Tag Archives: Hamvention

Amateur Radio, ARRL Ohio Section, Computing, Ohio Section Journal

Ohio Section Journal – The Technical Coordinator – June 2024 edition

June 2, 2024 Jeffrey Kopcak

One of the responsibilities of the Technical Coordinator in the Ohio Section is to submit something for the Section Journal. The Section Journal covers Amateur Radio related things happening in and around the ARRL Ohio Section. It is published by the Section Manager Tom – WB8LCD and articles are submitted by cabinet members.

Once my article is published in the Journal, I will also make it available on my site with a link to the published edition.

You can receive the Journal and other Ohio Section news by joining the mailing list Tom has setup. You do not need to be a member of the ARRL, Ohio Section, or even a ham to join the mailing list. Please sign up!

If you are an ARRL member and reside in the Ohio Section, update your mailing preferences to receive Ohio Section news in your inbox. Those residing outside the Ohio section will need to use the mailing list link above. Updating your ARRL profile will deliver news from the section where you reside (if the leadership chooses to use this method).

Go to www.arrl.org and click the Login button.
Login
When logged in successfully, it will say “Hello <Name>” in place of the Login button where <Name> is your name. Click your Name. This will take you to the “My Account” page.
On the left hand side, under the “Communication” heading (second from the bottom), click Opt In/Out
To the right of the “Opt In/Out” heading, click Edit
Check the box next to “Division and Section News.” If it is already checked, you are already receiving the Ohio Section Journal.
Click Save
There should now be a green check mark next to “Division and Section News.” You’re all set!

Now without further ado…

Read the full edition at:

THE TECHNICAL COORDINATOR
Jeff Kopcak – TC
k8jtk@arrl.net

Hey gang,

As Technical Coordinator for the Ohio Section, I oversee the section’s Technical Specialists. We are here to promote technical advances and the experimentation side of the hobby by encouraging amateurs in the section to share their technical achievements in QST, at club meetings, in club newsletters, and at hamfests and conventions. We are available to assist program committees in finding or providing suitable programs for local club meetings, ARRL hamfests, and conventions within the section. When called upon, serve as advisors for RFI issues and work with ARRL officials and other appointees providing technical advice.

Technical Specialists are a cadre of qualified and competent individuals here for the “advancement of the radio art,” a profound obligation incurred under the rules of the FCC. TS’s support myself and the section in two main areas of responsibility: Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) and technical information. They can specialize in one or more areas or be generalists with knowledge in many areas. Responsibilities range from serving as consultants or advisors to local hams or speaking at local club meetings on popular topics. In the Ohio Section, there are 12 qualified specialists.

RFI and EMI (electromagnetic interference) includes harmful interference that seriously degrades, obstructs, or repeatedly interrupts a radio communication service such as ham radio or public service agencies. RFI sources range from bad power insulators, industrial control systems, nearby or poorly made transmitters, household appliances, personal devices like computers, monitors, printers, game consoles – to grow lights, failing or poorly made transformers, and devices hams brag about getting cheap from China. Technical Specialists can offer advice to help track down interference or locate bozo stations when called upon. Technical information is wide-ranging, everything from antennas to Zumspots.

How can we help? The knowledge and abilities of YOUR Technical Specialists are really quite impressive:

Amplifiers
Antennas (fixed, portable, emergency operation)
Antenna systems such as towers, guying, coax/feedlines, and baluns
Boat anchors (tube technology)
Computer systems – Windows, Linux, Raspberry Pi
Digital voice and data modes – including D-STAR, DMR, Fusion, NXDN, P25, APRS, IGates, packet, TNCs, MT63, FT8/4, Olivia, PSK, etc.
Direction finding
Electronics and circuits, including teachers whom have taught electronics classes
Former repair technicians
Home brew
Internet linking (Voice over IP, aka VoIP) – Echolink, AllStar/HamVoIP, DVSwitch, PBX/Asterisk
Mobile installations – HF, VHF/UHF, antennas
Narrow Band Emergency Messaging System (NBEMS) – Fldigi and Flmsg
Networking – AMPRNet, routers, port forwarding, ISPs, firewalls, mesh, microwave
Power supplies
Propagation
Repeaters, controllers, and high-profile systems
RFI caused by power lines and consumer appliances
RF safety
SHARES stations (SHAred RESources – Department of Homeland Security HF radio program)
Software Defined Radios (SDR)
Tower safety
Professional certifications such as Motorola Certified Technicians, Master Electrician, Certified Journeyman Electronics Technician, General Radiotelephone Operator License (GROL), ETA certifications, Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE) certifications and affiliations, and Marine Radio Operator permit holders.

This impressive list of qualifications are available resources to all in the Ohio Section. Looking for guidance in one of these areas? Need a program for your club meeting? How about a technical talk or forum at a hamfest? Assistance or direction on a project? My contact info is near my picture and on the arrl-ohio.org website. I’ll assist getting you in touch with an appropriate Technical Specialist.

Hamvetion Recap

Original 1964 Collins Communication Van at Hamvention

Another Hamvention has come and gone. This was emotional because this was the first since my dad passed, N8ETP. Hamvention was something we did together. He didn’t go last year because (we didn’t know it at the time) he was suffering from post-operation complications. He was looking out from above because I had no shortage of company on this trip. I checked into the hotel, then went to dinner. Immediately met a father and son on their first trip to Hamvention. We talked about the show, past shows, what to expect, and some pro tips. Ironically, the dad was released from the hospital a week prior after recovering from an infection. If they’re reading, I apologize I don’t remember your calls – send me a message and I’ll add them later.

Figuring the rain would keep attendees away Friday morning, traffic was worse than anticipated. Busses were stuck in with those trying to get into on-site parking, causing delays and lines at the high school. It took over an hour from the high school until I got into the fairgrounds. Broke out the poncho for the first time in a number of years.

After being admitted, checked in with the ARRL Ohio Section/Great Lakes Division table to say howdy to our leadership and swap stories. Shortly after leaving the booth, ran into George – W5JDX and Mike – VE3MIC from AmateurLogic.TV and spent the rest of the day hanging out with those guys. Due to rain, George didn’t do any recording until after we grabbed some lunch. Hilarity insured behind the camera as well as in front.

I left about 4pm to get ready for dinner. At dinner, I ran into George again. We were chatting and before we knew it, realized it was 8pm. We had intended on going to the D-STAR evening gathering but didn’t make it since we were having a big time.

Saturday, ran into Mike – this time in the flea market – and we walked a good portion of it in the morning. Mike and cousin Jerry were going to head back home around noon. I walked the rest of the flea market because that was something dad liked to do too. Before leaving, talked with some inside vendors I wanted to speak to.

Shopping list was sparse this year. Only thing I was really looking out for was a place that built ham shacks/outdoor buildings. The camper converted into my existing hamshack really needs to be replaced. I didn’t see any builders there. Rest of the shopping list was “nice to haves” – radio with a TNC for APRS or Winlink. Maybe other APRS gear. Couple Motorola pieces of equipment I’ve been looking for. Been wanting to get a D-STAR radio with the latest features. I took advantage of a show special at DX Engineering and picked up an ICOM ID-52, mainly because the restrictions (by ICOM) were lifted on the show specials.

A ham in the area, whom I’ve gotten to know, was looking to unload some of his gear. I picked up a used ICOM IC-746Pro and Micro Keyer. Fortunately, I was able to try out the radio before I bought it. Doing some research online found out the most common problems with the 746 are the display backlight goes flaky, eventually crapps out, and a dead transmitter. Both were non-issues.

This ham did say the tuning knob might be loose. It didn’t seem much different than my IC-7000. Upon using it at home, there might be an issue with the knob because it does repeat the same frequency numbers over and over again on occasion. I’ll look into tightening or cleaning the knob/encoder to see if that resolves it. It’s not a big deal because most of my operation is digital and I use remote control through a CI-V cable.

Otherwise, it’s been working fine on Winlink. There are a couple differences I like in my 7000 over the 746. Main one being it keeps switching back to USB from D-USB for digital operation. Functionally, it’s working as expected.

A stop at Micro Center in Columbus on the trip back home is required for some post-Hamvention spending. The Columbus location is a bigger store than my closest location on the east side of Cleveland (Mayfield Heights), which means they have more stuff out on display. I needed some larger capacity USB Flash Drives and they had a Lenovo ThinkPad on sale. I’d been having trouble with my existing laptop failing to charge the battery. I found out the Columbus store is a larger location because it is the flagship store for Micro Center as their headquarters are about 15 minutes away. That store will have items not (yet) available at other locations as a test to see if an item sells out.

The same general themes kept popping up before the show and at the show from other attendees: ‘this maybe [my] last one’ and ‘show specials can be found online.’ With the economy in the crapper and inflation in its current state, it’s getting even more expensive to attend Hamvention. $500 and up for a single room in the area for the weekend. With other local events, such as grade school sporting tournaments and antique flea markets, hotel rates are higher due to demand. There were a couple issues at my hotel too. While the staff tried to make it right offering bonus points, the issues still shouldn’t have happened when you’re paying that much for a room. An inconvenience for what was supposed to be an otherwise enjoyable time.

Hamvention show specials, for the most part, can be found online too. Not all distributors bring a lot of gear (inventory) to sell – except for maybe the most popular radios and models. Heil Sound is one vendor most people I know reference because we were involved with Ham Nation. Back at Hara Arena, they had an entire side of Audio Alley with equipment and inventory for sale. Heil Sound had a 6-foot table this year showcasing headset and some microphone offerings. They, like many others, are relying on distributors for show specials and handling of inventory – which goes back to the show specials are also found online. MFJ wasn’t there because they ceased production as the show was getting underway. I heard in the flea market: ‘sellers are looking for top dollar and buyers are looking for the cheapest deals.’ Things weren’t flying out of the flea market either.

Despite that, according to the Hamvention website, this year’s event was record-setting attendance at 35,877. I will always be of the belief “if you’ve never been to Hamvention, you need to go at least once in your life.” It’s more of a social and nightlife gathering, with vendors putting new gear ‘under glass’ at the show.

