Category Archives: Ham Radio

In Defense of FT-8

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Warning:  This is a ham radio post.  If you’re not a nerd, turn back now. You’ve been warned.

As some of you may know, I am a licensed amateur radio operator known colloquially as a ham radio operator.  From time to time, I write something about ham radio even though it’s a very small community and not likely to be read by any other hams. 

This blog, sparse as it is, contains three ham radio posts.  They are:

Feel free to read those if you like, but for those looking for the TL;DR version, Chat GPT tells me that:

“Ham radio, also known as amateur radio, is a hobby that allows people to communicate over long distances using radio frequencies. Unlike standard commercial broadcasts, ham radio operators use a variety of equipment to send and receive messages, often bypassing the need for the internet or phone networks. This can be especially valuable in emergencies, when other forms of communication may be unavailable. Ham radio operators often assist in disaster relief efforts, providing crucial communication links. Beyond emergencies, ham radio fosters global connections, enabling hobbyists to learn about electronics, communication technology, and to connect with others worldwide.”

There exist several ways to communicate among hams, for example, morse code, voice, television, or from computer to computer.  One of the computer modes is called FT-8.  I’ll rely on Chat GPT again for a brief description:

“FT-8 is a popular digital mode in ham radio designed for making reliable, short-distance and long-distance contacts under challenging conditions. Developed by Nobel laureate Joe Taylor, FT-8 uses a computer and radio to exchange minimal information, such as call signs and signal reports, in rapid, automated sequences. It’s particularly useful when signals are weak or the band conditions are poor, allowing operators to communicate with stations thousands of miles away, even when voice or other digital modes struggle. FT-8 is widely used for casual contacts and DXing (long-distance communication) due to its efficiency and ability to connect stations with very low power signals.”

All set?  Got the terminology?  OK, off we go!

Ham radio operators are divided on the legitimacy of FT-8 in ham radio.  Some operators believe that the automatic collection of contacts, or QSLs, is a cheat.  It’s not REAL ham radio.  Some believe that you can set up FT-8 in your shack and walk away from the computer and let it do all the contacting.  Others believe that using FT-8 for contests and awards is cheating, too, since the operator isn’t really contacting a person.  It’s just two computers talking to each other and that shouldn’t count towards anything. 

I fall into the other camp. 

I have found FT-8 to be a whole lot of fun, and I have learned a lot as an operator and improved my skills by learning how to get the most out of it.

So, whilst I understand the objections to FT-8, I do not agree.  I genuinely enjoy it as do thousands of other FT-8 operators around the world.  So, something about it is appealing to a lot of operators.

Objection:  “FT-8 isn’t REAL ham radio.”

Defense:  Ever since ham radio got its start, every new technology that’s been introduced has been labelled at least temporarily as not real ham radio.  When single sideband transmission (SSB) was authorized for amateur radio use, some operators thought that using SSB was cheating because it wasn’t the purest form of ham radio, CW, or continuous wave transmission, the OG of ham radio modes.

Since then, there have been many other modes authorized on ham radio frequencies and most have gone through the same “it’s cheating” criticism until meeting with wide acceptance. 

Bottom line: if it’s authorized on the worldwide ham radio frequencies, it’s just as real as CW, SSB or earth-moon-earth.  (Yes, that’s a thing.)

Objection:  “There’s no operating going on.  It’s completely automated.

Defense:  Operating a ham radio station involves a multitude of tasks including but not limited to adjusting output power, changing frequencies, listening before you transmit, and adjusting these and other parameters to get the signal through with minimal power, no interference, and courtesy for other operators. 

In my FT-8 experience, limited though it is, I’ve had to learn to operate my rigs carefully, making certain to listen before I allow the computer to key up the transmitter.  I’ve had to learn how to choose frequencies and power levels correctly, while adjusting receive gain, bandwidth and other parameters that help get the message through.  The difference is that I am using a computer to do some – not all – of the adjustments.  Note that I can adjust power and frequency while making sure that I don’t overlap other hams using FT-8.  (Click to make this image more readable.)

You are still required to operate your radio in accordance with FCC rules and regulations just as you would with voice or CW transmissions.  But, instead of a microphone or morse code keyer, you’re using a computer.

