Digital definitions

baud — The rate at which symbols are transmitted (no need to say “baud rate” since that would be equivalent to “symbol rate rate”)

bit — One unit of data, a 0 or a 1

bps — Bits per second, a measure of the rate at which data is being transferred

encode (decode) — Change digital 0 or 1 bits into some characteristic of a transmitted signal (recover the 0 or 1 bits from the transmitted signal)

FEC — Forward error correction, the technique of adding redundant information to allow errors in a received signal to be detected and removed

keying — Causing a symbol to be transmitted

symbol — A change in the transmitted signal that represents data

WPM — Words per minute, the speed at which five-character groups are transmitted

PSK31

The most widely used digital mode on the HF bands is PSK31. Peter Martinez (G3PLX) invented it — a great example of ham innovation — and developed a complete package of Windows-based software to support it. He generously placed his creation in the ham radio public domain, and hams adopted it like wildfire.

PSK stands for phase shift keying, and 31 represents the 31.25-baud rate of the signal — about regular typing speed. It also uses a new coding system for characters, called Varicode, which has a different number of bits for different characters, not unlike Morse code. Instead of a carrier turning on and off to transmit the code, a continuous tone signifies the bits of the code by shifting its timing relationship (known as phase) with a reference signal. A receiver syncs with the transmitter and decodes even very noisy signals because the receiver knows when to look for the phase changes.

PSK31 is very tolerant of the noise and other disturbances on HF bands. In fact, you can obtain nearly “solid copy” (receiving 100 percent of the transmission) with signals barely stronger than the noise itself. Figure 11-1 shows a DigiPan software display of several signals, some of which are quite weak. (The screen shot of FLDIGI in Chapter 8 and of DigiPan in Chapter 10 show other examples of PSK31 reception.) DigiPan is a free software package for PSK31/63 and is available at www.digipan.net.

Because the bandwidth of PSK31 is so narrow, finding other PSK31 stations on the air requires a pretty good idea of where they are. The most common frequencies in North and South America on the HF bands are 3580, 7070, 10142, 14070, 18100, 21080, 24920, and 28120 kHz. See the calling frequency table at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PSK31 for other regions and more bands.

If you want to find out more about using PSK31, the PODXS Ø7Ø Club (www.podxs070.com) specializes in this popular mode, including a good tutorial in its “Frequently Asked Questions” section.

Since PSK31’s introduction, several enhancements have been made in the original protocol, including two variant called PSK63 and PSK125 that add some features and quality improvements at the expense of wider on-the-air bandwidth. There are also quadrature variations that uses a different type of modulation to create the on-air signal.

Radioteletype (RTTY) and FSK

The first fully automated data transmission protocol was radioteletype (RTTY). Commercialized in the 1930s, RTTY (pronounced “ritty” by hams) uses a 5-bit code known as Baudot after its inventor — also the origin of the word baud. The Baudot code sends plain-text characters as 5-bit codes that use alternating patterns of two audio frequencies known as mark and space, creating a type of modulation called frequency shift keying (FSK). Because RTTY has just the two tones, it is sometimes called binary FSK to distinguish it from schemes with more than two tones.

The tones 2125 Hz (mark) and 2295 Hz (space) fit within a normal voice’s bandwidth, so the RTTY signal can be transmitted as pair of audio tones using a regular voice SSB transceiver. The separation of the tones, 170 Hz, is the FSK signal’s shift. RTTY characters are transmitted at a standard speed of 60 words per minute (WPM). There are other variations of tones, shift, and speed but these are the standard configuration.

On the receiving end, the transmission is received as an audio signal. The text characters can be recovered from the pair of mark and space tones by an external decoder or a computer and sound card running software such as MMTTY (see Table 11-2).

The tones can be sent through a regular SSB transceiver’s speech circuits. This type of signal is called audio frequency shift keying (AFSK). If the transceiver’s oscillator is varied directly by a digital data signal from the computer, that is direct FSK. Both sound exactly alike on the air, assuming the speech circuits are properly adjusted to avoid distortion or overmodulation.

Because of the two tones, you will see an RTTY signal as two closely spaced lines on a waterfall display. To tune in the signal, the decoding software will display a tuning indicator like one of those in Figure 11-2. The waterfall display at the lower left shows the two vertical lines corresponding to the mark and space tones. Above the waterfall display is a spectrum display showing the strength of each tone. The vertical lines show the frequencies the software is expecting. To the right is an interesting dual-ellipse display with each ellipse representing one tone. To decode the RTTY signal, tune your receiver so that the waterfall and spectrum display peaks align with the vertical lines and the ellipses are at right angles.

Fans of the antique teleprinters with rotating mechanical contacts and briefcase-size tone encoding equipment keep them running and use them on the bands even today. If you get a chance to watch one of these devices at work, you’ll be amazed by its mechanical complexity. Here’s a YouTube video of a Model 15 teleprinter doing its thing: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHkNZA28cMA.

Although RTTY is being supplanted by the more modern modes, it’s still a strong presence on the bands. Tune through the digital signals above the CW stations, and you’ll hear lots of two-tone signals “diddling” to each other. A sizable community of RTTY DXers and several major award programs have RTTY endorsements. DXpeditions (refer to “DXing — Chasing Distant Stations,” later in this chapter) often include RTTY in their operating plans as well. Table 11-2 lists several online resources for beginning RTTY operators.

MFSK modes

When you tune around the digital signal areas of the bands, you’re likely to come across signals that sound like crazy calliopes or steam whistles playing what sound like random melodies. These signals are multiple frequency shift keying (MFSK) modes. Instead of varying the phase or amplitude of a signal to carry the information, MFSK uses different tones, combinations of, or sequences of tones to do the job. Because the data is digital 1s and 0s, the mode is made up of a group of discrete tones that you hear as “notes” or “chords” on your receiver.

Why use more than a couple of tones? The more tones you have, the more information you can pack into one combination or sequence. This can speed up the data rate or you can use the extra capacity to add error-correction. You can also add structure to the transmissions that further helps decode the information it carries. The WSJT package of modes makes good use of this technique, as I discuss later.

