Nate K3LTC @K3LTC@mastodon.radio

JS8call is very interesting
https://youtu.be/F0TkJJIsY3o

You'll know you've been practicing CW enough when you start hearing Chickadees calling "2 2 2"

Found a CW beacon on 2 meters near me. FLdigi mostly decoded it, but got some of it wrong - perhaps because it was keyed by hand? In any case it was fun to discover it!
https://www.k3ltc.com/links/fldigi.html

Got the old Vibroplex keyer making some sounds with a raspberry pi (actually a pi-top which has a speaker) and some python.
https://www.k3ltc.com/links/vibroplex.html

Got it hooked up to a pi-top with a little python program to make a 800Hz tone. Getting it set up has been a challenge, but at least I've got it making some sounds now!
https://www.k3ltc.com/files/cq-cq-cq-de-k3ltc-3rd.mp4

...and everything with #firefox add-ons is resolved as of this morning. Turned out to be an expired cert. https://www.engadget.com/2019/05/03/firefox-extension-add-on-cert/

egads. Suddenly all Firefox Add-Ons have been disabled in the browser across all platforms everywhere. Wonder if it is related to this work: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/AMO/Blocking_Process

Building this circuit might be a fun project so I can start to play with that old Vibroplex. I think I have all these parts just laying around anyway!

Credit Donald J. DuBon, N6JRL
https://www.k3ltc.com/files/CW-with-your-HT.pdf

My mom gave me her old key this weekend. Needs a little cleanup and to be set up properly. Looks like it was made during WWII (~1943).

I'm still practicing CW every day for almost a month now. I'm on lesson 31 of 40 at lcwo.net and have been practicing with character speed between 15 and 17 wpm and effective speed between 3 and 7 wpm.

OH8STN makes great radio related videos. I enjoyed this one which details his portable digital field comms station with raspberry pi.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx1Xi-tN7Ys

AMSAT reports that the ISS will be transmitting SSTV again Apr 1-2 on 145.800 MHz in PD120 format from 1400 to 1900 GMT both days.
https://amsat-uk.org/2019/03/26/iss-sstv-transmissions-april-1-2/

Found this 10GHz setup:
https://imgur.com/a/Gt4r1
The description from the comment on reddit where I found it was: "The radio feeds a 144mhz signal into that box, which houses the transverter. It's then multiplied up to 10.1ghz, and the output signal travels down that shiny little pipe. The antenna is that horn, and the dish gives it about 13dbi gain"

Found this nicely laid out page of #linux console / ncurses tools. A few were new to me, perhaps also to you? https://kkovacs.eu/cool-but-obscure-unix-tools

I started learning CW! I settled on using the LCWO website (free and open site) and am in equal parts frustrated and yet compelled to keep going. https://lcwo.net/

I set up cross-band repeat on my Kenwood TM-V71A and was able to operate the local repeater from my Baofeng(s) so I call that a successful afternoon. There was only one person on the repeater and he said I sounded "scratchy" which was disappointing, but at least I know how to set it up now.

Playing radio today with my portable tripod (an all-aluminum stand usually used for scene lighting on emergency vehicles). My Comet GP-3 (VHF/UHF) antenna is mounted instead. Tripod is about 12' (3.66m) where the antenna mounts.

I couldn't help but grab this when it came down off the roof at work. We used it for internet for some years before switching to fiber. Now the question is what to do with it. I'd like to use it for long distance mesh networking.

I'm a little disappointed there are still no flying cars, but Computed Axial Lithography 3D Printing looks pretty amazing too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy-d5VVZlxQ