As well, if an operator really DOES automate the FT-8 process, which is not permitted, they are violating FCC regulations.  FT-8 does not automate ham radio.  You still must operate responsibly the way you would for any other mode.

Objection:  “It’s too easy to make lots of contacts.  Doing it with SSB or CW is much harder and besides that’s real ham radio.”

Defense:  Ok, it IS true that it’s easier to make lots of contacts using FT-8.  But why is this a bad thing?  Don’t we want people to be active in ham radio?  Don’t we want all the hams to be successful? 

Yes.  Yes, we do. 

It doesn’t cheapen your ARRL DX Century Club (DXCC) award that you earned using voice or code.  The DXCC award has multiple categories.  If you have one with CW and voice that’s wonderful and I am impressed.  (Yes, favorably!)  But those DXCC awards based solely on FT-8 QSLs is so noted on the award certificate.  It is not precisely the same award. 

Here are some of the reasons why I enjoy FT-8 and why it’s so useful for me:

1.  I am hard of hearing and even with hearing aids and headphones, I can’t always make out what other hams are saying if conditions are bad.  If my ears were better, I would be able to, but they’re not.  FT-8 gives me the opportunity to make contacts and be competitive with other hams because I am not struggling to hear speech that others can hear easily.  Using FT-8 means I get to play ham radio with everyone else. 

2.  FT-8 is what’s known as a weak signal mode.  That means that a computer running FT-8 can “hear” and decode messages that are undetectable to the average human ear.   That means for me that with a limited antenna system, I can reach out farther than I could  using voice.  Weak signal modes like FT-8 give me a greater reach with the equipment I can afford.  More ham radio bang for my ham radio dollar.

3.  Ham radio has a reputation for being an old technology used by old men.

They’re half right.  Most ham radio operators are older.  One only need attend a local ham radio club meeting to confirm these demographics.  It’s considered an old man’s hobby.

As you know by now, I am a computer geek.  Computer message exchange modes like FT-8 and others bring ham radio into the 21st century.  I can send email messages, images, digital files like word processing files, and other data via ham radio.  Plus – and this is its real strength for me – using these digital modes allow me to meld both ham radio and computer geekdom into one.  It’s the best of both worlds and making it all work together is a blast!

Here’s a photo of my computer desk/radio shack at home:

Sidebar:  I’ve always believed that the nexus of computers and ham radio is the perfect entry point for young people to enter the ham radio world.  Young students in electrical engineering and computer science programs are perfect for ham radio.  It would give them practical experience in radio transmission and reception hardware, antenna theory, analog and digital modulation modes, among others.  Using FT-8 is just one of many ways to integrate computers into ham radio, making it more attractive and available to young operators.

4.  I can help other operators worldwide.  FT-8 software such as WSJT-X or JDTX can report back to a central server which plots out where FT-8 and other computer-based ham radio communications are being received.  In other words, even when WSJT-X is idle, it is reporting what is being received at my location and making that information available worldwide.  By leaving my radio and WSJT-X up and running, I am helping other operators learn where their signal is going and help them adjust their operations to get their intended message through.  I like doing that.

Here’s an example of my spots.  This shows the stations that received my FT-8 transmission just now.  Note the station in South Africa:

Ham radio is what you make of it.  Ham radio means to you whatever you want it to mean.  If FT-8 isn’t for you, that’s ok.  If, like me, you find it challenging and fun, that’s ok, too.  If you believe that I’m cheating using FT-8, that’s ok.  I promise I won’t think you’re cheating doing whatever it is you like doing in ham radio.  And even I did, so what?  You like it and that’s what really matters.

FT-8 is ham radio.  It can be fun and rewarding, and I have spent many hours chasing distant stations at all hours of the day and night.  It allows me to blend my love of computer and radio technology in ways that fascinate me and take up a lot of time.

You don’t have to love it.  But you never know.  You just might.

UPDATE: Here’s a presentation that can give you some more technical informaton about FT-8.

