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Friday, April 27, 2012

RZ9UMA CW QSO



                                                                                                                                                              Her name is Katia, and this video was uploaded in 2010. She is probably 11 years old now. Watch how she answer CQ calls on CW or Morse Code. Do you Morse code ?

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Safety First


Safety first, remember to put your safety belt or wear an harness to prevent from falling.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

ARRL Diamond DXCC



ARRL Diamond DXCC Challenge


REVISED December 30, 2011. All 231 entities are now included on the list. Please see the revised entity list.

2012 is the 75th anniversary of the ARRL’s DXCC Award. The world’s preeminent DXing award continues to be DXCC, so reaching the “Diamond milestone” is an event that we all want to celebrate. Going back to the roots of the award, and specifically reading the 1937 DXCC List (January 1937 QST, pages 52-53) to learn what countries were counted at the onset led us to create the Diamond DXCC Challenge.
The country list we will use for the Diamond DXCC Challenge is based upon the list of 231 places shown in 1937. We tried to find corresponding entities today that would represent the places listed in 1937, and we were mostly successful. There are a couple of places that were merged, like French and British New Hebrides, and the Papua and New Guinea Territories. In those places, for 2012 if you work a YJ or a P29 (on the main island of New Guinea) you will get credit for working two entities! Many other oddities are sprinkled throughout the list, too. Returning to the air in 2012 will be the Canal Zone (any HP operating within 8 kilometers of the Panama Canal), the Cities of Gdansk, Poland, and Ifni, Morocco and Balochistan. The list is fascinating and leads us to learn more about world history and how geopolitics has changed leading up to today.

As you “check off” these entities during the course of 2012 working DX (which is an achievement even today) using spotting networks, pan-adapters, 200 watt rigs and stacked tribanders, imagine how DXing was different in the early years of radio and DXCC! Working Tibet or Aldabra with 50 watts and crystal-controlled transmitters to simple wire antennas had to be a thrill like no other in that time for ham radio operators.

We anticipate that this award will be very popular thanks to the unique nature of the entities that we will try to put-into the log in 2012. Not only are there traditional DXCC entities, but there are cities, Islands on the Air (IOTA by RSGB) island groups, and various sub-political entities inside DXCC entities, such as the Indian State of Goa, and many States in Malaysia and islands in Indonesia. There are even three individual “countries” that make up today’s Yemen (7O --Yemen, Socotra Islands and the City of Aden)! Yes, we would like to have even one of them on the air. An interesting factoid about this 1937 list came via the late Jim Maxwell, W6CF. Jim said the only entity from the 1937 list to be removed without a single QSO being made was Wrangel Island.

For some entities that today consist of multiple countries, you may work any of today’s entities to qualify for that single 1937 country. For example, French Equatorial Africa will be considered worked if you log a station in TL, TN, TR or TT in 2012. The Diamond DXCC country tables show the current entity names and prefixes that qualify for the 1937 countries.

The Diamond DXCC Challenge is an “Honor Award” and will not require acquisition or inspection of QSLs or proof of confirmation, although it still will be fun and useful to seek out cards or LoTW confirmations. We will provide forms online to use at your operating position to track what you have worked and forms for applying for awards and endorsements. As the year goes on, we will also provide hints and tips about what is happening with the Diamond DXCC Award and, for instance, who might be on the air from Goa or Gdansk!

The Diamond DXCC certificate will be available for working 100 of the 226 entities, and will be endorsable at 5 levels: 125, 150, 175, 200, and 225. If anyone works all 226, there will be a special award for that remarkable achievement! There will also be awards for the top finishers. We hope to publish award recipients’ call signs online during the year, and identify high numbers.

There will be a Diamond DXCC Challenge Honor Roll. The Honor Roll level will be determined by the leader in worked entities submitted to HQ, and the bottom of the Honor Roll will be 9 entities less than that of the leader. Example: If W1AW has worked 165 entities, the bottom of the Honor Roll will be 156 entities. In February 2013, HQ will issue a final Honor Roll tally with overall leaders.

The entity list is not frozen, so if we discover something significantly in need of change, we will do so and make an announcement.

