Yes, I have an Intel Mac in the shack, which essentially means that I can run Windows on my Mac.  However, this is a less than desirable thing for me to do, as I’m sure is the case with most Mac owners.  The problem is — or was — that I couldn’t find a decent terminal program that could control my PK-232 MBX so I could operate RTTY or packet.

I had done various Google searches on the topic and didn’t come up with anything more than what I had already tried or known.  I tried ZTerm again, which generated unsatisfactory results, even with the correct  baud rate, data bits, parity and stop bits settings.  (The program author claims that ZTerm DOES run in Lion now).  I also tried the “screen” command in terminal, which generated the same results as ZTerm.

Out of determination, I did a Google search again a couple of days later and found “CoolTerm.”  I’m not exactly sure how I ran into it, but it sounded like it could be an option, so I looked into it.  This was EXACTLY the type of program I was looking for!  I had to download it and try it out.

Initial testing of CoolTerm showed that it was going to work perfectly with my TNC.  Setting it up is pretty straight-forward, and if you have any questions, the help file is a HUGE help!  The only problem I ran into was getting my TNC to accept a command, which was resolved by using an alternate command.  And yes, the program runs very well in Lion.

There are several nifty features to CoolTerm.  My favorite is the “send string” mode, which puts a command line interface at the bottom of the screen.  Commands are not actually sent to the screen until you press “ENTER.”  The same holds true when operating RTTY.  This probably wouldn’t work so well with RTTY, but would definitely be an asset if you were operating packet.

You can also open up a “send string window” which is a window separate from the terminal.  Type in your commands, hit ENTER, type your text, then press the SEND button or SHIFT-ENTER to send the text to the terminal.  This might come in handy if you’re going to call CQ on RTTY, but probably wouldn’t be much help  – if any — if you were to operate packet.

Another feature is the ability to save “default connection settings.”  Once you open the program, it will automatically load your desired default settings.  You also have the option of having the program automatically connect to the TNC upon startup.  You can also just save your connection settings if you have more than one modem.  I save my connection settings to the desktop so that I can just double-click on the file that has the settings for whichever TNC I decide to use.

Font size and type, font color, and background color are all customizable, which is a plus for me.

There are quite a few other features and options that the program has, but these are just a few of the ones I like the most.

The other awesome feature of this program:  It’s free, and can run on Windows, Mac, and Linux.  If you’d like to try the program for yourself, you can download it here.  Just scroll down to CoolTerm and click the appropriate link for your operating system.

The program will work with more than just the PK-232 MBX.  It will work with other TNCs or hardware that interfaces with the computer via a serial port … even if you use a Serial-to-USB adapter.

One last thing:  If you find the program useful, consider donating to the developer.  He doesn’t do this for a living, but I’m sure he still has to pay for website hosting, improvements to the program, et cetra.

73 de Andre

KC0MMY

As you look at the tile of this blog post, you’re probably wondering:  ”Okay, his call sign is there, but why the “/AE?”  Excellent question!

Today I took the third and final amateur radio license exam and successfully upgraded my license to “Extra Class.”  Even though I don’t have the actual license in-hand showing that I earned the license upgrade, I do have the Certificate of Successful Completion of Examination (CSCE), which does give me the green light to use the Extra Class portions of the amateur bands.  Until the FCC officially updates my license, I need to add the “/AE” when operating CW or digital modes, or simply saying “temporary AE on phone” when operating in the Extra portions of the bands.  This way, no one will — or should — question my operating privileges.

Upgrading to the Extra Class license has been kind of a long process for me.  It’s not that it was overly difficult for me to do, I just didn’t make the time to do it.  I purchased the Extra manual back in 2005 with the intention of upgrading before the new question pool came out in 2008.  The year 2008 came and went, and I didn’t test for the Extra.  I purchased the manual again in 2010 with the hope of upgrading that same year.  Well, certain circumstances in life kind of got in the way of me doing that.  I did, however, study about half of the material that year.

About two weeks ago, someone in the local ham radio club mentioned that there was a VE test session coming up on March 10th.  Since July 1st was just about four months away (the new question pool comes out then), and the fact that there probably wouldn’t be many test opportunities, I deeded to make it a goal to take and pass the exam on March 10th.

