Friday, August 22, 2014

ShortWave Music

ShortWaveMusic is a global sound project and documentary series which aims to preserve the sound of regional and international broadcasting around the world. Recordings may include low-power and community stations, pirate and clandestine transmissions, or traditional international broadcasters. 
The long-term goal of the project is to tell the story of shortwave broadcasting in the early 21st century by exploring the extraordinary and varied ways in which people continue to communicate via radio, despite the advent of newer and more glamorous technologies. 
 The material is recorded in a new location each year and serialized on this site beginning every October.

How many Hams ?

Nice statistics on qrznow


Thursday, August 21, 2014

Developing a HF transceiver around an Arduino

From the YO9IRF blog: "As you probably know, the Arduino platform is a very useful toy for development of electronic gizmos, and after I saw the Myriad RF project I started thinking how a small portable HF transceiver could be developed around the versatility the Arduino provides. The idea is to keep in line with the Arduino philosophy and level of knowledge, so the end product should be fairly simple and affordable, but still offering alot of fun.

 These are my targets:
- 8-band SSB transceiver (LSB: 80m/40m, USB: 20m/17m/15m/12m/11m/10m)
- weight: 500 grams
- output: 10W
- sensitivity: 0.5uV
- consumption: 400mA@13.8V standby / 2.5A@13.8V TX
- display: mode, frequency, step, supply voltage, S-meter, SWR
- encoder VFO with 2 selectable steps
- bandswitch button"




XiOne - The portable Software Defined Radio - SDR

This is the SDR I'd like to buy !!! LINK



 The first Software Defined Radio easy to use with smartphones and fully open to the maker community


A huge frequency range from 100 kHz up to 1.7 GHz opens up a wide field of operations. For example the reception of worldwide short wave transmissions or the detection of ship as well as aircraft positions by receiving AIS and ADS-B Broadcasts. 
There is no need to install special drivers because all interfaces are based on standard network protocols, so it is effortless to operate the device within all environments. 
Simply connect via Wifi or Ethernet to the XiOne-Network or even use the USB-Port, which acts as a network interface too. The built-in router function actually allows parallel access to attached networks like the internet.




The XiOne has its own power supply allowing more than 2 hours of mobile usage, easily extendable with an external USB battery pack. In combination with dedicated smartphone or tablet Apps the solution becomes mobile, allowing to go into areas with very low radio interferences.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Send messages and pics to Mars

The first opportunity for the people of Earth to send personal messages and pictures to Mars by radio transmission! 

Beam Me celebrates the 50th anniversary of the first mission to Mars—NASA’s Mariner 4 launched on 28 November 1964. All Beam Me messages will be sent together by radio—at the speed of light—as a global shout-out from Earth to Mars on 28 November 2014.
Send as many messages as you like. With each message sent, you’ll receive a beautiful, downloadable certificate authenticating your participation in this historic event. 
Join in—it’s fun, it’s inspiring, it’s futuristic, and all messages help fund space research, education, and exploration!
LINK.

Wednesday, August 06, 2014

JT65 August eQSL gallery