amateur radio

Solar Data & Propagation

BenLeave a comment

There are several website that tell you what bands are open in your area. Most people paste them on their QRZ page, but there are some examples below that update every hour.

You can see more on their webpage https://www.hamqsl.com/solar.html where all you have to do is paste the code and put on your website. There is a great option to donate also. There is a wealth of information on this website that you can spend hours on.

This data is updated every hour, which is fantastic.

But what if you are not in front of your PC and want to look it up. There is a handy little app I use called Solar Data and Propagation. It is a small app only 12.5Mb in size on the iPhone and it is free. It is also available on Android at only 6.75Mb, I will talk about further down.

Below is the app on an apple device.

While it is only a little app, and doesn’t do a lot, it is a simple app that gives you what propagation is open at your current location. While other apps have heaps of features and functions that you may or may not use often, this little app has just what you would use often.

Above are the HF conditions, but you can also see VHF conditions and terrestrial. Adds do pop up from time to time, but the app is free so I don’t see this as a problem.

You can download it from the App Store.

Android

If you have an Android device, go to the store and search for HF Propagation. It should be the first one on the list with an orange sunshine as the logo.

Once installed, you have a lot of different options available on the first screen.

Scroll down, and you will see the HF then VHF conditions as mentioned for the Apple app.

Conclusion

This little information may save you from running out to the shack and turning everything on to find nothing or trying on the wrong band. As mentioned above, it can be on an apple or android device.

Hopefully, this makes it a little easier for you. Please put in the comments below what apps you enjoy using or let me know what you think.

Happy DX-ing, hopefully we talk on the air soon.

Some other posts that are similar

  • Solar Data & Propagation
    There are several website that tell you what bands are open in your area. Most people paste them on their QRZ page, but there are some examples below that update every hour. You can see more on their webpage https://www.hamqsl.com/solar.html where all you have to do is paste the code and put on your website.…

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  • HamAlert
    It has been a while since I have completed another update, but I have a lot in the making. A broken finger has kept me quiet! HamAlert is an app for both iPhone and Google devices that alerts you as to when a desired station appears on the DX cluster, the Beacon Network, SOTAwatch, POTA…

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  • WizNet DMR
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  • Orion Push to Talk
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HamAlert

BenLeave a comment

It has been a while since I have completed another update, but I have a lot in the making. A broken finger has kept me quiet!

HamAlert is an app for both iPhone and Google devices that alerts you as to when a desired station appears on the DX cluster, the Beacon Network, SOTAwatch, POTA or PSK Reporter. It saves you from checking them all manually.

You can receive different types of alerts including:

  • DXCC (both actual and callsign home DXCC)
  • Callsign
  • IOTA group reference
  • SOTA summit reference
  • WWFF/POTA division/reference
  • CQ zone
  • Continent
  • Band
  • Mode
  • Time and days of week
  • Source
  • Spotter callsign and DXCC

Just download the app from the App Store or google play, create an account, then set what alerts or triggers you want.

Press the three lines up the top left and select triggers. Then press plus to add one. The interface is mostly web based but works well within the app.

My first trigger was using my call sign under any conditions and alert via app

You can easily add more triggers. Select a condition and an Action on what you want the app to do when it meats the desired condition. You can also add in a comment to help you with each trigger.

Once you are done, simply press Done down the bottom of the screen.

Limitations

Limitations menu limits how many times you will be triggered. For example you may want to set a trigger to only alert you once an hour or day.

More information is available on their website at https://hamalert.org/about which even had a forum you can join or add comments about the app.

How do you find this app? Would value your comments below.

M17

BenLeave a comment

So what is the new digital mode M17? It sounds like a gun at first, however I am sure you if you google M17 Ham Project you will not be a red flag to the police.

At the time of writing this, M17 is said to be a new digital radio protocol which is still in development, however currently available. It was first started in 2019. The M17 Working Group is a team of several people from around the world, but headed up by Wojciech (SP5WWP) in Poland.

