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Hi all, My name is Greg Ella and I'm a Ham up in Fort Collins. I picked up a continuous data transmission on 438.125 MHz with no ID back before January 10th. Since that time, Myself and a couple of other guys from up here have been working to locate it. We have it narrowed down to the Morrison area, west of Mount Glennon, east of Mount Falcon (Hiked out to the east end of Two Dog Trail), south of Highway 74, and almost certainly north of Highway 285. It's a 140 mile round trip for us every time we drive down there, and we've done a fair bit of hiking, as well. I'm hoping that your club will pick this up. Street level DF in this area is swamped with reflections. Getting up on open high ground is more promising. Signal is a short data burst or pulse about every second. One a every minute, or sometimes once every two minutes, there is a longer 8 second data burst that looks like PSK to me. If you folks take this up, I can provide a lot more information on areas we have checked, areas we have not, and some remaining areas of interest. Perhaps we could make an email group on this. Thanks, Greg Ella N0EMP Fort Collins

Hi all, I'm pleased to announce that the DMR test on yesterday's TechNet was a success! In case you missed the other discussion around this, we have been experimenting with bridging digital protcols (EchoLink and DMR) into the CRA 145.145 repeater in order to provide access to the net for folks that are outside of the repeater coverage area. Last week we had a successful test of EchoLink (thanks to John WB4HZA for his help!) and this week we tested DMR, which was also a success. We're working on tuning the DMR connection a bit to improve quality but overall it worked out great. I'm also happy to announce that after a discussion with Brandmeister, the dominant DMR ham radio network, we are able to use the club's DMR "RadioID" as a talk group, so we'll move forward using that. While TGIF is a great network, probably 90% of the DMR traffic worldwide goes over Brandmeister, so let's stick with that from a pure usability perspective. The talk group number is 3215003 and John WB4HZA and I just had a successful QSO on it between Littleton CO and Tampa FL, so it's ready to go! I encourage anyone that's got a DMR radio and hotspot to check it out. I'll be monitoring the talk group whenever I can and it would be fun to get some QSOs going. If you need some help configuring your hotspot I'll write up some steps on how to do that using Pi-Star. I've also asked John to do some screen grabs using his OpenSpot 4 for those of you using that hotspot. If you're having difficulties configuring your hotspot, or need advice on what hotspot to buy, put a message up on this channel and we'll be happy to help get you set up. In a nutshell, in order to access the talk group, you'll likely need a DMR hotspot, however there is a possibility that one of the local DMR repeaters would allow "steering" to our talk group. At any rate, please give the new talk group a try and report back here on how it's working for you. And as always, I encourage everyone to join the TechNet on Tuesdays at 7pm, regardless of which mode you use! Here's the summary of ways you can connect to the TechNet: Analog: CRA Mestaa’?hehe 145.145 (-) and 447.575 (-) repeaters. Both require a 107.2 Hz CTCSS tone to transmit. EchoLink: W0CRA-L DMR: Brandmeister talk group 3215003 73, Mark -- --------------------- Mark Ehr | K0EHR President, 285 Tech Connect Radio Club Littleton, Colorado k0ehr@... Check out my ham radio blog: https://k0ehr.tech QRZ profile

Larry the coffee guy here. Please be aware that Saturday afternoon after the meeting I was aware that my throat was a bit scratchy. Yesterday I was diagnosed with the flu type a, which can be very serious to a person in my age group. I don't know if I was contagious at the meeting, but I urge anyone who might be feeling a bit under the weather to check in with their doctor. I had a very rough Sunday and Monday, but am well on the way to recovery. My apologies to anyone who might be affected by this. Larry

