Top Amateur Radio Websites – Issue 1926

Lab599 Discovery TX-500 – Compact HF/50 MHz QRP Transceiver

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Article Updated on July 2020

Lab599 Discovery TX-500 radio tailored for adventure, for extremes, for using in places unattainable before, with no sacrifice of performance or features.

Discovery is a Software Defined Radio ultra-compact transceiver with a general coverage receiver from 0.5 to 56 MHz all modes, for a total weight of 0.57 Kg (20 oz).

This QRP transceiver offers an adjustable power output from 1 to 10 W, while the receiver comes with auto-notch, noise reduction, and RX/TX EQ, and the current drain can be as low as 100 mA.

TX-500 Display

The Discovery TX-500 has a built-in fast pan-adapter, for easier search for new contacts and evaluation of band conditions wherever you are, at any time.

Features

  • 160-6-meter ham bands
  • General ‘receive’ coverage 0.5 – 56.0 MHz
  • All modes: SSB, CW, DIG, AM, FM
  • High-performance 32-bit floating-point DSP
  • Current drain as low as 100 mA in ‘receive’ mode (backlight on, preamp off, no signal)
  • External power supply DC 9-15V, 1 to 2A typical in transmit
  • High-contrast LCD with 256 * 128 px
  • High-performance real-time panadapter (48 kHz wide)
  • On-line firmware updates
  • Tilted feet (rear), fold up for transportation
  • Ultra-compact size (H*W*D): 90 mm (3.5″) * 207 mm (8.1″) * 21 mm (0.8 “)
  • Weight: 0.55 Kg (19,4 oz)

The Lab599 Discovery covers 160-6 meters, all modes, with a maximum power output of 10 W. It comes with true desktop-radio features, like auto-notch, noise reduction, and RX/TX EQ. The transceiver has a built-in fast pan-adapter, for easier search for new contacts and evaluation of band conditions wherever you are, at any time.

In receive mode, current drain can be as low as 100 mA —a unique feature on the market. Transmit efficiency is also excellent, with improved battery life.

Unique Form Factor

The Lab599 Discovery unique form-factor allows you to operate from anywhere. The transceiver is only 30 mm thick, including knobs, weighing only 0.58kg. Fold out the tilted-feet at the rear for use on a desktop or picnic table.

The transceiver’s body is made of durable aluminum by the method of precision milling, to ensure a unique shock protection and provide good heat removal from the output part of the transmitter.

Band Pass Filters

Discovery TX-500 has 11 discrete RF bandpass filters. The RF signal is only passed through one of the band-pass filters — any out-of-range signals are rejected.

Pan-adapter

The transceiver features a built-in high-performance pan-adapter, for better search for new contacts and evaluation of band conditions — wherever you are, at any time.

Other Features

  • External power supply DC 9-14V, 1 to 2A typical in transmit
  • Internal CW keyer with 10-300 СPM range
  • Computer control via USB
  • High-contrast LCD with 128 * 64 px;
  • Firmware upgrades
  • DSP RF speech processing for excellent ‘punch’
Lab599_Discovery_TX-500
The Case

Availability

Discovery TX-500 will become available once CE certification has been completed during fall 2020. Pre-order now to reserve one in the first delivery! Preliminary release date is September 14, 2020.

Discovery TX-500 Price

The Lab599 Discovery TX-500 price on the prerelease stage is 1059 USD, 890 Euro.


Discovery TX-500

Visit the Laboratory 599

New OSCAR-100 Uplink Converter MK2 by DXPatrol

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CT1FFU Antonio Matias by DXPatrol has recently released a new improved version of his Es´Hail Sat (OSCAR-100) Uplink Converter.

  • Full lockable into a internal TCXO 10 Mhz reference or a external GPSDO
  • Extreme accuracy and precision transmission frequency.
  • Local Oscillator has 4 factory pre-programmed frequencies for 4 IF usages. (see manual)
  • Easy selection by dip switch ( s1) on board. 28MHz, 144MHz, 432MHz, 1296Mhz IFs
  • Clean and stable signal.
  • Spurious emissions = < 50dB
  • 100mW output ( 20dBm )
  • Local Oscillators uses a Analog Devices AF4351 synthesizer
  • locked into 10MHz TCXO Sine Wave Oscillator Frequency Stability 0.5PPM
  • power supply 10 to 15V
  • Current consumption 300mA
  • Dimensions: 84mm/65mm Connectors SMA PLL Lock red LED indication
  • IF power input 1 to 3 W adjustable ( 6W absolute maximum)

The QO-100 Upconverter cams fully tested and assembled and prices are around 120€ .

