Last newsletter, I wrote about getting the DX bug with the uptick in Cycle 25 solar activity and DXpeditions to Bouvet and Crozet Islands. These are the second and third most wanted DXCC entities in the world. These DX-peditions have had drastically different outcomes as I will describe below. First, the bad news – Bouvet…
WSPR – Weak Signal Propagation Reporter Jim Edmondson, N5JGE WSPR stands for Weak Signal Propagation Reporter. It is one of the modes available in the popular WSJT-X software used by many hams for FT8 digital communication. If you have setup your radio and computer to run FT8, you are ready to try WSPR. WSPR was…
Jim Edmondson, N5JGE Background Contesting or “radiosport” is a competitive activity where amateur radio operators try to contact as many other stations as possible in the contest period. Contest are sponsored by various amateur radio societies such as the ARRL, radio enthusiast magazines such as CQ Magazine and radio clubs such as Deutscher Amateur Radio…
Jim Edmondson, N5JGE, 2022-11 This article will start with some perspective on the history of digital (or data) modes and then discuss the recent development of a new digital mode based on the Vara software modems in more detail. Digital modes have been used by hams in many different forms for a very long time….