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Thursday, March 28, 2013

Amateur Radio In Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur is the largest city in Malaysia. In early 80s, not many people know where is Malaysia. But some of them heard about Kuala Lumpur and Penang.

I dont know exact population in Kuala Lumpur, but you can find it on CIA facts book or Wikipedia.

As far as i know, one of the largest amateur radio population in Malaysia is in Kuala Lumpur.

There where radio amateur examination exam held here but now changed to Selangor.

CW test usually take place at MCMC headquarters which is in Cyberjaya.

Many ham radio community here in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. Eyeball QSO everywhere from Cheras, Gombak to Shah Alam and Kepong.

Foreigner hams live in Kuala Lumpur too. Some of them settled down here.

Many interesting places here for amateur radio to visit.

1. Kuala Lumpur petroscience located in Kuala Lumpur City Center.

2. Planeterium Negara. It has amateur radio callsign 9M2RPN. This is the usual place where Malaysian students talk to astronauts.

3. Japan Ham Radio Club 9M2JKL. Located near Seputeh. This is the meeting place for Japanese hams who live in Kuala Lumpur or Selangor.

4. Malaysian Amateur Radio Emergency Service club house. Located in Petaling Jaya. You can meet many local and foreign hams here. Flea market happens once a month.

5. Sri Gombak ham radio, they hang out near Sri Gombak. Usually at Ibrahim Maju. Happening on weekends.

6. Sungai Buloh. Faizul Maju located in Taman Sri Buloh is where local hams here have their meeting.

7. BRJ Restaurant Alam Damai. Alam Damai local hams will having their eyebal QSO here.

8. Shah Alam. I dont exactly knows where they usually met. But somewhere in Shah Alam. Ill update later.

To foreigners, there are the place where you can meet local ham radio. Maybe you can visit them and say hello.

To Malaysian amater radio, these are the place where you can meet new friends, have a talk. To those who want to ask for recommedation letter for applying callsign, just find where local hams usually met. They will help you.

DX Cluster

A DX cluster is a website or telnet service that gather amateur radio communications activity. Imagine a newspaper, which you can read to know what happens on certain places.

Nowadays, this technology help hams to know and planning whats his plan. He can answer any call from any callsign or wait for other callsigns to be on the air.

Some people will choose to not answering the call but just spotting any heard callsign on the cluster. This may sometime will help others.

Someone once spotted me on the cluster as a deaf station. It is because i dont answer his call. One the same time i just dont hear him calling me on the frequency. What will you think about this situation? Am i really deaf?

Misunderstanding situation, yet another killer in this hobby. For me, i just say the band not good that time. Or maybe my equipment is not good as him. I rather take the latter.

Some ham think that cluster ruining the hobby. I dont think so. Anything exist for a reason.

There a lot of benefit from this system. For example, any commercial or government agency can take an advantage from the cluster's data. Military can generate a maximum used frequency based on amateur radio cluster's data.

Another example is for emergency services. We can help to spot or to answer any distress calls. Anyone who look at the cluster will alert and can response for further helps.

Time, sun activities, sun spot, frequency, transmitter location, receiver callsign can be a valuable data. Predictions can be made for later communications.

When looking to the DX cluster, im always telling myself that maybe someday, someone will submit a fake info. Just saying.

Contesting

Contest is a one of the reason ham radio stays on air. Chasing for contacts and collecting points to win. I dont participates on contest as im not good on this.

There are so many contest. There will be many type of categories. High power, low power, single operator or multioperator.

Here in Malaysia we have many hams participated on contesting. This is good. We can learn something from this activity.

Different contest will have different rules. Rules will be listed on contest's official website.

Some ham will take a holiday just to be a participant. Some will gather up and build a multioperator team. They will be preparing for the contest and also checking their equipment so there will no problem later.

A beam antenna always a good choice. One transceiver is enough but more tranceivers are better.

When working on multioperator, a good bandpass filter can help. For example, A operator operates 40 meters and B operator operates on 15 meters. Without external bandpass filter there will be a QRM among them. Brand like Dunestar is famous.

I do respect people who joined contest on QRP category. Its a challenge for them to make contact with low power. Most people will operate CW mode on low power while others operate SSB too.