ARRL Network Incident

Not to bury the lead but I figure I would touch on the announcement posted on the ARRL website regarding the “serious incident involving access to our network and headquarters-based systems.” This incident was big enough news to make an online Cybersecurity trade publication, SecurityWeek. I don’t know anything more than the information made available in the league’s post but I suspect the last paragraph in the SecurityWeek article is the reason.

From the Information Security side, in this day and age, where everyone wants things to be convenient – conveniently accessible resources, conveniently ways to order things online, convenient ways to make membership changes, convenient apps to use – it’s not a matter of “if” something will be compromised, but “when” will something be compromised. The “when” for the ARRL happened to be right before Hamvention.

As noted in the ARRL post, people are asking if personal information is compromised – they haven’t said “yes” but it seems very likely. How an organization comes out looking in these trying times comes down to how they handle their responses – how they improve security posture, how they communicate the extent of the breach to its members, reporting to regulators/investigators, services offered to those concerned about their personal information, how they clean up and recover, making sure it doesn’t happen again, etc. If true, the “ARRL does not store credit card information anywhere on our systems, and we do not collect social security numbers” which helps with regulators and government but leaves privacy minded individuals who do not wish for personal details, albeit “publicly available,” to fall into the wrong hands.

Yes, this absolutely should not have happened. In a perfect world, it wouldn’t have happened. We don’t live in a perfect world and not everyone is perfect despite how some present themselves.

From my own experience, working with vendors and Managed Service Providers (MSPs), it takes a lot of extra work to make sure what they are telling you is correct and make sure what they do is correct. ARRL does use Microsoft services and they’ve had their share of scathing reports of inadequate security practices recently. I work with a lot of different Information Technology (IT) teams. The number of analysts (and management) that know very technical details about systems they are responsible – is remarkably low. When an analyst doesn’t know their system, doesn’t know how modifications affect that system, how would they know if a modification opens their organization to attack? Maybe an employee was thinking they were doing their job but clicked a password stealing link or downloaded a fake invoice containing a malicious payload (malware that performs malicious activity). The latter is often due to a lack of proper training in security practices for general employees. Again, these are only my experiences and observations working in IT.

The ARRL posting has been updated several times as recovery progresses and systems come back online. This disrupted most ARRL IT systems including phone systems, Logbook of the World (LoTW), VEC application processing, some magazine resources, store orders and shipping. LoTW data is “secure” presumably meaning no uploaded contact logs have been lost. The arrl.net forwarding system was not affected but I’ve been moving off it due to messages being bounced previously.

Thanks for reading and 73… de Jeff – K8JTK

Amateur Radio, ARRL Ohio Section, Ohio Section Journal

Ohio Section Journal – The Technical Coordinator – May 2023 edition

May 28, 2023 Jeffrey Kopcak

Once my article is published in the Journal, I will also make it available on my site with a link to the published edition.

Go to www.arrl.org and click the Login button.
Login
When logged in successfully, it will say “Hello <Name>” in place of the Login button where <Name> is your name. Click your Name. This will take you to the “My Account” page.
On the left hand side, under the “Communication” heading (second from the bottom), click Opt In/Out
To the right of the “Opt In/Out” heading, click Edit
Check the box next to “Division and Section News.” If it is already checked, you are already receiving the Ohio Section Journal.
Click Save
There should now be a green check mark next to “Division and Section News.” You’re all set!

Now without further ado…

Read the full edition at:

THE TECHNICAL COORDINATOR
Jeff Kopcak – TC
k8jtk@arrl.net

Hey gang,

Another Hamvention has come and gone. Unfortunately, my dad, N8ETP, didn’t make it as he is recovering from a medical procedure from earlier this year. I was flying solo again. As most of the OSJ readers are in Ohio, Dayton is a few-hour drive for most of us. It’s almost exactly 3 hours from my QTH to the hotel.

After dinner Thursday night, I went searching for digital repeaters – NXDN and P25 in particular. RepeaterBook didn’t have NXDN repeaters in the Dayton area. Guess I didn’t need to bring that radio. There was a P25 repeater I found last year and could hit from my hotel. Listening to conversations, there was mention of a P25 repeater at the Xenia site but I wasn’t able to find the details for it last year. This year, I found the Miami Valley P25 Ham Radio Network website. Their site lists repeaters on the network, including the information I needed for the Xenia site.

P25 is another digital standard used mostly by public safety agencies. It’s similar to DMR in that there are 7-digit IDs, talkgroups, and zones. Instead of a color code, P25 has NAC or network access code. Like DMR, P25 was also developed for commercial use and then adopted to ham radio. The statewide MARCS system, Greater Cleveland Radio Communications Network (GCRCN), and Northwest Ohio Regional Public Safety System are all P25 systems. There aren’t many “ham friendly” P25 radio options. Most are repurposed/used commercial radios from Motorola, Harris, or EF Johnson.

According to their programming guide, Miami Valley P25 sites have been upgraded to “version 2” programming of their repeaters. This may be why the talkgroups I had from last year were completely different for the Dayton repeater.

With tower sites in Shelby, Miami, Champaign, Montgomery, Greene, and Warren counties, the “MVP25” is an interconnected network of UHF (440) P25 repeaters. Each site has backup power and each repeater can operate independently when a network link failure occurs. Sites are linked with direct network connections that presumably don’t use the internet. No cloud services of any kind are utilized. The network can only be accessed via RF. No hotspot and no MMDVM connections are possible.

Reading and programming my Motorola XTS radio for the MVP25 network, I learned more about options in the software. One example is “selective squelch” which will only unmute the radio for transmissions on the selected talkgroup. Their programming template and examples helped me understand their objective and made programming easy.

Each repeater has an “MVL” (Miami Valley Link) talkgroup which is heard on all MVP25 linked repeaters and a “STE” (site) talkgroup for conversations on the local repeater. MVL is the primary talkgroup on the repeater. Users wanting to carry on a conversation locally can override the MV talkgroup by using the STE talkgroup.

Crystal set designer and builder (Vietnam veteran hat)

They recommended using the bank switch (A-B-C switch) for switching talkgroups on a single repeater site. In the context of my radio, Bank A = Zone 1, Bank B = Zone 2, Bank C = Zone 3. This was a neat idea because, for example, channel 5 in zone A & B would be the Xenia Hamvention repeater site. Zone A would be the programming for linked communication using the MVL talkgroup. Zone B would be the local site talkgroup for each repeater. Selecting channel 5 (Xenia) using the channel knob, then selecting bank A would be Xenia MVL talkgroup configuration, Bank B would be Xenia STE talkgroup configuration. Channel 8 would be the Dayton site. Switching to A would be the MVL talkgroup and B would be STE Dayton local.

Since my radio is front panel programming capable, Zone A was the FPP (I didn’t see a way to change this). In their programming guide, bank A became B. Bank B became bank C. Their template had the same exact “UCOM1” (UHF P25 simplex frequency) frequency for every channel in bank C. I took this to mean it’s a ‘flex’ bank in cases of radios that have a reserved bank. I didn’t lose anything because “UCOM1” was also channel 1 in the MVL and STE banks.

Previously, I had only used my P25 radio with my MMDVM hotspots. Programming multiple sites on the same network was a new experience. I learned about copying the current selected entry and export/import to make copies of zones. Kudos to the admins, designers, and those whom wrote the programming guide. It is well thought out and the guide made a lot of sense.

Friday, I hit the flea market. I wasn’t looking for too much this year – either new or used. I was in the market for a second set of Motorola CDM radios. I am using a UHF CDM for an AllStar node and I have a VHF model too. I would like to pick up a second set for spare radios. Also was looking for a second UHF XTS and a new to me VHF. No one was giving them away.

George – W5JDX and Mike – VE3MIC from AmateurLogic.tv along with Chip – K9MIT

In the “coolest thing I’ve ever seen at a hamfest” category was the life-sized crystal set someone built and had on display in the flea market. There were no plans, no diagrams, no anything. It was all in his head. Nothing written up. Nothing diagrammed. The only thing powered was a solar powered amplifier for received audio. If you didn’t see this thing in the flea market, you missed out. The builder didn’t have a name or call displayed unfortunately.

I wanted to hit the inside stuff on Saturday, but instead ran into George – W5JDX and Mike – VE3MIC from AmateurLogic in front of the ICOM booth. Helped them do some recording for their latest episode (which should be out by the time this is published, episode 181). Then we all hung out with Chip – K9MIT of “Chip Stick” fame from Ham Nation and Mike’s cousin (forget the call). A good time was had by all.

Didn’t spend a lot of money this year at Hamvention. Emile would approve (joke for ALTV viewers). Talking with groups and vendors got the wheels turning on some ideas – such as devices to use with my MESH node. On my way home, I stopped by the secondary hamfest called MicroCenter and spent some money there on some deals they had.

Thanks for reading and 73… de Jeff – K8JTK

Amateur Radio, ARRL Ohio Section, Ohio Section Journal

Ohio Section Journal – The Technical Coordinator – May 2022 edition

May 29, 2022 Jeffrey Kopcak

Once my article is published in the Journal, I will also make it available on my site with a link to the published edition.

Go to www.arrl.org and click the Login button.
Login
When logged in successfully, it will say “Hello <Name>” in place of the Login button where <Name> is your name. Click your Name. This will take you to the “My Account” page.
On the left hand side, under the “Communication” heading (second from the bottom), click Opt In/Out
To the right of the “Opt In/Out” heading, click Edit
Check the box next to “Division and Section News.” If it is already checked, you are already receiving the Ohio Section Journal.
Click Save
There should now be a green check mark next to “Division and Section News.” You’re all set!

Now without further ado…

Read the full edition at:

THE TECHNICAL COORDINATOR
Jeff Kopcak – TC
k8jtk@arrl.net

Hey gang,

70 years of Hamvention. Themed the “Reunion” after 70 years have passed since the first Hamvention on March 22, 1952. This year also marked the return after a two-year hiatus. Thousands of hams, family, friends, and enthusiasts descended on the Greene County Fairgrounds and Expo Center in Xenia, Ohio for the convention, May 20 – 22nd. The ARRL Letter states this event brings $30 million to the economy of Dayton and surrounding region.

