Henry VK2ZHE writes (for the upcoming Jan 1st 2017 WI news broadcast):
A leap second will be added at midnight on New Year’s Eve, co-ordinated universal time (UTC) which is at 11 am this morning on New Year’s Day, Eastern Australian Daylight Saving Time.
Leap seconds are periodically added to UTC to compensate for the slowing of the Earth’s rate of rotation so that UTC time remains in synchronism with the Earth’s rotation. Since 1972 a total of 26 seconds have been added to UTC time. When required, the adjustments are made in either June or December. The last leap second was added on the 30th of June 2015.
The addition of the leap second has been widely reported in the media. Detailed information is available on the various technical Internet web sites. Just search for “Leap Second” on your favourite search engine.
Enjoy the extra second during this morning’s callbacks!
Read the bulletin from the ‘International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS)’ here.
Stuart VK2FSTU has found an neat step-by-step article detailing how to create a 2m repeater with a raspberry Pi – Anton ZR6AIC writes:
I will be using a rtl dongle to receive my input signal on 70cm frequency configurable on the amateur 2m or 70cm band. The receiver signal will then be demodulated and retransmitted with a DSP Library simulating a FM Signal using a GPIO pin on the Raspberry as an transmitter.
As mentioned above, the project interestingly uses a GPIO pin on the Pi as a transmitter with attached antenna (which is certainly novel, but not exactly high power!). Note the article is quite technical (as you’d expect).
Check out the article here and have a look at the video demonstrating it in use below:
We’re a little (too) spoilt for choice in the Amateur Radio community when it comes to digital voice modes.
DStar was designed for Amateur Radio use by JARL and has been with us a since 2001, and as a result it has well established backend infrastructure – but the entry cost has remained high with (up until now) only Icom supporting it on their premium transceivers – thus limiting its mass appeal.
ORARC has embraced Yaesu’s C4FM thanks to a very generous cashback that comes with the purchase of the Yaesu DR-1X repeater, but mobile C4FM radios for use with our repeaters still begin at $469, more than double the price of an analog only radio.
APCO P25 ex-commercial gear has never really reached the realm of affordable and the backed end infrastructure for P25 is not well supported for Amateur Radio use.
Perhaps the thing stopping digital modes reaching the mainstream are affordable digital radios? The Chinese have done an amazing job mass producing capable little radios such as the ubiquitous Baofeng UV-5R, of which I think every Amateur owns at least 2 – and why not when the cost of them takes them beyond an impulse buy and virtually into disposable territory?
The Chinese have properly embraced DMR as their chosen digital mode of choice, and for a while now the TYT MD-380 has been the darling radio of the digital amateur radio community with its affordable price ($150AUD) and hackable, upgradable firmware. This radio, combined with a DV4mini dongle at less than $250 will get you into the reflector network and let you chat in crystal clear digital voice to other reflector network users around the world.
As good and cheap as the MD-380 is, it’s still very much a commercial radio that we’ve adopted for ourselves, and whilst the price is fantastic it still has a single big crux – it’s mono band. You can have it in VHF or UHF, but not both at the same time. This obviously precludes it from most peoples lists when shopping for a new general purpose handheld.
How about this then? Meet the Baofeng DM-5R Dual Band DMR Mobile:
VHF: 136-174MHz, UHF: 400-480MHz, 5W, 2000mAh – $92.99AU posted, available now. Note that this is a first generation product, and for the moment it’s only a Tier 1 radio – meaning (out of the box) it can’t be used with DMR repeaters, though apparently this is being resolved for $10 extra? At the time of writing I’d say it’s probably wise to wait for a version with native Tier 2 functionality.
Irrespective, I don’t think there’s any question that the format that’s going to become the default standard will be the one that’s shipped in sub $100 radios. Even if you’re not interested in the wide area internet based communication these radios are capable of, digital simplex voice still has many advantages over analog FM, such as:
Auto callsign ident of transmissions on the display*.
Text messaging*.