Sometime i listened to contest. When contesting begun, i heard many rare callsigns. So i think, it is good to join a contest if you are searching for new DXCC.

A great contester have a great patient. It is not easy when the band condition is bad and also when fighting with high power stations.

If the contest runs for 48 hours, some will put a drink and food near to their shack. If they are hungry, they just grab the food and eat without leaving the shack. This is a good idea. For multioperator, there will be no problem for them.

There is a Malaysian ham who made a contest to local ham just to invite more people to go on HF. I like this idea. The more the merrier. Some will learn new things, and some will improve their skills.

For me, contest is not about who will win or who will lose. But it is the way how hams stay on air.

Good luck to all contesters. Keep the spirit live.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

40 meters DXing

Recently i made lots of contact on 40 meters. I can reach bosnia, israel, russia, united states, slovenia, germany and many countries easily. Sometimes the report are between 559, 579 and 599 too.

Im using a simple wire dipole antenna at 2 meters above the ground. I cant go anywhere than japan, indonesia, thailand, vietnam, singapore and malaysia on SSB mode.

On local communication, i received 57 to 59. Enough for ragchewing with local hams. At this height, we can consider it as near vertical incident skywave. It is because the height is lower than 1/4 wave length and it's take off angle is near to vertical.

Usually hams will use this height of setup for emergency communications since it can support from 100 kilometres to 300 kilometres without shadow or skip zones.

But, if we use narrow bandwidth modes, we can make dx contact too. Depends on the propagation, soil conductivities and also transmission power.

Some ham maybe have various type of antenna. A yagi, vertical, loop is famous. Some will stick to one type only. Maybe because of their home are lack of spaces.

I once saw a home of ham with full types of antenna. He owns a house with spaces arround it. I saw a 2 stack 2 meters yagi for satellites comm, a multiband qubical quad, a large loop surrounding his home and also a vertical in the roof.

I also saw an old ham who lives in a flat. Using his own trusty magnetic loop antenna that he made since 1989.

These ham are motivated and knowledgable. I like to talk with these people. There are lot of things we can learn from them

Back to the 40 meters, i can assume that this band is good for local comms and also for dxing. I havent tried 80 meters yet. Maybe it is time to explore 80 meters.

A dipole will need a lot of space. I can consider a linear loaded or a quarter wave vertical. Full size G5RV antenna can work on 80 meters too. 102 feets of wire element. An end fed also good, but i think it will need a very long pole to make it stand vertically.

Time to lookup on my radio magazines. Hopefully i can find any tips to operate on 80 meters.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Amateur Radio Digital Mode On The Field

Amateur radio usually use CW and SSB As their favourite operating modes. But some of them also operating digital modes such as PSK or RTTY.

I saw digital modes are interesting to try. But you need to have a proper equipments too. A computer with soundcard or an interface to the transceiver.

My friends also bought a compact digital modes encoder/decoder. China hams are good on this. They made that device and sell it cheaper than others.

It is suitable to use it on field day and also on emergency purposes. If you can communicate on voice, try digital.

As far as i concern, it will consume a space if you use computer on your shack. Nowadays, a computer besides radio is normal. We can do logging, cluster spotting and also digital mode encoder decoder.

If you are operating on the field? The choice we have is getting a small computer such as netbook or a laptop. Smartphones also good. Iphones and also android phones got many apps for ham radio. Digital modes, logging and also radio controlling.

Some will stick will old fashioned way, logging using books. We must remember that a UTC timewatch is important too. Otherwise you will end up with errors when you are QSLing.

In field day activity, we must take care our digital equipment and yes, our tranceivers. Dont let your stuff getting wet. Make sure you have enough power source to operate all stuff. A backup battery must remain in full capacity.

Be prepare for any condition. If you are chasing for DXs, make it short and simple. But remember, most of big dxpedition operating modes are CW, second are SSB.