As per their website, they have said that teh desire of the M17 project is to provide:

  • an Open-Source community
  • freely available and modifiable digital radio protocol
  • open hardware designs

M17 uses Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) instead of Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA). FDMA in our case, allows for two 6.25kHz simultaneous links to be established on one 12.5kHz channel. It supports APRS however is not compatible with DMR. DMR is built for profesional use, and can be used for Ham operators, but can be clunky especially when it comes to writing code plugs.

There is more information available at this M17 website.

A lot of people have been talking about this project and you can see the current reflector list on this site. Maybe it is something you should try?

More information will be available as this project continues. I would value your comments on this project, does this sort of thing excite you or raise more questions than answers?

If you want to read other similar articles, here are some below:

DudeStar

BenLeave a comment

Here is a free windows program that will connect your PC to:

  • DMR
  • Yaesu Fusion
  • DStar
  • M17
  • P25
  • NXDN

You can do all this without needing to purchase a radio. I prefer to use a radio, however I thought I would put this review together to help others who may not or want to try before they buy. Obviously you need to be licenced first.

The software was started by Doug, AD8DP (he’s contact details are on QRZ), and seems to work well. While the audio is better via a radio, this is an option you can use if even to only listen.

First step is to go to the Dudestar GitHub page at the following address: https://github.com/nostar/dudestar. You can see down the bottom of this page how to install for Lynx. Or try this site (it keeps changing): http://radio.xreflector.es/index.php/575-2/?fbclid=IwAR2GPPD3OXkjLWXj-r9e1QZtN2bzM6kIPoXodyEJ2URKlGRzJ0Q1-vC6VSg

The next step is to run the executable file from the download releases link page here. https://github.com/nostar/dudestar/releases Just click on the Assets arrow, and press on the appropriate exe file. It is only about 20mb big, so wont take long to download.

Once downloaded, run the file. If you get a windows protection message, click on more info then run anyway. Alternatively right click on the file, go to properties and unblock. Everything runs from the downloaded file – nothing is installed.

Some of the settings to set

Settings Tab – vcoder should be set to software vecoder. You can set your playback and capture device if you don’t want it to be the default. Put in your call sign. Down the bottom of this tab is where you can update ID Files and Update host files – it doesn’t look like it did anything, but if you look on the log tab, you will see it does.

Main Tab – You can adjust the volume and mic gain on this page. It has been recommended to set the mic gain to 10% – 30% to start with. This will change depending on the microphone you use and even the mode you are on.

You can see the available modes via the list above

Getting connected

Lets get connected on Fusion as that is the easiest to start with. From the Main tab, in the mode area, select YSF. Then you can select a host or talk group you want to talk to.

Then press connect to connect. To transmit, press the TX button or space bar.

As someone keys up, you should see their call sign populated in the main tab.

Changing Modes

First disconnect via the main tab. If you want to try DMR, you will need to put in your DMR ID and password. Then via the main tab, select DMR, and select a master server. If you select a BM one then you will be on the BrandMeister network. Then type in the talk group and tick SWRX (software RX), and SWTX (software TX).

I think the software is a great start and with everything will be worked on and updated. I notice if you listen via your PC and radio at the same time, it will come through the PC first as the radio and hotspot is perhaps slower in decoding.

If you have any comments, please put them below. This page is only valid for the current version, and I am sure there will be changes.

Hints

One thing you can do it run the program more than once and monitor two different networks or talk groups. A great feature but unless you are looking at the screen, it can be hard to know which one spoke. So I either make the volumes different, or patch the sound through to the speakers in my monitors (as I have more than one).

There is a good discussion group here if you want to join the discussion. It is also about DudeStar which was written by the same person.

If you enjoyed the read, here are some other reads you may enjoy also:

Easy Radio Rack

BenLeave a comment

Sometimes we try and build things and a lot of time abs money on our radio racks but have you thought outside the square?

A $15 shoe shelf makes a great radio rack

A simple shoe shelf makes a fantastic radio rack!