Studying for the test wasn’t that difficult for me.  I made a commitment to read one chapter a night in the book so that I could acquaint, or reacquaint myself with the material.  The first four or five chapters were review, since I had studied those sections in years past.  Some of the other chapters brought back memories of an electronics class I took in high school, so those chapters were, in some ways, review as well.  There was some material in the book that was quite new to me, but it was quite easy, at least for me, to follow and make sense of it.

Naturally, I was nervous when I took the test today.  It took me about 45 minutes to complete the 50 question test.  It wasn’t long after I submitted the answer sheet and test booklet that I found out that I had passed the test.  I did quite well, too!

Do I feel any different now that I’m an Extra Class operator?  No, not really.  But I imagine that will change once I operate on the Extra portions of the bands.  Just because I’ve earned my Extra Class license doesn’t mean I’ll stop learning.  There are so many facets of ham radio that are changing on a seemingly daily basis, or ones that I have yet to explore.  I can’t know it all, but I sure can have fun dabbling in all of it!

For those of you who have your Technician Class license, try upgrading to General Class.  For you Generals, try upgrading to Extra.  If you fail, it’s no big deal.  I was actually planning on taking the test twice today.  I only had to take it once, however.  If you fail the test, there’s no waiting period.  You can take it again that same day, but you’ll need to pay the $15 fee for the second exam.

Regardless of whether or not you pass or fail, you should also consider becoming a volunteer examiner (VE).  It’s just another one of the many ways you can contribute to the radio service.  I plan on taking the necessary test (open book) and filling out the required paperwork within the next week or two.  To learn how you can become a VE (yes, there are requirements, but not too many), visit this link.

73 de Andre

KC0MMY

The New York QSO Party was a couple of weekends ago, and since I reside in the State of New York, I decided to participate!  I’ve never participated in a contest before, but the coordinators of the party encouraged anyone to participate, and basically encouraged everyone to have fun.

There are a few reasons why I haven’t participated in contests before.  The main reason is the time.  Most contests I know are happening on weekends when I’m actually doing something else. Another reason is that I just put up a new HF antenna after losing it to a storm this spring.  Another reason is that it just didn’t appeal to me.  It seems to me that contesters take it way too seriously.  Nevertheless, I decided to participate in the contest … if for no other reason than to just have fun. Besides, my wife was out of town that day, so I basically had permission to play radio all day!

The interesting thing about this particular weekend was the New York QSO Party wasn’t the only thing going on.  The Boy Scouts were holding their “Jamboree on the Air” activity, which gives the Boy Scouts a chance to be introduced to the fascinating world of ham radio. The State of Iowa was also holding their QSO Party that same weekend. Needless to say, there was a LOT of activity on the ham bands!

Overall, I made close to 70 contacts, which is about 20 more than I thought I was going to make. Yes, I did submit my log. I don’t think I’ll even place, but hey, that’s okay! I still had a lot of fun! I developed a new appreciation for contesting. One of the things contesting helps with is to hone your amateur radio skills. I’ve heard this before, but really didn’t realize how true it was until I actually participated in the contest. Try listening for that weak QRP station who comes in just above the noise. It’s a reward for both stations: For the QRPer who enjoyed the challenge of competing against stations that run 100 or more watts, and for the station who answered the QRPer and being reminded that you actually CAN make a contact with 5 watts or less! Another thing I learned is that when you call “CQ,” you have to really listen for the calls … and be quick to respond!

The neat thing about the weekend of the New York QSO Party was that it was the same weekend as the Boy Scout “Jamboree on the Air” event. I was able to take some time and talk to a couple of the boy scouts. It was actually kind of rewarding to talk to young, perspective hams.

All in all, my contesting experience was a wonderful one! I was able to talk to more fellow hams in New York and surrounding states. My farthest contact was Georgia … and I believe that was on 20 meters! I wouldn’t hesitate to participate in another contest. Again, I don’t take it seriously, but I do like to have fun! If I place in a contest, wonderful! But, if I don’t, that’s okay. I still had fun.

-Andre
KC0MMY

As you may have heard earlier last week, the World health Organization (WHO) classified cell phones as being potentially carcinogenic to humans. For complete details on the article, and to download the complete report from WHO, click on this link.

This debate has been going on for the better part of a decade, and quite frankly, I’m sick of it. So, I thought I would add my 2 cents on how I view this seemingly controversial topic.

If, upon hearing this news, you were so distraught about the findings, might I offer a few suggestions for you.

