I usually don't rank on MFJ because I've had few issues... a clock that lost a digit after a year and two dead Ameritron switches that might have been weather induced over time or whatever gremlins don't respect property laws here. Then, I don't buy that much from MFJ itself. This caught my attention to mess with though:
Morse Code Key
Explore the fun of Morse code with our disposable key ! This Morse code straight key includes an adjustment for tension and an adjustment for gap size and an easy throwing weight for fun shots to the trash pail. The base includes mounting holes you'll never use because you'll discover Nye Viking right about the time you actually send Morse on the air. When you do, you'll be thrilled to enter the wonderful world of the many iambic paddles or genuine Vibroplex bug. You'll use your quality Nye key once a year on New Year's Eve (subject to your dating status) and this ARRL key will be safely in the bin under your radio desk !
Also available: ARRL Morse Code Oscillator Kit with lame integrated bar key that ruins it's future use. Put your key to use with this basic electronics project, learn the Morse code, and then wish we had included binding posts instead of a push button !
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Back to ham radio for a minute: Explore the fun of Morse Code in a way that's sure to send you back to your microphone
I usually don't rank on MFJ because I've had few issues... a clock that lost a digit after a year and two dead Ameritron switches that might have been weather induced over time or whatever gremlins don't respect property laws here. Then, I don't buy that much from MFJ itself. This caught my attention to mess with though:
Morse Code Key
Explore the fun of Morse code with our disposable key ! This Morse code straight key includes an adjustment for tension and an adjustment for gap size and an easy throwing weight for fun shots to the trash pail. The base includes mounting holes you'll never use because you'll discover Nye Viking right about the time you actually send Morse on the air. When you do, you'll be thrilled to enter the wonderful world of the many iambic paddles or genuine Vibroplex bug. You'll use your quality Nye key once a year on New Year's Eve (subject to your dating status) and this ARRL key will be safely in the bin under your radio desk !
Also available: ARRL Morse Code Oscillator Kit with lame integrated bar key that ruins it's future use. Put your key to use with this basic electronics project, learn the Morse code, and then wish we had included binding posts instead of a push button !
Morse Code Key
Explore the fun of Morse code with our disposable key ! This Morse code straight key includes an adjustment for tension and an adjustment for gap size and an easy throwing weight for fun shots to the trash pail. The base includes mounting holes you'll never use because you'll discover Nye Viking right about the time you actually send Morse on the air. When you do, you'll be thrilled to enter the wonderful world of the many iambic paddles or genuine Vibroplex bug. You'll use your quality Nye key once a year on New Year's Eve (subject to your dating status) and this ARRL key will be safely in the bin under your radio desk !
Also available: ARRL Morse Code Oscillator Kit with lame integrated bar key that ruins it's future use. Put your key to use with this basic electronics project, learn the Morse code, and then wish we had included binding posts instead of a push button !
Sunday, October 3, 2010
N1MM Logger... was this so hard to answer ?
I'm not the one writing this app so it would seem that although you get what you pay for and it's very good, they pick and choose what they care to address.
Now my resolution is 1680 by 1050 native but there is no way I'm having my eyes pulled out of their sockets by that tiny resolution. If America isn't using the 125 percent magnification, no wonder it gets out of work and is apt to kill you by running you off the highway driving home after enduring eye strain all day.
For a year or so I asked what the issue was with the Grayline map looking like this and it was like talking to a wall. I tried lots of stuff including trying to edit the image until tonight another ham told me that he installed it on Windows 7 64 bit Professional, and I once again thought what might be different. Now, all the other apps are fine with the magnification. Sorry to say that the one coded by professionals is the one that has choked.
I set the magnification back to 100 percent... and it was fine. That's not normal. That's a compatibility error and given the advanced age of most hams I'd have expected better help in figuring this out. That is, unless the same contesters don't know the difference because they're running Win XP SP1 with no antivirus and no firewall on a 1 GHz or higher Celeron and with their wireless router blowing in the breeze.
Or, they too run you off the road at 4 PM and wouldn't know the difference if they were squinting anyway.
Theory three is that they wouldn't know how to change the resolution even if they did retire from Lockheed.
I now assume that the issue will still be ignored.
As I said, MMTTY, MMSSTV, MMVARI, DX4WIN, CC USER, WINLOG32, DXLAB, HAM RADIO DELUXE, UI-VIEW 32 (that hasn't been updated in years due to the code being gone with the death of the author)... none have balked at being made readable like N1MM Logger did.
Now my resolution is 1680 by 1050 native but there is no way I'm having my eyes pulled out of their sockets by that tiny resolution. If America isn't using the 125 percent magnification, no wonder it gets out of work and is apt to kill you by running you off the highway driving home after enduring eye strain all day.
For a year or so I asked what the issue was with the Grayline map looking like this and it was like talking to a wall. I tried lots of stuff including trying to edit the image until tonight another ham told me that he installed it on Windows 7 64 bit Professional, and I once again thought what might be different. Now, all the other apps are fine with the magnification. Sorry to say that the one coded by professionals is the one that has choked.