Hi all, As I've mentioned over the past couple of club meetings, I've been working with Robb and the CRA to figure out a way to bridge the 145.145 repeater to a digital network so that club members that live in areas that can't hit the repeater, plus those that travel or are in other states, can still participate. It took a little work to find the right person at CRA, but I finally found Nate Duehr WY0X who has been instrumental in helping us with the project. On tonight's net, he was able to bridge the 145.145 and 447.575 repeaters together, which then allowed us to bring in Echolink and Allstar networks. Fortunately, John Stevens WB4HZA was conveniently at his place in Tampa this week and he joined the net using the Echolink app on his iPhone. I'm happy to report that the test was a success, although John did mention that he lost the connection a couple of times (just requiring him to restart the app). Going forward, the plan is to continue to bridge the repeaters, so it will be possible to utilize the UHF repeater (447.575 (-) 107.2 Hz), which is also located on Mestaa’?hehe (fka Squaw) Mountain. The UHF repeater also supports Echolink connections (search for W0CRA-L in the Echolink app) and Allstar node 59468. I haven't played around with Allstar much although I believe you can get to it using DroidStar on an Android phone. And Echolink can be accessed via Android and iOS apps plus Windows, Mac and via a web browser. Details on the various Echolink apps is here: https://www.echolink.org/download.htm By the way, if you're mystified about how to pronounce Mestaa’?hehe, it's "mess-taw-HAY". Nate and I are also investigating bridging the repeaters into a DMR talkgroup. For next week's net, we're going to see if we can borrow another club's talkgroup for a proof of concept, and I'm also working on getting a RadioID assigned to the club callsign, which will then enable me to create a dedicated Brandmeister talkgroup for the club. The talkgroup would be automagically bridged to the CRA repeater every week for the TechNet, and it would also be available 24x7x365 for club members to use to communicate with each other using a DMR radio connected to a DMR repeater or using a personal hotspot like an OpenSpot or Pi-Star (MMDVM) hotspot. Pretty cool! So stay tuned for more news on this and in the meantime, if you haven't been able to participate in the net in the past due to a lack of connectivity or coverage, please give Echolink or Allstar a try! 73, Mark -- --------------------- Mark Ehr | K0EHR President, 285 Tech Connect Radio Club Littleton, Colorado k0ehr@... Check out my ham radio blog: https://k0ehr.tech QRZ profile

Hi all, As we discussed at Saturday's club meeting and on tonight's Tech Net, this is an effort underway to get the Amateur Radio Emergency Preparedness Act Re-Introduced in Congress (HB 1094). Believe it or not, this bill would amend the Communications Act of 1934 which is used by HOAs to restrict amateur radio antennas on private land. This bill would prevent HOAs and other entities from restricting amateur radio antennas on private land. Here's a description of the bill from the ARRL website: "Homeowner association rules often prevent Amateur Radio operators from installing antennas at their homes even though Amateur Radio has proven to be essential in emergencies and natural disasters such as hurricanes when other means of communication fail." This was literally just announced in January, so it will be likely be a while before the bill is introduced as it doesn't appear that it's even been drafted yet. The good news is that it's got bi-partisan support, with U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Richard Blumenthal, D- Conn., and Representatives August Pfluger, R-Tex., and Joe Courtney, D-Conn all sponsoring the bill. For more information, you can visit the ARRL page on the bill here: https://www.arrl.org/news/amateur-radio-emergency-preparedness-act-re-introduced You can read the full text of the proposed bill here: http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Advocacy/HR1094%20House%20Private%20Land%20Use%20Bill.pdf This would obviously be great news for all amateur radio operators and I'm excited that the ARRL is supporting the effort. If it comes to the floor for a vote, we should all get involved to petition our senators and representatives to vote for it. 73, Mark -- --------------------- Mark Ehr | K0EHR President, 285 Tech Connect Radio Club Littleton, Colorado k0ehr@... Check out my ham radio blog: https://k0ehr.tech QRZ profile

Hi all, Last weekend I finally got around to building the KV4P HT, which consists of a small PCB that comes mostly pre-populated, only requiring the addition of an inexpensive RF module. It connects via USB-C to an Android phone and turns it into a pretty capable 2-meter HT that can output 1 watt and do FM plus APRS. Pretty cool project! I'm also very excited about the prospects of connecting the HT PCB to a microcontroller such as an Arduino or a Raspberry Pi, which opens up a world of possibilities. For example, two of them connected via inexpensive Yagis could be used to exchange data via APRS, and at 1-watt with the right antenna, you could get some pretty good distance out of them. I've done 90+ miles on 5 watts with a Moxon, so I'd imagine you could get at least a couple of miles (maybe even 10+) on 1 watt with the right antenna. Vance has published the source code for all components of the HT (Android app and the ESP32 firmware) so it shouldn't be too heavy of a lift to send the command set from a microcontroller to the ESP32. I documented the whole project in detail on my blog: https://www.k0ehr.tech/2025/02/kv4p-v20c-ht-build-is-complete-and.html I'll bring this along to this Saturday's club meeting (March 1 at the Bridge Church in Lakewood starting at 9:30am) as an example of a fun "DIY'ish" project you can do. Happy reading and 73, Mark -- --------------------- Mark Ehr | K0EHR President, 285 Tech Connect Radio Club Littleton, Colorado k0ehr@... Check out my ham radio blog: https://k0ehr.tech QRZ profile

