Welcome from Wes Cosand, WZ7I
Greetings to my radio friends around the world.
Where is your CW signal
reaching today?
Try
this experiment: Click on this banner, call “CQ” a few times and then see what
CW Skimmers pick it up.
If you don’t know much about CW
Skimmer software read Alex’s description. I
formerly used a simple SoftRock receiver that I built from one of the very inexpensive kits from Tony,
KB9YIG. The output was sent to the
website, www.reversebeacon.net. The receiver has since been replaced by a QS1R SDR
receiver that receives 96 khz of CW
signals on each of 7 bands at once.
If you live in the Middle Atlantic
states, you can know every time one of your CW friends calls CQ
(At least if he has a good fist
that a computer can copy. J ). The Skimmer software written by Alex
Shovkoplyas that controls the QS1R SDR radio has a telnet server. If you have internet access, you can use any
of several software packages written for DX cluster spots to access the
computer and have every CQ fed to you as a DX spot. The difference is that you know that the call
can be heard in the Philly / NYC area and that calls from North America are
included as well as DX calls. Just set
your DX cluster software to the telnet address cw.wz7i.com, port 7300.
I
use SpotCollector from the
DXLab Suite to
handle these spots because when I especially enjoy a QSO I can enter the call
into SpotCollector with a “Tag” saying that this was a fun QSO, or that we have
similar interests, and when he calls CQ next time, up pops my note with the Skimmer
CQ call, I click on the SpotCollector entry and my receiver is tuned to his
frequency, often while he is still calling CQ.
QS1R SDR Receiver HyGain HyTower Jr
Receives 7 bands at once For Reception of CW Skimmer spots
Or if you are a PSK operator, try this:
Go to the PSK Automatic Reporter site and see
where your signal has been detected.
What
a great time to be a ham!
I recently started an online photo album
I would like for you to meet my family and our home area here in Eastern Pennsylvania. I am located in the tiny village of Pipersville, Pennsylvania about 70 kilometers northeast of Philadelphia and about 8 kilometers east of the Delaware River which separates Pennsylvania from New Jersey. We live in the woods so the antennas won't bother our neighbors.
The station equipment consists of a Ten Tec Orion radio, and a Ten Tec Titan amp (which I use very little).
My radio call is from the state of Washington in the northwestern United States near Seattle. I moved to Pennsylvania about ten years ago.
The self supporting tower is built by AN Wireless here in Pennsylvania. At the top is a Force 12 beam with 2 elements for 30 meters and 2 elements for 40 meters. Below that is a 12 element Sommer beam for the five bands from 20 meters to 10 meters.
Out in the woods is my favorite antenna. This 80 meters 4-square array is composed of Hy-Gain Hytower elements with a Comtek phasing system.
I recently retired after a career as a biochemistry professor and a scientist in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. I am enjoying reading, gardening, listening to classical music and ham radio.
Raising a young family in Pullman, WA
Our Years in Bothell, WA
Some of my favorite folk in this hobby:
Afreet Software (fascinating software)