I set the magnification back to 100 percent... and it was fine. That's not normal. That's a compatibility error and given the advanced age of most hams I'd have expected better help in figuring this out. That is, unless the same contesters don't know the difference because they're running Win XP SP1 with no antivirus and no firewall on a 1 GHz or higher Celeron and with their wireless router blowing in the breeze.
Or, they too run you off the road at 4 PM and wouldn't know the difference if they were squinting anyway.
Theory three is that they wouldn't know how to change the resolution even if they did retire from Lockheed.
I now assume that the issue will still be ignored.
As I said, MMTTY, MMSSTV, MMVARI, DX4WIN, CC USER, WINLOG32, DXLAB, HAM RADIO DELUXE, UI-VIEW 32 (that hasn't been updated in years due to the code being gone with the death of the author)... none have balked at being made readable like N1MM Logger did.
N1MM Logger... was this so hard to answer ?
I'm not the one writing this app so it would seem that although you get what you pay for and it's very good, they pick and choose what they care to address.
Now my resolution is 1680 by 1050 native but there is no way I'm having my eyes pulled out of their sockets by that tiny resolution. If America isn't using the 125 percent magnification, no wonder it gets out of work and is apt to kill you by running you off the highway driving home after enduring eye strain all day.
For a year or so I asked what the issue was with the Grayline map looking like this and it was like talking to a wall. I tried lots of stuff including trying to edit the image until tonight another ham told me that he installed it on Windows 7 64 bit Professional, and I once again thought what might be different. Now, all the other apps are fine with the magnification. Sorry to say that the one coded by professionals is the one that has choked.
I set the magnification back to 100 percent... and it was fine. That's not normal. That's a compatibility error and given the advanced age of most hams I'd have expected better help in figuring this out. That is, unless the same contesters don't know the difference because they're running Win XP SP1 with no antivirus and no firewall on a 1 GHz or higher Celeron and with their wireless router blowing in the breeze.
Or, they too run you off the road at 4 PM and wouldn't know the difference if they were squinting anyway.
Theory three is that they wouldn't know how to change the resolution even if they did retire from Lockheed.
I now assume that the issue will still be ignored.
As I said, MMTTY, MMSSTV, MMVARI, DX4WIN, CC USER, WINLOG32, DXLAB, HAM RADIO DELUXE, UI-VIEW 32 (that hasn't been updated in years due to the code being gone with the death of the author)... none have balked at being made readable like N1MM Logger did.
Now my resolution is 1680 by 1050 native but there is no way I'm having my eyes pulled out of their sockets by that tiny resolution. If America isn't using the 125 percent magnification, no wonder it gets out of work and is apt to kill you by running you off the highway driving home after enduring eye strain all day.
For a year or so I asked what the issue was with the Grayline map looking like this and it was like talking to a wall. I tried lots of stuff including trying to edit the image until tonight another ham told me that he installed it on Windows 7 64 bit Professional, and I once again thought what might be different. Now, all the other apps are fine with the magnification. Sorry to say that the one coded by professionals is the one that has choked.
I set the magnification back to 100 percent... and it was fine. That's not normal. That's a compatibility error and given the advanced age of most hams I'd have expected better help in figuring this out. That is, unless the same contesters don't know the difference because they're running Win XP SP1 with no antivirus and no firewall on a 1 GHz or higher Celeron and with their wireless router blowing in the breeze.
Or, they too run you off the road at 4 PM and wouldn't know the difference if they were squinting anyway.
Theory three is that they wouldn't know how to change the resolution even if they did retire from Lockheed.
I now assume that the issue will still be ignored.
As I said, MMTTY, MMSSTV, MMVARI, DX4WIN, CC USER, WINLOG32, DXLAB, HAM RADIO DELUXE, UI-VIEW 32 (that hasn't been updated in years due to the code being gone with the death of the author)... none have balked at being made readable like N1MM Logger did.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Cape Cod whiner hams
Heard a local low code Extra and 20 year USAF retiree currently employed by same declare that he and his working wife who live in a ranch at age 59 are finding money tight.
USAF pension coming... a small house... and two salaries totaling over $100,000. And the pensions they'll get from those too.
Give me a break. Maybe if he didn't have a $1000 mountain bike seen on QRZ for starters, he'd have more money.
Try being maimed by the filthy government I trusted and studied until age 24, with a dead father, no income, four years of college flushed down the toilet, and then being harassed by the government after they maimed you knowing it would happen, with other sick relatives... shut the hell up you whiners.
USAF pension coming... a small house... and two salaries totaling over $100,000. And the pensions they'll get from those too.
Give me a break. Maybe if he didn't have a $1000 mountain bike seen on QRZ for starters, he'd have more money.
Try being maimed by the filthy government I trusted and studied until age 24, with a dead father, no income, four years of college flushed down the toilet, and then being harassed by the government after they maimed you knowing it would happen, with other sick relatives... shut the hell up you whiners.
Cape Cod whiner hams
Heard a local low code Extra and 20 year USAF retiree currently employed by same declare that he and his working wife who live in a ranch at age 59 are finding money tight.
USAF pension coming... a small house... and two salaries totaling over $100,000. And the pensions they'll get from those too.