Another Ham Radio Post: Sentimental Journey

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Back in this post, I talked about my very first experience with ham radio:

“My introduction to ham radio was in the 1960’s. My childhood friend’s dad, Nathan Vance, was K8TMX. (How I’ve remembered his name and call sign all these years still surprises me.) Mr. Vance was in the middle of a conversation on his ham radio and must have seen me standing there with wide-eyed amazement at the buttons and dials of an old-school Collins KWM-2. He took pity on me and let me talk on his radio to some South American country, as I recall. This being the 1960’s, he conducted his conversation with his fellow operator without the benefit of the internet to get him there. His radio was connected to a HUGE antenna in the backyard, and he communicated directly with the other operator.“

One of the things I remember was Mr. Vance’s magnificent chrome microphone that looked something like this:

Both of these pieces of ham radio hardware, the Collins KWM-2 and this Astatic D-104 microphone, were my first exposure to ham radio and are burned in my memory. This has led to a long-standing sentimental attachment to them, and while I had never owned either of these retro radio designs, I always longed to have them in my radio shack.

In this post, I mentioned that Jeff Tobin, frequently mentioned on this website, bought me a used D-104 as a birthday gift and gave it to me the day before we traveled to Dayton, Ohio to the biggest ham radio convention in the world:

“Another birthday gift, this time from Jeff Tobin, KC3NJE. Jeff scored a vintage D-104 ham radio microphone like this one for himself some months ago and I’ve been crazy jealous. For my birthday and just before Hamvention, Jeff gifted me a D-104 of my very own! I was excited, humbled, and grateful for the magnificent gift.“

That was May 19, 2022.

The stock D-104 was not designed to work with modern radios, however, Heil Electronics makes a conversion kit so that the D-104 can work with them. I bought a kit and made multiple attempts to make it work, but due mostly to my own inexperience and directions that were unclear to the uninitiated, I could never make it work. This relegated it to being more of a desk ornament than a working microphone.

Fast forward to the day before yesterday.

As we often do, Jeff and I were on the phone talking ham radio stuff and got to talking about our respective D-104 microphones and how much we really wanted to be able to use them on the air. We tossed around ideas to make the Heil conversion kit work and other possible alternatives.

Then it hit me.

I had a spare Icom handheld microphone that came with one of the modern radios I have. I wondered if I could perform what we in the Army always called a “controlled substitution” and take the guts of the hand mic and mount it in the D-104 case to create a working microphone that I could use on the Icom radios in my shack. There was no question that it would electrically work — it was an included accessory.

I started by opening up the Icom hand mic, taking some measurements, and seeing how it disassembled. After a few minutes of this inspection, I set it aside for the night.

I won’t describe the details of the conversion, but it took me much of the day beginning with downloading the hand mic’s schematic to see how it was electrically wired and how it would interface with the D-104 components that would be retained.

Once convinced it’d work, I gutted the D-104’s internal electronics and through trial and error, determined which wires did what. Once I had those mapped out, I paired them up with the cord that would plug into the radios.

I repeatedly tested each connection before making them permanent with the soldering iron. Once it was all soldered, connections properly insulated, and the mic reassembled, I tested it out and sent a text message to Jeff:

“I couldn’t believe it. Seriously I about shit my pants. Lol. I had to take the capacitor out of the circuit, but once I did that, it worked like a champ. I am absolutely thrilled that your lovely, wonderful, thoughtful gift is now more than a desk ornament. It works on the 7100, the 7300, and the 9700 I suspect. Though I haven’t tried the 9700 yet.”

I can’t thank you enough, Jeff! It makes a great addition to the shack.

Here’s an update to this post. Two days after my mic went into service, Jeff’s did as well. I am so excited that his D-104 is now working perfectly.

It’s twins!!

Here’s what it sounded like doing an echo test using my Icom 7100 with a PiStar hotspot on D-Star :

Cool Pictures That I’m In or That I Took: “Just Because” Edition

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Here’s another in a series of posts I’m going to make when I find some of these treasures. Some will be captioned, others will not. The only criteria for posting in this series is that:

a.) I’m in the photo or…

b.) … I took the photo.

This was taken at the wedding reception of my classmate, Cassie Brewer, and her new husband. Seated to my left, classmate and close friend, Crystal Starks Daniel, and to my right, another classmate, Chris Kavanaugh. Crystal, Cassie, Chris, and I were all members of a multi-semester cybersecurity study group at Stark State College. This weekend, Cassie and I are on a cyber forensics team competing in a one-day hack-a-thon contest at the college. Cassie and I both graduate in less than a month!