1). Don’t hold your cell phone near your head or anywhere near your body. Get a Bluetooth headset. Oh, wait. That won’t work. Bluetooth uses RF energy (radiation) too.
2). Okay, well don’t get a Bluetooth headset. Get one of the wired headsets. Of course you’ll have to deal with the cord getting in the way, but this is your health we’re talking about, right? Oh, wait. The cord may act as a radiating device, meaning that RF energy could be carried from the phone over the wire and to your ear, which is on your head. Well, that’s not good. I guess there is only one viable option then.
3). Cancel your cell service. Sure, you might have to pay upwards of $200 for an early termination fee, but like I said, this is your health we’re talking about here! The cell phone manufacturers/carriers don’t care about your health; they just want to sell you a phone, right?

Okay, so now that you’ve canceled your cell phone contract, you are now free from the worries of RF radiation … or are you? Do you have a laptop with a wireless card? Well, that uses RF energy too, although probably in lesser amounts than a cell phone. But where do you use that laptop? On your lap, of course! That could really cause trouble with the reproductive system or the genitourinary system. Not good. What about a wireless network? Or how about that iPod Touch that you carry in your pants pocket or shirt pocket? The programmers didn’t put “Airplane Mode” on these devices for nothing! How about your cordless phone that you use at home or at your business? Or how about that old CRT monitor you use at work, or the microwave you use to prepare your meals? All leak radiation and use radiation for designated purposes.

If you haven’t noted some of the sarcasm by now, you should as I’m laying it on pretty thick.

Joking aside, I do believe that cell phones can be dangerous. But I think we’re stepping out of bounds here. it’s more likely that you’ll get killed or injured by a cell phone when texting while driving or walking walking near a fountain in the mall. If anything, cell phones may cause people’s blood pressure to elevate causing a heart attack! When was the last time you were in Wal-Mart (not that this is the only place it happens) and someone is yacking on their cell phone in the checkout line? They yell “WHAT? HELLO? I CAN’T HEAR YOU!  CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?”

I guess the thing that really concerns me with all of this is that in 50 or so years from now, we’ll have class action lawsuits against cell phone providers. You think I’m off of my rocker, don’t you? Well, take a look at cigarettes. In the earlier part of the 20th century, cigarettes were viewed as socially acceptable, and to some extent, may have had health benefits. Bottom line: personal responsibility comes into play somewhere.

You’re probably thinking by now: What does this have to do with ham radio? Great question! We as hams are given the responsibility (expected, really) to keep tabs of how much power, or RF radiation, we are emitting from our antennas. I remember when I was studying for my Technician Class license ten years ago and reading about assessing the radiation one was using to operate their station. It was an interesting read. While I cannot find my Technician Class manual, I did run across a more detailed explanation online. Most of it will probably just put you to sleep, but it does have a lot of useful diagrams and information. Click here to download the PDF.

Of particular interest are pages 3, 18, and 23-24. Page 3 gives you specifics of WHEN you should take steps to do a radiation assessment depending upon the band and the amount of power you’re using. Page 18 deals with antenna gain. Pages 23-24 deal with controlled and uncontrolled environments and whether or not the amount of RF energy you’re using is safe for either or both environments. EVERY ham should have a copy of this in their shack.

Don’t get me wrong. I know and believe that amateur radio is a safe hobby. Yes, you can get injured (I did this week while putting up an antenna), but if you use a good dose of common sense and courtesy, you and the ones around should be perfectly fine.

The thing that gets me is that cell phones can — and do — save lives. We beg for more towers to be put up because we want every stretch of road to have adequate coverage.  This was a big deal here in the Adirondacks a few years back because a couple of people died on the Northway (I-87). Had they had cell service, they might have lived. And here’s another thought: Cancer is often treated with radiation (RF energy), and that apparently saves lives. Yes, it may be used in a different application and in different ways, but radiation can save lives.

As I reach the bottom of my Michelob Ultra and the end of this post, I’m reminded of the Greek philosopher Aristotle, who said: “Everything in moderation.”  If used incorrectly, anything can harm or even kill you.

73 de Andre
KC0MMY

When I used to live in Rapid City, SD, I would usually get my connectors, batteries, coax cable, computer parts, et cetera at Chris Supply. If I couldn’t get it at Chris Supply, I would either go to Radio Shack (usually as a last resort) or I ordered it from Ham Radio Outlet in Denver, CO (if it was ham-related stuff and they had what I needed). If I ordered before 10 AM Monday through Thursday, I could have my stuff from HRO the next day. That’s not a long wait … unless I happen to be working on a project in the middle of the weekend!

