swmopacket.org

On March 25, a group from AMSAT-DL bounced radio signals off the surface of Venus, marking the first time Amateur Radio operators have bounced radio signals off another planet. According to AMSAT-DL President Peter Guelzow, DB2OS, the Earth-Venus-Earth (EVE) transmission is another step in preparing for a mission to Mars. According to an AMSAT-DL press release, the team’s transmitter was generating about 6 kW CW on 2.4 GHz.

With more than 20,000 listings for VHF/UHF repeaters across the US and Canada, The ARRL Repeater Directory 2009-2010 is a must have. Once again, the ARRL is offering two sizes of the Repeater Directory –pocket size and desktop. The pocket-sized Repeater Directory boasts a larger font size, making for easier reading. Both editions feature handy indexing tabs on the cover, easier to read listings and a "Key to Repeater Notes" located right up front in the Directory. Along with these new features, both editions have the features you know and enjoy from prior years: Repeater operating practices, repeater lingo and hints for newly licensed hams; Frequency Coordinator contact information; listings for D-STAR and APCO 25 repeaters; a guide to using CTCSS tones and Digital Coded Squelch (DCS); VHF/UHF band plans and a 2 meter channel-spacing map; IRLP (Internet linked) nodes; tips for handling interference; listings for IRLP, WIRES-II and EchoLink (Internet linked) nodes; emergency message handling procedures, and a transceiver memory log. Order your copy of The ARRL Repeater Directory 2009-2010 today at the ARRL Online Store.

Internet and Radio/Web Cams
W1NT Brad web cam

Operating Aids/Maps
A Collection of Maps and Charts for the Radio Amateur

Operating Aids/Maps
A Collection of Maps and Charts for the Radio Amateur

Operating Modes/APRS
VHF Aircraft APRS aeronautical mobile Amateur Ham Radio info by K0RNS

TH-D7 series, VHF UHF dual band w/TNC for packet and APRS, modifications, manual, resources and reviews of the popular kenwood dualband transceiver

Antennas/Quagi
A Quagi antenna project with pictures and dimensions for a UHF Quagi antenna

Antennas/WiFi
Possible solutions to the problems of efficiently illuminating SAT TV offset parabolic antennas in the use on WLAN frequencies of 2.4 GHz..

Technical Reference/Mic wiring
List of Icom microphones with connector type description and transceiver compatibility

Antennas/Theory
How you can calculate antenna Q factor for use in antenna quality evaluation instead of use of VSWR bandwidth.

DX Resources/Logs
Online Log for VK9LA 2009

Shopping and Services/Electronic Components
The Capacitor Resource

On March 27, the FCC notified Thomas Morrison, AB2PP, of Yonkers, New York, that it was denying his petition concerning an Amateur Radio antenna support structure Morrison had installed at his home. In his December 2008, petition, Morrison requested the Commission rule that the City of Yonkers did not provide "reasonable accommodation" in its building permit requirements per PRB-1 in regards to the installation of the support structure.

I never had much interest in packet radio. It was just one of those "other" modes that was fine for other people, but held no relevance for me. And then one day I looked around my shack and realized that packet had crept in and taken over. There was packet software in both my shack computer and in my field computer. Every radio had been set up to handle packet transmissions. Half of the rat’s nest of wires running around the shack had something to do with moving or controlling packet data. When had all this happened?