Hams are innovating like crazy, and new modes are popping up all the time. The FLDIGI software package, mentioned earlier, stays current with the variations as they come along. You can find the technical details on MFSK modulation at www.qsl.net/zl1bpu/MFSK. Here are a few you can find on the bands today:

• MFSK16: 16 tones, spaced 15.625 Hz apart, sent one at a time at 15.625 baud. Each tone represents four bits of data in a bandwidth of about 316 Hz. The mode includes forward error correction (FEC) to produce excellent error resistance under even poor conditions. The overall character rate is about 40 WPM, which is a good typing speed for most of us.
• DominoEX: With six different modes and FEC that can be turned on or off, this mode can be adapted to different band conditions with speeds ranging from 12 to 140 WPM. Instead of each tone needing to be exactly of a certain frequency, which makes tuning critical for other modes, DominoEX uses incremental frequency keying (IFK) so that only the difference between tones matters. (DominoEX was invented by Murray Greenman, ZL1BPU.)
• Olivia: There are quite a number of different types of Olivia signals: 5 different bandwidths and 8 different sets of tones for a total of 8 × 5 = 40 different variations of Olivia! This flexibility allows the mode to recover signals that are as much as 10 dB below the noise or even more. The tradeoff is that the rate of character exchange is quite low, stretching contacts out over a long time. The alternative, though, is no contact at all on less robust modes. (Olivia was invented by Pawel Jalocha, SP9VRC.)

Automatic link establishment (ALE)

ALE was developed for long-distance government communications on HF without requiring a skilled operator to determine the right frequencies to use. It is an MFSK mode using eight different tones, each representing three bits of information. The overall character rate is 375 bps.

The most interesting feature of ALE and what sets it apart from other modes is the way in which two ALE radios link up with each other automatically. Each radio is programmed with a unique call sign. When not making a contact, an ALE radio scans a list of frequencies, looking for another ALE radio trying to make contact with it by transmitting the desired call sign on the different frequencies. After the frequency with the best communication quality is determined, the receiving station answers the calling station and the two radios link up with each other.

This process happens automatically once an operator has entered the desired call sign. Automatic control of transmissions is only allowed on narrow portions of the amateur bands, so you will always find ALE operation taking place in those segments.

ALE is built into dedicated transceivers from commercial vendors or you can run the PCALE program at hflink.com/software. There is a lot more information about ALE operation on that website. The full specification for ALE is available at hflink.com/itu/ITU_ALE_Handbook.pdf, if you want to really understand how it works.

PACTOR and WINMOR

A user of RTTY (described above) quickly discovers that the fading and distortion common on HF can do serious damage to characters sent via Baudot code. The modes known as Teleprinting over Radio (TOR) include data organization and error-correction mechanisms to overcome the limitations of RTTY.

PACTOR goes one step further by adding error-checking packets to the mode. PACTOR 2 and 3 add error correction. PACTOR adjusts its speed based on conditions as well. PACTOR 3 is the most recent release of this technology available to hams. PACTOR 3 and subsequent versions are available only in equipment available from SCS (www.scs-ptc.com/pactor).

As mentioned in the Chapter 10 section on sending email, PACTOR 4 is not yet legal for U.S. hams to use because it exceeds the maximum symbol rate allowed by FCC rules. Hams outside the U.S. can use it and U.S. hams can monitor those contacts without transmitting but may not use PACTOR 4 on the air. Be sure you have your PACTOR equipment configured properly to operate legally.

Rick Muething (KN6KB) developed WINMOR mode as a nonproprietary alternative to PACTOR 3 communications. WINMOR achieves almost the same data rates as the advanced PACTOR modes and can be used with a computer and sound card; no external controller is required. WINMOR is commonly used in the Winlink email system, discussed in Chapter 10.

Similar data modes include the proprietary family of CLOVER modes (www.arrl.org/clover) developed by HAL Communications. These modes use transmitted waveform shapes and frequencies that are carefully managed to keep the signal within a 500 Hz bandwidth and decrease errors caused by HF propagation.

WSJT modes — fast and slow

The software package WSJT and the latest version WSJT-X support several different modes originally developed by Joe Taylor, K1JT, for extremely weak signal operation. All the modes stem from Joe’s experience in extracting faint signals from the noise with a radio telescope and computer software. Joe received the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work with Russell Hulse in detecting the first direct evidence of gravitational waves by observing a binary pulsar with the Arecibo Observatory’s 1,000-foot dish (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Hooton_Taylor_Jr.). (You may have read about gravity waves finally being detected in 2016 by the LIGO system.) Not bad for a guy who started out as a teenage ham radio operator interested in VHF scatter propagation!

These modes have enabled hams with modest stations to make contacts that previously required large antennas and high power. For example, bouncing a signal off the Moon (called moonbounce or EME for Earth-Moon-Earth, strangely enough) can now be done on 2 meters with a pair of Yagi antennas (see Chapter 12), a good preamp, and 100 watts of RF power. That is, if you are running one of Joe’s WSJT modes! The software is free and updated on a regular basis, so what’s stopping you from giving it a try?

The package of modes includes several “slow” modes: JT4, JT9, JT65, QRA65, and FT8. Each mode is optimized for weak-signal communication on a particular type of propagation path. Each type of path affects the radio signal a little bit differently. Because signals can be very weak in these types of operation, getting every last bit of signal out of the noise is very important. These modes are considered “slow” because of the long transmit and receive times required — up to one-minute long for some modes.

The “fast” modes are: MSK144, ISCAT, and WSPR. These send information very quickly since they are designed for “scatter” propagation from meteors, airplanes, and weather phenomena in the atmosphere. WSPR — for “weak signal propagation reporter” — is designed to act as a very low-power beacon to assess worldwide propagation on the HF bands or check your own echoes “off the Moon.” Doesn’t that sound interesting? It is! I have my own small WSPR transmitter, which generates only one-fifth of a watt, but which was heard one sunset in western Australia, France, and South Africa, all in the span of a few minutes.

The WSJT modes all use MFSK techniques and are designed to use a regular SSB transceiver. The “secret sauce” that makes the WSJT modes perform so well are specially coded tone sequences and message structures. These establish a unique pattern that receiving software can detect, even when the signal is hundreds of times weaker than the noise level! In fact, many QSOs have been made with these modes with signals that are completely inaudible to a human listening to the channel.

This is why WSJT modes, particularly FT8, have become very popular with hams who don’t (or can’t) have large antenna systems and high-power transmitters.

You can learn all about the WSJT modes in a pair of QST articles by Taylor, Steve Franke, K9AN, and Bill Somerville, G4WJS. “Work the World with WSJT-X, Part 1: Operating Capabilities” and “… Part 2: Codes, Modes, and cooperative Software Development” are both posted online by numerous sites. Just search for those titles. There is a thorough “how to get started” instruction package (WSJT-X User Guide) and an online support forum that has helped hundreds of hams get going (www.physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/K1JT/wstjx-doc/wsjtx-main.1.7.1-devel.html and groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/wsjtgroup/info).

Packet radio, APRS, and tracking

Packet radio is a wireless network system based on the commercial X.25 data transfer protocol. Developed by the Tucson Amateur Packet Radio group (TAPR: tapr.org), packet can send error-corrected data over VHF links, which led to the creation of novel data systems for hams. You can read more about packet and one of its best-known applications, APRS, at www.tapr.org/packetradio.html.

