Will you be heading to Dayton?

One of D-Star‘s benefits (besides voice) is data. It’s low speed to be sure, but when all else fails, it can serve an important purpose in delivering key information digitally. Dan Smith, KK7DS created a helpful tool to maximize the benefit of D-Star’s data capabilities. “D-Rats” is a robust communication interface that allows you to instant message, send email and create custom forms for Emergency Services use.

In addition to the ability to interface with a radio for RF communication, D-Rats comes with a TCP-IP functionality that allows interaction over the Internet. Connect to one of a number of reflectors on the web and you can jump into the communication stream with hams from around the world.

D-Rats includes canned messaging functionality and a neat QST feature, where you can fire out your latest local weather data at set intervals and create other messages for broader distribution. There is also a map interface to graphically display Lat Lon info.

D-Rats only shortcoming (from this ham’s perspective) is that it doesn’t have a useful DMG for Apple users. It works just fine in the Windows and Linux world but I wish Dan would do what the DVTool guys have done and create an easy way for us in the Apple Corps to take advantage of it.

As for me, I have an extra Mac Mini percolating away with Parallels and an Ubuntu distro installed. Firing up D-Rats in the Linux environment is a snap and I leave it running in the background, using VNC and LogmeIn to access it from a distance.

Congratulations to everyone involved in the New Mexico D-Star Academy. As controversial as “Digital Smart Technology for Amateur Radio”  may be to some, it’s rejuvenating the hobby for many of us who love jumping onto the cutting edge.

The D-Star community feels to me a lot like the world of amateur radio when I was first licensed. Those who hang out in the digital world are welcoming, inquisitive and fun. My D-Star knowledge came about thanks to a half dozen hams out there who took the time to walk me through the initial programming of my new rig and encouraged me to try a variety of ways to enjoy it.

What you see in the picture above is a screen shot of the DVTool software for the Mac. Used in combination with the DV Dongle, you can connect to any D-Star repeater or reflector via your Internet connection. It’s one of many cool D-Star tools out there, my current favorite being a hot spot that I have connected to an old PC on one end and an analog FM radio on the other. Running everything on ultra low power, I can work the world to my heart’s content with my IC92AD.

Perhaps the biggest concern that we cost conscious hams may have with D-Star is it’s cost. The rigs, at the moment are a little more pricy than traditional FM. But as Icom deploys more and more D-Star repeaters across the country, the allure of working the world from your HT may well be the tipping point for adoption.

Special thanks to KA8JMW and N5ZGT for your support and assistance with the D-Star Academy and beyond.

When I wrote this NMHams.com post about the Japanese creating a Morse device as a way to quickly input Twitter content, it got me to thinking…

Why not use a code key in place of your computer keyboard?

Turns out that at least one other person had this idea. The Comax people have developed an application that allows you to use your mouse to input text and other key strokes into any MS Windows computer. Attaching your favorite Morse paddles is as easy as buying one of these specially equipped mice.

The concept of using a keying device to translate content from your brain into a PC began at the dawn of the computer age. Folks with physical challenges that precluded keyboarding noodled creative alternatives that included straight keys, even bugs as input devices. Physicist Stephen Hawking is a notable example of someone who has mastered a joystick as a tool to turn his brilliant thoughts into everything from books to real-time speeches.

Comax has a code group for every key on your computer keyboard and with a little practice, you’ll be popping text into your Windows apps like a pro.

So if you’re a hunt and peck typer who is more comfortable at 20 WPM on CW, hook those paddles up to your PC and send away.

Rick Roderick, K5UR, is currently Vice President of the American Radio Relay League. He has held ARRL appointments continuously for over 40 years. He is known world-wide for his operating achievements in amateur radio on the HF and VHF/UHF bands, having held numerous records in the fields of DXing and contesting. He lives on a 50 acre antenna farm outside Little Rock, Arkansas where he practices law. Rick is a frequent speaker at clubs and events, and loves telling stories about what he calls “the greatest hobby in the world – amateur radio!”

