I recently found this Norwegian Christmas card, I guess it's up to a century old. Merry Christmas!



For the folkloristic background of these guys, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nisse_(folklore)

Quote from: gil on December 11, 2019, 05:12:11 amWriting on Paper is a double-edge sword... Above 15wpm you better just try to form words in your mind... Writing IMHO is for just about 12-15wpm... I would never suggest learning the code any slower...

Now to me as a former professional Merchant Marine radio operator (radio officer) (1963-73) that's a strange statement. In the service we had to write down radiograms, weather reports, news, what not. Often handwrite, and then type it for delivery to the addressee. Under good conditions I'd copy directly to my typewriter, which I often did with weather forecasts and news transmissions.

The minimum speed for obtaining my 2nd Class License was 20 WPM. Later I passed the 1st Class License exam at 30 WPM. Under ideal conditions, I succeeded receiving and transmitting (with an electronic keyer) up to 40 WPM.

At Radio School we started training real slow, and gradually increased speed till we reached 20 WPM. Then we stayed there until we were proficient and error-free at that level.

Quote from: gil on November 14, 2016, 09:57:33 amI use UHF here more than VHF, so I really would like the RigExpert AA-600 ...

https://rigexpert.com/  --  https://www.facebook.com/pg/RigExpertUkraineLtd/

QuoteThis is the official page of Rig Expert Ukraine Ltd. company, which is the owner of RigExpert brand. This trademark is registered in Ukraine as well as in the USA.

We produce antenna analyzers, transceiver interfaces, ARDF equipment and amateur radio software ...

This company has been referred to only once before in the forum. Now Norway's largest vendor of ham equipment is offering several Rig Expert products. So I guess they produce high quality goods?

https://www.facebook.com/PermoSimarud/  --  https://webshop.simarud.no/hovedmeny/radiokommunikasjon

Anyone in here with user experience of any Rig Expert products?

Quote from: gil on November 17, 2019, 02:12:59 pmI made a video about this... Something I call "knowing your RF landscape."

I guess it must be this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HARDgWHPrE
"Preppers, Know Your Radio Frequency Landscape."

Quote from: RadioRay on November 12, 2019, 02:29:13 pmThe Paraset !  I could certainly a video of you making contact with England while using a Paraset from France ...

The beautiful photos in the previous post show the French Cold War spy radio set TR-TG-2A. See:

https://www.cryptomuseum.com/spy/trtg2a/index.htm

Background info and photos of the World War II Paraset spy radio (good links in all articles):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraset
https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30005321
https://amrron.com/2016/11/27/the-paraset-wwii-clandestine-spy-radio/
https://web.archive.org/web/20081011095739/http://www.theparasetclub.co.uk/
https://web.archive.org/web/20060830142514/http://www.mines.uidaho.edu/~glowbugs/paraset.htm

Quote from: vy2js on November 11, 2019, 08:40:42 pm
Using a great phone app called Morse Mania ...

Puzzled to find that this great software hasn't been mentioned in the forum until today. Here is the developer's site:

https://www.blackcatsystems.com/index.html

I started using Morse Mania on my desktop Mac more than 20 years ago:

http://www.blackcatsystems.com/software/morsemania.html

The desktop/laptop version is Mac only, but for cellphones they have made it for both dominant systems:

https://www.blackcatsystems.com/iphone/morse_mania_morse_code_app.html
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/morse-mania/id369359680
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.countrymania.morse

Additional information in the Wikipedia article about the British Clansman military radio system:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clansman_(military_radio)#UK/PRC_316

QuoteClansman HF radio sets
UK/PRC 316
A late introduction to the Larkspur range, its original designation was A16 Lightweight HF Radio Station. Deployed in tropical or high temperature climates, it was powered by either a standard 12V battery that connected directly to the set or if issued, a Leclanche Battery that connected directly to the set. It was compatible with most D10 or R4 copper stranded antenna systems that were fielded at that time, examples being the Shirley, Jamaica, Half Jamaica and Yagi.

Despite not being of the Clansman family, its late introduction to service coupled with its Clansman equivalent, the PRC/RT320 not being ready, meant the PRC 316 survived for just over five years after Clansman was introduced. Once the PRC/RT320 was completed and fully fielded, the PRC 316 was rapidly withdrawn. Another reason cited for its retention was that it was relatively easy to operate and was inter-operable with the other HF Radios in the Clansman family.

