Issue 31 October 18th, 2014

Earthquake consortium lists New Madrid Fault as concern for central U.S.
CUSEC recognized that a major earthquake situation could cut off conventional means of communication, and has emphasized the need for effective alternative communication technologies
ARRL

10 watt VHF/UHF handheld
The Topsung TS-689 is claimed to cover 136-174 MHz, 350-400 MHz and 400-470 MHz. The output power is said to be selectable at 1, 5 or 10 watts with CTCSS, DTMF and 1750 Hz tone burst.
Southgate

All FunCube (AO-73) orbit data available for download
Starting October 14, we will be making all captured WOD available as weekly CSV files.
AMSAT UK

[PDF] Comparison of transmit performance of modern transceivers
Analyzing and documenting the receive performance of modern transceivers has resulted in a top tier of rigs offering greatly improved receiver performance. Meanwhile, transmitters have largely been ignored.
K9YC

Planting new radials
I find this time of the year, as well as early spring, the best time to plant any new radials that I like to continuously add to my vertical antenna systems.
VE7SL

Fldigi v3.22.00 released
The new 8PSK modes are very interesting. For example, 8PSK250 allows 620wpm throughput while running 250 baud, thereby keeping in line with the FCC 300 baud restriction. For those in countries without baud rate restrictions, the 8PSK1000 modem supports a throughput of 3300wpm in a bandwidth of only 1000Hz.
Mac Ham Radio

4m Lunar Amateur payload to launch October 23rd
The onboard clock has been adjusted to start JT65B (145.980 MHz) at the UTC minute +/-1 second. It is likely to drift during the mission, and manual offset introduction will be required after a week or so.
AMSAT UK

Boosting HT power
In many scenarios where the distance to a repeater is great or where the terrain rises and falls significantly and blocks signals, the HT power may be insufficient for reliable radio operations. In such cases increasing the low-power output of the HT is desirable.
Ham Radio School

Living in a National Radio Quiet Zone
The U.S. town with no cell phones or Wi-Fi.
SWLing Post

HF multiband vertical compared with a 3 band end-fed
Comparison between a HF multiband vertical with auto tuner at 9m and a 3 band end-fed (40,20,10m) on with matchbox on 2m.
PE4BAS

Explanation of I and Q in the world of SDR
I was after a really good explanation of what the I & Q were when talking about SDR. These videos are better than anything I could come up with.
G7KSE

Making a Slim Jim 2m antenna
The Slim Jim is probably one of the cheapest and easiest antennas to make, and it’s a very handy one, too. Most people make these for 2m use, but you can make them for 70cm use if required.
Essex Ham

AM DX pileup
On 12 October I witnessed something I had not heard since 1966: A huge DX pileup on AM.
QRZ

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