ARRL Diamond DXCC Challenge Rules

1.        The Diamond DXCC Challenge Awards are available to all amateurs worldwide who contact a minimum of 100 countries from the Diamond DXCC List. US amateurs must be members of the ARRL. Generally, the rules for the Diamond DXCC Challenge are the same as the rules for the DXCC Program, except as listed here.
2.       Contacts must be made from within the same DXCC entity by the same operator.
3.       Contacts must be made during 2012 -- from 0000Z on January 1, 2012, through 2359Z on December 31, 2012. All amateur bands may be used except for 60 meters.
4.       There are no mode endorsements or band endorsements. The Diamond DXCC Challenge is considered to be a Mixed-Mode/Mixed-Band award. There are no power categories or restrictions for the award.
5.       Confirmations are not required to obtain this award, but HQ will review submitted entries for accuracy and validity.
6.       The Diamond DXCC Challenge certificate will be available for working 100 entities and will be endorsable with stickers at the following levels: 125, 150, 175, 200 and 225.
7.       Applications should use ARRL-supplied forms available online or obtained by writing DXCC, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111.
8.       The Diamond DXCC Award certificate fee is $12 including shipping within the USA, and $13 including shipping outside the USA.
9.       Endorsement stickers are $1, including shipping in the US, and $2 outside the US.
Thanks to W3LPL, IK2UVR, YO3JW and K9JF for their assistance with this project.

For more info on DDXCC, go to http://www.arrl.org/diamond-dxcc

Active DXers in qualifying Diamond DXCC entities for Malaysia (http://www.arrl.org/active-stations)



To all listed callsigns, take note that the WORLD is chasing us right now. So, warm up your shack because we are the DIAMONDS now. Get on the air, make CQ calls. Show to the WORLD that we are live and kicking!

Monday, April 16, 2012

Amateur radio activities in Malaysia

ABSTRACT


Amateur Radio service is defined as a radio communications service (covering both terrestrial and satellite) in which a station is used for the purpose of self-training, intercommunication and technical investigations carried out by amateurs, that is, by duly authorized persons who are interested in radio technique solely with a personal aim and without any pecuniary interest [4][7]. Amateur radio, often called ham radio, is both a hobby and a service that uses various types of radio communications equipment to communicate with other radio amateurs for public service, recreation and self-training. A participant is called an amateur radio operator, or a ham [2]. No one knows for sure why amateur radio operators are called hams; the original meaning has been lost over the years. Many theories exist as to the meaning of "ham", but nothing concrete. Amateur radio operators have been around since the beginning of radio, but the Amateur Radio Service did not come along until the advent of a licensing body. Amateur radio operators enjoy personal wireless communications with each other and are able to support their communities with emergency and disaster communications if necessary, while increasing their personal knowledge of electronics and radio theory. An estimated six million people throughout the world are regularly involved with amateur radio [3]. Millions of amateur radio operators communicate daily with each other directly or through ad hoc relay systems and amateur satellites [7]. Amateur radio operators have traditionally been recognized as an important part of the radio community and several frequency bands throughout the whole spectrum are allocated by ITU to this service internationally as well as in our Spectrum Plan [7]. With regard to the spectrum use, all frequencies are shared or common to all amateur radio operators and no frequency is assigned for the exclusive use of any amateur station. Amateur radio operators cooperate in selecting transmitting channels to make the most effective use of the allocated frequencies. Amateurs do not broadcast their transmissions; they have two-way communications with other amateurs. In fact, it is illegal for amateurs to broadcast information for the general public on the amateur radio bands or communicate with non-amateurs. Activities that amateurs radio operators can do with their radios are diverse. The following list stated examples of their activities.

  1.  Communicate around the world. 
  2. Converse around town with small portable VHF and UHF transceivers.
  3.  Help in emergencies and natural disasters situations Build theirs own radios, transmitter, receiver and antennas. 
  4. Communicate through orbiting satellites. 
  5. Communicate with astronaut while orbiting the earth. Experimental with amateurs TV (ATV), Slow-Scan TV (SSTV), or send still-frame pictures by facsimile.
  6.  Participate in transmitter hunt games or maybe build your own directional finding equipment. 
  7. Participate in the activity of communication required for search and rescue activities

from http://eprints.utm.my/16768/

Friday, April 13, 2012

Squid Proxy Refresh Pattern

# TESTING: Caching everything like crazy
#refresh_pattern ^http: 600000 100% 700000 override-expire override-lastmod reload-into-ims ignore-reload ignore-no-cache ignore-private ignore-auth

