Author: shedberg

I got the Icom IC-PCR1000 hooked up (see 1 Oct). It’s connected to the eMachine so I opted not to us RxPlus and dug out my copy of Scancat Gold SE.

Now it’s just a matter of getting a good database of active freqs. My intent is to use the IC-PRC1000 for scanning local VHF/UHF comms (police, fire, etc.).

I got my weather radio back into operation – the Radio Shack Handheld SAME WEATHERADIO (CAT NO. 12-259):

I’ve got the batteries back in and an AC connection. It’s a neat little radio that allows you to customize the weather alerts the radio receives by town. Here are my local FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standards):
Gloucester, 051073
York 051199
City of Hampton 051650
City of Newport News 051700
City of Poquoson 051735

Morse Code is a method for transmitting information, using standardized sequences of short and long marks or pulses — commonly known as “dots and dashes” — for the letters, numerals and special characters of a message. Originally created for Samuel Morse’s electric telegraph in the mid-1830s, it was also extensively used for early radio communication beginning in the 1890s. However, with the development of more advanced communications technologies, the use of Morse Code is now largely obsolete, although it is still employed for a few specialized purposes, including navigational radio beacons, and by CW (continuous wave) amateur radio operators.


What is called Morse Code today actually differs somewhat from what was originally developed by Morse and his assistant, Alfred Vail. In 1848 a refinement of the code sequences, including changes to eleven of the letters, was developed in Germany and eventually adopted as the worldwide standard as “International Morse”. Morse’s original code specification, largely limited to use in the United States, became known as Railroad or American Morse code, and is now very rarely used.
More @ Wikipedia.

Here’s a better description of what “the code” sounds like [everyone recommends not to memorize dashes and dots]:
A di-dah
B dah-di-di-dit
C dah-di-dah-dit
D dah-di-dit
E dit
F di-di-dah-dit
G dah-dah-dit
H di-di-di-dit
I di-dit
J di-dah-dah-dah
K dah-di-dah
L di-dah-di-dit
M dah-dah
N dah-dit
O dah-dah-dah
P di-dah-dah-dit
Q dah-dah-di-dah
R di-dah-dit
S di-di-dit
T dah
U di-dit-dah
V di-di-di-dah
W di-dah-dah
X dah-di-di-dah
Y dah-di-dah-dah
Z dah-dah-di-dit

Minimal proficiency with Morse Code is required for a General Class amateur radio license. I’ve been having a very hard time learning “The Code”. There is about as many methods and techniques to learn and practice the code as there are dits and dahs in the Morse alphabet:

(1) Dr. Wheeler’s Code Quick: “Code Quick could teach a tree stump the code!” Says Bruce Kizerian KK7QP of Centerville, Ut. [I guess I wish I was more like a tree stump.] Here’s what Code Quick promises – Code Quick goes to your speech center. Only Code Quick sends the code to the language part of your brain for instant recognition, permanent memory and no plateaus. You hear each code symbol as an English sound-alike.
With a little practice you will recognize code as easily as speech. Only Code Quick walks you through each character with fun and humor to make learning fast and exciting. Unforgettable cartoon cards, and unique learning activities lock the image to the code symbol instantly and forever in your mind. One new ham said, “I just couldn’t get them out of my mind. From the first time I heard them, they kept going around and around in my head!” This highly acclaimed course works for beginners but also for those who are stuck on a nasty plateau along the way. End your struggle and move up in the Ham community. You will never regret your decision to treat yourself to this amazing program. [When I was having a problem with the registration key for the software portion, Dr. Wheeler actually called me and fixed my problem.]

(2) Ham University: Mathew, KD6MSI writes “After almost ten years of being a ham, I have finally gotten up the fortitude to learn Morse Code. Well, truth be told, I really am enjoying the process. I have Ham University to thank for this. Let me just start by saying that I *love* this program. It is quite simply the best bit of learning software I have found.
Ham University provides you with three ways to learn Morse code. First there are formal lessons which introduce the code one letter at a time. Then there are exercises — a set of typical transmissions to practice on (you set the speed). And finally there is Pentode®. This highly motivating game (inspired by Tetris) makes acquiring the code effortless. [The cat on the screen keeps mocking me.]

(3) ARRL’s Your Introduction to Morse Code: Don’t just learn the code–master it! This set includes two audio CDs (for your audio/music CD player) with nearly 2-1/2 hours of practice. Follow the proven ARRL Morse code teaching system. Sample exams included! Includes 2 audio CDs and instruction booklet. [The guy on the CD has a serious nasal tone].

