Interesting Links

This Bulletin page will continue to grow with input from members and contributors as needed so check it from time to time for updates. New content will be inserted at the top.

Share an interesting site with others by sending a link and a brief comment about it to editor@emdrc.com.au

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How much power do you need to be heard?

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John, VK3PZ sent in this one:

“Manny told me this story a few years ago, not sure how many members know.’

The sinking of the Monte Palomares-

http://maritimeradio.org/in-distress/1966-monte-palomares/

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David, VK3RU found this piece of history initially published by EMDRC –

I was surfing around mostly looking for info on AR88 restoration and came across this Leader LSG11 FET Conversion.  John will remember I sold mine recently but what grabbed my attention is it seems the concept originates from an old Bulletin article.

Here

Cheers

David

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John, VK3PZ found this article for members reading…

Have you seen this?

FT8 Operating Guide Weak signal HF DXing for technophiles

by Gary Hinson ZL2iFB Version 2.34

No? Here is the URL https://www.g4ifb.com/FT8_Hinson_tips_for_HF_DXers.pdf

and…

Icom 7300 Easy Transmitter Settings For Digital Operation

http://www.k0pir.us/transmitter-settings-digital-operation/

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A nice little project for a Yagi with no reflector from long-bow arrow blanks: https://youtu.be/a4XIgYD-d1k

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Geoff, VK3AVJ thought members may be interested in these links to some Apollo history – a couple of pages with an audio of Apollo11 and the comms links:

https://www.honeysucklecreek.net/msfn_missions/MSFN/NASCOM.html

https://www.honeysucklecreek.net/images/msfn_images/NASCOM_Apollo_5_med.jpg

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Eric, VK3EAC forwarded the following useful and interesting links in:

How to design an rf power amplifier (Keysight Technologies)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhPqPVlDRPY

RSGB 2019 Convention – MW0LNA – Digital homebrewing and the schematics of SDR. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qOiGBbSvVw

For Homebrew ideas: (You might have to copy into browser)

https://www.qsl.net/va3iul/Homebrew_RF_Circuit_Design_Ideas/Homebrew_RF_Circuit_Design_Ideas.htm

About sporadic E propagation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e85t7Z0p088&feature=youtu.be

All about wire antennas – ideas etc.

https://www.qsl.net/va3iul/Antenna/Wire%20Antennas%20for%20Ham%20Radio/Wire_antennas_for_ham_radio.htm

In addition, Eric has built a very handy tone generator for his old 2m box pending the changes to VK3REC a while back. We will (I hope) put the schematic into the sites member section so you need to log in to get it.

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Matt – VK3FDLL, found this link: TinySA, a small spectrum analyzer, at US$49 (US$66.77 delivered to metro Melbourne). It’s of similar build to the NanoVNA, and for the price, would make a welcome addition to any amateur’s kit.
More information is available here: https://tinysa.org/wiki/pmwiki.php?n=Main.HomePage

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Physics site Physics Org has a lot of very interesting articles. David, VK3RU sent this link relating to progress of sodium batteries: https://phys.org/news/2020-07-lithium-sodium-batteries.html?utm_source=nwlet

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Now, many of you may well know Peter and his exploits in amateur radio, and especially QRP. In fact I bet that many of you have worked Peter as he tests he latest creation or enjoying the beach and the advantage of salt water with QRP . in case you haven’t, here are a couple of links to hours of interest either through YouTube or via Peter’s site:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=vk3ye

http://vk3ye.com

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The tragic birth of FM radio”, about Edwin Armstrong:

https://damninteresting.com/the-tragic-birth-of-fm-radio

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Tom, VK3FTOM sent this link in:

RSGB 2019 Convention lecture: The future and growth of amateur radio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnZY4vgThOA&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR0UZYi6gv6Jfg_mHgsRRSUBuf8sXXbd3kA0w9IgWqVx1eba_T6DjYgZ6nQ

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John, VK3JO sent these links in-

A very interesting link to an inexpensive SDR Radio Project to go with an Existing PC or Laptop.

https://www.instructables.com/id/A-Software-Defined-Radio-on-a-Shoestring/

This link contains many hypertext links to Data, Drivers, Main Program etc.

In particular the quick start guide to SDR dongles relating  to this project..

https://www.rtl-sdr.com/buy-rtl-sdr-dvb-t-dongles/

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Chris, VK3QB, sent in this link:

Ian VK3BUF has produced a short and instructional video illustrating how ferrites can be used to reduce QRM in your shack.  It accompanies his article “The Truth about Ferrites” – read it here

https://qrm.guru/the-truth-about-ferrites/

You can view the video here

https://qrm.guru/the-effectiveness-of-ferrites/

Our QRM Kits are back in stock…  check them out here

DF Loops kits and ferrite kits

https://qrm.guru/category/qrm-kill-kits/

and…

Ian – BIG congrats – “The Truth about ferrites” with 736 views. Most visited page on the GURU.

https://www.dxzone.com/dx33897/qrm-guru.html

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The RASA Welcome to Amateur Radio guidebook provides an introduction to our hobby for newly licenced Foundation class amateurs.