Give me a break. Maybe if he didn't have a $1000 mountain bike seen on QRZ for starters, he'd have more money.
Try being maimed by the filthy government I trusted and studied until age 24, with a dead father, no income, four years of college flushed down the toilet, and then being harassed by the government after they maimed you knowing it would happen, with other sick relatives... shut the hell up you whiners.
USAF pension coming... a small house... and two salaries totaling over $100,000. And the pensions they'll get from those too.
Give me a break. Maybe if he didn't have a $1000 mountain bike seen on QRZ for starters, he'd have more money.
Try being maimed by the filthy government I trusted and studied until age 24, with a dead father, no income, four years of college flushed down the toilet, and then being harassed by the government after they maimed you knowing it would happen, with other sick relatives... shut the hell up you whiners.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
ARISSat-1: Transponders that don't transpond ?
Time after time after many thousands of amateurs worldwide equipped themselves for amateur satellites, we are subjected to the spectacle of a university, a government or both using the ham bands for a satellite that transmits only for their benefit. The ARRL and AMSAT have even taken to saying these are transponders. These are not transponders. They are looped transmitters.
From ARRL:
ARISSat-1/RadioSkaf V will have simultaneous 2-meter FM, CW, BPSK and transponder transmissions. These multiple transmissions are created by a new software-defined transponder (SDX) board. The FM transmissions will cycle between a voice ID, select telemetry values, 24 international greeting messages in 15 languages and live SSTV images. The CW transmissons will be callsign ID, select telemetry, and callsigns of people actively involved with the ARISS program. The BPSK transmissions will feature a new 1kBPSK protocol developed by Phil Karn, KA9Q, to be readable in low signal level conditions. The BPSK data will alternate betwen telemetry and Kursk experiment data. Free groundstation soundcard demodulator and display software will be available before launch for multiple platforms. There also is a 16 kHz wide Mode U/V (UHF uplink - VHF downlink) transponder between the BPSK and FM signals.
From the "Webster" Dictionary (who was Miriam to usurp Noah anyway ?):
tran·spon·der
noun \tran(t)-ˈspän-dər\
Definition of TRANSPONDER
: a radio or radar set that upon receiving a designated signal emits a radio signal of its own and that is used especially for the detection, identification, and location of objects and in satellites for relaying communications signals
Origin of TRANSPONDER
transmitter + responder
First Known Use: circa 1944
From Wisegeek:
A transponder is an electronic device used to wirelessly receive and transmit electrical signals. Fittingly, its name is equally derived from the words "transmitter" and "responder".
From Wikipedia:
There also is a 16 kHz wide Mode U/V (UHF uplink - VHF downlink) transponder between the BPSK and FM signals.
And, the rapidity with which this bird was built is nothing short of disgusting with the anguish that we are put through waiting for a replacement to AO-40 which was used by a government for target practice right before the Chinese openly fired a weapon at a test satellite and destroyed it.
From ARRL:
ARISSat-1/RadioSkaf V will have simultaneous 2-meter FM, CW, BPSK and transponder transmissions. These multiple transmissions are created by a new software-defined transponder (SDX) board. The FM transmissions will cycle between a voice ID, select telemetry values, 24 international greeting messages in 15 languages and live SSTV images. The CW transmissons will be callsign ID, select telemetry, and callsigns of people actively involved with the ARISS program. The BPSK transmissions will feature a new 1kBPSK protocol developed by Phil Karn, KA9Q, to be readable in low signal level conditions. The BPSK data will alternate betwen telemetry and Kursk experiment data. Free groundstation soundcard demodulator and display software will be available before launch for multiple platforms. There also is a 16 kHz wide Mode U/V (UHF uplink - VHF downlink) transponder between the BPSK and FM signals.
From the "Webster" Dictionary (who was Miriam to usurp Noah anyway ?):
tran·spon·der
noun \tran(t)-ˈspän-dər\
Definition of TRANSPONDER
: a radio or radar set that upon receiving a designated signal emits a radio signal of its own and that is used especially for the detection, identification, and location of objects and in satellites for relaying communications signals
Origin of TRANSPONDER
transmitter + responder
First Known Use: circa 1944
From Wisegeek:
A transponder is an electronic device used to wirelessly receive and transmit electrical signals. Fittingly, its name is equally derived from the words "transmitter" and "responder".
From Wikipedia:
In telecommunication, the term transponder (short-for Transmitter-responder and sometimes abbreviated to XPDR[1], XPNDR[2], TPDR[3] or TP[4]) has the following meanings:
- An automatic device that receives, amplifies, and retransmits a signal on a different frequency (see also broadcast translator).
- An automatic device that transmits a predetermined message in response to a predefined received signal.
- A receiver-transmitter that will generate a reply signal upon proper electronic interrogation.
There also is a 16 kHz wide Mode U/V (UHF uplink - VHF downlink) transponder between the BPSK and FM signals.
And, the rapidity with which this bird was built is nothing short of disgusting with the anguish that we are put through waiting for a replacement to AO-40 which was used by a government for target practice right before the Chinese openly fired a weapon at a test satellite and destroyed it.
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