(4) Tyler Larson’s Smart Morse: I mentioned this application on October 1st as a program I use with my Palm Pilot. The main feature that separates Smart Morse from other programs of this nature is the fact that this program learns about you as you practice. It takes note of which letters you’re struggling with and which ones you know well. It then focuses more attention on your problem areas while still continuing to practice the others. [I enjoy using this, but as my Palm doesn’t have a plug for headphones (I haven’t resuscitated my Tungsten 3 yet) the beep beep beeping annoys people around you].

(5) Sigurd Stenersen’s Just Learn Morse Code: designed to make it easy to learn morse code, as well as improve the skills of those who already know the code. The basic methods used to achieve this are The Koch method and Farnsworth timing. [This is a pretty slick application – as you copy code, the program also checks to see if your putting spaces in the correct spots, and after its done sending, it gives you a roll up by character letting you know the percentage of accuracy.]

(6) [Far and away my favorite]: The Rhythm of the Code! “BY POPULAR DEMAND,
The Rhythm of the Code is now available ON CD and for your listening pleasure. Just click the link and you can hear for yourself a sample of this amazing new code practice CD.
An independent research program has proved that students that use The Rhythm of the Code method have learned code in half the time as students that do not have the CD.Thousands of Ham radio operators have learned code with The Rhythm of the Code method – Get your copy today to unleash the awesome power of this PAK 1 CD and supercharge your brain!” […. supercharge your brain?]

(7) AA9PW Morse Code Practice: This page is designed to help you learn and practice Morse Code. There are also other pages which cover the morse code itself and a few hints on how to approach learning the code. This page will generate morse code consisting of groups of random characters and there are 25 characters per group (5 sets of 5 characters). You can pick which group of characters you wish to be tested on: the alphabet, the numbers or punctuation (inc luding prosigns) or all three. The computer creates a .au audio file and sends that to your browser so your browser (or helper application) needs to be capable of handling these files. You will also need a sound card or similar to be able to hear the morse.

In addition to the numerous amount of Morse teaching methods, there are also many websites dedicated to Morse:
PA3BWK’s Ultimate Morse Code Web Site: http://www.morsecode.dutch.nl/index2.html
Beginner’s Guide to CW: http://www.netwalk.com/~fsv/CWguide.htm

…. But I’m still not ready for my code test.

I finally joined a local club – they meet on the first Tuesday of every month and I went to the first meeting earlier tonight. Great group of folks with a good sense of humor.

One interesting fact that I found out was the club used to have their repeater on top of the Chamberlain Hotel… the historic hotel located on Fort Monroe.

Here’s an interesting story I found about the hotel:

I and my family would spend a bit of our spring vacation at the Chamberlain Hotel at “Old Point Comfort” in Hampton, Virginia across the street from Fort Monroe. My folks spent their honeymoon there in 1948, hence our annual visits. She was an aging lady, even then. Now no more.

“Old Point Comfort became a popular tourist destination in the early to mid 1800s around the same time Virginia was gaining popularity for her hot springs. Like the hot springs, salt water bathing as well as the salty bay air was believed to have revitalizing and health restorative properties, not to mention the social aspects. This waterside building is the historic Chamberlain Hotel on Fort Monroe at Old Point Comfort. It was designed in the Georgian style by Richmond architect Marcellus Wright after the original Vanderbilt-Chamberlain Hotel, built in 1890 on the same spot, burned to the ground in 1920. The new hotel opened in 1928 and operated until November of 2001, when the Hotel closed its doors forever. A development company is now refitting and cleaning up the hotel and turning it into expensive retirement condominiums.¹”

We three were given free rein to roam the premises. Oh, we weren’t to go out on the steamship pier (destroyed in a storm in the mid-60’s) unless accompanied by an adult, but otherwise, we could roam the grounds and the beach with impunity, play billiards, shuffleboard or pingpong in the game room if the weather turned foul, or swim to our heart’s content in the indoor, heated salt-water swimming pool. Such fun floating supported like a bobbing cork in the blood-warm salt water straight from the Bay.

If hungry, we could get a bite from the snack bar. Or a whole meal, if we were willing to get dressed, could be obtained in the dining room. Here I met up with grits, red beans and gravy, corn pone, and oysters, raw and cooked in all manner of dishes. Here, my mother honed our manners as we sat at table with real linens and silverware, using hotel crockery and stemware. None of the plastic Melamine and steel forks and spoons that passed for our everyday fare on the farm in the country where I grew up.