This is a photo of Jeff Tobin, KC3NJE, and me, KN4FYR after we both passed our FCC License exams a couple of years ago. (Photo by Jeff’s wife, Laura)

Also from a few years ago, a group of Westminster College radio station WKPS alumni gathers at our local hot dog hangout, MP Coney Island, in New Castle, PA. Noteworthy is the presence of Mark Klinger III, our professor and faculty advisor who passed away recently at age 78. (Photo by WKPS’s Charlie “Pretzel Man” Weisel.)

A screen shot taken from an 8mm movie transferred to video, me as a freshman member of the East Pennsboro High School marching band in 1970, I believe, not too long before moving from Camp Hill, PA, back to Fostoria, Ohio.

Cool Pictures That I’m In or That I Took: “So Yeah, This Blog Still Exists” Edition

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Here’s another in a series of posts I’m going to make when I find some of these treasures. Some will be captioned, others will not. The only criteria for posting in this series is that:

a.) I’m in the photo or…

b.) … I took the photo.

Photo from Hamvention 2022, the world’s largest ham radio convention. From left, Chris Kavanaugh, Jeff Tobin (KC3NJE), me (KN4FYR), and Donovan Wheatley (KE8TKI).

Departing the High Technology Crime Investigation Association (HTCIA) Conference at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City. From left, Glenn Goe, Ben Nash, Zander Thompson, Danielle Kulcsar, and me.

Here’s a remarkable birthday gift from sons Jon and Andy. It’s Bluetooth, it’s sturdy, and it’s a great gift! I love it!

Another birthday gift, this time from Jeff Tobin, KC3NJE. Jeff scored a vintage D-104 ham radio microphone like this one for himself some months ago and I’ve been crazy jealous. For my birthday and just before Hamvention, Jeff gifted me a D-104 of my very own! I was excited, humbled, and grateful for the magnificent gift.

View from my former front porch of the fireworks display, part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Induction Week activities here in the Canton, Ohio area.

Nerd Alert! This is a Ham Radio Post

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I’ve been doing this ham radio thing for about a year and a half now.  I have a couple more observations to add to the blog post I wrote last year.

1.   The amount of learning required to get started is not massive.  You can get started with a relative minimum of technological knowledge and if that’s all you want, you can do quite a bit.  But…

If you want to get really good at it or learn the nitty, gritty details of how and why things work, it’s a daunting task.  I’ve said before that it’s a bottomless pit of things to learn and from my perspective, it can be pretty overwhelming.  Having said that, …

2.  … established ham operators are, for the most part, more than willing to share their knowledge and experience if you just ask.  If you pop up on the air with a question, chances are pretty good that you can get an answer or at the very least a clue about how to proceed.  The experienced operators are a magnificent resource if you’re stuck or just need an explanation of something you don’t understand.

3.  If you make a mistake and do something incorrectly, most hams are very forgiving.  It’s likely that they’ve made a similar mistake at one time and they don’t hold your boo-boos against you.  I still dread screwing up, but at least there’s no ridicule from it. 

So far as I know.  (Maybe people are laughing and pointing at me on other channels.) 

4.  There’s a Young Operators’ Net on Sunday and there’s an eleven-year-old young woman who runs the net.  She’s terrific and does a really top-notch job of net control.  Hearing those young voices on the air leads me to believe that…

5.  …ham radio is not a dead hobby.  Far from it, matter of fact. 

One of the things that surprised me when I finally dove into ham radio was that technology has advanced the amateur radio hobby into the 21st century.  With at least three or four digital voice protocols and an untold number of digital data protocols, you can get a message through in any number of ways including the old standards like CW and SSB.  There are orbiting digital satellites that ham operators can use.  You can bounce a radio signal off the moon and back to Earth if you can figure out how to do that.  You can even communicate with the astronauts on the International Space Station.  If you’re willing to put in the time to study how to use these modes of communication, you can do it. 

