Author Archives: robert

X9.3 Solar Flare Hits today ~ 12:02 UTC

Posted on September 6, 2017 by robert

A massive solar flare struck the earth today, a X-class 9.3.  This is the largest flare of Solar Cycle 24 by far.  It does have an Earth-directed CME that will be following on the heels of an earlier M-class flare/CME. … Continue reading →

Posted in Propagation | Leave a comment

Adding FT8 to HRD Logbook

Posted on August 13, 2017 by robert

Version 6.3.0.613 (Dec 2016) of HRD predates the WSJT-X “FT8” mode.  If you use the latest version of JTAlert (2.10.1), it has added back in HRD version 6.3+ logging support (but only temporarily, according to the author).  That’s great, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Mode, FT8, LotW | 1 Comment

Work-around for Pesky OS X Kernel Panic with Arduino

Posted on August 6, 2017 by robert

I’ve been bouncing between my Windows PC and a Macbook Pro as I am writing the code for the Feather NTP Clock.  (Gotta love BitBucket and TortoiseHG which provide me with the latest source code wherever I am). While it … Continue reading →

Posted in Arduino, NTP Clock, Projects | Leave a comment

Feather NTP Clock

Posted on August 5, 2017 by robert

While my obsession with accurate time continues, these days my obsession with avoiding the hassle of resetting clocks on DST/STD changeover and power failures grows. My original NTP Clock, based on the Raspberry Pi worked just fine, but it really … Continue reading →

Posted in NTP Clock, Projects | Leave a comment

Migrating a HDR Log to ACL for Digital Contacts

Posted on July 20, 2017 by robert

After messing with HRD & QSO Relay, I determined that inability to support FT8 with older HRD versions was a show stopper for me. I decided to use ACL, which was fully supporting FT8 and simply gather my digital FT8/JT9/JT65 … Continue reading →

Posted in FT8, JT65, JT9, LotW | Leave a comment

Updating to WSJT-X version 1.8 for FT8 Mode

Posted on July 18, 2017 by robert

I see a lot of activity on 20 meters using the new FT8 mode (14.074.000), so I figured I would bite the bullet and update.  The latest WSJT-X release candidate requires an update to JTAlert, which I was avoiding since … Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Mode, FT8, WSJT-X | 7 Comments

Nice 6-meter Opening Today

Posted on July 6, 2017 by robert

The JT65 segment of 6-meters was white hot today.  Even heard Joe Taylor (K1JT).  Map below shows stations that heard my signals around 21:00 UTC today.

Posted in From the OM, Propagation | Leave a comment

Worked All 13 Colonies

Posted on July 6, 2017 by robert

Last night I was NCS for my club’s HF net.  Right after our net cleared, K2C, a station in RI started calling CQ for the 13 Colony Special Event, and I picked him up, along with several of the other … Continue reading →

Posted in Operating | Leave a comment

Yearning for Solar Cycle 25: But will it even happen?

Posted on July 2, 2017 by robert

According to Dr. Sten Odenwall, we will start seeing the new sunspots of Cycle 25 appear sometime in late-2019. Sunspot maximum is likely to occur in 2024, with most forecasts predicting about half as many sunspots as in Cycle 24. The bad … Continue reading →

Posted in DX | Leave a comment

Mid-way through 2017, DX is Crawling

Posted on July 2, 2017 by robert

At this point halfway to the bottom of cycle 24 (2020), I suppose it is only natural for things to slow down, not only due to the sunspot cycle decline, but also just because there are fewer needed DX entities … Continue reading →

Posted in DX, Operating | Leave a comment