Author Archives: Dan

January 18, 2010
18:15
by: Dan

2010 Eagle Cap Extreme Dog Sled Race

Last week, Taylor and I were in Joseph, OR for the 2010 Eagle Cap Extreme dog sled race.  This is the second year that the race administration used ham radio as its primary communications mechanism.  Without us, they are limited … Continue reading →

Posted in Radio Tagged ,

November 9, 2009
18:29
by: Dan

All hail Winlink 1988!

Winlink 2000 is a hot topic in the amateur community right now.  It provides a mechanism to access Internet email over several different transports, including an Internet connection, local V/UHF packet radio, and long-distance HF Pactor.  The idea is great, … Continue reading →

Posted in Radio Tagged ,

October 8, 2009
18:44
by: Dan

NTS messages in Emacs

Passing messages via the ARRL National Traffic System (NTS) has recently caught my fancy.  If you don’t know anything about it, you should take a look at the NTS page on the ARRL website.  In short, it’s a network of hundreds of … Continue reading →

Posted in Radio

September 22, 2009
22:24
by: Dan

ID800 Magnetic Head Modification

The ICOM ID-800 is a very common D-STAR radio, and for good reason: it includes the digital functionality, dual-band operation, and a remote-able head.  It’s much easier to mount a small head unit in view than an entire radio, with … Continue reading →

Posted in Hardware, Radio Tagged ,

August 21, 2009
20:23
by: Dan

The view is better from up here…

Since our recent trip to the Tillamook State Forest OHV area with the Jolly Jeepers, a suspension lift for my Jeep has been on my mind.  Wednesday of this week, I dropped it off at Leonard’s Off-Road and got it … Continue reading →

Posted in News Tagged

August 19, 2009
16:21
by: Dan

Roku Player

I recently received a Roku Netflix player as a gift.  I have always been skeptical of the Roku player and the quality of the picture that they could possibly deliver over someone’s network connection of unknown quality and load.  When … Continue reading →

Posted in Hardware

July 22, 2009
16:08
by: Dan

2009 Jolly Jeepers “Back to Basics” Rally

This past weekend, Taylor and I packed up a bunch of camping gear and headed down highway 6 towards Tillamook.  Our destination was the basecamp for the 2009 Jolly Jeepers “Back to Basics” Rally.  This annual gathering of off-road enthusiasts … Continue reading →

Posted in News Tagged

June 29, 2009
13:56
by: Dan

Field Day 2009

The ARRL Field Day 2009 contest was this past weekend and I had quite a trip.  The point of field day is to get out of the house and operate the radio on emergency power out “in the field”.  It’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Radio

June 24, 2009
23:59
by: Dan

Embedded D-RATS

For a while now, I’ve wanted to see what interesting things I could do with a microcontroller by teaching it how to send and receive D-RATS packets.  I bought an Arduino Diecimila a while ago and played with it a … Continue reading →

Posted in Hardware Tagged

June 15, 2009
22:28
by: Dan

D-RATS covered in the D-STAR Nifty Guide

The “Nifty! Ham Accessories” company publishes a large number of quick reference guides and manuals for a variety of ham hardware and software.  I think the most popular items are the nifty guides which are pocket-sized cheat sheets for today’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Radio Tagged