This radio has been mentioned once before in this forum, with reference to the same PDF:

Quote from: RadioRay on September 14, 2018, 02:55:05 pm
when I was working in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia , I picked-up a locally published book; "SAS In Malaya" and, like you said, Gil - the jungle warfare people did amazing things.  They Malay campaign drove the development of a far better radio;  the PRC-316 and STRONG reliance on NVIS.  Here is a link to an interesting article from your mates at VMARS, describing it's use.

http://www.vmarsmanuals.co.uk/newsletter_articles/prc316.pdf

>RadioRay ..._ ._

I wanted you to see the beauty of this one. And in that PDF you can see the PRC 316 and accessories.

I wonder if you can buy this radio somewhere?

I found this photo in the public Facebook group of the Norwegian Radio History Society:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2431146277159756&set=gm.1611087139030995

Information about this military transceiver in this PDF:

http://www.vmarsmanuals.co.uk/newsletter_articles/prc316.pdf

QuoteThe UK PRC 316 / A-16
by John Teague, G3GTJ

INTRODUCTION

This paper describes the PRC 316 and is an expanded version of an earlier contribution to the Centre for the History of Defence Electronics (CHiDE) colloquium on Military Communications, held in September 1999.

The radio was designed and developed for the British Army in the mid-sixties by the Signals Research & Development Establishment (SRDE) at Christchurch. Designated X3145 in the experimental phase it became "Station Radio A-16"; later it was given the Clansman style designation of "UK/PRC 316", which is how it was generally known in service.

To quote from the November 1968 edition of the User Handbook: "The lightweight HF patrol radio PRC 316 is a compact, simple to operate transmitter-receiver developed primarily for use at the halt. It provides 45 crystal controlled communication channels in the band 2 - 7MHz . . . . (It) is intended to operate at ranges up to about 800 km using CW."

Quote from: gil on July 19, 2019, 04:20:25 pm
And then there is the new Minion SDR...  ::) 

https://qrpver.com/transceivers/all-band-10-band-hf-sdr-transceiver-minion-sdr.html

If having to decide between these two, what are the pros and contras?

69 plus 75 minutes of Morse Code classroom instruction for beginners, well worth viewing for those who want to learn [Learn Morse Code with KN4GB and the class]:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR0NESR3tJY [Morse Code Class 01]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN0c6_VAyJ0 [Morse Code Class 02]

Homepage: https://w4eey.com/index.html

YouTube channel, many Morse videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI3DKjqB4OLY2UXm2KqDpwQ

W4EEY linked to a 31 pages long PDF:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/mhnd6i4cnp8bjag/AADrb7-Uyu5iLfc8CKuQvI7ra
[Introduction To Morse Code -- By Melvyn Robinson -- KN4GB]

The Lab599 Discovery TX-500 has been widely discussed in the ham sphere for some months now. Nobody has found any substantial information, and some label it 'vaporware'. A few links:

https://www.eham.net/ehamforum/smf/index.php?topic=125770.0

QuoteNo, it won't be real until this fall. - until then, it's vapor-ware, like the fabled QSX. The site is registered to this feller:
https://www.qrz.com/db/ua9yps

http://yaesuft817.com/wp/the-discovery-tx-500-by-lab599/amp/ [Copy of site in OP]
http://www.funknews.at/2/funknews/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1377&Itemid=41
https://www.facebook.com/QRZNow/posts/-ultra-compact-transceiver-lab599-discovery-tx-500/2256543947716592/
https://qrznow.com/ultra-compact-transceiver-lab599-discovery-tx-500/
https://swling.com/blog/2019/06/the-lab599-discovery-tx-500-ruggedized-portable-qrp-transceiver/
https://www.amateurfunk-sulingen.de/forum/index.php?board=15;action=display;threadid=1379
https://reflector.sota.org.uk/t/new-portable-rig/20455

Instagram seems to be the main outlet for information from Lab599:
https://www.instagram.com/discovery_tx_500/

Quote from: solaris0121 on December 18, 2018, 06:06:10 am
https://qrp-labs.com/qsx.html

Quote
When will QSX be available?
We don't have an exact date, it depends how long it takes to finish all the above features and manufacture it etc. *Hopefully* something like November 2018, but this could change. Any updates will be published on this page.

Update 25-Jan-2019:
Development continues, progress is being made but there are a lot of details to take care of. Still no update on projected completion dates yet.

Update 05-Nov-2018:
We have some delays due to poor health, see https://groups.io/g/QRPLabs/message/27851 - recovering nicely now so will make more progress soon and update on this page.

Regarding the last link in there -- I wish Hans Summers the very best health recovery!

Quote from: gil on June 15, 2019, 04:07:12 pm
If the QSX kit wasn't coming out, presumably soon, I might have bought one already.

The thread about that one: http://radiopreppers.com/index.php?topic=1507.0
[... looks interesting - QRPlabs QSX all mode, all HF bands, 10 watts - $150 !!!!]