HRN 363: Firmware Tools for openHPSDR - Dave Larsen KV0S from the 2017 DCC

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Dave Larsen KV0S's complete title for this talk is Development and Design of Firmware Programming Tools for the openHPSDR Hardware. And that says a lot about where this talk is going.

HPSDR - High Performance Software Defined Radio - is an ongoing DIY project that began in conjunction with TAPR do design and built the first direct sampling SDR HF 'transceiver' for amateur radio. It's been going on for more than a decade, and the ARVN videos from the 2008 and 2009 DCC's have several talks describing the progress (find them on the HamRadioNow.tv web site's TAPR archives).

Dave's talk is something of a history lesson, focusing on tools to program the boards. 

The industry has moved on, with companies like FlexRadio, ICOM, Elad and others producing off-the-shelf SDR radios, but the HPSDR project continues for hams who want to learn more and build their own.

Radio Rating: C or D. Dave has a lot of text, but also some slides with charts and pictures of the software GUI's. So if you're already familiar with the HPSDR system, you might not need the images to absorb the talk. If you're not deep into HPSDR, but you are interesting in programming, you'll probably need the pictures. And if you're not deep into either, come back to the video when you've gotten your feet (ankles, and maybe knees) wet in SDR.

HRN 362: Radio Tracking Fish with Drones - Dave Witten KD0EAG from the 2017 DCC

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Midwestern rivers have a serious problem with an invasive species of carp that the USGS was trying to track using radio tags (yep, on the fish). But they needed some radio expertise to advance the project to receive the signals using drones rather than people with yagi's on boats. Dave Witten KDOEAG got involved through a request for help at his local radio club.

This talk follows the progress of the project, which rapidly grew to include multiple agencies (including NASA) and experts... and Dave. It's not ham radio, but it is an interesting exploration of radio technology where you might not expect it.

Radio Rating: C+. Dave has lots of pictures of the devices and locations, and some charts and graphs. You'll miss that detail in the audio-only presentation, but you'll get the gist of the project. Watch the video here if you're more intrigued.

HRN 361: Internet Telegraph - Scotty Cowling WA2DFI from the 2017 DCC

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Although Morse code is no longer required to get a ham license, it's still quite popular, and can be a draw for some potential hams before they get licensed. Learning it is one thing, but being able to use it while still learning is a challenge before you're licensed and have a station set up.

Scotty Cowling WA2DFI faced this problem with his Explorer Scout Post. First, he used his TAPR skills to develop an improved, inexpensive and easy-to-build CPO (Code Practice Oscillator). 

Then he discovered a Rabpberry Pi based online system for using Morse over the Internet, but it had some drawbacks that he used his TAPR skills to improve. The project is fairly simple and inexpensive, and something every club should consider. You don't have to be a Scout – or even young – to jump on board.

Radio Rating: C-. Scotty has lots of pictures and diagrams, and you won't be able to duplicate the project without them. It might even be a D-, but Scotty is such an enthusiastic and engaging speaker that listening to his talk may spark your interest enough to go to the videotape. Remember that our Radio Rating is only an evaluation of now well a program translates to audio, with no pictures. It does not reflect the overall program (where every HamRadioNow program receives an A+).

HRN 360: A New Generation of Ham Radio - Ward Silver N0AX at the 2017 DC

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Whatever ham radio rut you're stuck in — ragchewing on 75, DX on 20, the daily commute on a repeater — it's good to listen to Ward Silver N0AX to break out for a while and look... in this case, forward across the horizon and think about what ham radio - and hams - will look like in a decade or three.

This is the least technical talk of the conference. It led off the Saturday morning sessions, and provided a good foundation for the purpose behind the more technical talks to follow.

Radio Rating: A+. Ward has slides, but they're mostly text 'headlines' that he expands on. Ward is an excellent public speaker, and you won't miss a thing without video.

This is a follow-on talk from Ward's 2015 keynote at the DCC Banquet in 2015, released online in February 2016 as HamRadioNow Episode 242: Ham Radio... Now What?. 

