Change bands on the SparkSDR based on time

So I have been using my Hermes Lite SDR for the past few months with SparkSDR and been having a lot of fun with the combination.  One of the things I have been wanting though is the ability for my SparkSDR receivers to change bands based on the time of day. (e.g. 80,40m night, 10m,17m day). 

With SparkSDR you can enable rig control over a tcp port in the receiver settings, and with a little bit of code we can take advantage of that.

$ echo "f" | nc -w 1 localhost 51111
7074000
VFOA

With the above command we have gotten the frequency of the receiver on port 51111.  We can also set the frequency with the `F` command as follows.

$ echo "F 7075000" | nc -w 1 localhost 51111
RPRT 0

With the following we can use these commands plus a few more to write our program that will change each receivers frequency based on our settings. And once we have our program we can set it to run at pre-defined times with crontab.

0 20 * * * rigcycle run night
0 6 * * * rigcycle run day

 To download the above rigcycle tool you can visit the github repository for the project at https://github.com/nricciar/rigcycle.

New Toy - Hermes Lite

So I picked up a new toy in the last group buy.

The Hermes Lite has quickly become my new favorite radio.  Being able to listen in on 4 bands at once with FT8, PSK, and more all running on those 4 bands is quite an amazing trick.

Also a big shout out to the amazing software SparkSDR.  Having an all in one solution for PSK and FT8 without having to setup virtual audio cables, etc is so nice.

RTL-SDR Improvements

The $20 RTL-SDR dongles are great little software defined radios that will allow you to tune in to a large portion of the frequency spectrum below 2Ghz, but unfortunately by default lacks most of the HF bands.  This can be rectified by using an up-converter like the Ham-It-Up, but now you are left with multiple cards and adapter cables which can be a bit of a mess.

With a few small modifications, and a couple extra parts you can turn this mess into a nice finished product that will not only make using your sdr easier, but will also improve the performance.

The first step is to remove the SMA connectors from the Ham-It-Up and the USB and MCX connectors from the RTL dongle.  Now that you have removed the original connectors from the boards you can hard wire the two boards together, and substitute your antenna connector of choice for the input (I chose BNC).  Once hard wired together this can all be put into a small metal project box to block out most noise.

Now you have a nice and compact sdr platform that is easy to take with you and performs better than it did before.  What more can you ask for :)

Credit goes to micah for the original idea also more pics and information at (http://thisisnt.com/put-it-in-a-box/)

Configuration tips for Fldigi

Once you have fldigi up and working with your radio there are a few other settings you may have overlooked which will likely improve your overall experience with data modes and fldigi.

QRZ.com Callsign Lookups

Unless you enjoy jumping back and forth between your web browser and the fldigi window looking up users callsigns you can let fldigi do the heavy lifting for you.  You can configure fldigi to use your qrz.com account to perform the callsign lookups for you.

In the fldigi configuration window select the Web tab and then the Call Lookup tab.  Check the QRZ.com checkbox, and fill in your username and password.  Hit save and close and you are setup.

To perform the lookup simply double click on the callsign in the receive window, then click on the world icon in the top control bar.  If all is successful you should see the users name and country.

Enabling Spotting

Using sites like pskreporter.info you can quickly see how far your data messages are traveling in near real time.  Using a network of spotters like yourself the website aggregates spotting data allowing you to see the bigger picture.  fldigi can be configured to report all call signs being received by your client to pskreporter.info automatically this will help pskreporter.info create a more complete picture of current working conditions, and also provide a handy tool for yourself to see at a glance what you are seeing out there.

To enable spotting open your fldigi configuration window and choose the Misc tab then the Spotting tab.  Select "Automatically spot callsigns in decoded text" and if you have rig control "Report rig frequency"  the default host and port are fine.  Once checked you must also click the "Initialize" button to enable spotting.

You now have spotting enabled.  To toggle spotting on and off simply use the spot button at the top right of the Fldigi window.

Macros

By default the fldigi app does not seem to save macros when you edit them.  To enable this go to the Fldigi configuration window and select the UI tab then the Macros.  Select "Load last used macro file on startup" and "Prompt to save macro file when closing" then select Save and Close. You are now be given the option to save any macro changes before closing fldigi.

Ham Radio Cheat Sheet

Amateur Radio Frequencies By Class

Below is a list of frequencies available to transmit on as a licensed amateur radio operator.  Included are the beginning and end of each frequency range, the allowed modes, and the minimum class needed to be allowed to transmit.

Starts	Ends	Modes	Min Class
160 Meter
1.8Mhz	2.0Mhz	CW,Phone,Image,RTTY/Data	General
80 Meters
3.525Mhz	3.600Mhz	CW Only	Technician
3.525Mhz	3.600Mhz	CW, RTTY/Data	General
3.800Mhz	4.00Mhz	CW, Phone, Image	General
40 Meters
7.025Mhz	7.125Mhz	CW Only	Technician
7.025Mhz	7.125Mhz	CW, RTTY/Data	General
7.125Mhz	7.300Mhz	CW, Phone, Image	General
30 Meters 1
10.100Mhz	10.150Mhz	CW, RTTY/Data	General
20 Meters
14.025Mhz	14.150Mhz	CW, RTTY/Data	General
14.225Mhz	14.350Mhz	CW, Phone, Image	General
14.150Mhz	14.350Mhz	CW, Phone, Image	Extra
17 Meters
18.068Mhz	18.110Mhz	CW, RTTY/Data	General
18.110Mhz	18.168Mhz	CW, Phone, Image	General
15 Meters
21.025Mhz	21.200Mhz	CW Only	Technician
21.025Mhz	21.200Mhz	CW, RTTY/Data	General
21.275Mhz	21.450Mhz	CW, Phone, Image	General
21.000Mhz	21.200Mhz	CW, RTTY/Data	Extra
21.200Mhz	21.450Mhz	CW, Phone, Image	Extra
12 Meters
24.890Mhz	24.930Mhz	CW, RTTY/Data	General
24.930Mhz	24.990Mhz	CW, Phone, Image	General
10 Meters
28.000Mhz	28.300Mhz	CW, RTTY/Data	Technician 1
28.300Mhz	28.500Mhz	CW, Phone	Technician 1
28.300Mhz	29.700Mhz	CW, Phone, Image	General
6 Meters
50.000Mhz	50.100Mhz	CW Only	Technician
50.100Mhz	54.000Mhz	CW, Phone, Image, MCW, RTTY/Data	Technician
2 Meters
144.000Mhz	144.100Mhz	CW Only	Technician
144.100Mhz	148.000Mhz	CW, Phone, Image, MCW, RTTY/Data	Technician
1.25 Meters
222.00Mhz	225.00Mhz	CW, Phone, Image, MCW, RTTY/Data	Technician
70 Centimeters
420.00Mhz	450.00Mhz	CW, Phone, Image, MCW, RTTY/Data	Technician
33 Centimeters
902.00Mhz	928.00Mhz	CW, Phone, Image, MCW, RTTY/Data	Technician
23 Centimeters
1270.00Mhz	1295.00Mhz	CW, Phone, Image, MCW, RTTY/Data	Technician

1. Max power 200W PEP