# Cache images for 4-5 hours, regardless what the server says
refresh_pattern .jpg 14400 50% 18000 override-expire override-lastmod reload-into-ims ignore-reload ignore-no-cache ignore-private ignore-auth
refresh_pattern .gif 14400 50% 18000 override-expire override-lastmod reload-into-ims ignore-reload ignore-no-cache ignore-private ignore-auth
refresh_pattern .png 14400 50% 18000 override-expire override-lastmod reload-into-ims ignore-reload ignore-no-cache ignore-private ignore-auth

# Cache CSS and JavaScript for 4-5 days as well
refresh_pattern .css 14400 50% 18000 override-expire override-lastmod reload-into-ims ignore-reload ignore-no-cache ignore-private ignore-auth
refresh_pattern .js  14400 50% 18000 override-expire override-lastmod reload-into-ims ignore-reload ignore-no-cache ignore-private ignore-auth
refresh_pattern .axd 14400 50% 18000 override-expire override-lastmod reload-into-ims ignore-reload ignore-no-cache ignore-private ignore-auth

# Cache all ASPX for 1-2 minutes  (forced)
#refresh_pattern .aspx 60   50% 120   override-expire override-lastmod ignore-no-cache

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Yaesu To Kenwood Mic Converter

Semalam sudah siap satu microphone converter untuk dipasang dari microphone Kenwood model MC-80 ke transceiver Yaesu yang menggunakan port jenis modular. Keseluruhan pin ada 8, pinout saya ambil dari website G4WPW.

  1. http://www.qsl.net/g4wpw/mc80.html untuk microphone Kenwood MC-80
  2. http://www.qsl.net/g4wpw/mh31a.html untuk melihat pinout transceiver Yaesu yang menggunakan modular connector.
 Pendawaian dibuat pada patch cord CAT 5e yang sudah siap bersama connector RJ-45. dipotong pada hujung yang tidak dipakai dan disambung ke connector microphone 8 pin male.

Oleh kerana microphone Kenwood MC-80 adalah jenis electret condenser dan mempunyai pre-amp, setting microphone gain di transceiver harus diubah untuk disesuaikan supaya tidak berlaku over modulated signal atau distorted audio.


Yaesu FT-857D Microphone Impedance: 200 - 10 k Ohm (Supplied microphone: 2 k Ohm) Kenwood MC-80 Microphone Impedance: 700 ohms

WaveGuide App


WaveGuide is the amateur radio operator’s ultimate utility for determining HF propagation conditions, whether you’re in the shack with your linear or QRP mountaintopping.

Designed from the ground up as a Universal app that works on both iPhone and iPad, WaveGuide is easy, fun, and powerful.

From LU5DX’s Mac Soft review Corner.
Utilizing data from the popular PSKReporter database, WaveGuide plots real-time propagation conditions, connecting stations with great circles to show exactly where band conditions are best.
The colors of the great circles indicate the band, so it’s easy to visually determine how the ionosphere is behaving anywhere in the world.

Features
Filter by band, callsign, grid square, mode, and period
View details for each transmission, including time, DXCC entity, frequency, distance, and bearing
Display all signals at once, or just signals from one station
Find the best PSK31 frequencies to monitor at your QTH

Some Example Uses

See how band conditions fluctuate worldwide throughout the course of the day.

Chase DX by finding transmissions in your grid square.
Track signals received by your home station while you’re away. How many countries can you collect?

Monday, April 09, 2012

Why Ground

Grounding

The provision of an effective ground system is important in any successful communications
station. A good ground system can contribute to station efficiency in a number of ways:
  1. It can minimize the possibility of electrical shock to the operator.
  2. It can minimize RF currents flowing on the shield of the coaxial cable and the chassis ofthe transceiver which may cause interference to nearby home entertainment devices or laboratory test equipment.
  3. It can minimize the possibility of erratic transceiver operation caused by RF feedback or improper current flow through logic devices.
An effective earth ground system may take several forms. The information presented below is intended only as a guideline. Inspect the ground system – inside the station as well as outside – on a regular basis so as to
ensure maximum performance and safety.

