With Varying Frequency - Amateur Radio Ponderings

Ok, I’m a bit out of touch how to implement this on a OS-X machine - ideas?  Clients?  Software?

Assistance appreciated!

 
73

 
Steve
K9ZW

——

copied material from several net sources and from emails sent to me:

Now you can send and receive morse code via the Internet thanks to CWirc, an X-Chat plugin for sending and receiving raw morse code over IRC.

The website at http://users.skynet.be/ppc/cwirc/ says:

CWirc is a plugin for the X-Chat IRC client to transmit raw morse code over the internet using IRC servers as reflectors. The transmitted morse code can be received in near real-time by other X-Chat clients with the CWirc plugin.

CWirc tries to emulate a standard amateur radio rig : it sends and receives morse over virtual channels, and it can listen to multiple senders transmitting on the same channel.

Morse code is keyed locally using a straight or iambic key connected to a serial port, or using the mouse buttons, and the sound is played through the soundcard, or through an external sounder.

Note that CWirc doesn’t do any morse decoding : it simply transmits and receives morse code timing events.
A standard IRC user on the same IRC channel you’re transmitting morse on will only see coded lines when morse code is transmitted. Only other CWirc users can receive what you send.

The website also has historic information on morse code and the telegraph.

CWirc
http://users.skynet.be/ppc/cwirc/

Google “MorseKOB”   http://home.earthlink.net/~n7rz/morse/

There are a few Morse operators around yet that can use the old wire
telegraph code….it is almost a lost art for sure. There are even fewer that are “bi lingual” and can use both International Morse and American Morse codes fluently.

Now, instead of just the bus and the phone, we have the Internet. It is no different in kind, and I bet it will be at least as useful to those who want a place to make mistakes in trying to be better CW operators as the technology of my day was to me.

It goes one better than the phone, though, because sites like this could well be one way to expose those not yet licensed to the utility of Morse code.

I can’t see for the life of me how this would be a thing bad enough to have one poster spouting disguised obscenties and another one begging for a break. Why is it that no matter what someone does to promote Morse code and CW, one or two of its proponents jumps in and finds some reason to put it down if it isn’t being done exactly the way he would do it. Things like this will “preseve” the mode right into extinction. Swearing and being generally dour is NOT the way to encourage others to use the mode.

I, for one, would point to this site as a good tool for those who want some off-the-air practice before they put it on the air.

Ed, W1RFI

Originally Posted by N7BXY Where indeed has the romance of being a Ham gone! When you use radios to communicate by CW, not a computer. Building your own transmitter with a 6AG7 as a crystal controlled oscillator, and an 807 as the final amplifier is gone and in the past, but, where is the love for listening for that weak signal from far away and responding to the CQ. That’s inspiring to me.

But almost every one of us used non-radio technology to learn the code, even it it was just sitting down with the chart and memorizing. Vinyl LP records were the “hip” technology of the day. I have to wonder whether old timers of that generation were displeased to see Morse code put onto vinyl to encourage newcomers to learn it easily.

We aren’t using a 6AG7 often nowadays (though we can). But there is now a wealth of kits and projects available that lets more hams build more equipment than was practical in those good old days. There is experimentation in software-defined radios, where modulation and demodulation is done using DSP and analog/digital devices to interface between the digital and analog world. The magic isn’t gone; it is just a new trick some of us have never seen before.

The site is an interesting novelty to an experienced CW op; it is an interesting simulation of CW use that could attract newcomers to the mode.

Amateur Radio has always been connected to other technology of the day. Did hams fear the first phone patches? Do they fear the interface between Amateur Radio and the Internet?

The Internet has brought value to many areas of my life. Amateur Radio is one of them.

Ed, W1RFI

for anyone interested in IRC , google xchat , it’s a free client avail. for windows and linux.

the following are the two nets I frequent :

irc.undernet.us.org common ports 6667

irc.superhosts.net common ports 6667

you may need to add servers to the client. or have an option to use the client command of :

/server ( the above server addresses one at a time )

after connecting you’ll need to join the channel by this command:

/join #hamradio

you’ll also need a nick name - user name most use their call so the command would be:

/nick ( your call )

NOTE do NOT use the ( parentheses ) in any commands.

73 de kc4wms

Working this last week (actually very little radio work) on Washington Island Wisconsin (WI-001L) it again became so very obvious that if an amateur’s station can hear the other guy, then you have a great chance of being able to work them.

It isn’t transmitter power you need first, but that ability to identify the other station, hear any ongoing conversation or pile-up, and then make your decision when to hit the transmit key.

If you can’t hear them, you can’t work them, right?

73

Steve
K9ZW

The famous KK Fiske Restaurant on Washington Island (WI-001L) Wisconsin was the venue for a WI9DX Washington Island DX Club meeting.  

Founding Members George W9EVT, Mac W9EVI and Myself (Steve K9ZW) welcomed member Dean K3GGN and new members John KA9USC & Mike K9ABT

WI9DX DX Club was founded several years ago to promote Amateur Radio on Washington Island, specially the pursuit of DXing.  (DXing is the hobby of tuning in and identifying distant radio stations, or making two way radio contact with distant stations in amateur radio.)

These events are always great fun, as everyone has so much to share, finally gets to meet people with shared interests and always results in much camaraderie!

Of special interest this July meeting is interference noted by several of the members on 6m, 10m, & 12m bands.  Several audio recordings were played and discussed.  There is a strong correlation that the interference (which can range to over S9 across more than a hundred kilocycles in several areas at times) with a pilot data over power grid (BPL) program underway currently on the Island.  When running this interference is strong enough to deny the affected band segments from Hobby & Emergency Communications use.  

