W2LJ's Blog - QRP - Do More With Less.

///////////////////////////////////////////
Smartphones

Posted: 03 Feb 2016 06:26 AM PST
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/feedb...medium= email

I was prompted to write this because of the latest poll on eHam. It's
about smart phones and Amateur Radio apps. Of course, it devolved from
being anything useful into a bunch of curmudgeons blasting the topic to
smithereens.

"What do you need a smart phone for anyway? I detest them, they are the
mark of the Beast - the Devil's plaything, they are everything that is
wrong with society! I use a real radio that has knobs ...... remember what
those are?" I am paraphrasing, of course. ;-)

And so on, and so on, and so on. Sigh - heavy sigh.

It's a tool, guys ...... just another tool in the Ham radio arsenal, get it?

I have a pre-owned (sound so much better than "used") Samsung Galaxy S3,
which I recently picked up on eBay. It's my first personal 4G cell phone.
(I know, forever behind the times.) Even though it's an older model, it's
in excellent shape and I'm familiar with the S3, as my work-issued cell
phone used to be an S3. For work, they recently upgraded me to an iPhone
5s, which I don't like (or use) - but this post is not about that.

My Galaxy S3 is a great companion for portable QRP ops. It's works much
better than the Motorola Droid 2 that I previously used. It has more system
memory, so it doesn't lock up or lag on me, like the Droid 2 used to. I
have the following Amateur Radio apps on it:

HamLog
SOTAwatch
Morse Trainer by Wolfi
QRZDroid
DX Cluster


HamLog is great! It's easy to use and has a lot of features. If I'm not in
a pileup situation (ragchew mode, or even causal sprint operation), it's
easy enough for me to type in my contacts. In a hectic pileup situation
(think activating NPOTA or the Skeeter Hunt), where things are happening
fast and furious, I get flustered a bit. I can start out logging on the
cell phone, but inevitably, I end up getting fumble-fingered and have to
resort to old school - paper and pencil. If I'm near a wi-fi source (I
have a very limited monthly data allowance, so my data connection is always
off), it will even look up the names and QTHs of the operators that I am
currently working. I can easily export the log to an ADIF file, so that I
can add my portable ops contacts to my main log on Log4OM.

SOTAwatch - turn it on and it shows you the current activations. Call
signs, peak, frequency and mode. It has other features which I haven't even
explored yet.

Morse Trainer - This is one of the best Morse Code trainers out there
IMHO. It will allow Morse to be sent as fast as 60 WPM. I keep mine set
to a speed of about 40 WPM and have it send regular words. I try to listen
to some code practice several times a week in my never ending goal to
become an even more competent CW op. Boy, 25 WPM sure sounds easy-peasy
after listening to 40 WPM for a while!

QRZDroid - QRZ.com in an app. Easy call sign look up.

DX Cluster - Very helpful in tracking NPOTA stations. The only drawback
with DX Cluster is that you can filter it for either all HF bands or
mono-bands. It would be nice if I could filter say, 20 and 17 Meters in one
shot. But, hey, if wishes were nickels, I'd be a rich man. Wish I was smart
enough to write apps like these, then maybe I would be a rich man!

The bottom line is that a smart phone can be a useful tool to compliment
and enhance your overall Amateur Radio experience. It's not a replacement
or any other kind of bogeyman. It is what you make of it.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!