Anybody active here? I haven't been around for years, so it would be
nice to talk shop now and then.
On 02-27-22 22:03, dotslash wrote to All <=-
Hello All,
Anybody active here? I haven't been around for years, so it would be
nice to talk shop now and then.
On 02-27-22 19:14, Andre Robitaille wrote to dotslash <=-
Anybody active here? I haven't been around for years, so it would be
nice to talk shop now and then.
Welcome.
Active is a stretch, but there's usually a new post a couple times a
week if you combine the amateur radio echos from Fsx, Fido, and DOVE.
Hello All,
Anybody active here? I haven't been around for years, so it would be nice to talk shop now and then.
Brian Murrey wrote to dotslash <=-
//Hello dotslash,//
on *27.02.22* at *22:03:59* You wrote in area *FSX_HAM*
to *All* about *"Anybody here?"*.
Hello All,
Anybody active here? I haven't been around for years, so it would be nice to talk shop now and then.
Not any traffic here in about a week. Mybe everyone has the winter
blahs, or maybe there isn't anyone connected here anymore. I'm waiting
on DST and Spring to get here so I can start doing POTA activations
after I get off work.
What have you been up to ham radio wise?
Vk3jed wrote to dotslash <=-
On 02-27-22 22:03, dotslash wrote to All <=-
Hello All,
Anybody active here? I haven't been around for years, so it would be
nice to talk shop now and then.
Yeah there's a few people here. This echo is even shared across two networks, to increase coverage. :)
What have you been up to ham radio wise?
Not really much apart from playing with a few experimental antennas and a new QRP radio - I bought myself the new (somewhat controversial) Xiegu X6100. Well, what an interesting toy. Not prime-time ready due to the fact that it's firmware is still pretty much in an Alpha state, but nonetheless I'm having fun hacking around with it. The last few firmware updates brought some useful improvements, so I can now consider taking it out
POTA. I'll still back it up with my Xiegu G90 (rock solid) and/or Yaesu FT-817ND in case it has a bad-hair-day.
I suppose what I'm "officially" trying to do is to assemble an HF go-bag that doesn't fill up my backpack too much, still leaving enough room for things like water, snacks and maye something to sit on. Of course I don't know what I'm doing, which helps! :-D Oh, and I'm also trying out a bunch of paddles and straight keys with a view to somehow get active on CW in
the near future (I have to atone for my FT8 activities somehow).
What are you playing with these days?
Pretty much the same thing here, the weather here in the UK is still pretty
cold and wet. Not that I can use that as an excuse, but I don't have any
//Hello dotslash,//
on *01.03.22* at *23:08:34* You wrote in area *FSX_HAM*
to *Brian Murrey* about *"Re: Anybody here?"*.
BM>> What have you been up to ham radio wise?
d> Not really much apart from playing with a few experimental antennas and a
d> new QRP radio - I bought myself the new (somewhat controversial) Xiegu
d> X6100. Well, what an interesting toy. Not prime-time ready due to the fact
d> that it's firmware is still pretty much in an Alpha state, but nonetheless
d> I'm having fun hacking around with it. The last few firmware updates
d> brought some useful improvements, so I can now consider taking it out
d> POTA. I'll still back it up with my Xiegu G90 (rock solid) and/or Yaesu
d> FT-817ND in case it has a bad-hair-day.
d> I suppose what I'm "officially" trying to do is to assemble an HF go-bag
d> that doesn't fill up my backpack too much, still leaving enough room for
d> things like water, snacks and maye something to sit on. Of course I don't
d> know what I'm doing, which helps! :-D Oh, and I'm also trying out a bunch
d> of paddles and straight keys with a view to somehow get active on CW in
d> the near future (I have to atone for my FT8 activities somehow).
d> What are you playing with these days?
Well I am not doing SOTA. I live in Indiana, and we're not the home of any SOTA locations that I know of. The north of Indiana is flat as a board, the southern half is where the glaciers came to die so we have som ereally nice rolling hills and the like but nothing with a real peak or summit. The highest point in the state is 383 meters.
