AmateurRadio.com

When I get asked why I only use VHF/UHF frequencies for my Summits On The Air (SOTA) activations, I usually reply with:

Height Above Average Terrain

More specifically, I mean that using VHF for SOTA is fun because Height Above Average Terrain (HAAT) has a dramatic effect on the propagation of my radio signal.

HAAT has a specific definition, found in the FCC regulations. HAAT basically describes the height of a transmitter relative to the surrounding terrain in all directions at distances of 3 to 16 km. This HAAT calculator tool provides the HAAT of a site based on its latitude and longitude. Note that the FCC definition of HAAT compares against the terrain relatively close to the transmitter, 16 km (10 miles). For SOTA purposes, we are more concerned with distances further away.

In a recent presentation on mountaintop VHF operating (Hamcon Colorado), I provided these two contrasting examples to drive home the importance of HAAT.

Punkin Center

Punkin Center is a small town located on the eastern plains of Colorado. The elevation is 5364 feet, and its HAAT is roughly zero feet. That is, the terrain is flat. Punkin Center is a fine place to be, but it is not a very good VHF location. The radio range using a 5-watt VHF handheld radio is about 4 miles.

Pikes Peak

Compare this to America’s Mountain, Pikes Peak, which has an elevation of 14,115 feet and a HAAT of 4,445 feet. That is, it rises more than 4,000 feet above the surrounding terrain. (The height advantage is even more pronounced when looking further east towards Kansas, where the highest elevation is ~4,000 feet.) Based on my experience operating from there, the VHF handheld range is over 100 miles.

The improved HAAT of Pikes Peak provides a VHF radio range that is 25 times better than Punkin Center. Again, nothing wrong with Punkin Center, but if I want to make VHF contacts, I’ll choose Pikes Peak.

Let’s compare this to using the High Frequency (HF) bands. The normal propagation mode on HF is skywave propagation via the F layer, which supports radio propagation across North America and around the world (depending on frequency, time of day, solar conditions, blah blah blah). The radio signal refracts off the ionosphere and can go very long distances. From Pikes Peak, I can work the world. From Punkin Center, I can work the world. Not much difference, except the views from Pikes are generally better, and the oxygen is less plentiful.

So when I hike up a mountain, I am excited to get out the VHF gear and see what contacts I can make due to the improved HAAT. I don’t get as excited about working HF, because I can do that from home…or Punkin Center, or other places, with similar results.

Other SOTA activators see it differently, and that is just fine. (VHF contacts represent only ~20% of all SOTA contacts.) There are many ways to enjoy SOTA and ham radio. Just make sure you have fun messing around with radios.

73 Bob K0NR

The post Height Above Average Terrain appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.

When I get asked why I only use VHF/UHF frequencies for my Summits On The Air (SOTA) activations, I usually reply with:

Height Above Average Terrain

More specifically, I mean that using VHF for SOTA is fun because Height Above Average Terrain (HAAT) has a dramatic effect on the propagation of my radio signal.

HAAT has a specific definition, found in the FCC regulations. HAAT basically describes the height of a transmitter relative to the surrounding terrain in all directions at distances of 3 to 16 km. This HAAT calculator tool provides the HAAT of a site based on its latitude and longitude. Note that the FCC definition of HAAT compares against the terrain relatively close to the transmitter, 16 km (10 miles). For SOTA purposes, we are more concerned with distances further away.

In a recent presentation on mountaintop VHF operating (Hamcon Colorado), I provided these two contrasting examples to drive home the importance of HAAT.

Punkin Center

Punkin Center is a small town located on the eastern plains of Colorado. The elevation is 5364 feet, and its HAAT is roughly zero feet. That is, the terrain is flat. Punkin Center is a fine place to be, but it is not a very good VHF location. The radio range using a 5-watt VHF handheld radio is about 4 miles.

Pikes Peak

Compare this to America’s Mountain, Pikes Peak, which has an elevation of 14,115 feet and a HAAT of 4,445 feet. That is, it rises more than 4,000 feet above the surrounding terrain. (The height advantage is even more pronounced when looking further east towards Kansas, where the highest elevation is ~4,000 feet.) Based on my experience operating from there, the VHF handheld range is over 100 miles.

