http://kb6nu.com My personal adventures in amateur radio Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:31:38 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Last October, I purchased a used, iBook G4 Mac laptop and promptly started looking for logging programs. I found one that was kind of expensive (MacLoggerDX); one that was free, but didn't want to work so well (RUMLog); and one that worked OK and cost somewhere in between the first ... http://kb6nu.com/mac-logging-programs/ Dr. Arnie Coro, of Radio Havana's DXers Unlimited, noted on his July 22/23, 2008 show: The top quality microphones used by cellphone manufacturers are ideal for amateur radio use. A broken down, or an obsolete cellphone is a low cost source of two highly valuable devices… a nice high quality electret ... http://kb6nu.com/dont-throw-away-your-analog-cell-phone-2/ I was looking through the ads in the back of the August QST, and I was reminded of how I used to do this as a kid. I would scour the ads, looking for some company or product I hadn't seen before, then circling the appropriate number on the reader ... http://kb6nu.com/ads-you-may-have-missed-in-qst/ This morning, I drove over to Utica, MI to attend the General Motors ARC "Trunk Swap." They charged $5/car, whether you were selling anything or not. They were also selling donuts for a buck apiece. the thing started at 7am and ended at 10am. I didn't count exactly, but I'm guessing ... http://kb6nu.com/trunk-fest/ As hams, we live and die with the sunspot cycle. (OK, OK, that's being a bit drastic, but you get my point.) And, it's no secret that we're at that point in the cycle where sunspots are few and far between. It seems that it's been so long since we've ... http://kb6nu.com/nasa-to-hams-hold-your-horses/ I've always wanted a circuit for sampling the output of a transmitter. Well, today, I got the July 2008 issue of Feedback, the newsletter of the Southern Michigan ARS, which included the circuit below, courtesy of K6LS. I think I'd use a UHF T connector instead of a BNC connector, ... http://kb6nu.com/monitor-your-tx-output-with-this-rf-sampler/ Yesterday, a packet of QSLs arrived from ARRL QSL Bureau. I really haven't been sending out many QSLs, and since the last couple of packets, hadn't contained anything really exciting, I wasn't expecting much this time. Well, I got a very pleasant surprise—two QSL cards from Antarctica. This card is from ... http://kb6nu.com/qsls-from-antarctica/ EE Times has just published a very cool article with some history on SuitSat 1 and some design info on SuitSat 2. Unfortunately, they don't give a date for the launch of the second SuitSat.  Here's an excerpt from the article: The experience proved so interesting that the engineers enthusiastically signed ... http://kb6nu.com/suitsat-2-on-the-way/ This year, as we have done for at least the last five years, our amateur radio club provided communications for the JayCee's Ann Arbor Fourth of July Parade. Last year, I tried to get a small flag they were handing out to kids to mount on my HT antenna, but ... http://kb6nu.com/fun-on-the-fourth/ From Jim Weaver, K8JE: The GLD web site is totally revised and updated!  You are invited to go to http://www.greatlakes.arrl.org to get a look at what webmeister Gary Osborne, W8XS has done. The web site and how we plan to use it will continue to evolve.  If you have suggestions of features you ... http://kb6nu.com/great-lakes-division-has-new-website/