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Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Moxon Antenna Design Software Under Linux

Here again, is another piece of Amateur Radio software for Windows running under Linux. This time it is the Moxon Rectangle Generator by Dan Maguire (AC6LA), running under Wine for Ubuntu Linux. Nice. Again, on this box I'm running Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (long-term stable).

Note that I recently went out of my way to reconfigure the Ubuntu 10.04 LTS update sources to include the latest version of Wine automatically - I will post a how to do that soon (if you haven't Googled it already). On a similar note, I also have the system pointing to the latest Mozilla sources for Firefox updates.

The screenshots for this are on my Flickr set titled "Amateur Radio Linux Screenshots Moxon Rectangle Generator".

Amateur Radio Linux Screenshots Moxon Rectangle Generator

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Making a Simple QRP Dummy Load from Spare Parts

Here is an easy 50-ohm 2-watt dummy load for QRP ham radio service. Two 100-ohm 1-watt resistors in parallel make the circuit. A core of a scrap of RG-58/U coaxial cable forms an insulated wire down the center. A 140 watt Weller soldering gun was used to "tin" the metal barrel of the connector. The insulated wire was inserted (after it cooled!) with a 15-watt iron.

These are in my Flickr set "Amateur Radio QRP 2W Dummy Load".

The pen points to where the base of the connector was "tinned".

The full set of pictures follow in the badge below.

Amateur Radio QRP 2W Dummy Load

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Echolink Running Under Linux

The power and flexibility of Linux is shown here, as Echolink for Windows is running using the "Wine" emulation software. Like my recent Linux-related post, it is Ubuntu 10.04 LTS.

Wine launches the Windows installer, and the installer thinks its running under Windows.

The screenshots are from my Flickr photo gallery titled "Amateur Radio Linux Screenshots Echolink".

Amateur Radio Linux Screenshots Echolink

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Trailer Hitch Mounting a Copper Pipe J-Pole Antenna

This J-pole works great at home, but let's mount it on our vehicle.

The Flickr set "Amateur Radio Copper Pipe J-Pole Antenna Bumper Mount", is where the detailed pictures are.

This is experimental and is intended for stationary use. Note the safety chain.

Various stages of the assembly details follow.

Amateur Radio Copper Pipe J-Pole Antenna Bumper Mount

Cheap But Really Nice Handheld Radio Cases

All of the photos are shown in my Flickr photo set "Amateur Radio Micro and Mini HT Case Ideas"

Yes, these are all from the Home Depot. It all worked great for two HTs. Here is a random picture with my Yaesu FT-60R. My miniature Yaesu VX-3R fits great in their Contractor's mobile phone case!

Thanks, Home Depot, for the free flashlight.

A badge linking to the complete set of photos follows.

Amateur Radio Micro and Mini HT Case Ideas

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Radio Programming Software Under Linux

Here I managed to get Bob Freeth's (G4HFQ) Yaesu radio programing software running under Linux. The computer involved here is running Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (long-term stable). A Windows environment emulator called "Wine" launches the Windows installer, and the installer thinks it is running under Windows.

Getting this software to work is especially nice, because modern Linux distributions have great USB support, and the programming cable I used was immediately recognized! Just be sure to select the appropriate serial port.

USB Serial Port to COM1:

Although unlikely, it may be necessary to manually link the emulated USB serial port to the COM1: port of the Wine emulator. This is easy enough from the command-line:

sudo ln -s /dev/ttyUSB ~/.wine/dosdevices/com1

This sets the configuration to force COM1: as the USB serial port. Put "sudo" in front of the command if you do not have root privileges. In any case, type the command-line exactly.

The screenshots are shown in my Flickr photo gallery titled "Amateur Radio Linux Screenshots Programming Software". They simply show the programs VTBVX3 and FTB60 installed, nothing more. But these programs do work as well here as they do in Windows! Perhaps better :-)

A final note regarding licensing: This happens to be running on a dual-boot Windows XP/Ubuntu Linux box; one of over a dozen computers I use. Being dual-boot, it is physically impossible to use these programs on both "systems" at the same time. So, it obliges the one-machine/one-user at time rule. No cheating here. And I am delighted to support a fellow developer and ham.

Amateur Radio Linux Screenshots Programming Software

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Making a Copper Pipe J-Pole Antenna

Now, here is a much larger J-pole antenna, made of common copper water pipe.

The pictures are in my Flickr set "Amateur Radio Copper Pipe J-Pole Antenna and Base".

And painted, with one coat of primer and two coats of color.

Finally, the full set of the construction photos follow.

Amateur Radio Copper Pipe J-Pole Antenna and Base