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RTL Software Defined Radio

Tommy — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 -0600

Last week I got my newest toy in. It's a USB DVB RTL Receiver featuring the Realtek chipset beloved by radio enthusiasts. The chip functions by receiving radio signals and converting them to audio streams which the computer can decode/demodulate using software. The software tells the chip what frequency to tune to, and demodulates the signal. This concept is known as a Software Defined Radio or SDR for short.

The Realtek is cheap and agile enough to tune a wide range of frequencies (52 MHz-2200 MHz). Thanks to free (as in beer) software like SDRSharp, the "work" of setting up this complex sounding setup is almost trivial. (Especially if you use the install script in the downloads section of SDRSharp. Other websites can show you how to setup a trunking radio scanner for police/fire/EMS in your area. [So long as your local fire responders don't use a trunked P25 Phase II system])

If you're looking to get started, check out this USB DVB Dongle (any RTL2832U receiver should work). I would also recommend getting an antenna pigtail so you can use a bigger/better antenna for whatever frequencies you want to receive.

Ham Radio PDF Archive

Tommy — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 -0600

The other day I went looking for an old issue of the once-free publication WorldRadio Online, but had trouble finding all the issues in a single repository. I decided to make myself one once I found all the files. So here it is: www.n5dux.com/ham/pubs

WorldRadio used to be a very low key, cheap publication about amateur radio. The kits and homebrew articles were worth a look. WorldRadio had a small following but when the much larger CQ magazine offered to buy-out WorldRadio, the owners of WorldRadio gave in. CQ has far more advertising dollars to support their publications (CQ, CQ-VHF and PopComm) - for them, it's a business wrapped around a hobby. WorldRadio was more of a hobby wrapped around a hobby.

So CQ Magazine bought the small WorldRadio, moved their "lifetime subscription" members to a one or two year CQ magazine subscription (crummy deal) and made WorldRadio into a free, online-only publication titled WorldRadio Online. (A move that jilted many of the older, not-quite-so-tech-savvy readership.) Many of the longtime readers said it was the end of WorldRadio, some said it was the start of online publications for ham radio. Both were right. WorldRadio Online was a great monthly treat because it was free. The transition to online was made easier in that the reader wasn't having to pay for it. The content got watered down somewhat as CQ wasn't making much money on the project, but you get what you pay for: no complaints. Still, longtime readers still said the end was near for WorldRadio. In October 2011, they were proven more correct. WorldRadio Online became a paid-for, online-only publication. The once-free PDFs were taken down and any new content would have to be paid for. I'm unaware of any widespread fanbase of the now online-only paid publication which can only mean it's a matter of time before the publisher pulls the plug on the project altogether.

Also succumbing to similar commercial/financial pressures is the European publication HamMag. A grass-roots, free, online publication that also failed to secure enough advertising dollars to make it worthwhile. I've archived them as well.

Finally, a publication that petered out well before the others is 73 Magazine. With 43 years in print, 73 Magazine closed shop in 2003. The 43 years of issues were scanned as PDFs and made available for the ham community. An archive of that many PDFs is sizable (too big for me to justify hosting locally), so I'll just direct you to the 73 Magazine repository at archive.org.

7400 Oscillator

Tommy — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 -0600

I recently came across a schematic that showed how to build an oscillator using the NAND gates inside a 7400 chip. After poking around online, looking for the 7400 (and not some variant) I learned the LeTourneau University College of Engineering has a parts supply closet with a whole stash of them for 5� each. (I've known about the parts closet for quite a number of years, but only recently discovered a tall filing cabinet full of most commonly used ICs. (No NE602 or 612s, I'm afraid, but that's another post for another time.)

So, with my 7400 in hand, I was able to breadboard an oscillator using the "colorburst" crystal at 3.579 MHz. The oscillator emits a square wave at the fundamental frequency, so harmonics abound. In fact, just through playing around with another receiver, the 3rd harmonic at ~28.632 MHz is considerably stronger than the others that fall in the ham bands. (All higher harmonics are just above the ham bands, though I may be able to pull them back down with a variable capacitor in series with the crystal.) I need to do some range testing on this to see just how far I can get on the various bands.
My next trick is to build a bandpass filter network to dampen the harmonics down to legal levels. Then, I'll have a bona fide transmitter, though very, very low power. Perhaps a final amplifier is on the drawing board next.

