Ed W8EMV :radio_tower:

Peoria's WIRL1290 AM radio station is shutting down, and they are running a reminiscence show until the power gets pulled.

Listen via KiwiSDR http://radio.ofadam.com:8073/?f=1290.00amz9

news via Radio Insight

https://radioinsight.com/headlines/343939/wirl-to-sign-off-with-week-of-special-programming/

To mark the end of WIRL’s operations, the station will run a week of special programming starting at 7am today with “WIRL Memories” leading to former personality Wayne Miller signing off the station on March 31.

#WIRL #peoria #amradio

660 kHz WFAN (a clear channel New York station) mysteriously goes silent during a basketball broadcast- you can see it go dark where I happened to catch it.

A quick check of other SDRs (nope, dark everywhere). A quick check of the Internet broadcast, all OK.

#mysterious #WFAN #radio #amradio

RE: https://mastodon.radio/@w8emv/114571478450512045

Lucille #KD8PTE SK.

https://www.fassbenderswansonhansen.com/obituaries/Lucille-T-Scotti?obId=47081501#/obituaryInfo

She got her radio license when she was in her 70s and passed away a few weeks ago at the age of 88. I knew her from the Upper Peninsula DMR net where she was often net control. And she knew my family (Marquette is a small town) and would ask after my mom when we talked on the air.

#sk #silentkey

@cvvhrn @ai6yr

The Flightaware page shows cancelled

https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL8848/history/20260128/2250Z/KDTW/KMIA

and the aircraft is #N650DL a Boeing 757

https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/N650DL

#dtw #kdtw

@cvvhrn @ai6yr

Detroit Free Press has a story too

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2026/01/28/mechanical-issue-triggers-brief-dtw-closure-delays/88405449007/

"The Wayne County Airport Authority Fire Department responded Wednesday evening after a potential mechanical issue was reported on an aircraft," according to a statement from the Wayne County Airport Authority (WCAA). "As a precaution, crews applied water to one of the aircraft’s engines."

#dtw #kdtw
#freep

@redcrew

I guess I will get to exercise some of my public information officer duties by informing the public of what our post-WoTo plans are for radio service to local amateurs.

Wolverine Tower went up in 1973, and there are photos and clippings about its construction at the #AADL . It looks bigger in this construction photo.

https://aadl.org/taxonomy/term/30864

From the ARROW club mailing list comes news of a new VOIP system for hams to fill some of the gap that Hamshack Hotline left with its shutdown.

Dave #W2DAN has set up NexNet https://mynexnet.net as a VOIP exchange. Follow the instructions on the web site to get an extension added for your VOIP phone or soft phone.

thanks @n8sbe for the heads up
originally via Michigan One DMR Tech Net

#voip #nexnet #Hamshackhotline

On location for the monthly Washtenaw County siren test net, Platt Road North of Textile. #sirens #sofun

Cc @peterhoneyman
Cc @dzombak

: 🚨

Hamshack Hotline is shutting down, effective 2025-08-29 .

https://hamshackhotline.com

"After much thoughtful discussion and reflection, the Board of Directors has unanimously voted to sunset the project, giving our community ample time to transition to other services by the end date."

#hamshackhotline #voip

Operating notes: Hiawatha Amateur Radio Association (HARA) 700p Sunday night net 2025-05-25 on the #K8LOD repeater in Marquette MI.

https://vielmetti.typepad.com/w8emv/2025/05/operating-notes-hara-700p-sunday-night-net-2025-05-25.html

A slightly expanded version of yesterday's writeup of checking in to a weekly net while on vacation.

https://mastodon.radio/@w8emv/114571478450512045

Thanks to Lucille #KD8PTE for running the net and asking after my Mom.

Checked in to the Hiawatha Amateur Radio Association Sunday night net, tonight (and all Sundays) at 700p Eastern time.

HARA runs a 6-repeater linked system #K8LOD in Marquette and Alger County Michigan, in the U.P. Check-ins from Marquette, Gwinn, Harvey, Three Lakes, plus one person on Echolink from Seward, Alaska.

https://www.qsl.net/k8lod/

Thanks to Lucillie #KD8PTE for being net control !

Utah Hockey Club, 1280 AM on Northern Utah WebSDR Yellow. #KZNS Salt Lake City monitored from 80 miles north in Corrine, UT.

The KZNS 1280 web call is blacked out (because reasons? money? there's a way to pay for listening to hockey on the radio?)

