Sun Coast Amateur
Radio Club Society - links

7300digital

IC-7300 Settings and Windows Driver

Radio Settings for Digital Modes

This page describes how to adjust the settings on the IC-7300 to use digital modes like FT8, JS8, or Winlink. To make it convenient to switch between digital and voice, we use an SD Card to save the settings and load them up when needed.

So before doing anything, let's backup the current settings in case something goes wrong:

Insert an SD Card in the radio.
Go to MENU → SD Card
The first time, Format the card. This will erase everything on the card.
Press Save Setting → New File → Pick a file name.

Later on, these settings can be applied using the Load Setting option.

Connector Settings

Now that the settings are backed up, lets tweak a few things.

VA7FI has the following settings on his radio. The settings in light grey are there for reference only and can be different, but the settings in black should probably match.

	Digital	Voice
`MENU` → `SET` → `Connectors`:
ACC/USB Output Select	AF
ACC/USB AF Output Level	40%	50%
ACC/USB AF SQL	OFF (Open)
ACC/USB AF Beep Speech... Output	OFF
ACC/USB IF Output level	50%
ACC MOD Level	50%
USB MOD Level	35%‒40%¹⁾	50%
DATA OFF MOD	MIC/ACC
DATA MOD	USB
`MENU` → `SET` → `Connectors` → `CI-V`:
CI-V Baud Rate	Auto
CI-V Address	Note it	N/A
CI-V Transceive	ON
CI-V USB→Remote Tx Address	N/A
CI-V Output (for ANT)	OFF
CI-V USB Port	Link to [REMOTE]
`MENU` → `SET` → `Connectors`:
USB Serial Function	CI-V
`MENU` → `SET` → `Connectors` → `USB SEND Keying`:
USB SEND	RTS	OFF
USB Keying (CW)	OFF
USB Keying (RTTY)	OFF
Inhibit Timer at USB Connection	ON

Filter Settings

Next, we adjust the filter width:

Press the FIL1 (or FIL2 or FIL3) button at the top of the screen (above the frequency) and select FIL1.
Press and hold FIL1 (yes, the same button as before).
Press the BW button and turn the VFO knob until it says “3.6k”
Then turn the inner and outer TWIN PBT knobs (top left) to adjust the boundaries to 600 and 2600 (even though the picture shows 650 and 3400).²⁾
Optionally, press FIL1 again to also customize FIL2 and FIL3 in the same fashion.
When done, press the MENU button and select the screen you usually like to see (SCOPE, METER, etc)

Digital and Voice settings

Let's now set settings that will be specific to the voice and digital modes.

Start by adjusting all the settings in the Voice column:

Mode	Digital	Voice
Defaut Frequency	7.078.00 USB-D	3.729.00 LSB
`MUTI` (select and turn the knob)
RF POWER	30%	100%
MIC GAIN	40%
COMP	N/A	ON 4
MONITOR	ON 12%	OFF 12%
`FUNCTION`
P.AMP ATT	OFF
AGC	OFF	MID
NOTCH	OFF
NB	OFF	Depends
NR	OFF	Depends
IP+	OFF
VOX	OFF
COMP	N/A	ON
1/4	OFF	WIDE
MONI	ON	OFF

Now save the settings to the SD Card and call the file 1Voice

Before we set the digital settings, move on to the next section and come back here after.

ACG Adjustments

For digital modes, we don't want any ACG:

Pick a clear frequency.
Press FUNCTION button.
Press and hold the AGC button.
Select the FAST button and turn the VFO knob until it reads OFF.
Optionally, set the MID to 0.3s and the SLOW to 2.0s.
Press MENU and select SCOPE, or METER, or ...

Now that the ACG is set, go back to the previous section and apply the settings in the Digital column. When complete, save to the SD card under the name 2Digital.

Loading Settings

To load the settings: MENU → SET → SD Card → Load Setting → 1Voice or 2Digital → ALL → YES and restart.

IC-7300 Windows Driver

Before connecting the radio the computer, the driver needs to be installed:

Search for “ic-7300” on the Icom website
Download the latest USB Driver
- Click on the link in the Model Name column
- Scroll down to the bottom of the next page
- Check the I have read box and Download
This should have downloaded a file named CD-301501-00x.zip
Unzip it (Extract) and run CD-301501-004\Driver\Win10\CP210xVCPInstaller_x64.exe

Your computer may request to reboot (or not). Once done, you should see the following in your Device Manager:

References

¹⁾

Change the USB MOD Level to adjust the ALC, which should be about 2/3 in the red when transmitting.

²⁾

The filter boundaries can be tweaked anytime on the fly to filter out unwanted signals at the edge of the band. This is useful if say you've got strong RTTY signals activating your AGC, thus reducing the strength of the signals you're interested in.

aprs

APRS

APRS is a two-way tactical real-time digital communications system between all assets in a network sharing information about everything going on in the local area. On ham radio, this means if something is happening now, or there is information that could be valuable to you, then it should show up on your APRS radio in your mobile.

Basically, the way it works is:

Your APRS capable radio transmits data on 144.39 Mhz (in North America).
Someone else's APRS capable radio hears that data and can display it, store it, and re-transmit it to extend the range of the network.

APRS-IS

APRS-IS is the common name given to the Internet-based network which inter-connects various APRS radio networks throughout the world.

Basically, the way it works is:

Your APRS capable radio connected to a computer and sends what it hears to the internet (this configuration is called an IGate).
Others can view this information online or using various apps. For example, see aprs.fi and APRSdroid ³⁾

Popular APRS Radios

: Please add a list of radios that can do APRS on their own.

Windows

Pinpoint is a Windows program for APRS.

Configuration

To use with Signalink, see the Signalink How-to.

Once the radio, the Signalink, and the Soundmodem are configured, start PinPoint and change these settings:

Note:

Network Kiss Port (8100) in the PinPoint settings needed to be changed to match the SoundModem settings.
Also, the Serial TNC Settings don't matter since they are not being used by Network Kiss.

SSID

You'll sometimes see a dash number after the callsign, this is called an SSID and they have different meaning depending on whether you're on APRS or Winlink. See the SSID How-To for more info.

³⁾

Note that APRSdroid is free of charge when downloaded from the developer's website, but costs $5 when installed from Google Play.

band_plan_with_swr

Band Plan With SWR

This python script does two things:

It reads all .asd output files from the Rig Expert that are placed in the same folder as this script and calculates the VSWR as a function of the frequency.
It recreates the band plan for all bands from 2200m to 70cm and adds VSWR graphs on top of it.

The HF band plan information was taken from
https://www.rac.ca/operating/bandplans/

The VHF and UHF band plan information is for British-Columbia and was taken from https://bcarcc.org/

Here's the output of my G5RV and GP9 so far:

The top of the band plan graph corresponds to SWR = 1:1, where the first dotted horizontal line is.
For HF, I also added a horizontal line at SWR = 3:1, which is where my internal tuner can reach.
And the top of the graph is at SWR = 10:1, which is where most external tuners can reach.
The red graph is the SWR curve. If it's not showing, it's because it's above 10:1

band_scope

Band Scope

In the Modulation section of the (still under construction) Ham Basics page, I show this screen capture of my IC-7300 to illustrate the difference between AM and Single Side Band signals:

This shows:

The radio is tuned to 3.880 MHz (in AM mode) but there's no signal at that frequency.
5 kHz higher (at 3.885 Mhz), there's an AM signal. There's a clear carrier right at 3.885 MHz and two symmetrical side bands on each side.
5 kHz lower (at 3.875 Mhz), there's an LSB signal. All the energy of the signal is on the lower side of 3.875 MHz (where the carrier would be if it was an AM signal). That is, only the lower side band is present.

One thing I always found a bit annoying about the IC-7300 is that when in Single Side Band mode, the display shifts the frequency a bit so that the centre of the signal is shown at the display frequency. Here's an example of an LSB signal on the Aurora Net on 7.100 MHz:

Note that even though it's an LSB signal, the centre of the signal is at 7.100 MHz. I don't like this for two reasons:

That's not really what's going on. There's no EM energy at 7.100 MHz. It's all distributed in the lower 3 kHz.
This way of displaying the signal doesn't make it obvious that this is a lower side band transmission (as opposed to an upper side band signal for example).

Instead, I'd like the display to show this:

As it turns out, there's an easy (but a bit hidden) way to switch this setting:

Press and hold the EXPD/SET button on the screen.
Go in the CENTER Type Display menu and
Select the Carrier Point Center option.

I got clued in that this was an option watching this excellent video that explains how to identify various signals by looking at the band scope:

baofeng

Programming the Baofeng UV-5R

To Download and Install

Notes about the driver

Before you first connect the radio to the computer, make sure it's set to an unused simplex frequency. Normally, the radio should not transmit while connected to the computer, but if the computer driver is too recent, the radio might go a little rogue and transmit. If that happens, simply turn off the radio and disconnect it from the cable. And check the driver version, which should be v3.2.0.0 NOT more recent. Even if you install the right version, Windows might upgrade it without you noticing at a later point. If this is the case, here's how to backdate the driver:

Plug in the USB cable (without the radio connected).
Search for “Device Manager”
Scroll to Ports (COM & LPT)
Open “Prolific USB-to-Serial Comms Port (COM3)”¹⁾
Go to “Driver” tab.
Driver version needs to be 3.2.0.0
If driver is more recent:
- “Uninstall Device”
- Check “Delete the driver software for this device”
- Run “Win_Driver_Prolific_3_2_0_0.exe” file to install proper driver (see links at the top of this page).
- Unplug and replug cable.
- Verify Driver version.

Using CHIRP

See this page for more details.

¹⁾

The COM port number might be different on your computer.

bc_forest_service

The BC Forest Service Radio Communication Network

The radioreference.com site lists the BC Forest Fire Frequencies with very little explanation.

Fortunately, the BC Provincial Natural Resource page links to the Radio Communication Field Handbook: a 56-page pdf that includes pretty much everything about the system.

The Network comprises of:

331 mountain top repeater sites arranged into district systems
100 base stations
6 regional fire centres (each with multiple dispatch stations)

The information on pages 40-41, and 45 is summarized here:

Repeaters (require a district tone)

Frequency	Offset	Description	Mode	Label	Tone [Hz]
163.935	-0.870	RED (RD)	FMN	T1	114.8
163.965	-0.870	PURPLE (PU)	FMN	T2	123.0
163.995	-0.870	GREEN (GN)	FMN	T3	131.8
164.055	-0.870	PINK (PK)	FMN	T4	141.3
164.085	-0.870	BLUE (BL)	FMN	T5⁴⁾	151.4
164.145	-0.870	ORANGE (OR)	FMN	T6	162.2
164.175	-0.870	BROWN (BR)	FMN	T7	173.8
164.205	-0.870	YELLOW (YL)	FMN	T8	186.2
164.235	-0.870	GREY (GY)	FMN	T9	192.8
164.265	-0.870	BLACK (BK)	FMN
162.585	+0.945	WHITE (WH)	FMN
164.115	-0.870	MAROON (MG)	FMN
166.335	-1.500	LIME (LM)	FMN
159.465	-4.500	NAVY (NV)	FMN
167.670	-4.740	Fire A1	FMN
166.710	-4.020	Fire A2	FMN
168.885	-4.980	Fire A3	FMN

Simplex (no tone)

Frequency	Description	Mode
163.830	GOLD	FMN
163.890	SILVER	FMN
164.910	COPPER	FMN
159.270	NICKEL	FMN
163.980	BRONZE	FMN
169.950	FIRE B1	FMN
171.030	FIRE B2	FMN
172.050	FIRE B3	FMN
155.460	Fire Com	FMN

Air - Ground Frequencies

Frequency	Description	Mode
122.050	1 Project Fires – Rotary	AM
122.400	2 Project Fires – Rotary	AM
122.850	3 Project Fires – Rotary	AM
122.900	4 Project Fires – Rotary	AM

Resource Road and Highway Channels

It's also probably worth mentioning that the Resource Road and Highway Channels are explained on pp. 18‒21 of the Handbook but the frequencies are not listed there. BC Resource Road Radio Channel Maps can also be found on the government website.

Freq	Tag	Mode	Freq	Tag	Mode
150.080	RR-01	FMN	150.830	RR-20	FMN
150.110	RR-02	FMN	151.010	RR-21	FMN
150.140	RR-03	FMN	151.130	RR-22	FMN
150.185	RR-04	FMN	151.190	RR-23	FMN
150.200	RR-05	FMN	151.220	RR-24	FMN
150.245	RR-06	FMN	151.310	RR-25	FMN
150.260	RR-07	FMN	151.340	RR-26	FMN
150.320	RR-08	FMN	151.370	RR-27	FMN
150.365	RR-09	FMN	151.430	RR-28	FMN
150.410	RR-10	FMN	151.460	RR-29	FMN
150.440	RR-11	FMN	151.490	RR-30	FMN
150.500	RR-12	FMN	151.520	RR-31	FMN
150.530	RR-13	FMN	151.580	RR-32	FMN
150.545	RR-14	FMN	151.610	RR-33	FMN
150.560	RR-15	FMN	151.640	RR-34	FMN
150.590	RR-16	FMN	151.670	RR-35	FMN
150.680	RR-17	FMN
150.710	RR-18	FMN
150.770	RR-19	FMN

⁴⁾

We're in T5

bchydrorfi

BC Hydro RFI

A while back Devan (VE7LSE) from Nanaimo mentioned this page to get in touch with BC hydro to report RFI from their power distribution system. Apparently, RFI is something BC Hydro wants to know about because it's often a symptom of faulty equipment that cost them power losses (and therefore $$).

QRZNow published an article about the MFJ-5008, an ultrasonic receiver with parabolic dish that's “tuned to the ultrasonic range of 40 KHz allowing you to hear the ultrasonic noise generated by the corona discharge and arcing connections that generate the power line static on your radio.” If anyone gets one, please report back on its efficacy.

This ARRL Power-Line Noise FAQ is also really informative.

best_ham_radios_to_buy_when_starting_out

Best Ham Radios To Buy When Starting Out

I just finished watching this video that I saw on QRZ Now and it gives some very good advice for hams who are just starting out with the hobby. Unfortunately, the video is very slow... It's over an hour and a half long and the intro itself is 10 minutes long.

I watched it at double speed and here's a summary of the good bits with a Time stamp at the beginning of each section. Before we dive in, a warning:

This is not a complete list of what's out there. There are many other fine radios on the new and used market. Before making a decision on any radio, it's important to be as clear as possible about your interests and needs:

What will the radio be used for?
Do you need high end features or not?
What can you afford to spend?

Also, used radios are like used cars. They can be great to buy (or not!) depending on condition and price. Seek the advice of experienced amateurs but remember that everyone will offer you their unique perspective. Ford, Chrystler, and Chevrolet are still in business, so are Yeasu, Icom, Kenwood, Flex, Alinco, and Elecraft.

VHF/UHF Handy Talkies (HT)

Editor's note:

HTs are fine if you happen to live near the local repeater you plan on using, but their range is very limited and a lot of people end up disappointed with them.
The best thing you can do to increase your range is to improve your antenna (quality and height). A $1000 radio with a bad antenna will be worse than a $50 radio with a very good antenna.
That being said...

Baofengs

13:42

Baofeng radios are fine, but you get what you pay for. Think of them as disposable radios. They might work fine for years, or months.
There's a lot of different models, but they're all pretty similar.
DMR Baofeng radios are not great.
Even as a scanner, Baofengs are really slow.

Next Step Up

16:52

Yaesu FT4x and derivatives
Wouxun KG-UV8D, KG-UV9D (full duplex)

Better Analog HTs

19:28

Yaesu FT-60
Alinco DJ-VX50T (IP67 rated)

Used:

Yaesu VX-3
Yaesu XV-8R
Kenwood TH-F6

Digital HTs

21:25

DRM
- Anytone 878
Yaesu System Fusion/WIRES-X
- FT-70
- FT3DR
D-STAR
- ICOM ID-52 (coming out soon)

Used:

ICOM ID-51

Satellite

28:55

For satellite work you need a radio capable of talking on one band and listening on the other at the same time (full duplex).

Kenwood D-72
Wouxun KG-UV9D

Mobile Radios

31:05

Editor's note:

On the disposable side, I would personally recommend a QYT KT8900. Think of it as the mobile equivalent of a Baofeng radio. It'll perform better than a HT because of the external antenna and the higher power output, but it's still a cheap radio.
That being said, it's much better than a HT, and much better than no radio at all! I personally have three of these that I use as secondary radios (one in the shop, one in the car, and one in the work truck). My main radio is a good quality ICOM ID-5100.
As for antennas, these are very good VHF/UHF antennas: GP3, GP6, GP9

Good starter radios:

ICOM IC-2730
Kenwood TM-V71A
TYT 9700 (Yaesu 8900 Clone)

Used:

Yaesu FTM-100

VHF/UHF Base Station

36:00

Most people use a mobile radio as a VHF/UHF base station, but if you want to be able to use SSB in addition to FM, then you are entering a more niche space and the options are limited (and more expensive):

ICOM IC-9700 (VHF/UHF for between $2200 and $2500)
ICOM IC-7100 (HF/VHF/UHF for between $1300 and $1500)
Yaesu 991A (HF/VHF/UHF for between $1750 and $1900)

Used:

ICOM IC-7000
ICOM IC-746MKIIG

HF

39:25

Things to consider when comparing radios:

Power: Don't start with a QRP (low power) radio. Your first HF radio should be the standard 100 W.
Internal tuner or not: for HF, you need some sort of antenna tuner. Most internal radio tuners are capable of tuning up to a 3:1 SWR mis-match, which is fine if you're using a well tuned antenna. And most external antenna tuners are capable of tuning up to a 10:1 SWR mis-match. Some radio include an internal tuner, others don't.

The list

ICOM IC-7300
- Hands down the best bang for the buck.
- Simple to use but also has some very complex settings for experienced users.
- Very easy to hook up to a computer for digital work.
- Internal tuner.
- Very popular: which means you'll find a lot of people to help you with it and share tricks.

Alternatives:

Yaesu FT-991A
- Also does VHF/UHF
- Internal tuner
- Not as good as 7300 for HF
Yaesu FT-891
- Good for mobile/portable use
- Complicated menu system
- No internal tuner
ICOM IC-7100
- Also does VHF/UHF
- No internal tuner
ICOM IC-718
- Cheapest HF radio
- No internal tuner
Alinco DX-SR8T
- Bare bones
Xiegu G90
- Only 20 W
- Cheap(er)
- 10:1 tuner

QRP (Low Power)

54:40

QRP is fun but not as a first radio. It's an added constraint for people who like to challenge themselves (like hike up a mountain, set up a portable radio, and see how far you can talk).

Editor's note: The video goes into specific models which I didn't include here since they're not really for beginner hams. Check the video if you're interested.