With packet, ordinary VHF/UHF FM transceivers transfer data as audio tones. An external modem called a terminal node controller (TNC) provides the interface between the radio and a computer or terminal. Data is sent at 1,200 or 9,600 baud as packets of variable length up to about 1,000 bytes. The protocol that controls packet construction, transmission control, and error correction is called AX.25 (for Amateur X.25). Some packet systems can also use the TCP/IP Internet protocol. (A slower variation at 300 baud can be used on HF but performs poorly due to noise and packet errors.)

Like wired networks, packet systems are connected in many ways. A packet controller is called a node. The connection between nodes is a link. Connecting to a remote node by using an intermediate node to relay packets is called digipeating. A node that does nothing but relay packets is a digipeater. A node that makes a connection between two packet networks or between a packet network and the Internet is called a gateway.

APRS and tracking

The Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) is an amateur invention that combines GPS positioning and packet radio. APRS was developed by Bob Bruninga (WB4APR).

The most common use of APRS is to relay location data from GPS receivers via 2 meter radio as an “I am here” service. APRS packets are received directly by other hams or by a packet radio digipeater. If they’re received by a digipeater, the packets may also be relayed to a gateway station that forwards the call sign and position information to an APRS server accessed through the Internet. After the information is received by a server, it can be viewed through a web browser or an APRS viewing program.

The most common frequency for APRS is 144.39 MHz, although you can use 145.01 and 145.79 MHz. You can find a group of HF APRS users using LSB transmission on 10.151 MHz. The actual tones are below the carrier frequency of 10.151 MHz and fall inside the 30 meter band.

The map in Figure 11-3 shows the location of WA1LOU-8. WA1LOU is a call sign, and -8 is a secondary station ID (SSID), allowing the call sign to be used for several purposes with different SSIDs. The figure shows that WA1LOU is in Connecticut, 7.9 miles northeast of Waterbury. You can zoom in on WA1LOU’s location. If the radio changes location, this change is updated on the map at the rate at which the operator decides to have his APRS system broadcast the information.

Lots of people have developed maps based on APRS data. Some of the best known are www.findu.com and www.aprs.fi. Enter aprs map display to obtain a long list of available mapping services.

If you have a GPS receiver with an NMEA (National Marine Electronics Association) 0183 data output port and a 2 meter rig and packet radio TNC, you’re ready to participate. Kenwood and Yaesu make APRS-ready 2 meter radios that include GPS receivers or have direct GPS data interfaces. Icom radios with GPS and D-STAR can send data to the APRS network via the D-PRS app.

You don’t need a handheld or mobile transceiver to send information to the APRS servers. An APRS tracker is a combination low-power 2 meter transceiver, GPS receiver, and a microcontroller to handle the packet radio protocol. These are available in various power levels, sizes, and configurations. The Byonics MicroTrak product line (www.byonics.com/microtrak) includes the most common types of trackers. You can put trackers in your car (this is where the commercial LoJack products came from), on your bicycle, or carry them with you on a hike.

It has become quite common for student teams to use APRS trackers in high-altitude balloons, model rockets, and drones. Hams have sent balloons to altitudes of more than 100,000 feet — the edge of space! Figure 11-4 shows the track of WB8ELK’s Skytracker balloon that went around the world six times in 75 days. The solar powered tracker provided updates on the balloon’s position the whole way.

You can learn more about the interesting blend of science and ham radio in high-altitude ballooning at www.arhab.org. The website tracker.habhub.org shows the current location of all balloon-borne trackers.

You can do a lot more with APRS than just report location. APRS supports a short-message format similar to the Short Message Service (SMS) format that’s used for texting on mobile phones. Popular mapping software offers interfaces so that you can have street-level maps linked to your position in real time by ham radio. Race organizers use APRS to keep track of far-flung competitors. You can also add weather conditions to APRS data to contribute to a real-time automated weather tracking network. To find out more, including detailed instructions on configuring equipment, start with the resources listed in Table 11-3.

Broadband-Hamnet and spread spectrum

The widespread adoption of wireless local area network (WLAN) technology such as WiFi has brought the same technology within reach of hams as well. Hams share portions of the 2.4, 3.4, and 5.6 GHz bands with unlicensed LAN devices but without the power restrictions of consumer equipment.

Ham experimenters have adapted commercial WLAN protocols, with higher transmitter power and larger antennas than commercial technology products. The most active group, Broadband-Hamnet (www.broadband-hamnet.org), is building regional networks. See Chapter 9 for a discussion of the growing AREDN systems built around this technology.

Some hams are also using spread-spectrum modems on the UHF and microwave ham bands. At present, a relatively small community of experimenters is attempting to extend the range of commercial technology on amateur frequencies. TAPR hosts the largest community of spread-spectrum experimenters; for information, visit www.tapr.org/spread_spectrum.html.

DXing on the shortwave (HF) bands

The following sections show you how to use the shortwave or HF bands to contact a distant station, known as working DX. Signals routinely travel long distances at frequencies below 30 MHz, bouncing between the ionosphere and the planet’s surface as they go. Even low-power signals can be heard over long distances on the shortwave bands, so HF DXing is often a worldwide event, with stations calling from several continents.

VHF and UHF DXing are no less exciting on these bands but require a different approach. Propagation is much more selective here, so fewer signals are detectable at one time and usually come from stations concentrated in a few areas. These differences make DXing quite different on the shortwave bands versus VHF and UHF — a topic that I cover in “DXing on the VHF and UHF bands,” later in this chapter.

If you want more information about propagation, check out the Ham Radio For Dummies page at www.dummies.com. For in-depth information about shortwave DXing techniques, I recommend The Complete DXer, by Bob Locher (W9KNI), published by Idiom Press. Now in its third edition, Locher’s book has mentored legions of beginning DXers. Although it was published in 2003, the propagation basics don’t go out of date.

Picking up DX signals

Even if you have a very modest home or mobile HF station, you can work DX. Skill and knowledge compensate for a great deal of disparity in equipment. The first skill to master is how to listen.

Signals coming from far away have to make several hops off the ionosphere and take several paths to your station. The signals mix with one another as they arrive at your antenna, spreading out in time and changing strength rapidly. You need to be able to recognize accents and signals that have a curious, hollow, or fluttery sound, because they mean that DX is at hand.

Start tuning from the bottom of the band, and keep listening, noting what you hear and at what times. In DXing, experience with the characteristics of a band’s propagation is the best teacher. Try to detect a pattern when signals from different population centers appear, and see how the seasons affect propagation on the different bands. Soon, you’ll recognize the signals of regulars on the band, too.