Want some other good ideas, have a look below:

  • Solar Data & Propagation
    There are several website that tell you what bands are open in your area. Most people paste them on their QRZ page, but there are some examples…

    Continue reading →

  • HamAlert
    It has been a while since I have completed another update, but I have a lot in the making. A broken finger has kept me quiet! HamAlert…

    Continue reading →

  • M17
    So what is the new digital mode M17? It sounds like a gun at first, however I am sure you if you google M17 Ham Project you…

    Continue reading →

  • DudeStar
    Here is a free windows program that will connect your PC to: DMR Yaesu Fusion DStar M17 P25 NXDN You can do all this without needing to…

    Continue reading →

  • Easy Radio Rack
    Sometimes we try and build things and a lot of time abs money on our radio racks but have you thought outside the square? A simple shoe…

    Continue reading →

  • Hotspot Fixing Packet Loss with AutoCal
    The thing with digital communications, it can be extremely complicated. It only takes one tick box to be ticked incorrectly to take your station off the air. …

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  • OpenSpot from the Start
    I have spoken to a few people who have felt a bit overwhelmed setting up their OpenSpot from the start. In saying that, I have always been…

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  • Treehouse
    An unusual name, but a catchy name no less, just like Peanut that was written by the same person, David PA7LIM. If you like Peanut, then you will like this project also. This project, like Peanut, includes some amazing coding and thinking.…

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  • DROID-Star
    After talking to a friend just to the north of me, he told me about the app DROID-Star for Android. As I only have apple devices, this…

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  • SMS via Radio or Hotspot
    One of the most underutilised by very cool feature that comes with some digital networks is the ability to send and receive SMS messages. You can send…

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Hotspot Fixing Packet Loss with AutoCal

Ben16 Comments

The thing with digital communications, it can be extremely complicated. It only takes one tick box to be ticked incorrectly to take your station off the air.  Just as easily one tick box will get you on the air and sounding great.

With Analogue, it was all about antenna gain, SWA, power and height.  Digital is vastly different, especially via a hotspot, as it is all about lack of power, mic gain and packet loss.  Packet loss can be tricky and is often put down to a bad internet connection.  However, that is not always the reason, and if your internet is good, and your packet loss is above 1%, then it can get tricky to know why.

Assuming you have a good connection, you have your hotspot close to your modem if it is via wifi and your radio is also close to your hotspot, then here is something you may want to try.  I will explain how to do it using an OpenSpot, as that is what I am using, however, most hotspots may have the same or similar features.

After many years of using the same hotspot, I noticed more and more the hotspot didn’t seem to recognise my signal from my radio.  I could hear fine, and my hotspot even said it was receiving my signal, but my call didn’t come up on the dashboard and the other person couldn’t receive my signal unless it did come up on the dashboard.

It started 3 in 1 times I would trigger the hotspot like normal, then it changed to 1 in 3.  It got worse before it made the hotspot almost unusable.

My hotspot, an OpenSpot2, has a AutoCal option and will analyse an incoming signal and tries to find out the frequency difference between the OpenSpot and the transmitter. They suggest that you only run AutoCal feature if the openSPOT2 shows BER above 1% for your radio’s transmission, as errors in the voice stream usually won’t be noticeable if the BER is below 1%.

You can see this on the OpenSpot by going to the Status screen and open the BER graph and transmit. A quicker way is to look when you transmit on the dashboard of your OpenSpot, you can see below the BER is next to the B, and this example has a loss of 1.3%.

Dashboard showing BER loss.

With the Openspot, press the quick setup button, select the type of radio you are using (I am using a DMR radio), and then you can see the AutoCal button.

All you need to do is press that AutoCal button.  Then scroll down and you will see it doing the three phases. Make sure the correct modem mode is selected. Hold the PTT button on your radio until all 3 phases are completed. Once complete, you can try the echo test to check you are working well.

Then you can return to normal use and the BER should have reduced to well below 1%.

OpenSpot have more information here in their user manual.

I hope this helped you, and if you enjoyed it, here are some other posts I have done. Please don’t forget to put your email address in to make sure you get the latest posts.

OpenSpot from the Start

BenLeave a comment

I have spoken to a few people who have felt a bit overwhelmed setting up their OpenSpot from the start. In saying that, I have always been surprised how many people are on digital, some of them have no computer experience at all.  It only takes one tickbox to be selected wrongly and you are off the air totally.  So clearly there are a lot of helpful Amateurs out there.  This website is my way of helping, as I can’t be all over the world to help.  I have put things of interest as I find them on my site.  If you find it interesting, please subscribe or let me know.