For all updated and current prices visit DXPatrol Web Site

Top Amateur Radio Websites – Issue 1925

IOTA CONTEST 2019

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27th – 28th July 2019 12:00 – 12:00 UTC

The RSGB IOTA Contest is the most popular contest in the RSGB HF Contests calendar, attracting entries from around the world.


IOTA refers to the RSGB “Islands on the Air” awards. A newcomers’ guide to the system of IOTA references and further information on the IOTA Contest can be found at the IOTA Contest Information page and on the IOTA Contest FAQ page. A beginners’ guide to operating in the contest is here.

If you have any questions about these rules, please email hf.query@rsgbcc.org

New for 2019

To shorten the exchange, for 2019 the sending of RS(T) will be optional. i.e. you do not have to send a report as part of your exchange. 

Top Amateur Radio Websites – Issue 1924

WSJT-X version 2.1.0 released

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The WSJT Development Group is pleased to announce the general availability (GA) release of WSJT-X Version 2.1.0.

WSJT-X 2.1 is a major upgrade that introduces FT4, a new protocol for HF contesting.

Improvements have also been made in the following areas:

  • FT8 waveform generation using GMSK, fully backward compatible
  • user options for low-sidelobe waterfall and spectrum display
  • UDP messaging for inter-program communication
  • accessibility
  •  

… as well as many minor enhancements and bug fixes.

We now provide a separate installation package for 64-bit Windows, offering significant improvements in decoding speed.

A more detailed list of program changes since WSJT-X 2.0.1 can be found in the cumulative Release Notes: http://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/Release_Notes.txt

Upgrading from earlier versions of WSJT-X should be seamless. There is no need to uninstall a previous version or move any files.

Please do not continue to use any release candidate — that is, any beta release with “-rc#” in the version name.

Links to installation packages for Windows, Linux, and Macintosh are available here:
http://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/wsjtx.html

You can also download the packages from our SourceForge site:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/wsjt/files/

It may take a short time for the SourceForge site to be updated.

WSJT-X is licensed under the terms of Version 3 of the GNU General Public License (GPL). Development of this software is a cooperative project to which many amateur radio operators have contributed. If you use our code, please have the courtesy to let us know about it. If you find bugs or make improvements to the code, please report them to us in
a timely fashion.

We hope you will enjoy using WSJT-X Version 2.1.0.

— 73, Joe, K1JT, for the WSJT Development Group

Top Amateur Radio Websites – Issue 1923

OMEGA+ Portable Radio

The Omega+ radio is an interesting compact portable transceiver by the Omega-Radio Group, designed by SQ7BFS Lukasz and SP7NJ Pawel, software is by SQ7NUW Peter.

Transceivers comes in 3 models:

  • 1 band – basic (up to 30 MHz)
  • 2 bands (50 / 70 MHz)
  • 10 bands (160/80/60/40/30/20/17/15/12/10m)

Its compact design, the small dimensions, just 120x40x180mm (4.7 x 1.5 x 7 inch) and the weight of aprox. 700g (1.5 Pound) make the OMEGA+ Radio an ideal transceiver for QRP SOTA and general portable operations, but can also be considered a valid companion radio on every ham radio shack.

The Omega+ is provided as a semi-assembled kit. All main circuits are already assembled, and to the customer is asked just to execute some simple and easy connections. An online assembly manual is provided at omega+ web site

Receiver can cover continuously from 100 KHz till 72 MHz while transmission is limited to all HF ham radio bands inclunding WARC.

Receiver sensivity is rated at 0.16 µV while maxium power output up to 10W with a maximun power consumption of 1.6A

Omega+ radio is currently available via HamRadioShop.pl and is sold at a price around 290 Euro (310 USD) for the HF 10 bands version.

OMEGA+ Image Gallery

Pictures Courtesy of SQ5RTK Michał

OMEGA+ leaflet distributed at Ham Radio Friedrichshaffen 2019

The Omega+ additional specifications:

  • Antenna Connector: SO-239
  • Power Supply: 11 – 14V DC
  • Power Consumption:
    • TX Max Power 1.6A,
    • RX: 0.26A
  • Temp Range: -10°C + 50°C (14°F to 122°F)
  • AF Output power (13.8V): 0,7W with an 8 Ohm load
  • Output LPF
    • One LPF 30MHz (HF 10 bands version)
    • One LPF 75MHz (VHF 6/4m version)
  • Supplied accessories:
    • Hand Microphone
    • DC Power Cable

TX Frequencies:

  • 1.800-2.000
  • 3.500-3.800
  • 5.100-5.500
  • 7.000-7.200
  • 10.100-10.150
  • 14.000-14.350
  • 18.068-18.168
  • 21.000-21.450
  • 24.890-24.990
  • 28.000-30.000
  • 50.000-52.000
  • 70.000-72.000

OMEGA+ Options:

  • Desktop mounting Bracket
  • SSB Narrow 10-pole filter
  • Mic. Compressor Unit
  • DIGI Interface