Parallax Propeller

Tommy — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 -0600

I recently picked up a Propeller Board of Education from my recent trip to Parallax, Inc to teach the Teachers' Institute for the ARRL. The Propeller is Parallax's latest microcontroller platform that offers far more than the old beloved BASIC Stamp could. Digging back through my old posts, I found my initial review of the Parllax BASIC Stamp from 2006. (Little did I know that about 5 years later I'd begin teaching classes on the Stamp, visit Parallax HQ, and befriend the author of the "What's a Microcontroller" book (among other titles).)

The Propeller is a programmable multicore microcontroller that can be programmed in Assembly, Spin (an Object-Based programming language that I'm still learning), or, most recently, Standard C. The multicore design lends itself well for many, many projects, chief among them is robotics. Now your creations can take in and process loads more data at once. And with robotics, the more sensory input your bot has, the better equipped it will be to handle various tasks.

I just recently began to fully grasp the power of the little Propeller chip. Once the relative simplicity of utilizing the 8 cores available (known as "cogs"), the possibilities begin to multiply and compound one atop the other. My initial reluctance to the Propeller was the Spin language. The operators seem a bit foreign compared to the C-style languages I've been comfortable with for so long. The various code sections also seemed confusing initially. After reading through the tutorials posted on the learn.parallax.com website, I was up and running in a relatively short amount of time. I also took advantage of the Propeller Manual (pdf) and Programming the Propeller with Spin (pdf). While both offer great starting points, be sure to reference the learn.parallax.com site first - the Programming the Propeller text has its weaknesses. All in all, Spin is a relatively easy language to pick up if you already have some programming under your belt.

Another great aspect of Spin is the ability to utilize Spin objects (or libraries) from the Propeller Object Exchange. Modern microcontroller programming is all about code reuse and sharing: find the code you need that someone else (hopefully) did a good job writing, plug it into your codebase and immediately make use of it.

Far more exciting still is the recent ability to program the Propeller in C. While Spin is great, having to learn another language can be a real turn-off to would be programmers of such a chip. The Arduino is neat in that regard and I must admit I've been smitten with the Arduino since beginning its use. However, the Arduino can only do so much. It is limited by the fact that it's a single core design. For the past few years, users have sacrificed power and utility in order to gain ease of use - no more. With the upcoming release of the stamplib C library, there's little reason to not opt for the Propeller.

Oh, what's that? Price is a big selling point? The Arduino typically sells for $30, the Propeller Quickstart sells for $25 ($50 if you want it from Radio Shack today and can't wait a few days for UPS).
The PropBOE is far more extensible, though. It currently has a high price tag but comes with a lot to offer. VGA output, 1/8" audio out, microphone for audio in, micro SD for storage, ADC and DAC, a mount for an XBee wireless module as well as the ever-present bank of LEDs for feedback - did I mention is has tie points for 6 servos? Not bad for $130. If that seems a bit too steep and you doubt you'd use all the features, a stripped down PropBOE is rumored to be in the works for a target price of $50.

Map Overlays

Greg — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 -0600

Since long long ago the military has used maps and graphic symbols to plan and implement combat plans. So to plan a mission, you need a MGRS topographic map, a blow up of the same map covering your Objective, and enough laminate overlays to fill a small car. I love arts and crafts just like the next guy, but is the sales guy at the mall gets a touchscreen tablet, why cant we get planning software. My list of needs: -a topographic version of Google Earth with Military Grid ref System -variable zoom and contour intervals -ability to capture snapshot the desired map -several tabbed 'layers' that I can toggle on and stack as needed -simple drawing tools -a tactical symbol database, one that recognizes the symbol I'm trying to fat finger and inserts it for me. That is all.

The Subsidized Food Stamp

Tommy — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 -0600

I've tried my best to steer away from getting into politics on my blog, but I felt I needed to post about this one.

In a recent conversation from his radio show, Rush Limbaugh defended Walmart for "selling crud" to those on food stamps. Rush is not the champion of free market that he would lead you to believe. He'd rather protect corporate interests than the interests of the American tax payer. Rush claims that plenty of stores sell highly processed foods and that it's not the government's place to fix the problem - oh, but it is, Rush!

If the government is spending money to feed people, shouldn't that food be healthy food that won't lead to health complications? ...Health complications which will probably cost tax-payer money too? Regardless of how you feel about the health care debate in the US, the fact is if you need immediate medical assistance, you will receive it - period. Who ends up paying for that is up in the air, but it usually comes from the hospital's bottom line and the government (at one level or another).