Hi all, Today while listening to the Ham Radio Workbench podcast I learned about the 44 Net, which is a set of millions of public (also known as "static") Internet (IP) addresses that were allocated for exclusive use by amateur radio operators back in 1981, literally as the Internet had just been created. I've detailed all about the 44 Net and the foundation that manages this incredible (and highly valuable) block of IP addresses, along with some ideas on how you can make use of them. One immediate use I can think of would be for the club remote station - @Mark Edwards, we should chat about that. Check it out on my blog here: https://www.k0ehr.tech/2025/02/44-net-and-ardc-amateur-radio-digital.html 73, Mark -- --------------------- Mark Ehr | K0EHR President, 285 Tech Connect Radio Club Littleton, Colorado k0ehr@... Check out my ham radio blog: https://k0ehr.tech QRZ profile

Hi all, I've recently jumped into a couple of QRP Labs projects, including a QMX that I managed to break within hours of getting it (I think I blew the finals when I attached it to my mag loop, even though it's supposed to have SWR protection) and a QCX kit that I have yet to build. I'm about ready to replace the four BS170 MOSFETS in the QMX which will hopefully get it back on the air. At any rate, I came across this accounting from Hans Summers G0UPL, the founder and owner of the company, on his journey from being an investment banker in Japan to quitting his career to pursue the QRP Labs business, which involves many twists and turns including a move to Turkey. It's a fascinating read and also a great treatise on various ways to design compact, cost efficient transceivers. Definitely worth a read! https://qrp-labs.com/images/qmx/docs/fdim2023.pdf 73, Mark -- --------------------- Mark Ehr | K0EHR President, 285 Tech Connect Radio Club Littleton, Colorado k0ehr@... Check out my ham radio blog: https://k0ehr.tech QRZ profile

Hi all, FYI I have posted the deck and recording from Saturday's club meeting, which covered the basics of remote operating, provided a demo of the club remote station and we also helped a couple folks get their machines connected to the remote station. Don't forget that we have a weekly net most Tuesdays on the 145.145 repeater at 7pm; feel free to bring your ham-related questions and answers! The March club meeting is going to be another good one. We're going to cover skills for building your own DIY electronics projects and kits, including a demo of surface mount soldering and using a CNC machine to make your own PC boards by Larry Weinstein K0NA. If you have any ideas or demos that you'd like to include int the session, let me know. Potential topics could include best practices around soldering/desoldering, winding toroids, 3D printing cases and other components, good sources for kits, etc etc. Also a reminder that the $15 annual club membership dues were due on January 1. We now accept Zelle as well as cash and checks, and for new members, I've also created an online membership form (no more mailing forms!). We're also getting to close accepting PayPal and Venmo. Details are on the club website: https://na0tc.org/doku.php?id=membership 73, Mark -- --------------------- Mark Ehr | K0EHR President, 285 Tech Connect Radio Club Littleton, Colorado k0ehr@... Check out my ham radio blog: https://k0ehr.tech QRZ profile

Hi all, For those of you that missed today's club meeting, here's a recap: 1. We now have an online new member registration form, and club dues (which are now due) can now be paid via Zelle as well as cash and check. PayPal and Venmo are also in the works and will be available soon. Full details on how to sign up and/or pay via Zelle are available here: https://na0tc.org/doku.php?id=membership 2. Club elections were held and myself, Jim Moravec and Mark Hasseman were all re-elected by unanimous vote. 3. I provided an update on TechFest 2024 results: the club made a profit of nearly $600 - 14x last year - and as a result our club coffers are looking very good. 4. We are still waiting on the remote station tower to be installed; in the meantime the club station is still available to all active club members. We will be doing a full demo of the station at the February meeting, which will also include remote operation and a hands-on workshop for folks that want to bring their computers to get up and running on the remote station. 5. Rob Steenburgh AD0IU provided an awesome overview of "Summits of Solar Cycle 25 on the Air" which included an update on forecasts for the remainder of cycle 25 and some awesome advice on operating HF before, during, and after solar events. The presentation deck and recording are available on the club website: https://na0tc.org/doku.php?id=meetings 6. We are also planning on having a club table at the upcoming NCARC hamfest on Saturday January 18th in Loveland. If any club members are planning on attending, we'd love some help staffing the club table so that the rest of us get a chance to peruse the fest as well. Details here: https://ncarc.co/hamfest-2025/ 7. We're also pulling together an informal Winter Field Day 2025 (January 25th) get together, weather permitting. Probably at Chatfield State Park. Further details coming soon! 8. And a reminder that we could really use additional folks to join our TechNet on Tuesdays at 7pm on the 145.145 repeater. Please join us and bring your ham radio related questions, topics, or projects. The more the merrier! We had a very well attended meeting today, with around 30 folks attending. Thanks to all of our awesome members and I hope to see you at the next club meeting on Feb 1! -- --------------------- Mark Ehr | K0EHR President, 285 Tech Connect Radio Club Littleton, Colorado k0ehr@... Check out my ham radio blog: https://k0ehr.tech QRZ profile