Ever since I moved to Upstate New York, finding things that I need has been a little more difficult. Ordering stuff online is okay, but the shipping is kind of ridiculous unless you buy in bulk. I have two Radio Shacks within about 25 miles of my QTH, so I decided to give ‘em a try. I wasn’t very thrilled when I heard that they were branding their franchise as “The Shack,” and I’d like to meet the marketing genius behind that to see what their thoughts were and are, and why I think it’s drifting away from their roots, but I digress.

I went to Radio Shack several times to get what I needed: Mainly connectors, sections of mast to add height to my antenna, power connectors, et cetera. More times than not, they had what I needed. I was quite impressed! I’ve been shopping there more lately because I know there’s a good chance they’ll have what I need. So far, I’m pleased, and I hope the trend continues.

Earlier this week (or should I say sometime last week), Radio Shack was seeking the opinions of the “Do-it-Yourself” community. I didn’t think much of it, so I really didn’t look into it. Earlier today, however, another ham buddy of mine really suggested that I check out what Radio Shack was doing, so I did.

Rather than me try to explain what it is that Radio Shack is looking for, I’ll just have you click on the link.

Radio Shack and the DIY Community

I certainly hope that this really benefits Radio Shack AND hams alike. While Radio Shack is not specifically asking hams for their opinions, it is a great opportunity for us to contribute our 2 cents.

73 de Andre
KC0MMY

This article was taken from QRZ.com on May 20, 2011 at 21:48 UTC. I truly hope this is accurate and that it will come to fruition.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Mike Lisenco, N2YBB
n2ybb@arrl.org
917-865-3538

May 19, 2011, Massapequa Park, NY – A delegation of Amateur Radio operators from the Long Island / New York City area met this morning with Congressman Peter T. King (R-NY) to discuss his recent proposed legislation, HR 607, and its impact on Amateur Radio.

Congressman King said that he fully understands and appreciates the importance
of Amateur Radio and the service it provides to the community, and that he would see to the modification of the bill so that the 420 – 440 MHz band would be
excluded from the spectrum to be auctioned. The delegation included Mike
Lisenco, N2YBB, ARRL Section Manager for New York City / Long Island (NLI),
Peter Portanova, WB2OQQ, NLI Local Government Liaison (LGL), George Tranos,
N2GA, NLI State Government Liaison (SGL), and Jim Mezey, W2KFV, NLI ARES Section Emergency Coordinator (SEC).

“The Congressman went on to explain that it was never his intention to remove
the 70 centimeter band from Amateur use. He further asked us to `get the word
out’ and inform the Amateur Radio community that 70 centimeters is not in
jeopardy,” said Lisenco.

Lisenco, Mezey and Tranos spoke about the importance of Amateur Radio emergency communications while Portanova, who is also the local AMSAT representative, addressed satellite and other amateur use of the 70 centimeter band.

The Congressman was very receptive to the group, who also extended an invitation to attend Field Day locations in his District.

###

HFPacket the PDF version of the Quick Start guide to distribute to your ham radio club!

Getting into VHF packet was actually very easy for me. I purchased a rig that had a built-in TNC, so the only thing I had to do was learn the commands and get it hooked up to my computer. This was very simple for me. I was also fortunate to have one of the local packet gurus in my area lead me through the basic packet protocols. He sent me an email as he noticed I was on the air, gave me the commands to connect to his node, and we had a nice QSO detailing how to access and navigate the BBS, chat with other packet users and so forth. Thanks Jerry, KG0GG.

Diving into HF packet wasn’t as easy, but I was able to get on the air and make a contact! Essentially, that meant I had done everything right!

While there is a lot of information on HF packet on the Internet, it’s not contained to one site. The objective of this post is to get you at least up and running on HF packet while giving you a basic understanding of how all of it works.

I have a hardware TNC, so this will be a little bit different than if you were to use a soundcard-based packet program. The theory is pretty much the same, however the commands may be different.

If you’re not sure you’ll enjoy HF packet, here are a few things to think about:

If you’ve operated on VHF packet, you’ll notice that HF packet is quite a bit slower than VHF packet. Why? For starters, on VHF packet you generally operate at 1200 baud (9600 baud is possible on 70 cm), while on HF it’s only 300 baud. Propagation also plays a factor on how well the signals are sent and received on either end.