According to the DX Engineering recap, the count is 31,367 attendees this year. Down 1,075 from 2019, which for the crap we’ve had to put up with the last two years, still quite the showing of attendees. I was hopeful the crowds would be huge and worthwhile for vendors and flea market. My dad – N8ETP and myself attended Friday and Saturday. The Friday crowd seemed like a Saturday crowd, especially at lunch time around the food trucks! We hit the indoor exhibitors. Saturday seemed a little on the lighter side. Could have been the storms and rain Friday night into Saturday morning that kept some away. Hamvention wouldn’t be complete without spring storms! We hit the flea market Saturday and might have missed the larger indoor crowds. If you did the indoor exhibitors just right and found shaded seating areas to rest, I was able to skate by without sunscreen Friday.

The ARRL had their large exhibit area as per usual. There I got to talk a moment with our previous Section Manager, now Vice Director of the Great Lakes Division, Scott Yonally – N8SY. While talking with Scott, a ham stopped by and said he really enjoyed my articles right here in the OSJ. Always appreciate that. I asked if he wanted to see anything and he commented about SDR. It has been awhile since I talked about Software Defined Radio or used them for any projects. Stay tuned. Had a good chat with the Ohio Section Public Information Coordinator and Editor of the ARRL Letter, John – KD8IDJ.

I popped in and talked to Tony Milluzzi, KD8RTT, Advisor for the ARRL Collegiate Amateur Radio Program. I became licensed when I was in high school. One of the things I looked for in a college was a university that had a ham club or, at least, one associated with the university. Still wanting to be radio-active, I wasn’t going to have mobile or base station radios on campus. Only being a Technician back in those days, no HF either. An HT was going to be it so having a repeater close-by was my way of communicating. I found the Wood County Amateur Radio Club, which has support from the university with rooftop space and Internet resources from BGSU Information Technology Services. The club now has three repeaters, including a Fusion digital, as well as an APRS IGate on campus. Additionally, while at school, I was involved in efforts to keep college radio clubs active and on the air. Participated in the College Amateur Radio Club and collegiate Echolink nets (both defunct). I’m a big proponent of getting college students, such as engineering students, exposed to and active in amateur radio.

I asked Tony, ‘what is something the rest of the ham radio community can do to make sure collegiate clubs thrive and survive?’ I wasn’t quite as clever with rhyming at the time. He suggested a couple things that might help college clubs such as donating equipment. They may not receive much, if any, funding from the school for radio gear. The bigger benefit, he felt, would be to simply get involved. A few hams can help Elmer and teach students how to setup a station, maintain equipment, or simply teaching new operating modes such as digital. This would help faculty advisors keep the club going as advisors are often a single staff member and they may need time for other responsibilities and career goals. The link to the ARRL Collegiate Amateur Radio Program has resources to find college radio clubs, ways to participate in events, and example constitution and bylaws to get a club started.

ICOM booth was on my to-do list to checkout their SHF module prototype I mentioned last month. It was there, not a lot is known which was disappointing. The non-functioning prototype was “under glass” (couldn’t touch or play) shown mounted to a pole, presuming it can be mounted outside close to the antennas to minimize line losses. There was an Ethernet cable from the SHF module plugged into a device that looked like an IC-705. The ICOM representative pointed out that it’s not labeled as a 705 nor could a 705 reach the frequency displayed on the unit (5.780 GHz). The Ethernet cable carries PoE (power over Ethernet), presumably from the control head to the SHF module since the control head was powered. When asked what applications might this be used for or anticipated use cases, the representative didn’t have any. I didn’t know if they’re producing the hardware and leaving it to the ham community to figure out uses. They didn’t have answers so purpose still remains unclear. D-STAR was mentioned, so maybe they’re looking to do RF links that’s not the 10 GHz links they were originally hoping for in the early days of D-STAR repeaters. With a control head that can operate different modes, has filters, speaker, and a waterfall, to me it looks like they’re thinking some kind of operating in or around the Wi-Fi bands – maybe not necessarily for ham radio only.

Early the next day, I got to have an eyeball QSO with AmateurLogic.TV‘s own George – W5JDX. It was the first time we’ve met after helping out with their weekly Sound Check net. We talked about forums that were on-tap and treasures found the first day. We got a picture together so there’s evidence we were there and in the same place. I later got to meet the “Cheap Old Man,” Emile – KE5QKR. Amateur Logic has a weekly net on my DVMIS interlink system that bridges 12 ham radio voice networks.

Saturday’s start was preceded by early morning showers. The paved remote parking lots of the high school and town square really helped out instead of parking on soft grass. Quickly though, the sun came out and it was pretty brutal as temperatures reached the mid-80’s. It was flea market day and we spent the day meandering the inner horse track for some treasure. Want to build a repeater? Want to fix up an old radio? Looking for cheap finds? Want to make new friends? Looking to do something new in ham radio? It’s all out in the Hamvention flea market.

Since getting locked down, I have been playing with commercial gear in the ham bands, mostly NXDN and P25 radios. I was looking to find VHF counterparts to some UHF gear I already own. I found a VHF Motorola CDM1250 for $60 with hand mic. Tried it out, after returning home, on some local frequencies and it seems to work great. Don’t know if I’ll use it as a spare or maybe reignite my interest in APRS. I did find a VHF XTS but the seller was firm on the price, more than I wanted to pay.

We managed to survive a little longer than 4 hours in the flea market. We kept hydrated and layered on sunscreen twice. That was a good call. I thought I got burned after returning to the hotel but it was just some slight redness. Festivities were abruptly interrupted about 2:15p with an announcement of approaching storms known to produce hail and had cloud-to-ground lightning. We missed most of what hit Xenia but got our share at the hotel in Dayton. Rains were coming down horizontally for about 15 minutes and had pea sized hail. Please, for the love of everything sacred, double-check your equipment. There were stations squawking APRS during Skywarn nets. Yes, we’re called “amateurs” but most people look to us as professional operators. Lidding up emergency nets with APRS squawks is neither.

Whether because of the slight possibility of not having the show or the economy and supply chain issues, big names did not make the show. Radio manufacturer Kenwood did not have a booth at the show, neither did Heil Sound. Maybe due to last minute changes and lack of commitments for the reasons above, there was no formal list of vendors in the program. Big tents outside the forum rooms were not present this year. While Heil Sound was not present, I received their mailing indicating they still had specials for the weekend and allowed vendors like DX Engineering, HRO, and R&L to make deals on their products. A mainstay, W5KUB, in the past, streamed his entire trek from Tennessee to Dayton and streamed the entire event. Tom was still there but not streaming. I didn’t see any videos about Hamvention posted to his channel either as of this writing.

K8JTK (left) and AmateurLogic.TV host George – W5JDX (right)

Vendors I know were located in specific areas at past shows were also missing. They weren’t there or maybe cut back their presence. Things were different over previous years at the fairgrounds. That leaves more opportunity for other vendors to make their presence known.

Congratulations to DARA and the 600+ volunteers on a job well done and reunion for Hamvention. If you’ve never ridden the school buses from the parking lots, you probably didn’t know that Xenia Community Schools do not have school the Friday of Hamvention. This is such a big event for the area that school children have the day off. Michael Kalter – W8CI mentioned on the DX Engineering video many did not know that fact. Most, including myself, do not realize how much of an undertaking this event really is. The DARA Hamvention YouTube channel has forums if you missed them or want to review a presentation.

The day before the hamfest started, Ham Radio Crash Course’s Josh – KI6NAZ streamed a Voice of America Hamvention Tour. It is jam-packed tour with lots of history of the station, engineering, model of the antenna arrays – the VOA antennas are no longer standing, and the switching matrix which is still standing. This tour is a fantastic history lesson and a must see for any radio buff on a future visit to Hamvention. Tours were given on Thursday for those that arrived early.

With Field Day coming up, sending 10 messages over RF from a site garners 100 bonus points. This includes Winlink messages. I love to receive messages about setup, stations, operating, or social activities taking place. These can be sent via the National Traffic System (NTS) or Winlink – K8JTK at Winlink.org – to my station. The Field Day rules state messages must leave via RF from the site (7.3.6). It does not state “formal messages” be in any particular format or utilize any particular network. A message to the SM or SEC must be in radiogram format and leave via RF or no credit will be given (7.3.5). If there are any questions about sending or format, send the message using the NTS network or Radiogram form in Winlink Express. Copies of messages must be included with the Field Day report submission for credit.

Thanks for reading and 73… de Jeff – K8JTK

Amateur Radio, ARRL Ohio Section, Ohio Section Journal

Ohio Section Journal – The Technical Coordinator – May 2019 edition

May 26, 2019 Jeffrey Kopcak

One of the responsibilities of the Technical Coordinator in the Ohio Section is to submit something for the Section Journal. The Section Journal covers Amateur Radio related things happening in and around the ARRL Ohio Section. It is published by the Section Manager Scott – N8SY and articles are submitted by cabinet members.

Once my article is published in the Journal, I will also make it available on my site with a link to the published edition.

You can receive the Journal and other Ohio Section news by joining the mailing list Scott has setup. You do not need to be a member of the ARRL, Ohio Section, or even a ham to join the mailing list. Please sign up!

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Now without further ado…

Read the full edition at:

THE TECHNICAL COORDINATOR
Jeff Kopcak – TC
k8jtk@arrl.net

Hey gang,

Back in January of 2017, I wrote an article published in the OSJ that talked about different sources of repeater and frequency information. A couple things have changed since it was published. The ARRL no longer prints a pocket-sized directory, much to the chagrin of my dad, and prices have gone up. There is still no great source for the most current list of repeaters. The workplace required me to do some traveling earlier this year to D.C. and Dallas. The D.C. tip was going to allow for much more hamming it up time because I was driving and it was a two-week trip. Dallas required long working days so I wasn’t sure how much radio time I would have but I took an HT anyway. These trips gave me a chance to review different sources of repeater data.