Ok, health problems may end up costing us somehow, but we're paying for people's food that live on food stamps, so why not give them good food? I'm not talking about filet mignon, fine wine and imported Kobe beef - I just mean basic staples like bread, produce and meats. Why give a hungry family a tube of mass-produced, ammonia-treated, brine-pumped, pink slime with fillers that passes for ground beef? Why feed a growing child "fruit drink" when we can provide them with real juice, from actual fruit? Why give them a sandwich made of slabs of bleached flower with the majority of the nutrition removed, then added back in at the minimum reportable amount for marketing? The answer lies in cost and how much each food item costs the shopping parent with the food stamps - not necessarily what the healthiest option is.

In an article from the Huffington Post, one MD discusses the hidden cost of "cheap" foods. No shocker, that discount comes at a price. A price paid by, you guessed it, the Federal government. Corn, soy, sugar and several other "big foods" get federal dollars in the form of subsidies to artificially drive down their costs. These lower costs are passed on to food producers for inclusion in their products. Food corporations also get incentives to include these agricultural products in their products. They are included in the form of High Fructose Corn Syrup which is used for sweetener instead of the more easily digested table sugar. Corn is added just about anywhere it can as fillers or oil. Because of the low cost of sugar, it costs less to buy a processed candy bar than it does to buy a single apple. Calorie for calorie, it costs more to fill up on produce than it does to fill up on processed foods. "Processed", by the way, usually means fillers, byproducts and subsidized food.

In Rush's radio show, he says he thinks "there's a nation on earth that has fed itself better than this one". You're right, Rush. Nobody has fed itself better than we used to. We used to not let greedy, multinational corporations produce the overwhelming majority of food consumed in this country, nor did we let those corporations steer public policy on the matter either. By letting the bottom line of those corporations grow fatter than our waist lines, we've become the fattest country in the world, and not because we're eating right. Our quality of food has declined from America's heyday, and that is directly attributed to lobbyists and special interests.

Rush says the lie is that the private sector is failing basic human needs, but the private sector, by in large, is failing basic human needs: they're feeding people garbage and watching their profits soar. There are many small companies with far smaller logistic chains fighting fierce competition to feed people right, but these private labels get swallowed up by Big Food.

Unfortunately, Rush is also wrong when he says the government can't fix the problem. The problem directly lies in subsidies. When we stop artificially lowering the cost of many of the filler foods full of empty calories, the real price of food will show through. The public will see that eating healthy is actually cheaper in reality than the subsidized products Big Food is pushing. If we're going to subsidize, only subsidize the food products that actually reach consumers' mouths directly.

HOWTO: Intro to Twitter

Tommy — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 -0600

For anyone online you've no doubt heard that social media is defined by sites like Reddit, Facebook and Twitter. A lot of people talk about Twitter, but a vast majority of people don't know how to use Twitter. I must admit that I've had an account for years but wrote it off because it seemed so limited. The power of Twitter is not found in the brevity of the "tweets" (posts that users make on Twitter), but in the ability to monitor tweets of others.

Flow of news
In the traditional model of news aggregation, you would turn on the TV or radio, open a newspaper or seek a sole source of information. That organization would have already done the leg work of finding news, picking out what they thought the majority of their viewers/listeners/readers would find appealing and put that news out there. With the introduction of "social media", suddenly people can discern for themselves what is important. The early days of Digg brought this idea to reality and reddit took over where Digg left off. The users were now in control of the information, not the producer, publisher or editor. I'm not saying that Twitter affords this ability, but it allows you to search for items that have been flagged with certain key terms. In Twitter parlance, this flag is known as a hashtag. Until I understood hashtags, I didn't "get" Twitter - now I do.

#Hashtags - The key to Twitter
Hashtags allow you to share information that you tweet with others within a community of individuals that are, themselves, looking for information relevant to a subject. The same way that you search for things with a search engine through key words, you can also hunt for tweets with a hashtag.
I deal a lot with Education Technology, so when I'm looking for news, links and information related to Education Technology, I'll look at the Twitter hashtag #edtech. If I want to look at tweets dealing with education in general, I'll look at #edu. If I want to find information about space, I would look for the #space hashtag. Robotics has #robotics All of the results for each of these tags will show content that individuals shared on Twitter and then tagged with the relevant hashtags (and you can use multiple hashtags on your tweets as you may see some users doing). Hashtags are denoted with the # sign (hence the name).