If you think VHF packet is boring, HF packet is a lot more fun! Despite what the gloom-and-doomers say, there is plenty of packet activity to be had, especially on 20 meters.

An HF packet modem doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. TNCs can be had on eBay for under $100. I picked up a used AEA PK-88 for $70, and that included shipping. You can find them cheaper if you do a little more searching and are patient. Recently, I saw an AEA PK-232 MBX go for $31.00 on eBay. You may have to build the interface cable that goes between the TNC and your radio. I chose to build one, and it was very easy for me — a person who has some visual problems — to build. You can also buy the cables online for a fair price. Note that when looking for a cheap TNC, make sure it doesn’t require anything more than a “dumb” terminal program (WinPack or Hyper Terminal in Windows, and Terminal or iTerm for Mac OS X) to operate it. There are some “computer patches” out there that will require special software to operate it. Steer clear of those unless you want to run DOS and can find the associated software for it. Make sure the TNC will operate HF packet (The PK-88 operates on HF and VHF packet), and don’t expect it to operate more than packet. If you want to do MORE than packet, like AMTOR or PACTOR, look for a TNC that will handle those modes. A perfect example of one would be the AEA PK-232 MBX.

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s begin! You have your hardware TNC. Now what? First, make an inventory of what you’ll need. You’ll need an RS-232C (DB-25) male to RS-232 (DB-9) female computer cable. if you have an older external modem laying around, chances are good that you’ll have one of these. If not, you can find them online or possibly at an electronics store or ham fest. If your computer doesn’t have the DB-9 male serial port on it, not to worry! You CAN use the USB-serial adaptors with a hardware TNC. I have three TNCs in my shack, and all of them work perfectly fine with the USB-serial interface. The only thing I would caution you against when it comes to the USB-Serial adaptors is to NOT buy the cheap ones! Get the ones that have the chip in it and that require a driver. Most are Mac and PC compatible. Trust me, it’ll save you a lot of frustration. This is the one I purchased off of Amazon.com.

If you don’t have it, you also might need an audio cable to get the audio from your rig to the TNC. You can get a 1/8″ male to 1/8″ male cable at Radio Shack for fairly cheap. You can either feed the audio from the headphone jack, or use the rear audio jack, get a Y-adapter so you can feed the audio to an external speaker, which will allow you to hear the signals, and then take the audio cable and feed it into the TNC. It doesn’t need to be a long run … just enough to stretch from the TNC to the radio. If you choose to use the headphone jack, you’ll need a 1/4″ adaptor.

If you need to build the interface cable, you can use network cable (preferably shielded but unshielded will work). If you plan on using the microphone jack of your HF rig to connect to the TNC, you’ll want to get these little guys. They can be had at Radio Shack for under $5. This is the way I interfaced the two devices together, and I haven’t had a problem since. If you would rather NOT build a cable, you can find the appropriate cable on the Buxcomm website. I’ve dealt with these guys and customer service is outstanding! You’ll get your cable rather quickly.

Just a note: I’m not intentionally trying to endorse Radio Shack. It’s just that most of what you need can be found at Radio Shack and most people have a Radio Shack near them. You can find these components online for a lot cheaper, but keep in mind, the shipping may offset the price. I love to order stuff from allelectronics.com, but I generally don’t order from there unless I need to buy in bulk.

Now that I have that out of the way, make sure you have the TNC manual handy. Yes, it’s thick and it looks intimidating. Be assured that you won’t have to read the whole thing. Keep it around though, because it will serve to be a valuable tool. if you don’t have the physical manual, you should be able to find it online.

After you get your TNC and radio hooked up, you’ll need to get it set up. Walk through the setup instructions in the manual. You’ll need to input your callsign, set the baud rate to 300 for HF packet (this might be the HBAUD command for your TNC), and you may need to set the tones, or bell number as well. More on that in a moment. You’ll also need to calibrate the TNC and the radio. The manual should walk you through how to do this. It’s not really difficult, but do be prepared for it to be a little time consuming.

Before you calibrate the rig, you may want to see what the default “tone” settings are. You’ll need to know this in order to operate on HF packet. My AEA PK-88 has four different tone or bell options. For HF packet, I set mine to 1075/1275, which is tone 0, or bell 103 originate. Some use the 1600/1800 tone pair which is more common. If your TNC goes higher than that, fine, but I would stay at or below 2100/2300. Why? More on this a little later. But for now, just make sure you select a good tone pair. Note that the numbers will ALWAYS be a difference of 200. I’ll explain what all of these numbers mean in a bit.

