Category Archives: Digital Ham Radio

Ham Pi Experimenters Meeting Notes – 22 Aug 2020

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By Aurora, KN4VXB

Next Meeting Agenda:

  • 30 minutes – Discuss projects
  • 1hr Work on projects virtually together – Come with ideas and supplies for your projects.

See you next month,
Aurora, KN4VXB

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Ham PiE Meeting 1 Notes – 22 Aug 2020

Agenda

  • Introducing ourselves and discussing interests
  • Pick a group name (A couple of folks have lobbied for a more inclusive name, as we are not just working with Raspberry Pi)
  • Everyone declare a project that they will start working on next month

Attendees and Interests:

  • Aurora, KN4VXB – arduino-based fox hunt transmitters, satellite antenna trackers, raspberry pi APRS igate, raspberry pi wspr, high-altitude balloon transmitters, someday TARPN – 1st project Arduino fox transmitter
  • Tadd, KA2DEW – raspberry pi based radio chat relay network – TARPN – 1st project TBD
  • Dan, KR4UB – interested in Mark’s raspberry pi Zoom conference to radio remote key – 1st project – tinker with Raspberry pi on remote keyer
  • Mark, KR3AM – made pi remote ptt, want to make boxes with physical switches to talk via remote switch that work over wifi, interested in home automation and ventilation, digital modes – 1st project get PTT parts, home automation
  • Sherri, WB4OSU  – interest in software and learning hardware, use pi for logging software, wants a portable digital mode setup – 1st project – troubleshoot wifi on pi and laptop, put a power button on raspberry pi, get Pi4
  • Charles, KN4PTU – digital audio conversion, raspberry pi based digital mode radio, TARPN – 1st project – get sound card working for raspberry pi to HF portable
  • Keith, W1KES – TARPN node, virtual node control for digital modes, mobile digital station – 1st project – add to TARPN node
  • Chuck, KW4KZ – interested in everything!, experience with arduino and raspberry pi, trying to use pi in place of computer, TARPN, home automation – 1st project – get raspberry pi programs working with node red and user interface
  • Boyd, KO4GJO – wants to learn more about raspberry pi, interested in digital modes, digital logging programs, Leonardo board code oscillator/Morse decoder – K04GJO First Project – Finish antenna

Links from chat:

  • From Charles, KN4PTU to Everyone: 01:59 PM www.hifiberry.com
  • From Mark, KR3AM Sidell to Everyone: 02:00 PM yeah, the 12v power hat is great. Where’d you get that?
  • From Charles, KN4PTU Everyone: 02:09 PM Link to the web site for using a Raspberry Pi as Digital modes field server. http://oh8stn.org/off-grid-raspberry-pi/
    Pi Hat, 12v to 5v https://bc-robotics.com/shop/raspberry-pi-power-rtc-hat/
  • From Mark, KR3AM to Everyone: 02:32 PM https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XPHWPR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  • From Sherri Rapp, WB4OSU to Everyone: 02:37 PM I finally found the HamPi link
    https://qrznow.com/hampi-ham-radio-software-for-raspberry-pi-from-w3djs/

Name Possibilities (1’s indicate votes):

  • Ham PiE- 11111 – Winner! – Ham Pi Experimenters
  • HamPuter – 1
  • HamBoard – 1
  • Pi and General Linking Electronics with Transceivers (PiGLET) -111
  • Small Computer Radio Amateur Makers (SCRAM) -11
  • Pico Computer Amateur Radio Experimenter Society (PiCARES) –
  • Small Computer Amateur Radio Experimenters (SCARE) –
  • Radio Amateur Small Computer Advancement League (RASCAL) – 111
  • Small Computer Radio Amateur Project group (SCRAP group) – 11
  • Digital Radio Operators Durham Raleigh Orange (DRODRO) –
  • The PiPy gang (a play on PI (raspberry), and PY (python)) – OCRA Pi – 111

Next Meeting: 26 Sept. 2020

OCRA Membership Meeting, July 9, 2018

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Meeting Attendance: 28

Treasurer:

  • Club balance is still strong. Current membership is 79, with 24 requiring renewal.  The club has added 17 new members this year.
  • Field Day – Thanks to all who assisted, supported, and participated in the Field Day food preparation and delivery. The pre-paid approach for Saturday’s evening meal and Sunday’s breakfast was very successful.  For Saturday’s meal there were 44 pre-paid with 6 people paying at meal time.  Likewise, for Sunday’s breakfast there were 36 pre-paid with 4 people paying at meal time. The success of meal pre-pay may become a new payment model for future field day meals.
  • Overall, the club profited $174 from meals, which will be added to our club coffers.

Field Day (FD) Recap:

Dave (W4SAR) provided a comparisons of 2017-2018 point totals.  For 2017 the total point was 19,760.  For 2018, we had an estimated total of 21,635.  Dave should have final 2018 totals in the next several weeks.  Congratulations to all for the great work securing the additional points…and the fun had by all.

This year, the Digi mode was a good success.  Dan (KR4UB) mentioned that Digital radio mode success in amateur radio has been partly attributed to the work of Joe Taylor (K1JT), who developed the WSJT-X software.  Joe is a noble prizing winning physicist, who has focused the past two decades on weak signal communication.  Joe is the developer behind several popular digital protocols like FT8 and JT65.

General FD Observations:

  • Less interference on 40 and 15 SSB than years past.
  • Accessible stations in garage worked well for all.
  • N1MM network may require piloting the software and associated computers a few weeks prior to FD. This may help reduce complexity, however, much of the issues are not the result of the application.  Rather, the issues are more likely attributed to the Microsoft OS and configuration of personal computers. Other clubs purchase refurbished PCs for FD from NewEgg to reduce configuration mismatch.

Band Captain Comments:

  • 40/15 SSB propagation and noise on the bands most of Saturday. By Sunday morning the bands opened with much less noise.
  • CW worked well…3 stations covered all night. Better scheduling provided coverage through the morning hours.  Power was more stable this year over lasts.
  • 20 SSB – had similar propagation and noise issues like other SSB stations. The station ran on solar power directly or from batteries recharged by solar throughout the entire FD.
  • 80 SSB did not have as many operators as years past. Was difficult getting confirmation due to static on the receiver.
  • Digital was well covered and enjoyed throughout the event. However, next year more comfortable seating will be needed.
  • VHF was challenging, but the 5 element Yagi provided a noticeable return on the points.

FD Logistics

  • For the larger antennas, a dedicated spotter on point for ensuring safety should be available, with agreed upon standard communication and terms. Additionally, a tower safety demonstration and additional guide wires for support may reduce operational risk.
  • Replace the wood antenna support “walk up” with metal. This will reduce the likelihood of the wood splitting and causing the tower to fall and potential hurt people.
  • The scheduling spreadsheet helped ensure adequate coverage of stations throughout the event.

Should we plan to add a Sunday lunch? Please reply to this post with your suggestions. We would enjoy reading your ideas!