Tweeting @users
If, for example, I wanted to Tweet at or to a person in particular, I would use the @ symbol, followed by their Twitter username. This allows the user you are referencing to see the tweet made "at" them so they can respond or pass along the information. I don't use this feature very often, but as your use of Twitter grows, so will the number of times you'll find this feature handy. For example, if you wanted to tweet at me, you would post something like "@MrGoberTX Thanks for the Twitter intro on neodux.com".

Twitter for organizations
So what's the big deal with businesses and organizations using Twitter? Contrary to Facebook, Twitter is a "one way street". Facebook is like a two way street, it allows you to communicate back and forth. I can post something on Facebook that my organization is doing, and you can "Like" it or comment on it. Until I go to moderate those comments (they may not all be positive or socially acceptable), everyone will see these comments from people they don't know. Some users may be offended by the content of your Facebook comment, but it will appear on the page until I take the time to login and take it off. That two way street can be a liability that I must babysit vigilantly.
Twitter on the other hand is a one way flow of information - similar to a press release. This is what I'm doing, here's what you need to know, thank you, have a nice day. If someone were to want to leave an offensive remark, that remark won't show up on my page. This protects the people that view my page. The user with bad intention's best hope is to attach a relevant hashtag and hope some user is looking for information via that hashtag and not directly from my organization's page. This one way flow of information is a great way to share what you're doing with the public without opening yourself up to others' comments.
This difference in usage is what makes Twitter ideal for large, litigation prone entities like companies, school districts, etc. You don't have time to babysit your account to clean out all the nefarious comments, nor should you be expected to respond to each user - that one way flow of information is just what you need.

Panning for gold
Once people get on Twitter and start hunting for hashtags that are useful, they quickly realize the vast amount of information flowing through Twitter. How can they make sense of it all?! I liken Twitter to standing next to a roaring river, panning for gold. You can't possibly glean every little flake of gold from the river, you've got to accept that. Find what little nuggets you can and move on. Come back later when you need to hunt for more. Over time you'll develop a sense of what hashtags are worthwhile and which ones stay relatively dormant, just as the gold prospectors knew which parts of the river were worth working and staking a claim on.
As you get a better feel for Twitter, you'll begin to see which hashtags belong to your interests. Then, when you're ready to share something with the world at large, you'll know how to "tag" your tweets in order to garner the audience you seek. At that point you'll finally "get" Twitter.

On usernames
It's worth pointing out that your Twitter username can serve as your sole identity to some Twitter users. You will find certain users on Twitter that you have no connection with other than a shared interest in a particular topic. When selecting a username it's good practice to make it something easy to relay to others (nothing too cryptic) and one that you think represents you well. Several users will attach a small picture of themselves to their Twitter profile so others can put a face with their name.

So where do I start?!
First things first, you don't have to have a Twitter account to use Twitter. You only need an account when you're ready to tweet something. The best place to start is to find a notable figure or brand in the subject you want to hunt for and "follow" them (just read their Twitter feed). You'll begin to notice the hashtags they are using for your interests and then you can begin to scour those hashtag feeds for others to follow or other, related hashtags.

Resources
To show you how many hashtags there are just for educators, I have a list of hashtags over at MrGober.com: http://www.mrgober.com/hashtags
If that's how many teachers have, you can imagine how many there are for news stories, events, pop culture, hobbies and brands. It's just a matter of finding them! My personal favorites are #edtech #hamradio #news #edu #arduino .
If you're looking for me on Twitter, my username is @MrGoberTX.

HOWTO: Getting Started with CW

Tommy — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 -0600

It's been a year since my post about Morse Code: Brief History, and I figure I might as well shed some light on how to get started operating with Morse Code. Since the Morse code requirement for ham radio was lifted in 2007, the number of amateurs getting their HF privileges has grown substantially, but with the "repeal" of code, entry level Technicians are granted privileges in certain portions of the bands. Most commonly, Technicians can operate SSB in the 10m band, but can also operate CW, or Morse Code, in 80m, 40m, 15m, and 10m. So, if you're a ham, you already have privileges to operate CW - you just need to learn where to start.