You can calibrate your TNC with your rig in two different ways: Using the ALC meter, which is somewhat difficult, or using the power meter, which is much easier. In addition to using the mic gain control on your rig, you may also want to use the “trim pot” on the back or inside of the TNC to adjust the audio level as well. A rule of thumb is not to be transmitting more than 50% of your rig’s rated output power since packet puts a 100% load on your transmitter … even in SSB. In other words, if you’re rig can push out 100 watts, you wouldn’t want to output more than 50 watts when operating packet. If you’re a little above 50 watts, that’s fine. Pushing 60 watts won’t hurt your rig, but you really shouldn’t intentionally try to go above 50 watts, unless of course your transmitter can push out more than 100 watts.

Now that you have your rig calibrated, you need to change a couple of more settings in your TNC. Don’t worry, it’s really easy. This is specific to HF. Note that if you are using a KAM you should not need to take all of these steps as the KAM uses the 1600/1800 tone pair. If you’re just exploring HF packet, it’s not likely that you’ll have a KAM, unless you have a very generous friend who happens to be a ham they lend you their KAM.

Set the FRACK (Frame Acknowledgement) to 5. This may be the “FRACK” command for your TNC, but you should consult your manual. The frame acknowledgement is basically the amount of time your TNC will wait (generally in seconds, but check your manual) before acknowledging the last sent protocol or “packet” before retrying to resend acknowledgement.

Set the DWAIT to 0. DWAIT basically helps avoid collisions with digipeated packets.

Set PACLEN to 60. This basically tells the TNC how many bytes to send in each packet.

Set MAXFRAME to 1. This command does two things: It sets the maximum amount of contiguous packets in a transmission, and it also sets a maximum number of unacknowledged packets that the TNC will permit on a link between a station at any time.

Until you get the feel for HF packet, it’s probably a good idea NOT to digipeat packets, so make sure you turn OFF the digipeating function on your TNC. Most TNCs have it ON by default. You would turn this off by typing in “DIGIPEAT OFF” command in your TNC. Consult your manual to be sure.

In layman’s term, digipeating is actually repeating a packet that is received. Think of it as a repeater of sorts. If someone wants to connect to a packet station and they are unable to do so directly, they can establish a connection to that station through you. it works very well on VHF and it is okay to use on HF, but it will be quite a bit slower.

If you’re still hanging in there, GREAT! Now we get to the fun stuff. For our first packet encounter, we’ll use “Network 105.” You can find Network 105 at 14.105, which is on 20 meters. The reason for this is because there is a LOT of activity on this network, and you’re pretty much guaranteed to connect to someone. Now, connecting to a packet station on HF isn’t as simple as turning the dial to the desired frequency and connecting with someone. There is a little math involved.

For HF packet, there are two different frequencies we are concerned with: The mark frequency and the space frequency. This is where the tones come in. If your TNC uses the 1600/1800 tone pair, you can set your rig to 14.105 in LSB mode. it doesn’t matter what sideband you use, but for consistency sake, everyone on ’105 uses LSB, and you should too.

If your TNC uses a different tone pair like mine, then a little math is involved.

The “mark” frequency for Network 105 is 14.103.4. The “space” frequency is 14.103.2. So, if you take 14.105 and subtract 1.600 (1600 Hz) from it, you’ll get the mark frequency of 14.103.4. The same holds true if you subtract 1.800 (1800 Hz) from 14.105, you’ll get the space frequency of 14.103.2. This is all fine and good, but what if your TNC doesn’t use the 1600/1800 tone pair? This is where the fun begins.

Unless your TNC has a “tuning eye,” like the PK-232 MBX, you’ll need to figure out the dial frequency. It’s not that hard, though. We’ll start simple. Network 14.105 operators and users put their rigs in LSB. This is not required, but it’ll make our life easier for the time being.

Let’s use the example of my TNC. It uses the tone pairs of 1075/1275. We know the mark and space frequencies, and now we need to figure out what the dial frequency is. In LSB mode, we would take the mark frequency, which is 14103.4 and ADD 1.075. We get a frequency of 14.104.475. Now we take the space frequency of 14.103.2 and ADD 1.275 to that. We also come up with a frequency of 14.104.475. The frequency, 14.104.475 will be our DIAL frequency in LSB mode.