In saying that, OpenSpot has been setup to be as easy as possible with a lot of thought behind it.  While I am not claiming this is the best hotspot, I am saying I have two of them and found them great to use at home, mobile, and portable.

This is what I do with my openspot2.

Starting from the beginning

Plug your OpenSpot2 in

Turn your mobile phone wifi (or could use a tablet or laptop with wifi) on and connect to your openSPOT2 AP

If the popup page does not show up (it may take a while to load), type in openspot2.local in a web browser

A welcome screen will ask you to select your country

Scan or manually select your home wifi

Press connect and type in your password for your home wifi

After pressing ok, you will get a message saying this hotspot is going to connect to the wifi now instead of directly connecting to your phone

You can then connect to it via your phone or device that is connected to the home wifi.  I recommend you do this via a pc as you get more functions on screen, however you can do it via a mobile phone with a smaller screen. To connect, go to openspot2.local in a web browser.  However, if you have two openspot2’s on your network, as I do, you will need to log into your network modem and check the actual ip address of your openspot.

If you can not find it on your network, then I suggest you go back to your phone and see if you can connect to your openspot again via wifi.  If it is not there, you may need to unplug the power cord and plug it back in a minute or so later, or press the button next to the power cord until the light goes white to reset it and start again.

Once you connect via the wifi network to your Openspot for the first time you will get a Quick Setup Screen.

Put in your call sign and the DMR ID will auto populate.  You can put in your NXDN ID also.

Select the type of radio you will be using to connect to the OpenSpot.

Type in the frequency you want to use while using the Openspot.  Make sure it is a different frequency to all other hotspots so you don’t get hotspot feedback. Keep colour code as 1. Then select the network you want to connect to.

Enjoyed the read? Don’t forget to subscribe. Below are some other interesting reads:

Treehouse

BenLeave a comment

An unusual name, but a catchy name no less, just like Peanut that was written by the same person, David PA7LIM. If you like Peanut, then you will like this project also. This project, like Peanut, includes some amazing coding and thinking.

Launched in 2020, the main website for Treehouse is found off David’s web site. This project is a YSF reflector with multiple rooms.

Dashboard

You can see the dashboard via this link http://europelink.pa7lim.nl/ it is a very similar layout to the Peanut one.

If you open the above dashboard, you will see down the left side in the Room Control section, a message stating your hotspot is not logged in to this reflector.

There are several ways you can connect, but here are a few in no particular order.

BlueDV

A friend of mine, Chris, put this video together. He uses BlueDV to get onto it.

YSF – via your hotspot

As I use an Openspot2, my instructions will show you how I do it, however I am sure you can apply similar to your hotspot should you have a different one.

First you need to connect to the YSF reflector called EUROPELINK, and according to the YSD reflector register, this has an ID number of 00007. If you don’t know how I found this, go to the YSF Reflector Registry page and type in EUROPELINK in the search box, and you can see the ID number of 0007.

Back to the Openspot2, I select Quick Setup, then I select DMR, as I am using a DMR radio, then select YSFReflector then in the Server box, I type in 00007 or EUROPELINK, to select that reflector. Doing this will connect my DMR radio to the YSF system.

Almost instantly, the Room Control section of the dashboard has updated to my call sign and I now have a drop-down list where I can select which room I want to connect to. You can then select the room you want.

As you transmit, you will see your call in the Active QSO’s screen.

While this is not connected to the Peanut Dashboard, there will be rooms that go across to each other. The Online Stations section of the Dashboard has the time stations connected.

There is a new AU-NZ room which is good and was quickly made after it was requested to David. Some rooms link just to themselves, like the English room and so on, while others connect beyond the internet. Remember this reflector will get busier as time goes on.

Also, this setup is still very new, and like Peanut, it took a little while to become popular.  Having said that, Peanut took off quickly and given the success of that, and a lot of people at home during the 2020 Pandemic, I believe this will take off quickly also.