Learning the Code
For starters, you will need to learn Morse Code, one way or another. (duh.) While it may not be the universally agreed upon best way, I learned Morse Code through the Code Quick program. It really is an easy way to learn and quickly remember the code. There are countless gimmicks and "5 Minute Ab"-type programs that try to rush you through the learning process as fast as humanly possible, but few are ever successful. You just can't hurry the learning process. The downside of the CodeQuick method is not immediately known until you're trying to copy signals that are faster and faster. Once you hit about 10wpm, the CodeQuick lessons that you've used as a crutch finally become a hindrance and make copying code faster more difficult. The big plus is how quickly you'll learn the code in relatively enjoyable lessons compared to other methods.
Another alternative to learning the code is one of dozens of Koch method trainers. The Koch method, and most others, ram the code into your head seemingly through brute force. You learn the code, but for most people it simply is not entertaining or enjoyable as CodeQuick. However, the hard work you put in up front pays off in the end as you are able to increase you speed with relative ease compared to the CodeQuick program. So it's all about where you want to put in the work, now or later. Because most people because frustrated or quickly lose interest with other methods, I recommend CodeQuick in spite of the "plateau" effect you encounter when trying to speed up your copying skills. Unless you enjoy learning it, the learning curve is almost insurmountable.

There really is no substitute for the "sweat equity" you're going to need to put in to learning the code. It will take time to learn, there's no magic pill. I listened to the CodeQuick training lessons when I was in the car by myself. I wasn't bothering anyone else and I could pass the time by learning something. So consider your personal schedule and think about when you might have time to idly study code.

Copy, copy, copy
Knowing the characters and having the recall ability are helpful, but you still need to try some "live" copy. That is, it's easier to send letters when you know what they are; it's another thing altogether to try to understand what another person is trying to tell you.
There are several practice resources available on the web that will send you random letters or news headlines in Morse code. Copying code is harder than sending code, practice copying others' code more than you practice sending your own.
One of the best sources to copy live code on the air is to use the ARRL station W1AW, which transmits at set speeds and specific times. W1AW transmits a very strong signal, so you should have little trouble hearing the practice sets in North America.

Terminology
As with all things, there's some terminology with Morse code. WPM is a commonly used acronym for "Words Per Minute". That is, the speed at which the numbers and letters are coming at you. For the sake of standard measurement, WPM has been defined as 5-character groupings. If we're talking about 20wpm, that's going to be about 100 characters in a minute.
Farnsworth spacing is the act of sending letters at one speed and pausing in between each letter at a different speed. For example, if we're talking about 20wpm, that's 1.6 characters a second - pretty fast! Now, for beginners, the goal is usually 5wpm. 5wpm has become the baseline for proficiency in Morse Code. at 5wpm, that's one character every 2.4 seconds - much slower. As you learn the code, you'll hear 5wpm characters and find yourself impatient. The individual dits and dahs are so spread out, it's hard to hear them as one whole character. Suddenly you hear just E's and T's. (E = dit, T = dah) The solution to this "slow character" rate is to use Farnsworth spacing. You might receive characters at 15-20wpm, but pause a second or two in between each character so you have time to think and write down the letter you heard. That would be 15wpm letters at 5wpm spacing, or "5wpm Farnsworth spacing". The beauty of Farnsworth spacing is as you become faster and faster, the only thing that needs to change is the spacing between characters. The idea is that you'll go from 5wpm to 15wpm without even noticing (over the span of days/weeks of practice).

Getting on the Air
Ok, ok, ok... You've done your homework, you know the code. You're tired of waiting. How do you actually get on the air?
This was exactly where I was for years. For years I knew the code, but I never used it. I was still sitting at 5wpm, but never had any airtime. That all changed when I stumbled across a segment of the CW portion of the dial. For some reason, nobody ever explained to me that if I wanted to meet other 5wpm hams, I'd have to start in the "Novice portion" of the bands. I had listened to and failed to copy hams down in the lower part of the CW bands. This one evening I stumbled across a radio contact (QSO) somewhere between 7.100 and 7.125. I wasn't able to copy 100% but they were going my speed! Wow, I was able to copy their callsigns and even pick up on the gist of their conversation! Finally, there are other beginners out there like me - I just had to know where to look. If I can offer one bit of advice to other would-be CW operators, it's this: Listen around 7.114MHz on the 40m band. If you only remember one thing of this entire write up, it's to remember this portion of the CW bands. I was a frustrated CW wannabe until I "discovered" the Novice bands. You'll almost always hear someone around there and they shouldn't be going too much faster than you can copy. It's the absolute best place to start with learning code. 10m may not propagate all the time, 15m can be finicky too, 80m is good, but not as popular for slow speed as 40m.