HRN 359, EmComm Extra #18: Force of Two

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Can you tell the complete story of ham radio in the recovery effort on Puerto Rico following hurricanes Irma and Maria in two and a half hours? 

Well... no. OK, you probably could if you spend a couple months producing a highly edited documentary. Maybe somebody's going to do that. But right now you can listen to our guests, Jeremy Dougherty NS0S and Michael Smith N5TGL recount their experiences. They each spent almost three weeks on the island, mostly in the field (in separate locations), mostly with just one other ham, in areas that had zero communications with San Juan or the rest of the world until they arrived. 

This is not the story you'll hear on Ham Nation, and probably not the one you'll read in QST. If there was a plan, it was barely a plan. And it fell apart immediately. There was a lack of leadership and coordination, and little understanding of what the hams would face once they left San Juan. Both Jeremy and Michael were frustrated, yet they carried on with the mission, improvising both their interaction with local authorities and the technology they had to work with. In some cases they had to battle bureaucracy to get the job done.

We probed Jeremy and Michael for details, and we got a lot. Jeremy in particular has a bitter story of his final experiences. That begins at an hour and fifty minutes in, so if you can't listen to the whole program, skip down to that. And note that there are two sides (at least) to that story, and we're only presenting Jeremy's side here. HamRadioNow is open to presenting the counterpoint, or maybe you'll hear that on another show.

Here's the link to Jeremy's Extreme EmComm document.

Radio Rating: A. This is a talking-head show. We'll look at Puerto Rico on Google Maps some, and if you're not familiar with the island, it'll help to look at the map a bit.

Michael took a lot of pictures – some of the general island devastation, and some of the amateur radio activity. You can look at them here on his Flickr feed.

Another deployed ham, Wey Walker K8EAB, posted a 35-minute video on YouTube showing both the area of the island he headed to, and amateur radio there and in San Juan. It's very much an 'amateur' video, but it will add to your understanding of what hams did there.

HRN 358: Tim Shepard KD1KY 'Thoughts on Regulation' 2017 DCC

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Tim Shepard KD1KY will give you a different perspective on why the radio spectrum needs regulation... or doesn't. Tim rounded out the Friday sessions at the 2017 ARRL/TAPR DCC in St. Louis.

Radio Rating: B+. Tim's slides have a few charts, but mostly text, and he does a good job reviewing them. 

HRN 357, EmComm Extra 17: Shake & Bake

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They've got a sense of humor out in Earthquake County. Gallows humor to the rest of us, maybe, but they call the statewide preparedness drill The Great California Shake Out.

Ham Radio is right in there, of course, and HRN host David Goldenberg W0DHG, an EC in the Los Angeles area, took us to the middle of it, live. Until he got called away to go do some actual communicating.

A few hours later, safe and sound in the ARVN West Coast Bureau (aka David's garage), he recaps the event and reviews lessons learned (like 'Don't try to do a TV show when you're supposed to be paying attention to the radio...').

Radio Rating: B-. The video is a little rough and not all that important, though David does show the Comm trailer and the surrounding area. What you'll miss most are David and the other ops ducking and covering as the klaxons go off initiating the actual event. That's sort of what you see in the bottom of the poster. for this episode (assuming you see that). On the other hand, the audio is kind of rough, too, with a lot of competing voices hitting Davies microphone.

HRN 356: Bruce Perens K6BP "State of Digital Voice" 2017 DCC

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Bruce Perens K6BP at the 2017 ARRL/TAPR DCC.

Do we really need to say any more? 

OK, Bruce's main point is one he's been making for several years: The major manufacturers have been screwing up Digital Voice with mediocre implementation and their incompatible walled gardens. And we're slowly getting closer to VHF+SDR radios that can do better.

He is especially critical of Yaesu, but actually compliments Kenwood for introducing a radio that's compatible with at least one other line of radios (ICOM/D-STAR).

