QRZ Forums - Amateur Radio News for Thursday 30 October 2014
 

QRZ Forums - Amateur Radio News

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Army, Air Force MARS Merge Nets

Posted: 28 Oct 2014 11:23 PM PDT
http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php...s&goto=newpost


During a 48 hour DOD sponsored contingency communications exercise which
began on 26 October and ended Tuesday evening the Army and Air Force
branches of the MARS merged their long-distance radio networks in order to
provide communications support following a simulated disruption to the
nation’s communications infrastructure. In addition to passing message
traffic for the DOD, the scenario also required the MARS stations to
interface with the Department of Homeland Security SHARed RESources HF
network.

Another objective of the exercise required the MARS operators to reach out
to the amateur radio community and attempt to contact amateur radio
operators (Hams) in as many counties across the United States as
possible. Regarding this objective Army MARS Program Manager Paul English
explained, “This communications exercise is sponsored by the DoD to provide
MARS operators the opportunity to develop and train interoperability
procedures with their state/local ARES emergency coordinators and their
Amateur Radio colleagues.”



The plan called for MARS members, using their Amateur Radio call signs and
operating on amateur frequencies, to establish two-way communication with
Amateur Radio emergency Service (ARES) leadership or members in as many
U.S. counties as possible by using VHF/UHF simplex channels or local
repeaters or near vertical incidence skywave (NVIS) propagation on HF.
“The contact can be with any amateur in the county, if an ARES member or
leader is not available,” English added.



“In order to better support [our] new mission, both Army and Air Force MARS
are looking for efficiencies in how we conduct our national nets,” Army
MARS Chief Stephen Klinefelter said. ”This National Exercise is the perfect
venue to test out this new relationship. We will make mistakes and we will
improve by learning from those mistakes.”

"Dave Stapchuk, Chief Air Force MARS, commented: "Interoperability is key
to mission success. This joint exercise is the first step toward
demonstrating that we can be truly interoperable in support of our mission
and DoD customer. It also strengthens the operational linkages between our
MARS Services and highlights the growing relevance of the contingency
communications service we provide to the military and the nation. While
there are many challenges to overcome and lessons to be learned, I am
optimistic that we will steadily improve our abilities over time thanks to
the dedication and commitment of our volunteer members."




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QSO Today Podcast - Episode 14 - Steve Johnston - WD8DAS

Posted: 28 Oct 2014 11:08 PM PDT
http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php...S&goto=newpost


You can still build a beautiful tuna can transmitter, especially if it uses
vacuum tubes instead of solid state components. Join Eric, 4Z1UG, in his
QSO Today with Steve Johnston, WD8DAS, where they discuss Steve’s ham radio
journey that includes experimentation in the 630 meter band, restoration of
Chinese military radio gear, and the love of amateur radio.





Show Notes: http://www.qsotoday.com/podcasts/wd8das



Podcast Link:http://goo.gl/Oo46CG



iTunes Sto http://goo.gl/CvLNmV



Stitcher: http://goo.gl/uhf1XZ




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radio-portal - SDR Spezial - sdr-portal

Posted: 26 Oct 2014 02:56 PM PDT
http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php...l&goto=newpost


Normal 0 21 false false false DE X-NONE
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MicrosoftInternetExplorer4
Hello all,



my page "SDR Special" at www.radio-portal.org has been completely
redesigned. In the past, a limited selection of SDR related links could be
found here, focussed on Perseus, Winradio and the ZS-1.



Now, with only one mouse click, a great number of SDR-related websites
can be found, grouped by topic:

http://www.radio-portal.org/sdr.html



The advantage over other search engines: There are no irrelevant search
results; currently over 50,000 sites (currently 1000 about SDR) are in the
database. All entries were manually checked, categorized and provide a
brief description in English or German.



Moreover, it is not necessary to know a particular company or product
name - searches are carried out without entering keywords.



To reflect the growing importance of mobile devices, these search
functions are now also available on SDR Portal:

www.sdr-portal.de

www.sdrportal.de

www.sdr-portal.org

www.sdrportal.org

The output is here specially prepared for tablets and smartphones,
optimized for viewing on small screens.



I hope you enjoy these pages. It would be glad if you find new ressources
with radio-portal and sdr-portal.

Link information, feedback or suggestions are always welcome.



vy 73,

Willi, DJ6JZ





http://www.radio-portal.org/index.html

The Radio Search Engine

http://www.sdr-portal.org/index.html

Mobile Version

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTlu...ature=youtu.be

sdr-portal on Youtube




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HamRadioNow: Off the Shelf SDR, from the DCC

Posted: 26 Oct 2014 01:13 AM PDT
http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php...C&goto=newpost




HAMRADIONOW.tv



from the 2014 ARRL & TAPR DCC

Episode 170: Off the Shelf Software Defined Radio

Apparently it's hard to get Software Defined Radios to work, at least from
the computer end of things (at least on Windows). Drivers, GUIs, USB
connections and such conspire to drive you mad. Scotty Cowling WA2DFI
defies the odds and the gods and brings up three different SDR
receivers "from scratch" - live - in one 45 minute talk at the DCC. And it
almost all works!



Episode 170: Off the Shelf SDR









Watch all our programs on our web page:

HAMRADIONOW.tv



HamRadioNow is supported by viewer contributions

If you enjoy the programs, visit www.HamRadioNow.tv and "click the pig"







THANK YOU to all our contributors!




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Nesbitt's Unfavorable Federal PRB-1 Decision.

Posted: 25 Oct 2014 11:59 AM PDT
http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php...n&goto=newpost


Case 1-13-cv-00881-ODE.pdf

For those of you who were following this case:



Attached is the US District Court filings regarding the unfavorable Federal
PRB-1 decision on Ritner Nesbitt, N4BNM tower fight.



This decision advances a lesson not to be ignored by Ham operators.



Finally, as some of you may already know, Ritner Nesbitt, N4BNM is no
longer with us. His demise occurred on January 31st 2014 while at home. His
wife Patricia Nesbitt had continued his antenna fight. It is unknown, at
this time, whether or not an Appeal will be taken on the most recent Court
decision.



73,



Trent, N2WKL












Attached Files




Case 1-13-cv-00881-ODE.pdf
(598.4 KB)