Mobile Station Grounding

Although satisfactory grounding in most installations will be achieved via the DC cable’s
negative lead and the antenna system’s coaxial cable shield, it is often recommended that
you provide a direct ground connection to the vehicle chassis at the mounting location of the
transceiver. Due to unexpected resonances which may naturally occur in any location, improper communication system performance may result from insufficient grounding. These symptoms may include:
  1.  RF feedback (resulting in distortion on your transmitted signal);
  2.  Unintended frequency change;
  3.  Blinking or blanking of the frequency display;
  4.  Noise pickup; and/or
  5.  Loss of memory.
Base Station Grounding

Typically, the ground connection consists of one or more copper-clad steel rods, driven into
the ground. If multiple ground rods are used, they should be configured in a “V” configuration,
and bonded together at the apex of the “V” which is nearest the station location. Use a
heavy, braided cable (such as the discarded shield from type RG-213 coaxial cable) and
strong cable clamps to secure the braided cables to the ground rods. Be sure to weatherproof
the connections to ensure many years of reliable service. Use the same type of heavy, braided
cable for the connections to the station ground bus (described below). Do not use gas line pipes in an attempt to provide a ground connection! To do so creates a serious risk of explosion!!

Inside the station, a common ground bus consisting of a copper pipe of at least 1” (25 mm)
diameter should be used. An alternative station ground bus may consist of a wide copper
plate (single-sided circuit board material is ideal) secured to the bottom of the operating
desk. Grounding connections from individual devices such as transceivers, power supplies,
and data communications devices should be made directly to the ground bus using a heavy,
braided cable. 

Do not make ground connections from one electrical device to another, and thence to the
ground bus. This so-called “Daisy Chain” grounding technique may nullify any attempt at
effective radio frequency grounding. See the drawings below for examples of proper and
improper ground connections.


So, make sure you setup a proper grounding for your shack or mobile station !

Wednesday, April 04, 2012

Shortwave Radio Untuk SWL



SWL atau shortwave listener adalah mereka yang mempunyai hobi mendengar kepada broadcasting station seperti BBC atau pun VOA. Definisi shortwave dari wikipedia, "Shortwave radio refers to the upper MF (medium frequency) and all of the HF (high frequency) portion of the radio spectrum, between 1,800–30,000 kHz". Terdapat banyak broadcasting station di dunia ini, dari Asia hingga ke America. Ini adalah shortwave radio yang saya miliki, murah dan padan dengan harga. Sila lihat video untuk review tentang Pilite Model KK-9 ini. Untuk bermula dengan hobi ini, sila baca

  1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shortwave_listening
  2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shortwave_bands
  3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shortwave_relay_station
  4. http://swling.com/
  5. http://support.radioshack.com/support_tutorials/communications/swave-6.htm
  6. http://shortwave.hfradio.org/
  7. http://radiostationworld.com/ 
Kepada amateur radio, sila lihat video di bawah untuk mengetahui bagaimana untuk menerima isyarat radio mode SSB dengan menggunakan 2 buah radio shortwave.

Sunday, April 01, 2012

Gmail Tap - Bringing Morse Code Back To Your Phone

Google did it again! they are bringing the Morse code again to our daily communication technology.

Gmail tap is an application that uses dits and dahs to write emails. Yes, Morse code!

With Gmail Tap on your phone, you'll be able to:

  1. Tap without looking at your screen 
  2. Replace 26 keys with 2 Double your productivity by typing two emails at once






The QWERTY keyboard was invented in 1874 and yet it is still used today, largely unchanged. Today we're excited to introduce a new input method designed for the future: Gmail Tap for Android and iOS. Watch the video for an overview:





Gmail Tap takes the keyboard from 26 keys to just two. Every letter of the alphabet is represented by a simple pattern of dots and dashes, and once you know them you can type without even looking at your screen. This makes it ideal for situations where you need to discreetly send emails, such as when you're on a date or in a meeting with your boss.



We're also introducing a new mode, multi-email. Double your productivity by typing multiple emails at once:



To get started with Gmail Tap, head over to our informational page and watch our video. Then let us know what you think on Google+.

do you know that Gmail tap lead developer was Reed Morse, a great grandson of Samuel Morse's brother.


So, are you a Morse coder ?

KLCC Earth Hour 2012


"Turn off your non-essential electrical devices. Why dont we use alternative energy to power up our shack ?"