Radio Rating: A. All but one of Bruce's slides are text, and he reads them verbatim, and then adds more ad-lib comments. The one slide that's not text is a picture of an old telephone modem with acoustic coupler.

this is what bruce's t-shirt says

this is what bruce's t-shirt says

Oh, and that picture? Well, that's Bruce ranting, as he is wont to do. Then it started looking like he's yawning. Which neither he nor the audience were doing during his talk. Just wanted to clear that up.

HRN 355: All Your Modems Are Belong To Us - 2017 DCC

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Brady O'Brien KC9TPA is a young ham who has been working with David Rowe VK5DGR, the creator of the open source CODEC2 low bitrate voice codec. In this TAPR talk he talks modem tech in SDR (a generalized way of saying that Gary doesn't understand it well enough to describe it).

He concludes by talking about the on-channel TDMA repeater project that David Rowe is working on using a VHF version of FreeDV and CODEC2.  http://www.rowetel.com/

Oh, and that title? It refers to an iconic line in a old video game, and Brady's rip-off probably should be All Your Modem Are Belong To Us. Look it up. And check out the last 15 seconds of this show.

Radio Rating: B-. Brady has a few graphs showing signal performance of various modems, but he gives a good verbal conclusion of them. Most of the rest of his slides are 'headline' text for the topics he's discussion.

 

HRN 354: Lightning Talks from the 2017 DCC

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What do you do when a DCC presenter can't make it to the conference?

Invite the audience to jump in. That's what happened on Friday afternoon. Steve Bible N7HPR solicited 5-minute "Lightning Talks" and the audience stepped up.

00:00 Our fundraising pitch comes first, then...

3:57 Kurt Kiesow KF6QNC "Autonomous Wave-Powered Ocean-Going HF Station"

9:55 Sterling Coffey N0SSC "Faraday Open Source Digital Radio"

15:37 Bill Engelke AB4EJ "DWatcher: D-STAR / DX Monitor App"

21:10 Dr. Brandon Wiley KF5WVW "Emergency Data Exchange Network"

25:38 Ward Silver N0AX "Need for a Sessionless, High-Rate, Interference Tolerant Mode for Competitive Use"

31:28 Tom Holmes N8ZM "The DARA Thursday Night Group"

The impromptu Lighntning Talks were a great success. Expect a somewhat less surprising reprise in 2018.

Radio Rating: Four of the talks came complete with Powerpoint slides (who brings slides to a conference when they're not scheduled to present a talk?). Those get a Radio Rating of C+. Sterling only had a web site, but it was useful (and Steve Bible commented on how good it was), so we'll give him a B-. Ward Silver was the only one without graphics. so that gives him an A. Remember, the Radio Rating doesn't measure how good a talk was, just how good it is as 'audio-only'. And your mileage may vary.

HRN 353, EmComm Extra #16: Orbiting SATERN

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SATERN's been busy. Well, so have all the EmComm services, but SATERN's in our spotlight for this episode. We're talking to Salvation Army National SATERN Liaison Bill Feist WB8BZH (pronounced "Feest" or "Feast").

Like most Amateur Radio EmComm groups, SATERN (Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network), is going digital... slowly. We'll find out about that and lots more in this patented HamRadioNow In-Depth conversation. Bill reviews activity for the Eclipse, and back-to-back-to-back hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.

And as nice as the Skype video is, this is another radio show. All talking heads (and a little web you can look up yourself), so a Radio Rating of A.

http://satern.org

HRN 349, 350, 351, 352: Friday Morning at the DCC

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Almost like binging Netflix... here are five talks from the 2017 ARRL & TAPR Digital Communications Conference, held September 15-17 in St. Louis.

  • HRN 348: Welcome to the 2017 DCC

    • Before the DCC sessions get started, TAPR President Steve Bible N7HPR spends a few minutes welcoming everyone to this year's conference, giving the lay of the land (bathrooms, lunch) and introducing the people who help put on the event.

      Listening to this session gives you a little more of the "DCC Experience." If you consider attending in person one year, you'll have a better idea of what to expect.