For D.C., I took my HTs along with the gear I typically pack for a public service event where I’ll be riding in someone else’s vehicle. It’s pretty basic consisting of a mag-mount antenna, ICOM IC-2820H dual-band radio with D-STAR, and adapter to go from the radio’s power plug to a cigarette lighter. I take a couple extension cables: coax extension with PL-259s and a barrel connector in case the antenna coax is not long enough. I also take the remote mount cable for the display head just in case.

The cigarette lighter car adapter is more than good enough to power the radio especially when listening more than transceiving. I checked the manual, and verified on an amp meter, the highest power setting (50W) draws about 12-13 amps. Most car adapters are rated at 10A so I’m limited to low or medium power. Components of the typical car adapter are flimsy and drawing anywhere near 10A, or more if the line is fused higher, for a sustained period of time could cause failure or even fire. Low power (5W) draws 4A and medium power (15W) is about 7A (a little less on 2m). One thing that has surprised me, no reports of alternator whine where I’ve used this VHF/UHF setup.

Traveling to and from D.C. and to any new area, I use the band scan memories or scan edge memories. To me it’s easier than making banks of repeaters for different cities along the way. Scan edges are memories available on most modern radios. Set the start and end frequency and the radio scans frequencies in-between, stopping on any signals received. Once it hits the end frequency, returns back to the start frequency and begins scanning again. Often notated “xA/xB,” “xL/xU,” or similar memory locations for beginning and ending frequencies respectively. The 2820 is capable of dual band operation (2 frequencies at once). On the left side of the radio I had a scan starting with 144.000, and ending at 148.000 which covers the 2m band. On the right side was 440.000 – 450.000 for the 70cm band. The “step” setting determines frequency increments. A setting of 15.0 kHz will start on 144.000. The next frequency scanned will be 144.015, then 144.030, 144.045, and so on. A step of 5.0 kHz will start on 144.000, then 144.005, 144.010, 144.015, etc. Most 2m band plans are 15 kHz steps and most 440 are 25 kHz. I stick with those frequency steps. Setting the step to 5 kHz catches more frequencies in cases where a repeater might be coordinated on a non-standard frequency, but it does take much longer to scan and it will stop on a lot more interference from the car or near-by transmitters.

In this day and age, noise will be an issue and the scan will stop frequently. This can be reduced by turning up the squelch or attenuator, but you’ll miss weaker signals. Some radios have a ‘skip’ (sometimes called “lock-out”) function that will skip over problematic frequencies. I use the radio’s “scan resume conditions” to resume scanning 10 seconds after arriving on a signal. This is nice so I don’t have to keep messing around with the radio while driving. If there is an interesting conversation, I have to stop the scan in order for the radio to stay on that frequency.

I use RepeaterBook almost exclusively for downloading repeater lists at home and places I’m staying on the road. The search is straight forward but I do massage the data. I start off with a Location search with a radius of 50 miles. 50 miles is good if you want to hear distant repeaters or driving around the area. A radius of 25 miles is sufficient if you’re staying in or around one city. I export that to CSV (a portability format in plain text for databases, separating the fields by commas) and open in Excel removing anything the radios can’t receive. ATV repeaters, P25, NXDN, 900 Mhz – all get removed. The ICOM radios will get analog and D-STAR repeaters, but not Fusion or DMR. The Fusion radios get Fusion repeaters, not D-STAR or DMR. Then use RT Systems to import the modified CSV for each radio, save it in RT’s file format, and finally download data to the radio. There are entries in RepeaterBook that haven’t been updated so an analog repeater which is now DMR will slip through, for example. I remove those from the RT file later and download again if necessary. I generally don’t spend time writing a DMR code plug while traveling. I don’t find much benefit in researching repeaters static and PTT talk groups for use over a short period of time. If I don’t find a code plug browsing a couple club sites in the area, I use a hotspot.

For some reason, the RFinder application was not loading any data during most of my time in D.C. There was a fix which corrected that toward the end of the trip. I found the website of the local coordinating body for D.C. and Northern Virginia, T-MARC. The website looks like a callback to 1995 but it had information I found interesting including recent coordination actions, detailed interference FAQ, policies, band plans (including digital voice), and updated frequency lists. It should really come as no surprise because the president is a guy that did a lot of good for the Cleveland area before moving to Maryland, Dave – W8AJR. What does our repeater council website have? Complaints the ARRL is not using their repeater data anymore and the 2016/2017 Ohio Repeater Directory!

K3RTV station at The National Capital Radio & Television Museum

When looking for things to do during downtime in D.C., I discovered they had a Radio and Television museum. It was something I wanted to see because I did television production in high school and professionally in college. The National Capital Radio & Television Museum was located in a converted house. I walked in and you’re standing in a side room welcoming area, library, and gift shop. I immediately notice a SignaLink and some ham radio gear. There was a bulletin board with ham call signs next to the station. I asked the docent if he was a ham. He wasn’t but the guy in charge was the station Trustee of K3RTV and would arrive a little later. The museum had a couple of pieces from Ohio, KYW pictures and “newspaper delivered by radio” in 1939 from WLW. I hung around and talked to station Trustee Jim – N3ADF after perusing the exhibits. The museum gives him another place to operate radio in addition to another workshop. The club station at the museum does operate a couple special event stations. I’ll be looking for them on the air.

On the way back from the museum, a QSO revealed there was a hamfest coming up that weekend in Virginia. I attended the Vienna Wireless Society’s Winterfest held at Northern Virginia Community College. If you’ve ever been to NOARSfest in Elyria at Lorain County Community College, it was very similar. Outdoor and indoor flea market areas and catering provided by the college. I was happy I attended because of a couple deomonstration tables that were setup. The NoVA ARDEN Mesh (Northern VirginiA) group had nodes setup demonstrating capabilities of the network including phone and video. That area of Virginia has a lot of datacenters. AOL used to be headquartered with 3 datacenters in that area. It was good talking to those guys who could give me more of a deep-dive into technologies used on the networking side. As I’m talking to the mesh guys, I look over at this guy talking about Winlink. He looks familiar but I can’t place why. I figured it out a little while later. If you go to YouTube and search “winlink” he is the first video you’ll see. It was Greg – KW6GB whose video I had seen doing research for a Winlink writeup. I talked to him for awhile and I’m participating in his Winlink Wednesday.

In Dallas, I knew we were going to be putting in long days and since we were flying, I didn’t want to be hassled bringing ham radio equipment by TSA. I did some research and most of the comments read: ‘keep a copy of your license’ which I always have, ‘keep batteries in your carryon’ this is regulation especially for any Lithium-Ion batteries which have been known to explode in checked baggage, ‘it’s unlikely you’ll have a problem.’ This was exactly my experience in both CLE and DFW. I didn’t have large wire antennas or any HF equipment. I can’t say if you’re transporting that type of gear, you’ll have the same experience. Ship it if there is a concern.

Portable ARDEN mesh setup, Winterfest hamfest, Annandale, VA

As it turned out, I didn’t get any time to play on the radio while in Dallas. One night we did have severe storms roll through. After our work was done, our group made it back to the hotel that night while the ground was dry. Storms were threatening, alot of lightning and weather alerts were popping off. By the time we made it up to our rooms, it was raining sideways.

I was in a hurry to find local Skywarn frequencies and I hadn’t pre-programmed the radio before making the trip. I went to RepeaterBook for Dallas county, 93 repeaters were found. Didn’t have time to sort through or scan for the Skywarn frequency. I remembered something I found and noted in my 2017 article, the RadioReference database has a list of Amateur Radio frequencies for an area. The ones listed tended to be repeaters actually on the air, more popular, Emcomm, and Skywarn type repeaters. Sure enough, tuning into 146.880, the first frequency on that list was the Dallas RACES and Skywarn net. The storms blew through with no major events. More like the storms experienced on Thursday night/early Friday morning at Dayton this year. Lotta rain, flooding, and some damage depending on location.

For some reason, this new location for Hamvention and lodging is prime area for thunderstorms. Fine by me. I love a lightning show and it has become a highlight every year to see storms roll through. Sometimes they roll through during the show which wasn’t so neat. This year they seemed to happen before and after the show which was perfect. There seemed to be more people attending Hamvention which was probably attributed to the dryer weather. My dad and I spent most of our time in the flea market since it was sunny and dry. Sunscreen was a requirement otherwise you were going to be toasted. I usually don’t need sunscreen on my legs but even the backs got a little burned.

My dad and I had some excitement the first night at the hotel. About 4:30am Friday morning, all were woken up by the sound of the fire alarm. Just after being awakened, I heard thunderstorms outside. At that point, I hoped it was a false alarm and would cease before we left our rooms. While in Dallas, the fire alarm went off but it stopped 20 seconds later in the early morning. Enough to be annoying but I was now 2/2 over my last two hotel stays where the fire alarm sounded. Got dressed and left our room with everyone else. The alarm panel was showing smoke detected in the pool maintenance room. A large awning provided shelter from the storm, pouring hard but not blowing. Waited there 15 minutes or so while the fire department showed up with two firefighters. The hotel staff couldn’t get in the pool maintenance room. They finally shut off the alarm but we had to wait in the lobby. Another 40 minutes later we could return to our rooms but they couldn’t get the fire alarm to reset. That pretty much set the tone for the weekend at this hotel. *Insert Circus theme music here*

At Hamvention, Yaesu was showing off a demo unit of their new Fusion HT. The FT3DR is the same as the FT2DR though a little smaller, more like the size of the FT-70DR, with a color screen and Bluetooth. Elecraft had a demo of their K4. Seems a little higher in price than other SDR radios but those who have them swear by ’em. It’s cool that it’s running Linux because many other SDR radios have been running and require Windows.

Probably the biggest news came in the Ham Nation wrap-up of Hamvention. It maybe answers the question, what happened to Mendelsons? They had the biggest tent in the flea market when the show was at Hara Arena with loads of surplus gear. Since the switch to Xenia, I think they were there in some corner one year. George – W5JDX went to visit the store location and found out they are planning to close the store. They maybe still around for visitors of Hamvention 2020 but sounded like they might be closed by next year. George shot some video but hasn’t edited it yet. It will probably appear on Ham Nation or his other show, Amateur Logic. Sad to see another Hamvention vendor go!