If you plan on doing a lot of DXing, bookmark the ARRL’s DXCC Award program website at www.arrl.org/dxcc, and purchase or download a copy of the ARRL DXCC List (www.arrl.org/files/file/DXCC/2016%20DXCC%20Current.pdf) and a ham radio prefix map of the world for reference. Maps are often available for free from manufacturers like Yaesu and Icom, or you can use the great software maps described in the nearby Tip. These tools help you figure out what countries correspond to the call signs you hear. Another handy tool is a prefix list, which helps you figure out call signs’ countries of origin. A detailed prefix-country list is available at www.ac6v.com/prefixes.htm#PRI.

While you’re collecting resources, here’s another suggestion: Centered on your location, an azimuthal-equidistant (or az-eq) map, such as the one in Figure 11-5, tells you the direction from which a signal is coming. Because signals travel along the “Great Circle” paths between stations (imagine a string stretched tightly around a globe between the stations), the path for any signal you hear follows the radial line from the middle of the map (your location) directly to the other station. If the path goes the long way around, it goes off the edge of the map, which is halfway around the world from your station, and reappears on the other side. Most signal paths stay entirely on the map because they take the short path. Some az-eq maps are available in the ARRL Operating Manual; you can also generate a custom map at sites such as www.wm7d.net/azproj.shtml.

Two great collections of online ham radio maps and mapping software are DX Atlas by Alex Shovkoplyas (VE3NEA), at www.dxatlas.com, and Mapability, by Tim Makins (EI8HC), at www.mapability.com/ei8ic. Either of these packages is a tremendous asset to ham radio operating and enjoyment.

DAYTIME SIGNALS

You must account for the fluctuations in the ionosphere when you’re DXing. Depending on the hour, the ionosphere absorbs a signal or reflects it over the horizon as described in Chapter 8. In the daytime, the 14, 18, 21, 24, and 28 MHz bands, called the high bands, tend to be open to DX stations — that is, they support propagation.

Hams have just gotten access to two new bands in the U.S.! The 630 meter band at 472–479 kHz and the 2200 meter band at 135.7 and 137.8 kHz. Both of these bands have special rules as explained at www.arrl.org/frequency-allocations. You may also see references to the “4 meter” or “70 MHz” band. Those frequencies are only available to hams in Europe and Africa at the moment.

Before daylight, signals begin to appear from the east, beginning with 14 MHz and progressing to the higher-frequency bands over a few hours. After sunset, the signals linger from the south and west for several hours, with the highest-frequency bands closing first, in reverse order.

Daytime DXers tend to follow the maximum usable frequency (MUF), the highest signal the ionosphere reflects. These reflections are at a low angle and so can travel the longest distance for a single reflection. (One reflection is called a hop.) Because the signal gets to where it’s going in the fewest hops, it has a higher signal strength.

NIGHTTIME DXING

The nighttime bands of 10, 7, 5, 3.5, and 1.8 MHz are known as the low bands. These bands are throttled for long-distance communication during the daytime hours by absorption in the lower layers of the ionosphere. At sunset, these bands start to come alive.

First, 10, 7, and 5 MHz may open in late afternoon and stay open somewhat after sunrise. The 3.5 and 1.8 MHz bands, however, make fairly rapid transitions around dawn and dusk. Signals between stations operating on 3.5 and 1.8 MHz often exhibit a short (15- to 30-minute) peak in signal strength when the easternmost stations are close to sunrise, a peak known as dawn enhancement. This time is good for stations with modest equipment to be on the air and to take advantage of the stronger signals on these more difficult DX bands.

The 160 meter (1.8 MHz) band is known as the top band because for a long time it had the longest wavelength of any currently authorized amateur band. This long wavelength requires larger antennas. Add more atmospheric noise than at higher frequencies, and you have a challenging situation, which is why some of the most experienced DXers love top-band DXing. Imagine trying to receive a 1-kilowatt broadcast station halfway around the world. That’s what top-band DXers are after, and many of them have managed it. The new 630 meter and 2,200 meter bands will present their own challenges. Maybe they’ll become the “tip-top bands”?

Contacting a DX station

Making a call to a DX station requires a little more attention to the clarity of your speech and the quality of your sending than making a call to a nearby ham does. Your signal likely has the same qualities to the DX station as the DX station’s signal does to you — hollow or fluttery and weak — so speak and send extra carefully. Give the other station’s call sign, using the same phonetics that the other station is using; then repeat yours at least twice, using standard phonetics. For Morse code or digital contacts, send the DX station’s call sign once and your call sign two or three times. The speed of your Morse should be no faster than that of the DX station.

To find out when DX stations are active, particularly expeditions to rare places and hams taking a holiday in some exotic location, subscribe to one of the online DX newsletters, such as The Daily DX (www.dailydx.com) and the weekly OPDX Bulletin (www.papays.com/opdx.html). Watch these publications for upcoming or current DX station activity, and program the expected operating frequencies into your rig’s memory for easy access.

Except when signals are quite strong, DX contacts tend to be shorter than contacts with nearby stations. When signals are weak or the other station is rare, a contact may consist of nothing more than a confirmation that both stations have the call signs correct, as well as a signal report (see Chapter 8). To confirm the contact, both you and the DX station must get each other’s call signs correct. To do that, use standard phonetics (on voice transmissions), speak clearly, and enunciate each word.

When it’s time to conclude the contact, you need to let the other station know whether you’ll confirm the contact by using an online system like Logbook of the World (www.arrl.org/logbook-of-the-world) or by sending a QSL card. Collecting QSL cards, like those shown in Figure 11-6, is a wonderful part of the hobby. See Chapter 13 for more info on these cards and on QSLing systems.

YOU DON’T NEED TO SHOUT INTO THE MICROPHONE! Shouting doesn’t make you any louder at the other end. By adjusting your microphone gain and speech processor, you can create a very understandable signal at normal voice levels. Save the shouting for celebrating your latest DX contact; your contacts and family members will thank you for doing so.

If you call and call and can’t get through, or if the stations you contact ask for a lot of repeats and fills (in other words, if they often ask you to repeat yourself), you may have poor transmitted audio quality. Have a nearby friend, such as a club member, meet you on the air when the bands are quiet, and do some audio testing. Check to see whether you have hum or noise on your audio. Noise is often the result of a broken microphone cable connection, either in the microphone itself or at the radio connector. The radio’s power-meter output alone may not tell you when you have a problem, so an on-the-air check is necessary to find it. Inexpensive or old microphones have poor fidelity. If your on-the-air friend says that you sound like a bus-station announcer, upgrade to a better microphone.