The improved HAAT of Pikes Peak provides a VHF radio range that is 25 times better than Punkin Center. Again, nothing wrong with Punkin Center, but if I want to make VHF contacts, I’ll choose Pikes Peak.

Let’s compare this to using the High Frequency (HF) bands. The normal propagation mode on HF is skywave propagation via the F layer, which supports radio propagation across North America and around the world (depending on frequency, time of day, solar conditions, blah blah blah). The radio signal refracts off the ionosphere and can go very long distances. From Pikes Peak, I can work the world. From Punkin Center, I can work the world. Not much difference, except the views from Pikes are generally better, and the oxygen is less plentiful.

So when I hike up a mountain, I am excited to get out the VHF gear and see what contacts I can make due to the improved HAAT. I don’t get as excited about working HF, because I can do that from home…or Punkin Center, or other places, with similar results.

Other SOTA activators see it differently, and that is just fine. (VHF contacts represent only ~20% of all SOTA contacts.) There are many ways to enjoy SOTA and ham radio. Just make sure you have fun messing around with radios.

73 Bob K0NR

The post Height Above Average Terrain appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.

Hello and welcome to Episode 601 of Linux in the Ham Shack. In this episode, the hosts discuss the RFC2136 for remote, authenticated DNS updates and how it can be used to automate an SSL certificate infrastructure with Let's Encrypt. We hope you enjoy this episode and have a great week coming up!

73 de The LHS Crew

A snippet of the shutdown python script as actions are taken.

Python and what I’ve been up to… well, let me tell you!
I’ve honestly surprised myself with the automation I’ve built for starting up and shutting down my contesting setup. Before Python, the startup routine was a long chain of manual steps: launching VSPE and waiting, then clicking on Win4Icom Suite and waiting again, then starting N1MM+ and waiting some more, then opening Firefox, navigating to the Reverse Beacon Network, entering my call, checking that I was spotted, and refreshing it every 10 minutes.

Now? Thanks to Python, all of that happens with a single mouse click. I LOVE IT!

 With one mouse click my Kasa plug turns on, powers on my Astron power supply and Pi4B and it begins its startup. Then VSPE starts, then Win4icom starts, N1MM+ starts and finally Firefox opens to Reverse beacon network were it logs in and then enters my call sign to show who is hearing my CQ contest calling and will refresh every 10 minutes. 

Now If you’re curious about the hiccups and challenges I ran into along the way, keep reading. Or, if you’d rather skip ahead, feel free to jump to the end where I share some of my upcoming Python-and-amateur-radio project—you might be surprised!

Let’s start with the Wi-Fi plug that kicks off the entire startup process. I needed a Python library to communicate with my Kasa plug—easy enough. Then I needed to find the plug’s IP address—again, no problem. But one day, my Python terminal that handles the whole start-and-stop sequence suddenly threw an error related to the Wi-Fi plug. After some investigating, I realized our router had restarted and reassigned the plug a new IP address. That completely broke my script.

More research led me to a great solution: I could assign a name to the plug and have Python search for the device by name, then automatically discover whatever IP address the router had given it. Problem solved—elegantly.

With the Wi-Fi plug sorted out, I moved on to scripting the rest of the startup sequence. I added every program I needed, in the exact order they had to launch, and it worked beautifully… until I noticed that some programs loaded slower than others. That meant certain tasks weren’t finished before the next program in the chain started, and everything just froze. The fix turned out to be simple: insert time delays between launches to give each program the breathing room it needs.

Next came Win4Icom. Tom, VE2FSQ, does an incredible job keeping his software updated—there’s a new version roughly every month with improvements and bug fixes. But once a new version came out, my Python script kept opening the old one. To fix that, I wrote code that automatically checks for the latest installed version every time and launches that one instead.

Then I ran into another issue: occasionally Python wasn’t shutting down my Icom 7610 correctly through the Win4Icom software. That meant the radio was being abruptly disconnected when the Wi-Fi plug powered off my power supply. NOT GOOD. So instead of relying on Win4Icom for shutdown, I added the Icom CI-V shutdown command directly into my Python script. That ensured the 7610 powered down properly every single time.

My Pi4B is also tied into the Wi-Fi plug, but that part is simple—when the plug turns on, the Pi boots normally, no Python needed. Shutting the Pi down, however, is a different adventure involving Windows and Python… and I’ll save that story for the next post.