  • HRN 349: Radio Amateur's Digital Notebook

    • Jon Poland N0WL reviews ways to keep track of just about everything in your ham radio life with tools on the Internet.

  • HRN 350: Education, Testing, Training

    • David Bern W2LNX and his local club (the Montgomery MD ARC) cover all the bases in making new hams, with the help of the Laurel VEC.

  • HRN 351: Fusion from the Inside

    • Chris Petersen K9EQ digs into the capabilities and possibilities of Yaesu's System Fusion.

  • HRN 352: Noise in a Digital World

    • I really wanted to call this something obscure, like The Wet Diamond Noise Blanker (you'll see why), but I restrained myself.  FlexRadio's Steve Hicks N5AC gives an illuminating talk on how SDR technology lets you detect signals that are 'below the noise level' - and how you might not even know what 'the noise level' really is.

HamRadioNow has been covering the DCC since 2008 — 180 video programs (and counting), all on-line and free to watch. Details HERE.

HRN 347: Old JOTA

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Did you know the Boy Scouts Jamboree on the Air has been around for 60 years? So that's why Old JOTA. But our panel of hams — Scout leaders from around the country — keep the discussion fresh.

Gary and David welcome Bill Stearns NE4RD, Brian McDaniel N4AE, Mike Crownover AD5A and Jim Wilson K5ND to the show to talk JOTA, the annual Scouting on-air event that's coming up October 20-22. 

If you or your club are interested in hosting a JOTA event, it's not too late to get involved (assuming you see this in early October). Here's a good place to start, but you'll have to dig a bit to volunteer: https://www.k2bsa.net/jota/. The guys give more tips during the show.

This show is (a lot of) talking heads, so the Radio Rating is A. If you want to know who's who in the graphic, the top row, left to right, is David, Mike and Brian, and the bottom row is Bill and Jim. 

HRN 346: Bull Session/West Coast Studio Test

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Oh, geez, what to say about this 'episode.' In quotes.

This was just a Facebook Live session to let fans see how David W0DHG was progressing in his quest to duplicate Gary KN4AQ's ARVN Studio.

We would say this is hard to do, if Marty Sullaway KC1CWF, who busts in halfway through this episode, hadn't done it himself practically overnight. But that's the kind of thing that makes Marty the Newsline Young Ham of the Year (and our late friend Bill Pasternack WA6ITF should be in that title somewhere).

So there's a lot of screwing around, and a lot of references to the video (really... shouldn't this all be just audio, and wouldn't it be a lot easier?), so a Radio Rating is hard to pinpoint. Somehow we continue this ramble for more than 90 minutes. And it really is just for diehard fans of the show. And it's here in the audio feed only because we've got the bandwidth here at the end of the month, and we don't hold anything back.

HRN 345: Appliance Boy meets Circuit Girl

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Jeri Ellsworth, co-founder of the Augmented Reality company castAR (among many, many other things) has added ham radio to her list of accomplishments. She's now AI6TK. We spotted her at the Dayton Hamvention this year (AmateurLogic TV snagged the interview).

And she just attended the ARRL/TAPR DCC in St. Louis with her friend Amy Herndon KM6FZE. Over the past year, Jeri and Amy have jumped into ham radio with both feet, but even for these technically accomplished women, ham radio had a steep learning curve. We'll talk about that and lots more in this quick hour.

AUDIO ONLY? This is a sit-down, talking heads conversation, and while those heads are interesting to watch, you'll get 97% out of just the audio, so we award a Radio Rating of A. (YouTube?... YouTube?... we don't need no stinkin' YouTube...)

The 2017 DCC just wrapped up. We didn't do a KICKSTARTER to fund our video production of this one, but we did just finish recording all the sessions and we'll get them on YouTube as fast as we can... which, as you know, means sometime between now and the end of the year (or early next year).  

I hope you'll support the DCC videos with a contribution through our regular channels - PayPal, credit card or Patreon. You'll find them on the CONTRIBUTE page.