However we have 139 POTA approved locations, so I like to do POTA all I can when the weather is decent. I made it out to a close by park yesterday and had some great fun. I wrote it up on my website if you want to see the details and a few pictures. https://kb9bvn.blogspot.com
My go-kit is a Elecraft K2, LDG autotuner, paddles, and my antenna is a Eagle One vertical that mounts to the hitch receiver on my SUV (2006 Trailblazer from Chevy...old ugly and paid for). I also carry about a 4x2 foot folding table and a steel folding chair. That about covers it. Typically I run 10w or a little less and I have 14 successful activations out of 14 attempts.
WX here to day was partly cloudy, temp hit 64F, going down to the 20's tonight, high tomorrow is supposed to be 68F but won't be able to POTA as we are engaged in some family gathering of some sort. I hear there will be food, so I'll be there with my shirt tucked in.
Re: Re: Anybody here?
By: dotslash to Brian Murrey on Tue Mar 01 2022 11:08 pm
do> Pretty much the same thing here, the weather here in the UK is still pretty
do> cold and wet. Not that I can use that as an excuse, but I don't have any
Jumping in as I spotted you are based in the UK.
Not a HAMmer here (Is that a correct term?) but interested in your views of the state of the hobby at the moment in the country. I've always looked with interest from afar....
On 03-01-22 23:08, dotslash wrote to Vk3jed <=-
That's great to know. I've had a quick look at your QRZ page, which
lists your activities mostly on VHF/D-STAR. Are you active on other
bands and modes? Since I don't have any Icom kit I cannot access
D-STAR, altough I have a cheap TYT DMR handset and a nice little
Raspberry Pi hotspot running MMDVM. It would be a total hoot if we
bumped into each other on HF. I once heard VK3YE (Peter Parker) on one
of his 20m "pedestrian" sessions where he walked with his old FT-817 in
a sling-bag, feet in the water and trailing his counter-poise wire in
the waves. Hilarious! My antenna could hear him, but I just could not
get out due to the high noise-floor over here where I live in the UK
(too many cheap, noisy battery chargers from Alibaba in my
neighberhood).
On 02-27-22 21:36, Brian Murrey wrote to dotslash <=-
Not any traffic here in about a week. Mybe everyone has the winter
blahs, or maybe there isn't anyone connected here anymore. I'm waiting
on DST and Spring to get here so I can start doing POTA activations
after I get off work.
What have you been up to ham radio wise?
Oh and your logic baffles me - a high local noise floor would affect receive, not transmit, and you could already hear him.
As you can see, there is a lot to do. Go and get your Foundation license and let's play radio! :-) If you want to investigate what it will take
to get your license, I think that the following two places are the best areas to explore:
It's not "busy" but I think there may be a lot of lurking and not much active posting. I check in a few times a day but rarely post. I've
been incredibly busy with work the last few years and have had zero time for radio. I need to make it more of a priority.
Vk3jed wrote to dotslash <=-
On 03-01-22 23:08, dotslash wrote to Vk3jed <=-
That's great to know. I've had a quick look at your QRZ page, which
lists your activities mostly on VHF/D-STAR. Are you active on other
bands and modes? Since I don't have any Icom kit I cannot access
D-STAR, altough I have a cheap TYT DMR handset and a nice little
That hasn't been updated in years. :) I still have D-STAR (added an ID-5100A last year), but I can also do DMR, YSF, and even M17 on RF.
Oh and your logic baffles me - a high local noise floor would affect receive, not transmit, and you could already hear him.
Mewcenary wrote to dotslash <=-
Re: Re: Anybody here?
By: dotslash to All on Thu Mar 03 2022 12:27 pm
As you can see, there is a lot to do. Go and get your Foundation license and let's play radio! :-) If you want to investigate what it will take
to get your license, I think that the following two places are the best areas to explore:
Thanks for the excellent reply!
Am happy to report that I have started studying and have materials on
the way.
Also have a handheld on the way (Obviously, LISTENING ONLY until I am licensed), and already overwhelmed with all the more modern terminology
in and around digital... Seems there is a lot to this now!
Brilliant! Are you doing it via Essex Ham, or are you going your own way?
Awesome! What model HT did you order? And yes, hold off on the digital stuff
for now, there will be plenty of time for that after you get your license. You
need a valid call-sign to set up most of the digital voice modes, although I
only have experience in setting up DMR.
