Issue 63 June 6th, 2015

Large plasma tubes confirmed to exist above the Earth's atmosphere
These structures are the likely cause of unwanted signal distortions affecting both civilian and military satellite-based navigation systems.
io9

Britain's pirate radio stations are not going down without a fight
Tied to a branch in the canopy of an old birch tree is the transmitter for Rage FM, Taunton's only pirate radio station. Owning it could get Alfie, the proprietor, two years in prison.
Newsweek

Tytera TYT MD-380 DMR Handheld review
DMR, Digital Mobile Radio, seems to be taking off as the digital voice mode of choice, and the arrival of the Tytera TYT MD-380 DMR is great news.
Essex Ham

DMRUK: all digital worldwide TDMA repeater network
Time-Division Multiple-Access (TDMA) preserves the full channel width and divides it into alternating time slots that can each carry an individual call.
DMRUK

Switching power supply noise more common than power lines
LED-type lightbulbs that are becoming more common also can be noise-generators.
ARRL

Not all Jameco power supplies are linear and regulated
I cracked open one of these to see what was up here and sure enough it was using a MC34063A inverting switching regulator.
The SWLing Post

High performance radio – operating the Hilberling PT-8000A
The Hilberling PT-8000A Transceiver is much like a new high-end AC Cobra sports car – a classic format product fine-tuned to as close to perfection as the manufacturer can engineer, executed with near-jewelry precision & finish.
With Varying Frequency

Flex 6500: 11m band opening
I thought I had seen band openings before, but this is what I saw with the new Flex 6500 this morning.
AA6E

Paper clip paddles [PDF]
The actuation is reliable and the contacts seem to be reliable as well. I plan to switch to this new paddle for at least my portable work.
K8AG / North American QRP CW Club

Ten steps to mastering Morse Code
James Altucher is one of those guys that seems to be able to do just about anything. Here's how I'd apply his advice to mastering Morse Code.
KB6NU

Testing the Yaesu FT-991 on 2m
We compare the FT-991 receiver performance on 2m with two other radios. Justin, G0KSC, from Waters & Stanton, puts them through their paces.
Waters & Stanton

Siru SDR20 Multi-Touch Software Defined Radio
Siru Innovation's SDR20 multi-touch radio is a high performance scalable software defined radio platform for designing and deploying next generation radios.
Vimeo

Amateur Radio Weekly is curated by KK4HSX.
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