Thanks for reading and 73… de Jeff – K8JTK

Amateur Radio, ARRL Ohio Section, Ohio Section Journal

Ohio Section Journal – The Technical Coordinator – May 2018 edition

May 28, 2018 Jeffrey Kopcak

One of the responsibilities of the Technical Coordinator in the Ohio Section is to submit something for the Section Journal. The Section Journal covers Amateur Radio related things happening in and around the ARRL Ohio Section. It is published by the Section Manager Scott – N8SY and articles are submitted by cabinet members.

Once my article is published in the Journal, I will also make it available on my site with a link to the published edition.

Now without further ado…

Read the full edition at: http://arrl-ohio.org/news/2018/OSJ-May-18.pdf

THE TECHNICAL COORDINATOR
Jeff Kopcak – TC
k8jtk@arrl.net

Hey gang,

Another Hamvention has come to a close. My dad (N8ETP) and I were able to make it again. We were joined by my mom (N8GTK) this year too. This was her second Hamvention. She got to experience one at Hara Arena and now one at the Greene County Fairgrounds. Last year my dad and I parked on site at the fairgrounds. We didn’t get stuck but took about 3 car washes to get the mud off. This year we decided to park off-site and were bussed in. I remember being able to fit in the isles and seats last time I was on a school bus – not so much this time. Off-site parking was the better decision. Our site at Young’s Dairy was not nearly as muddy as the fairgrounds parking lot was this year or last. Other off-site locations offer a paved lot if parking in a field is not your thing.

On Friday, the busses dropped off and picked up in a remote area away from the main entrance. Farm tractors transported Hamvention goers to the main entrance with hayride trailers. This lasted a day because rain combined with heavy machinery and grassy fields turned it into – you guessed it – a mud wrestling pit. Saturday, the busses dropped us off in one of the parking lots and then we rode golf carts to the main gate. Beats being stuck.

Being the second year at the new location, it’s still a work-in-progress. Improvements have been made over last year and there is still more in the pipeline. An addition to the flea market was crushed asphalt and gravel isles. This should have improved conditions in the flea market though I can’t say for sure. We started in the flea market on Friday but about an hour later it started raining buckets and we headed indoors unfortunately not to return. Rearranging the indoor facilities provided a much larger covered eating area. The tent used for outdoor vendors was much nicer. The ground might have gotten wet underneath but I don’t think occupants got the rain coming in through the sides as they did last year. Another building is expected to be constructed for next year.

Despite the wet weather, it still seemed like attendance was up. It’s kind of a bummer not being able to walk away with a new purchase at the hamfest. A couple purchases needed to be shipped because vendors didn’t have the room but it’s a good problem to have as Hamvention continues to bring in vendors from around the world. According to the conversations I had, next year will be dry and all the problems will be solved! Don’t hold me to the ‘being dry’ part.

For a couple years, one thing I’ve wanted to do while in Dayton was visit the Voice of America (VOA) museum. This year, with the three of us, we made it a point and it was well worth a visit. I believe the first time I ever heard of Voice of America was in a college Telecommunications class. We had an assignment to listen to VOA over an evening and write our thoughts about what we heard in the broadcast. This was in the mid-2000’s and the VOA was available as an online stream. Grated many people have not heard of VOA which is understandable because its target audience isn’t U.S. citizens. The primary intent of VOA was broadcast programming to be consumed by foreign audiences to help influence public opinion abroad regarding the U.S. Propaganda, if you will.

My primary operating interests are digital modes and using computers but I have a healthy respect and am very interested in the history of radio. There’s a lot of radio history in our own backyard. Down in West Chester, Ohio are two very famous transmission facilities: WLW and the Voice of America Bethany Relay station. WLW is famous for being the highest power transmitter ever used in the U.S. on broadcast AM radio. Between 1934 and 1939 WLW operated at a power output of 500 kW. The transmitter they operated was serial number 1. In 1938, a congressional resolution was introduced which limited broadcast AM transmission to 50 kW, which is still the current maximum power output. The WLW tower is also rare featuring the unique “Blaw-Knox” diamond shape.

Adjacent to the WLW tower is the VOA facility known as the Bethany Relay Station. In 1944, the facility began transmitting American programming on shortwave frequencies primarily into Europe during World War II. They could broadcast into Africa and South America as well. The site had 6 transmitters built by the same company that operated the WLW transmitter, Crosley Radio. Four stations were 200 kW and two were 50 kW. Originally the facility sat on a 625-acre site built inland so it couldn’t be easily attacked like other VOA sites close to the ocean might be. Due to a shift to satellite technology, the station was decommissioned in 1994. Much of the property was turned over to the Metroparks and is now a recreational park. The transmission towers and antennas have all been demolished. The transmission building and antenna switching facility is all that remains which is now home to a museum and ham radio club.

WLW Engineering Azimuthal Projection Map

The National VOA Museum of Broadcasting and the West Chester Amateur Radio Association, WC8VOA, preserve and care for the Bethany Relay Station. The museum chronicles the history of VOA and how it played key roles in forming public opinion of the U.S. during wartime. It featured a fitting tribute to the last known surviving engineer for WLW and VOA, Clyde Haehnle, who passed away last month. An azimuthal projection map, which Clyde drew, is featured in many places. This map shows the distance and angle from Cincinnati to any point on the globe which was used to direct VOA antennas to any part of the world. Another room features the history of the Crosley Broadcasting Corporation with tubes on display used in the WLW 500 kW transmitter and types of radios consumers would have used in their homes. A radio timeline shows the history of radio from the spark gap to the iPad. Opposite those displays are the broadcaster’s museum which featured a couple pieces of history from the Cleveland area, which I was surprised to see.

Of the old VOA facility, there is still a shortwave transmitter on display complete with control panel, the newer of the two control rooms where operators could select programming broadcast over each transmitter, and the antenna switching matrix. If all that isn’t enough, you can operate the WC8VOA club station in the old control room of the VOA.

We could have easily spent a half-day there because there was so much to look at, watch, and listen. This was an amazing facility with a lot of history between WLW and VOA. The VOA Museum of Broadcasting and West Chester Amateur Radio Association where such gracious hosts. They were around to answer questions and pass along the history of this station. If you’re in the area or if not, make plans for Hamvention next year to spend [more than] a couple hours at the VOA facility. It’s open every Saturday and Sunday 1 – 4pm with extended hours during Hamvention.

More information and videos on the VOA:
West Chester Amateur Radio Association (WC8VOA): http://wc8voa.org/
National Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting: http://www.voamuseum.org/
Voice of America Museum Special (AmateurLogic.TV): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3w_ZXRJol_4

Clyde Haehnle, Remembering WLW & VOA (AmateurLogic.TV): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lnw-STvoj20

1992-04-24 Voice of America Bethany (Mason) Ohio Relay Station [in operation]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiGmEjH4dKE

Thanks for reading and 73… de Jeff – K8JTK

Amateur Radio, ARRL Ohio Section, Ohio Section Journal

Ohio Section Journal – The Technical Coordinator – June 2017 edition

June 16, 2017 Jeffrey Kopcak

One of the responsibilities of the Technical Coordinator in the Ohio Section is to submit something for the Section Journal. The Section Journal covers Amateur Radio related things happening in and around the ARRL Ohio Section. It is published by the Section Manager Scott – N8SY and articles are submitted by cabinet members.

Once my article is published in the Journal, I will also make it available on my site with a link to the published edition.

Now without further ado…

Read the full edition at: http://n8sy2.blogspot.com/2017/06/june-edition-of-ohio-section-journal.html

THE TECHNICAL COORDINATOR
Jeff Kopcak – TC
k8jtk@arrl.net

Hey gang,

Another Dayton Hamvention is in the books. Yes, despite the arguments – ‘it’s not in Dayton anymore blah blah blah’ – the program guide still says “Dayton Hamvention.”

My dad, N8ETP and I have been attending Hamvention consecutively for the past 3 years. I’ve gone down a couple years by myself, stayed at numerous hotels in the area, bummed rides off friends, taken bus trips, and even stayed at the dorms on the University of Dayton’s campus. Returning back each year quickly brings back memories of routes in and out of the arena along with familiar eating and travel destinations. The layout inside rarely changed. You knew where the prize booth was located along with favorite dealers, vendors, clubs and organizations. The entire back parking lot was the flea market. There was the usual selection of arena eats – burgers, nachos, hot dogs, pizza, and ice cream – that often benefited a local school or community organization.

Now, everything is different.

The Hamvention committee should be commended for the monumental task of moving the event from the now closed Hara Arena to the Greene County Fair Grounds in Xenia, Ohio within 9 months. I can’t even imagine what it takes to setup an event that draws 25-30,000 people let alone move it to another location quickly.

Buildings at the new location are less than 20 years old. They were rebuilt after a tornado hit the fairgrounds in 2000. RV parking and an on-site bathhouse were available. There was ample parking on the grounds and at three remote locations with shuttle transportation. Quite different compared to the dilapidated arena where there always seemed to be a haze indoors due to the lack of air flow, falling ceiling tiles with mold and probably 30-year-old dust, and septic system with a propensity to explode.

Atmosphere of was more “fair” than “convention” because vendors and exhibitors were spread out over separated buildings (themed Maxim, Tesla, Marconi, and Hertz), displays were in outside tents, and an abundance of food trucks and carts similar to that of any county fair was seen. More eating area was needed compared to the amount we were used to at Hara. There were long lines and the limited seating, for maybe 50, filled quickly. I had an enjoyable standing lunch with members of the Wood County ARC.