DXing on the VHF and UHF bands

Although DXing on the traditional shortwave bands is popular, an active and growing community enjoys DXing on the bands above 30 MHz. The excitement of extending your station’s capability to these bands is being shared by more hams than ever before. The explosion in popularity of VHF/UHF DXing is similar to the explosion of HF DX enthusiasm in the 1960s, when top-quality equipment became available to the average ham. These days, the latest generation of all-band HF/VHF/UHF radio equipment puts top-notch DXing on the shack desktop.

With the exception of the 6 meter band (known as the magic band because of its sudden and dramatic openings for distant stations), these higher frequencies usually don’t support the kind of long-distance, transoceanic contact that’s common on HF, because the ionosphere can’t reflect those signals. VHF/UHF DXers look for contacts by using different methods of propagation.

The VHF and UHF bands have undeserved reputations for being limited to line-of-sight contacts because of the limitations of previous generations of relatively insensitive equipment and the prevalence of FM, which takes considerably more signal strength to provide signal quality equivalent to single sideband (SSB) and Morse code transmissions. You can also make use of the WSJT digital modes discussed earlier in this chapter. By taking advantage of well-known modes of radio propagation, you can extend your VHF and UHF range dramatically beyond the horizon.

Choosing a contest

Contest styles run the gamut from low-key, take-your-time events occurring on a few frequencies to band-filling events involving hectic activity in all directions. Table 11-5 lists some popular contests.

Most contests run annually, occurring on the same weekend every year. The full-weekend contests generally start at 0000 UTC (Friday night in the United States) and end 48 hours later (Sunday night in the United States) at 2359 UTC. You don’t have to stay up for two days, but some amazing operators do. Most contests have time limits or much shorter hours.

The Rookie Roundup (www.arrl.org/rookie-roundup) is a six-hour contest just for new hams. There are three each year: April (SSB), August (RTTY), and December (CW). Report your score online and the results are published a few days later. The old-timers will be lining up to call you for a change! If you’re a student, the School Club Roundup (www.arrl.org/school-club-roundup) is another great contest to get your feet wet. There’s one in October and one in February.

Start by finding out what contests are coming up. Use Table 11-6 to locate several sources of information, or enter contest calendar in a web search engine. The list of contests will also help you identify which contest a station is participating in if you hear it on the air. Most websites include the contest rules or a link to the contest sponsor’s website.

After you know the rules for a particular contest, listen to a participating station. The most important part of each contact is the information passed between stations, known as the exchange. For most contests, the exchange is short — a signal report and some identification such as a serial number (the count of contacts you made), name, location, or club membership number. By reading the rules or simply listening, you’ll know what’s required and the order in which you need to send your information. When you’re ready, give the contest a try.

If you don’t know the rules of a contest but want to help a station calling “CQ contest” with a contact, wait until the station doesn’t have anyone calling and then ask what information is needed. Stations in the contest want your contact and will help guide you through whatever they need.

Operating in a contest

Don’t be intimidated by the rapid-fire action that occurs during contests. Contesting is unusual as a sport, in that the participants score by cooperating with one another. Even archrivals need to put each other in their logs to earn points. All the participants, including the big guns, need and want to talk to you.

You needn’t have a huge and powerful station to enjoy contesting; most contesters have a simple setup. Besides, the most important part is the operator. If you listen, know the rules, and have your station ready to go, you’re all set.

Taking tips from winners

After you’ve participated a few contests, you may feel that the top scores are out of your reach. How do the contest winners achieve them? They’ll tell you that no magic is involved: Winning contests comes down to perseverance and patient practice. The following sections discuss a few tricks of the trade that you’ll develop with time.

The World Radiosport Team Championship (WRTC) is a true “world series of radio contesting.” Held every four years, the event was first held in Seattle, Washington in 1990. Since then, WRTC events have been organized in San Francisco (1996), Slovenia (2000), Finland (2002), Brazil, (2006), Moscow (2010), and Boston (2014). As this book is being written, final preparations are underway for WRTC 2018 in Wittenberg, Germany (www.wrtc2018.de/index.php/en). Along with more than 100 competitors, referees, and judges, hundreds of visiting contesters will participate. To find out more about WRTC and really get the flavor of radio contesting, get a copy of frequent competitor Jim George’s (N3BB) excellent book, Contact Sport.

Finding awards and special events

You can find awards almost everywhere you look. CQ magazine, for example, runs a column featuring novel awards every month, and The K1BV DX Awards Directory (www.dxawards.com) lists more than 3,300 awards from nearly every country. Want to try for the “Tasmanian Devil” award? Contact VK7 (Tasmania’s prefix) amateurs. Or pursue the South African Relay League’s “All Africa” award for contacting the six South African call areas and 25 other African countries.

Most awards have no time limit, but some span a given period, often a year. Whatever your tastes and capabilities, you can find awards that suit you. For example, during the ARRL’s centennial year, its famous call sign W1AW was activated in each of the 50 U.S. states and many of the territories. If you “worked ’em all” you received the nice certificate shown in Figure 11-8.

Along with ongoing awards programs, you can find many special-event stations and operations, which often feature special call signs with unusual prefixes (of great interest to hams who chase the WPX award; refer to Table 11-5) and colorful, unusual QSL cards. Ham stations often take part in large sporting events and public festivals, such as international expositions and the Olympic Games. The larger special-event stations are well publicized and are listed on web pages such as www.arrl.org/special-event-stations, in the DX bulletins mentioned earlier in this chapter, and on the ham Internet portals I discuss in Chapter 3. Other special-event stations just show up unannounced on the air, which makes finding them exciting.

Recording (logging) contacts

Before embarking on a big adventure to achieve an obscure award, find out whether the award is still active by checking with the sponsors. Get a positive “go ahead” if you have the slightest question whether an award program is active.

Determine whether the award requires you to submit QSL cards. Overseas sponsors may allow you to submit a simple list of contacts that comply with their General Certification Rules (GCR) instead of requiring you to submit actual cards.

When you make an eligible contact, be sure to log any information that the award may require. If you’re working Japanese cities, for example, some awards may require you to get a city number or other ID. This information may be printed on the QSL card that the other station sends you, so ask for the information during the contact itself. Grid-square information isn’t always on QSLs, either. Be sure to ask during the contact or in a written note on the QSL you send to the other station.

If you make a contact for an award that favors a certain geographic area, ask the station’s operator whether he or she will let others know you’re chasing the award, which may even generate a couple more contacts for you right on the spot. Certainly, the request lets stations in the desired area know to listen for you on the band or perhaps arrange a schedule. This technique helps a lot for difficult awards or contacts in remote areas.

Applying for awards

When applying for an award, use the proper forms, addresses, and forms of payments. Follow the instructions for submitting your application to the letter. If you aren’t certain, ask the sponsor. Don’t send your hard-earned QSLs or money before you know what to do.