In true “Island cooperative style“, the group was unanimous to offer our assistance to try an firmly identify the exact source, and to help correct the in-Amateur Band interference.  Further consultation with Ed Hare W1RFI at the ARRL is planned to help define a protocol for offering Amateur Assistance.  As the ARRL has a working & acceptable BPL install to the League’s main radio station the group hoped that depth of experience would help sort out the local interference on Washington Island.

Antennas, rigs, mobile (including Marine Mobile) operations and station banter filled the rest of the morning’s meeting.  George W9EVT extended an invitation for all the members to come visit his shack, QTH at Greengate Farm.

73

Steve
K9ZW

Tonight I had an interesting experience, a good friend (not an Amateur yet) just received an Icom IC-R75 receiver I had help hind for him, and had emailed that he would be listening to 14.310 USB if I had the time to call CQ and see if I could initiate a QSO he could SWL in on.

Listening for a while and then calling “Is this Frequency in use?  K9ZW” I neither heard anyone nor had a come back, until I had progressed to calling CQ for five minutes or so.

They I had a very polite and very professional call asking could we please QSY clear of 14.308 as the Marine Net was handling a Medical Emergency!

Needless to say I responded affirmatively, set the rig to RX-only and moved to stand-by on 14.308 on the off-chance my station could provide assistance.

The net had a real medical emergency, a head injury on a ship in the Pacific Northwest.

The details I copied in case they were needed are less important than how efficiently the Marine Net was able to secure professional help to assist the person in need.

Of course I was on the instant of emergency traffic needs ready to QSY (change frequency) and as in this case, to stand listening & available until I was certain my station would not be of use in addressing the emergency.

My Kudos to the Doctor patched in, the assisting marine officer, and those monitoring the Marine Net frequency out of hours.

73

Steve
K9ZW

Surfin’: Got User Interface? by Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU, ARRL Contributing Editor’s article speaks to a very important aspect of radio-operator interface and appropriate technology.

A contributor to his article says:

“I am as amazed as I am appalled at SDR for emergency, military, commercial, contest and general ham use. For some reason, the software has become the Holy Grail of the systems. High technology has completely over-shadowed the concept of appropriate technology. Two examples come to mind.

“First, there is the belief that anything and everything controlled by a mouse is, by default, the best and only way to go. Related to that is the notion that ’seconds count’ in a contest where maximizing the number of contacts is paramount (we need not go into the inaccurate RST reporting system). Having said that, even a novice experimenter can see how it takes fewer actions, less time and fewer errors to have dedicated controls rather than going through a few menus, making the selection, hitting ‘enter,’ etc. And, of course this assumes that the computer never locks up. Have you ever seen or experienced what happens when a computer locks up during a heart catherization?!

“Second, there doesn’t seem to be much informed effort that goes into defining the requirements for the user interface. If you examine the interface for some (all?) of the SDRs, you’ll see that logically related functions are not necessarily grouped together on the screen like they are in a ‘conventional’ radio. Color coding is used for appearance not function. And, even at the individual control level, you’ll often observe that there is not only a lack of consistency for similar functions, the selection for the displayed format is not necessarily the best one.

“Hence, while SDR has made some technological improvements, the designers seem to lack the education, experience and interest in the area of (operator) usability.”

 

Ten Usability Heuristics by Jakob Nielsen Ph.D. are cited by Stan WA1LOU, and are part of a much larger useful website of Usability Theory & Practice.

Usability goes hand-in-hand with Appropriate Technology.  Appropriate Technology is one of those Zen-Like concepts that is easier to get a sense of, than define.

One questions whether it is Appropriate Technology to have 60 plus menu options, each with 2 to 12 deep layers of submenus on a HF/VHF rig intended to be run mobile?  Not only is the interface usability nearly impossible, but one of these rigs is nearly impossible to set up.  You’ll see the emerging tears of frustration if a master rig reset is needed, as the owner is faced with recreating the set-up with hundreds of steps.

Or rigs that out of the box need a massive set-up effort to work before any traffic can be carried.

Or basically closed nets/systems requiring a specific bit of Hardware or Software to operate - a hardware or software item that is an added expense, but might not even be available on a ready basis.

Or rigs temperature sensitive enough to have “fancy” displays that either won’t show, or work laggardly in temperature extremes?

Or QRO (High Power) orientated gear without QRP (low power) operational ability?

There are hundreds of Usability & Appropriate Technology issues facing an Amateur.  Some matter little if they come into play strictly in the hobby-sense, but when they overlap into rigs impossible to handle while mobile in motion on public roads, or unusable for Emergency/Emcom use without a setting-setup session that can run into hours of time, then it no longer the chosen foibles of the hobby.

Thoughts?

73

Steve
K9ZW

Today the FCC issued my youngest son, Victor, the Technician Call Sign “KC9NWB”

It is good to get this 12 year old youngster involved, and as a special treat Victor’s passing his first license means that all five of our family members have Amateur Radio Licenses.

Victor’s brothers Tom KC9JGD (18) and Winston KC9FVR (15) were joined by my wife Alison pass her license as KC9MPL this spring.

With Winston KC9FVR and VIctor KC9NWB now competing for who can pass their General Class first, I best have more than one operating position in the shack!

Passing their tech exams the same day with Victor KC9NWB were:

• Candi KC9NVX
• Brent KC9NVY
• Micaila KC9NVZ
• Joel KC9NWA

Congratulations to all of the new licensees!

73

Steve
K9ZW