Parking Lot POTA

Today after the LaPorte Hamfest I stopped by Chamberlain Lake Nature Preserve, K-4189. It is a 82.7 acre preserve with 1.5 miles of trails. Today, I didn't hit the trails I hit the air waves. After seeing Barry, WD4MSM, doing Winter Field Day in the back of his SUV, I had the idea of doing parking lot POTA. I ordered a Tram Tri-Magnet Antenna Mount and tried it out today. I used the mount with my Wolf River Coil. In twenty minutes I had thirteen contacts, all within the comfort of my car.

While I wouldn't want to do all my POTAs from the inside of my car, it is nice to have the option to do POTA from inside the car if the weather doesn't cooperate.

Zettelkasten ID parkinglotpota-2023-02-25-1559

G90 Resources

The G90 is a great radio with good documentation.

Documentation

If you are new to the G90 and especially if you are new to HF Radio I would recommend downloading the following documents:

  • G90 Manual

  • CAT control your Xiegu G90 with your PC and start operating in digital modes

Both documents can be downloaded from:

Radioddity Resources for the G90

You can also download firmware updates for the G90 from the above sites.

My prefered method of updating the firmware on the G90

Videos that will help you setup the G90

I highly recommend watching the videos below to learn how to use the G90.

Techstuff & More

Xiegu G90 - Super quiet CW (and SSB) rig

QRP HF radio

XieGu G90 SSB adjustable filters..

ErnieTech

The Xiegu G90 Callsign Editor

Setting the Bandwidth on the Xiegu G90

Xiegu G90 Antenna Tuning

Mic Gain and Compression on the G90

G90 Handheld Mic

Easy Xiegu G90 Firmware Update

How to use the Xiegu G90 CW Decoder

Xiegu G90 Random Memory Assignment

Xiegu G90 Memory Management

Zettelkasten ID g90resources-2023-02-16-1323

How I studied for the Amatuer License Exams

I am currently hold a General Class License and am studying for the Extra Class License exam.

When I studied for the Technician Class Exam I used Ham Study It explains the questions and allows you to take practice exams. I have taught both math and science in the past so I did not need much preparation for the exam beyond Ham Study.

The General Class Exam was a different story. I continued to use Ham Study but I also used the ARRL General License Manual and the Amateur Radio License Course General Class. The course is a series of lectures by David Casler, KE0OG and is available to ARRL members at https://learn.arrl.org.

I am currently studying for the Extra Class Exam and the material is tough. I continue to use Ham Study but I also use the ARRL Extra License Manual and the Amateur Radio License Course Extra Class. The course is a series of lectures by David Casler, KE0OG and is available to ARRL members at https://learn.arrl.org. I also am using the Extra Class License Class Syllabus by Jack Tiley, AD7FO.

Once I take the Extra Exam I will let you know how it went.

Zettelkasten ID studyingforlicenseexams-2022-12-23-1047

Packet and Mail Stations

I am located in Maidenhead Grid Square EN61. For those in my area here are the stations I am able to connect to.

LinPac

20m

WD0J-1

ARDOP

20m

WA3WLH-10

WW4MSK

30m

KB5LZK Nighttime Good

40m

K1EHZ

K4PAR Nighttime Conditions rated as Good

KB5LZK Nighttime Conditions rated as Good

W6IDS Daytime Conditions rated as Fair

Conditions taken from https://solar.w5mmw.net/

Zettelkasten ID PacketStations-2022-11-22-1340

How I installed LinPac

LinPac

LinPac is a program to connect to a packet BBS or do Keyboard to Keyboard Radio Communication.

Watch Keyboard to Keyboard Radio Coms with AX.25 and Linpac! and VA7SHG - LinPac - Packet radio on linux, beyond Winlink and APRS to get the idea.

The guides I used were Direwolf soundcard packet on Linux, with ax25 and LinPacSetting up Packet Radio on a Raspberry Pi (4 thru Zero-W) running Raspberry Pi OS Bullseye, Buster, Stretch or Jessie.

My system is a 64 bit Intel based laptop running an Ubuntu derivative connect to a G90. Installing LinPac on my laptop for use with my G90 required a few modifications from the first set of instructions. Many of the changes I used were in the second set of instructions.

My changes

  1. The best way to control a G90 is to use Flrig.

  2. Besides installing Flrig, hamlib needs to be installed.

  3. direwolf.conf needs to be edited to be used with hamlib.

PPT 2 localhost:4532
  1. Since LinPac is being used on HF the modem speed in direwolf.conf needs to be changed:
MODEM 300 1600:1800 7@30 /4
  1. After installing all the packages for AX.25 the /etc/ax25axports file needs to be edited:

Replace my call sign with yours including SSID

wl2k W9RWB-3 300 255 7 HF

The first entry is just the name of the port. I used wl2k but you can name the port anything you like. The second is your call sign with SSID. The third is desired modem speed. Since I am on HF I used 300. I am not sure what the 255 is but every example had it. I am also unsure about the next number but if you are doing UHF use 2 and if you are doing HF use 7. The next is just a description of the port.

  1. Making listen work properly
sudo chmod 4755 /usr/bin/listen

or

sudo chmod 4755 /usr/bin/axlisten
  1. Install LinPac

How to start LinPac.

  1. Start Flrig and make sure it is connected to your radio.

  2. Run the following in a terminal window and let it run. This is command connects hamlib to flrig.

rigctld -m 4 -vvvv
  1. Start direwolf with the following command: (Replace direwolf-ax25.conf with the name of your configuration file.)
direwolf -t 0 -p -B 300 -X 16 -d tx -c direwolf-ax25.conf

Only use the command options if you want to use FX.25 in place of AX.25

-X 16 and -d tx
  1. Run the following command:
sudo kissattach /dev/ptmx wl2k

sudo kissparms -c 1 -p wl2k -t 300 -l 30 -s 20 -80 -f n

linpac

Zettelkasten ID LinPac-2022-11-14-1055