JT65 – It’s About TIME

May 1, 2016

As of late, I have been deeply engrossed with learning more about the digital modes.  The latest, most intriguing for me is JT65.  The idea of being able to transfer information with signals so weak that they are below the noise floor is amazing to me.  Yes – I’m aware that it is a very slow mode but I’m still very interested.

One key element to JT65 is that timing is a key factor in the protocol working properly.  One party of the QSO sends on the even minutes and the other on the odd minutes, each … -continue reading

View full post

Swan Valley Radio Camp, April 2016

April 30, 2016

Last weekend was an Amateur Radio Vacation in Swan Valley Idaho…  I took my little 25 foot trailer packed with my radio gear, food, water and munchies for my daughter and I and we headed out to the “great outdoors” to enjoy some fresh air, solitude and amateur radio for the weekend.

The “Shack”

Here’s a picture of my desk this trip. It’s the dinette table of my trailer which actually works well.  My setup is very simple.  It consists of a Yaesu FT-897, laptop, MFJ 941 Antenna Tuner and Signa-Link USB for rig control and digital … -continue reading

View full post

The Phonetic Alphabet

February 19, 2015

The phonetic alphabet is one of the “basics” of communications.  It is my understanding that it came about in the 1950’s. Its purpose is minimize potential misunderstandings in communication due to mispronounced leters.  The words assigned to each letter were selected based on thousands of tests involving 31 different nationalities and accounts for the differences in linguistics of those nationalities.

Here are the letters of the alphabet and their associated code words:

Letter Phonetic Word Letter Phonetic Word
A Alpha N November
B Bravo O Oscar
C Charlie P Pappa
D Delta Q Quebec
E Echo R
… -continue reading View full post
JT65 – It’s About TIMESwan Valley Radio Camp, April 2016The Phonetic Alphabet

Mar 18

(No title)

Categories:

Uncategorized

by

Made the following post on FaceBook tonight:

I dusted off my radio gear and got on the air tonight. Radio wave propagation was not working in my favor. Was able to hear K1KW out of Bolton Massachusetts (on 7.199 MHz) very clearly but was not able to talk back to him. Tried some digital modes on the 20 meter band (14.070 MHz) and on the 40 meter band (7.080 MHz) but no luck their either. Some times the bands are “ever in your favor” and sometimes they are not.

If you have any Amateur Radio (Ham Radio) questions feel free … -continue reading

This post has no tag

Jun 19

Shared Amateur Radio with Boy Scout Troop 148

Categories:

Amateur Radio Education

by

Late entry from June 14, 2016

My son is a member of Troop 148 of the Grand Teton Council here in Southeast Idaho.  His troop has an activity  every Tuesday evening and frequent overnight camp-outs as well.  On this past Tuesday afternoon I received a phone call from our Scout Master asking if I would talk to the boys about Amateur Radio.

After accepting the invitation I hung up the phone and paused to think about what I’d just done.  Great Scott!  I didn’t have anything prepared in advance.  I was at work and the meeting time was shortly after … -continue reading

This post has no tag

May 08

Added a New Page “Other Sites”

Categories:

Site Admin

by

It was 8 years ago yesterday  (May 6, 2008) that I took the Technician Class license and passed, took the General Class license and passed and took the Extra Class license and failed miserably.  I had earned my General ticket and was destined to hit the airwaves as quickly as possible.

Passing the Tech and General class licenses that day were possible because of some very helpful Elmers in my area and also because of some very helpful websites.  Over the years I’ve done quite a bit of reading, much of that reading online for sites belonging to various operators … -continue reading

This post has no tag

May 01

JT65 – It’s About TIME

Categories:

Digital Modes, Front Page Slider, Global Positioning System, JT65

by

May 1, 2016

As of late, I have been deeply engrossed with learning more about the digital modes.  The latest, most intriguing for me is JT65.  The idea of being able to transfer information with signals so weak that they are below the noise floor is amazing to me.  Yes – I’m aware that it is a very slow mode but I’m still very interested.

One key element to JT65 is that timing is a key factor in the protocol working properly.  One party of the QSO sends on the even minutes and the other on the odd minutes, each … -continue reading

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Apr 30

Swan Valley Radio Camp, April 2016

Categories:

Front Page Slider, Uncategorized

by

April 30, 2016

Last weekend was an Amateur Radio Vacation in Swan Valley Idaho…  I took my little 25 foot trailer packed with my radio gear, food, water and munchies for my daughter and I and we headed out to the “great outdoors” to enjoy some fresh air, solitude and amateur radio for the weekend.

The “Shack”

Here’s a picture of my desk this trip. It’s the dinette table of my trailer which actually works well.  My setup is very simple.  It consists of a Yaesu FT-897, laptop, MFJ 941 Antenna Tuner and Signa-Link USB for rig control and digital … -continue reading

This post has no tag

Dec 05

Taught Class: “Introduction to Amateur Radio”

Categories:

Uncategorized

by

December 5, 2015

This past week I’ve been in an Instructor Training Class at work.  A portion of the class was based on developing curriculum and teaching that course to a group of peers.  I was very happy when I was told that the course content was anything of our choosing that was “workplace appropriate”…  I immediately knew I was going to do mine on Amateur Radio.

The total time allotted four the course was 35 minutes.  For learning and evaluation purposes the course was to be divided into two parts given on different days.  The logic behind that was … -continue reading

This post has no tag

Feb 19

The Phonetic Alphabet

Categories:

Best Practices, Front Page Slider, Soap Box

by

February 19, 2015

The phonetic alphabet is one of the “basics” of communications.  It is my understanding that it came about in the 1950’s. Its purpose is minimize potential misunderstandings in communication due to mispronounced leters.  The words assigned to each letter were selected based on thousands of tests involving 31 different nationalities and accounts for the differences in linguistics of those nationalities.

Here are the letters of the alphabet and their associated code words:

Letter Phonetic Word Letter Phonetic Word
A Alpha N November
B Bravo O Oscar
C Charlie P Pappa
D Delta Q Quebec
E Echo R
… -continue reading

This post has no tag

Feb 18

K400 Diamond Antenna Mount

Categories:

Antenna Mount, Equipment

by

February 18, 2015

Back in September of 2010, I purchased a Diamond 400 Antenna and it has worked very well for me on several vehicles, including my current Ford Excursion.

The Diamond 400 mounts on the edge or lip of the vehicle or other solid conductive material that can be used to support the antenna.  It is secured with four set screws and is a solid mount.

My current antenna is the ATAS-120, which has a wide wind profile and have only had one issue, of which I believe the root cause to be “operator error” (more on that later).… -continue reading

Tags: , , , ,

Feb 17

Welcome to the KE7TVZ Blog

Categories:

Uncategorized

by

February 17, 2015

Welcome to the KE7TVZ Blog.

I got my start, and my love, for electronics as a little kid with my Radio Shack 150 Project Kit. The “AM Broadcaster” was my favorite circuit to build. I figured out that connecting the “antenna” output to other metal objects increased the range I could hear my “broadcast” signal from. My “dx” dreams began!

In the mid 70’s our family got a CB Radio. I soon learned about SSB, Channel 38 and  “skip” – I was hooked!  In the early 80’s, I was in highschool in a small town. messing around … -continue reading

This post has no tag