Matt MØPUH @m0puh@mastodon.radio

Enjoying #introductions, so here's mine:

I got my full license in July, having done my intermediate in Jan and Foundation in Dec, so I consider myself a newbie with an M0 license.

Got into radio to regain some knowledge in electronics (I have a degree in it, but don't use it for work so have forgotten a LOT).

Loving it so far, especially construction and and messing with digital modes. Definitely still a bit mic shy but working on it!

Also, I 100% recommend the Bath based courses!

Hot on the heels of 2.3.0 WSJT-X 2.4.0-rc1 has been announced!

This adds a new experimental mode, Q65, "for minimal two-way QSOs over especially difficult propagation paths."

Announcement at:
https://sourceforge.net/p/wsjt/mailman/message/37211965/

Downloads at: https://physics.princeton.edu//pulsar/k1jt/wsjtx.html as normal.

#hamradio

Oooh, now WSJT-X 2.3.0 GA has been released.

Release notes at: https://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/Release_Notes.txt

Announcement at:
https://sourceforge.net/p/wsjt/mailman/message/37210392/

Downloads via: https://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/wsjtx.html

Headline features are "FST4 and FST4W, new digital protocols designed particularly for the LF and MF bands."

There's a 64-bit arm release for Pi users and a caveat that you might need to generate some locale config (https://sourceforge.net/p/wsjt/mailman/message/37210475/).

#hamradio

Hot off the press: WSJT-X 2.3.0-rc4 is out.

This is a "stop-gap" to verify some changes in hamlib, plus a few other small changes.

Release notes at: https://physics.princeton.edu//pulsar/k1jt/Release_Notes.txt

Announcement at:
https://sourceforge.net/p/wsjt/mailman/message/37204989/

#hamradio #wsjt

Just reading about the Raspberry Pi Pico: https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/raspberry-pi-silicon-pico-now-on-sale/

It's a microcontroller rather than a computer like the rest of the Pis but it seems super cheap compared to other similar products and it looks like it'll be well supported.

ARRL reminds radio users that using radios for crime is a crime:

http://www.arrl.org/news/fcc-issues-enforcement-advisory-radio-users-reminded-not-to-use-radios-in-crimes

Has anyone here come across "C Connectors" aka MIL-STD-348 (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_connector / https://www.amphenolrf.com/connectors/c-type-connectors.html)

Dad has a dummy load which uses this sort of socket and I can't find parts! They look like really chunky BNC connectors, I'm assuming from the MIL code that it's ex-military from the US.

One for the watch list - Radio Society of Great Britain
4.1K subscribers
RSGB Tonight @ 8 - Amateur Radio Construction with Steve Hartley, G0FUW and Pete Juliano, N6QW

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/pdRouTwx52g

Steve G0FUW (GQRP chair and known for Bath distance learning in the UK) + Pete N6QW (homebrewer extraordinaire).

Should be interesting!

#hamradio

I always see more people out and about when I exercise during lockdown. Lots more (walking) pedestrians.

I think people must feel like ensuring they make use of what little time out they're allowed while their freedoms are curtailed, but why not consistently go for a lunch time wander?

The Morse key on the front of last month's RadCom (https://rsgb.org/main/blog/news/rsgb-notices/2020/12/19/gota4c-charity-auction-raises-fantastic-amount/) was made by a member of my local club, Roy G0VFS talked about the build back in June and you can see the video here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1f8-i4yva8mI87XVa6GGBu0FVeegVEmCb/view

WSJT-X 2.3.0-rc3 is out

This fixes some regressions and bugs "defects" and crashes and adds an improved FST4W decoder.

Release notes at: https://physics.princeton.edu//pulsar/k1jt/Release_Notes.txt

Announcement at:
https://sourceforge.net/p/wsjt/mailman/message/37190747/

#hamradio #wsjt

I realised I had missed out on following a load of cool people, so just went through the profile directory and added almost everyone on this server.

Until there's a way to auto-follow everyone it's worth keeping an eye on the "Local" page as well as "Home" so you don't miss out.

Helping Dad get LoTW working (again!) with the QRZ Logbook.

It turned out he had applied for new certs and was still using the old ones in the QRZ log, and it was only possible to see the export was failing via the low site.

While I really appreciate the nerdery that went into the design of the LOTW system it could definitely be a bit more user-friendly.

Also the QRZ logbook seems a lot less fully featured than most other logging software I've looked at, and that's all been free.

It will be interesting to see what happens to the CentOS project when it's a RHEL upstream. I can see the advantages (mainly to RedHat) but it remains to be seen if it's as stable as we currently expect. , also it definitely feels like a breach of trust.

Here's LWN's write-up: https://lwn.net/SubscriberLink/839523/c3a0c4f074799116/

#linux #centos