Rear Panel Extenal connections

  • ANT connector for the HF/50MHz/70MHz antenna
  • KEY external key or paddle for CW operation
  • 13,8V to connect a regulated 13,8V DC power source
  • EXT-SP external speaker
  • MIC – Microphone connector or digi mode cable

Some OMEGA+ Videos

Testint the OMEGA+ on 80 meters band

testing the OMEGA+ on 80 Meter Band
OMEGA+ 50 MHz 70 MHz Version running in 6m Contest

Omega+ Radio Links

IARU HF Championship 2019

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IARU HF Championship 2019

July 13-14, 2019 beginning 1200 UTC Saturday and ending 1159 UTC Sunday.

Objective: to contact as many other amateurs, especially IARU member society HQ stations, around the world as possible using the 160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 meter bands.

Online Log Submission – logs mustw be uploaded within 5 days after the event via the preferred online web service at contest-log-submission.arrl.org.

Paper Log Submission – logs must be mailed/postmarked (within 5 days after the event) to: ARRL Contest Logs (IARU), 225 Main St, Newington CT 06111 USA.

Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 meters. No contest QSOs on 12, 17, 30 or 60 meters.

5-Day Log Submission Deadline
Entries must be postmarked or uploaded to the web app no later than 5 days after the end of the contest (1200 UTC July 19, 2019). By submitting a log to the IARU HF World Championships, the entrant agrees the log may be open to the public.

Contest Details

1. Eligibility: All licensed amateurs worldwide. Learn More

2. Object: To contact as many other amateurs, especially IARU member society HQ stations, around the world as possible using the 160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 meter bands.

3. Date and Contest Period: The second full weekend of July, beginning 1200 UTC Saturday and ending 1159 UTC Sunday (July 13-14, 2019). Both Single and Multi operator stations may operate the entire 24-hour period.

4. Entry Categories:

4.1. Single Operator

4.1.1. Categories

4.1.1.1. Phone only – High, Low and QRP power levels

4.1.1.2. CW only – High, Low, and QRP Power levels

4.1.1.3. Mixed mode – High, Low and QRP Power levels

4.1.2. One person performs all operating and logging functions.

4.1.3. Use of spotting nets, packet, or multi-channel decoders (such as CW Skimmer) is not permitted. Single-operator stations that use spotting nets, packet or multi-channel decoders will be reclassified to the applicable Single Operator Unlimited category.

4.1.4. All operators must observe the amateur radio regulations of their country at all times.

4.1.5. Single operator stations are allowed only one transmitted signal at any given time.

4.2. Single Operator Unlimited

4.2.1. Categories

4.2.1.1. Phone only – High, Low and QRP power levels

4.2.1.2. CW only – High, Low, and QRP Power levels

4.2.1.3. Mixed mode – High, Low and QRP Power levels

4.2.2. One person performs all operating and logging functions.

4.2.3. All operators must observe the amateur radio regulations of their country at all times.

4.2.4. Single operator stations are allowed only one transmitted signal at any given time.

4.3. Multi Operator, Single Transmitter, Mixed Mode Only

4.3.1. Must remain on a band and mode for at least 10 minutes before changing bands or modes. There are no exceptions. The “10 minute clock” starts when a QSO is logged.

4.3.2. Only one transmitted signal is allowed at any given time. There are no exceptions.

4.3.2.1. Alternating CQs on two or more frequencies on the same band is not permitted.

4.3.3. All operators must observe the amateur radio regulations of their country at all times.

4.3.4. Violation of the band change rules will reclassify the entry as a checklog.

4.4. IARU Member Society HQ Station

4.4.1. May have only one transmitted signal per band mode (160 CW, 160 Phone, 80 CW, 80 Phone, 40 CW, 40 Phone, 20 CW, 20 Phone, 15 CW, 15 Phone, 10 CW, 10 Phone) at the same time.

4.4.2. All stations involved in an HQ operation must be in a single ITU zone.

4.4.3. Only one HQ station callsign per member society per band mode is permitted (160 CW, 160 Phone, 80 CW, 80 Phone, 40 CW, 40 Phone, 20 CW, 20 Phone, 15 CW, 15 Phone, 10 CW, 10 Phone).

4.4.4. All operators must observe the amateur radio regulations of their country at all times.

5. Contest Exchange:

5.1. IARU member society HQ stations send signal report and official IARU member society abbreviation. IARU International Secretariat club station NU1AW counts as a HQ station. Members of the IARU Administrative Council and the three IARU regional Executive committees send “AC,” “R1,””R2,” and “R3” as appropriate.

