Category: Amateur Radio

Weather Station

My interest in amateur radio and introduction to APRS also got me interested in maintaining a home weather station. When I lived back in Virginia, I first deployed a home weather station and took the steps of interfacing it with a 2m radio for use on APRS. I also attended National Weather Service weather spotter training… even had a card at one point with my weather spotter ID number. After the move to Kansas, I continued to keep a home weather station active and had a working webpage linked from the blog where one could see the latest weather data.

Pairing the Davis Vantage Pro2 weather station with a linux system was never straight forward. My previous linkage between weather station, computer, and radio had been Windows-based. UI-View32 was a sound and stable program. My desire to ditch Windows for linux acted as a strong influence to make the leap from UI-View32 to the linux-based Xastir, but the problem was with the Vantage Pro2’s data stream. As mentioned earlier, the good folks at Xastir finally created a work around using weewx to use the Vantage Pro2, Xastir, and my TM D710A to dependably beacon out my weather data.

But here is what I need to do… I need to capture all the steps of how to set everything up as well as mark all the references I used to gain eventual success. Documentation! I have mentioned before that this blog services as my station notebook and I think that is still a great idea – but it requires a bit more work on my end.

An example of a great reference that I found is a blog post entitled: New Weather Station – Davis Vantage Vue – Part 2 of 2: Linux installation. In addition to maintaining a link, I am also going to grab a copy of the post and save it as a pdf file as a backup reference. We know that information on the internet will not be here permanently.

The other reason that I need to capture these reference sites is that I have a habit of leaving tabs open on my browser. Before you know it, I have tab after tab – and I don’t want to close the tab because… well, that was sure interesting and possibly useful. The cure for my tab addiction is to lay it out here in the blog.

Time to get that D-104 cleaned up?

The Astatic D-104 is an iconic visual representation of amateur radio. If you are like me, you probably have one sitting on your shelf.

Astatic D-104

Interested in getting it working? If you are looking for parts, then Survival Radio seems to be one stop shopping for all your D-104 needs.

Well, almost. You will probably also need this kit: Heil Sound Replacement Parts HC51RETROKIT – available at DX Engineering.

The final stop in you D-104 restoration is bedazzling the top with your callsign. Ham Crazy has you covered.

Now you’re in business. Reviews say that the callsign on top of the mike improves your signal by 5dB.

Cleaning a J-38

From K6IX’s website:

Here is the method I use to clean my J-38 keys. Some key collectors believe that keys should be left exactly as they are found, but considering the construction, materials, and ubiquity of J-38 keys, I think that carefully and gently cleaning them is appropriate. Do not, under any conditions use wire brushes or other highly abrasive methods.

1. Disassemble the key. Look carefully for, and set aside, the positioning pins in the binding posts (if they are loose) and all of the fiber washers. Put the bakelite and hard rubber parts in soapy water. Put the metal parts in ammonia. Let both soak overnight. Don’t panic, because some of the metal parts will turn black.

2. Carefully wash off the bakelite/rubber parts. If the two knobs are very dull I sometimes us black shoe polish on them. The bakelite you can carefully clean with Flitz (see below) if it is still dirty or discolored.

3. The metal parts I clean first with “Nevr-dull”. It is a “wadding polish” product that I get here in a hardware store, but I think it is also sold in boat stores, grocery stores, auto stores, etc. It is manufactured by The George Basch Co., Inc., Freeport, New York, 11520, USA.

4. Then I clean some of the larger metal parts with “Flitz”, which is a metal/fiberglass cleaner made in West Germany and packaged in the USA by Flitz International, Ltd., WI 53185. It is available in boat stores, and I buy it from West Marine on the internet (www.westmarine.com). Just get a very small tube of it–it goes a long way. Flitz protects the metal from corrosion.

The most important step is #1. The soaking makes a big difference!

I have started the process of cleaning an ol’ J-38. Here is the before picture:

There is also some guidance (based on K6IX’s recommendations) from N2HTT’s website. Here is what he had to say:

Soak all the parts in household ammonia solution overnight. I collected the parts in groups, so I could figure out how they went back together. Also, I separated the white metal parts from the brass ones, not wanting any weird galvanic thing happening to them while soaking. I had visions of all the brass bits disappearing overnight or something like that. I have a bunch of these all-plastic ice cream jars (the family consumes a bunch of this stuff, good ice cream, great jars) that were ideal for the task. As Scott predicted, the white metal parts turned black overnight, but this is expected and not harmful.

Initial polish with Brasso. This removed the residue from the soaking.

