Author Archives: robert

ISS-Above on 7″ LCD

Posted on March 27, 2016 by robert

I finally had a chance to tie the Raspberry Pi Foundation 7″ LCD/Touchscreen onto a RPi 2 running the ISS-Above firmware.  The results were outstanding.  It makes for a nice desk piece, with only a single power supply wire exiting … Continue reading →

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ISS-Above: Coolest Tool for ISS Pass Prediction – EVER

Posted on March 26, 2016 by robert

While looking for interesting things to display concerning the ISS during our upcoming ARISS contact, I stumbled across a now commercial product that started not long ago as an overfunded Kickstarter campaign. ISS-Above. ISS-Above is a Raspberry Pi based product with … Continue reading →

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Getting the RPi 3 to work with Bluetooth

Posted on March 23, 2016 by robert

After solving the display rotation issue, I was anxious to get rid of the USB based keyboard and mouse, and move onto Bluetooth based devices.  I had followed a RPi blog instruction to update various parts of the OS, and … Continue reading →

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Quest for 250 Confirmations Completed

Posted on March 23, 2016 by robert

With the arrival of a LotW confirmation from 3C7A (Equatorial Guinea), my LotW count reached 246.  I have 4 QSLs in hand from S01WS (Western Sahara), E40VB (Palestine), DV1UD (Philippines), and XW3DT (Laos).  That will put me at the 250 … Continue reading →

Posted in DX, Operating | 4 Comments

Fixing an Upside-Down RPi3 7″ LCD Display

Posted on March 21, 2016 by robert

The Raspberry Pi Foundation announced their new RPi Model 3 this month, upping the processor speed and memory yet again.  They also announced the availability of an “official” 7″ LCD with touchscreen. I couldn’t resist picking up one of each … Continue reading →

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A Small Step Forward for 12-m WAS

Posted on March 7, 2016 by robert

While the DXCC counts continue to creep up slowly, my WAS activity has been stuck in the mud needing Hawaii on 30m, plus Delaware and West Virginia on 12m.  Yesterday, I stumbled across Glenn, W3WTE, on 12m, and received confirmation … Continue reading →

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DXCC Results for Feb 2016

Posted on March 1, 2016 by robert

The march continues slowly.  As of Feb 29, 2016 (Happy Leap Year), 244 countries have been confirmed in LotW, with another 4 QSL cards in hand, making a total of 248.  In terms of band-point for the Challenge, 1150 are … Continue reading →

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Sunrise/Sunset for Grey-line DX

Posted on February 3, 2016 by robert

Besides being a true fan of sunshine, I want to wish my way through the dark days of winter by focusing on the fact that there are more hours of daylight each day now.  With the decline in solar activity as … Continue reading →

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Honored to have contacted VP8STI

Posted on January 25, 2016 by robert

What an amazing DXpedition to two islands off the coast of Antarctica, South Sandwich, and South Georgia.  Despite the fact that it is summer there, it’s still one of the most inhospitable areas on the planet.  Case in point, from … Continue reading →

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Goodbye Solar Cycle 24

Posted on January 20, 2016 by robert

Goodbye Solar Cycle 24, you were fun while you lasted! Propagation is really impacting the K5P (Palmyra Island), VP8STI (South Sandwich Island), and VP8SGI (South Georgia Island), DXpeditions. I note that solar levels appear to be somewhat higher than when I … Continue reading →

Posted in From the OM, Operating, Propagation | Leave a comment