Used HF Radios

59:15

ICOM IC-7200
ICOM IC-7000
ICOM IC-706MKIIG
Yaesu FT-450
Yaesu FT-897
Yaesu FTDX-1200

Radio Sites

1:07:30

Editor's note:

I skipped a few links of US stores, but see this list for popular sites.
Also, for reviews, google the model of the radio with the term: eham.net. For example:
IC 7200 eham.net will lead you here.

chirp

CHIRP

CHIRP is a free, open-source tool for programming frequencies and settings into your amateur radio. It supports a large number of make and models.

It is really easy to use and makes it extremely simple to copy frequencies between different radios (of different makes). Not all radios are supported by CHIRP however, so it's a good idea to make sure CHIRP can program a specific radio before buying it.

See the Radio Programming page to download VA7FI's Chirp list.

Windows Baofeng Drivers

Baofeng radios can be a bit tricky to program with CHRIP the first time around because of the Windows Driver. If you're trying to use CHIRP on Windows with a Baofeng radio, see this page first.

Basics

Now that the appropriate drivers are installed:

Connect your radio to your computer and open CHIRP.
Under Radio, select Download From Radio:
Select the right Port (which is probably wrong by default), Vendor and Model and press ok. It's good to download what's already on your radio even if you don't have anything because in addition to frequencies, it also downloads settings specific to your radio.
Before you go and program frequencies, have a look at the Settings to see if you can configure anything there. See below for screenshots of VA7FI's Baofeng settings:
To enter frequencies, you can either type them manually, or copy and paste from another CHIRP file. Never upload someone else's CHIRP file directly though because the radios might have different firmware that can cause issues. It's pretty easy to open a second CHIRP file in a second tab, and copy and paste the frequencies you want into your tab. See VA7FI's CHIRP files for example.

Baofeng Settings

Basic Settings
Carrier Squelch Level	3
Battery Saver:	1:2
Backlight Timeout:	3
Beep:	Not Enabled
Timeout Timer:	600 sec
Display Mode (A):	Frequency
Display Mode (B):	Name
Standby LED Color:	Orange
RX LED Color:	Purple
TX LED Color:	Orange
Roger Beep:	Not Enabled⁵⁾

Advanced Settings
Vox Sensitivity:	OFF
Dual Watch:	Enabled
Dual Watch TX Priority	A
Alarm Mode:	Site
Voice:	Off
Scan Resume:	CO
Busy Channel Lockout:	Not Enabled
Automatic Key Lock:	Not Enabled
Broadcast FM Radio:	Enabled
Squelch Tail Eliminate (HT to HT)	Enabled
Squelch Tail Eliminate (repeater)	5
STE Repeater Delay:	Not Enabled
All Menus:	Enabled

Other Settings
6+Power-On Message 1:	(Left as default)
6+Power-On Message 2:	(Left as default)
Power-On Message 1:	VA7FI
Power-On Message 2:	(empty)
Power-On Message:	Message
VHF Lower Limit (MHz)	130
VHF Upper Limit (MHz)	176
VHF TX Enabled:	Enabled
UHF Lower Limit (MHz)	400
UHF Upper Limit (MHz)	520
UHF TX Enabled:	Enabled

Work Mode Settings
Display:	A
VFO/MR Mode:	Frequency
Keypad Lock:	Not Enabled
MR A Channel:	2
MR B Channel:	2
VFO A Frequency:	146.565
VFO B Frequency:	446.100
VFO A Shift:	Off
VFO B Shift:	Off
VFO A Offset:	0.6
VFO B Offset:	5.0
VFO A Power:	High
VFO B Power:	High
VFO A Bandwidth:	Wide
VFO B Bandwidth:	Wide
VFO A PTT-ID:	1
VFO B PTT-ID:	1
VFO A Tuning Step:	5.0
VFO B Tuning Step:	5.0

Service Settings
VHF Squech 0:	0
VHF Squech 1:	12
VHF Squech 2:	24
VHF Squech 3:	36
VHF Squech 4:	48
VHF Squech 5:	60
VHF Squech 6:	72
VHF Squech 7:	84
VHF Squech 8:	96
VHF Squech 9:	108
Same for UHF

Chirp with Ubuntu

I have successfully installed Chirp-Next on Linux Mint without any issues following these instructions.
And then added my username to the dialout user to be able to write to the radio:
```
sudo usermod -aG dialout YOURUSERNAME
```

⁵⁾

Please, Please, Please, do not enable the roger beep

conceptual_electronics_videos

Conceptual Electronics Videos

This series of 24 videos manages to start from scratch and work its way up to Electromagnetism pretty much without math. One thing they could have improved though is the labelling. So while you watch the videos, keep in mind that:

Red particles are positive charges
Blue particles are negative charges
Purple arrows are electric fields
Green arrows are magnetic fields.

I would probably also skip the second video, which I found a bit long and abstract. Here's a quick summary of it:

[4:00] Magnetic fields exerts a force on moving charged particles because a moving charged particle creates curly magnetic field around it (Ampere's Law) so the particle behaves like a magnet. This is the principle behind old Cathode Ray Tube TVs: send electrons flying toward a screen that can image them, and adjust their deflection using a magnetic field.
[4:16] A charged particle moving in a loop creates a magnetic field (Ampere's Law) which is the same for a spinning electric charge, which is the what permanent magnets are made of. Notice how the magnetic field lines form closed loops (Gauss' Law of Magnetism).
[5:20] Magnetic fields can be created by a current through a wire (first part of Ampere's Law), which is how electric motors function.
[7:08] Electric fields can be created by a magnetic field which is changing in time (Faraday's Law of Induction), which is how alternators function.
[10:15] Magnetic fields can also be created by a changing electric field (second part of ampere's law). Together with the other three laws, these can lead to a feedback loop where a changing magnetic field creates a changing electric field, which creates a changing magnetic field, and so on. This is how electromagnetic waves are created.

In mathematical terms, there are four equations (known as Maxwell's Equations) that explain all the electromagnetic phenomena we observe:

Name	Math	Description
Gauss' Law	\$$\vec{\nabla} \cdot \vec{E} = \frac{\rho}{\varepsilon_0}\$$	An electric charge, \$\rho\$, creates an electric field, \$\vec{E}\$, that points away from the charge and “disperses” to infinity
Gauss' Law of Magnetism	\$$\vec{\nabla} \cdot \vec{B} = 0\$$	A magnetic field, \$\vec{B}\$, can not “disperse” to infinity the way an electric field can. Instead, magnetic field lines loop onto themselves. In other words: “magnetic charges” don't exist the way electric charges do.
Faraday's Law of Induction	\$$\vec{\nabla} \times \vec{E} = -\frac{\partial \vec{B}}{\partial t}\$$	A changing magnetic field, \$\vec{B}\$, creates a “curly” electric field, \$\vec{E}\$ and vice-versa.
Ampere's Law	\$$\vec{\nabla} \times \vec{B} = \mu_0 \Big(\vec{J} + \varepsilon_0 \frac{\partial \vec{E}}{\partial t} \Big)\$$	An electric current, \$\vec{J}\$, and/or a changing electric field, \$\vec{E}\$, creates a “curly” magnetic field, \$\vec{B}\$

contestspreadsheets

Contest Spreadsheets

Here are some LibreOffice spreadsheets for different contests:

These spreadsheets do not work with Excel. See below for more information on how to use them.

Contest	Date	File	Lasted Updated on
Winter Field Day	1900Z, Jan 27 to 1900Z, Jan 28, 2023	winter_fieldday_v20240106.ods	Jan 6, 2024
ARRL Field Day	1800Z, Jun 22 to 2100Z, Jun 23, 2024	fieldday_v20240614.ods	June 14, 2024
RAC Canada Day	0000Z to 2359Z, July 1st, 2024	rac_contests_v20240616.ods	June 14, 2024
RAC Winter Contest	0000Z to 2359Z, Dec 30, 2023	rac_contests_v20230128.ods	Jan 28, 2023

All spreadsheets are used in very similar ways, but they are different to account for the different rules and ways to calculate the points.
Most of the introduction below uses RAC's contest as an example but the same ideas apply to the other contests.

RAC Canada Day / Winter Contests

Everything you need to know about the RAC Canada Day or Winter Day contest is located on the RAC website. It can be a bit overwhelming to digest for first-time contesters, so here's an overview.

Logs

During the contest, the following information must be logged for each station:

Frequency in kHz (for example, 14.125 MHz should be entered as 14125)
Mode (CW or PH)
Date and Time in UTC (for example 2020-07-01 and 0135)
Callsign
Signal Report (for example 59 on phone or 599 on CW)
Exchange (Two letter province code for Canadian Stations, or the serial number for other stations).

At the end of the contest, logs must be submitted to RAC. They will accept paper logs for submissions with less than 100 entries, but they really prefer electronic logs, which must be submitted in the Cabrillo format.

A Cabrillo file is really just plain text file formatted in a very specific way. For example, here's a copy of my Cabrillo file from last summer (with only a few entries as example):

Click to Show Cabrillo Example

Click to Hide Cabrillo Example

START-OF-LOG: 3.0
CREATED-BY: RAC_Contests.ods v2020.07.04 by VA7FI
CALLSIGN: VA7FI
LOCATION: BC
CONTEST: RAC CANADA DAY
CATEGORY-OPERATOR: SINGLE-OP
CATEGORY-BAND: ALL
CATEGORY-MODE: SSB
CATEGORY-POWER: LOW
CATEGORY-TRANSMITTER: UNLIMITED
CLAIMED-SCORE: 11564
CLUB: Sun Coast Amateur Radio Club Society
NAME: Patrick Truchon
ADDRESS: REDACTED
ADDRESS-CITY: Roberts Creek
ADDRESS-STATE-PROVINCE: British Columbia
ADDRESS-POSTALCODE: V0N 2W1
ADDRESS-COUNTRY: Canada
EMAIL: va7fi@rbox.me
OPERATORS: @VA7FI
SOAPBOX: First Canada Day contest on my own. Lots of fun!
QSO: 14186 PH 2020-07-01 0008 VA7FI          59 BC      VE3PJ          59 ON
QSO: 14198 PH 2020-07-01 0012 VA7FI          59 BC      WB0TEV         59 14
QSO:146520 PH 2020-07-01 0112 VA7FI          59 BC      VE7DX          59 BC
QSO: 14211 PH 2020-07-01 0139 VA7FI          59 BC      N8OO           59 201
QSO: 14152 PH 2020-07-01 0148 VA7FI          59 BC      VE2CJR         59 QC
QSO: 14165 PH 2020-07-01 0159 VA7FI          59 BC      VE6RAC         59 AB
END-OF-LOG:

The first 21 lines give RAC all the information they need about the operator. The other lines show the contacts made, ending with an END-OF-LOG tag. For more information about the Cabrillo format, see this RAC pdf, or the WWROF website.

Regular contesters use logging programs which can generate these files while providing features that facilitate the logging process during the contest. Many people have recommended N1MM as being the best one. RAC also has its own Microsoft Windows contest program for its own contests. This is what the spreadsheet looks like:

The steps are to:

Fill out the Preamble sheet.
Log the contacts in the Log sheet.
Export to Cabrillo using the button on the Preamble sheet.

Here are a few introductory videos I made to explain how to use the spreadsheet, which should also work with the RAC Winter Contest in December.

The first video shows where to download LibreOffice, and how to set the Security settings to allow LibreOffice to run macros:
Tools → Options... → LibreOffice → Security → Macro Security → Medium

The second video shows how to use the spreadsheet during the contest, and how to export the Cabrillo file after.

The third video shows a bit of the hidden formulas and the script that generates the Cabrillo file. It's like looking under the hood of the car: it's not needed to drive it, and it doesn't really explain how to build a car either. But some might find it interesting.

Here's a copy of the code that generates the Cabrillo file:

Click to Show VB Script

Click to Hide VB Script

REM  *****  BASIC  *****
 
sub cabrillo
 
'Get directory path from spreadsheet location. This will be used to create  ./MyCallsign.log
Dim path as String
   GlobalScope.BasicLibraries.loadLibrary("Tools")
   path = Tools.Strings.DirectoryNameoutofPath(ThisComponent.url, "/") & "/"
 
'Define document and sheets
   dim Doc as object
   Doc = ThisComponent
   Sheet1 = Doc.Sheets.getByName("Preamble")
   Sheet2 = Doc.Sheets.getByName("Log")
 
'General Note: for getCellByPosition(x,y)     (0,0) = A1,  (1,0) = B1,  (0,1) = A2,  ...

'Create Cabrillo file named "MyCallsign.log"
   MyCallsign = UCase(Sheet1.getCellByPosition(1, 2).String)      'Operator's callsign
   if MyCallsign = "" then                                        'File needs a filename
      MyCallsign = "NoCallsign"
   endif
   filename = path & MyCallsign & ".log"
 
'Open MyCallsign.log and get ready to write to it
   num = FreeFile()
   open filename for output as #num 
 
'Read "Preamble" sheet and create preamble of Cabrillo File
   for i = 0 to 1         ' read first 2 rows as is.
      print #num, Sheet1.getCellByPosition(0, i).String & " " & Sheet1.getCellByPosition(1, i).String
   next
 
  ' Row 3 needs to be upper case.
   print #num, Sheet1.getCellByPosition(0, 2).String & " " & UCase(Sheet1.getCellByPosition(1, 2).String)
 
   for i = 3 to 19         ' read the the rest up to row 20 as is.
      print #num, Sheet1.getCellByPosition(0, i).String & " " & Sheet1.getCellByPosition(1, i).String
   next
 
   ' Row 21 needs "@" before the callsign
   print #num, Sheet1.getCellByPosition(0, 20).String & " @" & UCase(Sheet1.getCellByPosition(1, 20).String)
 
   Soapbox = Sheet1.getCellByPosition(1, 21).String
   if Len(Soapbox) > 70 then
      truncated = "y"
      Soapbox = Left(Soapbox, 70)
      Msgbox("SOAPBOX message can have at most 70 characters. It was truncated to:" & Chr(10) & Chr(10) & "'" & Soapbox & "'", 48)
   endif
 
   print #num, Sheet1.getCellByPosition(0, 21).String & " " & Soapbox
 
'Formatting Example.  Comment out once finished
'    print #num, "00000000011111111112222222222333333333344444444445555555555666666666677777777778"
'    print #num, "12345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890"
'    print #num, "QSO:  1825 CW 2003-07-01 1044 VA1ABC        599 ON      VE4EAR        599 MB"
'    print #num, "QSO:  3510 CW 2003-07-01 1044 VA1AB         599 ON      K4BAI         599 103"
'    print #num, "QSO:  7155 PH 2003-07-01 1044 VE3KZ         599 ON      K5MM          599 005"
'    print #num, "QSO: 14205 PH 2003-07-01 1044 VE3KZ         599 ON      K4LTA         599 10"
'    print #num, "QSO: 21350 CW 2003-07-01 1044 VE3KZ         599 ON      K1EA          599 55"
'    print #num, "QSO: 28375 PH 2003-07-01 1050 VE3KZ          59 ON      VE5SF          59 SK"
'    print #num, "QSO: 50125 PH 2003-07-01 1055 VE3KZ          59 ON      VE3EJ          59 ON"
'    print #num, "QSO:146520 PH 2003-07-01 1055 VE3KZ          59 ON      VE3CZ          59 ON"

 
   MyCallsign = MyCallsign & space(14 - Len(MyCallsign))   'pad MyCallsign to make it 14 characters long.

   MyProvince = Sheet1.getCellByPosition(1, 3).String      'my province   
   MyProvince = MyProvince & space(7 - Len(MyProvince))    'pad MyProvince to 7 characters
 
   ContestDate = Sheet1.getCellByPosition(1, 22).String    'contest date

'read "Log" Sheet starting at third row.
   i = 2                                                   'first row is i = 0 so third row is i = 2
   UTC = "anything"                                        'initial non-empty condition for knowing when to stop loop
   while UTC <> ""                                         'while the time emtry is not empty, process each row
      Freq = Sheet2.getCellByPosition(0, i).String         'frequency in column A (x = 0)
      Freq = Format(Freq, "0")                             'round to the nearest integer
      Freq = space(6 - Len(Freq)) & Freq                   'pad frequency to 6 digits

      UTC = Sheet2.getCellByPosition(1, i).String          'time in column B (x = 1). Also used to stop loop.

      Callsign = Sheet2.getCellByPosition(2, i).String     'callsign in column C (x = 2)
      Callsign = Callsign & space(13 - Len(Callsign))      'pad Callsign to 13 characters

      RST = Sheet2.getCellByPosition(3, i).String          'received Signal Report in column D (x = 3)
      RST = space(3 - Len(RST)) & RST                      'pad RST to 3 digits

      Exch = Sheet2.getCellByPosition(4, i).String         'received Exchange   in column E (x = 4)

      RSTGiven = Sheet2.getCellByPosition(5, i).String     'received Signal Report in column D (x = 3)
      RSTGiven = space(3 - Len(RSTGiven)) & RSTGiven       'pad RSTGiven to 3 digits

      Mode = Sheet2.getCellByPosition(6, i).String
 
      'create line to print from "Log" sheet variables.  The output should be something like this:
        'QSO:  1825 CW 2003-07-01 1044 VA1AB         599 ON      VE4EAR        599 MB
        'QSO: 14165 PH 2003-07-01 1044 VA1ABC         59 ON      K7AB           59 MB
        'QSO:146520 PH 2003-07-01 1044 VA1ABC         59 ON      VE4EA          59 MB
 
      logline = "QSO:"
      logline = logline & Freq & " "
      logline = logline & Mode & " "
      logline = logline & ContestDate & " "
      logline = logline & UTC & " "
      logline = logline & MyCallsign
      logline = logline & RSTGiven & " "
      logline = logline & MyProvince & " "
      logline = logline & Callsign & " "
      logline = logline & RST & " " 
      logline = logline & Exch
 
      print #num, Ucase(logline)                                 'print logline to text file

      i = i + 1                                           'Next row
      UTC = Sheet2.getCellByPosition(1, i).String         'Look ahead to next time entry to see if it's empty or not.

'       MsgBox(MyCallsign)
    wend
 
    print #num, "END-OF-LOG:"
 
    close #num
 
    msgbox ("Cabrillo log file has been created here:   " & Chr(10) & Chr(10) & filename)
 
 
 
end sub
 
 
sub License
 
' This spreadsheet and its script by Patrick Truchon <va7fi@rbox.me> is licensed under a
' Creative Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Unported License.
' <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>.
'
' You are free to:
'    * Run them for any purpose.
'    * Study and modify them.
'    * Copy them to help others.
'    * Improve them, and release the improvements to the public, so that
'      the whole community benefits.
'
' Provided that you:
'   * Attribute the work to me by linking to <https://scarcs.ca/links/contestspreadsheets>
'   * Distribute any derivative work under the same license.

end sub

Winter Field Day Contest

Everything you need to know about the Winter Field Day contest is here: https://www.winterfieldday.com

Logs

During the contest, the following information must be logged for each station:

Date and Time in UTC (for example 2023-01-28 and 1901)
Frequency in kHz (for example, 14.125 MHz should be entered as 14125)
Callsign
Class (ex. 1H: 1 operator at home, 2O: 2 operators outside, 3I: 3 operators inside, 4M: 4 operators mobile)
ARRL Location (ex. BC, AB, SF, ...)
Mode (CW, DG, or PH)

At the end of the contest, the Cabrillo file must be submitted online at www.winterfieldday.com

7300 Recorded Voice TX

The other thing I learned during the contest is how to record a short message on my IC-7300 and play it back on the air so I could save my voice a bit. The details are on Section 7 of the IC-7300 full manual:

I ended up recording three messages:

“CQ Canada Day Contest, this is VA7FI” (in phonetics)
“VA7FI” (in phonetics)
“Thank you, you are 59, BC”

To call CQ, I used the first message on a 7 second repeat loop. If someone answered, I could either press the button again to stop the loop, or use the PTT to jump in and acknowledge the station.

