National Parks on the Air https://npota.arrl.org/nps-events.php
Throughout 2016, Amateur Radio will be helping the National Park Service celebrate their 100th anniversary. Hams from across the country will activate NPS units, promote the National Park Service and showcase Amateur Radio to the public.
Event Date: October 8-9, 2016
Event Title: WW1USA
Location: National WW1 Museum, Liberty Memorial, Kansas City, MO
Website:
Talk In: 145.1300
Public Contact Info: National World War 1 Museum Amateur Radio Club
100 W. 26th St
Kansas City, MO 64108
Battles of Isonzo, Hosted by the Raytown ARC, www.k0gq.com
All licensed operators can get $5 admission to the Museum.
More info at QRZ as well
Pubic Contact Phone: 816-888-8100
Public Contact Email: ww1usa@theworldwar.org
Wireless Holdings sells leading edge modules and accessories to Ham Radio operators. Wireless Holdings has been in the digital gadget market over 40 years, and leverages a network of professional engineers to bring the latest digital gadgets to the market.
Why would anyone be interested in a DV4mini USB Stick? First I should explain that the DV4mini is a miniature, low power transceiver which you can use around the house or portable with any HT capable of one of the four digital modes. DSTAR, DMR Plus, Fusion or P25. Download a copy of the DV4mini manual for more detail.
In my case, even though I live in an area tightly packed with analog RF, there are no digital repeaters close enough to reliably access with an HT. Unless I connect my CS700 to my roof antenna, I cannot reach the DMR TRBO repeater in my area. Visit DMR-MARC if you want to know more about TRBO for Ham Radio.
So using DMR with the DV4mini (although not TRBO) gets me connected to the digital world using DMR Plus (Hytera systems). I cannot speak about DSTAR, Fusion or P25. My only experience has been using DMR Plus. I don’t spend a lot of time with the DV4mini however I had the pleasure of having a QSO with a Ham from Japan a few weeks back.
My 70cm DV4mini has worked flawlessly since I purchased it some months ago. As I mentioned in a prior article, I built up a Raspberry Pi with the necessary software to run the DV4mini console. If anyone is interested in my notes about building up the software necessary to run the DV4mini Console and other Raspian Jessie ramblings, stop by my homebrew Ham Radio Forum.
Recently I received an email stating that Wireless Holdings will start selling the DV4mini in a 2 meter version. Just in time for Dayton Hamvention!
73, Gary KE2YK
World Amateur Radio Day (WARD) is observed every April 18. The date marks the founding of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) back in 1925.
Each year, radio amateurs everywhere will get on the air and celebrate Amateur Radio’s contribution to society.
“April 18 is the day for all of Amateur Radio to celebrate and tell the world about the science we can help teach, the community service we can provide, and the fun we have,” the IARU said in announcing World Amateur Radio Day 2016. “We hope you will join in the fun and education that is World Amateur Radio Day!”
Read the full ARRL article here.
IMHO, one of the things I enjoyed most about the ARRL Centennial Convention in 2014 were the Amateur Radio related forums I attended on a ton of different topics.
One of the forums I attended was Andy’s KB1OIQ’s presentation on his remastered version of Amateur Radio applications running on Ubuntu Linux.
There are a bunch of these remixes like ShackBox floating around but I really enjoyed his presentation and his dedication to his project. Back then I downloaded and ran the version available at that time. It seems that his work continues to be popular since the current SourceForge page shows that he’s had almost 700 downloads just this week.
TUX
Andy now has both a 32-bit and 64-bit version which contain a host of Ham Radio software like Fldigi, NBEMS, Gpredict and many more. Andy’s version 19 matches up with the Ubuntu 14.04.4 LTS release.
As with Andy’s past versions, the GUI desktop is customized with menus for Amateur Radio use. Andy has gone through great pains to make the distribution lightweight so that it will also run on older computer hardware.