If you were lucky enough to be there Friday, you were greeted by the “Welcome to Xenia” signs quickly followed by break lights and miles of cars waiting to get into the fairgrounds. Even the shuttles were stuck in traffic. The reason was discovered once we arrived. Cars were being parked at a rate of nearly one-at-a-time. Time was wasted waiting to see which isles were full and which ones had room for additional cars. This was quickly remedied Saturday as cars were being parked in multiple locations at once, effectively eliminating the traffic issue from Friday. Scratch that issue off the list.

In general, Hamvention is smaller. I knew this going in from vendors indicating they weren’t going to have the space they were used to. Vendors made the most of it and generally seemed to work. As a result, vendors couldn’t bring the usual amount of stock. Show specials for things like the very popular TYT MD-380, you could purchase one but couldn’t leave with one. In one case, it would be shipped and arrive the following Tuesday. Kinda a bummer as many hoped to leave with a new toy. Vendors in the outside display tent got washed out with storms that rolled through. Not good for computers, sensitive radio equipment, and video cameras I saw out there. I was not able to find Mendelsons – a long time staple of the Hara flea market. I heard others asking too if they had been spotted.

Lastly, mud. The flea market and parking lots were in grassy areas, or at least started out that way. Friday wasn’t bad as the ground was soft in a few areas of the flea market. Saturday morning, with the help of overnight storms, large farm tractors used for transporting patrons were contributing to the problem of turning the grassy parking lot into a mud pit. After everyone took shelter for even more storms Saturday morning, allll bets were off. The flea market isles were mud tracks. A good pair of rain boots were needed to help manage. It was funny watching rented scooters trying to manage a couple inches of mud. Not wanting to get our clothes dirty, we headed out about 3pm on Saturday and learned the parking lot suffered the same fate as the flea market. The committee, I think, anticipated this because they had rope and skid loaders for cars that needed assistance. We exited without assistance but still need to get our car washed twice to get MOST of the mud off.

All-in-all, I’ll call it a success. Out of the things that could go wrong, these issues were the harder ones to plan and tackle. The traffic issue was resolved the next day. This shows they are already learning from the problems that came up during the show. It was a suitable location for a venue change in 9 months. Anyone who is thinking of going next year, you should make your reservations now. The camaraderie, meet and greets, and running into fellow hams was as exciting as ever. If any of the planning committee is reading, I have an idea for a bigger location… just sayin’.

If you didn’t catch the June 7th episode of Ham Nation, Michael Kalter – W8CI was the featured guest for the Hamvention recap. They talked issues and plans for the future. If you think they’re only working on minor changes, you’d be wrong. More: https://twit.tv/shows/ham-nation/episodes/303

There wasn’t a ton of major announcements at Hamvention. Some of the more technical things I did pick up on:

ICOM had a prototype of their latest direct-sampling SDR transceiver, the IC-7610. It resembles the IC-7600 with the SDR features of the IC-7300. They’re looking at late summer availability once approved by the FCC.
Kenwood featured their TH-D74 APRS & D-STAR 144/220/430 HT. This radio has been out for some time but were touting D-STAR has seen a resurgence because of this radio. I don’t think people are going to start putting up D-STAR repeaters again because of one radio. Kenwood is looking for feedback from customers to see if there is interest creating an equivalent mobile radio to the D74.
220 MHz DV access point (DVAP) for the D74 and 4 new “DV AIR” devices by Robin AA4RC. AIR series are embedded devices supporting the DV Dongle, DV3K, and DVAP eliminating the configuration and need of a Raspberry Pi to make those devices portable.
Yaesu had their new DR-2X repeater on display.
Flex Radio has four new SDR radios. Two models integrate the Maestro control panel (touch screen and controls) into the radio. If you ever thought ‘real radios have knobs,’ there you go.
Just before Dayton, Connect Systems shipped the first batch of CS800D DMR dual band mobile radios. There is a waiting list for the next around assuming no issues with the first. Check the Connect Systems store and look for the ‘CS800D waiting list’ option for instructions.

The 300th episode of Ham Nation was the week before Dayton. I attended the Ham Nation forum which was still standing room only in the new room. I got to be apart of the forum promoting the D-STAR After Show net. Show hosts and net controllers were invited to the ARRL booth afterward to get our picture taken with Tom Gallagher – NY2RF.

With the highlights and festivities around Dayton Hamvention, the special event commemorating 300 episodes of Ham Nation kicked off the following Wednesday with episode 301. For one week, show hosts, after show net controllers, many with 1 x 1 special event call signs where on the HF bands and digital modes. With nearly an estimated 10,000 contacts made, digital didn’t get the numbers we hoped. There were pileups for the nets but quickly dropped off for the remainder of the week. The idea for digital was to involve more hams that don’t have privileges or means for an HF setup. Those that participated were happy digital was involved.

If you participated in Ham Nation 300, send your QSL card with an SASE to the stations worked. A commemorative card will be returned. The logs are being compiled for the certificates which will be available in the future, catch the show for details. Lastly, the points challenge is going on until August so you still have time to get involved if you missed the special event stations.

Last month, I started out with an introductory series on terminology used in ham radio DMR. I finished a second writeup on programming a code plug from scratch. Programming is focused around the TYT MD-380 but should apply to other CPSes too. It covers a fictitious repeater example, hotspot configuration (even for the DV4Mini), and simplex operation. Check it out and get familiar with your DMR radio by programming it! http://www.k8jtk.org/2017/06/11/dmr-in-amateur-radio-programming-a-code-plug/

Not at Dayton but shortly after, I saw a hands-on review of the new Tytera (TYT) MD-2017 DMR dual band hand held on Ham Radio 2.0. You heard right, a DUAL BAND DMR HT! I was excited for this radio even though there are not many VHF DMR repeaters – unless you’re in New England it seems. The review indicated the channel selector knob was replaced with a Blackberry Curve-style roller trackball. My enthusiasm quickly deflated. WHY??!! I had a BB Curve. The trackball was a nice idea at the time but it was overly sensitive, got gummed up quickly – especially in a dirty environment, was hard to clean, and had to be replaced about once a year. The radio itself is similar to the MD-380 but differences include programming cable, software, code plugs, and a VFO. An MD-380 code plug won’t open in the MD-2017 CPS. I’m sure a hacked program will be available to load code plugs on different radios. Seemed like a good radio otherwise, though I won’t be getting one. Ham Radio 2.0 Episode 99: Debut of the TYT MD-2017 Dual Band DMR HT: http://www.livefromthehamshack.tv/2017/05/29/episode-99-debut-tyt-md-2017-dual-band-dmr-ht/

The next big ham holiday, Field Day, is right around the corner. Get out and join your club or find a club to join if you’re not a member of one. It’s a great time to bring friends and get them excited about ham radio. Hams that come out get bitten by the bug to expand their station or learn a new mode. Check the Field Day Locator for operations taking place near you: http://www.arrl.org/field-day-locator. Sending 10 messages over RF from your site gets you 100 points – including Winlink messages. I love to receive messages about your setup, stations operating, or social activities taking place. These can be sent via the National Traffic System (NTS) or Winlink – K8JTK at Winlink.org. Winlink post: https://winlink.org/content/field_day_send_11_winlink_messages_200_points

With July around the corner, the 13 Colonies special event is coming up (http://www.13colonies.net/) along with the RAC Canada Day contest (http://wp.rac.ca/rac-canada-day-contest-rules-2017/).

Note: Ham Nation pictures taken by Tom – N8ETP.

Thanks for reading and 73… de Jeff – K8JTK

Amateur Radio, ARRL Ohio Section, Ohio Section Journal

Ohio Section Journal – The Technical Coordinator – May 2017 edition

May 15, 2017 Jeffrey Kopcak

One of the responsibilities of the Technical Coordinator in the Ohio Section is to submit something for the Section Journal. The Section Journal covers Amateur Radio related things happening in and around the ARRL Ohio Section. It is published by the Section Manager Scott – N8SY and articles are submitted by cabinet members.

Once my article is published in the Journal, I will also make it available on my site with a link to the published edition.

Now without further ado…

Read the full edition at: http://n8sy2.blogspot.com/2017/05/the-ohio-section-journal-hamvention.html

THE TECHNICAL COORDINATOR
Jeff Kopcak – TC
k8jtk@arrl.net

Hey gang,

DMR: you’re hearing a ton about it from the Ohio Section and the number of repeaters has exploded with nearly 60 in the state. DMR saw growth due to inexpensive offerings of quality radios at last year’s show. I suspect this year will be no different with new offerings from vendors, possibility of dual band radios around the corner, and many more groups supporting DMR.

How many of you know the terminology and could program a DMR radio from scratch? Passing around a code plug makes the mode seem plug-and-play and it’s a great way to get started. Relying on existing code plugs leaves most of us unable to change the configuration of our own radios or even know how it works. What happens if you need to change programming, add a repeater, the code plug information is old, or wrong?

When I started last year, I found there was very little information available on DMR in ham radio. I learned DMR by doing a couple things. First, I looked at the code plug I downloaded for my TYT MD-380. I got a lot of knowledge playing around with that. There were a couple things I wasn’t quite sure about. When I got together with a buddy who was interested in DMR, we further played around with the software, tried different settings, and I filled in those gaps.

With the continued support from the Ohio Section, one of our Technical Specialists, Dave – KD8TWG has been giving training presentations on radio programming and he created a DMR Learning Series explaining terminology and etiquette: https://kd8twg.net/category/dmr/dmr-learning-series/.

I put together a paper with the goal of explaining DMR to the person just starting out and include some more technical descriptions. It started as an idea to write an article or two for the OSJ around Dayton time so anyone jumping in would have good information. After starting the project, it quickly became much bigger.

The first writing talks about the DMR standard and compares it to other made-for-ham-radio modes like D-STAR and Fusion. One topic that might be of interest is the section on ‘is it legal?’ I’ve heard this question come up frequently and even clubs in the section are questioning the legality. Radios, CPS, code plugs, registering for a DMR ID are all discussed. I talk about repeaters, c-Bridges, networks, and some of the issues one might encounter. Terminology covered includes time slots, talk groups, reflectors, contacts, RX Group Lists, channels, zones, scan lists, and hotspots: http://www.k8jtk.org/2017/05/10/dmr-in-amateur-radio-terminology/.

