@kr1st@mastodon.radio
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kr1st

@kr1st@mastodon.radio

Dutch expat now hamradioactive from North East PA. I was first licensed in 1985 as PE1MBI but didn't really become active until the late 90's as KG4ECV and now KR1ST.

I'm interested in more things than can be explored in a single human lifetime.

73,
--Alex KR1ST

(My posts are deleted after 14 days.)

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

ai6yr, to hamradio

Any ham radio folks try aurora scatter the last few days? https://community.spaceweatherlive.com/topic/3207-aurora-scatter/

kr1st,
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@ai6yr I made 59 6m AU SSB Q's. It was nice to see 6m packed with CW and SSB signals for a chance as AU renders FTx useless.

kr1st, to hamradio
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Wow, even the ISS made an appearance!

ISS passing overhead over my 6 and 2m yagis.

kr1st, to random
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Aurora above my satellite antennas

kr1st, to hamradio
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Keep an eye out for Aurora Propagation (AU) happening right now.

Here is a sound sample I just copied from NA2O calling CQ on 6m (50.102). Note the raspy CW sound.

My antenna was pointed at 330 degrees. NA2O is due south from me and I would normally not copy him.

N4JAW, to amateurradio
@N4JAW@mastodon.radio avatar

QRP To The Field (QRPTTF) EVENT
Saturday, April 20, 2024
This includes a SOTA or POTA location or activation.
Click on link below for rules and information

https://www.zianet.com/qrp/qrpttf/pg.html

kr1st,
@kr1st@mastodon.radio avatar

@Geojoek @N4JAW Indeed, it's going to be a busy day. It's also Record Store Say. 😄 Maybe we can try a transatlantic QSO that day if the planets and stars align.

kr1st, to hamradio
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Free latest (25th) edition of the ARRL Antenna Book in PDF format. (official, not a pirate copy)

https://home.arrl.org/action/Store/Product-Details/productId/2014043922?fbclid=IwAR1x3RUwF6e10aWFywwqBA87LYt31cQhiYO3qj25bK1rXXdpGdoEREqfee4_aem_Aby_y6jdiLBU5wviEteL3bjCy6Ka9n6sLxaeYs8Cq9EdZl6fV_tNpkZvMyJZo7REUjw

Just register for an account and an email will be sent to you with a download link. It took about 45 minutes for the email with the download link to arrive. File size (an .exe) is a little over 1 GB.

I don't know how long this offer will last, so get it as quickly as you can if you're interested.

bud_t, to academicchatter
@bud_t@m.ai6yr.org avatar

I'm visiting family in Indiana. When they asked what I was teaching this semester, I told them about the doc course I teach that is about quantitative research within a Critical Race Theory framework. I could almost see some heads exploding 🤯 I explained to them that I couldn't teach that course if I worked in Florida or Texas, and that may be the case in Indiana in the future based on the latest legislative efforts here.

@academicchatter

kr1st,
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@bud_t @academicchatter CRT...thems are fighting words down there! 😀

kr1st, to random
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I can only laugh when a YT reviewer or influencer says that the cameras on a particular phone are not impressive.

I took this photo last night through a double pane window with the phone supported on the window sill. I'm no photographer, but color me impressed that a phone with a camera and sensor that can fit in less than a cubic cm can take a picture of the moon like this.

croyle, to hamradio
@croyle@wandering.shop avatar

I decided to re-enlist (heh) in the . There are small but positive signs of progress there, and I figure that they probably dismiss complaints/observations from non-members out of hand... My hope is that they step up and show some actual leadership with regard to politics, diversity, hate speech, etc. It's a ridiculously low bar but it would be a further step in the right direction.

kr1st,
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@VE2UWY @croyle I agree, LOTW is a terrible implementation of a hamradio activity (award chasing) that they tried monetizing on.

They should have gamified it. It's a perfect candidate for it. But no, they made it into a boring laborious product that soon no one will care about, if they're not careful.

QRZ.com seems to understand this. You log a Q, can check immediately if qualifies for an award. If it does, bam, another badge on your profile. It's all about badges these days, baby. 😄

kr1st, to random
@kr1st@mastodon.radio avatar

With the last two Q's on 17m with ZD7CTO and VK3GJG just before midnight EST, it makes it official. Today I made 180 QSO's on every HF band from 160-10m running 100W and a wire.

Since the autotuner is still waiting for a relay, I broke out the trusty (if you can say that about an MFJ product 😁 ) MFJ-949E manual tuner for this exercise. 😀 Worked a bunch of POTA stations on SSB and also worked a lot of stations on FT4/FT8 as well.

I consider it a well spent Saturday afternoon and evening. 😁

Binder, to random
@Binder@petrous.vislae.town avatar

One of my favorite former co-workers used to say that AI stands for Additional If-statements.

kr1st,
@kr1st@mastodon.radio avatar

@Binder It once used to stand for Artificial Insemination, didn't it? 😄 The difference is subtle. 😉😁

kr1st, to hamradio
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I continue to be impressed by OpenWebRX (Plus). I just added a discone antenna to the RSP2 that my OpenWebRX instance is using, in addition to the active HF loop antenna. I'm currently listening to my hotspot that is streaming BM TG 204 DRM on 70cm.

Now I can listen to my hotspot on my phone from anywhere. Tell me that's not "real" hamradio. 😂

I went nuts and set up 40 profiles covering 500 kHz up to 1.3 GHz. Now on to setting up bookmarks...

kr1st, to random
@kr1st@mastodon.radio avatar

ICYMI, the Quansheng UV-5K can do CW (including CW keyer with messages):

http://www.hamskey.com/2024/01/introducing-uv-k5-version-01p-cw.html

It also transmits SSTV:

http://www.hamskey.com/2024/01/introducing-uv-k5-version-01m-sstv-text.html

SSB filters have been added:

http://www.hamskey.com/2024/01/about-uv-k5-cec-firmware-version-01x.html

Binder, to random
@Binder@petrous.vislae.town avatar

deleted_by_author

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    kr1st,
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    @Binder Brilliant song! I have a friend who named a kid after that song. 😀

    HopelessDemigod, to random
    @HopelessDemigod@mstdn.social avatar

    Remember when the internet was fun and new?