I used the second message to answer CQ calls during pile ups. All I'd have to do is press the button and hope I'd get an answer. This was great in the early morning when Justine was still in sleeping. With my headphones on, the whole thing was virtually silent.

I used the third message to give my exchange once I received the other station's exchange.

I still had to use the mic a bit depending on the situation, but these pre-recorded messages took care of a lot of the grunt work.

License

Both spreadsheets are licensed under Creative Commons By-Sa so you are free to:

Run it for any purpose.
Study and modify it.
Copy it to help others.
Improve it, and release the improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits.

Provided that you:

Attribute the work to me by linking to https://scarcs.ca/links/contestspreadsheets
Distribute any derivative work under the same license.

covid-19

Covid-19

This page uses a live Goggle sheet to track the Covid-19 numbers from the Canadian Government site. For those interested in looking under the hood, the original sheet is here, and the calculations are on the second tab.

Note that the numbers usually update around 4pm - 5pm PT, and BC doesn't update its numbers at all on weekends.

distracteddriving

BC Distracted Driving Law

Here's the latest⁶⁾ document regarding distracted driving law in BC, which includes the use of ham radio.

For us, the relevant section is Section 9:⁷⁾

9

Subject to section 6, a person may use a hand microphone while driving or operating a motor vehicle on a highway if

(a)

the device is within easy reach of the driver's seat, and

(b)

is securely fixed to the motor vehicle or worn securely on the person's body in a manner that does not obstruct the person's view of the front or sides of the motor vehicle or interfere with the safety or operating equipment of the motor vehicle.

RAC also has a summary of the law in different provinces.

⁶⁾

This consolidation is current to August 1, 2023.

⁷⁾

“hand microphone” is defined in section 3(2)

echolink

Echolink

Echolink is a program that allows phones and computers to connect to a repeater or simplex radio node, or two repeaters to connect to each other over the internet. The program can run in either Single-User (client) mode or Sysop (server) mode.

Single-User

The Single-User mode is what you need to use to connect your smartphone or computer to a repeater over the internet. It's very useful to check in to nets or connect with other hams when you're out of reach from the repeater.

The Windows program can be downloaded from the Echolink Download page
The Android app can be found on Google Play (Click here to see Android Settings that are known to work).
The iOS app can be found on the App Store

In addition to downloading the right software, you'll have to validate your callsign with EchoLink to prove that you are licensed. Also see the authentication page for more details.

Audio Levels

To adjust the Echolink levels on the app:

Select *ECHOTEST*
While the introduction is playing, adjust your phone volume so the level is comfortable: Loud enough, but not too loud that it's distorted.
Press TRANSMIT and record a short message and press the PTT again to end. Your message will replay.
Now compare your sound level to the level of the introduction earlier. If it's different (quieter or louder), click the three little dots on the top right corner, select Settings, and scroll down to Microphone Gain. Adjust higher or lower depending of the situation and retry. On my phone, I had to crank up the gain to +18 dB and my voice is still a little quiet so I know I have to speak a bit louder. Every device will be different, but keep in mind that how you hear yourself is how others will hear you.

Sysop

The Sysop mode is used to interface a radio (or repeater) to the echolink system via the internet. The VE7RXZ-R node consists of:

Yeasu FT-2500M radio ~~Kenwood TM-721A dualband radio~~
A 4-element 2m yagi antenna pointed towards VE7RXZ
SignaLink USB unit
Cevana MiniPC (64GB HD / 4GB Ram) Windows computer

The numbers on the white tape are the “o'clock” positions of the dial in case I bump them up, which I've done before.

Sound Configuration

Modem

For this setup, I had to tweak the network settings of my router to allow traffic to find the Echolink computer. See more here.

Windows 10

The first step is to configure the Signalink unit properly in Windows. At first, it'll probably show as a USB sound device, but I changed the name to “Signalink”, which is what you'll see in the screenshots here.

Right click on the speaker icon on the lower right corner and select “Sounds”
Under the “Playback” tab, I changed the name of the USB device to “Signalink”, set it as the default, and disabled all the other playback devices since this computer isn't used for anything else than Echolink.
- The levels should at 0.0dB
- There should be no Enhancements
- The audio quality can be at “FM Radio Quality”.
- There should be no Spatial Sounds
Similarly for the “Recording” tab
- Levels to 0.0 dB
- Format to 1 channel, 16 bit, 11025 Hz
In the “Sounds” tab, I selected “No Sound” otherwise, Windows sound would be transmitted on the air. Here, if you don't disable the other playback devices, you could simply ensure that the windows sound go to the speakers, but I wanted to keep things as simple as possible.

Echolink Program

Under “Tools” > “Setup...”, select the Signalink devices for the Input and Output devices and click the “Calibrate” button which will change the Fine Tuning number automatically.
Under “Tools” > “Sysop Settings...”, configure the RX Ctrl settings
A new setting for the TX Ctrl is the sub-audible tone. Without this, the Signalink will transmit only when it hears a voice signal, which is why it needs some delays otherwise it would click in and out at the end of every word. But the sub audible tone keeps the PTT on until the person stops transmitting, even when they pause. This allows the delay on the Signalink to be shortened considerably (more on that later).

Update: I've had to disable this because I think it might be causing interference to the tone used by the repeater. I found that the tone transmitted by Echolink is 77Hz but the tone our repeater is expecting is 100Hz so it seems our repeater is not able to decode the two mixed together.
I also disabled the DTMF so as to not conflict with the IRLP node. Users can still connect to Echolink on their phones and computers, but can't control it from their radio.
Finally, I disabled the disconnect announcement. I find that it's more useful to know when someone connects than when someone disconnects. And during a net when multiple people come and go, the announcements can be quite disrupting.

Radio and Signalink

This next part is trickier. We need to adjust the transmit and receive volumes of the rest of the equipment. To do this, we'll need:

Access to the Echolink radio and Signalink
A second radio to listen and transmit
A phone with the Echolink client app.

The first step will be to adjust the receive of the echolink system.

On your phone, make sure the volumes are adjusted properly. Go through the steps above again to make sure the audio is good (that'll be important for later).
Tune the Echolink radio to a quiet simplex frequency and connect your phone to the node.
Once the node identified, tune the Echolink radio to a busy frequency like one with a net for example. Don't worry, we won't be transmitting there (that's why we connected the phone to the node before tuning to that frequency).
You should now be hearing the conversations on your phone via Echolink.
Turn off the power of the Signalink (little red button) and roughly adjust the volume of the Echolink radio until you can hear the conversation at a good level. We'll fine tune this again later.
Now turn on the power of the Signalink again and adjust the RX dial until the volume is the same as when it was off. You might have to turn it on and off a few times until you find this spot. For me, it was in the 11 o'clock position.
You can now leave the Signalink turned on.
Adjust the volume of the radio until the volume through your phone is similar to that introduction when you tested the *ECHOTEST* on your phone. Also watch the meter on the Echolink computer to make sure that you're not over driven. Ideally, the level should be around 2/3 or so.
Also, when no-one is talking, the level should stay below the slider (which is like an audio squelch). Anytime the level exceeds this, there will be a beep on the phone and it'll be impossible for the user to use the TRANSMIT button. I found that using the computer for other tasks creates “noise” that can be heard on the phone.
Once the radio volume is set, make a note of it. Mine is in the 1 o'clock position.
We're done with this part but before we move on, tune the second radio to the net and adjust the volume to a comfortable level. This is simply to adjust the volume. We'll be comparing the echolink volume to this later.

First, adjust the Signalink delay. Ideally, we want as little delay as possible but some is needed.

Find a quiet simplex frequency and dial the Echolink and a second radio there (don't change the volume though).
Set the delay all the way down to the 7 o'clock position.
ID with your second radio saying something like: “VA7FI testing Echolink”
On your phone, press TRANSMIT but don't talk yet.
You should hear the Signalink PTT click on and off rapidly and hear it on the second radio. Slowly turn the delay up until the clicking stops and it stays on (then turn it up a notch further). For me, that was in the 9 o'clock position. You can now ID and stop transmitting.
Make a note of the Signalink delay.

The final step is to adjust the Signalink TX knob:

Disconnect the echolink from the node and reconnect it (still on the simplex frequency).
Adjust the TX volume of the signalink until the volume of the announcement is similar to that of the net on the other frequency earlier.
You can also try talking, but depending on your phone, that volume might be weaker, which is not very reliable. The node ID is a better measure of transmit volume.
Make a note of the Signalink TX volume.

git

Git

Test Scenarios

Summary:

When cloning from remote to local or pushing from local to remote, www-data group ownership and 770 permissions are not preserved.
When pushing local changes to remote, the remote master can't be checkout out.

References:

stackoverflow question about permissions.
Using git hooks to run pre- and post- scripts to fix permissions.

Initial Cloning

Create two files in a remote folder to simulate the wiki install on the server.

Change their permissions and ownership to match what's on the server:

~/gittest/remote$ ls -l
total 24
-rwxrwx--- 1 ptruchon www-data 26 Dec 26 10:20 file1.txt
-rwxrwx--- 1 ptruchon www-data 26 Dec 26 10:20 file2.txt

Initialize git:

git init
git add .
git commit -m 'initial commit on remote'
git log
commit 0e5ccdedd1c9188996aadad3a8e2be5a319ab789 (HEAD -> master)
Author: Patrick Truchon <patoo@rbox.me>
Date:   Sun Dec 26 10:21:24 2021 -0800
 
    initial commit on remote

Create a local folder and clone from remote:

git clone ~/gittest/remote/ ~/gittest/local/

The log on the local copy looks good:

~/gittest/local$ git log
commit 0e5ccdedd1c9188996aadad3a8e2be5a319ab789 (HEAD -> master, origin/master, origin/HEAD)
Author: Patrick Truchon <patoo@rbox.me>
Date:   Sun Dec 26 10:21:24 2021 -0800
 
    initial commit on remote

But the www-data group ownership and the 770 permissions weren't preserved:

~/gittest/local$ ls -l
total 24
-rwxrwxr-x 1 ptruchon ptruchon 26 Dec 26 10:24 file1.txt
-rwxrwxr-x 1 ptruchon ptruchon 26 Dec 26 10:24 file2.txt

Change the group back to www-data and permissions back to 770:

sudo chgrp www-data *; chmod 770 *
ls -l
total 24
-rwxrwx--- 1 ptruchon www-data 26 Dec 26 10:24 file1.txt
-rwxrwx--- 1 ptruchon www-data 26 Dec 26 10:24 file2.txt

Making Local Changes

Edit file1.txt from the local directory.

~/gittest/local$ git status
On branch master
Your branch is up to date with 'origin/master'.
 
Changes not staged for commit:
  (use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)
  (use "git restore <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
	modified:   file1.txt
 
no changes added to commit (use "git add" and/or "git commit -a")

Commit changes in git:

git add .
git commit -m 'changed file1.txt from local'
git status
On branch master
Your branch is ahead of 'origin/master' by 1 commit.
  (use "git push" to publish your local commits)
 
nothing to commit, working tree clean
 
git log
commit b7d91058fed9fe64c96525a3d0bef56c682ade68 (HEAD -> master)
Author: Patrick Truchon <patoo@rbox.me>
Date:   Sun Dec 26 10:45:41 2021 -0800
 
    changed file1.txt from local
 
commit 0e5ccdedd1c9188996aadad3a8e2be5a319ab789 (origin/master, origin/HEAD)
Author: Patrick Truchon <patoo@rbox.me>
Date:   Sun Dec 26 10:21:24 2021 -0800
 
    initial commit on remote

Push Changes to Remote

Attempting to push changes to remote while master is still checked out on remote doesn't work:

~/gittest/local$ git push origin master
Enumerating objects: 5, done.
Counting objects: 100% (5/5), done.
Delta compression using up to 4 threads
Compressing objects: 100% (3/3), done.
Writing objects: 100% (3/3), 329 bytes | 329.00 KiB/s, done.
Total 3 (delta 0), reused 0 (delta 0)
remote: error: refusing to update checked out branch: refs/heads/master
remote: error: By default, updating the current branch in a non-bare repository
remote: is denied, because it will make the index and work tree inconsistent
remote: with what you pushed, and will require 'git reset --hard' to match
remote: the work tree to HEAD.
remote: 
remote: You can set the 'receive.denyCurrentBranch' configuration variable
remote: to 'ignore' or 'warn' in the remote repository to allow pushing into
remote: its current branch; however, this is not recommended unless you
remote: arranged to update its work tree to match what you pushed in some
remote: other way.
remote: 
remote: To squelch this message and still keep the default behaviour, set
remote: 'receive.denyCurrentBranch' configuration variable to 'refuse'.
To /home/ptruchon/gittest/remote/
 ! [remote rejected] master -> master (branch is currently checked out)
error: failed to push some refs to '/home/ptruchon/gittest/remote/'

Workaround is to checkout a temporary branch on remote:

~/gittest/remote$ git checkout -b tmp
Switched to a new branch 'tmp'

Then push the local changes to remote:

~/gittest/local$ git push origin master
Enumerating objects: 5, done.
Counting objects: 100% (5/5), done.
Delta compression using up to 4 threads
Compressing objects: 100% (3/3), done.
Writing objects: 100% (3/3), 329 bytes | 329.00 KiB/s, done.
Total 3 (delta 0), reused 0 (delta 0)
To /home/ptruchon/gittest/remote/
   0e5ccde..b7d9105  master -> master

Check status and log from local:

~/gittest/local$ git status
On branch master
Your branch is up to date with 'origin/master'.
 
nothing to commit, working tree clean
 
~/gittest/local$ git log
commit b7d91058fed9fe64c96525a3d0bef56c682ade68 (HEAD -> master, origin/master, origin/HEAD)
Author: Patrick Truchon <patoo@rbox.me>
Date:   Sun Dec 26 10:45:41 2021 -0800
 
    changed file1.txt from local
 
commit 0e5ccdedd1c9188996aadad3a8e2be5a319ab789
Author: Patrick Truchon <patoo@rbox.me>
Date:   Sun Dec 26 10:21:24 2021 -0800
 
    initial commit on remote

On remote, checkout master and delete the temporary branch

~/gittest/remote$ git checkout master; git branch -d tmp
Switched to branch 'master'
Deleted branch tmp (was 0e5ccde).

Status and log both look good:

git status
On branch master
nothing to commit, working tree clean
 
git log
commit b7d91058fed9fe64c96525a3d0bef56c682ade68 (HEAD -> master)
Author: Patrick Truchon <patoo@rbox.me>
Date:   Sun Dec 26 10:45:41 2021 -0800
 
    changed file1.txt from local
 
commit 0e5ccdedd1c9188996aadad3a8e2be5a319ab789
Author: Patrick Truchon <patoo@rbox.me>
Date:   Sun Dec 26 10:21:24 2021 -0800
 
    initial commit on remote

But group ownership of the modified file wasn't preserved

~/gittest/remote$ ls -l
total 24
-rwxrwxr-x 1 ptruchon ptruchon 50 Dec 26 12:01 file1.txt
-rwxrwx--- 1 ptruchon www-data 26 Dec 26 10:20 file2.txt

growequipmentrfi

Grow Equipment RFI

The Hunt

Over the past few days/weeks, I've been noticing a (local?) noise on HF (80m and 40m) that starts at 7pm and lasts all night until 1pm the next day.

To find the source, I used an RTL-SDR dongle with a mobile screwdriver antenna, and Justine and I went for a drive:

We went up and down Roberts Creek rd (North - South), noted where the noise was the strongest, and drew an imaginary horizontal line on the map.
We went up and down Lockyer rd / Hansen rd (East - West), found where the noise was strongest, and drew an imaginary vertical line on the map.
Looking at where the two lines crossed gave us a pretty good idea where the noise was coming from. We drove down their driveway and it looks like we found the house...

Here's what the noise looks like at my house on the SDR with the mobile antenna:

And here's what it looks like in front of their house:

The Resolution

Once we located the house, we drove back home and I walked back to introduce myself and explain the situation. They were very receptive and at first didn't really know what could be causing it. We exchanged numbers and I went back home. A few minutes later, I noticed that the noise stopped for a few minutes and restarted again, which I'd never seen do outside of the 7pm - 1pm schedule.

The next day, they contacted me to tell me that they think they found the issue:

It appears to be us causing the interference, but we don't know what we can do about it. We are attempting to build an indoor garden for growing in the winter (based on the current global events), and so we picked up some growing equipment. [...] What we don't understand though is that it is one light and one ballast. How could that cause interference? [...] Any ideas?

We coordinated a quick turn-off-and-back-on test and confirmed that it was indeed their growing equipment:

I offered to do a bit of research to see if the RFI could be filtered for their equipment. They told me they're using a Hilux Grow Light (AHS 1000) (a High Pressure Sodium Bulb) and a BCBallast (NL-HS1000/CGD2E) that I couldn't find any information about. Reading up a bit, it seems that it's the cheaper ballasts (not the bulbs) that are to blame for most of the RFI.

This site explains various experiments with filtering the input and output of the ballast and links to this set of filters that seems promising. Failing that, the Galaxy Ballasts seem to have very good filtering and low RFI.

After explaining how important it is to stop using their equipment until the RFI issue is resolved (and pointing them to the Radiocommunication Act), they agreed to keep their light off until they get a filter set.

After a few days, they told me that they didn't buy the filters because of the minimum order quantity of six. However, they did get an “analog” ballast (not sure what that means), and as far as I can tell, it doesn't generate any noise!

I've been very impressed at how receptive they were to fixing a problem they can't really notice themselves. I'm very grateful to have such neighbourly neighbours.

ISED Canada

Before my neighbour got back to me the next day, I sent an email to the ISED Canada Lower Mainland District Office to see what the next steps would be in case they didn't want to cooperate:

To: ic.spectrumsurrey-surreyspectre.ic@canada.ca

Hello,

I live on the Sunshine Coast and a few days / weeks ago, I noticed a very strong noise on 80m and 40m between 7pm and 1pm (18 hours a day). We drove around with an SDR and a computer and pin pointed the noise to one or two houses.

I talked to one of them to ask them if they had recently bough a new piece of equipment on a timer but they couldn't think of anything. A few minutes after I got home, the noise stopped for a minute and started again (I had never noticed it stop between 7p ad 1pm before).