On 03-04-22 05:47, Andre Robitaille wrote to Vk3jed <=-
Oh and your logic baffles me - a high local noise floor would affect receive, not transmit, and you could already hear him.
Agreed. Noise floor isn't related.
On 03-05-22 16:25, dotslash wrote to Vk3jed <=-
That hasn't been updated in years. :) I still have D-STAR (added an ID-5100A last year), but I can also do DMR, YSF, and even M17 on RF.
Oooh, M17 is new to me! The little bit I have seen looks very
interesting, this looks excellent!
Oh and your logic baffles me - a high local noise floor would affect receive, not transmit, and you could already hear him.
My Xiegu X6100 radio has good filtering, so most of the time I can
fiddle things in such a way that I can just about make out what people
are saying in spite of high QRM. Them not being able to hear me could possibly be due to my antennas being inefficient (mostly end-fed random wires), and my max 10W transmit power cannot compete with the booming kilowatt European stations with beam antennas. When I go mobile with my radios I find that about 10 minutes outside our village I have a far better success-rate of being heard.
Good luck with your move!
Re: Re: Anybody here?
By: dotslash to Mewcenary on Sat Mar 05 2022 04:25 pm
do> Brilliant! Are you doing it via Essex Ham, or are you going your own way?
GM6DX course combined with the official book (when it arrives). I've also joined the OARC discord which seems another good place to chat to people as I ramp up.
I have an FT3D now (I love gadgets, so couldn't resist...). Naturally, just scanning around to see what I can find. I'll listen in to a couple of local repeaters to see if anything comes on air... happy for recommendations here though!
On 03-05-22 16:25, dotslash wrote to Vk3jed <=-
Vk> That hasn't been updated in years. :) I still have D-STAR (added an
Vk> ID-5100A last year), but I can also do DMR, YSF, and even M17 on RF.
do> Oooh, M17 is new to me! The little bit I have seen looks very
do> interesting, this looks excellent!
M17 is exciting, because it's hams developing, and it's evolving rapidly. I was there when M17 support was added to the MMDVM suite, and also the arrival of several methods of generating M17 RF. Testing all that was fun too. :)
Still got nothing to do with the local noise floor, but relocating has certainly improved propagation, which is not unusual. I tend to get out better
from the beach or the outback, as well as where I was when I first started on radio. The local soil condition has a lot of inpact on propagation. Beach has
great soil conductivity, due to the seawater. The outback has high iron content (it's basically rusted). :)
hit my nearest DMR repeater, so I caved in and bought myself a MMDVM-based hotspot. Basically a Raspberry Pi Zero W in a nice metal
case with a little OLED screen and a transceiver hat. That way I can now get onto DMR, but using the Internet. The same hardware can also work with Icom's D-Star, as well as Yaesu's YSF digital networks. At least your HT is digital-ready for when you want to start messing about with that.
On 03-06-22 17:51, dotslash wrote to All <=-rrival
M17 is exciting, because it's hams developing, and it's evolving rapidly. I was there when M17 support was added to the MMDVM suite, and also the
of several methods of generating M17 RF. Testing all that was fun too. :)
I've started messing about with it a bit, very impressive the quality
you can get with 9600 baud and less. Wow!
You are of course correct. I live on what is called the "North Downs"
in the South-East of England, which is mostly meters worth of sandy
chalk. Sparked by your comment about soil conductivity, I consulted the British Geological Survey map to see if there is an explanation. My favourite spot is further south towards the coastal plain, and it seems that the bed-rock there is mainly hard limestone as opposed to the
chalk where I live. Interesting, this needs some more study - I had no idea that ground conditions could have such a big impact.
Re: Re: Anybody here?
By: dotslash to All on Sun Mar 06 2022 05:37 pm
do> hit my nearest DMR repeater, so I caved in and bought myself a
do> MMDVM-based hotspot. Basically a Raspberry Pi Zero W in a nice metal
do> case with a little OLED screen and a transceiver hat. That way I can now
do> get onto DMR, but using the Internet. The same hardware can also work
do> with Icom's D-Star, as well as Yaesu's YSF digital networks. At least
do> your HT is digital-ready for when you want to start messing about with that.