The Exchange
Chances are you've already read how basic QSOs go, they're usually chalk full of acronyms, lingo and abbreviations, but they generally go like this:
CQ CQ CQ de N5DUX N5DUX CQ K
N5DUX de W1AW W1AW W1AW K
W1AW de N5DUX = RST 599 = QTH TX = NAME TOMMY = QSL? K
N5DUX de W1AW = FB TOMMY = RST 579 = QTH CT = NAME HIRAM = BTU K
W1AW de N5DUX = THX FER CALL HIRAM = JUST LRNING CODE = 73 de N5DUX K
N5DUX de W1AW = OK TOMMY = KEEP IT UP = 73 de W1AW SK

Copious amounts of abbreviations are used with Morse Code. Misspelled words while a travesty on the internet are understood for the sake of time in Morse Code. Saving a dit or dah here or there can add up over the course of a conversation. QSL, K, QTH, CQ, RST, 73 - all of these are abbreviations commonly used in CW. (QSL = "do you copy?", QTH = "my location", CQ = "seek you", RST = "signal readability, strength, tone", K = "over/back to you", 73 = "best wishes, goodbye")
So, now that you know the most common abbreviations (known as Q codes), you can probably gather the gist of the exchange. Basically N5DUX is calling out to see if anyone can hear him. It's the radio equivalent of a fisherman putting his hook in the water. W1AW comes back with his callsign, saying it 3 times to ensure N5DUX copies it correctly. Once he does, N5DUX acknowledges W1AW by calling him specifically and tell him how strong his signal sounds to his location. He informs W1AW of his location and then gives his name. W1AW, upon receiving this, replies with his information. Right there is generally what is regarded as a "contact", everything else that may be exchanges are niceties and can be as brief or as long as possible.

Equipment
In order to make your CW experience as comfortable for you as possible, it pays to have a good setup. Of primary importance, is the radio and antenna. You will need a radio that can operate in your intended band. If you're just getting started, you may simply want a radio that can receive CW until you feel more at ease with copying code. Some general receivers have CW mode, but you will need to ensure you can hear the "dits and dahs" before anything else. Most modern HF ham radios support CW (in part because it's such a simple mode to have on a radio - arguably the easiest!).
Once you have a receiver you will need an antenna. The easiest antenna for constructing is the dipole. If you're only receiving, you don't need anything fancy. In general, the more wire the better, but a tuned antenna for 40m is the most efficient and will provide the best signal.
If you are planning on transmitting, I suggest getting a good straight key. I started with some MFJ paddles and enjoyed them, but nothing really beats a straight key for truly getting that organic feel of sending code. I picked up an old US Navy "flameproof" straight key from eBay for a good price. It's rugged, solid feel is far superior to the under $10 straight key you'll find in junk bins at every hamfest. Those will work if you've got nothing else - but then again so do paperclips and thumbtacks.
Beyond the radio equipment itself, I recommend a set of headphones. Headphones help to block out any distracting noises and help your brain really focus on just the sounds you need to hear.
You'll also need a couple of pencils, a pad of paper, to write down the conversation as it unfolds. Just for kicks an internet connected computer is helpful. Having a computer so you can lookup the callsigns you hear on QRZ.com is a big help. By looking up the other guy's name, you can see at a glance where he's from and his name. These will help you out when he's sending his information to you. It helps confirm where he's from and it also gives your brain a little rest as you already know the information. Just be sure to follow along as he sends it to you, he may not be at home or he may go by another name. (Many hams shorten their names when they're in CW because it saves a few dits and dahs. Thomas may be shortened to Tom, Robert may be Bob or Rob, etc. (On a personal note, I go by Tommy in CW because that's my day-to-day name. I don't go by Tom on a daily basis and I wouldn't introduce myself to you in real life, so I keep it Tommy in CW. Besides T-O-M in Morse isn't as "fun" as T-O-M-M-Y. The -.-- on the end is a bit more fun and recognizable. )