I'll continue trying to work with them to isolate and hopefully fix the equipment that's causing the interference, but in the event that they refuse to cooperate, what would be the next steps? The noise is so bad that it's making the 80m and 40m band unusable for 18 hours a day in a 200 m radius of that house.

Thanks,

Patrick Truchon, VA7FI ❞

I got a response six days later:

Hello Patrick,

I have received your email concern regarding interference on 80m and 40m.

We really appreciate you trying to deal with this situation yourself first. In the past, sometimes this interference was pin pointed by the breaker test. This test can isolate more clearly where the interference is coming from.

I am hoping you can figure this issue out with the home owners because due to COVID-19 restrictions, our travel has been suspended and we have limited resources at this time. The department must prioritize public safety services.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any other questions.

<Name Redacted> ❞

I informed him that my neighbour and I resolved the issue and he responded: “That is great to hear. Very interesting resolution!”

home

Articles and Links

For Aspiring Hams

Ham Basics Study Guide Under Construction
Doug Nix's Blog
Hamstudy
Practice tests
Conceptual electronics videos

For New Hams

VHF/UHF/Microwave

HF

Digital

West Coast AREDN
Meshcore
Signalink
- Winlink Express
- Packet (place holder for future)
- APRS on Windows
- SSIDs for Winlink vs APRS
- Digital Concepts
IC-7300
Slow Scan TV

ISED Links

Amateur Radio Groups and Services

Amateur Radio Associations

Amateur Radio Equipment Retailers

Burnaby Radio (Burnaby)
Fleetwood Digital (Surrey)
CanaKit (North Vancouver)
GPS Central (Alberta)
Radioworld (Ontario)
Maple Leaf Communications (Ontario)
DX Canada (Online from Canada)
DX Engineering (USA)
Ham Radio Outlet (USA)
R&L Electronics (USA)
Powerwerx (USA)
Gigaparts (on eBay)

Used:

Amateur Radio Equipment Manufacturers

Radios:

Antennas:

Comprod

Accessories:

West Mountain Radio (USA)
Timewave Technology

Commercial Frequencies

Canadian Spectrum Management System Data (Formerly known as TAFL)
- Search the TAFL
- TAFL Map (118 MHz - 525 MHz in Sechelt. Click New in green box on top left to change)
RadioReference
BC Forest Service Frequencies

RFI

Maps And Weather

Misc

This Website

Editing this site.
- Link, View, and Create PDFs
- Wrap Plugin Examples
Online html editor to create fancy stuff

jitsi

Using Jitsi

We've been testing Jitsi for video chat because of the unlimited time it offers compared to Zoom. Here are a few tricks we've learned so far.

On a Computer:

You don't need to download anything since Jitsi runs straight from the browser.
Jitsi seems a bit CPU-hungry so you should close all other programs during the meeting.
Use headphones instead of the laptop's speaker to helps reduce feedback for others.

Getting Started

In your browser, type the URL we emailed you and enter the password when prompted, then confirm which camera and microphone you want to use.
Before joining the meeting:, enter your name and callsign, and put yourself on mute.

During The Meeting

Stay muted unless you're the one talking to reduce the amount of background noise / feedback.
We'll also be using the “raise hand” function if we need to vote on anything.
To see the control buttons, move your mouse and they'll appear at the bottom of the screen.

On a Mobile Device

Download the Jitsi app instead of using the browser.
We've notice some devices create a lot of feedback when using the device's speakers so headphones are a must.

Getting Started

Open the app, and click on the the three horizontal lines on the top left corner.

Add your name and callsign and Start with audio muted.

Back at the previous screen, enter the name of the room.

During the meeting

Stay muted unless you're the one talking to reduce the amount of background noise / feedback.
To access the buttons, tap anywhere on the screen and you'll see this (from left to right):
- Change your name and callsign
- Mute / Unmute
- Hangup
- Turn camera on and off
- Settings

In the Settings is where you can raise your hand.

Pro-tip: turn your mobile device sideways so everyone can see you in landscape instead of portrait.

js8

JS8 using IC-7300

To get started, have a look at these pages:

JS8CALL Setup

Under File → Settings...

Radio → CAT Control:
- Rig: Icom IC-7300
- Serial Port: Depends on each computer
- Baud Rate: 9600
- Data Bits: Default
- Stop Bits: Default
- Handshake: Default
Radio → Rig Options
- PTT Method: RTS
- Port: Same as on the Cat Control page
- Mode: None
- Split Operation: Fake It
- Tx Delay: 0.2 s
Audio
- Soundcard Input and Output: (USB Audio CODEC)

Computer Timing

At normal speed, JS8Call transmits in blocks of 15 seconds.⁸⁾ For two stations to be able to communicate, the start of these blocks has to be synchronized to within about 2 seconds of the horizontal lines on each station's scope. That's why it's really important for everyone to keep their computer clock as accurate as possible (to within 2 seconds of each other). You can easily test the accuracy of your clock by going to https://time.is

Here's an example of a block that is within the horizontal lines, so it's well synchronized (with my station anyways):

There are three ways to adjust your clock:

You can use an internet service to adjust your computer's clock.
- On Windows, you can use Network Time. Here are the Network Time settings I changed so that it keeps my clock within 200 ms:
- On Linux, you can run sudo ntpdate pool.ntp.org ones in a while.
If you're “offline”, you can use the WWV time signals⁹⁾ on 2.5 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz, or 20 MHz.
You can use the Time Drift tool in JS8CALL, which adjusts the program's clock offset without changing the operating system's clock. To see the tool, make sure that this has a check mark: View → Show Waterfall Controls → Timing tab. Use the up and down arrows to adjust your time drift (more on this below):

Here's how to use the Time Drift Tool:

Make sure that you can see the Time Delta column in your Band Activity Window. If not, make sure that this is checked: View → Show Band Activity Columns... → Time Delta
If everyone's computers were perfectly synchronized, all these Time Delta entries would be 0 ms. Realistically, there's always be a bit of variance, but you should try to ensure that your clock is synchronized with most other operators.
For example, suppose that most operators are around +500 ms, then you'd want to adjust your Time Drift to -500 ms to cancel out the Time Delta (and vice versa). Note the sign (+/-) of the Time Drift is opposite that of the Time Delta For example, here I had to put a Time Drift of -100 on mine to match the other operators:
The last thing to keep in mind is that this time drift might need to be adjusted periodically depending on how well your computer keeps time.

Troubleshooting

CPU Overload

The Issue: Sometimes the QSOs in JS8Call don't get decoded properly: The waterfall shows the data blocks being received, but the text doesn't show, or parts of it do, but with gaps showing as “…” instead.

The Reason: At first, I thought that the YAAC (the APRS program I was running at the same time) was causing the issue because when I close it, JS8Call would start behaving again. But it turns out that it was simply a lack of CPU power. I'm running JS8Call on a cheap mini computer and was reaching 100% CPU when running JS8Call, YAAC, and Firefox at the same time.

Turns out that running any two of these programs is fine, but not all three.

To check on your CPU usage, press CTRL+ALT+DEL on your keyboard, then select Task Manager.

Radio Filter

If the waterfall on the JS8Call screen shows a narrow light blue region with darker areas on either side, it could be that your radio filter is too narrow. Roughly, the filter should be set to 3kHz. I usually have mine set between 500Hz and 2700Hz.

Some tricks:

Sometimes, the band is really busy with stations sending Heart Beats. The region between 500Hz and 1000Hz seems to be used mostly for that sort of automated stuff. If you want to stop all those HB from filling up your screen, you can quickly tighten your filter between 1000Hz and 2700Hz.
The notch filter is also useful sometimes to quiet down a really loud station or a random RTTY signal.

⁸⁾

Here's a summary of the different speed:

Mode	Bandwidth	Speed	Frame Length	Mininum SNR
Slow	25 Hz	8 WPM	30 seconds	-28 dB
Normal	50 Hz	16 WPM	15 seconds	-24 dB
Fast	80 Hz	24 WPM	10 seconds	-20 dB
Turbo	160 Hz	40 WPM	6 seconds	-18 dB

The new MULTI decoder can decode all four speeds at once.

⁹⁾

Wikipedia: WWV (Radio Station)

linking_and_viewing_pdfs

Linking and Viewing PDFs

There are many ways to link, view, or create PDFs in Dokuwiki.

External Links

The first way to link to an external pdf is to use [[ ]] brackets as one would for links:

Code	Result
`[[https://bcarcc.org/twometre.pdf]]`	https://bcarcc.org/twometre.pdf
`[[https://bcarcc.org/twometre.pdf\|Two Metre Repeaters]]`	Two Metre Repeaters

This works, but notice the “Earth” icon on the left of the link, identifying that it's a link to an external webpage. We can change this identifying icon to a PDF by using the {{ }} brackets instead, which are also used for images:

Code	Result
`{{https://bcarcc.org/twometre.pdf}}`	twometre.pdf
`{{https://bcarcc.org/twometre.pdf\|Two Metre Repeaters}}`	Two Metre Repeaters

Internal Links

These brackets also work for internal files that are stored on our server (like images):

Code	Result
`{{/links/twometre.pdf \|}}`	twometre.pdf
`{{/links/twometre.pdf \|Two Metre Repeaters}}`	Two Meter Repeaters

Using the PDF.js Plugin, it's also possible to display a local pdf in a window. For example,

{{pdfjs 600px,300px>/links/twometre.pdf}}

gives:

Note, that the width (600px) and length (300px) parameters are optional. Also, this doesn't work with external links.

Export Page To PDF

Finally, thanks to the DW2PDF Plugin, Dokuwiki pages can be easily exported as PDFs using the PDF icon on the right hand side of the page.

Sometimes, it is useful to add an Export link in the text. This can be done by adding ?do=export_pdf at the end of a URL. Quick caveat: counter intuitively, this time, the [[ ]] brackets must be used:

Code	Result
`[[/links/linking_and_viewing_pdfs?do=export_pdf \|Export This Page to PDF]]`	Export This Page to PDF

But to simplify this process further and add the fancy PDF icon, I manually added mpdf → {NAME}?do=export_pdf to the InterWiki Links configuration file with the PDF icon so that this can be used instead:

Code	Result
`[[mpdf>/links/linking_and_viewing_pdfs \|Export This Page to PDF]]`	Export This Page to PDF

Or, if the page to export is the one containing the link, this works too:

Code	Result
`[[mpdf>\|Export This Page to PDF]]`	Export This Page to PDF

When writing a page that will likely get exported, it's useful to be able to manually start a new page. The Pagebreak Plugin allows this using <pagebreak>.

The best example of this is the Sunshine Coast Emergency Communications page, which was created to be printed.

Plugins

A full list of all installed plugins can be found at the end of the Syntax page.

linux

GNU/Linux Ham Radio Setups

Here's a quick list of pages I found promising about using GNU/Linux for ham radio.

If any of you are already using GNU/Linux to run ham radio programs, please feel free to edit this page to share your experience, tips, etc.

HamPi

HamPi is a Raspberry Pi image that comes preloaded with tons of ham software. Here's the list (copied from their README.docx file):

General Ham Radio Applications

HamLib - Ham Radio Control Libraries
grig - graphical user interface to the Ham Radio Control Libraries
CHIRP - Radio Programming Software
APRS Message App for JS8Call - GUI to send APRS messages via JS8Call
QTel - EchoLink client
QSSTV - Slow Scan TV (e.g. "Fax")
Gpredict - Satellite prediction
FreeDV - Free digital voice vocoder
BlueDV - Client for D-Star and DMR
WsprryPi - WSPR software
ADS-B Flight Tracking Software
Pi3/4 Stats Monitor - by W1HKJ
VOACAP - HF propagation prediction
GPS Support
Auto WiFi Hotspot - Automatically turn your Pi into a WiFi hotspot when in the field!
wxtoimg - NOAA weather imaging software
twHamQTH - an online callsign look up program
twclock - a world clock and automatic ID for amateur radio operators
acfax - Receive faxes using your radio and sound card
colrconv - convers client with sound and ncurses color support
D-Rats 0.3.9 (by new maintainer Maurizio Andreotti) - A communication tool for D-STAR
fbb - Packet radio mailbox and utilities
gcb - Utility to calculate long and short path to a location
glfer - Spectrogram display and QRSS keyer
Xdx is a DX-cluster client
DXSpider - DX Cluster Server
fccexam - Study tool for USA FCC commercial radio license exams.
gnuais / gnuaisgui - GNU Automatic Identification System receiver
hamexam - Study guide for USA FCC amateur radio (ham radio) license examinations.
hamfax - Qt based shortwave fax
inspectrum - tool for visualising captured radio signals
predict-gsat - Graphical Predict client
splat - analyze point-to-point terrestrial RF communication links
wwl - Calculates distance and azimuth between two Maidenhead locators
AX.25 – Packet Radio drivers for ax.25 protocol
linpac - terminal for packet radio with mail client
PyBOMBS - GNU Radio install management system
AMBEServer – AMBE vocoder chip support

Antenna Ham Radio Applications

antennavis - Antenna Visualization Software
gsmc - A GTK Smith Chart Calculator for RF impedance matching
nec2c - Translation of the NEC2 FORTRAN source code to the C language
xnecview - NEC structure and gain pattern viewer
yagiuda - software to analyse performance of Yagi-Uda antennas

Digital Mode Ham Radio Applications

WSJT-X - Weak Signal (FT8, FT4, etc.) by W1JT
GridTracker - Graphical mapping companion program for WSJT-X or JTDX
JTDX - Alternate client for Weak Signal (FT8, FT4, etc.)
JS8Call - Messaging built on top of FT8 protocol by KN4CRD
JS8CallTools - Get Grid coordinates using GPS
(FLDigi is in its own section below.)
gnss-sdr - GLONASS satellite system Software Defined Receiver
linpsk - amateur radio PSK31/RTTY program via soundcard
multimon - multimon - program to decode radio transmissions
multimon-ng - digital radio transmission decoder
psk31lx - a terminal based ncurses program for psk31
twpsk - a psk program

Software Defined Radio

CubicSDR - Software Defined Radio receiver
cutesdr - Simple demodulation and spectrum display program
GQRX - Software defined radio receiver
SDRAngel - SDR player
lysdr - Simple software-defined radio
SoapyAudio - Soapy SDR plugin for Audio devices
SoapyHackRF - SoapySDR HackRF module
SoapyMultiSDR - Multi-device support module for SoapySDR
SoapyNetSDR - Soapy SDR module for NetSDR protocol
SoapyRemote - Use any Soapy SDR remotely
SoapyRTLSDR - Soapy SDR module for RTL SDR USB dongle
SoapySDR - Vendor and platform neutral SDR support library
SoapySDRPlay - Soapy SDR module for SDRPlay
- Support for RTL-SDR
- Support for SDRPlay SDR
- Support for HackRF SDR
- Support for AirSpy and AirSpy HF
SoapySDRAirSpy- Soapy SDR module for AirSpy SDR
SoapySDRFUNcube Dongle Pro+- Soapy SDR module for FUNCube Dongle Pro+
SoapySDRPlutoSDR- Soapy SDR module for Pluto SDR
SoapySDROsmoSDR- Soapy SDR module for Osmo SDR
SoapySDRRedPitaya- Soapy SDR module for Red Pitaya SDR
SoapyUHD- Soapy SDR module for Ettus ResearchUHD SDR
SoapySDRVOLKConverters - Support for VOLK-based type converters

APRS Applications

Xastir - APRS GUI client / Digipeater / Igate
YAAC - Yet Another APRS Client
DireWolf - Software "soundcard" AX.25 packet modem/TNC and APRS encoder/decoder
aprsdigi - digipeater for APRS
aprx - APRS Digipeater and iGate
soundmodem - Sound Card Amateur Packet Radio Modems

FLDigi Application Suite from W1HKJ

flrig - Rig Control program which interfaces with fldigi
fldigi - Digital Modes Communications
flaa - RigExpert Antenna Analyzer Control Program
flamp - File transmissions via Amateur Multicast Protocol
flarq - ARQ data transfer utility for fldigi
flcluster - Telnet client to remote DX Cluster Servers
fllog - Logbook application which can use same data file as fldigi
flmsg - Editor for ICS 213 Forms
flnet - Net Control Assistant for Net Activities (Check-In Application)
flpost - NBEMs post office
flwrap - File encapsulation and compression for transmission over amateur radio
flwkey - Winkeyer (or clone) control program for K1EL Winkeyer series

Logging Applications

TrustedQSL - LotW client
CQRlog - Ham Radio Logging Application
PyQSO - Logging software (written in Python)
klog - The Ham Radio Logging program
tlf - console based ham radio contest logger
tucnak2 - VHF/UHF/SHF Hamradio contest log version 2
twlog - basic logging program for ham radio
upload_adif_log – Upload only new log entries to LotW, eQSL.cc and ClubLog
wsjtx_to_n3fjp - Logging adapter to allow WSJT-X to log to N3FJP
xlog - GTK+ Logging program for Hamradio Operators

WinLink Applications

Pat WinLink - WinLink for Raspberry Pi (and other platforms)
ARDOP support for Pat WinLink
ARDOP-GUI - Provides graphical representation of ARDOP connections
Find ARDOP - Retrieves local ARDOP sources by KM4ACK
Pat Menu 2 – Menu for Pat by KM4ACK
PMON - a PACTOR® Monitoring Utility for Linux

Morse Code Applications

aldo - Morse code training program
cw - sound characters as Morse code on the soundcard or console speaker
cwcp - Text based Morse tutor program
xcwcp - Graphical Morse tutor program
cwdaemon - morse daemon for the serial or parallel port
ebook2cw - convert ebooks to Morse MP3s/OGGs
ebook2cwgui - GUI for ebook2cw
morse - training program about morse-code for aspiring radio hams
morse2ascii - tool for decoding the morse codes from a PCM WAV file
morsegen - convert file to ASCII morse code
qrq - High speed Morse telegraphy trainer
xdemorse - decode Morse signals to text

microwave

Microwave

Here's a bit of an update for those interested in exploring microwave ham radio. Please feel free to add more to this post!

10 GHz from microwavers.org
Getting Started in Amateur Microwave Radio from Reactance Labs
10 GHz Radio from Reactance Labs

Links from p. 14 of the July - August edition of RAC: The Canadian Amateur:

netcontroller

Net Controller Guidelines

A list of tips for net controllers.

Pause:

At the end of someone's transmission, leave a short pause before pressing the PTT; and after pressing the PTT, leave another short pause before speaking. This allows any parts of the repeater system that have delays to catch up (tone squelch, links, Echolink, IRLP, etc).
When calling for Echolink stations in particular, leave at least 4 seconds after the repeater has keyed down before moving on. Echolink doesn't allow the app to “transmit” until the repeater has been completely silent for a moment.

Acknowledgement:

When acknowledging a station, call them by their name or callsign so that they know you're talking to them. Sometimes there are doubles and people might might not be sure who you heard.

Intelligibility:

Speak slowly, not everyone has great hearing or facilities with your particular manner of speech.
Use the standard phonetics. People get good with their own callsign, but to a stranger, it just sounds like random letters.

ID Requirements:

If the net lasts for more than half an hour, remember to ID before the half hour mark to follow ISED regulation.¹⁰⁾

¹⁰⁾

See RBR-3, p.1 and RBR-4, Sec 9

netspreadsheet

Net Roll Call Spreadsheet

How to Setup

Here's an overview of how to download and setup your local copy the first time:

Download the Google Sheet as OpenDocument (.ods). It might take 30-45 seconds to prepare the download; this is normal. Note that the file is not public, contact Patrick, VA7FI if you'd like access.
Make sure you have LibreOffice installed on your computer.
Open the downloaded file, freeze the headers, and save the file.

How to Use

Here's an overview of how to use the sheet for a net:

Open the file you saved.
Type the suffix in column A, and the prefix in column B if needed.
Don't type or delete anything in the orange cells as they contain formulas.
When you're done, close the file but do not save it. That way all the callsigns you typed won't be there next time you use it.
Again, Don't type or delete anything in the orange cells.
If you break the sheet by deleting formulas, you can simply download a fresh copy and start from scratch.

The date in the title of the file represents the last time the spreadsheet was updated. You'll want to download a fresh copy from time to time to take advantage of new entries that are added periodically.

Demo

Optional Information:

Android Tablets/Phones

The spreadsheet was made to be used offline on computers, but some people might still want to use it on their tablets. Here as some instructions on how to do that for Android devices.

The first steps are to open the spreadsheet and make a copy of it to your “Sheets” app. You will need a Google Account to do this:

Open the link in the mobile browser.
Click on USE THE APP (you need “Sheets” installed).
Click on the three dots on the top right corner.

Click on Make a copy.
Add the word “Copy” to the end of the name to distinguish it from the original.

You are now using your copy, which you can edit.
At the bottom, select LogSheet (Local), which doesn't query the ISED tab and is quicker for mobile devices.
In your Sheets app, you should now see two versions:
- The one on the left with the little shared symbol is the original which you can't edit.
- The one on the right is your own personal copy.

Every so often, you should delete your personal copy (or make a backup) and download a fresh copy so that you can have the latest database.
Please do NOT edit the database in your personal copy since no-one else will benefit from your edits. Instead, email Patrick, VA7FI the information that needs to be added / edited in the online version.

Notes for Admins

Adding Names

To add a new name to the Local Data sheet:

Edit the Google spreadsheet directly in the browser (not your downloaded copy). That way everyone will benefit from your updates next time they download a fresh copy.
Scroll down and use one of the empty lines below the current list. It doesn't have to be the very next line. For example, as of this writing, the last entry is in line 462, but you could use line 479. It really doesn't matter. All these empty lines at the bottom of the list have the formulas in Column A and N already pre-fielded.

Do not Insert a line somewhere in the middle of the sheet to keep names sorted by callsigns. The problem with doing this is that Column A (which is hidden) and Column N contain important formulas and inserting a line leaves those cells blank for the new line.

Now to sort, click on the upside-down triangle sign on the right of Suffix to see the filter menu for that column, and select Sort A → Z:

All the entries are now sorted by callsign suffix:

Deleting Names

To delete a name, do not Delete Row. Instead delete the green cells containing the information. Careful not to delete anything in the red cells in columns A and N which contain the formulas. Then resort the list to send the empty line back to the bottom.

Updating the "ISED Data" Tab

Download Amateur call sign list (delimited TXT format).¹⁾
Extract amateur_delim.txt
In Google Sheets, unhide and select the ISED Data tab.
Go to File > Import > Upload:
- Replace Current Sheet
- Custom
- ;

¹⁾

Instead of manually downloading the file from the ISED website, and unzipping it, I use this short BASH script:

#!/bin/bash
 
DIR="/home/ptruchon/Desktop"
wget --report-speed=bits http://apc-cap.ic.gc.ca/datafiles/amateur_delim.zip -P $DIR 
cd $DIR
unzip amateur_delim.zip
mv amateur_delim.txt amateur_delim.csv
chmod 644 amateur_delim.csv
rm amateur_delim.zip lisezmoi_amat_delim.txt readme_amat_delim.txt

newhams

Welcome to the Amateur Radio

This page lists basic information to help new hams get started with the hobby. For information specific to our club, see this page.

What to Buy

Traditionally, the major radio brands have been Icom, Yeasu, and Kenwood. Recently, many Chinese radios have appeared on the market that can be much cheaper (both in cost and quality). As a result, many new hams get a Baofeng handheld as their first radio. Unfortunately, the issue with (only) using a handheld is that even though they might hear the local repeaters just fine, they often have difficulties talking to them because of their lower power.

In general, the antenna is the most important part of the system and the radio is the least important. So for those on a budget, the minimum setup should consist of an external antenna (mounted on the side of the house or on a balcony for example), with a cheap Chinese mobile radio like the QYT KT-8900. That being said, if you can afford a good radio from one of the big three, they are well worth it.

A very good basic antenna is the Comet GP-3. If the coax line is not too long, RG-8x works, but if you're able to mount the antenna higher (and height makes a huge difference!), then it's worth buying good coax like LMR-400.

Finally, ham radios usually run on 12V (13.8V to be more precise), so you'll also need a power supply, which are rated in Amperage. With only one (basic VHF/UHF) radio, you'll need at least 5A. The club has a bunch of these low output power supply so ask us to borrow one. Eventually, though, you'll want a power supply that can provide at least 20A so that you can power more equipment.

Where to Buy

Now that you're ready to buy some equipment, check out these pages:

Retailers
Our club's Buy and Sell page.

And ask around for opinions. Also, if you google a radio and add “eham” to the search term, you'll get some very good reviews.

Frequencies

Here are some good places to find out which frequencies to use:

newmembers

Welcome to the Club!

This page contains information specific to our club. If you're a new ham, make sure you read this page first and then continue here.

Club Info

The first place to start is definitely our Club Info page. There you'll find information about our repeaters, coffee meetings, and executive should you have any questions.

Nets

Our regular Nets are a good place to chat with other members and test your equipment and your range. We recommend you program our repeater frequencies with a Tone Squelch since W7AVM on Whidbey Island in Washington State uses the same frequency as VE7RXZ.

Club Events

Our calendar of events contains all of the club events as well as some other events that might be of interest to our members. Clicking on an event (in green) will expend it and show more details.

If you'd like to add an item to our calendar, just email Patrick and he'll do it for you.

Website Access

Once you've paid your dues, we'll add your information to the (password protected) Member Contact Info page, and we will email you your user ID to log into the site. You can change your password here. This will allow you to access the Members' section, which contains contact information, meeting minutes, and other links.

You'll also be able to help edit and grow the site if you feel comfortable doing so.

First, have a look at the Syntax How-To page to see what the editing process looks like.
If you want to add/edit a section to an existing page, go ahead.
If you want to add a brand new page or make bigger edits, check with Patrick first so we can plan it together.
You can also add a News Feed item to our front page. Have a look at our current News Feed to see what type of posts are there. Anything ham related or of interest to our club can be posted there. The more from different people the better!

Here's an example post that I created while recording a video of the process. The post has time stamps on the upper right corner so that if you want to know more about a specific section, you can skip right to that section. It's also instructive to “edit” a section to see how it was made.

All the changes made are tracked and archived by the wiki so don't be too worry about breaking something. If this happens, just let Patrick know and he'll be able to reverse the changes easily. You can also try to reverse the changes yourself if you want; it's not too hard.

Sync.com

We have a shared folder on Sync.com that allows members to access shared files.

To create an account, use this referral link, which will give both the club and you an extra 1GB of storage.
Once your account is created, send Patrick an email to let him know and he'll share the club's folder with you. Also let him know which email address you've used for the Sync.com registration if it's different than the one you usually use.
We also encourage you to download and install the computer program and the phone app. They make sharing files with the rest of the members really easy.

Once you have access to the Club's shared drive, keep this very important thing in mind:

Any edit or deletion you make will propagate to everyone's copy. Even moving a file out of the shared folder into a local folder will delete it from everyone else's shared folder.

How-To

Finally, have a look at the ever expending How-To section and feel free to add any new topic that is mildly ham related. We have a lot of collective knowledge and the more we share it, the better it is for everyone.

Since this can potentially be a big section, all new pages in this section should be within the How-To namespace. To do this, simply add /links/ before the new page name. For example, the link to this page is /links/newmembers.

Club Branded Apparel

West Coast Logo (at 5714 Cowrie St, Sechelt) has our logo on file to put on apparel. Club members can purchase branded clothing with their name and/or callsign.¹¹⁾

¹¹⁾

The club assumed the initial cost associated with digitizing the logo, but each member is responsible for the cost of the clothing and for the addition of the logo and callsign.

openstreetmap

OpenStreetMap

OpenStreetMap (OSM) is like Wikipedia for maps. It's built by the community using aerial imagery, GSP devices, or existing public domain maps. The maps can be viewed or edited online in a browser, or using various apps.

The main advantages of OSM over Google Maps are that the maps:

are more up-to-date,
have more trail information,
have lots of different layers (like topographic information), and
can be used offline, which is a big one for emergency preparedness.

Some Links

To view the Maps: osm.org or openstreetmap.org
App for Android, iPhone, Linux: https://organicmaps.app
More Info: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org

Up-To-Date

Since OSM is updated by users, the maps tend to be more up-to-date than Google Maps. For example, here's a new street that I added in Gibsons in October 2022. Google Maps is still not showing it almost three months later:

OSM (Dec 31, 2022)

Google Maps (Dec 31, 2022)

More Trails

There are also a lot more trails on OSM than on Google Maps since anyone with a cellphone can record their GPS tracks while they hike, add the trails to OSM later. For example, here's the golf course and Cliff Gilker park in Roberts Creek:

OSM (Dec 31, 2022)

Google Maps (Dec 31, 2022)

Different Layers

OSM also has different layers that highlight different information. The CycleOSM and Cycle Map layers are very useful since they add topographical information. Public GPS Traces uploaded by the community can also be added to any layer.

Offline

The biggest advantage (from an emergency preparedness perspective) is that OSM can be used offline using various apps by downloading the maps locally. An app that I particularly like is Organic Maps. It's available on iOS, Android, and Linux (as Flatpak or other packages). A monthly update of the maps can be triggered manually from the app.

Android

Since the GPS receiver on Android phones has nothing to do with cellular or wifi reception, Organic Map can be used anywhere in the back country there's a clear view of the sky (to get a good GPS lock).

Here's how to get the GPS coordinates of a point on the map (for example):

Touch and hold the map at the desired location to get a blue dot
Drag the lower menu upwards to reveal the coordinates
Touch and hold the coordinates to see options of which information to copy to the clipboard.

Conversely, use the search icon to input coordinates to show the point on the map.

Updating the maps on Android is a two-step process:

The app itself must be updated monthly (from the Play Store or F-Droid).
Then, the maps can be updated from the app.

Linux

Installing Organic Maps on a computer could help EOCs manage resources over the radio when the internet is down. Maps can be searched or even printed for field work. Different areas can be downloaded locally with a few simple clicks. All of Canada takes a bit over 3 GB of space.

Rightnow, the option to delete individual areas doesn't seem to be working very well but the individual files are located here (at least on the Flatpak install) and can be deleted manually:

~/.var/app/app.organicmaps.desktop/data/OMaps

packet

Packet

ISS Packet Station

playground

Playground

Welcome to the Playground

Feel free to try things on this page. See the syntax page for more info.

radioprogramming

Radio Programming

Every radio operates differently, and once programmed, it's easy to forget how to set up new frequencies (especially if there's a repeater offset and tone involved).

In the spirit of emergency preparedness, here are quick reference guides on how to program different radios. The aim is to condense on one page that can be printed, everything that is needed to setup a new frequency in VFO mode with the proper offset and tone. This is a list in progress, please feel free to post your own list here or email it to Patrick if you need help.

Radio	Reference Guides	Other
Icom IC-207H	Libre Office, PDF
Kenwood TM-D710G	Libre Office, PDF
QYT KT-8900	Libre Office, PDF	Menu List
Baofeng UV-5R	Libre Office, PDF	Chirp
AT-100Pro II Autotunner	Libre Office, PDF

Example: IC-207H

Frequencies

Here are frequencies programmed on VA7FI's radios (updated on Jan 4, 2025):

Spreadsheet List
PDF List
CHIRP Lists:
- QYT KT-8900
- Quansheng UV-K5 (for the Egzumer Firmware)

And a few details:

My mobile QYT KT-8900 radios have all channels programmed in, where as the Baofeng radios only have channels 0 to 127.
The Link columns identifies repeaters that are linked together.
I tried to roughly sort repeaters from North to South for the Island and West to East for the mainland, while trying to keep linked repeaters grouped together.
See the Commercial Frequencies section for more information about the non-ham frequencies listed.
See the CHIRP How-To page for more details on using CHIRP.

If you notice any mistakes, please let me know.

repeatercoverage

Repeater Coverage Map

This is a test and might get deleted if it doesn't work out.

The idea is to collaboratively build a map of the coverage of our repeaters on the Coast for Handheld and Mobiles (but not for home stations since antenna setups can vary so wildly). This would give us an idea of the blind spots in coverage which might be useful to know in case of an emergency.

A dynamic map like the one below could be embedded on our club info page (this is not a screenshot; you can drag the map around, or use the menus on the left to zoom in and out):

If you click on a dot, you'll see details. The two dots at Dakota Ridge are real reports that I got this week when I went snowshoeing there, and the six dots in the water are example of how different “readability levels” can be represented with colour variations: the darkest blue is readability 5, the palest blue is readability 1, and the red dot means the repeater couldn't be tripped at all.
If you click on the layers icon, you can hide a repeater.

Give it a try and give me some feedback by adding a comment in the Discussion Section at the bottom of this page (you must be logged in to the site first).

Instructions to add / edit the map

Go to: https://framacarte.org/en/map/scarcs-repeaters-coverage_201226
Click on Edit on the top right corner
Right click somewhere on the map and select Draw a marker (or use Ctrl+M). The cursor will change to a cross.
Left click where you want the marker to be. You will see a blue dot appear and a window open on the right.
In the window, select the appropriate layer (VE7RXZ (Portable), VE7RXZ (Mobile), VE7SCK (Portable), or VE7SCK (Portable)).
In the name field, add your callsign
In the description field, add the power, the antenna, and the date of the report. For example:
“5 W, 15” rubber ducky. Jan 1, 2025“
Under Shape properties:
- Pick the DarkBlue colour if you can use the repeater, and the Red colour if you couldn't trip the repeater at all.
- Adjust the icon opacity to match the following readability scale as reported by the other operator with whom you talked.
  Do not use your readability of the repeater because it transmits at 100 W and how well you hear the repeater is not a good indication of who well people on the repeater can hear you at 5 W.
  - Readability 5: 1.0
  - Readability 4: 0.8
  - Readability 3: 0.6
  - Readability 2: 0.4
  - Readability 1: 0.2
  - Not tripping the repeater: Red with 1.0

Click on Save on the top right corner
Click on View to go back to exit the map editor.

Data Collection Tips

If you're hiking out of cell phone range, it will not be possible to edit the map on the spot. And frankly, even if you had cell phone coverage, I'm not sure it would be easy to do on a mobile device anyways. One trip to not that information would be to use an offline map app like Organic Maps and save a pin at your locations with a quick note on the readability so that you can transfer them to our shared map later when you get home.

signalink

SignaLink USB

This page shows how to configure a SignaLink USB unit using an Icom ID-5100, KT-8900, and IC-207 radios. The instructions can easily be adapted for other radios. You will still need to use the instructions that come with the SignaLink to complement.

Once the SignaLink is working, it can be used to run Winlink, APRS, Packet, SSTV, ...

Initial Hardware Configuration

Important

Read and follow the instructions that come with the SignaLink unit carefully. This page skips over some important details.

If your radio requires the “RG45” cable (like the IC ID-5100), you should purchase a SignaLink USB that comes with a different cable (such as the “6PM”) since regular Ethernet patch cords are easy to come by.

Remove the four Allen screws at the front of the SignaLink and slide the case off.
Install the jumpers using this wiring page. Here we scroll down to “RJ-45 Mic Connector” and confirm that “ID-5100A/E” is in the “radio model” column. For quick reference:

Left Side	Right Side
	IC ID-5100	KT-8900	IC-207¹²⁾
`G`	none	none	none
`G`	→ 7	→ 6	none
`G`	→ 5	→ 4	→ 2
`---`	none	none	none
`PWR`¹³⁾	none	none	none
`PTT`	→ 4	→ 5	→ 3
`MIC`	→ 6	→ 3	→ 1
`SPKR`¹⁴⁾	none	none	→ 5 or 4 ¹⁵⁾

Picture of the jumpers for the IC-ID5100

Connect the Signalink to the computer in this order:

Make sure the SignaLink unit is off.
Tune the radio to a simplex frequency not in use.
Connect the radio's speaker jack to the SignaLink's SPKR jack using the audio cable included.
Connect the radio's mic jack to the SignaLink's RADIO jack using a short Ethernet patch cord (RG45).
Connect USB cable between SignaLink to computer.
Set the SignaLink USB’s TX level control to minimum (fully counter-clockwise), the RX level control to 50%, and the DLY control to minimum.
Power on SignaLink unit.
Wait for Windows to download and install any new drivers it may need.

Initial Software Configuration

Windows Sound

Right click on the speaker icon (near the clock)
Additional steps for Windows 10: Select Open Sound Settings → Sound Control Panel
Select Playback Devices
- Select Speaker and click on Set Default at the bottom of the window. This will ensure that any Windows generated sounds are played through the speakers instead of being transmitted on the air.
- Select USB AUDIO CODEC¹⁶⁾ and click on Default Communication Device.
- At this point, you might as well double click on the device and rename it “Signalink”. This will be useful if you ever connect multiple sound cards to the computer.
- Click on Properties
  - Under Levels: Set the levels to 0dB or 100%
  - Under Enhancements: check Disable all enhancements
  - Under Spatial sound: Turn Spacial sound format OFF

Select the Recording tab
- Select Microphone and click on Set Default at the bottom of the window.
- Select USB AUDIO CODEC and click on Default Communication Device
- Rename it “Signalink” also.

There should be a green check mark beside the speaker/Microphone (general computer sounds), and a green telephone beside the USB AUDIO CODEC (Default for communication sounds)

Select the Sounds tab
- Select the No Sounds scheme and do not Play Windows Startup sound. This will ensure that Windows sounds don't get transmitted over the air.

Optionally, double click on the USB AUDIO CODEC and select the Listen tab and check the Listen to this device box to hear the radio through the computer's Default Playback Device.

UZ7HO SoundModem

Download soundmodem1xx.zip
Unzip the content to a convenient folder and create a link to the exe somewhere on your desktop for easy access.
Configure the Settings → Devices and Modems as follow:

For the Device Settings

The values of -27 for the TX corr. PPM and RX corr. PPM are device specific and were measured using the CheckSR program (see below).
AGWPE Server Port 8000 is enabled for EasyTerm by UZ7HO

For the Modem settings:

Kiss Optimization is needed for Winlink
Other stations were having issues decoding my transmissions so I increased the TXDelay from 250 msec to 500 msec

CheckSR

CheckSR is a small, standalone, application that consist of a single exe file. When you double click on it, once it’s saved to your desktop, it provides the capability of analyzing your sound card offsets and gives you the corrections in parts per million (ppm)

This offset (in my case -27 PPM and -27 PPM) can be entered in the SoundModem settings (see above).

Signalink Sound Levels

Make sure that all three nobs on the SignaLink are turned to “0”¹⁷⁾

Output volume calibration. The idea here is that you want to transmit the loudest volume possible without over driving and distorting the signal. In general, there's three different volumes to adjust: the computer's output, the radio's microphone gain, and the SignaLink Tx Volume.
- Start by setting the Windows output volume to 50% (Open Sound settings → Sound Control Panel → Recording → double click on Signalink → Levels
- and the Radio's microphone gain to 2
- To adjust the Signalink Tx Volume:
  - Select a simplex frequency not in use, and identify using your microphone to let other potential operators know of your intention to conduct a brief test.
  - Using a second radio, monitor the frequency.
  - In the “Calibration” menu, click on “Both Tones” and slowly move the TX dial back and forth until you find the spot where the two tones are the clearest with the least inter modulation.

Without proper instruments this is a bit of a subjective test, but it's better than nothing.

Winlink

Download WinlinkExpress, install, and register your callsign (not included in this guide).
Send and receive messages.

Other Resources

¹²⁾

Using the 6-pin mini DIN data port instead of the mic jack.

¹³⁾

The Signalink power is drawn from computer's USB port, not from the radio's mic jack

¹⁴⁾

If the mic jack doesn't have audio out, the audio is taken from the speaker jack at the back of the radio using a regular 1/8“ audio cable instead

¹⁵⁾

5 is for 1200 Baud, 4 is for 9600 Baud

¹⁶⁾

Note that the icons themselves might be different. Look for the words USB AUDIO CODEC

¹⁷⁾

I added the numbers on the picture for easy reference only.

simplex

Simplex

FM

On VHF and UHF, not all frequencies are available for use on simplex. The RAC band plans specifies these channels for simplex use:

For 2m:	146.415, 146.430, 146.445, 146.460, 146.475, 146.490, 146.505, 146.520^†, 146.535, 146.550, 146.565, 146.580, 146.595	15 kHz between each channel.
For 2m:	147.420, 147.450, 147.480, 147.510, 147.540, 147.570	30 kHz between each channel.
For 70cm:	446.000^†, 446.025, 446.050, 446.075, 446.100, 446.125, 446.150, 446.175	25 kHz between each channel.

†: National calling frequencies.

Or more succinctly:

2m	146.415 ‒ 146.595	Δ = 15 kHz
2m	147.420 ‒ 147.570	Δ = 30 kHz
70cm	446.000 ‒ 446.175	Δ = 25 kHz

Digital

Note that on 2m, there are digital channels interwoven between some of the FM channels:

2m digital	147.435, 147.465, 147.495, 147.525, 147.555, 147.585	30 kHz between each channel.

ssid

Back to Winlink How-to or to APRS How-to

SSID

An SSID is a number added after the callsign to indicate the function of the station. SSID assignments are slightly different for Winlink and APRS:

SSID	Packet, Winlink, etc	APRS
-0	Home station.¹⁸⁾	Your primary station usually fixed and message capable
-1	Home station personal mailbox.¹⁹⁾	generic additional station, digi, mobile, wx, etc
-2	Gateways	generic additional station, digi, mobile, wx, etc
-3	Full service BBS's.²⁰⁾	generic additional station, digi, mobile, wx, etc
-4	Network Nodes.²¹⁾	generic additional station, digi, mobile, wx, etc
-5	Console, keyboard or printer	Other networks (Dstar, Iphones, Androids, Blackberry's etc)
-6	Conference Bridges	Special activity, Satellite ops, camping or 6 meters, etc
-7	Crossband digipeaters and KA-Nodes	walkie talkies, HT's or other human portable
-8	Crossband digipeaters	boats, sailboats, RV's or second main mobile
-9	Mobiles	Primary Mobile (usually message capable)
-10	Winlink 2K	internet, Igates, echolink, winlink, AVRS, APRN, etc
-11	unassigned	balloons, aircraft, spacecraft, etc
-12	unassigned	APRStt, DTMF, RFID, devices, one-way trackers*, etc
-13	unassigned	Weather stations
-14	unassigned	Truckers or generally full time drivers
-15	Downlink address when exiting the far end of a network connection.	generic additional station, digi, mobile, wx, etc

Sources

¹⁸⁾

Note: “-0” not needed - automatically presumed if no SSID.

¹⁹⁾

Usually a TNC-based PBBS

²⁰⁾

Those that forward mail and bulletins

²¹⁾

Having two or more radio ports that perform routing functions via TCP/IP, NetROM, etc. Can be combined with BBS's that also perform routing.

sstv

Slow Scan TV

From Wikipedia: Slow-scan Television:

Slow Scan television (SSTV) is a picture transmission method used mainly by amateur radio operators, to transmit and receive static pictures via radio in monochrome or color.

[SSTV] is a much slower method of still picture transmission, usually taking from about eight seconds to a couple of minutes, depending on the mode used, to transmit one image frame.

Since SSTV systems operate on voice frequencies, amateurs use it on shortwave (also known as HF by amateur radio operators), VHF and UHF radio.

Android

The easiest way to start playing SSTV is to install Robot36 to receive and (optionally) SSTV Encoder to send.

To test this off the air, use a phone with SSTV Encoder to “transmit” the picture as sound via the speakers, while a second phone with Robot36 listens and decodes the image.

To decode SSTV transmitted over the air, do the same thing: have your phone with Robot36 listen to the radio speaker and you'll see the image load.

Computer

The previous method is the most basic and is subject to noise from the environment. A better way of receiving and transmitting is to send the audio from the radio straight to a computer.

With the SignaLink already installed and configured, the only other step is to install a program like MMSSTV

ISS

From time to time, the International Space Station transmits pictures on 145.800 MHz. To find out where the ISS is, the Android app AmsatDroid is excellent. More information about SSTV from the ISS, can be found on amsat-uk.org.

Here's a picture that VA7FI received from the ISS on Jan 1, 2020 at 7:27 :

starticip

Static IP

Normally, the router is responsible for assigning local IP addresses to devices connected to it. Most of the time, it doesn't matter to us what the actual IP address is and whether or not it's always the same. But sometimes it does. For example, some computers connect to network printers using the IP address. So if the IP address changes, the computer can't find the printer. With EchoLink, we have to forward specific ports to the computer running EchoLink using its IP address. So again, it needs to be fixed.

This guide shows how to assign a specific IP address to a specific device using the T3200M that Telus provides.

We'll assign a specific IP address to the device's MAC address
To find the device's MAC address, we'll use the device's current IP address to look it up.
We'll reboot the device to ensure it takes on the new IP address.
For EchoLink: we'll forward specific ports to the static IP address.

Step 0

Make sure that the device you want to change is connected to the network.

Step 1

Open the router's setting's page to find out the current IP address of the device:

Go to http://192.168.1.254
On the top right corner of the screen, login using:
- Username: admin
- Password: (written on the modem below the word “admin”. It's NOT your wifi password.)
In the centre of the page, scroll down until you find your device and note its IP address:

Step 2

Open a Command Prompt Window (click the Start / Window button and type cmd)
Type the command arp -a. This will list all the devices connected to the network.
Find the IP address of your device and note its “Physical Address” (that's the MAC address)

Step 3

Back to the router settings page...

Click on “Advanced Setup” on the top right corner and “Proceed”
Click on “DHCP Reservation” under “IP Address”
Select the MAC address from the drop down menu
Select an IP address from the drop down menu (note that this IP address will be different from the current IP address)
Click “Apply”
Wait a few seconds and reboot the device so it gets assigned its new IP address.

Step 4a

If you did this for a printer, you'll now need to tell the computers what the new printer's IP address is.

Step 4b

If you did this for a computer running EchoLink, we now need to forward some ports to it. According to the Echolink website, we need to forward UDP ports 5198-5199. In the router settings page:

Click on “Firewall” at the top.
Click on “Port Forwarding” on the left.
Select the new IP address of the computer running EchoLink
Enter the port range (twice).
Select UDP
Click on “Apply”

Note

The first draft of this page was copied over from VA7FI's site with permission. Please feel free to expend on it.

stationcoax

Station Coax and Grounding

This is how VA7FI manages his coax runs into the house. It's meant as an example to help people get started. I'm not an authority on the subject. Feedback is always welcome.

Outside

On the coax side:²²⁾

LMR400 is used for most antennas to the transition box.
The box shown here is 9“×9”×4½“, but I would probably use the next size up if I did it again: there's never enough antennas!
Two pieces of flattened copper pipe are used as bus bars.
The coax from the antennas connect into the coaxial lightning protectors²³⁾, which are mounted on the bus bars, which are grounded.
From there, RG-8X coax is used to go inside the house.

On the grounding side:

The antennas up the tree are grounded to a ground rod and a ground plate.
Those are bonded to the ground plate that connects to the transition box.
That is also bonded to the utility ground of the house.
And is bounded to a central grounding point inside the house.

Inside

The RG-8X from the transition box connects to the back of a patch panel, and the front is labelled with which antenna is connected there.
Radios connect to the front of the patch panel, and the patch cords are labelled with the radio.
The patch panel is bonded to the transition box outside, and the radios are connected to the patch panel.

The patch panel makes it very easy to swap antennas between radios without ever having to disconnect anything behind the radio itself.

Flow Chart

²²⁾

Click on any of the pictures to zoom in.

²³⁾

Coax lightning protectors are also sometimes referred as Polyphaser, which is one of the brand names

syntax

Editing Mode

In order to edit this site, you must first Log In (top right corner).
After that, the “pen icon” will appear on the right, which allows you to edit the entire page.
Alternatively, each section will have an Edit button that allows you to edit only that section.

News Item

To post a news item:

Make sure you are logged in.
Click on the Create a News Item link on the front page, which will show the following instruction:
Once you have entered your short title in the box, and clicked on Create this page, a new page will open with your title at the top. You'll want to insert a line above it and type at the very top to suppress the automatic Tables Of Contents.
For more details on the syntax you can use, see the rest of this page.

To see the full list of articles, click on the See the full News Feed link.

Here's a (not-so brief) tutorial on how to add a news item with various formatting tricks:

You can see the News Item Example and click on the edit button to see the code behind it.

Formatting Syntax

DokuWiki supports some simple markup language, which tries to make the datafiles to be as readable as possible. This page contains all possible syntax you may use when editing the pages. Simply have a look at the source of this page by pressing “Edit this page”. If you want to try something, just use the playground page. The simpler markup is easily accessible via quickbuttons, too.

Basic Text Formatting

DokuWiki supports bold, italic, underlined and monospaced texts. Of course you can combine all these.

DokuWiki supports **bold**, //italic//, __underlined__ and ''monospaced'' texts.
Of course you can **__//''combine''//__** all these.

You can use _subscript and ^superscript, too.

You can use <sub>subscript</sub> and <sup>superscript</sup>, too.

You can mark something as ~~deleted~~ as well.

You can mark something as <del>deleted</del> as well.

Paragraphs are created from blank lines. If you want to force a newline without a paragraph, you can use two backslashes followed by a whitespace or the end of line.

This is some text with some linebreaks
Note that the two backslashes are only recognized at the end of a line
or followed by
a whitespace \\this happens without it.

This is some text with some linebreaks\\ Note that the
two backslashes are only recognized at the end of a line\\
or followed by\\ a whitespace \\this happens without it.

You should use forced newlines only if really needed.

Links

DokuWiki supports multiple ways of creating links.

External

External links are recognized automagically: https://www.google.com or simply www.google.com - You can set the link text as well: This Link points to google. Email addresses like this one: andi@splitbrain.org are recognized, too.

DokuWiki supports multiple ways of creating links. External links are recognized
automagically: https://www.google.com or simply www.google.com - You can set
link text as well: [[https://www.google.com|This Link points to google]]. Email
addresses like this one: <andi@splitbrain.org> are recognized, too.

Internal

Internal links are created by using square brackets. You can either just give a pagename or use an additional link text.

Internal links are created by using square brackets. You can either just give
a [[pagename]] or use an additional [[pagename|link text]].

Wiki pagenames are converted to lowercase automatically, special characters are not allowed.

You can use namespaces by using a colon in the pagename.

You can use [[some:namespaces]] by using a colon in the pagename.

For details about namespaces see namespaces.

Linking to a specific section is possible, too. Just add the section name behind a hash character as known from HTML. This links to this Section.

This links to [[syntax#internal|this Section]].

Notes:

Links to existing pages are shown in a different style from nonexisting ones.
DokuWiki does not use CamelCase to automatically create links by default, but this behavior can be enabled in the config file. Hint: If DokuWiki is a link, then it's enabled.
When a section's heading is changed, its bookmark changes, too. So don't rely on section linking too much.

Interwiki

DokuWiki supports Interwiki links. These are quick links to other Wikis. For example this is a link to Wikipedia's page about Wikis: Wiki.

DokuWiki supports [[doku>Interwiki]] links. These are quick links to other Wikis.
For example this is a link to Wikipedia's page about Wikis: [[wp>Wiki]].

Windows Shares

Windows shares like this are recognized, too. Please note that these only make sense in a homogeneous user group like a corporate Intranet.

Windows Shares like [[\\server\share|this]] are recognized, too.

Notes:

For security reasons direct browsing of windows shares only works in Microsoft Internet Explorer per default (and only in the “local zone”).
For Mozilla and Firefox it can be enabled through different workaround mentioned in the Mozilla Knowledge Base. However, there will still be a JavaScript warning about trying to open a Windows Share. To remove this warning (for all users), put the following line in conf/lang/en/lang.php (more details at localization):
```
<?php
/**
 * Customization of the english language file
 * Copy only the strings that needs to be modified
 */
$lang['js']['nosmblinks'] = '';
```

Image Links

You can also use an image to link to another internal or external page by combining the syntax for links and images (see below) like this:

[[https://php.net|{{wiki:dokuwiki-128.png}}]]

Please note: The image formatting is the only formatting syntax accepted in link names.

The whole image and link syntax is supported (including image resizing, internal and external images and URLs and interwiki links).

Footnotes

You can add footnotes ²⁴⁾ by using double parentheses.

You can add footnotes ((This is a footnote)) by using double parentheses.

Sectioning

You can use up to five different levels of headlines to structure your content. If you have more than three headlines, a table of contents is generated automatically ‒ this can be disabled by including the string ~~NOTOC~~ in the document.

Headline Level 3

Headline Level 4

Headline Level 5

==== Headline Level 3 ====
=== Headline Level 4 ===
== Headline Level 5 ==

By using four or more dashes, you can make a horizontal line:

Media Files

You can include external and internal images, videos and audio files with curly brackets. Optionally you can specify the size of them.

Real size:

Resize to given width:

Resize to given width and height²⁵⁾:

Resized external image:

Real size:                        {{wiki:dokuwiki-128.png}}
Resize to given width:            {{wiki:dokuwiki-128.png?50}}
Resize to given width and height: {{wiki:dokuwiki-128.png?200x50}}
Resized external image:           {{https://php.net/images/php.gif?200x50}}

By using left or right whitespaces you can choose the alignment.

{{ wiki:dokuwiki-128.png}}
{{wiki:dokuwiki-128.png }}
{{ wiki:dokuwiki-128.png }}

Of course, you can add a title (displayed as a tooltip by most browsers), too.

{{ wiki:dokuwiki-128.png |This is the caption}}

For linking an image to another page see Image Links above.

Supported Media Formats

DokuWiki can embed the following media formats directly.

Image	`gif`, `jpg`, `png`
Video	`webm`, `ogv`, `mp4`
Audio	`ogg`, `mp3`, `wav`
Flash	`swf`

If you specify a filename that is not a supported media format, then it will be displayed as a link instead.

By adding ?linkonly you provide a link to the media without displaying it inline

{{wiki:dokuwiki-128.png?linkonly}}

dokuwiki-128.png This is just a link to the image.

Fallback Formats

Unfortunately not all browsers understand all video and audio formats. To mitigate the problem, you can upload your file in different formats for maximum browser compatibility.

For example consider this embedded mp4 video:

{{video.mp4|A funny video}}

When you upload a video.webm and video.ogv next to the referenced video.mp4, DokuWiki will automatically add them as alternatives so that one of the three files is understood by your browser.

Additionally DokuWiki supports a “poster” image which will be shown before the video has started. That image needs to have the same filename as the video and be either a jpg or png file. In the example above a video.jpg file would work.

Lists

Dokuwiki supports ordered and unordered lists. To create a list item, indent your text by two spaces and use a * for unordered lists or a - for ordered ones.

This is a list
The second item
- You may have different levels
Another item

The same list but ordered
Another item
1. Just use indention for deeper levels
That's it

  * This is a list
  * The second item
    * You may have different levels
  * Another item

  - The same list but ordered
  - Another item
    - Just use indention for deeper levels
  - That's it

Also take a look at the FAQ on list items.

Text Conversions

DokuWiki can convert certain pre-defined characters or strings into images or other text or HTML.

The text to image conversion is mainly done for smileys. And the text to HTML conversion is used for typography replacements, but can be configured to use other HTML as well.

Text to Image Conversions

DokuWiki converts commonly used emoticons to their graphical equivalents. Those Smileys and other images can be configured and extended. Here is an overview of Smileys included in DokuWiki:

8-)
8-O
:-(
:-)
=)
:-/
:-\
:-?
:-D
:-P
:-O
:-X
:-|
;-)
^_^
:?:
:!:
LOL
FIXME
DELETEME

Text to HTML Conversions

Typography: DokuWiki can convert simple text characters to their typographically correct entities. Here is an example of recognized characters.

-> <- <-> => <= <=> >> << -- --- 640x480 (c) (tm) (r)
"He thought 'It's a man's world'..."

The same can be done to produce any kind of HTML, it just needs to be added to the pattern file.

There are three exceptions which do not come from that pattern file: multiplication entity (640×480), 'single' and “double quotes”. They can be turned off through a config option.

Quoting

Some times you want to mark some text to show it's a reply or comment. You can use the following syntax:

I think we should do it

> No we shouldn't

>> Well, I say we should

> Really?

>> Yes!

>>> Then lets do it!

I think we should do it

No we shouldn't

Well, I say we should

Really?

Yes!

Then lets do it!

Tables

DokuWiki supports a simple syntax to create tables.

Heading 1	Heading 2	Heading 3
Row 1 Col 1	Row 1 Col 2	Row 1 Col 3
Row 2 Col 1	some colspan (note the double pipe)
Row 3 Col 1	Row 3 Col 2	Row 3 Col 3

Table rows have to start and end with a | for normal rows or a ^ for headers.

^ Heading 1      ^ Heading 2       ^ Heading 3          ^
| Row 1 Col 1    | Row 1 Col 2     | Row 1 Col 3        |
| Row 2 Col 1    | some colspan (note the double pipe) ||
| Row 3 Col 1    | Row 3 Col 2     | Row 3 Col 3        |

To connect cells horizontally, just make the next cell completely empty as shown above. Be sure to have always the same amount of cell separators!

Vertical tableheaders are possible, too.

	Heading 1	Heading 2
Heading 3	Row 1 Col 2	Row 1 Col 3
Heading 4	no colspan this time
Heading 5	Row 2 Col 2	Row 2 Col 3

As you can see, it's the cell separator before a cell which decides about the formatting:

|              ^ Heading 1            ^ Heading 2          ^
^ Heading 3    | Row 1 Col 2          | Row 1 Col 3        |
^ Heading 4    | no colspan this time |                    |
^ Heading 5    | Row 2 Col 2          | Row 2 Col 3        |

You can have rowspans (vertically connected cells) by adding ::: into the cells below the one to which they should connect.

Heading 1	Heading 2	Heading 3
Row 1 Col 1	this cell spans vertically	Row 1 Col 3
Row 2 Col 1		Row 2 Col 3
Row 3 Col 1		Row 2 Col 3

Apart from the rowspan syntax those cells should not contain anything else.

^ Heading 1      ^ Heading 2                  ^ Heading 3          ^
| Row 1 Col 1    | this cell spans vertically | Row 1 Col 3        |
| Row 2 Col 1    | :::                        | Row 2 Col 3        |
| Row 3 Col 1    | :::                        | Row 2 Col 3        |

You can align the table contents, too. Just add at least two whitespaces at the opposite end of your text: Add two spaces on the left to align right, two spaces on the right to align left and two spaces at least at both ends for centered text.

Table with alignment
right	center	left
left	right	center
xxxxxxxxxxxx	xxxxxxxxxxxx	xxxxxxxxxxxx

This is how it looks in the source:

^           Table with alignment           ^^^
|         right|    center    |left          |
|left          |         right|    center    |
| xxxxxxxxxxxx | xxxxxxxxxxxx | xxxxxxxxxxxx |

Note: Vertical alignment is not supported.

No Formatting

If you need to display text exactly like it is typed (without any formatting), enclose the area either with <nowiki> tags or even simpler, with double percent signs %%.

This is some text which contains addresses like this: https://www.splitbrain.org and **formatting**, but nothing is done with it. The same is true for //__this__ text// with a smiley ;-).

<nowiki>
This is some text which contains addresses like this: https://www.splitbrain.org and **formatting**, but nothing is done with it.
</nowiki>
The same is true for %%//__this__ text// with a smiley ;-)%%.

Code Blocks

You can include code blocks into your documents by either indenting them by at least two spaces (like used for the previous examples) or by using the tags <code> or <file>.

This is text is indented by two spaces.

<pcode> This is preformatted code all spaces are preserved: like ←this </code>

This is pretty much the same, but you could use it to show that you quoted a file.

Those blocks were created by this source:

  This is text is indented by two spaces.

<code>
This is preformatted code all spaces are preserved: like              <-this
</code>

<file>
This is pretty much the same, but you could use it to show that you quoted a file.
</file>

Syntax Highlighting

DokuWiki can highlight sourcecode, which makes it easier to read. It uses the GeSHi Generic Syntax Highlighter ‒ so any language supported by GeSHi is supported. The syntax uses the same code and file blocks described in the previous section, but this time the name of the language syntax to be highlighted is included inside the tag, e.g. <code java> or <file java>.

/**
 * The HelloWorldApp class implements an application that
 * simply displays "Hello World!" to the standard output.
 */
class HelloWorldApp {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        System.out.println("Hello World!"); //Display the string.
    }
}

The following language strings are currently recognized:

4cs 6502acme 6502kickass 6502tasm 68000devpac abap actionscript3 actionscript ada aimms algol68 apache applescript apt_sources arm asm asp asymptote autoconf autohotkey autoit avisynth awk bascomavr bash basic4gl batch bf biblatex bibtex blitzbasic bnf boo caddcl cadlisp ceylon cfdg cfm chaiscript chapel cil c_loadrunner clojure c_mac cmake cobol coffeescript c cpp cpp-qt cpp-winapi csharp css cuesheet c_winapi dart dcl dcpu16 dcs delphi diff div dos dot d ecmascript eiffel email epc e erlang euphoria ezt f1 falcon fo fortran freebasic freeswitch fsharp gambas gdb genero genie gettext glsl gml gnuplot go groovy gwbasic haskell haxe hicest hq9plus html html4strict html5 icon idl ini inno intercal io ispfpanel java5 java javascript jcl j jquery julia kixtart klonec klonecpp kotlin latex lb ldif lisp llvm locobasic logtalk lolcode lotusformulas lotusscript lscript lsl2 lua m68k magiksf make mapbasic mathematica matlab mercury metapost mirc mk-61 mmix modula2 modula3 mpasm mxml mysql nagios netrexx newlisp nginx nimrod nsis oberon2 objc objeck ocaml-brief ocaml octave oobas oorexx oracle11 oracle8 oxygene oz parasail parigp pascal pcre perl6 perl per pf phix php-brief php pic16 pike pixelbender pli plsql postgresql postscript povray powerbuilder powershell proftpd progress prolog properties providex purebasic pycon pys60 python qbasic qml q racket rails rbs rebol reg rexx robots rpmspec rsplus ruby rust sas sass scala scheme scilab scl sdlbasic smalltalk smarty spark sparql sql standardml stonescript swift systemverilog tclegg tcl teraterm texgraph text thinbasic tsql twig typoscript unicon upc urbi uscript vala vbnet vb vbscript vedit verilog vhdl vim visualfoxpro visualprolog whitespace whois winbatch xbasic xml xojo xorg_conf xpp yaml z80 zxbasic

There are additional advanced options available for syntax highlighting, such as highlighting lines or adding line numbers.

Downloadable Code Blocks

When you use the <code> or <file> syntax as above, you might want to make the shown code available for download as well. You can do this by specifying a file name after language code like this:

<file php myexample.php>
<?php echo "hello world!"; ?>
</file>

myexample.php

<?php echo "hello world!"; ?>

If you don't want any highlighting but want a downloadable file, specify a dash (-) as the language code: <code - myfile.foo>.

Embedding HTML

You can embed raw HTML code into your documents by using the <html> tag. (Use uppercase tags if you need to enclose block level elements.)

HTML example:

<html>
This is some <span style="color:red;font-size:150%;">inline HTML</span>
</html>
<HTML>
<p style="border:2px dashed red;">And this is some block HTML</p>
</HTML>

This is some inline HTML

And this is some block HTML

Please Note: HTML embedding requires the htmlok plugin. Without it, the code is displayed instead of executed.

RSS/ATOM Feed Aggregation

DokuWiki can integrate data from external XML feeds. For parsing the XML feeds, SimplePie is used. All formats understood by SimplePie can be used in DokuWiki as well. You can influence the rendering by multiple additional space separated parameters:

Parameter	Description
any number	will be used as maximum number items to show, defaults to 8
reverse	display the last items in the feed first
author	show item authors names
date	show item dates
description	show the item description. If HTML is disabled all tags will be stripped
nosort	do not sort the items in the feed
n[dhm]	refresh period, where d=days, h=hours, m=minutes. (e.g. 12h = 12 hours).

The refresh period defaults to 4 hours. Any value below 10 minutes will be treated as 10 minutes. DokuWiki will generally try to supply a cached version of a page, obviously this is inappropriate when the page contains dynamic external content. The parameter tells DokuWiki to re-render the page if it is more than refresh period since the page was last rendered.

By default the feed will be sorted by date, newest items first. You can sort it by oldest first using the reverse parameter, or display the feed as is with nosort.

Example:

{{rss>https://slashdot.org/index.rss 5 author date 1h }}

Musk Testifies OpenAI Was Created As Nonprofit To Counter Google by BeauHD (2026/04/28 20:30)
Electrical Current Might Be the Key To a Better Cup of Coffee by BeauHD (2026/04/28 16:00)
Apple Vision Pro Used In World-First Cataract Surgery by BeauHD (2026/04/28 15:00)
Sony Rolls Out 30-Day Online DRM Check-In For PlayStation Digital Games by BeauHD (2026/04/28 14:00)
Apple Introduces a Cheaper Option For App Store Subscriptions by BeauHD (2026/04/28 13:00)

Control Macros

Some syntax influences how DokuWiki renders a page without creating any output it self. The following control macros are available:

Macro	Description
~~NOTOC~~	If this macro is found on the page, no table of contents will be created
~~NOCACHE~~	DokuWiki caches all output by default. Sometimes this might not be wanted (adding this macro will force DokuWiki to rerender a page on every call

Syntax Plugins

DokuWiki's syntax can be extended by Plugins. How the installed plugins are used is described on their appropriate description pages. The following syntax plugins are available in this particular DokuWiki installation:

Blockquote Plugin 2020-09-27 by Anika Henke (previous author: Gina Haeussge)
Write quotations in a semantically correct way
Blog 2023-10-24 by Michael Hamann, Michael Klier, Gina Haeussge
Use DokuWiki as blogging tool. (previous authors: Esther Brunner)
Changes Plugin 2023-12-14 by Andreas Gohr
List the most recent changes of the wiki
comment 2023-08-18 by Gina Häußge, Michael Klier
Add comments/notes to your wiki source that won't be shown on the page.
config:htmlok Plugin 2023-07-12 by Luis Machuca Bezzaza
Enables raw HTML like the old 'config:htmlok' behaviour.
Structured Data Plugin 2024-01-30 by Andreas Gohr
Add and query structured data in your wiki
date plugin 2016-08-28 by Marcel Pietschmann
Wrapper about the php command strftime and date
Diagrams plugin 2025-10-15 by Innovakom + CosmoCode
Embed diagrams.net editor (formerly draw.io)
discussion plugin 2025-07-04 by Michael Hamann, Gerrit Uitslag, Gina Häussge, Christopher Smith, Michael Klier, Esther Brunner, Matthias Schulte
Provides discussion funtionality for wiki pages
Dw2Pdf plugin 2026-01-08 by Andreas Gohr and Luigi Micco
DokuWiki to PDF converter
geogebra6 syntax plugin 2020-11-08 by Patrick Truchon
Embed GeoGebra 6 files into Dokuwiki
hidden Plugin 2023-11-07 by Guillaume Turri
Enable to hide/show details
include plugin 2023-09-22 by Michael Hamann, Gina Häussge, Christopher Smith, Michael Klier, Esther Brunner
Functions to include another page in a wiki page
Info Plugin 2020-06-04 by Andreas Gohr
Displays information about various DokuWiki internals
keyboard 2023-02-23 by Gina Häußge
The keyboard plugin provides a combined syntax and action plugin in order to markup text as keyboard keys, similar to (and making use of) the existing (X)HTML tag <kbd>…</kbd>. A quick button for the markup is automatically inserted into the toolbar of the edit form.
Lastmod Plugin 2016-02-03 by Dennis Ploeger
Displays the timestamp of the last modification of the current or another page.
MathJax plugin 2021-11-20 by Mark Liffiton
Enables MathJax (https://www.mathjax.org/) parsing of TeX math expressions in wiki pages
Pagebreak plugin 2016-02-16 by Jonathan McBride and Chris Sturm
Inserts " <br style="page-break-after:always;"> " into the html of the document for every <pagebreak> it encounters
Pagelist Plugin 2023-08-27 by Matthias Schulte, Michael Hamann, Michael Klier, Gina Haeussge
Lists pages in a nice formatted way
PageQuery Plugin 2025-03-04 by Mark C. Prins, previously Symon Bent
Search for (fulltext) and list wiki pages, sorted and optionally grouped by name, date, creator, abc, etc. in columns. Insert the pagequery markup wherever you want your list to appear. E.g.{{pagequery>[query;fulltext;sort=key:direction,key2:direction;group;limit=??;cols=?;inwords;proper]}} [..] = optional
PDF.js 2020-06-29 by Szymon Olewniczak
Show pdf files using PDF.js
sortablejs 2025-12-09 by vaxquis
Allow sorting tables by columns
svgEmbed plugin 2025-07-07 by Emma Bowers
Allows the use of the standard media syntax, but SVG files are placed with the <object> or <embed> tag, not the <img> tag.
Table Width Plugin 2022-08-09 by Mykola Ostrovskyy
Allows to specify width of table columns.
Typography plugin 2020-07-31 by Satoshi Sahara
Enable typesetting capabilities with CSS font properties such as font face, size, weight, and color of text
Video Sharing Site Plugin 2025-12-10 by Andreas Gohr
Easily embed videos from various Video Sharing sites. Example: {{youtube>XXXXXX}}
Wrap Plugin 2023-08-13 by Anika Henke
Universal plugin which combines functionalities of many other plugins. Wrap wiki text inside containers (divs or spans) and give them a class (choose from a variety of preset classes), a width and/or a language with its associated text direction.
Simple universal list plugin 2023-06-30 by Mark C. Prins, previously Ben Slusky
Extend DokuWiki list syntax to allow definition list and multiple paragraphs in a list entry

²⁴⁾

This is a footnote

²⁵⁾

when the aspect ratio of the given width and height doesn't match that of the image, it will be cropped to the new ratio before resizing

winlink_ardop

Winlink ARDOP

Winlink ARDOP is a method of sending “email” messages over HF radio via an RMS station. If you are new to Winlink, see the Winlink How-To first.

Initial Setup

Before connecting the radio to the computer for the first time, ensure to install the driver.
Ensure the radio is setup for digital mode, turn it on, and connect it to the computer.
Open Winlink and open an Ardop Winlink session
Under the Ardop Session Settings
- Copy the following Ardop TNC Setup
- Copy the following Radio Setup
Under the Virtual TNC File
- Copy the following Virtual TNC Setup
- Copy the following Optional Radio Settings

Radio Check

The Scenario

In the event of an emergency where the power, phone, and internet are all down, I want to be able to send my family back east a quick email to let them know that I'm ok, and offer the same service to others in my neighbourhood.

The first step is to select a list of stations I can connect to from my location. To do this, select:

Channel Selection to see a list of all available stations.
Update Via Internet to update the propagation information (last two columns).
Sort by Path Reliability Estimate or Path Quality Estimate to see the most reachable stations first.

These stations can also be visualized using the Map option or from the Winlink website.

Every week, I connect to RMS stations in different locations without actually sending or receiving messages just to see how long the “handshake” takes to see if I can connect at all.

I save the successful connections to my Winlink favourites for quick retrieval, but I also log them in a spreadsheet for further analysis.

The Spreadsheet

The Winlink favourites list is a good tool, but it's hard to “rank” the best stations. To that end, I use a spreadsheet to log the following information in addition to the stations' info:

The length of the session (the shorter the better).
The date I last connected (the most recent the better).
The number of times I managed a connection (the more times the better), which auto calculates the percentage of time I've been able to connect to the station.

I also perform a crude approximation of the coastal distance of the RMS station. The rational here is that if an earthquake hits, there's a good chance that coastal RMS stations will be affected or overloaded so I want to be able to connect to a station further inland.

Based on all these different measures, I then create a semi-subjective ranking of the stations. Those are the stations I would try to connect to first.

Some stations have a daily connection time limit. This is the total time I can be connected to that station (combining different frequencies or bands) during a given day.
Some stations have the ability to hold and forward messages if the station's internet goes down. This only works if the sender and recipient connect to the same RMS. These are called hybrid stations.

The purpose of this spreadsheet is to do the “thinking” ahead of time so that in a real emergency, I can just look at the ranking to select the best frequency.

For more details on how I estimated the coastal distance, click on the link below:

Click to display ⇲

Click to hide ⇱

I could manually look up the coastal distance of each station and note it, but that's a lot of tedious work. Instead, I used the distance and bearing between my station and the RMS station and performed some basic trigonometry to get an estimate.

To visualize the calculations, start with an Azimuthal Map centred at your location.

I drew two lines to represent the coast. One going north west at a bearing of 330° and one going south at a bearing of 170°. These two lines are eye-ball approximations of where most of the coast is.
Now imagine an RMS station \$S\$ at a distance \$d\$ with a bearing of \$\theta\$ (1000 km away at a bearing of 15° for example).
The distance from the coast would be: \$ x = d \sin(30° + \theta) \$
in our example: \$ x \$ = 1000km • sin(45°) = 707km
Similarly, if the station is at a bearing south of 70°, the distance is calculated using \$ x = d \sin(170° - \theta) \$

This is an approximation for two reasons:

Obviously, the coast isn't simply two straight lines.
But a more subtle point is that this simple geometry only works on a flat surface, not on the curved surface of the globe.

That being said, my purpose is not to know exactly how far the stations are from the coast, but to be able to roughly rank them so that I can identify those that are the furthest inland.

Ardop vs Vara vs Pactor

There's essentially four different methods for sending Winlink messages on HF:

Pactor is the fastest / most robust method but it requires a $2100 external modem to work.
Winmor has been deprecated and will probably be removed from later versions of Winlink. It has a maximum speed of 750 bps.
Ardop is the method I use. It is an open protocol in active development and has a maximum speed of 1336 bps. See here for an overview.
Vara is a closed protocol. The demo version has a maximum speed of 175 bps and the full version ($70 USD) has a maximum speed of 7536 bps. See here for more details.

So which is best to use? Well, it depends... For P2P, it's important that everyone uses the same method (and frequency), but for messages sent via an RMS, it doesn't matter at all.

It also depends on who's using it:

What is best for a local EOC?

Our local EOC reports to the SW PREOC in Surrey and their website says:

The preferred method is data rather than voice. If you cannot get through peer to peer, send the message via Winlink.

It then goes on to list HF Data frequencies but doesn't say which mode to use (as if that was obvious). But our local EOC has a Pactor modem so I assume that's the industry standard. But that only matters for P2P. Winlink messages sent to an RMS will make it to their destination no matter the method.

So for EOCs, the answer seems to be the current standard: Pactor

What is best for individuals?

Again, unless you want to use P2P, it doesn't matter if people are using different methods. Both Ardop and the free version of Vara seem to work, although the demo version of Vara also shows an annoying popup screen every few minutes asking you to register.²⁶⁾

Conclusion

I understand the desire for standardization within a region. It would be nice if there was only one mode (and it was free), but given all the different options, I guess it's a trade-off between cost, community by-in, and speed.

Personally, I can't justify spending $100 from my limited ham radio fund just to get a Winlink speed upgrade. If the option was between having HF Winlink for $100, or no HF Winlink at all, I would spend the money, but $100 for a mere speed upgrade is below my diminishing returns threshold. There's a lot of more I could do to improve my station with that money.

The other thing to consider is that if Vara figured out a way to increase the speed in a closed-proprietary way, it's just a matter of time before the Open Source Ardop team catches up. Personally, I tend to favour open source options to closed proprietary ones not only because it's cheaper for myself, but also because it lowers the entry bar for others in the community to join. If HF P2P is really important for our community, then we probably don't want to exclude people who can't afford the $100 entrance fee.

²⁶⁾

Vara shows an annoying popup screen every few minutes.

winlink

Winlink

This section outlines how to send and receive messages with Winlink Express. More information about how to configure the hardware can be found on the Signalink How-To.

Operating Modes

When composing a new message, you must choose how the message will be sent:

Winlink Message: Your station makes a radio connection to a Radio Message Server (RMS). The RMS makes an Internet connection to a Common Message Server (CMS) that is the central message repository. Your messages are sent via radio to the RMS and then through the Internet to the CMS until the recipient connects and downloads messages addressed to themselves. This mode is efficient and highly reliable. Winlink operates multiple CMS that synchronize with each other frequently to provide completely redundancy. If an RMS is down and unable to receive a connection, the client can connect to a different RMS. Since all messages are stored in the central CMS database, it doesn’t matter which RMS the sender and recipient connect to.
Radio-Only Message: Where as the previous mode relies on an Internet connection between the RMS and a CMS, the Radio-Only mode does away with the CMS and the internet connection it relies on. Instead, messages are sent to a designated RMS for storage until it is retrieved by the recipient. This mode of operation can operate with local and total Internet outages.
Peer-To-Peer Message: This mode of operation transfers messages directly from the sender to the recipient without going through an RMS or a CMS and without the Internet. This is like a “simplex” mode, which requires:
- Both stations to be on the air at the same time and on the same frequency.
- Both stations to use the same transmission protocol (Packet, Winmor, Pactor, etc).

So the steps to compose a message are to:

Select how the message will be sent as.
Enter the recipient's address (usually their callsign, which may or may not require an SSID)
And lastly, after the message is written, Post to Outbox, which saves the message locally and marks it to be sent.

Before initiating a connection (section below), you can write and post multiple messages to the outbox first.

SSID

Before going into more details, it might be worth taking a small detour to learn about SSIDs (the dash number after the callsign) since it has a different meaning depending on whether it's for APRS or Winlink. See the SSID How-To for more info.

Winlink Messages

The type of connection needed is chosen from the Open Session drop down menu.

Messages that are marked to be sent as Winlink Messages require a Winlink connection:

Telnet Winlink sends the message directly to the CMS via the Internet, by-passing the RMS. It's pretty much like sending an email and doesn't require a radio connection.
Packet Winlink is typically a VHF or UHF connection to an RMS, which will then connect to a CMS via the internet.
Pactor Winlink is an HF connection to an RMS. It requires an expensive PACTOR TNC between the radio and computer.
~~Winmor Winlink~~ Winmor is deprecated. See here for more info.
Ardop Winlink is another HF connection to an RMS that doesn't necessarily require a TNC. The IC-7300, for example, can connect to the computer directly with a simple USB cable. The connection is slower than PACTOR however. For more details, see the Winlink Ardop page.

For Winlink connections, the address and frequency of the session must match that of a RMS chosen (not that of the recipient). A list of RMS can be found in the Channel Selection table: Once the table is updated, select an RMS near you, and ensure that the frequency of your radio matches that of the RMS listed in the table and press Start. At this point, two things will happen:

All the Winlink messages in your Outbox will be sent to the RMS and forwarded to the CMS, and
All the messages that the CMS has for you will be sent to your Inbox.

A few things to note about Winlink Messages:

You can send a message to a station callsign (mine for example is VA7FI)
You can send a message to a regular email address since the RMS has access to the internet.
You can retrieve messages sent to your station callsign
You can retrieve emails sent to CALLSIGN@winlink.org (mine for example is va7fi@winlink.org)

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Messages

Messages that are marked to be sent as Peer-to-Peer Messages require a P2P connection:

Packet P2P is a direct VHF or UHF connection between the two stations exchanging messages.
Pactor P2P is a direct HF connection between the two stations exchanging messages using the PACTOR protocol.
~~Winmor P2P~~ Winmor is deprecated. See here for more info.
Ardop P2P is a direct HF connection between the two stations exchanging messages using the Ardop protocol.

Direct

For a Direct P2P connections, the address and frequency of the session must match that of a recipient (there is no RMS):

Ensure that the frequency of your radio matches that of the recipient.
Ensure that the recipient has a P2P session open.
There are two different transmit speeds: 1200 Baud and 9600 Baud. You can only use 9600 Baud if your radio can transmit at that speed AND if the other station is also equipped for 9600 Baud and listening at 9600. Otherwise, use 1200 Baud. A rule of thumb if you're unsure what the other station is using is to:
- Set to transmit at 1200 Baud (the other station will be able to receive you at either 1200 Baud or 9600 Baud)
- Set your standby receive mode to 9600 baud (so you'll be able to receive stations transmitting at 1200 Baud or 9600 Baud).
press Start

At this point, two things will happen:

All the P2P messages in your Outbox addressed to the recipient will be sent to them, and
All the messages that the recipient might have in their outbox addressed to you will be sent to your Inbox.

This second point is worth highlighting: the session sends and receives messages. This can be useful in the case if the station you're trying to contact is off the air, but you expect that they'll try to connect to you in the near future. In that case, you can write them a message, post it in your outbox, and wait for them to initiate the connection.

Script

It's possible to connect to a station out of reach using a digipeater. On Vancouver Island, multiple digipeaters are setup on 144.970 MHz with an SSID of -8 and require a Script to access. For example, for VE7HZF to send a message to VE7SCE via VE7LSO-8, all three stations need to be on 144.970 MHz:

The first step is to create a script:
In this example, I named it SCE (LSO) so I can reuse it easily later:
Once saved, select it and press Start:

If you monitor the traffic as you connect to the digipeater, you'll notice a few things:

Everything you send to VE7LSO-8 is being repeated by the digipeater for VE7SCE
Your callsign (in this case VE7HZF), is being retransmitted by the digipeater as VE7HZF-15. See the SSID How-To page for more info.
The exchange takes more than twice the time of a direct connection because unlike a voice repeater that repeats in real time, a digipeater waits for you to stop transmitting before it repeats it.

As Robert pointed out (see email with Subject: BPQ from Nov 4, 2023), some digipeater require adding a port number (but some don't).

Here is a short list of scripts that work as of Nov 5, 2023 (replace [callsign] with the destination callsign):

c ve7lso-8
conn
c [callsign]
conn

c ve7wod-8
conn
c [callsign]
conn

c ve7spr-8
conn
c 2 [callsign]
conn

Note the 2 on the third line of the last script. Failing to add the port number there will give the following error:

VE7SPR-8} DOWNLINK CONNECT NEEDS PORT NUMBER - C P CALLSIGN
Found script connection response CONNECT NEEDS PORT NUMBER - C P CALLSIGN

Digipeaters

From Roberts Creek, VA7FI is able to hear the following digipeater (-8) and RMS (-10) stations on 144.970 MHz:

Important Caveat: My knowledge of these stations is minimal. For more information, see:

Winlink Message via Digipeater

If a Winlink station (-10) is too far to be reached directly, a digipeater station (-8) can be used to relay the message.

Write your message as a Winlink Message (not P2P Message)
Open a Packet Winlink session (not Packet P2P)
Connection type: Script
Add a script like this one:
```
c ve7lso-8
conn
c ve7gn-10
conn
```
Select your script and start.

In this example, my message will be sent to VE7LSO-8, which will repeat it to VE7GN-10, which will then send it to the CMS via the internet.

Message Templates

Templates are a way to send complex pre-formatted html forms while keeping the bandwidth low. The basic idea is to:

Select a template from Winlink, which opens a form in your web browser.
Use the web browser to fill out the form and “Submit” it back to Winlink.
The attachment that's actually sent via Winlink is an xml file that contains the information you entered in the form without any of the fancy formatting (thus keeping the size small).
Once the receiver opens the message, Winlink uses that xml file and puts it into its local html form to re-constitute the fancy formatting.

The result is that both the sender and the receiver see the fancy form, but only the actual information is transmitted (not the formatting). Of course, this only works if both stations have the same local template, which is why it's important to keep Winlink templates up-to-date.

If you use the same template often, there are two things you can do to expedite the process.

Template Shortcut

The first is to set a template shortcut:

Click on Message and select Set favorite tempates...
Click on Browse, select the form you want to save, and give it a name.
To use it, open a new message and click on the name you entered earlier.

Save Message Data

Many templates allow you to save the message body so you can quickly reload it later. In my example:

I first wrote the message I want to save without the date
Then Save Quick Message Data, which will save a basic txt file.

When it's time to use it:

I click on Load Quick Message Data and
Click in the Date/Time: field to populate it.
Then click Submit to send it back to Winlink.

EasyTerm by UZ7HO

I'm still learning lots about this so please consider this section to be vastly incomplete and probably wrong. – Patrick, VA7FI 2020/01/01 07:45

An easy way to connect a radio to a computer using a Signalink is to use the UZ7HO Soundmodem program (see the Signalink How-To for more information). But another really good program by UZ7HO is EasyTerm, which allows you to connect to another station and send specific commands to it.

For example, VE7HZF connected to VE7LSO-8 and typed H:

*** Connected to station VE7LSO-8 2019-09-02 6:33:56 AM
:>H
497LSO:VE7LSO-8}  TYPE 'HELP' OR ? FOLLOWED BY COMMAND FOR MORE INFORMATION
BYE       CONNECT   CQ        HELP      INFO      LINKS     MHEARD    NODES   
PORTS     ROUTES    STATS     USERS     SYSOP

This is the list of commands that this station accepts. For example, to learn what MHEARD does, type ?MHEARD. To use it, type MHEARD.

Setup

EasyTerm Setup screen.	SoundModem Settings screen.
I used `-11` for the `Terminal Callsign` because Winlink Express is already using `-0`.	The `KISS Server Port 8100` had already been enabled for Winlink. Now we need to enable `AGWPE Server Port 8000` for EasyTerm.

Sources

Overview of the Winlink Hybrid Network
Introduction to Packet Radio By Larry Kenney, WB9LOZ

wrap

Wrap Plugin Examples

The Wrap plugin has some of its most commonly used wraps in the tool bar:

More info here

Columns

This is text in the left column.

This is text in the right column.

Alignment

All this text is aligned to the right.

All this text is aligned in the centre.

This text is aligned to the left as per usual.

This text is justified, which means that the lines are stretched so that they all end at the end.

Boxes

<WRAP prewrap 80%> is not technically a box, but it acts like one.

Also note that the width can be set as: %, px, em, rem, ex, ch, vw, vh, pt, pc, cm, mm, in

Misc

For embedded text, use wrap in lower case:

<wrap tip>
<wrap mark hi>
<wrap mark lo>
<wrap mark em>
<wrap spoiler>
<wrap indent>
<wrap outdent>
<wrap button>[[link]]wrap

Test

test

A Heading

So here's a sample wrap containing what I hope to eventually be a nicely formatted, visually appealing bit of content.

xband

Crossband Repeater

A crossband repeater is different from a regular repeater in two important ways:

	Regular Repeater	Crossband Repeater
1.	Uses the same band with a small offset between the tx and rx frequencies (600 kHz for VHF and 5 MHz for UHF)	Uses two frequencies on different bands (one on VHF and the other on UHF for example)
2.	Always listens to the same frequency (the input of the repeater) and always transmits on the other (the output)	Re-transmits on one frequency whatever it hears on the other, whichever it hears first.

Many higher end dualband radios are capable of doing cross-band repeat (Icom's ID-5100 or Kenwood's TM-D710G are two examples). Below are different uses for a crossband repeater.

Adhoc Repeater

Simplest

The simplest way to use a crossband repeater only works for two handhelds:

Here, each handheld uses a different band.
The problem is that you can't add more handhelds (unless they can already hear the others in simplex).

For more people

If you have more than two people, everyone will have to agree to use the same “input” and “output” frequencies, but that requires more fancy dual band tx/rx:

All handhelds are set to listen to 446.100 and transmit on 145.565 so that when Unit A transmits on 145.565,
The crossband repeater hears the 145.565 signal and re-transmits it on 446.100
Which Unit B hears, and vice versa.

In practice, it might be tricky to setup the handhelds to receive on one band and transmit on the other. With Baofeng radios, I found it was easier to have receiver A set to the Tx frequency and receiver B to the Rx frequency.

But also: look for a menu called something like RxMode. The four options I have on mine are:

CROSS BAND (uses two handhelds to create a cross band repeater)
DUAL RX RESPOND (the radio switches to whichever band it hears for the next transmit)
MAIN ONLY (the radio only uses the selected band so you can't hear the second one)
MAIN TX / DUAL RX (the radio only transmits on the selected band, but can hear both)

The last option is the right one to use for this setup

Repeater Extender

Simplest

This is a scheme I used to use at home with my base station in crossband mode: Tune one receiver to our local repeater, and the other to a simplex UHF frequency. Then use the handheld around the house and the yard with the “power” of my base station and antenna to get into the repeater.

Unit A transmits and receives on 446.100 (with a tone).
The crossband repeater hears 446.100 (with a tone squelch) and re-transmits it on 147.820 (the input of the repeater).
The repeater hears 147.820 and repeaters it on 147.220 (its output)
Unit B receives 147.220 and replies on 147.820, which
The repeater re-transmits on 147.220
The crossband repeater hears 147.220 and re-transmits it on 446.100.

All that is needed to “program” the crossband repeater is to tune it to the regular repeater frequency (with its proper offset and tone), and select a UHF simplex frequency for crossband repeating. I add a tone and tone squelch to the UHF frequency to limit interference being sent to the repeater from other operators who could join the UHF frequency not realizing it's in use.

The biggest flaw with this setup is that the radio doing the repeating is transmitting every time someone transmits, which means that the radio could transmit at close to 100% duty cycle, which it may or may not be designed to do. So it's best to use the lowest power setting and/or keep the use to a minimum.

One Way Variation

The following is a variation I use more often when I can hear the repeater with my handheld, but can't transmit to it because of the handheld's low power. In this configuration, the crossband repeater only transmit when I am transmitting, not when the others are transmitting, which is much much easier on the radio.

The crossband repeater is set up with the input frequency of the repeater without the offset. The tone is set to the repeater tone, but the tone squelch is set to something else (I'll explain in a minute). So:

Unit A transmits on 446.100 and receives the repeater's output on 147.220.
The crossband repeater hears 446.100 and re-transmits it on 147.820 (the input of the repeater).
The repeater hears 147.820 and repeats it on 147.220 (its output)
Unit B receives 147.220 and replies on 147.820
Then, two things happen:
- The repeater hears the signal on 147.820 and re-transmits it on 147.220 but,
- The crossband repeater does NOT hear the signal from the repeater's output frequency because it's tuned to its input. It also doesn't hear the input of Unit B (in case it's close enough to), because it has a different tone squelch than the repeater's tone.
- So the crossband repeater stays silent.
Unit A hears the output of the regular repeater, not the crossband repeater.

In this configuration, the crossband repeater only re-transmits Unit A, and not everyone else on the net, keeping the duty cycle low.

After much experimenting, I found that it's better for the second tone to be digital because a different analog tone sometimes interferes with the repeater's analog tone. Right now, this is how I setup my frequencies:

On the Crossband Radio

Band A: 147.820 MHz with a TONE(T)/DTCS(R) tone (it transmits an analog tone and requires a digital tone to open the squelch)
Band B: 446.100 MHz with a DTCS tone (it transmits a DTCS tone and requires one to open the squelch as well)

On the Handheld

Band A: 446.100 MHz with a DTCS tone (for transmitting only)
Band B: regular 147.220 MHz repeater frequency (for listening only)

Repeater Link

A crossband repeater can be used to link a VHF and UHF repeater simply by dialing both repeater frequencies (with offset and tones) on the crossband repeater.

Here again, high transmit duty cycle can be an issue.

Repeater Link Variation

Supposing a third handheld (Unit C) is close to the crossband repeater but can't hear either repeaters. Unit C can still communicate with Unit B by “impersonating” the UHF repeater: note the difference between Unit A and Unit C. In this configuration, Unit A and B can still communicate with each other, but Unit C can't reach Unit A.

To reach Unit A, Unit C would need to “impersonate” the VHF repeater and be setup as the “opposite” of Unit B.

KT-8900

It's pretty easy to setup a cross band repeater with two KT-8900 radios.

The first step is to make an ethernet patch cord with this pin out:

1 (Data Input)	↔	empty
2 (RPT CTRL)	↔	5 (PTT)
3 (MIC)	↔	8 (AF OUT)
4 (MIC GND)	↔	4 (MIC GND)
5 (PTT)	↔	2 (RPT CTRL)
6 (GND)	↔	6 (GND)
7 (+8VDC OUT)	↔	empty
8 (AF OUT)	↔	3 (MIC)

The second step is to set the menu option 43: REP-M to something like CTDCS. This will send the output of one radio to the input of the other radio only if the tone is detected.
For my setup:
- I set the UHF radio to low power because it's either going to be used on a UHF simplex frequency when I'm around the house, or by VE7SCK, which is also really close. It's also the radio that'll be transmitting the most since it's listening to VE7RXZ (or whichever other repeater I want to crossband repeat).
- I set the VHF radio to high power because this radio would need to reach a repeater further away. It will also only transmit when I'm speaking on the UHF simplex frequency or when someone is using VE7SCK, which is less often.
Once both radios are on their correct frequencies (one must be on UHF and the other on VHF), connect the cable to link them both.

Sun Coast Amateur Radio Club Society - links

7300digital

IC-7300 Settings and Windows Driver

Radio Settings for Digital Modes

Connector Settings

Filter Settings

Digital and Voice settings

ACG Adjustments

Loading Settings

IC-7300 Windows Driver

References

aprs

APRS

APRS-IS

Popular APRS Radios

Windows

Configuration

SSID

band_plan_with_swr

Band Plan With SWR

band_scope

Band Scope

baofeng

Programming the Baofeng UV-5R

To Download and Install

Notes about the driver

Using CHIRP

bc_forest_service

The BC Forest Service Radio Communication Network

Repeaters (require a district tone)

Simplex (no tone)

Air - Ground Frequencies

Resource Road and Highway Channels

bchydrorfi

BC Hydro RFI

best_ham_radios_to_buy_when_starting_out

Best Ham Radios To Buy When Starting Out

VHF/UHF Handy Talkies (HT)

Baofengs

Next Step Up

Better Analog HTs

Digital HTs

Satellite

Mobile Radios

VHF/UHF Base Station

HF

The list

QRP (Low Power)

Used HF Radios

Radio Sites

chirp

CHIRP

Windows Baofeng Drivers

Basics

Chirp with Ubuntu

conceptual_electronics_videos

Conceptual Electronics Videos

contestspreadsheets

Contest Spreadsheets

RAC Canada Day / Winter Contests

Logs

Winter Field Day Contest

Logs

7300 Recorded Voice TX

License

covid-19

Covid-19

distracteddriving

BC Distracted Driving Law

echolink

Echolink

Single-User

Audio Levels

Sysop

Sound Configuration

Modem

Windows 10

Echolink Program

Radio and Signalink

git

Sun Coast Amateur
Radio Club Society - links