You would do the same thing if your tone pairs were 2100/2300. Remember that the smaller number (2100) is the MARK tone, and the larger number (2300) is in the SPACE tone.

Now that you’ve determined what the appropriate frequency for you should be, Set your radio to that frequency and listen. If you have everything set up correctly, you should start hearing some packet squawks and seeing some text come across your terminal screen. Depending on the time of day, it might take a bit for you to see and hear packets. You’ll probably have better luck during the day and during the weekend.

Connecting to an HF packet station is the same as on VHF. You type C followed by the station you want to connect to. You can chat with the person on the other end if they respond, and it’s likely they will. If they don’t, you will be able to leave a “message.” Once you leave a message or are done chatting, simply type D, and you’ll be disconnected. All other commands are the same as VHF/UHF packet. If you need more information on how to get started on VHF packet, check this website out. it’s quite dated, but the information can still be applied today.

There are other packet frequencies to play on besides 14.105. My first contact was actually on 40 meters with a station up in Canada. Here are just a few of the main frequencies that you can use. There are others, but these are the ones where you will likely find the most activity.

3.598 = LSB
7.086.50 = USB
7.086.515 = USB
10.149 = LSB

You would figure out the “dial” frequency on these frequencies as demonstrated above.

Now, you’re probably asking “How do I figure out the dial frequency for USB?” Excellent question! it’s basically the same with a couple of differences. You would still find the mark and space frequencies using the 1600/1800 tone pairs. So, instead of SUBTRACTING the tone pairs like we did in the first example to figure out/verify the mark and space frequencies, we will now ADD the frequencies. Let’s use 7086.50 as an example.

7.086.50+1.600 = 7.088.10, which is the “mark” frequency.
7.086.50+1.800 = 7.088.30, which is the “space” frequency.

Now that we know that, we can continue to figure out what our tone pairs will be according to the tone pairs that we use. For instance, for the PK-88 I would use the following equations:

7.088.10-1.075 = 7.087.025
7.088.30-1.275 = 7.087.025. 7.087.025 will be our dial frequency.

You can also use this equation if you would rather operate on Network 105 in USB, but you’ll need to use THEIR current mark and space frequencies. I won’t go into detail on how to do this here to save you the information overload!

let me touch on one other thing. Remember earlier in the primer I had said not to use tone pairs higher than 2100/2300? The reason why you DON’T want to use tone pairs any higher than that on HF is because some rigs have SSB filters in them that are quite narrow. If you use a higher tone pair, it may fall outside of the filter’s receiving range at the receiving station.

Some of you are probably wondering what programs you can use for HF packet. On Windows you can use Hyper Terminal, which may or may not be installed on your machine. If it’s not, you can fetch it off of your Windows XP install disc. I’m not sure if Windows Vista or Windows 7 has Hyper Terminal or not. Another great option is to use WinPack (the latest version is 6.80). It’s a pretty robust program and has a lot of nice features. It’s also really easy to set up. Make sure you go through the program settings and set the baud rate, stop bits and parity. These settings MUST match those in the communications port settings in the hardware profile. The USB-serial cable will show up in one of the communications ports.

On Mac OS X you can use the standard terminal program. You could also use iTerm, which should allow you to bookmark the terminal command to connect to your TNC once you selected it. So, how do you access your TNC in the terminal on Mac OS X? Easy! First you’ll need to know the name of your USB-serial device name in the Mac. Make sure your drivers are installed, open up a terminal window, then enter

ls -l /dev/tty.*

This will give you a list of all the attached tty devices. See which one matches to your USB-serial cable. It should be fairly obvious. For instance, my device name is “usbserial.” So, to access my TNC via the terminal, I would simply type in

screen /dev/tty.usbserial 9600

Let me break this down for you. “Screen” is the command that allows you to “see and control” the TNC via the terminal. “/dev/tty.usbserial” is the path and name of the device, where “tty.NameOfUSB-SerialDevice” is telling the terminal to access your USB-serial cable. “9600″ is the baud rate that allows your computer and TNC to communicate with each other.

You can also use the above steps to access your TNC if you plan on doing VHF/UHF packet as well, or if you have a multimode TNC.

This primer may seem very overwhelming! Keep referring back to it as often as you like! I’m sure you’ll get it. And, as always, if you need help or clarification, please feel free to post a comment and I’ll answer your comment/question as quickly and clearly as I can!

Enjoy operating HF packet! I hope to catch you on the air!

73 de
Andre
KC0MMY