WB8DQT

AMATEUR RADIO HOME PAGE

Ralph E. Taggart
 
 

The items you will find linked to this page reflect my own interests in Amateur Radio. Don't expect all sorts of bells and whistles on these pages, as I am too busy with new projects to take the time to create a flashy website. I have constructed these pages to provide the most information possible with the smallest possible time investment.

QRP

Almost all my operating in recent years (decades!) has been done using low power (5 watts or less) - what is know in Amateur Radio jargon as QRP. If you run a search on the Web using QRP, you will discover innumerable sites devoted to the topic of low-power operation.

Slow Scan Television

One of my major interests over the years has been slow scan television (SSTV), which I have been involved with since 1967. The pages linked below reflect a variety of topics in this area.

• Fax480 is a high-resolution image mode I developed to compliment the many other SSTV image modes presently in use. This is a linked series of pages devoted to various aspects of the Fax480 mode. 

• SSTV modes takes a brief look at the history of SSTV and how it relates to the development of the many grayscale and color modes now in use.

• SSTV DX provides some examples of DX stations I have worked on SSTV. If you think you need large antennas and high power to work DX on slow scan, you should check out what I have been able to work using just five watts!

•  High Resolution Color SSTV. One of the more interesting developments in recent years is a series of SSTV modes that permit the transmission of much higher resolution color images. These pictures take significantly longer to transmit than normal SSTV color images and thus are rarely seen on bands such as 20 meters. When conditions are good on the higher frequency bands, such as 15 and 10 meters, you can get some spectacular results.
   
• Ever wonder how the various SSTV systems would perform, head-to-head, when it comes to weak-signal performance? The SSTV Testing page describes an accurate (and fair!) test procedure, long with the results of noise testing of three popular systems - Pasokon Classic, WinPix Pro, and CromaPix.
   
• Stereo (3D) Photography Lots of folks like to mess with sending stereo (3D) pictures via slow-scan. The results are highly variable and often hardly worth the effort. Here is a set of pages, based on decades of involvement in stereo photography, that can teach you the basics of 3D photography. If you are going to send 3D pictures, do it right!

CW (Morse Code)

Morse code, known as CW in Amateur Radio jargon, is the oldest and most fundamental of all the ways we can communicate using radio. This mode of communication remains extremely popular, despite the availability of many methods for communication by voice, different forms of television, and a host of exotic digital communication modes. There are lots of reasons for this continued popularity:

• Simplicity: Circuits and equipment for CW communication are simpler than any other mode. This translates to lower cost for equipment. CW-only Amateur Radio equipment is the best bargain you can find in this hobby. Simplicity also equates with reliability - fewer circuits means there is less to go wrong!

• Effectiveness: For a host of technical reasons that I will not go into here, CW signals will get through when nothing else will. No matter what bands you operate, long-distance communication is easier using CW than any other mode. This is why most QRP operations (see above) are done using CW. If you want to work exotic DX, it is far easier (and less expensive) to do it on CW.

• Satisfaction: CW proficiency is a skill that, as you progressively master it, gives an immense feeling of satisfaction. What's more, it connects us with our roots to the earliest days of wireless communication. A CW operator is linked in spirit with the military radio operators of two great World Wars, Admiral Byrd striving for the pole, and the Marconi operators on the doomed liner Titanic!

Back in the January 1995 issue of QST I presented a simple project that lets you use your computer to send and receive CW. My CW Homepage describes the computer interface and allows you to download the latest version of the software to run the project. The interface has appeared in the last few editions of the ARRL Handbook and is an ideal project for both the new-comer to Amateur Radio or the seasoned CW operator. The page also includes links to a few other CW/Morse-related pages.

English-style Straight Keys   

Even when I rediscovered CW, as was never a great fan of straight keys as they seemed a very tiring way to transmit code! That was until, almost by accident, I discovered large continental or English-style keys. Properly used, they are a joy to operate and most are darned attractive as well!

Vintage Radio Gear

Once I started running with the straight key guys, I also encountered lots of fine vintage gear on the bands. Although I haven't gone completely retrograde, I did embark on a modest project!

 PSK-31

Has to be one of the most exciting developments in Ammateur Radio to arrive in a long time! Check out the page and see the many reasons you need to be active on this new digital mode.
 

Ralph E. Taggart (taggart@msu.edu)