As promised, here’s a preview of what I’m working on next. When a contest is over, I normally have to:

1. Go to the 3830 scoring site and manually enter my score.

2. Generate a CAB file and submit it to the contest sponsor.

3. Generate an ADIF file within N1MM+.

4. Submit that ADIF to my logging program Amateur Radio Contest Log then do the same for LOTW, Club Log, CWops, and QRZ.com. 

I’m developing a Python program that will do all of that automatically:
• Login to 3830, fill in the band breakdowns, multipliers, total contacts and multipliers and final score.
• Generate a CAB file from within N1MM+.
• Generate an ADIF file from N1MM+ and load it into Amateur Radio Contest Log.
• From within Amateur Contest Log program, automatically open Club Log and LOTW and submit the logs.
• Then log into QRZ.com and CWops and submit the score there as well.

All with one mouse click—while I sit back and watch it happen.

My next post will be dealing with the contest shutdown process. At this point I am just starting the new project I mentioned above.  

A few days ago, someone told me that a rumor is circulating that I don’t own any gear capable of operating on the high-frequency (HF) bands. I laughed out loud, wondering where this came from.

Actually, I know where this comes from: most of my postings here at k0nr.com are oriented towards VHF operating, often from the top of a summit. I fully admit that VHF/UHF has always been my favorite part of the amateur radio spectrum.

And I do operate on the HF bands.

Home Station

The photo above shows my ham shack set up at home. The primary transceiver is an ICOM IC-7610, which covers the HF bands and 6 meters. To the left is an ICOM IC-9700 that I use for 2m, 70cm, and 23cm. An ACOM 1000 linear amplifier sits at the far left. It is usually configured for 6m, just waiting for the band to open.

Here is a closer look at the two transceivers. Hey, look at that, the IC-7610 is listening to 20m CW. Yes, I even operate CW.

My antenna farm includes two towers but they are used for VHF/UHF antennas. For the HF bands, I use wire antennas. This article describes the end-fed wire antenna I have been using for the past 5 years. It covers 40m through 6m with one antenna.

Operating Results

I run hot and cold on chasing DX, but over time, I have made many DX contacts and worked quite a few countries. I favor the DX potential of the higher bands: 20m, 17m, 15m, 12m, and 10m. Recently, I discovered that the 30m band can be a lot of fun, too. My current stats are: 205 DXCC Entities and 39 (out of 40) CQ Zones. Still looking to work Zone 34, Northeastern Africa. I’ve also been working on Worked All States (WAS) for each band, having completed 40m, 30m, 20m, 17m, and 6m.

Going Portable with HF

Joyce/K0JJW and I often operate portable on the HF bands, almost always a Parks On The Air (POTA) activation. Our favorite radio for POTA is a Yaesu FT-991, which covers the HF bands along with VHF/UHF. Almost all of the POTA work is on HF but sometimes we do make a few VHF contacts.

We also have an ICOM IC-705, also covering all bands, and is especially useful for backpack portability. We favor VHF/UHF for SOTA but sometimes we will use the IC-705 to make some HF SOTA contacts.  We have a variety of wire antennas, all different types of end-fed designs. The IC-705 does not have a built-in antenna tuner, so we take along a small manual tuner.

Wrap Up

So there you have it, I do have some HF gear and I do use it!

Remember, the universal purpose of amateur radio is to have fun messing around with radios. Using whatever amateur band you choose.

73 Bob K0NR

The post Confirming K0NR Does Have HF Equipment appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.

 Jeff welcome back to the blog sphere I for one have missed your insight, my morning coffee has been enhanced by your read on things....even though at this end I may be to much tech.....:) 

In this episode, we join Martin Butler M1MRB, Chris Howard (M0TCH), Martin Rothwell (M0SGL), Frank Howell (K4FMH) and Leslie Butterfields (G0CIB) to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin Butler (M6BOY) rounds up the news in brief, and the episode's feature is Going to Bouvet Island.

We would like to thank Koos Van Den Hout (PE4KH), Anonymous Donor, Dave Renton (G1REN), Michael Nutt (K3LOE) and Michael Currier-Casavant (N1XRR) and our monthly and annual subscription donors for keeping the podcast advert free. To donate, please visit - http://www.icqpodcast.com/donate

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