Here’s his speech from the 2009 Colorado Hamcon Banquet. 19MB Mp3

In 1984, I had been a ham for just 3 years. My antenna was an energized downspout and I had just bought a used Ten Tec Omni to energize my Heathkit 2080a antenna tuner. We were at a great point in the sunspot cycle. Working DX on CB radios converted to 10 meter from the parking lot at work during lunch hour was not uncommon.

It was a time before DX clusters were on line, when we’d call one another on a special two meter frequency when we heard a rare one. We depended on the beacons to tell us when the circuit was open to the far East, and we calculated the grey line with our trusty ARRL tools.

I was president of the Oak Park Amateur Radio Club and then, as now, was responsible for coming up with an interesting program each month. The highlight of that year for me was a presentation by Jim Sansotera – K8JRK.

Jim was the quintessential DXer in Detroit. His country count was the envy of everybody in our group and when he agreed to be our speaker on August 13, 1984, we knew we were in for a treat.

From today’s perspective, many of the tools he recommends are outdated, but his tips of how to snag the rare ones are timeless.

Here’s an MP3 of that presentation. 25 years later, we can still learn from him.

Members of the NM-ARTS group saw a terrific presentation by Mike, K5KM, about how to protect your station from a lightning strike. It’s all about grounding, grounding, grounding. We learned a ton of theory plus some very useful ideas on how to protect your station, both from lightning and from the static discharge that’s often an issue during our March windstorms. Here’s a PDF of Mike’s presenation. Join their Yahoo group and get free access to all the NM-ARTS presentations.

By Scott Westerman – W9WSW

When we gathered to audit the logs from the New Mexico QSO party with the great guys from the Los Alamos Amateur Radio Club, the conversation turned to the challenges of suppressing ignition noise. KJ5KU has a hamstick and a Icom 706 as part of his mobile installation and recommends this link. Not only is Alan a New Mexican (he lives in Roswell), K0BG is an expert on identifying and mitigating ignition noise. A trip to his website will give you solutions along with audio examples with the fingerprints of the various devices that are often the culprits.

Fixing ignition noise can be as simple as turning on your noise blanker, Fred K9GAJ solved his issues that way, or as complex as wrapping the offending item with copper tape.

Need help? Visit K0BG.com. Your answer may well be found there.

By Scott Westerman – W9WSW

As a bunch of us hams gathered at W5FHA’s place to help him erect his new vertical antenna a couple of weeks ago, my mind faded back to my earliest days as an amateur.

We were living in a long two-story town-house building on “Sugarbush Road” in suburban Detroit and despite my great relationship with the complex manager, overt antenna installations were a no-no. I immediately popped the attic door and attached a 2 meter ground plane to a truss. One problem solved.

But hot to get on the low bands? I had built a Heathkit SA-2060 roller inductor tuner for my Ten Tec Omni, but needed something to connect it to. My shack was in the basement and as I pondered my predicament I happened to glance outside the window and saw my solution… The gutter downspout.

Our complex had a long rain gutter system that ran the length of a football field, with periodic downspouts to help drain the inevitable Michigan thunderstorms. That night, I drilled an 8 foot copper ground rod next to the down spout and, after connecting the coaxial shield to the copper, bonded the center conductor to the downspout.

With my 2060 tuner, I found I could get a nice 1:1 SWR on every ham band, including 160 meters. And since we were a the height of the sunspot cycle, the DX came rolling in.

This all came back to me today when I read the latest ARRL DX bulletin and their story about Jeff Lackey, K8CQ of St. Simon’s Island, Georgia and his HF rain gutter stealth antenna. In the March, 2009 issue of CQ, Jeff’s antenna system is diagrammed. He uses an auto-tuner and has, even at the low ebb of our sun cycle, bagged 243 “DX entities” in 38 zones. He’s confirmed 87 countries on 80 meters and… 34 states, 3 provinces and 7 countries on 160!

Since I’ve dragged my YL across the country and back again in my 30 year telecom career, she gets to pick the houses and our current location forbids external antennas. We don’t have rain gutters, but I do have a well hidden long wire that wraps the roof line of our place, terminating into an SMC 320 auto-tuner. It works great, as my recent QSOs with K5D attest.

But every time I tune up, I can’t help thinking of Sugarbush road. Proof once again that in amateur radio, anything is possible!