If you want a USB stick with all the shows, I'll make them available as the editing is wrapping up. They'll be the usual $150. To prove you're super-dedicated and 'order' one right away (before I create a formal 'click to order'), make a standard PayPal contribution (you don't need a PayPal account - they'll let you just use a credit card). You'll notice, though, that there's no $150 option. So select the $50 option and set the quantity to 3. Wa-La... $150. In that info field someplace, add your call sign and 2017 DCC USB. AND drop me an email to let me know (kn4aq@arvn.tv) with the subject 2017 DCC USB. 

HRN 344: Ham Radio PreCheck

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How much ham gear will TSA let you take in carry-on luggage? More than you might think.

How short can we make a show? Less than you ever dreamed. So short we're not going to make an audio version. Mostly because the sound is terrible.

HRN 343: TOTALED!!

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Jeff AC4ZO, his wife Bobbie KD4ZVW and Gary KN4AQ traveled to Wyoming and became Eclipse Evangelists. Totality Or Bust is their new motto. And Totality is what they got, in a clear, blue sky.

Gary's wife Cyndi KD4ACW took her parents to South Carolina - a much more 'iffy' location for weather - and got lucky (and lunch) with a clear sky. David W0DHG got all the way down to a parking lot in Los Angeles and saw a pinhole crescent shadow.

This episode is their story. Jeff, Bobbie and Gary spent a couple days being tourists around the Denver area (Pikes Peak, WWV, Red Rocks, a kite shop..) and visited the Denver Ham Radio Outlet and a local hamfest that just happened to be that weekend (and where Gary was recognized as the celebrity he is), and you'll see snippits of that.

Gary set up two - TWO - mobile radios in a rental Jeep — a dual-band D-STAR radio and a UHF DMR radio, hoping to catch some ARES activity. He did, but not much. So there's very little ham radio in this episode. You won't miss it.

You won't miss it because the Eclipse was the thing. They'd all seen partial eclipses before, but this was to be their first total. Old hands (and photographers) will tell you to avoid futzing with the camera and just watch it happen. You've only got a few minutes to see something you might, if you're lucky, see a couple times in a lifetime. 

So of course Jeff and Gary both futzed with cameras, but spent at least some time watching the real thing with real, wide eyes. Gary did follow the pro's advice enough to point his video camera at the people, not the sky, as totality approached. And that turned out to be a really good idea. He also sacrificed precious seconds of totality to swing the camera around and show that, too. Again, worth it.

Extra thanks to Frank NF9H and KC KC9MTL, who contacted Gary after seeing a previous HRN episode where he talked about going to Wyoming. Frank had seen 10 total eclipses in his life, and had a Wyoming location scoped out in advance, not far from where Jeff had planned for their trip. Jeff looked at Frank's spot, realized it was way better, and we asked if we could join them. Frank invited us along, and we had great company in addition to a prime viewing spot.

Frank's web site has pictures and stories of this trip and his previous adventures. Check it out:

http://pfmeng.net/

AUDIO? Sure, here it is. But this show is all about the pictures. Or is it? 

After all, we'll say (as newly ordained Eclipse Evangelists), that pictures don't do it justice. No amount of magazine covers or PBS specials can prepare you to see it person. You just have to see it. So maybe you're better off with the podcast? 

HRN 342: It Ain't Parity Until We Say It's Parity

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The Amateur Radio Parity Act drew plenty of critics — and plenty of supporters — in its original form (HR 1301, the early days). The supporters celebrated the language that took away the HOA's 'Just Say No' antenna veto. Critics opposed the idea of the federal government interfering with what they saw as a private contract.

The bill was stalled in the House until the ARRL and the CAI (Community Associations Institute) arrived at compromise language. Then the US House of Representatives was happy (and passed it), but ham critics accused the ARRL of 'selling out'. The bill is awaiting action in the Senate that may or may not ever come.

More recently, several hams, prominent lawyers in the amateur radio community, crafted their own considerably more thoughtful arguments about to why the compromise bill (now HR-555 and S-1534) is not good for Amateur Radio.

