CW shift for FD

Got a 2hr shift for working FD with K7LED from Fort Flagler.  6-8pm

CW Regimen

I was hitting a wall with my copy skill at about 19 wpm.  I had been pushing hard with the MST contests ( 1 hour long runs to copy calls ).  But I still seemed to have just a block at around 19-20 wpm.

I asked the CW Ops folks and got a wealth of information.  

Most of the advice centered around the use of Morse Runner (the free software that simulates CW operations) -- and this software is quite good actually.  The adjustments are easy to make and the speed can be set to any level you wish.  There are really two main versions of the software.  There is the "CE" version which is being maintained (it seems) seperately.  I'm using this version

https://github.com/w7sst/MorseRunner

I've been tweaking it with some changes that make it easier to use. For one, I just needed it to always simulate zero-beat just because I cannot hear the low-frequency offset.   Another change I'm looking to make is add a feature to log (into a text file) the results so there's a way to get a report of the progress.

But for some of the CWOps training I'm using a custom version with a special `MASTER.DTA` file.

I'm still on track to participate with the class in the Fall, but I was advised that it's perfectly alright to just begin the process on self-study mode -- which I wasn't aware of.  The class materials are online.

The changes I've made are to practice a bit more with the simulator (MorseRunner).   

I'll still keep up with the MST contests.

I fashioned some call-sign files to feed into my build of the MorseRunner so it can work in K1USN SST mode but with the callsigns from my past logs (ADIF).  I hear these calls mostly every time, so I'm practicing them. 

Big Guy

I got a message this morning that my dad has come down with COVID.  His first case.  Luckily he's been 100% vaccinated.  But while on the road to Texas to visit a friend, seeing the south west, as he travelled the roads of this amazing country with his van, he came down with the virus.  I've never had COVID so I don't know what he's going through, but from the hospital he called me and we talked and he sounded good, just like he always does.  He's strong and not frail, never was otherwise.

He's in a hospital now and he's doing fine.   We'll find out soon if he is able to be released.  I spoke with him this morning and he sounded good.

He's 77 years old.  He's retired, formerly a machinist of extraordinary skill and he's also a veteran of the Vietnam conflict (two tours 1965-1967) .  Here he is at age 19, on board the USS Hopewell in the middle of his tours.   Navy, petty officer 2nd class.  Enlisted at 17, and when he graduated from Franklin High School in Seattle, he went to Seal Beach for training and then off to Vietnam.  That was 1965.  He worked mostly on PT-boat patrol then shore patrol on the USS Hopewell.  He saw action.

My son Nick is 20 and would have been older than my dad in this picture.  I don't think I can imagine my son being in harms way like this.   At 18, I was off to Alaska to work crab and salmon boats in the Bering Sea, Cook Inlet, and throughout the Gulf of Alaska, but nothing as dangerous as this here despite being at sea.

His generation didn't complain.  His generation worked hard and did amazing things.  And, as a kid growing up around him, I was always exposed to the most interesting technology -- machine work, electronics, and the 'we can do this' mentality.

To those who have family of this generation, you're lucky.  We're lucky to still have John (my dad).  And when he gets out of Texas and back to the Pacific Northwest, he will continue to work on his projects, tool-making, and add the enhancements to the "van" that he is building out from the inside.

I borrowed it when I went to Visalia this year for the DX Convention.  I've posted pictures of it here. (the picture below was when I camped at Pyramid Lake recreation area before I looped back to Visalia. I was visiting XYL's family in southern California on route to Visalia, 2023)

Parting message?   Call your dad, or call your Uncle.   Father's day is approaching.  You have close friends who would love to hear from you.   And that means taking a break from the radio.  That's fine.

I was feeling unbalanced

On the doorstep was a package.. On Saturday? What could this be?  Yes... The Balun Arrived.

Back story --

I had a really old "remote balun" that I carried around for the last 15  years and I think it got water logged and corroded.  So I upgraded to a 9:1 for the Window Line that I use to feed my Sky Loop.

So unwrapped it, and tied that balun in.    Matches all of the bands a lot easier now.

Back to the WWSA CW contest....

Call Sign Change?

I've contemplated changing my call sign.