When you do apply for the awards, you may want to send the application by registered or certified mail, particularly if precious QSLs or an application fee are inside. Outside the developed countries, postal workers are notorious for opening any mail that may contain valuables. Make your mail look as boring and ordinary as possible; keep envelopes thin, flat, and opaque.

Starting with Farnsworth

The style that most hams are successful with is the Farnsworth method. The dits and dahs of each character are sent at the code speed you want to achieve (measured in words per minute [wpm]), but the individual characters are spaced far enough apart in time that the overall word speed is low enough for you to process the character’s sound pattern. This spacing is called character spacing. For the beginner, a common sending speed for individual characters is 17 wpm; the character spacing results in a much lower overall speed for the words.

By sending the character elements at high speed, you hear them as one continuous pattern and keep from falling into the look-it-up-in-the-table trap. Thinking of the code as a table of letters in one column and a dot-dash pattern in another is a natural tendency. When you hear a sequence of code elements (the dots and dashes), such as short-long-long, you look it up in your head to find the character W. This method works, but only up to speeds of a few wpm, and it’s a very hard habit to break.

Choose a study aid that uses the Farnsworth or Koch method. The ARRL and Gordon West study tapes and books are good choices, as are the Ham University and Morse Academy software. (Go to www.ac6v.com/morseprograms.htm for an encyclopedic listing of Morse code training aids.) The FISTS Club (www.fists.org), a group dedicated to helping hams learn Morse code, also offers low-cost training software from K7QO and on-the-air assistance and training. (A person’s style of sending is known as his fist.) The CW Ops group (https://www.cwops.org/) features free training classes as part of its CW Academy program, too.

While you’re listening to Morse, you may hear some odd characters that don’t make up a word or abbreviation, especially as the operators start and stop sending. These characters are prosigns (short for procedural signs) used to control who sends and who doesn’t. On voice, “over” is the same as the prosign K. Some prosigns, such as BK (break), are two letters sent together. Others include SK, which means “end of contact,” and KN, which means “only the station I am in contact with start transmitting.” You can find out more about prosigns and other Morse conventions and abbreviations at www.hamuniverse.com/qsignals.html.

Sharpening your skills

Figure 11-9 shows the normal progression in code speed. Between steps, or plateaus, you achieve new skills. While you’re on a plateau, you refine or solidify the skill. Over time, you progress from copying letter by letter to hearing whole groups of characters and then words.

A great way to gauge your Morse code proficiency is with live code practice, which enhances your taped or computer-generated studies. The most widely received code-practice sessions are transmitted by the ARRL’s station W1AW in Newington, Connecticut (www.arrl.org/w1aw). Code practice may be available on a VHF or UHF repeater in your area, too. Check with your local radio clubs to find out.

The secret of mastering Morse code is keeping at it. You’ll have days when conquering new letters and higher speeds seem to come effortlessly; then you’ll have days when progress is elusive. Those plateau days are the most important times to keep going, because they’re the times when your brain is completing its new wiring.

Getting started is always the hardest part, and a club of Morse enthusiasts is dedicated to helping you over that hurdle. The FISTS Club (www.fists.org) helps you be successful on the air by providing a code buddy, and sponsors short, low-key (so to speak) operating events that are both fun and great practice.

As you discover more code, work it into everyday life. While you’re driving to work, for example, whistle or hum the code for license plates, billboards, and signs.

Soon, you’ll effortlessly copy bits and pieces that seemed impossible to grasp only days before. Characters that were hopelessly opaque become as natural as speech. Trust me — learning Morse code well enough to begin making contacts is within your grasp if you’re willing to give it a try.

Copying the code

To get really comfortable with CW, you need to copy in your head. Watching good operators having a conversation without writing down a word is an eye-opener. How do they do that? The answer is practice.

As your code speed increases during the learning process, you gradually achieve the ability to process whole groups of characters as one group of sound. Copying in your head just takes that ability to another level. To get there, spend some time just listening to code on the air without writing anything down. Without the need to respond to the sender, you can relax and not get all tensed up, trying not to miss a character. Soon, you’ll be able to hold more and more of the contact in your head without diminishing your copying ability.

When you try making Morse contact for real, jot down topics and information for your part of the next transmission on a piece of paper. (Resist the temptation to write each letter on the paper.)

“Read the mail” (listen to contacts) on the bands, trying to relax as much as possible without staying right up with each character. Don’t force the meaning; let your brain give it to you when it’s ready. Gradually, the meaning pops into your head farther and farther behind the characters as they’re actually received. What’s happening is that your brain is doing its own form of error correcting, making sure that what you copy makes sense and taking cues from previous words and characters to fill in any blanks.

Good copying ability sneaks up on you over time. When you really hit a groove, you’re barely conscious of the copying process at all. CW has become your second language.

Pounding Brass — Sending Morse

You may think that sending ability automatically follows receiving ability. To some extent, that’s true, but after listening to other operators on the air, you’ll find a wide range of sending ability. It isn’t hard to develop a good, smooth sending style.

First, decide what type of device you want to use to send code. The basic telegraph key, or straight key, shown in Figure 11-10, is used on the bands every day, but sending good code at high speed with one is challenging. The straight key tops out at somewhere between 20 and 30 words per minute (wpm). At these speeds, sending becomes a full-body experience, and you have to be really skilled to make it sound good.

You can find several better options. Before the advent of inexpensive electronics, fast code was sent with an automatic key, now known as a bug, shown in the bottom of Figure 11-10. It’s called a bug because the largest manufacturer, Vibroplex (www.vibroplex.com), uses a lightning bug as its symbol. Note: Bugs are rarely heard today, which makes their rhythm unusual and hard to copy, especially in the fist of an unskilled operator.

Electronic keyers are the most common way to send CW today. These devices generate dots and dashes electronically, controlled by the keying paddles (also shown in Figure 11-10), referring to the flat ovals touched by the operator. The simplest electronic keyers only make strings of dits and dahs; the operator must put them together with the right timing. More sophisticated keyers make sure that the spacing between dits and dahs is correct and even for better “copy.”

Iambic keyers will send alternating di-dah-di-dah-di-dah patterns if both the dot and dash paddle are closed. Some operators prefer iambic keying because it saves some finger movement. You won’t need to worry about that as a beginner.

A good operator can send well over 30 wpm with an electronic keyer and comfortable paddle. If you’re serious about Morse, I recommend that you start with a paddle and keyer so that you don’t have to change gears as your speed increases.

No matter whether you decide to start with a straight key or a paddle, use a good-quality instrument, for that’s what it is: an instrument. See whether you can borrow or try one out. Experiment with different styles, and eventually you’ll find one that feels just right. Key and paddle manufacturers are listed in QST magazine’s advertising pages.