Monday, March 25, 2013

Ku Ke Udara Lagi - Francissca Peter (Guitar Cover)



Di kamar yang kedinginan
Ku lontarkan sumbangan
Suara kemanusiaan
Mengisi rentak-rentak kehidupan

Kau yang ada di sana
Berlari tak hentinya
Dengan caramu sendiri
Tetapi masih ada kaitannya

Ku ke udara lagi
Bersama mu kembali
Dengan rangakaian lagu-lagu
Juga pesanan

Ku sebagai penghibur
Engkau mendengar di sana
Kita saling mengharapkan
Di dalam hidup ini

SMPS Floating Ground


This photo shows how to eliminate floating ground on a cheap switching mode power supply. The green wire connect the body to the negative terminal. Some said it will help to eliminate the noise too. But i didnt notice that.

Mine was a 12v 30amp. Price was under 100 ringgits. I use this power supply since last year. I'm not afford to buy expensive brand such as diamond, mfj or astron.

It has a cooler fan, but as long as i remember, the fan was never rotate eventhough i am using it with a hundred watts transceiver for a couple hours.

You can buy this type of power supply on ebay too.

I'm still happy with this cheap power supply unit.

CW Paddle And Me


These are my favourite cw paddle. I use them a lot. My most operating mode now is cw, without cw paddle you can also send morse code using computer as keyer. But i dont have that privilege. So i stick to the old fashioned way.

Some of cw operator owns an expensive paddle. Begali can be describe as a ferrari for cw paddle while others can be a mercedes, bmw or a wheelbarrow.

Depending on their pockets. My own opinion is i dont care any brand or how expensive the key are, but how you manage to utilize the key.

Some of them are having a cw key just for taking photos. A cw key on a shack seems to be cooler than a mic alone. Bringing a cw key to an amateur radio booth is a must.

Practice makes perfect. Dont fear of making error. Others will understands you.

As we learn how to send and receive morse code, some maybe still struggling to learn the code. If you are not serious to practice, you will be left behind them.

Even though the code test already gone in most countries, cw will remain on the air forever. Be yourself. If you dont like cw then stay out of it. Owning cw paddle without using them is pathetic.

Line Filter


I have a 30 amp EMI filter on my shack.It can help reducing noise from the  powerline.
It is so hard to find a 30 or 20 amp, but 5 amp is everywhere. you can use it as well.

This EMI filter is the last line filter before the AC reach my power supply unit. Before this EMI filter, i also have 2 separate line filter.

AC wall socket -> surge protector plus line filter no 1 -> automatic voltage regulator -> surge protector plus line filter no 2 -> EMI filter -> power supply unit


To reduce RF noise, nothing much you can do except for using a loop antenna, building a RF ground, get an AF DSP filter or other noise cancellation product such as BHI or MFJ.


But remember, better safe than sorry. Dont forget to pull out your socket when you are not at home. Prevention is better than cure.

March 24th 2013 QSO Log


all of my logs are uploaded to hrdlog.net, eqsl.cc, clublog.org, hamlog.eu and also qrzcq.com

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Modification Level For Yamaha LC 135CC

1. Standard Modi
- CDI - Non Cut Off
- Exhaust Performace - Standard Exhaust - Modi / Performance Same Type
- Sprocket Ratio - Top Speed Ratio / Pickup Ratio
- Oversize Tyre - Front / Rear

2. Modi level 1
- CDI - Adjustable Type Limit
- Exhaust Performace - Standard Exhaust - Modi / Performance Same Type
- Sprocket Ratio - Top Speed Ratio / Pickup Ratio
- Carburator Oversize
- Big Bore - Blok & Piston Oversize
- Oversize Tyre - Front / Rear

3. Modi level 2
- CDI - Adjustable Type Limit by custom gadget
- Exhaust Performace - Racing Type
- Sprocket Ratio - Top Speed Ratio / Pickup Ratio
- Carburator Oversize
- Big Bore - Blok & Piston Oversize 58mm - 60mm
- High Cam / Loc Cam (cam - Camshaft)
- Harden Spring Valve
- Harden Spring Clutch
- Performance Ignition System
- Racing Spark Plug
- Rear Disk Brake
- Oversize Tyre - Front / Rear
- Low Profile Tyre

