#ft8
Bill Somerville, G4WJS SK
I am very sorry to convey the sad news that Bill Somerville, G4WJS, died suddenly and unexpectedly a few days ago. He was only about 65 years old.
Bill was a dear friend and very close colleague, though (as is often the case with worldwide ham radio friendships) we had met in person only a few times. In 2013 he was the first to join me in forming a core development group for WSJT-X, which at that time was at program version 0.99. Bill has been closely involved with WSJT-X and related software projects ever since.
Our free, open-source software could not have achieved its extensive worldwide popularity and influence in ham radio without Bill's essential contributions. In addition to writing code for important portions of the Qt-based user interface for WSJT-X, Bill helped to bring the overall program structure more nearly up to professional standards. Moreover, he devoted countless hours to program support, patiently answering user's questions on WSJT-related forums.
I have only started to think about the many ways in which I will miss Bill -- not no mention how we all will miss his immense and positive impact on WSJT-X and related projects. For more than eight years Bill and I communicated closely and regularly on ham radio topics, sometimes many times per day. Perhaps I will be able to write more about it in the near future.
Rest in peace, dear friend G4WJS.
-- Joe, K1JT —
Verdammt.. Ich habe heute V31DL in Belize gearbeitet und mich sehr gefreut, dass er mich über 9000km und mit -25 dB noch empfangen konnte. Gerade war ich auf der QRZ-Seite, um nachzuschauen, wie die QSL läuft und musste lesen, dass die Clubstation komplett abgebrannt ist.
The Simplest FT8 Transceiver You’ll Ever Build - It may only be 100mW Output But FT8 Is Designed Specifically For Weak Signal Modes
Its brains are a Teensy 3.6, while the receiver side is a Si4735 receiver chip and the transmitter is a Si5351 programmable clock chip driving a Mini-Circuits GVA84 power amplifier with an appropriate filter. The interface is via a touchscreen display. It relies on existing work that applies a patch on-the-fly to the Si4735 receiver chip for SSB reception, and another project for the FT8 software.
The charm of this transceiver is that it can be assembled almost in its entirety from modules. If the 100 mW output power seems a bit low, it’s worth remembering that FT8 is a weak signal mode, and given the right propagation conditions the world should be able to hear it despite the meagre output.
See The Simplest FT8 Transceiver You’ll Ever Build
#technology #hamradio #amateurradio #FT8
Probably the most interesting facets of amateur radio in 2021 lie in the realm of digital modes. Using the limitless possibilities of software defined radios has freed digital radio communication f…
Der Activity-Contest geht los..
Activity-Contest starts today
PF21FTDMC: Planned operations for this evening (4 August 2021) from +/- 17:00 ~ 21:00 UTC
HF: 40 or 60 or 80m.
VHF: participate in the FT8activity contest on 144.174 MHz. ! http://www.ft8activity.eu/index.php/en/
73 de Frank PH2M / PF21FTDMC - JO22hc