CW is a lot easier to learn and copy if you’re equipped to listen to it properly. For starters, headphones (cans) really help because they block out distracting noise. When you’re copying code, your brain evaluates every little bit of sound your ears receive, so make its job easier by limiting noncode sounds.

Settling on one preferred pitch for the tones is natural, but over long periods, you can wear out your ear at that pitch. Keep the volume down and try different pitches so you don’t fatigue your hearing.

When you have a comfortable audio environment, be sure that your radio is set up properly. Most radios come with a receiving filter intended for use with voice signals. Typically, a voice filter is 2.4 kHz wide (meaning that it passes a portion of radio spectrum or audio that spans 2.4 kHz) to pass the human voice clearly. CW doesn’t need all that bandwidth. A filter 500 Hz wide is a better choice, and you can purchase one as an accessory for an older radio without adjustable software filters. The narrower filter removes nearby signals and noise that interfere with the desired signal. In fact, four or five code signals can happily coexist in the bandwidth occupied by a single voice signal.

Narrower isn’t necessarily better below 400–500 Hz. A very narrow filter, such as 250 Hz models, may allow you to slice your radio’s view of the spectrum very thin, but the tradeoff is an unnatural sound, and you’ll be less able to hear what’s going on around your frequency. These extra-narrow filters are useful when interference or noise is severe, but use a wider filter for regular operation.

Be sure to read the sections on CW operation in your radio’s operating manual. Find out how to use all the filter adjustment controls, such as the IF Shift and Passband Tuning controls. Most CW operators like to set the AGC control to the FAST setting so that the radio receiver recovers rapidly. Being able to get the most out of your receiver is just as important on CW as on voice.

Making code contacts

Making code contacts, or CW, is a lot like making voice contacts in terms of structure. Hams are hams, after all. What’s different about the Morse code contact is the heavy use of abbreviations, shorthand, and prosigns (two-letter combinations used to control the flow of a contact) to cut down the number of characters you send. You can find a complete list of CW abbreviations and prosigns at www.ac6v.com/morseaids.htm and in the ARRL Operating Manual (www.arrl.org/shop/operating).

As you start, find an operator sending code at a speed you feel comfortable receiving. Slow-speed code operators are often found well above the digital signals — around 3.600, 7.100 to 7.125, 21.100 to 21.175, and just above 28.100 MHz. These are the old Novice license bands. Medium-speed QSOs are the norm elsewhere, even mixed in with high-speed operators down low in the band. When you’re sending a Morse code CQ, don’t send faster than you can receive. Having to ask the responding station to QRS (slow down) because you hustled through your CQ can be embarrassing.

After you begin a contact and exchange call signs, giving your call sign every time you turn the transmission over to the other station isn’t necessary, but you must include it once every ten minutes, as required by FCC rules. Send your information and end with the “BK” prosign to signal the other station that he or she can go ahead. This method is much more efficient than sending call signs every time.

At the conclusion of a Morse code contact, after all the 73s (best regards) and CULs (see you later), be sure to close with the appropriate prosign: SK for “end of contact” or CL if you’re going off the air. You may also hear the other station send “shave and a haircut” (dit-dididit-dit), and you’re expected to respond with “two bits” (dit dit). These rhythms are deeply ingrained in ham radio and even occur in spoken conversations between hams. I wrap up many a chat with “diddly bump-de-bump,” the rhythm of SK, or just “dit dit,” meaning “See ya!” Yeah, it’s a little goofy, but have fun!

Getting started with QRP

To start QRPing, just tune to a clear frequency nearby and call CQ. You don’t need to call CQ QRP unless you specifically want to contact other QRPers.

If you’re just getting started, tune in a strong signal, and give that station a call with your transmitter output power turned down to QRP levels. (Check your radio operating manual for instructions.) Make sure that your transmissions are clear, which allows the other station to copy your call sign easily.

Some low-power stations send their call with /QRP tacked onto the end to indicate that they’re running low power. This procedure isn’t necessary and can be confusing if your signal is weak. After all, that’s more characters for the other station to copy, isn’t it?

Getting deeper into QRP

When you have some experience with QRPing, you may want to get deeper into that aspect of the hobby by taking up the following pursuits:

• Building your own QRP gear: Many QRPers delight in building their own equipment — the smaller and lighter, the better. You can find lots of kits, such as the popular backpackable PFR-3 transceiver from Hendricks QRP Kits (www.qrpkits.com), shown in Figure 11-11, and homebrew designs for hams who have good construction skills.

  QRPers probably build more equipment than those in any other segment of the hobby, so if you want to find out about radio electronics, you might consider joining a QRP club (discussed later in this list) and one of the QRP email mailing lists.

• Entering QRP contests: You’ll find some QRP-only contests, and nearly all the major contests have QRP categories. Many awards have a special endorsement for one-way and two-way QRP. The QRP clubs themselves have their own awards, including my all-time favorite, the 1,000 Miles Per Watt award (www.qrparci.org). Some stations make contact with so little power that their contacts equate to millions of miles per watt!
• Joining QRP organizations: QRPers are enthusiastic and helpful types, always ready to act as QRP Elmers. Their clubs and magazines are full of “can-do” ham spirit.

Look for special gatherings of QRP enthusiasts at conventions, such as the internationally attended Four Days in May (www.qrparci.org/fdim), which coincides with the Dayton Hamvention (see Chapter 3). Other QRP gatherings occur around the United States throughout the year.

Portable QRP operating

I talk about mobile and portable equipment and accessories in Chapter 14. Now, consider the natural partnership of QRP and operating from “out there.” The capabilities of QRP transceivers today range from minimalist designs to full-scale state of the art transceivers like the Elecraft KX- series (www.elecraft.com). Coupled with better antenna designs and some interesting award programs, portable QRP operation has really taken off.

Do you like to hike and camp? Why not try to activate one of the Summits on the Air peaks? Do islands float your boat, so to speak? For saltwater islands, the Islands On the Air program is top notch. Freshwater islands have their own place in the sun with the U.S. Islands program.

Even the Scouts have their “on the air” program. Listen for Jamboree On the Air (JOTA: www.scouting.org/jota.aspx) each year on the third weekend of October as thousands of scouts around the world get a taste of ham radio.

Table 11-9 lists some QRP and portable operating resources, including large QRP organizations and online groups.

Direction-finding (ARDF)

Although it’s not a transmitting event, the popular outdoor activity known as direction-finding has a similar philosophy to portable, low-power operating. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_radio_direction_finding). In these events, low-power transmitters operating on 3.5 MHz and the 2 meter band are hidden around a park or other site. Competitors like those in Figure 11-12 then find all the transmitters as quickly as they can, combining orienteering and map-reading skills with radio expertise to use directional antennas and lightweight receivers. There are entry classes for kids through seniors and you can participate at a walk or on the run.