Literally, the sky’s the limit.

http://www.arrl.org/news/actor-tim-allen-gets-his-ham-ticket-for-real

6.  For we Hollywood types, there’s a working ham radio shack on the set of “Last Man Standing,” the TV show on Fox starring Tim Allen of “Home Improvement” fame.  Every once in a while, I’m told that someone on set fires up the on-set radio and communicates with the rest of we mere mortal operators, though I’ve not had that pleasure yet.

Edit: Back on October 22, 2019, I did make contact with KA6LMS on the set of “Last Man Standing.” Here is the QSL Card, a postcard which makes the contact official:

Here’s some more details: http://www.arrl.org/news/last-man-standing-moving-to-fox-network   (The photo is from the article.)

7.  You don’t have to be crazy rich to get started.  Once you are licensed, a new, entry-level handheld digital radio can be had for Amazon points, if you have enough of ‘em.  Even if you don’t, you can get in for less than $100 if you watch the sales.  If you’re OK with used equipment, you can get in for about half that.  If amateur radio interests you, cost need not be a barrier to entry.

8.  Ham radio operators help during natural disasters.  Here’s an excerpt of an NPR piece about how amateur radio stepped up to help Puerto Rico in 2017:

MCEVERS: How many messages have you relayed since the hurricane hit?

DOBER: Myself about a hundred.

MCEVERS: Oh, wow. And what’s – what are one or two that, you know, are you know you’re going to remember for a long time?

DOBER: Honestly, there was one woman who – she just broke down in tears when I told her. And she actually called me back five minutes later and she basically asked me, you just called me. And what you told me, I want to hear it again to make sure I heard it right.

MCEVERS: And what had you told her?

DOBER: I told her that, yes, I did call you five minutes ago. And the news I gave you is the news that your loved one is OK.

MCEVERS: And so she just had to hear it one more time?

DOBER: She had to hear it one more time, yes. And like I said, as soon as I told her – and it’s odd because you’re telling people – I mean, I was calling people in California, in Texas. And you’re telling them, hi, I’m from Pittsburgh, Pa., and I have news out of Arecibo for you or out of Puerto Rico. So for them it’s kind of like, what? You know, that’s not the way they’re expecting to get their news.

Here’s the whole article from NPR:  https://www.npr.org/2017/09/29/554600989/amateur-radio-operators-stepped-in-to-help-communications-with-puerto-rico

Here’s another article from NBC:  https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/puerto-rico-amateur-radio-operators-are-playing-key-role-puerto-n805426

And one more from CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/27/us/puerto-rico-maria-ham-radio-operators-trnd/

9.  I’ll quote myself from the original set of observations on this one:

People are people everywhere. I’ve made this observation about every country I’ve physically visited, and the international amateur radio community is no exception. I’ve talked on the radio with people from several different countries. I marvel at the universality of the experience among the operators I hear on the air. Korea, Canada, The Philippines, Australia, the UK, South America. It really shouldn’t surprise me how similar we humans are to our brethren ham operators around the world, but it did. It reinforces my contention that people are people no matter where you go. Governments may suck – and most do – but people are people everywhere. I find that very comforting.

This remains true and still amazes me every time.

10.  This isn’t an observation, but a shout-out to Jeff, aka VE6DV, from Canada who’s just happens to be moving this week.  He is our weekly net controller and runs the net superbly.  He’s all the things that’s right about amateur radio.  He’s helpful, friendly and welcoming.  And the net he runs has gained popularity because of the way he does it.  He deserves public kudos so here they are.

11.  One more shout-out, this time to Andrew Taylor, MW0MWZ, in the UK.  He authors and maintains a software package which allows amateur radio operators to extend their reach from tens of miles to all the miles.  His software makes worldwide communications easy to use.  It’s free and he’s WAY more responsive to questions and answers than any professional tech support company.  So thanks, Andy, for writing and maintaining Pi-Star.  Well done!

Bottom line for me:  I am thankful that my son, Jon (left), poked me in the eye about my license awhile back.  Jon, don’t make the same mistake I did and wait 50 years to get your license.  It’s a great hobby and really tests my technical expertise every time I sit down at the radio. (That’s other son, Andy in the background, circa mid ’90’s.)

If a person’s brain really IS a use-it-or-lose-it proposition as we age, this is a great way to exercise the ol’ noggin.  Amateur radio is a great way to exercise your mind and help keep you sharp. 

This concludes today’s nerd alert.