I hadn't even heard of it until the DCC, but I was thoroughly impressed byt their goals as presented. The theme of open hardware was pervasive throughout the conference. I still haven't preordered one, though in a comment on my blog post about it, they told me to send them an e-mail address and I'd get added to the lis at pre-order pricing (which was nice). My Capri may need major engine surgery, however, so that will probably be deferred somewhat.

Their quote is driving a significant portion of my insignificant blog traffic.

I hate that I've spent a ton (for me) of money on all of this sweet radio gear, and I just have not had time to really get into it. I really should have worked hard to get a good antenna set up for the house before the weather turned absolutely evil.

I'm considering trying to implement a wire-dipole-in-the-attic arrangement like I keep reading about. Even though I have a half acre and live in a redneck neighborhood where no one cares in the slightest about antenna towers, I'm fascinated by the "stealth antenna" schemes of apartment dwellers, etc.

The attic dipole setups described on the Internet seem to rely heavily on the use of carefully placed traps to right-size the antenna spans for each band. Which bands are you transmitting on?

You guys are making me want to take on another hobby now. How dare you threaten my wallet like that :)

What's the range of a modest HF rig? Would we be able to reach across the continent?

What's the range of a modest HF rig? Would we be able to reach across

the continent?

The range of *any* HF rig is directly (and almost solely) dependent on the antenna you are using.

With a reasonable outdoor antenna (half-wave dipole at any height over 40 feet) you can expect to communicate easily over the distance appropriate to the band on which you are operating and the time of day (conditions change with position of the sun relative to the midpoint of the path over which you are attempting to communicate).

Just about all multi-band HF rigs cover the basic ham bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meters.

Depending on propagation conditions and a reasonable antenna you should be able to communicate on a range from 400 miles to world-wide depending on the band on which you choose to operate at that time.

You can buy a reasonably "equipped" HF rig (used) for less than $500.00 that will get you up and running on CW (morse code) and SSB (single sideband voice). The unit may or may not include a microphone and if it does, you will most likely want or need a better one. Figure $50 to $100 for that (used).

The dipole antenna? Build it yourself - you will need a 'balun' at the feedpoint (please see a book!) and four insulators (see a good hardware store), some rope, the ability to climb trees (see your local high school kid) and, of course, **trees**.

If you want to use the Morse Code (CW, or Continuous Wave telegraphy), you will need a telegraph key. There are all sorts of those ranging from simple to electronic. You really must start on a simple "straight key." You can progress from that later to such creatures as spring-activated keyers, electronic keyers, memory keyers, and more. Obviously as you progress things get a bit more costly. You can pick up a simple straight key for under $50 if you look around. The electronic stuff runs up in cost depending on the 'bells and whistles' included.

And the rest of the story depends on experience. And the only way to get experience is to jump in and DO it.

Oh - don't forget to pick up that LICENSE first!

--Vince (K2NE)

Morse is not a bar to entry any longer, though still worth doing. Worst case, you can (of course) do it in software.

Demonstrating send/receive proficiency in the International Morse Code was never a "bar to entry."

It was (and still should be) our *idiot* filter.

--K2NE

Actually, the code probably wasn't very good at being an idiot filter. But what it did was weed out the merely curious. "Back in the day" getting a ham license required real work regardless of how good you were with "the theory."

I've seen Ph.D. physicists not make it through the "code barrier" that were published in the field (E&M, Prppagation, etc.).
[of course, I've also known Ph.D. physicists that couldn't dress with colors coordinated etc etc - yes, Sheldon is an archetype, but they *are* "out there"!!]

Morse is not a bar to entry any longer, though still worth doing.
Worst case, you can (of course) do it in software.

I figured there would have had to be software encoders/decoders out there.

Knowing how my brain is wired, I could probably absorb Morse code simply by watching the decoder operate while listening.

Learning Morse Code is absurdly easy.... IF you are a musician!

Ok, explain that please. I am a musician. Is there a trick to feeling a rhythm of some sort to understand code?

Nov 21 2013 8:43am from IGnatius T Foobar @uncnsrd (Uncensored)
Ok, explain that please. I am a musician. Is there a trick to feeling

a rhythm of some sort to understand code?

Absolutely. The code (as a musician) is *all* about rhythm.

Take "L" for example.
di DAH di dit.
To the rhythm of promouncing the word "fraternity."
Try it.
fra TER ni ty
di DAH di dit

...and so on.

Heh... one always associates 'fraternity' with the letter L. I mean, look at the word! Roll it around on your tongue. It just screams 'L'.

And 'plethora' screams the letter 'S'.

And 'Torus' is obviously 'N'.

...

Actually, I don't think those words are really doing it for me.

(Although, it's amusing to think that Carol of the Bells does a pretty good job of representing the letter 'B').

Well, I'm glad the idiot filter is gone. Us idiots have been scheming for decades on how to infiltrate and destroy amateur radio. It took a protracted effort from our plant Bruce Berens to make it happen, but it was worth it.