Tied with the Maple Leafs with 5 minutes left in the 3d period.

KZNS is 50 kilowatts during the day, but only 670 watts at night. I hear another station underneath the hockey broadcast but the announcers win the contest.

#websdr #amdx #hockeydx

Cory #W3JL runs a KiwiSDR in Ohio (EN91) outside of Cleveland, which means it's an excellent listening post to pick up #WTAM 1100 broadcasting spring training baseball. Listening to the Guardians take on the Diamondbacks. Thanks Cory!

https://www.qrz.com/db/w3jl

I should be able to pick up AM 1100 in SE Michigan, and my usual local SDR "misdr" just north of here has a pretty fair signal. I can catch the signal at home on my Youloop but it sounds better via remotes.

#kiwisdr #baseballdx #amdx

Seattle Mariners spring training #baseball on #KIRO AM 710. Home opener 22 days away against the A's. Listening on a KiwiSDR on Whidbey Island, Oak Harbor WA.

Spring training is an opportunity to make sure your baseball DX stations are dialed in for remote KiwiSDR listening during the season.

710 AM is weak on my home SDR, but I get #WOR 710 New York on KiwiSDR "misdr2" nearby. The adjacent channel #WLW 700 Cincinnati is considerably stronger here in SE Michigan.

#amdx #baseballdx

@hamchallenge #hc05s

Updated my #QRZ page.

https://www.qrz.com/db/W8EMV

Biggest difference from the previous edit: emphasizing bicycle portable operations, de-emphasizing DMR, first mention of plans for HF.

Two digital QSOs this evening with Lucillie #KD8PTE who is up in Marquette MI. First via the Upper Peninsula #DMR net she runs on Brandmeister #TG31268 at 630p, next via K8LOD Marquette repeater on Ham Shack Hotline 94026.

Of the two the DMR is easier to manage because even if the audio is a bit distorted, the Pi-Star dashboard I am using makes it very clear who is talking.

The report from Marquette is good snow forecast for the Feb 13 UP 200 sled dog race https://up200.org

Testing some Hamshack Hotline numbers, using a fresh install of Zoiper on my MacBook Air as the calling party.

DM me if you're interested in a test call, or call me on HH at 550-0729 (and probably also DM me your digits in case I happen to not be there).

#voip #hh #hamshackhotline

ps. I know it's probably not "real ham radio" (tm)

Rooting for the team with the best reception

https://vielmetti.typepad.com/w8emv/2024/10/rooting-for-the-team-with-the-best-reception.html

It's pretty good this year, with 3 of 4 teams still in play with home team broadcasts I can pick up locally.

The detail that I missed when it happened was the deal that led to the end of all-news WCBS-AM 880; that station is now ESPN New York as WHSQ 880. I'm relying on Wikipedia and this NYTimes story to figure out the scorecard and the players.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5695816/2024/08/12/wfan-espn-new-york-880-am/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHSQ

#baseball #amdx

Thanks to the #kiwisdr network I am happy to have the home team call for tonight's #baseball games from the flagship AM radio stations for the teams.

#amdx #baseballdx

Successfully worked the Washtenaw County Michigan siren test net bicycle mobile. I took the Stein Road siren which is adjacent to the Barton Hills County Club. Next time I will go to the same siren as a companion of someone in the club and do the test from the fairway.

Siren is at grid EN82ch78XW in Ann Arbor Township, #N8DUY #skywarn repeater is in Scio Township at I-94 and M-14

Signal reports were "good, strong signal" from my HT.

73 de Ed W8EMV Ann Arbor

#goblue #sofun #biketooter

Some notes on listening to #baseball on far-away AM radio stations, with the help of the #kiwisdr listening network and the "gollnk" bookmarking scheme that I use with @tailscale .

this year's writeup notes that games are shorter.

https://vielmetti.typepad.com/w8emv/2024/04/software-defined-baseball-season-2024-edition.html

#mlb #amdx

Monthly siren test report for April for Washtenaw County (excluding Ann Arbor, which has its own separate set of sirens)

15 listeners
2 sirens not sounding at all
1 siren needing maintenance (grinding sounds from gearbox)

The net ran about 30 minutes + the 15 minutes each way to get to the siren I was assigned to. Mine was fine (good loud sound, it rotated just fine, no need for maintenance).

Thanks to #N8DUY for the use of the repeater.

