This past weekend was the 2018 Orlando Hamcation. This year was my 5th year attending and it was another great event! My brother, Tony KD8RTT, and I teamed up to present the ARRL Collegiate Amateur Radio Initiative forum. Tony live streamed the forum and it can be found after the break.
Archive for the ‘Amateur Radio’ Category
2018 Orlando Hamcation
Posted: February 14, 2018 in Amateur Radio, NewsTags: Amatuer Radio, Ham Radio, Hamcation, Orlando Hamcation, Radio
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Mounting Bracket for CS800D DMR Amateur Radio
Posted: May 31, 2017 in Amateur Radio, EngineeringTags: 3D Printer Pen, 3D Printing, Amateur Radio, Autodesk, CS800D, DMR, FM, Ham, Ham Radio, Inventor, UHF, VHF
This year I ventured up to Dayton Hamvention and had my sights set on getting a new radio. I was able to purchase a Connect Systems CS800D dual band FM/DMR radio. I naturally removed the cover to get a peak under the hood as seen in the photo above. Once I was done understanding the basic layout of the PCB (note the UHF PA mounted to the back of the case, top of the image, and VHF PA at the front of the case, bottom of the image). I found it interesting how they fit so much radio into such a tiny package.
After some bench testing, I decided it was time to figure out how to mount it in my car. With a remote control head, I can simply mount it with the same setup as my Yaesu 7900R control head (which has since been sold). One problem, the remote control head mounter supplied with the radio does not match the mounting plate I have in my car. To fix this, I need to create a new mounting plate (or at least an interface plate). I started up Autodesk Inventor. Follow me after the break for more details or check out the part on Thingiverse!
Introduction to Amateur Radio – UPDATED
Posted: September 22, 2016 in Amateur Radio, NewsTags: Amateur Radio, GARC, Gator Amateur Radio Club, Making
Tonight at 7:30 PM EDT, I will be giving a presentation on Amateur Radio at the University of Florida. The event will be live streamed via the YouTube link above. If you are interested in making with electronics, getting your amateur radio license can open up a whole new world of opportunities. Come learn a little about the original makers and the various aspects of this exciting hobby!
UPDATE: I was asked to share some of the links in a clickable form. Check out the links below!
- Entry Level FM Radios
- Baofeng UV-5R
- Wouxm KG-UV899
- RTL-SDR
- Entry Level DMR Radios
- Tytera MD-380
- Build you own SDR APRS iGate
Remember you can use Amazon Smile to donate to the Gator Amateur Radio Club! Just search for “Alumni and Friends of Gator Amateur Radio”.
DMR Overview
Posted: September 14, 2016 in Amateur Radio, EngineeringTags: Amateur Radio, Digital Mobile Radio, DMR, DSTAR, Engineering, GARC, GARS, Ham Radio, RF, System Fusion
This week I want to share a video of a presentation I made back in July on Digital Mobile Radio or DMR. DMR is a cool technology for commercial and amateur radio. It uses TDMA technology to enable two independent conversations on one frenquency at any given moment. Check out the video above for an overview of multiple digital voice options in amateur radio, as well as some in-depth discussion on DMR. Sorry the lighting on me is dim in the video. It was lowered to help the contrast for people attending live.
If you enjoyed this video, I will be hosting a live Introduction to Amateur Radio next week on Thursday! Stay tuned for more details and links to the live stream in a bonus blog post next week!
Arduino Keyer for QRP CW Radio
Posted: September 7, 2016 in Amateur Radio, NewsTags: Amateur Radio, Arduino, CW, Electronics, frog, Ham, Ham Radio, KK4LWR, KK4LWR/C6A, Maker
This past summer my brother and I ventured to the Bahamas for a short vacation. As amateur radio operators, we thought it might be fun to work from a different country. Several weeks before our trip, we received our reciprocal licenses from the Bahamas. Assigned the suffix “/C6A”, it was then time to figure out my rig.
Traveling with a radio is hard. Antennas for HF typically require lots of area, and people ask lots of questions.I wanted to have a small radio that I could operate from the beach. My brother brought his Elecraft KX2, but my Icom 706MKII would be too bulky. Follow me after the break to learn more about my solution.
