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.
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!
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.
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!
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!
Has to be one of the most exciting
developments in Amateur 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)