Interested? Hop over to Sourceforge and grab Andy’s latest download!
For those of us who take and interest in digital radio or have been experimenting with the DV4Mini, Wireless Holdings recently announced their new DV4 system called DV4home .
According to Wireless Holdings, the DV4home is going to include the following features:
Wireless Holdings states that the finished product will be on display at the Dayton Hamvention.
Recently I picked up a new car and decided that I am done with installing mobile radios, cables and antennas as I had over the past 30 years. I don’t commute any longer and just don’t spend that much time in the car so my thoughts turned to the idea of grabbing a cheap HT to throw in the glove box.
2016 UV-3R
After owning the original UV-3R, I was skeptical about grabbing the new Dual Display UV-3R 2016 version. Remembering back to my original UV-3R, it’s problem was rejection of unwanted signals.
The area around my QTH is densely packed with radio signals. However, the advantage of signal density is that there are plenty of 2/70 cm analog repeaters to choose from. As a result the 2 watt limitation of the new UV-3R presents no problem for me.
Specs:
Go here if you want detailed Tech Specs. Basically, for around $30, it’s a 99 channel dual band, dual display 2/70cm HT in a small ‘credit card sized’ form factor with a 3.7 volt 1500 mAh Li-Ion battery.
Operating:
The Dual Band Screen of the new UV-3R is an asset. Manually programming the radio is pretty easy but if you are going to add tons of repeaters or fire/ems frequencies, grab a programming cable and use the free CHIRP software.
Navigation:
The radio has a couple of basic issues. There is no keypad so it takes extra effort to program the radio and to navigate around to change simple settings like the squelch level. The FM Radio has poor reception. But who buys an HT to listen to FM Radio anyway.
Audio:
The on-board speaker is loud with no distortion. If you plan to use earbuds you will notice that the audio is muffled and the gain is somewhat reduced .
Antenna:
In general, any rubber duck is nothing more than a Dummy Load but at my QTH hitting the local repeaters presents no problem with the stock antenna.
Just a word on HT antennas, there are tons of knock off rubber duck antennas on the market. Buyer beware when looking for a replacement because you may end up with an antenna that performs worse than the original!
Scanning:
The UV-3R scans EMS and Fire frequencies fairly well. Using CHIRP, you can easily select which frequencies to scan.
Battery:
No complaints. With normal use the HT ran for a full day.
Manual:
Go here to grab your copy.
Summary:
IMHO, for around $30, how can you go wrong? This little GEM is a great little grab-n-go HT.
As a retired ‘NIX Systems Admin I still have to find out what makes things tick.
So I decided to build a Raspberry Pi 2 model B using a 32Gb Micro USB Card and the vanilla copy of Raspian Jessie 8 into a fully working DV4mini Console.
I used Putty with the DHCP provided IP address to run raspi-config expanding the file system and to change default localization settings.
Then it was on to installing x11vnc so I could work from my Windoze desktop using Tightvnc. Next it was getting the Edimax Wireless card online. From there I installed Mono 4.0 (Note: an 8GB Micro USB Card will run out of space while installing Mono 4.0) and finally the DV4Mini Console.
Since I created a series of crib sheets, I put a home-brew forum together as a central repository for my notes.
For those interested, go straight to my work-in-progress forum at KE2YK’s Ham Radio and Systems Forum. BTW, You don’t need to register to poke around its contents.
72 and 73,
Gary KE2YK Email me for additional help!
Event Date: Saturday April 2nd,2016 8AM to 1PM
Event Title: Portsmouth Radio Club Hamfest
Location: FKA Ohio National Guard Armory
2313 17th Street
Portsmouth,Ohio
Website:
Talk In: 145.390Mhz PL Tone 136.5Hz or 444.600Mhz No PL Tone
Public Contact Info: WX8G Gary Caldwell
Pubic Contact Phone: 740-778-2119 or 740-250-4955
Public Contact Email: garcaldwell@yahoo.com
Look! In the Shack! It’s a Memory Stick, it’s a Wireless Card. NO it’s SUPERDONGLE! Yes SUPERDONGLE, able to leap huge RF gaps, more powerful than a 10 KW Amp, faster than….
