it and checking PSKReporter to see where I was being heard. Although I was making it out consistently in the region, I was fighting to make a contact with a station only about 400 miles away. He was hearing me a
Post a Comment
Read more

ARES: The Case of "Well yes, but actually, no"

 Ah yes, ARES, the poster child of over exaggeration. Every book I remember reading when I was studying for my license made it seem as if signing up for this program would make me feel like a real first responder, ready to save lives and be a hero with a $20 walkie talkie and a hard hat. Years later though, I realize that is not the case by a long shot. And even now, many people I meet interested in EmComm have some ideas that sound more like they want to be cops, minus the badge and the gun.     Without a doubt, ARES has it's place. It always will, but it's a very specific place that most volunteers will never reach. ARES and Ham Radio have always been "the backup to the backup". However, I am a firm believer that if you understand the place that ARES holds, and the role that you as a volunteer would likely hold during an emergency, it makes for much more reasonable expectations of what you will give, and what you will get as a volunteer.     In my opinion, t
Post a Comment
Read more

Your Radio Club Sucks, but how do you fix it? Don't bother if you're under 55.

  It's been a while since I've gone through and updated websites that I manage, including this one. A lot has changed. Almost like a time capsule, to just a few months ago. Might as well reflect on what's different enough to warrant an entire blog post.       A few months back, I separated from the local radio club I was a part of. I was there for years, almost ever since I've lived in NW Ohio. Toxicity from there is what killed the hobby for me for a while. But I knew I've sunk far too much time, money, and effort to let it kill the hobby as a whole. It's of no use to publicly post all of the different little things that caused me (and several others) to leave, but you can surely guess that it must've added up if it drove several others as well to resign.       I will hit on a major factor that drove me out, and probably clubs around the world experience in one way or another. The age divide, and not just between members either. Gone are the days of
Post a Comment
Read more