The staff had that lovely lilt to their language common to Virginia and Maryland, still understandable to this Yankee, but exotic and hinting of amusement and charm that folks at the feed store could never muster. It isn’t just a place but an era. There I met my first General and saw my first President (Eisenhower) and four star generals from a distance. Soldiers of all sorts would grab lunch at the hotel, rather than suffer a sandwich at their desks. It was a regular thing for big black limousines from Washington, D.C. to pull up and discharge their big-wig passengers at the hotel or across the street at Fort Monroe. There I honed my eye at identifying the war ships passing by outside the window… everything from tenders, mine sweepers and captain’s gigs to destroyers, cruisers, battleships and aircraft carriers. One day, three submarines went by in the space of four hours! For a country boy, it was magical.

And the girls… oh my. I gave and lost my heart more times than I can count over the years to Southern Belles. The combination of that first spring warmth after the grip of a northern winter, the heady freedom of unsupervised time, the young women on vacation from Richmond and Atlanta and Washington, D.C. — it was magic. My first real kiss was at the Hotel Chamberlain. Later dalliances were even more memorable.

{Is it hot in here?}

My last trip there was 1966, a year after my mother died. I was older and much wiser. I could see the old girl had aged. The floors were warped from forty years of salt air. Furnishing were a little frayed, rugs threadbare in spots. And yet, I miss the place, the actual building, the genteel company, the sense of infinite time spread out before me. Oh lordy, youth is truly wasted on the young.

… is painful to learn. I’ve been using CodeQuick, the ARRL CDs, Ham University, the program for Palm, and a few other software programs. I want to try and take the exam this Saturday. We’ll see.

I have two desktops for the radio room. The first is a Compaq Presario, is fairly new, has beefy RAM, a nice speedy processor, and running WinXP. I’ve been using the Presario for (1) running the RX-320 using RxPlus, (2) host for syncing with the Palm IIIxe, (3) burning CDs, (4) web browsing. The other desktop is an older eMachine – 700MHz, 64MBs of RAM, running WinME. I bumped the RAM up to a total of 192MB and added a PCI card that gives me two additional serial ports. Prior to today’s memory upgrade I’ve been using the eMachine for running packet and WinLink2000/Airmail through a serial link to my TNC (Kantronics KPC-3+) into my IC-706MKIIG. Pretty low impact stuff. Since the memory upgrade, I’ve attached the IC-PCR1000 and installed RxPlus… which runs a little more sluggishly on the eMachine as opposed to the Presario. But the IC-PCR1000 appears to be working. I still need to get the discone antenna installed outside.

An interesting note – I’d forgotten how buggy WinME was. Major pain installing the memory, the additional PCI card with the serial ports.

I’ve got several small projects I’m working on in the Radio Room.

(1) TenTec RX-320: it’s up an running fairly well – my work horse for shortwave, but can also monitor the ham bands up to 30MHz. I’m using Noël Bouchard’s RxPlus which has so far proved to be an awesome piece of software (PSK-31 works great, but haven’t gotten the RTTY to work yet). I’ve got an active antenna up an operational (McKay Dymek DA-100E), which makes a huge difference.

The only thing left is to get the ILGRadio database to work properly. So far it’s been a bit wiggy working with RxPlus.

(2) IC-PCR1000: I haven’t got this hooked up yet. My intent is to connect it to my discone antenna – I’d like to use the IC-PCR1000 for monitoring all the activity from 30MHz to 1.3GHz.

There’s a few things a need to do before I get it up and running. I’ve got to get the computer ready first. (a) Add a PCI card with 2x serial ports and (b) load the computer with software (probably RxPlus), (c) either find the AC power adapter or use one of my Radio Shack wall warts, (d) I guess I shouldn’t forget to mention that the discone needs to be installed outside – I don’t really have a plan for that yet.

(3) Palm m125: it’s a step up from my Palm IIIxe. The best feature about the m125 is that it accepts a SD memory card and for power it takes 2x AAA batteries. I’ll use an SD card to keep the m125 backed up (i.e. backupbuddyVFS) and I don’t have to worry about a proprietary power charger. When the power dies, I just pop in 2x AAAs and then use the SD card to revive the Palm – no need to worry about getting the Palm back to the home computer for a sync in order to restore it.

What I’m using (or going to use) the m125 for are:

(a) learning Morse Code with Smart Morse…

it’s a great program that teaches the letters individually.

(b) – but I need a cable to connect the m125 to the TH-D7A. Fortunately, Mobile Driven offers the answer..

… this will allow me a simple solution for using my TH-D7A for both packet radio and APRS.