Polish the parts again with Flitz Blue. You can find it on Amazon. This stuff is amazing. You can even use it on the painted parts, diluted.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

This is my second effort at cleaning a J-38. The last one turned out pretty well and I gave it to a friend, encouraging them to give Morse code a try. This J-38 will be a loner to local hams aspiring to practice their straight key skills.

The parts have been soaking in an ammonia solution. This morning I realized I did not keep good track of where the rubber and cork washers went. Then I remembered I took step-by-step pictures of the last time I tore down a J-38… which I still have. These pictures clearly show where each part goes. Once I get all the parts clean on this key, I will reassemble, then take very good pictures with another disassembly to hopefully help anyone else looking for how to disassemble and reassemble a J-38.

K6IX has a picture of a disassembled J-38, but the image is a bit small.

… as you can see, there are a lot of small parts. (Image from K6IX)

Linux in the hamshack

I have endeavored to have my hamshack be 100% linux for a number of years. Licensed in 2001, my ham career really got going when I returned to the States in 2005. Upgrading to General and getting on HF, I integrated a computer into my operations. Ham Radio Deluxe was one of the most popular at the time and I used it – great for logging, digital modes, and rig control. When I had fun with APRS, I used UI-View, which was Windows based.

My first experience with linux was in the late 1990s. I had limited success. Not much later, Ubuntu gave me more of an opportunity to use linux for meeting my requirements for computing. I began to dip my toe in, using linux for rig control and logging. I switched to Mint around 2010-11. I found that Mint was easy to use and allowed me to use fldigi for digital modes, rig control, and logging. ARRL’s LOTW could also be used with linux and was integrated into fldigi. It was hard to find any aspect of the amateur radio hobby that required a computer and could not be done with linux.

Except, in my case, for one area of pursuit. APRS and my weather station. I had become a Davis Instruments fan since I got my first weather station in 2005. As mentioned before, UI-View handled the APRS portion and Davis had its own Windows-based software for handling the weather data the console produced. Back in 2011, the standard for linux-based APRS was Xastir. Xastir is a solid application and I had success using it to handle both internet and RF APRS traffic. But Xastir would not play well with the Davis Vantage Pro2. There was internet talk of a work around using a MySQL database. I had no luck. I kept my system on Windows, using UI-View for weather and APRS.

About two years ago, my Vantage Pro2, which I had since I was over in Iraq in 2007, finally died. The sensor package was mounted off my chimney when we first moved in to our current house over a decade ago. A great location for the weather station as it it high and clear of obstructions. Our roof, however, is steeply pitched and not something easy for me to traverse. I had gotten a TV antenna installation guy to install it – he did a great job. I think I had him back a few years later to swap out the battery. At one point, the board on the unit when bad and I replaced it. Then two years ago, one of our dogs shows up with an anemometer cup in her mouth. Perhaps a good sized chunk of hail had it the cup? Outside temperature data stopped working.

The old Vantage Pro2 with missing anemometer cup.

Rather than attempt to fix/repair the existing unit, it was time to replace. Over a decade is a long time to be exposed to the elements. I purchased a new Vantage Pro2 but then had a hard time finding someone to install. The local tv antenna guy took one look at my roof and said nope. A month ago we were getting our chimney inspected and cleaned and the gentleman was showing me pictures of the crown of the chimney. He’d just climbed up there. I asked if, for a reasonable fee, he’d be willing to swap out the weather station (and the VHF/UHF antenna). We struck a deal and now the weather station was operational again.

But could I still achieve my goal of a linux-based APRS/weather station? Enter weewx. This is an application that is like the Swiss army knife of weather station apps. I am not sure of what it does not do. The key aspect is that weewx produces a file (wxnow.txt) every minute using the same format used by APRS for weather data. Even better, the good folks at xastir created a script (wxnowsrv.pl) that copies the wxnow.txt information and pulls it into xastir. This was the solution!

And it works! Both weewx and xastir are happily working together on their own minimalist linux box, pulling in weather data from the Vantage Pro2 console via a serial connection while xastir is using a serial connection to transmit the weather data via my TM-D710A TNC functionality into the APRS system via RF. Weewx also creates a simple weather webpage which you can see here.

I kept a careful list of all the steps I completed in installing both weewx, MySQL, and xastir that I will post here soon – in case I need to reinstall. As of now the system seems to be stable and working nicely.

Morsum Magnificat

Morsum Magnificat – The Morse Magazine

An excellent resource concerning all things Morse code.

The English language edition of Morsum Magnificat, the Morse Magazine, otherwise known as “MM”, contained a vast amount of information and illustrations of interest to Morse operators, key collectors, historians, researchers and other Morse enthusiasts.

