VK4CZ has reported lots of contacts by all who participated in July 23 on 23 weekend,no one from the club was mentioned though. If you require some more in-depth reading please use the site below. see here:http://www.vklogger.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=13699&start=20
Blog Archives
This contest is to encourage Low Band Activity in Australia and New Zealand – The applicable bands are 160, 80 and 40M. The modes are SSB CW and Digital (RTTY and PSK only) The web site is sorry it missed notifying you all about this event (which was held on the 16/07/2016). 164 entries were logged, so this is one not to miss when next its run. More details here: http://www.vkcc.com/2016/06/28/trans-tasman-low-bands-challenge-2016/
NASA is monitoring a giant hole spreading across the sun.
http://www.space.com/33047-nasa-spots-huge-hole-in-sun.html
NASA has released footage of a giant hole spreading across the surface of the sun.
A NASA spacecraft uncovered the dark mass which is allowing some of the sun’s heat to escape into open space.
The dark mass has been identified as a coronal hole, with a NASA spokesperson confirming it poses no risk to Earth.
The hole, which can take up a quarter of the sun’s surface, is created by a gap in the magnetic field.
“Coronal holes are the source of a high-speed wind of solar particles that streams off the sun,” the NASA spokesperson said.
The high speed wind, while posing no risk to Earth, can disrupt satellites and communication devices.
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory will continue to monitor the sun’s surface, as it has done since 2010.
For all HF rigs Icom Yaesu K3 KX3 Flex and manymore . Although it seems the mode is a bit slow to take off, the software is free and reasonably easy to set up. Then there is the lack of amount of contacts out there, anyway if you give it a go it could be your next challenge.
need to read more. see here: http://www.areg.org.au/activities-old/hf-digital-voice
Digital voice on HF
I was going to title this post “D-Star’s nemesis” but I thought that would be too provocative and premature! But the much talked-about Codec2 open source voice codec has just surfaced in usable form, in the shape of an easy to use bit of software called FreeDV.
FreeDV is available for Linux, Windows and Mac. I installed the Windows version, which is just a matter of extracting the files from a zip archive into a folder.
If you’re set up to run digital modes on HF then you’re half way there already. FreeDV uses the same sound card as your digimode software and the same audio levels. As with PSK31 you just need to make sure you aren’t driving the transmitter into ALC.
You’ll need a second sound card for the receive and transmit audio. Assuming that you aren’t using one sound card for both digimodes and computer sound, this will be the one you use for Windows noises. On my shack PC that’s one of those el cheapo eBay USB sound card dongles. You’ll also need a microphone or a computer headset.
There’s no VOX (perhaps that will come in a later version of FreeDV) so you have to click a button to toggle PTT. Before you can do that you need to set up PTT using a com port. In my case the same serial port used for CAT control and updating the firmware of my K3 was used. The rig went straight into transmit until I ticked the RTS +V check box.
The main challenge is finding other people who are using FreeDV. At the moment the frequency 14.236MHz on 20m seems to be the only calling frequency. It would be nice to have some centres of activity on other bands, but no doubt that will come in due course. There’s a Digital Voice Google Group which will probably become the meeting place for FreeDV users.
A FreeDV transmission is 1.1kHz wide, less than half of the bandwidth of an SSB signal. The audio is best described as telephone quality. It’s a bit boxy, but there is an equalizer called “Filter” in the software that can be used to brighten up both the transmit and receive audio. A nice feature of the software is a button that lets you instantly switch between analogue and digital so you can easily make comparisons. I wish I could include a clip of the audio recorded off air but I couldn’t figure out how to do it.
Right now I’m sitting on 14.236MHz waiting for someone else to come on the frequency. Hopefully as the word gets out more people will get on the air with FreeDV and contacts will be easier to come by.
OR
“When disaster strikes, P25 saves lives”
Project 25 (P25) is a set of standards produced through the joint efforts of the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials International (APCO), the National Association of State Telecommunications Directors (NASTD), selected Federal Agencies and the National Communications System (NCS), and standardized under the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA).
P25 is an open architecture, user driven suite of system standards that define digital radio communications system architectures capable of serving the needs of Public Safety and Government organizations. The P25 suite of standards involves digital Land Mobile Radio (LMR) services for local, state/provincial and national (federal) public safety organizations and agencies. P25 open system standards define the interfaces, operation and capabilities of any P25 compliant radio system.
A P25 radio is any radio that conforms to the P25 standard in the way it functions or operates. P25 compliant radios can communicate in analog mode with legacy radios and in either digital or analog mode with other P25 radios. The P25 standard exists in the public domain, allowing any manufacturer to produce a P25 compatible radio product.
Although developed primarily for North American public safety services, P25 technology and products are not limited to public safety alone and have also been selected and deployed in other private system applications, worldwide. The Project 25 users’ process is governed by an eleven-member steering committee made up of nine U.S. federal, state and local government representatives and two co-directors.
Project 25 has four main objectives:
Ensure competition in system life cycle procurements through Open Systems Architecture
Allow effective, efficient and reliable intra-agency and interagency communications
Provide enhanced functionality and capabilities with a focus on public safety needs
Improve radio spectrum efficiency
P25 BENEFITS
P25 has many various benefits in performance, efficiency, capabilities and quality. Key P25 technology benefits include:
Interoperability
Radio equipment that is compatible with P25 standards will allow users from different agencies or areas to communicate directly with each other. This will allow agencies on the federal state/provincial or local level (or any other agency) to communicate more effectively with each other when required (emergencies, law enforcement, etc.)
Multiple Vendors
The P25 open standard will allow competing products from multiple vendors to be interoperable. This will allow customers of the P25 product to benefit from multiple manufacturing sources (decreased costs, open bidding, non-proprietary systems).
Backwards Compatibility
A basic requirement for Phase 1 P25 digital radio equipment is backward compatibility with standard analog FM radios. This supports an orderly migration into mixed analog and digital systems, enabling users to gradually trade out radios and infrastructure equipment. By selecting products and systems that comply with P25 standards, agencies are assured that their investment in the latest technology has a clear migration path for the future.
Encryption Capability
The P25 standard includes a requirement for protecting digital communications (voice and data) with encryption capability. The encryption used in P25 is optional, allowing the user to select either clear (un-encrypted) or secure (encrypted) digital communication methods. The encryption keys also have the option of being re-keyed by digital data over a radio network. This is referred to as Over The Air Re-keying (OTAR). This capability allows the radio systems manager to remotely change encryption keys.
Improved Audio Quality
With 2800 bits per second of the total 9600 bits per second channel capacity allocated to error correction, P25 digital signals have improved voice quality over standard analog signals, especially at low or noisy RF carrier levels. The IMBE™ voice coder converts voice information into digital data and then the data is protected using error correction codes. The error correction is able to correct for small errors in the received signal. Since the audio is digitally encoded, the background noise typically present in analog systems is also removed.
P25 RESOURCES
PTIG
The Project 25 Technology Interest Group (PTIG) is a group composed of public safety professionals and equipment manufacturers with a direct stake in the further development of, and education on, the P25 standards. PTIG’s purpose is to further the design, manufacture, evolution, and effective use of technologies stemming from the P25 standardization process.
APCO International
The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials – International, Inc. is the world’s oldest and largest not-for-profit professional organization dedicated to the enhancement of public safety communications.
TIA
The Telecommunications Industry Association is the leading U.S. non-profit trade association serving the communications and information technology industry, with proven strengths in market development, trade shows, domestic and international advocacy, standards development and enabling e-business.
CQ Worldwide VHF Contest 6 metre, look here:http://www.qsl.net/n2sln/contestcalendar.html
