Tag: antenna

LHS Episode #040: HF in the Mobile Shack

Posted on by Russ Woodman

It's a couple of days since the end of the 2010 Dayton Hamvention. Cheryl and I would like to send out a special thank you to everyone who stopped by our booth while we were there. We met a lot of interesting folks and had a great many thought provoking conversations. It was our first time so we didn't know we'd be out in the sticks, so to speak, but we still had a lot of traffic and a lot of fun.

Now that I'm home and most of the work that piled up on me while I was away has been tackled, I got the podcast we recorded before the event finished and here it is.  There's no Dayton content this time around. That will come next time. The drawing for the Alinco radio and the other Linux in the Ham Shack swag will happen on Friday and we'll announce all the winners in the next show and on the Web site so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, enjoy some interesting feedback from listeners and some insight into Richard's latest mobile rig install. Keep the feedback coming, visit our Printfection and Cafe Press stores and pick up an item or two, and get ready for next year in Dayton. Linux in the Ham Shack will be back.

73 de The LHS Guys

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

LHS Show Notes #028

Posted on by Russ Woodman

Contributors:

  • Russ recommends the movie Carnival of Souls.
  • Wish Russ a Happy Birthday on December 5th!
  • Jos invites everyone to attend Camp KDE 2010 in San Diego, CA on January 15-22, 2010.

Announcements:

  • Donations from Paul KC9QYB, Joel, and Walter. Thank you! (And congratulations to Paul on getting his Technicians license!)
  • A Google alert says the LHS website showed up in linuxzine.com, probably because of our sponsorship of Linux Mint.
  • You can leave feedback via our toll-free telephone line at 888-455-0305.

Links and Notes:

  • Richard talks about using an old Dell Latitude laptop for mobile operations. After many trials and tribulations and resetting the BIOS, he managed to install Xubuntu, and has D-RATS installed.
  • Russ installed Ubuntu 9.10 on a machine. He tried 64-bit Linux Mint 7, but it failed.
  • Richard wanted to run DSL or Puppy on the Latitude. DSL booted, but he couldn't get the network card to work.
  • From the chatroom, N3JIM asks what virtualization software Russ is using. Currently, VMWare Server 2.02, but it doesn't play nice with newer kernels. So, Russ is planning on moving to Sun's VirtualBox.
  • Matt points out that Ubuntu will remove Gimp from the default installation beginning with Ubuntu 10.04.
  • Short Wave Listening, a topic suggested to Russ at Ohio Linux Fest.
  • Receivers: Ten-Tec RX-320D, a PC-controlled, shortwave receiver. Ten-Tec supplies Windows software, but there is a Linux program, too.
  • An article describing the receiver and it's application.
  • Other radios are available from Yaesu, Icom, Kenwood, and C. Crane.
  • Russ talks about the Radio Shack DX-440 shortwave receiver he used (aka Sangean 803A).
  • Digital Radio Mondiale
  • Time Synchronization Stations - you can syncrhonize your PC clock to a national standard: WWV, CHU.
  • Software: MultiMode 5.9.2 (for Mac OSX), fldigi, Radio Explorer.
  • Things to hear: Numbers stations, Letter stations.
  • Antennas: very similar to what you would need for a transceiver. Random wires and tuned dipoles, will work, too. Look for a receiver that has an external antenna jack.
  • Where to listen: Amateur radio bands, international broadcast bands.
  • QSO Radio Show can be heard Tuesdays from 05:00PM to 07:00PM ET, 2100 to 2300 UTC at 7415KHz (WBCQ radio).
  • Coast to Coast AM
  • Check Amazon for antennas, receivers, and SWL-related books. (Remember to use our Amazon link for your purchases.)
  • Passport to World Band Radio (Also available at Amazon).
  • KO4RB asks if we've had any specific experience with an active antenna for shortwave listening.

Music:

LHS Show Notes #027

Posted on by Russ Woodman

Contributors:

  • Russ visited a Ham Radio Outlet in Virginia and bought a new Yaesu FT-7900R for his truck.
  • Richard bought a Kenwood TS-50, some wire and antennas at the Belton hamfest, but hasn't installed them yet.
  • John, EI7IG, says you don't need AX.25 support in the kernel to run XASTIR, since you're running the TNC in KISS mode. He also says that APRS is useful for emcomm events, disseminating local weather information, and passing short text messages.
  • Tim, KI6BGE, recommends Resonant Frequency, Linux in the Ham Shack, and SolderSmoke in his October 29 blog entry.

Announcements:

  • We received a donation from Paul during the last episode, and now Alex made a sizable donation. Thanks, Alex!

Links and Notes:

Music:

  • "Company of Fools" by Great Big Sea from the album "Fortune's Favour"

LHS Show Notes #026

Posted on by Russ Woodman

Contributors:

  • Kent, VE4KEH, writes in the forums that the Debian Testing updates have caused him some problems. Richard suggests not using the Testing distribution, while Russ disagrees.
  • Do any of the ham radio digital protocols support full TCP/IP? Can we load a web site via packet radio?
  • Commentsabout Episode #025:
    • Alex, OZ9AEC, says that he'd rather attend an Ubuntu launch party every six months, rather than a Windows party every six years. 🙂 He provided a link to an Ubuntu 9.10 Release Party Map.
    • Jim, N3JIM, defends APRS (Automatic PACKET reporting System), saying it's more than just vehicle tracking.
      www.aprs.org says it's "automatic packet reporting system"
      www.aprs.net says it's "automatic position reporting system"
      Our hosts discuss the apparent usefulness, or lack thereof, of APRS.
  • Richard rants about receiving spam, this time from Twitter.

Announcements:

  • Please donate to the fund to send Linux in the Ham Shack to the Dayton Hamvention in 2010!

Links and Notes:

  • Joe, NE3R, provides this audio segment about minicom, a Linux terminal application for connection to serial port devices. Check out Joe's blog.
  • Audio from Russ at Ohio Linux Fest:
    • Talking to Jim, KB3ORA.
    • Handing out DVDs of the first 22 episodes.
    • Matt, KC8BEW, provided some ham radio gear to use at the booth. Thanks, Matt.
    • Russ visits with Beth Lynn Eicher and Rob Ball, both of OLF, and Doug Vann of Duo Consulting talks to Russ about Drupal.
  • Richard talks about his visit to the Belton HamEXPOin Belton, TX.
  • Donate to the fund to bring Richard and Russ to Dayton Hamvention 2010.
  • Look for new topics in future shows, such as reviews of other Linux distributions such as ARCH Linux, Slackware 13, and OpenSUSE 11.1.
  • Russ talks about getting his amateur radio station back on the air. He put up a new antenna, an AlphaDelta DX-CC trap dipole for 80-10m. He also acquired a Rascal GLX sound card interface, installed fldigi, and made his first digital mode contact with PSK31 on 20m! Yay, Russ!
  • Russ has also discovered IRLP.
  • Paul, from TeenRadioJourney.com, made a donation to the Dayton fund. Thanks, Paul.
  • We're looking for a new logo for Linux in the Ham Shack. Any and all submissions will be considered.

Music: