From ARRL (source)

Permanent WSPR Beacon in Antarctica Now on the Air

01/18/2018
The DP0GVN WSPR beacon now is in operation from the German Neumayer III Research Station of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Antarctica. The installation is part of a scientific project of the Technical University of Munich in cooperation with the University of Bremen and the German Amateur Radio Club (DARC).

“The beacon is still under test and will be shut down occasionally for more configuration and optimization of antennas and software, before it can be mounted at the final installation site in a few weeks,” said Rainer Englert, DF2NU.

The technology consists of a multiband WSPR receiver that can simultaneously monitor up to eight bands from 160 to 6 meters and feed several hundred receive reports per hour to WSPRnet. The 5-W multiband transmitter also had been commissioned and is working into a vertical antenna.

“After a few days in service, DP0GVN has received several thousand beacons spots already,” Englert reports.

In related news, DP0GVN will be the call sign for Matthias Maasch, DH5CW, starting in February, at Neumayer III Research Station for 1 year, and he plans to be active on HF. For the past year, he has been using DH5CW from the German Antarctic Base. QSL DP0GVN via DL5EBE. — Thanks to Tom Kamp, DF5JL, IARU Region 1 HF Committee Chairman via Rainer Englert, DF2NU, and The Daily DX

Submitted by KD4WX

From Hackaday via South Gate ARC:

Math Behind SSB Explained!
Al Williams WD5GNR writes on Hackaday about how voice is transmitted over radio waves
AM, or amplitude modulation, was the earliest way of sending voice over radio waves. That makes sense because it is easy to modulate a signal and easy to demodulate it, as well. A carbon microphone is sufficient to crudely modulate an AM signal and diode — even a piece of natural crystal — will suffice to demodulate it.
Outside of broadcast radio, most AM users migrated to single side band or SSB. On an AM receiver that sounds like Donald Duck, but with a little work, it will sound almost as good as AM, and in many cases better.
Read the full article and watch the video at

Why is Donald Duck on the Radio? Math Behind Single Sideband Explained

Source:
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2018/january/why-is-donald-duck-on-the-radio.htm

Submitted by KD4WX

A Youtube video about WLW’s 500,000 Watt Transmitter from K7AGE.

Submitted by Bob (N9IWJ)

From ARRL

Source: http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-international-grid-chase-kicks-off-with-the-new-year

12/27/2017
Warm up the ham shack! The ARRL International Grid Chase 2018 is nearly here! The Grid Chase gets under way on January 1 UTC (New Year’s Eve in US time zones). The objective of the year-long event is to work stations on any band (except 60 meters) in as many different Maidenhead grid squares as possible, and then upload your log data to ARRL’s Logbook of The World (LoTW).

Each new grid square contact confirmed through LoTW will count toward your monthly total.

Many hams are familiar with grid squares from the VHF/UHF and satellite realms, and everyone lives in one. An online calculator by David Levine, K2DSL, can determine your grid square. Enter a postal address, ZIP code, or a call sign, and the calculator will return the grid square for that location.

Any contact you make in 2018 can count for your Chase score; as long as the other operators participate in LoTW, you’ll get credit automatically when they upload their logs. This means that your contest contacts will count, as will contacts with special event stations, or other on-air activity that uses LoTW to confirm contacts. Except for 60 meters, there are no restrictions on modes or bands, as long as they are legal. Satellite contacts are valid for the Chase too. The event is open to all radio amateurs.

Complete details of the ARRL International Grid Chase 2018 appeared in the December 2017 issue of QST. For more information, contact the ARRL Contest Branch.

Submitted by KD4WX

From ARRL:

Changes Coming to the Amateur Radio Emergency Service

The Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES) has been the public service communications program of the ARRL since 1935. Over the program’s eight decades it has occasionally undergone updates to make sure it meets the needs of partners at all levels, adjusts to changes in the Amateur Radio Service, and incorporate lessons learned from emergency and disaster activations. However, the last major update to ARES occurred more than 40 years ago, and it is quite clear that a lot has changed since then.
So, two years ago, the ARRL board of directors created the Public Service Enhancement Working Group to study the ARRL’s public service offerings and recommend changes and improvements. The working group focused on many areas including training, volunteer management, field organization positions, and mission – all areas of concern brought to the board and staff’s attention from those in the field. The recommendations were vetted through a peer review group of field organization volunteers and readied for implementation.
In the months ahead, you will receive information on enhancements coming to the ARES program, including:
– A new national mission statement for ARES
– New national training requirements and local training resources for ARES
– Updated field organization job descriptions
– Improved ARES operating guidelines
– New ARES group benefits
– A new volunteer management system – ARES Connect
The first step in the next evolution of ARES is group identification. Currently there is no way to identify ARES groups or their associated volunteers with a searchable unique designator, which makes reporting and accountability difficult. Beginning January 1, 2018 ARES groups will need to sign up for their unique ARES identification number. This number will be utilized by the ARES Connect system and provide ARES groups with unique benefits (think club affiliation, but for ARES!).
Once ARES groups receive their identification numbers they will be eligible for benefits including:
– ARES book sets (great for the EOC or Red Cross radio room)
– New ham referral
– Early access to the annual ARES Report
– Email forwarding, which will provide ARES groups that have a club callsign with a uniform “call sign@arrl.net”
– More to come!
Groups that will need an ARES identification number include local level (city/county/district) and section level. Information about the ARES identification application process will be sent out the week before the application system opens.
If you have any questions, please contact ARRL Emergency Preparedness Manager Mike Corey, KI1U, ki1u@arrl.org

ARRL Public Service Enhancement Working Group
Dale Williams, WA8EFK
Chairman

Submitted by KD4WX

From ARRL News

11/02/2017
The wave of software-based digital modes over the past several years has altered the atmosphere of the HF bands. Some suggest the popularity of modes that make it possible to contact stations neither operator can even hear has resulted in fewer CW and SSB signals on bands like 6 meters and 160 meters. Traditional modes require far more interaction and effort on the part of the operator; the newer digital modes not so much. The recent advent of the still-beta “quick” FT8 mode, developed by Steve Franke, K9AN, and Joe Taylor, K1JT — the “F” and the “T” in the mode’s moniker — has brought this to a head. Some now wonder if FT8 marks the end of an era and the start of a new, more minimalist age. Continue reading “New Digital Modes Changing Complexion of Bands and Perhaps of Ham Radio” →

From ARRL News

10/25/2017

The Citizen Tribune newspaper in Tennessee recently reported that a newly re-opened RadioShack store in Jefferson City has partnered with the Lakeway Amateur Radio Club (LARC) to offer licensing classes. Manager Reed Freers also created a new addition to the store, which he has described as the “Makers’ Space,” the newspaper said.

This open area of the store will be home to classes in such subjects as soldering, using drones, setting up a Facebook page, and configuring and using a smartphone.

“These types of programs were dropped by RadioShack years ago,” Freers told the newspaper. “Now we have the opportunity to bring them back. We have to get to the next generation. RadioShack will die out if we don’t get to them.”

The bankrupt RadioShack has closed its company-owned retail outlets. Freers’ store was among the last to go dark. He was given the opportunity to reopen as a franchise store, however, and he purchases his stocke from a RadioShack distribution center.

Submitted by KD4WX

From ARRL news
Source: http://www.arrl.org/news/caribbean-telecommunications-union-head-calls-for-new-generation-of-hams

Caribbean Telecommunications Union Head Calls for “New Generation” of Hams

10/16/2017
In remarks made on International Disaster Reduction Day, Friday, October 13, Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) Secretary-General Bernadette Lewis described Amateur Radio as a “bedrock of sustained communications” during emergencies, and strongly suggested cultivating a new and younger generation of radio amateurs to carry this role forward. She spoke as part of a panel on emergency telecommunications during the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) World Telecommunication Development Conference 2017 (WTDC-17), now under way in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The CTU, she said, has been considering the role of Amateur Radio in light of this “very, very, violent hurricane season.”

“Amateur Radio has been a staple, and it is because of…the Amateur Radio operators in the region that we get a lot of the information that we need,” she told her audience. Her presentation defined Amateur Radio as one component of the coordination of preparedness, response, and recovery efforts on the part of national emergency management agencies.

Moderator Vanessa Gray later asked Lewis what “one concrete step” could be taken to make better use of information and communication technologies (ICT) for disaster management.

“We really have to cultivate a new generation of Amateur Radio operators,” Lewis replied without hesitation. “We found that they are all on the northern side of 50.”

“Amateur Radio has been the bedrock of sustained communications during such emergencies,” she continued, “and one of the things we’re looking at is actually facilitating this process of having a network of disaster-resistant centers that that, in times when you don’t have a disaster, could be used for training new operators and generating that interest across the region.”

Lewis, of Trinidad and Tobago, reiterated her remarks in condensed form during a subsequent interview, in which she called hurricanes “a fact of life” for Caribbean countries, and suggested that hurricane-devastated countries need to think carefully about how to rebuild their infrastructure to make it less prone to storm damage.

WTDC-17, which continues through October 20, considers topics, projects and programs relevant to telecommunication development. The conference theme this year is “ICT for Sustainable Development Goals.” ARRL Technical Relations Specialist Jon Siverling, WB3ERA, and International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Emergency Communications Special Advisor Rod Stafford, W6ROD, are attending.

Submitted by KD4WX

Interference from LED Lighting Systems

Light Emitting Diode (LED)
LED lighting is set to revolutionise the way we light our homes, businesses, vehicles, trains, boats, aircraft, and more. The humble LED uses a fraction of the energy of incandescent lamps and offers thousands of hours of lifetime. Sadly, the control and power electronics are proving to be less than reliable, and when poorly designed, can generate a considerable amount of radio interference. This interference has been shown to wipe out  Band II VHF Stereo and  Band III DAB radio. As the safety-of-life aircraft band sits in the middle of those two, poorly designed LED lighting also posses a danger to aircraft communications, navigation beacons, and  Instrument Landing Systems. Boat and car owners, who have retro-fitted LED lamps to existing lighting systems have also experienced interference from some types of lamps.
There are two known generators of interference: The first source is the switched-mode power-supply. Due to the size constraints, some manufacturers are missing out the necessary filter components and this results in a great deal of conducted emissions.
The second source can come from a device known as a buck-driver – a type of switched-mode power-supply that regulates lower voltages (typically 12V) to provide a constant-current to the Light Emitting Diode. These devices typically operate with a switching-frequency of 5000 Hz, but they can produce harmonics (mixing of multiple frequencies) that extend up to 30MHz, and higher. Some are making it to 220MHz, where they cause serious degradation to any nearby DAB radios.
Affected services
The following are known to be affected by LED lighting interference:
Service/Frequencies affected
Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB)174 – 240 MHz
Marine VHF156 – 162.025 MHz
Amateur Radio 2 metre band144 – 146 MHz
Airband118 – 136.975 MHz
FM Stereo broadcast88 – 108 MHz
Baby monitors49.30 – 49.89 MHz
High frequency services, inc. long range marine & airband, Shortwave broadcasts, Amateur radio allocations, Citizens’ Band radio, plus wireless devices operating on 27MHz3 – 30 MHz
EMC industry investigates
The EMC industry has published concerns over the proliferation of LED lighting that fails to meet any standardised testing and the essential requirements of the EMC Directive. The European Union is also concerned and has published a Cross Border Surveillance Report on the issue. Publishing a report is only helpful if member state’s Market Surveillance authorities are actually doing their job!
We are gratefully indebted to the EMC testing house METECC for sharing their finding after testing a large number of off-the-shelf LED lamps.

Source link:
https://www.ukqrm.org.uk/lighting.php

Submitted by KD4WX