The book is published digitally.  It contains many hotlinks to external websites with useful information.

It is available as an Acrobat pdf file suitable for reading on a PC or tablet.  It can be printed if required.

It is also available as an eBook for the Kindle, Nook and Kobo readers as well as the Apple Books app.

Download here:

https://vkradioamateurs.org/welcome-to-ar-guidebook-for-newcomers/

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Alan VK3AJH sent in this link re the UK CODE OF PRACTICE for the installation of mobile radio and related ancillary equipment in land based vehicles here:

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Paul, VK3HN, has a very nice site and some very interesting videos of his work on homebrew, QRP, maker etc. A nice little dipole article for an ‘isolation’ project in these times too. Check Paul’s site at:

https://vk3hn.wordpress.com/category/homebrew/

and some nicely done videos a: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJS-RCJIkCgLLj3xAkEicWQ/videos

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Want to close the eyes and just listen? Amateur Radio Podcasts may help.

Martin VK3FG.

(For those who are not familiar with podcasts, they are in essence (usually) a pre-recorded audio stream that you can listen to on your computer, ipad, tablet or phone. The best way I think to listen is when downloaded to my iPhone when at home – but you can stream them also on the phone etc if you have mobile data enabled. But when to listen? Walking the dog, riding the train, driving are my favourites. Earbuds when walking allows some ambient noise to come through and bluetooth when driving – so much better than the majority of radio choices, especially when travelling long distances. 

Many of the podcasts listed have useful websites and social media links and some even video stream – not a good idea when driving hi. This first site for example allows download or play via different options based on your preferred technology.)

Let me know of your favourites and I’ll add them.
A couple of my favourites:

Ham Radio Workbench – 

http://www.hamradioworkbench.com

This Ham Radio podcast deep dives on making, DIY, electronics, and technical topics of interest to the amateur radio operator.  Your hosts George KJ6VU and Jeremy KF7IJZ discuss current developments in ham radio while introducing listeners to a plethora of topics and skills such as test equipment, 3D Printing, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and more.

A couple of recent dives I enjoyed in particular are:

HRWB083-Magnetic Loop Antennas

HRWB082-Software Defined Radio Software

Linux in the ham shack-

https://lhspodcast.info

A range of interesting topics often Linux centred but certainly not always

LHS Episode #301: Pi-Star Deep Dive Part 1

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Mark. VK3MD, forwarded on this link:

I use this site a bit for work. It has a good Advanced search tool.
https://maprad.io/au

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Jim, VK3ZKK, thought these would be of interest to readers. Thanks Jim, very handy indeed!

If you want to repair equipment with SMD components or salvage useful active SMD parts from printed circuit boards you will want to identify them.
SMD devices are too small to print conventional semiconductor type numbers onto so device packages are marked with a two or three character ID.
It is possible to identify the manufacturers’ type number by searching through numerous databooks.
This URL lists over 3,400 device codes in alphabetical order together with type numbers, device characteristics, equivalents and pinout.
https://www.sphere.bc.ca/download/smd-codebook.pdf

This URL has a 1,060 page databook of  SMD components
http://caxapa.ru/thumbs/588912/smd-codes.pdf

The two databooks can be saved to your computer as a PDF file for future reference or searched when required.

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Nicely shown video for 80-10m end-fed – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsgdcHeP6S0

and also a link to https://youtu.be/BpdpkUEW39o

Darrin VK3VDP.

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Eric, VK3EAC, sent in this lot – Perhaps the following YouTube  channels may be of interest:

Trx bench: www.youtube.com/channel/UClqWe58x9q6jx61gB16731A

Mr Carlson’s lab:  https://youtu.be/qqmegXoB7lA

The radio shop:  www.youtube.com/channel/UCHJpeSrEjtVk1YtRU3FrpQQ

Kevin Loughim: www.youtube.com/user/loughkb

http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/m.html  is fascinating to hear what hams can hear in Europe. The whole of the HF frequency spectrum is covered and AM, SSB and CW modes can be selected. It was interesting to see/hear the activity during a recent contest. Then the “Long wave” broadcast band can be received on AM – try 198 kHz.

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NASA At Home

https://www.nasa.gov/specials/nasaathome/index.html?fbclid=IwAR2s4gTcPZep2EUtGhkTXsfR67vvpxrgOZifKMoS3JIxabZRHO_-nHg7Nnk

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European ham with some good tips on using JS8 mode.

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Bob VK3AIC

Have been looking around and found a series on YouTube by M0MCX.

The title “STOP Before you buy an ATU Antenna Tuning Unit for Ham Radio”. It goes for about 18 minutes. Worth having a look.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhsXIyq64Wc

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Interested in CW? Don’t let this scare you. 

https://youtu.be/zceZ2-6TDdc

Slower speed demo’s also available by the author

Martin VK3TMP

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John VK3PZ dug this one up…

http://maritimeradio.org/in-distress/1966-monte-palomares/

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Very Low Frequency submarine comms from David, VK3RU

https://interestingengineering.com/the-radio-network-that-allowed-communication-with-submarines

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Regards Ed.