Hope you enjoyed this post. Please remember to follow this blog by putting in your email address so you get posts as soon as they are posted.

Want to see other projects that are similar?

Here are some other posts we have done that are similar:

DROID-Star

Ben31 Comments

After talking to a friend just to the north of me, he told me about the app DROID-Star for Android. As I only have apple devices, this wasn’t initially an option for me, however I do have an Android TV box which I use for Amateur Radio, so will review it from that device.

At the time of writing this review, I must state it is an Early Access version. It has been updated slightly since.

This app connects to D-Star and Yaesu System Fusion reflectors and repeaters via UDP and decodes audio and data in software. No AMBE hardware is required. It is written by Doug McLain.

Start screen to DROID-Star

The two option menus at the top of the screen allow you to Reload DMR IDs, Reload host files, and check the current version. I recommend reloading these.

From here you have the following options:

  • Mode – select what mode you want, this could be REF, XRF, DCS, YSF, DMR, P25 or NXDN.
  • Before pressing connect, select your Host, and fill in the other details.

Once working you will be able to listen into the room you select and it will display the call sign and even caller ID (if there is one), on the user that is transmitting.

As I said earlier, this app will no doubt be updated. I will try and keep this review updated as the app changes, but this may not be possible. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed. If there are other apps you would like us to look at or think we should know about, please let me know. Don’t forget to subscribe to our posts by putting in your email address on the above follow us page.

I also spoke to Doug AD8DP, who wrote this app, and he said to mention that the app is very much in beta development stage. He plans on users being able to add custom reflectors/servers and so on. He also wants to add TX ability with the choice between on board software IMBE/AMBE encoding or remote AMBE server. He also said to me that he APK installer file can be downloaded directly here for Amazon Fire users and others without access to the Google Play Store: http://www.dudetronics.com/radio/DroidStar.apk

Another site is here (it keeps changing): https://napkforpc.com/apk/org.dudetronics.droidstar/?fbclid=IwAR2S2Xmi-WZBcseYtkk0oNJkj7t-xPXTLblR5LKfzE_VL-DU67bvCyRh5-4

UPDATE:

I have now heard many people use this app with great ease. The biggest question I have had is what is the password. Just put in your DMR network username and password.

One of the good rooms is YSF with Host 0-0-CQ-UK-Aussie. Then again, I am from downunder, but you might hear me on this one.

Please post and questions or comments below. Or join the discussion at https://groups.io/g/DroidStar

If you enjoyed this read, please don’t forget to subscribe to our page so you get updates every time we post new updates.

Using DMR with DROID-Star

I have found most people struggle to use this app on DMR. DMR requires a few other options to be set as other networks do not need all these filled out correctly or at all.

After you have installed the software, go to settings area and put in the following. First put in your call sign then your DMR ID number. If you don’t have one, then you will need to get one.

You should then update the ESSID number other than blank. If it is a second radio, I use 2.

Then put in your Password that you put in for your BrandMeister account. If your unsure what that is, go to BrandMeister Self Care area and set it again.

Once the above has been done, click on ‘Update Hosts” then “Update ID files”, and this will make sure everything is updated.

Then return to the main screen and change the mode to DMR. Change the host to BM_3102_United_States (for example, this can be changed later). Then enter the talk group you want to go to adn press the connect button. Press the big blue button and start testing.

I suggest you test it on a quiet talk group and if you have another radio, listen to what you sound like. Adjust the mic gain as often this can be set to high. You don’t want to test it on a very busy talk group – it only upsets people.

Just remember, DROID-Star is being made by a volunteer, so updates will come in time. Currently it is really important you check your audio first as it can be very clear you are using a PC and not a radio.

Hope this has helped. Please let me know. Below are some other interesting reads you may enjoy also.

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SMS via Radio or Hotspot

BenLeave a comment

One of the most underutilised by very cool feature that comes with some digital networks is the ability to send and receive SMS messages. You can send it fairly easily to another radio, but did you know you can also receive a weather report, see where your last GPS transmitted location is, and send messages to your mobile phone. The best thing is there no cost either.