Position reporting*.
* If supported by the transceiver.
It’s not just Baofeng either, slightly more upmarket Wouxun has the KG-D2000 on the way:
Dual Band, 1024 memories (I personally find the 128 on the Baofengs a little limiting), VHF: 136-174MHz, UHF: 400-520MHz, 5W. No doubt these will be more than the Baofeng, but they’ll still unquestionably be affordable.
Keep an eye out for new entries on the market. Note that radios of interest to us (again at the time of writing) support MOTOTRBO DMR and are ideally Tier 2 compliant. dPMR and NXDN are also digital radio standards that are similar in name and transceiver appearance, but are totally incompatible with the DMR standard.
Following on from the sad news of the passing of the King Of Thailand and a comment by John VK2KC, I thought it may be prudent to have a look at some of the notable people who were/are Ham Radio Operators.
It’s a given that many engineers and astro/cosmonauts are Hams – they work in technical fields, so it’s really not much of a surprise that they’re licenced. Nevertheless, did you know that following people were Hams?
Ray Dolby (SK) – American engineer, founder of Dolby Laboratories, F5VBY Akio Morita (SK) – Founder of Sony, JP1DPJ Masaru Ibuka (SK) – Co-founder of Sony, J3BB Bob Moog (SK) – Inventor of the Moog Synthesizer, K2AMH Howard Hughes (SK) – Billionaire, Filmmaker, Aviator, Aircraft designer, W5CY Leo Fender (SK) – Designer of Musical Instruments, Mr “Fender Electric Guitars”, W6DOE Nolan Bushnell – Founder of Atari, W7DUK David Packard (SK) – Co-founder of Hewlett Packard, 9DRV Jack Kilby (SK) – Invented the Microchip and hand Held Digital Calculator, W9GTY
There are just too many astro/cosmonauts to name – they’re all amateurs (not really, but close).
Walter Cronkite (SK) – “The worlds most recognised” US television newsreader, KB2GSD Patty Loveless – Country Music Singer, KD4WUJ James Lance Bass – ‘N SYNC pop singer, KG4UYY Paul Tibbets (SK) – pilot of the “Enola Gay” aircraft that dropped the first A-Bomb in WW2, K4ZVZ Priscilla Presley – Film star & businesswoman. Was Married to Elvis Presley, NY6YOS Joe Walsh – Of The Eagles & James Gang, WB6ACU Donnie Osmond – Singer, WD4SKT Sir Cliff Richard – Singer (USA callsign), W2JOF Tim Allen – Actor, comedian, “Tim the Tool-Man Taylor”, KK6OTD Marlon Brando (SK) – Hollywood Actor, KE6PZH and FO5GJ
And from the “Well, of course!” department:
Tokuzo Inoue – Founder of ICOM, JA3FA Bob Heil – Legendary sound engineer to The Eagles & The Who, Head of Heil Sound, K9EID Hiram Percy Maxim (SK) – Prolific Inventor & ARRL founder, W1AW Dr “Joe” Taylor – Discovered binary pulsars, inventor of weak signal modes, K1JT
This list is by no means comprehensive, and there’s no doubt I’ve left some people off the list whose presence is more deserving; my apologies for anyone I’ve overlooked. Regardless, I think you’ll agree we’ve got some esteemed company! 🙂 Paul, VK2ICQ
I don’t normally like those emails “friends” send saying you must look/read/think about something but I came across this listing on eBay and could barely contain the laughter. It is listed as a “useless piece of wire” which may or may not be correct but please persevere and continue onto the description and then the questions at the bottom, it may just convince you to place a bid!
See the auction here. For when it inevitably gets pulled by the killjoys (!) at eBay, view a screenshot here and read the questions here. I think this guy deserves his $20!
Dual Band, 1024 memories (I personally find the 128 on the Baofengs a little limiting), VHF: 136-174MHz, UHF: 400-520MHz, 5W. No doubt these will be more than the Baofeng, but they’ll still unquestionably be affordable.