#sofun #sirens

Radio #baseball

LAA @ BAL
scheduled 3:05pm EDT
first patch: 3:14pm EDT

LAA: 830 KLAA (Flagship)
via KB6C/6, Grid DM04kr

BAL: 1450 WTBO (Affiliate)
via KB3CS, Grid FM09mp

Fun fact, the Orioles played the Angels on opening day in 1961.

Anthony Randon takes the first pitch fastball on the inside corner for a strike, 0-1.

Corbin Burnes strikes out Randon in the first at bat.

#amdx #kiwisdr
#MLBOpeningDay

@KC8JC

Sounds like fun! I'll try to check in on Echolink K8BF-L some time after 1000a.

The radio fun here in Ann Arbor / Washtenaw County is the ARPSC monthly siren test, I'll be watching and listening for an activation of a siren at noon. No time like the present to test these things as we have already had severe weather in February. Activation at noon, call-up at 1130a on N8DUY 145.15-

https://groups.google.com/g/WashtenawARPSC

https://www.washtenaw.org/1785/Washtenaw-County-Outdoor-Warning-Siren-S

#skywarn #siren #sofun

My new #Quansheng radios can monitor - not transmit, fortunately - the air band and decode AM.

I was able to pick up ATIS (automated weather) on 134.550 MHz at KARB, the Ann Arbor Municipal Airport, from home (if I hold the radio just so). I'm sure it would be better outside.

#sofun #airband

Going to the #LARC ham swap on Saturday 2024-02-17 in Livonia MI. As is my habit I plan to bring some folding money to the event and pick up some parts.

https://livoniaarc.com/larc-annual-swap-and-shop/

On the list:

patch cords ("tweenies") and adapters to use BNC connectors on all my radios and antennas.

new #Quansheng HT's, the ones with wide band rx/tx and alternative firmware to unlock it

old (vintage? 1990s-era) Kenwood gear

anything helpful for bicycle portable or mobile operations

#k8uns talk-in 145.35-

Two releases for #pistar in the span of a month! The latest adds early signs of #M17project support, but the release notes say not really ready yet.

https://www.pistar.uk/downloads/

Happy to see pi-star still alive, as the forked alternative is a non-starter for me.

(hey, I am happy to see software forked, just not going to hitch my wagon to that particular forker for reasons.)

Kenwood KES-4 speaker heading my way (used, via eBay). This is the one that has has the weird 9-pin square plug that's on the Kenwood TK-790 2 meter radio.

The TK-790 radio also has a weird mic plug (round with pogo pins). I was able to confirm that everything was working last week with a brief QSO, but I didn't have a speaker on the radio so I tuned in via my SDR in the attic.

Thanks to #W8TAM for programming this rig. An eventual goal is to use it for 2m digital modes.

#tk790 #kenwood

New to me, a Hermes-Lite 2 SDR. Thanks to #W8TAM for the loaner. I promised I would write up my findings.

First plan, set it up as a receiver under OpenWebRX+ following the discussion on the wiki at https://github.com/jketterl/openwebrx/wiki/HPSDR-(including-Hermes-Lite-2)-device-notes

There's a Pi 5 on its way as well, so maybe everything eventually lands on that. Until then I'll use my Pi 400 which already has OpenWebRX+ running.

First antenna for this (receive only!!!) is my Youloop.

Transmit follows later.

#hermeslite2 #sdr #hpsdr #openwebrxplus

QSO just now with Lucille #KD8PTE on the #K8LOD repeater in Marquette, MI using #HamShackHotline .

K8LOD is on Echolink and on Allstar, and apparently the Ham Shack Hotline connection is via that Allstar interconnect.

Audio quality very good (as I guess I would expect since it's analog all the way?)

"Is it ham radio?"

It was analog RF on Lucille's end, and also we didn't completely understand how the bits were being routed, so I guess yes?

@croyle @M0YNG @hamsoverip

I think it's better described as a PBX where all of the extensions belong to hams, and where some of the extensions are bridged to RF systems.

Within #HamsOverIP you are making VOIP calls which are full duplex, and you're calling on a SIP phone (or soft phone).

Where there are gateways to RF or to other networks usually there's a PTT sequence through DTMF tones (*99 to key up, # to unkey). And there might be transcoding going on between various digital protocols.

Good to have a QSO call with Christopher @M0YNG and confirm that @hamsoverip works just fine for person-to-person calls. Not only that but since it's (just) a VOIP call, the connection is full duplex, you don't have to push to talk, and the sound quality is quite good.