While not all networks and not all radio’s support sending SMS’s. Some hotspots do and some done also just to make it even more confusing. While I don’t plan to list all networks available, as they there are more all the time, and the settings change also. However, at the time of writing this (2020), the VK-DMR network does not support GPS or SMS (you must turn it off to use the system), but the BrandMeister one does. So, I will talk from here on about the BrandMeister network. If you use a different network, then check with that network first.

BrandMeister Setup

First you need to setup your BrandMeister account to send and receive SMS. From the BrandMeister page, login at the right of the screen. Then under Services on the left side, select selfcare. I usually set the radio brand to either ETSI or Motorola, however this will depend on the radio you have. While you are here, you might want to turn on or off your GPS location and check everything looks good.

Radio Setup

Would you believe most digital radios allow you to send and receive messages right from the screen easily. However not all. Unfortunately, at the time of writing this (2020), the OpenGD-77 does not support text messaging as yet. However, it is on the job list. I do understand that since text messaging isn’t the most used option in digital radio, probably leaving this setup until last is fair enough. However, I have done it on the original GD-77 firmware, and seen it done on other radio’s also.

If your fortunate enough, you may have a hotspot that can do it anyway.

Hotspot Sending

I am not going to talk about every hotspot available, mainly because I don’t own every hotspot available. But I will talk about the OpenSpot as I have a couple of them myself, and I know they work.

From a PC, the menu on the right side has DMR SMS chat that will bring up a box much like the picture below.

DMR SMS Chat in OpenSpot

262993 GPS and Weather

If you send the message help to destination ID 262993 you will get a prompt much like above. It may take a little while to reply. As I live in Melbourne, you can see above I then sent a private message to 262993 again and typed in the message wx Melbourne, AU. You can see above the message on the left I received. Remember, the reply’s do take a while to come back and usually arrive just as you have given up waiting!

You could also send the message gps help to the same number, 262993, to get an overview of all the GPS commands which includes setting your home position, and so on. If you have transmitted your GPS location with the same callsign you set up in the selfcare then it will reply with your last location sent. If you want to save that as your home location, send GPS SET and it will save your last location as your home location. Then you will get from now on your home location and your last transmitted location.

If you send RSSI to 262993 it will reply with the repeater and connected talk group you were last using. If you send a message INFO *callsign where *callsign is replaced with your call sign you will get a reply when you last spoke. If you have two digital ID numbers, then it will send both of them back to you.

262994 Repeater, POCSAG and dapnet

If you send RPT SMS to 262994 you will get a reply of what static talk groups you are currently connected to.

You can also send a message to a call sign using this 262994 number. For example, if you want to send a message to me, send VK3TBS followed by your message to number 262994. However, I couldn’t get this to work – maybe because I was messaging myself! If you get it to work, please let me know what I did wrong.

262995 SMSC – SMS-ing to a mobile phone

This is taking SMS-ing to the next level. I was even able to SMS my wife who doesn’t have a licence.

To do this, send the following message SMSGTE @[phone number] [message] to 262995. where [phone number] is your country number (e.g. 61 for Australia) followed by the mobile number. Remember to remove the first 0 if you’re in Australia.

There is more information on sending messages to and from your radio to mobile phones on the smsgte.org web site. There is heaps of information under the User Guide menu.

UPDATE – Before I finish, I discovered the hard way that when you send a message from a mobile phone to a radio, I got a bill. I am not sure if it was because I am in Australia, or my phone carrier saw the oppertunity, but I think with a few tests it was only $1 or so.

APRS Chat

APRS is almost a bit easier and can quickly send messages to and from a mobile phone. Once you have done the above setup, I selected APRS chat in my OpenSpot2 dashboard. Then I sent a message with the destination callsign of SMSGTE then the message was @[phone number] [message] there [phone number] is your country number (e.g. 61 for Australia) followed by the mobile number. Remember to remove the first 0 if you’re in Australia.

You can see in the picture below I sent a message Test from hotspot to my phone which appeared instantly. I then sent one back from my phone saying This is from my mobile phone which then appeared instantly. It worked really well.

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