5.2. All others send signal report and ITU zone.

5.3. A complete exchange must be logged for each valid QSO.

6. Valid Contact:

6.1. The same station may be worked once per mode per band for QSO credit.

6.1.1. Mixed-mode entries may work a station once per mode per band.

6.2. A station may only be worked for credit in the portion of the band that is generally accepted for the mode used.

6.2.1. On any band, a station may be worked once on Phone (in the Phone segment) and once on CW (in the CW segment).

6.2.2. Cross mode, cross band and repeater contacts are not valid QSOs.

6.3. Where contest-preferred segments are incorporated into regional band plans, participants must observe them.

6.4. The use of non-amateur radio means of communications (e.g. telephone or the Internet) for the purpose of soliciting a contact (or contacts) during the contest period is inconsistent with the spirit and intent of these rules.

6.5. Use of self-spotting techniques on packet or other mediums are inconsistent with the spirit and intent of these rules.

7. QSO Points:

7.1. Contacts within your own ITU zone, as well as QSOs with any IARU-member society HQ station or IARU official (counting as the special multiplier), count one point each.

7.1.1. Contacts with a station in the same ITU zone but on a different continent count one point.

7.2. Contacts within your continent (but different ITU zone) count three points.

7.3. Contacts with a different continent and IARU zone count five points.

8. Multipliers: The total number of ITU zones worked on each band (not mode), plus IARU member society HQ stations worked on each band (not mode). IARU officials represent a maximum of four multipliers per band (AC, R1, R2 and R3).

8.1. IARU member society HQ stations and officials do not count for zone multipliers.

8.2. To qualify as the special multiplier, Administrative Council and Regional Executive Committee stations must only be operated by the individual station licensee as a single operator entry or as a multi operator, single transmitter entry with significant participation by the licensee.

9. Scoring: The total number of QSO points times the total number of multipliers worked.

10. Reporting:

10.1. New 5-day log submission deadline. Entries must be uploaded to the web app or postmarked no later than 5 days after the end of the contest (1200 UTC July 19, 2019).

10.2. Electronic entries must conform to the Cabrillo file format.

10.2.1. The Cabrillo file format and specifications.

10.2.2. Any entry which has been generated using a computer (either during the contest or after the contest) must be uploaded via the web at http://contest-log-submission.arrl.org. .

10.2.3. Electronic files must use the entrant’s callsign as the file name. Electronic entries must be uploaded using our web app.

10.2.4. Paper logs must be a chronological list of QSOs as made – not separated by band or mode.

10.3. Participants may manually convert their paper logs to a Cabrillo log one QSO at a time and web tool found at www.b4h.net/cabforms. Once the Cabrillo file has been created, that file must then be submitted (uploaded) via the web app at http://contest-log-submission.arrl.org/

10.4. Paper logs must be in chronological order, not separated by bands, and clearly indicate for each contact: band, mode, date, time (in UTC) callsigns, complete exchanges sent and received, multipliers and QSO points.

10.4.1. Multipliers should be marked in the paper log only the first time they are worked on each band.

10.4.2. Paper logs with more than 500 QSO’s must include dupesheets (an alpha-numeric list of all callsigns worked, broken down by band and mode.)

10.4.3. All contacts in paper logs must be in chronological order, not separated by bands.

10.4.4. Paper logs must be mailed to: ARRL Contest Logs – IARU International Secretariat, Box 310905, Newington, CT 06111-0905 USA.

10.5. All paper entries must include the official summary sheet or reasonable facsimile thereof with complete contest information.

11. Awards:

11.1. A certificate will be awarded to the high scoring entry in each category in each ITU zone, each DXCC country and each ARRL Section.

11.2. A certificate of participation will be awarded to all IARU member society HQ stations.

11.3. Achievement level awards will be issued to those making at least 250 QSOs or having a multiplier total of 75 or more.

11.4. Additional awards may be made at the discretion of each country’s IARU member society.

12. Conditions of Entry: Each entrant agrees to be bound by the provisions of this announcement, by the regulations of his/her licensing authority, and by the decisions of the ARRL Awards Committee, acting for the IARU International Secretariat.

13. Disqualification: Any entry may be disqualified if the overall score is reduced by more than 2%.

13.1. For paper log entries:

13.1.1. Score reductions do not include correction of arithmetic errors;

13.1.2. Any entry may be disqualified if more than 2% of duplicate QSOs are left in the log and claimed for credit; and

13.1.3. A three-QSO reduction will be assessed for each duplicate QSO found during log checking or for miscopied callsigns.For electronic logs, a one-QSO penalty will be assessed for a miscopied callsign.

Additional Rules. For situations not covered in these rules refer to the ARRL General Rules for All Contests and the ARRL Rules for Contests on Bands below 30 MHz.

For contest information, contact contests@arrl.org or IARU HF Contest Information, PO Box 310905, Newington, CT 06111-0905 USA.