The Amateur Radio Direction Finding organization hosts regular meets around the U.S. and worldwide. The culmination is a world championship and the most recent was in Bulgaria in 2016. The 2017 U.S. ARDF championships were held in Cincinnati, Ohio (ardfusa.com/2017-championships).

An interesting variation on ARDF combines geocaching (www.geocaching.com — finding small caches of trinkets or a logbook from GPS coordinates) with direction-finding. This is often referred to as geo-foxing where “fox” is another name for the hidden transmitter. Begin with finding a temporary geocache where you find the frequency and call sign of a hidden transmitter. At the transmitter, you find the coordinates of the next geocache. The process can be repeated for as many geocaches and transmitters as you like — or can find! Be sure your transmitter is located in the beacon segment of the band so that unattended operation is legal.

Getting grounded in satellite basics

Most amateur satellites are located in near-circular low Earth orbit, circling the planet several a times each day. For practical and regulatory reasons, satellite transmissions are found on the 21 and 28 MHz HF bands, the VHF/UHF bands at 144 and 432 MHz, and microwaves at 1296 MHz and higher. The ionosphere doesn’t pass signals reliably at lower frequencies, and satellite antennas need to be small, requiring shorter wavelengths.

The satellite’s input frequencies are called the uplink, and the output frequencies are called the downlink. The pieces of information that describe a satellite’s orbit (and allow software to determine where it is) are called the orbital or Keplerian elements. Knowing where a particular satellite is in space is required for you to operate through it.

There are four common types of satellites:

• Transponder: A transponder listens on a range of frequencies on one band, translates those signals to a different band, and retransmits them in real time.
• Repeater: Just like terrestrial repeaters, repeater satellites listen and receive on a specific pair of channels. Satellite repeaters are crossband, meaning that their input and output frequencies are on different bands.
• Digital: Digital satellites can act as bulletin boards or as store-and-forward systems. You can access both types of digital satellites by using regular packet radio protocols and equipment. The International Space Station (ISS) has a digital bulletin board that’s available to hams on the ground, as well as an onboard APRS digipeater. Store-and-forward satellites act as message gateways, accepting messages and downloading them to a few control stations around the world. The control stations also pass messages back up to the satellites that are downloaded by ground-based users. Digital satellites are very useful to hams at sea or in remote locations.
• Telemetry: Many student teams and other noncommercial groups (whose members have licenses, like all other hams) use amateur radio frequencies to build small satellites called CubeSats, which are launched into low Earth orbit as a group when a commercial satellite launch has spare payload capacity. Each CubeSat measures something or performs some interesting function and then sends a stream of digital data (telemetry) back to Earth. A CubeSat may or may not be controllable by telecommand from a ham station on Earth. CubeSats typically operate for less than a month; then they gradually reenter the atmosphere and burn up.

If you’re interested in supporting or working with a CubeSat team, check out the NASA CubeSat initiative (www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/home/CubeSats_initiative.html).

Accessing satellites

The best place to find out which satellites are active and in what mode is the AMSAT home page (www.amsat.org). Click the Satellite Info and Current Status links to get complete information about what each satellite does and its current operational status.

To access satellites, you also need a satellite tracking program. Several of these programs, including free and shareware trackers, are listed at www.dxzone.com/catalog/Software/Satellite_tracking. AMSAT also provides several professional-quality tracking and satellite operation programs.

When you have the tracking software, obtain the Keplerian elements for the satellite you’re seeking from the AMSAT home page (click the Keplerian Elements link). Enter this information into your software program, and make sure that your computer’s time and date settings are correct.

A complete set of instructions on using satellites is beyond the scope of Ham Radio For Dummies, but a short example of how to connect to the packet station aboard the ISS and receive a nice certificate is available at websites like amsat-uk.org/beginners/how-to-work-the-iss-on-aprs-packet-radio.

One satellite everybody can see is the Moon! Your radio signals can see it, too, so hams have naturally tried to bounce signals off the ol’ orb — successfully! As mentioned in the prior section on Digital Modes, new digital modes and computer processing power make it possible for hams using modest equipment to make moonbounce or Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) contacts. The Moon is definitely within your reach!

Slow-scan television and facsimile

You can find slow-scan television (SSTV) primarily on the HF bands, where SSB voice transmission is the norm. The name comes from the fact that transmitting the picture over a narrow channel made for voice transmissions takes several seconds. Usually, you can hear slow-scan signals in the vicinity of 14.230 and 21.340 MHz by using USB transmissions.

SSTV enthusiasts start with a webcam or video camera and a sound card. They use frame-grabber software to convert the camera video to data files. Graphics files from any source can be used. SSTV software encodes and decodes the files, which are exchanged as audio transmitted and received with a voice SSB transceiver. You can use analog SSTV, in which the picture is encoded as different audio frequencies, or digital SSTV, in which the picture is broken into individual pixels and transmitted via a digital protocol.

Facsimile over radio is still a widely used method of obtaining weather information from land-based and satellite stations. Hams rarely transmit fax signals anymore, but it’s handy to be able to receive fax transmissions.

You can find links to detailed information about SSTV and facsimile transmission at www.ac6v.com/opmodes.htm#SS and www.qsl.net/kb4yz.

Fast-scan television

You can also send full-motion video, just as regular broadcasters do, with fast-scan video transmissions. Fast-scan uses the same video standards as analog broadcast and consumer video, so you can use regular analog video equipment. This mode is usually called amateur television (ATV) and is most popular in metropolitan and suburban areas, where transmission distances are relatively short. ATV even has its own repeaters.

The Ham TV website (www.hamtv.com) has lots of resources for ATV. It includes sections on using ATV to beam back photos from RC-controlled planes and drones, balloons, and rockets.

ATV transmissions are restricted to the 440 MHz band and higher frequencies because of their wide bandwidth — up to 6 MHz. You won’t be able to use your regular 70 cm transmitter to handle that bandwidth, so you must construct or purchase a transmitter designed specifically for ATV. The transmitters are designed to accept a regular video camera signal, so little extra equipment except a good antenna is required to use ATV.

Many ATV transmissions use the same video transmission format (called NTSC) that analog TV broadcasts did. That means old analog television receivers can be used as receivers. A frequency converter is used to transfer the ham band ATV signals to one of the higher UHF TV channels, where they’re received just like any other TV signals.

Hams are also using the same types of signals as digital TV broadcasts or DTV. As of late 2017 more surplus equipment has become available and hams are migrating to DTV formats. There are repeaters for DTV, too. The DATV-Express project (www.datv-express.com) is working to develop and produce inexpensive DTV equipment that doesn’t rely on the availability of broadcast industry surplus. This is an active area of experimentation so expect the situation to change.