Icom 706 ALC Adjustment Tutorial
Posted: August 14, 2015 in Amateur Radio, EngineeringTags: ALC, Amateur Radio, Ham Radio, Heil, HMM, Icom, Icom 706, Icom 706MKII, Icom 706MKIIG, KD8RTT, KK4LWR, Tony
I was working on my Icom 706MKII a little while ago. I had gotten a new Heil mic for my rig earlier this summer and needed to tweak the ALC on the radio. When I was telling my brother, Tony (KD8RTT), about it, he asked me to make a video to help viewers of his channel. Check out the video above if you’re having mic issues with your Icom 706!
Embedded Linux APRS iGate Tutorial
Posted: August 4, 2015 in Amateur Radio, Engineering, News, Texas InstrumentsTags: Amateur Radio, APRS, APRS iGate, Ham Radio, iGate, Linux, Panda Board, Ubuntu
I know I have been bad at posting projects recently, but here is one I have done a few times now that is super easy to reproduce. With the super cheap embedded Linux platforms (Raspi, Beaglebone, etc.) and cheap TV dongles, it is really easy to make your own APRS iGate, just like the one in the photo above. This tutorial will give you the steps to get going with an APRS iGate. What is APRS you ask?
APRS stands for Automatic Packet Reporting System. It is a 1200 baud RF (mainly ham radio) packet system commonly used to record telemetry. Sometimes it is fun to log a trip or track a robot. APRS is a great tool for these sorts of problems. In the USA, APRS is commonly used on 144.39 MHz. It can be used between radios directly or can be used to log on the internet (via websites such as APRS.fi) via an internet gateway or iGate.
To get started, follow me past the break. (more…)
Tuning a CB Whip for the 10 Meters Ham Band
Posted: January 19, 2014 in Amateur RadioTags: 10 meter antenna, antenna building, antenna hack, antenna tuning, cb hack
As many of you know, I am a ham (my callsign is KK4LWR), or amateur radio operator. Over the holidays I ventured home (to very cold Ohio) and worked on a cool project with my brother, Tony. Tony, KD8RTT, and myself took a cheap CB whip and cut it down for mobile operation on the 10 meters band. The process was pretty simple and if you’re a new ham, it is a good, cheap way to get on the air. This hack is also a good introduction to using an antenna tuner and the importance of a standing wave ratio (SWR).
Check out the original post on my brother’s blog.
October 2013 ARRL School Club Roundup Final Results
Posted: October 26, 2013 in Amateur Radio, NewsTags: Amateur Radio, ARRL School Club Roundup, GARC, Gator Amateur Radio Club, W4DFU
Well CQ World Wide DX SSB contest is going on this weekend, but I have been chugging away at completing the logs and uploading videos. The video above is Kishore working a contact. Below you can see Yang and Akshay working as well.
We had a very successful School Club Roundup this year. Below are some of our operating stations. The first graph is total time operating. The second graph is contacts (QSOs) per hour. Finally the last graph shows our activity over the week. We had a total of 905 QSOs to people in 89 different locations (US States, Canadian Providences, or Countries) of which 5 were clubs and 38 identified as schools. It was a very successful week and a lot of club members got on the air for the first time!
2013 October ARRL School Club Roundup
Posted: October 22, 2013 in Amateur Radio, NewsTags: Amateur Radio, ARRL, GARC, Gator Amateur Radio Club, School Club Roundup, SCR, W4DFU
I am working on getting a few videos done from the Orlando Mini Maker Faire, but this week another event has my attention. This week is the American Radio Relay League‘s School Club Roundup. The School Club Roundup (SCR) brings the focus to elementary, middle, and high schools plus colleges and universities. The event begins on October 21st (yesterday) and runs until Friday. This is my 3rd SCR operating from the University of Florida. Our club station is W4DFU and we are the Gator Amateur Radio Club. Last year we came in 1st place in the College/University category in the fall and we came in 3rd place in the College/University category for the spring.
We are already out in full force. Check out the video above of us operating yesterday. We have over 200 QSOs! We plan on operating every day this week between 1400 and 1900 EDT from our club station, atop the dental school here at UF. Feel free to give us a shout! We would love to get you in the log! Best of 73s and Good DX!
Milluzzi Labs 