"Is it ham radio?"

Close enough to it for me! Though I'm sure some would object.

#HamsOverIP
#VOIP

OK, the #VOIP phone is adequately configured for now.

I heard traffic on a couple of the linked reflector digital nets I had found, but I haven't made a successful QSO just yet.

I was able to confirm that when I picked up the phone and dialed #Fedihams through the #HamShackHotline line, the YSF reflector I have configured on my pi-star saw traffic.

It is slightly infuriating that the #ARRL document on VOIP and ham radio is 20+ years old and asks "Is it ham radio?"

https://www.arrl.org/files/file/VoIP.pdf

Finally setting up a Cisco #VOIP phone that I got at a swap this spring. It's a 5-extension SPA525G.

Extension 1 is #VoipMS which has a VOIP telephone number on it and which I plan to port the home landline to. (Looking forward to adventures in porting.)

Extension 2 is @hamsoverip which has bridges to a couple of interesting #hamradio reflectors. #hoip

Plans: extension 3 on #HamShackHotline (opened a ticket with them) to connect to #Fedihams one more way.

4 and 5, TBD

#hamtalk

Q2. Where does one go after beginning level? How does one break into the other side of the hobby?

A2. I think it's different for everyone, but for me:

Find an "Elmer" (is that right? or "Elsie"?) who is helpful and patient and knowledgable and ideally has some spare radios to borrow from time to time. I have been lucky to have had help from @kb6nu #W8TAM #K5HDL locally.

Attach the hobby to something you like - my #SDR helped by listening to #baseball

cc @ingalls
cc @themadcodger

11 stations, 30 minutes on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan #DMR Sunday night net, Brandmeister TG 31268. Starts at 630p Eastern Time Sunday nights, generally winds up at 700p. This net had 5 check-ins from the UP and 6 others from the rest of Michigan. Thanks to Lucille #KD8PTE for running the net.

More 2 meter band opening let us listen to #KB8EOC (the "Tiffin repeater") here in Ann Arbor until about 810a local time, and then that interference on 145.15- #N8DUY disappeared on our morning roundtable.

Some question about the impact of wildfires on VHF propagation.

#vhfdx

The "Tiffin repeater" is Bascom, OH, Seneca County, #KB8EOC . 145.15- with a 107.2 PL

Listening now on #Broadcastify

https://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/25158

Bob #WD8PIC is about half way between this repeater and Ann Arbor's #N8DUY and he can check in to both depending on how he sets PL.

fun with #vhfdx

@ve3qbz @W8HF

Yes, a lot like that from a map perspective.

From an API perspective, I'm not quite sure what the right approach is. The simplest might be "log if your favorite iGate has a long hop on APRS".

I did look at https://aprs.fi specifically the iGate that Nick #W8XM runs

https://aprs.fi/info/a/W8XM-11

and found an APRS tx/rx pair to #K8YSE

https://aprs.fi/info/a/K8YSE-1

Ann Arbor, MI to N Royalton OH is 118 miles, not bad, logged at 7:52 Eastern 2023-05-21 (sunrise 6:11).

#aprs #vhfdx

Inconclusive, but I think there was a 2 meter band opening between Michigan and Ohio this am based on the indistinct sounds I heard on 145.15-.

There must be something that monitors this, maybe using APRS reception? Thinking that @W8HF might have some ideas.

Ideally I would pull in data into Home Assistant, like the Aurora integration that tracks solar weather.

#vhfdx #aprs #vhf

One thing to do with a #FlipperZero is listen for weather stations broadcasting on 433.92 MHz. Picked up one on my bike ride home, alas I do not have a good time stamp on the reading yet so I do not yet know where it was.

#f0 #WarBiking #wx #BikeTooter

OK, up and running on #hamsoverIP and a first QSO there with Steve #K4KSA in Florida, using Zoiper on Android.

If I understand the system topology, we were connected on Hams Over IP 15000 via Allstar 49050 which #N8EMA runs with a multiport connection to a few different nets.

http://stats.allstarlink.org/stats/49050
https://www.qrz.com/db/N8EMA

Appreciate everyone's help in getting this started, and also to @Mark2E1CEQ for getting this started.

I will do a proper writeup after a little more experimentation.

I had #HamshackHotline on my mind last night, as I am working to port our home phone number over to a VOIP line, and was thinking it sure would be nice to have a place to experiment with SIP &c. independent of the proper phone network.

Telephones, how do they even work?