4. Modi level 3
- CDI - Full Computerize Digital Ignition system adjustable by computer
- Exhaust Performace - Racing Type
- Sprocket Ratio - Top Speed Ratio / Pickup Ratio - Lightweight
- Carburator Oversize Racing type
- Big Bore - Blok & Piston Oversize 61mm - 65mm
- High Cam / Loc Cam (cam - Camshaft)
- Harden Spring Valve
- Harden Spring Clutch
- Performance Ignition System
- Head modification - port n polish
- Racing Spark Plug
- Racing Valve Seat
- Racing Clutch Plate
- Racing Gear box Type
- Rear Disk Brake
- Braided Steel Hose Brake - Front / Rear
- Oversize Tyre - Front / Rear
- Wide Open Sport Rim Type
- Low Profile Tyre Racing Compound Material

5. Extreme Level
- CDI - Full Computerize Digital Ignition system adjustable by computer
- Exhaust Performace - Fully Racing Tpye Customade
- Sprocket Ratio - Top Speed Ratio / Pickup Ratio - Lightweight
- Carburator Oversize Racing type
- Big Bore - Blok & Piston Oversize - No limit
- Custom Duration Cam Racing Type
- Harden Spring Valve
- Harden Spring Clutch
- Performance Ignition System
- Racing Spark Plug
- Head modification - port n polish
- Racing Valve Seat
- Oversize Valve Inlet Outlet Size
- Racing Clutch Plate
- Custom Clutch Modification
- Custom Gear box Ratio
- Custom Pin Jack Rod
- Custom Crankshaft
- Custom ground earth wiring
- Direct air-ram system
- Custom Brake Racing Brake system / Superbike
- Racing Disk / Oversize
- Rear Disk Brake
- Braided Steel Hose Brake - Front / Rear
- Racing Brake Pad
- Oversize Tyre - Front / Rear
- Wide Open Sport Rim Type
- Low Profile Tyre Racing Compound Material

Sunday, March 17, 2013

How To Speed Up Your Windows PC/Laptop

Steps

1. Open notepad and type mystring=(80000000)

(Hint)

mystring=(80000000) for 128 MB RAM
mystring=160000000 for 256 MB RAM
mystring=320000000 for 512 MB RAM
mystring=655000000 for 1 GB RAM
mystring=1000000000 for 2 GB RAM

2. Save it on your Desktop, save as SPEED.vbe

3. Double click that file on your Desktop. Now you can feel that your PC or Laptop running fast than usual.




Friday, March 15, 2013

How To Install BCM4312, BCM4306, BCM4301 Wireless Card Driver On Kali Linux

  1. Add a "contrib" component to /etc/apt/sources.list, for example:
    # Debian Squeeze/6.0
    deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian squeeze main contrib non-free
  2. Update the list of available packages and install the wireless-tools package:
    aptitude update && aptitude install wireless-tools
  3. Install the appropriate firmware installer package:
    For 802.11b/g devices with a BCM4306 revision 3, BCM4311 or BCM4318 chipset, install firmware-b43-installer:
    aptitude install firmware-b43-installer
    For 802.11b/g devices with a BCM4312 LP-PHY chipset (PCI ID 14E4:4315), install firmware-b43-lpphy-installer:
    aptitude install firmware-b43-lpphy-installer
    For 802.11b-only devices (BCM4301) or 802.11b/g devices with the BCM4306 revision 2 chipset, install firmware-b43legacy-installer:
    aptitude install firmware-b43legacy-installer
    A PCI ID check will be performed to prevent incorrect firmware installation. When satisfied, the relevant Broadcom proprietary driver will be acquired, the firmware within will be extracted and installed.
  4. If not already performed, connect the device to your system. The necessary kernel module is automatically loaded for supported devices.
  5. Verify your device has an available interface:
    iwconfig
  6. Configure your wireless interface as appropriate.

Troubleshooting

  • Examine the kernel ring buffer (dmesg(1)) to verify the required firmware files are being loaded by the driver. Lack of firmware is the usual reason for the "SIOCSIFFLAGS: No such file or directory" error message.
  • Prior to Linux 3.0, DMA errors may occur on some systems with LP-PHY devices (589867).
    • To workaround:
      modprobe -r b43
      echo options b43 pio=1 qos=0 >> /etc/modprobe.d/local.conf
      modprobe b43