W7BRS as a callsign in the family will be 100 years old in 2031.  So in about 8 years a "Wandling" will have had the callsign for 100 years.

Is that long enough?

While I like the call sign... Whiskey Seven Beer Rum and Scotch (that was the rumor of what old grandfather used to say)

Sometimes -- it ends up getting mistaken.  And if truth be told, there was something kind of odd about the old man.  I won't go into details.. Let's just say it doesn't have the sentimental value it should.

The mistakes I hear to my call when working DX ...

• W7BRH
• W7BRI
• W7DRS
• W7DRI
• W7DRH
• W7BLI
• W7DLI

etc..

I would not want to go back to my original "Tech-Plus" call of KE7JVD   -- you need a coffee break to get through that callsign.

And my XYL's uncle's callsign WA6SLI (although has special meaning) is also ripe with problems in QSB/QRN

I've thought of a few that are available in the next couple years:

• W7YJ
• W7UW
• W7AP
• W7BW

and so far my favorite

• W7GG

The downside to changing it is that I've been using W7BRS for a very long time.  I almost switched it to W7BR a few years ago, but someone beat me to it.   And my grandfather's best friend was the original W7RT and that went to some stranger in Arizona.    W7RT is an excellent CW call sign.

Any thoughts on the matter?  Ping me directly

Thanks.

Logging Software Requirements

 Among all of the best known QSO logging programs there is one major difference.

(Among the most popular) -- One has built-in remote database capabilities -- (eg., RDBMS) -- that's Log4OMv2   The downside to Log4OM is that the application itself is extremely slow and sluggish because of the way they wrote their interprocess communication.   When done correctly, it works fine.  When done incorrectly it is a dog and Log4OMv2 is a dog.  But, it has the MySQL angle, so there's that.

The other applications out there.. DX4Win, DXK, N1MM, etc.. all are Super Deluxe Fine Software -- except for one thing -- no remote database support.  This is a big deal because storing the log on the same machine as the computer where the Application Runs is not necessarily the best idea -- for all situations.  Given the fact that The Log is actually the Most Important thing that is updated, why on earth it has to be ON the same machine as the Application escapes me.   

Anyway -- I'm at an impasse.   I need to come up with something different.

Requirements:

• Not exclusively web based. I may not be on the net when I log.
• Cross platform (same application runs on Windows, Linux, MacOS)
• The software itself is remote controllable. (Not in the sense that the visual representation of the Application can be networked, as in X11 but the software has API surface to let it be remote controlled by third party software tools (even if on different platforms))
• Has the Option to journal the log locally AND communicate with a mixture of different RDBMS (Maria, MySQL, Oracle, Sybase, you name it..)
• Has the option to telemeter QSO data over UDP and TCP (not many in the ham world understand the difference -- so that needs to be explained later).
• Integrates with the LoTW system.
• Calculates Awards, and such.
• Let's me flip into "Contest Mode" and overlay any subsequent QSO into the general log (OR) lets me keep them seperate.   Through config.
• I'm on the fence if the Software really should actually control the Radio -- by control I mean the Software can in any form cause "PTT" to occur. (Keying, SSB, FT-X whatever).. that I am not so sure yet is a requirement.  For contesting, it might be, but for other things, I'm not sure yet.
• Integration with Spot networks -- but with a twist -- I'd like it also to integrate with well known modern 'chat' systems like Discord, Signal, etc.. so that virtual "private" social networks can be integrated.   A tunneled version of a spotting network.
• And, finally, plugin architecture.  The software will need to evolve and advance with plugins that are well formed and address the architecture point of view that the original authors are NOT always the best source of the behavior of the software.   There would be a plugin architecture so that perhaps (for example) the Renderer of the Log is not baked into the Application, but can be extended via a plugin to some other third party system that may render the Log better than this hypothetical application.
• Finally (sorry, the final finally) -- it's Open Source.  Completely Absolutely Open Source.   No secret code, no fees, no costs, no ads.  Bugs found, bugs fixed and the community of developers work them out.   No more proprietary code.    See also The Cathedral and the Bazaar (Eric Raymond).   It is the way.
• That's all I can think of at the moment.

I'm going to explore this and I may regret it, but I am going to push this a bit further than I had before.

The next step

This can only mean one thing.