Activities, Education and Training, Featured, General, Newsletter

Get Active!

Whatever your fancy is with amateur radio our club seems to have something for you! We’ve got a very busy spring and summer scheduled with a variety of activities. I hope to see you at some of the activities we have scheduled and if you can’t find anything that suits your style please let me know and we’ll fix that!

This weekend is the ARRL International DX Contest and Fred, AB1OC and Anita, AB1QB opening up there first class station for members who would like to test their skill in contesting or if you’re just interested in getting going with contesting. This is a fantastic opportunity to work some DX and operate on a top notch station.

Maybe it’s an upgrade you’re looking for? We’ve got you covered! Our spring licensing classes will continue with the General class on the weekend of March 23-24. I went through all three classes, as did Abby, AB1BY and we thoroughly enjoyed them. They are very helpful in giving you that edge to get through the test. Interested people can sign up on our website.

Tech Class Students with CSCEs
Tech Class Students with CSCEs

You say you’re interested in building antennas, but haven’t done it before? Join us on Tuesday, April 9th! We’ll be holding a Tech night to discuss transmitter hunting and do a tape measure yagi build. Any of our new technicians that want to get into fox hunting or Summits on the Air (SOTA) should come and check this Tech Night out.

Now that you’ve got that tape measure yagi it only seems fitting to put it to use. That same weekend, April 13th well be holding a SOTA/POTA (Parks on the Air) activation of Mount Pack Monadnock and Miller State Park. You’ll be surprised how far you can reach with a tape measure yagi and a 5 watt HT. We will probably also put the foxes out that day as well!

Again, on April 14th, Fred, AB1OC and Anita, AB1QB will open their station for one of the best contest out there for new operators. The ARRL Rookie Round Up (SSB) will be taking place. This is open to all amateur operators that have been licensed for 3 years or less.

Also, for our “rookies” we’ll be starting a program called Amateur Radio Bootcamp with activities gear towards the new ham, but also some of our veterans may want to take part in as well.

Oh, and don’t forget our weekly repeater net on the N1IMO/N1IMN repeater system followed by our 10-meter net!

All that and were only through April! Some other activities we have scheduled are more POTAs and SOTAs. We’ll also be doing an IOTA (Islands on the Air) this year. We’ll be participating in the New England QSO Party, taking a trip to Hamvention in Xenia, participating in the ARRL’s Kids Day, 13 Colonies, Boxborough and much, much more.

Jamey, AC1DC

Digital, Featured, Newsletter

JTDX – Feature Rich Software for FT8 and Other JT Modes

We’ve recently begun experimenting with a WSJT-X derivative for FT8 and other JT Modes. Its called JTDX. The stated purpose of the JTDX software is (from the JTDX website):

JTDX supports JT9, JT65, T10 and FT8 © digital modes for HF amateur radio communication, focused on DXing and being shaped by the community of DXers.

The latest release candidate of of the JTDX software supports some interesting additional features beyond WSJT-X including:

  • Additional FT8 and JT65 decoder options which can provide improved sensitivity
  • Advanced automatic sequencing and QSO selection features
  • Decoded messaging filtering features

We’ve been testing JTDX V2.0 release candidates here for about a month now. The feature additions definitely provide some useful enhancements. The software is derived from WSJT-X and we’ve been using it here for DX’ing and for weak signal FT8 work on 6 meters. It appears to have most of the features of the current version of WSJT-X with the notable exception of support for specific contest exchanges.

JTDX Main Window and Waterfall

The JTDX software adds a number of FT8 decoding options that are useful on crowded bands and in situations when signals are very weak. These features can be selectively enabled to match band and signal conditions as well as the user’s available CPU horsepower. With all features enabled, JTDX seems to decode more signals on a crowded band than WSJT-X.

You can read more about the features of JTDX and how to get started with it via the link that follows.

Source: JTDX – Feature Rich Software for FT8 and Other JT Modes

Fred, AB1OC

Activities, Digital, Featured, Newsletter, On The Air

CQ WW RTTY Contest Results

The results are in for the 2018 CQ WW RTTY Contest.   The N1FD Multi-Op Entry placed #2 in Area 1 and 14th in North America!

The CQ WW RTTY Contest was held September 29-30, 2018 and the N1FD team operated from the QTH of Fred, AB1OC and Anita, AB1QB.  In addition to Fred and Anita, Dan, AC1EN and Peter, KI1M operated in the contest.

N1FD Claimed Score in CQ WW RTTY 2018
N1FD Claimed Score in CQ WW RTTY 2018

As you can see from the Claimed Score above and the Final Score Below, we busted only 8 QSOs our of 389, resulting in a reduction of less than 10% of our score.  We will receive a report with the details of the errors, which will help us to improve in future contests.

CQ WW RTTY Final Score
CQ WW RTTY Final Score

 

We will host the ARRL International DX Contest – SSB  this weekend, March 1-3, at AB1OC’s and AB1QB’s QTH.  We will again run as a multi-op using the N1FD Call.  If you would like to join us, see the following forum post for more information.

Radio Amateurs Developing Skills Worldwide