Ah, I've ordered myself a Zumspot USB stick for this purpose. I can't 'hit' the digital repeaters from here. I considered the Raspberry Pi route, but went with the USB stick for flexibility (I can use it with my PC, or also with the likes of Pistar on a Pi should I wish....)
I'm thinking of getting a listening aerial for now, but struggling with exactly _what_ to get. I get that you just need co-ax cable shoved into the device for this purpose, but at this stage would appreciate a ready-made kit which gets you started! It feels too early to be having antenna anxiety ;)
Mewcenary.
--- SBBSecho 3.15-Linux
* Origin: Extricate BBS - bbs.extricate.org (21:1/189)
I'm thinking of getting a listening aerial for now, but struggling with exactly _what_ to get. I get that you just need co-ax cable shoved into the device for this purpose, but at this stage would appreciate a ready-made kit which gets you started! It feels too early to be having antenna anxiety ;)
On 03-06-22 17:51, dotslash wrote to All <=-
> M17 is exciting, because it's hams developing, and it's evolving rapidly. I
> was there when M17 support was added to the MMDVM suite, and also the rrival
> of several methods of generating M17 RF. Testing all that was fun too. :)
do> I've started messing about with it a bit, very impressive the quality
do> you can get with 9600 baud and less. Wow!
Have you got M17 running over RF? I'm able to run it using a MMDVM, M17Client
and a FT-818. :)
On 03-08-22 21:58, dotslash wrote to All <=-
Nope, I have only used the Linux client so far to do few echo tests. I
have a MMDVM-based hotspot running the official Pi-Star 4.1.6. I'm not quite sure how I will get M17 plugged into that yet, but I've put it on
my stack of things to research (near the top!). I'm glad to see you
have the FT-818, a superb little piece of kit! I have an older 817nd,
and I'm like Smeagol with the ring about it, I will *never* sell it!
:-D It's a strange little piece of tech, I have awesome radios with big screens and spectrum waterfalls and enough shiny
filters/buttons/features to tempt a magpie, but I keep on coming back
to my little Yaesu FT817. I suppose I'm a bit odd, but hey-ho! :-)
dotslash wrote to All <=-
Hello All,
Anybody active here? I haven't been around for years, so it would be
nice to talk shop now and then.
Cheerio,
Jan Henkins M7HNK (aka dotslash)
Brian Murrey wrote to dotslash <=-
some great fun. I wrote it up on my website if you want to see the details and a few pictures. https://kb9bvn.blogspot.com
Mewcenary wrote to dotslash <=-
Re: Re: Anybody here?
By: dotslash to All on Thu Mar 03 2022 12:27 pm
As you can see, there is a lot to do. Go and get your Foundation license and let's play radio! :-) If you want to investigate what it will take
to get your license, I think that the following two places are the best areas to explore:
Thanks for the excellent reply!
Am happy to report that I have started studying and have materials on
the way.
Also have a handheld on the way (Obviously, LISTENING ONLY until I am licensed), and already overwhelmed with all the more modern terminology
in and around digital... Seems there is a lot to this now!
InfectedBootSector wrote to dotslash <=-
It's not "busy" but I think there may be a lot of lurking and not much active posting. I check in a few times a day but rarely post. I've
been incredibly busy with work the last few years and have had zero
time for radio. I need to make it more of a priority.
Brian Murrey wrote to dotslash <=-
some great fun. I wrote it up on my website if you want to see the
details and a few pictures. https://kb9bvn.blogspot.com
I just looked at it, cause I'm in McCordsville right now, sitting on the couch at my son's house. :-)
Says Central Indiana - where at?
Brian Murrey wrote to Chuck Finley <=-
Says Central Indiana - where at?
I'm in Johnson County which is one county south of Indianapolis. The
POTA site I usually operate from is Atterbury Fish and Wildlife Area
which sits on the south edge of Johnson County just north of Camp Atterbury.
https://www.in.gov/dnr/fish-and-wildlife/properties/atterbury-fwa/
Ft. Harrison State Park is also a POTA site and it is very close to McCordsville. Go register with POTA and start hunting and activating,
its tons
of fun.
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