The second will deal with creating a sample code plug for a factitious repeater, tying all the terminology together. Afterwards, you will be able to create and update your own code plugs! Stay tuned to next month. DMR repeaters in Ohio: https://www.repeaterbook.com/repeaters/feature_search.php?state_id=39&type=DMR.

At the request of Cuyahoga County Skywarn, Technical Specialist Dave – KD8TWG has installed a Sage EAS ENDEC device on the 146.76 repeater in Cleveland. 146.76 is the primary Skywarn repeater for Cuyahoga County. The device is the same used by radio and television stations to broadcast Emergency Alert System messages. It monitors NOAA weather radio frequencies and broadcasts tornado watches/warnings, thunderstorm watches/warnings – for Cuyahoga County, and the weekly EAS test. It’s been performing flawlessly!

The data and attention tones are the same everyone is familiar with. These are the same one would hear tuning to a broadcast radio or TV station during an event. In order to not clobber an existing QSO, the device will delay playing the alert until the repeater is free. DTMF tones are available to Skywarn NCS’s to disable the alerts if it begins to interfere with the net. Some innovative working being done here. Thanks for the hard work Dave.

Anthony – K8ZT, our ASM for Educational Outreach, shared some links with me from his site. He has put together lists of great resources for doing projects, ideas for the class room, training classes, and build projects a group my want to coordinate:

www.k8zt.com/tech – electronics, kits, homebrewing, calculators, Arduino, and Raspberry Pi.
www.k8zt.com/electronics – learn about electronics and radio basics.
www.k8zt.com/building – kits and homebrew.
www.k8zt.com/ard-rasp – projects and instructables for Raspberry Pi and Arduino.
www.k8zt.com/calc – calculators, spreadsheets, data analytics, and reference tables.

After my write up of podcasts last May (http://www.k8jtk.org/2016/05/15/ohio-section-journal-the-technical-coordinator-may-2016-edition/), I try to catch ones that feature a ham in the Ohio section. QSO Today episode 144 featured John Ackermann – N8UR. John was a past president of TAPR (which I’m a member) and is a big proponent of open source hardware and software (openly sharing designs that make the community better). Eric and John talked about his usage of SDR radios and this collection of test equipment. He’s done alot of experimenting with APRS and shares some of his lessons learned. I especially liked his idea that hams can achieve much greater data transfer speeds in the 3 GHz portion of our spectrum. Maybe others in the section will develop technology to utilize that spectrum more than we are currently. The podcast is available on your favorite podcast app by searching for “QSO Today” or by going to: http://www.qsotoday.com/podcasts/n8ur.

Don’t forget #HamNation300 special event is starting the Wednesday following Dayton. There will be stations operating D-STAR, DMR, Echolink, possibly Fusion, P25 and anything else we can get our hands on – in addition to SSB. I will be doing D-STAR, JT65, and maybe PSK too for some HF digital contacts. Points challenge is available for those who enjoy the social aspect of a special event. Tune in to Ham Nation (twit.tv/hn) every Wednesday evening. Details can be found on our event page: https://www.hamnationdstar.net/2017/04/05/ham-nation-300-special-event/. I will also be participating in the Ham Nation forum at Hamvention on Saturday, 10:30a in Room 1.

The show featured the digital net controllers this past Wednesday (5/10). My ugly mug was featured along with my good friend Andrew- WA8LIV from the DMR net and Dave – N3NTV from the Echolink net. You can watch the segment if you dare: https://youtu.be/afWX5kQSBAg?t=1h11m27s or download it at: https://twit.tv/shows/ham-nation/episodes/299. There’s a reason (more than one?) I stayed behind the camera when I worked TV production. I kid, check it out and join in the fun of #HamNation300.

That’s about it for this month. I’m looking forward to meeting all of you at Dayton (er, Xenia) this year. I’ve heard there were a record number of ticket pre-orders which I hope means a successful year for Hamvention. One thing I can guarantee for this year: it will be different for all of us. I’m excited to see what’s in store at this new venue. Get your shopping lists ready…. and see you at Dayton! Thanks for reading and 73… de Jeff – K8JTK

Amateur Radio, ARRL Ohio Section, Ohio Section Journal

Ohio Section Journal – The Technical Coordinator – August 2016 edition

August 15, 2016 Jeffrey Kopcak

One of the responsibilities of the Technical Coordinator in the Ohio Section is to submit something for the Section Journal. The Section Journal covers Amateur Radio related things happening in and around the ARRL Ohio Section. It is published by the Section Manager Scott – N8SY and articles are submitted by cabinet members.

Once my article is published in the Journal, I will also make it available on my site with a link to the published edition.

Now without further ado…

Read the full edition at: http://n8sy2.blogspot.com/2016/08/august-edition-of-ohio-section-journal.html

THE TECHNICAL COORDINATOR
Jeff Kopcak – TC
k8jtk@arrl.net

Hey Gang,

As I’m beginning this month’s article some nasty storms just ripped through Cleveland on the 11th. There were branches, trees, wires, power lines down, and road closures on the west side due to those hazards, including my QTH of Westlake. Luckily I’ve heard of no injuries. If you’re not part of the NWS Skywarn program, please consider joining as a spotter. Skywarn is a volunteer program that helps the local National Weather Service office know what’s happening on the ground and assists in warning people about dangerous weather conditions. Training typically happens in the early spring for spotters. Check with your local club or Skywarn organization.

The Republican Nation Convention went off without major incident in Cleveland. I was working from home and had the scanner on most of that week. Three major trunked radio systems were utilized: MARCS, the new MARCS-IP (Multi-Agency Radio Communications System), and GCRCN (Greater Cleveland Radio Communications Network). If you didn’t set a wildcard or use UniTrunker to watch those systems, you probably missed a lot of the event communications. There were about 12 primary talk groups on GCRCN where most of the action took place. These were previously unidentified so they were not in any lists or databases that use Radio Reference. A wildcard stops on any talk group whereas programming specific talk groups into the scanner will only stop on transmissions for those talk groups. The “old” MARCS system was shut down immediately following the convention as it was kept online largely for backup. It has been replaced by the MARCS-IP system.

This month we learned the sad news of Hara Arena’s closing. No more Hamvention at Hara Arena after 52 years. The Dayton Amateur Radio Association put into action their contingency plans. It was announced that Hamvention will still be in the Dayton area. The new location is The Greene County Fair and Expo Center located in Xenia, Ohio. Michael Kalter and Ron Cramer talked about the new location on Ham Nation for about 30 minutes in episode 259. Couple of links worth visiting:

-Why we are saddened by the loss of the Hara Arena: http://ad8bc.com/bc/?p=601
-Hamvention Announces Venue for 2017: http://hamvention.org/hamvention-announces-venue-for-2017/
-Ham Nation episode 259: https://twit.tv/shows/ham-nation/episodes/259, or YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_OaKmllEDY

One of our Technical Specialists, David KD8TWG, has been involved with setting up a DMR repeater in Cleveland. The frequency is 442.0875 (+5 MHz standard offset) using Color Code 1. The repeater is connected to the K4USD cBridge (http://www.k4usd.org/). On that website is a listing of the “standard configuration” for repeaters connected to the bridge. Right now, your code plug should follow the layout listed on the site. A cBridge is a feature that allows interconnecting of repeaters over the Internet and a Color Code is equivalent to a PL tone or DCS on analog repeaters.

When I picked up my DMR radio at Dayton, I found a code plug that had repeaters in Dayton and Columbus for the drive home. It was a nice opportunity to quickly get on the air with DMR but I kept threating myself to write my own. With the installation of the repeater in Cleveland, I took the opportunity to do just that. What is a “code plug?” Some history I found online notes the origins came from wire plugs, later jumpers, which were plugged into the radio to enable certain options or features. Since everything is now processor based, the term continues to stick with the radio world and is a fancy word for ‘radio configuration.’ It contains transmit/receive frequencies, tone selections, timeout values, IDs, configuration settings, etc. I used the one I found in Dayton as a reference. There is also a sample one on K4USD’s site for my radio. I compared the two and designed mine the way I thought worked best. Just because someone designed a code plug one way doesn’t mean you can’t modify or do it differently. It’s analogous to one ham’s memory channels are not the same as another. In the end, it took about 3 hours to make mine! Keep in mind that was a lot of learning and comparing, in addition I programmed all 65 possible talk groups so I don’t have to add them in later. From discussions on the air indications are it took others a few hours as well. But my code plug works! I couldn’t be happier. Well OK I could, apparently I’m just far enough away that my 5 watts doesn’t quite make the trip. I took the radio to work and tested it from there.

I am writing an introductory series for the Wood County Amateur Radio Club on getting started in digital modes. The first few articles were for those who have never worked digital and want to upgrade their station. Remaining articles will focus on a specific mode. I’ve completed 3 so far (starting in February): an introduction, station setup, and working JT65/9. Published versions can be found at the club’s website in the CQ Chatter newsletter: http://wcarc.bgsu.edu/. As I point out in the second article, Technician class licensees can still participate. All of these sound card digital modes can be operated over FM simplex or even a net on a repeater using an HT! There are clear downsides like not being able to transmit as far as an HF station and occupying the full 10 to 15 kHz FM, even though the bandwidth of the audio generated by the computer is less. Yes, this defeats the purpose of narrow bandwidth modes. Someone wanting to learn and experiment with these modes may get bitten by the bug and lead to a license upgrade. That’s how I did it. I plan to write an article every 2-3 months.