    Usenet
    Gopher
    FTP
    Telnet
    IRC
    Netscape Navigator
    Cisco Routers where cool and not just overpriced junk

    I offer equal time for an opposing view.

    kr1st,
    @kr1st@mastodon.radio avatar

    @HopelessDemigod What was that dialup network called that worked a bit like Usenet where you would download pages of posts of subjects you subscribed to? You could write your own posts and responses and once you uploaded them it could take a long time before it was distributed because all these servers had to call each other and exchange data. I can't remember the name of it. It was kind of precursor to the Internet.

    kr1st,
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    @HopelessDemigod I think it was indeed FidoNet!

    That article about Shortwave 2.0 made me think of this idea that was once floating around about broadcasting a lot of data in a cyclical format, like Teletekst on TV's in European markets, where you can select a page number (say WX info page) on your receiver, and as soon as that page was transmitted your receiver would pick it up and display it. Of course your receiver could cache all the pages if it had enough memory available.

    kr1st, to hamradio
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    6m is at it again!

    tsherrygeo, to random
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    Cool, the county library offers free digital access to the nyt including the cooking and games.

    kr1st,
    @kr1st@mastodon.radio avatar

    @tsherrygeo @ai6yr
    If you attend a college or university in the US, or work there in any capacity (as long as you have access to a .edu email address), your school may be offering a free unlimited digital subscription to the NYT and WSJ apps. Check with your school's library or do a search in their portal for a link to these services.

    I know my employer does and happily use those services. 😀

    kr1st, to hamradio
    @kr1st@mastodon.radio avatar

    Santa brought me Quansheng UV-5k(8). A YTer in a recent video said he couldn't recommend this HT because it was "dirty" and showed a screenshot of TinySA Ultra from which the viewer was to infer that the radio was not satisfying FCC requirements.

    The FCC requires harmonics to be 40dB down from the fundamental and the video showed that the second harmonic was "only" 38.8dB down. I'm including a screenshot of that video.

    Time to do some measurements!

    1/4

    kr1st, to hamradio
    @kr1st@mastodon.radio avatar

    Winter solstice group picture with Jupiter on top of the vertical. 😀

    tsherrygeo, to hamradio
    @tsherrygeo@mastodon.radio avatar

    40m evening net on 7.269 ssb

    kr1st,
    @kr1st@mastodon.radio avatar

    @W6KME @tsherrygeo W6KME, I did hear you right at the noise level.

    kr1st, to random
    @kr1st@mastodon.radio avatar

    Halloween is proving to be a good night to test out some lesser used shortwave radios in the shack. This is the RadioShack DX-398 tuned to X-FM on 4195 kHz.

    SomersetBob, to space

    I must say I’m blown away by ’s incredible achievement in getting the capsule back successfully from the . I mean, just getting it there was difficult enough - it arrived in December 2018 after a 2-year, 2-billion km journey from Earth, stayed for 2.5 years, dropped to the surface of in mid-2020, gathered the samples in a 10-second grab, then set off for home in May ‘21, and arrived here today a few seconds ahead of schedule. The ingenuity is mind-boggling! 1/2

    kr1st,
    @kr1st@mastodon.radio avatar

    @SomersetBob I agree, it's an amazing feat what they pulled off with the Osiris Rex mission!

    If anything, I'd be more worried about why the parachute deployed at 20,000ft instead of at 5,000ft.

    I wonder if the Osiris Apex mission was planned before Osiris Rex was in space, or after. Much like the mission of one of the Voyagers (2?) was changed just after launch.

    Looking forward to watching the documentaries that will be made of Osiris Rex. 😄

    kr1st, to hamradio
    @kr1st@mastodon.radio avatar

    With the Perseid meteor shower peaking this weekend you can expect a great show on the radio. Even without a lot of power and a yagis, you can have fun with 6m Meteor Scatter with just 50W and a wire. Use MSK144 in WSJT-X on 50.260 MHz (144.150 on 2m) in North America.

    Attached are some images from this morning to help recognize meteor trails (pings) and Sporadic E (Es). Multiple meteors can actually form an Es cloud that lasts longer than the individual trails.

    This image shows what regular old Sporadic E looks like. Now this could have been formed by a cluster of meteor trails. There are signals visible for the whole duration of the 15 second plot. A strong opening may show as just a wide red band all the way across.
    This image shows signs of a Sporadic E cloud with at least 3 visible meteor pings. Quite possibly, this Es cloud was formed by multiple meteors.
    In this image we can see a very nice meteor ping (sharp edge on the left and then the signal washes out, just like the visible tail of a meteor). It is followed by what looks like the formation of a very short lived Es cloud, but it could very well be a large meteor. The fluctuations you see in signal intensity is caused by the pulsing nature of the MSK144 mode.

    tek_dmn, to hamradio
    @tek_dmn@mastodon.tekdmn.me avatar

    Hey, hey / people (also @RL_Dane)

    49/50. CSCE for Amateur Extra in hand. And a healthy dose of urging me to apply for getting accredited as a VE.

    (And a "I've never seen someone take an Extra test that fast before")

    kr1st,
    @kr1st@mastodon.radio avatar

    @tek_dmn @RL_Dane Wow, 49 out of 50 is really great! Congrats!

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