MM was first published in the Dutch language, by Morse enthusiasts, Rinus Hellemons PA0BFN, and Dick Kraayveld PA3ALM. They were later joined by Tony Smith G4FAI who helped them launch the English language edition of the magazine.

Published from 1986 to 2004, in 89 issues, with readers and contributors around the world, it covered every conceivable aspect of Morse telegraphy, past, present and future, in a truly international way.

Issues are available at the Internet Archive here.

CW from the mobile

About twice a month I have the opportunity to scoot out in the morning to a nearby park for an hour or two. I use it as an opportunity to make a few contacts to make sure my mobile setup is still working well. This morning I was out at the Wyandotte County Park.

I was able to make five contacts on 40M. Some interference form shortwave broadcasts, but nothing that fully prevented a QSO. I enjoy using the J-45 leg key – it does not seem like it is a key built for speed. That’s okay for me as I am still somewhere in between 10 and 15 wpm.

When I get home and upload these contacts on to LOTW, I want to make sure that I have the correct location in TrustedQSL before I sign and upload the logs. I found two websites that helped me figure out the grid location for the park. The first is QRZ’s Gridmapper. The second website was a bit more user friendly and also provided the ITU and CQ Zones. After I set up a new station location in TrustedQSL and had transferred the contacts from my pocket notebook to my fldigi logbook, I exported the contacts and then signed and uploaded them via TrustedQSL into LOTW. Victory.

flcluster

I was able to get flcluster working with my fldigi logging and rig control program.

Easy to download right here.

I believe the original idea behind a DXCluster was that it was run on a local VHF packet network. You could then share DX spots with those in your area as propagation would be similar and the chances of others nearby working the DX higher.

There is access to a packet cluster in Kansas City but it is via telnet, which the flcluster can easily use.

Set up was easy and I was off and running.

The Zombie Shuffle

I participated in a CW QRP event! Why not? It was actually a pretty good time.

The event: The Zombie Shuffle

The whole purpose is just to have fun. They are not looking for speed racer code operators and everyone is welcome.

The exchange is the best:
(1) RST
(2) your states
(3) a Zombie number, which is east to get. Or you can just use your area code.
(4) your Zombie name. This is the best part. You can just pick your own Zombie name being as creative as you want.

I had a total of 13 contacts (that’s pretty spooky in and of itself). Some of the fun names I worked were: Grim, Creepy, Gorigor, The Thing, Itt (as in Cousin Itt), Elvis, and Booger.

Fun stuff.

What’s Going On In The Shack

The big news, we finally completed some antenna maintenance. A few years back I hung a dipole up in the trees on the north side of the house. The weather took its toll. The line holding the center point had disintegrated, dropping the middle about ten feet. The east leg also lost its anchor and was resting on some branches. A sad situation.

This time I used heavy support line on all three support points. I also used my CSV19 Pneumatic Antenna Launcher, which worked great as always. I need to some finishing work, but I hope the antenna is good for at least the next six months.

What I will try to do, if I get the time and the weather cooperates, is place pulleys up in the trees I normally use to secure the ends of the dipole. I am also going to try to put up a 260 feet dipole and see if I can mess around with 160M… of which I really have had little experience with.

Progress is being made with the Morse code. I have written before about my winding path in learning the code. I had a good time this past summer on our camping trip making Morse contacts from the mobile (while parked) and using a J-45 leg key.

J-45 leg key

In the shack I have been making my way through the different levels of the SKCC (Straight Key Century Club). I had joined the organization way back in 2007, not to long after SKCC was established, but had not done too much with it. When I finally embraced the idea of using a straight key, I used my SKCC membership number to gain experience by taking part in QSOs with other SKCC folks (you almost always hear the CQ SKCC on the CW subbands). I would exchange numbers but never tried to work through the membership levels (Centurion, Tribune, and Senator). I did not want to spend a lot of time messing with extra logs or any type of additional paperwork. Then I discovered the SKCC Logger, a custom designed piece of software that will take your existing logfile and process the log for the appropriate data needed to submit for climbing through the ranks.

Although I am not able to get on the air everyday, I try to get on five days out of the week and log three or four Morse contacts. Before I get on air, I put in about ten to fifteen minutes practicing receiving and sending. My end goal is to reach a proficiency level of 20 words per minute. And I define “proficient” as being able to hand copy text without error for one minute. I need to take a look at ARRL’s Qualifying Runs and see when I can see where I am at.

To take the new dipole for a spin, I spent part of the last two weekends participating in OMISS nets. OMISS is a worked all states net. Last weekend was the 40M net, this weekend I tried 80M. I had not participated in a net since early 2020. The net controllers and participants are always great. Last night on 80M I ended up having a ton of contacts with some great reports, convincing me that the new dipole is doing the job.