Okay Okay, so it’s just a dongle but it’s sure packed with features!
The DV4mini is a very small but also very capable USB Stick that can expand any system running Windows or LINUX into a Hotspot for the D-STAR, DMR, C4FM and APCO P25 modes.
The DVmini is a powerful 32 bit micro controller, a complete 70 cm transceiver and a modulator/demodulator for GMSK and 4FSK and a USB interface.
One nice feature of the DV4mini is that it does not require external power. The unit gets powered from the USB interface. For some of us that means less complicated portable use.
Another feature is the included software package which is easy to use and easily links with DSTAR, DMR+, P25 and Fusion reflectors.
There are many Hams who have DV radios but are out of range of the nearest DV repeater. DV4mini to the rescue! The DV4mini creates a hotspot with minimal resources and provides access to many DV networks.
Assuming you have your associated Channel and Zone set up in your radio to operate the DV4mini hotspot, you should be ready to go with setting up the DV4mini software.
For DMR+. My Hytera PD-362 DMR HT is set up at 436.000 tx and rx (default for DMR+ in the software), Talk Group 9, low power and TX Admit set to always allow.
My Dv4mini was up in running in a matter of minutes. Yes, I did scan through the manual first.
Presently I am only working the DMR+ systems. Some may ask, what is DMR+ as opposed to DMR?Simply put DMR+ is the Hytera network (more widely used in Europe but growing rapidly in the US). DMR is the TRBO-DMR network. To my knowledge the two networks are incompatible for a number of reasons. Hytera DMR+ is more ham radio friendly in that repeaters can directly interconnect without expensive bridging equipment.
Once again, my old Windows 7 Lenovo T60 Laptop came in handy.
The first thing to understand is that the DV4mini software is no longer supported on XP. Since XP is also no longer supported by Microsoft, security vulnerabilities would not be something I’d want in my shack anyway. However, if you insist on using XP it is recommended that you flash your stick with the older version 1.4 firmware. Read the manual to find out how to flash your stick….
As the software download Web page states, the first software package you need to install is VS2013 redistributable package from the Microsoft Web site. This is nothing more than a run time version of Visual C++. The 32 bit version is required even if you are using a 64 bit Windows O/S.
Now download the Windows software and perform a normal windows style install. A desktop icon will be created as part of the install process.
Next, connect the antenna, insert the unit into the USB port and start the software. In the status window you should see that your DV4mini was found.
Configuring The DV4Mini Software:
On the DV CONTROL PANEL, for DMR+ I entered my DMR id, call, grid square and location. DMR+ as my DV option and reflector 4639 USA-Nationwide.
Now to the expert panel where I checked the auto-connect option and set my DMR Master to USA-EAST. Select the DMR Master closest to your QTH.
There are two other settings to pay attention to on the EXPERT PAGE.
QRG which is the offset in HZ between your radio and the DV4mini transceiver. Depending on the radio you use, you may have to adjust the QRG and ask for a few radio checks to insure your packet loss has been minimized.
The transmit buffer size is dependent on your network. I have had success with this set at .25 since I have a high speed network here.
The Dv4mini is an excellent way to get on the DV networks. It is reliable, easy to upgrade and operate. There are a number of additional features that you will discover as you work with the unit. Again, I am only working DMR+ so I am sure you will learn more than I have when you explore the other DV’s.
My experience shows that you need to operate a distance from the DV4mini so that you don’t overdrive it. One ham I spoke to used foil to shield the unit.
Interested in getting one?
In the USA, visit Wireless Hold
Videos about the DV4Mini and links to the manual and software can be obtained at the bottom of the Wireless Hold home page.