My dad and I had the opportunity to join the Toledo Mobile Radio Association (TMRA) on August 10. They had Chris Wilson N0CSW, National Sales Manager for Yaesu talk about their System Fusion. Chris did make it clear that the company was paying for travel so there would be some ‘sales pitches.’ The presentation was short but the program ended up being driven by the audience with a lengthy question and answer session. Some things I learned: the DR-2X repeater announced at Dayton is not going to be a replacement for the DR-1X, though they may have improved on some shortcomings. The 2X is more of a full featured repeater. It will have the ability to operate dual receive and dual transmit (but not at the same time) creating two repeaters from one unit. They are including voice messaging (like club meeting announcements). Mailboxes were users can record messages for others. This reminds me of the mailboxes repeaters used to have when autopatches were more prevalent. The 2X can monitor a separate control channel for commands. This repeater will not support WiresX but will have “MSRL” (Multi-Site Repeater Linking) via an add-on Ethernet port. Their linking technology will allow the repeater to be linked over any IP based network, including mesh. This brought to mind an interesting use-case where multiple low profile/portable repeaters could be linked at sites with mesh such as air ports, hospitals, and Red Cross shelters. This would create a linked repeater system where not as many users would have to setup cross-banding or run to the other end of a hospital to reach a radio. In contrast, something similar can be done using the AllStar Linking system. At the meeting there was alot of: “I would like this feature/I don’t like this feature in the radio,” “we’re having this problem setting up the repeater to do X” kind of Q&A. My take away from that, their plan is to add features to radios by firmware update and not always release new radios.

In addition to all the work David KD8TWG has been doing to get DMR up and running in Cleveland, he’s been helping repair and upgrade analog repeaters, and setting up APRS IGates around town. He will be giving a presentation on APRS at the Lake Erie Amateur Radio Association’s club meeting on August 30th. Dinner starts at 6:30pm with the meeting at 7:30, don’t need to have dinner to attend the presentation. Haven’t seen an official announcement on location yet but it’s expected to be at the Play Arcade in Mayfield Hts (5900 Mayfield Rd, Mayfield Heights, OH). Check the LEARA website for updates and for dinner reservations: http://www.leara.org/.

I will be giving my introductory Raspberry Pi presentation at the Cuyahoga Amateur Radio Society meeting, September 13 at 7:30pm. It will be updated as there is new hardware and innovations available. Their meeting location is the Busch Funeral Home, 7501 Ridge Rd, Parma, Ohio. More: http://www.2cars.org/.

Thanks for reading and 73… de Jeff – K8JTK

Amateur Radio, ARRL Ohio Section, Ohio Section Journal

Ohio Section Journal – The Technical Coordinator – June 2016 edition

June 16, 2016 Jeffrey Kopcak

One of the responsibilities of the Technical Coordinator in the Ohio Section is to submit something for the Section Journal. The Section Journal covers Amateur Radio related things happening in and around the ARRL Ohio Section. It is published by the Section Manager Scott – N8SY and articles are submitted by cabinet members.

Once my article is published in the Journal, I will also make it available on my site with a link to the published edition.

Now without further ado…

Read the full edition at: http://n8sy2.blogspot.com/2016/06/june-edition-of-ohio-section-journal.html

THE TECHNICAL COORDINATOR
Jeff Kopcak – TC
k8jtk@arrl.net

Hey Gang,
You’re reading this so you survived another Dayton. My dad N8ETP and I went down on Thursday. We stopped at MCM Electronics. It was actually on the way because we stayed south of Dayton this year. My dad was looking for some parts. I ended up buying another Raspberry Pi 3 on a Dayton weekend special and an Arduino Uno board. The Arduino was cheap and a lot smaller than I expected. Don’t have much lined up for it but I did want to try a project I saw on AmateurLogic.TV some time ago.

The difference between the Raspberry Pi and Arduino Uno boards is the Pi can run a full operating system (usually Linux) while the Arduino Uno runs instruction sets uploaded to memory. Variants of the Arduino can run entire operating systems. Both have General Purpose Input/Output (GPIO) pins for interfacing. I haven’t mentioned it in this space – Raspberry Pi 3 is the latest addition to the line of cheap micro-computer devices. The Pi 3 has all the features of the Pi 2 with an upgraded CPU to 1.2 GHz 64 bit, built in Wireless N LAN, Bluetooth 4.1 and Low Energy (LE). All of this goodness (still) at $35 in the same form factor. I ran a compile of Fldigi/Flmsg for comparison. The Pi 2 compiled the programs in about 22 minutes, the Pi 3 compiled in about 13 minutes.

This year I really didn’t have a lot on the Dayton shopping list. I wanted to take a look at the new ICOM IC-7300. That is a very nice radio and a huge improvement over my IC-7000. I didn’t pull the trigger on that for some reason. I’m reluctantly holding off. The newer radios are coming with built in USB. For someone looking to get into HF digital check out the newer radios. You won’t need a SignaLink type device because the sound card is built in!

I did attend Dayton with the intent of purchasing a DMR radio. From the amount of people I heard on DMR repeaters and podcasts afterwards, it sounds like they were the popular item this year. For good reason, I picked up a Tytera MD-380 for a little over $100. It included the radio, battery, charging base, 2 antennas, programming cable, and software.

DMR stands for Digital Mobile Radio and is a standard published in 2005 that came from our friends in Europe. It is an open standard (publically available for adoption and modification) and widely adopted for commercial use. In practice manufactures have introduced proprietary features into DMR and created marketing buzzwords like MotoTRBO. With enough surplus hardware available in the market, the price dropped low enough for hams to adopt the standard and setup DMR repeaters. I have a lot to learn about how all this works. There aren’t DMR repeaters in range of my QTH. Couple on the opposite side of town and to the south. There are some repeaters in Toledo and Columbus. The greatest concentration is between Dayton and Cincinnati. Thanks to the folks at the Dial Radio Club in Middleton, Ohio, I had a DMR repeater easily accessible from my hotel room during the show.

New things I saw include scanners from Whistler with DMR (expected June 2016). Following quickly behind was Uniden with the same announcement (no release dates set). If you have a public service agency utilizing a DMR system, you’ll soon have scanner options available. Kenwood showed off their 2m/220/440 radio with APRS and D-STAR (and hopefully DPRS). My dad and I both noticed how incredibly crisp and clear the color display was. Standing about 5-6 feet away we could easily read it. Wireless Holdings showed off a new digital all-in-one radio, the DV4mobile. This thing has ALL the features: 2m/220/440, DSTAR/DMR/Fusion – with P25/NXDN/NEXEDGE coming next year, LTE (as in cellular connectivity), remote programming, remote operation, Ethernet/WiFi, SMS (text messages). Will this thing do my dishes too? Wow. Both Kenwood and Wireless Holdings are expecting release dates in about 6 months.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by the Field Services table at the ARRL Expo. I had a great time chatting with hams from England and exchanging ideas. It was fun meeting those in Newington who administer the programs we know and love. A lot goes into these programs and there’s a lot of technical research happening. The table was staffed by representatives from the Ohio Section including moi. Scott and his wife Jane spent most of the show at the table making sure everything went smoothly. Huge thanks to them for getting everything organized. It was nice to meet all of you. I picked up a couple books in the store on the way out. More stuff to do!

Reminder about Windows 10: Don’t forget the free upgrade offer to Windows 10 is set to expire July 29th. You still have about a month to decide on the upgrade. If you missed my April article, I went into great detail about Windows 10 and the push to upgrade users. Check it out on my site or on the Ohio Section Journal site. There is no indication from Microsoft if the upgrade will become a premium option or if they will extend the offer. Some analysts think it will become a pay upgrade others think the upgrade offer will be extended indefinitely. One change, Microsoft is becoming even more aggressive in forcing the upgrade. Didn’t know this was possible but they’ve succeeded. I mentioned in April that clicking the red “X” to close the upgrade pop-up will delay the upgrade. This is no longer true. Microsoft’s new interpretation of clicking the red “X” is an AGREEMENT to the upgrade. This whole upgrade thing is ridiculous. I have no defense for this behavior. If you want to disable the Windows 10 upgrade, run Never10 (https://www.grc.com/never10.htm). Many users are disabling Windows Update to prevent the upgrade. Please don’t. If you have, run Never10 and disable the upgrade. Reboot. Check it’s still disabled by running Never10 again. Run Windows Updates and let it do its thing. Then run Never10 again to verify the upgrade is still disabled. I’ve been upgrading my machines to Windows 10. It takes some finessing to disable the crap. I do keep coming back to a single question: “why?” Not ‘why did I upgrade’ but ‘why is this useful setting now burred and takes fifteen clicks when it used to be three’ or ‘why would you change things (color schemes, color contrasts, move things around for the seventh time) just to change things?’ Haven’t yet taken the plunge to wipe-out my machine in the shack.

Technical Specialist report:

With summer and projects gearing up, requests have been coming in. Bob K8MD and a good friend of his Dave NF8O traveled to the Ohio Veterans Home station, W8OVH, in Sandusky. They have a sideband station and wanted an upgrade to run digital modes. Bob and Dave spent a few hours working with them to get the station up and running. They trained the club members how to use Fldigi and helped them make their first PSK31 contact! The guys reported it was a humbling experience talking to Vets who served in major conflicts from WWII to Grenada.

Dave KD8TWG has been busy with presentations for ARES groups. First was a presentation on APRS for Cuyahoga ARES. The presentation touched on history, uses, settings and what they mean, and systems built on the APRS network. There is a lot to APRS and I learned a lot. Soon after he did a “program your radio without a computer” for Geauga ARES. Interesting concept. Most groups bring computer programming in to help newbies program their radio. Knowing how to program a radio without a computer is useful during an event or public service activity where improvisation is likely needed. Could you change PL tone on your radio and save it in memory though the front of your radio? Programming a temporary repeater that has a 1 MHz split? DCS, anyone? It’s good to know and practice changing transmit, receive, PL frequencies, and power settings on-the-fly through the front of your radio.

PCARS (Portage County) club members contacted me about a moon bounce (EME) presentation. This is an area I wasn’t familiar with or knew anyone who operated. I reached out to the assembled mass of Technical Specialists. Tracey – W8TWL came through with a couple contacts. Got PCARS in touch with one of them and they are working out the details for the July 11th meeting. I’m hoping to make this meeting and see a great presentation on Earth-Moon-Earth.

Thanks for reading and 73… de Jeff – K8JTK

Img: VA3XPR, raspberrypi.org

Jeffrey Kopcak, MBA – K8JTK

Tag Archives: Hamvention

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Ham radio and tech.