Does anyone have recommendations on coax? I'm looking to get something like 50ft to connect to my antenna, and would love to know if folks have suggestions on good price/performance coax. Thanks in advance! Ashley

Hi all, I just posted about LongChat, which is a new digital mode that allows keyboard-to-keyboard chats using extremely low power--as low as 45 microwatts! It only supports three radios at present (IC-7300, IC-705, FT-991A) but can work on virtually any frequency and mode. Check out my blog, which includes links to download the software and to other blogs/videos, here: https://www.k0ehr.tech/2024/12/longchat-newish-qrp-chirp-mode.html I'm going to play with this over the holidays and will keep you all posted on how it works! 73, Mark -- --------------------- Mark Ehr | K0EHR President, 285 Tech Connect Radio Club Littleton, Colorado k0ehr@... Check out my ham radio blog: https://k0ehr.tech QRZ profile

Hi all, I just came across this…Uwe DG2YCB, one of the original developers of WSJT-X (along with Joe Taylor and others) has published a “WSJT-X Improved” version on Sourceforge. It’s still in development but ready for testing. One of the coolest features is the ability to send text messages through the interface, kind of like what you can do with JTAlert, except built right into the WSJT-X code base, among other improvements. I haven’t tried it yet, but will soon! https://sourceforge.net/projects/wsjt-x-improved/ 73, Mark -- --------------------- Mark Ehr | K0EHR President, 285 Tech Connect Radio Club Littleton, Colorado k0ehr@... Check out my ham radio blog: https://k0ehr.tech QRZ profile

The Yaesu FTX-1F Portable HF Transceiver The new FTX-1F is a portable transceiver utilizing SDR technology and provides 6W of power output with the 5670mAh Lithium-ion battery pack (Which enables 9-hours stand-alone operating time on the HF bands, SSB mode, and 8-hours operating time on the V/UHF bands, FM mode based on a 6-6-48 duty cycle). Up to 10W of power output is available when using an external DC power supply. Early 2025.

Hi all, Thanks to Zoom, which made the process of recording, editing and publishing the TechFest videos much easier than in the past, I've been able to get them all posted to the website, along with the accompanying slides where applicable. Here's the link: https://na0tc.org/doku.php?id=techfests Thanks again to everyone that helped to make this year's event a success! 73, Mark -- --------------------- Mark Ehr | K0EHR President, 285 Tech Connect Radio Club Littleton, Colorado k0ehr@... Check out my ham radio blog: https://k0ehr.tech QRZ profile

I received this message the other day from a ham that's helping with his brother Bob's (KC0QF (SK)) estate: "I'm Ron - AF7A - in Peoria, AZ. Two months ago my older brother Bob - KC0QF - became a silent key. He lived in Denver. His widow wants to get rid of his tower and antenna for free. It's about 50 ft. high, comes with a strong gin pole, a working HAM-M rotator and is topped with a Hygain Classic-33 (3 element triband) and a 8 element 2 mtr antenna. The tower is anchored against the eaves of the house. The tower is easy to climb but it's pretty mandatory to have a safety belt on when up there. Do you or anyone in the Denver area want this whole thing? It will take at least 4 strong (and young!) guys to take it apart. I was recently there for Bob's memorial and brought his HF station to Arizona. All that's left is the outside tower & Antenna. Let me know if you can help and I'll give you the contact info. Thanks Ron Blessin - AF7A 623-248-7418 af7a.ron@... -- --------------------- Mark Ehr | K0EHR President, 285 Tech Connect Radio Club Littleton, Colorado k0ehr@... Check out my ham radio blog: https://k0ehr.tech QRZ profile

This turned up in my ARRL news feed this morning. Here are the slides from Bruce Perens' talk at PacificCON about Mitigating Antenna Fading. It'd help if he'd start of with a better explanation of the fading issue, but from the slides, I infer that what's happening is signal loss due to rotating polarization, and also multipath. Fascinating stuff. Antennas mix multiple signals, with addition and cancellation happening constantly, and varying over time. I recall reading about polarization years ago, maybe even in the Technician manual, and "egg beater" antennas too. Even if the topic doesn't interest you, on page 16 there's a photo of a gorgeous Hallicrafters receiver. And, now I know why Wifi access points use multiple antennas. (Sorta)

Hi all, I finally got around to doing a SOTA (and attempted POTA) activation yesterday on Santa Fe Mountain (W0C/FR-042) and I wrote up a trip report on my blog here: https://www.k0ehr.tech/2024/10/sotapota-trip-report-santa-fe-mountain.html 73, Mark -- --------------------- Mark Ehr | K0EHR President, 285 Tech Connect Radio Club Littleton, Colorado k0ehr@... Check out my ham radio blog: https://k0ehr.tech QRZ profile