First contact
If you're station is all setup and ready to make a contact, you'll probably get a bit nervous. Calling CQ is one thing, copying someone's response is another. I'll admit there were times I called CQ repeatedly and when someone came back to me, I effectively "hung up" on the guy. When I heard my callsign coming back to me I got excited and scared. I completely lost my ability to copy and just turned off the radio! It really happened - silly I know. (Sorry whoever you were!) Radio contacts don't have to be long, but your brain will hurt after just a few minutes of your first few contacts. It's taxing when you are starting out, but I'm at the point now that when the radio contact is flowing, it can be a bit relaxing to hear the letters coming out of the air. That part is hard to describe, but other experienced operators will know what I mean. After all, if it wasn't enjoyable, why would thousands and thousands of hams around the world stick with it? I digress.
So your first call should be relaxing. Perhaps you know a CW operator near you that can help you along during your first QSO. Having regular practice under more "controlled" conditions can be a big help before you step up to the plate for real. (There's even an ARRL First Contact Award you can receive for that first, memorable contact.)
Another key rule of operating is to never send faster than you can copy. It's your way of telling the other operator how fast (or slow) you need him to send. If the other operator is sending slower or saying "QRS", slow it down a bit for him. If the other operator is going too fast for you, slow down your sending speed to a comfortable rate and even send "QRS PSE" ("slow down please"). Any operator worth his salt will slow down for a slow spped op. (and you don't ever want to be "that guy"!)

Gaining speed
You can read all you want, but eventually you will need to just go for it. After you have a few contacts under your belt, you'll notice you can pick up your speed just a bit. Maybe it'll be going from 5wpm to 6wpm, but eventually you'll find yourself operating faster than you realize. You'll hear another new comer call CQ at 5wpm and it will sound mind numbingly slow. That's when you realize how much you've grown.
Another great way to gain speed is to participate in short, CW "contests" known as sprints. If you have a straight key, the Straight Key Century Club offers free membership. Upon joining, you'll be given an SKCC member number. Write this down prominently, you'll be referring back to it from time to time. Sprints are short, sometimes 2 hour contests that hold no value and are just for fun. As an up-and-coming CW operator, what you'll gain is a lot of experience in a short amount of time. By participating, you'll be able to make a lot of contacts very quickly and each exchange is as brief as possible; so it's "just the facts ma'am". You'll hear the so called "fist" that operators have (the style each operator has of sending dits/dahs, spacing, etc.). You'll also be eligible for the myriad of awards SKCC offers its members.

Further Reading For further reading, download the free PDF "The Art & Skill of Radiotelegraphy", it's full of helpful information and while dry at points, really does explain the entire concept or CW and the use of Morse Code.

I hope some of this helps. I'll expound on this as I can... 73!

User Friendly URLs

Tommy — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 -0600

Thanks to mod_rewrite and a little "why didn't I think of this before?", Neodux now has user-friendly URLs. Now instead of "cryptic" URLs with "?" and "&" signs in them, you can now just type in /read/ and the name of the blog entry you're interested in.

To see this feature in action, you can click on this story's title, or the "Full article" link. This should not affect old links and I'd also ask that you please inform me if you see some functionality is all messed up. I think I caught all possible errors, but you can easily overlook some parts of a project like this.

So, bottom line, links to Neodux should be much more friendly and bookmarks should be easier to understand. Enjoy!

update: Yes, old links should still work. Too many blogs and sites around the web link back to articles here and I didn't want to screw them up. So everything should work seemlessly.

HOWTO: ISS Viewing

Tommy — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 -0600

The fact that there's a space station orbiting above the globe right now has become somewhat passe in pop culture. Not many people are truly wowed at the news of it. Within seconds, a few clicks of a mouse will take you to hundreds of pictures and videos of the International Space Station; but did you know you can see the space station yourself? No binoculars or telescopes needed! I figured I would write up a HOWTO for the uninitiated. It isn't hard, it just takes a little know how.

For starters, you need to know a few terms used when talking about satellites (the ISS is a satellite of the planet Earth).

Azimuth
The first term when dealing with satellites is azimuth. Azimuth is a technical term that means the same thing as heading, bearing or direction. Most people are comfortable with the cardinal directions North, South, East and West. The cardinal directions are fine for general directions, but to know exactly where something is we need to be more specific. When dealing with an azimuth, a number of degrees is stated. 0� is North, 90� is East, 180� is South, 270� is West, and on around to North again. Kinda get the picture? It's a full circle divided into 360 degrees. (Also note, there's technically no such thing as 360� when dealing with Azimuth, because 360� would be the same as North, but that's already 0�.)

