The Spectrum Monitor — October, 2016

LnR’s New LD-11: A Very Red, QRP, All-Mode, All-Band Transceiver
By Thomas Witherspoon K4SWL

LnR Precision, Inc., is a North Carolina-based company that specializes in antennas, straight-keys, and QRP transceivers. Earlier this year, when the company announced their latest QRP transceiver, the LD-11, Thomas Witherspoon was especially intrigued. The new LD-11 supports 160-10 meter operation with all modes (SSB, CW, CW-R, Digi, AM and FM). Find out why Thomas says its performance-for-price-point puts it in a market with some heavy-hitters like the venerable Yaesu FT-817ND, the Elecraft KX3, and the new Elecraft KX2.

The Slow Creep of Scanner Encryption
By Chris Parris

Those within the radio communications industry have been actively marketing the ability to encrypt the latest generations of business and personal radio communications fairly inexpensively. This trend follows one that has been on a steady march for years in the public safety communications industry, and it affects many more people than just scanner listeners. But why is this happening? Federal Wavelengths columnist, Chris Parris, takes a look at what encryption is, who is using it and how it affects all of us in the radio monitoring hobby.

Monitoring Russia’s Northern Fleet
By Tony Roper

In its current form, the Northern Fleet is still the largest in the Russian navy, consisting of approximately 80 warships, half of which are submarines, as well as this number again in service ships, tugs and icebreakers. Longtime military monitor, Tony Roper, shows us how he monitors the activities of this fleet through Morse code transmissions directly from the ships as well as using Web-based tools, such as Google Earth, and webcams to physically see the ships in action.

GMRS –The ‘Other’ Citizens Band – Part 2
By Cory GB Sickles WA3UVV

GMRS is a fun and useful aspect of Part 95 communications, seemingly as far removed from Class D CB as you can possibly get. And, while GMRS can be enjoyed without repeaters, having a well-placed and performing machine in your area makes it even more so. In this installment, Cory explains the hardware needed to set up such a repeater; how to start a local GMRS club, what the likely costs of will be, and he takes a looks a some successful GMRS clubs in different parts of the US.

The Hams Behind the Fender Guitar Legend
By Richard Fisher KI6SN

Gary Gray W6DOE’s Uncle Leo became a ham in about 1931 or ’32. “I’m not sure he ever renewed his license,” Gary told Richard Fisher in an interview. “He was most likely on the air using CW . . . There wasn’t much phone back then. He did a lot of electronic work as a ham.” One of the things Leo Fender, who held the first W6DOE call, recounted to Gary was how he started a career in audio by building amplifiers for public address systems. The rest, as they say, is musical history. With meticulous attention to musical and electronic detail, the Fender guitar and amplifier legend was born.

Scanning America
By Dan Veenaman
Howard County, Indiana and Monitoring Airborne TETRA

Federal Wavelengths
By Chris Parris
Scanning Smaller Federal Agencies

Utility Planet
By Hugh Stegman NV6H
US DGPS: Bad News and Good News

Digital HF: Intercept and Analyze
By Mike Chace-Ortiz AB1TZ/G6DHU
Getting Started with Digital GPS Decoding

HF Utility Logs
By Mike Chace-Ortiz and Hugh Stegman

Digitally Speaking
By Cory Sickles WA3UVV
Still in the Box? Put it on the Air!

VHF and Above
By Joe Lynch N6CL
Earth-Moon-Earth Communications

Amateur Radio Insights
By Kirk Kleinschmidt NT0Z
Radio Fun with an Uncooperative Ionosphere

Radio 101
By Ken Reitz KS4ZR
Obsessing about Awards and School Club Roundup

Radio Propagation
By Tomas Hood NW7US
Space Weather: Interfering with Global Positioning Satellites

The World of Shortwave Listening
By Andrew Yoder
Halloween Shortwave Pirates and Global Pirate Weekend

The Shortwave Listener
By Fred Waterer
Listening to Shortwave and Internet Radio

Maritime Monitoring
By Ron Walsh VE3GO
Stormy WX and an End to Some DGPS

The Longwave Zone
By Kevin O’Hern Carey WB2QMY
WSPRs on the Band

Adventures in Radio Restoration
By Rich Post KB8TAD
The Triple-Conversion Puzzle: Hammarlund HQ-180A

Antenna Connections
By Dan Farber AC0LW
Tools of the Trade: Antenna Work Essentials

Radio Horizons
New Digital Radio Mondiale Receiver

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