Category Archives: Radio

Ham Radio

June 28, 2012
19:18
by: Dan

Field Day 2012

This past weekend was the 2012 ARRL Field Day, which is the biggest amateur radio event of the year in the US. The reason it’s called field day is that you’re supposed to get out into the field and operate … Continue reading →

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February 8, 2012
21:06
by: Dan

Update your FT-817, FT-857, or FT-897 with the new 60 meter channel

In the US starting in 2003, amateurs have had a secondary allocation of five specific channels in the 60 meter band. Unlike most other allocations, these are restricted to phone emissions in upper sideband, with a maximum of 50 watts … Continue reading →

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January 15, 2012
23:52
by: Dan

Returning to the scene of the crime(s)

The SOTA rules allow you to summit each point once per year for credit. That means that as of January 1st, all 26 spots from last year are fair game. Last weekend, Taylor and I returned to Barlow Ridge (W7/CN-028 … Continue reading →

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January 1, 2012
02:07
by: Dan

Post-Christmas SOTA activity

The day after Christmas, my wife (Taylor, K7TAY) and I headed to Sisters to stay in one of our favorite places: Five Pine Lodge in Sisters, Oregon. We planned the trip as a post-holiday getaway, but wanted to work in … Continue reading →

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December 24, 2011
04:26
by: Dan

A five-point SOTA day…the hard way

Today was the last day of the first phase of my Christmas vacation. It differs from next week in that I was alone during the weekdays. I figured I should take the opportunity to snag a few more “easy” summits … Continue reading →

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November 28, 2011
19:58
by: Dan

SOTA Roundup

Wow, no updates here since July! The all-consuming activity that has kept me from doing so is the topic of this hiatus-breaking post. Since about mid-August, I have been playing a game called SOTA, which stands for Summits On The Air. … Continue reading →

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June 27, 2011
15:33
by: Dan

Field Day 2011

This past weekend was the annual ARRL Field Day event. It’s a contest of sorts where US hams attempt to contact as many other stations as possible in a 24 hour window. It encourages people to get out of their … Continue reading →

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March 20, 2011
20:14
by: Dan

A custom APRS tracker with a real screen

For those that don’t know, amateur radio operators have had something called the Automatic Packet Reporting System for quite a while now.  Most associate it with vehicular tracking, but it does a lot of other neat stuff like weather, telemetry, … Continue reading →

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July 11, 2010
18:34
by: Dan

Kenwood TK-380 Self-Programming Modification

I recently purchased a Kenwood TK-380 UHF handheld radio on eBay.  This is a commercial UHF FM transceiver used by public safety organizations.  It will do 4W output, narrow or wide band transmission, and conventional or trunking operation. This radio … Continue reading →

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June 9, 2010
22:20
by: Dan

CHIRP gains Yaesu VX-7 Support

Until now, CHIRP development has been focused on ICOM products.  In fact, you might even be tempted to think that the “I” in CHIRP was for ICOM.  Lately I’ve been using my Yaesu VX-7 and VX-8 radios a little bit … Continue reading →

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