We'll be back after the Vernal Equinox. 73!

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What Everyone Else is Reading

"Less Filling = Less Weight for Ham on a Bike"

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  Since 99% of my portable Ham Radio operating is primarily done by bicycle; I'm always looking to lighten the load of what I carry. As we move more and more toward the doldrums of Solar Cycle 25, the Amateur Radio HF frequencies have a tendency not to provide continuous favorable propagation for SSB and CW.  During the previous lull in between Solar Cycles, most of my operating in the shack and portable was digital. And all of that portable digital operating was via my FT-817 utilizing a Signalink as my sound card. Lo and Behold along came Hans with his fantastic line of QRP kits the QDX Digital Transceiver and the Multi-Mode QMX Transceiver. For years I've used different laptops for my digital portable operations for RTTY, PSK31, WSJT-X, SSTV, HF/VHF Packet, Winlink  and APRS. It worked out okay. A few years ago I purchased a Panasonic ToughPad FZ-G1.  It is a GREAT rugged piece of equipment. Smaller in size than laptops, but quite a bit heavier.  A few years ...
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Bye Bye Bye Windows

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For several months I had planned to make a change of Operating System for my non-ham radio tower computer. I had purchased a couple of portable Multi TeraByte Portable Hard Drives and a 138 TB SSD drives to backup that computer. During a September thunderstorm a nearby lightning strike fried the motherboard in that main computer. The strike didn't bother my router, television or my Ham Radio computer. It is weird how electricity can effect some items but not others. Like many of you, I've become tired of Windows restarts happening right in the middle of something I'm doing.  I'm finally making the switch to the Raspberry Pi OS for Windows. I'm disappointed with myself in respect that in aging I've gotten used to some of the conveniences of today's technology.  And one of those has been becoming too comfortable with MicroSoft and Windows.  As a result; my programming skills have eroded over the years and I have spent most of this summer trying to replenish so...
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"JTTY": A NEW Tool In Our Ham Radio Box!

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I had to get the word out about this new tool for our ham radio box.  This mode falls somewhat inline with my previous blogpost about what bands/modes you may use in between Solar Cycles.  JTTY falls into that category. What is JTTY?  JTTY is NEW part of the WSJT-X suite of Digital Modes.  It is keyboard-to-keyboard Digital Mode transmissions without synchronized time slots as we have been accustomed to with FT4 and FT8 transmissions. That means you can start fast RTTY-style real-time operator-to-operator chats or contest style exchanges at ANY time. This mode uses uses 4-tone GSFK with a bandwidth of about 125 Hz  to 127 Hz, which can deliver about 30 WPM random text and up to 60 WPM for contest exchanges. For 20 meters the QSJT-X teams suggest starting at about 14.090 MHz.  Other suggested frequencies can be found at the following link by  DX Zone JTTY Frequencies Robert W5ITR  " Digital Rancher " has compiled a couple of YouTube videos about th...
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