Two of them, former FCC attorney Jim Talens N3JT, and well-known antenna law attorney, author (and contester) Fred Hopengarten K1VR, join David and Gary to make their case. Former ARRL Vice-Director Marty Woll N6VI also contributed his expertise.

If you want an explanation of what's in the Bill, pre- and post-compromise, check out HamRadioNow Episode 259 (Click-bait titled PokeHAM GOta). The link will take you to the spot Gary starts his review. And here's a link to HRN 213: Parity in the Senate, Gary's discussion with Chris Imlay W3KD, ARRL's General Council, and Mike Lisenco N2YBB, Hudson Division Director, on the original HR 1301.

Here are links to the documents that Fred, Jim and Marty published, and the ARRL's FAQ rebuttal:

And our previous programs on the Amateur Radio Parity Act

Audiophiles... this episode has some text of the bills in the video, but we're pretty careful to read everything out loud. So we'll give it a Radio Rating of B+. 

HRN 341, EmComm Extra #15: Eclipse 2 - ARES Fights Back

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Last time on HamRadioNow... David and Gary wondered if there was an ARES mission with the coming Total Eclipse. Something about millions of people cramming into a 70-mile wide swath of darkness, overloading the highways and cell systems, and taxing emergency services. So yeah, maybe there was. But we hadn't heard much about it. Just Propagation studies and QSO parties.

Well, watching that show were Don and Betsy Reid, W7DMR and K7BTS. Don is EC for Benton County OR ARES, and Betsy is his AEC. And they were already making plans with their ARES group to be on the air from the county EOC, running a net. 

So in this show we'll get the details. We'll also talk to the HamKid, Sam Reynolds KM4WDK. Sam and his family are planning to drive down to South Carolina from their home in Charlotte. Sam was a good foil for our concerns that, while there will be ARES activity in many areas (and especially in South Carolina), it's hard for hams who may be traveling to those areas to learn about them.

OK, we'll stop doing the whole show here in the cliff notes and let you listen. Especially since this talker gets a Radio Rating of A. That one pesky map keeps it from getting an A+.

HRN 340: Eclipsing ARES

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All the chatter about Amateur Radio and the Eclipse (coming August 21 to a sky near you, if you're in the USA...) has been about propagation - what effect will the eclipse have on the bands? - Special Event Stations and QSO parties.

But major HRN fan Mark Cartwright noted that one county in Idaho had declared Eclipse Day to be a State of Emergency. 

Think about it. The path of totality is about 70 miles wide, stretching from the Pacific Northwest to the Atlantic in South Carolina. Most of it is in very rural territory, and a few small to medium size cities are right in the middle. Millions of people are expected to flock to that zone. In any given county, it could be tens to hundreds of thousands, depending on expected viewing conditions.

It turns out that emergency management in most areas have been preparing for months. The State of Emergency may (or may not) be a bit too much, but at a minimum, EM is expecting gridlock on most major arteries in the zone. So are astronomers who have experienced total eclipses before.

While an eclipse isn't a 'natural disaster', and won't wipe out communications (maybe a little on HF), that many people in rural territory will certainly overload the cell system.

Does Amateur Radio have a role? And are ARES groups stepping up to fill it?

This show began as an off-line Skype discussion between hosts Gary KN4AQ and David W0DHG. At some point, David said 'this ought to be a show', and Gary pushed the Facebook Live button. 

We'll probably do another show after we've rounded up a few ECs, etc. in the zone to talk to about what they're planning.

Gary shows some maps of the path of totality. You can see it here:

http://www.eclipse2017.org/xavier_redirect.htm

But mostly it's a discussion. So an accidental Radio Rating of A.

Toward the end of the show, they go off-topic, and Gary discusses the 'Future of HRN'. Spoiler alert: Gary says that view counts and downloads do not justify doing the show. Only the level of fan contributions make it worth doing (and that's at the 'just barely' level).  So while this 'show-not a show' rambles and ambles a bit (typical, really), you might want to stick around to the end.