Altitude
It's not entirely what you think. Sure altitude means height, but we're not talking in feet or meters here. Remember, we're dealing with observational angles here, so knowing how high something is is of little consequence to us. Altitude in astronomy means "angle above the horizon". Altitude is expressed in degrees, just like azimuth. 0� is at the horizon, 90� is straight up. 45�, you guessed it, is right in the middle. Take a second and hold your arm out parallel with the ground. That's 0�. With your other arm, point straight up. That's 90�. Find 30� and then find 60�. Using these angles as references, you'll quickly be able to find a "close-enough" estimation about most any angle of altitude.

See? Not too hard. Now, let's combine the two.
Point of reference
A good starting point for know where the Space Station will approach from is to first find where North is. If you don't already know which way North is, you can use the Big Dipper to find the North Star which is "true north". Once you have North established, turn and face north. Straight ahead is 0�. Behind you is 180�. To your right is 90�, and to your left is 270�. (Incidentally, the angular altitude of the north star is your latitude on a map.) Now that you have azimuth figured out, you can add in altitude angles to see that you can quickly pinpoint any position in the sky day or night using these two values.

Finding our target
To be able to track the ISS, we need to know it's current position which is constantly changing as the station is in orbit. (It's moving at ~17,500mph!) Fortunately for us, there are several free websites that provide second-by-second positioning of the ISS. The main website that I use for celestial tracking (and perhaps the easiest to use) is N2YO.com. Open up the ISS link in another window or tab and let's look at the interface. N2YO tries to estimate your position based on your internet provider's geographic data. (Which something to be aware of, so make sure it's pinpointing your location correctly! As long as it's within 30-40mi, that's close enough for causal viewing.)
The N2YO screen should show you a table of information with varying degrees of yellow. The brighter the yellow, the brighter the ISS will be during a pass (known as magnitude. These yellow boxes are not the only times the ISS flies over. In fact, the ISS passes over about once every 90 minutes. (Yep, around the world in 90 minutes.)
To see all of the passes over your location, you can click on the grey button labeled "Show All Passes". Quite a few right? They are not yellow, because you will not be able to see the ISS during those passes. To hide the ones we can't see, click the grey button "Show visible passes only".

Reading the Information
To understand the table, read the columns left to right. The first column shows us the date of the pass along with the time you will first be able to see the ISS as it's coming into view, as denoted by the green UP arrow. (The satellite is said to be rising at that time) Times are expressed in military time. Numbers less than 1200 are morning, numbers greater than 1200 are afternoon/evening. To convert to the "normal time", if the time is greater than 1200, simply subtract 1200 from the number. The number next to time/date is the beginning azimuth. At the time/date stated previous, at the azimuth stated, the ISS will begin flying over your position at 0�.
The next column is the highest elevation of the pass, stated with a time and azimuth. Then, finally the end of the pass will be at the time and azimuth in the last column. Using this information and your newfound understanding of azimuth and elevation, you should be able to string along the three key points of the pass to determine the general direction of the entire pass (just connect the dots).
Brightness
Oh, yeah, a note on brightness. In astronomy, brightness is referred to as magnitude, as stated previously. The lower the magnitude, the brighter the object. The greater the magnitude, the dimmer the object.
I also suggest trying to spot the ISS on a clear night with little or no cloud cover, as few visual obstructions as possible, and pick a pass where the maximum altitude is greater than 45� and magnitude is -1.0 or lower. You may be able to see it lower altitude or higher magnitude passes, but you may easily miss it on the lower, fainter passes.

So, what am I looking for?
Phew! - you made it. Hopefully, I haven't scared you off. It really isn't as complicated as it may sound and you'll soon discover that casual viewing of the entire pass does not require you to pin point and measure angles. Once you see it, you'll be able to visually track the brightest and highest flying spacecraft ever. So what will it look like? The ISS will look like a quickly moving star. At times it'll be the brightest object in the night sky, flying very quickly. You'll know it's not a plane because its light does not blink. It also may appear to be going much faster than any plane flying so high up.
Those with binoculars might be able to barely make out the outline of the shape of the ISS as it passes directly over your position (>70� passes).

I hope you've found this helpful, I'll gladly update to clarify anything that may be confusing. Clear skies!

Reference: N2YO - ISS link